loved Reuben Walrus when he was miserable.
Every year Reuben led a course in free composition for the graduating class at the Music Academy. He maintained that it kept him young to meet, and be challenged by, the coming generations. In the office, the refined hens gossiped that he used his position to pursue young females at the school.
Denise Ant had been one of his pupils, the most critical of him in her class, and also the most yearning. So as not to feed the gossip, Reuben had been careful to avoid Denise thewhole semester, and he only phoned her six months after she had finished at the school. They met at a gloomy pizzeria that smelled of old oregano, located a stoneâs throw from Deniseâs apartment in Amberville. At the restaurant she gave him a good dressing-down. First she scolded him for not calling her. Then she scolded him because he had called her, thereby exploiting his position as her former teacher and model.
He had ordered a pizza with mushrooms and onions; she had chosen a vegetarian combo. When the food arrived, Reuben ate in silence while Denise dissected one of his symphonies and, stanza by stanza, showed where he had stolen the various sections. Over coffee it was his lack of talent as a lecturer that she tackled. He longed for the check and to be able to leave this angry ant to herself, but when he finally got up, she asked if he wouldnât like to accompany her home. In pure astonishment he answered yes, and then they cuddled the whole night.
Denise Ant did not move in with Reuben. She refused to give up her life, refused to give up her apartment, her pride, and identity. Reuben was careful not to agree too quickly; a single thoughtless nod might very well cause her to move in on Knobeldorfstrasse the same day.
She appeared indifferent to the outside worldâs contemptuous looks, which suggested that she was only one in a series of Reuben Walrusâs young lovers. She was unruly but reasonably predictable in her fierce defiance, and she had an energy that he found irresistible. He missed her on those days that they didnât see each other, but got enough of her after only a few hours when they finally met. Hundreds of times he rehearsed in his imagination the quarrel that would finally put an end to the relationship, and just as many times he refrained from saying the words out loud.
He assumed that she was just as divided as he was.
And with that, the first year was added to the second, and Reuben and Denise remained a couple.
Â
They were standing at the top of the stairs in the entranceway of the music hall, and heads were turned in their direction from everywhere in the murmuring room. Reuben could see some he knew well, others he knew vaguely, and some he had never seen before; thirty-some stuffed animals who were sipping colorful drinks and who all felt they had a special, close relationship with him.
Slowly Reuben and Denise began to go down the stairs. A whisper passed through the assembly, an empathic silence spread. It was unbearable. How had it happened? Who had leaked it? Someone at the hospital laboratory, perhaps? The secretary outside Dr. Swanâs office? It was of no importance. Yesterday he had received his sentence, today he was hung over, and everyone seemed to know what had happened. Flowers had been delivered to Knobeldorfstrasse all morning. As of now, he was the tragic genius, whose career and life were over.
When he and the ant reached the bottom step, the guests had grouped themselves along the sides and in this way left the field open for the host of the evening. Jack Elephant could greet the late-arriving guests in solitary majesty.
âReuben,â the elephant rumbled, âthat you manage, that you show up, itâs incomparable!â
âIncomparable,â agreed Reuben.
âAnd Denise Ant,â continued Jack, âmore beautiful than ever!â
Denise clicked her tongue lightly, as she always did when something
Every year Reuben led a course in free composition for the graduating class at the Music Academy. He maintained that it kept him young to meet, and be challenged by, the coming generations. In the office, the refined hens gossiped that he used his position to pursue young females at the school.
Denise Ant had been one of his pupils, the most critical of him in her class, and also the most yearning. So as not to feed the gossip, Reuben had been careful to avoid Denise thewhole semester, and he only phoned her six months after she had finished at the school. They met at a gloomy pizzeria that smelled of old oregano, located a stoneâs throw from Deniseâs apartment in Amberville. At the restaurant she gave him a good dressing-down. First she scolded him for not calling her. Then she scolded him because he had called her, thereby exploiting his position as her former teacher and model.
He had ordered a pizza with mushrooms and onions; she had chosen a vegetarian combo. When the food arrived, Reuben ate in silence while Denise dissected one of his symphonies and, stanza by stanza, showed where he had stolen the various sections. Over coffee it was his lack of talent as a lecturer that she tackled. He longed for the check and to be able to leave this angry ant to herself, but when he finally got up, she asked if he wouldnât like to accompany her home. In pure astonishment he answered yes, and then they cuddled the whole night.
Denise Ant did not move in with Reuben. She refused to give up her life, refused to give up her apartment, her pride, and identity. Reuben was careful not to agree too quickly; a single thoughtless nod might very well cause her to move in on Knobeldorfstrasse the same day.
She appeared indifferent to the outside worldâs contemptuous looks, which suggested that she was only one in a series of Reuben Walrusâs young lovers. She was unruly but reasonably predictable in her fierce defiance, and she had an energy that he found irresistible. He missed her on those days that they didnât see each other, but got enough of her after only a few hours when they finally met. Hundreds of times he rehearsed in his imagination the quarrel that would finally put an end to the relationship, and just as many times he refrained from saying the words out loud.
He assumed that she was just as divided as he was.
And with that, the first year was added to the second, and Reuben and Denise remained a couple.
Â
They were standing at the top of the stairs in the entranceway of the music hall, and heads were turned in their direction from everywhere in the murmuring room. Reuben could see some he knew well, others he knew vaguely, and some he had never seen before; thirty-some stuffed animals who were sipping colorful drinks and who all felt they had a special, close relationship with him.
Slowly Reuben and Denise began to go down the stairs. A whisper passed through the assembly, an empathic silence spread. It was unbearable. How had it happened? Who had leaked it? Someone at the hospital laboratory, perhaps? The secretary outside Dr. Swanâs office? It was of no importance. Yesterday he had received his sentence, today he was hung over, and everyone seemed to know what had happened. Flowers had been delivered to Knobeldorfstrasse all morning. As of now, he was the tragic genius, whose career and life were over.
When he and the ant reached the bottom step, the guests had grouped themselves along the sides and in this way left the field open for the host of the evening. Jack Elephant could greet the late-arriving guests in solitary majesty.
âReuben,â the elephant rumbled, âthat you manage, that you show up, itâs incomparable!â
âIncomparable,â agreed Reuben.
âAnd Denise Ant,â continued Jack, âmore beautiful than ever!â
Denise clicked her tongue lightly, as she always did when something
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