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Authors: Mike Resnick
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fish, and it turned out that it was the tiger, rather than the fish, that had really taken my bait."
      "It sounds very strange."
      "It wasâand very frightening," said Dali. "And quite impossible, wouldn't you say?"
      "Yes."
      "I agree," he said. "Now draw it."
      "I can't."
      "Why not?"
      "How can you show a large tiger emerging from a small fish?" replied Jinx.
      "I thought you'd never ask," said Dali with a smile. "You do it with perspective. Here, I will show you."
      He took the chalk from her, began sketching furiously, and stood back a moment later.
      "Amazing!" said Jinx.
      "Perspective," said Dali with a shrug, as if to say: It's so simple a child can do it. "That is what I like about the world behind the closet. Its creator, assuming it has one, uses perspective exactly as I have done here."
      "I still must master perspective, and mixing paints, and even such simple things as preparing a canvas," said Jinx. "But you are beyond all that."
      "Yes, I am," said Dali, watching her curiously. "I assume you have a point to make?"
      "There isn't much meaning in a tiger jumping out of a fish's mouth," she said. "So while I must learn almost everything, what you must learn is where to find meaning and how to incorporate it in your painting. For example, drawing the fat cow as a fat cow would be meaningful to you, and now to me, but would it mean anything to anyone who didn't know her, or hadn't heard what you called her?"
      "Is it important that it mean anything to anyone but the artist?" retorted Dali, clearly unconvinced.
      "If you want an audience, of course it is," she said. "You are a painter. Why did you make that movie?"
      " The Andalusian Dog ?" he said.
      "Yes."
      "I'm surprised you are aware of it."
      "I have studied your life and your work during the time I've been here. You made a movie. It shocked audiences everywhere. I've never seen it, but I gather at one point someone's eyeball gets slit open with a razor."
      " That woke them up," said Dali with a chortle.
      "It's not funny to do that to someone's eye."
      "You don't think we really cut a man's eye open, do you?" asked Dali. "It was like . . . like painting old Senora Mendez as a fat cow. She's not really a cow, and no one sacrificed an eye to make the movie."
      "Then why did you do it?"
      "To shock the audience, of course," said Dali. "To remind them they're alive, to make them emotional participants rather than mere observers."
      She pulled out her sketch book, and showed him drawings of the park, his own furniture, a dog sleeping on the lawn, and a bird nesting in a nearby tree.
      "These aren't as good as yours, of course," she said. "But even if I had your skills, I didn't create these to shock anyone, but to please them."
      "Not so, young Jinx," said Dali.
      "But look at them. They're not very good, I admit, but they're naturalistic. This is the way the subjects appeared to me."
      "And where do you intend to show them?" he asked. "In your world or mine?"
      "In mine, of course. I live there; I am just a temporary visitor here."
      "Will these be uncontroversial, pastoral pictures in your world?" asked Dali.
      "No, probably not," she admitted. "But the artist's purpose is not to
      "It sounds very strange."
      "It wasâand very frightening," said Dali. "And quite impossible, wouldn't you say?"
      "Yes."
      "I agree," he said. "Now draw it."
      "I can't."
      "Why not?"
      "How can you show a large tiger emerging from a small fish?" replied Jinx.
      "I thought you'd never ask," said Dali with a smile. "You do it with perspective. Here, I will show you."
      He took the chalk from her, began sketching furiously, and stood back a moment later.
      "Amazing!" said Jinx.
      "Perspective," said Dali with a shrug, as if to say: It's so simple a child can do it. "That is what I like about the world behind the closet. Its creator, assuming it has one, uses perspective exactly as I have done here."
      "I still must master perspective, and mixing paints, and even such simple things as preparing a canvas," said Jinx. "But you are beyond all that."
      "Yes, I am," said Dali, watching her curiously. "I assume you have a point to make?"
      "There isn't much meaning in a tiger jumping out of a fish's mouth," she said. "So while I must learn almost everything, what you must learn is where to find meaning and how to incorporate it in your painting. For example, drawing the fat cow as a fat cow would be meaningful to you, and now to me, but would it mean anything to anyone who didn't know her, or hadn't heard what you called her?"
      "Is it important that it mean anything to anyone but the artist?" retorted Dali, clearly unconvinced.
      "If you want an audience, of course it is," she said. "You are a painter. Why did you make that movie?"
      " The Andalusian Dog ?" he said.
      "Yes."
      "I'm surprised you are aware of it."
      "I have studied your life and your work during the time I've been here. You made a movie. It shocked audiences everywhere. I've never seen it, but I gather at one point someone's eyeball gets slit open with a razor."
      " That woke them up," said Dali with a chortle.
      "It's not funny to do that to someone's eye."
      "You don't think we really cut a man's eye open, do you?" asked Dali. "It was like . . . like painting old Senora Mendez as a fat cow. She's not really a cow, and no one sacrificed an eye to make the movie."
      "Then why did you do it?"
      "To shock the audience, of course," said Dali. "To remind them they're alive, to make them emotional participants rather than mere observers."
      She pulled out her sketch book, and showed him drawings of the park, his own furniture, a dog sleeping on the lawn, and a bird nesting in a nearby tree.
      "These aren't as good as yours, of course," she said. "But even if I had your skills, I didn't create these to shock anyone, but to please them."
      "Not so, young Jinx," said Dali.
      "But look at them. They're not very good, I admit, but they're naturalistic. This is the way the subjects appeared to me."
      "And where do you intend to show them?" he asked. "In your world or mine?"
      "In mine, of course. I live there; I am just a temporary visitor here."
      "Will these be uncontroversial, pastoral pictures in your world?" asked Dali.
      "No, probably not," she admitted. "But the artist's purpose is not to
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