The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six

The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: The Book of the Unknown: Tales of the Thirty-six Read Online Free PDF
Author: Jonathon Keats
I’ve decided that you can have it.
    — What will you take in exchange? You’re pretty, but I can make you a queen.
    — No, thank you.
    — You’re clever, but I can make you a goddess.
    — I’ll give you my soul, but I don’t want anything for it.
    — Perhaps you’re not so shrewd after all.
    In a single stroke, he reached his hand down Chaya’s throat and pulled her slender soul out. He brought it inside and plunged it, still breathing, into his vat. Then, because he wished her to have something in return, he showed her the exotic spiders he kept, ruby and emerald cabochon gems skittering around on their eight-point crowns. He offered her any one she liked. They climbed across his knuckles. He fancied that he’d never looked so princely. He didn’t even see Chaya wave good-bye.
     
    Years passed. As Alef and Chaya aged together, each grew to fill the space in the other where there’d been a soul before. They never discussed it, for they’d become too intimate for words. And nobody else noticed, so busy were they taking all that the couple gave.
    Folks prospered. Their village became a town. Fine houses were built, and neighbors complained about Alef’s ungainly hovel. The fool and his wife moved into the slums. What fish they didn’t give away was stolen. But that just saved them the hassle of distribution.
    One evening they were visited by a very old man. While people often still came to profit from Alef’s knowledge, none looked as needy as this fellow. He wore a heavy old cloak and hat, and walked with a crook as knotted as his crippled body.
    Chaya brought him a chair. She couldn’t see his face under the hat’s broad brim, but, the instant his eyes met hers, she felt sure that she’d encountered him before. She asked the man if there was something they could do for him.
    He shook his head. It was winter and getting dark, and he simply wished for a place to rest.
    Chaya went to Alef, who was standing by the hearth, ladling bouillabaisse into a copper cup. She brought it to their guest. She sat by him while Alef prepared the bed in the adjoining room, where he and Chaya slept, so that the man could pass the night in comfort. The visitor didn’t talk. He raised the cup to his mouth several times, but, when he set it down, it was always still full. Chaya asked if there was another meal that he’d prefer, anything at all. Or perhaps there was some ailment he had, and Alef could tell him the cure for it. He shook his head again. She thought she heard him sigh, though it might have been the winter wind sweeping by.
    Alef helped him to bed, and bade him a good night. The guest lay down on the straw mattress without removing cloak or hat. He pretended to sleep. And then he really did.
    Some hours later, he was awoken by a noise in the other room. Without moving, he strained to hear if the couple was speaking of him. But the utterances weren’t in any ordinary language. He concentrated on each syllable until it came to him that the two of them weren’t making conversation. They were making love.
    He waited awhile, until they were quiet. He waited some time more. He gripped his crook. Slowly he stood up. He stepped out of the bedroom.
    The couple lay on the floor by the hearth, entwined in sleep. In the embers’ glow, he could see that they were naked. Alef’s hands, creased with years, folded over Chaya’s shoulders. Her gray hair fell across his chest like an early frost. Their ancient guest crouched close. He saw the faint line of a smile where their wrinkled faces touched.
    He went away before the light arrived. At the foot of the forest, he dropped his crook. Coming into the clearing where he lived, he tossed away his hat and cloak. The dybbuk went home more mystified than he’d been when he’d left.
    He peered inside his pickling barrel. Ever since Chaya had freely given up her soul, he’d wondered whether having such a thing was really so valuable. He’d comforted himself with the torments of
Read Online Free Pdf

Similar Books

Kissing Her Cowboy

Boroughs Publishing Group

Touch & Go

Mira Lyn Kelly

Down Outback Roads

Alissa Callen

Another Woman's House

Mignon G. Eberhart

Cadillac Cathedral

Jack Hodgins

Fault Line

Chris Ryan