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"Then there's a gasp from the spectators, a murmur,
perhaps of puzzlement, and a moment of intense expect-
ant silence. Then at a roll of the drums Goldberg
snaps the long whip and Abramovitz translates the
owner's idiocy into something that makes sense and
somehow fulfills expectations; though in truth it's
no more than a question following a response already
given."
° ° °
"Then they laugh. And do they laugh! They pound each
other in merriment. You'd think this trite riddle, this
sad excuse for a joke, was the first they had heard
in their lives. And they're laughing at a translated
question, of course, not the answer, which is the way
Goldberg has set it up."
° ° °
"'It was a joke, master,' Abramovitz explained.
'To say the answer was o.k., but not to ask the question
by yourself.'
Out of stored up bitterness the talking horse replied,
"I did it on account of it made me feel free.'
At that Goldberg whacked him hard across the neck with
his murderous cane. Abramovitz, choking, staggered but
did not bleed. 'Don't, master,' he gasped 'not on my
old wound.'
Goldberg went into slow motion, still waving the cane."
--from TALKING HORSE by Bernard Malamud
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