“You may be right about that,” I said. “I think you are, but there’s reason to believe he won’t refuse to move back to his old room. After that we’ll see. And Hava, if Yolek isn’t feeling well, please let me know right away. Try to convince him to take the doctor’s advice.”

“But I’m not speaking to him any more. He’s a murderer, Srulik. Are you asking me to throw myself into a murderer’s arms?”

Once Hava was gone, I forced myself to spoon up half a container of yogurt and take an aspirin. I wrapped myself in my coat and went to look for Azariah Gitlin. I found him sitting at the switchboard. He was still so distraught that after sleeping for less than two hours he had got up and run back to his post.

He cringed when I walked in and hurried to offer me a cigarette—in fact, a whole pack, because he had another in his pocket. I had to remind him I didn’t smoke.

“A thousand apologies, Comrade Srulik. Cigarettes are the most revolting poison. I beg your pardon. ‘Stepan gave Alyosha his most precious stones; Alyosha got mad and broke Stepan’s bones.’ In Russian, Stepan actually gave Alyosha his silver spoon, but I changed it to stones to maintain the rhyme. I’m ashamed of myself, Comrade Srulik, for causing you all this trouble. Yonatan’s the only friend I ever had in the whole world. But his going away—I mean this trip of his—I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Whatever you all may be thinking is the exact opposite of the truth. Because I want you to know, Comrade Srulik, that it was Yonatan who invited me into his home. It’s as simple as that. You can even announce it at the next general meeting. He wanted someone to be there. He even showed me where he kept all his tools so I could replace him. Just as you’ve replaced Yolek. There’s no embarassment like a bad comparison, as the saying goes, but you’re all making the mistake that Spinoza called the confusion of cause and effect. Yoni didn’t decide to go away because I moved in. He had me move in because he had decided to go away. It’s a perfect example of mistaking the effect for the cause. Are you, Comrade Srulik, an admirer of Spinoza?”

“Of course I am,” I said. “But let’s leave Spinoza for less troubled times. Meanwhile, let me ask you a question and perhaps a favor too.”

“Of course, Comrade Srulik. Anything you say. Your wish is my command.”

“Azariah, if only to spare certain people a lot of heartache, would you agree to move back to the barber’s shack until all this blows over?”