Gesar pondered for a moment. Then he said: “Well, that is the result of Arina’s interference. She treated the heir to the throne’s illness, if she’s not lying, so he didn’t die—as he should have done . . . But one way or another, all the rest has happened. The silly old fool has simply gone gaga. She wants to suffer a bit, don’t you know. She has destroyed Russia! What a laugh! The whole world and its uncle have been trying to destroy Russia for a thousand years, but it’s still there, and it will stay there!”

“Thank you,” I said sincerely, getting up. “I was feeling pretty lousy about it.”

“Anton, I’ve lived in many different places,” Gesar said in a gentle voice. “Tibet . . . China . . . India . . . Flanders . . .”

“Not Holland?” I asked.

“Zeelandic Flanders,” Gesar replied. “Now it’s part of Holland, that’s right. The point, Anton, is that you can get stuck on any country. I love Tibet, and India, and Flanders. And Russia, of course! But with the passing years you come to realize that the most important things are your family, your friends, your work. And as for countries . . . we’re all citizens of humankind, we have emerged from it, but we live and work for its sake. We’re all Others! That’s what is most important. Don’t be afraid of that old Witch’s nonsense. Sleeping for all that time had a bad effect on her. Don’t seek for meaning in Erasmus’s old lump of wood: if even Arina didn’t covet it—and she could have stolen it from you a hundred times—it means there isn’t any meaning in it. But when it comes to Innokentii’s prophecy, of course, that’s where you really blundered! That would be really worth knowing!”

I hung my head repentantly.

“You definitely erased everything from the toy phone?” Gesar asked casually.

“Yes. I gave it to the lab guys.”

“They couldn’t fish anything out of it,” Gesar sighed. “A tiny microchip, completely written over, the old information completely erased . . . And you didn’t keep another flash stick?”

“I don’t have another one. They’ve checked already.”

“That’s bad,” said Gesar, sighing heavily again. “The most valuable piece of information you obtained in Formosa is that the Tiger is not exactly what we thought: he tries to spur the Prophets on to make their prophesies, not eliminate them! But he behaved quite differently here! He himself stated that the prophecy must not be uttered! And that makes the prophecy interesting—but now it’s out of our reach!”

“It’s my fault . . .”