[rajnish manga]

“Giddy up,” he says and claps his hands. The carriage is torn away, like a piece of wood in a current. I still
hear how the door of my house is breaking down and splitting apart under the groom's onslaught, and then my eyes and ears are filled with a roaring sound which overwhelms all my senses at once. But only for a moment.

Then I am already there, as if the farm yard of my invalid opens up immediately in front of my courtyard gate.

The horses stand quietly. The snowfall has stopped, moonlight all around. The sick man's parents rush out of
the house, his sister behind them. They almost lift me out of the carriage. I get nothing from their confused
talking. In the sick room one can hardly breathe the air. The neglected cooking stove is smoking. I want to
push open the window, but first I'll look at the sick man. Thin, without fever, not cold, not warm, with empty
eyes, without a shirt, the young man under the stuffed quilt heaves himself up, hangs around my throat, and
whispers in my ear, “Doctor, let me die.” I look around. No one has heard. The parents stand silently, leaning
forward, and wait for my opinion. The sister has brought a stool for my handbag. I open the bag and look
among my instruments. The young man constantly gropes at me from the bed to remind me of his request. I
take some tweezers, test them in the candle light, and put them back. “Yes,” I think blasphemously, “in such
cases the gods do help. They send the missing horse, even add a second one because it's urgent, and even
throw in a groom as a bonus.” Now for the first time I think once more of Rosa.
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