"And where is this fish now?"
"It fell into the canal and drifted away on the tide. Not long ago I started another such fish you see it here but I lost heart and never finished it."
"So now you are ready to die."
"No one is ever quite ready."
One of the Laddakees pushed forward from the rear of the group.
"If the truth be told, I am ashamed of this sort of thing. Instead of buying this gentleman's death, let us take up a collection and ensure his survival. Is not that more worthy of humanity and our religion?"
A mutter went around the group. Some seemed to agree; others were doubtful. A very stout man said plaintively: "That's all well and good, but we have already paid for the spectacle; the money would be wasted!"
Another said: "More to the point, there are thousands in the same case! If we rescue this old gaffer and his fish, then another will come to take his place; must we then rescue another, who perhaps has carved a bird? The process is endless!"
The leader said: "As you all know, I am a merciful man, and an Elder in the Church, but I must come down on the side of practicality. As I understand it, this spectacle conduces not to morbidity or perverse spasms, but to a healthy catharsis. Brother Jankoop's scheme does him credit, but I would suggest that on our return home, he show an equal solicitude for his neighbors and put his goats out to pasture."
Grateful laughter greeted the sally. The leader turned to Fader.
"Perhaps your party would care to join us at the Double Bubble spectacle. The fee, thus prorated among the two groups, would make the cost less daunting."
Aries inquired: "What, in fact, is the fee?"
Fader calculated.
"The charges would be five sols per individual. That is a flat rate." He held up his hand to the instant chorus of protests.
"There will be no prorating;
prices are fixed."
Aries said with a shaky laugh: "After a financial shock like that, I truly need some catharsis. I will take part, despite the expense."
"Include me," said Cloyd.
"What about you, Dauncy?"
"I don't want to miss anything. I'll come."
"Include me as well," declared Kiper.
"It's disgusting," said Uther Offaw.
"I won't have any part of it."
"Nor I," said Glawen.
Shugart also excluded himself from the event; Jardine at last decided to participate, "from sheer curiosity," as he put it. Kirdy hesitated, his big rubicund face showing first one expression, then another. At last, feeling Glawen's eyes upon him, he said, rather sulkily, "It's not for me."
While Fader collected the five-sol charges, Glawen chanced to notice the half-finished fish. He pointed.
"May I see it?"
The old man handed him the object: a bit of wood eight inches long, with head and about half of the scales carved in exact and minute detail. On an impulse Glawen asked:
"Would you sell this to me?"
"It is nothing: not even complete. When I am dead it will be thrown away. You may have it without charge."
"Thank you," said Glawen. From the corner of his eye he felt Fader's observation fixed upon him. He told the old man: "At Yipton nothing is free. I will pay you this coin for the carving. Is that agreeable?"
"Yes, just as you like."
Glawen paid over the coin and took the wooden half-fish. He noticed that Fader had turned away.
The Laddakees' tour guide called out: "Time for the spectacle! On your feet, old man! You must pump and blow hard if you wish to enjoy the evening supper."
Fader, with Kirdy, Uther, Shugart and Glawen, waited in the gallery. The others entered a room where a peculiar contrivance had been arranged: a pair of glass cylinders three feet in diameter and seven feet tall stood side by side, joined to each other by pipes. Into each of the cylinders an ancient gladiator was lowered, until he stood on the bottom; then lids were clamped over the top.
Into the bottom of each cylinder water began to gush, rising ever higher. By working a lever arm, each old man could pump water from his own cylinder into that of his adversary. At first both men seemed apathetic, but as the water rose up around their waists, each essayed a few strokes of the pump and at last both began to pump in earnest. The old gladiator in one tube displayed more desperation and more stamina; at last he succeeded in pumping water over the head of the old man who had carved the fish, who thereupon ceased his exertions, clawed and kicked at the glass for a moment or two, then drowned, and the spectacle came to an end.
The Bold Lions who had been on hand returned to the gallery.
Kirdy said: "Well?"
Jardine spoke in a hollow voice: "If that is catharsis, I have had enough."
Fader said briskly: "Come, now; time is short. To the bazaar. Prices, incidentally, are fixed; do not haggle.
