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györgy spiró
count as a fully able-bodied
man, let the community draw
at least some use from him,
and anyway teachers were
paid, which was not a point
to be sneezed at. His teacher,
Eusebius, who was fond of Uri
and rated his abilities highly,
had also encouraged him, but
in vain: Uri hated anything to
do with the community.
Others could see well, he
couldn’t.
Others did not have a head
and feet and back that ached
with pain.
Others were able to chewwell,
whereas he could only chew
on the right side, because the
teeth on the left side did not
clenchandhad started tocome
loose, which was a sign that he
was going to lose them. It was
terrible, on the other hand,
that the permanent incisors
projected so far forward that
he could not close his mouth
properly, though admittedly
they allowed him to whistle
superbly through the gap
that could be formed with
his tongue, and sometimes
people would greatly admire
that, but he would rather have
had normal teeth.
Other boys the same age were
not going bald, as he had been
since sixteen.
Others were not born freaks,
as he was. It might not have
been visible to everyone, but
that is what he felt like, and
that is what he became.
It was not solely on account
of his physical problems,
however, that he shut himself
away in his hovel.
Around f ive years ago,
when his eyesight had been
better, not long after his bar
mitzvah, or, in other words,
his ceremonial initiation into
manhood by the synagogue,