TE15 Lithuanian Honey Cake

Dragonfly (novel excerpt) By Undinė Radzevičiūtė Translated from Lithuanian by Rimas Uzgiris

1. “Is this the synagogue?” “You want to circumcise someone?” The person on the other side of the line considers this, or, perhaps, is insulted, but doesn’t hang up. “The synagogue is on the other side of the street,” I say. “Beep… Beep… Beep,” answers the caller. 2. The synagogue is on the other side of the street, but not directly across. It’s to the left. Three minutes by foot. Near the synagogue, the road turns and shoots off in the direction of a Catholic church. The synagogue disappears at the turn and isn’t visible frommy windows. Two lanes of cars come howling from around the turn – my building rocks from their passing. It rocks and rocks until evening, then, at night – I feel – nauseous. I’m seasick, or maybe just sick of life. 163