The Slynx

by Tatyana Tolstaya

He knew how to build a bathhouse and heat the stones. True, his father didn’t like to wash. Bears, he’d say, live just fine without any baths.

So most clothes are made from mouse skins, and that’s not as good. Everyone knows that you can cut something from a big piece, but you can’t keep your teeth warm with a mouse skin.

Heavenly streams poured down, piercing the snow. It looked like someone had punctured it and blackened it with stone nails. The earth showed through in some places. Last year’s rubbish surfaced on all the streets, in all the yards.