“But you didn’t know her as a person. You never have known a person. You aren’t aware of persons, Joseph; only people. You can’t see units, Joseph, only the whole.” She shrugged her shoulders and sat up straight. “You aren’t even listening to me. I came over to see if you had had anything to eat.”
She stepped over and turned up the wick a little. “It is a hard time, Joseph. I want to see how you look at this time. Yes,” she said. “There is no change. That makes me strong again. I was afraid there might have been a break. Are you thinking about Elizabeth?”
He wondered how to answer. There was an impulse in him to tell the thing as truly as he could. “Yes, somewhat,” he said slowly and uncertainly, “of Elizabeth and of all the things that die. Everything seems to work with a recurring rhythm except life. There is only one birth and only one death.
Nothing else is like that.” Rama moved close and sat down beside him. “You loved Elizabeth.”
“Yes,” he said, “I did.”
“But you didn’t know her as a person. You never have known a person. You aren’t aware of persons, Joseph; only people. You can’t see units, Joseph, only the whole.” She shrugged her shoulders and sat up straight. “You aren’t even listening to me.
