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  • Gila
  • S. Yizhar (bio)
    Translated by Nicholas de Lange (bio) and Yaacob Dweck (bio)

Gila was a lovely, slightly plump girl, and when she laughed she laughed till the tears came, whereas Hansi was a lovely, slim girl with a fine smile. The two of them blossomed on evenings when there was dancing: Gila danced with anyone who could make her laugh, while Hansi, for all her good looks and despite the line of would-be partners, only ever danced with her Hananya, who was also very jealous. They both wore their best dresses, embellished with embroidery, and their hair was beautifully brushed. Gila was fair and Hansi was dark and they both danced and sang their hearts out in the shadow of the accordion whose tempestuous rhythms enfolded everything, and without missing a single word sang all the words of all the songs from "We have a billy goat" until "Who are we? Who are we all?"—but there was no one who was prettier than they were or who danced more wonderfully when the waltzes started, when they moved as gracefully as swans taking to the water, with lightness, grace, and beauty, and that other something that has no name but makes all the difference between charming and wonderful. Any boy who danced with Gila had to concentrate all his imagination and poetic power to dance as she danced, whereas skinny little Hananya [End Page 571] was like someone who seemed destined for Hansi from birth, lightly supporting one of her hands and enfolding her waist with his other, leading, whirling, slowing and sweeping, while Hansi's hand rested trustingly on his shoulder, he so happy, and with the same tiny circling steps, keeping time silently, with a serious, unsmiling face, focused, graceful, and so attentive to her that she resembled a dancer from Swan Lake, as if all the various horas, krakowiaks, Circassian dances, and all the leaping couples were no more than a compulsory tribute to the local children, while the waltz was their homeland. Far away in Vienna, Berlin, or possibly Prague.

Like many of their girlfriends who danced with all their might and with all sixteen years of their lives, of which only the last three had been here, since they reached Ben Shemen by all sorts of circuitous routes, and since one day three years ago, at the railway station in Vienna, Berlin, or Prague, they had taken leave of their parents, their families, or merely those who were still able to accompany them, and without daring to weep out loud, without ever knowing or hearing anything more about them, and since the well-known events that even without knowing or hearing about them ever again. Hanan and Hanan prancing and dancing over there were once Hans and Johannes, and Batya and Bilha dizzyingly whirling over there used to be Betty and Bella, and Gershon or Gerhard was with Rutie who was Matilda, and Shulamit was with Ehud and no one could remember what they were called before, and Edgar who had become Gad and there was even some Moishe who had turned into Dan and immediately into Danny.

What do girls do when one of them is much prettier? Maybe they say it's not the body that matters but the spirit, maybe they say yes but one of her eyes is smaller than the other, and there may even be some who say she's so beautiful it hurts (and being girls they had also seen all of her in the shower when others had only seen her in their febrile imagination) but so pretty it hurts was also said and much more by the boys and this was at first hand, especially the poets in the group, whereas others did not speak poetically but just said it was better not to start with Hananya, for he was like a panther, just look at him on the sports field or in the swimming pool. And even if you thought how this Hansi would have looked if she had not been forced to flee at the last moment and tear herself from her father's embrace, not letting go of her, his...

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