The Black and the Green God

Jakub Goldman had proposed to Flora about a week after they met; in this regard he was like others; the young people were getting married right away; marriage was one of the cheapest things in the world; no one was acquiring coats-of-arms or fortunes, but purely and solely suitcases, plus the set number of square metres of living space given by the state. Morals were extremely loose, despite which the young people were setting up home. They had no idea one could set store by marriage, or that one could set store by anything. They were tragic, without knowing it, they were tragic, with their immorality and easy marriages. They were producing children in such high numbers that the social workers were tearing their hair out. Although this generation liked to sound off, every superfluous word annoyed them, in fact they hated words, they’d been raised on formulae, and although they thought they hated formulae, they sought them everywhere, because they were too pervaded by technology, which relies on formulae. The young people couldn’t forget that yesterday’s death of tens of millions in cruel torment had a crude formula as its only justification, and they were sure that a formula of the same kind would be enough for the same purposes tomorrow. This awareness defined their attitude to life. The only gods before whom they bowed down without reservation were sex and sport.

Goldman and Flora both liked the idea that they were getting married. Flora saw it as an excellent lark, and...