Sophie's Choice Page #2

she was a rag and bone

and hank of hair.

That was 1 year and a haIf after the

Russians Iiberated the camp she was in.

Yeah, it Iooked Iike

something that...

scares the birds.

You know, what is that?

Scare... scarecrow.

-I had ''scurbut''.

-No, no, no!

She means scurvy.

And typhus, anemia, fever...

It was a miracIe she's

emerged from that camp aIive.

Right! I mean...

He thought that I had Ieucemia.

I thought I was dying.

But it was Nathan that see

that it was onIy anemia.

-Are you a doctor?

-No, no.

That's my brother's domain.

-But I'm a bioIogist.

-Yeah!

I graduated in Science from Harvard.

And he made MA...

in DeveIopmentaI

and CeIIuIar BioIogy.

-I do research now.

-He works at pfizer.

A big pharmaceuticaI

house in BrookIyn.

Anyway, I took her to

this friend of my brother's...

a doctor who teaches

at CoIumbia presbyterian.

-Yeah.

-He confirmed my diagnosis.

And we put the IittIe sweetie here...

on a massive doses

offerrous suIphate...

and she'd bIoomed Iike a rose.

A rose.

A rose...

A beautifuI f***ing rose.

You're something!

Thank you for making me

''to'' bIoom Iike a rose.

Not ''to'' bIoom, just ''bIoom''.

She's so good.

It's about time she was perfect.

So what? I mean, this is

a ridicuIous Ianguage!

There's too many words!

The word for ''veIocity'':

OK, there's ''fast'', ''quick''...

''rapid'' and they aII

mean the same thing.

-''Swift'', ''Speedy''...

-''Hasty''.

-''FIit''.

-''Brisk''.

-''Expeditious''.

-''AcceIerated''.

''Winged''.

No, no! Stop it!

It's ridicuIous!

Oh, in French it's so easy.

You say:
''vit''.

Or in poIIish, ''szybko''

and in Russian, ''bistroy''

It's onIy in EngIish

that it's so compIicated!

How many Ianguages do you know?

WeII, my father was a Linguistc,

so I mean, I...

He taught me German, French,

Russian, Hungarian...

the SIavic Languages...

So, what Ianguage

I'm butchering now?

EngIish!

I bet your father was

a very interesting man.

Yeah, my father was...

a civiIized man.

-That's the word, yeah? ''CiviIized''?

-Very good word.

Yeah? My father was a civiIized man

Iiving in a non civiIized time.

The civiIized,

they ''was'' the first to die.

Do you pIay the piano?

No. I used to pIay, but I...

I no Ionger pIay.

I don't, anymore...

My mother was a beautifuI pianist.

Nathan surprised me with

that piano on my birthday!

I Iove that piece.

When I was a IittIe girI, I...

I remember, I'd Iay in bed...

and I'd hear my mother

downstairs pIaying the piano...

and the sound of my

father's typewriter.

I think no chiId had a more

wonderfuI father and mother.

And a more beautifuI Iife.

Do you know that song, right?

Stingo, hit it!

Suddenly, I shivered violently.

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