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He instructed Ha
Among Mr. Jakov's books was a copy bound in leather of Christiaan Huyghens ' Treatise on Light, and Ha
Ha
Ha
When he was six, three important things happened to him.
First he discovered Euclid 's Elements, in an old edition with hand-drawn illustrations. He could follow the illustrations with his finger, and put his forehead against them.
That fall he was presented with a baby sister, Mischa. He thought Mischa looked like a wrinkled red squirrel. He reflected privately that it was a pity she did not get their mother's looks.
Usurped on all fronts, he thought how convenient it would be if the eagle that sometimes soared over the castle should gather his little sister up and gently transport her to some happy peasant home in a country far away, where the residents all looked like squirrels and she would fit right in. At the same time, he found he loved her in a way he could not help, and when she was old enough to wonder, he wanted to show her things, he wanted her to have the feeling of discovery.
Also in the year Ha
Count Lecter introduced Mr. Jakov to his pupil in the library and left them. The library in warm weather had a cold-smoked aroma that was ingrained in the castle's stone.
"My father says you will teach me many things."
"If you wish to learn many things, I can help you."
"He tells me you are a great scholar."
"I am a student."
"He told my mother you were expelled from the university."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I am a Jew, an Ashkenazi Jew to be precise."
"I see. Are you unhappy?"
"To be a Jew? No, I'm glad."
"I meant are you unhappy to be out of school?"
"I am glad to be here."
"Do you wonder if I am worth your time?"
"Every person is worth your time, Ha
"Did they put you in the room with an iron grate over the door?"
"Yes, they did."
"It doesn't lock anymore."
"I was pleased to see that."
"That's where they kept Uncle Elgar," Ha
A row of immense leather tomes occupied an entire shelf. The last one was charred.
"The room will have a smoky smell when it rains. The walls were lined with hay bales to muffle his utterances."
"Did you say his utterances?"
"They were about religion, but-do you know the meaning of 'lewd' or lewdness'?"
"Yes."
"I'm not clear on it myself, but I believe it means the sort of thing one wouldn't say in front of Mother."
"That's my understanding of it as well," Mr. Jakov said.
"If you'll look at the date on the glass, it's exactly the day direct sunlight reaches his window every year."
"He was waiting for the sun."
"Yes, and that's the day he burned up in there. As soon as he got sunlight, he lit the hay with the monocle he wore as he composed these books."
Ha
"Your father said you measured the height of the towers."
"Yes."
"How high are they?"
"Forty meters, the south one, and the other is a half-meter shorter."
"What did you use for a gnomon?"
"The stone. By measuring the stone's height and its shadow, and measuring the shadow of the castle at the same hour."
"The side of the stone is not exactly vertical."
"I used my yo-yo as a plumb."
"Could you take both measurements at once?"
"No, Mr. Jakov."
"How much error might you have from the time between the shadow measurements?"
"A degree every four minutes as the earth turns. It's called the Ravenstone. Na
"I see," Mr. Jakov said. "It has a longer shadow than I thought."
They fell into a pattern of having discussions while walking and Ha
Ha
Ha
The parts of an ancient catapult used by Ha
In that week, Ha
As a birthday treat Mr. Jakov showed him a non-mathematical proof of the Pythagorean theorem using tiles and their impression on a bed of sand.
Ha
Mr. Jakov rarely brought a textbook to their discussions, and rarely referred to one. At the age of eight, Ha
"Would you like to remember everything?" Mr. Jakov said.
"Yes."
"To remember is not always a blessing."
"I would like to remember everything."