"But what he told me！ Please realize that it was equivalent to ...it was as if someone should remove the floor from under you this minute， and you and everything here on the desk， the papers， the ink...the ink would splash out and cover everything with blots..."
"What else？ What further？ Hurry up， others are waiting！"
Then， stumbling， muttering， I told him everything that is recorded in these pages... About my real self， and about my hairy self， and about my hands... yes... exactly， that was the beginning... And how I lied to myself， and how she obtained false certificates for me， and how I grew worse and worse， every day， and about the long corridors underground， and there beyond the Wall...
All this I threw out in formless pieces and lumps. I would stutter and fail to find words. The lips double-curved in a smile would prompt me with the word I needed， and I would nod gratefully： "Yes， yes！"...Suddenly， what was it？ He was talking for me， and I only listened and nodded： "Yes， yes，" and then， "Yes， exactly so... yes， yes ... "
I felt cold around my mouth as though it were wet with ether， and I asked with difficulty：
"But how is it...You could not learn anywhere..."
He smiled a smile growing more and more curved； then：
"But I see that you do want to conceal something from me. For example， you enumerated everything you saw beyond the Wall， but you failed to mention one thing. You deny it？ But don"t you remember that once， just in passing， just for a second， you saw me there？ Yes， yes， me！"
Silence.
Suddenly， like a flash of lightning， it became shame-lessly clear to me： he—he， too— And everything about myself， my torment， all that I had brought here， crushed by the burden，plucking up my last strength as if performing a great feat， all appeared to me only funny—like the ancient anecdote about Abraham and Isaac： Abraham all in a cold sweat， with the knife already raised over his son， over himself， and suddenly a voice from above： Never mind...I was only joking."
Without taking my eyes from the smile that grew more and more curved， I put my hands on the edge of the desk and slowly， very slowly pushed myself with my chair away from him. Then instantly gathering myself into my own hands， I dashed madly out， past loud voices， past steps and mouths...
I do not remember how I got into one of the public rest rooms， in a station of the Underground Railway. Above， everything was perishing； the greatest civilization， the most rational in human history was crumbling， but here， by some irony， everything remained as before， beautiful. The walls shone； water murmured cozily； and like the water， the unseen， transparent music... Only think of it！ All this is doomed； all this will be covered with grass someday； only myths will remain..
I moaned aloud. At the same instant I felt someone gently patting my knee. It was from the left； it was my neighbor who occupied a seat on my left—an enormous forehead， a bald parabola， yellow， unintelligible lines of wrinkles on his forehead， those lines about me.
"I understand you. I understand completely，" he said. "Yet you must calm yourself. You must. It will return. It will inevitably return. It is only important that everybody should learn of my discovery. You are the first to whom I talk about it. I have calculated that there is no infinity！ No！"
I looked at him wildly.
"Yes， yes， I tell you so. There is no infinity. If the universe is infinite， then the average density of matter must equal zero； but since we know it is not zero， therefore the universe is finite； it is spherical in form， and the square of its radius—R2—is equal to the average density multiplied by...The only thing left is to calculate the numerical coefficient and then...Do you realize what it means？ It means that everything is final， everything is simple... But you， my honored sir， you disturb me， you prevent my finishing my calculations by your yelling！"
I do not know which shattered me more， his discovery， or his positiveness at that apocalyptic hour. Only then did I notice that he had a notebook in his hands， and a logarithmic dial. I understood then that even if everything was perishing it was my duty （before you， my unknown and beloved） to leave these records in a finished form.
I asked him to give me some paper， and here in the rest room， to the accompaniment of the quiet music， transparent like water， I wrote down these last lines.
I was about to put down a period as the ancients would put a cross over the caves into which they used to throw their dead， when all of a sudden my pencil trembled and fell from between my fingers...
"Listen" I pulled my neighbor. "Yes， listen， I say. There， where your finite universe ends， what is there？ What？"
He had no time to answer. From above， down the steps stamping...
