Part One When Ziv heard of Lee's death he did not give one thought to the poet and his lost life. He had hardly known the young man, whose outburst into the Youth Hall affected only a very limited circle of enthusiasts. Ziv was a mathematician, not only by profession but also by nature; he saw the world not through words, as the poet must have done, but through mathematical ideas. As a result, he was a bad mixer, had difficulty in getting to know strangers, and was completely indifferent to poetic metaphors.
The person he did think about, could not stop pondering on, was Nan. The young mathematician had a soft heart, very loyal toward old friends and acquaintances for the very reason that it was so hard for him to make new ones. And Nan had been the closest person he had ever known in his adult life. He would remember forever the day - or rather the night - he had met her.
The Youth Hall seemed to Ziv more crowded, noisier than ever. Night had fallen when he had finished the course of studies he had set for himself; as he left the soundproof study room, coming out into the daily tumult of the Hall, he stopped for a moment to watch the dancing which, as happened many times, had formed spontaneously. Ziv was not himself a good dancer, but the music always affected him, and he liked to watch the writhing bodies moving to its rhythm. So absorbed, he only noticed the woman when she spoke for the third time, touching his shoulder.
"Want to dance?" He turned his head. Looking her over from under his long golden eyelashes, he did not remember ever seeing her before. She looked older than himself - twenty-two or three in contrast to his nineteen. He saw at once she was not pretty. Medium height with a wide, solid body; her face looked plain, except the golden-brown eyes which glowed with life and humor -- from somewhere inside her he felt a fire burning and a compelling personality. As he was delaying his answer, she took him in her strong arms, held him tight to her full breasts and swept him into the center of the dance floor. Her movements, light and springy, surprised him, bearing in mind her heavy-looking body.
"I've been noticing you, ever since I came back from my last trip," she said into his ear with a low, full-bodied voice. They were of the same height, their eyes and mouths on a level. "Why do you always stand alone? I've never seen you in company. Don't you like people?"
