Satyr’s Ambrosia
Gelosia vecchia al Umberto
Brandy à la Mansarde
Arpeggio à la Mansarde
Žilavka Mistress of the Lute
Hosszú lépés Smart Ass
Thea-Lipovanka á la Mary Magdalene
Evening Star, bitter
Morning Star, violet
The Song of Tam-Tam
Moonlight of Delphi
Palm Frond Vugava
Primavera marina
Mezzogiorno adriatico
Cyclamen Sailor’s Duel
Le temps retrouvé
Dollente, lis blanc
Allegro, ma non troppo
Allegretto (108), red
Allegro vivace (152), white
Ritardando brillante, maestoso
Doloroso espressivo
Dolce, ma con fuoco a l’Euridice
Desperados’ Soliloquy
Boule-de-neige
Il Sueño della Vida
Balata, bitter opal
Tourmaline bicolore
Tourmaline rose (rubellite)
Saphir cagochon
Calitera menandar (Asia)
Precis heleida (Madagascar)
Precis eurodoce
Anea Orphilochus (Sumatra)
Arhonias Bellona (pierides)
Byblia ilithya
Agerona mexicana
Chrisidia madagascariensis
Eucalitia clemante
Amethyst blue (sapphire)
DOMESTIC WINES
Fruška Gora Pearls of Dawn
Dubrovnik Madrigal
Ohrid Legend
Gračanica Dawn
Slavic Legend, bitter
Morning Star over Herzegovina, bitter
The Highways of Prince Marko (dark)
Scutari Gold (gutedel)
Mother Jevrosima’s Hair
Banović Strahinja’s Goblet
Lazar’s Bicep
Vuk Mandušić’s Dream, white
Maternal Curse
Word of Love
Simonida’s Eyes
A Monk’s Manuscript
And then, as far as the food on the menu went—
FISH AND SEAFOOD
Dragonfly in mayonnaise
Poison d’avril
Barbus de Sumatra in palm oil
Danio Rerio with lemon
Egg of Columbus
Girardinus Guppi (Arc-en-Ciel)
Chinese warrior with mint
Barbillon Galapagos
Aquamarino adriatico
Speckled lutist with mustard
Flying coral with French fries
Seaweed with spaghetti
Mistral with orange
Mistral in olive oil
Mistral from the grill
Mistral in a tin can
South African diamond
Gavial of Celebes
Tahitian pictor
White Tahiti-flower with rice
Rouge-Gorge of the Adriatic
Rouge-Bleu of the Adriatic (with cream)
Tomatoes with Greek olives
Tern with eggs
Bouquet de mariée with mustard
Cleaning lady in lemon juice
Shark à la Sumatra
Ageronio Atlantis
Catenofele salicia (Nymphalisis)
Hvar Guitar without Sordino
Hvar Guitar with Sordino
Brač shipwreck in white wine
Rose of the winds
As he pored over the menu, a cut diamond in the shape of a skull and crossbones twinkled on his short index finger. I observed the way his fingers slid perplexedly over the snakeskin.
But, finally — after he had drunk an absinthe — the man said, “The specialty of the house, please.”
His voice wasn’t trembling when he said it.
“How’s that?” blinked the old man Barba-Umberto, whose eyes were following Leontina’s butt under her black apron as she walked away.
The man with the swollen eyes cast a brief glance at Leontina, who was washing glasses behind the bar. Then he repeated:
“The specialty of the house. A Desperados’ Pistol. . That’s what it’s called, isn’t it?”
Barba-Umberto blanched.
“They promised me that they would look out for her. I said: ‘Boys, if anybody so much as taps her a single time on the. .’”
Then Igor jumped in:
“What may I bring you, sir?”
“A Pi-stol. A Desperados’ Pistol. How many times do I have to repeat myself?”
“Excuse us,” said Igor, wiping the crumbs off of the Brač marble in front of the man with a white napkin.
“Our interpreter is a bit hard of hearing. .”
“A double. Don’t forget: a double.”
“As you wish.” Billy bowed formally and headed to the bar, as the man called out after him:
“Noch ein Bier!”
Igor bowed.
The man had hooked his short little thumbs into his suspenders and was watching the dark, wintry sea through the window. A black and white ship was trying to draw up to the breakwater through the waves. From time to time its howl could be heard over the wind and it immediately awakened in me the memory of a train embankment, of Eurydice.
Next to me I sensed the haste with which Igor was working. He unfastened the pistol from its hook (where it hung over the bar like a museum piece), and then I heard him cock it and eject the four remaining bullets from the magazine. After he had inserted one bullet into the barrel, he brought out a silver dish from under the bar. He wiped it off and then laid a small white silk napkin, folded into a triangle, onto it. Carefully he placed the pistol onto the napkin. He was then ready to head to the table but something else occurred to him. I noticed that he was agitated, although his hands weren’t trembling. He moved the napkin with the pistol over to the side of the tray, and on the opposite side he placed a mug of foaming beer. Then he nodded to Barba-Umberto and handed him the tray, motioning with his head toward the guest with the skull-and-crossbones. The man was still watching the ship roll around right outside the entrance to the harbor. Without a word Umberto took the tray and set it in front of the customer. The man with the suspenders glanced at the pistol, poked around at it intently with his small index finger, and then drank down his beer. Then he sat there for another quarter of an hour, immersed in the sight of the ship. Then he gestured to Umberto to bring the check.