Where Tigers Are at Home by Jean-Marie Blas de Robles Page A

Aristotle’s assumptions & were only following the Church’s directions by force & out of obedience.
    When he heard him express these views, Peiresc embraced my master, overjoyed to see him return to the path of reason. As for myself, until then educated to respect Aristotle absolutely, I did not conceal my disagreement with the result that the two of them made great efforts to show me where the infallible philosopher was mistaken. I was easily convinced—young people are malleable—but this abjuration left me with the uncomfortable feeling of belonging to a secret brotherhood that favored heresy. On the way back I was quaking in my shoes, so convinced I was that people would recognize my seditious opinions & deliver me up to the Inquisition. Kircher was amused at my disquiet, but calmed me a little by suggesting I outwardly adopt, as he did himself, the system of Tycho Brahe, which was recognized by the Church & was intellectually satisfying insofar as it constituted a neat compromise between the
unmoving paradise
of Aristotle & the universal movement of the Italian.
    A few days later an order came that we were to go immediately to Vienna & we had to make hasty preparation to leave Avignon.
CORUMBÁ:
A little fish, a tiny little fish
    Dietlev and Milton were there to meet them when their train arrived at Corumbá station. Elaine was glad to see the cheerful face of her German colleague. Small and tubby, he sported a bushy salt-and-pepper beard, as if to compensate for the sparse crown of hair that was still resisting the encroachment of baldness. Known for his good nature, his hearty appetite and his love of puns, he hardly ever seemed to lose his infectious good humor. He laughed so easily that Elaine could not imagine him without seeing the gleam of his teeth behind his tousled mustache. His scalp, badly burned by the sun and brick red, proved that he had not been inactive while waiting for them.
    Much more reserved than Dietlev and therefore less accessible, Milton’s severity was legendary and made him an imposing figure. Despite his lack of experience of the terrain, or more probably because of that, he made a point of showing reserve and punctilious formality in all things. His political connections and the great favor in which he was held in the upper echelons of the university gave him hope of being appointed rector the following year. Anxious to show how much he merited the position, he was already cultivating a cold and pretentious façade. All in all he was something of a pain in the neck and Dietlev would have been happy to do without him but had been forced to yield to his prerogative as head of department and his power as a member of the commission allocating research funds.
    During the taxi ride Mauro was the object of much solicitous attention on the part of Milton. Questioned more assiduously than Elaine about the events of their journey, he was forced to recount the episode of the wallet-thief in detail, which he did with a light, humorous touch.
    Once they reached the Beira Rio Hotel, Dietlev left the new arrivals to settle in, arranging to meet on the terrace for lunch. Elaine’s first concern was to take a shower. She was exhausted from the train journey and felt dirty from head to toe. She had never realized there were still steam locomotives in the country, even less that the smoke was so grimy! Brand new when she had left Campo Grande eight hours previously, her clothes were ready for a thorough cleaning.
    She was just coming out of the shower when there was a knock at the door. It was Dietlev. Since she was on familiar terms with him, she just wrapped the bath towel around her before going to open the door. He seemed worried.
    “You’re not ashamed to let someone into your room when you’re half-naked?” he joked.
    “Not if it’s an old friend,” she replied with a laugh, “and one who’s seen me without a stitch more than once, if I remember rightly.”
    “You just be careful, my