Nights of Awe (33 page)
Authors: Harri Nykanen
My uncle dropped the gun and looked at me.
“I couldn’t let him kill you, and I didn’t want you to kill him. It’s too heavy a burden. You’re still young…”
I bent over at Dan’s side. I raised his head from the wet ground. I could see that the shot had been lethal.
“This really sucks, Dan.”
Dan looked at me and tried to smile. His rigid face softened and his eyes closed. My friend Dan Kaplan had died a long time ago. Now it was just Dan Kaplan who died.
The police officers gathered around me, and Huovinen placed a hand on my shoulder. Ignoring the wet asphalt, my uncle dropped down at my side. The prayer accompanied every Jew at death. We uttered it together: “
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, dayan ha’emet
…”
Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam, dayan ha’emet
…”
“Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the universe, the one true judge.”
The sound of the shofar rose from the depths of despair and died out.
BITTER LEMON PRESS
First published in the United Kingdom in 2012 by
Bitter Lemon Press, 37 Arundel Gardens, London W11 2LW
Bitter Lemon Press, 37 Arundel Gardens, London W11 2LW
First published in Finnish as
Ariel
by Werner Söderström Ltd (WSOY), Helsinki, 2004
Ariel
by Werner Söderström Ltd (WSOY), Helsinki, 2004
Bitter Lemon Press gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance of the Arts Council of England and the WSOY Literary Foundation
English translation © Kristian London, 2012
Published by arrangement
with Werner Söderström Ltd (WSOY), Helsinki
Published by arrangement
with Werner Söderström Ltd (WSOY), Helsinki
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced in any form or by any means without
written permission of the publisher
reproduced in any form or by any means without
written permission of the publisher
The moral rights of the author and the translator have been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs, and Patents Act 1988
asserted in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs, and Patents Act 1988
All the characters and events described in this novel are imaginary and any similarity with real people or events is purely coincidental.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
eISBN : 978-1-904-73893-0
Typeset by Tetragon
Printed and bound by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire
Printed and bound by Cox & Wyman Ltd, Reading, Berkshire
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