"'Zaru (it was this man's name)! Zaru! Zaru! I love you. When this image is rotted away you must run
after me as the dog after the bitch. You are mine, Zaru, soul and body. As the image rots, you become
mine. When the image is rotted, you are all mine. Forever and forever and forever!'
"She covered the image with earth. He leaped upon her, and strangled her. He would have dug up the
image, but he heard voices and was more afraid and ran. He did not go back to the village. He made his
way to America.
"He told me that when he was out a day on that journey, he felt hands clutching at his loins-dragging him
to the rail, to the sea. Back to the village, to the girl. By that, he knew he had not killed her. He fought the
hands. Night after night he fought them. He dared not sleep, for when he slept he dreamed he was there
at the cross-roads, the girl beside him-and three times he awakened just in time to check himself from