"Somewhat overly legibly, I wrote on a sheet of paper, "We're held up indefinitely by the parade. We're going to find a phone and have a cold drink somewhere. Will you join us?" I folded the paper once, then handed it to the Matron of Honor, who opened it, read it, and then handed it to the tiny old man. He read it, grinning, and then looked at me and wagged his head up and down several times vehemently. I thought for an instant that this was the full and perfectly eloquent extent of his reply, but he suddenly motioned to me with his hand, and I gathered that he wanted me to pass him my pad and pencil, I did so- without looking over at the Matron of Honor, from whom great waves of impatience were rising. The old man adjusted the pad and pencil on his lap with the greatest care, then sat for a moment, pencil poised, in obvious concentration, his grin diminished only a very trifle. Then the pencil began, very unsteadily, to move. An "i" was dotted. And then both pad and pencil were returned personally to me, with a marvellously cordial extra added wag of the head. He had written, in letters that had not quite jelled yet, the single word "Delighted." The Matron of Honor, reading over my shoulder, gave a sound faintly like a snort, but I quickly looked over at the great writer and tried to show by my expression that all of us in the car knew a poem when we saw one, and were grateful. Na edno listche -- niakak prekaleno chetlivo -- napisakh: ,,Parad't shche ni zad'rzhi neopredeleno vreme. Iskame da pot'rsim telefon i da piem neshcho razkhladitelno. Shche doidete li s nas?" Posle sg'nakh listcheto na dve i go podadokh na pridvornata, koiato go prochete i predade na drebnichkiia starets. Toi go prochete ukhilen, pogledna me i usileno zakima s glava. Reshikh, che tova e izcherpatelen i nap'lno krasnorechiv otgovor, no toi makhna s r'ka k'm men i razbrakh, che iska da mu podam teftercheto i moliva. Podadokh mu gi, bez da poglezhdam pridvornata, koiato na v'lni, na v'lni izl'chvashe net'rpenie. Starcheto namesti mnogo vnimatelno teftercheto i moliva na kolenete si, zastina taka, iavno s'biraiki mislite si, posle, pochti vse s's s'shchata usmivka, vdigna moliva. Mnogo neuvereno moliv't zapochna da se dvizhi. Nakraia be slozhena akuratna tochka. Sled tova s izkliuchitelno s'rdechno kimane teftercheto i moliv't mi biakha v'rnati. Oshche presnite bukvi glasiakha: ,,S udovolstvie." Pridvornata pogledna prez ramoto mi belezhkata i izdade zvuk, podoben na pr'khtene, no az vednaga ob'rnakh litse k'm velikiia pisatel i se postarakh da pokazha s izrazhenieto si, che vsichki nie vednaga mozhem da razlichim edna istinska poema i sme mu mnogo blagodarni."