Yes, of course. The rabbi cleared his throat and resumed his litany. We shall allow the offspring to prosper and to grow and bear milk and meat for the nourishment of the multitudes until then that day comes when his progeny is no more, for they have long been consumed and have perished from this earth. With this one exception cursed be he by day and cursed be he by night. Cursed be he in sleeping and cursed be he in walking, cursed in going about the fields and cursed he when coming into the paddocks to feed and drink. The bull shall not spawn his evil seed again upon the earth.
Bruce sneezed and shook his great head.
The Lord shall not pardon him, the wrath and fury of the Lord shall henceforth be kindled against this animal, and shall lay upon him all the curses which are written in the book of the law. The Lord shall destroy his name under the sun, his presence, his seed, and cut him and cut him off for his undoing from all animals that graze on this moshav, and all moshavim of Israel, with all the curses of the firmament which are written in the book of the law.
When the rabbi finished his curse of biblical proportion, someone said, Look, Rabbi, what should be done about that?
Near the pond, the Yorkshire boar poured dollops of mud and water over the heads and shoulders of young lambs and kids.
Nothing, said Rabbi Ratzinger. That is of little consequence.
Something hit the rabbi, splattering against the lapel of his frock coat. Julius, followed by the ravens, flew over and bombed Rabbi Ratzinger and his entourage with bird shit. Julius had gotten off a direct hit, splattering yellowish feces up the lapel of the rabbis frock coat. Ezekiel hit one in the brim of his hat as Dave let fly a whitish smear into another mans dark beard. Other farm fowl, whether they flew like the geese or waddled like the ducks or simply clucked, all came to defend Bruce, attacking from air and land, biting, snapping, smearing feces over hats and frocks and boots. Depending on which direction the farm fowl attacked, they flew and ran, and defecated on the rabbi and his solemn congregation.
Someone opened an umbrella over the rabbi, a gift from G-d, as they scattered, running for cover in the direction from which theyd come.
It was too late for Bruce, however, with the curse set already in motion. He had been cursed to a life of death.
Isabella Perelman walked up to the feedlot fence where Juan Perelman stood. Juan, do you honestly believe any of this will be of any good? Her black hair was pulled back. She wore a matching riding jacket and britches, with black boots. She held a black derby helmet under her arm. The Thai laborer led the Belgian stallion by the reins with an English saddle strapped to him. Stanley couldnt remember the last time anyone had placed him under such distress with the weight of a saddle, and in that saddle, a rider. Had it been her? If it had been anyone better, better her than anyone else.
To ensure that the rabbis curse had taken hold, and would remain intact from now until forever, the laborers draped a burlap sack over the bulls great head. He moaned and pushed against them and moved sideways, but the laborers held tight as they twisted his neck by the horns. Bruce groaned as they pulled him down to the ground, his front legs buckling under him. The laborers rolled him over in the dirt onto his side.
Juan, is this necessary? Juan, this is not necessary.
Its necessary if the curse is to work, he said. There will be no doubts about it.
Isabella padded the horses forehead, running her palm over his white diamond, and whispered, There, there, Tevya, dont worry. Its okay, boy. Take it easy now. Everythings going to be all right. She placed her left boot toe in the stirrup and pulled herself up and mounted the horse, settling into the English saddle. She held tight to the reins as Stanley, aka, Tevya, neighed and backed up a couple of steps, adjusting to the weight of the rider.
This is cruel, Juan. This is inhumane. But her protestations came too late and fell on deaf ears. Juan Perelman was a pragmatist.
We dont need a bull anymore, anyway, he said. We use artificial insemination. He was just for show.
She pulled the reins against the Belgian stallion and turned him away from the feedlot. They rode off at a trot along the road that divided the farm. He was rambunctious and stubborn, but she maintained control and held tight to the reins. She patted his neck along his mane. Riding parallel with the Egyptian border, kids from the village tried to hit her with rocks fired from slingshots.
Take it easy, Tevya. No ones going to hurt you.
Stanley saw projectiles flying toward him and he spooked. Isabella Perelman held steady and guided him to continue broadside to the flying rocks and hard mud pieces fired from slingshots, with more than a few hitting Stanley. Although he tried to bolt, she patted his neck. She followed the road to the southern end of the moshav and turned him away from the border and out of range of the Muslims on the hill. They continued at a gallop away from the moshav and into the Israeli countryside.
Behind the barn in the feedlot one of the Chinese laborers, the Taoist, removed a scalpel from its case and in one fell swoop, sliced the bulls scrotum. As he spread the scrotum layers apart, the testicles slid out onto the ground. He cut them from the blood vessels and placed the severed gonads on ice in a cooler for safekeeping. A salve was applied to the bulls scrotum to stop the bleeding and help heal the wound. The laborer took a large needle with thread and sowed what was left of the bulls scrotum shut. Once everything was done and put away, the Thai laborer removed the burlap bag from Bruces head. He rolled himself upright and stumbled, as he tried to get up. He stood unsteadily on four legs, his head swaying from side to side. He stopped, and then took a few steps back, backing away from his tormentors.
A neighbor from the moshavim, a fellow moshavnik, said, This is not good, Juan. Castrations are done within days, no more than a month or two after birth, not like this. This is unkind. This is cruel and unusual punishment.
He has caused a great deal of consternation.
How do you think he feels?
It doesnt matter, Perelman said. Its too late to salvage anything. Besides, an old seven-year-old bull, his meat is already ruined because of his balls, just as my moshav.
Then it doesnt make sense.
Whats done is done, Perelman said.
* * *
Later that night, Stanley stepped from the barn filled with trepidation not knowing what to say or whether he should say anything at all. Bruce stood motionless next to the water tank.
You have no idea, Bruce said when he saw Stanley.
I hope I never do.
Its the first step to becoming ground beef.
I dont know.
You dont want to.
I wouldnt want never want to know. I mean, it scares me.
Theyll turn you into dog food once theyre done with you when youre old and no longer of use.
Im sorry for you, my friend. Stanley backed away three steps and turned to run as fast and as far in one pasture of a 48-hectare farm as any animal could.
11
The Promise of the End Comes to an End
Two months after Blaise gave birth to the red calf, Beatrice lay in the middle of the pasture struggling, kicking in an attempt to give birth herself as a silver Mercedes tour bus stopped outside the fence. A Catholic priest leading a group of teenage boys and girls stepped off the bus. They were there to witness the miracle of the red calf that would soon alter the course of human history once and for all. As it happened, they also arrived in time to witness the miracle of birth as the bay mare rolled on the ground in the pasture.
Im sorry for you, my friend. Stanley backed away three steps and turned to run as fast and as far in one pasture of a 48-hectare farm as any animal could.
11
The Promise of the End Comes to an End
Two months after Blaise gave birth to the red calf, Beatrice lay in the middle of the pasture struggling, kicking in an attempt to give birth herself as a silver Mercedes tour bus stopped outside the fence. A Catholic priest leading a group of teenage boys and girls stepped off the bus. They were there to witness the miracle of the red calf that would soon alter the course of human history once and for all. As it happened, they also arrived in time to witness the miracle of birth as the bay mare rolled on the ground in the pasture.
In the barn, Boris ministered to the yellow hen. He promised her everlasting life and coaxed her into prayer with him. This she gladly did. Trust me, he said, his tusks bleached white from the sun. I am the way, the truth, and the light.
Bog, Bog! She scattered to the rafters as the Thai laborer came rushing through the barn wearing a leather apron, carrying a blanket, and a bucket of splashing water. The hen thought that had been a close call as she came down from the rafters.
Through me, you shall enter life eternal in the animal kingdom, which art in heaven. I am the door: by me, if any chicken enters in, she shall be saved.
She clucked happily.
I am the Shepherd you shalt not want.
In the middle of the pasture, Beatrice continued with the struggle of giving birth. The Reverends Hershel Beam and Randy Lynn had returned to the farm in time to witness the birthing process. They watched from the road as the Thai laborer, his arm buried to his elbow in her birth canal, dislodged the umbilical cord from around the unborn foals neck.
I dont know about you, Randy, but Im getting hungry, Reverend Beam said. Do you like Chinese?
Do I like Chinese? Yes, of course. I dated a girl in Tulsa once, and we used to go to this Chinese buffet all the time, but it wasnt going to work. She was a Methodist and had it all wrong. I never went back to that Chinese restaurant, though, after we broke up. Call me sentimental, but I still miss her and dim sum.
Reverend Beam laughed, Yes, well, pray we find a buffet nearby.
Look, shouted one of the teenage boys. In the pasture, the mare was on her side as the Thai laborer pulled the foals front legs and head out of her birthing canal.
No, children, the priest cried, turn away! His efforts to protect the children from the horrors of childbirth were in vain. They werent going anywhere just as the placenta burst and splashed against the laborers apron and he slipped and fell as the colt plopped out onto the ground beside him. The teenagers, usually a cool and indifferent group, applauded and cheered the sight of the newborn colt. He stood at first uneasily, but once he found his footing, he was snorting and kicking up dirt in the field and went to his mother to nurse. It had been an ordeal for all involved. Stanley came out of the barn, snorted, and galloped straight to the colt. He did not like his progeny. He did not like the colt suckling from Beatrices teats as he did. Stanley was not warm or paternal toward the colt. The colt was competition for the affection and attention of the other mares even though there were no other mares on the moshav. In a matter of weeks, though, his attitude toward the colt would change once the laborers rendered the strapping young colt a gelding.
Look, one of the kids shouted. The red calf appeared alongside her mother from the barn as cheers went up from all quarters. These children in the care of the church were impressed.
Blaise and Lizzy came out to see how Beatrice was doing and to meet the new arrival. Beatrices strapping young colt was prancing about in the full sunshine of day. Also, out in the full sunshine of the day, life went on for Molly, the Border Leicester, and her twin lambs as they played in the pasture alongside Praline, the Luzein, and her young lamb. As Praline grazed or tried to, her young lamb Boo chased after her, wanting to nurse from her.
Oh, said one young girl, the lambs are so cute.
Yes, they are, said the father, but they are sheep, neither divine nor a gift from God.
I thought all animals were a gift from God, said another.
Well, yes, they are, the priest agreed, but unlike the red calf, they are not divine. He wore a black cassock with a white cord around the waist and tied in a knot at the front. The reverend father continued, No one saw the two mate. Therefore, it is believed the red calf may have been conceived through the miracle of Immaculate Conception.
The teenagers were suspicious of conspicuous consumption or anything any adult told them. They were skeptical and questioned authority, their parents, and especially priests who promised a glorious afterlife next to Jesus in heaven. These children, as with children anywhere, wanted to live life now.
Thats the consensus anyway, the priest added. After all, the red calf is a gift from God.
Father, a young boy asked, Whats the difference between mating and Immaculate Conception?
The older kids laughed. The father smiled and said to the boy, Ill show you later.
Hello, Beatrice, how are you? Blaise said.
I dont know, Blaise. If not for the farmhand, I dont think he would have survived? Beatrice licked her colt.
But he did, Beatrice, and hes a beautiful boy.
Yes, but without the fanfare you received with Lizzy.
Oh, please, Beatrice, honestly. Do you think I want any of this?
Besides the priest and his dozen charges, the multitudes had come out of trailers and buses and tents to once again witness the red calf.
They come in droves to see Lizzy, but no one seems interested in Stefon. Beatrice led her newborn colt to the pond to wash off the afterbirth, and to receive Howards blessing. Lizzy followed them to the pond, and Blaise followed Lizzy. When Howard saw the red calf, he was joyous to see her and wanted to baptize the young heifer.
What about mine? Beatrice stamped her hooves and splashed water on the sunbaked clay that surrounded the pond.
Yes, of course, Howard said. He poured water over the young colts head and body, washing off the dried blood and after-birth that covered the colt. When Howard was done, he looked toward Blaise and her calf.
Blaise said, Go on then, baptize away if you must.
And Lizzy entered the pond, splashing alongside the newly baptized colt. Howard poured mud and water over the calfs head and the red around her ears and head and nose came off into the water and a dark brown appeared around the ears and eyes. She waded out to the middle of the pond to her neck, and when Lizzy came out the other side, the red fur had washed away into the water, revealing the chocolate brown under-tone along her body as that of her mothers, with only the slightest hint of red from her father the former Simbrah bull, Bruce.
Look, shouted the kids, and they saw another example of why they should not believe what any adult told them. The red calf of legend or wish-fulfillment was now gone and, in her place, a rather nice-looking, normal brown-toned, mostly dark chocolate, half-Jersey calf.
Shes brown, Beatrice reveled with pleasure.
Yes, she is, Blaise sighed. Isnt she beautiful.