Vladimir Nabokov. El timbre
"Aren't you listening, Mother?" "Why, yes—I am...."
And now he noticed something else: she was oddly absent, as if she were listening not to his words but to a doomful thing coming from afar, menacing and inevitable. He went on with his jolly narrative, but then stopped again and asked, "That cake—in whose honor is it? Looks awfully good."
His mother responded with a flustered smile. "Oh, it's a little stunt. I told you I was expecting company."
"It reminded me awfully of Petersburg," said Nikolay. "Remember how you once made a mistake and forgot one candle? I had turned ten, but