Invitation to a Beheading

Rodion brings the morning papers to Cincinnatus’s cell. The papers report on his trial and feature pictures of his family and his house. The story describes Cincinnatus’s life: He is “the son of an unknown transient” who grew up in an institution (23), meeting his mother only in his 20s. All his life, he has been “impervious to the rays of others” (24), and, as a result, he has been forced to learn how to feign humanity when around others. He has spent his life dealing with the suspicious scrutiny of others as he searches for one of the rapidly diminishing safe places. His opacity has caused others to shun him.

In spite of the difficulty of his life, Cincinnatus does not want to die. At 15, he began working in a toy workshop. Each evening, he read voraciously in the library. In the factory, he met Marthe, his future wife. In his cell, he stands on his table beneath the window and tries to look out, but he sees “nothing.” A previous prisoner has written a comment on the wall saying that those inside the cell “cannot see anything” (29). Rodion warns Cincinnatus that he might fall. He helps Cincinnatus down then begins to sing. The song brings tears to Cincinnatus’s eyes. Rodion leaves.

At 22, Cincinnatus became a kindergarten teacher and married Marthe. Not long after beginning his new job, however, he was accused of “basic illegality.” He was interviewed and tested by the city fathers. Eventually, he was released and permitted to continue working with children with disabilities as they were deemed “expendable.” Marthe was not faithful to him; he forgave her infidelity but wept alone in the bathroom. She became pregnant with two children; Cincinnatus was father to neither child but, since they were born with disabilities, they were both placed in his kindergarten class. One day, a person accused him of being “a strange, almost forgotten word” (32). He was arrested a short time later. In his cell, Cincinnatus imagines himself dissolving and immediately reassembling. He is brought a dozen yellow plums, “a present from the director’s wife” (33).

A “doomlike din of voices” wakes Cincinnatus in the morning (34). He hears his lawyer talking to Rodion, Rodrig, and Rodrig’s daughter, Emmie. Roman nervously complains that he has lost a cufflink. Cincinnatus explains that he is being tormented by “wretched specters” and asks Roman to explain why no one will tell him the time and date of his execution. Roman is annoyed by this line of questioning, as he wishes to focus on whether Cincinnatus has any “more “legitimate” requests. When Cincinnatus tears up the envelope containing bureaucratic documents, Roman nearly cries. Rodrig politely lets himself into the cell and hands Roman his missing cufflink. Rodrig tells Cincinnatus that he has good news: Soon a new prisoner will arrive and Cincinnatus will have someone to “entertain” him. They tell Cincinnatus to put on his dressing gown so that he can be taken upstairs.

Rodrig and Roman lead Cincinnatus through the prison. They walk in circles, passing “the very same design of dampness on the wall” multiple times (41). Emmie bounces a ball in the hallway. Cincinnatus is led up a long dark stairway to a broad terrace with a “breathtaking view.” Cincinnatus gazes over the city, the gardens, and the hills. He walks around the terrace until the director tells him to go inside, whereupon the same men lead Cincinnatus back to his cell.

As Rodion carries a tray into Cincinnatus’s cell, Emmie slips in past him. She waits until Rodion leaves then reveals herself. She runs around, making mischief, refusing to answer Cincinnatus’s questions about the time and date of his execution. An older girl, he hints, would help him escape from the fortress by feeding “potion to the turnkey, on a night that is murky” (47), but she continues to ignore him. Rodion returns and kicks Emmie out of the cell. She pauses briefly in the doorway to look back at the prisoner. Cincinnatus explains to his jailer that he has finished all his books. He would like to look at the library catalogue to choose something to read. Rodion scoffs and exits the cell.

Cincinnatus paces up and down his cell. Feeling distressed, he examines the walls and the decor. The list of rules makes little sense to him, describing the two hours in the afternoon when prisoners should be quiet and detailing how prisoners are only permitted to sing along with guards by “mutual consent”—and, even then, only at certain times. Pleasurable dreams are also prohibited. As Cincinnatus flicks through an old magazine, he is reminded of the “legendary days” of the past and those “years of universal fluidity” (50). Little has survived since those days, Cincinnatus thinks; “even the very concept of ‘past’ has changed” (51). Cincinnatus scribbles his thoughts on the blank piece of paper. If he knew the date of his execution, then he could at least work on something. Instead, he indulges in “banal senseless dreams of escape” (52). He describes the memories and experiences that he would write down, if only he knew that he would have enough time to do so.

Cincinnatus walks around the cell until Rodion enters with soup, accompanied by the librarian and the prison catalogue. The librarian refuses Cincinnatus’s invitation to sit and talk and refuses to take away the books that Cincinnatus has already read. Cincinnatus reads the confusing catalogue; the titles are listed “according to the number of pages in each” (55). On the first page, a child has drawn a series of images in pencil.