what you need! A hexagram tattoo on your forehead. Your patients will be like putty in your hands.
Vykhuholev. And not only them.
Golyshkin. Even in daily life, a hexagram can bring good luck. Just take it in your hand. No wonder this geometric figure is called the star of King Solomon. According to the legend, this king was very lucky and happy. The first images of the hexagram appeared around the fourth millennium BC. It has been found in ancient Egypt, the Middle East, India and Europe. The hexagram was depicted on Christian churches, Muslim mosques and Jewish synagogues…
The doorbell rings.
Myshevsky. I'm sorry, professor, for interrupting. But it seems that someone else wants to join our company. May I open the door.
Golyshkin. Oh, don’t worry, Mr. Myshevsky! You are my guest. This is my house, and I have to take a duty of the owner.
Myshevsky. Your home, you say? Okay, let it be your way.
Golyshkin leaves the office, comes up to the door and opens it. Olga comes in. She is dressed up luxuriously.
Olga. Good evening, Stalver Udarpyatovich!
Golyshkin. Olga Alekseevna, Olya! I am so glad to see you! It seems like a whole eternity has passed…
Olga. Just a few days. I did not even notice how they flew by.
Golyshkin. But you have changed somehow!
Olga. Is this good or bad?
Golyshkin. It's definitely good for you. As for me… I don't know yet. I need time to comprehend this metamorphosis.
Olga. Well, why don’t you just tell me, that you admire me? Why do you need this deep search in your feelings? Does it really make you happy?
Golyshkin. I suppose, that’s my cross to bear.
Olga. But definitely not mine. So, please, spare me from your mournful mediation. You’d better tell me what is going to be here tonight? You said on the phone that I am assigned the leading role in the session, is that right?
Golyshkin. I'll tell you everything, but a little bit later. Now let me invite you to my office and introduce you to the other participants of the session. Everyone has already gathered. Except Rodion.
Olga. Oh! Are there other women among them?
Golyshkin. Only one. But, frankly, she looks so little like a woman…
Olga. I like it. So, no one will be offended that I’ve got the leading role. I know perfectly well what this female envy is! Oh, Stalver Udarpyatovich, how much I have suffered from it!
Golyshkin. That’s common fate of a beautiful woman.
Olga. You're getting better, professor! This way I like you more. Keep going, keep going! And who knows what reward might wait for you.
Golyshkin. You inspire me Olga! May I kiss your hand?
Olga. Oh, no, professor! Stop it! By the way, I need… how do you say that politely? I need to the powder room! You don't have to follow me. I know where it is located in your apartment, as well as where your office is.
Golyshkin. Sure! Of course! But remember, we are waiting for you!
Olga. I'm back as soon as possible.
Olga opens one of the doors. Golyshkin goes back to his office.
Ogranovich. I don’t know about synagogue, but I personally saw a hexagram on the facade of Santa Croce Basilica in Florence. It was during my honeymoon. A beautiful old building, I tell you! It was built either in the thirteenth or fifteenth century.
Vykhuholev. Did you also sell it to someone?
Ogranovich. Oh, I wish I would! It is a cherished dream of any notary to deal with such a transaction It's the same as to fix the Big Ben clock mechanism for a watchmaker.
Vykhuholev. Or the same as to rob Fort Knox for a thief.
Ogranovich. Santa Croce Basilica! It is a Franciscan Gothic church in the form of the Egyptian T-cross. It’s funny!
Vykhuholev. What's funny about the church, I don't understand?
Ogranovich. It's funny, that I still remember all that. My first husband’s face has almost erased from my memory. And even more it has erased how we had spent our honeymoon in Florence. But I have not forgotten that Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Machiavelli and Rossini had been buried in this basilica. I wonder, why is that so?
Vykhuholev. That’s quite clear. It’s ordinary megalomania. It’s a person’s desire to have even an indirect relation to the great people. That’s a common case in psychiatry.
Ogranovich. Oh, I see, everything is always clear to you, shrink! It’s so boring with you.
Vykhuholev. The only thing isn’t clear yet. Why is this particular geometric figure so relevant? What do these two triangles placed on each other mean?
Ogranovich. How should I know? I'm a notary, not an alchemist.
Myshevsky. According to one theory, the hexagram defines the human social structure. The upward pointing triangle stands for the power distribution in the society. The upper part is the elite, the lower part is the crowd.
Vykhuholev. What about the triangle pointing down?
Myshevsky. It reflects the distribution of knowledge in society. The elite owns holistic volume of knowledge, and the crowd has scattered, fragmented one.
Ogranovich. It’s some kind of genocide! The worse might be distribution of knowledge according to the racial or gender aspects.
Vykhuholev. Anyway, you don’t have to worry about, Elena Pavlovna? I’ve always thought that notaries often dance on razor blades, so their sense of fear is atrophied.
Ogranovich. Each of us has something to fear, Mr. Vykhuholev. Including even you, psychiatrists, fearless explorers of human nature dark sides.
Myshevsky. By the way, according to some sources, the hexagram also means combination of male and female principles. The triangle pointing upward is the masculine principle. A triangle pointing down…
Golyshkin enters the office.
Myshevsky. I suggest to ask the professor, why he chose the hexagram. Please, shed some light, Stalver Udarpyatovich, otherwise we are wandering in the dark.
Golyshkin. With pleasure! Everything is quite simple. In alchemy, the hexagram symbolizes the philosopher's stone. It is made up of two opposite triangles, meaning the unity of opposites.
Rodion comes in.
Rodion. And also, the hexagram of Solomon protects you against Lilith. This is such a terrible Jewish demon that kidnaps children at night. Total rubbish! I remember once when I
