“I want you to steal something."I smiled. "Do you want the king's seal? I can get it for you.""If I were you," said the magus, "I'd stop bragging about that." His voice grated.My smile grew. The gold ring with the engraved ruby had been in his safekeeping when I had stolen it away.”

“Why did you come if not to murder my king?""I came to steal his magus.""You can't," said the magus in question."I can steal anything," Eugenides corrected him, "even with one hand.”

“He dumped its contents out on the tablecloth: a gold ring, a gold nugget, and a gold signet seal. Francisco pointed to each. I told you that this was the secret of happiness. The three objects belonged to a rich collector. When he was asleep they argued all the time. The gold ring declared it was better than the other two because miners had risked their lives to find it. The gold signet said it was better than the other two because it had sealed the messages of a king. They argued day and night, until the ring said. ‘Lets ask God’, He will decide which of us is the best. The other two agreed, and so they approached the Almighty. Each made its claim for being superior. God listened carefully, and when they were done, he said, ‘ I cant settle your dispute, I’m sorry. The gold signet seal grew angry ‘What do you mean, you cant settle it? You’re God.’ That’s the problem said God. I don’t see a ring, a nugget and a seal. All I see is gold.”

“You said I could be anything I wanted when I was older', I said.She smiled and said, 'And you can be. But it's not very easy to become Jewish.''I know,' I said forlornly, 'I need a number.'And she suddenly stopped smiling.”

“Do you want to tell me why I'm getting the silent treatment?' He asked gruffly, his breath hot on my ear. I hunched up my shoulders, pulling away. His voice had an effect on my body and I didn't want him to know that. 'I'm talking to you.''Barely.''I've got a lot on my mind.''Do you want to talk about it?''When have I ever wanted to talk about it?”

“I wish I could hate you," he said. His voice was light, his mouth curved in an unconcerned half smile, his eyes sick with misery. "I want to hate you. I try to hate you. It would be so much easier if I did hate you. Sometimes I do hate you and then I see you and I...”