Предыдущую загадку раскусили быстро, да и кто бы сомневался. Действительно, скелет у Ремарка оживает на глазах – и благодаря смене местоимения с es на er, и с помощью превращения черепа, Schädel, в голову, Kopf. И чтобы не заскучали те, кто не знает немецкого, зато знает английский, подкину вам еще примерчик того, как ловко играет на смене местоимений теперь уже Стейнбек (перевод «Заблудившегося автобуса» есть, и он прекрасен, но я его цитировать не стану: тут даже Голышев ничего не смог поделать), с помощью того же приема – и не только его – очеловечивая муху, которая, впрочем, тоже почти что восстает из мертвых:

Pimples was washing his hands in a flat pan of gasoline in the garage. The sun warmed a brown leaf left by the past year and blown into a corner of the garage doorframe. After a while a little night-laden fly crawled heavily out from under the leaf and stood in the clear sun. Its wings were muddily iridescent and it was sluggish with night cold. The fly rubbed its wings with its legs and then it rubbed its legs together and then it rubbed its face with its forelegs while the sun, slanting under the great puffed clouds, warmed its juices. Suddenly the fly took off, circled twice, fluttered under the oaks and crashed against the screen door of the lunch room, fell on its back and buzzed against the ground, upside down for a second. Then it righted itself and flew up and took its position on the frame beside the lunchroom door.

Alice Chicoy, haggard from the night of sitting up, came to the door and looked out toward the bus. The screen door opened only a few inches, but the fly flung himself through the opening. Alice saw him come through and whacked at him with the dish towel she carried in her hand. The fly buzzed crazily for a moment and then settled under the edge of the counter. Alice watched the rear wheels of the bus idly turning in the air and then she went in back of the counter and turned off the steam valve of the coffee urn.

The brown fluid in the glass pipe on the side of the urn looked thin and pale. She ran her towel over the counter and in doing so noticed that the big white coconut cake in its transparent plastic cover was ragged on one edge with a "V" cut out of it. She took a knife from the silver tray, lifted the cover, trimmed the cake's edge, and put the crumbs in her mouth. And just before the cover went back into place the fly lunged under the edge and flung himself on the coconut filling. He clung under a slight overhang so that he was not visible from above, and he dug and struggled hungrily into the sweet filling. He had a high, huge mountain of cake and he was very happy.

Такая вот маленькая история про исполнение желаний. И мораль: если не свернешь с избранного пути и сумеешь увернуться от полотенца - будет тебе счастье. Вам завидно? Мне да.