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Show -194- As they ate, the two friends talked, now mostly about matters other than the strike. The Professor's friend asked him about his sister-in-law, and the Professor reported the good news his wife had received this morning, that her sister seemed to be recovering from the operation. She was still in intensive care, but the hospital considered her out of danger, and she would soon be moved. The friend told the Professor about his children - how this season of the year confused them. They never knew whether they were celebrating Christmas or Hanukkah. They listened to the carols, and they were expected at school to know all about Santa Claus^, they even decorated a Christmas tree; but they also attended the synagogue, and they lighted the traditional candles. The Professor was tempted to remark that both holidays grew out of the same early ceremonies, the primitive festival marking the winter solstice, the descent of life back into the earth, the reign of the gods of the underworld; but he had, in the past, he was sure, bored his friend enough with his analogies; and, while they always appeared to be frank in their discussions of religion, the Professor was certain each of them WLS holding back something he couldn't define from the other, which made the subject something to joke about or to avoid altogether. When they departed, the Professor drove his friend back to where his car was parked, on a residential avenue near the |