Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

couches. They were given big towels to wrap themselves in. Persian nargilehs were brought
and Leist, covered only by his sheet, lay down to have a smoke.
"I have no idea what to do with this hookah, and, moreover, I don't smoke," said Konrad.
Leist showed him how to slowly bubble the smoke from the glowing tobacco wad through the
water in the glass vase. Konrad tried to copy him and was overcome by a terrifying cough.
Leist laughed. "Slowly, Rost, slowly. Don’t inhale this potent stuff. Just take small sips."
Konrad tried again, but then the wad stopped burning. Desperately trying to revive it by deep
draws he became dizzy. Frustrated by a new coughing attack, Konrad abandoned the hookah.
The attendant led them into a small, hot room with benches along the wall.
"This is only the purgatory!" warned Leist, "a pre-hell to get you accustomed to the hot
bath itself. Brace yourself!"
When they finally entered the main room its heat hit them like a wall. The room was
large and octagonal with a low dais at its center faced with marble. Water fountains bubbled
into basins along the walls.
Konrad had expected variously sized and heated bathing pools, like in the illustrations of
the Roman baths in the Latin textbooks of his youth. There were no baths, only this
breathtaking heat.
"Oh, that’s it." Leist spread his arms in apology and said mockingly, "Ach, Rost, you are
still yearning for a bathtub, there isn’t one. But an attendant will soon come with a bucket of
soapy water and massage you. Meanwhile, lie down on the dais, breathe deeply, and save
your energies!"
Leist - or Konrad - in the Hamam, Tiflis 1890s (Ermakov/RWFG)
The heat came from the floor and the dais. Konrad lay down and broke out in profuse
22