The Hike

Full day teaching, mainly in individual tutorial form as it is the last week of the semester. Here is a snippet from my wrestling notes.

THE HIKE

Jozsef and Baba settle into their chairs after their walk. A little nip of vodka for both of them in two small clear glasses. On their wall is an old engraving bearing the legend: The Hike.

It shows two men in trunks delicately embracing. The one on the left is standing on one leg, the other is bent under the crotch of his partner while his arms are linked behind the partner’s back near the bottom of the spine, raising him off the ground. The man thus elevated has his own arms about the first man’s back. His head is turned towards us. It is a gentle moment. A father or mother might lift a toddler like this and the toddler would have just such an expression of engrossed surprise. They might on the other hand be male lovers. They are show-ground wrestlers engaged in a position known as The Hike.

Jozsef is a wrestler, Baba his wife. This is a quiet moment for them in between Jozsef's hectic travelling. The photo does not show 'the hike'. I do however have an old print of it, given to me as a present by C. It's behind glass so hard to scan in. The image is precisely as described above, rather lovely and delicate, and though the figures are a little stout, they look as light as leaves. The human miracle of being heavy yet light at the same time.