Tesla by Vladimir Pistalo Read Free Book Online

and it was Nikola who felt that his friend was blind to the real secrets of life.
    Mojo breathlessly told Nikola how he, together with Jovan Bijelić, Nikola Prica, Julije Bartaković, and even Djuro Amšel, took dancing lessons with Pietro Signorelli. Anyone who knew Mojo Medić from his Gospić days had to be surprised by his newly developed taste for dancing. Among Gospić’s urchins, Mojo the “Teddy Bear” was remembered as a pensive, chubby kid who waddled as he walked. In high school in Rakovac, he grew taller and slimmer and started to walk straight. He began to dress up and now was delivering a lecture on waltzing to his indifferent friend Nikola Tesla!
    Mojo told Nikola in confidence that in his dance class they learned not only old waltzes, such as “The Morning News” and “The Blue Danube,” but also newer ones. Mr. Signorelli promised that he would shortly get the latest composition Johann Strauss announced for the current year, “The Vienna Blood.” Mojo chuckled as he told of his quarrel with Jovan Bijelić over whether Strauss wore only a mustache or if he also sported sideburns like Emperor Franz Joseph. Mojo insisted his indifferent friend show some surprise that the Waltz King, under whose baton all of Europe revolved, confessed that he himself did not know how to dance.
    “He doesn’t know how, but I do!” beamed Mojo. “And the waltz is a simple dance. One, two, stand on your toes!”
    “Isn’t that a little silly?” Nikola asked.
    “Maybe it is,” exclaimed Mojo. “But it’s fun. One, two, stand on your toes.”
    Nikola was surprised to see the once clumsy Mojo pirouette on the Karlovac cobblestones. Not just the body of Mojo Medić, a high school senior, danced—his thoughts danced as well. The wide world was full of whispers and promises, and above it swayed Mojo Medić, the romantic lover, the Pushkin and the Byron of our time.
    “One, two, stand on your toes.” As he twirled without fear, Mojo lost his balance and fell on his back. He tucked his chin to avoid hitting the back of his head against the icy road.
    “Mojo!” Nikola Tesla quit frowning and showed genuine concern. Running to help, he slipped himself and was almost paralyzed by pain as he hit the ice. He rubbed his buttocks slowly to help the pain subside.
    A new wave of pain made him cough. He grimaced. Mojo looked at him and puffed up his cheeks. Tesla returned the look and broke out laughing.
    Nikola’s laughter was contagious. The king of the waltz stretched back on the ice and convulsed with the raucous laughter of youth.

CHAPTER 16

    Lusting after the Wind
    It is highly unlikely that a young man,
    especially he who studied at a university for several years,
    will dare to follow the valorous path of the priesthood.
    Milutin Tesla in a letter to the city government of Senj, 1852
    Although the human mind cannot find the answers to every question, Milutin Tesla believed it was still possible to know that people dye eggs for Easter. It was also possible to know that a priest blesses the bread baked for the Patron Saint’s Day and that the bride and the bridegroom, wearing crowns, walk around the table three times. He believed pondering a dilemma did not necessarily lead to the truth—the truth was revealed through a daring effort to stop dithering and declare what was and what was not.
    “Father! Please listen!” Nikola pleaded, to no avail.
    Milutin could not bear the inspired look on his son’s face.
    “Please understand,” his son said, raising his voice, “that the very idea of becoming a priest horrifies me. It’s like pushing a cat into the water, and I can’t do that. I can’t because I am who I am!”
    “What does I mean?” His father looked at him as if he heard the word for the first time. “ We need priests. We can barely make ends meet in this poverty-stricken country. We need men who will open minds and hearts of our people.”
    Milutin slid his glasses down his nose.
    “This science