we heard a voice saying thirty-nine repeatedly and getting studio-laughter for it , then sour fiddle-music and knew it was jack benny , ( born benjamin kubelsky 1894-1974 ) lying about his age , for a decade holding on to his late thirties , minting the slow tragedy into golden laughs as a poor consolation and i pulled out of oblivion sunday evenings listening and laughing with my mother and father and recovered a sunday dinner down to the dessert : red apple-sauce with heavy cream .