He smiled. No fading ink. No heavy spine. He could jump from Psalam 23 directly to Ivan 3:16 with two taps. He could highlight verses in yellow, make notes in a digital margin, and search for the word "ljubav" (love) to find every mention in seconds.
Three months later, Josip led a Biblijska grupa (Bible study) using his tablet. He projected the ePub onto a small screen. Everyone followed along on their phones, having downloaded the same free, legal file from the Hrvatsko biblijsko društvo (Croatian Bible Society).
"A Biblija ," the old man said. "But this one fits in a pocket. And look—" he double-tapped the word milost (grace), and a dictionary definition popped up. "Even an old dog can learn new tricks."
Young Marko, a student who always claimed he "never had time to read," approached. "What's that, Dida Josip?"
The next morning, he walked to the village square. He didn't have the heavy book. He had the tablet, slipped into a simple leather cover.
"U početku stvori Bog nebo i zemlju."