Latest / Ernest Hemingway Audiobooks / Men Without Women - Ernest Hemingway
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Men Without Women by Ernest Hemingway. The undefeated manoel Garcia
- 0:09Speaker 1: climbed the stairs to Don Miguel Ratana's office. He set
- 0:13Speaker 1: down his suitcase and knocked on the door. There was
- 0:17Speaker 1: no answer. Manuel, standing in the hallway, felt there was
- 0:21Speaker 1: someone in the room. He felt it through the door. Britana,
- 0:26Speaker 1: he said, listening. There was no answer. He's there, all right,
- 0:31Speaker 1: Manuel thought, Retana, he said, and banged the door. Who's there,
- 0:37Speaker 1: said someone in the office, me Manolo. Manuel said, what
- 0:43Speaker 1: do you want, asked the voice. I want to work,
- 0:47Speaker 1: Manuel said. Something in The door clicked several times, and
- 0:52Speaker 1: it swung open. Manuel went in carrying a suitcase. A
- 0:58Speaker 1: little man set behind it ask At the far end
- 1:01Speaker 1: of the room. Over his head was a bull's head
- 1:04Speaker 1: stuffed by a Madrid taxidermist. On the walls were framed
- 1:09Speaker 1: photographs and bullfight posters. The little man sat looking at Manuel.
- 1:15Speaker 1: I thought they'd killed you, he said. Manuel knocked with
- 1:19Speaker 1: his knuckles on the desk. The little man sat looking
- 1:22Speaker 1: at him across the desk. How many quaeritas you had
- 1:26Speaker 1: this year, Ritana asked one. He answered, just that one.
- 1:32Speaker 1: The little man asked, that's all I read? About it
- 1:36Speaker 1: in the papers, Brittana said. He leaned back in the
- 1:40Speaker 1: chair and looked at Manuel. Manoel looked up at the
- 1:44Speaker 1: stopped bowl. He had seen it often before. He felt
- 1:49Speaker 1: a certain family interest in it. It had killed his brother,
- 1:53Speaker 1: the promising one, about nine years ago. Manuel remembered the
- 1:59Speaker 1: day there was a brass plate on the oak shield
- 2:03Speaker 1: the bull sat was mounted on. Manoel could not read it,
- 2:07Speaker 1: but he imagined it was in memory of his brother. Well,
- 2:12Speaker 1: he had been a good kid. The plate said the
- 2:16Speaker 1: bull Maripolsa of the Duke of Ragua, which accepted nine
- 2:23Speaker 1: varas for seven cabayus and caused the death of Antonio
- 2:28Speaker 1: Garcia Noviero, April twenty seventh, nineteen o nine. Bretana saw
- 2:35Speaker 1: him looking at the stuffed bull's head. The lot the
- 2:39Speaker 1: Duke sent me for Sunday will make a scandal, he said.
- 2:44Speaker 1: They're all bad in the legs. What do they say
- 2:47Speaker 1: about them at the cafe? I don't know, Manoel said,
- 2:51Speaker 1: I just got in. Yes, said Bretana, you still have
- 2:56Speaker 1: your bag. He looked at Manoel, leaning back behind the
- 3:02Speaker 1: big desk, Sit down, he said, take off your cap.
- 3:07Speaker 1: Manuel sat down, his cap off. His face was changed.
- 3:13Speaker 1: He looked pale, and his koletta pinned forward on his
- 3:16Speaker 1: head so that it would not show under the cap.
- 3:20Speaker 1: Gave him a strange look. You don't look well, Ratana said,
- 3:26Speaker 1: I just got out of the hospital. Manuel said I
- 3:29Speaker 1: heard they'd cut your leg off. Ratana said no, said Manuel,
- 3:35Speaker 1: it got all right. Retana leaned forward across the desk
- 3:39Speaker 1: and pushed a wooden box of cigarettes toward Manuel. Have
- 3:43Speaker 1: a cigarette, he said, thanks. Manuel lit it. Smoke, he said,
- 3:50Speaker 1: offering the match to Retana. No. Retana waved his hand.
- 3:54Speaker 1: I never smoke. Retana watched him smoking. Why don't you
- 3:59Speaker 1: go and get a job and go to work, he said,
- 4:02Speaker 1: I don't want to work, said Manuel. I'm a bullfighter.
- 4:06Speaker 1: There are any bullfighters anymore. Retana said, I'm a bullfighter.
- 4:10Speaker 1: Manuel said yes, while you're in there, Ratana said. Manuel laughed.
- 4:18Speaker 1: B Retana sat saying nothing and looking at Manuel. I'll
- 4:23Speaker 1: put you in a nocturnal if you want, Ratana offered.
- 4:27Speaker 1: When Manuel asked tomorrow night, I don't like the substitute
- 4:32Speaker 1: for anybody. Manuel said, that was the way they all
- 4:36Speaker 1: got killed. That was the way Salvador got killed. He
- 4:40Speaker 1: tapped with his knuckles on the table. That's all I've
- 4:43Speaker 1: Gottana said, why don't you put me on next week?
- 4:48Speaker 1: Manuel suggested, you wouldn't draw Bretana said, all they want
- 4:54Speaker 1: is Lee Tre and Rubito and Lettore. Those kids are good.
- 5:00Speaker 1: They'd come to see me get it. Manuel said, hopefully, no,
- 5:05Speaker 1: they wouldn't. They don't know who you are anymore. I've
- 5:08Speaker 1: got a lot of stuff, Manuel said, I'm offering to
- 5:12Speaker 1: put you on tomorrow night. Ratana said, you can work
- 5:16Speaker 1: with young Hernandez and kill two novillos after the chariots.
- 5:22Speaker 1: Who's Novilla's Manuel asked, I don't know whatever stuff they've
- 5:26Speaker 1: gotten in the corrals, what the veterinarians won't pass in
- 5:29Speaker 1: the daytime. I don't like to substitute. Manuel said, you
- 5:36Speaker 1: can take it or leave it. Matanda said. He leaned
- 5:39Speaker 1: forward over the papers. He was no longer interested the
- 5:42Speaker 1: appeal that Manuel had made to him for a moment
- 5:45Speaker 1: when he thought of the old days was gone. He
- 5:48Speaker 1: would like to get him to substitute for Loreta, because
- 5:51Speaker 1: he could get him cheaply. He could get others cheaply too.
- 5:56Speaker 1: He would like to help him, though still he had
- 5:59Speaker 1: given him the chance, it was up to him. How
- 6:03Speaker 1: much do I get? Manuel asked, He was still playing
- 6:07Speaker 1: with the idea of refusing, but he knew he could
- 6:10Speaker 1: not refuse two hundred and fifty pasetas. Brettana said he
- 6:16Speaker 1: had thought of five hundred, but when he opened his mouth,
- 6:19Speaker 1: it said two hundred and fifty. You pay vi alta
- 6:23Speaker 1: seven thousand. Manuel said, you're not vi alta. Ratana said,
- 6:28Speaker 1: I know it. Manuel said, he draws it manolo. Retana said,
- 6:33Speaker 1: an explanation, Sure, said Manuel. He stood up, give me
- 6:40Speaker 1: the three hundred. Ritana all right. Matana agreed. He reached
- 6:45Speaker 1: in the drawer for a paper. Can I have fifty now?
- 6:49Speaker 1: Manuel asked, Sure, said Ritana. He took a fifty paseta
- 6:54Speaker 1: note out of his pocket book and laid it spread
- 6:57Speaker 1: out flat on the table. Manuel picked it up and
- 7:00Speaker 1: put it in his pocket. What about Aquadrilla, he asked,
- 7:06Speaker 1: There's the boys that always worked for me. Nice Bretana said,
- 7:08Speaker 1: they're all right. How about Picadors, Manuel asked, they're not much.
- 7:15Speaker 1: Brettana admitted, I've got to have one good peek. Manuel said,
- 7:21Speaker 1: we'll get him. Then Ratana said, go and get him.
- 7:24Speaker 1: Not out of this. Manuel said, I'm not paying for
- 7:26Speaker 1: any quadrio out of sixty drus Britana said nothing, but
- 7:31Speaker 1: looked at Manuel across the big desk. You know I've
- 7:35Speaker 1: got to have one good pick, Benuel said. Ritana said nothing,
- 7:41Speaker 1: but looked at Manuel from a long way off. It
- 7:45Speaker 1: isn't right, Manuel said. Ritana was still considering him, leaning
- 7:51Speaker 1: back in his chair, considering him from a long way away.
- 7:56Speaker 1: They are the regular picks, he offered. I know, manwell said,
- 8:00Speaker 1: I know your regular picks. Brittana did not smile. Manuel
- 8:06Speaker 1: knew it was over all. I want is an even break,
- 8:10Speaker 1: Manuel said, reasoningly. When I go out there, I want
- 8:14Speaker 1: to be able to call my shots on the bull.
- 8:16Speaker 1: It only takes one good peek at he was talking
- 8:20Speaker 1: to a man who is no longer listening. If you
- 8:23Speaker 1: want something extra, Ratana said, go and get it. There
- 8:27Speaker 1: will be a regular quadria out there. Bring as many
- 8:29Speaker 1: of your own picks as you want. The Charlottava is
- 8:33Speaker 1: over by ten thirty, all right, Manuel said, If that's
- 8:37Speaker 1: the way you feel about it, that's the way. Ritana said,
- 8:42Speaker 1: I'll see you tomorrow night. Manuel said, I'll be out there,
- 8:46Speaker 1: Ratana said. Manuel picked up his suitcase and went out
- 8:51Speaker 1: shut the door. Rattana called. Manuel looked back. Retana was
- 8:57Speaker 1: sitting forward, looking at some papers. Manuel pulled the door
- 9:01Speaker 1: tight until it clicked. He went down the stairs and
- 9:05Speaker 1: out of the door into the hot brightness of the street.
- 9:09Speaker 1: It was very hot in the street, and the light
- 9:12Speaker 1: on the white buildings was sudden and hard on his eyes.
- 9:16Speaker 1: He walked down the shady side of the steep street
- 9:19Speaker 1: toward pert de del Sole. The shade felt solid and
- 9:23Speaker 1: cool as running water. The heat came suddenly. As he
- 9:27Speaker 1: crossed the intersecting streets. Manuel saw no one he knew
- 9:31Speaker 1: in all the people he passed. Just before the Porte
- 9:36Speaker 1: de del Sol, he turned into a cafe. It was
- 9:40Speaker 1: quiet in the cafe. There were a few men sitting
- 9:43Speaker 1: at tables against the wall. At one table, four men
- 9:46Speaker 1: played cards. Most of the men sat against the wall,
- 9:50Speaker 1: smoking empty coffee cups and liqueur glasses before them on
- 9:55Speaker 1: the tables. Manuel went through the long room to a
- 9:58Speaker 1: small room and back. A man sat at a table
- 10:01Speaker 1: in the corner of sleep. Manuel sat down at one
- 10:04Speaker 1: of the tables. The waiter came in and stood beside
- 10:08Speaker 1: Manuel's table. Have you seen Zarito? Manuel asked, him he
- 10:14Speaker 1: was in before lunch. The waiter answered, he won't be
- 10:17Speaker 1: back before five o'clock. Bring me some coffee and milk
- 10:22Speaker 1: and a shot of the ordinary, Manuel said. The waiter
- 10:26Speaker 1: came back into the room carrying a tray with a
- 10:28Speaker 1: big coffee glass and a liqueur glass on it. In
- 10:32Speaker 1: his left hand he held a bottle of brandy. He
- 10:35Speaker 1: swung these down to the table, and a boy who
- 10:37Speaker 1: had followed him poured coffee and milk into the glass
- 10:40Speaker 1: from two shiny spouted pots with long handles. Manuel took
- 10:47Speaker 1: off his cap, and the waiter noticed his pigtail pinned
- 10:50Speaker 1: forward on his head. He winked at the coffee boys.
- 10:53Speaker 1: He poured out the brandy into the little glass beside
- 10:56Speaker 1: Manuel's coffee. The coffee boy looked at meno Well's pale
- 11:00Speaker 1: face curiously. You fighting here, asked the waiter, working up
- 11:07Speaker 1: the bottle. Yes, Manuel said, tomorrow. The waiter stood there,
- 11:12Speaker 1: holding the bottle on one hip. You in the charlie chaplins,
- 11:17Speaker 1: he asked. The coffee boy looked away, embarrassed. No, in
- 11:23Speaker 1: the ordinary. I thought they were going to have Chavez
- 11:27Speaker 1: and Hernandez. The waiter said, Now, me and another who
- 11:33Speaker 1: Chavez or Heernandez Hernandez. I think what's the matter with Chavez?
- 11:39Speaker 1: He got hurt? Where did you hear that? Retana? Hey, Louis,
- 11:46Speaker 1: the waiter called to the next room. Chavez got Gohiva.
- 11:51Speaker 1: Manuel had taken the wrapper off the lumps of sugar
- 11:54Speaker 1: and dropped them into his coffee. He stirred it and
- 11:57Speaker 1: drank it down, sweet and warming in his empty stomach.
- 12:03Speaker 1: He drank off the brandy. Give me another shot of that,
- 12:06Speaker 1: he said to the waiter. The waiter uncorked the bottle
- 12:10Speaker 1: and poured the glass full, slopping another drink into the saucer.
- 12:15Speaker 1: Another waiter had come up in front of the table.
- 12:18Speaker 1: The coffee boy was gone. Is shavas are bad? The
- 12:22Speaker 1: second waiter asked Manuel. I don't know. Manuel said, Bretana
- 12:27Speaker 1: didn't say a hell of a lot he cares. The
- 12:30Speaker 1: tall waiter said, Manuel had not seen him before. He
- 12:34Speaker 1: must have just come up. If you stand in with
- 12:38Speaker 1: Retana in this town, you're a made man. The tall
- 12:41Speaker 1: waiter said, If you go aren't in with him, he
- 12:45Speaker 1: might as well just go out and shoot yourself. You
- 12:48Speaker 1: said it. The other waiter had come in, said, you
- 12:51Speaker 1: said it, then you're right, I said it. I know
- 12:54Speaker 1: what I'm talking about when I talk about that bird.
- 12:57Speaker 1: Look what he's done for vi Aalta waiter said, And
- 13:02Speaker 1: that ain't all. The tall waiter said, Look what he's
- 13:05Speaker 1: done for marciol Lelanda. Look what he's done for Nacional.
- 13:09Speaker 1: You said it, kid, agreed. The short waiter, Menoel, looked
- 13:14Speaker 1: at them standing talking in front of his table. He
- 13:17Speaker 1: had drunk his second brandy. They had forgotten about him.
- 13:22Speaker 1: They were not interested in him. Look at that bunch
- 13:24Speaker 1: of camels. The tall waiter said, did you ever see
- 13:28Speaker 1: this Nacional too? I saw him last Sunday, didn't I.
- 13:33Speaker 1: He's a giraffe. The short waiter said, what did I
- 13:37Speaker 1: tell you? The tall waiter said, those are Ratana's voice.
- 13:41Speaker 1: Say give me another shot of that. Manuel said he
- 13:45Speaker 1: had poured the brandy the waiter had slopped over in
- 13:48Speaker 1: the saucer into his glass and drank it while they
- 13:50Speaker 1: were talking. The original waiter poured his glass full mechanically,
- 13:55Speaker 1: and the three of them went out of the room talking.
- 13:59Speaker 1: In the far owner of the man was still asleep,
- 14:02Speaker 1: snoring slightly on the intaking breath, his head back against
- 14:05Speaker 1: the wall. Manuel drank his brandy. He felt sleepy himself.
- 14:12Speaker 1: It was too hot to go out into the town. Besides,
- 14:15Speaker 1: there was nothing to do. He wanted to see Zarto.
- 14:20Speaker 1: He would go to sleep while he waited. He kicked
- 14:23Speaker 1: his suitcase under the table to be sure it was there.
- 14:27Speaker 1: Perhaps it would be better to put it back under
- 14:29Speaker 1: the seat against the wall. He leaned down and shoved
- 14:33Speaker 1: it under. Then he leaned forward on the table and
- 14:36Speaker 1: went to sleep. When he woke, there was someone sitting
- 14:40Speaker 1: across the table from him. He was a big man
- 14:44Speaker 1: with a heavy brown face, like an Indian. He'd been
- 14:47Speaker 1: sitting there sometime. He had waved the waiter away and
- 14:51Speaker 1: sat reading the paper and occasionally looking down at Manuel
- 14:55Speaker 1: asleep his head on the table. He read the paper laboriously,
- 15:00Speaker 1: forming the words with his lips as he read. When
- 15:04Speaker 1: it tired him, he looked at Manoel. He sat heavily
- 15:08Speaker 1: in the chair, his black Cordoba hat tipped forward. Manoel
- 15:15Speaker 1: sat up and looked at him. Hello, Zirito, he said, hello, kid.
- 15:20Speaker 1: The big man said, I've been asleep. Manoel rubbed his
- 15:26Speaker 1: forehead with the back of his fist. I thought maybe
- 15:29Speaker 1: you were how's everything good? How's everything with you? Not
- 15:36Speaker 1: so good? They were both silent. Cirito, the piccador, looked
- 15:43Speaker 1: at Manoel's white face. Manoel looked down at the picador's
- 15:47Speaker 1: enormous hands, folding the paper to put away in his pocket.
- 15:52Speaker 1: I got a favor to ask you, Manus, Manoel said.
- 15:56Speaker 1: Monasterro's was Zurito's nickname. He never heard it. Without thinking
- 16:01Speaker 1: of his huge hands. He put them forward on the
- 16:05Speaker 1: table self consciously. Let's have a drink, he said, sure,
- 16:11Speaker 1: said Munuell. The waiter came and went and came again.
- 16:16Speaker 1: He went out of the room, looking back at the
- 16:18Speaker 1: two men at the table. What's the matter, Manola. Sirito
- 16:23Speaker 1: set down his glass. Would you peek two bulls for
- 16:26Speaker 1: me tomorrow night? Manuel asked, looking up at Zirito across
- 16:31Speaker 1: the table. No, said Cerrito, I'm not peeking. Manuel looked
- 16:36Speaker 1: down at his glass. He had expected that answer. Now
- 16:41Speaker 1: he had it, well, he had it. I'm sorry, Manola,
- 16:46Speaker 1: but I'm not peeking. Cirrito looked at his hands. That's
- 16:50Speaker 1: all right, Manuel said, I'm too old. Zirito said, I
- 16:56Speaker 1: just asked you, Monuell said, the nocturnal tomorrow. That's it.
- 17:02Speaker 1: I figured if I had just one good pick, I
- 17:05Speaker 1: could get away with it. How much are you getting
- 17:08Speaker 1: three hundred pisetas? I get more than that for peeking,
- 17:13Speaker 1: I know, said Manuel. I didn't have any right to
- 17:16Speaker 1: ask you. What do you keep on doing it for?
- 17:20Speaker 1: Ci Rito asked, why don't you cut off your quoleta Manolo?
- 17:24Speaker 1: I don't know, Manuel said, you're pretty near as old
- 17:28Speaker 1: as I am. Ci Rito said, I don't know. Manuel said,
- 17:33Speaker 1: I got to do it. If I can fix it
- 17:36Speaker 1: so that I can get an even break, that's all
- 17:39Speaker 1: I want. I got to stick with it. Monos, No,
- 17:43Speaker 1: you don't, Yes, I do. I've tried keeping away from it.
- 17:48Speaker 1: I know how you feel, but it isn't right. You
- 17:51Speaker 1: ought to get out and stay out. I can't do it. Besides,
- 17:55Speaker 1: I've been going good lately. Ci Rito looked at his face.
- 18:00Speaker 1: You've been in the hospital, but I was going great
- 18:03Speaker 1: when I got hurt. Si Rita said nothing. He tipped
- 18:08Speaker 1: the cognac out of his saucer into his glass. The
- 18:12Speaker 1: paper said they never saw a better Fayiva, Manuel said.
- 18:17Speaker 1: Cirito looked at him. You know what I get going
- 18:21Speaker 1: I'm good. Manoel said, you're too old. The picador said no,
- 18:28Speaker 1: said Manuel, you're ten years older than I am. With me,
- 18:32Speaker 1: it's different. I'm not too old, Manoel said. They sat silent,
- 18:39Speaker 1: Manoel watching the picador's face. I was going great till
- 18:43Speaker 1: I got hurt. Manoel offered, you ought to have seen
- 18:48Speaker 1: me mon us. Manuel said, reproachfully. I don't want to
- 18:53Speaker 1: see you. Sirito said, it makes me nervous. You haven't
- 18:56Speaker 1: seen me lately. I've seen you plenty. Cirrito looked at Manoel,
- 19:01Speaker 1: avoiding his eyes. You ought to quit it, Manola, I can't,
- 19:07Speaker 1: Manuel said, I'm going good now, I tell you. Sirito
- 19:12Speaker 1: leaned forward, his hands on the table. Listen, I'll peek
- 19:17Speaker 1: for you, and if you don't go big tomorrow night,
- 19:21Speaker 1: you'll quit. See will you do that? Sure? Cirito leaned back, relieved.
- 19:30Speaker 1: You got to quit. He said, no, monkey business. You
- 19:34Speaker 1: gotta cut the corletta. I won't have to quit. Manoel said,
- 19:38Speaker 1: you watch me, I've got the stuff. Cirito stood up
- 19:42Speaker 1: and he felt tired from arguing you got to quit.
- 19:46Speaker 1: He said, I'll cut your corletta myself. No, you won't,
- 19:50Speaker 1: Manoel said, you won't have a chance. Cirito called the waiter.
- 19:55Speaker 1: Come on, said Cirito, Come on up to the house.
- 20:00Speaker 1: Manoel reached under the seat for his suit case. He
- 20:04Speaker 1: was happy. He knew Zirita would pick for him. He
- 20:08Speaker 1: was the best bigodor living. It was all simple. Now,
- 20:13Speaker 1: come on up to the house and we'll eat, Cirrito said.
- 20:19Speaker 1: Manoel stood in the Pavio de Cabayos waiting for the
- 20:23Speaker 1: charlie chaplains to be over. Cirrito stood beside him. Where
- 20:28Speaker 1: they stood, it was dark. The high door that led
- 20:32Speaker 1: into the bull ring was shut above them. They heard
- 20:35Speaker 1: a shout, then another shout of laughter, then there was silence.
- 20:42Speaker 1: Manoel liked the smell of the stables about the Pavio
- 20:45Speaker 1: de Cabayos. It smelt good in the dark. There was
- 20:49Speaker 1: another roar from the arena, and then applause prolonged, applause
- 20:53Speaker 1: going on and on. You ever see these fellows, Cirrito asked,
- 20:59Speaker 1: big and dooming beside Manuel in the dark. No. Manuel said,
- 21:05Speaker 1: they're pretty funny. Cerrito said, he smiled to himself. In
- 21:08Speaker 1: the dark. The high, double tight fitting door into the
- 21:13Speaker 1: bull ring swung open, and Manuel saw the ring and
- 21:15Speaker 1: the hard light of the arc lights the plaza dark
- 21:20Speaker 1: all the way around. Rising high around the edge of
- 21:24Speaker 1: the ring, were running and bowing. Two men dressed like tramps,
- 21:28Speaker 1: followed by a third in the uniform of a hotel bellboy,
- 21:33Speaker 1: who stooped and picked up the hats and canes thrown
- 21:36Speaker 1: down into the sand and tossed them back up into
- 21:38Speaker 1: the darkness. The electric light went on in the patio.
- 21:45Speaker 1: I'll climb onto one of those ponies while you collect
- 21:47Speaker 1: the kids, Cerrito said. Behind them, came the jingle of
- 21:52Speaker 1: the mules coming out to go into the arena and
- 21:54Speaker 1: be hitched onto the dead bull. The members of the quadrilla,
- 21:58Speaker 1: who had been watching the lusk from the warm way
- 22:01Speaker 1: between the barrera and the seats, came walking back and
- 22:05Speaker 1: stood in a group talking under the electric light in
- 22:08Speaker 1: the patio. A good looking lead in a silver and
- 22:11Speaker 1: orange suit came up to Manuel and smiled. I'm Hernandez,
- 22:16Speaker 1: he said, and put out his hand. Manuel shook it.
- 22:21Speaker 1: There are regular elephants we've got tonight, the big boy said, cheerfully.
- 22:25Speaker 1: They're big ones with horns. Manuel agreed. You drew the
- 22:29Speaker 1: worst lot. The boy said, that's all right. Manuel said,
- 22:34Speaker 1: the bigger they are, the more meat for the poor.
- 22:37Speaker 1: Where'd you get that one? Hernandez grinned, Oh, that's an
- 22:41Speaker 1: old one. Manuel said, you line up your quadrilla so
- 22:45Speaker 1: I can see what you've got. You've got some good kids.
- 22:49Speaker 1: Hernandez said. He was very cheerful. He had been on
- 22:53Speaker 1: twice before in Nocturnals and was beginning to get a
- 22:56Speaker 1: following in Madrid. He was happy the would start in
- 23:00Speaker 1: a few minutes. Where are the peaks, Manuel asked, they're
- 23:06Speaker 1: back in the corals, fighting about who gets the beautiful horses.
- 23:09Speaker 1: Hernandez grinned. The mules came through the gate in a rush,
- 23:14Speaker 1: the whips snapping, bells jangling, and the young bull plowing
- 23:18Speaker 1: a furrow of sand. They formed up for the paseo.
- 23:23Speaker 1: As soon as the bullet gone through. Manuel and Hernandez
- 23:27Speaker 1: stood in front. The use of the quadrillas were behind,
- 23:31Speaker 1: their heavy capes furled over their arms. In back, the
- 23:36Speaker 1: four picadors mounted, holding their steel tipped push poles erect
- 23:41Speaker 1: in the half dark of the coral. It's a wonder
- 23:44Speaker 1: Ritata wouldn't give us enough light? To see the horses buy.
- 23:48Speaker 1: One picador said, well, he knows, we'll be happier if
- 23:52Speaker 1: we don't get too good a look at these skins.
- 23:54Speaker 1: Another peak answered, this thing i'm barely on keeps me
- 23:59Speaker 1: off the ground. The picador said, well, their horses, sure,
- 24:04Speaker 1: their horses. They talked sitting there, gaunt horses in the dark.
- 24:11Speaker 1: Soirito said nothing. He had the only steady horse of
- 24:15Speaker 1: the lot. He had tried him wheeling him in the corrals,
- 24:19Speaker 1: and he responded to the bit in the spurs. He
- 24:23Speaker 1: had taken the bandage off his right eye and cut
- 24:25Speaker 1: the strings where they had tied his ears tight shut
- 24:28Speaker 1: at the base. He was a good, solid horse, solid
- 24:32Speaker 1: on his legs. That was all he needed. He intended
- 24:36Speaker 1: to ride him all through the corida. He had already
- 24:39Speaker 1: since he had mounted. Sitting in the half dark in
- 24:42Speaker 1: the big quilted saddle, waiting for the Passeo peeked through
- 24:47Speaker 1: the whole coorida in his mind. The other picadors went
- 24:52Speaker 1: on talking on both sides of him. He did not
- 24:55Speaker 1: hear them. The two mattadors stood together in front of
- 24:58Speaker 1: their left peons, their capes furled over their left arms
- 25:03Speaker 1: in the same fashion. Manuel was thinking about the three
- 25:07Speaker 1: lads in back of him. They were all three madrulinus
- 25:11Speaker 1: like Hernandez, boys about nineteen, one of them a gypsy, serious,
- 25:17Speaker 1: aloof and dark faced. He liked the look of He turned.
- 25:22Speaker 1: What's your name, kid, he asked the gypsy, Quentes. The
- 25:26Speaker 1: gypsy said that's a good name, Manuel said. The gypsy smiled,
- 25:32Speaker 1: showing his teeth. You take the bowl and give him
- 25:36Speaker 1: a little run when he comes out. Manuel said, all right.
- 25:40Speaker 1: The gypsy said, his face was serious. He began to
- 25:45Speaker 1: think about just what he would do there she goes.
- 25:49Speaker 1: Manuel said to Hernandez, all right, we'll go, heads up,
- 25:55Speaker 1: swinging with the music, their right arms swinging free, they
- 25:59Speaker 1: stepped out, crossing the sand and arena under the arc lights,
- 26:03Speaker 1: the quadrillas opening out behind the picadors riding after behind
- 26:09Speaker 1: came the bull ring servants and the jingling mules. The
- 26:12Speaker 1: crowd applauded Hernandez as they marched across the arena. Arrogant, swinging,
- 26:18Speaker 1: they looked straight ahead. As they marched, they bowed before
- 26:22Speaker 1: the president, and the procession broke up into its component parts.
- 26:27Speaker 1: The bull fighters went over to the barrera and changed
- 26:31Speaker 1: their heavy mantles for the light fighting capes. The mules
- 26:35Speaker 1: went out, the picadors galloped jerkily around the ring, and
- 26:40Speaker 1: two rode out the gate they had come in by.
- 26:43Speaker 1: The servants swept the sand smooth. Manouel drank a glass
- 26:48Speaker 1: of water poured for him by one of Vertana's deputies,
- 26:51Speaker 1: who was acting as his manager and sort hitler. Hernandez
- 26:56Speaker 1: came over from speaking with his own manager. He got
- 27:00Speaker 1: a good hand, kid, Manuel, complimented him. They like me,
- 27:05Speaker 1: Hernandez said, happily. How did the paseo go? Manoel asked
- 27:10Speaker 1: Retana his man like a wedding, said the handler. Fine.
- 27:15Speaker 1: You came out like Oaslito and Milonte Cirita rode by
- 27:21Speaker 1: a bulky equestrian statue. He wheeled his horse and faced
- 27:25Speaker 1: him toward the torrido on the far side of the ring,
- 27:28Speaker 1: where the bull would come out. It was strange under
- 27:32Speaker 1: the ArcLight. He peaked in the hot afternoon sun for
- 27:35Speaker 1: big money. He did not like this arc light business.
- 27:39Speaker 1: You wish they would get started. Manoel went up to
- 27:43Speaker 1: him pique him. Monos cut him down his size for me.
- 27:47Speaker 1: I'll pique him, Kid, Cirrito spat on the sand. I'll
- 27:51Speaker 1: make him jump out of the ring, lean on him.
- 27:54Speaker 1: Monos Madee said, I'll lean on him. Cirrito said, what's
- 27:59Speaker 1: holding it up? He's coming now, Manuel said. Sorita sat there,
- 28:05Speaker 1: his feet in the box, stirrups his great legs and
- 28:09Speaker 1: the buckskin covered armor, gripping the horse the reins in
- 28:13Speaker 1: his left hand, the long peak held in his right hand,
- 28:16Speaker 1: his broad hat well down over his eyes to shade
- 28:19Speaker 1: them from the lights. Watching the distant door of the torriel,
- 28:24Speaker 1: his horse's ears quivered, sto patt him with his left hand.
- 28:29Speaker 1: The red door of the torreel swung back, and for
- 28:32Speaker 1: a moment Sirito looked into the empty passageway far across
- 28:35Speaker 1: the arena. Then the bull came out in a rush,
- 28:39Speaker 1: skidding on his fore legs as he came out under
- 28:42Speaker 1: the light, then charging in a gallop, moving softly in
- 28:46Speaker 1: a fast gallop, silent except as he whooped through wide
- 28:51Speaker 1: nostrils as he charged, glad to be free after the dark.
- 28:55Speaker 1: Pin in the first row of seats slightly bored, leaning
- 29:01Speaker 1: forward to ride on the cement wall in front of
- 29:03Speaker 1: his knees. The substitute bullfight critic of El Geraldo scribbled
- 29:09Speaker 1: Campangniero Negro forty two came out at ninety miles an
- 29:13Speaker 1: hour with plenty of gas. Manuel, leaning against the barrera,
- 29:17Speaker 1: watching the bull, waved his hand and the gypsy ran out,
- 29:21Speaker 1: trailing his cape. The bull, in full gallop, pivoted and
- 29:26Speaker 1: charged the cape, his head down, his tail rising. The
- 29:30Speaker 1: gypsy moved in a zigzag, and as he passed the
- 29:33Speaker 1: bull caught sight of him and abandoned the cape to
- 29:36Speaker 1: charge the man. The gip sprinted and vaulted the red
- 29:40Speaker 1: fence of the barrera. As the bull struck it with
- 29:43Speaker 1: his horns, he tossed into it twice with his horns,
- 29:47Speaker 1: banging into the wood blindly. The critic of El Geraldo
- 29:53Speaker 1: lit a cigarette and tossed the match at the bull,
- 29:55Speaker 1: then wrote in his notebook large and with enough horns
- 29:59Speaker 1: to set satisfy the cash customers. Carpanio showed a tendency
- 30:03Speaker 1: to cut into the tehran of the bull fighters. Manuel
- 30:08Speaker 1: stepped out into the hard sand as the bull banged
- 30:11Speaker 1: into the fence. Out of the corner of his eye,
- 30:14Speaker 1: he saw Zorrito sitting the white horse close to the barrera.
- 30:19Speaker 1: But a quarter of the way round the ring to
- 30:21Speaker 1: the left. Manuel held the cape close in front of him,
- 30:25Speaker 1: a fold in each hand, and shouted at the bull,
- 30:29Speaker 1: huh huh. The bull turned seemed to brace against the
- 30:34Speaker 1: fence as he charged in a scramble, driving into the
- 30:38Speaker 1: cape as Manuel sidestepped, pivoted on his heels with the
- 30:42Speaker 1: charge of the bull, and swung the cape just ahead
- 30:45Speaker 1: of the horns. At the end of the swing, he
- 30:48Speaker 1: was facing the bull again and held the cape in
- 30:50Speaker 1: the same position close in front of his body, and
- 30:54Speaker 1: pivot again as the bull recharged. Each time. As he swung,
- 30:58Speaker 1: the crowd shouted. Four times he swung with the bull,
- 31:02Speaker 1: lifting the cape so that it billowed full and each
- 31:05Speaker 1: time bringing the bull around to charge again. Then at
- 31:09Speaker 1: the end of the fifth swing, he held the cape
- 31:11Speaker 1: against his hip and pivoted so the cape swung out
- 31:15Speaker 1: like a ballet dancer's skirt, and wound the bull around
- 31:18Speaker 1: himself like a belt to step clear, leaving the bull
- 31:22Speaker 1: facing Zerrito on the white horse come up and planted firm.
- 31:28Speaker 1: The horse facing the bull, its ears forward, its lips
- 31:31Speaker 1: nervous zareto his hat over his eyes, leaning forward the
- 31:36Speaker 1: long pole sticking out before and behind in a sharp
- 31:39Speaker 1: angle under his right arm, held half way down the
- 31:43Speaker 1: triangular iron point, facing the bull, el Heiraldo's second string. Critic,
- 31:51Speaker 1: drawing on his cigarette, his eyes on the bull, wrote,
- 31:54Speaker 1: the veteran Manolo designed a series of acceptable veronicus, ending
- 31:59Speaker 1: in a very Bellmontistic ricorte that earned applause from the regulars,
- 32:05Speaker 1: and we entered the tercio of the cavalry. Zirito sat
- 32:10Speaker 1: his horse, measuring the distance between the bull and the
- 32:14Speaker 1: end of the peak. As he looked the bull, gathered
- 32:18Speaker 1: himself together and charged, his eyes on the horse's chest
- 32:23Speaker 1: as he lowered his head to hook. Zirito sunk the
- 32:26Speaker 1: point of the peak in the swelling hump of muscle
- 32:29Speaker 1: above the bull's shoulder, leaned all his weight on the shaft,
- 32:33Speaker 1: and with his left hand pulled the horse into the
- 32:35Speaker 1: air front hofs pawing, and swung him to the right
- 32:39Speaker 1: as he pushed the bull under and through, so the
- 32:41Speaker 1: horns passed safely into the horse's belly, and the horse
- 32:44Speaker 1: came down quivering, the bull's tail brushing his chest as
- 32:49Speaker 1: he charged the cape, Hernandez offered him. Hernandez ran sideways
- 32:55Speaker 1: taking the bull out and away with the cape toward
- 32:58Speaker 1: the other picador. He fixed with the swing of the
- 33:01Speaker 1: cape squarely facing the horse and rider, and stepped back.
- 33:07Speaker 1: As the bull saw the horse, he charged. The Pikador's
- 33:10Speaker 1: lance slid along his back, and as the shock of
- 33:13Speaker 1: the charge lifted the horse, the Picicadoro was already half
- 33:17Speaker 1: way out of the saddle, lifting his right leg clear
- 33:20Speaker 1: as he missed with the lance and falling to the
- 33:22Speaker 1: left side to keep the horse between him and the bull.
- 33:27Speaker 1: The horse lifted and gourd crashed over, with the bull
- 33:30Speaker 1: driving into him. The picador gave a shove with his
- 33:33Speaker 1: boots against the horse and laid clear, waiting to be
- 33:37Speaker 1: lifted and hauled away and put on his feet. Manuel
- 33:41Speaker 1: let the bull drive into the fallen horse. He was
- 33:44Speaker 1: in no hurry. The pikador was safe. Besides, it did
- 33:48Speaker 1: a pigodoro like that. Good to worry. He'd stay on
- 33:51Speaker 1: longer next time, lousy peaks. He looked across the sand
- 33:56Speaker 1: at Crito, a little way up from the barrera, his
- 33:59Speaker 1: horse ride waiting. Huh. He called to the bull Tomar,
- 34:05Speaker 1: holding the cape in both hands so that it would
- 34:07Speaker 1: catch his eye. The bull detached himself from the horse
- 34:11Speaker 1: and charged the cape, and Manuel, running sideways and holding
- 34:15Speaker 1: the cape spread wide, stopped, swung on his heels, and
- 34:19Speaker 1: brought the bull sharply around facing Zorito. Campagnero accepted a
- 34:25Speaker 1: pair of varus for the death of one Rosinante, with
- 34:28Speaker 1: Hernandez and Manolo at the keats el. Harolto's critic wrote,
- 34:34Speaker 1: he pressed on the iron and clearly showed he was
- 34:37Speaker 1: no horse lover. The veteran. Zorita resurrected some of his
- 34:41Speaker 1: old stuff with the pike pole, notably the suerte oh
- 34:46Speaker 1: lay oor lay. The man sitting behind him shouted. The
- 34:50Speaker 1: shout was lost in the roar of the crowd, and
- 34:53Speaker 1: he slapped the critic on the back. The critic looked
- 34:56Speaker 1: up to see Zorita directly below him, leaning far out
- 34:59Speaker 1: of his horse, the length of the peak, rising at
- 35:02Speaker 1: a sharp angle under his armpit, holding the peak almost
- 35:06Speaker 1: by the point, bearing down with all his weight, holding
- 35:10Speaker 1: the bull off the bull, pushing and driving to get
- 35:12Speaker 1: at the horse, and Ziito far out on top of him,
- 35:16Speaker 1: holding him, holding him, and slowly pivoting the horse against
- 35:21Speaker 1: the pressure, so that at last he was clear Siita
- 35:26Speaker 1: felt the moment when the horse was clear and the
- 35:28Speaker 1: bull could come past, and relaxed the absolute steel lock
- 35:32Speaker 1: of his resistance. The triangular steel point of the peak
- 35:37Speaker 1: ripped in the bull's hump of shoulder muscle as he
- 35:39Speaker 1: tore loose to find Hernandez's cape before his muzzle. He
- 35:44Speaker 1: charged blindly into the cape, and the boy took him
- 35:48Speaker 1: out into the open arena. Ziita sat patting his horse
- 35:52Speaker 1: and looking at the bull charging on the cape that
- 35:55Speaker 1: Hernandez swung for him out under the bright light, while
- 35:59Speaker 1: the crowd shouted. You see that one, He said to
- 36:02Speaker 1: Manoel it was, oh wonder. Munwell said, I got him
- 36:06Speaker 1: that time, Cirito said, look at him. Now. At the
- 36:11Speaker 1: conclusion of a closely turned pass of the cape, the
- 36:14Speaker 1: bull slid to his knees. He was up at once,
- 36:17Speaker 1: but far out from across the sand, Manuel and Currito
- 36:21Speaker 1: saw the shine of the pumping flow of blood, smooth
- 36:24Speaker 1: against the black of the bull's shoulder. I got him
- 36:29Speaker 1: that time, Cirito said, he's a good bull. Munwell said,
- 36:33Speaker 1: if they gave me another shot at it might kill him.
- 36:36Speaker 1: Ci Rito said, they'll change the thirds on us. Manuel said,
- 36:41Speaker 1: look at him. Now, Cirrito said, I got to go
- 36:45Speaker 1: over there, Manuel said, and started on a run for
- 36:49Speaker 1: the other side of the ring, where the monos were
- 36:51Speaker 1: leading a horse out by the bridle toward the bull,
- 36:54Speaker 1: whacking him on the legs with rods and all in
- 36:57Speaker 1: a procession, trying to get in toward the bull, who
- 37:00Speaker 1: stood dropping his head, pawing, unable to make up his mind. Charge. Crito,
- 37:09Speaker 1: sitting his horse, walked toward the scene, not missing any detail,
- 37:13Speaker 1: and scowled. Finally, the bull charged the horse leaders ran
- 37:19Speaker 1: for the barrera. The picador hit too far back, and
- 37:23Speaker 1: the bull got under the horse, lifted him and threw
- 37:26Speaker 1: him onto his back. Ziito watched the monos in their
- 37:32Speaker 1: red shirts running out to drag the picicador clean. The
- 37:36Speaker 1: picador now on his feet, swearing and flopping his arms.
- 37:40Speaker 1: Manuel and Hernandez standing ready with their capes, and the bull,
- 37:45Speaker 1: the great black bull with a horse on his back,
- 37:48Speaker 1: hoofs dangling, the bridle caught in the horns. Black bull
- 37:54Speaker 1: with a horse on his back, staggering short legged, then
- 37:57Speaker 1: arching his neck and lifting, thrusting, charging to slide the
- 38:01Speaker 1: horse off, horse, sliding down, then the bull into a
- 38:06Speaker 1: lunging charge at the cape Manuel spread for him. The
- 38:11Speaker 1: bull was slower now Manoel felt he was bleeding badly.
- 38:15Speaker 1: There was a sheen of blood all down his flank.
- 38:19Speaker 1: Manoel offered him the cape again. There he came, eyes open, ugly,
- 38:24Speaker 1: watching the cape. Manoel stepped to the side and raised
- 38:28Speaker 1: his arms, tightening the cape ahead for the bull of
- 38:31Speaker 1: the veronica. Now he was facing the bull. Yes, his
- 38:36Speaker 1: head was going down a little. He was carrying it lower.
- 38:40Speaker 1: That was cirrito. Manuel flopped the cape. There he comes.
- 38:44Speaker 1: He sidestepped and swung in another veronica. He's shooting awfully accurately.
- 38:49Speaker 1: He thought he's had enough fight, so he's watching. Now
- 38:53Speaker 1: he's haunting now, got his eye on me. But I
- 38:58Speaker 1: always give him the cape. He shook the cape at
- 39:02Speaker 1: the bull. There he comes. He sidestepped awful close that time.
- 39:07Speaker 1: I don't want to work that close to him. The
- 39:10Speaker 1: edge of the cape was wet with blood. Wards swept
- 39:12Speaker 1: along the bull's back as he went by. All right,
- 39:17Speaker 1: here's the last one. Manoel, facing the bull, having turned
- 39:21Speaker 1: him with each charge, offered the cape with his two hands.
- 39:25Speaker 1: The bull looked at him, eyes watching horn straight forward.
- 39:29Speaker 1: The bull looked at him, watching huh. Manuel said, totalo,
- 39:36Speaker 1: and leaning back, swung the cape forward. Here he comes.
- 39:41Speaker 1: He side stepped, swung the cape in back of him,
- 39:44Speaker 1: and pivoted. So the bull followed a swirl of cape
- 39:47Speaker 1: and then was left with nothing fixed by the pass
- 39:51Speaker 1: dominated by the cape. Manuel swung the cape under his
- 39:54Speaker 1: muscle with one hand to show the bullets fixed, and
- 39:58Speaker 1: walked away. There was no applause. Manoel walked across the
- 40:04Speaker 1: sand toward the barrera while Za Rita rode out of
- 40:07Speaker 1: the ring. The trumpet had blown to change the act
- 40:10Speaker 1: to the planting of the bandereas. While Manuel had been
- 40:13Speaker 1: working with the bull, he had not consciously noticed it.
- 40:17Speaker 1: The monos were spreading canvas over the two dead horses
- 40:20Speaker 1: and sprinkling sawdust around them. Manoel came up to the
- 40:24Speaker 1: barrera for a drink of water. Retana's man handed him
- 40:28Speaker 1: the heavy porous jug Fuentes. The tall gipsy was standing
- 40:33Speaker 1: holding a pair of bandiera's, holding them together slim red sticks,
- 40:38Speaker 1: fishhooks points out. He looked at Manoel, go on out there,
- 40:44Speaker 1: Monoel said. The gipsy trotted out. Manoel sat down the
- 40:49Speaker 1: jug and watched. He wiped his face with the handkerchief.
- 40:54Speaker 1: The critic of Ehleraldo reached for the bottle of warm
- 40:57Speaker 1: champagne that stood between his feet, took a drink, and
- 41:01Speaker 1: finished his paragraph. The aged Manola rated no applause for
- 41:06Speaker 1: a vulgar series of lances with the cape, and we
- 41:10Speaker 1: entered the third of the palings. Alone in the center
- 41:14Speaker 1: of the ring, the bull stood still fixed. Puintes tall,
- 41:20Speaker 1: flat backed, walking toward him arrogantly. His arms spread out,
- 41:24Speaker 1: the two slim red sticks, one in each hand held
- 41:27Speaker 1: by the fingers, pointed straight forward. Puintes walked there forward
- 41:34Speaker 1: back of him, and to one side was a peon
- 41:37Speaker 1: with a cape. The bull looked at him and was
- 41:40Speaker 1: no longer fixed. His eyes watched Puintes, now standing still.
- 41:46Speaker 1: Now he leaned back, calling to him. Fuintes twitched the
- 41:50Speaker 1: two banderius in the light on the steel points caught
- 41:54Speaker 1: the bull's eye. His tail went up and he charged.
- 41:59Speaker 1: He came straight, his eyes on the man. Fuente stood still,
- 42:03Speaker 1: leaning back, the bandarios pointing forward. As the bull lowered
- 42:07Speaker 1: his head to hook, Fuentes leaned backward, his arms came
- 42:11Speaker 1: together and rose his two hands, touching the bandurios, descending
- 42:15Speaker 1: two red lines and leaning forward, drove the points into
- 42:20Speaker 1: the bull's shoulder, leaning far in over the bull's horns,
- 42:24Speaker 1: and pivoting on the two upright sticks, his legs tight together,
- 42:29Speaker 1: his body curving to one side to let the bull
- 42:33Speaker 1: pass o lay from the crowd. The bull was hooking wildly,
- 42:39Speaker 1: jumping like a trout, all four feet off the ground.
- 42:42Speaker 1: The red shaft of the bandurios tossed as he jumped. Manuel,
- 42:47Speaker 1: standing at the barrera, noticed that he hooked always to
- 42:50Speaker 1: the right. Tell him to drop the next pair on
- 42:53Speaker 1: the right, he said to the kid, who started to
- 42:55Speaker 1: run out to Fuente's with the new bandarias a heavy
- 42:59Speaker 1: hand fell on his shoulder. It was Zerto. How do
- 43:04Speaker 1: you feel, kid, he asked. Manuel was watching the bull.
- 43:09Speaker 1: Zerito leaned forward on the berrera, leaning the weight of
- 43:12Speaker 1: his body on his arms. Manuel turned to him. You're
- 43:16Speaker 1: looking good, Cerrito, said. Manuel shook his head. He had
- 43:21Speaker 1: nothing to do now until the next third. The gypsy
- 43:24Speaker 1: was very good with the bandarios. The bull would come
- 43:27Speaker 1: to him the next third in good shape. He was
- 43:30Speaker 1: a good bull. It had all been easy up to now.
- 43:34Speaker 1: The final stuff with the sword was all he worried over.
- 43:38Speaker 1: He did not really worry, he did not even think
- 43:40Speaker 1: about it. But standing there he had a heavy sense
- 43:43Speaker 1: of apprehension. He looked out at the bull, planning a faena,
- 43:48Speaker 1: his work with the red cloth that was to reduce
- 43:50Speaker 1: the bull, to make him manageable. The gypsy was walking
- 43:55Speaker 1: out toward the bull again, walking heel in tow insultingly
- 43:59Speaker 1: like a ball room dancer, the red shafts of the
- 44:02Speaker 1: Bandarios twitching with his walk. The bull watched him, not
- 44:07Speaker 1: fixed now hunting him, but waiting to get close enough
- 44:11Speaker 1: so that he could be sure of getting him, getting
- 44:13Speaker 1: the horns into him. As Fuentes walked forward, the bull charged.
- 44:20Speaker 1: Fuentes ran across the court of a circle as the
- 44:23Speaker 1: bull charged, and as he passed, running backward, stopped, swung forward,
- 44:27Speaker 1: rose on his toes, armed straight out, and sunk the
- 44:31Speaker 1: Bandarios straight down into the tight of the big shoulder muscles.
- 44:35Speaker 1: As the bulls missed him. The crowd were wild about it.
- 44:40Speaker 1: That kid won't stay in this night. Stuff long. Retada's
- 44:43Speaker 1: man said to us Rito, he's good, Sir Rito said,
- 44:49Speaker 1: watch him now. They watched. Fuentes was standing with his
- 44:54Speaker 1: back against the barrera. Two of the quadrilla were back
- 44:57Speaker 1: of him with their capes ready to flop over the
- 45:00Speaker 1: fence to distract the bull. The bull, with his tongue
- 45:04Speaker 1: cut out his barrel heaving, was watching the gypsy. He
- 45:08Speaker 1: thought he had him now back against the red planks,
- 45:11Speaker 1: only a short charge away. The bull watched him. The
- 45:16Speaker 1: gypsy bent back, drew back his arms, the band ears
- 45:20Speaker 1: pointing toward the bull. He called to the bull, stamped
- 45:24Speaker 1: one foot. The bull was suspicious. He wanted the man
- 45:28Speaker 1: no more barbs in the shoulder. Fuentes walked a little
- 45:32Speaker 1: closer to the bull, bent back, called again. Somebody in
- 45:38Speaker 1: the crowd shouted a warning. He's too damn close. Crito said,
- 45:45Speaker 1: watch him. Ratana's man said, leaning back, insiding the bull
- 45:50Speaker 1: with the Bandarrhias, Fuentes jumped both feet off the ground.
- 45:57Speaker 1: As he jumped, the bull's tail rose and he charged.
- 46:01Speaker 1: Fuentes came down on his toes, arms straight out, whole
- 46:05Speaker 1: body arching forward and drove the shafts straight down. As
- 46:09Speaker 1: he swung his body clear of the right horn. The
- 46:13Speaker 1: bull crashed into the barrera, where the flopping capes had
- 46:16Speaker 1: attracted his eye. As he lost the man, the gypsy
- 46:21Speaker 1: came running along the barrera toward Manuel, taking the applause
- 46:25Speaker 1: of the crowd. His vest was ripped where he had
- 46:29Speaker 1: not quite cleared the point of the horn. He was
- 46:32Speaker 1: happy about it, showing it to the spectators. He made
- 46:35Speaker 1: the tour of the ring. Sirita saw him go by, smiling,
- 46:39Speaker 1: pointing at his vest. He smiled. Somebody else was planting
- 46:45Speaker 1: the last pair of bunderias. Nobody was paying any attention.
- 46:49Speaker 1: Bretana's man tucked a baton inside the red cloth of
- 46:52Speaker 1: the muletta, folded the cloth over it and handed it
- 46:56Speaker 1: over the barrera to Manuel. He reached the leather sword case,
- 47:01Speaker 1: took out a sword, and, holding it by its leather scabbard,
- 47:05Speaker 1: reached it over the fence to Manuel. Manuel pulled the
- 47:08Speaker 1: blade out by the red hilt, and the scabbard fell lip.
- 47:13Speaker 1: He looked at Cirrito, the big man saw he was sweating.
- 47:18Speaker 1: Now you get him, kid, Cirito said, Manoel nodded. He's
- 47:22Speaker 1: in good shape. Cirito said, just like you want him.
- 47:26Speaker 1: Retona's man assured him. Manuel nodded. The trumpeter up under
- 47:31Speaker 1: the roof blew for the final act, and Manuel walked
- 47:35Speaker 1: across the arena toward where up in the dark boxes
- 47:38Speaker 1: the president must be in the front row of seats,
- 47:41Speaker 1: the substitute bullfight critic of Elhoraldo took a long drink
- 47:45Speaker 1: of the warm champagne. He had decided it was not
- 47:49Speaker 1: worth while to write a running story and would ride
- 47:51Speaker 1: up the Krita back in the office. What the hell
- 47:54Speaker 1: was it anyway, only a nocturnal If he missed anything,
- 47:58Speaker 1: he would get it out of the morning papers. He
- 48:00Speaker 1: took another drink of the champagne. He had a date
- 48:03Speaker 1: at Maxim's at twelve. Who were these bull fighters anyway? Kids?
- 48:08Speaker 1: And bombs, a bunch of bombs. He put his pad
- 48:11Speaker 1: of paper in his pocket and looked over toward Manuel,
- 48:14Speaker 1: standing very much alone in the ring, gesturing with his
- 48:17Speaker 1: hat in a salute toward a box he could not
- 48:20Speaker 1: see high up in the dark plaza. Out in the ring,
- 48:25Speaker 1: the bull stood quiet, looking at nothing. I dedicate this
- 48:29Speaker 1: bowl to you, missed a president, and to the public
- 48:32Speaker 1: of Madrid, the most intelligent and generous of the world.
- 48:37Speaker 1: Was what Manoel was saying. It was a formula. He
- 48:41Speaker 1: had said it all. It was a little long for
- 48:44Speaker 1: nocturnal use. He bowed at the dark, straightened, tossed his
- 48:49Speaker 1: hat over his shoulder, and, carrying the moletta in his
- 48:52Speaker 1: left hand and the sword in his right, walked out
- 48:55Speaker 1: toward the bull. Manuel walked toward the bull. The bull
- 49:00Speaker 1: looked at him. His eyes were quick. Manuel noticed the
- 49:04Speaker 1: bundehyers hung down on his left shoulder in the steady
- 49:07Speaker 1: sheen of blood from Zarita's peeking. He noticed the way
- 49:11Speaker 1: the bull's feet were as he walked forward, holding the
- 49:15Speaker 1: muletta in his left hand the sword in his right.
- 49:18Speaker 1: He watched the bull's feet. The bull could not charge
- 49:22Speaker 1: without gathering his feet together. Now he stood square on
- 49:25Speaker 1: them dully. Manuel walked toward him, watching his feet. This
- 49:31Speaker 1: was all right, He could do this. He must work
- 49:34Speaker 1: to get the bull's head down so that they could
- 49:35Speaker 1: go in past the horns and kill him. He did
- 49:39Speaker 1: not think about the sword, not about killing the bull.
- 49:42Speaker 1: He thought about one thing at a time. The coming
- 49:45Speaker 1: things oppressed him though. Walking forward, watching the bull's feet,
- 49:50Speaker 1: he saw successively his eyes, his wet muzzle, and the
- 49:54Speaker 1: wide forward pointing spread of his horns. The bull had
- 49:59Speaker 1: lights circles about his eyes. His eyes watched Manuel. He
- 50:04Speaker 1: felt he was going to get this little one with
- 50:06Speaker 1: the white face, standing still now and spreading the red
- 50:09Speaker 1: cloth of the meletta with the sword, pricking the point
- 50:13Speaker 1: into the cloth, so that the sword now held in
- 50:16Speaker 1: his left hand, spread the red flannel like the jib
- 50:18Speaker 1: of a boat. Manuel noticed the points of the bull's horns.
- 50:24Speaker 1: One of them was splintered from banging against the brera.
- 50:27Speaker 1: The other was as sharp as a porcupine quill. Manuel noticed,
- 50:32Speaker 1: while spreading the meletta that the white base of the
- 50:35Speaker 1: horn was stained red. While he noticed these things, he
- 50:38Speaker 1: did not lose sight of the bull's feet. The bull
- 50:41Speaker 1: watched Manuel steadily. He's on the defensive now, Manuel thought,
- 50:46Speaker 1: he's reserving himself. I've got to bring him out of that.
- 50:49Speaker 1: Get his head down, always, get his head down. Crito
- 50:54Speaker 1: had had his head down once, but he's come back.
- 50:58Speaker 1: He'll bleed when I start him going, and that will
- 51:01Speaker 1: bring it down. Holding the moletta with the sword in
- 51:05Speaker 1: his left hand, White nagged in front of him, he
- 51:07Speaker 1: called to the bull. The bull looked at him. He
- 51:11Speaker 1: leaned back insultingly and shook the widespread flannel. The bull
- 51:16Speaker 1: saw the meletta It was a bright scarlet under the
- 51:20Speaker 1: arc light. The bull's legs tightened. Here he comes. Whoosh.
- 51:27Speaker 1: Manuel turned as the bull came and raised the miletta.
- 51:29Speaker 1: Said that it passed over the bull's horns and swept
- 51:32Speaker 1: down his broad back from head to tail. The bull
- 51:36Speaker 1: had gone clean up in the air with the charge.
- 51:39Speaker 1: Menouel had not moved at the end of the past.
- 51:42Speaker 1: The bull turned like a cat coming around a corner
- 51:44Speaker 1: and faced Manuel. He was on the offensive again. His
- 51:48Speaker 1: heaviness was gone. Manuel lided the fresh blood, shining down
- 51:52Speaker 1: the black shoulder and dripping down the bull's leg. He
- 51:55Speaker 1: drew the sword out of the meletta and held it
- 51:57Speaker 1: in his right hand. The maletta held low down in
- 52:00Speaker 1: his left hand. Leaning toward the left, he called to
- 52:03Speaker 1: the bull. The bull's legs tightened, his eyes on the moletta.
- 52:08Speaker 1: Here he comes, Manuel thought. Yah. He swung with the charge,
- 52:13Speaker 1: sweeping the malta ahead of the bull's feet, firm the sword,
- 52:17Speaker 1: following the curve a point of light under the arcs.
- 52:21Speaker 1: The bull recharged as the passe nateral finished, and Manuel
- 52:26Speaker 1: raised the meletta for a passe de petro. Firmly planted
- 52:32Speaker 1: the burl came by his chest under the raised muletta.
- 52:36Speaker 1: Manuel lifted his head back to avoid the clattering bandario shafts.
- 52:41Speaker 1: The hot black bull body touched his chest as it
- 52:45Speaker 1: passed two. Damn close, Manuel thought. Cirito, leaning on the barrera,
- 52:51Speaker 1: spoke rapidly to the gypsy, who trotted out toward Manuel
- 52:55Speaker 1: with a cape. Cirito pulled down his hat and looked
- 52:58Speaker 1: out across the arena at Manuel. Manuel was facing the
- 53:02Speaker 1: bull again, the moletta held low and to the left.
- 53:06Speaker 1: The bull said was down as he watched the moletta.
- 53:09Speaker 1: If it was Belmonte doing that stuff, they go crazy,
- 53:12Speaker 1: Retana's man said. Zirito said nothing. He was watching Manuel
- 53:18Speaker 1: out in the center of the arena. Where did the
- 53:21Speaker 1: boss dig this fellow up, Retana's man asked, out of
- 53:25Speaker 1: the hospital. Cerrito said, that's where he's going, Damn quick.
- 53:30Speaker 1: Ritana's man said. Zirito turned on him. Knock on that,
- 53:35Speaker 1: he said, pointing to the barrera. I was just kidding, man,
- 53:39Speaker 1: Bretana's man said, knock on the wood. Retana's man leaned
- 53:44Speaker 1: forward and knocked three times on the barrera. Watch the faena,
- 53:47Speaker 1: Cirrito said. Out in the center of the ring under
- 53:51Speaker 1: the lights. Manuel was kneeling facing the bull, and as
- 53:55Speaker 1: he raised the moletta in both hands, the bull charged
- 53:58Speaker 1: tail up and well swung his body clear, and as
- 54:02Speaker 1: the bull recharged, brought around the muletta in a half
- 54:05Speaker 1: circle that pulled the bull to his knees. Why that's
- 54:09Speaker 1: one great bullfighter, Ratana's man said, no, he's not, said
- 54:15Speaker 1: Si Rita. Manuel stood up, and the moletta in his
- 54:19Speaker 1: left hand the sword in his right acknowledged the applause
- 54:23Speaker 1: from the dark plaza. The bullet humped himself up from
- 54:27Speaker 1: his knees and stood waiting, his head low. Serita spoke
- 54:32Speaker 1: to two of the other lads of the quadrilla and
- 54:34Speaker 1: they ran out to stand back of Manuel with their capes.
- 54:37Speaker 1: There were four men back of him now. Hernandez had
- 54:40Speaker 1: followed him since he first came out with the maletta.
- 54:43Speaker 1: Fuente stood watching, his cape held against his body, tall
- 54:47Speaker 1: in repose, watching lazy eyed. Now the two came up.
- 54:53Speaker 1: Hernandez motioned them to stand, one at each side. Manuel
- 54:57Speaker 1: stood alone, facing the bull. Manuel waved back the men
- 55:02Speaker 1: with the capes, stepping back cautiously. They saw his face
- 55:06Speaker 1: was white and sweating. Didn't they know enough to keep back?
- 55:11Speaker 1: Did they want to catch the bull's eye with the
- 55:13Speaker 1: capes after he was fixed and ready? He had had
- 55:16Speaker 1: enough to worry about without that kind of thing. The
- 55:20Speaker 1: bull was standing his four feet square, looking at the maleta.
- 55:24Speaker 1: Manuel furled the maleta in his left hand. The bull's
- 55:28Speaker 1: eyes watched it. His body was heavy on his feet.
- 55:33Speaker 1: He carried his head low, but not too low. Manuel
- 55:38Speaker 1: lifted the miletta at him. The bull did not move,
- 55:42Speaker 1: only his eyes watched. He's all lead Manibel thought, he's
- 55:47Speaker 1: all square, he's framed right. He'll take it, he thought
- 55:51Speaker 1: in bull flight terms. Sometimes he had a thought and
- 55:54Speaker 1: the particular piece of slang would not come into his mind,
- 55:57Speaker 1: and he could not realize the thought. Instincts and his
- 56:00Speaker 1: knowledge worked automatically, and his brain worked slowly. In words,
- 56:05Speaker 1: he knew all about bulls. He did not have to
- 56:08Speaker 1: think about them. He just did the right thing. His
- 56:12Speaker 1: eyes noted things, and his body performed the necessary measures
- 56:16Speaker 1: without thought. If he thought about it, he would be gone. Now.
- 56:21Speaker 1: Facing the bull, he was conscious of many things at
- 56:23Speaker 1: the same time. There were the horns, the one splintered,
- 56:27Speaker 1: the other one smoothly sharp. The need to profile himself
- 56:30Speaker 1: toward the left horn, lance himself short and straight, lower
- 56:34Speaker 1: the molettis of the bull would follow it, and going
- 56:37Speaker 1: in over the horns, put the sword all the way
- 56:39Speaker 1: into a little spot about as big as a five
- 56:42Speaker 1: pista piece, straight into the back of the neck, between
- 56:47Speaker 1: the sharp pitch of the bull's shoulders. He must do
- 56:52Speaker 1: all this, and must then come out from between the horns.
- 56:55Speaker 1: He was conscious he must do all this, but his
- 56:58Speaker 1: only thought was in words. Quarto e de raicho, Quarto
- 57:05Speaker 1: e de racho, he thought, furling the meletta short and straight,
- 57:14Speaker 1: Quarto e de racho. He drew the sword out of
- 57:18Speaker 1: the meletta, profiled on the splintered left horn, dropped the
- 57:23Speaker 1: meletta across his body so his right hand, with the
- 57:27Speaker 1: sword on the level with his eye, made the sign
- 57:29Speaker 1: of the cross, and rising on his toes, sighted along
- 57:34Speaker 1: the dipping blade of the shoulder at the spot high
- 57:38Speaker 1: up between the bull's shoulders. Quarto y de racho. He
- 57:44Speaker 1: lanced himself on the bull. There was a shock, and
- 57:48Speaker 1: he felt himself go up in the air. He pushed
- 57:52Speaker 1: on the sword as he went up and over, and
- 57:55Speaker 1: it flew out of his hand. He hit the ground
- 57:58Speaker 1: and the bull was on him. Manuel, lying on the ground,
- 58:02Speaker 1: kicked the bull's muzzle with his slippered feet, kicking, kicking
- 58:06Speaker 1: the bull after him, missing him as an excitement, bumping
- 58:10Speaker 1: in with his head, driving the horns into the sand,
- 58:13Speaker 1: Kicking like a man keeping a ball in the air,
- 58:15Speaker 1: Manuel kept the bull from getting a clean thrust at him.
- 58:20Speaker 1: Manuel felt the wind on his back from the capes,
- 58:22Speaker 1: flopping at the bull, and then the bull was gone,
- 58:25Speaker 1: gone over him in a rush, dark as his belly
- 58:28Speaker 1: went over, not even stepped on. Manuel stood up and
- 58:35Speaker 1: picked up the Meletta. Fuines handed him the sword. It
- 58:39Speaker 1: was bent where it had struck the shoulder blade. Manuel
- 58:42Speaker 1: straightened it on his knee and ran toward the bull,
- 58:45Speaker 1: standing now beside one of the dead horses. As he ran,
- 58:49Speaker 1: his jacket flopped where it had been ripped under his armpit.
- 58:54Speaker 1: Get him out of here, Manuel shouted to the gypsy.
- 58:58Speaker 1: The bull had smelled the blood of the dead horse
- 59:01Speaker 1: and ripped into the canvas cover with his horns. He
- 59:04Speaker 1: charged Wenches's cape with the canvas hanging from his splintered horn,
- 59:08Speaker 1: and the crowd laughed out in the ring. He tossed
- 59:12Speaker 1: his head to rid himself of the canvas. Herdandez, running
- 59:16Speaker 1: up from behind him, grabbed the end of the canvas
- 59:19Speaker 1: and neatly lifted it off the horn. The bull followed
- 59:23Speaker 1: in a half charge and stopped still. He was on
- 59:26Speaker 1: the defensive again. Manuel was walking toward him with the
- 59:29Speaker 1: sword and Meletta. Manuel swung the moletta before him. The
- 59:34Speaker 1: bull would not charge. Manuel profiled toward the bull, sighting
- 59:39Speaker 1: along the dipping blade of the sword. The bull was motionless,
- 59:45Speaker 1: seemingly dead on his feet, incapable of another charge. Manoel
- 59:51Speaker 1: rose to his toes, siding along the steel, and charged again.
- 59:57Speaker 1: There was the shock, and he felt himself being borne
- 59:59Speaker 1: back back in a rush to strike hard on the sand.
- 1:00:03Speaker 1: There was no chance of kicking. This time. The bull
- 1:00:05Speaker 1: was on top of him. Manuel lay as though dead,
- 1:00:10Speaker 1: his head on his arms, and the bull bumped him,
- 1:00:14Speaker 1: bumped his back, bumped his face in the sand. He
- 1:00:17Speaker 1: felt the horn go into the sand between his folded arms.
- 1:00:20Speaker 1: The bull hit him in the small of the back.
- 1:00:23Speaker 1: His face drove into the sand. The horn drove through
- 1:00:26Speaker 1: one of his sleeves, and the bull ripped it off.
- 1:00:29Speaker 1: Manuel was tossed clear, and the bull followed the capes.
- 1:00:34Speaker 1: Manuel got up, found the sword in moletta, tried the
- 1:00:38Speaker 1: point of the sword with his thumb, and then ran
- 1:00:40Speaker 1: toward the vera for a new sword. Bretana's man headed
- 1:00:45Speaker 1: in the sword over the edge of the varea. Wipe
- 1:00:47Speaker 1: your face, he said. Manuel, running again toward the bull,
- 1:00:51Speaker 1: wiped his bloody face with his handkerchief. He had not
- 1:00:55Speaker 1: seen Zirito. Where was Zorrito. The quadrille had stepped away
- 1:01:00Speaker 1: from the bull and waited with their capes. The bull
- 1:01:03Speaker 1: stood heavy and dull again. After the action, Manuel walked
- 1:01:08Speaker 1: toward him with the muletta. He stopped and shook it.
- 1:01:12Speaker 1: The bull did not respond. He passed it right and left,
- 1:01:15Speaker 1: left and right before the bull's muzzle. The bull's eyes
- 1:01:18Speaker 1: watched it and turned with the swing, but he would
- 1:01:21Speaker 1: not charge. He was waiting for Manuel. Manuel was worried.
- 1:01:30Speaker 1: There was nothing to do but go in coorto y derecho.
- 1:01:34Speaker 1: He profiled close to the bull, crossed the muletto in
- 1:01:37Speaker 1: front of his body, and charged. As he pushed in
- 1:01:40Speaker 1: the sword, he jerked his body to the left to
- 1:01:43Speaker 1: clear the horn. The bull passed him and the sword
- 1:01:47Speaker 1: shot up in the air, twinkling under the arc lights,
- 1:01:50Speaker 1: to fall red hilted on the sand. Manuel ran over
- 1:01:56Speaker 1: and picked it up. It was bent, and he straightened
- 1:01:58Speaker 1: it over his knee as he came running toward the bull.
- 1:02:01Speaker 1: Fixed again. Now he passed Hernandez, standing with his cape.
- 1:02:05Speaker 1: He's all bone, the boy said encouragingly. Manuel nodded, wiping
- 1:02:10Speaker 1: his face. He put the body handkerchief in his pocket.
- 1:02:15Speaker 1: There was the bull. He was close to the Barrera.
- 1:02:19Speaker 1: Now damn him. Maybe he was all bone. Maybe there
- 1:02:24Speaker 1: was not any place for the sword to go in
- 1:02:26Speaker 1: the hell, there wasn't. Each showed them. He tried to
- 1:02:29Speaker 1: pass with the miletta, and the bull did not move.
- 1:02:33Speaker 1: Manuel chopped the Maletta back and forth in front of
- 1:02:36Speaker 1: the bull, nothing doing. He furled the miletto, shrew his
- 1:02:42Speaker 1: sword out, profiled, and drove in on the bull. He
- 1:02:47Speaker 1: felt the sword buckle as he shoved it in, leaning
- 1:02:50Speaker 1: his weight on it, and then it shot high in
- 1:02:52Speaker 1: the air, end over, ending into the crowd. Manuel had
- 1:02:56Speaker 1: jerked clear as the sword jumped. The first cushions thrown
- 1:03:02Speaker 1: down from the dark mist him. Then one hit him
- 1:03:05Speaker 1: in the face, his bloody face looking toward the crowd.
- 1:03:09Speaker 1: They were coming down fast, spotting the sand. Somebody threw
- 1:03:13Speaker 1: an empty champagne bottle from close range. It hit Manuel
- 1:03:17Speaker 1: on the foot. He stood there, watching the dark where
- 1:03:20Speaker 1: the things were coming from. Then something wished through the
- 1:03:23Speaker 1: air and struck by him. Manuel leaned over and picked
- 1:03:27Speaker 1: it up. It was his sword. He straightened it over
- 1:03:31Speaker 1: his knee and gestured with it towards the crowd. Thank you,
- 1:03:35Speaker 1: he said, thank you. Oh the dirty bastards, dirty bastards, Oh,
- 1:03:41Speaker 1: the lousy, dirty bastards. He kicked into a cushion. As
- 1:03:46Speaker 1: he ran. There was the bull, the same as everyr.
- 1:03:50Speaker 1: All right, you dirty, lousy bastard. Manuel passed the muletto
- 1:03:54Speaker 1: in front of the bull's black muscle. Nothing doing, you won't.
- 1:04:00Speaker 1: He stepped close and jammed the sharp peak of the
- 1:04:02Speaker 1: maletto into the bull's damp muzzle. The bull was on
- 1:04:06Speaker 1: him as he jumped back, and as he tripped on
- 1:04:08Speaker 1: a cushion, he felt the horn go into him, into
- 1:04:11Speaker 1: his side. He grabbed the horn with his two hands
- 1:04:15Speaker 1: and rode backward, holding tight onto the place the bull
- 1:04:19Speaker 1: tossed him, and he was clear. He lay still. It
- 1:04:24Speaker 1: was all right. The bull was gone. He got up,
- 1:04:31Speaker 1: coughing and feeling broken and gone the dirty bastards. Give
- 1:04:37Speaker 1: me the sword, he shouted, give me the stuff. Puentes
- 1:04:41Speaker 1: came up with the milita and the sword. Hernandez put
- 1:04:44Speaker 1: his arm around him. Go onto the infirmary, man, he said,
- 1:04:48Speaker 1: don't be a damn fool, Get away from me. Manuel said,
- 1:04:53Speaker 1: get the hell away from me. He twisted free. Hernandez
- 1:04:57Speaker 1: shrugged his shoulders. Manuel ran toward the bull. There was
- 1:05:01Speaker 1: the bull, standing heavy, firmly planted. Ah right, you, bastard.
- 1:05:07Speaker 1: Manuel drew the sword out of the meletta sided with
- 1:05:10Speaker 1: the same movement and flung himself onto the bull. He
- 1:05:14Speaker 1: felt the sword go in all the way right up
- 1:05:17Speaker 1: to the guard, four fingers and his thumb into the bull.
- 1:05:21Speaker 1: The blood was hot on his knuckles, and he was
- 1:05:23Speaker 1: on top of the bull. The bull lurched with him
- 1:05:27Speaker 1: as he lay on and seemed to sink. Then he
- 1:05:30Speaker 1: was standing clear. He looked at the bull going down
- 1:05:33Speaker 1: slowly over his side, then suddenly four feet in the air.
- 1:05:39Speaker 1: Then he gestured at the crowd, his hand warm from
- 1:05:42Speaker 1: the bull blood. Ah ra right, you bastards. He wanted
- 1:05:47Speaker 1: to say something, but he started to cough. It was
- 1:05:50Speaker 1: hot and choking. He looked down for the Maletta. He
- 1:05:54Speaker 1: must go over and salute the president, President hel He
- 1:05:58Speaker 1: was sitting down looking at something. It was the bull,
- 1:06:02Speaker 1: his four feet up, thick tongue out. Things crawling around
- 1:06:07Speaker 1: under his belly and under his legs, crawling where the
- 1:06:11Speaker 1: hair was thin, dead bull. To hell with the bull,
- 1:06:16Speaker 1: to hell with them all. He started to get to
- 1:06:19Speaker 1: his feet and commenced to cough. He sat down again, coughing.
- 1:06:24Speaker 1: Somebody came and pushed him up. They carried him across
- 1:06:29Speaker 1: the ring to the infirmary, running with them across the sand,
- 1:06:32Speaker 1: standing blocked at the gates, and mules came in. Then
- 1:06:36Speaker 1: around the dark passageway, men grunting as they took him
- 1:06:40Speaker 1: up the stairway and then laid him down. The doctor
- 1:06:45Speaker 1: and two men in white were waiting for him. They
- 1:06:47Speaker 1: laid him out on the table. They were cutting away
- 1:06:50Speaker 1: his shirt. Manuel felt tired, His whole chest felt scalding inside.
- 1:06:56Speaker 1: He started to cough, and they held something to his mouth.
- 1:07:01Speaker 1: Everybody was very busy. There was an electric light in
- 1:07:05Speaker 1: his eyes. He shut his eyes. He heard someone coming
- 1:07:09Speaker 1: very heavily up the stairs. Then he did not hear it.
- 1:07:12Speaker 1: Then he heard a noise far off. That was the crowd. Well,
- 1:07:16Speaker 1: somebody would have to kill his other bull. They had
- 1:07:19Speaker 1: cut away all his shirt. The doctor smiled at him.
- 1:07:24Speaker 1: There was Bretana, Hello, Bretana. Manuel said he could not
- 1:07:29Speaker 1: hear his voice. Vertana smiled at him and said something.
- 1:07:34Speaker 1: Manoel could not hear it. Cirrito stood beside the table,
- 1:07:38Speaker 1: bending over where the doctor was working. He was in
- 1:07:42Speaker 1: his pecador clothes without his hat. Cirrita said something to him.
- 1:07:48Speaker 1: Manuel could not hear it. Sirita was speaking to Bretana.
- 1:07:53Speaker 1: One of the men in wait smiled and handed Bretana
- 1:07:56Speaker 1: a pair of scissors. Bretana gave them to Zirita. Zorito
- 1:08:01Speaker 1: said something to Manuel. He could not hear it. To
- 1:08:05Speaker 1: hell with his operating table. He'd been on plenty of
- 1:08:08Speaker 1: operating tables before. He was not going to die. They
- 1:08:12Speaker 1: would be a priest if he was going to die.
- 1:08:15Speaker 1: Zerto was saying something to him, holding up the scissors.
- 1:08:21Speaker 1: That was it. They were going to cut off his coleta.
- 1:08:23Speaker 1: They were going to cut off his pigtail. Manuel sat
- 1:08:28Speaker 1: up on the operating table. The doctor stepped back angry.
- 1:08:32Speaker 1: Someone grabbed him and held him. You couldn't do a
- 1:08:34Speaker 1: thing like that, manas he said, he heard suddenly clearly
- 1:08:39Speaker 1: Zorto's voice. That's all right, Certo said, I won't do it.
- 1:08:43Speaker 1: I was joking. I was going good. Manuel said, I
- 1:08:48Speaker 1: didn't have any luck. That was all. Manuel laid back.
- 1:08:53Speaker 1: They had put something over his face. It was all familiar.
- 1:08:58Speaker 1: He inhaled deeply. He felt very tired. He was very,
- 1:09:05Speaker 1: very tired. They took the thing away from his face.
- 1:09:10Speaker 1: I was going good, Manoel said weakly. I was going great.
- 1:09:17Speaker 1: Ratana looked at Sirto and started for the door. I'll
- 1:09:22Speaker 1: stay here with him, Zirito said. Ratana shrugged his shoulders.
- 1:09:27Speaker 1: Manouel opened his eyes and looked at Cirrito. Wasn't I
- 1:09:31Speaker 1: going good, manas he asked for confirmation, Sure, said Cirito,
- 1:09:38Speaker 1: you were going great. The doctor's assistants put the cone
- 1:09:43Speaker 1: over Manuel's face, and he inhaled deeply. Cirito stood awkwardly
- 1:09:49Speaker 1: watching end of section one Section two in another country.
- 1:10:00Speaker 1: In the fall, the war was always there, but we
- 1:10:03Speaker 1: did not go to it anymore. It was cold in
- 1:10:07Speaker 1: the fall in Milan, and the dark came very early.
- 1:10:12Speaker 1: Then the electric lights came on, and it was pleasant
- 1:10:15Speaker 1: along the streets looking in the windows. There was much
- 1:10:20Speaker 1: game hanging outside the shops, and the snow powdered in
- 1:10:24Speaker 1: the fur of the foxes, and the wind blew their tails.
- 1:10:28Speaker 1: The deer hung stiff and heavy and empty, and small
- 1:10:33Speaker 1: birds blew in the wind and the wind turned their feathers.
- 1:10:38Speaker 1: It was a cold fall, and the wind came down
- 1:10:40Speaker 1: from the mountains. We were all at the hospital every afternoon,
- 1:10:46Speaker 1: and there were different ways of walking across the town
- 1:10:50Speaker 1: through the dusk to the hospital. Two of the ways
- 1:10:54Speaker 1: were alongside canals, but they were long always though, you
- 1:11:00Speaker 1: crossed a bridge across a canal to enter the hospital.
- 1:11:03Speaker 1: There was a choice of three bridges. On one of
- 1:11:07Speaker 1: them a woman sold roasted chestnuts. It was warm standing
- 1:11:13Speaker 1: in front of her charcoal fire, and the chestnuts were
- 1:11:16Speaker 1: warm afterward in your pocket. The hospital was very old
- 1:11:21Speaker 1: and very beautiful, and you entered through a gate and
- 1:11:24Speaker 1: walked across a courtyard and out a gate. On the
- 1:11:27Speaker 1: other side. There were funerals, usually starting from the courtyard.
- 1:11:33Speaker 1: Beyond the old hospital were the new brick pavilions, and
- 1:11:37Speaker 1: there we met every afternoon and were all very polite
- 1:11:41Speaker 1: and interested in what was the matter, and sat in
- 1:11:44Speaker 1: the machines that were to make so much difference. The
- 1:11:49Speaker 1: doctor came up to the machine where I was sitting
- 1:11:52Speaker 1: and said, what do you like best to do? Before
- 1:11:55Speaker 1: the war did you practice a sport? I said, yes, football. Good.
- 1:12:03Speaker 1: He said, you will be able to play football again
- 1:12:07Speaker 1: better than ever. My knee did not bend, and the
- 1:12:12Speaker 1: leg dropped straight from the knee to the ankle without
- 1:12:15Speaker 1: a calf and the machine was to bend the knee
- 1:12:19Speaker 1: and make it move, as in riding a tricycle. But
- 1:12:23Speaker 1: it did not bend yet, and instead the machine lurched.
- 1:12:27Speaker 1: When it came to the bending part. The doctor said
- 1:12:31Speaker 1: that all will pass. You are a fortunate young man.
- 1:12:35Speaker 1: You will play football again like a champion. In the
- 1:12:40Speaker 1: next machine was a major who had a little hand
- 1:12:43Speaker 1: like a baby's. He waked at me when the doctor
- 1:12:47Speaker 1: examined his hand, which was between two leather straps that
- 1:12:51Speaker 1: bounced up and down and flapped the stiff fingers, and said,
- 1:12:57Speaker 1: and will I too play football? Captain? He had been
- 1:13:02Speaker 1: a very great fencer, and before the war the greatest
- 1:13:06Speaker 1: fencer in Italy. The doctor went to his office in
- 1:13:10Speaker 1: a back room and brought a photograph which showed a
- 1:13:14Speaker 1: hand that had been withered, almost as small as the
- 1:13:17Speaker 1: major's before it had taken a machine course, and after
- 1:13:21Speaker 1: was a little larger. The Major held the photograph with
- 1:13:25Speaker 1: his good hand and looked at it very carefully. A wound,
- 1:13:30Speaker 1: he asked, in industrial accident? The doctor said, very interesting,
- 1:13:38Speaker 1: Very interesting, the major said, and handed it back to
- 1:13:41Speaker 1: the doctor. You have confidence, no, said the major. There
- 1:13:49Speaker 1: were three boys who came each day who were about
- 1:13:52Speaker 1: the same age as I. They were all three from Milene,
- 1:13:56Speaker 1: and one of them was to be a lawyer, and
- 1:13:58Speaker 1: one was to be a painter, and one had intended
- 1:14:02Speaker 1: to be a soldier. And after we were finished with
- 1:14:05Speaker 1: the machines, sometimes we walked back together to the Cafe Kova,
- 1:14:10Speaker 1: which was next door to the scala. We walked the
- 1:14:14Speaker 1: short way through the communist quarter because we were four together.
- 1:14:19Speaker 1: The people hated us because we were officers, and from
- 1:14:22Speaker 1: a wine shop someone would call out abbaso gli uficiali
- 1:14:28Speaker 1: as we passed. Another boy who walked with us sometimes
- 1:14:34Speaker 1: and made us five, wore a silk handkerchief across his
- 1:14:37Speaker 1: face because he had no nose. Then and his face
- 1:14:42Speaker 1: was to be rebuilt. He had gone out to the
- 1:14:45Speaker 1: front from the military academy and had been wounded within
- 1:14:48Speaker 1: an hour after he had gone into the front line
- 1:14:51Speaker 1: for the first time. They rebuilt his face, but he
- 1:14:55Speaker 1: came from a very old family, and they could never
- 1:14:58Speaker 1: get the nose exactly right. He went to South America
- 1:15:03Speaker 1: and worked in a bank. But this was a long
- 1:15:06Speaker 1: time ago, and then we did not any of us
- 1:15:09Speaker 1: know how it was going to be afterward. We only
- 1:15:13Speaker 1: knew then that there was always the war, but that
- 1:15:17Speaker 1: we were not going to it anymore. We all had
- 1:15:23Speaker 1: the same medals, except the boy with the black silk
- 1:15:26Speaker 1: bandage across his face, and he had not been at
- 1:15:29Speaker 1: the front long enough to get any medals. The tall
- 1:15:33Speaker 1: boy with a very pale face, who was to be
- 1:15:36Speaker 1: a lawyer, had been a lieutenant of our dity and
- 1:15:40Speaker 1: had three medals of the sort we each had only
- 1:15:43Speaker 1: one of. He had lived a very long time with
- 1:15:46Speaker 1: death and was a little detached. We were all a
- 1:15:51Speaker 1: little detached, and there was nothing that held us together
- 1:15:54Speaker 1: except that we met every afternoon at the hospital. Although
- 1:15:59Speaker 1: as we walked to the Cova through the tough part
- 1:16:01Speaker 1: of town, walking in the dark, with light and singing
- 1:16:05Speaker 1: coming out of the wine shops, and sometimes having to
- 1:16:08Speaker 1: walk into the street when the men and women would
- 1:16:10Speaker 1: crowd together on the sidewalk so that we would have
- 1:16:13Speaker 1: had to jostle them to get by. We felt held
- 1:16:17Speaker 1: together by there being something that had happened the day.
- 1:16:22Speaker 1: The people who disliked us did not understand. We ourselves
- 1:16:28Speaker 1: all understood the cova, where it was rich and warm
- 1:16:32Speaker 1: and not too brightly lighted, and noisy and smoky at
- 1:16:36Speaker 1: certain hours, and there were always girls at the tables
- 1:16:39Speaker 1: and the illustrated papers on a rack on the wall.
- 1:16:43Speaker 1: The girls at the Cova were very patriotic, and I
- 1:16:47Speaker 1: found that the most patriotic people in Italy were the
- 1:16:50Speaker 1: cafe girls, and I believe they are still patriotic. The
- 1:16:55Speaker 1: boys at first were very polite about my medals and
- 1:17:00Speaker 1: asked me what I had done to get them. I
- 1:17:03Speaker 1: showed them the papers, which were written in very beautiful
- 1:17:06Speaker 1: language and full of frattelanza and ab negozione, but which
- 1:17:14Speaker 1: really said, with the adjuctives removed that I had been
- 1:17:16Speaker 1: given the medals because I was an American. After that
- 1:17:21Speaker 1: their men are changed a little toward me, although I
- 1:17:24Speaker 1: was their friend against Alzeider's. I was a friend, but
- 1:17:29Speaker 1: I was never really one of them after they had
- 1:17:31Speaker 1: read the citations, because it had been different with them,
- 1:17:35Speaker 1: and they had done very different things to get their medals.
- 1:17:38Speaker 1: I had been wounded, it was true, but we all
- 1:17:41Speaker 1: knew that being wounded, after all, was really an accident.
- 1:17:47Speaker 1: I was never ashamed of the ribbons, though, and sometimes
- 1:17:51Speaker 1: after the cocktail hour, I would imagine myself having done
- 1:17:54Speaker 1: all the things they had done to get their medals.
- 1:17:58Speaker 1: But walking home at night through the empty streets, with
- 1:18:00Speaker 1: the coold wind and all the shops closed, trying to
- 1:18:04Speaker 1: keep near the street lights, I knew that I would
- 1:18:07Speaker 1: never have done such things. I was very much afraid
- 1:18:11Speaker 1: to die, and often lay in bed at night by myself,
- 1:18:15Speaker 1: afraid to die and wondering how I would be when
- 1:18:18Speaker 1: I went back to the front again. The three with
- 1:18:23Speaker 1: the medals were like hunting hawks, and I was not
- 1:18:26Speaker 1: a hawk, although I might seem a hawk to those
- 1:18:29Speaker 1: who had never hunted. They the three knew better, and
- 1:18:33Speaker 1: so we drifted apart. But I stayed good friends with
- 1:18:37Speaker 1: the boy who had been wounded his first day at
- 1:18:39Speaker 1: the front, because he would never now know how he
- 1:18:42Speaker 1: would have turned out, so he could never be accepted either.
- 1:18:47Speaker 1: And I liked him because I thought perhaps he would
- 1:18:50Speaker 1: not have turned out to be a hawk either. The Major,
- 1:18:54Speaker 1: who had been the great fencer, did not believe in bravery,
- 1:18:58Speaker 1: and spent much time while we sat in the machines
- 1:19:00Speaker 1: correcting my grammar. He had complimented me on how I
- 1:19:05Speaker 1: spoke Italian, and we talked together very easily. One day,
- 1:19:10Speaker 1: I had said that Italian seemed such an easy language
- 1:19:13Speaker 1: to me that I could not take a great interest
- 1:19:15Speaker 1: in it. Everything was so easy to say, ah, yes.
- 1:19:21Speaker 1: The Major said, why then do you not take up
- 1:19:24Speaker 1: the use of grammar. So we took up the use
- 1:19:28Speaker 1: of grammar, and soon Italian was such a difficult language
- 1:19:32Speaker 1: as I was prayed to talk to him until I
- 1:19:33Speaker 1: had the grammar straight in my mind. The Major came
- 1:19:36Speaker 1: very regularly to the hospital. I do not think he
- 1:19:39Speaker 1: ever missed a day, although I'm sure he did not
- 1:19:42Speaker 1: believe in the machines. There was a time when none
- 1:19:46Speaker 1: of us believed in the machines, and one day the
- 1:19:48Speaker 1: Major said it was all nonsense. The machines were new then,
- 1:19:52Speaker 1: and it was we who were to prove them. It
- 1:19:56Speaker 1: was an idiotic idea, he said, a theory like any other.
- 1:20:00Speaker 1: I had not learned my grammar. And he said I
- 1:20:02Speaker 1: was a stupid, impossible disgrace, and he was a fool
- 1:20:07Speaker 1: to have bothered with me. He was a small man,
- 1:20:09Speaker 1: and he sat up straight in his chair, and his
- 1:20:12Speaker 1: right hand thrust into the machine, and looked straight ahead
- 1:20:15Speaker 1: at the wall, while the straps thumped up and down,
- 1:20:17Speaker 1: with his fingers in them. What will you do when
- 1:20:20Speaker 1: the war is over? If it is over, he asked me,
- 1:20:24Speaker 1: speak grammatically, I will go to the States. Are you married? No?
- 1:20:30Speaker 1: But I hope to be the more of a fool
- 1:20:33Speaker 1: you are, he said. He seemed very angry. A man
- 1:20:37Speaker 1: must not marry, why said norm MAGGIORI. Don't call me
- 1:20:42Speaker 1: signor MAGGIORI. Why must a man not marry? He cannot marry?
- 1:20:47Speaker 1: He cannot marry, he said angrily. If he is to
- 1:20:51Speaker 1: lose everything, he should not place himself in a position
- 1:20:54Speaker 1: to lose that, he should not place himself in a
- 1:20:57Speaker 1: position to lose. He should find things he cannot lose.
- 1:21:02Speaker 1: He spoke very angrily and bitterly, and looked straight ahead
- 1:21:05Speaker 1: while he talked. But why should he necessarily lose it.
- 1:21:10Speaker 1: He'll lose it, the major said. He was looking at
- 1:21:14Speaker 1: the wall. Then he looked down at the machine and
- 1:21:17Speaker 1: jerked his little hand out from between the straps and
- 1:21:19Speaker 1: slapped it hard against his thigh. He'll lose it, he
- 1:21:23Speaker 1: almost shouted, don't argue with me. Then he called to
- 1:21:27Speaker 1: the intendant who ran the machines, come and turn this
- 1:21:30Speaker 1: damn thing off. He went back into the other room
- 1:21:33Speaker 1: for the light treatment and the massage. Then I heard
- 1:21:37Speaker 1: him ask the doctor if he might use his telephone,
- 1:21:39Speaker 1: and he shut the door. When he came back into
- 1:21:41Speaker 1: the room, I was sitting in another machine. He was
- 1:21:44Speaker 1: wearing his cape and had his cap on, and he
- 1:21:47Speaker 1: came directly toward my machine and put his arm on
- 1:21:49Speaker 1: my shoulder. I'm so sorry, he said. Pat it be
- 1:21:54Speaker 1: on the shoulder with his good hand. I would not
- 1:21:57Speaker 1: be rude. My wife has just died. You must forget me, oh,
- 1:22:03Speaker 1: I said, feeling sick for him. I am so sorry.
- 1:22:09Speaker 1: He stood there, biting his lower lip. It is very difficult,
- 1:22:13Speaker 1: he said, I cannot resign myself. He looked straight past
- 1:22:17Speaker 1: me and out through the window. Then he began to cry.
- 1:22:21Speaker 1: I'm utterly able to resign myself, he said, and choked,
- 1:22:27Speaker 1: and then crying his head, looking up at nothing. Carrying
- 1:22:30Speaker 1: himself straight and soldierly, with tears on both his cheeks
- 1:22:35Speaker 1: and biting his lips, he walked past the machines and
- 1:22:38Speaker 1: out the door. The doctor told me that the major's wife,
- 1:22:43Speaker 1: who was very young, in whom he had not married
- 1:22:46Speaker 1: until he was definitely invalided out of the war, had
- 1:22:49Speaker 1: died of pneumonia. She had been sick only a few days.
- 1:22:54Speaker 1: No one expected her to die. The Major did not
- 1:22:58Speaker 1: come to the hospital three days. Then he came at
- 1:23:02Speaker 1: the usual hour, wearing a black band on the sleeve
- 1:23:05Speaker 1: of his uniform. When he came back, there were large
- 1:23:10Speaker 1: framed photographs around the wall of all sorts of wounds
- 1:23:14Speaker 1: before and after they had been cured by the machines.
- 1:23:18Speaker 1: In front of the machine the major used were three
- 1:23:20Speaker 1: photographs of hands like his that were completely restored. I
- 1:23:25Speaker 1: do not know where the doctor got them. I always
- 1:23:29Speaker 1: understood we were the first to use the machines. The
- 1:23:33Speaker 1: photographs did not make much difference to the major because
- 1:23:37Speaker 1: he only looked out the window. End of Section two,
- 1:23:45Speaker 1: Section three hills like white elephants. The hills across the
- 1:23:51Speaker 1: valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this
- 1:23:55Speaker 1: side there was no shade and no trees, and the
- 1:23:58Speaker 1: station was between two lines of rails in the sun.
- 1:24:02Speaker 1: Close against the side of the station. There was the
- 1:24:05Speaker 1: warm shadow of the building, and a curtain made of
- 1:24:09Speaker 1: strings of bamboo beads hung across the open door into
- 1:24:13Speaker 1: the bar to keep out flies. The American and the
- 1:24:17Speaker 1: girl with him set at a table in the shade
- 1:24:20Speaker 1: outside the building. It was very hot, and the express
- 1:24:24Speaker 1: from Barcelona would come in forty minutes. It stopped at
- 1:24:28Speaker 1: this juncture for two minutes and went on to Madrid.
- 1:24:33Speaker 1: What should we drink, the girl asked. She had taken
- 1:24:36Speaker 1: off her hat and put it on the table. It's
- 1:24:39Speaker 1: pretty hot, the man said, Let's drink beer. Do Servesas
- 1:24:45Speaker 1: the man said, into the curtain, big ones, a woman
- 1:24:49Speaker 1: asked from the doorway. Yes, two big ones. The woman
- 1:24:54Speaker 1: brought two glasses of beer and two filt pads. She
- 1:24:57Speaker 1: put the felt pads and the beer glasses on the
- 1:24:59Speaker 1: table and looked at the man and the girl. The
- 1:25:02Speaker 1: girl was looking off at the line of hills. They
- 1:25:04Speaker 1: were white in the sun, and the country was brown
- 1:25:08Speaker 1: and dry. They looked like white elephants, She said, I've
- 1:25:13Speaker 1: never seen one. The man drank his beer. No, you
- 1:25:17Speaker 1: wouldn't have. I might have. The man said, just because
- 1:25:22Speaker 1: you say I wouldn't have doesn't prove anything. The girl
- 1:25:25Speaker 1: looked at the bead curtain. They've painted something on it.
- 1:25:29Speaker 1: She said, what does it say? Ana Stelthorro missed a drink?
- 1:25:35Speaker 1: Could we try it? The man called, listen through the curtain.
- 1:25:40Speaker 1: The woman came out from the bar for relice. We
- 1:25:44Speaker 1: want to Anna still Thoro with water? Do you want
- 1:25:49Speaker 1: it with water? I don't know, the girl said, is
- 1:25:52Speaker 1: it good with water? It's all right. You want them
- 1:25:55Speaker 1: with water, asked the woman. Yes, with water like licorice.
- 1:26:01Speaker 1: The girl said, and put the glass down. That's the
- 1:26:05Speaker 1: way with everything, yes, said the girl. Everything tastes of licorice,
- 1:26:11Speaker 1: especially all the things you've waited so long for, like absinthe. Oh,
- 1:26:16Speaker 1: cut it out, you started it, The girl said. I
- 1:26:19Speaker 1: was being amused. I was having a fine time. Well,
- 1:26:24Speaker 1: let's try and have a fine time, all right. I
- 1:26:27Speaker 1: was trying, I said. The mountains looked like white elephants.
- 1:26:29Speaker 1: Wasn't that bright? That was bright? I wanted to try
- 1:26:34Speaker 1: this new drink. That's all we do, isn't it look
- 1:26:36Speaker 1: at things and try new drinks. I guess so. The
- 1:26:41Speaker 1: girl looked at the hills. They're lovely hills. She said.
- 1:26:46Speaker 1: They don't really look like white elephants. I just meant
- 1:26:48Speaker 1: that the coloring of their skin through the trees. Should
- 1:26:52Speaker 1: we have another drink? All right? The warm wind blew
- 1:26:56Speaker 1: the bead curtain against the table. It's nice and cool,
- 1:27:01Speaker 1: the man said, it's lovely. The girl said, it's really
- 1:27:05Speaker 1: an awfully simple operation. Jig. The man said, it's not
- 1:27:09Speaker 1: really an operation at all. The girl looked at the
- 1:27:12Speaker 1: ground the table legs rested on. I knew you wouldn't
- 1:27:17Speaker 1: mind it, jig. It's really not anything. It's just to
- 1:27:20Speaker 1: let the air in. The girl did not say anything.
- 1:27:25Speaker 1: I'll go with you and I'll stay with you all
- 1:27:26Speaker 1: the time. They just let the air and then it's
- 1:27:28Speaker 1: all perfectly natural. Then what will we do afterward? We'll
- 1:27:34Speaker 1: be fine afterward, just like we were before. What makes
- 1:27:38Speaker 1: you think so that's the only thing that bothers us,
- 1:27:42Speaker 1: it's the only thing that's made us unhappy. The girl
- 1:27:46Speaker 1: looked at the bead curtain, put her head out and
- 1:27:48Speaker 1: took hold of two of the strings of beads. And
- 1:27:52Speaker 1: then you think we'll be all right and be happy.
- 1:27:55Speaker 1: I know we will. You don't have to be afraid.
- 1:27:57Speaker 1: I've known lots of people that have done it. So
- 1:28:01Speaker 1: if I said the girl, and afterward they were all
- 1:28:05Speaker 1: so happy, Well, the man said, if you don't want to,
- 1:28:09Speaker 1: you don't have to. I wouldn't have you do it
- 1:28:11Speaker 1: if you didn't want to. But I know it's perfectly simple,
- 1:28:15Speaker 1: and you really want to. I think it's the best
- 1:28:19Speaker 1: thing to do. But I don't want you to do
- 1:28:21Speaker 1: it if you don't really want to. And if I
- 1:28:23Speaker 1: do it, you'll be happy and things will be like
- 1:28:25Speaker 1: they were, and you'll love me. I love you now,
- 1:28:29Speaker 1: you know. I love you, I know. But if I
- 1:28:33Speaker 1: do it, then it will be nice again. And if
- 1:28:36Speaker 1: I say things are like white elephants, you'll like it.
- 1:28:39Speaker 1: I'll love it. I love it now, but I just
- 1:28:42Speaker 1: can't think about it. You know how I get when
- 1:28:44Speaker 1: I worry. If I do it, you won't ever worry.
- 1:28:49Speaker 1: I won't worry about it because it's perfectly simple. Then
- 1:28:54Speaker 1: I'll do it because I don't care about me. What
- 1:28:58Speaker 1: do you mean, I don't care about me. Well, I
- 1:29:01Speaker 1: care about you, Oh yes, but I don't care about me.
- 1:29:04Speaker 1: I'll do it and then everything will be fine. I
- 1:29:09Speaker 1: don't want you to do it if you feel that way.
- 1:29:12Speaker 1: The girl stood up and walked to the end of
- 1:29:14Speaker 1: the station. Across on the other side were fields of
- 1:29:18Speaker 1: grain and trees along the banks of the empre Far
- 1:29:21Speaker 1: away beyond the river were mountains. The shadow of a
- 1:29:25Speaker 1: cloud moved across the field of green, and she saw
- 1:29:27Speaker 1: the river through the trees. And we could have all this,
- 1:29:32Speaker 1: she said, And we could have everything, and every day
- 1:29:35Speaker 1: we make it more impossible. What did you say, I said,
- 1:29:40Speaker 1: we could have everything. We can have everything, No we can't.
- 1:29:45Speaker 1: We can have the whole world, No we can't. We
- 1:29:48Speaker 1: can go everywhere, No we can't. It isn't ours anymore.
- 1:29:52Speaker 1: It's ours. No it isn't. And once they take it away,
- 1:29:55Speaker 1: you never get it back. But they haven't taken it away.
- 1:30:00Speaker 1: We'll wait and see. Come on back in the shade.
- 1:30:04Speaker 1: He said, you mustn't feel that way. I don't feel anyway,
- 1:30:08Speaker 1: the girl said, I just know things. I don't want
- 1:30:11Speaker 1: you to do anything that you don't want to do,
- 1:30:13Speaker 1: nor that isn't good for me. She said, I know.
- 1:30:19Speaker 1: Could we have another beer? All right? But you've got
- 1:30:23Speaker 1: to realize, I realize, the girl said. Can't we maybe
- 1:30:28Speaker 1: stop talking. They sat down at the table, and the
- 1:30:31Speaker 1: girl looked across up the hills on the dry side
- 1:30:34Speaker 1: of the valley, and the man looked at her and
- 1:30:37Speaker 1: at the table. You've got to realize, he said that
- 1:30:41Speaker 1: I don't want you to do it. If you don't
- 1:30:43Speaker 1: want to, I'm perfectly willing to go through with it
- 1:30:46Speaker 1: if it means anything to you. Doesn't that mean anything
- 1:30:49Speaker 1: to you? We could get along, of course it does.
- 1:30:54Speaker 1: But I don't want anybody but you. I don't want
- 1:30:57Speaker 1: anyone else. And I know it's perfectly some. Yes, you know,
- 1:31:01Speaker 1: it's perfectly simple. It's all right for you to say that.
- 1:31:05Speaker 1: But I do know it. Would you do something for
- 1:31:09Speaker 1: me now, I'd do anything for you. Would you please?
- 1:31:13Speaker 1: Please please please please please stop talking. He did not
- 1:31:18Speaker 1: say anything, but looked at the bags against the wall
- 1:31:21Speaker 1: of the station. There were labels on them from all
- 1:31:24Speaker 1: the hotels where they had spent nights. But I don't
- 1:31:28Speaker 1: want you to, he said, I don't care anything about it.
- 1:31:32Speaker 1: I'll scream, the girl said. The woman came out through
- 1:31:37Speaker 1: the curtains with two glasses of beer and put them
- 1:31:40Speaker 1: down on the damp felt pads. The train comes in
- 1:31:44Speaker 1: five minutes, she said. What did she say? Asked the
- 1:31:48Speaker 1: girl that the train is coming in five minutes. The
- 1:31:52Speaker 1: girl smiled brightly at the woman to thank her. I'd
- 1:31:56Speaker 1: better take the bags over to the side of the station,
- 1:31:59Speaker 1: the man said. She smiled at him. All right, then
- 1:32:04Speaker 1: come back and we'll finish the beer. He picked up
- 1:32:07Speaker 1: the two heavy bags and carried them around the station
- 1:32:10Speaker 1: to the other tracks. He looked up the tracks but
- 1:32:13Speaker 1: could not see the train coming back. He walked through
- 1:32:16Speaker 1: the bar room where people waiting for the train were drinking.
- 1:32:20Speaker 1: He drank an a us at the bar and looked
- 1:32:22Speaker 1: at the people. They were all waiting reasonably for the train.
- 1:32:27Speaker 1: He went out through the bead curtain. She was sitting
- 1:32:30Speaker 1: at the table and smiled at him. Do you feel better,
- 1:32:34Speaker 1: he asked, I feel fine. She said, there's nothing wrong
- 1:32:40Speaker 1: with me. I feel fine. End of section three The Killers.
- 1:32:52Speaker 1: The door of Henry's lunch room opened and two men
- 1:32:55Speaker 1: came in. They sat down at the counter. What's yours?
- 1:33:00Speaker 1: Just them, I don't know. One of the men said,
- 1:33:03Speaker 1: what do you want to eat? Al, I don't know,
- 1:33:06Speaker 1: said al, I don't know what I want to eat?
- 1:33:09Speaker 1: Outside it was getting dark. The street light came on
- 1:33:12Speaker 1: outside the window. The two minute the counter read the menu.
- 1:33:17Speaker 1: From the other end of the counter, Nick Adams watched them.
- 1:33:20Speaker 1: He had been talking to George when they came in.
- 1:33:25Speaker 1: I'll have a roast pork tenderloin with apple sauce and
- 1:33:28Speaker 1: mashed potatoes. The first man said, it isn't ready yet.
- 1:33:33Speaker 1: What the hell do you put it on the card for.
- 1:33:36Speaker 1: That's the dinner, George explained, you can get that at
- 1:33:38Speaker 1: six o'clock. George looked at the clock on the wall
- 1:33:42Speaker 1: behind the counter. It's five o'clock. The clock says twenty
- 1:33:46Speaker 1: minutes past five. The second man said, it's twenty minutes fast. Oh,
- 1:33:51Speaker 1: now at the clock. First man said, what have you
- 1:33:54Speaker 1: got to eat? I can give you any kind of sandwiches.
- 1:33:57Speaker 1: George said, you can have ham and eggs, bacon and eggs,
- 1:34:01Speaker 1: liver and bacon, or steak. Give me chicken croquettes with
- 1:34:06Speaker 1: green peas and cream sauce and mashed potatoes. That's the dinner.
- 1:34:11Speaker 1: Everything we wants a dinner. Eh, that's the way you
- 1:34:14Speaker 1: work it. I can give you ham and eggs, bacon
- 1:34:18Speaker 1: and eggs, liver. I'll take ham and eggs. The man
- 1:34:21Speaker 1: called Al said. He wore a derby hat and a
- 1:34:25Speaker 1: black overcoat buttoned across the chest. His face was small
- 1:34:29Speaker 1: and white, and he had tight lips. He wore a
- 1:34:33Speaker 1: silk muffler and gloves. Give me bacon and eggs, said
- 1:34:38Speaker 1: the other man. He was about the same size as Al.
- 1:34:42Speaker 1: Their faces were different, but they were dressed like twins.
- 1:34:45Speaker 1: Both wore overcoats too tight for them. They sat leaning forward,
- 1:34:50Speaker 1: their elbows on the counter. Got anything to drink? Al asked,
- 1:34:56Speaker 1: Silver beer, beavo, ginger Ale, George, I mean you got
- 1:35:01Speaker 1: anything to drink? Just those? I said. This is a
- 1:35:07Speaker 1: hot town, said the other What do they call it summit?
- 1:35:12Speaker 1: Ever hear of it? Al asked his friend. No, said
- 1:35:16Speaker 1: the friend. What do you do here nights? Al asked?
- 1:35:20Speaker 1: They eat the dinner? His friend said, they all come
- 1:35:22Speaker 1: here and eat the big dinner. That's right, George said,
- 1:35:25Speaker 1: So you think that's all right? Al asked George. Sure
- 1:35:30Speaker 1: you're a pretty bright boy, aren't you. Sure? Said George,
- 1:35:34Speaker 1: Well you're not, said the other. Little man. Is he Al?
- 1:35:38Speaker 1: He's dumb, said Al. He turned to Nick. What's your name? Adams?
- 1:35:45Speaker 1: Another bright boy? Al said, ain't he a bright boy? Max?
- 1:35:49Speaker 1: The town's full of bright boys, Max said. George put
- 1:35:54Speaker 1: the two platters, one of ham and eggs, the other
- 1:35:57Speaker 1: of bacon and eggs on the counter. He said, down
- 1:36:00Speaker 1: two side dishes of fried potatoes, and closed the wicket
- 1:36:04Speaker 1: into the kitchen, which is yours, He asked Al. Don't
- 1:36:08Speaker 1: you remember ham and eggs? Just a bright boy? Max said.
- 1:36:15Speaker 1: He leaned forward and took the ham and eggs. Both
- 1:36:18Speaker 1: men ate with their gloves on. George watched the meat.
- 1:36:22Speaker 1: What are you looking at? Max looked at George. Nothing
- 1:36:26Speaker 1: the hell you were? You were looking at me? Maybe
- 1:36:29Speaker 1: the boy meant it for a joke, Max, al said.
- 1:36:33Speaker 1: George laughed. You don't have to laugh. Max said to him,
- 1:36:38Speaker 1: you don't have to laugh at all. See all right,
- 1:36:42Speaker 1: said George. So he thinks it's all right. Max turned al.
- 1:36:48Speaker 1: He thinks it's all right. That's a good one. Oh
- 1:36:51Speaker 1: he's a thinker, Al said. They went on eating. What's
- 1:36:55Speaker 1: the bright boy's name down the counter? Al asked Max?
- 1:36:59Speaker 1: Hey bright? Max said to Nick, you go around the
- 1:37:03Speaker 1: other side of the counter with your friend. What's the idea?
- 1:37:08Speaker 1: Nick asked, isn't any idea? You better go around, right, boy,
- 1:37:13Speaker 1: Al said, Nick went around behind the counter. What's the idea,
- 1:37:18Speaker 1: George asked, None of your damn business? Al said, who's
- 1:37:23Speaker 1: out in the kitchen? The nigger? What do you mean?
- 1:37:26Speaker 1: The nigger? The nigger? The cooks tell him to come in?
- 1:37:31Speaker 1: What's the idea? Tell him to come in? Where do
- 1:37:35Speaker 1: you think you are? We know damn well where we are.
- 1:37:38Speaker 1: The man called Max said, do we look silly? He
- 1:37:42Speaker 1: talks silly? Al said to him, what the hell you
- 1:37:46Speaker 1: argue with this kid? For? Listen? He said to George,
- 1:37:49Speaker 1: tell a nigger to come out here. What are you
- 1:37:52Speaker 1: going to do to him? Nothing? Use your head, bright boy?
- 1:37:56Speaker 1: What will you do to a nigger? George opened the
- 1:37:59Speaker 1: slit open back into the kitchen, Sam, he called, come
- 1:38:05Speaker 1: in here a minute. The door of the kitchen opened,
- 1:38:08Speaker 1: and the nigger came in. What was it? He asked?
- 1:38:12Speaker 1: The two men at the counter took a look at him.
- 1:38:14Speaker 1: All right, nigger, you stand right there, Al said Sam.
- 1:38:19Speaker 1: The nigger, standing in his apron, looked at the two
- 1:38:21Speaker 1: men sitting at the counter. Yes, sir, he said, Al
- 1:38:25Speaker 1: got down from his stool. I'm going back to the
- 1:38:28Speaker 1: kitchen with the nigger and the bright boy, he said,
- 1:38:30Speaker 1: go on back to the kitchen, nigger, you go with them,
- 1:38:33Speaker 1: bright boy. The little man walked after Nick and Sam
- 1:38:36Speaker 1: the cook back into the kitchen. The door shut after them.
- 1:38:41Speaker 1: The man called Max said at the counter opposite George.
- 1:38:44Speaker 1: He didn't look at George, but looked in the mirror
- 1:38:46Speaker 1: that ran along the back of the counter. Henry's had
- 1:38:49Speaker 1: been made over from a saloon into a lunch room. Well,
- 1:38:53Speaker 1: bright boy, Max said, looking into the mirror. Why don't
- 1:38:57Speaker 1: you say something? What's called? Well, bright boy? Max said,
- 1:39:02Speaker 1: looking into the mirror, why don't you say something? What's
- 1:39:06Speaker 1: it all about? Hey? Al, Max called bright boy, wants
- 1:39:11Speaker 1: to know what it's all about. Why don't you tell them?
- 1:39:15Speaker 1: Al's voice came from the kitchen. What do you think
- 1:39:18Speaker 1: it's all about? I don't know what do you think?
- 1:39:23Speaker 1: Max looked into the mirror all the time he was talking.
- 1:39:26Speaker 1: I wouldn't say, hey, Al, bright boy says, he wouldn't
- 1:39:30Speaker 1: say what he thinks it's all about. I can hear
- 1:39:34Speaker 1: you all right, Al said from the kitchen. He had
- 1:39:37Speaker 1: propped open the slit that dishes passed through into the
- 1:39:40Speaker 1: kitchen with a ketchup bottle. Listen, bright boy, he said
- 1:39:45Speaker 1: from the kitchen to George, stand a little further along
- 1:39:48Speaker 1: the bar. You move a little left. Max, he was
- 1:39:52Speaker 1: like a photographer arranging for a group picture. Talk to me,
- 1:39:56Speaker 1: bright boy, Max said, what do you think think's gonna happen?
- 1:40:02Speaker 1: George did not say anything. I'll tell you. Max said,
- 1:40:07Speaker 1: we're gonna kill a swede. Do you know a big
- 1:40:10Speaker 1: swede named Ollie Anderson? Yes, he comes to eat here
- 1:40:14Speaker 1: every night, don'ty Sometimes he comes here. He comes here
- 1:40:19Speaker 1: at six o'clock. Don't he if he comes We know
- 1:40:23Speaker 1: all that. Bright boy talk about something else. Never go
- 1:40:27Speaker 1: to the movies once in a while. You gotta go
- 1:40:31Speaker 1: to the movies. More movies are fine for a bright
- 1:40:34Speaker 1: boy like you. What are you gonna kill Laurie Anderson for?
- 1:40:38Speaker 1: What did he ever do to you? He never had
- 1:40:40Speaker 1: a chance to do anything to us. He's never even
- 1:40:43Speaker 1: seen us, and he's only got to see us once.
- 1:40:46Speaker 1: Al said from the kitchen, what are you going to
- 1:40:50Speaker 1: kill him for? Then to Urge asked, we're killing them
- 1:40:54Speaker 1: for a friend, just to oblige a Fred bright boy,
- 1:40:58Speaker 1: shut up, said Al from the kitchen, and you talk
- 1:41:00Speaker 1: to God damn much. Well, I got to keep bright
- 1:41:03Speaker 1: boy amused, don't I right? Boy? You talk to damn much?
- 1:41:08Speaker 1: Al said? The nigger and my bright boy are amused
- 1:41:11Speaker 1: by themselves. I got him tied up like a couple
- 1:41:15Speaker 1: of girlfriends in the convent. I suppose you were in
- 1:41:19Speaker 1: a convent. You never know you were in a kosher convent.
- 1:41:23Speaker 1: That's where you were. George looked up at the clock.
- 1:41:26Speaker 1: If anybody comes in, you tell them the cook is off.
- 1:41:28Speaker 1: If they keep after it, do you tell them you'll
- 1:41:30Speaker 1: go back and cook yourself. Do you get that right? Boy?
- 1:41:34Speaker 1: All right? George said, what are you gonna do with
- 1:41:37Speaker 1: us afterward? That'll depend Max said, that's one of those
- 1:41:42Speaker 1: things you never know. At the time, George looked up
- 1:41:46Speaker 1: at the clock. It was a quarter past six. The
- 1:41:49Speaker 1: door from the street opened. A streetcar motorment came in. Hello, George,
- 1:41:55Speaker 1: he said, can I get supper? Sam's going out to
- 1:42:00Speaker 1: said he'll be back in about half an hour. Well,
- 1:42:03Speaker 1: I better go up the street, the motorman said. George
- 1:42:07Speaker 1: looked at the clock. It was twenty minutes past six.
- 1:42:11Speaker 1: That was nice, Bright boy, you're a regular little gentleman.
- 1:42:15Speaker 1: He knew I'd blow his head off, Al said from
- 1:42:18Speaker 1: the kitchen, No, said Max, it ain't that bright boy
- 1:42:23Speaker 1: is nice. He's a nice boy. I like him. At
- 1:42:26Speaker 1: six fifty five, George said, he's not coming. Two other
- 1:42:30Speaker 1: people had been in the lunch room once. George had
- 1:42:33Speaker 1: gone out to the kitchen and made a hamlen egg
- 1:42:35Speaker 1: sandwich to go that a man wind take with him.
- 1:42:39Speaker 1: Inside the kitchen, he saw Al his derby hat ticked back,
- 1:42:43Speaker 1: sitting on a stool beside the wicket, with the muzzle
- 1:42:45Speaker 1: of a sawed off shotgun resting on the edge. Nick
- 1:42:49Speaker 1: and the cook were back to back in the corner,
- 1:42:52Speaker 1: a towel tied in each of their mouths. George had
- 1:42:55Speaker 1: cooked the sandwich, wrapped it up in oiled paper, put
- 1:42:58Speaker 1: it in a bag, brought it in, and the man
- 1:43:01Speaker 1: had paid for it and gone out. The bright boy
- 1:43:03Speaker 1: can do anything, Max said, He can cook and everything.
- 1:43:07Speaker 1: He'd make some girl a nice wife. Bright boy, Yes,
- 1:43:11Speaker 1: George said, your friend Ole Anderson isn't going to come.
- 1:43:16Speaker 1: We'll give him ten minutes, Max said. Max watched the
- 1:43:20Speaker 1: mirror of the clock. The hands of the clock marked
- 1:43:23Speaker 1: seven o'clock, and then five minutes past seven, Come on,
- 1:43:27Speaker 1: Al said Max, We better go. He's not coming. Better
- 1:43:32Speaker 1: give him five minutes, Al said, from the kitchen. In
- 1:43:35Speaker 1: five minutes, a man came in, and George explained that
- 1:43:38Speaker 1: the cook was sick. Why the hell don't you get
- 1:43:41Speaker 1: another cook? The man asked, aren't you running a lunch gatter?
- 1:43:45Speaker 1: He went out? Come on, Al, Max said, what about
- 1:43:49Speaker 1: the two bright boys and the nigger? They're all right?
- 1:43:53Speaker 1: You think so sure? We're through with it. I don't
- 1:43:57Speaker 1: like it, said Al. It's sloppy. You talked to him.
- 1:44:01Speaker 1: Oh what the hell? Said Max. We gotta keep mused,
- 1:44:05Speaker 1: don't we You talked too much? All the same, Al said.
- 1:44:09Speaker 1: He came out from the kitchen. The cut off barrels
- 1:44:12Speaker 1: of the shotgun made a slight bulge under the waist
- 1:44:14Speaker 1: of his two tight fitting overcoat. He straightened his coat
- 1:44:19Speaker 1: with gloved hands. So long, bright boy, he said to George,
- 1:44:24Speaker 1: you got a lot of luck. That's the truth. Max said,
- 1:44:28Speaker 1: you ought to play the races, right boy. The two
- 1:44:31Speaker 1: of them went out the door. George walked them through
- 1:44:34Speaker 1: the window, passed under the arc light, and crossed the
- 1:44:37Speaker 1: street in their tight overcoats and derby hats. They looked
- 1:44:41Speaker 1: like a vaudeville team. George went back through the swinging
- 1:44:45Speaker 1: door into the kitchen. An untied Nick and the cook.
- 1:44:49Speaker 1: I don't want any more of that, said Sam. The cook,
- 1:44:52Speaker 1: I don't want any more of that. Nick stood up.
- 1:44:56Speaker 1: He had never had a towel in his mouth before, say,
- 1:45:00Speaker 1: He said, what the hell? He was trying to swagger
- 1:45:03Speaker 1: it off? They were going to kill oly Anderson. George
- 1:45:06Speaker 1: said they were going to shoot him when he came
- 1:45:08Speaker 1: in to eat oly Anderson. Sure. The cook felt the
- 1:45:13Speaker 1: corners of his mouth with his thumbs. They all gone,
- 1:45:18Speaker 1: he asked, Yeah, said George, they're going now. I don't
- 1:45:23Speaker 1: like it, said the cook. I don't like any of
- 1:45:26Speaker 1: it at all. Listen. George said to Nick, you better
- 1:45:29Speaker 1: go see Olly Anderson. All right, you better not have
- 1:45:34Speaker 1: anything to do with it at all, Sam, the cook said,
- 1:45:37Speaker 1: you better stay way out of it. Don't go if
- 1:45:41Speaker 1: you don't want to. George said, mixing up, and this
- 1:45:45Speaker 1: ain't going to get you anywhere. The cook said, you
- 1:45:47Speaker 1: stay out of it. I'll go see him. Nick said
- 1:45:51Speaker 1: to George, where does he live? The cook turned away.
- 1:45:55Speaker 1: Little boys always know what they want to do. He said,
- 1:45:59Speaker 1: he lives up at Hersh's rooming house. George said to Nick,
- 1:46:02Speaker 1: I'll go there. Outside the arc light shone through the
- 1:46:06Speaker 1: bare branches of a tree. Nick walked up the street
- 1:46:10Speaker 1: beside the car tracks and turned at the next arc
- 1:46:13Speaker 1: light down a side street. Three houses up the street
- 1:46:16Speaker 1: was Hersh's rooming house. Nick walked up the steps and
- 1:46:20Speaker 1: pushed the bell. A woman came to the door. Is
- 1:46:24Speaker 1: Ollie Anderson here? Do you want to see him? Yes,
- 1:46:28Speaker 1: if he's in. Nick followed the woman up a flight
- 1:46:31Speaker 1: of steps and back to the end of a corridor.
- 1:46:34Speaker 1: She knocked on the door. Who is it. It's somebody
- 1:46:38Speaker 1: to see you, mister Anderson. The woman said, it's Nick Adams.
- 1:46:43Speaker 1: Come in. Nick opened the door and went into the room.
- 1:46:48Speaker 1: Ollie Anderson was lying on the bed with all his
- 1:46:50Speaker 1: clothes on. He had been a heavyweight prize fighter, and
- 1:46:54Speaker 1: he was too long for the bed. He lay with
- 1:46:57Speaker 1: his head on two pillows. He did not look at Nick.
- 1:47:01Speaker 1: What was it? He asked? I was up at Henry's.
- 1:47:05Speaker 1: Nick said, and two fellows came in and tied me
- 1:47:09Speaker 1: up in the cook and they said they were going
- 1:47:11Speaker 1: to kill you. It sounded silly when he said it.
- 1:47:15Speaker 1: Oly Anderson said nothing. They put us out in the kitchen.
- 1:47:20Speaker 1: Nick went on, they were going to shoot you when
- 1:47:22Speaker 1: you came in to supper. Oly Anderson looked at the
- 1:47:25Speaker 1: wall and did not say anything. George thought, I'd better
- 1:47:29Speaker 1: come and tell you about it. Well, there's anything I
- 1:47:32Speaker 1: can do about it, oly Anderson said, I'll tell you
- 1:47:36Speaker 1: what they were like. I don't want to know what
- 1:47:38Speaker 1: they were like. Oly Anderson said, He looked at the wall.
- 1:47:43Speaker 1: Thanks for coming to tell me about it, that's all right.
- 1:47:47Speaker 1: Nick looked at the big man lying on the bed.
- 1:47:50Speaker 1: Don't you want me to go and see the police. No,
- 1:47:54Speaker 1: oly Anderson said, that wouldn't do any good. Isn't there
- 1:47:58Speaker 1: something I could do? No, there ain't nothing to do.
- 1:48:03Speaker 1: Maybe it was just a bluff. No, it ain't just
- 1:48:07Speaker 1: a bluff. Holy Anderson rolled over toward the wall. The
- 1:48:13Speaker 1: only thing is, he said, talking toward the wall. I
- 1:48:18Speaker 1: just can't make up my mind to go out. I've
- 1:48:21Speaker 1: been in here all day. Couldn't you get out of town? No,
- 1:48:26Speaker 1: Oly Anderson said, I'm through with all that running around.
- 1:48:32Speaker 1: He looked at the wall. There ain't anything to do now,
- 1:48:38Speaker 1: couldn't you fix it up some way? No, I got
- 1:48:41Speaker 1: in wrong, he talked the same flat voice. There ain't
- 1:48:46Speaker 1: anything to do. After a while, I'll make up my
- 1:48:49Speaker 1: mind to go out. Well, I better go back and
- 1:48:53Speaker 1: see George. Nick said, so long, said Olely Anderson. He
- 1:48:59Speaker 1: did not look toward Nick. Thanks for coming around. Nick
- 1:49:04Speaker 1: went out. As he shut the door, he saw Ollie
- 1:49:08Speaker 1: Anderson with all his clothes on, lying on the bed,
- 1:49:11Speaker 1: looking at the wall. He's been in his room all day,
- 1:49:15Speaker 1: the landlady said downstairs, I guess he don't feel well.
- 1:49:19Speaker 1: I said to him, mister Anderson, you ought to go
- 1:49:22Speaker 1: out and take a walk on a nice fall day
- 1:49:24Speaker 1: like this, But he didn't feel like it. He doesn't
- 1:49:28Speaker 1: want to go out. I'm sorry you don't feel well.
- 1:49:32Speaker 1: The woman said. He's an awfully nice man. He was
- 1:49:35Speaker 1: in the ring. You know, I know it. You'd never
- 1:49:38Speaker 1: know it except from the way his faces, the woman said.
- 1:49:42Speaker 1: They stood talking just inside the street door. He's just
- 1:49:46Speaker 1: as gentle. Well, good night, missus Hirsh, Nick said, well,
- 1:49:52Speaker 1: I'm not missus Hirsh. The woman said, she owns the place.
- 1:49:55Speaker 1: I just look after it for her. I'm missus Bell. Well,
- 1:50:00Speaker 1: good night, missus Bell, Nick said, good night. The woman said.
- 1:50:05Speaker 1: Nick walked up the dark street to the corner under
- 1:50:07Speaker 1: the arc light, and then along the car tracks to
- 1:50:11Speaker 1: Henry's eating house. George was inside back of the counter.
- 1:50:16Speaker 1: Did you see Ollie, Yes, said Nick. He's in his
- 1:50:20Speaker 1: room and he won't go out. The cook opened the
- 1:50:23Speaker 1: door from the kitchen when he heard Dick's voice. I
- 1:50:26Speaker 1: don't even listen to it, he said, and shut the door.
- 1:50:30Speaker 1: Did you tell him about it? George asked, sure. I
- 1:50:34Speaker 1: told him, but he knows what it's all about. What's
- 1:50:37Speaker 1: he going to do? Nothing? They'll kill him. I guess
- 1:50:42Speaker 1: they will. He must have got mixed up in something
- 1:50:45Speaker 1: in Chicago. I guess so, said Nick. It's a hell
- 1:50:51Speaker 1: of a thing. It's an awful thing. Nick said. They
- 1:50:55Speaker 1: did not say anything. George reached down for a towel
- 1:50:59Speaker 1: and wiped the counter. Wonder what he did, Nick said,
- 1:51:04Speaker 1: double cross somebody. That's what they kill him for. I'm
- 1:51:09Speaker 1: going to get out of this town. Nick said, Yes,
- 1:51:13Speaker 1: said George, that's a good thing to do. I can't
- 1:51:17Speaker 1: stand to think about him waiting in the room and
- 1:51:19Speaker 1: knowing he's going to get it. It's too damn awful, well,
- 1:51:25Speaker 1: said George, you better not think about it. End of
- 1:51:31Speaker 1: Section four chay Tadicha la Patria. The road of the
- 1:51:37Speaker 1: pass was hard and smooth and not yet dusty in
- 1:51:41Speaker 1: the early morning. Below were the hills with oak and
- 1:51:45Speaker 1: chestnut trees, and far below was the sea. On the
- 1:51:49Speaker 1: other side were snowy mountains. We came down from the
- 1:51:54Speaker 1: pass through wooded country. There were bags of charcoal piled
- 1:51:58Speaker 1: beside the road, and through the trees we saw charcoal
- 1:52:03Speaker 1: burner's huts. It was Sunday, and the road, rising and falling,
- 1:52:09Speaker 1: but always dropping away from the altitude of the pass,
- 1:52:13Speaker 1: went through the scrub woods and through villages. Outside the
- 1:52:17Speaker 1: villages there were fields with vines. The fields were brown,
- 1:52:21Speaker 1: and the vines coarse and thick. Their houses were white,
- 1:52:26Speaker 1: and in the streets the men in their sunday clothes
- 1:52:29Speaker 1: were playing bulls against the walls of some of the houses.
- 1:52:33Speaker 1: There were pear trees, their branches candelabrid against the white walls.
- 1:52:40Speaker 1: The pear trees had been sprayed, and the walls of
- 1:52:43Speaker 1: the houses were stained in metallic blue gray by the
- 1:52:46Speaker 1: spray vapor. There were small clearings around the villages where
- 1:52:50Speaker 1: the vines grew, and then the woods. In a village
- 1:52:54Speaker 1: twenty kilometers above Specia, there was a crowd in the
- 1:52:57Speaker 1: square and a young man carrying a suit case came
- 1:53:00Speaker 1: up to the car and asked us to take him
- 1:53:02Speaker 1: into Spezzia. There are only two places and they are occupied.
- 1:53:07Speaker 1: I said, We had an old Ford coupe. I will
- 1:53:11Speaker 1: ride on the outside. You will be uncomfortable. That makes nothing.
- 1:53:16Speaker 1: I must go to Spezzia. Should we take him, I
- 1:53:19Speaker 1: asked guy? He seems to be going anyway, Guy said.
- 1:53:24Speaker 1: The young man handed in a parcel through the window.
- 1:53:28Speaker 1: Look After this, two men tied his suitcase on the
- 1:53:33Speaker 1: back of the car above our suitcases. He shook hands
- 1:53:36Speaker 1: with everyone. Explain that to a fascist and a man
- 1:53:40Speaker 1: as used to traveling as himself, there was no discomfort,
- 1:53:44Speaker 1: and climbed up on the running board on the left
- 1:53:46Speaker 1: hand side of the car, holding on inside his right
- 1:53:51Speaker 1: arm through the open window. You can start, he said.
- 1:53:56Speaker 1: The crowd waved. He waved with his free hand. What
- 1:54:00Speaker 1: did he say? Guy asked me that we could start?
- 1:54:04Speaker 1: Isn't he nice? Guy said? The road followed a river.
- 1:54:10Speaker 1: Across the river were mountains. The sun was taking the
- 1:54:13Speaker 1: frost out of the grass. It was bright and cold,
- 1:54:17Speaker 1: and the air came cold through the open windshield. How
- 1:54:20Speaker 1: do you think he likes it out there? Guy was
- 1:54:22Speaker 1: looking up the road. His view out of his side
- 1:54:25Speaker 1: of the car was blocked by our guest. The young
- 1:54:28Speaker 1: man projected from the side of the car like the
- 1:54:31Speaker 1: figurehead of a ship. He had his coat collar up
- 1:54:34Speaker 1: and pulled his hat down, and his nose looked cold
- 1:54:37Speaker 1: in the wind. Maybe he'll get enough of it, Guy said,
- 1:54:42Speaker 1: that's aside our bum tires on. Oh, he'd leave us
- 1:54:46Speaker 1: if we blew out. I said, he wouldn't get his
- 1:54:48Speaker 1: traveling clothes dirty. Well, I don't mind him, Guy said,
- 1:54:53Speaker 1: except the way he leans out on the turns. The
- 1:54:58Speaker 1: woods were gone, the road had left the river to climb.
- 1:55:01Speaker 1: The radiator was boiling. The young man looked annoyedly and
- 1:55:05Speaker 1: suspiciously at the steam and rusty water. The engine was
- 1:55:09Speaker 1: grinding with both guys feed on the first speed pedal
- 1:55:14Speaker 1: op and op, back and forth and up and finally
- 1:55:19Speaker 1: out level. The grinding had stopped, and in the new
- 1:55:23Speaker 1: quiet there was a great churning bubbling in the radiator.
- 1:55:28Speaker 1: We were at the top of the last range above
- 1:55:31Speaker 1: Spezia and the sea. The road descended with short, barely
- 1:55:36Speaker 1: rounded turns. Our guests hung out on the turns and
- 1:55:40Speaker 1: nearly pulled the top heavy car over. You can't tell
- 1:55:44Speaker 1: them not to, I said to guy. It's a sense
- 1:55:46Speaker 1: of self preservation, the great Italian sense, the greatest Italian sense.
- 1:55:54Speaker 1: We came down around curves through deep dust, the dust
- 1:55:58Speaker 1: powdering the olive trees, Spetsya spread below along the sea.
- 1:56:04Speaker 1: The road flattened outside the town. Our guest put his
- 1:56:07Speaker 1: head in the window. I want to stop, stop it,
- 1:56:11Speaker 1: I said to guy. We slowed up at the side
- 1:56:15Speaker 1: of the road. The young man got down, went to
- 1:56:18Speaker 1: the back of a car and untied the suit case.
- 1:56:21Speaker 1: I stop here so you won't get into trouble carrying passengers.
- 1:56:26Speaker 1: He said, my package. I handed him the package. He
- 1:56:30Speaker 1: reached in his pocket. How much do I owe you? Nothing?
- 1:56:34Speaker 1: Why not? I don't know. I said, then thanks. The
- 1:56:39Speaker 1: young man said not thank you, or thank you very much,
- 1:56:43Speaker 1: or thank you a thousand times, all of which you
- 1:56:46Speaker 1: formerly said in Italy to a man when he handed
- 1:56:49Speaker 1: you at time table or explained about a direction. The
- 1:56:53Speaker 1: young man uttered the lowest form of the word thanks,
- 1:56:56Speaker 1: and looked after us suspiciously. As Guy started at the car,
- 1:57:01Speaker 1: I waved my hand at him. He was too dignified
- 1:57:05Speaker 1: to reply. We won on into Spezzia. That's the young
- 1:57:10Speaker 1: man that'll go a long way in Italy, I said
- 1:57:13Speaker 1: to Guy. Well, said Guy, He went twenty kilometers with
- 1:57:18Speaker 1: us a meal in Spezzia. We came into Spezzia looking
- 1:57:26Speaker 1: for a place to eat. The street was wide and
- 1:57:29Speaker 1: the houses high and yellow. We followed the tram track
- 1:57:33Speaker 1: into the center of town, while the walls of the
- 1:57:36Speaker 1: houses were stenciled eye bugging portraits of Mussolini with hand
- 1:57:40Speaker 1: painted vivas the double V and black paint with drippings
- 1:57:44Speaker 1: of paint down the wall side streets. Went down to
- 1:57:48Speaker 1: the harbor. He was bright and the people were all
- 1:57:51Speaker 1: out for Sunday. The stone paving had been sprinkled and
- 1:57:55Speaker 1: there were damp stretches in the dust. We went close
- 1:57:58Speaker 1: to the curb to avoid a tramp. Let's eat somewhere,
- 1:58:02Speaker 1: simple guy said. We stopped opposite two restaurant signs. We
- 1:58:08Speaker 1: were standing across the street and I was buying the papers.
- 1:58:12Speaker 1: The two restaurants were side by side. A woman standing
- 1:58:16Speaker 1: in the doorway of one smiled at us, and we
- 1:58:18Speaker 1: crossed the street and went in. It was dark inside,
- 1:58:21Speaker 1: and at the back of the room three girls were
- 1:58:23Speaker 1: sitting at a table with an old woman across from us.
- 1:58:27Speaker 1: At another table sat a sailor. He sat there neither
- 1:58:31Speaker 1: eating nor drinking. Further back, a young man in a
- 1:58:35Speaker 1: blue suit was writing at a table. His hair was
- 1:58:38Speaker 1: pomotted and shining, and he was very smartly dressed and
- 1:58:41Speaker 1: clean cut looking. The light came through the doorway and
- 1:58:46Speaker 1: through the window where vegetables, fruit, steaks, and chops were
- 1:58:50Speaker 1: arranged in a showcase. A girl came and took our order,
- 1:58:54Speaker 1: and another girl stood in the doorway. We noticed that
- 1:58:57Speaker 1: she wore nothing under her house dress. The girl who
- 1:59:01Speaker 1: took our order put her arm round guy's neck while
- 1:59:04Speaker 1: we were looking at the menu. There were three girls
- 1:59:06Speaker 1: in all, and they all took turns going and standing
- 1:59:09Speaker 1: in the doorway. The old woman at the table in
- 1:59:12Speaker 1: the back of the room spoke to them and they
- 1:59:14Speaker 1: sat down again with her. There was no doorway leading
- 1:59:18Speaker 1: from the room except in the kitchen. Curtain hung over it.
- 1:59:22Speaker 1: The girl who had taken our order came in from
- 1:59:24Speaker 1: the kitchen with spaghetti. She put it on the table
- 1:59:27Speaker 1: and brought a bottle of red wine and sat down
- 1:59:29Speaker 1: at the table. Well, I said to Guy, you want
- 1:59:33Speaker 1: to eat someplace simple. This isn't simple, this is complicated.
- 1:59:38Speaker 1: What do you say? Asked the girl. Are you Germans?
- 1:59:42Speaker 1: South Germans? I said, the South Germans are a gentle
- 1:59:46Speaker 1: lovable people. Don't understand, she said, what's the mechanics of
- 1:59:52Speaker 1: this place? Guy asked, so I have to let her
- 1:59:55Speaker 1: put her arm around my neck? Certainly, I said, Mussolini
- 1:59:59Speaker 1: is abolished the rothels. This is a restaurant. The girl
- 2:00:03Speaker 1: wore a one piece dress. She leaned forward against the
- 2:00:06Speaker 1: table and put her hands on her breasts and smiled.
- 2:00:10Speaker 1: She smiled better on one side than on the other,
- 2:00:12Speaker 1: and turned the good side toward us. The charm of
- 2:00:16Speaker 1: the good side had been enhanced by some event which
- 2:00:19Speaker 1: had smoothed the other side of her nose in as
- 2:00:22Speaker 1: warm wax can be smoothed. Her nose, however, did not
- 2:00:26Speaker 1: look like warm wax. It was very cold and firmed,
- 2:00:30Speaker 1: only smoothed in. You like me, she asked. I he
- 2:00:35Speaker 1: adores you, I said, but he doesn't speak Italian. Ich frakkatoutscha,
- 2:00:41Speaker 1: she said, and stroked Guy's hair. Speak to the lady
- 2:00:46Speaker 1: in your native tongue. Guy, where do you come from?
- 2:00:50Speaker 1: Asked the lady, potstorm, and you will stay here now
- 2:00:55Speaker 1: for a little while in this so dear Spetsia. Tell
- 2:01:01Speaker 1: her we have to go, said Guy. Tell her we
- 2:01:04Speaker 1: are very ill and have no money. My friend is
- 2:01:07Speaker 1: a misogynist, I said, an old German misogynist. Tell him
- 2:01:12Speaker 1: I love him, I told him, will you shut your
- 2:01:16Speaker 1: mouth and get us out of here? Guy said. The
- 2:01:19Speaker 1: lady had placed another arm round his neck. Tell him
- 2:01:22Speaker 1: he is mine, she said, I told him, will you
- 2:01:25Speaker 1: get us out of here? You are quarreling. The lady said,
- 2:01:29Speaker 1: you do not love one another. We are Germans, I said, proudly,
- 2:01:34Speaker 1: old South Germans. Tell him he is a beautiful boy.
- 2:01:38Speaker 1: The lady said, Guy is thirty eight and takes some
- 2:01:42Speaker 1: pride in the fact that he's taken for a traveling
- 2:01:44Speaker 1: salesman in France. You are a beautiful boy, I said,
- 2:01:50Speaker 1: who says so, Guy asked you? Or her? She does?
- 2:01:53Speaker 1: I'm just your interpreter. Isn't that what you got me
- 2:01:55Speaker 1: in an all this trip for? I'm glad it's hers. Guy.
- 2:02:00Speaker 1: I didn't want to have to leave you here too,
- 2:02:03Speaker 1: and oh, no, Spetzia is a lovely place. Spetzia. The
- 2:02:07Speaker 1: lady said, you are talking about Spetzia lovely place. I said,
- 2:02:14Speaker 1: it is my country. She said, Spezzia is my home
- 2:02:17Speaker 1: and Italy is my country. She says that Italy is
- 2:02:21Speaker 1: her country. Tell her it looks like her country. What
- 2:02:25Speaker 1: have you for dessert, I asked fruit. She said, we
- 2:02:29Speaker 1: have bananas. Bananas are all right, they've got skins on.
- 2:02:34Speaker 1: Oh he takes bananas, the lady said. She embraced guy.
- 2:02:38Speaker 1: What does she say, he asked, keeping his space out
- 2:02:41Speaker 1: of the way. She is pleased because you take bananas.
- 2:02:45Speaker 1: Tell her, I don't take bananas. The signor does not
- 2:02:48Speaker 1: take bananas, ah, said the lady, crustfallen. He doesn't take bananas.
- 2:02:56Speaker 1: Tell her, I take a cold bath every morning, I said, see,
- 2:03:00Speaker 1: New York takes a cold bath every morning. No one understand,
- 2:03:04Speaker 1: the lady said. Across from us, the property sailor had
- 2:03:08Speaker 1: not moved. No one in the place played any attention
- 2:03:11Speaker 1: to him. We want the bill, I said, oh no,
- 2:03:14Speaker 1: you must stay. Listen. The clean cut young man said,
- 2:03:18Speaker 1: from the table where he was writing, let them go.
- 2:03:21Speaker 1: These two are worth nothing. The lady took my hand.
- 2:03:25Speaker 1: You won't stay, you won't ask him to stay. We
- 2:03:29Speaker 1: have to go, I said. We have to get to Pisa,
- 2:03:31Speaker 1: or if possible, for Lindsey tonight we can amuse ourselves
- 2:03:35Speaker 1: in those cities. At the end of the day. It
- 2:03:38Speaker 1: is now the day. In the day we must cover
- 2:03:41Speaker 1: distance to say a little while is nice to travel
- 2:03:46Speaker 1: is necessary during the light of day. Listen, the clean
- 2:03:49Speaker 1: cut young man said, don't bother to talk with these two.
- 2:03:52Speaker 1: I tell you they are worth nothing, and I know.
- 2:03:56Speaker 1: Bring us the bill, I said. She brought them bill
- 2:04:00Speaker 1: from the old woman went back and sat at the table.
- 2:04:03Speaker 1: Another girl came in from the kitchen. She walked the
- 2:04:06Speaker 1: length of the room and stood in the doorway. Don't
- 2:04:09Speaker 1: bother with these two, the clean cut young man said,
- 2:04:12Speaker 1: in a wearied voice, come and eat. They are worth nothing.
- 2:04:18Speaker 1: We paid the bill and stood up. All the girls,
- 2:04:21Speaker 1: the old woman and the clean cut young man sat
- 2:04:24Speaker 1: down at table together. The property sailor sat with his
- 2:04:27Speaker 1: head in his hands. No one had spoken to him
- 2:04:30Speaker 1: all the time we were at lunch. The girl brought
- 2:04:32Speaker 1: us our chains. The old woman counted out for her
- 2:04:35Speaker 1: and went back to her place at the table. We
- 2:04:38Speaker 1: left a tip on the table and went out. When
- 2:04:41Speaker 1: we were seated in the car ready to start, the
- 2:04:44Speaker 1: girl came out and stood in the door. We started
- 2:04:47Speaker 1: and I waved to her. She did not wave, but
- 2:04:50Speaker 1: stood there looking after us. After the rain, it was
- 2:04:58Speaker 1: raining hard when we pas through the suburbs of Genoa,
- 2:05:02Speaker 1: and even going very slowly behind the tram cars and
- 2:05:05Speaker 1: the motor trucks, liquid mud splashed onto the sidewalks, so
- 2:05:09Speaker 1: that people stepped into doorways as they saw us coming.
- 2:05:14Speaker 1: In San Pierre Darrina, the industrial suburb outside of Genoa,
- 2:05:18Speaker 1: there is a wide street with two car tracks, and
- 2:05:21Speaker 1: we drove down the center to avoid sending the mud
- 2:05:24Speaker 1: onto the men going home from work. On our left
- 2:05:28Speaker 1: was the Mediterranean. There was a big sea running and
- 2:05:31Speaker 1: waves broke and the wind blue spray against the car.
- 2:05:35Speaker 1: A riverbed that when we had passed going into Italy
- 2:05:38Speaker 1: had been wide, stony and dry, was running brown and
- 2:05:43Speaker 1: up to the banks. The brown water discolored the sea,
- 2:05:47Speaker 1: and as the waves thin and cleared and breaking, the
- 2:05:50Speaker 1: light came through the yellow water and the crests detached
- 2:05:54Speaker 1: by the wind blew across the road. A big car
- 2:05:58Speaker 1: passed us, going fast, dust and a sheet of muddy
- 2:06:01Speaker 1: water rose up and covered our windshield and radiator. The
- 2:06:06Speaker 1: automatic windshield cleaner moved back and forth, spreading the film
- 2:06:09Speaker 1: over the glass. We stopped and ate lunch at cestry.
- 2:06:14Speaker 1: There was no heat in the restaurant, and we kept
- 2:06:16Speaker 1: our hats and coats on. We could see the car
- 2:06:19Speaker 1: outside through the window. It was covered with mud and
- 2:06:24Speaker 1: was stopped beside some boats that had pulled up beyond
- 2:06:26Speaker 1: the waves. In the restaurant, you could see her breath.
- 2:06:31Speaker 1: The pasta ashuto was good. The wine tasted of allum,
- 2:06:35Speaker 1: and we poured water in it. Afterward, the waiter brought
- 2:06:39Speaker 1: beefsteak and fried potatoes. A man and a woman sat
- 2:06:43Speaker 1: at the far end of the restaurant. He was middle
- 2:06:45Speaker 1: aged and she was young and wore black. All during
- 2:06:49Speaker 1: the meal, she would blow out her breath and the
- 2:06:51Speaker 1: coold damp air. The man would look at it and
- 2:06:55Speaker 1: shake his head. They ate without talking, and the man
- 2:06:58Speaker 1: held her hand under the table. She was good looking,
- 2:07:02Speaker 1: and they seemed very sad. They had a traveling bag
- 2:07:06Speaker 1: with them. We had the papers, and I read the
- 2:07:10Speaker 1: account of the Shanghai fighting. Allowed to guy. After the meal,
- 2:07:14Speaker 1: he left with the waiter in search of a place
- 2:07:16Speaker 1: which did not exist in the restaurant, and I cleaned
- 2:07:19Speaker 1: off the windshield, the lights, and the license plates with
- 2:07:22Speaker 1: a rag. Guy came back and we backed the car
- 2:07:25Speaker 1: out and started. The waiter had taken him across the
- 2:07:28Speaker 1: road and into an old house. The people in the
- 2:07:32Speaker 1: house were suspicious, and the waiter had remained with Guy
- 2:07:35Speaker 1: to see that nothing was stolen. Although I don't know
- 2:07:39Speaker 1: how me not being a plumber, they expected me to
- 2:07:42Speaker 1: steal anything, Guy said. As we came up on a
- 2:07:47Speaker 1: headland beyond the town, the wind struck the car and
- 2:07:51Speaker 1: nearly tipped it over. It's good it blows us away
- 2:07:55Speaker 1: from the sea. Guy said, well, I said, they drowned
- 2:07:58Speaker 1: Shelley somewhere along here that was down by via Reggio.
- 2:08:04Speaker 1: I said, do you remember what we came to this
- 2:08:07Speaker 1: country for. Yes, I said, but we didn't get it.
- 2:08:12Speaker 1: We'll be out of it tonight. If we can get
- 2:08:14Speaker 1: pass it into big we'll see. I don't like to
- 2:08:19Speaker 1: drive this coast at night. It was early afternoon and
- 2:08:22Speaker 1: the sun was out below. The sea was blue with
- 2:08:25Speaker 1: white caps running towards Savannah. Back beyond the cape, the
- 2:08:29Speaker 1: brown and blue waters joined out ahead of us, a
- 2:08:33Speaker 1: tramp steamer was going up the coast. Can you still
- 2:08:37Speaker 1: see Genoa? I asked, Oh, yes, that next big cape.
- 2:08:42Speaker 1: Ought to put it out of sight. We'll see it
- 2:08:45Speaker 1: a long time. Yet I can still see Portofino cape
- 2:08:49Speaker 1: behind it. Finally we could not see Genoa. I looked
- 2:08:54Speaker 1: back as we came out, and there was only the sea,
- 2:08:57Speaker 1: and below in the bay a line of each with
- 2:09:00Speaker 1: fishing boats, and above on the side of the hill
- 2:09:03Speaker 1: a town, and then capes far down the coast. It's
- 2:09:07Speaker 1: gone now, I said the guy. Oh, it's been gone
- 2:09:10Speaker 1: a long time now, but we couldn't be sure till
- 2:09:13Speaker 1: we got a way out. There was a sign with
- 2:09:17Speaker 1: a picture of an s turn and svolta periculosa. The
- 2:09:22Speaker 1: road curved around the headland and the wind blew through
- 2:09:25Speaker 1: the crack in the windshield. Below the cape was a
- 2:09:29Speaker 1: flat stretch beside the sea. The wind had dried the
- 2:09:32Speaker 1: mud and the wheels were beginning to lift dust. On
- 2:09:36Speaker 1: the flat road, we passed a fascist riding a bicycle,
- 2:09:39Speaker 1: a heavy revolver and a holster on his back. He
- 2:09:43Speaker 1: held the middle of the road on his bicycle and
- 2:09:46Speaker 1: we turned out for him. He looked up at us.
- 2:09:48Speaker 1: As we passed ahead. There was a railway crossing, and
- 2:09:52Speaker 1: as we came toward it, the gates went down. As
- 2:09:55Speaker 1: we waited, the fascist came up on his bicycle. The
- 2:09:58Speaker 1: train went by, and guy started the engine. Wait. The
- 2:10:02Speaker 1: bicycle man shouted from on the car, your number's dirty.
- 2:10:06Speaker 1: I got out with a rag. The number had been
- 2:10:09Speaker 1: cleaned at lunch. You can read it, I said, you
- 2:10:12Speaker 1: think so, read it. I cannot read it. It is dirty.
- 2:10:17Speaker 1: I wiped it off with the brag halsat twenty five lira.
- 2:10:23Speaker 1: What I said, you could have read it. It's only
- 2:10:26Speaker 1: dirty from the state of the roads. You don't lack
- 2:10:29Speaker 1: Italian roads. They're dirty. Fifty lira. He spat in the road.
- 2:10:35Speaker 1: Your car is dirty and you're dirty too. Good and
- 2:10:40Speaker 1: give me a receipt with your name. He took out
- 2:10:43Speaker 1: a receipt book, made in duplicate and perforated so one
- 2:10:47Speaker 1: side could be given the customer and the other side
- 2:10:49Speaker 1: filled in and kept as a stub. There was no
- 2:10:53Speaker 1: carbon to record what the customer's ticket said. Give me
- 2:10:56Speaker 1: fifty lira. He wrote an indelible pencil, tore out the
- 2:11:00Speaker 1: slip and handed it to me. I read it. This
- 2:11:05Speaker 1: is for twenty five lira. A mistake, he said, and
- 2:11:09Speaker 1: changed the twenty five to fifty. And now the other
- 2:11:13Speaker 1: side make it fifty in the party keep. He smiled,
- 2:11:17Speaker 1: a beautiful Italian smile, and wrote something on the receipt stub,
- 2:11:22Speaker 1: holding it so I could not see. Go on, he said,
- 2:11:26Speaker 1: before your number gets dirty again. We drove for two
- 2:11:31Speaker 1: hours after it was dark, and slept in mintone that night.
- 2:11:35Speaker 1: It seemed very cheerful and clean and sane and lovely.
- 2:11:41Speaker 1: We had driven from Bintimidicali to Pisa and Florence, across
- 2:11:46Speaker 1: the Romana to Rimini, back through forli Imola, Bologna, Parrama,
- 2:11:51Speaker 1: Piacenza and Genoa to Vidimigli again. The whole trip had
- 2:11:57Speaker 1: only taken ten days. Naturally, in such a short trip
- 2:12:03Speaker 1: we had no opportunity to see how things were with
- 2:12:06Speaker 1: the country or the people. Endo section five fifty grand.
- 2:12:16Speaker 1: How are you going yourself? Jack, I asked him. You've
- 2:12:20Speaker 1: seen this, Walcott, He says, just in the gym. Well,
- 2:12:25Speaker 1: Jack says, I'm going to need a lot of luck
- 2:12:27Speaker 1: with that boy. He can't hit you. Jack Soldier said,
- 2:12:32Speaker 1: I wish to hell. He couldn't He couldn't hit you
- 2:12:35Speaker 1: with a handful of bird shot. Birdshot be all right?
- 2:12:38Speaker 1: Jack says, I wouldn't mind birdshot any He looks easy
- 2:12:42Speaker 1: to hit, I said, sure. Jack says he ain't gonna
- 2:12:46Speaker 1: last long. He ain't gonna last like you and me, Jerry.
- 2:12:50Speaker 1: But right now he's got everything you'll left hand him
- 2:12:53Speaker 1: to death. Maybe, Jack says, sure, I got a chance
- 2:12:58Speaker 1: to handle him. My can handle kid Lewis. Kid Lewis.
- 2:13:03Speaker 1: Jack said that cake. The three of us, Jack, Brennan,
- 2:13:08Speaker 1: Soldier Bartlett and I were in handleys. There were a
- 2:13:11Speaker 1: couple of broads sitting at the table next to us.
- 2:13:14Speaker 1: They had been drinking. What do you mean cake? One
- 2:13:17Speaker 1: of the broad says, what do you mean cake? You
- 2:13:20Speaker 1: big Irish bum? Sure, Jack says, that's it. Cake's this
- 2:13:25Speaker 1: fraud goes on. They're always talking about cakes, these big irishmen.
- 2:13:29Speaker 1: What do you mean Cake's? Come on, let's get out
- 2:13:32Speaker 1: of here. Cake's this fraud goes on. Who ever saw
- 2:13:36Speaker 1: you ever buy a drink? Your wife says, your pockets
- 2:13:39Speaker 1: up every morning? These irishmen in there, cakes, Ted Lewis
- 2:13:43Speaker 1: could lick you too, Sure, says Jack. And you give
- 2:13:48Speaker 1: away a lot of things free too, don't you We
- 2:13:51Speaker 1: went out. That was Jack. He could say what he
- 2:13:53Speaker 1: wanted to do when he wanted to say it. Jack
- 2:13:58Speaker 1: started training out at Danny Hogan's Hell Farm over in Jersey.
- 2:14:02Speaker 1: It was nice out there, but Jack didn't like it much.
- 2:14:05Speaker 1: He didn't like being away from his wife and kids,
- 2:14:07Speaker 1: and he was sore and grouchy most of the time.
- 2:14:10Speaker 1: He liked me, and we got along fine together, and
- 2:14:13Speaker 1: he liked Hogan. But after a while, Soldier Bartlett commenced
- 2:14:17Speaker 1: to get on his nerves. A kidder gets to be
- 2:14:20Speaker 1: an awful thing around a camp if his stuff goes
- 2:14:22Speaker 1: sort of sour. Soldier was always kidding Jack, just sort
- 2:14:26Speaker 1: of kidding him all the time. It wasn't very funny,
- 2:14:29Speaker 1: and it wasn't very good, and it began to get
- 2:14:31Speaker 1: to Jack. It was sort of stuff like this. Jack
- 2:14:34Speaker 1: would finish up with the weights and the bag and
- 2:14:36Speaker 1: pull on his gloves. You want to work, he'd say
- 2:14:39Speaker 1: a soldier, Sure, how do you want me to work?
- 2:14:42Speaker 1: Soldier would ask, want me to treat you rough like Walcott,
- 2:14:45Speaker 1: Want me to knock you down a few times? That's it,
- 2:14:48Speaker 1: Jack would say. He didn't like it. Any though. One
- 2:14:52Speaker 1: morning we were all out on the road. We'd been
- 2:14:55Speaker 1: out quite away, and now we were coming back. We'd
- 2:14:58Speaker 1: go along fast for three minutes, and then walk a minute,
- 2:15:01Speaker 1: and then go fast for three minutes again. Jack wasn't
- 2:15:05Speaker 1: of what you'd call sprinter. He'd move around fast enough
- 2:15:08Speaker 1: in the ring if he had to, but he wasn't
- 2:15:09Speaker 1: any too fast on the road. All the time we
- 2:15:12Speaker 1: were walking, Soldier was kidding him. We came up the
- 2:15:16Speaker 1: hill to the farmhouse. Well, says Jack, you better go
- 2:15:20Speaker 1: back to town. Soldier, What do you mean you better
- 2:15:23Speaker 1: go back to town and stay there. What's the matter.
- 2:15:27Speaker 1: I'm sick of hearing you talk, Yes, says Soldier. Yes,
- 2:15:32Speaker 1: says Jack. You'll be a damned sight sicker when Walcott
- 2:15:35Speaker 1: gets through with you. Sure, says Jack. Maybe I will,
- 2:15:39Speaker 1: but I know I'm sick of you. So Soldier went
- 2:15:42Speaker 1: off on the train to town. That same morning, I
- 2:15:45Speaker 1: went down with him to the train. He was good
- 2:15:47Speaker 1: and sore. I was just kidding him, he said, we
- 2:15:51Speaker 1: were waiting on the platform. He can't pull that stuff
- 2:15:54Speaker 1: with me, Jerry. He's nervous and crabby. I said. He's
- 2:15:58Speaker 1: a good fellow. Soldier. The hell he is the hell
- 2:16:01Speaker 1: he's ever been a good fellow. Well, I said, so long, Soldier.
- 2:16:07Speaker 1: The train had come in. He climbed up with his bag.
- 2:16:10Speaker 1: So long, Jerry, you be in town before the fight.
- 2:16:15Speaker 1: I don't think so, see you. Then he went in,
- 2:16:19Speaker 1: and the conductor swung up and the train went out.
- 2:16:22Speaker 1: I rode back to the farm in the cart. Jack
- 2:16:25Speaker 1: was on the porch writing a letter to his wife.
- 2:16:27Speaker 1: The mail had come, and I had got the papers
- 2:16:29Speaker 1: and went over on the other side of the porch
- 2:16:31Speaker 1: and sat down to read. Hogan came out the door
- 2:16:34Speaker 1: and walked over to me. Did he have a jam
- 2:16:37Speaker 1: with Soldier? Not a jam, I said, He just told
- 2:16:40Speaker 1: him to go back to town. I could see it coming.
- 2:16:43Speaker 1: Hogan said he never liked Soldier much. No, you don't
- 2:16:47Speaker 1: like many people. He's a pretty cold one, Hogan said.
- 2:16:51Speaker 1: All he's always been fine to me. Me too, Hogan said,
- 2:16:54Speaker 1: I got no kick on him. He's a cold one, though.
- 2:16:58Speaker 1: Hogan went in through the screen, and I sat there
- 2:17:01Speaker 1: on the porch and read the papers. He was just
- 2:17:04Speaker 1: starting to get full weather. And it's a nice country
- 2:17:06Speaker 1: there in Jersey, up in the hills. And after I
- 2:17:09Speaker 1: read the paper, I sat there and looked out at
- 2:17:11Speaker 1: the country in the road down below against the woods,
- 2:17:14Speaker 1: with coras going along it lifting the dust up. It
- 2:17:18Speaker 1: was fine weather and pretty nice looking country. Hogan came
- 2:17:22Speaker 1: to the door and I said, say, Hogan, haven't anything
- 2:17:25Speaker 1: to shoot out there? No, Hogan said, only sparrows. Seen
- 2:17:30Speaker 1: the paper. I said to Hogan, what's in it? Sandy
- 2:17:34Speaker 1: booted three of them men yesterday. I got that on
- 2:17:38Speaker 1: the telephone last night. You follow him pretty close, Hogan,
- 2:17:41Speaker 1: I asked, Oh, I keep in touch with them. Hogan said,
- 2:17:46Speaker 1: what about Jack? The sea stole play with them him?
- 2:17:49Speaker 1: Hogan said, can you see him doing it? Just then
- 2:17:52Speaker 1: Jack came round the corner with the letter in his hand.
- 2:17:55Speaker 1: He's wearing a sweater and an old pair of pants
- 2:17:58Speaker 1: and boxing shoes. Got a stamp. Hogan, He asks, give
- 2:18:02Speaker 1: me the letter. Hogan said, I'll mail it for you.
- 2:18:06Speaker 1: Say Jack, I said, didn't he used to play the ponies? Sure,
- 2:18:10Speaker 1: I knew you did. I knew I used to see
- 2:18:12Speaker 1: you out at Sheepshead. Would you lay off them for
- 2:18:16Speaker 1: Hogan asked, lost money. Jack sat down on the porch
- 2:18:20Speaker 1: by me. He leaned back against a post. He shut
- 2:18:24Speaker 1: his eyes in the sun won a chair. Hogan asked, No,
- 2:18:29Speaker 1: said Jack, this is fine. It's a nice day. I said,
- 2:18:32Speaker 1: it's pretty nice out in the country. A damn sight.
- 2:18:36Speaker 1: I'd rather be in town with the wife. Well, you
- 2:18:40Speaker 1: only got another week, yes, Jack says, that's so. We
- 2:18:45Speaker 1: sat there on the porch. Hogan was inside at the office.
- 2:18:49Speaker 1: What do you think about the shape I mean? Jack
- 2:18:51Speaker 1: asked me. Well, you can't tell. I said, you got
- 2:18:55Speaker 1: a week to get around into for him. Don't stall me. Well,
- 2:19:00Speaker 1: I said, you're not right. I'm not sleeping. Jack said
- 2:19:05Speaker 1: he'll be all right in a couple of days. No,
- 2:19:08Speaker 1: Jack says, I got the insomnia. What's on your mind?
- 2:19:12Speaker 1: I miss the wife? Ever come out? No, I'm too
- 2:19:16Speaker 1: old for that. We'll take a long walk before you
- 2:19:19Speaker 1: turn in. Get you good and tired. Tired, says Jack.
- 2:19:22Speaker 1: I'm tired all the time. He was that way all week.
- 2:19:26Speaker 1: You wouldn't sleep at night, and you'd get up in
- 2:19:28Speaker 1: the morning feeling that way. You know, when you can't
- 2:19:30Speaker 1: shut your hands. He stales, poor house cake. Hogan said
- 2:19:35Speaker 1: he's nothing I never seen Walcott. I said, he'll kill him,
- 2:19:40Speaker 1: said Hogan, He'll tear him into Well, I said, everybody's
- 2:19:44Speaker 1: got to get it sometime. Not like this, though, Hogan said,
- 2:19:49Speaker 1: they'll think he never trained. It gives the farm a
- 2:19:52Speaker 1: black eye. You hear what the reporter said about him,
- 2:19:55Speaker 1: didn't I? They said he was awful. They said they
- 2:19:59Speaker 1: ought to let him fight. Well, I said, they're always wrong,
- 2:20:03Speaker 1: ain't they? Yeah, said Hogan, But this time they're right.
- 2:20:07Speaker 1: What the hell do they know about whether a man's
- 2:20:09Speaker 1: right or not? Well, they're not such fools. All they
- 2:20:14Speaker 1: did was pick Willard at Toledo. This Lardner, he's so wise.
- 2:20:17Speaker 1: Now ask him about when he picked Willard at Toledo. Ah,
- 2:20:22Speaker 1: he wasn't out, Hogan said, he only writes the big fights.
- 2:20:26Speaker 1: I don't care who they are. I said, what the
- 2:20:28Speaker 1: hell do they know? They can write? Maybe, but what
- 2:20:31Speaker 1: the hell they know. You don't think Jackson in shape,
- 2:20:35Speaker 1: do you? Hogan asked, No, he's through. All he needs
- 2:20:39Speaker 1: is to have Corvette Pickham to win it for it
- 2:20:41Speaker 1: all to be over. Well, Corn will pick him. Hogan says, sure,
- 2:20:46Speaker 1: he'll pick them. That night, jack didn't sleep any either.
- 2:20:51Speaker 1: The next morning was the day before the fight. After breakfast,
- 2:20:55Speaker 1: we were out on the Portugan. What do you think
- 2:20:58Speaker 1: about Jack. Can't sleep, I said, Oh, I worry. Jack says,
- 2:21:06Speaker 1: I worry about property. I got up in the Bronx.
- 2:21:09Speaker 1: I worry about property I got in Florida. I worry
- 2:21:13Speaker 1: about the kids. I worry about the wife. Sometimes I
- 2:21:15Speaker 1: think about fights. I think about that kite ted Lewis,
- 2:21:19Speaker 1: and I get sore. I got some stocks and worry
- 2:21:22Speaker 1: about them. What the hell don't I think about well,
- 2:21:27Speaker 1: I said, tomorrow night, it'll all be over, sure, said Jack.
- 2:21:32Speaker 1: That always helps a lot on it. That just fixes
- 2:21:34Speaker 1: everything all up. I suppose. Sure. He was sore all day.
- 2:21:40Speaker 1: We didn't do any work. Jack just moved around a
- 2:21:43Speaker 1: little loose and up. He shadow boxed a few rounds,
- 2:21:45Speaker 1: and he didn't even look good doing that. He skipped
- 2:21:48Speaker 1: rope a little bit. He couldn't sweat. He better not
- 2:21:51Speaker 1: do any work at all, Hogan said. We were standing
- 2:21:54Speaker 1: watching him skip rope. Don't he ever sweat at all anymore?
- 2:21:59Speaker 1: He can't do. You suppose he's got the con. He
- 2:22:03Speaker 1: never had any trouble making weight, did he? No, he
- 2:22:06Speaker 1: doesn't got the con. He just hasn't got anything inside anymore.
- 2:22:11Speaker 1: He ought a sweat, said Hogan. Jack came over skipping
- 2:22:15Speaker 1: the rope. He was skipping up and down in front
- 2:22:17Speaker 1: of us, forward and back, crossing his arms every third time. Well,
- 2:22:22Speaker 1: he said, what are you buzzards talking about? And I
- 2:22:25Speaker 1: don't think you ought to work anymore. Hogan says, you'll
- 2:22:27Speaker 1: be stale. Wouldn't that be awful? Jack says and skips
- 2:22:32Speaker 1: away down the floor, slapping the rope hard. That afternoon,
- 2:22:36Speaker 1: John Collins showed up out at the farm. Jack was
- 2:22:39Speaker 1: up in his room. John came out in the car
- 2:22:43Speaker 1: from town. He had a couple of friends with him.
- 2:22:46Speaker 1: The car stopped and they all got out. Where's Jack?
- 2:22:50Speaker 1: John asked me? Up in his room, lying down, lying down? Yes?
- 2:22:55Speaker 1: I said, how is he? I looked at the two
- 2:22:58Speaker 1: fellows that were with John. They're friends of his. John
- 2:23:01Speaker 1: said he's pretty bad. I said, what's the matter with him?
- 2:23:05Speaker 1: He don't sleep? Hell, said John, That irishman never could sleep.
- 2:23:10Speaker 1: He isn't right, I said hell. John said he's never right.
- 2:23:15Speaker 1: I've had him for ten years and he's never been
- 2:23:17Speaker 1: right yet. The fellows who were with him laughed. I
- 2:23:20Speaker 1: want you to shake hands with mister Morgan and mister Steinfeldt.
- 2:23:24Speaker 1: John said, this is mister Doyle he's been training. Jack
- 2:23:28Speaker 1: glad to meet you. I said, let's go up and
- 2:23:30Speaker 1: see the boy. The fellow called Morgan said, let's have
- 2:23:34Speaker 1: a look at him. Steinfeldt said. We all went upstairs.
- 2:23:39Speaker 1: Where's spoken? John asked, he's out in the barn with
- 2:23:43Speaker 1: a couple of his customers. I said, he got many
- 2:23:46Speaker 1: people out of here now. John asked, just too pretty quiet,
- 2:23:51Speaker 1: ain't it. Morgan said yeah, I said, it's pretty quiet.
- 2:23:54Speaker 1: We were outside Jack's room. John knocked on the door.
- 2:23:58Speaker 1: There wasn't any answer. Maybe he's asleep, I said, but
- 2:24:02Speaker 1: they all he's sleeping floor in the daytime. John turned
- 2:24:06Speaker 1: the handle and we all went in. Jack was lying
- 2:24:09Speaker 1: asleep on the bed. He was face down and his
- 2:24:13Speaker 1: face was in the pillow. Both his arms were around
- 2:24:16Speaker 1: the pillow. Hey, Jack, John said to him. Jack said,
- 2:24:20Speaker 1: moved a little on the pillow, Jack, John says, leaning
- 2:24:24Speaker 1: over him, Jack just dug a little deeper in the pillow.
- 2:24:28Speaker 1: John touched him on the shoulder. Jack sat up and
- 2:24:31Speaker 1: looked at us. He hadn't shaved and he was wearing
- 2:24:33Speaker 1: an old sweater. Christ why can't you let me sleep?
- 2:24:37Speaker 1: He says to John. Don't be sore, John says, I
- 2:24:40Speaker 1: didn't mean to wake you up. Oh no, Jack says,
- 2:24:43Speaker 1: of course not. You know Morgan and steinfeld John said
- 2:24:48Speaker 1: glad to see you. Jack says, how do you feel? Jack?
- 2:24:52Speaker 1: Morgan asks him fine? Hall, Hell what I feel? You
- 2:24:57Speaker 1: look fine? Steinfeld says, yes, don't I says Jack say?
- 2:25:03Speaker 1: He says, John, you're my manager. You get a big
- 2:25:06Speaker 1: enough cut. Why the hell don't you come out here
- 2:25:08Speaker 1: when the reporters was out? You want Jerry and me
- 2:25:11Speaker 1: to talk to him? I had new fighting in Philadelphia?
- 2:25:15Speaker 1: John said, what the hell's that to me? Jack says,
- 2:25:18Speaker 1: you're my manager. You get a big enough cut, don't you.
- 2:25:22Speaker 1: You aren't making me any money in Philadelphia, are you?
- 2:25:25Speaker 1: Why the hell aren't you out here? Have you? Hogan
- 2:25:29Speaker 1: was here? Hogan? Jack says, Hogan's his dumb zion soldier.
- 2:25:35Speaker 1: Bathlett was out here walking with you for a while,
- 2:25:37Speaker 1: wasn't he? Steinfeldt said, to change the subject, Yeah, he
- 2:25:42Speaker 1: was out here. Jack says he was out here all right?
- 2:25:46Speaker 1: Say Jerry John said to me, would you go and
- 2:25:49Speaker 1: find Hogan and tell him we want to see him
- 2:25:50Speaker 1: about a half an hour? Sure, I said, why the
- 2:25:54Speaker 1: hell can't he stick around? Jack says, stick around. Jerry
- 2:25:59Speaker 1: Morgan Seinfeldt looked at each other, quiet down. Jack John
- 2:26:02Speaker 1: said to him, I better go find Hogan. I said,
- 2:26:07Speaker 1: all right, if you want to go, Jack says, none
- 2:26:10Speaker 1: of these guys are going to send you away, though.
- 2:26:13Speaker 1: I'll go find Hogan, I said. Hogan was out in
- 2:26:16Speaker 1: the gym in the barn. He had a couple of
- 2:26:18Speaker 1: his health farm patients with the gloves on they needed.
- 2:26:21Speaker 1: One of them wanted to hit the other for fear
- 2:26:24Speaker 1: of the other would come back and hit him. That'll do,
- 2:26:28Speaker 1: Hogan said. When he saw me come in, you could
- 2:26:30Speaker 1: stop the slaughter. You gentlemen, take a shower and Bruce
- 2:26:34Speaker 1: will rub you down. They climbed out through the ropes
- 2:26:37Speaker 1: and Hogan came over to me. John Collins is out
- 2:26:41Speaker 1: here with a couple of friends to see Jack, I said,
- 2:26:45Speaker 1: I saw them come up in the car. Who are
- 2:26:47Speaker 1: the two fellows with John. They're what you call wise boys.
- 2:26:52Speaker 1: Hogan said, don't you know them too? No, I said,
- 2:26:57Speaker 1: that's Happy steinfeld and Lou Morgan had a pool room.
- 2:27:01Speaker 1: I've been away a long time, I said, sure that
- 2:27:05Speaker 1: Happy Steinfeldt's a big operator. I've heard his name, I said,
- 2:27:10Speaker 1: he's a pretty smooth boy. Hogan said, they're a couple
- 2:27:13Speaker 1: of sharpshooters. Well, I said, they want to see us
- 2:27:17Speaker 1: in half an hour. You mean they don't want to
- 2:27:20Speaker 1: see us until half an hour. That's it. Come on
- 2:27:24Speaker 1: in the office, Hogan said, to hell with those sharpshooters.
- 2:27:29Speaker 1: After about thirty minutes or so, Hogan and I went upstairs.
- 2:27:33Speaker 1: We knocked on Jack's door. They were talking inside the room.
- 2:27:38Speaker 1: Wait a minute, somebody said, to hell with that stuff.
- 2:27:41Speaker 1: Hogan said, when you want to see me, on down
- 2:27:44Speaker 1: the office. We heard the door unlock. Steinfeldt opened it.
- 2:27:49Speaker 1: Come on in, Hogan, He says, we're all going to
- 2:27:51Speaker 1: have a drink. Well, says Hogan, not something. We went in.
- 2:27:57Speaker 1: Jack was sitting on the bed and Morgan were sitting
- 2:28:01Speaker 1: on a couple of chairs. Steinfeldt was standing up. You're
- 2:28:05Speaker 1: a pretty mysterious lot of boys. Hogan said, Hello. Danny.
- 2:28:09Speaker 1: Toron says hello, Danny. Morgan says, and shake's hands. Jack
- 2:28:14Speaker 1: doesn't say anything. He just sits there on the bed.
- 2:28:18Speaker 1: He ain't with the others, He's all by himself. He
- 2:28:21Speaker 1: was wearing an old blue jersey and pants and had
- 2:28:23Speaker 1: on boxing shoes. He needed a shave. Steinfeld and Morgan
- 2:28:28Speaker 1: were dressers. John was quite a dresser too. Jack sat there,
- 2:28:32Speaker 1: looking irish and tough. Steinfeldt brought out a bottle, and
- 2:28:37Speaker 1: Hogan brought in some glasses, and everybody had a drink.
- 2:28:41Speaker 1: Jack and I took one, and the rest of them
- 2:28:43Speaker 1: went on had two or three each. Better save some
- 2:28:47Speaker 1: for your ride back. Hogan said, don't you worry, we
- 2:28:50Speaker 1: got plenty. Morgan said. Jack hadn't drunk anything since the
- 2:28:55Speaker 1: one drink. He was standing up and looking at them.
- 2:28:58Speaker 1: Morgan was sitting on the bed where Jacket sat. Have
- 2:29:02Speaker 1: a drink, Jack, John said, and handed it in the
- 2:29:05Speaker 1: glass of the bottle. No, I never liked to go
- 2:29:07Speaker 1: to these wakes, Jack said. They all laughed. Jack didn't laugh.
- 2:29:13Speaker 1: They were all feeling pretty good when they left. Jack
- 2:29:16Speaker 1: stood on the porch. When he got into the car,
- 2:29:19Speaker 1: they waved him so long. Jack said, we had supper.
- 2:29:25Speaker 1: Jack didn't say anything all during the meal except will
- 2:29:28Speaker 1: you pass me this? Or will you pass me that.
- 2:29:32Speaker 1: The two health form patients ate at the same table
- 2:29:34Speaker 1: with us. They were pretty nice fellows. After we finished eating,
- 2:29:38Speaker 1: we went out on the porch. It was dark early,
- 2:29:43Speaker 1: I'd like to take a walk, Jerry Jack asked, sure,
- 2:29:47Speaker 1: I said. We put on our coats and started out.
- 2:29:50Speaker 1: It was quite a way down to the main road,
- 2:29:52Speaker 1: and then we walked along the main road about a
- 2:29:54Speaker 1: mile and a half. Cars kept going by and we
- 2:29:58Speaker 1: would pull out to the side until they were past.
- 2:30:02Speaker 1: Jack didn't say anything. After we had stepped out into
- 2:30:05Speaker 1: the bushes to let a big cargo by, Jack said,
- 2:30:08Speaker 1: to hell with this walking, come on back to Hogan's.
- 2:30:12Speaker 1: We went along a side road that cut up over
- 2:30:14Speaker 1: the hill and cut across the field back to Hogan's.
- 2:30:19Speaker 1: We could see the lights of the house up on
- 2:30:21Speaker 1: the hill. We came round to the front of the
- 2:30:23Speaker 1: house and they're standing in the doorway. Was Hogan have
- 2:30:26Speaker 1: a good walk? Hogan asked, oh fine, Jack said, listen, Hogan,
- 2:30:32Speaker 1: have you got any liquor? Sure, says Hogan, what's the idea?
- 2:30:36Speaker 1: Send it up to the room. Jack says, I'm going
- 2:30:38Speaker 1: to sleep tonight. You're the doctor, Hogan says, Come on
- 2:30:43Speaker 1: up to the room. Jerry Jack says, upstairs. Jack sat
- 2:30:47Speaker 1: on the bed with his head in his hands. Ain't
- 2:30:49Speaker 1: in a life, Jack says. Hogan brought in a quarter
- 2:30:54Speaker 1: liquor in two glasses. Want some ginger ill? What do
- 2:30:58Speaker 1: you think I want to do? Get sick? I just
- 2:31:00Speaker 1: asked you, Hogan said, I have a drink, said Jack.
- 2:31:04Speaker 1: Net Thanks, said Hogan. He went out, how about you, Jerry,
- 2:31:10Speaker 1: I'll have one with you, I said. Jack poured out
- 2:31:13Speaker 1: a couple of drinks. Now, he said, I want to
- 2:31:16Speaker 1: take it slow and easy. Don't put some water in it.
- 2:31:20Speaker 1: I said yes. Jack said, I guess that's better. We
- 2:31:24Speaker 1: had a couple of drinks. Without saying anything. Jack started
- 2:31:28Speaker 1: to pour me another. No, I said, that's all I want,
- 2:31:32Speaker 1: all right, Jack said. He poured himself out another big
- 2:31:35Speaker 1: shot and put some water in it. He was lighting
- 2:31:38Speaker 1: up a little. There was a fine bunch out there
- 2:31:41Speaker 1: this afternoon. He said. They don't take any chances. Those two.
- 2:31:44Speaker 1: Then a little later, well, he says, they're right. What
- 2:31:49Speaker 1: the hell's the good and taking chances? Don't you want
- 2:31:52Speaker 1: another one, Jerry? He said, come on drink along with me.
- 2:31:56Speaker 1: I don't need it. Jack, I said, I feel all right,
- 2:31:58Speaker 1: just add one more. Jack said. It was softening him up,
- 2:32:02Speaker 1: all right, I said. Jack poured one for me and
- 2:32:05Speaker 1: another big one for himself. You know, he said, I
- 2:32:08Speaker 1: like liquor pretty well. If I hadn't been boxing, I
- 2:32:11Speaker 1: would have drunk quite a lot. Sure, I said, you know,
- 2:32:16Speaker 1: he said, I missed a lot boxing. You made plenty
- 2:32:20Speaker 1: of money. Sure, that's what I'm after. You know, I
- 2:32:24Speaker 1: miss it a lot. Very How do you mean? Well,
- 2:32:28Speaker 1: he says, like about the wife and being away from
- 2:32:31Speaker 1: home so much. It don't do my girls any good.
- 2:32:34Speaker 1: Who's your old man? Some of those society kids will
- 2:32:36Speaker 1: say to him, my old man's Jack Brennan. That don't
- 2:32:40Speaker 1: do him any good. Hell, I said, all that makes
- 2:32:44Speaker 1: a difference is is if they got dough. Well, says Jack,
- 2:32:49Speaker 1: I got the dough for him, all right. He poured
- 2:32:52Speaker 1: out another drink. The bottle was about empty. Put some
- 2:32:56Speaker 1: water in it, I said. Jack poured in some water.
- 2:33:00Speaker 1: You know. He says, you ain't got any idea how
- 2:33:02Speaker 1: I miss the wife. Sure, you ain't got any idea.
- 2:33:07Speaker 1: You can't have any idea what it's like. It ought
- 2:33:10Speaker 1: to be better out in the country than in town
- 2:33:13Speaker 1: with me. Now, Jack said, it don't make any difference
- 2:33:16Speaker 1: where I am. You can't have an idea what it's like.
- 2:33:20Speaker 1: Have another drink? Am I getting salsked? Do I? Talk funny.
- 2:33:25Speaker 1: You're coming on all right. You can't have an idea
- 2:33:29Speaker 1: what it's like. The ain't anybody can have an idea
- 2:33:32Speaker 1: what it's like except the wife. I said, she knows.
- 2:33:36Speaker 1: Jack said she knows, all right, she knows. You bet
- 2:33:39Speaker 1: she knows. Put some water in that, I said, Jerry says, Jack,
- 2:33:46Speaker 1: you can't have an idea what it gets to be like.
- 2:33:50Speaker 1: He was good and drunk. He was looking at me steady.
- 2:33:53Speaker 1: His eyes were sort of too steady. You'll sleep all right,
- 2:33:57Speaker 1: I said, listen, Jerry. Jack says, you want to make
- 2:34:02Speaker 1: some money, get some money down on the walk up. Yes, listen, Jerry.
- 2:34:08Speaker 1: Jack put down the glass. I'm not drunk now. See.
- 2:34:12Speaker 1: You know what I'm betting on him, fifty grand. That's
- 2:34:15Speaker 1: a lot of dough. Fifty grand. Jack says, at two
- 2:34:19Speaker 1: to one, I'll get twenty five thousand bucks. Get some
- 2:34:23Speaker 1: money on him. Jerry sounds good. I said, how can
- 2:34:27Speaker 1: I beat him? Jack says, it ain't crooked? How can
- 2:34:30Speaker 1: I beat it? Why don't make some money on it?
- 2:34:33Speaker 1: Put some water in that. I said, I'm through after
- 2:34:35Speaker 1: this fight. Jack says, I'm through with it. I got
- 2:34:38Speaker 1: to take a beating. Why shouldn't I make money on it. Sure,
- 2:34:43Speaker 1: I ain't slept for a week. Jack says, all night
- 2:34:45Speaker 1: I lay awake and worry my can off. Can't sleep, Jerry,
- 2:34:49Speaker 1: you ain't got an idea what it's like when you
- 2:34:51Speaker 1: can't sleep. Sure, I can't sleep, that's all. I just
- 2:34:56Speaker 1: can't sleep. What's the use of taking care of yourself
- 2:34:59Speaker 1: all these years when you can I sleep? It's bad.
- 2:35:02Speaker 1: You ain't got an idea what it's like, Jerry, when
- 2:35:04Speaker 1: you can't sleep. Put some water in that, I said. Well,
- 2:35:09Speaker 1: about eleven o'clock, Jack passes out and I put him
- 2:35:12Speaker 1: to bed. Finally, he said he can't keep from sleeping.
- 2:35:17Speaker 1: I helped him get his clothes off and got him
- 2:35:19Speaker 1: into bed. You'll sleep all right, Jack, I said, sure.
- 2:35:24Speaker 1: Jack says, I'll sleep now. Good night, Jack, I said,
- 2:35:29Speaker 1: good night, Jerry. Jack says, you're the only friend I got. Oh, Hell,
- 2:35:34Speaker 1: I said, you're the only friend I got. Jack says,
- 2:35:37Speaker 1: the only friend I got. Go to sleep, I said,
- 2:35:41Speaker 1: I'll sleep, Jack says. Downstairs, Hogan was sitting at the
- 2:35:46Speaker 1: desk in the office reading the papers. He looked up,
- 2:35:49Speaker 1: Well you get your boyfriend to sleep? He asks, He's
- 2:35:53Speaker 1: off it's better for him than not sleeping. Hogan said, sure,
- 2:35:58Speaker 1: you'd have a hell of a time that to these
- 2:36:00Speaker 1: sports waters though. Well, I'm going to bed myself, I said,
- 2:36:05Speaker 1: good night, said Hogan. In the morning, I came downstairs
- 2:36:09Speaker 1: about eight o'clock and got some breakfast. Hogan has two
- 2:36:12Speaker 1: customers out in the barn doing exercises. I went out
- 2:36:16Speaker 1: and watched them one, two, three, four. Hogan was counting
- 2:36:21Speaker 1: for them. Hello, Jerry, he said, is Jack up yet? No,
- 2:36:26Speaker 1: he's still sleeping. I went back to my room and
- 2:36:30Speaker 1: packed up to go into town. About nine thirty I
- 2:36:34Speaker 1: heard Jack getting up in the next room. When I
- 2:36:36Speaker 1: heard him go downstairs, I went down after him. Jack
- 2:36:39Speaker 1: was sitting at the breakfast table. Hogan had come in
- 2:36:42Speaker 1: and was standing beside the table. How do you feel, Jack,
- 2:36:46Speaker 1: I asked him, not so bad? Sleep well, Hogan asked,
- 2:36:52Speaker 1: I slept all right. Jack said, I got a thick tongue,
- 2:36:55Speaker 1: but I ain't got a head. Good, said Hogan. That
- 2:36:58Speaker 1: was good, liquor. Put it on the bill. Jack says,
- 2:37:02Speaker 1: what time do you want to go into town? Hogan asked,
- 2:37:06Speaker 1: before lunch. Jack says, the eleven o'clock train. Sit down, Jerry,
- 2:37:10Speaker 1: Jack said, Hogan went out. I sat down at the table.
- 2:37:15Speaker 1: Jack was eating a grapefruit. When he'd find a seed,
- 2:37:18Speaker 1: he'd spit it out in the spoon, dumping on the plate.
- 2:37:21Speaker 1: I guess I was pretty stewed last night. He started. Yeah,
- 2:37:25Speaker 1: drank some liquor. I guess I said a lot of
- 2:37:28Speaker 1: fool things. You weren't bad. Where's Hogan, he asked. He
- 2:37:33Speaker 1: was through with the grapefruit. He's out in the front office. Well,
- 2:37:37Speaker 1: what did I say about betting on the fight? Jack asked.
- 2:37:41Speaker 1: He was holding the spoon and sort of poking at
- 2:37:43Speaker 1: the grapefruit with it. The girl came in with some
- 2:37:46Speaker 1: ham and eggs and took away the grapefruit. Bring me
- 2:37:50Speaker 1: another glass of milk, Jack said to her. She went out.
- 2:37:55Speaker 1: You said you had fifty grand on a walk out.
- 2:37:57Speaker 1: I said, that's right. Jack said, that's a lot of money.
- 2:38:02Speaker 1: I don't feel too good about it. Something might happen. No,
- 2:38:07Speaker 1: Jack said, he wants the title bad. They'll be shooting
- 2:38:09Speaker 1: with him all night. You can't ever tell. No. He
- 2:38:14Speaker 1: wants the title. That's worth a lot of money to him.
- 2:38:17Speaker 1: Fifty grand is a lot of money. I said, it's business,
- 2:38:21Speaker 1: said Jack, I can't win. You know, I can't win anyway.
- 2:38:25Speaker 1: As long as you're in there, you got a chance. No,
- 2:38:28Speaker 1: Jack says, I'm all through. It's just business. How do
- 2:38:32Speaker 1: you feel pretty good? Jack said, the sleep was what
- 2:38:36Speaker 1: I needed. He might go good now. I'll give him
- 2:38:40Speaker 1: a good show, Jack said. After breakfast, Jack called up
- 2:38:45Speaker 1: his wife on the long distance. He was inside the
- 2:38:47Speaker 1: booth telephoning. That's the first time he's called her up
- 2:38:51Speaker 1: since he's out here. Hogan said. He writes her every day. Sure,
- 2:38:56Speaker 1: Hogan says, well, itter only costs two cents. Hogan said
- 2:39:00Speaker 1: goodbye to us and Bruce, the nigger rubber drove us
- 2:39:04Speaker 1: down to the train in the cart. Goodbye, mister Brennan.
- 2:39:07Speaker 1: Bruce said at the train, I sure hope you can
- 2:39:10Speaker 1: knock his can off so long, said Jack. He gave
- 2:39:15Speaker 1: Bruce two dollars. Bruce had worked on him a lot.
- 2:39:18Speaker 1: He looked kind of disappointed. Jack saw me looking at
- 2:39:21Speaker 1: Bruce holding the two dollars. It's all on the bill,
- 2:39:25Speaker 1: he said. Hogan charged me for the rubbing. On the
- 2:39:29Speaker 1: train going into town, Jack didn't talk. He sat in
- 2:39:32Speaker 1: the corner of the seat with his ticket and his
- 2:39:34Speaker 1: hat hand and looked out the window. Once he turned
- 2:39:37Speaker 1: and spoke to me. I told the wife I'd take
- 2:39:41Speaker 1: a room at the shelby tonight. It's just around the
- 2:39:44Speaker 1: corner from the garden. I can go up to the
- 2:39:47Speaker 1: house tomorrow morning. That's a good idea, I said, your
- 2:39:51Speaker 1: wife ever see a fight, Jack, No, Jack says she'd
- 2:39:55Speaker 1: never seen me fight. I thought he must be figuring
- 2:39:58Speaker 1: on taking an awful beating if he doesn't want to
- 2:40:00Speaker 1: go home afterwards. In town, we took a taxi up
- 2:40:04Speaker 1: to the shelby. A boy came out and took our bags,
- 2:40:07Speaker 1: and we went into the desk. How much are these rooms?
- 2:40:11Speaker 1: Jack asked, We only have double rooms. Clerk says, I
- 2:40:15Speaker 1: can give you a nice double room for ten dollars.
- 2:40:18Speaker 1: That's too steep. I can give you a double room
- 2:40:21Speaker 1: for seven dollars with a bath. Certainly you might as
- 2:40:26Speaker 1: well bunk with me, Jerry Jack says, oh, I said,
- 2:40:30Speaker 1: I'll sleep down at my brother in laws. I don't
- 2:40:33Speaker 1: mean for you to pay it. Jack says, I just
- 2:40:35Speaker 1: want to get my money's worth. Will you register please?
- 2:40:39Speaker 1: The clerk says he looked at the names number two
- 2:40:43Speaker 1: thirty eight. Mister Brennan We went up in the elevator.
- 2:40:47Speaker 1: It was a nice big room with two beds and
- 2:40:49Speaker 1: a door opening into a bathroom. This is pretty good,
- 2:40:53Speaker 1: Jack says. The boy who brought us up pulled up
- 2:40:56Speaker 1: the curtains and brought in our bags. Jack didn't make
- 2:40:59Speaker 1: any move, so I gave the boy a quarter. We
- 2:41:02Speaker 1: washed up, and Jack said we better go out and
- 2:41:05Speaker 1: get something to eat. We ate a lunch at Jimmy
- 2:41:07Speaker 1: Handley's place. Quite a lot of the boys were there.
- 2:41:11Speaker 1: When we were about halfway through eating, John came in
- 2:41:13Speaker 1: and sat down with us. Jack didn't talk much. How
- 2:41:17Speaker 1: are you on the weight, Jack, John asked him. Jack
- 2:41:21Speaker 1: was putting away a pretty good lunch. I could make
- 2:41:23Speaker 1: it with my clothes on. Jack said he never had
- 2:41:26Speaker 1: to worry about taking off weight. He was in natural
- 2:41:29Speaker 1: welterweight and he'd never gotten fat. He'd lost weight out
- 2:41:33Speaker 1: at Hogan's. Well, that's the one thing you never had
- 2:41:36Speaker 1: to worry about, John said, that's one thing. Jack says.
- 2:41:41Speaker 1: We were around to the garden to weigh in after lunch.
- 2:41:43Speaker 1: The match was made at one hundred and forty seven pounds.
- 2:41:46Speaker 1: At three o'clock, Jack stepped on the scales with a
- 2:41:49Speaker 1: towel around him. The bar didn't move. Walcott had just
- 2:41:52Speaker 1: weighed and was standing with a lot of people around him.
- 2:41:55Speaker 1: Let's see what you weigh, Jack Friedman, Walcott's manager, said
- 2:42:00Speaker 1: all right, weigh him. Then Jack jerked his head toward
- 2:42:02Speaker 1: Walcott dropped the towel. Friedman said, what do you make it?
- 2:42:07Speaker 1: Jack asked the fellow a weighing one hundred and forty
- 2:42:11Speaker 1: three pounds. The fat man who was weighing, said, you're
- 2:42:14Speaker 1: down fine, Jack, Friedman says, weigh him. Jack says, Walcott
- 2:42:20Speaker 1: came over. He was a blonde with wide shoulders and
- 2:42:24Speaker 1: arms like a heavyweight. He didn't have much legs. Jack
- 2:42:28Speaker 1: stood about a half a head taller than he did. Hello, Jack,
- 2:42:31Speaker 1: He said. His face was plenty marked up. Hello, said Jack.
- 2:42:36Speaker 1: How'd you feel good? Walcott says. He dropped the towel
- 2:42:40Speaker 1: from round his waist and stood on the scales. He
- 2:42:43Speaker 1: had the whitest shoulders in back you ever saw. One
- 2:42:46Speaker 1: hundred and forty six pounds and twelve ounces. Walcott stepped
- 2:42:51Speaker 1: off and grinned. Jack Well. John says to him, Jack,
- 2:42:55Speaker 1: spotting you about four pounds more than that. When I
- 2:42:58Speaker 1: come in, kid, Walcott says, am I going eat now?
- 2:43:03Speaker 1: We went back and Jack got dressed. He's a pretty
- 2:43:06Speaker 1: tough looking boy. Jack says to me, he looks as
- 2:43:09Speaker 1: though he'd been hit plenty of times. Oh, yes, Jack said,
- 2:43:14Speaker 1: he ain't hard to hit. Where are you going? John asked?
- 2:43:17Speaker 1: When Jack was dressed back to the hotel. Jack says,
- 2:43:21Speaker 1: you looked after everything. Yes, John says, it's all looked after.
- 2:43:26Speaker 1: I'm gonna lie down a while. Jack says, I'll come
- 2:43:29Speaker 1: around for you about a quarter to seven. We'll go
- 2:43:31Speaker 1: and eat all right. Up at the hotel, Jack took
- 2:43:35Speaker 1: off his shoes and his coat and lay down for
- 2:43:36Speaker 1: a while. I wrote a letter. I looked over a
- 2:43:40Speaker 1: couple of times, and Jack wasn't sleeping. He was lying
- 2:43:43Speaker 1: perfectly still, but every once in a while his eyes
- 2:43:45Speaker 1: would open. Finally, he sits up. Want to play some cribbage, Jerry,
- 2:43:51Speaker 1: He says, sure, I said. He went over to a
- 2:43:55Speaker 1: suitcase and got out the cards on the cribbage board.
- 2:43:58Speaker 1: We played cribbage and he won three dollars off me.
- 2:44:01Speaker 1: John knocked the door and came in. Want to play
- 2:44:04Speaker 1: some cribbage, John, Jack asked him. John put his kelly
- 2:44:08Speaker 1: down on the table. It was all wet. His coat
- 2:44:12Speaker 1: was wet too. Is it raining? Jack asks, it's pouring.
- 2:44:18Speaker 1: John says, the taxi I had got tied up in
- 2:44:21Speaker 1: the traffic, and I got up and walked out. Come
- 2:44:23Speaker 1: on play some cribbage. Jack says, you ought to go
- 2:44:26Speaker 1: and eat. No, I don't want to eat yet. So
- 2:44:30Speaker 1: they played cribbage for about half an hour and Jack
- 2:44:33Speaker 1: won a dollar and a half off of him. Well,
- 2:44:35Speaker 1: I suppose we got to go eat, Jack says. He
- 2:44:38Speaker 1: went to the window and looked out. Is it still raining? Yes,
- 2:44:43Speaker 1: let's eat in the hotel. John says, all right. Jack says,
- 2:44:46Speaker 1: I'll play you once more. See who pays for the meal.
- 2:44:51Speaker 1: After a little while, Jack gets up and says, you
- 2:44:53Speaker 1: buy the meal, John, And we went downstairs and ate
- 2:44:56Speaker 1: in the big dining room. After we ate, we went
- 2:44:59Speaker 1: upstairs and Jack I played cribbage with John again and
- 2:45:01Speaker 1: one two dollars and a half off of him. Jack
- 2:45:04Speaker 1: was feeling pretty good. John had a bag with him
- 2:45:07Speaker 1: and had all his stuff in it. Jack took off
- 2:45:10Speaker 1: his shirt and collar and put on jersey and sweater
- 2:45:13Speaker 1: so he wouldn't catch cool when he came out and
- 2:45:15Speaker 1: put his ring clothes in his bathrobe in a bag.
- 2:45:18Speaker 1: You all ready, John asks him, I'll call up and
- 2:45:22Speaker 1: have him get us a taxi. Pretty soon the telephone
- 2:45:25Speaker 1: rang and they said the taxi was waiting. We rode
- 2:45:28Speaker 1: down in the elevator and went out through the lobby,
- 2:45:31Speaker 1: got in a taxi and rode around to the garden.
- 2:45:34Speaker 1: It was raining hard, but there was a lot of
- 2:45:35Speaker 1: people outside on the streets. The garden sold out. As
- 2:45:40Speaker 1: we came in. On our way to the dressing room,
- 2:45:42Speaker 1: I saw how full it was. It looked like a
- 2:45:45Speaker 1: half a mile down to the ring. It was all dark,
- 2:45:47Speaker 1: just the lights out of the ring. It's a good
- 2:45:50Speaker 1: thing with this rain. They didn't try and pull this
- 2:45:52Speaker 1: fight in the ballpark. John said, they got a good crowd.
- 2:45:57Speaker 1: Jack said, this is a fight that would draw a
- 2:46:00Speaker 1: lot more than the garden could hold. You can't tell
- 2:46:03Speaker 1: about the weather, Jack says. John came to the door
- 2:46:06Speaker 1: of the dressing room, poked his head and Jack was
- 2:46:09Speaker 1: sitting there with his bathrobe on. He had his arms
- 2:46:12Speaker 1: folded and he was looking at the floor. John had
- 2:46:14Speaker 1: a couple of handlers with him. They looked over his shoulder.
- 2:46:18Speaker 1: Jack looked up. Is he in? He asked, he's just
- 2:46:22Speaker 1: gone down. John said, we started down. Walcott was just
- 2:46:26Speaker 1: getting into the ring. The crowd gave him a big hand.
- 2:46:30Speaker 1: He climbed through between the ropes and put his two
- 2:46:32Speaker 1: fists together and smiled and shook them at the crowd,
- 2:46:35Speaker 1: first at one side of the ring and then at
- 2:46:37Speaker 1: the other, and then sat down. Jack got a good
- 2:46:40Speaker 1: hand coming down through the crowd. Jack is Irish, and
- 2:46:43Speaker 1: the Iris shall always get a good hand. An irishman
- 2:46:46Speaker 1: don't draw in New York like a Jew or an Italian,
- 2:46:50Speaker 1: but they always get a good hand. Jack climbed up
- 2:46:53Speaker 1: and bent down to go through the ropes, and Walcott
- 2:46:55Speaker 1: came over from his corner and pushed the rope down
- 2:46:58Speaker 1: for Jack to go through. The crowd thought that was wonderful.
- 2:47:02Speaker 1: Walcott put his hand on Jack's shoulder and they stood
- 2:47:04Speaker 1: there for just a second. So you're going to be
- 2:47:08Speaker 1: one of these popular champions, Jack says to him, Take
- 2:47:11Speaker 1: your goddamn hand off my shoulder. Be yourself. Walcott says,
- 2:47:16Speaker 1: this is all great for the crowd. How gentlemanly the
- 2:47:19Speaker 1: boys are before the fight, how they wish each other luck.
- 2:47:23Speaker 1: Sally Friedman came over to our corner. While Jack is
- 2:47:26Speaker 1: bandaging his hands and John is over in Walcott's corner.
- 2:47:30Speaker 1: Jack puts his thumb through the slit in the bandage
- 2:47:33Speaker 1: and then wrapped his hands nice and smooth. I taped
- 2:47:36Speaker 1: it around the wrist and twice across the knuckles. Hey,
- 2:47:40Speaker 1: Friedman says, where do you get all that tape feel
- 2:47:43Speaker 1: of it? Jack says, it's offt ain't it? Don't be
- 2:47:47Speaker 1: a heck. Friedman stands there all the time while Jack
- 2:47:50Speaker 1: bandages the other hand. One of the boys that's going
- 2:47:53Speaker 1: to handle and brings the gloves, and I pull them
- 2:47:55Speaker 1: on and work them around, say Friedman. Jack asks what
- 2:47:59Speaker 1: nationale he is this? Walcott? I don't know. Sally says
- 2:48:03Speaker 1: he's some sort of a Dane. He's a bohemian. The
- 2:48:07Speaker 1: lad who brought the gloves says. The referee called them
- 2:48:11Speaker 1: out to the center of the ring and Jack walks out.
- 2:48:14Speaker 1: Walcott comes out smiling. They met, and the referee put
- 2:48:18Speaker 1: his arm on each of their shoulders. Had low popularity,
- 2:48:22Speaker 1: Jack says to Walker, be yourself. What do you call yourself?
- 2:48:27Speaker 1: Walcott for Jack says, didn't you know he was a nigger? Listen,
- 2:48:33Speaker 1: says the referee and he gives them the same old line.
- 2:48:37Speaker 1: Once Walcott interrupts him, he grabs Jack's arm and says,
- 2:48:41Speaker 1: can I hit when he's got me like this? Keep
- 2:48:44Speaker 1: your hands off me. Jack says, there ain't no moving
- 2:48:47Speaker 1: pictures of this. They went back to their corners. I
- 2:48:51Speaker 1: lifted the bathrobe off Jack, and he leaned on the
- 2:48:53Speaker 1: ropes and flexed his knees a couple of times and
- 2:48:55Speaker 1: scuffed his shoes in the raws. The gong rang and
- 2:48:58Speaker 1: Jack turned quick went out. Walcott came toward him and
- 2:49:03Speaker 1: they touch gloves, and as soon as Walcott dropped his hands,
- 2:49:06Speaker 1: Jack jumped his left into his face twice. There wasn't
- 2:49:09Speaker 1: anybody ever bought better than Jack. Walcott was after him,
- 2:49:13Speaker 1: going forward all the time with his chin on his chest.
- 2:49:17Speaker 1: He's a hooker and he carries his hands pretty low.
- 2:49:20Speaker 1: All he knows is to get in there and sock.
- 2:49:23Speaker 1: But every time he gets in there close, Jack has
- 2:49:25Speaker 1: the left hand in his face. It's just as though
- 2:49:28Speaker 1: it's automatic. Jack just raises the left hand up and
- 2:49:32Speaker 1: it's in Walcott's face. Three or four times. Jack brings
- 2:49:35Speaker 1: the right over, but Walcott gets it on the shoulder
- 2:49:38Speaker 1: or high up on the head. He's just like all
- 2:49:41Speaker 1: these hookers. The only thing he's afraid of is another
- 2:49:43Speaker 1: one of the same kind. He's covered everywhere he can
- 2:49:46Speaker 1: hurt him. You don't care about a left hand in
- 2:49:48Speaker 1: his face. After about four rounds, Jack hasnt bleeding bed
- 2:49:52Speaker 1: and his face all cut up. But every time Walcott's
- 2:49:55Speaker 1: got in close, he socked so hard. He's got two
- 2:49:57Speaker 1: big red patches on both sides, just low Jack's rips.
- 2:50:01Speaker 1: Every time he gets in close. Jack ties him up,
- 2:50:04Speaker 1: then gets one hand loose and upper cuts him. But
- 2:50:07Speaker 1: when Walcott gets his hands loose, he socks Jack in
- 2:50:10Speaker 1: the body so they can hear it outside the street.
- 2:50:13Speaker 1: He's a socker. It goes along like that for three
- 2:50:17Speaker 1: more rounds. They don't talk any they're working all the time.
- 2:50:21Speaker 1: We worked over Jack twenty two in between the rounds.
- 2:50:24Speaker 1: He doesn't look good at all, but he never does
- 2:50:27Speaker 1: much work in the ring. He doesn't move around much,
- 2:50:30Speaker 1: and that left hand is just automatic. It's like it
- 2:50:34Speaker 1: was connected with Walcott's face and Jack just had to
- 2:50:37Speaker 1: wish it in every time. Jack is always calm and close,
- 2:50:41Speaker 1: and he doesn't waste any juice. He knows everything about
- 2:50:44Speaker 1: working in close too, and he's getting away with a
- 2:50:46Speaker 1: lot of stuff. Well, they were in our corner. I
- 2:50:49Speaker 1: watched him tie Walcott up, get his right hand loose,
- 2:50:53Speaker 1: turn it and come up in the upper cut. That
- 2:50:55Speaker 1: got Walcott's nose with the heel of the glove. Walcott
- 2:50:59Speaker 1: was bleeding bad and leaned his nose on Jack's shoulder
- 2:51:02Speaker 1: so as to give Jack some of it too, And
- 2:51:04Speaker 1: Jack sort of lifted his shoulders sharp and caught him
- 2:51:08Speaker 1: against the nose and then brought down the right hand
- 2:51:10Speaker 1: did the same thing again. Walcott was sore as hell
- 2:51:14Speaker 1: by the time they had gone five rounds. He hated
- 2:51:16Speaker 1: Jack's guts. Jack wasn't sore, that is, he wasn't any
- 2:51:21Speaker 1: sore than he always was. He certainly did used to
- 2:51:24Speaker 1: make the fellows. He fought hate boxing. That was why
- 2:51:27Speaker 1: he hated Ked Lewis, so he never got the kid's goat.
- 2:51:31Speaker 1: Kid Lewis always had about three new dirty things Jack
- 2:51:34Speaker 1: couldn't do. Jack was as safe as a church all
- 2:51:37Speaker 1: the time he was in there. As long as he
- 2:51:39Speaker 1: was strong. He certainly was treating Walcott rough. The funny
- 2:51:43Speaker 1: thing was it looked as though Jack was an open
- 2:51:45Speaker 1: classic boxer. That was because he had all that stuff too.
- 2:51:51Speaker 1: After the seventh round, Jack says, my left's getting heavy.
- 2:51:55Speaker 1: From then on he started to take a beating. It
- 2:51:57Speaker 1: didn't show it first, but instead of him running the fight,
- 2:52:01Speaker 1: it was Walcott. He was running it instead of being
- 2:52:04Speaker 1: safe all the time. Now he was in trouble. He
- 2:52:08Speaker 1: couldn't keep him out with the left hand. Now it
- 2:52:10Speaker 1: looked as though the same as ever, only now instead
- 2:52:13Speaker 1: of Walcott's punches just missing him, they were hitting him.
- 2:52:17Speaker 1: He took an awful beating in the body. What's the round?
- 2:52:20Speaker 1: Jack asked the eleventh I can't stay. Jack says, my
- 2:52:25Speaker 1: legs are going bad. Walcott had just been hitting him
- 2:52:28Speaker 1: for a long time. He was like a baseball catcher
- 2:52:31Speaker 1: pulls the ball and takes some of the shock off.
- 2:52:34Speaker 1: From now on, Walcott commenced to land solid. He certainly
- 2:52:38Speaker 1: was a socking machine. Jack was just trying to block everything.
- 2:52:43Speaker 1: Now he didn't show what an awful beating he was taking.
- 2:52:46Speaker 1: In between the rounds, I worked on his legs. The
- 2:52:49Speaker 1: muscles would flutter under my hands all the time I
- 2:52:52Speaker 1: was rubbing them. He was sick as hell. How's it go?
- 2:52:56Speaker 1: He asked John, turning around his face all swollen. It's
- 2:53:01Speaker 1: his fight. I think I can last. Jack says, don't
- 2:53:04Speaker 1: want this bohawk to stop me. It was going just
- 2:53:07Speaker 1: the way he thought it would. He knew he couldn't
- 2:53:10Speaker 1: beat Walcott. He wasn't strong anymore. He was all right though,
- 2:53:14Speaker 1: His money was all right, and now he wanted to
- 2:53:16Speaker 1: finish it off right to please himself. He didn't want
- 2:53:19Speaker 1: to be knocked out. The gong rang and we pushed
- 2:53:22Speaker 1: him out. He went out slow. Walcott came right out
- 2:53:26Speaker 1: after him. Jack put the left in his face and
- 2:53:29Speaker 1: Walcott took it, came in under it, started working on
- 2:53:32Speaker 1: Jack's body. Jack tried to tie him up, and it
- 2:53:35Speaker 1: was just like trying to hold onto a buzzsaw. Jack
- 2:53:39Speaker 1: broke away from it and missed with the right. Walcott
- 2:53:42Speaker 1: clipped him with the left hook and Jack went down.
- 2:53:45Speaker 1: He went down on his hands and knees and looked
- 2:53:47Speaker 1: at us. The referee started counting. Jack was watching us
- 2:53:51Speaker 1: and shaking his head. At eight, John motioned to him,
- 2:53:55Speaker 1: you couldn't hear on account of the crowd. Jack got up.
- 2:54:00Speaker 1: Referee had been holding Walcott back with one arm while
- 2:54:03Speaker 1: he counted. When Jack was on his feet, Walcott started
- 2:54:06Speaker 1: toward him. Watch yourself, Jimmy, I heard Sally Friedman yeel
- 2:54:10Speaker 1: to him. Walcott came up to Jack, looking at him.
- 2:54:14Speaker 1: Jack stuck the left hand at him. Walcott just shook
- 2:54:17Speaker 1: his head. He backed Jack up against the ropes, measured him,
- 2:54:21Speaker 1: and then hooked the left very light to the side
- 2:54:23Speaker 1: of Jack's head and socked the right into his body
- 2:54:26Speaker 1: as hard as he could, socked just as low as
- 2:54:29Speaker 1: he could get it. He must have hit him five
- 2:54:31Speaker 1: inches below the belt. I thought the eyes would come
- 2:54:34Speaker 1: out of Jack's head. They stuck way out. His mouth
- 2:54:37Speaker 1: come open. The referee grabbed Walcott. Jack stepped forward. If
- 2:54:43Speaker 1: he went down, there went fifty thousand bucks. He walked
- 2:54:47Speaker 1: as though all his insides were going to fall out.
- 2:54:50Speaker 1: It wasn't low, he said, it was an accident. The
- 2:54:53Speaker 1: crowd were yelling, so you couldn't hear anything. I'm all right,
- 2:54:57Speaker 1: Jack says. They were right in front of the referee.
- 2:55:01Speaker 1: Looks at John and then he shakes his head. Come on,
- 2:55:04Speaker 1: your Pollock's son of a bitch, Jack says to Walcot.
- 2:55:09Speaker 1: John was hanging onto the ropes. He had a towel
- 2:55:11Speaker 1: ready to chuck in. Jack was standing just a little
- 2:55:14Speaker 1: way out from the ropes. He took a step forward.
- 2:55:17Speaker 1: I saw the sweat come out on the space like
- 2:55:20Speaker 1: somebody had squeezed it, and a big drop went down
- 2:55:22Speaker 1: his nose. Come on and fight, Jack says to Walcock.
- 2:55:27Speaker 1: The referee looked at John the wave walk out on.
- 2:55:30Speaker 1: Go in there, you slob, he says. Walcott went in.
- 2:55:34Speaker 1: He didn't know what to do either. He never thought
- 2:55:36Speaker 1: Jack could have stood it. Jack put the left in
- 2:55:39Speaker 1: his face. There was such a hell of a lot
- 2:55:41Speaker 1: of yelling going on. They were right in front of us.
- 2:55:44Speaker 1: Walcott hit him twice. Jack's face was the worst thing
- 2:55:47Speaker 1: I ever saw, the look on it. He was holding
- 2:55:51Speaker 1: himself and all his body together, and all showed on
- 2:55:53Speaker 1: his face all the time. He was thinking and holding
- 2:55:56Speaker 1: his body in where it was busted. Then he started
- 2:56:00Speaker 1: to suck. His face looked off all all the time.
- 2:56:03Speaker 1: He started to sock with his hands low down by
- 2:56:06Speaker 1: his side, swinging at Walcott. Walcott covered and Jack was
- 2:56:11Speaker 1: swinging wild at Walcott's head. Then he swung the left
- 2:56:14Speaker 1: and hit Walcott in the groin, and the right hit
- 2:56:17Speaker 1: Walcott right bang where he'd hit Jack, way below the belt.
- 2:56:22Speaker 1: Walcott went down and grabbed himself there and rolled and
- 2:56:24Speaker 1: twisted around. The referee grabbed Jack and pushed him back
- 2:56:29Speaker 1: towards corner. John jumps into the ring. There was all
- 2:56:32Speaker 1: this yelling going on. The referee was talking with the judges,
- 2:56:36Speaker 1: and then the announcer got into the ring with the
- 2:56:38Speaker 1: megaphone and says, Walcott on a fowl. The referee is
- 2:56:42Speaker 1: talking to John and he says, what could I do?
- 2:56:45Speaker 1: Jack wouldn't take the fowl. Then, when he's groggy, he
- 2:56:49Speaker 1: fouls him. He'd lost it anyway, John says, Jack sitting
- 2:56:53Speaker 1: on a chair. I've got his gloves off, and he's
- 2:56:56Speaker 1: holding himself in down there with both his hands. When
- 2:56:59Speaker 1: he's got something supporting it. His face doesn't look so bad.
- 2:57:03Speaker 1: Go over and say you're sorry. John says into his ear,
- 2:57:06Speaker 1: it'll look good. Jack stands up and the sweat comes
- 2:57:10Speaker 1: out all over his face. I put the bathroobe around him,
- 2:57:13Speaker 1: and he holds himself in with one hand under the
- 2:57:15Speaker 1: bathroom and goes across the rim. They've picked Walcott up
- 2:57:20Speaker 1: and they're working on him. There are a lot of
- 2:57:22Speaker 1: people in Walcott's corner. Nobody speaks to Jack. He leans
- 2:57:26Speaker 1: over Walcott. I'm sorry. Jack says, I didn't mean to
- 2:57:30Speaker 1: fall you. Walcott doesn't say anything. He looks too damn sick.
- 2:57:35Speaker 1: Well you're the champion now, Jack says to him, I
- 2:57:39Speaker 1: hope you get a hell of a lot of fun
- 2:57:40Speaker 1: out of it. Leave the kid alone. Sally Friedman says hello, Sally.
- 2:57:45Speaker 1: Jack says, I'm sorry if falger boy Friedman just looks
- 2:57:50Speaker 1: at him. Jack went to his corner walking that funny
- 2:57:53Speaker 1: jerky way, and we got him down through the ropes
- 2:57:56Speaker 1: and through the reporter's tables and k out down the aisle.
- 2:58:00Speaker 1: A lot of people want to slap Jack on the back.
- 2:58:03Speaker 1: He goes out through all that mob in his bathroom
- 2:58:05Speaker 1: to the dressing room. It's a popular win for Walkott.
- 2:58:09Speaker 1: That's the way the money was pent in the garden.
- 2:58:13Speaker 1: Once we got inside the dressing room, Jack laid down
- 2:58:15Speaker 1: and shut his eyes. We want to get to the
- 2:58:17Speaker 1: hotel and get a doctor. John says, I'm all busted inside.
- 2:58:23Speaker 1: Jack says, I'm sorry as hell. Jack. John says it's
- 2:58:28Speaker 1: all right. Jack says he lies there with his eyes shut.
- 2:58:34Speaker 1: They certainly tried a nice double cross. John said, your friends,
- 2:58:40Speaker 1: Morgan Steinfeldt, Jack said, you got nice friends. He lies there.
- 2:58:47Speaker 1: His eyes are open now, his faces still got that
- 2:58:50Speaker 1: awful drawn look. It's funny how fast you can think,
- 2:58:53Speaker 1: but it means that much money. Jack says, you're some boy. Jack.
- 2:58:58Speaker 1: John says no. Jack says it was nothing. End of
- 2:59:06Speaker 1: Section six. Section seven A simple inquiry outside. The snow
- 2:59:14Speaker 1: was higher than the window. The sunlight came in through
- 2:59:17Speaker 1: the window and shone on a map on the pine
- 2:59:19Speaker 1: board wall of the hut. The sun was high and
- 2:59:22Speaker 1: the light came in over the top of the snow.
- 2:59:25Speaker 1: A trench had been cut along the open side of
- 2:59:28Speaker 1: the hut, and each clear day, the sun shining on
- 2:59:31Speaker 1: the wall reflected heat against the snow and widened the trench.
- 2:59:36Speaker 1: It was late March. The major sat at a table
- 2:59:39Speaker 1: against the wall. His adjutant sat at another table. Around
- 2:59:44Speaker 1: the major's eyes were two white circles where his snow
- 2:59:47Speaker 1: glasses had protected his face from the sun on the snow.
- 2:59:51Speaker 1: The rest of his face had been burned and then tanned,
- 2:59:55Speaker 1: and then burned through the tan. His nose was swollen,
- 2:59:58Speaker 1: and there were edges of loose skin where blisters had
- 3:00:01Speaker 1: been While he worked at the papers. He put the
- 3:00:04Speaker 1: fingers on his left hand into a saucer of oil,
- 3:00:07Speaker 1: and then spread the oil over his face, touching it
- 3:00:10Speaker 1: very gently with the tips of his fingers. He was
- 3:00:14Speaker 1: very careful to drain his fingers on the edge of
- 3:00:16Speaker 1: the saucer, so there was only a film of oil
- 3:00:19Speaker 1: on them. And after he had stroked his forehead and
- 3:00:22Speaker 1: his cheeks, he stroked his nose very delicately between his fingers.
- 3:00:27Speaker 1: When he had finished, he stood up, took the saucer
- 3:00:30Speaker 1: of oil, and went into the small room of the
- 3:00:32Speaker 1: hut where he slept. I'm going to take a little sleep,
- 3:00:36Speaker 1: he said to the adjutant in that army. An adjutant
- 3:00:40Speaker 1: is not a commissioned officer. You will finish up, yes, senormaggiori,
- 3:00:46Speaker 1: the adjutant answered. He leaned back in his chair and yawned.
- 3:00:50Speaker 1: He took a paper covered book out of the pocket
- 3:00:52Speaker 1: of his coat and opened it, then laid it down
- 3:00:54Speaker 1: on the table and lit his pipe. He leaned forward
- 3:00:58Speaker 1: on the table to read and puffed it his pipe.
- 3:01:01Speaker 1: Then he closed the book and put it back in
- 3:01:03Speaker 1: his pocket. He had too much paperwork to get through.
- 3:01:07Speaker 1: He could not enjoy reading it until it was done. Outside,
- 3:01:11Speaker 1: the sun went behind a mountain, and there was no
- 3:01:14Speaker 1: more light on the wall of the hut. A soldier
- 3:01:17Speaker 1: came in and put some pine branches chopped into irregular
- 3:01:20Speaker 1: lengths into the stove. Be soft, Pinine, the adjutant said
- 3:01:25Speaker 1: to him, the major is sleeping. Panine was the major's orderly.
- 3:01:31Speaker 1: He was a dark faced boy, and he fixed the stove,
- 3:01:33Speaker 1: putting the pine wood in, carefully, shut the door and
- 3:01:36Speaker 1: went into the back of a hut. Again. The adjutant
- 3:01:39Speaker 1: went on with his papers. Tonani, the major called, Signor MAGGIORI,
- 3:01:46Speaker 1: send Panine in to me. Panine, the adjutant called, Panine,
- 3:01:51Speaker 1: came into the room. The Major wants you, the adjutant said.
- 3:01:56Speaker 1: Panine walked across the main room of the hut toward
- 3:01:58Speaker 1: the major's door. Knocked on the half open door. Signor MAGGIORI,
- 3:02:03Speaker 1: come in the ugin, heard the major say, and shut
- 3:02:07Speaker 1: the door. Inside the room, the major lay on his bunk.
- 3:02:12Speaker 1: Panine stood beside the bunk. The major lay with his
- 3:02:15Speaker 1: head on the rucksack that he had stuffed with spare
- 3:02:18Speaker 1: clothing to make a pillow. His long, burned, oiled face
- 3:02:22Speaker 1: looked at Panine. His hands lay on the blankets. You
- 3:02:26Speaker 1: are nineteen. He asked, Yes, Signor Maggiori, you have ever
- 3:02:32Speaker 1: been in love? How do you mean, Signor Maaggiori, in
- 3:02:37Speaker 1: love with a girl? I have been with girls. I
- 3:02:42Speaker 1: did not ask that. I asked if you had been
- 3:02:44Speaker 1: in love with a girl. Yes, Signor Mansiori, you are
- 3:02:50Speaker 1: in love with this girl. Now you don't write her.
- 3:02:53Speaker 1: I read all your letters. I am in love with her,
- 3:02:56Speaker 1: Panine said, but I do not write her. You are
- 3:03:00Speaker 1: sure of this, I am sure, Tonani, the major said,
- 3:03:05Speaker 1: in the same tone of voice. Can you hear me talking?
- 3:03:09Speaker 1: There was no answer from the next room. He cannot hear.
- 3:03:13Speaker 1: The major said, and you are quite sure that you
- 3:03:17Speaker 1: love a girl? I am sure. And the major looked
- 3:03:22Speaker 1: at him quickly, that you are not corrupt. I don't
- 3:03:27Speaker 1: know what you mean corrupt, all right, the major said,
- 3:03:32Speaker 1: you needn't be superior. Panine looked at the floor. The
- 3:03:36Speaker 1: major looked at his brown face down and up him
- 3:03:39Speaker 1: and in his hands. Then he went on, not smiling.
- 3:03:44Speaker 1: And you don't really want the major paused. Panine looked
- 3:03:49Speaker 1: at the floor. That your great desire isn't really Panine
- 3:03:54Speaker 1: looked at the floor. The major leaned his head back
- 3:03:57Speaker 1: on the rucksack and smiled. He was really relieved. Life
- 3:04:02Speaker 1: in the army was too complicated. You're a good boy,
- 3:04:06Speaker 1: he said. You're a good boy, penin, but don't be
- 3:04:08Speaker 1: superior and be careful some one else doesn't come along
- 3:04:11Speaker 1: and take you. Panine stood still beside the bunk. Don't
- 3:04:15Speaker 1: be afraid, the major said. His hands were folded on
- 3:04:19Speaker 1: the blankets. I won't touch you. You can go back
- 3:04:22Speaker 1: to your platoon if you like, but you had better
- 3:04:25Speaker 1: stay on as my servant. You've less chance of being killed.
- 3:04:30Speaker 1: Do you want anything of me, saintort monsiuori, No, the
- 3:04:34Speaker 1: major said, go on and get on with whatever you
- 3:04:38Speaker 1: are doing. Leave the door open when you go out.
- 3:04:41Speaker 1: Panine went out, leaving the door open. The adjutant looked
- 3:04:45Speaker 1: at him as he walked awkwardly across the room and
- 3:04:48Speaker 1: out the door. Panine was flushed and moved differently than
- 3:04:52Speaker 1: he had moved when he brought in the wood for
- 3:04:53Speaker 1: the fire. The adjutant looked after him and smiled. Panine
- 3:04:59Speaker 1: came in with more wood for the stove. The major,
- 3:05:02Speaker 1: lying on his bunk, looked at his cloth covered helmet
- 3:05:06Speaker 1: and his snow glasses that hung from a nail on
- 3:05:09Speaker 1: the wall, heard him walk across the floor, the little devil.
- 3:05:14Speaker 1: He thought, I wonder if he lied to me. End
- 3:05:20Speaker 1: of Section seven. Ten Indians. After one fourth of July, Nick,
- 3:05:29Speaker 1: driving home late from town in the big wagon with
- 3:05:32Speaker 1: Joe Garner and his family, passed nine drunken Indians along
- 3:05:36Speaker 1: the road. He remembered there were nine because Joe Garner,
- 3:05:40Speaker 1: driving along in the dusk, pulled up the horses, jumped
- 3:05:44Speaker 1: down on the road and dragged an Indian out of
- 3:05:46Speaker 1: the wheel rud. The Indian had been asleep, face down
- 3:05:50Speaker 1: in the sand. Joe dragged him into the bushes and
- 3:05:54Speaker 1: got back up on the wagon box. That makes nine
- 3:05:58Speaker 1: of them, Joe said, just between here and the edge
- 3:06:01Speaker 1: of town, them Indians, said Missus Gardner. Nick was on
- 3:06:07Speaker 1: the back seat with the two Garner boys. He was
- 3:06:09Speaker 1: looking out from the back seat to see the Indian
- 3:06:12Speaker 1: where Joe had dragged him alongside of the road. Was
- 3:06:16Speaker 1: it Billy Tabershaw? Carl asked, No, his pants looked mighty
- 3:06:21Speaker 1: like Billy. All Indians wear the same kind of pants.
- 3:06:25Speaker 1: I didn't see him at all, Frank said. Paul was
- 3:06:29Speaker 1: down into the road and back up again before I
- 3:06:31Speaker 1: seen a thing. I thought he was killing a snake.
- 3:06:34Speaker 1: Plenty of Indians will kill snakes tonight, I guess, Joe
- 3:06:37Speaker 1: Gardner said, them indians, said Missus Gardner. They drove along
- 3:06:45Speaker 1: the road, turned off from the main highway and went
- 3:06:47Speaker 1: up into the hills. He was hard pulling for the horses,
- 3:06:50Speaker 1: and the boys got down and walked. The road was sandy.
- 3:06:54Speaker 1: Nick looked back from the top of the hill by
- 3:06:56Speaker 1: the schoolhouse. He saw the lights of Petoski, and off
- 3:07:00Speaker 1: across the little Traverse Bay the lights of Harbor Springs.
- 3:07:04Speaker 1: They climbed back in the wagon again. They ought to
- 3:07:07Speaker 1: put some gravel on that stretch, Joe Garner said. The
- 3:07:11Speaker 1: wagon went along the road through the woods. Joe and
- 3:07:14Speaker 1: Missus Garner sat close together on the front seat. Nick
- 3:07:18Speaker 1: sat between the two boys. The road came out into
- 3:07:22Speaker 1: a clearing. Right here was where Paul ran over the skunk.
- 3:07:26Speaker 1: It was further on. It don't make no difference where
- 3:07:29Speaker 1: it was, Joe said, without turning his head. One place
- 3:07:33Speaker 1: is just as good as another to run over a skunk.
- 3:07:36Speaker 1: I saw two skunks last night, Nick said. Where down
- 3:07:41Speaker 1: by the lake they were looking for dead fish along
- 3:07:43Speaker 1: the beach. They were coons probably, Carl said they were skunks.
- 3:07:48Speaker 1: I guess I know skunks. He walked to Carl, said
- 3:07:52Speaker 1: you got an Indian girl. Stop talking that way. Carl said,
- 3:07:56Speaker 1: missus Gardner, well they smell about the same. Joe Garner laughed,
- 3:08:02Speaker 1: you stop laughing, Joe. Missus Garner said, I won't have
- 3:08:06Speaker 1: Carl talk that way. Have you got an Indian girl, nicky?
- 3:08:10Speaker 1: Joe asked, no, he has two paw. Frank said, Prudence
- 3:08:16Speaker 1: Mitchell says, girl, she's not. He goes to see her
- 3:08:20Speaker 1: every day. I don't. Nick, sitting between the two boys
- 3:08:24Speaker 1: in the dark, felt hollow and happy inside himself to
- 3:08:28Speaker 1: be teased about Prudence Mitchell. She ain't my girl, he said.
- 3:08:33Speaker 1: Listen to him, said Carl, I see him together every day.
- 3:08:38Speaker 1: Carl can't get a girl, his mother said, not even
- 3:08:41Speaker 1: a squaw. Carl was quiet. Carl ain't no good with girls.
- 3:08:46Speaker 1: Frank said, you shut up. You are right, Carl. Joe
- 3:08:51Speaker 1: Garner said, girls never got a man anywhere. Look at
- 3:08:55Speaker 1: your paw. Yes, that's what she would say. Missus Garner
- 3:08:59Speaker 1: moved clothes to Joe as the wagon jolted, Well, you
- 3:09:03Speaker 1: had plenty of girls in your time. I'll bet Paul
- 3:09:06Speaker 1: wouldn't have ever had a squaw for a girl, don't
- 3:09:10Speaker 1: you think it? Joe said, you better watch out to
- 3:09:14Speaker 1: keep prudy. Nick, his wife whispered to him, and Joe laughed.
- 3:09:18Speaker 1: What are you laughing at? Asked Frank. Don't you say it? Garner?
- 3:09:23Speaker 1: His wife warned. Joe laughed again. Nicky can have prudence.
- 3:09:27Speaker 1: Joe Garner said, I got a good girl. That's the
- 3:09:31Speaker 1: way to talk. Missus Garner said. The horses were pulling
- 3:09:34Speaker 1: heavily in the sand. Joe reached out in the dark
- 3:09:37Speaker 1: with the whip. Come on, pull into it. You'll have
- 3:09:41Speaker 1: to pull harder than this tomorrow. They trotted down the
- 3:09:45Speaker 1: long hill, the wagon jolting. At the farmhouse, everybody got down.
- 3:09:52Speaker 1: Missus Garner unlocked the door, went inside, and came out
- 3:09:56Speaker 1: with a lamp in her hand. Carl and Nick on
- 3:10:00Speaker 1: the things from the back of the wagon. Frank sat
- 3:10:03Speaker 1: on the front seat to drive to the barn and
- 3:10:05Speaker 1: put up the horses. Nick went up the steps and
- 3:10:08Speaker 1: opened the kitchen door. Missus Garner was building a fire
- 3:10:12Speaker 1: in the stove. She turned from pouring kerosene on the wood. Goodbye,
- 3:10:17Speaker 1: Missus Garner. Nick said, thanks for taking me. Oh shocks, Nicky,
- 3:10:22Speaker 1: I had a wonderful time. We'd like to have you.
- 3:10:26Speaker 1: Won't you stay and eat some supper? I better go.
- 3:10:29Speaker 1: I think Dad probably waited up for me. Well get along,
- 3:10:33Speaker 1: then send Carl up to the house. Will you all right?
- 3:10:37Speaker 1: Good night, Niky, Good night missus Garner. Nick went out
- 3:10:41Speaker 1: in the farmyard and down to the barn. Joe and
- 3:10:44Speaker 1: Frank were milking. Good night. Nick said, I had a
- 3:10:48Speaker 1: swell time. Good night, Nick. Joe Garner called, aren't you
- 3:10:52Speaker 1: going to stay and eat? No? I can't. Will you
- 3:10:55Speaker 1: tell Carl's mother wants them all right? Good night, Nicky.
- 3:11:00Speaker 1: Nick walked barefoot along the path through the meadow below
- 3:11:03Speaker 1: the barn. The path was smooth and the dew was
- 3:11:07Speaker 1: cool on his bare feet. He climbed a fence at
- 3:11:10Speaker 1: the end of the meadow, went down through a ravine,
- 3:11:13Speaker 1: his feet wet in the swamp mud, and then climbed
- 3:11:16Speaker 1: up through the dry beech woods until he saw the
- 3:11:19Speaker 1: lights of the cottage. He climbed over the fence and
- 3:11:22Speaker 1: walked around to the front porch. Through the window, he
- 3:11:26Speaker 1: saw his father sitting by the table, reading in the
- 3:11:29Speaker 1: light from a big lamp. Nick opened the door and
- 3:11:33Speaker 1: went in. Well, Nicky, his father said, was it a
- 3:11:37Speaker 1: good day? I had a swell time, dad, It was
- 3:11:40Speaker 1: swell fourth of July. Are you hungry? You bet? What
- 3:11:46Speaker 1: did you do with your shoes? I left him in
- 3:11:49Speaker 1: the wagon at corners. Come on out to the kitchen.
- 3:11:53Speaker 1: Nick's father went ahead with the lamp. He stopped and
- 3:11:56Speaker 1: lifted the lid of the ice box. Nick went on
- 3:11:59Speaker 1: into the kitchen. His father brought in a piece of
- 3:12:03Speaker 1: cold chicken on a plate and a pitcher of milk,
- 3:12:05Speaker 1: and put them on the table before Nick. He put
- 3:12:08Speaker 1: down the lamp. There's some pie too, He said, well
- 3:12:12Speaker 1: that oldra it's grand His father sat down in a
- 3:12:17Speaker 1: chair beside the oilcloth covered table. He made a big
- 3:12:21Speaker 1: shadow on the kitchen wall. Who won the ballgame? Potoski
- 3:12:26Speaker 1: five to three? His father sat watching him eat and
- 3:12:30Speaker 1: filled his glass from milk pitcher. Nick drank and wiped
- 3:12:34Speaker 1: his mouth on his napkin. His father reached over to
- 3:12:37Speaker 1: the shelf for the pie. He cut Nick a big piece.
- 3:12:40Speaker 1: It was huckleberry pie. What'd you do, Dad? I went
- 3:12:45Speaker 1: out fishing in the morning. What did you get? Only perch?
- 3:12:49Speaker 1: His father sat watching Nick eat the pie. What'd you
- 3:12:53Speaker 1: do this afternoon? Nick asked, I went for a walk
- 3:12:57Speaker 1: up by the Indian camp. Did you see anybody? The
- 3:13:01Speaker 1: Indians were all in town getting drunk. Didn't you see
- 3:13:05Speaker 1: anybody at all? I saw your friend Prudy? Where was she?
- 3:13:12Speaker 1: She was in the woods with Frank Washburn. I ran
- 3:13:15Speaker 1: on to them. They were having quite a time. His
- 3:13:18Speaker 1: father was not looking at him. What were they doing?
- 3:13:23Speaker 1: I didn't stay to find out. Tell me what they
- 3:13:27Speaker 1: were doing? I don't know, his father said, I just
- 3:13:31Speaker 1: heard them threshing around. How'd you know it was them?
- 3:13:36Speaker 1: I saw them. I thought you said you didn't see them. Oh, yes,
- 3:13:40Speaker 1: I saw them. Who was it with her? Nick asked
- 3:13:46Speaker 1: Frank Washburn? Were they were they? Where they? What? Were they? Happy?
- 3:13:56Speaker 1: I guess so. His father got up from the table
- 3:13:59Speaker 1: and went out the kitchen screen door. When he came back,
- 3:14:03Speaker 1: Nick was looking at his plate. He had been crying
- 3:14:08Speaker 1: have some more. His father picked up the knife to
- 3:14:11Speaker 1: cut the pie. No, said Nick, you better have another piece. No,
- 3:14:19Speaker 1: I don't want any. His father cleared off the table.
- 3:14:24Speaker 1: Where were they in the woods, Nick asked? Up back
- 3:14:29Speaker 1: of the camp. Nick looked at his plate, His father said,
- 3:14:34Speaker 1: you better go to bed, Nick. All right. Nick went
- 3:14:39Speaker 1: into his room undressed and got into bed. He heard
- 3:14:43Speaker 1: his father moving around in the living room. Nick lay
- 3:14:46Speaker 1: in the bed with his face in the pillow. My
- 3:14:49Speaker 1: heart's broken, he thought, If I feel this way, my
- 3:14:54Speaker 1: heart must be broken. After a while, he heard his
- 3:14:57Speaker 1: father blow out the lamp and go into his own room.
- 3:15:00Speaker 1: He heard a wind come up in the trees outside
- 3:15:03Speaker 1: and felt it come in cool through the screen. He
- 3:15:06Speaker 1: lay for a long time with his face in the pillow,
- 3:15:09Speaker 1: and after a while he forgot to think about prudence,
- 3:15:12Speaker 1: and finally he went to sleep. When he awoke in
- 3:15:16Speaker 1: the night, he heard the wind in the hemlock trees
- 3:15:19Speaker 1: outside the cottage, and the waves of the lake coming
- 3:15:22Speaker 1: in on the shore, and he went back to sleep.
- 3:15:26Speaker 1: In the morning, there was a big wind blowing and
- 3:15:29Speaker 1: the waves were running high up on the beach, and
- 3:15:32Speaker 1: he was awake a long time before he remembered that
- 3:15:35Speaker 1: his heart was broken. End of section eight. A canary
- 3:15:42Speaker 1: for one. The train passed very quickly a long red
- 3:15:48Speaker 1: stone house with a garden and four thick palm trees
- 3:15:52Speaker 1: with tables under them in the shade. On the other
- 3:15:55Speaker 1: side was the sea. Then there was a cutting through
- 3:15:59Speaker 1: red stone and clay, and the sea was only occasionally
- 3:16:03Speaker 1: and far below the rocks. I bought him in Palermo.
- 3:16:08Speaker 1: The American lady said, we only had an hour ashore,
- 3:16:12Speaker 1: and it was Sunday morning. The man wanted to be
- 3:16:15Speaker 1: paid in dollars, and I gave him a dollar and
- 3:16:17Speaker 1: a half. He really sings very beautifully. It was very
- 3:16:22Speaker 1: hot in the train, and it was very hot in
- 3:16:24Speaker 1: the lese alone compartment. There was no breeze that came
- 3:16:28Speaker 1: through the open window. The American lady pulled the window
- 3:16:32Speaker 1: blind down, and there was no more sea, even occasionally.
- 3:16:36Speaker 1: On the other side. There was glass than the corridor,
- 3:16:39Speaker 1: than an open window, and outside the window were dusty
- 3:16:43Speaker 1: trees and an oil road and flat fields of grapes
- 3:16:47Speaker 1: with graystone hills behind them. There was smoke from many
- 3:16:51Speaker 1: tall chimneys coming into Marseilles, and the train slowed down
- 3:16:56Speaker 1: and followed one track through many others into the station.
- 3:17:00Speaker 1: The train stayed twenty five minutes in the station at Marseilles,
- 3:17:04Speaker 1: and the American lady bought a copy of the Daily
- 3:17:07Speaker 1: Mail and a half bottle of heavy and water. She
- 3:17:11Speaker 1: walked a little way along the station platform, but she
- 3:17:14Speaker 1: stayed near the steps of the car because at Cannes,
- 3:17:17Speaker 1: where it stopped for twelve minutes, the train had left
- 3:17:20Speaker 1: with no signal of departure, and she had only gotten
- 3:17:23Speaker 1: on just in time. The American lady was a little deaf,
- 3:17:28Speaker 1: and she was afraid that perhaps signals of departure were
- 3:17:31Speaker 1: given and she did not hear them. The train left
- 3:17:35Speaker 1: the station in Marseilles, and there was not only the
- 3:17:38Speaker 1: switch yards and the factory smoke, but looking back the
- 3:17:42Speaker 1: town of Marseilles and the harbor with stone hills behind it,
- 3:17:46Speaker 1: and the last of the sun on the water. As
- 3:17:49Speaker 1: it was getting dark, the train passed a farmhouse burning
- 3:17:52Speaker 1: in a field. Motor cars were stopped along the road,
- 3:17:56Speaker 1: and bedding and things from inside the farmhouse were spread
- 3:17:59Speaker 1: in the field. Many people were watching the house burn
- 3:18:04Speaker 1: After it was dark. The train was an Adamuel. People
- 3:18:08Speaker 1: got on and off. At the newsstand, Fritchman, returning to Paris,
- 3:18:13Speaker 1: bought that day's French papers. On the station platform were
- 3:18:18Speaker 1: Negro soldiers. They wore brown uniforms and were tall, and
- 3:18:22Speaker 1: their faces shone close under the electric light. Their faces
- 3:18:26Speaker 1: were very black and they were too tall to stare.
- 3:18:30Speaker 1: The train left Avignon station with the Negro standing there.
- 3:18:34Speaker 1: A short white sergeant was with them. Inside the Lisa
- 3:18:38Speaker 1: Long compartment, the porter had pulled down the three beds
- 3:18:41Speaker 1: from inside the wall and prepared them for sleeping. In
- 3:18:44Speaker 1: the night, the American lady lay without sleeping because the
- 3:18:47Speaker 1: train was a rapide and went very fast, and she
- 3:18:51Speaker 1: was afraid of the speed. In the night, the American
- 3:18:54Speaker 1: lady's bed was the one next to the window. The
- 3:18:58Speaker 1: canary from Palermo off spread over. Its cage was out
- 3:19:02Speaker 1: of the draft in the corridor that went into the
- 3:19:04Speaker 1: compartment washroom. There was a blue light outside the compartment.
- 3:19:10Speaker 1: And all night the train went very fast, and the
- 3:19:12Speaker 1: American lady lay awake and waited for a wreck. In
- 3:19:16Speaker 1: the morning, the train was near Paris, and after the
- 3:19:19Speaker 1: American lady had come out from the washroom looking very
- 3:19:22Speaker 1: wholesome and middle aged. An American in spite of not
- 3:19:25Speaker 1: having slept, and had taken the cloth off the bird
- 3:19:29Speaker 1: cage and hung the cage in the sun. She went
- 3:19:31Speaker 1: back to the restaurant car for breakfast. When she came
- 3:19:35Speaker 1: back to the lese A Long compartment again, the beds
- 3:19:39Speaker 1: had been pushed back into the wall and made into sits.
- 3:19:42Speaker 1: The canary was shaking his feathers in the sunlight that
- 3:19:45Speaker 1: came through the open window, and the train was much
- 3:19:48Speaker 1: nearer Paris. He loves the sun, the American lady said,
- 3:19:54Speaker 1: he'll sing now in a little while. The canary shook
- 3:19:57Speaker 1: its feathers and pecked into them. I've always loved birds,
- 3:20:01Speaker 1: the American lady said, I'm taking him home to my
- 3:20:05Speaker 1: little girl. There he's singing now. The canary chirped, and
- 3:20:10Speaker 1: the feathers on his throat stood out. Then he dropped
- 3:20:14Speaker 1: his bill and pecked into his feathers again. The train
- 3:20:18Speaker 1: crossed a river and passed through a very carefully tended forest.
- 3:20:22Speaker 1: The train passed through many outside of Paris towns. There
- 3:20:26Speaker 1: were tram cars in the towns and big advertisements for
- 3:20:30Speaker 1: the Belle Jardin Nay and Dubooney and Pernault on the
- 3:20:34Speaker 1: walls toward the train. All that the train passed through
- 3:20:38Speaker 1: looked as though it were before breakfast. For several minutes,
- 3:20:43Speaker 1: I had not listened to the American lady. He was
- 3:20:45Speaker 1: talking to my wife. Is your husband, American, too, asked
- 3:20:50Speaker 1: the lady, Yes, said my wife, we're both Americans. I
- 3:20:55Speaker 1: thought you were English. Oh no, perhaps that was because
- 3:20:59Speaker 1: I wore braces, I said. I'd started to say suspenders
- 3:21:04Speaker 1: and changed it to braces in the mouth to keep
- 3:21:06Speaker 1: my English character. The American lady did not hear. She
- 3:21:11Speaker 1: was really quite deaf. She read lips, and I had
- 3:21:16Speaker 1: not looked toward her. I had looked out of the window.
- 3:21:20Speaker 1: She went on talking to my wife. I'm so glad
- 3:21:24Speaker 1: you're Americans. American men make the best husbands. The American
- 3:21:27Speaker 1: lady was saying, that was why we left the continent.
- 3:21:31Speaker 1: You know, my daughter fell in love with a man
- 3:21:34Speaker 1: in Vivet. She stopped. They were simply madly in love.
- 3:21:40Speaker 1: She stopped again. I took her away. Of course, did
- 3:21:44Speaker 1: she get over it, asked my wife. I don't think so,
- 3:21:49Speaker 1: said the American lady. She wouldn't need anything, and she
- 3:21:52Speaker 1: wouldn't sleep at all. I've tried so very hard, but
- 3:21:56Speaker 1: she doesn't seem to take an interest in anything. She
- 3:21:59Speaker 1: doesn't care about things. I couldn't have her marrying a foreigner,
- 3:22:04Speaker 1: she paused. Someone a very good friend told me once,
- 3:22:09Speaker 1: no foreigner can make an American girl a good husband. No,
- 3:22:14Speaker 1: said my wife, I suppose not. The American lady admired
- 3:22:19Speaker 1: my wife's traveling coat. And it turned out that the
- 3:22:22Speaker 1: American lady had bought her own clothes for twenty years
- 3:22:25Speaker 1: now from the same maison to Coturier in the Rue Slmenreer.
- 3:22:30Speaker 1: They had her measurements, and of bondus who knew her
- 3:22:33Speaker 1: and her tastes, picked out the dresses for her, and
- 3:22:36Speaker 1: they were sent to America. They came to the post
- 3:22:39Speaker 1: office near where she lived uptown in New York, and
- 3:22:42Speaker 1: the duty was never exorbitant because they opened the dresses
- 3:22:45Speaker 1: there in the post office to appraise them, and they
- 3:22:48Speaker 1: were always very simple looking and with no gold lace
- 3:22:52Speaker 1: or ornaments that would make the dresses look expensive. Before
- 3:22:56Speaker 1: the present bondus named Terrese, there had been another bond
- 3:23:00Speaker 1: use named Emily. Altogether, there had been only these two
- 3:23:05Speaker 1: in the twenty years. It had always been the same.
- 3:23:07Speaker 1: Coturier prices, however, had gone up. The exchange, though equalized
- 3:23:13Speaker 1: that they had her daughter's measurements now too. She was
- 3:23:18Speaker 1: grown up and there was not much chance of their changing. Now.
- 3:23:22Speaker 1: The train was now coming into Paris. The fortifications were leveled,
- 3:23:27Speaker 1: but grass had not grown there were many cars standing
- 3:23:31Speaker 1: on tracks, brown wooden restaurant cars and brown wooden sleeping
- 3:23:35Speaker 1: cars that would go to Italy at five o'clock that night.
- 3:23:39Speaker 1: If that train still left at five, the cars were
- 3:23:42Speaker 1: marked Paris Rome, and cars with seats on the roofs
- 3:23:47Speaker 1: that went back and forth to the suburbs with at
- 3:23:50Speaker 1: certain hours people and all the seats and all the roofs,
- 3:23:54Speaker 1: if that were the wave were still done and passing
- 3:23:57Speaker 1: were the white walls and many windows of how nothing
- 3:24:01Speaker 1: had eaten any breakfast. Americans make the best husbands, the
- 3:24:06Speaker 1: American lady said to my wife, I was getting down
- 3:24:09Speaker 1: the bags. American men are the only men in the
- 3:24:12Speaker 1: world to marry. How long ago did you leave, vive
- 3:24:17Speaker 1: asked my wife. Two years ago this fall. It's her,
- 3:24:21Speaker 1: you know that I'm taking the Canary too. Was the
- 3:24:25Speaker 1: man your daughter was in love with thus Swiss? Yes,
- 3:24:29Speaker 1: said the American lady. He was from a very good
- 3:24:31Speaker 1: family in Vivey. He was going to be an engineer.
- 3:24:35Speaker 1: They met there in Vivey. They used to go on
- 3:24:37Speaker 1: long walks together. I know, Vivet, said my wife. We
- 3:24:42Speaker 1: were there on our hontingmoon. Were you really that must
- 3:24:46Speaker 1: have been lovely. I had no idea, of course, that
- 3:24:49Speaker 1: she'd fall in love with him. It was a very
- 3:24:52Speaker 1: lovely place, said my wife. Yes, isn't it lovely? Where
- 3:24:56Speaker 1: did you stop there? We stopped at the twalk Home,
- 3:25:00Speaker 1: said my wife. It's such a fine ottld hotel, said
- 3:25:04Speaker 1: the American lady. Yes, said my wife. We had a
- 3:25:08Speaker 1: very fine room. And in the fall the country was lovely.
- 3:25:11Speaker 1: Were you there in the fall? Yes, said my wife.
- 3:25:15Speaker 1: We were passing three cars that had been in a wreck.
- 3:25:18Speaker 1: They were splintered open and the roofs sagged in. Look.
- 3:25:22Speaker 1: I said, there's been a wreck. The American lady looked
- 3:25:26Speaker 1: and saw the last car. I was afraid of just
- 3:25:29Speaker 1: that all night, she said, I have terrific presentiments about things.
- 3:25:34Speaker 1: Sometimes I'll never travel, and repeat again at night. There
- 3:25:38Speaker 1: must be other comfortable trains that don't go so fast.
- 3:25:41Speaker 1: Then the train was in the dark of the Guerre
- 3:25:43Speaker 1: de Leon, and then stopped, and porters came up to
- 3:25:46Speaker 1: the windows. I handed bags through the windows, and we
- 3:25:50Speaker 1: were out on the dim longness of the platform, and
- 3:25:54Speaker 1: the American lady put herself in charge of one of
- 3:25:56Speaker 1: three men from Cooks, who said, just a moment and
- 3:26:00Speaker 1: I'll look for your name. The porter brought a truck
- 3:26:02Speaker 1: and piled on the baggage, and my wife said goodbye,
- 3:26:05Speaker 1: and I said goodbye to the American lady whose name
- 3:26:09Speaker 1: had been found by the man from Cooks on a
- 3:26:11Speaker 1: typewritten page in a sheaf of typewritten pages, which he
- 3:26:14Speaker 1: replaced in his pocket. We followed the porter with the
- 3:26:18Speaker 1: truck down the long cement platform. Beside the train at
- 3:26:22Speaker 1: the end was a gate, and a man took the tickets.
- 3:26:26Speaker 1: We were returning to Paris to set up separate residences.
- 3:26:32Speaker 1: End of section nine. In Alpine Idol. It was hot
- 3:26:37Speaker 1: coming down into the valley, even in the early morning.
- 3:26:41Speaker 1: The sun melted the snow from the skis we were
- 3:26:44Speaker 1: carrying and dried the wood. It was spring in the valley,
- 3:26:48Speaker 1: but the sun was very hot. We came along the
- 3:26:51Speaker 1: road into Gaultour, carrying our skis and rucksacks. As we
- 3:26:56Speaker 1: passed over the churchyard, a burial was just over. Gruscote
- 3:27:01Speaker 1: to the priest as he walked past us. Coming out
- 3:27:04Speaker 1: of the churchyard. The priest bowed, it's funny a priest
- 3:27:08Speaker 1: never speaks to you. John said, you'd think they'd like
- 3:27:10Speaker 1: to say gruscot. They never answered, John said. We stopped
- 3:27:16Speaker 1: in the wood and watched the sexton shoveling in the
- 3:27:18Speaker 1: new earth. A peasant with a black beard and high
- 3:27:22Speaker 1: leather boots stood beside the grave. The sexton stopped shoveling
- 3:27:26Speaker 1: and straightened his back. The peasant in the high boots
- 3:27:30Speaker 1: took the spade from the sexton and went on filling
- 3:27:33Speaker 1: in the grave, spreading the earth evenly as a man
- 3:27:36Speaker 1: spreading manure in a garden in the bright May morning.
- 3:27:40Speaker 1: The grave filling looked unreal. I could not imagine any
- 3:27:44Speaker 1: one being dead. Imagine being buried on a day like this.
- 3:27:49Speaker 1: I said to John, I wouldn't like it. Well, I said,
- 3:27:54Speaker 1: we don't have to do it. We went on up
- 3:27:57Speaker 1: the road, past the houses of the town to the inn.
- 3:28:00Speaker 1: We had been skiing in the Silverretta for a month,
- 3:28:03Speaker 1: and it was good to be down in the valley
- 3:28:06Speaker 1: in the Silverretta. The skiing had been all right, but
- 3:28:08Speaker 1: it was spring skiing. The snow was good only in
- 3:28:11Speaker 1: the early morning and again in the evening. The rest
- 3:28:14Speaker 1: of the time it was spoiled by the sun. We
- 3:28:17Speaker 1: were both tired of the sun. You could not get
- 3:28:20Speaker 1: away from the sun. The only shadows were made by rocks,
- 3:28:23Speaker 1: or by the hut that was built under the protection
- 3:28:26Speaker 1: of a rock beside a glacier, and in the shade,
- 3:28:29Speaker 1: the sweat froze in your underclothing. You could not sit
- 3:28:33Speaker 1: outside the hut without dark glasses. It was pleasant to
- 3:28:37Speaker 1: be burned black, but the sun had been very tiring.
- 3:28:39Speaker 1: You could not rest in it. I was glad to
- 3:28:42Speaker 1: be down away from snow. It was too late in
- 3:28:45Speaker 1: the spring to be up in the Silverretta. I was
- 3:28:47Speaker 1: a little tired of skiing. We had stayed too long.
- 3:28:50Speaker 1: I could taste the snow water we had been drinking
- 3:28:53Speaker 1: melted off the tin roof of the hut. The taste
- 3:28:56Speaker 1: was a part of the way I felt about skiing.
- 3:28:59Speaker 1: I was glad there were other things beside skiing, and
- 3:29:02Speaker 1: I was glad to be down away from this unnatural
- 3:29:05Speaker 1: high mountain spring Into this May morning in the valley,
- 3:29:10Speaker 1: the innkeeper sat on the porch at the inn, his
- 3:29:13Speaker 1: chair tipped back against the wall. Beside him sat the
- 3:29:16Speaker 1: cook Skihile, said the innkeeper, pile, we said, and leaned
- 3:29:22Speaker 1: the skis against the wall and took off our packs.
- 3:29:25Speaker 1: How was it up above asked the innkeeper. Shun a
- 3:29:29Speaker 1: little too much sun. Yes, there's too much sun this
- 3:29:32Speaker 1: time of year. The cook sat on his chair. The
- 3:29:36Speaker 1: innkeeper went in with us and unlocked his office and
- 3:29:39Speaker 1: brought out our mail. There was a bundle of letters
- 3:29:42Speaker 1: and some papers. Let's get some beer, John said, good,
- 3:29:47Speaker 1: we'll drink it inside. The proprietor bought two bottles, and
- 3:29:51Speaker 1: we drank them while we read the letters. We better
- 3:29:54Speaker 1: have some more beer, Tron said. A girl brought it
- 3:29:57Speaker 1: this time. She smiled as she opened the bottles. Many letters,
- 3:30:02Speaker 1: she said, yes, many thruss it, she said, and went out,
- 3:30:07Speaker 1: taking empty bottles. I'd forgotten what beer tasted like. I hadn't,
- 3:30:13Speaker 1: John said. Up in the hut, I used to think
- 3:30:15Speaker 1: about it a lot. Well, I said, we've got it now.
- 3:30:20Speaker 1: You oughtn't to ever do anything too long. No, we
- 3:30:24Speaker 1: were up there too long, too damn long. John said,
- 3:30:27Speaker 1: it's no good doing a thing too long. The sun
- 3:30:30Speaker 1: came through the open window and shone through the beer
- 3:30:32Speaker 1: bottles on the table. The bottles were half full. There
- 3:30:36Speaker 1: was a little froth on the beer in the bottles,
- 3:30:38Speaker 1: not much because it was very cold. It collared up
- 3:30:41Speaker 1: when you poured it into the tall glasses. I looked
- 3:30:45Speaker 1: out of the open window at the white road. The
- 3:30:47Speaker 1: trees beside the road were dusty. Beyond was a green
- 3:30:51Speaker 1: field and a stream. There were trees along the stream
- 3:30:54Speaker 1: and a mill with a water wheel. Through the open
- 3:30:57Speaker 1: side of the mill, I saw a long log and
- 3:30:59Speaker 1: a saw in it, rising and falling. No one seemed
- 3:31:03Speaker 1: to be tending it. There were four crows walking in
- 3:31:07Speaker 1: the green field. One crow sat in a tree watching
- 3:31:11Speaker 1: outside on the porch. The cook got off his chair
- 3:31:14Speaker 1: and passed into the hall that led back into the kitchen. Inside,
- 3:31:18Speaker 1: the sunlight shone through the empty glasses. On the table,
- 3:31:22Speaker 1: John was leaning forward with his head on his arms.
- 3:31:26Speaker 1: Through the window I saw two men come up the
- 3:31:28Speaker 1: front steps. They came into the drinking room. One was
- 3:31:32Speaker 1: the bearded peasant in the high boots, The other was
- 3:31:35Speaker 1: the sextone. They sat down at the table under the window.
- 3:31:39Speaker 1: The girl came in and stood by their table. The
- 3:31:42Speaker 1: peasant did not seem to see her. He sat with
- 3:31:45Speaker 1: his hands on the table. He wore his old army clothes.
- 3:31:48Speaker 1: There were patches on the elbows. What will it be,
- 3:31:52Speaker 1: asked the sexton. The peasant did not pay any attention.
- 3:31:56Speaker 1: What will you drink? Snaps? The peasant said, and a
- 3:32:01Speaker 1: quarter leater of red wine. The sexton told the girl.
- 3:32:05Speaker 1: The girl brought the drinks, and the peasant drank the snaps.
- 3:32:09Speaker 1: He looked out of the window. The sexton watched him.
- 3:32:12Speaker 1: John had his head forward on the table. He was asleep.
- 3:32:17Speaker 1: The innkeeper came in and went over to the table.
- 3:32:20Speaker 1: He spoke in dialect, and the sexton answered him. The
- 3:32:24Speaker 1: peasant looked out of the window. The innkeeper went out
- 3:32:26Speaker 1: of the room. The peasant stood up. He took a
- 3:32:29Speaker 1: folded ten thousand kronin note out of a leather pocketbook
- 3:32:33Speaker 1: and unfolded it. The girl came up, Alice. She said, alice.
- 3:32:39Speaker 1: He said, let me buy the wine. The sexton said, alice.
- 3:32:44Speaker 1: The peasant repeated to the girl. She put her hand
- 3:32:48Speaker 1: in the pocket of her apron, brought it out full
- 3:32:50Speaker 1: of coins and counted out the change. The peasant went
- 3:32:54Speaker 1: out the door. As soon as he was gone, the
- 3:32:57Speaker 1: innkeeper came into the room again and spoke to the sexton.
- 3:33:00Speaker 1: He sat down at the table. They talked in dialect.
- 3:33:03Speaker 1: The sexton was amused, the innkeeper was disgusting. The sexton
- 3:33:09Speaker 1: stood up from the table. He was a little man
- 3:33:11Speaker 1: with the mustache. He leaned out of the window and
- 3:33:14Speaker 1: looked up the road. There he goes in, he said,
- 3:33:18Speaker 1: in the looin Yah. They talked again, and then the
- 3:33:23Speaker 1: innkeeper came over to our table. The innkeeper was a
- 3:33:26Speaker 1: tall man and old. He looked at John asleep. He's
- 3:33:31Speaker 1: pretty tired. Yes, we were upperly. Will you want to
- 3:33:35Speaker 1: eat soon any time? I said? What is there to eat?
- 3:33:41Speaker 1: Anything you want? The girl will bring the eating card.
- 3:33:45Speaker 1: The girl brought the menu. John woke up. The menu
- 3:33:48Speaker 1: was written in ink on a card, and the card
- 3:33:51Speaker 1: slipped into a wooden paddle. There's a spicy cart, I
- 3:33:55Speaker 1: said to John. He looked at it. He was still sleepy.
- 3:34:00Speaker 1: Won't you have a drink with us? I asked the innkeeper.
- 3:34:03Speaker 1: He sat down. Those peasants are beasts, said the innkeeper.
- 3:34:07Speaker 1: We saw that one at a funeral coming into town.
- 3:34:11Speaker 1: That was his wife. Oh he's a beast. All these
- 3:34:14Speaker 1: peasants are beasts. How do you mean you wouldn't believe it?
- 3:34:18Speaker 1: You wouldn't believe what just happened about that one? Tell
- 3:34:22Speaker 1: me you wouldn't believe it. The innkeeper spoke to the saxon.
- 3:34:26Speaker 1: Franz come over here. The section came, bringing his little
- 3:34:30Speaker 1: bottle of wine in his glass. The gentlemen are just
- 3:34:33Speaker 1: come down from the vice patter Juta, the innkeeper said.
- 3:34:38Speaker 1: We shook hands. What will you drink? I asked nothing.
- 3:34:43Speaker 1: Franz shook his finger. Another quarter leader, all right, do
- 3:34:48Speaker 1: you understand dialect? The innkeeper asked, no, what's it all about?
- 3:34:54Speaker 1: John asked, he's going to tell us about the peasant
- 3:34:57Speaker 1: we saw filling the grave coming into town. I can't
- 3:35:01Speaker 1: understand it anyway, John said, it goes too fast for me.
- 3:35:05Speaker 1: That peasant. The innkeeper said. To day he brought his
- 3:35:09Speaker 1: wife in to be buried. She died last November December,
- 3:35:14Speaker 1: said the sexton. That makes nothing. She died last December then,
- 3:35:19Speaker 1: and he notified the commune December eighteenth, said the sexton. Anyway,
- 3:35:25Speaker 1: he couldn't bring her over to be buried until snow's gone.
- 3:35:29Speaker 1: He lives on the other side of the postmon, said
- 3:35:31Speaker 1: the sexton. But he belongs to this parish. He couldn't
- 3:35:36Speaker 1: bring her out at all. I asked no, he can
- 3:35:39Speaker 1: only come from where he lives on skis until snow melts.
- 3:35:43Speaker 1: So to day he brought her in to be buried,
- 3:35:45Speaker 1: and the priest, when he looked at her face, didn't
- 3:35:47Speaker 1: want to buryer. You go on and tell it, he
- 3:35:50Speaker 1: said to the sexton. Speak German, not dialect. He was
- 3:35:54Speaker 1: very funny with the priest, said the sexton. In the
- 3:35:57Speaker 1: report of the commune. She died of heart trouble. We
- 3:36:00Speaker 1: knew she had our trouble here. She used to faint
- 3:36:02Speaker 1: in church. Sometimes she did not come for a long time.
- 3:36:06Speaker 1: She wasn't strong enough to climb. When the priest uncovered
- 3:36:10Speaker 1: her face, he asked, Olds, did your wife suffer much? No,
- 3:36:14Speaker 1: said Oles. When I came to the house, she was
- 3:36:17Speaker 1: dead across the bed. The priest looked at her again.
- 3:36:21Speaker 1: He didn't like it. How did her face get that way?
- 3:36:25Speaker 1: I don't know, Woles said, you'd better find out. The
- 3:36:29Speaker 1: priest said, and put the blanket back. Wolves didn't say anything.
- 3:36:35Speaker 1: The priest looked at him. Oles looked back at the priest.
- 3:36:39Speaker 1: You want to know, I must know, the priest said.
- 3:36:43Speaker 1: This is where it gets good. The innkeeper said, listen
- 3:36:46Speaker 1: to this go on fronts well, said Oles. When she died,
- 3:36:51Speaker 1: I made the report to the commune and I put
- 3:36:53Speaker 1: her in the shed across the top of the big wood.
- 3:36:56Speaker 1: When I started to use the big wood, she was stiff,
- 3:36:59Speaker 1: and I put her up again the wall. Her mouth
- 3:37:01Speaker 1: was open. And when I came into the shed at
- 3:37:03Speaker 1: night to cut up the big wood, I hung the
- 3:37:06Speaker 1: lantern from it. Why did you do that, asked the priest.
- 3:37:10Speaker 1: I don't know, said oles did you do that? Many times?
- 3:37:14Speaker 1: Every time I went to work in the shed at night.
- 3:37:17Speaker 1: It was very wrong, said the priest. Did you love
- 3:37:20Speaker 1: your wife? Yaw? I loved her full? Said, I loved
- 3:37:24Speaker 1: her fine. Did you understand it at all? Asked the innkeeper.
- 3:37:29Speaker 1: You understand it all about his wife? I heard it?
- 3:37:34Speaker 1: How about eating? John asked your order? I said, do
- 3:37:39Speaker 1: you think it's true? I asked the innkeeper. Sure it's true,
- 3:37:43Speaker 1: he said. These peasants are beasts. Where'd he go? Now?
- 3:37:48Speaker 1: He's gone to drink at my colleagues doing. He didn't
- 3:37:52Speaker 1: want to drink with me, said the sexton. He didn't
- 3:37:55Speaker 1: want to drink with me after he knew about his wife,
- 3:37:58Speaker 1: said the innkeeper, Say, said John, how at eating all right?
- 3:38:04Speaker 1: I said? End of Section ten. A Pursuit Race. William
- 3:38:12Speaker 1: Campbell had been in a pursuit race with a burlesque
- 3:38:15Speaker 1: show ever since Pittsburgh. In a pursuit race. In bicycle racing,
- 3:38:21Speaker 1: racers started equal intervals to ride after one another. They
- 3:38:25Speaker 1: ride very fast because the race is usually limited to
- 3:38:28Speaker 1: a short distance, and if they slow their riding, another
- 3:38:32Speaker 1: rider who maintains his pace will make up the space
- 3:38:36Speaker 1: that separated them equally at the start. As soon as
- 3:38:40Speaker 1: a rider is caught and passed, he is out of
- 3:38:43Speaker 1: the race and must get down from his bicycle and
- 3:38:46Speaker 1: leave the track. If none of the riders are caught,
- 3:38:50Speaker 1: the winner of the race is the one who has
- 3:38:52Speaker 1: gained the most distance. In most pursuit races, if there
- 3:38:56Speaker 1: are only two riders, one of the riders is caught
- 3:38:59Speaker 1: inside of six smiles. The Bullusque show caught William Campbell
- 3:39:03Speaker 1: at Kansas City. William Campbell had hoped to hold a
- 3:39:07Speaker 1: slight lead over the bileusque show until they reached the
- 3:39:10Speaker 1: Pacific coast as long as he preceded the burlesque show
- 3:39:15Speaker 1: as advance man, he was being paid. When the burlesque
- 3:39:18Speaker 1: show caught up with him, he was in bed. He
- 3:39:22Speaker 1: was in bed when the manager of the burlesque troop
- 3:39:24Speaker 1: came into his room, and after the manager had gone out,
- 3:39:28Speaker 1: he decided that he might as well stay in bed.
- 3:39:31Speaker 1: He was very cold in Kansas City, and he was
- 3:39:33Speaker 1: in no hurry to go up. He did not like
- 3:39:36Speaker 1: Kansas City. He reached under his bed for a bottle
- 3:39:40Speaker 1: and drank. It made his stomach feel better. Mister Turner,
- 3:39:44Speaker 1: the manager of the Buruleusque show, had refused to drink.
- 3:39:49Speaker 1: William Campbell's interview with mister Turner had been a little strange.
- 3:39:53Speaker 1: Mister Turner had knocked on the door. Campbell had said,
- 3:39:56Speaker 1: come in. When mister Turner came into the room, he
- 3:39:59Speaker 1: saw clothing on a chair, an open suitcase, the bottle
- 3:40:03Speaker 1: on a chair beside the bed, and someone lying in
- 3:40:07Speaker 1: the bed completely covered by the bedclothes, mister Campbell. Mister
- 3:40:12Speaker 1: Turner said, you can't fire me. William Campbell said, from
- 3:40:17Speaker 1: underneath the covers, it was warm and white and close
- 3:40:20Speaker 1: under the covers. You can't fire me because I've got
- 3:40:24Speaker 1: down off my bicycle. You're drunk. Mister Turner said, oh yes,
- 3:40:30Speaker 1: William Campbell said, speaking directly against the sheet and feeling
- 3:40:34Speaker 1: the texture with his lips. You're a fool, mister Turner said.
- 3:40:39Speaker 1: He turned off the electric light. The electric light had
- 3:40:42Speaker 1: been burning all night. It was now ten o'clock in
- 3:40:45Speaker 1: the morning. You're a drunken fool. When did you get
- 3:40:48Speaker 1: into this town? I got into this town last night,
- 3:40:52Speaker 1: William Campbell said, speaking against the sheet, he found that
- 3:40:57Speaker 1: he liked to talk through a sheet. Did you ever
- 3:41:01Speaker 1: talk through a sheet? Don't try to be funny. You
- 3:41:04Speaker 1: aren't funny. I'm not being funny. I'm just talking through
- 3:41:08Speaker 1: a sheet. You're talking through a sheet, all right? You
- 3:41:12Speaker 1: can go now, mister Turner, Campbell said, I don't work
- 3:41:17Speaker 1: for you any more. You know that anyway, I know
- 3:41:22Speaker 1: a lot, William Campbell said. He pulled down the sheet
- 3:41:25Speaker 1: and looked at mister Turner. I know enough, so I
- 3:41:28Speaker 1: don't mind looking at you at all. Do you want
- 3:41:31Speaker 1: to hear what I know? No good, said William Campbell,
- 3:41:36Speaker 1: because really I don't know anything at all. I was
- 3:41:40Speaker 1: just talking. He pulled the sheet up over his face again.
- 3:41:44Speaker 1: I love it under a sheet, he said. Mister Turner
- 3:41:48Speaker 1: stood beside the bed. He was a middle aged man
- 3:41:51Speaker 1: with a large stomach and a bald head, and he
- 3:41:53Speaker 1: had many things to do. You ought to stop off here,
- 3:41:57Speaker 1: billy and take a cure. He said, I'll fix it
- 3:42:01Speaker 1: up if you want to do it. I don't want
- 3:42:04Speaker 1: to take a cure. William Campbell said, I don't want
- 3:42:06Speaker 1: to take a cure at all. I'm perfectly happy all
- 3:42:10Speaker 1: my life. I have been perfectly happy. How long have
- 3:42:14Speaker 1: you been this way? What a question? William Campbell breathed
- 3:42:19Speaker 1: in and out through the sheet. How long have you
- 3:42:23Speaker 1: been stewed, Billy? Haven't I done any work? Sure? I
- 3:42:27Speaker 1: just ask you how long you've been stewed? Billy? I
- 3:42:30Speaker 1: don't know. But I've got my wolf back. He touched
- 3:42:33Speaker 1: the sheet with his tongue. I've had him for a week.
- 3:42:37Speaker 1: The hell you have? Oh yes, my dear wolf. Every
- 3:42:41Speaker 1: time I take a drink he goes outside the room.
- 3:42:44Speaker 1: He can't stand alcohol, The poor little fellow. He moved
- 3:42:48Speaker 1: his tongue around and around on the sheet. He's a
- 3:42:52Speaker 1: lovely wolf. He's just like he always was. William Campbell
- 3:42:56Speaker 1: shut his eyes and took a deep breath. You've got
- 3:43:00Speaker 1: to take a cure of Billy, Mister Turner said, you
- 3:43:04Speaker 1: won't mind the Kili. It is bad the keiley. William
- 3:43:08Speaker 1: Campbell said, it isn't far from London. He shut his
- 3:43:12Speaker 1: eyes and opened them, moving the eyelashes against the sheet.
- 3:43:16Speaker 1: I just love sheets, he said. He looked at mister Turner. Listen,
- 3:43:24Speaker 1: you think I'm drunk. You are drunk. No, I'm not.
- 3:43:28Speaker 1: You're drunk and you've had the d ties. No. William
- 3:43:32Speaker 1: Campbell held the sheet against his head. Dear sheet, he said.
- 3:43:36Speaker 1: He breathed against it gently. Pretty sheet. You love me,
- 3:43:40Speaker 1: don't you. Sheet. It's all in the price of the room,
- 3:43:44Speaker 1: just like in Japan. No, he said, Listen, Billy, dear
- 3:43:48Speaker 1: sliding Billy, I have a surprise for you. I'm not drunk.
- 3:43:54Speaker 1: I'm hopped to the eyes. No, said mister Turner. Take
- 3:43:59Speaker 1: a look. William Campbell pulled up the right sleeve of
- 3:44:02Speaker 1: his pajama jacket under the sheet, then shoved the right
- 3:44:05Speaker 1: forearm out. Look at that. On the forearm, from just
- 3:44:09Speaker 1: above the wrist to the elbow were small blue circles
- 3:44:13Speaker 1: around tiny blue punctures. The circles almost touched one another.
- 3:44:19Speaker 1: That's the new development. William Campbell said. I drank a
- 3:44:23Speaker 1: little now once in a while, just to drive the
- 3:44:26Speaker 1: wolf out of the room. They got a cure for that,
- 3:44:29Speaker 1: sliding Billy Turner said, no, William Campbell said, they haven't
- 3:44:34Speaker 1: got a cure for anything. You can't just quit like that.
- 3:44:37Speaker 1: Billy Turner said. He sat on the bed. Be careful
- 3:44:41Speaker 1: of my sheet. William Campbell said, you can't just quit
- 3:44:46Speaker 1: at your age and take to pumping yourself full of
- 3:44:49Speaker 1: that stuff just because you're got yourself in a jam.
- 3:44:53Speaker 1: There's a law against it. If that's what you mean. No,
- 3:44:56Speaker 1: I mean you got to fight it out. Billy Campbell
- 3:45:00Speaker 1: caressed the sheet with his lips in his tongue. Dear sheet,
- 3:45:04Speaker 1: He said, I can kiss the sheet and see right
- 3:45:07Speaker 1: through it. At the same time, cut it out about
- 3:45:10Speaker 1: the sheet. You just can't take to that stuff, Billy.
- 3:45:16Speaker 1: William Campbell shut his eyes. He was beginning to feel
- 3:45:20Speaker 1: a slight nausea. He knew that this nausea would increase
- 3:45:23Speaker 1: steadily without there ever being the relief of sickness until
- 3:45:28Speaker 1: something were done against it. It was at this point
- 3:45:31Speaker 1: that he suggested that mister Turner have a drink. Mister
- 3:45:34Speaker 1: Turner declined. William Campbell took a drink from the bottle.
- 3:45:39Speaker 1: It was a temporary measure. Mister Turner watched him. Mister
- 3:45:43Speaker 1: Turner had been in this room much longer than he
- 3:45:45Speaker 1: should have been. He had many things to do, although
- 3:45:49Speaker 1: living in daily association with people who used drugs, he
- 3:45:52Speaker 1: had a horror of drugs, and he was very fond
- 3:45:55Speaker 1: of William Campbell. He did not wish to leave him.
- 3:45:59Speaker 1: He was very sorry for him, and he felt a
- 3:46:02Speaker 1: cure might help. He knew there were good cures in
- 3:46:05Speaker 1: Kansas City, but he had to go. He stood up. Listen, Billy,
- 3:46:12Speaker 1: William Campbell said, I want to tell you something. You're
- 3:46:14Speaker 1: called sliding Billy. That's because you can slide. I'm called
- 3:46:18Speaker 1: just Billy. That's because I could never slide at all.
- 3:46:22Speaker 1: I can't slide, Billy. I can't slide. It just catches.
- 3:46:26Speaker 1: Every time I try it. It catches. He shut his eyes.
- 3:46:30Speaker 1: I can't slide, Billy. It's awful when you can't slide, Yes,
- 3:46:35Speaker 1: said sliding Billy Turner. Yes what, William Campbell looked at him.
- 3:46:42Speaker 1: You were saying, no, said William Campbell. I wasn't saying anything.
- 3:46:46Speaker 1: It must have been a mistake. You were saying about sliding. No,
- 3:46:52Speaker 1: it couldn't have been about sliding. But listen, Billy, and
- 3:46:56Speaker 1: I'll tell you a secret. Stick to the sheets, Billy,
- 3:46:59Speaker 1: keep away from whom and horses, and he stopped eagles. Billy,
- 3:47:06Speaker 1: if you love horses, you'll get horses, and if you
- 3:47:09Speaker 1: love eagles, you'll get eagles. He stopped and put his
- 3:47:14Speaker 1: head into the sheet. I've got to go, said sliding
- 3:47:18Speaker 1: Billy Turner. If you love women, you'll get a dose.
- 3:47:22Speaker 1: William Campbell said, if you love horses, yes, said what
- 3:47:28Speaker 1: about horses and eagles? Oh? Yes? And if you love sheets.
- 3:47:34Speaker 1: He breathed on the sheet and stroked his nose against it.
- 3:47:37Speaker 1: I don't know about sheets, he said. I just started
- 3:47:41Speaker 1: to love this sheet. I have to go. Mister Turner said,
- 3:47:45Speaker 1: I got a lot to do. That's all right. William
- 3:47:48Speaker 1: Campbell said, everybody's got to go. I better go, all right,
- 3:47:53Speaker 1: you go. Are you all right, Billy? I was never
- 3:47:57Speaker 1: so happy in my life, And you're all right. I'm fine.
- 3:48:03Speaker 1: You go along. I'll just lie here for a little while.
- 3:48:06Speaker 1: Around noon, I'll get up. But when mister Turner came
- 3:48:10Speaker 1: up to William Campbell's room at noon, William Campbell was sleeping,
- 3:48:15Speaker 1: and as mister Turner was a man who knew what
- 3:48:18Speaker 1: things in life were very valuable, he did not waken.
- 3:48:24Speaker 1: End of Section eleven. Section Twelve of Men Without Women
- 3:48:28Speaker 1: by Ernest Hemingway. Today is Friday. Three Roman soldiers are
- 3:48:36Speaker 1: in a drinking place at eleven o'clock at night. There
- 3:48:39Speaker 1: are barrels around the wall. Behind the wooden counter is
- 3:48:43Speaker 1: a Hebrew wine cellar. The three Roman soldiers our little
- 3:48:47Speaker 1: cock eyed. First Roman soldier, he tried the red. Second soldier, No,
- 3:48:53Speaker 1: I ain't tried it. First soldier, you better try it.
- 3:48:58Speaker 1: Second soldier, All right, George, we'll have a round of
- 3:49:01Speaker 1: the red Hebrew wine cellar here. You are a gentleman,
- 3:49:06Speaker 1: you'll like thup. He sets down an earthen wear a
- 3:49:09Speaker 1: pitcher that he is filled from one of the casks.
- 3:49:13Speaker 1: That's an ice, little one. First soldier, have a drink
- 3:49:17Speaker 1: of it yourself. He turns to the third Roman soldier,
- 3:49:20Speaker 1: who is leaning on a barrel. What's the matter with you?
- 3:49:25Speaker 1: Third Roman soldier, I got a gut ache. Second soldier,
- 3:49:30Speaker 1: you've been drinking water. First soldier, Try some of the red.
- 3:49:35Speaker 1: Third soldier, I can't drink the damn stuff. It makes
- 3:49:38Speaker 1: my gut sour. First soldier, you've been out here too long.
- 3:49:44Speaker 1: Third soldier, Hell, don't I know it? First soldier say, George,
- 3:49:50Speaker 1: can't you give this gentleman something to fix up his stomach.
- 3:49:54Speaker 1: He Brew wine cellar. I got it right here. The
- 3:49:58Speaker 1: third Roman soldier tastes the that the wine cellars mixed
- 3:50:01Speaker 1: for him. Third soldier, Hey, what do you put in
- 3:50:05Speaker 1: that camel chips? Wine cellar? You drink that right down, lieutenant.
- 3:50:10Speaker 1: That'll fix you up right. Third soldier, Well, I couldn't
- 3:50:16Speaker 1: feel any worse for soldier. Take a chance on it, George,
- 3:50:21Speaker 1: fix me up fine. The other day, wine cellar, you
- 3:50:25Speaker 1: were in bad shape, Lieutenant. I know what fixes up
- 3:50:29Speaker 1: a bad stomach. The third Roman soldier drinks the cup down.
- 3:50:34Speaker 1: Third Roman soldier Jesus Christ. He makes a face. Second
- 3:50:40Speaker 1: soldier that false alarm. First soldier, Oh, I don't know.
- 3:50:46Speaker 1: He was pretty good in there today. Second soldier, why
- 3:50:49Speaker 1: didn't he come down off the cross? First soldier He
- 3:50:53Speaker 1: didn't want to come down off the cross. That's not
- 3:50:55Speaker 1: his play. Second soldier. Show me a guy that doesn't
- 3:50:59Speaker 1: want to come down off the cross. First soldier, Ah, hell,
- 3:51:04Speaker 1: you don't know anything about it, asked George. There did
- 3:51:08Speaker 1: he want to come down off the cross? George, wine cellar.
- 3:51:12Speaker 1: I'll tell you, gentlemen, I wasn't out there. It's a thing.
- 3:51:14Speaker 1: I haven't taken any interest in. Second soldier. Listen, I've
- 3:51:20Speaker 1: seen a lot of them here in other places. Anytime
- 3:51:23Speaker 1: you show me one that doesn't want to get down
- 3:51:25Speaker 1: off the cross when the time comes, When the time comes,
- 3:51:28Speaker 1: I mean, I'll climb right up there with him. First Soldier.
- 3:51:33Speaker 1: I thought he was pretty good in there today. Third Soldier,
- 3:51:37Speaker 1: he was all right. Second Soldier. You guys don't know
- 3:51:41Speaker 1: what I'm talking about. I'm not saying whether he was
- 3:51:43Speaker 1: good or not. What I mean is when the time comes,
- 3:51:47Speaker 1: when they first started nailing him, there isn't none of
- 3:51:50Speaker 1: them wouldn't stop it if they could. First Soldier, didn't
- 3:51:54Speaker 1: you follow it, George wine Cellar, No, I don't take
- 3:51:59Speaker 1: any interest in its tenant. First Soldier. I was surprised
- 3:52:03Speaker 1: how he acted. Third Soldier. The part I don't like
- 3:52:08Speaker 1: is nailing them on. You know that must get to
- 3:52:11Speaker 1: you pretty bad. Second Soldier. It isn't that it's so
- 3:52:16Speaker 1: bad as when they first lift him up he makes
- 3:52:19Speaker 1: a lifting gesture with his two palms together. When the
- 3:52:23Speaker 1: weight starts to pull on him, that's when it gets
- 3:52:26Speaker 1: the third Roman soldier. It takes some of them pretty
- 3:52:30Speaker 1: bad first soldier, he and I seen him. I've seen
- 3:52:35Speaker 1: plenty of them. I tell you he was pretty good
- 3:52:38Speaker 1: in there today. The second Roman soldier smiles at the
- 3:52:42Speaker 1: hebrew wine cellar. Second soldier, you're a regular christer, big boy.
- 3:52:49Speaker 1: First soldier, Sure, go on and kid him, but listen,
- 3:52:53Speaker 1: I'll tell you something. He was pretty good in there today.
- 3:52:57Speaker 1: Second soldier, what about some more wine? The wine cellar
- 3:53:01Speaker 1: looks up expectantly. The third Roman soldier is sitting with
- 3:53:05Speaker 1: his head down. He does not look so well. Third Soldier,
- 3:53:10Speaker 1: I don't want anymore. Second soldier, just for two George.
- 3:53:16Speaker 1: The wine cellar puts out a picture of wine, a
- 3:53:18Speaker 1: size smaller than the last one. He leans forward on
- 3:53:21Speaker 1: the wooden counter. First Ruman soldier, you see his girl?
- 3:53:27Speaker 1: Second soldier, wasn't I standing right by her? First soldier.
- 3:53:31Speaker 1: She's a nice looker. Second soldier. I knew her before
- 3:53:34Speaker 1: he did. He winks at the wine cellar. First soldier,
- 3:53:39Speaker 1: I used to see her around town. Second soldier, she
- 3:53:43Speaker 1: used to have a lot of stuff. He never brought
- 3:53:46Speaker 1: her no good luck. First soldier, Oh, he ain't lucky,
- 3:53:51Speaker 1: but he looked pretty good to me in there today.
- 3:53:54Speaker 1: Second soldier what became of his gang? First soldier, oh
- 3:54:00Speaker 1: faded out. Just the women stuck by him. Second Roman soldier,
- 3:54:05Speaker 1: they were a pretty yellow crowd when they seen him
- 3:54:09Speaker 1: go up there. They didn't want any of it. First soldier,
- 3:54:13Speaker 1: The women stuck all right? Second soldier, sure are they stuck?
- 3:54:17Speaker 1: All right? First Roman soldier, you see me slip the
- 3:54:22Speaker 1: old spear into Second Roman soldier. You will get into
- 3:54:26Speaker 1: trouble doing that someday. First soldier, it was the least
- 3:54:30Speaker 1: I could do for him. I'll tell you, he looked
- 3:54:33Speaker 1: pretty good to me in there today. Hebrewed one cellar. Gentlemen,
- 3:54:38Speaker 1: you know I got a close First Roman soldier, we'll
- 3:54:42Speaker 1: have one more round. Second Roman soldier, what's the use?
- 3:54:46Speaker 1: The stuff doesn't get you anywhere. Come on, let's go.
- 3:54:50Speaker 1: First soldier, just another round. Third Roman soldier getting up
- 3:54:55Speaker 1: from the barrel. No, come on, let's go. I feel
- 3:54:59Speaker 1: like Helton night. First soldier. Just one more, Second soldier, Now,
- 3:55:04Speaker 1: come on, we're gonna go. Good night, George. Put it
- 3:55:08Speaker 1: on the bill wine cellar. Good night, gentlemen. He looks
- 3:55:13Speaker 1: a little worried. You couldn't let me have a little
- 3:55:16Speaker 1: something on account, Lieutenant. Second Roman soldier. What the hell, George,
- 3:55:21Speaker 1: Wednesday's payday, wine cellar. It's all right, lieutenant. Good night, gentlemen.
- 3:55:29Speaker 1: The three Roman soldiers go out the door into the
- 3:55:31Speaker 1: street outside, in the street. Second Roman soldier, George is
- 3:55:37Speaker 1: a kite, just like all of them. First Roman soldier, Oh,
- 3:55:42Speaker 1: George is a nice fellow. Second soldier, everybody's a nice
- 3:55:46Speaker 1: fellow to you tonight. Third Roman soldier, come on, let's
- 3:55:51Speaker 1: go up to our barracks. I feel like hell tonite.
- 3:55:54Speaker 1: Second soldier, you've been out here too long. Third Roman soldier,
- 3:55:59Speaker 1: Nah like that. I just feel like how second soldier,
- 3:56:05Speaker 1: you've been out here too long? That's all. Curtain. End
- 3:56:13Speaker 1: of section twelve, Section thirteen of Men Without Women by
- 3:56:18Speaker 1: Ernest Hemingway, Banal story. So he ate an orange, slowly
- 3:56:25Speaker 1: spitting out the seats outside. The snow was turning to rain.
- 3:56:30Speaker 1: Inside the electric stove seemed to give no heat, and
- 3:56:35Speaker 1: rising from his writing table, he sat down upon the stove.
- 3:56:39Speaker 1: How good it felt. Here, at last was life. He
- 3:56:44Speaker 1: reached for another orange. Far away in Paris, Mascart had
- 3:56:48Speaker 1: knocked Danny Frosch cuckoo in the second round. Far off
- 3:56:53Speaker 1: in Mesopotamia twenty one feet of snow had fallen across
- 3:56:57Speaker 1: the world. In distant Australia, the English cricketers were sharpening
- 3:57:02Speaker 1: up their wickets. There was romance. Patrons of the Arts
- 3:57:07Speaker 1: and Letters have discovered the forum, he read, It is
- 3:57:12Speaker 1: the guide philosopher and friend of the Thinking Minority Prize
- 3:57:17Speaker 1: short stories. Will their authors write our best sellers up tomorrow?
- 3:57:23Speaker 1: You will enjoy these warm home spawn American tales, bits
- 3:57:27Speaker 1: of real life on the open ranch, in crowded tenement
- 3:57:31Speaker 1: or comfortable home, and all with the healthy undercurrent of humor.
- 3:57:36Speaker 1: I must read them, he thought. He read, on our
- 3:57:40Speaker 1: children's children? What of them? Who of them? New means
- 3:57:44Speaker 1: must be discovered to find room for us all under
- 3:57:47Speaker 1: the sun. Shall this be done by war? Or can
- 3:57:51Speaker 1: it be done by peaceful methods? For will we all
- 3:57:54Speaker 1: have to move to Canada? Our deepest convictions? Will science
- 3:57:59Speaker 1: upset them? Our civilization is an inferior to older orders
- 3:58:04Speaker 1: of things. And meanwhile, in the far off, dripping jungles
- 3:58:09Speaker 1: of Yucatan sounded the chopping of the axes of the
- 3:58:13Speaker 1: gum chumpers. Do we want big men or do we
- 3:58:17Speaker 1: want them cultured? Take choice? Take President Coolidge, what star
- 3:58:23Speaker 1: must our college students aim at. There is Jack Britton,
- 3:58:28Speaker 1: there is doctor Henry van Dyke. Can we reconcile the two?
- 3:58:34Speaker 1: Take the case of young Stripling, And what of our daughters,
- 3:58:38Speaker 1: who must make their own soundings? Nancy Hawthorne is obliged
- 3:58:42Speaker 1: to make her own soundings in the sea of life.
- 3:58:45Speaker 1: Bravely and sensibly she faces the problems which come to
- 3:58:48Speaker 1: every girl of eighteen. It was a splendid booklet. Are
- 3:58:53Speaker 1: you a girl of eighteen? Take the case of Joan
- 3:58:56Speaker 1: of Arc, Take the case of Bernard Shaw, the case
- 3:59:00Speaker 1: of Betsy Ross. Think of these things? In nineteen twenty five?
- 3:59:05Speaker 1: Was there a risque page in Puritan history? Were there
- 3:59:09Speaker 1: two sides the Pocahontas? Did he have a fourth dimension?
- 3:59:15Speaker 1: Are modern paintings and poetry art? Yes and no? Take Picasso,
- 3:59:23Speaker 1: have tramps, codes of conduct? Send your mind adventuring. There
- 3:59:29Speaker 1: is romance everywhere. Forum writers talk to the point, are
- 3:59:33Speaker 1: possessed of humor and wit, but they do not try
- 3:59:36Speaker 1: to be smart, and are never long winded. Live the
- 3:59:40Speaker 1: full life of the mind. Exhilarated by new ideas, intoxicated
- 3:59:44Speaker 1: by the romance of the unusual, he laid down the booklet,
- 3:59:49Speaker 1: and meanwhile, stretched flat on a bed in a darkened
- 3:59:52Speaker 1: room in his house at Triana Manuel Garcia, Mayerra lay
- 3:59:57Speaker 1: with a tube in each lung, drowning with the pneumonia.
- 4:00:02Speaker 1: All the papers in Andalusia devoted special supplements to his death,
- 4:00:06Speaker 1: which had been expected for some days. Men and boys
- 4:00:11Speaker 1: bought full length colored pictures of him to remember him by,
- 4:00:15Speaker 1: and lost the picture they had of him in their
- 4:00:17Speaker 1: memories by looking at the lithographs. Bullfighters were very relieved
- 4:00:22Speaker 1: he was dead, because he did always in the bull
- 4:00:25Speaker 1: ring the things they could only do. Sometimes. They all
- 4:00:29Speaker 1: marched in the rain behind his coffin, and there were
- 4:00:32Speaker 1: one hundred and forty seven bullfighters followed him out to
- 4:00:36Speaker 1: the cemetery, where they buried him in the tomb next
- 4:00:39Speaker 1: to Hoslito. After the funeral, everyone sat in the cafes
- 4:00:45Speaker 1: out of the rain, and many colored pictures of Mayeira
- 4:00:48Speaker 1: were sold to men who rolled them up and put
- 4:00:51Speaker 1: them away in their pockets. End of section thirteen. Section
- 4:00:57Speaker 1: fourteen of Men without Women by Ernest Hemingway. Now I
- 4:01:03Speaker 1: lay me that night. We lay on the floor in
- 4:01:06Speaker 1: the room, and I listened to the silkworms eating the
- 4:01:10Speaker 1: silkworms fed in racks of mulberry leaves, and all night
- 4:01:14Speaker 1: you could hear them eating and a dropping sound in
- 4:01:17Speaker 1: the leaves. I myself did not want to sleep, because
- 4:01:21Speaker 1: I had been living for a long time with the
- 4:01:23Speaker 1: knowledge that if I ever shut my eyes in the
- 4:01:26Speaker 1: dark and let myself go, my soul would go out
- 4:01:29Speaker 1: of my body. I had been that way a long time,
- 4:01:34Speaker 1: ever since I had been blown up at night and
- 4:01:36Speaker 1: felt it go out of me and go off and
- 4:01:39Speaker 1: then come back. I tried never to think about it,
- 4:01:43Speaker 1: but it had started to go since in the nights,
- 4:01:46Speaker 1: just at the moment of going off to sleep, and
- 4:01:49Speaker 1: I could only stop it by a very great effort.
- 4:01:54Speaker 1: So while now I am fairly certain that it would
- 4:01:57Speaker 1: not really have gone out yet, then that some I
- 4:02:00Speaker 1: was unwilling to make the experiment. I had different ways
- 4:02:04Speaker 1: of occupying myself while I lay awake. I would think
- 4:02:07Speaker 1: of a trout stream I had fished along when I
- 4:02:10Speaker 1: was a boy, and fish its whole length very carefully,
- 4:02:13Speaker 1: in my mind, fishing very carefully under all the logs,
- 4:02:17Speaker 1: all the turns of the bank, the deep holes, and
- 4:02:20Speaker 1: the clear shallow stretches, sometimes catching trout and sometimes losing them.
- 4:02:26Speaker 1: I would stop fishing at noon to eat my lunch,
- 4:02:29Speaker 1: sometimes on a log over the stream, sometimes on a
- 4:02:33Speaker 1: high bank under a tree, and I always ate my
- 4:02:36Speaker 1: lunch very slowly and watched the stream below me while
- 4:02:40Speaker 1: I ate. Often I ran out of bait because I
- 4:02:43Speaker 1: would only take ten worms with me in a tobacco
- 4:02:46Speaker 1: tin when I started. When I had used them all,
- 4:02:49Speaker 1: I had to find more worms, and sometimes it was
- 4:02:52Speaker 1: very difficult digging in the bank of the stream where
- 4:02:55Speaker 1: the cedar trees kept out the sun, and there was
- 4:02:57Speaker 1: no grass but only the moist earth, and often I
- 4:03:02Speaker 1: could find no worms. Always though I found some kind
- 4:03:06Speaker 1: of bait. But one time in the swamp I could
- 4:03:09Speaker 1: find no bait at all and had to cut up
- 4:03:11Speaker 1: one of the trout I had caught and use him
- 4:03:14Speaker 1: for bait. Sometimes I found insects and the swamp meadows
- 4:03:19Speaker 1: in the grass or under ferns used them. There were
- 4:03:23Speaker 1: beetles and insects with legs like grass stems and grubs
- 4:03:28Speaker 1: and old rotten logs, white grubs with brown pinching heads
- 4:03:32Speaker 1: that would not stay on the hook and emptied into
- 4:03:35Speaker 1: nothing but cold water, and woodticks under logs where Sometimes
- 4:03:39Speaker 1: I found angle worms that slipped into the ground as
- 4:03:42Speaker 1: soon as the log was raised. Once I used a
- 4:03:46Speaker 1: salamander from under an old log. The salamander was very
- 4:03:50Speaker 1: small and neat and agile, and a lovely collar. He
- 4:03:54Speaker 1: had tiny feet that tried to hold onto the hook.
- 4:03:56Speaker 1: And after that one time, I never used a stander,
- 4:04:01Speaker 1: although I found them very often, nor did I use
- 4:04:04Speaker 1: crickets because of the way they acted about the hook.
- 4:04:07Speaker 1: Sometimes the stream ran through an open meadow, and in
- 4:04:10Speaker 1: the dry grass, I would catch grasshoppers and use them
- 4:04:14Speaker 1: for bait. And sometimes I would catch grasshoppers and toss
- 4:04:17Speaker 1: them into the stream and watch them float along, swimming
- 4:04:21Speaker 1: on the stream and circling on the surface as the
- 4:04:24Speaker 1: current took them, and then disappear as a trout rose.
- 4:04:29Speaker 1: Sometimes I would fish four or five different streams in
- 4:04:31Speaker 1: the night, starting as near as I could get to
- 4:04:34Speaker 1: their source, and fishing them downstream. When I had finished
- 4:04:38Speaker 1: too quickly and the time did not go I would
- 4:04:41Speaker 1: fish the stream over again, starting where it emptied into
- 4:04:44Speaker 1: the lake, and fishing back upstream, trying for all the
- 4:04:47Speaker 1: trout I had missed coming down. Some nights too, I
- 4:04:52Speaker 1: made up streams, and some of them were very exciting,
- 4:04:56Speaker 1: and it was like being awake and dreaming one of
- 4:05:00Speaker 1: those screens. I still remember and think that I have
- 4:05:03Speaker 1: fished in them, and they are confused with streams. I
- 4:05:06Speaker 1: really know. I gave them all names and went to
- 4:05:10Speaker 1: them on the train, and sometimes walked for miles to
- 4:05:13Speaker 1: get to them. But some nights I could not fish,
- 4:05:17Speaker 1: and on those nights I was cold awake and said
- 4:05:19Speaker 1: my prayers over and over and tried to pray for
- 4:05:22Speaker 1: all the people I had ever known. That took up
- 4:05:25Speaker 1: a great amount of time. For if you try to
- 4:05:27Speaker 1: remember all the people you have ever known, going back
- 4:05:30Speaker 1: to the earliest thing you remember, which was with me
- 4:05:35Speaker 1: the attic of the house where I was born, and
- 4:05:37Speaker 1: my mother and father's wedding cake in a tin box
- 4:05:40Speaker 1: hanging from one of the rafters, and in the attic
- 4:05:44Speaker 1: jars of snakes and other specimens that my father had
- 4:05:46Speaker 1: collected as a boy and preserved an alcohol. The alcohol
- 4:05:51Speaker 1: sunken in the jars, so the backs of some of
- 4:05:54Speaker 1: the snakes and specimens were exposed and turned white. If
- 4:05:58Speaker 1: you thought back that far, you remembered a great many people.
- 4:06:03Speaker 1: If you prayed for all of them, saying a hail
- 4:06:05Speaker 1: Maryan and our father for each one. It took a
- 4:06:08Speaker 1: long time, and finally it would be light, and then
- 4:06:12Speaker 1: you could go to sleep, if you were in a
- 4:06:14Speaker 1: place where you could sleep in the daylight. On those nights,
- 4:06:18Speaker 1: I tried to remember everything that had ever happened to me,
- 4:06:21Speaker 1: starting with just before I went to the war, and
- 4:06:24Speaker 1: remembering back from one thing to another. I found I
- 4:06:27Speaker 1: could only remember back to that attic in my grandfather's house.
- 4:06:32Speaker 1: Then I would start there and remember this way again
- 4:06:35Speaker 1: until I reached the war. I remembered after my grandfather died,
- 4:06:39Speaker 1: we moved away from that house and to a new
- 4:06:41Speaker 1: house designed and built by my mother. Many things that
- 4:06:45Speaker 1: were not to be moved were burned in the back yard,
- 4:06:48Speaker 1: and I remember those jars from the attic being thrown
- 4:06:51Speaker 1: in the fire, and ali popped in the heat, and
- 4:06:54Speaker 1: the fire flamed up from the alcohol. I remember the
- 4:06:58Speaker 1: snakes burning in the fire in the backyard, But there
- 4:07:02Speaker 1: were no people in that only things. I could not
- 4:07:06Speaker 1: remember who burned the things even And I would go
- 4:07:09Speaker 1: on until I came to people, and then stop and
- 4:07:11Speaker 1: pray for them. About the new house. I remembered how
- 4:07:15Speaker 1: my mother was always cleaning things out and making a
- 4:07:18Speaker 1: good clearance. One time, when my father was away on
- 4:07:21Speaker 1: a hunting trip, she made a good thorough cleaning out
- 4:07:23Speaker 1: in the basement and burned everything that should not have
- 4:07:26Speaker 1: been there. When my father came home and got down
- 4:07:30Speaker 1: from his buggy and hitched the horse, the fire was
- 4:07:32Speaker 1: still burning in the road beside the house. I went
- 4:07:35Speaker 1: out to meet him. He handed me a shotgun and
- 4:07:38Speaker 1: looked at the fire. What's this, he asked, I've been
- 4:07:43Speaker 1: cleaning out the basement, dear, my mother said from the porch.
- 4:07:47Speaker 1: She was standing there smiling to meet him. My father
- 4:07:51Speaker 1: looked at the fire and kicked at something. Then he
- 4:07:55Speaker 1: leaned over and picked something out of the ashes. Get
- 4:07:58Speaker 1: a rake, nick, he said to me. I went to
- 4:08:01Speaker 1: the basement and brought a rake, and my father raked
- 4:08:04Speaker 1: very carefully in the ashes. He raked out stone axes,
- 4:08:08Speaker 1: and stone skinning knives, and tools for making arrowheads, and
- 4:08:12Speaker 1: pieces of pottery, and many arrowheads. They had all been
- 4:08:16Speaker 1: blackened and chipped by the fire. My father raked them
- 4:08:20Speaker 1: all out very carefully and spread them on the grass
- 4:08:22Speaker 1: by the road. His shotgun in its leather case and
- 4:08:26Speaker 1: his game bags were on the grass where he had
- 4:08:28Speaker 1: left them when he stepped down from the buggy. Take
- 4:08:32Speaker 1: the gun and the bags in the house, neck and
- 4:08:34Speaker 1: bring me a paper, he said. My mother had gone
- 4:08:37Speaker 1: inside the house. I took the shotgun, which was too
- 4:08:41Speaker 1: heavy to carry and banged against my legs, and the
- 4:08:44Speaker 1: two game bags and started toward the house. Take them
- 4:08:47Speaker 1: one at a time, my father said, don't try and
- 4:08:51Speaker 1: carry too much at once. I put down the game
- 4:08:54Speaker 1: bags and took in the shotgun and brought out a
- 4:08:57Speaker 1: newspaper from the pile on my father's life office. My
- 4:09:01Speaker 1: father spread all the black and chipped stone implements on
- 4:09:04Speaker 1: the paper and then wrap them up. The best arrowheads
- 4:09:08Speaker 1: went all to pieces, he said. He walked into the
- 4:09:11Speaker 1: house with a paper package, and I stayed outside on
- 4:09:13Speaker 1: the grass with the two game bags. After a while,
- 4:09:16Speaker 1: I took them in in, remembering that there were only
- 4:09:20Speaker 1: two people, so I would pray for them both some nights.
- 4:09:24Speaker 1: Though I could not remember my prayers even I could
- 4:09:27Speaker 1: only get as far as on earth as it is
- 4:09:29Speaker 1: in heaven, and then have to start all over and
- 4:09:32Speaker 1: be absolutely unable to get past that. Then I would
- 4:09:35Speaker 1: have to recognize that I could not remember and give
- 4:09:38Speaker 1: up saying my prayers that night and try something else.
- 4:09:42Speaker 1: So on some nights I would try to remember all
- 4:09:44Speaker 1: the animals in the world by name, and then the birds,
- 4:09:47Speaker 1: and then fishes, and then countries and cities, and then
- 4:09:51Speaker 1: kinds of food, and the names of all the streets
- 4:09:54Speaker 1: I could remember in Chicago. And when I could not
- 4:09:57Speaker 1: remember anything at all anymore, I would just listen. And
- 4:10:01Speaker 1: I do not remember a night on which you could
- 4:10:03Speaker 1: not hear things. If I could have a light, I
- 4:10:07Speaker 1: was not afraid to sleep, because I knew my soul
- 4:10:10Speaker 1: would only go out of me if it were dark.
- 4:10:13Speaker 1: So of course many nights I was where I could
- 4:10:15Speaker 1: have a light, and then I slept because I was
- 4:10:19Speaker 1: nearly always tired and often very sleepy. And I'm sure
- 4:10:23Speaker 1: many times too that I slept without knowing it, but
- 4:10:26Speaker 1: I never slept knowing it. And on this night, I
- 4:10:30Speaker 1: listened to the silkworms. You could hear silkworms eating very
- 4:10:34Speaker 1: clearly in the night, and I lay with my eyes
- 4:10:36Speaker 1: open and listened to them. There was only one other
- 4:10:40Speaker 1: person in the room, and he was awake too. I
- 4:10:42Speaker 1: listened to him. Being awake for a long time, he
- 4:10:46Speaker 1: could not lie as quietly as I could, because perhaps
- 4:10:50Speaker 1: he had not had as much practice being awake. We
- 4:10:53Speaker 1: were lying on blankets over straw, and when he moved,
- 4:10:56Speaker 1: the straw was noisy, but the silkworms were not from
- 4:11:00Speaker 1: and buy any noise we made and ate on steadily.
- 4:11:04Speaker 1: There were the noises of nights seven kilometers behind the
- 4:11:07Speaker 1: lines outside, but they were different from the small noises
- 4:11:11Speaker 1: inside the room. In the dark. The other man in
- 4:11:14Speaker 1: the room tried lying quietly. Then he moved again. I
- 4:11:19Speaker 1: moved too, so he would know I was awake. He
- 4:11:22Speaker 1: had lived ten years in Chicago. They had taken him
- 4:11:25Speaker 1: for a soldier in nineteen fourteen when he had come
- 4:11:28Speaker 1: back to visit his family, and they had given him
- 4:11:31Speaker 1: to me for an orderly because he spoke English. I
- 4:11:34Speaker 1: heard him listening, so I moved again in the blankets.
- 4:11:37Speaker 1: Can't you sleep, Senor Tenente? He asked, No, I can't
- 4:11:42Speaker 1: sleep either. What's the matter. I don't know. I can't sleep.
- 4:11:47Speaker 1: You feel all right? Sure? I feel good. I just
- 4:11:51Speaker 1: I can't sleep. You want to talk a while? I asked, sure?
- 4:11:57Speaker 1: What can you talk about in the stameplace? This place
- 4:12:01Speaker 1: is pretty good, I said, sure. He said, it's all right.
- 4:12:05Speaker 1: Tell me about out in Chicago. I said, oh, he said,
- 4:12:09Speaker 1: I told you all that once. Tell me about how
- 4:12:13Speaker 1: you got married. I told you that was the letter
- 4:12:18Speaker 1: you got Monday from her. Sure she writes me all
- 4:12:22Speaker 1: the time. She's making good money with the place. You'll
- 4:12:26Speaker 1: have a nice place when you go back. Sure she
- 4:12:29Speaker 1: runs it fine, she's making lots of money. Don't you
- 4:12:33Speaker 1: think we'll wake them up talking? I asked, No, they
- 4:12:37Speaker 1: can't hear anyway. They sleep like pigs. I'm different, he said,
- 4:12:41Speaker 1: I'm nervous, talk quiet. I said, I want to smoke.
- 4:12:46Speaker 1: We smoked skillfully in the dark. You don't smoke much,
- 4:12:49Speaker 1: signor Tinante. No, I'm just about to cut it out. Well,
- 4:12:54Speaker 1: he said, it won't do you any good. And I
- 4:12:57Speaker 1: suppose you get so you don't miss it. Did you
- 4:13:00Speaker 1: ever hear a blind man won't smoke because you can't
- 4:13:02Speaker 1: see the smoke come out. I don't believe it. I
- 4:13:06Speaker 1: think it's all bull myself. He said, I just heard
- 4:13:09Speaker 1: it somewhere. You know how you hear things. We were
- 4:13:13Speaker 1: both quiet, and I listened to the silkworms. You hear
- 4:13:16Speaker 1: those damn silkworms, he asked, You can hear them too.
- 4:13:20Speaker 1: It's funny, I said, say, signor to Nante, is there
- 4:13:25Speaker 1: something really the matter that you can't sleep? I never
- 4:13:28Speaker 1: see you sleep. You haven't slept nights ever since I've
- 4:13:31Speaker 1: been with you. I don't know, John, I said, I
- 4:13:34Speaker 1: got in pretty bad shape along early last spring, and
- 4:13:37Speaker 1: that night it bothers me just like I am. He said,
- 4:13:42Speaker 1: I shouldn't have ever got in this war. I'm too nervous.
- 4:13:45Speaker 1: Maybe it will get better, say Senor Cnente, What did
- 4:13:50Speaker 1: you get in this war for? Anyway? I don't know, John,
- 4:13:53Speaker 1: I wanted to, then wanted to. He said, that's how
- 4:13:59Speaker 1: Aliva he is. We oughtn't to talk out loud. I said,
- 4:14:04Speaker 1: they sleep just like pigs. He said, they can't understand
- 4:14:07Speaker 1: the English language anyway. They don't know a damn thing.
- 4:14:11Speaker 1: What are you going to do when it's over and
- 4:14:13Speaker 1: we go back to the States. I'll get a job
- 4:14:16Speaker 1: on a paper in Chicago. Maybe do you ever read
- 4:14:21Speaker 1: what this fellow Brisbane writes? My wife cuts it out
- 4:14:23Speaker 1: for me and sends it to me. Sure, did you
- 4:14:27Speaker 1: ever meet him? No, but I've seen him. I'd like
- 4:14:30Speaker 1: to meet that fellow. He's a fine writer. My wife
- 4:14:34Speaker 1: don't read English, but she takes a paper, just like
- 4:14:36Speaker 1: when I was home, and she cuts out the editorials
- 4:14:38Speaker 1: and the sports page and send them to me. How
- 4:14:42Speaker 1: are your kids? They're fine. One of the girls is
- 4:14:45Speaker 1: in the fourth grade, now you know, Senor to ninty.
- 4:14:48Speaker 1: If I didn't have the kids, I wouldn't be here
- 4:14:50Speaker 1: orderly now. They'd have made me stay in the line
- 4:14:53Speaker 1: all the time. I'm glad you've got them, so am I.
- 4:14:58Speaker 1: They're fine kids, But I want a boy. Three girls
- 4:15:02Speaker 1: and no boy. That's a hell of a note. Why
- 4:15:05Speaker 1: don't you try and go to sleep? No, I can't
- 4:15:08Speaker 1: sleep now. I'm wide awake now, Sor say, I'm worried
- 4:15:12Speaker 1: about you not sleeping. Though it'll be all right, Tron.
- 4:15:17Speaker 1: Imagine a young fellow like you not able to sleep.
- 4:15:19Speaker 1: I'll get all right. It just takes a little while.
- 4:15:23Speaker 1: You've got to get all right. Man can't get along
- 4:15:26Speaker 1: but doesn't sleep. Do you worry about anything? You got
- 4:15:30Speaker 1: anything on your mind? No, John, I don't think so.
- 4:15:34Speaker 1: You ought to get married, Senor Toe, then you wouldn't worry.
- 4:15:39Speaker 1: I don't know you ought to get married. Why don't
- 4:15:42Speaker 1: you pick out some nice Italian girl with plenty of money.
- 4:15:45Speaker 1: You could get anyone you want. You're young, you've got
- 4:15:48Speaker 1: good decorations, you look nice. You've been wounded a couple
- 4:15:51Speaker 1: of times. I can't talk the language well enough. You
- 4:15:55Speaker 1: talk it fine. They'll talking language. You don't have to
- 4:15:59Speaker 1: talk to them. I'll think about it. You know some girls,
- 4:16:03Speaker 1: don't you sure? Well? You marry the one with the
- 4:16:08Speaker 1: most money over here, the way they're brought up, they'll
- 4:16:10Speaker 1: make you a good wife. I'll think about it. Don't
- 4:16:14Speaker 1: think about it, Signor, do it all right? A man
- 4:16:18Speaker 1: ought to be married. You'll never regret it. Every man
- 4:16:22Speaker 1: ought to be married, all right. I said, let's try
- 4:16:26Speaker 1: and sleep a while, all right, Signor. I'll try it again.
- 4:16:31Speaker 1: But do you remember what I said. I'll remember it.
- 4:16:35Speaker 1: I said, now let's sleep a while, John, all right,
- 4:16:39Speaker 1: he said, I hope you sleep, Signor. I heard him
- 4:16:42Speaker 1: roll in his blankets on the straw, and then he
- 4:16:46Speaker 1: was very quiet, and I listened to him breathing regularly.
- 4:16:50Speaker 1: Then he started to snore. I listened to him snore
- 4:16:53Speaker 1: for a long time, and then I stopped listening to
- 4:16:55Speaker 1: him snore and listened to the silkworms eating. They ate steadily,
- 4:17:00Speaker 1: making a dropping in the leaves. I had a new
- 4:17:03Speaker 1: thing to think about, and I lay in the dark
- 4:17:05Speaker 1: with my eyes open and thought of all the girls
- 4:17:08Speaker 1: I had ever known and what kind of wives they
- 4:17:10Speaker 1: would make. It was a very interesting thing to think about,
- 4:17:14Speaker 1: and for a while it killed off trout fishing and
- 4:17:17Speaker 1: interfered with my prayers. Finally, though, I went back to
- 4:17:21Speaker 1: trout fishing, because I found that I could remember all
- 4:17:24Speaker 1: the streams and there was always something new about them,
- 4:17:28Speaker 1: while the girls, after I had thought about them a
- 4:17:30Speaker 1: few times, blurred and I could not call them into
- 4:17:35Speaker 1: my mind. And finally they all blurred and all became
- 4:17:38Speaker 1: rather the same, and I gave up thinking about them
- 4:17:41Speaker 1: almost altogether. But I kept on with my prayers, and
- 4:17:44Speaker 1: I prayed often for John in the nights. And his
- 4:17:47Speaker 1: class was removed from active service before the October offensive.
- 4:17:51Speaker 1: I was glad he was not there, because he would
- 4:17:54Speaker 1: have been a great worry to me. He came to
- 4:17:57Speaker 1: the hospital in the land to see me several months
- 4:17:59Speaker 1: after and was very disappointed that I had not yet married,
- 4:18:03Speaker 1: and I know he would feel very badly if he
- 4:18:05Speaker 1: knew that so far I had never married. He was
- 4:18:10Speaker 1: going back to America, and he was very certain about
- 4:18:13Speaker 1: marriage and knew who to fix up everything. End of
- 4:18:19Speaker 1: Section fourteen, end of men without women