Robert Coover The Brother, English Studies, English Literature, Books and Poems
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
3
T he Brother
right there right there in the middle 0£ the damn field he says he
wants to put that thing together him and his buggy ideas and Some
I says "how the hell you gonna get it down to the water ?" but he
just £ocusesme out sweepin the blue his eyes collin like they do
when he gets het on some new lunatic notion and he says not to
worry none about that just would I help him £or God's sake and
becausehe don't know how he can get-it done in time otherwise and
though you'd have to be loonier than him to say yes I says I will 0£
course I always would crazy as my brother is I've done little else
since I was born and my wi£e she says "I can't figure it out I can't
see why you always have to be babyin that old £001he ain't never
done nothin £or you God knows and you got enough to do here
fields need plowin it's a bad enough year already my God and now
that red-eyed brother 0£ yours wingin around like a damn cloud and
not knowin what in the world he's doin buildin a damn boat in the
country my God what next? you're a damn £001 I tell you" but
SEVEN EXEMPLARY F1C'nONS
93
packsme some sandwichesjust the sameand some sandwiches£or
my brother Lord know~Jhiswife don't have no truck with him no
more sayshe can go starve £or all shecaresshe's£ed up ever since
the time he made her sit out on a hillside £or three whole days rain
and everything becausehe said she'd seeGod and she didn't see
nothin and in £act she like to die £rom hunger nothin but berries
and his boystoo they ain't sobright neither but at leastthey cometo
help him out with his damn boat so it ain't just the two 0£us thank
God £orthat and it ain't no goddamn fishin boat he wants to put up
neither in £actit's the biggest damn thing I ever heard of and £or
weeks weeks I'm tellin you we ain't doin nothin but cuttin down
pine trees and haulin them out to his field which is really pretty
high up a hill and my God that's work lemme tell you and ~y wife
she sighs and saysI am really crazy r-e-a-l-l-y crazy and her £our
months with a child and tryin to do my work and hers too and still
when I come home from haulin timbers around all day she'sgot
enoughle£tto rub my shouldersand the small 0£my back and fix a
hot meal her long black hair pulled to a knot behind her head and
hangin marvelously down her back her eyesgentle but very tired
my God and I saysto my brother I says"look I got a lotta work to
do buddy you'll have to finish this idiot thing yoursel£I wanna help
you all I can you know that but" and he looks off and he says"it
don't matter none your work" and I says "the hell it don't how
you think me and my wi£e we're gonna eat I mean where do you
think this £ood comesfrom you been puttin away man? you can't
eat this goddamn boat out here ready to rot in that bastardsun" and
he just sighslong and says"no it just don't matter" and he sits him
down on a rock kinda tired like and staresoff and looks like he
might even£or God's sakecry and so I go back to bringin wood up
to him and he's already started on the keel and frame God knows
how he ever£oundout to build a damn boat lost in his £ogwhere he
is Lord he was twenty when I was born and the first thing I
rememberwas havin to lead him around so he didn't get kicked by
a damn mule him who couldn't never do nothin in a normal way
just a huge oversize£Uzzy£aceboy so anyway I take to gettin up a
94
PRICKSONGS & DESCANTS
£ew hours earlier ever day to do my £armin my wi£e apt to lose the
baby i£ she should keep pullin around like she was doin then I go to
work on the boat until sundown and on and on the days hot and
dry and my wi£e keepin good £ood in me or else I'd 0£ dropped sure
and no matter what I say to try and get out of it my brother he says
"you come and help now the rest don't matt~r" and we just keep
hammerin away and my God the damn thing is big enough £or a
hundred people and at least I think at least it's a place to live and
not too bad at that at least it's good for somethin but my wife she
just sighs and says no good will come of it and runs her hands
through my hair but she don't ask me to stop helpin no more
because she knows it won't do no good and she's kinda turned into
hersel£ now these days and gettin hersel£ all ready and still we keep
workin on that damn thing that damn boat and the days pass and
my brother he says we gotta work harder we ain't got much time
and £rom time to time he gets a coupla neighbors to come over and
give a hand them sucked in by the size and the novelty 0£ the thing
makin jokes some but they don't stay around more than a day or
two and they go away shakin their heads and swearin under their
breath and disgusted they got weaseled into the thing in the first
place and me I only get about hal£ my place planted and see to my
stock as much as I can my wi£e she takes more care 0£ them than I
can but at least we won't starve we say i£ we just get some rain and
finally we get the damn thing done all finished by God and we
cover it in and out with pitch and put a kinda £ancy roo£ on it and I
come home on that last day and I ain't never goin back ain't netler
gonna let him talk me into nothin again and I'm all smellin 0£ tar
and my wife she cries and cries and I says to her not to worry no
more I'll be home all the time and me I'm cryin a little too though
she don't notice just thinkin how she's had it so lonely and hard and
all and £or one whole day I just sleep the whole damn day and the
rest 0£ the week I work around the £arm and one day I get an idea
and I go over to my brother's place and get some pieces 0£ wood le£t
over and whaddaya know ? they are all livin on that damn boat
there in the middle 0£ nowhere him and his boys and some women
SEVEN EXEMPLARY F1CTIONS
()~
and my brother's wife she'sthere too but she'smadder than hell and
carpin at him to get outa that damn boat and come home and he
saysshe'sgot just one more day and then he'sgonna drug her on the
boat but he don't say it like a threat or nothin more like a fact a
plain fact tomorrow he's gonna drug her on the boat well I ain't one
to get mixed up in domestic quarrels God knows so I grab up the
wood and beat it back to my farm and that evenin I make a little
cradle a kinda fancy one with little animal figures cut in it and
polished down and after supper I give it to my wi£e as a surprise
and she cries and cries and holds me tight and saysdon't never go
away again and stay closeby her and all and I £eelso damn good
and warm about it all and glad the boat thing is over and we get out
a little wine and we decide the baby's name is gonna be either
Nathaniel or Anna and so we drink an extra cup to Nathaniel's
health and we laugh and we sigh and drink one to Anna and my
wife she gently fingers the little animal figures and says they're
beauti£ul and really they ain't I ain't much good at that sorta thing
but I know what she meansand then she says"where did you get
the wood?" and I says"it's left over from the boat" and she don't
say nothin for a moment and then she says"you been over there
again today?" and I says"yes just to get the wood" and she says
"what's he doin now he's got the boat done?" and I says"£unny
thing they're all living in the damn thing all except the old lady
she'sover there hollerin at him how he's gettin senile and where
doeshe think he's sailin to and how if he ain't afraid of runnin into
a octypusson the way he oughta get back home and him sayin she's
a nut there ain't no water and her sayin that's what she'sbeen tellin
him £or six months" and my wi£e she laughs and it's the happiest
laugh I've heard £rom her in half a year and I laugh and we both
have another cup.0£wine and my wi£e shesays"so he'sjust livin on
that big thing all by hisse1£?"and I says"no he's got his boys on
there and someyoung women who are maybe wives 0£ the boys or
somethin I don't know 1.ain't never seenthem before and all kindsa
damn animals and birds and things I ain't never seenthe likes" and
my wife shesays"animals? what animals?" and I says"oh all kinds
96
PRICKSONGS & DESCANTS
I don't know a whole damn menagerie all clutterin and stinkin up
the boat God what a mess" and my wife laughs again and she's a
little silly with the wine and she says"1 bet he ain't got no pigs" and
"oh yes I seen them" I says and we laugh thinkin about pigs rootin
around in that big tub and she says "I bet he ain't got no jackdaws"
and I says "yes I seen a couple of them too or mostly I heard them
you couldn't hardly hear nothin else" and we laugh again thinkin
about them crows and his old lady and the pigs and all and my wife
she says "I know what he ain't got I bet he ain't got no lice" and we
both laugh like crazy and when I can I says "oh yes he does less he's
took a bath" and we both laugh till we're cryin and we finish off the
wine and my wife says "look now I know what he ain't got he ain't
got no termites" and I says"you're right I don't recollect no termites
maybe we oughta make him a present" and my wife she holds me
close quiet all of a sudden and says "he's really movin Nathaniel's
really movin" and she puts my hand down on her round belly and
the little fella is kickin up a terrific storm and I says kinda anxious
"does it hurt? do you think that-?" and "no" she says "it's good"
she says and so I says with my hand on her belly "here's to you
Nathaniel" and we drain what's left in the bottom of our cups and
the next day we wake up in each other's arms and it's rainin and
thank God we say arid since it's rainin real good we stay inside and
do things around the place and we're happy because the rain has
come just in time and in the evenin things smell green and fresh
and delicious and it's still rainin a little but not too hard so I decide
to take a walk and I wander over by my brother's place thinkin I'll
ask him if he'd like to take on some pet termites to go with his
collection and there by God is his wife on the boat and I don't know
if he drug her on or if she just finally come by herself but she ain't
sayin nothin which is damn unusual and the boys they ain't sayin
no thin neither and my brother he ain't sayin nothin they're just all
standin up there on top and gazin off and I holler up at them "nice
rain ain't it?" and my brother he looks down at me standin there in
the rain and still he don't say nothin but he raises his hand kinda
funny like and then PUts it back on the rail and I decide not to say
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl pingus1.htw.pl
3
T he Brother
right there right there in the middle 0£ the damn field he says he
wants to put that thing together him and his buggy ideas and Some
I says "how the hell you gonna get it down to the water ?" but he
just £ocusesme out sweepin the blue his eyes collin like they do
when he gets het on some new lunatic notion and he says not to
worry none about that just would I help him £or God's sake and
becausehe don't know how he can get-it done in time otherwise and
though you'd have to be loonier than him to say yes I says I will 0£
course I always would crazy as my brother is I've done little else
since I was born and my wi£e she says "I can't figure it out I can't
see why you always have to be babyin that old £001he ain't never
done nothin £or you God knows and you got enough to do here
fields need plowin it's a bad enough year already my God and now
that red-eyed brother 0£ yours wingin around like a damn cloud and
not knowin what in the world he's doin buildin a damn boat in the
country my God what next? you're a damn £001 I tell you" but
SEVEN EXEMPLARY F1C'nONS
93
packsme some sandwichesjust the sameand some sandwiches£or
my brother Lord know~Jhiswife don't have no truck with him no
more sayshe can go starve £or all shecaresshe's£ed up ever since
the time he made her sit out on a hillside £or three whole days rain
and everything becausehe said she'd seeGod and she didn't see
nothin and in £act she like to die £rom hunger nothin but berries
and his boystoo they ain't sobright neither but at leastthey cometo
help him out with his damn boat so it ain't just the two 0£us thank
God £orthat and it ain't no goddamn fishin boat he wants to put up
neither in £actit's the biggest damn thing I ever heard of and £or
weeks weeks I'm tellin you we ain't doin nothin but cuttin down
pine trees and haulin them out to his field which is really pretty
high up a hill and my God that's work lemme tell you and ~y wife
she sighs and saysI am really crazy r-e-a-l-l-y crazy and her £our
months with a child and tryin to do my work and hers too and still
when I come home from haulin timbers around all day she'sgot
enoughle£tto rub my shouldersand the small 0£my back and fix a
hot meal her long black hair pulled to a knot behind her head and
hangin marvelously down her back her eyesgentle but very tired
my God and I saysto my brother I says"look I got a lotta work to
do buddy you'll have to finish this idiot thing yoursel£I wanna help
you all I can you know that but" and he looks off and he says"it
don't matter none your work" and I says "the hell it don't how
you think me and my wi£e we're gonna eat I mean where do you
think this £ood comesfrom you been puttin away man? you can't
eat this goddamn boat out here ready to rot in that bastardsun" and
he just sighslong and says"no it just don't matter" and he sits him
down on a rock kinda tired like and staresoff and looks like he
might even£or God's sakecry and so I go back to bringin wood up
to him and he's already started on the keel and frame God knows
how he ever£oundout to build a damn boat lost in his £ogwhere he
is Lord he was twenty when I was born and the first thing I
rememberwas havin to lead him around so he didn't get kicked by
a damn mule him who couldn't never do nothin in a normal way
just a huge oversize£Uzzy£aceboy so anyway I take to gettin up a
94
PRICKSONGS & DESCANTS
£ew hours earlier ever day to do my £armin my wi£e apt to lose the
baby i£ she should keep pullin around like she was doin then I go to
work on the boat until sundown and on and on the days hot and
dry and my wi£e keepin good £ood in me or else I'd 0£ dropped sure
and no matter what I say to try and get out of it my brother he says
"you come and help now the rest don't matt~r" and we just keep
hammerin away and my God the damn thing is big enough £or a
hundred people and at least I think at least it's a place to live and
not too bad at that at least it's good for somethin but my wife she
just sighs and says no good will come of it and runs her hands
through my hair but she don't ask me to stop helpin no more
because she knows it won't do no good and she's kinda turned into
hersel£ now these days and gettin hersel£ all ready and still we keep
workin on that damn thing that damn boat and the days pass and
my brother he says we gotta work harder we ain't got much time
and £rom time to time he gets a coupla neighbors to come over and
give a hand them sucked in by the size and the novelty 0£ the thing
makin jokes some but they don't stay around more than a day or
two and they go away shakin their heads and swearin under their
breath and disgusted they got weaseled into the thing in the first
place and me I only get about hal£ my place planted and see to my
stock as much as I can my wi£e she takes more care 0£ them than I
can but at least we won't starve we say i£ we just get some rain and
finally we get the damn thing done all finished by God and we
cover it in and out with pitch and put a kinda £ancy roo£ on it and I
come home on that last day and I ain't never goin back ain't netler
gonna let him talk me into nothin again and I'm all smellin 0£ tar
and my wife she cries and cries and I says to her not to worry no
more I'll be home all the time and me I'm cryin a little too though
she don't notice just thinkin how she's had it so lonely and hard and
all and £or one whole day I just sleep the whole damn day and the
rest 0£ the week I work around the £arm and one day I get an idea
and I go over to my brother's place and get some pieces 0£ wood le£t
over and whaddaya know ? they are all livin on that damn boat
there in the middle 0£ nowhere him and his boys and some women
SEVEN EXEMPLARY F1CTIONS
()~
and my brother's wife she'sthere too but she'smadder than hell and
carpin at him to get outa that damn boat and come home and he
saysshe'sgot just one more day and then he'sgonna drug her on the
boat but he don't say it like a threat or nothin more like a fact a
plain fact tomorrow he's gonna drug her on the boat well I ain't one
to get mixed up in domestic quarrels God knows so I grab up the
wood and beat it back to my farm and that evenin I make a little
cradle a kinda fancy one with little animal figures cut in it and
polished down and after supper I give it to my wi£e as a surprise
and she cries and cries and holds me tight and saysdon't never go
away again and stay closeby her and all and I £eelso damn good
and warm about it all and glad the boat thing is over and we get out
a little wine and we decide the baby's name is gonna be either
Nathaniel or Anna and so we drink an extra cup to Nathaniel's
health and we laugh and we sigh and drink one to Anna and my
wife she gently fingers the little animal figures and says they're
beauti£ul and really they ain't I ain't much good at that sorta thing
but I know what she meansand then she says"where did you get
the wood?" and I says"it's left over from the boat" and she don't
say nothin for a moment and then she says"you been over there
again today?" and I says"yes just to get the wood" and she says
"what's he doin now he's got the boat done?" and I says"£unny
thing they're all living in the damn thing all except the old lady
she'sover there hollerin at him how he's gettin senile and where
doeshe think he's sailin to and how if he ain't afraid of runnin into
a octypusson the way he oughta get back home and him sayin she's
a nut there ain't no water and her sayin that's what she'sbeen tellin
him £or six months" and my wi£e she laughs and it's the happiest
laugh I've heard £rom her in half a year and I laugh and we both
have another cup.0£wine and my wi£e shesays"so he'sjust livin on
that big thing all by hisse1£?"and I says"no he's got his boys on
there and someyoung women who are maybe wives 0£ the boys or
somethin I don't know 1.ain't never seenthem before and all kindsa
damn animals and birds and things I ain't never seenthe likes" and
my wife shesays"animals? what animals?" and I says"oh all kinds
96
PRICKSONGS & DESCANTS
I don't know a whole damn menagerie all clutterin and stinkin up
the boat God what a mess" and my wife laughs again and she's a
little silly with the wine and she says"1 bet he ain't got no pigs" and
"oh yes I seen them" I says and we laugh thinkin about pigs rootin
around in that big tub and she says "I bet he ain't got no jackdaws"
and I says "yes I seen a couple of them too or mostly I heard them
you couldn't hardly hear nothin else" and we laugh again thinkin
about them crows and his old lady and the pigs and all and my wife
she says "I know what he ain't got I bet he ain't got no lice" and we
both laugh like crazy and when I can I says "oh yes he does less he's
took a bath" and we both laugh till we're cryin and we finish off the
wine and my wife says "look now I know what he ain't got he ain't
got no termites" and I says"you're right I don't recollect no termites
maybe we oughta make him a present" and my wife she holds me
close quiet all of a sudden and says "he's really movin Nathaniel's
really movin" and she puts my hand down on her round belly and
the little fella is kickin up a terrific storm and I says kinda anxious
"does it hurt? do you think that-?" and "no" she says "it's good"
she says and so I says with my hand on her belly "here's to you
Nathaniel" and we drain what's left in the bottom of our cups and
the next day we wake up in each other's arms and it's rainin and
thank God we say arid since it's rainin real good we stay inside and
do things around the place and we're happy because the rain has
come just in time and in the evenin things smell green and fresh
and delicious and it's still rainin a little but not too hard so I decide
to take a walk and I wander over by my brother's place thinkin I'll
ask him if he'd like to take on some pet termites to go with his
collection and there by God is his wife on the boat and I don't know
if he drug her on or if she just finally come by herself but she ain't
sayin nothin which is damn unusual and the boys they ain't sayin
no thin neither and my brother he ain't sayin nothin they're just all
standin up there on top and gazin off and I holler up at them "nice
rain ain't it?" and my brother he looks down at me standin there in
the rain and still he don't say nothin but he raises his hand kinda
funny like and then PUts it back on the rail and I decide not to say
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]