by Jon Fosse
Just step inside and say hello to Gunvor, she’ll be so glad to see you two, he says
and Gudleiv turns around and starts up the gravel path and it crunches as he walks and Asle holds Sister’s hand tight and almost drags her with him up the path after Gudleiv who’s walking ahead of them with his hat
Yes, it’s so nice to see you, he says
It’s certainly a surprise, he says
But it’s always nice to get unexpected visitors, he says
and he opens the front door and he says
Yes, welcome, he says
Welcome to our home, he says
and then he calls inside to Gunvor, come here, we have some surprise guests, he calls and he says that Asle and Sister should come inside and Asle goes in and he’s holding Sister’s hand and he almost drags her in after him and then he sees Gunvor walking over to them, and she’s leaning on a cane
No, how nice, she says
If it isn’t Asle and Alida come to visit, she says
You two have never been to The Knoll before, she says
But do come in, she says
and Gunvor turns and goes into the living room and Gudleiv shuts the front door and says they should go in and Asle says that Sister’s dress isn’t entirely clean and Gudleiv says yes he can see that, yes, even if his sight is pretty bad he can still see that well enough, he says and Asle says Sister just had to go stand in a mud puddle on the country road and splash around even though he said she shouldn’t because her dress would get dirty, but still she kept doing it, he says
Little kids are like that, Gunvor says
But I can wipe off the worst of it, she says
and Sister looks down and she tugs a little at Asle’s hand, as if she wanted them to leave, and he squeezes her hand and she says ow and Gudleiv asks if something is wrong? and both Asle and Sister shake their heads and she says no no nothing’s wrong
It’s nothing, Asle says
and Gudleiv says they should take their boots off and come in and Asle lets go of Sister’s hand and they pull off their boots and put the two pairs of boots down next to each other
It’s always a good idea to wear boots in weather like this, Gudleiv says
and Asle sees Gudleiv take his shoes off and then he puts on a pair of slippers
Come here little girl, Gunvor says
and Sister goes over to Gunvor and Gunvor holds her hand out to Sister and says her name is Gunvor and Sister says her name is Alida
Nice to meet you, Gunvor says
You too, Sister says
and Asle goes over to Sister and he sees that Gunvor is holding her cane with one hand and Sister’s hand with her other hand, and she pushes open a door with the cane and then Gunvor and Sister walk through it and Asle sees Gunvor run some water into the sink and pick up a washcloth and wet it and then she starts wiping the dirt off Sister’s dress and Gunvor says it’s not so easy, is it, she says, but she should be able to clean off the worst of it, down by the hem, Gunvor says and Gudleiv tells Asle they should go into the living room and then Gudleiv opens the living room door and says come in come in and Asle goes in and Gudleiv says he should have a seat on the sofa and Asle goes and sits down on one end of the sofa, and then he sees Gunvor come in with Sister and Gunvor is holding her hand and she says Sister should have a seat on the sofa, next to Asle, and now they’ll go see if they have something to offer their guests, Gunvor says and she looks at Gudleiv
Yes, maybe you two would like something to drink? Gudleiv says
Do you like soft drinks? he says
and both Sister and Asle nod
Yes, that’d be great, Asle says
and Sister nods and she says yes and Gudleiv says he didn’t think they’d like soft drinks
Really, are you sure you like soft drinks? Gunvor says
Yes, Asle says
Yes, Sister says
Well I’ll go see what we have, Gudleiv says
and then he opens a door and disappears from the living room
He’s checking to see if we have any in the kitchen, Gunvor says
I think we have a bottle, she says
and Gunvor sits down in an easy chair and leans her cane against the chair and Asle sees that there’s a huge loom in the living room, it takes up almost half the room, and it looks like a double loom, like two looms facing opposite directions pushed together
Yes, there are our looms, Gunvor says
We sit there and weave, one on each side, Gudleiv and me, she says
We weave the ribbons on folk costumes, the ones that hang down from the belt in the front of the apron, they’re called lap bands, Gunvor says
Yes, Asle says
Lap bands, Sister says
You two have probably never really noticed those bands, have you? she says
and both Asle and Sister shake their heads
Folk costumes, Sister says
Yes, the kind women wear when they’re really trying to look nice, Gunvor says
and then they don’t say anything and then Gudleiv comes in and he’s shaking his head and he says he was so sure there was some soda in the kitchen, two bottles at least, but no, there wasn’t even one, he says and Gunvor says that’s strange and then Gudleiv says he’ll go down to the cellar and look there, maybe there’s some soda there, he’s almost sure there is, he says
There must be some soda in the cellar, Gunvor says
and then Gudleiv opens a door and leaves the room and Gunvor points at the door and says that behind that door there are stairs going down to the cellar and she says yes, she and Gudleiv weave those ribbons for the folk costumes, she says, and that’s how they make the money they need, she says, and when Gudleiv comes back upstairs he can look for a finished lap band so that they can see how it looks, Gunvor says and Asle says that would be great and then Gudleiv is standing in the door holding a bottle of fizzy lemonade in his hand and he goes and puts the bottle down on the coffee table in front of Asle and Sister, right between them, and then he goes and shuts the door they use to get to the cellar and then he goes out to the kitchen and comes back in with two glasses and he puts one in front of each of them and then takes a bottle opener and takes the cap off and Asle thinks where did that bottle opener come from? the man named Gudleiv must have been holding it in his fist? he thinks and then Gudleiv pours a little soda into each glass and says enjoy and both Asle and Sister say thank you and then Gunvor says she hopes they like it and then Asle and Sister raise their glasses and drink and Asle thinks it tastes unbelievably good, he must have been really thirsty, and he drinks up all the soda in the glass and he puts the glass down and Gunvor tells Gudleiv that she told them they could see a lap band and then Gudleiv goes and gets one and hands it to Gunvor and she lays it out on the coffee table and Gudleiv smooths it down on the table and Gunvor says so that’s what it looks like, a lap band for folk costumes, she says and Asle looks at the colours and the pattern and he has no words for what he is seeing and the colours and pattern lodge in his mind at once and no, he never knew, he never would have believed it possible that a piece of weaving could be so beautiful, he’d seen Mother or Grandmother in folk costumes probably lots of times and he never really thought the costume was especially nice but now that he’s seen the lap band laid out in front of him, now that he’s seen the colours, and seen the pattern, yes, he’s seeing something he’s never seen before, one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen, Asle thinks and Gunvor asks if he thinks it looks nice and Asle says it’s one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen, yes, and he can’t believe they made it, it must be really hard to make that, Asle says and Sister says she thinks it’s beautiful too and she’s also drunk her whole glass of soda and she puts her glass down on the table and then Gudleiv asks if they want a little more soda and both of them nod and then he pours the rest of the soda into the glasses, first Sister’s, then Asle’s
And that’s the end of the soda, Gudleiv says
But it was good w
hile it lasted, right? Gunvor says
It tasted really good, Asle says
Yes, Sister says
and she picks up the glass right away and drinks
I guess you do like soft drinks, don’t you, Gudleiv says
and Sister drinks the whole glass and then she says yes quietly and puts the glass down on the table
You can have more the next time you come see us, Gudleiv says
and Asle drinks a little soda too and then he looks at Gunvor and he says again that the lap band is really beautiful and Gunvor says it made her swell up inside when he said it was the most beautiful thing he’s seen in his whole life, she says and Gudleiv says you have a good eye, Asle my boy, a good sense of things, he says and then there’s a knock at the door and Gudleiv says he’ll go open it
Your mother must have seen that you’d come down here and now she wants to fetch you, Gunvor says then
and both Asle and Sister look down at the ground
She doesn’t know you’re here? Gunvor says
No, Asle says
But she must be worried about you? Gunvor says
and neither Asle nor Sister say anything
You just came? Gunvor says
Without permission? she says
and there’s no answer
Then you need to go home right away, she says
Your mother must be wondering where you are, she says
I bet she’s worried about you, Gunvor says
Maybe, Asle says
Yes, Gunvor says
But it was nice of you to come, and you’ll have to come see us again soon, and when you do you need to tell your mother or father where you’re going, she says
Yes, Asle says
and Asle sees Gudleiv come in and next to him is a big tall man with a giant belly and he’s totally bald and Asle thinks he’s The Bald Man that children need to watch out for, both Mother and Father have said that, and they’ve said that Asle must never go with him, either in his car or into his house, Asle thinks and Gunvor tells Gudleiv that their mother doesn’t know where they are, they just came here, so it would be best if they went home right away, Gunvor says and Gudleiv says no, no, that’s not what he thought
In that case they need to go home right away, Gudleiv says
Promise me you will, Gunvor says
and Asle and Sister get up and The Bald Man sits down on the sofa
And I also have to thank you for dropping by to see us and I hope I’ll see you again soon, Gunvor says
Thank you for the soda, Asle says
Yes, thank you, Sister says
It was nothing, Gunvor says
and then Gudleiv says yes, they must come by again, it was so nice to have such nice children over for a visit, but when they do they must must promise to tell their mother where they’re going, he says and then Gudleiv takes them out into the hall and they put their boots on
Thank you for the soda, Asle says
There’s no need to thank us, it was nothing, Gudleiv says
Thank you for the soda, Sister says
There’ll be more for you the next time you drop by, Gudleiv says
and then Sister puts her hand in Asle’s hand
We hope to see you again soon, Gudleiv says
Yes, please do come and visit us, he says
But only if you’ve told your parents first, Mother or Father, he says
and he opens the front door and Asle and Sister go outside
Bye, Asle says
Bye, Sister says
Goodbye, Gudleiv says
and then he shuts the door and then Asle and Sister stand there outside the little blue house and Asle says that the tall fat bald man who came over is the one they call The Bald Man, yes, he’s heard that many times
The Bald Man? Sister says
and both Mother and Father said that children have to watch out for him, he says
Watch out for him? Sister says
Yes, Asle says
Never get into a car with him, or go home with him if he asks you to, he says
and Sister doesn’t say anything and then she and Asle go up the path with the gravel and they get to the country road
I want to go home now, Sister says
and they start walking along the side of the road and then they hear a car and they turn around and then they see a car coming up from Old Mound and they stop and stay perfectly still and the car drives past them
Or maybe we could go down to The Beach? Asle says
But we’re not allowed to, Sister says
I know, Asle says
We need to go home, Sister says
No we’ll go down to the water, Asle says
Why should we go right home? he says
There’s nothing to do there, he says
I can play with my dolls, Sister says
and then they stay there standing at the side of the road
No let’s go down to The Beach, he says
and Asle thinks that he’s done it so many times but Sister’s never once been to The Beach with him ever, she’s never stood right at the edge of The Fjord and looked out at the water, and she’s never seen The Boathouse, or The Rowboat, he thinks, and it’ll be nice for Sister to see those things, he thinks, he himself has seen them so many times because he’s constantly going down to the water, even if Mother tells him he’s not allowed to, yes, maybe he doesn’t go down to The Beach every day but he does go pretty often, and Mother doesn’t notice, she probably thinks he’s playing somewhere or other around the farm, maybe in The Barn, and that’s why Mother hasn’t yelled at him, but Sister has probably never been down to the water with him? no, it’s never happened, and she’s too little, Sister, and plus he knows she won’t like being on The Beach, but maybe she would like it? maybe she would think it’s beautiful to stand by The Fjord and look out at the water? and maybe they can go out onto The Dock and look at The Rowboat? he thinks
But Mother says we can’t, Sister says
I know, Asle says
So we can’t go down to The Beach? she says
But I go down to the water all the time, Asle says
and then they just stand there and then Sister says she wants to go home and then Asle says no they’re going down to The Beach, no matter what Mother says, because Sister’s never once been there, has she? he says and Sister says can they really just do that? and Asle says they can do whatever they want and then they go over to the path leading down the hill to The Boathouse
It’s exciting inside The Boathouse, Asle says
Do you want to go inside it? he says
It’s scary, Sister says
No it’s not, Asle says
and he holds Sister’s hand tight and they start down the path to The Boathouse and Asle thinks he really hopes Mother doesn’t see them now, because then she’d come running after them and then they’d be yelled at double, both for Sister getting her dress dirty and for doing something they’re absolutely not allowed to do, going down to the water, to The Boathouse, The Beach, The Fjord, The Dock, The Rowboat, they’re going to see everything they’re not allowed to go see, Asle thinks and Sister says no she doesn’t want to she doesn’t dare and she stops and Asle tugs at her hand and she says he needs to stop
Let go, let go of my hand, Sister says
and Asle lets go of her hand and then they stand there on the path leading down to The Boathouse and Asle looks at the roof of The Boathouse with the grey stones and he knows they’re called slate, Father told him, slate, and one stone is laid on the roof against another with a little of each one on top of another one, and the roof of The Boathouse is a play of grey colours, he thinks, it’s almost unbelievable that there are so many different greys, Asle thinks, and plus they look so different depending on what the weather’s like, when the sun is shining it almost looks like there are just two grey colours but the shadows are lots of different grey tones, because the colours are always sort of moving and at the same time it’s like they
’re resting, yes, the colours are moving at rest and resting in motion, Asle thinks and that’s not to mention the walls of The Boathouse, the siding has turned totally grey and the cracks in the wood give it so many different grey colours, Asle thinks and he says that The Boathouse is grey but it’s also so many different colours of grey that don’t have names and Sister says yes and he holds her hand tight because it’s almost enough to scare you that there are so many different kinds of grey, and so many kinds of the other colours, like the ones called blue, just blue, but there must be thousands of different blue colours, thousands, at least, no there are so many that you can’t even count them, Asle thinks
And blue, you know, there are so many blues that you can’t even count them, he says
Yes, Sister says
Blue, she says
The sky is blue, she says
Sometimes, Asle says
But today it’s grey too, he says
And it almost always is, he says
Yes grey, Sister says
The sky is grey and The Boathouse is grey, the stones on the roof are grey and the walls of The Boathouse are grey, but you see how they’re such different greys? he says
and Sister nods
You see that? he says
Yes, Sister says
But it doesn’t bother you, he says
No, she says
We can go into The Boathouse if you want? he says
But isn’t it scary? Sister says
It must be so dark in there? she says
and Asle says does she see the hatch there in the side of The Boathouse? the side right in front of them? and does she see that rusty hook there? it’s so they can open the hatch and go into The Boathouse, he says and Sister says she doesn’t want to go into The Boathouse
No, all right, Asle says
and then they go around the corner of The Boathouse and they go down the path around the boathouse to the front corner of the building and then Sister says it’s scary, she doesn’t know if she’s brave enough to do it and Asle says that if they just go a little farther then Mother won’t be able to see them from home but then they can see The Beach and The Fjord and The Dock and The Rowboat and Sister stops, and then Asle stops too, so now they’re both standing there, he and Sister, and she’s in her dress all covered with mud