The Other Name

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