by Sjón
As he climbed, he noted with surprise how nimbly the beast scampered up the steep steps, while he himself had to concentrate hard on finding them in the gloom. Once they reached the top, there followed a succession of narrow, lightless passages, leading into ever darker and narrower ways. Finally, after a long wandering this way and that – the darkness so thick at times that the man was blindly dependent on the panting of the dog – they came to a spiral staircase that wound up to an ancient-looking landing. At the top, there was a single door, through which the dog showed the man into the fabled pentagonal chamber that he had gone to all this trouble to visit: the Club des amateurs.
When the dog had pushed the door shut behind him with its broad snout, the man was left speechless. His breathing was suddenly so shallow that he couldn’t make a sound – not even a cry of admiration or a stifled exclamation of wonder – so overwhelmed was he by the size of the tower room (it was so small!) and by the vast throng of finely intermeshed vowels and consonants that his predecessors had left behind within its walls.
All the countless words that had formed in the minds of the previous guests of the Club des amateurs and been rendered audible using the speech organs they’d carried in their mouths and throats since birth – or made visible with their hands, like the imaginary English butler – hovered within the five walls of the room, like motes of dust, momentarily illuminated as they floated through the ray of green afternoon light that filtered in through a crack in the shutter, piercing the darkness like a razor slicing through black silk. He moved closer to the tantalising swarm of glowing motes and laid his left ear to it.
“The voices” were so infinitesimally small that it was as if, rather than hearing them, the man experienced them with all his senses, as if every shimmering particle that floated past his ear were captured like an image in his consciousness and that image called forth a sentence – a contribution towards keeping the company going, a share of the common purpose, a testament to each and every one – or a declaration, perhaps, perceptible to his finely tuned mental ear:
We’re amateurs at breathing.
Amateurs at walking.
Amateurs at distinguishing colour.
We’re amateurs at rubbing our noses.
Amateurs at twisting a lock of hair.
Amateurs at drinking apple juice.
We’re amateurs at watching the sun go down.
Amateurs at biting our nails.
Amateurs at waking up in the morning.
We’re amateurs at sneezing.
Amateurs at cracking our knuckles.
Amateurs at tying green ribbons.
We’re amateurs at combing our hair.
Amateurs at drawing nanny-goats.
Amateurs at clenching our toes.
The man was flooded with a sense of pure joy. Seized with such an overpowering euphoria that a lump rose to his throat. The tinkling round made by the microscopic particles was a composition he had long yearned to hear. With every new line of the song he felt his yoke lifting.
We’re amateurs at singing.
Amateurs at boiling an egg.
Amateurs at throwing dice.
We’re amateurs at expressing our affection.
Amateurs at banging pots and pans.
Amateurs at moving chairs from room to room.
And then it happened. The amateur particles were drawn to his body like iron filings to a magnet – he was seized with a tingling sensation, an unquenchable but nameless desire, a combination of fear and laughter, only equalled by the feeling that had fused his mind and flesh at the moment of his first climax with another human being – and settled on his shoes and feet, formed lines on every hair on his head and cheeks, covered his face and hands, all the time adding to their list of all the things we’re born to perform with as much affection and care as we can while never learning to do them properly.
We’re amateurs …
The door creaked behind the man. A draught blew through the room. The unexpected gust swept the thin layer of countless ‘declarations’ off his body.
Without a moment’s hesitation he followed them into the air. His body whirled apart like a dust cloud whipped up from dry sand. He became one with his fellow members of the Club des amateurs, became what he had always longed to be: an amateur among amateurs.
Out on the landing, the mongrel gave a hoarse bark.
* * *
‘Or is that what dying will be like?’
* * *
Aleta never heard Jósef Loewe’s final words on the tape. Having found the brown envelope in Čapek’s book and thanked Jósef with a kiss on the forehead for everything, for their conversations, the coffee, the brandy and the parting gift that wasn’t to be opened until she got home, she mounted her bike on the corner of Ingólfsstræti and Amtmannsstígur, and went coasting down the hill, turning left at the next corner into Thingholtsstræti, then pedalling along to the next corner where she sailed downhill again, this time to the corner of Bókhlödustígur and Laufásvegur where she turned left again, passing the building that had once housed Hrafn W. Karlsson’s stamp shop, then pedalling south until she reached the corner of Njardargata and let herself coast for the third time, winging her way down the road heading straight for the Music Pavilion Park and from there to the foot and cycle bridge that crosses busy Hringbraut and brings you to the Vatnsmýri wetlands, then followed the cycle path past the bird sanctuary to the CoDex headquarters. There she handed in the dictaphone, the questionnaire completed with the basic facts about Jósef Loewe and the tapes recording his oral account.
The following morning saw Aleta back at Ingólfsstræti, this time to return the gift. She couldn’t accept such a precious object, especially not from a disabled man who had trouble telling the difference between fiction and reality. But just as she approached the house from below, an ambulance drove away from it above, taking Jósef to the institution from which he would never return. For a while she debated whether to ask one of his upstairs neighbours to look after the treasure or else to post it through the letterbox. But a treasure that is too precious to be accepted cannot be entrusted to strangers or left lying on the hall floor in an empty basement flat. Which is how Aleta came to own an envelope with coarsely perforated two-shilling stamps and finely perforated four-shilling franks, posted in Djúpivogur but postmarked in Hamburg. The combination of stamps, place of origin and postmark were so rare that she would be able to live on the proceeds for a whole year without a care in the world. The next twelve months would be the most important in her life. By the end of that time, her metamorphosis from Avel ‘the ephemeral’ to Aleta ‘the winged one’ would be complete.
The day the payment came through from the Bruun-Rasmussen auction house in Copenhagen, Aleta went to visit the graves of Jósef and Leo Loewe in Fossvogur Cemetery. There she laid a pebble by each headstone and lit two candles, one for Marie-Sophie, the other for Brynhildur Helgadóttir, and stuck them in the soil between father and son.
Finally she lit a stick of incense for the holy archangel Gabriel – holding it between her fingers as it burned with the sweet scent of lilies and the smoke curled up into the cool, rainy April sky – for he is the patron saint of the postal service.
The Dance
Girl: 12 January 1962 –✝13 January 1962, Girl: 13 January 1962 –✝13 January 1962, Girl: 21 January 1962 –✝21 January 1962, Boy: 24 February 1962 –✝27 February 1962, Boy: 1 March 1962 –✝14 April 1962, Girl: 13 May 1962 –✝14 May 1962, Girl: 13 May 1962 –✝17 May 1962, Girl: 5 May 1962 –✝21 May 1962, Boy: 7 May 1962 –✝25 May 1962, Girl: 19 May 1962 –✝26 May 1962, Girl: 27 May 1962 –✝27 May 1962, Girl: 28 May 1962 –✝29 May 1962, Boy: 22 June 1962 –✝23 June 1962, Boy: 27 June 1962 –✝30 June 1962, Boy: 10 February 1962 –✝11 July 1962, Girl: 30 April 1962 –✝11 July 1962, Boy: 10 February 1962 –✝16 July 1962, Boy: 16 July 1962 –✝16 July 1962, Boy: 9 July 1962 –✝18 July 1962, Girl: 19 July 1962 –✝19 July 1962, Boy: 31 July 1962 –✝31 July
1962, Girl: 1 August 1962 –✝1 August 1962, Boy: 29 March 1962 –✝3 August 1962, Boy: 9 July 1962 –✝4 August 1962, Girl: 13 February 1962 –✝7 August 1962, Boy: 1 July 1962 –✝18 August 1962, Boy: 17 August 1962 –✝20 August 1962, Girl: 3 September 1962 –✝3 September 1962, Boy: 1 October 1962 –✝6 October 1962, Boy: 18 November 1962 –✝18 November 1962, Boy: 27 November 1962 –✝27 November 1962, Boy: 18 December 1962 –✝18 December 1962, Girl: 16 December 1962 –✝23 December 1962, Boy: 19 November 1962 –✝? 1963, Girl: 27 July 1962 –✝9 February 1963, Girl: 8 August 1962 –✝14 February 1963, Girl: 30 March 1962 –✝16 February 1963, Girl: 21 October 1962 –✝3 March 1963, Boy: 1 August 1962 –✝1 April 1963, Boy: 7 June 1962 –✝4 April 1963, Girl: 27 February 1962 –✝10 April 1963, Boy: 9 February 1962 –✝15 April 1963, Boy: 11 November 1962 –✝1 May 1963, Girl: 3 December 1962 –✝14 May 1963, Girl: 30 June 1962 –✝16 May 1963, Boy: 19 July 1962 –✝8 August 1963, Boy: 11 December 1962 –✝3 October 1963, Boy: 5 February 1962 –✝26 October 1963, Girl: 29 May 1962 –✝26 October 1963, Boy: 6 May 1962 –✝14 November 1963, Boy: 14 January 1962 –✝16 July 1964, Boy: 10 February 1962 –✝4 September 1964, Boy: 30 July 1962 –✝30 September 1964, Girl: 1 July 1962 –✝18 October 1964, Boy: 10 May 1962 –✝5 January 1965, Girl: 6 August 1962 –✝18 February 1965, Girl: 4 October 1962 –✝9 October 1965, Boy: 24 June 1962 –✝14 November 1965, Boy: 9 February 1962 –✝23 December 1965, Girl: 9 August 1962 –✝13 January 1966, Boy: 29 October 1962 –✝10 July 1966, Girl: 10 November 1962 –✝20 December 1966, Boy: 8 February 1962 –✝10 January 1968, Girl: 12 January 1962 –✝18 February 1968, Boy: 7 September 1962 –✝30 September 1968, Boy: 24 August 1962 –✝8 April 1969, Boy: 22 November 1962 –✝12 May 1969, Boy: 23 December 1962 –✝26 December 1969, Boy: 24 March 1962 –✝1 October 1970, Boy: 22 February 1962 –✝17 November 1970, Girl: 7 August 1962 –✝29 January 1971, Boy: 14 March 1962 –✝10 March 1971, Boy: 16 April 1962 –✝4 April 1971, Boy: 19 June 1962 –✝10 October 1971, Boy: 15 December 1962 –✝26 December 1971, Boy: 17 June 1962 –✝12 March 1972, Boy: 10 May 1962 –✝18 January 1973, Boy: 11 October 1962 –✝30 March 1973, Boy: 7 April 1962 –✝29 January 1974, Girl: 19 April 1962 –✝26 March 1974, Boy: 23 September 1962 –✝28 August 1974, Boy: 28 December 1962 –✝7 July 1976, Girl: 10 September 1962 –✝17 November 1976, Boy: 6 December 1962 –✝1 January 1977, Boy: 22 November 1962 –✝27 June 1977, Girl: 22 July 1962 –✝28 August 1977, Boy: 31 January 1962 –✝8 January 1978, Boy: 3 May 1962 –✝17 June 1978, Boy: 6 February 1962 –✝26 July 1978, Boy: 1 May 1962 –✝5 December 1978, Boy: 15 October 1962 –✝13 May 1979, Boy: 12 July 1962 –✝8 December 1979, Boy: 13 November 1962 –✝23 October 1980, Boy: 31 May 1962 –✝14 January 1981, Girl: 14 July 1962 –✝5 September 1981, Girl: 23 May 1962 –✝23 November 1981, Boy: 5 September 1962 –✝10 January 1982, Girl: 6 June 1962 –✝30 January 1982, Boy: 3 October 1962 –✝14 March 1982, Man: 23 June 1962 –✝31 March 1983, Woman: 11 June 1962 –✝13 April 1983, Man: 2 June 1962 –✝16 November 1983, Man: 8 November 1962 –✝31 December 1983, Man: 10 April 1962 –✝11 January 1984, Man: 6 August 1962 –✝28 January 1984, Man: 5 May 1962 –✝11 March 1984, Man: 23 November 1962 –✝13 June 1984, Man: 6 December 1962 –✝18 October 1984, Man: 2 October 1962 –✝18 April 1985, Man: 30 May 1962 –✝18 November 1985, Man: 5 February 1962 –✝1 April 1986, Man: 26 April 1962 –✝22 November 1986, Man: 2 October 1962 –✝1 March 1987, Man: 9 August 1962 –✝26 October 1987, Woman: 14 June 1962 –✝29 November 1987, Man: 20 January 1962 –✝29 February 1988, Woman: 29 October 1962 –✝20 April 1989, Man: 23 September 1962 –✝23 November 1989, Man: 1 May 1962 –✝21 January 1990, Man: 22 March 1962 –✝3 May 1990, Man: 8 June 1962 –✝22 June 1990, Man: 5 March 1962 –✝25 October 1990, Man: 31 August 1962 –✝26 November 1990, Man: 9 June 1962 –✝9 October 1991, Man: 29 March 1962 –✝19 October 1991, Man: 11 January 1962 –✝28 October 1991, Man: 17 November 1962 –✝9 November 1991, Woman: 11 June 1962 –✝27 November 1992, Woman: 7 January 1962 –✝6 December 1992, Man: 13 December 1962 –✝10 October 1993, Man: 17 February 1962 –✝1 May 1994, Man: 10 April 1962 –✝24 August 1994, Man: 18 July 1962 –✝2 December 1994, Man: 13 August 1962 –✝22 February 1995, Woman: 7 July 1962 –✝25 February 1995 …
Lights come on in seven lamps on the stage floor. With a sudden hiss, smoke starts blowing from smoke machines. Black-clad stagehands go from one spotlight to the next, tipping them back to angle the beams diagonally up to meet one another. Through the haze of smoke there appear the huge silhouettes of those who are now going to meet their cohort, holding hands as if taking part in a ring dance:
Man: 4 May 1962 –✝4 August 1996
Man: 13 February 1962 –✝15 September 1996
A driver is holding the hand of a disabled person who is leading a first mate who is leading a pharmacist.
Woman: 25 February 1962 –✝16 April 1997
Man: 5 June 1962 –✝15 July 1997
Woman: 24 November 1962 –✝24 September 1997
The pharmacist is leading an embroiderer who is leading a magistrate who is leading a sailor.
Man: 29 January 1962 –✝19 January 1998
Man: 2 October 1962 –✝14 July 1998
Man: 15 March 1962 –✝14 November 1998
The sailor is leading an industrial designer who’s leading an engineer who’s leading a restaurateur.
Man: 2 December 1962 –✝4 September 1999
Man: 2 November 1962 –✝20 October 1999
Man: 31 January 1962 –✝26 October 1999
Man: 20 October 1962 –✝9 December 1999
Man: 1 October 1962 –✝21 December 1999
The restaurateur is leading a drummer who’s leading a tradesman who’s leading a nurse.
Woman: 24 June 1962 –✝5 January 2000
Man: 18 May 1962 –✝14 February 2000
Woman: 20 September 1962 –✝29 March 2000
Woman: 20 August 1962 –✝14 April 2000
Man: 6 February 1962 –✝24 May 2000
Man: 4 October 1962 –✝6 June 2000
Woman: 1 July 1962 –✝4 September 2000
Man: 7 April 1962 –✝6 July 2000
The nurse is leading a builder who’s leading a musician who’s leading a manager who’s leading a builder.
Man: 30 April 1962 –✝21 July 2001
Woman: 22 November 1962 –✝22 October 2001
The builder is leading a sailor who’s leading a doctor who’s leading a make-up artist.
Woman: 1 February 1962 –✝11 January 2002
Man: 14 August 1962 –✝10 February 2002
Woman: 17 June 1962 –✝30 April 2002
Woman: 25 April 1962 –✝5 June 2002
Man: 18 November 1962 –✝1 November 2002
Man: 8 June 1962 –✝26 December 2002
The make-up artist is leading a petty criminal who’s leading a pianist who’s leading a tinsmith.
Woman: 6 February 1962 –✝19 January 2003
Man: 19 March 1962 –✝23 May 2003
The tinsmith is leading a sales representative who’s leading a working woman who’s leading a salesman.
Woman: 1 May 1962 –✝4 February 2004
Woman: 5 July 1962 –✝7 February 2004
Woman: 19 February 1962 –✝29 April 2004
Man: 23 December 1962 –✝2 May 2004
Woman: 7 July 1962 –✝12 May 2004
Man: 27 June 1962 –✝4 June 2004
Woman: 8 October 1962 –✝14 July 2004
Man: 3 June 1962 –✝27 November 2004
The salesman is leading a carpenter who’s leading a mechanic who’s leading a nursery-school teacher.
Man: 2 January 1962 –✝10 July 2005
The nursery-school teacher is leading a driver who’s leading a chef who’s leading a vehicle-paint sprayer. The paint sprayer is leading a baiter who’s leading an electronics engineer who’s leading an artist.
Woman: 3 September 1962 –
✝9 February 2006
Woman: 13 July 1962 –✝14 May 2006
Man: 14 June 1962 –✝26 November 2006
Man: 8 April 1962 –✝30 November 2006
The artist is leading an engineer who’s leading a poet who’s leading a bank employee.
Man: 4 August 1962 –✝1 April 2007
Woman: 2 March 1962 –✝1 April 2007
Man: 20 December 1962 –✝19 April 2007
Woman: 12 April 1962 –✝23 August 2007
Man: 20 March 1962 –✝21 October 2007
Man: 27 April 1962 –✝21 November 2007
The bank employee is leading a mechanic who’s leading a farmer who’s leading a housewife.
Man: 14 August 1962 –✝7 January 2008
Woman: 22 January 1962 –✝27 January 2008
Man: 19 January 1962 –✝21 May 2008
The housewife is leading a craftswoman who’s leading a footballer who’s leading a secretary.
Man: 16 May 1962 –✝13 February 2009
Woman: 9 January 1962 –✝9 July 2009
Woman: 2 July 1962 –✝29 July 2009
Man: 26 May 1962 –✝30 August 2009
Man: 25 June 1962 –✝19 September 2009
Man: 19 July 1962 –✝31 October 2009
Man: 8 September 1962 –✝2 November 2009
The secretary is leading an overseer who’s leading a fish-factory worker who’s leading a journalist.
Man: 26 August 1962 –✝21 January 2010
Man: 11 December 1962 –✝4 April 2010
Man: 27 December 1962 –✝3 September 2010
Man: 9 November 1962 –✝25 September 2010
Man: 4 February 1962 –✝24 December 2010
Man: 3 April 1962 –✝25 December 2010
The journalist is leading an employee of the Olympic committee who’s leading a taxi driver who’s leading a pump operator.
Man: 11 April 1962 –✝20 February 2011
Man: 13 August 1962 –✝3 May 2011
Man: 15 February 1962 –✝2 July 2011
Man: 6 July 1962 –✝20 July 2011
The pump operator is leading a shop assistant who’s leading a packaging employee.