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h d abroad W ildness sign ifi ed in ti-

1

,;.::ted in my prese nce , both at c Ol ~e tae nset 'In fr~nt o f her dre ssing tabl e,

- L, , Y s m

V

wile as s ~ 0 d

. --m -ac Y secr ecy, es, 1 . h irb h wi th a repeate motion

r 1 smg

t

le aIr rus V>

i ;~ r ev e s fixed on the look ing g as s, p~ s ild as the soli tarv ~hopping forward

L]I'erh er lo ng , loose

hai r,

wa s \ust t: ve

Io-;

com in g ~l Jt in to a clearing and

I

,

no a su n-fi lled furrow .or th e ,u I,~ Sh 'as w ild b ecau se

I,

as

I

looked

J

o ~ d b

f

unmnz

on

e

wa -

h

top p

in

o

to look ar oun e ore r ' h' he would give a last stroke W It

' to foresee

w

en sne w __

' t her could nev er m an ag e -' _ d' ,old tc s uc h a d ea re e t ha t s om et im es

J - ise and towar me; W I 0 d h

the hairbrush

and

me an come h

II

f he r floa ting in the air, wou l ave

we nt in to our bedroom t

e srne

0 .,' ,

1\hen, f h ' id qu ality o f a wdd beast s f . _

somethmg 0 t e w--_ '

w ild tamer had had a fox, a qua il, ill ~he

G raduallv she became less , ali d th t 1 had a hen . W hat effect

. d th O le day I re ize a ,

house as I hav e sal ; en I , h it? It has the effect of being, so to

e wh o watc es d

does a hen

have

on so meo n f f b d- au to matic are the brief ,

rap:

steps

speak an au tomaton the

orrn

a a I~t' h.

d

terse

oeckinz:

au tomatic the

b t automatic I

S

ar, -- ,,_ - ~ -

d

1\ ith whi ch It m oves a au, head that nods an d turns ; aut omatic It s rea y ,

lance of the rou nd eves in It s ati th dropp ing of the egg wherev er It

d the cock au toma IC e Ide d 4-

cr ou chin g down un er that the eg a has been arc.

00 - _ _~

0 / L

-- h 'h ch It ann ounces ' h ~

7 .,0

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~J ki ng a w alk o n her ow n account. A ll this I perceive d by intuition. noticing

thJt at the very moment \\ hen he stepp ed forw ard and too k her arm her wildnes s

hJd. so to spea k, given an upw ard bound, It was ye ar s sinc e I had see n my wife

so aliv e.

bu t alas , th e sou~ce of this lif e c ou ld not be traced to m e. it 1lL/

Th e;' walk~ on thu s en tW iJeIa an d then, without an y preliminarQ'; , just like

tw o wild anim als, th ey did an unexp ected thing : th ey w ent into one of the dark

/01/rj) ?./tt

do orways in ord er to ki ss .

I

stopped and w atched the m from a di st ance , peerin .~k

. e v o { _ _ ]

into th e da rkn ess of the entrance. M y wi fe w as t ur ned aw ay from me an d wa s

bending ba ck w ith the press ur of hi s b od ]' , her hair hanging free . I loo ked at

that long , thick ma ne of brow n hair, wh ich as she leaned b ack fe ll free of her

sh ou ld er s. a nd I fe lt at that m om ent he r v itali ty reach ed its iapa so n. just as

happens w ith w ild anim als \\h (1I the y couple and their customary wildness is

red oubled bv the vi olence of love. I watched for a long tim e a nd th en, since

thi s kis s wen t on and on and in fact seem ed to be prolon ged beyond the, lim its

of my power of endurance ,

I

sa w th at Iwould

hav e

to in teJ \e n_ .\h-\.e)\\ n

A _ @ - -J J ) e 5 S - -

I would have to go forward( sei ze rny wi fe by the arm -or actually b y t ha t

\ } : J

hair. wh ich hung down and conv ey ..CDo we ll the feeling of f em inine passivity

J.,~ G then h ur l my se lf w i th clenched fu ts_ up on the blond yo ung man. Af ter th is

,) en co un ter

I

wou ld c arry off

rnv

wife , w eep in g. mortified, ashamed, while

I

as

~ ~_ and broken -h ea rte d. uPQ[ajd in _g h er and pouring scorn upo n her .

1

B ut w ha t else would this interve ntion am ount to bu t the shot my f at he r f ired

at that fr ee . unknowing bir d as it perch ed on the boug h? The disorder and

confusion. the mortifi ca tion. the shame, that w ould fo llow would irreparably

d es tr oy t he rar e and prec ious mome nt of w ildness that I was w itnes sing inside

the dark doo rw ay.

It

was tru e that thi s

wildness

was dire cted against me; bu t

I

I

il l

had to remember that w ild ness, alw ays and everyw here. is directed, ag ainst

, { everything and everybody . Af ter the sce ne of m y intervention it m ight be po ssib le

fo r m e to r_egajn .control of rn v wi fe, but I sh ou ld find her shattered and lifeless

in my arm s lik e th e b ird that my fath er plac ed in my han d so that Imigh t

th row it into th e shooting

bag.

Th e kiss went on an d on: well. it was a kiss of pa ss io n-that could not be

den ied .

I

wa it ed u nt il th ey finished. until

th ev

cam e ou t of th e

doorwav.

un til

the y walk ed on ag ain still 'linked togeth er. Th~n J tu rn ed back, .

ALBERTO MOR. WI,,\ 651

an d [ saw that th e bu s w as the un der row th .: h .'

the bird perching on the bough w h ile I W it Its bu shes and trees, m y w i f e

eyes . A nd the whole tow n during thi; , un~ee~, w atched It living before my

fac t of na ture like the countrvside. h pursuit, eca~e, as th ough by magic, a

ve hicl es hedges and woo'ds ' d~ ' t

e

hOhuseswere

hills,

th e stre ets vall ev s th e

,an even tepa b h . ,

som ething unpredictable and autonomous-th s:cr s- ~l;n tb e pavements ha d

my mouth , behind my cle nched teeth th a IS, ~I -~ out them . An d in

gunfire ; and my eyes, u sua lly l is tl es s and waerJ ~as th~dacbnd, metalli c taste of

ful , att ent ive . _ n enng. a eco rn e sharp, wa tch -

These eve s wer e fixe d in t tl

he

ex i

en d of its ;un. A nu~ber o~n Y up

I

on t e exit door w hen the bu s came to th e

O

.

peop e got out and then Is ' .:c .

out. nee again I recogniz ed in th '. aw my

wire

gett mg

crowd and star ted of f toward a ' neig h: r: lan ner

In

whic~ she br ok e fr ee of the

s o m uc h. I jum ped out of the car an;~t:~t:: ~:~iot\~ '~nwl~dne ss that pleas ed me

She w as w alking

In

fro nt of m e i norant f g er.

an elegant figure

12lli:

le gg e_d ,g

hi

ad my pr esence, a tall w om an w ith

fallin g o n her sh;uTder s~ . - _., ~~ - 3s broad-backed. her b row n hai r

M en turned around as sh e w ent ast rh a

mys elf w as now sensing w ith _. t

P .'

peh ps they were aware of w hat I

311 In

ensitv t at . k d h

heart and took my br eath aw ay th e u t' .

qu ic

en e t

e

beating of

my

h

. nres

ricted

steadily ' ' .

c aracter of her mvsterious wi ld~ r. - .

.-1

I l lcreasmg.lrres lsttble

S l

'. ness. ()