135 to 41 - "The Other Wife"
"The Other Wife"
Colette
From: Single Scene Short Stories
told in 3rd POV
orig. from The Collected Stories of Colette
story for: 6/26
What to make of this story that ends mid-sentence? But you can never really trust translations, I suppose. That's the problem, I can't run out there and learn every language in the world, but I end up not reading a lot of translated stuff because I'm just haunted by the idea that I'm missing out on the story's true meaning having to view it through a lens of language and society.
Marc and his second wife Alic are out to a fashionable lunch when he suddenly starts acting weird, dragging her away from a certain table:
Her firm, round breasts rose proudly as she leaned over the table.
"Why did you keep me from taking that place next to the window?"
Marc Sequy never considered lying. "Because you were about to sit next to someone I know."
"Someone I don't know?"
"My ex-wife."
She couldn't think of anything to say and opened her blue eyes wider.
"So what, darling? It'll happen again. It's not important."
Lovely Alice clearly has nothing to worry about, with round breasts, blue eyes and golden hair. But she and Marc stay distracted by a woman just minding her own business:
They ate and drank heartily, and each thought the other had forgotten the woman in white. Now and then, however, Alice laughed too loudly and Marc was careful about his posture, holding his shoulders back, his head up. They waited quite a long time for their coffee,in silence.
They get more and more annoyed until the end, as they leave and Alice is staring at the woman, imagining her thought. It's a first wife's dream, ruining a outing between her man and the new chippie. But it's sort of sad too, because in the end, the woman in white is still alone. Still, I thought this was more of a character sketch.
Colette
From: Single Scene Short Stories
told in 3rd POV
orig. from The Collected Stories of Colette
story for: 6/26
What to make of this story that ends mid-sentence? But you can never really trust translations, I suppose. That's the problem, I can't run out there and learn every language in the world, but I end up not reading a lot of translated stuff because I'm just haunted by the idea that I'm missing out on the story's true meaning having to view it through a lens of language and society.
Marc and his second wife Alic are out to a fashionable lunch when he suddenly starts acting weird, dragging her away from a certain table:
Her firm, round breasts rose proudly as she leaned over the table.
"Why did you keep me from taking that place next to the window?"
Marc Sequy never considered lying. "Because you were about to sit next to someone I know."
"Someone I don't know?"
"My ex-wife."
She couldn't think of anything to say and opened her blue eyes wider.
"So what, darling? It'll happen again. It's not important."
Lovely Alice clearly has nothing to worry about, with round breasts, blue eyes and golden hair. But she and Marc stay distracted by a woman just minding her own business:
They ate and drank heartily, and each thought the other had forgotten the woman in white. Now and then, however, Alice laughed too loudly and Marc was careful about his posture, holding his shoulders back, his head up. They waited quite a long time for their coffee,in silence.
They get more and more annoyed until the end, as they leave and Alice is staring at the woman, imagining her thought. It's a first wife's dream, ruining a outing between her man and the new chippie. But it's sort of sad too, because in the end, the woman in white is still alone. Still, I thought this was more of a character sketch.