the Chase Alberto moravia
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Transcript of the Chase Alberto moravia
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h d abroad W ildness sign ifi ed in ti-
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,;.::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
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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.
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0 / L
-- h 'h ch It ann ounces ' h ~
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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
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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 .
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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. - .
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I l lcreasmg.lrres lsttble
S l
'. ness. ()