Beatrice and Virgil - Yann Martel [51]
The silence in the play continued out of it. The taxidermist didn't say anything more and Henry was speechless. It wasn't just the elaborate, institutional torturing of a donkey. It was something else that arrested him, a detail about the head torturer. Beatrice described him as "a tall, raw-boned man". The second adjective was unusual enough that for a moment Henry misunderstood it; a literal and gruesome image flitted through his mind. Then he remembered its proper meaning: lean, gaunt, an absence of fleshiness. Henry dwelt on the image. A tall, raw-boned man. He glanced at the taxidermist. Perhaps it was a coincidence.
"Well, that was disturbing," Henry finally said.
The taxidermist did not reply.
"Among the characters in the play, you mention a boy and his two friends. When do they appear?" Henry asked.
"At the very end of the play."
"There's this sudden intrusion of human characters in your animal allegory."
"That's right." The taxidermist said nothing more, only looked out blankly.
"What happens with the boy?"
The taxidermist picked up some papers.
"Virgil has just finished reading out the sewing kit as they have it so far. You remember the sewing kit?"
"I do."
He read:
"They recognize the boy," the taxidermist interrupted. "The day before, in the village where they were staying, this boy had been one of the main instigators in some terrible deeds."
"Go on," Henry said.
The taxidermist read:
The taxidermist fell silent. "And that's how the play ends?" Henry said. "That's how the play ends. After that, the curtain comes down."
The taxidermist got up and walked to one of the counters. After a moment Henry followed him. The taxidermist was looking at some pages he'd neatly spread out.
"What's this?" Henry asked.
"A scene I'm working on."
"What's it about?"
"Gustav."
"Who's Gustav?"
"He's a dead, naked body that's been lying near Virgil and Beatrice's tree the whole time."
"A human body? Another human?"
"Yes."
"Lying in the open?"
"No, in some bushes. Virgil discovers him."
"They don't smell his body before that?"
"Sometimes life stinks just as much as death. They don't."
"How do they know he's called Gustav?"
"They don't. Virgil calls him that to give him a name."
"Why is he naked?"
"They figure he was told to strip and was then shot. They think the red cloth was probably his. He might have been a peddler."
"Why do they stay? After finding a dead body, wouldn't the more natural reaction be to run away?"
"They think of it as a place already plundered and now safe."
"What do they do about Gustav? Do they bury him?"
"No, they play games."
"Games?"
"Yes. It's another way they find of talking about the Horrors. It's in the sewing kit."
That's right, Henry remembered: games for Gustav.
"Isn't that an odd thing to do, to play games when there's a dead body right next to you?" Henry said.
"They imagine that Gustav would enjoy them if he were still alive. Playing games is a way of celebrating life."
"What kind of games?"
"That was my question for you. I thought you might come up with a few. You seem like the playful sort."
"What, like hide-and-seek?"
"I was hoping for something more sophisticated."
"You mentioned some terrible deeds instigated by the boy who kills Beatrice and Virgil."
"Yes."
"Beatrice and Virgil saw these deeds?"
"Yes."
"What did they see?"
The taxidermist said nothing. Henry was about to repeat his question but he thought better of it. He waited. After a long while, the taxidermist spoke.
"At first they didn't see. They heard. They were standing by the village pond among some bushes, sipping at the water's edge, when they heard screams. They looked up and saw two young women wearing long skirts and heavy peasant boots running for the pond, clutching bundles to their chests. Some men were behind them, not in hot pursuit but rather seeming to enjoy the women's