Childhood of Jesus, The by Coetzee J. M

Author:Coetzee, J. M. [Coetzee, J. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction, Fiction
ISBN: 9781922148070
Publisher: Viking
Published: 2013-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 18

HE AND the boy are taking a walk in the parklands, on the first of the excursions sanctioned by Inés. The gloom has lifted from his heart, there is a spring in his step. When he is with the child the years seem to fall away.

‘And how is Bolívar getting on?’ he asks.

‘Bolívar ran away.’

‘Ran away! That’s a surprise! I thought Bolívar was devoted to you and Inés.’

‘Bolívar doesn’t like me. He only likes Inés.’

‘But surely you can like more than one person.’

‘Bolívar only likes Inés. He is her dog.’

‘You are Inés’s son, but you don’t love only Inés. You love me too. You love Diego and Stefano. You love Álvaro.’

‘No, I don’t.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that. So Bolívar has departed. Where do you think he has gone?’

‘He came back. Inés put his food outside and he came back. Now she won’t let him out at all.’

‘I’m sure he is just unused to his new home.’

‘Inés says it is because he smells lady dogs. He wants to mate with a lady dog.’

‘Yes, that is one of the trials of keeping a gentleman dog—he wants to be with the lady dogs. It’s the way of nature. If gentleman dogs and lady dogs no longer wanted to mate, there would be no baby dogs born, and then after a while there would be no dogs at all. So it may be best to allow Bolívar a little freedom. How about your sleeping? Are you sleeping better? Have the bad dreams gone away?’

‘I dreamed about the boat.’

‘Which boat?’

‘The big boat. Where we saw the man with the hat. The pirate.’

‘The pilot, not the pirate. What did you dream?’

‘It sank.’

‘It sank? And what happened next?’

‘I don’t know. I can’t remember. The fishes came.’

‘Well, I’ll tell you what happened. We were saved, you and I. We must have been saved, otherwise how would we be here now? So it was just a bad dream. Fishes don’t eat people anyway. Fishes are harmless. Fishes are good.’

It is time to turn back. The sun is setting, the first stars are coming out.

‘Do you see those two stars there, where I am pointing—the two bright ones? They are the Twins, so called because they are always together. And that star there, just above the horizon, with the reddish tinge—that is the evening star, the first star to appear when the sun goes down.’

‘Are the twins brothers?’

‘Yes. I forget their names, but once upon a time they were famous, so famous that they were turned into stars. Maybe Inés will remember the story. Does Inés ever tell you stories?’

‘She tells me bedtime stories.’

‘That’s good. Once you have learned to read by yourself, you won’t have to rely on Inés or me or anyone else. You will be able to read all the stories in the world.’

‘I can read, only I don’t want to. I like Inés to tell me stories.’

‘Isn’t that a bit short-sighted? Reading will open new windows to you. What kind of stories does Inés tell you?’

‘Third Brother stories.

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