The Fountains of Neptune by Rikki Ducornet

Author:Rikki Ducornet [Ducornet, Rikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Literature
ISBN: 9781564789907
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart Inc
Published: 1989-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

There were books to be erased as well, page after page of finely calligraphed script and even maps. We erased the names of cities and bodies of water and roads and railways.

“Preparing for apoplexy!” cried the ape.

“Apocalypse!” the baboon corrected him.

“Our work was indescribably tedious and depressing. I thought that if I could only find Odille’s face or my father’s name written down somewhere, I could put a stop to all this. But the faces I erased were all unrecognizable and were – for the most part – the faces of baboons. As if he had been reading my thoughts, the bat then pulled a wallet from his pocket and, opening it up, pointed proudly to a picture of his family. They were all hanging upside-down.

“Enough!” the baboon said then, sweeping a pile of maps to the floor. “Have you.ever played ape-chess? Ah!” he beamed. “It’s the oldest game in the world.” Once again he groped about in the shadows until he had found what he was looking for – a stained, dog-eared box of miscellaneous pieces. “It’s like regular chess,” he explained, “but not quite. And as I’ve not the proper pieces, neither, I’ve made up these you see! They are all of my own invention. This one, for example, is the Macocoscome. A most powerful piece. But having only spools and thimbles I’ve pasted on – although now it’s torn – this star. The piece corresponds to the Queen. Ah! You don’t play regular chess either! All the better!” he cried, undaunted. “You’ll have nothing to unlearn and all to learn! For as I was saying, the Macocoscome corresponds to the Queen, but not quite. The bat and I refer to her affectionately as the Great Apess. ”

My head throbbed as he described her many moves and the treachery of a pawn made of a thimble and wearing a battered cone of red paper. To my relief a bell rang and, looking frightened and sheepish, the baboon thrust the game behind him. In his haste the Great Apess fell to the floor and was lost.

“She’s fallen down the hole!” The bat offered to appease him, “Like everything does, you know, sooner or later. ”

“I don’t see any hole,” I said, getting down on my hands and knees.

“It’s too black to see!” said the bat.

“It’s so black,” said the baboon.

“It eats every last part –”

“And particle–”

“Of light!”

“Why it’s so carniverous –” the baboon continued.

“It’s ridiculous!” The bat took off looping among the attic’s invisible rafters.

“There’s lots of stuff down here!” I cried. “Lots of cans of fish, and what’s this?” Scrambling to my feet, I dangled a little gear on a string in front of the baboon’s nose.

“It’s the Galaxy!” he cried, snatching it away. “A most curious piece! I thought you were lost, dearest!” He gave the thing a kiss. “But here you are, you rascal! He covers the board in a twinkling of an eye!” he confided in a whisper. “Wreaking havoc! Even the Apess Herself –”

“I want to go home now!” I shouted.

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