The Seven Madmen (New York Review Books Classics) by Roberto Arlt

Author:Roberto Arlt [Arlt, Roberto]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781590179154
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2015-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

THE FARCE

As the two of them entered, the circle of men inside stood up. Erdosain halted in amazement when he saw that one was an army officer in a major’s uniform.

Apart from the Major, the Gold Prospector, Haffner, and someone he did not know were also present. Haffner had his elbows on a table, and was scanning some scribbled sheets of paper, while the Gold Prospector pored over a map opposite him. A rough stone placed on top of the sheet stopped the breeze blowing it away. The Thug shook Erdosain’s hand, and he sat down next to him, still staring at the Major, who had immediately aroused his curiosity. The Astrologer certainly was a master of surprises.

Yet the newcomer did not give him a favourable impression. He was a tall, pale-faced man with jet-black eyes. What disturbed Erdosain was the way his lower lip seemed constantly curled in a disdainful sneer, and the three creases where his long, hooked nose met his forehead. A silken moustache covered his red lips, and after being introduced he scarcely seemed to give Erdosain more than a cursory glance before he sank down on to a hammock, leaning back against a post with his sword between his knees and a lock of hair plastered to his flat forehead.

For a few minutes, none of them spoke, as they observed each other uneasily. Sitting close to the entrance to the summer-house, the Astrologer lit a cigarette and weighed up the men he was to call his “chiefs”. All at once he lifted his head and, taking in the five men sitting round the table, began to speak:

“I don’t see any point in repeating what we all know already and have agreed on in individual meetings . . . that is, the plan to organise a secret society to be paid for out of both moral and immoral ventures. We are all in agreement on that, aren’t we? What do you think (I have a liking for geometry) if we call the groups of our society ‘cells’?”

“That’s what they’re called in Russia,” said the Major. “And those in any one cell should not know the members of any other.”

“What . . . the leaders wouldn’t know each other?”

“No, the ones who would not know each other are not the leaders, but the members.”

The Gold Prospector butted in:

“That would make things impossible. If that’s so, what links the members of the different cells?”

“But it’s the six of us who are the links of the society.”

“No, sir . . . it’s me who is the society,” the Astrologer objected. “But to be serious, I would say that all the members make up the society . . . apart from a few restrictions concerning myself.”

The Major wanted his say:

“I think this discussion is pointless, because as I see it there will be a perfectly well worked-out system of promotion. And each promotion will bring a cell member into contact with a new leader. There will be as many promotions as there are cell leaders.

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