The Wall: (Intimacy) and Other Stories (New Directions Paperbook) by Jean-Paul Sartre

Author:Jean-Paul Sartre [Sartre, Jean-Paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: New Directions
Published: 2010-07-27T04:00:00+00:00

“Who’s there?” Henri asked through the door.

“It’s me.”

He doesn’t answer, he doesn’t want to let me in my own home. But I’ll knock on the door till he opens, he’ll give in because of the neighbors. After a minute the door was half opened and Henri appeared, pale, with a pimple on his nose; he was in pajamas. He hasn’t slept, Lulu thought tenderly.

“I didn’t want to leave like that, I wanted to see you again.”

Henri still said nothing. Lulu entered, pushing him aside a little. How stupid he is, he’s always in your way, he’s looking at me with round eyes with his arms hanging, he doesn’t know what to do with his body. Shut up, shut up, I see you’re moved and you can’t speak. He made an effort to swallow his saliva and Lulu had to close the door.

“I want us to part good friends,” she said.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, turned suddenly and fled. What’s he doing? She dared not follow him. Is he crying? Suddenly she heard him cough: he’s in the bathroom. When he came back she hung about his neck and pressed her mouth against his: he smelled of vomit. Lulu burst out sobbing.

“I’m cold,” Henri said.

“Let’s go to bed,” she said, weeping. “I can stay till tomorrow morning.”

They went to bed and Lulu was shaken with enormous sobs because she found her room and bed clean and the red glow in the window. She thought Henri would take her in his arms but he did nothing: he was sleeping stretched out full length as if someone had put a poker in the bed. He’s as stiff as when he talks to a Swiss. She took his head in her two hands and stared at him. “You are pure, pure.” He began to cry.

“I’m miserable,” he said, “I’ve never been so miserable.”

“I haven’t either,” Lulu said.

They wept for a long time. After a while she put out the light and laid her head on his shoulder. If we could stay like that forever: pure and sad as two orphans; but it isn’t possible, it doesn’t happen in life. Life was an enormous wave breaking on Lulu, tearing her from the arms of Henri. Your hand, your big hand. He’s proud of them because they’re big, he says that descendants of old families always have big limbs. He won’t take my waist in his hand any more. He tickled me a little but I was proud because he could almost make his fingers meet. It isn’t true that he’s impotent—he’s pure, pure and a little lazy. She smiled through her tears and kissed him under the chin.

“What am I going to tell my parents?” Henri asked. “My mother’ll die when she hears.”

Mme. Crispin would not die, on the contrary, she would triumph. They’ll talk about me, at meals, all five of them, blaming me, like people who know a lot about things but don’t want to say everything because of the kid who’s sixteen and she’s too young to talk about certain things in front of her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.