Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker

How it looks to Erny and me and strapping the lates from what littl datter weve got we pirntow the other siders mus have plenny of yellerboy and theywl be senning out mor farring seakert tryers. Parbly itwl be a littl wyl befor they sen a nother 1 to Inland but the thing is luce now. By nex mooning Iwl bet you can walk from here to other side without getting your feet wet jus stepping from 1 boat to the nex and every 1 of them boats after yellerboy.

Orfing and me we know weare living on burrow time but then who aint. The way things are now it aint jus only you dont know whos going to go bang nex you dont even know where the arrer myt come from with your name on it you cant be too sure whos your frend and whos your nemminy life aint qwite as simpl as it use to be. It use to be if you wer agenst the Ram youwd be agenst the forms becaws you knowit they wer all 1 thing jus like a body and its head. Now the head myt say 1 thing only you dont know what the body wil do. 1 thing Lucky them dogsre stil with us and longs that black leaders on our side I dont worry too much about getting snuck. Orfings getting a littl dog frendy now even tho when he come oansome from Fork Stoan to Cambry he said he ben measuring his life from 1 tree to the nex and when he come to the barrens he said he jus tol his self 1 way or a nother he parbly wunt be a live too much longer. Which 1ce he got use to that idear then every minim he wer stil a live he wer that much a head.

Walker & Orfing. I liket the idear of making up shows only with things how they are now I wernt all that kean to road no show I ratherwd live qwyet and ly low til we seen who come out on top. It wer Orfing as wantit to start showing.

I said, “Wunt it be bes to wait til things settl down a littl?” He said, “The sooner we do whats on us to do the sooner thingswl settl down.”

I said, “You know Erny theres places where it mytnt be the safes thing in the worl for you to put foot. You what brung down Goodparley and let them crookit peopl put his eyes out.”

He said, “Wel Riddley if I brung him down for any thing it ben becaws he thot you cud move the out side of things frontways and leave the in side to look after its self. Which I think its the in side has got to do the moving its got to move every thing and its got to move us as wel. If I say diffrent time after this itwl be fearbelly talking I know I aint brave. But thats what Im saying now. Its moving me the way its moving me and Im going with it fars I can.”

So we begun to ready our selfs for the road. When I unbundelt Goodparleys fit up to do a littl prackters work it come to me agen the 2ness of things. Any other fit up I ever seen there ben 1 bag of figgers in it which you hang it inside when youre showing then youve got the figgers ready to han. Only Goodparleys fit up has 2 bags becaws theres 2 sets of figgers. Theres the 1s for the Eusa show then theres the 1s for the Punch show. That show what he never showit to no crowd only odd times done it for his self and that 1ce for me.

You take a figger out of the bag nor it aint nothing only some colourt clof with a paintit wood head and hans. Then you put it on. You put your head finger in the head you put your arm fingers in the arms then that figger looks roun and takes noatis it has things to say. Which they wont all ways be things youwd think of saying o no them wood heads the hart of the wood is in them and the hart of the wud and all. They have ther knowing and they have ther saying which you bes lissen for it you bes let it happen. “I never look for my reveal til its ben.” Thats what my dad said time back. My dad the connexion man. In my woal life Ive only ever done that 1 connexion which Ive wrote down here I begun with trying to put it to gether poal by poal only my reveal dint come that way it snuck me woaly. I wer keaping that in memberment now. Ready to cry ready to dy ready for any thing is how I come to it now. In fear and tremmering only not running a way. In emtyness and ready to be fult. Not to lern no body nothing I cant even lern my oan self all I can do is try not to get in front of whats coming. Jus try to keap out of the way of it.

You myt talk about how youre going to show you myt think about it only on the nite there it is if its the 1st time or the 100th it aint never happent befor it aint nothing you know any thing about. You look out thru the weave of the back cloth and you see the torches shimmying and glimmering you hear a hummering and a mummering from the crowd in front of you. Theres a prickling all over your skin and you feal like therewl be sparkls coming off you in the dark.

Time back is in them Punch figgers. Dead hans and gone carvit them heads and colourt them and follering some idear they dint jus happen randem. Its a lot of work to carve a head that wel you have to have it in you to begin with then you have to take the neak of it thru all the diffrent episodes of the work from the rough cut to the finel smooving and the pryming and the painting of it.

I knowit wel them figgers never ben made up jus only for that 1 littl show what Goodparleyd showt me. It aint in the natur of a show to be the same every time it aint like a story what you pas down trying not to change nothing which even then the changes wil creap in. No a figger show its got its oan chemistery and fizzics. What it is its all ways trying to fynd out what it is jus now this same and very minim going thru its chaynjis. Which Ive wrote that in the old spel becaws its them same and very Chaynjis what the Littl Shyning Man tol Eusa of.

Punch says to me, “ What am I? ” Says it to me in his oan voyce which now I can speak that voyce the same as Goodparley done. In the figger bag I foun a littl thing its 2 littl curvit peaces of iron with a thin peace of clof rapt roun and in be twean so its like when you hol a blade of grass be twean your thums to shril with it. The iron holding the clof the way your thums wud the grass. This littl thing you put it in your mouf and when its parper wet you can do Punchs voyce with it. Orfing tol me its what they call a swazzl.

And Pooty. I know she aint jus only a plain sow. Ive wrote down early on in this writing that song Lorna Elswint sung me on the nite of my naming day. That Moon Pig song. Iwl give odds Pootys mixt up with that Moon Sow. You look at that sow face of hers and you know you aint looking at some naminal ben fattit for meating youre looking at some 1 ben offert to. And that pig babby that pig chyld. Meat chyld. Theres other figgers Goodparley never showit in that show he done for me. Theres some great grean naminal with long joars and ever so many teef. Theres a black man and other figgers as wel Iwl never know ther story.

Them in the 1 bag and of coarse in the other bag the other lot and the Little Shyning Man with them. Which hes qwite a peace of work that Littl Shyning Man. The way hes made hes all wood hes got a woal varnisht wood body with parper arms and legs and riggit with wires so he comes in 2 or slyds back in to 1. Hes the only figger there is with a cock and balls. Like it says in the Eusa Story when he comes in 2 his cock and balls theyre on his lef side his head and neck theyre on his right. Hes hung from a pully you work him with your feet with 2 wires. When hes in 2 and you slyd him to gether the 2 ½s of him come to gether with a clack. I wunner if Goodparley ever thot of a bang when he heard that.

Theres figgers in that bag you never seen in a show. You get to wunnering if you gone down deap a nuff in that bag if you mytnt get right the way down to Bad Time and fynd out all what realy happent. Theres Eusas 2 boys in there I never seen them befor. Cant say for cern its them but I lissen it is. 1 has red eyes 1 has yeller. Them 2 pairs of eyes wide open all them years in the dark inside that bag. Dogs. Folleree and Folleroo with ther toofy joars opening and closing they want to talk like men.