Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker

1 figger tho. 1 figger hes the same and very 1 in boath bags of figgers. Mr Clevver. Which hes Mr On The Levvil and hes callit Drop John as wel. There he is the name changes but he dont. In all that 2ness there he comes up hes the 1. Hes your lad for clevver work or Drop Johning which ever myt be neadit there he is the boath of him plus the goast of him. Same red face and littl black beard and the same horns growing out of his head. Same red cloes even. All them diffrent figgers in the 2 bags only he aint diffrent hes the same. You begin to wunner myt he be the 1 Big 1 of it? Or the 1 Littl 1 of it. Ormay be there aint no such thing as a Big 1 or a Littl 1 its jus only all 1 and you see what diffrent things you see in the chaynjing lites of the diffrent times of the girt dants of the every thing. Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit.

If youre a show man then what ever happens is took in to your figgers and your fit up its took in to your show. If you dont know whats happent sooner youwl hear of it later youwl hear your figgers tel of it 1 way or a nother. That boar kicking on the end of my spear hewl be in my shows I dont know how but hewl be there. That crow what callit, “Fall! Fall! Fall!” and my smasht father that greyling morning at Widders Dump and that old leader with his yeller eyes and woar down teef. Gransers head glimmering in the twean lite and Goodparley sitting qwyet in amongst the black and nekkit aulders loppt off pink and red in the hart of his wud with the stoan in his head and the twean lite holding its breaf and lissening. In amongst it all the thot of may be I wer the aulder kincher. May be the idear of it ben waiting all them years for me to come a long and be it.

Wel of coarse there wer the matter of letshow. We dint know if that care making Mincery wer going to let us run luce with our fit up and our 2 bags of figgers. We pult datter and we pirntowt we wer roading Goodparleys show which he ben give letshow by Orfing in that littl time when Orfing ben Goodparley. So there wer letshow on that fit up which that wer good a nuff for us. If them guvner men thot diffrent wewd parbly fynd out soon a nuff.

So we got our selfs ready and off we gone with our fit up and our figgers and our dog crowd. It wer in boath our mynds to do our 1st show at Weaping Form which that ben Bad Mercy Fents time back it ben Goodparleys hoam fents when he ben littl. Its about the same farness from Cambry as How Fents only its Wes of Cambry and its wel Wes of the Sour its on the A25 1 2 or 3 faggers Norf of Moal Arse. Its on the track to Fathers Ham which roun there its hard line Eusa country moren some other places are. Some say Mr Clevver use to live in Fathers Ham befor he come to Cambry.

Any how here we come out of Cambry on a grey day with a littl girzel and roading Wes for Weaping on the old iron track. Dogs strung out in parper roading form the nation they all ways had a cuppl in the poynt plus 2 on each wing them dogs are real hevvys. I askit Erny if he dint think we bes proach up to that gate without no dogs and say we forkt off from a trade crowd or some thing. He wernt having none of that he said, “This here aint Goodshow & Slymouf its Walker & Orfing. We myswel begin how we are and go on the same.”

Coming in to Weaping we blowit the horn from a littl way off we dint blow “Eusa show” becaws it wernt no Eusa show. We blowit a diffrent call which we meant it to say “New show”. When we come up to the fents the dogs layd back out of bow shot but there they wer you cud see wed roadit in with them. Come to the gate I fealt like I wer seeing it mor with my stummick nor my eyes you know how it is some times when you come to a thing. You ben coming littl by littl from far to close and littl by littl you seen it growing from littl to big in your eyes then all on a suddn there it is in front of you and this is now and you feal it in your stummick. There we wer and this wer now I lookit up and I said, “Trubba not its a new show.” Tryd to make it soun like “Eusa show” but you cant realy.

The bloak on the gate he took a long look without saying nothing then his head dispeart. In a littl his head come back and some others with it. 1 of them hyern the others and some grey in his beard so I said it agen to him, “Trubba not tsnew show.” Like that.

He come back at me with a girt deap voyce he said, “When Eusa come back to Cambry he wer blyn and bloody he stood outside the gate and the dogs licking his soars. Them on the gate they larft at him they said, ‘Why dont you say “Trubba not” if you want in?’ Wel we know Eusa cudnt say ‘Trubba not’ cud he. Becaws wel he knowit he had Trubba roaling off him like sweat in the summer he had Trubba ponging off him you cud smel it from a good farness even up wind of him he dint try no goodshow he jus said strait out, ‘I cant say that.’ Now here comes you I know you aint Eusa nor you aint blyn nor bloody yet here I see you roading with dogs and roading with him what ben shadder mincer and Pry Mincer and now hes no mincer. Which youve said ‘Trubba not’ and may be you beleave you aint brung no Trubba with you only I aint too cern of that my self. What about that no mincer can he talk ord they cut his tung out when they throwit him a way after he brung down Abel Goodparley?”

Orfing said, “I can talk Rightway.” Which that wer the name of the Big Man we wer talking to. Rightway Flinter.

Rightway Flinter said, “Wel then if you can talk praps youwl be good a nuff and tel me if you can say ‘Trubba not’. You what brung down the bigger man and better you what ternt the crookit luce and now youve got your new boy and your dog crowd. This here partner of yours hes said ‘Trubba not’ hes greasd my surents now I dont have to worry about nothing no mor. Now whatre you going to say be you going to Trubba not me as wel?”

Erny said, “No Rightway I cant say ‘Trubba not’. Parbly weare Trubba right a nuff.”

Flinter said, “There you be Erny out of your oan mouf youve said it and I think Iwl yes with that. Poor old blyn Goodparley and a old chard coal berner gone bang the 1st in Inland since time back way back. 1 minim they wer men and the nex they wer peaces of meat nor it wernt done by knife nor spear nor arrer nor sling stoan it wer clevverness done it and the 1 Big 1. That old chard coal berners head took off strait up like a sky lark only parbly not singing. Up it gone and down it come thwock on a poal and ripe for telling. Goodparley sitting there dead with a stoan pounder in his skul. You myt say after all them years of looking for that 1 Big 1 it finely come in to his mynd. Twean lite it wer when it happent. Dark of the moon when the dark come down and the Black Pack yoop yarooing all roun. 1st big bang since Bad Time and who ternt it luce who put that 1 Big 1 on the road to this place and every other place?” He wer looking strait at me.

Erny said, “It bint the 1 Big 1 it ben the 1 Littl 1. Which youre looking at Riddley Walker but it bint him ternt it luce it wer a farring seakert tryer from other side and looking to goatch the wayt he wer looking to bargam a seakert gready mint for the Nos. of the mixter. Which 1ce his boat gratit on the shingel that 1 Littl 1 wer luce in Inland it wer on the road to blow up some 1 and you cud be sure some 1 wer roading fas to be there when it come.”

Flinter said, “It dint have to be Abel Goodparley did it?”

Erny said, “Rightway Iwl tel you what I think Iwl tel you what I pirntow from my unnermos datter. If it hadnt ben the 1 Littl 1 kilt Abel Goodparley it wudve ben some thing else becaws it wer his time and come. That man wer pulling he wer fetching he wer sucking in his Luck he wer wynding in the end of his life like a kid wynding in a kite.”

Flinter looking at Erny hard and he said, “Wel youwd say that wunt you. You what brung him down.” He wer pulling his beard you cud hear his thots grynding in his head like mil stoans.