Jon Fosse - Aliss at the Fire

Asle, the woman says then

I think Daddy has something for you, because you’re seven years old today, it’s your seventh birthday, November 17, she says

November 17, 1897, that’s today’s date, just like Brita says, Kristoffer says

and Asle looks at the two of them, so eager, so shy

It certainly is, yes, just like Brita says, Kristoffer says

and Kristoffer puts his free arm around Brita’s shoulder and then Kristoffer suddenly takes his other hand out from behind his back and in his hand there’s a boat, a little rowboat, one or two feet long, and with seats and oars and bailers and everything a boat should have, and he holds out the boat to Asle

Happy birthday, Asle, you’re seven, Kristoffer says

A big boy like you needs his own boat, a good boy like you, Asle, he says

Yes you’re such a good boy Asle, Brita says

and Asle goes over to Kristoffer, who is holding the boat out to him, and Asle takes the boat, and he stands there and looks at it, and then Kristoffer puts out his hand and Asle takes his hand and then Kristoffer shakes hands with Asle in a slow movement up and down and Asle just stands there and looks and looks at the boat

That’s a nice boat, Kristoffer says

You can see it has seats and floorboards and oars and bailers and everything, he says

And it’s so white and such nice woodwork, and the boat smells a little of tar, just like a brand new boat should smell, Brita says

That’s a nice boat Kristoffer built for you, she says

It’s because you are such a handsome little man Asle, Kristoffer says

You built it, Asle says

and Kristoffer says yes he did build it, because when he was young, a long time ago, he studied with a boat-builder, and even if he didn’t build that many boats with him he did learn how to build boats, yes, he says and then Kristoffer goes over to Asle, who is looking and looking at the boat, and Kristoffer puts his arms around Asle’s shoulders

I have to go try out the boat right now, Asle says

Yes, the waves probably aren’t too high, Kristoffer says

But be careful now, Brita says

Yes, you have to be careful, she says

Asle is careful, you know he is, Kristoffer says and Asle stands there and looks and looks at the boat and then he goes out the hall door and Kristoffer nods to Brita and she smiles at him and then she sees, lying there on the bench, Brita go through the door to the kitchen and Kristoffer go through it after her and shut the door after him and then she sees herself come in through the open hall door with a raincoat on and she sees herself stop in the doorway and look into the room and then she sees herself go out and shut the door after her and she thinks, standing there in the hall, that now, no, she can’t remember him ever being this late before, it’s almost nighttime and he hasn’t come home, she has to go look for him, she has to go down to the boathouse, to the pier, she has to go look for him, because this, this wind, this rain, this darkness, and can’t he come home soon, she thinks and she goes out the front door and the wind is blowing, it’s raining, and the darkness is black, and it’s so cold, and she has to lean against the front door to get it closed, the wind is blowing so hard, and she leans against it, gets the door closed, and then she is standing there in the light outside, on the front step, and she hears the waves, the rain, and then the waves, and it’s so cold, and she can’t just stay standing like that, she thinks, since she went out in the first place because she wanted to go down to the shore and look for him, maybe call his name, but she can’t just stand there in the evening darkness and call his name? can she? no she probably can’t do that, she can’t, no, she thinks and she goes out into the yard and she goes around the corner, stops and stands there and looks down the little road, and isn’t that him coming walking up the little road, in this black darkness she can see him, she really can, no, that’s good, she thinks, but there, on the little road, no that isn’t him who’s coming, it’s a woman coming, hurrying, and she’s carrying a child in her arms, and the child is so big in her arms, no what is this? she thinks, what’s happening? and she can see everything so clearly, as though it was the middle of the day, no she doesn’t understand this, she thinks and she sees the woman come hurrying toward her and she really is carrying a boy in her arms and she’s pressing the boy to her chest, and the woman is going so fast, and the boy, is he alive? because the woman who’s coming toward her is carrying a boy in her arms and the boy looks lifeless, his clothes are wet, his hair is wet, and in the woman’s eyes, her big eyes, there is something like a yellow sunbeam of despair, but what’s going on, what is this? she thinks and the woman, she has thick black long hair, stops there on the little road and then she stands there and presses the boy to her chest and the woman just stands there, in the middle of the little road, head bent, with a boy in her arms, and she looks at the woman, who’s standing there, completely motionless, and then she hears a voice call out what is it? and she looks down at the fjord and there, on the path to the boathouse, she sees a man, tall and slim, lanky, and with long black hair, with a thin black beard, come running up the hill and he has a string with fish on it in one hand and one side of his long hair has fallen in front of his face

What is it Brita? the man calls out

What’s happened, what’s wrong with Asle, he calls out and the man runs up and she sees that Brita’s black hair, her thick black hair, is hanging down and covering Asle the boy she is holding in her arms and then Brita starts to rock herself and Asle back and forth and the man is in front of Brita and Asle and then he stands there and puts his arms around them and behind Asle’s back the fish that the man has on the string hang down to the ground and the man’s long black hair falls down over Brita’s hair and down over Asle and they just stand there, motionless, while time just passes, she thinks, they stand there, just stand there, and Kristoffer lets go of Brita, goes a little way away from her

What happened? he says

Asle fell in the water, Brita says

Is he still alive, the man says

Yes Kristoffer, Brita says

It’s his seventh birthday, it’s Asle’s seventh birthday, Kristoffer says

Asle’s dead, Brita, he says

No he’s not dead, you can’t say that, don’t say that Kristoffer, Brita says

Asle’s dead, Kristoffer says

He turned seven years old and then he died, he says

No he’s still alive, Brita says

Look, don’t you see, he’s dead, Kristoffer says

and Brita stands there with Asle in her arms and Asle’s arms hang straight down, and his head hangs down, and his eyes are open and empty

You weren’t grown up yet, you were just seven, you should have lived such a long life, not a short one like this, Kristoffer says and Brita stands there, bent forward, with her long thick black hair hanging down over Asle

He’s still alive, Brita says

and Brita looks up through her hair at Kristoffer

No he’s dead, Kristoffer says

and Kristoffer goes a little farther away from Brita, and he stops, looks at her

Brita, Kristoffer says

and Brita doesn’t answer, just stays standing there like before, with that long black hair hanging down over her eyes

Asle is dead, Kristoffer says

Asle’s alive, Brita says

Don’t say that, Kristoffer, don’t say that he’s dead, she says

Asle’s gone, Kristoffer says

He’s dead, he says

and Kristoffer starts to walk up the little road, he goes around the corner, he walks across the yard, slowly, step by step, and the fish on the string swing from side to side, and it is as if Kristoffer will collapse before he takes half a step and turn into the earth that he walks on, she thinks and she sees Kristoffer stop and stand and look down, he stands there with a string with fish on it in one hand and he looks down and she turns around and then she starts to go down the little road and she stops next to Brita and then she lifts her hand and then she lightly smoothes down Brita’s hair, she strokes and strokes and smoothes down her hair and then she hears footsteps and then she sees Kristoffer come walking down the little road and the fish on the string are swinging from side to side and Kristoffer stops too and then he also smoothes down Brita’s hair