William Gaddis - The Recognitions

— No!. . she cried out at the rail; and Stanley shut his eyes on the dream, opened them again on the sea, which had lost the glare of sunrise. The sea, romantic in books, or dreams or conversation, symbol in poetry, the mother, last lover, and here it was, none of those things before him. Romantic? this heaving, senseless actuality? alive? evil? symbolical? shifting its surfaces in imitation of life over depths the whole fabric of darkness, of blind life and death. Boundlessly neither yes or no, good nor evil, hope nor fear, pretending to all these things in the eyes that first beheld it, but Unchanged since then, still its Own color, heaving with the indifferent hunger of all actuality. Stanley looked down, to steady himself as he took a step toward her, and the lines in the grain of the wooden rail swam over against themselves in imitation of the surface of the water, stretching like this beyond the morning mists which belied the horizon to where Africa lay, unknown to the senses, but borne in insinuations on the wind from the south. The ship heaved, shuddered, dropped its bows on the water. Down below, the white birds, finding nothing, startled by the clap of the hull, fled coming up all together, and away, like the fragments of a letter torn up and released into the wind.

— O Christ, the plough. .

— O Christ the what?

— the laughter, of holy white birds. .

— What you reading? a poem? You know, you don't look so good. The man at the rail held out his glass. — Take a swat at this? He shrugged at the look of horror with which his offer was received, but continued to stare at the figure in the deck chair, a man who, in any other circumstances, might have been described as of comfortable middle age. Engulfed in the flow of a tartan lap robe and folds of Irish thorn-proof, he stared fixedly at an open book and moved his lips with precise effort.

The man at the rail took a bottle from his pocket to replenish his glass, and stared out over the water, through the morning mists toward the indistinct mound on the horizon. — That broken-down bump doesn't look like a life-insurance ad from here, he muttered, spat over the side, and wiped his chin. He had appeared on all fours, though somewhat taliped because of the glass he maintained upright in one hand, growling at a dog leashed to a tall woman who passed in the opposite direction, — a Hawaiian poodle dog, he explained. — Did you see what it's wearing? I asked her what the hell it was. A chastity belt, it's made out of plastic. Made in England. Huki-lau will need it among those naughty Spanish doggies, she says to me. Jesus. Grrrr-rouf! he lunged after the dog. — You getting off at Gib too? The figure in the deck chair responded with a feeble sound, amended with a nod. — Me too. Some spic sued my newspaper, they pay the bastard off and then send me all the way the hell over here to see what the hell is going on. They think he's blowing the money on a patron saint. You know, you don't look so good. He had straightened up and leaned back against the rail, sipping. — What you got in the paper bag? To be sick in?

— Bread.

— Bread?

The figure in the deck chair made an infirm gesture overhead.

— Oh, for the birds? The newsman steadied his glass at the rail and got a handful of bread out of the bag. — You look fermiliar somehow, you know? It's the first time I've seen you on deck the whole trip. The man in the deck chair made a vague gesture, down. — Oh, you been sick in your cabin? You missed all the fun then, you hear about it? the shipwreck? The man in the deck chair startled visibly. — We picked up these poor bastards in a lifeboat, one of them died yesterday and they dumped him back where they got him. An old tub called the Purdue Victory, it busted right in half. He paused to dip a bit of bread into his glass, and throw it at a seagull. — A foot of barnacles on the hull, salt water leaking in the fresh water tanks, rust flakes like your fist painted right over, they get in this storm and the rudder chain snaps, the sea swings it right aroi.nd like a fighter turns a guy around in the ring when he's groggy to finish him off. Pow! The damn thing broke in half and went down in two minutes, both ends of it. They were going to scrap it anyway after this trip, you know? But that company's got a good lobby in Congress or it would have been scrapped ten years ago. So now with deep remorse for the guys- who were drownded they collect a quarter of a million bucks insurance. Breaks your heart. He flung another whisky-soaked wad of bread heavenward, and watched his new deck companion labor a deep swallow and return to the printed page. — Whose poems? He squatted to look at the cover. — John Mansfield? You get them out of the First Class saloon? The man in the deck chair nodded. He tried a smile but it was obliterated by a grimace of swallowing.

— Sail on! sail on and on and on, you remember that one? Columbus? Behind him lay the blue Azores, behind him lay the Gates of Hercules, you remember that poem? Speak, brave Admiral, what shall 1 say? Why say, sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on. . The newsman struggled to an almost vertical position against the rail and drank off half his glass. — He knew where he was going all the time, Columbus did. Did you know that? he confided. — Sail on, sail on, he knew he wasn't going to India. You know how he knew? Because the Portuguese already discovered America. The King of Portugal took one look at it and said to hell with it. You know who his map-maker was? It was Columbus's brother. All the King of Portugal wants to do is get the spies the hell out of competition in the spice trade, so his mapmaker slips Columbus these maps so he can go discover America for Ferdinando and Isabella, give them something to keep them busy and get the hell out of the spice trade. The stout mate said, lo! the very stars are gone. My men grow mutinous wan and weak. . And all the time Columbus is keeping two sets of logs on the ship, he fakes a set to pretend they're only half as far out as they think, while he knows they're going to America all the time. You know what Columbus discovered in America? Syphilis. They all crossed the ocean to get laid. Now speak brave Admiral, what shall I say?. . With a full slice of whisky-soaked bread, he lunged into — Sail on!. . tripped over the foot rest of the deck chair, and caught a foot under the rail. The bottle flew from his pocket, slid down the scuppers and smashed. He lay for a moment staring at the glass still gripped upright in his hand. Then without changing his position he raised his chin from the deck and drank it down, struggled to his feet, and calling out, — Here, chum, to a seagull flying as though hung suspended beside the ship, threw his empty glass at it.

The man in the deck chair opened his eyes. The hulk of Gibraltar was closer. Direct above, a white gull fixed him with a cold eye. He looked back at his book, and a few minutes passed while he looked up nervously and back at the page, until finally he got the paper bag and with an indecisive gesture attempted to toss a bit of bread up. The bird swooped.

— What's the matter, scared you?

— Up there flying, they're beautiful, but so close. .

— Scared you, huh? The newsman recovered the rail limping, and pulled up his trouser cuff. — It's going up like a balloon, he said looking at his ankle. — Look at that broken-down rock, they ought to sink it. But oh no! Not the limeys. That would make too much sense. Instead they have this crazy superstition about these baboons that run all over the place there, that they'll lose Gibraltar when there aren't any more. So what do they do, they fly these sunset-assed baboons in from Africa when the stock gets low. They run all over the place there. How would you like to look up and see some sunset-assed baboon looking in your bedroom window? he challenged. — They don't hurt anybody, you know. Except the Y.M.C.A. It's yellow, the building. It makes them mad as hell. They come down and throw rocks at it. How'd you like to be a member of the Gibraltar Young Men Christians Association with a bunch of sunset-assed baboons throwing rocks at you? Favoring his swelling ankle he leaned on the rail and gazed back at the wake of the ship. — Behind him lay the Gates of Hercules. The blanched mate showed his teeth and said, brave Admiral, speak!