Gonçalo Tavares - Joseph Walser's Machine

“But enough of that, I thank you for listening to me so attentively, once again. I’m your friend, I hope that you finally realize that. You deserve to live, Walser, and I don’t know of a better thing to say to a man; I don’t know of a more just thing to say: you deserve to live.

“But let’s hurry to fulfill our duties. We shouldn’t slow down the tempo just because it’s Sunday. Dear friend, look at these dice, let’s roll them, what do you think? Two dice, you know them well. I always heard you were good player. I want to play! Let’s play together. We’ve never played together, have we?

“You all always thought of me as someone you wouldn’t want to play such games with, an undesirable. And you were right. I was never exactly efficient at joining in the games of others. That might seem like an odd way to put it, but it’s precisely what we’re talking about: being competent or not. And I, Joseph Walser, my friend, was never competent at games or diversions.

“But we’ve been here too long. I’m going to roll the dice, and you, my friend, will roll them next. I have a bullet in this gun: it’s going to go into the head of the one who loses. It’s simple. What do you think? It’s a game. Excellent, isn’t it? A double pastime.

“But you must not be afraid, dear Walser, you’re already starting to fidget too much. Don’t force me to violate the rules, as well as my own desire. Please, calm down, sit down! There you go. You’re the dice player, not me. I’m certainly going to lose.

“Very good. Let’s be reasonable, that’s better. Are we ready to play? Here go my dice. There they go. Stop! What do we have here? A four and a three? Not bad for a non-player. What do you think, Walser, think you can do better? We could say that this four plus this three leaves some possibilities open for you. However, from a purely statistical point of view, I would be tempted to say that you, my friend, are now closer to taking the one bullet that’s left in this gun — which, to be completely honest, I don’t want to happen. But I’m talking to you about statistics in the middle of a game, which is quite absurd. Roll, my friend, it’s your turn. Pick up the dice, there you go. It’s your turn now. Please, toss them. There you go. Roll.”

FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF GONÇALO M. TAVARES | 8

GONÇALO M. TAVARES was born in 1970. He has published numerous books since 2001 and has been awarded an impressive number of literary prizes in a very short time, including the Saramago Prize in 2005 and the Fernando Namora Prize in 2011.

RHETT MCNEIL has translated work by Machado de Assis, António Lobo Antunes, Gonçalo M. Tavares, and A. G. Porta.