Now you tell me a story.
I thought, she said putting on a low husky voice, that you were very keen to get back.
No hurry, he said airily, I want you to tell me a story.
She looked out over the kale and pondered.
All right, she said, it’s only a short one. And not funny like yours, but… Anyway.
She looked down. Arthur could feel that it was one of those sorts of moments. The air seemed to stand still around them, waiting. Arthur wished that the air would go away and mind its own business.
When I was a kid, she said. These sort of stories always start like this, don’t they, “When I was a kid…” Anyway. This is the bit where the girl suddenly says, “When I was a kid” and starts to unburden herself. We have got to that bit. When I was a kid I had this picture hanging over the foot of my bed… What do you think of it so far?
I like it. I think it’s moving well. You’re getting the bedroom interest in nice and early. We could probably do with some development with the picture.
It was one of those pictures that children are supposed to like, she said, but don’t. Full of endearing little animals doing endearing things, you know?
I know. I was plagued with them too. Rabbits in waistcoats.
Exactly. These rabbits were in fact on a raft, as were assorted rats and owls. There may even have been a reindeer.
On the raft. On the raft. And a boy was sitting on the raft.
Among the rabbits in waistcoats and the owls and the reindeer.
Precisely there. A boy of the cheery gypsy ragamuffin variety.
Ugh.
The picture worried me, I must say. There was an otter swimming in front of the raft, and I used to lie awake at night worrying about this otter having to pull the raft, with all these wretched animals on it who shouldn’t even be on a raft, and the otter had such a thin tail to pull it with I thought it must hurt pulling it all the time. Worried me. Not badly, but just vaguely, all the time.
Then one day and remember I’d been looking at this picture every night for years I suddenly noticed that the raft had a sail. Never seen it before. The otter was fine, he was just swimming along.
Good story? she said.
Ends weakly, said Arthur, leaves the audience crying “Yes, but what of it?” Fine up till there, but needs a final sting before the credits.
Fenchurch laughed and hugged her legs.
It was just such a sudden revelation, years of almost unnoticed worry just dropping away, like taking off heavy weights, like black and white becoming colour, like a dry stick suddenly being watered. The sudden shift of perspective that says “Put away your worries, the world is a good and perfect place. It is in fact very easy.” You probably thing I’m saying that because I’m going to say that I felt like that this afternoon or something, don’t you?
Well, I… said Arthur, his composure suddenly shattered.
Well, it’s all right, she said, I did. That’s exactly what I felt. But you see, I’ve felt that before, even stronger. Incredibly strongly. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a one, she said gazing off into the distance, for sudden startling revelations.
Arthur was at sea, could hardly speak, and felt it wiser, therefore, for the moment not to try.
It was very odd, she said, much as one of the pursuing Egyptians might have said that the behaviour of the Red Sea when Moses waved his rod at it was a little on the strange side.
Very odd, she repeated, for days before, the strangest feeling had been building in me, as if I was going to give birth. No, it wasn’t like that in fact, it was more as if I was being connected into something, bit by bit. No, not even that; it was as if the whole of the Earth, through me, was going to…
Does the number, said Arthur gently, forty-two mean anything to you at all?
What? No, what are you talking about? exclaimed Fenchurch.
Just a thought, murmured Arthur.
“现在你给我讲个故事。”
“我以为，”她装出低沉嘶哑的声音说，“你急着回去呢。”
“不着急，”他快活地说，“我想让你给我讲个故事。”
她的目光越过那片羽衣甘蓝望向远方，沉思着。
“好吧，”她说，“这只是个小故事。不像你的那么搞笑，不过……总之就这样。”
她目光下垂。阿瑟可以感觉到这就是那所谓的“一刻”。空气似乎都在他们周围凝固，等待。阿瑟希望空气可以走开去忙自己的事儿。
“当我还是个小孩时，”她说，“这种故事总是这样开头的，不是么，‘当我还是个小孩时……’总之就是这样。这时候女孩应该突然说‘当我还是个小孩时’然后开始吐露心声。我们已经到了这阶段了。当我还是个小孩时我把这幅画挂在我床尾上……目前为止你怎么看这些？”
“我喜欢。我认为这挺好。你很好地让听众很快对卧室产生了兴趣。我们也许可以在那幅画上有情节发展。”
“这是那种小孩们应该会喜欢的那种画，”她说，“但其实小孩不会喜欢。上面全都是可爱的小动物做着可爱的小事情，你明白吧？”
“我明白。我也很烦那玩意儿。穿马甲的小兔子。”
“就是这样。那些兔子事实上是在一只筏子上，还夹杂着老鼠和猫头鹰。可能甚至还有只驯鹿。”
“在筏子上。”“在筏子上。而且一个男孩坐在筏子上。”
“在穿马甲的兔子和猫头鹰和驯鹿中间。”
“正好在那儿。那种衣衫褴褛的吉普赛型的愉快男孩。”
“啊哦。”
“那幅画让我担心，我不得不说。上面有只水獭游在筏子前头，我以前夜里躺着的时候会醒来担心那只必须拉着筏子的水獭，那只筏子上面有那么多可怜的根本不该在筏子上的动物而水獭用来拉筏子的尾巴是如此的细，我认为筏子总是会拽疼它。让我担心啊。不是很担心，但只是无时无刻隐约地担忧。”
“接着有一天——并且要记得多年来我每天晚上都看着这幅画——我突然发现筏子上头有一张帆。以前从来没见到过。那只水獭很好，只是这么游着罢了。”
“好故事吧？”她说。
“结尾比较无力，”阿瑟说，“留下了听众去呼喊‘是的，但怎么了？’到那儿以前都很好，但需要在演职人员字幕出来之前有个最后的总结。”
芬琪诗笑着抱住她的腿。
“这只是突然的一个启示，多年来几乎不被察觉的担忧顷刻间烟消云散，就好像卸下了重担，就好像黑白变成了彩色，就好像干枝突然被浇上甘霖。这一视角的突然转变想说明‘把你的忧虑放下，这个世界是个美好而且完美的地方。这实际上非常简单。’你也许认为我说这些，是因为我将要说这一个下午我感觉到了这些或者什么的，是吧？”
“呃，我……”阿瑟说着，他的镇静顷刻间瓦解了。
“好吧，没关系，”她说，“我确实是这样的。这就是我真正感受到的。但你瞧，我以前就感受过了，甚至更强烈。难以置信地强烈。我害怕我是一个碎片，”她一边说一遍凝视着远方，“属于某个灵光一现的启示。”
阿瑟处于迷茫的海洋中，几乎说不出话来，因此他觉着此时更明智的选择是不要尝试开口。
“这太诡异了，”她说着，就好像当埃及追兵看到摩西挥舞手杖将红海分开时说红海的变化有些奇异似的。
“太诡异了，”她重复着，“几天之前，我有了一种最奇怪的感觉，好像我就要生孩子似的。不，其实不像这个，更像是我跟某个东西连结起来了，一环连一环。不，甚至不像这个，这就像是整个地球，穿过了我，就要……”
“这个数字，”阿瑟轻柔地说，“四十二对你有任何意义么？”
“啥？不，你在说什么啊？”芬琪诗惊叫道。
“只是突然想到，”阿瑟咕哝道。