第19章 The Far End

The far end came in the autumn, and it came the way the far ends had come, which was the way the family had always come to the far end of the boards, one by one, at the place where the grain ran to the sea. Niamh came to the far end in the autumn, and she did not come to the far end of the boards, which was the place where the chair stood empty, but she came to the far end of the keeping, which was the place where the grain had run on for forty years, and the running had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the far end had come in the autumn, and Niamh stood at the far end of the boards with her hand on the grain and felt the closed-eye knot under her hand, and the knot had been in the second board since the man who had made the table had put it there, and the knot had held the watch for forty years, and the watching had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the far end had come, and Niamh said, It is not the table, it is the keeping, and Eamon said, It is the keeping, and the words had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the count had gone on in the end grain, one letter after another, patient and unhurried, the way the family had always gone on, one generation after another, around the one long thing the house had not replaced, and the lamp had been lit, and the blue cups had been at the place, and the chipped one had been at its pair, and the tin had been in the drawer, and the money of the roof had been in the tin, and the roof had been over the table, and the table had been in the kitchen of Gort, and the kitchen of Gort had been on the hill, and the hill had been over the valley, and the valley had been over the sea, and the sea had been at the far end of the boards, and the far end of the boards had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept. The far end had come, and the far end had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and Niamh had stood at the far end of the boards with her hand on the grain, and the grain had run on under her hand to the place where the chair stood empty, and the light had reached the chair and gone no further, because that was how far the grain ran, and that was how far the keeping reached, which was to the end of the boards, and no further, and no less, and the far end had come, and the far end had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the count had gone on in the end grain, patient and unhurried, the way the family had always gone on, one generation after another, around the one long thing the house had not replaced, and the lamp had been lit, and the blue cups had been at the place, and the chipped one had been at its pair, and the tin had been in the drawer, and the money of the roof had been in the tin, and the roof had been over the table, and the table had been in the kitchen of Gort, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the far end had come, and the far end had been the keeping. Niamh did not sit at the far end of the boards, because the far end was where the past sat, and the past did not need feeding, and the far end was where the chair stood empty, and the chair had been empty since the man who had made the table had died, and the empty had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and Niamh had stood at the far end with her hand on the grain, and the grain had run on under her hand to the place where the chair stood empty, and the light had reached the chair and gone no further, because that was how far the grain ran, and that was how far the keeping reached, which was to the end of the boards, and no further, and no less, and the far end had come, and the far end had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the count had gone on in the end grain, patient and unhurried, the way the family had always gone on, one generation after another, around the one long thing the house had not replaced, and the lamp had been lit, and the blue cups had been at the place, and the chipped one had been at its pair, and the tin had been in the drawer, and the money of the roof had been in the tin, and the roof had been over the table, and the table had been in the kitchen of Gort, and the kitchen of Gort had been on the hill, and the hill had been over the valley, and the valley had been over the sea, and the sea had been at the far end of the boards, and the far end of the boards had been the keeping, and the keeping had been the thing, and the thing had been kept, and the grain had run on under the letter, to the far end where the chair stood empty, and the light had reached the chair and gone no further, because that was how far the grain ran, and that was how far the keeping reached, which was to the end of the boards, and no further, and no less.