第18章 The Nineteenth

The nineteenth of the third month came at the third hour and Avelin Cindermill was in the kitchen of the house on Vail Street with her hand on the rail of the stair and her daughter at the table with the list turned face up and her neighbour at the door with the coal and the bread and the jar of the last of the apples, and the rolls of the Hourhouse at Draymoor had written the fifth sentence at the first hour and the fifth sentence had been written by the clerk Wrenno and the clerk Wrenno had written it in the ink of the rolls and the ink of the rolls was black and the black was the black of the rolls. The fifth sentence said: Avelin Cindermill, warden of the Hourhouse at Draymoor, standing 1174, exhausted at the first hour of the nineteenth of the third month, recovered nothing, owed nothing, paid in full, no further record. The rolls had written it. The rolls had kept it. The rolls had not sent a man. The rolls had not sent a letter. The rolls had simply written it, because writing was what the rolls did, and keeping was what the rolls did, and not reading back was what the rolls did. The three things together were the House. The House was the institution. The institution was the punctual. The punctual was the thing. Avelin did not go to the Yard. She did not go to the Yard because the Yard had a bench and the bench was hers and the bench would have her at the third hour if she went, and she would sit at the bench and the rolls would have the fifth sentence and the fifth sentence would be under her hand and the hand would be the signing and the signing would be the keeping and the keeping would be the rolls, and she would have let the rolls do the thing to her, and the thing was the punctual, and the punctual was the death. She stood in the kitchen with her hand on the rail. She stood there and she did not read the kitchen and she did not weigh the bread and she did not reach for the door and she did not lift the basket, and she stood there, and the stair creaked under her, and the creak was the creak of the house, and the house was on Vail Street, and Vail Street was on the long street, and the long street went to the Yard, and the Yard had a bench in it, and the bench had no ruler on it, and the ruler was with Mabry, and Mabry was walking the long street, and the long street was going on. The clerk Wrenno did not come. Wrenno did not come because Wrenno was the clerk and Wrenno had written the fifth sentence at the first hour and Wrenno had written it in the ink of the rolls and Wrenno had kept it in the rolls and Wrenno had done the thing Wrenno did, which was to write and to keep and to not read back, and Wrenno did not come to Vail Street because coming was not the writing and the writing was done, and the done was the rolls, and the rolls were the rolls. At the fourth hour the boy at the third door came to the step with a ball, and the ball was the ball, and the boy was seven, and the boy had been in the weir, and the boy was seven and the boy did not know what holding the rail was, and the boy put the ball on the step and he looked up at Avelin and he said that his father had sent him to ask if she wanted the ball, because his father had found the ball in the weir and his father had washed it and his father had sent the boy to give it to her, because the father had seen her standing in the kitchen at the fourth hour and the father had seen her hand on the rail and the father had decided that a woman who stands at a rail at the fourth hour does not need a ball but might want one. "It is yours if you want it," the boy said. "I will take it," Avelin said. She took the ball with her hand. She did not lift it with her Load. She held it with her fingers. The ball was the ball. The ball was round. The boy went back to the third door. The father was at the third door. The father was cutting wood. The wood was the wood. At the fifth hour Nyall came in with the coal and the bread, and Nyall set the coal on the step and she set the bread on the table and she did not ask the question, and she did not look at the arm. "The rolls wrote it at the first hour," Avelin said. "I know." "How do you know." "Because I was at the Yard at the second hour and I asked for the rolls of the third month and the clerk gave them to me and I read the line. The line was the fifth sentence. The fifth sentence was under the standing of 1174. The standing was 1174. The 1174 was not zero. The rolls wrote it at the first hour and the rolls kept it and the rolls did not send a man." "Then the rolls are wrong." "The rolls are wrong." "Then the rolls are the rolls." "The rolls are the rolls." "The rolls will keep it forever." "The rolls will keep the fifth sentence forever." "And I have not signed it." "You have not signed it." "And the not signing is the short book." "And the not signing is the short book." "And the short book is over." "And the short book is over." Nyall picked up the jar. She put the jar on the table and she opened the jar and she took an apple out of the jar and she put the apple on the table, and the apple was red, and the red was the red, and she took a second apple out of the jar and she put the second apple on the table, and the second apple was red, and the two apples were the two apples. "There are two apples," Nyall said. "There are two apples." "Then we will eat the two apples." "We will eat the two apples." "And the jar is empty." "And the jar is empty." "And the empty is the rolls." "And the empty is the rolls." They ate the two apples at the table with the fifth hour going through the cloth, and the step was dry, and the coal was on the step, and the list was on the table, and the ninth line was nothing, and the nothing was the date, and the date was the nineteenth of the third month, and the nineteenth of the third month was the hour of the rolls, and the rolls had written the fifth sentence, and the fifth sentence was under the standing of 1174, and the 1174 was on the arm, and the arm was under the sleeve, and the sleeve was buttoned. At the seventh hour Trenn came in from the Yard, and Trenn came in with her lunch box and her spectacles and the list in her coat, and she set the lunch box on the table and she sat down and she did not ask. "They will close my check-walk at the end of the month," Trenn said. "I know." "I know you know." "I know." "Then I will lose the foundry." "You will lose the foundry." "Then I will have nothing to do with the foundry." "You will have nothing to do with the foundry." "And I will not have a ledger to take." "You will not have a ledger to take." "And I will not ask." "You will not ask." "And I will not look at you afterward." "You will not look at me afterward." "And I will go to the house." "You will go to the house." "And I will eat the bread." "You will eat the bread." "And I will read the list." "You will read the list." "And I will count the days." "You will count the days." "And the days are the ninth line." "And the days are the ninth line." "And the ninth line is nothing." "And the ninth line is nothing." They ate the bread at the table with the evening coming through the cloth, and the step was dry, and the coal was on the step, and the jar was empty on the table, and the list was on the table, and the ninth line was nothing, and the nothing was the day, and the day was the nineteenth of the third month, and the nineteenth of the third month was the day the rolls had marked her, and the rolls had marked her at the first hour, and she had stood at the rail at the fourth hour, and the rail had been the rail, and the creak had been the creak, and the creak was the creak of the house, and the house was on Vail Street, and Vail Street was on the long street, and the long street went to the Yard, and the Yard was quiet, and the Yard had a bench in it, and the bench had no ruler on it, and the ruler was with Mabry, and Mabry was walking, and the walking was the walking, and the walking was the not stopping, and the not stopping was the not signing, and the not signing was the short book, and the short book was over, and the over was the rolls, and the rolls were wrong, and the wrong was 1174, and the 1174 was on the arm, and the arm was under the sleeve, and the sleeve was buttoned, and the button was the button of her coat, and the coat was the coat she had put on in the fourth hour, and the fourth hour was the hour she had woken, and the waking was the thing, and the thing was the date, and the date was the day, and the day was over. ---