A Change of Skin by Carlos Fuentes Page B

by remaining alien to it, dominating it with solitude in which you could see only each other, together and apart in a dark arc that pulsated from the sexual hair to the seeking lips. You by your life gave life to the earth, and away from you the men who spoke the names of things could utter the names of the sea, the words by which they have created and discovered the sea and the islands, the words that belong to all languages of all centuries:
    Wine-dark sea of Ulysses.
    â€œHow did you pay for your trip to Greece?”
    â€œI’ve told you. With the money from selling Javier’s home. Or was it the money from his fellowship? I don’t remember for sure.”
    Nymphs and sirens and ears sealed against the enchantment and temptation of the sea.
    â€œA Lloyd-Triestino ship. An old tub.”
    Sea without bound or limit.
    â€œHow many days?”
    â€œOh, I don’t remember. An orchestra playing waltzes and jazz too. You know how time slides by when you’re at sea. How can you keep count of days?”
    Choleric breath.
    â€œDid you go first class?”
    â€œNo, we couldn’t afford that. We traveled like sandwiches, between first class and steerage. Stop asking questions. Read Ship of Fools. Go see an old movie starring Kay Francis and William Powell.”
    Sea that is the home of the most powerful of gods.
    â€œOne Way Passage.”
    â€œSure. They’re all dead, you see, and they don’t know it. The ship of Charon and all the rest. No. That’s Outward Bound. Sorry.”
    Poseidon of the golden trident.
    â€œDid you have much baggage?”
    â€œDon’t joke. One steamer trunk. A world. At that time everyone always traveled with a trunk.”
    Sea belting the earth.
    â€œSure. The three Marx brothers could have stowed away in one of those trunks.”
    â€œWe died laughing at it. The hinges squeaked, the little drawers squeaked. The trunk was almost empty.”
    Sea boiling with winged weightless fish.
    â€œBut at that time you couldn’t go anywhere without taking a world with you. It was a must. All for show. And out hopped Harpo with his harp and his eyes of a harmless madman.”
    Dolphins beloved by the muses.
    â€œHarmless? Ask the ship’s manicurist.”
    â€œYou’re way off, caifán. But you know about as much about the movies as I know about magnetic fields. Harpo was harmless, I tell you; the wolf was Groucho. But we staggered around more than any Marxist in that fifth-rate steamer.”
    Children of the sea.
    â€œWe wrote letters on notepaper and stuck them in the empty drawers of the trunk.”
    â€œWhat did you write about?”
    Children of the Nereids.
    â€œI won’t tell you. You’re too inquisitive.”
    â€œOkay. What clothes did you take along?”
    Breast-fed by Amphitrite.
    â€œThe things that were in style then. I told you, like Kay Francis. A flowered print for daytime. An evening dress with wide skirts. Those tailored suits with a short jacket, a long skirt, and a blouse like a tuxedo, of piqué. That satisfy you?”
    Sea of ships that open their wakes across the level green plain.
    â€œDid you do your own washing in Falaraki?”
    â€œElena helped me.”
    Trackless sea.
    â€œWho’s Elena?”
    â€œYou don’t pay close enough attention. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. What are you going to do with all these little details? Are you Gallup or Kinsey? Are you a recruiter for the war in Vietnam?”
    Sea of purple-shadowed waves.
    â€œYou had money enough to pay a laundress?”
    â€œYou like to make the story go your way, don’t you? Be patient, my love. Elena liked us. Understand?”
    Sea joined to the dark good earth.
    â€œWho did the cooking?”
    â€œI did. But we bought most things. In winter the fishermen brought us things. Almost all of it was ready to begin with. You know, cheese, olives, wine. Sometimes I’d fry