Feet of the Angels (8 page)

Stay with me, Paul, the story's almost over.

In the hands of this painter, the girl's veil became a passage for the light to shine through, a passage that softens the world's noise and reveals her secrets.

Ever since that day, she cannot be away from Soleyman's gaze, and they spend so many happy days together.

MARIE 2

…I mean, one day we might revisit this too and see it in a new light, in a wholly different way. That's the frenzy of wanting to know, the passion for discovering things all over again, a feverish contagion of erudition, a new perspective on everything, a fresh way of seeing and describing the world.

PAUL

We need to wrap this up, Marie.

MARIE 1

Yes, I know we do…

MARIE 2

In conclusion…

MARIE 1

…The problem is I'm incapable of defending a thesis or anything else, any
one
else. Look, for instance, my brother hanged himself a long time ago now.

PAUL

What did he die of, your brother?

MARIE 1

He hanged himself by the neck.

MARIE 2

Finally…

MARIE 1

Finally.

PAUL

That was the method I chose, not what I died of. We tend to think of motives and actions in the same terms, but that's not right. How many people do the same things every day, but for different reasons? Why should I be just the same as anyone else who hangs himself?

MARIE 1

…In the end, I don't really know what my brother died of.

MARIE 2

In the end, all the uncertainties that afflicted us won't seem like wounds but like fascinating mysteries, a veil full of hidden promises, and we will rejoice in these uncertainties as a rest for the eyes, and after that, enchantment will return to us.

MARIE 1

In the end.

PAUL

Will Paul open his eyes in the end?

DOCTOR

(
veiled woman
)
Paul, do you still want to die so that you can see what comes afterwards? There's no need to hurry, you know. We all get there sooner or later; meanwhile, just open your eyes and see what is going on here and now.

Of course, we're all swimming in a bog, our actions are short-lived and vain, yes of course. Yet out of that mud and clay and these uncertain convulsions dazzling forms of beauty sometimes emerge, giving the passage of time a sweeter taste.

I remember the ancient words we recited at school; they were as good to me as the rain:

She recites these quatrains of Omar Khayyam:

Think, in this batter'd Caravanserai

Whose Doorways are alternate Night and Day,

How Sultan after Sultan with his Pomp Abode his

Hour or two, and went his way.

Even from the bright rising sun

The moon that has playfully spun

We learn love, joy and even fun

Before our time's sand has run.

Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of Night

Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:

And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught

The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light.

MARIE 1 & 2

It is hoped that the thesis I submit for the jury's appreciation today demonstrates this, and I will now gladly answer your questions.

The end.

Playwright and actor Evelyne de la Chenelière studied drama at École Michel-Granvale in Paris. This surprisingly mature young playwright was the recipient of the 2006 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama for her play
Désordre public
. Evelyne lives in Montréal.

Nigel Spencer's previous work includes acting, directing, teaching, educational research and training, journalism and subtitling and co-scripting films. He has published six books of translated work by Marie-Claire Blais, including
Thunder and Light
and
Augustino and the Choir of Destruction
, both of which won the Governor General's Literary Award for Translation.