"A Camus - The Stranger" - читать интересную книгу автора (Camus Albert)

When we got back, Masson was on the steps of his bungalow, shouting to us to come. I told him I was ravenously hungry, and he promptly turned to his wife and said heТd taken quite a fancy to me. The bread was excellent, and I had my full share of the fish. Then came some steak and potato chips. None of us spoke while eating. Masson drank a lot of wine and kept refilling my glass the moment it was empty. By the time coffee was handed round I was feeling slightly muzzy, and I started smoking one cigarette after another. Masson, Raymond, and I discussed a plan of spending the whole of August on the beach together, sharing expenses.
Suddenly Marie exclaimed: УI say! Do you know the time? ItТs only half-past eleven!Ф
We were all surprised at that, and Masson remarked that weТd had a very early lunch, but really lunch was a movable feast, you had it when you felt like it.
This set Marie laughing, I donТt know why. I suspect sheТd drunk a bit too much.
Then Masson asked if IТd like to come with him for a stroll on the beach.
УMy wife always has a nap after lunch,Ф he said. УPersonally I find it doesnТt agree with me; what I need is a short walk. IТm always telling her itТs much better for the health. But, of course, sheТs entitled to her own opinion.Ф
Marie proposed to stay and help with the washing up. Mme Masson smiled and said that, in that case, the first thing was to get the men out of the way. So we went out together, the three of us.
The light was almost vertical and the glare from the water seared oneТs eyes. The beach was quite deserted now. One could hear a faint tinkle of knives and forks and crockery in the shacks and bungalows lining the foreshore. Heat was welling up from the rocks, and one could hardly breathe.
At first Raymond and Masson talked of things and people I didnТt know. I gathered that theyТd been acquainted for some time and had even lived together for a while. We went down to the waterТs edge and walked along it; now and then a longer wave wet our canvas shoes. I wasnТt thinking of anything, as all that sunlight beating down on my bare head made me feel half asleep.
Just then Raymond said something to Masson that I didnТt quite catch. But at the same moment I noticed two Arabs in blue dungarees a long way down the beach, coming in our direction. I gave Raymond a look and he nodded, saying, УThatТs him.Ф We walked steadily on. Masson wondered how theyТd managed to track us here. My impression was that they had seen us taking the bus and noticed MarieТs oilcloth bathing bag; but I didnТt say anything.
Though the Arabs walked quite slowly, they were much nearer already. We didnТt change our pace, but Raymond said:
УListen! If thereТs a roughhouse, you, Masson, take on the second one. IТll tackle the fellow whoТs after me. And you, Meursault, stand by to help if another one comes up, and lay him out.Ф
I said, УRight,Ф and Masson put his hands in his pockets.
The sand was as hot as fire, and I could have sworn it was glowing red. The distance between us and the Arabs was steadily decreasing. When we were only a few steps away the Arabs halted. Masson and I slowed down, while Raymond went straight up to his man. I couldnТt hear what he said, but I saw the native lowering his head, as if to butt him in the chest. Raymond lashed out promptly and shouted to Masson to come. Masson went up to the man he had been marking and struck him twice with all his might. The fellow fell flat into the water and stayed there some seconds with bubbles coming up to the surface round his head. Meanwhile Raymond had been slogging the other man, whose face was streaming with blood. He glanced at me over his shoulder and shouted:
УJust you watch! I ainТt finished with him yet!Ф
УLook out!Ф I cried. УHeТs got a knife.Ф
I spoke too late. The man had gashed RaymondТs arm and his mouth as well.
Masson sprang forward. The other Arab got up from the water and placed himself behind the fellow with the knife. We didnТt dare to move. The two natives backed away slowly, keeping us at bay with the knife and never taking their eyes off us. When they were at a safe distance they swung round and took to their heels. We stood stock-still, with the sunlight beating down on us. Blood was dripping from RaymondТs wounded arm, which he was squeezing hard above the elbow.
Masson remarked that there was a doctor who always spent his Sundays here, and Raymond said: УGood. LetТs go to him at once.Ф He could hardly get the words out, as the blood from his other wound made bubbles in his mouth.
We each gave him an arm and helped him back to the bungalow. Once we were there he told us the wounds werenТt so very deep and he could walk to where the doctor was. Marie had gone quite pale, and Mme Masson was in tears.
Masson and Raymond went off to the doctorТs while I was left behind at the bungalow to explain matters to the women. I didnТt much relish the task and soon dried up and started smoking, staring at the sea.
Raymond came back at about half-past one, accompanied by Masson. He had his arm bandaged and a strip of sticking plaster on the corner of his mouth. The doctor had assured him it was nothing serious, but he was looking very glum. Masson tried to make him laugh, but without success.
Presently Raymond said he was going for a stroll on the beach. I asked him where he proposed to go, and he mumbled something about Уwanting to take the air.Ф WeЧMasson and IЧthen said weТd go with him, but he flew into a rage and told us to mind our own business. Masson said we mustnТt insist, seeing the state he was in. However, when he went out, I followed him.
It was like a furnace outside, with the sunlight splintering into flakes of fire on the sand and sea. We walked for quite a while, and I had an idea that Raymond had a definite idea where he was going; but probably I was mistaken about this.
At the end of the beach we came to a small stream that had cut a channel in the sand, after coming out from behind a biggish rock. There we found our two Arabs again, lying on the sand in their blue dungarees. They looked harmless enough, as if they didnТt bear any malice, and neither made any move when we approached. The man who had slashed Raymond stared at him without speaking. The other man was blowing down a little reed and extracting from it three notes of the scale, which he played over and over again, while he watched us from the corner of an eye.
For a while nobody moved; it was all sunlight and silence except for the tinkle of the stream and those three little lonely sounds. Then Raymond put his hand to his revolver pocket, but the Arabs still didnТt move. I noticed the man playing on the reed had his big toes splayed out almost at right angles to his feet.
Still keeping his eyes on his man, Raymond said to me: УShall I plug him one?Ф
I thought quickly. If I told him not to, considering the mood he was in, he might very well fly into a temper and use his gun. So I said the first thing that came into my head.
УHe hasnТt spoken to you yet. It would be a lowdown trick to shoot him like that, in cold blood.Ф
Again, for some moments one heard nothing but the tinkle of the stream and the flute notes weaving through the hot, still air.
УWell,Ф Raymond said at last, Уif thatТs how you feel, IТd better say something insulting, and if he answers back IТll loose off.Ф
УRight,Ф I said. УOnly, if he doesnТt get out his knife youТve no business to fire.Ф
Raymond was beginning to fidget. The Arab with the reed went on playing, and both of them watched all our movements.
УListen,Ф I said to Raymond. УYou take on the fellow on the right, and give me your revolver. If the other one starts making trouble or gets out his knife, IТll shoot.Ф
The sun glinted on RaymondТs revolver as he handed it to me. But nobody made a move yet; it was just as if everything had closed in on us so that we couldnТt stir. We could only watch each other, never lowering our eyes; the whole world seemed to have come to a standstill on this little strip of sand between the sunlight and the sea, the twofold silence of the reed and stream. And just then it crossed my mind that one might fire, or not fireЧand it would come to absolutely the same thing.
Then, all of a sudden, the Arabs vanished; theyТd slipped like lizards under cover of the rock. So Raymond and I turned and walked back. He seemed happier, and began talking about the bus to catch for our return.
When we reached the bungalow Raymond promptly went up the wooden steps, but I halted on the bottom one. The light seemed thudding in my head and I couldnТt face the effort needed to go up the steps and make myself amiable to the women. But the heat was so great that it was just as bad staying where I was, under that flood of blinding light falling from the sky. To stay, or to make a moveЧit came to much the same. After a moment I returned to the beach, and started walking.
There was the same red glare as far as eye could reach, and small waves were lapping the hot sand in little, flurried gasps. As I slowly walked toward the boulders at the end of the beach I could feel my temples swelling under the impact of the light. It pressed itself on me, trying to check my progress. And each time I felt a hot blast strike my forehead, I gritted my teeth, I clenched my fists in my trouser pockets and keyed up every nerve to fend off the sun and the dark befuddlement it was pouring into me. Whenever a blade of vivid light shot upward from a bit of shell or broken glass lying on the sand, my jaws set hard. I wasnТt going to be beaten, and I walked steadily on.
The small black hump of rock came into view far down the beach. It was rimmed by a dazzling sheen of light and feathery spray, but I was thinking of the cold, clear stream behind it, and longing to hear again the tinkle of running water. Anything to be rid of the glare, the sight of women in tears, the strain and effortЧand to retrieve the pool of shadow by the rock and its cool silence!
But when I came nearer I saw that RaymondТs Arab had returned. He was by himself this time, lying on his back, his hands behind his head, his face shaded by the rock while the sun beat on the rest of his body. One could see his dungarees steaming in the heat. I was rather taken aback; my impression had been that the incident was closed, and I hadnТt given a thought to it on my way here.
On seeing me, the Arab raised himself a little, and his hand went to his pocket. Naturally, I gripped RaymondТs revolver in the pocket of my coat. Then the Arab let himself sink back again, but without taking his hand from his pocket. I was some distance off, at least ten yards, and most of the time I saw him as a blurred dark form wobbling in the heat haze. Sometimes, however, I had glimpses of his eyes glowing between the half-closed lids. The sound of the waves was even lazier, feebler, than at noon. But the light hadnТt changed; it was pounding as fiercely as ever on the long stretch of sand that ended at the rock. For two hours the sun seemed to have made no progress; becalmed in a sea of molten steel. Far out on the horizon a steamer was passing; I could just make out from the corner of an eye the small black moving patch, while I kept my gaze fixed on the Arab.
It struck me that all I had to do was to turn, walk away, and think no more about it. But the whole beach, pulsing with heat, was pressing on my back. I took some steps toward the stream. The Arab didnТt move. After all, there was still some distance between us. Perhaps because of the shadow on his face, he seemed to be grinning at me.
I waited. The heat was beginning to scorch my cheeks; beads of sweat were gathering in my eyebrows. It was just the same sort of heat as at my motherТs funeral, and I had the same disagreeable sensationsЧespecially in my forehead, where all the veins seemed to be bursting through the skin. I couldnТt stand it any longer, and took another step forward. I knew it was a fool thing to do; I wouldnТt get out of the sun by moving on a yard or so. But I took that step, just one step, forward. And then the Arab drew his knife and held it up toward me, athwart the sunlight.
A shaft of light shot upward from the steel, and I felt as if a long, thin blade transfixed my forehead. At the same moment all the sweat that had accumulated in my eyebrows splashed down on my eyelids, covering them with a warm film of moisture. Beneath a veil of brine and tears my eyes were blinded; I was conscious only of the cymbals of the sun clashing on my skull, and, less distinctly, of the keen blade of light flashing up from the knife, scarring my eyelashes, and gouging into my eyeballs.
Then everything began to reel before my eyes, a fiery gust came from the sea, while the sky cracked in two, from end to end, and a great sheet of flame poured down through the rift. Every nerve in my body was a steel spring, and my grip closed on the revolver. The trigger gave, and the smooth underbelly of the butt jogged my palm. And so, with that crisp, whipcrack sound, it all began. I shook off my sweat and the clinging veil of light. I knew IТd shattered the balance of the day, the spacious calm of this beach on which I had been happy. But I fired four shots more into the inert body, on which they left no visible trace. And each successive shot was another loud, fateful rap on the door of my undoing.

Part Two
I
I was questioned several times immediately after my arrest. But they were all formal examinations, as to my identity and so forth. At the first of these, which took place at the police station, nobody seemed to have much interest in the case. However, when I was brought before the examining magistrate a week later, I noticed that he eyed me with distinct curiosity. Like the others, he began by asking my name, address, and occupation, the date and place of my birth. Then he inquired if I had chosen a lawyer to defend me. I answered, УNo,Ф I hadnТt thought about it, and asked him if it was really necessary for me to have one.
УWhy do you ask that?Ф he said. I replied that I regarded my case as very simple. He smiled. УWell, it may seem so to you. But weТve got to abide by the law, and, if you donТt engage a lawyer, the court will have to appoint one for you.Ф