The Third Party (2) Die Dritte Partei (2) El Tercer Partido (2) Le tiers (2) サード・パーティー (2) 제3자 (2) Trzecia strona (2) Третья сторона (2) Üçüncü Taraf (2) Третя сторона (2)

'I don't know why you keep going on about your schooldays,' Lairdman said. |||||continue||||||| Ich weiß nicht, warum du ständig von deiner Schulzeit erzählst", sagte Lairdman. Je ne sais pas pourquoi vous continuez à parler de vos années d'école", a déclaré Lairdman.

'Let me get you a real drink before you go. Two big ones,' Boland called to the barman.

'No, really,' Lairdman protested. 'Really now.' He had put on his coat and a pair of black leather gloves.

'Oh, go on, man. We're both in need of it.'

Finger by finger Lairdman took one of the gloves off again, and unwillingly picked up the new glass. They drank.

'I only mentioned the school,' Boland said, 'because that was the other thing that you and I shared.' Je n'ai parlé que de l'école, dit Boland, parce que c'était l'autre chose que vous et moi partagions.

'As I said, I think we'd maybe send the children there.' |||||||enroll||| Comme je l'ai dit, je pense que nous pourrions envoyer les enfants là-bas.

'You don't remember it?' Vous ne vous en souvenez pas ? Boland asked. demande Boland.

'What's that?' Qu'est-ce que c'est ?

'The toilet thing.'

'Look here, Boland-' Regardez, Boland...

'I've offended you. Je vous ai offensé. I didn't mean that at all.' Das habe ich überhaupt nicht so gemeint.' Ce n'est pas du tout ce que je voulais dire".

'Of course you haven't offended me. It's just that I see no reason to keep going on about things like that.'

'We'll talk of something else.'

'Actually, I'm getting late.' The second glove was pulled on again, the coat buttons were checked to see that all was well for the street. The glove was removed again when Lairdman remembered there'd have to be a handshake.

'Thanks for everything,' he said.

For the second time, Boland surprised himself by being unable to let the matter rest. Po raz drugi Boland zaskoczył samego siebie, nie mogąc pozwolić, by sprawa ucichła. 'You mention your children,' he heard himself saying. 'Would these be your and Annabella's children?' Lairdman's mouth dropped open and he stared at Boland. 'What other children are there?' "Jakie są inne dzieci? he asked, shaking his head in a puzzled way.

'She can't have children, Lairdman.'

'Oh now, look here-'

'That's a medical fact. The unfortunate woman is incapable of being a mother.'

'I think you're drunk. One whiskey after another you've had. Annabella's told me a thing or two about you, you know.'

'She hasn't told you about the cats she's going to bring with her. She hasn't told you she can't have children. She hasn't told you she gets so bored that her face turns white with anger. It's best not to be near her then, Lairdman. Take my advice on that.'

'She's told me you can't stay sober.'

'Except for occasions like this, I hardly ever drink. Außer bei solchen Gelegenheiten trinke ich fast nie. I drink a lot less than Annabella does, I can promise you.'

'You've been unable to give Annabella children. She's sorry for you, she doesn't blame you.'

'Annabella was never sorry for anyone in her life.'

'Now look here, Boland-'

'Look nowhere, man. I've had twelve years of the woman. I'm ready to let you take my place. But there's no need for this talk of divorce, I'm just telling you that. Aber es gibt keinen Grund für dieses Gerede von Scheidung, das sage ich Ihnen nur. She'll come and live with you in your seven-room flat; she'll live in any house you like to buy, but if you wait forever, you won't find children coming along. All you'll have is two cats that want to bite the legs off you.' Dann hast du nur zwei Katzen, die dir die Beine abbeißen wollen.'

'You're being most unpleasant, Boland.'

'I'm telling you the truth.'

'You seem to have forgotten that Annabella and myself have talked about all this. She knew there'd be bitterness. ||||resentment Well, I understand that. I've said I'm sorry.'

'You're a mean little wooden man, Lairdman. Du bist ein gemeiner kleiner hölzerner Mann, Lairdman. Your head belongs in a toilet bowl. Were you all wet when they let go of you? I'd love to have seen it, Lairdman.'

'Will you keep your damn voice down? Würdest du verdammt noch mal leiser sprechen? And stop trying to quarrel with me! Und hören Sie auf, mit mir zu streiten! I won't stand here and listen to this.'

'I think Dead Smith went on to become a-' Ich glaube, Dead Smith wurde ein...

'I don't care what he became.' Es ist mir egal, was aus ihm geworden ist.

Suddenly Lairdman was gone. Plötzlich war Lairdman verschwunden. Boland didn't even turn his head. Boland drehte nicht einmal den Kopf. After a moment he lit a fresh cigarette. For half an hour, he remained alone, where his wife's lover had left him, thinking about his schooldays and Lairdman. Eine halbe Stunde lang blieb er allein dort, wo ihn der Liebhaber seiner Frau zurückgelassen hatte, und dachte über seine Schulzeit und Lairdman nach.

He had lunch in the dining room of the hotel, ordering soup and fish. Er aß im Speisesaal des Hotels zu Mittag und bestellte Suppe und Fisch. He imagined himself, one day in the future, entering the silence of his house. Er stellte sich vor, wie er eines Tages in die Stille seines Hauses eintreten würde. He'd actually been born in it. Er war tatsächlich darin geboren worden. Opposite O'Connor's garage, it was the last one in the town, yellow-painted and ordinary, but a house he loved. Gegenüber von O'Connors Garage war es das letzte Haus in der Stadt, gelb gestrichen und gewöhnlich, aber ein Haus, das er liebte.

'Did you say the fish, sir?' the waitress enquired. erkundigte sich die Kellnerin.

'Yes, I did.'

He'd got married in Dublin, as Annabella's family lived there. His friends and neighbours had been delighted when he brought her to live among them. ||||||very pleased|||||||| Seine Freunde und Nachbarn waren begeistert, als er sie zu sich holte. They stopped him in the street and told him how lucky he was. But those same people would be delighted when she left. The terrible bitterness that filled her, because of not being able to have children, eventually turned her beauty into a kind of madness. ||Resentful sorrow|||||||||||||||||||| Die schreckliche Bitterkeit, die sie erfüllte, weil sie keine Kinder bekommen konnte, verwandelte ihre Schönheit schließlich in eine Art Wahnsinn. That's what had happened, nothing else.

Slowly he ate his fish. Nobody would mention it much; they'd know what had happened and they'd say to one another that one day, probably, he'd marry again. He wondered if he would. Er fragte sich, ob er es tun würde.

He ordered a slice of apple cake with cream, and later coffee came. He was glad it was all over. Now he had accepted the truth; it had been necessary to hear it from someone other than his wife. When first she'd told him, he'd wondered if it was all just another of her lies.

He paid his bill and went out to the car park. It was because there hadn't been enough for her to do, he thought, as he drove out of Dublin through the heavy city traffic. Das lag daran, dass es für sie nicht genug zu tun gab, dachte er, als er durch den dichten Stadtverkehr aus Dublin herausfuhr. A childless woman in a small town had all the time in the world. |without children|||||||||||| Eine kinderlose Frau in einer Kleinstadt hatte alle Zeit der Welt. She had changed the furniture around, and had chosen the wallpaper that her cats had later damaged. But she hadn't joined any clubs or made any friends. He'd driven her to Dublin as often as he could, before she'd started going there alone to visit Phyllis. For years, he'd known she wasn't happy, but until she told him, he'd never suspected she had become involved with a man. Seit Jahren wusste er, dass sie nicht glücklich war, aber bis sie es ihm sagte, hatte er nie vermutet, dass sie sich mit einem Mann eingelassen hatte.

Lairdman would have telephoned her by now, perhaps to say, 'Why don't you drive up this afternoon?' Maybe all day she had been packing, knowing the meeting at Buswell's was nothing to worry about. Vielleicht hatte sie den ganzen Tag über gepackt, weil sie wusste, dass das Treffen bei Buswell's kein Grund zur Sorge war. The little white Volkswagen he'd bought her might be on the road to Dublin already. He was on the open road now, looking out for the Volkswagen coming towards him. If she passed him, would she greet him with a touch on the horn? Or would he greet her? He didn't know if he would. Better to wait.

But over the next fifty miles or so, there was no sign of his wife's car. And of course, he told himself, there was no reason why there should be. It was only his own idea that she might depart that afternoon, and surely, she'd need more than a day to pack all her things. Es war nur seine eigene Idee, dass sie an diesem Nachmittag abreisen würde, und sie würde sicherlich mehr als einen Tag brauchen, um ihre Sachen zu packen. The more he thought about it, the less likely it was that she would be capable of completing the move alone. Je mehr er darüber nachdachte, desto unwahrscheinlicher wurde es, dass sie in der Lage sein würde, den Umzug allein zu bewältigen.

He turned the radio on, and heard a song called 'Dancing in the dark'. It reminded him of the world he supposed his wife and Lairdman belonged to, the excitement of secret love, dancing close together in the darkness. Es erinnerte ihn an die Welt, in der er seine Frau und den Gutsherrn vermutete, an die Aufregung einer heimlichen Liebe, die eng beieinander in der Dunkelheit tanzte. 'Poor Annabella,' he said aloud, while the music still played. Poor girl, to have married a small town businessman like himself. It was lucky, really, that she had met self-confident little Lairdman. Es war wirklich ein Glück, dass sie den selbstbewussten kleinen Lairdman getroffen hatte. He imagined them in each other's arms, and then their shared smile before they held each other close again. Er stellte sich vor, wie sie sich in den Armen lagen und dann gemeinsam lächelten, bevor sie sich wieder aneinander festhielten. As the dull third party, he had no further part to play. Als langweiliger Dritter hatte er keine Rolle mehr zu spielen.

But as Boland reached the first few houses on this side of his hometown, he knew none of that was right. Doch als Boland die ersten Häuser auf dieser Seite seiner Heimatstadt erreichte, wusste er, dass das alles nicht richtig war. The little white car had not carried her to Lairdman today. Das kleine weiße Auto hatte sie heute nicht nach Lairdman gebracht. It would not do so tomorrow or the next day. Morgen oder übermorgen würde sie dies nicht mehr tun. It would not do so next month, or after Christmas, or in February, or in spring. ||won't||||||||||||| Sie würde dies weder im nächsten Monat, noch nach Weihnachten, noch im Februar, noch im Frühjahr tun. It would never do so. Das würde sie niemals tun. It hadn't mattered reminding Lairdman of what he had suffered as a schoolboy; it hadn't mattered telling him she was in the habit of lying, or even calling him mean. Es hatte keine Rolle gespielt, Lairdman daran zu erinnern, was er als Schuljunge erlitten hatte; es hatte keine Rolle gespielt, ihm zu sagen, dass sie zu lügen pflegte, oder ihn sogar gemein zu nennen. That kind of unpleasant talk was more or less expected in the situation they found themselves in, and might simply be the result of a few whiskeys. Diese Art von unangenehmem Gerede war in der Situation, in der sie sich befanden, mehr oder weniger zu erwarten und könnte einfach das Ergebnis von ein paar Whiskeys sein. Ce genre de propos désagréables était plus ou moins attendu dans la situation dans laquelle ils se trouvaient, et pouvait simplement être le résultat de quelques whiskeys. But something had driven Boland to go further. Aber irgendetwas hatte Boland dazu getrieben, weiter zu gehen. Mais quelque chose a poussé Boland à aller plus loin. Little men like Lairdman always wanted children. 'That's a total lie,' she'd have said already on the telephone, and Lairdman would have pretended to believe her. Das ist eine totale Lüge", hätte sie schon am Telefon gesagt, und Lairdman hätte so getan, als würde er ihr glauben. C'est un mensonge total", aurait-elle déjà dit au téléphone, et Lairdman aurait fait semblant de la croire. But pretending wasn't going to be enough for either of them. Aber so zu tun, als ob, würde für keinen von ihnen ausreichen. Mais faire semblant ne suffira à aucun d'entre eux.

Boland turned the radio off. He stopped the car outside Donovan's pub and sat there for a moment, before going in. Er hielt den Wagen vor Donovans Pub an und blieb einen Moment stehen, bevor er hineinging. At the bar, he greeted men he knew, and stood drinking with them, listening to talk of horses and politicians. An der Bar begrüßte er Männer, die er kannte, trank mit ihnen und hörte sich Gespräche über Pferde und Politiker an. They left after a few more drinks, but Boland stayed there for a long time, wondering why he hadn't been able to let Lairdman take her from him. Nach ein paar weiteren Drinks gingen sie, aber Boland blieb noch lange dort und fragte sich, warum er es nicht hatte zulassen können, dass Lairdman sie ihm wegnahm. Ils sont partis après quelques verres supplémentaires, mais Boland est resté là un long moment, se demandant pourquoi il n'avait pas été capable de laisser Lairdman la lui prendre.

- THE END -