For Sure Read online

  And with that, they heard a knocking on the door.

  222.133.3

  The Future

  The Adagio of Schubert’s “String Quintet in C major, opus 163” also enfolds Alain Corneau’s film Nocturne indien (Indian Nocturn), based on the novel by Antonio Tabucchi. Extensions are sometimes more useful or interesting than details.

  223.58.7

  Extensions

  Various new equations in which 7 and 12 come together:

  a) 3 × 4 = 12

  12 × 12 = 144

  144 × 144 = 20,736

  20,736 ÷ 2 = 10,368, more or less insignificant number

  b) 3 + 4 = 7

  7 × 7 = 49

  49 × 49 = 2,401, the number of titles included in La Bibliothèque idéale6

  c) 20,736 – 2,401 = 18,335

  18,335 – 10,368 = 7,967

  10,368 – 7,967 = 2,401, the number of titles included in La Bibliothèque idéale.

  224.72.2

  Equations

  From Wikipedia, the Free Online Encyclopedia that anyone can edit: Pau (French pronunciation: [po]) is a commune on the northern edge of the Pyrénées, capital of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Département in France . . . It forms the communauté d’agglomération of Pau-Pyrénées with 13 neighbouring communes to carry out local tasks together. The Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, founded in 1972, means there is a high student population. The Boulevard des Pyrénées is 1.8 km from the Château de Pau to the Parc Beaumont, with views of the mountains . . . In the centre of Pau is a large castle, the Château de Pau, that dominates that quarter of the city. It is famous for being the birthplace of the sixteenth century king of France Henry IV and was once used by Napoleon as a holiday home during his period in power. It has a small garden that was tended by Marie Antoinette when she spent her summers in the city. The château is now considered a French historical monument and contains a collection of tapestries . . . Pau is the home of the French military’s école des troupes aéroportées, which trains and certifies military paratroops.

  225.11.3

  Appropriations

  When he found the word rouf in the dictionary, Terry saw that the sole definition of the term corresponded perfectly with the description provided by Daudet, whose phrase the dictionary actually quoted as an example. The word comes from the Dutch roef and means the same thing. Terry then looked up roof in an English dictionary, and discovered that it too is derived from the Dutch roef, which refers to a small shelter on the bridge of a boat, but which the English also use to refer to the roof of a house, the palate of a mouth, and a mountain summit. Terry felt as though he too had attained a kind of summit:

  “Acadians tink der French is bad when dey say rouf. Dey tink dey’re saying roof wid a French accent.”

  . . .

  “An’ de sentence de dictionary uses as an example is de very same one dat got me lookin’ in de dictionary in de first place! Dat’s got to be de first time dat ever happened to me!”

  226.19.12

  Interesting Details

  Gobelin blue derives its name from the famous French family of textile dyers based on the shores of the Bièvre river since the fifteenth century. It was also the name the French monarchy assigned to its national manufacturer of tapestries, which were mainly hung in edifices of the State. The Gobelin National Manufacturer workshops producing high-warp tapestries used to be situated near Les Gobelins metro station, in Paris’ thirteenth arrondissement. The low-warp workshops were not far from Beauvais. In Chaillot, the Savonnerie produced carpets with designs that were original or copied from the Orient.

  227.7.10

  Useful Details

  Drawn or cut-thread embroidery, which is also called needlepoint lace, first appeared in the sixteenth century in Italy, the product of the punto in aria or “lace in air.” Hardanger embroidery, which it resembles, originated in Asia and spread throughout Persia to Italy and then Scandinavia. Straight stitch, overcast stitch, single row, or straight hemstitching.

  229.71.3

  Intro Embroidery

  Only the y remained. Zablonski searched for a common noun containing this letter, and finally came up with lys. But did the little one know what a lys was? Le Grand Étienne was no longer sure it was important whether he knew or not, but he thought it best to tell him because, in the end, he did not like to think he’d left the child in the dark.

  “Lys. It’s a flower. A lily. You often see it in the supermarkets at Easter.”

  The boy nodded, thinking Easter must also be a place one could go to.

  “Red.”

  Taken aback, Zablonski thought of another word with a y.

  “How about myth?”

  Le Petit Étienne felt pretty clever:

  “Red as well.”

  “Yes, that’s what I see, too.”

  In truth, Zablonski saw the y as wine red, but since it really sounded the same as the i it could very well be red too.

  “And do you know what a myth is?”

  Le Petit Étienne shook his head no, laughing.

  “A myth is a story everyone believes, even if it’s not actually true. It’s a necessary story, if you like.”

  The little one looked at Zablonski with raised eyebrows. No, he’d certainly never heard of such a thing.

  230.14.6

  Zablonski

  A principle, a law, a statement. The principle: desires, when rejected by a mind that acts as an authority (and supported by culture) plunge into the subcontinent of the unconscious to achieve their ends. The law: repressed desires emerge in our dreams. The statement: the psyche is governed by rigourous mechanisms that cannot prevent traces of the unconscious from emerging everywhere.

  231.39.7

  Freud Circuitously

  “Chubby chin, silver lips, knave’s nose, boiled cheek, roasted cheek, tiny eye, big eye, eyebrow, eye browsy, and . . . knock on the noggin!”

  “Hihihihihi . . .”

  “Again?”

  . . .

  “Go on, say it: ‘yes, again.’”

  “G’in.”

  “‘Yes, again’ . . .”

  “Yeth ’gin.”

  “Chubby chin, silver lips, knave’s nose, boiled cheek, roasted cheek, tiny eye, big eye, eyebrow, eye browsy, and . . . knock on the noggin!”

  “Hihihihihi . . .”

  . . .

  “. . . hihihihi!”

  “Wasn’t dere supposed to be a forked tongue in der somewhere?”

  “Forked tongue? We never said dat.”

  “Chubby chin, forked tongue, silver lips, knave’s nose, boiled cheek . . .”

  “Hihihi . . .”

  “No?”

  232.98.9

  Expressions

  The Bièvre, which originates in Saint-Cyr in the Department of Yvelines, traverses the communes of Jouy-en-Josas, Bièvres, Villejuif, and Gentilly, before disappearing into the sewers of Paris. As for Dieppe, that dormitory town in New Brunswick on its way to becoming a real city, it began to expand during the 1950s, when Acadians from rural areas came to live there with the hope of finding work in nearby Moncton. Dieppe lies along the shores of the Petitcodiac river, which eventually empties into the Bay of Fundy.

  233.7.12

  Useful Details

  234.24.2

  Élizabeth

  The titles — accompanied by a brief description of each work — suggested by La Bibliothèque idéale captured Élizabeth’s imagination. Élie Faure, author of Histoire de l’art (A History of Art) in five volumes, was a doctor, like her! Ha!

  pic pac pic pac pic

  driftwood lay on Cap-Pelé

  drift drift drift of time

  235.55.1


  Haikus

  “Still!”

  Josse was astonished that all the residents of the lofts who had participated in the Babar’s small spontaneous survey on the colours of vowels saw the a as yellow and the i as red. The discovery had encouraged her to keep it going.

  “And what, I’d like to know, does ya want me to do wid dis?”

  “It’s only a wee survey I’d like fer you to fill out. Won’t take you long. I’ll come by an’ pick ’er up in a bit.”

  “Wha? To find out if yer customers is satisfied with yer service is it? Well, you ladies ’ave gone shocking corporate . . .”

  But Josse had already turned to the next table:

  “Can I get ya anytin’ else over ’ere?”

  236.6.9

  The Babar

  One of the methods of divination of the Yi Jing7 requires casting 50 yarrow or bamboo stalks. One of the stalks, however, is set aside at the beginning of the procedure and plays the role of Observer or Witness:

  a) 50 – 1 = 49

  49 = 7 × 7

  7 = 3 + 4

  b) 49 = 48 + 1

  48 = 4 × 12

  12 = 3 × 4

  237.72.3

  Equations

  Before continuing, Zablonski thought he’d better explain something of the alphabet to Le Petit Étienne.

  “The sounds a, e, i, o, and u are vowels. They’re important letters. You need at least one in every word. But there are also other letters. We call these consonants. They make sounds like b(e), p(e), t(e), m(m), n(n) . . . Understand?”

  Zablonski laughed inwardly: here he was, teaching the alphabet to Terry and Carmen’s son.

  “Now I’d like to find out if these letters have colours for you.”

  Le Petit Étienne was all ears. He felt things had suddenly become much more serious. He remembered Souricette.

  “Take the b(e). Do you see it in colour?”

  The boy was intent on doing his best:

  “Black.”

  “Agreed. Black. And if I say b(a), instead, is it still black?”

  Étienne thought hard:

  “Mm… yes. Only, der’s a bit of yellow too.”

  Zablonski looked down at his sheet, found the yellow beside the a. His hypothesis still held.

  “And if I say j(e)?”

  “Black.”

  “And j(i)?”

  Étienne immediately saw the red of the i attenuate the black of the j.

  “It’s still a bit black, but wid some red.”

  Zablonski noted the result for the sake of form, but he had already drawn his conclusion.

  “And p(e) . . .”

  . . .

  “P(e) . . .”

  Le Petit Étienne shrugged. Was he beginning to tire of the game?

  “Black.”

  Zablonski picked up the pace:

  “P(u)?”

  The boy shot back without hesitation:

  “Black an’ blue.”

  Zablonski was satisfied. More than satisfied.

  “That’s very good. Very, very good. Are you hungry?”

  238.14.7

  Zablonski

  Faure’s History of Art rubbed elbows with Klee’s Journal and André Malraux’s Voices of Silence. Present also were Matisse and Rodin, and an eighteenth-century Chinese work entitled Thoughts on the Paintings of the Bitter Gourd Monk.

  239.24.3

  Élizabeth

  Anyone who so desires can find the complete works of Voltaire on the web in French. Here then, without explicit permission, is an excerpt from his Philosophical Dictionary, as translated by Robert Majzels:

  “Tapestry (Tapisserie, s.f.), work done on a loom or needlework to cover the walls of a room. Loom tapestries are either high- or low-warp weaving: to make a high-warp weaving, the weaver copies the painted design placed next to him or her; but for low-warp weaving, the design is beneath the loom, and the artisan unrolls the painting as needed: both techniques employ a shuttle. Needlework tapestries are called needlepoint, because needle stitches are used. Large-stitch tapestry contains the widest spaces between stitches, and is cruder; tent-stitch or petitpoint tapestry is the opposite to large stitch. Gobelins, Flanders, and Beauvais tapestries are all high-warp weaving. In the past, gold and silk threads were used; but gold turns white, and silk becomes lusterless. Colours last longer on wool.

  Needlepoint tapestries from Hungary are made of long, loose stitches of various colours; they are quite common and inexpensive. Nature tapestries may contain some small-scale figures and still be called “Verdure.” Oudri initiated the fashion of animal figures in tapestries, and these are highly prized. Gobelins tapestries are copies of masterpieces by the greatest painters. Tapestries are classified as pieces, and are sold by the piece; they are measured according to their width in ells. Several pieces draped in a room are called a wall covering. They can be hung and unhung, fixed by nails, or the nails may be removed. Today, small selvages are more valued than large ones. All manner of fabrics can be used for tapestry: damask, satin, velvet, and serge (twill). Work on golden leather is also called tapestry. There are beautiful tapestry armchairs, splendid tapestry sofas woven in petitpoint, made either through high- or low-warp weaving.

  Tapissier: m.n., is the craftsman (the tapestry weaver); he or she is known by no other name in Flanders. The appelation also refers to the worker who hangs tapestries in a residence, or upholsters furniture. There are also manservants who are tapissiers.”

  241.11.1

  Appropriations

  The two Étiennes sat by the large window, eating cookies and drinking milk. They were quiet, each resting and reflecting on his discoveries. Le Grand Étienne, lost in thoughts of colours and letters, ate almost automatically. The boy took the time to pry the thin wafers apart and lick the cream between the layers.

  242.14.8

  Zablonski

  Three and four are the numbers that appear most often as the first word in the 2,401 titles of La Bibliothèque idéale. Three and its derivatives (trilogy, trinity, tripod, thirteen) appear in 20 titles, while four and its derivatives (forty, quartet, quatuor, quatre-vingt, or eighty) entitle 10. Five and six each appear in 5 titles, and two and eight in 1 each. No titles begin with the numbers seven or nine. The numeral 1, by definition indefinite, was not included in the above compilation.

  243.46.2

  La Bibliothèque idéale

  “Doesn’t means de same ting, seems to me.”

  “Wot’s dat?”

  Pomme had just joined Zed and Terry at the Babar.

  “Proverb I heard dat stuck in me head.”

  Pomme enjoyed anything that offered a bit of resistance.

  “Go on den, shoot.”

  “De dogs howl, de caravan passes.”

  Pomme thought hard. Terry added:

  “Some folks say de dogs howl, de caravan advances.”

  “Well, right der, dat don’t mean de same ting, now does it? Passes, dat means goes off someplace way over der.”

  Zed jumped in:

  “Or could be it passes right on troo.”

  “Well, in a way. And advances, well, dat means it’s comin’ right at us, now don’t it?”

  Something else occurred to Zed:

  “Unless yer de one sittin’ up on de camel.”

  But Terry was in a hurry to get to the punch line of his story:

  “Well, in de beginning, I can tell ya, I tawt it meant dat while some folks go about whining over der lot in life, udders just go on der way and dey ends up right where dey wanted to get. In udder words, dey does what needs doin’ and udder folks can tink or say wot dey please, tanks very much.”

  Pomme having agreed with his interpretation, Terry added:

  “W
ell, now I’s wonderin’ if it mightn’t mean that dose dogs barking, means dey don’t bite. So der’s no danger passin’. Or advancin’ eider, fer dat matter. Passin’ or advancin’ don’t make no difference no how.”

  Pomme found Terry’s alternate interpretation made sense, too, but suddenly he had a doubt:

  “An’ how does you know dogs dat bark doesn’t bite?”

  Terry had to admit:

  “Anudder proverb.”

  244.100.4

  Proverbs

  In fact, the number should be 2,405 titles rather than 2,401, because 2 of the 49 categories in La Bibliothèque idéale list 51 instead of 49 books. In the category of “Politics,” not one but three of Jean-François Revel’s books are included just as three of Molière’s comedies are listed in the category “Laughter.”

  245.46.3

  La Bibliothèque idéale

  “Little Rock! Like de Denis Richard song!”

  And the girl sang the end of the famous chorus at the foot of a rock in Little Rock over Johnny Haliday’s hit single “Black is Black.”

  “What did ya say yer name was, girl?”

  “Melanie Frenette!”

  “And wot is it you do fer a livin’?”

  “I was a social worker! I’ve only been in Moncton for eight months now, and I lived half my life in Edmunston. Great music, eh?”

  Now the crowd was cheering a song by Moncton’s Idea of North that DJ Bones usually held back until the hall was good and warmed up. After dancing:

  “I was president of the August 15 Committee in Edmunston the year they decided to hold the Acadian Tintamarre parade. I spent half my time arguing you do the Tintamarre on foot, not in cars. We ended up doing it on foot. There were forty-seven of us.”

  . . .

  246.22.6

  Overheard Conversations

  “Year after that, they did it in cars. There were twenty of them.”

  At some point, it would be useful to know that c/s means “cans per second.”