
[1560] same and it was in vain I moved from one place to another, in the end
they all knew what I was and kept their distance. [1561] I think that one of
them one day, detaching herself from her companions, came and offered
me something to eat and that I looked at her in silence, until she went
away. [1562] Yes, it seems to me some such incident occurred about this time.
[1563] But perhaps I am thinking of another stay, at an earlier time, for this
will be my last, my last but one, there is never a last, by the sea.
[1564] However that may be I see a woman coming towards me and stopping from
time to time to look back at her companions. [1565] Huddled together like
sheep they watch her recede, urging her on, and laughing no doubt, I
seem to hear laughter, far away. [1566] Then it is her back I see, as she goes
back, now it is towards me she looks back, but without stopping. [1567] But
perhaps I am merging two times in one, and two women, one coming towards
me, shyly, pursued by the cries and laughter of her companions, and the
other going away from me, unhesitatingly.
[1568] For those who came towards
me I saw coming from afar, most of the time, that is one of the advantages
of the sea-shore. [1569] Black specks in the distance I saw them coming, I
could follow all their antics, saying, It's getting smaller and smaller,
or, It's getting bigger and bigger. [1570] Yes, to be taken unawares was so
to speak impossible, for I turned often towards the land too. [1571] Let me
tell you something, my sight was better at the seaside!
[1574] These are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the seaside. [1575] Or
perhaps it was I who was changing, why not? [1576] And in the morning, in my
cave, and even sometimes at night, when the storm raged, I felt reasonably
immune from the elements and mankind. [1577] But there too there is a price to
- Segments
Molloy © 2016 Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.
Editors: Magessa O'Reilly, Dirk Van Hulle, Pim Verhulst and Vincent Neyt