Novel [1]
Peter Bichsel [2]
A man falls in love with a girl. That girl knows, that man is in love. The man looks at her walk and her legs, asks for her name.
He says to his wife: “She is pretty.” And his wife confirms it. “She is friendly”, he says.
When his wife smiles, a white strip of teeth appears between her lips. Then the smile dies and the strip remains.
The girl does not smile.
The man looks at himself in the mirror.
In Locarno [3] he can only stay there for a week. In the pharmacy there is a saleswoman, who looks like the girl. She wears a white apron. After another week, the man returns, not without starting a conversation with the neighbor on the train.
Meanwhile the girl has taken a job in London. The man hears about it.
He decides to travel to Locano in fall again. His wife has insisted to buy a TV for a long time. They calculate the cost just over a thousand francs [4], including antenna and installation. In fall he goes to Locarno, chooses intentionally another hotel at the end of the town. In the pharmacy there is another girl. She wears a white apron.
A serious illness of the wife forces him to cancel his vacation.
They now have a TV.
The girl has her hair dyed in London.
After years the man writes again to his brother in America, waits for a reply for weeks.
Meanwhile another party has become strong. Meanwhile it is now spring.
Once starting with foreign language, now the girl also wants to learn Spanish.
In the last three weeks he has seen her twice.
The hair color disappointed him.
Now she will go to Barcelona.
The man cancels his reservation at hotel. The business now takes him all his time and all. It is recommended that he travels to Davos [5] in winter. Even for those who do not do winter sports, Davos offers a lot of charm and beauty.
The woman will accompany him to Davos.
A postcard from America is in the mailbox. The brother makes lots of spelling mistakes.
He resumes his Sunday walk with his wife. He breaks a branch from a tree.
His son declares that he wants to take vacation in May this year. He is going to Spain with a colleague.
The wife has already gotten brochures for Davos from the travel agency. “They are all winter brochures”, the young woman apologizes.
Tanned and with a smuggled bottle of chartreuse [6], the son returns from Spain.
[1]. p. 69. Roman. Eigentlich möchte Frau Blum den Milchmann kennenlernen. Suhrkamp Verlag Frankfurt am Main, Walter-Verlag AG, Germany. 1996.
[2]. Peter Bichsel. 3/24/1935 - . Swiss writer and journalist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bichsel
[3]. Locarno. Locarno is an Italian-speaking resort city in southern Switzerland, on Lake Maggiore at the base of the Alps. It's known for its sunny climate. Founded in the 12th century, the old town's Castello Visconteo houses the Museo Civico, which showcases Roman antiquities. The 15th-century Santuario della Madonna del Sasso, an art-filled pilgrimage site overlooking the city, can be reached by funicular railway. ― Google
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locarno
[4]. Franc. The basic monetary unit of Switzerland and a number of especially sub-Saharan nations in Africa. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/franc
[5]. Davos. A renowned ski town in Switzerland.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davos
[6]. Chartreuse. A green or yellow liqueur.
