Free The Discovery Of Slowness by Sten Nadolny Page A

back at them with the kind of suddenness John disliked. From one minute to the next the black gun suddenly bore a repulsively glittering deep scratch, almost a furrow, as if made by an immensely powerful tool which had slipped. The ugly shimmering of this metal wound made a deep impression. A moment later nobody was upright. Who could still get up? Their mechanical tasks were well learned; now partners’ work had stopped, for half of them were no longer around. Then all that blood. To see it washing all about was worrisome. In the end, somebody had to be losing it, for it poured out of people, everywhere.
    â€˜Don’t just stand there! To the guns!’ That was the man who had shouted, ‘A sign!’ Suddenly the gunport had become much wider than before. The missing wood covered several bodies amidships. Whose bodies were they?
    On deck, he learned that three of twelve ships had run aground, but not the Polyphemus . White smoke billowed out of the side of another ship close by. That image remained fixed in John’s eye. On the Polyphemus , pieces of splintered wood skidded across the deck as fast as lightning, slicing in circles like mowers’ blades. Sadly, John watched ordinarily sedate officers who never had to get out of the way jump aside with most undignified leaps. Ofcourse, they acted correctly, but it remained somehow degrading. He delivered his messages.
    Now the companionway looked very different. Obstacles protruded from the wall, detached themselves from above, and swung down at the height of his forehead. Since he could neither get out of the way nor stand still, he received scratches, cuts and bruises, which certainly made him look like a hero. And at all times he tried to act like a gentleman. One could easily lose an eye; Nelson had only one. What did Nelson think now? He stood on the quarterdeck of the Elephant . Nelson would always know everything.
    He could hear pumps working. Perhaps they were on fire? Or was the ship taking in water? People were reeling on deck as though they were drunk. The captain sat on top of a cannon, shouting, ‘Let’s all of us die together!’ Earlier they had made very different noises. Next to the captain the head of a listener was suddenly missing, and with it the listener himself. John became unhappy. All sudden changes confused him, whether of seating-order, deportment or systems of coordinates. It was hard to stand these constant disappearances of more and more people. Besides, he felt it was a deep humiliation for a head when, in consequence of actions by totally different people, it lost its body just like that. It was a defeat and not really an honour. And a body without a head, what a sad, indeed what a ridiculous sight!
    When he got back to the gundeck he was greeted by a sudden sharp brightness and an enormous racket: a ship had exploded nearby. He heard ‘Hurrah!’ and in between, again and again, the name of a ship. In the midst of the hurrahs, however, he heard a penetrating creaking, rasping noise, and then felt a jolt: a Danish ship had come up alongside them. And through the demolished gunport someone jumped aboard.
    John caught the image of a light, foreign boot which suddenly pushed its way in and got a foothold. It was a quick, threatening move. Its image remained fixed in John’s mind and kept him from a full awareness of further events. His head thought automatically: we’ll show ’em! For this was the situation he had thought of when he first heard this slogan. Next he saw just thatman’s open mouth and his, John’s, thumbs on his neck. By some chance the man had come to lie under him. Now he had a hold on him – he, John!
    When John grabbed a person, there was no escape. Now he saw the pistol emerging at the lower periphery of his vision. The sight paralysed him immediately. He didn’t look at it but rather kept his eye on his strong thumbs as though they could prevail over the pistol,