"THE MAN WHO HAD HIS HAIR CUT SHORT" "Fran." "Fran." "Today" "Fran is leaving school." "For good." "I have to tell her." "Fran." "Fran." "Govert?" "It's time." "Otherwise you'll be late for the festivities at school." "Right, Corra." "Do you want Cathy to bring your tea?" " Yes, please." "Cathy, you can take Daddy his tea." "Can I have the second lump?" "Daddy!" "Cathy?" " Coming." "Here's your blue suit." "Your white shirt is in the bathroom." "No, I'd rather have my casual suit." " Casual suit?" "For something like that?" "It'll be hot there with all those people and the sun on the windows." "If you think it's OK." "Shall I take you?" "I've got to go shopping." "No, I'll walk." "Does, Cathy don't make so much noise." "Govert, Regies phoned again while you were resting." "He apologised for phoning on a Saturday afternoon." "But he obviously can't sit still." "I made an appointment with him for you." "Monday, between 9 and 10." "He wants to add another document to the file." "He said it contains nothing new but is proof of his good faith." "Children." "Be quiet, please." "To be honest, I'm not so sure about this Regies." "They need to be eaten today." " Govert." "Or they'll have gone off by tomorrow." "Fran, I feel as if I've always known you." "How can I tell you what you mean to me?" "How?" "I can't see you until I know how to tell you." "A shave or a haircut, Mr Miereveld?" " Haircut." "Cut it shorter." "People like you, who use their head, should have it looked after." "Piano players do the same with their fingers and cyclists with their calves." "I like it short." "It feels refreshing in the wind and rain." "You're right there." "It calms me down." "My wife, who's a typist, has tablets for that." "But she says I help best, with a shampoo and my fingers." "Yes, you're right." "My doctor is always talking about nerves and prescribing tablets." "I prefer natural remedies." "With all respect for doctors, the work of a barber is also an art." "We're closer to the people, skin against skin, if I can put it like that." "Skin against skin?" "That is well put." "This vibromassage device may just look like a lump of rubber, but it is the most ingenious barber's thumb, with which we guarantee to reach and vibrate the main nerve of the body in a beneficial way." "Feel." "It's like a shower, first almost cold or hot, and afterwards you feel wonderful." "Wonderful." "Hello, Mr Miereveld." "The ceremony has just started." "The book you wanted is waiting for you." "Can you come and get it later?" "That's kind of you." " Or shall I bring it to you?" "No, I'll come and get it myself." "After the actual presentation of the diplomas at half past six, at half past six, you can visit the classrooms where the classes have exhibited the work they have done during the year." "You then come back to this hall via the bazaar." "To this hall, where at 8 o'clock, 8 o'clock, the performance will start that the final-year pupils have organised for you." "The bazaar will stay open until 10 o'clock." "Until 10 o'clock." "Thank you for your kind attention." "Good evening." "How are things?" "As alderman for education, I once again have the honour of presiding over this ceremony, that is also a celebration, and declaring it open." "I say have the honour because I regard it as a privilege and a joy." "I know of nothing more wonderful than school, which you shouldn't be surprised to hear from a man involved in politics." "School is one of our finest conquests along the path of the hard emancipation of man." "Hence the emotion with which I once again want to celebrate it with you." "And, this festive emotion moves me to first thank you, thank you sincerely, for your warm attendance." "The education you have received you will, in turn, now pass on and so the real battle of life is starting for you too." "What you learned here, love for children, for people..." "Love for children, for people and for the community." "Then we come to Napoleon and Victor Hugo." "If you falter, remember what, I think, Victor Hugo said." "There, Les Miserables." "He asked me to take over his lessons at school and I said yes." "Without hesitation." "You called me, Fran." "You will spread education." "I stuttered just now." "Remember that I'm only an ordinary lad and a political fighter." "And even if I stutter, I know what I am saying." "You are taking on, you are accepting a hard, difficult task." "A glorious battle awaits you." "Thank you." "Alderman, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and pupils," "I'd like to warmly thank our alderman on behalf of us all for his inspired and inspiring speech." "Thanks to him our school does indeed owe a lot to the authorities." "I'd just like to add, those who didn't come don't know what they're missing and now to the order of the day, that everyone here has anxiously been waiting for:" "The presentation of their diplomas to our school-leavers." "I'd like to ask our secretary, Miss Freken, to assist me with this." "Distinction:" "Elizabeta Nieuwhuizen." "Well done, Beps." "Well done, Beps." "Congratulations, Miss Nieuwhuizen." " Thank you." "Sorry." " Thank you." "Well done, Beps." "Well done, Beps." "Honours:" "Elisa Van der Zwalm." "Well done, Liesje." "Well done, Liesje." "Congratulations, Miss." "Congratulations." "Well done, Liesje." "Well done, Liesje." "Eufrazia Veenman." "Congratulations, Miss Veenman." "Look at me, Fran." "Please." "Fran, look at me." "Now." "Now." "It's our last day, Fran." "You know it is." "Ladies and gentlemen, this celebration isn't just a celebration, it is also a farewell." "Yes, a sad farewell." "May I ask our estimable colleague Judge Brantink to join me?" "Yes, Alderman, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and pupils, at first we couldn't believe it." "After working together for so many years it seemed impossible, but facts are facts." "Judge Brantink is leaving the school." "Judge Brantink, our gratitude is that much greater because you have personally recommended" "Mr Miereveld as your successor." "On behalf of us all, thank you." "Thank you." "May I open it?" " Of course." "You really shouldn't have." "Maybe you've forgotten, but I was a specially appointed teacher not a special teacher." "I am so moved and grateful that I cannot find the words to tell you how grateful I am." "I know that, thanks to Mr Miereveld, you will quickly forget me." "I will never forget you." "I wish you all, dear friends, and you too, Mr Miereveld, the very best." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Fran." "Fran." "Look at me, Fran." "Please, look at me, now." "Now." "It's our last day, Fran." "You know it is, you know how much I love you." "Fran." "Fran." "Are you coming to the exhibition?" " No, I've got to go upstairs." "You look young in that light suit." " I'll be right there." "Liesje, where are the others?" " They're getting changed." "Where?" " In the classroom." "Show me which one." "That one." "The second classroom." " Thank you, Liesje." "No one is allowed in." "The girls are getting ready for the performance." "I just wanted to buy them a..." " I'll tell them." "Sorry." "Mr Miereveld?" "Mr Miereveld?" "Yes?" "Oh, it's you." "Job done." "I've got the book." " Oh, right." "Thank you." "Sorry." "I felt a bit hot." "That's understandable." "Aren't you going to the performance?" "Yes, I'm just coming." " See you later." "What is there to be found in a class of girls?" "But is it like that or not?" "Is there any prospect of love," "Even if it were never to succeed?" "This is still the song about the seven, seven, seven, about seven girls, together in a class for four years." "School is over, they are leaving, life starts now, as they say." "Starts now, as they say." "But is it like that or not?" "Is there any prospect..." "Can I help you, Mr Miereveld?" " No, thank you." "I won't disturb you." "Hurry." "Hurry." "I'm late." "There." "That was the song about the seven girls but now Franny Veenman will sing The Ballade of Real Life." "They nod, say amen, you call them by their names." "But you don't know them, you don't affect them, you don't see them." "What today is, no one may know, what will come tomorrow may be better." "What will come tomorrow may be worse." "What used to be, no one knows any more." "Three kings on the Scheldt embarked for me." "Three kings on the Scheldt perished for me." "Two drifted with the Scheldt to clouds across the sea." "What is the point of this life?" "Where does this life lead?" "To clouds across the sea." "To the sea, to the sea." "What today is, no one may know, what will come tomorrow may be better." "What will come tomorrow may be worse." "What used to be, no one knows any more." "Three kings on the Scheldt perished for me." "Two kings on the Scheldt will be washed up somewhere." "The third one is buried and is waiting for the tide." "What is the point of this life?" "To where does this life lead?" "He's waiting for the tide, for me, for me." "Wait a moment, wait a moment." "Come at 9 o'clock Monday morning to collect your diplomas." "At 9 o'clock." "Mr Miereveld." "Don't you recognise me?" "Beps." "I was looking for Franny Veenman." "I wanted to give her this." "I'll give it to her." " No, you don't need to do that." "Yes, I'll do it." "I wanted to buy you all a drink this evening." "Miereveld." "I'll never see her again." "Goodbye." "Fran." "You were too beautiful for me." "I couldn't reach you." "You were too far away for me." "The night that closed around me then, lasted for years." "I live in this street now." "With growing affection I looked around me at ordinary, everyday people, people who can cast off all ties." "In those long years I didn't taste a single crumb of that happiness." "As a lawyer I split hairs so much that every case became a hopeless mess." "Brantink helped me, but to no avail." "One day I decided to give it up." "Corra didn't say anything, but nodded silently." "We moved and I live here now." "Ajob that I had applied for, as a clerk at the court, was given to me." "I don't feel degraded." "One Saturday morning I met Professor Mato." "He's a renowned expert at court, a medical examiner, with whom I am almost friends." "For a small but international case he had to visit a village in the north and he invited me to accompany him." "I didn't dare refuse." "I shouldn't have accepted the invitation." "Good afternoon." "Do you know my assistant?" "Doctor Verbrugge." "Mr Miereveld." "Pleased to meet you." " Pleased to meet you." "Hot, isn't it?" "Yes, very hot." "What a strange case with that bank messenger!" "Did you see the file?" "No." " Well, the case is as follows." "Six months ago a bank messenger disappeared." "All inquiries were in vain until a body was washed up a month ago that couldn't be identified because of the advanced state of decomposition." "They've buried it temporarily until all formalities have been fulfilled." "We have to investigate whether the man was the victim of manslaughter and once again try to establish his identity." "What are the identifying features?" "One:" "The right leg ends in a clubfoot." "Two:" "The ring finger on the left hand has a lump on the second joint." "Three:" "Strong teeth, perfect condition, no fillings." "Four:" "Tall, in his forties." "Then identification is, in fact, easy." "Yes, identification or non-identification." "Usually the teeth are sufficient to establish identity." "Because it is a clear feature, like fingerprints for the living." "We usually make impressions of the teeth on the spot using a blue powder." "Look." "For preserving anatomic evidence." "This is a costotome, for cutting through the ribs." "Then you can open up the body like a box with a lid." "An electric saw, mains operated." "Or low voltage, like here." "The blade doesn't rotate because of the splashing but makes an alternating vibrating movement." "Like a vibromassage device." " Yes, exactly." "But the effect of this is much more powerful." "We're too early gentlemen." "Shall we get some fresh air?" "Come on, gentlemen." "I think it's time." "Put the coffin on the table, please." "The oath." "I swear to carry out my task honourably and conscientiously, so help me God." "Right, up." "Come closer, Mr Miereveld." "The right leg ends in a club foot, the ring finger on the left hand has a lump on the second joint." "The teeth are perfect, height 1.87 metres, age 42." "Check the plate?" " Yes." "So, G2475." "OK?" " Yes." "Open the coffin, please." "The family, please." "Come closer, Mr Miereveld." " You won't be in the way, my friend." "Everything OK?" " OK." "Very advanced state of decomposition." "No right clubfoot." "Nothing to be seen on the left hand any more." "Impression of the teeth." "Five lead fillings." "Gaps from two missing molars." "It's not the bank messenger." "Judging by the degree of wear to the edge of the teeth" "I estimate the age to be between 40 and 50." "Very strong build." "Very nice skull." "Probably not from here." "Costotome." "There's no point in examining this side any further." "There's a scarcely visible join in the middle of the right shin bone." "Probably an old break, set very skilfully." "Still doesn't belie the description given because he won't have limped as it grew back together perfectly." "And no one will have known." "The back." "Look, Mr Miereveld." "That is interesting." "A small hole. 10 mm in diameter." "In the middle of the left shoulder blade." "But no bullet." " D'you think it's manslaughter?" "I wouldn't say that." "Maybe a gunshot wound." "Little can be deduced from this examination." "I fear the lab tests won't come up with anything either." "Well, we'll see." " Job done." "He can be buried." " I'm going for a walk." "OK, see you in 10 minutes by the car." "I've got to look at some papers." "Sir, there's something stuck to your shoe." "Yes, as agreed, I'll send the files back to you." "That's fine." "Everything OK, Miereveld?" " Yes, thank you." "A telegram for you, Professor." " Thank you." "A colleague of mine, Professor Zijsma, has heard I'm here and invites me to meet him 50 or 60 kilometres from here, where we can stay the night." "I can hardly refuse his invitation." "I'm sorry." "There aren't any more trains today that you can catch back." "But we would be delighted if you would accompany us." "We can send a telegram to our wives." "Of course." "Fine by me." "Can you still smell the body?" "Yes, a bit." " It used to be like that for us too, but after a while you get so used to it you no longer smell a thing." "Did you enjoy this afternoon?" " Yes, certainly, certainly." "The case was not unusual, but now you know what an autopsy is." "Yes, definitely." "I found it very instructive." "Thank you for asking me to come with you." "It wasn't too awful?" " No, it wasn't too bad." "To start with it seems awful because you think about the person too much." "The person in the body." "And about yourself and your own mortality." "But later, quite quickly, you will look at it scientifically and eventually you won't find it so gruesome any more." "On the contrary, you discover the beauty of it." "A wound is a spyhole in an ingenious structure." "What you call flesh becomes tissue, muscles, nerves." "All forms of living matter that have their own existence and own soul." "And death is changing from this life into other, new forms of life." "Is anything else to be found behind that changing of matter?" "Maybe the permanent changing of that matter into other forms of life is the soul, and it can exist by itself and give meaning to that changing." "Who can say?" "And the hole in the back?" "Do you think it was manslaughter?" "Difficult to say." "I'm not even sure it was a gunshot wound." "Maybe an injury when the body was in the water and bumped into the pier." "Or when it washed up on the paved bank where we were just now." "The state of decomposition was too far advanced." "If it were a gunshot wound, was the shot fatal immediately?" "A shot to the heart is only fatal with a 9 mm bullet." "Yes, nature is tough." "And yet so fragile at the same time." "The three single rooms that were booked." "Mato." "Papers, please sir." "Here you are." "Rooms 14, 15 and 17." "Mr Miereveld." " Thank you." "Here you are." "See you later, Miereveld." " Right." "In the hall." " See you later." "Miss Veenman." "I may call you Fran, may I not?" "Certainly, Mr Miereveld." "Of course." " Govert." "Godfried, if you prefer." "Govert." "With pleasure." "Not as restless as Miereveld." "Rouben Vaclav, my impresario." "An old teacher, Mr Miereveld." "I'm here by chance." "I wasn't prepared." "I don't even have any luggage." "Professor Mato, an expert from the court, invited me to an autopsy." "It was a difficult afternoon." "It was boiling hot." "Maybe you read in the newspaper about the bank messenger who disappeared." "A body was washed up, but it wasn't him." "Forgive me for talking about it." "It's so long since we've seen each other." "Dinner, ladies and gentlemen." " Excuse me." "See you later." " See you later." "Hotel Royal, reception." "Yes, sir." "Room this evening?" "Sorry, that was a former pupil who I hadn't seen for years." "I didn't know you taught at drama school." "No, I didn't." "Never." "But the lady you were talking to is Franny Veen, isn't she?" "Franny Veenman." " Do you know Franny Veen?" "Yes, she's a former pupil of mine." "A friend, in fact." "My colleague's not there yet." "D'you mind waiting with dinner?" " No, not at all." "My wife and daughter love Franny Veen." "But I've never had the chance to go to one of her performances." "Maybe this evening is a unique opportunity." "Waiter, do you know whether Mrs Veen is performing in the theatre tonight?" "Yes, sir." "Could you book some seats?" " Of course, sir." "May I invite you to join me, gentlemen?" " With pleasure." "If you would be so kind." "Four seats in the stalls." "Certainly, sir." "A very beautiful woman." "Beauty incarnate." "Where does that principle of beauty, the soul reside in such a woman?" "In yoga there are various stages of bliss and the strange thing is that for the tantrism the soul has been incarnated." "But where does the soul reside in Franny Veen?" "We westerners know little about that." "But do you know how perfection is expressed in belly dancing?" "The navel must perfectly describe the sign of infinity." "Isn't that the sign of the seat of the soul?" "Then the soul can reside in a particular place in the body." "The appendix, maybe." "Yes, us doctors should take care when doing an appendectomy that we don't cut out the soul." "Excuse me, I need to go to my room a moment." "I'd like to come a bit later too." "I'm tired." "It was an awful day." "Everything was so overwhelming." "Will you make my apologies to your assistant?" "I'm going for a walk." "My nerves are shot." "She said, "See you later."" ""See you later."" "Did Miss Veenman leave a message for me?" "Miereveld." "Room 17." " Sorry, Mr Miereveld." "It doesn't matter." "Yes, right..." "Then I'm off to bed." "Or maybe in Miss Veenman's box." "Maybe you could take a look?" "I don't know her number." " Miss Veen's number is 21." "I can't see anything, Mr Miereveld." "But she probably won't stay out much longer." "If you want to talk to her..." " No, I'll see her tomorrow morning." "I'm off to bed." "Or Mr Vaclav?" "He had his luggage taken to his car." "He has probably left already." "Right, thank you." "Good night." " Good night, Mr Miereveld." "Room 17." "Have you forgotten my coffee and my drink?" "Thank you." "Sir, your drink and your coffee." "Sir, your drink and your coffee." " Thank you." "Put them on the table." "She said, "See you later."" "Maybe she meant at the theatre?" "And why not in her room?" "I'll wait until she's back." "I must finally tell her." "Once, one last time," "I've got the right to be myself." "Fran." "Fran." "I hope that I may tell you everything, that I have always loved you." "And meeting you now!" "You can't imagine how good I felt when I saw you coming down the stairs." "When I saw your smile and heard you comment about Miereveld." "You said Godfried." "With pleasure, not as restless as Miereveld." "How did you know so quickly, so clearly what was hidden deep in my soul?" "And what I myself am so afraid of." "Do you know how beautiful you are, Fran?" "Your beauty is a miracle, that has a physical beginning" "but that doesn't reside in a particular place in your body." "Spiritually it is far-reaching." "Infinitely far-reaching." "Now you can no longer misunderstand me, Fran." "To me you are beauty incarnate." "Let me bathe in your golden light for a short while." "I'm a court clerk, like hundreds of others." "My wife, Corra, is a courageous, exemplary woman." "And I have two wonderful, clever children, Does and Cathy." "They still don't understand what a failure their father is." "D'you know, Fran, this afternoon I experienced something awful." "Forgive me for talking about it before dinner, about that awful autopsy, but I can't get it out of my head." "I will never forget it." "And yet, without that I would never have met you." "That horror contained beauty." "Beauty itself is horror." "Because it is so overwhelming that it threatens to destroy us." "You see, Fran, I believe in angelic powers." "But when they actually appear before me," "I am so disconcerted I chase them away, turn them against myself." "For six months I was completely happy." "Your last months at school, Fran." "You were there, beauty incarnate, an angel." "I saw you, I knew you, but I didn't recognise you." "And when you were gone, that meant the end for me." "Why couldn't I say anything, Fran?" "Do you understand?" "Why aren't I on my knees?" "All that weighs me down, Fran." "I'm so tired." "I'd like to go to sleep forever." "I've done my best." "I've done everything humanly possible." "I know, Govert." "I do understand you." "I did feel how important it was to you and you didn't say anything." "That time was so beautiful for both of us." "But why didn't you say anything, Govert?" "Govert, I couldn't take the first step." "That relationship between us could have been unique." "I loved you and I expected everything from you." "Happiness within our reach, perfect, too perfect." "It seems that that's possible too." "And now I may experience it." "I loved you, Govert, even though you didn't know, Govert." "I'm so happy, I still can't believe that such perfect love could exist." "That it exists." "I've waited for you for a long time, Govert, so long." "So very long, Govert." "I'm sure you were never selfish." "Beauty is always accompanied by goodness." "I've known men:" "Greedy, egocentric, often selfish." "Beauty is different." "There you are." "And it's best like that." "My parents were simple people, Fran." "I can still remember playing in the empty back garden of Father's house." "I played with dirty earth, hard and sticky from chicken droppings." "Maybe all the bathing I do now and all my visits to the barber is just to wash away what's left of the smell of chickens." "Once, when I was about 4 or 5, I was sitting on the doorstep." "The sun was shining brightly, the street was empty, brightly lit on one side, in deep shadow on the other." "Suddenly, an old woman I knew very well came round the corner." "Someone I loved very much." "She came closer and I saw her yellow, wrinkled face." "She said, "Hello, lad." And I said, "Hello."" "And she went past and I saw her all on her own in the brightly lit, empty street." "And suddenly she'd disappeared, gone." "And I ran inside crying." "No one understood why I was crying and I couldn't tell them." "Govert, I owe you the truth." "You asked me a question." "I'll answer it." "I mustn't spare you the disappointment." "You will understand me better." "Let me show you three things." "Father gave me this when I left home, driven out by him." "It was the Sunday after the school festivities, remember, Govert?" "I'd known that ending for six months." "Father had warned me." "He disappeared six months ago." "How it happened, no one knows." "Something was wrong with a lock gate one night, on the Scheldt." "They never found Father's body." "When I gave them his description I didn't want to go into too many details." "His sister seemed to know more about it than me but I tore up her statement because it said something about four fillings and two missing teeth and an old break of the lower left leg, that no one knew about" "because Father never limped." "Sorry, Govert, I shouldn't have told you." "That autopsy upset you so much." "Do you know how you came to be at our school?" "Why did you never guess?" "They kept the secret well, the school, the town council and Freken." "Remember?" "Facts are facts." "Judge Brantink is leaving our school." "But now you know, Govert." "I loved Brantink." "Don't judge us too harshly." "There was no question of seduction." "I knew and wanted it." "And I met you as a result." "The one who gave the game away was Freken." "She lived next door to the house where Brantink and I met each other." "They politely asked Brantink to resign." "The headmaster and Freken spoke to my father." "Brantink, of course." "Yes, I loved Brantink." "Yes." "I loved Brantink." "In fact, Brantink was only the first of all those who worshipped and indulged me, and who robbed me of all my illusions." "They gave me the most terrible present, that our desires could be satisfied but the one big longing appears incurable." "Yes, I loved them all." "I don't feel any shame." "I'm tired, Govert." "I'm tired." "Do you recognise this?" "Have I answered your question now?" "I rarely saw Father again." "When I left, he asked, "Have you eaten?"" "And then, "Open your case." He threw the gun in it and said," ""With my curse and my blessing."" "I never understood that, until now." "Now I know what it means, what Father meant it for." "See what a poor brother and sister couple we make, Govert?" "Yes, I've known a lot of men and loved them all." "I loved Brantink." "A dark force emanated from Father." "What are you looking for, Govert?" "Don't look, Govert." "Yes, you know, my image is deceptive." "Maybe you will carry on looking, Govert." "But don't look any further." "It can't be found." "I loved them all." "Brantink was only the first." "You can still cling to the illusion." "You haven't worn it out like me." "For me it's threadbare." "I've only got my fatigue and the old army pistol." "I never understood what Father wanted." "Now I'm as unscrupulous about death inflicted by oneself as the other disgrace." "Don't keep looking for the illusion." "Continue your existence and despair and die suddenly, crushed by your bottled-up pain." "But your pain will always be sweeter than mine, that too hopelessly knows that 'it' no longer belongs here, that it can no longer belong here." "Govert, you wanted it to reach right up into heaven, didn't you?" "This meeting can turn into something wonderful if you will see me off." "Yes, that is the meaning of you coming to me so late." "Don't carry on looking." "This is my dawn." "Help me, Govert." "Please." "Understand what my father wanted, Govert." "It is wonderful that you are seeing me off." "You are goodness and love, Govert." "Govert." "Govert." "Govert." "Godfried." "Don't cut her up." "Don't cut her up." "No autopsy." "She died instantly." "The bullet size was huge." "Don't cut her up." "Don't cut her up." "Still haven't found anything, Miereveld?" " No, nothing." "Are you coming to see The Threepenny Opera?" "Miereveld?" "It's the German version with Forster and Lotte Lenya." "Corra's coming tomorrow with the children." "Corra is my wife." "She promised the governor." "I've had a letter from her." "See you later, then. 4 o'clock." "See you later." "After a number of successful trial flights a manned rocket was launched today at Cape Tacony that is not being sent along a fixed trajectory this time but is remote-controlled." "The scientists from the NAW Naval Institute want, by means of the actinometers on board, to measure the effect of the L2 rays on living beings." "To what extent will the human organism be able to withstand them?" "FROM THE WORLD OF ART" "Franny Veen, one of our actresses, tells us about the role of Phaedra, that has been a huge success and that she created in our town." "How many times have you played the role of Phaedra in our town?" "Seven times." "How many more are to come?" " Three." "Will you come back to our town again?" " Maybe." "Is that old news?" "Is that old news or is it recent?" "Governor." "Governor, I saw a news reel in the projection room." "Is that old or recent?" "Why, Govert?" "It's recent, isn't it?" "It's not a mistake?" "It's not a mistake." " Then I didn't murder Fran." "The shot didn't kill her." "She recovered." "Correct, Godfried." "Correct." "One word, correct." "And the horrifying burden of the past ten years has disappeared." "The suffering, fear, mistakes of a hopeless man have been undone." "So it wasn't farewell, Fran." "Godfried, you said then." "God... fried." "Yes, gentlemen." "In that peace, Franny, I will now be able to live." "The world always seems so vague." "I see the truth, in duplicate, in triplicate." "But that vagueness, that's what I believe in." "There's always something fragile in me, deep inside me, which makes me feel the need to look at myself from the outside." "Then everything becomes clear." "But then..." "I'm... someone else." "Then... 'I'is someone else." "What will happen when I die?" "When I've died?" "Where will I be?" "Where will Corra be?" "And Does?" "And Cathy?" "Corra?" "Where will you be then?" "Do you understand?" "I should've been humble from the beginning." "And tilled the land." "Help tender plants live and die." "And carve wood into what the Lord had intended it for." "A stool." "A piece of furniture for you, Corra." "That is my mute contribution to the household." "And for Cathy and Does." "For my children, for later." "When they are grown-up and happy." "When they too will know and think back to the failure who was their father." "Corra." "Dear Corra." "THIS WAS THE STORY OF GOVERT MIEREVELD," "THE MAN WHO HAD HIS HAIR CUT SHORT."