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| A. G. Geiger’s place was a store frontage on the north side of the boulevard near Las Palmas. The entrance door was set far back in the middle and there was a copper trim on the windows, which were backed with Chinese screens, so I couldn’t see into the store. There was a lot of oriental junk in the windows. I didn’t know whether it was any good, not being a collector of antiques, except unpaid bills. The entrance door was plate glass, but I couldn’t see much through that either, because the store was very dim. A building entrance adjoined it on one side and on the other was a glittering credit jewelry establishment. The jeweler stood in his entrance, teetering on his heels and looking bored, a tall handsome white-haired Jew in lean dark clothes, with about nine carats of diamond on his right hand. A faint knowing smile curved his lips when I turned into Geiger’s store. I let the door close softly behind me and walked on a thick blue rug that paved the floor from wall to wall. There were blue leather easy chairs with smoke stands beside them. A few sets of tooled leather bindings were set out on narrow polished tables, between book ends. There were more tooled bindings in glass cases on the walls. Nice-looking merchandise, the kind a rich promoter would buy by the yard and have somebody paste his bookplate in. At the back there was a grained wood partition with a door in the middle of it, shut. In the corner made by the partition and one wall a woman sat behind a small desk with a carved wooden lantern on it. | Trgovina A. G. Geigera bila je ulični dućan na sjevernoj strani bulevara nedaleko Las Palmasa. Ulazna su vrata bila duboko uvučena negdje po sredini, a u izlozima je bila bakrena rešetka, postavljena ispred paravana, tako da nisam mogao vidjeti unutra. U izlozima je bilo mnogo ori* jentalne drekarije. Nisam znao vrijedi li to išta, jer nisam bio skupljač antikviteta, ako izuzmemo neplaćene račune. Ulazna su vrata bila od ravnog, stakla, ali ni kroz njih nisam mogao mnogo vidjeti, jer'je unutrašnjost bila vrlo mračna. Do trgovine su š jedne striatne bila ulazna vrata u zgradu, a s druge svjetlucava draguljarska firma s prodajom na kredit. Draguljar je stajao u svom dovratku, njišući se na petama s izrazom dosade, visok lijep sjedokos Židov u jednostavno krojenom tamnom odijelu, s otprilike devet karata dijamanata na desnoj ruci. Slabašni mu je smiješak razumijevanja zakrivio usnice kad sam zakrenuo u Geige-rov dućan. Pustio sam vrata da se polako zatvore za mnom i zakoračao po dubokom modrom sagu što je pokrivao pod od zida do zida. Unutra su bili naslonjači od plave kože a pokraj njih stalci s pepeljarama. Nekoliko kompleta kož- nili uveza s rukom utisnutim zlatnim slovima bilo je složeno na uskim politiranim stolovima između podupirača. Još je takvih uveza bilo u ostakljenim ormarićima po zido: vima. Roba je krasno izgledala, bila je od one vrste koju bogati osnivači firmi kupuju na metar i daju nekome da im ulijepi ekslibris. U dnu je bila pregrada od zrriatdg stakla s vratima u sredini, zatvorenim. U kutu stvorenom pregradom i jednim zidom sjedila je žena za malim pisaćim stolom na kojem je bila svjetiljka od izrezbarena drva. |
| She got up slowly and swayed towards me in a tight black dress that didn’t reflect any light. She had long thighs and she walked with a certain something I hadn’t often seen in bookstores. She was an ash blonde with greenish eyes, beaded lashes, hair waved smoothly back from ears in which large jet buttons glittered. Her fingernails were silvered. In spite of her get-up she looked as if she would have a hall bedroom accent. | Polako je ustala i zanjihala se prema meni u tijesno krojenu crnom kostimu od kojeg se uopće nije odbijalo svjetlo. Imala je dugačka bedra i hodala je s izvjesnim nečim što baš nisam često vidio u knjižarama. Bila je pepeljasta plavuša sa zelenkastim očima, zavinutim trepavicama i kosom što se u valovima spuštala iza ušiju na kojima su blistali veliki jjajatm medaljoni. Nokti su joj bili posrebreni. Unatoč svoj toj fasadi, izgledala je kao da bi mogla imati akcenat služinske osobe. |
| She approached me with enough sex appeal to stampede a business men’s lunch and tilted her head to finger a stray, but not very stray, tendril of softly glowing hair. Her smile was tentative, but could be persuaded to be nice. | Prišla mi je s dovoljno seksepila da natjera u stampedo sudionike poslovnog ručka i nagnula glavu da bi prstom vratila odlutalu, iako ne baš jako, viticu mekane sjajne kose. Smiješak joj je bio pokusni, no dao bi se nagovoriti na ljupkost. |
| “Was it something?” she enquired. | — Trebate nešto? — upitala je. |
| I had my horn-rimmed sunglasses on. I put my voice high and let a bird twitter in it. “Would you happen to have a Ben Hur 1860?” | Imao sam na očima sunčane naočale s rožnatim okvirom. Namjestio sam glas visoko i pustio ptičicu u njemu da zacvrkuće. — Biste li možda imali Ben Hura iz 1860? |
| She didn’t say: “Huh?” but she wanted to. She smiled bleakly. “A first edition?” | Nije izrekla »Ha« ? ali joj je malo falilo. Nasmiješila se neodređeno. — Prvo izdanje? |
| “Third,” I said. “The one with the erratum on page 116.” | — Treće — rekoh. —- Ono koje ima erratum na stranici 116. |
| “I’m afraid not—at the moment.” | — Bojim se da nemamo ... momentalno. |
| “How about a Chevalier Audubon 1840—the full set, of course?” | — A što je sa Chevalierom Audobonom iz 1840, kompletom, razumije se? |
| “Er—not at the moment,” she purred harshly. Her smile was now hanging by its teeth and eyebrows and wondering what it would hit when it dropped. | — E ... momentalno nemamo — zaprela je hrapavo. Smiješak joj je sada visio još samo na zubima i obrvama, i pitao se u što će udariti kad se otkine. |
| “You do sell books?” I said in my polite falsetto. | — Prodajete li vi knjige? — upitao sam svojim uljudnim falsetom. |
| She looked me over. No smile now. Eyes medium to hard. Pose very straight and stiff. She waved silver fingernails at the glassed-in shelves. “What do they look like—grapefruit?” she enquired tartly. | Preletjela me je pogledom. Smiješka više nije bilo. Oči tvrdoće između HB i H. Poza vrlo uspravijena i kruta. Za- mahnula je srebrnim noktima prema ostakljenim policama. — Na što vam je ovo nalik, na grejpfrut? — upitala je kiselo. |
| “Oh, that sort of thing hardly interests me, you know. Probably has duplicate sets of steel engravings, tuppence colored and a penny plain. The usual vulgarity. No. I’m sorry. No.” | — Oh, teško da bi me takve stvari zanimale, znate. Vjerojatno duplikati kompleta željeznih gravira, dva peni-ja kolorirane, peni čist otisak. Uobičajena prostota. Ne. Žao mi je. Ne. |
| “I see.” She tried to jack the smile back up on her face. She was as sore as an alderman with the mumps. “Perhaps Mr. Geiger—but he’s not in at the moment.” Her eyes studied me carefully. She knew as much about rare books as I knew about handling a flea circus. | — Shvaćam. — Pokušala je ponovno nabaciti smiješak na lice. Bila je nabrušena kao gradski vijećnik kad dobije zaušnjake. — Možda bi mister Geiger ... ali ga momentalno nema. — Njene su me oči pažljivo proučavale. Razumjela se u rijetke knjige koliko i ja u vođenje cirkusa buha. |
| “He might be in later?” | — Možda dođe kasnije? |
| “I’m afraid not until late.” | — Bojim se, ne tako brzo. |
| “Too bad,” I said. “Ah, too bad. I’ll sit down and smoke a cigarette in one of these charming chairs. I have rather a blank afternoon. Nothing to think about but my trigonometry lesson.” | — Šteta — rekoh. — Ah, zaista šteta. Sjest ću i popušiti cigaretu u jednom od ovih dražesnih naslonjača. Imam baš prazno popodne. I nemam o čemu misliti, osim o svom predavanju iz trigonometrije. |
| “Yes,” she said. “Ye-es, of course.” | — Da — rekla je. — Da, da, naravno. |
| I stretched out in one and lit a cigarette with the round nickel lighter on the smoking stand. She still stood, holding her lower lip with her teeth, her eyes vaguely troubled. She nodded at last, turned slowly and walked back to her little desk in the corner. From behind the lamp she stared at me. I crossed my ankles and yawned. Her silver nails went out to the cradle phone on the desk, didn’t touch it, dropped and began to tap on the desk. | Protegao sam se u naslonjaču i zapalio cigaretu okruglim poniklanim upaljačem što je stajao na stalku za pepeljaru. Još je stajala, držeći zubima donju usnu, s nekako neodređeno zabrinutim očima. Napokon je kimnula, polako se okrenula i odšetala natrag za svoj mali pisaći stol u kutu. Zurila je u mene iza svjetiljke. Prekrižio sam gležnjeve i zijevnuo. Njeni su srebrni nokti krenuli prema telefonu na stolu, ali ga nisu dodirnuli već su se spustili i počeli lupkati po ploči. |
| Silence for about five minutes. The door opened and a tall hungry-looking bird with a cane and a big nose came in neatly, shut the door behind him against the pressure of the door closer, marched over to the corner and placed a wrapped parcel on the desk. He took a pineal wallet with gold corners from his pocket and showed the blonde something. She pressed a button on the desk. The tall bird went to the door in the paneled partition and opened it barely enough to slip through. | Pet minuta tišine. Vrata su se otvorila i unutra je skladno ušao očito izgladnjeli visoki kit sa štapom i velikim nosom, zatvorio vanjska vrata prije no što je pritisnuo kvaku unutrašnjih, zagazio preko prostorije do kuta i tamo na stol položio zamotuljak. Izvadio je iz džepa lisnicu od kože tuljanova mladunčeta sa zlatno okovanim uglovima i pokazao nešto plavuši. Ova je pritisnula dugme na stolu. Visoki je kit otišao do vrata u paneliranoj pregradi i otvorio ih jedva dovoljno da se provuče. |
| I finished my cigarette and lit another. The minutes dragged by. Horns tooted and grunted on the boulevard. A big red interurban car grumbled past. A traffic light gonged. The blonde leaned on her elbow and cupped a hand over her eyes and stared at me behind it. The partition door opened and the tall bird with the cane slid out. He had another wrapped parcel, the shape of a large book. He went over to the desk and paid money. He left as he had come, walking on the balls of his feet, breathing with his mouth open, giving me a sharp side glance as he passed. | Dovršio sam cigaretu i pripalio drugu. Minute su se vukle. Klaksoni su trubili i roktali na bulevaru. Veliki je crveni međugradski kamion gunđajući prošao mimo. Sema- fori su zveknuli. Plavuša se naslonila na lakat, obujmila oči dlanom gledajući me kroza nj. Vrata su se na pregradi otvorila i visoki je kit sa štapom kliznuo iz njih. Imao je d ugi zamotuljak, u obliku poveće knjige. Otišao je do stola i izbrojio novac. Otišao je kao što je i došao, hodajući na petama, dišući raširenih ustiju i poslavši mi iskosa oštar pogled dok je prolazio. |
| I got to my feet, tipped my hat to the blonde and went out after him. He walked west, swinging his cane in a small tight arc just above his right shoe. He was easy to follow. His coat was cut from a rather loud piece of horse robe with shoulders so wide that his neck stuck up out of it like a celery stalk and his head wobbled on it as he walked. We went a block and a half. At the Highland Avenue traffic signal I pulled up beside him and let him see me. He gave me a casual, then a suddenly sharpened side glance, and quickly turned away. We crossed Highland with the green light and made another block. He stretched his long legs and had twenty yards on me at the corner. He turned right. A hundred feet up the hill he stopped and hooked his cane over his arm and fumbled a leather cigarette case out of an inner pocket. He put a cigarette in his mouth, dropped his match, looked back when he picked it up, saw me watching him from the corner, and straightened up as if somebody had booted him from behind. He almost raised dust going up the block, walking with long gawky strides and jabbing his cane into the sidewalk. He turned left again. He had at least half a block on me when I reached the place where he had turned. He had me wheezing. This was a narrow tree-lined street with a retaining wall on one side and three bungalow courts on the other. | Ustao sam, nagnuo šešir plavuši na pozdrav i izišao za njim. Hodao je prema zapadu njišući štap u tijesnom malom luku upravo iznad desne cipele. Bilo ga je lako slijediti. Kaput mu je bio skrojen iz prilično kričava konjskoga gunja, a ramena su mu bila tako široka da mu je vrat virio poput celerove stapke na kojoj se kolebala glava dok je koračao. Prošao je blok i pol. Kod semafora na aveniji Highland zakočio sam kraj njega i dao mu da me vidi. Pogledao me postrance i površno, no onda mu je pogled naglo postao oštar. Brzo se okrenuo od mene. Prešli smo Highland po zelenom svjetlu i zatim svladali još jedan blok. Produžio je korak svojih dugačkih nogu i stekao do ugla dvadeset metara fore. Skrenuo je desno. Zaustavio se tridesetak metara uzbrdo, zakačio štap za podlakticu i zaše-prtljao vadeći kožnatu tabakeru iz unutrašnjeg džepa. Stavio je cigaretu u usta, ispustio šibice, osvrnuo se dok ih je podizao, ugledao me kako ga promatram s ugla i uspravio se kao da mu je netko opalio vritnjak. Gotovo je uzvitlao prašinu uspinjući se uz blok, gazeći dugačkim šlampavim koracima i nabadajući štapom pločnik. Ponovno je skrenuo, ulijevo. Imao je najmanje pola bloka fore kad sam dosegao mjesto gdje je skrenuo. Dobio me na stari štos. Bila je to uska, drvoredom ograđena ulica s potpornim zidom s jedne strane i tri terena s bungalovima. |
| He was gone. I loafed along the block peering this way and that. At the second bungalow court I saw something. It was called “The La Baba,” a quiet dim place with a double row of tree-shaded bungalows. The central walk was lined with Italian cypresses trimmed short and chunky, something the shape of the oil jars in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Behind the third jar a loud-patterned sleeve edge moved. | Nestao je. Klatario sam se duž bloka zirkajući amo i tamo. Na drugom sam terenu s bungalovima ugledao nešto. Zvalo se »La Baba«; bilo je to tiho sumračno mjestance s dvostrukim redom drvećem osjenjenih bungalova. Središnji je prolaz bio obrubljen talijanskim čempresima, podšišanim nakratko i zdepastim, ponešto nalik na žare s uljem iz Ali Babe i četrdeset hajduka. Iza treće žare pomaknuo se rub kričavo deseniranog rukava. |
| I leaned against a pepper tree in the parkway and waited. The thunder in the foothills was rumbling again. The glare of lightning was reflected on piled-up black clouds off to the south. A few tentative raindrops splashed down on the sidewalk and made spots as large as nickels. The air was as still as the air in General Sternwood’s orchid house. | Naslonio sam se na deblo peruanskog zimzelena kraj moto-staze i počekao. Grmljavina je na padinama ponovno zatutnjala. Odsjaj munja reflektirao se od naslaganih crnih oblačina dalje na jugu. Nekoliko je pokusnih kapi škrapnulo po pločniku stvarajući mrlje u veličini petpar-ca. Zrak je bio nepomičan kao u stakleniku, za orhideje generala Sternwooda. |
| The sleeve behind the tree showed again, then a big nose and one eye and some sandy hair without a hat on It. The eye stared at me. It disappeared. Its mate reappeared like a woodpecker on the other side of the tree. Five minutes went by. It got him. His type are half nerves. I heard a match strike and then whistling started. Then a dim shadow slipped along the grass to the next tree. Then he was out on the walk coming straight towards me, swinging the cane and whistling. A sour whistle with jitters in it. I stared vaguely up at the dark sky. He passed within ten feet of me and didn’t give me a glance. He was safe now. He had ditched it. | Rukav se iza drveta opet pokazao, a za njim i veliki nos, jedno oko i nešto riđe kose bez šešira na njoj. Oko je zirnulo u mene. I nestalo. Njegov se par pojavio kao žuna na drugoj strani debla. Prošlo je pet minuta. Ćopilo ga je. Taj tip je sam živac. Čuo sam kako je kresnula šibica, nakon toga je počelo zviždukanje. Tamna je sjena kliznula kroz travu do idućeg drveta. Zatim se stvorio na pločniku, idući ravno na mene, njišući štapom i zviždukajući. Bilo je to kiselo zviždanje, sa šizom u sebi. Zagledao sam se neodređeno u potamnjelo nebo. Prošao je na tri metra od mene i nije me počastio ni pogledom. Sad je bio siguran. Otarasio se toga. |
| I watched him out of sight and went up the central walk of the La Baba and parted the branches of the third cypress. I drew out a wrapped book and put it under my arm and went away from there. Nobody yelled at me. | Promatrao sam ga dok se nije izgubio iz vida, pošao središnjim prolazom do La Babe i razgrnuo grane trećeg čempresa. Izvukao sam umotanu knjigu, stavio je pod mišku i otišao odatle. Nitko nije viknuo za mnom. |