Primeval and Other Times

THE TIME OF ELI

“Go away. If I see you, I can’t sleep,” Genowefa told him.

“And if I don’t see you, I can’t live.”

She gazed at him with her light grey eyes and again he felt her touch the very centre of his soul with that look of hers. She put down her buckets and brushed a strand of hair from her brow.

“Bring the buckets and come down to the river with me.”

“What will your husband say?”

“He’s at the manor.”

“What will the workmen say?”

“You’re helping me.”

Eli grabbed the buckets and followed her down the stony track.

“You’ve grown into a man,” said Genowefa without turning round.

“Do you think about me when we don’t see each other?”

“I think about you whenever you think about me. Every day. I dream about you.”

“Oh God, why don’t you end it?” Eli abruptly put the buckets down on the path. “What sin have I or my fathers committed? Why must I suffer so?”

Genowefa stopped and looked at her feet.

“Don’t blaspheme, Eli.”

For a while they said nothing. Eli picked up the buckets and they went onwards. The path widened, so now they could walk abreast of each other.

“We won’t be seeing each other any more, Eli. I’m pregnant. I’m going to have the child in autumn.”

“It ought to be my child.”

“It has all become clear and sorted itself out…”

“Let’s run away to the city, to Kielce.”

“… Everything pushes us apart. You’re young, I’m old. You’re a Jew and I’m a Pole. You’re from Jeszkotle, I’m from Primeval. You’re single, and I’m married. You’re mobile, I’m fixed to the spot.”

They stepped onto the wooden pier, and Genowefa started removing the laundry from the buckets and plunging it into the cold water. The dark water rinsed out the light soapsuds.

“It was you that led me astray,” said Eli.

“I know.”

She put down the laundry, and for the first time leaned her head against his shoulder. He could smell the fragrance of her hair.

“I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you. Instantly. Love like that never ends,” she said.

“What is love?”

She didn’t answer.

“I can see the mill from my windows,” said Eli.