“Wedding Night”
by
Henri Michaux
translated by David Ball
from The Night Moves
When you come home on your wedding day, if you stick your wife in a well to soak all night she is flabbergasted. Even if she had always been vaguely worried about it . . .
“Well, well,” she says to herself, “so that’s what marriage is like. No wonder they kept it all so secret. I’ve been taken in by the whole business.”
But since her feelings are hurt, she doesn’t say a thing. That’s why you can plunge her into it for a long time, over and over, without making any trouble in the neighborhood.
If she didn’t understand the first time, it’s not very likely that she’ll catch on after that, and you have a good chance of being able to continue with no problems at all (except for bronchitis) if you really want to.
As for me, since I suffer even more in other people’s bodies than in my own, I had to give it up right away.
Biblioklept 