The boat taxi docked on the Arrábida pier. Clouds hung heavy over the gulf; I felt the first drops of rain. Isabel pulled a very light raincoat from her bag and put it on. This is just like the night we said goodbye, do you remember? It was raining. Isabel, wait, I said, you can’t say goodbye another time. Isabel stood, and she leaned over and kissed me. Goodbye, Tadeus, she said, this is the last time, we most certainly won’t see each other again, goodbye. And she walked away, like I saw her walk away that night, down the short pier, down to a restaurant with a pale neon moon, and at a distance, she pulled her scarf from her neck and waved it goodbye, one last time. I said goodbye as well, timidly, waving, though my hand was hidden in my lap.
I opened my eyes. The violinist was standing in front of me in that garden by the station; the moon had set. Violin on his shoulder, he stared at the circle in the sand by his bare feet. And now it’s time to go back, he said, your search is through. He squatted and blew on the sand. The circle was erased. Why’d you do that? I asked. Because your search is through, he said, and it takes a puff of wind to lead everything back to the wisdom of nothing. I picked up the photograph of Isabel and put it in my pocket. I’ll take this along, I said. Go right ahead, he told me, it’s your right, sometimes a picture is all that remains of everything. He raised his violin to his shoulder and began playing softly, very sweetly, Les Adieux, l’Absence, le Retour. I looked up at the sky and saw a familiar star. I started on my way. And at that moment, I saw Isabel. She was waving a white scarf and saying goodbye.
Translator’s Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Jill Schoolman, publisher of Archipelago Books, for everything she does for international literature and for translators. I’ve consulted with numerous translators – from Italian, Portuguese, German, and Chinese – about details of this novel; many thanks to everyone. I also wish to express my deep gratitude to my friend and colleague Louise Rozier, for her insights into the original novel and for her meticulous feedback about my translation. Finally, I want to thank Scott Kallstrom, whose support and enthusiasm for my work mean all the world to me.
Antonio Tabucchi, For Isabel
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