The Sun Also Rises - Chapter 10

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Chapter ten. In the morning,it was bright and they were sprinkling the
streets of the town, and weall had breakfast in the cafe. Beyond
is a nice town. It islike a very clean Spanish town, and
it is on a big river already, so early in the morning it was
very hot on the bridge across theriver. We walked out on the bridge

(00:25):
and then took a walk through thetown. I was not at all sure
Mike's rods would come from Scotland intime, so we hunted a tackle store
and finally bought a rod for Billupstairs over a dry goods store. The
man who sold the tackle was out, we had to wait for him to
come back. Finally he came inand we bought a pretty good rod cheap

(00:45):
and two landing nets. We wentout into the street again and took a
look at the cathedral. Kohan madesome remark about it being a very good
example of something or other. Iforget what. It seemed like, a
nice cathedral, nice and dim likeSpanish churches. Then we went up past
the old fort and out to thelocal cyndicot, the initiative office where the

(01:08):
bus was supposed to start. Fromthere, they told us. The bus
service did not start until the firstof July. We found out at the
tourist office what we ought to payfor a motor car to Pamplona and hired
one at a big garage just aroundthe corner from the municipal theater for four
hundred francs. The car was topick us up at the hotel in forty

(01:30):
minutes. We stopped at the cafeon the square where we had eaten breakfast
and had a beer. It washot, but the town had a cool,
fresh early morning smell, and itwas pleasant sitting in the cafe.
A breeze started to blow and youcould feel that the air came from the
sea. There were pigeons out inthe square and the houses were a yellow

(01:53):
sun big color, and I didnot want to leave the cafe, but
we had to go to the hotelto get our bags packed and pay the
bill. We paid for the beers, we matched and I think Cone paid
and went up to the hotel.It was only sixteen francs apiece for Bill
and me, with ten percent atit for the service, and we had

(02:13):
the bags sent down and waited forRobert Kohane. While we were waiting I
saw a cockroach on the parquet floorthat must have been at least three inches
long. I pointed him out toBill and then put my shoe on him.
We agreed he must have just comein from the garden. It was
really an awfully clean hotel. Conecame down finally and we all went out

(02:36):
to the car. It was abig, closed car with a driver in
a white duster with blue collar andcuffs. We had him put the back
of the car down, he piledin the bags and we started off up
the street and out of the town. We passed some lovely gardens and had
a good look back at the town, and then we were out in the
country, green and rolling and theroad climbing all the time. We passed

(03:00):
lots of Basque with oxen or cattlehauling carts along the road, and nice
farmhouses, low roofs and all whiteplastered. In the Basque country, the
land all looks very rich and green, and the houses and villages looked well
off and clean. Every village hada pelota court, and on some of

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them kids were playing in the hotsun. There were signs on the walls
of the churches saying it was forbiddento play pilota against them, and the
houses in the villages had red tiledroofs. And then the road turned off
and commenced to climb who were goingway up close along a hillside with a
valley below and hills stretched off backtoward the sea. You couldn't see the

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sea, it was too far away. You could only see hills and moor
hills, and you knew where thesea was. We crossed the Spanish frontier.
There was a little stream and abridge, and Spanish carboneers with pat
leather bonaparte hats in short guns ontheir backs on one side, and on
the other fat frenchmen and capies andmustaches. They only opened one bag and

(04:06):
took the passports in and looked atthem. There was a general store and
inn on each side of the line. The chauffeur had to go in and
fill out some papers about the car. We got out and went over to
the stream to see if there wereany trout. Bill tried to talk some
Spanish with one of the carabineers,but it did not go very well.

(04:27):
Robert Cone asked, pointing with hisfinger, there were any trout in the
stream, and the carabineer said yes, but not many. I asked him
if he ever fished, and hesaid no, that he didn't care for
it. Just then, an oldman with long, sunburned hair and beard,
and clothes that looked as though theywere made of gunny sacking came striding

(04:48):
up to the bridge. He wascarrying a long staff, and he had
a kid slung on his back,tied by the four legs, the head
hanging down. The carabineer wait himback with his sword. The man turned
without saying anything and started back upthe white road into Spain. What's the
matter with the old one, Iasked, He hasn't got any passport.

(05:13):
I offered the guard a cigarette.He took it and thanked me. What
will he do, I asked?The guard spat in the dust. Oh,
he'll just wade across the stream.Do you have much smuggling, Oh,
he said, they go through.The chauffeur came out, folding up
the papers and putting them in theinside pocket of his coat. We all

(05:33):
got in the car and it startedup the white, dusty road into Spain.
For a while the country was asmuch as it had been then,
climbing all the time we crossed thetop of Kal, the road winding back
and forth on itself, and thenit was really spain. There were long
brown mountains and a few pines andfar off forests of beech trees on some

(05:57):
of the mountain sides. The roadwent along the summit of the Kal and
then dropped down, and the driverhad to honk and slow up and turn
out to avoid running into two donkeysthat were sleeping in the road. We
came out of the mountains and throughan oak forest, and there were white
cattle grazing in the forest. Downbelow there were grassy plains and clear streams.

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Then we crossed a stream and wentthrough a gloomy little village and started
to climb again. We climbed upand up and crossed another high Kal and
turned along it, and the roadran down to the right. We saw
a whole new range of mountains offto the south, all brown and baked
looking and furrowed in strange shapes.After a while we came out of the

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mountains and there were trees along bothsides of the road and a stream and
ripe fields of grain, and theroad went on very white and straight ahead.
And then lifted to a little rise, and off on the left was
a hill with an old castle withbuildings close around it, field of grain,
going right up to the walls andshifting in the wind. I was
up in front with the driver andI turned around. Robert Cone was asleep,

(07:09):
but Bill looked and nodded his head. Then we crossed a wide plain,
and there was a big river offon the right, shining in the
sun. From between the line oftrees and away off you could see the
plateau of Pamplona rising out of theplain, and the walls of the city,
and the great brown cathedral and thebroken skyline of the other churches.

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In back of the plateau were themountains, and every way you looked there
were other mountains. And ahead theroad stretched out white across the plain,
going toward Pamplona. We came intothe town on the other side of the
plateau, the road slanting up steeplyand dustily, with shade trees on both
sides, and then leveling out throughthe new part of town. They were

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building up outside the old walls.We passed the bull ring, high and
white in concrete, looking in thesun, and then came into the big
square by a side street and stoppedin front of the Hotel Montoya. The
driver helped us down with the bags. There was a crowd of kids watching
the car, and the square washot, and the trees were green,

(08:13):
and the flags hung on their staffs, and it was good to get out
of the sun and under the shadeof the arcade that runs all the way
around the square. Montoya was gladto see us and shook hands and gave
us good rooms looking out on thesquare, and then we washed and cleaned
up and went downstairs in the diningroom for lunch. The driver stayed for

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lunch too, and afterward we paidhim and he started back to Bayonne.
There are two dining rooms in theMontoya. One is upstairs on the second
floor and looks out on the square. The other is down one floor below
the level of the square and hasa door that opens on the back street
that the bulls pass along when theyrun through the streets early in the morning

(08:56):
on their way to the ring.It is always cool and the downstairs dining
room and we had a very goodlunch. The first meal in Spain was
always a shock with the oars d'euvsand egg course, two meat courses,
vegetables, salad and dessert, andfruit. You have to drink plenty of
wine to get it all down.Robert Cohan tried to say he did not

(09:18):
want any of the second meat course, but we would not interpret for him,
and so the waitress brought him somethingelse as a replacement, a plate
of cold meats. I think Conehad been rather nervous ever since we had
met it beyond he did not knowwhether we knew Brett had been with him
at San Sebastian, and it madehim rather awkward. Well, I said,

(09:39):
Brett and Mike ought to get intonight. I'm not sure they'll come.
Coen said, why not. Billsaid, course they'll come. They're
always late. I said, Irather think they're not coming, Robert Cone
said, he said it with anair of superior knowledge that irritated both of
us. I'll bet you fifty pissetasthey're here tonight. Bill said it was

(10:00):
bets when he is angry, sohe usually bets foolishly. I'll take it.
Con said, good, you rememberit, Jake, fifty pistas.
I'll remember it myself. Bill said, I saw he was angry. And
wanted to smooth him down. It'sa sure thing they'll come, I said,
but maybe not tonight. Want tocall it off? Coan asked,
no, Why should I make ita hundred? If you like? All

(10:24):
right, I'll take that. That'senough, I said, Or you'll have
to make a book and give mesome of it. I'm satisfied, con
said, He smiled. You'll probablywin it back at Bridge. Anyway.
You haven't got it yet, Billsaid. We went out to walk around
under the arcade to the Cafe Irunyafor coffee. Coan said he was going

(10:45):
over and get a shave. Say. Bill said to me, have I
got any chance on that? Bet? You've got a rotten chance. They
never been on time anywhere. Ifthe money doesn't come, it's a cinch
they won't get in tonight. Iwas sorry as soon as I opened my
mouth, but I had to callhim. It's all right, I guess.
But where does he get this insidestuff? Mike and Brett fixed it

(11:09):
up with us about coming down here. I saw Cone coming over across the
square. Here he comes, well, let him not get superior and jewish.
The barbershops closed. Cone said,it's not open till four. We
had coffee at the Irunya, sittingin comfortable wicker chairs looking out from the
cool of the arcade at the bigSquare. After a while, Bill went

(11:33):
to write some letters and Cohne wentover to the barbershop. It was still
closed, so he decided to goup to the hotel and get a bath.
And I sat out in front ofthe cafe and then went for a
walk in the town. It wasvery hot, but I kept on the
shady side of the streets, wentthrough the market and had a good time
seeing the town again. I wentto the Ayuntamiento and found the old gentleman

(11:58):
who subscribes for the bull fight ticketsfor me every year, and he had
gotten the money I sent him fromParis and renewed my subscriptions, so that
was all set. He was thearchivist and all the archives of the town
were in his office. That hasnothing to do with the story anyway.
His office had a green baized doorand a big wooden door, and when

(12:20):
I went out, I left himsitting him on the archives that covered all
the walls, and I shut boththe doors, and as I went out
at the building into the street,the porter stopped me to brush off my
coat. You must have been ina motor car, he said. The
back of the collar and the upperpart of the shoulders were gray with dust
from beyond well well, he said, I knew you were in a motor

(12:41):
car from the way the dust was, so I gave him two copper coins.
The end of the street, Isaw the cathedral and walked up toward
him. The first time I eversaw it, I thought the facade was
ugly, but I liked it nowI went inside. It was dim and
dark, and the pillar went highup. There were people praying, and
it smelt of incense, and therewere some wonderful big windows. I knelt

(13:07):
and started to pray and prayed foreverybody. I thought of Brett and Mike
and Bill and Robert Cohan and myself, and all the bullfighters separately, for
the ones I liked, and lumpingall the rest. Then I prayed for
myself again. And while I waspraying for myself, I found I was
getting sleepy. So I prayed thatthe bullfights would be good, and that

(13:30):
it would be a fine fiesta,and that we would get some fishing.
I wondered if there was anything elseI might pray for, and I thought
I would like to have some money, so I prayed that I would make
a lot of money, and thenI started to think how I would make
it. Thinking of making money remindedme of the Count, and I started
wondering about where he was, andregretting I hadn't seen him since that night

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in mo Matra, and about somethingfunny Brett told me about him. And
as all the time I was kneelingwith my fore had on the wood in
front of me, and was thinkingof myself as praying. I was a
little ashamed and regretted that I wassuch a rotten Catholic, but realized there
was nothing I could do about it, at least for a while and maybe

(14:13):
never, but that anyway, itwas a grand religion, and I only
wished I felt religious. Maybe Iwould the next time. And then I
was out in the hot sun onthe steps of the cathedral, and the
forefingers and the thumb of my righthand were still damp, and I felt
them dry in the sun. Thesunlight was hot and hard, and I
crossed over beside some buildings and walkedback alongside streets to the hotel. At

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dinner that night, we found thatRobert Cone had taken a bath, had
had a shave and a haircut,and a shampoo and something put on his
hair afterward to make it stay down. He was nervous, and I did
not try to help him any Thetrain was due in at nine o'clock from
San Sebastian, and if Bret andMike were coming, they would be on
it at twenty minutes to nine.We were not half through dinner. Robert

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Kane got up from the table andsaid he would go to the station.
I said I would go with him, just to double him. Bill said
he would be damned if he wouldleave his dinner. I said we would
be right back. We walked tothe station. I was enjoying Koane's nervousness.
I hoped Brett would be on thetrain the station. The train was

(15:26):
late. We sat on a baggagetruck and waited outside in the dark.
I've never seen a man in civillife as nervous as Robert Kohane, nor
is eager. I was enjoying.It was lousy to enjoy it, but
I felt lousy. Kane had awonderful quality of bringing out the worst in
anybody. After a while, weheard the train whistle way off below on

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the other side of the plateau.Then we saw the headlight coming up the
hill. We went inside the stationand stood with a crowd of people just
back at the gates. The traincame in and stopped, and everybody started
coming out through the gates. Theywere not in the crowd. We waited
till everybody had gone through and outof the station and gotten into buses or

(16:11):
taking cabs, or walking with theirfriends or relatives through the dark into the
town. I knew they wouldn't come, Robert said, we were going back
to the hotel. I thought theymight, I said. Bill was eating
fruit when we came in and finishinga bottle of wine. Didn't come.
Eh, No, do you mindif I give you that hundred pistas in

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the morning Cone? Bill asked,I haven't changed any money yet. Oh,
forget about it. Robert Cone said, let's bet on something else.
Can you bet on bullfights? Youcould? Bill said, but you don't
need to be like betting on thewar. I said, you don't need
any economic interest. I'm very curiousto see them, Robert said. Montoya

(16:56):
came up to our table. Hehad a telegram in his hand. It's
for you. He handed it tome. It read stopped Knight San Sebastian
from them, I said, Iput it in my pocket. Ordinarily I
should have handed it over. They'vestopped over in San Sebastian. I said,
send their regards to you. WhyI felt that impulse to devil him,

(17:19):
I do not know. Of course, I do know I was blind
unforgivingly jealous of what had happened tohim. The fact that I took it
as a matter of course, didnot alter that any I certainly did hate
him. I do not think Iever really hated him until he had that
little spell of superiority at lunch thatand when he went through all that barbering.

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So I put the telegram in mypocket. The telegram came to me
anyway, well, I said,we ought to pull out on the noon
bus for Borgette. They can followus if they get in tomorrow night.
There are only two trains up fromSan Sebastian, an early morning train and
the one we had just met.That sounds like a good idea, Cone

(18:03):
said. The sooner we get onthe stream, the better. It's all
one to me. When we start, Bill said, the sooner the better.
We sat in the Runya for awhile and had coffee, and then
took a little walk out to thebull ring and across the field and under
the trees at the edge of thecliff and looked down at the river in
the dark. I turned in early. Bill and Khne stayed out in the

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cafe quite late, I believe,because I was asleep when they came in.
In the morning, I bought threetickets for the bus to Borgette.
It was scheduled to leave at twoo'clock. There was nothing earlier. I
was sitting over at the Runya readingthe papers when I saw Robert Cohne coming
across the square. He came upto the table and sat down in one

(18:49):
of the wicker chairs. This isa comfortable cafe, he said. Did
you have a good night, Jake. I slept like a log. Did
sleep very well. Bill and Iwere out late too. Where were you
here? And after it shut wewent over to that other cafe. The
old man there speaks German and English. That's cafe suisso that's it. He

(19:15):
seems like a nice old fellow.I think it's a better cafe than this
one. It's not so good inthe daytime, I said, too hot.
By the way, I got thebus tickets, I'm not going up
to day. You and Bill goon ahead. I've got your ticket.
Give it to me. I'll getthe money back. It's five pisetas Robert

(19:36):
Cone took out a silver five piseta piece and gave it to me.
I ought to stay, he said. You see, I'm afraid there's some
sort of misunderstanding why I said,they may not come here for three or
four days now if they start onparties at San Sebastian. That's just it,
said Robert. I'm afraid they expectedto meet me at San Sebastian,

(19:56):
and that's why they stopped over.What makes you think that, well,
I wrote, suggesting it to Brett. Why in hell didn't you stay there
and meet them? Then, Istarted to say, but I stopped.
I thought that idea would come tohim by itself. But I do not
believe it ever did. He wasbeing confidential now and it was giving him

(20:19):
pleasure to be able to talk withthe understanding that I knew there was something
between him and Brett. Well,Bill and I will go up right after
lunch, I said, I wishI could go. We've been looking forward
to the fishing all winter. Hewas being sentimental about it. But I
ought to stay, I really ought. As soon as they come, I'll

(20:41):
bring them right up. Let's findBill. I want to go over to
the barber shop. See you atlunch. I found Bill up in his
room. He was shaving. Ohyes, he told me about it last
night. Bill said he is agreat little confider. He said he had
a date with Brett It Sam Sebastianthe line bastard. Oh no, said

(21:03):
Bill. Don't get sore. Don'tget sore at the stage at the trip.
How did you ever happen to knowthis fellow anyway? Don't rub it
in. Bill looked round, halfshaved, and then went on talking into
the mirror while he lathered his face. Didn't you send him with a letter
to me in New York last winter? Thank god, I'm a traveling man.

(21:25):
Haven't you got some more Jewish friendsyou could bring along? He rubbed
his chin with his thumb, lookedat it, and then started scraping again.
You've got some fine ones yourself.Oh yes, I've got some darbs,
but not alongside of this. RobertKohane. The funny thing is he's
nice too. I like him,but he's just so awful it can be

(21:47):
damn nice. I know it.That's the terrible part. I laughed,
Yes, go on and laugh,said Bill. You weren't out with him
last night until two o'clock? Washe very bad? Awful? What's all
this about him and Brett? Anyway? Did she ever have anything to do
with him? He raised his chinup and pulled it from side to side.

(22:10):
Sure she went down to Saint Sebastianwith him. What a damn fool
thing to do. Why did shedo that? She wanted to get out
of town and she can't go anywherealone. She said, she thought it
would be good for him. Whatbloody fool things people do. Why didn't
she go off with some of herown people? Or you? He slurred

(22:30):
that over, or me? Whynot me? He looked at his face
carefully in the glass. Put abig dab of lather on each cheek bone.
It's an Hona's face, to faceany woman would be safe with.
She's never seen it, she shouldhave. All women should see its face.
That ought to be thrown on everyscreen in the country. Every woman

(22:52):
ought to be given a copy ofthis face as she leaves the altar.
Mothers should tell their daughters about thisface. My son, he pointed the
razor at me, go west withhis face and grow up with a country.
He duck down to the bowl,rinsed his face with cold water,
put on some alcohol, and thenlooked at himself carefully in the glass,

(23:14):
pulling down his long upper lip.My god, he said, isn't it
an awful face? He looked inthe glass. And as for this,
Robert kne Bill said, he makesme sick, and he can go to
hell. And I'm damn glad he'sstaying here so we won't have him fishing
with us. You're damn right.We're going trout fishing. We're going trout

(23:36):
fishing in the Irati River, andwe're going to get tight now at lunch
on the wine of the country andthen take a swell bus ride. Come
on, let's go over to theUrunya and start, I said, end
of chapter ten