Chekhov in Shetland Dialect Part 4/4

Posted by Bruce Eunson

Sonja noo startit tae com an visit him in Edinburgh. Ivery twartree mont shö wid laeve Glasgow, tellin her husband shö wis gyaan tae see a pal o hers; her husband baith did believe her, an didna believe her. When shö got tae Edinburgh shö bade at da Sheraton an wid send wird immediately tae Harry dat shö had arrived. Ivery trip felt laek a braaly lang journey tae her: shö wid wait til da train got tae Polmont dan pat on a red hat afore swappin saets. Shö spokk wi naebody.

          Ee winter moarnin Harry wis on his wye tae see her, but no afore waakin his dowter tae school (Sonja had been in Edinburgh fae da night afore but he hadna been able tae win awa fae his wife). Snaa wis comin doon in lonely weet flakes.

          ‘It’s above zero now, but it’s still snowing,’ said Harry tae his peerie lass. ‘But it’s only the surface of the earth that’s warm, you see; there is quite a different temperature in the upper layers of the atmosphere.’

          Harry geed on tae explain mony anidder detail tae his dowter, wha aksed him plenty o peerie questions. As he wis tellin her aa dis, he wis thinkin aboot da fact dat he lived twa lives: an open een, seen an kent bi aa wha needed tae kaen aboot it; it wis a life o conventional truth an conventional falsehood, juist laek da lives o his freends an acquaintances… an dan he had a secret life. An trow some queer coincidence, mibee nithin mair as pure chance, iverything dat wis o interest an importance tae him, iverything dat wis essential tae him, iverything dat he felt honestly an didna deceive himsel aboot, iverything dat he felt made him wha he wis, geed on entirely in secret fae idder fokk; an while aa dat wis false, da cover dat he used tae hide da truth – his wark at da bank fir instance, his nights oot, his references tae da “lesser species”, da public appearances he made wi his wife – aa dat geed on in da open. Judgin idders bi himsel, he didna believe whit he saa, an aye towt dat ivery man led his real an maist interestin life under a cover o secrecy as under da cover o night. Da personal life o ivery individual is based on secrecy, an mibee it is pairtly fir dat raeson, dat cultured fokk ir sae anxious fir personal privacy tae be kept as dat.

          Wance he had taen his dowter tae school, Harry set aff fir da Sheraton. Sonja had been waitin tae see him fae da streen; shö wis wearin his favourite grey dress an when shö opened da door, it wis barely draan ahint him afore shö collapsed in his airms. It wis as if dey hidna seen wan anidder fir years, an dey kissed slowly an quietly til dey felt laek dey wir immersed in wan anidder ageen.

          ‘So, how are you?’ he aksed, ‘Any news?’

          ‘Wait, I’ll tell you in a minute… I can’t now.’

          Shö coodna spaek as shö startit tae greet. Shö turned awa fae him an dabbed at her een wi a tissue.

          ‘She must have a cry if she needs to; I’ll just sit here for a minute,’ towt Harry an he geed an sat in doon in da chair bi da writin desk.

          He phoned doon an aksed fir some tea tae be browt up fir him. As he drank shö stood by da window, da white transparent material dat ran in atween da curtains an da glass lit up her face an exaggerated ivery tear… Shö wis greetin fae bein sae upset, an because o da painful realization dat dir life had turned oot sae poorly; dey met wan anidder only in secret, an had tae hide fae fokk laek criminals! Dir life really wis a terrible mess.

          ‘Come on now, stop this,’ he said.

          It wis clear tae him dat da love dey felt fir wan anidder widna come tae an end ony time soon; in fact, it wis impossible ta say when it wid end. Sonja had become mair an mair attached tae him, shö adored him, an it wid be unthinkable tae tell her dat it wid aa hiv tae come tae an end at some point; shö widna hiv believed it onywye.

            He geed ower an pat his haands on her shooders, he cuddled her an tried tae makk her laugh. He lookit at himsel in da mirror: his hair wis turnin grey an he had lost his looks. He fann it queer dat he had gotten sae auld in such a few short years. Da shooders dat he had his haands apon wir warm but tremblin. He felt compassion fir dis life, still sae warm an beautiful, but laekly aaready startin tae wilt an dwine, juist laek his ain life. Whit wye did shö love him sae much? He aye seemed tae weemin as different fae whit he really wis; dey didna love him, dey loved somethin dir imagination telt dem wis pairt o him, somethin dey wir lookin fir aa dir lives; an efter, when dey wir awaar o dir mistakk, dey loved him onywye. Not wan o dem had been happy wi him. In da past he had met weemin, been wi dem, pairtit fae dem, but not wance had he iver been in love; it wis mony anidder thing, but niver love. An only noo, when his head wis grey, wis he faan in love, really, truly – fir da first time in his life.

          He an Sonja loved wan anidder laek fokk wha wir aaful closs; laek man an wife, bridder an sister, or closs freends; dey felt dat fate had intended dem tae be taegidder, an fann it impossible tae understand foo it had come tae be dat dey wir baith mairried tae idder fokk; dey wir laek twa peerie birds, a male an a female, wha had been catched an made tae byde in separate cages. Dey had firgiven wan anidder fir things dey wir ashamed o in dir past, dey firgave wan anidder fir aathing in da present, an dey felt dat dir love had changed dem baith.

          In da past, when dir had been moments o sadness, he had reassured her wi da first rationalisation dat cam tae mind, but he had nae time fir rationalisations noo; he felt deep compassion an wanted tae be sincere an gentle…

          ‘Stop it, my love,’ he said, ‘You’ve done enough crying now…Let’s talk a little, let’s see if we can cheer ourselves up.’

          Dey spent a lang time spaekin aboot foo it wis tae be dat dey wid extricate demsels fae da need tae hide an deceive, fae hivin tae live in different toons an no see wan anidder fir such lang stretches o time.

          ‘How are we going to do it? How? He aksed.

          An it seemed laek in a peerie start dey wid happen upon a solution an den a new, wonderful life wid begin; but it wis clear tae baith o dem dat da end wis a lang wye aff an dat da maist complicated an difficult pairt wis only juist beginnin.

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