“But you must not be afraid, dear Walser, you’re already starting to fidget too much. Don’t force me to violate the rules, as well as my own desire. Please, calm down, sit down! There you go. You’re the dice player, not me. I’m certainly going to lose.
“Very good. Let’s be reasonable, that’s better. Are we ready to play? Here go my dice. There they go. Stop! What do we have here? A four and a three? Not bad for a non-player. What do you think, Walser, think you can do better? We could say that this four plus this three leaves some possibilities open for you. However, from a purely statistical point of view, I would be tempted to say that you, my friend, are now closer to taking the one bullet that’s left in this gun — which, to be completely honest, I don’t want to happen. But I’m talking to you about statistics in the middle of a game, which is quite absurd. Roll, my friend, it’s your turn. Pick up the dice, there you go. It’s your turn now. Please, toss them. There you go. Roll.”
FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF GONÇALO M. TAVARES | 8
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE TRANSLATOR
GONÇALO M. TAVARES was born in 1970. He has published numerous books since 2001 and has been awarded an impressive number of literary prizes in a very short time, including the Saramago Prize in 2005 and the Fernando Namora Prize in 2011.
RHETT MCNEIL has translated work by Machado de Assis, António Lobo Antunes, Gonçalo M. Tavares, and A. G. Porta.