Satantango

An alternative continuation to the ending, a fateful closure to the perfect novel or an ode to the great writer Krasznahorkai :

As soon as they rounded the bend and lost sight of the people waving and hanging around by the bar, the spiders that have assembled at strategic points, displaced by calculated proximity could finally let out a sigh of relief, that after all these dramas that were unraveling in front of them from the moment the bell had tolled, had now come to a point of a classic denouement- Irimias’s plan was laid out bare in his mind!

It wasn’t the doctor who, though even had qualms to blink for a second that he might miss out the movements of his community. No! It was these spiders which were occupying the bar that was carrying out the duty of an angelic archivist of these wretched souls.

There was no hint of vanity at the moment when the spiders had found out what was lurking beneath Irimias. It was as if God had covered the whole earth with his black cloak and there is nothing to do other than carry out the meaningful end of this meaningless duty assigned to these creatures towards those creatures.

“These are different beings, as we already know” thought the spiders, we aren’t whining and crying over this doom. It’s all planned out and there is no escape.

The spiders now joined together in a secluded corner at the back side of the bar, after deciding the separate route( they knew each path and way in the town) each has to carry to reach the station on time, All thought- “If it doesn’t rain for a day we will get there by the time they reach very easily”. Then each spider or pairs of spiders were thinking about their targets.

Apart from themselves, only Futaki will realize Irimias’s plan first, they could hold on to his stick, a safe spot at his handicapped leg or even announce their arrival by knocking on the door in the shed later. He will open it and find them as he had guessed, ask them to sit with him and ask whether they would like to drink. Knowing that they can’t drink he will reach his hands to hold the glass for himself, but his hand would freeze in the mid-air, his face would droop and he would start sobbing. He would look out for the spiders to hug them, share his crisis and they would oblige.

The Headmaster will be sitting inside the Ipar, waiting for Irimias.

He is walking on the muddy road towards his house when on the distance, he sees a horrific sight: A thick spider web, of huge length, spread out in the middle of the road, stretching across the full expanse from the Horgos house to the Schmidt house. The headmaster could see a small human figure stuck in the middle of this entanglement, this big Gordian knot!. It was little Esti who, like Christ, has spread her arms and was clutching her cat in her left arm. He wakes up terrified, looks around the dark room, not even a single ray of light is visible. Then suddenly, a speck of light becomes visible and he is able to identify in this dim glow that it is the spider which has arrived, for a second he starts to shiver and he wants to pee as he is reminded of the fresh Dream. A minute later, when it had come close to him working its ambidextrous arms through its magical web, he calms down. He sighs, nods and confesses that he knew this would be the end after all and that he is old now, he feels indifferent to all that had unfolded. The post-world war II gave a bright hope of a communist utopia and when it started to wane, some other guys pop up to promise a similar utopia as a messiah. Duh! I am happy to die finally here, he utters and closes his eyes.

For others, the arrival of spiders should exactly coincide when they finally understand the ploy neatly executed by Irimias. Mr and Mrs.Halics will let out a cry when they see the spider, but the spot the spider has chosen is Mrs.Halics’s Bible and her Christian compassion will save them from the terror of realization.

Schmidt- Mrs.Schmidt would be the first to sense the situation, but she won’t open her mouth fearing her husband and when the spider arrives after being turned down by the said people at Elek, they both will be frightened. They may go mad perhaps.

Kraners- Mr.Kraner is the most short-tempered guy of the whole lot, but at the same time he might say to himself not to lose his temper and spoil the whole plan. So, he might be the last for us to reach, thought the spiders on their way towards the station.

When the spider shows their imminent presence, Kraner might beat his head that he could have escaped with the money if not for the dumb head Futaki.

We should be on our guard with both Kraners and Schmidt, thought the spiders.

As these thoughts went in each spider’s mind about their targets, Two spiders were lagging behind the crowd, since they have to deal with the most cunning of this whole lot- The scheming Irimias.

Within seconds each started to cast its web in ever-expanding space and by the process called ballooning, they zoomed through their target in a flash.

A week or two later:

All people had departed from this godforsaken land except for the doctor, landlord, and Horgos. The place has become even more silent and dark. Adding more to this ghostly environ, the wind started to blow heavily and abnormally. It became so heavy and noisy that all the remaining people in the place thought the whole earth is shaking to the music played by nature, that the mighty earth itself doesn’t have strength in front of this impending disaster. The sound level became unbearable, it was as if thousand times the regular orchestral setting, as if thousands of violins, cellos, organs, pianos, trumpets and many other instruments played Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor at the same time. People started to clench their teeth, the landlord had hurt his tongue in the process, blood was dripping out of his mouth. Blood inside all their bodies boiled to the saturating point, the hearts were losing its limits- throbbing uncontrollably, nerves wanted to protrude out and they all went crazy running amok in all direction accompanied by a maddening cry.

On the next day, the rain begins again, while to the east, swift as memory, the sky brightens, scarlet and pale-blue and leans against the undulating horizon, to be followed by the sun, like a beggar daily panting up to his spot on the temple steps, full of heartbreak and misery, ready to establish the world of shadows, to separate the trees one from the other, to raise, out of the freezing, confusing homogeneity of night in which they seem to have been trapped like flies in a web, a clearly defined earth and sky with distinct animals and men, the darkness still in flight at the edge of things, somewhere on the far side on the western horizon, where its countless terrors vanish one by one like a desperate, confused, defeated army.

 

P.S: Its a small tribute to the writer and I love Bach’s Toccata.