Nicoline van Harskamp - DeLVe | Institute for Duration, Location and ...

GDJE SE SVE TEK TREBA DOGODITI / WHERE EVERYTHING IS YET TO HAPPEN
Danilo Kiš
The Street of Horse Chestnuts
Excuse me, sir, could you possibly tell me where the street of horse chestnuts is? You
don’t recall? Yet it must be here somewhere, I no longer remember its name. But I know
for sure it is here somewhere. What do you say, there’s nowhere a street here with a row
of horse chestnuts? But I know that it must be here, it’s impossible that memories can
cheat so much.
Yes, before the war still... At the corner, there was a school, and an artesian well in front
of the school. Surely you can’t think I have made it all up? I went to the first grade in
that school, before that to the playgroup. The teacher’s name was Fani, Miss Fani. I can
show you a photograph with us all together: Miss Fani, our teacher, yes, that one, sitting
next to her, that’s me, Andreas Sam, my sister Ana, Fredi Fuks, the leader of our gang...
Yes, sir, wonderful, now I can remember. The street was called Bemova Street, after the
celebrated Polish general of forty-eight. Does the name mean anything to you sir, Bem,
Bemova Ulica? Oh, yes, excuse me, of course, you can’t remember, if you didn’t live here
before the war, but you might at least know if there is some street around here with a
row of horse chestnuts. These chestnuts bloomed in the spring, and the whole of the
street would have a kind of sad and heavy fragrance, except following the rain. Then,
mixed with the ozone, the scent of the horse chestnut flowers would float everywhere
around.
Oh, I have
gone on, sorry, I shall have to ask someone else, there must be someone who can remember
the street, it was called Bemova before the war, and it was planted with a row of
horse chestnuts.
Don’t you really remember, sir? Not you either? Look, the only other thing I can tell you
is that at the corner there was a well, an artesian well, in front of the school. Close by
was the barracks, to the left, round the corner, at the other end of the street. We nippers
were allowed to go as far as that. The traffic wasn’t very lively. And at the corner,
by the barracks, the tracks started (the little blue and yellow tram). Yes, sir, forgotten to
tell you, that alongside the row of horse chestnuts, on the right, they dug out a shelter,
all zigzag, just before the war. This was where our gang would gather. Doesn’t that
fact perhaps help you to remember, a large shelter was dug out? Of course, there were
shelters everywhere, but I recall very well that there were no horse chestnuts except in
our street. Of course, all these are details, but I just want to tell you that I remember
completely surely that the street was planted with horse chestnuts, and this, sir, this is
an acacia, and I can’t see a well anywhere, and so I think it’s impossible, perhaps you’ve
made a mistake, some other street must have been called Bemova, seems to me this is too