Trafika Europe 11 - Swiss Delights

Leta SemaDeni

back as if it wanted to apologize for its rudeness.

Occasionally Grandfather said to Grandmother: You’re like a goat, on the one hand you’re very devoted, but if you smell something tasty, there’s no stopping you. Not much later the child is seated at the kitchen table eating soup with her grandmother. Now and again, the old woman puts down her spoon and looks at the ceiling. The third chair is empty. Grandfather is in Tamangur. The elder tree bows low outside the kitchen window. It is already full of berries. The moment a hunter is received into Tamangur, he loses twenty-one grams because his soul leaves his body to return to wherever it lived before. The soul is a creature of habit, Grandmother says, although it only weighs a few grams, it’s very strong and always gets its way. It can go anywhere it wants. At twenty-one grams, it can always find a little spot to linger and derail Grandmother’s daily routine. She nags and bickers with the soul: You’re not much at all, are you, she says, you’re a right misery! What am I to do with such a miserable little thing?

76