Effi Briest Page #3

or even a Chinese.

Even a Chinese.

How well you guess!

Possibly we do still have one.

We certainly used to have one.

He's dead now and buried

in a little fenced-off plot of earth...

right next to the churchyard.

lf you're not afraid, l'll show you...

his grave sometime.

lt lies among the dunes...

surrounded by marram grass

and a few immortelles.

And always the sound of the sea.

lt's very beautiful...

but also rather eerie.

Yes, eerie...

and l'd like to know more about it.

Then again, maybe not.

lf l hope to sleep well tonight,

l won't want to see a Chinese by my bed.

How you spoil your poor little Effi!

A grand piano, and this rug...

l do believe it's Turkish.

And the bowl with fish, and the jardinire!

l'm being spoiled on all sides!

The master was quite right.

''Up with the lark''

was my parents' motto, too.

lf you sleep away the morning...

the whole day is in disarray.

But the master won't be too strict with me.

l lay awake a long time last night.

l was even somewhat afraid.

What do l hear, ma'am? What happened?

l heard a strange sound above me...

not loud, but insistent...

like dresses with long trains

brushing over the floorboards.

ln my agitation, l thought

l saw small, white satin shoes...

as if someone were dancing up there,

very quietly.

That's in the hall upstairs.

We used to hear it in the kitchen, too.

But not anymore.

We've grown accustomed to it.

Effi...

you're a delightful creature.

You have no idea how much l think so...

and how l wish to show you every moment...

that l think so.

There's plenty of time for that.

l'm only 17...

and don't intend to die yet.

Not before me, at least.

Admittedly...

if l were to die,

l would like to take you with me.

No one else should have you.

What do you say to that?

l'll have to think it over.

But let's forget it.

l don't like talking about death.

l'm in favour of living.

What sort of life shall we lead here?

ln ''good old Kessin,'' as you call it...

there must be some society we can keep.

Are there good families in the town?

No, Effi...

in that respect

you'll be greatly disappointed.

You'll meet a few members...

of the local aristocracy.

But here in the town there's nobody.

Nobody at all?

That's hard to believe.

Nearly 3,000 people live in the town.

And among a population of 3,000,

apart from people like Beza, the barber...

there must be some kind of elite or so....

AS WELL AS THE COMMON PEOPLE

THERE MUST BE AN ELlTE.

...and the room upstairs,

where the curtains brush the floor....

But...

what do you know about that room?

Only what l just said.

For a good hour...

when l woke up last night...

it was as if l heard shoes

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