Sleepwalker Page #2

Not at all.

Because they know

what side their bread's buttered.

Video's a cut-throat market.

Tight margins.

And when they see me,

they see money.

They see a citizen of the world,

a floating entrepreneur.

Exclusively in business to create wealth.

For them, for me.

I can never understand

how people like you...

...have such a clear run.

Listen!

What happens when you throw sh*t

and a gold bar into a pond, huh?

Well, I'll tell you.

The sh*t floats,

and the gold goes straight to the bottom.

And where does that leave you?

With money in the bank, old bean.

That's where it leaves me.

Not stuck in the mud,

or in the sticks.

But surely that's what you want, isn't it?

Everyone stuck in the mud,

...cave dwellers with TV sets.

You turn us all into recluses,

and you charge us for the privacy.

So? It's not a divine right,

is it, privacy?

It's a commodity with a value.

Oh, come on.

You don't mean that, do you?

Well, not really.

We do deals with pubs too.

Well, I agree with Alex.

It will kill conversation. It already has.

Bugger conversation!

It's communication that I sell.

The medium is the message.

- Madam, may I?

- Yes.

Ah, thank you.

- Marion reads for a publisher.

- Really?

They only send me crap

these days.

Think if I can stand living here,

I can stand anything.

- All those poor authors.

- Well, it bloody well serves them right.

Shouldn't write the stuff, should they?

- And you don't write anything?

- No, not anymore.

So, there's just Alex.

Alex? He's not a writer.

He's a translator, I think.

What do you mean,

you think?

Well, I did once get sent a book

I thought he might have had a hand in.

It was a thriller...

...about a woman who has a dream

about peeling tomatoes.

Then, when she wakes up,

...she's sliced her husband to bits

with a carving knife.

I think we've heard enough now.

How horrible!

What made you think it was Alex?

Did you recognise the style

or something clever?

Style, Richard?

Translators don't have style.

- Oh, no. I recognised the incident.

- Marion!

No! Things like that you don't forget.

And then there was the other stuff.

The technical detail.

Alex's little obsession.

Russian expert.

German expert.

But particularly well up

on sleepwalking.

Amazing, isn't he?

He tried to strangle me once.

In his sleep, of course.

- You're joking!

- No, you wouldn't believe it!

Barking like a dog.

We were in a helicopter once.

Kept telling me to look at the view.

Oh, shut up!

Your roots are here, aren't they?

Only one thing has roots

and that's a vegetable.

Oh, shut up, Richard!

Marion?

What?

I'm sorry.

What did you say?

We were just saying,

it's so quiet after London.

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