Das seltsame Buch - Académie de Nancy-Metz

Premier prix en anglais, catégorie classes préparatoires : Joris Ayadi
Agog
No event can alter her habit of walking her dog every Monday morning. Christiane loves seeing
her comrade moving in the open air, without any noise. Even when it prompts the unremitting barks of
the neighbour’s dog. Everyone is well-behaved in the Ertegan family, especially the dog, silent, peaceful,
docile.
She regularly inquires after her only son. Well, her son is used to calling her and to seek advice
from her at the same time. On this occasion, he wants to know the accurate dosage of a pharmaceutical
formula against stress. All his studies have brought him to become a high-ranking executive in finance.
Even his mother could not imagine such a thing was possible for her prodigy.
Every Sunday morning, she goes out for muffins while her husband, George, keeps snoring until
the smells of chocolate swamp the house. At the baker’s, Christiane meets Mrs Hermann, the smiling
butcher’s wife, amiable-looking, who is always abreast of the latest gossip about people in the
neighborhood, the latest squabbles and tragedies. She is a smiling busy-body but each smile hides
teeth and teeth-grindings.
When Christiane comes back home with the chocolate-flavoured booty, George hurries
downstairs to savour the muffins and to spend time with his wife, whose heart was conquered twenty
years ago. Christiane suggests an afternoon activity. She is used to looking up garage sales. Indeed, she
always finds time to go to improbable places to unearth books as old as her couple, which deal with
everything and nothing. Whatever has a binding or a bookmark catches her attention. All that enables
her to find her way in the huge book of life interests her.
Christiane walks in the neighboring village where the event is taking place, like a lost ant which
tries to find its colony. When her husband looks away to scrutinise a book about warbirds, Christiane
seems to be attracted to a table. She moves closer and detects the sparkling color of the book edge,
trapped between two others. The women seizes it and discovers a delicate and worn out cover, which
was scrubbed. That covers a forty years older work. First, she is astonished by the lack of title then by
the crude sticker on the book back meant to indicate the price. But on opening the first page,
Christiane is taken aback and reads what appears to be a preface. “Christiane Ertegan, a forty-year-old
woman, native of the East Midlands, is a talented pharmacist, a loving mother and an attentive wife.
While her life has always been organized, the encounter with a certain Mr Agog will overwhelm her
existence. The pledge of total love will devastate her dreary and predictable daily life. The desire of a
new life and her curiosity will finally drive her…”
Christiane turns white and almost falls down. Awe-stricken. George, who has heard the seller offering
water, discovers his shaken wife, who is clutching the strange book.
-What’s wrong, sweetheart ? George asks her.
-There’s nothing, I was just surprised by the age of this book. Buy it.
-Is it the fug of old books which has reached your nose ? George says with a grin and in a reassured
tone.
On the same evening, while her husband is sleeping peacefully next to her, Christiane begins to
read the book and she holds her breath. Then she is astonished by the sentences whispered by the
first pages.
“Every week begins with walking the family dog. That dog is so worn out by time that it cannot
run anymore. The only thing it perfectly succeeds in is causing the provocative barks of the neighbour’s
harebrained dog. (…) A call from her son forces Christiane to remember the accurate dosage. Too many
obstacles prevent him from inquiring himself. What a lack of independence ! (…) The constant meeting
with Mrs Hermann silently irritates Christiane, who cannot stand this frightening and ferocious glance