Atdtda29: Keep clear of all trains, 833-835

[Paul Nightingale]

The attempted exchange of fezzes on 832 has tied Cyprian to Bevis as
"infidel[s]", outsiders who cannot pretend to integrate. Here, Bevis has
already disappeared, his place alongside Cyprian taken by Danilo. If they
are Bevis-less they are also "adrift and mapless" (833). Cf. the moment on
806-807 when "all hell [breaks] loose" and Theign tells Cyprian of his
mission: he is 'given' both Bevis and a map.

Here, seeking Bevis takes Cyprian and Danilo through the train and into
contact with other travellers, all of whom are given a purpose; Cyprian, by
way of contrast, feels he has to manufacture a purpose, promote his agency
by "[feeling] obliged to get off and look for Bevis". Down the page, and
quite irrationally, he continues to "[gaze] out the windows, first one side,
then the other". Absent and then present in the previous section, Bevis is
now absent, replaced by those travellers Cyprian is made aware of. One is
reminded of the chapter's opening scene on 821, and Cyprian's suspicions
regarding the steamer's passengers, "all of whom, without undue exercise of
the organs of fantasy, might be supposed foreign spies". A piece of theatre,
then, one that sees Cyprian, awaiting Bevis, comfortable in his role; on
833, following Bevis' (Antonioniesque?) disappearance, he seeks a role,
insisting ("We're both supposed to bring you out") on a return to the script
he had previously believed they were using. Arriving in Jajce, Cyprian goes
on acting as he thinks he should, going to the hotel "on the theory that if
Bevis were in the neighbourhood he'd likely be there" (834): again, the
hotel appears as a kind of stage-set, "transported in ... direct from the
Austrian Alps".

Having been 'replaced' by Danilo, Bevis is now 'replaced' by Batko and
Senta, whose notebook ("... you must keep clear of all trains") functions as
the script for the next phase. Subsequently Senta also "produce[s] a small,
damaged map": "There are of course a thousand footpaths, and it's easy to
get lost ..." etc. The range of alternative narratives offered by "a
thousand footpaths" is in stark contrast to the more predictable
('singled-up'?) narrative provided by the railway, where one is more easily
pursued. And then, Cyprian's suggestion that they "hire a guide", ie someone
to author their journey "provoke[s] some merriment".