The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (17 page)

J
onathan
took it badly
,
wh
ich
w
as a s
urprise t
o
Tali
esin beca
use h
is
br
other
didn't
see
m t
o c
are
a
bout anythin
g
mu
ch except spo
rt
a
nd televi
sion.
H
e
re
acted
by wat
ching
m
ore spo
rt
o
n tel
evision,
findin
g a
form of
esca
pe in
i
ts
e
ndless m
inutiae a
nd
s
tatistics. H
e
m
oped a
nd
sat i
n
a s
ullen h
eap i
n t
he sa
me
c
hair
i
n fr
ont
of th
e sc
reen, th
e i
mages fli
ckering o
n
h
is
sat
urnine f
ace,
m
aking
little impr
ession o
n hi
s ex
pression. It
was as i
f
a
dr
aught
from th
e
do
or
h
ad se
t h
is
f
ace
int
o a
p
ermanent g
rimace. Wh
en
h
e s
poke
i
t w
as w
ith
a
n
acc
usative
g
lower
a
nd
i
nvariably dir
ected
tow
ards
hi
s
m
other, w
ho h
e
n
ow
r
eferred
t
o
as 'her' or
's
he' .

Taliesin
also escaped to his head
.
There he could
couch these events in story book terms. His mother was the queen who was
b
ewitched;
hi
s
father
a
kin
g w
ho t
alked
to him
self;
h
is

bro
ther
a
prin
ce w
ho for
got
l
aughter.
B
ooks a
lso pr
ovided
a
n
easy
r
efuge.
Th
ere
he could d
isengage
him
self
fr
om
th
e comp
lications
o
f his own life
.
H
e so
ught b
ooks
th
at ca
rried him
away
f
or
d
ays,
w
here th
e
dram
as
of
th
e
fi
ctional
w
orld beca
me
as
r
eal o
r m
ore
r
eal
th
an
his
o
wn,
a
nd
w
here h
is ow
n p
roblems
w
ere
as
nothing comp
ared
to
th
e
h
eroic
di
sasters
a
nd
catast
rophes whi
ch
befell th
e
ch
aracters
h
e
r
ead
ab
out.

J
onathan's
t
wo-legs-good
a
re on th
e s
tool
a
nd hi
s
pi
ggy
e
yes a
re
o
n th
e
tel
evision.
S
ince he l
eft sc
hool
h
e's g
rown
a
littl
e
fa
tter fr
om
w
atching
r
ather
th
an
pla
ying s
port. H
e
s
till h
as t
he
arroga
nce
o
f health
a
nd th
e
n
atural
grace o
f th
e a
thlete
–
h
aving
inh
erited
a
ll th
e
ri
ght
ge
nes f
or t
hese thin
gs-
but hi
s
di
spirited
d
emean our
ruins
n
ature's g
ood
wo
rk. H
e wo
uld b
e
h
andsome
if h
e s
miled
a
bit. But n
othing
makes him
s
mile th
ese
d
ays.
Bl
anking
th
e
id
ea o
f hi
s
mother'
s
exist
ence re
qui
res
c
o
nc
e
ntrati
o
n
a
nd r
esolute
det
ermination
.

Wh
en
Ta
liesin
e
nters th
e
s
itting room he get
s
n
o g
reeting f
rom
J
on
a
than w
ho
se
es sa
y
in
g
h
ello
t
o
his
yo
unger b
rother
as
b
eneath
him
.
T
h
e o
nly
wa
y
f
or
T
aliesin
t
o co
mmunicate
s
u
cc
e
ss
full
y
w
ith hi
s b
rother i
s
t
o
find a lo
west co
mmon d
en
ominator
lik
e s
port
o
r f
ood. Co
nversation
w
ith him i
s
r
arely
a co
ntinuou
s
fl
ow
o
f
di
alo
gue
,
n
ever
m
ore
th
an
a
seri
es
o
f qu
es
tion
s
a
nd
a
n
swe
r
s.

'
D
o yo
u
w
ant s
o
me
t
oas
t
?
'
Ta
lie
s
in
as
ks
.

J
on
at
h
a
n
k
ee
p
s
h
i
s
ey
es o
n
th
e s
c
r
ee
n
a
nd
g
i
ves a
s
l
ow
n
od
.
Th
e
pr
ogra
mm
e
h
e
i
s
w
a
t
c
hin
g
i
s
sw
ingin
g
fr
om
m
oo
d
t
o
m
ood
:
a
g
irl i
s
l
aug
hin
g,
a wo
man i
s c
rying
,
so
m
eo
n
e
i
s
d
y
in
g a
n
d
th
e
n
s
o
me
one i
s
l
au
ghing.
N
one
o
f t
his m
ood c
han
ge s
ee
ms t
o reg
ist
e
r
on
J
onathan's
bl
ank
f
a
ce
.

In th
e
kit
ch
en Ta
li
esi
n put
s
tw
o
sli
ces
into the to
a
st
er a
nd li
ghts
th
e
R
aeburn,
a
ma
ze
d th
at
h
e
i
s
lightin
g a fi
re
on a
da
y
t
h
at
b
egan so
wa
rmly. H
e s
preads the Marmit
e
t
akin
g
n
o n
otice o
f
th
e
m
aker
's
in
structions
to
s
pread th
inly.
B
y
th
e
tim
e
h
e r
e
turn
s
to t
h
e
t
ele
visi
on
th
e
pro
gramme
h
a
s fi
ni
s
h
e
d
. Jo
n
ath
an
co
nce
des a
th
ank
y
o
u f
or
th
e
t
oast a
nd
ea
t
s
it u
n
c
ut.
Ta
l
iesin
n
eatly
di
ssects
h
i
s
int
o
f
our s
quare
s,
a
nal
y
si
n
g a
nd
s
avo
ur
i
n
g eac
h
pi
ece,
t
a
king
ca
re t
o m
is
s
n
othin
g
.