The Adventures of Sally - P.G. Wodehouse

Outras boas cinco horas de diversão, este livro. Baixei no Librivox para ouvir na estrada e isso fez toda a diferença no que do contrário seriam horas ouvindo um material bem menos literário, tipo Dirtbombs, Love Battery e (o menos literário de todos) Oblivians. A leitura, dessa vez, foi apropriadamente feita por uma mulher igualmente americana, como a Sally, e igualmente dotada de uma voz amistosa e íntima -- o que, na minha cabeça, tornou mais fácil de acontecer a confusão que eu sempre faço entre os personagens e as pessoas que representam esses personagens. A situação, de toda maneira, me pareceu bastante conveniente, mesmo por que a narrativa escapou ao esquema tradicional em que a primeira pessoa é um jovem inglês rico e fútil e desastrado e cativante. Quer dizer, nos livros do Bertie Wooster, apesar da narrativa em primeira pessoa, o enredo sempre acabava se desdobrando nas pequenas misérias de pessoas que estavam ao redor dele e que se beneficiavam da providencial sabedoria do Jeeves. Neste livro sobre a Sally até que acontece um pouco disso, mas com uma diferença: ela se envolve na vida de um monte de pessoas e até se encarrega de ajudá-las com seus problemas, mas a história não é contada desde o seu ponto de vista. Há passagens inteiras de acontecimentos, pelo que eu me lembro, em que ela sequer está presente.

A respeito da história, informo que Sally se tornou essa criatura tão propensa a aventuras, a ponto de merecer um tomo inteiro dedicado só a isso, ao lhe ser aplicada uma severa alteração na quantidade de dinheiro que ela tinha no banco para descontar na forma de cheques. Isso, um súbito aumento nas suas reservas financeiras, foi feito logo no primeiro parágrafo. Um jantar com os amigos comemora ela ter recebido das mãos de um tio o legado de 25 mil dólares que o pai lhe havia deixado em testamento. Ela então parte da pensão onde morava e viaja para a França, voltando de lá na sua nova condição de mais que remediada. Na França ela conhece dois sujeitos que irão protagonizar algumas das suas aventuras, no retorno a Nova Iorque, Ginger e Bruce. Também participam disso o irmão dela, Fillmore, e o noivo, Gerald.

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Para preencher espaço, segue a transcrição da minha cena favorita. Sally tenta arrancar de Ginger o motivo pelo qual Fillmore o havia despedido do emprego que ela tinha arranjado para ele. A moça que fez a gravação esteve muito bem nessa hora. Muito obrigado, Karen.

"Why did Fillmore let you go?"

"Let me go? Oh, you mean... well, there was a sort of mix-up. A kind of misunderstanding."

"What happened?"

"Oh, it was nothing. Just a..."

"What happened?"

Ginger's disfigured countenance betrayed embarrassment. He looked awkwardly about the room.

"It's not worth talking about."

"It is worth talking about. I've a right to know. It was I who sent you to Fillmore..."

"Now that," said Ginger, "was jolly decent of you."

"Don't interrupt! I sent you to Fillmore, and he had no business to let you go without saying a word to me. What happened?"

Ginger twiddled his fingers unhappily.

"Well, it was rather unfortunate. You see, his wife—I don't know if you know her?..."

"Of course I know her."

"Why, yes, you would, wouldn't you? Your brother's wife, I mean," said Ginger acutely. "Though, as a matter of fact, you often find sisters-in-law who won't have anything to do with one another. I know a fellow..."

"Ginger," said Sally, "it's no good your thinking you can get out of telling me by rambling off on other subjects. I'm grim and resolute and relentless, and I mean to get this story out of you if I have to use a corkscrew. Fillmore's wife, you were saying..."

Ginger came back reluctantly to the main theme.

"Well, she came into the office one morning, and we started fooling about..."

"Fooling about?"

"Well, kind of chivvying each other."

"Chivvying?"

"At least I was."

"You were what?"

"Sort of chasing her a bit, you know."

Sally regarded this apostle of frivolity with amazement.

"What do you mean?"

Ginger's embarrassment increased.

"The thing was, you see, she happened to trickle in rather quietly when I happened to be looking at something, and I didn't know she was there till she suddenly grabbed it..."

"Grabbed what?"

"The thing. The thing I happened to be looking at. She bagged it... collared it... took it away from me, you know, and wouldn't give it back and generally started to rot about a bit, so I rather began to chivvy her to some extent, and I'd just caught her when your brother happened to roll in. I suppose," said Ginger, putting two and two together, "he had really come with her to the office and had happened to hang back for a minute or two, to talk to somebody or something... well, of course, he was considerably fed to see me apparently doing jiu-jitsu with his wife. Enough to rattle any man, if you come to think of it," said Ginger, ever fair-minded. "Well, he didn't say anything at the time, but a bit later in the day he called me in and administered the push."

Sally shook her head.

"It sounds the craziest story to me. What was it that Mrs. Fillmore took from you?"

"Oh, just something."

Sally rapped the table imperiously.

"Ginger!"

"Well, as a matter of fact," said her goaded visitor, "It was a photograph."

"Who of? Or, if you're particular, of whom?"

"Well... you, to be absolutely accurate."

"Me?" Sally stared. "But I've never given you a photograph of myself."

Ginger's face was a study in scarlet and purple.