Onderwêreld - Fanie Viljoen
Prologue (proloog)
The first paragraph is written in italics: what happens in this short paragraph, is
an important (belangrike) event (gebeurtenis) that is explained
(verduidelik)and repeated (herhaal) later in the book. The paragraph is
written in the first person and it is about someone describing (beskryf) how
fear (vrees) feels.
It is then followed by a third person narrator (derdepersoonsverteller)
describing (beskryf) a flash back (terugflits). An 11-year-old boy (elfjarige
seun) is woken up by an unfamiliar (onbekende) sound (geluid). This is where
his fear (vrees) starts. He walks down the dark corridor (gang) to the room
(vertrek) at the end of the passage. The light is on and his father is in the room
which turns out to be the study (studeerkamer). The boy associates (assosieer)
the light with the moment (oomblik) his eyes were opened (oopgegaan): he
was thus made aware (bewus) of something important (belangrik) at that
young age, something that he would never again forget (vergeet).
Something (iets) tells the boy to stop (keer) his father, but he doesn’t know
what he needs to prevent (keer) his dad from doing yet. He first stands and
listens by the door and that’s when he hears a sound coming from the room,
sounding (klink) like a scared (verskrikte) animal (dier), but it’s in actual
(eintlik) fact coming from his father and that’s when the boy opens the door
to find an image that would ECHO (EGGO) and stay (bly) with him, all
throughout his childhood years (grootwordjare): his dad’s body (lyf), half bent
(gebuig) over the desk (lessenaar), as if he is busy writing (skryf) something,
but he has a 9 mm pistol in his hand instead of (in plaas van) a pen and one
finger is curled around the trigger (sneller).
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,The boy looks at his father’s face (gesig), and it reminds the boy of the
monsters he dreamt about when he was younger. He tries to calm (kalmeer)
himself down and addresses his dad. The word settles (lê) between them like
an ECHO (EGGO).
His dad looks up and it is like (asof) he recognizes (herken) the boy as he
slowly comes back up from the UNDERWORLD (ONDERWëRELD). He lets the
gun slide out of his hand onto the desk (lessenaar). It looks like the father
wants to cry (huil): the boy has never seen his dad cry before (voorheen).
The father’s hand is shaking (bewe) when he wraps (vou toe) the gun in a
cloth (lap). He tells the boy to go back to bed and then he reaches (strek) for
a yellow (geel) envelope (koevert) on the desk (lessenaar), but before his
hand reaches it, he looks up and his face is covered in tears (natgehuil).
The boy is just standing by the door with his hand on the handle (deurknop)
and the father tells him that everything is fine. He asks the boy not to tell his
mother, that it’s their secret (geheim). He tries to smile (glimlag skeef) as he
tells the boy again to go back to bed, and when the boy eventually walks
back to his room, he hears his dad saying good night along with the boy’s
name, but the boy doesn’t hear his name: it dissolves (los op) in the dark and
disappears (verdwyn).
The boy feels that it’s better that way because years later he would give
himself another (ander) name, one with which he can chase away (uitdryf)
the fear: a name that says how it feels to wait powerlessly (magteloos) for
answers and just get ECHOES (EGGOS) from the underworld in return (in ruil).
Ekk-0.
A few interesting and important (belangrike) things happen in this prologue.
The reader does not get to know what the boy’s real (regte) name is: his
identity (identiteit) is hidden (weggesteek) and this immediately (onmiddellik)
creates (skep) tension (spanning).
The word “eggo” is repeated (herhaal) THREE TIMES (DRIE KEER) and the
name the boy gives (gee) himself, also looks (lyk) like (soos) the word “eggo”
which means that this is very important (belangrik) for the rest of the story that
is going to unfold (ontvou).
The fact (feit) that the father reaches (reik) for a yellow envelope, is also
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,significant (belangrik): the reader doesn’t know what the envelope contains,
but it clearly (duidelik) upsets (ontstel) the man to the point (punt) where he
starts crying (huil), something that he does not do very often when one looks
at the boy’s reaction (reaksie). This is also important (belangrik) for later in the
story.
The title is also mentioned (genoem) twice (twee keer) in this short chapter,
and it has a negative connotation (konnotasie) attached to it in both (albei)
instances (gevalle).
After the prologue, the first chapter starts with a “PING” which is described
(beskryf) as a computer command (rekenaaropdrag) during which
(waartydens) a parcel (pakkie) of information is sent (gestuur) from one
computer to another. The target (teiken) computer must “echo (eggo)” the
information to confirm (bevestig) that it is reachable (bereikbaar) and active.
Notice, yet again, the use of the word EGGO.
Chapter 1:
Slumbering (sluimerende) grey (grys) cells, Polyfilla and
ringtones
The description of the paragraph is in brackets (hakies) with “ <h1> … </h1>”
The “h” stands for “hoofstuk” and the number is just then the number of the
chapter. This chapter plays off in the present (teenwoordige tyd/hede) and is
written in the first person (eerstepersoonsverteller).
The main character (hoofkaraker), Greg Owen, is woken up (wakkergemaak)
by his cellphone. He thinks how his mom, Rina Owen, would have laughed at
his polyphonic ringtone and how she would have felt guilty (skuldig)
afterwards allowing (toegelaat) for herself the luxury of laughing.
This reveal (openbaar) something to the reader about Greg’s mom and also
hints towards something that happened in the past (verlede): why would Rina
Owen feel guilty for allowing herself to laugh at something silly? The answer
can be found later in the story, yet another delaying technique
(uitsteltegniek) that the writer uses to create tension (spanning).
It's Greg’s girlfriend, Nicole, and he knows that if he doesn’t answer, she will
“give him hell,” as he puts (stel) it. Nicole has long blonde hair, a fine (fyn)
nose, pretty lips and blue eyes that know how to flirt and tease (terg). Greg
calls her “Nicksie”, his term of endearment (troetelnaam). He tells her he’s still
sleeping because Ekk-0, and then he quickly corrects himself, saying Eckardt,
usually (gewoonlik) wakes him up (maak hom wakker) when he comes back
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, from his jog (draf). Nicole asks how Eckardt is doing and this causes Greg to
sit up in bed. He’s never said this to Nicole, but he doesn’t like her asking
about Eckardt, especially (veral) since (sedert) that evening in Jeffrey’s Bay
(Jeffreysbaai). Greg changes (verander) the subject (onderwerp) and Nicole
tells him about her dream:
Her parents (ouers) had a big party at their house and Greg’s parents were
there as well. Nicole and Greg had been looking for an opportunity
(geleentheid) to be alone and later they slip away (glip weg) to the pool
where all the lights were off. They were busy kissing (soen) until someone
switched on (skakel aan) the pool lights and all the guests (gaste) stood
there, staring at them. Nicole’s parents were shocked, but other people said
it was nice to see young people who are in love (verlief).
Both Greg and Nicole start laughing about the dream and then fall silent.
Greg can hear someone calling her in the background (agtergrond) and
when she answers with “Ek ko-o-om!” it reminds the reader a lot of how “Ekk-
0” is spelled in the story.
Nicole asks Greg if he thinks it can work between the two of them. Greg likes
her, but he finds it difficult (moeilik) to forget the incident (insident) in Jeffrey’s
Bay, questioning (bevraagteken) whether Nicole is faithful (getrou) to him.
Greg goes to school in the Drakensberg and Nicole is in Johannesburg.
Nicole is waiting for his answer and Greg reassures (verseker) her that things
will be fine, although there is a slight (effense) hesitation (huiwering) in his
voice (stem). Nicole ends the conversation by saying she loves him and Greg
just replies (antwoord) with “same (selfde)”. It’s a word without (sonder) much
meaning (betekenis), but one with which you can fill the silence (stiltes), like
Polyfilla.
Greg sees that it’s past 7 already and says goodbye to Nicole while jumping
out of bed. He bumps into Thomas-Jean or TJ, for short, when he opens his
door. Everyone in the hallway (gang) is already dressed (aangetrek) in their
school uniforms: black pants (broeke) and jackets (baadjies), white shirts
(hemde), yellow (geel) ties (dasse). The school emblem (skoolwapen) is a
torch (fakkel) with the school’s name written on top, Lawson Kollege and the
school’s motto (leuse): Lux hominum vita which translates to “light the life of
man.”
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