FICTION
Michel Tournler
THE FETISHIST
(He appears at the back
of
the center aisle and makes his way up it
toward the stage. He keeps darting anxious glances over his shoulder, then seems
reassured and, smiling at the audience, tells them):
It's all right. They trust me . They're having a drink at the.
(name ofa bar near the theater).
They've given me an hour. I took advan–
tage of it to do a little shopping.
(Sending a glance around him.)
There's
some classy people here! Some beautiful dresses! I like that . It reas–
sures me. It's polite . It's nice . It's gratifying.
(He hauls himself up onto the stage. Hangs his hat on a peg.)
And then , it's healthy to be dressed up! Healthy people are well
dressed. The doctor says, "Undress!"-and that's it . You're already
different. You're on your way to being lost. He - naturally, the
swine -
he
is still dressed. Overdressed, even, in his white overall
buttoned up to his chin. The patient is standing there looking ridicu–
lous, with his suspenders hanging down , his pants corkscrewed over
his shoes, his shirttails flapping. "All right, you can get dressed!"
Then it's okay. But there are some cases, some patients, who don't
ever get dressed. Never again! The psychiatric hospital is full of men
and women who've never gotten dressed again. 'They mosey around
in combat uniform, in jammies, in straitjackets, in their nightshirts .
But none of those are real clothes. They don't cling to the skin. Real
clothes cling, they're solid, they're like armor. My pals in the asylum,
though, for the merest nothing, pm, they get their so-called clothes
taken off them, there's nothing left of them, . the patients are stark
naked when they go for an examination, to take a shower, to bed, for
shock treatment . Ooh, shock treatment! There's a fellow near me, he
Editor's Note: From the book,
The Fetishist,
by Michel Tournier. English translation
copyright
c
1983 by Doubleday
&
Co., Inc. and Wm. Collins Sons
&
Co. Ltd. To
be
published by Doubleday
&
Co., Inc.
