That silence... yes, it was what is called silence... it was never called that here, it had no name... but now it's returning... a form vaguely emerging... that's the name it appears under: Silence... Lost and almost forgotten, it is returning home from far-off countries, showing a passport issued there, in foreign parts, specifying that name: Silence.
"Silence"... What other name could be given to that absence of words exchanged between two people alone together, what could anyone observing them say other than "they are remaining silent." And it must be recognised that all the very many, very different kinds of silence... they'd be no end to it if we tried to mention them all... that particular sort is one of those with a rather bad reputation...
When the two people who aren't speaking look as if they have known each other intimately for a long time and the silence between them is prolonged, to anyone outside who stops, who lingers, it often communicates a sense of remoteness, of weariness, of boredom, of "the loneliness of a couple," which we know can be even more painful than the other sort...
[Here, Sarraute, N.]
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