The long, cool barrack-rooms were swept by [37]the fresh breezes. Here, in the bungalow7, the army cots had been arranged in rows and covered by mosquito-bars suspended from the wires stretched overhead. When tucked inside of the mosquito-bar, one felt as though he were a part of a menagerie. “Muchacho” was the first new word you learned. It was advisable to call for a muchacho often, even though you did not need his services, in order to exploit your own experience and your superiority. And here you were first cheated by the wily Chinese peddlers—although you had cut them down to half their price—when they unrolled their packs of crêpe pajamas8, net-work underwear, and other merchandise.
And all one Sunday afternoon you listened to a lecture from the President of the Manila Board of Health, who told of the diseases that the flesh was heir to in the Philippines, and cheerfully assured you that within a month or two your weight would be reduced to the extent of twenty-five or fifty pounds. And after dinner—where you learned that chiquos though they looked a good deal like potatoes, were a kind of fruit—while you were strolling down the avenue beyond the markethouse, [38]you got a ducking from a sudden shower that ceased quite as unceremoniously as it had begun. There was excitement in the bungalow that night because of its invasion by a hostile monkey. An impromptu9 vigilance committee finally succeeded in ejecting the unwelcome visitor, persuading him of the superior advantages of “Barracks B.”
Together with a few dissenters10, I moved out next morning, finding better quarters in the first floor of a Spanish house in Magallanes. We made the best of an old ruin opposite, which we considered picturesque11, and which was occupied by Filipino squatters, who conducted a hand laundry there. Our first muchacho, Valentine, surprised us by existing on the ten-cent dinners of the Chinese chophouse on the corner. But he assured us that it was a good place; that the greasy12 Chinaman, who fried the sausages and boiled the rice back in the tiny den6, was a great favorite. At our own restaurant, two Negro women made the best corn-fritters we had ever tasted; a green parrot and a monkey squawked and chattered13 on the balustrade; a Filipino boy played marches on a cracked piano-forte. [39]
And so we lived behind the heavily-barred windows, watching the shifting throng—the staggering coolies, girls with trays of oranges upon their heads, and men in curiously15 fashioned hats—driving around the city in the afternoon (for Valentine was at his best in getting carromatas under false pretenses) till the little family broke up. The first to go returned after a day or two, almost in tears with the alarming information that the mayor of the town that he had been assigned to was a naked savage16; that what he supposed was pepper on the fried eggs he had had for breakfast, had turned out to be black ants—and wouldn’t we please pay his carromata fare, because he was completely out of funds?
The carabao carts gradually removed our baggage. Valentine was faithful to the last. Most of us met each other later, and exchanged notes. One had escaped the target practice of ladrones; one had been lost among the mountains of Benguet; another had been carried to Manila on a coasting steamer, reaching the Civil hospital in time to fight against the fevers that had wasted him; and poor Fitz died of cholera17 in one of the most lonely villages among the Negros hills. [40]
“Won’t those infernal bells stop ringing for a while and let a fellow go to sleep?” said Howard as he got out of bed. “Look at those creatures, will you?” pointing to the fat mosquitoes at the top of the mosquito-bar. “The vampires18! How do you suppose they got in, anyway?”
“It beats me,” said the Duke. “It isn’t the mosquitoes or the bells: that ball of fire that’s shining through the window makes a perfect oven of the room.”
The merciless sun had risen over the low roofs of the walled city, and the heat was radiating from the white walls and the scorching19 streets. The Duke was sitting on the edge of the low army cot in his pajamas and his bedroom slippers20, smoking a native cigarette.
“It must be about ten o’clock,” said Howard. “I wonder if the Chinaman left any breakfast for us.”
“Probably. A couple of cold fried eggs, or a clammy dish of oatmeal and condensed milk. Shall we get up and go somewhere?”
“I can’t find any clothes,” said Howard; “this place is turning into a regular chaos21, anyway.” [41]It was indeed a chaos,—lines of clothes where the mosquitoes swarmed22, papers and books scattered23 about the floor, pajamas, duck suits, towels on every chair, and muddy white shoes strewn around. “Doesn’t the muchacho ever clean things up?”
“That’s nothing,” said the Duke; “wait till the Chinaman runs off with all your washing. I can lend you a white suit; and, say,—tell the muchacho to come in and blanco a few shoes.”
As there are no apartment-houses in Manila, the young clerk on small salary will usually live in a furnished room in the walled city. For the first few months it is a rather dreary24 life. The cool veranda and the steamer chair, after the day’s work, is a luxury denied the young Americans within the city walls. The list of amusements that Manila offers is an unattractive one. There is a baseball game between two companies of soldiers, or between the Government employees representing different departments. There is the cock-fight out at Santa Ana, Sunday mornings and fiesta days; but this is mostly patronized by [42]natives, and is not especially agreeable to Americans. The Country club—reached after a long drive out Malate way, past the Malate fort that bears the marks of Dewey’s shells, past the old church once occupied by soldiers, through the rice-pads where the American troops first met the Insurrecto firing line—is little more than a mere25 gambling-house. It is now visited by those whose former resorts in the walled city have been broken up by the constabulary.
The races of the Santa Mesa Jockey dub26 are held on Sunday afternoons. It is a rather dusty drive out to the track. A number of noisy “road-houses” along the way, where drinking is going on; the Paco cemetery27, where the bleached28 bones have been piled around the cross,—these are the sole diversions that the road affords. The races are interesting only in the opportunity they offer to observe the native types. Here you will find the Filipino dandy in his polished boots, his low-crowned derby hat, and baggy29 trousers. He makes the boast that he has not walked fifty meters on Manila’s streets in the past year. This dainty little fellow always travels in a carriage. [43]He flicks30 the ashes off his cigarette with his long finger-nail as he stands by while the gay-colored jockeys are being weighed in. Up in the grandstand, in a private box, a party of mestiza girls, elaborately gowned, are sipping31 lemonade, or eating sherbet and vanilla32 cakes, while one of the jockeys leans admiringly upon the rail. The silver pesos stacked up on the table in the center of the box are given to a man in waiting to be wagered33 on the various events. The finishes are seldom very close, the Filipino ponies34 scampering35 around the turf like rats. A native band, however, adds to the excitement which the clamor at the booking office and the animated36 chatter14 of due?as, caballeros, jockeys, and se?oritas in the galleries intensifies37.
Manila, the City of churches, celebrates its Sabbath in its own peculiar38 way. The Protestant churches suffer in comparison with the grand church of San Sebastian—set up from the iron plates made in Belgium—and the churches of the various religious orders. Magnificence and show appeal most strongly to the Filipino. He is taught to look down on the Protestant religion as [44]plebeian; the priests regard the Protestant with condescending39 superciliousness40. Until the transportation facilities can be extended there will be no general coming together of Americans even on Sunday morning, as the colony from the United States is scattered far and wide throughout the city.
As his salary increases, the young Government employee looks around for better quarters. These he secures by organizing a small club and renting the upper floor of one of the large Spanish houses. As the young men in Manila are especially congenial, there is little difficulty in conducting such an enterprise. The members of a lodging41 club thus formed will generally reserve a table for their use at one of the adjacent boarding-houses or hotels.
The fashionable world—the heads of departments, general army officers, and wealthy merchants—occupy grand residences in Ermita or in San Miguel. These houses, set back in extensive gardens, are approached by driveways banked luxuriously42 with palms. A massive iron fence, mounted on stone posts, gives to the residence a [45]certain tone of dignity as well as a suggestion of exclusiveness. Those situated in Calle Real (Ermita) have verandas43, balconies, and summer-houses looking out upon the sea.
The prosperous bachelor has his stable, stable-boys, and Chinese cook. At eight o’clock A. M. the China ponies will be harnessed ready to drive him to the office, and at four o’clock the carriage calls for him to take him home. Most of the Americans thus situated seldom leave their homes. There is, of course, the Army and Navy club in the walled city, and the University club in Ermita; but aside from an occasional visit to these organizations, he is satisfied with a short turn on the Luneta and the privacy of his own house.
The afternoon teas at the University club, where you can see the sunset lighting44 up Corregidor and glorifying45 the white battleships, the monthly entertainments at the Oriente, and the governor’s reception, are the social features of Manila life. The ladies do considerable entertaining, wearing themselves out in the performance of their social duties. As a relaxation46, an informal picnic party will sometimes charter a [46]small launch, and spend the day along the picturesque banks of the Pasig. The customs of Manila make an obligation of a frequent visit to the Civil hospital, if it so happen that a friend is sick there. It is a long ride along Calle Iris47, with its rows of bamboo-trees, past the merry-go-round, Bilibid prison, and the railway station; but the patients at the hospital appreciate these visits quite sufficiently48 to compensate49 for any inconveniences that may have been caused.
During the holiday season, certain attractions are offered at the theaters. While these are mostly given by cheap vaudeville50 companies that have drifted over from Australia or the China coast, when any deserving entertainment is announced the “upper ten” turn out en masse. During the memorable51 engagement of the Twenty-fourth Infantry52 minstrels, the boxes at the Zorilla theater were filled by all the pride and beauty of Manila. Captains and lieutenants53 from Fort Santiago and Camp Wallace, naval54 officers from the Cavite colony, matrons and maidens55 from the civil and the military “sets,” made a vivacious56 audience, while the Filipinos packed in the surrounding [47]galleries, applauded with enthusiasm as the cake-walk and the Negro melody were introduced into the Orient.
Where money circulates so freely and is spent so recklessly as in Manila, where the “East of Suez” moral standard is established, the young fellows who have come out to the Far East, inspired by Kipling’s poems and the spirit of the Orient, are tempted57 constantly to live beyond their means. It is a country “where there ain’t no Ten Commandments, and a man can raise a thirst.” Then the Sampoluc and Quiapo districts, where the carriage-lamps are weaving back and forth58 among pavilions softly lighted, where the tinkle59 of the samosen is heard, and where O Taki San, immodest but bewitching, stands behind the beadwork curtain, her kimono parted at the knee,—this is the world of the Far East, the cup of Circe.
There was the pathetic case of the young man who “went to pieces” in Manila recently. He was a Harvard athlete, but was physically60 unsound. As a result of an unfortunate blow received upon the head a short time after his arrival in Manila, he became despondent61 and morose62. After undue63 [48]excitement he would fall into a dreamy trance. At such times he would fancy that his mother had died, and he would be convulsed with sorrow, breaking unexpectedly into a rousing college song. He meditated64 suicide, and was prevented several times from taking his own life. On coming to Manila from the provinces, he stoutly65 refused to be sent home, but lived at his friends’ expense, trying to borrow money from everybody that he met. Other young fellows overwhelmed by debts have tried to break loose from the Islands, but have been brought back from Japanese ports to be placed in Bilibid. That is the saddest life of all—in Bilibid. Many a convict in that prison, far away, has been a gentleman, and there are mothers in America who wonder why their boys do not come home.
Somebody once said that Manila life was a perpetual farewell. The days of the arrival and departure of the transports are the days that vary the monotony. As the procession of big mail-wagons rumbles66 down the Escolta to the post-office, as the letters from America are opened, as the last month’s newspapers and magazines [49]appear in the shop-windows, comes a moment of regret and lonesomeness. But as the transport, with its tawny67 load of soldiers and of joyful68 officers, pulls out, the dweller69 in Manila, long ago resigned to fate, takes up the grind again.
Sometimes, on Sunday morning, he will take the customs-house launch out to one of the Manila-Hong Kong boats, to see a friend off for the homeland and “God’s country.” Leaning over the taffrail, while the crowd below is celebrating the departure by the opening of bottles, he will fancy that he, too, is going—till the warning whistle sounds, and it is time to go ashore70. The best view of Manila, it is said, is that obtained from the stern deck of an outgoing steamer, as the red lighthouse and the pier71 fade gradually away. But even after he has reached the “white man’s country” some time he may “hear the East a-calling,” and come back again.
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1
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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jingle
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| n.叮当声，韵律简单的诗句；v.使叮当作响，叮当响，押韵 | |
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veranda
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| n.走廊；阳台 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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bungalow
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| n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房 | |
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pajamas
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| n.睡衣裤 | |
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impromptu
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| adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地) | |
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dissenters
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| n.持异议者，持不同意见者( dissenter的名词复数 ) | |
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picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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greasy
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| adj. 多脂的，油脂的 | |
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chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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vampires
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| n.吸血鬼( vampire的名词复数 )；吸血蝠；高利贷者；（舞台上的）活板门 | |
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scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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dub
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| vt.（以某种称号）授予，给...起绰号，复制 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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baggy
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| adj.膨胀如袋的，宽松下垂的 | |
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flicks
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的第三人称单数 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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sipping
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 ) | |
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vanilla
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| n.香子兰，香草 | |
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wagered
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| v.在（某物）上赌钱，打赌( wager的过去式和过去分词 )；保证，担保 | |
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ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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scampering
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的现在分词 ) | |
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animated
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| adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的 | |
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intensifies
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| n.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的名词复数 )v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的第三人称单数 ) | |
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38
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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condescending
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| adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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superciliousness
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| n.高傲，傲慢 | |
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41
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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43
verandas
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| 阳台，走廊( veranda的名词复数 ) | |
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44
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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45
glorifying
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| 赞美( glorify的现在分词 )； 颂扬； 美化； 使光荣 | |
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46
relaxation
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| n.松弛，放松；休息；消遣；娱乐 | |
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47
iris
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| n.虹膜，彩虹 | |
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48
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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49
compensate
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| vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消 | |
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50
vaudeville
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| n.歌舞杂耍表演 | |
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51
memorable
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| adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的 | |
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52
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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53
lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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54
naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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55
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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56
vivacious
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| adj.活泼的，快活的 | |
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57
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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tinkle
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| vi.叮当作响；n.叮当声 | |
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physically
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| adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律 | |
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61
despondent
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| adj.失望的，沮丧的，泄气的 | |
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morose
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| adj.脾气坏的，不高兴的 | |
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63
undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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64
meditated
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| 深思，沉思，冥想( meditate的过去式和过去分词 )； 内心策划，考虑 | |
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stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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66
rumbles
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| 隆隆声，辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 ) | |
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67
tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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68
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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69
dweller
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| n.居住者，住客 | |
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70
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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