“We know each other, Tuan Abdulla,” he said, with an assumption of easy indifference8.
“We have traded together,” answered Abdulla, solemnly, “but it was far from here.”
“And we may trade here also,” said Willems.
“The place does not matter. It is the open mind and the true heart that are required in business.”
“Very true. My heart is as open as my mind. I will tell you why I am here.”
“What need is there? In leaving home one learns life. You travel. Travelling is victory! You shall return with much wisdom.”
“I shall never return,” interrupted Willems. “I have done with my people. I am a man without brothers. Injustice9 destroys fidelity10.”
Abdulla expressed his surprise by elevating his eyebrows11. At the same time he made a vague gesture with his arm that could be taken as an equivalent of an approving and conciliating “just so!”
Till then the Arab had not taken any notice of Aissa, who stood by the fire, but now she spoke in the interval12 of silence following Willems’ declaration. In a voice that was much deadened by her wrappings she addressed Abdulla in a few words of greeting, calling him a kinsman13. Abdulla glanced at her swiftly for a second, and then, with perfect good breeding, fixed his eyes on the ground. She put out towards him her hand, covered with a corner of her face-veil, and he took it, pressed it twice, and dropping it turned towards Willems. She looked at the two men searchingly, then backed away and seemed to melt suddenly into the night.
“I know what you came for, Tuan Abdulla,” said Willems; “I have been told by that man there.” He nodded towards Babalatchi, then went on slowly, “It will be a difficult thing.”
“Allah makes everything easy,” interjected Babalatchi, piously14, from a distance.
The two men turned quickly and stood looking at him thoughtfully, as if in deep consideration of the truth of that proposition. Under their sustained gaze Babalatchi experienced an unwonted feeling of shyness, and dared not approach nearer. At last Willems moved slightly, Abdulla followed readily, and they both walked down the courtyard, their voices dying away in the darkness. Soon they were heard returning, and the voices grew distinct as their forms came out of the gloom. By the fire they wheeled again, and Babalatchi caught a few words. Willems was saying —
“I have been at sea with him many years when young. I have used my knowledge to observe the way into the river when coming in, this time.”
Abdulla assented15 in general terms.
“In the variety of knowledge there is safety,” he said; and then they passed out of earshot.
Babalatchi ran to the tree and took up his position in the solid blackness under its branches, leaning against the trunk. There he was about midway between the fire and the other limit of the two men’s walk. They passed him close. Abdulla slim, very straight, his head high, and his hands hanging before him and twisting mechanically the string of beads16; Willems tall, broad, looking bigger and stronger in contrast to the slight white figure by the side of which he strolled carelessly, taking one step to the other’s two; his big arms in constant motion as he gesticulated vehemently17, bending forward to look Abdulla in the face.
They passed and repassed close to Babalatchi some half a dozen times, and, whenever they were between him and the fire, he could see them plain enough. Sometimes they would stop short, Willems speaking emphatically, Abdulla listening with rigid18 attention, then, when the other had ceased, bending his head slightly as if consenting to some demand, or admitting some statement. Now and then Babalatchi caught a word here and there, a fragment of a sentence, a loud exclamation19. Impelled20 by curiosity he crept to the very edge of the black shadow under the tree. They were nearing him, and he heard Willems say —
“You will pay that money as soon as I come on board. That I must have.”
He could not catch Abdulla’s reply. When they went past again, Willems was saying —
“My life is in your hand anyway. The boat that brings me on board your ship shall take the money to Omar. You must have it ready in a sealed bag.”
Again they were out of hearing, but instead of coming back they stopped by the fire facing each other. Willems moved his arm, shook his hand on high talking all the time, then brought it down jerkily — stamped his foot. A short period of immobility ensued. Babalatchi, gazing intently, saw Abdulla’s lips move almost imperceptibly. Suddenly Willems seized the Arab’s passive hand and shook it. Babalatchi drew the long breath of relieved suspense21. The conference was over. All well, apparently22.
He ventured now to approach the two men, who saw him and waited in silence. Willems had retired23 within himself already, and wore a look of grim indifference. Abdulla moved away a step or two. Babalatchi looked at him inquisitively24.
“I go now,” said Abdulla, “and shall wait for you outside the river, Tuan Willems, till the second sunset. You have only one word, I know.”
“Only one word,” repeated Willems.
Abdulla and Babalatchi walked together down the enclosure, leaving the white man alone by the fire. The two Arabs who had come with Abdulla preceded them and passed at once through the little gate into the light and the murmur25 of voices of the principal courtyard, but Babalatchi and Abdulla stopped on this side of it. Abdulla said —
“It is well. We have spoken of many things. He consents.”
“When?” asked Babalatchi, eagerly.
“On the second day from this. I have promised every thing. I mean to keep much.”
“Your hand is always open, O Most Generous amongst Believers! You will not forget your servant who called you here. Have I not spoken the truth? She has made roast meat of his heart.”
With a horizontal sweep of his arm Abdulla seemed to push away that last statement, and said slowly, with much meaning —
“He must be perfectly26 safe; do you understand? Perfectly safe — as if he was amongst his own people — till . . . ”
“Till when?” whispered Babalatchi.
“Till I speak,” said Abdulla. “As to Omar.” He hesitated for a moment, then went on very low: “He is very old.”
“Hai-ya! Old and sick,” murmured Babalatchi, with sudden melancholy27.
“He wanted me to kill that white man. He begged me to have him killed at once,” said Abdulla, contemptuously, moving again towards the gate.
“He is impatient, like those who feel death near them,” exclaimed Babalatchi, apologetically.
“Omar shall dwell with me,” went on Abdulla, “when . . . But no matter. Remember! The white man must be safe.”
“He lives in your shadow,” answered Babalatchi, solemnly. “It is enough!” He touched his forehead and fell back to let Abdulla go first.
And now they are back in the courtyard wherefrom, at their appearance, listlessness vanishes, and all the faces become alert and interested once more. Lakamba approaches his guest, but looks at Babalatchi, who reassures28 him by a confident nod. Lakamba clumsily attempts a smile, and looking, with natural and ineradicable sulkiness, from under his eyebrows at the man whom he wants to honour, asks whether he would condescend29 to visit the place of sitting down and take food. Or perhaps he would prefer to give himself up to repose30? The house is his, and what is in it, and those many men that stand afar watching the interview are his. Syed Abdulla presses his host’s hand to his breast, and informs him in a confidential murmur that his habits are ascetic31 and his temperament32 inclines to melancholy. No rest; no food; no use whatever for those many men who are his. Syed Abdulla is impatient to be gone. Lakamba is sorrowful but polite, in his hesitating, gloomy way. Tuan Abdulla must have fresh boatmen, and many, to shorten the dark and fatiguing33 road. Hai-ya! There! Boats!
By the riverside indistinct forms leap into a noisy and disorderly activity. There are cries, orders, banter34, abuse. Torches blaze sending out much more smoke than light, and in their red glare Babalatchi comes up to say that the boats are ready.
Through that lurid35 glare Syed Abdulla, in his long white gown, seems to glide36 fantastically, like a dignified apparition37 attended by two inferior shades, and stands for a moment at the landing-place to take leave of his host and ally — whom he loves. Syed Abdulla says so distinctly before embarking38, and takes his seat in the middle of the canoe under a small canopy39 of blue calico stretched on four sticks. Before and behind Syed Abdulla, the men squatting40 by the gunwales hold high the blades of their paddles in readiness for a dip, all together. Ready? Not yet. Hold on all! Syed Abdulla speaks again, while Lakamba and Babalatchi stand close on the bank to hear his words. His words are encouraging. Before the sun rises for the second time they shall meet, and Syed Abdulla’s ship shall float on the waters of this river — at last! Lakamba and Babalatchi have no doubt — if Allah wills. They are in the hands of the Compassionate41. No doubt. And so is Syed Abdulla, the great trader who does not know what the word failure means; and so is the white man — the smartest business man in the islands — who is lying now by Omar’s fire with his head on Aissa’s lap, while Syed Abdulla flies down the muddy river with current and paddles between the sombre walls of the sleeping forest; on his way to the clear and open sea where the Lord of the Isles42 (formerly of Greenock, but condemned43, sold, and registered now as of Penang) waits for its owner, and swings erratically44 at anchor in the currents of the capricious tide, under the crumbling45 red cliffs of Tanjong Mirrah.
For some time Lakamba, Sahamin, and Bahassoen looked silently into the humid darkness which had swallowed the big canoe that carried Abdulla and his unvarying good fortune. Then the two guests broke into a talk expressive46 of their joyful47 anticipations48. The venerable Sahamin, as became his advanced age, found his delight in speculation49 as to the activities of a rather remote future. He would buy praus, he would send expeditions up the river, he would enlarge his trade, and, backed by Abdulla’s capital, he would grow rich in a very few years. Very few. Meantime it would be a good thing to interview Almayer to-morrow and, profiting by the last day of the hated man’s prosperity, obtain some goods from him on credit. Sahamin thought it could be done by skilful50 wheedling51. After all, that son of Satan was a fool, and the thing was worth doing, because the coming revolution would wipe all debts out. Sahamin did not mind imparting that idea to his companions, with much senile chuckling52, while they strolled together from the riverside towards the residence. The bull-necked Lakamba, listening with pouted53 lips without the sign of a smile, without a gleam in his dull, bloodshot eyes, shuffled54 slowly across the courtyard between his two guests. But suddenly Bahassoen broke in upon the old man’s prattle55 with the generous enthusiasm of his youth. . . . Trading was very good. But was the change that would make them happy effected yet? The white man should be despoiled56 with a strong hand! . . . He grew excited, spoke very loud, and his further discourse57, delivered with his hand on the hilt of his sword, dealt incoherently with the honourable58 topics of throat-cutting, fire-raising, and with the far-famed valour of his ancestors.
Babalatchi remained behind, alone with the greatness of his conceptions. The sagacious statesman of Sambir sent a scornful glance after his noble protector and his noble protector’s friends, and then stood meditating59 about that future which to the others seemed so assured. Not so to Babalatchi, who paid the penalty of his wisdom by a vague sense of insecurity that kept sleep at arm’s length from his tired body. When he thought at last of leaving the waterside, it was only to strike a path for himself and to creep along the fences, avoiding the middle of the courtyard where small fires glimmered60 and winked61 as though the sinister62 darkness there had reflected the stars of the serene63 heaven. He slunk past the wicket-gate of Omar’s enclosure, and crept on patiently along the light bamboo palisade till he was stopped by the angle where it joined the heavy stockade64 of Lakamba’s private ground. Standing65 there, he could look over the fence and see Omar’s hut and the fire before its door. He could also see the shadow of two human beings sitting between him and the red glow. A man and a woman. The sight seemed to inspire the careworn66 sage67 with a frivolous68 desire to sing. It could hardly be called a song; it was more in the nature of a recitative without any rhythm, delivered rapidly but distinctly in a croaking69 and unsteady voice; and if Babalatchi considered it a song, then it was a song with a purpose and, perhaps for that reason, artistically70 defective71. It had all the imperfections of unskilful improvisation72 and its subject was gruesome. It told a tale of shipwreck73 and of thirst, and of one brother killing74 another for the sake of a gourd75 of water. A repulsive76 story which might have had a purpose but possessed77 no moral whatever. Yet it must have pleased Babalatchi for he repeated it twice, the second time even in louder tones than at first, causing a disturbance78 amongst the white rice-birds and the wild fruit-pigeons which roosted on the boughs79 of the big tree growing in Omar’s compound. There was in the thick foliage80 above the singer’s head a confused beating of wings, sleepy remarks in bird-language, a sharp stir of leaves. The forms by the fire moved; the shadow of the woman altered its shape, and Babalatchi’s song was cut short abruptly81 by a fit of soft and persistent82 coughing. He did not try to resume his efforts after that interruption, but went away stealthily to seek — if not sleep — then, at least, repose.
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收听单词发音
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1
confidential
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| adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的 | |
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2
supervision
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| n.监督，管理 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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6
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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7
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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8
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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10
fidelity
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| n.忠诚，忠实；精确 | |
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11
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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14
piously
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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15
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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17
vehemently
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| adv. 热烈地 | |
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18
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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19
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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20
impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21
suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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22
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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23
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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24
inquisitively
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| 过分好奇地； 好问地 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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26
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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27
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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28
reassures
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| v.消除恐惧或疑虑，恢复信心( reassure的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
condescend
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| v.俯就，屈尊；堕落，丢丑 | |
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30
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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31
ascetic
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| adj.禁欲的；严肃的 | |
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32
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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fatiguing
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| a.使人劳累的 | |
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34
banter
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| n.嘲弄，戏谑；v.取笑，逗弄，开玩笑 | |
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35
lurid
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| adj.可怕的；血红的；苍白的 | |
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36
glide
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| n./v.溜，滑行；(时间)消逝 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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38
embarking
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| 乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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39
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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40
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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41
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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42
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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43
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
erratically
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| adv.不规律地，不定地 | |
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45
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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46
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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47
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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48
anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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49
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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50
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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51
wheedling
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| v.骗取（某物），哄骗（某人干某事）( wheedle的现在分词 ) | |
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52
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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53
pouted
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| v.撅（嘴）( pout的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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55
prattle
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| n.闲谈；v.（小孩般）天真无邪地说话；发出连续而无意义的声音 | |
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56
despoiled
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| v.掠夺，抢劫( despoil的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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58
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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59
meditating
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| a.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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60
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
winked
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| v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮 | |
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62
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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63
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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64
stockade
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| n.栅栏，围栏；v.用栅栏防护 | |
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65
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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66
careworn
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| adj.疲倦的，饱经忧患的 | |
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67
sage
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| n.圣人，哲人；adj.贤明的，明智的 | |
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68
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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69
croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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70
artistically
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| adv.艺术性地 | |
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71
defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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72
improvisation
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| n.即席演奏(或演唱)；即兴创作 | |
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73
shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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74
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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75
gourd
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| n.葫芦 | |
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76
repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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77
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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78
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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79
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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80
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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81
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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82
persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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