Thirty thousand heaped on high—
All to please the Kafir maid,
Grimly spake Atulla Khan:—
“Love hath made this thing a Man.”
Oatta's Story.
If you go straight away from Levees and Government House Lists, past Trades' Balls—far beyond everything and everybody you ever knew in your respectable life—you cross, in time, the Border line where the last drop of White blood ends and the full tide of Black sets in. It would be easier to talk to a new made Duchess on the spur of the moment than to the Borderline folk without violating some of their conventions or hurting their feelings. The Black and the White mix very quaintly2 in their ways. Sometimes the White shows in spurts3 of fierce, childish pride—which is Pride of Race run crooked—and sometimes the Black in still fiercer abasement4 and humility5, half heathenish customs and strange, unaccountable impulses to crime. One of these days, this people—understand they are far lower than the class whence Derozio, the man who imitated Byron, sprung—will turn out a writer or a poet; and then we shall know how they live and what they feel. In the meantime, any stories about them cannot be absolutely correct in fact or inference.
Miss Vezzis came from across the Borderline to look after some children who belonged to a lady until a regularly ordained6 nurse could come out. The lady said Miss Vezzis was a bad, dirty nurse and inattentive. It never struck her that Miss Vezzis had her own life to lead and her own affairs to worry over, and that these affairs were the most important things in the world to Miss Vezzis. Very few mistresses admit this sort of reasoning. Miss Vezzis was as black as a boot, and to our standard of taste, hideously7 ugly. She wore cotton-print gowns and bulged8 shoes; and when she lost her temper with the children, she abused them in the language of the Borderline—which is part English, part Portuguese9, and part Native. She was not attractive; but she had her pride, and she preferred being called “Miss Vezzis.”
Every Sunday she dressed herself wonderfully and went to see her Mamma, who lived, for the most part, on an old cane10 chair in a greasy11 tussur-silk dressing-gown and a big rabbit-warren of a house full of Vezzises, Pereiras, Ribieras, Lisboas and Gansalveses, and a floating population of loafers; besides fragments of the day's bazar, garlic, stale incense12, clothes thrown on the floor, petticoats hung on strings13 for screens, old bottles, pewter crucifixes, dried immortelles, pariah14 puppies, plaster images of the Virgin15, and hats without crowns. Miss Vezzis drew twenty rupees a month for acting16 as nurse, and she squabbled weekly with her Mamma as to the percentage to be given towards housekeeping. When the quarrel was over, Michele D'Cruze used to shamble across the low mud wall of the compound and make love to Miss Vezzis after the fashion of the Borderline, which is hedged about with much ceremony. Michele was a poor, sickly weed and very black; but he had his pride. He would not be seen smoking a huqa for anything; and he looked down on natives as only a man with seven-eighths native blood in his veins17 can. The Vezzis Family had their pride too. They traced their descent from a mythical18 plate-layer who had worked on the Sone Bridge when railways were new in India, and they valued their English origin. Michele was a Telegraph Signaller on Rs. 35 a month. The fact that he was in Government employ made Mrs. Vezzis lenient19 to the shortcomings of his ancestors.
There was a compromising legend—Dom Anna the tailor brought it from Poonani—that a black Jew of Cochin had once married into the D'Cruze family; while it was an open secret that an uncle of Mrs. D'Cruze was at that very time doing menial work, connected with cooking, for a Club in Southern India! He sent Mrs D'Cruze seven rupees eight annas a month; but she felt the disgrace to the family very keenly all the same.
However, in the course of a few Sundays, Mrs. Vezzis brought herself to overlook these blemishes20 and gave her consent to the marriage of her daughter with Michele, on condition that Michele should have at least fifty rupees a month to start married life upon. This wonderful prudence21 must have been a lingering touch of the mythical plate-layer's Yorkshire blood; for across the Borderline people take a pride in marrying when they please—not when they can.
Having regard to his departmental prospects22, Miss Vezzis might as well have asked Michele to go away and come back with the Moon in his pocket. But Michele was deeply in love with Miss Vezzis, and that helped him to endure. He accompanied Miss Vezzis to Mass one Sunday, and after Mass, walking home through the hot stale dust with her hand in his, he swore by several Saints, whose names would not interest you, never to forget Miss Vezzis; and she swore by her Honor and the Saints—the oath runs rather curiously23; “In nomine Sanctissimae—” (whatever the name of the she-Saint is) and so forth24, ending with a kiss on the forehead, a kiss on the left cheek, and a kiss on the mouth—never to forget Michele.
Next week Michele was transferred, and Miss Vezzis dropped tears upon the window-sash of the “Intermediate” compartment25 as he left the Station.
If you look at the telegraph-map of India you will see a long line skirting the coast from Backergunge to Madras. Michele was ordered to Tibasu, a little Sub-office one-third down this line, to send messages on from Berhampur to Chicacola, and to think of Miss Vezzis and his chances of getting fifty rupees a month out of office hours. He had the noise of the Bay of Bengal and a Bengali Babu for company; nothing more. He sent foolish letters, with crosses tucked inside the flaps of the envelopes, to Miss Vezzis.
When he had been at Tibasu for nearly three weeks his chance came.
Never forget that unless the outward and visible signs of Our Authority are always before a native he is as incapable26 as a child of understanding what authority means, or where is the danger of disobeying it. Tibasu was a forgotten little place with a few Orissa Mohamedans in it. These, hearing nothing of the Collector-Sahib for some time, and heartily27 despising the Hindu Sub-Judge, arranged to start a little Mohurrum riot of their own. But the Hindus turned out and broke their heads; when, finding lawlessness pleasant, Hindus and Mahomedans together raised an aimless sort of Donnybrook just to see how far they could go. They looted each other's shops, and paid off private grudges28 in the regular way. It was a nasty little riot, but not worth putting in the newspapers.
Michele was working in his office when he heard the sound that a man never forgets all his life—the “ah-yah” of an angry crowd. [When that sound drops about three tones, and changes to a thick, droning ut, the man who hears it had better go away if he is alone.] The Native Police Inspector29 ran in and told Michele that the town was in an uproar30 and coming to wreck31 the Telegraph Office. The Babu put on his cap and quietly dropped out of the window; while the Police Inspector, afraid, but obeying the old race-instinct which recognizes a drop of White blood as far as it can be diluted32, said:—“What orders does the Sahib give?”
The “Sahib” decided33 Michele. Though horribly frightened, he felt that, for the hour, he, the man with the Cochin Jew and the menial uncle in his pedigree, was the only representative of English authority in the place. Then he thought of Miss Vezzis and the fifty rupees, and took the situation on himself. There were seven native policemen in Tibasu, and four crazy smooth-bore muskets34 among them. All the men were gray with fear, but not beyond leading. Michele dropped the key of the telegraph instrument, and went out, at the head of his army, to meet the mob. As the shouting crew came round a corner of the road, he dropped and fired; the men behind him loosing instinctively36 at the same time.
The whole crowd—curs to the backbone—yelled and ran; leaving one man dead, and another dying in the road. Michele was sweating with fear, but he kept his weakness under, and went down into the town, past the house where the Sub-Judge had barricaded37 himself. The streets were empty. Tibasu was more frightened than Michele, for the mob had been taken at the right time.
Michele returned to the Telegraph-Office, and sent a message to Chicacola asking for help. Before an answer came, he received a deputation of the elders of Tibasu, telling him that the Sub-Judge said his actions generally were “unconstitutional,” and trying to bully38 him. But the heart of Michele D'Cruze was big and white in his breast, because of his love for Miss Vezzis, the nurse-girl, and because he had tasted for the first time Responsibility and Success. Those two make an intoxicating39 drink, and have ruined more men than ever has Whiskey. Michele answered that the Sub-Judge might say what he pleased, but, until the Assistant Collector came, the Telegraph Signaller was the Government of India in Tibasu, and the elders of the town would be held accountable for further rioting. Then they bowed their heads and said: “Show mercy!” or words to that effect, and went back in great fear; each accusing the other of having begun the rioting.
Early in the dawn, after a night's patrol with his seven policemen, Michele went down the road, musket35 in hand, to meet the Assistant Collector, who had ridden in to quell40 Tibasu. But, in the presence of this young Englishman, Michele felt himself slipping back more and more into the native, and the tale of the Tibasu Riots ended, with the strain on the teller41, in an hysterical42 outburst of tears, bred by sorrow that he had killed a man, shame that he could not feel as uplifted as he had felt through the night, and childish anger that his tongue could not do justice to his great deeds. It was the White drop in Michele's veins dying out, though he did not know it.
But the Englishman understood; and, after he had schooled those men of Tibasu, and had conferred with the Sub-Judge till that excellent official turned green, he found time to draught43 an official letter describing the conduct of Michele. Which letter filtered through the Proper Channels, and ended in the transfer of Michele up-country once more, on the Imperial salary of sixty-six rupees a month.
So he and Miss Vezzis were married with great state and ancientry; and now there are several little D'Cruzes sprawling44 about the verandahs of the Central Telegraph Office.
But, if the whole revenue of the Department he serves were to be his reward Michele could never, never repeat what he did at Tibasu for the sake of Miss Vezzis the nurse-girl.
Which proves that, when a man does good work out of all proportion to his pay, in seven cases out of nine there is a woman at the back of the virtue45.
The two exceptions must have suffered from sunstroke.
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1
ripples
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逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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2
quaintly
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adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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spurts
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短暂而突然的活动或努力( spurt的名词复数 ); 突然奋起 | |
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4
abasement
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n.滥用 | |
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5
humility
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n.谦逊,谦恭 | |
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6
ordained
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v.任命(某人)为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 );授予(某人)圣职;(上帝、法律等)命令;判定 | |
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7
hideously
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adv.可怕地,非常讨厌地 | |
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bulged
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凸出( bulge的过去式和过去分词 ); 充满; 塞满(某物) | |
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9
Portuguese
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n.葡萄牙人;葡萄牙语 | |
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10
cane
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n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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11
greasy
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adj. 多脂的,油脂的 | |
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12
incense
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v.激怒;n.香,焚香时的烟,香气 | |
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13
strings
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n.弦 | |
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14
pariah
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n.被社会抛弃者 | |
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15
virgin
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n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
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16
acting
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n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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17
veins
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n.纹理;矿脉( vein的名词复数 );静脉;叶脉;纹理 | |
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18
mythical
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adj.神话的;虚构的;想像的 | |
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19
lenient
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adj.宽大的,仁慈的 | |
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20
blemishes
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n.(身体的)瘢点( blemish的名词复数 );伤疤;瑕疵;污点 | |
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21
prudence
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n.谨慎,精明,节俭 | |
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22
prospects
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n.希望,前途(恒为复数) | |
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23
curiously
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adv.有求知欲地;好问地;奇特地 | |
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24
forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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25
compartment
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n.卧车包房,隔间;分隔的空间 | |
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26
incapable
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adj.无能力的,不能做某事的 | |
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27
heartily
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adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很 | |
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28
grudges
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不满,怨恨,妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
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29
inspector
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n.检查员,监察员,视察员 | |
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30
uproar
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n.骚动,喧嚣,鼎沸 | |
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31
wreck
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n.失事,遇难;沉船;vt.(船等)失事,遇难 | |
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32
diluted
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无力的,冲淡的 | |
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33
decided
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adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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34
muskets
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n.火枪,(尤指)滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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35
musket
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n.滑膛枪 | |
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36
instinctively
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adv.本能地 | |
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37
barricaded
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设路障于,以障碍物阻塞( barricade的过去式和过去分词 ); 设路障[防御工事]保卫或固守 | |
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38
bully
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n.恃强欺弱者,小流氓;vt.威胁,欺侮 | |
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39
intoxicating
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a. 醉人的,使人兴奋的 | |
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40
quell
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v.压制,平息,减轻 | |
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41
teller
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n.银行出纳员;(选举)计票员 | |
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42
hysterical
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adj.情绪异常激动的,歇斯底里般的 | |
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43
draught
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n.拉,牵引,拖;一网(饮,吸,阵);顿服药量,通风;v.起草,设计 | |
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44
sprawling
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adj.蔓生的,不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) | |
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45
virtue
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n.德行,美德;贞操;优点;功效,效力 | |
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