Father Exarkos smiled courteously1 and said nothing. He and Cudyk had been sitting in the back room of Chong Yin's since a half-hour after the meeting. Seu had been with them earlier, but had left. A little after twelve, Ferguson had strolled in and joined them.
"I mean it," said Ferguson, laughing a little. "There was Harkway, sticking his neck out, and there was little De Grasse standing2 in the way. And Rack backed down." He shook his head, still smiling. "Rack backed down. Now how would you explain that, gentlemen?"
It was necessary to put up with the gambler, who wielded3 more power in the Quarter than anyone else, even Seu; but sometimes Cudyk found himself dropping his usual attitude of detached interest in favor of speculations4 about the specific variety of horrible fate which Ferguson would most probably meet.
He was particularly irritating tonight, because Cudyk was forced to agree with him. Cudyk had still not solved the riddle5 of Rack's failure to finish what he had started.
It was conceivable that De Grasse should have acted as he did for reasons of sentiment; but to apply the same motive6 to Rack was simply not possible. The man had emotions, certainly, but they were all channeled into one direction: the destiny of the human race and of Lawrence Rack. De Grasse was at an age when the strongest emotions were volatile7, when conversions8 were made, when a man could plan an assassination9 one day and enter a monastery10 the next. But Rack was fixed11 and aimed, like a cannon12.
Ferguson was saying, "He must be going soft. Going soft—old Rack. Unless it's the hand of God. What's your opinion, Father?"
The priest said blandly13, "Mr. Ferguson, since I have come to live upon this planet, my opinions have changed about many things. I no longer believe that either God, or man, is quite so simple as I once thought. We were too small in our thoughts, before—our understanding of temporal things was bounded by the frontiers of Earth, and of eternal things by the little sky we could see from our windows.
"Before, I think I would have tried to answer your question. I would have said that I think Captain Rack was moved by—a sudden access of human feeling—or I would have said that I think Captain Rack was touched by the finger of God. Perhaps I would have hesitated to say that, because even then I did not believe that God interferes14 with the small sins of men like Captain Rack. Or the small sins of anybody, for that matter."
Ferguson grinned. "Well, Father, that's the best excuse for an answer I ever heard, anyway." He dragged on his cigar, narrowing his eyes and pursing his lips, as if the cigar were a tube through which his brains were being sucked. "In other words," he said, "you don't think the big blowup back home was a judgment15 on us for our sins. You think it was a good thing, only more people should have got out the way we did. That right?"
"Oh, no," said Father Exarkos. "I believe that the Famines and the Collapse16 were a judgment of God. I have heard many theories about the causes of the Collapse, but I have not heard one which does not come back, in the end, to a condemnation17 of man's folly18, cruelty, and blindness."
"Well," said Ferguson, "excuse me, Father, but if you believe that way, what are you doing here? Back there—" he jerked his head, as if Earth were some little distance behind his right shoulder—"people are living like animals. Chicago, where I come from, is just a stone jungle, with a few beast-like scavengers prowling around in it. If the dirt and disease don't get you, some bandit will split your head open, or you'll run into a wolf or some other hungry animal. If none of those things happen, you can expect to live to the ripe old age of forty, and then you'll be glad to die."
He had stopped smiling. Ferguson, Cudyk realized, was describing his own personal hell. He went on, "Now, if you want to call that a judgment, I won't argue with you. But if that's what you believe, why aren't you back there taking it with the rest of them?"
He really wanted to know, Cudyk thought. He had begun by trying to bait the priest, but now he was serious. It was odd to think of Ferguson having trouble with his conscience, but Cudyk was not really surprised. The most moralistic men he had ever known had been gangsters19 of Ferguson's type; whereas the few really good men he had known, Father Exarkos among them, had seemed as blithely20 unaware21 of their consciences as of their healthy livers.
The priest said, soberly, "Mr. Ferguson, I believe that we also are being punished. Perhaps we more than others. The Mexican peon, the Indian fellah, the peasant of China or Greece, lives very much as his father did before him; he scarcely has reason to know that judgment has fallen upon Earth. But I think that no inhabitant of the Quarter can forget it for so much as an hour."
Ferguson stared at him, then grunted22 and squashed out his cigar. He stood up. "I'll be getting along home," he said. "Good night." He walked out.
Cudyk and Exarkos sat for a while longer, talking quietly, and then left together. The streets were empty. Behind them and to their left as they walked to the corner, the ghostly blue of the Niori beehives shone above the dark human buildings.
The priest lived in a small second-floor apartment near the corner of Brasil and Athenai, alone since his wife had died ten years before. Cudyk had only to go straight across Ceskoslovensko, but he walked down toward Brasil with his friend.
Near the corner, Cudyk saw a dark form sprawled23 in a doorway24. "One of your congregation, Astereos?" he asked.
"It is probable," said the priest resignedly. "Steve Chrisudis has been drinking heavily again this past week; also the two Moulios brothers."
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1
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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2
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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3
wielded
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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5
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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7
volatile
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| adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质 | |
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8
conversions
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| 变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分 | |
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9
assassination
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| n.暗杀；暗杀事件 | |
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10
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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11
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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12
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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13
blandly
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| adv.温和地，殷勤地 | |
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14
interferes
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| vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉 | |
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15
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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16
collapse
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| vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷 | |
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17
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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18
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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19
gangsters
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| 匪徒，歹徒( gangster的名词复数 ) | |
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20
blithely
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| adv.欢乐地，快活地，无挂虑地 | |
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21
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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22
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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23
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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