Here are the quotations for next week (May 2nd to 8th):
1. …They have no law. They are outcaste. They have no speech of their own but use the stolen words which they overhear when they listen, and peep, and wait up above in the branches. Their way is not our way. They are without leaders. They have no remembrance. They boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of a nut turns their mind to laughter and all is forgotten…
2. …In a raucous voice he cried aloud little matters, like the hope of Honour and the dream of Glory, that boys do not discuss even with their most intimate equals; cheerfully assuming that, till he spoke, they had never considered these possibilities. He pointed them to shining goals, with fingers which smudged out all radiance on all horizons. He profaned the most secret places of their souls with outcries and gesticulations. He bade them consider the deeds of their ancestors in such fashion that they were flushed to their tingling ears…
3. …he stamped his foot.
'Tell them' he cried, 'that if a hair of any one of their heads is touched by any official on any account whatever, all England shall ring with it. Good God ! What callous oppression ! The dark places of the earth are full of cruelty.' He wiped his face, and throwing out his arms cried: 'Tell them, oh ! tell the poor serfs not to be afraid of me. Tell them I come to redress their wrongs - not, heaven knows, to add to their burden. '
The long-drawn gurgle of the practised public speaker pleased them much…
The sources of last week's extracts (April 25th to May 1st) are as follows:
1. (…The Mullah sprang to his feet, glaring with withered eyeballs at the drawn death he could not see…) This is from "The Head of the District" in Life's Handicap.
2. (…It seems to them that they stood through the days and nights slowly sliding a bar backwards and forwards through a white glow…) This is from "The Devil and the Deep Sea" in The Day's Work.
3. (…I looked on either side of the deep fireplace, and found but a half-charred hedge-stake with which I punched a black log into flame...) This is from "They" in Traffics and Discoveries.
As you will see on the web-site, John McGivering has now annotated six of the stories in "Wee Willie Winkie" for the NRG.
All good wishes, John Radcliffe
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