Here are the quotations from now until June 2nd::
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 finger 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 the last set of extracts (May 13th to 19th): are as follows:
1. ( 'Hicksey and I were thick as thieves… ) This is from "A Conference
of the Powers" in Many Inventions.
2. ('…whether they tuk us, all white an' wet, for a new breed av divil, or
a new kind of dacoit, I don't know…’ ) This is from "The Taking of
Lungtungpen" in Plain Tales from the Hills.
3. (…There was a rush from without, the short hough-hough of the stabbing
spears, and a man on a horse, followed by thirty or forty others, dashed
through..) This is from The Light that Failed.
Good wishes to all, John R..
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