This week's rather unsettling quotations (August 15th to 21st) are as
follows:
1. ‘...I walk down a road, a white sandy road near the sea. There are broken
fences on either side, and Men come and look at me over them. Their face are
all mildewy - eaten away 'The Men run after me and I run'. I know what’s
coming too. One of them touches me...’
2. ... He said they used to begin with noises in his head like rotten
walnuts being smashed. The Voices were all mixed up with horrible dope
dreams. For instance, he said, there was a smiling dog that ran after him
and licked his face ...
3. ... the first thing he saw, standing in the verandah was the figure of
himself. He approached the figure, which naturally kept at an unvarying
distance from him, as is the use of all spectres that are born of overwork.
It slid through the house and dissolved into swimming specks within the
eyeball as soon as it reached the burning light of the garden ...
The sources of last week's quotations (August 8th to 14th), as various
members pointed out, were as follows:
1. ... I have seen all the dead seasons, and the great trees and the old
elephants, and the rocks that were bare and sharp-pointed ere the moss
grew... is from 'Red Dog' in The Second Jungle Book
2. ...they ate wild sheep roasted on the hot stones, and flavoured with wild
garlic and wild pepper; and wild duck stuffed with wild rice and wild
fenugreek and wild coriander... is from 'The Cat that Walked by Himself'
from The Just-So Stories.
3. ...it was laid out like a map at his feet. He could see the evening
gatherings on the threshing-floors, because that was the only level ground;
could see the wonderful un-named green of the young rice, the indigo blues
of the Indian corn... is from 'The Miracle of Purun Baghat' in The Second
Jungle Book.
Best regards to all.
PS I have been having a very interesting correspondence with Liz Breuilly
about 'As Easy as ABC' Does anyone have views about this story ? How do
you rate it, and what do you see as RK's motivation for writing it ?
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|