V + 

Seryozha lay in bed in his little room, which was just an oblong bite taken out of the kitchen. His bed was the original kang of this Korean houseтБатАФa brick-and-plaster oven. On itтБатАФsince it was summerтБатАФwere spread all the winter quilts and blankets to intervene between SeryozhaтАЩs heavy young bones and the hard kang. The colder it grew in autumn, the more quilts were taken from beneath his body to be placed above it. Seryozha always connected winter with heavy dreaming, since at that season he always had to sleep flat on his back to save his hip bones from contact with the almost unpadded heated kang. But now, in summer, there were three quilts beneath him, and Seryozha could lie comfortably on his side, bent into the shape of a query mark, glaring at the window. The window, carved by Anna long ago with a blunt saw out of the boards of the outer wall, was high up in the corner made by the flimsy kitchen partition and the ceiling. It was very crooked. Anna was, in all her contrivings, too ardent ever to measure things. тАЬI work by eye only,тАЭ she would boast, triumphantly daring you to make the obvious retort as she flaunted her results all askew. + 

Seryozha glared at the window till the foolish, crooked block of sunny morning light printed itself on his retina, so that when his eye wandered, a black crooked window was stamped all over the room. He was so full of angry single-hearted determination that, as he clenched his teeth, he felt as if his burning self, pregnant with its passion to get its own way, was too big for his skin; he had to keep his aching jaws and the smarting muscles round his eyes locked against its rising, bursting growth. There seemed to be a kind of explosion impending of swelling, thwarted will. + 

тАЬKept at home like a little schoolboy,тАЭ he thought, tears of irritation squeezing out of the corners of his eyes. Seoul, the city denied, rose like a palace before him. He thought of his mother in a distorted paroxysm of anger. Her ungainliness, her uncontrolled loud voice, her dusty abundant hair, her thick ankles, the hiccups that afflicted her when she was agitatedтБатАФall made her a hateful effigy in his mind, into which he stuck pins of impotent protest. + 

He felt alternately rooted to this unloved little houseтБатАФand far away, walking heroically along a resilient bright roadтБатАФstopping where he likedтБатАФgetting wet when he likedтБатАФnever having to argueтБатАФkicking the behinds of rude little Chinese boysтБатАФbuying sweets and cigarettes recklesslyтБатАФbanging his stick against trees with a various resonanceтБатАФlighting little fires at the feet of fantastic rocks. Then suddenlyтБатАФzipтБатАФhis future telescoped, his traveling thoughts were snatched back to realityтБатАФback to prison, as the Reverend Mr.┬аButtersтАЩs pince-nez, when he let them go, were snatched back to concealment by a spring under his lapel. + 

SeryozhaтАЩs dog, with a coarse, confident scratch born of long habit, threw open the latchless door from the kitchen and came in. Seeing Seryozha awake, the dog began to curtsy, to make a little falsetto humming noise through its nose, to wag about two-thirds of its spineтБатАФfrom shoulderblades to tail tipтБатАФas it waltzed about the floor, never taking its eyes from SeryozhaтАЩs face. Seryozha glared at the dog, making no answer to its extravagant greeting. He was fond of the dog, or rather, fundamentally accustomed to it; he felt as if the dog were part of himself, so it never occurred to him to be responsive or polite to it. Sometimes, to the dogтАЩs rapturous delight, he swung it about by the teeth, or threw it violently across the room in a frenzy of joviality. But today he stared moodily through it, and the dog, though experience had not given it much ground for hope, redoubled its efforts. It reared itself delicately up and planted one tentative paw on the edge of the kang, swishing its tail wildly from side to side. No protest, no encouragement. It stretched its neck shyly forward and lightly licked the tip of SeryozhaтАЩs nose. As if this chaste kissтБатАФlike the princeтАЩs kiss on the lips of the Sleeping BeautyтБатАФhad called the dormant energies of the prostrate god into action, Seryozha suddenly sat up, and his bare leg, swinging out of bed with a scythe-like action, cut down the erect figure of the dog as though it had been a swathe of corn. Seryozha had heard through the door left open by the dogтАЩs exuberant entrance sounds of someone in the kitchen. He could begin worrying his mother again. The impotent watches of the night were past. + 

The dog picked itself up, pleased. For it, too, the day had begun. It began scratching its mastoid energetically. + 

Seryozha pulled on his trousers, wriggled his blouse over his head, and, while still buckling his belt, was in the kitchen, glaring across the table at his mother. + 

Anna, dressed in a cotton underbodice that much accentuated her stout flabby bust, a crocheted shawl, and a thick crimson flounced petticoat, was sitting at the table, playing patience. She looked up, a little abashed, as Seryozha came in, and mumbled in tones that sank lower and lower, тАЬI was looking through the cupboard for that bar of washing-soapтБатАФI am sure I did not use it up; it is somewhere, I knowтБатАФand I came across the old pack of cards and I thought I would try if I could remember that game that Mrs.┬аAtkinsonтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Her voice faded away into a deep growling, тАЬThe four on the five and then the king goes up.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Her sonтАЩs cold eye was fixed upon her in disgust. тАЬMamma, about the matter we were talking of last night,тАЭ he cried, hoarsely. He had been rehearsing arguments during the small hours; they had seemed irresistible at the time, but now they eluded him. + 

тАЬWhat were we talking of last night?тАЭ asked Anna, a mulish look coming over her face. She added, тАЬAnd then the red nine on the black ten.тАЭ + 

тАЬMamma, it isnтАЩt fair.тБатАКтБатАж IтАЩm a man now.тБатАКтБатАж Mamma, remember I am in my nineteenth year.тБатАКтБатАж You donтАЩt realize.тБатАКтБатАж Look at the way I arranged things with the Chinese when papa was awayтБатАКтБатАж did I behave like a child then? And now, when it is simply a matter of a little business journeyтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬIt is useless to go on talking like this, Seryozha. You and your father must have lost your wits, to have such an idea. Walking all alone to Seoul. What an idea! Why, you canтАЩt even walk from here to Erh-tao-kou without getting into a fight with Chinese coolies.тБатАКтБатАж And it isnтАЩt age that makes any difference. Your fatherтАЩs as big a fool as you are, and God knows heтАЩs old enough to know better.тАЭ + 

тАЬBut, mamma, I have admitted that that was a follyтБатАФit was papaтАЩs idea, and I protected him as far as I could. You said yourself at the time.тБатАКтБатАж And look at those men we buried that dayтБатАФsoldiersтБатАФofficersтБатАФand one of them looked younger than I am. Their mothersтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ For a moment he thought enviously of the countless orphans of the revolution. Probably those dead soldiers had no mothers. тАЬAt any rate, that fight was, I admit, a stupid businessтБатАФa whim of papaтАЩs. This Seoul idea is a real business matter.тАЭ + 

тАЬA pretty business matter,тАЭ said Anna, sweeping her cards violently together, making a sort of splash of cards. тАЬA very pretty business matterтБатАФtaking a three weeksтАЩ holiday from your good regular work in order to wander off to ask an old rogue for some money your father lent him ten years ago. A likely thing, isnтАЩt it?тБатАКтБатАж And even if you got the money, how long do you think you would keep such a sum?тБатАФthieves along every road and in every inn, and rogues and harlots always on the lookout for young fools like you. What about that five yen I gave you last Christmas to buy a boiler, and you spent it all on a present for that little brothel-grub, Sonia?тАЭ + 

тАЬI was young then,тАЭ said Seryozha, confused. тАЬAnd in any case I give all the money I earn to you, so surely I have a right to spend five yen once in my life. However, I confess that I was mistaken in SoniaтАЩs character. It was a long time agoтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Where were all the telling phrases that had filed so orderly through his mind in the dark clearness of the night? + 

тАЬMamma, another thing isтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ He stopped distractedly. He had forgotten the other thingтБатАФall the other things. + 

тАЬWell?тАЭ + 

Seryozha stamped his foot with an oath. He thought of the rather dashing, mocking, grown-up attitude he habitually maintained toward his father and mother, in his own eyesтБатАФand even, to some extent, in theirs. He remembered, in a rather glorified form, his conversation with his father about the two hundred yen. тАЬMy good papa, to leave two hundred yen in the hands of a probably dishonest and certainly incompetent peasant! Was that businesslike?тАЭтБатАКтБатАж тАЬDear old man, do you mean rubles, dollars, or yen? I want to understand this matter thoroughly so that I can help youтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ That was the proper toneтБатАФthe usual tone. And nowтБатАФтАЬOh, mammaтБатАФoh, please, mamma, let me go!тБатАКтБатАж Really, mamma, do believe that IтАЩm not a child any more.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Poor Seryozha, he felt robbed of something that he violently resented losingтБатАФa king robbed of his crown and suddenly made a beggar. He began to despair. Never had the journey to Seoul seemed more necessary to his happiness than at that moment. Then suddenly, with a sort of artificial revulsion of feeling, he let it go. The only thing left, then, was not to want to goтБатАФto want not to go. Not only to cease pleading, but to be actually glad that he was not going on a hot, dusty journey among silly, whining, flapping Koreans. By ceasing to want to go he could get even with his mother, he could save his self-esteem. Even if his mother were to implore him to go now, he would refuse. тАЬToo much trouble, mamma,тАЭ he rehearsed inwardly in a languid, superior, secret voice. тАЬAnd nothing to show for it in the end. You and papa would waste the money on muddles and follies, even if I were to get it for you.тАЭ + 

He looked round with a cold, critical look, collecting evidence of his parentsтАЩ inferiority, in order to comfort himself. Anna had upset a saucepan full of greasy water in the corner near the stove, and, since the mud floor was slightly concave, a long dark snake of water stretched slowly toward the middle of the kitchen. There was no neatness anywhere. The edge of the windowтБатАФnow hanging open on limp homemade hingesтБатАФwas tattered with the strips of paper that in winter had been pasted round the edges of the panes to keep out the cold. The wall was all mottled with damp patches; a great marbled shape of damp had been there for years, and, in SeryozhaтАЩs unconsciously ingenious eyes, represented a woman in a flying cloak reaching for a great flying rose. She had three arms, to be sure, but you canтАЩt expect natureтАЩs artistic byproducts to be so accurate as all that.тБатАКтБатАж + 

Poor Seryozha bit his lips and sucked them in as he turned away to stare moodily down at his dog. The dog would have enjoyed the walk to Seoul; they would have been like two parts of the same SeryozhaтБатАФone part walking proudly, the other part leaping, blowing in the wind, barking at larks, scratching at rat-holes, drinking puddles.тБатАКтБатАж However, Seryozha thought, I wouldnтАЩt go now if I were asked. Certainly the dog would have had a good time. But a man canтАЩt take a three weeksтАЩ walk simply to please a dog. + 

The dog lay in a curve on the floor. Evidently some other dogтБатАФprobably its last ladyloveтБатАФwas thinking of it, for its ear itchedтБатАФthe traditional symptom. It wriggled and wagged its ear repeatedly. Its eyes were open. It liked the sound of voices. That damn goat, too, was somewhere else. Everything seemed to the dog to be going nicely. + 

Anna squeezed her face into an upside-down isosceles triangle between her hands, her elbows pressed on the table among the cards. She looked at her son, restless with pity for him, as he stood staring down at the dog, raising his eyebrows in childish and studied indifference, shuffling his toe, pretending to tread on the dogтАЩs tail. She would make him some curd cakes this afternoon; he loved those. Perhaps she could afford that Brownie kodak in the Japanese shop, if she did without her new dress length. After all, he gave her almost all his earnings. It never occurred to her to relent on the Seoul question. All the dangers that lurked for him outside her sight accumulated round the very thought of the ridiculous journeyтБатАФbrigands, swindlers, earthquakes and other convulsions of nature, tigers, brothels, Japanese policemen, prisons, diseases, drownings in rivers.тБатАКтБатАж Seryozha would have been a super-boy to have suffered even a third of them in three weeks. But AnnaтАЩs imagination was always over-exuberant. She did not follow up her fears at all becauseтБатАФwell, simply, he was not going to Seoul. Curd cakes and perhaps a kodak for him. Still, the sight of his tremulous eyebrows and pursed lips made her throat ache with pity. + 

Old Sergei felt his way in at the door. тАЬNo breakfast yet?тАЭ he exclaimed in an unusually high sweet voice. тАЬAh well, these glorious summer days tempt one to procrastinate.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ It was at once obvious that today he was The Perfect Christian; serenity was the password of the moment. Anna and Seryozha were to realize that they had an afflicted saint in their midst. He had had slight qualms in the night, thinking that, if he were really to die, Anna in her present mood would be but a tearless widow and Seryozha an all too resilient orphan. + 

The kid bleated outside in the shed. The dog mumbled a growl of jealous irritation into its own tail as it lay sleepily curved in a bar of sunlight. + 

тАЬAnd the little goat?тАЭ asked Old Sergei with a sugared playfulness. тАЬThe most important member of the household? Did it sleep well? Has it breakfasted?тАЭ + 

With a loud crude snort, Anna rose and began slamming down bread, cups, knives, and spoons on the bare table among the playing-cards. Old Sergei sat down at the foot of the table. His thin, gaunt hands, like little wan giraffes striding, patted about among the cards. тАЬPlaying cards before breakfast? Well, well, well!тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ he said in a voice of resignation, but with an effort made no complaining comment. тАЬIf we had money,тАЭ he added, тАЬwe could allow ourselves, perhaps, a little Korean girl as servant. But I dare say you are right, Annitchka my dove, in thinking that we are best as we areтБатАФwithout the money I left with Isaev in Seoul. Of course the interest would have mounted up very considerably in ten yearsтБатАФbut as you say, Annitchka, what is money? Poverty is nothing, as long as we have love and peace in our home. It was only for your sake and SeryozhaтАЩs that I thought of it. You are not so young as you were, and I thought a little maidservant.тБатАКтБатАж However, it is not to be.тАЭ + 

тАЬIt certainly is not,тАЭ said Anna, who had never appreciated the effective weight of silence as an argument. тАЬThe child is most certainly not going to Seoul by himself, so you had better give up the idea.тАЭ + 

An almost agonizing pang went through Seryozha as he heard this, but he thought, тАЬIf they only knewтБатАФI wouldnтАЩt go now, even if they went down on their knees to me. Probably I shall run away altogether; they can expect nothing better, treating me as they do. But certainly I will not do their fetching and carrying, either to Seoul or anywhere else.тАЭ + 

тАЬDid you not hear me say, my dove, that I had given up the idea?тАЭ said Old Sergei, gently. тАЬI am only explaining to you now, in retrospect, what my idea had been. I had not, of course, thought of sending the child unprotected. If you are a mother, dearest Annitchka, remember that I am a father, and SeryozhaтАЩs safety is as much my preoccupation as yours. I had thought of looking for some trustworthy fellowтБатАФa superior coolieтБатАФwho for a small wageтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬIf he found an angel from God to go with him,тАЭ said Anna raucously, тАЬI might let him go. Short of thatтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ Seryozha, who actually stood before her nearly six feet tall and with a slight shimmer of very young beard on his pink cheeks, was shrinking in her imagination with every word of the discussion. He had now almost got back to the weaning stage, and she saw a flashing picture of one of GodтАЩs angels pushing her baby away from her in a pram. + 

тАЬAn angel from God, Seryozha,тАЭ said Old Sergei, whimsically and plaintively. тАЬYou will have to look long to find an angel from God willing to protect a poor Russian. Poor Russians indeed! God has forgotten themтБатАФhe sends no angels now.тБатАКтБатАж But of course, my dear,тАЭ he interrupted himself, cooing, as he turned to Anna, тАЬI was not insisting on the boyтАЩs taking the journey. I had only referred to the fact that it had been for your sake I had entertained the idea. The money would have been useful to you rather than to me. A little maidservantтБатАКтБатАж an oil stove instead of that mud oven.тБатАКтБатАж Such things would have made life easier for youтБатАФgiven you leisure, perhaps, to play cards in the mornings instead of troubling about your husbandтАЩs breakfast. Poverty and discomfort wear out even the most devoted.тБатАКтБатАж For myself, why should I mind? I have not long to live in this worldтБатАКтБатАж an old blind man on the brink of the grave has no temptation to think of himself.тАЭ + 

тАЬWhy donтАЩt you write for the money? If Isaev is really willing to repay it, he could send it.тАЭ + 

тАЬYou do not understand the ins and outs of the affair, dear Annitchka. How should youтБатАФa trusting, sweethearted woman like yourself? It is for the head of the family to wrestle with such sordid problemsтБатАФto protect those he loves from the miseries ofтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬI donтАЩt want any breakfast,тАЭ said Seryozha, suddenly. тАЬAnd I shall not go to work today. My back aches. I am going out.тАЭ + 

His dog, as ready for its call as a good fireman, reached the door as soon as he did. Their shadows merged in a muddle of wagging, striding black and white at the door. Seryozha and the dog stood together in the doorway, looking out at the bright day. + 

Anna looked at Seryozha and felt, on his behalf, an elaborate fanciful female version of the boyтАЩs impotent disappointment. She sat hacking violently at the bread, muttering and hiccuping to herself, clapping her knees together under her absurd petticoat. She was always hurting someone, she thought, making some mistake or being obliged to correct someone elseтАЩs mistake in a painful way. She so seldom managed to feel that she was giving satisfaction; wherever she went she imagined people thinking, тАЬWhy doesnтАЩt AnnaтБатАКтБатАжтАК? Why does AnnaтБатАКтБатАжтАК? If it werenтАЩt for Anna.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ She felt that she had been endowed with a superfluity of power to hurt and thwart people. Curd cakes and a kodak would be nothing but a bribe to her sonтБатАФa bribe to persuade him to overlook her accursed genius for being an obstacle. + 

тАЬIтАЩm making some curd cakes for tea,тАЭ she said in a defiant cross voice toward her sonтАЩs defiant cross back in the doorway. + 

тАЬI donтАЩt like curd cakes. I was sick last time I ate your curd cakes,тАЭ said Seryozha. Simply because he had loved curd cakes as a child, he thought, she retained her obsession that they were a poultice for all the austere wounds of his maturity. + 

He walked away into the wide, straggling, pitted street. His dog burst out of the yard like a torpedo and exploded in facetious barkings at the tail of the debased but nimble Korean dog that lived next door. The Korean dog had such short legs that they were little more than four bumps on its lower cornersтБатАФnevertheless, it fled with the lowly agility of a lizard. SeryozhaтАЩs dog walked with the stiffness of pride for a few minutes after that, and followed its master to the river. + 

The river was crossed by a wooden bridge with a sort of petticoat of dog-toothed wooden frill prudishly concealing the upper part of its piers. This decoration showed that it was a Russian-built bridge, and, in fact, SeryozhaтАЩs own hands had sawed and planed some of its planks. One could not say, however, that it was well built. A Russian refugee, a military engineer, a heroic but untrustworthy creature, had contracted for and designed the work only the year before, and now the thing was, unfortunately, tumbling down. The Chinese local authorities did not mind very much; they were well used to things tumbling down immediately after they were finished. Obstinately proud, therefore, of their petticoated but frail bridge, they quite cheerfully paid for endless pinnings together, proppings up and general coddlings of their treasure. At present the river was in flood, and logs rushing down the swollen stream from far lumber camps were a constant menace to the knock-kneed piers of the bridge, so, clinging to the toe of every pier, a coolie sat, chivalrously pushing fierce logs away with a pole. Wherever one person is found doing something definite in China, there also are found a score of people watching him do it. The sagging balustrade of the bridge was lined with shaven heads bending over to watch the defense against the blundering attack of the logs. + 

Seryozha thrust himself into this line of watchers, his strong square shoulders and forearms wedged between two skinny Chinese torsos. SeryozhaтАЩs dog swaggered along the line of human behinds and calves, sniffing lightly at each leg, as if playing with the idea of biting a piece out of oneтБатАФthough of course it had too sacred a respect for the integrity of human skin actually to lift a tooth against it. Still, it would be a damn good joke, thought the dog, opening and shutting its nose jovially against one calf after another. + 

Next to Seryozha a young Chinese in European clothes lolled superciliously over the balustrade. This young man had a nose that sprang abruptly like a little eagleтАЩs beak from a flatness between very bright black eyes. He lifted his rather negroid upper lip often to show one sparkling gold tooth in the middle of a row of ordinary yellow bone ones. On the top of his very thick, coarse, carefully parted black hair a too small Panama hat cocked a flaunting brim, and round the crown of the hat a ribbon showed what may well have been a medley of the colors of Eton, one of the more refined cycling clubs, and the Salvation Army. The young man had a very lively, acute expression, in spite of his deliberate attitude of scorn, and from the moment when Seryozha settled his elbows on the adjoining yard of balustrade, the sparkling lidless eyes of the young Chinese never left the RussianтАЩs face. + 

тАЬYou speak English?тАЭ said the stranger to Seryozha. + 

For a moment Seryozha, who was in a very bad temper, considered ignoring the remark. He spoke fairly fluent English, taught by his Anglophile mother, and often used that language with her to annoy his father by shutting him out from jokes or secrets. He glowered at the stranger and then, struck in his tender heart by the look of polite confident expectancy on the face of the Chinese, he said, тАЬI speak EnglishтБатАФnot much, but enough.тАЭ + 

тАЬI could see at once you were not English, of course,тАЭ said the young man. тАЬYou are Russian. I could not, of course, make a mistake on a thing like that. Yet, since I speak no Russian and you, probably, no Cantonese dialect, I thought I was perhaps justified in addressing you in English. I was right. Allow me to introduce myselfтБатАФMr.┬аWilfred ChewтБатАФChu Wei-fu.тАЭ + 

He watched closely for SeryozhaтАЩs bow, but SeryozhaтАЩs large untutored body knew none of these graces. Seryozha simply looked at the Chinese with a cold rather stolid intensity, his mouth a little open, his fingers drumming rather impudently on the wooden rail in front of him. Mr.┬аChew himself bowed, therefore, once for Seryozha and once for himself. He was evidently a young man who never spared himself this kind of effort. + 

тАЬI myself speak English quite perfectly,тАЭ he said. тАЬI have lived in England for many yearsтБатАФin London, to be exact, as a law student. I am now qualified to practice as a barrister. I could have made a fortune in London in the law, I dare say. But I am not the kind of man who deserts his country. I am Chinese. I am not ashamed of being Chinese. On the contrary. I therefore return to China to lay my services at her feet.тАЭ + 

тАЬOi-oi!тАЭ said Seryozha. He had never heard the English tongue spoken so fastтБатАФor through a gold tooth. The combination of speed and sparkle he found intriguing but bewildering. + 

тАЬRussians,тАЭ went on Mr.┬аChew, тАЬare a people of very striking intelligence, influence, andтБатАФin short, a people full of soul. Nevertheless, in Canton, my native city, I must confess that, from the point of view of an English trained professional man like myself, the Russian influence seems perhaps not altogetherтБатАФExcuse me, sir, what are your politics?тАЭ + 

тАЬPolitics?тАЭ squeaked Seryozha. тАЬOi! I am sorry, I am not a political person.тАЭ + 

тАЬNo politics? Well, of course, my dear Mr.тБатАФerтБатАФI sympathise with your point of view. It shows intelligence. Living in a foreign land as your business evidently obliges you to do, you feel, very reasonably, that you cannot sufficiently keep in touch with the conflicting ideas that followed upon the Russian revolutionтБатАФthat the Bolshevik theory, interesting though it may beтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬEhтБатАФBolshevik!тАЭ said Seryozha. тАЬI mistook. I thought you have said politics. Eh no, of course, my family is a very White Russian familyтБатАФmost White indeed.тАЭ + 

тАЬI thought so. I was right. Well, as I was saying, the Bolsheviks have made Canton, my native city, a quite impossible place for a man like myself to conduct a career in. They are called тАШbloody Bolshies,тАЩ you know, sir, in LondonтБатАФand truly it is so. Shanghai is almost as bad, andтБатАФto make a long story shortтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou cannot,тАЭ said Seryozha, who had been listening intently. + 

тАЬCannot what?тАЭ + 

тАЬYou cannot make a long story now short. It is too late. The story already is long. Though very interesting,тАЭ he added politely, seeing the expression of poor Mr.┬аChewтАЩs face. + 

Wilfred Chew swallowed twice, with two little clicks, and his face looked suddenly childishly abashed and disappointed. One thin eyebrow puckered and rose high, as if that eye were trying to say, тАЬWell, I at least donтАЩt careтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

тАЬAh,тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew, and was silent, trying to be brave. + 

They leaned on the balustrade side by side, watching in silence the logs coming down in a disorderly scattered charge. Every approaching log was announced to the bridgeтАЩs defenders by a roar of warning from the spectators. Logs that traveled meekly endways were allowed to pass under the bridge unmolested, with a ready pole held hoveringly over them at the crucial moment, or, if they steered too close to a pier, a light kick from a coolieтАЩs bare outstretched foot. But other logs, broadside on to their course, rolled clumsily down the muddy stream like rolling pins on yellow flour, and these, to the tune of howls of advice and applause, were deftly turned and steered under the bridge by the poles of the coolies. In the full central flow of the current, the logs rushed down like dragons to the attack. But near the banks of the river they traveled sleepily, even occasionally making long waltzing pauses in quiet eddies. These more dilatory attackers exerted a fascination for not too scrupulous citizens. Somehow, out of a group of logs that remained too long in harbor, one or two were likely never to put to sea again. All the cottages near by had the smoke of a good supply of firewood rising out of their chimneys, and one householder was frankly building a new bullock-shed of damp planks. + 

SeryozhaтАЩs dog squeezed itself between Seryozha and Wilfred Chew and, putting both paws on a horizontal rail below the balustrade, leaned out intelligently to watch the doings on the river. It barked once or twice in rather an affected voice, and then, deciding that it had shown all the interest that it could be expected to show in an almost smell-less entertainment, went away to talk with a group of farm dogs outside an inn near by. + 

Seryozha was uncomfortable about this deathlike silence in his right ear. He disliked the feeling of snubbing or interrupting anything. He obscurely wanted things to go on happily by themselvesтБатАФpuppies to go on playing, suns to go on rising and setting, flowers to go on growing, babblers to go on babbling.тБатАКтБатАж Of course, killing animals was different. Killing was part of the game of life that had a right to go on. Killing was allowed but snubbing was not. + 

тАЬAnd London?тАЭ he said, in a grumbling, ungracious voice. тАЬIt is a good city?тАЭ + 

тАЬLondon,тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew instantly, as if a cork had been pulled out, тАЬis not, conventionally speaking, perhaps, a beautiful city. There are fogs and a great many rains. Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Buckingham and Saint JamesтАЩs Palaces, Madame TussaudтАЩs, the Nelson lions, SelfridgeтАЩs, and the home of the late Charles DickensтБатАФall these are sublime structures and, what is very odd, the dirtiness of the London air and light makes their color beautiful, streaky, and fitting with their surroundings. If, however, by the word тАШgoodтАЩ you perhaps mean to refer to morality, it is certainly a fact, Mr.тБатАФerтБатАФ, that the London streets are full of moral dangers for a young man. Luckily for me, I was very carefully educated in the Christian principles at the Wesleyan Academy at Yueh-lai-chou, where I studied in my boyhood. The second master, namely Reverend Mr.┬аOswald Fawcett, has been the good influence on my life. He well prepared me for the temptations of life in a great city, and so I may say that I passed unscathed through the fire.тАЭ + 

тАЬOi-oi!тАЭ said Seryozha, putting a careful note of enthusiasm into the ejaculation this time. тАЬAnd I think there is very many motorcars in London.тАЭ + 

тАЬHow many are there in Chi-tao-kou?тАЭ + 

тАЬI think five, not speaking about Mr.┬аChangтАЩs motorbicycle.тАЭ + 

тАЬThere are probably a thousand times as many in London. Motorcars are undoubtedly among the dangers of the streets in London. But I was referring to moral dangersтБатАФwine, women, songтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWe too have singing girls in Chi-tao-kou. Even one Russian one called Sonia Matvievna.тАЭ + 

тАЬI dare say you have. But singing girls mean nothing to me. I take morals and religion very seriously, you see, Mr.тБатАФerтБатАФ.тБатАКтБатАж Ethics, as we call them in London. Reverend Mr.┬аFawcett used always to say, тАШOne can have a good timeтБатАФGod likes us to have a good timeтБатАФbut it should be GodтАЩs brand of good time.тАЩ I always think of those words when I am in a moral danger. Is this GodтАЩs brand of good time?тАЩ I say to myself, silently. тАШNo, it is SatanтАЩs brand.тАЩ So I say, тАШGet behind.тАЩтАКтАЭ + 

тАЬTck tck!тАЭ clicked Seryozha, shaking his head ambiguously as it sank lower and lower between his hunched shoulders. + 

тАЬYou are asking yourself,тАЭ continued Mr.┬аChew, тАЬwhat is this man Chew, a barrister from the Middle Temple, London, EC4, and a Christian of devout morality, doing in a little halfpenny-farthing town like Chi-tao-kou? And you may well ask, Mr.тБатАФerтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬVery well indeed,тАЭ said Seryozha. + 

тАЬThe truth is that, under the present confused regime in China, aggravated by тАШbloody BolshiesтАЩ (as Londoners say), it is extremely difficult for a highly educated member of the Middle Temple, called to the bar in London, and, until recently, the devil of Mr.┬аW. I. Morgan, the renowned barrister, to get a living out of practising law in Shanghai or Canton. I therefore engaged myself, temporarily, in other employmentтБатАФthat is, I have been acting as companion, philosopher, and friend (professional) to a young gentleman called Sir Theo Mustard, whose late father was a millionaire in Leeds, England, and whose uncle, now guardian, sent his charge to see the world, expense no object. I must admit that Sir Theo Mustard is not perhaps altogether fortunateтБатАФor even normalтБатАФin mental equipment, and only occasionally showed a keen interest in the beauty spots to which I guided him. We traveled to the Yangtze gorges; to Nanking; to the Holy Mountain; to the model prison, Peking; to call on the Governor of Mukden; to the Chinese drama; to spend one week in Seoul; to the Kongo-san; and finally I escorted him, with valet, to the train in Harbin which will carry him to Berlin. In Harbin Sir Theo Mustard and I parted with mutual expressions of good will andтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬTo Seoul?тАЭ exclaimed Seryozha. + 

тАЬYes, Seoul, a fine old-world city, called by some the Peking of Korea. Of course my professional escort was paid for with a very handsome salary, but, most unfortunately, I received bad advice about investments in Harbin, and, to make a longтБатАФI meanтБатАФin short, I found myself stranded in Manchuria with scarcely aтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬYou have been to Seoul?тАЭ + 

тАЬYes, I have told you. I went to Seoul with Sir Theo Mustard and spent there a very enjoyable week, since there Sir Theo Mustard was afflicted with earache, which obliged us to stay longer in that picturesque old capital than we had intended. The earache arose, I think, from an otherwise most successful afternoon we spent in the Seoul museum. It made a great impression on Sir Theo Mustard, for he several times referred to Seoul by name, even after we had reached HarbinтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬDo you know the way from here to Seoul?тАЭ + 

тАЬCertainly I do. I have a great gift for studying maps, railway guides, and other schedules, and in Nanking I was able to show Sir Theo Mustard a chart showing our exact future movementsтБатАФtimes of trainsтБатАФexpeditionsтБатАФnames of hotelsтБатАФcurio-shops, etceteraтБатАФforeshadowing every detail up to the last moment of the trip. Of course it was impossible for me to anticipate the earache, but apart from thisтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWill you please come with me and visit my mother and my father to tell them about Seoul?тАЭ asked Seryozha. + 

They both stepped backward from the balustrade with such alacrity that they trod on two bare Chinese feet on tiptoe behind them. + 

тАЬCertainly I will come and visit anybody,тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew. тАЬAs soon as I saw your face, Mr.тБатАФerтБатАФ, I felt we should be friends. I was right.тАЭ + 

тАЬHave you met a gentleman called Gavril Ilitch Isaev in Seoul?тАЭ asked Seryozha breathlessly, as they walked side by side up the street. + 

тАЬIsaev? He keeps a small but respectable hotel in Seoul, and, curiously enough, I stayed there for a night or two, since the Japanese hotel was full when we first arrived or rather, it had only one suite disengaged, which was occupied by Sir Theo Mustard and valet.тАЭ + 

SeryozhaтАЩs dog bounced into AnnaтАЩs kitchen, and when Anna saw it, she thought, тАЬThank God, he has not gone away forever, after all.тАЭ + 

тАЬMamma,тАЭ said Seryozha, тАЬI have brought Mr.┬аWilfred Chew from London.тАЭ + 

тАЬFrom London?тАЭ exclaimed Anna, and instantly left the room. For she was still wearing only her cotton bodice and petticoat, and there was a bottle-green velvet dress, sixteen years old, waiting in a tin trunk for just such an occasion as this. + 

She took twenty minutes dressing herself and frizzing her hair, and asтБатАФself-conscious, hopeful, and flushedтБатАФshe came to the open door of the living-room, she stood for a moment outside and heard her husband saying to Seryozha in Russian: тАЬTell him politely that we are poor and could not possibly afford two yen a day above his keep. But tell him that he shall share and share alike with youтБатАФhe shall be treated, in fact, like my own son, in addition to a little salary of twenty-five sen a dayтБатАФтАЭ + 

Anna tightened her lips and came in. She was flattered and astonished to see the brightening of Mr.┬аChewтАЩs smooth, mobile face as he saw her. + 

тАЬAh, Mrs.┬аMalinin, I presume,тАЭ he said. тАЬIt has seemed long waiting for you, but ladies must be waited forтБатАФI remember this in London. I am so interested to hear that you also know London. I have been for four years a law student in LondonтБатАФMiddle TempleтБатАКтБатАж you of course know Middle TempleтБатАФand I was called to the bar there eight months ago.тАЭ + 

тАЬAh yes, the bar of London,тАЭ said Anna, eagerly. тАЬI am very ignorant of most London matters, but I know of course there are many bars.тАЭ + 

Mr.┬аChew accepted this innocent remark as a joke so readily that it might almost have been guessed that he had made it himself more than once. When he smiled, Anna noticed his solitary gold tooth and thought that it looked like the royal box glittering in the middle of the row of ordinary boxes at the opera. So she said: тАЬAnd the opera of LondonтБатАФoh, how happily I remember it! I have been to the opera four times with a lady called Honorable Mrs.┬аAtkinsonтБатАФthere has been SiegfriedтБатАФThe ValkyrieтБатАФMagic Flute and La Boh├кme.тАЭ + 

тАЬI also knew a family called Atkinson,тАЭ said Wilfred Chew. тАЬEdward F. Atkinson, but I donтАЩt like him muchтБатАФsuch a conceited chapтБатАФI worked in the chambers on the same stairs for four months and he scarcely spokeтБатАКтБатАж simply because he was the son of a solorтБатАФnaturally anybody could get briefs in such circumstancesтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬTo me,тАЭ said Anna, after a partially smothered hiccup which showed how deeply excited she was, тАЬthe scenery of the opera is very, very happy, Mr.┬аChewтБатАФin such scenery one has never been so unfortunate as to see allтБатАФdo you understand?тБатАФthere is always a round the corner or an over the hill which one has not seen. How very, very happy it is to me, to know that there has been a round the cornerтБатАФthat I have not seenтБатАФeven if it is only made with woods and paints. England, to me, Mr.┬аChew, is a big, big round the corner.тБатАКтБатАж More happy than possible happinessтБатАФyes, no?тАЭ + 

тАЬNow there,тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew, тАЬI should scarcely agree with you entirely, though of course I have had many happy hours in London. But to a young man carving out a career the work was often hard, Mrs.┬аMalinin, and English peopleтБатАФwith the exception of a gentleman like Reverend Mr.┬аOswald FawcettтБатАФare nearly always snobsтБатАФтАЭ + 

Anna, her burning eyes fixed upon his tooth, said: тАЬYes, yes, Mr.┬аChew. And the pillars of this opera-houseтБатАФdo you remember?тБатАФall gold and twistedтБатАФsoтАЭ (for a moment she seemed to think that she could twist her fat upraised forefinger into an imitation of barley sugar)тБатАФтАЬlikeтБатАКтБатАж likeтБатАКтБатАж pillars of that thingтБатАФhow do you call it?тБатАФhorses-merrily-go-galloping-round on the Hampstead Heath. These go-rounds are very, very good things, I think, but Betti was being sick afterward in the hot tent.тАЭ + 

Old Sergei and Seryozha sat back in their chairs, their hands folded across their diaphragms, proud of their wife and mother, listening hopefully to this loud and genial conversation, though they did not understand very much of it. During a short check, Old Sergei said in Russian, тАЬMy love, do you not think that Mr.┬аChew would be just the man toтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬKensington Gardens, too, is good,тАЭ said Anna, bounding in her chair. тАЬEach day, at half past eleven, Betti and I have walked through the Kensington Gardens as far as Queen CleopatraтАЩs NeedleтБатАФтАЭ + 

Wilfred Chew started as if stung. тАЬThere is some mistake, surely, Mrs.┬аMalinin. CleopatraтАЩs Needle is not in the Kensington Gardens.тАЭ + 

тАЬYes. But yes. A little spike in the middle of the Kensington Gardens.тАЭ + 

тАЬThis is the Albert Memorial.тАЭ + 

тАЬTcht, Mr.┬аChew! King AlbertтАЩs Memorial is very well known by me. I make no mistake. A very, very big spikeтБатАФKing Albert in middleтБатАФbullтБатАФelephantтБатАФlady at corners. It is all known by me.тАЭ + 

тАЬNevertheless, CleopatraтАЩs Needle is, beyond question, on the Embankment of the river Thames, Mrs.┬аMalinin.тАЭ + 

тАЬTcht, tcht!тАЭ + 

тАЬAnna my dear,тАЭ said Old Sergei. тАЬIt has just occurred to me that we might induce Mr.┬аChewтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬBut I know the Kensington Gardens very, very good, Mr.┬аChew. Each morning have I walked to that little spike, builded in a pink stone, very shiningтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬLadies always know best, Mrs.┬аMalinin,тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew, archly. тАЬBut in this caseтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬAh tschah! But I have seenтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬWell, wellтБатАКтБатАж you ladies must have your own way. Reverend Mr.┬аFawcett used to say, тАШAlways allow a lady the courtesy of the last word, Wilfred.тАЩ So let us say CleopatraтАЩs Needle had wings and flew every morning at half past eleven to the Kensington Gardens to make her bow to you, Mrs.┬аMalinin.тАЭ + 

Anna, only half understanding, rocked backward and forward in restored satisfaction, patting her fat knees with every forward swing. But as she did so she became secretly more and more doubtful of the accuracy of her memory of CleopatraтАЩs Needle. Her pleased face clouded slowly as the doubt crystallized, her rocking was gradually braked and stilled by inward questionings. There was silence in the room. + 

тАЬAnnitchka my dove,тАЭ said Old Sergei, rapidly, in Russian. тАЬMr.┬аChew has just come from acting as guide to a young English nobleman, and it has occurred to me that we might persuade him to look after our Seryozha on this trip down to SeoulтБатАФтАЭ + 

Anna sighed. + 

тАЬI know you are not very anxious that he should go, my love, but Mr.┬аChewтАЩs fortunate arrival must surely alter your view to a certain extent. It almost seems as if he were sent by God to us in our difficulty. He actually knows IsaevтБатАФhas been staying in his house. If I understand your conversation rightly, he seems to know your friends, the Honorable Atkinsons, in London, which must give you pleasure. Also, it seems to me very probable that he is of the same family as my old friend Colonel Chu Wen-chou (whose father came from Canton also, you remember) andтБатАФтАЭ + 

Wilfred Chew, listening with bland blankness to the Russian, caught the names. тАЬHaтБатАФAtkinsonтБатАФChuтБатАФIsaevтБатАФall this talk of families and mutual acquaintances.тБатАКтБатАж I was telling your husband, Mrs.┬аMalininтБатАФ(in joke, of course)тБатАФthat he must remember that he is not seeking for a tribe or family to go with his son, but simply for a reliable companionтБатАФand thatтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬOi, tcht!тАЭ said Seryozha in English. тАЬPlease let my papa be satisfied in the way he wishes. This talk of families is good talk for himтБатАФit makes him glad.тАЭ + 

Anna sighed again, and heaved in her chair. + 

тАЬIt is natural,тАЭ said Old Sergei, half apologetically, half reproachfully, тАЬthat I should be glad to find that my sonтАЩs companion comes of an honest and good stock. I always respected Colonel Chu and, although his father came from Canton, the colonel was never seduced by Bolshevik influence, so rampant in that part of China. Anna my dove, I am sure you agree with me that, all things considered, this is an opportunity that should not be missed.тАЭ + 

AnnaтАЩs eyes were fixed on her sonтАЩs face. SeryozhaтАЩs mouth was open and his face, unusually pale, was lighted up with a half-incredulous hope. Anna imagined how that tense white look would crumple up at a word of discouragement from her. It would be like pricking his poor, silly, feverish, puffed-up heart. After all, why shouldnтАЩt he go? she thought, deliberately letting her rigid mind go limp. People went on such journeys and returned; and if their mothers had feared the worst for them beforehand, that in itself was a sort of insurance that the worst was not to be. She began looking forward to watching SeryozhaтАЩs face, three minutes from now, when she should have said yes. Now she only uttered an ambiguous grunt. + 

тАЬThe only question is, the expense,тАЭ said Old Sergei. He turned to Wilfred Chew and said in English, тАЬWe poor mans. Two yens every day too much. I pays twenty-five sens every day. Also I pays all foods and beds.тАЭ + 

Wilfred Chew smiled engagingly and shrugged his shoulders, holding his head on one side, тАЬBetween gentlemen, Mr.┬аMalinin, there should be no bargaining. But surely one yen a day, and all expenses, would not be too much to ask. You must remember that I am an educated chapтБатАФnot a common vulgar guide, so to speakтБатАФтАЭ + 

тАЬSpeke!тАЭ shouted Anna, a sudden glare of inspiration burning up the whole problem in her mind. тАЬThis spike in Kensington Gardens is called SpekeтАЩs Needle.тАЭ + 

тАЬHaтБатАФSpeke!тАЭ said Mr.┬аChew, faintly, for he had been severely startled by his hostessтАЩs full-throated roar. тАЬHa! no doubt, yesтБатАКтБатАж SpekeтАЩs Needle.тБатАКтБатАж A renowned judge, of course, Speke.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

The discussion came to a standstill for a moment, but Anna, her mind now cleared of distractions, was her keen self again. тАЬOne yen a day we have not got,тАЭ she said, abruptly. тАЬYou see, Seryozha, it is not your mother that prevents. The thing is not possible. You know yourself what we have and what we have not.тАЭ + 

тАЬOf course,тАЭ said Old Sergei, in Russian. тАЬIf the interest on my two hundred yen should by now have reached a considerable sum, we should be able to afford to payтБатАФsay fifty sen a day now and, when the money was in our hands, give Mr.┬аChew something extra, proportionate to the services he will have rendered us.тАЭ + 

тАЬIf there will be more money for us in Seoul,тАЭ said Seryozha, to Chew in English, nerved by the crisis to speak thus crudely in spite of his shyness, before a young man so superior, тАЬmy father will give more money to you. He speak fifty sen a day promiseтБатАФat the end more, perhaps.тАЭ + 

тАЬMy salary for acting as escort to Sir Theo MustardтБатАФтАЭ began Wilfred Chew. Then, as he saw a mulish finality written on the faces of all three Malinins, he added, тАЬbut there, life is full of such contrasts. I will escort your son for fifty sen a day and expenses, on the understanding that if he obtains the money with interest from Mr.┬аIsaev, I can claim ten sen on every yen obtained over and above the two hundred yen.тАЭ + 

тАЬWellтБатАКтБатАж Annitchka?тАЭ said Old Sergei, faintly. + 

тАЬI should have to wash out all three of his shirts,тАЭ said Anna, her eyes suddenly full of tears. тАЬAnd I must have time to patch the knee of his best trousers.тБатАКтБатАжтАЭ + 

Seryozha remembered one of his motherтАЩs English idioms. тАЬTschah! All this bibbing and tuckeringтБатАКтБатАжтАЭ he said. Then, with a loud creaking yell of joy, he rushed into his motherтАЩs arms. + 