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194511 [2016/01/18 14:04] tyreless194511 [2016/01/18 16:43] tyreless
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 Then it happened. The sausage developed hygroscopic qualities. It foretold the weather by dripping before rain. Hero the experiment ended when Mrs. Dunphy, who disapproved of the exudations in the bathroom, removed the sausage to the dustbin. Who knows what other properties it might have developed? It might have reacted to sunspots, foretold droughts, generated atomic energy. For the intrepid experimenter who will carry on where Myles left off there waits fame, perhaps martyrdom, even divorce. Then it happened. The sausage developed hygroscopic qualities. It foretold the weather by dripping before rain. Hero the experiment ended when Mrs. Dunphy, who disapproved of the exudations in the bathroom, removed the sausage to the dustbin. Who knows what other properties it might have developed? It might have reacted to sunspots, foretold droughts, generated atomic energy. For the intrepid experimenter who will carry on where Myles left off there waits fame, perhaps martyrdom, even divorce.
  
-ONE SUNDAY IN SAMOA +=====One Sunday In Samoa.===== 
-It was Sunday when we nosed our way up to the reef nt Apia andmade fast to a buoy just outside the lagoon. + 
-It had been Sunday the day before but that ditntt matter. Time is no object near the equator and one feels only a mildsurprise when days of the week d ou`ele bank or drop out cf thecalendar altogether. +It was Sunday when we nosed our way up to the reef at Apia and made fast to a buoy just outside the lagoon. 
-A Sabbatical calm broodJd over the straggling little town and there was not much to see when the husky Samoans had rowed us ashore. + 
-Campbell from down south New Zealand way, Barklie, a Dublin man and Klein the American wandered along the street with me, debating as to how we should spendthe 'afternoon. +It had been Sunday the day before but that didn'matter. Time is no object near the equator and one feels only a mild surprise when days of the week double-bank or drop out of the calendar altogether. 
-92: tell fr_vew" said Klein in his sleek well-fed tones, "there is only one thing to do. We've gotta climb this hill where Rarbert Louis Stevenson is hurried. My lil wife back home would never speak to me again if I toldher I hadn't seen the tomb." + 
-"It Is a deucedlong way" said Campbell, who had been there before, "arid it s deuced hot " +A Sabbatical calm brooded over the straggling little town and there was not much to see when the husky Samoans had rowed us ashore. 
-"One can drive part of the way I believe,said Barklie. + 
-Sirriezy Samoan taxi..men in white cotton skirts and singlets had been hovering round us , andon hearing this remark they b (van to solicit our custom at the top of their voices(Needless to saythis was before the war). +Campbell from down south New Zealand way, Barklie, a Dublin man and Klein the American wandered along the street with me, debating as to how we should spend the afternoon. 
-After some argument we selected a car and subsided on to seats spread with snowy antimacassars. Our Jehu seized the wheel andwe hurtledat a furious 7,;.-.-_,003 through coconut groves that shaded thatched wall-less huts, oval-shaped and cement-flooredWe roared up a slight incline and came to rest, whole but gasping, beneath a redpibean tree at VaiIima gates. + 
-"From here - walk" saidour charioteer; andwe descended, charging him to return for us after a suitable interval. +"tell __yew__" said Klein in his sleek well-fed tones, "there is only one thing __to__ do. We've gotta climb this hill where Rarbert Louis Stevenson is burried. My lil wife back home would never speak to me again if I told her I hadn't seen the tomb." 
-Another cotton...clad figure edgedforward from where it had beensquatting on the broken stone wall. + 
-"You go Stevets tombVi it inquired earnestly. I must say that this -flip_pant abbreviation of the reveredTusitala name jarred on me; but that 1714S before we had climbed the hill. +"It'a deuced long way" said Campbell, who had been there before, "and it's deuced hot." 
- "X cone pursued the ,white-clad one, and we gathered that he intenil ed to guide us. + 
-No one protested so we fell into line, carefully avoiding the stinging nettles that bordered the path. We crossed a babbling brook and -started on the upwawd way. The plash of a waterfall came from somewhere `13t430w; ferns and lianas formed a tangle of undergrowth on either side of us,and the path was strewn with beans, black and scarlet, such as the native women thread into necklaces. To ourleft, open spaces in the trees showed Vailima, white in the sunlight, with patches of orange bignonia and rosy antignum bright against the green of its lawns. +"One can drive part of the way I believe,said Barklie. 
-"It's + 
-sure beautiful" said Klein, "I'm right glad I came." +Sundry Samoan taxi-men in white cotton skirts and singlets had been hovering round us, and on hearing this remark they began to solicit our custom at the top of their voices(Needless to say this was before the war). 
-The -oath steepened here, and our fitful conversation ceased. Presently by mutual consent we paused for a breather on the root of a tree, but our respite was brief. Clouds of mosquitoes descended upon us with whoops of delight and spurred us en+ 
-+After some argument we selected a car and subsided on to seats spread with snowy antimacassars. Our Jehu seized the wheel and we hurtled at a furious pace through coconut groves that shaded thatched wall-less huts, oval-shaped and cement-flooredWe roared up a slight incline and came to rest, whole but gasping, beneath a red-bean tree at Vailima gates. 
-9.+ 
 +"From here - walk" said our charioteer; and we descended, charging him to return for us after a suitable interval. 
 + 
 +Another cotton-clad figure edged forward from where it had been squatting on the broken stone wall. 
 + 
 +"You go Steve's tomb?" it inquired earnestly. I must say that this flippant abbreviation of the revered Tusitala name jarred on me; but that was before we had climbed the hill. 
 + 
 +"I come" pursued the white-clad one, and we gathered that he intended to guide us. 
 + 
 +No one protested so we fell into line, carefully avoiding the stinging nettles that bordered the path. We crossed a babbling brook and started on the upward way. The plash of a waterfall came from somewhere below; ferns and lianas formed a tangle of undergrowth on either side of us, and the path was strewn with beans, black and scarlet, such as the native women thread into necklaces. To our left, open spaces in the trees showed Vailima, white in the sunlight, with patches of orange bignonia and rosy antignum bright against the green of its lawns. 
 + 
 +"It's sure beautiful" said Klein, "I'm right glad I came." 
 + 
 +The path steepened here, and our fitful conversation ceased. Presently by mutual consent we paused for a breather on the root of a tree, but our respite was brief. Clouds of mosquitoes descended upon us with whoops of delight and spurred us on
 We toiled upwards for another fifteen minutes, oozing at every pore. "Say" protested Klein as the bush still towered thickly above us, "how much further to the top?" We toiled upwards for another fifteen minutes, oozing at every pore. "Say" protested Klein as the bush still towered thickly above us, "how much further to the top?"
-Our guide, cool and serene, made gostures indicating smallness. "Little way" he said, "maybe two yard.! + 
-"It may be in some methods of reckoning" said Barklie, "but it looks more like two miles to M.O." +Our guide, cool and serene, made gestures indicating smallness. "Little way" he said, "maybe two yard.
-"Oh wetre over the worst I think" said Campbell optimistically. "As far as I can remember, this seat by the path here is quite threequarters of the way up." + 
-"I guess they hated to put it there" said Klein. "There's none further down, you notice they just wait till you are at your last gasp before they help you." He sank down on it, mopping his brow and braving the mosquitoes for an instant. +"It may be in some methods of reckoning" said Barklie, "but it looks more like two miles to me." 
-"You know" I saineicieaively, "it must have been a very difficult business getting the coffin to the top of this hill. I wonder how long it took thnm to do it?" + 
-"Ask little Solomon here" said Campbell, "he might toll you all about it. I +"Oh we're over the worst I think" said Campbell optimistically. "As far as I can remember, this seat by the path here is quite three-quarters of the way up." 
-Klein hailed our guide in what he fondly believed to be Island English. "This fella Stove" he said, "him dead. You put him on top of hill. How long it take you, carry him up this damsteep path?" + 
-"Yes" said the youth gravely. "Stevets tomb," and he pointed through the trees above us.+"I guess they hated to put it there" said Klein. "There's none further down, you notice they just wait till you are at your last gasp before they help you." He sank down on it, mopping his brow and braving the mosquitoes for an instant. 
 + 
 +"You know" I said reflectively, "it must have been a very difficult business getting the coffin to the top of this hill. I wonder how long it took them to do it?" 
 + 
 +"Ask little Solomon here" said Campbell, "he might tell you all about it.
 + 
 +Klein hailed our guide in what he fondly believed to be Island English. "This fella Steve" he said, "him dead. You put him on top of hill. How long it take you, carry him up this dam-steep path?" 
 + 
 +"Yes" said the youth gravely. "Steve'tomb," and he pointed through the trees above us. 
 Klein tried again. Klein tried again.
-"When Steve die, you put him up top, in tomb. How long it take yot get him up this hill?"+ 
 +"When Steve die, you put him up top, in tomb. How long it take you get him up this hill?" 
 Blank silence for awhile. Then, "Twenty year" our guide said solemnly. Blank silence for awhile. Then, "Twenty year" our guide said solemnly.
 +
 A guffaw of laughter broke the stillness of the bush. A guffaw of laughter broke the stillness of the bush.
-"That's right" said Klein, "I guess the laugh's on MB. Twenty years gosh! I shouldntt wonder if it did. What I want to know iswhy in hell they couldn't have Married him down below." + 
-He heaved himgelf up with a sigh and we trudged to the top of the hill. +"That's right" said Klein, "I guess the laugh's on me. Twenty years gosh! I shouldn'wonder if it did. What I want to know iswhy in hell they couldn't have burried him down below." 
-On a little flat knoll, about ten yards across, hemmed in by palm and hibiscus, is a long slab of plain grey stone. Along the ledge at one side of it a recent pilgrim had traced "Robert Louis Stevenson" with the red and yellow palm nuts that lie scattered amongst the grass. Ajar of scarlet hibiscus flowers glowed against the stone. + 
-Below us stretched ridge on ridge of tropical forost, sombre, emniverent, with here and there the flash of white "birds in a dark ravine." To one side, a cleared space of cultivation marked Vailima garden. In front of us, infinitely distant, lay a strip of honeycoloured sand; the blue peace of the lagoon: the roof, like a white ruffle on the seats blue gown, and beyond, the Pacif1 qmilAmg and sparkling in the sun. +He heaved himself up with a sigh and we trudged to the top of the hill. 
-"Here he lies where he longed to be" this child of the dour north, with its grey skies and its piercing winds and its rain here, at peace, in the warm silence, shaded by hibiscus and palm. + 
-Hail and farewell, Tusitala, for we shall not pass this way again.+On a little flat knoll, about ten yards across, hemmed in by palm and hibiscus, is a long slab of plain grey stone. Along the ledge at one side of it a recent pilgrim had traced "Robert Louis Stevenson" with the red and yellow palm nuts that lie scattered amongst the grass. A jar of scarlet hibiscus flowers glowed against the stone. 
 + 
 +Below us stretched ridge on ridge of tropical forest, sombre, omniverent, with here and there the flash of white "birds in a dark ravine." To one side, a cleared space of cultivation marked Vailima garden. In front of us, infinitely distant, lay a strip of honey-coloured sand; the blue peace of the lagoon: the roof, like a white ruffle on the sea'blue gown, and beyond, the Pacific, smiling and sparkling in the sun. 
 + 
 +"Here he lies where he longed to be" this child of the dour north, with its grey skies and its piercing winds and its rain here, at peace, in the warm silence, shaded by hibiscus and palm. 
 + 
 +Hail and farewell, Tusitala, for we shall not pass this way again. 
 10. 10.
 THE MAN WITH THE TAR BRUSH. THE MAN WITH THE TAR BRUSH.
194511.txt · Last modified: 2016/01/18 17:00 by tyreless

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