A Passage to India E. M. Forster (best ereader manga TXT) đ
- Author: E. M. Forster
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He wanted to enquire about the Mohammedan doctor in the mosque. It was his duty to report suspicious characters and conceivably it was some disreputable hakim who had prowled up from the bazaar. When she told him that it was someone connected with the Minto Hospital, he was relieved, and said that the fellowâs name must be Aziz, and that he was quite all right, nothing against him at all.
âAziz! what a charming name!â
âSo you and he had a talk. Did you gather he was well disposed?â
Ignorant of the force of this question, she replied, âYes, quite, after the first moment.â
âI meant, generally. Did he seem to tolerate usâ âthe brutal conqueror, the sundried bureaucrat, that sort of thing?â
âOh, yes, I think so, except the Callendarsâ âhe doesnât care for the Callendars at all.â
âOh. So he told you that, did he? The Major will be interested. I wonder what was the aim of the remark.â
âRonny, Ronny! youâre never going to pass it on to Major Callendar?â
âYes, rather. I must, in fact!â
âBut, my dear boyâ ââ
âIf the Major heard I was disliked by any native subordinate of mine, I should expect him to pass it on to me.â
âBut, my dear boyâ âa private conversation!â
âNothingâs private in India. Aziz knew that when he spoke out, so donât you worry. He had some motive in what he said. My personal belief is that the remark wasnât true.â
âHow not true?â
âHe abused the Major in order to impress you.â
âI donât know what you mean, dear.â
âItâs the educated nativeâs latest dodge. They used to cringe, but the younger generation believe in a show of manly independence. They think it will pay better with the itinerant M.P. But whether the native swaggers or cringes, thereâs always something behind every remark he makes, always something, and if nothing else heâs trying to increase his izzatâ âin plain Anglo-Saxon, to score. Of course there are exceptions.â
âYou never used to judge people like this at home.â
âIndia isnât home,â he retorted, rather rudely, but in order to silence her he had been using phrases and arguments that he had picked up from older officials, and he did not feel quite sure of himself. When he said âof course there are exceptionsâ he was quoting Mr. Turton, while âincreasing the izzatâ was Major Callendarâs own. The phrases worked and were in current use at the club, but she was rather clever at detecting the first from the second hand, and might press him for definite examples.
She only said, âI canât deny that what you say sounds very sensible, but you really must not hand on to Major Callendar anything I have told you about Doctor Aziz.â
He felt disloyal to his caste, but he promised, adding, âIn return please donât talk about Aziz to Adela.â
âNot talk about him? Why?â
âThere you go again, motherâ âI really canât explain everything. I donât want Adela to be worried, thatâs the fact; sheâll begin wondering whether we treat the natives properly, and all that sort of nonsense.â
âBut she came out to be worriedâ âthatâs exactly why sheâs here. She discussed it all on the boat. We had a long talk when we went on shore at Aden. She knows you in play, as she put it, but not in work, and she felt she must come and look round, before she decidedâ âand before you decided. She is very, very fair-minded.â
âI know,â he said dejectedly.
The note of anxiety in his voice made her feel that he was still a little boy, who must have what he liked, so she promised to do as he wished, and they kissed good night. He had not forbidden her to think about Aziz, however, and she did this when she retired to her room. In the light of her sonâs comment she reconsidered the scene at the mosque, to see whose impression was correct. Yes, it could be worked into quite an unpleasant scene. The doctor had begun by bullying her, had said Mrs. Callendar was nice, and thenâ âfinding the ground safeâ âhad changed; he had alternately whined over his grievances and patronized her, had run a dozen ways in a single sentence, had been unreliable, inquisitive, vain. Yes, it was all true, but how false as a summary of the man; the essential life of him had been slain.
Going to hang up her cloak, she found that the tip of the peg was occupied by a small wasp. She had known this wasp or his relatives by day; they were not as English wasps, but had long yellow legs which hung down behind when they flew. Perhaps he mistook the peg for a branchâ âno Indian animal has any sense of an interior. Bats, rats, birds, insects will as soon nest inside a house as out; it is to them a normal growth of the eternal jungle, which alternately produces houses trees, houses trees. There he clung, asleep, while jackals in the plain bayed their desires and mingled with the percussion of drums.
âPretty dear,â said Mrs. Moore to the wasp. He did not wake, but her voice floated out, to swell the nightâs uneasiness.
IVThe Collector kept his word. Next day he issued invitation cards to numerous Indian gentlemen in the neighbourhood, stating that he would be at home in the garden of the club between the hours of five and seven on the following Tuesday, also that Mrs. Turton would be glad to receive any ladies of their families who were out of purdah. His action caused much excitement and was discussed in several worlds.
âIt is owing to orders from the L.G.,â was Mahmoud Aliâs explanation. âTurton would never do this
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