Complete and Unabridged, First published in Great Britain in 1988 by Hamish Hamilton Ltd., Large print ed. - Ulverscroft large print series: general fiction ISBN 0-7089-2273-2
Som Uncut Jade og Chinese Alice er det en bog om kultursammenstød, om imperiet, om stærke kvinder. Her er det besatte land Indien. Derfor får enkernes forhold/skæbne en fremtrædende plads. Og ligheden i engelske og indiske enkers status understreges. Lige så god og stærk en bog, som de andre to. Anbefales varmt. Barrs kvalitet er humoren i skildringen af de to kulturer og at hun altid har respekt også for den fremmede kultur. Bogen foregår i begyndelse af 1800-tallet. Også den gang ville imperiet indtage Afghanistan, påskuddene og de officielle begrundelser er de samme som idag. Måske også de reelle begrundelser ? Prisen også. Det gælder både for Afghanistan og for Indien. Metoderne ligeså.
Vi får også lige med, at apartheid , hverken er en israelsk eller en afrikaner opfindelse.
Jeg konkluderede, at selvretfærdighed og selvovervurdering hører med til imperialismen og ikke er en speciel amerikansk (eller israelsk) holdning.
Der er mange gode skildringer af tåbelige, hovne englændere. Men også af fornuftige, både indere og englændere.
Og slutningen er simpelthen fantastisk.
Susanne Bier burde tage til Bollywood og lave en film over den bog !!
Lord Auckland, now on an extended tour of the upper provinces, was determined to proceed with his plan of sending troops into Afghanistan , he announced. 51-52
"And exactly why are we invading Afghanistan, may I ask?"
"A strategically defensive move , my dear.young sir. Shah Shuja,our ally, must be restored to the Afghan throne and Dost Muhammad Khan deposed from it. We can't afford a weak and potentially hostile power on that vulnerable frontier where the Russians could take advantage ." 52
She hurried to comfort the child, wondering why Mr. Krishnan seemed so unfriendly towards her. She could not know that her very presence represented a threat to him. Since the turn of the century british women, arriving in increasing numbers, had set up large establishments from which natives, except servants, were rigorously excluded - as had not been the case in earlier days. In general, Gopal regarded them as a swarm of locusts who did nothing but breed and feed on the wealth of India, to which they gave nothing in return. In particular, his friendship with Theo was a purely masculine matter that need not extend to this bold young woman who asked too many questions and expected too much attention. "Isn't she delightful?" Theo asked, as Amelia left. "I told you - pretty and sweet-natured, but able to speak up for herself, too." 73-4
His look made it plain she should not ask, but he replied politely, "I studied English law in all good faith several years ago, madam, but without seeing then, as I do now that the adoption of a European legal system here is part of the British plan to strengthen your rule and weaken our culture. I'm not sure I wish to be a tool of this process." 75-6
And now Raja Tondiman has died in Poodocottah, we dare not think what may befall there. Perhaps the Company will march in 'to restore peace and order'. " 104-5
Reginald Cuthbert Arbuthnot, chaplain of the small Tanjore garrison, had experienced a trying day, particularly on account of Private Patterson who wanted to marry a Hindu wench because he'd got her pregnant and the child would be heathen else. But the woman refused to become a Christan, saying her family would cast her out - which was probably true, for Hindus were stubborn bigots in religious matters. But the reverend, a good churchman, couldn't solemnise a marriage between a Christian and a heathen, so he'd advised Patterson to cast the temptress from him and return to the arms of the Church. And Patterson had refused, which was especially galling because he had been one of the few regular church attenders. 120
He stared at her without the twinkle before turning to Theo, as if she had not spoken. "I must warn you that the hold of the priests over Sevaji is so great that he's become something of a religious fanatic - throwing away money on idols enough to furnish thrice over every pagoda in the district."
''Or, to look at it another way, the Raja is a devout believer who enhances the religion and culture of his own country. For do not all races need places of worship which are kept sacred and beautiful above and beyond the ordinary run?"
Both Arbuthnots stared at him aghast.
Amelia gave a conciliatory laugh. "But you can hardly expect the Reverend to view it like that, Theophilus."
"I don't. I'm just putting the 'native angle' - for a change." Theo seldom mixed socially With men of the cloth, and Arbuthnot rose heatedly to his challenge.
"You are actually suggesting, Mr. Lang, that Christianity and Hinduism should be weighed in the same balance. That it makes no odds on which religion charity and care should be bestowed?"
"Precisely. I share the views of my father on this; issue, you see. 126-7
The Company likes to keep a respectable presence in Tanjore just in case ...."
". .. the opportunity for an easy takeover should suddenly arise?"
Theo's tone was casual, but Gil hesitated before replying, remembering his companion was that rara avis - an Englishman in native employ. Gil loathed the Comppany and most of its works, but still owed it some loyalty.
"The eventuality you mention is most unlikely. The Company adopts such measures only ; where oppression and misrule are rife, which isn't the case here."
'Not yet - but perhaps can be so presented by those on the spot for the benefit of those in power at a distance?" 139
Your aim is to 'elevate this country to the superior standards of European -_culture' almost overnight,.isn't it? Everything must change to suit your idea of what is civilised and just and right - because you and your meddling kind know best! Indians must become subject to the laws and standards of the British Empire, which you see as the only good. Well I don't see things in quite the same light and ..."
Nicholas, taking quick advantage of Theo's momentary diversion to remove a flying insect from his drink, challenged. "And how do you think we British have attained our present position of supremacy in this country - and in others, Mr. Lang? Through the essential superiority and strength of our civilisation - that is how. We, a few thousand Englishmen, hold sway over millions of Indians by force, not of arms, but of moral character based on Christian virtues and humanitarian beliefs. We're not corrupted by bribery. We don't burn widows. And the educated natives respect us for it. Whatever raises our character in their eyes adds to our security and our power; and we are now powerful enough to impose our enlightened concepts of moral justice and social order on the people of this land." 213-4
Myra was always rather flighty - slapdash, as I said. Not at all fitting for a churchman's wife. And do you know, after the birth of their third child she just upped and left the lot of them one day: rode off on a stolen horse to Pondicherry where she had a secret assignation with a French naval officer - and away they sailed. 219
She closed her eyes, until the constant multiplicity of Indian sounds fell away and she could imagine a village churchyard. with green grass, one blackbird singing, one evening bell, one Truth. 224
"Come on, Gopi. Your line of country. As a mere Englishman I couldn't join even if I wanted."
Gopal turned to her, his tone pompous and distant. "The Dharma Sabha, madam, is a society formed in Calcutta a few years ago to protest against the passing of new laws by Europeans which interfere in and obstruct our own long:held cultural and religious customs, The most contentious issue being suttee, the burningof widows. The Dharma Sabha considers it our Indian prerogative to decide whether or not the tradition should be abolished. It is not for foreigners to lay down the law in such matters." 238
Inscribed on these were histories, poems, laws and legends of the south Indian peoples; their regulations on everything from the dress of dancing girls to the issue of cotton seed for goats; their secret rituals and herbal remedies; their taxes and tithes; their plots and predictions. One of the last, written about 1776, stated that Indians would endure the rule of white foreigners for bout 160 years and then be freed to rule themselves. 245
"And I say, sir, you're getting beyond yourself," Wardle's temper shredded.
"We're not confronted with the crucifixion of our Lord on the cross but the voluntary self-immolation of a wife on her husband's funeral pyre." He paused, light dawning. "Why, Mr. Lang, I seem to remember your arguing, not long ago in my very dining-room, that the British are wrong-headed and arrogant to interfere with such raditional practices - or does my memory play false?"
Theo shivered. "No, I fear it doesn't. Resident, and I stand betore you corrected, even humiliated. But Rukmini Moitra was.the one friend of my childhood and that is my only thought at this moment." 251
Alone in his office, the captain was staring at a map of the north-west territories which had hung there since the army of the Indus, made up of regiments from the Bengal and Bombay Presidencies, had gone marching towards Afghanistan. Now the British-backed ruler, Shah Shuja, was triumphantly installed in his high fortress, and the Afghan expedition seemed so successful that Lord Auckland had been created an earl for having initiated it, while rumours that the occupying forces were thoroughly enjoying themselves in Kabul filtered back to the disgruntled regiments of the the Madras Presidency. 253-4
Most assiduous. too, were the brahmin priests who filled her aching head with murmurings
about the transience of earthly joys, the virtue md sanctity attached to the act of suttee, and the
paradisian delights awaiting those who committed it. They didn't stress, for she already knew,
how joyless her lot in life would be should she cling to it - a childless widow doomed to
perpetual acts of mourning and self-abasement, barred like a spectre [spøgelse] from all feasts
and festive occasions. 263
The Fate from which he'd helped to rescue Rukmini
was of a kind honoured by ancient Hindu
religious tradition, and he winced now, remembering his earlier pronouncements on the
subject. At the time they'd seemed perfectly sound, but he'd been deceiviug himself for they
had been purely theoretical, untried by any direct experience. And he hid his shamed laughter,
knowing all the arguments he'd ever adduced on the subject had proved totally irrelevant
compared with the passionate fervor that had carried him forward. 273
"Nor did Theo, till recently."
"Oh^ that's typical men's way, isn't it? Lots of.high-flown theories that blow straight out of the window in practice when someone you really care for is involved!" 282-3
"Imagine her husband bothering to arrange such a thing! No, she'll have to take her chance here, but we ladies must certainly go. We'll be company for each other, too. Trichy is full of army wives and there's no one with much conversation. I'll speak to your husband about it, shall I? Where can the men have got to?" 300Nicholas hissed in annoyance and began rolling up the plan. "Confound it Lang, but you're an odd one. I've never known a fellow so critical of his own kind and country - one of the greatest in the world - and what it's trying to achieve for the benefit of mankind. But you seem to have no concept of our imperial responsibilities. I must say, I sometimes wonder if you are a proper Englishman at all." 304
"My father was, as you know, an oriental scholar, madam, with a great love of Indian culture, and I sometimes think it was as well he died just before Macaulay's infamous Minute on Education appeared. For what is the result? The languages my father loved and taught are completely discounted as useless and dead - they've even been labelled 'barbarous'. While English is touted in every school and college." 307
As Nicholas paused, wondering whether to agree a truce, his wife sighed in exasperation, for the mother-of-pearl dessert knives had not been brought out and the mango fool was definitely below par.
"I hope you're enjoying the fool [skum] - it's rather the cook's speciality?" She beamed; her mother had taught her this way of dealing with culinary failure. 309
On the journey Catherine had regaled her companion with received lore on the subject of wet-nurses or amahs, a touchy, pernickety breed apparently, but indispensable. They had to be constantly supplied with rice-cakes and sago to increase their milk flow, hot baths. Coconut oil for massage; and, if not carefully supervised, they chewed garlic and chillies (spoiling the taste of their milk) and fed their own babies by stealth. Amelia, disquieted by this, secretly decided to continue nursing Elizabeth lerself, at less trouble and less cost. 358
Theo wrote that ; you'd settled well into this jungle life."
"Yes, I have, thank you."
"Paid no attention to my forebodings, hey? Quite right. And
it's a good marriage. I saw it instantly in your face." She chuckled with a hint
of salacity [slibrighed] that made Amelia blush. "There, there - just as it
should be. Now if you'll excuse my dire dishevellment [sjuskethed] , I'd adore
to sit comfortably beside a nice cup of tea before unpacking." 361
"Government doesn't want attention drawn, dear boy. But Babbage tells me there's considerable unrest among the Afghan tribes and our occupation is costing a pretty penny." 362
Considering the assortment of guests, she decreed there should be places for "mutally agreed separations". Swings for the children were put up in the back compound, alcoholic drinks would be served on the back verandah only, and in the front garden a makeshift pandal - a canopy of leaves and branches supported on pillars and screened with grass blinds - was created for the cloistering of the Indian women. As for eating, Marguerite prophesied that the English - especially the clerical ones - would be thoroughly piggish while the brahmins, in the pink of their Hindu politeness, would pick disdainfully at a few seeds and nuts.
Amelia giggled. "Oh, but I do wish they weren't quite so pernickety! It makes one feel quite unclean, doesn't it?"
"That is their intention, but don't let it disturb you.'" She beamed at Amelia. 369
Reminds me of one of Napoleon's maxims I happened upon recently: 'In the eyes of empire builders, men are not men but instruments.'" 381
Gopal's mouth twisted sourly. "Well I've never loved myself for it. I want to rinse out my insides with the five cleansing fluids whenever I remember. But the past. you know, has a nasty habit of growing a long tail which twists round sometimes and stings a man in his present posterior. which is what happened when I last visited you here. H. N. came to see me secretly. He was threatening to write to the papers and the law council, 'feeling it his duty to report that a respected member of Dharma Sabha had in Calcutta long ago' - you can guess his tone. An unmitigated scoundrel, but not a very accomplished blackmailer because he forgot the golden rule - never try blackmail if you've got more enemies than friends."
"My God! You mean it was you who. . . ?" Theo was round-eyed with amazement and a kind of admiration. 383-4
Wardle swallowed a crumb, tried to change tactics. "Your father, who had a sense of great respect and gratitude towards the British, frequently took our advice and help. Can you not see the wisdom of following his good example, your Highness?''
"Ha! Respect and gratitude - why should I? For your own ends, you British helped him regain his throne which he'd lost by trickery. That is all." He banged his fist on its arm. "Now the throne is mine by rightful inheritance - no thanks to you! And in return for their support the British took away my father's realm, his wealth and his power, saying you would be allies of Tanjore forever. But now see! You want to grab my last shreds of land and lie to me as you do it! But I know your ways! The men of your greedy Company march about our country deposing rajas and nawabs under some pretext or other. And now you have designs on me." 394-5
"Report what you like and let them do their worst. For worse is yet to come. That is foretold by my astrologers. With cunning, you divide and rule us. Do you think I don't understand all this?" 397
'My dear Mrs. Lang, surely you don't share the eccentric views of your late husband in this matter - about which I heard from the Assistant-Collector? The people of the district already have temples enough for every conceivable act of devotion. Now they'll also have water for their summer rice crop. You must surely see the sense of that?"
Amelia turned away her head. "Simply as you put it - yes, of course. But I think, at bottom, it is more complicated. Tell me, Captain, how did the Company get that land?"
There was some sort of affray a while ago. A circuit judge was sent to hold a trial and prove that the Raja had ordered his men to bully peasants off the land and was herefore unfit to wield authority over them. Simple."
"And he is to be deposed for that?"
"Oh no, nothing so drastic - yet." He grinned. "He still has his palace, the Fort and a few nearby villages."
'And that's all?"
Quite enough for a Lord of Misrule like His Highness, madam. 478-9
Brandon's hand shook as he peered over the paper in the gathering dusk and read. It is with profound regret that we have to inform you of an insurrection of the Afghan tribes in and around Kabul at the end of December last. On January 6th our garrison in Kabul was forced to retreat from its cantonments, having guaranteed assurance of safe escort to Peshawar. The trust was betrayed and our forces were repeatedly and savagely attacked by Afghans in the mountain passes. Our losses were extremely heavy; it is estimated that up to 3,000 men, women and children were killed. On January 13th, a single survivor, Doctor W. Brydon rode into Jalalabad with news of this terrible disaster. 483-4
Theophilus had been the only one to express disagreement with British policy. "And by what right are we fighting in Afghanistan at all? The campaign will prove very costly and perhaps calamitous." 485
But how are you.'' Are you really ill?"
"Ah - nothing serious, my dear, just Natural Decay. 497
"Oh, I . . . really don't know . . . it's much too soon." She took Marguerite's cup. "Please let us say no more about it until the Captain comes - though lud knows when that will be. He thinks of nothing but marching off to fight the Afghans."
"Single-handed, of course - just like him! But I doubt he'll have a chance. The whole Madras army is chafing at the same bit. Such a wretchedly tragic business and so unnecessary." 500
"Perhaps you should have married for love?"
"Bless me, no! Women have to be practical in such circumstances; romance is a luxury only men can afford. In any case, far better a second-rate husband than the perpetual widowhood of the poor Hindu ladies." 502
And Rukmini - perhaps it was for the best? We don't know. She was Indian and we are Europeans. There's much we'll never understand about each other. 503
"But you see, he mustn't be allowed to marry you - or any woman -because he secretly prefers boys."
"Boys! Captain Gilbert! He . . . what?"
Marguerite's weary eyes reopened. "You do know what I mean, Amelia?"
"I. . . er. . . yes. I've heard of a case before - from Rukmini Moitra. About her husband.
"Men like that have to conceal it, of course, and Gil has managed to, with his good looks and deceitful flirtations. 513
He spoke most warmly of you and hopes you can still be friends - and hat you'll keep his precious secret?" 514
So now I'm a widow and I'm nothing - until I become someone else's wife, which is all you can think of for me. She slanuned down her glass. "Well I'm simply not marrying any of these selfish. pompous men! I'll find a way of being by myself - you'll see!"
Marguerite had begun clapping her lands gently, eyes shining. "Bravo, oh bravo, Amelia! I've thought such thoughts myself sometimes, but not when I was as young as you, not when I married old Humphrey Perks. But you are braver and I applaud you . . . 518
"Oh heavens! And the children?"
"Perfectly all right . . . staying with Arbuthnot at the time. The Reverend, bye the bye, is rumoured to be in vigorous pursuit of a Danish missionary lady from Tranquebar."
Amelia smiled. "Well, I wish her joy of him. But what will happen to the poor mites?"
Jack will go to the regimental orphanage and I daresay they'll make a drummer-boy out of him."
"And Rosie?"
He shrugged. "I suppose there's somewhere for girls, I really can't say. Perhaps the Danish lady will take her on."
'Poor little scrap - there must be a lot in her position, one way and another." 532-3
Outside,Gil handed her into the carriage. assuring her of his willingness to help her and the children in any way possible, and she responded, politely, not believing a word. 533
... and there are several gentlemen - myself for one - who will be only too happy to offer our professional advice and friendly help. I'm sure you won't do anytlimg precipitate without consulting some of us first, for women are not well suited to deal with financial and property matters. Perhaps I may begin by suggesting that you ... "538
Poor little Rosie! Of course - she would take her in and look after her; that was one decision made at least. ... She would open a board school for orphaned and abandoned girls, both European and half-caste, here in this very house, and she would bully the military and medical authorities into supporting it. 543
Her school would be secular and practically adapted to the country. Her pupils would learn both Tamil and English, Hindu doctrine and Christian, Asian history and European; they would learn to weave, embroider. play the piano and sitar, to . . . oh, it would be wonderful what they would learn, what she, with the right help, could teach them! 544
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Orla Jordal, 2007
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