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- Джозеф Конрад
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Handy
on
the
veranda
upon
a
walnut
etagere
(
it
had
come
last
year
by
the
Sofala
)
--
everything
came
by
the
Sofala
there
lay
,
piled
up
under
bronze
weights
,
a
pile
of
the
Times
'
weekly
edition
,
the
large
sheets
of
the
Rotterdam
Courant
,
the
Graphic
in
its
world-wide
green
wrappers
,
an
illustrated
Dutch
publication
without
a
cover
,
the
numbers
of
a
German
magazine
with
covers
of
the
"
Bismarck
malade
"
color
.
There
were
also
parcels
of
new
music
--
though
the
piano
(
it
had
come
years
ago
by
the
Sofala
in
the
damp
atmosphere
of
the
forests
was
generally
out
of
tune
.
)
It
was
vexing
to
be
cut
off
from
everything
for
sixty
days
at
a
stretch
sometimes
,
without
any
means
of
knowing
what
was
the
matter
.
And
when
the
Sofala
reappeared
Mr.
Van
Wyk
would
descend
the
steps
of
the
veranda
and
stroll
over
the
grass
plot
in
front
of
his
house
,
down
to
the
waterside
,
with
a
frown
on
his
white
brow
.
"
You
've
been
laid
up
after
an
accident
,
I
presume
.
"
He
addressed
the
bridge
,
but
before
anybody
could
answer
Massy
was
sure
to
have
already
scrambled
ashore
over
the
rail
and
pushed
in
,
squeezing
the
palms
of
his
hands
together
,
bowing
his
sleek
head
as
if
gummed
all
over
the
top
with
black
threads
and
tapes
.
And
he
would
be
so
enraged
at
the
necessity
of
having
to
offer
such
an
explanation
that
his
moaning
would
be
positively
pitiful
,
while
all
the
time
he
tried
to
compose
his
big
lips
into
a
smile
.
"
No
,
Mr.
Van
Wyk
.
You
would
not
believe
it
.
I
could
n't
get
one
of
those
wretches
to
take
the
ship
out
.
Not
a
single
one
of
the
lazy
beasts
could
be
induced
,
and
the
law
,
you
know
,
Mr.
Van
Wyk
...
"
He
moaned
at
great
length
apologetically
;
the
words
conspiracy
,
plot
,
envy
,
came
out
prominently
,
whined
with
greater
energy
.
Mr.
Van
Wyk
,
examining
with
a
faint
grimace
his
polished
finger-nails
,
would
say
,
"
H
'm
.
Very
unfortunate
,
"
and
turn
his
back
on
him
.
Fastidious
,
clever
,
slightly
skeptical
,
accustomed
to
the
best
society
(
he
had
held
a
much-envied
shore
appointment
at
the
Ministry
of
Marine
for
a
year
preceding
his
retreat
from
his
profession
and
from
Europe
)
,
he
possessed
a
latent
warmth
of
feeling
and
a
capacity
for
sympathy
which
were
concealed
by
a
sort
of
haughty
,
arbitrary
indifference
of
manner
arising
from
his
early
training
;
and
by
a
something
an
enemy
might
have
called
foppish
,
in
his
aspect
--
like
a
distorted
echo
of
past
elegance
.
He
managed
to
keep
an
almost
military
discipline
amongst
the
coolies
of
the
estate
he
had
dragged
into
the
light
of
day
out
of
the
tangle
and
shadows
of
the
jungle
;
and
the
white
shirt
he
put
on
every
evening
with
its
stiff
glossy
front
and
high
collar
looked
as
if
he
had
meant
to
preserve
the
decent
ceremony
of
evening-dress
,
but
had
wound
a
thick
crimson
sash
above
his
hips
as
a
concession
to
the
wilderness
,
once
his
adversary
,
now
his
vanquished
companion
.
Moreover
,
it
was
a
hygienic
precaution
.
Worn
wide
open
in
front
,
a
short
jacket
of
some
airy
silken
stuff
floated
from
his
shoulders
.
His
fluffy
,
fair
hair
,
thin
at
the
top
,
curled
slightly
at
the
sides
;
a
carefully
arranged
mustache
,
an
ungarnished
forehead
,
the
gleam
of
low
patent
shoes
peeping
under
the
wide
bottom
of
trowsers
cut
straight
from
the
same
stuff
as
the
gossamer
coat
,
completed
a
figure
recalling
,
with
its
sash
,
a
pirate
chief
of
romance
,
and
at
the
same
time
the
elegance
of
a
slightly
bald
dandy
indulging
,
in
seclusion
,
a
taste
for
unorthodox
costume
.
It
was
his
evening
get-up
.
The
proper
time
for
the
Sofala
to
arrive
at
Batu
Beru
was
an
hour
before
sunset
,
and
he
looked
picturesque
,
and
somehow
quite
correct
too
,
walking
at
the
water
's
edge
on
the
background
of
grass
slope
crowned
with
a
low
long
bungalow
with
an
immensely
steep
roof
of
palm
thatch
,
and
clad
to
the
eaves
in
flowering
creepers
.
While
the
Sofala
was
being
made
fast
he
strolled
in
the
shade
of
the
few
trees
left
near
the
landing-place
,
waiting
till
he
could
go
on
board
.
Her
white
men
were
not
of
his
kind
.
