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- Колин Маккалоу
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- Стр. 228/535
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Trees
sprouted
casually
in
the
middle
of
the
road
,
or
had
houses
built
around
them
,
or
perhaps
had
grown
up
through
the
houses
.
It
was
impossible
to
tell
which
had
come
first
,
trees
or
human
habitations
,
for
the
overwhelming
impression
was
one
of
uncontrolled
,
hectic
growth
of
vegetation
.
Coconut
palms
taller
and
straighter
than
the
Drogheda
ghost
gums
waved
fronds
against
a
deep
,
swimming
blue
sky
;
everywhere
Meggie
looked
was
a
blaze
of
color
.
No
brown-and-grey
land
,
this
.
Every
kind
of
tree
seemed
to
be
in
flower
--
purple
,
orange
,
scarlet
,
pink
,
blue
,
white
.
There
were
many
Chinese
in
black
silk
trousers
,
tiny
black-and-white
shoes
with
white
socks
,
white
Mandarin-collared
shirts
,
pig-tails
down
their
backs
.
Males
and
females
looked
so
alike
Meggie
found
it
difficult
to
tell
which
were
which
.
Almost
the
entire
commerce
of
the
town
seemed
to
be
in
the
hands
of
Chinese
;
a
large
department
store
,
far
more
opulent
than
anything
Gilly
possessed
,
bore
a
Chinese
name
:
AH
WONG
'S
,
said
the
sign
.
All
the
houses
were
built
on
top
of
very
high
piles
,
like
the
old
head
stockman
's
residence
on
Drogheda
.
This
was
to
achieve
maximum
air
circulation
,
Luke
explained
,
and
keep
the
termites
from
causing
them
to
fall
down
a
year
after
they
were
built
.
At
the
top
of
each
pile
was
a
tin
plate
with
turned-down
edges
;
termites
could
n't
bend
their
bodies
in
the
middle
and
thus
could
n't
crawl
over
the
tin
parapet
into
the
wood
of
the
house
itself
.
Of
course
they
feasted
on
the
piles
,
but
when
a
pile
rotted
it
was
removed
and
replaced
by
a
new
one
.
Much
easier
and
less
expensive
than
putting
up
a
new
house
.
Most
of
the
gardens
seemed
to
be
jungle
,
bamboo
and
palms
,
as
if
the
inhabitants
had
given
up
trying
to
keep
floral
order
.
The
men
and
women
shocked
her
.
To
go
for
dinner
and
a
walk
with
Luke
she
had
dressed
as
custom
demanded
in
heeled
shoes
,
silk
stockings
,
satin
slip
,
floating
silk
frock
with
belt
and
elbow
sleeves
.
On
her
head
was
a
big
straw
hat
,
on
her
hands
were
gloves
.
And
what
irritated
her
the
most
was
an
uncomfortable
feeling
from
the
way
people
stared
that
she
was
the
one
improperly
dressed
!
The
men
were
bare-footed
,
bare-legged
and
mostly
bare-chested
,
wearing
nothing
but
drab
khaki
shorts
;
the
few
who
covered
their
chests
did
so
with
athletic
singlets
,
not
shirts
.
The
women
were
worse
.
A
few
wore
skimpy
cotton
dresses
clearly
minus
anything
in
the
way
of
underwear
,
no
stockings
,
sloppy
sandals
.
But
the
majority
wore
short
shorts
,
went
bare-footed
and
shielded
their
breasts
with
indecent
little
sleeveless
vests
.
Dungloe
was
a
civilized
town
,
not
a
beach
.
But
here
were
its
native
white
inhabitants
strolling
around
in
brazen
undress
;
the
Chinese
were
better
clad
.
There
were
bicycles
everywhere
,
hundreds
of
them
;
a
few
cars
,
no
horses
at
all
.
Yes
,
very
different
from
Gilly
.
And
it
was
hot
,
hot
,
hot
.
They
passed
a
thermometer
which
incredibly
said
a
mere
ninety
degrees
;
in
Gilly
at
115
degrees
it
seemed
cooler
than
this
.
Meggie
felt
as
if
she
moved
through
solid
air
which
her
body
had
to
cut
like
wet
,
steamy
butter
,
as
if
when
she
breathed
her
lungs
filled
with
water
.
"
Luke
,
I
ca
n't
bear
it
!
Please
,
can
we
go
back
?
"
she
gasped
after
less
than
a
mile
.
"
If
you
want
.
You
're
feeling
the
humidity
.
It
rarely
gets
below
ninety
percent
,
winter
or
summer
,
and
the
temperature
rarely
gets
below
eighty-five
or
above
ninety-five
.
There
's
not
much
of
a
seasonal
variation
,
but
in
summer
the
monsoons
send
the
humidity
up
to
a
hundred
percent
all
the
flaming
time
.
"
"
Summer
rain
,
not
winter
?
"
