a burial at surabaya After Abe Sassoon died in Tretes, his cook got a jaga to guard the house and then took a taxi to Surabaya to tell me. He chose me because my cook was relate english
a deed without a name We have known the Crowleys ever since we arrived in Singapore, and to be honest neither Harry nor I found it the least bit strange that they should ring us english
a little flame ‘I’m downstairs.’ It was a dead man’s voice, like my father talking from his grave. ‘They say they can’t let me see you without an appointment.’ It had a sl english
a love knot On rainy nights in that part of Boston, the Charles Street area, antique gas lamps lighted the narrow side streets which were swollen with a paving of cobbl english
a political romance To calm his wife after a quarrel, Morris Rosetree always recalled to her how they had met in the National Library in Prague, how he had said, ‘Excuse me, mi english
a real russian ikon Fred Hagberg, forewarned by his travel agent in Cleveland of the Russian hunger for hard cash, had been in Moscow for two days and there had not been even a english
after the war Delia lay in bed and listened and studied the French in the racket. Downstairs, Mr Rameau shouted, ‘Hurry up! I’m ready!’ Mrs Rameau pleaded that she had lo english
algebra Ronald had threatened to move out before, but I always begged him not to. He knew he had power over me. He was one of those people who treats flattery as if english
an english unofficial rose The fashion in London that year was rags – expensive ones, but rags all the same. Women wore torn blouses and patched jeans, and their shoes were painted to english
biographical notes for four american poets ‘Robert Frost was sitting right where I am now,’ said Denton Fuller, the American poet, in Amherst. ‘In this very rocking chair –’ In The Hub, A Magazine of english
charlie hogle’s earring There is something athletic, something physical, in the way the most successful people reach decisions. The businessmen who plot take-overs, the upstarts wh english
children ‘Vic’s got this theory. Parents owe their children everything, but children don’t owe their parents anything. Why should they? They didn’t ask to be born. P english
clapham junction ‘The satisfaction of working snails out of shells,’ said Cox, ‘is the satisfaction of successfully picking one’s nose.’ He had been hunched over his plate, english
coconut gatherer ‘Welcome, welcome,’ said Sundrum, tightening his sarong and showing me to a chair. He had raised his voice; there were children playing under the window, sh english
conspirators Not one person I had known in Africa was my age – they were either much older or much younger. That could hardly have been true, and yet that was how it app english
dancing on the radio Flora Domingo-Duncan said, ‘I used to be a mess,’ and laughed, and said, ‘It was my mother. So I went to graduate school in California and put three thousan english
dear william For the past week or so, I have been putting off writing my report to the State Department – three pages to sum up my two years in Ayer Hitam – and then, th english
dengué fever There is a curious tree, native to Malaysia, called ‘The Midnight Horror.’ We had several in Ayer Hitam, one in an overgrown part of the Botanical Gardens, english
dependent wife A road, some gum trees, a row of shop-houses, three parked cars: Ayer Hitam was that small, and even after we parked in front of the coffee shop I was not s english
diplomatic relations I imagine that couples often forget they’re married; I know that a person who is single remembers it every day, like a broken promise, that dwindling inheri english
dog days The Indian said: ‘I take hand of woman and I squeeze and look in eyes, and if she return look and do not take hand away I know I can make intercourse. If al english
fighting talk Some repeated noises seem to erupt with numbers, making the chatter of counting, a kind of syncopation that turns bop-bop into one-two. But, staring out of english
fury One of the first Americans Mary Snowfire met in London was a girl named Gretchen, who told her she was doing graduate work on the European Economic Communit english
gone west They appeared to be husband and wife – man standing, woman seated: the classic married pose of Authority flanked by Loyalty – but when I got closer I saw th english
hayseed Ira Hubbel was talking to his two attentive boys at the single pump of his Jenney station on the main street of Stockton Springs. They heard a car slowing d english
jungle bells On Christmas eve, 1964, I was just about to leave a run-down bar in Lusaka, Zambia, when I offered two bottles of Lion Lager to an African couple I had just english
loser wins The insects warbled at the windows, and on the wall a pale gecko chattered and flicked its tail. It was one of those intimate late-night pauses – we had bee english
low tide The woman with the have-a-nice-day face in the post office they call ‘Buttons’? The one that’s always saying ‘Can I share something with you?’ and then comp english
memo When I took up my post at the London Embassy I entered into a tacit agreement to share all the information to which I became privy that directly or indirect english
memories of a curfew It was not odd that the first few days of our curfew were enjoyed by most people. It was a welcome change for us, like the noisy downpour that comes suddenl english
namesake Erroll Jeeps was a great talker and lively company; but his jokes could be savage. It was he who first told me the story about the truck with the load of bo english
neighbors I had two neighbors at Overstrand Mansions – we shared the same landing. In America ‘neighbor’ has a friendly connotation; in England it is a chilly word, n english
polvo Even farther S., the Pan-American Highway, unpaved at this point, passes a mule track (km 1,024, not signposted), at the very end of which is the town of Po english
portrait of a lady A hundred times, Harper had said to himself: I am in Paris. At first he had whispered it with excitement, but as the days passed he began mouthing it in a d english
pretend i’m not here Even an amateur bird-watcher knows the bird from the way the empty nest is woven on a limb; and the wallpaper you hate at your new address is a pattern in t english
reception The best telegram I ever had said this: CALL ME TOMORROW FOR WONDERFUL NEWS. I had twenty hours to imagine what the news might be. And I delayed for a few h english
reggie woo His father, Woo Boh Swee, had chased after the English in that shy, breathless Chinese way, hating the necessity of it and making his embarrassment into has english
sex and its substitutes When people said, ‘Miss Duboys has a friend,’ they meant something sinister, or at least pretty nasty – that she had a dark secret at home. Because we were english
sinning with annie Make no mistake about it, I, Arthur Viswalingam, was married in every sense of the word, and seldom during those first years did I have the slightest compun english
the autumn dog ‘Mine used to sweat in his sleep,’ said the woman in the white dress, a bit drunkenly. ‘It literally poured off him! During the day he’d be dry as a bone, b english
the butterfly of the laruts The people in Ayer Hitam stopped referring to her as Dr Smith as soon as they set eyes on her. She was ‘that woman,’ then ‘our friend,’ and only much later, english
the consul’s file It was a late recessional, one of the last in Asia. The Consulate in that little town had been necessary to the American rubber estates, but the rubber tree english
the english adventure ‘You have read already The Times?’ ‘I just did so.’ ‘For my lateness I am deeply sorry, but there was the parking. So much of traffic in this town now. I th english
the exile Everyone knows Ezra Pound’s funny name, but no one can quote him. This was also the case with the American poet Walter Van Bellamy, who – like Pound long ag english
the flower of malaya ‘Is she one of yours?’ they’d ask on the club verandah when a white girl went past. Nothing salacious intended: they were just wondering if she was American english
the honorary siberian One day I returned to my apartment at Overstrand Mansions and found a case of vodka outside the door – a dozen bottles of Stolichnaya Green Label. A week la english
the imperial icehouse Of all the grand buildings on my island, the grandest by far was The Imperial Icehouse – white pillars and a shapely roof topped by ornate lettering on a gi english
the johore murders The first victim was a British planter, and everyone at the Club said what a shame it was that after fifteen years in the country he was killed just four da english
the last colonial The planter Gillespie swore he’d never leave. Though he remained embattled – one of the last colonials – the changeover from rubber to palm oil continued on english
the man on the clapham omnibus If Sir Charles Smallwood had not sent Miss Gowrie to visit me at the Embassy, and if I had not helped rid this Mortlake landlady of her vengeful lodger, I w english
the odd-job man Every spring, on the first free day after exams, Lowell Bloodworth and his wife, Shelley, drove to Boston from Amherst and then flew to London. He told peop english
the prison diary of jack faust Shortly after I discovered America (the word defect suggests error rather than flight to me) it became known that I had in my possession a valuable smuggled english
the south malaysia pineapple growers’ association They had a drama society, but it was not called the South Malaysia Pineapple Growers’ Drama Society; it was the Footlighters, it met on Wednesday evenings i english
the tennis court Everyone hated Shimura; but no one really knew him: Shimura was Japanese. He was not a member of the Club. About every two weeks he would stop one night in english
the tiger’s suit Almost the worst corpse I’ve ever seen was that of a Malay woman, an epileptic, who, out planting rice in a field, had had a fit and tumbled into a flooded english
the winfield wallpaper Dinner at Winfield House, the American Ambassador’s Residence in Regent’s Park, was usually regarded as a treat, not a duty. But the guests of honor tonight english
tomb with a view ‘There’s another woman to see you,’ my secretary said, giving me an old-fashioned look on ‘another.’ It had been a bad morning – I knew she was thinking abo english
triad We rather disliked children; we had none of our own, but that was seldom noticed because the local kids were everywhere. They strayed from the staff quarter english
volunteer speaker It annoyed me when people asked, because I had to tell them I had just been in Southeast Asia. That was a deceptively grand name for the small dusty town wh english
warm dogs When the broker’s message came that a child was available the Raths went home and put their suits on and made love in a solemn methodical way, as though mim english
what have you done to our leo? At the end of the meal, the Sunday curry lunch which many of the expatriates in Dar es Salaam ate in the upstairs dining room of the Rex Hotel, Ernie Grigso english
white christmas Ah Chiang, the wife of Alec’s Chinese cook, had taped bits of holly to the leaves of the potted palm. The mistletoe sprig had been knocked down by the whirl english
white lies Normally, in describing the life cycle of ectoparasites for my notebook, I went into great detail, since I hoped to publish an article about the strangest o english
words are deeds On entering the restaurant in Corte, Professor Sheldrick saw the woman standing near the bar. He decided then that he would take her away with him, perhaps english
world’s end Robarge was a happy man who had taken a great risk. He had transplanted his family – his wife and small boy – from their home in America to a bizarrely name english
yard sale As things turned out, Floyd had no choice but to spend the summer with me in East Sandwich. To return home to find his parents divorced was awkward; but to english
you make me mad ‘I think you’re going colorblind,’ said Ambrose McCloud. Doris McCloud hitched herself forward to turn and stare at her husband. They had just pulled into t english
zombies Miss Bristow was certain she had dreamed of a skull because on waking – gasping to the parlor and throwing open the curtains – the first face she had seen w english