March 21, 2025 • 43 mins
Almayer’s Folly is a dramatic tale of ambition, greed, and personal downfall. European trader Kaspar Almayer, obsessed with finding gold in Malaysia, watches his dreams crumble as his family and fortune slip away. A haunting study of colonialism and failure.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Recording by Tom Weiss, chapter twelve. That is the place,
said Dane, indicating with the blade of his paddle, a
small islet about a mile ahead of the canoe. That
is the place where Babilachi promised that a boat from
the Prau would come for me. When the sun is overhead.
We will wait for that boat there. Ald Meyer, who
(00:22):
was steering, nootted without speaking, and by a slight sweep
of his paddle laid the head of the canoe in
the required direction. They were just leaving the southern outlet
of the Pantai, which lay behind them in a straight
and long vista of water, shining between two walls of
thick verdure that ran downwards and towards each other, till
at last they joined and sank together. In the far
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away distance. The sun, rising above the calm waters of
the Straits, marked its own path by a streak of
light that glided upon the sea and darted up the
wide reach of the river, a hurried messenger of light
and light to the gloomy forests of and in this
radiance of the sun's pathway floated the black canoe, heading
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for the islet, which lay bathed in sunshine, the yellow
sands of its encircling beach, shining like an inlaid golden
disc on the polly steel of the unwrinkled sea. To
the north and south of it rose other islets, joyous
in their brilliant colouring of green and yellow, and on
the main coast the somber line of mangrove bushes ended
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to the southward in the reddish cliffs of Tajang Marah,
advancing into the sea, steep and shadowless under the clear
light of the early morning, The bottom of the canoe
grated upon the sand as the little craft ran upon
the beach. Ali leaped on shore and held on while
Danes stepped out, carrying Nina in his arms. Exhausted by
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the events and the long traveling during the night, all
Meyer was the last to leave the boat, and together
with Ali, ran it higher up on the beach. Then, Ali,
tired out by the long paddling, laid down in the
shade of the canoe and incontinently fell asleep. Allmyer sat
sideways on the gunwale, and with his arms crossed on
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his breast, looked to the southward upon the sea. After
carefully laying Nina down in the shade of the bushes
growing in the middle of the eyelid. Dame threw himself
beside her and watched in silent concern the tears that
ran down from under her closed eyelids, and lost themselves
in that fine sand upon which they were both lying
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face to face. These tears and this sorrow were for
him a profound and disquieting mystery. Now, when the danger
was past, why should she grieve? He doubted her love
no more than he would have doubted the fact of
his own existence. But as he lay looking ardently in
her face, watching her tears, her parted lips, her very breath,
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he was uneasily conscious of something in her he could
not understand. Doubtless she had the whisper of perfect beings,
he sighed. He felt something invisible that stood between them,
something that would let him approach her so far, but
no farther. No desire, no longing, no effort of will
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or length of life could destroy this vague feeling of
their difference. With awe, but also with great pride, he
concluded that it was her own incomparable perfection. She was his,
and yet she was like a woman from another world.
His his He exulted in the glorious thought. Nevertheless, her
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tears pained him with a wisp of her own hair,
which he took in his hand. With timid reverence. He tried,
in an access of clumsy tenderness, to dry the tears
that trembled on her eyelashes. He had his reward in
a fleeting smile that brightened her face for the short
fraction of a second. But soon the tears fell faster
than ever, and he could bear it no more. He
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rose and walked towards Almyer, who still sat absorbed in
his contemplation of the sea. It was a very, very
long time since he had seen the sea, that sea
that leads everywhere, brings everything, and takes away so much.
He had almost forgotten why he was there, and dreamily
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he could see all his past life on the smooth
and boundless surface that glittered before his eyes. Dane's hand
laid on Almayer's shoulder recalled him with a start from
some country very far away. Indeed, he turned round, but
his eyes seemed to look rather at the place where
Dane stood than at the man himself. Dane felt uneasy
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under the unconscious gaze. What said Almyer. She is crying,
murmured Dame. Softly, she is crying, why, asked Almyer indifferently.
I came to ask you. My Renee smiles when looking
at the man she loves. It is the white woman
that is crying. Now you would know. Allmyer shrugged his
(05:04):
shoulders and turned away again towards the sea. Go twan, Puto,
urged Dane, go to her. Her tears are more terrible
to me than the anger of God's. Are they? You
will see them more than once. She told me she
could not live without you, answered Almyer, speaking without the
faintest spark of expression in his face. So it behooves
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you to go to her quick, for fear you may
find her dead. He burst into a loud and unpleasant laugh,
which made Dane stare at him with some apprehension. But
get off the gunwale of the boat and moved slowly
towards Nina, glancing up at the sun as he walked.
And you go when the sun is overhead, he said, yes, Twan,
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then we go, answered Dane. I have not long to wait,
muttered Almayer. It is most important for me to see
you go. Both of you most important, he repeated, stopping
short and looking at Dane at lee. He went on
again towards Nina, and Dane remained behind. Almyer approached his
daughter and stood for a time looking down on her.
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She did not open her eyes, but hearing footsteps near her,
murmured in a low sob. Dame Allmyer hesitated for a minute,
and then sank on the sand by her side. She,
not hearing a responsive word, not feeling a touch, opened
her eyes, saw her father and sat up suddenly with
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a movement of terror. Oh father, she murmured faintly, and
in that word there was expressed regret and fear and
dawning hope. I shall never forgive you, Nina, said Almyer,
in a dispassionate voice. You have torn my heart from
me while I dreamt of your happiness. You have deceived me.
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Your eyes that for me were like truth itself, lied
to me in every glance for how long you know
that best? When you were bressing my cheek, you were
counting the minutes to the sunset. That was the signal
for your meeting with that man. There he ceased, and
they both sat silent, side by side, not looking at
each other, but gazing at the vast expanse of the sea,
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all Meyer's words had dried. Nina's tears, and her look
grew hard as she stared before her into the limitless
sheet of blue that shone limpid, unwaving and steady, like
heaven itself. He looked at it also, but his features
had lost all expression, and life in his eyes seemed
to have gone out. The face was a blank, without
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a sign of emotion, feeling, reason, or even knowledge of itself.
All passion, regret, grief, hope or anger, all were gone,
erased by the hand of fate, as if after this
last stroke everything was over and there was no need
for any record. Those few who saw Almyer during the
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short period of his remaining days were always impressed by
the sight of that face that seemed to know nothing
of what went on within, like the blank wall of
a prison, inclosing sin, regrets and pain and wasted life
in the cold indifference of mortar and stones. What is
there to forgive? Asked Nina, not addressing Almyer directly, but
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more as if arguing with herself. Can I not live
my own life as you have lived yours? The path
he would have wished me to follow. Has been closed
to me by no fault of mine. You never told me,
muttered Almyer. You never asked, she answered, and I thought
you were like the others and did not care. I
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bore the memory of my humiliation alone. And why should
I tell you that it came to me? Because I
am your daughter. I knew you could not avenge me,
and yet I was thinking of that, only interrupted Almyer.
And I wanted to give you years of happiness for
the short day of your suffering. I only knew of
one way. Ah, but it was not my way, she replied.
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Could you give me happiness without life? Life? She repeated,
with sudden energy that sent the word ringing over the sea.
Life That means power and love, she added, in a
low voice that said Almeyer, pointing his finger at Dane,
standing close by and looking at them in curious wonder. Yes, that,
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she replied, looking her father full in the face and
noticing for the first time, with a slight gasp of fear,
the unnatural rigidity of his features. I would rather have
strangled you with my own hands at Almyer, in an
expressionless voice, which was such a contrast to the desperate
bitterness of his feelings that it surprised even himself. He
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asked himself who spoke, and, after looking slowly round as
if expecting to see somebody, turned again his eyes towards
the sea. You say that because you do not understand
the meaning of my words, she said, between you and
my mother, there never was any love. When I returned
to sam Vir, I found the place which I thought
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would be a peaceful refuge, filled from my heart, filled
with weariness and hatred and mutual contempt. I have listened
to your voice and to her voice. Then I saw
that you could not understand me, for was I not
part of that woman of her? Who was the regret
and shame of your life? I had to choose, I hesitated.
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Why were you so blind? Did you not see me
struggling before your eyes? But when he came, all doubt disappeared,
and I saw only the light of the blue and
cloudless heaven. I will tell you the rest, interrupted Almyer.
When that man came, I also saw the blue in
the sunshine of the sky. A thunderbolt has fallen from
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the sky, and suddenly all is still and dark around me. Forever,
I will never forgive you, Nina, and tomorrow I shall
forget you. I shall never forgive you, he repeated, with
mechanical obstinacy, while she sat her head bowed down, as
if afraid to look at her father. To him, it
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seemed of the utmost importance that he should assure her
of his intention of never forgiving. He was convinced that
his faith in her had been the foundation of his hopes,
the motive of his courage, of his determination to live
and struggle and to be victorious for her sake. And
now his fate was gone, destroyed by her own hands,
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destroyed cruelly, treacherously in the dark, in the very moment
of success, in the utter wreck of his affections and
of all his feelings, in the chaotic disorder of his thoughts,
above the confused sensation of physical pain that wrapped him
up in a sting, as of a whiplash, curling round
him from his shoulders down to his feet. Only one
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idea remained clear and definite, not to forgive her, Only
one vivid desire to forget her. And this must be
made clear to her and to himself by frequent repetition.
That was his idea of his duty to himself, to
his race, to his respectable connections, to the whole universe.
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Unsettled and shaken by this frightful catastrophe of his life,
he saw it clearly and believed he was a strong man.
He had always prided himself upon his unflinching firmness, And
yet he was afraid she had been all in all
to him. What if he should let the memory of
his love for her weaken the sense of his dignity.
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She was a remarkable woman. He could see that all
the latent greatness of his nature in which he honestly believed,
had been transfused into that slight, girlish figure. Great things
could be done. What if he should suddenly take her
to his heart, forget his shame and pain and anger,
and follow her. What if he changed his heart, if
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not his skin, and made her life easier between the
two loves that would guard her from any mischance his
heart yearned for her. What if he should say that
his love for her was greater than I will never
forgive you, Nina, He shouted, leaping up madly in the
sudden fear of his dream. This was the last time
in his life that he was heard to raise his voice.
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Henceforward he spoke always in a monotonous whisper, like an
instrument of which all the strings but one are broken.
In the last ringing clamor under a heavy blow, She
rose to her feet and looked at him. The very
violence of his cry soothed her in an intuitive conviction
of his love, and she hugged to her breast the
lamentable remnants of that affection, with the unscrupulous greediness of
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women who cling desperately to the very scraps and rags
of love, any kind of love, as a thing that
of right belongs to them and is the very breadth
of their light. She put both her hands on all
Meyer's shoulders, and, looking at him, half tenderly, half playfully,
she said, you speak so because you love me. Almyer
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shook his head. Yes, you do, she insisted softly. Then,
after a short pause, she added, and you will never
forget me. Allmyer shivered slightly. She could not have said
a more cruel thing. Here is the boat coming now,
said Dane, his arm outstretched towards a black speck on
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the water between the coast and the islet. They all
looked at it, and remained standing in silence till the
little canoe came gently on the beach and a man
landed and walked towards them. He stopped some distance off
and hesitated, What news, asked Dane. We have had orders
secretly and in the night to take off from this
islet a man and a woman. I see the woman.
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Which of you is the man? Come the light of
my eye, said Dame to Nina. Now we go, and
your voice shall be from my ears only you have
spoken your last words to the Twampatu your father. Come.
She hesitated for a while, looking at Almyer, who kept
his eyes steadily on the sea. Then she touched his
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forehead in a lingering kiss and a tear. One of
her tears fell on his cheek and ran down his
immovable face. Good Bye, she whispered, and remained irresolute till
he pushed her suddenly into Dane's arms. If you have
any pity for me, murmured Almayer, as if repeating some
sentence learned by heart. Take that woman away. He stood
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very straight, his shoulders thrown back, his head held high,
and looked at them as they went down the beach
to the canoe, walking and laced in each other's arms.
He looked at the line of their footsteps marked in
the sand. He followed their figures moving in the crude
blaze of the vertical sun, in that light, violent and
vibrating like a triumphal flourish of brazen trumpets. He looked
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at the man's brown shoulders, at the red sarong round
his waist, at the tall, slender, dazzling white figure he supported.
He looked at the white dress, at the falling masses
of the long black hair. He looked at them embarking,
and at the canoe growing smaller in the distance, with rage, despair,
and regret in his heart, and on his face a
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piece as that of a carved image of oblivion. Inwardly,
he felt himself torn to pieces. But Ali, who now aroused,
stood close to his master, saw on his features the
blank expression of those who live in that hopeless calm
which sightless eyes only can give. The canoe disappeared, and
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Almyer stood motionless with his eyes fixed on its wake. Ali,
from under the shade of his hand, examined the coasturiously.
As the sun declined, the sea breeze sprang up from
the northward and shivered with its breath the glassy surface
of the water. Depot, exclaimed Ali joyously got him, Master
got praw not there look more Tana Mira's side. Aha
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that way, Master see now plain see. All Meyer followed
Ali's forefinger with his eyes for a long time in vain.
At last he sighted a triangular patch of yellow light
on the red background of the cliffs of Tajang Mirah.
It was the sail of the Prow that had caught
the sunlight and stood out distinct with its gay tint
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on the dark red of the cape. The yellow triangle
crept slowly from cliff to cliff till it cleared the
last point of land and shone brilliantly for a fleeting
moment on the blue of the open sea. Then the
Prow bore up to the southward. The light went out
of the sail, and all at once the vessel itself disappeared,
vanishing into the shadow of the steep headland that looked on,
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patient and lonely, watching over the empty sea. All Meyer
never moved round the little islet. The air was full
of the talk of the rippling water. The crested wavelets
ran up the beach audaciously, joyously, with the lightness of
young life, and died quickly, unresistingly and graciously in the
wide curves of transparent foam on the yellow sand. Above
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the white clouds sailed rapidly southwards, as if intent upon
overtaking something. Ali seemed anxious. Master. He said timidly, time
to get house. Now, long way off to pull already, sir, wait,
whispered almyer. Now she was gone. His business was to forget,
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and he had a strange notion that it should be
done systematically, and in order to Ali's great dismay. He
fell on his hands and knees, and, creeping along the sand,
he raised carefully with his hand all traces of Nina's footsteps.
He piled up small heaps of sand, leaving behind him
a line of miniature graves right down to the water.
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After burying the last slight imprint of Nina's slipper, he
stood up, and, turning his face towards the headland where
he had last seen the prow, he made an effort
to shout out loud against his firm resolve to never forgive. Ali,
watching him uneasily, saw only his lips move but heard
no sound. He brought his foot down with a stemp.
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He was a firm man, firm as a rock. Let
her go. He never had a daughter he would forget.
He was forgetting already. Ali approached him, insisting on immediate departure,
and this time he consented, and they went together towards
their canoe, all Meyer leading. For all his firmness. He
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looked very dejected and feeble as he dragged his feet
slowly through the sand on the beach, and by his side,
invisible to Ali, stalked that particular fiend, whose mission it
is to jog the memories of men, lest they should
forget the mean of life. He whispered in all Meyer's ear,
a childish prattle of many years ago. All Meyer, his
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head then on one side, seemed to listen to his
invisible companion, But his face was like the face of
a man that has died, struck from behind, a face
from which all feelings and all expression are suddenly wiped
off by the hand of unexpected death. They slept on
the river that night, mooring their canoe under the bushes
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and lying down in the bottom, side by side, in
the absolute exhaustion that kills, hunger, thirst, and all feeling
and all thought in the overpowering desire for that deep sleep,
which is like the temporary annihilation of the tired body.
Next day they started again and fought doggedly with the
current all the morning until about midday they reached the
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settlement and made fast their little craft to the jetty
of Lingard and company. All Meyer walked straight to the
house and a leave followed, paddles on shoulder, thinking that
would like to eat something. As they crossed the front courtyard,
they noticed the abandoned look of the place. Ali looked
in at the different servants houses, all were empty. In
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the back courtyard there was the same absence of sound
and light. In the cooking shed, the fire was out
and the black embers were cold. A tall, lean man
came stealthily out of the banana plantation and went away
rapidly across the open space, looking at them with big,
frightened eyes over his shoulder. Some vagabond without a master.
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There were many such in the settlement, and they looked
upon Almyer as their patron. They prowled about his premises
and kicked their living there, sure that nothing worse could
befall them than a shower of curses when they got
in the way of the white men, whom they trusted
in light and called a fool amongst themselves. In the
house which Almyer entered through the back verandah, the only
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living thing that met his eyes was a small monkey, which,
hungry and unnoticed for the last two days, began to
cry and complain in moncky language. As soon as it
caught sight of the familiar face, all Meyer soothed it
with a few words and ordered Ali to bring in
some bananas. Then, while Ali was gone to get them,
he stood in the doorway of the front veranda, looking
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at the chaos of overturned furniture. Finally, he picked up
the table and sat on it, while the monkey let
himself down from the roofstick by its chain, and perched
on his shoulder. When the bananas came, they had their
breakfast together, both hungry, both eating greedily, and showering the
skins round them recklessly in the trusting silence of perfect friendship.
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Ali went away, grumbling to cook some rice for himself,
for all the women about the house had disappeared. He
did not know where all Meyer did not seem to care,
and after he finished eating, he sat on the table,
swinging its legs and staring at the river as if
lost in thought. After some time he got up and
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went to the door of a room on the right
of the verandah. That was the office, the office of
liding Guard and Company. He very seldom went in there.
There was no business now, and he did not want
an office. The door was locked, and he stood biting
his lower lip, trying to think of the place where
the key could be. Suddenly he remembered in the women's room,
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hung upon a nail. He went over to the doorway,
where the red curtain hung down in motionless folds, and
hesitated for a moment before pushing it aside with his shoulder,
as if breaking down some solid obstacle. A great square
of sunshine, entering through the window lay on the floor.
On the left. He saw Missus Allmyer's big wooden chest,
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the lid thrown back empty. Near it, the brass veils
of Nina's European trunk shown in the large initials n
A on the cover. A few of Nina's dresses hung
on wooden pegs, stiffened in a look of offended dignity
at their abandonment. He remembered making the peg himself, and
noticed that they were very good pegs. Where was the key?
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He looked round and saw it near the door where
he stood. It was red with rust. He felt very
much annoyed at that, and directly afterwards wondered at his
own feeling what did it matter? There soon would be
no key, no door, nothing. He paused key and hand,
and asked himself whether he knew well what he was about.
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He went out again on the veranda and stood by
the table thinking. The monkey jumped down and, snatching a
banana skin, absorbed itself in, picking it to shreds industriously. Forget,
muttered Almyer, and that word started before him a sequence
of events, a detailed program of things to do. He
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knew perfectly well what was to be done now, first this,
then that, and then Forgetfulness would come easy, very easy.
He had a fixed idea that if he should not
forget before he died, he would have to remember to
all eternity certain things had to be taken out of
his life, stamped out of sight, destroyed, forgotten. For a
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long time he stood in deep thought, lost in the
alarming possibilities of unconquerable memory, with the fear of death
and eternity before him. Eternity, he said aloud, and the
sound of that word recalled him out of his reverie.
The monkey started, dropped the skin, and grinned up at him. Amicably.
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He went towards the office door, and with some difficulty,
managed to open it. He entered in a cloud of
dust that rose under his feet. Books open with torn
pages bestrewed the floor. Other books lay about, griming in black,
looking as if they had never been opened. Account books.
In those books he had intended to keep, day by
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day a record of his rising fortunes, long time ago,
a very long time. For many years, there has been
no record to keep. On the blue and red ruled pages.
In the middle of the room, the big office desk,
with one of its legs broken, careened over like the
hull of a stranded ship. Most of the drawers had
fallen out, disclosing heaps of paper yellow with age and dirt.
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The revolving office chair stood in its place, but he
found the pivot set fast when he tried to turn it.
No matter he desisted, and his eyes wandered slowly from
object to object. All those things had cost a lot
of money at the time. The desk, the paper, the
torn books, and the broken shelves, all under a thick
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coat of dust, the very dust and bones of a
dead and gone business. He looked at all these things,
all that was left after so many years of work,
of strife, a weariness of discouragement, conquered so many times,
and all for what he stood, thinking mournfully of his
past life, till he heard distinctly the clear voice of
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a ch child speaking amongst all this wreck, ruin and waste.
He started with a great fear in his heart, and
feverishly began to raken the papers scattered on the floor,
broke the chair of the bits, splintered the drawers by
banging them against the desk, and made a big heap
of all that rubbish in one corner of the room.
He came out, quickly slammed the door after him, turned
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the key, and taking it out, ran to the front
rail of the verandah, and with a great swing of
his arm, sent the key whizzing into the river. This done,
he went back slowly to the table, called the monkey down,
unhooked its chain, and induced it to remain quiet in
the breast of his jacket. Then he sat again on
the table and looked fixedly at the door of the
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room he had just left. He listened also intently. He
heard a dry sound of rustling, sharp cracks as of
dry woods snapping, a whirr like of a bird's wings
when it rises suddenly, and then he saw a thin
stream of smoke come through the keyhole. The monkey struggled
under his coat. Ali appeared with his eyes starting out
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of his head. Master, how's burn, he shouted. Almyer stood up,
holding by the table. He could hear the yells of
alarm and surprise in the settlement. Ali wrung his hands
le mending aloud. Stop this noise, fool, said Almyer. Quietly,
pick up my hammock and blankets and take them to
the other house quick Now. The smoke burst through the
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crevices of the door, and Ali, with the hammock in
his arms, cleared in one bound the steps of the Verandah.
It has caught well, muttered Almyer to himself. Be quiet, Jack,
he added, as the monkey made a frantic effort to
escape from its confinement. The door split from top to bottom,
and a rush of flame and smoke drove Almyer away
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from the table to the front rail of the verandah.
He held on there till a great roar overhead assured
him that the roof was ablaze. Then he ran down
the steps of the verandah, coughing, half choked with the
smoke that pursued him, in blueish wreaths curling about his head.
On the other side of the ditch separating Almyer's courtyard
from the settlement, a crowd of the inhabitants of zambr
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looked at the burning house of the White Man. In
the calm air, the flames rushed up on high colored
pale brick, red with violent gleams in the strong sunshine.
The thin column of smoke ascended straight and unwavering till
it lost itself in the clear blue of the sky.
And in the great empty space between the two houses,
the interested spectators could see the tall figure of the
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twan Ptwo, with bowed head and driving feet, walking slowly
away from the fire, towards the shelter of Allmyer's folly.
In that manner did Almyer move into his new house.
He took possession of the new ruin, and in the
undying folly of his heart, set himself to wait in
anxiety and pain for that forgetfulness, which was so slow
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to come. He had done all he could, every vestage
Anina's existence had been destroyed, and now with every sunrise
he asked himself whether the long, poor oblivion would come
before sunset, whether it would come before he died. He
wanted to live only long enough to be able to forget,
and the tenacity of his memory filled him with red
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and horror of death, for should it come before he
could accomplish the purpose of his life, he would have
to remember forever. He also longed for loneliness. He wanted
to be alone, but he was not. In the dim
light of the rooms with their clothes shutters, in the
bright sunshine of the verandah, wherever he went, whichever way
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he turned, he saw the small figure of a little maiden,
with pretty olive face, with long black hair, her little
pink robe slipping off her shoulders, her big eyes looking
up at him in the tender trustfulness of a petted child.
Ali did not see anything, but he also was aware
of the presence of a child in the house. In
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his long talks by the evening fires of the settlement,
he used to tell his intimate friends of Almeyer's strange doings.
His master had turned sorcerer in his old age. Ali
said that often when Twan Patou had retired for the night,
he could hear him talking to something in his room.
Ali thought that it was a spirit in the shape
(31:21):
of a child. He knew his master spoke to a
child from certain expressions and words his master used. His
master spoke in Malay a little, but mostly in English,
which he Ali could understand. Master spoke to the child
at times tenderly. Then he would weep over it, laugh
at it, scold it, beg of it to go away,
(31:43):
curse it. It was a bad and stubborn spirit. Ali
thought his master had imprudently called it up and now
could not get rid of it. His master was very brave.
He was not afraid to curse this spirit in the
very presence, and once he fought with it, Lee had
heard a great noise as of running about inside the
room and groans. His master groaned. Spirits do not groan.
(32:08):
His master was brave but foolish. You cannot hurt the spirit.
Ali expected to find his master dead next morning, but
he came out very early, looking much older than the
day before, and had no food all day. So far,
Ali to the settlement to Captain Ford. He was much
more communicative, for the good reason that Captain Ford had
(32:31):
the purse and gave orders. On each of Ford's monthly
visits to Sambert, Ali had to go on board with
a report about the inhabitant of all Meyer's folly on
his first visit to samber after Nina's departure. Ford had
taken charge of all Meyer's affairs. They were not cumbersome.
The shed for the storage of goods was empty. The
(32:52):
boats had disappeared, appropriated generally in the night time by
various citizens of Sambier in need of means of trans
During a great flood, the jetty of Lingard and Company
left the bank and floated down the river, probably in
search of more cheerful surroundings. Even the flock of geese,
the only geese on the east coast, departed somewhere, preferring
(33:15):
the unknown dangers of the bush to the desolation of
their old home. As time went on, the grass grew
over the black patch of ground where the old house
used to stand, and nothing remained to mark the place
of the dwelling that had sheltered Almyer's young hopes, his
foolish dream of splendid future, his awakening, and his despair.
(33:37):
Ford did not often visit Almyre, for visiting Almyer was
not a pleasant task. At first, he used to respond
listlessly to the old seaman's boisterous inquiries about his health.
He even made efforts to talk, asking for news, in
a voice that made it perfectly clear that no news
from this world had any interest for him. Then gradually
(33:59):
he became more silent, not sulkily, but as if he
was forgetting how to speak. He used also to hide
in the darkest rooms of the house, where Ford had
to seek him out, guided by the patter of the
monkey galloping before him. The monkey was always there to
receive and introduce Ford. The little animal seemed to have
taken complete charge of its master, and whenever it wished
(34:22):
for his presence on the veranda, it would tug perseveringly
at his jacket till Almeyer obediently came out into the sunshine,
which he seemed to dislike so much. One morning, Ford
found him sitting on the floor of the veranda, his
back against the wall, his legs stretched swiftly out, his
arms hanging by his side. His expressionless face, his eyes
(34:45):
wide open with immobile pupils, and the rigidity of his
pose made him look like an immense mandal, broken and
flung there out of the way. As Ford came up
the steps, he turned his head slowly. Ford, he murmured
from the floor. I cannot forget, can't you? Said Ford innocently,
with an attempt at joviality. I wish I was like you.
(35:08):
I am losing my memory age. I suppose only the
other day, my mate, he stopped for Almeyer had got up, stumbled,
and steadied himself on his friend's arm. Hallo, you are
better to day. Soon be all right, said Ford, cheerfully,
but feeling rather scared. Almyer let go his arm and
stood very straight, with his head up and shoulders thrown back,
(35:32):
looking stonily at the multitude of suns shining in ripples
of the river. His jacket and his loose trousers flapped
in the breeze on his thin limbs. Let her go,
he whispered, in a grating voice. Let her go tomorrow,
I shall forget. I am a firm man, firm as
a rock ferm Ford looked at his face and fled.
(35:55):
The skipper was a tolerably firm man himself, as those
who had sailed with and could testify, but all Meyer's
firmness was altogether too much for his forty two. Next
time the steamer called in Sambert Ali came on board
early with a grievance. He complained to four that jim
Ag the Chinaman, had invaded Almayer's house and actually had
(36:17):
lived there for the last month. And they both smoked.
Added Ali, who opium you mean? Ali nodded, and Ford
remained thoughtful. Then he muttered to himself, poor devil. The
sooner the better. Now in the afternoon he walked up
to the house. What are you doing there, he asked
of Jim Aang, whom he found strolling about on the verandah.
(36:40):
Jim Aang explained it bad melee and, speaking in that monotonous,
uninterested voice of an opium smoker, pretty far gone that
his house was old, the roof leaked, and the floor
was rotten. So, being an old friend for many, many years,
he took his money, his opium and two pipes and
came to live in this big house. There is plenty
(37:02):
of room. He smokes, and I live here. He will
not smoke long, he concluded. Where is he now, asked Ford?
Inside he sleeps, answered jim Ang wearily. Ford glanced in
through the doorway. In the dim light of the room,
he could see almyre lying on his back on the floor,
his head on a wooden pillow, and the long white
(37:22):
beard scattered over his breast, the yellow skin of the face,
the half closed eyelids showing the whites of the eye only.
He shuddered and turned away. As he was leaving, he
noticed a long strip of faded red silk with some
Chinese letters on it, which jim Ang had just fastened
to one of the pillars. What's that, he asked, that,
said jim Eng in his colorless voice. That is the
(37:45):
name of the house, all the same, like my house,
very good name. Ford looked at him for a while
and went away. He did not know what the crazy
looking maze of the Chinese inscription on the red silk meant.
Had he asked jim that patient Chinaman would have informed
him with proper pride that its meaning was house of
(38:06):
heavenly delight. In the evening of the same day, Babolachi
called on Captain Ford. The captain's cabin opened on deck,
and Babolachi sat astride on the high step while Ford
smoked his pipe on the set tee inside. The steamer
was leaving next morning, and the old Statesman came as
usual for a last chat. We have news from Balley
(38:28):
last moon, remarked Babolachi. A grandson is born to the
old Rajah, and there is great rejoicing. Ford sat up interested, Yes,
went on Babolachi. In answer to Ford's look, I told
him that was before he began to smoke. Well, and what,
asked Ford? I escaped with my life, said Babolachi, with
perfect gravity, because the white man is very weak and
(38:51):
fell as he rushed upon me. Then, after a pause,
he added, she is mad with joy, missus Almeyer. You mean, yes,
she lived in a Raja's house. She will not die soon.
Such women live a long time, said Babulachi, with a
slight tinge of regret in his voice. She has dollars
and she has buried them. But we know where. We
(39:13):
had much trouble with those people. We had to pay
a fine and listen to threats from the white men,
and now we have to be careful. He sighed and
remained silent for a long while. Then with energy, there
will be fighting. There was a breath of war on
the islands. Shall I live long enough to see ah twan,
He went on more quietly. The old times were best.
(39:36):
Even I have sailed with la nun men and boarded
in the night silent ships with white sails. That was
before an English rajah ruled in Conching. Then we fought
amongst ourselves and were happy. Now when we fight with you,
we can only die. He rose to go. Twan, He said,
you remember the girl that Balanhi had her that caused
(39:58):
all the trouble, said Ford, what of her? She grew
thin and could not work. Then Balanji, who was a
thief and a pig eater, gave her to me for
fifty dollars. I sent her amongst my women to grow fat.
I wanted to hear the sound of her laughter. But
she must have been bewitched, and she died two days ago. Nay, twan,
(40:19):
why do you speak bad words? I am old, that
is true, But why should I not like the sight
of a young face at the sound of a young voice.
In my house, he paused, and then at it with
a little mournful laugh. I am like a white man,
talking too much of what is not men's talk when
they speak to one another. And he went off, looking
(40:40):
very sad. The crowd, masked in a semicircle before the steps
of Almeyer's folly, swayed silently backwards and forwards, and opened
out before the group of white robed and turbaned men
advancing through the grass towards the house. Abdullah walked first,
supported by Rashid, and followed by all the Arabs in
zambr As they entered the lane made by the respectful throng,
(41:03):
there was a subdued murmur of voices, where the word
mati was the only one distinctly audible. Abdullah stopped and
looked round slowly. Is he dead? He asked? May you live?
Answered the crowd in one shout, and then there succeeded
a breathless silence. Abdullah made a few paces forward and
found himself for the last time, face to face with
(41:26):
his old enemy. Whatever he might have been once, he
was not dangerous. Now, lying stiff and lifeless in the
tender light of the early day, the only white man
on the east coast was dead, and his soul, delivered
from the trammels of his earthly folly, stood now in
the presence of infinite wisdom. On the upturned face. There
(41:47):
was that serene look which follows a sudden releef from
anguish and pain, and it testified silently before the cloudless
heaven that the man lying there under the gaze of
indifferent eyes had been permitted to forgive before he died.
Abdullah looked down sadly at this infidel. He had fought
so long and had bested so many times. Such was
(42:11):
the reward of the faithful. Yet in the Arab's old
heart there was a feeling of regret for that thing
gone out of his life. He was leaving fast behind
him friendships and enmity's successes and disappointments, all that makes
up a life, and before him was only the end.
Prayer would fill up the remainder of the days allotted
(42:32):
to the true believer. He took in his hand the
beads that hung at his waist. I found him here
like this in the morning, said Ali in a low
and awed voice. Abdullah glanced coldly once more at the
serene face. Let us go, he said, addressing Rashid, And
as they passed through the crowd that fell back before them,
(42:53):
the beads in Abdullah's hand clicked, while in a solemn
whisper he breathed out piously the name of Allah, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. This is the end of Allmeyer's Folly. Recording
by Tom Weiss Tom's audiobooks dot com.
Recording by Tom Weiss, chapter twelve. That is the place,
said Dane, indicating with the blade of his paddle, a
small islet about a mile ahead of the canoe. That
is the place where Babilachi promised that a boat from
the Prau would come for me. When the sun is overhead.
We will wait for that boat there. Ald Meyer, who
(00:22):
was steering, nootted without speaking, and by a slight sweep
of his paddle laid the head of the canoe in
the required direction. They were just leaving the southern outlet
of the Pantai, which lay behind them in a straight
and long vista of water, shining between two walls of
thick verdure that ran downwards and towards each other, till
at last they joined and sank together. In the far
(00:44):
away distance. The sun, rising above the calm waters of
the Straits, marked its own path by a streak of
light that glided upon the sea and darted up the
wide reach of the river, a hurried messenger of light
and light to the gloomy forests of and in this
radiance of the sun's pathway floated the black canoe, heading
(01:05):
for the islet, which lay bathed in sunshine, the yellow
sands of its encircling beach, shining like an inlaid golden
disc on the polly steel of the unwrinkled sea. To
the north and south of it rose other islets, joyous
in their brilliant colouring of green and yellow, and on
the main coast the somber line of mangrove bushes ended
(01:25):
to the southward in the reddish cliffs of Tajang Marah,
advancing into the sea, steep and shadowless under the clear
light of the early morning, The bottom of the canoe
grated upon the sand as the little craft ran upon
the beach. Ali leaped on shore and held on while
Danes stepped out, carrying Nina in his arms. Exhausted by
(01:47):
the events and the long traveling during the night, all
Meyer was the last to leave the boat, and together
with Ali, ran it higher up on the beach. Then, Ali,
tired out by the long paddling, laid down in the
shade of the canoe and incontinently fell asleep. Allmyer sat
sideways on the gunwale, and with his arms crossed on
(02:09):
his breast, looked to the southward upon the sea. After
carefully laying Nina down in the shade of the bushes
growing in the middle of the eyelid. Dame threw himself
beside her and watched in silent concern the tears that
ran down from under her closed eyelids, and lost themselves
in that fine sand upon which they were both lying
(02:29):
face to face. These tears and this sorrow were for
him a profound and disquieting mystery. Now, when the danger
was past, why should she grieve? He doubted her love
no more than he would have doubted the fact of
his own existence. But as he lay looking ardently in
her face, watching her tears, her parted lips, her very breath,
(02:53):
he was uneasily conscious of something in her he could
not understand. Doubtless she had the whisper of perfect beings,
he sighed. He felt something invisible that stood between them,
something that would let him approach her so far, but
no farther. No desire, no longing, no effort of will
(03:15):
or length of life could destroy this vague feeling of
their difference. With awe, but also with great pride, he
concluded that it was her own incomparable perfection. She was his,
and yet she was like a woman from another world.
His his He exulted in the glorious thought. Nevertheless, her
(03:38):
tears pained him with a wisp of her own hair,
which he took in his hand. With timid reverence. He tried,
in an access of clumsy tenderness, to dry the tears
that trembled on her eyelashes. He had his reward in
a fleeting smile that brightened her face for the short
fraction of a second. But soon the tears fell faster
than ever, and he could bear it no more. He
(04:01):
rose and walked towards Almyer, who still sat absorbed in
his contemplation of the sea. It was a very, very
long time since he had seen the sea, that sea
that leads everywhere, brings everything, and takes away so much.
He had almost forgotten why he was there, and dreamily
(04:21):
he could see all his past life on the smooth
and boundless surface that glittered before his eyes. Dane's hand
laid on Almayer's shoulder recalled him with a start from
some country very far away. Indeed, he turned round, but
his eyes seemed to look rather at the place where
Dane stood than at the man himself. Dane felt uneasy
(04:43):
under the unconscious gaze. What said Almyer. She is crying,
murmured Dame. Softly, she is crying, why, asked Almyer indifferently.
I came to ask you. My Renee smiles when looking
at the man she loves. It is the white woman
that is crying. Now you would know. Allmyer shrugged his
(05:04):
shoulders and turned away again towards the sea. Go twan, Puto,
urged Dane, go to her. Her tears are more terrible
to me than the anger of God's. Are they? You
will see them more than once. She told me she
could not live without you, answered Almyer, speaking without the
faintest spark of expression in his face. So it behooves
(05:26):
you to go to her quick, for fear you may
find her dead. He burst into a loud and unpleasant laugh,
which made Dane stare at him with some apprehension. But
get off the gunwale of the boat and moved slowly
towards Nina, glancing up at the sun as he walked.
And you go when the sun is overhead, he said, yes, Twan,
(05:46):
then we go, answered Dane. I have not long to wait,
muttered Almayer. It is most important for me to see
you go. Both of you most important, he repeated, stopping
short and looking at Dane at lee. He went on
again towards Nina, and Dane remained behind. Almyer approached his
daughter and stood for a time looking down on her.
(06:10):
She did not open her eyes, but hearing footsteps near her,
murmured in a low sob. Dame Allmyer hesitated for a minute,
and then sank on the sand by her side. She,
not hearing a responsive word, not feeling a touch, opened
her eyes, saw her father and sat up suddenly with
(06:31):
a movement of terror. Oh father, she murmured faintly, and
in that word there was expressed regret and fear and
dawning hope. I shall never forgive you, Nina, said Almyer,
in a dispassionate voice. You have torn my heart from
me while I dreamt of your happiness. You have deceived me.
(06:51):
Your eyes that for me were like truth itself, lied
to me in every glance for how long you know
that best? When you were bressing my cheek, you were
counting the minutes to the sunset. That was the signal
for your meeting with that man. There he ceased, and
they both sat silent, side by side, not looking at
each other, but gazing at the vast expanse of the sea,
(07:15):
all Meyer's words had dried. Nina's tears, and her look
grew hard as she stared before her into the limitless
sheet of blue that shone limpid, unwaving and steady, like
heaven itself. He looked at it also, but his features
had lost all expression, and life in his eyes seemed
to have gone out. The face was a blank, without
(07:37):
a sign of emotion, feeling, reason, or even knowledge of itself.
All passion, regret, grief, hope or anger, all were gone,
erased by the hand of fate, as if after this
last stroke everything was over and there was no need
for any record. Those few who saw Almyer during the
(07:58):
short period of his remaining days were always impressed by
the sight of that face that seemed to know nothing
of what went on within, like the blank wall of
a prison, inclosing sin, regrets and pain and wasted life
in the cold indifference of mortar and stones. What is
there to forgive? Asked Nina, not addressing Almyer directly, but
(08:20):
more as if arguing with herself. Can I not live
my own life as you have lived yours? The path
he would have wished me to follow. Has been closed
to me by no fault of mine. You never told me,
muttered Almyer. You never asked, she answered, and I thought
you were like the others and did not care. I
(08:40):
bore the memory of my humiliation alone. And why should
I tell you that it came to me? Because I
am your daughter. I knew you could not avenge me,
and yet I was thinking of that, only interrupted Almyer.
And I wanted to give you years of happiness for
the short day of your suffering. I only knew of
one way. Ah, but it was not my way, she replied.
(09:03):
Could you give me happiness without life? Life? She repeated,
with sudden energy that sent the word ringing over the sea.
Life That means power and love, she added, in a
low voice that said Almeyer, pointing his finger at Dane,
standing close by and looking at them in curious wonder. Yes, that,
(09:24):
she replied, looking her father full in the face and
noticing for the first time, with a slight gasp of fear,
the unnatural rigidity of his features. I would rather have
strangled you with my own hands at Almyer, in an
expressionless voice, which was such a contrast to the desperate
bitterness of his feelings that it surprised even himself. He
(09:46):
asked himself who spoke, and, after looking slowly round as
if expecting to see somebody, turned again his eyes towards
the sea. You say that because you do not understand
the meaning of my words, she said, between you and
my mother, there never was any love. When I returned
to sam Vir, I found the place which I thought
(10:08):
would be a peaceful refuge, filled from my heart, filled
with weariness and hatred and mutual contempt. I have listened
to your voice and to her voice. Then I saw
that you could not understand me, for was I not
part of that woman of her? Who was the regret
and shame of your life? I had to choose, I hesitated.
(10:29):
Why were you so blind? Did you not see me
struggling before your eyes? But when he came, all doubt disappeared,
and I saw only the light of the blue and
cloudless heaven. I will tell you the rest, interrupted Almyer.
When that man came, I also saw the blue in
the sunshine of the sky. A thunderbolt has fallen from
(10:51):
the sky, and suddenly all is still and dark around me. Forever,
I will never forgive you, Nina, and tomorrow I shall
forget you. I shall never forgive you, he repeated, with
mechanical obstinacy, while she sat her head bowed down, as
if afraid to look at her father. To him, it
(11:12):
seemed of the utmost importance that he should assure her
of his intention of never forgiving. He was convinced that
his faith in her had been the foundation of his hopes,
the motive of his courage, of his determination to live
and struggle and to be victorious for her sake. And
now his fate was gone, destroyed by her own hands,
(11:35):
destroyed cruelly, treacherously in the dark, in the very moment
of success, in the utter wreck of his affections and
of all his feelings, in the chaotic disorder of his thoughts,
above the confused sensation of physical pain that wrapped him
up in a sting, as of a whiplash, curling round
him from his shoulders down to his feet. Only one
(11:57):
idea remained clear and definite, not to forgive her, Only
one vivid desire to forget her. And this must be
made clear to her and to himself by frequent repetition.
That was his idea of his duty to himself, to
his race, to his respectable connections, to the whole universe.
(12:20):
Unsettled and shaken by this frightful catastrophe of his life,
he saw it clearly and believed he was a strong man.
He had always prided himself upon his unflinching firmness, And
yet he was afraid she had been all in all
to him. What if he should let the memory of
his love for her weaken the sense of his dignity.
(12:42):
She was a remarkable woman. He could see that all
the latent greatness of his nature in which he honestly believed,
had been transfused into that slight, girlish figure. Great things
could be done. What if he should suddenly take her
to his heart, forget his shame and pain and anger,
and follow her. What if he changed his heart, if
(13:03):
not his skin, and made her life easier between the
two loves that would guard her from any mischance his
heart yearned for her. What if he should say that
his love for her was greater than I will never
forgive you, Nina, He shouted, leaping up madly in the
sudden fear of his dream. This was the last time
in his life that he was heard to raise his voice.
(13:27):
Henceforward he spoke always in a monotonous whisper, like an
instrument of which all the strings but one are broken.
In the last ringing clamor under a heavy blow, She
rose to her feet and looked at him. The very
violence of his cry soothed her in an intuitive conviction
of his love, and she hugged to her breast the
lamentable remnants of that affection, with the unscrupulous greediness of
(13:51):
women who cling desperately to the very scraps and rags
of love, any kind of love, as a thing that
of right belongs to them and is the very breadth
of their light. She put both her hands on all
Meyer's shoulders, and, looking at him, half tenderly, half playfully,
she said, you speak so because you love me. Almyer
(14:13):
shook his head. Yes, you do, she insisted softly. Then,
after a short pause, she added, and you will never
forget me. Allmyer shivered slightly. She could not have said
a more cruel thing. Here is the boat coming now,
said Dane, his arm outstretched towards a black speck on
(14:33):
the water between the coast and the islet. They all
looked at it, and remained standing in silence till the
little canoe came gently on the beach and a man
landed and walked towards them. He stopped some distance off
and hesitated, What news, asked Dane. We have had orders
secretly and in the night to take off from this
islet a man and a woman. I see the woman.
(14:56):
Which of you is the man? Come the light of
my eye, said Dame to Nina. Now we go, and
your voice shall be from my ears only you have
spoken your last words to the Twampatu your father. Come.
She hesitated for a while, looking at Almyer, who kept
his eyes steadily on the sea. Then she touched his
(15:17):
forehead in a lingering kiss and a tear. One of
her tears fell on his cheek and ran down his
immovable face. Good Bye, she whispered, and remained irresolute till
he pushed her suddenly into Dane's arms. If you have
any pity for me, murmured Almayer, as if repeating some
sentence learned by heart. Take that woman away. He stood
(15:41):
very straight, his shoulders thrown back, his head held high,
and looked at them as they went down the beach
to the canoe, walking and laced in each other's arms.
He looked at the line of their footsteps marked in
the sand. He followed their figures moving in the crude
blaze of the vertical sun, in that light, violent and
vibrating like a triumphal flourish of brazen trumpets. He looked
(16:04):
at the man's brown shoulders, at the red sarong round
his waist, at the tall, slender, dazzling white figure he supported.
He looked at the white dress, at the falling masses
of the long black hair. He looked at them embarking,
and at the canoe growing smaller in the distance, with rage, despair,
and regret in his heart, and on his face a
(16:26):
piece as that of a carved image of oblivion. Inwardly,
he felt himself torn to pieces. But Ali, who now aroused,
stood close to his master, saw on his features the
blank expression of those who live in that hopeless calm
which sightless eyes only can give. The canoe disappeared, and
(16:47):
Almyer stood motionless with his eyes fixed on its wake. Ali,
from under the shade of his hand, examined the coasturiously.
As the sun declined, the sea breeze sprang up from
the northward and shivered with its breath the glassy surface
of the water. Depot, exclaimed Ali joyously got him, Master
got praw not there look more Tana Mira's side. Aha
(17:10):
that way, Master see now plain see. All Meyer followed
Ali's forefinger with his eyes for a long time in vain.
At last he sighted a triangular patch of yellow light
on the red background of the cliffs of Tajang Mirah.
It was the sail of the Prow that had caught
the sunlight and stood out distinct with its gay tint
(17:31):
on the dark red of the cape. The yellow triangle
crept slowly from cliff to cliff till it cleared the
last point of land and shone brilliantly for a fleeting
moment on the blue of the open sea. Then the
Prow bore up to the southward. The light went out
of the sail, and all at once the vessel itself disappeared,
vanishing into the shadow of the steep headland that looked on,
(17:53):
patient and lonely, watching over the empty sea. All Meyer
never moved round the little islet. The air was full
of the talk of the rippling water. The crested wavelets
ran up the beach audaciously, joyously, with the lightness of
young life, and died quickly, unresistingly and graciously in the
wide curves of transparent foam on the yellow sand. Above
(18:17):
the white clouds sailed rapidly southwards, as if intent upon
overtaking something. Ali seemed anxious. Master. He said timidly, time
to get house. Now, long way off to pull already, sir, wait,
whispered almyer. Now she was gone. His business was to forget,
(18:38):
and he had a strange notion that it should be
done systematically, and in order to Ali's great dismay. He
fell on his hands and knees, and, creeping along the sand,
he raised carefully with his hand all traces of Nina's footsteps.
He piled up small heaps of sand, leaving behind him
a line of miniature graves right down to the water.
(19:01):
After burying the last slight imprint of Nina's slipper, he
stood up, and, turning his face towards the headland where
he had last seen the prow, he made an effort
to shout out loud against his firm resolve to never forgive. Ali,
watching him uneasily, saw only his lips move but heard
no sound. He brought his foot down with a stemp.
(19:23):
He was a firm man, firm as a rock. Let
her go. He never had a daughter he would forget.
He was forgetting already. Ali approached him, insisting on immediate departure,
and this time he consented, and they went together towards
their canoe, all Meyer leading. For all his firmness. He
(19:45):
looked very dejected and feeble as he dragged his feet
slowly through the sand on the beach, and by his side,
invisible to Ali, stalked that particular fiend, whose mission it
is to jog the memories of men, lest they should
forget the mean of life. He whispered in all Meyer's ear,
a childish prattle of many years ago. All Meyer, his
(20:07):
head then on one side, seemed to listen to his
invisible companion, But his face was like the face of
a man that has died, struck from behind, a face
from which all feelings and all expression are suddenly wiped
off by the hand of unexpected death. They slept on
the river that night, mooring their canoe under the bushes
(20:27):
and lying down in the bottom, side by side, in
the absolute exhaustion that kills, hunger, thirst, and all feeling
and all thought in the overpowering desire for that deep sleep,
which is like the temporary annihilation of the tired body.
Next day they started again and fought doggedly with the
current all the morning until about midday they reached the
(20:48):
settlement and made fast their little craft to the jetty
of Lingard and company. All Meyer walked straight to the
house and a leave followed, paddles on shoulder, thinking that
would like to eat something. As they crossed the front courtyard,
they noticed the abandoned look of the place. Ali looked
in at the different servants houses, all were empty. In
(21:11):
the back courtyard there was the same absence of sound
and light. In the cooking shed, the fire was out
and the black embers were cold. A tall, lean man
came stealthily out of the banana plantation and went away
rapidly across the open space, looking at them with big,
frightened eyes over his shoulder. Some vagabond without a master.
(21:32):
There were many such in the settlement, and they looked
upon Almyer as their patron. They prowled about his premises
and kicked their living there, sure that nothing worse could
befall them than a shower of curses when they got
in the way of the white men, whom they trusted
in light and called a fool amongst themselves. In the
house which Almyer entered through the back verandah, the only
(21:55):
living thing that met his eyes was a small monkey, which,
hungry and unnoticed for the last two days, began to
cry and complain in moncky language. As soon as it
caught sight of the familiar face, all Meyer soothed it
with a few words and ordered Ali to bring in
some bananas. Then, while Ali was gone to get them,
he stood in the doorway of the front veranda, looking
(22:16):
at the chaos of overturned furniture. Finally, he picked up
the table and sat on it, while the monkey let
himself down from the roofstick by its chain, and perched
on his shoulder. When the bananas came, they had their
breakfast together, both hungry, both eating greedily, and showering the
skins round them recklessly in the trusting silence of perfect friendship.
(22:38):
Ali went away, grumbling to cook some rice for himself,
for all the women about the house had disappeared. He
did not know where all Meyer did not seem to care,
and after he finished eating, he sat on the table,
swinging its legs and staring at the river as if
lost in thought. After some time he got up and
(22:59):
went to the door of a room on the right
of the verandah. That was the office, the office of
liding Guard and Company. He very seldom went in there.
There was no business now, and he did not want
an office. The door was locked, and he stood biting
his lower lip, trying to think of the place where
the key could be. Suddenly he remembered in the women's room,
(23:23):
hung upon a nail. He went over to the doorway,
where the red curtain hung down in motionless folds, and
hesitated for a moment before pushing it aside with his shoulder,
as if breaking down some solid obstacle. A great square
of sunshine, entering through the window lay on the floor.
On the left. He saw Missus Allmyer's big wooden chest,
(23:43):
the lid thrown back empty. Near it, the brass veils
of Nina's European trunk shown in the large initials n
A on the cover. A few of Nina's dresses hung
on wooden pegs, stiffened in a look of offended dignity
at their abandonment. He remembered making the peg himself, and
noticed that they were very good pegs. Where was the key?
(24:05):
He looked round and saw it near the door where
he stood. It was red with rust. He felt very
much annoyed at that, and directly afterwards wondered at his
own feeling what did it matter? There soon would be
no key, no door, nothing. He paused key and hand,
and asked himself whether he knew well what he was about.
(24:27):
He went out again on the veranda and stood by
the table thinking. The monkey jumped down and, snatching a
banana skin, absorbed itself in, picking it to shreds industriously. Forget,
muttered Almyer, and that word started before him a sequence
of events, a detailed program of things to do. He
(24:48):
knew perfectly well what was to be done now, first this,
then that, and then Forgetfulness would come easy, very easy.
He had a fixed idea that if he should not
forget before he died, he would have to remember to
all eternity certain things had to be taken out of
his life, stamped out of sight, destroyed, forgotten. For a
(25:12):
long time he stood in deep thought, lost in the
alarming possibilities of unconquerable memory, with the fear of death
and eternity before him. Eternity, he said aloud, and the
sound of that word recalled him out of his reverie.
The monkey started, dropped the skin, and grinned up at him. Amicably.
(25:32):
He went towards the office door, and with some difficulty,
managed to open it. He entered in a cloud of
dust that rose under his feet. Books open with torn
pages bestrewed the floor. Other books lay about, griming in black,
looking as if they had never been opened. Account books.
In those books he had intended to keep, day by
(25:52):
day a record of his rising fortunes, long time ago,
a very long time. For many years, there has been
no record to keep. On the blue and red ruled pages.
In the middle of the room, the big office desk,
with one of its legs broken, careened over like the
hull of a stranded ship. Most of the drawers had
fallen out, disclosing heaps of paper yellow with age and dirt.
(26:16):
The revolving office chair stood in its place, but he
found the pivot set fast when he tried to turn it.
No matter he desisted, and his eyes wandered slowly from
object to object. All those things had cost a lot
of money at the time. The desk, the paper, the
torn books, and the broken shelves, all under a thick
(26:37):
coat of dust, the very dust and bones of a
dead and gone business. He looked at all these things,
all that was left after so many years of work,
of strife, a weariness of discouragement, conquered so many times,
and all for what he stood, thinking mournfully of his
past life, till he heard distinctly the clear voice of
(26:59):
a ch child speaking amongst all this wreck, ruin and waste.
He started with a great fear in his heart, and
feverishly began to raken the papers scattered on the floor,
broke the chair of the bits, splintered the drawers by
banging them against the desk, and made a big heap
of all that rubbish in one corner of the room.
He came out, quickly slammed the door after him, turned
(27:21):
the key, and taking it out, ran to the front
rail of the verandah, and with a great swing of
his arm, sent the key whizzing into the river. This done,
he went back slowly to the table, called the monkey down,
unhooked its chain, and induced it to remain quiet in
the breast of his jacket. Then he sat again on
the table and looked fixedly at the door of the
(27:43):
room he had just left. He listened also intently. He
heard a dry sound of rustling, sharp cracks as of
dry woods snapping, a whirr like of a bird's wings
when it rises suddenly, and then he saw a thin
stream of smoke come through the keyhole. The monkey struggled
under his coat. Ali appeared with his eyes starting out
(28:05):
of his head. Master, how's burn, he shouted. Almyer stood up,
holding by the table. He could hear the yells of
alarm and surprise in the settlement. Ali wrung his hands
le mending aloud. Stop this noise, fool, said Almyer. Quietly,
pick up my hammock and blankets and take them to
the other house quick Now. The smoke burst through the
(28:27):
crevices of the door, and Ali, with the hammock in
his arms, cleared in one bound the steps of the Verandah.
It has caught well, muttered Almyer to himself. Be quiet, Jack,
he added, as the monkey made a frantic effort to
escape from its confinement. The door split from top to bottom,
and a rush of flame and smoke drove Almyer away
(28:47):
from the table to the front rail of the verandah.
He held on there till a great roar overhead assured
him that the roof was ablaze. Then he ran down
the steps of the verandah, coughing, half choked with the
smoke that pursued him, in blueish wreaths curling about his head.
On the other side of the ditch separating Almyer's courtyard
from the settlement, a crowd of the inhabitants of zambr
(29:10):
looked at the burning house of the White Man. In
the calm air, the flames rushed up on high colored
pale brick, red with violent gleams in the strong sunshine.
The thin column of smoke ascended straight and unwavering till
it lost itself in the clear blue of the sky.
And in the great empty space between the two houses,
the interested spectators could see the tall figure of the
(29:32):
twan Ptwo, with bowed head and driving feet, walking slowly
away from the fire, towards the shelter of Allmyer's folly.
In that manner did Almyer move into his new house.
He took possession of the new ruin, and in the
undying folly of his heart, set himself to wait in
anxiety and pain for that forgetfulness, which was so slow
(29:55):
to come. He had done all he could, every vestage
Anina's existence had been destroyed, and now with every sunrise
he asked himself whether the long, poor oblivion would come
before sunset, whether it would come before he died. He
wanted to live only long enough to be able to forget,
and the tenacity of his memory filled him with red
(30:17):
and horror of death, for should it come before he
could accomplish the purpose of his life, he would have
to remember forever. He also longed for loneliness. He wanted
to be alone, but he was not. In the dim
light of the rooms with their clothes shutters, in the
bright sunshine of the verandah, wherever he went, whichever way
(30:39):
he turned, he saw the small figure of a little maiden,
with pretty olive face, with long black hair, her little
pink robe slipping off her shoulders, her big eyes looking
up at him in the tender trustfulness of a petted child.
Ali did not see anything, but he also was aware
of the presence of a child in the house. In
(31:00):
his long talks by the evening fires of the settlement,
he used to tell his intimate friends of Almeyer's strange doings.
His master had turned sorcerer in his old age. Ali
said that often when Twan Patou had retired for the night,
he could hear him talking to something in his room.
Ali thought that it was a spirit in the shape
(31:21):
of a child. He knew his master spoke to a
child from certain expressions and words his master used. His
master spoke in Malay a little, but mostly in English,
which he Ali could understand. Master spoke to the child
at times tenderly. Then he would weep over it, laugh
at it, scold it, beg of it to go away,
(31:43):
curse it. It was a bad and stubborn spirit. Ali
thought his master had imprudently called it up and now
could not get rid of it. His master was very brave.
He was not afraid to curse this spirit in the
very presence, and once he fought with it, Lee had
heard a great noise as of running about inside the
room and groans. His master groaned. Spirits do not groan.
(32:08):
His master was brave but foolish. You cannot hurt the spirit.
Ali expected to find his master dead next morning, but
he came out very early, looking much older than the
day before, and had no food all day. So far,
Ali to the settlement to Captain Ford. He was much
more communicative, for the good reason that Captain Ford had
(32:31):
the purse and gave orders. On each of Ford's monthly
visits to Sambert, Ali had to go on board with
a report about the inhabitant of all Meyer's folly on
his first visit to samber after Nina's departure. Ford had
taken charge of all Meyer's affairs. They were not cumbersome.
The shed for the storage of goods was empty. The
(32:52):
boats had disappeared, appropriated generally in the night time by
various citizens of Sambier in need of means of trans
During a great flood, the jetty of Lingard and Company
left the bank and floated down the river, probably in
search of more cheerful surroundings. Even the flock of geese,
the only geese on the east coast, departed somewhere, preferring
(33:15):
the unknown dangers of the bush to the desolation of
their old home. As time went on, the grass grew
over the black patch of ground where the old house
used to stand, and nothing remained to mark the place
of the dwelling that had sheltered Almyer's young hopes, his
foolish dream of splendid future, his awakening, and his despair.
(33:37):
Ford did not often visit Almyre, for visiting Almyer was
not a pleasant task. At first, he used to respond
listlessly to the old seaman's boisterous inquiries about his health.
He even made efforts to talk, asking for news, in
a voice that made it perfectly clear that no news
from this world had any interest for him. Then gradually
(33:59):
he became more silent, not sulkily, but as if he
was forgetting how to speak. He used also to hide
in the darkest rooms of the house, where Ford had
to seek him out, guided by the patter of the
monkey galloping before him. The monkey was always there to
receive and introduce Ford. The little animal seemed to have
taken complete charge of its master, and whenever it wished
(34:22):
for his presence on the veranda, it would tug perseveringly
at his jacket till Almeyer obediently came out into the sunshine,
which he seemed to dislike so much. One morning, Ford
found him sitting on the floor of the veranda, his
back against the wall, his legs stretched swiftly out, his
arms hanging by his side. His expressionless face, his eyes
(34:45):
wide open with immobile pupils, and the rigidity of his
pose made him look like an immense mandal, broken and
flung there out of the way. As Ford came up
the steps, he turned his head slowly. Ford, he murmured
from the floor. I cannot forget, can't you? Said Ford innocently,
with an attempt at joviality. I wish I was like you.
(35:08):
I am losing my memory age. I suppose only the
other day, my mate, he stopped for Almeyer had got up, stumbled,
and steadied himself on his friend's arm. Hallo, you are
better to day. Soon be all right, said Ford, cheerfully,
but feeling rather scared. Almyer let go his arm and
stood very straight, with his head up and shoulders thrown back,
(35:32):
looking stonily at the multitude of suns shining in ripples
of the river. His jacket and his loose trousers flapped
in the breeze on his thin limbs. Let her go,
he whispered, in a grating voice. Let her go tomorrow,
I shall forget. I am a firm man, firm as
a rock ferm Ford looked at his face and fled.
(35:55):
The skipper was a tolerably firm man himself, as those
who had sailed with and could testify, but all Meyer's
firmness was altogether too much for his forty two. Next
time the steamer called in Sambert Ali came on board
early with a grievance. He complained to four that jim
Ag the Chinaman, had invaded Almayer's house and actually had
(36:17):
lived there for the last month. And they both smoked.
Added Ali, who opium you mean? Ali nodded, and Ford
remained thoughtful. Then he muttered to himself, poor devil. The
sooner the better. Now in the afternoon he walked up
to the house. What are you doing there, he asked
of Jim Aang, whom he found strolling about on the verandah.
(36:40):
Jim Aang explained it bad melee and, speaking in that monotonous,
uninterested voice of an opium smoker, pretty far gone that
his house was old, the roof leaked, and the floor
was rotten. So, being an old friend for many, many years,
he took his money, his opium and two pipes and
came to live in this big house. There is plenty
(37:02):
of room. He smokes, and I live here. He will
not smoke long, he concluded. Where is he now, asked Ford?
Inside he sleeps, answered jim Ang wearily. Ford glanced in
through the doorway. In the dim light of the room,
he could see almyre lying on his back on the floor,
his head on a wooden pillow, and the long white
(37:22):
beard scattered over his breast, the yellow skin of the face,
the half closed eyelids showing the whites of the eye only.
He shuddered and turned away. As he was leaving, he
noticed a long strip of faded red silk with some
Chinese letters on it, which jim Ang had just fastened
to one of the pillars. What's that, he asked, that,
said jim Eng in his colorless voice. That is the
(37:45):
name of the house, all the same, like my house,
very good name. Ford looked at him for a while
and went away. He did not know what the crazy
looking maze of the Chinese inscription on the red silk meant.
Had he asked jim that patient Chinaman would have informed
him with proper pride that its meaning was house of
(38:06):
heavenly delight. In the evening of the same day, Babolachi
called on Captain Ford. The captain's cabin opened on deck,
and Babolachi sat astride on the high step while Ford
smoked his pipe on the set tee inside. The steamer
was leaving next morning, and the old Statesman came as
usual for a last chat. We have news from Balley
(38:28):
last moon, remarked Babolachi. A grandson is born to the
old Rajah, and there is great rejoicing. Ford sat up interested, Yes,
went on Babolachi. In answer to Ford's look, I told
him that was before he began to smoke. Well, and what,
asked Ford? I escaped with my life, said Babolachi, with
perfect gravity, because the white man is very weak and
(38:51):
fell as he rushed upon me. Then, after a pause,
he added, she is mad with joy, missus Almeyer. You mean, yes,
she lived in a Raja's house. She will not die soon.
Such women live a long time, said Babulachi, with a
slight tinge of regret in his voice. She has dollars
and she has buried them. But we know where. We
(39:13):
had much trouble with those people. We had to pay
a fine and listen to threats from the white men,
and now we have to be careful. He sighed and
remained silent for a long while. Then with energy, there
will be fighting. There was a breath of war on
the islands. Shall I live long enough to see ah twan,
He went on more quietly. The old times were best.
(39:36):
Even I have sailed with la nun men and boarded
in the night silent ships with white sails. That was
before an English rajah ruled in Conching. Then we fought
amongst ourselves and were happy. Now when we fight with you,
we can only die. He rose to go. Twan, He said,
you remember the girl that Balanhi had her that caused
(39:58):
all the trouble, said Ford, what of her? She grew
thin and could not work. Then Balanji, who was a
thief and a pig eater, gave her to me for
fifty dollars. I sent her amongst my women to grow fat.
I wanted to hear the sound of her laughter. But
she must have been bewitched, and she died two days ago. Nay, twan,
(40:19):
why do you speak bad words? I am old, that
is true, But why should I not like the sight
of a young face at the sound of a young voice.
In my house, he paused, and then at it with
a little mournful laugh. I am like a white man,
talking too much of what is not men's talk when
they speak to one another. And he went off, looking
(40:40):
very sad. The crowd, masked in a semicircle before the steps
of Almeyer's folly, swayed silently backwards and forwards, and opened
out before the group of white robed and turbaned men
advancing through the grass towards the house. Abdullah walked first,
supported by Rashid, and followed by all the Arabs in
zambr As they entered the lane made by the respectful throng,
(41:03):
there was a subdued murmur of voices, where the word
mati was the only one distinctly audible. Abdullah stopped and
looked round slowly. Is he dead? He asked? May you live?
Answered the crowd in one shout, and then there succeeded
a breathless silence. Abdullah made a few paces forward and
found himself for the last time, face to face with
(41:26):
his old enemy. Whatever he might have been once, he
was not dangerous. Now, lying stiff and lifeless in the
tender light of the early day, the only white man
on the east coast was dead, and his soul, delivered
from the trammels of his earthly folly, stood now in
the presence of infinite wisdom. On the upturned face. There
(41:47):
was that serene look which follows a sudden releef from
anguish and pain, and it testified silently before the cloudless
heaven that the man lying there under the gaze of
indifferent eyes had been permitted to forgive before he died.
Abdullah looked down sadly at this infidel. He had fought
so long and had bested so many times. Such was
(42:11):
the reward of the faithful. Yet in the Arab's old
heart there was a feeling of regret for that thing
gone out of his life. He was leaving fast behind
him friendships and enmity's successes and disappointments, all that makes
up a life, and before him was only the end.
Prayer would fill up the remainder of the days allotted
(42:32):
to the true believer. He took in his hand the
beads that hung at his waist. I found him here
like this in the morning, said Ali in a low
and awed voice. Abdullah glanced coldly once more at the
serene face. Let us go, he said, addressing Rashid, And
as they passed through the crowd that fell back before them,
(42:53):
the beads in Abdullah's hand clicked, while in a solemn
whisper he breathed out piously the name of Allah, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. This is the end of Allmeyer's Folly. Recording
by Tom Weiss Tom's audiobooks dot com.
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