Retief

“ Yith whispered. "Shell-less shall you spring in the joy of renewed youth—"
"Maybe just one eye," said Whonk grudgingly. "That would leave him four."
"Be a sport," said Retief.
"Well."
"It's a deal then," said Retief. "Yith, on your word as a diplomat, an alien, a soft-back and a skunk, you'll set up the mission. Groaci surgical skill is an export that will net you more than armaments. It will be a whissle feather in your cap—if you bring it off. And in return, Whonk won't sit on you. And I won't prefer charges of interference in the internal affairs of a free world." ”

“ Then Piet Retief appeared from somewhere dressed in tall boots and rough riding clothes, such as the Boers wore in those days. Handing the roer he was carrying to one of his sons, after much fumbling he produced a book from his pocket, in which the place was marked with a piece of grass.
“Now then,” he said, “be silent, all, and show respect, for remember I am not a man just now. I am a parson, which is quite a different thing, and, being a commandant and a veld cornet and other officers all rolled into one, by virtue of the law I am about to marry these young people, so help me God. ”

“ And even for a man of high position, retirement is no pleasure. A slab in the Park of Monuments is little better. A dismal outlook for one's next thousand years!"
"You two carry on to the police station," said Retief. "I want to play a hunch. But don't take too long. I may be painfully right."
"What—?" Magnan started.
"As you wish, Retief," said Whonk.
The flat-car trundled past the gate to the shipyard and Retief jumped down, headed at a run for the VIP boat. The guard post still stood vacant. The two Youths whom he and Whonk had left trussed were gone. ”

“ The interpreter wore an unreadable Yill expression.
"It is against our religion," Retief said.
"Againsst?"
"We are votaries of the Snake Goddess," Retief said. "It is a sacrilege to crawl." He brushed past the interpreter [13] and marched toward the distant table.
The others followed.
Puffing, the ambassador came to Retief's side as they approached the dozen empty stools on the far side of the square opposite the brocaded position of the Admirable F'Kau-Kau-Kau. ”

“ No one ever takes them seriously."
"You and the Aga Kaga ought to get together," said Retief. "He's a great one for citing historical parallels. He's not a bad fellow, as a matter of fact. I have an invitation from him to visit Kaga and go mud-pig hunting. He was so impressed by Corps methods that he wants to be sure we're on his side next time. Why don't you come along?"
"Hmmm. Perhaps I should cultivate him. A few high-level contacts never do any harm. On the other hand, I understand he lives in a very loose way, feasting and merrymaking. Frivolous in the extreme. ”

“ Retief said. "You may have something there. But I'm wondering what they'll study on d'Land. That's an industrial world of the poor but honest variety."
"Academic details are the affair of the students and their professors," Magnan said. "Our function is merely to bring them together. See that you don't antagonize the Bogan representative. This will be an excellent opportunity for you to practice your diplomatic restraint—not your strong point, I'm sure you'll agree."
A buzzer sounded. Retief punched a button. "What is it, Miss Furkle?"
"That—bucolic person from Lovenbroy is here again." ”

“ Miss Meuhl said, eyeing Retief over her lenses. "There are two gentlemen waiting to see you. Groacian gentlemen."
"Government men, I imagine. Word travels fast." Retief pulled off his cape. "This saves me the trouble of paying another call at the Foreign Ministry."
"What have you been doing? They seem very upset, I don't mind telling you."
"I'm sure you don't. Come along. And bring an official recorder."
Two Groaci wearing heavy eye-shields and elaborate crest ornaments indicative of rank rose as Retief entered the room. Neither offered a courteous snap of the mandibles, Retief noted. ”

“ Plavec (Interrupting) .—But if the young girl without constraint—
Mrs. Rettig.—Must constraint be in words, threats, promises? May it not come from a sense of gratitude, when that suddenly flashes forth? When a physician saves the father of a poor family, the wage-earner; when he cares for them in illness and otherwise—
Plavec (Disturbed) .—What, what, do you think that—?
Mrs. Rettig.—Friend and patriot, never in your life have you received such a fee, the blood of a young heart. ”

“ As an honest man, I pay the money; the rest does not concern me."
"You are quite right," said Lady Rety; "but the world judges differently."
"Of course the world does; but then it is always wrong. However, the world will never know of this business."
"I, too, should think so, if those papers were still at Vandory's," returned Lady Rety; "but they are at Tengelyi's. His house is much frequented; besides, there is a watchman at night." ”

“ Catspaw, somewhat startled by the sudden turn of the debate.
"Of course you are!" said Lady Rety. "I declare it's quite amusing! To think that I should have forgotten that I have no reason whatever to care for them since the young gentleman told me his mind! And as for you, my dear sir, indeed it grieves me, but your conduct of this evening will certainly induce me to re-consider my promise,—about the grant, you know."
[Pg 231] "Nothing more natural. The papers have possibly lost their former value in your ladyship's eyes; nothing can be more natural, woman's heart is so changeable! ”

“ Rettig.—But she makes the dumplings well.
Plavec.—Yesterday she forgot about them entirely. So you may be sure that I told her this morning to have them on hand today.
Mrs. Rettig.—I should think so; they don't make them so well in any other place.
Plavec.—No indeed—das heisst, [54] madam, in your house—
Mrs. Rettig (Merrily) .—Careful, careful; you'll get caught in the net! I know what you said to Ančka.—But I asked you to call—
Plavec (Sitting down as if weary) .—Is some one ill?
Mrs. Rettig.—You yourself, doctor, your heart. But you won't admit it. ”

“ Girl, I defy thee and all the world. Ready, I say, like a foaming charger, to devour the space between this and Rotterdam, and strong to combat the ills of life, even poverty and old age, which last philosophers have called the 'summum malum.' Negatur; unless the man's life has been ill-spent—which, by the by, it generally has. ”

“ Nothing is more painful to a man of quick and ardent feelings than to be compelled to inactivity, as was the case with young Rety while the events which we have sought to record were passing around him. His feverish anxiety, his petulance, and his obstinacy exceeded all bounds; he would certainly have left his room, and taken an active part in Viola's liberation, had not Etelka informed him of Vilma's anxiety for his safety, and her urgent entreaties that he should not leave his room without the permission either of Vandory or the doctor. ”

“ Rejsek.—I am always eager for books, madam. Reading is a part of one's life. I have read splendid things.
Mrs. Rettig.—I have heard that you own a good many books.
Rejsek.—I do: Melantrich, [49] Hájek, [50] "The Labyrinth of the World [51] ," "The History of the World," and various stories, one of Mount Blanik; [52] he who wrote that, I must say, did a fine piece of work.
Chadima (Unable to restrain himself, bursts forth) .—And Rejsek here, too, madam, will have a sign that is a Bohemian sign.
Mrs. Rettig—That was a dirty trick that they played on your sign. ”

“ A match between Miss Rety and his son had always been among his pet projects. Urged on by the conviviality of the day, he had undertaken to address the Retys, and to solicit their daughter's hand for Mr. Kalman Kishlaki, his son and heir. Rety's answer to this unexpected offer was that he could not presume to judge of his daughter's inclinations; and the Lady Rety, in her turn, gave Mr. Kishlaki to understand that it would be more wise to reserve matters of such moment for the period after the election. The good man was too much excited to understand the real [Pg 129] meaning of these answers. ”

“ Rettig.—You will miss her.
Plavec (Testily) .—Yes, I shall, but now that she's still here— (stops short) and—and—she didn't even make the dumplings and everything else—
Mrs. Rettig.—She burned and oversalted. That's the way a cook does when she's in love. And a doctor in love fumes and frets. O happy lover!
Plavec.—O happy lover! (Seats himself on the bench.) O me O my!—An accepted lover, and I hardly get a glimpse of my lady except to see her dancing with other men. (Angrily.) The students chase after her as if they had formed a conspiracy. ”

“ He thought night and day of his daughter's fate and nourished a faint hope that the labourer Regel would return sooner or later, and by telling the truth would wash away the stain of dishonesty which had been fastened upon him. ”

“ Mrs. Rettig.—And how will it be when the balls begin! You surely will not keep your young wife at home.
Plavec.—No, to be sure, of course not.
Mrs. Rettig.—She will be dancing; and you will sit up for her, till midnight, past midnight, till dawn.
Plavec.—And I go to bed before ten!
Mrs. Rettig.—You will be slumbering there and the young gentlemen will dance attendance on your young wife.
Plavec.—Well, das heisst [68] — (stops himself.) Madam— (Hesitates.) Never mind about the students—but—Ančka this noon was mumbling something to me about the count's huntsman. You too mentioned him. ”

“ But perhaps there are in us forces other than mind and heart, other even than the senses—mysterious forces which take hold of us in the moments when the others are asleep; and perhaps it was such forces that Melchior had found in the depths of those pale eyes which had looked at him so timidly one evening when he had accosted the girl on the bank of the river, and had sat down beside her in the reeds—without knowing why—and had given her his hand. ”

“ She talked that night of all those out in the dark (she was thinking of Esteban alone, she was thinking of Pepita alone) who had no one to turn to, for whom the world perhaps was more than difficult, without meaning. ”

“ —Go—says he, one day at dinner, to an over-grown one which had buzzed about his nose, and tormented him cruelly all dinner-time,—and which after infinite attempts, he had caught at last, as it flew by him;—I'll not hurt thee, says my uncle Toby, rising from his chair, and going across the room, with the fly in his hand,—I'll not hurt a hair of thy head:—Go, says he, lifting up the sash, and opening his hand as he spoke, to let it escape;—go, poor devil, get thee gone, why should I hurt thee?—This world surely is wide enough to hold both thee and me. ”

“ “Such,” said Nekayah, “is the state of life, that none are happy but by the anticipation of change; the change itself is nothing; when we have made it the next wish is to change again. The world is not yet exhausted: let me see something to-morrow which I never saw before.” ”

“ I smile at the suggestions of my heart, and obey its dictates.
JULY 29.
No, no! it is yet well all is well! I her husband! O God, who gave me being, if thou hadst destined this happiness for me, my whole life would have been one continual thanksgiving! But I will not murmur—forgive these tears, forgive these fruitless wishes. She—my wife! Oh, the very thought of folding that dearest of Heaven's creatures in my arms! Dear Wilhelm, my whole frame feels convulsed when I see Albert put his arms around her slender waist!
And shall I avow it? Why should I not, Wilhelm? ”

“ I am convinced, Yorick, continued my father, half reading and half discoursing, that there is a North-west passage to the intellectual world; and that the soul of man has shorter ways of going to work, in furnishing itself with knowledge and instruction, than we generally take with it.—But, alack! ”

“ Leithen's story had bored and puzzled me at the start, but now it had somehow gripped my fancy. Space a domain of endless corridors and Presences moving in them! The world was not quite the same as an hour ago. It was the hour, as the French say, "between dog and wolf," when the mind is disposed to marvels. ”

“ Now, when all these troubles have been long over and I can think over them calmly, reflecting on the annoyances I experienced at Amsterdam, where I might have been so happy, I am forced to admit that we ourselves are the authors of almost all our woes and griefs, of which we so unreasonably complain. ”

“ Many days passed before we could speak to the Golden One again. But then came the day when the sky turned white, as if the sun had burst and spread its flame in the air, and the fields lay still without breath, and the dust of the road was white in the glow. So the women of the field were weary, and they tarried over their work, and they were far from the road when we came. But the Golden One stood alone at the hedge, waiting. We stopped and we saw that their eyes, so hard and scornful to the world, were looking at us as if they would obey any word we might speak. ”

“ Now there is nothing in this world I abominate worse, than to be interrupted in a story—and I was that moment telling Eugenius a most tawdry one in my way, of a nun who fancied herself a shell-fish, and of a monk damn'd for eating a muscle, and was shewing him the grounds and justice of the procedure—
'—Did ever so grave a personage get into so vile a scrape?' quoth Death. ”

“ "Eh, Manuel, and will you re-model the world?"
"Who knows?" says Manuel, in the high pride of his youth. "At all events, I do not mean to leave it unaltered." ”