Chapter 8 Chapter VII

Harold Deckers, the second son, is 73 years old, two years younger than Anton.He is a widower and lives with his only daughter, Ina.Ina was married to Squire Del Fort, and they had three children: Lily, a young fair-haired woman, married to Officer Van Wely of the Artillery; two other boys, Pol and Gus, a One went to college, the other at grammar school. Ina Delbourg felt that her father's family and her social circle were not on the same level as a whole, which often made her unhappy.She agreed with Aunt Stephanie (and she often flattered her aunt for other reasons too) that it was a shame that Grandma married the noble Drad and then remarried the humble Dex. consider.Although Yi Na is also from the Dex family, if grandma hadn't remarried, it would be questionable whether she could be born.Yi Na didn't think so far: she just regretted not being part of the Dradd family, and it would be best not to mention Papa's family at the same time.Because of this, she didn't recognize Uncle Anton either.In her social circle, he was a notorious old guy, and his affairs were often heard.Still, he was a rich man, so she had to keep an eye on his every move, especially to get the young Van Welys to be nice to the uncle.Although Yi Na is small-minded, she is a good daughter and a good mother, so she is very happy that Uncle Anton left all the money to her children.Then, there is Uncle Daniel's family in East India.Uncle Daniel was Baba's business partner in Java and he always came to Holland regularly.Well, Ina is also happy when his business is good, because that means a lot of money for the family; but every time Uncle Daniel and his chubby East Indian Aunt Flor board the return cruise, Ina It would be fun too--because, frankly, they're both unrefined--look at Uncle's East Indian eccentricity, and Aunt's half-breed, of course Ina's ashamed of her!Well, after that, there was Aunt Therese van der Staaff in Paris.She lived a bohemian life, then converted to Catholicism—oh, here it is again, and it's a strange thing!Drard has always been, and Delbourg has always been Walloon: to be honest, Walloon is more refined than Catholicism, at least it must be in The Hague.Why!In any case, it would be better... never to mention Aunt Therese.

The last one I have to mention is Aunt Ottilie Stern de Weert who lives in The Hague.Heck, married three times and divorced twice!She had a daughter who was a singer and depraved, and a son who had written two lewd novels.Oh, you know, how horrible it was for Ina Delbourg, that kind of novel is not only badly written, but full of mistakes.Moreover, all her acquaintances knew her as Aunt Ottilie, although she never mentioned Aunt Ottilie and her three husbands-three husbands who were all still alive!Whenever Ina Delberg thought of Aunt Stein de Weert, her languid but elegant eyes would cast a helpless look and then sigh; The disappointment is what the Asselmond family looks like.She thought that she inherited mostly her mother's noble lineage, that is, the lineage with the descendants of Ithelmond, and her father's Dex blood lineage was much less.As the only child in the family, she was able to get into a higher-class social circle than her father's "East Indian circle" through the aunts of the Ethelmond family-although the so-called East Indian social circle at her father's house may not be real. Existence, because the Deckers are almost unknown in social circles.There seemed to be a ghetto around the family, and they knew very few people.Even her mother hadn't been able to get my father to go any further socially as an expert on East India affairs—going to the colonies for a job or something—although she had tried hard to do so.

However, this is not his mother's fault, because even if he pulls it hard, his father can't get rid of his natural cowardly character like a stuffy pot.Although he is very gentlemanly and gentle, and often attends those seemingly important meetings, he also hosts dinners and attends dinners, but he is still him, a quiet and gentle businessman.She silently endured the physical and mental torture caused by eye and mouth diseases, never complained, and always kept silent.Today's Harold Deckers is a tall, thin old man who, after years of suffering from an ailment in which fitful torment and consistent silence aggravated each other, seemed unable to continue hide it.But he never mentioned those things to others, except occasionally to his personal doctor, but not much.Other than that he was taciturn and never talked about himself, not even his brother Dahn (though Dahn would go to Holland regularly on business matters that both of them were interested in) .

Ina Delbourg was a good daughter.When her father was sick, she took care of him with the same care and tenderness that she tended to all the things in the house.However, she often wondered whether her mother would be disappointed in this marriage. After all, her father had been doing business in the East India, but he didn't have much money.Yes, at least my mother was disappointed with my father financially, and at the same time, this kind of financial trouble often troubled Yi Na.Ina's husband, Leopold Delberg, first wanted to pursue a diplomatic career after obtaining a law degree. little lawyer.This is her life, Yi-na thinks as she tidies up the housework—always longing for wealth but always penniless.Yes, they lived in a big house now, and my father was generous enough to cover all the expenses of Pol's presence; , she is still very happy to get more money and a bigger fortune.And that's why she was so kind to Aunt Stephanie Dradd, and she took care of Uncle Anton secretly.

Fate still seems to be playing tricks on her.Contrary to what she expected, her daughter Lily did not wait patiently for a few more years to find her a son-in-law who would take the long way. Instead, she fell in love with the penniless when she was less than 20 years old. Wen's Adjutant Fritz Van Weli.Yi Na was powerless to stop this, especially at the end, her father said: "Fulfill the happiness of the children!..." He gave a sum of money, and they remained destitute; but Fritz and Lily married anyway, and had a boy soon after.Afterwards, the only thing Ina could persuade the children to do was to name the baby after Aunt Stephanie.

"Stephenus?" Lily yelled in amazement. Cough, let's do it for the sake of clean ears!They named the boy Steve, which sounded good, because my aunt couldn't hear the name Etienne either.In fact, Ina liked Stephenus Anton better; but Fritz and Lily would never agree to that name. Ina Delbourg has always adhered to a principle that she never talks about money or her family, but this principle is extremely difficult to follow, because the Delbourg family always talks about money and family.Ina and her husband were fond of talking about these two topics, and now that Lo Poff and Ellie Tacoma were engaged, the conversation turned here naturally.After dinner one day, Harold Deckers was sitting quietly looking ahead.

"How much do you think they'll get, Dad?" Ina asked. The old man waved his hand indiscriminately, and continued to stare ahead. "Law, of course he has nothing," said Del Fort. "His parents are still alive. I'd say he makes a few bucks writing articles, but certainly not much." "How much does he get for writing an article?" Ina asked, wanting to know all about it anyway. "I don't know, I have no idea at all!" Del Fort shouted. "Do you think he's going to get anything from old Bove? He lives in Brussels, doesn't he?"

"Yes, but old Bove still has nothing!" "And where's Aunt Ottilie? Her father left her some money, you know. Styne ain't got no money, eh, father? Besides, why should Styne give Lo money?" "Yes," Delberg said, "but old Mr. Tacoma has plenty, and Ellie's sure to get some from him." "I really can't figure out how they can survive," Ina said. "But they won't get any less money than Lily and Fritz." "But I still can't understand how those two survive!" Ina retorted. "Then you should find a rich owner for your daughter!"

"Forget it," Ina said, with a glance like the people of Ijthelmond, and then wearily closed those elegant eyes, "let's stop talking about money, I'm so tired. Other people's money, I What a fuss. I don't care what other people do...but I still think grandma is richer than we think." "I know about how many she has," Delberg said. "The solicitor Dillhoff mentioned the other day..." "How much?" Yi Na asked anxiously, her tired eyes lit up immediately. However, when Delberg saw the pained expression on his father-in-law's face—the whole face was wrinkled, and he didn't know whether it was physical or psychological pain, gastritis or worry——he obediently avoided it. opened this question.However, even though the father-in-law looked in pain, it was not easy to keep silent immediately, so he said:

"Our Aunt Stephanie must have been quite well off, too." "Yes, but I thought," said Ina, "that Uncle Anton must be richer than Aunt Stephanie, since he used to be an administrator in the East Indies and saved a good deal of money. He was single and never had fun, I'm sure of that. When he left there eight years later, the house he lived in was falling apart." "Uncle Anton is a voluptuous man," Delberg said, loudly, "this has cost him a lot of money." "No!" said Harold Dirks. He seemed to have uttered this sentence with great pain, and shook his hand in protest.But as soon as he opened his mouth to defend his brother, he regretted it, because Yi Na had already begun to ask eagerly:

"No? Dad, Uncle Anton's life is a bit shameful..." Del Fort also asked, "If he doesn't spend money, how can he spend his days and nights like a beast?" Harold Deckers paused, trying to think of his argument, and finally said: "Women like Anton..." "Women? Are you talking about sluts?" "No, no!" retorted Harold Deckers, waving his bony old hands in protest against the notion. "Hush!" Ina said, looking around. The boys walk in. "Besides, Uncle Anton was sued in court thirty years ago!" Del Fort continued. "No, it's not." Harold Dirks continued to retort. College student Pole and his brother Gus walked in, and that night, money and family were off the table, and thanks to the boys, they had a pleasant after-dinner tea time.Ina was indeed a good mother, and the children were well disciplined by her: the two of them always had a great time setting the mood.But because the old grandpa was home, they weren't noisy, so they often made their grandpa feel cozy; they were both very polite, which pleased Ina, who was convinced that this one advantage of Pol and Gus was definitely not Learned it from the Dex family.Every time Grandpa got up and went upstairs to the study, Gus would fly to the door and open it respectfully.The old man would nod kindly to his grandson, pat him on the shoulder, and go upstairs.It can also be seen from this that Yi Na is a good daughter who is filial to her father, although she also has her shortcomings.Harold liked living in her house.Because, if he lived alone, he would be very lonely.Moreover, he was very fond of the two boys in the family, who represented something young and immature, whose life was always so light and happy, and which, unlike other things, passed away slowly and frightfully, for as long as For decades... In the study, Harold Dirks lit the gas lamp, sank into a chair, and stared ahead.Life sometimes conceals things, and once it has smothered the horrors of life, they are less terrible, until death comes and wipes them out, and they disappear, however slowly they disappear. will pass away.But these things disappear very slowly.Now he's old, 73, old and frail, an old bone limping to his grave (which he'd long since wanted to go into).How much has he suffered!He didn't understand why he had lived to such an old age, and those things faded away so slowly.Those past events seem to drag a long veil, walking on a long road, the veil brushes across the road, and the dancing leaves rustle.For the rest of his life he watched these things go by, and he often couldn't understand how a person could watch them dangling before his eyes again and again without a nervous breakdown!The stories dragged the veil, the leaves rustled, the vague threats never translated into action, and no one ever came from behind the tree.The path in front of him was still deserted, winding forward, and ghostly things passed along the road... Sometimes their ghostly eyes looked around, sometimes they continued on the road, dragging their feet.They never stopped.He watched them pass silently through his childhood and youth, when he was only the age of Pol and Gus; He watched them pass silently through his accidental marriage to a woman (in which he was vaguely with her, even she looked for him in a daze): there is no doubt that he kept looking, looking at the things, those things that were moving and passing before his eyes, and could do nothing... Then, He coughed in pain, and even felt pain in his chest and stomach, and his shriveled legs trembled... Oh, how much longer, how much longer would he be looking at these things?They pass, pass and linger... Oh, why don't they pass sooner?Back then he was a happy, playful 13-year-old boy, playing barefoot in the river in front of the assistant administrator's office building, rejoicing in fruits, vegetables, birds and animals, and rejoicing in the joys of childhood that Javanese boys can have.He ran in the open space, played by the rushing river, and climbed tall trees full of red flowers.But then, on a sweltering night, when a lightning flashed for the first time across the dark sky and the rain poured down in a torrent, he saw those things, for the first time, he saw the first terrible thing!From that moment on, confusion crawled into his sensitive heart like a monster. Although it did not destroy the child, it completely controlled him from then on, holding him tightly with its minions... Throughout his life, he always looked at Seeing that thing, the terrible things that happened that night, played out before his eyes again, like a phantom.That night, he must have had a fever, and the heavy and dreary night made him unable to sleep. The rain was blocked by the strong and seamless canvas, and there was no air for him to breathe.phantom?No, it was something he saw with his own eyes, a real thing... It was a deserted cottage in the mountains: my father was on sick leave, and he--the father's sweetheart--was there with his parents, and the other siblings stayed at the assistant sheriff's house in town. He couldn't fall asleep, so he shouted: "Nanny, come and stay with me!..." She didn't answer.where is sheUsually she would just lie on the straw mat outside his door and wake up when she shouted. "Nanny, nanny, come here!" He began to panic a little.He was a big boy, but he was also afraid, because he had a fever like his father--the night was so sweltering that an earthquake was about to strike. "nanny!……" She is not there. He struggled to get up, but was entangled in the mosquito net. His body was weak due to the fever, coupled with the fear in his heart, he couldn't open it at once... When he finally broke free from the layers of tulle, he was about to wake up from the mosquito net again. During the few babysitting calls, he heard someone whispering in the corridor behind... The blood in the boy's body froze suddenly.He thought of thieves, of bandits... He was terrified... No, no, they didn't speak Javanese, they weren't bandits.They spoke Dutch with a few words of Malay mixed in.Then he recognized the nanny's voice.He tried to scream, but couldn't scream out of fear... what were they doing, what happened?The boy was sweating and cold.Then he heard his mother's voice again, and Mr. Emil, Mr. Tacoma, the secretary who was always in the town assistant magistrate's room... Oh, it's dark outside, what are they doing?He was terrified at first, and now he's colder and shivering, not knowing what it's all about... What the hell is going on?What were Mama and Mr. Tacoma and Ma Potten doing out at night?Curiosity finally surpassed fear.He suppressed no sound, except for the chattering of his teeth; he opened the door carefully not to let it creak.The corridor in the middle is very dark, and the corridor behind is also dark... "Shh, nanny, shhh! Oh, my God, shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhmhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh)"" "He's asleep, sir..." "Let the guard hear you! . . . " "He's asleep, madam..." "My God, my God, if he wakes him, he... Oh, babysitter, babysitter, what are we going to do?" "Keep it down, Ottilie, keep it down, I..." "There's nothing else to do, ma'am. Throw it in the river, throw it in the river!" "Oh my God, oh my God! No, no, don't throw it in the river!" "Keep your voice down, Ottilie!" "Oh my God! No! Don't throw it in the river!" "It's the only way, Ottilie! Be quiet, don't make a sound! Keep your mouth shut, I say! Do you want us both to be taken...for murder?" "Me? I killed him?" "I had no choice! I did it in self-defense! You hate him, Ottilie, but I don't. We did it together." "Oh my God! No, no!" "Don't try to wipe your guilt away!" "No, no, no!" "It was you who held onto him..." "Yes, don't..." "Then I took his dagger!" "Yes Yes……" "Shh, ma'am! Shhh!" "Oh, my God, my God, it thundered! . . . Oh, what a thunderbolt, what a thunderbolt!" Rolling thunder echoed in the mountains, over and over, over and over again.The pouring rain poured down, as if the canvas was being torn apart... Then the boy heard his mother screaming. "Be quiet, Ottilie, be quiet!" "I can't stand it, I'm going to faint!" "Shut up! Grab his leg. Nurse, you grab that!" "Blood...on the floor..." "Erase it." "Hurry up, madam, oh, hurry up! . . . go to the river first . . . " "Oh, my! Oh, my!" The boy had a fever, his teeth were chattering, his eyes were wide open, and his heart was pounding.He was terrified, but he couldn't help but want to see it.He didn't understand what happened, but the more it happened, the more he wanted to see clearly.A child's curiosity makes him want to see that terrible thing which he does not yet understand.Barefoot, he walked quietly through the dark corridor without making any sound.With the faint light outside...he saw it!Saw that horrible thing!A flash of lightning made people tremble; a burst of thunder sounded like a mountain avalanche... But he saw it!He saw a blurry vision of something on their shoulders... his mother, Monsieur Emile, and Ma Potten, and what they were carrying... seemed to be a person!He was a kid and didn't realize who that would be.He thought only of horrible people and things, of robbers and gold and jewels, of the dreadful stories in the storybooks... Who did they carry through the garden?Couldn't Papa hear them?He didn't wake up?Sleep so deeply? Now he could not hear them, they disappeared into the garden.Why didn't even the guard hear the sound?All was still, all was lost in the darkness, in the rain.He only saw the heavy rain pouring down, torrentially pouring down.He thought, it must be because of the violent rain that his father and the doorman did not hear all this. ... Another flash of lightning flashed across the sky, and another burst of heavy rain fell ... He had a fever, felt the bone-piercing cold, and shivered all over.Suddenly, he felt that his bare feet stepped on something warm and sticky...it was blood, coagulated blood... He was so frightened that he froze in place, unable to move a step.He just stood there, his teeth chattering constantly, and the sound of rain was all around him... He was going to wake up his father, and he was going to curl up under his father's protection, hide in his arms, cry and panic crying!He groped his way back to the middle hallway again, and saw that the door to his mother's room was open, and a small lamp shone faintly.And his feet felt a sticky warmth again - it was blood, sticky blood, spreading on the carpet - trapped in this terrible mud, he was trembling with fright at the moment.But he still wanted to go there, to pick up the little lamp and take it to Dad's room, even though it was so far away that he had to go all the way down the corridor.Finally, he went to the little lamp and took it down.In mother's room, the bed was in a mess, and the pillow was on the floor... He saw the almost black blood on the ground again... He was terrified, and another wave of chill hit him.Holding the lamp carefully, he stepped aside, dodging a short knife under his feet--that beautiful decorative knife, which the magistrate gave Papa just yesterday!Now it's lying on the ground... and the blade is red!At this moment, everything he saw in his childish eyes was covered in a terrible red.Oh, the corridor is full of frightening bright red and shaking shadows, and the weak man, holding a small lamp, walks through the corridor, terrified and hot all over.Maybe he's dreaming... He goes to Dad's room: "Pa... Pa! Oh, Pa... Oh, Pa... Pa...!" He was very frightened and stammered calling for his father.Without his father's protection, he was completely at a loss.He opened Dad's door: "Daddy, oh daddy, oh daddy!" Holding the lamp in his hand, he climbed onto the bed.Dad should be sleeping on the bed, but now he's gone... Where is Dad?Suddenly, everything became clear in his young heart.He thought of the terrible thing he had just seen, that horrible, bloody nightmare.The one they carried through the garden to the river in the heavy rain just now...was dad, his dad!Mother, Monsieur Emil, and the man Nanny Potten was carrying out of the house...it was Dad!He was alone at home... Papa was dead... they were carrying him to the river... he saw that horrible sight again... the thing was shaking before his eyes... and it was going to keep shaking Go down... As if he had grown up suddenly, he closed the door of his father's room, walked back, put back his mother's little lamp, and returned to his room.He was trembling in the dark, his teeth chattered involuntarily, his eyes were wide open, staring ahead.He groped in the dark, washed his feet, and immediately threw the towel into the laundry basket.He crawled back into bed, drew the mosquito net, and pulled the sheet over his ears.He lay there, feverish and trembling, the iron bedstead beneath him creaking and trembling with his body.He was alone in the villa and saw the terrible secret: in the lightning and thunder, he first saw the whole process of the matter, and then he saw the hallucination after he understood the truth of the matter.He curled up, trembling... how long was this going to last?How long will it last? ... Half an hour, three quarters of an hour ... He heard the nurse come back, Ma Poten murmured and sobbed, and Ma Potten said softly: "Shh, ma'am, hush! . . . " "They must have seen us!" "No, there's nobody there...Think of Master Harold, ma'am!..." Then everything fell silent... deathly silence... The boy lay on the bed, feverish and shaking.Throughout the night, he kept staring, and the scene just now appeared in front of his eyes... From then on, what he saw that night has been haunting his eyes until he gets old... The next day, someone found Dad's body among the boulders in the river.It is speculated that he died because of a jealous quarrel with a woman.But Dr. LeLoves found that the wound was only caused by a sharp stone. It should be that Dex tried to hug the stone when he drowned... There is no need to believe the rumors of the locals... It is not likely to be murder... The final draft report It's like this: During the temporary stay in the villa, Dex, the assistant administrator, couldn't sleep due to fever and hot weather, so he went out at night to breathe.The doorman was a little puzzled when he heard him go out, after all, it was raining heavily at the time.But it wasn't the first time that the master couldn't sleep at night and went for a walk in the woods.But then, he got lost.The river swelled, and the river was full of big rocks. He couldn't swim away, and unfortunately drowned on this stormy night.The next day, when Mrs. Deckers got up for an early walk, she was very disturbed to find that her husband was not in the room, and his body was soon found by the locals in the lowlands not far from the mountain villa. Harold Deckers sat, staring straight ahead. In the dark and quiet business-style study, he watched the scenes of that day pass by before him bit by bit, but he dragged his feet and moved slowly... He didn't notice that the door opened and his daughter Yi Na walked in . "Father……" He didn't answer. "Father! Father..." He was startled. "I've come to say goodnight to you... What are you thinking about, Father?" Harold Deckers put his hand on his forehead: "It's okay, honey... just some things... old things..." He watched them, watched them go by, dragging their ghostly veils, rustling through fallen leaves.Also, and, on that endless road, behind those trees, is there something terrifying hidden? ... "Old things? Oh, father, those things are in the past. I... I never think about the past, the present is enough for the poor..." She kissed him goodnight. No, those old things are not in the past...although they are passing, bit by bit, but so slowly!

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