Chapter 51 fifty one

When I finished telling the story to Tiare, she praised my sharpness of perspective.After this we worked with our heads down for a few minutes, and no one spoke again, for we were peeling beans.Her eyes never let go of what happened in the kitchen, and after a while, she saw the Chinese chef do something she disapproved of, and she immediately scolded him a lot, but the Chinese He didn't show any weakness, so you started an extremely fierce verbal battle with each other.They used the local dialect when they scolded each other, and I could only understand five or six words. It gave me the impression that the end of the world was coming soon.But it was not long before peace was restored, and Tiare actually handed the chef a cigarette.Both of them puffed up the clouds comfortably.

"You know, I found his wife," Tiare said suddenly, a wide smile on his face. "The chef's wife?" "No, Strickland's." "He already has it." "That's what he said. But I told him her wife is in England, and England is on the other side of the world." "Not bad," I replied. "Every two or three months, when he needs paint, or tobacco, or is short of money, he comes to Papeete. When he gets here, he always wanders around like a stray dog ​​without a master." You Xidang, I look so pitiful. I hired a girl here to help me clean up the room. Her name is Aita. She is a distant relative of mine. Both parents died, so I had to take her in. Si Te Rickland sometimes comes to my place to have a full meal, or to play a game of chess with one of my workers. I found that Ata stared at him every time he came. I asked her Did she like this guy. She said she liked him a lot. You know what these girls are like, they like to find a white guy."

"Is Ata a local?" I asked. "Yes, not a drop of white blood. So, after I had talked to her, I sent for Strickland, and I said to him, 'O Strickland, It's time for you to make a home here too. You shouldn't hang out with the women on the docks at your age. There ain't no good people there, and you can't do well with them. You ain't got no money, You can't do anything long, not two months. No one will hire you now. Even if you say you can live with some native people in the jungle forever, they will live with you, because You're a white man, but it's not a good life for a white man. Now I've got an idea for you, Strickland.'"

Tiare spoke alternately in French and English, for she was equally fluent in both.When she spoke, her tone was like singing, and it sounded very melodious.If the bird could speak English, you would think it was speaking in this tone. "'Listen, how do you marry Ata? She's a nice girl, and she's only seventeen. She never messes around like some girls here—better than a captain or a mate, that sort of thing. It happened, but never messed with the locals. She's very self-loving, you know. The last time the Oahu came here, the purser on board told me that he was on all these islands I've never met a better girl than her. It's time for her to find a home, and besides, the captain and the mate always want a change from time to time. Any girl who works for me I don't ask them to work for many years. Aita got a small piece of land by the Tarawa River, not long before you came here, and the copra harvested at the current market price is enough for you to live comfortably. There are still There's a house, and you have as much time as you want to paint. What do you think?'"

Tiare paused to catch his breath. "At this very moment he told me he had wives in England. 'My poor Strickland,' I said to him, 'they both have a damsel elsewhere; That's why they come to our islands. Ata's a reasonable girl, and she doesn't ask for a ceremony in front of the mayor. She's a Jesuit, you know, and Jesuits don't treat things like that Catholics are so stuffy.'” "And then he said: 'And what's Ata's opinion on the matter?' 'It seems she's very fond of you,' I said, 'and she'd be if you wanted to. Would you like me to call Will she come?' Strickland giggled, as he always did, dry and funny. So I called Ata over. Ata knew I was with Strick just now. What's Crander talking about, you bitch; I've been watching her out of the corner of my eye, and she's pretending to be ironing a smock I've just laundered, and she's listening to us both. She comes up to me , giggling, but I could see that she was a little shy. Strickland looked at her for a while, but said nothing."

"Is she good-looking?" I asked. "Pretty. But you must have seen pictures of her in the past. He painted her picture after picture, sometimes with a palio, sometimes with nothing on. Yes, she looked Pretty. She can cook. I taught her myself. I saw Strickland thinking about it, and I said to him: 'I pay her a lot, and she's saving it up.' The captains and mates she knew gave her a little sometimes. She had saved up several hundred francs.'" Strickland tugged on his red beard and laughed. "'Hey, Ata,' he said, 'do you like calling me your husband?'"

She didn't say anything, just giggled. "'Didn't I tell you, Strickland, that this girl has feelings for you?'" I said. "'I'm going to beat you,'" he said, looking at her. "'How will I know you love me if you don't hit me?'" she replied. Tiari interrupted the story and went back to his own past. "My first husband, Captain Johnson, used to whip me constantly, too. He was a man, six feet three, and handsome. When he got drunk, no one could stop him, he always It hit me black and blue all over, and I couldn't get back after many days. Cough, I cried when he died. I don't think I will ever recover from this blow in my life. But I really You know what a loss I had, and that was after I married George Ryan. You never know what a man is until you live with him. George Ryan called me Big disappointment, I've never been so disappointed by any man. He's handsome too, he's big, he's about as tall as Captain Johnson, and looks very strong. But it's all superficial. He's never been drunk Well, never beat me. I could have been a missionary. I made love to the officers on every ship that came in, but George Ryan couldn't see a thing. Finally I got tired of him, I divorced him. What good is a husband like that? The way some men treat women is horrific."

I comforted Tiare, and sympathetically said that men always prey on women; and I begged her to continue telling me Strickland's story. "'Well,' said I to Strickland, 'there is no hurry about it. Think it over slowly. Ata has a nice room in the wing, and you live with her for a month, See if you like her. You can dine with me. In a month's time, if you decide to marry her, you can settle down on her estate.'" "He agreed to do it. Ata still worked for me, and I asked Strickland to eat at my place, as I promised. I taught Ata to cook a dish or two that he liked. He He didn't paint much. He wandered in the mountains and took a bath in the river. He sat on the seaside and looked at the lagoon. Every sunset, he went to the seaside to see Moria Island. He also often went fishing on the reef. He Likes to hang out on the pier and chat with the locals. He never shouts and is very pleasant. Every day after dinner he goes to the wing with Ata. I can see that he longs to be back to the jungle. At the beginning of the month, I asked him what he was going to do. He said he would go with Ata, if Ata would go. So I prepared a wedding table for them. I ordered it myself I made them pea soup, Portuguese prawns, curry rice, and coconut salad—you haven’t tried my coconut salad, have you? I’ll make you some before you leave here Back—I prepared ice cream for them. We drank champagne like hell, and then drank rum. Ah, I made up my mind a long time ago that I must make the wedding look good. After dinner, we were in the living room I danced there. I was not as fat as I am now, and I loved dancing from a young age."

The living room of Flower Hotel is not big. There is a simple piano, a set of Filipino mahogany furniture neatly arranged along the four walls, covered with a velvet cover with flowers on it, and several photographic books on the round table. On the wall is an enlarged photograph of Tiare and her first husband, Captain Johnson.Although Tiare was old and fat, we rolled up the Brussels rug a few times, and the girl who came to work in the hotel danced with two of Tiare's friends, only to the accompaniment of Just music from an asthmatic record player.On the terrace, the rich aroma of Tiare flowers filled the air, and overhead, the star of the Southern Cross twinkled in a cloudless sky.

Tiari recalled the grand event a long time ago, and couldn't help showing an enchanted smile on his face. "We played till three o'clock that night, and there was no one who went to bed without being drunk. I had made it clear to them that they could go in my little buggy as far as the road could not pass. Then In the future, they will have a long way to go. Aita’s estate is far away in a place surrounded by mountains. They set off at dawn, and the servant I sent to see them did not return until the next day .” "Yes, Strickland is thus married."