Tiaré,when I told her this story, praised my prudence, and for a few minutes we worked in silence, for we were shelling peas.Then her eyes, always alert for the affairs of her kitchen, fell on some action of the Chinese cook which aroused her violent disapproval.She turned on him with a torrent of abuse.The Chink was not backward to defend himself, and a very lively quarrel ensued.They spoke in the native language, of which I had learnt but half a dozen words, and it sounded as though the world would shortly come to an end;but presently peace was restored and Tiaré gave the cook a cigarette.They both smoked comfortably.
“Do you know, it was I who found him his wife?”said Tiaré suddenly, with a smile spread all over her immense face.
“The cook?”
“No, Strickland.”
“But he had one already.”
“That is what he said, but I told him she was in England, and England is at the other end of the world.”
“True,”I replied.
“He would come to Papeete every two or three months, when he wanted paints or tobacco or money, and then he would wander about like a lost dog. I was sorry for him.I had a girl here then called Ata to do the rooms;she was some sort of a relation of mine, and her father and mother were dead, so I had her to live with me.Strickland used to come here now and then to have a square meal or to play chess with one of the boys.I noticed that she looked at him when he came, and I asked her if she liked him.She said she liked him well enough.You know what these girls are;they're always pleased to go with a white man.”
“Was she a native?”I asked.
“Yes;she hadn't a drop of white blood in her. Well, after I'd talked to her I sent for Strickland, and I said to him:‘strickland, it's time for you to settle down.A man of your age shouldn't go playing about with the girls down at the front.They're bad lots, and you’ll come to no good with them.You’ve got no money, and you can never keep a job for more than a month or two.No one will employ you now.You say you can always live in the bush with one or other of the natives, and they’re glad to have you because you’re a white man, but it’s not decent for a white man.Now, listen to me, Strickland.’”
Tiaré mingled French with English in her conversation, for she used both languages with equal facility.She spoke them with a singing accent which was not unpleasing.You felt that a bird would speak in these tones if it could speak English.
“‘Now, what do you say to marrying Ata?She's a good girl and she's only seventeen. She's never been promiscuous like some of these girls-a captain or a frst mate, yes, but she's never been touched by a native.Elle se respecte, vois-tu.The purser of the Oahu told me last journey that he hadn't met a nicer girl in the islands.It’s time she settled down too, and besides, the captains and the first mates like a change now and then.I don’t keep my girls too long.She has a bit of property down by Taravao, just before you come to the peninsula, and with copra at the price it is now you could live quite comfortably.There’s a house, and you’d have all the time you wanted for your painting.What do you say to it?’”
Tiaré paused to take breath.
“It was then he told me of his wife in England.'my poor Strickland,'I said to him,'they've all got a wife somewhere;that is generally why they come to the islands. Ata is a sensible girl, and she doesn't expect any ceremony before the Mayor.She’s a Protestant, and you know they don’t look upon these things like the Catholics.’”
“Then he said:‘But what does Ata say to it?'‘It appears that she has a béguin for you,’I said.‘she’s willing if you are.Shall I call her?’He chuckled in a funny, dry way he had, and I called her.She knew what I was talking about, the hussy, and I saw her out of the corner of my eyes listening with all her ears, while she pretended to iron a blouse that she had been washing for me.She came.She was laughing, but I could see that she was a little shy, and Strickland looked at her without speaking.”
“Was she pretty?”I asked.
“Not bad. But you must have seen pictures of her.He painted her over and over again, sometimes with a pareo on and sometimes with nothing at all.Yes, she was pretty enough.And she knew how to cook.I taught her myself.I saw Strickland was thinking of it, so I said to him:‘I've given her good wages and she's saved them, and the captains and the frst mates she's known have given her a little something now and then.She's saved several hundred francs.'
“He pulled his great red beard and smiled.
“‘Well, Ata,'he said,'do you fancy me for a husband?'
“She did not say anything, but just giggled.
“‘But I tell you, my poor Strickland, the girl has a béguin for you,’I said.
“‘I shall beat you,'he said, looking at her.
“‘How else should I know you loved me,'she answered.”
Tiaré broke off her narrative and addressed herself to me refectively.
“My frst husband, Captain Johnson, used to thrash me regularly. He was a man.He was handsome, six foot three, and when he was drunk there was no holding him.I would be black and blue all over for days at a time.Oh, I cried when he died.I thought I should never get over it.But it wasn't till I married George Rainey that I knew what I'd lost.You can never tell what a man is like till you live with him.I've never been so deceived in a man as I was in George Rainey.He was a fne, upstanding fellow too.He was nearly as tall as Captain Johnson, and he looked strong enough.But it was all on the surface.He never drank.He never raised his hand to me.He might have been a missionary.I made love with the offcers of every ship that touched at the island, and George Rainey never saw anything.At last I was disgusted with him, and I got a divorce.What was the good of a husband like that?It's a terrible thing the way some men treat women.”
I condoled with Tiaré,and remarked feelingly that men were deceivers ever, then asked her to go on with her story of Strickland.
“‘Well,'I said to him,'there's no hurry about it. Take your time and think it over.Ata has a very nice room in the annexe.Live with her for a month, and see how you like her.You can have your meals here.And at the end of a month, if you decide you want to marry her, you can just go and settle down on her property.'
“Well, he agreed to that. Ata continued to do the housework, and I gave him his meals as I said I would.I taught Ata how to make one or two dishes I knew he was fond of.He did not paint much.He wandered about the hills and bathed in the stream.And he sat about the front looking at the lagoon, and at sunset he would go down and look at Murea.He used to go fishing on the reef.He loved to moon about the harbour talking to the natives.He was a nice, quiet fellow.And every evening after dinner he would go down to the annexe with Ata.I saw he was longing to get away to the bush, and at the end of the month I asked him what he intended to do.He said if Ata was willing to go, he was willing to go with her.So I gave them a wedding dinner.I cooked it with my own hands.I gave them a pea soup and lobster à la portugaise, and a curry, and a coconut salad-you’ve never had one of my coconut salads, have you?I must make you one before you go-and then I made them an ice.We had all the champagne we could drink and liqueurs to follow.Oh, I’d made up my mind to do things well.And afterwards we danced in the drawing-room.I was not so fat, then, and I always loved dancing.”
The drawing-room at the H?tel de la Fleur was a small room, with a cottage piano, and a suite of mahogany furniture, covered in stamped velvet, neatly arranged round the walls.On round tables were photograph albums, and on the walls enlarged photographs of Tiaré and her first husband, Captain Johnson.Still, though Tiaré was old and fat, on occasion we rolled back the Brussels carpet, brought in the maids and one or two friends of Tiaré’s, and danced, though now to the wheezy music of a gramophone.On the veranda the air was scented with the heavy perfume of the tiaré,and overhead the Southern Cross shone in a cloudless sky.
Tiaré smiled indulgently as she remembered the gaiety of a time long passed.
“We kept it up till three, and when we went to bed I don't think anyone was very sober. I had told them they could have my trap to take them as far as the road went, because after that they had a long walk.Ata's property was right away in a fold of the mountain.They started at dawn, and the boy I sent with them didn't come back till next day.
“Yes, that's how Strickland was married.”
當(dāng)我跟蒂亞瑞講了這個故事后,她稱贊了我的精明。我倆正在剝豆子,有好一段時間,我倆都在默默地干手里的活兒。一會兒后,因為她的眼睛總是瞄著廚房里的事情,看到那個中國廚師的某個舉動讓她大為不滿,便轉(zhuǎn)向他連珠炮似的大罵了一陣子,而那個中國佬也不甘示弱,為自己申辯著,接著更為激烈的爭吵爆發(fā)了。他們是用本地話唇槍舌戰(zhàn),我雖然學(xué)過一些本地話,但也就能聽懂十幾個詞,聽上去好像世界很快就到末日了??刹淮髸汗し?,又恢復(fù)了和平,蒂亞瑞給了這個廚子一支香煙,他們倆悠閑地抽起了煙。
“你知道嗎? 是我給他找了個老婆?!钡賮喨鹜蝗婚_口說道,一張大臉盤子上堆滿了笑容。
“這個廚子嗎?”
“不是,是斯特里克蘭?!?/p>
“可是他已經(jīng)有妻子了?!?/p>
“他也這么說,可我告訴他,他老婆在英格蘭,而英格蘭遠(yuǎn)在天邊呢。”
“這倒是。”我回答道。
“當(dāng)他需要顏料或煙草,或者缺錢時,每隔兩三個月就要來一次帕皮提,隨后就像一條喪家之犬似的游蕩,我很可憐他。我這兒有個女孩名叫愛塔,是幫我打掃房間的,還是我的一個遠(yuǎn)房親戚,她的父母都去世了,所以我把她接來跟我一起生活。斯特里克蘭過去時不時地來我這兒撮上一頓飽飯,或者跟我的某個伙計下下棋。我注意到每次他來時,她都看著他。于是我就問她,是不是喜歡上他了。她說很喜歡他。你知道這些女孩子的脾氣,她們總是愿意和一個白人走在一起。”
“她是本地人嗎?”我問道。
“是的,她身上沒有一滴白人的血液。嗯,我跟她談完后,就派人去找斯特里克蘭,然后我對他說:‘斯特里克蘭,你是時候該安頓下來了,像你這樣年紀(jì)的男人不應(yīng)該老去找那些碼頭邊上的女人鬼混了。這些女人不是什么好東西,跟她們在一起對你沒什么好處。你又沒錢,一份工作你從來沒做到超過一兩個月的,現(xiàn)在也沒人愿意雇你了。你說可以跟一兩個本地人老是住在叢林里,他們也高興和你住在一起,因為你是個白人,但是這對于一個白人來說是不體面的。現(xiàn)在你聽我說,斯特里克蘭?!?/p>
在她的話中,蒂亞瑞一會兒說法語,一會兒又說英語,因為她兩種語言都運用自如。她用一種唱歌的腔調(diào)說著雙語,聽上去倒也悅耳。你會覺得如果一只鳥兒能說英語的話,它一定也是用的這種腔調(diào)。
“‘現(xiàn)在,你說,你把愛塔娶了怎么樣?她是個好姑娘,只有十七歲,她不像別的那些女孩子和人隨便亂搞——什么船長啦,或者大副啦,是的,她也絕沒有被本地的男人碰過。她是很自愛的,你知道。[93]奧阿胡號船上的事務(wù)長在上次船停泊在這兒時跟我說,在各個群島上,沒有比愛塔更好的姑娘了。對她來說,也該安頓下來了,而且,那些船長們、大副們喜歡時不時地?fù)Q一下口味,給我干活的女孩我從不讓她們干太久。就在你來半島前不久,愛塔在塔拉瓦奧河畔搞到一塊土地,就是靠賣收獲的椰干——現(xiàn)在價錢不錯——你們也能過上蠻舒服的生活。那兒還有座房子,你不是一直都想有個地方畫畫嗎,你覺得怎么樣?’”
蒂亞瑞停下來,喘了口氣,接下去說:
“就是在那個時候,他告訴我在英格蘭他有個妻子。‘我可憐的斯特里克蘭,’我對他說,‘他們在某處都有個妻子,那也是他們通常要來這些島上的原因。愛塔是個聰明的姑娘,她不指望你在市長面前跟她舉行結(jié)婚儀式,她是個新教教徒,你知道新教教徒不像天主教教徒把這些儀式看得那么重要?!?/p>
“隨后,他又說:‘但是愛塔覺得這事怎么樣?’‘好像她對你很迷戀[94]哩,’我說,‘如果你愿意,她愿意嫁給你。用我叫她過來嗎?’斯特里克蘭很滑稽地咯咯笑了起來,就像他一貫干巴巴的笑,我把愛塔叫了過來,這個小野丫頭,她知道我正在跟斯特里克蘭說些什么,我用眼角的余光掃視著她,她假裝在熨燙給我洗的一件罩衫,可耳朵一直在聽著這邊。她笑嘻嘻地走過來,但我還是能看出來她有點害羞,而斯特里克蘭看著她,沒有說話?!?/p>
“她好看嗎?”我問道。
“還不錯,但是你可能已經(jīng)看過她的肖像了。他一遍又一遍地畫她,有時她身上圍著一件帕利歐[95],有時一絲不掛。是的,她還是挺漂亮的,而且她會做飯,我親手教她的廚藝。我看出斯特里克蘭也想到了這點,所以我對他說:‘我給她的薪水不低,而且她把這些錢都存了起來,她認(rèn)識的那些船長和大副們也時不時地給她一些小玩意兒,她已經(jīng)存了好幾百法郎了?!?/p>
“他捋著那把大紅胡子,笑了?!?/p>
“‘好吧,愛塔,’他說道,‘你愿意讓我做你的丈夫嗎?’”
“她一句話也沒說,但就是咯咯地笑?!?/p>
“‘不過我告訴你,我可憐的斯特里克蘭,這姑娘挺迷戀[96]你的?!蔽艺f道。
“‘我會打你的?!彼粗@姑娘說道。
“‘如果你不打我,我怎么知道你愛我呢?’她回答道?!?/p>
蒂亞瑞中斷敘述,對我又回憶起了她自己的故事。
“我的第一任丈夫,約翰遜船長,過去常常每隔一段時間就打我一次。他是個身高六英尺三英寸的英俊爺們,每當(dāng)他喝醉了的時候,他自己都控制不了自己,有那么一段時間,好些天我全身上下都是青一塊紫一塊的。噢,可當(dāng)他死去的時候,我還是哭得昏天黑地的。我想我這輩子也不會從這個打擊中恢復(fù)過來了。但是,直到我嫁給了喬治·瑞尼以后,我才真正明白我失去了什么。除非你和某個男人一起過日子,你才能知道這個男人到底怎么樣,我受到任何一個男人的欺騙,也沒像喬治·瑞尼騙我的那樣深。他也是個長相不錯、身材挺拔的男人,他和約翰遜船長差不多高,看上去也足夠強(qiáng)壯,但這些都是表面現(xiàn)象,他從不喝酒,從沒動過我一根手指頭,他就像個傳教士,我和每一艘停泊在島上的輪船的官員們談情說愛,而喬治·瑞尼從不說什么。最后,我對他實在是煩透了,就跟他離了婚。像他那樣的丈夫有什么好處?有些男人對待他們妻子的方式太可怕了?!?/p>
我安慰了蒂亞瑞一番,并滿是同情地說道,男人們都是騙子,然后,讓她接下去把斯特里克蘭的故事講完。
“‘好吧,’我對他說,‘這事也不必太匆忙,花點時間好好考慮考慮。愛塔在廂房有一間很不錯的小屋,你可以和她先同居一個月,看看到底喜不喜歡她。你還可以在這兒吃飯。到了月末,如果你決定要娶她,就可以和她一起離開,到她那塊土地上定居下來?!?/p>
“嗯,后來他同意了我的建議。愛塔繼續(xù)在我這兒清理房間,也正像我對他說的,我給他提供一日三餐,我教給愛塔做上一兩道他喜歡的菜。他沒有花很多時間去畫畫,大部分時間都是在山丘上游蕩,還有在溪流中洗澡。有時坐在碼頭上眺望環(huán)礁湖。在日落時分,他會走到海邊,遙望莫里阿島。他常常還會在礁石上釣魚,喜歡在港口那兒溜達(dá),跟當(dāng)?shù)厝肆奶?。他是個挺不錯的家伙,很安靜。每天晚飯后,他會和愛塔一起回到廂房。我看出來他心底渴望離開這兒回到叢林中去。于是到了月末的時候,我問他有什么打算。他說如果愛塔愿意走,他也愿意和她一起走。所以,那天晚上,我親自下廚,給他們倆準(zhǔn)備了婚禮晚宴,我給他們做了豌豆湯、葡萄牙風(fēng)味的[97]大龍蝦、咖喱飯和椰子沙拉——你還從來沒嘗過我做的椰子沙拉呢,是吧?在你走之前,我一定給你做一頓——后來,我還給他們做了冰激凌,我們大家都喝了香檳酒,然后又喝了甜酒。哦,我拿定主意要把婚禮辦得像那么回事。后來我們在客廳里跳舞。我那時還不是太胖,我一直喜歡跳舞?!?/p>
鮮花旅館的客廳并不大,有一架立式小鋼琴,一套紅木家具,上面覆蓋著烙花絲絨罩子,沿著墻壁整整齊齊地擺了一溜兒。在圓桌上放了幾本相冊,在墻上掛著蒂亞瑞和她的第一任丈夫約翰遜船長的放大照片。盡管蒂亞瑞現(xiàn)在又老又胖,偶爾我們也會把布魯塞爾地毯卷起來一起跳舞,伴奏的是一臺留聲機(jī)里發(fā)出的嘰嘰呀呀的音樂。在露臺上,空氣中彌漫著濃濃的野草花香,頭頂上,是南十字星[98]在萬里無云的夜空中閃爍。
蒂亞瑞回憶起那次過去很久的聚會臉上仍洋溢著開心的笑容。
“我們一直玩到凌晨三點,上床睡覺的時候,每個人都喝得迷迷糊糊的。我告訴他們可以坐我的小馬車走,一直走到大路走不通的地方。因為接下來,他們有很長的一段路要徒步走。愛塔的土地就在大山的山坳里。他們天一亮就上路了,我派去送他們的伙計直到第二天才趕回來。”
“沒錯,斯特里克蘭就這樣把婚給結(jié)了?!?/p>
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