I remembered my anticipation long ago that she would marry a soldier. It was inevitable. She had all the graces of the soldier’s wife. She was civil and affable, but she could hardly conceal her intimate conviction that she was not quite as others were. Robert was breezy.
‘It’s a bit of luck that I should be in London when you turned up’, he said. ‘I’ve only got three days’ leave.’
‘He’s dying to get back’, said his mother.
‘Well, I don’t mind confessing it, I have a rattling good time at the front. I’ve made a lot of good pals. It’s a first-rate life. Of course war’s terrible, and all that sort of thing; but it does bring out the best qualities in a man, there’s no denying that.’
Then I told them what I had learnt about Charles Strickland in Tahiti. I thought it unnecessary to say anything of Ata and her boy, but for the rest I was as accurate as I could be. When I had narrated his lamentable death I ceased. For a minute or two we were all silent. Then Robert Strickland struck a match and lit a cigarette.
‘The mills of God grind slowly, but they grind exceeding small’, he said, somewhat impressively.
Mrs Strickland and Mrs Ronaldson looked down with a slightly pious expression which indicated, I felt sure, that they thought the quotation was from Holy Writ. Indeed, I was unconvinced that Robert Strickland did not share their illusion. I do not know why I suddenly thought of Strickland’s son by Ata. They had told me he was a merry, lighthearted youth. I saw him, with my mind’s eye, on the schooner on which he worked, wearing nothing but a pair of dungarees; and at night, when the boat sailed along easily before a light breeze, and the sailors were gathered on the upper deck, while the captain and the supercargo lolled in deck-chairs, smoking their pipes, I saw him dance with another lad, dance wildly, to the wheezy music of the concertina. Above was the blue sky, and the stars, and all about the desert of the Pacific Ocean.
A quotation from the Bible came to my lips, but I held my tongue, for I know that clergymen think it a little blasphemous when the laity poach upon their preserves. My Uncle Henry, for twenty-seven years Vicar of Whitstable, was on these occasions in the habit of saying that the devil could always quote scripture to his purpose. He remembered the days when you could get thirteen Royal Natives for a shilling.
Explanatory Notes
3 Velasquez: Diego Valázquez (1599–1660), major Spanish painter of the seventeenth century, considered one of the greatest of Western artists.
El Greco: Doménikos Theotokópoulus (1541–1614), born in Greece, he became one of the greatest and most unique of Spanish painters.
6 exegesis: exposition of Scripture.
7 Christie’s: a well-known London auction house.
Tiberius: (42B.C.–37A.D.), Roman emperor vilified as a vicious tyrant by Roman historians.
8 auto da fé: the burning of one’s manuscripts.
in extenso: at full length.
10 evangel: doctrine, principle.
Nineveh: ancient capital city (c. 700B.C.–612B.C.) of Assyria on the east bank of the Tigris River.
19 K.C.: King’s Counsel.
36 Bureau au premier: office on first floor.
“Madame est là?”: “Madame is there?”
“Monsieur est seul”: “Monsieur is alone.”
37 rep: textile fabric with corded surface used in upholstery.
38 Honoré de Balzac: (1799–1850), French novelist famous for his realistic portrayal of human experience.
46 “Monsieur n’est pas poli”: “Monsieur is not civil.”
52 Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point.: The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
59 Le Maître de la Boîte à Chocolats: The Master of the Chocolate Box.
62 Chardin: Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699–1779), painter of still lifes and domestic scenes, noted for his feeling for everyday objects and for his simplicity.
“Mon petit chou”: “My dear”; literally “My little cabbage.” pantaloon: clown’s butt and abettor in pantomine.
65 Manet: Édouard Manet (1832–1883), French painter, important forerunner of the Impressionists.
Corot: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796–1875). French painter noted for his landscapes.
68 feuilleton: ruled-off portion at foot of French newspapers, devoted to fiction, criticism, and light literature.
73 anchorite: hermit.
75 Du reste: besides, moreover.
90 Marsyas: Greek mythological figure who defeated Apollo in a music contest and as punishment was tied to a tree and flayed.
Mallarmé: Stéphane Mallarmé (1842–1898), French poet, a dominant figure in nineteenth-century European literature, and a major influence on the Symbolist movement.
Gaboriau: Émile Gaboriau (1832–1873), French writer known as the father of the detective novel.
103 traps: wheeled vehicles, such as dog carts, though here Maugham may mean Stroeve’s possessions.
111 St Galmier: a famous brand of mineral water.
120 Chardin’s Benedicite: The Grace (1740).
122 Delft: glazed earthenware made at Delft, in Holland.
127 a Roland for my Oliver: in the Chanson de Roland (Song of Roland) (c. 1100), an epic French poem about the Battle of Roncesvalles in 778, Roland is a recklessly courageous and headstrong warrior while Oliver is his more prudent and cautious friend.
136 Sisley: Alfred Sisley (1839–1899), one of the creators of French Impressionism.
Degas: Edgar Degas (1834–1917), French artist considered one of the greatest draftsmen in the history of Western art.
139 Prometheus: in Greek mythology one of the Titans, the supreme trickster and god of fire. For stealing fire and giving it to the mortals, Zeus had him chained to a rock where an eagle would eat his immortal liver for all of eternity.
140 Mrs Langtry: Lillie Langtry (1853–1927), celebrated English actress and beauty.
Mary Anderson: (1859–1940), American actress widely known for her great beauty.
143 Entombment of Titian: Tiziano Vecellio (1488–1576), one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance, painted Entombment, a tragic masterpiece about the finality of Christ’s death.
144 Cézanne: Paul Cézanne (1839–1906), one of the greatest of post-Impressionist painters, had a strong influence on twentieth-century art.
Van Gogh: Vincent van Gogh (1857–1890), considered the greatest Dutch painter after Rembrandt, and a strong influence on Expressionism in twentieth-century art.
Monet: Claude Monet (1840–1946), French painter who was the inventor and strong advocate of Impressionism.
Winterhalter: Franz Xavier Winterhalter (1805–1873), German painter best known for his royal portraits painted in a romantic style.
Brueghel the Elder: Pieter Brueghel (c. 1525–1569), considered the greatest Flemish painter of the sixteenth century, known especially for his lively scenes of peasant life and landscapes.
146 Monserrat: a mountain in Colombia.
154 collier: coal ship.
156 Lascars: Indian sailors.
162 Mother Hubbard: a kind of cloak.
166 gabardines: cotton raincoats.
tarbooshes: caps like fezzes.
167 Bellotto: Bernardo Bellotto (1720–1780), Italian painter noted for his meticulously drawn paintings of European cities.
Zoffanys: Johann Zoffany (1733–1810), German painter who in the late eighteenth century painted contemporary theater scenes.
170 “Elle se respecte, vois-tu”: “She respects herself, you see.”
copra: dried coconut.
béguin: infatuation.
172 Southern Cross: constellation of five bright stars visible only south of about 30 degrees north latitude.
173 crotons: native Pacific shrubs, with brilliantly colored leaves.
174 “Tenez, voilà le Capitaine Brunot”: “Hold on, there is Captain Brunot.”
Capitaine au Long Cours: Captain of Foreign Trade.
“enfin”:
finally, lastly.
178 “Volontiers”: willingly, gladly.
180 guava: tropical tree which produces acrid fruit.
181 “Évidemment”: “Evidently.”
182 que sais-je?: what do I know?
indigè: indigenous native.
184 pareo: a wraparound skirt usually made from a rectangular piece of printed material and worn by both men and women throughout Polynesia.
Eh bien, oui, je ne le nie pas: Ah well, yes, I do not deny it.
194 lapis lazuli: a bright blue sodium aluminum silicate.
Heliogabalus: corrupted form of Elagabalus (204–222), Roman emperor famous for his eccentricity.
197 Bakst: Léon Bakst (pseudonym of Lev Samoylovich Rosenberg) (1866–1924), Russian artist who revolutionized theatrical design in costume and scenery.
199 pukka: first class and genuine.
200 Royal Natives: high-quality oysters.
*A Modern Artist: Notes on the work of Charles Strickland, by Edward Leggatt, A.R.H.A. Martin Secker, 1917.
*Karl Strickland: sein Leben und seine Kunst, by Hugo Weitbrecht-Rotholz, Ph.D. Schwingel und Hanisch. Leipzig, 1914.
*Strickland: The Man and His Work, by his son, Robert Strickland. Wm Heinemann, 1913.
†This was described in Christie’s catalogue as follows: A nude woman, a native of the Society Islands, is lying on the ground beside a brook. Behind is a tropical landscape with palm-trees, bananas, etc., 60 in. by 48 in.
*This picture, formerly in the possession of a wealthy manufacturer at Lille, who fled from that city on the approach of the Germans, is now in the National Gallery at Stockholm. The Swede is adept at the gentle pastime of fishing in troubled waters.
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