The first typescript
[Page 38]
| From Pagoda Land |  |
| V |
|
A Funny Grace. The "Second Position." Man's Indifference Explained. Apology for Human Life. Drunkenness and Its After-Effects. No matter how kind you are to other people, they will hate you for being yourself. A wish formulated for future periods of temperance and relaxation. The British Tea Industry and Its Development. A History of Tea. From Pagoda Land. Gipsy Tea-Leaves. Past Masters of Eloquence. Rapid View of the Houses of Parliament. Brief discussion of the parliamentary System. A "Bird Brain." Pencils and Pens. The Colors of the Spectrum. A Dusty Road. All'Osteria Venti. A Sound of Peeing. The Avalanche. Wednesday Morning. Appendix. The Constellations. |
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| The wind thrashes the maple seed-pods, | ||
| The whole brilliant mass comes spattering down. |
| This is my fourteenth year as governor of C___ province. | ||
| I was little more than a lad when I first came here. | ||
| Now I am older, but scarcely any wiser. | ||
| So little are white hairs and a wrinkled forehead a sign of wisdom! | |
| We were waiting for you under the broom-tree. | ||
| We called but you did not come. |
| I keep a pocket diary | ||
| In which I note down random jottings and impressions. | ||
| Today I wrote, "The spring is late this year. | ||
| In the early mornings there is hoar-frost on the water-meadows | ||
| And delicate papery ice shields the frozen mud on the highway." | | |
| # | ||
| If you go out to the western gate, will anybody be likely to meet you? |
| The wind continues its tiresome threnody | ||
| In the {baggy branches of the} eucalyptus.{' baggy branches} | |
| There are only a few travelers on the Z high road. | | |
| Eyes XXXXX From behind slatted shutters a pair of black eyes are watching them. | | |
| They areXXX belong to the wife of P, the high-school principal. | |
| It was forty-odd years ago I first saw you | ||
| Coming over the self-same track. |
| And I still go out to meet you. | ||
| The screen door bangs in the rising wind, one of the hinges is loose. | ||
| And together we look back at the house. | ||
| It could use a coat aX of paint | | |
| Except that I am too poor to hire a workman. | | |
| # | ||
| I have all I can do to keep body and soul together | ||
| And soon, even that relatively simple task may prove to be beyond my powers. |
