The Lake. A Short Story - article ; n°1 ; vol.24, pg 247-260

Queeny Chang

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Archipel - Année 1982 - Volume 24 - Numéro 1 - Pages 247-260
14 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

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• Publié par: ARCHIPEL0
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1982
• Nombre de lectures: 27
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Queeny Chang
The Lake. A Short Story
In: Archipel. Volume 24, 1982. pp. 247-260.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Chang Queeny. The Lake. A Short Story. In: Archipel. Volume 24, 1982. pp. 247-260.
doi : 10.3406/arch.1982.1782
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/arch_0044-8613_1982_num_24_1_1782THE LAKE
by Queeny CHANG
away- - "Partir, from Mamia. c'est mourir She un pressed peu!" his While hand! quoting affectionately, • this, André but revealed looked
no -grief nor tears. André turned around seardhing for Mamia's regard
and continued: "Si jamais je veux tromper ma femme " the rest of
the sentence was lost in the clamour of a departing train. André jumped
in his coach and looked down from the window. Mamia smiled up at
him. The Nanking-Shanghai express started to move, and the space be
tween them became wider and wider. At a curve of the line, just before
the carriage pulled out of sight, André threw a kiss to which Mamia
responded tremblingly. She felt forlorn on the deserted platform. Andre's
parting words were still Tinging in her ears. What did he mean, was it a
joke or a compliment ? The night and distance separated them, André
speeding along to Shanghai and then to his new post in Europe, Mamia
returning slowly to her lonely cedar tree at the International club. Their
mutual companion would henceforth be the pale moon.
Mamia remembered a cold December morning six month before,
when Destiny tossed her on the path of a turbulent and unachieved
affair.
That cold winter morning a few hours after her arrival in Nanking,
the new capital, where she intended to find an occupation, had given her
a new friend. André was a warm-hearted being, unassuming, yet with
the flair of coming from a good house. His manners were foreignised
(he had spent most of his life in foreign countries), his voice deep and 248
persuasive. Hardly knowing the existence of one another when the day
started, it seemed as if they had known each other all their lives at the
and of it.
Sir H who was on the point of leaving Nanking when Mamia
presented herself to him, armed with a letter of introduction from a
friend of his, had recommended her to André.
"I am sorry, my dear," the nice old gentleman bad said with concern,
knowing that Mamia was complete stranger and alone in the big city,
"I am leaving for home today, but I will ask a good friend of mine to
take care of you". And that was how Mamia landed at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs with a letter for, André.
After handing over the epistle as reference of introduction to the
usher, Mamia had waited in the dusty sitting room, dropping into a big
armchair where onlly part of the springs were supporting. She shivered
from the cold which penetrated through the badly closed doors and
windows. To add to her uneasiness, she saw a sober-looking middle-aged
man in an old fashioned flabby long coat coming to her. Was this the
man, holding several Doctor's degrees and who had alwavs lived abroad
according to sir H ? wondered Mamia, wiho felt somewhat di
sheartened. But when André stretched out his hand to greet her with
spontaneity, she was at once reassured.
"I was already afraid, that I would have to do with an old scholar",
she said. André laughed. "You mean that mv manners don't correspond
with my clothes ? I like these traditional clothes because I have missed
them so long abroad and especially in winter time they are much more
comfortable and warmer thlan European clothing. I would otherwise
have to wear an overcoat all the time because the heating here is so
poor.
"There isn't even a heater", Mamia reminded him.
"Yes indeed, but let's go somewhere where you will be more comf
ortable. I don't want you to feel disappointed with our new capital. How
?" long are you going to stay
"It all depends", answered the sophisticated Mamia.
By the time they reached a picturesque ancient teahouse in the
vicinity of the Temple of Confucius, Mamia had lost all her reserves
and was watching with great interest the passers-by hurrying hither and
thither. People clothed in padded or fur-lined long coats, a woollen scraf arcund~ thrown- nonchalantly the neck protecting them from the icy
wind. Some wore knitted woollen bonnets well drawn over the ears and 249
others the traditional black closefitting round hat trimmed with fur like
the one André was wearing. In the multitude Mamia spotted fashionable
ladies wearing high heels and flimsy stockings tnailing in mink or sable
coats among their conservative sisters, who stuck to their ever so comfor
table baggy tunics and pans, their tiny feet shed in black plush boots.
"You will have to change your Parisian outfit soon for the padded
long dress if you don't want to contract pneumonia I'm afnaid", advised
André throwing a glance at Mamia's elegant woollen dress and matching
coat.
"Yes I've noticed that", laughed Mamia.
They were sitting at a rustic wooden table sipping hot jasmine tea.
They chatted about their mutual friends, they discussed their education
and ambitions, they exchanged! views and thoughts and finally agreed,
that they had much in common.
"I'm living near the Hsien-Wu Lake, one of the most beautiful spots
in Nanking", André siaid, "I share my house with a colleague. Let's have
supper 'there".
Jacques was astounded when Mamia entered with André.
"What a small world after all" he exclamed, greeting her with
outstretched hands. Mamia and Jacques had met before at the Chinese
Embassy in Paris on the occasion of his sister's wedding. Even then he
was a most serious character, but now it seemed to Mamiia that the years
had furrowed a still deeper frown on Jacques' forehead.
"You haven't changed a bit Mamia. Just as chic as ever" compli
mented Jacques.
"I have Jacques, I'm divorced now".
"I'm sorry to hear it Mamia".
"It's just fate".
Botih friends showed great sympathy for her. As if to evade the
awkward situation that followed then, Jacques told of his illusion and his
endeavour to serve his country when he was still in Europe.
"But since my return here, I have been more and more baffled by
the situation. I can't understand the interminable struggles of the warl
ords, -the disunity among the leaders,- their greed for power and their
egoism. I find no more satisfaction in my woik", he explained".
"You'll get used to it", said André witih a tinge of irony.
Jacques asked André to recommend him to an assignment abroad
as soon as he got married; 250
"And shall we get a job for Mamia too ?" suggested André.
"Pray don't ! You don't want to spoil her illusions yet, do you ?"
protested Jacques.
After a delicious home-cooked meal, the two friends offered to accom
pany Mamîa back to her hotel in Hsia Kwan, which section was separated
from the city iby the city gate. They got into a carriage drawn by a most
pathetic looking old and skinny pony. It had started to snow, so they
had to close all the shutters and sat in complete darkness. They justled
along on -the bumpy roads, knocking right and left against the hard
wooden panels of their conveyance. How could they ever have imagined
that, "blasés" as they were,- they could enjoy foeing shut in1 a pitch-dark
vehicle on iron wheels dated from the past century and leaving their
fate in the hands of a half-asleep coachman ? They could never forget
that ride.
"As long as we've been there, we've never accompanied any ladies
home. This is the first time", said Jacques.
"It's true", asserted André "it takes quite an effort to comply with
social life even in our own country. We're somewhat estranged from the
old customs and1 sometimes don't even know how to behave in front of
ladies: When we show them a. little attention, we're considered too buo
yant and light-hearted. Even my wife refused to be kissed in the presence
of people". His sigh was audible.
With a sudden jerk the carriage had come to a standstill. When
André opened the door, thinking they had arrived at their destination,
he was most surprised to hear the coachman, then fully awake, engaged
in a fierce debate with an armed guard. It seemed, that the order of the
day was that after midnight, no vehicle of any description was allowed
to pass the city gate unless by special (permission. The Bridge House Hotel
where Mamia was staying, happened to be situated just a couple of
hundred yards outside the gate.
André tried to persuade the soldier to let them pass, but to no avail.
He then showed his identity card with "Foreign Affairs" affixed to it,
hoping hereby to intimidate the guard.
"All right", said the one after examining Andre's and Jacques' cards,
"you two gentleman can pass, but not the lady".
"