"Attack," the Lord of Fuso began to order, his eyes were red, he had been preparing for so many days, enduring humiliation, wasn't he just waiting for this day?

There were nearly a thousand warships of Fuso on the sea, and although the sailors on board were only fishermen before, he still felt very excited when the big ships lined up.

The lord of Fusang said: "In another hundred and ten days, I can conquer the pedantic Tang Dynasty." "They went up to the balcony. Kosla hurriedly put on his shirt and the best pink silk turban, and he came out of the house with a plate containing a bottle of gin, a few glasses, and a box of cigarettes. He placed them on the table and bowed as he looked at the girl with a slight uneasiness.

"I'm afraid I can't ask you for a drink at this time of morning. I have never been able to convince my servants that some people don't have to drink gin before breakfast. ”

It seemed that he had counted himself as well, for he waved his hand and motioned for Kosra to remove the wine from his serving. The girl sat on the wicker chair that Kosla had set up for her on the balcony. Orchids with dark leaves hung down behind her head, and a few golden bunches of flowers exuded a warm honey fragrance. Flory stood leaning against the balcony railing, half facing the girl, but still hiding the **** on her face.

"It's a wonderful view from here," she said, looking down the hill.

"Yes, that's true. It's beautiful in the twilight of the sun before it sets. I love the dim yellow of the playground, the phoenix trees, like a little crimson. And the mountains on the horizon, almost black. My camp is on the other side of the mountain," he added.

The girl was a little farsighted, and she took off her glasses and looked into the distance. He noticed that her eyes were bright light blue, lighter than bellflowers. He also noticed that the skin around her eyes was smooth, almost like flower petals. This reminded him of his age and his haggard face again, so he walked away a little, but could not help but say:

"I say, how lucky you must have been to come to Keoktada! You can't imagine how important it is for us to see a new face in a place like this! For months, it was our poor little circle, with the occasional officer patrolling, and then the American journalists with cameras, coming along the Irrawaddy River. I'm guessing you're coming straight from the UK, right? ”

"Oh, can't say it's from England. I lived in Paris before I came here. You know, my mother was an artist. ”

"Paris! Have you really lived in Paris? Oh my God, coming from Paris to a place like Caioctada! Did you know that in such a small ditch, it is hard to imagine a place like Paris? ”

"Do you like Paris?" She asked.

"I've never even seen one. But, God, I've been imagining it all day! Paris – In my mind, it's full of paintings, cafés, boulevards, artists' studios, Veron, Baudelaire, Maupassant, all all in one place. You don't know what the names of these European cities mean to us here. Have you really lived in Paris? Sitting in a café with foreign art students, drinking white wine and discussing Marcel Proust? ”

"Oh, I think it's this life," the girl said with a smile.

"You're going to find a world away from here! There are no white wines or Marcel Proust here. It's quite possible that there is whiskey and Edgar Wallace. But if you're looking for a book sometimes, you'll probably find something you like to read here. The club's reading room is littered. Of course, I'm hopelessly behind the times when it comes to book collections. I'm guessing you've read all the books in the world. ”

"Oh, no. But I do love to read," the girl said.

"It's great to meet someone who loves to read! I mean a book worth reading, and if I annoy you with my chatter, I really hope you'll forgive me. Once I can meet anyone who knows that there are books in this world, my conversation box will not be closed. In such a country, you have to forgive such mistakes. ”

"Oh, but I like to talk about books. I think it's really good to read. I mean, what would life be like without books? What a - a - "

"What a private sanctuary. That's true—"

They couldn't wait to talk, first about books, then about hunting, and the girl seemed to be interested in hunting, and asked Flory to tell her. When he described the elephant he had hunted a few years earlier, she was thrilled. Flory barely noticed, and perhaps the girl didn't notice, that the so-called conversation was actually all talking to him alone. He couldn't help himself, and the fun of talking was too great, and the girl was happy to listen. After all, he was the one who rescued her from the buffalo, and before she could believe that these huge animals could not hurt anyone, he became a hero in her eyes. A person can win the favor of others, usually because he has not done something he has not done. It is at such moments that the conversation can go on so easily and naturally that you can go on without exhaustion. However, the happiness of the two suddenly disappeared, and they were startled and fell silent, as they realized that there was someone else next to them.

At the other end of the balcony, between the railings, a black, mustachioed face peeked curiously. It turned out to be the "Dasha" cook Old Sammy, and behind him stood the four older children of Mapu, Mai, and Kosra, an unclaimed bare-ass child, and two old women, who had heard that there were "English women" to see, and had come from the village. Two old creatures with a foot-long cigarette roll in their mouths, like carved teak statues, stared at the "English woman" like an English hillbilly stared at a well-dressed Zulu warrior.

"Those people ......," the girl said, looking at them uncomfortably.

Seeing that she had been discovered, Sammy looked weak and pretended to be tidying up the hijab she was wearing. The rest of the audience was also a little embarrassed, except for the two expressionless old women.

"These abominable faces!" Flory said. A cold, painful feeling of disappointment hit him. After all, the girl couldn't stay on his balcony anymore. He and she both remembered at the same time that they were complete strangers. Her face was a little red and she started putting on her glasses.

(End of chapter)