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the predator all around that made one go still, not even breathing, until the
only motion to defy the room s smothering atmosphere was the hair creeping
upright on one s skin. In any case, it wasn t until one s eyes became used to
the light that the sensation of entering a lair became strong. And perhaps a
full minute had to pass before the eyes told one why.
The walls, floor to ceiling, were covered in tiger fur. Black and orange
stripes, running first in this direction, then that, fitted together like a
jigsaw puzzle, seamless but for a faint rectangular shape in the back wall. In
the upper corners of the room, clustered and snarling, were mounted the heads.
I shuddered in reaction, and someone chuckled, the sound damped and muffled.
I whirled, and there was the maharaja, sitting in a chair of unrelieved
black. Panther, my mind informed me; and the fluffy black-and-gold rug on
which his boots were resting was made of the tails of the tigers on the wall.
I swallowed convulsively, whether to repress fear or visceral disgust, I was
not sure.
The maharaja rose from his panther-skin chair and walked over to a table that
appeared made of grey-painted wood, and on closer look proved to have a
texture. It was covered in elephant hide, I realised, and somehow that final
outrage tipped me over the edge, and I was suddenly icy calm.
 I have something for you, he said.  Since you did not wish the boar s head
for your wall, I had this small souvenir made, a memento of your first
pig-hunt.
I looked apprehensively at the velvet-covered box he was holding out to me,
and kept my hands at my sides.  That s really not necessary.
So he opened it himself and turned it for me to see.
Since Wednesday s hunt, he had somehow contrived to have all four tusks of
the boar removed and handed over to a goldsmith for mounting. The object
before me had a central shaft as long as a hand, made of heavy, deep-red gold
that had been intricately worked with a design I recognised from the stamp on
the note that had brought me here, the crest of Khanpur. From the gleaming
metal protruded the tusks, the shorter pair curving up from the bottom, the
longer upper tusks rising from the shaft above them to curl together, nearly
forming a circle above the gold. The tusks themselves had not been touched,
aside from their removal, and looked as they had when they came to rest on the
ground near my foot: the ivory as yellowed as a smoker s teeth, the tip of the
upper left one snapped off and worn blunt, even the dried spatter of blood
that had been burned into my memory when the beast had been struggling to
eviscerate me. The art of the goldsmith had been linked to these brutal tools
for digging and killing, man s most intricate craftsmanship used to set off
all the nicks, grime, and blood that Nature had provided.
It was quite the ugliest thing I had ever seen in my life.
Beyond its mere appearance, the ornament was repugnant on any number of
levels: aesthetically, yes, but also emotionally, in its attempt to create
beauty from what was essentially a grisly extermination; theologically, in its
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glorification of the uncleanest of animals; even politically, that in a poor
land, so much gold should be used for a frivolity. The maharaja of Khanpur
held the box out to me, willing me to take it. I did so, reluctantly, then
laid it immediately upon the elephant-hide table.
Satisfied, he went around the desk and sat down behind it, gesturing me to
the chair on the other side. Since this appeared to be merely wood, not
bison s leg-bones or stiffened cobras, I sat down in it. He crossed his legs
and said,  I wanted to have a further conversation with you about your
proposal for women s education.
I had made no such proposal, but there seemed little point in arguing with
him. Instead, I said,  Yes, I m sorry about that, but it appears as if I ll
have to abandon it for the moment. I ve been called back to Delhi. I ll need
to leave tomorrow.
His eyes narrowed, but I could see that the news came as no surprise. Indeed,
I should have been amazed if it had. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]