Дорис Лессинг - Маленький Темби. A Little Tembi

Willie, however, marched across to Tembi and took that unresisting criminal by the arm. 'You young rascal, he said angrily, but in a voice appropriate, not to a dangerous thief, who had robbed many houses, but rather to a' naughty child caught pilfering fruit. Tembi did not reply to Willie: his eyes were fixed on Jane. He was trembling; he looked no more than a boy.

'Why didn't you come when I called you? asked Jane. 'You are so foolish, Tembi.

'I was afraid, missus, said Tembi, in a voice just above a whisper. 'But I said I wouldn't tell the police, said Jane.

'Be quiet, Jane, ordered Willie. 'Of course we're calling the police. What are you thinking of? As if feeling the need to remind himself of this important fact, he said: 'After all, the lad's a criminal.

'I'm not a bad boy, whispered Tembi imploringly to Jane. 'Missus, my missus, I'm not a bad boy.

But the thing was out of Jane's hands; she had relinquished it to Willie.

Willie seemed uncertain what to do. Finally he strode purposefully to the wardrobe, and took his rifle from it, and handed it to Jane. 'You stay here, he ordered. 'I'm calling the police on the telephone. He went out, leaving the door open, while Jane stood there holding the big gun, and waiting for the sound of the telephone.

She looked helplessly down at the rifle, set it against the bed, and said in a whisper: 'Tembi, why do you steal?

Tembi hung his head and said: 'I don't know, missus. 'But you must know. There was no reply. The tears poured down Tembi's cheeks.

'Tembi, did you like Johannesburg? There was no reply. 'How long were you there? "Three years, missus. 'Why did you come back? 'They put me in prison, missus. 'What for? 'I didn't have a pass. 'Did you get out of prison? 'No, I was there one month and they let me go. 'Was it you who stole all the things from the houses around here? Tembi nodded, his eyes cast down to the floor.

Jane did not know what to do. She repeated firmly to herself: 'This is a dangerous boy, who is quite unscrupulous, and very clever, and picked up the rifle again. But the weight of it, a cold hostile thing, made her feel sorry. She set it down sharply. 'Look at mc, Tembi, she whispered. Outside, in the passage. Willie was saying in a firm confident voice: 'Yes, Sergeant, we've got him here. He used to work for us, years ago. Yes.

'Look, Tembi, whispered Jane quickly. 'I'm going out of the room. You must run away quickly. How did you get in? This thought came to her for the first time. Tembi looked at the window. Jane could see how the bars had been forced apart, so that a very slight person could squeeze in, sideways. 'You must be strong, she said. 'Now, there isn't any need to go out that way. Just walk out of that door, she pointed at the door to the living-room, 'and go through into the veranda, and run into the bush. Go to another district and get yourself an honest job and stop being a thief. I'll talk to the baas. I'll tell him to tell the police we made a mistake.Now then, Tembi… she concluded urgently, and went into the passage, where Willie was at the' telephone, with his back to her.

He lifted his head, looked at her incredulously, and said: 'Jane, you're crazy. Into the telephone he said: 'Yes, come quickly. He set down the receiver, turned to Jane and said: 'You know he'll do it again, don't you? He ran back to the bedroom.

But there had been no need to run. There stood Tembi, exactly where they had left him, his fists in his eyes, like a small child.

'I told you to run away, said Jane angrily.

'He's nuts, said Willie.

And now, just as Jane had done, Willie picked up the rifle, seemed to feel foolish holding it, and set it down again.

Willie sat on the bed and looked at Tembi with the look of one who has been outwitted. 'Well, I'm damned, he said, it's got me beat, this has.

Tembi continued to stand there in the centre of the floor, hanging his head and crying. Jane was crying too. Willie was getting angrier, more and more irritable. Finally he left the room, slamming the door, and saying: 'God damn it, everyone is mad.

Soon the police came, and there was no doubt about what should be done. Tembi nodded at every question: he admitted everything. The handcuffs were put on him, and he was taken away in the police car.

At last Willie came back into the bedroom, where Jane lay crying on the bed. He patted her on the shoulder and said: 'Now stop it. The thing is over. We can't do anything.

Jane sobbed out: 'He's only alive because of me. That's what's so awful. And now he's going to prison.

'They don't think anything of prison. It isn't a disgrace as it is for us.

'But he's going to be one of those natives who spend all their lives in and out of prison..

'Well, what of it? said Willie. With the gentle, controlled exasperation of a husband, he lifted Jane and offered her his handkerchief. 'Now stop it, old girl, he reasoned. 'Do stop it. I'm tired. I want to go to bed. I've had hell up and down those damned pavements all day, and I've got a heavy day tomorrow with the tobacco. He began pulling off his boots.

Jane stopped crying, and also undressed. 'There's something horrible about it all, she said restlessly. 'I can't forget it. And finally, 'What did hewant, Willie? What is it he was wanting, all this time?

Примечания

1

Вид червей, паразитирующих в кишках человека.

2

Printed in Doris Lessing. This Was the Old Chief's Country: Collected African Stories Volume One / Flamingo: An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

3

This story was written in 1950.