Tiger, Tiger. Philip Caveney

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СКАЧАТЬ Harry fumbled in his pocket and pulled out what change there was, and thrust it into the man’s hand. Then he moved on, not wanting to see those hideous legs again. From behind him came the man’s profuse thanks.

      ‘Terima kasih, Tuan! Terima kasih …’

      His head down, Harry hurried onwards. Lord, this country of mixed experiences. Just when a man was beginning to think that he was inured to shock, along came something like that to put him firmly in his place again. Sometimes he wondered if the white man really had any place out here. Perhaps it was a good thing that the colonial system was finally falling apart … and yet, from his middle youth onwards, it was the only life that Harry had known. He would stay on now. He would have to.

      He climbed up the steps by the monsoon drain and onto a raised pavement. This was the area he had been heading for. After a few moments, he came to the particular shop he wanted. He had long ago learned that it was good policy to frequent one particular shop. After a while, the trader got to know you and recognizing that regular trade was a good thing, he would start his bartering at a much more realistic level than he would with the average passing tourist. The shop was packed tight with electrical goods and ranks of glittering watches were displayed beneath glass counters. It was on this selection that Harry fixed his gaze.

      In an instant, the proprietor, a tubby bespectacled little Chinese man called Hong, had bustled over to greet him.

      ‘Hello sir! You look for something special?’ He indicated the watches. ‘Good watches, sir. Best in Trengganu. Best in Malaya!’

      Harry smiled. The man was evidently very proud of his shop.

      ‘Well, let me see now …’ Harry knew that it was best to make the transaction slow. A man who bought on impulse was likely to end up with a bad deal. ‘I am looking for a watch. A good watch, you understand. A gift for a very good friend.’

      ‘Ah! You want special watch! I show!’ He indicated some beautiful Japanese chronometers. ‘These best in world,’ he announced. ‘Fine made, got two-year guarantee …’ He was already removing them from the glass case, but Harry shook his head.

      ‘These are, indeed, very good watches. But not what I’m looking for.’

      ‘No?’ The man looked quite amazed by this revelation. ‘Ah! You want good Swiss watch?’

      ‘How about an English watch?’ ventured Harry.

      Hong grimaced. ‘The English not make good watch,’ he said sorrowfully. ‘Go wrong all time. I not sell English watch. But Swiss very good! See here, twenty-one jewel, shock-proof, water-proof, anti-magnetic …’

      ‘Hmm.’ Harry rubbed his chin, scanned the ranks of glittering merchandise. ‘It’s still not right. I want something simple, easy to understand. It’s for a young boy, you see …’

      ‘Ah! Young boy! I got good watch for young boy. This one! Shock-proof, dust-proof, water-proof, anti-magnetic, one-year guarantee …’

      ‘No. It’s still not quite … ah, now that looks the sort of thing!’ He pointed to a simple silver pocket-watch on a leather fob. ‘Let me see that one,’ he said.

      ‘This watch, sir?’ Hong could scarcely believe his eyes. ‘You want this one? But this one not show date! This one not carry guarantee, not dust-proof, water-proof …’

      ‘Yes, well, I’d like to see it anyway.’

      ‘OK, sir.’ Hong bobbed down behind the counter, extracted the watch, and, as Harry had expected, reemerged with a whole new point of view. ‘Here you are, sir. This very fine watch, very rare. Swiss mechanism. Twenty-one jewel, shock-proof, water-proof, two-year guarantee …’

      Harry suppressed a smile.

      ‘I thought you just said it didn’t have any of those things.’

      Hong spread his hands and smiled sheepishly. ‘But sir, that was when I didn’t want you to buy this watch.’

      In spite of himself, Harry had to laugh. It was an outlandish explanation, but it held good for all the merchants in this town. He picked up the watch and examined it critically. It looked robust enough, a simple silver pocket-watch that showed the time clearly and looked like it could take some rough handling. ‘Alright,’ murmured Harry. ‘How much?’

      Hong gazed at him for a moment with an inscrutable smile on his face.

      ‘This watch, sir. I sell you for … twenty-five dollars.’

      ‘Twenty-five!’ Harry registered disgust and made as if to walk off. ‘Hong, it’s time I started going to some of the other shops,’ he said.

      ‘Just a minute, just a minute!’ Hong smiled again, broader than before. ‘You good man … I good man. I make you special price. Twenty dollars.’

      ‘Twenty? That’s still robbery. I’ll give you … six dollars for it.’

      Now it was Hong’s turn to be outraged.

      ‘Six? You want watch for six? If I sell for that much, I go out of business. Six … you give me fifteen dollars, I can not go less.’

      ‘Eight dollars!’

      ‘Twelve!’

      ‘Well … alright, ten dollars, my last offer.’

      ‘Ten dollars! Madness! Twelve my lowest price!’

      ‘You said that about fifteen. I’ll give you ten.’

      Hong shook his head adamantly.

      ‘Sorry, sir. Twelve. Cannot go lower.’

      ‘Then I don’t want the watch.’ Again, he made as if to walk away.

      ‘Alright, alright, alright!’ Hong was tearing at his hair. ‘I give you for ten.’

      ‘Eight?’ ventured Harry with a grin, but Hong’s look of horror told him that this was clearly not playing the game. ‘Alright, only joking.’ He counted out the notes and put the watch into his pocket.

      ‘Now sir, you want anything else? Binocular? Got very nice, very cheap. Radio, pick up all English station? Record player, new from Japan? Good. Identity bracelet? Cassette recorder …?’

      Harry retreated from the onslaught with a brief wave and set out again into the crowds. News of his kindness to the deformed cripple had evidently got around, for suddenly there seemed to be an awful lot of beggars in evidence – lame men, people missing limbs, women with tiny howling babies. Harry slipped smartly around the corner and strode quickly away in the other direction. When he was in Kuala Trengganu, he usually sought one little luxury that was not readily available at home. He went to a small barber shop where he had a haircut and a beautifully close shave that was administered with a horrifying looking cutthroat razor. As he sat back in his chair, he brought out the silver watch and examined it carefully.

      ‘Nice watch,’ observed the barber. ‘How much you pay?’

      ‘Ten dollars.’

      ‘I can get watch СКАЧАТЬ