"That night, Singapore's landmarks declared war ... @jelundberg #QotD

That night, Singapore's landmarks declared war: the Merlion lurched off its concrete pedestal and flooded the riverfront with its eternally gushing masticatory fountain, catching untold numbers of tourists unawares, forced to leave behind their $20 mixed drinks and plates of tapas; the Raffles Hotel, in all its colonial splendor, leapfrogged across the downtown area, knocking over bank buildings and squashing flat petrol tankers and cars plastered with adverts; the twin metallic durians of the Esplanade curled into spiny balls of hedgehog lethality, and rolled over and through every upscale mall they could find, taking especial care to utterly demolish the shopping district on Orchard Road; the National Library took flight and glided to the MediaCorp building, dropping barrages of encyclopedias and folios onto transmissions towers and backup generators, destroying the link between the viewing public and the badly acted and written serial dramas that filled the broadcast airwaves; the twin statues of the country's patron saint, Sir Stamford Raffles, one dark bronze and one white polymarble, lay siege to every construction crane in evidence, leaping nimbly from structure to structure, leaving bright yellow wreckage in their wake.

"Lion City Daikaiju" by Jason Erik Lundberg (in Red Dot Irreal - Equatorial Fantastika 2011)

South America has the most extensive and most varied avifauna of all the continents. On the other hand, its mammalian fauna, although very interesting, is rather poor in number of species and individuals - T Roosevelt

I didn't get to see much mammalian life while in Amazonas, but did see some freshwater dolphins and a sloth.

* * * * * 

South America has the most extensive and most varied avifauna of all the continents. On the other hand, its mammalian fauna, although very interesting, is rather poor in number of species and individuals and in the size of the beasts. It possesses more mammals that are unique and distinctive in type than does any other continent save Australia; and they are of higher and much more varied types than in Australia. But there is nothing approaching the majesty, beauty, and swarming mass of the great mammalian life of Africa and, in a less degree, of tropical Asia; indeed, it does not even approach the similar mammalian life of North America and northern Eurasia, poor though this is compared with the seething vitality of tropical life in the Old World. pp.68-69

From: Through the Brazilian wilderness  (1914) by Theodore Roosevelt

"There are several species of these greedy piranhas" HH Smith #QotD

While touring outside of Manaus, we were taking piranha fishing (catch and release)

* * * * * 

There are several species of these greedy piranhas; this kind is seldom more than ten inches long; but the piranha assu is twice as large, and it makes nothing of biting an ounce or so of flesh from a bather's leg. People are some times killed by the piranhas; hence the Brazilians avoid swimming except where they know that the water is free from them. The fishermen say that piranhas gather in bands against the larger fish; crowding to the attack, they frequently bite each other by mistake ; and the wounded ones are mercilessly set upon and devoured by their companions. Another dangerous fish of these lakes is the stingray, which Hes flat on the bottom, the dark upper surface hardly visible over the mud and roily water. If left undisturbed, the creature is harmless enough, but a careless wader may step on the flat body, and then the great, barbed sting inflicts a wound that benumbs the whole body, and makes the sufferer speechless with pain. I have known a man to be bed-ridden for three months after such a wound; I have known others who were lamed for life. pp. 284-85

From: Brazil, the Amazons and the coast  (1879) by Herbert Huntington Smith (1851-1919)

* * * * * 

We saw men frequently bathing unmolested; but there are places where this is never safe, and in any place if a school of the fish appear swimmers are in danger; and a wounded man or beast is in deadly peril if piranhas are in the neighborhood. Ordinarily it appears that an unwounded man is attacked only by accident. Such accidents are rare; but they happen with sufficient frequency to justify much caution in entering water where piranhas abound. p.86

From: Through the Brazilian wilderness  (1914) by Theodore Roosevelt

The river was expected to furnish its daily quota ... Jules Verne, Eight Hundred Leagues On The Amazon

The river was expected to furnish its daily quota; prawns, which ought rather to be called crawfish; "tambagus," the finest fish in the district, of a flavor superior to that of salmon, to which it is often compared; "pirarucus" with red scales, as large as sturgeons, which when salted are used in great quantities throughout Brazil; “candirus,” awkward to capture, but good to eat; “piranhas,” or devil-fish, striped with red bands, and thirty inches long; turtles large and small, which are counted by millions, and form so large a part of the food of the natives; some of every one of these things it was hoped would figure in turn on the tables of the master and his men.

From Eight Hundred Leagues On The Amazon (1881) by Jules Verne

Fish market at Porto da Ceasa, Manaus, Brazil

Nevertheless, tempting as was the prospect of a visit to Brazil, as a mere vacation it had little charm for me - EC & L Ag

Meeting of the Waters

Nevertheless, tempting as was the prospect of a visit to Brazil, as a mere vacation it had little charm for me. Single-handed, I could make slight use of the opportunities I should have; and though the excursion might be a pleasant one for myself, it would have no important result for science. p.v-vii.

* * * * *

The voyage on the Amazons proper has now become accessible to all who are willing to endure heat and mosquitoes for the sake of seeing the greatest river in the world, and the magnificent tropical vegetation along its shores. The best season for the journey is from the close of June to the middle of November, July, August, September, and October being the four driest months of the year, and the most salubrious throughout that region. p. 444

From A Journey in Brazil  (1868) by Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz and Louis Agassiz

I suppose that the high-water mark of my youth in Columbus, Ohio, was the night the bed fell on my father. - James Thurber

While in Columbus, Ohio, for business, I stopped by the James Thurber house. It had just closed when I got there (and then there was a huge thunderstorm), so I didn't get to go in. Some nice cartoon dog sculptures around the outside.

 

 Here are some quotes from My Life and Hard Times (1933):

The Night the Bed Fell
I suppose that the high-water mark of my youth in Columbus, Ohio, was the night the bed fell on my father. It makes a better recitation (unless, as some friends of mine have said, one has heard it five or six times) than it does a piece of writing, for it is almost necessary to throw furniture around, shake
doors, and bark like a dog, to lend the proper atmosphere and verisimilitude to what is admittedly a somewhat incredible tale. Still, it did take place.

The Car We Had to Push
Many autobiographers, among them Lincoln Steffens and Gertrude Atherton, describe earthquakes their families have been in. I am unable to do this because my family was never in an earthquake, but we went through a number of things in Columbus that were a great deal like earthquakes. I remember in particular some of the repercussions of an old Reo we had that wouldn't go unless you pushed it for quite a way and suddenly let your clutch out.

 

The Day the Dam Broke
The Columbus, Ohio, broken-dam rumor began, as I recall it, about noon of March 12, 1913. High Street, the main canyon of trade, was loudwith the placid hum of business and the buzzing of placid businessmen arguing, computing, wheedling, offering, refusing, compromising. Darius 32
Conningway, one of the foremost corporation lawyers in the Middle-West, was telling the Public Utilities Commission in the language of Julius Caesar that they might as well try to move the Northern star as to move him. Other men were making their little boasts and their little gestures. Suddenly somebody began to run. It may be that he had simply remembered, all of a moment, an engagement to meet his wife, for which he was now frightfully late. Whatever it was, he ran east on Broad Street (probably toward the Maramor Restaurant, a favorite place for a man to meet his
wife).

 

More Alarms at Night
One of the incidents that I always think of first when I cast back over my youth is what happened the night that my father "threatened to get Buck." This, as you will see, is not precisely a fair or accurate description of what actually occurred, but it is the way in which I and the other members of my
family invariably allude to the occasion. We were living at the time in an old house at 77 Lexington Avenue, in Columbus, Ohio. In the early years of the nineteenth century, Columbus won out, as state capital, by only one vote over Lancaster, and ever since then has had the hallucination that it is
being followed, a curious municipal state of mind which affects, in some way or other, all those who live there. Columbus is a town in which almost anything is likely to happen and in which almost everything has.

The Dog That Bit People
Probably no one man should have as many dogs in his life as I have had, but there was more pleasure than distress in them for me except in the case of an Airedale named Muggs. He gave me more trouble than all the other fifty-four or five put together, although my moment of keenest embarrassment was the time a Scotch terrier named Jeannie, who had just had six puppies in the clothes closet of a fourth floor apartment in New York, had the unexpected seventh and last at the corner of Eleventh Street and Fifth Avenue during a walk she had insisted on taking.

* * * * * 

James Grover Thurber (December 8, 1894 – November 2, 1961) was an American cartoonist, author,journalist, playwright, and celebrated wit. Thurber was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker magazine and collected in his numerous books. One of the most popular humorists of his time, Thurber celebrated the comic frustrations and eccentricities of ordinary people.  - Wikipedia

I can't understand how I've gone astray / I should be sailing away on a liner / Shanghai surprise! - George Harrison

Well, not a liner, but American Airlines flight 288 to Chicago. But I have a 7, 8, 9 hour delay. Gave me a chance to see some more of Shanghai ... but hope the plane's waiting for me.

Shanghai Surprise by George Harrison

I can't understand how I've gone astray
I should be sailing away on a liner
I was knocked on my back on a dock at Yangtse
It's a hell of a way to see China but I'm ready
You must be crazy
And you got no money
And you're a liar
My straits are dire from the, the wok into the fire
I'd like to trust you but I've broken my rickshaw
Sometimes there's no hope in, in chasing opium
I'd like to love you but I'm not sure what's in your eyes
Mm, Shanghai surprise
Whatever you're saying, I want it anyway in
Been hanging 'round like a kid at your back door

You could be kinder, and show me Asia minor
I'll let you love me, let you see what's here in my eyes
Shanghai surprise
You must be crazy
(Crazy)
And you got no money
(Money)
And it seems like madness
Back streets so crowded that no room to swing a cat
I'd like to know you but you're acting so coolie
I'm finding out pursued by evil looking dudes it's
Getting hot for me like tofu when it deep fries
Oh, Shanghai surprise
But baby you look like any common crook
That's hanging 'round in those real shady places

I am not one who was born in possession of knowledge. I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it. - Confucius

"I am not one who was born in possession of knowledge. I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it." - Confucius, Analects, Book 7.20

Photo from the Cunfucian Temple, Shanghai. Wen Miao | Website

Shanghai's longtang — her vast neighborhoods inside enclosed alleys — are a magnificent sight - Wang Anyi

Today's quote is from The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, a 1995 novel by Wang Anyi. It was translated to English in 2008 by Michael Berry and Susan Chan Egan.

The novel follows Wang Qiyao, a sensitive Shanghai beauty, from 1945 to her murder in 1986. The title is identical to a famous 809 poem by Bai Juyi, about the romance and tragic death of the beautiful imperial consort Yang Yuhuan.

LOOKED DOWN UPON from the highest point in the city, Shanghai's longtang — her vast neighborhoods inside enclosed alleys — are a magnificent sight. The longtang are the backdrop of this city. Streets and buildings emerge around them in a series of dots and lines, like the subtle brushstrokes that bring life to the empty expanses of white paper in a traditional Chinese landscape painting. As day turns into night and the city lights up, these dots and lines begin to glimmer. However, underneath the glitter lies an immense blanket of darkness — these are the longtang of Shanghai. The darkness looks almost to be a series of furious waves that threaten to wash away the glowing dots and lines. It has volume, whereas all those lines and dots float on the surface — they are there only to differentiate the areas of this dark mass, like punctuation marks whose job it is to break up an essay into sentences and paragraphs. The darkness is like an abyss — even a mountain falling in would be swallowed whole and sink silently to the bottom. Countless reefs lurk beneath this swelling ocean of darkness, where one false move could capsize a ship. The darkness buoys up Shanghai's handful of illuminated lines and dots, supporting them decade after decade. Against this decades-old backdrop of darkness, the Paris of the Orient unfolds her splendor.

 ****

Shanghai's longtang come in many different forms, each with colors and sounds of its own. Unable to decide on any one appearance, they remain fickle, sometimes looking like this, sometimes looking like that. Actually, despite their constant fluctuations, they always remain the same — the shape may shift but the spirit is unchanged. Back and forth they go, but in the end it's the same old story, like an army of a thousand united by a single goal. Those longtang that have entryways with stone gates emanate an aura of power. They have inherited the style of Shanghai's glorious old mansions. Sporting the facade of an official residence, they make it a point to have a grandiose entrance and high surrounding walls. But, upon entering, one discovers that the courtyard is modest and the reception area narrow — two or three steps and you are already at the wooden staircase across the room. The staircase is not curved, but leads straight up into the bedroom, where a window overlooking the street hints at romantic ardor. The trendy longtang neighborhoods in the eastern district of Shanghai have done away with such haughty airs. They greet you with low wrought-iron gates of floral design. For them a small window overlooking a side street is not enough; they all have to have walk-out balconies -- the better to enjoy the street scenery.

*****

To return to the highest point in the city and look down on it from another angle: clothes hanging out to dry on the cluttered bamboo poles hint at the private lives and loves that lie hidden beneath. In the garden, potted balsams, ghost flowers, scallions, and garlic also breathe the faint air of a secret affair. The empty pigeon cage up on the roof is an empty heart. Broken roof tiles lying in disarray are symbols of the body and soul. Some of the gullylike alleys are lined with cement, others with cobblestone. The cement alleys make you feel cut off, while the cobblestone alleys give the sensation of a fleshy hand. Footsteps sound different in these two types Of longtang. In the former the sound is crisp and bright, but in the latter it is something that you absorb and keep inside. former is a collection of polite pleasantries, the latter of words spoken from the bottom Of one's heart. Neither is like an official document; both belong to the necessary language of the everyday. The back alleys of Shanghai try even harder to work their way into people's hearts. The pavement is covered with a layer of cracks. Gutters overflow; floating in the discolored water are fish scales and rotten vegetable leaves, as well as the greasy lampblack from the stovetop. It is dirty and grimy, impure, here. Here the most private secrets are exposed, and not always in the most conventional fashion. Because of this a pall hangs over these back alleys. The sunlight does not shine through until three o'clock in the afternoon and before long the sun begins to set in the west. But this little bit of sunlight envelops the back alleys in a blanket of warm color. The walls turn a brilliant yellow, highlighting the unevenness of the rough whetstone and giving it the texture of coarse sand. The windows also turn a golden yellow, but they are scratched and stained. By now the sun has been shining down for a long time and is beginning to show signs of fatigue. Summoning up the last vestiges of radiance from the depths, the lingering rays of sunlight flicker with a sticky thickness of built-up residue, rather dirty. As twilight encroaches, flocks of pigeons soar overhead, dust motes drift, and stray cats wander in and out of sight. This is a feeling that, having penetrated the flesh, goes beyond closeness.

Quote of the Day: Analycts. Book IV.10 by Confucius

The superior man, in the  world, does not set his mind either for any thing, or against any thing: what is right he will follow. Analycts. 4.10

Photo from the Cunfucian Temple, Shanghai. Wen Miao | Website

To see the small is called discernment; To hold fast to the submissive is called strength. - Lao Tzu #QotD

Block the openings,
Shut the doors,
And all your life you will not run dry.
Unblock the openings,
Add to your troubles,
And to the end of your days you will be beyond salvation.

To see the small is called discernment;
To hold fast to the submissive is called strength.
Use the light
But give up the discernment.
Bring not misfortune upon yourself.
This is know as following the constant.
- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 2.LII.119-119a

* * * * *

Image at right is from the Chenghuangmiao Temple (City God Temple, a Daoist temple) in the "Water Town" of Zhujiajiao (now a suburb of Shanghai, about an hour -- without traffic -- from dowtown).

While in my dream, I forget I am a guest, / And covet pleasure! - Li Yu #QotD

Outside the Curtains the Rain is Murmuring (Ripples Sifting Sand)

Outside the curtains the rain is murmuring,
And spring is waning,
Silk bedding cannot resist the fifth watch cold.
While in my dream, I forget I am a guest,
And covet pleasure!
I should not lean alone on these railings,
The land is unlimited;
It's easy to part- to meet again is hard.
Spring's gone like blossom fallen on flowing water,
My paradise too!

* * * * *
Li Yu was an early writer of Song dynasty lyrics, (ci in Chinese), a much more fluid form than those used by the great Tang poets. His works often express strong romantic or nostalgic feelings; they bear the title only of the tune to which they were sung. Here they are identified by their first line in English. (from the website)

* * * * *
Book at right is from the Ancient Chinese Book collection, Shanghai Library and note related to the poem

My idle dreams roam far, / To the southern land where spring is fragrant. - Li Yu #QotD

My Idle Dreams Roam Far (Gazing at the South)

My idle dreams roam far,
To the southern land where spring is fragrant.
Wind and strings play on a boat on the river's clear surface,
The city is full of catkins flying like light dust.
People are occupied admiring the flowers.
My idle dreams roam far,
To the southern land where autumn is clear.
For a thousand li over rivers and hills cold colours stretch far,
Deep in flowering reeds, a solitary boat is moored.
Beneath the bright moon, a flute plays in the tower.

* * * * *
Li Yu was an early writer of Song dynasty lyrics, (ci in Chinese), a much more fluid form than those used by the great Tang poets. His works often express strong romantic or nostalgic feelings; they bear the title only of the tune to which they were sung. Here they are identified by their first line in English. (from the website)

* * * * *
Book at right is from the Ancient Chinese Book collection, Shanghai Library and note related to the poem

Man's affairs are like the flow of floodwater, / A life is just like floating in a dream - Li Yu #QotD

 Last Night the Wind and Rain Together Blew (Crows Crying at Night)

Last night the wind and rain together blew,
The wall-curtains rustled in their autumn song.
The candle died, the water-clock was exhausted,
I rose and sat, but could not be at peace.
Man's affairs are like the flow of floodwater,
A life is just like floating in a dream.
I should more often go drunken through the country,
For otherwise I could not bear to live.
- Li Yu

* * * * *
Li Yu was an early writer of Song dynasty lyrics, (ci in Chinese), a much more fluid form than those used by the great Tang poets. His works often express strong romantic or nostalgic feelings; they bear the title only of the tune to which they were sung. Here they are identified by their first line in English. (from the website)

* * * * *
Book at right is from the Ancient Chinese Book collection, Shanghai Library and note related to the poem

The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms the yang - Lao Tzu #qotd

Yin/Yang. Shanghai sidewalk

The way begets one; one begets two; two begets three; three begets the myriad creatures.

The myriad creatures carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms the yang and are the blending of the generative forces of the two.

There are no words which men detest more than "solitary", "desolate", and "hapless", yet lords and princes use these to refer to themselves.

Thus a thing is sometimes added to by being diminished and diminished by being added to.

- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching. 2.XLII.93-96

"It's like a tear in the hands of a western man" - Jefferson Starship #QotD

It's like a tear in the hands of a western man
Tell you about salt, carbon and water
But a tear to an oriental man
He'll tell you about sadness and sorrow or the love of a man and a woman.
- Jefferson Starship (Kantner/Slick/Yu)

Image at right is a statue in the Jian'an Park, Shanghai

"The Castle, its outlines already becoming blurred, lay as quiet as ever" ... except when I visited!

I must say that I didn't have an enjoyable visit to the Prague Castle. The crowds were so intense there were spots where you couldn't even move. My experience, still, was better -- or different? than K's.

So, without further ado, here are some quotes from The Castle (German: Das Schloss) (1926) by Franz Kafka.

* * * * *

It was late evening when K. arrived. The village lay deep in snow. Nothing could be seen of the Castle Hill, it was hidden in mist and darkness, and not even the faintest gleam of light indicated the great castle there. For a long time K. stood on the wooden bridge leading from the main road to the village, looking up into the apparent emptiness.

He felt impelled to seek out new acquaintances, but each new encounter increased his weariness. If he forced himself in his present state to walk on as far as the entrance to the Castle, he would have done more than enough.

Above them the Castle, which K. had hoped to reach that day, already looked strangely dark as it receded from view. As if to bid him farewell for the time being, a bell rang out with a cheerful sound that, at least for a moment, set his pulse racing. It was also a poignant sound, as if it threatened to fulfil the obscure yearnings of his heart. But this great bell soon fell silent and was followed by a smaller one with a feeble, monotonous sound that might still have come from the Castle up there, or perhaps from the village below. Its chime was certainly better suited to his journey in the slow-moving sleigh and its pitiful but grimly determined driver.



The beer was poured out by a young girl called Frieda. She was an unremarkable fair-haired girl with a sad face and hollow cheeks, yet surprisingly she had a look of distinct superiority. As she glanced at K., he had the impression that this look had already settled certain things about him, things of which he was still quite unaware, but which were confirmed by her look.

You’re not from the Castle, you’re not from the village, you’re nobody. But unfortunately you are somebody, you’re a stranger who is one too many and gets in everyone’s way, who is forever causing trouble, who takes up the maids’ room, whose intentions are unknown. You have seduced our dear little Frieda, and now unfortunately we have to let you marry her. I’m not actually blaming you for all that; you are what you are, and I’ve seen too many things in my life not to be able to face this prospect as well. But just think what it is you’re asking for.

it makes my head spin when I listen to you expressing your opinions, and compare what you say with the actual situation. Your ignorance can’t be cured all at once, and perhaps it can’t be cured at all, but things can be made better if you only believe some of what I say, and if you always remember how little you know.

The importance of the case does not depend on the amount of work it creates; if you think that, you are a long way from understanding the authorities.

All these contacts are only apparent, but because of your ignorance of the circumstances you take them to be real.


‘You are right that statements from the Castle cannot be taken literally.

‘I want no favours from the Castle, only my rights.’

The Castle, its outlines already becoming blurred, lay as quiet as ever. So far K. had never seen the slightest sign of life up there; perhaps it was quite impossible to make out anything at that distance, and yet his eyes still sought it out and could not accept its stillness. When he looked at the Castle, it was sometimes as if he were watching someone who was sitting there gazing out calmly, not so much sunk in thought and therefore cut off from everything, but aloof and unconcerned, as if alone and unobserved, yet someone who must be aware that he was being observed without letting it disturb his calm in the slightest; and indeed – it was impossible to tell whether this was cause or effect – the gaze of the observer could find no hold and slipped away.

Perhaps your antics will leave deep footprints in the snow outside, but nothing more.’

‘It’s not encouragement he needs,’ said K., ‘encouraging him is the same as telling him he’s right, that he only has to carry on as he was doing before, but if he does that he will never achieve anything. You can encourage someone who is blindfolded to peer through the blindfold as much as you like, but he’ll never see anything; only when you remove it will he be able to see. Barnabas needs help, not encouragement.


Of course, we’re all told we belong to the Castle, that there is no gulf between us that needs to be bridged, and that may be true in the usual course of events; but unfortunately we’ve had occasion to see that just when it comes to something that matters, it’s not true.


I once heard of a young man who thought about the Castle day and night, he neglected everything else and people feared for his sanity because his whole mind was on the Castle up there; but in the end it turned out that it wasn’t actually the Castle he was thinking about, but the daughter of a woman from the Castle kitchens, and he got her, so he was all right again.’ ‘I think I’d like that young man,’ said K. ‘I doubt whether you’d like him,’ said Amalia, ‘but you might like his wife.

The officials are highly educated, but they are blinkered; in his own field it only needs a word for an official to grasp a whole train of thought, but you can explain something from another area for hours and he may nod politely, but he won’t understand a word.

"The Czechs are just a bit sparing of vowels" BG Baker #QotD

The Czechs are just a bit sparing of vowels; they prefer a good fat cluster of consonants, as, for instance, in Vltava, Brno, and other such pretty names, but then you simply insert an indefinite sound here and there between the spiky consonants, and all is well; anyone who knows Hindustani or Arabic will find it quite easy. After all, if the Czechs prefer their language that way it is their concern, as long as they do not expect the world outside Bohemia to learn it.

From a Terrace in Prague (1923) by Bernard Granville Baker

"I learned that feeling victorious makes you victorious ..." - Bohumil Hrabal #QotD

Bohumil Hrabal (28 March 1914 – 3 February 1997) was a Czech writer, regarded by many Czechs as one of the best writers of the 20th century. [Wikipedia]. For my trip to Prague, a read a collection of short stories, Mr. Kafka: And Other Tales from the Time of the Cult and the novel, I Served the King of England.

Here are some quotes from I Served the King of England by Bohumil Hrabal

So I learned that money could buy you not just a beautiful girl, money could buy you poetry too.

Here, in the Hotel Tichota, I also learned that the ones who invented the notion that work is ennobling were the same ones who drank and ate all night long with beautiful women on their knees, the rich ones, who could be as happy as little children.

Mr. Brandejs gave me a warm welcome and took me to my temporary quarters, a little room in the attic with such a pretty view of Prague that I decided, because of the room and the view, to try to stay there permanently.

I pushed the hangers together and hung up my clothes, and then looked out over the rooftops of Prague, and when I saw the shimmering Castle, the home of Czech kings, I was flooded with tears and forgot all about the Hotel Tichota, and I was glad they’d suspected me of trying to steal the Bambino, because if my boss hadn’t believed it, I’d still be raking the paths and tidying the haystacks, nervous, wondering where the next whistle would come from and who would be blowing it, because by that time I’d figured out that the porter had a whistle too and was acting as the boss’s eyes and legs, and he’d watch us and then whistle just like the boss.

... also saw rare Mosel and Rhine wines, and our own Bzenecka wine from Moravia, and Czech wines from Melnfk and Žernoseky. As he walked from cellar to cellar Mr. Skrivánek would caress the bottle necks fondly, like an alcoholic, though as a matter of fact he didn’t drink, at least I’d never seen him drink, and I suddenly realized I’d never seen him sit down either, he was always standing.

I learned that feeling victorious makes you victorious, and that once you lose heart or let yourself be discouraged the feeling of defeat will stay with you for the rest of your life, and you’ll never get back on your feet again, especially in your own country and your own surroundings, where you’re considered a runt, an eternal busboy.

When I walked through Prague now, I didn’t wear a tie, I didn’t want to be a bit taller than I was, I no longer tried to decide which of the hotels I walked by on Prikopy or Wenceslas Square I would buy. I was happy with myself in a gloating sort of way, glad that I’d ended up as I had, that the way forward was now my own way, that I wouldn’t have to bow and scrape anymore or be careful to say my good-mornings and good-afternoons and good-evenings and de-lighted-to-see-yous or keep an eye on the staff or, if I was one of the staff myself, make sure that the boss didn’t catch me sitting down or smoking or filching a piece of meat.

When I was a waiter I used to love it when at least once a day all those doormen and superintendents and stokers would come out of their buildings, turn their faces upward, and from the abyss of the Prague streets gaze at the strip of sky overhead, at the clouds, to see what time it really was, according to nature and not by the clock.

I knew for certain that this girl could never be happy, but that her life would be sadly beautiful, and that life with her would be both an agony and a fulfillment for a man.