Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1922-08-26
And again:

Only, in the language of the whites,
work took OH a very strange meaning.
1t meant getting tired without ach1ev.
ing immediate or tangible results, 1.
meant trouble, annoyance, suffering,
the sQuandering OF health, the pursul.
Of imaginary ends.
All, the whites! They would do bet
ter to go back home, all Of them. They
would do better to Confino their q.
sircs to their own households and to
the cultivation Of their own land, L..
stead Of setting their wishes upon the
acquisition Of stupid money.
Life is short. Work is for those who
will never understand life. Doing nl,..
ing does not degrade q man. In the
eyes Of one who sees things truly, II
differs from lazincss.
AS Tor him, .BatOuala, until it was
proved to the contrary, he would be-
lievc that to do nothing was simply to
profit by everything that surrounds
us. To live from day to day, without:
thought Of yesterday or care for the
morrow, without looking ahead-that
was perfect.
Really, why get up? Sitting was bet
ter than sitting.
The mat Oh which he slept smelleu
sweetly Of dried grass, and was more
softly yielding than the hide of fresh
killed buffalo.
So, instead Of lying there with cios
ell eyes dreaming, why not try to go
to sleep again? That would give him
the chance TO enjoy in full the soft per
lection Of his bogbo (mat.)
First he would have to revive the
fire.
Few dry twigs and Il little straw
the smouldering sparks. The smuh.
sent up its spirals, pungcnt, Suffocat-
ing. Ihere was cracking, the flames
burst forth, warmth invaded the place.
NOW, with his back to the fire, he
could just full asleep again stretched
out like wart-hog, he could just basx
In the glory like lizard in the sun.
shine. He could initiate the yassi with
whom he had been living so long,
His descriptive language, already
seen at IT'S best is further emphasizc.l
as follows:
Bitouala raised himself and leaned
on his elbow. There was no use trying
to sleep any more. Everything was III
league against him. The mist lrilzle,l
Ill through the entrance TO the hut.
1t WIS cold. He was hungry. And the
day was coming on.
HOW could he possibly sleep? AMI
where: OUTSIDE in the damp thicMtts
bull-frogs and tree-toads croaked in
competition. Inside, in spite Of the
cold; mosquitoes and fourous buzz
buzzcd. That was because the fire had
gone out and there was no smoke t.
stupefy them. And though the goats
had left at cOckcrow the chickens
stu were there making a great-to-do.
Even the ducks; the placid ducks
ranged round thoir leader joined in
! the racket. They stretched their necks
to the left and drew them in to stretch
them again; lowered them, ralsco
them and quacked all together, quack-
quacked, as II in astonishment.
1t was as though something extraor-
binary had happened more extraordi-
nary than anything known to- duck,.
Ihey wiggled their tails, Quackel.
looked to the right, looked to the leit
with the AIR of questioning each 9TH
er.
when they thought they had found
what they were looking for, they form
ed single file by order of their size
and marched around the pile of rub
Der baskets, serious. important, clum.
sy all the while repeating their ges.
lures.
. At each step in the waddling prom >,
adc the weight Of their necks pitched
them a little forward.
! Honk-honk, they went to hold conn.
| ca III corner. Every few moments
! thev cast worried looks at the Ga,
trance.
We shall continue our review os
this remarkable novel in our next
issue.