6
PARTISAN REVIEW
to prepare a fresh one without the use of a library. And since he
lived simply-in "ostentatious poverty" as he called it-and there–
fore kept · neither reference works nor bound newspapers, he had
found it necessary to apply to the district commander for permission
to visit the library of Allaban.
The interview was
humili~ting.
First, Satya was kept waiting
in the antechamber while others- whites-who had arrived after
him, were admitted to an audience with the commander. Then a
secretary came out and informed him that, by a new ruling, natives
were required to wait in the reserved antechamber. Satya was led
behind a screen into a small, square, unventilated and unlighted room,
where there were neither benches nor chairs. He was determined to
stand, to bear indignity with dignity; but, his legs tiring, he squatted
in a corner, and finally sat on the floor.
As
soon
as
his eyes had be–
come accustomed to the darkness he discovered a row of mops and
G'JwfV'AMr""
brooms hanging from the ceiling. The room, however, was not a por–
ter's closet, but had rather been decorated to resemble one. This he
ascertained by examining the mops and brooms and a stack of pails
that he found
in
one corner; all were new and unused. There were
also a pair of sandals and a mitten, such as a porter might wear.
An
hour passed before he was admitted into the official chambers.
The commander, receiving him, declared, "Satya, old boy!" attain–
ing, thereby, a perfectly ambiguous insult. To call a native "boy" was
to follow custom, while to speak his name, adding the adjective, "old,"
was, to indulge in a play at equality. Officials adopted either form of
address, but only the highest used both; for while all whites were prac–
ticed in arrogance, only the elite had mastered ambiguity.
The commander did not let him begin. He insisted on showing
Satya about his office, which was furnished as deliberately as the
porter's cLoset. The commander dragged down an elephant's tusk
that had been hollowed out and filled with gold, and urged Satya
to "get the heft of it."
It
was hefty and, as far as Satya was concerned,
thoroughly disgusting; he: was,
if
anything, even further humiliated.
"Just throw it anywhere," said the commander. "Here, I'm sure you'd
like to see these gems.-Oh, I say, would you mind putting,
it
back
where it was? You can use that chair." The commander, who was
taller than Satya, had risen on his toes to reach, the top of the book–
case. Satya did not remove his sandals before stepping onto the satin–
covered chair; but he felt the petulance of his gesture, and he feared
(
it had cost him dignity. The gems he was invited to see had been set
in a hand-mirror to form the coat-of-arms of the mother country.
&..,.~~
I
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I
