Flood of Fire (27 page)
Authors: Amitav Ghosh
As the days went by this question assumed an urgency that confused Shireen: it seemed shameful to her that her mind should dwell so much on this subject. She tried to persuade herself that it was only because of his connection with Bahram that Zadig figured so often in her thoughts; sometimes she told herself that his entry into her life was a sign; that Bahram himself had sent his friend to her, to open a window at the darkest hour of her life, to let a breath of air into the hushed gloom of her existence.
Had she been able to think of a way to contact Zadig directly, Shireen might have done so. But her only means of reaching him was through Vico, and she fought shy of raising the subject with him.
A month went by and when there was still no word from Zadig, Shireen assumed that he had already left. So her surprise was all
the greater when Vico came by to say that Zadig Bey had asked to meet with her, to take his leave.
Through Vico it was arranged that they would again meet at the Catholic church at Mazagon. When the day came Shireen set off early and arrived several minutes before the appointed hour. To her surprise Zadig was already there, sitting in the same place where they'd sat before.
He rose as she approached and bowed formally: âGood morning,
Bibiji.'
âGood morning, Zadig Bey.'
She seated herself beside him, on the pew, and slipped off her veil. âSo you are leaving Bombay are you, Zadig Bey?'
âYes, Bibiji,' he said, a little awkwardly. âChristmas is coming so I must go to Colombo to be with my children and grandchildren. But before leaving I wanted to give you some news.'
âYes, Zadig Bey â what is it?'
âI have been told in confidence,' said Zadig Bey, âthat the decision to send an expeditionary force to China has been taken in London, by Lord Palmerston, the Foreign Secretary. It is from India that the expedition will be launched: half the troops will be sepoys, and much of the money and support will also come from here. Apparently the preparations are already under way, in Calcutta, in secret. The planning started some months ago, but only when everything is ready will it be announced to the public.'
âHow do you know this?' said Shireen.
âBibiji, I'm sure you know that William Jardine, the big China trader, is the principal partner of Seth Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, the Parsi merchant?'
âYes, of course I am aware of that.'
âWell, William Jardine has been helping Lord Palmerston with the planning of the expedition. I have just learnt that he has written to Seth Jamsetjee, asking for the support of the merchants of Bombay. He has made it clear that one of the expedition's principal goals is to extract compensation for the opium that was confiscated by Commissioner Lin â those who provide help will naturally be paid first.'
âOh?' said Shireen. âSo you think compensation will be paid after all?'
âI am sure of it,' said Zadig. âAnd as Bahram's friend, I must tell you, Bibiji, that it is very important that your interests do not go unrepresented in the months ahead. Since you cannot send anyone to China you must go yourself. That is what Bahram-bhai would have wanted, I am sure of it.'
Shireen sighed. âZadig Bey, you must understand that for a woman and a widow it is very difficult to make such a journey.'
âBibiji! European women travel in ships all the time. You are educated, you speak English, you are the daughter of Seth Rustamjee Mistrie who built some of the finest ships to sail the ocean. Why should it be difficult for you to go?'
âAnd if I did go to China, where would I stay?'
âI have friends in Macau. I will write to them to find a place for you to rent.'
Shireen shook her head. âBut there are many other practical problems, Zadig Bey. How will I finance such a journey? How will I buy a passage? All I have is some jewellery that I'd hidden away â Bahram left nothing but debts, you know.'
Zadig wagged a finger to signal his disagreement. âThat is not true, Bibiji â Bahram-bhai was very generous to his friends and he left behind many things. With me for instance.'
âWhat do you mean? What has he left with you?'
âOver the years he gave me many presents and did me many favours. In the flow of life, these things too are like loans. Since you are his widow, it is only right that I should discharge those debts by paying for your passage.'
A startled blush rose to Shireen's cheeks. âZadig Bey, that was not what I meant. I couldn't possibly accept money from you.'
âWhy not?' said Zadig insistently. âIt would be merely a repayment of my debts to Bahram-bhai. Not even that â it would be an investment, rather. When you reclaim Bahram-bhai's dues, you can pay me back. With ten per cent interest if you like.'
Shireen shook her head. âThat's all very well, Zadig Bey â but what will I tell my family? They will want to know where the money came from.'
âTell them the truth. Tell them you had some jewellery hidden away and you've decided to sell it. That's all they need to know.'
Shireen began to fidget with the hem of her sari. âZadig Bey
â you don't understand. Money is only one small part of the problem. I also have to consider my family's name and reputation. There will be a huge scandal if people hear that I'm thinking of going to China â a widow, travelling alone! The Parsi Panchayat may even expel me from the community. And I have to think of my daughters too. They'll worry about my safety.'
Zadig scratched his chin pensively. âBibiji â I too have been thinking about these matters and a solution has occurred to me. As you know, Vico's cousin Rosa has spent some time in Macau. While she was there she worked in the MisericordÃa, which is a Catholic charity that runs hospitals and orphanages. The sisters have asked her to return and she is keen to do so but cannot afford the fare. She will gladly travel with you if her passage can be arranged and paid for. I have spoken to her about this. Your family cannot object to your going if you have a companion with you, can they?'
Instead of calming Shireen, this cast her into despair. âA passage for Rosa!' She struck her forehead with her hand. âBut Zadig Bey, how could I possibly make all these arrangements? It's too difficult â I can't do it on my own.'
Zadig Bey brushed the back of her hand with his fingertips, very lightly. âPlease, Bibiji, do not upset yourself. Try to think of it calmly. Vico will help with the arrangements, and so will I. As it happens I myself am due to travel to China next year. I will arrange matters so that I can sail on the same ship as you and Rosa. Whichever ship you take from Bombay, it is sure to stop in Colombo. I will join you there â Vico will let me know so that I can book my passage accordingly.'
âYou!' The blood rushed to Shireen's face with such force that it was as if her cheeks had been scalded. âBut Zadig Bey ⦠what would people say if they found out that we were travelling together? You know how people gossip.'
âThere's no reason why they should find out,' said Zadig. âAnd if they do, we can tell them that it was just coincidence that we were on the same ship.' He paused to stroke his chin. âFor myself, I confess it would be a pleasure to make this journey with youâ'
Cutting himself short, he coughed into his fist. When he resumed it was as if he were correcting himself for having been too forward:
âWhat I meant is that it would be a pleasure to be of service to you on the journey. I would particularly like to arrange a meeting between you and Freddie, in Singapore.'
Shireen clapped her hands to her cheeks. âPlease stop, Zadig Bey, please stop!' she cried. âI can't make a decision like this at the snap of a finger.' She rose to her feet, pulling the veil over her head. âI need more time.'
Zadig rose too. âBibiji,' he said quietly, as she was lowering her veil, âplease do not worry about the details. The difficulties are all in your head. Once you make up your mind everything else will fall in place.'
These words made so deep an impression on her that she realized that she trusted Zadig completely, perhaps even more than Bahram. But she still could not bring herself to take the leap.
âLet me think about it, Zadig Bey. When I am ready, I will let you know, through Vico. But for now, let us say goodbye.'
November 18, 1839
Honam
The disaster at Humen has galvanized Commissioner Lin and his circle of officials â but no one would know it from the look of the city. In Canton and beyond, everyday life continues unchanged â and this, says Compton, is exactly what the authorities want: that people go about their business as usual. The battle has been underplayed even in official dispatches: Beijing has been informed that it was a minor clash, in which the British also suffered significant casualties. Compton says that it is in order to avoid panic that the battle is being treated as a minor event â but I wonder if it isn't also meant to save face and avert the Emperor's wrath?
Underneath the surface though, the battle has opened many eyes. Compton for one, has been deeply shaken by what we saw that day at Humen. Since then an aspect of him that is usually concealed by his habitually cheerful demeanour has come to the fore: a tendency to fret and worry. He makes no apology for this propensity of his:
when teased about it, he quotes a line from Mencius, something to the effect of: âIt is by worrying about adversity that people survive; complacency brings catastrophe.'
Nowadays Compton's fretfulness bubbles over quite often. In the past his attitude towards translation was fairly matter-of-fact. But now it is as if language itself has become a battleground, with words serving as weapons. He sometimes explodes with indignation while reading British translations of official Chinese documents: Look, Ah Neel, look! Look how they have changed the meaning of what was said!
He disputes everything, even the way the English use the word âChina'. There is no similar term in Chinese he says; the English have borrowed it from Sanskrit and Pali. The Chinese use a different expression, which is mistakenly represented in English as âMiddle Kingd He says that it is better translated as âthe Central States' â I suppose it is the equivalent of our Indian
Madhyadesha
.
What makes Compton angriest is when the Chinese character
yi
is translated as âbarbarian'. He says that this character has always been used to refer to people who are not from the Central States: what it means, in other words, is âforeigner'. Apparently this was not disputed until recently â Americans and Englishmen were quite content to translate
yi
as âforeigner'. But of late some of their translators have begun to insist that
yi
means âbarbarian'. It has repeatedly been pointed out to them that the word has been applied to many revered and famous people in China â even to the present ruling dynasty â but the English translators contend that they know better. Some of these translators are notorious opium-smugglers: they are clearly twisting the Chinese language in order to make trouble. Since Captain Elliot and his superiors know no Chinese, they accept whatever the translators tell them. They have come to believe that the word
yi
is indeed intended as an insult. Now they have turned this into a major grievance.
This drives Compton to despair: How can they pretend
to know, Ah Neel? How can they claim to know that the picture they see when they say
âbarbarian'
, is the same that we see when we say
âyi'?
Thinking about this I realized that I too would protest if Sanskrit or Bangla words like
yavana
or
joban
were translated as âbarbarian'. I think Compton is right when he says that the reason the English use this word is because it is
they
who think of
us
as âbarbarians'. They want war, so they are looking for excuses and even a word will do.
Mat dou gaa
â it's all a pack of lies!
But the Humen battle has had some good consequences even for Compton. For instance Commissioner Lin has begun to pay even greater attention to matters like translation and intelligence. As a consequence Zhong Lou-si's position has been greatly strengthened in official circles. This is a matter of much pride for Compton; he feels that his mentor has at last been given his due.
According to Compton, the principal subject of Zhong Lou-si's studies â overseas matters â has generally been regarded as unimportant and even disreputable in official circles. And the fact that he does not hesitate to seek out sailors, shipowners, merchants, emigrants and the like is considered unseemly by many of his peers: those are classes of men that officialdom has traditionally regarded as untrustworthy.
For all these reasons Zhong Lou-si's work was long overlooked. Compton says that he was able to continue with it only because he succeeded in gaining the ear of a former governor of Guangdong Province who was interested in learning about foreign traders and their countries. He gave Zhong Lou-si a job in a prestigious new academy of learning in Guangzhou and it was there that Compton entered his orbit.
Compton is not from the kind of family that generally produces scholars and officials: he is the son of a ship-chandler and has grown up on the Pearl River, in close proximity to foreign sailors and businessmen: it was they
who had taught him English; it was from them too that he learnt about the world overseas; they also gave him his English name.
But Compton isn't the only one who has learnt about the world in this way: along the banks of the Pearl River there must be hundreds of thousands of people who make their living from trade and are in close contact with foreigners. Millions of them also have relatives who have settled overseas; they too are privy to reports about what is going on in other countries. But knowledge such as theirs rarely filters through to the scholars and bureaucrats who are at the helm of this country's affairs. Nor are ordinary Chinese at all eager to be noticed by officialdom: what business is it of theirs, what the mandarins make of the world? Compton says that for centuries people in Guangdong have taken comfort in the thought that
saang gou wohng dal yuhn
â âthe mountains are high and the Emperor is far away'. What is the sense of stirring a pot that is sure to scorch you if it spills over?
I suppose this is much how things were in Bengal and Hindustan at the time of the European conquests, and even before. The great scholars and functionaries took little interest in the world beyond until suddenly one day it rose up and devoured them.