Friday, 16 March 2018

In The Tavern Called Swampman's Ease

The tavern stands by itself in the Canal of the Fiery Snake, surrounded by:

darkness;
tenements;
sweatshops;
"...old warehouses abandoned to rats and robbers." (p. 31) (For full reference, see here.)

On the first floor:

thick smoke;
grinning jack-o'-lantern lights;
smells of arrack and narcotics;
men of many professions and criminalities lounging on floor mats, drinking, smoking and throwing dice;
a dancer;
gamelan, flute and drum;
joy girls behind beaded curtains;
the fat Madame Udjung drinking gin on her high throne with a noseless daggerman at her feet and a singing, golden-tailed ketjil bird on her wrist.

Unbelievably colorful.

1 comment:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Unbelievably colorful and DANGEROUS for staid law abiding types like us! (Smiles)

Sean