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Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
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Heart of Darkness
The Nellie, a cruising yawl, swung to her anchor without a flutter of the sails, and was at rest. The flood had made, the wind was nearly calm, and being bound down the river, the only thing for it was to come to and wait for the turn of the tide. The sea-reach of the Thames stretched before us like the beginning of an interminable waterway. In the offing the sea and the sky were welded together without a joint, and in the luminous space the tanned sails of the barges drifting up with the tide seemed to stand still in red clusters of canvas sharply peaked, with gleams of varnished sprits. A haze rested on the low shores that ran out to sea in vanishing flatness. The air was dark above Gravesend, and farther back still seemed condensed into a mournful gloom, brooding motionless over the biggest, and the greatest, town on earth. The Director of Companies was our captain and our host. We four affectionately watched his back as he stood in the bows looking to seaward. On the whole river there was nothing that looked half so nautical. He resembled a pilot, which to a seaman is trustworthiness personified. It was difficult to realize his work was not out there in the 2 of 162
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luminous estuary, but behind him, within the brooding gloom. Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns—and even convictions. The Lawyer—the best of old fellows— had, because of his many years and many virtues, the only cushion on deck, and was lying on the only rug. The Accountant had brought out already a box of dominoes, and was toying architecturally with the bones. Marlow sat cross-legged right aft, leaning against the mizzen-mast. He had sunken cheeks, a yellow complexion, a straight back, an ascetic aspect, and, with his arms dropped, the palms of hands outwards, resembled an idol. The director, satisfied the anchor had good hold, made his way aft and sat down amongst us. We exchanged a few words lazily. Afterwards there was silence on board the yacht. For some reason or other we did not begin that game of dominoes. We felt meditative, and fit for nothing but placid staring. The day was ending in a serenity of still and exquisite brilliance. The water shone pacifically; the sky, without a speck, was a benign immensity of unstained light; the very mist on the Essex marsh was like a gauzy and radiant fabric, hung 3 of 162
stricken to death by the touch of that gloom brooding over a crowd of men. brooding over the upper reaches. but in the august light of abiding memories. as the phrase goes. We looked at the venerable stream not in the vivid flush of a short day that comes and departs for ever. the sun sank low. spread out in the tranquil dignity of a waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth. It had known 4 of 162 . in its curved and imperceptible fall.Heart of Darkness from the wooded rises inland. as if about to go out suddenly. And at last. after ages of good service done to the race that peopled its banks. Only the gloom to the west. And indeed nothing is easier for a man who has. became more sombre every minute. and from glowing white changed to a dull red without rays and without heat. that to evoke the great spirit of the past upon the lower reaches of the Thames. crowded with memories of men and ships it had borne to the rest of home or to the battles of the sea. and the serenity became less brilliant but more profound. as if angered by the approach of the sun. The tidal current runs to and fro in its unceasing service. 'followed the sea' with reverence and affection. The old river in its broad reach rested unruffled at the decline of day. Forthwith a change came over the waters. and draping the low shores in diaphanous folds.
the dark 'interlopers' of the Eastern trade. to the EREBUS and TERROR. titled and untitled—the great knights-errant of the sea. The Chapman lighthouse. What greatness had not floated on the ebb of that river into the mystery of an unknown earth! … The dreams of men. It had borne all the ships whose names are like jewels flashing in the night of time. a three-legged thing erect on a mud-flat. It had known the ships and the men. bearing the sword. shone 5 of 162 . and lights began to appear along the shore. the germs of empires. and often the torch. and the commissioned 'generals' of East India fleets. They had sailed from Deptford. messengers of the might within the land. the dusk fell on the stream. The sun set. captains. admirals. bearers of a spark from the sacred fire. bound on other conquests— and that never returned. from Sir Francis Drake to Sir John Franklin. from Erith— the adventurers and the settlers. the seed of commonwealths. Hunters for gold or pursuers of fame.Heart of Darkness and served all the men of whom the nation is proud. from Greenwich. they all had gone out on that stream. to be visited by the Queen's Highness and thus pass out of the gigantic tale. knights all. kings' ships and the ships of men on 'Change. from the GOLDEN HIND returning with her rotund flanks full of treasure.
which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny. too. the changing immensity of life. And farther west on the upper reaches the place of the monstrous town was still marked ominously on the sky. if one may so express it. the foreign faces. 'And this also. veiled not by a sense of mystery but by a slightly disdainful ignorance.' The worst that could be said of him was that he did not represent his class. a sedentary life. He was a seaman.' He was the only man of us who still 'followed the sea. after his hours of work. One ship is very much like another. 'has been one of the dark places of the earth. and generally he finds the secret not worth knowing.Heart of Darkness strongly. For the rest. for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself. a casual stroll or a casual spree on shore suffices to unfold for him the secret of a whole continent. a lurid glare under the stars. In the immutability of their surroundings the foreign shores.' said Marlow suddenly. a brooding gloom in sunshine. and the sea is always the same. The 6 of 162 . Their minds are of the stay-athome order. and their home is always with them—the ship. but he was a wanderer. and so is their country—the sea. glide past. while most seamen lead. Lights of ships moved in the fairway—a great stir of lights going up and going down.
apparently by the hundred. nineteen hundred years ago—the other day…. It was just like Marlow. Imagine the feelings of a commander of a fine—what d'ye call 'em?—trireme in the Mediterranean. But Marlow was not typical (if his propensity to spin yarns be excepted). Light came out of this river since—you say Knights? Yes. in a month or two. like a flash of lightning in the clouds. No one took the trouble to grunt even. enveloping the tale which brought it out only as a glow brings out a haze. too—used to build. It was accepted in silence. and presently he said. when the Romans first came here. the whole meaning of which lies within the shell of a cracked nut. if we may believe what we read. in the likeness of one of these misty halos that sometimes are made visible by the spectral illumination of moonshine. His remark did not seem at all surprising. run overland across the Gauls in a hurry. ordered suddenly to the north. and to him the meaning of an episode was not inside like a kernel but outside. but it is like a running blaze on a plain. very slow—'I was thinking of very old times. Imagine 7 of 162 .Heart of Darkness yarns of seamen have a direct simplicity. We live in the flicker—may it last as long as the old earth keeps rolling! But darkness was here yesterday. put in charge of one of these craft the legionaries—a wonderful lot of handy men they must have been.
nothing but Thames water to drink. marshes. disease. They were men enough to face the darkness. the utter savagery. in the water. a sky the colour of smoke. 8 of 162 . fog. Here and there a military camp lost in a wilderness. Sand-banks. Oh.—precious little to eat fit for a civilized man. like a needle in a bundle of hay—cold. and death—death skulking in the air. perhaps. no doubt. in the bush. No Falernian wine here. Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga— perhaps too much dice. exile. and in some inland post feel the savagery. had closed round him—all that mysterious life of the wilderness that stirs in the forest. if he had good friends in Rome and survived the awful climate. tempests. a sea the colour of lead. you know—coming out here in the train of some prefect. and without thinking much about it either. or trader even. a kind of ship about as rigid as a concertina— and going up this river with stores. to mend his fortunes. yes—he did it. or what you like. except afterwards to brag of what he had gone through in his time. forests. And perhaps he was cheered by keeping his eye on a chance of promotion to the fleet at Ravenna by and by. Land in a swamp. Did it very well. or tax-gatherer. in the jungles. no going ashore. or orders. savages.Heart of Darkness him here—the very end of the world. They must have been dying like flies here. too. march through the woods.
The fascination of the abomination—you know. imagine the growing regrets. so that. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. he had the pose of a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotusflower—'Mind. 9 of 162 . But these chaps were not much account. 'Mind. and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. lifting one arm from the elbow. since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. aggravated murder on a great scale. their administration was merely a squeeze.' He paused. the surrender. They were conquerors. And it has a fascination.' he began again. There's no initiation either into such mysteries. He has to live in the midst of the incomprehensible. really. the powerless disgust. the palm of the hand outwards. which is also detestable. that goes to work upon him. What saves us is efficiency—the devotion to efficiency. They were no colonists. the hate.Heart of Darkness in the hearts of wild men. none of us would feel exactly like this. I suspect. when you have it. It was just robbery with violence. too. and nothing more. with his legs folded before him. and for that you want only brute force— nothing to boast of. the longing to escape.
' that we knew we were fated. when he said. 'I suppose you fellows remember I did once turn fresh-water sailor for a bit. joining. which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves.Heart of Darkness The conquest of the earth. but it was only after a long silence. Flames glided in the river. and offer a sacrifice to. overtaking. small green flames. crossing each other— then separating slowly or hastily. 'yet to understand the effect of it on me you ought to 10 of 162 . in a hesitating voice. waiting patiently—there was nothing else to do till the end of the flood. We looked on. and an unselfish belief in the idea— something you can set up. white flames. is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much. before the ebb began to run. to hear about one of Marlow's inconclusive experiences. pursuing. What redeems it is the idea only. not a sentimental pretence but an idea. …' He broke off. and bow down before. The traffic of the great city went on in the deepening night upon the sleepless river. showing in this remark the weakness of many tellers of tales who seem so often unaware of what their audience would like best to hear.' he began. An idea at the back of it. red flames. 'I don't want to bother you much with what happened to me personally.
as you remember. It was sombre enough. Then I began to look for a ship—I should think the hardest work on earth. No. and I was loafing about. Pacific. how I went up that river to the place where I first met the poor chap. It was very fine for a time. just returned to London after a lot of Indian Ocean. not very clear. too—and pitiful— not extraordinary in any way—not very clear either. and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it 11 of 162 . but after a bit I did get tired of resting. just as though I had got a heavenly mission to civilize you. hindering you fellows in your work and invading your homes. It was the farthest point of navigation and the culminating point of my experience. 'I had then. But the ships wouldn't even look at me. I would look for hours at South America. too. And yet it seemed to throw a kind of light. what I saw. And I got tired of that game. It seemed somehow to throw a kind of light on everything about me— and into my thoughts. or Australia. China Seas—a regular dose of the East—six years or so. 'Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. or Africa. and lose myself in all the glories of exploration.Heart of Darkness know how I got out there. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth.
and … well. The snake had charmed me. But there was one yet—the biggest. It had got filled since my boyhood with rivers and lakes and names. Well. And as I looked at the map of it in a shop-window. that you could see on the map. we won't talk about that. I have been in some of them. Dash it all! I thought to myself. But there was in it one river especially. 12 of 162 . a Company for trade on that river. 'When I grow up I will go there. by this time it was not a blank space any more. I haven't been there yet. The glamour's off. Then I remembered there was a big concern. resembling an immense snake uncoiled. It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery— a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over.' The North Pole was one of these places. the most blank. it fascinated me as a snake would a bird—a silly little bird. with its head in the sea. they can't trade without using some kind of craft on that lot of fresh water—steamboats! Why shouldn't I try to get charge of one? I went on along Fleet Street. It had become a place of darkness. so to speak— that I had a hankering after. Other places were scattered about the hemispheres. a mighty big river.Heart of Darkness and say. and shall not try now. and its tail lost in the depths of the land. 'True. I remember. but could not shake off the idea. its body at rest curving afar over a vast country.
anything for you. Then—would you believe it?—I tried the women. So I worried them. but. She was determined to make no end of fuss to get me appointed skipper of a river steamboat. that Trading society. if such was my fancy.' etc. I am ready to do anything. Heavens! Well. 'I am sorry to own I began to worry them. you see. because it's cheap and not so nasty as it looks. The men said 'My dear fellow. I always went my own road and on my own legs where I had a mind to go. I know the wife of a very high personage in the Administration. and also a man who has lots of influence with. It is a glorious idea. then—you see—I felt somehow I must get there by hook or by crook. I was not used to get things that way. It appears the Company had received news that one of their captains had been killed in a scuffle with the 13 of 162 . they say. She wrote: 'It will be delightful. a dear enthusiastic soul. you know. 'I got my appointment—of course.' and did nothing. but I have a lot of relations living on the Continent. and I got it very quick. I had an aunt.Heart of Darkness 'You understand it was a Continental concern. Charlie Marlow. This was already a fresh departure for me. set the women to work— to get a job. I wouldn't have believed it of myself. the notion drove me. I.
This was my chance. a Dane—thought himself wronged somehow in the bargain. No doubt he was. Then the whole population cleared into the forest. quietest creature that ever walked on two legs. while a big crowd of his people watched him. till some man— I was told the chief's son—in desperation at hearing the old chap yell. expecting all kinds of calamities to happen. and it made me the more anxious to go. and he probably felt the need at last of asserting his selfrespect in some way. that I heard the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about some hens. Yes. thunderstruck. it didn't surprise me in the least to hear this. Oh. 14 of 162 . Therefore he whacked the old nigger mercilessly. while. you know.Heart of Darkness natives. It was only months and months afterwards. but he had been a couple of years already out there engaged in the noble cause. Fresleven—that was the fellow's name. and at the same time to be told that Fresleven was the gentlest. when I made the attempt to recover what was left of the body. made a tentative jab with a spear at the white man— and of course it went quite easy between the shoulder-blades. so he went ashore and started to hammer the chief of the village with a stick. the steamer Fresleven commanded left also in a bad panic. I believe. in charge of the engineer. on the other hand. two black hens.
anyhow. It was the biggest thing in the town. men. and before fortyeight hours I was crossing the Channel to show myself to my employers. though. Mad terror had scattered them. A calamity had come to it. I couldn't let it rest. view. I had no difficulty in finding the Company's offices. before I had fairly begun to hope for it. and children. and everybody I met was full of it. and edit PDF. Download the free trial version. 'I flew around like mad to get ready. I should think the cause of progress got them. all askew within the fallen enclosures. but when an opportunity offered at last to meet my predecessor. through this glorious affair I got my appointment. They were all there. In a very few hours I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulchre. and sign the contract. women. sure enough. And the village was deserted. Prejudice no doubt. They were 15 of 162 . till I got out and stepped into his shoes. However. Afterwards nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven's remains. through the bush. The people had vanished. The supernatural being had not been touched after he fell. the grass growing through his ribs was tall enough to hide his bones. and they had never returned. What became of the hens I don't know either.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. rotting. the huts gaped black.
a deuce of a lot of blue. Her dress was as plain as an umbrella-cover. to show where the jolly pioneers of progress drink the jolly lager-beer. because one knows that some real work is done in there. sat on straw-bottomed chairs. high houses. one fat and the other slim. and opened the first door I came to. and make no end of coin by trade. and she turned round without a word and preceded me into a waiting-room. immense double doors standing ponderously ajar. went up a swept and ungarnished staircase. I slipped through one of these cracks. smears of orange. knitting black wool. plain chairs all round the walls. on the East Coast. The slim one got up and walked straight at me— still knitting with downcast eyes—and only just as I began to think of getting out of her way. as arid as a desert. grass sprouting right and left. a purple patch. 'A narrow and deserted street in deep shadow.Heart of Darkness going to run an over-sea empire. Two women. and looked up. a little green. on one end a large shining map. as you would for a somnambulist. innumerable windows with venetian blinds. There was a vast amount of red— good to see at any time. However. I gave my name. Deal table in the middle. and. and looked about. marked with all the colours of a rainbow. I wasn't going into any of 16 of 162 . stood still. a dead silence.
Its light was dim. He shook hands. And the river was there—fascinating—deadly—like a snake. Dead in the centre. It was just as though I had been let into some conspiracy— I don't know— something not quite right. and there was something ominous in the atmosphere. Ough! A door opened. but wearing a compassionate expression. murmured vaguely. full of desolation and sympathy. Well. The great man himself. 'I began to feel slightly uneasy. and had his grip on the handle-end of ever so many millions. and a skinny forefinger beckoned me into the sanctuary. I was going into the yellow. and a heavy writing-desk squatted in the middle. I believe I undertook amongst other things not to disclose any trade secrets. was satisfied with my French. appeared. and I was glad to get out. and the younger one was 17 of 162 . I fancy. ya white-haired secretarial head. He was five feet six. You know I am not used to such ceremonies. who. made me sign some document. From behind that structure came out an impression of pale plumpness in a frock-coat.Heart of Darkness these. I should judge. 'In about forty-five seconds I found myself again in the waiting-room with the compassionate secretary. I am not going to. BON VOYAGE. In the outer room the two women knitted black wool feverishly. People were arriving.
' assured me the secretary. 'A simple formality. by a long way. 'There was yet a visit to the doctor. and a cat reposed on her lap. She seemed to know all about them and about me. and silver-rimmed spectacles hung on the tip of her nose. too. had a wart on one cheek. guarding the door of Darkness. The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me. Often far away there I thought of these two. She glanced at me above the glasses. with an air of taking an immense part in all my sorrows. knitting black wool as for a warm pall. She wore a starched white affair on her head. AVE! Old knitter of black wool. Her flat cloth slippers were propped up on a foot-warmer. 18 of 162 . An eerie feeling came over me. Two youths with foolish and cheery countenances were being piloted over. Not many of those she looked at ever saw her again—not half. MORITURI TE SALUTANT. and she threw at them the same quick glance of unconcerned wisdom. introducing continuously to the unknown. The old one sat on her chair.Heart of Darkness walking back and forth introducing them. one introducing. She seemed uncanny and fateful. Accordingly a young chap wearing his hat over the left eyebrow. some clerk I suppose—there must have been clerks in the business. the other scrutinizing the cheery and foolish faces with unconcerned old eyes.
taking notes carefully.Heart of Darkness though the house was as still as a house in a city of the dead— came from somewhere up-stairs. and his cravat was large and billowy. 'I always ask leave. 'The old doctor felt my pulse. with his feet in slippers. under a chin shaped like the toe of an old boot. 'And when they come 19 of 162 . 'I am not such a fool as I look. 'Good. and by and by I expressed casually my surprise at him not going out there. He was an unshaven little man in a threadbare coat like a gaberdine. good for there.' he said. when he produced a thing like calipers and got the dimensions back and front and every way. and we rose. I said Yes.' he said sententiously. and thereupon he developed a vein of joviality. As we sat over our vermouths he glorified the Company's business.' he mumbled. and led me forth. emptied his glass with great resolution. He was shabby and careless. It was a little too early for the doctor. evidently thinking of something else the while. so I proposed a drink. with inkstains on the sleeves of his jacket. and then with a certain eagerness asked me whether I would let him measure my head. to measure the crania of those going out there. Rather surprised. quoth Plato to his disciples. He became very cool and collected all at once. in the interests of science. and I thought him a harmless fool.
Famous. with a laugh. too?' 'It would be. you know. 'and.' answered that original. How do you English say. in a matter-of-fact tone. 'Every doctor should be—a little. 'I have a little theory which you messieurs who go out there must help me to prove. Adieu. moreover. 'interesting for science to watch the mental changes of individuals. 'Ever any madness in your family?' he asked. 'If I were. 'Avoid irritation more than exposure to the sun. Interesting. Pardon my questions. but you are the first Englishman coming under my observation …' I hastened to assure him I was not in the least typical.' he said. 'Is that question in the interests of science. Adieu. and probably erroneous. imperturbably. This is my share in the advantages my country shall reap from the possession of such a magnificent dependency. eh? Good-bye. 'So you are going out there.Heart of Darkness back. too. too?' I asked.' He smiled.' He gave me a searching glance. 'Oh. but …' 'Are you an alienist?' I interrupted.' he said. Ah! Good-bye.' 'What you say is rather profound.' said I. on the spot. as if at some quiet joke. I felt very annoyed. The mere wealth I leave to others. the changes take place inside. In the tropics one must before 20 of 162 . without taking notice of my irritation. I never see them. and made another note.' he remarked. 'I wouldn't be talking like this with you.
and the excellent woman. I was also one of the Workers. and goodness knows to how many more people besides. I ventured to hint that the Company was run for profit. In the course of these confidences it became quite plain to me I had been represented to the wife of the high dignitary. something like a lower sort of apostle. upon my word. DU CALME. with a capital— you know.' … He lifted a warning forefinger…. 'DU CALME. ADIEU. There had been a lot of such rot let loose in print and talk just about that time. got carried off her feet. Something like an emissary of light. as an exceptional and gifted creature— a piece of good fortune for the Company—a man you don't get hold of every day. I found her triumphant.' till.' 'One thing more remained to do—say good-bye to my excellent aunt. she made me quite uncomfortable. however. I had a cup of tea—the last decent cup of tea for many days—and in a room that most soothingly looked just as you would expect a lady's drawing-room to look. 21 of 162 . Good heavens! and I was going to take charge of a two-penny-half-penny river-steamboat with a penny whistle attached! It appeared. living right in the rush of all that humbug.Heart of Darkness everything keep calm. She talked about 'weaning those ignorant millions from their horrid ways. we had a long quiet chat by the fireside.
and never can be. for a second or two. The best way I can explain it to you is by saying that.' she said. who used to clear out for any part of the world at twenty-four hours' notice. brightly. In the street—I don't know why—a queer feeling came to me that I was an imposter. dear Charlie. They live in a world of their own. instead of going to the centre of a continent. and so on—and I left. as far as I could see. the sole purpose of landing soldiers and custom-house 22 of 162 .Heart of Darkness ''You forget. before this commonplace affair. and if they were to set it up it would go to pieces before the first sunset. I were about to set off for the centre of the earth. but of startled pause. that the labourer is worthy of his hire. be sure to write often. 'After this I got embraced. Odd thing that I. for. 'I left in a French steamer. told to wear flannel. It's queer how out of touch with truth women are. I felt as though. Some confounded fact we men have been living contentedly with ever since the day of creation would start up and knock the whole thing over. with less thought than most men give to the crossing of a street. had a moment—I won't say of hesitation. and there has never been anything like it. and she called in every blamed port they have out there. It is too beautiful altogether.
with an aspect of monotonous grimness. grand. but we passed various 23 of 162 . The edge of a colossal jungle. Watching a coast as it slips by the ship is like thinking about an enigma. landed soldiers.Heart of Darkness officers. as if still in the making. Settlements some centuries old. Some. like a ruled line. as though we had not moved. far. There it is before you— smiling. Every day the coast looked the same. ran straight. with a flag flying above them perhaps. or savage. insipid. and always mute with an air of whispering. presumably. landed custom-house clerks to levy toll in what looked like a God-forsaken wilderness. mean. The sun was fierce. the land seemed to glisten and drip with steam. stopped.' This one was almost featureless. but whether they did or not. We pounded along. I watched the coast. nobody seemed particularly to care. far away along a blue sea whose glitter was blurred by a creeping mist. and on we went. so dark-green as to be almost black. frowning. inviting. They were just flung out there. got drowned in the surf. Here and there greyish-whitish specks showed up clustered inside the white surf. 'Come and find out. and still no bigger than pinheads on the untouched expanse of their background. I heard. fringed with white surf. went on. with a tin shed and a flag-pole lost in it. landed more soldiers—to take care of the custom-house clerks.
an intense energy of movement. we came upon a man-of-war anchored off the coast. muscle. It was something natural. but the feeling would not last long. but they had bone. Once. the oily and languid sea. names that seemed to belong to some sordid farce acted in front of a sinister back-cloth. For a time I would feel I belonged still to a world of straightforward facts. my isolation amongst all these men with whom I had no point of contact. The idleness of a passenger. They wanted no excuse for being there. The voice of the surf heard now and then was a positive pleasure. they had faces like grotesque masks—these chaps. Now and then a boat from the shore gave one a momentary contact with reality. They were a great comfort to look at. You could see from afar the white of their eyeballs glistening. that had its reason. Little Popo. a wild vitality. their bodies streamed with perspiration. and she was shelling 24 of 162 . within the toil of a mournful and senseless delusion. I remember. They shouted. that was as natural and true as the surf along their coast. the uniform sombreness of the coast.Heart of Darkness places—trading places—with names like Gran' Bassam. that had a meaning. sang. like the speech of a brother. seemed to keep me away from the truth of things. It was paddled by black fellows. There wasn't even a shed there. Something would turn up to scare it away.
where the merry dance of death and trade goes on in a still and earthy atmosphere as of an overheated catacomb. incomprehensible. all along the formless coast bordered by dangerous surf. swaying her thin masts. the greasy. 25 of 162 . slimy swell swung her up lazily and let her down. a tiny projectile would give a feeble screech—and nothing happened. It appears the French had one of their wars going on thereabouts. Pop. as if Nature herself had tried to ward off intruders. Her ensign dropped limp like a rag. Nothing could happen. a small flame would dart and vanish. We called at some more places with farcical names. streams of death in life. in and out of rivers. would go one of the six-inch guns. a little white smoke would disappear. In the empty immensity of earth. sky. the muzzles of the long six-inch guns stuck out all over the low hull. a sense of lugubrious drollery in the sight. and it was not dissipated by somebody on board assuring me earnestly there was a camp of natives— he called them enemies!— hidden out of sight somewhere. there she was. and water. firing into a continent. There was a touch of insanity in the proceeding. 'We gave her her letters (I heard the men in that lonely ship were dying of fever at the rate of three a day) and went on.Heart of Darkness the bush.
and knowing me for a seaman. I said. 'Been living there?' he asked.Heart of Darkness whose banks were rotting into mud. Nowhere did we stop long enough to get a particularized impression. fair. We anchored off the seat of the government. invited me on the bridge. It was like a weary pilgrimage amongst hints for nightmares. whose waters. 'Yes. 'It was upward of thirty days before I saw the mouth of the big river. Her captain was a Swede.' 'Fine lot these government chaps—are they not?' he went on. 'So-o-o!' he 26 of 162 . invaded the contorted mangroves. He was a young man. he tossed his head contemptuously at the shore. 'It is funny what some people will do for a few francs a month. So as soon as I could I made a start for a place thirty miles higher up. I wonder what becomes of that kind when it goes upcountry?' I said to him I expected to see that soon. As we left the miserable little wharf. 'I had my passage on a little sea-going steamer. and morose. but the general sense of vague and oppressive wonder grew upon me. speaking English with great precision and considerable bitterness. lean. that seemed to writhe at us in the extremity of an impotent despair. But my work would not begin till some two hundred miles farther on. with lanky hair and a shuffling gait. thickened into slime.
then found a path leading up the hill. A rocky cliff appeared. or hanging to the declivity. others with iron roofs.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. Four boxes did you say? So. 'I will send your things up. He was a Swede. It turned aside for the boulders.' 'I came upon a boiler wallowing in the grass. A blinding sunlight drowned all this at times in a sudden recrudescence of glare. Farewell. exclaimed. and edit PDF. 'Who knows? The sun too much for him. He kept on looking out watchfully. view. A continuous noise of the rapids above hovered over this scene of inhabited devastation.' 'At last we opened a reach. amongst a waste of excavations. A jetty projected into the river. or the country perhaps. pointing to three wooden barrack-like structures on the rocky slope. houses on a hill. One was off. keeping one eye ahead vigilantly. 'The other day I took up a man who hanged himself on the road. moved about like ants. and also for an undersized railway-truck lying there on its back with its wheels in the air.' said the Swede. Download the free trial version. 'Don't be too sure. 'There's your Company's station. too. mounds of turned-up earth by the shore. He shuffled athwart. in God's name?' I cried. A lot of people.' he continued. The thing looked as dead as the carcass of some animal. mostly black and naked.' 'Hanged himself! Why. I 27 of 162 .
but these men could by no stretch of imagination be called enemies. and that was all. a puff of smoke came out of the cliff. A heavy and dull detonation shook the ground. a stack of rusty rails. and the short ends behind waggled to and fro like tails. They walked erect and slow. A horn tooted to the right. rhythmically clinking. The cliff was not in the way or anything. and I saw the black people run. I blinked. 28 of 162 . They were called criminals. but this objectless blasting was all the work going on. Six black men advanced in a file. toiling up the path. I could see every rib. 'A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. No change appeared on the face of the rock. It was the same kind of ominous voice. To the left a clump of trees made a shady spot. Another report from the cliff made me think suddenly of that ship of war I had seen firing into a continent. and the clink kept time with their footsteps.Heart of Darkness came upon more pieces of decaying machinery. balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads. where dark things seemed to stir feebly. the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope. Black rags were wound round their loins. They were building a railway. each had an iron collar on his neck. and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them. the path was steep.
with that complete. He was speedily reassured. 'Instead of going up. He had a uniform jacket with one button off. seemed to take me into partnership in his exalted trust. and a glance at his charge. I also was a part of the great cause of these high and just proceedings. You know I am not particularly tender. My idea was to let that chain-gang get out of sight before I climbed the hill. After all. strolled despondently. I turned and descended to the left. the product of the new forces at work.Heart of Darkness and the outraged law. Behind this raw matter one of the reclaimed. I've had to resist and to attack sometimes—that's only one way of resisting— without counting the exact cost. carrying a rifle by its middle. the violently dilated nostrils quivered. deathlike indifference of unhappy savages. They passed me within six inches. I've seen the 29 of 162 . the eyes stared stonily uphill. All their meagre breasts panted together. white. had come to them. hoisted his weapon to his shoulder with alacrity. without a glance. according to the demands of such sort of life as I had blundered into. and seeing a white man on the path. like the bursting shells. and with a large. white men being so much alike at a distance that he could not tell who I might be. an insoluble mystery from the sea. This was simple prudence. rascally grin. I've had to strike and to fend off.
For a moment I stood appalled. It might have been connected with the philanthropic desire of giving the criminals something to do. Finally I descended the hill. but. almost no more than a scar in the hillside. red-eyed devils. obliquely. and the devil of hot desire. and the devil of greed. but no sooner within than it seemed to me I had stepped into the gloomy circle of 30 of 162 . weak-eyed devil of a rapacious and pitiless folly. My purpose was to stroll into the shade for a moment. towards the trees I had seen. I foresaw that in the blinding sunshine of that land I would become acquainted with a flabby. anyhow. by all the stars! these were strong. pretending. It wasn't a quarry or a sandpit. I was only to find out several months later and a thousand miles farther. It was just a hole. 'I avoided a vast artificial hole somebody had been digging on the slope. lusty. the purpose of which I found it impossible to divine.Heart of Darkness devil of violence. Then I nearly fell into a very narrow ravine. as though by a warning. too. There wasn't one that was not broken. It was a wanton smashup. At last I got under the trees. I tell you. How insidious he could be. I discovered that a lot of imported drainage-pipes for the settlement had been tumbled in there. that swayed and drove men—men. I don't know. But as I stood on this hillside.
rushing noise filled the mournful stillness of the grove. lying confusedly in the greenish gloom. I saw a face near my hand. and an uninterrupted. 'Black shapes crouched. Another mine on the cliff went off. The 31 of 162 . and despair. These moribund shapes were free as air—and nearly as thin. clinging to the earth. Then. I began to distinguish the gleam of the eyes under the trees. they sickened. where not a breath stirred. half effaced within the dim light. lost in uncongenial surroundings. fed on unfamiliar food. They were not enemies. Brought from all the recesses of the coast in all the legality of time contracts. became inefficient. abandonment. followed by a slight shudder of the soil under my feet. lay.Heart of Darkness some Inferno. 'They were dying slowly—it was very clear. headlong. uniform. half coming out. not a leaf moved. in all the attitudes of pain. The work was going on. The rapids were near. The work! And this was the place where some of the helpers had withdrawn to die. they were not criminals. they were nothing earthly now— nothing but black shadows of disease and starvation. sat between the trees leaning against the trunks. with a mysterious sound—as though the tearing pace of the launched earth had suddenly become audible. glancing down. and were then allowed to crawl away and rest.
and went off on all-fours towards the river to drink. stared at nothing. this bit of white thread from beyond the seas. and slowly the eyelids rose and the sunken eyes looked up at me. and all about others were scattered in every pose of contorted collapse. one of these creatures rose to his hands and knees. He lapped out of his hand. The man seemed young— almost a boy—but you know with them it's hard to tell. white flicker in the depths of the orbs. with his chin propped on his knees. a kind of blind. as in some picture of a massacre or a pestilence. which died out slowly. He had tied a bit of white worsted round his neck—Why? Where did he get it? Was it a badge—an ornament—a charm— a propitiatory act? Was there any idea at all connected with it? It looked startling round his black neck. 'Near the same tree two more bundles of acute angles sat with their legs drawn up. 32 of 162 . enormous and vacant. I found nothing else to do but to offer him one of my good Swede's ship's biscuits I had in my pocket. then sat up in the sunlight. in an intolerable and appalling manner: his brother phantom rested its forehead.Heart of Darkness black bones reclined at full length with one shoulder against the tree. The fingers closed slowly on it and held—there was no other movement and no other glance. One. While I stood horror-struck. as if overcome with a great weariness.
with its suggestion of sedentary desk-life. snowy trousers. a light alpaca jacket. I wouldn't have mentioned the fellow to you at all. That's backbone. I respected his collars. but in the great demoralization of the land he kept up his appearance. under a greenlined parasol held in a big white hand. and I learned he was the Company's chief accountant. 'I shook hands with this miracle. 'to get a breath of fresh air. Moreover. in such an unexpected elegance of getup that in the first moment I took him for a sort of vision. a clean necktie. he said. his vast cuffs. brushed. He was amazing. his brushed hair. He had come out for a moment. and after a time let his woolly head fall on his breastbone.Heart of Darkness crossing his shins in front of him. No hat. and I made haste towards the station. I respected the fellow. The expression sounded wonderfully odd. oiled. His 33 of 162 . 'I didn't want any more loitering in the shade. only it was from his lips that I first heard the name of the man who is so indissolubly connected with the memories of that time. white cuffs. I saw a high starched collar. and had a penholder behind his ear. Yes. Hair parted. When near the buildings I met a white man. and varnished boots. His appearance was certainly that of a hairdresser's dummy. and that all the bookkeeping was done at this station.
He had just the faintest blush. and said modestly. And he was devoted to his books. too. It was built of horizontal planks. but to be out of the chaos I would sometimes get into the accountant's office. which were in applepie order. It was difficult. things.Heart of Darkness starched collars and got-up shirt-fronts were achievements of character. 'I had to wait in the station for ten days—an eternity. She had a distaste for the work. and. he wrote. buildings. rubbishy cottons. while.' Thus this man had verily accomplished something. and so badly put together that. I sat generally on the floor. There was no need to open the big shutter to see. he was barred from neck to heels with narrow strips of sunlight. and in return came a precious trickle of ivory. of faultless appearance (and even slightly scented). It was hot there. and did not sting. later. 34 of 162 . He had been out nearly three years. a stream of manufactured goods. I could not help asking him how he managed to sport such linen. and brass-wire set into the depths of darkness. 'I've been teaching one of the native women about the station. Strings of dusty niggers with splay feet arrived and departed. I lived in a hut in the yard. perching on a high stool. as he bent over his high desk. big flies buzzed fiendishly. beads. but stabbed. 'Everything else in the station was in a muddle—heads.
A caravan had come in. A violent babble of uncouth sounds burst out on the other side of the planks. Kurtz was. All the carriers were speaking together. When a truckle-bed with a sick man (some invalid agent from upcountry) was put in there. He rose slowly.' he said. laying down his pen. Kurtz was at present in charge of a trading-post. 'distract my attention. 'In the interior you will no doubt meet Mr. Sends in as much ivory as all the others put together …' He began to write again.' he 35 of 162 . Sometimes he stood up for exercise. 'Suddenly there was a growing murmur of voices and a great tramping of feet. 'He is a very remarkable person. he added slowly. he said he was a first-class agent. at 'the very bottom of there. in the true ivory-country. 'The groans of this sick person.' Further questions elicited from him that Mr. without lifting his head. a very important one.' On my asking who Mr. and in the midst of the uproar the lamentable voice of the chief agent was heard 'giving it up' tearfully for the twentieth time that day…. and seeing my disappointment at this information. 'What a frightful row. Kurtz. The sick man was too ill to groan.Heart of Darkness he wrote.' 'One day he remarked. The flies buzzed in a great peace. And without that it is extremely difficult to guard against clerical errors in this climate. he exhibited a gentle annoyance.
Heart of Darkness said. He crossed the room gently to look at the sick man.' He remained thoughtful for a moment. 'No. was making correct entries of perfectly correct transactions. the other.' 'He turned to his work. 'When you see Mr. 'He does not hear. not yet. In the steady buzz of flies the homeward-bound agent was lying finished and insensible. and returning. 'He will be a somebody in the Administration before long.' 'What! Dead?' I asked. 'tell him from me that everything here'— he glanced at the deck—' is very satisfactory. and fifty feet below the doorstep I could see the still treetops of the grove of death. Then.' he began again.' He stared at me for a moment with his mild. They. alluding with a toss of the head to the tumult in the station-yard. with great composure. one comes to hate those savages—hate them to the death. Kurtz' he went on. he will go far. above—the Council in Europe. The noise outside had ceased. 'When one has got to make correct entries.' he answered. startled. you know—mean him to be. bent over his books. bulging eyes. very far. I don't like to write to him—with those messengers of ours you never know who may get hold of your letter—at that Central Station. said to me. and presently in going out I stopped at the door. 'Oh. 36 of 162 .
sleep. a tremor vast. with the stamp and shuffle of sixty pair of bare feet behind me. Perhaps on some quiet night the tremor of far-off drums. Paths. 'No use telling you much about that. with an empty water-gourd and his long staff lying by his side. a stamped-in network of paths spreading over the empty land. Still I passed through several abandoned villages. too. for a two-hundred-mile tramp. through the long grass. Well. Camp. march. through burnt grass. paths. and a solitude. Day after day. if a lot of mysterious niggers armed with all kinds of fearful weapons suddenly took to travelling on the road between Deal and Gravesend. swelling. The population had cleared out a long time ago. Now and then a carrier dead in harness. I fancy every farm and cottage thereabouts would get empty very soon. down and up chilly ravines. cook. through thickets. with a caravan of sixty men. strike camp. load. not a hut. a solitude. Only here the dwellings were gone. There's something pathetically childish in the ruins of grass walls. at rest in the long grass near the path. sinking. up and down stony hills ablaze with heat. nobody. each pair under a 60-lb. A great silence around and above. 37 of 162 . a sound weird. appealing. everywhere. catching the yokels right and left to carry heavy loads for them. faint.Heart of Darkness 'Next day I left that station at last.
upon which I absolutely stumbled three miles farther on. I made a speech in English with gestures. Can't say I saw any road or any upkeep. I couldn't help asking him once what he meant by coming there at all. Was looking after the upkeep of the road. scornfully. but rather too fleshy and with the exasperating habit of fainting on the hot hillsides. you know. Once a white man in an unbuttoned uniform. too. may be considered as a permanent improvement. They jibbed. not one of which was lost to the sixty pairs of eyes before me. camping on the path with an armed escort of lank Zanzibaris. I had a white companion. miles away from the least bit of shade and water. and had to be carried in a hammock slung under a pole.Heart of Darkness suggestive. Then he got fever. and the next 38 of 162 . unless the body of a middle-aged negro. What do you think?' he said. So. he declared. 'To make money. with a bullet-hole in the forehead. Annoying. of course. As he weighed sixteen stone I had no end of rows with the carriers. and wild—and perhaps with as profound a meaning as the sound of bells in a Christian country. very hospitable and festive— not to say drunk. not a bad chap. ran away. sneaked off with their loads in the night—quite a mutiny. to hold your own coat like a parasol over a man's head while he is coming to. one evening.
horrors. morning I started the hammock off in front all right. excitable chap with black moustaches. it was 'all right. informed me with great volubility and many digressions. and edit PDF. blankets. that my steamer was at the bottom of the river.' I felt I was becoming scientifically interesting. On the fifteenth day I came in sight of the big river again.' 39 of 162 . One of them. I remembered the old doctor— 'It would be interesting for science to watch the mental changes of individuals. However. strolling up to take a look at me. how.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. all that is to no purpose. hammock. view. What. a stout. with a pretty border of smelly mud on one side. Download the free trial version. but there wasn't the shadow of a carrier near. and the first glance at the place was enough to let you see the flabby devil was running that show. He was very anxious for me to kill somebody. The heavy pole had skinned his poor nose. and hobbled into the Central Station. as soon as I told him who I was. groans. and then retired out of sight somewhere. I was thunderstruck. and on the three others enclosed by a crazy fence of rushes. A neglected gap was all the gate it had. why? Oh. White men with long staves in their hands appeared languidly from amongst the buildings. An hour afterwards I came upon the whole concern wrecked in a bush—man. on the spot. It was on a back water surrounded by scrub and forest.
His eyes. in charge of some volunteer skipper. 'Everybody had behaved splendidly! splendidly!'—'you must. He is waiting!' 'I did not see the real significance of that wreck at once. All quite correct.' he said in agitation. He was commonplace in complexion. and in voice. I asked myself what I was to do there. Certainly the affair was too stupid—when I think of it— to be altogether natural.Heart of Darkness The 'manager himself' was there. The steamer was sunk. He did not ask me to sit down after my twenty-mile walk that morning. and she sank near the south bank. were 40 of 162 . They had started two days before in a sudden hurry up the river with the manager on board. I had plenty to do in fishing my command out of the river. That. of the usual blue. Still … But at the moment it presented itself simply as a confounded nuisance. He was of middle size and of ordinary build. 'My first interview with the manager was curious. and before they had been out three hours they tore the bottom out of her on stones. I had to set about it the very next day. now my boat was lost. in features. 'go and see the general manager at once. but I am not sure—not at all. I fancy I see it now. in manners. and the repairs when I brought the pieces to the station. took some months. As a matter of fact.
He was a common trader. for initiative. yet he inspired neither love nor fear. nor even respect. He was obeyed. He had no genius for organizing. It came at the end of his speeches like a seal applied on the words to make the meaning of the commonest phrase appear absolutely inscrutable. Not a definite mistrust—just uneasiness— nothing more. His position had come to him—why? Perhaps because he was never ill … He had served three terms of three years out there … Because triumphant health in the general rout of constitutions is a kind of power in itself. from his youth up employed in these parts—nothing more. Otherwise there was only an indefinable. That was it! Uneasiness. faint expression of his lips. You have no idea how effective such a … a. When he went home on leave he 41 of 162 . But even at these times the rest of his person seemed to disclaim the intention. something stealthy— a smile—not a smile—I remember it. but I can't explain. He had no learning. It was unconscious. this smile was. That was evident in such things as the deplorable state of the station. and he certainly could make his glance fall on one as trenchant and heavy as an axe. and no intelligence. … faculty can be. or for order even. He inspired uneasiness.Heart of Darkness perhaps remarkably cold. though just after he had said something it got intensified for an instant.
But he was great. he could keep the routine going—that's all. under his very eyes. He was great by this little thing that it was impossible to tell what could control such a man. He was quiet. with provoking insolence. Jack ashore—with a difference— in externals only. Where he sat was the first place—the rest were nowhere. One felt this to be his unalterable conviction. He originated nothing. When annoyed at meal-times by the constant quarrels of the white men about precedence. This was the station's mess-room. You fancied you had seen things—but the seal was on. he was heard to say. he ordered an immense round table to be made. He allowed his 'boy'—an overfed young negro from the coast—to treat the white men.' He sealed the utterance with that smile of his. This one could gather from his casual talk. 'Men who come out here should have no entrails. Such a suspicion made one pause—for out there there were no external checks. Once when various tropical diseases had laid low almost every 'agent' in the station. Perhaps there was nothing within him. He was neither civil nor uncivil. He never gave that secret away. 42 of 162 . as though it had been a door opening into a darkness he had in his keeping.Heart of Darkness rioted on a large scale—pompously. for which a special house had to be built.
therefore I could understand his anxiety.' he murmured to himself. Being hungry. Kurtz was the best agent he had. he said. Kurtz!' broke the stick of sealing-wax and seemed dumfounded by the accident. an exceptional man. Then he began again. was ill. I interrupted him by saying I had heard of Mr. 'I haven't even seen the wreck 43 of 162 . I had been very long on the road. He paid no attention to my explanations. and how they got on—and so on. There had been so many delays already that he did not know who was dead and who was alive.' Certainly he fidgeted on his chair a good deal. Hoped it was not true. and kept on my feet too.Heart of Darkness 'He began to speak as soon as he saw me. of the greatest importance to the Company. I thought.' There were rumours that a very important station was in jeopardy. Next thing he wanted to know 'how long it would take to' … I interrupted him again. The up-river stations had to be relieved. exclaimed. Mr. Mr. you know. 'How can I tell?' I said. 'Ah! So they talk of him down there. Kurtz was … I felt weary and irritable. and. repeated several times that the situation was 'very grave. I was getting savage. 'Ah. very grave. He could not wait. assuring me Mr. very uneasy. He was. Hang Kurtz. 'very. Had to start without me. and so on. Mr. and its chief. playing with a stick of sealing-wax. Kurtz. Kurtz on the coast.
was whispered. And outside. The word 'ivory' rang in the air. Afterwards I took it back when it was borne in upon me startlingly with what extreme nicety he had estimated the time requisite for the 'affair. one must look about sometimes. By Jove! I've never seen anything so unreal in my life. like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence.' he said. my back on that station.' I flung out of his hut (he lived all alone in a clay hut with a sort of verandah) muttering to myself my opinion of him. Still. That ought to do the affair. the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible.' 'I went to work the next day. 'Some months. was sighed. A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all. and then I saw this station. no doubt. Yes. I asked myself sometimes what it all meant. He was a chattering idiot. let us say three months before we can make a start. In that way only it seemed to me I could keep my hold on the redeeming facts of life.' All this talk seemed to me so futile. They wandered here and there with their absurd long staves in their hands. like a whiff from some corpse. 'Well. so to speak. turning. these men strolling aimlessly about in the sunshine of the yard.Heart of Darkness yet— some months. like evil 44 of 162 . You would think they were praying to it.
I was smoking my pipe quietly by my dismantled steamer. be that as it may. A nigger was being beaten near by. later.' dipped about a quart of water and tore back again. You see the thing had gone off like a box of matches. beads. The shed was already a heap of embers glowing fiercely. burst into a blaze so suddenly that you would have thought the earth had opened to let an avenging fire consume all that trash. with their arms lifted high. these months! Well. Various things yhappened. never mind. and saw them all cutting capers in the light. driven everybody back. lighted up everything— and collapsed. They said he had caused the fire in some way. The flame had leaped high. afterwards he arose and went out— and the 45 of 162 . I noticed there was a hole in the bottom of his pail. and I don't know what else. 'Oh. There was no hurry.Heart of Darkness or truth. It had been hopeless from the very first. 'I strolled up. waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion. One evening a grass shed full of calico. cotton prints. for several days. when the stout man with moustaches came tearing down to the river. splendidly. assured me that everybody was 'behaving splendidly. a tin pail in his hand. I saw him. sitting in a bit of shade looking very sick and trying to recover himself. he was screeching most horribly.
The business intrusted to this fellow was the making of bricks— so I had been informed. shields. I wished him a good evening. We got into talk. a collection of spears.' he said. talking. 'Did you ever see anything like it— eh? it is incredible. I had hardly ever spoken to him before. Native mats covered the clay walls. which was in the main building of the station. The other man remained. then the words.' One of the men was the manager. and I perceived that this young aristocrat had not only a silvermounted dressing-case but also a whole candle all to himself.Heart of Darkness wilderness without a sound took him into its bosom again. As to me. As I approached the glow from the dark I found myself at the back of two men. and they on their side said he was the manager's spy upon them. Just at that time the manager was the only man supposed to have any right to candles. I heard the name of Kurtz pronounced. knives was hung up in trophies. and by and by we strolled away from the hissing ruins. young. with a forked little beard and a hooked nose. He was stand-offish with the other agents. and he had been there more than 46 of 162 . He was a first-class agent. gentlemanly. assegais. Then he asked me to his room. 'take advantage of this unfortunate accident. and walked off. He struck a match. a bit reserved. but there wasn't a fragment of a brick anywhere in the station.
of course. He has done it. but nothing came of it. Anyway. However. as their talk. Very well. There was an air of plotting about that station. so that they could earn percentages. I don't know what—straw maybe. But there is a way of looking at a 47 of 162 . they were all waiting— all the sixteen or twenty pilgrims of them—for something. Steal a horse straight out. as their government. no.Heart of Darkness a year—waiting. It seems he could not make bricks without something. Perhaps he can ride. By heavens! there is something after all in the world allowing one man to steal a horse while another must not look at a halter. An act of special creation perhaps. and upon my word it did not seem an uncongenial occupation. though the only thing that ever came to them was disease— as far as I could see. it did not appear clear to me what he was waiting for. It was as unreal as everything else—as the philanthropic pretence of the whole concern. it could not be found there and as it was not likely to be sent from Europe. The only real feeling was a desire to get appointed to a trading-post where ivory was to be had. as their show of work. They beguiled the time by back-biting and intriguing against each other in a foolish kind of way. from the way they took it. They intrigued and slandered and hated each other only on that account— but as to effectually lifting a little finger—oh.
and so on. The movement of the woman was stately. At first I was astonished. on a panel. he yawned. representing a woman. and the effect of the torchlight on the face was sinister. and.Heart of Darkness halter that would provoke the most charitable of saints into a kick. It was evident he took me for a perfectly shameless prevaricator. It was very pretty to see how he baffled himself. At last he got angry. for in truth my body was full only of chills. He alluded constantly to Europe. I couldn't possibly imagine what I had in me to make it worth his while. but very soon I became awfully curious to see what he would find out from me. I rose. pumping me. to the people I was supposed to know there—putting leading questions as to my acquaintances in the sepulchral city. but as we chatted in there it suddenly occurred to me the fellow was trying to get at something— in fact. 48 of 162 . carrying a lighted torch. to conceal a movement of furious annoyance. His little eyes glittered like mica discs— with curiosity—though he tried to keep up a bit of superciliousness. The background was sombre—almost black. Then I noticed a small sketch in oils. 'I had no idea why he wanted to be sociable. and my head had nothing in it but that wretched steamboat business. draped and blindfolded.
a special being. 'Tell me. 'Lots of them. I've my own 49 of 162 . laughing. 'And you are the brickmaker of the Central Station. 'He is a prodigy. and devil knows what else. and he stood by civilly.' He was silent for a while. Today he is chief of the best station. higher intelligence.' he began to declaim suddenly. The same people who sent him specially also recommended you. 'Much obliged. so to speak.' he replied. Every one knows that. You are of the new gang—the gang of virtue.' he said at last. looking away. and so HE comes here. We want. next year he will be assistant-manager.' said I. Kurtz had painted this—in this very station more than a year ago—while waiting for means to go to his trading post. two years more and … but I dare-say you know what he will be in two years' time.' 'Who says that?' I asked. Oh. 'for the guidance of the cause intrusted to us by Europe. Kurtz?' ''The chief of the Inner Station. 'Some even write that. holding an empty half-pint champagne bottle (medical comforts) with the candle stuck in it. To my question he said Mr. wide sympathies. don't say no. pray. 'He is an emissary of pity and science and progress. a singleness of purpose. He paid no attention. really surprised.' he answered in a short tone. 'who is this Mr. as you ought to know.Heart of Darkness 'It arrested me.' 'Why ought I to know?' I interrupted.' I said. 'Yes.
and we went outside. you won't have the opportunity. 'When Mr. discussing. and became crestfallen all at once. Transgression— punishment—bang! Pitiless.' He vanished. I verily believe they 50 of 162 .' 'He blew the candle out suddenly. I nearly burst into a laugh. pouring water on the glow. The moon had risen. pitiless. It was great fun. 'it's so natural. 'What a row the brute makes!' said the indefatigable man with the moustaches. This will prevent all conflagrations for the future. My dear aunt's influential acquaintances were producing an unexpected effect upon that young man. the beaten nigger groaned somewhere. 'Serve him right. and the other followed me.' The pilgrims could be seen in knots gesticulating. severely. Black figures strolled about listlessly. appearing near us. Ha! Danger—agitation.' Light dawned upon me. 'Do you read the Company's confidential correspondence?' I asked. I heard a scathing murmur at my ear. Several had still their staves in their hands. I went on to the riverside.' I continued. I was just telling the manager …' He noticed my companion. He hadn't a word to say. with a kind of servile heartiness. That's the only way.Heart of Darkness eyes to trust. 'Heap of muffs—go to.' he said. 'is General Manager. Kurtz. whence proceeded a sound of hissing. steam ascended in the moonlight. 'Not in bed yet.
there were 51 of 162 . and I did not try to stop him. I had my shoulders against the wreck of my steamer. and especially by you. He. and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt. through the faint sounds of that lamentable courtyard. its greatness. and I could see that the coming of that Kurtz had upset them both not a little. the amazing reality of its concealed life. by Jove! was in my nostrils. who will see Mr. I felt a hand introducing itself under my arm. the high stillness of primeval forest was before my eyes. and edit PDF. don't you see. took these sticks to bed with them. hauled up on the slope like a carcass of some big river animal. and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him. Kurtz long before I can have that pleasure. I wouldn't like him to get a false idea of my disposition…. of primeval mud.' said the fellow. The hurt nigger moaned feebly somewhere near by. 'I don't want to be misunderstood. maybe. and through that dim stir. Download the free trial version. had been planning to be assistant-manager by and by under the present man. 'My dear sir.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. He talked precipitately. The smell of mud. and then fetched a deep sigh that made me mend my pace away from there. view. this papier-mache Mephistopheles. the silence of the land went home to one's very heart—its mystery. Beyond the fence the forest stood up spectrally in the moonlight.' 'I let him run on.
Kurtz was in there. What was in there? I could see a little ivory coming out from there. or would it handle us? I felt how big. If you asked him for some idea how they looked and behaved. expectant. dead sure. was that thing that couldn't talk. The moon had spread over everything a thin layer of silver— over the rank grass. he would—though a 52 of 162 . I had heard enough about it. how confoundedly big. and perhaps was deaf as well. as it flowed broadly by without a murmur. there were people in Mars. I knew once a Scotch sailmaker who was certain. glittering. I believed it in the same way one of you might believe there are inhabitants in the planet Mars. too— God knows! Yet somehow it didn't bring any image with it— no more than if I had been told an angel or a fiend was in there. upon the wall of matted vegetation standing higher than the wall of a temple.' If you as much as smiled. I wondered whether the stillness on the face of the immensity looking at us two were meant as an appeal or as a menace. while the man jabbered about himself. over the great river I could see through a sombre gap glittering. and I had heard Mr. mute. What were we who had strayed in here? Could we handle that dumb thing. All this was great. over the mud. he would get shy and mutter something about 'walking on all-fours.Heart of Darkness shiny patches on the black creek.
surprise. like biting something rotten would do. Do you see him? Do you see the story? Do you see anything? It seems to me I am trying to tell you ya dream—making a vain attempt. but simply because it appalls me. There is a taint of death. I suppose. I would not have gone so far as to fight for Kurtz. I went near enough to it by letting the young fool there believe anything he liked to imagine as to my influence in Europe. detest. Well. This simply because I had a notion it somehow would be of help to that Kurtz whom at the time I did not see—you understand. You know I hate. because no relation of a dream can convey the dream-sensation.' He was silent for a while. It makes me miserable and sick. that notion of being captured by the incredible which is of the very essence of dreams…. I did not see the man in the name any more than you do. and can't bear a lie.Heart of Darkness man of sixty— offer to fight you. a flavour of mortality in lies— which is exactly what I hate and detest in the world— what I want to forget. that commingling of absurdity. He was just a word for me. and bewilderment in a tremor of struggling revolt. 53 of 162 . not because I am straighter than the rest of us. Temperament. but I went for him near enough to a lie. I became in an instant as much of a pretence as the rest of the bewitched pilgrims.
it is not to gaze at the moon. it is impossible. sitting apart. You see me. you conceive.' 'And when one comes out here. I listened. There was not a word from anybody.Heart of Darkness '… No. '… Yes—I let him run on. whom you know. it is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one's existence—that which makes its truth. We live. then added: 'Of course in this you fellows see more than I could then.' Marlow began again. For a long time already he. The others might have been asleep. 54 of 162 .' Mr. that would give me the clue to the faint uneasiness inspired by this narrative that seemed to shape itself without human lips in the heavy night-air of the river. while he talked fluently about 'the necessity for every man to get on. 'and think what he pleased about the powers that were behind me. It is impossible. as we dream—alone. had been no more to us than a voice. old. I did! And there was nothing behind me! There was nothing but that wretched. mangled steamboat I was leaning against. I listened on the watch for the sentence. …' He paused again as if reflecting. its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. but I was awake. for the word. …' It had become so pitch dark that we listeners could hardly see one another.
There were cases of them down at the coast— cases— piled up—burst—split! You kicked a loose rivet at every second step in that station-yard on the hillside.' He did not make bricks—why.' Did I see it? I saw it. Rivets had rolled into the grove of death. We had plates that would do. 55 of 162 . Rivets I wanted. confounded spotted cotton handkerchiefs. it was because 'no sensible man rejects wantonly the confidence of his superiors. by heaven! Rivets. but nothing to fasten them with. a long negro. letter-bag on shoulder and staff in hand. To get on with the work—to stop the hole.Heart of Darkness Kurtz was a 'universal genius. And every week the messenger.' but even a genius would find it easier to work with 'adequate tools—intelligent men. left our station for the coast. And several times a week a coast caravan came in with trade goods—ghastly glazed calico that made you shudder only to look at it. and if he did secretarial work for the manager. there was a physical impossibility in the way—as I was well aware. Three carriers could have brought all that was wanted to set that steamboat afloat. What more did I want? What I really wanted was rivets. And no rivets. You could fill your pockets with rivets for the trouble of stooping down— and there wasn't one rivet to be found where it was wanted. glass beads value about a penny a quart.
I 56 of 162 . There was an old hippo that had the bad habit of getting out on the bank and roaming at night over the station grounds.Heart of Darkness 'He was becoming confidential now. let alone any mere man. and his mica eyes glittering without a wink.' he said. became very cold.' He stood there for a moment in the moonlight with his delicate hooked nose set a little askew. with a curt Good-night. The pilgrims used to turn out in a body and empty every rifle they could lay hands on at him. and suddenly began to talk about a hippopotamus. for he judged it necessary to inform me he feared neither God nor devil. 'but you can say this only of brutes in this country.' I demanded rivets. wondered whether sleeping on board the steamer (I stuck to my salvage night and day) I wasn't disturbed. but what I wanted was a certain quantity of rivets—and rivets were what really Mr. No man—you apprehend me?—no man here bears a charmed life. he strode off. Now letters went to the coast every week. There was a way—for an intelligent man. He changed his manner. 'I write from dictation. All this energy was wasted. I said I could see that very well. Some even had sat up o' nights for him. 'That animal has a charmed life. then. if he had only known it. … 'My dear sir.' he cried. Kurtz wanted. though. but I fancy my unresponsive attitude must have exasperated him at last.
I don't like work—no man does—but I like what is in the work— the chance to find yourself. You see I rather chummed with the few mechanics there were in that station. I suppose. He was a lank. 'I was not surprised to see somebody sitting aft. on the deck. and rather less pretty in shape. but I had expended enough hard work on her to make me love her. with his legs dangling over the mud. twisted. bony. tin-pot steamboat. This was the foreman—a boiler-maker by trade—a good worker. which made me feel more hopeful than I had been for days. They can only see the mere show. ruined. No influential friend would have served me better. yellow-faced man. and never can tell what it really means. with big 57 of 162 . I had rather laze about and think of all the fine things that can be done. Your own reality—for yourself. She rang under my feet like an empty Huntley & Palmer biscuit-tin kicked along a gutter. she was nothing so solid in make. It was a great comfort to turn from that chap to my influential friend. I clambered on board. No. whom the other pilgrims naturally despised— on account of their imperfect manners.Heart of Darkness could see he was disturbed and considerably puzzled. She had given me a chance to come out a bit—to find out what I could do. the battered. I don't like work. not for others— what no other man can ever know.
'Good for you!' he cried. 'We shall have rivets!' He scrambled to his feet exclaiming. His aspect was worried. and his head was as bald as the palm of my hand. It had loops to go over his ears. he would tie up that beard of his in a kind of white serviette he brought for the purpose. Then in a low voice. but his hair in falling seemed to have stuck to his chin. and had prospered in the new locality. He would rave about pigeons. In the evening he could be seen squatted on the bank rinsing that wrapper in the creek with great care. 'No! Rivets!' as though he couldn't believe his ears. 'I slapped him on the back and shouted. We capered on the iron deck. I tried a jig. A frightful clatter came out 58 of 162 . 'You … eh?' I don't know why we behaved like lunatics. at work. then spreading it solemnly on a bush to dry. He was a widower with six young children (he had left them in charge of a sister of his to come out there). lifting one foot. when he had to crawl in the mud under the bottom of the steamboat. He was an enthusiast and a connoisseur. for his beard hung down to his waist. snapped his fingers above his head. After work hours he used sometimes to come over from his hut for a talk about his children and his pigeons. and the passion of his life was pigeon-flying. I put my finger to the side of my nose and nodded mysteriously.Heart of Darkness intense eyes.
an infliction. motionless in the moonlight. 'But they didn't.' said the boiler-maker in a reasonable tone. A deadened burst of mighty splashes and snorts reached us from afar. piled up. festoons. 'They'll come in three weeks. vanished. It came in sections during the next three weeks. then. And it moved not. Instead of rivets there came an invasion. as though an icthyosaurus had been taking a bath of glitter in the great river. was like a rioting invasion of soundless life. and the virgin forest on the other bank of the creek sent it back in a thundering roll upon the sleeping station. 'why shouldn't we get the rivets?' Why not.' I said confidently. indeed! I did not know of any reason why we shouldn't. crested. and the silence driven away by the stamping of our feet flowed back again from the recesses of the land. an exuberant and entangled mass of trunks. 'After all. A dark figure obscured the lighted doorway of the manager's hut. branches.Heart of Darkness of that hulk. ready to topple over the creek. a visitation. each section headed by a donkey carrying a white man in new clothes and tan 59 of 162 . too. the doorway itself vanished. boughs. The great wall of vegetation. leaves. a rolling wave of plants. It must have made some of the pilgrims sit up in their hovels. We stopped. to sweep every little man of us out of his little existence. a second or so after.
Their talk. To tear treasure out of the bowels of the land was their desire. and they did not seem aware these things are wanted for the work of the world. tin boxes. and cruel without courage. into the wilderness for equitable division. after a raid. It was an inextricable mess of things decent in themselves but that human folly made look like the spoils of thieving. white cases. a lot of tents. bowing from that elevation right and left to the impressed pilgrims.Heart of Darkness shoes. camp-stools. brown bales would be shot down in the courtyard. they were lugging. Who paid the expenses of the noble 60 of 162 . and I believe they were sworn to secrecy. greedy without audacity. with their absurd air of disorderly flight with the loot of innumerable outfit shops and provision stores. Five such instalments came. was the talk of sordid buccaneers: it ywas reckless without hardihood. 'This devoted band called itself the Eldorado Exploring Expedition. with no more moral purpose at the back of it than there is in burglars breaking into a safe. however. there was not an atom of foresight or of serious intention in the whole batch of them. one would think. and the air of mystery would deepen a little over the muddle of the station. that. A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trod on the heels of the donkey.
Heart of Darkness enterprise I don't know. No. I said Hang!—and let things slide. would climb to the top after all and how he would set about his work when there. One's capacity for that kind of folly is more limited than you would suppose. I had plenty of time for meditation. You could see these two roaming about all day long with their heads close together in an everlasting confab. and his eyes had a look of sleepy cunning. Still. and now and then I would give some thought to Kurtz. 'I had given up worrying myself about the rivets. and during the time his gang infested the station spoke to no one but his nephew.' 61 of 162 . I was curious to see whether this man. 'In exterior he resembled a butcher in a poor neighbourhood. He carried his fat paunch with ostentation on his short legs. I wasn't very interested in him. but the uncle of our manager was leader of that lot. who had come out equipped with moral ideas of some sort.
'He has asked the Administration to be sent there.Heart of Darkness II 'One evening as I was lying flat on the deck of my steamboat. I heard voices approaching—and there were the nephew and the uncle strolling along the bank. Is he 62 of 162 . Is it not frightful?' They both agreed it was frightful. 'with the idea of showing what he could do. 'The climate may do away with this difficulty for you. Look at the influence that man must have. just below my head.' grunted the uncle. 'It IS unpleasant. Am I the manager—or am I not? I was ordered to send him there. and I was instructed accordingly.' … I became aware that the two were standing on the shore alongside the forepart of the steamboat.' said the other. but I don't like to be dictated to. I did not move. and had nearly lost myself in a doze. as it were: 'I am as harmless as a little child. it did not occur to me to move: I was sleepy. when somebody said in my ear. I laid my head on my arm again. then made several bizarre remarks: 'Make rain and fine weather—one man—the Council—by the nose'— bits of absurd sentences that got the better of my drowsiness. It's incredible. so that I had pretty near the whole of my wits about me when the uncle said.
and edit PDF. The two fellows there seemed astounded at anybody attempting such a thing.' It was more than a year ago. which he started to do alone in a small dugout with four paddlers. Can you imagine such impudence!' 'Anything since then?' asked the other hoarsely. lying perfectly at ease. They had been talking about Kurtz. Download the free trial version. and don't bother sending more of that sort. but after coming three hundred miles.' was the reply fired out. 'How did that ivory come all this way?' growled the elder man. remained still. leaving the half-caste to continue down the river with the ivory. 63 of 162 . 'Ivory. view. 'I was broad awake by this time.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. The other explained that it had come with a fleet of canoes in charge of an English half-caste clerk Kurtz had with him. 'he sent his assistant down the river with a note to me in these terms: 'Clear this poor devil out of the country.' jerked the nephew. 'lots of it—prime sort—lots—most annoying. I had rather be alone than have the kind of men you can dispose of with me. had suddenly decided to go back. so to speak. from him. Then silence. that Kurtz had apparently intended to return himself. but. having no inducement to change my position.' answered the manager. 'Invoice. who seemed very vexed. the station being by that time bare of goods and stores. alone there?' 'Yes.' 'And with that?' questioned the heavy rumble.
'No one. and strolled back and forth at some little distance. just as the manager was saying. had conducted a difficult trip with great prudence and pluck. snapping ivory from the natives. The two below me moved away then a few paces. four paddling savages. who.' Who was it they were talking about now? I gathered in snatches that this was some man supposed to be in Kurtz's district.' They approached again. I seemed to see Kurtz for the first time.' The 'scoundrel' had reported that the 'man' had been very ill—had recovered imperfectly…. I heard: 'Military post—doctor—two hundred miles—quite alone now— unavoidable delays—nine months—no news— strange rumours.Heart of Darkness They were at a loss for an adequate motive. and of whom 64 of 162 . and the lone white man turning his back suddenly on the headquarters. As to me. Perhaps he was just simply a fine fellow who stuck to his work for its own sake. yon relief. was invariably alluded to as 'that scoundrel. had not been pronounced once. His name. I did not know the motive. It was a distinct glimpse: the dugout. He was 'that man. as far as I could see.' The half-caste. setting his face towards the depths of the wilderness. unless a species of wandering trader— a pestilential fellow. as far as I know. on thoughts of home—perhaps. you understand. towards his empty and desolate station.
Heart of Darkness
the manager did not approve. 'We will not be free from unfair competition till one of these fellows is hanged for an example,' he said. 'Certainly,' grunted the other; 'get him hanged! Why not? Anything—anything can be done in this country. That's what I say; nobody here, you understand, HERE, can endanger your position. And why? You stand the climate—you outlast them all. The danger is in Europe; but there before I left I took care to—' They moved off and whispered, then their voices rose again. 'The extraordinary series of delays is not my fault. I did my best.' The fat man sighed. 'Very sad.' 'And the pestiferous absurdity of his talk,' continued the other; 'he bothered me enough when he was here. 'Each station should be like a beacon on the road towards better things, a centre for trade of course, but also for humanizing, improving, instructing.' Conceive you—that ass! And he wants to be manager! No, it's—' Here he got choked by excessive indignation, and I lifted my head the least bit. I was surprised to see how near they were—right under me. I could have spat upon their hats. They were looking on the ground, absorbed in thought. The manager was switching his leg with a slender twig: his sagacious relative lifted his head. 'You have been well since you came out this time?' he asked. The other gave a start. 'Who? I? Oh! 65 of 162
Heart of Darkness
Like a charm—like a charm. But the rest—oh, my goodness! All sick. They die so quick, too, that I haven't the time to send them out of the country— it's incredible!' 'Hm'm. Just so,' grunted the uncle. 'Ah! my boy, trust to this—I say, trust to this.' I saw him extend his short flipper of an arm for a gesture that took in the forest, the creek, the mud, the river— seemed to beckon with a dishonouring flourish before the sunlit face of the land a treacherous appeal to the lurking death, to the hidden evil, to the profound darkness of its heart. It was so startling that I leaped to my feet and looked back at the edge of the forest, as though I had expected an answer of some sort to that black display of confidence. You know the foolish notions that come to one sometimes. The high stillness confronted these two figures with its ominous patience, waiting for the passing away of a fantastic invasion. 'They swore aloud together—out of sheer fright, I believe—then pretending not to know anything of my existence, turned back to the station. The sun was low; and leaning forward side by side, they seemed to be tugging painfully uphill their two ridiculous shadows of unequal length, that trailed behind them slowly over the tall grass without bending a single blade.
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'In a few days the Eldorado Expedition went into the patient wilderness, that closed upon it as the sea closes over a diver. Long afterwards the news came that all the donkeys were dead. I know nothing as to the fate of the less valuable animals. They, no doubt, like the rest of us, found what they deserved. I did not inquire. I was then rather excited at the prospect of meeting Kurtz very soon. When I say very soon I mean it comparatively. It was just two months from the day we left the creek when we came to the bank below Kurtz's station. 'Going up that river was like traveling back to the earliest beginnings of the world, when vegetation rioted on the earth and the big trees were kings. An empty stream, a great silence, an impenetrable forest. The air was warm, thick, heavy, sluggish. There was no joy in the brilliance of sunshine. The long stretches of the waterway ran on, deserted, into the gloom of overshadowed distances. On silvery sand-banks hippos and alligators sunned themselves side by side. The broadening waters flowed through a mob of wooded islands; you lost your way on that river as you would in a desert, and butted all day long against shoals, trying to find the channel, till you thought yourself bewitched and cut off for ever from everything you had known once—somewhere—far 67 of 162
just as it watches you fellows performing on your 68 of 162 . the signs of hidden banks. to the mere incidents of the surface. but it came in the shape of an unrestful and noisy dream. I had to keep guessing at the channel. There were moments when one's past came back to one. I was learning to clap my teeth smartly before my heart flew out. The inner truth is hidden—luckily. mostly by inspiration. I had to keep a lookout for the signs of dead wood we could cut up in the night for next day's steaming. luckily.Heart of Darkness away—in another existence perhaps. And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. and water. I watched for sunken stones. I did not see it any more. the reality—the reality. when I shaved by a fluke some infernal sly old snag that would have ripped the life out of the tin-pot steamboat and drowned all the pilgrims. remembered with wonder amongst the overwhelming realities of this strange world of plants. I got used to it afterwards. I felt often its mysterious stillness watching me at my monkey tricks. I had no time. I had to discern. as it will sometimes when you have not a moment to spare for yourself. and silence. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect. When you have to attend to things of that sort. But I felt it all the same. I tell you—fades. It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention.
And. 'I beg your pardon. but you never forget the thump—eh? A blow on the very heart. They were men one could work with. You remember it. I sweated and shivered over that business considerably. since I managed not to sink that steamboat on my first trip. And I didn't do badly either. and I knew there was at least one listener awake besides myself. for a seaman. Fine fellows—cannibals—in their place. I don't pretend to say that steamboat floated all the time. Marlow.Heart of Darkness respective tight-ropes for—what is it? half-a-crown a tumble—' 'Try to be civil. Imagine a blindfolded man set to drive a van over a bad road. It's a wonder to me yet. with twenty cannibals splashing around and pushing. We had enlisted some of these chaps on the way for a crew. you dream of it. they did not eat each other before my 69 of 162 . after all.' growled a voice. I can tell you. And indeed what does the price matter. you wake up at night and think of it—years after—and go hot and cold all over. and I am grateful to them. No one may know of it. I forgot the heartache which makes up the rest of the price. After all. More than once she had to wade for a bit. to scrape the bottom of the thing that's supposed to float all the time under his care is the unpardonable sin. if the trick be well done? You do your tricks very well.
massive. if you were small. like a sluggish beetle crawling on the floor of a lofty portico. trees. and at their foot. running up high. millions of trees. very lost. round the still bends. Phoo! I can sniff it now. Where the pilgrims imagined it crawled to I don't know. clinging to the skirts of the unknown. crept the little begrimed steamboat. reverberating in hollow claps the ponderous beat of the stern-wheel. and yet it was not altogether depressing. and the white men rushing out of a tumbledown hovel. Sometimes we came upon a station close by the bank. The word ivory would ring in the air for a while—and on we went again into the silence. between the high walls of our winding way. with great gestures of joy and surprise and welcome. I had the manager on board and three or four pilgrims with their staves— all complete. I bet! For me it crawled towards Kurtz— 70 of 162 . To some place where they expected to get something. and made the mystery of the wilderness stink in my nostrils. along empty reaches. the grimy beetle crawled on—which was just what you wanted it to do.Heart of Darkness face: they had brought along a provision of hippo-meat which went rotten. After all. hugging the bank against the stream. that feeling. Trees. seemed very strange— had the appearance of being held there captive by a spell. It made you feel very small. immense.
of feet stamping. Were were wanderers on a prehistoric earth. but when the steam-pipes started leaking we crawled very slow. a burst of yells. to be subdued at the cost of profound anguish and of excessive toil. on an earth that wore the aspect of an unknown planet. a mass of hands clapping. the woodcutters slept. It was very quiet there. We could have fancied ourselves the first of men taking possession of an accursed inheritance. The dawns were heralded by the descent of a chill stillness. there would be a glimpse of rush walls. till the first break of day. peace. Whether it meant war. a whirl of black limbs. or prayer we could not tell. their fires burned low. The steamer toiled along slowly on the edge of a black and incomprehensible frenzy. as if hovering in the air high over our heads. as if the forest had stepped leisurely across the water to bar the way for our return. under the droop of heavy and motionless foliage. of bodies swaying. The reaches opened before us and closed behind. of peaked grass-roofs. But suddenly. At night sometimes the roll of drums behind the curtain of trees would run up the river and remain sustained faintly. The prehistoric man was 71 of 162 . as we struggled round a bend. of eyes rolling. the snapping of a twig would make you start.Heart of Darkness exclusively. We penetrated deeper and deeper into the heart of darkness.
it was ugly enough. We could not understand because we were too far and could not remember because we were travelling in the night of first ages. they were not inhuman. Yes. but there— there you could look at a thing monstrous and free. as sane men would be before an enthusiastic outbreak in a madhouse. It was unearthly. that was the worst of it— this suspicion of their not being inhuman. Ugly. but if you were man enough you would admit to yourself that there ywas in you just the faintest trace of a response to the terrible frankness of that noise. but what thrilled you was just the thought of their humanity— like yours—the thought of your remote kinship with this wild and passionate uproar. we glided past like phantoms. a dim suspicion of there being a meaning in it which you—you so remote from the night 72 of 162 . It would come slowly to one. 'The earth seemed unearthly. of those ages that are gone. and spun. Well. They howled and leaped. you know. and made horrid faces. and the men were—No. wondering and secretly appalled. We are accustomed to look upon the shackled form of a conquered monster. praying to us.Heart of Darkness cursing us. welcoming us—who could tell? We were cut off from the comprehension of our surroundings. leaving hardly a sign— and no memories.
Principles won't do. What was there after all? Joy. I had to watch the steering. and circumvent those snags. devotion. you say? Fine sentiments. There was surfacetruth enough in these things to save a wiser man. An appeal to me in this fiendish row—is there? Very well. too. but I have a voice. valour. what with sheer fright and fine sentiments. sorrow. But he must at least be as much of a man as these on the shore. Who's that grunting? You wonder I didn't go ashore for a howl and a dance? Well. Acquisitions. Fine sentiments. and for good or evil mine is the speech that cannot be silenced. is always safe.Heart of Darkness of first ages—could comprehend. I admit. clothes. Let the fool gape and shudder—the man knows. a fool. And 73 of 162 . I hear. and get the tin-pot along by hook or by crook. and can look on without a wink. all the past as well as all the future. I had to mess about with white-lead and strips of woolen blanket helping to put bandages on those leaky steam-pipes—I tell you. He must meet that truth with his own true stuff— with his own inborn strength. be hanged! I had no time. No. And why not? The mind of man is capable of anything—because everything is in it. fear. Of course. rage—who can tell?— but truth—truth stripped of its cloak of time. pretty rags— rags that would fly off at the first good shake. no—I didn't. you want a deliberate belief.
a thrall to strange witchcraft. tied to his arm. too. A few months of training had done for that really fine chap. and a piece of polished bone. towards 74 of 162 . He was useful because he had been instructed. as big as a watch. and three ornamental scars on each of his cheeks. and the wool of his pate shaved into queer patterns. the poor devil. the short noise was left behind. stuck flatways through his lower lip). walking on his hindlegs. made of rags. full of improving knowledge. instead of which he was hard at work.Heart of Darkness between whiles I had to look after the savage who was fireman. and take a terrible vengeance. the evil spirit inside the boiler would get angry through the greatness of his thirst. while the wooded banks slipped past us slowly. he could fire up a vertical boiler. He was there below me. upon my word. and what he knew was this—that should the water in that transparent thing disappear. the interminable miles of silence—and we crept on. So he sweated and fired up and watched the glass fearfully (with an impromptu charm. and. to look at him was as edifying as seeing a dog in a parody of breeches and a feather hat. He squinted at the steam-gauge and at the watergauge with an evident effort of intrepidity—and he had filed teeth. He ought to have been clapping his hands and stamping his feet on the bank. He was an improved specimen.
Hurry up. but it was illegible—not Kurtz—a much longer word. with the unrecognizable tatters of what had been a flag of some sort flying from it. and edit PDF. Something was wrong above.' Where? Up the river? 'Approach cautiously. A torn curtain of red twill hung in the doorway of the hut. This was unexpected.' There was a signature. But the snags were thick. 'Hurry up. We commented adversely upon the imbecility of that telegraphic style. The bush around said nothing. and thus neither that fireman nor I had any time to peer into our creepy thoughts. We came to the bank. an inclined and melancholy pole. and flapped sadly in our faces. But what—and how much? That was the question.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. the water was treacherous and shallow. Kurtz. The dwelling was dismantled. But the warning could not have been meant for the place where it could be only found after approach. 75 of 162 . view. and would not let us look very far. and on the stack of firewood found a flat piece of board with some faded pencil-writing on it. the boiler seemed indeed to have a sulky devil in it. either. Download the free trial version. and a neatly stacked wood-pile. When deciphered it said: 'Wood for you. Approach cautiously.' We had not done so. but we could see a white man had lived there not very long ago. 'Some fifty miles below the Inner Station we came upon a hut of reeds.
luminous with another than a professional light. and other such matters. Towson or Towser was inquiring earnestly into the breaking strain of ships' chains and tackle. thought out so many years ago. but at the first glance you could see there a singleness of intention. which looked clean yet. Within. made me forget the jungle and the pilgrims in a delicious sensation of having come upon something unmistakably real. a heap of rubbish reposed in a dark corner. Its title was. and the copy was sixty years old. and by the door I picked up a book. Not a very enthralling book. with illustrative diagrams and repulsive tables of figures. with his talk of chains and purchases. The matter looked dreary reading enough. which made these humble pages. but the back had been lovingly stitched afresh with white cotton thread. The simple old sailor. It was an extraordinary find. Towson—some such name—Master in his Majesty's Navy.Heart of Darkness There remained a rude table—a plank on two posts. and the pages had been thumbed into a state of extremely dirty softness. I handled this amazing antiquity with the greatest possible tenderness. It had lost its covers. an honest concern for the right way of going to work. by a man Towser. lest it should dissolve in my hands. Such a book being 76 of 162 . AN INQUIRY INTO SOME POINTS OF SEAMANSHIP.
' exclaimed the manager. 'The current was more rapid now. looking back malevolently at the place we had left. I couldn't believe my eyes! They were in cipher! Yes. was shouting at me from the riverside. Fancy a man lugging with him a book of that description into this nowhere and studying it—and making notes—in cipher at that! It was an extravagant mystery.Heart of Darkness there was wonderful enough. 'I started the lame engine ahead. 'It will not save him from getting into trouble if he is not careful. and when I lifted my eyes I saw the wood-pile was gone. 'It must be this miserable trader-this intruder. 'He must be English. I observed with assumed innocence that no man was safe from trouble in this world.' muttered the manager darkly. and plainly referring to the text. 'I had been dimly aware for some time of a worrying noise. and I caught myself listening on tiptoe for the next beat of the 77 of 162 . it looked like cipher.' I said. the stern-wheel flopped languidly. I assure you to leave off reading was like tearing myself away from the shelter of an old and solid friendship. but still more astounding were the notes pencilled in the margin. I slipped the book into my pocket. aided by all the pilgrims. and the manager. the steamer seemed at her last gasp.
would be a mere futility. for in sober truth I expected the wretched thing to give up every moment. But still we crawled. and beyond my power of meddling. but the manager looked grave. Moreover. I fretted and fumed and took to arguing with myself whether or no I would talk openly with Kurtz. It was like watching the last flickers of a life. indeed any action of mine. 'Towards the evening of the second day we judged ourselves about eight miles from Kurtz's station. Sometimes I would pick out a tree a little way ahead to measure our progress towards Kurtz by. he pointed out that if the warning to approach cautiously were to be followed. The manager displayed a beautiful resignation. beyond my reach.Heart of Darkness boat. but I lost it invariably before we got abreast. the sun being very low already. I wanted to push on. To keep the eyes so long on one thing was too much for human patience. The essentials of this affair lay deep under the surface. but before I could come to any conclusion it occurred to me that my speech or my silence. to wait where we were till next morning. and told me the navigation up there was so dangerous that it would be advisable. What did it matter what any one knew or ignored? What did it matter who was manager? One gets sometimes such a flash of insight. 78 of 162 .
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we must approach in daylight— not at dusk or in the dark. This was sensible enough. Eight miles meant nearly three hours' steaming for us, and I could also see suspicious ripples at the upper end of the reach. Nevertheless, I was annoyed beyond expression at the delay, and most unreasonably, too, since one night more could not matter much after so many months. As we had plenty of wood, and caution was the word, I brought up in the middle of the stream. The reach was narrow, straight, with high sides like a railway cutting. The dusk came gliding into it long before the sun had set. The current ran smooth and swift, but a dumb immobility sat on the banks. The living trees, lashed together by the creepers and every living bush of the undergrowth, might have been changed into stone, even to the slenderest twig, to the lightest leaf. It was not sleep—it seemed unnatural, like a state of trance. Not the faintest sound of any kind could be heard. You looked on amazed, and began to suspect yourself of being deaf— then the night came suddenly, and struck you blind as well. About three in the morning some large fish leaped, and the loud splash made me jump as though a gun had been fired. When the sun rose there was a white fog, very warm and clammy, and more blinding than the night. It did not shift or drive; it was just there, standing all round 79 of 162
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you like something solid. At eight or nine, perhaps, it lifted as a shutter lifts. We had a glimpse of the towering multitude of trees, of the immense matted jungle, with the blazing little ball of the sun hanging over it—all perfectly still—and then the white shutter came down again, smoothly, as if sliding in greased grooves. I ordered the chain, which we had begun to heave in, to be paid out again. Before it stopped running with a muffled rattle, a cry, a very loud cry, as of infinite desolation, soared slowly in the opaque air. It ceased. A complaining clamour, modulated in savage discords, filled our ears. The sheer unexpectedness of it made my hair stir under my cap. I don't know how it struck the others: to me it seemed as though the mist itself had screamed, so suddenly, and apparently from all sides at once, did this tumultuous and mournful uproar arise. It culminated in a hurried outbreak of almost intolerably excessive shrieking, which stopped short, leaving us stiffened in a variety of silly attitudes, and obstinately listening to the nearly as appalling and excessive silence. 'Good God! What is the meaning—' stammered at my elbow one of the pilgrims— a little fat man, with sandy hair and red whiskers, who wore sidespring boots, and pink pyjamas tucked into his socks. Two others remained open-mouthed a while minute, then 80 of 162
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dashed into the little cabin, to rush out incontinently and stand darting scared glances, with Winchesters at 'ready' in their hands. What we could see was just the steamer we were on, her outlines blurred as though she had been on the point of dissolving, and a misty strip of water, perhaps two feet broad, around her— and that was all. The rest of the world was nowhere, as far as our eyes and ears were concerned. Just nowhere. Gone, disappeared; swept off without leaving a whisper or a shadow behind. 'I went forward, and ordered the chain to be hauled in short, so as to be ready to trip the anchor and move the steamboat at once if necessary. 'Will they attack?' whispered an awed voice. 'We will be all butchered in this fog,' murmured another. The faces twitched with the strain, the hands trembled slightly, the eyes forgot to wink. It was very curious to see the contrast of expressions of the white men and of the black fellows of our crew, who were as much strangers to that part of the river as we, though their homes were only eight hundred miles away. The whites, of course greatly discomposed, had besides a curious look of being painfully shocked by such an outrageous row. The others had an alert, naturally interested expression; but their faces were essentially quiet, even those of the one or two who grinned as they hauled 81 of 162
They still belonged to the beginnings of time—had no inherited experience to teach them as it were). Several exchanged short. 'Aha!' I said.' he snapped. eh?' I asked. which couldn't have 82 of 162 . They had been engaged for six months (I don't think a single one of them had any clear idea of time. Certainly they had brought with them some rotten hippo-meat. a young. Their headman. looked out into the fog in a dignified and profoundly pensive attitude. broad-chested black. just for good fellowship's sake. with a bloodshot widening of his eyes and a flash of sharp teeth—'catch 'im. 'what would you do with them?' 'Eat 'im!' he said curtly. and. as long as there was a piece of paper written over in accordance with some farcical law or other made down the river. leaning his elbow on the rail. grunting phrases. Give 'im to us. severely draped in dark-blue fringed cloths. and of course. had it not occurred to me that he and his chaps must be very hungry: that they must have been growing increasingly hungry for at least this month past. I would no doubt have been properly horrified. it didn't enter anybody's head to trouble how they would live. 'Catch 'im. as we at the end of countless ages have. with fierce nostrils and his hair all done up artfully in oily ringlets. stood near me.Heart of Darkness at the chain. which seemed to settle the matter to their satisfaction.' 'To you.
and eating. each about nine inches long. You can see how THAT worked. or the director. and the theory was they were to buy their provisions with that currency in riverside villages. they had given them every week three pieces of brass wire. of a dirty lavender colour. sleeping. the only thing to eat—though it didn't look eatable in the least—I saw in their possession was a few lumps of some stuff like halfcooked dough. anyway. Besides that. but it was really a case of legitimate selfdefence. who like the rest of us fed out of tins. There were either no villages. but so small that it seemed done more for the looks of 83 of 162 . I must say it was paid with a regularity worthy of a large and honourable trading company. and now and then swallowed a piece of. with an occasional old he-goat thrown in. For the rest. unless they swallowed the wire itself. and at the same time keep your precarious grip on existence. thrown a considerable quantity of it overboard.Heart of Darkness lasted very long. You can't breathe dead hippo waking. I don't see what good their extravagant salary could be to them. or the people were hostile. they kept wrapped in leaves. or made loops of it to snare the fishes with. So. even if the pilgrims hadn't. It looked like a high-handed proceeding. didn't want to stop the steamer for some more or less recondite reason. in the midst of a shocking hullabaloo.
I positively hoped. had come into play there. motives. 84 of 162 . as it were—how unwholesome the pilgrims looked. I looked at them with a swift quickening of interest— not because it occurred to me I might be eaten by them before very long. And I saw that something restraining. Why in the name of all the gnawing devils of hunger they didn't go for us—they were thirty to five—and have a good tuck-in for once. with strength.Heart of Darkness the thing than for any serious purpose of sustenance. yes. too. with not much capacity to weigh the consequences. with a curiosity of their impulses. though I own to you that just then I perceived— in a new light. I had often 'a little fever. amazes me now when I think of it. one of those human secrets that baffle probability. with courage.' or a little touch of other things— the playful paw-strokes of the wilderness. Yes. that my aspect was not so— what shall I say?—so—unappetizing: a touch of fantastic vanity which fitted well with the dream-sensation that pervaded all my days at that time. the preliminary trifling before the more serious onslaught which came in due course. They were big powerful men. even yet. I looked at them as you would on any human being. though their skins were no longer glossy and their muscles no longer hard. Perhaps I had a little fever. and I hoped. One can't live with one's finger everlastingly on one's pulse.
Heart of Darkness
capacities, weaknesses, when brought to the test of an inexorable physical necessity. Restraint! What possible restraint? Was it superstition, disgust, patience, fear—or some kind of primitive honour? No fear can stand up to hunger, no patience can wear it out, disgust simply does not exist where hunger is; and as to superstition, beliefs, and what you may call principles, they are less than chaff in a breeze. Don't you know the devilry of lingering starvation, its exasperating torment, its black thoughts, its sombre and brooding ferocity? Well, I do. It takes a man all his inborn strength to fight hunger properly. It's really easier to face bereavement, dishonour, and the perdition of one's soul—than this kind of prolonged hunger. Sad, but true. And these chaps, too, had no earthly reason for any kind of scruple. Restraint! I would just as soon have expected restraint from a hyena prowling amongst the corpses of a battlefield. But there was the fact facing me— the fact dazzling, to be seen, like the foam on the depths of the sea, like a ripple on an unfathomable enigma, a mystery greater—when I thought of it— than the curious, inexplicable note of desperate grief in this savage clamour that had swept by us on the river-bank, behind the blind whiteness of the fog.
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'Two pilgrims were quarrelling in hurried whispers as to which bank. 'Left.' 'no, no; how can you? Right, right, of course.' 'It is very serious,' said the manager's voice behind me; 'I would be desolated if anything should happen to Mr. Kurtz before we came up.' I looked at him, and had not the slightest doubt he was sincere. He was just the kind of man who would wish to preserve appearances. That was his restraint. But when he muttered something about going on at once, I did not even take the trouble to answer him. I knew, and he knew, that it was impossible. Were we to let go our hold of the bottom, we would be absolutely in the air—in space. We wouldn't be able to tell where we were going to—whether up or down stream, or across—till we fetched against one bank or the other—and then we wouldn't know at first which it was. Of course I made no move. I had no mind for a smash-up. You couldn't imagine a more deadly place for a shipwreck. Whether we drowned at once or not, we were sure to perish speedily in one way or another. 'I authorize you to take all the risks,' he said, after a short silence. 'I refuse to take any,' I said shortly; which was just the answer he expected, though its tone might have surprised him. 'Well, I must defer to your judgment. You are captain,' he said with marked civility. I turned my shoulder to him in 86 of 162
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sign of my appreciation, and looked into the fog. How long would it last? It was the most hopeless lookout. The approach to this Kurtz grubbing for ivory in the wretched bush was beset by as many dangers as though he had been an enchanted princess sleeping in a fabulous castle. 'Will they attack, do you think?' asked the manager, in a confidential tone. 'I did not think they would attack, for several obvious reasons. The thick fog was one. If they left the bank in their canoes they would get lost in it, as we would be if we attempted to move. Still, I had also judged the jungle of both banks quite impenetrable— and yet eyes were in it, eyes that had seen us. The riverside bushes were certainly very thick; but the undergrowth behind was evidently penetrable. However, during the short lift I had seen no canoes anywhere in the reach—certainly not abreast of the steamer. But what made the idea of attack inconceivable to me was the nature of the noise—of the cries we had heard. They had not the fierce character boding immediate hostile intention. Unexpected, wild, and violent as they had been, they had given me an irresistible impression of sorrow. The glimpse of the steamboat had for some reason filled those savages with unrestrained grief. The danger, if any, I expounded, was 87 of 162
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from our proximity to a great human passion let loose. Even extreme grief may ultimately vent itself in violence—but more generally takes the form of apathy…. 'You should have seen the pilgrims stare! They had no heart to grin, or even to revile me: but I believe they thought me gone mad— with fright, maybe. I delivered a regular lecture. My dear boys, it was no good bothering. Keep a lookout? Well, you may guess I watched the fog for the signs of lifting as a cat watches a mouse; but for anything else our eyes were of no more use to us than if we had been buried miles deep in a heap of cotton-wool. It felt like it, too—choking, warm, stifling. Besides, all I said, though it sounded extravagant, was absolutely true to fact. What we afterwards alluded to as an attack was really an attempt at repulse. The action was very far from being aggressive—it was not even defensive, in the usual sense: it was undertaken under the stress of desperation, and in its essence was purely protective. 'It developed itself, I should say, two hours after the fog lifted, and its commencement was at a spot, roughly speaking, about a mile and a half below Kurtz's station. We had just floundered and flopped round a bend, when I saw an islet, a mere grassy hummock of bright green, in the middle of the stream. It was the ony thing of the kind; 88 of 162
Heart of Darkness but as we opened the reach more. the face of the forest was gloomy. I naturally headed for the western passage. Now. It was then well on in the afternoon. and from distance to distance a large limb of some tree projected rigidly over the stream. In this shadow we steamed up—very slowly. I perceived it was the head of a long sand-bank. The banks looked pretty well alike. exactly as a man's backbone is seen running down the middle of his back under the skin. To the left of us there was the long uninterrupted shoal. and a broad strip of shadow had already fallen on the water. just awash. steep bank heavily overgrown with bushes. as you may imagine. as the sounding-pole informed me. The twigs overhung the current thickly. but as I had been informed the station was on the west side. of course. They were discoloured. and the whole lot was seen just under the water. I didn't know either channel. 'No sooner had we fairly entered it than I became aware it was much narrower than I had supposed. and to the right a high. I could go to the right or to the left of this. Above the bush the trees stood in serried ranks. as far as I did see. the depth appeared the same. I sheered her well inshore—the water being deepest near the bank. or rather of a chain of shallow patches stretching down the middle of the river. 89 of 162 .
An athletic black belonging to some coast tribe and educated by my poor predecessor. or tried to. The boiler was in the fore-end. of course. but if he lost sight of you. 90 of 162 . there were two little teakwood houses. All these were always thrown open. and the machinery right astern. wore a blue cloth wrapper from the waist to the ankles. supported on stanchions. he became instantly the prey of an abject funk. was the helmsman.Heart of Darkness 'One of my hungry and forbearing friends was sounding in the bows just below me. yOver the whole there was a light roof. two camp-stools. and thought all the world of himself. He sported a pair of brass earrings. and would let that cripple of a steamboat get the upper hand of him in a minute. He was the most unstable kind of fool I had ever seen. and the steering-wheel. He steered with no end of a swagger while you were by. on the couch. This steamboat was exactly like a decked scow. I spent my days perched up there on the extreme fore-end of that roof. a tiny table. On the deck. with doors and windows. a loaded Martini-Henry leaning in one corner. It contained a couch. It had a wide door in front and a broad shutter at each side. At night I slept. and in front of the funnel a small cabin built of light planks served for a pilot-house. before the door. The funnel projected through that roof.
and it trailed in the water. stamping his feet. That foolhelmsman. Confound him! And we were staggering within ten feet of the bank. All this time the river. were flying about—thick: they were whizzing before my nose. We cleared the snag clumsily. the shore. without even taking the trouble to haul his pole in. his hands on the spokes. and feeling much annoyed to see at each try a little more of it stick out of that river. I could only hear the heavy splashing thump of the stern-wheel and the patter of these things. like a reined-in horse. dropping below me. He kept hold on it though. were very quiet— perfectly quiet. because there was a snag in the fairway. Then I had to look at the river mighty quick. and stretch himself flat on the deck. when I saw my poleman give up on the business suddenly. and I saw a face amongst the leaves on the level with my own. champing his mouth. Sticks. At the same time the fireman. the woods. I was amazed. looking at me very 91 of 162 . I had to lean right out to swing the heavy shutter.Heart of Darkness 'I was looking down at the sounding-pole. by Jove! We were being shot at! I stepped in quickly to close the shutter on the landside. sat down abruptly before his furnace and ducked his head. was lifting his knees high. little sticks. Arrows. striking behind me against my pilot-house. whom I could also see below me.
The pilgrims had opened with their Winchesters. He held his head rigid. 'Steer her straight. and the arrows came in swarms. swayed.' I said to the helmsman. A deuce of a lot of smoke came up and drove slowly forward. the report of a rifle just at my 92 of 162 . and then suddenly. The twigs shook. his mouth foamed a little. 'Can you turn back?' I caught sight of a V-shaped ripple on the water ahead. and were simply squirting lead into that bush. I stood in the doorway. confused exclamations. he kept on lifting and setting down his feet gently. glaring eyes— the bush was swarming with human limbs in movement. They might have been poisoned. Below me there was a great scuffle of feet on the iron deck. as though a veil had been removed from my eyes. deep in the tangled gloom. I darted out. naked breasts. I swore at it.Heart of Darkness fierce and steady. of bronze colour. I might just as well have ordered a tree not to sway in the wind. legs. face forward. The bush began to howl. a voice screamed. but they looked as though they wouldn't kill a cat. glistening. and rustled. but his eyes rolled. What? Another snag! A fusillade burst out under my feet. 'Keep quiet!' I said in a fury. I made out. and then the shutter came to. Now I couldn't see the ripple or the snag either. Our wood-cutters raised a warlike whoop. the arrows flew out of them. peering. arms.
where I knew the water was deep. the rifle went overboard. in at one shutter-hole and out at the other. The fusillade below stopped short. glaring. who was shaking the empty rifle and yelling at the shore. The fool-nigger had dropped everything. while I straightened the sudden twist out of that steamboat. 93 of 162 . there was no time to lose. 'We tore slowly along the overhanging bushes in a whirl of broken twigs and flying leaves. so I just crowded her into the bank— right into the bank.Heart of Darkness back deafened me. He stood before the wide opening. evanescent. as I had foreseen it would when the squirts got empty. Something big appeared in the air before the shutter. and I yelled at him to come back. gliding. I glanced over my shoulder. and the pilot-house was yet full of noise and smoke when I made a dash at the wheel. leaping. and the man stepped back swiftly. profound. incomplete. I threw my head back to a glinting whizz that traversed the pilot-house. Looking past that mad helmsman. distinct. the snag was somewhere very near ahead in that confounded smoke. looked at me over his shoulder in an extraordinary. to throw the shutter open and let off that Martini-Henry. I saw vague forms of men running bent double. There was no room to turn even if I had wanted to.
It looked as though after wrenching that thing from somebody ashore he had lost his balance in the effort. after making a frightful gash. The man had rolled on his back and stared straight up at me. a pool of blood lay very still. It was the shaft of a spear that. with an air of being afraid I would try to take it away from him. either thrown or lunged through the opening. and fell upon my feet.Heart of Darkness familiar manner. and looking ahead I could see that in another hundred yards or so I would be free to sheer off. both his hands clutched that cane. but my feet felt so very warm and wet that I had to look down. had caught him in the side. the blade had gone in out of sight. The tumult of angry and warlike yells was checked instantly. and the end of what appeared a long cane clattered round and knocked over a little campstool. He looked at me anxiously. my shoes were full. I had to make an effort to free my eyes from his gaze and attend to the steering. and then 94 of 162 . The fusillade burst out again. his eyes shone with an amazing lustre. just below the ribs. With one hand I felt above my head for the line of the steam whistle. and jerked out screech after screech hurriedly. The thin smoke had blown away. The side of his head hit the wheel twice. away from the bank. gleaming dark-red under the wheel. gripping the spear like something precious. we were clear of the snag.
The lustre of inquiring glance faded swiftly into vacant glassiness. There was a great commotion in the bush. as though in response to some sign we could not see. brooding. Only in the very last moment. 'We two whites stood over him. to some whisper we could not hear. 'The manager sends me—' he began in an official tone. a few dropping shots rang out sharply—then silence. 'Good God!' he said. I put the helm hard a-starboard at the moment when the pilgrim in pink pyjamas. and menacing expression. the shower of arrows stopped. he frowned heavily. but he died without uttering a sound.Heart of Darkness from the depths of the woods went out such a tremulous and prolonged wail of mournful fear and utter despair as may be imagined to follow the flight of the last hope from the earth. He looked very 95 of 162 . appeared in the doorway. glaring at the wounded man. and stopped short. 'Can you steer?' I asked the agent eagerly. and his lustrous and inquiring glance enveloped us both. and that frown gave to his black death-mask an inconeivably sombre. without twitching a muscle. I declare it looked as though he would presently put to us some questions in an understandable language. in which the languid beat of the stern-wheel came plainly to my ears. very hot and agitated. without moving a limb.
I suppose Mr. but as discoursing. you know. I was morbidly anxious to change my shoes and socks.' 'For the moment that was the dominant thought. but I made a grab at his arm. I made the strange discovery that I had never imagined him as doing. I didn't say to myself. 'Now I will never see him.Heart of Darkness dubious.' said I. and became aware that that was exactly what I had been looking forward to— a talk with Kurtz. tugging like mad at the shoe-laces. Kurtz is dead as well by this time. 'He is dead. 'And by the way. Talking with … I flung one shoe overboard.' The man presented himself as a voice. There was a sense of extreme disappointment. bartered. swindled.' but. 'No doubt about it. To tell you the truth.' or 'Now I will never shake him by the hand. Not of course that I did not connect him with some sort of action. Hadn't I been told in all the tones of jealousy and admiration that he had collected. Kurtz. 'Now I will never hear him. or stolen more ivory than all the other agents together? That was not the point. immensely impressed. and he understood at once I meant him to steer whether or no. as though I had found out I had been striving after something altogether without a substance. 96 of 162 .' murmured the fellow. I couldn't have been more disgusted if I had travelled all this way for the sole purpose of talking with Mr.
somebody? Absurd? Well. with downward folds and dropped eyelids. absurd. I couldn't have felt more of lonely desolation somehow. his words— the gift of expression. Good Lord! mustn't a man ever—Here. the most exalted and the most contemptible. or the deceitful flow from the heart of an impenetrable darkness. it seemed to retreat and advance out of the 97 of 162 . he has vanished— the gift has vanished. was his ability to talk. even such as I had noticed in the howling sorrow of these savages in the bush. I thought. had I been robbed of a belief or had missed my destiny in life. that carried with it a sense of real presence. then a match flared. with an aspect of concentrated attention. the bewildering. … Why do you sigh in this beastly way. We are too late. and that of all his gifts the one that stood out preeminently. or club. 'The other shoe went flying unto the devil-god of that river. by means of some spear. 'By Jove! it's all over. arrow.' … There was a pause of profound stillness.Heart of Darkness The point was in his being a gifted creature. and as he took vigorous draws at his pipe. give me some tobacco. the illuminating. I will never hear that chap speak after all'—and my sorrow had a startling extravagance of emotion. hollow. and Marlow's lean face appeared. worn. the pulsating stream of light.
without any kind of sense. savage. The match went out. or simply mean. a policeman round another. yes. I was cut to the quick at the idea of having lost the inestimable privilege of listening to the gifted Kurtz. impalpable. Voices. And I was right. voices—even the girl herself— now—' 98 of 162 . excellent appetites. And I heard—him—it—this voice—other voices— all of them were so little more than voices—and the memory of that time itself lingers around me. like a dying vibration of one immense jabber. Of course I was wrong. The privilege was waiting for me. a butcher round one corner. it is amazing I did not shed tears. each moored with two good addresses. what can you expect from a man who out of sheer nervousness had just flung overboard a pair of new shoes! Now I think of it. I am. like a hulk with two anchors. … Here you all are. 'Absurd!' he cried. sordid. And you say.Heart of Darkness night in the regular flicker of tiny flame. silly. Absurd! Absurd be—exploded! Absurd! My dear boys. too. I heard more than enough. A voice. He was very little more than a voice. upon the whole. proud of my fortitude. and temperature normal—you hear—normal from year's end to year's end. atrocious. 'This is the worst of trying to tell. Oh.
she had to be out of it. Ivory? I should think so. consumed his flesh. I mean— are out of it—should be out of it. got into his veins. It appears these 99 of 162 . she is out of it—completely. view. Kurtz! They say the hair goes on growing sometimes.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. 'Girl! What? Did I mention a girl? Oh. was impressively bald. loved him. The old mud shanty was bursting with it. it was like a ball— an ivory ball. but they call it fossil when it is dug up. He was its spoiled and pampered favourite. and. lest ours gets worse. Download the free trial version. He was silent for a long time. 'Mostly fossil. Heaps of it. It was no more fossil than I am. 'My Intended. disparagingly. suddenly. and edit PDF. it had caressed him. You would think there was not a single tusk left either above or below the ground in the whole country. it had taken him. 'I laid the ghost of his gifts at last with a lie.' he began.' You would have perceived directly then how completely she was out of it. embraced him. We must help them to stay in that beautiful world of their own. stacks of it. and—lo!—he had withered. behold. but this— ah—specimen. The wilderness had patted him on the head.' the manager had remarked. Oh. And the lofty frontal bone of Mr. Kurtz saying. and sealed his soul to its own by the inconceivable ceremonies of some devilish initiation. They—the women. You should have heard the disinterred body of Mr.
Heart of Darkness niggers do bury the tusks sometimes— but evidently they couldn't bury this parcel deep enough to save the gifted Mr. stepping delicately between the butcher and the policeman. my ivory. The thing was to know what he belonged to. Thus he could see and enjoy as long as he could see. How could you?— with solid pavement under your feet.' Oh. in the holy terror of scandal and gallows and lunatic asylums—how can you imagine what particular region of the first ages a man's untrammelled 100 of 162 . my station. yes. because the appreciation of this favour had remained with him to the last. 'My Intended. how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. It was impossible—it was not good for one either—trying to imagine. You should have heard him say. You can't understand. Everything belonged to him— but that was a trifle. 'My ivory. my—' everything belonged to him. Kurtz from his fate. my river. That was the reflection that made you creepy all over. I heard him. He had taken a high seat amongst the devils of the land— I mean literally. We filled the steamboat with it. and had to pile a lot on the deck. It made me hold my breath in expectation of hearing the wilderness burst into a prodigious peal of laughter that would shake the fixed stars in their places. surrounded by kind neighbours ready to cheer you or to fall on you.
no fool ever made a bargain for his soul with the devil. the faith in your ability for the digging of unostentatious holes to bury the stuff in— your power of devotion. upon your own capacity for faithfulness. but to an obscure. Of course you may be too much of a fool to go wrong— too dull even to know you are being assaulted by the powers of darkness. not to yourself. by Jove!— breathe dead hippo. so to speak. But most of us are neither one nor the other.Heart of Darkness feet may take him into by the way of solitude—utter solitude without a policeman— by the way of silence— utter silence. with sounds. When they are gone you must fall back upon your own innate strength. I take it. too. where we must put up with sights. where no warning voice of a kind neighbour can be heard whispering of public opinion? These little things make all the great difference. back-breaking business. with smells. or the devil too much of a devil—I don't know which. the fool is too much of a fool. and not be contaminated. And there. Or you may be such a thunderingly exalted creature as to be altogether deaf and blind to anything but heavenly sights and sounds. The earth for us is a place to live in. Then the earth for you is only a standing place—and whether to be like this is your loss or your gain I won't pretend to say. And 101 of 162 . don't you see? Your strength comes in.
I've read it. the International Society for the Suppression of Savage Customs had intrusted him with the making of a report. The original Kurtz had been educated partly in England. and—as he was good enough to say himself—his sympathies were in the right place. however. 102 of 162 . Kurtz—for the shade of Mr. vibrating with eloquence. Kurtz himself. but too high-strung. for its future guidance. It was eloquent. But it was a beautiful piece of writing. Mind. most appropriately. All Europe contributed to the making of Kurtz. His mother was half-English. went wrong. This was because it could speak English to me. This initiated wraith from the back of Nowhere honoured me with its amazing confidence before it vanished altogether. I've seen it.Heart of Darkness that's difficult enough. I think. And he had written it. Seventeen pages of close writing he had found time for! But this must have been before his—let us say—nerves. too. in the light of later information. his father was halfFrench. I am not trying to excuse or even explain—I am trying to account to myself for—for— Mr. The opening paragraph. and caused him to preside at certain midnight dances ending with unspeakable rites. which—as far as I reluctantly gathered from what I heard at various times—were offered up to him— do you understand?—to Mr. and by and by I learned that. Kurtz.
unless a kind of note at the foot of the last page.Heart of Darkness strikes me now as ominous. It gave me the notion of an exotic Immensity ruled by an august Benevolence. It made me tingle with enthusiasm. from the point of development we had arrived at. he repeatedly entreated me to take good care of 'my pamphlet' (he called it). This was the unbounded power of eloquence—of words—of burning noble words. The peroration was magnificent. though difficult to remember.' etc. and at the end of that moving appeal to every altruistic sentiment it blazed at you. in an unsteady hand. 'must necessarily appear to them [savages] in the nature of supernatural beings— we approach them with the might of a deity. when he in a sense came to himself. He began with the argument that we whites. because. may be regarded as the exposition of a method.. later on. and so on.' and so on. like a flash of lightning in a serene sky: 'Exterminate all the brutes!' The curious part was that he had apparently forgotten all about that valuable postscriptum. as it was sure to 103 of 162 . etc. There were no practical hints to interrupt the magic current of phrases. luminous and terrifying. It was very simple. scrawled evidently much later. you know. 'By the simple exercise of our will we can exert a power for good practically unbounded. From that point he soared and took me with him.
he was not common. I can't choose. I've done enough for it to give me the indisputable right to lay it.Heart of Darkness have in the future a good influence upon his career. He steered for me—I had to look after him. I had full information about all these things. don't you see. figuratively speaking. It was a kind of partnership. He had the power to charm or frighten rudimentary souls into an aggravated witch-dance in his honour. I was to have the care of his memory. Whatever he was. Perhaps you will think it passing strange this regret for a savage who was no more account than a grain of sand in a black Sahara. amongst all the sweepings and. he had steered. for an everlasting rest in the dust-bin of progress. and he had conquered one soul in the world that was neither rudimentary nor tainted with self-seeking. he had done something. But then. I can't forget him. as it turned out. Well. besides. if I choose. and. No. he could also fill the small souls of the pilgrims with bitter misgivings: he had one devoted friend at least. all the dead cats of civilization. I worried about his 104 of 162 . though I am not prepared to affirm the fellow was exactly worth the life we lost in getting to him. I missed my late helmsman awfully— I missed him even while his body was still lying in the pilot-house. for months I had him at my back— a help— an instrument. you see. He won't be forgotten.
What they wanted to keep that body hanging about for I can't guess. no restraint—just like Kurtz—a tree swayed by the wind. heavier than any man on earth. His heels leaped together over the little doorstep. I should imagine. 'Poor fool! If he had only left that shutter alone. and there was a scandalized murmur at my heartless promptitude. Oh! he was heavy. and thus a subtle bond had been created. heavy. which operation I confess I performed with my eyes shut tight. Embalm it. of which I only became aware when it was suddenly broken. his shoulders were pressed to my breast. I dragged him out. after first jerking the spear out of his side. As soon as I had put on a dry pair of slippers. The current snatched him as though he had been a wisp of grass. and I saw the body roll over twice before I lost sight of it for ever. I hugged him from behind desperately. maybe. But I 105 of 162 . Then without more ado I tipped him overboard.Heart of Darkness deficiencies. He had no restraint. And the intimate profundity of that look he gave me when he received his hurt remains to this day in my memory— like a claim of distant kinship affirmed in a supreme moment. All the pilgrims and the manager were then congregated on the awning-deck about the pilot-house. chattering at each other like a flock of excited magpies.
Besides. and a very ominous. and possibly cause some startling trouble. the fishes alone should have him. And he had nearly fainted when he saw the wounded man! I could not help saying.Heart of Darkness had also heard another. the bloodthirsty little gingery beggar. The red-haired pilgrim was beside himself with the thought that at least this poor Kurtz had been properly avenged. and with a better show of reason— though I admit that the reason itself was quite inadmissible. 'Say! We must have made a glorious slaughter of them in the bush. They had given up Kurtz. 'You made a glorious lot of 106 of 162 . keeping right in the middle of the stream. and the station had been burnt—and so on—and so on. 'This I did directly the simple funeral was over. We were going half-speed. Kurtz was dead. and I listened to the talk about me. My friends the wood-cutters were likewise scandalized. quite! I had made up my mind that if my late helmsman was to be eaten. but now he was dead he might have become a first-class temptation. He had been a very second-rate helmsman while alive. they had given up the station. the man in pink pyjamas showing himself a hopeless duffer at the business. murmur on the deck below. I was anxious to take the wheel. Oh. Eh? What do you think? Say?' He positively danced.
roughly trimmed. You can't hit anything unless you take aim and fire from the shoulder. when I saw in the distance a clearing on the riverside and the outlines of some sort of building. The retreat. A long decaying building on the summit was half buried in the high grass. There was no enclosure or fence of any kind. I edged in at once. He clapped his hands in wonder. but there had been one apparently. that almost all the shots had gone too high. and with their upper ends ornamented 107 of 162 . 'The manager stood by the wheel murmuring confidentially about the necessity of getting well away down the river before dark at all events.Heart of Darkness smoke. 'Through my glasses I saw the slope of a hill interspersed with rare trees and perfectly free from undergrowth. anyhow. Upon this they forgot Kurtz. for near the house half-a-dozen slim posts remained in a row. and began to howl at me with indignant protests. the large holes in the peaked roof gaped black from afar. the jungle and the woods made a background. 'The station!' he cried.' I had seen. but these chaps fired from the hip with their eyes shut. I maintained—and I was right—was caused by the screeching of the steam whistle. from the way the tops of the bushes rustled and flew. 'What's this?' I asked. still going half-speed.
Examining the edge of the forest above and below. and on the waterside I saw a white man under a hat like a cart-wheel beckoning persistently with his whole arm. As I manoeuvred to get alongside. I was almost certain I could see movements—human forms gliding here and there. or whatever there had been between. The river-bank was clear. I steamed past prudently. patches on the front. I am glad. His clothes had been made of some stuff that was brown holland probably. He looked like a harlequin. red. as cheerful as you please. Of course the forest surrounded all that.' 'His aspect reminded me of something I had seen— something funny I had seen somewhere. coloured binding around his jacket. with bright patches. The rails. It's all right. urging us to land. patches on elbows. and the sunshine made him look extremely gay and wonderfully 108 of 162 . had disappeared.' screamed the manager. blue. It's all right.Heart of Darkness with round carved balls. I was asking myself. 'I know—I know. on knees. and yellow—patches on the back. but it was covered with patches all over. then stopped the engines and let her drift down.' yelled back the other. 'Come along. The man on the shore began to shout. 'We have been attacked. 'What does this fellow look like?' Suddenly I got it. scarlet edging at the bottom of his trousers.
smiles and frowns chasing each other over that open countenance like sunshine and shadow on a wind-swept plain. and he shook his head as if sorry for my disappointment. with a toss of the head up the hill. The harlequin on the bank turned his little pug-nose up to me.Heart of Darkness neat withal. 'He is up there. 'I say. 'there's a snag lodged in here last night.' I cried. and becoming gloomy all of a sudden. 'When the manager. captain!' he cried. they meant no 109 of 162 .' What! Another snag? I confess I swore shamefully. 'Are you?' I shouted from the wheel. A beardless. 'They are simple people. 'Never mind!' he cried encouragingly. It took me all my time to keep them off. overcast one moment and bright the next.' 'But you said it was all right.' I said. all smiles. He assured me earnestly it was all right.' he replied. nose peeling. because you could see how beautifully all this patching had been done. The smiles vanished. His face was like the autumn sky. 'Oh. These natives are in the bush. Then he brightened up.' he added. I am glad you came. 'well. 'Are we in time?' I asked. boyish face. to finish off that charming trip. all of them armed to the teeth. I don't like this. little blue eyes. no features to speak of. had gone to the house this chap came on board. I had nearly holed my cripple. very fair. 'You English?' he asked. 'Look out. escorted by the pilgrims.
possessed himself of both my hands. Kurtz?' I said. laughing. Smoke? Where's a sailor that does not smoke?' 'The pipe soothed him.' he said.' Then vivaciously. 'Don't you talk with Mr. had gone to sea in a Russian ship. 'My faith. that's brotherly. They are simple people. while he gabbled: 'Brother sailor … honour … pleasure … delight … introduce myself … Russian … son of an arch-priest … Government of Tambov … What? Tobacco! English tobacco. and as I stared he corrected himself. the excellent English tobacco! Now. 'But now—' He waved his arm. and actually hinted. In a moment he came up again with a jump. that such was the case. 110 of 162 . your pilot-house wants a clean-up!' In the next breath he advised me to keep enough steam on the boiler to blow the whistle in case of any trouble. 'One good screech will do more for you than all your rifles.' he repeated.Heart of Darkness harm. 'Not exactly. He seemed to be trying to make up for lots of silence. served some time in English ships. shook them continuously. and gradually I made out he had run away from school. 'You don't talk with that man—you listen to him. ran away again. and in the twinkling of an eye was in the uttermost depths of despondency. He rattled away at such a rate he quite overwhelmed me.' he exclaimed with severe exaltation.
That was my old house. was now reconciled with the arch-priest. youthfully solemn and reproachful. It appears he had persuaded a Dutch trading-house on the coast to fit him out with stores and goods.' 'Here!' I interrupted. so he gave me some cheap things and a few guns. and edit PDF. 'but I stuck to him. and told me he hoped he would never see my face again. 'At first old Van Shuyten would tell me to go to the devil. Kurtz. I had some wood stacked for you. Van Shuyten. ideas. Did you see?' 'I gave him Towson's book. I held my tongue after that. I've sent him one small lot of ivory a year ago.' he narrated with keen enjoyment.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. He had been wandering about that river for nearly two years alone. 'But when one is young one must see things. Good old Dutchman. view. 'The only book I 111 of 162 . I hope he got it. cut off from everybody and everything. till at last he got afraid I would talk the hind-leg off his favourite dog. gather experience. And for the rest I don't care. 'You can never tell! Here I met Mr. He made as though he would kiss me. Download the free trial version. 'I am not so young as I look. and had started for the interior with a light heart and no more idea of what would happen to him than a baby.' he said. and talked and talked. enlarge the mind. so that he can't call me a little thief when I get back. He made a point of that.' he said. but restrained himself. I am twenty-five.
He nodded a nod full of mystery and wisdom.' he cried. 'I tell you. He nodded. staring at me with his little blue eyes that were perfectly round.' he said.' He opened his arms wide.' 'Don't they?' I said curiously. then said shamefacedly. and I thought I had lost it. 'Oh.Heart of Darkness had left. 'You made notes in Russian?' I asked. then became serious. and checked himself. no!' he cried. you know. He hesitated. 'Why did they attack us?' I pursued. 'I had lots of trouble to keep these people off. looking at it ecstatically. Canoes get upset sometimes—and sometimes you've got to clear out so quick when the people get angry. 'this man has enlarged my mind. 'Did they want to kill you?' I asked.' 112 of 162 . He laughed.' he said. 'I thought they were written in cipher.' He thumbed the pages. 'They don't want him to go.' I said. 'So many accidents happen to a man going about alone.
as though he had absconded from a troupe of mimes. It was inconceivable how he had existed. how he had succeeded in getting so far. inexplicable. 'then still a little farther—till I had gone so far that I don't know how I'll ever get back. his destitution. in motley. enthusiastic.Heart of Darkness III 'I looked at him. fabulous. the essential desolation of his futile wanderings. I can manage. and altogether bewildering. Plenty time. and there he was gallantly. thoughtlessly alive. You take Kurtz away quick—quick—I tell you. glamour kept him unscathed. His very existence was improbable. For months—for years—his life hadn't been worth a day's purchase. his loneliness. lost in astonishment. He was an insoluble problem. I was seduced into something like admiration— like envy. Glamour urged him on. 'I went a little farther.' he said. He surely wanted nothing from the wilderness but space to breathe in and to push on through. His need 113 of 162 .' The glamour of youth enveloped his parti-coloured rags. Never mind. to all appearances indestructible solely by the virtue of his few years and of his unreflecting audacity. how he had managed to remain— why he did not instantly disappear. There he was before me.
'I forgot there was such a thing as sleep. that even while he was talking to you. It seemed to have consumed all thought of self so completely. quite transported at the recollection. If the absolutely pure. Everything! Everything! … Of love. I must say that to me it appeared about the most dangerous thing in every way he had come upon so far. when encamped in the forest. unpractical spirit of adventure had ever ruled a human being. The night did not seem to last an hour. He made me see things—things.' 'Ah. because on a certain occasion. uncalculating. 'It isn't what you think. he talked to you of love!' I said. and to move onwards at the greatest possible risk. like two ships becalmed near each other.' he cried.Heart of Darkness was to exist. much amused.' he said. It came to him. I suppose Kurtz wanted an audience. too. 'We talked of everything. 'They had come together unavoidably. and with a maximum of privation. though. almost passionately.' 114 of 162 . I did not envy him his devotion to Kurtz. 'It was in general. they had talked all night. it ruled this bepatched youth. He had not meditated over it. you forgot that it was he— the man before your eyes—who had gone through these things. and lay rubbing sides at last. or more probably Kurtz had talked. and he accepted it with a sort of eager fatalism. I almost envied him the possession of this modest and clear flame.
a lake. I looked around. the very arch of this blazing sky. far in the depths of the forest. and the headman of my wood-cutters. as he informed me proudly.' he said. 'There's a good lot of cartridges left even yet. lounging near by. it was worth waiting for!—sometimes. he 115 of 162 . this jungle. 'Very often coming to this station. and I don't know why. it was dangerous to inquire too much—but mostly his expeditions had been for ivory. did this land. 'Ah.Heart of Darkness 'He threw his arms up. of course?' I said. but as a rule Kurtz wandered alone. We were on deck at the time. looking away. managed to nurse Kurtz through two illnesses (he alluded to it as you would to some risky feat). ever since. I had to wait days and days before he would turn up. he had discovered lots of villages. It appears their intercourse had been very much broken by various causes. this river. He had. yes. never before.' I objected.' 'What was he doing? exploring or what?' I asked. 'On the contrary. 'To speak plainly. but I assure you that never. appear to me so hopeless and so dark. too—he did not know exactly in what direction.' he answered. so pitiless to human weakness. of course'. so impenetrable to human thought. 'Oh. you have been with him. 'And. 'But he had no goods to trade with by that time. turned upon him his heavy and glittering eyes.
The man filled his life. I gave him the ivory. The tone of these words was so extraordinary that I looked at him searchingly. No. What did I care! But I didn't clear out. He nodded. You see I used to shoot game for them. he wanted to shoot me. no! Now—just to give you an idea— I don't mind telling you. He declared he would shoot me unless I gave him the ivory and then cleared out of the country. 'Kurtz got the tribe to follow him. no.' I said. swayed his emotions.' he said. he wanted it. It was curious to see his mingled eagerness and reluctance to speak of Kurtz. I had a small lot of ivory the chief of that village near my house gave me. You can't judge Mr. because he could do so. occupied his thoughts.Heart of Darkness raided the country.' 'Shoot you!' I cried 'What for?' 'Well. and wouldn't hear reason. 'What can you expect?' he burst out. too. 'he came to them with thunder and lightning. No. surely!' He muttered something about the villages round that lake. and there was nothing on earth to prevent him killing whom he jolly well pleased. He fidgeted a little. Kurtz as you would an ordinary man. Well. I couldn't 116 of 162 . 'Not alone. too. you know— and they had never seen anything like it—and very terrible. 'They adored him. He could be very terrible. no. and had a fancy for it. one day— but I don't judge him. did he?' I suggested. And it was true.
so quiet—as silent and quiet as the ruined house on the hill— made me uneasy. go off on another ivory hunt.' I said.' 'Why! he's mad. He hated all this. till we got friendly again for a time. disappear for weeks. and somehow he couldn't get away. Mr. I offered to go back with him. Kurtz couldn't be mad. When he came down to the river. He had his second illness then. 117 of 162 . and then he would remain. and sometimes it was better for me to be careful. sweeping the limit of the forest at each side and at the back of the house. forget himself amongst these people— forget himself—you know. I had to be careful. And he would say yes. There was no sign on the face of nature of this amazing tale that was not so much told as suggested to me in desolate exclamations. sometimes he would take to me. I wouldn't dare hint at such a thing. He protested indignantly. If I had heard him talk. When I had a chance I begged him to try and leave while there was time. The consciousness of there being people in that bush. and was looking at the shore. of course. in interrupted phrases. completed by shrugs. Afterwards I had to keep out of the way. This man suffered too much. … I had taken up my binoculars while we talked. He was living for the most part in those villages on the lake.Heart of Darkness leave him. but I didn't mind. only two days ago. so silent.
very bad. Kurtz had come down to the river.Heart of Darkness in hints ending in deep sighs. as it were. but there was the ruined roof. with three little square window-holes. You remember I told you I had been struck at the distance by certain attempts at ornamentation. bringing along with him all the fighting men of that lake tribe. of unapproachable silence.' said the Russian. he is bad. like the closed door of a prison—they looked with their air of hidden knowledge. and one of the remaining posts of that vanished fence leaped up in the field of my glass. with the intention to all appearance of making a raid either across the river or down stream. He had been absent for several months—getting himself adored. 'I heard he was lying helpless. of patient expectation. There were no signs of life. no two of the same size. and so I came up—took my chance. the long mud wall peeping above the grass. I suppose— and had come down unexpectedly. The Russian was explaining to me that it was only lately that Mr. all this brought within reach of my hand. 'Oh. Evidently the appetite for more ivory had got the better of the— what shall I say?—less material aspirations.' I directed my glass to the house. The woods were unmoved. rather remarkable in the ruinous aspect of 118 of 162 . like a mask—heavy. And then I made a brusque movement. However he had got much worse suddenly.
but at all events for such ants as were industrious enough to ascend the pole. dried. with closed eyelids—a head that seemed to sleep at the top of that pole. and I saw my mistake. They would have been even more impressive. Only one. they were expressive and puzzling. those heads on the stakes. you know. if their faces had not been turned to the house. and. I have no opinion on that point. sunken. In fact. black. smiling continuously at some endless and jocose dream of that eternal slumber. Now I had suddenly a nearer view. I had expected to see a knob of wood there. I returned deliberately to the first I had seen—and there it was. I was not so shocked as you may think. too. 'I am not disclosing any trade secrets. Kurtz's methods had ruined the district. with the shrunken dry lips showing a narrow white line of the teeth. These round knobs were not ornamental but symbolic. was smiling. the first I had made out. but I 119 of 162 .Heart of Darkness the place. was facing my way. striking and disturbing— food for thought and also for vultures if there had been any looking down from the sky. the manager said afterwards that Mr. and its first result was to make me throw my head back as if before a blow. The start back I had given was really nothing but a movement of surprise. Then I went carefully from post to post with my glass.
when the pressing need arose. I put down the glass. indistinct voice he began to assure me he had not dared to take these—say. The 120 of 162 . Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts. I think the knowledge came to him at last—only at the very last. It echoed loudly within him because he was hollow at the core…. His ascendancy was extraordinary. they would not stir till Mr. But the wilderness had found him out early. 'The admirer of Mr. that there was something wanting in him— some small matter which. could not be found under his magnificent eloquence. and had taken on him a terrible vengeance for the fantastic invasion. They only showed that Mr. In a hurried. I think it had whispered to him things about himself which he did not know. things of which he had no conception till he took counsel with this great solitude—and the whisper had proved irresistibly fascinating. Whether he knew of this deficiency himself I can't say. symbols—down.Heart of Darkness want you clearly to understand that there was nothing exactly profitable in these heads being there. Kurtz gave the word. He was not afraid of the natives. Kurtz was a bit crestfallen. and the head that had appeared near enough to be spoken to seemed at once to have leaped away from me into inaccessible distance.
Kurtz. uncomplicated savagery was a positive relief. I had no idea of the conditions. After all. They would crawl…. If it had come to crawling before Mr. I shocked him excessively by laughing. and the chiefs came every day to see him. 'I don't want to know anything of the ceremonies used when approaching Mr. He forgot I hadn't heard any of these splendid monologues on. criminals. Kurtz's windows.Heart of Darkness camps of these people surrounded the place. he said: these heads were the heads of rebels. Curious. where pure. The young man looked at me with surprise. workers—and these were rebels. that was only a savage sight.' cried Kurtz's 121 of 162 . Kurtz. I suppose it did not occur to him that Mr. being something that had a right to exist—obviously—in the sunshine. this feeling that came over me that such details would be more intolerable than those heads drying on the stakes under Mr. Those rebellious heads looked very subdued to me on their sticks. what was it? on love. Kurtz was no idol of mine. conduct of life—or what not.' I shouted. he crawled as much as the veriest savage of them all. justice. while I seemed at one bound to have been transported into some lightless region of subtle horrors. 'You don't know how such a life tries a man like Kurtz. Rebels! What would be the next definition I was to hear? There had been enemies.
in a compact body. 'Suddenly round the corner of the house a group of men appeared. Shamefully! Shamefully! I—I— haven't slept for the last ten nights …' 'His voice lost itself in the calm of the evening. All this was in the gloom. He was shamefully abandoned. 'I! I! I am a simple man. while we down there were yet in the sunshine. They waded waist-deep in the grass. and the stretch of the river abreast of the clearing glittered in a still and dazzling splendour. bearing an improvised stretcher in their midst. I had no hand in all this. I want nothing from anybody. A man like this. as though they had come up from the ground. There hasn't been a drop of medicine or a mouthful of invalid food for months here. and you?' I said.' he groaned. How can you compare me to … ?' His feelings were too much for speech. I have no abilities. I have no great thoughts. and that's enough. 'I don't understand. 'Well. 'I've been doing my best to keep him alive. with a murky and overshadowed bend above and below.Heart of Darkness last disciple. beyond the symbolic row of stakes. The long shadows of the forest had slipped downhill while we talked. 122 of 162 . and suddenly he broke down. had gone far beyond the ruined hovel. Not a living soul was seen on the shore. with such ideas. The bushes did not rustle.
The bushes shook. I could not hear a sound. as if petrified. and edit PDF. a cry arose whose shrillness pierced the still air like a sharp arrow flying straight to the very heart of the land. the grass swayed for a time. as if to be at the mercy of that atrocious phantom had been a dishonouring necessity. with wild glances and savage movements. but through my glasses I saw the thin arm extended commandingly. The knot of men with the stretcher had stopped. too. the name 123 of 162 . the eyes of that apparition shining darkly far in its bony head that nodded with grotesque jerks. with shields. ''Now. Kurtz—Kurtz— that means short in German—don't it? Well.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. streams of human beings—of naked human beings—with spears in their hands. 'Let us hope that the man who can talk so well of love in general will find some particular reason to spare us this time. as if by enchantment. lank and with an uplifted arm. Instantly. I saw the man on the stretcher sit up. the lower jaw moving. in the emptiness of the landscape. halfway to the steamer. view.' said the Russian at my elbow. Download the free trial version. with bows. I resented bitterly the absurd danger of our situation. above the shoulders of the bearers. if he does not say the right thing to them we are all done for.' I said. were poured into the clearing by the dark-faced and pensive forest. and then everything stood still in attentive immobility. and.
I saw him open his mouth wide—it gave him a weirdly voracious aspect. all the earth. and almost at the same time I noticed that the crowd of savages was vanishing without any perceptible movement of retreat. He must have been shouting. all the men before him.Heart of Darkness was as true as everything else in his life— and death. 'Some of the pilgrims behind the stretcher carried his arms— two shot-guns. I could see the cage of his ribs all astir. a heavy rifle. The manager bent over him murmuring as he walked beside his head. the bones of his arm waving. and his body emerged from it pitiful and appalling as from a winding-sheet. you 124 of 162 . and a light revolvercarbine— the thunderbolts of that pitiful Jupiter. He fell back suddenly. His covering had fallen off. They laid him down in one of the little cabins— just a room for a bed place and a camp-stool or two. He looked at least seven feet long. The stretcher shook as the bearers staggered forward again. It was as though an animated image of death carved out of old ivory had been shaking its hand with menaces at a motionless crowd of men made of dark and glittering bronze. as though he had wanted to swallow all the air. as if the forest that had ejected these beings so suddenly had drawn them in again as the breath is drawn in a long aspiration. A deep voice reached me faintly.
he had enough strength in him— factitious no doubt—to very nearly make an end of us. The Russian. 125 of 162 . and looking straight in my face said. profound. 'Dark human shapes could be made out in the distance.' Somebody had been writing to him about me. It was not so much the exhaustion of disease. I stepped out at once and he drew the curtain after me. and a lot of torn envelopes and open letters littered his bed. 'He rustled one of the letters. He did not seem in pain. while the man did not seem capable of a whisper. These special recommendations were turning up again. However. vibrating. I followed the direction of his glance. This shadow looked satiated and calm. We had brought his belated correspondence. amazed me. 'I am glad. as though for the moment it had had its fill of all the emotions. The volume of tone he emitted without effort. I was struck by the fire of his eyes and the composed languor of his expression. was staring at the shore. His hand roamed feebly amongst these papers. eyed curiously by the pilgrims. as you shall hear directly. flitting indistinctly against the gloomy border of the forest. 'The manager appeared silently in the doorway. A voice! a voice! It was grave. almost without the trouble of moving his lips.Heart of Darkness know.
stood still. And from right to left along the lighted shore moved a wild and gorgeous apparition of a woman. pensive. the colossal body of the fecund and mysterious life seemed to look at her. the immense wilderness. leaning on tall spears. She must have had the value of several elephant tusks upon her. as though it had been looking at the image of its own tenebrous and passionate soul. glittered and trembled at every step. brass wire gauntlets to the elbow. treading the earth proudly. and faced us.Heart of Darkness and near the river two bronze figures. that hung about her. draped in striped and fringed cloths. innumerable necklaces of glass beads on her neck. gifts of witch-men. 'She walked with measured steps. warlike and still in statuesque repose. Her face had 126 of 162 . And in the hush that had fallen suddenly upon the whole sorrowful land. 'She came abreast of the steamer. wild-eyed and magnificent. charms. there was something ominous and stately in her deliberate progress. bizarre things. She carried her head high. her hair was done in the shape of a helmet. a crimson spot on her tawny cheek. stood in the sunlight under fantastic head-dresses of spotted skins. She was savage and superb. she had brass leggings to the knee. Her long shadow fell to the water's edge. with a slight jingle and flash of barbarous ornaments.
She looked at us all as if her life had depended upon the unswerving steadiness of her glance. walked on. and she stopped as if her heart had failed her. following the bank. The pilgrims murmured at my back.Heart of Darkness a tragic and fierce aspect of wild sorrow and of dumb pain mingled with the fear of some struggling. A whole minute passed. nervously. gathering the steamer into a shadowy embrace. She stood looking at us without a stir. swept around on the river. as though in an uncontrollable desire to touch the sky. Once only her eyes gleamed back at us in the dusk of the thickets before she disappeared. half-shaped resolve. 'She turned away slowly. Suddenly she opened her bared arms and threw them up rigid above her head. and at the same time the swift shadows darted out on the earth. and like the wilderness itself. 'I have been risking my life every day for the 127 of 162 . ''If she had offered to come aboard I really think I would have tried to shoot her. with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose. a sway of fringed draperies.' said the man of patches. a glint of yellow metal. There was a low jingle. A formidable silence hung over the scene. and then she made a step forward. and passed into the bushes to the left. The young fellow by my side growled.
You are interrupting my plans now. pointing at me now and then. it's all over now. 'He is very low. you mean.Heart of Darkness last fortnight to keep her out of the house. 'We have done all we could for him—haven't we? But there is no disguising the fact. Save ME! Why. He did me the honour to take me under the arm and lead me aside. I don't understand…. I've had to save you. I'll show you what can be done. for she talked like a fury to Kurtz for an hour. He considered it necessary to sigh. I'll carry my ideas out yet—I will return.' 'At this moment I heard Kurtz's deep voice behind the curtain: 'Save me!—save the ivory. Don't tell me. Mr. He did not see the time was not ripe for 128 of 162 . At least it must have been that. No—it's too much for me.' 'The manager came out. You with your little peddling notions—you are interfering with me. Never mind. I will return. I…. She got in one day and kicked up a row about those miserable rags I picked up in the storeroom to mend my clothes with. but neglected to be consistently sorrowful. Sick! Sick! Not so sick as you would like to believe. I fancy Kurtz felt too ill that day to care. very low. Luckily for me. Ah. I don't understand the dialect of this tribe. Kurtz has done more harm than good to the Company.' he said. well. or there would have been mischief. I wasn't decent.
I found myself lumped along with Kurtz as a partisan of methods for which the time was not ripe: I was unsound! Ah! but it was something to have at least a choice of nightmares. 'Don't you?' … 'No method at all.Heart of Darkness vigorous action. Kurtz is a remarkable man.' I said with emphasis. the trade will suffer. I don't deny there is a remarkable quantity of ivory—mostly fossil. It is my duty to point it out in the proper quarter. Shows a complete want of judgment.' he exclaimed hotly. and I turned mentally to Kurtz for relief—positively for relief. 'he WAS.' said I.' I murmured after a while. He started. Cautiously. 'I anticipated this.' and turned his back on me. Deplorable! Upon the whole. 'call it 'unsound method?'' 'Without doubt. 'that fellow—what's his name?—the brickmaker. dropped on me a heavy glance. 'Exactly.' He appeared confounded for a moment. We must save it. We must be cautious yet. My hour of favour was over.' 'Oh. The district is closed to us for a time. said very quietly. 129 of 162 . It seemed to me I had never breathed an atmosphere so vile.' 'Do you. will make a readable report for you.' he exulted. looking at the shore. at all events—but look how precarious the position is—and why? Because the method is unsound.' said I. cautiously—that's my principle. 'Nevertheless I think Mr.
I am Mr. For him evidently Mr. Kurtz's friend—in a way. And for a moment it seemed to me as if I also were buried in a vast grave full of unspeakable secrets. Kurtz was not in his grave. remembering a certain conversation I had overheard. 'speak out. I heard him mumbling and stammering something about 'brother seaman—couldn't conceal— knowledge of matters that would affect Mr.' I waited. I felt an intolerable weight oppressing my breast.' He showed a concern at this intelligence which amused me at first. was as good as buried. Kurtz was one of the immortals. Kurtz. the unseen presence of victorious corruption.' he would have kept the matter to himself without regard to consequences. The Russian tapped me on the shoulder. 'I had better get out of the way quietly. 'I can do no more for Kurtz now. 'The manager thinks you ought to be hanged. Kurtz's reputation. As it happens. the smell of the damp earth.' he said earnestly. and they would soon find 130 of 162 . 'Well!' said I at last. I was ready to admit.Heart of Darkness 'I had turned to the wilderness really. I suspect that for him Mr. not to Mr.' 'He stated with a good deal of formality that had we not been 'of the same profession. 'He suspected there was an active ill-will towards him on the part of these white men that—' 'You are right. the darkness of an impenetrable night….' I said. who.
'They are simple people—and I want nothing.' said I. then: 'I don't want any harm to happen to these whites here. 'I shall keep my eyes open. 'perhaps you had better go if you have any friends amongst the savages near by. Kurtz's reputation is safe with me. lowering his voice. 'Mr. Oh. after a time. that it was Kurtz who had ordered the attack to be made on the steamer.' he said.' 'Well.' 'Plenty. you know. 'Thanks. not very convinced apparently. 'He is all right now.' I did not know how truly I spoke. I am off.' He stood biting his lip.' said I. 'He hated sometimes the idea of being taken away—and then again…. I had an awful time of it this last month. But I don't understand these matters. I am a simple man. upon my word.' 'Very well. Could you give me a few Martini-Henry cartridges?' I 131 of 162 .' I said. thinking him dead. 'It would be awful for his reputation if anybody here—' I promised a complete discretion with great gravity.' said I. What's to stop them? There's a military post three hundred miles from here.' he muttered.Heart of Darkness some excuse.' 'Ye-e-es. but of course I was thinking of Mr. 'I have a canoe and three black fellows waiting not very far. I could not stop him.' 'But quiet-eh?' he urged anxiously. 'He informed me. Kurtz's reputation—but you are a brother seaman and—' 'All right. He thought it would scare you away—that you would give it up.
'Look. from the other (dark blue) peeped 'Towson's Inquiry. Poetry!' He rolled his eyes at the recollection of these delights. in the starred darkness. with a wink at me. never meet such a man again. He helped himself. too.Heart of Darkness could.' said I. haven't you a pair of shoes you could spare?' He raised one leg. On the hill a big fire 132 of 162 .' etc. 'Oh. to a handful of my tobacco. it was. at which he looked with admiration before tucking it under his left arm. 'Between sailors—you know—good English tobacco. You ought to have heard him recite poetry— his own. real enough to make me get up for the purpose of having a look round. 'Ah! I'll never. he told me. He seemed to think himself excellently well equipped for a renewed encounter with the wilderness. with proper secrecy. etc.. He shook hands and vanished in the night. he enlarged my mind!' 'Good-bye. and did. I rooted out an old pair. One of his pockets (bright red) was bulging with cartridges.' The soles were tied with knotted strings sandalwise under his bare feet. Sometimes I ask myself whether I had ever really seen him— whether it was possible to meet such a phenomenon! … 'When I woke up shortly after midnight his warning came to my mind with its hint of danger that seemed.' At the door of the pilot-house he turned round—'I say.
Kurtz's adorers were keeping their uneasy vigil. I believe I dozed off leaning over the rail. But I didn't believe them at first—the thing seemed so impossible. but deep within the forest. Kurtz was not there. One of the agents with a picket of a few of our blacks. A steady droning sound of many men chanting each to himself some weird incantation came out from the black. showed the exact position of the camp where Mr. red gleams that wavered.Heart of Darkness burned. illuminating fitfully a crooked corner of the station-house. that seemed to sink and rise from the ground amongst confused columnar shapes of intense blackness. an overwhelming outbreak of a pent-up and mysterious frenzy. and had a strange narcotic effect upon my half-awake senses. but Mr. The fact is I was completely 133 of 162 . woke me up in a bewildered wonder. and the low droning went on with an effect of audible and soothing silence. flat wall of the woods as the humming of bees comes out of a hive. armed for the purpose. The monotonous beating of a big drum filled the air with muffled shocks and a lingering vibration. I glanced casually into the little cabin. was keeping guard over the ivory. A light was burning within. 'I think I would have raised an outcry if I had believed my eyes. till an abrupt burst of yells. It was cut short all at once.
deadly danger. I did not betray Mr. The yells had not awakened him. What made this emotion so overpowering was— how shall I define it?—the moral shock I received. I remember the exultation with which I 134 of 162 . had been thrust upon me unexpectedly. was positively welcome and composing. It pacified me. or something of the kind. so much that I did not raise an alarm. 'There was an agent buttoned up inside an ulster and sleeping on a chair on deck within three feet of me. the possibility of a sudden onslaught and massacre. unconnected with any distinct shape of physical danger. I left him to his slumbers and leaped ashore. intolerable to thought and odious to the soul. pure abstract terror. which I saw impending. Kurtz—it was ordered I should never betray him— it was written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice. as if something altogether monstrous. he snored very slightly. 'As soon as I got on the bank I saw a trail—a broad trail through the grass.Heart of Darkness unnerved by a sheer blank fright. in fact. I was anxious to deal with this shadow by myself alone—and to this day I don't know why I was so jealous of sharing with any one the peculiar blackness of that experience. This lasted of course the merest fraction of a second. and then the usual sense of commonplace.
sparkling with dew and starlight. I was circumventing Kurtz as though it had been a boyish game. view. The knitting old woman with the cat obtruded herself upon my memory as a most improper person to be sitting at the other end of such an affair. Download the free trial version. I saw a row of pilgrims squirting lead in the air out of Winchesters held to the hip. I fancy I had some vague notion of falling upon him and giving him a drubbing. The night was very clear. Such silly things—you know. 'I kept to the track though—then stopped to listen. and was pleased at its calm regularity.' The grass was wet with dew. and edit PDF. of that motion I had seen—if indeed I had seen anything. And I remember I confounded the beat of the drum with the beating of my heart. a dark blue space. and imagined myself living alone and unarmed in the woods to an advanced age. I thought I would never get back to the steamer. I don't know. I was strangely cocksure of everything that night. I actually left the track and ran in a wide semicircle (I verily believe chuckling to myself) so as to get in front of that stir. I had some imbecile thoughts. 'He can't walk—he is crawling on allfours—I've got him. in which black things stood very still. I strode rapidly with clenched fists.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. said to myself. I thought I could see a kind of motion ahead of me. 135 of 162 .
pale. 'Do you know what you are doing?' I whispered. like a hail through a speaking-trumpet.' I thought to myself. waving long black arms. no doubt: it looked fiendlike enough. It had horns—antelope horns. misty and silent before me. It was very awful. and the murmur of many voices issued from the forest. but he got up in time. and swayed slightly. 'Perfectly. I think—on its head. unsteady. and. Some sorcerer.Heart of Darkness 'I came upon him. 'Go away—hide yourself. some witch-man. I would have fallen over him. I had cut him off cleverly.' he said. indistinct. 'If he makes a row we are lost. but when actually confronting him I seemed to come to my senses. long. while at my back the fires loomed between the trees. there was still plenty of vigour in his voice. if he had not heard me coming. strode on long black legs. even apart from the very natural aversion I had to beat that Shadow—this wandering and tormented 136 of 162 . raising his voice for that single word: it sounded to me far off and yet loud. I saw the danger in its right proportion. We were within thirty yards from the nearest fire. too. Suppose he began to shout? Though he could hardly stand. A black figure stood up. like a vapour exhaled by the earth. in that profound tone. across the glow. I glanced back. This clearly was not a case for fisticuffs. It was by no means over yet.' he answered. He rose.
this alone had beguiled his unlawful soul beyond the bounds of 137 of 162 . the throb of drums. had driven him out to the edge of the forest. I did not want to have the throttling of him. 'And now for this stupid scoundrel—' 'Your success in Europe is assured in any case.' One gets sometimes such a flash of inspiration.Heart of Darkness thing. I was convinced. though indeed he could not have been more irretrievably lost than he was at this very moment.' I affirmed steadily. you understand—and indeed it would have been very little use for any practical purpose.' said I. 'but if you try to shout I'll smash your head with—' There was not a stick or a stone near. I did say the right thing. by the memory of gratified and monstrous passions. 'Yes. when the foundations of our intimacy were being laid—to endure— to endure—even to the end—even beyond. in a voice of longing. This alone. to the bush. the drone of weird incantations. towards the gleam of fires.' I corrected myself. 'I will throttle you for good. mute spell of the wilderness— that seemed to draw him to its pitiless breast by the awakening of forgotten and brutal instincts. 'I was on the threshold of great things. 'You will be lost. you know. I tried to break the spell—the heavy.' he muttered irresolutely. ''I had immense plans. with a wistfulness of tone that made my blood run cold.' he pleaded.' I said—'utterly lost.
Heart of Darkness permitted aspirations. too—but in this. it is true. I had. yet clear. of course. to invoke him—himself—his own exalted and incredible degradation. even like the niggers. I've been telling you what we said— repeating the phrases we pronounced—but what's the good? They were common everyday words—the familiar. on account of unavoidable noise. Confound the man! he had kicked the very earth to pieces. and I knew it. his intelligence was perfectly clear— concentrated. But what of that? They had behind them. But his 138 of 162 . and I before him did not know whether I stood on the ground or floated in the air. upon himself with horrible intensity. I am the man. vague sounds exchanged on every waking day of life. He had kicked himself loose of the earth. And. He was alone. Soul! If anybody ever struggled with a soul. and therein was my only chance— barring. And I wasn't arguing with a lunatic either. the terrific suggestiveness of words heard in dreams. the terror of the position was not in being knocked on the head— though I had a very lively sense of that danger. There was nothing either above or below him. don't you see. the killing him there and then. which wasn't so good. Believe me or not. to my mind. of phrases spoken in nightmares. that I had to deal with a being to whom I could not appeal in the name of anything high or low.
quivering. filled the clearing. He struggled with himself. no faith. of whose presence behind the curtain of trees I had been acutely conscious all the time. it had looked within itself. his bony arm clasped round my neck—and he was not much heavier than a child. I saw the inconceivable mystery of a soul that knew no restraint. In front of the first rank. but when I had him at last stretched on the couch. plastered with bright red 139 of 162 . by heavens! I tell you. and. bronze bodies. and no fear. I kept my head pretty well. And yet I had only supported him.Heart of Darkness soul was mad. it had gone mad. too. breathing. yet struggling blindly with itself. thumping. I had—for my sins. the crowd. I saw it—I heard it. along the river. then swung down stream. No eloquence could have been so withering to one's belief in mankind as his final burst of sincerity. 'When next day we left at noon. covered the slope with a mass of naked. fierce riverdemon beating the water with its terrible tail and breathing black smoke into the air. I steamed up a bit. flowed out of the woods again. I wiped my forehead. three men. and two thousand eyes followed the evolutions of the splashing. while my legs shook under me as though I had carried half a ton on my back down that hill. I suppose—to go through the ordeal of looking into it myself. Being alone in the wilderness.
swayed their scarlet bodies. When we came abreast again. a mangy skin with a pendent tail—something that looked a dried gourd. and all that wild mob took up the shout in a roaring chorus of articulated. he stared through the open shutter. nodded their horned heads. were like the responses of some satanic litany. 'Do I not?' he said 140 of 162 . appear on his colourless lips that a moment after twitched convulsively. stamped their feet. and the deep murmurs of the crowd. longing eyes. with a mingled expression of wistfulness and hate. There was an eddy in the mass of human bodies. She put out her hands. but I saw a smile. interrupted suddenly. 'We had carried Kurtz into the pilot-house: there was more air there. a smile of indefinable meaning. 'He kept on looking out past me with fiery. ''Do you understand this?' I asked. He made no answer. strutted to and fro restlessly. they faced the river. breathless utterance. they shouted periodically together strings of amazing words that resembled no sounds of human language.Heart of Darkness earth from head to foot. and the woman with helmeted head and tawny cheeks rushed out to the very brink of the stream. rapid. shouted something. Lying on the couch. they shook towards the fierce riverdemon a bunch of black feathers.
bearing us down towards the sea with twice the speed of our upward progress. he took us both in with a 141 of 162 . too. ebbing out of his heart into the sea of inexorable time. ebbing. 'And then that imbecile crowd down on the deck started their little fun. 'I pulled the string of the whistle. they swerved. The three red chaps had fallen flat. Only the barbarous and superb woman did not so much as flinch. The manager was very placid. and stretched tragically her bare arms after us over the sombre and glittering river. as though they had been shot dead. they dodged the flying terror of the sound. as if the words had been torn out of him by a supernatural power. they leaped. I pulled the string time after time. and I could see nothing more for smoke. 'Don't! don't you frighten them away. he had no vital anxieties now.' cried some one on deck disconsolately. face down on the shore.Heart of Darkness slowly. and I did this because I saw the pilgrims on deck getting out their rifles with an air of anticipating a jolly lark. At the sudden screech there was a movement of abject terror through that wedged mass of bodies. They broke and ran. and Kurtz's life was running swiftly. gasping. they crouched. 'The brown current ran swiftly out of the heart of darkness.
A voice! a voice! It rang deep to the very last. of sham distinction. so to speak. Oh. of all the appearances of success and power.Heart of Darkness comprehensive and satisfied glance: the 'affair' had come off as well as could be wished. numbered with the dead. he struggled! he struggled! The wastes of his weary brain were haunted by shadowy images now—images of wealth and fame revolving obsequiously round his unextinguishable gift of noble and lofty expression. I was.' The pilgrims looked upon me with disfavour. It survived his strength to hide in the magnificent folds of eloquence the barren darkness of his heart. my station. whose fate it was to be buried presently in the mould of primeval earth. 142 of 162 . my career. avid of lying fame. My Intended. this choice of nightmares forced upon me in the tenebrous land invaded by these mean and greedy phantoms. But both the diabolic love and the unearthly hate of the mysteries it had penetrated fought for the possession of that soul satiated with primitive emotions. 'Kurtz discoursed. The shade of the original Kurtz frequented the bedside of the hollow sham. my ideas— these were the subjects for the occasional utterances of elevated sentiments. It is strange how I accepted this unforeseen partnership. I saw the time approaching when I would be left alone of the party of 'unsound method.
There was a silence.' In the afternoon I saw him.' The long reaches that were like one and the same reach. 'This noxious fool' (meaning the manager) 'is capable of prying into my boxes when I am not looking. slipped past the steamer with their multitude of secular trees looking patiently after this grimy fragment of another world. 'Of course you must take care of the motives— right motives—always. of trade. One morning he gave me a packet of papers and a photograph— the lot tied together with a shoe-string.' I did so. where he intended to accomplish great things. monotonous bends that were exactly alike. of conquest. and then there will be no limits to the recognition of your ability. 'Keep this for me.Heart of Darkness 'Sometimes he was contemptibly childish. I looked ahead—piloting. 'Oh. He was lying on his back with closed 143 of 162 . 'We broke down—as I had expected—and had to lie up for repairs at the head of an island. He desired to have kings meet him at railway-stations on his return from some ghastly Nowhere. of blessings.' he said.' said Kurtz suddenly one day. 'I can't bear to look at this. This delay was the first thing that shook Kurtz's confidence. the forerunner of change. of massacres.' he would say. 'You show them you have in you something that is really profitable. 'Close the shutter. but I will wring your heart yet!' he cried at the invisible wilderness.
I forced myself to murmur. or was it a fragment of a phrase from some newspaper article? He had been writing for the papers and meant to do so again.Heart of Darkness eyes. There was nothing more. die. spanners. and in other such matters. nuts.' The light was within a foot of his eyes. hammers. It's a duty. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard. But I had not much time to give him. 'Live rightly. 'I am lying here in the dark waiting for death. ratchet-drills—things I abominate. filings. I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap—unless I had the shakes too bad to stand. but I heard him mutter. 'One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously. and hope never to see 144 of 162 . because I don't get on with them. 'for the furthering of my ideas. I lived in an infernal mess of rust. die …' I listened. bolts. Was he rehearsing some speech in his sleep. to straighten a bent connecting-rod. because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders. 'Oh. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. and I withdrew quietly.' 'His was an impenetrable darkness. nonsense!' and stood over him as if transfixed. 'Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before.
and said in a tone of scathing contempt: ''Mistah Kurtz—he dead. which I successfully ignored. I remained. There was 145 of 162 . with that peculiar smile of his sealing the unexpressed depths of his meanness. However. a cry that was no more than a breath: ''The horror! The horror!' 'I blew the candle out and left the cabin. The pilgrims were dining in the mess-room. upon the cloth. and I took my place opposite the manager. I wasn't touched. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire.' 'All the pilgrims rushed out to see. upon our hands and faces. Oh. I did not eat much. A continuous shower of small flies streamed upon the lamp. at some vision—he cried out twice. It was as though a veil had been rent. who lifted his eyes to give me a questioning glance. of ruthless power. of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. serene. and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image. temptation. and went on with my dinner. I was fascinated. He leaned back.Heart of Darkness again. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride. I believe I was considered brutally callous. Suddenly the manager's boy put his insolent black head in the doorway.
and still less in that of your adversary. If such is the form of ultimate wisdom. with nothing underfoot. without the great desire of victory. My destiny! Droll thing life is— that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. What else had been there? But I am of course aware that next day the pilgrims buried something in a muddy hole. without clamour. then life is a greater 146 of 162 . without spectators. I did not. without glory. in a sickly atmosphere of tepid scepticism. as you see. It takes place in an impalpable greyness. 'And then they very nearly buried me. I have wrestled with death. I did not go to join Kurtz there and then. don't you know—and outside it was so beastly. 'However. I went no more near the remarkable man who had pronounced a judgment upon the adventures of his soul on this earth. with nothing around. Destiny. beastly dark.Heart of Darkness a lamp in there—light. I remained to dream the nightmare out to the end. The voice was gone. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself—that comes too late—a crop of unextinguishable regrets. without the great fear of defeat. and to show my loyalty to Kurtz once more. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. without much belief in your own right.
I understand better the meaning of his stare. and all sincerity. that could not see the flame of the candle. it had candour. while I had been permitted to draw back my hesitating foot. this was the expression of some sort of belief. Download the free trial version. view. but was wide enough to embrace the whole universe. He had summed up—he had judged. Since I had peeped over the edge myself. piercing enough to penetrate all the hearts that beat in the darkness. I was within a hair's breadth of the last opportunity for pronouncement. it had a vibrating note of revolt in its whisper. he had stepped over the edge. and a careless contempt for the evanescence of all things—even of this pain itself. 'The horror!' He was a remarkable man. And it is not my own extremity I remember best— a vision of greyness without form filled with physical pain.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create. and edit PDF. He said it. True. it had the appalling face of a glimpsed truth—the strange commingling of desire and hate. riddle than some of us think it to be. No! It is his extremity that I seem to have lived through. After all. it had conviction. and I found with humiliation that probably I would have nothing to say. he had made that last stride. perhaps all the wisdom. are just compressed into that 147 of 162 . This is the reason why I affirm that Kurtz was a remarkable man. And perhaps in this is the whole difference. and all truth. He had something to say.
Perhaps! I like to think my summing-up would not have been a word of careless contempt. with a shuddering wonder.Heart of Darkness inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible. But it was a victory! That is why I have remained loyal to Kurtz to the last. by abominable terrors. Better his cry—much better. to gulp their unwholesome beer. which was simply the bearing of commonplace individuals going 148 of 162 . and even beyond. It was an affirmation. when a long time after I heard once more. I found myself back in the sepulchral city resenting the sight of people hurrying through the streets to filch a little money from each other. because I felt so sure they could not possibly know the things I knew. to dream their insignificant and silly dreams. they did not bury me. to devour their infamous cookery. They were intruders whose knowledge of life was to me an irritating pretence. They trespassed upon my thoughts. 'No. like a passage through some inconceivable world that had no hope in it and no desire. by abominable satisfactions. not his own voice. but the echo of his magnificent eloquence thrown to me from a soul as translucently pure as a cliff of crystal. though there is a period of time which I remember mistily. a moral victory paid for by innumerable defeats. Their bearing.
I admit my behaviour was inexcusable. at first circuitous. It was not my strength that wanted nursing. A clean-shaved man. about what he was pleased to denominate certain 'documents. but then my temperature was seldom normal in these days. He 149 of 162 . I had no particular desire to enlighten them. because I had had two rows with the manager on the subject out there. I tottered about the streets—there were various affairs to settle—grinning bitterly at perfectly respectable persons. called on me one day and made inquiries. was offensive to me like the outrageous flauntings of folly in the face of a danger it is unable to comprehend. My dear aunt's endeavours to 'nurse up my strength' seemed altogether beside the mark. I had refused to give up the smallest scrap out of that package.Heart of Darkness about their business in the assurance of perfect safety. by his Intended. and I took the same attitude with the spectacled man. as I was told. I kept the bundle of papers given me by Kurtz. watched over. but I had some difficulty in restraining myself from laughing in their faces so full of stupid importance. with an official manner and wearing gold-rimmed spectacles. not knowing exactly what to do with it. His mother had died lately. afterwards suavely pressing. I dareway I was not very well at that time.' I was not surprised. it was my imagination that wanted soothing.
with lank grey hair flowing over a greasy coat-collar. Kurtz's knowledge of unexplored regions must have been necessarily extensive and peculiar— owing to his great abilities and to the deplorable circumstances in which he had been placed: therefore—' I assured him Mr.' And said he. I offered him the report on the 'Suppression of Savage Customs.' etc. 150 of 162 . but ended by sniffing at it with an air of contempt.' He withdrew upon some threat of legal proceedings. He took it up eagerly. and with much heat argued that the Company had the right to every bit of information about its 'territories. 'It would be an incalculable loss if. 'There are only private letters. but another fellow. Kurtz's knowledge. He invoked then the name of science.. however extensive. and I saw him no more. appeared two days later.' with the postscriptum torn off. did not bear upon the problems of commerce or administration. calling himself Kurtz's cousin.Heart of Darkness became darkly menacing at last.' said the man. I had no reason to doubt his statement. 'Mr. 'There was the making of an immense success. etc. I believe. 'This is not what we had a right to expect. and was anxious to hear all the details about his dear relative's last moments. 'Expect nothing else.' I said.' he remarked. who was an organist. Incidentally he gave me to understand that Kurtz had been essentially a great musician.
He had faith—don't you see?—he had the faith. 'He was an—an—extremist.' answered the other. This visitor informed me Kurtz's proper sphere ought to have been politics 'on the popular side. bearing off some family letters and memoranda without importance.' 'What party?' I asked. whether he ever had any—which was the greatest of his talents. I had taken him for a painter who wrote for the papers.' Did I not think so? I assented. and. bristly hair cropped short. He could get himself to believe anything—anything. an eyeglass on a broad ribbon. he asked. with a sudden flash of 151 of 162 . He would have been a splendid leader of an extreme party. Did I know. confessed his opinion that Kurtz really couldn't write a bit—'but heavens! how that man could talk. He electrified large meetings. Ultimately a journalist anxious to know something of the fate of his 'dear colleague' turned up. becoming expansive. 'Any party.' He had furry straight eyebrows. or else for a journalist who could paint—but even the cousin (who took snuff during the interview) could not tell me what he had been—exactly. He was a universal genius—on that point I agreed with the old chap. who thereupon blew his nose noisily into a large cotton handkerchief and withdrew in senile agitation.Heart of Darkness and to this day I am unable to say what was Kurtz's profession.
She struck me as beautiful— I mean she had a beautiful expression. yet one felt that no manipulation of light and pose could have conveyed the delicate shade of truthfulness upon those features. mumbling all the time. without a thought for herself. I know that the sunlight ycan be made to lie. 'what it was that had induced him to go out there?' 'Yes.Heart of Darkness curiosity.' said I. She seemed ready to listen without mental reservation. Curiosity? Yes. too. his career. without suspicion. I had no clear perception of what it was I really wanted. I concluded I would go and give her back her portrait and those letters myself. too. in a way— to surrender personally all that remained of him with me to that oblivion which is the last word of our common fate. his body. and also some other feeling perhaps. There remained only his memory and his Intended— and I wanted to give that up. to the past. I don't defend myself. his plans. and forthwith handed him the famous Report for publication. judged 'it would do. if he thought fit. 'Thus I was left at last with a slim packet of letters and the girl's portrait.' and took himself off with this plunder. his station. his ivory. or the fulfilment of one of those 152 of 162 . All that had been Kurtz's had passed out of my hands: his soul. He glanced through it hurriedly. Perhaps it was an impulse of unconscious loyalty.
with the 153 of 162 .Heart of Darkness ironic necessities that lurk in the facts of human existence. I don't know. I can't tell. the beat of the drum. and draped nobly in the folds of a gorgeous eloquence. It was a moment of triumph for the wilderness. I would have to keep back alone for the salvation of another soul. the glitter of the reach between the murky bends. But I went. it seemed to me. He lived then before me. opening his mouth voraciously. a shadow darker than the shadow of the night. I had a vision of him on the stretcher. but before the high and ponderous door. an invading and vengeful rush which. The vision seemed to enter the house with me—the stretcher. he lived as much as he had ever lived—a shadow insatiable of splendid appearances. regular and muffled like the beating of a heart—the heart of a conquering darkness. And the memory of what I had heard him say afar there. the phantom-bearers. 'I thought his memory was like the other memories of the dead that accumulate in every man's life—a vague impress on the brain of shadows that had fallen on it in their swift and final passage. the wild crowd of obedient worshippers. as if to devour all the earth with all its mankind. between the tall houses of a street as still and decorous as a well-kept alley in a cemetery. of frightful realities. the gloom of the forests.
I seemed to hear the whispered cry. What do you think I ought to do—resist? Eh? I want no more than justice. condemning. in the glow of fires. The Company did not pay for it.' … He wanted no more than justice— no more than justice. loathing all the universe. when he said one day. the meanness. I rang the bell before a mahogany door on the first floor. 'The horror! The horror!' 'The dusk was falling. 'This lot of ivory now is really mine. those broken phrases came back to me. the torment. the colossal scale of his vile desires. The bent gilt legs and backs of the furniture shone in indistinct curves. were heard again in their ominous and terrifying simplicity. The tall marble fireplace had a cold and 154 of 162 . within the patient woods. I had to wait in a lofty drawingroom with three long windows from floor to ceiling that were like three luminous and bedraped columns. I am afraid they will try to claim it as theirs though. and while I waited he seemed to stare at me out of the glassy panel— stare with that wide and immense stare embracing. I remembered his abject pleading.Heart of Darkness horned shapes stirring at my back. H'm. the tempestuous anguish of his soul. It is a difficult case. I collected it myself at a very great personal risk. his abject threats. And later on I seemed to see his collected languid manner.
for belief. She was in mourning. and trustful. 'She came forward. This fair hair. A high door opened— closed. Their glance was guileless. as though she would say. such a look of awful desolation came upon her face that I perceived she was one of those creatures that are not the playthings of Time. this pure brow. 'I—I alone know how to mourn for him as he deserves.' I noticed she was not very young—I mean not girlish. all in black. 'I had heard you were coming. this pale visage. seemed surrounded by an ashy halo from which the dark eyes looked out at me. She took both my hands in hers and murmured.' But while we were still shaking hands. she seemed as though she would remember and mourn forever. as if all the sad light of the cloudy evening had taken refuge on her forehead. more than a year since the news came. floating towards me in the dusk. It was more than a year since his death. with dark gleams on the flat surfaces like a sombre and polished sarcophagus.Heart of Darkness monumental whiteness. She carried her sorrowful head as though she were proud of that sorrow. She had a mature capacity for fidelity. for suffering. The room seemed to have grown darker. confident. with a pale head. A grand piano stood massively in a corner. profound. I rose. For her he had died only 155 of 162 .
by Jove! the impression was so powerful that for me. I saw her and him in the same instant of time—his death and her sorrow—I saw her sorrow in the very moment of his death. with a deep catch of the breath. that seemed to 156 of 162 . mingled with her tone of despairing regret. 'I have survived' while my strained ears seemed to hear distinctly. Was it?' ''He was a remarkable man. I asked myself what I was doing there. he seemed to have died only yesterday— nay.' she said.Heart of Darkness yesterday. ''Intimacy grows quickly out there.' she murmured.' I said. … 'You knew him well. unsteadily. 'It was impossible to know him and not to admire him.' ''And you admired him. Do you understand? I saw them together—I heard them together. the summing up whisper of his eternal condemnation. Then before the appealing fixity of her gaze. with a sensation of panic in my heart as though I had blundered into a place of cruel and absurd mysteries not fit for a human being to behold. after a moment of mourning silence. I laid the packet gently on the little table. We sat down. She motioned me to a chair. She had said.' I said. 'I knew him as well as it is possible for one man to know another. this very minute. And. too. and she put her hand over it.
and sent you to me. silencing me into an appalled dumbness. I went on. remained illumined by the inextinguishable light of belief and love. I knew him best. And perhaps she did. smooth and white.Heart of Darkness watch for more words on my lips. I was not even sure whether he had given me the right bundle.' I repeated.' she went on.' ''You knew him best. 'It was impossible not to—' ''Love him. But with every word spoken the room was growing darker. I feel I can speak to you—and oh! I must speak. I want you—you who have heard his last words— to know I have been worthy of him. … Yes! I am proud to know I understood him better than any one on earth— he told me so himself. I saw the manager examining under 157 of 162 . 'How true! how true! But when you think that no one knew him so well as I! I had all his noble confidence. And since his mother died I have had no one— no one—to—to—' 'I listened. after his death. ''You were his friend. if he had given you this. 'His friend. a little louder. The darkness deepened. and only her forehead. I rather suspect he wanted me to take care of another batch of his papers which. … It is not pride.' she finished eagerly. 'You must have been.' she repeated.
I had heard that her engagement with Kurtz had been disapproved by her people. ''… Who was not his friend who had heard him speak once?' she was saying.Heart of Darkness the lamp. easing her pain in the certitude of my sympathy. she talked as thirsty men drink.' She looked at me with intensity. ''Yes.' I said with something like despair in my heart.' she went on. He wasn't rich enough or something. I know. before that great and saving illusion that shone with an unearthly glow in the darkness. and sorrow. but bowing my head before the faith that was in her. and the sound of her low voice seemed to have the accompaniment of all the other sounds. I had ever heard—the ripple of the river. the faint ring of incomprehensible words cried from afar. the soughing of the trees swayed by the wind. in the triumphant 158 of 162 . And the girl talked. the whisper of a voice speaking from beyond the threshold of an eternal darkness. the murmurs of the crowds. He had given me some reason to infer that it was his impatience of comparative poverty that drove him out there. full of mystery. And indeed I don't know whether he had not been a pauper all his life. 'He drew men towards him by what was best in them. desolation. 'It is the gift of the great. 'But you have heard him! You know!' she cried.
nothing remains—nothing but a memory. and of all his greatness. ''I have been very happy—very fortunate—very proud. have not died. His words. And now I am unhappy for—for life. darkness from which I could not have defended her— from which I could not even defend myself.' By the last gleams of twilight I could see the glitter of her eyes. then added in a murmur.' I said hastily. full of tears—of tears that would not fall. and edit PDF.' I said. too.' she went on. view. her fair hair seemed to catch all the remaining light in a glimmer of gold. I rose. 'To the world. 'It is impossible that all this should be lost— that such a life should be sacrificed to leave nothing—but sorrow.' 'She stood up. at least. ''No!' she cried. 159 of 162 . Something must remain. 'Too fortunate. ''What a loss to me—to us!'—she corrected herself with beautiful generosity. Too happy for a little while. of his generous mind. too—I could not perhaps understand—but others knew of them. 'of all his promise. You and I—' ''We shall always remember him. ''And of all this. You know what vast plans he had.' ''His words will remain.' she went on mournfully. Download the free trial version. of his noble heart. I knew of them.eBook brought to you by Heart of Darkness Create.
'He died as he lived. I forgot that.' 'She put out her arms as if after a retreating figure. never.' she murmured. the stream of darkness.' ''His end. 'was in every way worthy of his life.' said I.' 'But I do not. never. Yes. his example.' ''And I was not with him.' she whispered to herself. My anger subsided before a feeling of infinite pity. with dull anger stirring in me. 160 of 162 . too. She said suddenly very low. tragic also. and bedecked with powerless charms. Never see him! I saw him clearly enough then. I cannot—I cannot believe—not yet.' I said. I cannot believe that I shall never see him again. I shall see this eloquent phantom as long as I live. too. 'his example. that nobody will see him again. 'Men looked up to him— his goodness shone in every act. and I shall see her. stretching bare brown arms over the glitter of the infernal stream. never. resembling in this gesture another one. a tragic and familiar Shade.Heart of Darkness ''And his example. His example—' ''True. stretching them back and with clasped pale hands across the fading and narrow sheen of the window. ''Everything that could be done—' I mumbled.
' I said. I—I have mourned so long in silence—in silence…. 'Don't you understand I loved him—I loved him—I loved him!' 'I pulled myself together and spoke slowly. shakily. He needed me! Me! I would have treasured every sigh. in a whisper that seemed to swell menacingly like the first whisper of a rising wind. every glance. 'Don't. You were with him—to the last? I think of his loneliness.' 'I felt like a chill grip on my chest. 'I want—I want—something—something—to—to live with. …' ''To the very end. ''The last word he pronounced was—your name.' 161 of 162 . but I believed in him more than any one on earth—more than his own mother. ''Repeat them. more than—himself. Nobody near to understand him as I would have understood. every sign.' 'I was on the point of crying at her.' I stopped in a fright.Heart of Darkness ''Ah.' I said. 'I heard his very last words…. ''Forgive me. in a muffled voice.' she murmured in a heart-broken tone. Perhaps no one to hear. every word. 'The horror! The horror!' ''His last word—to live with. 'Don't you hear them?' The dusk was repeating them in a persistent whisper all around us.' she insisted.
It seemed to me that the house would collapse before I could escape. if I had rendered Kurtz that justice which was his due? Hadn't he said he wanted only justice? But I couldn't. that the heavens would fall upon my head. Nobody moved for a time. The heavens do not fall for such a trifle.' said the Director suddenly.Heart of Darkness 'I heard a light sigh and then my heart stood still. Would they have fallen. But nothing happened. 162 of 162 . She was sure. It would have been too dark—too dark altogether…. stopped dead short by an exulting and terrible cry.' Marlow ceased. I wonder. I could not tell her. 'I knew it—I was sure!' … She knew. indistinct and silent. 'We have lost the first of the ebb. The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds. I raised my head. in the pose of a meditating Buddha. and sat apart. I heard her weeping. and the tranquil waterway leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed sombre under an overcast sky— seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness. she had hidden her face in her hands. by the cry of inconceivable triumph and of unspeakable pain.