178 “San de fu du? Opo no!”
179 “No frede, wakti m’e kon.”
180 An advanced form of dug-out canoe (pronounced kor-yaal).
181 “Joli-Coeur e kon.”
182 “Mi Tata, Busi Nengre, Busi Nengre!”
183 “Go kibri, mi Gado misi, go kibri, Busi Nengre dya!”
184 “Pe den dè, pe den bakra de?”
185 “Bakra? Bakra no de moro, yu kiri en kaba toch?”
186 “Den trawan, pe den e kibri?”
187 “Trawan no de, alamala go na foto.”
188 “Ala katibo nengre, un kiri a bakra kaba, yu kan gowe, lon gowe, yu fri.”
189 “Ai dan m’o sribi dyaso tide neti. Yu dati yu n’e gowe?”
190 “Nono ba, efu yu e tan sribi dyaso, a betre mi srefi e tan, dan mi kan bori gi yu fu yu kan nyan wan bun preti.”
191 “Ai uma yi habi leti, we bori gi mi, bori gi un alamala.”
192 “Suma na yu dan brada?”
193 “Mi na Agosu.”
194 “So yu na Agosu no, ai mi yere yu nen, yu na wan bigi man.”
195 “Yu yere no, we go bori dan, angri en kiri e bigi man, m’o wakti dya.”
196 “Yu tyari den wroko sani gowe, dan un kon baka fu teki moro”
197 “A dungre keba, mi o tan dyaso.”
198 “Ai, un habi leti baya, ai un kisi den moi, de bakra didibri.”
199 “Surdati fon wi pikin na ini wan mata mata, te a dede, net leki fa y’e fon ton ton.”
200 “Ma mi e taigi yu. Efu m’e miti nanga wan bakra pikin, m’o meki a m’ma luku, en dan m’e e teki a pikin, koti wan finga kmopo, dan ete wan finga, ete wan, dan en hanu, dan wan futu, tra futu, dan so mi e koti en na pisi-pisi, na en m’ma fesi.”
201 “Wakti m’e kon.”
202 “Mi Gado, un tantiri, un tan drape!”
203 “O na so no? Pe a pikin bakra disi kmopo?”
204 “Libi en poti, libi en.”
205 “P’e en m’ma de?”
206 “A no abi m’ma, en m’ma dede keba.”
207 “Mi ben taigi yu san mi b’o du, nanga wan bakra pikin?”
208 “Luku, efu yu du wan sani, dan yu kra e go libi yu, yu habi yu kra fanodu fu feti. Libi na pikin, m’e begi yu, libi na pikin.”
209 “Agosu, hesi hesi, kon un gowé, boto e kon, boto lai nanga surdati, den e kon na syoro keba, kon gowé, ala trawan gowé keba, Agosu, kon!”
210 “Pe a misi de?”
211 “O mi Gado, mi masra, mi Teta!”
212 “Masra, ke masra, opo; den busi nengre, den teki Klein Paradijs!”
213 “Den frufruktu, den didibri!”
214 “Masra keba, keba! Den busi nengre no kiri en, dan yu wan’ kiri en? Yu law no, yu wan’ koti strafu?”
215 “Kon masra, kon. Kon nanga mi, yu weri ba, luku fa yu lon kon dyaso, yu musu fu weri, kon mek’ mi masi yu baka gi yu.”
216 “Prakseri den pikin baya, prakseri den.”
217 “Masra no sabi dan, a misi habi bere?”
218 “Wan surdati pikin dan.”
219 “No no masra, na yu pikin, mi sabi taki na yu pikin.”
220 “No go feti nanga en. Masra ke m’e begi masra.”
221 “No, no mi no feti.”
CHAPTER XII
JAN
When Lieutenant Andersma had left the military post, announcing that he was on the track of something special and would be gone about three days, the subalterns had had a good laugh behind his back. “Something special,” Officer Bels had said, scornfully, “A special woman, no doubt?” The lieutenant must think they were mad. Perhaps he really did believe that no-one knew that he was carrying on with that little thing there on Klein Paradijs; and weren’t they just a stone’s throw away from the plantation? The soldiers had their own views on the matter, too. But all right, it didn’t really matter to them one way or the other, and the longer they could stay on the post the better. They could at least sleep under one shelter in a hammock and make a smoke pot against the mosquitoes.
Jan was sorry that Lieutenant Andersma was leaving, even if it were for only three days, as he himself had said, for then the group was left to the mercy of the ruthless officer Bels, whom Jan regarded as the lowest of the low. And the subaltern had it in for him especially: he knew that all too well. That had all come about when they were only a few days away from the town, several weeks ago now.
After ten days some of the soldiers were already seriously ill. The negro porters had now to carry the sick men and their baggage as well as everything else. At a certain moment Officer Bels had forced yet another backpack on a porter who could even then hardly walk with everything he already had on his back. When the negro porter’s knees collapsed under the weight, the subaltern had kicked him.