PeterUK
October 31st, 2008, 14:11
I can still hardly believe it. I was called to Bangkok a few days ago by a bookseller friend who knows of my interest in travel literature about Siam. He said he had come into possession of an old manuscript which he wanted me to look at. There was an urgency to his tone and he was reluctant to give any details over the phone. I was certainly intrigued. It turned out to be an unpublished account of the travels in Siam of an English Baptist minister, the Revd. Thomas Wheeler, his wife Florence and their maiden lady companion of a certain age, Miss Mary Montague, over a nine-month period in 1873. It was written by the latter in a beautiful copperplate hand. As I started to read it in my friendтАЩs cluttered living room above his bookshop off Sukhumwit, I was initially disappointed: much tedious topographical detail and insipid descriptions of missionary activity and of visits to local sights. No wonder this was never published, I found myself thinking. Seeing that I was in danger of losing interest, my bookseller friend grabbed the manuscript, leafed forward a large number of pages and then, with a smile, said, тАШAh, yesтАЩ and returned it to me. тАШRead this bit,тАЩ he said. тАШYouтАЩre aware, arenтАЩt you, that Pattaya, when it was still a fishing village, was known as Thappraya?тАЩ
тАШYeeesssтАжтАЩ I said, suspecting a joke of some kind.
тАШJust read it,тАЩ he said, and left the room.
My curiosity well and truly aroused, this is what I read:
тАШOn the morrow we continued our journey along the coast. The ponies, which had rendered us such sterling service up to now, soon began to tire from the constant changes of gradient and the Revd. WheelerтАЩs wound from the tiger incident was troubling him more than a little. Our Siamese guide suggested that we stop for a while at a fishing village we had reached and we all readily assented. Thappraya, which name the fishing village bears, consists of a straggling line of bamboo huts, perhaps half a mile in extent; it has a generally unkempt and grubby appearance that is not pleasing to the aesthetic sensibility of the beholder. Its natural setting, by contrast, has a pristine beauty: a bay of shimmering sea before it and along the sandy shore such an abundance of sugar palms that Mrs Wheeler felt compelled to remark that тАШthere must be plenty of monkey business here.тАЩ How we all laughed.
тАШOn entering the village, we immediately became objects of great fascination; adults and children appeared in doorways to gawp at us. A group of near-naked fishermen, sinuous and muscular, repairing nets, were of peculiar interest to me; they were a stirring sight indeed. Our guide fell into conversation with them and soon we had fresh fish, pineapples and bananas with which to make a handsome repast. As we all sat round a cooking-fire on the beach, the Revd. Wheeler, feeling much restored, declared wittily, тАШHere are fruits of the sea and fruits of the land. Truly we are blessed to be enjoying such a fruitful occasion.тАЩ Emboldened by the mirth of Mrs Wheeler and myself, he continued, тАШJust like being at Brighton, what! ThereтАЩs the promenadeтАЩ тАУ he pointed along the shore тАУ тАШthereтАЩs the pierтАЩ тАУ he pointed at a rickety wooden jetty where some boats were tied up тАУ тАШand, look, thereтАЩs even a pavilionтАЩ тАУ he pointed at a thatched shelter under which some grim-faced old ladies were sitting, chewing betel nut and staring at us. When he is in this kind of form, the Revd. Wheeler is really quite irrepressible.
тАШAfter we had finished eating, we noticed a pretty girl, perhaps sixteen years of age, sitting on her haunches a few yards away and smiling coquettishly at us. I drew her to the attention of our guide, who merely laughed, using a Siamese word which sounded to me like тАШcat eyeтАЩ. I pressed him on the matter and he astonished us all by saying that тАШsheтАЩ was really a тАШheтАЩ, a boy presuming to be a girl. I confess to having heard of this perversion of nature and its prevalence in these parts, but this was my first sighting of one of these benighted creatures. The Revd. Wheeler looked particularly moved by the pathetic sight and went over anon to put an arm round the shoulders of the slender androgyne and to mutter some consoling words in a proffered ear. After a while they both retired to one of the bamboo huts, where Mrs Wheeler and I affectionately pictured him providing uplifting instruction from the Bible.
тАШHe was absent for about an hour altogether, which merely made our admiration for his diligent service to one in need all the greater. When he finally re-emerged, he looked quite flustered and red about the face. Mopping his brow, he told us how hot it had been in the hut. He dismissed our words of praise for his charitable deed with a modest sweep of the hand, then said that he felt like resting for a few minutes. We could hardly begrudge him that after his exertions and, without more ado, he lay down in the shade of a cluster of palms and fell asleep, snoring loudly. Our Siamese guide, easily amused as is the propensity of this child-like race, was grinning broadly the whole time. It was mid-afternoon before our little party resumed its journey.тАЩ
I put the manuscript down, looked thoughtfully ahead of me for a bit, and then gave in to an urge to burst out laughing.
тАШYeeesssтАжтАЩ I said, suspecting a joke of some kind.
тАШJust read it,тАЩ he said, and left the room.
My curiosity well and truly aroused, this is what I read:
тАШOn the morrow we continued our journey along the coast. The ponies, which had rendered us such sterling service up to now, soon began to tire from the constant changes of gradient and the Revd. WheelerтАЩs wound from the tiger incident was troubling him more than a little. Our Siamese guide suggested that we stop for a while at a fishing village we had reached and we all readily assented. Thappraya, which name the fishing village bears, consists of a straggling line of bamboo huts, perhaps half a mile in extent; it has a generally unkempt and grubby appearance that is not pleasing to the aesthetic sensibility of the beholder. Its natural setting, by contrast, has a pristine beauty: a bay of shimmering sea before it and along the sandy shore such an abundance of sugar palms that Mrs Wheeler felt compelled to remark that тАШthere must be plenty of monkey business here.тАЩ How we all laughed.
тАШOn entering the village, we immediately became objects of great fascination; adults and children appeared in doorways to gawp at us. A group of near-naked fishermen, sinuous and muscular, repairing nets, were of peculiar interest to me; they were a stirring sight indeed. Our guide fell into conversation with them and soon we had fresh fish, pineapples and bananas with which to make a handsome repast. As we all sat round a cooking-fire on the beach, the Revd. Wheeler, feeling much restored, declared wittily, тАШHere are fruits of the sea and fruits of the land. Truly we are blessed to be enjoying such a fruitful occasion.тАЩ Emboldened by the mirth of Mrs Wheeler and myself, he continued, тАШJust like being at Brighton, what! ThereтАЩs the promenadeтАЩ тАУ he pointed along the shore тАУ тАШthereтАЩs the pierтАЩ тАУ he pointed at a rickety wooden jetty where some boats were tied up тАУ тАШand, look, thereтАЩs even a pavilionтАЩ тАУ he pointed at a thatched shelter under which some grim-faced old ladies were sitting, chewing betel nut and staring at us. When he is in this kind of form, the Revd. Wheeler is really quite irrepressible.
тАШAfter we had finished eating, we noticed a pretty girl, perhaps sixteen years of age, sitting on her haunches a few yards away and smiling coquettishly at us. I drew her to the attention of our guide, who merely laughed, using a Siamese word which sounded to me like тАШcat eyeтАЩ. I pressed him on the matter and he astonished us all by saying that тАШsheтАЩ was really a тАШheтАЩ, a boy presuming to be a girl. I confess to having heard of this perversion of nature and its prevalence in these parts, but this was my first sighting of one of these benighted creatures. The Revd. Wheeler looked particularly moved by the pathetic sight and went over anon to put an arm round the shoulders of the slender androgyne and to mutter some consoling words in a proffered ear. After a while they both retired to one of the bamboo huts, where Mrs Wheeler and I affectionately pictured him providing uplifting instruction from the Bible.
тАШHe was absent for about an hour altogether, which merely made our admiration for his diligent service to one in need all the greater. When he finally re-emerged, he looked quite flustered and red about the face. Mopping his brow, he told us how hot it had been in the hut. He dismissed our words of praise for his charitable deed with a modest sweep of the hand, then said that he felt like resting for a few minutes. We could hardly begrudge him that after his exertions and, without more ado, he lay down in the shade of a cluster of palms and fell asleep, snoring loudly. Our Siamese guide, easily amused as is the propensity of this child-like race, was grinning broadly the whole time. It was mid-afternoon before our little party resumed its journey.тАЩ
I put the manuscript down, looked thoughtfully ahead of me for a bit, and then gave in to an urge to burst out laughing.