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6 f) f ha t triump h ove r th e water-seller' s distrustfu l hear t mad e ^/ th e Handsome Adozindo jubilant and fed his bravado. At night, *->^ ove r billiards, he was profuse i n his rejoicing, and bought beers fo r everyone, even those he hardly knew . His friend Florencio , the one who was happy t o feed of f hi s crumbs , guessed there was a woman behind this. He was astounded. With a wealthy widow, the coveted Lucrecia, passionately in love with him, what more did he want? What better slipper could he find for his foot? He really was sailing too close to the wind. 'So who is the new "she"?' Adozindo shrouded himself in an air of mystery, amused by his friend , who was making a mental list of the gadabout's potential victims. He couldn't own up to the fact that the object of his desire was a rustic, barefoot beauty , who hurried along the streets under the yoke of a water-seller's tam-kon. I t would tarnis h hi s reputatio n a s a womaniser , an d Florenci o wouldn' t understand anyway . Now tha t h e was abou t t o enjoy th e suprem e satisfactio n o f gettin g what he wanted, Adozindo was no longer content with fleeting meetings , words hurriedly exchanged . He wanted more time with her. The braid wa s driving him crazy, and the desire to possess her was blinding him to reason and good sense. A-Leng, fo r he r part, live d i n a state of constan t mortification . Th e boy's imag e ha d engrave d itsel f o n he r mind . Suc h a thin g ha d neve r happened to her before. Sh e was illiterate, she'd never had time or money to go to school . But sh e wasn't promiscuou s o r cheap, and sh e knew th e difference betwee n good and bad. The inhabitants of Cheok Chai Un were her people. For those outside, the quarter was a den of iniquity, a lair for prostitutes and hoodlums. But for thos e within, they had a code of honour, ther e was a way of lif e an d standards of behaviour, traditions and local customs that had to be observed, 36HENRIQU EDESENNAFERNANDES under pai n o f genera l disapproval . Indeed , ther e wa s no suc h thin g a s a whorehouse there . The folk tha t dwelt there were like her. She had grow n up believing that her whole life, like that of her companions, would be led within the quarter . The kwai-lo's intrusio n int o her simpl e life ha d complicate d it s preordained course . H e belonge d t o a social circl e tha t wa s diametricall y opposed t o her own , abov e al l in the questio n o f language , religio n an d customs. Their differences wer e overwhelming . She had been dumbstruck one day when, while the owners and the rest of the family wer e away, and at the insistence of A-Sam, proud to show her where she worked, sh e had been led round the inside of the house. The bedrooms, the bathroom, the room for receiving visitors, the diningroom , the Master's study, stacked with books, the furniture, carpets, curtains, all things sh e had neve r see n before, ha d reduced he r to humble silence . She had neve r steppe d o n suc h a shiny floor , smellin g o f wax , an d wa s ashamed to soil it with her muddy feet, while the maid rubbed the dirt off so as not to leave any traces. The frightening telephon e attache d to the wall, the gramophone wit h its huge, gaping speaker , th e fans, th e refrigerator , the sofas and soft beds, everything that her sight and other senses had never experienced. And the Young Master's room , s o tidy an d perfumed, wit h its softl y sprung bed. The bold A-Sam had obliged her to try it and she blushed at the voluptuous sensation as she touched the fresh sheets . So there was really no possible point of comparison with any of the boys from Cheo k Chai Un...
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