Summary “The Royal Road”
The action takes place in Southeast Asia (on the territory of Thailand, South Vietnam and Cambodia) a few years after the First World War. The young Frenchman Claude Vannek is sent to Siam (the official name of Thailand until 1939 – EM) in search of ancient Khmer bas-reliefs. In Europe, there was a demand for Asian rarities, and Claude hopes to get rich. On the ship he meets Perken – this German or Dane belongs to the number of Europeans who are ready to put life at stake for the sake of fame and power. He has extensive experience with the natives – according to rumors, he even managed to subdue one of the local tribes. Claude invincibly draws to Perken, for he guesses in him a kindred spirit – both are eager to fill with meaning their existence. Claude realizes that he needs a reliable companion: in the Siamese jungle of white people lies in wait for many dangers, and the most terrible of them is to fall into the hands of unconquered savages. Claude opens his
Перкен соглашается принять участие в экспедиции: ему внезапно понадобились деньги и, кроме того, он хочет узнать о судьбе своего исчезнувшего друга – следы Грабо затерялись в тех местах, где живет таиландское племя мои. Условившись о встрече в Пномпене, Перкен сходит на берег в Сингапуре, а Клод плывет дальше, в Сайгон, где находится отделение Французского института, пославшего его в командировку якобы для археологических
The jungles look more hostile and dangerous. On the way to the main village Stieng
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Travelers are beginning to worry: the guide does not always warn them of poisoned war arrows and thorns – only Perkin’s experience allows them to avoid traps. Perhaps this is the intrigues of other leaders, but it is possible that Grabo was wild among the Stiegens and is trying to protect his freedom. The horrible truth is only revealed on the spot: the Stiengi, blinded and glazed Grabo, turned him into a miserable slave – almost into an animal. Both white men are threatened by the same fate: a young archaeologist is ready to shoot a bullet in his forehead, but Perken rejects this faint-hearted way out and goes to negotiations, knowing full well what awaits him in case of failure. Stumbling on the tension, he falls on his knee on a military arrow stuck into the ground. He manages to do the impossible: the Stieng agree to let them out of the village, then to exchange Grabo for a hundred clay jugs, which will be delivered to the agreed place. The treaty is confirmed by an oath on rice vodka. Only after that, Perken smears his swollen knee with iodine. He has a very strong fever.
In five days the travelers get to the Siamese village. The visiting English doctor does not leave Perken with any hopes: with a purulent arthritis the wounded will live no more than two weeks – an amputation could save him, but he will not have time to get to the city. Perken sends a message to Bangkok that the wild Steienges have mutilated the white man. The authorities immediately expel the punitive detachment. To the place of exchange, Perken is transported on a cart – he is no longer able to move independently. Claude is traveling with him, as if fascinated by the breath of death. Following the liberation of Grabo, hunting begins for the Stiegens – they are persecuted as animals, and they desperately rush to the villages of mountain tribes who recognized as their leader Perken. But now the white man is so weak that he can not inspire respect for himself: Siamese do not want to listen to him and accuse him, that he became the cause of the furious attacks of the Stiegens. In vain Perken calls to fight with the approaching civilization: if the mountaineers miss the military column, the railway will follow. In the views of the natives Perken clearly discerns indifference – for them he is already dead. As the drug addict warned, Perken’s agony is terrible. Just before the end, there is nothing human in his face – he wheezes that there is no death, for only he alone is destined to die. Claude burns with the desire to give the friend at least a fraction of fraternal sympathy, but when he embraces Perken, he looks at him as a creature from another world. In the views of the natives Perken clearly discerns indifference – for them he is already dead. As the drug addict warned, Perken’s agony is terrible. Just before the end, there is nothing human in his face – he wheezes that there is no death, for only he alone is destined to die. Claude burns with the desire to give the friend at least a fraction of fraternal sympathy, but when he embraces Perken, he looks at him as a creature from another world. In the views of the natives Perken clearly discerns indifference – for them he is already dead. As the drug addict warned, Perken’s agony is terrible. Just before the end, there is nothing human in his face – he wheezes that there is no death, for only he alone is destined to die. Claude burns with the desire to give the friend at least a fraction of fraternal sympathy, but when he embraces Perken, he looks at him as a creature from another world.
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