Читать книгу The Plumed Serpent. Historical Novel - Life and Love after the Mexico Revolution онлайн

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‘There sit the Indians staring as if heaven had opened and the Virgin of Guadalupe was standing tiptoe on their chins. And what do you expect? The telephone is a dummy. It isn’t connected with anywhere. Isn’t that rich? But it’s Mexico.’

The moment’s fatal pause followed this funny story.

‘Oh but!’ said Kate, ‘it’s wicked! It IS wicked. I’m sure the Indians would be all right, if they were left alone.’

‘Well,’ said Mrs Norris, ‘Mexico isn’t like any other place in the world.’

But she spoke with fear and despair in her voice.

‘They seem to WANT to betray everything,’ said Kate. ‘They seem to LOVE criminals and ghastly things. They seem to want the ugly things. They seem to WANT the ugly things to come up to the top. All the foulness that lies at the bottom, they want to stir up to the top. They seem to enjoy it. To enjoy making everything fouler. Isn’t it curious!’

‘It is curious,’ said Mrs Norris.

‘But that’s what it is,’ said the Judge. ‘They want to turn the country into one big crime. They don’t like anything else. They don’t like honesty and decency and cleanliness. They want to foster lies and crime. What they call liberty here is just freedom to commit crime. That’s what Labour means, that’s what they all mean. Free crime, nothing else.’