Chapter 5 Five, shoes

Chapter One John.De.Grafenried.Atwood ate the lotus, swallowing the lotus stem, lotus root and lotus flower.The tropical climate turned him into a full-fledged foodie.He worked hard, worked hard, to forget Rosina. They seldom ate pod alone these days, with a strong drink only the devil would drink; the cook's own brew, which was brandy on Johnny's menu.As the sun went down, he and Billy.Sitting on the porch of the small consulate with a bottle of wine in the middle, Keogh yelled out a few vigorous but inappropriate songs, so that the locals scurried past in a panic, shrugged and said muttering about these devil Yankees.

[Note] Johnny: John's nickname. One day, Johnny's footman brought the mail and dumped the letter on the table. Johnny leaned over from the hammock, fingering five or six letters ruefully.Keogh's ass was hanging over the edge of the table, and a centipede was squirming among the stationery, and he lazily sliced ​​through the centipede's legs with a paper cutter.Johnny was bored, and everything was dull, and he was in the period of comfort. Old fashioned!He grumbled, and a bunch of fools wrote to consult this and that of the country.They want to know everything from planting fruit trees to getting rich without working.Half the people who wrote the letter actually didn't send the stamp for the reply.They thought the consulate had nothing to do but write letters.Open the letter for me, man, and see what they're up to.I'm so dizzy right now that I don't want to move.

Keogh, who had adapted to the local climate and was not affected by emotions, dragged the chair to the table, and with a submissive smile on his pale pink face, began to open the letter.There were four letters from citizens from all over the United States who regarded the consulate in Coralio City as an encyclopedia of information.They asked a long series of numbered questions about climate, properties, possibilities, laws, business opportunities, and statistics for the country where the consulate was located. [Note] Coralio City: No such place name.Like the following language Dyersburg, it is suspected to be fictional by the author.

Write them back, Billy, said the lifeless consul, just write and tell them to look up the latest report from the consulate.Tell them that the State Department will be happy to provide valuable literature.Sign my name.Don't let your pen scratch the paper, Billy; that rustling sound of yours keeps me awake. But don't snore, Keogh's voice is soft, I'll take care of it for you.In any case, you'll need an assistant to the Legion.Didn't see how you published the report?Wait a minute, wake up!Here's another letter from your hometown, Dyersburg? Yeah?Johnny grunted, with moderate conscientious interest, what did the letter say?

From the postmaster.Keogh explained that a citizen of this town would like to ask you for a little fact and opinion.Say the citizen intends to come to you to open a shoe store.Wondering if you think you can make money doing this business.Said that he had heard that the faction along the coast was prosperous, and wanted to be the first to seize the favorable territory. Despite the heat and rising anger, Johnny couldn't help laughing so hard that the hammock dangled.Keogh laughed too; and the monkey on the top shelf squeaked with excitement, sympathizing with the ridicule of the letter from Dayton.

What's wrong?The consul yelled, shoe store!I really don't know what their next question is?I think it's probably a fur clothing factory.Well, Billy, how many of our three thousand inhabitants have ever worn shoes? Keogh thought seriously. Let's see you and me, and I don't count.Immediately, but incorrectly, Johnny said, put one foot up, and on my dirty, worn moccasin boot, I haven't had to wear shoes for months. But you have shoes at last.Keogh continued, and Goodwin, Bryanshal, Geddy, old Lutz, and Doc.Greg, and the Italian guy who represented the banana company, and old Delgado was wrong; he wore sandals.And, oh, yes, what does Ms. Woritz do to keep the restaurant running? [Note 1] At the ball the other night, she wore a pair of red slippers.And Miss Passa, her daughter is studying in the United States, and she brought back some civilized ideas in terms of shoes and socks.Then there's the major's sister, who dresses up and wraps her feet for the holidays, and Mrs. Gerty, who wears a pair of Castile shoes. La.Let's see some of the soldiers stationed in the barracks are wrong and wrong, no; they're only allowed to wear shoes when they're marching.In the barracks they let their little toes out to eat grass.

[Note 1] How do you rely on to manage the hotel: Billy parodied Ms. Woritz's non-standard pronunciation. The original text is What kapes The hotel, which should be What keeps the hotel. 【Note 2】Castile: a region in central Spain, located in the central plateau. Roughly the same.The consul agreed, and less than twenty of the three thousand people wore leather on their heads and feet.Oh, that's right; an aggressive shoe store in Coralio City is just the thing for a shoe store that doesn't want to sell.I don't know if old Patterson was trying to make fun of me!He was always full of what he called jokes.Write him back, Billy.I dictate.We also tease him.

Keogh dipped his ink and wrote the letter on Johnny's dictated sheet.After so many smoky pauses and a grand tour of bottles and glasses of all sorts, the prank concocted to Dyersburg, the reply reads as follows: Obadiah.mr paterson Dyersburg, Alabama Dear Sir: It is a great honor to send a letter on July 2nd.I hereby reply. In my humble opinion, no inhabited place in the world shows the need for a shoe store more prominently than the city of Coralio.There are 3,000 local residents, but no shoe store?It is self-evident to ask for shoes if you are thirsty.This coastal area is rapidly becoming a hot spot for enterprising businessmen, but the shoe business has hitherto been neglected and neglected, alas, a pity.The number of local residents who have no shoes to wear is really considerable.

In addition, the local area urgently needs a brewery, a college of advanced mathematics, a coal yard, and a clean and high-quality comedy puppet show venue. your humble humble man US Consulate in Coralio John.De.Grafried.atwood heads up postscript: Hello!Uncle Obadiah.How about the old town of Binxiang?What would the Daicheng government do without you?Watch out, you'll soon receive a green parrot and a bunch of bananas from your old buddy Johnny I added that postscript at will.The Consul explained so that Uncle Obadiah would not be offended by the prim tone of the letter.Now, Billy, wrap up the envelope and let Pancho take it to the post office.If they ship the fruit today, the Ariad takes the mail tomorrow.

Chapter two The nightlife in Coralio City is unchanging and monotonous.The pastime of the locals is that they can't sleep soundly or have nothing to do. They walk around aimlessly with bare feet, talk slowly, and smoke cigars or cigarettes.Looking down the dimly lit roads of the town.You seem to see a string of brunette ghosts entangled with a group of fireflies dancing wildly.In some of the houses the mournful sound of casually strummed guitars added to the gloom of the sad night.Huge tree frogs rattled among clusters of leaves.The volume is loud, like actors standing at the ends of a row of actors in a black theater troupe and arguing loudly.At nine o'clock in the evening, the streets were dead silent, almost deserted.

The Consulate does not often change programs in the evening.Keogh came every evening, for one cool world in Cauville was the little sea-facing porch of the mansion. The brandy was always flowing; before midnight the consul's self-exiled heart was churning with sentimentality.So he would tell Keogh about his ended romance.Every night, Keogh must have listened patiently to that story, ready to offer a never-weary sympathy. But doesn't it ever occur to you that Johnny always ends his sad stories like this, I feel sorry for the girl, Billy?I have forgotten her.She will never enter my brain again.Even if she walked through that door at this very moment, my pulse would never skip a beat.It's been a long time. Don't I know this?Keogh would reply, of course, you've forgotten all about her.now it's right.She really shouldn't have listened to those groundless accusations, um, Dink.Posen keeps picking on you. Pink.Dawson!Johnny's voice would be full of disdain, poor white man!He is such a pauper.Of course, he has five hundred hectares of land; this of course counts.Maybe, one day in the future, I will have the opportunity to go back and deal with him.The Dawsons are just no-names.The Atwoods knew everyone in Alabama.Hey, Billy, did you know that my mother's family is De.The Grafenried family? Ouch, didn't know wow, Keogh replied: Yeah?He had heard that phrase about three hundred times. Originally.De. Hancock County.The Grafenried family.But I don't think about that girl any more now, do I, Billy? Not at all, man.These are always the last words Cupid's conquerors hear. By this time Johnny would slip gently into a slumber, and Keogh would stroll leisurely into his own little shack under the gourd tree on the edge of the square. One or two days later, the matter of the letter from Fort Dyers and the reply to it had been forgotten by the two exiles living in Dyersburg.But on July 26th, the troubled tree planted bears fruit, and it is the fruit of that reply letter. The liner Andador, which delivered melons and fruits, slowly sailed into the waters not far from the shore, stopped the ship and dropped anchor.Onlookers stood along the beach, watching the quarantine doctors and customs officials row out to perform their duties. An hour later, Billy.Keogh shuffled into the consulate in a linen shirt, looking clean and cool, grinning like a happy shark. Guess what.He asked Johnny, who was listlessly lying in his hammock. Too hot to guess.Johnny was lazy. Your shoe man is coming, said Keogh, rolling a piece of candy on the tip of his tongue, with a good load enough to supply the continent as far as Tierra del Fuego.They are trucking boxes of goods to customs.The goods that were brought ashore were full of six barges, and they rowed small boats to transport the rest of the goods.Oh, praise the sages!When he saw through the joke and had an interview with Mr. Consul, he might see a good show.As long as I can see that Coke scene with my own eyes, nine years in this tropical ghost place is worth it. [Note] This continent: Guide to the American continent.Tierra del Fuego is located at the southernmost tip of the South American continent. Keogh loves to have a good time.He picked a clean place to lie down on the mat.The walls trembled with his joy.Johnny turned his face halfway, blinking. But don't tell me, he said, someone is so stupid as to use a chicken feather as an arrow. Four thousand yuan goods!Keogh was panting with joy, and was talking of coaling to Newcastle!Why didn't he strike while the iron was hot and simply ship him a shipload of palm-leaf fans to Spitsbergen?I saw that strange old man by the sea.You should have been there to see how he displayed the samples he had brought, and squinted at the five hundred or so barefoot fairies standing around him! [Note 1] Newcastle (Newcastle): A city in the east of New South Wales, Australia, with a large coal mine and the center of Australian steel manufacturing. [Note 2] Spitsbergen, the name of the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, has a cold climate. Is it true what you say, Billy?asked the Consul feebly. But really?You should really look at the daughter of the defrauded gentleman, he brought her.so beautiful!She eclipsed the local ladies with brick pink complexions and looked like tarred chicks. Go on, said Johnny, if you can stop your stupid smirk.I hate it when an adult laughs like that. It's called Helmstel.Keogh couldn't stop talking, he's a hello!what happened? Johnny rolled out of the hammock writhingly, his soft-slippered feet thumping to the floor. Get up, you idiot, he ordered sternly, or I'll smash your brains out with this inkstand.That was Rosina and her father.God!What a nonsense idiot old Patterson is!Get up, come here, Billy.Keogh, help me.What are we going to do?Is the whole world crazy? Keogh stood up and dusted himself off.He tried his best to make himself look not hippie smiley again. As long as it's here, it's safe, Johnny.He said, trying to be serious, and he succeeded to a certain extent in his efforts, and if you didn't tell me, I hardly thought it would be your girl.The first thing to do is to find them a comfortable place to live.You go to the beach and listen to the waves, I will run to Goodwin's house right away to see if Mrs. Gu can receive them.They have the nicest house in town. God bless you, Billy!The consul said, I knew you would not die.The world is bound to end, but maybe we can delay it for a day or two. third chapter Keogh went out with an umbrella and went straight to Goodwin's house.Johnny put on his coat and top hat.He picked up the brandy bottle, put it down without taking a sip, and strode bravely down to the beach. In the shade of the customs house wall he found Mr Hemstel and Rosina, surrounded by a stunned crowd of local residents.Customs officials dodged the crowd, shuffling back, while the captain of the Andador explained what the new arrivals were for.Rosina looked healthy and full of youthful vigor. She watched the strangers around her with interest.When she greeted her former admirer, a faint blush appeared on her round face.Mr. Hemstel shook Johnny's hand very kindly.He was a little aged, and an impractical fellow, one of those erratic, erratic business men who are numerous, insatiable, always seeking change. nice to meet you john may i call you johnHe said. I thank you for your prompt reply to the postmaster's inquiry.It was he who volunteered to write to you for me.I was looking around for an opportunity to switch to something else that would make more money.I noticed from the newspaper that this coastal area is a hotspot for investors.You suggested me to come here, I am very grateful.I sold all my belongings and exchanged the money for shoes, all kinds of beautiful shoes that can be bought in North America.What a picturesque city you have, John.Your letter reassures my anxious heart that the business will turn out as well as it says. Keogh's arrival brings relief to a distressed Johnny.Keogh has hastened the news that Mrs. Goodwin was more than happy to make the rooms available to Mr. Hemstle and his daughter.Mr. Hemstel and Rosina were then led away there to rest and refresh themselves from the fatigue of the journey, while Johnny went to see if the crates full of shoes were safely stored in the customs warehouse, because during the Customs officials have to inspect the goods.And Keogh, grinning like a shark, looked around for Goodwin, to tell him not to tell Mr. Hemstel the truth about the Co. City shoe market, so that Johnny could have a chance to make amends, to save him. Lose, if possible. That night, on the consulate's breezy porch, the consul and Keogh made a desperate discussion. Send them home.Keogh opened his mouth while trying to figure out what Johnny was thinking. I will, Johnny replied after a moment of silence, but I've been lying to you, Billy. This is nothing.Keogh was full of kindness. I've told you hundreds of times, said Johnny slowly, I've forgotten about the girl, haven't I? About three hundred and seventy-five times.Patient Keogh answered. I'm lying, the Consul repeated, over and over again.I never forgot her for a moment.Just because she rejected me once, I ran away from home like a stubborn ass.I'm a proud fool, it's the pride in me that won't let me go back.I talked to Rosina for a few minutes this evening at the Goodwin's.I have discovered a secret.Do you remember that redneck who was chasing after her all the time? Dink.Posen?Keogh asked. Pink.Dawson.Aha, he was nothing to her.She didn't believe a word of what he said to belittle me.But I'm done now, Billy.That stupid letter we sent ruined my chances.Once she finds out that her father has been taken for a joke, she will look down on me, because a decent, well-bred boy would not pull such a prank.shoes! If he had been here in Coralio for twenty years, how could he not be able to sell twenty pairs of shoes.How would you take one of those Caribbean or dark Spanish kids and put his shoes on?Head down, feet up, screaming until the shoes are kicked off.None of them ever wore shoes, and they never will.If I send them both home, I must tell the truth, what will she think of me?I want that girl more than ever, Billy, and now that she's so close, I've lost her forever, because I want to be funny when the thermometer goes up to one hundred and two degrees. [Note] One hundred and two degrees: refers to Fahrenheit, which is approximately equivalent to thirty-nine degrees Celsius. don’t worry.Keogh, who is naturally optimistic, said let them open the shop.I've been busy this afternoon.In any case, we can set off a wave of shoe fever for the time being.When the store opens, I'll buy six pairs of it.I ran around, found people I knew, and explained the catastrophe we had caused.They all have to buy shoes, as if they were centipedes with many legs.Frank.Goodwin wants to buy a few cases.Gediff fancy buying about eleven pairs.Clancy was going to put all his savings for a few weeks into it, and even old Doc.Greg also said he'd like three pairs of alligator slippers if they had ten-dollar bills.Blanchard glanced at Mademoiselle Hemstel; he's a Frenchman, and he'll need no less than a dozen. A dozen buyers, Johnny said, would spend four thousand dollars worth of goods!no, sorry!There is a big problem to solve here.Come back, Billy, and leave me alone for a while.I have to figure out my own way to solve the problem.Take that three-star bottle away, no, sir, the Consul of the United States will not drink at all.I'm going to sit here tonight, open my mind, and come up with a solution.If I could find a land of fools that would solve my problems, wherever it might be, I would set foot on that land.If no such place is found, the magnificent tropics will add a shipwreck. Keogh leaves, feeling he can't be of much help.Johnny put a cigar on the table and stretched out, leaning back in a boat chair.He was still sitting there when the sudden dawn cast silver ripples on the water in the harbor.Then, he stood up, played a little tune, and went to take a shower. At nine o'clock, he went to the dirty and narrow telegraph room, and dawdled on a blank telegraph paper for half an hour.In the end, he paid thirty-three yuan, signed, and sent the following telegram: To Pinckney.Dawson Dyersburg, Alabama Send you a money order of one hundred yuan by another letter.Send forthwith five hundred pounds of firm dried agaric.There are new uses here, making handicrafts.The market price is 20 shillings per pound. You can consider renewing orders. Hurry up.