Chapter 56 five six

Another two years passed, maybe three years, because in Tahiti, time always passed by without anyone bothering to keep track of it.But at last word was brought to Dr. Coutras that Strickland was going to die soon.Ata stopped a horse-drawn carriage on the way to deliver mail to Papeete, and begged the driver to go to the doctor at once.But when the news came, the doctor happened not to be at home.He did not hear the letter until evening.It was too late for him to start that day; he set off early next morning.He first arrived at Talawo, then got out of the car and walked; this was the last time he walked the seven kilometers to Ata's house.The path is almost covered by weeds, and it seems that there has been no pedestrian footprint for several years.The road was rough; sometimes he had to wade across a stretch of river bank;Several times he had to climb over rocks to avoid wild beehives hanging from the branches overhead.There was no sound in the dense forest.

When he finally reached the unpainted wooden house, he breathed a sigh of relief.The house is now in dilapidated condition, and in a state of filth and unsightly.Still an unbearable silence greeted him.He went to the balcony, and a child was playing in the sun, and ran away as soon as he saw him; in the eyes of this child, all strangers were enemies.Dr. Coutras became aware that the child was watching him from behind a tree.The door was open.He called out, but no one answered.He went in.He knocked on the other door, still no answer.He turned the doorknob and walked in.A foul smell nearly made him vomit.He blocked his nose with a handkerchief and forced himself to go in.The light in the room was very dark, and when he walked in from the bright sunlight outside, he couldn't see anything for a moment.As his eyes adjusted to the light in the room, he was startled.He didn't know where he had come, as if he suddenly walked into a magical world; dimly, he seemed to feel that he was in a primeval forest, and there were some naked people wandering under the big trees. people.It took him a while to realize that what he was looking at were huge murals on the four walls.

God, I'm not fainted by the sun.he muttered to himself. A movement of a figure caught his attention, and he found Ata lying on the floor, whimpering softly. Love Tower, he cried, Love Tower. She ignored him.Once again the stench of the house nearly overwhelmed him, and he lit a chegar.His eyes had fully adjusted to the hazy light in the room.He stared at the painting on the wall, feeling uncontrollable emotions surging in his heart.He was not very good at painting, but the pictures on the wall excited him.On the four walls, from the floor to the ceiling, unfolded a strange, well-painted giant painting, very wonderful and very mysterious.Dr. Coutras had almost stopped breathing.An emotion arose in him that he could neither comprehend nor analyse.If it can be compared in this way, maybe a person has this feeling of joy and awe when he sees the beginning of the creation of the world.The painting has an overwhelming momentum, it is both sensual and passionate.At the same time, it contains a certain frightening element, which makes people feel frightened when they look at it.The man who painted this monumental work has delved into the secrets of nature and discovered something as beautiful as it is terrible.This man knows things that ordinary people should not know.What he paints is something primal, shocking, unearthly.Dr. Coutras had vague associations with black magic, astonishingly beautiful and filthy.

God, this is genius. This sentence came out of his mouth, and it was only after he said it that he realized that he was making a comment. Then his eyes rested on a straw mat in the corner, and as he walked over, he saw a frightful, mutilated thing that one could not look straight at. It was Strickland.He is dead.With a great deal of willpower Dr. Coutras leaned over the horrific corpse.He jumped up suddenly with fright, and his heart almost jumped in his throat; for he felt something behind him.Looking back, it turned out to be Aita.At some point, Aita had stood up, walked to his elbow, and looked down at the dead man on the ground together with him.

God, I must be out of my nerves, he said, you're freaking me out. The once-living figure was now breathless; Coutras looked again, then turned away gloomily. His eyes are already blind. Yes, he has been blind for almost a year.