Henderson the Rain King - Saul Bellow [29]
make acquaintance by wrestle. Invariable." "That seems like quite a rule," I said, very hesitant. "Well, I wonder, can't you waive it once, or wait a while, as I am completely tuckered out?" "Oh, no," he said. "New arrival, got to wrestle. Allways." "I see," I said, "and I reckon you must be the champion here." This was a question I could answer for myself. Naturally, he was the champion, and this was why he had come to meet me and why he had entered the hut. It explained also the excitement of the kids back in the river bed, who knew there would be a wrestling match. "Well, Prince," I said, "I am almost willing to concede without a contest. After all, you have a tremendous build and, as you see, I am an older fellow." This however he disregarded, and he put his hand to the back of my neck and began to pull me to the ground. Surprised, but still respectful, I said, "Don't, Prince. Don't do that. I think I have the weight advantage of you." As a matter of fact, I didn't know how to take this. Romilayu was standing by but revealed no opinion in answer to the look I shot him. My white helmet, with passport, money, and papers taped into it, fell off and the long-unbarbered karakul hair sprang up at the back of my neck as Itelo tugged me down with him. All the while I was trying--trying, trying, to classify this event. This Itelo was terribly strong, and he got astride me, in his roomy white pants and the short middy, and worked me down on the floor of the hut. But I kept my arms rigid as if they were tied to the sides and let him push and pull me at will. Now I lay on my belly, face in the dust and my legs dragging on the ground. "Come, come," he kept saying, "you mus' fight me, sir." "Prince," I said, "with respect, I am fighting." You couldn't blame him for not believing me, and he climbed over me in the long-hung white pants with his huge legs and bare feet of the same light color as his hands, and dropping onto his side he worked a leg under me as a fulcrum and caught me around the throat. Breathing very hard and saying (closer to my face than I liked), "Fight. Fight, you Henderson. What is the mattah?" "Your Highness," I said, "I am a kind of commando. I was in the War, and they had a terrific program at Camp Blanding. They taught us to kill, not just wrestle. Consequently, I don't know how to wrestle. But in man-to-man combat I am pretty ugly to tangle with. I know all kinds of stuff, like how to rip open a person's cheek by hooking a finger in his mouth, and how to snap bones and gouge the eyes. Naturally I don't care for that kind of conflict. It so happens I am trying to stay off violence. Why, the last time I just raised my voice it had very bad consequences. You understand," I panted, as the dust had worked up into my nose, "they taught us all this dangerous know-how and I tell you I shrink from it. So let's not fight. We're too high," I said, "on the scale of civilization--we should be giving all our energy to the question of the frogs instead." As he still continued to pull me by the throat with his arm, I indicated that I wanted to say something really serious. And I told him, "Your Highness, I am really kind of on a quest." He released me. I think I was not so impulsive or lively--responsive, you see--as he would have liked. I could read all this in his expression as I cleaned the dust from my face with a piece of indigo cloth belonging to the lady of the house. I had pulled it from the rafter. As far as he was concerned, we were now acquainted. Having seen something of the world, at least from Malindi in Africa all the way up into Asia Minor, he must have known what sad sacks were, and as of this moment, to judge by his looks, I belonged in that category. Of course it was true I had been very downcast, what with the voice that said _I__ _want__ and all the rest of it. I had come to look upon the phenomena of life as so many medicines which would either cure my condition or aggravate it. But the condition! Oh, my condition! First and last that condition! It made me go around with my hand on my breast like the