The Butterfly and the lepers －蝶々とハンセン病患者－

I wrote last week that I like butterflies.  I also mentioned that my favourite book was “Papillon,” by Henri Charriere.  You may know the story from a film version, featuring Steve McQueen.  But the book is 100 times better.  It is the true story of a French man who was convicted of murder.  In those days, France had a small colony in South America and the prisoner, nicknamed Papillon (“Butterfly”) is sent to a prison colony in Guiana in South America.

In this short extract, he has just escaped from prison for the first time, along with two others.  But his boat is not strong enough to travel far, so he needs to find another one.  He travels to an isolated colony of lepers to try to buy a new boat.  He hopes that they will not kill him, turn him in to the police, or pass their disease onto him.

Extract:

The boat approached the island sideways.  I tried to turn it around, but couldn’t.  And with the current pushing us, we went sideways into the vegetation that hung down into the water.

For all my frantic back-paddling, we struck with such force that, had we landed against rock instead of leaves and branches, we would surely have broken apart and lost everything.

Maturette jumped into the water, pulled the boat into a thicket and tied her up.  We shared a cup of rum and I climbed the bank alone, leaving my two friends alone in the boat.

I walked, compass in hand, cutting back the brush and attaching strips of flour sacking to branches along the way.  I saw a faint light ahead.  Suddenly I heard voices and made out three straw huts.

I moved forward and, since I didn’t know how I should present myself, I decided to let them discover me.  I lit a cigarette.  As the light flared, a small dog came barking towards me and nipped at my legs.  “Just so long as he isn’t a leper,” I thought.  Then, “Idiot!  Dogs don’t get leprosy.”

“Who’s there?  Who is it?  Is that you, Marcelle?”

“It’s an escaped prisoner.”

“What are you doing here?  You want to rob us?  You think we’re too well off?”

“No.  I need help.”

“For free, or for pay?”

“Oh, shut up, Laschuette.”  Four shadows emerged from the hut.  “Approach gently, friend.  I bet you’re the man with the gun.  If you’ve got it with you, put it on the ground.  You have nothing to fear from us.”

“Yes, that’s me.  But I don’t have the gun now.”  I inched forward.  I was close now, but it was dark and I couldn’t make out their features.  Stupidly, I put out my hand.  No one took it.  I understood, too late, that such a gesture was not made here.  They didn’t want to contaminate me.

*

Keep flying, beautiful butterfly.

Vocabulary:

to be convicted – to be found guilty of a crime

a colony – an area under the control of another country, which sends its own people to live there

a leper – someone suffering from leprosy, a contagious disease which can cause severe skin decay

a thicket – a dense group of bushes or trees

a bank – of a river, lake, or body of water – the edge of land facing the water

to make something out – to be able to see something enough to see what it is

to flare – of a light, to become bright for an instant

to nip (at something) – to slightly bite

to rob someone – to steal or forcibly take someone’s money or property

to contaminate someone – to pass a contagious illness onto someone