During the first few weeks of my tour in Mecco--Tour No. 4--Conductor
Prigge kept my nose well to the grindstone. At times he made me feel
like a small schoolboy, at times like a prisoner in charge of a warder.
It would be tedious to detail all the incidents of my daily rounds, or
to describe everything in the exact order in which it was presented to
my view. So I propose to set down, as they remain in my mind, the most
interesting or remarkable features of this truly remarkable city. One
circumstance, however, annoys and almost distresses me. I cannot get
into contact with any individual living people. I see everything as a
spectacle from the outside.
As I go about, the impression of orderliness, cleanliness, and even
magnificence of a kind, is such as I have seldom felt in any part of
the world. At times the whole city gives one the same sort of feeling
that one experiences in going through a gigantic hospital, where
everything is spotless and nothing is out of its place. I am even
getting used to the coloured uniforms of the seven classes. In the
central parts of the city green and yellow predominate; for the number
of people belonging to the official class is enormous. Even apart from
their actual number they are the most conspicuous, because the lower
classes are at work in their factories and business houses, and are
consequently seldom seen except when returning home in the evening.
Occasionally I notice a few white uniforms (of the very select First
Class) and occasionally, too, a crowd of officers in their brilliant
scarlet uniforms. At the other end of the scale, the most common colour
visible is the grey, worn by the numerous servants in the well-to-do
quarters. The few servants who wear chocolate are mostly the lackeys of
the very rich, and the upper servants in the large hotels.
On the day after Dr. Proser-Toady's lecture, Conductor Prigge was more
than usually "pedagogic." I wanted to look about the streets and ask
questions about many things that occurred to me at the moment, but
he insisted upon pouring out detailed information about the drainage
system, the postal areas, the parcels' delivery areas, the telephone
system, the market system, and so forth. What did interest me, however,
was the organisation known as the Time Department, of which I had
already seen something at Bridgetown.
There is, as I have said, an enormous number of public buildings in
Mecco, but nobody can miss the gigantic office of the Time Department.
It towers up, about seven stories high, over the surrounding
buildings, and above it rises a great clock that can be seen for
miles. In this central department alone, ten thousand people are
employed--that is, of course, in addition to all those employed in the
local offices of the Time Department in various parts of the country.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account