Page 58 - The Tigris Expedition

In the Garden of Eden
beer bottle, showing that others had ploughed up the whole area
before and filled in irregularities to level the ground for the building
of the rcsthouse. , . , , ,
The digging was resumed, but on the third day, just as we began
to sec a satisfactory result, a committee of solemn gentlemen in
European dress came and to my surprise began to measure our
trench. Soon afterwards one of the workmen spoke in Arabic to
Kais, my young interpreter, who sat with me in the pleasant shade
of a date palm, wondering what was going on.
They say we should dig two metres closer to the road,’ said Kais,
translating the message.
‘No,’ I protested. ‘We should keep as close as we can to the river.’
The workman left and the digging was resumed, but soon he was
with us again. ‘They say our marks are not in line with the
resthouse!’
‘Nonsense,’ I explained. ‘They don’t have to be. You are digging
just right.’
The workman left again, but as I saw gesticulations around the
trench I went over to calm everybody down and clear up the
obvious misunderstanding. A little friendly man with a prominent
nose, who knew English well, introduced himself and his compan­
ions and with both hands he showed me in a very friendly way
where he wanted the trench to go.
‘It makes little difference,’ I admitted, ‘but the closer to the banks
the easier will be the launching.’
‘Launching?’ he said, and he looked at me as if I had escaped from
an asylum.
‘Of course,’ I laughed. ‘You don’t expect me to leave the ship
ashore?’
Ship?’ Now he really showed big eyes and an open mouth. ‘This
isn’t going to be a ship!’
It was my turn to suspect that the little man in front of me had
crawled through the fence of some institution. ‘Call it a haystack if
you wish, but to me it will be a ship,’ I said.
The little man stepped back and looked at me with profound
suspicion: ‘You make fun of me. Sorry, sir, but I have my orders
from the Ministry of Information!’
That is the Ministry that granted me the right to build here,’ I
answered, and began to suspect some real confusion. The little man
now looked really unhappy: ‘Sir, please, I have the masons and the
carpenters all ready to start tomorrow, we shall add twenty-five
bedrooms to the resthouse just here.’

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