Shikasta

Well, I at least find myself reflecting on this point. A geographical area keeps a certain flavour, which manifests in all its happenings, its events, its history. I cite for instance the lamented Soviet Union, or Russia, where events occur and continue to repeat themselves, over and over, regardless of whether that vast land is called Russia or the Soviet Union, or its dominant ways of thought are this or that or the other. And of course there are other examples we may easily think of.

I sometimes wonder if this thought may not be usefully taught to children at the start of their "geography lessons." Or would one call it history? If I seem to ramble, put it down to the long night of anxious wakefulness. The" dawn is here and I shall not rest yet, for I wish to finish this long letter to you; the courier will leave this evening.

I return to the amphitheatre: Africa was the agenda for several days.

Meanwhile, in the camp itself, it is clear that the organisation was suffering.

Everyone was really hungry, lacking sleep, hot, dusty. By now nearly all of them flocked to the coast for the midday hours, and of course this made them even more tired.

There was by now a feeling of urgency. With the full moon blazing down, so that the thousands on the tiers were fully visible to each other, and the torches almost u

I interpose at this point that those so recent enemies the Arabs and Jews were inseparable, and took every opportunity of reminding us of their common origin, their similar religions, the compatibility of their cultures, and - so they intend - their common and harmonious future.

The "Trial" then dealt with: the white man in Australia, the white man in New Zealand, the white man in Canada, the white man in the Antarctic.

You will note that I have scarcely mentioned the Russians. One reason is that there were no Russian delegates, though there were from the Russian colonies Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Roumania, Cuba, Afghanistan, parts of the Middle East.

By then, delegates were following each other every ten minutes, and they were in lines stretching up the aisles and waiting to recite, or to shout, their indictments, and to return to their places.

We have now reached halfway through the "Trial" - the fifteenth day. Rereading the agents' reports, what is striking is the note of frustration - a

I again have to ask, What was it that all these young people were expecting and that they were not given? For on the face of it, they were getting exactly what they had come for.

I quote Tsi Kwang: "There is an incorrect spirit. The cadres are not overcoming the difficulties of the situation. There is vacillation and also many mistakes. There is an insufficient readiness to boldly grasp the bourgeois distortions that ca

All our agents, during those days, turned in similar reports.

The egregious Benjamin Sherban: "The centre ca

It is clear that the delegates were at breaking point and it was only because of the flexibility and tolerance of the organisers that the "Trial" could continue at all. For one thing, alcohol was now entering the camp and affecting discipline. For another, sex, previously discreet and within the limits of good sense, was now blatant, not only between delegates, but between them and the locals.

The prevailing mood was one of restlessness, dissatisfaction, a continual movement around the camp, from tent to improvised shelter to mess tents, where debates and "seminars" seemed continuously in progress, and from the camp to the shores - and by now some donkeys had been pressed into service, and derelict army trucks had been located and put into use (petrol being commandeered of course) and parties of delegates moved up and down the coasts entering towns and villages to try and organise food, and individuals wandered about as well, for as usual on these highly pressured occasions, there are always those who seem to spin off, as if from a centrifuge. These broke down, or threatened to, wept, complained of being underrated, discussed the possibilities of suicide, and fell hopelessly in love with delegates whom they certainly will never see again.

All this did not mean the sessions were not fully attended. The amphitheatre was crammed, attentive, centred on the events in the arena, from four until eight, and from five until midnight. But now they were less silent, intervened often in the "indictments," adding comments and facts and figures. There was total participation between audience and - I was going to say - actors.

There seemed no reason why the supply of witnesses should ever end, but already it was being asked when the old white, who was sitting there hour after hour, day after day, silent, on his chair, was "going to defend himself." But meanwhile, of course, he had been continuously in conversation with everyone interested - and this by now was everyone - whether hostile or not, during the hours of leisure, if that is a word that may be used for such a frenzy of restlessness. In short, he was not being thought of as enemy, and the epithets (correctly of course) used of him by our informants seemed to me to lack the fervour they had had at the begi

It was being openly said that the "Trial" could not run its course of a full month, for conditions were becoming impossible.

It was at this point that something new happened. Aircraft appeared, evidently keeping watch. The first was on the night of the full moon: a helicopter hovered over the amphitheatre for some minutes, and proceedings had to be stopped until it decided to go. This attentive, unmarked machine made its effect: our agents report fury, exasperation, a pent-up rage - if the machine had been within reach it would not have survived. There were "jokes" about surveillance from the Russians. Also by us. (I report, merely, without comment.) On the next night, a different craft appeared, also unmarked, and remained over the amphitheatre until its point had been made. Again the reaction was fury. An almost hysterical rage. Do you think it is possible that in some quarters it is not appreciated what horror and loathing are felt by many for the products of our human ingenuity and technological progress? Various and different craft kept appearing in the skies at all hours of the day and night from then on, some very low, some so high as to be almost invisible, most unknown to the - very expert - youngsters watching them. "Jokes" were made about spacemen, flying saucers, international police forces, flying squads of vigilantes, guided spy satellites.

And the imminent war became suddenly the chief topic. If this was what the surveillant craft wished to achieve, they succeeded.