Richard Adams - Maia

"The altar was just a big, solid table, really, and Baltis was crouchin' under it, with the thick cloth hangin' right down to the floor all round him, when he heard the three of them come up and stop right beside him-Just the cloth between them, not three feet apart.

" 'Do you think you can do it, dear, without takin' the cloth off?" asks one of the old dears: and Lespa says, 'Oh, yes, saiyett, I'm sure I can do that-just stitch up the fringe and mend those few rents, is it? I've got some matchin' thread here. I doan' think it'll show at all.'

"So after a bit more talk the two old things went back to their decoratin' at the other end of the temple, leavin' Lespa to get down to work.

"Lespa went down on one knee, put on her thimble and picked up the hem of the altar cloth in her left hand to get a closer look at it. She'd just put it down again and was holdin' her needle up to the light, when she felt somethin' ticklin' her foot, looked down and saw it was a yellow bloom of cassia. She thought it must have fallen off the altar, so she picked it up and put it to one side. She'd just threaded the needle when she felt the ticklin'

again, and she looked down and there was another bloom on her foot; and this time she saw the hand that had put it there, and she recognized it by a scar on one of the fingers. She peeped under the altar cloth and there was Baltis, smilin', with his finger on his lips. The next moment he'd drawn her in under the cloth and was kissin' her so hard that she couldn' draw breath to utter a word.

"He was still kissin' her when one of the old women called out from the other end of the temple, 'Why, wherever have you got to, Lespa dear? Are you all right?'

"Baltis let her go then, and she put out her head and said, 'Oh, fine, saiyett, thank you! I was just havin' a look from inside, to see if the light would show any little holes I hadn't noticed. I'm just goin' to make a start now.'

"And then she tried to come out, but she couldn', or not altogether, because Baltis had his hands round her two ankles.

" 'Let me go! Baltis, sweetheart, let me go!' she whispered: and then she suddenly realized that she didn' want him to let her go. She was sick of always being made to send Baltis away, and of havin' him sent away just when she wanted to keep him with her; and now here he was, cracklin' like a summer fire in the gorse. Besides, pretty Lespa had a great sense of mischief even then-though as you know she's got an even bigger one now-and the situation amused her.

" 'I think the best way I can tackle this will be to get right down to it and make myself comfortable, saiyett, if that'll be all right,' she called. 'The cloth's rather too heavy to hold up for long, you see.' And the old girl called back, 'Yes, of course, dear, just do it in any comfortable position that suits you.' "

"Oo hoo! Oo hoo! I know what's coming!" bubbled Chia.

"Well, don't tell us, will you?" said Maia. "We simply can't imagine! Go on, Occula: never mind her."

"So then pretty Lespa rolls up her cloak and puts it behind her head, lies down with her head and shoulders just clear of the altar cloth and begins stitchin' the fringe back on the hem. But soon it was as much as she could do to stop herself cryin' out from-well, I suppose from- er-agitation: or it might be, disturbance. And perhaps she might have stood up and put an end to it, only that was no longer possible, you see, because by now the ladies

had worked their way rather further up the temple towards her; and under the altar cloth she was all disarranged-to say the least-and they'd have seen. Besides, she was very much in two minds, for that's fishin' country, is Suba, and Baltis had been ticklin' trout almost since he could walk. It's no good startlin' them, you know. They've got to be sort of hypnotized, so that they enjoy it.

"And then, all in a moment, she went 'Ah!' so loud that the two old ladies fairly jumped.

" 'Why, Whatever's the matter, dear?' called one of them. 'Have you hurt yourself?'

" 'Oh, no, no, saiyett-thank you!' answered Lespa, as well as she could for the delicious agony. 'I-er-I just caught my finger with the needle, that's all."

" 'Oh, poor thing! I'm so sorry!" said the old lady. "It gives you such a shock, doesn't it? to get a sudden prick like that: but it woan' go on hurtin' very long, you know. Is it bleedin'?'

" 'Well, no, only just a little, saiyett,' gasped Lespa. "It feels better already, thank you.' "

At this point the story-teller was obliged to pause, sitting unsmiling in the midst of her convulsed audience.

"Same old tripe, banzi," muttered the black girl under her breath to the hysterical Maia. "You'd really wonder, wouldn' you, sometimes? Do you want me to go on?" she enquired of the others in freezing tones.

"Yes! Yes!"

"Just as well I'm not down in the market, isn't it?" said Occula. "Then it'd be half-melds in the cup all round. You're gettin' this for free-same as Baltis did. All right, shut up then and I'll go on.

"And now, indeed, sweet Lespa could scarcely tell whether she was stitchin' for the god or the god was stitchin' her, for such exquisitely fine stitchin' was altogether outside her experience and quite carried her away. And indeed, we must believe that the god had lent Baltis some of his miraculous powers, for you'll agree that a young man that could eat strawberries and angle in a pool at once and the same time, and never make a sound either, must have had somethin' god-like in him. At all events, Lespa felt that she had something god-like in her, and more than she could well endure for pleasure, and she clasped the hem of the altar cloth close before her face and drew the thread back and forth, back and forth, all ways at once

and any way but the right one, and fairly bit her lip over the delicate task she'd undertaken.

"And then, suddenly, she cried aloud in all earnest, writhin' and moanin' where she lay under the altar, for she no longer knew where she was or what she was doin'.

"Now it so happened that at this moment the two good old souls were busy fastenin' some long strands of green ivy to hang right across the temple aisle from one column to another. One of them was up a ladder tyin' the ivy-trail as high as she could, while the other was steadyin' the foot of the ladder and makin' useless suggestions. And suddenly, in the middle of their labors, they heard Lespa cry out, and turned round to see her writhin' like a snake under a farmer's hoe.

" 'Oh, good gracious! Oh, dear Shakkarn!' they shrieked. 'Oh, the poor girl's been taken with a fit! What shall we do?'

" 'Help me down, dear, quick!' cried the one up the ladder. 'Doan' stop holdin' it till I'm down or it'll slip! I'll be as quick as I can, but I daren' risk a fall!'

"But Lespa's thrashin' and crowin' had thrown them into such a state that in fact it was a good half-minute before they'd got themselves into marchin' order and come up to the altar, where she was still lyin' on the floor. And by this time she was feelin' a little calmer, and so contented with herself and the world that she felt equal to anythin'.

" 'What is it, dear?' asked the first old lady. 'Have you been taken ill? Where do you feel the pain?'

" 'I'm so sorry, saiyett,' gasped Lespa, hurriedly pulling the altar-cloth together round her shoulders. 'It's the cramp! I've been taken with the cramp!'

" 'Oh, you poor thing! Give me your hands, dear, and I'll pull you up.'

"But they couldn' pull her up, and this was hardly sur-prisin', for Baltis was holdin' on to her legs and tryin' to put her clothes straight at the same time.

" 'I'll run and get the smith, or else that nice young Baltis who works for him,' said the second old girl. 'You stay here with her, dear, and I'll be back directly.' And off she ran.

"When she'd gone, Lespa said to the other one, 'Dear saiyett, would you be so very kind as to bring me a drink of water? I'm sure that would make me feel much better.'