The Monkey and the Tiger by Gulik Robert van

Author:Gulik, Robert van [Gulik, Robert van]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Police Procedural
ISBN: 9780226849010
Google: HQAhlhUxRP8C
Amazon: 0684167360
Publisher: Scribners
Published: 1965-03-15T05:00:00+00:00

JUDGE DEE CAUGHT THE SPEAR ON HIS SWORD

‘One more rat in the trap!’

He grinned, then disappeared into the thick foliage.

The judge sheathed his sword. Driving on his horse, he reflected that he must pull himself together. An insolent highwayman ought not to be sufficient cause for losing his temper. The impact of the tragedy at Pei-chow had affected him deeply, so deeply that he wondered forlornly whether he would ever succeed in regaining his inward peace.

He met no one while ascending the last ridge, and when he had arrived on the top he caught again the full blast of the north wind. Penetrating his thick fur coat, it chilled him to the bone. He quickly rode down to the bank and halted his horse in front of the vast expanse of the swollen river. Its churning waves beat against the rocky shore farther to the west. The opposite bank was shrouded in a low-hanging mist. There was no sign of a ferry, and of the quay only two broken pillars were left. White foam spurted up against them. The waves rushed on from east to west with a low rumbling sound, carrying along heavy logs and clusters of green shrubs.

With a frown the judge surveyed the desolate scene, dismal and grey in the gathering dusk. The only habitation in sight was a large old country house, standing all by itself on a low hill a mile or so to the west. It was surrounded by a high wall; on the east corner stood a watchtower. The whiffs of smoke rising up from the roof of the main building were carried away swiftly by the strong wind.

Stifling a sigh the judge guided his horse to the winding road that led up to the hill. He had come to a dead end. It couldn’t be helped, he and his retinue would have to break their journey here, pending the repair of the ferry.

The ground surrounding the country house was covered by tall grass and large boulders. There were no trees, but the mountain slope behind it was thickly wooded. Some people were moving about there, in front of what seemed to be the mouth of a large cave. Three horsemen came from among the trees and rode down the mountain slope.

When the judge was about half-way to the house, his eye fell on a high stake driven into the ground by the roadside. A bulky object hung from its top. Bending over in the saddle, he saw that it was the severed head of a man. The long hair fluttered across the distorted face. A pair of cut-off hands was nailed to the stake, directly below the head. Shaking his head perplexedly, the judge pressed his horse on.

As he arrived in front of the high gatehouse with its solid, iron-bound double door, it struck him that the place looked . like a small fort rather than a country house. The high crenelated walls sloping down to a broad base seemed unusually heavy, and there was not a single window in sight.

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