The Complete Short Stories: Volume 1

by J. G. Ballard

  As I approached, the child climbed from the rickshaw and stood passively beside it. I could see now that, far from being a spectator, her grandfather had been seriously wounded in the battle. A large piece of shrapnel had driven through the side of the rickshaw into his hip.

  In Chinese I said to him, 'I'm making my way to the Soochow road. If you wish, you and your granddaughter are welcome to ride with my companions.'

  He made no reply, but I knew from his eyes that despite his injuries he had immediately recognized me, and understood that I was the harbinger of all that lay before him. For the first time I realized why I had seen so few Chinese during the past days. They had not gone away for ever, but were waiting for my return. I alone could repopulate their land.

  Together the child and I walked down to the concrete ramp of the naval air base. In the deep water below the wharf lay the drowned forms of hundreds of cars rounded up from the allied nationals in Shanghai and dumped here by the Japanese. They rested on the river bed twenty feet below the surface, the elements of a past world that would never be able to reconstitute itself now that I and my companions, this child and her grandfather had taken possession of the land.

  Two days later we at last reached the approaches to my parents' camp. During our journey the child sat beside me in the cabin of the truck, while her grandfather rode comfortably with my companions. Although she complained of hunger to begin with, I patiently taught her that food was no longer necessary to us. Fortunately I was able to distract her by pointing out the different marks of American aircraft that crossed the sky.

  After we reached the Soochow road the landscape was to change. Close to the Yangtse we had entered an area of old battlegrounds. On all sides the Chinese had emerged from their hiding places and were waiting for my arrival. They lay in the fields around their houses, legs stirring in the water that seeped across the paddy-fields. They watched from the embankments of the tank-ditches, from their burial mounds and from the doors of their ruined houses.

  Beside me the child slept fitfully on the seat. Free of any fear of embarrassing her, I stopped the truck and took off my ragged clothes, leaving only a crude bandage on my arm that covered a small wound.

  Naked, I knelt in front of the vehicle, raising my arms to my congregation in the fields around me, like a king assuming his crown at his coronation. Although still a virgin, I exposed my loins to the Chinese watching me as they lay quietly in the fields. With those loins I would seed the dead.

  Every fifty yards, as I approached the distant water-tower of my parents' camp, I stopped the truck and knelt naked in front of its boiling radiator. There was no sign of movement from the camp compound, and I was sure now what I would find there.

  The child lay motionlessly in my arms. As I knelt with her in the centre of the road, wondering if it were time for her to join my companions, I noticed that her lips still moved. Without thinking, giving way to what then seemed a meaningless impulse, I tore a small shred of flesh from the wound on my arm and pressed it between her lips.

  Feeding her in this way, I walked with her towards the camp a few hundred yards away. The child stirred in my arms. Looking down I saw that her eyes had partly opened. Although unable to see me, she seemed aware of the movement of my stride.

  From the gates of the camp, on the roofs of the dormitory blocks, on the causeways of the paddy-fields beyond the wire, people were moving. Their figures were coming towards me, advancing waist-deep through the stunted sugarcane. Astonished, I pressed the child to my chest, aware of her mouthing my flesh. Standing naked a hundred yards from the truck, I counted a dozen, a score, then fifty of the internees, some with children behind them.

  At last, through this child and my body, the dead were coming to life, rising from their fields and doorways and coming to greet me. I saw my mother and father at the gates of the camp, and knew that I had given my death to them and so brought them into this world. Unharmed they had passed into the commonwealth of the living, and of the other living beyond the dead.

  I knew now that the war was over.

  1977

  The Index

  Editor's note. From abundant internal evidence it seems clear that the text printed below is the index to the unpublished and perhaps suppressed autobiography of a man who may well have been one of the most remarkable figures of the 20th century. Yet of his existence nothing is publicly known, although his life and work appear to have exerted a profound influence on the events of the past fifty years. Physician and philosopher, man of action and patron of the arts, sometime claimant to the English throne and founder of a new religion, Henry Rhodes Hamilton was evidently the intimate of the greatest men and women of our age.

  After World War II he founded a new movement of spiritual regeneration, but private scandal and public concern at his growing megalomania, culminating in his proclamation of himself as a new divinity, seem to have led to his downfall. Incarcerated within an unspecified government institution, he presumably spent his last years writing his autobiography, of which this index is the only surviving fragment.

  A substantial mystery still remains. Is it conceivable that all traces of his activities could be erased from our records of the period? Is the suppressed autobiography itself a disguised roman a clef, in which the fictional hero exposes the secret identities of his historical contemporaries? And what is the true role of the indexer himself, clearly a close friend of the writer, who first suggested that he embark on his autobiography? This ambiguous and shadowy figure has taken the unusual step of indexing himself into his own index. Perhaps the entire compilation is nothing more than a figment of the over-wrought imagination of some deranged lexicographer.

  Alternatively, the index may be wholly genuine, and the only glimpse we have into a world hidden from us by a gigantic conspiracy, of which Henry Rhodes Hamilton is the greatest victim.

  A

  Acapulco, 143

  Acton, Harold, 142-7, 213

  Alcazar, Siege of, 221-5

  Alimony, HRH pays, 172, 247,

  367, 453

  Anaxagoras, 35, 67, 69-78, 481

  Apollinaire, 98

  Arden, Elizabeth, 189, 194, 376-84

  Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias, The (Stein), 112

  Avignon, birthplace of HRH, 9-13;

  childhood holidays, 27;

  research at Pasteur Institute of Ophthalmology, 101;

  attempts to restore anti-Papacy, 420-35

  B

  Bal Musette, Paris, 98

  Balliol College, Oxford, 69-75, 231

  Beach, Sylvia, 94-7

  Berenson, Bernard, conversations with HRH, 134;

  offer of adoption, 145;

  loan of DOrer etching, 146;

  law-suits against HRH, 173-85

  Bergman, Ingrid, 197, 234, 267

  Biarritz, 123

  Blixen, Karen von (Isak Dinesen), letters to HRH, declines marriage proposal, 197

  Bride campaign, 331;

  arrested with HRH by Miami police, 34'

  Frankfurt police, 359;

  divorces HRH, 371;

  wins Miss Alabama contest, 382;

  go-go dancer, 511;

  applies for writ of habeas corpus, 728

  Byron, Lord, 28, 76, 98, 543

  C

  Cambodia, HRH plans journey to, 188;

  crashes aircraft, 196;

  writes book about, 235;

  meetings with Malraux, 239;

  capture by insurgents, 253;

  escape, 261;

  writes second book about, 283

  Cap d'Antibes, 218

  Charing Cross Hospital Medical School, 78-93

  Charterhouse, HRH enters, 31;

  academic distinction, 38;

  sexual crisis, 43;

  school captain, 44

  Chiang Kai-shek, interviewed by HRH, 153;

  HRH and American arms embargo, 162;

  HRH pilots to Chungking, 176;

  implements land-reform proposals
by HRH, 178;

  employs HRH as intermediary with ChouEn-Lai, 192 Churchill, Winston, conversationswith HRH, 221;

  at Chequers with HRH, 235;

  spinal tap performed by HRH, 247;

  at Yalta with HRH, 298;

  'iron curtain' speech, Fulton, Missouri, suggested by HRH, 312;

  attacks HRH in Commons debate, 367

  Cocteau, Jean, 187

  Cunard, Nancy, 204

  D

  D-Day, HRH ashore on Juno Beach, 223;

  decorated, 242

  Dalai Lama, grants audience to HRH, 321;

  supports HRH's initiatives with Mao Tse-tung, 325;

  refuses to receive HRH, 381

  Darwin, Charles, influence on HRH, 103;

  repudiated by HRH, 478

  de Beauvoir, Simone, 176

  de Gaulle, Charles, conversations with HRH, 319-47, 356-79, 401

  Dealey Plaza (Dallas, Texas), rumoured presence of HRH, 435

  Dietrich, Marlene, 234, 371, 435

  E

  Ecclesiastes, Book of, 87

  Eckhart, Meister, 265

  Einstein, Albert, first Princeton visit by HRH, 203;

  joint signatory with HRH and R. Niebuhr of Roosevelt petition, 276;

  second and third Princeton visits, 284;

  death-bed confession to HRH, 292

  Eisenhower, Gen. Dwight D., 218, 227, 232

  Eliot, T. S., conversations with HRH, 209;

  suppresses dedication of Four Quartets to HRH, 213

  Ellis, Havelock, 342

  Everest, Mt., 521

  F

  Fairbanks, Douglas, 281

  Faulkner, William, 375

  Fermi, Enrico, reveals first controlled fission reaction to HRH, 299;

  terminal cancer diagnosed by HRH, 388;

  funeral eulogy read by HRH, 401

  Fleming, Sir Alexander, credits HRH, 211

  Ford, Henry, 198

  Fortune (magazine), 349

  Freud, Sigmund, receives HRH in London, 198;

  conducts analysis of HRH, 205;

  begins Civilization and its Discontents, 230;

  admits despair to HRH, 279

  G

  Gandhi, Mahatma, visited in prison by HRH, 251;

  discusses Bhagavadgita with HRH, 253;

  has dhoti washed by HRH, 254;

  denounces HRH, 256

  Garbo, Greta, 381

  George V, secret visits to Chatsworth, 3, 4-6;

  rumoured liaison with Mrs Alexander Hamilton, 7;

  suppresses court circular, 9;

  denies existence of collateral Battenburg line to Lloyd George, 45

  Goldwyn, Samuel, 397

  Grenadier Guards, 215-18

  Gstaad, 359

  H

  Hadrian IV, Pope, 28, 57, 84, 119, 345-76,411,598

  Hamilton, Alexander, British Consul, Marseilles, 1, 3, 7;

  interest in topiary, 2;

  unexpected marriage, 3;

  depression after birth of HRH, 6;

  surprise recall to London, 12;

  first nervous breakdown, 16;

  transfer to Tsingtao, 43

  Hamilton, Alice Rosalind (later Lady Underwood), private education, 2;

  natural gaiety, 3;

  first marriage annulled, 4;

  enters London society, 5;

  beats George V at billiards, 5, 7, 9, 23;

  second marriage to Alexander Hamilton, 3;

  dislike of Marseilles, 7;

  premature birth of HRH, 8;

  divorce, 47;

  third marriage to Sir Richard Underwood, 48

  Hamilton, Henry Rhodes, accident-proneness, 118;

  age, sensitiveness about, 476;

  belief in telepathy, 399;

  childhood memories, 501;

  common man, identification with, 211;

  courage, moral, 308,

  physical, 201;

  generosity, 99;

  Goethe, alleged resemblance to, 322;

  hobbies, dislike of, 87;

  illnesses, concussion, 196;

  hypertension, 346;

  prostate inflammation, 522;

  venereal disease, 77;

  integrity, 89;

  languages, mastery of, 176;

  Orient, love of, 188;

  patriotism, renunciation of, 276;

  public speaking, aptitude for, 345;

  self-analysis, 234-67;

  underdog, compassion for, 176;

  willpower, 87

  Hamilton, Indira, meets HRH in Calcutta, 239;

  translates at Gandhi interviews, 253;

  imprisoned with HRH by British, 276;

  marries HRH, 287;

  on abortive Everest expedition, 299;

  divorces HRH, 301

  Hamilton, Marcelline (formerly Marcelline Renault), abandons industrialist husband, 177;

  accompanies HRH to Ankor, 189;

  marries HRH, 191;

  amuses Ho Chi-minh, 195;

  divorces HRH, 201

  Hamilton, Ursula (later Mrs Mickey Rooney), 302-7,

  divorces HRH, 308

  Hamilton, Zelda, rescued from orphanage by HRH, 325;

  visit to Cape Kennedy with HRH, 327;

  declines astronaut training, 328;

  leads International Virgin HRH designs tomb, 478

  Harriman, Avereil, 432

  Harry's Bar, Venice, 256

  Hayworth, Rita, 311

  Hemingway, Ernest, first African safari with HRH, 234;

  at Battle of the Ebro with HRH, 244;

  introduces HRH to James Joyce .256;

  portrays HRH in The Old Man and the Sea, 453

  Hiroshima, HRH observes atomic cloud, 258

  Hitler, Adolf, invites HRH to Berchtesgaden, 166;

  divulges Russia invasion plans, 172;

  impresses HRH, 179;

  disappoint HRH, 181

  Hydrogen Bomb, HRH calls for world moratorium on manufacture, 388

  I

  Impostors, HRH troubled by, 157, 198, 345, 439

  Inchon, Korea, HRH observes landings with Gen. MacArthur, 348

  Interlaken, Bruno Walter lends vill to HRH, 401

  International Congress of Psychoanalysis, HRH stages anti psychiatry demonstration, 357

  Ives, Burl, 328

  J

  Jesus Christ, HRH compared to by Mairaux, 476

  Jerusalem, HRH establishes collegium of Perfect Light Movement, 453;

  attempted intercession by HRH in Arab-Israeli war, 444;

  by International Red Cross, 477;

  denounced by World Council of Churches, 499;

  criminal prosecution of, 544;

  disbandment, 566;

  reconstituted, 588;

  designated a religion by HRH, 604;

  first crusade against Rome, 618;

  infiltrated by CIA, 622

  Jodrell Bank Radio-telescope, 501

  Joyce, James, 256

  Juan Les Pins, 347

  Jupiter, planet, HRH suggests existence of extra-terrestrial observers, 331;

  urges re-direction of space programme to, 342

  K

  Kennedy, Cape, HRH leads Perfect Light Movement demonstration, 411

  Kennedy, John F., President, declines to receive HRH, 420;

  ignores danger warnings, 425;

  mourned by HRH, 444

  Kierkegaard, Soren, 231

  Koran, 118

  L

  Lancaster, Mrs Burt, 411

  Lawrence, T. E., HRH compared to by Koestler, 334

  Levi-Strauss, C., 422

  Life (magazine), 199, 243, 331, 357, 432

  Limited Editions Club, 345

  Louis XIV, 501

  M

  Malraux, André, 239, 345, 399, 476

  Mann Act, HRH charged under, 345

  McCall's (magazine) 201, 234, 329, 333

  Menninger Clinic, HRH confined, 477;

  receives treatment, 479-85;


  discharged, 491; re-admitted, 495

  Menuhin, Yehudi, lends Palm Springs villa to HRH, 503

  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, offer to HRH, 511

  Miranda, Carmen, 377

  N

  Nato, 331, 356, 571 Nice, 45

  Niebuhr, R., conversations with HRH, 270-5;

  admiration for HRH, 276;

  lends villa to HRH, 288;

  expresses reservations about HRH, 291

  Nietzsche, 99

  Nobel Prize, HRH nominated for, 220, 267, 342, 375, 459, 611

  O

  Oberammergau, 117

  Oedipus Complex, 42-9, 87, 451

  Old Bailey, first trial of HRH, 531;

  prosecution case, 533-7;

  hung jury, 541;

  second trial, 555;

  surprise intervention of Attorney-General, 561;

  acquittal of HRH, 564

  Oswald, Lee Harvey, befriended by HRH, 350;

  inspired by HRH, 354;

  discusses failure of the Presidency with HRH, 357-61;

  invites HRH to Dallas, 372

  Oxford Book of Religious Verse, 98, 116

  P

  Pasternak, Boris, conversations with HRH, 341-4

  Paul VI, Pope, praises Perfect Light Movement, 462;

  receives HRH, 464;

  attacked by HRH, 471;

  deplores messianic pretensions of HRH, 487;

  criticises Avignon counter-papacy established by HRH, 498;

  excommunicates HRH, 533

  Perfect Light Movement, conceived by HRH, 398;

  launched, 401;

  charitable activities praised by Nehru, Lyndon B. Johnson, Pierre Trudeau, 423;

  medical mission to Biafra, 456;

  criticised Wight, Isle of, incarceration of HRH, 712-69

  Pill, the, denounced by HRH, 611