Сердце тьмы
Chapter 1
Oncewhenvarioustropicaldiseaseshadlaidlowalmostevery‘agent’inthestation,hewasheardtosay,‘Menwhocomeouthereshouldhavenoentrails.’Hesealedtheutterancewiththatsmileofhis,asthoughithadbeenadooropeningintoadarknesshehadinhiskeeping.Youfanciedyouhadseenthings—butthesealwason.Whenannoyedatmeal-timesbytheconstantquarrelsofthewhitemenaboutprecedence,heorderedanimmenseroundtabletobemade,forwhichaspecialhousehadtobebuilt.Thiswasthestation’smess-room.Wherehesatwasthefirstplace—therestwerenowhere.Onefeltthistobehisunalterableconviction.Hewasneithercivilnoruncivil.Hewasquiet.Heallowedhis‘boy’—anoverfedyoungnegrofromthecoast—totreatthewhitemen,underhisveryeyes,withprovokinginsolence.
"Hebegantospeakassoonashesawme.Ihadbeenverylongontheroad.Hecouldnotwait.Hadtostartwithoutme.Theup-riverstationshadtoberelieved.Therehadbeensomanydelaysalreadythathedidnotknowwhowasdeadandwhowasalive,andhowtheygoton—andsoon,andsoon.Hepaidnoattentiontomyexplanations,and,playingwithastickofsealing-wax,repeatedseveraltimesthatthesituationwas‘verygrave,verygrave.’Therewererumoursthataveryimportantstationwasinjeopardy,anditschief,Mr.Kurtz,wasill.Hopeditwasnottrue.Mr.Kurtzwas...Ifeltwearyandirritable.HangKurtz,Ithought.IinterruptedhimbysayingIhadheardofMr.Kurtzonthecoast.
