Footsteps

  “Of course, Meneer,” and I fully understood that he was giving me quite a serious warning.

  “It’s important to know the limits. Simple people can become incurable drunkards just as a result of not knowing how far they should go. And tell me, Meneer, where did you get to know the Princess?”

  And I told him how one day she had visited the office to ask for help. And as time went on I began to realize that I was being interrogated.

  “Oh, I see,” he said. “And, tell me, what do you think of her? I mean as a bachelor. Attractive?”

  “The Princess is indeed attractive.”

  “And so what about if you were to marry her? Perhaps that is a possibility?”

  So now I could believe more firmly that Governor-General Rosenboom had done the same thing to the girl from Jepara. And now van Heutsz wanted to prevent any trouble coming from the Princess by getting her onto the bridal bed.

  “Why don’t you say something? She is well educated and would be a good partner for you during your life. People say that you seek a well-educated wife.”

  “Your question has startled me, Meneer, coming out of the blue like that. And in any case, that sort of thing must be decided by both parties, and not by me alone.”

  “So you agree, yes?”

  “I have not really thought about it or given the matter any consideration.”

  “Of course, of course. But you have, thought about this, haven’t you? If that hadn’t been the case, you would never have brought this matter to me. Even one of my residents, no matter how moved he was by her family’s plight, would never dare raise this matter with me.”

  I could see Mr. Henricus and the adjutant in the distance. They were headed this way.

  “You didn’t come here simply out of the desire to help her, did you? You have other intentions, yes?”

  “Even if that were so, I would not need an order from the governor-general.”

  He laughed happily and stood up to greet Mr. Henricus and the adjutant. They moved back and began to whisper between themselves. Then Governor-General van Heutsz turned to me: “Excuse me a minute,” and he continued his conversation with Henricus without my being able to catch one word of what they were saying.

  It wasn’t three minutes before they had finished. Henricus bowed respectfully to van Heutsz, nodded to me, and left again.

  Van Heutsz sat down opposite me again. “Nah, what did I say?” he said suddenly, smiling all the time. “You do already have ties with her family.”

  It sounded like an irrefutable accusation he was making.

  “I have no ties with them,” I countered.

  “How can that be! If that’s the case, then why are the Princess and the Raja awaiting you back at your house?”

  “Waiting for me at home?” I asked, amazed.

  “Would you like to wager that they are not there?” he asked, challenging me.

  “Yes, I’ll wager you!” I cried, becoming more amazed with every minute.

  “What for? I’ll tell you now. The Raja and the Princess are waiting for you at home. They are no doubt waiting to hear what my answer is. Yes? Ah, my friend, neither the father nor daughter will return to their homeland while I am governor-general. My replacement will surely make the same decision. Go home now. Don’t let them wait any longer. And I suggest to you that you propose to the restless, homesick Princess.” He stood, and held out his hand to me. “Good afternoon, may you have success with your proposal. I am sure you will meet with success.”

  He turned away in military style and marched off toward the main building without looking back.

  I stood and bowed respectfully at his back. After he marched away a few score strides, I turned and headed out of the palace grounds.

  As soon as I emerged, I could see a part of the front of my house. I didn’t go straight there. I decided to walk the long way around, through the markets. And the problems of the Frischbotens suddenly came to mind. Then, as if it had all been prearranged, as if onstage, the following occurred.

  “Tuan!” came a cry from a young Chinese, dressed in black pajama top and pants.

  I stopped and looked at him, and the youth smiled.

  “Tuan used to be with Encik Teacher Ang?”

  My knowledge of the enmity between the Old and Young Generation groups among the Chinese made me wary.

  “Have you forgotten me? Pengki, Tuan?”

  “Pengki?”

  “Yes, I was the one who took you from Kotta station to my house to see Encik Ang who was sick.”

  “Eh, it’s you, Pengki? I can’t recognize you anymore!”

  “Where is Encik Ang now, Tuan?”

  “She went home, Pengki, back to her homeland. Three years ago. You’re not in Betawi anymore?”

  “No, Tuan. I’ve been here two years now.”

  “You’re a trader, Pengki?”

  “No, Tuan,” he said, guiding my eyes with his own to a big sign hanging outside a shop. It was in Chinese with a translation in Latin script underneath: SINSE—CHINESE DOCTOR. “I work there, Tuan. I am helping out there while studying to become a sinse myself.’

  A sinse! Perhaps he has his own way of curing Hendrik.

  “Please come in,” he invited me inside.

  With a prayer that I would find something that would help behind the glass wall, I entered the little shop. Inside there were rows of ceramic jars, all with labels, written in Chinese.

  He offered me a seat on the wooden waiting bench. He sat down beside me.

  “Have you been studying medicines for long, Pengki?”

  “For these last two years, Tuan. Helping out, you know. Perhaps, you need something?”

  “Yes, Pengki. That’s why I have come in. Perhaps you know of a medicine that can help my friend?”

  “It’s better if you can bring your friend here, Tuan. Then the sinse can examine him. What’s the matter with your friend?”

  And I whispered in his ear. And in the flickering light of the kerosene lamp, I didn’t notice any movement at all in his face.

  “Let me call the sinse.”

  He went inside and came out leading an old Chinese man with a long white beard.

  “Yes, I can help, Tuan,” said the old sinse. “But I can’t prepare what is needed just like that. I must find out first what is the cause of the problem. All I can do now is give you a letter which your friend must take to the place where he can be examined. That is, if your friend has no objections.”

  So they have their own rules too, I thought.

  “Very well, give me the letter.”

  The sinse went back inside, then wrote something on a piece of paper at the table. He came out again and gave the letter to me, without any envelope.

  “Does Tuan know the bamboo house in front of the markets?” I nodded. “Your friend must go there. Anytime before five in the afternoon. On any day.”

  “What kind of examination, Sinse? Can you cure many?”

  “Such an illness can usually be cured. It is usually just a result of weakness. Except if there is something actually physically damaged that cannot be repaired. And weaknesses, if they’ve been allowed to go on for too long…well…If your friend cannot bring himself to come to that house, then there is nothing we can do to help.”

  What kind of medicine is it that is practiced in a bamboo house without any guarantee of cleanliness? It is more properly classified as a kind of faith healing or something like that. But that is what is needed by the Frischboten family at the moment. Those who are dying of thirst in the middle of the desert will fight for even a dirty drop of dew. They will head off toward any mirage.

  I strode off to the post office with the letter and sent a telegram to Hendrik in Bandung summoning him to Buitenzorg.

  Van Heutsz hadn’t been joking. I found Mir Frischboten entertaining the Raja and the Princess in the sitting room. Mir was very happy to see that I had arrived back. She met me at the door and took me in to meet my guests. She excused herself and
then withdrew into another room.

  Both father and daughter stood to greet me.

  “Forgive us, Child, for coming here without informing you first,” the Raja began.

  “That’s all right, Tuan Raja, and please stay here the night.”

  “I thank you in anticipation, Child. It was indeed our intention to stay here tonight.”

  “It is an honor, Bapak. Mrs. Frischboten will prepare the rooms. She is the wife of a friend who is also staying here at the moment.”

  As soon as I sat down, the Raja asked: “You have just had an audience with the governor-general, Child?”

  “You are not mistaken, Bapak.”

  His eyes shone, full of curiosity about van Heutsz’s answer. “Are you allowed to leave Sukabumi, Bapak?” I asked cautiously.

  “If I get permission, Child, from the bupati.”

  And so I understood how Mr. Henricus knew that he was at my house.

  I looked at Princess, who was still sitting, head bowed, as she had been ever since I arrived.

  “Tired, Princess?”

  “Oh, no,” she answered, somewhat nervously.

  “Let me check if the rooms are ready. Excuse me,” and I went out the back.

  Mir Frischboten, helped by two of my domestic servants, had prepared two rooms. Their things had also been placed in their respective rooms. My servants told me that my guests had brought with them one basket offish and another of jackfruit.

  I came out again with Mir and invited them both to rest in their rooms. Only Princess went into her room. The Raja remained seated.

  “You are not tired, Tuan Raja?” asked Mir in Malay.

  “No. How far is Sukabumi anyway?” He forced out a polite laugh, then quickly wiped away his smile behind the tense corners of his mouth.

  It seemed that he did not like Europeans.

  Mir looked across at me, appealing for guidance. I nodded. She stood and excused herself, saying that she must go and prepare dinner.

  “Is she your wife, Child?”

  “No, Bapak. As I said before, she is the wife of a friend. She is staying here while she seeks out medicine for her husband.”

  “I have never before been received by a woman, even if European.”

  “Forgive us, Bapak. That is the European custom these days. They don’t distinguish between men and women; that is, both are considered equal.”

  He still didn’t seem happy about it, although he did his best to suppress his real feelings. His forefinger kept tapping on his knee, and his eyes were full of unease. So he had been struggling with his feelings all the time Mir had been looking after them.

  A few moments afterward Princess came out again, wearing Sundanese dress, and sat down where she had been before. And I knew then that I would never regret it if I married her. But why did she become so formal and stiff when her father was here?

  The Raja looked at his daughter for a moment, then at me, then at his daughter again, and back to me.

  “So Child is still a bachelor?”

  “I have been too busy with my work, Bapak. Indeed, I have even asked your daughter for help in starting a magazine for women.”

  “Yes, she has told me.”

  “So Bapak has given her permission?”

  “And what is the use of such an endeavor, and is it a good idea for a woman to be doing such things?”

  “Of course it must be a good thing, Bapak; otherwise I wouldn’t have asked her.”

  “Of course, you have good intentions, Child, but the situation is not good.”

  “And if the situation is to be better, Bapak, someone must work to improve it. That is why I have asked the help of your daughter. There is no point in allowing the situation to go on forever if things are bad, whether for us or for others. There are things that need to be made better. Yes?”

  “Mixing with just anybody…”

  “With me, Bapak. Do you include me as ‘just anybody’ too?”

  “I didn’t mean you, Child,” he said quickly. “Don’t be angry. Everyone knows who you are, Child. Where you are from and what you have done But the others?”

  “No one would dare bother the daughter of a raja, Bapak.”

  “Yes, that would be true, if we were back in Kasiruta. Bandung is not Kasiruta. In Bandung every race is mixed up together…like…ah, what can I say?”

  “You weren’t intending to say ‘like rubbish,’ Bapak?”

  He coughed.

  “At the very least, Sukabumi is much quieter, Child. People still know how to show respect to each other. It’s a bit like Kasiruta in that way. The only thing that is missing is the sound of the drums at night.”

  Mir came out and invited everyone to the dining table.

  And dinner passed without a single word being spoken. We also refreshed our palates with fruits in silence.

  We went back into the sitting room. Mir didn’t accompany us. Princess remained silent as was the custom for a woman in the presence of a male who was not a close relative. She remained seated in her chair, with head bowed. Her father never once encouraged her to speak.

  “Nah, Child, could I perhaps now inquire as to the answer of His Excellency, the governor-general?” he asked carefully.

  “Do you know Mr. Henricus?”

  “No, Child.”

  “While I was with the governor-general, he came and whispered to him that you and the Princess were waiting for me at home.”

  “They could find out and tell the governor-general so quickly?” whispered the Raja. Then suspicion came over his face. “How did you find out if Mr. Henricus only whispered to the governor-general?

  “After Henricus left, His Excellency told me.”

  “My God, so His Excellency is angry with me?”

  “No, he is not angry. In fact, he laughed.”

  The suspicion drained away. He sighed with relief. Princess remained seated quietly. It looked as if she were under orders.

  “So my daughter will be able to go home?” he whispered to his daughter.

  Princess raised her head and looked me in the face.

  “You hear that, my daughter!” he now spoke aloud to her.

  “No, Bapak,” I rejoined. “His Excellency has not granted his permission.”

  “He spoke about us, didn’t he?”

  “No.”

  “About what we had done wrong, perhaps?”

  “No.”

  “It’s a pity you didn’t ask what it was that we had done wrong, Child.”

  I explained to him about the Korte Verklaring and van Heutsz’s intention to unify the Indies. He would take action against all sultans, rajas, and tribal chiefs that he did not like, especially those who defied his will. There was no power that could stop him, except God Himself. I then told him about the exorbitante rechten, the extraordinary powers that had been vested in the governor-general, the greatest powers vested in the hands of the greatest of the colonial officials.

  He listened intently, and he didn’t reject anything I said, or ask any questions.

  “This year there will be a new governor-general. Perhaps his policies will be different. Perhaps then you might have some chance, Bapak.”

  “This year. I think things will be the same.” Then he spoke in a language I didn’t understand, quickly and high-pitched, to Princess. His daughter nodded, keeping her head bowed all the time. “Is that all?”

  “He also spoke about the Princess,” I said. At that moment the Princess lifted her face to look at me. “About the possibility of her marriage.”

  “My marriage!” the girl gaped wide-eyed at me.

  “Why is he interfering in my child’s affairs? It is nothing to do with him!” hissed the Raja. “We are Moslems.” His face was red with fury. He grabbed his cane and was squeezing it with all his strength.

  “This matter is, of course, your prerogative, Bapak. Don’t be angry. And don’t let others know of your anger. That will only bring more problems.”

  “Yes, yes,” he ans
wered, then again spoke rapidly and in a high-pitched voice to his daughter.

  Princess stood, nodded to me, and went into her room.

  “And whom does His Excellency intend my daughter to marry?” he asked cautiously. Seeing that I was not answering, he continued in a growling voice, “They tore my daughter away from me, and put her with a Dutch family in Bandung. They are trying to turn my daughter into a Dutch woman and an infidel. Now they want to decide whom she marries. That’s going too far, isn’t it? God’s curse be on them!”

  “Not so loud, Bapak.”

  He was silent. His eyes dashed about, looking over the room. Then he moved closer and whispered: “Tell me, Child, who is it?”

  “He didn’t say. He just said that the Princess of Kasiruta had reached marriageable age. He didn’t want the Princess to go home, that would only cause trouble.”

  The Raja whispered a prayer. I bowed my head, participating also in his anxieties. Suddenly he raised his head, looked at me for quite a few moments, and asked: “You are a Moslem, Child?”

  “Of course, Bapak; otherwise you and your daughter would not have been prepared to stay here tonight. Don’t get too upset by all this, Bapak. There is still time to think it all over.”

  “Has anything like this happened before?” he asked, half hoping for something that would save them.

  I told him about the girl from Jepara and her father, how such a young and brilliant girl finally passed away at such an early age. He followed every movement of my lips. Then came his voice, like a moan: “I will not allow such a thing to happen to my daughter. O Allah, protect my daughter!”

  “We have no power in this matter, Bapak. Even so, we do have some time to think things through. The most they will do in the short term is pressure you about her marriage or keep asking whom she will marry. I will help you all I can in this matter. Ayoh, Bapak, it’s already late. I’ll show you your room.”

  He stood, leaned on his cane, and limped off toward his room.…

  As I stood before the door to my own room, I became lost in my thoughts. In my mind’s eye I saw Mir, and behind her, my good friend and her husband, Hendrik Frischboten. Lay no more claims upon my soul, Mir, Hendrik. I opened the door. I was right. Mir was asleep in my bed.