TextBLordoftheFlies
—FromLordoftheFlies(Chapter8)
WilliamGolding
Thesilehegiftaheheadremaihere,dim-eyed,grinningfaintly,bloodblagbetweeoheywererunningaway,asfastastheychtheforesttoenbeach。
Simonstayedwherehewas,asmallbrownimage,cealedbytheleaves。Evehiseyesthesow’sheadstillremaier-image。Thehalf-shuteyesweredimwiththeinfiniteicismofadultlife。TheyassuredSimohingwasabadbusiness。
“Ikno>
Simohehadspokenaloud。Heopenedhiseyesquidtherewastheheadgrinhestra,ighespilledguts,evenigyofbeiick。
Helookedaway,lighisdrylips。
Agiftforthebeast。Mighteforit?Thehead,hethought,appearedtoagreewithhim。Runaway,saidtheheadsilently,gobacktotheothers。Itwasajokereally—whyshouldyoubother?Youwerejustwrong,that’sall。Alittleheadaethingyouate,perhaps。Goback,child,saidtheheadsilently。
Simonlookedup,feeliofhiswethair,ahesky。Upthere,foronce,wereclisproutedawayovertheisland,greyanddcopper-colored。Thecloheysqueezed,produomentthisehebutterfliesdesertedtheopeheobsggrinnedanddripped。Simonloweredhishead,carefullykeepihehemwithhishand。Therewerenoshadowsureesbuteveryearlystillhatwhatwasrealseemedillusiveandwithoutdefinitioswasablackbloboffliesthatbuzzedlikeasaw。AfterawhilethesefliesfoundSimed,theyalightedbyhisrunnelsofsweatanddraiderhisnostrilsandplayedleapfrogonhisthighs。Theywerebladiridesandwithoutnumber;andinfrontofSimon,theLordoftheFlieshungonhisstidgriSimongaveupandlookedback;sawthewhiteteethaheblood—andhisgazewasheldbythata,iion。InSimhttemple,apulsebegahebrain。
“Youareasillylittleboy,”saidtheLordoftheFlies,“justanignorant,sillylittleboy。”
Simonmovedhisswollesaidnothing。
“Don’tyouagree?”saidtheLordoftheFlies。“Aren’tyoujustasillylittleboy?”
Simonansweredhimivoice。
&hen,”saidtheLordoftheFlies,“you’dbetterrunoffandplaywiththeothers。Theythiy。Youdon’thtothiy,doyou?YoulikeRalphalot,don’tyou?AndPiggy,andJack?”
Simoiltedslightlyup。HiseyesotbreakawayandtheLordoftheFlieshunginspa。
“Whatareyoudoingouthereallaloyouafraidofme?”
Simonshook。
&aohelpyou。Onlyme。A。”
Simon’smhtforthaudiblewords。