¡¶Stories by Doris Lessing¡· A MILD ATTACK OF LOCUSTS-1 tION by Doris Lessing February 26, 1955 t year as t gat too bad. Sters like to kno a simple t, born and broug got. teping. Margaret ill did not understand altoget. But sting to learn ticed t for all Riceps, t go bankrupt. Nor did t very ricably. t rise up to¡ª country, cold and dusty in er, but no monteamy t rose in , soft iful it -green folds and ry beneatains lying sy miles off, beyond t used to it. One does not look so muc ty. So t evening, locusts are expected, coming doinct o look about trees. Insects, s Ric mountaintop. ¡°e s in seven years,¡± one said, and ts do.¡± And this season!¡± But t on as usual, until one day, ead for tepopped, raised ed. ¡°Look, look!¡± ed. ¡°they are!¡± Margaret to join t t came ts from tcood and gazed. Over tain reak of rust-colored air. Locusts. they came. At once, Riced at tep to beat ty ploo summon t moments of crisis. to tore to collect tin cans¡ªany old bits of metal. t of ting at ting excitedly. Soon to tephem orders: hurry, hurry, hurry. And off tes Margaret could see t ed field. tcivated soil, ced up t leaves onto to make t c-colored still, s as selepo say, Quick, quick, s! Old Smiten to t your fires started! For, of course, , it o play fair. Everyryside, t anselepood cs. trange darkness, for t fire, comes doorted¡ªa t orange. It oo, orm. ts . Noo tself. Margaret ep, finis every leaf and blade off t it¡¯s only early afternoon. If tle sometle going. It¡¯s ty his.¡± So Margaret to tcoked up ter. Noin roof of tcs, or a scratcin slope. of ting and banging and clanging of a rol tins and bits of metal. Stepiently ed rol tin ea¡ª, s, and orange-colored¡ªand anoter. In time, old y years back, en out, made bankrupt by t armies. And till talking, ed trol cans, one in eac cornerops, and jogged off doo to ty laborers. By nos looked out and sas, and s eet into it; s every ures, looking at o ed legs. S and ran to t ing, and ten iron from t, all trees ill, clotted s, ted to to be moving, s cra all, so toains, it o driving rain; even as scted out s. It ed blackness. tree dotled o ts, a man came running. More tea, more er supplied t toked and filled tins ernoon and ts had been pouring across overhead for a couple of hours. Up came old Steps underfoot ep, locusts clinging all over at t topped briefly, ily pulling at ts and to t-free living room. ¡°All t,¡± he said. But till beating, till sing, and Margaret asked, ¡°, then?¡± ¡°t settling. to settle and lay. A MILD ATTACK OF LOCUSTS-2 If op ttling on our farm, t¡¯s everyt a co lay to en flat er on.¡± ray locust off and split it do ted inside multiplied by millions. You ever seen a he march? No? ell, you¡¯re lucky.¡± Margaret t an adult s on ts alternately tened, like driving rain. Old Step t¡¯s something.¡± ¡°Is it very bad?¡± asked Margaret fearfully, and tically, ¡°e¡¯re finis once tarted, ter anot mighree or four years.¡± Margaret sat do¡¯s t¡¯s t noo go back to to at took a quick look at Stepy years in try and been bankrupt to mouted up a locust t itself someo , and in t trengteel spring in told t good- ting locusts, squass, yelling at locusts, and s mounds into to burn, ook to t out to join its fello; all at once, s irrationally c t time in t their final and irremediable ruin. ¡°Get me a drink, lass,¡± Step a bottle of whiskey by him. In time, t Margaret, in ting storm of insects, banging ts clung all over o let toucep suitably as s o ter tep took a good look at y self¡ªed. No to letting locusts settle on ime. ossed doo ttle, ening bros. Five o¡¯clock. t in an tle. It rees ening brown. Margaret began to cry. It a bad season, it s; if it locusts, it fires. Alling of t armies in a storm. tide; it s, submerged by t seemed as if t sink in under t of t give in under t ting so dark. t t be setting. ts, s old Steps. All of ts. topped. Margaret could tle of myriads of wings. ts and came in. ¡°ell,¡± said Riche main swarm has gone over.¡± ¡°For t angrily, still ¡¯s it?¡± For alt a clear blue, tern of insects , everytrees, buildings, bushe moving brown masses. ¡°If it doesn¡¯t rain in t and keep tep doesn¡¯t rain and sunrise.¡± ¡°e¡¯re bound to not t¡¯s something.¡± Margaret roused ended s been crying, and fetcs oo exed to move. S to to rest. S listening. t one maize plant left, s one. t ting mac t ts start all over again. , Margaret o be cra sened told o defeat t all time, patrolling to c in tcs¡ªtrencc. t ed every farmer to cooperate in a ing t attack locusts at t. talking as if t listened, amazed. In t, it , tled outside, except t sometimes a brancree could be heard crashing down. Margaret slept badly, in to yelloo tepood, outside, gazing doounded¡ªand entranced, muc looked as if every tree, every bus s o free t deinged gold light everywhere. S out to join tepping carefully among ts. tood and che sky was blue¡ªblue and clear. ¡°Pretty,¡± said old Stepisfaction. ell, t Margaret, , but not everyone army fanning t dawn. Over tance, a faint red smear s teph.¡± And norees, from ts aking maneuvering for takeoff as tried to see if t. A reddiseam darkened. And as tted branced, t on tening, t but tree trunks. No green¡ªnotc up¡ªas t to mass ender mealie plants, ark and bare. A devastated landscape¡ªno green, no green anywhere. By midday, t flopped doing tins. ¡°Ever eaten sun-dried locust, Margaret?¡± asked old Step time ty years ago s for t bad at all¡ªrato t.¡± But Margaret preferred not even to t. After t off to to be replanted. it of luck, anot come travelling do t t o spring some netle a blade of grass left on t, srying to get used to ts. Locusts o be like t. S like a survivor after a ated and mangled countryside ruin¡ªhen was ruin? But te tites. ¡°It could t could be much worse.¡± ? MYSELF AS SPORTSMAN tION by Doris Lessing January 21, 1956 Noypes erms), I can more often t be give me a flock of guinea fory.¡± From to casual mention of time t smen are oozing envy of ual safari. I keep truto myself. Not t I seen lions. I ered teresting animals, in to look at time to time. And on my o flouris. I do not care. I never did. Along otle game goes t t trievably est (against practically everyt all started very, early, to go even furto ly at t attempt, and s becoming for a girl to ride a boy¡¯s bicycle, and stuck out for one of my o tate of t off tely. In t of table and evasive be is easy to understand ook aim at a small bird sitting on a t bad because t gone to immediately took on its proper colors; to fire at a sitting bird oget in a good oblique s at a bird y yards off, rong elope, iful in our parts but very good to eat¡ª kill one unless arranged an exing crahick bush, preferably in heavy mud. o me, I said I did not care for it. stick to trut imagine. I did point out t even people like er Jim and Elep Bill used sguns for birds on t it o use a .22 rifle, but my brot moved. I did not expect o be. After o sc to ook te in ion of term. I spent a ing tting bullets in and taking t. flinc out into t. t of bus, miles of it in every direction, paradise for sportsmen. I remember clearly first day, I mooned along, t Guinevere and Anne of Green Gables, until a fine kudu bull (fauna of t covetable sort, antelope t ly been scrutinizing me from an antook to its c go. (My broto say, he eye under impossible handicaps.) Next appeared a duiker, and I put to my sedly but result, since ture o sig. t follo ter. One day, I ting on a rock in a clearing ted past, follo ty oted my gun and s at eac ly like sing in a fun fair, s, or y of t o keep still. From t my success irely on ts of guinea fo a naturalist¡¯s, point of view. Guinea foo togeter. urbed, o every enemy for miles around, t up a raucous complaint and run extremely fast in all directions. If tuck to doing tically invulnerable, but, no¡ªcuriosity is ten t, before tance to trees to see rees tant to launco space. s and all tions, I set out one day il I to. tone at it. tly seventy-four guinea foo trees all around me. I kney-four because I sat on a log counting t and fattest. I t tarted perceptibly, and settled back and c above its doo my feet. I tried again. it is to keep a gun barrel still became apparent to me only no I ime in to practice it. I o a nearby tree and laid t its trunk for support. t four yards a teady long enougo s it in t fell, and I dispatc , in t . turally, assumed it on t t¡ªt s going unnoticed¡ªand a letter once sent to my brother. ter, my tecantially ts. For instance, trained dog ook full pelt to, and by time I arrived, dozens of guinea focisfactorily distracting ttention from me w leisure. A guinea fo by a yapping dog tends to surning slos perc it turns on its os a more or less stable target. tting on a lo I o lean over and pluck it off ts neck. I to a soul. ook t t ruck its beak and stunned it, and said carelessly t it sounded very like one of my brotortuous feats. I kne , on took me into t¡¯s see you do it.¡± t yapping off after a flock of guinea foly at a bird rising into a tree, sically, ¡°Damned bad s.¡± My brot once t all sport flock an end, but tinued to s. times. My mot ty. t a duiker t ed a long s doe tage of living in a sportsman¡¯s paradise is tedium of t) and I o say t it ogeting to kill t. But ten days more of my broto get t. I tried to defer it by saying t I c off into tly folloting bird at four or five yards. I told oo so listen. to t evening at supper. I to break it to my fat traumatic way. t nig out spot-sing¡ªing . Spot-sing t unsporting, because o it t tantially on types use ts of cars; my broto forto t like a quixotic Cyclops. tice is to fix t, to tized creature and s it. My brot t ture erested but not fixed. It unity to run away. urned from t expedition severely depressed. Apparently, y yards off. t moved. ed, but notc moved. imes more. to arget convinced t ead, t o discuss my case s. ter my brot back to scinued to supply until one o leave for ty and ts of civilization. My talents as er tacionso a young man e, and caused me rospection, as a result of ried to persuade me t my reluctance to join my fate eternally to of tender age; I een at time. Among otues, ing, sing, and fis can be described only as classic. urally, eager to visit our farm, en years before, never once foot on any sing ground but a target range. For a last t, and . I took ing, since I , of course, I pressed to o a good ess. At once, ness of no one ing birds ried. up. t more flying up into trees. none. By t time, emper. o my o do it.¡± trees. e tones at trees, but t budge. I could not s. e began no second flock of birds self. I planned, if I o talk very loudly and dro. Suddenly ed, ¡°Look! Now¡¯s your chance!¡± aridge dodged among ts of t . A small puff of . I saering, ¡°Damn t,¡± I fired at random into it. t subsided. tridge lay dead, s t, from be a y yards. I ejected tridge in an efficient sort of ance t boast. used to t it en years since at a moving target, and so on. inued to excuse supper. My fat. I imagined t at last it came o me t it was because raged. A good sportsman, I remembered, never puts t ood ¡¯s a man¡¯s day, my fat t to bring out ts in a man¡¯s cer, and, ted, I o break off t, or attac, in t er t it is o s fauna of any kind¡ªand I laid down my gun. ? THE STARE tion by Doris Lessing July 7, 1997 ¡°Look at say anything, and I go on looking.¡± ¡° does en does, as if of somether. ¡°takes Mary captive, and time it seems to reverberate rigo be remembering somets smiling. om, s as if so return to England entirely foreign ground to ives in t community in Camden torios, and ser in too, ives in London. Noaurant called ts; and ends to aurant soon. Dmitri¡¯s, because Dmitri is om. toget noo Primrose on a benco some s, and some mornings it is quite a little female community, but aurants, and on ten congratulates s c brougo be art singing, and u dancing, even on tables. S not o Greece t summer, migo Demetrios pressure on. On ted and restless and sits in front of en does tty, of ri calls tle blackberry. But s if it for ttle bottles of scent, ticks, t, and tries out expressions. Ss a long unsmiling unblinking stare on ens . Ss o see t stare on fails, because is putting it mildly. Because of sometri said, Mary actually to t a y, and men started a tle girls Betty or Joan. old Mary t Mary Mary said s really into religion. And o try out staring on Demetrios? t is trouble. Mary is full of an uncomfortable dissatisfaction ion against sented because s to start a family, particularly no om and Mary says, ¡°No, Dmitri, let¡¯s a bit, o saken over. t¡¯s . And , is sly t baby of t it like a present someone o s to take it. Dmitri says t junk into t eyes at sucs thrill Mary and remind her of earlier days. So om to you noly understood and said, s fascinating life Mary oo muco understand, ¡°Of course, tarted toget Mary at first t actless,¡± and said, ¡°You don¡¯t understand sometic and ts. But w his wife.¡± t to ¨¢ndros, Demetrios courted ed soaps and ces, and iful and , and one nig tears, too. Mary kne o made t rios, t feeling. And sc oo, summer, tom, about om liked love her. A likely story, to tom. , not bad-looking. ¡° surely s sometimes find him boring? But did Dmitri still love Mary? t nigo,¡± trying to make easing and taunting, but s succeeded. Soo. ed a divorce. ¡°¡¯s o reply if urned did glare on tered somet oo, but pretended to be asleep. Next morning sig it urday, and t nig to drink in t taurant er, but it imes resses ra for tings or came to admire tom¡¯s arm and kneo make love te t rios and Mary got o going to not feel like it tonig made it easy for o say, ¡°I mig not,¡± but in bed once attacked ried to complain to it to bot so give me a kid?¡± ering: a t been groaning into c a baby. No in ten years.¡± Next morning s say one breakfast. notice. aking ime oast and t o be at taurant until eleven. t part of t to alked or didn¡¯t talk, and read times back to bed. S love until t t , and ed on , using tare siced before t t . . . ?¡± S sat in front of ared. It sed ¡°Bitc off to work. Mary sat side a pub, in t, I don¡¯t really mind a baby, I suppose. I¡¯ll leave off t I¡¯m not going to tell Dmitri, not yet. And I¡¯m not going to give in to the baby. ¡° up?¡± srying to sound casual, but once understood and said, ¡°O¡¯s not muc like to see up. Because I to give in and I don¡¯t.¡± alking as if it all a joke. I find t silent and dismal, looking at dress rouble at all, opped crying. t little intimate baby smell made to cry. O, o o toilet,¡± and off srode, he black linen swinging around her. Mary t, I suppose Dmitri ened and s taramasalata and tsina and all t stuff t of t rocks and trees and ten alked togetom and Mary¡ªneit times strangers to them. Mary did not speak to Demetrios t nige, er midnig s up in bed and stared at umbled around to o put o, ime s o taking tiative, orm of sex. But t al going to let you take me for granted, said Dmitri, teasing , but tive, surprising a big rougead of sometimes just a cuddle, and t tle toucrokes t put a look of onis on ried t on Dmitri¡ª of doing anyt. Noo put one¡¯s arms around one¡¯s ill morning, and t nig o put a o touc alone kisses and nibbles. S t, for s sleep, and next morning t. And noaring at ed sometimes glanced at , in anger, and in fear. But as ion ion of ronger every minute, because w s. ears and saying he was sorry. t nigo seem asleep . Per: en did, w up o kiss her. Next morning at breakfast sting taring face like a radar dis looking at , upid. Just because I got a smile on my face and I¡¯m not speaking¡ªbut I¡¯m just t I? Mean and knocking into t a curse on raig. Next morning s to slide quietly out of bed so as not to o ¡°put on t, but straiged saring at . out a s, as if mare, and to sob, ¡°You¡¯re a cruel ions in Greek. It frig, and, no, s anyop it. It¡¯s enoug s stop. An implacable accusing stare ened itself on , But I started it all for a good reason, didn¡¯t I? And toget notice t srios and t o avoid looking at iced, all right. Next day Mary asked ?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never kept it up longer t I?¡± S evasive. It reatment. S go out at all but sat silent, staring, not at Dmitri, for t at t kno errible. coming in till very late, because umbled around t come home. ¡°¡¯s going on ri?¡± asks tom, meeting Mary in treet. ¡°Are you having a quarrel?¡± ¡°Not,¡± Mary says smiling, w. In bed t nig ri, don¡¯t sulk.¡± ¡°Go to ed, and blubbered noisily, in a made e of bed and laid t, and ting on to go out, s t a nice breakfast for you.¡± At use o me, so s up, I don¡¯t to . Mary to . as t really s. And as sood looking at t¡¯s not tri seemed to clumsy man to join t moving up on to make room for ermination and off heir prams and pushchairs. Noold ory, and s one up and do back toful pause, and pus foro Mary it seemed t t of tening and judging. ¡°You¡¯ve kept it up for t last, told Mary srolling an extreme reaction. never friend. ¡°tated helen. ¡°No wonder he¡¯s sick.¡± ¡°Is he sick?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t you see for yourself?¡± said t beautiful at all. tting on an ugly needed painting, and all t attractive, alttle bay trees on eitrees needed ering and ty. ¡°tom said t Demetrios oo drunk to erday. careful.¡± t you gave me t get tongue. S seemed to be condition¡ªwake w she way I did? ¡°You¡¯d better try and make it up to up from t off even smiling at Mary or saying, ¡°See you tomorrow.¡± I¡¯ve lost oo, t Mary. S to sit outside taurant ri.¡± Surning a for? I ed a kid, t¡¯s all. You¡¯re a bad are migried to pull sigri.¡± ood turned a avoiding ed e me forever, but pleads, ¡°Please, Dmitri, come ood close on t, and people going past moved of to to stake. S and red and miserable. es aumbling beside tig run off and she would never see him again. At ried to pull o t at table are you t¡¯s t?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve stopped taking tri.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ve stopped the Pill.¡± ¡°Come to bed, please, Dmitri.¡± ¡° a o make a baby.¡± So pull alk o bed before? umbled o bed. feeling anyttle tory or t fear of t over it, , and o seemed to understand w away. Meanainly a question of making love, or even of sex, because shis had ever happened before. ¡°Don¡¯t you do it again,¡± you do it, I¡¯m telling you. If you do I¡¯ll kill you. I¡¯ll just and never come you do it.¡± on turned ater, because so elling all t was.¡± ?