Nascido no Texas, Harry Clay Hervey (1900-1951) começou a escrever quanto tinha apenas 8 anos. O gosto pelas viagens levou-o a destinos diversos no continente africano, Ásia e Pacífico Sul. Ao longo da vida escreveu dezenas de romances e contos bem como relatos da suas viagens.
Em meados da década de 1920 viajou pelo Extremo Oriente e dessa viagem resultou o livro "Where Strange Gods Call - Pages Out of the East" publicado pela primeira vez em 1924 (The Century Co. New York London). Macau surge no capítulo Imperial Yellow (pp. 190-203). Para abrir o apetite ao relato sugiro neste post uma descrição do que eram as casas de jogo na época.
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| Harry Hervey na China |
"After nightfall, when a tiara of lights crowned the bay, Chang led the way to a very exclusive establishment where glazed-paper lanterns heavily ideographed, proclaimed its purpose. The interior presented a scene soaked in thick aqueous blue smoke and enriched by the pungent odour of opium. Around a large table on the lower floor were crowds of middle-class Chinese, swimming in the weird smoke-light like the inhabitants of some undersea cavern. Above, hovering over the encircling rail of a gallery, was a multitude of faces floating in the gloom like misshapen moons. there, said Chang, indicating the faces, were the high-class patrons. Accordingly, we joined them, escorted thither by an attendant. S most elegantly assembly crowded this upper-floor, all men, and dressed in silks and brocades, some standing by the rail, lowering their bets to the table below by means of a basket, and other lounging upon divans, drinking tea or inhaling poppy smoke. The air staggered with the combined richness of opium-fumes and pomaded humanity."
Capítulos do livro que inclui ilustrações de Christopher Murphy
1. Mid-Pacific
2. Fire Island
3. The Beat of Drums
4. The Kingdom of Clattering Shoes
5. The Silken Dragon
6. Shinto: The Way of the Gods
2. Fire Island
3. The Beat of Drums
4. The Kingdom of Clattering Shoes
5. The Silken Dragon
6. Shinto: The Way of the Gods
7. Madame Branch-of-Love
8. The Heavenly City
9. I Walk with Loti: A Mood at Nagasaki
10. Imperial Yellow
11. The City of Somber Faces: Cantonese Fragments
8. The Heavenly City
9. I Walk with Loti: A Mood at Nagasaki
10. Imperial Yellow
11. The City of Somber Faces: Cantonese Fragments
12. Zamboanga
13. The Country of Conrad
14. Adventure: An Interlude Between Ships
15. A Man in Saffron
16. The Blue Road
13. The Country of Conrad
14. Adventure: An Interlude Between Ships
15. A Man in Saffron
16. The Blue Road
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