"Heart of Darkness"
by Joseph Conrad

  Previous Page   Next Page   Speaker Off
 

     The Russian was explaining to me that it was only lately that Mr. Kurtz had come down to the river, bringing along with him all the fighting men of that lake tribe. He had been absent for several months -- getting himself adored, I suppose -- and had come down unexpectedly, with the intention to all appearance of making a raid either across the river or down stream. Evidently the appetite for more ivory had got the better of the -- what shall I say? -- less material aspirations. However he had got much worse suddenly.

     "I heard he was lying helpless, and so I came up -- took my chance," said the Russian. "Oh, he is bad, very bad."

 

     I directed my glass to the house. There were no signs of life, but there was the ruined roof, the long mud wall peeping above the grass, with three little square window-holes, no two of the same size; all this brought within reach of my hand, as it were. And then I made a brusque movement, and one of the remaining posts of that vanished fence leaped up in the field of my glass.

     You remember I told you I had been struck at the distance by certain attempts at ornamentation, rather remarkable in the ruinous aspect of the place. Now I had suddenly a nearer view, and its first result was to make me throw my head back as if before a blow.

 
Text provided by Project Gutenberg.
Audio by LiteralSystems, told by David Kirkwood with narration by Tom Franks,
through the generous support of Gordon W. Draper.
Audio copyright, 2007 LoudLit.org, some rights reserved.
Flash mp3 player by Jeroen Wijering. (cc) some rights reserved.
Web page presentation by LoudLit.org.