{"id":13321,"date":"2024-04-23T15:48:38","date_gmt":"2024-04-23T19:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/?p=13321"},"modified":"2024-07-18T13:32:28","modified_gmt":"2024-07-18T17:32:28","slug":"roald-dahl-man-from-the-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/short-stories\/roald-dahl-man-from-the-south\/13321\/","title":{"rendered":"Roald Dahl: Man from the South"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“Man from the South,” a Roald Dahl short story published in 1948, tells about an unusual bet that takes place in a hotel in Jamaica. The story begins when a man enjoys the hotel’s ambiance and talks with a peculiar older man. Later, an American naval cadet and a young Englishwoman join the group. During the chat, the cadet brags that his lighter always works. In response, the older man proposes a challenge: if the lighter works ten times in a row, he will win a Cadillac; if it fails just once, the cadet must give him the little finger of his left hand.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\"Roald<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Man from the South<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Roald Dahl
(Full story)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT was getting on towards six o\u2019clock so I thought I\u2019d buy myself a beer and go out and sit in a deckchair by the swimming pool and have a little evening sun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went to the bar and got the beer and carried it outside and wandered down the garden towards the pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a fine garden with lawns and beds of azaleas and tall coconut palms, and the wind was blowing strongly through the tops of the palm trees, making the leaves hiss and crackle as though they were on fire. I could see the clusters of big brown nuts hanging down underneath the leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were plenty of deck chairs around the swimming pool and there were white tables and huge brightly coloured umbrellas and sunburned men and women sitting around in bathing suits. In the pool itself there were three or four girls and about a dozen boys, all splashing about and making a lot of noise and throwing a large rubber ball at one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I stood watching them. The girls were English girls from the hotel. The boys I didn\u2019t know about, but they sounded American, and I thought they were probably naval cadets who\u2019d come ashore from the US naval training vessel which had arrived in harbour that morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went over and sat down under a yellow umbrella where there were four empty seats, and I poured my beer and settled back comfortably with a cigarette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was very pleasant sitting there in the sunshine with beer and cigarette. It was pleasant to sit and watch the bathers splashing about in the green water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American sailors were getting on nicely with the English girls. They\u2019d reached the stage where they were diving under the water and tipping them up by their legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just then I noticed a small, oldish man walking briskly around the edge of the pool. He was immaculately dressed in a white suit and he walked very quickly with little bouncing strides, pushing himself high up on to his toes with each step. He had on a large creamy Panama hat, and he came bouncing along the side of the pool, looking at the people and the chairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stopped beside me and smiled, showing two rows of very small, uneven teeth, slightly tarnished. I smiled back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse pleess, but may I sit here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly,\u201d I said. \u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He bobbed around to the back of the chair and inspected it for safety, then he sat down and crossed his legs. His white buckskin shoes had little holes punched all over them for ventilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA fine evening,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are all evenings fine here in Jamaica .\u201d I couldn\u2019t tell if the accent were Italian or Spanish, but I felt fairly sure he was some sort of a South American. And old too, when you saw him close. Probably around sixty-eight or seventy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cIt is wonderful here, isn\u2019t it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd who, might I ask, are all dese? Dese is no hotel people.\u201d He was pointing at the bathers in the pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think they\u2019re American sailors,\u201d I told him. \u201cThey\u2019re Americans who are learning to be sailors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course dey are Americans. Who else in de world is going to make as much noise as dat? You are not American no?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201cI am not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suddenly one of the American cadets was standing in front of us. He was dripping wet from the pool and one of the English girls was standing there with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre these chairs taken?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMind if I sit down?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d he said. He had a towel in his hand and when he sat down he unrolled it and produced a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He offered the cigarettes to the girl and she refused; then he offered them to me and I took one. The little man said, \u201cTank you, no, but I tink I have a cigar.\u201d He pulled out a crocodile case and got himself a cigar, then he produced a knife which had a small scissors in it and he snipped the end off the cigar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHere, let me give you a light.\u201d The American boy held up his lighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDat will not work in dis wind.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure it\u2019ll work. It always works.\u201d The little man removed his unlighted cigar from his mouth, cocked his head on one side and looked at the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll-ways?\u201d he said slowly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, it never fails. Not with me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man\u2019s head was still cocked over on one side and he was still watching the boy. \u201cWell, well. So you say dis famous lighter it never fails. Iss dat you say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure,\u201d the boy said. \u201cThat\u2019s right.\u201d He was about nineteen or twenty with a long freckled face and a rather sharp birdlike nose. His chest was not very sunburned and there were freckles there too, and a few wisps of pale-reddish hair. He was holding the lighter in his right hand, ready to flip the wheel. \u201cIt never fails,\u201d he said, smiling now because he was purposely exaggerating his little boast. \u201cI promise you it never fails.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne momint, pleess.\u201d The hand that held the cigar came up high, palm outward, as though it were stopping traffic. \u201cNow juss one momint.\u201d He had a curiously soft, toneless voice and he kept looking at the boy all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShall we not perhaps make a little bet on dat?\u201d He smiled at the boy. \u201cShall we not make a little bet on whether your lighter lights?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, I\u2019ll bet,\u201d the boy said. \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou like to bet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, I\u2019ll always bet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man paused and examined his cigar, and I must say I didn\u2019t much like the way he was behaving. It seemed he was already trying to make something out of this, and to embarrass the boy, and at the same time I had the feeling he was relishing a private little secret all his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He looked up again at the boy and said slowly, \u201cI like to bet, too. Why we don\u2019t have a good bet on dis ting? A good big bet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow wait a minute,\u201d the boy said. \u201cI can\u2019t do that. But I\u2019ll bet you a quarter. I\u2019ll even bet you a dollar, or whatever it is over here\u2014some shillings, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man waved his hand again. \u201cListen to me. Now we have some fun. We make a bet. Den we go up to my room here in de hotel where iss no wind and I bet you you cannot light dis famous lighter of yours ten times running without missing once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll bet I can,\u201d the boy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. Good. We make a bet, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, I\u2019ll bet you a buck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, no I make you a very good bet. I am rich man and I am sporting man also. Listen to me. Outside de hotel iss my car. Iss very fine car. American car from your country. Cadillac\u2014 \u201cHey, now. Wait a minute.\u201d The boy leaned back in his deck-chair and he laughed. \u201cI can\u2019t put up that sort of property. This is crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNot crazy at all. You strike lighter successfully ten times running and Cadillac is yours. You like to have dis Cadillac, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSure, I\u2019d like to have a Cadillac.\u201d The boy was still grinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. Fine. We make a bet and I put up my Cadillac.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd what do I put up?\u201d The little man carefully removed the red band from his still unlighted cigar. \u201cI never ask you, my friend, to bet something you cannot afford. You understand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen what do I bet?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI make it very easy for you, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOkay. You make it easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome small ting you can afford to give away, and if you did happen to lose it you would not feel too bad. Right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch as what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSuch as, perhaps, de little finger on your left hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy what?\u201d The boy stopped grinning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes. Why not? You win, you take de car. You boss, I take de finger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get it. How d\u2019you mean, you take the finger?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI chop it off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJumping jeepers! That\u2019s a crazy bet. I think I\u2019ll just make it a dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man leaned back, spread out his hands palms upwards and gave a tiny contemptuous shrug of the shoulders, \u201cWell, well, well,\u201d he said. \u201cI do not understand. You say it lights but you will not bet. Den we forget it, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy sat quite still, staring at the bathers in the pool. Then he remembered suddenly he hadn\u2019t lighted his cigarette. He put it between his lips, cupped his hands around the lighter and flipped the wheel. The wick lighted and burned with a small, steady, yellow flame and the way he held his hands the wind didn\u2019t get to it at all. \u201cCould I have a light, too?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod, I\u2019m sorry, I forgot you didn\u2019t have one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I held out my hand for the lighter, but he stood up and came over to do it for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d I said, and he returned to his seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou having a good time?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFine,\u201d he answered. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty nice here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a silence then, and I could see that the little man had succeeded in disturbing the boy with his absurd proposal. He was sitting there very still, and it was obvious that a small tension was beginning to build up inside him. Then he started shifting about in his seat, and rubbing his chest, and stroking the back of his neck, and finally he placed both hands on his knees and began tap-tapping with his fingers against the kneecaps. Soon he was tapping with one of his feet as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow just let me check up on this bet of yours,\u201d he said at last. \u201cYou say we go up to your room and if I make this lighter light ten times running I win a Cadillac. If it misses just once then I forfeit the little finger of my left hand. Is that right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly. Dat is de bet. But I tink you are afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat do we do if I lose? Do I have to hold my finger out while you chop it off?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, no! Dat would be no good. And you might be tempted to refuse to hold it out. What I should do I should tie one of your hands to de table before we started and I should stand dere with a knife ready to go chop de momint your lighter missed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat year is the Cadillac?\u201d the boy asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExcuse. I not understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat year\u2014how old is the Cadillac?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh! How old? Yes. It is last year. Quite new car. But I see you are not betting man. Americans never are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy paused for just a moment and he glanced first at the English girl, then at me. \u201cYes,\u201d he said sharply. \u201cI\u2019ll bet you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood!\u201d The little man clapped his hands together quietly, once. \u201cFine,\u201d he said. \u201cWe do it now. And you, sir,\u201d he turned to me, \u201cyou would perhaps be good enough to, what you call it, to to referee.\u201d He had pale, almost colourless eyes with tiny bright black pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d I said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a crazy bet. I don\u2019t think I like it very much.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNor do I,\u201d said the English girl. It was the first time she\u2019d spoken. \u201cI think it\u2019s a stupid, ridiculous bet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you serious about cutting off this boy\u2019s finger if he loses?\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCertainly I am. Also about giving him Cadillac if he win. Come now. We go to my room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He stood up. \u201cYou like to put on some clothes first?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo,\u201d the boy answered. \u201cI\u2019ll come like this.\u201d Then he turned to me. \u201cI\u2019d consider it a favour if you\u2019d come along and referee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll come along, but I don\u2019t like the bet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou come too,\u201d he said to the girl. \u201cYou come and watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man led the way back through the garden to the hotel. He was animated now, and excited, and that seemed to make him bounce up higher than ever on his toes as he walked along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI live in annexe,\u201d he said. \u201cYou like to see car first? Iss just here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took us to where we could see the front driveway of the hotel and he stopped and pointed to a sleek pale-green Cadillac parked close by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDere she iss. De green one. You like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSay, that\u2019s a nice car,\u201d the boy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right. Now we go up and see if you can win her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We followed him into the annexe and up one flight of stairs. He unlocked his door and we all trooped into what was a large pleasant double bedroom. There was a woman\u2019s dressing-gown lying across the bottom of one of the beds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirst,\u201d he said, \u201cwe \u2018ave a little Martini.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drinks were on a small table in the far corner, all ready to be mixed, and there was a shaker and ice and plenty of glasses. He began to make the Martini, but meanwhile he\u2019d rung the bell and now there was a knock on the door and a coloured maid came in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAh!\u201d he said, putting down the bottle of gin, taking a wallet from his pocket and pulling out a pound note. \u201cYou will do something for me flow, pleess.\u201d He gave the maid the pound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou keep dat,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd now we are going to play a little game in here and I want you to go off and find for me two no tree tings. I want some nails, I want a hammer, and I want a chopping knife, a butcher\u2019s chopping knife which you can borrow from de kitchen. You can get, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA chopping knife!\u201d The maid opened her eyes wide and clasped her hands in front of her. \u201cYou mean a real chopping knife?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, yes, of course. Come on now, pleess. You can find dose tings surely for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, sir, I\u2019ll try, sir. Surely I\u2019ll try to get them.\u201d And she went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man handed round the Martinis. We stood there and sipped them, the boy with the long freckled face and the pointed nose, bare-bodied except for a pair of faded brown bathing shorts; the English girl, a large-boned fair-haired girl wearing a pale blue bathing suit, who watched the boy over the top of her glass all the time; the little man with the colourless eyes standing there in his immaculate white suit drinking his Martini and looking at the girl in her pale blue bathing dress. I didn\u2019t know what to make of it all. The man seemed serious about the bet and he seemed serious about the business of cutting off the finger. But hell, what if the boy lost? Then we\u2019d have to rush him to the hospital in the Cadillac that he hadn\u2019t won. That would be a fine thing. Now wouldn\u2019t that be a really fine thing? It would be a damn silly unnecessary thing so far as I could see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think this is rather a silly bet?\u201d I said. \u201cI think it\u2019s a fine bet,\u201d the boy answered. He had already downed one large Martini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a stupid, ridiculous bet,\u201d the girl said. \u201cWhat\u2019ll happen if you lose?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t matter. Come to think of it, I can\u2019t remember ever in my life having had any use for the little finger on my left hand. Here he is.\u201d The boy took hold of the finger. \u201cHere he is and he hasn\u2019t ever done a thing for me yet. So why shouldn\u2019t I bet him? I think it\u2019s a fine bet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little man smiled and picked up the shaker and refilled our glasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore we begin,\u201d he said, \u201cI will present to de\u2014to de referee de key of de car.\u201d He produced a car key from his pocket and gave it to me. \u201cDe papers,\u201d he said, \u201cde owning papers and insurance are in de pocket of de car.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the coloured maid came in again. In one hand she carried a small chopper, the kind used by butchers for chopping meat bones, and in the other a hammer and a bag of nails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGood! You get dem all. Tank you, tank you. Now you can go.\u201d He waited until the maid had closed the door, then he put the implements on one of the beds and said, \u201cNow we prepare ourselves, yes?\u201d And to the boy, \u201cHelp me, pleess, with dis table. We carry it out a little.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the usual kind of hotel writing desk, just a plain rectangular table about four feet by three with a blotting pad, ink, pens and paper. They carried it out into the room away from the wall, and removed the writing things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now,\u201d he said, \u201ca chair.\u201d He picked up a chair and placed it beside the table. He was very brisk and very animated, like a person organizing games at a children\u2019s party. \u201cAnd now de nails. I must put in de nails.\u201d He fetched the nails and he began to hammer them into the top of the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We stood there, the boy, the girl, and I, holding Martinis in our hands, watching the little man at work. We watched him hammer two nails into the table, about six inches apart. He didn\u2019t hammer them right home; he allowed a small part of each one to stick up. Then he tested them for firmness with his fingers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyone would think the son of a bitch had done this before, I told myself. He never hesitates. Table, nails, hammer, kitchen chopper. He knows exactly what he needs and how to arrange it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd now,\u201d he said, \u201call we want is some string.\u201d He found some string. \u201cAll right, at last we are ready. Will you pleess to sit here at de table?\u201d he said to the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy put his glass away and sat down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow place de left hand between dese two nails. De nails are only so I can tie your hand in place. All right, good. Now I tie your hand secure to de table\u2014so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wound the string around the boy\u2019s wrist, then several times around the wide part of the hand, then he fastened it tight to the nails. He made a good job of it and when he\u2019d finished there wasn\u2019t any question about the boy being able to draw his hand away. But he could move his fingers. \u201cNow pleess, clench de fist, all except for de little finger. You must leave de little finger sticking out, lying on de table.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEx-cellent! Ex-cellent! Now we are ready. Wid your right hand you manipulate de lighter. But one moment, pleess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He skipped over to the bed and picked up the chopper. He came back and stood beside the table with the chopper in his hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are all ready?\u201d he said. \u201cMister referee, you must say to begin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The English girl was standing there in her pale blue bathing costume right behind the boy\u2019s chair. She was just standing there, not saying anything. The boy was sitting quite still holding the lighter in his right hand, looking at the chopper. The little man was looking at me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you ready?\u201d I asked the boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you?\u201d to the little man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cQuite ready,\u201d he said and he lifted the chopper up in the air and held it there about two feet above the boy\u2019s finger, ready to chop. The boy watched it, but didn\u2019t flinch and his mouth didn\u2019t move at all. He merely raised his eyebrows and frowned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d I said. \u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy said, \u201cWill you please count aloud the number of times I light it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019ll do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With his thumb he raised the top of the lighter, and again with the thumb he gave the wheel a sharp flick. The flint sparked and the wick caught fire and burned with a small yellow flame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne!\u201d I called.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He didn\u2019t blow the flame out; he closed the top of the lighter on it and he waited for perhaps five seconds before opening it again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He flicked the wheel very strongly and once more there was a small flame burning on the wick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTwo!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one else said anything. The boy kept his eyes on the lighter. The little man held the chopper up in the air and he too was watching the lighter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThree!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFour!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFive!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSix!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeven!\u201d Obviously it was one of those lighters that worked. The flint gave a big spark and the wick was the right length. I watched the thumb snapping the top down on to the flame. Then a pause. Then the thumb raising the top once more. This was an all-thumb operation. The thumb did everything. I took a breath, ready to say eight. The thumb flicked the wheel. The flint sparked. The little flame appeared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEight!\u201d I said, and as I said it the door opened. We all turned and we saw a woman standing in the doorway, a small, black-haired woman, rather old, who stood there for about two seconds then rushed forward, shouting, \u201cCarlos! Carlos!\u201d She grabbed his wrist, took the chopper from him, threw it on the bed, took hold of the little man by the lapels of his white suit and began shaking him very vigorously, talking to him fast and loud and fiercely all the time in some Spanish-sounding language. She shook him so fast you couldn\u2019t see him any more. He became a faint, misty, quickly moving outline, like the spokes of a turning wheel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then she slowed down and the little man came into view again and she hauled him across the room and pushed him backwards on to one of the beds. He sat on the edge of it blinking his eyes and testing his head to see if it would still turn on his neck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am sorry,\u201d the woman said. \u201cI am so terribly sorry that this should happen.\u201d She spoke almost perfect English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is too bad,\u201d she went on. \u201cI suppose it is really my fault. For ten minutes I leave him alone to go and have my hair washed and I come back and he is at it again.\u201d She looked sorry and deeply concerned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The boy was untying his hand from the table. The English girl and I stood there and said nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is a menace,\u201d the woman said. \u201cDown where we live at home he has taken altogether forty-seven fingers from different people, and has lost eleven cars. In the end they threatened to have him put away somewhere. That\u2019s why I brought him up here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were only having a little bet,\u201d mumbled the little man from the bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI suppose he bet you a car,\u201d the woman said. \u201cYes,\u201d the boy answered. \u201cA Cadillac.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe has no car. It\u2019s mine. And that makes it worse,\u201d she said, \u201cthat he should bet you when he has nothing to bet with. I am ashamed and very sorry about it all.\u201d She seemed an awfully nice woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cthen here\u2019s the key of your car.\u201d I put it on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were only having a little bet,\u201d mumbled the little man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t anything left to bet with,\u201d the woman said. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t a thing in the world. Not a thing. As a matter of fact I myself won it all from him a long while ago. It took time, a lot of time, and it was hard work, but I won it all in the end.\u201d She looked up at the boy and she smiled, a slow sad smile, and she came over and put out a hand to take the key from the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can see it now, that hand of hers; it had only one finger on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Man from the South,” a Roald Dahl short story published in 1948, tells about an unusual bet that takes place in a hotel in Jamaica. The story begins when a man enjoys the hotel’s ambiance and talks with a peculiar older man. Later, an American naval cadet and a young Englishwoman join the group. During the chat, the cadet brags that his lighter always works. In response, the older man proposes a challenge: if the lighter works ten times in a row, he will win a Cadillac; if it fails just once, the cadet must give him the little finger of his left hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13316,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[584,614],"class_list":["post-13321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-short-stories","tag-great-britain","tag-roald-dahl-en","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":559,"label":"Short stories"}],"post_tag":[{"value":584,"label":"Great Britain"},{"value":614,"label":"Roald Dahl"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/lecturia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Roald-Dahl-Hombre-del-sur.jpg",1024,1024,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Juan Pablo Guevara","author_link":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/author\/spartakku\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":559,"name":"Short stories","slug":"short-stories","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":559,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":419,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":559,"category_count":419,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Short stories","category_nicename":"short-stories","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":584,"name":"Great Britain","slug":"great-britain","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":584,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":49,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":614,"name":"Roald Dahl","slug":"roald-dahl-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":614,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":4,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lecturia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}