James K. Baxter Complete Prose Volume 3

The Sleepy Man and the Flea

The Sleepy Man and the Flea

Language creates realities that might not otherwise be there. Remembering Jerusalem, this is a boulder on the track which I would wish to avoid. I do not wish to imitate the wordiness of the culture in which I appear to live. I could give an exact example. Less than a week ago, coming through the magical sliding doors at the Wellington airport, I saw a sign erected in front of me, white on a blue ground –

THE CITY OF WELLINGTON WELCOMES YOU. WE HOPE YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY STAY . . .

I take it that it was erected by the Father of Lies. To welcome the stranger is part of the sacred relationship of manuhiritanga. Hope for another’s welfare is the ground of all charitable action. And happiness is the juice many of us are trying to extract from the world’s plum. But the sign at the airport did not mean what it said. To be truthful, it would have had to be painted with other words –

IF YOU HAVE MONEY YOU ARE WELCOME IN THIS TOWN. WE WILL ACCEPT YOU IN OUR SHOPS, THOUGH NOT IN OUR HOUSES. IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY YOU WILL SOONER OR LATER BE ARRESTED, AND IF YOU ARE INSULTED OR BEATEN WE WILL NOT GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU . . .

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