Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, #1)

by Elizabeth Peters

But why should any independent, intelligent female choose to subject herself to the whims and tyrannies of a husband? I assure you, I have yet to meet a man as sensible as myself!’

I could not endure a man who would let himself be ruled by me, and I would not endure a man who tried to rule me.

The Philae was of middle size, and of unusual tidiness;

What the River knows je pense à toi !!!!

‘But I know you, madam! I have met your kind too often – the rampageous British female at her clumsiest and most arrogant. Ye gods! The breed covers the earth like mosquitoes and is as maddening. The depths of the pyramids, the heights of the Himalayas – no spot on earth is safe from you!’

C'est méchant mais j'ai rigolé...

‘And you, sir, are the lordly British male at his loudest and most bad-mannered. If the English gentlewoman is covering the earth, it is in the hope of counteracting some of the mischief her lord and master has perpetrated. Swaggering, loud, certain of his own superiority…’

Cette répartie 😂😂😂😂

‘Ignorant perhaps; but lacking the hypocrisies of civilization. Good God, how it maddens me to hear the smug comments of English travellers concerning the “natives,” as they call them! There are good and bad among the Egyptians, as there are in any race; but by and large they are an admirable people, friendly, cheerful, loyal, intelligent – when taught…. For centuries these people were oppressed by a vicious, cruel despotism. They are riddled by disease, poverty, and ignorance, but through no fault of their own.’

‘Bah,’ said Emerson vigorously. ‘Do you think we are acting out of benevolence? Ask the inhabitants of Alexandria how they enjoyed being shelled by British gunboats, two years ago. We are not so uncivilized as the Turk, but we have the same purpose – our own self-interest. And we are letting those imbecile French mismanage the antiquities department! Not that our own so-called scholars are any better.’

‘Why, there are a dozen purposes. Pottery, like other objects, changes and develops with time. We could work out a basic chronological sequence which would enable us to date not only the pottery, but other objects found with it. And it is not only pottery that can be useful. Every object, every small scrap of the past can teach us something. Most of these objects are now tossed into rubbish heaps, or carried off by ignorant tourists, lost forever to science. Maspero saves only the impressive objects, and half of those are lost or smashed or stolen, in that reputed museum of his.’

‘For example, studies might be made of anatomical remains. The race to which the ancient Egyptians belonged might be ascertained, and the racial mixtures. Are they the same stock today as they were in ancient times? But scholars do not collect bones and mummies, do they, except to display the latter as curiosities.’

‘Pray don’t break a good parasol,’ she said, with a curling lip. ‘He is not worth it.’

😂😭

The key to the regeneration of Egypt lies in the women. So long as they are forced into marriage and motherhood long before they are ready for such responsibilities – sold to the highest bidder like animals, untrained in even the rudiments of sanitation and housekeeping, untaught, unassisted, and degraded – so long will the country fail to realize its potential.

‘I wish to take your pulse,’ I said impatiently. ‘Stop acting like a timid maiden lady.’

😂😂😂😂 je l'aime 😭❤️ c'est Amelia qui sort ça à Emerson !

I watched you all night, remember; your anatomy is not prepossessing, I agree, but I am tolerably familiar with it.’

Et BIM !

The mirror – take the mirror. If you hold it at the proper angle it will give you sufficient light.’

Oui j'ai crié "LA MOMIE" parce que y'a une scène avec des miroirs dedans...

‘There is absolutely no limit to this man’s arrogant stupidity,’

J'en peux plus d'Amelia 😂😂😂

‘My mummy! You have stolen my mummy!

Les archéologues sont des drama queen en puissance... xD

‘I will have the courage to speak now that I have you to support me. But I shudder to think what Emerson will say. I can hear him now: “A walking mummy, Peabody? Quite so! No wonder the poor fellow wants exercise, after lying stiff for two thousand years!”’

Je l'imagine trop dire ça xD

Neither of the Emersons were interested in scandal, unless it concerned the love affairs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs, so it was unlikely that they should have heard of the escapade of the late Lord Ellesmere’s young heiress; but there was no point in taking chances.

😂😂

‘Do you mean to suggest that the mummy will not be intrigued by me? You must not insult me.’

‘God help the poor mummy who encounters you, Peabody,’ he said bitterly. ‘We ought to supply it with a pistol, to even the odds.’

Le banter est d'une qualité 😂

‘I have said that I can manage without a weapon. How many men can claim as much? Good night, Emerson. I accept your plan. You need have no fear of my failing in my role.’ Emerson did not reply. A most peculiar expression had come over his face. I watched him for a moment, relishing the situation with, I fear, a malice most unbecoming a Christian woman. ‘Your pocket is on fire,’ I added. ‘I thought when you put your pipe away that it was not quite out, but you dislike advice so much…. Good night.’

😂😂 la scène d'après il essaye d'éteindre le feu qui se déclenche dans ses poches 😂

‘The situation is intolerable,’ he exclaimed. ‘Amelia, swear to me that you will do precisely what I said; you will not take foolish chances, or expose yourself – ’ ‘I have said I would. Don’t you understand English?’ ‘Good God! You are the one who fails to understand; don’t you realize there is not another woman living whom I would – ’

OOOOOOOOOH mais dis donc petit filouuuuuu 😍 (oui j'ai glissé comme une pintade!)

‘Lucas! Lucas!’ I shrieked. ‘A moi, Lucas! Help!’ I cannot imagine why I shouted in French. It was a dramatic moment.

Gosh je rigole pour rien...

‘Radcliffe,’

Par contre je préfère l'appeler par son nom de famille. Radcliffe,c'est le méchant dans Pocahontas….

‘Peabody, you may as well hear the truth. I am mad about you! Since the day you walked into my tomb and started ordering us all about, I have known you were the only woman for me. Why do you suppose I have sulked and avoided you since we left Amarna? I was contemplating a life without you – a bleak, grey existence, without your voice scolding me and your big bright eyes scowling at me, and your magnificent figure – has no one told you about your figure, Peabody? – striding up and down prying into all sorts of places where you had no business to be…. I knew I couldn’t endure it! If you hadn’t spoken tonight, I should have borrowed Alberto’s mummy costume and carried you off into the desert! There, I have said it. You have stripped away my defences. Are you satisfied with your victory?’

Gosh... Je trouve ça tellement beau T.T