Babel

by R.F. Kuang

Of course she could support lobbying for change, as long as it was peaceful, respectable, civilized.

This was no noble fight, only a shared delusion.

But they could not touch that abyss of grief. It was too early yet to give it a name, to shape and tame it with words, and any attempt would crush them. They could only wipe the blood from their skin and try to keep breathing.

All that wonderful, original research, hidden away in the imperial archives for fear of what it could inspire.

‘And lies are self-serving. This story – it benefits no one, certainly not these two,’ she said, pointing at Robin and Victoire, ‘and it is coherent.’

Griffin was right – the obstacle was not the struggle, but the failure to imagine it was possible at all, the compulsion to cling to the safe, the survivable status quo. But the whole world was off its hinges now. Every door was wide open.

to fragment and distribute the suffering so that at no point did it ever become too much for the entire community to bear.

I didn’t think about it. I simply didn’t think about it, for years, and years and years.’ She turned back towards him. Her eyes were wet. ‘Only it builds up, doesn’t it? It doesn’t just disappear. And one day you start prodding at what you’ve suppressed. And it’s a mass of black rot, and it’s endless, horrifying, and you can’t look away.’

‘This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it.’ ‘Even so, there are lines you can’t cross.’ ‘Lines? If we play by the rules, then they’ve already won—’ ‘You’re trying to win by punishing the city,’

The British did not hate them, because hate was bound up with fear and resentment, and both required seeing your opponent as a morally autonomous being, worthy of respect and rivalry. The attitude the British held towards the Chinese was patronizing, was dismissive; but it was not hatred. Not yet.

has trespassed into malice. Your violence is personal, it is vindictive, and this I cannot support.’