George Orwell
Shooting an Elephant
InMoulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of
people — the only time in my life that I have been important
enough for this to happen to me.
I was sub-divisional police officer
of the town, and in an aimless,...
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George Orwell
Shooting an Elephant
InMoulmein, in Lower Burma, I was hated by large numbers of
people — the only time in my life that I have been important
enough for this to happen to me.
I was sub-divisional police officer
of the town, and in an aimless, petty kind of way anti-European
feeling was very bitter.
No one had the guts to raise a riot, but if a
European woman went through the bazaars alone somebody
would probably spit betel juice over her dress.
As a police officer I
was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to
do so.
When a nimble Burman tripped me up on the football field
and the referee (another Burman) looked the other way, the
crowd yelled with hideous laughter.
This happened more than
once.
In the end the sneering yellow faces of young men that met
me everywhere, the insults hooted after me when I was at a safe
distance, got badly on my nerves.
The young Buddhist priests
were the worst of all.
There were several thousands of them in the
tow
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