Collecting

Collecting is in people's blood. Whether it's stamps, cigar bands, old coins or KLM houses, once you've been grabbed, there's no holding back. Everything I collected in the Netherlands was left behind. In Thailand I started a new life of collecting, albeit less fanatically. Although, books are a constant factor in my interest.

Last night I read the second story of a detective omnibus by Elleston Trevor. It is titled: Queen in Danger. I know it's not literature, but after a hard day it's great to relax. The main character, Hugo Raadsheer, asks the following question at the beginning of the story: do you dislike pipes, Mrs Tasman?

Such a question immediately reminds me of the fact that in Thailand I developed a nice hobby: pipes, I collect pipes. It started with a large bamboo water pipe that I bought in MaeSai, close to the Burmese border. Originally intended for the use of opium. Now for hash or regular shag. The silver or at least silver-coloured long pipes, originating from Hill Tribes, are also very refined. They have an elephant head with a lid. The nicest one I bought in MaeHongSon. I think they are tin. One has a head in the shape of a Garuda. The other is shaped like a crocodile. On his back a monkey, holding the head of the pipe.

Coming back to the book, of course I immediately thought, how can a sensible translator be so naive? It was therefore not a translator. It was Mrs. HCE de Wit-Boonacker, the guileless darling.