Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
pets had only a few watermelon stains. A small amount of toilet pa­
per was doled out each day, adequate if one had intestinal fortitude.
More was available on request or by theft from the supplies cart in
the hall that was monitored by a surveillance camera. The Glorious
View Villa was, in fact, the best hotel in the whole of the Naxi
Autonomous Region, but for a group used to staying at a chain no
worse than the Four Seasons, “best” should have been thought of as
a restricted comparative term, not a fixed standard of excellence.
This distinction was lost on Roxanne and Dwight, who tried the
knobs on the bedside consoles, the ubiquitous fixture of Chinese
hotels. They duly clicked to appropriate notches marked “Lights,”
“TV,” “Stereo.” The lights remained lit, the television stayed black,
the radio silent. “How can this be a first-class hotel?” Roxanne
groused. “This place is the pits.”
Because Lijiang had been described as “historic,” “remote,” and
“near the Tibetan foothills,” Roxanne had imagined they would be
staying in a nomadic tent–style villa. The floors should have been
beaten earth covered with yak hides, the walls adorned with color­
ful tapestries. She wanted saddled and snorting camels waiting
outside, in lieu of battle-scarred taxis and tens of thousands of
tourists, most of whom were Chinese. But it was only Dwight who
was snorting. He nuzzled his wife’s breasts, his usual sign that he
wished to mate. I use the word “mate” deliberately. They were both
desperate to have a baby before it was too late. For this trip, she told
him, she had brought along the thermometer, and the last reading in­
dicated it was prime time. She wasn’t in the mood, but this was not
about lust.
“I can’t believe they make beds even smaller than twins,” Roxanne
said. She pointed disparagingly at the twin bed with its headboard
permanently nailed to the wall, a good six feet apart from its match.
“Honey, see if you can get us a room with a king-sized bed. If we
have to pay more, so be it.” And Dwight dashed down four flights of
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