Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles Page A

paths.
    "Don't let the word 'jungle' frighten you," he said. "After all it only means tropical forest."
    "If I don't feel like going in I won't. It doesn't matter. Tonight we are going back to Colon, aren't we?"
    "Well, maybe we'll be too tired and we'll have to stay here another night."
    "But I told Pacifica and Mrs. Quill that we would be back tonight. They'll be so disappointed if we aren't."
    "You aren't really considering them, are you? . . . After all, Frieda! Anyway, I don't think they'll mind. They'll understand."
    "Oh, no, they won't," answered Mrs. Copperfield. "They'll be disappointed. I told them I would be back before midnight and that we would go out and celebrate. I'm positive that Mrs. Quill will be very disappointed. She loves to celebrate."
    "Who on earth is Mrs. Quill?"
    "Mrs. Quill . . . Mrs. Quill and Pacifica."
    "Yes, I know, but it's so ridiculous. It seems to me you wouldn't care to see them for more than one evening. I should think it would be easy to know what they were like in a very short time."
    "Oh, I know what they're like, but I do have so much fun with them." Mr. Copperfield did not answer.
    They went out and walked through the streets until they came to a place where there were some buses. They inquired about schedules, and boarded a bus called Shirley Temple. On the insides of the doors were painted pictures of Mickey Mouse. The driver had pasted postcards of the saints and the holy virgin on the windshield above his head. He was drinking a Coca-Cola when they got in the bus.
    "¿En que burro vinieron?" asked the driver.
    "Venimos de Colon," said Mr. Copperfield.
    "What was that?" Mrs. Copperfield asked him.
    "Just what boat did we come on, and I answered we have just arrived from Colon. You see, most people have just come off a boat. It corresponds to asking people where they live, in other places."
    "J'adore Colon, c'est tellement . . ." began Mrs. Copperfield. Mr. Copperfield looked embarrassed. "Don't speak in French to him. It doesn't make any sense. Speak to him in English."
    "I adore Colon."
    The driver made a face. "Dirty wooden city. I am sure you have made a big mistake. You will see. You will like Panama City better. More stores, more hospitals, wonderful cinemas, big clean restaurants, wonderful houses in stone; Panama City is a big place. When we drive through Ancon I will show you how nice the lawns are and the trees and the sidewalks. You can't show me anything like that in Colon. You know who likes Colon?" He leaned way over the back of his seat, and as they were sitting behind him he was breathing right in their faces.
    "You know who likes Colon?" He winked at Mr. Copperfield. "They're all over the streets. That is what it is there; nothing else much. We have that here too, but in a separate place. If you like that you can go. We have everything here."
    "You mean the whores?" asked Mrs. Copperfield in a clear voice.
    "Las putas," Mr. Copperfield explained in Spanish to the driver. He was delighted at the turn in the conversation and fearful lest the driver should not get the full savor of it.
    The driver covered his mouth with his hand and laughed.
    "She loves that," said Mr. Copperfield, giving his wife a push.
    "No—no," said the driver, "she could not."
    "They've all been very sweet to me."
    "Sweet!" said the driver, almost screaming. "There is not this much sweet in them." He made a tiny little circle with his thumb and forefinger. "No, not sweet—someone has been fooling you. He knows." He put his hand on Mr. Copperfield's leg.
    "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it," said Mr. Copperfield. The driver winked at him again, and then he said.
    "She thinks she knows las — I will not say the word, but she has never met one of them."
    "But I have. I have even taken a siesta with one."
    "Siesta!" the driver roared with laughter, "Don't make fun please, lady. That is not very nice, you know." He suddenly looked very sober. "No, no, no." He shook his head sadly.
    By now