The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924 Page: 34
41 p. : ill. ; 22 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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THE GALLEON
THE WHITE MONKEY
By Lela Mae Skinner
It was a Chinese picture and
cleverly original. One could I
just feel the haunting look in
the brown eyes of the large,
white monkey. All about him
were scattered the bright color-
ed rinds of the orange-like fruit
from which he had wrested all
that was interesting. An artist
said of it: "He thinks there is
something beyond it, and he's
sad or angry because he can't
get at it."
Around this painting John
Galsworthy weaves a story of
modern young people. He lets
one of his older characters,
Soames Forsyte, represent his
class, in thinking that his chil-
dren 'talked too much-too
much and too fast! They got to
the end of interest in this and
that and the other. Like that
white monkey, they ate life and
threw away the rind, and then
the author writes an optimistic
story to prove that the younger
generation is interested in some-
thing besides 'fads and mi-
crobes.'
Fleur, the dainty little French
wife of a practical young busi-
ness man, was a collector-of
men, of 'interesting' dinner par-
ties, of Chinese pets and pic-
tures, and above all, a collector
of experiences. When asked by
her cousin what all the 'smart
young people felt about life,'
she voiced a creed considered
typically modern: "We want to
have a good time because we
don't believe anything can last.
But I don't think we know how
to have it. We just fly on and
hope." Since she couldn't have
Jan, what did it matter--'Wil-
fred or Michael, or both, or
neither? Eat the orange in her
hand, and throw away the rind.'The picture which her father
gave her of the white monkey
seemed to tell her that all her
little modern veerings and flut-
terings and rushings after the
future showed that she believed
only in the past.' But she must
keep doing them in order to
keep from thinking about the
future which held no certainty
for her! However, after playing
around awhile and skating on
very thin ice with Wilfred, the
young author, she managed to
save herself for a greater happi-
ness with her husband, Michael
Mont. As a result, after the
birth of the 'eleventh baronet',
as he called his son, Michael
could contemplate the white
monkey and opinionate: "He
won't be happy till he gets it,
the only thing is--he doesn't
know what he's after."
'Old Mont' and 'old Forsyte,'
the fathers of Michael and
Fleur, are entertaining types of
the older generation. Mont will
not admit that he is old-fashion-
ed, while Forsyte will not admit
that he is modern. Of the two,
Soames Forsyte is the more pos-
itive character and wins the day
for the two of them on a ques-
tion in the Bank of England
about foreign insurance.
Interwoven with the story of
the coupe who meddled with the
frills and foolishness of 'Society
playing' there is a delightful
story of another couple who be-
longed to the class of 'just folks'
and loved each other. In order
to get money that Victorine
might recover of pneumonia,
Tony Bicket 'snooped' manu-
scripts from the publishing
company for which he worked;
and-in order to make possible
their trip to Australia, Victor-
ine aroused her husband's jeal-
ousy by sitting for an artist.
But in the end Tony said, "I
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McMurry College. The Galleon, Volume 1, Number 1, December 1924, periodical, December 1924; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137771/m1/34/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.