The Foreign Service Journal, November 2011

that the heavens had come into alignment in order to favor her plan. It is at moments like these that one should be on keenest lookout for dis- aster. A lthough the classic definition of Right Speech is “speaking truthfully,” that is, calling a green thing green, and not purple, it has also been observed that silence is a paradoxical component of Right Speech. In this case, Mrs. Ambassador, by keeping silent, failed to participate in Right Speech. She kept silent about the 150 Cats of Labor when Mr. Ambassador called to see howMrs. Ambassador was doing in his absence. She kept silent to the regional security of- ficer when he called the next day to schedule the installa- tion of new security lighting, and to the general services officer when she came the following day to inventory the crested glassware. She kept silent to the local employees as well, of course, but our vigilant network sprang into action, alerting all sections about this imminent threat to the embassy’s tranquility. Mrs. Williamson’s plan called for the cats to reside in the large reception room, which all agreed was inappropriate. There- fore, suitable cages were hastily pro- cured and “aged” by rubbing dirt in them and hitting them with shovels. They then were placed in the rear shed by the night security team, so as to be “found” the next day by the gardener. (They were later invoiced as smoke detectors.) This, too, was a violation of the precept of Right Speech, but one feels it is for our Americans’ own good that we act this way. I felt Mrs. Ambassador’s enthusiasm for this compli- cated act of charity grow as she enjoyed both the sud- denly clandestine element in her life and the sense of using privileged surroundings to serve a worthy goal. Mrs. Ambassador and her willful daughter Fawn even declared a truce in their ongoing battle over how much F S F I C T I O N N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 55 I felt Mrs. Ambassador’s enthusiasm for this complicated act of charity grow.