CHAPTER 11

Summary

Mallinson excitedly informs Conway that the porters have come at last and are about five miles away from the pass. Conway cautions the younger man that the porters may not want to take him with them, but Mallinson reveals that they have been paid in advance by Lo-Tsen who is waiting to go with them. Conway insists that Lo-Tsen doesn't want to leave, but Mallinson insists she'll be better off with him than in Shangri-La. Mallinson believes that there's something dark and evil about Shangri-La, and that Lo-Tsen feels the same way.

Conway tries to make Mallinson understand the truth of Shangri-la by telling the whole story as he had heard it from the High Lama. The only thing he doesn't reveal is that he has been named the successor to Father Perrault. Mallinson thinks Conway has gone mad, but Conway holds fast to his story and tells Mallinson he has no desire to leave the valley. The younger man insists that Conway cannot hold him back, and that the men who had said the war had ruined Conway were right.

Mallinson's commentary as he leaves Conway makes Conway realize even more that all the loveliest things were transient . . . and that the two worlds were finally beyond reconciliation and that one of them hung, as always, by a thread. Soon, however, Mallinson is back. He hadn't the nerve to walk across the place where they had all been roped together. He's so angry that he can't get beyond that point that he declares that he'd love to fly over the valley with a load of bombs. Conway feels badly about Mallinson's fear, but he continues to warn him that Lo-Tsen will lose her beauty if she leaves. Mallinson wants proof of Conway's story, but the only piece of information he can give him is the example of Briac as Chopin's student. Unfortunately, Mallinson's arguments have well-made points, and Conway must admit that he has argued well. Then, Mallinson admits that he is not only in love with Lo-Tsen, but that they have made love. With that, a dream dissolves for Conway, because he realizes that this wonderful world of Shangri-La is also in peril if such corruption has entered. It is enough to make him regain some of the sense of who he was before they had come to the Valley of Blue Moon: a man who was a leader and had obligations to those who follow him. He offers to go with Mallinson and help him over the place where they will need the ropes.

However, as they are preparing to leave, Conway feels such an emptiness in himself and is amazed that the one who found such happiness here is now leaving it behind. Because he feels responsible to help Mallinson go home, he also feels doomed like millions who flee from wisdom in order to be a hero. The porters are waiting, and so is Lo-Tsen who looks upon Mallinson with adoring eyes. The manuscript ends here.

Notes

This chapter reveals that even though he has become so acclimated to the slow passionless life of Shangri-La, Conway still has a strong sense of responsibility for Mallinson. He hasn't completely purged the feelings of the outer world, and when part of his dream - to live as the High Lama and slowly express his love for Lo-Tsen - comes to end with the news that Lo-Tsen and Mallinson are lovers, he is willing to help the young man leave the valley. He feels a definite sense of loss, but he does what he feels he must. It's perhaps true as well that he fears for the integrity of Shangri-La if Mallinson and Lo-Tsen remain there. They have destroyed what makes it special by their physical relationship. Even though he cares for them both, they no longer belong in the Valley of the Blue Moon.