Summary

In the opening of The Train from Rhodesia, the author introduces a train station at an unnamed stop, where artists and merchants wait anxiously for tourists to arrive. A stationmaster walks out of his brick train station and straightens his serge uniform. The vendors, who are native to this region, prepare for the arrival of tourists. The stationmaster's barefoot children wander out of their grey mud hut. Chickens, dogs, and small children walk alongside the track. The heavy heat casts a reflection on the station. Thick sand flies through the air. The stationmaster's wife sits on her veranda, behind a mesh curtain, with a sheep carcass dangling above her head.

The approaching train is heard in the distance. The track flares out to let the old train come creaking into the station. Artists move animatedly up and down the length of...