“Now You Make the Tiger”: An Excerpt from Tania James’s ‘Loot’
Abbas, a 17-year-old woodcarver from the kingdom of Mysore, is drawn into service by Tipu Sultan, in order to build a giant tiger automaton for Tipu’s sons, a gift to commemorate their return from British captivity. In this excerpt, Abbas arrives at the workshop of the famed French clockworker and expat, Lucien Du Leze, to begin construction of the tiger.
Of all the rooms Abbas has entered over the past two days, this— the workshop of Lucien Du Leze—is the one that steals his breath.
The walls bristle with tools, at least three of every kind and size, veiner and saw and adze and ax, gouges so small and with so many different tips that he cannot predict what all they can do. Nor does he know what to do with himself in their presence, what to touch first or not touch at all. A bouquet of long wooden planks is arranged in a bin. A lathe awaits. And on one of the two tables rests a great mass of wood, stripped of its bark and propped sideways.
Abbas runs his eyes over everything, pausing over an extraordinary contraption consisting of a flat wooden table over a little iron seat. Strung vertically through the center of the table is a serrated blade as long as a man’s arm, as slim as a fingernail. Abbas approaches with care, as if the instrument might at any moment come to life.
“A mechanical scroll saw,” says Du
