Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Part III - II
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL 187
of jars. I ventured to make a remark to the effect, but
my wife replied that her room was her own.
Then I started on a merciless crusade. I left her
severely alone ; and by and by she found my reserve
unbearable.
" Why do you never come to say good-morning to
me now? "
" Because I can’t get near you."
She sulked. I sulked too. For another fortnight I
lived in celibacy. Then, tired out, she found herself
compelled to make friends. She took the first step, but
she hated me for it.
She decided to have the troublesome interloper
destroyed. But instead of having it done forthwith,
she invited her friend to assist her in the enactment of
a farewell farce, entitled "The Last Moments of the
Condemned." She went to the length of begging me
on her knees to embrace the wretched little brute as a
proof that I harboured no ill-will, arguing that dogs
might possibly have an immortal soul and that we might
meet again in another world. The result was that I
gave the dog its life and freedom, an action which found
its reward in her gratitude.
At times I fancied that I was living in a lunatic asylum,
but one does not stand upon trifles when one is in love.
This scene, "The Last Moments of the Condemned,"
was renewed every six months during the next three
years.
You, reader, who read this plain tale of a man, a
woman and a dog, will not deny me your compassion,
for my sufferings lasted three times three hundred and
sixty-five days of twenty-four hours each. You will
perhaps admire me, for I remained alive. If it be true,
however, that I am insane, as my wife maintains, blame
no one but myself, for I ought to have had the courage
to get rid of the dog once and for all.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
