MS-HRC-SB-4-3

[1408] this coat literally sweep the ground and rustle like a train,
when he walks. [1409] And indeed this coat terminates ina ^{in a} fringe, like
certain curtains, and the thread of the sleeves too is bare and
frayed into long waving strands that flutter in the wind. [1410] And the
hands too are hidden. For the sleeves of this vast rag are of a
piece with its other parts. [1411] But the collar has remained intact,
being of velvet or perhaps shag.

[1412] Now as to the colour of this
coat, for colour too is an important consideration, there is no
good denying it, all that can be said is that green predominates.
[1413] And it might safely be wagered that this coat, when new, was of
a fine plain green colour, what you might call cab green, but ^for there
used to be cabs and carriages rattling through the town with
panels of a handsome bottle green, I must have seen them myself,
and even driven in them, I would not put it past me.

[1414] But perhaps
I am wrong to call this coat a greatcoat and perhaps I should r
rather call it an overcoat or even cover-me-down, for that is
indeed the impression it gives, that it covers the whole body all
over, with the exception obviosuly ^obviously of the head which emerges,
lofty and impassive, clear of its embrace. [1415] Yes, passion has mark-
ed the face, action too possibly, but it seems to have ceased from
suffering, for the time being.

[1416] But one never knows, does one? [1417] Now
with regard to the buttons of this coat, they are not so much
genuine buttons as little wooden cylinders two or three inches l
long, with a hole in the middle for the thread, for one hole is
ample, though two and even four are more usual, and this because
of the inordinate distension of the button-holes consequent on
wear and tear. [1418] And cylinders is perhaps an exaggeration, for if