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[1400] you begin to wonder if you have done not died without knowing and gone to hell or been born again into an even worse place than before.
[1401] Then it is hard to believe in those bried[⁁]f[f] years when the bakers were often i ndulgent, at cc[⁁]lose [close] of day, and baking[-]-apples, I was always a great man for apples, to be had almost for the whinging o[⁁]i[i]f you knew your way about, and a
a little sunshine and shelter for those who direly needed them.
[1403] And there he is as good as gold on the bench, his back to the river, and dressed as follows follows, though clothes don't matter, I know, I know, but he'll never have any others, if I know anything about it.
[1404] He has had them a long time already, to judge by their decay, but no matter, they are the last.
[1405] But most remarkable of all is his greatcoat, in the sense that it coves[⁁]rs[rs] him completely and screens him from view.
[1406] For it is so well buttoned, from top to bottom, by means of fifteen buttons at the very least, set at intervals of three or four inches at the very most, that nothing is to be seen of what goes on inside. inside.
[1407] And even the two feet, flat on the ground demurely side by side, even they are partly hidden by this coat, in spite of the double flexion of the body, first at the base of the trunk, where the thighs form a right angle with the pelvis, and then again at t the knees, where the shins resume the perpendicular.
For the posture posture is completely lacking in abandon, and but for the absence of bonds you might think he was bound to the bench, the posture is so stiff and set in the sharpness of its planes and angles, like that of the Colossus of Memnon, dearly loved son of Dawn.
[1408] In other words, when he walks, or simply stands stockstill, the tails of this coat literally
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[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 ppredominates.
[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 [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 marked 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
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[1418] some of these little sticks or pegs are in fact cylindrical, still more have no definable form.
[1419] But all are roughly two and a half inches long and thus prevent the lappets from flying apart, all have this feature in common.
[1420] Now with regard to the material of t this coat, all that can be said is that it looks like felt.
[1421] And the various dints and bulges inflicted upon it by the spasms and contortions of the body subsist long after the fit is past.
[1422] So much for this coat.
[1423] I'll tell myself stories about the boots another time, if I can.
[1424] The hat, as hard as iron, superbly domed above its narrow guttered rim, is marred by a wide crack or rent extending in front from the crown down and intended probably to facilitate the introduction of the skull.
[1425] For coat and hat have this much in common, that whereas the coat is too big, the hat is too small.
[1426] And though the edges of the split brim close on the brow like the jaws of a trap, neverthless 
the hat is attached, by a string, for safety, to the topmost button of the coat, because, never mind.
[1427] And were there nothing more to be said about the structure of this hat, the important thing would still remain unsaid, meaning of course its colour, of which all that can be said is this, that a strong sun full upon it brings out shimmers of buff and pearl grey and that otherwise it verges on black, without however ever really approaching it.
[1428] And it would not surprise me to learn that this hat once belonged to a sporting gentleman, a racegoer [⁁]turf-man or breeder of rams.
[1429] And if we now turn to consider this coat and this chat, no longer separately, but in relation to each other, we are very soon agreeabley surprised to
[p. 73r]
[1429] see how well that[⁁]ey[ey] are assorted.
[1430] And it would not surprise me to lear,n that they had been bought, one at the hatter's, the other at the tailor's, perhaps the same day and by the same toff, for such men exist, I mean fine handsome men six foot tall and over and all in keeping but the head, small from over-breeding.
[1431] And it is a pleasure to find oneself again in the presence of one of those immutable relations between harmoniously perishing terms and the effect of which is this, that when weary to death one is almost resigned to [
] I was going to say to the immortality of the soul, but I don't see the connexion.
[1432] But to pass on now to the garments that really matter, subjacent and even intimate, all that can be said is that this of for the moment is delicate ground.
[1433] For Sapo -[] no, I can't call him that any more, and I even wonder how I was able to stomach such a name till now.
[1434] So then for, let me see, for Macmann, that's not much better but there is no time to lose, for Macmann might be stark staring naked under this this surtout for all anyone would be any the wiser.
[1435] The trouble is he does not stir.
[1436] Since morning he has been here and now it is evening.
[1438] The tugs, their black funnels striped with red, tow to their moorings the last barges, frzeighted with empty barrels.
[1439] The water cradles already the distant fires of the sunset, orange, rose and green, quenches them in its ruffles and then in trembling pools spreads them bright again.
[1440] His back is turned to the river, but perhaps it appears to him in the dreadful cries of the gulls that evening assembles, in frenzies paroxysms of hunger, round the outflow of the sewers, opposite the BBellevue Hotel.
[1441] Yes, they too, in a last frenzy before night and its high crags, swoop ravening about the offal.
[1442] But his
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[1442] face is towards the people that throng the streets at this hour, their long day ended and the whole long evening before them.
[1443] The doors open and spew them out, each door its contingent.
[1444] For an instant they cluster in a daze, huddled on the sidewalk or in the gutter, then set off singly on their appointed ways.
[1445] And even those who know themselves condemned, at the outset, to the same direction, for the choice of directions at the outset is not great, take leave of one another and part, but politely, with some polite excuse, otrr xwithout a word, for they all know one another's little ways.
[1446] And God help him who longs, for once, in his recovered freedom, to walk a little way with a fellow-creature, no matter which, unless of course by a mervciful chance he stumble on one in the same plight.
[1447] Then they take a few paces happily side by side, then part, each one muttering perhaps, Now there will be no holding him.
[1448] At this hour then erotic craving accounts for the majority of couples. But these are few compared to the solitaries pressing forward through the throng, obstructing the access to places of amusement, bowed over the parapets, propped against vacant walls.
[1449] But soon they come to the appointed place, at home or at some other home, or abroad, as the saying is, in a public place, or in a doorway in view of possible rain.
[1450] And the first to arrive have seldom long to wait, for all hasten towards one another, knowing how short the time in which to say all the things that lie heavy on the heart and conscience and to do all the things they have to do together, things one cannot do alone.
[1451] So there they are for a few hours in safety.
[1452] Then the drowsiness, the little memorandum book with its little special pencil, the yawned g