Samuel Beckett
Digital Manuscript Project
Molloy

MS-WU-MSS008-3-49

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Segment 1

[1528] the same order as the first time and that the first, seventh and twelfth
for example of the first cycle might very well be the sixth, eleventh and
sixteenth respectively of the second, assuming the worst came to the worst.
[1529] But that was a drawback I could not avoid. [1530] And if []in the cycles taken
together utter confusion was bound to reign, at least within each cycle
taken separately I could be easy in my mind, at least as easy as one can
be, in a proceeding of this kind.

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Segment 2

[1531] For for each cycle to be identical,
as to the succession of stones in my mouth, and God knows I had set my
heart on it, the only means were numbered stones or sixteen pockets.
[1532] And
rather than make twelve more pockets or number my stones, I preferred to
make the best of the comparative peace of mind I enjoyed within each cycle
taken separately.

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Segment 3

[1533] For it was not enough to number the stones, but I
would have had to remember, every time I put a stone in my mouth, the
number I needed and look for it in my pocket.
[1534] Which would have spoilt
the taste of stones for me, in a very short time.
[1535] For I would never
have been sure of not making a mistake, unless of course I had kept a
kind of register, in which to tick off the stones one by one, as I
sucked them.

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Segment 4

[1536] And of this I believed myself incapable. [1537] No, the only
perfect solution would have been the sixteen pockets, symmetrically
disposed, each one with its stone.
[1538] Then I would have needed neither
to number nor to think, but merely, as I sucked a given stone, to move
on the fifteen others, each to the next pocket, a delicate business
admittedly, but within my power, and to call always on the same pocket
when I felt like sucking.

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Segment 5

[1539] This would have freed me from all anxiety,
not only within each cycle taken separately, but also for the sum of
all cycles, though they went on forever.
[1540] But however imperfect my
own solution was, I was pleased at having found it all alone, yes, quite
pleased.
[1541] And if it was perhaps less sound than I had thought in the
first flush of discovery, its inelegance never diminished.
[1542] And it was

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