
[3689] silent for some time.
[3690] And if you can't find one second-hand, I said at
last, what will you do?
[3691] You didn't tell me, he said.
[3692] What a restful
change it is from time to time, a little dialogue.
[3693] How much money did
I give you? I said.
[3694] He counted the notes.
[3695] Four pounds ten, he said.
[3696] Count them again, I said.
[3697] He counted them again.
[3698] Four pounds ten, he
said.
[3699] Give it to me, I said.
[3700] He gave me the notes and I counted them.
[3701] Four pounds ten.
[3702] I gave you five, I said.
[3703] He did not answer, he let
the figures speak for themselves.
[3704] Had he stolen ten shillings and hidden
them on his person?
[3705] Empty your pockets, I said.
[3706] He began to empty them.
[3707] It must not be forgotten that all this time I was lying down.
[3708] He did not
know I was ill.
[3709] Besides I was not ill.
[3710] I looked vaguely at the objects
he was spreading out before me.
[3711] He took them out of his pockets one by
one, held them up delicately between finger and thumb, turned them this
way t [place = overwritten] and that before my eyes and laid them finally on the ground beside me.
[3712] When a pocket was emptied he pulled out its lining and shook it.
[3713] Then a
little cloud of dust arose.
[3714] I was very soon overcome by the absurdity of
this verification.
[3715] I told him to stop.
[3716] Perhaps he was hiding the ten
shillings up his sleeve, or in his mouth.
[3717] I should have had to get up and
search him myself, inch by inch.
[3718] But then he would have seen I was ill.
[3719] Not that I was exactly ill.
[3720] And why did I not want him to know I was ill?
[3721] I don't know.
[3722] I could have counted the money I had left.
[3723] But what use
would that have been?
[3724] Did I even know the amount I had brought with me?
[3725] No.
[3726] To me too I cheerfully applied the maieutic method.
[3727] Did I know how
much I had spent?
[3728] No.
[3729] Usually I kept the most rigorous accounts when
away on business and was in a position to justify my expenditure down to
the last penny.
[3730] This time no.
[3731] For I was throwing my money away with as
little concern as if I had been travelling for my pleasure.
[3732] Let us suppose
I am wrong, I said, and that I only gave you four pounds ten.
[3733] He was
- Segments
Molloy © 2016 Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.
Editors: Magessa O'Reilly, Dirk Van Hulle, Pim Verhulst and Vincent Neyt