
[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 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