
[3899] the habit of speech.
[3900] But had I not said already, with relief, at the
mere sight of his back, He's a foreigner. [3901] Would you like a tin of
sardines? I said.
[3902] He asked for bread and I offered him fish.
[3903] That is
me all over.
[3904] Bread, he said.
[3905] I went into the shelter and took the piece
of bread I was keeping for my son, [place = inline] [⁁] [place = supralinear] who would probably be hungry when he came
back.
[3906] I gave it [place = inline] [|] to him.
[3907] I expected him to devour it there and then. [3908] But
he broke it in two and put the pieces in ho [place = overwritten] is coat-pockets.
[3909] Do you mind if
I look at your stick? I said.
[3910] I stretched out my hand.
[3911] He did not move.
[3912] I put my hand on the stick, just under his.
[3913] I could feel his fingers
gradually letting go.
[3914] Not [place = supralinear] w it was I who held the stick.
[3915] Its lightness
astounded me.
[3916] I put it back in his hand. [3917] He threw me a last look and
went.
[3918] It was almost dark.
[3919] He walked with swift uncertain step, often
changing his course, dragging the stick like a hindrance.
[3920] I wished I
could have stood there looking after him, and time at a standstill.
[3921] I
wished I could have been in the middle of a desert, under the midday sun,
to look after him till he was only a dot, on the edge of the horizon.
[3922] I
stayed out in the air for a long time.
[3923] Every now and then I listened.
[3924] But my son did not come.
[3925] Beginning to feel cold I went back in to the
shelter and lay down, under my son's raincoat.
[3926] But beginning to feel
sleepy I went out again and lit a big wood-fire, to guide my son towards
me.
- Segments
Molloy © 2016 Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project.
Editors: Magessa O'Reilly, Dirk Van Hulle, Pim Verhulst and Vincent Neyt