Yet Neither Had A Crust
That Night To Rub His Gums With.
Whatever Devil it is, however, that tempts men to repose - and for my
part I believe him to be rather an Aeon than a Devil:
That is, a
good-natured fellow working on his own account neither good nor
ill - whatever being it is, it certainly suits one's mood, for I never
yet knew a man determined to be lazy that had not ample opportunity
afforded him, though he were poorer than the cure of Maigre, who
formed a syndicate to sell at a scutcheon a gross such souls as were
too insignificant to sell singly. A man can always find a chance for
doing nothing as amply and with as ecstatic a satisfaction as the
world allows, and so to me (whether it was there before I cannot tell,
and if it came miraculously, so much the more amusing) appeared this
thicket. It was to the left of the road; a stream ran through it in a
little ravine; the undergrowth was thick beneath its birches, and just
beyond, on the plain that bordered it, were reapers reaping in a
field. I went into it contentedly and slept till evening my third
sleep; then, refreshed by the cool wind that went before the twilight,
I rose and took the road again, but I knew I could not go far.
I was now past my fortieth mile, and though the heat had gone, yet my
dead slumber had raised a thousand evils.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 54 of 361
Words from 14442 to 14695
of 97758
