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150
Literary Lapses
·
Stephen Leacock
146
Now
to
one
who
has
followed
the
history
of
these
men
through
countless
pages
of
problems,
watched
them
in
their
leisure
hours
dallying
with
cord
wood,
and
seen
their
panting
sides
heave
in
the
full
frenzy
of
filling
a
cistern
with
a
leak
in
it,
they
become
something
more
than
mere
symbols.
They
appear
as
creatures
of
flesh
and
blood,
living
men
with
their
own
passions,
ambitions,
and
aspirations
like
the
rest
of
us.
Let
us
view
them
in
turn.
A
is
a
full-blooded
blustering
fellow,
of
energetic
temperament,
hot-headed
and
strong-willed.
It
is
he
who
proposes
everything,
challenges
B
to
work,
makes
the
bets,
and
bends
the
others
to
his
will.
He
is
a
man
of
great
physical
strength
and
phenomenal
endurance.
He
has
been
known
to
walk
forty-eight
hours
at
a
stretch,
and
to
pump
ninety-six.
His
life
is
arduous
and
full
of
peril.
A
mistake
in
the
working
of
a
sum
may
keep
him
digging
a
fortnight
without
sleep.
A
repeating
decimal
in
the
answer
might
kill
him.
B
is
a
quiet,
easy-going
fellow,
afraid
of
A
and
bullied
by
him,
but
very
gentle
and
brotherly
to
little
C,
the
weakling.
He
is
quite
in
A's
power,
having
lost
all
his
money
in
bets.
Poor
C
is
an
undersized,
frail
man,
with
a
plaintive
face.
Constant
walking,
digging,
and
pumping
has
broken
his
health
and
ruined
his
nervous
system.
His
joyless
life
has
driven
him
to
drink
and
smoke
more
than
is
good
for
him,
and
his
hand
often
shakes
as
he
digs
ditches.
He
has
not
the
strength
to
work
as
the
others
can,
in
fact,
as
Hamlin
Smith
has
said,
"A
can
do
more
work
in
one
hour
than
C
in
four."
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