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349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
185
December
31.
A
Conversation
"There
is
that
easily
calculable
element
in
your
nature,
dear
boy,"
I
said,
"by
which
you
forego
the
dignity
of
a
free-willed
human
being
and
come
under
an
inflexible
natural
law.
I
can
anticipate
your
movements,
intentions,
and
opinions
long
beforehand.
For
example,
I
know
quite
well
that
every
Saturday
morning
will
see
you
with
The
New
Statesman
under
your
arm;
I
know
that
the
words
'Wagner'
or
'Shaw'
uttered
slowly
and
deliberately
in
your
ear
will
produce
a
perfectly
definite
reaction."
"I
bet
you
can't
predict
what
I
am
going
to
buy
now,"
R----
replied
gaily,
advancing
to
the
newspaper
stall.
He
bought
the
Pink
'Un
and
I
laughed....
"And
so
you
read
Pragmatism,"
he
mused,
"while
the
fate
of
the
Empire
stands
in
the
balance."
"Yes,"
said
I,
"and
the
Paris
Academy
of
Sciences
were
discussing
the
functions
of
θ
and
the
Polymorphism
of
Antarctic
diatoms
last
September
when
the
Germans
stood
almost
at
the
gates
of
Paris."
This
was
a
lucky
stroke
for
me,
for
he
knew
he
was
rubbing
me
on
the
raw.
We
are,
of
course,
great
friends,
but
sometimes
we
get
on
one
another's
nerves.
"I
am
polychromatic,"
I
declaimed,
"rhetorical,
bass.
You--besides
being
a
bally
fool--are
of
a
pretty
gray
colour,
a
baritone
and
you
paint
in
water-colours."
"Whereas
you,
of
course,
would
paint
in
blood?"
he
answered
facetiously.
His
Oxford
education
has
a
firm
hold
on
him.
He
says
for
example,
"e
converso"
instead
of
"on
the
other
hand"
and
"entre
nous"
for
"between
ourselves."
He
labels
his
paragraphs
α,
β,
γ,
instead
of
a,
b,
c,
and
quotes
Juvenal,
knows
Paris
and
Naples,
visits
the
Alps
for
the
winter
sports,
all
in
the
approved
manner
of
dons.
Marker
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Fine marker
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