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349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
57
August
20.
A
trapper
killed
a
specimen
of
Tropidonotus
natrix
and
brought
it
to
me.
I
gave
him
sixpence
for
it
and
am
just
going
to
dissect
it.
August
21.
There
are
folk
who
notice
nothing.
(Witness
Capt.
McWhirr
in
Conrad's
Typhoon.)
They
live
side
by
side
with
genius
or
tragedy
as
innocent
as
babies;
there
are
heaps
of
people
who
live
on
a
mountain,
a
volcano,
even,
without
knowing
it.
If
the
stars
of
Heaven
fell
and
the
Moon
were
turned
into
blood
some
one
would
have
to
direct
their
attention
to
it....
Perhaps
after
all,
the
most
obvious
things
are
the
most
difficult
to
see.
We
all
recognise
Keats
now,
but
suppose
he
was
only
"the
boy
next
door"--why
should
I
read
his
verses?
August
27.
Preparing
a
Snake's
Skull
Prepared
the
skull
of
grass
snake.
I
fancy
I
scooped
out
the
eyes
with
patent
delight--I
suppose
symbolically,
as
though,
on
behalf
of
the
rest
of
suffering
humanity,
I
were
wiping
off
the
old
score
against
the
beast
for
its
behaviour
in
the
Garden
of
Eden.
September
5.
At
2.30
Dad
had
three
separate
"strokes"
of
paralysis
in
as
many
minutes,
the
third
leaving
him
helpless.
They
sent
for
me
in
the
Library,
where
I
was
reading,
and
I
hurried
home.
Just
as
I
entered
the
bedroom
where
he
and
Mother
were
another
attack
came
on,
and
it
was
with
the
utmost
difficulty
that
with
her
help
I
managed
to
get
him
from
the
chair
to
the
bed.
He
struggled
with
his
left
arm
and
leg
and
made
inarticulate
noises
which
sounded
as
if
they
might
be
groans.
I
don't
know
if
he
was
in
pain.
Dear
Mother.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
