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The Inventions of the Idiot
·
John Kendrick Bangs
87
She
has
found
him
trying
to
turn
somersaults
at
the
top
of
the
back
stairs;
she
has
patiently
borne
his
musical
efforts
on
the
piano,
upon
which
he
practises
daily
for
a
few
minutes,
generally
with
a
hammer
or
a
stick,
or
something
else
equally
well
calculated
to
beautify
the
keys;
she
has
had
to
interfere
in
Sammie's
well-meant
efforts
to
instruct
his
small
brother
in
the
art
of
being
an
Indian
who
can
whoop
and
scalp
all
in
the
same
breath,
thereby
incurring
for
the
moment
Sammie's
undying
hatred;
she
has
heard
Sammie
using
language
which
an
inconsiderate
hired
man
has
not
scrupled
to
use
in
Sammie's
presence;
she
has,
with
terror
in
her
soul,
watched
him
at
play
with
a
knife
which
some
friend
of
the
family
who
admires
Sammie
had
given
him,
and
has
again
incurred
his
enmity
by
finally,
to
avoid
nervous
prostration,
taken
that
treasure
from
him.
In
short,
she
has
passed
a
day
of
real
tragedy.
Sammie
is
farce
to
me,
comedy
to
his
father,
and
tragedy
to
his
mother.
Cannot
something
be
done
for
her?
Is
there
no
way
by
means
of
which
Sammie
can
be
entertained
during
the
day,
for
entertained
he
must
be,
that
does
not
utterly
destroy
the
nervous
system
of
his
mother?
Can't
some
inventive
genius
who
has
studied
the
small
boy,
who
knows
the
little
ins
and
outs
of
his
nature,
and
who,
above
all,
sympathizes
with
those
ins
and
outs,
put
his
mind
on
the
life
of
the
woman
of
domestic
inclination,
and
do
something
to
make
her
life
less
of
a
burden
and
more
of
a
joy?"
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