Prev | Current Page 482 | Next

Douglas, Norman, 1868-1952

"South Wind"

Take a sunrise by John Addington.
Of course, as a matter of fact, we ought both to have been born in
another age--an age of sinecures. Why are sinecures extinct? I feel as
if I could be Governor of Madagascar at this moment."
"I feel as if you were getting slightly intoxicated."
"That's me. But it's only my legs. My head is astonishingly clear. And
I do wish you would try, just for once in a way, to follow my meaning.
Be reasonable, for a change! I mean to say that a man has talents for
all sorts of things. I, for example, have pronounced views upon
agriculture. But what's the use of farming without capital? What I mean
to say is this: we see the blue sea and the orange tints on the
mountains, and all that, I mean, and we don't seem to realize, I mean,
that we may die at any moment and never see them again. How few people
grasp that simple fact! It's enough to make one sick. Or do you think
it's a laughing matter?"
"Bally rotten, I call it. You're quite right. People don't realize
things the way they ought, except in a few selected moments.


Pages:
470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494