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The Egotist Becomes a Personage
—Whereareyoudrifting?
Thisdialoguemergedgrotesquelyintohismind’smostfamiliarstate—agrotesqueblendingofdesires,worries,exteriorimpressionsandphysicalreactions.
OneHundredandTwenty-seventhStreet—orOneHundredandThirty-seventhStreet....Twoandthreelookalike—no,notmuch.Seatdamp...areclothesabsorbingwetnessfromseat,orseatabsorbingdrynessfromclothes?...Sittingonwetsubstancegaveappendicitis,soFroggyParker’smothersaid.Well,he’dhadit—I’llsuethesteamboatcompany,Beatricesaid,andmyunclehasaquarterinterest—didBeatricegotoheaven?...probablynot—HerepresentedBeatrice’simmortality,alsolove-affairsofnumerousdeadmenwhosurelyhadneverthoughtofhim...ifitwasn’tappendicitis,influenzamaybe.What?OneHundredandTwentiethStreet?ThatmusthavebeenOneHundredandTwelfthbackthere.OneOTwoinsteadofOneTwoSeven.RosalindnotlikeBeatrice,EleanorlikeBeatrice,onlywilderandbrainier.Apartmentsalonghereexpensive—probablyhundredandfiftyamonth—maybetwohundred.UnclehadonlypaidhundredamonthforwholegreatbighouseinMinneapolis.Question—werethestairsontheleftorrightasyoucamein?Anyway,in12Univeetheywerestraightbackandtotheleft.Whatadirtyriver—wanttogodownthereandseeifit’sdirty—Frenchriversallbrownorblack,sowereSouthernrivers.Twenty-fourdollarsmeantfourhundredandeightydoughnuts.Hecouldliveonitthreemonthsandsleepinthepark.
