"
"But you--?"
"Well, I read a good deal. Quite a little. Shakespeare and
geography and a lot of stuff. I like reading."
"And how do you place Nietzsche?" she gravely desired to know.
"?"
"Nietzsche. You know--the German humorist."
"Oh yes--uh--let me see now; he's--uh--"
"Why, you remember, don't you? Haeckel and he wrote the great
musical comedy of the century. And Matisse did the
music--Matisse and Rodin."
"I haven't been to it," he said, vaguely. "...I don't know
much German. Course I know a few words, like _Spricken Sie
Dutch_ and _Bitty, sir_, that Rabin at the Souvenir Company--he's
a German Jew, I guess--learnt me.... But, say, isn't Kipling
great! Gee! when I read _Kim_ I can imagine I'm hiking along one
of those roads in India just like I was there--you know, all
those magicians and so on.... Readin's wonderful, ain't it!"
"Um. Yes."
"I bet you read an awful lot."
"Very little. Oh--D'Annunzio and some Turgenev and a little
Tourgenieff.... That last was a joke, you know.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163