The Dwarfs Read Online Free PDF Page B

Naturally.
    - Why? Has he got money in it?
    - In a way I suppose he has, but that’s beside my point. Ican’t see me getting the correct fare out of you or anything like it. But you must understand that I’m subject to the rise and fall of the balancesheets. If the market drops, or goes up, what can I do? Look here, Mark, it’s quite true. My examiner is hiding behind a large book at the moment. I won’t deny it. It’s over there, by the wireless.
    Mark turned in his chair and looked over his shoulder.
    - A black book?
    - Yes.
    - A thick black book?
    - Yes.
    - Looks familiar.
    - Huh.
    - Lots of pages, in that book.
    - Yes. Well, he’s hiding there, but I mean to see him, I can tell you that. I mean to have a look at him, at least.
    - What’s wrong with that? Mark said.
    - Nothing. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ll let you know the result of my investigations.
    - All right.
    - But, Mark, you can do me a favour and don’t spit. You don’t have to spit. I know you’ve got Droit, but so have I. You must have manners, even if you’ve got nothing else. All I ask is, use restraint.
    - Hold on a minute. Who’s raising the fares, me or you?
    - Let me explain, Len said. You see, one of my troubles is that I tend to mistake the reflections of the palace and the moon for the real objects. My ancestors tell me which are the real objects and I respect age. But I must find out for certain myself. I must try to look through the reflections and find the object. What can I lose? Of course, you have your Droit, but let me have my Droit and you can have your Droit!
    - Howzat?
    - Not out.
    - What about Pete? Can he have his Droit too?
    - Pete’ll have his Droit, Len said, when we’re dead andburied. Pete has his Droit whether you like it or not.
    Mark lit a cigarette and blew the match.
    - Listen, Len, he said, all you’ve got to do is put up a notice: Spitting Prohibited. Who could argue with that? The fare’s high enough. I couldn’t afford to pay a fine on top of it.
    - Yes, that’s a good idea. I’ll do that. But if you do happen to let out a spit and you can’t pay the fine, I won’t be responsible for the consequences.
    - The question won’t arise.
    - But you can see. Can’t you see that I must put up my own fares and travel in the front seat so that I won’t have to ride in my own luggageboot? I can’t see from there, and I must keep my eye on the driving. There’ll be plenty of room for me because hardly anyone else can afford the price. In that case I can keep to my own route and avoid traffic jams. I must do that.

Five
    Pete looked over her body to the humped shadows of the room and then, gathering her hair, he smoothed it back upon the cushion. About the windowframe the moon edged. She inclined him towards her. He rested his head on her breasts. Above them, through the open window, a light breeze moved. She looked past his head to the walls. She could not distinguish their meetingplace. They seemed at once distant and close upon her. She stared up at the creased ceiling. The pale rim of the hanging shade, at first apparent, now in her sight faded, changing from form into shape into the bulge of the ceiling. Upon a wall, an oblong of barred reflection angled from light in the window. The darkness pointed upon their bodies, weighted, and as she stared it out, dispersed, withdrawing.
    - I have banished darkness from the face of the earth, she said.
    Pete stretched his arms around a chairleg, and clasped his hands.
    - How did you do that?
    - No, it is dark, she said. More so since you moved.
    - It’s the heat. If it weren’t so hot it wouldn’t be so dark.
    - But in summer, Virginia said, day doesn’t become night. The day is the day. In winter, the night’s in the day. In summer-
    - I’m not quite sure, Pete said, that I agree with you.
    He yawned and stretched, pressing the fender with his foot.
    - But it is dark now. Darker because we’re so white, she said.
    - Yes.
    He pulled her to him and