PARTISAN REVIEW
87
"Old is old. We must not complain. There's nothing can be
done about it. Arsenic cure in Rumania perhaps. Bogomolotz they
said; but who knows? They advertise. I digest nothing. For ex–
ample, sardines are greasy and hard to digest. Even the best - for
example, Portuguese or French. They're dear, also they're just as
indigestible. Then they smell out the icebox. What a pity! Who can
eat a whole box? So much money thrown in the street, you might say.
Of course, there
is
the taste, very good. I read in a medical magazine
that doctors are beginning to discuss whether it is more than a
question of calories and vitamins; there is taste, too. Why
is
taste
given to us? There must be a reason. Nothing exists without a rea–
son. Well, there you see, perhaps a nice-tasting sardine makes a
nourishing sandwich."
"Well, I'll get some sardines, then."
"Sardeenkee,
Gilbert,
sardeenkee,
do you know that is what the
Russians say?"
"And what else, Mamma?"
"Oh, but Russian is such a pure language, no one, no foreigner
could learn it. No, it is no use.
It
is too pure."
"Mamma !"
"Sardines, I am sorry to say, are a very good taste, but what
is
there to them? A bite and they're gone! It's not practical, my dear.
The young cannot understand and it is better so. An old woman is
better off taking oatmeal. Only it happens in my case that I cannot
digest oatmeal. Besides, what is it but an excuse for taking
milk
and
sugar? I would do better to take milk and sugar in my tea; and then
the tea remains hot longer. At the same time, I prefer lemon tea–
it's more delicate. They say eggs have come down; did you hear
that? Of course, eggs are bad for the liver. I knew a woman, a lovely
woman with twenty-seven rooms, she ran a boardinghouse and she
never ate an egg. Oh, my dear, she had bright eyes, like stars! What
is
the reason for your remarkable health, Mrs. Saxon, I asked. We
used to meet in the afternoons, in the park. I have a very poor liver,
she
told me; and my son, too. We never touch eggs. You can learn
from everyone."
"Well, I'll get eggs," said Gilbert.
Standing there, in the same bright, touching and philosophical
manner, Mrs. Anderson discussed the way to make omelettes (above
