526
PARTISAN REVIEW
Corneliu s. Corn eliu s, temp ted to reject the proferred hand,
accep ted it becau se h e wished to cau se no furth er di stu rbance.
T he o ld man had ri sen and come over to Corn eliu s.
"Thank you very mu ch fo r your kindness," he sa id in the
es tranged vo ice of those who have been weeping or over- excited.
"No t a t a ll ," said Corneliu s fo rma ll y. Bo th descended from
the stage toge ther.
"We will have to forego th e rema ining pri zes until next
week," said the ass istant manager, " but the fifty do ll ars will be
added to nex t week's tota l, and there will be a hundred doll a rs in
prizes bes ides the usual jackpo t. In additi on , two four-s tar
pictures will be pl ay ing ."
T he th ea ter darkened as Corn elius and Weinga rten wa lked
to the exits, the film went on with a ll its soft fl oa ting fi gures and
pl easing movement. How much actua lity, after a ll , ca n an
audien ce stand in th e course of one evening?
"Are you going my way?" sa id Co rn elius to Weinga rten .
"No, I think I'll see the res t of the show. T hank yo u very
much , much obliged ," h e said , still weighed by guilt.
T he p robl em now, said Cornelius to himself as he wa lked
thro ugh the soft -carpeted lobby, is to keep thi s from my mo ther,
who will con sider me Quixo ti c, as indeed
I
am. But how sma ll a
price fo r th e sense of generosity and di gnity whi ch
I
now have,
even though the act was forced upon me by my maudlin
sympa th y fo r the o ld man. Probabl y
I
have been fooli sh , and yet
how reasonabl y
I
feel a t present, and how joyous.
Saying thi s, in hi s joy, he issued into th e chill and di sorder
of the street, the fresh a ir and different light striking him. T he
ra in h ad ceased, but a thi ck fog h ad come upon th e city. And as
he wa lked home through thi s fog, in a pure enj oyment of hi s
feeling, Corn elius recited
to
himself thi s poem by a fourteenth–
century Scotti sh poe t, h a lting sometimes in th e middl e of a line
because he did no t remember it too well , o r ha lting in o rder to
correct hi s imperfect accent:
Be merry, man ! and ta k not sa ir in mind
T he wavering
of
thi s wretched world o f so rrow!
To God be humbl e and
to
thy fri end be kind ,
And with th y neighbors glad ly lend and bo rrow:
