132
PARTISAN REVIEW
topics.
One day in June, the Grouch and Old Mother take all their potted
plants out onto the deck for the summer. The next week, the Grouch
brings them all back in and sets them on the living room floor. Old
Mother does not understand what he is doing and is prepared to object,
but they have quarrelled and are not speaking to each other, so she can
only watch him in silence.
The Grouch is more interested in money than Old Mother and
more careful about how he spends it. He reads sale ads and will not buy
anything unless it is marked down. "You're not very good with
money," he says. She would like to deny it but she can't. She buys a
book, secondhand, called "How to Live Within Your Income."
They spend a good deal of time one day drawing up a list of what
each of them will do in their household. For instance, she will make
their dinner but he will make his own lunch. By the time they are fin–
ished, it is time for lunch and Old Mother is hungry. The Grouch has
taken some care over a tuna fish salad for himself. Old Mother says it
looks good and asks him if she can share it. Annoyed, he points out that
now, contrary to the agreement, he has made
their
lunch.
Old Mother could only have wanted a man of the highest ideals but
now finds she can't live up to them; the Grouch could only have
wanted the best sort of woman, but she is not the best sort of woman.
Old Mother thinks her temper may improve if she drinks more wa–
ter. When her temper remains bad, she begins taking a daily walk and
eating more fresh fruit.
Old Mother reads an article which says: If one of you is in a bad
mood the other should stay out of her way and be as kind as possible
until the bad mood passes.
But when she proposes this to the Grouch, he refuses to consider it.
He does not trust her: she will claim to be in a bad mood when she is
not, and then require him to be kind to her.
Old Mother decides she will dress up as a witch on Halloween, since
she is often decribed as a witch by the Grouch. She owns a pointed
black hat, and now she buys more items to make up her costume. She
thinks the Grouch will be amused, but he asks her please to remove the
