LYDlADAVlS
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Now the Grouch is angry. "I don 't snore."
Old Mother is lying on the bathroom floor reading, her head on a
small stack of towels and a pillow, a bath towel covering her, because
she has not been able to sleep and doesn't want to distrub the Grouch.
She falls asleep there on the bathroom £1oor, goes back to bed, wakes
again, returns to the bathroom, and continues to read. Finally the
Grouch, having woken up because she was gone, comes to the door and
offers her some earplugs.
The Grouch wants to listen to Fischer-Dieskau singing, accompanied
by Brendel at the piano, but to his annoyance he finds that Fischer–
Dieskau accompanied by Brendel is also accompanied by Old Mother
humming, and he asks her to stop .
Old Mother makes an unpleasant remark about one of their lamps.
The Grouch is sure Old Mother is insulting him. He tries to figure
out what she is saying about him, but can't, and so remains silent.
The Grouch is on his way out with heavy boxes in his arms when
Old Mother thinks of something else she wants to say.
"Hurry up, I'm holding these," says the Grouch.
Old Mother does not like to hurry when she has something to say.
"Put them down for a minute," she tells him.
The Grouch does not like to be delayed or told what to do . "Just
hurry up," he says.
In the middle of an argument, the Grouch often looks at Old
Mother in disbelief which is either real or feigned: "Wait a minute," he
says. "Wait just a minute."
Well into an argument, Old Mother often begins
to
cry in frustra–
tion. Though her frustation and her tears are genuine she also hopes the
Grouch will be moved to pity. The Grouch is never moved to pity, only
further exasperated, saying, "Now you start snivelling."
The Grouch often arrives home asking such questions as:
"What is this thing? Are you throwing coffee grounds under this
bush? Did you mean to leave the car doors unlocked? Do you know
why the garage door is open? What is
all
that water doing on the lawn?
Is there a reason all the lights in the house are on? Why was the . hose
unscrewed?"
Or he comes downstairs and asks:
