--Paying a visit to old P--ke, I found him walking up and down the
drawing-room, stamping and raving, and holding a handkerchief to his
mouth. I inquired what ailed him. To my astonishment, he complained of
_tooth-ache_!--a strange complaint, thought I, for a man of
seventy-eight, whom one would hardly expect to find with a single
implement of that kind in his head; but, in fact, he was in possession
of the whole set, _except two_! His lamentation, which he continued at
intervals, ran in this strain--"Seventy-eight!--only seventy-eight,
and two teeth gone already!--lost one of them sixty years
ago, and, as if that were not enough, four years ago I must lose a
second;--and now--ah! I suppose I must part with another. And then my
eyes! one of my eyes is beginning to fail. Lord help me! for, should
it go on at this rate, I shall be in a sad condition before many more
years are over my head!"
_S_.--The unconscionable old rogue! at seventy-eight how many more
could he expect?
_N_.--Rely on it I am right, and that Parr was to blame for this. At
seventy, P--ke would have died with grateful thanksgivings on his lips
for the blessings of his past life. As it was, had he been allowed to
live on till he should have parted with the remainder of his teeth, at
the rate of one a year, he would have attempted, when it came to the
last, to smuggle a false tooth or two into his jaws.
_R_.--I think I understand the gist of your complaint: the longer you
allow folks to live, the more they won't die.
Pages:
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52