ABSTRACT
The deaf man said to himself, 'With my hardness of hearing what shall I understand of the words uttered by that young man, particularly as he is ill and his voice is weak? However, I must go there, I cannot escape. When I see his lips moving, I will guess what he is saying out of my own initiative. When I say, "How are you, my poor suffering friend?" he will answer, "I am fine," or "Quite well, thank you." Then I will say, "Thank God I What have you had to drink?" He will answer, "A sherbet," or "Some beansoup." Then I will say, "Good health! Which doctor is attending you?" He will answer, "So-and-so." I will say, "He has a lucky foot j since he has called, all will go well with you. I have made trial of his foot myself j wherever he
. d" , goes, every want IS grante . Having prepared in advance these guesswork answers, the
good fellow went to call on the invalid. 'How are you?' he asked. 'Dying,' the sick man said. 'Thank Godl' cried the deaf man. Thereupon the invalid became vexed and indignant. 'What sort of thank God is this?' he thought. 'He must
have been my enemy.' The deaf man had made his guess, but it had turned out
wrong. 'What have you had to drink?' he asked next. 'Poison,' said the sick man. 'Good health I' cried the visitor, making the patient still
more angry. 'Which doctor is attending you?' the deaf man went on.
