Abroad with Mark Twain and Eugene Field/Rheumatism and Prodding
RHEUMATISM AND PRODDING
Some of the biographers of Mark Twain have made a lot of his sufferings by rheumatism while in Berlin. I saw him almost daily, except when he was down with bronchitis, and I heard very few complaints from him re rheumatism. Occasionally he said, "My damned arm has done some howling in the night." But when out of bed, it never "howled" badly enough to prevent him from writing or holding a book. He was scribbling most of the time, when not talking or riding, or walking, and when I saw him in his "Mattress Mausoleum" (as he called his bed), he handled pipe, papers, knife and books freely. I honestly believe much of that rheumatism scare was put on. For Mark liked leisure above all things. When he did not feel like writing, he told Livy he "had it bad," and escaped a scolding. "Livy" was an excellent wife to him, but she had the commercial spirit that Mark lacked—and God knows he needed prodding once in a while.