as offerings to his grandmother and to distribute the rest to those who had served her in her lifetime and particularly to the maid who waited upon her at her deathbed. Moreover, he wanted to let the maid have the use of the house as long as she lived. His relatives and kin talked against it until their tongues were worn out and their lips were dry, but it was no use.
Probably it was chiefly out of curiosity that I stopped by his house on my way to the city to offer him my condolences. He came out wearing unhemmed white cotton, and looked very much the same as when I first saw him, very much aloof. I comforted him the best I could, but except for a few perfunctory grunts, he only said, "Thank you for your kindness."
Early in the same winter we met for a third time in a bookstore in the city of S. We nodded to each other as acquaintances, but it was not until toward the end of the year, after I lost my position, that we came to know each other well. I went to see him often because I had nothing to do and wanted company and also because I was told that, though he was by nature aloof, he liked to associate with those in unhappy circumstances. However, fortunes rise and fall, and those in unhappy circumstances do not always remain so; consequently he did not have many friends of long standing. This reputation was indeed true for he received me as soon as I sent in my card. His guest room was simply furnished with some bookcases, tables, and chairs. Though he was known as one of those dreadful "innovators," there were few "new" books on the shelves. He had heard that I had lost my position. After the usual words of greeting, host
