matter.âââI often thought of ⦠when I sat in my deck chair.âââWhen the radio announcer says ⦠I drop everything at once.âââFor days after ⦠had squeezed my hand my whole body would break out in hives.âââI canât forget how ⦠dangled on his suspenders on the hotel room door.âââItâs unthinkable that ⦠would have gone out on the street without his umbrella.â ââWhat would have been different if ⦠had succeeded in getting a hit at that time?âââNot only when I sat on Plymouth Rock did I have to cry about what ⦠told
me about death.âââI often worry myself nearly to death whether Paraguay is really the right place for â¦âââUsually one glance by a dark-eyed foreigner in an Indonesian restaurant is enough and I canât breathe any more and only see ⦠( outraged recollection ) in front of meâhow he suddenly stepped out from behind the column toward ( melancholy recollection ) â¦â
Or they use the wrong instead of the correct word under the assumption that they understand each other anyway. âOne should herd them together and thenââtreat them to a good meal!ââ ( Smirking and gentle laughter. )-âGo after themââand slap them on the shoulder!ââââ ⦠because his âshirt tailâ hung out of his âdoorâ â¦âââ ⦠When she came up to me and told me that I could âvisitâ her.âââAll I had to do was âsmileâ at him and blood began pouring from his nose.âââ ⦠grabbed between his legs to help him âget upstairs.ââââHis dentures fell out of his mouth even before Iâd âsaid a single word.ââââThe âslight draftâ when we entered the room was enough for him to catch his death of cold.âââUp on the platform âI kissed him on the forehead,â so that he suddenly lost his balance.âââDrove him, âdrove him out of his wits.ââââGot caught in the fan belt andââwoke up!ââââI sent him a âget-well cardâ registered mail and the man thanked me and dropped dead!âââHe aimed atââprogress and change!ââââ ⦠I tried putting the âcookieâ in his mouth!!âââAcross the barbed wireââinto the soft moss of the Okefenokee, â¦ââââCut a âpiece of breadâ off for him!âââ ⦠will give her a teaspoonful of âcinnamon,â âto taste!ââââ ⦠so that these bastards will let her âcome.ââ
Then one of the figures in the background tells a joke of which again one only hears the key words, such as âthen he said,â âthe second time,â âagain nothingâ; all the other characters except maybe for two or three and the bodyguards are assembled around the narrator at this point. They listen quietly and finally, each in his own way, smile quietly to themselves, scream with laughter, shake their heads in puzzlement,
inhale deeply (one of them perhaps out of turn), and then continue to circle about the stage.
From the conversations one has also managed to pick out with increasing frequency sentences which a figure speaks with a slightly raised though not overly excited voice: sentences from the repertoire of politicians when they are forced to defend themselves against catcalls from the audience, and which are useful to them as defense against interjections from the audience but are employed even when there are no interjections. For example: âAnyone who shouts shows that he doesnât have anything to say.â âI would die to defend your right to speak, but would you