" YOU are the doctor , I suppose " said Augustus Pokewhistle , smiling from his bed at the immense man who had arrived secretly while he slept . " It is kind of you to come , but I don't think you can help me . However , as you are here , I will tell you what is wrong with me . I'm an artist . I paint pictures and i draw drawings ...."
" But..."
" You are going to tell me that you are not interested in the story of my life ," Augustus laughed bitterly . " You are one of the uncaring public , and it is of no importance to you if a clever young man should take to his bed at the height of his youth , never to rise again . But I suppose you have been sent here by some interfering so-called friend of mine to save me from my suffering , and I must therefore explain my illness . And you cannot understand my illness unless I tell you the story of my life ...."
"But..."
" I was delicately brought up , and it soon became clear that I was not an ordinary boy . At the age of seven I won a prize for a drawing of an animal . We will forget the fact that I had intended my drawing to represent sunset over London . After that my proud parents provided me me with plenty of pencils and paper and gave me the opportunity of studying under great painters . at the age of twenty-one I started a business as a painter of people , and painted eleven pictures of my own face . Nobody seemed to want them , and if you go into my sitting room , you will see them hanging sadly on the wall ,looking down at the empty chair which I will never sit in again . For I am certain that I shall never rise from this bed ..."
" nobody came to have their pictures painted , and I had no desire to paint any more of myself . Although it may seem impossible , I could no longer get any real pleasure out of it after I had finished the eleventh , and this proves that one can get tired of even the most heavenly beauty ..."
" But..."
" May I mention that there is a certain repetition in your remarks ? Let me finish , and then you can say 'but' as often as you like . I turned from painting people to painting the country . nine times I painted the view from the back window , and seven pictures of of the view from the front window . but could I sell the seven pictures of the view from the front window , or the nine of the view from the back window ? I couldn't . I only had a bit of money left , and I decided after a severe struggle with my self , to forget my soul and paint for money . I determined to draw funny pictures for the newspapers . Remember that I was without hope and almost hungry , so don't think of me too severely ..."
" But ..."
" I know what you are going to say - if I had had the soul of a true artist , I woyld have died rather than do such a thing . but remember that my wife and children were crying for bread -or would have been crying for bread if I had had a wife and children . And was it my fault that I hadn't a wife and little children ? So I made thirty or forty funny drawings every day and sent them to the papers . I soon found that selling one's soul for money is not so easy as it sounds . Believe it or not , I got no money . I just got my drawings back ..."
" But ..."
" You may wellask why they were sent back . I cannot tell you . I tested them to the cat . I had often heard the expression ' funny enough to make a cat laugh ', and so I placed them in a line and carried the cat along in front of them . He laughed until he was sick ... in any case he was sick . "
" Then I became more and more disheartened . I tried drawing for advertisements . Clothes , piano , bottles . Immensely tall ladies with foolish smiles . I sent them off by the hundred , and all I received was a sample bottle or two , and a sample card of wool . I rather expected to get a sample tall lady with a foolish smile , but probably she got lost in the post ..."
" But..."
" So I gave up the struggle . My heart was broken , and I determined to take to my bed , never to rise again . You cannot help me , doctor .No skill of of yours can help me . I feel certain that I shall never rise from this bed ..."
" And I feel certain that you will ," said stranger , carefully placing Augustus Pokewhistle on the carpet , " because I've come to take it away . I'm from the furniture shop , and the bed isn't paid for . "
" But..."
" You are going to tell me that you are not interested in the story of my life ," Augustus laughed bitterly . " You are one of the uncaring public , and it is of no importance to you if a clever young man should take to his bed at the height of his youth , never to rise again . But I suppose you have been sent here by some interfering so-called friend of mine to save me from my suffering , and I must therefore explain my illness . And you cannot understand my illness unless I tell you the story of my life ...."
"But..."
" I was delicately brought up , and it soon became clear that I was not an ordinary boy . At the age of seven I won a prize for a drawing of an animal . We will forget the fact that I had intended my drawing to represent sunset over London . After that my proud parents provided me me with plenty of pencils and paper and gave me the opportunity of studying under great painters . at the age of twenty-one I started a business as a painter of people , and painted eleven pictures of my own face . Nobody seemed to want them , and if you go into my sitting room , you will see them hanging sadly on the wall ,looking down at the empty chair which I will never sit in again . For I am certain that I shall never rise from this bed ..."
" nobody came to have their pictures painted , and I had no desire to paint any more of myself . Although it may seem impossible , I could no longer get any real pleasure out of it after I had finished the eleventh , and this proves that one can get tired of even the most heavenly beauty ..."
" But..."
" May I mention that there is a certain repetition in your remarks ? Let me finish , and then you can say 'but' as often as you like . I turned from painting people to painting the country . nine times I painted the view from the back window , and seven pictures of of the view from the front window . but could I sell the seven pictures of the view from the front window , or the nine of the view from the back window ? I couldn't . I only had a bit of money left , and I decided after a severe struggle with my self , to forget my soul and paint for money . I determined to draw funny pictures for the newspapers . Remember that I was without hope and almost hungry , so don't think of me too severely ..."
" But ..."
" I know what you are going to say - if I had had the soul of a true artist , I woyld have died rather than do such a thing . but remember that my wife and children were crying for bread -or would have been crying for bread if I had had a wife and children . And was it my fault that I hadn't a wife and little children ? So I made thirty or forty funny drawings every day and sent them to the papers . I soon found that selling one's soul for money is not so easy as it sounds . Believe it or not , I got no money . I just got my drawings back ..."
" But ..."
" You may wellask why they were sent back . I cannot tell you . I tested them to the cat . I had often heard the expression ' funny enough to make a cat laugh ', and so I placed them in a line and carried the cat along in front of them . He laughed until he was sick ... in any case he was sick . "
" Then I became more and more disheartened . I tried drawing for advertisements . Clothes , piano , bottles . Immensely tall ladies with foolish smiles . I sent them off by the hundred , and all I received was a sample bottle or two , and a sample card of wool . I rather expected to get a sample tall lady with a foolish smile , but probably she got lost in the post ..."
" But..."
" So I gave up the struggle . My heart was broken , and I determined to take to my bed , never to rise again . You cannot help me , doctor .No skill of of yours can help me . I feel certain that I shall never rise from this bed ..."
" And I feel certain that you will ," said stranger , carefully placing Augustus Pokewhistle on the carpet , " because I've come to take it away . I'm from the furniture shop , and the bed isn't paid for . "
