we beg. we pray, but everything still happens anyway
Excerpt from Graham Greene's "Travels with My Aunt"
'Rats are highly intelligent creatures. If we want to find out anything new about the human body we experiment on rats. Rats indeed are ahead of us indisputably in one respect- they live underground. We only began to live underground during the last war. Rats have understood the danger of surface life for thousands of years. When the atom bomb falls the rats will survive. What a wonderful empty world it will be for them, though I hope they will be wise enough to stay below. I can imagine them evolving very quickly. I hope they don't repeat our mistake and invent the wheel.' (Mr. Visconti)
'It's odd all the same how much we hate them,' I said. 'We call a coward a rat, and yet it is we who are the cowards. We are afraid of them.'(henry pulling)
The Questore (police commissioner) may not have been afraid of me, but perhaps he had an ueasy sense that I would outlive him. It is an uncomfortable form of envy which is experienced only by those in a really secure position. I don't feel it about you, although you are much younger than I am, because we live here in an equally blessed state of insecurity. You go first? I go first? Mr. O'Toole goes first? It all depends on who is the best rat. That is why in modern war old men read the casualty lists with a certain smug satisfaction. They may survive longer than their grand-children.' (Mr. Visconti)
'I met a rat once in my garden,' I said and allowed Mr. Visconti to refill my glass. 'He was standing motionless as not to be seen in the flower-bed. His fur looked fluffy like a bird who has blown out its feathers against the cold. He wasn't repulsive like a smooth rat. Without thinking I threw a stone at him. I missed him and I expected him to run, but instead he only limped away. One of his legs must have been broken. There was a hole in the hedge and he made for it very slowly. Once he stopped exhausted and peered over his shoulder at me. He looked rejected, and I was sorry for him. I couldn't throw another stone. He limped on to the hole and went through it. There was a cat in the next garden and I knew he didn't stand a chance. He had such dignity, going to his death. I felt ashamed of myself all that morning.'
(henry pulling)
-graham greene
'Rats are highly intelligent creatures. If we want to find out anything new about the human body we experiment on rats. Rats indeed are ahead of us indisputably in one respect- they live underground. We only began to live underground during the last war. Rats have understood the danger of surface life for thousands of years. When the atom bomb falls the rats will survive. What a wonderful empty world it will be for them, though I hope they will be wise enough to stay below. I can imagine them evolving very quickly. I hope they don't repeat our mistake and invent the wheel.' (Mr. Visconti)
'It's odd all the same how much we hate them,' I said. 'We call a coward a rat, and yet it is we who are the cowards. We are afraid of them.'(henry pulling)
The Questore (police commissioner) may not have been afraid of me, but perhaps he had an ueasy sense that I would outlive him. It is an uncomfortable form of envy which is experienced only by those in a really secure position. I don't feel it about you, although you are much younger than I am, because we live here in an equally blessed state of insecurity. You go first? I go first? Mr. O'Toole goes first? It all depends on who is the best rat. That is why in modern war old men read the casualty lists with a certain smug satisfaction. They may survive longer than their grand-children.' (Mr. Visconti)
'I met a rat once in my garden,' I said and allowed Mr. Visconti to refill my glass. 'He was standing motionless as not to be seen in the flower-bed. His fur looked fluffy like a bird who has blown out its feathers against the cold. He wasn't repulsive like a smooth rat. Without thinking I threw a stone at him. I missed him and I expected him to run, but instead he only limped away. One of his legs must have been broken. There was a hole in the hedge and he made for it very slowly. Once he stopped exhausted and peered over his shoulder at me. He looked rejected, and I was sorry for him. I couldn't throw another stone. He limped on to the hole and went through it. There was a cat in the next garden and I knew he didn't stand a chance. He had such dignity, going to his death. I felt ashamed of myself all that morning.'
(henry pulling)
-graham greene