Mark Twain. HJN, drawing.

[In a letter to my mother I cite the following quotation from “God’s Fool,” the biography of Twain that I was reading. ]

I do seem to have a whole lot of interest in a lot of arts and things. The bill [a change to copyright law in 1906] is full of those that I have nothing to do with. But that is in line with my generous, liberal nature. I can’t help it. I feel toward those same people [the legislators] the same sort of charity of the man who arrived home at 2 o’clock in the morning from the club. He was feeling perfect satisfaction with life — was happy, was comfortable. There was his house weaving and weaving and weaving around. So he watched his chance, and by and by when the steps got in his neighborhood he made a jump and he climbed up on the portico. The house went on weaving. He watched his door, and when it came around his way again he climbed through it. He got to the stairs, went up on all fours. The house was so unsteady he could hardly make his way, but at last he got up and put his foot down on the top step, but his toe hitched on that step, and of course he crumpled all down and rolled all the way down the stairs and fetched up at the bottom with his arm around the newel post, and he said, “God pity a poor sailor out at sea on a night like this.”

(c) 2018 JMN.