January 25, 2015
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We went to see the tenant, a student, past midday. The flat was still in darkness, the curtains drawn, and he was still abed, or at least a-mattress-on-the-floor. There was a smell of cannabis in the air and the squalor was complete. The student obviously studied nothing, and it was difficult to extract anything from him except grunts.
“Look at this!” said my brother’s father-in-law. “What a mess!” Grunt. “How can you live like this?” Grunt. “You”re an intelligent boy.” Grunt. “You come from a good family.” Grunt. “Think of your future.” Grunt. “You can”t possibly study in these conditions.” Grunt. “And you don”t pay your rent.” Grunt. “What would your mother say if she could see you?”
This argument, clinching as it was in the landlord’s opinion, produced at last a reaction. “Ha!” exclaimed the student contemptuously. There being nothing more to be said, we beat a retreat.
“I gave it to him good and strong, didn”t I?” said my brother’s father-in-law in the street outside.
“Oh yes,” I said. “Merciless.”
My brother’s father-in-law was a man who was disinclined to think ill of people, and it was from this disinclination that his mildness of manner sprang. My mildness is different. I am inclined on the contrary to think ill of people, and it is from pusillanimity that my mildness springs (as is the case with many people). This was a discomfiting realization as I lay in bed.
I must stop eating heavy meals late at night that give me associations of ideas.
