. . .' He smiled at his memories. 'How
we groaned at the job!'
'Already the ordering of that chaos is nearly done. You shall see.'
'I have been so busy with my own work----Yes, I shall be glad to see.'
The patient regarded the surgeon for a time with interested eyes.
'You work here always?' he asked abruptly.
'No,' said Fowler.
'But mostly you work here?'
'I have worked about seven years out of the past ten. At times I go
away--down there. One has to. At least I have to. There is a sort of
grayness comes over all this, one feels hungry for life, real, personal
passionate life, love-making, eating and drinking for the fun of
the thing, jostling crowds, having adventures, laughter--above all
laughter----'
'Yes,' said Karenin understandingly.
'And then one day, suddenly one thinks of these high mountains
again....'
'That is how I would have lived, if it had not been for my--defects,'
said Karenin. 'Nobody knows but those who have borne it the exasperation
of abnormality. It will be good when you have nobody alive whose body
cannot live the wholesome everyday life, whose spirit cannot come up
into these high places as it wills.'
'We shall manage that soon,' said Fowler.
'For endless generations man has struggled upward against the
indignities of his body--and the indignities of his soul.
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