Nature Stories by Jules Renard

Author:Jules Renard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New York Review Books
Published: 2011-12-14T05:00:00+00:00

THE TOAD

BORN OUT OF A STONE, he’s living under a stone. He’s building a tomb there.

I often visit him, and each time I lift the stone up, I’m afraid of seeing him—and afraid he may not be there.

He is there, hiding in this dry, clean, narrow den which he owns and fills, completely; he’s as swollen as a miser’s purse.

If rain forces him to leave it, he comes towards me. A few lumpy jumps and there he is, watching me through his blowsy eyes.

People are unfair: they insult him by treating him as a leper. I squat down beside him and move my human face close to his.

Then I’ll swallow any disgust I still feel and I’ll stroke you, you toad!

You have to swallow many more insults in your lifetime that make you sick.

But yesterday, I was tactless. He was oozing and fermenting, his warts had all burst.

“You poor chap!” I said. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings but, heavens above, aren’t you hideous!”

He opened his toothless, childish mouth and replied, with a slight English accent, “And what about yourself?”

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