bernardblusheduncomforably“yousee，”hesaid，mumblingandwihaveredeyes，“i’mraherdifferenfrommospeople，isupposeifonehappensobedecaneddifferen…”

“yes，ha’sjusi”heyoungmannodded“ifone’sdifferen，one’sboundobelonelyhey’rebeaslyoonedoyouknow，heyshumeouofabsoluelyeveryhing？whenheoherboysweresenouospendhenighonhemounains–youknow，whenyouhaveodreamwhichyoursacredanimalis–heywouldn’lemegowihheohers；heywouldn’ellmeanyofhesecresididibymyself，hough，”headded“didn’eaanyhingforfivedaysandhenwenouonenighaloneinohosemounainshere”hepoined

paronizingly，bernardsmiled“anddidyoudreamofanyhing？”heasked

heohernodded“buimusn’ellyouwha”hewassilenforalile；hen，inalowvoice，“once，”hewenon，“ididsomehinghanoneofheohersdid：isoodagainsarockinhemiddleofheday，insummer，wihmyarmsou，likejesusonhecross”

“whaonearhfor？”

“iwanedoknowwhaiwaslikebeingcrucifiedhanginghereinhesun…”

“buwhy？”

“why？well…”hehesiaed“becauseifelioughoifjesuscouldsandiandhen，ifonehasdonesomehingwrong…besides，iwasunhappy；hawasanoherreason”

“iseemsafu

ywayofcuringyourunhappiness，”saidbernardbuonsecondhoughshedecidedhaherewas，aferall，somesenseinibeerhanakingsoma…

“ifainedaferaime，”saidheyoungman“felldownonmyfacedoyouseehemarkwhereicumyself？”helifedhehickyellowhairfromhisforeheadhescarshowed，paleandpuckered，onhisrighemple

bernardlooked，andhenquickly，wihalileshudder，averedhiseyeshiscondiioninghadmadehimnosomuchpiifulasprofoundlysqueamishhemeresuggesionofillnessorwoundswasohimnoonlyhorrifying，buevenrepulsiveandraherdisgusinglikedir，ordeformiy，oroldagehasilyhechangedhesubjec

“iwonderifyou’dlikeocomebackolondonwihus？”heasked，makinghefirsmoveinacampaignwhosesraegyhehadbeensecrelyeboraingeversince，inhelilehouse，hehadreahzedwhohe“faher”ofhisyoungsavagemusbe“wouldyoulikeha？”

heyoungman’sfaceliup“doyoureallymeani？”

“ofcourse；ificangepermission，hais”

“lindaoo？”

“well…”hehesiaeddoubfullyharevolingcreaure！no，iwasimpossibleunless，unless…isuddenlyoccurredobernardhaherveryrevolingnessmighproveanenormousasse“buofcourse！”hecried，makingupforhisfirshesiaionswihanexcessofnoisycordialiy

heyoungmandrewadeepbreah“ohinkishouldbecomingrue–whai’vedreamofallmylifedoyourememberwhamirandasays？”

“who’smiranda？”

buheyoungmanhadevidenlynoheardhequesion“owonder！”hewassaying；andhiseyesshone，hisfacewasbrighlyflushed“howmanygoodlycreauresareherehere！howbeaueousmankindis！”heflushsuddenlydeepened；hewashinkingoflenina，ofanangelinbolegreenviscose，lusrouswihyouhandskinfood，plump，benevolenlysmilinghisvoicefalered“obravenewworld，”hebegan，hensuddenlyinerrupedhimself；hebloodhadlefhischeeks；hewasaspaleaspaper

“areyoumarriedoher？”heasked

“amiwha？”

“marriedyouknow–foreverheysay‘forever’inheindianwords；ican’bebroken”

“ford，no！”bernardcouldn’helpughing

johnalsoughed，buforanoherreason–ughedforpurejoy

“obravenewworld，”herepeaed“obravenewworldhahassuchpeopleinile’ssaraonce”

“youhaveamospeculiarwayofalkingsomeimes，”saidbernard，saringaheyoungmaninperplexedasonishmen“and，anyhow，hadn’youbeerwaiillyouacuallyseehenewworld？”