DOI article:
Graves, Robert: A parable
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29343#0021
WOODCUT
BY ERIC DAGLISH
A PAPABLE
Robeft'Graves
he at last pushed open, and walked inside. He found
himself in a completely bare hall opening on a second
large room where he saw his host sitting with a pale
face and a look of dejection at a large table. This was
bare of any plate or cutlery but furnished with some
hunks of bread, some slices of cheese and two small tin
mugs of beer. The room was draped with black hang-
ings and contained no furniture except the table and
two chairs which were clamped to the floor. The young
man, whom we will call Mr. Lector, was about to de-
part, alarmed at the strangeness of the scene, but as he
was stammering an excuse and replacing his hat on his
head Mr. Poeta, who had merely stared at him and said
nothing, now beckoned, motioning him to be seated.
N undergraduate had once written pat-
ronizingly and unjustly of the works of
Chaucer, with which he had evidently
only a very scanty acquaintance. An
older friend, to whom disrespect for
Chaucer seemed a sort of blasphemy,
happened to see the criticism in a Uni-
versity literary journal and made a vow that he would
avenge the insult to his hero. On the strength of a
school acquaintance, but without giving any hint of
his intentions, he invited the young man to dinner at
his lodgings. It proved a most unusual meal; the guest
arrived punctually, but though he knocked and rang
the bell several times, nobody opened the door, which
x7
BY ERIC DAGLISH
A PAPABLE
Robeft'Graves
he at last pushed open, and walked inside. He found
himself in a completely bare hall opening on a second
large room where he saw his host sitting with a pale
face and a look of dejection at a large table. This was
bare of any plate or cutlery but furnished with some
hunks of bread, some slices of cheese and two small tin
mugs of beer. The room was draped with black hang-
ings and contained no furniture except the table and
two chairs which were clamped to the floor. The young
man, whom we will call Mr. Lector, was about to de-
part, alarmed at the strangeness of the scene, but as he
was stammering an excuse and replacing his hat on his
head Mr. Poeta, who had merely stared at him and said
nothing, now beckoned, motioning him to be seated.
N undergraduate had once written pat-
ronizingly and unjustly of the works of
Chaucer, with which he had evidently
only a very scanty acquaintance. An
older friend, to whom disrespect for
Chaucer seemed a sort of blasphemy,
happened to see the criticism in a Uni-
versity literary journal and made a vow that he would
avenge the insult to his hero. On the strength of a
school acquaintance, but without giving any hint of
his intentions, he invited the young man to dinner at
his lodgings. It proved a most unusual meal; the guest
arrived punctually, but though he knocked and rang
the bell several times, nobody opened the door, which
x7