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Literature · Humor

A Book of Burlesques 68The Second Man

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Literature · Humor

A Book of Burlesques 68

The Second Man

MenckenEnglish
Well, what can you expect? A country where all the charwomen are men and all the garbage men are women!--
_For the moment the two have talked each other out, and so they lounge upon the rail in silence and gaze out over the valley. Anon the gumchewer spits. By now the sun has reached the skyline to the westward and the tops of the ice mountains are in gorgeous conflagration. Scarlets war with golden oranges, and vermilions fade into palpitating pinks. Below, in the valley, the colours begin to fade slowly to a uniform seashell grey. It is a scene of indescribable loveliness; the wild reds of hades splashed riotously upon the cold whites and pale blues of heaven. The night train for Venice, a long line of black coaches, is entering the town. Somewhere below, apparently in the barracks, a sunset gun is fired. After a silence of perhaps two or three minutes, the Americans gather fresh inspiration and resume their conversation._

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A Book of Burlesques 67A Book of Burlesques 69
Sources & credits: Mencken

Mencken — A Book of Burlesques (H. L. Mencken) (author lived 1880–1956). Public Domain. H. L. Mencken, A Book of Burlesques; public domain in the US; text from Project Gutenberg #22145. Source

Literature · Humor

A Book of Burlesques 69

MenckenEnglish