Wednesday

It isn’t a fish. I cannot quite make out what it is. It makes curious,

devilish noises when not satisfied, and says “goo-goo” when it is. It

is not one of us, for it doesn’t walk; it is not a bird, for it doesn’t

fly; it is not a frog, for it doesn’t hop; it is not a snake, for it

doesn’t crawl; I feel sure it is not a fish, though I cannot get a

chance to find out whether it can swim or not. It merely lies around,

and mostly on its back, with its feet up. I have not seen any other

animal do that before. I said I believed it was an enigma, but she only

admired the word without understanding it. In my judgment it is either

an enigma or some kind of a bug. If it dies, I will take it apart and

see what its arrangements are. I never had a thing perplex me so.

Extracts from Adam's Diary, translated from the original ms. · 第 27 / 35 题