He knew, but he taught us nothing.
There was a subtlety about that that pleased us greatly. It reminded
us of a Chinese mandarin of our acquaintance who says that the
universe was Dictated but not Signed. Immediately we forked out $1.25
to Frank Shay and took the book. Frank was so pleased to sell a book
(business is said to be at a very meagre pulse in Greenwich Village in
midsummer) that he at once responded by buying our lunch. We retorted
generously enough by buying a copy of Anatole France’s _L’Ile des
Pingouins_, which we have been hearing about for ten years or so. We
were interested to note that our copy is the “Cent Quatre-Vingt-Sixième
Edition.” Considering the book was published only fourteen years ago,
that seems good progress.
Coming back downtown on the L we went at Buddha hard and with great
satisfaction. We learned that Buddha is not a name but means a state
of mind, or Enlightenment. We learned the answers to the following
questions:
129. _Why has the upright and just man often so much to suffer
here on earth?_
130. _How is it that the wicked and unjust man often enjoys
pleasures and honours?_