You protest, my dear? you're horrified? you declare you'll
never crawl? It's very true that I don't see you crawling; you stand
more upright than a good many poor creatures. Very good; on the whole,
I don't think you'll crawl. But the men, the Americans; je vous
demande un peu, what do they make of it over here? I don't envy them
trying to arrange themselves. Look at poor Ralph Touchett: what sort
of a figure do you call that? Fortunately he has a consumption; I
say fortunately, because it gives him something to do. His
consumption's his carriere; it's a kind of position. You can say:
'Oh Mr. Touchett, he takes care of his lungs, he knows a great deal
about climates.' But without that who would he be, what would he
represent? 'Mr. Ralph Touchett: an American who lives in Europe.' That
signifies absolutely nothing- it's impossible anything should
signify less. 'He's very cultivated,' they say: 'he has a very
pretty collection of old snuff-boxes.' The collection is all that's
wanted to make it pitiful. I'm tired of the sound of the word; I think
it's grotesque. With the poor old father it's different; he has his
identity, and it's rather a massive one.
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