“What happy, jolly faces both have! They are evidently satisfied with life. Tell me, does she love him?”
“Oh, yes, very much!”
“A clerk in a millinery shop.”
“A clerk in a millinery shop,” the author repeated slowly and did not utter a word for some time. The devil looked at him and smiled a merry smile.
“Do you like that?” he asked.
The author spoke with an effort:
“I had some children.... I know they are alive.... I had some children ... a son and a daughter.... I used to think then that my son would turn out in time a good man....”
“There are plenty of good men, but what the world needs is perfect men,” said the devil coolly and whistled a jolly march.
“I think the clerk is probably a poor pedagogue ... and my son....”