Section 6. The doctor announced that he had a little dyspepsia, and gave him a bottle full of a red liquid that would digest his food. Also he warned him to eat slowly, and to rest after meals. And Thyrsis, after thanking him, had started to go; when the doctor, who was an old friend of both families, asked the question, “How’s Corydon?”
“She’s pretty well,” said Thyrsis.
“And are you expecting any children yet?” asked the other, with a smile.
Thyrsis started. “Heavens, no!” he said.
“Why not?” asked the doctor.
“We aren’t going to have any.”
“But why? Are you preventing it?”
Thyrsis hesitated a moment. “We’re not living that way,” he said.
The doctor stared at him. “Come here, boy,” he said, “and sit down.”
Thyrsis obeyed.