книги / Striving For Happiness. I Am a Part of All that I Have Met

work on a computer type and file quickly work independently?

Do you like: working on your own taking responsibility being with other people working with children working with animals working with numbers selling things

helping people clerical work traveling?

Do you mind: working long hours working at night getting up early noise

working part-time working every day traveling by plane ?

Would you rather: work indoors or outdoors

work in a big organization or a small one work in a state organization or a private one?

Do you: always do the best job you can start working on time

always finish the work you have begun learn quickly

work hard

know your strengths and weaknesses?

How important are

these things to you: a good salary

comfortable working conditions a chance of promotion

a possibility of being a leader a chance of traveling abroad?

PRACTICE

What qualities are desirable for being: a teacher, a politician, a doctor, a PR practitioner, a nurse, a manager, a sales person, a secretary, apoliceman, a spy, a scientist, a husband (wife)?

What abilities and skills are desirablefor: a pop star, a travel agent, a worker on an assembly line?

READING

Read the texts and say what is most essential to get thejob you want.

How do you choose a career? Many students finish high school and begin college without a clear idea of what they want to do in life. Part of the problem is the size and complexity of the job market itself. Seven hundred and sixty-three different occupations were listed in a recent publication of the United States Department of Labor, and this list is

probably incomplete. With so many kinds of work, how can you tell which will interest you? How can you make the best use of your own special talents? Those who know themselves often find the best jobs. The article that follows does not answer all these questions, but it does try to get you started.

Getting Started

For most people, choosing a career isn't easy, yet it is one of the most important decisions you will make in your life. Find the right career, and you will be happy and successful. Find the wrong career, and you may be unhappy and unsuccessful. It pays, therefore, to explore your choice of occupation from every angle, collect as much informa­ tion as you can, actually try different kinds of work before making up your mind. Above all, evaluate yourself. Be sure you know your own interests and talents.

Unfortunately, not everyone takes this trouble. Those who don't, can make costly mistakes. For example, some people simply follow in the footsteps of a parent or a relative. One young man I know became a doctor because that was his father's profession. Yet he could not stand the sight of blood. Watching an operation made him sick to his stomach. One day he had to amputate a leg, and, after making the first cut, fainted in the operating room. A young woman I know became an accountant although she hated maths. Her uncle encouraged her by promising a job in his company. It took her several years, and several disasters with the company books, before she realised her mistake.

Procrastinating, postponing a decision, is another error people make. "Manana" is the Spanish word for it. I'll get started tomorrow, or next week, or next year. These people refuse to face the problem, hoping it will go away. But if you don't take the first step now, how can you plan for the future, take the right courses in school, get in the right programs? Procrastinators just drift, missing many opportunities.

Well then, how do you find a career? Jascha Heifetz was a concert violinist at the age of thirteen. Shirley Temple was a movie star at the age of five. Most of us are not so talented, or so lucky. Everyone has skills, but yours may not be so obvious; may, in fact, go undetected. Your career search has to look for everything. Be systematic. Analyze your problem. Determine what information you have. Then go after the information you need.

First, start with yourself. Make a list of inventory of your interests, your talents, and abilities. Most people have a lot of these, but at the beginning they are undeveloped and may not seem outstanding. By concentrating on a few, or on one, you may surprise yourself, and everyone else, at how good you can get.

Work And Careers

Sometimes we say that someone we know is "a square peg in a round hole." This simply means that the person we are talking about is not suited for the job he is doing. He may be a bookkeeper who really wants to be an actor, or a mechanic who likes cooking. Unfortunately, many people in the world are "square pegs"; they are not doing the kind of work they should be doing, for one reason or another. As a result they are probably not doing a very good job and certainly they are not happy.

Choosing the right career is very important. Most of us spend a great part of our lives at our jobs. For that reason we should try to find out what our talents are and how we can use them. We can do this through aptitude tests, interviews with specialists, and consulting reference books on the subjects that interest us.

There are many careers open to each of us. Perhaps we like science. Then we might prepare ourselves to be chemists, physicists, or biologists. Perhaps our interests take us into the business world and into such work as accounting, personnel management or public

relations. Many people find their place in government service. Many other fields - teaching, newspaper work, medicine, engineering - offer fascinating areas to those with talent and training.

The Job Interview

When a job opening is advertised in the United States, there are often a lot of people interested in applying. Many job hunters send in their resumes and apply for the same position. Sometimes a company will receive hundreds of resumes for a single job opening. The job interview, therefore, is very important. In the interview, an applicant must demonstrate that he or she is the best person for the job.

Because job interviews are so critical, some job hunters read books or take courses to help them make a good first impression. These books and courses are full of advice and suggestions to help job applicants prepare for their interviews. For example, successful applicants dress appropriately and have a clean and neat appearance. They take their resume or a sheet of paper listing their education and work experience with them to the interview. They also prepare a list of questions about the job or the company. They go to the interview alone and are always on time.

At the beginning of the interview, the applicant shakes hands firmly with the employer. The employer usually invites the applicant to sit down. During the interview, it is appropriate to smile often and to look directly into the eyes of the interviewer. The applicant doesn't chew gum or smoke during the interview. The applicant is prepared to answer questions about education and previous jobs. More difficult questions are possible, such as: "Why did you leave your last position?" Sometimes interviewers also try to get to know the applicant better. They ask questions about the applicant's personal background, family, and hobbies. Interviewers expect applicants to talk profoundly, confidently, and truthfully about their work experience, skills, goals, and abilities. When the interview is over, the applicant stands up, shakes hands with the interviewer, and says thank you for the time the person has offered.

Job applicants who can show they are capable, well-prepared, punctual, polite, and honest have a better chance of getting the job they're looking for.

Read the texts about differentjobs and answer the questions after them.

People And Their Jobs

1. Lucy works in a travel agency. Her salary is very low. She only gets three weeks' holiday a year and she works long hours. But Lucy doesn’t mind, because she enjoys her work. She has a nice boss and she meets a lot of people during the day. Her work is interesting and varied. Also, every year her company gives her a free two-week holiday in Europe.

2. Paul works on a car assembly line in a factory. He is a skilled worker and he does a lot of overtime; so at the end of each week he takes home quite a good wage. However, he doesn't enjoy his work. He finds it boring and monotonous. He gets four weeks' holiday a year, but because there are several public holidays and sometimes strikes in the factory, he doesn't usually work 48 weeks a year.

3. Tom is unemployed. He is a university graduate and he has a degree in sociology. However, Tom cannot find a good job. Each week he receives some money from the government called 'Social Security' With his money he pays the rent and buys his food, but at the end of the week he is always 'broke'.

4.Mr. Charles is a successful businessman. He is a company director. He earns a lot of money, and he also pays a lot of income tax. He is 64 and next year he is going to retire. He will get a good pension from his company and also an old age pension from the state. He is looking forward to his retirement. He wants to read a lot and go fishing.

5.Henry: I'm a pop star. I earn about £60,000 a year. Being a pop star means all sorts

of things. It means I don't have to worry about money any more. It means I can do what I want to do. For example, I hate having to get up early. I can't stand working in offices or in factories. I can't bear having to work at fixed hours. That's why I enjoy being a pop star. I like playing in front of large audiences. I even like all those young girls screaming and trying to tear my clothes off.

6. Alice: I'm a nurse and I don't earn very much money at all. In fact, I have a lot of difficulty in just making ends meet, as we say. But I like being a nurse. I suppose it’s because I enjoy helping people. Being a nurse is hard work. It means working all sorts of hours. And it isn't very pleasant sometimes. There are all sorts of things I don't enjoy. For example, I don't enjoy seeing people in pain. Working ten hours a day and more in a hospital isn't much fun, but at least you know you're doing something worthwhile.

7. John: The job that I have recently started is as a sales representative with a company that produces garden furniture. The company, called 'Sunnosit', is based in Thornton, a small town in the Midlands. The area manager, who has been with the company for over thirty years, is due to retire next year, which means I might get his job if I do well. One great advantage is having a company car, which I have to have, because the job involves visiting different parts of the country. My colleagues, who I get on well with, are quite ambitious, which means the atmosphere at work is rather competitive. I don't mind. Apart from that, the job is fine.

8. Keith: I'm 17. I'm a babysitter. This is the best job in the world. My parents have many friends with younger children. They call me when they want to go to a restaurant or pub for the evening. When I arrive the children are usually already in bed. I sit in the living room and watch TV. The children almost never wake up, and anyway they are not usually babies, so I can just tell them to go back to sleep. Some of the parents even leave food and drink for me in the fridge. If the parents stay out late they give me extra money. Usually I get 5 pounds per hour. The best thing about this job is that I don't have to pay any taxes on my money - it is all cash-in-hand!

9. Max: I'm 15. I’m a fast-food restaurant worker. I love this job! It's never boring because you are busy all the time. You can talk with your colleagues and have fun while you work. You also get a discount on the food here. My job is a Saturday job and I get 4.50 pounds per hour. I would like to work in the evenings too. I am saving up to buy a car when I am 17.

10. Karen: I'm a police officer. I decided to join the police service after a police woman visited my school when I was about 15 years old. I work on a response team which means that we answer calls made to Scotland Yard and the local police station by people from the local community. We deal with family arguments, people who have had their homes broken into, assaults, people who are lost or who have fallen over at home and cannot get up - lots of very different situations.

It's a challenging job and there are many different aspects to policing a large city. Some of my colleagues have police dogs, some ride police horses, others ride police motorbikes.

I work shifts which means that I work two early turns (06.00—14.00) and two late turns (13.00-23.00) and then two night duties (21.00-06.00) and then I have four days off.

The skills you need as a police officer in the UK are varied. You need a very good sense of humour, a strong constitution, a sense of duty in serving the community, like talking to people and most of all believe in the importance of law and order.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Would you like to work in a travel agency? Why?

2.Certainly few people want to work in a factory; but why are skilled workers necessary in our society?

3. Is it difficult for a university graduate to find a job? Will it be difficult for you?

4.Is the life of retired people easy in this country and abroad?

5.Do you envy a successful pop star?

6.Why is the job of a nurse which is so necessary for people not popular at all?

7.What is appealing in the job of a sales representative?

8.What makes teenagers take a part-time job?

9.Why is work in police difficult and dangerous? What other kinds of job are dangerous?

READING

Read the stories.

Success Story

After J. G. Cozzens

I met Richards ten or more years ago when I first went down to Cuba. He was a short, sharp-faced, agreeable chap, then about 22. He introduced himself to me on the boat and I was surprised to find that Panamerica Steel was sending us both to the same job.

Richards was from some not very good state university engineering school. Being the same age myself, and just out of technical college I saw at once that his knowledge was rather poor. In fact I couldn't imagine how he had managed to get this job.

Richards was naturally likable, and I liked him a lot. The firm had a contract for the construction of a private railroad. For Richards and me it was mostly an easy job of inspections and routine paper work. At least it was easy for me. It was harder for Richards, because he didn't appear to have mastered the use of a slide rule. When he asked me to check his figures I found his calculations awful.

"Boy," I was at last obliged to say, "you are undoubtedly the silliest white man in this province. Look, stupid, didn't you ever take arithmetic? How much are seven times thirteen?"

"Work that out," Richards said, "and let me have a report tomorrow."

So when I had time I checked his figures for him, and the inspector only caught him in a bad mistake about twice.

In January several directors of the United Sugar Company came down to us on business, but mostly pleasure; a good excuse to get south on a vacation. Richards and I were to accompany them around the place. One of the directors, Mr. Prosset was asking a number of questions. I knew the job well enough to answer every sensible question - the sort of question that a trained engineer would be likely to ask. As it was Mr. Prosset was not an engineer and some of his questions put me at a loss. For the third time I was obliged to say, "I'm afraid I don't know, sir. We haven't any calculations on that". When suddenly Richards spoke up.

"I think, about nine million cubic feet, sir," he said. "I just happened to be working

this out last night. Just for my own interest".

"Oh," said Mr. Prosset, giving him a sharp look. "That's very interesting, Mr. -er- Richards, isn't it? Well, now, maybe you could tell me about.

Richards could. Richards knew everything. All the way up Mr. Prosset fired questions on him and he fired answers right back. When we reached the head of the rail, a motor was waiting for Mr. Prosset. He nodded absent-mindedly to me, shook hands with Richards. "Very interesting, indeed," he said. "Good-bye, Mr. Richards, and thank you."

"Not at all, sir," Richards said. "Glad if I could be of service to you."

As soon as the car moved off, I exploded. "A little honest bluff doesn't hurt; but some of your figures...!"

"I like to please," said Richards grinning. "If a man like Prosset wants to know something, who am I to hold out on him?"

"What's he going to think when he looks up the figures or asks somebody who does know?"

"Listen, my son," said Richards kindly. "He wasn't asking for any information he was going to use. He doesn't want to know these figures. He won't remember them. I don't even remember them myself. What he is going to remember is you and me." "Yes," said Richards firmly. "He is going to remember that Panamerica Steel has a bright young man named Richards who could tell him everything, he wanted - just the sort of chap he can use; not like that other fellow who took no interest in his work, couldn't answer the simplest question and who is going to be doing small-time contracting all his life."

It is true. I am still working for the Company, still doing a little work for the construction line. And Richards? I happened to read in a newspaper a few weeks ago that Richards had been made a vice-president and director of Panamerica Steel when the Prosset group bought the old firm.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Describe Richards (age, appearance, education, manners).

2.Why was the author surprised that Richards had managed to get the same job?

3.What kind of work were the young men to do?

4.How did they cope with it?

5.Why did the author call his colleague stupid? Did it annoy Richards?

6.Why did the young men find themselves in the company of Mr. Prosset?

7.Why was the author unable to answer Mr. Prosset's questions?

8.What did Richard do and how did he explain his behaviour to the author later?

9.What made Mr. Prosset give Richards a sharp look?

10.What opinion had Mr. Prosset formed of the two young men, judging by the way he said good-bye to them?

11.Why did the author explode?

12.Whose theory proved to be right?

13.Can you approve of Richards’ behaviour?

Hunting For A Job

After S.S. McClure

I reached Boston late that night and got out at the South Station. I knew no one in Boston except Miss Bennet. She lived in Somerville, and I immediately started out for Somerville. Miss Bennet and her family did all they could to make me comfortable and help me to get myself established in some way. I had only six dollars and their hospitality was of utmost importance to me.

My first application for a job in Boston was made in accordance with an idea of my own. Every boy in the Western states knew the Pope Manufacturing Company, which produced bicycles. When I published my first work "History of Western College Jouma-

lism" the Pope Company had given me an advertisement, and that seemed to be a "connec­ tion" of some kind. So I decided to go to the offices of the Pope Manufacturing Company to ask for a job. I walked into the general office and said that I wanted the president of the company.

"Colonel Pope?" asked the clerk.

I answered, "Yes, Colonel Pope." I was taken to Colonel Pope, who was then an alert energetic man of thirty-nine. I told Colonel Pope, by way of introduction, that he had once given me an advertisement for a little book I had published, that I had been a College editor and out of a job. What I wanted was work and I wanted it badly.

He said he was sorry, but they were laying off hands. I still hung on. It seemed to me that everything would be all up with me, if I had to go out of that room without a job. I asked him if there wasn't anything at all that I could do. My earnestness made him look at me sharply.

"Willing to wash windows and scrub floors?" he asked. I told him that I was, and he turned to one of his clerks.

"Has Wilmot got anybody yet to help him in the downtown rink?" he asked. The clerk said he thought not.

"Very well", said Colonel Pope. "You can go to the rink and help Wilmot out for to­ morrow."

The next day I went to the bicycle rink and found that what Wilmot wanted was a man to teach beginners to ride. I had never been on a bicycle in my life nor even veiy close to one, but in a couple of hours I had learnt to ride a bicycle myselfand was teaching other people.

Next day Mr. Wilmot paid me a dollar. He didn't say anything about my coming back the next morning, but I came and went to work, very much afraid that I would be told I wasn't needed. After that Mr. Wilmot did not exactly engage me, but he forgot to discharge me, and I came back every day and went to work. At the end of the week Colonel Pope sent for me and placed me in charge of the uptown rink.

Colonel Pope was a man who watched his workmen. I hadn't been mistaken when I felt that a young man would have a chance with him. He often used to say that "water would find its level", and he kept an eye on us. One day he called me into his office and asked me if I could edit a magazine.

"Yes, sir," I replied quickly. I remember it flashed through my mind that I could do anything I was put at - that if I were required to run an ocean steamer I could somehow manage to do it. I could learn to do it as I went along. I answered as quickly as I could get the words out of my mouth, afraid that Colonel Pope would change his mind before I could get them out.

This is how I got my first job. And I have never doubted ever since that one of the reasons why I got it was that I had been "willing to wash windows and scrub floors". I had been ready for anything.

Answer thefollowing questions.

1.Who was the only person the author knew in Boston?

2.In what way was he received? Why was it of great importance to him?

3.What made the young man apply for ajob to the Pope Company?

4.Describe Colonel Pope. What was his answer to the young man's story?

5.Why did the man still hang on though he found out that the company was laying off

hands?

6.What question did the Colonel ask him?

7.Describe the young man's job and say whether he coped with it.

8.Why did the man continue to work for Mr. Wilmot though he hadn't engaged him?

9.What happened at the end of the week?

10.What job was the young man offered in the long run?

11.What idea flashed through his mind?

12.What helped the man to get his first job?

13.What’s the main idea of the story?

A Little Cloud

After James Joyce

Eight years before Little Chandler had seen his friend Gallaher off at the North Wall and wished him God-speed. Gallaher had got on. You could tell that at once by his travelled air, his well-cut tweed suit, and fearless accent. Few fellows had talents like his, and fewer still could remain unspoiled by such success. Gallaher's heart was in the right place and he had deserved to win. It was something to have a friend like that.

Little Chandler's thoughts ever since lunch-time had been of his meeting with Gallaher, of Gallaher's invitation, and of the great city London where Gallaher lived. He was called Little Chandler because, though he was but slightly under the average stature, he gave one the idea of being a little man. His hands were white and small, his frame was fragile, his voice was quiet and his manners were refined. He took the greatest care of his fair silken hair and moustache, and used perfume discreetly on his handkerchief. The half-moons of his nails were perfect, and when he smiled you caught a glimpse of a row of childish white teeth.

As he sat at his desk in the King's Inns he thought what changes those eight years had brought. The friend whom he had known under a shabby and necessitous guise had become a brilliant figure on the London Press. He turned often from his tiresome writing to gaze out of the office window. He watched the scene and thought of life; and (as always happened when he thought of life) he became sad. A gentle melancholy took possession of him. He felt how useless it was to struggle against fortune, this being the burden of wisdom which the ages had bequeathed to him.

He remembered the books of poetry upon his shelves at home. He had bought them in his bachelor days and many an evening, as he sat in the little room off the hall, he had been tempted to take one down from the bookshelf and read out something to his wife. But shyness had always held him back; and so the books had remained on their shelves. At times he repeated lines to himself and this consoled him.

When his hour had struck he stood up and took leave of his desk and of his fellow-clerks punctiliously. He emerged from under the arch of the King's Inns, a neat modest figure, and walked swiftly down Henrietta Street.

He had never been in Corless's, but he knew the value of the name. He knew that people went there after the theatre to eat oysters and drink liqueurs; and he had heard that the waiters there spoke French and German. Walking swiftly by at night he had seen cabs drawn up before the door and richly-dressed ladies, escorted by cavaliers.

He turned to the right towards Capel Street. Ignatius Gallaher on the London Press! Who would have thought it possible eight years before? Still, now that he reviewed the past, Little Chandler could remember many signs of future greatness in his friend. People used to say that Ignatius Gallaher was wild. Of course, he did mix with a rakish set of fellows at that time; drank freely and borrowed money on all sides. In the end he had got mixed up in some shady affair, some money transaction: at least, that was one version of his flight. But nobody denied him talent. There was always a certain... something in Ignatius Gallaher that impressed you in spite of yourself. Even when he was out at elbows and at his wits' end for money he kept up a bold face.

Little Chandler quickened his pace. For the first time in his life he felt himself superior to the people he passed. For the first time his soul revolted against the dull inelegance of Capel Street. There was no doubt about it: if you wanted to succeed you had to go away. You could do nothing in Dublin. As he crossed Grattan Bridge he looked down the river towards the lower quays and pitied the poor stunted houses. They seemed to him a band of tramps, huddled together along the riverbanks, their old coats covered with dust and soot. He wondered whether he could write a poem to express his idea. Perhaps Gallaher might be able to get it into some London paper for him. Could he write something original? He was not sure what idea he wished to express, but the thought that a poetic moment had touched him took life within him like an infant hope.

Every step brought him nearer to London, farther from his own sober inartistic life. A light began to tremble on the horizon of his mind. He was not so old - thirty-two. His temperament might be said to be just at the point of maturity. There were so many different moods and impressions that he wished to express in verse. He felt them within him.

Melancholy was the dominant note of his temperament, he thought, but it was a melancholy tempered by recurrences of faith. If he could give expression to it in a book of poems perhaps men would listen. He would never be popular, he saw that. He could not sway the crowd, but he might appeal to a little circle of kindred minds. The English critics, perhaps, would recognize him as one of the Celtic school by reason of the melancholy tone of his poems. He would speak to Gallaher about it.

As he came near Corless's his former agitation began to overmaster him and he halted before the door in indecision. Finally he opened the door and entered.

The light and noise of the bar held him at the doorway for a few moments. He looked about him, but his sight was confused by the shining of many red and green wineglasses. He glanced quickly to right and left and when his sight cleared a little he saw that nobody had turned to look at him, and there, sure enough, was Ignatius Gallaher leaning with his back against the counter.

'Hallo, Tommy, old hero, here you are! What is it to be? What will you have? I'm taking whisky.'

Ignatius Gallaher took off his hat and displayed a large closely-cropped head with thin hair at the crown. His face was heavy, pale, and cleanshaven. His eyes were of bluish colour.

'Tommy,' said Ignatius, 'I see you haven't changed an atom. You're the very same serious person that used to lecture me on Sunday mornings when I had a sore head and a fur on my tongue. You'd want to knock about a bit in the world. Have you never been anywhere even for a trip?'

"I've been to the Isle of Man,' said Little Chandler. Ignatius Gallaher laughed.

'The Isle of Man!' he said. 'Go to London or Paris; Paris, for choice. That'd do you

good.'

'Have you seen Paris?'

'I should think I have! I've knocked about there a little.'

'And is it really so beautiful as they say?' asked Little Chandler.

He sipped a little of his drink while Ignatius Gallaher finished his boldly.

'Beautiful?' said Ignatius Gallaher, pausing on the word and on the flavour of his drink. It's not so beautiful, you know. Of course it is beautiful. But it's the life of Paris; that's the thing. Ah, there's no city like Paris for gaiety, movement, excitement...'

Little Chandler finished his whisky and ordered the same again.

'I've been to the Moulin Rouge,' Ignatius Gallaher continued when the barman had removed their glasses, 'and I've been to all the Bohemian cafes.'

Little Chandler looked at his friend enviously. 'Everything in Paris is fun,' said Ignatius Gallaher. 'They believe in enjoying life —and don't you think they're right? If you want to enjoy yourself properly you must go to Paris.'

Little Chandler took four or five sips from his glass.

'Tell me,' he said, 'is it true that Paris is so...immoral as they say?' Ignatius Gallaher made a catholic gesture with his right arm.

'Every place is immoral,' he said. 'Of course you do find spicy bits in Paris. Go to one of the students' balls, for instance. And there's no woman like the Parisienne —for style, for go. Here in old Dublin nothing is known of such things.'

'How dull you must find it,' said Little Chandler, 'after all the other places you've

seen!'

'Well,' said Ignatius Gallaher, "it's a relaxation to come over here, you know. And, after all, it's the old country, as they say, isn't it? You can't help having a certain feeling for it. That's human nature...But tell me something about yourself. Hogan told me you had...tasted the joys of family life. Two years ago, wasn't it?'

Little Chandler blushed and smiled.

'Yes,' he said. I was married last May twelve months.'

'I hope it's not too late in the day to offer my best wishes,' said Ignatius Gallaher. I didn't know your address.'

He extended his hand, which Little Chandler took. 'Well, Tommy,' he said, I wish you and yours every joy in life, old chap, and tons of money, and may you never die till I shoot you. And that's the wish of a sincere friend, an old friend. You know that?'

'I know that,' said Little Chandler.

'Any youngsters?' said Ignatius Gallaher. Little Chandler blushed again.

'We have one child,' he said. 'Son or daughter?'

'A little boy.'

Ignatius Gallaher slapped his friend on the back. 'Bravo,' he said, 'I wouldn't doubt you, Tommy.'

Little Chandler smiled, looked confusedly at his glass and bit his lower lip with three childishly white front teeth.

"I hope you'll spend an evening with us,' he said, 'before you go back. My wife will be delighted to meet you. We can have a little music and...'

'I'm awfully sorry, old man. But I must leave tomorrow night'.

Little Chandler ordered the drinks. Three small whiskies had gone to his head and Gallaher's strong cigar had confused his mind, for he was a delicate and abstinent person. The adventure of meeting Gallaher after eight years, of finding himself with Gallaher in Corless's surrounded by lights and noise, of listening to Gallaher's stories and of sharing for a brief space Gallaher's vagrant and triumphant life, upset the equipoise of his sensitive nature. He felt acutely the contrast between his own life and his friend's, and it seemed to him unjust. Gallaher was his inferior in birth and education. He was sure that he could do something better than his friend had ever done, or could ever do, something higher than mere tawdry journalism if he only got the chance. What was it that stood in his way? His unfortunate timidity! He wished to vindicate himself in some way, to assert his manhood. He saw behind Gallaher's refusal of his invitation. Gallaher was only patronizing him by his friendliness just as he was patronizing Ireland by his visit.

The barman brought their drinks. Little Chandler pushed one glass towards his friend and took up the other boldly.

'Who knows?' he said, as they lifted their glasses. 'When you come next year I may have the pleasure of wishing long life and happiness to Mr and Mrs Ignatius Gallaher.'