Third Thoughts
by
Edward Verrall Lucas
(Summary)
The story in the essay Third thoughts is of
the author’s friend. According to the author the story was told to him by one
of his friends. The purpose of narrating this story is, how the narrator
bargains with his own soul.
The
narrator says, that it had been his destiny that he used to buy decorative
articles in costly markets and used to sell them in cheap rates. One day he
comes to a shop of water-color drawings in the cathedral city. While watching
the picture, he detects a painting of Turner and buys that in ten shillings.
Somehow the narrator finds a purchaser and sells him the picture in fifty
pounds. To his astonishment he got profit of 49 pounds and 10 shillings.
The
narrator is so overwhelmed, that he decides to give half of his profit to the
dealer as he thinks, that the dealer had behaved well to him. So, he writes a
note of this kind but he has no stamps to post the letter so, he goes to bed.
At
about 3.30 a.m. he wakes up and starts reviewing his life’s errors and puts the
letter to the dealer under both examination and cross examination and decides
not to be quixotic. The narrator thinks, that the credit to sell the drawing in
profit is his and not of the dealer and a large amount of the profit should not
be wasted on the dealer, so he decides to give only 10 pounds to the dealer. He
again starts thinking about the dealer and about his profit and decides, that
if he gives the dealer 10 pounds, he will expect same from other customers and
will be disappointed, so he thinks not to injure such a person and decides to
give him only five pounds.
Next
morning while dressing him, he again starts thinking about his financial coup.
He does not dare to fly in the face of the goddess of business because he knows
“There is no fury like a woman scorned”. He wants to be a city magnate and city
magnates don’t do such foolish things, so he decides to give only one pound to
that dealer.
The
narrator of the story concludes his narration saying, that when he reaches the
club that afternoon, he has the envelope containing the cheque of a pound but
he is glad he has not posted it because he has lost that single pound also in
the game of ‘Bridge’.
The
narrator does not give anything to the dealer and gives his explanation saying
“buying and selling are a perfectly straightforward matter between a dealer and
customer…………and the customer having paid it is under no obligation whatever to
the dealer”. The narrator considers the incident closed.
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