Page 21 - English Reader - 7

well that this should be the last rite of the meal—finis coronat opus—so
that we may go straight on to the business of the pipe. Celery demands a

pipe rather than a cigar, and it can be eaten better in an inn or a London
tavern than in the home. Yes, and it should be eaten alone, for it is the only

food which one really wants to hear oneself eat. Besides, in company one
may have to consider the wants of others. Celery is not a thing to share

with any man. Alone in your country inn you may call for the celery; but
if you are wise you will see than no other traveler wanders into the room,

Take warning from one who has learnt a lesson. One day I lunched alone
at an inn, finishing with cheese and celery. Another traveler came in and

lunched too. We did not speak—I was busy with my celery. From the
other end of the table he reached across for the cheese. That was all right!

it was the public cheese. But he also reached across for the celery—my
private celery for which I owed. Foolishly—you know how one does—I

had left the sweetest and crispest shoots till the last, tantalizing myself
pleasantly with the thought of them. Horror! to see them snatched from

me by a stranger. He realized later what he had done and apologized,
but of what good is an apology in such circumstances? Yet at least the

tragedy was not without its value. Now one remembers to lock the door.

Yet, I can face the winter with calm. I suppose I had forgotten what it was

really like. I had been thinking of the winter as a horrid wet, dreary time
fit only for professional football. Now I can see other things—crisp and

sparkling days, long pleasant evenings, cheery fires. Good work shall be
done this winter. Life shall be lived well. The end of the summer is not

the end of the world. Here’s to October—and, waiter, some more celery.

by A A Milne

Dolphin English Reader Book 7 21