One morning, when he was ready to go out, the children were not
dressed. The lawyer felt angry and went grumbling to his wife; of the
servants he was afraid.
"Why aren't the children dressed?" he asked.
"Because Mary is busy with other things. Why don't you dress them?
You've nothing else to do. Do you consider it degrading to dress your
own children?"
He considered the matter for a while, but could see nothing degrading
in it. He dressed them.
One day he felt inclined to take his gun and go out by himself,
although he never shot anything.
His wife met him on his return.
"Why didn't you take the children for a walk this morning?" she asked
sharply and reproachfully.
"Because I didn't feel inclined to do so." "You didn't feel inclined?
Do you think I want to work all day long in stable and barn? One ought
to do _something_ useful during the day, even if it does go against
one's inclination."
"So as to pay for one's dinner, you mean?"
"If you like to put it that way! If I were a big man like you, I
should be ashamed to be lying all day long on a sofa, doing nothing."
He really felt ashamed, and henceforth he established himself the
children's nurse. He never failed in his duties.
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