Page:Soseki - Botchan (1918).djvu/221

 grand, though!” he remarked in a highly elated tone. I protested that while I approved 99 per cent, of his speech, there was one per cent, that I did not. “What’s that one per cent?” he asked.

“Well, you said,… there is not a single high-collared guy who with smooth face entraps innocent people…”

“Yes.”

“A ‘high-collared guy’ isn’t enough.”

“Then what should I say?”

“Better say,–‘a high-collared guy; swindler, bastard, super-swanker, doubleface, bluffer, totempole, spotter, who looks like a dog as he yelps.’”

“I can’t get my tongue to move so fast. You’re eloquent. In the first place, you know a great many simple words. Strange that you can’t make a speech.”

“I reserve these words for use when I chew the rag. If it comes to speech-making, they don’t come out so smoothly.”