THE LONGEST JOURNEY

E. M. Forster




PART I CAMBRIDGE

I

"The cow is there," said Ansell, lighting a match and holding it
out over the carpet. No one spoke. He waited till the end of the
match fell off. Then he said again, "She is there, the cow.
There, now."

"You have not proved it," said a voice.

"I have proved it to myself."

"I have proved to myself that she isn't," said the voice.
"The cow is not there." Ansell frowned and lit another match.

"She's there for me," he declared. "I don't care whether she's
there for you or not. Whether I'm in Cambridge or Iceland or
dead, the cow will be there."

It was philosophy. They were discussing the existence of objects.
Do they exist only when there is some one to look at them? Or
have they a real existence of their own? It is all very