eyes. All the women held their breath, stared at me, and waited. I
was more embarrassed than any of them. I had not, in the least,
anticipated that a chance remark would produce such an effect. Like
Ezekiel's field of death, strewn with dead men's bones, there was a
quiver at the touch of the spirit, and the dead bones stirred. I had
uttered an unpremeditated word of love and sympathy, and this word
had acted on all as though they had only been waiting for this very
remark, in order that they might cease to be corpses and might live.
They all stared at me, and waited for what would come next. They
waited for me to utter those words, and to perform those actions by
reason of which these bones might draw together, clothe themselves
with flesh, and spring into life. But I felt that I had no such
words, no such actions, by means of which I could continue what I had
begun; I was conscious, in the depths of my soul, that I had lied
[that I was just like them], {9} and there was nothing further for me
to say; and I began to inscribe on the cards the names and callings
of all the persons in this set of apartments.

This incident led me into a fresh dilemma, to the thought of how
these unfortunates also might be helped. In my self-delusion, I
fancied that this would be very easy. I said to myself: "Here, we
will make a note of all these women also, and LATER ON when we [I did
not specify to myself who "we" were] write every thing out, we will
attend to these persons too." I imagined that we, the very ones who
have brought and have been bringing these women to this condition for
several generations, would take thought some fine day and reform all
this. But, in the mean time, if I had only recalled my conversation
with the disreputable woman who had been rocking the baby of the
fever-stricken patient, I might have comprehended the full extent of
the folly of such a supposition.