Tremendous Trifles by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton
page 20 of 193 (10%)
page 20 of 193 (10%)
![]() | ![]() |
|
Parkinson!)--it is logically possible, to play croquet too well to
enjoy it at all. If you could put this blue ball through that distant hoop as easily as you could pick it up with your hand, then you would not put it through that hoop any more than you pick it up with your hand; it would not be worth doing. If you could play unerringly you would not play at all. The moment the game is perfect the game disappears." "I do not think, however," said Parkinson, "that you are in any immediate danger of effecting that sort of destruction. I do not think your croquet will vanish through its own faultless excellence. You are safe for the present." I again caressed him with the mallet, knocked a ball about, wired myself, and resumed the thread of my discourse. The long, warm evening had been gradually closing in, and by this time it was almost twilight. By the time I had delivered four more fundamental principles, and my companion had gone through five more hoops, the dusk was verging upon dark. "We shall have to give this up," said Parkinson, as he missed a ball almost for the first time, "I can't see a thing." "Nor can I," I answered, "and it is a comfort to reflect that I could not hit anything if I saw it." With that I struck a ball smartly, and sent it away into the darkness towards where the shadowy figure of Parkinson moved in the hot haze. Parkinson immediately uttered a loud and dramatic cry. The situation, |
|