When I reached the scene in which Caesar replies to Britannus's protest
against the recognition of Cleopatra's marriage to her brother, Ptolemy,
by saying, "Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that
the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature," Mr. Pulitzer burst
into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
I was about to continue, and try to make good better, when Mr. Pulitzer
raised his hands above his head in remonstrance.
"Stop! Stop! For God's sake! You're hurting me," very much as a person
with a cracked lip begs for mercy when you are in the middle of your
most humorous story.
I found out later that, in order to keep in Mr. Pulitzer's good graces,
it was as necessary to avoid being too funny as it was to avoid being
too dull, for, while the latter fault hurt his intellectual
sensitiveness, the former involved, through the excessive laughter it
produced, a degree of involuntary exertion which, in his disordered
physical condition, caused him acute pain.
Mr. Pulitzer's constant use of the exclamations "My God!" and "For God's
sake!" had no relation whatever to swearing, as the term is usually
understood; they were employed exactly as a French lady employs the
exclamation Mon Dieu! or a German the expression Ach, du liebe Gott! As
a matter of fact, although Mr.
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