ABSTRACT
It's all very well saying let's get to hell out of it if you are brave and wealthy, married to a wealthy and intelligent woman. I am to Hell in it. How did I ever get to Hell into Munden, with that damned Roland? Anyhow, he's gone, thank God or the Devil—God! What was that? Now I'm hearing voices. Thou shall not take the name of God in vain. When I first heard that it meant—or so I thought—I'm not so sure now ... you must not be a naughty boy and swear, but now I have just seen that my god will come whenever I call upon him, and whichever god it is will come at once—and come with a vengeance. 'And how!' as they say. I begin to doubt the equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth. Some old bore said that. I remember having to learn it, by heart. Of course, I didn't believe a word of it, but I see now, I see that really it had a double dose of meaning and not no meaning at all. Well, well, very funny! Lies and Truth are indistinguishable! Missus What-not, the cook from whom I stole the cookies, used to say, 'I'll give you your rations. It's what you deserve. Now just you get out of here!' and I found myself outside in less than no time. Now I have only to want to go to sleep and I find myself inside. Ha! 50ha! ha!—very funny, very funny indeed ... Shhhh ... What a bloody noise you make! You'll wake the whole place. Blood, blood everywhere; even noise is bloody in this hell! If I tried to wash these hands they would make even the sea bloody. If I tried to wash my hands ... even the noise would become bloody and if I try to be reasonable and wake up, even reason itself becomes irrational and if I try to be reasonable ... What could be more reasonable than mathematics?—well, the mathematics have to become irrational. That bloody man Euclid! Today even Euclid is not safe thanks to that ghastly man Lobachevsky. And Riemann—sh, SH! What's so hellish funny about that! ARF ARF?—I'll give you ARF! ARF! ARF! In Heaven indeed! Who are you?
