He looked at mefor a minute or two, pulling his untidy beard. I smiled at him.

"What areyou amused at?" he said, with a gleam of anger in his eyes.

"You're sosimple. You recognise no obligations. No one is under any obligation to you."

"Wouldn'tit make you uncomfortable if I went and hanged myself because I'd been turnedout of my room as I couldn't pay the rent?"

"Not abit. "

He chuckled.

"You'rebragging. If I really did you'd be overwhelmed with remorse. "

"Try it,and we'll see, " I retorted.

A smileflickered in his eyes, and he stirred his absinthe in silence.

"Would youlike to play chess?" I asked.

"I don'tmind. "

We set up thepieces, and when the board was ready he considered it with a comfortable eye.There is a sense of satisfaction in looking at your men all ready for the fray.

"Did youreally think I'd lend you money?" I asked.

"I didn'tsee why you shouldn't. "

"Yousurprise me. "

"Why?"

"It's disappointingto find that at heart you are sentimental. I should have liked you better ifyou hadn't made that ingenuous appeal to my sympathies. "

"I shouldhave despised you if you'd been moved by it, " he answered.

"That'sbetter, " I laughed.

他盯着我看了一两分钟，一面揪着他那乱蓬蓬的胡子。我对他笑了笑。

“你有什么好笑的？”他说，眼睛里闪现出一丝恼怒的神色。

“你这人太没心眼了。你从来不懂欠人家的情。谁也不欠你的情。”

“如果我因为交不起房租被撵了出来，逼得去上了吊，你不觉得心里不安吗？”

“一点也不觉得。”

他咯咯地笑起来。

“你在说大话。如果我真的上了吊你会后悔一辈子的。”

“你不妨试一试，就知道我后悔不后悔了。”

他的眼睛里露出一丝笑意，默默地搅和着他的苦艾酒。

“想不想下棋？”我问他说。

“我不反对。”

我们开始摆棋子，摆好以后，他注视着面前的棋盘，带着一副自得其乐的样子。当你看到自己兵马都已进入阵地，就要开始一场大厮杀，总禁不住有一种快慰的感觉。

“你真的以为我会借钱给你吗？”我问他。

“我想不出来为什么你会不借给我。”

“你使我感到吃惊。”

“为什么？”

“发现你心里还是人情味十足让我失望。如果你不那么天真，想利用我的同情心来打动我，我会更喜欢你一些。”

“如果你被我打动，我会鄙视你的。”他回答说。

“那就好了。”我笑起来。