Tuesday, June 14, 2022

The Moving Finger

The Moving Finger is an 1901 story by Edith Wharton. Won't you join me in a cuppa and perhaps read with me? (I'll be participating in the T Stands for Tuesday blogger gathering.)



You can read it online here or listen to it read to you at the bottom of this post. It begins,
The news of Mrs. Grancy’s death came to me with the shock of an immense blunder–one of fate’s most irretrievable acts of vandalism. It was as though all sorts of renovating forces had been checked by the clogging of that one wheel. Not that Mrs. Grancy contributed any perceptible momentum to the social machine: her unique distinction was that of filling to perfection her special place in the world. So many people are like badly-composed statues, over-lapping their niches at one point and leaving them vacant at another. Mrs. Grancy’s niche was her husband’s life; and if it be argued that the space was not large enough for its vacancy to leave a very big gap, I can only say that, at the last resort, such dimensions must be determined by finer instruments than any ready-made standard of utility. Ralph Grancy’s was in short a kind of disembodied usefulness: one of those constructive influences that, instead of crystallizing into definite forms, remain as it were a medium for the development of clear thinking and fine feeling. He faithfully irrigated his own dusty patch of life, and the fruitful moisture stole far beyond his boundaries. If, to carry on the metaphor, Grancy’s life was a sedulously-cultivated enclosure, his wife was the flower he had planted in its midst–the embowering tree, rather, which gave him rest and shade at its foot and the wind of dreams in its upper branches.

We had all–his small but devoted band of followers–known a moment when it seemed likely that Grancy would fail us. We had watched him pitted against one stupid obstacle after another–ill-health, poverty, misunderstanding and, worst of all for a man of his texture, his first wife’s soft insidious egotism. We had seen him sinking under the leaden embrace of her affection like a swimmer in a drowning clutch; but just as we despaired he had always come to the surface again, blinded, panting, but striking out fiercely for the shore. When at last her death released him it became a question as to how much of the man she had carried with her. Left alone, he revealed numb withered patches, like a tree from which a parasite has been stripped. But gradually he began to put out new leaves; and when he met the lady who was to become his second wife–his one real wife, as his friends reckoned–the whole man burst into flower.

The second Mrs. Grancy was past thirty when he married her...
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21 comments:

  1. ...another one that never hit my radar screen.

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  2. You find interesting ones!
    (ツ) from Cottage Country Ontario , ON, Canada!

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  3. Sounds intriguing! My fingers are always moving! Happy T Day, Valerie

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  4. I thoroughly enjoyed this short story. A bit like "The Portrait of Dorian Grey", but not as sinister. Your coffee cup is so cute. Reminds me of the "itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini. I'll be humming that tune all day. Stay cool. Happy T Day

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  5. I don't have time to read it right now as I am trying to get out and do a bit of morning gardening. But since I do like Edith Wharton, I will come back to it. Maybe with some afternoon ice tea instead of a warm morning drink. Happy T day Nita.

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  6. Good morning, love your coffee pot, sounds like an interesting read-Happy T

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  7. Edith Wharton was a very skilled writer -- and a terrible snob! I don't know if I read this story some time in the past, but it's intriguing.

    Nice coffee pot!

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  8. I could really get into this. Thank you for sharing it. Have a nice day.

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  9. You do find very interesting stories and movies- not familiar with this one either. I do like Edith Wharton. Good to "see" you at T Day again- happy T day wishes!

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  10. Divers i thoroughly enjoyed your excerpt .... I may finish the rest .... I really enjoy a good writer.. Something to be read slow and savored.. thank you! I look forward to your T visit! Happy happy T day! Hugs! deb

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  11. Fabulous and I'm loving that mug, perfect for summer 😊. Wishing you a very Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x

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  12. I don't know this one by Edith Wharton. You certainly find interesting reads and movies. Happy T day!

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  13. I have read her book, "The Age of Innocence" but I can't remember if I like it. Haha.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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  14. I've never heard of this. I also love your little coffee pot. It makes espresso correct? I've seen those at garage sales and thrift stores over the years but didn't know why on Earth anyone would want that small of pot. ;) Now I know better. LOL
    Happy T day!

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    1. Not _real_ espresso, but it makes what most people make do as espresso in-home ;) They make these big enough to make several espresso-sized cups, but I like this little one. It's easy enough to make more if I want it.

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  15. Been without electricity since about 6:30 pm yesterday. Never so glad to get my AC and internet back.

    I enjoy anything by Wharton, but don't know this one. I love that coffee maker, and also that summery mug. So glad to see you back for T. Thanks for sharing this story and your coffee with us for T this Tuesday, dear.

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  16. Edith W! Who knew? The only other "Moving Finger" I knew was by Agatha Christie!

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  17. In a recent re-run of a Big Bang Theory tv show, Sheldon gives the group the "moving finger" so now I'm curious about this version of the moving finger. :)

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  18. I read your extract, and now I want to read the rest. How intriguing! And so beautifully written!. That is it from me. I'm off to read it now!
    Happy belated T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  19. Didn´t know this, oh, but Ingo has such a coffee machine, too.

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  20. I do like your coffee pot ...

    All the best Jan

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