Page 4 - LN2

strapped it: closed it
Wild: mad with anger

The writer did not say anything to his friends and started packing. As he closed it, Harris said
that he had forgotten to pack the boots. The writer felt that Harris could have reminded him
before he had closed the bag but he thought that Harris was like that! This was followed by an
irritating laughter by George which made Jerome wild with anger.

I opened the bag and packed the boots in; and then, just as I was going to close it, a horrible
idea occurred to me. Had I packed my toothbrush? I don’t know how it is, but I never do know
whether I’ve packed my toothbrush.

Jerome opened the bag to keep the boots in it. As he was about to close it, he was struck by
a strange thought that had he kept the toothbrush or not. He says that he never remembers if
he has packed the toothbrush or not.

My toothbrush is a thing that haunts me when I’m travelling, and makes my life a misery. I
dream that I haven’t packed it, and wake up in a cold perspiration, and get out of bed and
hunt for it. And, in the morning, I pack it before I have used it, and have to unpack again to get
it, and it is always the last thing I turn out of the bag; and then I repack and forget it, and have
to rush upstairs for it at the last moment and carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in my
pocket-handkerchief.

Haunts: to repeatedly give trouble
Misery: sad
cold perspiration: sweat
Hunt: search

Jerome adds that while travelling, he always messes up with carrying his toothbrush. He has
nightmares of not having packed it, wakes up in sweat and looks for it. In the morning, he
packs it before using it, then unpacks the bag to get the brush and uses it. As it is the last
thing that comes out of the bag and he has repacked the bag, he forgets packing it again. At
the last moment, he rushes to his room to get the brush and, finally, he wraps it in his
handkerchief and carries it to the railway station in his hand.

Of course I had to turn every mortal thing out now, and, of course, I could not find it. I
rummaged the things up into much the same state that they must have been before the world
was created, and when chaos reigned. Of course, I found George’s and Harris’s eighteen
times over, but I couldn’t find my own. I put the things back one by one, and held everything
up and shook it. Then I found it inside a boot. I repacked once more.

mortal thing: every ordinary thing
Rummaged: searched in a hurried or careless way
Chaos: confusion
Reigned: ruled

As Jerome was looking for his toothbrush in his bag, he had to remove everything but he
could not find it. He created a mess. He found his friend’s brushes many times but could not
find his brush. He kept everything back into the bag one by one, shaking each item, and
finally, found the brush inside a boot. Then once again, he repacked the bag.
When I had finished, George asked if the soap was in. I said I didn’t care a hang whether the
soap was in or whether it wasn’t; and I slammed the bag shut and strapped it, and found that I