Page 202

By Jack Joseph Smith

S06 "You don't have -to do. But it is a: shame -you are-not young enough te be put on a tightrope, I mean, think of the arms] But I am becoming . carried away, and I must tell’ you directly now: you will have te maintain, This instant there: is a small weight on your left shoulder, Do you feel it?" "Yeo." "That's nices" "What is it?" "It's a weight, ef courses" "Yes it is. Just like a basket without fruit." "So, let's put seme fruit in it” He waited’ a moment, And ‘then very poised, he~ Yreised’ his right’ hand, Then as if counting eff : seconds, he breught his amarroad es . hie thumb; eee ‘tne sound ‘at flesh tapings "Feeb it?" "Yess" Sans “Would you care for three more apples?" She barely: nodded, and he made*the action three _ times mores : He smiled, “Hew abeut a bunch ef banana's for . the right shoulder?" . ’ Maria smiled slightly, but the rest of her face-

Original Scan

Page 202

AI Interpretation

GPT

The imagined burden becomes almost childlike in its staging, with Montreal placing 'fruit' and 'apples' into Marie's invisible baskets so that grief can be felt as manageable weight.

This page is oddly playful without losing seriousness. The whimsical language keeps the ritual from hardening into solemn fraud, and that instability is what makes the scene feel both theatrical and emotionally real.

Claude

The imagined burden becomes almost childlike in its staging, with Montreal placing fruit and apples on Marie as if grief could be itemized. The page's literalism is the whole point.