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A young man who was concerned about his position in
society and who was about to get married made his
wife-to-be promise not to indulge further in
kleptomania. (She had, for instance, once gone into
the Piggly-Wiggly, taken a number of items,
attempted an exit without paying, been stopped and
told item by item what she had stolen, given up those
mentioned, crossed the street, sat down on the curb,
and eaten a jar of peanut butter the attendant had
failed to notice.) She promised her husband-to-be she
would never steal anything again. But years later,
when they were getting divorced, she told him that
when they went to the jeweler’s to get the wedding
ring, she had left him for a moment while he was
considering the relative merits of two rings and, not
being observed, had acquired a wrist watch. ¶ This
particular girl was a great beauty. When a friend of
hers who had been a tutor in the Japanese royal family
was giving a lecture in Santa Maria, California, she
was at the back of the capacity audience standing on
a table, wearing high heels, fur coat, and a red rose
in her black hair. At one point in his lecture, when
the speaker’s eye fell on this girl in recognition,
she opened her coat, showing herself to be stark
naked. |