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The lingering death. There was a
man in our village who led an exceedingly

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disreputable life. One morning, when
he got up rather early, two men

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appeared and led him away to the
market place, where he saw a butcher

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hanging half a pig. As they
approached, the two men shoved him with

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all their might against the dead animal, and lo his own flesh began to

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blend with the pork before him,
with his conductors hurrying off in the opposite

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direction. By and by, the
butcher wanted to sell a piece of meat,

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and, seizing a knife, began
to cut off the quantity required.

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At each touch of the blade,
our disreputable friend experienced a severe pang which

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penetrated into his very marrow, and
when at length an old man came and

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haggled over the weight given him,
crying out for a little bit more fat

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or an extra portion of lean.
Then, as the butcher sliced away the

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pork ounced by ounce. The pain
was unendurable in the extreme. By about

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nine o'clock the pork was all sold, and our hero went home, whereupon

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his family asked him what he meant
by staying in bed so late. He

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then narrated all that had taken place, and on making inquiries, they found

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that the pork butcher had only just
come home. Besides which our friend was

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able to tell him every pound of
meat he had sold and every slice he

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had cut off. Fancy a man
being put to a lingering death like this

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before breakfast. The End of the
Lingering Death translated and annotated by Herbert A. Giles,