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Speaker 1: The lingering death. There was a man in our village

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who led an exceedingly disreputable life. One morning, when he

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got up rather early, two men appeared and led him

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away to the market place, where he saw a butcher

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

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shoved him with all their might against the dead animal,

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and lo his own flesh began to blend with the

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pork before him, with his conductors hurrying off in the

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opposite direction. By and by, the butcher wanted to sell

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a piece of meat, and, seizing a knife, began to

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cut off the quantity required. At each touch of the blade,

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our disreputable friend experienced a severe pang which penetrated into

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his very marrow, and when at length an old man

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came and haggled over the weight given him, crying out

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for a little bit more fat or an extra portion

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of lean. Then, as the butcher sliced away the pork

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ounced by ounce. The pain was unendurable in the extreme.

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By about nine o'clock the pork was all sold, and

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our hero went home, whereupon his family asked him what

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he meant by staying in bed so late. He then

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narrated all that had taken place, and on making inquiries,

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they found that the pork butcher had only just come home.

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Besides which our friend was able to tell him every

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pound of meat he had sold and every slice he

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had cut off. Fancy a man being put to a

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lingering death like this before breakfast. The End of the

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Lingering Death translated and annotated by Herbert A. Giles,