Letter № 1 · from Boris, Hampstead
On the Postman
❦
Dear S., — There is a postman. He approaches the house with a small bag of paper. I have made my displeasure known, daily, for two years. He continues to approach. What is to be done?
S. replies:
Dear Boris, — Persistence in the face of futility is the very engine of canine dignity. Continue. He will not yield, but you, too, must not yield. There is, you should be told, honour in the unwinnable post.
The Romans had a word — negotium — for the daily business that defines a creature's place in the world. The postman is your negotium. A dog without a postman is a dog without purpose.
Yours, in the discharge of duty, — S.