e of a mark
crossing an upright line, or projecting from it, now on the right, now on
the left side; and I said to myself, 'Why does this mark sometimes cross
the upright line, and sometimes project?' and the more I thought on the
matter, the less did I feel of the misery in my head.

"The things were at length removed, and I sat, as I had for some time
past been wont to sit after my meals, silent and motionless; but in the
present instance my mind was not entirely abandoned to the one mournful
idea which had so long distressed it. It was, to a certain extent,
occupied with the marks on the teapot; it is true that the mournful idea
strove hard with the marks on the teapot for the mastery in my mind, and
at last the painful idea drove the marks of the teapot out; they,
however, would occasionally return and flit across my mind for a moment
or two, and their coming was like a momentary relief from intense pain. I
thought once or twice that I would have the teapot placed before me, that
I might examine the marks at leisure, but I considered that it would be
as well to defer the re-examination of the marks till the next morning;
at that time I did not take tea of an evening. By deferring the
examination thus, I had something to look forward to on the next morning.
The day was a melancholy one, but it certainly was more tolerable to me
than any of the others had been since the death of my beloved. As I lay
awake that night I occasionally thought of the marks, and in my sleep
methought I saw them upon the teapot vividly before me. On the morrow, I
examined the marks again; how singular they looked! Surely they must
mean something, and if so, what could they mean? and at last I thought
within myself whether it would be possible for me to make out what they
meant: that day I felt more relief than on the preceding one, and towards
night I walked a little about.

"In about a week's time I received a visit from my friend the surgeon;
after a little discourse, he told me that he perceived I was better than
when he had last seen me, and asked me what I had been about; I told him
that I had been principally occupied in considering certain marks which I
had found on a teapot, and wondering what they could mean; he smiled at
first, but instantly assuming a serious look, he asked to see the teapot.
I produced it, and after having surveyed the marks with attention, he
observed that they were highly curious, and also wondered what t