ything made me afraid.

A little hole in the wall at the head of my bed occupies me greatly--a
nail hole. I find the marks in the wall--I feel it, blow into it, and
try to guess its depth. That was no innocent hole--not at all. It was a
downright intricate and mysterious hole, which I must guard against!
Possessed by the thought of this hole, entirely beside myself with
curiosity and fear, I get out of bed and seize hold of my penknife in
order to gauge its depth, and convince myself that it does not reach
right into the next wall.

I lay down once more to try and fall asleep, but in reality to wrestle
again with the darkness. The rain had ceased outside, and I could not
hear a sound. I continued for a long time to listen for footsteps in
the street, and got no peace until I heard a pedestrian go by--to judge
from the sound, a constable. Suddenly I snap my fingers many times and
laugh: "That was the very deuce! Ha--ha!" I imagined I had discovered a
new word. I rise up in bed and say, "It is not in the language; I have
discovered it. 'Kuboa.' It has letters as a word has. By the benign
God, man, you have discovered a word!... 'Kuboa' ... a word of profound
import."

I sit with open eyes, amazed at my own find, and laugh for joy. Then I
begin to whisper; some one might spy on me, and I intended to keep my
discovery a secret. I entered into the joyous frenzy of hunger. I was
empty and free from pain, and I gave free rein to my thoughts.

In all calmness I revolve things in my mind. With the most singular
jerks in my chain of ideas I seek to explain the meaning of my new
word. There was no occasion for it to mean either God or the Tivoli;
[Footnote: Theatre of Varieties, etc., and Garden in Christiania.] and
who said that it was to signify cattle show? I clench my hands
fiercely, and repeat once again, "Who said that it was to signify
cattle show?" No; on second thoughts, it was not absolutely necessary
that it should mean padlock, or sunrise. It was not difficult to find a
meaning for such a word as this. I would wait and see. In the meantime
I could sleep on it.

I lie there on the stretcher-bed and laugh slily, but say nothing; give
vent to no opinion one way or the other. Some minutes pass over, and I
wax nervous; this new word torments me unceasingly, returns again and
again, takes up my thoughts, and makes me serious. I had fully formed
an opinion as to what it should not signify, but had come to no
conclusion