The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon [76]
Then he rubbed the sides of his forehead with his fingertips, and he said, “You don't have to say anything, not right now. You just have to think about it. And, um . . . I've got you a present. To show you that I really mean what I say. And to say sorry. And because . . . well, you'll see what I mean.”
Then he got out of the armchair and he walked over to the kitchen door and opened it and there was a big cardboard box on the floor and there was a blanket in it and he bent down and put his hands inside the box and he took a little sandy-colored dog out.
Then he came back through and gave me the dog. And he said, “He's two months old. And he's a golden retriever.”
And the dog sat in my lap and I stroked it.
And no one said anything for a while.
Then Father said, “Christopher, I would never, ever do anything to hurt you.”
Then no one said anything.
Then Mother came into the room and said, “You won't be able to take him away with you, I'm afraid. The bed-sit's too small. But your father's going to look after him here. And you can come and take him out for walks whenever you want.”
And I said, “Does he have a name?”
And Father said, “No. You can decide what to call him.”
And the dog chewed my finger.
And then it was 5 minutes and the tomato alarm went. So Mother and I drove back to her room.
And the next week there was a lightning storm and the lightning hit a big tree in the park near Father's house and knocked it down and men came and cut the branches up with chain saws and carried the logs away on a lorry, and all that was left was a big black pointed stump made of carbonized wood.
And I got the results of my maths A level and I got an A grade, which is the best result, and it made me feel like this
And I called the dog Sandy. And Father bought him a collar and a lead and I was allowed to take him for walks to the shop and back. And I played with him with a rubber bone.
And Mother got flu and I had to spend three days with Father and stay in his house. But it was OK because Sandy slept on my bed so he would bark if anyone came into the room during the night. And Father made a vegetable patch in the garden and I helped him. And we planted carrots and peas and spinach and I'm going to pick them and eat them when they're ready.
And I went to a bookshop with Mother and I bought a book called Further Maths for A Level and Father told Mrs. Gascoyne that I was going to take A-level further maths next year and she said “OK.”
And I am going to pass it and get an A grade. And in two years' time I am going to take A-level physics and get an A grade.
And then, when I've done that, I am going to go to university in another town. And it doesn't have to be in London because I don't like London and there are universities in lots of places and not all of them are in big cities. And I can live in a flat with a garden and a proper toilet. And I can take Sandy and my books and my computer.
And then I will get a First Class Honors degree and I will become a scientist.
And I know I can do this because I went to London on my own, and because I solved the mystery of Who Killed Wellington? and I found my mother and I was brave and I wrote a book and that means I can do anything.
APPENDIX
QUESTION
Prove the following result:
A triangle with sides that can be written in the form n2 + 1, n2 - 1 and 2n (where n > 1) is right-angled.
Show, by means of a counterexample, that the converse is false.
ANSWER
First we must determine which is the longest side of a triangle with sides that can be written in the form n2 + 1, n2 - 1 and 2n (where n > 1)
n2 + 1 - 2n = (n - 1)2
and if n > 1 then (n - 1)2 > 0
therefore n2 + 1 - 2n > 0
therefore n2 + 1 > 2n
Similarly (n2 + 1) - (n2 - 1) = 2
therefore n2 + 1 > n2 - 1
This