Psychology by Katherine Mansfield, 1920
The magic trick:
Clever meta humor
I wouldn’t generally associate Katherine Mansfield with a sense of humor, but I did find “Psychology” pretty funny. Or at least clever. I don’t mean to suggest I was rolling with belly laughs here. But it is definitely clever. As a story, it really is just a conversation. The conversation is between two intellectuals who are mostly suspicious about the so-called psychological novel. Where it’s clever? Well, of course it becomes a psychological short story, eschewing plot for character study.
And that’s quite a trick on Mansfield’s part.
The selection:
“Have a cigarette? I’ll put the kettle on. Are you longing for tea?”
“No. Not longing.”
“Well, I am.”
“Oh, you.” He thumped the Armenian cushion and flung on to the sommier. “You’re a perfect little Chinee.”
“Yes, I am,” she laughed. “I long for tea as strong men long for wine.”
She lighted the lamp under its broad orange shade, pulled the curtains, and drew up the tea table. Two birds sang in the kettle; the fire fluttered. He sat up clasping his knees. It was delightful–this business of having tea–and she always had delicious things to eat–little sharp sandwiches, short sweet almond fingers, and a dark, rich cake tasting of rum–but it was an interruption. He wanted it over, the table pushed away, their two chairs drawn up to the light, and the moment came when he took out his pipe, filled it, and said, pressing the tobacco tight into the bowl: “I have been thinking over what you said last time and it seems to me. . . . ”
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