The woman took the newspaper and thanked him, but she did not leave. After a short pause, she said, ‘Perhaps you could help me out, kind sir, with a little money? I haven’t got the money to pay the waiter for my coffee.’ Gurdweill could not believe his ears. Nevertheless, he took out his money, set aside what he needed to pay for his own coffee, and gave her the rest: sixty groschen.

‘That’s all I’ve got.’

The woman smiled in satisfaction and returned immediately to her table, leaving the newspaper with Gurdweill. Full of a murderous rage, Gurdweill leaped up, grabbed the newspaper, and ran over to the woman.

‘You wanted to read the advertisements, didn’t you!’ he said, flushed and almost shouting. ‘Here they are, look!’

And he tapped the last pages with his finger.

‘What do you want, mister?’ she said insolently. ‘I don’t feel like reading the advertisements! You’re not going to force me to read the advertisements if I don’t want to!’ And, addressing the room at large, she added: ‘Have you ever seen the like?’

‘In that case … In that case you have no right to beg for charity either, do you understand?’

‘Who’s begging for charity? You’re a beggar yourself! Have you ever heard such cheek in your lives?’

‘If you don’t return my sixty groschen this very minute, I’ll call the police!’

‘What sixty groschen? Who took sixty groschen from you? You’re drunk, my friend! Do I need your money? I could give you sixty groschen! And more! I’ve got more money than you have!’

Gurdweill stood and looked at her in bewilderment. Her sharp, snub nose was even redder than before, and her tiny, rat-like eyes looked straight at him with open hostility. Suddenly his gorge rose in such loathing that he wanted to vomit, and he turned away and returned to his table, the newspaper in his hand. From behind his back he heard the woman’s abuse.

‘Have you ever? A beggar like him, a madman like him, trying to force me to read the advertisements! You just wait, I’ll catch you one day!’

Gurdweill hid behind the newspaper so as not to see her ugly face, but to no avail. Her nose poked through the pages and confronted him; her abuse rang in his ears. In the end he could bear it no longer. He called the waiter, paid his bill, and left the café.