Anthology-Final

One day she accompanied
me, upon some household
errand, into the cellar of
the old building which our
poverty compelled us to
inhabit. The cat followed me
down the steep stairs, and,
nearly throwing me headlong,
exasperated me to madness.
Uplifting an axe,
The Black Cat
and forgetting, in my wrath,
the childish dread which had hitherto stayed my hand,
I aimed a blow at the animal
which, of course,
would have proved instantly fatal
had it descended as I wished.
LIV
She didn’t know I was in
the room, and when I asked
her in a quiet, a very quiet
voice, with the most restrained
manner possible, what she
was doing with the paper she
turned around as if she had been
caught stealing, and looked quite
angry—asked me why I should
frighten her so!
Then she said that the paper
stained everything it touched,
that she had found yellow
smooches on all my clothes and
John’s, and she wished we would
be more careful!
Did not that sound innocent? But I know she was studying that
myself!
pattern, and I am determined that nobody shall find it out but
Life is very much more
exciting now than it used to be.
You see I have something more
to expect, to look forward to, to
watch. I really do eat better, and
am more quiet than I was.
John is so pleased to see me
improve! He laughed a little the
other day, and said I seemed
to be flourishing in spite of my
wallpaper.
I turned it off with a laugh.
I had no intention of telling him
it was because of the wallpaper—
he would make fun of me. He
might even want to take me
away.
LIII
The Yellow Wallpaper