No Longer Human ( PDFDrive )

141
We began a guessing game of tragic and comic
nouns. This game, which I myself had invented, was
based on the proposition that just as nouns could be
divided into masculine, feminine and neuter, so there
was a distinction between tragic and comic nouns.
For example, this system decreed that steamship and
steam engine were both tragic nouns, while streetcar
and bus were comic. Persons who failed to see why this
was true were obviously unqualified to discuss art,
and a playwright who included even a single tragic
noun in a comedy showed himself a failure if for no
other reason. The same held equally true of comic
nouns in tragedies.
I began the questioning. "Are you ready? What
is tobacco?"
"Tragic," Horiki answered promptly.
"What about medicine?"
"Powder or pills?"
"Injection."
"Tragic."
"I wonder. Don't forget, there are hormone injections
too."
"No, there's no question but it's tragic. First of
all, there's a needle—what could be more tragic than
a needle?"
"You win. But, you know, medicines and doctors
are, surprisingly enough, comic. What about death?"