The Crime

The Muse was flashing her most winsome smile, and the boys were doing beautifully. They hadn't gotten very far; they were still dallying in the olive groves with Socrates and Plato. And the topic under discussion was the Platonic super being, or the Natural Man. Apparently the latter gentleman had not been very closely defined.

And the teacher of the conclave, really nothing more than a midwife to the student's thoughts was trying to pin a definition on said Natural Man. So Sairey Gamp, if we may make so bold, would ask each gentle youth in turn his opinion of the phenomenon in question. One lad said, "The Natural Man is a primeval creature without a soul." Another ventured, "The Natural Man is the superb laughty fellow who satisfies all his desires and passions, admitting no restraint or scruple."

Finally it came the turn of a diminative youngster who up until then had held his peace. But up spake he in a tremulous falsetio, "The Natural Man, sir, is the one without a poppa."