The cane in the corridor
By James Thurber, first published in The New Yorker
Three people all sit down to talk after a night of drinking, but the agenda of one dinner guest changes the night.
Author
Published in
Year
Words
Availability
Collections
Plot Summary
Three people all sit with one another after drinking. A sick man has just returned from the hospital, and he is upset because the owner of the house did not come to visit him. The house owner’s wife explains that it is because the homeowner is afraid of sick people. The sick man asks for the homeowner to envision himself completely ill and unable to move. The wife immediately is upset and tells the sick man to stop, but the sick man continues. He tells the homeowner to think of the sick man as the only person that could come visit him, and while he can’t move, he hears the tapping of the sick man’s cane in the corridor. The homeowner says he wishes the sick man didn’t come visit him, but the sick man says he will visit him every day. The wife says they would stash him away somewhere the sick man could never find him and not to worry, but the sick man continues. He says that every day he brings the homeowner puzzles that don’t work/are slightly broken. He repeats the idea of his cane tapping down the hall. The wife is visibly upset, and the homeowner begins saying the tapping noises (repeating the words “tap tap tap”). The wife tells him to stop, but the sick man encourages him to do it some more. The sick man gets up to leave while the homeowner repeats these noises. The wife is stunned and the homeowner is left saying “tap tap tap” after the sick man leaves.