Before there were trolls on the internet…
…there were trolls walking the Earth and talking to people.
From Charles Portis’ “The Dog of the South:”
[Via credit card receipts, Ray Midge has tracked his runaway wife Norma
and his nemesis Guy Dupree as far as San Miguel de Allende in Mexico.
There he is accosted by a Canadian artist in paper rabbits:]
The price was ten dollars. I remarked that there seemed to be
quite a few Canadians in Mexico.
He bristled. “Why shouldn’t there be?”
“Out of proportion to your numbers, I mean. It was just a neutral
observation.”
“We’re quite free to travel, you know. We can even go to Cuba, if we wish.”
“I’m not making myself clear.”
“Do please make yourself clear.”
“Well, there are two hundred million Americans and twenty million
Canadians, and my country is closer to Mexico than yours, but I get
the impression that there are just about as many Canadians here as
Americans. At this table, for instance.”
“You’re not the only Americans. You people just stole that name.”
“Look here, why don’t you kiss my ass?”
“So bright of you. So typical.”
