nothing to deserve it; and it was adding insult to injury,
as the thing was done here, swinging them up in this
cold-blooded, impersonal way, without a pretense at
apology, without the homage of a tear. Now and then a
visitor wept, to be sure; but this slaughtering-machine
ran on, visitors or no visitors. It was like some horrible
crime committed in a dungeon, all unseen and unheeded,
buried out of sight and of memory.

One could not stand and watch very long without be~
coming philosophical, without beginning to deal in symbols
and similes, and to hear the hog-squeal of the universe.
Was it permitted to believe that there was nowhere upon
the earth, or above the earth, a heaven for hogs, where
they were requited for all this suffering? Each one of
these hogs was a separate creature. Some were white hogs,
some were black; some were brown, some were spotted;
some were old, some were young; some were long and
lean, some were monstrous. And each of them had an
individuality of his own, a will of his own, a hope and a
heart's desire; each was full of self-confidence, of self-
importance, and a sense of dignity. And trusting and
strong in faith he had gone about his business, the while
a black shadow hung over him and a horrid Fate waited
in his pathway. Now suddenly it had swooped upon
him, and had seized him by the leg. Relentless, remorse~
less, it was; all his protests, his screams, were nothing to
it -- it did its cruel will with him, as if his wishes, his
feelings, had simply no existence at all; it cut his throat
and watched him gasp out his life. And now was one
to believe that there was nowhere a god of hogs, to whom
this hog-personality was precious, to whom these hog-
squeals and agonies had a meaning? Who would take
this hog into his arms and comfort him, reward him
for his work well done, and show him the meaning of his
sacrifice? Perhaps some glimpse of all this was in the
thoughts of our humble-minded Jurgis, as he turned to go
on with the rest of the party, and muttered: "Dieve --
but I'm glad I'm not a hog!"

The carcass hog was scooped out of the vat by machin~

[[41]]

p040 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p041w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p042

v?