The Lampshade Vendor through Gold Coast Summary

The Lampshade Vendor

A lampshade vendor knocks on a woman's door. He has no hands and has two hooks in their place. The woman does not want to buy a lampshade. She asks him about his background. She is curious how he lost his hands but will not ask him directly about them. The man used to have a flea circus and boasted about how strong the fleas were. He kept one flea as a pet. He let the flea suck the palm of his hand and attached the insect to a gold chain. The woman is intrigued and the man puts a pen in one of his hooks and draws illustrations of the fleas and the flea circus all over the lampshade. He draws a picture of his pet flea resting on...