Chapter 17 October 1951

New York City 14 East Ninety-fifth Avenue October 15, 1951 Where is this Pepys diary?You should explain clearly to me! This book is not qualified to be called "Peppys Diary" at all. It is just some half-hearted editor who has nothing to do, digging out of Pepys' diary, taking things out of context, and deliberately making him die in peace! I really want to spit on it! Where is the diary for January 12, 1668?Remember the diary of the day when his wife kicked him out of bed, grabbed a red-hot poker, and chased him around the house? Remember the diary of Sir W. Payne's son, who is so blessed and soulful, who kept teachings all day long and made everyone messy?Don't try to escape my eyes with these jerry-built tricks.

Attached are two crumpled bills.I think it's more than enough to pay for this, and the "Real Pepys" you're about to find for me!When the time comes, I will shred this rotten book into tens of thousands of pieces, and then tear it out page by page—use it to wrap things! HH PS Christmas is coming, should I send fresh eggs or dry eggs?Of course I understand that dried eggs can be stored for a long time, but "fresh eggs delivered directly by air from Denmark" sounds delicious, so please help me make up my mind! Max and Cohen Bookstore 84 Charing Cross Road, West Central London

October 20, 1951 Miss Helene Hanff United States New York City, New York 28 14 East Ninety-fifth Avenue Dear Miss Hanff: First of all, I would like to express my 120,000-point apology to you for our negligence.I always mistook it for the full Braybrook edition.I can quite understand the disappointment you feel when you discover that a favorite chapter is missing from the book. I shall do my best to find another copy of the Pepys Diary, at a reasonable price, which contains the passages mentioned in your letter in full, and send it to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'm happy to report to you that the store has recently acquired a private collection of books, from which I've picked out some books you'll like, including an anthology by Leigh Hunter, containing most of your the articles mentioned; there is also a "Vulgar Latin New Testament" - I hope this time I will not make mistakes again; there is also a "Vulgar Latin Dictionary of the Bible" which may be quite useful to you; "Selected Essays of Tenth Century Britain", although the content includes the essays written by Hilaire Belloc, it is not the one that talks about toilets.The invoice is enclosed with the letter. The above-mentioned payment is 17 shillings and 6 pence, which is about 2.5 cents in US dollars. This book has deducted the balance of 2 yuan in your account in our shop.

As for the problem of eggs - the result of discussions among colleagues in the store, everyone seems to agree that fresh eggs are better.As you said: Although fresh eggs are harder to store for a long time, the flavor is indeed different. We all hope that life will improve after the election.If Mr Churchill and his party win the election, which is my sincere hope, it will be a good thing to lift people's hearts. Sincerely wish you Max and Cohen Bookstore Sincerely, Frank Dell