- description
- # Negotiation with Mr. Scribe and Narrator's Inability to Part
## Overview
This segment, titled "Negotiation with Mr. Scribe and Narrator's Inability to Part," is a portion of the short story "I and My Chimney." It details a negotiation between the narrator and a character named Mr. Scribe regarding an estimate, presumably for the removal or alteration of the narrator's chimney. The segment spans lines 729 to 746 of the source text.
## Context
This segment is part of the short story "[I and My Chimney](arke:01KG6YFYGCYAYC9GHGT2Z086S9)," which is included in the "[Melville](arke:01KG6YCG626JN4FCG8QK17CQCF)" collection. The text was extracted from the file "[i_and_my_chimney.txt](arke:01KG6YDDFE1YJ2Q37Q9JT1AJVB)". This segment follows "[Narrator's Internal Deliberation and Conspiracy](arke:01KG6YGB4R07DPZCNJSP77VNFA)" and precedes "[Wife's \"Holofernes\" Accusation and Narrator's Reflection](arke:01KG6YGB4R92G9K9NTVPQ7KAEQ)".
## Contents
The segment describes a second survey conducted by the narrator and Mr. Scribe, this time with the intention of establishing a financial estimate. Mr. Scribe proposes a price of "five hundred dollars," which the narrator defers by stating he will "think of it." This response prompts Mr. Scribe to withdraw, and the narrator's wife and daughters express their familiar exclamations. The narrator concludes by admitting his inability to part with his chimney, despite his resolve.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T07:57:51.610Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- Negotiation with Mr. Scribe and Narrator's Inability to Part
- end_line
- 746
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T07:57:24.702Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 729
- text
- To my note, Mr. Scribe replied in person.
Once more we made a survey, mainly now with a view to a pecuniary
estimate.
“I will do it for five hundred dollars,” said Mr. Scribe at last, again
hat in hand.
“Very well, Mr. Scribe, I will think of it,” replied I, again bowing
him to the door.
Not unvexed by this, for the second time, unexpected response, again he
withdrew, and from my wife, and daughters again burst the old
exclamations.
The truth is, resolve how I would, at the last pinch I and my chimney
could not be parted.
- title
- Negotiation with Mr. Scribe and Narrator's Inability to Part