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Bernard Malamud’s short story "The Mourners” first appeared in ''Discovery'' in January, 1955. The story was later included in Malamud's first collection of short stories, ''The Magic Barrel'', published in 1958. ==Plot summary== Kessler is formerly an egg candler, living alone in a cheap apartment located on the top floor of a decrepit tenement building on the East Side. He’d had a family but he outgrew them. Thirty years have passed and Kessler had made no attempt to see them. In turn, his family hadn’t seen him, yet it didn’t bother him much. Kessler lived in the apartment for ten years, but he remained relatively unknown to the building’s occupants. It was the tenement janitor, Ignace, who knew Kessler best. He had been up to the apartment on occasion to play two-handed pinochle with Kessler, but grew tired of losing and stopped going up to see him. Ignace uses his free time to complain to his wife about the condition of Kessler’s apartment and spreads rumors about Kessler to the other tenants. One day Ignace and Kessler have a mundane quarrel and after a horrid exchange of words, Ignace runs and complains to his wife. He takes his complaints further by telling the story to Gruber, the tenement landlord. Gruber knew his janitor was exaggerating, but tells Ignace to give Kessler notice. That same night, he visits Kessler to give him notice to leave. Ignace is forced to speak through the door, noting that no one wants Kessler around. Nonetheless, on the first of December, Ignace finds Kessler’s rent in his mailbox. After Gruber sees it, he becomes furious and forces way into Kessler’s apartment. Gruber, agitated with Kessler, threatens to call in the city marshal to remove him. When Kessler tries to reason and plead with the landlord, Gruber vehemently belittles Kessler, comparing his flat to a toilet. Kessler pleads his innocence, citing he “didn’t do nothing” and he “will stay here.” However, his words fall on deaf ears and Gruber insists that he will toss Kessler out on the street after the fifteenth of December. The fifteenth of December arrives and Ignace finds the twelve-fifty Gruber had given Kessler in his mailbox. After Ignace phones Gruber, Gruber exclaims that he will get a dispossess. He instructs Ignace write a note stating that Kessler’s money was refused and asks him to slide it under the door. The following day Kessler received a copy of his eviction notice asking that he appear in court in order to plead his case against the requested eviction. The notice scares him because he had never been to court in his life, and the fear keeps him from showing up on the ordered day. On the same afternoon he is physically removed from the premises. Kessler sat outside, and people stared at him as he stared at nothing. The Italian woman, upon seeing him, shrieks uncontrollably. This action startles the neighbors and when they discover Kessler sitting outside, they gather and take Kessler and his belongings back to his apartment while Ignace stands aside screaming various obscenities. The Italian woman later sends food to Kessler. Ignace tells Gruber of the incident and Gruber later enters Kessler’s apartment finding him sitting on the bed. Gruber asks why Kessler is still there in the apartment. Kessler stays quiet, and Gruber explains to Kessler that if he stays his situation will worsen. Kessler questions Gruber’s motivation to evict him from the premises… What did I do to you?" He bitterly wept. "Who throws out of his house a man that he lived there ten years and pays every month on time his rent? What did I do, tell me? Who hurts a man without a reason? Are you a Hitler or a Jew?" He was hitting his chest with his fist. Gruber listens but explains his position, revealing that his building is falling apart and his bills are high. If tenants don’t take care of their place then they must go. Acting on the information he has received from Ignace, Gruber tells Kessler he doesn’t take care of his place and he fights with the janitor. It is for these reasons that Kessler must go. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Mourners」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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