The Collector Page #4

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if I didn't try to escape.

It's my hobby.

I've been collecting all my life.

I'm an entomologist.

I won a hobby prize

for this setting.

And most of these

come from Central America.

I correspond with a monk

who sends me larvae, and...

and then I incubate them myself.

You see that?

This is a leaf butterfy.

Looks just like two leaves.

These are my chalkhills.

And... these are my Adonis blues.

I bred that aberration myself.

And it's better than any they've got

in the Natural History Museum.

These are my fritillaries.

That's the silver-washed

and that's the medium brown...

beckerwood, red admiral,

swallowtail, peacock.

They're beautiful...

but sad.

How many butterfies

have you killed?

You can see.

Think of all the living beauty

you've ended.

That's silly.

What difference does a few specimens

make to a whole species?

- Be careful. It's very rare.

- Let it go.

You're joking.

Don't do that!

I may never get another one.

And now you've collected me,

haven't you?

Don't you see what's happened?

You've had this... this dream

with me in the center of it.

It's not love. It's the sort

of dream young boys have...

when they reach puberty,

only you've made it come true.

I'll tell you something.

There'd be a lot more of this if

more people had the time and the money.

- We all want things we can't have.

- We all take what we can get.

I never had your advantages.

My father wasn't a la-di-da doctor.

I never went to a posh school.

I was just a clerk in a bank.

Reading.

Of course!

You won a fortune on the pools.

You had your picture in the paper.

I remember now!

You could do so much.

You could travel,

learn, meet people.

You could have a wonderful life.

But... this is death,

don't you see?

Nothing but death.

These are dead.

I'm dead.

Everything here is dead.

Is that what you love?

Death?

It's very good.

Would you consider selling it?

I hadn't.

But I will.

Two hundred pounds.

All right.

You'd give me 200 pounds for this?

But it's bad.

It's because it's of you.

Put it in a drawer

with the butterfies.

I know why you're upset.

It's that letter

to your mother, isn't it?

I'm going to London this afternoon.

I could post it then.

I bought these in Woolworths.

Nobody will ever be able to trace them.

Thank you.

I'll dictate it.

Dear Mother...

I'm safe and not in danger.

Do not try to find me.

It is impossible.

I'm being well looked after

by a friend.

That's all.

Just sign your name.

May I say Mr. Franklin

sends his regards?

Very funny.

I'll address the envelope.

If you really want one of my drawings,

why don't you go and choose one?

I like this one.

It's yours, for nothing.

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