Nature herself seemed in a lethargic trance, and her name was mud.
But with a house to furnish and twenty-five enfeebled acres to resuscitate, one must not mind.

Advanced scientists assure us of life, motion, even intelligence, appetite, and affection in the most primitive primordial atoms.

So, after a little study, I found that the inhabitants of Gooseville and its outlying hamlets were neither dead nor sleeping.
It was only by contrast that they appeared comatose and moribund.
Indeed, the degree of gayety was quite startling.

I was at once invited to "gatherings" which rejoiced in the paradoxical title of "Mum Sociables," where a penalty of five cents was imposed on each person for speaking (the revenue to go toward buying a new hearse, a cheerful object of benevolence), and the occasions were most enjoyable.

There was also a "crazy party" at Way-back, the next village.