'What did you do for a living?' said the thin young man behind the desk.
The figure opposite him shifted uneasily.
I USHERED SOULS INTO THE NEXT WORLD. I WAS THE GRAVE OF ALL HOPE. I WAS THE ULTIMATE REALITY. I WAS THE ASSASSIN AGAINST WHOM NO LOCK WOULD HOLD.
'Yes, point taken, but do you have any particular skills?'
Death thought about it.
I SUPPOSE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF EXPERTISE WITH AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS? he ventured after a while.
The young man shook his head firmly.
NO?
'This is a city, Mr —' he glanced down, and once again felt a faint unease that he couldn't quite put his finger on — 'Mr — Mr — Mr, and we're a bit short of fields.'
He laid down his pen and gave the kind of smile that suggested he'd learned it from a book.
Ankh-Morpork wasn't advanced enough to possess an employment exchange. People took jobs because their fathers made room for them, or because their natural talent found an opening, or by word-of- mouth. But there was a call for servants and menial workers, and with the commercial sections of the city beginning to boom the thin young man — a Mr Liona Keeble — had invented the profession of job broker and was, right at this moment, finding it difficult.
'My dear Mr —' he glanced down — 'Mr, we get many people coming into the city from outside because, alas, they believe life is richer here. Excuse me for saying so, but you seem to me to be a gentleman down on his luck. I would have thought you would have preferred something rather more refined than —' he glanced down again, and frowned — ' 'something nice working with cats or flowers'.'
I'M SORRY. I FELT IT WAS TIME FOR A CHANGE.
'Can you play a musical instrument ?'
NO.
'Can you do carpentry?'
I DO NOT KNOW, I HAVE NEVER TRIED. Death tared at his feet. He was beginning to feel deeply embarrassed.
Keeble shuffled the paper on his desk, and sighed.
I CAN WALK THROUGH WALLS, Death volunteered, aware that the conversation had reached an impasse.
Keeble looked up brightly. 'I'd like to see that,' he said. 'That could be quite a qualification.'
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