not eager to impugn or malign , had it been a whole lump on a word or a dark raining down on a few words i would hardly have imputed it as anything more than one of those mishaps that even the most scrupulous toilet trained individuals have experienced from undercooked food , a mere peccadillo were it not for the mortifying aspect of the occurrence that evokes memories of infancy and the inevitability of a doddering and feeble senior citizen ; but here the subject and the predicate were an even blur , and here , a diminutive being was before me , more than a gecko or a deceased wife , but a muse to which to have a muse at all , could hardly be chastened .