Any one about to read this work of fiction might properly be apprised beforehand that it is not a novel: it has neither the structure nor the purpose of The Novel. It is a story. There are two characters - a middle-aged married couple living in a plain farmhouse, one point on the field of human nature is located, at that point one subject is treated, in the treatment one movement is directed toward one climax, no external event whatsoever is introduced, and the time is about forty hours.