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Early Intimations of Mortality

Recollections concerning first experiences of human death:

1. I am between one and two years old. A closed to door to a darkened room. I am not allowed to enter it.

2. I am a little less than five. Jan Christiaan Smuts, South African Prime Minister who fought against the British in the Boer War, kept South Africa on the side of the British during the Second World War, and was a supporter of Zionism, is dying. The SABC radio is full of bulletins about the state of his health. I have a toy soldier and a little toy wagon. I put the toy soldier standing up in the toy wagon and pull them around the house. I play a game I made up. If the soldier falls down from the bumpy ride, Smuts will die. If the soldier remains erect, he will live.

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