I began to say, "Of course, they were all lies," but I stopped, because there was no need. All I could do was to go downstairs and tell his mother to come up and close his eyes. I wouldn't have touched them for all the money in the world. It was a long time since I'd thought of that day, ages and ages ago, when I felt a cold touch like spittle on my lids and opening my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away.

• the boy has died. But i dont really understand this at all.why has this boy felt fingers on his eyelids before ? and why are they trees?
• The author wants us to assume that the man is now dying, and this part makes me think about the last story we read by edgar alllan poe because of the eye part. The author expects us to react to the weird line of "when I felt a cold touch like spittle on my lids and opening my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away." which just adds to the confusion of the story more.
• I am so lost. The man is obviously dead but I dont get the reference to trees or anything else.
• The man is dead at this point, but I don't get the reference to the trees
• I think this man has been in this mans position before. He could be doing the same thing and felt the exact same way. In all honesty, I am a bit confused as to what is going on at this point in the story. I think the man is dying and has died.
• the friend thinks that what the son is saying is ridiculous but won't say otherwards because he is dieing and wants to keep him in good spirits, he just wants to leave but wont bare to touch his eye to close them.
• I don't really understand if this is supposed to be in reference to the last section, but I think it is. Here he is saying that he hasn't thought about paying people for a long time, which makes me believe that he payed for prostitution. I'm really confused after this last section.
• The sick man finally died. I found the narrator very cold about all this situation. I was surprised that the mother wasn't there when his son died.
• Did the man really die?
• why wouldnt he close his eyes, they had been friends
• This section confuses me a little because of his reference to the man like a tree. It sounds to me like the narrator just wants to be rid of his friend and not have to listen to all of his ramblings.
• So I am not sure of the emotional state of the narrator now, clearly he was friends with the now deceased man. This is evident in the fact that he went through great efforts to help cheer him up. I also wonder about the clause "...I felt a cold touch spittle on my lids and opening my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away." and what that means.
• I don't really understand this section. I get that it explains that this story has been a memory from the speaker's past but I don't understand the part where it says "...when I felt a cold touch like spittle on my lids and opening my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away.". I'm guessing this is meant to be a metaphor for something, but I can't figure out what.
• Is he hinting to the fact that something like this happened to him?
• You can tell that the narrator is not comfortable around the dead.
• At this point I guess the man is going to die.
• Judging by this paragraph the old man was once blind and touched by Christ. He doesn't want to see this boy get the same treatment because he thinks they are not worthy.
• so the young man dies. i am confused by the last line is he seeing the young man as a tree walking away meaning hes dead and going off into heaven or hell.
• I'm quite confused at this really. So it's apparent that the narrator is immortal, because he mentions "any mortal man" earlier, along with his passing through time as "ages and ages".
• What does "my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away" mean?
• Oh, so he had once been the blind the boy spoke of. Its nice that he lied to try to calm the boy's conscience before he died. How eery.
• I'm assuming the ill individual passed away and that's why he asked the mother to come upstairs and close his eyes.
• The guy was finally dead but yet the old man wasn't kind enough to close his friends eyes.
• Why does the friend act that way? So bitter and not seem to care. What has happened between them for the friend to have a 'just die already attitude?' If the friend is indeed the sick persons 'friend' then why doe she say the things he does, as I would never speak that way to a dying friend. Where is the remorse. Maybe showing feelings for them is something you do not do, I don't know.
• Why does the friend act that way? So bitter and not seem to care. What has happened between them for the friend to have a 'just die already attitude?' If the friend is indeed the sick persons 'friend' then why doe she say the things he does, as I would never speak that way to a dying friend. Where is the remorse. Maybe showing feelings for them is something you do not do, I don't know.
• The friend has died and the narrator reflects on his passing when he is in a similar position. I took the, "I felt a cold touch like spittle on my lids and opening my eyes had seen a man like a tree surrounded by other trees walking away" as a confirmation to the afterlife he speculated to be untrue. I thought it was cold of him to leave his friends eyes unclosed and the characters likability nosedived towards the ending of this story.
• This makes me think that maybe the main character was the person the son talked about that this old man made be able to see by just touching his eye lids.
• I understand that the man died now, but I don't understand what the narrator meant in the last sentence when he talks about spittle on his lids and a man like a tree walking away.
• Why were trees walking? Obviously there has to be a metaphorical reason behind that, but I can't seem to see past its literal context.
• What exactly is this story about? Also, I still don't understand what this dead man was so frightened about. I'll probably come to understand all of this the second I hit 'continue', but until then I'm still left glancing over the paragraph trying to make sense of it all.
• Okay, obviously I just read about someone dying, who apparently acts (or acted) like a child? Is there something wrong with this man, and thats the reason why his mother's hatred of him? why did an old man die before his mother? The symptoms of his death appear to be old age, so why didn't his mother go first?
• The same thing is happening to him and that is why he thought of the story again. Not knowing what was happening to him and recalling what the son has said made him think of the story