In "Shakespeare and Company," Hemingway finds a bookstore that will lend him books so he doesn't have to buy them.

He doesn't have the money for the deposit on him, but he promises to bring it by. The proprietress, Sylvia Beach, says when it's convenient.

He tells his wife and she is delighted. They have a two-room flat with a mattress on the floor, tastefully covered.

No inside plumbing, but it's no worse than an outhouse in Michigan.

At the end, they congratulate each other on their good luck but he forgets to knock on wood.

Minor chord. Fate motive.