A movable feast
Across the River and into the TreesA movable feast is Richard Cantwell’s compact metaphor for happiness: not a permanent possession, but something that may be found as circumstances change. In a brief exchange at Harry’s Bar, the phrase turns a waiter’s reservation about happiness into Cantwell’s confident reply.
The Expression
Cantwell declares, "Happiness, as you know, is a movable feast." The image gives happiness the character of a feast that can shift its place: it remains possible, but cannot be fixed to one location or circumstance. The line suggests that finding happiness requires a readiness to encounter it where life allows.
The Exchange at Harry’s Bar
The waiter observes that one can find everything on earth at Harry’s Bar except, possibly, happiness. Cantwell answers that he will find happiness too, then offers the movable-feast metaphor. The sequence makes the expression a direct rebuttal: the waiter names happiness as an exception, while Cantwell insists it is still attainable.
Significance
The phrase balances determination with uncertainty. Cantwell speaks confidently about finding happiness, but the metaphor makes no promise that it will remain in one place or arrive by a predictable route. Its force lies in treating happiness not as a settled possession, but as a possibility that moves.
