Then as the scholars summoned their thoughts to recall the
masterpieces indispensable to the salvation of man, they realized with
terror that their brains were void.




THE TWO GREAT ACTRESSES


I wish I could find new words to depict the gentleness of a little
prostitute whom we met one evening in the center of a large, almost
deserted square. The little prostitute was wearing wretched boots that
were too large and soaked up the water. She had a parasol covered like
an umbrella, and a little straw hat, the lining of which surely bore
the words: _Dernière mode_.

She had a weak little voice, and she was intelligent. She was
recovering, as the expression goes, from pleurisy. Moreover, she had
the air of being as frail morally as physically.

I encountered her many times, after ten o'clock, when she was weary
with seeking, often in vain, for any first-comer who would go with
her.

She sat down on a bench in the shadows, beside me, and rested her poor
pale head against me.

I knew that when she did this it was somewhat with the feeling of