and vitality. “I am going to tell you something 
happened to me which never happened to you, 
and which is a little more interesting than your 
theatre and your clouds. Some days ago Fa-
ther and Mother took me away with them, and 
as in the inn where we stopped there were not 
enough beds for us all, it was decided that I 
should sleep in  the same bed as my nurse.” 
He drew his comrades nearer to him, and low-
ered his voice. “Oh, you do not know what a 
strange feeling it gives, not to be alone in bed, 
but with one’s nurse in the shadows. As I was 
not asleep, I amused myself while she slept in 
passing my hand over her arms and her neck 
and her shoulders. Her arms and neck are ever 
so much fatter tan those of all other women, 
and her skin is so soft, so soft, that one would 
say it was letter paper, or silk paper. I had so 
much pleasure in this that I should have gone 
on for quite a long time if I had not been 
afraid, afraid of her waking up, and afraid too 
of I do not know what. Afterwards I pushed my 
head among her hair, which hung down her 
back as thick as a mane, and it smelt as nice, I 
assure you, as the flowers in the garden do 
now. Try, when you get a chance, to do as 
much as I, and you will see.” 
The young author of this prodigious disclo-
sure, as he told his story, had his eyes strained