shapen gnomes, exceeding thin, whose plead-
ing eyes demanded alms even more than did 
their trembling hands, and then there were old 
mothers carrying abortions slung at their 
wasted breasts, and many another was there. 
The great Satan knocked with his fist on his 
enormous belly, whence came a long, resound-
ing clangour of metal, which ended in a vague 
groan as of many human voices, and he 
laughed, showing shamelessly his decayed 
teeth in an enormous and imbecile guffaw, just 
as do certain men in every country when they 
have dined too well. 
And he said to me: “I can give thee that 
which obtains all that which is worth all, that 
which replaces all;” and he beat upon his mon-
strous belly, whose sonorous echo made the 
commentary on his coarse utterance. 
I turned aside with disgust, and answered 
him: “In order to enjoy myself, I have no need 
of the wretchedness of anyone, and I refuse a 
wealth saddened like a soiled tapestry with all 
the misfortunes represented on your skin.” 
As to the great She-Devil, I should lie if I 
did not admit that at the first sight I found a 
bizarre charm in her. To define this charm, I 
know nothing better to compare it to than to 
that of very beautiful women who, though in 
their decadence, no longer grow older, and