The Collaborators 



sureness of hand as that of a skilful-sighted person 

 in broad daylight. He lost his sight in his youth, 

 after he had known the joys of light and the won- 

 ders of colour. As a compensation for perpetual 

 darkness he has acquired a gentle philosophy, al- 

 ways smiling; an ardent desire to fill, as far as 

 .possible, the gaps in his meagre primary educa- 

 tion; a sensitiveness of hearing able to seize the 

 subtle delicacies of music; and a fineness of touch 

 most extraordinary in fingers calloused by the la- 

 bours of the workshop. During our conversations, 

 if he wishes to be informed as to this or that 

 geometrical property, he holds out his widely- 

 opened hand. This is our blackboard. With the 

 tip of my forefinger, I trace on it the figure to be 

 constructed; accompanying my light touches with 

 a brief explanation. This is enough; the idea is 

 grasped, and the saw, plane, and lathe will trans- 

 late it into reality. 



On Sunday afternoons, in winter especially, when 

 three logs flaming on the hearth form a delicious 

 contrast to the brutalities of the Mistral, they meet 

 in my house. The three of us form the village 

 Athenaeum, the Rural Institute, where we speak 

 of everything except hateful politics. ... At such 

 a meeting, the delight of my solitude, to-day's din- 

 ner was devised. The special dish consists of the 

 cossus, a delicacy of great renown in ancient times. 



When he had eaten a sufficient number of na- 

 tions, the Roman, brutalised by excess of luxury, 

 began to eat worms. Pliny tells us: " Romanis in 

 hoc luxuria esse coep'it, preegrandesque roborurn 

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