ABSTRACT
W L had been three weeks in Establiments when the rains began. Up to then we had had unsurpassable weather. The lemon trees and the myrtles were still in flower, and during the first days of December I stayed out in the open on the terrace until five o'clock in the early morning, enjoying the delightful temperature. You can believe me when I say this, for I know nobody in the world who is more sensitive to cold than I am, and enthusiasm for nature is incapable of rendering me insensible even to the slightest chilliness. On the other hand, in spite of the fascin,uion of the scenery illuminated by the moon and of the perfume of the flowers which reached even me, my night vigil didn't profoundly stir me, I was there, not as a poet in search of inspiration, but as a mere idler who looks a.'lJ listens. I remember that I occupied the time picking alit the nuises of the night and trying to iden tify them.
