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energetically: "I could become a tenant." "Well then," said the guardian, "you're on the right track, for I'm the one in charge of tenancy." So this porter was not so unimportant after all. At that moment, he pushed the door to and it gently closed. It was hard to see anything in the stairway now. It seemed that the steps were even narrower than be7
    fore and that night had suddenly filled the vestibule, transforming it into a gloomy prison. What was the weather like outside? Thomas could hardly remember the impressions of his arrival at dawn; it all seemed so far away. The only thing he remembered - and it was as if he had lost everything he had -was the woman lying in the middle of the shop, her face turned toward the wall, calm and distant from everything. He felt lightheaded. The guardian, as though aware of his discomfort, slipped up to him and took his arm in a benevolent gesture. "First of all," he said, "you must tell me your name." He spoke politely-what kindness in his manners! Thomas leaned heavily on the arm offered to him and took a step forward. His compan ion gave him support; the steps came quickly to an end. They came to a circular room connecting several hallways and lit from above by a half concealed lamp. Seats draped with dust cloths had been placed around an empty space so carefully and with such geometric precision that they seemed rather a mockery of order and propriety and human cares. No one was there. Thomas even had the impression that no one had ever been there before him, and even though he saw on one of the chairs a cap decorated with beautiful golden braids, this did nothing to change his conviction. The room was small and round, and the dim lamp, which emitted more shadow than light, revealed its rigorously designed shape. Thomas now thought that the house seemed more luxurious and com fortable than was apparent from its exterior; everything was clean and elegantly adorned. But this did not make one want to stay there. Pictures hung on the walls. They had been painted with such meticulous care that, although each one of them seemed rather large in such a small room, it was necessary to look very closely not only to distinguish the details but also to have a sense of the whole. It was difficult to see the images clearly, but they did not offer a subject of great interest. Although the precision of the exe cution suggested a certain skill, it was tedious always to find the same fea tures over and over, the same tricks and inventions, the laborious effort of an incoherent, unsatisfied, obstinate mind. Thomas went from one to the other. They were all similar to one another, and if their confused charac ter had not made it impossible to grasp anything more than fragments, he would have thought them all identical. It was very odd. He made an effort to understand what they represented, and once he managed to disregard the useless ornamentation - especially the acanthus leaves that were scat8
    tered profusely throughout - he discovered, amidst the disorder of these too carefully traced lines and figures, the image of a bedroom with its vari ous pieces of furniture and its particular layout. Each picture represented a room or an apartment. In his naIvete, whoever had executed the drawing had substituted a vague and crude symbol for the direct representation of an object. In place of a lamp meant to burn during the night, there was a sun; there was no window, but everything visible through the window the street, the shops across the way, and, farther in the distance, the trees of the public square - had been faithfully drawn on the wall. Because of the repugnance that had prevented the painter from showing certain fig ures in their true forms, the beds and couches had been replaced in all the rooms by whimsical constructions, such as a mattress laid on top of three chairs, or an alcove with no way in or out. Thomas looked patiently at these details. How childish it all was ! "I see," said the guardian,