Little Poems in Prose

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