So, though I came near to starving in the following
weeks, Iwas hardly ever without a roof. Is it not nauseous, that weshould be the
prey of such mean emotions?
The barman at Maxims, forinstance, makes five
hundred francs a day. I walked back alone tomy cold, solitary room. I said, do you
suppose I have come here to show mercy?
Besides sleeping on the floor, I have lived on two
francs a day forweeks past. Two francs would buy a bowl of coffee and threerolls. As
a sample I give youCharlie, one of the local curiosities, talking. It was a woman
who, besides having been his mistress, owedhim two hundred francs.
Ah, how she screamed, with what bitter cries of
agony. It weighed three hundredweight, possibly.
It was a huge wicker basket full of potatoes. But
do you think theres any chance of getting a job? And every night for six days he did
the same thing;twelve brandy cocktails, then a hundred francs. At asudden stroke you
have been reduced to an income of six francs a day. The barman at Maxims,
forinstance, makes five hundred francs a day. This put an end to my plans of looking
for work.
Nevertheless,things were not a quarter as bad as I
had expected.
From the start it tangles you in a net of lies,
andeven with the lies you can hardly manage it.
We always got the same answer: they did notwant a
lame man, nor a man without experience. The rooms were small arid inveterately
dirty, for there was no maid,and Madame F. Could Borispossibly be earning a hundred
francs a day?
Besides sleeping on the floor, I have lived on two
francs a day forweeks past.