through the horn or the ivory gate
t was about one o’clock in the morning. before retiring for the night, i opened the window and lit a cigarette. the hum of a motor-car scudding along the avenue du bois de boulogne broke the reigning silence. the trees were freshening the atmosphere by the swaying of their darkened tops. no buzzing insect, no living sound arose from the sterile soil of the city. the night was resplendent with stars. their fires seemed, in the clearness of the air, more so than on other nights, of varied lines. the greater number blazed at white heat. some there were, however, yellow and orange-tinted, similar to the flames of dying lamps. several were blue, and i saw one of so pale a blue, so limpid, and so soft, that i could not avert my gaze from it. i regret being ignorant of its name, but i console myself with the thought that men do not give the stars their true names.
“when i reflect that each one of these drops of light enlightens worlds, i ask myself whether, like our own sun, they do not shed their rays on sufferings without end, and whether pain does not penetrate the utmost recesses of heaven. we can only judge the other worlds by our own. we know of life only the forms which it assumes upon the earth, and if we suppose that our planet is one of the least good, we have no reason for believing that all goes rightly in the others, nor that fortunate is he who is born under the rays of altair, betelgeux, or the fiery sirius, when we know what a grievous affair it is to open our eyes on earth to the light of our old sun. it is not that i find mine an unhappy fate, when compared with that of other men. i am not troubled with either wife or child. love and sickness have left me unscathed. i am not very rich, and i do not go into society. i am thus to be numbered with the happy ones. little joy, however, falls to their lot. what, then, can be the fate of the others? men are really to be pitied. i impute no blame to nature for this; to hold a conversation with her is an impossibility; she is not intelligent. nor will i lay the blame on society. there is no sense in opposing society to nature. it is as absurd to oppose the nature of men to the society of men, as to oppose the nature of ants to the society of ants, or the nature of herrings to the society of herrings. animal societies are the necessary outcome of animal nature. the earth is the planet where one eats; ’tis the planet of hunger. the animals peopling it are naturally gluttonous and ferocious. man, the most intelligent of them all, is alone avaricious. avarice has so far been the fundamental virtue of human societies, and the moral masterpiece of nature. were i a writer, i should indite the praise of avarice. it is true that my book would not reveal anything strikingly new. the subject has been dealt with a hundred times over by moralists and economists. human societies have avarice and cruelty as their august basis.
“it is thus in the other universes, in the numberless ethereal worlds? do all the stars i see shed their light on men? do people eat and inter-devour one another beyond the infinite. this doubt troubles me, and i am unable to contemplate without fright the fiery dew suspended in the heavens.
“my thoughts imperceptibly become more lucid and gentle, and the idea of life, in its sensuality, violent and suave in turn, once more assumes a pleasurable aspect to my mind. i sometimes say to myself that life is beautiful. for, without such beauty, how could we discern its ugly features, and how believe that nature is bad, if at the same time we do not believe that it is good?
“for a few minutes past, the phrases of a sonata of mozart have hovered in the air, with their white columns and their garlands of roses. my neighbour is a pianist, who at nights plays mozart and gluck. i close the window, and while undressing, i am pondering over the doubtful pleasures which i may give myself the next day, when of a sudden i remember that for a week past i have been invited to lunch in the bois de boulogne; i have a vague idea that the invitation is for the coming day. to make sure of it, i look up the letter of invitation, which lies open on my table. its contents are:
“‘16th september 1903.
“‘my dear old dufresne,—
“‘do me the pleasure of coming to luncheon with ... etc. etc., next saturday, the 23rd of september, 1903, etc. etc.’
“it is for to-morrow.
“i ring for my valet.
“‘jean, wake me to-morrow at nine o’clock.’
“it happens precisely that to-morrow, the 23rd of september 1903, i shall enter upon my fortieth year. from what i have already seen in this world i can almost conceive what still remains for me to be seen. i can safely foretell the topics of to-morrow’s conversation at the restaurant in the bois: ‘my automobile goes sixty kilomètres an hour.’—‘blanche has a nasty disposition; but she is true to me; of that i feel sure.’—‘the cabinet takes its pass-word from the socialists.’—‘in the long run, the petits-chevaux are a bore. however, there remains baccara.’—‘the workmen would be fools not to do as they please: the government always gives in to them.’—‘i will bet you that epingle-d’or will beat ranavalo.’—‘what i personally cannot make out is why there is not some general to sweep away all those blackguards.’—‘what can you expect? france has been sold to england and germany by the jews.’ this is what i shall hear to-morrow. here you have the social and political ideas of my friends, the great-grandsons of the bourgeois of july, princes of the factory and foundry, kings of the mine, who knew the way of mastering and enslaving the forces of the revolution. my friends do not seem to me capable of preserving for any lengthy period the industrial empire and the political power bequeathed to them by their ancestors. my friends do not shine by their intelligence. they have not indulged in too much brainwork. no more have i. so far, i have not done much in this life. like them, i am both idle and ignorant. i do not feel myself capable of achieving anything, and if i do not possess their vanity, if my brain is not stored with all the foolish ideas encumbering theirs; if, like them, i do not feel a hatred for and a fear of ideas, it is due to a peculiar circumstance of my life. my father, a big manufacturer and conservative deputy, gave me, when i was seventeen, a young and timid “coach,” who spoke little, and who looked like a girl. while preparing me for my bachelorship, he was organising the social revolution in europe. his gentleness was something refreshing. he has often been put in prison, and is now a deputy. i used to copy his addresses to the international proletariat. he made me read the whole socialistic library. he taught me things all of which were not to be credited, but he opened my eyes to what was going on about me; he demonstrated to me that everything our society honours is contemptible, and that all that it despises is worthy of esteem. he led me into the paths of rebellion. in spite of his demonstrations, i came to the conclusion that falsehood should be respected and hypocrisy venerated as the two surest supports of the public order. i remained a conservative, but my soul became saturated with disgust.
“as i am falling asleep, a few almost imperceptible phrases of mozart still reach my ears now and then, and make me dream of temples of marble standing amid a blue foliage.
“it was broad daylight when i awoke. i dressed myself much more quickly than it is my wont. unconscious of the cause for this haste, i found myself in the street without knowing how i had got there. what i now saw about me was to me the cause of a surprise which suspended all my faculties of reflection; and it is owing to this impossibility to reflect that my surprise did not increase, but remained stationary and calm. it would doubtless soon have become immoderate, and would have changed to stupor and terror, had i retained the use of my mind, so greatly was the scene which i was witnessing different from what it should be. everything about me was to me new, unknown, and foreign. the trees and the lawns which i was in the habit of seeing daily had vanished. where, on the day before, the tall grey buildings of the avenue stood out against the sky, there now stretched a fanciful line of brick cottages surrounded by gardens. i dared not look round to ascertain whether my own house still existed, and so i went straight towards the porte dauphine. i found it not. i took a street which was, so it seemed to me, the old road to suresnes. the houses flanking it, of strange style and new form, too small to be occupied by rich people, were nevertheless embellished with pictures, sculptures, and brilliant potteries. a covered terrace surmounted them. i followed this rural road, whose curves produced enchanting perspectives. it was crossed obliquely by other sinuous ways. neither trains, nor automobiles, nor vehicles of any kind went by. shadows flitted over the soil. i looked upwards and saw masses of huge birds and enormous fishes glide rapidly through the upper atmosphere, which seemed to be a combination of heaven and ocean. near the seine, the course of which was altered, i came across a crowd of men clad in short blouses knotted at the waist, and wearing long gaiters. to all appearance they were in their working clothes. but their gait was lighter and more elegant than that of our workmen. i noticed women among them. what had heretofore prevented my recognising them as such was that they were dressed like the men, that they had long and straight legs, and, so it seemed to me, the narrow hips of american women. although these folk did not present a savage appearance, i looked at them with fright. they presented to my gaze a more foreign appearance than any of the numerous strangers i had so far met upon the earth. in order to avoid seeing another human face, i turned down a deserted lane. very soon i came to a circus planted with masts from which flew crimson oriflammes bearing in letters of gold the words: european federation. placards in large frames ornamented with emblems of peace hung at the foot of the masts. they embodied announcements regarding popular festivals, legal injunctions, and works of public interest. in addition to balloon time-tables was a chart of the atmospheric currents drawn on the 28th of june of the year 220 of the federation of nations. all these texts were printed in characters new to me, and in a language of which i did not understand all the words. the while i was attempting to decipher them, the shadows of the countless machines cleaving the air flitted across my vision. once more did i gaze upwards, and in this sky altered beyond recognition, more densely populated than the earth, cloven by rudders and threshed by screws, towards which a circle of smoke rose from the horizon, i perceived the sun. i felt like crying on seeing it. it was the only familiar figure which i had come across since morning. from its altitude i judged that it was about ten o’clock of the forenoon. of a sudden i was surrounded by a second crowd of men and women, similar in appearance and in costume to the first. i was confirmed in the impression that the women, although some of them were very plump, others very skinny, and many beggared description, were on the whole androgynous in appearance. the crowd went its way. the open space once more was desert, just as our suburban quarters, which only come to life on the exodus from the workshops. i remained behind in front of the placards and read once more the date—the 28th of june of the year 220 of the european federation. what did it mean! a proclamation by the federal committee, on the occasion of the festival of the earth, furnished me with timely and useful data for comprehension of that date. this is what i read: ‘comrades, you are aware how, in the last year of the twentieth century, the old order collapsed in a fearful cataclysm, and how, after fifty years of anarchy, the federation of the peoples of europe was organised....” the year 220 of the federation of peoples was therefore the year 2270 of the christian era; this was certainly a fact which remained to be explained. how came it that of a sudden i found myself transported to the year 2270?
“i mused over the circumstance as i strolled at haphazard.
“‘i have not, as far as i know,’ i said to myself, ‘been preserved for so many years in the mummy state, like colonel fougas. i have not driven the machine with which mr. h. g. wells explores time. and if, following the example of william morris, i have, while asleep, skipped three and a half centuries, i am unaware of the fact, since, when dreaming, one does not know that one is doing so. i am utterly convinced that i am not asleep.’
“while indulging in these musings and others not worth recording, i was following a long street bordered with railings behind which pink-hued houses of various styles, but all equally small, smilingly peeped through the foliage. at times i perceived huge circuses of steel standing out in the landscape, and crowned with flames and smoke. terror planed over these regions to which no name can be given, while the vibrating rush of air caused by the rapid flight of the machines resounded painfully through my brain. the street led to a meadow studded with clumps of trees and intersected by rivulets. cows were pasturing in it. just as my eyes were feasting upon the freshness of the scene i fancied i saw in front of me shadows flitting along a smooth and straight road. the whirlwind engendered by them, as they passed me, fanned my cheeks. i saw that they were trams and automobiles, real transparencies in their rapidity.
“i crossed the road by a foot-bridge, and for a long time i sauntered through small meadows and woodlands. i thought i was in the open country, when i discovered an extensive frontage of resplendent houses bordering on the park. soon, i found myself opposite a palace of an airy style of architecture. a sculptured and painted frieze, representing a largely attended feast, stretched across the vast fa?ade. i perceived, through the panes of the bay-windows, men and women seated in a large and bright room around long marble tables, laden with prettily painted potteries. i entered, under the impression that this was a restaurant. i was not hungry, but weary, and the coolness of the room, artistically hung with garlands of fruit, appeared to me delicious. a man who stood by the door asked me for my voucher, and, as i showed embarrassment, he remarked:
“‘i see, comrade, that you are not of these parts. how is it that you are travelling without vouchers! very sorry, but it is impossible for me to admit you. go and seek the delegate who hires journeymen; or, if you are too weak to work, address yourself to the delegate who attends to those who need succour.’
“i informed him that i was nowise unfit for work, and drew away. a stout fellow, who was picking his teeth, said to me obligingly:
“‘comrade, you need not go to the delegate who engages journeymen. i am the delegate attached to the bakery of the section. we are one comrade short. come along with me. you shall be put to work at once.’
“i thanked the corpulent comrade, assured him of my willingness, pointing out, however, that i was not a baker.
“he looked at me with some surprise, and told me that he could see i enjoyed a joke.
“i followed him. we stopped in front of an immense cast-iron building having a monumental gateway, on the pediment of which a couple of bronze giants were resting on their elbows—the sower and the reaper. their bodies expressed strength unstrained. a calm pride irradiated their faces, and they carried high their heads; in this, greatly dissimilar to the fierce-looking workers of the flemish constantin meunier. we entered a room forty mètres in height, wherein, amid clouds of a light whitish dust, machinery was working with a sonorous and calm hum. under the metallic dome, bags tendered themselves spontaneously to the knife which disembowelled them; the flour which escaped from them dropped into troughs where powerful hands of steel kneaded it into dough which flowed into moulds, which when full hastened to put themselves of their own accord into an oven as capacious and deep as a tunnel. five or six men at most, motionless amid all this motion, supervised the labour of the machinery.
“‘’tis an old bakery,’ said my companion. ‘it hardly produces more than eighty thousand loaves a day, and its too weak machines employ too many hands. it matters little. come up to the place where the goods arrive.’
“i did not have the time to ask for a more explicit command. a lift had deposited me on the platform. hardly had i reached it, when a kind of flying whale alighted close to me and unloaded a number of sacks. no human being was aboard this machine. other flying whales brought more sacks which they unloaded, and which offered themselves up in succession to the knife which ripped them open. the screws revolved, and the rudder did its work. there was no one at the helm, nobody aboard the machine. i could hear in the distance the slight hum of a wasp flying, and then the thing grew with astounding rapidity. it seemed quite sure of itself, but my ignorance as to what would happen, should it perchance go wrong, caused me to shudder. i was several times tempted to ask to be allowed to go down again. a false shame prevented me. i stood my ground. the sun was disappearing on the horizon, and it was about five o’clock when the lift came up for me. the day’s work was over. i was given a voucher for board and lodging.
“the rotund comrade remarked to me:
“‘you must be hungry. you may, if you wish, take your evening meal at the public table. if you prefer eating by yourself in your own room, you may likewise do so. if you prefer supping at my place, together with a few comrades, say so at once. i am going to telephone to the culinary workshop that your rations be sent to you. i am telling you all this in order to set you at ease, for you seem like a fish out of water. you have no doubt come from afar. you do not look as if you could take care of yourself. to-day, your task has been an easy one. do not, however, imagine that one’s livelihood is earned every day as cheaply as that. if the ?-rays which directed the balloons had worked badly, as will sometimes happen, your task would not have been so easy. what is your particular line, and where do you come from?’
“these questions embarrassed me greatly. i could not tell him the truth. i could not inform him that i was a bourgeois, and that i had come from the twentieth century. he would have thought me crazy. i replied in a vague and embarrassed manner that i had no trade, and that i came from far, from very far.
“he smiled, and said:
“‘i understand. you dare not admit it. you come from the united states of africa. you are not the only european who has thus given us the slip. but nearly all these deserters end by coming back to us.’
“i answered not a word, and my silence led him to believe that he had guessed aright. he renewed his invitation to supper, and asked me my name. i informed him that i was known as hippolyte dufresne. he seemed surprised at my having two names.
“‘my name is michel,’ he said.
“then, after a minute inspection of my straw hat, my jacket, my shoes, and the rest of my costume, which was no doubt somewhat dusty, but of a good cut, for after all i do not have my clothes made by a tailor who acts as hall-porter in the rue des acacias, he continued:
“‘hippolyte, i see whence you have come. you have lived in the black provinces. nowadays there are only zulus and basutos to weave cloth so badly, to give so grotesque a shape to a suit, to make such ill-shapen footgear, and to stiffen linen with starch. it is only among them that you can have learnt to shave off your beard, while preserving on your face a moustache, and two little whiskers. this custom of scissoring the hair of the face, so as to form figures and ornaments, is the last word of tattooing, nowadays in vogue only among the basutos and zulus. these black provinces of the united states of africa are wallowing in a state of barbarism resembling in many aspects the state of france three or four hundred years ago.’
“i accepted michel’s invitation.
“‘i live quite close to here, in sologne,’ he said. ‘my aeroplane scuds along fairly well. we shall soon be there.’
“he made me take a seat under the belly of a huge mechanical bird, and we were soon cleaving the air so rapidly that i lost breath. the aspect of the countryside was vastly different from the one known to me. all the roads were bordered with houses; countless canals intersected the fields with their silvery lines. as i sat wrapt in admiration, michel remarked to me:
“‘the land is fairly well exploited, and cultivation is “intense,” as they say, since chemists are themselves agriculturists. one has tried one’s best, and one has worked hard for the past three hundred years. the fact is that to make collectivism a reality it has been necessary to compel the soil to return four or five times more than it returned in the days of capitalistic anarchy. you, who have lived among the zulus and basutos, are aware that the necessaries of life are so scarce with them that were they to be divided among all it would amount to sharing poverty and not wealth. the super-abundant production which we have attained to is more especially due to the progress made by science. the almost total suppression of the urban classes has also been of great advantage to agriculture. the shopkeepers and the clerks have gone, some to the factory, others to the field.’
“‘what!’ i exclaimed. ‘you have suppressed the cities! what has become of paris?’
“‘hardly any one lives there now,’ replied michel. ‘the greater part of those hideous and insanitary five-storied houses, wherein dwelt the citizens of the closed era, have fallen in ruins, and have been suffered to remain in that condition. house-building was very poor in the twentieth century of that unhappy era. we have preserved some of the older and better constructed buildings and converted them into museums. we possess a large number of museums and libraries: it is there we seek instruction. we have also kept a portion of the remains of the h?tel de ville. it was an ugly and fragile building, but great things were carried out within its precincts. as we no longer have tribunals, commerce, and armies, we no longer have cities, so to speak. nevertheless, the density of the population is much greater on certain points than on others, and in spite of the rapidity of means of communication, the mining and metallurgic centres are densely peopled.’
“‘what is that you say?’ i asked him. ‘you have done away with the courts of law? have you then suppressed crime and misdemeanour?’
“‘crime will last as long as old and gloomy humanity. but, the number of criminals has diminished with the number of the wretched. the suburbs of the great cities were the feeding-grounds of crime; we no longer have big cities. the wireless telephone makes the highways safe day and night. we are all provided with electric means of defence. as to misdemeanours, they were rather the result of the scruples of the judges than of the perversity of the accused. now that we no longer possess lawyers and judges, and that justice is administered by citizens summoned in rotation, many misdemeanours have disappeared, doubtless because it is impossible to recognise them as such.’
“in this fashion did michel discourse while steering his aeroplane. i am recording the meaning of his words as exactly as i can. i regret my inability, owing to a lack of memory, and also from fear of not making myself understood, to reproduce his language in all its expressiveness and its movement. the baker and his contemporaries spoke a language astonishing me at first by the novelty of its vocabulary and syntax, and especially by its pithy and flowing construction.
“michel came to ground on the terrace of a modest but pleasing dwelling.
“‘we have arrived,’ he said; ‘’tis here that i live. you will sup with comrades who, like myself, take an interest in statistics.’
“‘what! you a statistician! i thought you were a baker.
“‘i am a baker, six hours of the day. this is the duration of the day’s work as determined for nearly a century by the federal committee. the rest of the time i give up to statistical labours. it is the science which has stepped into history’s shoes. the historians of old related the brilliant deeds of the few. ours register all that is produced and consumed.’
“after having conducted me to a hydrotherapic closet established on the roof, michel led me down-stairs to the dining-room lit up by electricity, entirely white, and ornamented only with a sculptured frieze of strawberry plants in bloom. a table in painted pottery was covered with dishes with a metallic glaze. three persons sat at it. michel named them to me.
“‘morin, perceval, chéron.’
“these three individuals were all clad alike in rough-spun jackets, velvet breeches, and grey stockings. morin wore a long white beard; chéron’s and perceval’s faces were callow. their short hair and more especially the frankness of their looks gave them the appearance of young lads. yet i felt sure that they were women. perceval seemed to me rather pretty, although she was no longer very young. i thought chéron altogether charming. michel introduced me:
“‘i have brought comrade hippolyte, who also calls himself dufresne, to meet you; he has lived among the half-breeds, in the black provinces of the united states of africa. he could not get any dinner at eleven o’clock, and so he must have an appetite.’
“i was indeed hungry. they helped me to tiny bits of food cut into squares, which were not unpleasant to the taste, however new to me. a variety of cheeses were on the table. morin poured me out a glass of light beer, and informed me that i could drink to my heart’s content, as it did not contain any alcohol.
“‘that’s right,’ i said. ‘i am glad to see that you pay attention to the evils of alcohol.’
“‘they have almost ceased to exist,’ answered morin. ‘we succeeded in suppressing alcoholism before the end of the closed era. it would have otherwise been impossible to establish the new régime. an alcoholic proletariat is incapable of emancipation.’
“‘have you not also,’ i inquired, while tasting a strangely carved bit of food—‘have you not also perfected food?’
“‘comrade,’ replied perceval, ‘you doubtless refer to chemical alimentation. so far, it has not made any great strides. ’tis in vain that we send our chemists as delegates into the kitchen.... their tabloids are of no good. with the exception that we know how to compound properly caloric and nutritious foods, we feed almost as coarsely as the men of the closed era, and we enjoy it just as much.’
“‘our scientists,’ remarked michel, ‘are seeking to establish a rational system of food.’
“‘that’s childishness,’ said the young female chéron. ‘no good result will be reached, as long as the big intestine, a useless and harmful organ, and the seat of microbian infection, has not been removed.... this will come in time.’
“‘in what way?’ i asked.
“‘simply by ablation. and this suppression, the result, in the first place, of an operation upon a sufficient number of individuals, will tend to establish itself by heredity, and will later on be common to the whole race.’
“these people treated me humanely and conversed obligingly with me. but it was difficult for me to chime in with their manners and their ideas, while i noticed that i nowise interested them, and that they felt an absolute indifference towards my modes of thought. the more i showed them courtesies, the more i alienated their sympathies. following upon my addressing a few compliments, albeit discreet and sincere, to chéron, she no longer even deigned to look at me.
“the meal over, addressing myself to morin, who seemed to me intelligent and gentle, i said to him with a sincerity which indeed stirred me deeply:
“‘monsieur morin, i am ignorant of all things, and i am suffering cruelly because of my lack of knowledge. i repeat to you that i come from far, from very far. tell me, i entreat you, how the european federation came into existence, and explain to me the present social system.’
“old morin protested:
“‘you are asking me for the history of three centuries. it would take me weeks, nay months. moreover, there are many things i could not teach you, as i do not know them myself.’
“i thereupon entreated him to lay before me a very concise summary, as is done in the case of school children.
“morin, flinging himself back in his arm-chair, began:
“‘to ascertain how the present society was constituted, it is necessary to go back far into the past.
“‘the crowning achievement of the twentieth century was the extinction of war.
“‘the arbitration congress of the hague, instituted in the middle of barbarism, did not to any degree contribute towards the maintenance of peace. but another more efficacious institution came into existence at that time. groups of deputies were formed in the various parliaments, who entered into communication with one another, and who in course of time came to deliberate in common on international questions. giving expression as they did to the peaceful aspirations of a growing crowd of electors, their resolutions carried great weight, and supplied food for reflection to the governments, the most absolute of which, if one sets aside russia, had at that time learnt to reckon with popular sentiment. what surprises us nowadays is that no one discerned in those meetings of deputies come together from all countries the first attempt at an international parliament.
“‘but then the party of violence was still powerful in the several empires, and even in the french republic. and if the danger of the old-time dynastic and diplomatic wars determined upon at a green-baized table for the purpose of maintaining what was known as the european equilibrium was averted for all time, it was still to be dreaded, considering the unsatisfactory industrial condition affecting europe, that the conflicting industrial interests might bring about some terrible conflagration.
“‘the imperfectly organised proletariat, as yet without the consciousness of its strength, did not put an end to armed struggles between nations, but it limited their frequency and duration.
“‘the last wars were the outcome of that mad fury of the old world known as the colonial policy. english, russians, germans, french, and americans joined in rabid competition, in asia and africa, for the possession of zones of influence, as they said, wherein they could, on the basis of pillage and massacres, establish economic relations with the aborigines. they destroyed everything they could destroy in those two countries. then followed the inevitable. the impoverished colonies which were expensive were retained and the prosperous ones lost. but mankind had to reckon, in asia, with a small heroic nation, taught by europe, which made itself respected by her. by so doing, japan, in barbarous times, rendered a great service to humanity.
“‘when at last that detestable period of colonisation came to an end, no further was there any war. still the states continued keeping up armies.
“‘having so far explained matters, i shall proceed to lay before you, pursuant to your request, the origins of present-day society. it issued from the one preceding it. in moral just as in individual life forms generate one another. capitalistic naturally enough produced collectivist society. at the commencement of the twentieth century of the closed era, a memorable industrial evolution took place. the slender production of small artisans whose all were their tools was followed by a great production financially supported by a new agent of marvellous power—capital. here was a great social progress.’
“‘what was a great social step in advance?’ i asked.
“‘the capitalistic régime,’ replied morin. ‘it brought humanity an untold source of wealth. by grouping the workers in considerable masses and multiplying their numbers it created the proletariat. by making the workers an immense state within the state it paved the way for their emancipation, and furnished them with the means of conquering power.
“‘this régime, however, which was to be productive of such happy results in the future, was execrated by the workers, in whose ranks it made countless victims.
“‘there exists no social benefit which has not been purchased at the cost of blood and tears. moreover, this régime which had enriched the whole world came within an ace of ruining it. after having increased production to a considerable extent, it failed in its endeavours to regulate it, and struggled hopelessly in the toils of inextricable difficulties.
“‘you are not totally ignorant, comrade, of the economic disturbances which filled the twentieth century. during the last hundred years of the capitalistic domination, the disorder of production and the delirium of competition piled up disasters high. the capitalists and the masters vainly attempted, by means of gigantic combinations, to regulate production and to annihilate competition. their ill-conceived undertakings were engulfed in an abyss of gigantic catastrophes. during those anarchical days, the fight between classes was blind and terrible. the proletariat, overwhelmed in the same ratio by its victories and its defeats, overwhelmed by the ruins of the edifice which it was pulling down on its own head, torn by fearful internal struggles, casting aside in its blind violence its best leaders and most trustworthy friends, fought on without system and in the dark. it was, however, continually winning some advantage: an increase of wages, shorter hours of work, a growing freedom of organisation and of propaganda, the conquest of public power, and making progress in the dumfounded public mind. it was looked upon as wrecked through its divisions and mistakes. but all great parties are at odds, and all commit blunders. the proletariat had on its side the force of events. towards the end of the century it attained the degree of well-being which opens the way to better things. comrade, a party must have within itself a certain strength in order to accomplish a revolution favourable to its interests. towards the end of the twentieth century of the closed era the general situation had become most favourable to the developments of socialism. the standing armies, more and more reduced during the course of the century, were abolished, following upon a desperate opposition of the powers that were, and of the bourgeoisie owning all things, by chambers born of universal suffrage under the fiery pressure of the people of the cities and of the country. for a long time past already, the chiefs of state had retained their armies, less in view of a war which they no longer dreaded or could hope for, than to hold in check the multitude of proletaries at home. in the end, they yielded. militias imbued with socialistic ideas supplanted regular armies. it was not without good cause that the governments showed opposition. no longer defended by guns and rifles, the monarchical systems succumbed in succession, and republican government stepped into their places. alone, england, who had previously established a régime considered endurable by the workers, and russia, who had remained imperialist and theocratic, stood outside the pale of this great movement. it was feared that the czar, who felt towards republican europe the sentiments which the french revolution had inspired the great catherine with, might raise armies to combat it. but his government had reached a degree of weakness and imbecility which only an absolute monarchy can attain. the russian proletariat, joining hands with the intellectuals, rose in revolt, and after an awful succession of outrages and massacres, power passed into the hands of the revolutionaries, who established the representative system.
“‘telegraphy and wireless telephony were then in use from one end of europe to the other, and so easy of use that the poorest of individuals could speak, whenever he wished, and give utterance to whatever he saw fit to a fellow creature living in any corner of the globe. collectivist ideas rained down on moscow. the russian peasants could listen in their beds to the speeches of their comrades of marseilles and berlin. simultaneously, the approximate steering of balloons and the exact course of flying-machines came into practical use. the result was the abolition of frontiers. this was the most critical moment of all. the patriotic instinct took a fresh life in the hearts of the nations so near uniting and fusing into one boundless humanity. in all countries, and at one and the same time, the nationalist faith, rekindled, emitted flashes of light. as there were no longer any kings, armies, or aristocracy, this great movement assumed a tumultuous and popular character. the french republic, the german republic, the hungarian republic, the roman republic, the italian republic, and even the swiss and belgian republics, each expressed by a unanimous vote of their respective parliaments, and at largely attended meetings, the solemn resolve to defend against all foreign aggression national territory and industry. stringent laws were promulgated repressing the smuggling by flying-machines, and regulating severely the use of wireless telegraphy. the militia was everywhere reorganised and brought back to the old type of standing armies. once more did the former uniforms, boots, dolmans, and generals’ plumes make their appearance. fur busbies were anew welcomed with the applause of paris. all the shopkeepers and a portion of the workmen donned the tricolour cockade. in all foundry districts, cannon and armour-plates were once more forged. terrible wars were anticipated. this mad spurt lasted three years, without matters coming to a clash, and then it slackened imperceptibly. the militias gradually recovered the bourgeois aspect and feeling. the union of nations, which had seemed postponed to a fabled remoteness, was near at hand. pacific efforts were developing day by day; collectivists were gradually achieving the conquest of society. the day came at last when the defeated capitalists abandoned the field to them.’
“‘what a change!’ i exclaimed. ‘history cannot show another example of such a revolution.’
“‘you may well imagine, comrade,’ resumed morin, ‘that collectivism did not make its appearance till the appointed hour. the socialists could not have suppressed capital and individual property had not those two forms of wealth been already all but destroyed de facto by the efforts of the proletariat, and still more so by the fresh developments of science and industry.
“‘it had indeed been thought that germany would be the first collectivist state; the labour party had there been organised for about one hundred years, and it was everywhere said: ‘socialism is a thing german?’ still, france, less well prepared, got the start of her. the social revolution broke out in the first place at lyons, lille, and marseilles, to the strains of l’internationale. paris held aloof for a fortnight, and then hoisted the red flag. it was only on the following day that berlin proclaimed the collectivist state. the triumph of socialism had as a result the union of nations.
“‘the delegates of all the european republics, sitting in brussels, proclaimed the constitution of the united states of europe.
“‘england refused to form part of it, but she declared herself its ally. while having become socialistic, she had retained her king, her lords, and even the wigs of her judges. socialism was at that time supreme ruler in oceania, china, japan, and in a portion of the vast russian republic. black africa, which had entered upon the capitalistic phase, formed a confederation of little homogeneity. the american union had a while ago renounced mercantile militarism. the condition of the world was consequently favourable, upon the whole, to the free development of the united states of europe. nevertheless, this union, welcomed with delirious joy, was followed for the space of half a century by economic disturbances and social miseries. there were no longer any armies, and hardly any militias; in consequence of not being constricted, popular movements did not take the form of violent outbreaks. but the inexperience or the ill-will of the local governments was fostering a ruinous state of disorder.
“‘fifty years after the constitution of the states, the disappointments were so cruel, and the difficulties seemed to such a degree insurmountable, that the most optimistic spirits were beginning to despair. smothered crackings foretold in all directions the dismemberment of the union. it was then that the dictatorship of a committee composed of fourteen workmen put an end to anarchy, and organised the federation of european nations as it exists to-day. there are those who say that the fourteen displayed unparalleled genius and relentless energy; others claim that they were mediocrities terrified and influenced by the stress of necessity, and that they presided as if in spite of themselves over the spontaneous organisation of the new social forces. it is at all events certain that they did not go against the tide of events. the organisation which they established, or witnessed the establishment of, still subsists almost in its entirety. the production and consumption of goods are nowadays carried out, to all purposes, according to the rules laid down in those days. the new era justly dates from that time.’
“morin then expounded to me most succinctly the principles of modern society.
“‘it rests,’ said he, ‘on the total suppression of individual property.’
“‘is not this intolerable to you?’ i asked.
“‘why should we find it unendurable, hippolyte? in europe, formerly, the state collected the taxes. it disposed of resources proper to it. nowadays it can be said with an equal degree of truth that it possesses everything, while possessing nothing. it is still more exact to say that it is we who own all things, since the state is not a thing apart from us, and is merely the expression of collectiveness.’
“‘but,’ i asked, ‘do you not possess anything proper to yourself? not even the plates out of which you eat, nor your bed, your bed-sheets, your clothes?’
“morin smiled at my question.
“‘you are a deal more simple than i dreamt, hippolyte. what! you imagine that we are not the owners of our personal property. what can well be your idea of our tastes, our instincts, our needs, and our mode of living? do you take us for monks, as was said in the olden days, for men destitute of all individual character and incapable of affixing a personal impress on our surroundings? you are mistaken, my friend, altogether mistaken. we hold as our own the objects destined to our use and comfort, and we feel more attached to them than were the bourgeois of the closed era to their knick-knacks, for our taste is keener, and we possess a livelier sentiment of form. all our comrades of some refinement own works of art, and take great pride in them. chéron has in her home paintings which are her delight, and she would take it amiss were the federal committee to contest with her the possession of them. personally, i preserve in that closet some ancient drawings, the almost complete work of steinlen, one of the most highly prized artists of the closed era. neither silver nor gold would tempt me to part with them.
“‘whence have you come, hippolyte? you are told that our society is based on the total suppression of individual property, and you get into your head that such suppression covers goods and chattels, and articles in daily use. but, you simple-minded fellow, the individual property totally suppressed by us is the ownership of the means of production, soil, canals, roads, mines, material, plant, &c. it does not affect lamps and arm-chairs. what we have done away with is the possibility of diverting to the benefit of an individual or of a group of individuals the fruits of labour; ’tis not the natural and harmless possession of the beloved chattels about us.’
“morin next enlightened me as to the distribution of intellectual and manual labours among all the members of the community, in conformity with their aptitudes.
“‘collectivist society,’ he went on to say, ‘differs not only from capitalistic society in the fact that in the former everybody works. during the closed era, the people who toiled not were in great numbers; still, they constituted the minority. our society differs more especially from the former in that labour was not properly classified, and that many useless tasks were performed. the workers produced without systematic order, method, and concerted action. the cities were full of officials, magistrates, merchants, and clerks, who worked without producing. there were also the soldiers. the fruits of labour were not properly distributed. the customs and tariffs established for the purpose of remedying the evil merely aggravated matters. all were suffering. production and consumption are now minutely regulated. lastly, our society differs from the old one in that we enjoy all the benefits derived from machinery, the use of which, in the capitalistic age, was so frequently disastrous for the workers.’
“i asked him how it had been possible to constitute a society composed wholly of workmen.
“morin pointed out to me that man’s aptitude for work is general, and that it constitutes one of the essential characteristics of the race.
“‘in barbarian times,’ he said, ‘and right until the end of the closed era, the aristocratic and wealthy classes always showed a preference for manual labour. they put their intellectual faculties to an infinitesimal use, and in exceptional instances at that. their tastes always inclined towards such occupations as the chase and war, wherein the body plays a greater part than the mind. they rode, drove, fenced, and practised pistol-shooting. it may therefore be said of them that they worked with their hands. their work was either sterile or harmful, for the reason that a certain prejudice forbade them to engage in any useful or beneficent work, and also, because in their day, useful work was most often carried out under ignoble and disgusting conditions. it did not prove so very difficult to impart a taste for work to every one by reinstating it in a position of honour. the men of the barbaric ages took pride in carrying a gun or wearing a sword. the men of to-day are proud of handling a spade or a hammer. humanity rests on a foundation which undergoes but little change.’
“morin having told me that the very memory of all monetary circulation had become lost, i asked him:
“‘how then do you carry on business without cash payments?’
“‘we exchange products by means of vouchers similar to those just given you, comrade, and they correspond to the hours of labour performed by us. the value of the products is computed by the length of time their production has taken. bread, meat, beer, clothes, an aeroplane, represent x hours, x days of labour. from each of these vouchers, collectivism, or, as it was styled formerly, the state, deducts a certain number of minutes for the purpose of allocating them to unproductive works, metallurgic and alimentary reserves, refuges and private asylums, and so forth.’
“‘these minutes,’ interjected michel, ‘are continually increasing apace. the federal committee orders far too many great works, the burden of which is thus on our shoulders. the reserve stocks are far too considerable. the public warehouses are crowded to overflowing with riches of all sorts. ’tis our minutes of labour which are entombed there. many abuses are still in existence.’
“‘no doubt,’ replied morin, ‘there is room for improvement. the wealth of europe, which has accrued through general methodical labour, is untold.’
“i was curious to learn whether these folk had no other measurement of labour than the time required for its accomplishment, and whether in their case the day’s work of the navvy or of the journeyman tempering plaster ranked with that of the chemist or the surgeon. i put the question frankly.
“‘what a silly question,’ exclaimed perceval.
“nevertheless old morin vouchsafed to enlighten me.
“‘all works of study, of research, in fact all works contributing to render life better and more beautiful are encouraged in our workshops and laboratories. the collectivist state fosters the higher studies. to study is akin to producing, since nothing is produced without study. study, just as much as work, entitles one to existence. those who devote themselves to long and arduous research secure unto themselves a peaceful and respected existence. it takes a sculptor a fortnight to make the maquette of a figure, but he has worked five years to learn modelling. now the state has paid him for his maquette during those five years. a chemist discovers in a few hours the particular properties of a body. but he has spent months in isolating this body, and years in fitting himself to become capable of such an undertaking. during the whole of that time he has lived at the expense of the state. a surgeon removes a tumour in ten minutes. this is the result of fifteen years of study and practice. he has, as a consequence, received vouchers from the state for fifteen years past. every man who gives in a month, in an hour, in a few minutes, the product of his whole life, is merely repaying in a lump sum what collectivism has given him day by day.’
“‘without reckoning,’ said perceval, ‘that our great intellectuals, our surgeons, our lady doctors, our chemists, know full well how to derive profit from their works and discoveries, and to add beyond measure to their enjoyments. they cause to be allotted to themselves aerial machines of 60 h.p., palaces, gardens, and immense parks. they are, for the greater part, individuals keenly alive to laying hold of the world’s goods, and lead a more splendid and more copious existence than the bourgeois of the closed era. the worst of it is that the majority of them are stupid fools who should be recruited for work at the flour-mills, like hippolyte.’
“i bowed my thanks. michel approved perceval, and bitterly lamented the accommodating mind of the state in its system of fattening chemists at the expense of the other workers.
“i asked whether the negotiation of the vouchers did not bring about a rise and fall.
“‘speculation in vouchers,’ replied morin, ‘is prohibited. as a matter of fact, it cannot be prevented altogether. there are among us, just as formerly, avaricious and prodigal, laborious and idle, rich and poor, happy and miserable, contented and discontented men. yet all manage to exist, and that is already something.’
“i fell a-musing for a while; then i remarked:
“‘monsieur morin, if one is to believe you, it seems to me that you have realised equality and fraternity, as much as possible. but, i fear that it is at the expense of liberty, which i have learnt to cherish as the best of things.’
“morin shrugged his shoulders, saying:
“‘we have not established equality. we know what it means. we have secured a livelihood for all. we have placed labour on a pedestal of honour. after that, if the bricklayer thinks himself superior to the poet, and the poet to the bricklayer, ’tis their business. every one of our workers imagines that his form of labour is the grandest in the world. the advantages of this idea are greater than the disadvantages.
“‘comrade hippolyte, you seem to have delved deeply into the books of the nineteenth century of the closed era; their leaves are hardly turned nowadays: you speak their language, to us a foreign tongue. it is hard for us to realise nowadays that the bygone friends of the people should have adopted as their motto: liberty, equality, fraternity. liberty has no place in society, since it does not exist in nature. there is no free animal. it was said formerly that a man who obeyed the laws was free. this was childish. moreover, so strange a use was made of the word liberty in the last days of the capitalistic anarchy that the word has ended in merely expressing the setting claim to privileges. the idea of equality is still less reasonable, and it is an unfortunate idea in that it presupposes a false ideal. we have not to seek whether men are equal among themselves. what we must see to is that each one shall supply his best and receive all necessaries of life. as to fraternity, we know only too well how brothers have acted towards brothers during the course of centuries. we do not pretend to say that men are bad. we do not say that they are good. they are what they are, but they live in peace, when there are no longer any reasons for them to fight one another. we have but a single word to express our social system. we say that we live in harmony. now it is an assured fact that all human forces act in concert nowadays.’
“‘in the centuries,’ i said to him, ‘of what you style the closed era, one preferred the possession of things to their enjoyment. i can conceive that, reversing the order of things, you prefer enjoyment to possession. but is it not distressing to you not to have any property to leave to your children?’
“‘in capitalistic times,’ replied morin with animation, ‘how many were there who left inheritances? one in a thousand; nay, one in ten thousand. nor must it be forgotten that many generations did not enjoy the faculty of bequeathing. be this as it may, the transmission of fortune through the medium of inheritances was perfectly conceivable when the family was in existence. but now....’
“‘what!’ i exclaimed, ‘you have no family ties?’
“my surprise, which i had not been able to conceal, seemed comical to the woman-comrade chéron.
“‘we are quite aware,’ she said to me, ‘that marriage exists among the kaffirs. we european women do not bind ourselves by promises; or, if we make them, the law does not take cognisance of them. we are of opinion that the whole destiny of a human being should not hang on a word. nevertheless, there survives a relic of the customs of the closed era. when a woman gives herself, she swears fidelity on the horns of the moon. in reality, neither the man nor the woman takes any binding engagement. yet it is not of rare occurrence that their union endures as long as life. neither of them would wish to be the object of a fidelity secured by means of an oath, instead of by physical and moral expediency. we owe nothing to anybody. formerly, a man convinced a woman that she belonged to him. we are less simple-minded. we believe that a human being belongs to itself alone. we give ourselves when we please, and to whom we see fit.
“‘moreover, we feel no shame in yielding to desire. we are no hypocrites. only four hundred years ago, physiology was a sealed book to men, and their ignorance was the cause of dire illusions and cruel deceptions. hippolyte, whatever the kaffirs may say, society must be subordinate to nature, and not, as too long has been the case, nature to society?’
“perceval, endorsing the speech of her comrade, added:
“‘to show you how the sex question is regulated in our society, i must tell you, hippolyte, that in many factories the recruiting delegate does not even inquire about one’s sex. the sex of an individual does not interest collectivism.’
“‘but the children?’
“‘well? the children?’
“‘not having any family ideal, are they not neglected?’
“‘whence did you get such an idea? maternal love is a most powerful instinct in woman. in the hideous society of the past, mothers were to be seen courting misery and shame, in order to bring up illegitimate offspring. why should ours, exempt as they are from shame and misery, forsake their little ones? there are among us many good partners, and many good mothers. but there is a very large number, which increases apace, of women who dispense with men.’
“chéron made in this connection a somewhat strange remark.
“‘we have in regard to sexual characteristics,’ she said, ‘notions undreamt of in the barbaric simplicity of the men of the closed era. false conclusions were for a long time drawn from the fact that there are two sexes, and two only. it was therefrom concluded that a woman is absolutely female, and a man absolutely male. in reality, it is not thus; there are women who are very much women, while others are very little so. these differences, formerly concealed by the costume and the mode of life, and disguised by prejudice, make themselves clearly manifest in our society. more than that, they become accentuated and more marked with each succeeding generation. ever since women have worked like men, and acted and thought like them, many are to be found who resemble men. we may some day reach the point of creating neutrals, and produce female workers, as in the case of bees. it will prove a great benefit, for it will become possible to increase the quantity of work without increasing the population in a degree out of proportion to the necessaries of life. we entertain the same dread of a deficit in and a surplus of births.’
“i thanked perceval and chéron for having kindly supplied me with information on so interesting a subject, and i inquired whether education was not neglected in collectivist society, and whether speculative science and the liberal arts still flourished.
“the following is old morin’s reply to my question:
“‘education, in all its degrees, is highly developed. the comrades all know something; they do not know the same things, nor have they learnt anything useless. no longer is any time lost in the study of law and theology. each one selects from the arts and sciences what suits him. we still possess many ancient works, although the greater part of the works printed before the new era have perished. books are still printed in greater quantity than ever. and yet typography is on the point of disappearing. phonography will take its place. poets and novelists are already being published phonographically, while in connection with theatrical plays, a most ingenious combination of the phono and the cinemato rendering both the voice and the play of the actors has been devised.’
“‘you have then poets and playwrights?’
“‘we not only have poets, but a poetry of our own. we are the first who have delimitated the domain of poetry. previous to our time, many ideas which could have been better expressed in prose were expressed in verse. narratives were unfolded in rhyme. this was a survival of the days when legislative enactments and recipes of rural economy were drawn up in measured terms. nowadays poets merely sing delicate subjects which have no meaning, while their grammar and language are as proper to them as their rhythm and assonance. as to our stage, it is almost exclusively lyric. a precise knowledge of reality and a life void of violence have rendered us almost indifferent to drama and tragedy. the uniformity of the classes and the equality of the sexes have deprived the old comedy of nearly all its subject-matter. but never has music been so beautiful and so beloved. we especially admire the sonata and the symphony.
“‘our society is greatly predisposed in favour of the arts of design. many prejudices harmful to painting have vanished. our life is more limpid and more beautiful than the bourgeois life, and we have a vivid appreciation of form. sculpture is in a still more flourishing condition than painting, ever since it has taken an intelligent part in the ornamentation of public buildings and private dwellings. never was so much done towards the teaching of art. if you will but steer your aeroplane above one of our streets, you will be surprised at the number of schools and museums.’
“‘to sum matters up, are you happy?’ i inquired.
“morin shook his head and replied:
“‘it is not in human nature to enjoy perfect happiness. happiness is not attainable without effort, and every effort brings with it fatigue and suffering. we have made life endurable to all. that is something. our descendants will do better still. our organisation is not immutable. not fifty years ago, it was different from what it is to-day. men endowed with subtile powers of observation believe that we are on the road to great changes. that may be. however, the forward steps in human civilisation will henceforth be harmonious and pacific.’
“‘do you not fear, on the contrary,’ i asked him, ‘that the civilisation with which you appear to be satisfied may be destroyed by an invasion of barbarians? there still remain in asia and africa, so you have told me, large black or yellow populations which have not entered into your concert. they have armies, while you have none. were they to attack you...’
“‘our defence is assured. the americans and the australians alone could enter upon a struggle with us, for they are as learned as ourselves. but the ocean separates us and a community of interests makes us sure of their amity. as to the capitalistic negroes, they have not got any further than the steel cannon, fire-arms and all the old scrap-iron of the twentieth century. what could these ancient engines of war do against a discharge of y-rays? our frontiers are protected by electricity. a zone of lightning encircles the federation. a little spectacled fellow is sitting i know not where, in front of a keyboard. he is our one and only soldier. he has but to touch a key in order to reduce to dust an army of 500,000 men.’
“morin ceased speaking for a moment; then he continued, speaking more deliberately:
“‘were our civilisation threatened, it would not be by any outside enemy. it would be by the enemies from within.’
“‘there are such enemies, then?’
“‘we have the anarchists. they are many, fiery, and intelligent. our chemists and our professors of sciences and letters are almost to a man anarchists. they attribute to the regulation of labour and production the majority of the evils which still afflict society. they argue that humanity will not be happy except in the spontaneous harmony to be born of the total destruction of civilisation. they are dangerous. they would be still more so were we to repress them. to do this, however, we have neither the means nor the desire. we do not possess any power of coercion or repression, and we get along very well without it. in the barbaric ages, men nurtured great illusions in regard to the efficacy of penalties. our fathers suppressed the judiciary system entirely. they no longer required it. with the suppression of private property, they simultaneously suppressed theft and swindling. ever since we have carried electric protectors, assaults are no longer to be feared. man has come to be respected by man. crimes of passion are still and will ever be committed. however, such crimes as these, if left unpunished, become rarer. our entire judiciary body is composed of elected arbitrators who try gratuitously all offences and disputes.’
“‘i rose, and thanking my comrades for their kindness, i begged morin the favour of putting one more question to him.
“‘you no longer have any religion?’
“‘quite the contrary; we have a large number of religions, some of them somewhat novel. to mention france only, we have the religion of humanity, positivism, christianity, and spiritualism. in some countries there are still some catholics, but they are few and split up into sects, as the result of schisms which occurred in the twentieth century, when church and state drifted apart. for a long time now there has not been any pope.’
“‘you are mistaken,’ said michel. ‘there is still a pope. it is by a mere chance that i know of him. he is pius xxv., dyer, via dell’ orso, in rome.’
“‘what!’ i exclaimed, ‘the pope is a dyer!’”
“‘what is there surprising about that! he must perforce have a trade, just as everybody else.’
“‘but his church?’
“‘he is recognised by a few thousands, in europe.’
“with these words, we parted. michel informed me that i should find a lodging in the neighbourhood, and that chéron would conduct me to it on her way home.
“the night was illuminated with an opalescent light both powerful and soft. it gave the foliage the sheen of enamel. i walked by the side of chéron.
“i looked her over. her flat-soled shoes gave firmness to her gait and balance to her body; although her male habiliments made her seem smaller than she was, and in spite of her having one hand in her pocket, her perfectly simple carriage did not lack dignity. she gazed freely to the right and left of her. she was the first woman in whom i had noticed the air of a curious and amused lounger. her features, seen from under her tam-o’-shanter, were refined and strongly defined. she both irritated and charmed me. i was in dread that she might consider me stupid and ridiculous. it was, to say the least, plain that my personality inspired her with supreme indifference. nevertheless, of a sudden she asked me what my trade might be. i answered at haphazard that i was an electrician.
“‘so am i,’ she said.
“i prudently put an end to the conversation.
“unheard-of sounds were filling the night air with their calm rhythmic noise, and i listened in affright to the respiration of the monstrous genius of this new world.
“the more i looked at the female electrician, the more did i feel a desire for her, a desire fanned by a dash of antipathy.
“‘so of course,’ i said to her of a sudden, ‘you have regulated love scientifically, and ’tis a matter which no longer causes any one uneasiness.’
“‘you are mistaken,’ she replied. ‘we have naturally got beyond the mad imbecility of the closed era, and the whole domain of human physiology is henceforth freed from legal barbarisms and theological terrors. we are no longer the prey to an erroneous and cruel conception of duty. but the laws governing the attraction between body and body are still a mystery to us. the spirit of the species is what it ever was and ever shall be, violent and capricious. now, just as formerly, instinct remains stronger than reason. our superiority over the ancients lies less in the knowledge of it than in proclaiming it. we have within us a force capable of creating worlds, to wit, desire, and you would have us regulate it. ’tis asking too much of us. we are no longer barbarians. we have not yet become wise. collectivism altogether ignores all that appertains to sexual relations. these relations are what they may be, most often tolerable, rarely delicious, and at times horrible. but, comrade, do not imagine that love no longer troubles any one.’
“i could not discuss such extraordinary ideas. i diverted the conversation to the temperament of women. chéron informed me that there were three kinds, those who were amorously disposed, those prompted by curiosity, and the third, indifferent. i thereupon asked her to which class she belonged.
“she looked at me somewhat haughtily and said:
“‘there are also various kinds of men. first and foremost are the impertinent ones....’
“her reply caused her to appear far more contemporaneous than i had until then believed her to be. for that reason i began to speak to her the language used by me on similar occasions. after a few trifling and frivolous words i said to her:
“‘will you grant me a favour and tell me your first name?’
“‘i have none?’
“she perceived that this seemed to vex me, for she resumed with some show of pique:
“‘do you think that a woman must, in order to be pleasing to you, possess a first name, like the ladies of former days, a baptismal name such as marguerite, thérèse, or jeanne?’
“‘you are a living proof to the contrary.’
“i sought her gaze, but it did not respond to mine. she seemed not to have heard. i could no longer entertain doubts: she was a coquette. i was delighted. i told her that i found her charming, that i loved her, and i told her so over and over again. she suffered me to go on with my speeches, and finally asked:
“‘what do you mean by all this!’
“i became more pressing.
“‘she reproached me for taking liberties with her, exclaiming:
“‘your ways are those of a savage.’
“‘i do not find acceptance with you?’
“‘i do not say so.’
“chéron, chéron, would it cost you any great effort to...’
“we sat down together on a bench over which an elm cast its shade. i took her hand, and carried it to my lips ... of a sudden, i no longer felt, no longer saw anything, and i found myself lying in bed at home. i rubbed my eyes, smarting with the morning light, and i saw my valet who, standing before me with a stupid look, was saying to me:
“it is nine o’clock, sir. you told me to wake you at nine o’clock, sir. i have come to tell you, sir, that it is nine o’clock?”