Costantino was horrified, reflecting that if his honesty bore any resemblance to that of the King of Spades there was small reason to be happy. Gooseneck, however, was a Sicilian student, a consumptive with white hair, a long neck, and a boy’s body. He was always reading, he looked browbeaten, and scarcely spoke, but he was sometimes overcome by violent rages, after which he had to submit to the embraces of Ermelinda, as the prisoners called the straitjacket. He had once killed a professor. The Delegate, also a southerner, had been convicted of blackmail. He seemed a gentlemanly fellow, with a broad, prominent chest, a noble head, a large Grecian nose, and a cleft lower lip that jutted out. Scorn animated his face. If questioned, he too had great and powerful protectors, but he was persecuted by high-ranking people and especially by a minister. He had read a number of scientific books lent him by the student and was now engaged in writing a great scientific tome, for he was employed in the clerks’ office and could work for himself on the side.

The King of Spades was a great admirer of his. ‘That man is going to make all our fortunes,’ he would say to Costantino. ‘We work on the book every day and we have a set of phrases of our own, referring to it. But we have to be careful, or woe betide us, we’ll wreck all his work, which is a real piece of scientific discovery. I can tell you the main chapters in it. “How the Atmosphere was Formed “ – that is, the air. “How the Ocean was Formed” – that is, all the seas. “The Origins of the Organic World.” – A rational demonstration of the existence of a primordial continent in the central region of the Pacific Ocean – Human life on this continent originated in that tropical region – Immigration to Africa and Asia – Disappearance of this continent as a result of a great cataclysm – Identification of this cataclysm with the Flood in the Bible – Emergence of the other continents – Then: End of the atmosphere. End of the ocean. End of the moon. End of the earth.’

‘And the end of imprisonment?’ asked Costantino, who had not understood very much and supposed the King of Spades was spinning his usual tall tales. But the King of Spades wanted to be listened to and he continued dramatically.

‘The other chapters are: “Amplification of the Accepted Doctrine of Evolution”, “Evolution of Our Species from Anthropomorphic Apes”, “Causes of the Inclination of the Axis of the Planets, Sun-Spots, etc.”.’

‘Go to the devil,’ thought Costantino, yawning. Looking round the yard, with its fountain playing, he said, ‘What about the magpie?’ He was talking about a tame magpie that lived in the compound. It was fat and somnolent. When hungry, it would call one of them as if by name in a strange nasal voice.