Then came the moment of inspiration. He raised his glass to his mouth with an avidity that suggested a weakness for liquor. I put my hand on his arm to stop it momentarily from lifting any higher. “The eyes,” I said, leaning forward, “are the thing. Render them well and you capture the soul of a man. Render them ill and you have missed him altogether.”

He nodded his agreement. “The eyes are at once the most important feature of any face and also the most difficult to paint,” he said. My hand was still on his arm. I felt it lifting upward once more but prevented it from doing so. I asked him if he had a preference for painting eyes of a certain color over eyes of another color—did he prefer to paint blue eyes, for instance, or dark eyes? He thought about this a moment and replied that in his experience dark eyes were generally easier to paint than blue or green eyes, for oftentimes they were less variegated, and the tint easier to imitate. Ah, I said, then I shall ensure my eyes are brown tomorrow. Feuille gave a puzzled look and asked me to repeat what I had just said.

“In that case, I shall ensure my eyes are brown tomorrow,” I said, “to make it easier for you to paint them.”

“But your eyes are blue,” he replied.

“They are blue today, but tomorrow they will be brown.”

“By what magic will they have changed color from one day to the next?”

“There’s no magic in it,” I said. “In a short time I can change their color from blue to brown.”

This visibly astonished the poor man. “Is this some kind of joke at my expense?”

“Not at all, merely an ability I’ve possessed from birth, just as some contortionists have the ability to bend themselves backward in two, or others can speak in tongues.”

“How is it done?”

“I merely concentrate my mind for three or four minutes and the color is transformed.”

“You do this with your eyes closed?”

“Quite the contrary, it can only be done with my eyes wide open.”

“Can you demonstrate this to me?”

“Of course,” I replied, “I won’t say it is a trifle, but it is no great thing. All that is required is the utmost mental concentration. You must look into my eyes without looking away. Shall we try it now?” He nodded vigorously. “Very well,” I said, “watch very carefully.”

Go here.

Jean-François Feuille

Born 1797

First crossing 1825

Second crossing 1838

Date of death unknown