Then he saw: it was the drowned girl who had been fished out of the Danube not long ago. And not a single policeman in the whole street to look after her! How could they leave her all alone, poor girl! What if she needed something? But of course — a brilliant idea suddenly struck him — he would put her in the box! That was the best place for her! He got out of the box and bent over the girl. Yes, it was her, no doubt about it. But where was her nose? When he saw her then, her nose had still been intact … She must have bumped into something, and her nose had fallen off … Never mind, she could do without it! The main thing was that he had a box to put her in! When he picked her up, he discovered that she wasn’t at all heavy, in the usual way of corpses, and this surprised him greatly. After he had taken a few steps, something fell to the ground. He looked around and saw that it was one of the girl’s arms, which had become detached from her shoulder and dropped off. Appalled, he bent down to pick it up — and the other arm dropped off too. Gurdweill stood there in despair. He did not want to put the girl down, but as long as he went on holding her, he could not pick up her arms from the ground … Ah, if only Thea were here, he reflected bitterly, she could have done something to help! But she was always at the cinema when you needed her!

At that moment the girl opened her mouth and said: ‘Don’t worry about those old arms! They’re not worth it. Leave them where they are. I’ve got other, better ones at home!’

‘Nevertheless,’ ventured Gurdweill, ‘it seems a shame … I can manage, really I can! A little patience and everything will come right. It’s better to have two pairs, after all …’

‘No, it’s not necessary! Try to hurry up, won’t you! They’re expecting me at home for dinner.’