‘A forest, well: it’s lots and lots of trees.’

‘Oh, you’re dressed just like a prince.’

‘A prince from India,’ I said.

Then we came to the central pool amidst the blue flowers. There were many, many children. They floated boats. Pierrot walked among the children as though he were going on a long journey. He was going somewhere very far, far, far as that Avenue de l’Observatoire, full of great forests of trees, pools and big buildings and rippling sunshine. The sun shines there. The moon is big there. There are many birds, all blue and sometimes transparent. There are many clouds. And the camels there are never thirsty.

‘And camels—are there many in your country?’

‘Oh, we’ve elephants,’ I said.

‘An elephant . . . an elephant,’ said Pierrot with much satisfaction. Meanwhile the nanny and her young man had come to the steps. The wind blew, and in the pool the boats raced one against the other, going to many lands, dashed against one another, fell on their sides, and rose up, and nobody was hurt or angry, because the sun shone.

‘Your country—you get there by sailboat?’ he asked.

I said, ‘No. One goes there on steamers. One goes night and day, and for fifteen days. Then one comes to India.’

‘India,’ he repeated. He left the camel on the gravel. He sat by the pool, thinking.

‘And you? Have you a princess?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I even have two. They are not princesses. They are goddesses. One on my right hand and one on my left hand.’

‘One on your right hand, and one on your left hand. They are goddesses.’

‘Yes.’

‘What is a goddess, a goddess, Monsieur le Prince?’

‘Ah, goddesses, well: they are ladies with four arms and a golden crown on their heads, and the water of the Ganges, all sweet with perfumes, runs at their feet.’

‘And you have two of them?’

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘One for the wedding of the night, and one for the wedding of the day. One who is dark as the bee, and the other who is blonde as butter.’

‘One is like dreaming. The other like waking up.’ He understood. He became silent. Then:

‘And they ride elephants.’ He smiled to himself. Now, he really understood. He went on:

‘They go down to the oasis, and they drink water.’

‘No, not to the oasis,’ I said. ‘But to the rivers.’

‘And the wedding—there is a wedding every day?’

‘Two weddings a day: one by the light of the sun and the other by the light of the moon.’

‘And the goddesses—they come riding on camels?’

‘No, I told you, they ride elephants.’

‘Yes, yes. They ride elephants. Two goddesses and they ride elephants.’

‘And then there is the river.’

‘Pierrot!’ shouted the nanny. He sat there looking at me as though he did not hear.

‘Pierrot!’ she shouted again. ‘What’s happened to you?’