I can only compare my state of mind to that of a traveller who, after seeing the lightning, and knowing how far the storm is, waits for the thunder.
The time which separated me from the prodigy decreased first by a quarter, then a half, then three-quarters, and at the precise moment which I had anticipated as the end of my waiting, a breath of perfumes carried up to us the languishing echo of a ... Voice!
Here ends the Book of Seven Stories by Pierre Louÿs.
Explicit Laus Veneris.
Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay.
Transcriber’s Note
Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unchanged.