It was amusing to watch their backs, one lost her footing and rolled over, she was seized by the legs and pulled along. Divided from the women by the width of the room, the guards watched in silence. Two girls carried fire from behind a screen in iron dishes as tall as themselves, suffering magnified their limbs, no greetings, no word, the wind rising, their voices lamented, I could not distinguish one from the other, we went on eating, their breasts hanging over us like long potatoes. The sound of drums on stage confused with exploding shells outside, the building was roofed with tiles, the pillars painted, the walls streaked with lime. She was seated in shadow, her face oval in the dim room, she carried an umbrella which she twirled to prevent any man staring at her, she offered me a bowl of milk, placing it at my feet, it was not necessary to know what she meant by the movement, there was no mystery,she used a poem to kill. The troops were outside, there was no time for marriage, I gave her some clothes but she would not put them on, she sent them out of the room. Because she had been bitten by one of the dogs, she kept her face half-hidden. I had only to wait, the idea was to do nothing at all. The stage was a fortress surrounded by a wall,loopholed, on either side were piles of grenades for the last troops who kept guard. The crumbling of the place brought out the rats and other vermin, circus dogs dressed in yellow, wearing caps, trotted on money. Her hunger was so strong her flesh was like earth that disappears, with her skirt held up she ran with the spotlight, she scrambled for paper and rubber, there was no space, she had no form, she drifted in the strong light, in the haze of dust her face was white, her body bare, she wore no jewels, I had no desire at all.