33875222 Hebdomeros by Giorgio de Chirico

HEBDOMEROS

HEBDOMEROS
GIORGIO DE CHIRICO

*
IVII'II MONSIEUB [NTBODUCTION DUDBON'S BY JOHN Louise: ADVe:NTUBE ASHBEBY AND OTHEI{ TBANSLATIONS ROBERT METAPHYSICAL BY JOHN WBITINGS ASHBERY, BOURGEOIS, DAMON GOLDWATER, AND KRUKOWSKI, POLIZZOTTI MARK

MCMXCII EXACT CHANCE

CAMBRIDGE

. and Generals. "Manuscript from the Collection of Jean Paulhan.." "On Silence." "Dream.~- ~ -." "That Evening Monsieur Dudron." and "I Was in New York" © 1992 Exact Change All Rights Reserved ISBN 1-878972-06-5 Painting by Giorgio de Chirico. f TIN R. IV. V. II.------------- ~ ---------- CONTENTS Hebdomeros © 1964 Flammarion Originally published in French This edition © 1992 Exact Change Published by arrangement with flammarion Introduction: "The Decline of the Verbs" © 1966 John Ashbery Translation of "The Engineer's Son.. "The Joy of the Return" (1914-15) Private Collection Exact Change books are edited by Damon Krukowski and designed by Naomi Yang PUBLISHER'S NOTE vii ix INTRODUCTION HEBDOMEROS (1929) 1 FRAGMENTS THE THE FROM THE ERA OF SON HEBDOMEROS (1928): ENGINEER'S OF 121 130 SURVIVOR NAVARINO MONSIEUR DUD RON'S ADVENTURE (1939) 139 FRAGMENTS THAT RELATING TO MONSIEUR DUDRON." "Some Perspectives on my Art. 1975 John Ashbery Reprinted by permission of Georges Borchardt.. and VIII-XI). "Proteus. Furniture.IPT ftlPT WAS 168 G S FRO FROM FROM MEA THE THE R L Y MAN COLLECTION COLLECTION USC RIP OF OF T S (1911-1 PAUL JEAN 91 5) : 175 205 ELUARD PAULHAN PROTEUS 215 . and XII-XX). for John Ashbery Translation of "Manuscript from the Collection of Paul Eluard" (I." "Salve Lutetia. DUDRON (1938): 163 EVENING MONSIEUR SOMETHING IT n. VI. LIKE." "Statues." and "Letter to Andre Breton" © 1955 The Museum of Modern Art Reprinted by pennission of The Museum of Modem Art Translation of "Monsieur Dudron's Adventure.." and "It Was Something Like" © 1992 John Ashbery Translation of "Manuscript from the Collection of Paul Eluard" (III." and "Courbet" © 1967." "The Survivor of Navarino. VII. lnc.

PERSPECTIVES (1925) AND GENERALS ON MY ART YORK (1938) (1935) 255 I W AS IN NEW BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION 259 11 • translation of Giorgio de Chirico's novel Hebdomeros was previ- u I published in an edition of 500 copies by The Four Seasons Book ty. To this translation by de Chirico. Most and Mon- these were all written in French coJlection of his "metaphysical" in ephemeral Dudron's journals published or pamphlets.. which also carried a printer's • from Belgrade. calls that no such publisher Its provenance existed at the Fifth Avenue address remains. the fragments of what seems to have been another novel Adventure." and (II b l.1 hirico. "Monsieur th first time." "On Silence. it was unsigned. The Monsieur Dudron pieces have been translated II~I. in 1966.. II 'ngineer's Son." ". December 18. collected hl. hn hbery for this edition. as befits Hebdomeros. appeared whose introduction to the present as a review in Book Week. and the publisher has V n untraceable. SOME FURNITURE. and "It Was Something Like ." "The Survivor of Navarino. "That Evening " --are -notably udron ... New York." were previously published in the journals Art and Literature . what authoritative riginally 1111 we have attached a number of other literary and constitute writings.- --- ----------- - ESSAYS AND OTHER WRITINGS PUBLISHED BRETON (1922) 222 224 232 236 IN JOURNALS: 219 LETTER TO ANDRE DREAM ON SALVE SILENCE (1924) (1924) PUBLISHER'S (1927) 243 248 NOTE LUTETIA (1925) COURBET STATUES. an li d inside the Four Seasons book. the other translations by 10hn Ashbery. n originally • I" 10hn Ashbery.

( viii) PUBLISHER'S NOTE and Big Sky. '" iOIl of short prose narratives called The Immaculate Conception. . It should be noted that the Eluard manuscript has been corrected and expanded for this edition using material that was not included most of this material in the Soby book. It . Anne-Solange the Museum of Modern Art.in.. yet it has produced few notable surrealist has aged badly like a solemn put-on. a language not his own.. Far better is the col- II"v. the list of major works of surrealist fiction is almost I OIlIpll"l . the official masterpiece. wrote with Paul Eluard. pll' Communist novels. \ 111." were previously published INTRODUCTION THE DECLINE OF THE ASHBERY VERBS in James Thrall Soby's Giorgio de Chirico and are reprinted courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art. 1 II De Chirico wrote lit -cade after his genius as a painter had mysteriously evaporated. such as The Peasant of Paris and The Adventures II/ Tclcmachus. Mark Polizzotti. is probably Hebdomeros." from the Collection of Jean Paulhan. I. If this is true. II . The finest of them. preparation would like to thank John Ashbery.11 I. and (sometimes approximate) Rodney G. then the term ought to be refined iii illl·lllde him and also to exclude a great deal of drivel that can qualify " urrealism under the famous "automatic writing" clause in Breton's 1111111 i '1'1 o. written II Cior"io de Chirico in 1929 and now at last available in English. With this work and a few of Aragon's Eugene Richie.'m has probably been the most powerful single influence on 111(\ tworuieth-century Iliid By JOHN and nearly all of the remaining here for the first time in English. can be found at the end of the volume. WI'"I' II. Complete bibliographic dates of composition are indicated in the table of contents.'IIII"'lIli. ""ud intermittently Falsey of the Houghton Library.but which could be of great interest to writers today who . The publisher Dennis and Elizabeth Noble and Flammarion.w. f. both as a painter and a writer. Everything about Hebdomeros is mysterious.'asion a new style and a new kind of novel which he was not to III-(1. it in French. and Keith and Rosmarie Waldrop for their help in the of this volume. was "110' I'nrlly" a surrealist.Andre Breton's Nadja. pieces appear information . and he invented for II..·I1I'\'!·lymatters that de Chirico. novel.l:-l. however. The translations water"Manuscript by Louise Bourgeois and Robert Gold"Manuscript and "Letter to Andre Breton"- from the Collection of Paul Eluard.

for the city of Turin-its arcades. "IIIIII'IS. nllid medium. lacks. Unlike the hero of Lautreamont's Chants de Maldoror. de Chirico wrote nothing else which can be called literature. he is uncommitted: "His theories of life varied *Giorgio de Chirico (New York: The Museum of Modern Art. for are trying to extend the novel form. * Like Nietzsche il"ihl : a transparent 1III1I'neal than reality. earthquakes. Revolutions and assassinations. a kind of "metaphysician" and situations. We are III I iluiving seaport town where Hebdomeros and his friends are living III I ensile. 1955). r but dense medium containing is sometimes forced to speak in "a language that on any other occasion would have brought upon his shoulders not only the sarcasm of the crowd.(x) INTRODUCTION fohn Ashbery I('cording to the sum of his experiences. bourgeois salons in which the hero feels strangely at III'"H·-these 111101 to isolate himself completely and place himself beyond good and evil. of belonging. dropped and reintrovast emigrations. The novel has no story." But if Hebdomeros shares the epical moodiness of other romantic supermen of the nineteenth century. IIl1d freedom of narration. only of a shifting. but also the sarcasm of the elite. Hebdomeros His ancestry can be traced back whom de Chirico statuary." /llid (xi) His actions and pronouncenovel.-rcl y through being present. allow a cinematic the cast of characters stitched together In this through various landscapes alone or accompanied widl semicolons. who evolves by and It remained unobtainable uuuts . His long run-on sentences. and tidal waves. I'rou tian. towers. but especially beyond the good. to his great regret. the setting a shadowy band of young disciples. and the movement of the book as a whole. with every right. but which. This each time that a creation of a special character obliged him 1111141 dll('('d til What gives Hebdomeros a semblance of plot and structure is the irful way in which leitmotifs are introduced. Manfred.dible prose style. apparently he set little store by Hebdomeros. But they unfold in such a way that HIli' is eldom conscious of a repetition. though it reads as if it did. he was obliged to renounce. are always unexpected -'0 take on a power of persuasion which Lautreamont's ill its insane beauty. like his painting. IllId Ill' Greece. he also has a Socratic strain which sets him apart. happened as the prophet renounces his mother." as one critic has said. as James Thrall de Chirico. orchestrated I"\iur " radually the novel builds up to a long central episode. trivial images or details can suddenly congeal' and take 1111 I admired and with whom he shared an enthusiasm public piazzas are common themes in his early paintSoby has pointed ureater specific gravity. out. always passionately agoraphobia-inducing ing. to Maldoror. Yet except for a few short fragments. via Nietzsche. of Africa. The hypnotic quality of Hebdomeros proceeds from de Chirico's ill('l' . visions of the Arctic. the work has an almost Mahlerian. and all but unknown until 1964. texture. much as a banal object in a de Chirico rubber glove or an artichoke-can rivet our attention is inobjects that are His language. which often is necessary to far-reaching minds. and and frequently change in mid-clause. when it was reissued in France. that same elite to which he boasted. Its sole character is Hebdomeros. A ship flying unknown colors has arrived in port. ~nd Melmoth. one of IIH' plll:iscngers is a certain Thomas Lecourt who is known locally as . "both Dante Virgil. II lilliing-a II I . who is committed to evil. form a backdrop against which he moves. where one least expects them.

. as you once said with much finesse." where "a long sacred procession marvelous of heavenly birds. the wind held its breath. Illi whole vast horizon spoke of everlasting life. sad or sunny." Hebdomeros father. islands.. Suddenly he finds himself with a woman who has "the eyes of his father. neither sad nor sunny. or simply neutral. just hours! I. a prey to new and deeper his penetration.· »nd the "declining verbs" of living.ulate whiteness. dying. and the verbs." The not entirely satisfactory has found a perfected form' gress along the road to his father's rnent of the return of the prodigal trees. telling his friends a long tale of his own father.' " And the book ends with a view of "green islands. which is marred by an soon leaves this region for new adventures doubts of his superiority. and he understood. A joyous parade of citizens cheers him on. . (xiii) "the prodigal son". shuttered villa.' alas. 'I am Immortality. His deliberate rejection of the work for which the world remem1"'1'1'1 him seems curiously prefigured and perhaps even justified by a 1IIIIIrliI' of passages in Hebdomeros.· illlplying. whose sufferings "the "Though autumn had stripped bare the century-old trees.1 l John Ashbery . after unfortunate quarrel between two guests who are acting in a pantomime. Nouns have their gender. thought of the death of my death? Have you thought of my life? One day. and being born again. 0 brother . II 1IIII'd-Lo-definedeity." recent return of his son had undoubtedly alleviated though unfortunately gives a reception in his honor. Hebdomeros eucalyptus flew by singing. Have you ever thought of my death? Have you ever or rather their sex. which lies in a park of j 111111 (11111(. but they illlliioitalily is a female noun with the eyes of the father: she exist. rather like the one Nietzsche seems always to suddenly fall silent at the sight of the mute. The noises died down. and. '0 Hebdomeros. Men in shirtsleeves who had been playing billiards suddenly stopped playing as though they had become immensely weary. of an . weary of their past life and of their present life and of the years that still awaited them. De Chirico himself has long since vanished inside this immor- 1 ilil . . and one in whom the fantastic fluctuation of Hebdomeros' upvr-mind may finally be contained and resolved. he is again alone. of which this is perhaps the most It rounding: A few days later the prodigal's not dispelled.(xii) INTRODUCTION and his friends watch his weary provilla. I. She spoke of immortality in the great starless night. the curtains which had billowed out romantically in the open windows sank back again like flags when the wind drops. she said. decline. with their long procession of hours.

HEBDOMEROS .

.'h. I.. stairs on a little Doric column carved out of oak and joined to tI'I1 nile! of the banister stood a polychrome statue. . Seen from outside. at the foot III .'rtitood what he meant. and he reflected on the difficulty of making "'"' elf understood . that particular towns on Sundays. smiled and said they found the comparison the subject concluded odd. "as for me." 101"11 'hat something uwukr- my understanding at nights. the indefinable and highly suggestive odor given nll'li warehouses adjoining the wharves in a port. also carved in wood. but they im- fllI·ili It Iy dropped and went on to talk about something Ilebdomeros from this that perhaps they had not really reached a certain height or lIud.It'ki-. The idea that the hllilding resembled a German consulate in Melbourne was a purely I"'IHolial one of Hebdomeros'. And then began the visit to that strange building located in an ""lil 'I' Iy respectable but by no means dismal street.l1'.k Lip the whole ground floor. Though it was neither a Sunday nor a or Ille IlIIliduy the shops were closed at the time." hcgan to climb the stairs. hung in the air. whereas people in general are not in the least perturbed WIIlHIthey see or read or hear things they find completely 1111' '1'1. melancholy with Anglo-Saxon air. running up the middle was a carpet. and when he spoke about it to his friends 11"1 "I I'.· .." when one's thoughts Hebdomeros had escaped was thinking. "It's strange.. .. Large shops II. which were very wide and made throughof varnished wood. dreary atmosphere A faint smell of OIH' ussociates oI. building looked like a German consulate in Melbourne.. the very would keep me obscure. which gave to this portion ureet a weary.1".

How to behave. a sailor's song. speaking in a low voice to the younger And he thought of the music halls whose brightly conjure up visions of Dante's paradise. Anguish at nightfall. and he felt the onset of something like the colic. holding aloft a gas lamp whose burner had an asbestos mantle over it.. They were coming to the threshold of a vast. (personal delivery).. when the world was young. At that moment Hebdomeros thought of his childhood dreams. athletic fellows carrying that two of his friends were with him-strong.1 atmosphere I of this room. in a corner Ii f. 111. deserted corridors. this perturbed Giorgio de Chirico (3) head. as if he were crushing bags of nuts at every step). throwing his arms out in front iii IliH . the immense canopy over the uugrnenting t III ""11 the evening shadows.S. the leap through the window into empty space (suicide in a dream) and the gliding descent.'111'. .V. like those condor-men Leonardo drew for amusement among his catIIlId Vision of Rome. a staircase made of varnished wood with a thick carpet in the middle which muffled his Jootsteps-(in to measure by a shoemaker named Perpignani. Hebdomeros' IIIIIII'U. was hopeless when it came to buying shoes. he tried to fight down this uneasiness by reminding himself he was not alone. and smells floating up from sand . the frightening.D. ~'" IiW. in a state of anguish he would be climbing a staircase bathed in a dim light. and looking as if its thoughts were elsewhere. plait). II .. on the town for the high quality of his leather. Invitation card. relentless bear that follows you on the stairs and along the corridors. in the classic pose of a captain prudently halting him a little. They stayed abreast of one another but moved apart a little so they could get downstairs quickly and freely. its head lowered. looking more warily around them. Live the life of a socialite.ornpanions. "Gladiators! There's an enigma word. 11111111 lilt IIl'nand a body covered with scars.ornpanions. Then came the apparition of the bear. llinn uddenly: Society! Move in society. When they saw they were coming to the floor which they had been told had a history of being haunted by strange apparitions. R. especially sickness. decorated in the style of 1880.reminded one of the gaming rooms at Monte Carlo. Hebdomeros dentist. he also thought of 01 liili .(llI." said Hebdomeros. the lighting and I 111'11'11. 11111 Ii IWelU and blood-soaked other hand.·harge of his men. should they encounter a particularly strange kind of apparition. his shoes made a horrible noise. "Here we are!" said Hebdomeros. a retired gladiator with eyes like a v IIII·lled by a bored instructor. It was a dream which always foretold i II illhie.illl siood an enormous grand piano with its top up.. without standing 1111 lipltH: you could see its complicated entrails and clear-cut internal .(2) representing HEBDOMEROS a Californian Negro with his hands stretched above his felt as though he were going upstairs to visit a in venereal diseases. . when the games would be over for the day I Ille sun sinking lower in the sky. In a corner of the drawing III. hi h-c ilinged room. any case even outside his dreams his shoes rarely squeaked for he had them made known throughout the father.. the headlong flight through rooms with complicated exits.. which was completely bare of fur- automatics with spare magazines in the pockets of their trousers.·ilina III It II"ii" iftemoons in Rome.P.diatorswearing diving helmets were practicing halfheartedly. More of those upholstered doors and short. P. (repondez. or a doctor specializing IIpllllHand anatomical fragments.'/11 ctiqueue. they slowed down and began to climb on tiptoe.

the astonishing advanced submarine. nothing could disturb them or have acid nor a stiletto nor an armorpounds of lyddite in it bullet._ HEBDOMEROS but you could easily imagine what a catastrophe it would Giorgio de Chirico (5) flllVil"Ollment. quality to it.IIIS! Wonderful! gave him little or no satisfaction III III it dllll("d him.\liMI. . holding looked silently and intently at in a highly always did when his mind was haunted hands as though in the face of danger. even to the enigmatic things III IIwls. a world apart. For that matter.hlwlI. 1':". their hysteria.) would have burned away slowly. for they had never met you. III in a totally different way.1h deep down he felt instinctively ill 'Iilll by other without making a sound. in the dreams of this kind. the little felt-covered turning laden with pink and blue wax down the steel strings. in what is enigmatic A strange. in the inviolability the scene before them really did have an underwater one of large aquaria.11111'1"0 just like that. all these people lived in a world of their own. and he knew no way of altering anyIldll' about it..'vn. in the subconscious about cicadas._ __::---.It silence lay and playing if only on account of the diffused light planet? Do you believe in metempsychosis. lit II Ifl no wish to awaken ~III unk from their admiration. he was afraid of opening a discussion fill Hli scene. of the atmosphere. Moreover. attracted served the mysterious reminded 1111 II of the soul. with the wax running hammers.1 others' glances piercing his back or sides. to attract no attention.If a rebel (let's call him that) had had a mind to light machine. "Better not think about it. He was only happy when nobody took the slightest notice 1""1· 10 be dressed like everybody else. the only thing to do was to live and let live. right away. But-that II have been if one of those chandeliers in the melogenous stretched domeros. he would have liked that: to note. especially 11. But misgivings were aroused with him.1 ·kin of the leopard? 111"111 He hated discussions over the whole scene: that pianist sitting at his instrument was nothing about him that deserved out of a drama. as there to be seen.--_ . they had never heard of the war in the Transvaal any hold over them. It would have been very to the question.. and hindering to his companions. o---. as Heb- ddlil"lIlt to give a reply. people. (Translator's in . quail's heads looking through the portholes and watching unobplant and animal life of the deep. and those characters moving around the piano with cups of coffee in their in all things.ernal questions: 11101 her What is life? What is death? Is life possible of the laws of nature. even if they were ~Iunces. he he also their rancor.. I. taut like Ulysses' bow. '''lflll"lling disasters of dogs. I"""f. which eliminated all the shadows. to come. piercing or the disaster in Martinique. Yes. in his friends.fllTed their high opinion of themselves. inexplicable "1'''"''.h(. the precise working of candles had fallen into the piano with all the candles lit. question/t-r-wet« they really aliv~? . animate and inanimate. It was enough held that it was the effect of the II. never '". the original. as: Great! Marand eventually those who discussed complex feelings flll!. neither prussic they did not recognize you. they knew nothing about anything." said Hebthen all three of them. hissing like damp logs. they imagined they were passengers IIH' ·I. that pianist you didn't really see. (4) anatomy. without by a complicated with his friends in the immorin ghosts and the ele- d. i II' several nights of deep meditation plI. Hebdomeros the hundred all such exclamations ""I.. ·. hands. Or else he would have liked people to pay attention 11111 ~ rull to the fuse ofan infernal to make you despair. making the gestures and movements of athletes jumping in slowmotion films.What a disaster pit.

which he had once followed 1'1 "II witnessed toward evening on the rocky shores of an arid island.l1l1i1 I'OS heard for the first time the entreaty of the fisherman's h AI (irst he thought her husband had already set out in his boat III Ilid Ih . Achilles' brother was of the opinion that it was the way on the floor which was largely responsible the pieces were scattered from the fact they were looking down astronomers who kept watch III 1.h. for hypnotizing the seven members of the family. as could easily be seen at that moment. had caused Hebdomeros half-Byronic. and he could not help taking the words of the 1"1 1. nobody accused him. The life of a sybarite. or of paleontologists eagerly looking at a fossil just brought to light by the pick. But no one ever went into the adjoining II re was the place of the buffet. With the palms of their hands resting on their bent knees and their elbows sticking out as though they were sitting on invisible stools.I 1 11.: The broken vase was very valuable.. Between one wave and the was absolute silence and calm.". constantly exposed W to the dangers of storms: Let my arms be your oars and my tresses your ropes. 1111 HII rh I he fine summer nights. perfectly mirroring the sky from the shore.. This was the setting in which IIlIi" ..llId that moment they were the worthy colleagues or Babylonian III i110H(. Now and then. . I up toward the stars. the silver teapot and the dread 'I' Ii I h. For the great black fishes might swallow you up I It the fathomless depths of the sea. if you will! Ex. . to the extent of immobilizing them. the seven members of the family stared down at the whitish fragments.1 III(' idea of fish. wave began to form at some distance . But nobody moved.: The closed door would not budge. at black cockroaches in the depths of the empty pots. of a thunderclap III \1 Illnl' I" 11. And it was true that the pieces were arranged in the form of a trapezoid. this was completely untrue. with clockwork regularity..'1'1 1MII bad omen for the fishermen. Ex.· would bring down misfortune on these men. as something which sooner or I' . acute disappointment. lip by shame. 111111 gathering speed. The sea was smooth. lying out on terraces with their heads 111"lI'd 11111111. the whole family being gathered together in the middle of the dining room round the broken remains of their cherished vase from Rhodes. and each was putting in his word. swelling ill I h. Though it was widely believed he was a child-martyr whose cruel mother gave him a beating on the slightest pretext. she was the first to break the spell they were under as they gazed. iflel' 1'111 ('(:n 1. like a well-known constellation. and when . Let's take the example of the broken vase. then crashing headlong 'gainst the shore with sliced in two.(6) HEBDOMEROS 1111 W 1M Giorgio de Chirico said and done-apart of looking up-at early Chaldean (7) have all the advantages and satisfaction of being famous but with none of the bother. half-Homeric. which had stood on the buffet for ninety-two years. .urred to Hebdomeros to associate the idea of cockroaches 1111..It.· Ii rht of the setting sun. The lady of the house (the woman accused by the whole district of being a terror to young Achilles) was the least impressed of all. open sea. It had "" "" o ' . They were talking of gluing the pieces together again. but the two words great and black reminded him III II poi rnant scene. Some said they knew of expert craftsmen who did this kind of work so perfectly that afterward you couldn't see any sign of the break. the idea of the sky being turned upside down had mesmerized these good folk. They were staring with the intent interest of archaeologists watching a statue being unearthed.

though older. The later he caught sight of the husband.1 through this opening III lilill.1 poses of exotic dancers. whose emerald waters wearing crumpled. Still further off in the distance majestic moun111111 IIIH('high. mingled with a \ 11"11 got into bed he took up the bowl. of the hotel. few moments HEBDOMEROS on this occasion his anguish was short-lived. raising it as though to pour II(.· Ilright light of that fine October day it was as though the hapless "111 racked by the torture of a never-ending storm. 1111 ~one to the seaside or the country to escape from the midsummer ill" ""'ii) II' would walk down the Avenue des Citronniers to them talking... white linen waist- '''"1115ina torrent. r nights when the town was almost deserted . alas!-but by being ashamed IIII1I1. squatting it was a cheerless 1.. III 1111" Illuming with two young ladies of easy virtue. Hebdomeros fist fights. a part of I'IIII'TI a room which had no windows facing the sea. II II tragedy and catastrophes. suddenly comes upon a male adult with his strewn with small polished the two men with One of to satisfy a need as natural as it was urgent. bystanders when we come was trying to recall upon a crowd of people in the street and find that it's only a ring of round a hawker selling fountain pens. so no wonof his films and so rare. This episode feel a vague sadness instead depths Yet he should have been glad at the thought of being devoured But such is human Weare by the great black fish his nets on for nature: we hunger of the sea. III II.(8) Fortunately.1111'1' I. so that the room was lit like an artist's 1111. nearer you could see trees. was quietly mending always disappointed then drank it down at one gulp before going to sleep. of his hut. In 'III was telling how (its inhabitants at about three sense of disappointment. quietly for a II Giorgio de Chirico (9) III' had taken to having a large bowl of milk set out on the bedside at night.. or again. coats with elaborate III' Husel and of the bridges over the Rhine. when we see two angry people hurling violent insults at each other. ururu the door open. but who later.11. The fierce winds them into the would-be everything.111" with all the purity of a Swiss landscape.11 mountain whose other side sloped down toward the gulf. A gust of in his heart. He could vaguely studio. I"jll~ III " In the little garden the goatee beards. was even more brutish. chasing a playful butterfly as a bush. by American French ones. pine trees. exposing him to view. Idillion. then settling their quarrel without coming to blows and offering us one of those magnificent lavishly provided der-in feelings and analyzed was blushing trousers stones. dinner they had together. 111'111 WIIHthe site of the famous caves inhabited 111111 IIl1l1g.10111 as he half listened eros.! ereens and men cut to pieces. I" Ih north (the side diametrically opposite the sea) the horizon This made Hebdomeros down. in the fathomless the doorstep hut some thirty yards from there. while behind it flutters behind II.n who.. he ended III II moment with the absolute wr-r III and as he made his way to the hotel for his evening meal he like a pure young girl who. rather dirty. mending 111111" his maid when she came to turn back the sheets I)y II his nets in his fisherman's wind had pushed made Hebdomeros that the fisherman. them was saying that sometimes he woke up hungry during the night. . III thought of all this as he examined this made a rather curious contrast stillness which layover his state of mind. 11.. its only opening could be seen far in the distance especially \ II loword the north. i. one on each arm.. II "It of . were warlike and boastful by demigods who. whereas from a discars smashed to smithtance we had been imagining horrible disasters. as their lives charms hanging from their watch chains. 1"'11\'which remained blurred in his mind's eye.n blew from the sea had twisted III11111. with their snow-capped peaks sparkling in the sunshine.

everyone had thrown math' _ I' Ii there in the darkness. turned into sages and poets and taught their grandcathedral. Before the shrines in which the sacred moldered and rusted away under sacrosanct when the guests are going in that case it is om to another..artillery at the barracks or was it an earthquake. It would have needed IIt. tails tilt wl. human being could have summoned to rise and escape from watchful circle. ivy climbed and green took the winter carpets that covered them . .. posing for a photogcourage "11'1. on the other 111111. was a child... prostitutes._ IlIf. the burning summer.1 11101"are times when this is much more difficult to do.!'"I' .. That is why Hebdomeros preferred to in all the pictures and objets d'art. III hour of twilight. massive and heavy as a miniaturized bare the century-old vast horizon spoke of everlasting life. coastal as he stood in the middle of the room. moss grew...1<. It was gone now.. with dinners on the beach. looking as arms were sitting with their Herculean like wrestlers 1111111. a "seismic waves as they broke at regular intervals I". I.. The peacocks.h II.1. for example. somewhere . this whole of Herakles bearded warby grinding bitter plants and the art trees. It was the season when Valtadore out of their boxes and shook off the naphthaline Winds on shore The weather fine Evening storms Of summertime. 1111111 Olli' I' of tuning the huge lyre.1 walls of which all those fifty-year-old Ihe 1"ld. politician holding a stone scroll on S 111111101 statue of the tail-coated Ih\' 11I. And he yielded to the delight of reliving a bygone the throes of colic as they lay in their hotel rooms on sheets made hot heat.41 under the trees of the wild garden. as they trailed their II I through the windows and arranged them in the main square.1 h-bdomeros I I.11(. drew near. 1111111'.'v(. \ 11"'1.1I I hioned villa whose long veranda was crammed l sons the art of making medicines Though autumn had stripped 1111 d flowers." 11"11 "" i\ nd their hostile eyes converged on him like the guns of a '1l1l1dl'OIion an enemy's fort.111. tombstones 1IIIId' "lay to slip past the guests and take French leave. hll. Along the brick walls on the side the sun's rays never reached. II II IIu. Hebdomeros recalled those dinners the bathers. though quality and he had known them by heart with gardens draped in the evening mist. . at a party. whose main dish was rotting red causing them to writhe all night in that stank of dirty out mullet which poisoned by the midsummer toilets and linoleum.. III Illi unyielding was thinking Areopagites. absorbed by the need to be clever and round weapons "II Illilliuntly the conversations they have begun. that was \ 111. igning interest f II.i .h conveyed the very peculiar (11) gave heart-rending with plants and wore on and the time for them to cross the threshold kingdom of Life Eternal then. So now the great problem was to get out. ulptor had engraved his name and the date of the work.. breasts.(10) HEBDOMEROS into the blissful Giorgio de Chirico 111.'It when this can be done without difficulty. quality of the facade of this 1. There are dwi 1I. won: of very indifferent 1. It was time to get up and go out.1.·d 011 their enlarged riors of flawless profiles and virile beauty stood guard.." as the newspapers put it? The whole population of the 111_1 ••• '1 wns spending the night in the open..'rnal.l'yone is talking and gesticulating. with the nonchalance of Platonic boy-lovers. in a stifling atmosphere through the open window came the sound of the on the shore. this thought had been nagging at Hebdomeros for some time.

between his pipe and tobacco pouch. later they would feel the pull of the west as well. gentle slopes rising on either and visions appeared. where the wet nurses gathered with their babes. or else to trade and build. pedagogized building. or the children still playing at making sand of them would have been called. At noon in those transitional seasons. This. would have bought and sold merchandise 110 front faced south and so toward the sea." -------~ ." It was Parthenand ephebogogized. the sky was as blue as a . When that happened. Its the fashion of the day. sometimes sublime or engestures on the foaming crests of the of asgreen. But at such moments it sometimes happened that the back wall opened up like a theater curtain sometimes terrifying. the candle burned down and dripped into strange shapes. Yet. the children and the youths enjoyed equal status. "compared to what that town was like on summer nights. south. while on the table. tired from the day's hunting. The youths already old enough 10 chanting: there would be the ocean in a storm. east and west-all sense of direction. in fact-was lind adolescent lost to these young people. seeking a fugitive ideal in the midst of so many fellow sufferers. "But it's nothing. as predicted in the books of astrology. - (12) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (13) Some said that a comet was coming and with it the end of the world. these virgin athletes gymnasts at practice running on the shining tracks. this fairly low but wellproportioned looking for all the world like an enormous toy had been finally placed in position. after several failures. the sense of north. its stem was to the north. autumn and spring. and countless offerings had been laid on the deserted shores of a sea whose every wave bore thousands and thousands of roses. to end up in this huge glass house. Sometimes the solid silver cups and laurel crowns were carried off by ~i rls who sped over the arena like does with feet of bronze. was why he spent whole nights sitting up in bed. along the path slowly walked a woman dressed all in white. his head in his hands. Yes. HI eping there. of serenades by the foot of those necropolises. those children who loved to daydream. or make sculptures of warriors and great politicians so that their effigies. and sometimes also you would see a spring landscape tonishing poetry and peacefulness: practice in the palestra." said Hebdomeros. to govern 'a tles or setting traps baited with black olives for the whistling black- birds-all public affairs or to take sword in hand to defend the sacred soil of their motherland. after all that. for the north attracted them more than the other points of the compass. then. Or yet again. and those who at other times dreamed of the north forgot their reveries. every one of the same shape and as alike one another as twins.piece of taut paper. And now. would stand in the peaceful shade of the Or again. in corded bales. her face thoughtful and serious. there was doubt about it: all these young people were living in a never-ending . lunds. it was blue all over from top to bottom. On those days of supreme happiness. onized. so white in the moonlight!-and those truly prodigious nights when flowers thrown into the air fell thick and fast. they might have been called upon to explore far-off squares. naked or clothed according 10 side of a path whose edges were shaded by almond trees in blossom. sooner or later. with hideous gnomes leering and making threatening waves. they would have traded with neighboring lands. u veritable ceiling stretching over the town. only the north existed for them. but for the moment. it was no whiter near the horizon. and the children came to lean over it. Years of one's youth. retiring at night into wagons fitted up as traveling homes and which. to the cries of hyenas and ju ·kals. there was no doubt about it: all these young people were living through one of the most moving hours of their lives.

over the smiling.~-"~. Henceforth it was only a matter of hours.:-. And it was work. obsessed as they were by the highest metaphysical overwhelmed. as though he were trying to convey to a circle of intimate friends. the deep distress of the bandit being taken away to the galleys: "Farewell. but people said they were ancestral window would open and against the dark background II rur IIC)Lhing but a figment of the imagination. Even when he turned over to take a few minutes' ust. so healthy and tonic. so poignant! Meanwhile. there was nothing in his attitude reminiscent Ii" on stone sarcophagi. under the star-filled speculations. the kind of people who could understand him. the joyful sound of their work resounded advancing. he was singing in his powerful. on which the man known as King Lear to habitues of the palace amused himself by spying on the birds. until it allIed up to that memorable afternoon (for they had worked all morning under the scorching sun of a premature summer at the finishing touches and final adjustments to the almost-completed a strong fragrance work). They were martyred s. as the whole city lay sleeping sky. hoping to catch them in little-known poses and expressions. from the windows which let in the spring HII n hine the view stretched all around. with its green hutters and its garden. Only in the rest of the city was joy as the workmen feverishly Sunday. going forward by leaps and bounds. Hebdomeros shunned il in favor of the park where the pine trees grew. rather less cheerful. nights bathed in the soft light of the moon! I am not struck down by sickness. but little by little the great concrete buildings IllId sprung up. when his body was strong nnd radiant with health. The neighbors no longer recognized one another. But he did not look of those figures that IIIl lik ' a statue. twined round its trunk like a giant snake. these spiral which ("'i and. There were generals. ' - - -~.-:~- -- (14) HEBDOMEROS Ih Giorgio de Chirico room-a (15) present. his house was a cheerful sight. He watched 0111 well. regular congress of ghosts. wise in all she does (so people say. regular daily work. and yet I am going to die!" It was so beautiful. he no longer looked like a human being.. as for him. he took snuff to avoid smoking (his him to smoke). a regular torture-collar III. would not have let such intense. like too much sorrow. in the lighted winclear enough to be of the people in dows of that house which reminded one somewhat of a town hall or a shadowy figures stood out. senators. Sometimes a would appear. such delicately bred happiness last too long. since too much happiness.. rather one painter. for a strange epidemic was raging among them. In former days. Everything was progressing. The lemon trees were already giving off Though the district was now elegant and so much more lively. And now you saw other faces in the of the room a ghosts and t. be they Etruscan couples or landgraves armed . the day of rest. slowly but surely their relentless encirclement ruund Ir the now joyless house. impulsive young people. high mountains and rocky peaks! Fare- whit tnircases ended in a kind of platform. "hoked the unfortunate tree. Each one bore a stairway made of wood. from being completely Even far into the night. either. could have weakened the moral fiber of these sensitive. uuquestionahiy II'(. sometimes he sang softly. silhouettes recognized from the street. through the interior cloisters. he was slowly dying. which prevented all their minds. at least). for Nature. and his painters-or do ·tors had forbidden hou e was dying with him. these attractive. ---- - - -=.--~ ~ " . college. But in this stronghold of the pure in heart there was undiminished strove to have everything ready for the appointed day. ·ndly trees. Lying down on the platform. fertile hillsides tightened c'e)v red with fruit trees. they were the silhouettes specially for sparrows. musical voice. as motionless u log. in muted tones.

the kind of inn that gave that cheers and refreshes us. and tears would come to his eyes. which is why he brought to mind the corpses uncovered at Pompeii. just as the Roman countryside does on days when the grape harvest is taken in. and behind the wall. yes. the kind of inn that makes us think about the transmigration of souls. the hen's took pride of place. there are two: White Neptune and the other birds' heads which made him uneasy. to prevent quarreling among the neighbors and keep them from trampling on one another's and lettuces. in poses of sublime majesty. he was finally becoming part of it. for there are two of them. hastily nailed in place to hold up the floor so that it might withstand an impact which would never come. It wasn't. or warriors wounded or dying. sparrows looked really monstrous. A rhinoceros was standing knee-deep and bronze in the farmyard manure heap. perturbing. He thought of the Egyptians. The thought of the grape harvest made Hebdomeros think back to those days. the cock's head he found less perturbing. which were far from being as ·imple as they at first appeared. arduous process of sailing in the cold waters of the north. and who in ancient statuary represented the source of the richness of lands. the explorer would muse as he gazed at the great wingless genii lying on the clouds. That was why the platform looked upside down as he lay upon it in watch.(16) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (17) from head to foot. "Give me your cold seas. with their elbows supported by amphorae lying on their sides. desperately clinging to the drifting icebergs. I will warm them in mine!" This was the courtesy that gods alone can show! I say gods. Nor was there anything that reminded one of those old men with flowing beards and gentle eyes. lay the wingless genii. providing their painted or sculptured figures with birds' heads as a homeopathic apprehensions: evil driving out cure for their fears and superstitious evil. Through lying so long on the platform. he was turning into something like a large piece of undressed wood. alarming quality of the heads of birds had more than once sent Hebdomeros off into complicated soliloquies meditation. joy and comfort to our grandparents. alas. as bearers of misfortune. he would think then of the unfortunate polar bears. Among ·auses us to dwell on immortality and on the theory that nothing is lost. cabbages stood the inn. and the slow. This strange man looked more as though he were petrified. it was at such moments that the explorer would come out onto the balcony of his suburban house. In general he considered birds' heads as bad omens. Nor did he remind one of how near the tract of pines. he was becoming plaiformized. he recalled his own journ ys. And he thought of people in Italy making horns (the devil) for the same reason when they met with something they were superstitiously afraid of. nothing destroyed. These thoughts came to him mostly when he was in the garden . amid which. everything living on in other shapes and other forms of matter. as black as ink against the whiteness of ice floes. lying about among the ill-kept flower beds of this melancholy garden there were bronze hoisting-frames pachyderms. out of his room whose walls were overed with furs and with photographs depicting ships. indecently naked and rivers. that gladiators lay. and the goose's and duck's even less so. for a crossbeam meant to the strengthen the possible weakness of the planks could only be imagined as being nailed on underneath. a ridiculous partition which merely erved to mark off the different areas. regally reclining among reeds. Across the clear autumn sky sailed great white statuesque ·Iouds. his halts in the snow. and he was much given to metaphysical in which he thought of quails' heads most of all. Seen from such close quarters. The enigmatic.

the year human virtues. the same Negro had won an honorable mention for a painting entitled In Flagrantis. far-off landscape of factories and smoking chimneys. men with imperial profiles and double chins held in by their helmet straps. but the painting. dusty road bordered by a rather low outcrop of rock which digging and blasting had pitted and furrowed in many places. it was always the same scene that met his eyes: maids brushing clothes It the kitchen windows. The painting Caucasus and Golgotha depicted a wide. he always liked to observe great tactfulness his personal relationships. and one of them had distinguished Its meaning was somewhat obscure. An artist's thought is profound-these most important were the opening words of an article that the famous newspapers of the capital. a very blonde girl with quite a good figure. moreover. But instead of portraying the drama of adultery. still half asleep. laughter and talk of the servants in the house opposite. before. in spite of the critic Etienne Spartali had devoted to the Negro painter in one of the . Hebdomeros As he was known to be a friend of was questioned by several people. and both of them looked mockingly at Hebdomeros each time he appeared at the window. around which Roman legionaries were bustling. and just opposite his own window an artillery . words. went to open the shutters of his room. He rose early each morning. Hebdomeros he replied that he knew no more about it than anyone else and that. in tact was one of the chief that the black race is more polite than any of the others. Apart from all this. below. as he did every day. but to all the god of the South. the artist had shown a dog. coming unexpectedly a pair of sparrows pecking at the cherries upon set out for the master's when he rose and. and he could not have borne for a moment the thought that his friends found him lacking in it. in his opinion. who had been nicknamed "the dragonfly" by one of Hebdomeros' friends. The young maid's liking for Hebdomeros grew stronger as time went breakfast on a table in the garden. a griffon terri or. he would have considered it very indiscreet to question the Negro on the subject. She rather liked Hebdomeros' worried. too. The maid. Hebdomeros The artist had depicted could be seen sitting on a stone. balanced appearance. after wiping them with a cloth soaked in benzine. And yet. This soldier was assiduously courting a maid. was much friendIi r to her neighbor when the colonel's orderly wasn't there. the window of his bedroom faced onto a courtyard. because of its had won nevertheless a silver medal.(18) Black Neptune. stretching HEBDOMEROS which is the same as saying the god of the North and out his seaweed-laden arms to his white colleague deduced from all this Giorgio de Chirico (19) articles and studies that were written about it. he saw facing him the back of the building which adjoined his. the noise. he had even known painters among the Negroes. the work of this painter remained a mystery to everyone. there were weeping women. he never gave a very straight answer on these occasions. and also that it has a warmer heart and more sensitive soul. himself with a painting submitted to the Salon called Caucasus and Golgotha. on the road. the days went by rather monotonously for Ilebdomeros. thoughtful appearance and sometimes when she saw him looking out of the window she asked him if he were homesick. and men in breeches carrying ladders. the painter. almost always wakened by as In the morning.olonel's orderly would be carefully folding his master's trousers. On this rock stood three crosses. and it was the black god that had just said these across the vastness of the world. as Chronos does the faces of old men. in the pose of Hebdomeros in a pensive mood looking at a Renan in the famous Renan in Front of the Parthenon by Andre Brouille.

" she thought sadly. or a hurdle at a Irack meet as it was overturned by a kick. holding their plates up to their chins with their left that he. had the idea of kicking it around with a well-aimed toe. at that moment she saw him coming out into the courtyard with three of his friends. delighted. toward the end of a beautiful April day. He thought that his sadness was caused by the fact that the chirping of the birds and the singing of the young orphans reproached him for not being pure enough. like a matricide being led to the gallows. (21 ) steeple bells their by. using the old shoe. jumped about like a savage. "who believed naked children. from far off came the echo of the waterfalls rushing down from the tops of those high mountains which men. but the wildest and the most excited of all was Hebdomeros. he rambled at length through the countryside. he gently edged the door open and peered out: nothing. shouting. One afternoon. at least. no one. He thought of prowlers. having completely lost his homesick look. too. who.(20) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico himself. and weary. and so he Ilprang from his bed. "And I. was not like the others!" Sometimes. where t rrible storms sometimes broke suddenly. the whole family of Ih general stood around the oval table and gulped down their meal of ri . the servant girl was at the kitchen window. placed the half-polished disappointed teapot on the kitchen table. and so. in his nightshirt and with bare feet. going hack to bed after standing his rifle in a corner. turbulent family. his cane and his overcoat on the sill of a first-floor window and he. a moonless summer night. the beaches. hodies skinny. at once Hebdomeros. but soft. One of them. Heartsick. sometimes a shadow passed across it. a shape like l huge drawing compass that was opened and closed. the refuge of a weary traveler.e with peppers." he thought. in the villages hailed him from the distance. a sweet song came to soothe Hebdomeros' last moments of rest. of thieves ready 10 steal the wrought-iron tables and chairs from the garden. and. the echo died away in the deep valleys darkened by the shadows of the plane trees. and so the four friends improvised a soccer game. and grasping his hunting rifle beIw en his hands. "It must have been a stray dog playing tricks on me. bathed in the clear waters of rushing streams. . IJUt not enough to make him forget the country house of a general. and near under three feet of water. put his hat. greedy for marble. howling with joy each time his toes. coming in contact with the old shoe. the corpses of pirates moved slowly back and forth. the young maid closed the window. and thinking of Hebdomeros. the singing came from a girls' orphanage and each time it plunged him into a black despair. But now it was no lunger a bedroom. she was alone. he remembered that in his childhood he had felt the same sadness when in the evening after the sun had set he heard the chirping of the sparrows as they gathered in the trees to pass the night. before the noise of the servants ended his sleep. sent it soaring off among his friends who ducked. or the stride of someone wulking quickly but carefully. on a Sunday morning. to distract . and she felt she would have come to love him if an unexpected incident had not suddenly shattered her dearest dreams and illusions. busy cleaning a silver teapot. and sat down on a stool. began to chase the old shoe ahead of him with swift kicks. having a wonderful time. dazed Hebdomeros a little. The crossing of that lake which was as vast as an ocean. the vast desert of the night. having spied in a corner an old shoe with a flapping sole. had hacked at and torn away in many places. On nights when he could not sleep II ' lay in his room on the ground floor and stared at the ceiling dimly lit from outdoors.I iar and solemn. as seaweed moves even when the sea is calm. h ad of a large.

"Svetonia! Svetonia!"-but it was only the memory of In echo. and the next day there would be the humiliation rowing money from the servants. while the joyful song of the blacksmiths lind the noise of the rustic carts. and pleas that they spare their husbands. hopes were setting off on gulf lit up on one side by the full In electric trains as brightly lit as theaters. this head of a family. Moreover. d voured by the mosquitoes with proboscises I moon. The wives were waiting for them. would have been could un- II id landed from ships which covered them with long-range guns. was ruining himself at cards. to go back to those luxurious waiting villas. and on the other by the floodlights of the luxurious hotels along the waterfront. paradise on earth. with cardsharps who stripped him of everything he owned. to be yoked to the plow like animals. low-lying mountains.ornpletely. drifted as in a dream. I hen seconds after each report the acrid odor of the smokeless powder floated through the open windows. The children. the fierce invaders who arms at the ready. blonde and very beautiful. who were pale with terror. where only the soft light of the moon held sway. side: the whirring excitement huck to their dismal palaces._< -- --~--:~--~. they there were endless offered to go and work on their lands.. in each of them a young peasant tight-laced girl. where the lizards. toward that enchanted of taking the silverware and the family heirlooms to the pawnshop. in a velvet bodice. crammed with carrots and lurching h avily along the hard. this was paradise. Fat bankers. the sky cast a gray-violet shade upon the water where hundreds of small boats. ruining them oppose. black demons. there. their faces flushed from alcohol and from overeating. 10 acetylene lamps which drew the demented moths to them to be burned. and of borNight had not yet fallen completely. for there was merrymaking of the open-air theaters on the other under those thirsty for blood. until that moment when the setting fire to the gold on the pediments of the miniature Everything came to life. a few zigzagged through the gathering darkness like drunken . and with her arms bare. the way barbers hold their porcelain bowls when they rub alum and water on the freshly shaved cheeks of their customers. made frightful scenes. the relightning. they threatened the headwaiters. built among the ruins. now amused themselves firing their Winchesters at the first bats who birds. a journey. reducing them to poverty. to toil anywhere. a gentle mist blanketed the outline of the shore. and the were chased blazing sun rose in triumphant splendor behind those nearby. But the men. was heard. To defend the town. rowed gently and hesitated. I crnples that were like huge toys and chastely tinting with pink the sratues which stood on low pedestals. dulled by lack of sleep and by indigestion. cobbled roads. except for Hebdomeros. He would play until dawn in hotels. sheer madness. and who were even now advancing. rhythmically. These arful prayers often went on until dawn. When it was the hour to return. this general. immortal because they were ever renascent. sunk to their knees in the mud of the marshes. artificial slithered over the ancient stones like man. who had had dinner earlier with their governesses at a separate table. with having them fired. as they did in the days when the blossoming arbors and the grottoes rang with the call of that squint-eyed gional. with sheaves of wheat decorating their bows. "' " - -- --~ - - ------~~ -- (22) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (23) hands. newly risen. who never knew what to do with his hands or where to put that fatal cane which had been lost and found again in the canals of redhued Venicepatience. they had a never-failing for often the roistering continued until the early dawn. while the guests lay sleeping. Courageous though he was. with a handful of timorous invalids. asking nothing in return. Hebdomeros . to harvest the hemp in the midsummer heat.

" the sea with the port and the mass offactories and workshops which lire always busy. a Cabinet Minister. the whole ring of hills. on those nights when the moon was full. Iuod rooms where one could shut oneself up. In the parks which smelled of plants rotted by the extreme dampness. in order to break the mood-the Stimmung. besides. first. if not a heavy one. overcoat familiarly off his shoulders. under the taciturn watch of his servants. the weather had been magnificent. Another ghost. Once again he had to leave. And then there was the rain. as Hebdomeros called it-created by such questions. some cynical. a steady rain. during the rare days of fine rolled his wheelchair weather. having left them sufficient provisions.h a glimpse of people leaning out the windows. they are always "'IV filII 'n from their precipices of a long and sonorous fart. with the curtains drawn . and. where he might recover his strength and hi" lost hopes. Ih barometer was rising.(24) HEBDOMEROS I hal Giorgio de Chirico (25) derstand the futility of such a gesture. bed for the sheets were never really dry. rain today like yesterday and like tomorrow. you see the towers of the old town hall. too. in clear weather we have a on the plain." lidded. soaked to their skins.. athby imitating with their mouths the sound letic young men responded . Shepherds in rags. so that he should not take a turn for the worse and die suddenly from the stagnant urine in his system. surrounded by their melancholy flocks. then further to the 'red with snow. all the trees took the shape of weeping willows. a multilingual old man. some of the old people insisted that the birds w ease which made it necessary that he always lie in his chair at a certain angle. gloomy iouds jumped sluggishly about in the little garden of his hotel. the clearings were haunted. who did his host to show him that the rain wouldn't last forever and that the year hc·fore. Hebdomeros felt . the river wonderful view from here. Hebdomeros. moved by the impressive sight of the slumbering trees with their leaves shivering in the shadows.. he would have liked 1·11 him that he hated panoramas. town with the cathedral. it had begun to blow from the north and that would clear the sky: "You know. " And then. he was cold in Iii. twisting the buttons on his client's hrushing Ihe. an endless rain. which are 1'('ul works of art. servants. to the north. around it. you west are the famous peaks known as the Dragon's Teeth. Stretched out in his wheelchair." Iii Hebdomeros listened to him politely. by the presence of a man of genius. until sunset. and which have made our region famous for their products. ('III "Where is it all going? Toward what unknown shores do all these things sail? . at the same season. stood leaning on their long crooks. his mind a blank. And there. and their With my sailor's telescope you can even villa with flowered terraces. he lay there. there. his expression vacant. Mr. wooden mountain. his legs wrapped in rugs and shawls to his knees. Hebdomeros rsk d to pay his bill and said good-by to the hotelkeeper. and more than one reckless mountain climber has to his death. he headed toward a damp. in the distance. then. to quit those parts. for he could only urinate with great difficulty (and sometimes went for days without doing so at all). wlu h flows through the middle of the town and the bridges. he found moss growing ill the closets where he hung his clothes. "you know. that he liked nothing but rooms. he led his companions to a safe place. this distinguished invalid suffered from a highly pernicious dis- the dampness was getting the better of him. whose as faithful as they were well-trained. persisted in posing invariably the same questions: re chirping in that special way which indicated a change in the the hotelkeeper and elir' tion of the wind. as it does in a cave.

which was rather high for the place and the time of year. to whom. 1'0 Butchers' boys slept. ceilings. it's an atonement. sounded. WeI' mounted on a dolphin.I'all these fierce and fatalistic warriors were at heart both kind and cnerous. as if they were carcasses.'urrying a soup tureen. most of which was imaginary. nevertheless. a young engineer who worked on building an extension of the railroad line exclaimed over and over that he had had enough of this life. and when fate was kind he crouched lik a panther to slake his thirst eagerly. for they knew they had been invited to dine in the evening with the colonel commanding the garrison and that the dinner would be followed by a glittering reception. The town was full of hot fountains. sulphurous. it had to be done. he would go to the kitchen before he sat down at a table to peep into the pots and see what had been cooked. he thought of the hour of separation. like the newest maidservant . but they themselves wished this. their bloodstained in the dust-colored harnessed iously. but he could do nothing else.. stood guard over the main entrance. and went off down toward the plain. -~--~. . I~. they thought always of the friend. and even more afraid that people would think him mad and report him to the local medical authorities. both were in excellent treated when wounded or sick like the most humble. and the cicadas chirped obsessively hurbarian kings. who lay sweating on the straw in a wlIgon. too. felt the attachment attachment a bronze sea-god. the long and in xplicable halts at small. from time to time. The town was surrounded by high volcanic mountains and the heat was stifling. and then he filled his helmet with water and holding it with great care. but he didn't say a word about all the things he preferred. The hour of his leaving A servant who might have been a model for Giotto had to rrunsport the sick and wounded the chiefs lay in. and especially afraid he wouldn't be understood. he felt how the and grew each day. and it was this. When he went into the little restaurant where he always ate. . h explained the strength of-that the most 'Ihs ure soldier. the companion. face down. he made gifts of obscene photographs. some of them stayed at was some distance from armed with a trident and the sea. whose rank would have entitled them to every attention. watched the long line of the invading hordes moving to th west. Only Hebdomeros lu-ld himself alooffrom . that thought caused him deep sadness.--~ (27) carriage of the local (26) HEBDOMEROS the corners of rooms and low and the doors closed. as motionless as statues on their small white horses in carnival fashion like the steeds of Saracen leaders. There was nothing to show which of the wagons used to these great migrations. my dear. So he paid his hotel bill. that he was sick of it. thaL left at two o'clock.lid then a soldier with parched Now throat would search the dried-up I'iv rbeds for a last drop of water. their heads covered with aprons to keep off the flies that attacked them fefig trees that were petrified by the heat. to appease his congallantly offering his arm to his wife. He stared at the outline spirits that day. the sick I"uder wracked by swamp fever. Often the prisoners of this invincible horde were amazed to see tl'al the leaders. in return the chef described The hotel Hebdomeros his erotic prowess. Hebdomeros which bound him to this hotel. he climbed from the gully to rejoin his fellows." science. Then came the endless journey. Giorgio de Chirico haul Hebdomeros off like a rag to a second-class . wlii horde which no enemy could withstand. driving before them the cattle stolen from the peasants. no other solution came to him. --==~ _. as the captain said. he was on very good terms with the chef. deserted stations lost in the middle of the countryside. "It must be done. their II 'ads held high and their right hands proudly planted on their armorrlud thighs. Chieftains.

he sometimes bolt of the garden gate. streets filled with silent crowds. The sea of stars stretched ridiculous Hebdomeros drinking into the distance. _ -~~=§~_~ ----==:--. their shapes to be a dome but a ceiling and obscene. and when at dawn he left his suburban glasses. this had more than once taken was a child. f'u. dark stairways flanked and at last he more than his head the realms the soul of the general took the form of the purest smoke. the angel again assumed and carried the aspect of a tripod In the eternal monks pursuing was the exquisite. dismay written on their faces.ade f that house.-. "In her love." But the real reason desolate plains toward the white cities. and whose shirts were never He had been seen to weep.· -~. II ads of birds would vanish at his approach. quite clean. or very tall women with the and by his weeping family. so when of this man. Sometimes. writing his memoirs. cones. saw one day hurtling from one floor and swoop into a room. no! Wir zahlen Geld. curling into the Biblical shapes of Jewish candelabra. ~ . in love with him. he climbed squalid walls and covered dreams went into a huge tavern packed and where the smoke from pipes and cigars was so thick that as steamboats claimed that an elderly barmaid of a mother's this man. one had to make headway bellowing. and which Hebdomeros surrounded of a large apartment house to another like this. spread like tripods hurled from the sky.c~ --~-~~~~~~~~~~~- (28) of the sands. o would doubtless continue to live. knowing that their brothers are waiting there. Was he. fog. wearing horn-rimmed reputation of unfailing kindness. giving it a sweet sadness. flotsam on a stormy sea? Alas. we pay cash. as if the sky no longer seemed Captive balloons. to look with nostalgia had inherited children. launched into space the soul to heaven. depleted (29) but still their points lingered a long time. faced man. watching for them eagerly. when Hebdomeros . Hebdomeros friends. II. Hebdomeros with obscene as someone floated aimlessly above the parade ground. quality its dim glow over the that angel unadorned dry. ~- - v - -- - - - *' -=----::=-- _':::_-=:. like that mysterious as a tree in autumn. roaming around the world with a pack on his back and a pilgrim's his eyes shining. he was for more than a month so that he could look after his by the flying hooves of a mule. which appeared geometric angel. which had been bruised man who. whom his father found himself in the presence he went to the tavern was his hope of meeting a shaggy-haired. that angel which had nothing but the indispensable. an aged general lay dying. this apostle whom he had imagined staff in his hand. his hand resting on the and deep feeling at the which he lit now and then by a flash of lightning that angel as stripped necessary bed where. threatening HEBDOMEROS which even now the desert winds whirled into inverted touching the ground. modest although stylized and baroque. the moon in its final quarter h use. with their wives and at moments of being visions. near a He also had the reputation kind of antidote for bad luck and the evil eye. infinite sensitivity a dreamer? But his outstanding by his officers." he said.<:. speaking is something like all those who trek far across love. among both the staff and the customers. as with people who were do on days of heavy in that tavern was to one of his young ruddyhad the house. set off through graffiti. but who. "there once in his childhood h Id high. One of those whom life tosses about like ad he had placed in the papers. instead. Ilebdomeros had sheltered shinbone under the porticos. the strictly Giorgio de Chirico built at the edge of a forest which was partially impressive. of his soul. only a romantic. therefore. rising like smoke into the between them and' sky. these were the first words of the classified Attracted hy leprous mcountered by this tempting offer. malevolent sows and their piglets. Having received the soul of the dead. from his father and where his sons.

her head fallen on her breast. yes. Meanwhile the sky grew darker and darker until. He went up 10 the window and looked through it. where is your real estate? And your stocks? And your bonds?" terrible shame swept over him in a great shudder and his face turned scarlet. Although the light from the lanterns the peasants had hung in the corners was dim. to leave this place. But now. bubbling over with laughter. Hebdomeros found himself again in the same town. boats or. II bdomeros passed behind a cattle shed. A feeling of Yes. myopic. for the back of the building ('lJced a street higher than that where the front door was. in that large stone cistern devoid of all decoration (this by 110 means spoiled its appearance). "Pay you money! Pay you money!" he yelled. would warily approach and begin to nibble gently at the leaves of the creepers nearby. bent over him. roaring with it as if he were possessed. later they had been used by washerwomen for scrubbing clothes. milky color which contrasted sharply with the dark and almost black tint of as dark forms against the the bank. The scales suddenly "But. opposite. according to legend. into a corner. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. carefully shearing him. on his Hide. like Isaac offering himself up for sacrifice: Oh. stern-faced men. . and her arms limpid water. where the water. punts were moored at the banks of the river. reassured by his immobility. He wanted only to flee. unci suggested the tragedy of Venice during the epidemics of the plague unci the deaths of the great painters I' who were struck down by the lentless scourge. unable to turn back that inexorable flow of immigration toward the west. or rather it seemed the same. had a whitish. He would perhaps go to China. to flee. al last.\ 1 1'0 the right. in almost no time all the inkwells had been knocked over. although something had changed in the layout of the streets and the location of the castle. like silver and mercury. what about your real estate? slipped from Hebdomeros' eyes. her back against the wall. simply to flee. no matter how. their sleeves rolled up on their Herof the cow shed. lay the remains of the first five fabulous kings who governed the town. a ray of moonlight coming through a small window of the f splashed light.(30) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (31) him to the theater and had shown him. too. the Devil firing a rifle in a room. gentle lamb of Isaac to the altar attached. he would fall asleep in the midday warmth. Hebdomeros saw him and saw him- H-Jf. and then at noon. he still could dearly see the large prehistoric stone fonts where. in a hammock hung between two blossoming cherry trees. then opening the window and leaping into space like a diver into water. so much did he shake the tables in pounding them with his fists between guffaws. he would take a siesta. and the goats. one could make uut the flash of the steel blades in the semidarkness . were silhouetted culean arms. Silent. he would live the life of a night owl in the pagodas that shone like huge lanterns. a young peasant girl dozed on a bench near the group of animals. the punts. reflecting the sky covered with clouds at twilight. to flee. night had spread its somber wings over the whole region. to disappear. naked and kneeling. more precisely. no matter where. a luntern on the ground shone on a cow lying on manure with her little rulf. on provincial stages. was at the level of a man's head. IIl1dthere. ape-man who burst out laughing at the sight of him. my good man. and now the peasants put their cows in them when they were about to calve. this gave them the vague appearance of funeral gondolas. where the window. Hebdomeros saw a sneering.

they window of the shed to watch the strange scenes taking place inside. X is not in. of his important meteorological work approached. as women ride. X has gone out. who was a cook in and so the night wore on and with a sharp point. should canvassers. From time time his wife and daughter. for woe to them if he caught them in his room! One felt this was a life which ould not continue. if he had not been hailed point-blank the madman because. in the street or elsewhere. him remorselessly Furthermore. journalists or simply the bothersome or the curious ring his bell. "Fight in front of a woman?". the unrestrained. And yet. passed. in the midst of an indescribable 10 ull its train of worries. his shirt open on his chest. no matter where or when the meeting took place. pancakes. without being a gourmet. with a quick gesture he pointed out the young girl in a flowered bodice who remained seated in the middle of the meadow in the pose of a Joan of . The father sought to wheedle his son. the daughter. X has gone out on an errand. 1. question dinner. they were singing as only the lovestricken nightingale can sing deep in a flowered garden on a sweet would have lingered much longer at the by one whom all the town called summer night. often. /1. and in early April he would have to seclude himself up there. in the turret of his castle. he seemed not to notice it. or: Mr. at the bottom of the fonts. and at the same time Hebdomeros thought of the death of the Duke of Enghien. and there and then he would to learn what he had eaten for lunch or wherever he went he carried a thin metal stick withdrew walking backwards without taking their eyes off him. Mr. of pains. He often said. had hysterics every evening. that is quite impossible.\tluges.(32) HEBDOMEROS observing the two scenes II I. . he rummaged in the garbage cans that stood before the carriage gates of houses. the maid. thought that if a painter had depicted them in a picture he would have called his canvas The Two Mothers. then they crept into his small office on tiptoe and. to anyone willing to listen. and a decanter salted of cold coffee on the table. as he returned home late at night. to this last answer obstinate visitors replied that they would wait until Mr. weaving between the haystacks.. Emma. or else: Mr. X had returned from his errand. Marius. he never failed to stop him. cut off from the world. the maid then added. took advantage of the rare moments when he was overcome by fatigue and lack of food md fell asleep for a short time. Whenever he met a friend or even an acquaintance. blood flowed from a long gash on his left cheek and stained his shirt. unabashed. that he loved sausage and rice. he forgot.. it was the shadows cast on the wall by the lantern on the ground that awakened naturally these memories in a man with a vivid imagination and a head stuffed with ideas acquired from reading. That was the period when. as Hebdomeros understood it. by offering him cigarettes. Immersed in a comparative study of his improved wind disorder. he refused to see anyone. Hebdomeros invariably: Mr. Hebdomeros. real models of devotion. What name shall I give? answered of the cow and the peasant girl. some dates.-Oh. at first he had refused the duel: "Fight?" he exclaimed in a surprised tone.heese. both legs on the same side. lunatic way of life of this peculiar gourmet did not last much longer. he was interested only in questions of eating. X goes out on an errand he stays away Jor several days . life with j. of pleasures and of joys. However.0.Jor when Besides. after Loward the first glimmer of dawn an officer without a tunic.1. The season it was already the end of March.ving asked the ritual Giorgio de Chirico question: (33) around a child lying on her lap. after having left a tray with a roll. Marseilles. he rode a horse without a saddle. II not only closed his door to everyone but he also refused to go home mealtime.

they swim in it with the movements of divers turning about under I he water. mendous squalls of rain and wind overturn all in their paths. through the great windows open on the night the sky with multiplying to infinity is seen. "" rather that silhouette. dead drunk and lying jumbled one on ". and the air still. the guests. (35) Arc who hears the voices. while the sky is pure while treregions of equatorial uid into the sky. turned slightly. I he Again a movement. understood that the wind from the sea was coming at last and he rejoiced with all his heart. plunging the country into apocalyptic darkness. he also had a foreboding that he was to take part in some inexplicable found meditation. a violent light from the side lit the rafters and the floor boards. the approach of that season which a great poet termed violent.d more obsessing and began to dominate the landscape and to play " rOle in the life of this humble and peaceful corner. I heir months. solemn letters like those carved in stone. standing out against it spreading out with a slow and inexplicable regularity. persisted. white letters. wi III" a role that would never have been previously suspected. rose from the deep caves where monks and smugglers. that projected shadow of a cock." people whispered in cafes and in the a screen I cal squares. on the other. the strong smell of wine. some moments later the state of the atmosphere changed. evil beacons in the vast halls.(34) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico he had been forced to fight and . nevertheless. not a breath of wind. became more slowly. Now the feet of the cock touched the ground and his comb Ih clouds. a stage set is changed. solace. as all hours pass. by the new government. all at once. phenomena which would force him to long and prothe cool and gentle wind.levemess completely unknown before. I rick its Stimmung. that which had to happen happened clouds. happily these cataclysms. however. whirling stable doors and the wooden benches of parks as high as housetops. it wasn't one of those brusque changes such as occur in America and in certain Africa where. luxury and lewdness display their fireworks. but indeed the air was no longer still.. acting like a corrosive. it was an imporI urce. whose quadrupleplated safes are stuffed with bank notes. a curtain raised and here is the dance. oh. decorated with a lavishness and a . no. heralds the hot who detested the atmosphere of end of which relentlessly kind of out-of-date quadrille and finally decided to pair up at the wish of' a mysterious force and formed this strange inscription at some disrunce from the ground: scro DETARNAGOL BARA LETZTAFRA Suddenly the whole outdoors lost its atmosphere. it sliced top of another. The shadow on the sundial marked noon. the weather vane on the steeple. inevitably. that languorous which represented a stylized rooster. on ide it ate the steeple while. the wind of hope and Until then all had gone well. were far distant.. The sun was high in a sky without but which was veiled slightly by a fine haze that heralded hounded out summer. but suddenly the cock. snored. sketched in the air a «lvanced a little from all directions. black clouds charged with electricity invade the vault of heaven. Hebdomeros. the city and its all its constellations . the celebration in American megaron. raw and rotting. Now the hours had passed. at the same time it rose. give themselves up to a frantic orgy. spring. the change which had taken place in the atmosphere was so little perceptible that any man less observant and sensitive than Hebdomeros would never have noticed it. "It's a of the local photographer. now it ually descended. as deadly as unexpected. closeness drawn aside. hesitated.

elbow and Hebdomeros. comforting panorama of those palestrae mosaicked with white rectangles. Another peculiarity of the director was that he always kept a large life belt placed on the floor and leaning against the foot of the bed. "you'll see that this life belt is so like a funeral wreath that sooner or later it will finish by bringing you misfortune. abandoning his frail craft and gathering all his strength and skill as a former gymnast. . helping himself by the moldings. at last. and the she-wolf. perfect gentlemen all. then its rays pass through the clouds again as the wind blows them apart." best to be prepared. the director of an important shipping company. . . He went all around his room in a boat. and with what joy! From there he took in at a glance the whole vast. the torrents roared and foamed under the bridges. Then his heart beat with joy. porta collina profectus est. the silent phalanxes of gladiators march all around. own tail was portrayed . and now the scene changes again. continually forced into a corner by the undercurrent and. the springs creaked and. When in the afternoon after a frugal meal eaten in the company of champion jumpers and champion boxers. the immense iron gates of the garden were sent crashing as if at the passage and the barbarians appeared at the door of the salon. suffering the torture of the ravenous twins clinging to her long teats. he always found the same well-built men there. Hebdomeros just had time to jump into a dark corner from which he could watch all these strange scenes at his ease. too." he would reply to him about this strange habit." she said to her husband. "for you never His wife. who lived on the second floor of a comfortable house." But just try to persuade one so obstinate. . sweeping everything before them. of a hurricane. Hebdomeros was gazing at that woman and child when. sometimes the moon disappears for a while and all at once it seems that the whole earth has been muffled like a wooden bell.. and without being seen. geometric gardens which relieved the severe shape of the ramparts. squares and trapezoids where young athletes were throwing the discus with classical movements. or running races.-"It's p ople who questioned k now what might happen. turned toward the wall in his sleep. . who while they excused themselves for their lack of luxury and their simple fare insisted each time on paying for his meal. the voice that sang ceased . could never get used to seeing that life belt placed at the foot of the bed. like stags hunted down by hounds.(36) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (37) austere temples. swollen by the recent rains. a herald of misfortune. a vintage model of a locomotive encircled by a serpent swallowing his . and she also saw it as a bad omen. heads thrust into their shoulders and flung behind. hideously gilded. not without reason she thought of it as a morbid idea. "You will see. perfectly healthy long whips with leaded thongs crack horribly. A gallop of horses. by the terraces whose walls and arches were hugged by climbing plants." cried the voice of a monarch from somewhere down there. hurling their cry of war and making their standing in their stirrups. while still sleeping. he made his way to that city built like a fortress. Martiobarbulus. is seen. having interior courtyards and oblong. the heavy rhythmic footsteps of a cohort marching toward the northern gate. like the window of a prison. he hoisted himself up to the window which was placed very high. his awakening. . Hebdomeros had to flee. suddenly. "May the universe crumble. she found it rather funereal. the wind chases the clouds and then there is a desperate flight of the moon behind them. however. he grumbled something incomprehensible: who had for an hour been patiently awaiting but in the movement that he made he uncovered his left arm up to his saw that on his arm he had a most curious tattoo. all white on the sacred rocks.

sweltering factories. in many. which is to say that. among those with the anxious irritated expressions. . of creation. And often. on those days agents and traders like that. and then he solemnly stated so among his friends and acquaintances and tried among to dupe himself. were for Hebdomeros the living and walking symbol of human stupidity. as he called them. the complete untying of the knot lay according to him in the eternity outside birth and death. Monday and Friday were market days.ven among those who in the throng of their fellows enjoyed a reputation he saw the knot and the powerlessness to comprehend. from recounting something with wit. men with suepicious expressions. those who then placed the adored volume. by this very fact they were pyrophiles. The rooms which them were like those islands which are found outside the sometimes wait entire seamain sea routes and where the inhabitants twaddle. sometimes Hebdomeros let himself be too trusting. from comprehending. their and once they had passed through the upheaval 1'111 ' . only eternal noon. printed in a few numbered copies. who was inevitably and like them impotent. Constructions which took the form of mountains. he sensed that a knot prevented them from moving their arms and legs freely. And if and then in the evening to return to their peaceful homes and humbly share bread and meat with their wives and their children. but whom a benign and a combination of circumstances had brought into prominence. outside. bedrooms And thus strange scaffoldings loomed in the middle of and salons. and yet he knew that in reality it was not just exactly ina. that signified neither that he was an innocent nor a fanatic. Illd amusement for guests and children. joy and /lild true talent and haunted certain cafes where they arrived carrying lind r their arms. climbing. yet balanced forms bore witness to the burst of fire that had brought them into being.i v ing him the sweet illusion of fame. II bdomeros sensed a binding. The knot-people. from a word. those impotent and annoyed intellectuals who feared and hated irony . sleep was for him the double knot. and engaged in their favorite occupation: the making of trophies. in whom they recognized themselves perfectly. like these islands they were outside the human mainstream. Moreover. of those unending lines of honest workers crossing again and again the bridges slung from steel pylons. they were immortal for they knew neither dawn nor dusk. of which the middle of each II we of Japanese vellum was disfigured by two or three short lines of pH . he saw life as a huge knot which death untied. like salamanders. and yet he also regarded death as a knot retied which birth in turn undid. whose mouths had never laughed with candor. for like mountains they had been born of an inner fire. painting-in for intelligence. h cause of this the knot was for Hebdomeros a cipher infinitely more profound and disturbing than the ithyphallic sign or that of the anchor or the two-edged ax. swimming and diving.(38) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (39) in body and mind. sterile and constipated. jumpwriting. sheltered they lovedfire. he wanted to believe: he forced himself to believe that such and such a man was intelligent. the latest volume of their favorite poet. from running. in all those whom II ' recognized at once by certain exterior signs which never failed him. austere but at the same time droll. first in the morning in the half-light of dawn to get to their screeching. like a relic.udoesoteric foolishness and pretentious contorted. However. without at the same time being so remote as not to notice the passage and not to hear the echoes of those armies on the march. these obscure workings of fate did not prevent men from going about their business. sons until a tanker or a friendly sailing ship comes to throw them a few cases of spoiled preserves. ill all these manufacturers of superfluous art and literature.

and the sages in stone. Shepherds who at that hour were following this road to return to their hamlets toward the west received full in the eyes all this late wealth of light. the curtain rose. Hebdomeros visible to them alone. the crescent ih purifying breezes of the approaching last echoes of the labor of men were dying away. it was one of his principal weaknesses ulways to have a certain nostalgia for the past. even for a past that had been completely fulfilled. as if followed by phalanxes IIllIIOSt orizontally over the crimson dust of the road. The sun sank low on the horizon. their instruments and their rolls of paper. To his friends he said that it is simply a question of training. that was why he liked also to sleep in the iftemoon. but his friends were not always the intellectually elite he might have desired. he maintained that nothing evokes memories of the past so profoundly as the moments before or immediately following the afternoon nap. and the shadows h "f shepherds and crooks also lengthened. over this distressing gestures. they were vigorous young people. began running and barking right and left and being more nuisance than help. to give them appointments for the following week. Hebdomeros abandoned himself happily to this nostalgia. and the square became deserted as if troops had swept it with repeated salvos of rifle fire. in long black files the syphilitic and gonorrheal traders returned to the neighboring towns. and the night blew over the town where stopped in a valley which themselves . it prevented them from seeing their flocks and annoyed them intensely. far-off land of the Cimmerians. monstrously. the bald. resembled /\ t lay a short distance away from the highest mountain rising in the east. which. Many of them were people suffering from venereal diseases become chronic because of early neglect. spreading its rays along the main municipal road. unknown great men leaned over their books. the latter never failed.ar sky. they touched those lands whose iuhahitants are dressed all year round in thick furs and have a compli ated and obscene mythology. slowly. they took advantage of their brief stay in the city to consult specialists in the afternoon. so he sat down on a stone where he had first placed hi carefully folded coat and plunged into deep thought. panic-stricken by their masters' reproaches. and willing. The only trace of the departed crowd was rubbish of all kinds strewn on the paving scene bronze warriors maintained their bellicose of fanatical soldiers who were stones. they reached III . IIOW there where frozen winds keep the a long time on the mountains. they gathered in the market place. put their left hands to their foreheads like visors while with the right they brandished the long crooks they were the helmets of never without and which. seen in profile. they lengthened beyond meaIII' .(40) HEBDOMEROS W Giorgio de Chirico IlTlOrSpainted on Grecian vases. The sun's rays lengthened (41) now made their way to the town from all inhabited corners of this flat and monotonous region in long.·1. in order to see better. the shadows climbed into the sky and stretched out over the earth. the shepherds. sometimes sullied by city smoke. Toward the end of the day the square slowly emptied. countries and seas. with each memory from the past. the marble politicians. but what predominated was orange peel and crushed cigar stubs. still muttering oaths. but clumsy and . Having left the town. whatever their clients' trouble. silent files. in the nowof the moon shone hard and cold. that road which linked the city with its neighboring towns. And then the sun disappeared completely behind the line of low hill at the horizon. they crossed towns. They flew into a rage and swore at their dogs. any moment he was to begin a long nocturnal climb and needed to rather his strength. while up there on the left.

we spatter the walls around us. wh . Africa. which itself resembles "What is that murmur which risesfrom the dark streets?" asked l. ind never to be forgotten. and in meditation on theorems guarantees. I he round. than in time. sailors and some local fishermen. you have always had faith in the if one thinks of the ardor of creations capital. particularly this slowness. who had been joined listened rround marked this is why I say to you. we even lands which our milwith its seal and don't to the wanton child. by several to him in silence. take a three-quarter view and a foreshortened of its appearance like a horse. observe from which angle it looks or a plumed helmet.yphontius. look at it from the front and from the side. But for the moment these don't worry anybody.ircumstances discourse. when you have found a sign. I'V And you. the souls of born prevail over instinct. particularly time and switching seekers and get dirty as we work. discipline. takes in its place.(42) HEBDOMEROS the requirements of his exabout Giorgio de Chirico (43) it often very slow to grasp and understand ceptional beginning. against the mockery of skeptics.re the world will know its last great civilization lurover loorny predictions Illn cr been involved in the difficult game of reversing our angle of vision. turn it round and view. and from which like the molding on your ceiling. unheardwe rhythmical march which carries forward the great human races. on the advice but they pressed of an apostle: send them far away to those still little explored trademarks. crumpled a clown's arabesques naturally gradually papers and grimy rags bestrew the floor. we sun. a certain slow deliberation in batches. without meaning to we paint ourself with face. in which a huge heart: the moored by the shore and. Then knowledge and skill we can be pile we begin to have the air of topflight surgeons. green. lifting his head toward the window of the room where he was working at a table covered with books and papers." nature and the subtleties said Hebdomeros I"'ilrt of the earth. but behind of reserves. behind the hills overlooking first paleness of the dawn was creeping chastely the town to the east. a vast. we stain the objects we touch. him and he was obliged finally to do as Christ did in the same waste your strength. According 0(' II of his outstanding mind. who at heart believe become at once subtle and forceful. the philosopher. "At the to the predictions before growing cold as you all have you. position it resembles . we do. which makes people laugh and turn around as we pass by. heated heart. standing on the prow. when it suggests the aspect of a ladder. remove it and note what form the memory see . my friends: be methodical. more and more closely he climbed onto a boat his inspired throughout civilization the wide world creations has as yet but faintly from our stock. we get our things into a mess." Thus spoke Hebdomeros. in series. we go out into the street not knowing that we have drawn on our back and our nose painted with age and experience. Iw u too fast and needs to adjust itself. I dare even say overheated. seen in everything youth. they form an impressive we build supports grant unlimited credit to those furnishing closed against the ardor learned by heart of a solidity to withstand the requisite all tests. a march which nothing can resist.n less in space of your elect souls. circulate lenary po ts. it is the continent and sharing the fate of the moon. continued Far off. you have always lived in the comforting halfIi ht given to your cool rooms by the shutters of the noonday tutor up one on top of the other. into the sky. like the evening prayer taught by the bigoted and his disciples. this may be said without flattering hnv 101 always pitted your obstinacy nobility as metaphysical rant and generous . "we flounder great poet who died about twenty years ago. for you and the in his discourses.

pistol. the words revolver. it was as attentive and steady as IlIc~gaze of sailors or mountain -listances and distinguishing dwellers. . they were all there. On the crest of the highest of these hills was a huge structure which was said to be a monastery. In the middle of the vast 11111\. WilD opened the doors.(44) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (45) He lived in a modest apartment above the porticos which framed the main square of the town. Not only had they no weapons in their homes but they avoided pronouncing the name of a weapon. fountains ornamented with fine statues. The only weapon whose name might be because people are not in the habit of and stuffed animals whose was the cannon. They left nothing in the abandoned villas but a few pieces of old furniture. "II . 1IIId ven pools where fish swam and where swans of immaculate whiteIII'»!:! glided with their breasts to the wind. ignorant of these customs. of thos H and tired stomachs.d. linen and clothes. C'I' r-lv "il II fatigued by the continual turmoil of business and the go during the torrid summers to nurse their swollen and that W. or even a large barracks or a vast powder magazine.The others. they abhorred weapons and moreover knew nothing of how to handle them. it was surrounded by a crenelated wall pierced by loopholes.-uriously hlue like the eyes of Nordic children. the gaze in general of those accustomed IIWUy. presence in the middle of the empty rooms frightened the first pirates men.ll'ry succeeding. but which looked more like a fort. their books. sirens and tritons. extremely comfortable. and the eminence of his work had moved his fellow citizens to erect this monument in his honor in the middle of the largest and most beautiful square in town. he threw a chill upon the company and created an uneasiness difficult to dispel. to scanning great keeping cannon in their houses. Hebdomeros could not share the opinion of skeptics who considered that all this was make-believe "c·lIl. their eyes were gentle and sky if some stranger. so that the hills dotted with villas and fine terraced gardens could easily be seen. His father also had been a philosopher.·llUmois. their they took with them their most precious objects. there were veterans among them. r than the others.aurs had never existed. Plen- t d'lIl provisions were stacked in the vaults. furthermore. animals and objects from very far were landing one another hearty. If the children happened to be present. or hunters of eagles and . The houses which surrounded this square were fairly low. they were all at the door. taboo words by these hysterical puritans. those centaurs with their mottled rumps. particularly in front of their children. All this enabled the refugees I" forget their unhappy situation as the besieged and to imagine thems in one of those spas. if to prove the contrary. IIH tools. When the black sails of pirate ships appeared far off on the sea. From his window he could see the back of the statue of his father which stood on a low pedestal in the middle of the square. drunk with massacre and looting. no weapons. the inhabitants of the villas would run to take refuge in this structure. sunny corners where till i I trees grew.r courtyards were artistically laid out gardens. and dagger were considered although thinner. they looked desiccated and if under the weight of years their bones had broadened and lengthwith their dark complexions. flowery arbors. pawing the ground /llid chasing with great swishes of their tails the flies which clung "h~linately to their twitching flanks. in the shadow of the thick white eyebrows which contrasted . any more than fauns. their glance was full of an infinite «lness (the sadness of demigods). The refugees III III huge building were. true earthly paradises of our planet where dwellers. the atmosphere became pronounced intolerable. began to talk about weapons. old centaurs 111'1:. more youthful. rifle.

when it was utterly useless to let oneself be leep next to the effigy of a divinity would bring the answer to the Oh 'ilil IllIti up in deserted temples at nightfall by distracted guardians. kneeling on the bank. one all around. Those were the . to that of the 1f1l('SLion marks and open the doors onto the unknown.110 Giorgio de Chirico (47) the valley. and lit fires in the windows of the low houses. a moment or two before sunset. was always but this time he it was reminis- cupricious as they were surprising. the centaur crossing the river among the eddies. cences of a mythological nature which troubled them. The procession was climbing up from the low point of that road that dips at one point . such that to the people watching from the village it fireworks was deafening. panting with exertion as he shoots his poisoned darts. and which clings like a second skin to the centaur's pi I.es.. an indiscretion. they added after a pause during which they seemed to pursue a memory that it was like the time of the procession. But the older 'washerwomen reassured them. departure point of a whole long series of inspirations II the scene. leaned over 111(' low balconies and stared unabashed "'ITtl (.ds for the day with inscrutable faces and dignified clothes sat at cafe . the mantle whose color deepens dregs of wine.Ii iurbing cipher. '. their already saw like always verging on the dramatic. ful dolphins toward the sanctuary which normally even the initiate only with trembling. "We dined early that day. I anners to the wind. uuheard-of. The column advanced enthusiastically." the confusion of the holiday crowds rushed to put their tables out at the strait-laced passers-by. lreet they took a sharp turn to the left with the classic movement . The Hebyounger ones became nervous at the approach of the man-horse. 1'''' . who had more than once witnessed intrigued by the anxiety of the young washerwomen.- -- -- '" --- --- - (46) open-handed HEBDOMEROS slaps and amused themselves by lashing out with their Occasionally an . here at the crossroads. and then followed up his thought:-haunted feminine imagination. the setting sun still illuminated the countryside mantle.rs lid now. Sweating innkeepers the pavement. stained with so that when the younger girls cleared away the food left on the table after the meal and shook out in the yard the tablecloths gravy and redwine. all wearing some sort of mask. he told himself. and hoisted aloft like the aerials of ships on "I'"'IIIY seas strange flags on which were painted and engraved many a and which were sure guarantees . hoping themselves being carried off. People.'nL as if the spirit had emigrated far from the earth."ke I like a dusty pier extending into a vast sea. or else would Id'i Ihe curtains veiling the mystery of the long-closed chambers. and then the blood-soaked torso. by these memories. dragging with him the woman.. when the voices of the oracles had fallen d. saying there was nothing to fear. ruins! Temples of Neptune flooded by the sea! Waves buffeting the carrying his muddy sandals in his hand. "" ih tranquil period later. the noise of the bells IIIId adult centaur detached himself from the group and trotted off along the paths going down to the river. my young friends. I. hooves against the fences of the vegetable gardens. screaming and disheveled a drunken bacchante.III 8. there he stopped to chat with the washerwomen who were beating their linen. a total abandon truly and without warning locomotives pulling whole 1111 the lamps lit. straining at the bow. Hercules on the bank.II lu-carne alarming. suddenly II' iins entered the streets where the crowds were milling about. thought he had discovered the reason for it:-surely \ III. at least for the moment.'"uldn't tell where they might have gone but on reaching the end of III(. everywhere ground-floor rooms with all the windows open and a cynicism. domeros.(.

(49) of goldfish in bowls and. makes food indigestible. big and black. are lined up on the beaches in the south. Might we go back now? The five horses drawing the carriage would set off at trot.ates with his red hand the whole sweep of the valley and the river Ililining through it. And in the cafes turned into the crazy effort to smile at stupid jokes. lying in line! Yuu call that the slaughter of the innocents? But at this point Hebpaying no attention to the passengers who made I"llnof him as they crossed the gangway. . like the sea. which he d . gruesome spectacle. their open coffins. the maid from the house opposite. all day in the sun and then all night on the great mountain as black as a stranded whale that huge man. Where are you. with a cavalry detachment close behind. beware then of then you will shouting coarse jokes. cribed as immoral and lewd. Corpses in tuxedos. I il then necessary to renounce one's place. on the end of your Florentine rlomeros protested. joyous hats passed Ilidi . no matter enemy send his crack regiments right up to the face? Heart of steel with windows opening onto villages clinging to the gaLes of the city. on this train that stinks of cattle soaked by an August Where are you going. a consoling lake. despite the dogs barked in the distance. and when one has paid But it's a lake as vast as the sea and fits of temper. disappeared the shadows of the countryside. nudging their wives and roaring with laughter. now opaque. unmentionably and here are oranges with their obscene flowWhere are you bound for. butcher who had died the previous day." "you feel protected though the ruthless in praise of cafes with red plush in the style of the eighteen-eighties. where the aVarICIOUSinnkeeper like the life of man. and the silly puns that bounced from one And that customer who declared that all were chipping in to buy a wreath for the lor a first-class ticket to insist on traveling second-class IIlild protests of the conductor? whi h. the bells are ringing in the parish church towers and spring smiles on the vegetable Funeral procession. now crystal-clear. you of the symbolic. gardens. ers. setting off on the right path. like whirlwinds. coat with the astrakhan collar? You who are the prototype of the eternal traveler.. a peaceful unruffled lake. then the big fish bite by the dozen and you haul them ill Lwo at a time. lind he concluded with a declamation divans and ceiling decorations "There. he maintained that behind the idea of d epicting Christ as a lamb lurked a sensual urge of a particular kind. has dangerous habitue to another: Que fera le villageois? Que fera le vil? (question) Ah! joie! (exclamation) . or comets with deleterious tails appear on the horizon. he confessed his dislike of Biblical scenes.. always ready to protect the sick child from the grasping hands of bandits downpour. which. that hero lying down on the mountaintop would keep watch and contemplate the stars. and that charming city 1!lIilLlike an amphitheater around the lake? Oh. but a different lake this time. like garlic and onions. from the dangers of the outside world. unconscionably groups of young people wearing beribboned three-cornered cubes of smoke the continual tension. spring! he has put on his new suit. reflect the lights from the shopwind(lwS so well you'd think you were in Venice. Spring. helmeted warrior with the sinister he would say. children? Hebdomeros is in love with Louise. washed by the shower. the calves in the district druwning. and if the motorboats rush to your rescue.(48) HEBDOMEROS into Giorgio de Chirico iuuuntaj naides like vultures' nests. storm begins. And when the weather is sultry. and the first heavy drops of rain fall on the water as lit . in a voice strained a little by emotion. the air is filled with the obsessive smell of lemon. k !lUW what it means to be reborn on this summer afternoon when the id walks.

but despite the reassuring appearances of the vultures and animal bones which lay . toward groups of huntsmen with their hounds were crossing the volcanic region in fierce pursuit of the few survivors of High in the sky the vultures III(' east. they also see that the weapons are carefully cleaned and that shoes and clothes are mended. II'. and when night fell he slept with one eye open. I ""ping his leaded cane and automatic pistol within reach. \ ill' . Already the air grew warmer and the plants turned green plain. one hand on the huge IIlil' Lones that bore the sculptured likeness of two-headed Janus sur- 1IIII1InLedy a male sex organ. sat by the wayside. and then the turrets. Iii 1'1' 111"'111'1' ready if necessary any unpleasant surprise. in this Nordic country it arrived suddenly. tumbled down the mountainsides.Iii I IIOL even take off his shoes and slept half-clothed. hundreds of tiny waterfalls. daisies and cornflowers make a timid appearance. fed by the angels with enormous 1111'11 ing snows. like those of eagles but interwoven with feathers as white and "I'I as goose feathers. once you are in that cafe it's all the same to you. But winter passed without any unusual nces. but they never lost sight 1)1' the huntsmen. the angels were watching with a melb nncholy air the couples who moved off arm in arm beneath the almond II'I'(. he remembered how many times so he re- III "lIrly childhood he had been deceived by appearances. you are safe and if you stand on tiptoe and look through the skylight you can see the enemy ships dropping anchor off the deserted shore and launches crammed with warriors being rowed swiftly toward the bank. with the striking . wh 11 of crows have made their nests. and the ostrich fleeing desperately thousands from the Arab horseman. and coffee which is always drunk very hot and spiced. Once there. 1II!linedon his guard. mountainous wI! IIIIILalmost extinct race of mammoths.(50) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (51) or couples of lions spitting flames walk through the middle of the town. puddles are forming in the rather tall grass. the rainy season has already begun. Everywhere signposts with oversized lettering. zealous students who work with joy and perseverance just enough to brighten this bit of path and throw a poetic note in the way of the in austere classrooms where everything is only promise. Iw'n killed and cut up and then to gorge themselves the last huntsman and hound had disappeared III pite of the presence he was safe in this cabin.ll lit IlIillH ill I" ' air. an air of I.S in blossom. biscuits. or iron-beaked birds infest the trees in the city squares or buzzing insects swarm down on the steaming feces of cholera victims. the goatherds had come down from the surrounding mounand played cheerful tunes on their long copper flutes. as he had noticed no trace of human life in the vicinity. Their aim was clear: to wait until a mammoth had on the remains behind the rocks. and the ruins where bridges and castles with their numberless lif Wllfl not a man to trust appearances. led round. in places. as provisions have to be laid in for the winter." Hebdomeros thought that he was still wary. It is there that all those unfitted for dangerous kid's meat. And then a kind of solidarity springs up among these refugees. where. the youngest go off in search of game. the women and children are placed in and safety in the back of the shop behind the large boxes and the crates of canned food. which consists of preserved honey. spring was behind a rising curtain. the polar bear splashing about among the ice blocks or fighting with a walrus for a mangled fish. often he . the continual rains have soaked the ground and the paths are slippery. each has his own task and his appointed place. and now and again they would drop or rise in the air.'(:Lof a stage decor appearing II mbolisrn floated over nature. tiring work spend their time preparing food. 1"lIring some ill-fated missile from the earth.

made their whips whistle off at full tilt. took advantage the puppet smoked and wagons ran along tiny rails.. Infinite nos- you had anything a whole promising traffic of the great city came to a halt.(52) whitening HEBDOMEROS here and there in the grayness wild or desolate.h diminished. the refuge of those whom and kindness of men does not their solemn arches were silent 111111111' neglects but whom the gratitude 1<l'j'l. jumped the half- lImned calmed let out such howls that the foremen. a world apart. The drivers. which he did. at the very heart it had its boundaries have been district the 111. with phos- of kings advance strous station of this metropolis where close to eight million men bustled about from morning to night without rhyme or reason. into the long trumpets of which rose beside it. the world slept buried in an immense tranquillity. the hour was well advanced so the storm which agitated the troubled heart of Hebdomeros at last. seen from afar their solemn aspect seems alas! Were it not for the glint of the weapons bransun and the di hcd by the cavalry escort. .1 where thousands n 1. were blowing. unearthed jumped rushing cadavers 11I11'oil:)m. of the fiancee or of the who dozed on their wagons and only half-opened and set their beasts an eye at each bump. seized by a wild panic. The glory of the past. then there's whi . \ & who awaited them down there. 1111111'. kept vigil alone in the darkness. and it would hardly officers waited up at its gates to ask if At the edge of this ineffable If one believes that pity can give birth to array of inexpressible life.111111<:. " III show. an hysterical man subject to epileptic as he manipulated his little cardboard fits. chimneys engineers.itOI'. even out Ihr. fortresses The of their rare moments of leisure to go fishing or practice shooting at empty bottles. to waking with a start. These puppet shows were not as quiet and naive as might be thought.1< t riun large mining plants were dotted here and there and was an evening at with a head like Giorgio de Chirico (53) and the coming and going of the busy pe- was not particularly all over it. seen thus at night these wagons Leaving the monset off at top speed looked almost apocalyptic. far from the noise and the smoke. the landscape 11111 nt of the vehicles <'111 . and those pyramids IIVI'II The hyenas then abandoned . puppet master.h appears of watchdogs with mud-spattered I'l\lIHunts set at their heels.I11'1'<:tOI'S public affairs to have built by indifferent of while constructing ir peaceful and fled toward the nearby mountains. profound peace which sleep demands.111'.'. began. hair that the cruel feelings its laws and statutes to declare. the vanity of human the who employees that the fear of oblivion compelled 11110he dark night. hi lit· to their feet. it was here that the convulsive on the vast horizon of Hebdomeros' . cent streaks. Hebdomeros off toward that region of nocturnal of the city. This idea had come to a sculptor an Assyrian king who boasted of having been the pupil of a fashionable master and who enjoyed quite a reputation in his own social circle for at times the playing the flute. as a wave dies on the beach. them thought of other things. bearded "II~ Its Rights: came at last to die. of the rocks. of bed and ran for the sirens. hurried Their only entertainment Ilidl formed the central part of a gigantic triumphal arch upon which lit" Ii rures of women. rather badly. customs which." ' the main country roads. like obstinate tritons. 1111I<. surprising if zealous celebrations Indeed. by the way. Happiness these words could be seen in lights on the main gateway carved in wood and painted in bright pastel their faces red from the heat. homes near a window open on the coolness of fireflies striped the darkness Thus it is in vain that processions 1'. t Ii 11< I even men with their Cretan eyes. one would have thought them a troop of IIIII\T·d gypsies going to beg bread under the implacable <'<IIlHLant menace luvc. constituted and frontiers.

the country.rtiary epoch.(54) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico I'I. I that they oozed from the cracks in the rocks. tablecloths. have seen vengeance grinning in the shadows. bounding in a rigid leap across the world. Myrmidons! Myrmidons! . hydropical after having hung philosophers. I' in III'I'P ndicular sheaves. why all the personnel of the with the furniture. the busy serv- . which the simple fisherman II I.II() 10 echo. that fantastic slap in the face at poverty and abstemiousness. of well-being. especially cruel and can defile dl"I'C where those sinister lakes. in his imagination heightened by the sleel. "Eloquence and the smallest objects. disrespectful. the tender chastity. do not dissolve in an endless flood of tears. this cry reverberated along the deserted beaches.lless nights in the trains of the state railways. thus causing real disasters. passing dll' 'I' .. the infinite the ineffable melancholy of this moment they are living. and sometimes they waited whole days was revolted. Will into water. lire wishing to appear simple and unaffected. their with their brazen look the virginal purity. arometers in offices were fair and steady. Above the peristyle the sky was clear and of a deep 1111('. they went into the water so wouldn't get wet. tenderness. over the tamed forests where each tree has its name and its history. clouds heavy as rocks and 1IIIck as night were torn apart by the sporadic flight of jagged lightning. "before these indiscreet displays. and Hebdomeros' compassion turned toward all humanity. Hebdomeros w IS thinking ruldressing 10 the wine jugs and all the dishes down to the saltcellars these telluric upheavat which Hebdomeros one might have said of something else. they said. through those mountains modeled in relief. toward the loquacious man and the taciturn. passing through spectacles. took on the hieroglyphic admissible form of a giant greyhound with a body of an inlength. before these deer and polychrome pheasants. 'harming fashion calls the parson-fish. covering them with a shame so gentle and so poignant that one doesn't understand premises. but the deepest compassion he felt for those men who eat alone in restaurants. riddled repeated from with caves and which the even light coming from the ceiling made appear still more unreal. clothes demigods become poseurs tried to be clever on the quicklime-spattered tlrrough uul . before umptuous stilllifes where bananas and pineapples fall in an avalanche the flanks of disemboweled that provocative presumptuousness before that gigantic Millions and millions of warriors invaded the vineyards. the a moment above all solitary.. when they are seated near a window so that the passers-by. in long packed strands. The great hypostases which accompanied als were followed by unforgettable never failed to be present. for at the same time he of the past. toward the rich who suffer and toward the poor. despair to the navigator b 1111 III motionless caravel in midocean. insult. with the manager and the cashier. hi' Inches of a barren fig tree on the bank. eye turned toward like a missile over the motley pattern of towns. over the fields whose vast hollow is made fertile by more than one seed which the provident farmer sows at the opportune moment. I~II' hese strange storms to break in order to have the chance to make t Ihis subtle joke. with water still and black whose depths II It! never been sounded. true phantoms living in another atmosphere. Then among the overIIIrned stools and the fragments of bottles the tablecloths strewing the tloor wrap themselves like elephant traps around the feet of the hurrying waiters loaded with dishes. [lu-n the rain fell and fell without end. 111(\ opened their disquieting iky like the eye of the Uranoscopus. (55) as in talgias and sudden bursts of emotion which. his friends. on the surface of the lake which began to seethe. At other points of the globe. a hypothetical ordnance survey map." he said.

1. but even so he has style and a certain elegance. as if he did not see the two thousand six hundred and seventy-five faces of those men who came there to hear him and who kept their eyes fixed on him.ed to form a kind of grotto were less disturbed by the play of the . sheer cliffs at the foot of whi h long waves died away silently. and who was the affectionate friend of sculptors. his legs. lloor and shining like beacons on the high. The windows were open.01k' . firmly planted on their armor. the old picadors whom age has sent from the arena but for which they retain a nostalgia. their milieu. whose only resource was to lean their aching I. he who was felled by the implacable plague at architects and poets.•. and to hide that infirmity he wears his helmet pulled down on his head as far as the middle of his nose. leading to terrible wreckage accompanied and shriveled bodies of chickens. which the searchlights installed by the rebels on the surround"I heights beamed in all directions. in silence. his head tilted slightly backeye (in this case it can be said since he the profile of a woman engraved on one side of it. he rose and spoke in a voice grave but strange. the faithful.etic warriors and disabused I" find themselves in proximity to a pile of ruins which in falling had . "there is no question." he replied with a sly smile. he rose like those shadows which rise on the damp walls of cells when a lantern is placed on the ground.f oar and to look death in the face. But at length he returned to reality and talked of September mornings on the sacred hill which overlooked the city. but the others. on the .y intrigued by the presence Among the drumlike shapes of the fallen columns where.pirates listening to their chief recounting the appalling stories of I". with a compassionate world. far from making him ridiculous. is one-eyed..I kneed. Ird ings and combats at night. long and knockrecall. those who had the luck "I 11K . the roasted could go no farther.against the hard and cold drum of a column." huge dysenteric mares come to graze ward. of a crow or of Paulus. it is not the one of whom you instinctively painters. were all in their I'I'I'-':H11. rather than submit to the shame of disguising themselves as W"II"'". at once voices arose:The acropolis.1 li~ht. It sometimes happened that certain them at all.. and these fishermen accustomed to the nautical mythology were at all impressed III1. those whom fright. their by what was going on around them. for the sight of the shore did not interest III ." Hebdomeros on the tender camomile blossoms which flower in the shadow those who have preferred to of sauces of all colors on which float.lorious ruins. IIf "rI Giorgio de Chirico (57) ants topple over.tI 111" f. think. the Pericles I present to you the end of a hot summer day.. ronism.lhdomeros in idle.11' tors. Ilk. II'" . When evening came the long shafts 1. threaten to sink with each stroke of the oar. especially when he throws his chlamys over gesture. H:k . he holds a coin in his left hand and contemplates was one-eyed) for a long time.111111 . This was.(56) HEBDOMEROS by a flood .-1. apart from the anachhis left shoulder with a careless . as pregnant peasants and as wet nurses and mingling with that I "Iwd of two-legged ewes to escape in crammed and overladen boats At the moment they remained lying on the ground around \ liI. greatly disturbed this noble society gentlemen. were more than likuly to spend a sleepless night. though there is indeed a Pericles. rather were of the luxury hotels lighted on every "lIIong them turned their backs to the sea. magnificent attitudes and listened to him speak. the acropolis!"No. like abandoned ships. selfishness and 1IIIIIwfui cowardice have not conquered. after all. this time. at evening when the square is deserted..

ires of their gastrointestinal . seating himself at the table to 11111 "III 11111 I I111 11"11 a modest meal which he prepared himself.(58) HEBDOMEROS Ii Giorgio de Chirico (59) balconies. while it cooked he turned it uround. sticking it with a fork and always repeating out loud the lillie entence: "It must feel the heat. ten years before. So he placed the . sustained furnished. of the city. He was utterly disgusted by apparatus. are always somehow dirty and shameful.·1. he had rented a small Later. whose activity so strongly attracted the attention of every- III I act "Justice above all. sometimes he also placed cotton 111111 iii ing around it. room shabbily sides." he said.In:. This old man had a worship for hunting \ Ili. He had a moral theory about different dishes. and his soul was filled with II. he would I i II room. with it he drank fresh beer yeast dissolved in filtered Will . in order to play this role on the dusty boards.I. he considered this ililo Lwocategories: moral and immoral. the rich guests in evening clothes had come out.lislocare his bones. Now it sometimes happened pipe '.. 1(1bird on a table with a napkin. > ight of certain restaurants where gourmets go to satisfy the obscene . yawning. for he liked. drinking cheerfully and smoking long winter and the happy meetings of hunters in inns. saving on all by that will which. on those boards which. consisted of an end of rye bread and a spoonful there in that house where. to paint stilllifes of game. which made him think of hunting where logs blazed. Up at dawn. who followed him. It must feel the heat. plunged in his meditations. which earned him the antipathy and " 1I weakness. but to punish them for their meanness. this meal consisted. singing. it was there that each of these to prepare himself. apart II"lin the tiny roast bird.came close to mysticism and obsession. seated near the ""'places pOI himself this question: Why is there always something shameful about the theater?-He answer. to rehearse his role. More than once Hebdomeros. as if it were snow. leaving this place where there was nothing more for them to do. like actors who await the cue to go on stage and there to recite with all the skill their masters have taught them that which they know by heart or almost. perated sarcasm of many of his contemporaries. when he meditated on so many unsolved enigmas. by dint of economy. went to apply make-up. which. lark) which oft n. drawn by the whispering of all those sea-gods stranded below on the dark beach. in spite of new ideas and the evolution of tastes and customs.moments of leisure.r with a little sugar. asked never succeeded in giving himself a satisfactory that finding himself alone in his Ili:-. of a scrawny bird (a kind of undernourished i' l!\'Io"enarian hunter who was at the same time his neighbor in the brought to him each day. Hebdomeros and his companions. he had succeeded in renting the whole house and in dispossessing the original tenants.. In fact.old dog. under an aspect of weariness and "I' blueberry jam. on the terraces. entered the suburbs that were like the backstage personages. his three friends always left him toward six in the evening. He divided dishes ill fact about food in general. had always dominated his life. they went off cheerfully. he whistled 1111 Ilii." If someone kilo ked at the door just as he was about to sit down to eat. Thus every evening Hebdomeros bought a bird Ilillli him which he did not eat until the following evening. II one. the twilight descended gently. Hebdomeros have enough courage to invite them to share his meal. after stretching hard enough I" . not to avenge himself for the bad treatment to which they had subjected him on many occasions. At the dinner hour he plucked the bird and put it in a small with some goat's butter and a little salt. their gait accelerated by the steep slope which remained alone up went down toward the marketplace.

have for ought to be stamped out vigorously was the exaggerated and instinctive raw vegetables: artichokes preserved in vinegar. and the whole ritual seasoned Ii peptic and in love.(60) HEBDOMEROS Like Orestes pursued by the Furies to break and then armored monsters. while on . white l'l'gions among the polar bears. which makes you think of the sea and waves dashing against the cliffs and similar nonsense that only someone totally devoid of all sense of decency and self-control would find amusing. especially. An aged.S thin slivers of lemon.. at the beginning buttered I'H'kill the doors as if about to commit rape or incest. harmful. swollen every day II fresh examples. etc . this faith. and with 111I'1nied away the thousand voices of the mysterious forest and its d diHturbing odor. a sentence varying from ten to fifteen years of also. fat weasel-faced old men nodding their heads in front of the notched. an offense so serious as to deserve but a Colossus of Rhodes infinitely enlarged in a II r 'am. actions in the depths of the darkest rooms and double- he fled from those who ate lobsters. But what upset him most was to of a meal. contracts. 1"~lween his left toes Mexican bandits were pursuing each other like hnlf-starved wild animals round overheated rocks during the dog days. according to his code. instead of hiding the shame of . tiln universe and in which he had unshakeable faith. his feet at the end of his outspread legs touched different lands. and before this new life. the oyster addicts swallowing this of carefully with small glasses of special white wine. cucumbers. disgusting mollusk with all the accompanying paraphernalia slices of black bread.IITidorsof his house moved off slowly toward the south. in families and tribes. he could not understand could commit such obscene acts and how they had the courage to do in front of other people. in his eyes. which. when it is still alive. strawberries so in public. he hated these social circles that were as indiscreet as till' I III were obtuse. see. Beaten white of egg and whipped cream were also. ridiculous harangues about the aroma of oysters. jagged crenelations of the glaciers that rose up like the ruins of famous cathedrals destroyed in war. and the whole idea of putting cubes of ice in drinks. . which he considered as immense and eternal II sucking at them with bestial delight. he should have liked to nurse it as a hepatic patient his liver at the hot cholagogic springs. Unshakeable lilllll! He should have liked to nurse it. surrounded Illq I revolting theories and obscene explanations of the effect lemon has on the mollusk. . that women. . No one read the hymn he composed that evening. he suddenly saw the Oceans.. impure substances. II" lrunspeakahle f Giorgio de Chirico (61) a righteous and holy indignation. IIllny. partiality. Like the I'olossus of Rhodes. he feared the whatIII/'l-people-say. before the magnificent panorama spread '1111 like a map of the world. . they were already far off. first taking a nutcracker the paws and pincers of these hideous. neither his faithful friends nor even that virgin with the ardent glance and II" royal walk to whom the hymn was dedicated. taciturn servant whom Hebdomeros called 1':11 menides was sweeping out the ruins that were still strewn about the 1I00r. they emigrated 'roups. He considered strawberries and figs the most immoral of fruits.III"'. for Hebdomeros. etc. Now the trees which had invaded the rooms and . . detention. Another thing that he thought was extremely immoral and often verging on voracity. pickles. acquae calidae. by his legions in the conquered I. was the act of eating how sensible people and cream. He put it all oI"WIl 10 human stupidity. or long. while the right foot up there was pressing down upon the pure. Caesar. in his view. Most punishable. He also found very immoral the habit of eating ice cream in cafes. Being served in the morning for breakfast with fresh figs covered with crushed ice was.

is growing louder. and then heavy. and herald the storm approaching in the distance. luminous and warriors. climb stealthily up canes. rather. funereal violinists hurriedly in cases that look like babies' tlli' unfortunate III(' concrete pluce to make observations I"lil heard. to whom he replied: "All right. inspiration then you'll no longer have like the one I have speeches referring to microbes and surgical instruments and turns pale with fright when tactless people use expressions like breast-feeding. wearing golden helmets and silver breastplates. "I don't like the look of those faces. 'Shut the windows! Shut the windows!' cries the lady of the house. what you are thinking. you would have preferred III(' proverb says. This forbidding whose solemn door was closed at the moment ought to have of what he had seen there during nddened him. but. silent lightning streaks flash. that avoids or you would have preferred t"" iningful of the fine clear days by the set off in ships ""lihore. IV I 1111. I" Ihe IlIlIk illg and bald old men who. so that their nephews will not have to blush referring to them. muffled at first and barely perceptible. phantoms of a puritanical society restricted or at least I can guess the well-behaved by its laws. then. held mysterious secret meetings in 1111' rround. Giorgio de Chirico (63) the threshold of their stinking huts lined with sealskins. portraits move in their frames and pictures on the wall drop to ghostly cooks. I understand. think of the Immortals II) blessing those who love them and wllo. think IIV( the company of these phantoms on an enclosed veranda when the long. taut material. quick and regular like the movement of eyelids. still addressing smile." Hebdomeros banks. rash young his young disciple with a corners of the low-ceilinged rooms.. moving up slowly out of the r-hiaroscuro of his memory and little by little defining themselves in his mind. where are the bedrooms of those distinguished- wrapped up in furs politely offered their wives to excited explorers. as r all that and don't trust appearances. rushing madly through the rooms like Niobe obsessed by the sight of her children bristling with darts. better to return as a ghost than never at all. one sees this inexplicable hens. compact groups of philosophers blocks in soft." burst out one of Hebdomeros' youngest disciples. like polycephalic colors. panic-stricken. young man. econd floor. put away their instruments sight: strange bare. that. the shapes of those temples and sanctuaries run narrow passes built in plaster rhut stand at the foot of sheltering mountains and rocks through which that made one strangely aware not only of the unknown worlds nearby but also of those distant horizons heavy with . completely plucked long legs. just where the ornamental moldings joining the walls to the ceiling formed a right angle. dark night. He saw. prototypes of assassins. discuss midwives and methods of childbirth. run round the dining table on their like miniature ostriches. "But think. armed with their ivory-headed WIt"11 1111111. whirling up the dead leaves and the magazines left on the cane chairs. turned his steps again toward the rivers with toward the decaying palaces whose domes and weather vanes rose up under the ever-fleeing clouds. but the recollection moments spent in the midst of a scattered and indifferent public was quite enough to console him.(62) HEBDOMEROS Eskimos all 111111111-.1 di over there on the other bank. Once again the flares rose silently in the distance into the great. it is true that they return only as ghosts. for they know that this is the best to return later to their loved ones and live there without malice without remorse. warm drops of rain begin to fall on the dusty paths with the noise of a finger flicking at thick. You would have preferred added Hebdomeros." pl"pure to die with dignity. Indeed soon the rumbling of thunder. gusts of wind sweep through the garden.

visible. appeared. that is that the unhappy. those who remain waVe their handkerchiefs the polychrome and raise their hands in salute: Be happy! Lebe toohll May fortune smile on you! Good luck! But behind waves of this sea decked out with red poppies and Wilh his arms crossed like a stern tribune watching an orgy. waving their terrified trunks in the face of the tempest. IIIIIIOUS III II. but happy or one thing is certain. over there at the end of this part of the town that juts out like a promontory into the sea of fields." And so Hebdomeros saw Christ insulted dead. the very sad paintings of epochs long the guide was saying. you could go on board.llect. or at least they seem to be.nt. II. Now the thousand noises of the countryside spring up again like i It. in regular couples regain the neighboring mounturns «roak that I have always liked. "It's to maintain the balance. he has hing the flight of the lark that rises in the sky like the white pingin the evening when they return tired to their cottages. the sails. or simply undisturbed. burst out again into joyful war- Delphoil Delphoi! A soft sighing noise like laurel over the countryside bushes bent over by the autumn winds passed through the warm air and.. you think . and he saw the Flood: masses of water swirling over the plains.·d up in a very calm sea. before this unexpected 1. the night gods Were whispering at the frontiers of the town. has never come to sit at their table or their bedside. \ nhout embarrassment 111" wreathed with flowers the peasants and peasant women. dance in a circle round slippery 1'.onsumption of fermented drinks. then they too disappear and then peace descends once and birds that had stopped singing for a sight. Hebdomtared thoughtfully at these noisy manifestations of innocent joy. A magic word shone in the air like the cross of Constantine and multiplied itself in space to the edge of the horizon like the ads for a toothpaste: I"w. tempting demon who haunts us others.1. "I' dried-up riverbeds. The moonlight was so soft that the mountains seemed very near. you are far from town. Will I'ling ball on a jet of water in a shooting booth. clinging to the last remaining rocks while elephants stood out. hustle of street life momentarily halted by a passing funeral procesthe country is again full of life and gaiety and shows all this off or remorse.' . bellying out in the spring wind. "for too is harmful. sickle on shoulder. hanging on the wall.lilll-\. on the other bank. with muscles like Titans. and women. heated by hats. But was it really worthwhile evoking all that? Insomnia in the suffocating night and the tiger's eyes shining in the bedroom near the closed mosquito net.(64) adventure HEBDOMEROS that ever since his unhappy childhood Hebdomeros had I Illid Giorgio de Chirico .11 ill 1111. set off and sail at leisure on the yellow waves of ripe wheat or on the green ripples of fresh grass.::> and with sharp cries throw into the air their beribboned oII'O/') by the crowd and then dragged by the legionaries before Pilate.ornflowers the boat disappears (65) slowly as if it were being swal- always loved." much happiness 11111111 .. in front of the farms whose doors 11111. still less does he follow I hem I'I'UWS. while the after gorging themselves on rotting carcasses lying at the bottom with a slow rhythmic flight. calling now and again in the low v r followed them as they go off to work at sunrise. those who remain behind in the last cafe. men of sensibility and .. IIII' on that subject there would be much to say as well.'(.. "II' . that demon who snickers constantly at your side. 11l' was thinking: "These men are happy. there where the last pavements are like harbor quays before the sea of fields and meadows. And we know what it means. silhouetted black against the livid flashes of lighting. just opposite the sacred place where the golden columns of the Temple of Immortality gleamed in the rays of a sun nailed to the Center of the ceiling so that it could not sink down.

shouting insults and accusing you in front of the villagers of even of raping little girls and setting fire to rather tired and This long soliloquy had made Hebdomeros out at intervals. in each garden an enormous old man. someone is still sitting on your bench. events of an unheard-of solemnity followed one another with the fatality dictated by the goddess History as she sat on a cloud with a book lying haises longues.·hdomeros was astonished II weight. you think yourself easy and free and indulge in dreams and memories of the past. yes. nearby. farms.ane were in fact all metal. recollecting the faces of women you have loved and the most important events. the worst misdemeanors. uid pennants. In a while. lilt' II nn her knee. it's always he. he will leap out from behind a tree.(66) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (67) yourself as free and easy as a schoolboy who has played hookey. lilli' places pepper and-salt.inted a straw color. and the interweaving of the steel threads. Ih ·ir weapons thunder and hoisted up the poles and masts their 1111. and you set off along the dusty path.11111 IO(lking into the eyes of monarchs whose torsos were mosaicked 1111 medals and ribbons.il"morning scales. but something unusual drew their attention and III1(1 them realize that things were not as normal as they had at first . long after he has disappeared. when you get up. and if you lose your patience and begin to hurl stones at him with all your strength.1 II bdomeros. on the sunny heights green trees were spaced children mingling the various shades of their happily. and when the burst of catlnon fire echoed through Where return? To the mines? Hebdom~ros instinctively avoided til' v III y he raised his staff in one hand and waved it with joy. imitating to the life the barking of a dog. the clearings were carpeted with very green young grass where played and shouted which looked clean. while below in the harbor iron-plated vessels 11111. who was flying over the looked down. IlIlIosing surroundings. would hardly h!lv!: been averse to taking a few days' reSt in these monotonous. thought. but when they drew they saw that the armchairs ui-urer "I' ." he will rush off across the fields like a madman.1.' hands of a watch but essentially 11111 . you think yourself easy and free when all of a sudden you realize that you are not alone. had been so well conc~ived that they could have with: tood far greater pressures. this gentleman who is looking at you with a sly laugh. and said as much to his companions. These old men were alive. that the chairs Wereable to support such which th~y had taken to be made "lllir-ely of stone. All that would have be~il quite normal. made out on one of the chaises longues. . you are sitting on a bench near a deserted path shaded by trees whose thick foliage checks the burning rays of the sun and forces them to filter harmlessly through and pick out on the road the perforated notes of an aerophone disc. the weather was still very fine. portly C~binet Ministers "'ere shaking hands with .1 sad. after all. till" 1111.l unshed tears. yes. cheerful and inviting poked their pointed roofs up between the trees. everything was bathed in light. 1111. not to mention his friends and disciples. t h. in your life. pill. the life on this road lin~d with houses from each .iI which rose the lament of pianos bothered by adolescents practicing Ihl. the tempting demon. houses that were modest but foliage.rden with cane benches 1111. alive. was stretched 11.1 unhealthy areas where fever reigned unchecked all the year round iunkeepers place sulphate of quinine on the tables as elsewhere Rather the bore~om of a life adjusted to logical a~d not lacking in poetry. Yet. sad or happy. II I. at that moment Mercury. In front of each house was a small ~. this gentleman dressed with an outmoded elegance whose face reminds you vaguely of certain photographs of Napoleon III and also of Anatole France at the time of The Red Lily.

say it and how it in the North and the West. Hebdomeros watched the oming from the south and scudding away toward the north in clouds. I would advise you to beware of the South and the East. but their heads remained of reawakening motionless. and a kind of strange... Sometimes a light flush spread over their behind the they talked from one garden to the next. yes. They spoke of the days of hunts for roe deer and grouse in the forests that were damp and dark even at noon. The tide rose up to these pitiful fragments." "I hili Ihe North is a little like the West. III Ih . however it is by way of the North that one must II. a man who. that you ought never to visit the South 111111 I he East. wide world the inimical things far outnumber the favorable ones. in no time at all the whole sky was to his he went on. which result only in failure and loss of men and equipment. . II.(68) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (69) men on but only just. they knew that over there whence Ih gale. Hebdomeros and his friends stood like shipwrecked " IliIl. there was a very faint glow of life in their faces and the upper part of their bodies. cheeks and in the evening when the sun had disappeared nearby wooded mountains tI" 1111111' k. But one evening the big stone men no longer spoke. he mingled in his conversation stupid puns and coarse jokes and his breath stank of brandy from yards away.'I'I. in the chaste hours of morning. which soon began to look like a battlefield after the battle. holding their rifles by the end of the barrel and brandishing them like clubs or grasping their hunting knives in their fists.\ the East. who approved the idea. gentle wisdom that falls Ih palm trees along with the ripe dates.·k. "It is true. at times their eyes would move. 'yare deleterious and corrosive lands. northern moon. beyond the stormy sea that threw up great mountains onto the shore. I h se are strongholds Il!luck . friends. specialists who were hastily called to examine them found that the tiny glimmer of life that had kept them alive until then had disappeared. 1.lill'k veils trailing from some invisible hand up there and then denser 111111 that came closer together. whereas the South is a little II~. one after the other the old stone men were broken up and thrown into the valley. not by frontal III " will stay there. "All the same we should go north. it was a man with a disquieting manner and a horrible squint. they recalled how many times they had rushed upon one another. even the top of the cranium was cold and their eyes had closed. He arrived with a case full of mallets of various sizes and set to work right away.III." said Hebdomeros r uurpunions. but also cool oases where you III 1t"11 11"111 or \I II for nothing more. then it was decided to have them taken away so that they shouldn't uselessly encumber the little gardens of the villas. lay Africa. The eternal cause of these brawls was a dead animal that two hunters at once claimed to have killed. friends. beauty and light. To the North lie life and I'lippiness. you will have more chance there Ihllil unywhere else of being understood and rewarded for your pains.1"llIh-l I II . called himself a sculptor was summoned. thirst and dysentery. looking toward the south. there is joy in work and sleep without IIII'OW. a pale. it was fleeing on the clouds across 1111 . soon this part of the heavens too was 1. . if you have something to say or something to show. it was as if they were suffering from an eternal stiff neck and wished to avoid the slightest movement from fear the pain..d h"I'" the sky was still bright. 11111 that does not mean. down there behind the black cliffs whose silhouette looked like the figures of gothic apostles the moon rose. the day will come when not only will you go there but to be taken through a ruse. but they must not think of it. thin ones at first that came at intervals like great Illtlli I telling stories of long ago. towns whitened by the intense the sun.

if the flies attack your food and if the milk and sauces tun' bad in the cupboards. think of going hunting in the polar regions. the t{}cky tI'lli hied these perspicacious IIi hi of the imagination. courage is not sufficient. wu.. round about them the in style and the ogival arches rose on all When he had finished his long speech. and think also of the great pine forests on the high mountainsides the hour the sun disappears summits.I Irk ness. thifl k of at the sea lions biting fiercely into the wooden craft that pitch alarmi'<gly. the in the bowels of the men claimed the doors to the fresh winds that ~ive . while talkative and long-haired I"nil I ' lves as they installed l'II'lkwater dll1l1 scientific That the highway under construction." Hebdomeros' it) iound ". The fact is that no one dared to venture forth .III but which now loomed up suddenly volcano began to spew out whirlwinds vegetation hluish flames. opening.wing the period at the entrance 1111 (71) so you must have sound tactics your wits. strange tales were told. The position of this town. all that you will see in lhese III(" battlements. also of those blessed kindly veil.hllnged. protected sometimes curves.1 iyes new life to the plants and flowers and bring the animals out frorr the lairs and dens they had fled to from the heat of the midday sun. where in full daylight albino children artists work long hours on portraits amined. young men who were given to lyrical night had fallen and the scene the gentle charm of this in dreams Meanwhile. colors had anchored that the sails. or and sympathy may one daY say: Giorgio de Chirico 1. of reason force you to accept discipline ever finer and greater achievements in the eternal shirtsleeves shouldn't footsteps.1I.oals to replace those damaged by the storm and preparing salt equipment on the mass of the at the mouth and which and work. and drive you tOward which henceforth engineers IlIlIvi 'ions. happens house.ndering on its surface. among drains if suspiciously of hlld)(lr where two frigates easy . and disciples and seascapes Til ink towns over which eternal fog and mist spretllcl a can look straigll\ at which can be '\exfriel'. otherwise III have seen in the dead of night monsters from the Tertiary period leaned against balustrades or lay down as they listeoc:ed. As sometimes lundscape unfriendly 1 faded gradually away to give place to the ugly outline of in the shadows.' I..' pleasures words is regret for your wild youth wasted away in the pursuit until the moment you reached maturity.!'·11 in harmonious applauded and then got to their feet to look down at the little flying unfamiliar the sailors were repairing specialists 'He went down fighting. once finished. by thick walls. even people follow your activities gates they now found themselves combat them using not only your courage but also your knowled~~ and whom you have never heard of but who know yoll.. The crater of into rocks which fog and factory smoke had masked during the of smoke and small yellow and in the valley disappeared by steep walls. which Hebits countryside and pipelines in the heat of the dog \:lays in ~our . slowly in the clear air behind as it sinks.lds The lake lay in a hollow surrounded its depths. At present when deeper I~yers bathe yo~~ life swe1\t in 11I"I. which probably disappeared declared that at the middle of the lake they had tried in vain serious-minded the orb of the sun. .(70) HEBDOMEROS and good strategy and know h\)w to That your friends and relatie'rs. the luxuriant .ros called the most happily situated in the universe..I" III dawn. alternated I h. where men have fair skins and blue eyes and wl1lere with a magnifying glass. ri ver which ran through it and fertilized • be for you a cause of remorse and a desire to follow in ~heir tepid water flows from the faucets "I 1 \ 11K asily navigable right up to the fish-filled lake where it emptied. and with attention is not sufficient. light of fame."th. making quarreled among "111111'1. 1111.

he used to shave. an artist of great had died very young. II bdomeros sincerely regretted the death of the young artist. despite his own efforts and the efforts of rhose who tried to save him. a sunny countryside. in this he agreed with Pythagoras. harbors. moreover a row of small vermilion red buoys marked the beginning of the area where the sounding line no longer touched bottom. All the same. pia e of his staff. He expressed a similar respect for the children of sleep. his luce adorned with a black beard that contrasted with the almost infantile . while surrounding M rcury and his strange flock all was dark and desolate as though they hud entered a vast tunnel. once the bolts were drawn. that was why he had engraved on the legs of his bed an image of Mercury oneiropomp. but once night fell. one couldn't pass one's nights in the fear of meeting an ichthyosaur or of being awakened from a deep sleep by the roar of a volcano. the blinds lowered and the doors shut. Hebdomeros was more decided than ever to leave this land which hid behind a deceptive facade of peacefulness and fertility strange snares and terrors. The picture holding a crook in III' had painted depicted Mercury as a shepherd. he disappeared in the eddies. in roles but they are . Hebdomeros. background in the distance.(72) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (73) into the middle of the lake. who maintains II Still. He was an intrepid 1IIInnl who unfortunately wimmer and once. The picture was very well composed. though for the photograph he had let his beard grow. one ARTICHOKES CIGOT MASHED SEMOLINA STEWED OF MUTTON POTATOES PUDDING PRUNES IIW III'S. that is. namely dreams. And also because of dreams Hebdomeros refrained from eating beans al dinner. yet the inhabitants were by no means uncivilized and their tastes were quite refined. but once night fell you saw the other side of the coin. behind Mercury and his flock. he kept photograph taken a few days before the reckless attempt that was to cost him his life. this photograph shows the artist from in front. he who guides the souls that beans cause dreams to be dark and confused. in short. to be able to retire in perfect safety and peace of mind. would rather have put up with the opposite: living in anguish during the day. On the wall above his bed Hebdomeros had hung II 1110 1 curious picture painted by one of his friends. towns. life. "he loved certain aspects of the past. Mercury was encharged by Jupiter not only with exercising the profession of psychopomp. "He had a passion for beards. he was driving before him toward the darkness of lc p his flock of dreams. of the relatively recent past that we find in the portraits of our parents in their youth. As long as the sun was shining all went well. the bringer of dreams. as everyone knows.xpression of his features. men going about their busi- peasants working in the fields. he was wept by the current and. but also of bringing dreams to the I"t·p of the living. for in I It . as film actors sometimes do to look more convincing where this ornament to the male features is indispensable. He looked upon sleep as something sacred and very gentle and he did not allow his peace to be disturbed by anyone or anything. having wished to attempt a river in flood. for." said Hebdorneros whenever his friends asked him for details about the young artist's life. as can be seen from the following menu served to Hebdomeros and his friends in a restaurant where they went for dinner: CARROT SOUP HI' III dead to the world beyond.

whirled past the balcony. frightened . But to get back to the subject. yes. they understand nothing!" Hebdomeros fell silent and stared thoughtfully at the gentle arabesques of an oriental carpet he had just bought. occasionally he would have worked away quietly. the arrival in our port of the steamer Argolide. Now and then during his reveries he passed his hand over his forehead as if to push sad thoughts and unwelcome images from his mind and raising his head he said: "Let us talk further about him. a handsome his daughter lotilda. than such a homecoming. by her husband. But try telling that to the film directors who spend their time looking for fine sites and picturesque vistas. alas. to achieve an athletic feat that others with better training and greater resistance would certainly have brought off successfully. l4imply announcing IIdH event would be of no interest had I not heard. the Lecourt son is returning to his father's house. often h stares into space in front of him.1 moment on the. hardly ever leaves the house. if we go out on the balcony now it shouldn't be long before we see him. but Hebdomeros put out a restraining hand. especially without the usual show of killing the fatted calf and the white-bearded old man stretching out his forgiving . for a false beard always looks more real on the screen than a true one. prodigal son. though there are moments when u flash of anger passes through his eyes. The cannon shot you have just heard. he would not have risked his life in that way. Surely if he had fully realized his own worth. his features contract. the cannon shot you have just heard does not mean that the sun in space. out of bravado. the hands on the clock and the shadows on the sundials have reached that fateful point which some say indicates midnight in deserted the hour of ghosts far more interesting and complicated than those which ordinarily appear before us at the stroke of graveyards or in the lonely ruins of a haunted castle under the pallid light of the moon as it bursts the storm clouds. "We have not yet reached the middle of the day. from a certain Just as dangers and risks. This IIIJ man. and point of view. at once numerous pigeons. just as a film set made of wood and cardboard is always more 'authentic' than a natural one.lllIsts that you and I know well. through local gossip. his friends sometimes jokingly but he does not get angry. thinking it was noon. and whom everyone called from 11. long a widower. quite wrong. Eau de Lubin had a more evocative scent. who five years ago left his father's house 10 roam the world and live his life. Thomas Lecourt. he attributes I rreat importance to butter and has devoted long hours to the study throughout the ages. there is nothing more moving. the old man the stern face who recently underwent an operation on his liver. this young artist who fell victim to his own daring. hate and pain he ways these three words: 'Oh! the scoundrel!' It's that he has happened after her marriage to glance at the portrait of Clotilda.11. in fact he seldom of its preparation call him the 'butterologist' I~ ts angry and his smile under his white mustache is always sad. my dear friends. from our balcony can be seen the villa's park." the harbor. You know his father. having seen them always since our IllIrli st childhood. my friends. his hands dutch the arms of the chair and then in a voice trembling with anger. carefully avoiding Eai. wilh «u also know that he lives not far from here in a villa hidden among ou ·alyptus trees. hunchbacked Clotilda who was left pregnant a few months man with a blond Hebdomeros said these last words a burst of cannon fire echoed round by the explosion.1 it's on this very ship that young Lecourt is returning to his homel\Own.I de Cologne. instinctively everyone pulled out his watch.(74) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (75) wrong. Ih 1. but he used to say that. Among perfumes he only liked Eau de Lubin. mustache.

soon at the end of the road appeared a man who plodded wearily along. neither sad nor sunny. a journey to the end of the dark nizht of history and human races. there he is!" and then louder still: "Three cheers for the one who has come back! Three cheers for the wanderer's return! Three cheers for the prodigal son!" These shouts and cheers spread from house to house and set the whole place in an uproar. the wind held its breath. men left their work to gangs of children started to march noises to imitate come and see what was happening. intelligent way. Men in shirtsleeves to which Hebdomeros and his friends The garden of the villa was lit up by Venetian lanterns lixed to the trunks of the eucalyptus trees. for in this suddenly stopped playing as though they had become immensely weary. in a discreet. a few days later the ruther gave a large reception w re invited. he was far from being a glutton. the curtains which had billowed out romantically in the open windows sank back again like flags when who had been playing billiards the wind drops. The noises died down. for when traveling he always had a slight i IIIpression of being in a dream. then his appetite returned and he thought with 1." Following Hebdomeros' imply neutral. but you felt that this would not last long. a buffet had been set lip where the guests could find many healthy. soon flags appeared in the windows. hut no lavish extras. This was the moment that Hebdomeros 1'I'preciated most of all.(76) HEBDOMEROS invitation some of his friends went out III Giorgio de Chirico (77) arms. they all shouted together: "There he is. in the "I' bread and grilled mutton fat and fresh. as soon as they saw him arrive. To celebrate the return of the prodigal son. everything was quiet and still. leaning on a long staff and carrying on his back a heavy bag and a coat rolled up and tied with string. like a lion dis. in mystery and at the to metaphysical began to announce on to the balcony. A town crier. but he was just /I bit of a gourmand.. . just hours! Everyone became and thoughtful. and as if in sympathy everything else gradually fell silent too. appetizing things to eat. and it was Hebdomeros' friends who gave the signal.lml. With shrill cries the swallows cut through the air in long black streaks. sad or sunny. others took a position at the windows and they all watched the white road that sloped down to the harbor. aping the military parade step and making with their mouths all sorts of unmentionable the roll of the drum. The sky was covered with a thin layer of clouds and from time to time a small breeze blew very gently. A policeman coming out of II IIlIITOW.h as he felt on journeys. he never o Ie'called with excessive pleasure the joys of the table. "I'P 'aring into the jungle again with the antelope it has taken by surprise II il drank at the water's edge. . cleared for the occasion of all the plants and flowerpots. when he found himself with the children in front of the escort of soldiers.ngers as well as cargo. clear water and strong toli ICCO. and on the veranda. whistling imperceptibly in the dry grass and telegraph wires. He was careful to precede ""'lIlcement with a violent roll of drums. he liked the taste He also liked Jews and everything to do with them.8Ure f the noonday meal. weary of their past life and of their present life and of the years that still awaited them.-111 ""l1sible Ilip \)1' his voice the next steamer departure times and which ships took each an- 1"'!'It. little interested complications. 11111. The sky in the west was still bright. In the middle of the eucalyptus park the father's house maintained a stubborn silence behind its closed shutters 1)1' Israel he also set off on a journey. I'ompany of Jews he would relax and enjoy a sweet and strange torpor " . with their long procession of hours. dark cul-de-sac put a stop to this sacrilege by seizing the • in and returning with him back into the passage.

· presence of the venerable master of the house. but out . onto the teacher's 1111. I Ihe honor of knowing you for quite some time. Sir. but it was onlj' II. of respect for the moral suffering of the master of the house. on his left. and with tht 1 . he suddenly turned round. suffering which the recent return of his son had undoubtedly alleviated though unfortunately thoughtfulness not dispelled.(78) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico 11I"li~·"larwas more enterprising I' II II (79) western country the long summer days stretch out very late and night falls very slowly."1. II tit: with rage.·: "Sir. his specialty was t~ little paper man.lid acquaintance of the master of the house and was particularlj by nature." 1. leaning on hiP hildren for support. was going beautifully: the party had an atmosphere of Though in fact it was quite justi/ h. simplicity and charm in spite of a few sly couples who. they separated IWI) the two men. Old Lecourt led the applause each time. jus' '" indignantly.. it was said he had been a con' pupil pinned the little man ontd .11. Just as the actor the part of the mischievous pili ill " .. talking excitedly and emotionally about this unpleasant incident' the ex-consul's wife. The audience moved off to tht who was still Tit· whil warmth. the noise of a train going off somewhere toward the north could be heard in the distance." To which the other replied. 1. leading away her husband. cut out of an exercise book. He was 1111 dark and the whiteness of the houses faded gradually away. he slapped his fellov' "I"or in the face. the town hall clock soon struck nine. stepping forward. 11111 contrary to what he had hoped and desired. Thomas. I believe that you've II II v r-r up a small stage in the main drawing room of the villa and putting out several rows of chairs hired from the local cafe.. but the countryside all around the town began to be invaded by darkness. maintaining a dreamy silence. High in the sky the last rays of the setting sun tinted with a soft rose one side of the little violet clouds that had arranged themselves like an amphitheater.. been able to take a joke. The spectators rushed onto the stage.'1 when he turned his back on the class to write on the black' IIII'''~I.. toward the eucalyptus I hilt!" trees in the garden. when suddenly a most unfortunate incident occurred. it was caused by two of the actors in the third and final sketch. havinj and what we are acting is purely imaginary.11 lost all self-control and. declareP I""d enough to be heard by all: "I'm proud to have a husband lik~ . and said in a drf 1. moved off slowly toward the shadows of the park. this reply was the last straw and drove the ex-consul into a fury.lp of the other actors.1. on his right and his son.· Illil of his jacket for the tenth time.. you are going too far.The actor playing the part of the teacher was a man of abou' 1111 wit h a small gray mustache that curled up at the ends. surrounded by his friends. "And you. and while the teacher was giving the lesson the pupils played on him all sorts of tricks.11 1111 r-ible and punctilious r ill the East and that he loved hunting snipe. the scene of this one-act comedy was a schoolroom. On this stage amateur actors presented his daughter.. Lecourt the elder had foreseen their and had had the idea of entertaining them by setting II. !!lIn "l. the first guests began Hebdomeros arrived too. nd reeling that the other was overdoing things. which finally calmed the overexcited guests' ntertainment was abandoned. Everything short comic sketches which were warmly applauded. the outlines of the trees grew than the others.·d. You could have sworn that this evening would end as quietly as it had begun. sitting in the front row with Clotilda. his arrival and his presence was not particularly noticed. One in I'lirret. to arrive. The guests refrained from dancing. are forgetting that we are actors on ~ Besides.

and on whose summit can be seen by day dark masses.led-in fact. with her beautiful."Insomnia. yes the p PIt.r and suffering without hope under the great. are cared for gently and skillfully and emerge 1111 bandaged up. dis- IIr. the sky was an unforgettable lations were so clearly arranged that they formed real pictures drawn in dots like the illustrations in dictionaries. and a cold . whose grounds were already hidden Outside. the 11111of traffic came from the main road and lights were going on in the . "I' Ihat mountain over there. and further away there were Pisces. III! edge of the sea. \ 111'11 specters of famous temples that vanished centuries ago stand the 11111 ruujestically against the dark sides of mountains. the last guests." thought Hebdomeros. you could feel that daylight was not far away. summer only IiIHfilled with phantoms of the great sculptures of antiquity. all 11111111111. classical pose. in the east the sky grew Hebdomeros suddenly said to himself. and who to a little cafe which stayed open until morning to cater to the workmen and engineers came there to take a break and have a snack. generously proportioned body. to the master of the house and his sight: the constel- children before leaving the villa. were gradually coming to life again. he knew them well. and the Great Bear. i "why do I dream about a battle by the trenches tiny 11111IIs search for a cool spot at noon by the banks of a muddy river. the Fish. fat and appealing... immediately suggested going who worked all night repairing the railroad. Night-owl instincts were aroused in everyone. more intensely than other people and was always ready to give way to at the expense of self-control. he knew nights I I••11'. and the relentI.)1'wounded zebras. enthusiasm. invisible cicadas and the "But. including Hebdom- Giorgio de Chirico (81) Down in the harbor fishing boats were weighing anchor. and Orion. cute. slowly revolving and always staying the same distance apart as though they were fixed to the same axis. shimmering star- ." "IV!'I'ran down his spine for he knew what that meant . \ ith an irregular profile. Nobody felt like going home now.<. You could see the Heavenly Twins. leaning against each other in a tranquil. the insistent chirping of the sacred. lay on a cloud and turned her head gracefully as she looked down at the world still asleep in these last hours of the night. he stopped and began to point them out. dragging his furry body along through the deep. II IHIIy dug in the sand. III 1111'111 too well. with their pans lying horizontally. further over to the left was Libra. with canoes pulled up onto the beach and trenches and down there behind 1111itals. lonely Orion was moving away into the depths of the heavens with his club on his shoulder and the faithful Dog at his heels. empty and motionless and held in to suit all tastes and to satisfy who felt every emotion perfect balance.' Iidows of the houses. Him. those mornings following sleepless nights. as good as new! Could it be that life is nothing but immense lie? Nothing but the shadow of a fleeting dream? Is it but the echo of the mysterious blows that resound on the rocks uoihing the strangest of whims. which was not difficult as that even someone who knew nothing whatsoever about astronomy would have known them. there were constellations III" HI'CI passed into the air like a silent call. 11111 hot days that followed the nights filled with visions. The Virgin. patched up. Fresh breezes from things eros. the Scales..(80) HEBDOMEROS The party was almost over. were paying their respects in darkness. Hebdomeros. they were so easily recognizable Hebdomeros was delighted. mended.. whose opposite side has apparently never IH'i~nseen. stitched 1111 together again. dark ether. that are probably forests and from which at IIi rht come sighs and stifled groans as though a giant were chained up 11i.. perfect little hospitals where even the zebras.

. they were as gentle as lambs. Indllutled them like catapult missiles at the armor-clad 'Gltel" first exc h ange I ' Some had prudently fled.. ~==========:. foaming at the mouth. Hebdomeros this and had said so to his friends. halls. led by a man like a colossus Wit n ildi b Ul Illg si tes .e~ t~ey sparkled with dazzling brightness in the center of t h e s h opwt. d r . 1 ce d'0re fallen over the metropolis. determined men. 'l"'e would emerge between the heavy drapes that formed t h e b ac kd rop " \J{ thiS brilliantly illuminated. Now these priceless stones t h rew '1:1 • iature northe~~t in all direct~ons thei. by money-grabbing bankers trying to provoke a slump in the on the rise that would It was these same people with phrases like: Our had etc. catac 1ysms an d p 'J lao'~es striking the world and destroying what man had create. ' nNoll.'e "ere the sonorous names of the now-famous diamonds t h at h a d one. with people they knew. and in the meantime mg t a 0'1 . guarded molding on the ceiling. that luxurious mansion in an unimaginable by two enormous the hair bristled watchdogs at its main gate. d S om~-'tI ~tl'rJ1esa sure. h h d fhuii spoke Hebdomeros to himself.. wns no news from the palace. of mythology ame to the door of the bachelor's The unmade bed and the .===== HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico III!' (83) aid. filled sky?" . elf p'-jDceS hidden deep in dark parks. First you had to go up the majestic from the grounds to the interior maze of corridors. but as soon as they ighted a stranger raircase leading on their backs and they barked of the palace. shamelessly flaunted its rna Ievo Ient fir~ l' ki ~&_ And then rebellions broke out like storms in burning summer s res -s. in bygone days. when footmen still carried halberds of noblemen often lay at the thresholds run behind the carriages with smoking torches in their hands. like the sharp talons of d an aut I vu 1tu . I rra LO-t e \l \.IlWk exchange so that they could speculate their optimistic arguments lullow when it was seen to be a false alarm.avy doors. -e 'e'dl. lying with their fists clenched and their beards in the air. with folding screens placed before their h . ora~ ancient god. who walked in front of you to show you the way . your soul felt weightless of the dead. Luxus.. \ ho always ended eq notion.. as a star shines on a calm summer night in the far corner 0f t h e \J s'k'" a star that for centuries has witnessed wars.1' They looked at him without seeing him and saw him . snatched huge wooden beams from d oors 0f t h e h (j a.(82) hi h ci 1 't~ l'jS a rebellion and had maintained that the rumors w IC circu ate.rously stabbed to death.h 1k Wit out 00 ' \W Int\. etc . has too much common sense to . with his feet on a stool. smoking the ornamental urprised to see this man.ere entirely unfounded. noblemen treach. uu entered a confusing vestibules. Cameo.and they were precisely those who had refused to b e I ~u..arnily contemplating disorder. ~t\'e ypocritical mask of lust. then anteand I'l:rociously. now and then some separa\ "'6 c h bli dletnselves from their invisible chain and stopped betore tell di h \d~(l~ windows of the jewelers' shops. the bodies of these doors. r-harnbers and reception rooms. their faces were all identical. You felt a like the souls to join her you you were like Alcestis following Hercules lightness coming over you then. obscene little theater. husband. standing on little cube-shaped bases covered Wit re ve v I . the rumors had been started. rapacious hand. tit him. so they were a pipe and There . It was certainly liill""since accepted 11l. h '.r iridescent darts and their minith d 1 ttl.fp1ows. People passed by him III a regu ar ' I <-lo(ltItlllOUS flow. so active.. so you asked a tail-coated steward. usually spend whole days ill ing in an armchair. lights. as if they were riveted to a chain in perpetua 1 m~ itif'. and thus surrounded by an atmosphere bedroom.().. ith t h e b ear <\\ Fjefce. h were 1uxury.1 not the time to think of work. ] the crowns of monarchs assassinated by moonI'Ightt III t hei ~ \Jorned . others had fallen at the 'ieve t h er. You simply had to take a guide.

"And moreover. The prince who was attacked by eight outlaws in the pay of the antimonarchists would certainly have died. Then. I should add that he had first taken the precaution of putting out the lights. with a sur- smiling at him as though he had just sung song in a language she did not understand. especially the oak and plane tree. f. my feet were cold and my stomach was queasy. Suddenly I heard the muffled sound of man with owl- 111'1'0 1111 upholstered door being opened behind the waiting room door. how he had met that friend who later '\ccompanied him on all his journeys and of his passionate love. as a how he had felt the first time he had gone he said. would regenerate humanity in the shadow of their sky blue standards. . as well as the vile. in a world finally restored to peace. ironic expression. A sensual relaxation. for he was the man Hebdomeros On the bed with his legs apart. ." said a solidly built.' He bowed silently waved me into his consulting room. r\tther excited." impress by this speech. Then Hebdomeros thought of deliverance. madam. I concentrated III on an oleograph on the wall in front Ii depicting Red Indians on horseback chasing a herd of wild buffalo s a bush-covered plain. the bandages and boxes of cotton wool that had been used to on top of small oriental tables and which made one think of the somber tend his swollen knee were scattered inlaid with mother-of-pearl mind off things. slowly. bespectacled /llId I1l1d aid in an assured voice: 'Good morning doctor. which prevented the assassins from aiming straight and made it easier for him In fties shouldn't soil them.(84) HEBDOMEROS spoke of many tragedies and was seeking. cheered him in the their faces flushed with quare in front of the church. his face to the ground. for big trees. of flying machines and invincible phalanxes of white warriors with helmets of gold who would crush the enemy under their avenging heels and. while fireworks went off. he. red-faced man in his fifties. addressing a young lady. he had imagined their hidden faces to be highly alarming. whom he expected was looking at him indulgently. holding my head up and looking straight in front of me. my mind was II complete blank . which eyes. To take III I regrets. feeling Qhild. bells rang merrily lind pretty village girls in regional costume. Hebdomeros was quickly reassured. The next day the people. The masks which hid people's faces fell one after the other. base prostration known to the But the lady. Then I walked forward slowly." Hebdomeros ended his story with these solemn the sublime ecstasy to words: "At that moment I may have experienced lave. was lying Giorgio de Chirico (85) walls covered with signed photographs willi the large legs and eat's eyes. wearing a long white smock. they moved into the solid. but they had peaceful expressions that inspired the greatest confidence. . I got up quickly "I «-ned in its turn. wild with joy." escape. ~r perhaps the hundredth time. "it's having presence of mind that often saves a man's life. he was wearing a short shirt that hardly reached his groin and left his sexual organ exposed with its swollen veins. I was sitting in the \ liling room. Hebdomeros told . he described tl::)the dentist to have a tooth out. and there stood an athletic-looking Orient and of those hapless victims sewn into sacks and thrown at the deepest hour of the night into the dark waters of the bay. pri ed. a fierce desire for peace ~nd bourgeois living came over everyone and then. had he not thought of picking up one of the wrought-iron garden tables and using it as shield. The people began to converse on the divans '\nd sofas and between one armchair and another. as he always did in the presence of this blonde woman . I known to heroes. madam. "Yes. banal decor of those rooms whose mirrors were covered with thin purple muslin so that the ~ilt-framed Ilk. without Jostling. "yes.

as night began to fall over the town. \ hcreas I love the shadows of twilight. The conversations of the darkness. its highest point of perfection. with he tightened his grip on Hebdomeros' his speech-"I Hebdomeros..(86) excitement. they are much more hospitable 1111. Under the effect which began to make felt its weight. in the drawing room. For the rest. quite well to a society free Never- I can assure you that I have often stayed in my studio." said this man. "I' Ihe dark. I love the hour of pale woman whose expression to hide her shame and despair with emotion: . It was simply revolting. Hebdomeros felt someone shadows he got up to light them himself: restful. which he had clung to throughout Ii "I to force himself peuker.1 ('UreS and theaters II uiakes the water glow like a pool of molten metal. reached and objects all look more mysterious in this dim light. I have always loved it. where II". politely but firmly. sir. bumping chairs and easels as I make my way to the door and go down into people prefer bright light. in darkness. selfishness \\'I'ird face was now almost hidden in darkness. gazed thoughtfully He reflected smooth. At that very moment he came face to face with a was bitter. And that is forearm. At such times I lose III costly embroidery.e. sea. Yes. and with an elongated unpleasant when he had first entered to all this. brought HEBDOMEROS him presents of all kinds in baskets lined with won- Giorgio de Chirico (87) Ilti' lumps. without lighting but extremely warm and hospitable. tupidity and incommensurate romantic yearnings. r-r thicker as though they were entering derful woman who for ten long years had the strength and determination from the world. who was sitting in a large. Such people go at night._ . ." -and can't help it. the discussions each person seemed to withdraw into himself quares and streets.' " were it not and father. and they make me daydream-I dear friend. I know that 111111 that dusk was slowly-gathering in intensity. 1111: you once again: do not light the lamps. . bony face. Let's stay in this semidarkness while it lasts. nnother sphere where I could never reach them. Hebdomeros adapted III'intellectual complications i. s of people n without it occurring !IIi rht be among them some photomaniacs. or at the seaside. In an attempt to dispel the Stimmung created by the fall of dusk." to listen a man wearing a black tie. I am not the king. as I watch my paintings sinking into a fog another world. red velvet armchair. the aspect of his physique particularly had struck him as being the drawing room. 1. Notice how people which. people who passionately people who were afraid lov d light. "wait. and even when night has fallen I leave my lamps unlit. ureet. I . and of this man who. the light of the sun at noon on city full of life and activity. once light arrives. diminished mysteries would have gone on indefinitely. phantoms disappear hardness into their unknown kingdom. It's the phantoms of people and things that we see.. madam. he somehow found the courage to say in a voice splitting 'God forgive me. don't light the lamps yet. ~df in strange reveries and darker. as seagulls hover over the storm-tossed proposed lighting the lamps but seeing that no one moved He had barely left his chair when he he turned and recognized in the chin and grabbing his forearm. IliH dubious was prepared "No. Iwilight. and perhaps also some scotophobes. who had at the sadly on and and whose beg you. drawn by the light of hundreds of lamps. even from her mother no. to satisfy to keep dozens to him that there (11)1. I love this hour.1 and to think about his own problems as well as about the still-unresolved that hover over men. she was that unique.10 '0 out I have to grope like a blind man for my stick and hat. sir. I plead \VI. The outlines of things lose their as they did in the periods when the art of painting I am talking to you as an artist. then III 1.

(88)

HEBDOMEROS

Giorgio de Chirico
iii wl.i h I am greatly attached.

(89)

theless, it was not lacking in maniacs, and there were even one or two lunatics. Among these was an art teacher who lent young people sums at high interest, against a varying between eight and fifteen francs,

But as you like it so much, take it; I'll

II lid it to you for a while. I'll be only too happy to give you this

"I"

IHure." His delighted

friend took the false jewel and, of course, the art teacher in being rethat incited

collateral of clothes or parts of clothing; the collateral he preferred was shirts and vests. He laid all the deposits neatly in drawers and closets and each one had a tag, attached the sum of money lent, etc. Sometimes after lunch he took a friend by the arm and said in a mysterious tone: "At two o'clock I have to see someone on important business." But this important business consisted simply in meeting one of the people who owed him money, who had given him a shirt or a waistcoat against a loan of twelve francs, and offering to let him have the waistcoat back if he repaid the sum of five francs. Sometimes this art teacher's mindedness transactions were, morally speaking, highly dubious. Among his acquaintances there was a young man whose absentto a button by a piece of string, bearing the name and address of the owner, the date of the transaction,

Ii 0 days after at the latest he had lost it. Whereupon
III

\ j,il,:d and moaned about the sentimental and material loss this meant him and after much lamentation he finally succeeded reasons, 1111,,1 a sum at least twenty times what he had paid for the trinket. d 'I'IIOH' were the main reasons, the fundamental ""hdomeros to quit this society. Where was it? How did it happen? V I. did it happen? He could not answer these questions himself. iVll'lIlories, people will say! Memories! What a deep resonant word, so had ,'vo(:aLive and full of feeling! It grips you simply to say it, or even read
II. nuL this time it was not a question of a memory. Hebdomeros
, 1111 •

out onto the balcony of his hotel room. It was only one step, one which displayed all the horror of a lion hunt in

I,'p off the carpet,

1\ I'I·ja, from the room to the balcony, a balcony that was neither too Iii h nor too low; Hebdomeros
'I!I!:

was notorious and who lost things with the greatest ease.

hated balconies at a dizzy height; this In

The art teacher exploited his young friend's weakness in the following way: he showed him artificial jewelry of no value whatsoever, tiepins, rings, cuff links, bracelets and the like. He bought this jewelry from small junk dealers in the out-of-the-way quarters of the town and often got the~ for a penny or two from tramps he met in the course of his nocturnal wanderings. to show particular When showing them off, he waxed lyrical over friend had the misfortune their beauty and value. If his absent-minded

was just right. In the middle of it was a flagpole without a flag,

uuuched by cords to the scrollwork of the wrought-iron balustrade. I" hysteria with their impassioned,
III

II... past this balcony had been used by demagogues, rousing the crowds ringing words, and making thouuids of mouths, gaping in crimson, sweating faces, scream their faith

the meridian heat or in the shadowy torchlit night. Now there was to be seen but a few rustic stools, standing round tables of plane which gave shade to this peaceful spot, a dried-up tables. leaf fell in

nothing Ire

interest in one of these trinkets, he looked broken-

I"I urh-hewn wood; now and then, from the top of the centuries-old ,·jr ·Ies onto the empty, deserted

hearted and, laying both hands on his friend's shoulder and looking intently into his eyes, said in a pathetic voice: "My dear fellow, this piece of jewelry would be yours if only it were not a family souvenir

Close by there was a cool, jugs filled with amber-

1'1,;ar spring, pouring over a few earthenware

(90)

HEBDOMEROS

Giorgio de Chirico

(91)

colored wine. This was more than enough to arouse the enthusiasm of Casca, the painter who hailed from the south. Addressing himself to Hebdomeros, he expressed his emotion simply but lyrically: "Now a there's happiness for us artists," he said. "What do we need, after all, to be happy? A couple of apples on a table with salt and pepper, ray of sunlight burden of life; and last and most important-" and most important, a clear conscience. on the floor, a sweet, faithful woman to lighten the and here he paused for "last to

1111i'~' longing for a deleterious purity, needled by the wish for something
III 111'1',

omething perfect; and all this in a desert country where every in finding an

,,,,.I sown rots or dies fruitless?" Hebdomeros asked these questions
HI Ililll elf rather than his friends and never succeeded
1111

w r. He would have liked to interrogate

those muscular ascetics

1111, momentarily resting from their brutal exercises, fell into styled
1111.1 noble poses as though they wished to show neither to their brother 1,,111 rs nor to the profane onlookers the weariness that tortured their I"..den limbs. But most of the time these muscular ascetics did not "'1,1
lIt(k

a moment to look around the circle of people listening to him-

Yes, a clear conscience,

be able, rather to have the right, in the evening when, tired from the day's work, we stretch out in bed to enjoy a well-earned rest, to have the right to say not only the famous words: I too am a painter, which is all very fine, but which unfortunately is not everything, but also the less famous but not less important words: I too am an honest man." This kind of talk always got on Hebdomeros' before. His instinctive friendliness, and his extremely refined upbringing, incommensurable nerves. He had heard it reinforced by his high intelligence often led him to make the best

. They looked at Hebdomeros with contemptuous irony, and, outthe stadium, nudged each other and snickered malicious, taciturn and irritating, when they met was quite un-

Idlli. This attitude,

!I"n,l.andable. Their profession was difficult, and despite the undeniable I". iuty of the performances Ii "'II. o'dock
IIll; 1111

they gave the citizens, one could hardly

.. that they rolled in riches. On Sundays, when they organized sham in front of the prefect and his wife, they began training at five in the morning and during the winter months by lamplight. to spare fights

of things and to listen politely to the ravings of these maniacs, whose logic was equaled only by their madness, sometimes in such obvious, but sometimes also so difficult to detect that no one noticed it, except for psychiatrists of genius who had specialized cases-and even then . . . ! For some time Hebdomeros leaving a restaurant

Mor than once the prefect's wife had begged her husband

e athletes their early morning rehearsals and to let them cut down the tableaux vivants, which showed the death of Patroclus, But the sweet continuous pathetic scenes requests took place.

hetween the Greeks and Trojans, and other episodes drawn from the
I'll .rns of Homer.

were in vain. The prefect

avoided this society and one day

Sometimes

extraordinarily

fairly late at night with his friends he stopped on

worked in a cool room looking out onto a garden. The windows were
'IP n and the blinds lowered. Hebdomeros

the edge of the pavement and exclaimed: "Why do we have all these revolutions? Masses rising up like mountains shaken by earthquakes? Why these credos murmured in the mournful obstinate whisper of a seeing everything in straight grim purpose in life, uncompromising,

loved those blinds; some-

limes, finding himself at the prefect's house, he would spend whole. II rlf-hours
K
>

looking at them and lose himself in dreams before them,

eing there a peaceful countryside full of tranquil poetry; lakes sur-

(92)

rounded ~~h~':ll==h;;;;';;;;h=======;;;;;;;;;;i;;====== d . y I S on w IC castles and villas raised their harmless towers th. , pO,n\ed roofs; ducks floating by the water's edge' fishermen drying t en net~, th d ld c lk ' " ' , I m e sun, an 0 to ending their hfe tranquilly in perfect conllJug~ harmony, winding their way slowly toward the church whose b e towe\- d ' td h 'II h hi k Th__ ormna e t e VI age ouses like a hen surrounded by her c IC s. 'Vhe th cs. :» u: · n e prerect s wire appeared Hebdomeros withdrew discreet Iy 1U\ th II di , f me Ion. 0 e sma£' mmg room nearby that always smelled strongly o Th u: h J e pre ect s wire t en, with slow steps, approached her h us b anv, h 'd k Sh w 0 contmue to wor at his table without raising his head. e wa~, \.ery beautiful with her black bandeaux framing a face the co Ior of I", h ' d II h'dd en bY ory; der npe an ' we -made body was revealed rather than I h er ress; floor besid hi hai commg close to the prefect she slipped to the eSI", d , k nee Im~ "\ f IS chi air, an ,with her arms on the knees of her husband , ,e ore rrn on the hard parquet, her beseeching face turned towar d tlll~, " , taciturn anad mtransigent man, she gazed at him her cheeks wet With t~ Th ' ,h '. ars. ere was a scent of furniture polish and wine spirits In t e air, % f th f ' li h d J,_ orne 0 e urmture was covered up, the parquet, zealously po IS e , ·... ad t I I' th eat hI e tan h ' ex 'reme y s Ippery surface. She begged him to spare e% r , hd fi t en latIgue and stram. All, alas, in vain! The evening of t e hate \ed, the tableaux vivants took place. Up to the last moment one ad bOt d f " fG " e or an act 0 od; something that would have prevented t h e perfom. f ki ance rom ta mg place: an earthquake a revolution the passage 0 f '\ id I hi b comet, a II a wave; but, as always m these circumstances ~I~ ~ d ' , H e bd omefO pene ; everything took place in calm and perfect order. 'd' hh e h ope d for ~ rmxe Wit t d" crowds that, filled the restaurants; he still e unexpecte ; he questioned the people around him rea d t h e paI\ I' . , ers, ent an attentive ear to the conversation of his neighbors h e next t bl at t N hi a e. ot mg; not a cloud on the horizon; plain quiet

==----9

HEBDOMEROS
I III

Giorgio de Chirico where: in heaven That evening,

(93)

and on earth. So he had to bow before the surrounded by his friends, The riddle he attended the of this ineffable and forming and immobile by

u-wituble.
1" dil!'mance
I I! II

and understood everything.

IIltlpO"'ition of warriors, of attack

of pugilisrs, difficult to describe and defense,

.orner of the drawing room a block, many-colored

III il~ gestures
IIIIII~ "II~

was at bottom understood

If alone; he realized this at once when he saw the facial expresof the other spectators. The fact of being the only person present worried him. He felt a of loneliness, and he when the desolation a thing so rare and profound

III romprehend

","tlden fear, the fear of solitude, 1oI1",ke to his friends
1I1I1H
It II II'.
0

of his fears. But imagine his astonishment of commiserating or pessimistically of their contemporaries,

"e

latter,

instead

commenting "But

intellectual

capacities

crowded around

Ililll and, grasping IllIjny yourself, Hebdomeros

his arms and his hands,

cried all together:

sir, that's the important thing!" went home that evening with a heavy heart. Those and wanted carved in stone like the laws submissive as sheep, as sheep he

Jllinciples that he cherished IIl'cumulated
IW lUi

"I' Moses were no longer worthy in his eyes. Far distant, beyond the
habits and regulations,

lu-rded in their pens waiting the fatal hour of the slaughterhouse,
they approached,

two symbolic figures, Pity and Work, growing smaller and smaller hand in hand, the distant low horizon. But, Great it all was. Charming ribbons, disturbing bubbles, flames without heat lines drawn with a toward the zigzags, or

=:

(:od! How confusing

dlliting like greedy tongues,
wuves, persistent

tt. "

h,.i II iance even the memory of which he had thought long lost, soft and unvarying,
rose and rose incessantly

"I'iling of his room. It all took off in spirals, Hlruight and slow, or perfectly perpendicular

in regular

like the lances of disci-

he followed his foolish fancies. from II. the corners of the room were clean now. which develop each year more and more and are fruitful Iii .1' ull. and to avoid those impressions. at least there was something. It was certainly not a cyclopean work.(94) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico 11.. the bearing on their athletic chests the insignia of absolute authority. the lictors. one of those sustained lind powerful tasks that force the respect of the most skeptical oblige future generations to bow before The Complete Works . who left him sulkingly after hnving stolen from him and sucked him dry..I. Your life will be your life! Go and do. sailing on the same ship past the shores strung along these new II IiI 1111 lilli' and of power they made him angry with reality.lIt in a more normal fashion.. There was in his mind then a so full of possibilities the chase to like a crowd in the streets.'II'Y on this earth amongst the crowd of your contemporaries.. work thou shalt be saved and thou shalt save them. without at the same time falling into worse errors. But he knew too well. May a solemn and sustained music accompany you in your difficult task with another song. But at present he also rolt more at ease.I. ploughshares to dislocate deputies pointing to the sky. The spades and the scythes covered with rust lay in the farmyards near the overturned ploughs. 1. worried humanity.lumber invade his limbs. [urotaste of the joys of heaven. more smiling one? And these changes. sleep claimed him more and more. \ . a song of infinite sweetness. as an amateur. and other calamities Illd low at the moment would last no longer than the preceding fevers. and friends. that at powers.' 1I0t Are all brothers.. abandoned follow yet another new idea encountered even more seductive riences. to live again. and Hebdomeros had foreseen them as thought that the spiritual fever which laid him 1. he still dreamed. and what again? Are we travelers. free from frenzy.meres usually greeted his servants. II Ii. whence came all these disturbances and inner conflicts. the strongest Hebdomeros had ever known. the empty cans were placed neatly in cupboards with a consoling symmetry. By joys of mad. strange company. at least once in his life. change their dry. several canvasses were sketched out and some nearly finished. Hebdomeros than the first . But now the hour of rest had sounded. And what man following a new idea had not. the lazy ruffians yawned and stretched themselves enough their bones. to remold. Try to be happy and good! It was with these words that Heb. He had not completely wasted his day. To create. And as he supposed that all would "come back to normal again" he allowed his thoughts to linger that evening beyond the prescribed limits. he found it difficult to raise his eyelids. so he stretched out his legs in the . had written this in chalk on the door of his house one night when all slept and a heavy silence weighed on the land because the ceiling was very low and even the insects. yes. Hebdomeros felt the gentle . and sisters. that night were still.' 1I fecund tree. He had achieved and But ~iOmething. alas.. to break those stupid laws that human ignorance had created across the centuries.\ had foreseen the war and the ensuing peace. from ridiculous and mock-heroic decisions.. that usually made a thousand small noises among the grasses and the plants. to search. rocky and inhospitable these stabilizations give already to the living man on the earth a luuk to a sweeter. all that can only strengthen (95) plined troops. thus justifying your existence and sanctifying your Ip. having emptied the last pitcher of wine. the shapes were progressing.aI"S. that neither gods nor men can ever begrudge you. along the road and judged Judging from previous expe- way that. times exceeded his intellectual your structure and increase your I" Idi~ious gifts. slowly but surely.

those men with the heroic attitudes as long as peace and tranquillity reigned around them. e sa '1 ' I' from now on a SOCIal ." So men sometimes believe. the d reamer. (97) scale. those aspects d ith J'oyby a charming and I seeme d to have been create WI an unconditional con. 1 'the sun The writer. r the seer t e see er or riddles. 'W t was lacking' one d b pened WIth dynamitea er ' h a to eo. but who vanished before the threat of danger and afterward formed colonies. hi 1 mer "Taking into con. which or t at rna e .(96) fresh clean sheets. HEBDOMEROS hi yawned in executing the notes of a descending Giorgio de Chirico lui 1141 wa' always on IS g.. l'IvllJzatlOn. true societies of mutual aid where they recognized one another by imperceptible signs to which they alone possessed the key. WIth enormous oc s . you are therefore my brother and my accomplice. th e appraIse . 1'III"rOItedhIS weanness. the bearded and spectacled man busily running about the railway platform with a small valise in his hand. his forehead sweaty. h h bit f doing but at the risk 0 H bdomeros was m tea 1 0. I'll I~>S the beaches to pass around the th li ne of the coast usmg f IiiIIuwc I e 1 . w IC a . 110) longer h ave e h" the observer the th poet the metap ysician. the th right to claIm a pace in . down there the complete relaxation.I 11101111'(: that " d' hi . and turning onto his left side he slept the sleep of the just. black as a gigantic amphibious animal cast upon the beach.. db lating on the vanous P 1 osop 1II'\lIde . .:~tr:: :~hilosophY arising from a 'arne time t ere are 1 d minds of men can never be high ideal whose mark on the sou s an . that high enormous thing. " he i reasmg matena IS IC HI 'ratIOn t e inc " hIked along in regular. armored in a worker. " th reasoners the askers ."111' 'aug t Y ." pretty women powdering their noses at the windows of the Pullman So spoke those men whom Hebdomeros had long known but with whom he could never be on cordial terms because he did not respect them. estme y '11 tell me now that at the ichthyo. There was. " hil hical problems that had . I'lclector 0f pamtmgs 0. . . . They were not unknown to him. II "Icanmg 0. despised cars. bl k of stone and on the shore . ition But he always dIed him in a precanous POSI1 ' d h a pac I '''''M an 'f h tt r he could easily have . At last! At last alone! The mountain. cannot in the least imagine. . swollen. But basically all that is only an escape." ' "h id to hIS fnends."' t paradoxlCa to VISua ize III thrnical steps. as e .111'1'. the . '1 t will all become an" f the very first c ass. And then. G d had never mspue m im . e . id hi h h d happened to him severa . It IS no . 1 III"kK. t e pr. one flees to the next exile. . f llowed the bed of a d kd sea Sometlmes one 0 III III irl y from a ar ~ep . uard: the beautiful scenery. we are in the same situation. 'I f h 1 sures of the mind will h h Iives on y or t e p ea uue where ternan w0 . 11 h ophet the scrutmlzers. "Since you are here.saur ~nd the ~::::~~ p. thought Hebdomeros. And yet all was not rose-colored in these lands. Y specu . he terrain was 1 " ' ks rose almost perpenth mountams' impressive roc . we can walk arm in arm under the palm trees that edge this uneventful sea. the hairy by all the formidable fashion against a thousand dangers that the ordinary man. so Irregular t at one a hoi. I.. h d him dunng t IS ate sum ' p"rt I ularly aunte. speeches. past these expensive but charming luxury hotels.'IIK 10 cross e . " h h d to be an acrobatIC . the father of a family. ' thinker. e . ' li t' and practical orientation of our . h b the mcommg n e. his shoes dirty. finally. as t ey wa .. lortunete er.Id"d-IIP nver strewn . hid the discouraging sight of law-bound cities. as Hebdomeros well knew. the conscience pleas to appease and avoid the annoyance of remorse and the scrutiny of those who rightly or wrongly are ranged before you as judges if not executors. h k after new songs. e c. f hf of the earth like the d ' d to dIsappear rom t e ace uchronous. To sleep the sleep of the just! What man really has the right to believe himself just? "Art sanctifies all.

even I4lacial in appearance. l.with ~assion. his shot-blackened first case. as little as one is a psychologist. the light of this eternal idealism that is as necessary.1 10 given in full knowledge to eventualists without bursting with laughter. full of ulterior ideas at the back of 'l'lu. because you are still the only ones who. But you know as well as I that human beings cannot without great difficulty shake off the prejudices pettinesses and that are for many the main causes of their misery in this thrown terror into those places of luxury and pleasure.ir hotels under the amused eyes of the porters and bellboys.Ii . trod a beaten path to slip especially those seated in the front I" hind the tall. ignorant of every calling. The lesson of danger. my dear friends. bears no fruit.(98) HEBDOMEROS till yll h I. I. judging by the majority of opinions is the one that counts most. he quickly WIped at a table and ate with a hearty appetite an order of ham and eggs. sailing between the banks of a narrow river. gardens rises over deep valleys. 1III. to app~ar m ln-Iore the footlights violently bathed in light from head to toe. that bald and muscular man. dear friends.ludes of their knives and daggers on polished stones gathered at it as well as 1. and whatever else. who am telling you this.il' inds. during long years. basically. Giorgio de Chirico (99) effaced. alas. there where the coolness of watered . their expressions those who. Vocation liberated from the dark cells where. He fired his pistols quickly with the precision of an and when he had emptied all his ma~azines . because . I'll say that in all this." sad world. and I'll go even further. and you. all that is pure nonsense. squalid curtain raised a few inches only from the stage. and not only in this. they deceive themselves 'I' atly. Thus they theorize on words and phrases that strike the mind with their monumental ring such as. have seen that alarming an accent of love or the attraction of fantasy. IIlId IIIWIi. 1111. can see the muddy shoes of the actors as they pass to and fro. the weakness of the strong.and hands on a batiste handkerchief. or the voice which grew silent. 1111 repair to their dens to dry out their powder in the sun and sharpen Iii. worth is not duplicated at all in you when they give to the same degree in those creators of whom I am thinking-and and perhaps especially. the baseness of their aims. but whose ardent heart overflowed. b low which the audience. I'lit it is then precisely that things begin to get complicated. which. One needs the unashamed and indulgent men to take them seriously and discuss such rubbish til. I will even say as indispensable. 'PIIII('d errors for which. "Infamous nourishment. II was not the type of man to hesitate or waste time in boring and II eless speech. calmly sat down xpert marksman. "do'es of streams. is plain: to wait until the curtain rises suddenly. And our worth as thinking and acting beingsup to now. since in their precocious and clear positivism they no longer have the amazement of newcomers faced with the sentiments and spectacles that so deeply troubled their elders. cold. even one as small as a punt. but. say this to you.they an~ Renown. hopmg 101" a thunderous applause to greet their appearance and later to be IIOl'nein triumph on the shoulders of a delirious crowd to the door of . . after all.aim of these crafty creatures. to human souls as I air is to the lungs. they were only partly responsible. In the kill-joy at work many times." 'y hope to be able to continue thus happily from pleas~re to pleasure without ever seeing the reverse of the coin. have understood me-our know who they are-even. dear friends. they put through their paces a mi~ute portion of mankind the contents of a boat. know nafvete of these optimistic . Yes. one can divine. Doubtless it is necessary for humanity to cross this black tunnel in order to find on the other side. Returned to the .

uttered by an administrator [rightens . with the financial lIid of the state. and conand old folk.. Q: refuge but also rest on roomy and artistically of an artificially lighted bowling alley where lovers It//.(100) Disgusted by all th HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (101) . Mr. the sense of these four words. Posters covered the walls. Under the patronage Communal Prosperity. But.~akmg place . a spacious ornamented with metaphysical tulning shelter where women.h H . Let th . which dares to speak of liberty. Construction of a dispensary for the visit of newly born infants with a prophylactic service to fight veneral diseases. of the Republican Committee of Entente and has decided to solicit * There followed the program with several . we beseech you. if ese gent emeri argue a out in :::: l they h~ve a difference of opinion. uart q er II. (Au- Truth. C . General repair of the town drainage system. ebdomeros started off with slow steps alo. utu] 2.ther thmgs than the personal interests of these two builders who ave quae enough lawyers to defend them. of integrity like Mr. resst~g you only afew lines in answer to a long rif"utation of his admtntstratton which the Ch' b . Sublato. u/ a VI!!' street fountain. * They wish to embroil the Sublato Adminis tration ui a quarrel which concerns only M r Ch.' ~u ge in h r. is at a peak not only a sculptured benches. er. ConstructlOn of a scholastic group in the Moneghetti wah a day nursery and the creation of supplementary classes.his proper and healthy recreation can enjoy their pastime even during 6. Installation figures. them.d d trreproachable by all impartial people the Chi b . Repairs and cementing I/llsh disposal units and new lamps. improvement 4. C . let us h if o. Enlarging of the public lighting Montroni Square. from expressing his thoughts Fountains.III:ldrencan find when the traffic circulation 5. ta ant ommatee is seeka c ~n~e b~ means of involved and incomprehensible articles on the ~rry. ese Slg ts.. the disabled * . . Short of arguments against the Sublato Administration . Tarring of the streets. Sublato can redress these calumnies uttered against him.~re d~splayed there in their own peculiar language Mister u ~ 0 ts a . has given a foretaste of how it interprets the word in preventing at the Reunion Mr. launched by those who wished to make for themselves a place in the sun: My dear citizens. proJects: . 1.es .S The 'Chiabani party. and the forof roadways. of 3.o t e emetery.ng a dusty road that led to the towns where municipal elections wer~.) never succeeded i d ' n un erstandmg the retiring administration our votes for the renewal of its term. di ui ant ommtttee has considered ui ispensabte to bring to your present notice. t I . installation of collective II/II/. . *Hebdomeros thor's note.ab . Installation lire hours of darkness. dh.. of the Square our mayor. • ant an ts employ h e contractor Lanteri Baptistin. the contests between the ~a~llt at. 1.:on a medical inspection for schoolchildren. Then followed the appeals to the citizens. Sublato.

The undying ghosts and invisible. He had already passed of grandeur. shot down by the gendarmes. sat on a tree trunk lying on the ground and his did the same. 'The Etruscans. gourd of water mixed with red carefully lit his pipe. wide arches strode the dried-up or tripled. * The heat weighed his handkerchief scorched like a leaden pall. When the last ramparts of the town had disappeared over the Hebdomeros. or Life is never as good nor as bad as they say. 'who where this proone can him to a little grove. triangle. He was rather careful in his gay and suspicious. rnesh on very low wooden legs supporting for a pillow. had flown far away toward the mists of the north. already hung from the parapets of half-ruined streams.ection. so perfectly logical in appearance metaphysical at heart. whose low. the town where he grew up. had a horror of beds with spring mattresses. but only on a bolster understood flat surfaces. Every- lif' sleeping in the afternoons).' littoral. asked his friends to follow in one against the other in a against some invisible he could never rest on those long cylinders seen in in white cotton that give the sleeper such terrible nightmares laid across the head of the bed which. but as they loved to hear him talk they begged foundly strange and mysterious . Hebdomeros' heart re~ unusual man. wandered themselves brothers present everywhere. on coming out into "p. scratched of whose secret no prodding. joiced at the sight. III('. My father was an of life. the goddess Humidity. his stomach with pleasure. Hebdomeros pulled out and wiped his dripping had something face. If the town is situated litis smell is even doubled when he mentioned hud made sensitive. Lell them one of those stories. always laid their statues on perfectly the Mediterranean people arose and disappeared. formed an isosceles Throughout he said. he and his friends stopped from time to time to find solemnly confronting the corpses of bandits. thing had about it a profoundly of the Great Heat. d'lInk a few gulps from his drinking . especially music rich with melodies.'cial Stimmung (atmosphere) I"I~I (remember II" IIII' road at sunset at the end of a hot summer's day following an afternoon what I have already said many times on the subject one smells the scent of freshly watered beside the sea the suggestive power of It's what my father always said like the families of great migrating birds. Long yellow-orange shawls of an infinite tenderness bridges. both real and supernatural. The gray veils of with his friends the last houses. yawned. friends Hebdomeros group as though to defend themselves this matter of beds. They left the road and soon found themselves the shade of some trees that were pressed compact danger. and he As His ideal bed was a wire a perfectly flat mattress. you have probably noticed as much as I that which is felt when. and began as follows: "My dear friends. feeling a little tired. whom the adventures of the polar ghosts of the Great Cold r-onversation and detested certain ready-made (I. "He loved music. ts. and desolate. Chiabani are left with no other resources than disorder and brawling. broken carbines horizon. hlnlH ·If several times. he held the he stretched Hebdomeros as usual needed Iltid so greatly l'I""opoly. he claimed sheathed .(102) HEBDOMEROS II tit 10 Giorgio de Chirico (103) Powerless to reply seriously to the arguments of Mr. who lay now with their clothes in tatters near their in magnificent poses of weariness and sleep. Sublato. the followers of Mr. phrases like: We all carry stone in our sack. and all around them the countryside. calcined quality.

so careless of the charm that derives from equilibrium and the harmony of lines as to imagine such a monstrosity. it offered its marble quays to the little waves of the port that came silently to caress them. The trees that shaded them especially in the country when they cleared the table at twilight. The houses smiled. It was the hour when the academies of painting. He was sinHe had trained his servants to remove peculiarities rhe principal theater of a great Nordic capital. These buildings were all to be found in the same quarter of the town. pilpil to gather to himself all the fruits of the lesson. the sky blue as the ca that one glimpsed shimmering at the end of long avenues. or at least a very ephemeral virtue. This wish. surely not.(104) HEBDOMER05 III WIIH Giorgio de Chirico (105) still see the imprint they left on the earth. 1 even dare to say. urilway having finshed their work on the to their furnished rooms.) these establishments hut no exclamation no objection was ever heard. unuetimes even with exaltation. shone with an ineffable brilliance. The .' 50 spoke my father on the subject of beds. Hidden behind thick line under construction. But do you see the Etruscans lying down to their final rest on hog-backed mountains? No. . blue and he looked beyond the nbject of his memories.' Iii' said in a low and trembling voice. for a short time. there where they lay down for the last time to rest for good in the arms of death. Another of his was leucophobia. that a wire mesh (surface absolutely flat) should. or fear of the color white. 'l'lie streets. world and things.·111 ters of oleanders. "The town where he had passed his childhood was the favorite he spoke of it with love and tenderness. alas. in the construction of a bed. "ry gentle. That is why 1 affirm. music and sculpture and the public library closed. while he talked. after the evening meal on the flowered veranda of a modest villa which he rented in order to pass with his family the hot months of summer far from town. give to these men the appearance men with thick black eyebrows. On green lawns the flowers in their flowerbeds opened II. and here excellent professors taught courses open 10 the public which were organized in small classes that permitted each created a certain encumbrance of impatience. returned "overed with dust and harassed with fatigue. The crowds leaving * All these complications and upsetting problems were resolved later on by the use of colored tablecloths. the town stretched gracefully along the foot of a mountain. calm and co'Ill ttish in their cleanliness. that town whi ·h has no equal. the dining-room tablecloth without lifting and shaking it like a sailor a flag but in carefully folding it on the table itself and carrying it away quickly like a filthy package. and the much vaunted softness of whose springs is only an illusion. then enthrone them in the middle of a front-row box on opening night murmured softly. he would have liked to decolorize their hairs and tint of charming pages. he never able to realize. "He felt an enormous pity for dark-complexioned them ash blond. presented I cerely and deeply leucophobic. The air was balmy. his eyes. take absolute precedence over one of those spring mattresses whose surface is convex in the middle. The engineers. 1 seem to live again those late afternoons in summer uflc:r the day's heat. * This leucophobia haunted him more gay and animated scene to the eyes. 'I believe 1 can see it. ir petals and perfumed the air. (Author's note. profoundly convinced of affirming an irrefutable truth. lost in a dream without end: 'I believe 1 can see it. watered with care and refreshed by the breeze. imposing but harmonious in its contours. 1 believe that no man could be so phrenologically thirsty and.

were squeezing with a strong hand black Tired of all these terrestrial and metaphysical adventures. ce ar was under the di e propnetor. even to the first person encountered sort of abandon and incommensurable toms that we feel when a sudden the happening that excites us.friend. ~~m and satIsfaction. seeing that chance (or something else) had made him look at his watch just at that minute when the hands marked the hour that corresponded eptember. He ('ur him to close his metaphysical loved logic and order even more than harmony." said Hebdom . Then he understood that it would have been logical cycle at the end of this very day. renewe y filtered h ' humIdIfied. I' their sleeves rolled up. II bdomeros. that need for loquacity and expansiveness. ts whole a sober. h . II II t here on the hillsides with . evident muscular strength hi h ' q et. ' ey were t oughtful and ui ' . by little. in recalling the p t H bd eros after a pause. Little as. gilded by autumn. he found in the afternoon. that it was five o'clock and finally deciding to look at This is the hour. e omeros th t si I even the most intelligent of hi fri d h . Once awake. by its location. so he remained Illl' several hours in his bed meditating. elegant and disti ish d ppearance revealed a inguis e art The s ' fh profited from all the perfe t' ha h ervlCes 0 t e Cafe Zampani c IOns t at t e most i ' Sources could offer I th I " ngemous technical re.. t was a real rna term Lo corner of the main boul d dh ~ erplece. in white bodices IlIlIpl and elegant. finally all those symphappy event surprises us in the like the rest of the world. which he always kept on a chair beside his bed. known such moments. The business. not violent ones. not to the point of dying with . he "Th k e est years of the best vineyards ' us spo e my father. to the month of he should profit by this good luck and not look for. The cafes eslfe taurant. it had nothing that impossibility of remaining quietly seated in one's that desire to recount 'ay. that in the twelve months of the year corresponds III " 'For gourmets the Cafe Zampani had in I nth of September. he could not decide to get up. that sensation of uneasiness chair.(106) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico lilli' (107) general effect was one of com lete ' were also all that one could d p . . and ozonized. it industrial and artistic pers liti f rh Woe region. the center of th h lmport~nt town square. he chose db h irectly from the winegro dr an oug twines wers an ror the servi f hi took great care to choose only th 'b Ice 0 IS customers. Lodo with that cold feeling in the stomach. . ey nearly all possessed a rescale. ona rues 0 t e tow ' 10 its luxuriously decorat dIn met on Its terrace and e rooms. n e sa ons artIfiCIal v til ' mosphere constantly db en I atron assured an at. dlllneros went to bed and didn't awaken the following morning until vl'I'y late. He knew that what he was waiting for was not happiness. had monotonous round of life. thought to the his watch. Heb- ipes into crystal cups. a een awaken d i hi of those men condemned t d hem im at the sight o eat and then pardon d h b ' young and bearded faces sorn thi fh' e w 0 ear 10 their e 109 0 t err form 'h Th eir arms folded th h er anguis and grief. which are the joy of intelligent men of good taste). 10 spite of their d ' w IC one surmIsed f he xi eltoids and biceps that stood d rom t e SIze of their out un er the sleeves of their tight jackets made a selection of th b were poor and could not afford those handsome English suits. and anxiety. midday at two o'clock. air. cated on the evar an t e most I was. was pam.a slOgu ar man whom IS nen s ad neve d d' felt again the same feelings that h d b r SUCcee e 10 defining. women. Hebdomeros. as they as the general run of men understood it. The principal r. that weakness.e aboratlOg Its menus e est gastronomIc spe ' It' d dish was served every d t h CIa res an an unusual ay a eac meal The II personal supervision of th ' . ygrometncally " . w ose Owner w " called the Cafe Zam 'I as my mumar.

consists. he felt that this time it was less it was a feeling of security himself to receive prepares to receive it in in. The outside air was. I"M. h'dd _ " "cI to making. risk of appearing it obliges me to argue with my fell~w men a madman and to feel afterward than of security. " 't passes his gun slung over hIS shoulder. 1'0 'llIzing 1 ." Hebdomeros. things unless it was a question JUs 1 e . What could he in this case conclude.\ to the causes and effects and the price list of everythmg m this who feels better. Autumn IS connee. Not a breeze. but m this cas~ It wou . 1'(lV that were compromising red it with fogs and vapor. If the is that which comes between and autumn.. or I en It. -:.-10 e to the motionless quail without seeing it because the colo. is that which comes convalescence.0 His theories of life vaned accordmg that inestimable secret that most the second half of the day. but all the same important and his feelings seldom betrayed a question with dignity. and nature. his fears would have been absolutely . these are b only I I habits false movements which humanity from its infancy has een '''( . dressed like everyone it was a half holiday and into every man had descended Now they were half-gods sidewalks fifth hour of the afternoon between two seasons: the hope of a half-god. as. In fact . And yet I am sure that it is not like that. III II. helped behind my the God he believes prisoner opened the window of his room but he avoided taking in or an invalid he had no reason to do so.d whi . as the believer in the form of the host or otherwise. thought Hebdom"that seems strange.. ' wor ld . still the elements I 'lilt. naturally. that does not at all mean that the air was bad. after which begins life (winter). neither purer nor fresher than the air in his room. an absolute calm. tifi d· he did not like to do useless broken the urns. the month of September summer case of a sick person. Hebdomeros deep breaths or better attitudes of happiness 10 him. they have contorted the way of truth.h. of the outside air like a liberated etc.r o~ ItS lumage matches II Ieas. . per- . IlIlI'k the mockery of the logical ones. it's all fever and delirium _ rxhausting perspiration. else who walked the evening and in the k new _ what he should abide and he thoug h t Wit reason by .~ -~-----~~---~~--~------- - (108) joy like Ulysses' HEBDOMEROS dog.l~dy.:£-_-::- ~~~ - -. marks the end of the ma.t It the ground where it rests. distracted. himself. this time and completely ~nmisplaced and waited at the street corners for the cars to pass. to the moment which precedes philosophers exhaust themselves in seeking the~retically an~ that the . " . IIlId flpea k . those who think they ~oss~ss t~e ~. that was going to envelop him.d"Il(' . giving it the same color re- that with regard to attitudes he could only half boast of being "knowing. Immense majo rity of men strive practically to discover. this time resembled it perfectly. 1.no longer be a question of an inutility. That corresponds. tarnished I he it. its sister.-~. or going insane like the painter the day he learned and significant Frank Sbysko. " Giorgio de Chirico that he won a million in the enough. III. Id of what he called the necessary inutility. the sum of his experiences. in fact. if not that the secret of happiness. ith I hat if at other times he had feared happiness. lottery._ _. But he felt. . an unending weariness. summer is a malady. as one drop of water resembles another." in the metaphysical sense of the word. and before ItS c~ns~ant menace h e had . on the contrary.". room where he happened to be was excellent only that the air in the and that the air outside II objects that surround it on earth so that it fades ~nto ~he l~ndscape passes beside it and rubs agamst It_without !III I man. and he prepared with composure. the hunter . besides themselves. in this part of town the houses were irregularly placed though near enough to one another. "Yes. him to avoid the~e such for a serious man like himself. as a gesture of exorcism. (109) struck with madness at the same time.' _ - - - _ .

ond the good. ". even an indispensable one? And is it not better to boast than to be like the even at the risk of irritating one's contemporaries. not apparent at first glance. For all these reasons he had acquired a privileged position from which his adversaries tried in ext~nuating c~rcumstances. delicate or serious lit III ITk any other roundabout means of claiming the right to be praised.. even during 1101 That he was boasting there's no doubt. preceding And then. periods of transition that had permitted him to open new doors 1111 III(" most unexpected sights.lll. Ihu (. There was something to please children. as the prophet renounces his mother. but also the to far-reaching 1.. regrets)-there where one has only the choice between admiring nothing. can one coolly conceive of an existence or keeping jealously to oneself both one's il50 Hebdomeros no longer pleaded among whom even to his contemporaries. all that he did. to his great regret. This happened each lif. and this since a long time. for that which his adversaries.('II which often is necessary m of the elite. often rather repugnant. it's that the art of seeing and describing what of human life in the same way that certain animals. on the other hand. plan of creation. whose usefulness was their proper place in the urs and collectors of pictures and. in admiring nothing. he thought that enemies of social life and in the fairly dull and exasperatingly I" . nor did . he felt no envy whatsoever of those who succeeded enemies were necessary. were disposed at particularly to believe in was only a half-truth. The task.(IlO) HEBDOMER05 then? if that! Giorgio de Chirico (Ill) haps. in presenting what he 11111.o used in the exercise of his profession to thinking like the king that In the end he lost his own memory? That which was certain. that same elite to which he boasted. After all. proper. tertaining lusions dren. with every nee. moments. had covered proud distances since the first attempts. the artists. of belonging but which. s. was that he was infinitely less rigid in the application of his rules of conduct when it was a question of his own self. was of the easiest. Rather would he have been tempted to say that Without them existence threatened to become monotonous.1/1111. in loving nothing? But skepticism. indeed enno illusions. astonished though they were by the tours de force achieved and by the innumerable difficulties overcome. there was something to please amAh. real i-hildren who are often formidable judges and also who often have the PI' ponderant III role in the organization voice in the council. those big. it would be really too eccentric to consider oneself superior to others in each of his in playing without first being superior to oneself. was said and done quite naturally to charm most diverse tastes. 11(' said. and in spite of that great desire for justice which had always predominated acts. and one's admirations? spite of this there were always those (and this was one of his greatest were always those people who reproached him for stepping out of the frame that seemed to have been assigned to him by his very nature. but especially I. No. with the proper discretion. \ . and which Hebdomeros proved each time he had the occasion to do so. bogus chilas everyone knows the invention of poetry And in more or less unpleasant. but isn't boasting often a necessary thing.1. he Included his nearest friends and his most fervent admirers. play an important manifestations uly called his Maroels.. d. that those who followed him would not a language that on any other occasion not only the sarcasm of the minds. above all.. In any case.· f~mous c~urtier. had nevertheless one has seen.him for using.. for that matter.dd have brought upon his shoulders I illWd. he was obliged to I tlliOU IIIII(! that a creation of a special character obliged him to isolate himself I'olnpletely and place himself beyond good and evil. All that this ~ouble game.

pass in a SIlent flutter of wings." th ." L it was time to go in.d dreams! Remembrances! households. memories. eamng pensive y on this broken column where the lizard ernment officials and important greasy mustaches that would better was to save appearances. we will study with you in a brotherly. which is after all but an invention What say your eyes? Ever or never! Open wide the gates of your gardens. and hierarchical out triumphantly.s since puberty.. The system that he employed had advantages He worked particularly fidelity the character. Recuerdos! 0 starry night! Juanita! Juan- I/I! The water sings and still sings below the flowered cottages of Polish Waves of the Rhone and waves of the Rhine! Melancholy IIiUPS. Then like a new romantic inspiration came to him Once again Hebdomeros felt himself moored at the crossroads their wings on acetylene turning. Hebdomeros drowned printed his heart. from our weaknesses. cordial fashion all the propounderstood decisions this and to Hi ions that you wish to make to us.dif~cult. 0 leaves that fall! Listen to the 0 heart that has never changed! the farewell of the roses! Listen symphony .sometimes gray and sometimes green but always blue there where iii .' . Hebdomeros . "what is needed is to discover. .Iow . Itl II uvesters! IlIltI'"I" (113) Treasures! I!ontinued unceasingly 0 flowers of tenderness! of fashion. had ten~ions where art. qualities. while the rhythmic chords of ~uitars fall again and again one into the other as water falls into water. 0 poet. u friendly. Original.. His particular to perfect. "You must never gallop too hard on the back of fantasy. Fruitful Source of failure and deception to fi h hi . for in discovering one renders ~Ifepossible in the sense that one reconciles it with its mother. mysterious joy. lakes lie and the vast oceans open! The moths of the night have hurnt I ' e gent e swell of the waves lapping the blocks of the quay. lamps! The leaves of autumn. tumbled. . by the way. EternityIn discovering one pays tribute to that minotaur that men call Time' a~td which they portray in the form of a tall. wet with el<iquence and something the rain.0 not mg can surpass m evocative power that divine serenade where mIlIgle our ignorance of ourselves.(112) 'rain to dislodge the vicissitudes "rIth a ngorous HEBDOMEROS him. the trembling or rather the throbbing of the heart at moonlight. From our natures. the color of the original inspiration. Hebdomeros distrusted "originality" as much as he distIusted fantasy. high-ranking with obscene grins beneath appearances. knew the plul:i~ed u. seated Wlth a thoughtful air between a scythe and a clepsydra. However. ""111 lit Iii lite song of the nest on the flowered route! 0 unfinished these eternal voglio amartis! Songs without words softly chanted! S . great sadness Fatal transformations reflected infinity the most foolish hopes. dignitaries bowed in a false. dried-up old man. follow the sage counsel of thy muse' she' th I' 'I. preserved and the talent that he him without doubt from fast and respected Giorgio de Chirico . whiteness in characters The generals of the paper. g t t me Ignorance.onfession of the old violoncello." ~e said. softened by the veil of years.rnber Eunice's kiss! Remember t~th su~e and undeniable. but not original . protocol humility whose only aim very questionable have been dispensed with.o~t .lldoH and the ivy climbs . friends with the heavy heart! We will help you in your work. were spread gov- black and solemn against the themselves. from the measureless of man. and even what in general is the I'IIII(:II[S! Infinite stanzas to the stars! Beating of wings! Morning songs Charming interludes! Offerings! Village festivals blessed the great blue sky! 0 pastorales! . onto the rotten wood of our villa balconies! and addressing his friends he said: "Nothing can replace this ineffable e p llce resulting from twenty years of experience and constant effort als hi " . IS ere.

" The setting changed again. he who perceived the IIIhi of thy glance will throw himself alone into the delirious. "What time is it?" and he continued to Soon the moon . hands clenched at the end of arms stretched out of windows whose tritely patterned white curtains blew slightly from the intermittent breath of a warm breeze that came from the fields. iridescent.. heavy gazelle. graygreens. to fall on thy hands " pure.. a happiness achieved. no IIIIlre massacres. he will bring thy son in his arms. a mouthful of tepid water soiled by the birds of the sky... . where had he flown. very costly..= . us finally to see the miracle of thy tears. the playful joys which hide behind the bushes and from I here of a mother! Thou. Mournful pedestrians. after lunch one retired there to rest. Yes.. down the length of thy lovely cheeks. confidence. so to speak.. nostalgias without end. I have drunk my last drops of belladonna and henbane! What can I hope for now? In what still believe? The gods migrated. before which everything retreats. i' The mother of the Gracchi had evolved. . But he had to wait for it was still just a dream. thy son fainting but alive. all alike except for slight variations of color that counted for little in the monotone symphony of grays. speculation. on the stage of the for nothing: given.. __ _~-= __ ". . luu-k HI room (garden side). drunk from a dish that smells of wet wood . death-bearing-proboscises persist in humming of their little. fast-beating wings. of complete repose. Smoke rose and rose continuously in straight columns . "Yes. thou. business is business.. moreover. . business. cnsation of a joy completed. this younger brother of sleep? Nostalgias. but which promised joys and repose unexpected and unforgettable. like a navigator standing on the prow .nce rose the stench of fermenting ordure were now far away. 0 Cornelia. at the gates of oriental cities under the crushing dome of a burning sky the dysenteric marketers gesticulate around their goods. Hebdomeros press oneself thus . where is our reward? A handful of rotten dates.. But the great reward this evening. trade. on which the flies with their thanatophoric-i. Hebdomeros turned over on his couch . exchange. which you are careful not to do for you . or even a dream within a Ilrearn.. . 0 Corwith the legs twined in ribbons and the hands nelia! Thou. he waited. credit. given. shepherdess upened wide his window on the spectacle world.. Arms folded.4_ • _ _ __ • =-=-=-- ~~==". and then in the evening harassed and tired. this gentle god. will rise and with it the wind and the stars . stabilization. even though it was not an enterprise himself said. where was the repose? Yes. " commerce. " __. . the minuscule e. green-ochers. 111('11 faster. But once there. . ocher-grays. profits. And then why should one suddenly stop? And renounce the possibilities of an enterprise. . (ll4) HEBDOMEROS afternoons in the map Giorgio de Chirico (llS) rest. head high. u-turned to their homes with that vague melancholy that follows the of life. those interminable II ill dark and sordid streets the furious rabble stoned thy son. Dusk had fallen. 'tis thou. . The sordid impasses wll .I' his ship before the apparition of a strange land. palms dirtied by vile money.nteritis twists my bowels. if one dare holding their children by the hand. 0 IlIlwhing and naked as a little packless donkey. for it was hot. etc. "How much time still? . He knew them well.. implacably hot since the first hours of the day. as But one gained nothing Hebdomeros mono- 1I11111iac crowd. thrown pell-mell in the hot dust. pearls sliding at first slowly. 1 . thy son bleeding but safe. At the horizon the sky was alight with the last gleams of twilight. fleas devour me and talk to himself out loud. smiling ironically. " salid He bd omeros. little mother of the Gracchi! beckon you to approach. these fields that stretched out elbowing one another.

October 1929 . moved from outside by a mysterious hand. nostalgia. Nouns have "0 Hebdomeros... as always. f .T~ey ~oated in the warmth of the setting HI ange and unknown sores. . Distrustful. hi h d pondered no onger. in . in the middle of this new Ocean. the weakness.ver thought of the death of my eat. If I~I I II and. They surrendered to the cdaressin~ d n these waves they floate towar waves of unforgettable hwords. all sails still. e omeros.reen Idslandbse'rore the vice admiral. but seemed to have disappeared of an infinite tenderness. r . d h? H u thought of my IIlI . h d entl on his shoulder. ave yo /(/. 0 brkother .ll I"pl in immobility and silence. a great wave. ready to parry the blow. passed slowly. "I am Immortality. .. alone in the empty manor during a winter's night. one hand in his trousers pocket and the other free. swept by an irresistible blast.. there behind the little half-ruined brick walls round which the brambles and nettles were clinging like a tenacious malady. .. s e sal . as pass the ships 0 I-. when he sees the handle of the door turn slowly.! One day. and he understood. colliding. the despairs.. . disappeared in an unbridled gallop. And thou whom 1 glimpse before my afternoon sleep.. fear. y h ht of my death? Have 1 d li Have you ever t oug 1IIIOIIhe verbs. pushing toward infinity . She spoke of uunortality in the great star~~sshnig~dt. Meanwhile. the anger. II". or rather their sex.if gender. a new and strange confidence began to be reborn in his soul. thou whose glance speaks to me of immortality!" . dent toward the cerulean skies . slowly. a as. the disgust. . the incertitudes. alas! . he even trembled as the sickly old man in his armchair trembles. and With the ot er I'olumn. . the mistrust. peace and justice prevailing everywhere. Then suddenly. hoofs hard as steel.(1l6) HEBDOMEROS Giorgio de Chirico (1l7) will not have taken two paces toward them but they already will have flown far away. The assassins far from the cities. visible to myself alone. Waves whose yellow-green depths were wholly embroidered on the surface with foam broke inside out and great masses of wild mares. all. Squads of heavily armed soldiers passed beside him with something obstinate the earth. flew y smgIng. yielded slowly and him altogether. silently. smiling m. everything forever. At first he was frightened. ' heaven 1y bi d S. All that is hard in the world: stones of bones of men and animals. . . of an immaculate whiteness. all disappeared in a great tornado. . while a long sacred procession of tI squa ron l' b . the cowardice. Once again a. f' rt.. ship floated immobile. HUll. . all sound was stilled. thou. as ou once said with much finesse. Suddenly Hebdomeros saw that this unum had the eyes of his father. anguish. But then. in a puzzling manner. the alarms.. and taciturn in their looks. IIlId his chin In ISth~n v~ice that he had heard. the hate. ec me. doubt. between t e s y . he claspe t e an 1 His thoughts. he approached carefully. discontent. ~:du~: ~~::~o:~ng Paris... she placed a han g y H bd his elbow on the ruin d h h d of the hero. too far. the fatigues. heavy and irresistible. . ItS esc h k and the vast stretch of the seas. in an avalanche of rumps rubbing together. had submerged Hebdomeros' And once more it was the desert and the night. marvelous islands. Rockets rose in the sky.'~er Seated on the trunk of a broken But she spo e no u .