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sure that you have not struggled in vain. Imagine the scene right now: I will take you in my arms and will murmur words of the greatest importance in your ear, words that are so important that you would be transformed if you ever heard them. My face, how I would like for you to see it; for it is then, then but not before, that you will recognize, that you will know you have found the one you think you have been seeking throughout all your journeys and for whose sake you miraculously entered here, miraculously but uselessly; think of the joy that will bring; you have desired above all to see her again, and when you entered this house, where it is so difficult to be received, you said to yourself that you were finally nearing your goal, that the most difficult part had been overcome. Who else could have had such a stubborn memory? I admit it: you were extraordinary. Whereas all the others, as soon as they set foot in here, forget the life they have led until then, you held on to one small memory, and you never let go of this mea ger sign. Obviously, since you could not prevent so many memories from fading, it is as if for me we were still separated by a thousand miles. I can hardly see you at all, can hardly imagine that one day I will know who you are. But in a moment we will be permanently united. I will stretch out my open arms; I will embrace you; I will roll with you through great secrets. We will lose each other and find each other again. There will never be any thing to separate us. What a shame you will not be able to witness this good fortune!" Lucie stopped for a second, as though to give Thomas a moment to think, and then she added: "Are you satisfied?" Before answering, Thomas wanted to look at her. He was surprised to see that she no longer looked the same. She seemed taller and stronger. Dom approached then and said in a timid voice: "No, I am far from sat isfied. Night is falling fast, and I cannot breathe. In a moment, I will not even be able to find words to express my discouragement. Who can con sole me?" Thomas thought about this, and then looked again at the girl. It was odd; now she looked like the house. "Why would I consider myself satisfied by this night that I did not de sire?" the young man continued. "On the contrary, I would like to remain eternally awake, awake while all of creation sleeps and while everything rests in universal midnight, awake even when the truths I would like to know have been changed into peace. Could I not then leave the house?" 1 97
"A useless question," thought Thomas, seeing that the girl looked more and more like the silent and tranquil fa
could not rise up to revolt at the last minute. And yet, he raised his hand in order to obtain a reprieve for a few moments. The girl certainly had something to tell him, only one good call for help was enough. So he threw himself forward, but at that moment the last glimmer of light disappeared. He opened his eyes wide and extended his arms. His hands opened timidly and groped in the night. He thought then that it was time to receive an explanation. "Who are you?" he said with a voice full of calm and conviction, and it was as if this question would allow him to bring everything into the clear.
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In the French Modernist Library series Louis Aragon
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Modernities and Other Writings
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The Cubist Poets in Paris: An Anthology
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Blues f a Black Cat and Other Stories or
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