But the gate opened a little way, and we went in. I had seen so many strange things, heard so many strange words, felt so many strange emotions, that this new miracle gave me but a mediocre surprise. We were in the garden. "Let us go," he said, "towards the roses." I Towards the rose-trees. HE Towards the roses. A soft and clear daylight was born as we advanced. The trees, suddenly in leaf, the chestnuts blossoming in shafts of white and red, were filled with the songs of birds. Blackbirds, on the topmost branches, launched their shrill calls. Bees were already murmuring by; a fly settled on my hand. The great flower-bed was in full bloom. A perfume enveloped me with a precious sweetness. We disturbed a cat that was stalking two cooing pigeons. My friend plucked a red rose, then a white, then a yellow. At this moment it seemed to be five o'clock in the morning of a beautiful summer day. I I am happy. I am happy. HE Roses, these roses, are enough to make me jealous of men. The rose of your gardens, the woman of your civilisation, these are two creations that make you the equals of the gods. And to think that you still regret the earthly paradise! Eve! Eve, my friend, was a milkmaid, the pleasure of a bird-catcher or an early-rising oxherd. Eve, when you have all these real young women to enchant your eyes and make desperate your dreams! I She was, however, a divine work. Your father ... But I said no more, trembling with happiness. Three young women were coming towards us. They were dressed in white. Delicate garlands of flowers adorned their corn-coloured hair. They walked slowly, holding each other's hands; their smiles made a light within the light. At the sight of the new roses, they all cried out together like children, and stayed, stretching their arms towards the rose-trees, timorous and troubled by desire. I watched, a prisoner of the spell, but my friend, with the ease of a king, made a few steps towards them, and offered them the roses he had plucked. They took them, blushing, and slipped them into their girdles. She who was the tallest, who had the most beautiful hair, and the most beautiful eyes, thanked him with a smile and a few words, and then added:-- "We were looking for you." HE They say that when one looks for me, he always finds me. Then there was charming laughter, laughter that made my heart laugh. SHE How beautiful are the roses on this earth! Oh! I love this big red one! HE Take it for your hair, my friend. SHE I am happy. I too dared to pluck a rose. "The one which is red and yellow, the one with many thorns," said close to me the voice of another of the young women. She had rightly divined that I was thinking of her. I The one that makes the hands bleed, and the heart, perhaps. THE OTHER Do not prick your fingers. I should be wretched. I And what if I pricked my heart?