It was late when we drank. We all thought it was high time to begin. What there had been before, no one could remember. We just said it was already late. To inquire where each of us came from, at what precise point on the globe we were, or if it were really a globe (and in any case it was not a point), and what day of the month of what year, was beyond our powers. You do not ask such questions when you are thirsty.
When you are thirsty, you watch out for any opportunity to drink and merely pretend to take an interest in other things, which is why it is so difficult afterwards to convey exactly what you experienced. It is very tempting, when you talk about the events of the past, to impose clarity and order upon what had neither one nor the other. It is very tempting and very dangerous. That is how you become a philosopher before your time. I shall therefore try to relate what happened, what was said, and what was thought, as it happened. If this at first seems to you to be chaotic and hazy, take heart: subsequently things will be only too orderly, too clear. If the order and clarity of my tale will then have seemed insubstantial, be reassured: I shall end with words of comfort.
We were in thick smoke. The chimney was drawing badly, the green wood fire crackled snappishly, the candles released oily fumes into the air, and the clouds of tobacco smoke hung in bluish banks at face level. Whether we were ten or a thousand, no one knew. What is certain is that we were alone. Which reminds ne, the loud voice coming from behind the firewood, as we called it in our tipplers` tongue, had grown a little louder. Sure enough, it emerged from behind a stack of wood, or perhaps biscuit boxes, it was difficult to tell which for the smoke and our weariness; and it said:
"When alone, the microbe (I was about to say man) clamors and whimpers for a twin soul to keep it company. If a twin soul comes along, they cannot bear being two and each flares frenziedly to become one with the object of its intestinal gnawings. It loses its senses: one wants to be two; two wants to be one. If the twin soul does not come along, it divides and says to itself, `hello old chap,` throws itself into its arms, reunites itself messily and takes itself for something, if not somebody, special. But you have hust one thing in common, loneliness; that is, all or nothing, it`s up to you."
It was agreed that this was well said, but no one bothered to see who was speaking. There was no thought but for drinking. Thus far, we had only drunk cups of a lousy rotgut which had made us very thirsty.