[...] not reply to anything else. Close by Kessoire[?] one of them remains motionless, with a naive expression, with a badly drawn face. It is one of the traditional characters from an evangelical scene. The Khans[?] watch us with curiosity. We are newly arrived and we have come to dine in our travelling clothes. However, irritated to think that they do not know who we are and that they might be scornful of us, she with her suede gloves and pretty hat with grouse feathers, me in my dark[?] tie had sought to present an image of distinction. Towards one of those neighbours, her native vulgarity and lack of education betrayed by her whispers and sniggers, two or three fixed and rather persistent stares on my part quickly put her right, like those buboes which are the sign of an unpleasant temperament and poor hygiene and which disappear rapidly after the application of one or two sufficiently prolonged heat poultices[?]. More than anything we are tired, we are hungry, we are asked what we would like. Close by are some people who are very sure[?] of themselves who are dining with their guests on champagne, which gives them a contemptuous appearance that makes us smile.
NAF 16729, 143r Possibly a fragment from Jean Santeuil?
Created 12.02.21