It was very early in the morning, the streets clean and empty, I was going to the station. As I compared my watch with the clock on a tower I saw that it was much later than I had thought, I had to make great haste; in my alarm at this discovery, I became unsure of the way, I was still something of a stranger in this town; luckily there was a policeman at hand, I ran up to him and breathlessly asked him the way. He smiled and said: "Do you expect to discover the way from me?" "Yes," I said, "since I cannot find it myself." "Give it up, give it up," said he, and he turned away with a great flourish, like a man who wants to be alone with his laughter.