I remember the strange feeling with which I looked at his neck, his white neck, in contrast with his black hair, separated by a parting, when, with his skipping gait, like that of a bird, he left my house.

I could not help confessing to myself that this man's presence caused me suffering.

'It is in my power,' thought I, 'to so arrange things that I shall never see him again.

But can it be that I, _I_, fear him?
No, I do not fear him.

It would be too humiliating!' "And there in the hall, knowing that my wife heard me, I insisted that he should come that very evening with his violin.