When the thing was done it was something for angels and devils alike to tremble before.

It meant nothing, of course, but, like many inscrutable and unfathomable things, it terrified by its sheer blank, chaotic madness.
He hung it in the exhibition.

And it was--yes, it was--the hit of the occasion.

This is not a fairy tale--not even fiction.

The story was told me by the culprit--or was it genius ?--himself.
And then people began to talk about it and speculate on what its real, inner meaning might be.