She hesitated for a moment whether she would not at once end the interview; she decided, however, to proceed: "I have a story to relate to you," she continued, in a familiar tone; "listen with attention, I beg of you.

I err if in the end you do not find it interesting.

Thirteen or fourteen years ago, one of those unlucky chances, common in travelling, obliged me to pass several hours in a miserable little town in Galicia.

The inn, or rather the tavern, where I stopped, was very dirty; the tavern-keeper, an ill-looking little German Jew, was still dirtier than his tavern, and he had a son who was in no better condition.

I am given to forming illusions about people.