In Favour Of The Passionate Existence

Albertine grabs Gilberte's towel.

My turn, says Albertine.

She starts drying her legs with the towel, and rubbing the damp patch at the back of her skirt.

Would you like an ice cream? asks Proust.

That would be lovely, says Albertine. Coming Gilberte?

Yes, Gilberte is coming.

Proust is now obliged to get up off the lounge chair and walk over the road with Albertine and Gilberte to look for the Betty Ice.

He didn't invite you, says Constance.

He knows me, says Arthur. He knows if I wanted an ice cream I'd get one.

Like me, says Constance.

I can attest to that, says Gaius. She wanted one, and she got one, without even moving.

And I got one, says Daniel O'Connell. But I had to crawl out of the bottle.

So Arthur, your'e a poet, says Constance. I knew Yeats, as a girl. Do you know him?

Arthur doesn't answer. He is picking his knee scabs, which have softened since he went in the water.

Perhaps he doesn't, says Gaius.

W B Yeats? says Constance. Wild Swans At Coole?

Arthur places a scab on his tongue. It tastes salty.

Let me try, says Daniel O'Connell. Arthur?

What? says Arthur.

Yeats makes 'drop' rhyme with 'up', says Daniel O'Connell.

Ah! says Gaius. So he does.Where does that come from?

It comes from A Dialogue of Self and Soul, says Constance.

Now she has Arthur's attention. He swallows the scab, although he hadn't meant to.

It goes like this, says Constance:

A living man is blind and drinks his drop
What matter if the ditches are impure?
What matter if I live it all once more?
Endure that toil of growing up...?

Did you catch that? says Daniel O'Connell. If you say 'up' as 'op', 'drop' rhymes with it. We Irish know that sort of thing, so we do.

Self or Soul? asks Arthur.

Self, replies Constance. I think Yeats was rejecting his higher self in favour of a passionate existence, even if it meant making mistakes.

So it goes on, says Arthur.

Yes, it's quite a bit longer, says Constance.

We must be thinking of going, says Gaius.

Must you? says Constance. Where are you off to?

Tenerife, says Daniel O'Connell.

Adelaide, says Gaius. But first we must return to Constanta, and hand in these bicycles.

Not necessarily, says Arthur.

Of course we must, says Gaius.

Only the first two hours were free, says Arthur.

Dear me, says Gaius. We are probably up for a hefty bill. How annoying!

Good reason not to return them, says Constance. I'm with Arthur, and the passionate existence!

Arthur thinks she must have a dull life if failing to return a hired bicycle is a mark of a passionate existence.

Proust meanwhile has bought both Albertine and Gilberte mint ice creams.

They are crossing the road. Proust is propositioning Albertine.

Proust: Will you write to me when I go back to Paris?

Gilberte: No, she won't.

Albertine: I might.

Proust: I require a promise.

Albertine: All right. I promise.

Gilberte: What about Daniel?

Albertine: Shut UP, Gilberte.

Proust: A dagger has gone through my heart. I'd forgotten about Daniel.

Albertine: So had I.

Proust: If you're so forgetful, how can I expect you to remember your promise?

Gilberte: If you really want to keep her, why not put her in a novel?

Proust: Perfect. I'll put you both in!