direction and was looking at him when the director started talking to me about

him. He told me that my mother and Monsieur Perez often used to walk down to the

village together in the evenings, accompanied by a nurse. I was looking at the

countryside around me. Seeing the rows of cypress trees leading up to the hills

next to the sky, and the houses standing out here and there against that red and

green earth, I was able to understand Maman better. Evenings in that part of the

country must have been a kind of sad relief. But today, with the sun bearing

down, making the whole landscape shimmer with heat, it was in­ human and

oppressive.

 

We got under way. It was then that I noticed that 1 5 Perez had a slight limp.

Little by little, the hearse was picking up speed and the old man was losing

ground. One of the men Banking the hearse had also dropped back and was now even

with me. I was surprised at how fast the sun was climbing in the sky. I noticed

that for quite some time the countryside had been buzzing with the sound of

insects and the crackling of grass. The sweat was pouring down my face. I wasn't

wearing a hat, so I fanned myself with my handkerchief. The man from the

undertaker's said something to me then which I missed. He was lifting the edge

of his cap with his right hand and wiping his head with a handkerchief with his

left at the same time. I said, "What?" He pointed up at the sky and repeated,

"Pretty hot." I said, "Yes." A minute later he asked, "Is that your mother in

there?" Again I said, "Yes." "Was she old?" I answered, "Fairly," because I

didn't know the exact number. After that he was quiet. I turned around and saw

old Perez about fifty meters behind us. He was going as fast as he could, swing­

ing his felt hat at the end of his arm. I looked at the director, too. He was