When we reached the top, there was no summit, but rather a high plateau, over which went a wide street with rather tall ancient houses on both sides. At once we were no longer on foot but in a car, driving along this street, sitting next to each other on the backwards-facing seat, as it seemed to me; perhaps the car’s direction of travel changed while we sat inside. Then I leaned over my beloved in order to kiss her. She didn’t offer me her mouth, but rather her cheek. And while I kissed her, I noticed that this cheek was of ivory and was permeated along its whole length by black, ornately radiating veins, which struck me because of their beauty.

The Knower

I see myself in the Wertheim department store in front of a flat little box with wooden figures, such as a little sheep, just like the animals that made up Noah’s Ark. But this little sheep was much flatter and made of a rough, unpainted wood. This toy lured me. As I let the salesgirl show it to me, it transpires that it is constructed like a magic tile, as found in many magic boxes: these little panels are loose and shift, all turning blue or red, according to how the ribbons are pulled. This flat, magical wooden toy grows on me all the more after I realise this. I ask the salesgirl the price and am most astonished that it costs more than seven marks. Then I make a difficult decision not to buy. As I turn to go, my last glance at it falls on something unexpected. The construction has transformed. The flat panel rises steeply upwards as an inclined plane; at its end is a door. A mirror occupies it. In this mirror I see what is playing out on the inclined plane, which is a road: two children run on the left side. Otherwise it is empty. All this is under glass. The houses, however, and the children on the street are brightly coloured. Now I can no longer resist; I pay the price and put it about my person. In the evening I intend to show it to friends. But there is unrest in Berlin. The Nazis are threatening to storm the café where we have met; in feverish consultation we survey all the other cafés, but none appear to offer protection. So we make an expedition into the desert. There it is night; tents are erected; lions are close by. I have not forgotten my precious treasure, which more than anything I want to show everyone. But the opportunity does not arise. Africa mesmerises everyone too much. And I wake up before I can reveal the secret which has in the meantime been fully revealed to me: the three phases into which the toy falls. The first panel: that colourful street with the two children.