elled to
paint pictures for a living, and still less just to pass the time away;
but who, struck by the majesty of a fine physiognomy and by the
admirable play of light that blends in a thousand tints on a human face,
tries to approach in his works the sublime effects of nature!"

While my soul was making these reflections, the beast was running its
own way. Instead of going to court, as it had been ordered to, it
swerved so much to the left that at the moment when my soul caught it
up, it was at the door of Mme. de Hautcastel's house, half a mile from
the palace.

* * * * *

If it is useful and pleasant to have a soul so disengaged from the
material world that one can let her travel all alone when one wishes to,
this faculty is not without its inconveniences. It was through it, for
instance, that I burnt my fingers. I usually leave to my beast the duty
of preparing my breakfast. It toasts my bread and cuts it in slices.
Above all, it makes coffee beautifully, and it drinks it very often
without my soul taking part in the matter, except when she amuses
herself with watching the beast at work. This, however, is rare, and a
very difficult thing to do.

It is easy, during some mechanical act, to think of something else; but
it is extremely difficult to study oneself in action, so to speak; or,
to explain myself according to my own system, to employ one's soul in
examining the conduct of one's beast, to see it work without taking any
part. This is really the most astonishing metaphysical feat that man can
execute.

I had laid my tongs on the charcoal to toast my bread, and some time
after, while my soul was on her travels, a flaming stump rolled on the
grate; my poor beast went to take up the tongs, and I burnt my fingers.

_IV.--A Great Picture_

The first stage of my journey round my room is accomplished. While my
soul has been explaining my new system of metaphysic, I have been
sitting in my armchair in my favourite attitude, with the two front feet
raised a couple of inches off the floor. By swaying my body to and fro,
I have insensibly gained ground, and I find myself with a start close to
the wall. This is the way in which I travel when I am not in a hurry.

My chamber is hung with prints and paintings which embellish it in an
admirable manner. I should like the reader to examine them one after the
other, and to entertain himself during the long journey that we must
make in