"Do you mean to say that you believe," he said to me, "that there will
ever come a time when every man will be able to set a bowl of oysters
from Arcachon upon his table and top it off with a bottle of champagne
of first-rate vintage, besides having a woman sitting beside him in a
Worth gown?"
"No, no, Don Juan," I replied. "In the eyes of the anarchist, oysters,
champagne, and Worth are mere superstitions, myths to which we attach no
importance. We do not spend our time dreaming about oysters, while
champagne is not nectar to our tastes. All that we ask is to live well,
and to have those about us live well also."
We could not convince each other. When Schmitz and I left Valera's house
it was already night, and we found ourselves absorbed in his talents and
his limitations.
ORTEGA Y GASSET
Ortega y Gasset impresses me as a traveller who has journeyed through
the world of culture. He moves upon a higher level, which it is
difficult to reach, and upon which it is still more difficult to
maintain oneself.
It may be that Ortega has no great sympathy for my manner of living,
which is insubordinate; it may be that I look with unfriendly eye upon
his ambitious and aristocratic sympathies; nevertheless, he is a master
who brings glad news of the unknown--that is, of the unknown to us.
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