Everyone was in agreement about Ludi’s group and about the heat. The heat counted a great deal in these ruined holidays. Ludi came along when people were discussing this and he made it clear that he was not in agreement, neither about the heat nor about the holidays. He said he liked his holiday, he liked this place, and he liked the heat. He said that when it started to get cold in a few months, the memory of this place and its heat, the recollection of these lifeless, breathless afternoons, would help him to stand the fog and the wind better.
After Ludi came along and spoke about the heat, the man declared that in general he agreed with Ludi. The heat was not as unbearable as people said it was. So far as the holiday was concerned, it was a rather good holiday, especially insofar as it was a change from the kind of holiday one generally took. Someone asked him what was good about it and in what way it was so different and he said that it was especially because of the people here. What was different about them, Jacques wanted to know. The man said they were quite different, one from another, but they all had something in common, something he had never encountered before - he laughed - something he would be very careful not to speak about at this time. Jacques laughed along with the man, and Ludi seemed happy. Was it that they were all friends, Jacques asked. The man said that he wasn’t sure it was only that. Jacques did not insist.
[The Little Horses of Tarquinia, Duras, M.]
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