The drills reached the bottom； revolving continually they screwed themselves back into his eyes. S- smiled double-curvedly， nodded， and slid to the exit.
I covered my face with the newspaper （I felt as if everybody were looking at me）， and soon I forgot about the eyelash， about the little drills， about everything， I was so upset by what I read in the paper： "According to authentic information， traces of an organization， which still remains out of reach， have again been discovered. This organization aims at liberation from the beneficial yoke of the State."
Liberation！ It is remarkable how persistent human criminal instincts are！ I use deliberately the word "criminal，" for freedom and crime are as closely related as—well， as the movement of an aero and its speed： if the speed of an aero equals zero， the aero is motionless； if human liberty is equal to zero， man does not commit any crime. That is clear. The way to rid man of criminality is to rid him of freedom. No sooner did we rid ourselves of freedom （in the cosmic sense centuries are only a "no sooner"） than suddenly some unknown pitiful degenerates...No， I cannot understand why I did not go immediately yesterday to the Bureau of Guardians. Today， after sixteen o"clock， I shall go without fail.
At sixteen-ten I was in the street； at once I noticed O-90 at the corner； she was all rosy with delight at the encounter. She has a simple， round mind. A timely meeting； she would understand and lend me support. Or， no， I did not need any support； my decision was firm.
The pipes of the Musical Tower thundered out harmoniously the March—the same daily March. How wonderful the charm of this dailiness， of this constant repetition and mirror-like smoothness！
"Out for a walk？" Her round blue eyes opened toward me widely， blue windows leading inside； I penetrate there unhindered； there is nothing in there， I mean nothing foreign， nothing superfluous.
"No， not for a walk. I must go." I told her where. And to my astonishment I saw her rosy round mouth form a crescent with the horns downward as if she tasted something sour. This angered me.
"You she—Numbers seem to be incurably eaten up by prejudices. You are absolutely unable to think abstractly. Forgive me the word， but this I call bluntness of mind."
""You？... to the spies？ How ugly！ And I went to the Botanical Garden and brought you a branch of lily of the valley..."
"Why "and I"？ Why this "and"？ just like a woman！"
Angrily （this I must confess）， I snatched the flowers. "Here they are， your lilies of the valley. Well， smell them！ Good？ Yes？ Why not use a little bit of logic？ The lilies of the valley smell good； all right！ But you cannot say about an odor， about the conception of an odor， that it is good or bad， can you？ You can"t， can you？ There is the smell of lilies of the valley， and there is the disagreeable smell of henbane. Both are odors. The ancient States had their spies； we have ours...， yes， spies！ I am not afraid of words. But is it not clear to you that there the spies were henbane； here they are lilies of the valley？ Yes， lilies of the valley. Yes！"
The rosy crescent quivered. Now I understand that it was only my impression， but at that moment I was certain she was going to laugh. I shouted still louder：
"Yes， lilies of the valley！ And there is nothing funny about it， nothing funny！"
The smooth round globes of heads passing by were turning toward us. O-90 gently took my hand.
"You are so strange today...， are you ill？"
My dream....Yellow color....Buddha....It was at once home clearly upon me that I must go to the Medical Bureau.
"Yes， you are right， I am sick，" I said with joy （that seems to me an inexplicable contradiction； there was nothing to be joyful about）.
"You must go at once to the doctor. You understand that； you are obliged to be healthy； it seems strange to have to prove it to you."
"My dear O-， of course you are fight..Absolutely fight."
I did not go to the Bureau of Guardians； I could not； I had to go to the Medical Bureau； they kept me there until seventeen o"clock.
In the evening （incidentally， the Bureau of Guardians is closed evenings）—in the evening O- came to see me. The curtains were not lowered. We busied ourselves with the arithmetical problems of an ancient textbook. This occupation always calms and purifies our thoughts. O- sat over her notebook， her head slightly inclined to the left； she was so assiduous that she poked out her left cheek with the tongue from within. She looked so child-like， so charming....I felt everything in me was pleasant， precise， and simple.
She left. I remained alone. I breathed deeply two times （it is very good exercise before retiring for the night）. Suddenly—an unexpected odor reminiscent of something very disagreeable！ I soon found out what was the matter： a branch of lily of the valley was hidden in my bed. Immediately everything was aroused again， came up from the bottom. Decidedly， it was tactless on her part to put these lilies of the valley there surreptitiously. Well， true I did not go； I didn"t， but was it my fault that I had felt indisposed？
