Céline, Meudon ca.1959

                               
if they leave me in peace even just a tiny bit, right
away an anecdote pops into my head...I play
around with it and I have a good chuckle...If they
just didn't howl so much all around me...I grab my
writing stuff and get to work!...This Fable that
you're gonna treat yourself to, because, you see,
everything's ready!...printers, bookstores, whole-
salers, book stands!...and of course my royalties,
in advance! oh, implacable I am! to hell with the
sweet talk!...dollars or rubles, depends! From now
on I accept only the victors' currency! Ah, you'll
see me living the high life again! dressed to the
nines! suit jackets of such distinction! turned out
like a shah! the nails done! The pirates grabbed
everything I had, I was telling you, all my stuff,
outfits, equipment, real estate! It was wild back
then! So Fable has to sell! I boom again! Excuse
me, a new man! the hash I made of everything?
who cares? You'll be flabbergasted! on your ass!
the battery of kitchen utensils! my drawing rooms!
my pretty little chambermaids to open the door!
and the bike that's so light it almost glides forward
without me, at the mere suspicion that I might want
to straddle it!...the brand: the "Imponder"...faster
than Arlette in a sprint! Wait'll you see me!...
Arlette, who's a sylph on the pedals!...From 
Trinité to Montmartre: seven strides! a breeze...
that's her! a breath of air and she's gone! and that's
uphill!

From Céline's
Fable for Another Time
Translation Mary Hudson