Button-Man  #2

Everything was stolen from me in Montmartre...
everything...on the rue Girardon...I repeat...I can't
repeat it enough...people pretend not to hear...the
exact things they need to hear...though I've said it
plainly enough...the works!...Somebody, liberators,
avengers, broke into my place and carried every-
thing off to the Flea Market...they sold it all...I'm
not exaggerating, I've got proof, witnesses, names
...all my books and instruments, my furniture, my
manuscripts...the whole shebang...I didn't find one
thing...not a handkerchief, not a chair...they'd sold
even the walls...the apartment, everything...put it in
all their pockets...and there you have it...Oh, I know
what you think...it's only natural...I can hear you...
that such things can never happen to you, that you've
taken your precautions...that you're as good a
Communist as any millionaire, as good a Poujadist
as Poujade, as Russian as the dressing, more
American than Buffalo...hand in glove with every-
thing that counts, Lodge, Cell, Sacristy, the Law!...
The champion new-style Vrenchman...the historical
trend runs straight through your asshole...honorary
brother?...certainly!...executioner's helper? we'll
see...guillotine licker?...Oh, well!

From Céline's
Castle to Castle
Translation Ralph Manheim