A second invitation

The following day, a lady invited the two of us to come to her place in the evening to hear her poems. She was a very nice lady, very compassionate, but I did not want to go. I did not want to go where people would be drinking and smoking.

So Mr. Gruber telephoned the lady and asked her, “Will there be drinking or smoking during the reading?”

The lady said that drinking and smoking would not be allowed and so we decided to go. The lady read out eight or ten of her own poems She was very aristocratic and I enjoyed listening to her poems.

Then she requested me to read out some of my poems. But on this occasion, I deliberately did not bring any of my writings. I did not want to risk another unfortunate experience.