Scene 16

But a couple of steps later, Maille discovered three little paper balls floating like boats between the waterlilies on the edge of the pond. They were watched over by frogs, whose pathetic croaks seemed to be pleading with the waterbirds to come «eat me, eat me; release me from my frog's life.» Odd that these amphibian creatures are always believed to hate their avatar as frogs – it seems quite as though all of them, without exception, are crying out to be transformed into princes. Carefully, Maille picked out the floating paper balls and opened them. The first paper showed a portrait of Senegal's president Abdulaye Wade, the second was an invitation to the opening of the Dakar Art Biennial the following day, the third turned out to be a picture of Maille in which he appeared to be eating a peach before a background of clear Arabic alphabets. Maille had no inkling when and where that picture could have been taken nor could he remember the last time he had eaten a peach. Moreover, what on earth was his picture doing in this swamp?

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