Scene 18

Outside the hotel it was a blistering 40 degrees. But the air-conditioners in Maille's hotel was set up to maintain the temperature at reliable and unchangeable 17 degrees – by day and by night. Maille had lodged a complaint with the reception-desk and threatened to open his room windows and thereby sabotage the energy balance of the People's Republic of China. In vain, though. The receptionists had simply smiled at him and the windows were firmly screwed together.

In order to cool his body down to a normal temperature, Maille climbed to the topmost floor of the hotel, where he found a indoor swimming pool. The pool was so full that even the tiniest ripples caused the water to overflow the banks and to run in little rivulets into the corners of the room and then instantly vanish into the floor. As a child, Maille had sometimes imagined that the ocean floor would suddenly develop leaks and that all the water would suddenly drain out of it. The thought had caused him great anxiety. So much so that he had resolved to become a diver and take on the task of scanning the sea-bed for dangerously thin spots. In a way he had fulfilled this dream-vocation, thought Maille as he submerged so fast that he caused the water to brim over the rim of the pool once more and disappear into the floor. While diving he wished that the water would mysteriously leak from the pool into the ceiling above the reception desk and shock the watchmen of the 17 degrees with a sudden shower. He laughed at the thought and came back to the surface, snortling.

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