Hero Ponders the Lives of Mr. Billings, Ring-Eyed Liege,
and Madame De La Rougierre.

After the hero talks to his
relatives, he adjures little men
no longer little to climb with
unprecedented vigor and frankness.
He rides a bike around ring
roads in search of former
military men who do not like
their former leaders. He says,
“Behold! The brilliant Technicolor
background, the cigarette smoke!”
The hero calls for an active
participation in what he calls “living.”
The hero says, “why produce
life to sing from swings if not
to sing from them as long
as possible.” This indulgent
sentiment is contradictory, he
knows, given his diet, but it is not
easy to love people and it is difficult
to protect those who are small.