Rica to * * *.
I went the other day to look through a house where a meagre provision is made for some three hundred people . 1 I was not long about it; for the church and the buildings do not deserve much attention. Those who live in this establishment were quite cheerful; many of them played at cards, or other games of which I knew nothing. As I left, one of the residents left also; and having heard me ask the way to the Marais, the remotest district of Paris, “ I am going there,” said he, “and will conduct you; follow me.” He guided me wonderfully, steered me through the crowds, and protected me dexterously from carriages and coaches. We had almost arrived, when curiosity got the better of me. “ My good friend,” I said, “ may I not know who you are?” “I am blind, sir,” he answered. “ What! ” I cried; “ blind ? Then why did you not ask the good fellow who was playing at cards with you to be our guide?” “He is blind, too,” was the answer: “ for four hundred years there have been three hundred blind folks in the house where you met me. But I must leave you. There is the street you want. I am going with the crowd into that church, where, I promise you, people will be less in my way than I will be in theirs.”
Paris, the 17th of the moon of Chalval, 1712.