up the injured man. A light rain begins. Horacio continues his melancholic preponderances. He is left struck by the mechanical way in which the paramedics treated the victim. To take cover from the poor weather, he steps into the entrance of a theater and decides to stay and watch the piano concert being given there by a madame Berthe Trepat. In the theater, Oliveira listens to the compositions of Trepat, which he judges to be badly written and played even worse. The rest of the audience leaves in the middle of the concert. Everything indicates that Oliveira sympathizes with the woman, whose failure contrasts with her proud attitude. He offers to walk her home. In the rain, she tells him about her problems with Valentin, her partner, who she expects to be at home with one of his lovers. When they arrive, Horacio offers to find her a hotel, and she slaps him, suspecting he has unwholesome intentions. Oliveira walks away crying, humiliated. He returns to la Maga's apartment, where he runs into a suitor of hers, Gregorovius. Horacio believes the two slept together while he was out. In reality, la Maga had rejected his advances. Horacio sits down with the two to have a chat in the style of the Club de la Serpiente, but they are constantly interrupted by an older man who lives on the upper floor and continually hits the floor of his apartment. At a critical point in the conversation, Oliveira touches Rocamadour and realizes that the baby is dead. After reflecting on the senselessness of the death and considering the confusion that the event would cause, Oliveira, with his habitual attitude, decides not to communicate the terrible news. However, given the insistence of the neighbor from the upper floor, he suggests that la Maga go upstairs and confront the man. While she leaves to do that, Oliveira relates Rocamadour's death to Gregorovius. Both sit down to consider the legal implications. Gregorovius does not mention the matter when la Maga returns. Various friends from the Club de la Serpiente arrive at the apartment. Two of them, Ronald and Babs, tell the others that one of the Club's members, Guy Monod, had attempted suicide. Later, a third member of the group, Etienne, arrives to tell them that Monod would survive but was in critical condition. The group embarks on one of their characteristic philosophical discussions, during