Always until then, as is common among men whose taste for the fine arts develops independently of their sensuality, a grotesque disparity had existed between the satisfactions which he would accord to either taste simultaneously; yielding to the seduction of works of art which grew more and more subtle as the women in whose company he enjoyed them grew more illiterate and common, he would take a little servant-girl to a screened box in a theatre where there was some decadent piece which he had wished to see performed, or to an exhibition of impressionist painting, with the conviction, moreover, that an educated, 'society' woman would have understood them no better, but would not have managed to keep quiet about them so prettily. But, now that he was in love with Odette, all this was changed;
Ordura arte, Swannek, arte-zaletasuna eta plazer-atsegintasuna bide banatatik garatzen zaizkien gizon askok bezala, bereizkeria bitxi bat edukia zuen bere baitan errotua, arteari batetik eta plazerari bestetik esleitzen zizkiòn gogo-betegintzarreen artean, zeren gustuko izana baitzuen, emakume gero eta trauskilagoen konpainian, gero eta arte-obra finagoen limurtasunez gozatzea, adibidez, neskame gazteño bat zeramalarik zur-saredun palko batetik entzun gogo zuèn antzerki dekadenteren bat ikustera, edota pintura inpresionistako erakusketaren batera, erabat sinetsirik, bestalde, ezen goi-mailako emakume ikasi panpox batek obra hartatik neskametxo hark baino areago konprenitu ez eta, gainera, hura bezain dotore isiltzeko gaitasunik ere ez zukeela izango.