 The reference here to stroking " that little tower " is derived from a series of letters written while Rilke was completing the Elegies including a letter he wrote to Klossowska , and one to his former lover , Lou Andreas @-@ Salomé . In the letter to Andreas @-@ Salomé , he writes " I went out and stroked the little Muzot , which protected it and me and finally granted it , like a large old animal . " 
