me from his spiritual tutelage, but thinking better of it did not answer at all,—­I fancy that is the easiest way of breaking off a correspondence.  Entering more minutely into the matter, I find that neither his telegram nor his letter have caused my dislike.  Properly speaking, I cannot forgive him that for which I ought to feel grateful,—­his mediation between me and Aniela.  I myself implored him to undertake it, but exactly because I implored him, entrusted him with my fate, confessed to him my weaknesses, and made him in a way my protector, and because the humiliation and sorrow which overwhelmed me passed through his hands,—­this, perhaps, explains my dislike towards him.  I felt angry with myself, and angry with Sniatynski as having a part in it.  It is unjust, I know, but I cannot help it, and my friendship for him has burned out like a candle.

Besides, I have never been quick in forming ties of friendship.  With Sniatynski my relations were closer than with anybody else, perhaps because we lived each of us in a different part of Europe.  I had no other friends.  I belong in general to the class of persons called singles.  I remember there was a time when I considered this a sign of strength.  In the animal world, for instance, the weak ones mostly cling together, and those whom nature has endowed with powerful claws and teeth go single, because they suffice unto themselves.  This principle can be applied to human beings only in exceptional cases.  Incapacity for friendship proves mostly dryness of heart, not strength of character.  As to myself, the cause of it was a certain shyness and sensitiveness.  My heart is like that plant which closes its leaves at the slightest touch.  That I never formed ties of friendship with a woman is a different thing altogether.  I had a desire for friendship in regard to those from whom I expected more.  I feigned it sometimes, as the fox makes believe to be dead in order to secure the rooks.  It does not follow that I disbelieve in friendship between man and woman.  I am not a fool who measures the world according to his own standard, or a churl who is for ever suspecting evil; besides, various observations have proved to me that such a friendship is quite possible.  As there exists the relation of brother and sister, the same feeling may exist between two persons who feel as brother and sister towards each other.  Moreover, the capacity for that kind of friendship belongs to the choicer spirits who have a natural inclination for Platonic feasts, such as poets, artists, philosophers, and generally, people who cannot be measured by the common standard.  If this be a proof that I was not made of the stuff artists, poets, and great men are made of,—­the worse for me.  Most likely it is so, since I am nothing but Leon Ploszowski.  There was a time when I felt that if Aniela had become my wife, she would not only have been my love, but also my dearest friend.  But I prefer not to think of it.  Ghosts of this kind visit me far too often, and I shall never have any peace until I banish them altogether.