B935 <=> B937 [BTG XLII Beelzebub in America, p. 936]

“And that is, I was astonished by their what is called ‘ambiguity’ and ‘obscenity.’

“The ambiguity and obscenity of these stories were such that any single one of these American storytellers could have given a dozen points to ‘Boccaccio,’ famous there on the planet Earth.

“Boccaccio is the name a of certain writer who wrote for the beings of the Earth a very instructive book called the Decameron; it is very widely read there at the present time and is the favorite of contemporary beings breeding there on all continents and belonging to almost all communities there.

“The following day, also in the evening, this kind Mr. Bellybutton took me again to some still other friends of his.

“Here also were a large number of young American beings both male and female, sitting in various corners of a very large room conversing quietly and very placidly.

“When we were seated, a pretty young American girl soon came and sat down beside me, and began chatting with me.

“As is usual there, I took up the conversation, and we chatted about anything and everything, she asking me among other things many questions about the city of Paris.

“In the midst of the conversation, this American as they say ‘young lady’ suddenly, for no earthly reason at all, began stroking my neck.

“I immediately thought, How kind of her! She must certainly have noticed a ‘flea’ on my nick and is now stroking the place to allay the irritation.

“But when I soon noticed that all the young American beings present were also stroking each other, I was much astonished and could not understand what it was all about.