Tch. [he makes a gesture of dismissal.] You really think I am no more than a simple monster, don't you?

You have not a single notion of how much I was holding back, even in my deepest moment of delirium. Perhaps you will understand someday.

[he approaches the edge of the lake and then starts to walk on its surface. The water freezes under his boots; the effect looks like so many large ice-roses forming and then connecting to make a bridge that extends behind and in front of him.]