Composer. Oh, for a long time now.

Director. You see.

Composer. Oh, that’s something else again. My wife is a serious and saintly woman, two years older than me. It’s a sober life. But here is a delightful, easy world! My pulse is always quicker here, than at home. He demonstrates. Yet these women are so pleasant, who sit here in your antechamber, in a row like birds on a branch, hoping … No, do not be so angry.

Director. Desperate, if you please. These birds always want to perch on my shoulder. And this year, I don’t know what’s come over them, they’re more impudent than ever.

Composer. What an extraordinary surprise! The sultan on his throne is a moralist.

Director. I am not a moralist, if you please. I am a decent man and I have taste. Such love as that must not be mine. I find it repugnant.

My sleep patterns got out of whack and I spent most of the evening napping, so I’ll post a bit of what I have now, and keep on working. So, no daily total now.