Taxis in front of the gare d'Orsay railway station. Paris, about 1935.

Source:
Paris en Images, copyright Roger-Viollet (FA-6369):
Click here to view source.

Gaito Gazdanov's Paris / 10

Suitcases

There was another incident with another gentleman, the proprietor of five suitcases, whom I brought, early in the morning, to avenue Victor-Hugo.

After getting out of the car he curtly told me, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, �You�ll take these suitcases up to the fifth floor.�

He did not even take the trouble to add �please� or �if you�ll be so kind;� his tone of voice betrayed no hint of solicitude or doubt.

"Listen, my dear� � he spun around as though stung by a bee � "your hands aren�t paralysed, or so it would seem?"

"No, why?"

"Because I don�t see why I should carry your suitcases up to the fifth or any other floor. If I had to change a tire, do you think I�d ask you to do it for me?"

He looked me over.

"Are you a foreigner?"

"No."

Each time that incidents like this occurred, the matter was settled as soon as it was learned that I was Russian, that is to say, as soon as I showed my papers to a police officer.

These stories had no sequel � I hadn�t committed any infraction and the people who complained to the police about me did so not to defend their interests but only because I had upset their conventional ideas about relations between the social classes. [196-197]