Morning vendors began to walk the streets behind carts heaped with fresh pastries and fruit. Then came the early bathers and the elders who spoke incessantly about vitamins and their constitutions. A pair of plump children under the watchful eye of a governess broke the glass of the reservoir, splashing the flamingos awake. The coral-colored birds began breakfasting on the abundant algae pooled about their stalks. A customs agent flirted with a young woman selling bathing salts and scented soaps from a tray hung about her neck. The clockwork hippo resumed its impressive gout. Senlin passed through it all so lost to thought that he hardly realized where he was going until he arrived.
He stood before Tarrou, snoring under a towel in his usual lounge chair near the tidy shortline. Senlin pulled the towel from Tarrou's face and slapped him with it until he awoke with a snort.