Passage

An old friend from abroad, whom I was expecting to stay with me, telephoned from the airport to tell me that he had arrived. I still at the office at the time, but I had made arrangements for his arrival. After explaining where my new flat was, I told him that I had left the key under the doormat. As I was likely to be home rather late, I advised him to go into the kitchen and help himself to food and drink.

Two hours later, my friend telephoned me from the flat. At that moment, he said he was listening to some of my records after having just had a truly wonderful meal. He had found a pan on the gas stove and fried two eggs and had helped himself to some cold chicken from the refrigerator. Now, he said he was drinking a glass of orange juice and he hoped I would join him. When I asked him if he had reached the flat without difficulty, he answered that he had not been able to find the key under the doormat, but fortunately, the living room by the apple tree had been left open and he had climbed in. I listened to all this in astonishment. There is no apple tree in front of my neighbours!