MS-WU-MSS008-3-49

[1528] the same order as the first time and that the first, seventh and twelfth
for example of the first c^ycle might very well be the sixth, eleventh and
^sixteenth respectively of the second, assuming the worst came to the worst.
[1529] But that was a drawback I could not avoid. [1530] And if [⁁]ⁱⁿ the cycles taken
together utter confusion was bound to reign, at least within each cycle
taken separately I could be easy in my mind, at least as easy as one can
be, in a proceeding of this kind.

[1531] For for each cycle to be identical,
as to the succession of stones in my mouth, and God knows I had set my
heart on it, the only means were numbered stones or sixteen pockets. [1532] And
rather than make twelve more pockets or number my stones, I preferred to
make the best of ^the comparative peace of mind I enjoyed within each cycle
taken separately.

[1533] For it was not enough to number the stones, but I
would have had to remember, every time I put a stone in my mouth, the
number I need^ed and look for it in my pocket. [1534] Which would have spoilt
the taste of stones for me, in a very short time. [1535] For I would never
have been sure of not making a mistake, unless of course I had kept a
kind of register, in which to tick off the stones one by one, as I
sucked them.

[1536] And of this I believed myself incapable. [1537] No, the only
perfect solution would have been the sixteen pockets, symmetrically
disposed, each one with its stone. [1538] Then I would have needed neither
to number nor to thin^k, but merely, as I sucked a given stone, to move
on the fifteen others, each to the next pocket, a delicate business
admittedly, but within my power, and to call always on the same pocket
when I felt like sucking.

[1539] This would have freed me from all anxiety,
not only within each cycle taken separately, but al^so for the sum of
all cycles, though they went on forever. [1540] But however imperfect my
own solution was, I was pleased at having found it all alone, yes, quite
pleased. [1541] And if it was perhaps less sound than I had thought in the
first flush of discovery, its inelegance never diminished. [1542] And it was