Programming's loss will be Philosophy's gain, he pointed out.
     So I tried to lose myself in solitary contemplation of the mysteries of the universe once more. I had passed from science to philosophy as easily as I passed from healthiness to my death bed. Still there was no revelation, and none was to come. It is my pleasure and distraction to interest myself in the peculiar and complicated misfortunes that life in a great city visits upon my fellow-men. You may be familiar with the history of that glorious and immortal ruler, the Caliph Harun Al Rashid, whose wise and beneficent excursions among his people in the city of Bagdad secured him the privilege of relieving so much of their distress. In my humble way I walk in his footsteps. I seek for romance and adventure in city streets - not in ruined castles or in crumbling palaces. To me the greatest marvels of magic are those that take place in men's hearts when acted upon by the furious and diverse forces of a crowded population. In your strange behavior this evening I fancy a story lurks. I read in your act something deeper than the wanton wastefulness of a spendthrift. I observe in your countenance the certain traces of consuming grief or despair. I repeat - I invite your confidence. I am not without some power to alleviate and advise. Will you not trust me?"
     I retreated, I wrote fickle essays and embarrassing verse. And then I stopped writing altogether. My bold turn to philosophy took me all the way to the tourist tea shops where I sat drinking strong tea, idly thumbing through books as thick as they were empty. I retreated, in the end, to my island. The tiny island where all the remaining sweetness in my life cowered.
     I clenched my island tightly in my mind as I slipped slowly away from the chaos and the catastrophy.