The bigger ones, such as those in Raixa or Alfabia, thus have an air of harems, surrounded by walls, inconspicuous from far away. One can amble around to one heart´s content without detecting their presence, and, when one steps into them it is as though it is with violence.

Nothing adds more value to the scene of a garden, a fountain or a trained vine, as these necessary precautions. They thrill like a revelation. By stealth, the favourite lifted her veil a little; we surprised the fire of a gaze, the red promise of a smile.

Mallorca, 1933

Translated by Núria Cohen.

(Tours, 1880 – Saint-Brieuc, França, 1959). François Félicien Duran, better known as Francis de Miomandre, was a French novelist and poet. He also worked as a translator and literary critic by collaborating with the Parisian press. He was the winner of the Goncourt Prize for the novel Écrit sur l´eau (1909) and published various collections of poems as well as essays. In Mallorca, Miomandre took up residence in Formentor. His sojourn on the island led him to publish Mallorca (1933), based on his experiences and trips to the island.