Toward the end of the war, Benoit was sent off on his own with forged papers; he wound up working as a horse groom at a chalet in the Loire valley. Mandelbrot describes this harrowing youth with great sangfroid.

He regarded Simon with indulgent fondness, having known him from the cradle, but he knew that Simon was inclined to be a rattlecap; […]

As the levels of education improved, many South East Asian countries became tiger economies.

The loss of his tye-periwig and laced hat, which were curiosities of the kind, did not at all contribute to the improvement of the picture […].