ligence toward the young ladies, who had formed a defensive front in the shade of one of the pine trees; and I had to put my ques-tion twice and three times over before I received the first answer, with which Miss Thurayya Abu Asali met my question:

— What led you to join the summer session?

— My pressing desire to become acquainted with the modern methods of teaching led me to join the summer session; this, besides my eagerness to add to my experience in languages, and in the psychology of the child and everything connected with it, in its simplicity and its complexity.

As for Miss Salwa Karroum, she delivered her answer while fixing me with steady, calm glances:

I have gained a good deal of experience in teaching in past years, but I feel an impulse always to become acquainted with new surroundings, to gain knowledge that was not open to me before; for I believe that life, be it long or short, is a school in itself, and for the reflective person every day holds a lesson and a sermon.

As for Miss Fathiyya Shehadeh of Damascus, she left me no room to question her, but proceeded to shower me with the reasons that had spurred her to join the summer school: among them, acquaintance with the laws of modern education, and then the fascinating educational excursions, which open new horizons for the broadening of thought — we go back to generations long past, to live with the ancient civilizations

by viewing their precious mon-uments. And there is something else that moved me: my desire for discussion and the free exchange of ideas, and then contact with opinions of every kind.

Miss Linda Sawaya could not hold back a sigh that parted her lips as she pointed toward Dhour el-Choueir: Knowledge, and the love of learning of which we hear in every sermon! Yes, I believe in the proverb that says: "Two there are who are never satisfied..." I left the summer of the Dhour and plunged into this blazing heat, my spur in it being to add to my experience and my knowledge in the teaching of children... my beloved pastime.

And I came back to myself, asking: is there life for a nation whose thinking has died?...