As all readers of Cocteau's [Les Enfants terribles] will remember, the story is caught between two very similar events. They are so similar, in fact, as to make the final one seem like a repetition of the first. Early in Les Enfants terribles Paul falls victim to what the narrator calls a "dark blow" (un coup sombre …). He has been struck by a snowball aimed at him by Dargelos, whose cheeks are flushed with fire (les joues en feu). Gérard saves Paul, so to speak, by taking him home to Elizabeth and the famous "room"; in other words, Gérard has led him to a metaphorical death where he will remain, sheltered from reality. Toward the end of the book Dargelos sends Paul a dark ball (boule sombre …), presumably a poison or a drug (corresponding to the neige of the earlier ball); its inside is reddish in...