Part Two

“.⁠ ⁠… To illustrate: Once young Jean C⁠⸺ came to me after a month of diligent investigation on a difficult assignment. He wore a forlorn expression. Without a word he handed me a slip of official paper. I read it in surprise. It was his resignation.

“ ‘Here, Jean!’ I cried. ‘What is the meaning of this?’

“ ‘I have failed, M. Brillon,’ he muttered. ‘A month’s work, gone to the devil. I have been on the wrong track. It is a disgrace.’

“ ‘Jean, my friend,’ said I solemnly, ‘this for your resignation.’ Wherewith I tore it to hits before his astonished eyes. ‘Go now,’ I admonished him, ‘and begin from the beginning. For remember always the maxim: He who would know right must first know wrong!’ ”

From Reminiscences of a Prefect,
by Auguste Brillon