"When he was very small, St George left his rock, got on his golden horse and set off in search of the dragon. As an adult, he was still galloping after it, no longer to kill it, but to find out whether it belonged to the real world or to the world of childhood. When he had grown very old, he saw the dragon's shadow on the very rock he had started out from. He had come almost a full circle in the forest he thought he had passed straight through. But an impassable precipice prevented him from completing that circle. His life line was curved as were his horse's shoes: the further he advanced towards tottering old age the closer he came to his early childhood, without however contriving to breach the gap between the two. If he wanted to find the dragon again, he would have to retrace his steps and review his entire life."