By Silvina Ocampo, from Thus Were Their Faces, forthcoming in January from New York Review Classics. Ocampo (1903–93) was an Argentine poet and short-story writer. Translated from the Spanish by Daniel Balderston.

This basement, which is extremely cold in winter, is an Eden in the summer. Some people sit by the door upstairs searching for some cool air on the hottest days in January, dirtying the floor. No window lets in the light or the horrible heat of the day. I have a large mirror, a couch or cot given me by a client who was a millionaire, and…