An author who had written only one play, which he would allow to be performed on only one occasion in what in his opinion was the best theater in the world and, likewise, only directed by, in his opinion, the best director and acted by the best actors in the world, had installed himself, before the curtain rose on the first night, in a seat in the gallery that was best suited to his purpose but was invisible to the audience, had sighted his machine gun, specially constructed for the purpose by the Swiss firm of Vetterli, and, after the curtain had risen, had put a bullet through the head of every member of the audience who had, in his opinion, laughed in the wrong place. At the end of the performance only those members of the audience whom he had shot, and who were therefore dead, remained seated in the theater. The actors and the theater manager had not allowed themselves to be disturbed for a moment by the self-willed author and the events he had perpetrated.