"Lors du procès Maurice Barrès il accepta le rôle ingrat et dangereux du soldat inconnu venu témoigner en allemand..."

Manuscript note with crossed-out passages by Philippe Soupault, 22 lines in purple ink on a sheet, bearing at the top this inscription: "B.P.", narrating Benjamin Péret's encounter with surrealism.
The co-author, with André Breton, of the surrealist manifesto "Les champs magnétiques" tells us, with a touch of nostalgia, of Benjamin Péret's arrival in the surrealist adventure: "André Breton fut bien étonné de recevoir la visite d'une 'dame' qui lui tendit un n° de la revue Littérature. Elle lui demanda d'aider son fils Benjamin qui voulait venir à Paris pour devenir écrivain. Quelques temps après cette démarche, Benjamin Péret arriva à Paris et fut accueilli par Breton." (André Breton was quite astonished to receive a visit from a 'lady' who handed him an issue of the journal Littérature. She asked him to help her son Benjamin who wanted to come to Paris to become a writer. Some time after this approach, Benjamin Péret arrived in Paris and was welcomed by Breton.)
He depicts the character of the newcomer: "A cette époque Péret était timide, inquiet et dévoué. Il admirait sans réserves et respectueusement André Breton et ses amis. Il était obéissant." (At that time Péret was shy, anxious and devoted. He admired unreservedly and respectfully André Breton and his friends. He was obedient.) and emphasizes his devotion to the group of disrespectful and disruptive surrealists: "Lors du procès Maurice Barrès il accepta le rôle ingrat et dangereux du soldat inconnu venu témoigner en allemand..." (During the Maurice Barrès trial he accepted the thankless and dangerous role of the unknown soldier who came to testify in German...)
Interesting recollections from the last living historical surrealist reminiscing tenderly about one of his former companions.