FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128  
129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   >>   >|  
earth I cling to. (Going to the left.) Good-bye, girl or woman, whatever I should call you. There's no need to weep! DAUGHTER. I wasn't thinking of weeping, though I dare say good breeding would demand I should. Well, good-bye! (She goes out right.) STRANGER (to the CONFESSOR). I think I came out of that well! It's a mercy to part with content on both sides. Mankind, after all, makes rapid progress, and self-control increases as the flow of the tear-ducts lessens. I've seen so many tears shed in my lifetime, that I'm almost taken aback at this dryness. She was a strong child, just the kind I once wished to be. The most beautiful thing that life can offer! She lay, like an angel, wrapped in the white veils of her cradle, with a blue coverlet when she slept. Blue and arched like the sky. That was the best: what will the worst look like? CONFESSOR. Don't excite yourself, but be of good cheer. First throw away that foolish guide-book, for this is your last journey. STRANGER. You mean this? Very well. (He opens the book, kisses one of the pages and then throws it into the river.) Anything else? CONFESSOR. If you've any gold or silver, you must give it to the poor. STRANGER. I've a silver watch. I never got as far as a gold one. CONFESSOR. Give that to the ferryman; and then you'll get a glass of wine. STRANGER. The last! It's like an execution! Perhaps I'll have to have my hair cut, too? CONFESSOR. Yes. Later. (He takes the watch and goes to the door of the ferryman's hut, speaking a few whispered words to someone within. He receives a bottle of wine and a glass in exchange, which he puts on the table.) STRANGER (filling his glass, but not drinking it.) Shall I never get wine up there? CONFESSOR. No wine; and you'll see no women. You may hear singing; but not the kind of songs that go with women and wine. STRANGER. I've had enough of women; they can't tempt me any more. CONFESSOR. Are you sure? STRANGER. Quite sure.... But tell me this: what do you think of women, who mayn't even set their feet within your consecrated walls? CONFESSOR. So you're still asking questions? STRANGER. And why may an abbess never hear confession, never read mass, and never preach? CONFESSOR. I can't answer that. STRANGER. Because the answer would accord with my thoughts on that theme. CONFESSOR. It wouldn't be a disaster if we were to agree for once. STRANGER. Not at all! CONFESSOR. Now drink up you
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   104   105   106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128  
129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
CONFESSOR
 

STRANGER

 

silver

 

answer

 

ferryman

 
receives
 
exchange
 

bottle

 
filling
 

execution


Perhaps

 

speaking

 
whispered
 

singing

 
confession
 

abbess

 
preach
 
questions
 

Because

 

accord


thoughts

 

wouldn

 

disaster

 

consecrated

 

drinking

 

lessens

 

lifetime

 

strong

 

wished

 

dryness


increases

 
control
 

weeping

 

demand

 

breeding

 
thinking
 

content

 
progress
 

DAUGHTER

 
Mankind

beautiful
 

foolish

 
excite
 
journey
 

Anything

 

throws

 
kisses
 

wrapped

 
cradle
 

arched