FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   >>  
d the husband's always kind and grateful to his wife. He does all he can to make things easy for her, and she does all she can to torture him. STRANGER. That's not true. Of course it may sometimes appear to be so. I once had a woman friend who shifted all the defects that she had on to me. For instance, she was very much in love with herself, and therefore called me the most egoistical of men. She drank, and called me a drunkard; she rarely changed her linen and said I was dirty; she was jealous, even of my men friends, and called me Othello. She was masterful and called me Nero. Niggardly and called me Harpagon. TEMPTER. Why didn't you answer her? STRANGER. You know why very well! If I'd made clear to her what she really was, I'd have lost her favour that moment--and it was precisely her favour I wanted to keep. TEMPTER. _A tout prix_! Yes, that's the source of degradation! You grow accustomed to holding your tongue, and at last find yourself caught in a tissue of falsehoods. STRANGER. Wait! Don't you agree that married people so mix their personalities that they can no longer distinguish between meum and tuum, no longer remain separate from one another, or cannot tell their own weaknesses from those of the other. My jealous friend, who called me Othello, took me for herself, identified me with herself. TEMPTER. That sounds conceivable. STRANGER. You see! You can often explain most if you don't ask who's to blame. For when married people begin to differ, it's like a realm divided against itself, and that's the worst kind of disharmony. TEMPTER. There are moments when I think a woman cannot love a man. STRANGER. Perhaps not. To love is an active verb and woman's a passive noun. He loves and she is loved; he asks questions and she merely answers. TEMPTER. Then what is woman's love? STRANGER. The man's. TEMPTER. Well said. And therefore when the man ceases to love her, she severs herself from him! STRANGER. And then? TEMPTER. 'Sh! Someone's coming. Perhaps to take the house! STRANGER. A woman or a man? TEMPTER. A woman! And a man. But he's waiting outside. Now he's turned and is going into the wood. Interesting! STRANGER. Who is it? TEMPTER. You can see for yourself. STRANGER (looking out of the window). It's she! My first wife! My first love! TEMPTER. It seems she's left her second husband recently... and arrived here with number three; who, if one can judge by certain movem
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   >>  



Top keywords:
TEMPTER
 

STRANGER

 

called

 

jealous

 

Othello

 
Perhaps
 
favour
 

people

 
married
 

husband


friend

 

longer

 
active
 

explain

 
moments
 

disharmony

 
differ
 
identified
 

sounds

 

conceivable


divided

 

window

 

Interesting

 

turned

 

number

 

recently

 

arrived

 

answers

 

questions

 

ceases


waiting

 
coming
 

Someone

 

severs

 

passive

 
tongue
 

friends

 
changed
 

drunkard

 
rarely

masterful
 

answer

 
Niggardly
 
Harpagon
 

egoistical

 

torture

 
things
 

grateful

 
defects
 

instance