|
The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Scenes from a Courtesan's Life by Honore de Balzac: smoke. In short, this woman is the salt of which Rabelais writes,
which, thrown on matter, animates it and elevates it to the marvelous
realms of art; her robe displays unimagined splendor, her fingers drop
gems as her lips shed smiles; she gives the spirit of the occasion to
every little thing; her chatter twinkles with bright sayings, she has
the secret of the quaintest onomatopoeia, full of color, and giving
color; she----"
"You are wasting five francs' worth of copy," said Bixiou,
interrupting Lousteau. "La Torpille is something far better than all
that; you have all been in love with her more or less, not one of you
can say that she ever was his mistress. She can always command you;
|
