Venus in Furs by Leopold Ritter von Sacher-Masoch
page 32 of 193 (16%)
page 32 of 193 (16%)
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Christian marriage have done well, simultaneously to invent
immortality. I, however, have no wish to live eternally. When with my last breath everything as far as Wanda von Dunajew is concerned comes to an end here below, what does it profit me whether my pure spirit joins the choirs of angels, or whether my dust goes into the formation of new beings? Shall I belong to one man whom I don't love, merely because I have once loved him? No, I do not renounce; I love everyone who pleases me, and give happiness to everyone who loves me. Is that ugly? No, it is more beautiful by far, than if cruelly I enjoy the tortures, which my beauty excites, and virtuously reject the poor fellow who is pining away for me. I am young, rich, and beautiful, and I live serenely for the sake of pleasure and enjoyment." While she was speaking her eyes sparkled roguishly, and I had taken hold of her hands without exactly knowing what to do with them, but being a genuine dilettante I hastily let go of them again. "Your frankness," I said, "delights me, and not it alone--" My confounded dilettantism again throttled me as though there were a rope around my neck. "You were about to say--" "I was about to say--I was--I am sorry--I interrupted you." "How, so?" A long pause. She is doubtless engaging in a monologue, which |
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