See the fountain--well, you have been tested; you are
still simple enough to go back into the real world. But was Barbara
simple enough? She was seven; it is just about then that we begin, under
the guard of nurses carefully chosen for us by our parents, to drop our
simplicity. It must, of course, be so, or the world would be all
dreamers, and then there would be no commerce.
Barbara knew nothing of commerce, but she did know that she was
unhappy, that her dolls gave her no happiness, and that her Friend did
not come now so often to see her. She was, I am afraid, in character a
"Hopper." She must be affectionate, she must demand affection of others,
and will they not give it her, then must they simulate it. The tragedy
of it all was perhaps, that Barbara had not herself that coloured
vitality in her that would prepare other people to be fond of her. The
world is divided between those who place affection about, now here, now
there, and those whose souls lie, like drawers, unawares, but ready for
the affection to be laid there.
Barbara could not "place" it about; she had neither optimism nor a sense
of humour sufficient.
Pages:
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190