26 November 1855: Sheet #3

Transcription

would then tell me if it is really difficult to tell if you are good or bad to humanity; if, in short, you are angels or demons. At times, I think and I say...but women are what make our time on earth so enjoyable – it is them who teaches us love, this emanation of God; women are our mothers. She is the goddess of nature as Byron says...therefore, we must love women. But do you know what happens then? A horrible voice behind me yells: Lies!! Through Eve, women are the ones who caused the first disaster of humanity..women are the temptresses of our existence. The love that they inspire is the poison that God gave to this new race of snakes; their words of honey are an eternal mask that fix themselves onto their face..., and if Byron called woman the goddess of nature, another great poet said of her 'cunning as a wave'...So I turn to punish the miserable blasphemer, but the sad man has escaped...and I feel a great big laugh come on that makes me ponder the question (that is the question): Are women a great good or a great evil? To clarify this matter, and tired of asking this person and that person, I turn to the 'dead', that is, towards books, and the labyrinth only becomes more interwoven, the darkness even denser, the mess more obvious. Open any book that has to do with any topic, good or bad, you will find either a debate about women or an apology to them, depending on whether the author has been lucky with love or not. Now tell me, sweet readers, among the many controversial opinions, how could an ignorant person like me wrap his head around this! Just think that after having read a chapter of the Bible where you all are raised up to the stars, I happened to read a passage from Byron or Shakespeare that slanders you, or after reveling in a beautiful verse about your heart, 'the cup in which the juice of hope and joy are concealed (Lachabeaundie)', a passage by 'Guerrazzi' appeared in my hand where you were called 'whitened tombs'. Can I share my opinion? Can I know if you are angels or demons? I, who does not know how to give advice, trust whoever knows more about this than me, and they give me controversial answers – Go find the truth. And here, I must end my little chat (good news for the gracious reader), and do you know why? Because while I wanted to articulate a great passage full of rhetorical flowers to prove to the world that you all are the model of consistency, of affection, of goodness, a cursed neighbor without any manners starts to sing the parody of the verses from 'Hugo' right on my head. Woman is unstable Like a feather in the wind! It makes me fall from ecstasy, and throwing my pen in fury, I feel the need to exclaim; Ladies! And the misseses who read me, have patience if I do not defend or praise you today; and console yourselves by saying – Whether we are good or bad, men cannot be without us, and they will always search for us. This is enough for us for now. And with this I finish, and I will meet with you this coming week if I have not exasperated you today. A. Arbib