Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction; Short stories, Irish
Had the people in the court-room read of this trial in their
homes--read the bare facts, the testimony of witnesses, there was not
one who would have wasted a second thought on Anna Janssen. Perhaps in
the hearts of one or two there would have lingered the feeling that it
was not right she should be strapped horribly in the chair. But that
would have been chivalry, not justice. One and all would have said:
"That is what the death penalty is for--to remove from human contact
one who has no right to God's sunshine, and who has arrogated to her
vile and puny self the right of the Creator, the disposal of human
life. Muffle her up. Hustle her away. Throw on the current and hide
her in quicklime. Life is not for such as she!"
But between the woman whom the witnesses had drawn in black, sinister
colors and the lady in the dock there was a continent of difference.
True, she was the same height, the same figure, but for a healthy
development of years. True, such marks of identification as Anna
Janssen the chorus girl had, might be noted on the body of her who was
a prisoner at the bar.
But the body of Anna Janssen the chorus girl was soft and white and
made for sinister loving, while that of the woman in the dock was
healthy and hard and tanned, after the fashion of Eve, whom the Lord
God made in the garden. And Anna Janssen's had swayed alluringly with
provocative sophistication, while the carriage of this woman was erect
and of great dignity. And the eyes of the chorus girl had been full of
evil knowledge and unhealthy flame, but this woman's had wistfulness
and a strange mystery.
And in the heart of every one there rose a cry: "This is not the same
woman. This is a good woman!"
There is a theory of an old medical school whose name--not that it
matters--I regret to have forgotten. And it is this: that every seven
years the human body changes. We have not the same bones, nor the same
skin, the same muscles at thirty-five that we had at twenty-eight.
They are worn out and are eliminated, and new tissue takes their place.
It may be wrong, but it is a very taking theory. It explains to us how
the track athlete of some years ago becomes the paunchy, bald-headed,
repulsive man of to-day. It explains how the well-fed man of the world
may turn into a harsh-faced monk. It explains to us how the soft,
succubine chorus girl of a dozen years before became the splendid
amazon that Anna Janssen is to-day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account