It is not pleasant to see a pretty face, glorious complexion, well-made
body, without mind, intellect, or soul worth mentioning; but it is a
common sight. It is not pleasant to speak to that face, and watch its
vacancy increase. A dog would understand at once; but that human face
remains dull. A good many strange thoughts suggest themselves on
fair-days and holidays in and about the Stannary Towns. There are plenty
of pretty faces, glorious complexions, and well-made bodies surrounded
with clothing which the old Puritans would have denounced as immoral;
but not a mind, not an intellect above potato-peeling, in the lot. They
come into the towns like so many birds of passage; at nightfall they go
out, shrieking, many of them, for lack of intelligent speech, and return
to potato-peeling. The warmth of the next holiday brings them out again,
in the same clothes, knowing just as much as they did before--how to
shriek--then the pots and potatoes claim them again. All those girls
have undeveloped minds. They don't know it, not having been told, so
their minds remain unformed all their lives. The flower-like faces fade
quickly, because there is nothing to keep the bloom on. The mind does
not get beyond the budding stage. It is never attended to, so it rots
off without ever opening. Sometimes one of these girls discovers she has
something besides her body and her complexion; or somebody superior to
herself impresses the fact upon her; and she uses her knowledge,
cultivates her mind, and with luck rises out of the rut. She discovers
that her horizon is not limited by pots and potato-peel. Beyond it all,
for her, there is something called intelligence. Such girls are few.
Most of them have their eyes opened, not their minds, and then they
discover they are naked, and want to go away and hide themselves.
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