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Part II: The Explanations of Innocent Smith | Gilbert K. Chesterton | |
Chapter III. The Round Road; or, the Desertion Charge |
Page 5 of 13 |
"Yet when he reached me, after so abrupt an assertion of his aim, he could only say rather dubiously in French that he wanted a house. "`There are not many houses to be had round here,' I answered in the same language, `the district has been very disturbed. A revolution, as you know, has recently been suppressed. Any further building--' "`Oh! I don't mean that,' he cried; `I mean a real house--a live house. It really is a live house, for it runs away from me.' "`I am ashamed to say that something in his phrase or gesture moved me profoundly. We Russians are brought up in an atmosphere of folk-lore, and its unfortunate effects can still be seen in the bright colours of the children's dolls and of the ikons. For an instant the idea of a house running away from a man gave me pleasure, for the enlightenment of man moves slowly. "`Have you no other house of your own?' I asked. "`I have left it,' he said very sadly. `It was not the house that grew dull, but I that grew dull in it. My wife was better than all women, and yet I could not feel it.' "`And so,' I said with sympathy, `you walked straight out of the front door, like a masculine Nora.' "`Nora?' he inquired politely, apparently supposing it to be a Russian word. "`I mean Nora in "The Doll's House,"' I replied. "At this he looked very much astonished, and I knew he was an Englishman; for Englishmen always think that Russians study nothing but `ukases.' |
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Manalive Gilbert K. Chesterton |
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