She
Said She Had Lost Her Daughter In Paris A Few Weeks Earlier.
"She
was a beautiful woman," said the bereaved mother, "but - chow.
She
had great talents - chow. I had her educated by the nuns of
Bellinzona - chow. Her knowledge of geography was consummate - chow,
chow," &c. Here "chow" means "pazienza," "I have done and said all
that I can, and must now bear it as best I may."
I tried to comfort her, but could do nothing, till at last it
occurred to me to say "chow" too. I did so, and was astonished at
the soothing effect it had upon her. How subtle are the laws that
govern consolation! I suppose they must ultimately be connected
with reproduction - the consoling idea being a kind of small cross
which RE-GENERATES or RE-CREATES the sufferer. It is important,
therefore, that the new ideas with which the old are to be crossed
should differ from these last sufficiently to divert the attention,
and yet not so much as to cause a painful shock.
There should be a little shock, or there will be no variation in
the new ideas that are generated, but they will resemble those that
preceded them, and grief will be continued; there must not be too
great a shock or there will be no illusion - no confusion and fusion
between the new set of ideas and the old, and in consequence, there
will be no result at all, or, if any, an increase in mental
discord.
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