Bokelskere.no

Like most novel readers of his generation (and Soames was a great novel reader), literature coloured his view of life; and he had imbibed the belief that it was only a question of time.

Could a man own anything prettier than this dining-table with its deep tints, the starry, soft-petalled roses, the ruby-coloured glass, and quaint silver furnishing; could a man own anything prettier than the woman who sat at it? Gratitude was no virtue among Forsytes, who, competitive, and full of common-sense, had no occasion for it; and Soames only experienced a sense of exasperation amounting to pain, that he did not own her as it was his right to own her, that he could not, as by stretching out his hand to that rose, pluck her and sniff the very secrets of her heart.

The notion of being the one member of his family with a country house weighed but little with him; for to a true Forsyte, sentiment, even the sentiment of social position, was a luxury only to be indulged in after his appetite for more material pleasure had been satisfied.

Skeer dette i det 19. Aarhundrede: da forvandler Historien sig fra en sørgelig Fortælling om Lysets og Mørkets, Friheds og Trældoms altfor langvarige Kamp, for ikke at sige (hvis vi antage den betydningsfulde Drøm om en Guldalder) om en uhyre Reaction, - til Menneskehedens Seiersepos: da lad Aarhundret rose sig af, at det fuldendte, hvad det 18de begyndte, af de forbausende Fremskridte, Menneskeheden i det gjør: - da var Alt vel!

Bliver Folkelærere! besætter Skolerne! giver enhver Underviisning det ophøiede, religiøse Præg! gjører Opdragelsen til Statens høieste Formaal, hvortil dens Skatte alene anvændes; men alt dette først, naar I have afskaffet af Religionen alt det Menneskelige, som støder den menneskelige Fornuft, men fremstaae som Talsmænd for en ameenantagelig Lære, for en Tro-harmonia!

Uvidenheden, som er en Følge af den elendige Religionsforfatning, gjør Masserne enten til politiske Indifferentister, der med Sløvhed (som den portugisiske og spanske Nation) lade sig Sikkerheds-Karterne for deres borgerlige Frihed rive afhænde, eller til Sansculotter, hvis forvirrede Frihedsbegreb - selv et Blændvværk - lader dem jage efter Blændværker.

Men ligesom Ørnen vilde qvæles, naar den voxede til, hvis Ringen var af Staal, saa qvæles ogsaa Menneskeheden i dens Fremskriden og Forædling, saa fængsles ogsaa Civilisationen, naar disse forældede Formler, der ere anviste Plads i det uhyre Taagerum udenfor Tænkningens Sfære, gjøres til Civilisationens Stempel, naar Folkemassernes Viden indskrænkes til disses ordrette Fremplappren, naar deres edelige Antagelse gjøres til conditio sine qva non, for at regnes saaatsige til Menneskeheden - med eet Ord: Religionsforfatningerne trænge til en Revolution, og Europæernes, som de, der have opkastet sig til andre Menneskeklassers Koryfæer, først og frermst,

Om döda ting älska, om jord och vatten skilja vänner från fiender, ville jag gärna äga deras kärlek. Jag ville, att den gröna jorden inte kände mina steg som en tung börda. Jag ville, att hon gärna förläte, att hon för min skull såras med plog och harv, och att hon villigt öppnade sig för min döda kropp. Och jag ville, att vågen, vars blanka spegel sönderslås av mina åror, hade samma tålamod med mig, som en mor har med ett ivrigt barn, när det klättrar upp i hennes knä utan att akta högtidsdräktens oskrynklade siden. Med den klara luften, som dallrar över de blåa bergen, ville jag vara vän och med den blänkande solen och de vackra stjärnorna. Ty det synes mig ofta, som om de döda tingen skulle känna och lida med de levande. Inte är skrankan mellan dem och oss så stor, som människor tro. Vilken del av jordens stoft är det, som inte har varit inne i livets kretsgång? Har inte vägens kringdrivande stoft smekts som mjukt hår, älskats som goda, välgörande händer? Har inte vattnet i hjulspåret fordom strömmat som blod genom klappande hjärtan?

Livets ande bor ännu i de döda tingen. Vad förnimmer han, där han slumrar i drömlös sömn? Guds röst hör han. Lägger han också märke till människors?

O, sena tiders barn, haven I inte sett det? När ofrid och hat uppfylla jorden, måste också de döda tingen mycket lida. Då blir vågen vild och rovlysten som en rövare, då blir åkern karg som en girig. Men ve den, för vars skull skogen suckar och bergen gråta!

Eros, allhärskande gud, du vet nog, att det ofta tyckes så, som om en människa skulle ha frigjort sig från ditt välde. Alla de ljuva känslor, som förena människorna, synas döda i hennes hjärta. Vansinnet sträcker sina klor efter den olycklige, men då kommer du i din allmakt, du livets skyddsherre, och som det starka helgonets stav blomstrar det förtorkade hjärtat.

Dickens Examined

We were pleased to receive the following from Derek Mortimer:

Examining an online facsimile of a set of examination papers, I was delighted to find the one reproduced below. The delight came from the unexpectedness, given that it was for boys aged between 15 and 16 aspiring to become royal dockyard apprentices in 1939. Over two days, they took ten one-hour papers and a twenty-minute handwriting test. The other papers were on English (Composition), Drawing, Arithmetic, History and Geography (2) and Science (2). [...].

English Literature (OLIVER TWIST) Time allowed, 1 hour: All the questions are to be answered. Question 1 carries higher marks than the others.
1. What can be learnt from this book about the treatment of children under the poor law about a century ago?
2. Describe what happened to oliver from the time when he left Mr Brownlow's house until he was befriended by the Maylies.
3. Outline the part taken in the story by either Nancy or Monks.

To anyone interested psychologically in Forsytes, this great saddle-of-mutton trait is of prime importance; not only does it illustrate their tenacity, both collectively and as individuals, but it marks them as belonging in fibre and instincts to that great class which believes in nourishment and flavour, and yields to no sentimental craving for beauty.

With the second glass of champagne, a kind of hum makes itself heard, which, when divested of casual accessories and resolved into its primal element, is found to be James telling a story, and this goes on for a long time, encroaching sometimes even upon what must universally be recognised as the crowning point of a Forsyte feast—'the saddle of mutton.'

No Forsyte has given a dinner without providing a saddle of mutton. There is something in its succulent solidity which makes it suitable to people 'of a certain position.' It is nourishing and tasty; the sort of thing a man remembers eating. It has a past and a future, like a deposit paid into a bank; and it is something that can be argued about.

It would double the output of his mines, and, as he had often forcibly argued, all experience tended to show that a man must die; and whether he died of a miserable old age in his own country, or prematurely of damp in the bottom of a foreign mine, was surely of little consequence, provided that by a change in his mode of life he benefited the British Empire.