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BOOK III.—MAIDENS CHOOSING.
99
You must put yourself under training—musical, dramatic, theatrical:—whatever you desire to do, you have to learn
" here Gwendolen looked as if she were going to speak, but Klesmer lifted up his hand and said decisively, "I know. You have exercised your talents—you recite—you sing—from the drawing-room standpunkt. My dear Fräulein, you must unlearn all that. You have not yet conceived what excellence is: you must unlearn your mistaken admirations. You must know what you have to strive for, and then you must subdue your mind and body to unbroken discipline. Your mind, I say. For you must not be thinking of celebrity:—put that candle out of your eyes, and look only at excellence. You would of course earn nothing—you could get no engagement for a long while. You would need money for yourself and your family. But that," here Klesmer frowned and shook his fingers as if to dismiss a triviality—"that could perhaps be found."Gwendolen turned pink and pale during this speech. Her pride had felt a terrible knife-edge, and the last sentence only made the smart keener. She was conscious of appearing moved, and tried to escape from her weakness by suddenly walking to a seat and pointing out a chair to Klesmer.