PART III LOVE
CHAPTER 115
THE PUBLIC HUMOUR
HE
1141. As the outcry riseth in the village my life cometh back to me: it is my good luck that many do not know this secret.[1]
1142. These village folk know not the rare virtues of my beloved with the flower-like eyes: for they have given her cheaply to me by raising this clamour.
1143. Is not this gossip of the village a precious thing unto me ? for even without obtaining her I feel as if I possess her already.
1144. This clamour hath increased my passion for her: without it it would have been but a stale affair.
1145. Even as every cup that is drunk but maketh the drunkard thirst for more, even so doth every discovery of his passion by others but increase its sweetness for the lover.
- ↑ And leave me to die by stopping the outcry. See pages xxviii and xxix of preface before reading this chapter.
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