Genealogy of Love [antikvár]

GENEALOGY OF LOVE chapter one BEGINNINGS Why do men and women kiss one another ? Why do they do so more especially in the early prime of life ? Why, above all, in the sprmgtime ? OTHERS besides the wise old tomcat Hidigeigei have asked themselves these questions. Each one of us has, now and again, cudgelled his brains as to the meaning of the folly of love, this mingling of pleasure and pain, restlessness and joy, which periodically affects, it would seem, the whole world of living creatures. As soon as spring comes round once more, the finches tune up, the cuckoo calls, the woods resound with the blackbird's melodious notes, squirrels chase one another from branch to branch, salmon mount the rivers, turkeycocks and peacocks preen their feathers, sticklebacks and salamanders put on their wedding apparel, the meadows are enlivened by the cries of cicadas and crickets, the ponds are noisy with the plaintive croaking of frogs, glow-worms sparkle in the copses as they hunt for the females that crouch in the grass ; bees and ants make ready for the nuptial flight; flies and gnats dance merrily in the air ; swifts and swallows return from their winter quarters in the south and begin to build their nests ; " in the spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished G.L.IB