“ When a man is used up by overwork and poverty, or by a bad life, he is old before twenty-five. ”
George Sand, The Devil's Pool (1846). copy citation
| Author | George Sand |
|---|---|
| Source | The Devil's Pool |
| Topic | poverty life |
| Date | 1846 |
| Language | English |
| Reference | |
| Note | Translated by Jane Minot Sedgwick and Ellery Sedgwick |
| Weblink | https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Devils_Pool_(1895) |
Context
“A young girl is afraid that people will talk about her if she takes a man ten or twelve years older than she, simply because that is not the custom in our country, but I have heard say that in other countries people don't look at it in this light, and that they had rather allow a sensible man of approved courage to support a young girl, than trust her to a mere boy, who may go astray, and, from the honest fellow they thought him, turn into a good-for-nothing. And then years don't always make age. That depends on the health and strength a person has. When a man is used up by overwork and poverty, or by a bad life, he is old before twenty-five. While I—but Marie, you are not listening. . . ."
"Yes I am, Germain; I hear you perfectly," answered little Marie, "but I am thinking over what my mother used to tell me so often: that a woman of sixty is to be pitied greatly when her husband is seventy or seventy-five and can no longer work to support her.”
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