Marie Majerová

“ Did not sadness tighten your heart when you first felt your youth passing? Oh, mysterious feminine soul! What has life given you that you have remained so contented in your mountain home, in this prison formed by the four walls of the presbytery, held captive by the love of one man?
None of us could fathom this mystery. Perhaps when Dacha grows up she will understand.
We returned to the presbytery to find the pastor awaiting us at the door. ”

“ Having no children to think of they had never left the village where they were known as Philemon and Baucis, nor even moved from the modest presbytery where the will of God had placed them. Now they were peacefully living out the autumn of their days, their hearts warmed by the rays of love’s sun, which for them would soon disappear. ”

“ I was one of a party of four which included two women who lived in the neighborhood-Vivostchka, a poetess, and a woman politician-as well as Dacha, a baby girl of a year old. On arrival we went to see the pastor who lived in a small cottage. The two rooms looked onto the court and the old beams roofing the kitchen and cellar were dark and mellow with age. Our approach up the worn pathway of the sloping garden frightened the hens scratching in the soil and scattered them in all directions. ”