Neith Boyce

Name: The Folly of Others — The Forbidden
Author: Neith Boyce

The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

Summary

“The Folly of Others — The Forbidden”, published in 1904, is a work by Neith Boyce. It explores elements such as Fiora, Anselmo and garden.

Quotes from The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (Neith Boyce)

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ The foliage of the acacia trembled as though a bird had taken wing. The bench was vacant, flowers strewed the ground before it, the presence had vanished. Her white feet or a breath of air had borne her away. The diapason of the organ drowned the sound her flight might have made; and the trees bent as though to bury in shadow her possible path. Emanuel made a long step forward.
"Woman or spirit, she is gone!" he cried, and stooped to see what trace of her those scattered roses might show. Anselmo grasped his companion's sleeve. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ For if any wandering spirit, coveting, yet not daring to enter the garden, had strayed near to the confining wall, it must have heard the solemn chant of the Church's exorcism directed against all powers unholy; it must have beheld a slow procession of monks make the circuit of the shell-strewn paths, sprinkling the ground with holy-water to purify it from the contaminating touch of a woman's foot. And if, spirit or woman, it were still undeterred, there was Angelo's music at evening—like another flaming sword at the gate of this Eveless Eden! ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ And the trees in the monks' garden seemed to bend and listen and to beckon while they shook all over with malicious glee.
Scurrying over the ground beyond, with bare, dusty feet, appeared a group of creatures pulling each other by extended arms or brown garments which seemed a part of the earth, or by their braids of strong, black hair. Writhing in this rough play they flung themselves against the wall. A pale-faced girl in a scarlet blouse, like a cactus-flower bursting from its dull sheath, threw up her arms into the dense, dark foliage of an overhanging fig-tree and dragged down the bough. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ Under the branches of the acacia the shadow sat still in deeper shadow; save that the rays of the moon fell upon two slim, naked feet, which the short grass could not cover. It had taken, then, the form of a woman, that the garden and its tradition might be doubly desecrated! Anselmo's indignation was not fierce enough to nerve his soul, weakened by mystic terrors. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ Startled by the noise of her fall, her companions took flight like a covey of birds, with a rustle, a faint murmur—silence.
Fiora sank to her knees and remained for some moments motionless, gazing out into the garden. In the dusk, deepened by the shadow of encircling trees, nothing was visible save narrow paths strewn with opal-colored sea-shells glimmering amid fresh turf, and roses blooming in masses along those walks and hiding the wall under their heavy leaves, thick with flowers like pale flames. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ Yet the mystery of the night, the garden's magic, must have struck some responsive chord within him. For how else should his bodily eyes have beheld beneath the shadow of the acacia bushes a creature not human, surely not divine; no spiritual vision, but an apparition born of the earth and evil. It sat half-visible, buried to the chin in flowers, motionless, its face a mere pale shimmer, its great shadowy eyes fixed upon him. These eyes were terrifying.
Anselmo retreated some steps upon their discovery ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ Another black robe, another pale face, appeared beside him, and, like him, started back at perceiving the strange figure. After consultation in whispers the bolder monk approached the acacia.
"This is no spirit, Brother Anselmo—it is a woman!" he cried.
"A woman! How could a woman get into the garden?" ”

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Source: Wikisource

Neith Boyce, The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (1904)

“ She tore it open and fastened her teeth, sharp and white as those of a squirrel, in the pink flesh.
Her companions hung back, looking at her.
"If we are caught——"
"What do we care? Cowards? There—now you can put all the blame on me. Eat, then, little pigs that you are!" ”

Neith Boyce

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Quotes from The Folly of Others — The Forbidden (Neith Boyce)

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