22 August 2013

Le Smoking

"The handsome youth on the highstool glanced mockingly at me... I went over to the bar and taking a seat near the young man, I ordered a whisky. While I drank it I saw his profile... It was Hermine, barely disguised by the makeup of her hair and a little paint. The stylish collar gave an unfammiliar look to the pallor of her intelligent face, the wide black sleeves of her dress coat and the white cuffs mader her hands look curiously small and the long black trousers gave a curious elegance to her feet in their black and white silk socks... As she was dressed as a boy, I could not dance with her nor allow myself any tender advances and she seemed distant and neutral in her male mask... Throughout, she kept up the part of a young man, smoking cigarettes and talking with a spirited ease that often had a little mockery in it. We sat and talked and drank champagne. How well and thoroughly I thought I knew Hermine and yet what a completely new revealation of herself she opened up to me that night!"

Der Steppenwolf - Herman Hesse


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