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[f.saillen+bluewin.ch] |
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| Hello Donatien, I use a translation software on line, because I am French. Excuse the errors in advance which will contain my message. Do you think that it is necessary to sacrifice the need for the pleasure? Isn't the normal relations did not interest you? What place did your wife take in your life? Write soon dear friend Florence, an admiror Mon très cher lecteur, How totally bizarre that you and I should communicate in a language that neither of us can master (and muster), but isn't this a sign of the times? And, how can I ever forgive your «errors», since I, too, avail myself of a translator and am not able of recognizing any? But let's move to the main issue here. Pleasure... pleasure is the motivation Nature has provided us for all our actions and projects. Pleasure is the grammar by which we live, strive and thrive, for is it not true that animals too are endowed with this special spark in their nervous system? And why would we all, humans and animals, be made capable of perceiving, fulfilling, desiring pleasure if it weren't necessary to Nature to achieve her wonderful albeit secret plans? You ask me if family relations and affections should be sacrificed to pleasure? My answer is: why do you think there is a difference? Let me be ruthlessly clear on this point: pleasure is not just the one single instant of extreme enjoyment at the climax of sexual intercourse. Pleasure is all. Flavoring a rare confection is pleasure; strolling deep into my park is pleasure; the loyal obedience and advice of my faithful wife gives me immense pleasure; watching her taking pleasure in serving me gives me unspeakable pleasure! How could I sacrifice her love to pleasure when she herself gives me all the pleasure I would ever want? Pèlagie is... was an ideal wife, a companion, an accomplice. She was a timid creature, not altogether pretty (how lovely was her little sister, I cannot even begin to tell you!), but passionate, affectionate and, most of all, extremely sensitive (sensible, too, which goes too well with my... uh... lively temperament). We found each other joined by fate and united by our repulse of society; we were outcasts and our marriage has been our refuge. I have nothing to repent about my behavior with her: it is true that I've been a little too cavalier with my sentimental affairs, but I've always been true to her, I've never lied to her, on the contrary, she's always been my loyal confidante in all matters, even the most intimate. Even as a prisoner, I did try her patience to the limits, I admit it and regret it in some way, but our separation has been the result of her family plotting through the influence that a certain, evil-natured priest exerted on her aging heart. I did not wish this separation, which has cost me all that was dear to me, and I would have never sacrificed her love, her precious unremitting love for any fleeting moment of pleasure. What is done is done. There is no going back, as you well know. Now I am old and aching, but this does not prevent me from seeking pleasure anyway and anywhere I can find it. It is part of my philosophy: I could never renounce it, even if I wanted to, for it is connatured with my own being. Well, mon cher ami, I hope I have answered your question. Be well and savor every moment of your life: it is precious and it is gone sooner than you think. With respect, your humble servant D.A.F. de Sade |
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