Sunday, November 28, 2004
A Change of Profession
In "The Question of Latin" Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) tells the story of Père Piquedent, who found love and abandoned Latin teaching for selling groceries. The French original and an English translation are available on the World Wide Web. Here are two excerpts, one before the change of profession and one after:
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But his love for Latin did not leave him and harassed him like an unhealthy passion. He continued to read the poets, the prose writers, the historians, to interpret them and penetrate their meaning, to comment on them with a perseverance bordering on madness.
"And what about Latin, Monsieur Piquedent?"
"Oh, good heavens! Latin, Latin, Latin--you see it does not keep the pot boiling!"
