Changing Habits
There was a time when he once bought books solely on the criteria of their weight. In that fashion he could get economies of scale, a cheaper cost per page.
Now his traveling portmanteau nearly full with all the books acquired on this journey, he begins to buys books for their slenderness; books of poetry mainly, books that have spines as slender as flower stalks, books like that one he had once given a woman (whose ability to quote verse had filled him with amazement) saying,
"Let this be the bouquet of wild irises that I didn't bring with me for you, this winter evening."
Travel Notes
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(o) words before flowers, always. the latter wilt too quickly: the liles on the pages remain cherished.
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Given the number
of volumes I have bought in second hand bookstores, which were such similar gifts given by someone to someone else, as deduced from the inscriptions on the front pages, I wouldn't bet too high on the "non-wiltability" of books either!! :)
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