“Then why need I fear to look back when it gives me so much comfort?” she eagerly enquired, as she gazed in his face with fresh spirit.

“Because it may easily lead you to tread on other people’s feet!  That hurts them; then they are annoyed, and they get accustomed to think grudgingly of you—­you who are more lovable than they are.”

“But quite unjustly; for I am not conscious of ever having intentionally grieved or hurt any one in my whole life.”

“I know that; but you have done so unintentionally a thousand times.”

“Then it would be better I should quit them altogether.”

“No, and a thousand times no!  The man who avoids his kind and lives in solitude fancies he is doing some great thing and raising himself above the level of the existence he despises.  But look a little closer:  it is self-interest and egoism which drive him into the cave and the cloister.  In any case he neglects his highest duty towards humanity—­or let us say merely towards the society he belongs to—­in order to win what he believes to be his own salvation.  Society is a great body, and every individual should regard himself as a member of it, bound to serve and succor it, and even, when necessary, to make sacrifices for it.  The greatest are not too great.  But those who crave isolation,—­you yourself—­nay, hear me out, for I may never again risk the danger of incurring your wrath—­desire to be a body apart.  What Paula has known and possessed, she keeps locked in the treasure-house of her memory under bolt and key; What Paula is, she feels she still must be—­and for whom?  Again, for that same Paula.  She has suffered great sorrow and on that her soul lives; but this is evil nourishment, unwholesome and bad for her.”

She was about to rise; but he bent forward, with a zealous conviction that he must not allow himself to be interrupted, and lightly touched her arm as though to prevent her quitting her seat, while he went on unhesitatingly: 

“You feed on your old sorrows!  Well and good.  Many a time have I seen that trial can elevate the soul.  It can teach a brave heart to feel the woes of others more deeply; it can rouse a desire to assuage the griefs of others with beautiful self-devotion.  Those who have known pain and affliction enjoy ease and pleasure with double satisfaction; sufferers learn to be grateful for even the smaller joys of life.  But you?—­I have long striven for courage to tell you so—­you derive no benefit from suffering because you lock it up in your breast—­as if a man were to enclose some precious seed in a silver trinket to carry about with him.  It should be sown in the earth, to sprout and bear fruit!  However, I do not blame you; I only wish to advise you as a true and devoted friend.  Learn to feel yourself a member of the body to which your destiny has bound you for the present, whether you like it or not.  Try to contribute to it all that your capacities allow you achieve.