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Sween Myth-tery of Life :: Asprin Robert
Страница: 91 из 110"Of course, I really don'tknow all that much about love."
"Does she love you?"
"Again, I don't think so," I said.
I was actually enjoying this. Chumley was breaking things down to where even I could understand his logic.
"Well, has she said she loves you?"
That one I didn't even have to think about.
"No."
"You're sure?" the troll pressed.
"Positive," I said. "The closest she's come is to say she thinks we'd make a good pair. I think she meant it as a compliment."
"Good," my friend said, settling back in his chair.
"Excuse me?" I blinked. "For a moment there, I thought you said ..."
"I said 'Good and I meant it" the troll repeated.
"You lost me there," I said. "I thought marriages were supposed to be ..."
"... Based on love?" Chumley finished for me. "That's what most young people think. That's also why so many of their marriages fall apart."
Even though he had sort of warned me in advance, I found the troll's position to be a bit unsettling.
"Urn, Chumley? Are we differentiating between 'analytical' and 'cynical'?"
"It's not really as insensitive as it sounds, Skeeve," the troll said with a laugh, apparently unoffended by my comment. "You see, when you're young and full of hormones, and come in close contact for the first time with someone of the opposite sex who isn't related to you, you experience feelings and urges that you've never encountered before. Now since, despite their bragging to the contrary, most people are raised to think of themselves as good and decent folks, they automatically attach the socially correct label to these feelings: Love. Of course, there's also a socially correct response when two people feel that way about each other ... specifically, marriage."
"But isn't that ..." I began, but the troll held up a restraining hand.
"Hear me out," he said. "Now, continuing with our little saga, eventually passions cool, and the infatuation has run it's course. It might take years, but eventually they find that 'just being together' isn't enough. It's time to get on with life. Unfortunately, right about then they discover that they have little if anything in common. All too often they find that their goals in life are different, or, at the very least, their plans on how to achieve them don't coincide. Then they find, instead of the ideal partner to stand back to back with while taking on the world, they've actually opened a second front. That is, they have to spend as much or more time dealing with each other as they do the rest of the world.
"Does she love you?"
"Again, I don't think so," I said.
I was actually enjoying this. Chumley was breaking things down to where even I could understand his logic.
"Well, has she said she loves you?"
That one I didn't even have to think about.
"No."
"You're sure?" the troll pressed.
"Positive," I said. "The closest she's come is to say she thinks we'd make a good pair. I think she meant it as a compliment."
"Good," my friend said, settling back in his chair.
"Excuse me?" I blinked. "For a moment there, I thought you said ..."
"I said 'Good and I meant it" the troll repeated.
"You lost me there," I said. "I thought marriages were supposed to be ..."
"... Based on love?" Chumley finished for me. "That's what most young people think. That's also why so many of their marriages fall apart."
Even though he had sort of warned me in advance, I found the troll's position to be a bit unsettling.
"Urn, Chumley? Are we differentiating between 'analytical' and 'cynical'?"
"It's not really as insensitive as it sounds, Skeeve," the troll said with a laugh, apparently unoffended by my comment. "You see, when you're young and full of hormones, and come in close contact for the first time with someone of the opposite sex who isn't related to you, you experience feelings and urges that you've never encountered before. Now since, despite their bragging to the contrary, most people are raised to think of themselves as good and decent folks, they automatically attach the socially correct label to these feelings: Love. Of course, there's also a socially correct response when two people feel that way about each other ... specifically, marriage."
"But isn't that ..." I began, but the troll held up a restraining hand.
"Hear me out," he said. "Now, continuing with our little saga, eventually passions cool, and the infatuation has run it's course. It might take years, but eventually they find that 'just being together' isn't enough. It's time to get on with life. Unfortunately, right about then they discover that they have little if anything in common. All too often they find that their goals in life are different, or, at the very least, their plans on how to achieve them don't coincide. Then they find, instead of the ideal partner to stand back to back with while taking on the world, they've actually opened a second front. That is, they have to spend as much or more time dealing with each other as they do the rest of the world.