Who
has ever told the story of the childhood of those who have died stained
with human blood? They, also, have been good in their day; they sometimes
bury their faces in their hands and think of those happy days. You do
evil, and you repent? Nero did the same when he killed his mother. Who
has told you that tears can wash away the stains of guilt?
"And even if it were true that a part of your soul is not devoted to evil
forever, what will you do with the other part that is not yours? You will
touch with your left hand the wounds that you inflict with your right;
you will make a shroud of your virtue in which to bury your crimes; you
will strike, and, like Brutus, you will engrave on your sword the prattle
of Plato! Into the heart of the being who opens her arms to you, you will
plunge that blood-stained but repentant arm; you will follow to the
cemetery the victim of your passion, and you will plant on her grave the
sterile flower of your pity; you will say to those who see you: 'What
would you expect? I have learned how to kill, and observe that I already
weep; learn that God made me better than you see me.' You will speak of
your youth and you will persuade yourself that Heaven ought to pardon
you, that your misfortunes are involuntary and you will implore sleepless
nights to grant you a little repose.
"But who knows? You are still young. The more you trust in your heart,
the farther astray you will be lead by your pride.
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