For every man there are certain subjects of conversation which are somehow dearer and closer to him in spirit than any other and it often happens that, in some God-Forsaken backwater, in a desert of desolation, you unexpectedly meet a man whose warming conversation makes you forget the impassable state of the roads, the discomfort of your billet, the vanity of the modern world, and the deceitfulness of the false illusions which lead man astray. An evening thus spent will remain vivid in your mind forever after, and your memory will faithfully preserve all that has passed: who was present, who sat in which seat, and what he held in his hands, you will remember the walls, the corners and every little trifle.
Les Âmes mortes
Gogol
Published
