The mother (the father was away) laid all sorts of traps, and one of these, a trip in a boat, decided my future.
"I made up my mind at the end of the aforesaid trip one night, by moonlight, on our way home, while I was sitting beside her.

I admired her slender body, whose charming shape was moulded by a jersey, and her curling hair, and I suddenly concluded that THIS WAS SHE.

It seemed to me on that beautiful evening that she understood all that I thought and felt, and I thought and felt the most elevating things.
"Really, it was only the jersey that was so becoming to her, and her curly hair, and also the fact that I had spent the day beside her, and that I desired a more intimate relation.
"I returned home enthusiastic, and I persuaded myself that she realized the highest perfection, and that for that reason she was worthy to be my wife, and the next day I made to her a proposal of marriage.
"No, say what you will, we live in such an abyss of falsehood, that, unless some event strikes us a blow on the head, as in my case, we cannot awaken.

What confusion! Out of the thousands of men who marry, not only among us, but also among the people, scarcely will you find a single one who has not previously married at least ten times.

(It is true that there now exist, at least so I have heard, pure young people who feel and know that this is not a joke, but a serious matter.