HAH, my experience along those lines came a bit later--eight, I think. There was a copy of Balzac's Droll Stories in the children's section of the library, mis-shelved there because someone thought the medieval-looking characters in the wood-cut end papers meant "fairy tales".
The very first story is about a courtesan named Imperia, who gets her paid protector (a cardinal) to leave all the fixings for a sumptuous feast behind him and leave unsatisfied. She then shares the feast, along with... other things... with a very handsome novice monk. The wood-cuts later in the book were also very interesting, and the extensions to my vocabulary quite useful in later life. Not a single "dirty" word in the whole 200+ pages, mind you, but the power of allusion was greatly evident.
No, I didn't tell the librarians. I mean, it was in the children's room and I was a child, right?
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Re: *Sigh*
Date: 2008-06-04 08:41 pm (UTC)The very first story is about a courtesan named Imperia, who gets her paid protector (a cardinal) to leave all the fixings for a sumptuous feast behind him and leave unsatisfied. She then shares the feast, along with... other things... with a very handsome novice monk. The wood-cuts later in the book were also very interesting, and the extensions to my vocabulary quite useful in later life. Not a single "dirty" word in the whole 200+ pages, mind you, but the power of allusion was greatly evident.
No, I didn't tell the librarians. I mean, it was in the children's room and I was a child, right?