Julie, or the New Heloise by Rousseau Jean-Jacques; Stewart Philip; Vaché Jean

Author:Rousseau, Jean-Jacques; Stewart, Philip; Vaché, Jean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dartmouth College Press

LETTER XI

To Milord Edward

No, Milord, I do not retract a thing; everything one sees in this house joins together the agreeable and the useful; but useful occupations are not limited to activities that yield a profit; they additionally include any innocent and simple amusement that nurtures the taste for retreat, work, moderation, and preserves in the person who indulges them a healthy soul, a heart free from the confusion of passions. Whereas indolent idleness engenders nothing but gloom and boredom, the charm of agreeable leisure is the fruit of an industrious life. One works only in order to enjoy; this alternation of labor and enjoyment is our genuine vocation. The repose that serves as relaxation for past labors and encouragement to further ones is not less necessary to man than labor itself.

After admiring the effect of the vigilance and attentions of the most respectable materfamilias in the ordering of the house, I have seen the result of her recreations in a secluded spot which is her favorite place to walk and which she calls her Elysium.83

For several days I had heard this Elysium mentioned but they seemed to be keeping me in the dark about it. Finally yesterday afternoon, with the intense heat making both the inside and outside of the house unbearable, Monsieur de Wolmar proposed to his wife that she give herself the afternoon off; and rather than retiring as usual to the nursery until early evening, to come with us and take the air in the orchard; she agreed to this and we went there together.

This place, although quite close to the house, is so well hidden by the shaded avenue separating them that it cannot be seen from anywhere. The heavy foliage surrounding it does not allow the eye to penetrate, and it is always carefully locked. I was no sooner inside than, the gate being masked by alders and hazelnuts that leave only two narrow passages along the sides, turning around I could no longer see where I had entered, and not seeing a gate, I found myself there as if I had dropped from the sky.

Upon entering this so-called orchard, I was struck by a pleasantly cool sensation which dark shade, bright and lively greenery, flowers scattered on every side, the bubbling of flowing water, and the songs of a thousand birds impressed on my imagination at least as much as my senses; but at the same time I thought I was looking at the wildest, most solitary place in nature, and it seemed to me I was the first mortal who ever had set foot in this wilderness. Surprised, stunned, transported by a spectacle so unexpected, I remained motionless for a moment, and cried out in spontaneous ecstasy: O Tinian! O Juan Fernandez!p84 Julie, the ends of the earth are at your gate! Many people find them here as you do, she said with a smile; but twenty paces more bring them quickly back to Clarens: let us see whether the charm lasts longer with you.

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