The habits of fierce beasts

Author: [French] Lafayette
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-10-01
Features: This is a wonderful collection of works by multiple authors, including "The Habits of Beasts." Like many other pieces, it reveals the ugly, hypocritical, ridiculous, and even foolish habits of people when they "look" at each other. Titled with the title of this piece is actually a metaphor with hidden meaning. A man came over, sat beside her, took her hand, and kissed it. They exchanged glances: at this moment, the visitor began to have a vague and uncomfortable impression, somewhat like a confident gambler who starts to realize that the tricks of his opponents have slipped past his eyes, but not quite so clearly. He believed he saw a hint of hidden mockery in the woman's smile when she said, "I insist on this, you know"; and in their mutual glances, he saw something akin to complicity. No, he must be mistaken.