"To a soul that does not yet know itself, this first sight is like the appearance of dawn in the sky. This is the awakening of something radiant and unknown. There are no words to express the perilous charm of this unexpected brightness, which suddenly dimly shines into the worshipful darkness, and in which all the innocence of the present mingles with all the passion of the future. It is a kind of hesitant tenderness that happens to reveal itself and waits. A trap that innocence unconsciously sets, and in which it catches hearts, without wanting, without knowing. This is the virgin who looks like a woman. It is a rare case that a deep reverie does not arise wherever one of these glances falls. All purity and all flaming are condensed in this heavenly and fatal ray, which, even more than the most practiced winks of a coquettish woman, has the magical power of suddenly bursting forth from the depths of some soul that dark flower which is full of fragrance and full of poison, and whose name is love.
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Author
Victor HugoAll Translations
All Translations
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To a soul that does not yet know itself, this first sight is like the appearance of dawn in the sky. This is the awakening of something radiant and unknown. There are no words to express the perilous charm of this unexpected brightness, which suddenly dimly shines into the worshipful darkness, and in which all the innocence of the present mingles with all the passion of the future. It is a kind of hesitant tenderness that happens to reveal itself and waits. A trap that innocence unconsciously sets, and in which it catches hearts, without wanting, without knowing. This is the virgin who looks like a woman. It is a rare case that a deep reverie does not arise wherever one of these glances falls. All purity and all flaming are condensed in this heavenly and fatal ray, which, even more than the most practiced winks of a coquettish woman, has the magical power of suddenly bursting forth from the depths of some soul that dark flower which is full of fragrance and full of poison, and whose name is love.
""Egy léleknek, amely még nem ismeri magát, ez az első tekintete olyan, mint a hajnal feltűnése az égen. Valami sugárzó és ismeretlen dolognak az ébredése ez. Nincs szó, amely kifejezné ennek a váratlan fényességnek veszedelmes bűbáját, amely hirtelen halványan beragyogja az imádatos sötétségeket, és amelyben egybevegyül a jelen minden ártatlansága a jövendő minden szenvedélyével. Valami tétova gyöngédség ez, amely találomra megtárul és vár. Csapda, amelyet az ártatlanság állít öntudatlanul, és amelyben szíveket fog, anélkül, hogy akarná, anélkül, hogy tudná. Ez a szűz, aki úgy néz, mint egy asszony. Ritka eset, hogy ne fakadna mélységes ábrándozás ott, ahová egy-egy ilyen tekintet esik. Minden tisztaság és minden lángolás összesűrűsödik ebben a mennyei és végzetes sugárban, amelynek a kacér nő leggyakorlottabb kacsingatásainál is jobban megvan az a bűvös hatalma, hogy hirtelen kipattantja valamely léleknek a mélyén azt a sötét virágot, amely csupa illat és csupa méreg, és amelynek a neve szerelem."