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The Decay of the Angel - Yukio Mishima

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21<br />

TŌRU ENTERED <strong>the</strong> preparatory school <strong>of</strong> his<br />

choice.<br />

In his second year <strong>the</strong>re came a proposal, through<br />

a suitable mediator. A certain person had a<br />

marriageable daughter he thought Tōru might be<br />

interested in. Tōru had reached <strong>the</strong> legal age <strong>of</strong><br />

consent, but he was still only eighteen. Honda laughed<br />

<strong>the</strong> proposal <strong>of</strong>f. <strong>The</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r person was persistent,<br />

however, and <strong>the</strong> proposal came through ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />

mediator. Since <strong>the</strong> second man was an eminence in<br />

<strong>the</strong> legal world, Honda could not turn him away<br />

unconditionally.<br />

Honda longed for something: a young bride who<br />

would be twisted with grief at <strong>the</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> her twentyyear-old<br />

husband. She would wear <strong>the</strong> pale, beautiful<br />

hues <strong>of</strong> tragedy; and so, at no expense, Honda would<br />

have ano<strong>the</strong>r meeting with a pure crystallization <strong>of</strong><br />

beauty.<br />

<strong>The</strong> dream was ra<strong>the</strong>r out <strong>of</strong> accord with his<br />

educational policies. Yet if <strong>the</strong>re had been no margin<br />

at all for <strong>the</strong> dream, and if <strong>the</strong>re had been no sense <strong>of</strong><br />

crisis, Honda would scarcely have bo<strong>the</strong>red with

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