That
joyous master and genius might have put two weeks' work, three weeks'
work, a month's work, upon it, and there you were. What was the labour
of a lifetime to the other man was to Praxiteles just an easy bit of
routine. If art is a man's soul and hopes and brain and sweat and blood
put into concrete form, who produced the truer work of art, Praxiteles
or the unknown sculptor of Hoboken? I speak only of the comparative
expenditure of effort. So far as the artistic result is concerned, it is
evident, from the ease with which we were taken in, that there is no
great difference between the school of Hoboken and the school of
Praxiteles."
XX
WHEN A FRIEND MARRIES
Taking dinner with an old friend who has just been married is an
experience I regard with apprehension. In the first place, it is always
awkward to be introduced to a woman who begins by being jealous of you
because you knew her husband long before she did. She may be a nice
woman; in fact, from the air of almost imbecile happiness that invests
young Hobson, you are sure she is. But since it is natural to hate those
whom we have injured, it is natural for young wives to dislike their
husband's friends.
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