Manon Lescaut - Prévost
Prévost : Manon Lescaut (1731, 1753)
Shall I tell you about the heart-rending subject of my conversations with Manon during that journey, or
what impression the sight of her made upon me once I had obtained permission from the guards to
approach her wagon? Oh! words always halve the expression of the heart´s emotion; but picture my
poor mistress chained by the waist, sitting on a few handfuls of straw, her head leaning despondently
against the side of the carriage, face pale and dampened by the trickling of tears which made
themselves a passage between her eyelids, although she kept her eyes closed the entire time. She had
not even the curiosity to open them on hearing the noise from the guards, who feared that they were
under attack. Her clothes were dirty and in disarray, her delicate hands exposed to the harsh air; in fine,
all of that enchanting creature, that face which had the potential to send the world back to idolatry,
appeared to be in an indescribable state of disarray and despondency. I took some time to gaze at her as
I rode beside the wagon. So little self-possession remained to me that I several times almost took a
dangerous fall. My sighs and frequent exclamations eventually drew her attention. She recognised me,
and I noticed that her first instinct was to throw herself from the carriage to come to me; but, upon
being restrained by her chain, she fell back into her original state.