CHAPTER XIX 



THE BOOK 



that I know what paper is made of," said 

 Jules, "I should like to know how they make 

 books. " 



"I could listen all day without getting tired, " 

 Emile asserted. ' ' For a story I would leave my top 

 and my soldiers. " 



"To make a book, my children, there is double 

 work: first the labor of the one who thinks and 

 writes it, then the labor of the one who prints it. 

 To think a book and write it under the sole dicta- 

 tion of one's mind is a difficult and serious business. 

 Brain-work exhausts our strength much more quickly 

 than manual labor, for we must put the best of our- 

 selves into it, our soul. I tell you these things that 

 you may see what gratitude you owe those who, 

 solicitous for your future, think and write in order 

 to teach you to think for yourselves and to free you 

 from the miseries of ignorance. " 



"I am quite convinced, " returned Jules, "of the 

 difficulties to be overcome in order to compose a book 

 under the sole dictation of one's mind; for when I 

 want to write a letter of half a page to wish you 

 a Happy New Year, I come to a full stop at the first 

 word. How hard it is to find the first word! My 

 head is heavy, my face flushes, and I can't see 



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