<A D. Lessing>
<T Summer before Dark>
<C 1>
<P 1>
A woman stood on her back step , arms folded , waiting ..
Thinking ? She would not have said so . She was
trying to catch hold of something , or to lay it bare so
that she could look and define ; for some time now she
had been " trying on " ideas like so many dresses off a
rack . She was letting words and phrases as worn as
nursery rhymes slide around her tongue : for towards
the crucial experiences custom allots certain attitudes ,
and they are pretty stereotyped . Ah# yes# ,# first# love# ]# ...
Growing# up# is# bound# to# be# painful# ]# ... My# first# child# ,
you# know# ... But# I# was# in# love# ]# ... Marriage# is# a#
compromise# ... . I# am# not# as# young# as# I# once# was# . Of
course , the choice of one rather than another of these
time-honoured phrases has seldom to do with a personal
feeling , but more likely your social setting , or the
people you are with on an occasion . You have to
deduce a person's real feelings . . .
