«There was one woman, with an engaging face and a great laugh, whom Capa picked out for a portrait. She was the village wit. She said, "I am not only a great worker, I am twice widowed, and many men are afraid of me now." And she shook a cucumber in the lens of Capa's camera.
And Capa said, "Perhaps you'd like to marry me now?"
She rolled back her head and howled with laughter. "Now you, look!" she said. "If God had consulted the cucumber before he made man, there would be less unhappy women in the world." The whole field roared with laughter at Capa.»
págs.74 e 75
A Russian Journal, de John Steinbeck, com fotografias de Robert Capa.
«In the first weeks the days were long; they often, at their finest, gave me what i used to call my own hour, the hour when, for my pupils, tea-time and bed-time having come and gone, I had before my final retirement a small interval alone. Much as I liked my companions this hour was the thing in the day I liked most; and I liked it best of all when, as the light faded - or rather, I should say, the day lingered and the last calls of the last birds sounded, in a flushed sky, from the old trees - I could take a turn into the grounds and enjoy, almost with a sense of property that amused and flattered me, the beauty and dignity of the place.»
pág.163
The Turn of the Screw and The Aspern Papers, de Henry James.
«One day it happened that Njal and Thord were sitting together outside. A he-goat had the habit of walking around the hayfield, and no one was allowed to chase it away.
Thord said, "Now this is amazing.".
"What do you see that so amazes you?" said Njal.
"I think I see the goat lying in the hollow over there, all covered with blood."
Njal said there was no goat or anything else ove there.
"What is it, then?" said Thord.
"You must be a doomed man," said Njal, "and you have seen your personal spirit, and now you must be on your guard."
"That won't do me any good," said Thord, "if my fate is sealed."»
pág.69
Njal's Saga.
«É claro que, sempre que possível, eu compro livros (ou recebo alguns de presente), mas nem todos permanecem por muito tempo na minha estante, a não ser que eu goste muito deles -- o que tem acontecido raramente. Assim sendo, os exemplares vão ficando empilhados nas bordas livres das prateleiras até a época do ano em que costumo fazer doações para bibliotecas públicas. E minha estante volta à sua configuração original, ou quase. Mas também tenho uma mania curiosa: livros que li emprestado e que gostei, se eu encontrar um exemplar num sebo, não hesito: compro-o! -- pelo simples prazer de possuí-lo, e também "completar" minha coleção. Neste caso, não me importa tanto o estado do livro em si. Evidente que quanto mais novo melhor, mas se ele estiver desgastado não faz mal: eu também gosto de "restauração". E limpo folha por folha, lustro a capa, conserto a lombada, encapo com papel marmorizado... Ou seja, os livros não são, para mim, apenas um punhado de textos ordenados em páginas presas em capas com a mera finalidade de leitura, eles são também "objetos estéticos".»
