This is a cool illustration that I found in a book, that I thought some of you might enjoy. I know one of my future readers already knows about it though. The context is this guy and his sister are talking about why she has been cold to her dad after he remarried…
She turned away from the computer and, looking straight at me, said the strangest thing. “Connor, suppose for this Christmas I give you something very beautiful- say, a beautiful ivory carving.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” I said.
“This gift has been made with care and given to you to keep forever. It is intricately and deeply carved. There are no rough edges. All of it is polished, and all of it is pure ivory.”
“What would be wrong with that?”
“Nothing would be wrong with it if it came with instructions and a warning.”
“What instructions?” “That it must be oiled now and then or it will get brittle, and little pieces will break off.”
“And what’s the warning?”
“That ivory is a living organism, so it is bound to change as it ages. Ivory darkens. A day comes when you have to put this beautiful thing away. So not knowing about maintenance and aging, you put it in a drawer and close the drawer. Time goes by, and the gift giver wants to see his gift. So you take it out of the drawer, and both of you are surprised that it isn’t what it was. It doesn’t look the same. Without maintenance, delicate pieces have broken off, and some of the places where the carving was very deep have darkened to the color of a tobacco stain. You haven’t been careless; you have just never been warned about the changes that happen with time, and you haven’t been taught proper maintenance. But you know one thing- you are never going to put this gift on display again.”
Margaret and I looked at each other. “You’re talking about love, aren’t you?”
She turned away from the computer and, looking straight at me, said the strangest thing. “Connor, suppose for this Christmas I give you something very beautiful- say, a beautiful ivory carving.”
“I wouldn’t mind,” I said.
“This gift has been made with care and given to you to keep forever. It is intricately and deeply carved. There are no rough edges. All of it is polished, and all of it is pure ivory.”
“What would be wrong with that?”
“Nothing would be wrong with it if it came with instructions and a warning.”
“What instructions?” “That it must be oiled now and then or it will get brittle, and little pieces will break off.”
“And what’s the warning?”
“That ivory is a living organism, so it is bound to change as it ages. Ivory darkens. A day comes when you have to put this beautiful thing away. So not knowing about maintenance and aging, you put it in a drawer and close the drawer. Time goes by, and the gift giver wants to see his gift. So you take it out of the drawer, and both of you are surprised that it isn’t what it was. It doesn’t look the same. Without maintenance, delicate pieces have broken off, and some of the places where the carving was very deep have darkened to the color of a tobacco stain. You haven’t been careless; you have just never been warned about the changes that happen with time, and you haven’t been taught proper maintenance. But you know one thing- you are never going to put this gift on display again.”
Margaret and I looked at each other. “You’re talking about love, aren’t you?”
E. L. Konigsburg
Silent to the Bone
Silent to the Bone
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