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300
SÖNYA KOVALÉVSKY
for example, she one day read somewhere that if a man
possessed, in proportion to his size, the same capacity for
jumping which is possessed by some insects, he would be
able, with one leap, to reach the moon. Thereupon she
began, with all the force of her eloquence, to demonstrate, on
the basis of astronomical, physical, and mechanical facts,
that the problem of future civilization and culture, to which
she, among others, wished to devote her life, consisted in
developing in the human race the capacity to jump, and thus
to render them capable of leaping to another planet, when
it should prove impossible to live any longer on the earth;
by the aid of such a leap, people would save themselves
and the memory of culture, which has attained to such a
high degree of development on our earth. And she
developed this jest with such a serious mien, that the comic
impression was irresistible. It not infrequently happened,
during conversation, that Anna Carlotta expressed some
thought which Sophia afterward took up. Thus, the
former once made the following quotation from a Danish
author: " Genius is needed in order to love," an expression
which several young poets who were present would not
accept in its real sense, but interpreted to signify that
" only geniuses can love." Sophia strove, for a long time,
to explain the real meaning, but in vain. But when these
men took their departure, she exclaimed: l< Really, it is
incredible how stupid even the most gifted people can be,
when love is in question ! Here are these nice young men
discussing and writing books on this subject, and yet they
do not understand that some people possess a talent for
love, just as others possess talent for music or mechanics,
and that for these geniuses of love, love is converted into a
vital matter, while for all the rest of mankind it constitutes
only one of the episodes of life. And it is generally the
case — according to Darwin’s theory it is perfectly
natural — that the genius of love should fall in love with the
idiot of love; precisely this constitutes one of the most
puzzling problems of life, and our young men have not
even observed that. But if there exists a realm in which
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