Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden by Jorge Luis Borges

 



What would it take for this lovely young British lady elegantly sipping her tea to, one day in the future on a South American ranch, throw herself down on the ground to drink the warm blood of a freshly slaughtered sheep?

This is the prime question posed by the narrator of Borges' tale, Story of the Warrior and the Captive.

At the tale's conclusion, there's mention of being "swept away by a secret impulse, an impulse more profound than reason."

The Borges-like narrator links the drinker of both English tea and sheep blood to a barbarian who died defending the city of Rome, a city he attacked in his younger days.

What would it take to effect a radical shift, a complete reversal, an unforeseen conversion in your life? Surely passion or a secret impulse would count more than reason. Or, would it? Read this Borges tale and see what you can detect. Link: https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/hist1...

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