So it came about that little ten-year-old Theresa, one of the
numerous girls of the Cepeda family, thought as deeply of these
things as her small mind was capable. She was of a peculiarly
sympathetic, romantic, and conscientious nature, and she felt it
her duty to do something to show her devotion to the faith for
which her father had fought so valiantly, and which the nuns and
priests, who were her teachers, so vigorously impressed upon her.
She had been taught that alike the punishment or the glory that
must follow her life on earth were to last forever. Forever! this
was a word that even a thoughtful little maiden like Theresa
could not comprehend. So she sought her mother.
"Forever? how long is forever, mother mine?" she asked.
But the Donna Beatrix was just then too deeply interested in the
tragic story of the two lovers, Calixto and Melibea, in the Senor
Fernando de Rojas' tear-compelling story, to be able to enter
into the discussion of so deep a question.
"Forever," she said, looking up from the thick and crabbed
black-letter pages, "why forever is forever, child--always. Pray
do not trouble me with such questions; just as I am in the midst
of this beautiful death-scene too.
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