A Winter's Promise

Going through the mirrors requires confronting yourself. You need guts, you know, to look yourself straight in the eyes, to see yourself as you are, to dive into your own reflection. Those who hide their faces, those who lie to themselves, those who see themselves better than they are, they will never be able. So believe me, it doesn't run the sidewalks!

I think I’m starting to get used to you

Passer les miroirs, ça demande de s'affronter soi-même. Il faut des tripes, t'sais, pour se regarder droit dans les mirettes, se voir tel qu'on est, plonger dans son propre reflet. Ceux qui se voilent la face, ceux qui se mentent à eux-mêmes, ceux qui se voient mieux qu'ils sont, ils pourront jamais. Alors crois-moi, ça ne court pas les trottoirs !

Reading had always been a passion, but since when were passions the only foundations of a life?

one never loves someone more than when one knows the least about them.

Quando gli ematomi si fossero riassorbiti e l'artigliata di Freya si fosse trasformata in cicatrice, Ofelia avrebbe rivisto il viso che conosceva. Lo sguardo però, non sarebbe più stato come prima. A forza di vedere illusioni aveva perso le proprie, e andava bene così. Quando le illusioni spariscono rimane solo la verità.

It was seeing these worn-out men that really allowed Ophelia to take the measure of this world in which she found herself. There were those who danced at the ball, enclosed in their bubbles of illusion, and those who kept the whole machine going.

To read an object requires forgetting oneself a little, to leave room for the past of someone else. Traveling through mirrors, that requires facing up to oneself. One has to have guts, y’know, to look oneself straight in the peepers, see oneself as one really is, plunge into one’s own reflection. Those who close their eyes, those who lie to themselves, those who see themselves as better than they are, they could never do it. So, believe me, it’s no run-of-the-mill thing.

Atravesar los espejos demanda enfrentarse a uno mismo. Se necesitan tripas para observarse directamente en los espejos, verse tal cual uno es, y sumergirse en su propio reflejo, ¿sabes? Aquellos que se ponen un velo, aquellos que se mienten a sí mismos, aquellos que se creen mejores de lo que son, jamás lo lograrán.

As long as Ophelia had scruples, as long as she acted according to her conscience, as long as she could face up to her reflection every morning, she would belong to no one else but herself.

Ophelia was scared, viscerally scared, that he might have grown fond of her. She felt incapable of loving him in return. She certainly didn’t know much on the subject of feelings, but for that alchemy to work, then a man and a woman need to enjoy a minimum amount of affinity?

D’ailleurs, on ne s’aime jamais si bien que quand on se connaît fort mal.

Indeed, one never loves someone more than when one knows the least about them.

Was it just a book, after all? It had the texture neither or vellum nor of rag paper. Awful to admit, but it resembled human skin, drained of its blood

The elevation of the Citaceleste into the sky, the air currents for the dog sleighs, the distortions of space, the strong rooms, the concept of the sandglasses: there wasn’t a thing here that didn’t bear her trademark.

Was she attractive? How can one tell? From the gaze of a man?

A forza di vedere illusioni aveva perso le proprie, e andava bene così. Quando le illusioni spariscono rimane solo la verità. I suoi occhi si sarebbero rivolti meno verso l’interno e più sul mondo. Avevano ancora molto da vedere e da imparare.