Letter 26 – To a woman

You bid me not to look, and I bid you not to let yourself be seen. Who is the lawgiver who orders this, and who that? If neither act is prohibited, don't deprive yourself of approval for exhibition nor me of the licence to enjoy. A fountain does not say, “Don't drink”; nor does fruit say, “Don't take”; nor a meadow, “Don't come near.” Do you too, woman, observe nature's laws and quench the thirst of a wayfarer, whom your star has parched.