XXXVII. A WOMAN WITH A SOUL.
Reading edition
"A new affectation is to speak of the soul as feminine. For example, the London papers announce the third edition of 'The Soul, HER sorrows, and HER aspirations.'"
I always thought John Bull was a goose; now I know it! A woman with a soul! I guess so! (made out of an old spare-rib!) What on earth does she want of a soul? First thing you know, she'd be eating of the 'tree of knowledge,' and we had enough of that in Eve's day; I tell you there are none but masculine souls.
"It is a matter of astonishment and thanksgiving to me that men condescend to notice us at all. I trust all the sisters feel their inferiority, and know how to keep their place, as well as I do! It's next door to martyrdom when they speak to me, I'm in such a 'fluster' for fear I shall make some wretched blunder. It is as much as ever I dare to LOOK at them, but when it comes to TALKING, I'm entirely nonplussed! If by good luck I catch an idea, I chase it round till I lose it; and if I were to swallow a whole dictionary, I couldn't clothe that idea in words! Oh, dear! wish I had a 'soul,' just to see how it would seem! It would be so refreshing to have a new sensation!"