What do we do when things go wrong?
Years ago, when I first spotted this book in a stationery shop, I decided to buy it without even flipping through its pages. On the cover, three men were being carried by the river's current toward an unknown destination. The title revealed little more than the image itself: Three Men in a Boat. Where they were going and why remained hidden between the pages.
For some reason, I never got around to reading it. The book sat forgotten on a shelf for years, quietly waiting for me. Then one day I picked it up and finally began. Soon, I discovered why these three men had embarked on such a sudden and peculiar boating trip. Tired of their daily routines and convinced that they were suffering from all sorts of illnesses, they believe an adventure will do them good. Instead, the following two weeks prove far more challenging than expected. They can never quite agree on what should be done or how it should be done. They blame one another, make a mess of simple tasks, and seem incapable of catching a break. Jerome narrates all of this with an exaggerated sense of humor and remarkable wit.
In the end, the three companions more or less accomplish what they set out to do. By the time they return to dry land, they are rather proud of themselves. But perhaps this book was written not only to amuse, but also to make us reflect. As we accompany these three friends like an invisible fourth passenger, we spend much of the journey wanting to step in and sort things out for them.
And yet, when things go wrong in our own lives, what exactly do we do?
Him & I - Halsey, G-Easy
Cross my heart, hope to die
To my lover, I'd never lie
He said, "Be true", I swear I'll try
In the end, it's him and I
He's out his head, I'm out my mind
We got that love, the crazy kind
I am his, and he is mine
In the end, it's him and I, him and I
Reklam
"Hepimiz çok fena çabalıyoruz, yanlış yöne gidiyoruz. Tüm çabalarımız boşuna, Kazumi. Hiçbir şeye varmıyorlar! Sevincimiz, üzüntümüz, öfkemiz—hepsi bir tayfun, bir sağanak veya kiraz çiçekleri gibi geliyor ve gidiyor. Hepimiz küçük duygularımız tarafından itiliyoruz ve aynı yere sürükleniyoruz. Hiçbirimiz buna direnemeyiz. İdealist olduğunu düşündüğün her neyse onu yap? Ama değil. Sadece zavallıca! Sonunda sadece çabalarımızın boşuna olduğunu bilmekle kalıyoruz!"
“We’re all struggling so hard, heading in the wrong direction. All our efforts are in vain, Kazumi. They come to nothing! Our pleasure, our sorrow, our anger—it all comes and goes like a typhoon or a squall or cherry blossoms. We are all being pushed by our petty feelings and carried away to the same place. None of us can resist it. Do whatever you think is idealistic? But it’s not. It’s just petty! We only end up knowing that our efforts were in vain!”
Ambrose refused the emperor communion until he had confessed his sin. For a while Theodosius stayed away from church, but in the end he accepted Ambrose’s terms. In front of a crowded congregation, he took off his splendid imperial robes and asked pardon for his sins. He had to do so on several occasions until, at last, on Christmas Day, Ambrose gave him the sacrament.
No one seems to know exactly why, but Diocletian, two years before the end of his highly effective reign, abruptly ordered the most vicious of all persecutions of the Christians. For eighteen years Diocletian, although himself a convinced and practicing pagan, paid no attention to the growing Christian power. His court was full of Christian officials, and his wife, Prisca, and his daughter, Valeria, were considered Christians.
Reklam
Reklam