At Telepylus 321
century. I’m sorry, too, as sorry as sorry can be.
They were delightful personally, when they weren’t
pinned to a cork by their fixed ideals of what we ought
to be doing. They had come one thousand miles to
be trained, and then wouldn't give us a chance to train
them. But they have good brains, and the stamp of
this Abbey never wears off. They’re better and wiser
for their stay here, and they’ll be better and wiser still
as soon as they allow themselves to admit it!”
“You don’t encourage us much,” said Lou in a
really alarmed tone. “I haven't got even the consola-
tion of these people. I can’t fool myself that I am a
Wunderkind. You probably know without my telling
you that I’ve done nothing all my life but potter.
And if I’ve nothing to potter about, I go off into the
blackest boredom.”’
Sister Athena acquiesced.
‘Yes, this place is kill or cure,” she admitted, with
a laugh. “ But I’m glad to say that it’s cure for most
people. The two I was telling you about only failed
because their vanity and selfishness was so extreme.
They interpreted everything wrong, and expected the
world to fall down and worship them for being wastrels.
And at every turn they found the Big Lion in the way,
to bring them back to reality. But the truth was too
bitter medicine for them. If they had accepted the
facts, they could have altered the facts; and learnt
to do something worth while. But they preferred to
cherish delusions of persecution. They persuaded
themselves that they were being crucified when they
were only having their faces washed. But the paint
of self-esteem had been put on too thick ; so away they
went, and said how badly they’d been treated. Well,
they had asked for the treatment themselves; and it
will do them some good yet when they see the thing
in perspective and discover that the adulation of their
silly little clique of cranks in Soho is not really so good
for their souls as the accurate abuse of their friends in
this Abbey.”