Where Childhood is a Myth
T
Before the Curtain Rises
Our of shadow-land, however created, however realized, your world-before-you- knew comes to you, an elusive, protean unreality. You snatch at it, and it evades you. You question it eagerly, and it fades away. Then, when you are reasonable, when you are least aware of it or least expect it, it returns, tantalizing you with hints of glories that have been ‘and can never be again.
— These glimpses are like unfinished negatives. Here and there the impression is very clear. Here and there completely blurred. The chemical of sentiment always brings them out more clearly. Often you see before you what you thought had long ago been forgotten. Sometimes it wakens a heart-throb;—you tkought it had been ‘smothered in forgetfulness long ago; but nothing is ever forgotten, forever......
As life moves on, all the great past is set together, connected, given a name and the very best of it, its essence, imbedded in the memory as one of the Seven Ages and you call it your youth.
Youth! The beauty of life was there. When Joey thinks of any joy, it is referred back to that period of his life. The reality of all his dreams was there, the happiness which passeth understanding. Then, the world was fresh and green and hopeful and Joey was fresh and green and hopeful. It was his Golden Age, when he did not know it then. It is only when he looks back and wonders at the little
figure called by his name years and years ago, oh, so many years ago—that he loves to refashion incidents connected with that figure, indistinct though they may be and trivial, as he often confesses, but to him full of a charm he cannot define.
Joey, the man, is heir in possession of his golden age and no one can peer into that part of his life without his permission. Whenever he is seated at Eis desk and wishes to think of life that is worth living, he reverts to his youth and then the words gush forth to explain to those whom he loves what the Golden Age means to him..::.....
This is how one evening of the Golden Age appears:
He is amid a circle of women. They speak of him as if etiquette need not be observed in his presence and even secrets may be told. They converse of the great world beyond, which Joey has been privileged to see once or twice. What they say, as he recalls it, is verified later on..
It is one of the curiosities of memory:
How does the world treat the wandering people? Thank God! If only business were better; if the husband were more of a business man and knew how to take advantage; if they understood the new world;—ah!......A man with a black beard enters and the conversation is turned into other channels, less personal to him.......The price of food has been increased; this winter will be a hard one......It is said that Schachne, the tanner, has left the old country to begin his wanderings anew in his old age; what will he do in this golden land? Well, you