Whatyouhavetoshowisthepowerofwoman。Samsonisasecondaryconsideration。Heisthecorpseofdeadstrength。ItisDelilah——
passion——thatruinseverything。Howfarmorebeautifulisthat/replica/——Thatiswhatyoucallit，Ithink——”Sheskilfullyinterpolated，asClaudeVignonandStidmanncameuptothemonhearinghertalkofsculpture——”howfarmorebeautifulthantheGreekmythisthat/replica/ofHerculesatOmphale’sfeet——DidGreececopyJudaea，ordidJudaeaborrowthesymbolismfromGreece？””There，madame，youraiseanimportantquestion——thatofthedateofthevariouswritingsintheBible。ThegreatandimmortalSpinoza——
mostfoolishlyrankedasanatheist，whereashegavemathematicalproofoftheexistenceofGod——assertsthattheBookofGenesisandallthepoliticalhistoryoftheBibleareofthetimeofMoses，andhedemonstratestheinterpolatedpassagesbyphilologicalevidence。
Andhewasthricestabbedashewentintothesynagogue。””IhadnoideaIwassolearned，”saidValerie，annoyedatthisinterruptiontoher/tete-a-tete/。”Womenknoweverythingbyinstinct，”repliedClaudeVignon。”Well，then，youpromiseme？”shesaidtoSteinbock，takinghishandwiththetimidityofagirlinlove。”Youareindeedahappyman，mydearfellow，”criedStidmann，”ifmadameasksafavorofyou！””Whatisit？”askedClaudeVignon。”Asmallbronzegroup，”repliedSteinbock，”DelilahcuttingoffSamson’shair。””Itisdifficult，”remarkedVignon。”Abed——””Onthecontrary，itisexceedinglyeasy，”repliedValerie，smiling。”Ahha！teachussculpture！”saidStidmann。”Youshouldtakemadameforyoursubject，”repliedVignon，withakeenglanceatValerie。”Well，”shewenton，”thisismynotionofthecomposition。Samsononwakingfindshehasnohair，likemanyadandywithafalsetop-knot。
Theheroissittingonthebed，soyouneedonlyshowthefootofit，coveredwithhangingsanddrapery。Thereheis，likeMariusamongtheruinsofCarthage，hisarmsfolded，hisheadshaven——NapoleonatSaint-Helena——whatyouwill！Delilahisonherknees，agooddeallikeCanova’sMagdalen。Whenahussyhasruinedherman，sheadoreshim。AsIseeit，theJewesswasafraidofSamsoninhisstrengthandterrors，butshemusthavelovedhimwhenshesawhimachildagain。SoDelilahisbewailinghersin，shewouldliketogiveherloverhishairagain。