Katie's teenage years were spent in various banquets, and the person who arranged for her to attend the banquet was not someone else but her mother, and the purpose of her mother to let Katie attend the banquet was simply to help her find a dragon-riding son-in-law, who could both shine the lintel and make up for her mother's regrets about marriage - not being able to marry a real high society person.
Of course, under the influence of her mother, Katie naturally also hopes that she can marry an aristocrat or a high-society person, she is full of confidence in her appearance, she happily enjoys the pursuit and pursuit of the male brothers, she never refuses to date them, but also never expresses her feelings, just circumvents it.
Gradually, the brothers around her were looking for other girls, and Katie was still waiting and looking for her through the banquet, the 19-year-old was not in a hurry, and at the age of 25, she was a little confused, and the taunts of her mother and the departure of the lovers made Katie realize that it was finally time to marry.
It was then that she met Walter, a bacteriologist.
She didn't love him, she didn't even like him. Just because she was old, just because of his hospitality, she thought it might be good to marry him, and they would be going to Hong Kong after marriage, which was a relief for Katie to leave her home.
Hong Kong is different from the United Kingdom, the only thing that is the same is that the banquet is as usual. Katie soon blends into a new circle, and she feels more and more that her husband is wooden and stereotypical. In contrast, Hong Kong assistant secretary Charles is so charming and attentive, Katie knows that Charlie has interests in herself, and she does not hide her appreciation for him, and the two come together.
The more the adulterous two played, the bolder they became, and they actually made peace in Katie's bedroom. When the doorknob was turned, they suddenly woke up...
Poor Katie, you're just a mistress of Charlie
After some thought, Katie decided to break the net, and the days of stealing affair for more than a year made her more infatuated with Charlie and more indifferent to her husband Walter, and when the two tore the window paper to make everything clear, Walter put forward conditions: if Charlie was willing to marry Katie, he immediately agreed to divorce, and if not, then Katie would follow him to a cholera-infested place in "Mae Tam Province".
Katie was overjoyed, she felt that the peak of her life was coming, and she couldn't wait to find her lover, Charlie; when Charlie made it clear that he would never divorce and marry her, they were just playing. Katie was dizzy, and it was only then that she could see Charlie's face, and she hated him and herself.
She followed Walter on the road to "Mae Tam Province", and the road was bumpy, but Katie had no idea. As she looked outside, the morning mist shrouded the mountains, and as the fog cleared, Katie saw the green, the clear water of the lake, the funeral procession, and the dying patients. The beauty of the scenery and the cruelty of reality were carved into her eyes, and she seemed to feel something different.
Redemption, facing your true self
When she stepped into the monastery in the city, she saw the nuns who had kept to the mission of the Lord, the misery of the abandoned female dolls, and the people whose lives were being taken away by cholera behind a door.
In such a real life, Katie feels more and more superficial, how ridiculous she and Charlie are, and she thinks she has found true love.
Walter was highly respected here, but when he wasn't home, Katie had a premonition of what was going on, and when she saw him for the last time, she watched him go, and at the same time she was even more determined that she didn't love him, and yes, she didn't love him at all.
When burying Walter in Chinese customs, Katie did not shed a single tear, not hard-hearted or unhappy, but Katie suddenly realized the direction of life here, and she knew that this was where Walter belonged.
When Katie embarks on the journey home, she is no longer a fragile Katie who is only caught up in her emotions and crying and sad, she has become calm and tolerant.
She understands that all this she has encountered stems from her own vanity, because her vanity also alienates herself from others, but she does not know what real life looks like.
When she returned to England and said goodbye to her deceased mother, she suddenly understood her father, who had been afraid to take on family responsibilities and was careful with the men who had lived all their lives, and even smoked in the study after her mother's death, but still had to ask her daughters first.
Katie was so upset that she hugged her father for the first time and expressed her emotions.
After reading "The Veil", I was extremely impressed by one of the sentences, to the effect that in the country of the East, I suddenly understood the meaning of life, while Western society only felt superficial.
The depictions of the scenes in the novel, especially the mist, the lake, and the dying life, are deeply pierced into the heart. Maybe Katie was touched by this.
And when she entered the monastery to see the abandoned girls, when she integrated into it and accompanied them to grow, it purified her soul and made her realize the meaning of life again.
Only by experiencing hardships can we get good. The truth that has not changed throughout the ages.
--end--
Author: Codewords Explore the World!
The pictures used in this article come from the Internet, and the copyright belongs to the original author.