Martin Eden Ch 20 p189

Paul Stought

Jun 2

know the way of love, nor its speech, while he was frightened at his loved one's clear innocence.	noe dhu wae uv luv, naur its spych, whiel hy wuz frietund at hiz luvd wun'z klir inusuns.
In the course of getting acquainted with a varied world, whirling on through the ever changing phases of it, he had learned a rule of conduct which was to the effect that when one played a strange game, he should let the other fellow play first. This had stood him in good stead a thousand times and trained him as an observer as well. He knew how to watch the thing that was strange, and to wait for a weakness, for a place of entrance, to divulge itself. It was like sparring for an opening in fist-fighting. And when such an opening came, he knew by long experience to play for it and to play hard.	In dhu kaurs uv geting ukwaentud with u veryd wuruld, whuruling on throo dhy evur chaenjing faezuz uv it, hy had lurnd u rool uv kondukt which wuz too dhy ifekt dhat when wun plaed u straenj gaem, hy shwd let dhy udhur feloe plae furst. Dhis had stwd him in gwd sted u thouzund tiemz and traend him az an ubzurvur az wel. Hy noo hou too woch dhu thing dhat wuz straenj, and too waet faur u wyknus, faur u plaes uv entruns, too duvulj itself. It wuz liek sporing faur an oepuning in fist-fieting. And when such an oepuning kaem, hy noo bie long ekspiryuns too plae faur it and too plae hord.
So he waited with Ruth and watched, desiring to speak his love but not daring. He was afraid of shocking her, and he was not sure of himself. Had he but known it, he was following the right course with her. Love came into the world before articulate speech, and in its own early youth it had learned ways and means that it had never forgotten. It was in this old, primitive way that Martin wooed Ruth. He did not know he was doing it at first, though later he divined it. The touch of his hand on hers was vastly more potent than any word he could utter, the impact of his strength on her imagination was more alluring than the printed poems and spoken passions of a thousand generations of lovers. Whatever his tongue could express would have appealed, in part, to her judgment; but the touch of hand, the fleeting contact, made its way directly to her instinct. Her judgment was as young as she, but her instincts were as old as the race and older. They had been young when love was young, and they were wiser than convention and opinion and all the new-born things. So her judgment did not act. There was no call upon it, and she did not realize the strength of the appeal Martin made from moment to moment to her love-nature.	Soe hy waetud with Rooth and wochd, diziering too spyk hiz luv but not dering. Hy wuz ufraed uv shoking hur and hy wuz not shwr uv himself. Had hy but noen it, hy wuz folo.ing dhu riet kaurs with hur. Luv kaem intoo dhu wuruld bifaur ortikyulut spych, and in its oen urly yooth it had lurnd waez and mynz dhat it had nevur faurgotun. It wuz in dhis oeld, primutiv wae dhat Mortun wood Rooth. Hy did not noe hy wuz doo.ing it at furst, dhoe laetur hy diviend it. Dhu tuch uv hiz hand on hurz wuz vastly maur poetunt dhan eny wurd hy kwd utur, dhy impakt uv hiz strength on hur imajunaeshun wuz maur ulwring dhan dhu printud po.umz and spoekin pashunz uv u thouzund jenuraeshunz uv luvurz. Whotevur hiz tung kwd ekspres wwd hav upyld, in port, too hur jujmunt; but dhu tuch uv hand, dhu flyting kontakt, maed its wae durektly too hur instinkt. Hur jujmunt wuz az yung az shy, but hur instinkts wur az oeld az dhu raes and oeldur. Dhae had bin yung when luv wuz yung, and dhae wur wiezur dhan kunvenchun and upinyun and aul dhu noo-baurn thingz. Soe hur jujmunt did not akt. Dher wuz noe kaul upon it, and shy did not ryuliez dhu strength uv dhy upyl Mortun maed frum moemunt too moemunt too hur luv-naechur.
189a	189a
Martin Eden Martin Eden Intro