Page:La Fontaine - The Original Fables Of, 1913.djvu/84

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.
72
THE SCULPTOR

the intellect, and this fact accounts for the great error of paganism. For that error has been prompted by the emotions of men in all the peoples of the earth. Men uphold with fanatic zeal the interests of the unreal creatures of their imagination. Pygmalion became enamoured of the Venus[1] he had created, and in the same way every one tries to turn his dreams into reality. Man remains as ice before truth, but catches fire before illusion.

  1. La Fontaine forgets. It was Galatea whose image Pygmalion created and whom Venus brought to life.