Page:The Kiss and its History.djvu/88

74 writes that "no one could see her without being seized at once with a desire to kiss her." So as not to shock my readers, I may mention that he wrote this before he was made Pope and assumed the name of Pius II.

It ought now to be taken as proved that women—beautiful women—and kisses are of a piece. It is at the same time nature's ordinance, and we find it verified in all countries and in all ages. Odin himself says, you know, in Hávamál, where he instructs mortals in the wisdom of life:

And the Greeks sing: "Wine belongs to chestnuts, honey to nuts, and kisses morning and night to young maids."

I am inclined to assume that women also agree with this view; certainly I have no positive enunciation to support my assumption, but I am able to quote a German proverb which most assuredly points in this direction: "Ich kann das Küssen nicht leiden," sagte das Mädchen, "wenn ich nicht dabei bin" ("I