[Quo vadis]

«His eyes were hungry as he stared at her. They seemed to leap out of her skin wherever they touched her, scorching her. Their pressure slid from her face to her neck and then her naked shoulders; they brushed her hidden flesh, fondled her roundness, savored her, embraced her, devoured and consumed her...». Non è il mite incipit di un best-seller di mesdames Krantz o Blume. È da un best-seller di cent'anni fa, vincitore di uno dei primi Nobel, preceduto da Echegaray, e seguito da altro ignoto. Sienkiewicz, in Quo vadis, ha poi altri primati: è il nonno dei polpettoni hollywoodiani di Storia moderna, è il primo romanzo rosa (Harlequin books, venduto ai Supermarkets); tra i primi libri à là Monte Cristo (***) decaduto da "serie" letture per adulti a libri d'infanzia.

Quo vadis, by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1898.

P. 58: "And he looked at the maiden as if he wished to sate himself with the sight of her, to burn her eyes with his eyes. His glance slipped from her face to her neck and bare arms, fondled her shapely outlines, admired her, embraced her, devoured her..."

P. 60: "Not wine, but her marvelous face, her bare arms, her maiden breast heaving under the golden tunic, and her form hidden in the white folds of the peplus, intoxicated him more and more..."