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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Sarrasine by Honore de Balzac: fear. Sarrasine was striding up and down the studio. Suddenly he
halted in front of Zambinella.
" 'Tell me the truth,' he said, in a changed and hollow voice. 'Are
you not a woman? Cardinal Cicognara----'
"Zambinella fell on his knees, and replied only by hanging his head.
" 'Ah! you are a woman!' cried the artist in a frenzy; 'for even a--'
"He did not finish the sentence.
" 'No,' he continued, 'even /he/ could not be so utterly base.'
" 'Oh, do not kill me!' cried Zambinella, bursting into tears. 'I
consented to deceive you only to gratify my comrades, who wanted an
opportunity to laugh.'
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