{"id":"01KG8AMXVF4EKSRPT27V450WTJ","cid":"bafkreid6zs6c3gsytl7mostndoedlnj3ubhqqiqlf3i5bvlj7wx37w72ze","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":11555,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.924Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 6","source_file":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","start_line":11493,"text":"There is nothing so slipperily alluring as sadness; we become sad in the\r\nfirst place by having nothing stirring to do; we continue in it, because\r\nwe have found a snug sofa at last. Even so, it may possibly be, that\r\narrived at this quiet retrospective little episode in the career of my\r\nhero--this shallowly expansive embayed Tappan Zee of my otherwise\r\ndeep-heady Hudson--I too begin to loungingly expand, and wax harmlessly\r\nsad and sentimental.\r\n\r\nNow, what has been hitherto presented in reference to Pierre, concerning\r\nrubbish, as in some cases the unavoidable first-fruits of genius, is in\r\nno wise contradicted by the fact, that the first published works of many\r\nmeritorious authors have given mature token of genius; for we do not\r\nknow how many they previously published to the flames; or privately\r\npublished in their own brains, and suppressed there as quickly. And in\r\nthe inferior instances of an immediate literary success, in very young\r\nwriters, it will be almost invariably observable, that for that instant\r\nsuccess they were chiefly indebted to some rich and peculiar experience\r\nin life, embodied in a book, which because, for that cause, containing\r\noriginal matter, the author himself, forsooth, is to be considered\r\noriginal; in this way, many very original books, being the product of\r\nvery unoriginal minds. Indeed, man has only to be but a little\r\ncircumspect, and away flies the last rag of his vanity. The world is\r\nforever babbling of originality; but there never yet was an original\r\nman, in the sense intended by the world; the first man himself--who\r\naccording to the Rabbins was also the first author--not being an\r\noriginal; the only original author being God. Had Milton's been the lot\r\nof Caspar Hauser, Milton would have been vacant as he. For though the\r\nnaked soul of man doth assuredly contain one latent element of\r\nintellectual productiveness; yet never was there a child born solely\r\nfrom one parent; the visible world of experience being that procreative\r\nthing which impregnates the muses; self-reciprocally efficient\r\nhermaphrodites being but a fable.\r\n\r\nThere is infinite nonsense in the world on all of these matters; hence\r\nblame me not if I contribute my mite. It is impossible to talk or to\r\nwrite without apparently throwing oneself helplessly open; the\r\nInvulnerable Knight wears his visor down. Still, it is pleasant to chat;\r\nfor it passes the time ere we go to our beds; and speech is farther\r\nincited, when like strolling improvisatores of Italy, we are paid for\r\nour breath. And we are only too thankful when the gapes of the audience\r\ndismiss us with the few ducats we earn.\r\n\r\n\r\nII.\r\n\r\nIt may have been already inferred, that the pecuniary plans of Pierre\r\ntouching his independent means of support in the city were based upon\r\nhis presumed literary capabilities. For what else could he do? He knew\r\nno profession, no trade. Glad now perhaps might he have been, if Fate\r\nhad made him a blacksmith, and not a gentleman, a Glendinning, and a\r\ngenius. But here he would have been unpardonably rash, had he not\r\nalready, in some degree, actually tested the fact, in his own personal\r\nexperience, that it is not altogether impossible for a magazine\r\ncontributor to Juvenile American literature to receive a few pence in\r\nexchange for his ditties. Such cases stand upon imperishable record, and\r\nit were both folly and ingratitude to disown them.\r\n\r\nBut since the fine social position and noble patrimony of Pierre, had\r\nthus far rendered it altogether unnecessary for him to earn the least\r\nfarthing of his own in the world, whether by hand or by brain; it may\r\nseem desirable to explain a little here as we go. We shall do so, but\r\nalways including, the preamble.\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 6"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJTDSB3ER53PCEAPSR7B2","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AMXVFKEZPZ6DVWCWE0E69","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AMXVN1F0TX6MH72JGYG40","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:53.103Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:28.075Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}