A Escrava Isaura 7.244 · 7.244

The purpose is stated without euphemism: 'reduzir aquella empedernida creatura,' to break down that hardened creature. 'Reduzir' is the language of siege and conquest — to subdue, to force to surrender — and 'empedernida,' turned to stone, names the resistance he means to shatter. To Leôncio, Isaura's virtue is not a right but an obstacle, a fortress to be reduced; the coldness of the verb is the whole horror of his intent.

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