ALENCAR

O Guarani 5.35 · 5.35

Something is missing

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— Não sei; falta-me alguma coisa.

"I don't know; something is missing."

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NãonowngI don'tseisayknow;falta-meFAL-ta-meeI lackalgumaal-GOO-masomecoisaKOY-zathing.

The setting

Chapter V. Isabel teases out the cause of Cecília's mood, and lands — half in jest — on Peri, the third of her 'tame' creatures.

A note on this passage

The vaguest possible admission — a lack with no name and no object. Cecília feels the shape of a want before she has anything to want, which is exactly how first love announces itself in Alencar: as an absence noticed before its cause appears.

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