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FRAGMENTS OF A PRISONEK'S DIARY
themselves either by the clannishness of primitive people, or by the spiritual taboos of civilised society. That is exactly what happened to set the stage for the tragedy hcre recorded.
The young man went to the gallows because hc had done the only honourable thing that he could possibly do under the circumstances, utterly beyond his control, if the girl he loved, either as sister or sweet-heart, was not to be driven out into a callous world, which would accommodate the derelict only as a forced vendor of herself. How painful facts of immorality result from the saiiciimonious fictions of moral indignation! The unfortunate girl could not live in the village. She was sure to be thrown out by her parents, who would not dare protect her, even if they cared to. She would not be given another chance cren to make good her widowhood. A widow, caught in the act of violating her obligatory virtue, or even suspected publicly of doing so, can expect no mercy from the draconian codes of our society. The facade of purity must not be soiled. What is punished, is not immorality, but revolt against, or disregard for, the established conventions. Even the lack of sufficient fear for this is an unpardonablc offence. The poor girl could not possibly remain in the village. Where could she go ? How could she live? These questions did not bother her persecutors,-those passionate admirers of the sublime ideal of widowhood, those stern defenders of a 198
