Leila of Katherine Mansfield's "Her First Ball" is an naive
young lady who comes from the outback to the city to attend her first ball. She "floated away
like a flower that is tossed into a pool" as someone's hand presses her waist and they dance on
the "beautifully slippery" floor. The newness and excitement of this ball that has handsome young
men and is "heavenly" to Leila is thrilling. She considers that it is
the beginning of
everything. It seemed to her that she had never known what the night ws like before. Up till now
it had been dark, silent, beautiful very often--oh, yes--but mournful somehow. solemmn. And now
it would never be like that again--it had opened dazzling
bright.
But, the words of a cynical
older, fat man mitigate Leila's excitement. It is not so much what he says, but the callousness
of his feeling that he can just deflate her excitement with impunity that bothers Leila. After
his cynical comments on how she will soon be among the "poor old dears" with black bony fans who
watch from on the stage, Leila feels that the music has changed to a melancholy melody that rises
on a "great sigh." She mourns that happiness is so ephemeral. Telling the fat man that she wishes
to stop dancing, Leila wonders why he has spoiled her enjoyment. But, she retorts to his "you
mustn't take me seriously, little lady" with a quip. Soon, a young man with curly hair bows to
Leila and they dance. At this point as their feet glide, Leila chooses to ignore the truth of the
human condition for the enjoyment of the moment--carpe diem--in what she has
earlier described as "the beginning of everything." When her next partner bumps her into the fat
man who says "Pardon," Leila smiles radiantly at him, "more radiantly than
ever."
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