ovid - pygmalion

in the course of time he successfully carved an amazingly skilful statue in ivory

white as snow, an image of perfect feminine beauty, and fell in love with his own creation

again and again his hands moved over his work to explore it

flesh or ivory? no it couldn't be ivory now!

he kissed it and thought of it kissing him too

he talked to it, held it, imagined his fingers sinking into the limbs he was touching.

imagine beeswax from mount hymettus softening under the rays of the sun

imagine it moulded by human thumbs into hundreds of different shapes, eaching touch contributing value

the ivory gradually lost its hardness, softening, sinking,

yielding beneath his sensitive fingers

sick of the vices with the female sex has been so richly endowed

he chose for a number of years to remain unmarried.