The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from The Illustrious Gaudissart by Honore de Balzac: unable to get a bite of it, from the inroads of these Parisian
caterpillars.
At the head of an enchanting valley, called the Valley Coquette
because of its windings and the curves which return upon each other at
every step, and seem more and more lovely as we advance, whether we
ascend or descend them, there lived, in a little house surrounded by
vineyards, a half-insane man named Margaritis. He was of Italian
origin, married, but childless; and his wife took care of him with a
courage fully appreciated by the neighborhood. Madame Margaritis was
undoubtedly in real danger from a man who, among other fancies,
persisted in carrying about with him two long-bladed knives with which
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