But is not a frail woman a symbol for an exploited nation? Is not a woman torn painfully between the desires of her soul and the bonds of her body like a persecuted country caught between its rulers and its priests? Are not the invisible tempests that hurl a beautiful young woman into the gloom of a grave like the severe storms that bury the lives of people under silt? A woman is to a nation as a ray is to a lamp; can the rays of the lamp be faint if its oil has not run low?
