The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower (with Supplemental Reading: Classics Made Simple) [Illustrated]

by Thérèse of Lisieux

I had one very useful experience while we were staying at Trouville. My cousin Marie was always having headaches. Her mother used to make a great fuss over her and call her all sorts of nice names, but Marie took no notice and just went on crying, “Oh, my poor head.” I, too, used to have a headache, nearly every day, though I had kept it to myself, until one evening I thought I would follow Marie’s example. I sat down in an armchair in a corner of the room and started crying. Soon my older cousin, Jeanne, whom I was very fond of, came and made a fuss over me, and then my aunt came in too and asked me what I was crying about. I said what Marie always said, “Oh, my poor head.” It seemed that complaining was not in my line, for no one would believe that I was crying because I had a headache. Aunt did not make a fuss over me as she usually did, but treated me as if I were a grownup, while Jeanne reproached me in a pained tone of voice, though very gently, I must admit, because she thought I was guilty of lack of simplicity and confidence in my aunt by hiding the real reason for my tears, convinced that this was some dreadful scruple or other. In the end, I gave it up; it got me nowhere, and I made up my mind I would not try to imitate others again. That fable about the donkey and the dog was brought home to me; I was the donkey who had put his great hoof on the table because he wanted to be petted like the dog. And though I was not beaten like the poor donkey, I was certainly ...