MURIEL SPARK
783
Observing people in love has a certain charm and, sometimes,
entertainment value. But to my mind watching them actually mak–
ing love is something different. I find it most unappealing to walk
through a London park on a mild spring day and find the grass lit–
tered with couples making love .
It
turns me up, it turns me off. I
don't understand how voyeurism turns people on .
With animals, strangely enough, I feel the opposite . I live most
of the time in the Italian countryside, and nothing is more attractive
and moving than to look out of the window on a sunny morning, as I
did recently, and see a couple of young hares making love. He
hopped towards her, she hopped away. He hopped and she hopped
through the long grass, till at last he hopped on. Then too, not long
ago, driving with a friend down a country road, we had to stop while
a horse mated with a mare . There were a number of cars, but we all
lined up respectfully and with deep interest, for it was known that the
owner of the horses, who was standing by, depended for his living on
events like this and was delighted that the horse had at last arrived at
his decision, even in the middle of the road. The horse mounted the
mare slowly, laid his nose dreamily along her flank, entered her
precisely, and performed without bungle . The horse-coper radiated
joy and success. The horse and mare moved off casually into a field,
and the caravan of cars went its way.
The aspects of love that one could discuss are endless. But cer–
tainly, as the old songs say, love is the sweetest thing, and it makes
the world go round.
Muriel Spark's latest book is a novel,
The Only Problem,
recently
published by G.
P.
Putnam's Sons.
