One last word,' I said in my horrible careful English, 'are you quite, quite sure that-well, not tomorrow, of course, and not after tomorrow, but-well-some day, any day, you will not come to live with me? I will create a brand new God and thank him with piercing cries, if you give me that microscopic hope''No,' she said smiling, 'no.''It would have made all the difference,' said Humbert Humbert.Then I pulled out my automatic-I mean, this is the kind of fool thing a reader might suppose I did. It never even occurred to me to do it.
In this excerpt from "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov, the character Humbert Humbert expresses a deep longing and desperation for the possibility of a future with the woman he loves. He hopes for a day when she might live with him, envisioning a new deity to whom he could offer gratitude for this hope. His careful approach to asking underscores the significance of this desire to him, highlighting his emotional intensity and...