By Karen - 03 August 2021
There are 193 countries in the world and 45 in Europe.
No one can accurately distinguish Europeans from different countries by intuition. There is no difference in appearance between Swedish, Danish or Finnish people. Italian speakers may also be Swiss. Emmashu may have a Hungarian surname, but it sounds a bit German.
People in the peaceful age can have many names at the same time, or they can choose not to. Shakespeare said: "This kind of flower we call roses, if it is changed to another name, its fragrance will still be the same." However, once the war broke out, a person's name began to become vital. The name shows his family, nationality, status and beliefs. The government uses names to record the births and deaths of everyone. The name of the country has been mentioned repeatedly, and the same piece of land has been built with high walls due to different names. In September 1939, Germany struck Poland. From that day on, "What's your name?" became a question of survival.
He and Catherine met in the calm and endless Sahara, scholars and adventurers warmly welcomed her to join the "International Desert Club". This is a land without borders, unknown but free. His name is Earl Emmashu, and he is a cold historian. But she has another name, Mrs. Kifton.
He complained that women shouldn't stay in the desert, and she complained that he was not talking. He quietly followed her behind her at the fair in Cairo, she carefully clipped her own painting into his book, and they danced reservedly at the ball.
Love is like a plant in the desert, growing vigorously on all desperate land. At night, he cut his heart with a knife, and in the early morning, the nectar of love overflowed again, drowning the two of them.
They stroked each other's hair in the storm and had sex on a hot Christmas in the southern hemisphere. He tore open her clothes like a beast, and sew it clumsily like a child. She shampooed his hair and gently wiped the sand from his ears with her fingers. At that moment she was the happiest and the least happy.
She betrayed her marriage, he betrayed his motherland.
At the same time, war betrayed mankind, life betrayed ideals, lies betrayed the truth, and indifference betrayed faith.
Almásy said that he hates two things most in his life: possession and being possessed.
"When you leave here, please forget me." he said.
Because Catherine never belonged to him. Her last name is like a label, always reminding the two lovers that their love is a product of immorality. And desire is so scorching. He desperately wanted to meet her. The tip of his tongue glided across every inch of her skin, leaving her intoxicating fragrance in his mouth. He named the depression in the middle of her collarbone the Emmashu Strait. She dated him on her wedding anniversary, and her husband was watching them not far away.
The lethality of love is far greater than that of war.
Just like Catherine's last words to Emmashu: We are dead. We die in love. The taste of each other's tongue. I once got into your body deeply, like a fish swimming in the warm river water. Our hidden fear is like this dark cave. I want to engrave all this on my body. We are the real country, without the borders on the map named after the powerful. I know you will come and take me out of here to the sanctuary of wind. That's what I have always longed for: walking with you and your friends in a place without a map. The light went out, and I wrote this sentence in the dark.
Almásy eventually forgot his name and nationality, and even Catherine's name. When referring to her, he just murmured: "My wife." Honor and shame, morality and despair, all fell to the dust at this moment. All labels are no longer important, and "I love you" has become the only promise worth keeping.
Some people betray everything, but they can't betray their lifelong love.
