The Hunchback's beauty
What is beauty?
Is beauty important for a long-lasting relationship? Can men and women remain beautiful for each other at any age? These are good questions in an era of social media and selfies. Physical attractiveness seems to be the only merit that counts nowadays and photos applications compete with each other to provide to their users more tools to make their subjects more attractive to others.
Credit: Mitchell Grafton
I do not share this festivity. I have met, along the years, beautiful women, with some I have spent a considerable amount of quality time and I am telling you, beyond any doubt, that even the most beautiful person loses their attractiveness when their behavior is vicious. Conversely, if you allow an unattractive person to express their kindness, witness and passion, soon enough their true beauty will be revealed to you.
The Hunchback's beauty
A story that I have heard once tells about a young man whose name was Moshe Mendelson, the famous German philosopher, who was far from being handsome or physically attractive. Not only was he short but he had an ugly hunch.
One day he visited the house of a merchant from Hamburg who had a beautiful daughter by the name Phromtha. Mendelson desperately fell in love with her but his appearance was repulsive and she could not even dare to look at him. No sooner he had to leave, Mendelson gathered all his inner strength and climbed the stairs to Phromtha's room. He was hoping that he would have the last chance to look at her divine beauty. But alas, Phromtha caused him great sadness for she could not raise her head to look at him.
Following several failed attempts to make a conversation, Mendelson looked down and shyly asked Phromtha: "Do you believe that matching is determined in heaven?"
"Yes, I do", Phromtha answered and her eyes were still fixed on the room's floor. "And you, do you believe that?", she asked Mendelson.
"Indeed. I believe so too", he answered. "You see, in heaven, when a male baby is born, God announces who would be his future wife. When I was born they showed me the woman whom I would marry, but God added that she would have a hunch!".
"Right then I cried: 'Oh my dear merciful God, a hunch is a terrible thing and for a woman, it's much worse. Please give the hunch to me to carry and leave her beautiful".
Mendelson became silent and Phromtha looked in his eyes for the first time. A distant memory stormed her spirit. She stretched her arm and took Mendelson's hand.
Later they got married.
That’s a really beautiful and emotional story. When it comes to “even the most beautiful person loses their attractiveness when their behavior is vicious.” and than in reverse, I completely agree. Yes, most people look for attractiveness in other person, I did as well. But now, when I’m married for that long, there are other things more important than the beauty itself when it comes to physical look. I also would be lying if I said I don’t notice an attractive women. We are just a humans and even though I’m married and have never cheated, I don’t deny not to look or say Hello to a beautiful person even with a hunch. I also believe that those two beautiful people in The Hunchback's beauty story and many more like this have incomparably stronger bond than any partnership being together for attractiveness.
... So what you are saying in other words is that the features we perceive to be not attractive in our physicality, are actually a gift because we know that if a person chooses us they do so thanks to our virtues and inner self, which are the foundation for a true long lasting relationship.
Indeed, attractive people might have a problem, like rich people. Luckily, thanks to online communication people can spend significant time with others before meeting them, and so to realize if the interest is genuine.
Thanks for this comment 👍
i have an ex GF, she's quite beautiful, her beauty attracts more male and that was the reason we broke up, but at least I learned my lesson, now I have a GF who's not beautiful but beautiful inside her heart, soul and brain, and i'm happy and contented with her. :)
I know what you mean.
If she were balanced she would not attract so many; her balance would reject them upfront. You broke up with her not because she was beautiful but because you both felt that she would need time with/for herself to find that inner self sustenance, i.e. feeding off of herself.
A lovely story about Mendelson that I did not know...thanks for that!
In high school we had such an ugly teacher that when we first met him, we were really "scared".
After a while, he turned out to be one of our best teachers, knowing us so well that we"fall in love of him".
This is because of the way he approached to each of us to encourage us to do our best.
His classes were always with a lot of interest and fun..
What a charming and wise teacher he was, something you couldn't guess according to his look.
Exactly!
It is a beautiful story of love, it shows the true essence of a relationship, the spirituality and the feelings...
I quote the following:
Many people rely on attractiveness, perhaps for a first impression, attractiveness is an important point, but while it is true that beauty goes away and disappointments and betrayals begin, beauty matters for shallow people who rely on vanities, However, I support the human being who strives to look good, it is a label that can open the doors to you in many places, but it is important to nourish our mind and our heart, it is what really shows who we are. Happy night, buddy.
Forgive my mistakes with the language, the translator helps me
And our bodies!
Very important as it bypasses the mind. I'm saying that beauty and attractiveness are often different things. Many super models are not considered attractive at all...
Reading well, I think a person can be attractive but not beautiful, you're right, although beauty is subjective..
I like the last word, finally they got married after strunggle the problem... So this story is happy ending. So, what about they children?
A story for you to write 😊
Okk... May be next time... Like naruto and boruto next generation anime...😅
OOOh, nomad- magus the story portrays the goodness of some people.
I strongly believe though some people do not hear the voice of the lord due to the worldly pleasures and somehow these people go with the wrong partners thus the high numbers of divorce these days but OMG getting married to the person that God chose for you is the best the mere fact there are ups and downs in Marriage but when God is in between all things work out perfectly because he is the author of our lives
Attractive people are good to hang with but I have noticed most of them have an attitude of " am cute every one wants to hang out with me " so they treat people arraogantly
... Arrogance is a virtue that kills attractiveness very quickly
In my opinion, the most attractive people are the ones who know that their physical appearance isn’t the most attractive thing about them. They have a certain kind of confidence, they’re usually more fun to hang out with, and they’re the kind of people who are ready to love you for who you are. But along with this fact there are some other factors which most people consider for assessing someone.
Although personal grooming and cleanliness also important for someone to attract the other, but confident and caring behavior is also important.really a great question. Beauty depends on mental situation. Some like black, some like white and some other like brown.But it's true that it doesn't exist long time.
What people usually dont see....
And what people usually show off which they shudnt ...
Effective story for our life.....I add little words in hunchback .when you're a kid, they tell you that it's what's on the inside that counts. Looks don't matter . But that's not true. Guys like Phoebus in The Hunchback, or Dorian
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