I.

Crystallization is a concept, developed in 1822 by the French writer Stendhal, which describes the process, or mental metamorphosis, in which unattractive characteristics of a new love are transformed into perceptual diamonds of shimmering beauty.

Stendhal describes or compares the “birth of love” in a new relationship as being a process similar to a trip to Rome. In the analogy the city of Bologna represents indifference and Rome represents perfect love:

"When we are in Bologna, we are entirely indifferent; we are not concerned to admire in any particular way the person with whom we shall perhaps one day be madly in love with; even less is our imagination inclined to overrate their worth." In a word, in Bologna “crystallization” has not yet begun. When the journey begins, love departs. One leaves Bologna, climbs the Apennines, and takes the road to Rome. The departure, according to Stendhal, has nothing to do with one’s will; it is an instinctive moment. This transformative process actuates in terms of four steps along a journey:

1. Admiration – one marvels at the qualities of the loved one.

2. Acknowledgement – one acknowledges the pleasantness of having gained the loved one's interest.

3. Hope – one envisions gaining the love of the loved one.

4. Delight – one delights in overrating the beauty and merit of the person whose love one hopes to win.

II.

Once there was a messenger of the gods, the god of language, metaphors, intrigues and covert reasons, fraud and perjury, wit and ambiguity.

A patron of heralds, diplomats and thieves.

This messenger was gambling with urgency, creating ornaments where none are needed, disguising a warning into a play.

He was pitiless whilst holding the information tight in his hands, the careless go-between amongst the nervous parties.

Straying from the given path into the gardens, dispersing the message into fragments, watching the water go by.

The warning didn't concerned him because he was the message himself.

Be aware of the one who appears not to be moving.