38 an exhausting struggle（在线收听）

An Exhausting Struggle

Balzac once said artistic creation was “an exhausting strug-gle”．He believed that only by tenacious work and fearing notafraid of difficulties could you show your talent．It was just likethe soldiers charging the fortress，not relaxing your effort foreven a moment．

Once Balzac wrote for hours on end， he was so tired that hecould not hold out any longer．He ran to a friend's home andplunged headlong on the sofa．He wanted to sleep，but he told hisfriend he must be woken up within an hour．His friend，seeinghim so tired，did not wake him up on time．After he woke up，Balzac got very angry at his friend．Fortunately his friend had anintimate understanding of him and did not quarrel with him．

Balzac did not smoke cigarettes，nor did he drink any alco－hol． But he got one habit：while he was writing he always drankvery strong coffee that could almost anaesthetize his stomach．Hedidn't add milk，nor did he add sugar in his coffee．It would notsatisfy him until it was made bitter．People generally did not liketo drink such bitter coffee．That had strange stimulus effect tohim，and could help him drive the sleepiness away，according to himself．