Wendy Walker's fine essay,"Running Through Woods," (September/October) concludes with the statement: "I can't help wondering what life might have been like had I made a different choice when I was still a girl." That wonder at what might have been is addressed poetically in the dinner speech delivered by the Danish General Lowenheim toward the conclusion of the magnificent film Babette's Feast:

"Mercy and truth have met together. Righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another. Man, in his weakness and shortsightedness, believes he must make choices in this life. He trembles at the risks he takes. We do know fear. But no. Our choice is of no importance. There comes a time when your eyes are opened. And we come to realize that mercy is infinite.... And, lo! Everything we have chosen has been granted to us, and everything we have rejected has also been granted.... For mercy and truth are met together; and righteousness and bliss shall kiss one another."

A consoling thought to stave off intimations of regret.

Randy Rockney '75
Rehoboth, Mass.