Give me chastity and continence, but not yet

“Give me chastity and continence, but not yet” is a saying invoked by Hettie to puncture the idea that a past of depravity automatically gives way to holiness. Its wry force comes from the delay built into the words: restraint is desired, but not yet. The phrase also resonates with the novel’s recurring distinction between freely given help and assistance that leaves someone indebted.

The Saying and Its Use

When Annon asks whether Drosta can be trusted because he is a Druidecht, Hettie answers that Drosta was a Paracelsus first. She follows this reminder of his past with the saying, then smiles knowingly. Her point is not that Drosta’s present identity is false, but that a claim to holiness does not erase the life that came before it. Annon quietly agrees, and their exchange lets humor carry a guarded judgment about character and trust.

Restraint, Reputation, and Trust

Hettie’s use of the saying sits within a practical question: whether Drosta deserves confidence. Annon’s assurances about the people Tyrus trusted are not enough to settle the matter for her. Hettie distinguishes Drosta’s later Druidecht identity from his earlier Paracelsus affiliation, treating a spiritual vocation as no guarantee that the past can be disregarded. The proverb thus works as a compact caution: aspiration may be genuine, but it should be weighed against a person’s history.

Freedom Without Debt

The phrase’s concern with delayed self-restraint echoes a wider conversation between Annon and Hettie about freedom and obligation. Hettie has spent her life in debt and wants to be free of it. As they set out to seek Drosta’s treasure, she asks how much Annon expects to receive, insisting that they agree on a share rather than leave an unspoken obligation between them. Annon refuses any payment, saying he is helping freely, not as Tyrus would. Hettie remains wary: she will offer him a portion, and she does not want to owe both him and the Bhikhu. The saying’s emphasis on “not yet” therefore acquires a broader resonance: ideals and freedom are not settled by declaration alone; trust depends on what people actually choose to give, refuse, and ask of one another.

A Motif of Freely Given Help

The same tension appears in Master Shivu’s account of Tyrus’s support for the temple. Tyrus gives generously because he believes he owes a debt, while Master Shivu insists that the earlier gift and loss were freely given and created no true debt. Hettie’s proverb belongs to this network of exchanges because it makes room for the distance between what a person professes and what a person has yet managed to become. In its immediate use it is a joke at Drosta’s expense; across these connected scenes it also sharpens the novel’s concern with whether transformation, generosity, and trust can be separated from the obligations people attach to them.