Mata Hari

Now it's done.

Thank you, Monsieur.

A harlot? Yes, but a traitor, never!

Death is nothing, nor life either, for that matter. To die, to sleep, to pass into nothingness, what does it matter? Everything is an illusion.

I was not content at home. . . I wanted to live like a colorful butterfly in the sun.

My dance is a sacred poem in which each movement is a word and whose every word is underlined by music. The temple in which I dance can be vague or faithfully reproduced, for I am the temple.

In every woman there is always something mysterious and interesting.

I have encountered in this world riff-raff and good people. I lose. I win. I defend myself when I am attacked. I take when someone has taken from me. But I beg you to believe me; I have never done an act of espionage against France. Never. Never.

I know that life ends in tragedy.

Have no fear, sister, I will approach death without faltering. You will see a good death.

I had long since lost any illusion of being loved for who I was and now accepted, with clean conscience, flowers, flattery, and money that fed my ego and my false identity.

I am a dancer, not a spy. I have danced for kings, princes, and diplomats, but I have never betrayed a country.

My dance is a poem, each movement a word, each word a revelation.

I was born to be a courtesan, not a spy. I love men too much to betray them.

I have always been a dreamer, an adventurer, a woman who lives for love and beauty.

I am not afraid of death. I am only afraid of being forgotten.

My life has been a whirlwind of passion, pleasure, and peril.

The more I dance, the more I feel myself. It is my true language.

I regret nothing, except perhaps that I did not live long enough to dance for the whole world.

Love is a dangerous game, but I have always been a willing player.