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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:41 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:16:41 -0700 |
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diff --git a/1215-h/1215-h.htm b/1215-h/1215-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd82a7a --- /dev/null +++ b/1215-h/1215-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1168 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Elixir of Life, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1215 ***</div> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE ELIXIR OF LIFE + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated By Clara Bell and James Waring + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> TO THE READER </a><br /><br /> <a + href="#link2H_4_0002"> THE ELIXIR OF LIFE </a><br /> + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + TO THE READER + </h2> + <p> + At the very outset of the writer's literary career, a friend, long since + dead, gave him the subject of this Study. Later on he found the same story + in a collection published about the beginning of the present century. To + the best of his belief, it is some stray fancy of the brain of Hoffmann of + Berlin; probably it appeared in some German almanac, and was omitted in + the published editions of his collected works. The <i>Comedie Humaine</i> + is sufficiently rich in original creations for the author to own to this + innocent piece of plagiarism; when, like the worthy La Fontaine, he has + told unwittingly, and after his own fashion, a tale already related by + another. This is not one of the hoaxes in vogue in the year 1830, when + every author wrote his "tale of horror" for the amusement of young ladies. + When you have read the account of Don Juan's decorous parricide, try to + picture to yourself the part which would be played under very similar + circumstances by honest folk who, in this nineteenth century, will take a + man's money and undertake to pay him a life annuity on the faith of a + chill, or let a house to an ancient lady for the term of her natural life! + Would they be for resuscitating their clients? I should dearly like a + connoisseur in consciences to consider how far there is a resemblance + between a Don Juan and fathers who marry their children to great + expectations. Does humanity, which, according to certain philosophers, is + making progress, look on the art of waiting for dead men's shoes as a step + in the right direction? To this art we owe several honorable professions, + which open up ways of living on death. There are people who rely entirely + on an expected demise; who brood over it, crouching each morning upon a + corpse, that serves again for their pillow at night. To this class belong + bishops' coadjutors, cardinals' supernumeraries, <i>tontiniers</i>, and + the like. Add to the list many delicately scrupulous persons eager to buy + landed property beyond their means, who calculate with dry logic and in + cold blood the probable duration of the life of a father or of a + step-mother, some old man or woman of eighty or ninety, saying to + themselves, "I shall be sure to come in for it in three years' time, and + then——" A murderer is less loathsome to us than a spy. The + murderer may have acted on a sudden mad impulse; he may be penitent and + amend; but a spy is always a spy, night and day, in bed, at table, as he + walks abroad; his vileness pervades every moment of his life. Then what + must it be to live when every moment of your life is tainted with murder? + And have we not just admitted that a host of human creatures in our midst + are led by our laws, customs, and usages to dwell without ceasing on a + fellow-creature's death? There are men who put the weight of a coffin into + their deliberations as they bargain for Cashmere shawls for their wives, + as they go up the staircase of a theatre, or think of going to the + Bouffons, or of setting up a carriage; who are murderers in thought when + dear ones, with the irresistible charm of innocence, hold up childish + foreheads to be kissed with a "Good-night, father!" Hourly they meet the + gaze of eyes that they would fain close for ever, eyes that still open + each morning to the light, like Belvidero's in this Study. God alone knows + the number of those who are parricides in thought. Picture to yourself the + state of mind of a man who must pay a life annuity to some old woman whom + he scarcely knows; both live in the country with a brook between them, + both sides are free to hate cordially, without offending against the + social conventions that require two brothers to wear a mask if the older + will succeed to the entail, and the other to the fortune of a younger son. + The whole civilization of Europe turns upon the principle of hereditary + succession as upon a pivot; it would be madness to subvert the principle; + but could we not, in an age that prides itself upon its mechanical + inventions, perfect this essential portion of the social machinery? + </p> + <p> + If the author has preserved the old-fashioned style of address <i>To the + Reader</i> before a work wherein he endeavors to represent all literary + forms, it is for the purpose of making a remark that applies to several of + the Studies, and very specially to this. Every one of his compositions has + been based upon ideas more or less novel, which, as it seemed to him, + needed literary expression; he can claim priority for certain forms and + for certain ideas which have since passed into the domain of literature, + and have there, in some instances, become common property; so that the + date of the first publication of each Study cannot be a matter of + indifference to those of his readers who would fain do him justice. + </p> + <p> + Reading brings us unknown friends, and what friend is like a reader? We + have friends in our own circle who read nothing of ours. The author hopes + to pay his debt, by dedicating this work <i>Diis ignotis</i>. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE ELIXIR OF LIFE + </h1> + <p> + One winter evening, in a princely palace at Ferrara, Don Juan Belvidero + was giving a banquet to a prince of the house of Este. A banquet in those + times was a marvelous spectacle which only royal wealth or the power of a + mightly [sic] lord could furnish forth. Seated about a table lit up with + perfumed tapers, seven laughter-loving women were interchanging sweet + talk. The white marble of the noble works of art about them stood out + against the red stucco walls, and made strong contrasts with the rich + Turkey carpets. Clad in satin, glittering with gold, and covered with gems + less brilliant than their eyes, each told a tale of energetic passions as + diverse as their styles of beauty. They differed neither in their ideas + nor in their language; but the expression of their eyes, their glances, + occasional gestures, or the tones of their voices supplied a commentary, + dissolute, wanton, melancholy, or satirical, to their words. + </p> + <p> + One seemed to be saying—"The frozen heart of age might kindle at my + beauty." + </p> + <p> + Another—"I love to lounge upon cushions, and think with rapture of + my adorers." + </p> + <p> + A third, a neophyte at these banquets, was inclined to blush. "I feel + remorse in the depths of my heart! I am a Catholic, and afraid of hell. + But I love you, I love you so that I can sacrifice my hereafter to you." + </p> + <p> + The fourth drained a cup of Chian wine. "Give me a joyous life!" she + cried; "I begin life afresh each day with the dawn. Forgetful of the past, + with the intoxication of yesterday's rapture still upon me, I drink deep + of life—a whole lifetime of pleasure and of love!" + </p> + <p> + The woman who sat next to Juan Belvidero looked at him with a feverish + glitter in her eyes. She was silent. Then—"I should need no hired + bravo to kill my lover if he forsook me!" she cried at last, and laughed, + but the marvelously wrought gold comfit box in her fingers was crushed by + her convulsive clutch. + </p> + <p> + "When are you to be Grand Duke?" asked the sixth. There was the frenzy of + a Bacchante in her eyes, and her teeth gleamed between the lips parted + with a smile of cruel glee. + </p> + <p> + "Yes, when is that father of yours going to die?" asked the seventh, + throwing her bouquet at Don Juan with bewitching playfulness. It was a + childish girl who spoke, and the speaker was wont to make sport of sacred + things. + </p> + <p> + "Oh! don't talk about it," cried Don Juan, the young and handsome giver of + the banquet. "There is but one eternal father, and, as ill luck will have + it, he is mine." + </p> + <p> + The seven Ferrarese, Don Juan's friends, the Prince himself, gave a cry of + horror. Two hundred years later, in the days of Louis XV., people of taste + would have laughed at this witticism. Or was it, perhaps, that at the + outset of an orgy there is a certain unwonted lucidity of mind? Despite + the taper light, the clamor of the senses, the gleam of gold and silver, + the fumes of wine, and the exquisite beauty of the women, there may + perhaps have been in the depths of the revelers' hearts some struggling + glimmer of reverence for things divine and human, until it was drowned in + glowing floods of wine! Yet even then the flowers had been crushed, eyes + were growing dull, and drunkenness, in Rabelais' phrase, had "taken + possession of them down to their sandals." + </p> + <p> + During that brief pause a door opened; and as once the Divine presence was + revealed at Belshazzar's feast, so now it seemed to be manifest in the + apparition of an old white-haired servant, who tottered in, and looked + sadly from under knitted brows at the revelers. He gave a withering glance + at the garlands, the golden cups, the pyramids of fruit, the dazzling + lights of the banquet, the flushed scared faces, the hues of the cushions + pressed by the white arms of the women. + </p> + <p> + "My lord, your father is dying!" he said; and at those solemn words, + uttered in hollow tones, a veil of crape seemed to be drawn over the wild + mirth. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan rose to his feet with a gesture to his guests that might be + rendered by, "Excuse me; this kind of thing does not happen every day." + </p> + <p> + Does it so seldom happen that a father's death surprises youth in the + full-blown splendor of life, in the midst of the mad riot of an orgy? + Death is as unexpected in his caprice as a courtesan in her disdain; but + death is truer—Death has never forsaken any man. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan closed the door of the banqueting-hall; and as he went down the + long gallery, through the cold and darkness, he strove to assume an + expression in keeping with the part he had to play; he had thrown off his + mirthful mood, as he had thrown down his table napkin, at the first + thought of this role. The night was dark. The mute servitor, his guide to + the chamber where the dying man lay, lighted the way so dimly that Death, + aided by cold, silence, and darkness, and it may be by a reaction of + drunkenness, could send some sober thoughts through the spendthrift's + soul. He examined his life, and became thoughtful, like a man involved in + a lawsuit on his way to the Court. + </p> + <p> + Bartolommeo Belvidero, Don Juan's father, was an old man of ninety, who + had devoted the greatest part of his life to business pursuits. He had + acquired vast wealth in many a journey to magical Eastern lands, and + knowledge, so it was said, more valuable than the gold and diamonds, which + had almost ceased to have any value for him. + </p> + <p> + "I would give more to have a tooth in my head than for a ruby," he would + say at times with a smile. The indulgent father loved to hear Don Juan's + story of this and that wild freak of youth. "So long as these follies + amuse you, dear boy——" he would say laughingly, as he lavished + money on his son. Age never took such pleasure in the sight of youth; the + fond father did not remember his own decaying powers while he looked on + that brilliant young life. + </p> + <p> + Bartolommeo Belvidero, at the age of sixty, had fallen in love with an + angel of peace and beauty. Don Juan had been the sole fruit of this late + and short-lived love. For fifteen years the widower had mourned the loss + of his beloved Juana; and to this sorrow of age, his son and his numerous + household had attributed the strange habits that he had contracted. He had + shut himself up in the least comfortable wing of his palace, and very + seldom left his apartments; even Don Juan himself must first ask + permission before seeing his father. If this hermit, unbound by vows, came + or went in his palace or in the streets of Ferrara, he walked as if he + were in a dream, wholly engrossed, like a man at strife with a memory, or + a wrestler with some thought. + </p> + <p> + The young Don Juan might give princely banquets, the palace might echo + with clamorous mirth, horses pawed the ground in the courtyards, pages + quarreled and flung dice upon the stairs, but Bartolommeo ate his seven + ounces of bread daily and drank water. A fowl was occasionally dressed for + him, simply that the black poodle, his faithful companion, might have the + bones. Bartolommeo never complained of the noise. If the huntsmen's horns + and baying dogs disturbed his sleep during his illness, he only said, "Ah! + Don Juan has come back again." Never on earth has there been a father so + little exacting and so indulgent; and, in consequence, young Belvidero, + accustomed to treat his father unceremoniously, had all the faults of a + spoiled child. He treated old Bartolommeo as a wilful courtesan treats an + elderly adorer; buying indemnity for insolence with a smile, selling + good-humor, submitting to be loved. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan, beholding scene after scene of his younger years, saw that it + would be a difficult task to find his father's indulgence at fault. Some + new-born remorse stirred the depths of his heart; he felt almost ready to + forgive this father now about to die for having lived so long. He had an + accession of filial piety, like a thief's return in thought to honesty at + the prospect of a million adroitly stolen. + </p> + <p> + Before long Don Juan had crossed the lofty, chilly suite of rooms in which + his father lived; the penetrating influences of the damp close air, the + mustiness diffused by old tapestries and presses thickly covered with dust + had passed into him, and now he stood in the old man's antiquated room, in + the repulsive presence of the deathbed, beside a dying fire. A flickering + lamp on a Gothic table sent broad uncertain shafts of light, fainter or + brighter, across the bed, so that the dying man's face seemed to wear a + different look at every moment. The bitter wind whistled through the + crannies of the ill-fitting casements; there was a smothered sound of snow + lashing the windows. The harsh contrast of these sights and sounds with + the scenes which Don Juan had just quitted was so sudden that he could not + help shuddering. He turned cold as he came towards the bed; the lamp + flared in a sudden vehement gust of wind and lighted up his father's face; + the features were wasted and distorted; the skin that cleaved to their + bony outlines had taken wan livid hues, all the more ghastly by force of + contrast with the white pillows on which he lay. The muscles about the + toothless mouth had contracted with pain and drawn apart the lips; the + moans that issued between them with appalling energy found an + accompaniment in the howling of the storm without. + </p> + <p> + In spite of every sign of coming dissolution, the most striking thing + about the dying face was its incredible power. It was no ordinary spirit + that wrestled there with Death. The eyes glared with strange fixity of + gaze from the cavernous sockets hollowed by disease. It seemed as if + Bartolommeo sought to kill some enemy sitting at the foot of his bed by + the intent gaze of dying eyes. That steady remorseless look was the more + appalling because the head that lay upon the pillow was passive and + motionless as a skull upon a doctor's table. The outlines of the body, + revealed by the coverlet, were no less rigid and stiff; he lay there as + one dead, save for those eyes. There was something automatic about the + moaning sounds that came from the mouth. Don Juan felt something like + shame that he must be brought thus to his father's bedside, wearing a + courtesan's bouquet, redolent of the fragrance of the banqueting-chamber + and the fumes of wine. + </p> + <p> + "You were enjoying yourself!" the old man cried as he saw his son. + </p> + <p> + Even as he spoke the pure high notes of a woman's voice, sustained by the + sound of the viol on which she accompanied her song, rose above the rattle + of the storm against the casements, and floated up to the chamber of + death. Don Juan stopped his ears against the barbarous answer to his + father's speech. + </p> + <p> + "I bear you no grudge, my child," Bartolommeo went on. + </p> + <p> + The words were full of kindness, but they hurt Don Juan; he could not + pardon this heart-searching goodness on his father's part. + </p> + <p> + "What a remorseful memory for me!" he cried, hypocritically. + </p> + <p> + "Poor Juanino," the dying man went on, in a smothered voice, "I have + always been so kind to you, that you could not surely desire my death?" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, if it were only possible to keep you here by giving up a part of my + own life!" cried Don Juan. + </p> + <p> + ("We can always <i>say</i> this sort of thing," the spendthrift thought; + "it is as if I laid the whole world at my mistress' feet.") + </p> + <p> + The thought had scarcely crossed his mind when the old poodle barked. Don + Juan shivered; the response was so intelligent that he fancied the dog + must have understood him. + </p> + <p> + "I was sure that I could count upon you, my son!" cried the dying man. "I + shall live. So be it; you shall be satisfied. I shall live, but without + depriving you of a single day of your life." + </p> + <p> + "He is raving," thought Don Juan. Aloud he added, "Yes, dearest father, + yes; you shall live, of course, as long as I live, for your image will be + for ever in my heart." + </p> + <p> + "It is not that kind of life that I mean," said the old noble, summoning + all his strength to sit up in bed; for a thrill of doubt ran through him, + one of those suspicions that come into being under a dying man's pillow. + "Listen, my son," he went on, in a voice grown weak with that last effort, + "I have no more wish to give up life than you to give up wine and + mistresses, horses and hounds, and hawks and gold——" + </p> + <p> + "I can well believe it," thought the son; and he knelt down by the bed and + kissed Bartolommeo's cold hands. "But, father, my dear father," he added + aloud, "we must submit to the will of God." + </p> + <p> + "I am God!" muttered the dying man. + </p> + <p> + "Do not blaspheme!" cried the other, as he saw the menacing expression on + his father's face. "Beware what you say; you have received extreme + unction, and I should be inconsolable if you were to die before my eyes in + mortal sin." + </p> + <p> + "Will you listen to me?" cried Bartolommeo, and his mouth twitched. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan held his peace; an ugly silence prevailed. Yet above the muffled + sound of the beating of the snow against the windows rose the sounds of + the beautiful voice and the viol in unison, far off and faint as the dawn. + The dying man smiled. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you," he said, "for bringing those singing voices and the music, a + banquet, young and lovely women with fair faces and dark tresses, all the + pleasure of life! Bid them wait for me; for I am about to begin life + anew." + </p> + <p> + "The delirium is at its height," said Don Juan to himself. + </p> + <p> + "I have found out a way of coming to life again," the speaker went on. + "There, just look in that table drawer, press the spring hidden by the + griffin, and it will fly open." + </p> + <p> + "I have found it, father." + </p> + <p> + "Well, then, now take out a little phial of rock crystal." + </p> + <p> + "I have it." + </p> + <p> + "I have spent twenty years in——" but even as he spoke the old + man felt how very near the end had come, and summoned all his dying + strength to say, "As soon as the breath is out of me, rub me all over with + that liquid, and I shall come to life again." + </p> + <p> + "There is very little of it," his son remarked. + </p> + <p> + Though Bartolommeo could no longer speak, he could still hear and see. + When those words dropped from Don Juan, his head turned with appalling + quickness, his neck was twisted like the throat of some marble statue + which the sculptor had condemned to remain stretched out for ever, the + wide eyes had come to have a ghastly fixity. + </p> + <p> + He was dead, and in death he lost his last and sole illusion. + </p> + <p> + He had sought a shelter in his son's heart, and it had proved to be a + sepulchre, a pit deeper than men dig for their dead. The hair on his head + had risen and stiffened with horror, his agonized glance still spoke. He + was a father rising in just anger from his tomb, to demand vengeance at + the throne of God. + </p> + <p> + "There! it is all over with the old man!" cried Don Juan. + </p> + <p> + He had been so interested in holding the mysterious phial to the lamp, as + a drinker holds up the wine-bottle at the end of a meal, that he had not + seen his father's eyes fade. The cowering poodle looked from his master to + the elixir, just as Don Juan himself glanced again and again from his + father to the flask. The lamplight flickered. There was a deep silence; + the viol was mute. Juan Belvidero thought that he saw his father stir, and + trembled. The changeless gaze of those accusing eyes frightened him; he + closed them hastily, as he would have closed a loose shutter swayed by the + wind of an autumn night. He stood there motionless, lost in a world of + thought. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly the silence was broken by a shrill sound like the creaking of a + rusty spring. It startled Don Juan; he all but dropped the phial. A sweat, + colder than the blade of a dagger, issued through every pore. It was only + a piece of clockwork, a wooden cock that sprang out and crowed three + times, an ingenious contrivance by which the learned of that epoch were + wont to be awakened at the appointed hour to begin the labors of the day. + Through the windows there came already a flush of dawn. The thing, + composed of wood, and cords, and wheels, and pulleys, was more faithful in + its service than he in his duty to Bartolommeo—he, a man with that + peculiar piece of human mechanism within him that we call a heart. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan the sceptic shut the flask again in the secret drawer in the + Gothic table—he meant to run no more risks of losing the mysterious + liquid. + </p> + <p> + Even at that solemn moment he heard the murmur of a crowd in the gallery, + a confused sound of voices, of stifled laughter and light footfalls, and + the rustling of silks—the sounds of a band of revelers struggling + for gravity. The door opened, and in came the Prince and Don Juan's + friends, the seven courtesans, and the singers, disheveled and wild like + dancers surprised by the dawn, when the tapers that have burned through + the night struggle with the sunlight. + </p> + <p> + They had come to offer the customary condolence to the young heir. + </p> + <p> + "Oho! is poor Don Juan really taking this seriously?" said the Prince in + Brambilla's ear. + </p> + <p> + "Well, his father was very good," she returned. + </p> + <p> + But Don Juan's night-thoughts had left such unmistakable traces on his + features, that the crew was awed into silence. The men stood motionless. + The women, with wine-parched lips and cheeks marbled with kisses, knelt + down and began a prayer. Don Juan could scarce help trembling when he saw + splendor and mirth and laughter and song and youth and beauty and power + bowed in reverence before Death. But in those times, in that adorable + Italy of the sixteenth century, religion and revelry went hand in hand; + and religious excess became a sort of debauch, and a debauch a religious + rite! + </p> + <p> + The Prince grasped Don Juan's hand affectionately, then when all faces had + simultaneously put on the same grimace—half-gloomy, half-indifferent—the + whole masque disappeared, and left the chamber of death empty. It was like + an allegory of life. + </p> + <p> + As they went down the staircase, the Prince spoke to Rivabarella: "Now, + who would have taken Don Juan's impiety for a boast? He loves his father." + </p> + <p> + "Did you see that black dog?" asked La Brambilla. + </p> + <p> + "He is enormously rich now," sighed Bianca Cavatolino. + </p> + <p> + "What is that to me?" cried the proud Veronese (she who had crushed the + comfit-box). + </p> + <p> + "What does it matter to you, forsooth?" cried the Duke. "With his money he + is as much a prince as I am." + </p> + <p> + At first Don Juan was swayed hither and thither by countless thoughts, and + wavered between two decisions. He took counsel with the gold heaped up by + his father, and returned in the evening to the chamber of death, his whole + soul brimming over with hideous selfishness. He found all his household + busy there. "His lordship" was to lie in state to-morrow; all Ferrara + would flock to behold the wonderful spectacle; and the servants were busy + decking the room and the couch on which the dead man lay. At a sign from + Don Juan all his people stopped, dumfounded and trembling. + </p> + <p> + "Leave me alone here," he said, and his voice was changed, "and do not + return until I leave the room." + </p> + <p> + When the footsteps of the old servitor, who was the last to go, echoed but + faintly along the paved gallery, Don Juan hastily locked the door, and + sure that he was quite alone, "Let us try," he said to himself. + </p> + <p> + Bartolommeo's body was stretched on a long table. The embalmers had laid a + sheet over it, to hide from all eyes the dreadful spectacle of a corpse so + wasted and shrunken that it seemed like a skeleton, and only the face was + uncovered. This mummy-like figure lay in the middle of the room. The limp + clinging linen lent itself to the outlines it shrouded—so sharp, + bony, and thin. Large violet patches had already begun to spread over the + face; the embalmers' work had not been finished too soon. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan, strong as he was in his scepticism, felt a tremor as he opened + the magic crystal flask. When he stood over that face, he was trembling so + violently, that he was actually obliged to wait for a moment. But Don Juan + had acquired an early familiarity with evil; his morals had been corrupted + by a licentious court, a reflection worthy of the Duke of Urbino crossed + his mind, and it was a keen sense of curiosity that goaded him into + boldness. The devil himself might have whispered the words that were + echoing through his brain, <i>Moisten one of the eyes with the liquid</i>! + He took up a linen cloth, moistened it sparingly with the precious fluid, + and passed it lightly over the right eyelid of the corpse. The eye + unclosed.... + </p> + <p> + "Aha!" said Don Juan. He gripped the flask tightly, as we clutch in dreams + the branch from which we hang suspended over a precipice. + </p> + <p> + For the eye was full of life. It was a young child's eye set in a death's + head; the light quivered in the depths of its youthful liquid brightness. + Shaded by the long dark lashes, it sparkled like the strange lights that + travelers see in lonely places in winter nights. The eye seemed as if it + would fain dart fire at Don Juan; he saw it thinking, upbraiding, + condemning, uttering accusations, threatening doom; it cried aloud, and + gnashed upon him. All anguish that shakes human souls was gathered there; + supplications the most tender, the wrath of kings, the love in a girl's + heart pleading with the headsman; then, and after all these, the deeply + searching glance a man turns on his fellows as he mounts the last step of + the scaffold. Life so dilated in this fragment of life that Don Juan + shrank back; he walked up and down the room, he dared not meet that gaze, + but he saw nothing else. The ceiling and the hangings, the whole room was + sown with living points of fire and intelligence. Everywhere those + gleaming eyes haunted him. + </p> + <p> + "He might very likely have lived another hundred years!" he cried + involuntarily. Some diabolical influence had drawn him to his father, and + again he gazed at that luminous spark. The eyelid closed and opened again + abruptly; it was like a woman's sign of assent. It was an intelligent + movement. If a voice had cried "Yes!" Don Juan could not have been more + startled. + </p> + <p> + "What is to be done?" he thought. + </p> + <p> + He nerved himself to try to close the white eyelid. In vain. + </p> + <p> + "Kill it? That would perhaps be parricide," he debated with himself. + </p> + <p> + "Yes," the eye said, with a strange sardonic quiver of the lid. + </p> + <p> + "Aha!" said Don Juan to himself, "here is witchcraft at work!" And he went + closer to crush the thing. A great tear trickled over the hollow cheeks, + and fell on Don Juan's hand. + </p> + <p> + "It is scalding!" he cried. He sat down. The struggle exhausted him; it + was as if, like Jacob of old, he was wrestling with an angel. + </p> + <p> + At last he rose. "So long as there is no blood——" he muttered. + </p> + <p> + Then, summoning all the courage needed for a coward's crime, he + extinguished the eye, pressing it with the linen cloth, turning his head + away. A terrible groan startled him. It was the poor poodle, who died with + a long-drawn howl. + </p> + <p> + "Could the brute have been in the secret?" thought Don Juan, looking down + at the faithful creature. + </p> + <p> + Don Juan Belvidero was looked upon as a dutiful son. He reared a white + marble monument on his father's tomb, and employed the greatest sculptors + of the time upon it. He did not recover perfect ease of mind till the day + when his father knelt in marble before Religion, and the heavy weight of + the stone had sealed the mouth of the grave in which he had laid the one + feeling of remorse that sometimes flitted through his soul in moments of + physical weariness. + </p> + <p> + He had drawn up a list of the wealth heaped up by the old merchant in the + East, and he became a miser: had he not to provide for a second lifetime? + His views of life were the more profound and penetrating; he grasped its + significance, as a whole, the better, because he saw it across a grave. + All men, all things, he analyzed once and for all; he summed up the Past, + represented by its records; the Present in the law, its crystallized form; + the Future, revealed by religion. He took spirit and matter, and flung + them into his crucible, and found—Nothing. Thenceforward he became + DON JUAN. + </p> + <p> + At the outset of his life, in the prime of youth and the beauty of youth, + he knew the illusions of life for what they were; he despised the world, + and made the utmost of the world. His felicity could not have been of the + bourgeois kind, rejoicing in periodically recurrent <i>bouilli</i>, in the + comforts of a warming-pan, a lamp of a night, and a new pair of slippers + once a quarter. Nay, rather he seized upon existence as a monkey snatches + a nut, and after no long toying with it, proceeds deftly to strip off the + mere husks to reach the savory kernel within. + </p> + <p> + Poetry and the sublime transports of passion scarcely reached ankle-depth + with him now. He in nowise fell into the error of strong natures who + flatter themselves now and again that little souls will believe in a great + soul, and are willing to barter their own lofty thoughts of the future for + the small change of our life-annuity ideas. He, even as they, had he + chosen, might well have walked with his feet on the earth and his head in + the skies; but he liked better to sit on earth, to wither the soft, fresh, + fragrant lips of a woman with kisses, for like Death, he devoured + everything without scruple as he passed; he would have full fruition; he + was an Oriental lover, seeking prolonged pleasures easily obtained. He + sought nothing but a woman in women, and cultivated cynicism, until it + became with him a habit of mind. When his mistress, from the couch on + which she lay, soared and was lost in regions of ecstatic bliss, Don Juan + followed suit, earnest, expansive, serious as any German student. But he + said I, while she, in the transports of intoxication, said We. He + understood to admiration the art of abandoning himself to the influence of + a woman; he was always clever enough to make her believe that he trembled + like some boy fresh from college before his first partner at a dance, when + he asks her, "Do you like dancing?" But, no less, he could be terrible at + need, could unsheathe a formidable sword and make short work of + Commandants. Banter lurked beneath his simplicity, mocking laughter behind + his tears—for he had tears at need, like any woman nowadays who says + to her husband, "Give me a carriage, or I shall go into a consumption." + </p> + <p> + For the merchant the world is a bale of goods or a mass of circulating + bills; for most young men it is a woman, and for a woman here and there it + is a man; for a certain order of mind it is a salon, a coterie, a quarter + of the town, or some single city; but Don Juan found his world in himself. + </p> + <p> + This model of grace and dignity, this captivating wit, moored his bark by + every shore; but wherever he was led he was never carried away, and was + only steered in a course of his own choosing. The more he saw, the more he + doubted. He watched men narrowly, and saw how, beneath the surface, + courage was often rashness; and prudence, cowardice; generosity, a clever + piece of calculation; justice, a wrong; delicacy, pusillanimity; honesty, + a <i>modus vivendi</i>; and by some strange dispensation of fate, he must + see that those who at heart were really honest, scrupulous, just, + generous, prudent, or brave were held cheaply by their fellow-men. + </p> + <p> + "What a cold-blooded jest!" said he to himself. "It was not devised by a + God." + </p> + <p> + From that time forth he renounced a better world, and never uncovered + himself when a Name was pronounced, and for him the carven saints in the + churches became works of art. He understood the mechanism of society too + well to clash wantonly with its prejudices; for, after all, he was not as + powerful as the executioner, but he evaded social laws with the wit and + grace so well rendered in the scene with M. Dimanche. He was, in fact, + Moliere's Don Juan, Goethe's Faust, Byron's Manfred, Mathurin's Melmoth—great + allegorical figures drawn by the greatest men of genius in Europe, to + which Mozart's harmonies, perhaps, do no more justice than Rossini's lyre. + Terrible allegorical figures that shall endure as long as the principle of + evil existing in the heart of man shall produce a few copies from century + to century. Sometimes the type becomes half-human when incarnate as a + Mirabeau, sometimes it is an inarticulate force in a Bonaparte, sometimes + it overwhelms the universe with irony as a Rabelais; or, yet again, it + appears when a Marechal de Richelieu elects to laugh at human beings + instead of scoffing at things, or when one of the most famous of our + ambassadors goes a step further and scoffs at both men and things. But the + profound genius of Juan Belvidero anticipated and resumed all these. All + things were a jest to him. His was the life of a mocking spirit. All men, + all institutions, all realities, all ideas were within its scope. As for + eternity, after half an hour of familiar conversation with Pope Julius II. + he said, laughing: + </p> + <p> + "If it is absolutely necessary to make a choice, I would rather believe in + God than in the Devil; power combined with goodness always offers more + resources than the spirit of Evil can boast." + </p> + <p> + "Yes; still God requires repentance in this present world——" + </p> + <p> + "So you always think of your indulgences," returned Don Juan Belvidero. + "Well, well, I have another life in reserve in which to repent of the sins + of my previous existence." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, if you regard old age in that light," cried the Pope, "you are in + danger on canonization——" + </p> + <p> + "After your elevation to the Papacy nothing is incredible." And they went + to watch the workmen who were building the huge basilica dedicated to + Saint Peter. + </p> + <p> + "Saint Peter, as the man of genius who laid the foundation of our double + power," the Pope said to Don Juan, "deserves this monument. Sometimes, + though, at night, I think that a deluge will wipe all this out as with a + sponge, and it will be all to begin over again." + </p> + <p> + Don Juan and the Pope began to laugh; they understood each other. A fool + would have gone on the morrow to amuse himself with Julius II. in + Raphael's studio or at the delicious Villa Madama; not so Belvidero. He + went to see the Pope as pontiff, to be convinced of any doubts that he + (Don Juan) entertained. Over his cups the Rovere would have been capable + of denying his own infallibility and of commenting on the Apocalypse. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, this legend has not been undertaken to furnish materials for + future biographies of Don Juan; it is intended to prove to honest folk + that Belvidero did not die in a duel with stone, as some lithographers + would have us believe. + </p> + <p> + When Don Juan Belvidero reached the age of sixty he settled in Spain, and + there in his old age he married a young and charming Andalusian wife. But + of set purpose he was neither a good husband nor a good father. He had + observed that we are never so tenderly loved as by women to whom we + scarcely give a thought. Dona Elvira had been devoutly brought up by an + old aunt in a castle a few leagues from San-Lucar in a remote part of + Andalusia. She was a model of devotion and grace. Don Juan foresaw that + this would be a woman who would struggle long against a passion before + yielding, and therefore hoped to keep her virtuous until his death. It was + a jest undertaken in earnest, a game of chess which he meant to reserve + till his old age. Don Juan had learned wisdom from the mistakes made by + his father Bartolommeo; he determined that the least details of his life + in old age should be subordinated to one object—the success of the + drama which was to be played out upon his death-bed. + </p> + <p> + For the same reason the largest part of his wealth was buried in the + cellars of his palace at Ferrara, whither he seldom went. As for the rest + of his fortune, it was invested in a life annuity, with a view to give his + wife and children an interest in keeping him alive; but this Machiavellian + piece of foresight was scarcely necessary. His son, young Felipe + Belvidero, grew up as a Spaniard as religiously conscientious as his + father was irreligious, in virtue, perhaps, of the old rule, "A miser has + a spendthrift son." The Abbot of San-Lucar was chosen by Don Juan to be + the director of the consciences of the Duchess of Belvidero and her son + Felipe. The ecclesiastic was a holy man, well shaped, and admirably well + proportioned. He had fine dark eyes, a head like that of Tiberius, worn + with fasting, bleached by an ascetic life, and, like all dwellers in the + wilderness, was daily tempted. The noble lord had hopes, it may be, of + despatching yet another monk before his term of life was out. + </p> + <p> + But whether because the Abbot was every whit as clever as Don Juan + himself, or Dona Elvira possessed more discretion or more virtue than + Spanish wives are usually credited with, Don Juan was compelled to spend + his declining years beneath his own roof, with no more scandal under it + than if he had been an ancient country parson. Occasionally he would take + wife and son to task for negligence in the duties of religion, + peremptorily insisting that they should carry out to the letter the + obligations imposed upon the flock by the Court of Rome. Indeed, he was + never so well pleased as when he had set the courtly Abbot discussing some + case of conscience with Dona Elvira and Felipe. + </p> + <p> + At length, however, despite the prodigious care that the great magnifico, + Don Juan Belvidero, took of himself, the days of decrepitude came upon + him, and with those days the constant importunity of physical feebleness, + an importunity all the more distressing by contrast with the wealth of + memories of his impetuous youth and the sensual pleasures of middle age. + The unbeliever who in the height of his cynical humor had been wont to + persuade others to believe in laws and principles at which he scoffed, + must repose nightly upon a <i>perhaps</i>. The great Duke, the pattern of + good breeding, the champion of many a carouse, the proud ornament of + Courts, the man of genius, the graceful winner of hearts that he had wrung + as carelessly as a peasant twists an osier withe, was now the victim of a + cough, of a ruthless sciatica, of an unmannerly gout. His teeth gradually + deserted him, as at the end of an evening the fairest and best-dressed + women take their leave one by one till the room is left empty and + desolate. The active hands became palsy-stricken, the shapely legs + tottered as he walked. At last, one night, a stroke of apoplexy caught him + by the throat in its icy clutch. After that fatal day he grew morose and + stern. + </p> + <p> + He would reproach his wife and son with their devotion, casting it in + their teeth that the affecting and thoughtful care that they lavished so + tenderly upon him was bestowed because they knew that his money was + invested in a life annuity. Then Elvira and Felipe would shed bitter tears + and redouble their caresses, and the wicked old man's insinuating voice + would take an affectionate tone—"Ah, you will forgive me, will you + not, dear friends, dear wife? I am rather a nuisance. Alas, Lord in + heaven, how canst Thou use me as the instrument by which Thou provest + these two angelic creatures? I who should be the joy of their lives am + become their scourge..." + </p> + <p> + In this manner he kept them tethered to his pillow, blotting out the + memory of whole months of fretfulness and unkindness in one short hour + when he chose to display for them the ever-new treasures of his pinchbeck + tenderness and charm of manner—a system of paternity that yielded + him an infinitely better return than his own father's indulgence had + formerly gained. At length his bodily infirmities reached a point when the + task of laying him in bed became as difficult as the navigation of a + felucca in the perils of an intricate channel. Then came the day of his + death; and this brilliant sceptic, whose mental faculties alone had + survived the most dreadful of all destructions, found himself between his + two special antipathies—the doctor and the confessor. But he was + jovial with them. Did he not see a light gleaming in the future beyond the + veil? The pall that is like lead for other men was thin and translucent + for him; the light-footed, irresistible delights of youth danced beyond it + like shadows. + </p> + <p> + It was on a beautiful summer evening that Don Juan felt the near approach + of death. The sky of Spain was serene and cloudless; the air was full of + the scent of orange-blossom; the stars shed clear, pure gleams of light; + nature without seemed to give the dying man assurance of resurrection; a + dutiful and obedient son sat there watching him with loving and respectful + eyes. Towards eleven o'clock he desired to be left alone with this + single-hearted being. + </p> + <p> + "Felipe," said the father, in tones so soft and affectionate that the + young man trembled, and tears of gladness came to his eyes; never had that + stern father spoken his name in such a tone. "Listen, my son," the dying + man went on. "I am a great sinner. All my life long, however, I have + thought of my death. I was once the friend of the great Pope Julius II.; + and that illustrious Pontiff, fearing lest the excessive excitability of + my senses should entangle me in mortal sin between the moment of my death + and the time of my anointing with the holy oil, gave me a flask that + contains a little of the holy water that once issued from the rock in the + wilderness. I have kept the secret of this squandering of a treasure + belonging to Holy Church, but I am permitted to reveal the mystery <i>in + articulo mortis</i> to my son. You will find the flask in a drawer in that + Gothic table that always stands by the head of the bed.... The precious + little crystal flask may be of use yet again for you, dearest Felipe. Will + you swear to me, by your salvation, to carry out my instructions + faithfully?" + </p> + <p> + Felipe looked at his father, and Don Juan was too deeply learned in the + lore of the human countenance not to die in peace with that look as his + warrant, as his own father had died in despair at meeting the expression + in his son's eyes. + </p> + <p> + "You deserved to have a better father," Don Juan went on. "I dare to + confess, my child, that while the reverend Abbot of San-Lucar was + administering the Viaticum I was thinking of the incompatibility of the + co-existence of two powers so infinite as God and the Devil——" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, father!" + </p> + <p> + "And I said to myself, when Satan makes his peace he ought surely to + stipulate for the pardon of his followers, or he will be the veriest + scoundrel. The thought haunted me; so I shall go to hell, my son, unless + you carry out my wishes." + </p> + <p> + "Oh, quick; tell me quickly, father." + </p> + <p> + "As soon as I have closed my eyes," Don Juan went on, "and that may be in + a few minutes, you must take my body before it grows cold and lay it on a + table in this room. Then put out the lamp; the light of the stars should + be sufficient. Take off my clothes, reciting Aves and Paters the while, + raising your soul to God in prayer, and carefully anoint my lips and eyes + with this holy water; begin with the face, and proceed successively to my + limbs and the rest of my body; my dear son, the power of God is so great + that you must be astonished at nothing." + </p> + <p> + Don Juan felt death so near, that he added in a terrible voice, "Be + careful not to drop the flask." + </p> + <p> + Then he breathed his last gently in the arms of his son, and his son's + tears fell fast over his sardonic, haggard features. + </p> + <p> + It was almost midnight when Don Felipe Belvidero laid his father's body + upon the table. He kissed the sinister brow and the gray hair; then he put + out the lamp. + </p> + <p> + By the soft moonlight that lit strange gleams across the country without, + Felipe could dimly see his father's body, a vague white thing among the + shadows. The dutiful son moistened a linen cloth with the liquid, and, + absorbed in prayer, he anointed the revered face. A deep silence reigned. + Felipe heard faint, indescribable rustlings; it was the breeze in the + tree-tops, he thought. But when he had moistened the right arm, he felt + himself caught by the throat, a young strong hand held him in a tight grip—it + was his father's hand! He shrieked aloud; the flask dropped from his hand + and broke in pieces. The liquid evaporated; the whole household hurried + into the room, holding torches aloft. That shriek had startled them, and + filled them with as much terror as if the Trumpet of the Angel sounding on + the Last Day had rung through earth and sky. The room was full of people, + and a horror-stricken crowd beheld the fainting Felipe upheld by the + strong arm of his father, who clutched him by the throat. They saw another + thing, an unearthly spectacle—Don Juan's face grown young and + beautiful as Antinous, with its dark hair and brilliant eyes and red lips, + a head that made horrible efforts, but could not move the dead, wasted + body. + </p> + <p> + An old servitor cried, "A miracle! a miracle!" and all the Spaniards + echoed, "A miracle! a miracle!" + </p> + <p> + Dona Elvira, too pious to attribute this to magic, sent for the Abbot of + San-Lucar; and the Prior beholding the miracle with his own eyes, being a + clever man, and withal an Abbot desirous of augmenting his revenues, + determined to turn the occasion to profit. He immediately gave out that + Don Juan would certainly be canonized; he appointed a day for the + celebration of the apotheosis in his convent, which thenceforward, he + said, should be called the convent of San Juan of Lucar. At these words a + sufficiently facetious grimace passed over the features of the late Duke. + </p> + <p> + The taste of the Spanish people for ecclesiastical solemnities is so well + known, that it should not be difficult to imagine the religious pantomime + by which the Convent of San-Lucar celebrated the translation of the <i>blessed + Don Juan Belvidero</i> to the abbey-church. The tale of the partial + resurrection had spread so quickly from village to village, that a day or + two after the death of the illustrious nobleman the report had reached + every place within fifty miles of San-Lucar, and it was as good as a play + to see the roads covered already with crowds flocking in on all sides, + their curiosity whetted still further by the prospect of a <i>Te Deum</i> + sung by torchlight. The old abbey church of San-Lucar, a marvelous + building erected by the Moors, a mosque of Allah, which for three + centuries had heard the name of Christ, could not hold the throng that + poured in to see the ceremony. Hidalgos in their velvet mantles, with + their good swords at their sides, swarmed like ants, and were so tightly + packed in among the pillars that they had not room to bend the knees, + which never bent save to God. Charming peasant girls, in the basquina that + defines the luxuriant outlines of their figures, lent an arm to + white-haired old men. Young men, with eyes of fire, walked beside aged + crones in holiday array. Then came couples tremulous with joy, young + lovers led thither by curiosity, newly-wedded folk; children timidly + clasping each other by the hand. This throng, so rich in coloring, in + vivid contrasts, laden with flowers, enameled like a meadow, sent up a + soft murmur through the quiet night. Then the great doors of the church + opened. + </p> + <p> + Late comers who remained without saw afar, through the three great open + doorways, a scene of which the theatrical illusions of modern opera can + give but a faint idea. The vast church was lighted up by thousands of + candles, offered by saints and sinners alike eager to win the favor of + this new candidate for canonization, and these self-commending + illuminations turned the great building into an enchanted fairyland. The + black archways, the shafts and capitals, the recessed chapels with gold + and silver gleaming in their depths, the galleries, the Arab traceries, + all the most delicate outlines of that delicate sculpture, burned in the + excess of light like the fantastic figures in the red heart of a brazier. + At the further end of the church, above that blazing sea, rose the high + altar like a splendid dawn. All the glories of the golden lamps and silver + candlesticks, of banners and tassels, of the shrines of the saints and + votive offerings, paled before the gorgeous brightness of the reliquary in + which Don Juan lay. The blasphemer's body sparkled with gems, and flowers, + and crystal, with diamonds and gold, and plumes white as the wings of + seraphim; they had set it up on the altar, where the pictures of Christ + had stood. All about him blazed a host of tall candles; the air quivered + in the radiant light. The worthy Abbot of San-Lucar, in pontifical robes, + with his mitre set with precious stones, his rochet and golden crosier, + sat enthroned in imperial state among his clergy in the choir. Rows of + impassive aged faces, silver-haired old men clad in fine linen albs, were + grouped about him, as the saints who confessed Christ on earth are set by + painters, each in his place, about the throne of God in heaven. The + precentor and the dignitaries of the chapter, adorned with the gorgeous + insignia of ecclesiastical vanity, came and went through the clouds of + incense, like stars upon their courses in the firmament. + </p> + <p> + When the hour of triumph arrived, the bells awoke the echoes far and wide, + and the whole vast crowd raised to God the first cry of praise that begins + the <i>Te Deum</i>. A sublime cry! High, pure notes, the voices of women + in ecstasy, mingled in it with the sterner and deeper voices of men; + thousands of voices sent up a volume of sound so mighty, that the + straining, groaning organ-pipes could not dominate that harmony. But the + shrill sound of children's singing among the choristers, the reverberation + of deep bass notes, awakened gracious associations, visions of childhood, + and of man in his strength, and rose above that entrancing harmony of + human voices blended in one sentiment of love. + </p> + <p> + <i>Te Deum laudamus</i>! + </p> + <p> + The chant went up from the black masses of men and women kneeling in the + cathedral, like a sudden breaking out of light in darkness, and the + silence was shattered as by a peal of thunder. The voices floated up with + the clouds of incense that had begun to cast thin bluish veils over the + fanciful marvels of the architecture, and the aisles were filled with + splendor and perfume and light and melody. Even at the moment when that + music of love and thanksgiving soared up to the altar, Don Juan, too well + bred not to express his acknowledgments, too witty not to understand how + to take a jest, bridled up in his reliquary, and responded with an + appalling burst of laughter. Then the Devil having put him in mind of the + risk he was running of being taken for an ordinary man, a saint, a + Boniface, a Pantaleone, he interrupted the melody of love by a yell, the + thousand voices of hell joined in it. Earth blessed, Heaven banned. The + church was shaken to its ancient foundations. + </p> + <p> + <i>Te Deum laudamus</i>! cried the many voices. + </p> + <p> + "Go to the devil, brute beasts that you are! <i>Dios! Dios! Garajos + demonios!</i> Idiots! What fools you are with your dotard God!" and a + torrent of imprecations poured forth like a stream of red-hot lava from + the mouth of Vesuvius. + </p> + <p> + "<i>Deus Sabaoth!... Sabaoth</i>!" cried the believers. + </p> + <p> + "You are insulting the majesty of Hell," shouted Don Juan, gnashing his + teeth. In another moment the living arm struggled out of the reliquary, + and was brandished over the assembly in mockery and despair. + </p> + <p> + "The saint is blessing us," cried the old women, children, lovers, and the + credulous among the crowd. + </p> + <p> + And note how often we are deceived in the homage we pay; the great man + scoffs at those who praise him, and pays compliments now and again to + those whom he laughs at in the depths of his heart. + </p> + <p> + Just as the Abbot, prostrate before the altar, was chanting "<i>Sancte + Johannes, ora pro noblis</i>!" he heard a voice exclaim sufficiently + distinctly: "<i>O coglione</i>!" + </p> + <p> + "What can be going on up there?" cried the Sub-prior, as he saw the + reliquary move. + </p> + <p> + "The saint is playing the devil," replied the Abbot. + </p> + <p> + Even as he spoke the living head tore itself away from the lifeless body, + and dropped upon the sallow cranium of the officiating priest. + </p> + <p> + "Remember Dona Elvira!" cried the thing, with its teeth set fast in the + Abbot's head. + </p> + <p> + The Abbot's horror-stricken shriek disturbed the ceremony; all the + ecclesiastics hurried up and crowded about their chief. + </p> + <p> + "Idiot, tell us now if there is a God!" the voice cried, as the Abbot, + bitten through the brain, drew his last breath. + </p> + <p> + PARIS, October 1830. + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 1215 ***</div> +</body> +</html> |