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diff --git a/1555.txt b/1555.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9c57256 --- /dev/null +++ b/1555.txt @@ -0,0 +1,964 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Passion in the Desert, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Passion in the Desert + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ernest Dowson + +Release Date: December, 1998 [Etext #1555] +Posting Date: February 26, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PASSION IN THE DESERT *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +A PASSION IN THE DESERT + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Ernest Dowson + + + + + +A PASSION IN THE DESERT + + +"The whole show is dreadful," she cried coming out of the menagerie of +M. Martin. She had just been looking at that daring speculator "working +with his hyena,"--to speak in the style of the programme. + +"By what means," she continued, "can he have tamed these animals to such +a point as to be certain of their affection for----" + +"What seems to you a problem," said I, interrupting, "is really quite +natural." + +"Oh!" she cried, letting an incredulous smile wander over her lips. + +"You think that beasts are wholly without passions?" I asked her. "Quite +the reverse; we can communicate to them all the vices arising in our own +state of civilization." + +She looked at me with an air of astonishment. + +"But," I continued, "the first time I saw M. Martin, I admit, like you, +I did give vent to an exclamation of surprise. I found myself next to an +old soldier with the right leg amputated, who had come in with me. His +face had struck me. He had one of those heroic heads, stamped with +the seal of warfare, and on which the battles of Napoleon are written. +Besides, he had that frank, good-humored expression which always +impresses me favorably. He was without doubt one of those troopers +who are surprised at nothing, who find matter for laughter in +the contortions of a dying comrade, who bury or plunder him quite +light-heartedly, who stand intrepidly in the way of bullets;--in fact, +one of those men who waste no time in deliberation, and would not +hesitate to make friends with the devil himself. After looking very +attentively at the proprietor of the menagerie getting out of his box, +my companion pursed up his lips with an air of mockery and contempt, +with that peculiar and expressive twist which superior people assume to +show they are not taken in. Then, when I was expatiating on the courage +of M. Martin, he smiled, shook his head knowingly, and said, 'Well +known.' + +"'How "well known"?' I said. 'If you would only explain me the mystery, +I should be vastly obliged.' + +"After a few minutes, during which we made acquaintance, we went to dine +at the first restauranteur's whose shop caught our eye. At dessert a +bottle of champagne completely refreshed and brightened up the memories +of this odd old soldier. He told me his story, and I saw that he was +right when he exclaimed, 'Well known.'" + +When she got home, she teased me to that extent, was so charming, +and made so many promises, that I consented to communicate to her the +confidences of the old soldier. Next day she received the following +episode of an epic which one might call "The French in Egypt." + + + +During the expedition in Upper Egypt under General Desaix, a Provencal +soldier fell into the hands of the Maugrabins, and was taken by these +Arabs into the deserts beyond the falls of the Nile. + +In order to place a sufficient distance between themselves and the +French army, the Maugrabins made forced marches, and only halted when +night was upon them. They camped round a well overshadowed by palm trees +under which they had previously concealed a store of provisions. Not +surmising that the notion of flight would occur to their prisoner, they +contented themselves with binding his hands, and after eating a few +dates, and giving provender to their horses, went to sleep. + +When the brave Provencal saw that his enemies were no longer watching +him, he made use of his teeth to steal a scimiter, fixed the blade +between his knees, and cut the cords which prevented him from using his +hands; in a moment he was free. He at once seized a rifle and a dagger, +then taking the precautions to provide himself with a sack of dried +dates, oats, and powder and shot, and to fasten a scimiter to his waist, +he leaped on to a horse, and spurred on vigorously in the direction +where he thought to find the French army. So impatient was he to see +a bivouac again that he pressed on the already tired courser at such +speed, that its flanks were lacerated with his spurs, and at last the +poor animal died, leaving the Frenchman alone in the desert. After +walking some time in the sand with all the courage of an escaped +convict, the soldier was obliged to stop, as the day had already ended. +In spite of the beauty of an Oriental sky at night, he felt he had not +strength enough to go on. Fortunately he had been able to find a small +hill, on the summit of which a few palm trees shot up into the air; it +was their verdure seen from afar which had brought hope and consolation +to his heart. His fatigue was so great that he lay down upon a rock +of granite, capriciously cut out like a camp-bed; there he fell asleep +without taking any precaution to defend himself while he slept. He had +made the sacrifice of his life. His last thought was one of regret. He +repented having left the Maugrabins, whose nomadic life seemed to smile +upon him now that he was far from them and without help. He was awakened +by the sun, whose pitiless rays fell with all their force on the granite +and produced an intolerable heat--for he had had the stupidity to place +himself adversely to the shadow thrown by the verdant majestic heads +of the palm trees. He looked at the solitary trees and shuddered--they +reminded him of the graceful shafts crowned with foliage which +characterize the Saracen columns in the cathedral of Arles. + +But when, after counting the palm trees, he cast his eyes around +him, the most horrible despair was infused into his soul. Before him +stretched an ocean without limit. The dark sand of the desert spread +further than eye could reach in every direction, and glittered +like steel struck with bright light. It might have been a sea of +looking-glass, or lakes melted together in a mirror. A fiery vapor +carried up in surging waves made a perpetual whirlwind over the +quivering land. The sky was lit with an Oriental splendor of +insupportable purity, leaving naught for the imagination to desire. +Heaven and earth were on fire. + +The silence was awful in its wild and terrible majesty. Infinity, +immensity, closed in upon the soul from every side. Not a cloud in the +sky, not a breath in the air, not a flaw on the bosom of the sand, ever +moving in diminutive waves; the horizon ended as at sea on a clear day, +with one line of light, definite as the cut of a sword. + +The Provencal threw his arms round the trunk of one of the palm trees, +as though it were the body of a friend, and then, in the shelter of the +thin, straight shadow that the palm cast upon the granite, he wept. Then +sitting down he remained as he was, contemplating with profound sadness +the implacable scene, which was all he had to look upon. He cried aloud, +to measure the solitude. His voice, lost in the hollows of the hill, +sounded faintly, and aroused no echo--the echo was in his own heart. The +Provencal was twenty-two years old:--he loaded his carbine. + +"There'll be time enough," he said to himself, laying on the ground the +weapon which alone could bring him deliverance. + +Viewing alternately the dark expanse of the desert and the blue expanse +of the sky, the soldier dreamed of France--he smelled with delight the +gutters of Paris--he remembered the towns through which he had passed, +the faces of his comrades, the most minute details of his life. His +Southern fancy soon showed him the stones of his beloved Provence, +in the play of the heat which undulated above the wide expanse of the +desert. Realizing the danger of this cruel mirage, he went down the +opposite side of the hill to that by which he had come up the day +before. The remains of a rug showed that this place of refuge had at one +time been inhabited; at a short distance he saw some palm trees full +of dates. Then the instinct which binds us to life awoke again in +his heart. He hoped to live long enough to await the passing of some +Maugrabins, or perhaps he might hear the sound of cannon; for at this +time Bonaparte was traversing Egypt. + +This thought gave him new life. The palm tree seemed to bend with the +weight of the ripe fruit. He shook some of it down. When he tasted this +unhoped-for manna, he felt sure that the palms had been cultivated by a +former inhabitant--the savory, fresh meat of the dates were proof of +the care of his predecessor. He passed suddenly from dark despair to an +almost insane joy. He went up again to the top of the hill, and spent +the rest of the day in cutting down one of the sterile palm trees, which +the night before had served him for shelter. A vague memory made him +think of the animals of the desert; and in case they might come to drink +at the spring, visible from the base of the rocks but lost further down, +he resolved to guard himself from their visits by placing a barrier at +the entrance of his hermitage. + +In spite of his diligence, and the strength which the fear of being +devoured asleep gave him, he was unable to cut the palm in pieces, +though he succeeded in cutting it down. At eventide the king of the +desert fell; the sound of its fall resounded far and wide, like a sigh +in the solitude; the soldier shuddered as though he had heard some voice +predicting woe. + +But like an heir who does not long bewail a deceased relative, he tore +off from this beautiful tree the tall broad green leaves which are +its poetic adornment, and used them to mend the mat on which he was to +sleep. + +Fatigued by the heat and his work, he fell asleep under the red curtains +of his wet cave. + +In the middle of the night his sleep was troubled by an extraordinary +noise; he sat up, and the deep silence around allowed him to distinguish +the alternative accents of a respiration whose savage energy could not +belong to a human creature. + +A profound terror, increased still further by the darkness, the silence, +and his waking images, froze his heart within him. He almost felt +his hair stand on end, when by straining his eyes to their utmost +he perceived through the shadow two faint yellow lights. At first he +attributed these lights to the reflections of his own pupils, but soon +the vivid brilliance of the night aided him gradually to distinguish the +objects around him in the cave, and he beheld a huge animal lying but +two steps from him. Was it a lion, a tiger, or a crocodile? + +The Provencal was not sufficiently educated to know under what species +his enemy ought to be classed; but his fright was all the greater, as +his ignorance led him to imagine all terrors at once; he endured a cruel +torture, noting every variation of the breathing close to him without +daring to make the slightest movement. An odor, pungent like that of +a fox, but more penetrating, more profound,--so to speak,--filled the +cave, and when the Provencal became sensible of this, his terror reached +its height, for he could no longer doubt the proximity of a terrible +companion, whose royal dwelling served him for a shelter. + +Presently the reflection of the moon descending on the horizon lit up +the den, rendering gradually visible and resplendent the spotted skin of +a panther. + +This lion of Egypt slept, curled up like a big dog, the peaceful +possessor of a sumptuous niche at the gate of an hotel; its eyes opened +for a moment and closed again; its face was turned towards the man. A +thousand confused thoughts passed through the Frenchman's mind; first he +thought of killing it with a bullet from his gun, but he saw there was +not enough distance between them for him to take proper aim--the shot +would miss the mark. And if it were to wake!--the thought made his limbs +rigid. He listened to his own heart beating in the midst of the silence, +and cursed the too violent pulsations which the flow of blood brought +on, fearing to disturb that sleep which allowed him time to think of +some means of escape. + +Twice he placed his hand on his scimiter, intending to cut off the +head of his enemy; but the difficulty of cutting the stiff short hair +compelled him to abandon this daring project. To miss would be to die +for CERTAIN, he thought; he preferred the chances of fair fight, and +made up his mind to wait till morning; the morning did not leave him +long to wait. + +He could now examine the panther at ease; its muzzle was smeared with +blood. + +"She's had a good dinner," he thought, without troubling himself as to +whether her feast might have been on human flesh. "She won't be hungry +when she gets up." + +It was a female. The fur on her belly and flanks was glistening white; +many small marks like velvet formed beautiful bracelets round her feet; +her sinuous tail was also white, ending with black rings; the overpart +of her dress, yellow like burnished gold, very lissome and soft, had the +characteristic blotches in the form of rosettes, which distinguish the +panther from every other feline species. + +This tranquil and formidable hostess snored in an attitude as graceful +as that of a cat lying on a cushion. Her blood-stained paws, nervous and +well armed, were stretched out before her face, which rested upon them, +and from which radiated her straight slender whiskers, like threads of +silver. + +If she had been like that in a cage, the Provencal would doubtless have +admired the grace of the animal, and the vigorous contrasts of vivid +color which gave her robe an imperial splendor; but just then his sight +was troubled by her sinister appearance. + +The presence of the panther, even asleep, could not fail to produce the +effect which the magnetic eyes of the serpent are said to have on the +nightingale. + +For a moment the courage of the soldier began to fail before this +danger, though no doubt it would have risen at the mouth of a cannon +charged with shell. Nevertheless, a bold thought brought daylight to his +soul and sealed up the source of the cold sweat which sprang forth on +his brow. Like men driven to bay, who defy death and offer their body to +the smiter, so he, seeing in this merely a tragic episode, resolved to +play his part with honor to the last. + +"The day before yesterday the Arabs would have killed me, perhaps," he +said; so considering himself as good as dead already, he waited bravely, +with excited curiosity, the awakening of his enemy. + +When the sun appeared, the panther suddenly opened her eyes; then she +put out her paws with energy, as if to stretch them and get rid of +cramp. At last she yawned, showing the formidable apparatus of her teeth +and pointed tongue, rough as a file. + +"A regular petite maitresse," thought the Frenchman, seeing her roll +herself about so softly and coquettishly. She licked off the blood which +stained her paws and muzzle, and scratched her head with reiterated +gestures full of prettiness. "All right, make a little toilet," the +Frenchman said to himself, beginning to recover his gaiety with his +courage; "we'll say good morning to each other presently;" and he seized +the small, short dagger which he had taken from the Maugrabins. + +At this moment the panther turned her head toward the man and looked at +him fixedly without moving. The rigidity of her metallic eyes and their +insupportable luster made him shudder, especially when the animal walked +towards him. But he looked at her caressingly, staring into her eyes in +order to magnetize her, and let her come quite close to him; then with +a movement both gentle and amorous, as though he were caressing the most +beautiful of women, he passed his hand over her whole body, from the +head to the tail, scratching the flexible vertebrae which divided the +panther's yellow back. The animal waved her tail voluptuously, and her +eyes grew gentle; and when for the third time the Frenchman accomplished +this interesting flattery, she gave forth one of those purrings by which +cats express their pleasure; but this murmur issued from a throat so +powerful and so deep that it resounded through the cave like the +last vibrations of an organ in a church. The man, understanding the +importance of his caresses, redoubled them in such a way as to surprise +and stupefy his imperious courtesan. When he felt sure of having +extinguished the ferocity of his capricious companion, whose hunger had +so fortunately been satisfied the day before, he got up to go out of the +cave; the panther let him go out, but when he had reached the summit of +the hill she sprang with the lightness of a sparrow hopping from twig to +twig, and rubbed herself against his legs, putting up her back after the +manner of all the race of cats. Then regarding her guest with eyes +whose glare had softened a little, she gave vent to that wild cry which +naturalists compare to the grating of a saw. + +"She is exacting," said the Frenchman, smilingly. + +He was bold enough to play with her ears; he caressed her belly +and scratched her head as hard as he could. When he saw that he was +successful, he tickled her skull with the point of his dagger, watching +for the right moment to kill her, but the hardness of her bones made him +tremble for his success. + +The sultana of the desert showed herself gracious to her slave; she +lifted her head, stretched out her neck and manifested her delight by +the tranquility of her attitude. It suddenly occurred to the soldier +that to kill this savage princess with one blow he must poniard her in +the throat. + +He raised the blade, when the panther, satisfied no doubt, laid herself +gracefully at his feet, and cast up at him glances in which, in spite +of their natural fierceness, was mingled confusedly a kind of good will. +The poor Provencal ate his dates, leaning against one of the palm +trees, and casting his eyes alternately on the desert in quest of some +liberator and on his terrible companion to watch her uncertain clemency. + +The panther looked at the place where the date stones fell, and every +time that he threw one down her eyes expressed an incredible mistrust. + +She examined the man with an almost commercial prudence. However, this +examination was favorable to him, for when he had finished his meager +meal she licked his boots with her powerful rough tongue, brushing off +with marvelous skill the dust gathered in the creases. + +"Ah, but when she's really hungry!" thought the Frenchman. In spite +of the shudder this thought caused him, the soldier began to measure +curiously the proportions of the panther, certainly one of the most +splendid specimens of its race. She was three feet high and four feet +long without counting her tail; this powerful weapon, rounded like +a cudgel, was nearly three feet long. The head, large as that of a +lioness, was distinguished by a rare expression of refinement. The cold +cruelty of a tiger was dominant, it was true, but there was also a vague +resemblance to the face of a sensual woman. Indeed, the face of this +solitary queen had something of the gaiety of a drunken Nero: she had +satiated herself with blood, and she wanted to play. + +The soldier tried if he might walk up and down, and the panther left him +free, contenting herself with following him with her eyes, less like +a faithful dog than a big Angora cat, observing everything and every +movement of her master. + +When he looked around, he saw, by the spring, the remains of his horse; +the panther had dragged the carcass all that way; about two thirds of it +had been devoured already. The sight reassured him. + +It was easy to explain the panther's absence, and the respect she had +had for him while he slept. The first piece of good luck emboldened him +to tempt the future, and he conceived the wild hope of continuing on +good terms with the panther during the entire day, neglecting no means +of taming her, and remaining in her good graces. + +He returned to her, and had the unspeakable joy of seeing her wag her +tail with an almost imperceptible movement at his approach. He sat down +then, without fear, by her side, and they began to play together; he +took her paws and muzzle, pulled her ears, rolled her over on her back, +stroked her warm, delicate flanks. She let him do what ever he liked, +and when he began to stroke the hair on her feet she drew her claws in +carefully. + +The man, keeping the dagger in one hand, thought to plunge it into the +belly of the too confiding panther, but he was afraid that he would be +immediately strangled in her last convulsive struggle; besides, he felt +in his heart a sort of remorse which bid him respect a creature that +had done him no harm. He seemed to have found a friend, in a boundless +desert; half unconsciously he thought of his first sweetheart, whom +he had nicknamed "Mignonne" by way of contrast, because she was so +atrociously jealous that all the time of their love he was in fear of +the knife with which she had always threatened him. + +This memory of his early days suggested to him the idea of making the +young panther answer to this name, now that he began to admire with less +terror her swiftness, suppleness, and softness. Toward the end of the +day he had familiarized himself with his perilous position; he now +almost liked the painfulness of it. At last his companion had got into +the habit of looking up at him whenever he cried in a falsetto voice, +"Mignonne." + +At the setting of the sun Mignonne gave, several times running, +a profound melancholy cry. "She's been well brought up," said the +lighthearted soldier; "she says her prayers." But this mental joke only +occurred to him when he noticed what a pacific attitude his companion +remained in. "Come, ma petite blonde, I'll let you go to bed first," +he said to her, counting on the activity of his own legs to run away as +quickly as possible, directly she was asleep, and seek another shelter +for the night. + +The soldier waited with impatience the hour of his flight, and when +it had arrived he walked vigorously in the direction of the Nile; but +hardly had he made a quarter of a league in the sand when he heard the +panther bounding after him, crying with that saw-like cry more dreadful +even than the sound of her leaping. + +"Ah!" he said, "then she's taken a fancy to me, she has never met anyone +before, and it is really quite flattering to have her first love." That +instant the man fell into one of those movable quicksands so terrible +to travelers and from which it is impossible to save oneself. Feeling +himself caught, he gave a shriek of alarm; the panther seized him with +her teeth by the collar, and, springing vigorously backwards, drew him +as if by magic out of the whirling sand. + +"Ah, Mignonne!" cried the soldier, caressing her enthusiastically; +"we're bound together for life and death but no jokes, mind!" and he +retraced his steps. + +From that time the desert seemed inhabited. It contained a being to +whom the man could talk, and whose ferocity was rendered gentle by him, +though he could not explain to himself the reason for their strange +friendship. Great as was the soldier's desire to stay upon guard, he +slept. + +On awakening he could not find Mignonne; he mounted the hill, and in the +distance saw her springing toward him after the habit of these animals, +who cannot run on account of the extreme flexibility of the vertebral +column. Mignonne arrived, her jaws covered with blood; she received the +wonted caress of her companion, showing with much purring how happy it +made her. Her eyes, full of languor, turned still more gently than the +day before toward the Provencal, who talked to her as one would to a +tame animal. + +"Ah! mademoiselle, you are a nice girl, aren't you? Just look at that! +So we like to be made much of, don't we? Aren't you ashamed of yourself? +So you have been eating some Arab or other, have you? That doesn't +matter. They're animals just the same as you are; but don't you take to +eating Frenchmen, or I shan't like you any longer." + +She played like a dog with its master, letting herself be rolled over, +knocked about, and stroked, alternately; sometimes she herself would +provoke the soldier, putting up her paw with a soliciting gesture. + +Some days passed in this manner. This companionship permitted the +Provencal to appreciate the sublime beauty of the desert; now that he +had a living thing to think about, alternations of fear and quiet, and +plenty to eat, his mind became filled with contrast and his life began +to be diversified. + +Solitude revealed to him all her secrets, and enveloped him in her +delights. He discovered in the rising and setting of the sun sights +unknown to the world. He knew what it was to tremble when he heard over +his head the hiss of a bird's wing, so rarely did they pass, or when +he saw the clouds, changing and many colored travelers, melt one into +another. He studied in the night time the effect of the moon upon the +ocean of sand, where the simoom made waves swift of movement and rapid +in their change. He lived the life of the Eastern day, marveling at its +wonderful pomp; then, after having reveled in the sight of a hurricane +over the plain where the whirling sands made red, dry mists and +death-bearing clouds, he would welcome the night with joy, for then fell +the healthful freshness of the stars, and he listened to imaginary +music in the skies. Then solitude taught him to unroll the treasures +of dreams. He passed whole hours in remembering mere nothings, and +comparing his present life with his past. + +At last he grew passionately fond of the panther; for some sort of +affection was a necessity. + +Whether it was that his will powerfully projected had modified the +character of his companion, or whether, because she found abundant food +in her predatory excursions in the desert, she respected the man's life, +he began to fear for it no longer, seeing her so well tamed. + +He devoted the greater part of his time to sleep, but he was obliged to +watch like a spider in its web that the moment of his deliverance might +not escape him, if anyone should pass the line marked by the horizon. He +had sacrificed his shirt to make a flag with, which he hung at the top +of a palm tree, whose foliage he had torn off. Taught by necessity, he +found the means of keeping it spread out, by fastening it with little +sticks; for the wind might not be blowing at the moment when the passing +traveler was looking through the desert. + +It was during the long hours, when he had abandoned hope, that he amused +himself with the panther. He had come to learn the different inflections +of her voice, the expressions of her eyes; he had studied the capricious +patterns of all the rosettes which marked the gold of her robe. Mignonne +was not even angry when he took hold of the tuft at the end of her tail +to count her rings, those graceful ornaments which glittered in the +sun like jewelry. It gave him pleasure to contemplate the supple, fine +outlines of her form, the whiteness of her belly, the graceful pose of +her head. But it was especially when she was playing that he felt most +pleasure in looking at her; the agility and youthful lightness of her +movements were a continual surprise to him; he wondered at the supple +way in which she jumped and climbed, washed herself and arranged her +fur, crouched down and prepared to spring. However rapid her spring +might be, however slippery the stone she was on, she would always stop +short at the word "Mignonne." + +One day, in a bright midday sun, an enormous bird coursed through +the air. The man left his panther to look at his new guest; but after +waiting a moment the deserted sultana growled deeply. + +"My goodness! I do believe she's jealous," he cried, seeing her eyes +become hard again; "the soul of Virginie has passed into her body; +that's certain." + +The eagle disappeared into the air, while the soldier admired the curved +contour of the panther. + +But there was such youth and grace in her form! she was beautiful as a +woman! the blond fur of her robe mingled well with the delicate tints of +faint white which marked her flanks. + +The profuse light cast down by the sun made this living gold, +these russet markings, to burn in a way to give them an indefinable +attraction. + +The man and the panther looked at one another with a look full of +meaning; the coquette quivered when she felt her friend stroke her head; +her eyes flashed like lightning--then she shut them tightly. + +"She has a soul," he said, looking at the stillness of this queen of +the sands, golden like them, white like them, solitary and burning like +them. + + + +"Well," she said, "I have read your plea in favor of beasts; but how did +two so well adapted to understand each other end?" + +"Ah, well! you see, they ended as all great passions do end--by a +misunderstanding. For some reason ONE suspects the other of treason; +they don't come to an explanation through pride, and quarrel and part +from sheer obstinacy." + +"Yet sometimes at the best moments a single word or a look is +enough--but anyhow go on with your story." + +"It's horribly difficult, but you will understand, after what the old +villain told me over his champagne. He said--'I don't know if I hurt +her, but she turned round, as if enraged, and with her sharp teeth +caught hold of my leg--gently, I daresay; but I, thinking she would +devour me, plunged my dagger into her throat. She rolled over, giving +a cry that froze my heart; and I saw her dying, still looking at me +without anger. I would have given all the world--my cross even, which I +had not got then--to have brought her to life again. It was as though I +had murdered a real person; and the soldiers who had seen my flag, and +were come to my assistance, found me in tears.' + +"'Well sir,' he said, after a moment of silence, 'since then I have +been in war in Germany, in Spain, in Russia, in France; I've certainly +carried my carcase about a good deal, but never have I seen anything +like the desert. Ah! yes, it is very beautiful!' + +"'What did you feel there?' I asked him. + +"'Oh! that can't be described, young man! Besides, I am not always +regretting my palm trees and my panther. I should have to be very +melancholy for that. In the desert, you see, there is everything and +nothing.' + +"'Yes, but explain----' + +"'Well,' he said, with an impatient gesture, 'it is God without +mankind.'" + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's A Passion in the Desert, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A PASSION IN THE DESERT *** + +***** This file should be named 1555.txt or 1555.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/5/5/1555/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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