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diff --git a/old/apitd10.txt b/old/apitd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e0e2b2d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/apitd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,842 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Passion in the Desert by Balzac +#48 in our series Balzac + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +A Passion in the Desert + +by Honore de Balzac + +Translated by Ernest Dowson + +December, 1998 [Etext #1555] + + +The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Passion in the Desert by Balzac +******This file should be named apitd10.txt or apitd10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, apitd11.txt. +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, apitd10a.txt. + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, for time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. 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If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + + + + +A PASSION IN THE DESERT + +by HONORE DE BALZAC + + + +Translated By +Ernest Dowson + + + +"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 The Project Gutenberg Etext of A Passion in the Desert by Balzac + |