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diff --git a/1930-h/1930-h.htm b/1930-h/1930-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..323f578 --- /dev/null +++ b/1930-h/1930-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12913 @@ +<!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" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Penguin Island, by Anatole France</title> +<link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +.no-break {page-break-before: avoid;} /* for epubs */ + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: 90%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.center {text-align: center; + text-indent: 0em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.right {text-align: right; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + +sup { vertical-align: top; font-size: 0.6em; } + +div.fig { display:block; + margin:0 auto; + text-align:center; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em;} + +a:link {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:visited {color:blue; text-decoration:none} +a:hover {color:red} + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Penguin Island, by Anatole France</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Penguin Island</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Anatole France</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October, 1999 [eBook #1930]<br /> +[Most recently updated: January 21, 2021]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Aaron Cannon and David Widger</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PENGUIN ISLAND ***</div> + +<div class="fig" style="width:55%;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" style="width:100%;" alt="[Illustration]" /> +</div> + +<h1>Penguin Island</h1> + +<h2 class="no-break">by Anatole France</h2> + +<hr /> + +<h2>Contents</h2> + +<table summary="" style=""> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>BOOK I. THE BEGINNINGS</b> </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> I. LIFE OF SAINT MAËL </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> II. THE APOSTOLICAL VOCATION OF SAINT MAËL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> III. THE TEMPTATION OF SAINT MAËL </a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> IV. ST. MAËL’S NAVIGATION ON THE OCEAN OF ICE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> V. THE BAPTISM OF THE PENGUINS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> VI. AN ASSEMBLY IN PARADISE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> VII. AN ASSEMBLY IN PARADISE (Continuation and End)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VIII. METAMORPHOSIS OF THE PENGUINS </a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> <b>BOOK II. THE ANCIENT TIMES</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> I. THE FIRST CLOTHES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> II. THE FIRST CLOTHES (Continuation and End)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0013"> III. SETTING BOUNDS TO THE FIELDS AND THE ORIGIN OF PROPERTY</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0014"> IV. THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE ESTATES OF PENGUINIA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0015"> V. THE MARRIAGE OF KRAKEN AND ORBEROSIA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0016"> VI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0017"> VII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0018"> VIII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0019"> IX. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0020"> X. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0021"> XI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0022"> XII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0023"> XIII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA (Continuation and End)</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0024"> <b>BOOK III. THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0025"> I. BRIAN THE GOOD AND QUEEN GLAMORGAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0026"> II. DRACO THE GREAT (Translation of the Relics of St. Orberosia)</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0027"> III. QUEEN CRUCHA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0028"> IV. LETTERS: JOHANNES TALPA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0029"> V. THE ARTS: THE PRIMITIVES OF PENGUIN PAINTING</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0030"> VI. MARBODIUS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0031"> VII. SIGNS IN THE MOON</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0032"> <b>BOOK IV. MODERN TIMES: TRINCO</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0033"> I. MOTHER ROUQUIN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0034"> II. TRINCO</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0035"> III. THE JOURNEY OF DOCTOR OBNUBILE</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0036"> <b>BOOK V. MODERN TIMES: CHATILLON</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0037"> I. THE REVEREND FATHERS AGARIC AND CORNEMUSE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0038"> II. PRINCE CRUCHO</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0039"> III. THE CABAL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0040"> IV. VISCOUNTESS OLIVE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0041"> V. THE PRINCE DES BOSCÉNOS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0042"> VI. THE EMIRAL’S FALL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0043"> VII. CONCLUSION</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0044"> <b>BOOK VI. MODERN TIMES.</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0045"> I. GENERAL GREATAUK, DUKE OF SKULL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0046"> II. PYROT</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0047"> III. COUNT DE MAUBEC DE LA DENTDULYNX</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0048"> IV. COLOMBAN</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0049"> V. THE REVEREND FATHERS AGARIC AND CORNEMUSE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0050"> VI. THE SEVEN HUNDRED PYROTISTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0051"> VII. BIDAULT-COQUILLE AND MANIFLORE, THE SOCIALISTS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0052"> VIII. THE COLOMBAN TRIAL</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0053"> IX. FATHER DOUILLARD</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0054"> X. MR. JUSTICE CHAUSSEPIED</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0055"> XI. CONCLUSION</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0056"> <b>BOOK VII. MODERN TIMES</b></a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0057"> I. MADAME CLARENCE’S DRAWING-ROOM</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0058"> II. THE CHARITY OF ST. ORBEROSIA</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0059"> III. HIPPOLYTE CÉRÈS</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0060"> IV. A POLITICIAN’S MARRIAGE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0061"> V. THE VISIRE CABINET</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0062"> VI. THE SOFA OF THE FAVOURITE</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0063"> VII. THE FIRST CONSEQUENCES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0064"> VIII. FURTHER CONSEQUENCES</a></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0065"> IX. THE FINAL CONSEQUENCES</a><br /><br /></td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td> <a href="#link2H_4_0066"> <b>BOOK VIII. FUTURE TIMES</b></a></td> +</tr> + +</table> + +<hr /> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"></a> +BOOK I. THE BEGINNINGS +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"></a> +I. LIFE OF SAINT MAËL +</h2> + +<p> +Maël, a scion of a royal family of Cambria, was sent in his ninth year to +the Abbey of Yvern so that he might there study both sacred and profane +learning. At the age of fourteen he renounced his patrimony and took a vow +to serve the Lord. His time was divided, according to the rule, between +the singing of hymns, the study of grammar, and the meditation of eternal +truths. +</p> + +<p> +A celestial perfume soon disclosed the virtues of the monk throughout the +cloister, and when the blessed Gal, the Abbot of Yvern, departed from this +world into the next, young Maël succeeded him in the government of the +monastery. He established therein a school, an infirmary, a guest-house, a +forge, work-shops of all kinds, and sheds for building ships, and he +compelled the monks to till the lands in the neighbourhood. With his own +hands he cultivated the garden of the Abbey, he worked in metals, he +instructed the novices, and his life was gently gliding along like a +stream that reflects the heaven and fertilizes the fields. +</p> + +<p> +At the close of the day this servant of God was accustomed to seat himself +on the cliff, in the place that is to-day still called St. Maël’s chair. +At his feet the rocks bristling with green seaweed and tawny wrack seemed +like black dragons as they faced the foam of the waves with their +monstrous breasts. He watched the sun descending into the ocean like a red +Host whose glorious blood gave a purple tone to the clouds and to the +summits of the waves. And the holy man saw in this the image of the +mystery of the Cross, by which the divine blood has clothed the earth with +a royal purple. In the offing a line of dark blue marked the shores of the +island of Gad, where St. Bridget, who had been given the veil by St. Malo, +ruled over a convent of women. +</p> + +<p> +Now Bridget, knowing the merits of the venerable Maël, begged from him +some work of his hands as a rich present. Maël cast a hand-bell of bronze +for her and, when it was finished, he blessed it and threw it into the +sea. And the bell went ringing towards the coast of Gad, where St. +Bridget, warned by the sound of the bell upon the waves, received it +piously, and carried it in solemn procession with singing of psalms into +the chapel of the convent. +</p> + +<p> +Thus the holy Maël advanced from virtue to virtue. He had already passed +through two-thirds of the way of life, and he hoped peacefully to reach +his terrestrial end in the midst of his spiritual brethren, when he knew +by a certain sign that the Divine wisdom had decided otherwise, and that +the Lord was calling him to less peaceful but not less meritorious +labours. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"></a> +II. THE APOSTOLICAL VOCATION OF SAINT MAËL +</h2> + +<p> +One day as he walked in meditation to the furthest point of a tranquil +beach, for which rocks jutting out into the sea formed a rugged dam, he +saw a trough of stone which floated like a boat upon the waters. +</p> + +<p> +It was in a vessel similar to this that St. Guirec, the great St. Columba, +and so many holy men from Scotland and from Ireland had gone forth to +evangelize Armorica. More recently still, St. Avoye having come from +England, ascended the river Auray in a mortar made of rose-coloured +granite into which children were afterwards placed in order to make them +strong; St. Vouga passed from Hibernia to Cornwall on a rock whose +fragments, preserved at Penmarch, will cure of fever such pilgrims as +place these splinters on their heads. St. Samson entered the Bay of St. +Michael’s Mount in a granite vessel which will one day be called St. +Samson’s basin. It is because of these facts that when he saw the stone +trough the holy Maël understood that the Lord intended him for the +apostolate of the pagans who still peopled the coast and the Breton +islands. +</p> + +<p> +He handed his ashen staff to the holy Budoc, thus investing him with the +government of the monastery. Then, furnished with bread, a barrel of fresh +water, and the book of the Holy Gospels, he entered the stone trough which +carried him gently to the island of Hœdic. +</p> + +<p> +This island is perpetually buffeted by the winds. In it some poor men +fished among the clefts of the rocks and labouriously cultivated +vegetables in gardens full of sand and pebbles that were sheltered from +the wind by walls of barren stone and hedges of tamarisk. A beautiful +fig-tree raised itself in a hollow of the island and thrust forth its +branches far and wide. The inhabitants of the island used to worship it. +</p> + +<p> +And the holy Maël said to them: “You worship this tree because it is +beautiful. Therefore you are capable of feeling beauty. Now I come to +reveal to you the hidden beauty.” And he taught them the Gospel. And after +having instructed them, he baptized them with salt and water. +</p> + +<p> +The islands of Morbihan were more numerous in those times than they are +to-day. For since then many have been swallowed up by the sea. St. Maël +evangelized sixty of them. Then in his granite trough he ascended the +river Auray. And after sailing for three hours he landed before a Roman +house. A thin column of smoke went up from the roof. The holy man crossed +the threshold on which there was a mosaic representing a dog with its hind +legs outstretched and its lips drawn back. He was welcomed by an old +couple, Marcus Combabus and Valeria Moerens, who lived there on the +products of their lands. There was a portico round the interior court the +columns of which were painted red, half their height upwards from the +base. A fountain made of shells stood against the wall and under the +portico there rose an altar with a niche in which the master of the house +had placed some little idols made of baked earth and whitened with +whitewash. Some represented winged children, others Apollo or Mercury, and +several were in the form of a naked woman twisting her hair. But the holy +Maël, observing those figures, discovered among them the image of a young +mother holding a child upon her knees. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately pointing to that image he said: +</p> + +<p> +“That is the Virgin, the mother of God. The poet Virgil foretold her in +Sibylline verses before she was born and, in angelical tones he sang <i>Jam +redit et virgo</i>. Throughout heathendom prophetic figures of her have been +made, like that which you, O Marcus, have placed upon this altar. And +without doubt it is she who has protected your modest household. Thus it +is that those who faithfully observe the natural law prepare themselves +for the knowledge of revealed truths.” +</p> + +<p> +Marcus Combabus and Valeria Moerens, having been instructed by this +speech, were converted to the Christian faith. They received baptism +together with their young freedwoman, Caelia Avitella, who was dearer to +them than the light of their eyes. All their tenants renounced paganism +and were baptized on the same day. +</p> + +<p> +Marcus Combabus, Valeria Moerens, and Caelia Avitella led thenceforth a +life full of merit. They died in the Lord and were admitted into the canon +of the saints. +</p> + +<p> +For thirty-seven years longer the blessed Maël evangelized the pagans of +the inner lands. He built two hundred and eighteen chapels and +seventy-four abbeys. +</p> + +<p> +Now on a certain day in the city of Vannes, when he was preaching the +Gospel, he learned that the monks of Yvern had in his absence declined +from the rule of St. Gal. Immediately, with the zeal of a hen who gathers +her brood, he repaired to his erring children. He was then towards the end +of his ninety-seventh year; his figure was bent, but his arms were still +strong, and his speech was poured forth abundantly like winter snow in the +depths of the valleys. +</p> + +<p> +Abbot Budoc restored the ashen staff to St. Maël and informed him of the +unhappy state into which the Abbey had fallen. The monks were in +disagreement as to the date on which the festival of Easter ought to be +celebrated. Some held for the Roman calendar, others for the Greek +calendar, and the horrors of a chronological schism distracted the +monastery. +</p> + +<p> +There also prevailed another cause of disorder. The nuns of the island of +Gad, sadly fallen from their former virtue, continually came in boats to +the coast of Yvern. The monks received them in the guesthouse and from +this there arose scandals which filled pious souls with desolation. +</p> + +<p> +Having finished his faithful report, Abbot Budoc concluded in these terms: +</p> + +<p> +“Since the coming of these nuns the innocence and peace of the monks are +at an end.” +</p> + +<p> +“I readily believe it,” answered the blessed Maël. “For woman is a +cleverly constructed snare by which we are taken even before we suspect +the trap. Alas! the delightful attraction of these creatures is exerted +with even greater force from a distance than when they are close at hand. +The less they satisfy desire the more they inspire it. This is the reason +why a poet wrote this verse to one of them: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +‘When present I avoid thee, but when away I find thee.’ +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +“Thus we see, my son, that the blandishments of carnal love have more +power over hermits and monks than over men who live in the world. All +through my life the demon of lust has tempted me in various ways, but his +strongest temptations did not come to me from meeting a woman, however +beautiful and fragrant she was. They came to me from the image of an +absent woman. Even now, though full of days and approaching my +ninety-eighth year, I am often led by the Enemy to sin against chastity, +at least in thought. At night when I am cold in my bed and my frozen old +bones rattle together with a dull sound I hear voices reciting the second +verse of the third Book of the Kings: ‘Wherefore his servants said unto +him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her +stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy +bosom, that my lord the king may get heat,’ and the devil shows me a girl +in the bloom of youth who says to me: ‘I am thy Abishag; I am thy +Shunamite. Make, O my lord, room for me in thy couch.’ +</p> + +<p> +“Believe me,” added the old man, “it is only by the special aid of Heaven +that a monk can keep his chastity in act and in intention.” +</p> + +<p> +Applying himself immediately to restore innocence and peace to the +monastery, he corrected the calendar according to the calculations of +chronology and astronomy and he compelled all the monks to accept his +decision; he sent the women who had declined from St. Bridget’s rule back +to their convent; but far from driving them away brutally, he caused them +to be led to their boat with singing of psalms and litanies. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us respect in them,” he said, “the daughters of Bridget and the +betrothed of the Lord. Let us beware lest we imitate the Pharisees who +affect to despise sinners. The sin of these women and not their persons +should be abased, and they should be made ashamed of what they have done +and not of what they are, for they are all creatures of God.” +</p> + +<p> +And the holy man exhorted his monks to obey faithfully the rule of their +order. +</p> + +<p> +“When it does not yield to the rudder,” said he to them, “the ship yields +to the rock.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"></a> +III. THE TEMPTATION OF SAINT MAËL +</h2> + +<p> +The blessed Maël had scarcely restored order in the Abbey of Yvern before +he learned that the inhabitants of the island of Hœdic, his first +catechumens and the dearest of all to his heart, had returned to paganism, +and that they were hanging crowns of flowers and fillets of wool to the +branches of the sacred fig-tree. +</p> + +<p> +The boatman who brought this sad news expressed a fear that soon those +misguided men might violently destroy the chapel that had been built on +the shore of their island. +</p> + +<p> +The holy man resolved forthwith to visit his faithless children, so that +he might lead them back to the faith and prevent them from yielding to +such sacrilege. As he went down to the bay where his stone trough was +moored, he turned his eyes to the sheds, then filled with the noise of +saws and of hammers, which, thirty years before, he had erected on the +fringe of that bay for the purpose of building ships. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment, the Devil, who never tires, went out from the sheds and, +under the appearance of a monk called Samson, he approached the holy man +and tempted him thus: +</p> + +<p> +“Father, the inhabitants of the island of Hœdic commit sins unceasingly. +Every moment that passes removes them farther from God. They are soon +going to use violence towards the chapel that you have raised with your +own venerable hands on the shore of their island. Time is pressing. Do you +not think that your stone trough would carry you more quickly towards them +if it were rigged like a boat and furnished with a rudder, a mast, and a +sail, for then you would be driven by the wind? Your arms are still strong +and able to steer a small craft. It would be a good thing, too, to put a +sharp stem in front of your apostolic trough. You are much too +clear-sighted not to have thought of it already.” +</p> + +<p> +“Truly time is pressing,” answered the holy man. “But to do as you say, +Samson, my son, would it not be to make myself like those men of little +faith who do not trust the Lord? Would it not be to despise the gifts of +Him who has sent me this stone vessel without rigging or sail?” +</p> + +<p> +This question, the Devil, who is a great theologian, answered by another. +</p> + +<p> +“Father, is it praiseworthy to wait, with our arms folded, until help +comes from on high, and to ask everything from Him who can do all things, +instead of acting by human prudence and helping ourselves? +</p> + +<p> +“It certainly is not,” answered the holy Maël, “and to neglect to act by +human prudence is tempting God.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well,” urged the Devil, “is it not prudence in this case to rig the +vessel?” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be prudence if we could not attain our end in any other way.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is your vessel then so very speedy?” +</p> + +<p> +“It is as speedy as God pleases.” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you know about it? It goes like Abbot Budoc’s mule. It is a +regular old tub. Are you forbidden to make it speedier?” +</p> + +<p> +“My son, clearness adorns your words, but they are unduly over-confident. +Remember that this vessel is miraculous.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is, father. A granite trough that floats on the water like a cork is a +miraculous trough. There is not the slightest doubt about it. What +conclusion do you draw from that?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am greatly perplexed. Is it right to perfect so miraculous a machine by +human and natural means?” +</p> + +<p> +“Father, if you lost your right foot and God restored it to you, would not +that foot be miraculous?” +</p> + +<p> +“Without doubt, my son.” +</p> + +<p> +“Would you put a shoe on it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Assuredly.” +</p> + +<p> +“Well, then, if you believe that one may cover a miraculous foot with a +natural shoe, you should also believe that we can put natural rigging on a +miraculous boat. That is clear. Alas! Why must the holiest persons have +their moments of weakness and despondency? The most illustrious of the +apostles of Brittany could accomplish works worthy of eternal glory . . . +But his spirit is tardy and his hand is slothful. Farewell then, father! +Travel by short and slow stages and when at last you approach the coast of +Hœdic you will see the smoking ruins of the chapel that was built and +consecrated by your own hands. The pagans will have burned it and with it +the deacon you left there. He will be as thoroughly roasted as a black +pudding.” +</p> + +<p> +“My trouble is extreme,” said the servant of God, drying with his sleeve +the sweat that gathered upon his brow. “But tell me, Samson, my son, would +not rigging this stone trough be a difficult piece of work? And if we +undertook it might we not lose time instead of gaining it?” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! father,” exclaimed the Devil, “in one turning of the hour-glass the +thing would be done. We shall find the necessary rigging in this shed that +you have formerly built here on the coast and in those store-houses +abundantly stocked through your care. I will myself regulate all the +ship’s fittings. Before being a monk I was a sailor and a carpenter and I +have worked at many other trades as well. Let us to work.” +</p> + +<p> +Immediately he drew the holy man into an outhouse filled with all things +needful for fitting out a boat. +</p> + +<p> +“That for you, father!” +</p> + +<p> +And he placed on his shoulders the sail, the mast, the gaff, and the boom. +</p> + +<p> +Then, himself bearing a stem and a rudder with its screw and tiller, and +seizing a carpenter’s bag full of tools, he ran to the shore, dragging the +holy man after him by his habit. The latter was bent, sweating, and +breathless, under the burden of canvas and wood. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"></a> +IV. ST. MAËL’S NAVIGATION ON THE OCEAN OF ICE +</h2> + +<p> +The Devil, having tucked his clothes up to his arm-pits, dragged the +trough on the sand, and fitted the rigging in less than an hour. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the holy Maël had embarked, the vessel, with all its sails set, +cleft through the waters with such speed that the coast was almost +immediately out of sight. The old man steered to the south so as to double +the Land’s End, but an irresistible current carried him to the south-west. +He went along the southern coast of Ireland and turned sharply towards the +north. In the evening the wind freshened. In vain did Maël attempt to furl +the sail. The vessel flew distractedly towards the fabulous seas. +</p> + +<p> +By the light of the moon the immodest sirens of the North came around him +with their hempen-coloured hair, raising their white throats and their +rose-tinted limbs out of the sea; and beating the water into foam with +their emerald tails, they sang in cadence: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Whither go’st thou, gentle Maël,<br /> +In thy trough distracted?<br /> +All distended is thy sail<br /> +Like the breast of Juno<br /> +When from it gushed the Milky Way. +</p> + +<p> +For a moment their harmonious laughter followed him beneath the stars, but +the vessel fled on, a hundred times more swiftly than the red ship of a +Viking. And the petrels, surprised in their flight, clung with their feet +to the hair of the holy man. +</p> + +<p> +Soon a tempest arose full of darkness and groanings, and the trough, +driven by a furious wind, flew like a sea-mew through the mist and the +surge. +</p> + +<p> +After a night of three times twenty-four hours the darkness was suddenly +rent and the holy man discovered on the horizon a shore more dazzling than +diamond. The coast rapidly grew larger, and soon by the glacial light of a +torpid and sunken sun, Maël saw, rising above the waves, the silent +streets of a white city, which, vaster than Thebes with its hundred gates, +extended as far as the eye could see the ruins of its forum built of snow, +its palaces of frost, its crystal arches, and its iridescent obelisks. +</p> + +<p> +The ocean was covered with floating ice-bergs around which swam men of the +sea of a wild yet gentle appearance. And Leviathan passed by hurling a +column of water up to the clouds. +</p> + +<p> +Moreover, on a block of ice which floated at the same rate as the stone +trough there was seated a white bear holding her little one in her arms, +and Maël heard her murmuring in a low voice this verse of Virgil, <i>Incipe +parve puer</i>. +</p> + +<p> +And full of sadness and trouble, the old man wept. +</p> + +<p> +The fresh water had frozen and burst the barrel that contained it. And +Maël was sucking pieces of ice to quench his thirst, and his food was +bread dipped in dirty water. His beard and his hair were broken like +glass. His habit was covered with a layer of ice and cut into him at every +movement of his limbs. Huge waves rose up and opened their foaming jaws at +the old man. Twenty times the boat was filled by masses of sea. And the +ocean swallowed up the book of the Holy Gospels which the apostle guarded +with extreme care in a purple cover marked with a golden cross. +</p> + +<p> +Now on the thirtieth day the sea calmed. And lo! with a frightful clamour +of sky and waters a mountain of dazzling whiteness advanced towards the +stone vessel. Maël steered to avoid it, but the tiller broke in his hands. +To lessen the speed of his progress towards the rock he attempted to reef +the sails, but when he tried to knot the reef-points the wind pulled them +away from him and the rope seared his hands. He saw three demons with +wings of black skin having hooks at their ends, who, hanging from the +rigging, were puffing with their breath against the sails. +</p> + +<p> +Understanding from this sight that the Enemy had governed him in all these +things, he guarded himself by making the sign of the Cross. Immediately a +furious gust of wind filled with the noise of sobs and howls struck the +stone trough, carried off the mast with all the sails, and tore away the +rudder and the stem. +</p> + +<p> +The trough was drifting on the sea, which had now grown calm. The holy man +knelt and gave thanks to the Lord who had delivered him from the snares of +the demon. Then he recognised, sitting on a block of ice, the mother bear +who had spoken during the storm. She pressed her beloved child to her +bosom, and in her hand she held a purple book marked with a golden cross. +Hailing the granite trough, she saluted the holy man with these words: +</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>“Pax tibi Maël.”</i> +</p> + +<p> +And she held out the book to him. +</p> + +<p> +The holy man recognised his evangelistary, and, full of astonishment, he +sang in the tepid air a hymn to the Creator and His creation. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"></a> +V. THE BAPTISM OF THE PENGUINS +</h2> + +<p> +After having drifted for an hour the holy man approached a narrow strand, +shut in by steep mountains. He went along the coast for a whole day and a +night, passing around the reef which formed an insuperable barrier. He +discovered in this way that it was a round island in the middle of which +rose a mountain crowned with clouds. He joyfully breathed the fresh breath +of the moist air. Rain fell, and this rain was so pleasant that the holy +man said to the Lord: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, this is the island of tears, the island of contrition.” +</p> + +<p> +The strand was deserted. Worn out with fatigue and hunger, he sat down on +a rock in the hollow of which there lay some yellow eggs, marked with +black spots, and about as large as those of a swan. But he did not touch +them, saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Birds are the living praises of God. I should not like a single one of +these praises to be lacking through me.” +</p> + +<p> +And he munched the lichens which he tore from the crannies of the rocks. +</p> + +<p> +The holy man had gone almost entirely round the island without meeting any +inhabitants, when he came to a vast amphitheatre formed of black and red +rocks whose summits became tinged with blue as they rose towards the +clouds, and they were filled with sonorous cascades. +</p> + +<p> +The reflection from the polar ice had hurt the old man’s eyes, but a +feeble gleam of light still shone through his swollen eyelids. He +distinguished animated forms which filled the rocks, in stages, like a +crowd of men on the tiers of an amphitheatre. And at the same time, his +ears, deafened by the continual noises of the sea, heard a feeble sound of +voices. Thinking that what he saw were men living under the natural law, +and that the Lord had sent him to teach them the Divine law, he preached +the gospel to them. +</p> + +<p> +Mounted on a lofty stone in the midst of the wild circus: +</p> + +<p> +“Inhabitants of this island,” said he, “although you be of small stature, +you look less like a band of fishermen and mariners than like the senate +of a judicious republic. By your gravity, your silence, your tranquil +deportment, you form on this wild rock an assembly comparable to the +Conscript Fathers at Rome deliberating in the temple of Victory, or +rather, to the philosophers of Athens disputing on the benches of the +Areopagus. Doubtless you possess neither their science nor their genius, +but perhaps in the sight of God you are their superiors. I believe that +you are simple and good. As I went round your island I saw no image of +murder, no sign of carnage, no enemies’ heads or scalps hung from a lofty +pole or nailed to the doors of your villages. You appear to me to have no +arts and not to work in metals. But your hearts are pure and your hands +are innocent, and the truth will easily enter into your souls.” +</p> + +<p> +Now what he had taken for men of small stature but of grave bearing were +penguins whom the spring had gathered together, and who were ranged in +couples on the natural steps of the rock, erect in the majesty of their +large white bellies. From moment to moment they moved their winglets like +arms, and uttered peaceful cries. They did not fear men, for they did not +know them, and had never received any harm from them; and there was in the +monk a certain gentleness that reassured the most timid animals and that +pleased these penguins extremely. With a friendly curiosity they turned +towards him their little round eyes lengthened in front by a white oval +spot that gave something odd and human to their appearance. +</p> + +<p> +Touched by their attention, the holy man taught them the Gospel. +</p> + +<p> +“Inhabitants of this island, the earthly day that has just risen over your +rocks is the image of the heavenly day that rises in your souls. For I +bring you the inner light; I bring you the light and heat of the soul. +Just as the sun melts the ice of your mountains so Jesus Christ will melt +the ice of your hearts.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus the old man spoke. As everywhere throughout nature voice calls to +voice, as all which breathes in the light of day loves alternate strains, +these penguins answered the old man by the sounds of their throats. And +their voices were soft, for it was the season of their loves. +</p> + +<p> +The holy man, persuaded that they belonged to some idolatrous people and +that in their own language they gave adherence to the Christian faith, +invited them to receive baptism. +</p> + +<p> +“I think,” said he to them, “that you bathe often, for all the hollows of +the rocks are full of pure water, and as I came to your assembly I saw +several of you plunging into these natural baths. Now purity of body is +the image of spiritual purity.” +</p> + +<p> +And he taught them the origin, the nature, and the effects of baptism. +</p> + +<p> +“Baptism,” said he to them, “is Adoption, New Birth, Regeneration, +Illumination.” +</p> + +<p> +And he explained each of these points to them in succession. +</p> + +<p> +Then, having previously blessed the water that fell from the cascades and +recited the exorcisms, he baptized those whom he had just taught, pouring +on each of their heads a drop of pure water and pronouncing the sacred +words. +</p> + +<p> +And thus for three days and three nights he baptized the birds. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"></a> +VI. AN ASSEMBLY IN PARADISE +</h2> + +<p> +When the baptism of the penguins was known in Paradise, it caused neither +joy nor sorrow, but an extreme surprise. The Lord himself was embarrassed. +He gathered an assembly of clerics and doctors, and asked them whether +they regarded the baptism as valid. +</p> + +<p> +“It is void,” said St. Patrick. +</p> + +<p> +“Why is it void?” asked St. Gal, who had evangelized the people of +Cornwall and had trained the holy Maël for his apostolical labours. +</p> + +<p> +“The sacrament of baptism,” answered St. Patrick, “is void when it is +given to birds, just as the sacrament of marriage is void when it is given +to a eunuch.” +</p> + +<p> +But St. Gal replied: +</p> + +<p> +“What relation do you claim to establish between the baptism of a bird and +the marriage of a eunuch? There is none at all. Marriage is, if I may say +so, a conditional, a contingent sacrament. The priest blesses an event +beforehand; it is evident that if the act is not consummated the +benediction remains without effect. That is obvious. I have known on +earth, in the town of Antrim, a rich man named Sadoc, who, living in +concubinage with a woman, caused her to be the mother of nine children. In +his old age, yielding to my reproofs, he consented to marry her, and I +blessed their union. Unfortunately Sadoc’s great age prevented him from +consummating the marriage. A short time afterwards he lost all his +property, and Germaine (that was the name of the woman), not feeling +herself able to endure poverty, asked for the annulment of a marriage +which was no reality. The Pope granted her request, for it was just. So +much for marriage. But baptism is conferred without restrictions or +reserves of any kind. There is no doubt about it, what the penguins have +received is a sacrament.” +</p> + +<p> +Called to give his opinion, Pope St. Damascus expressed himself in these +terms: +</p> + +<p> +“In order to know if a baptism is valid and will produce its result, that +is to say, sanctification, it is necessary to consider who gives it and +not who receives it. In truth, the sanctifying virtue of this sacrament +results from the exterior act by which it is conferred, without the +baptized person cooperating in his own sanctification by any personal act; +if it were otherwise it would not be administered to the newly born. And +there is no need, in order to baptize, to fulfil any special condition; it +is not necessary to be in a state of grace; it is sufficient to have the +intention of doing what the Church does, to pronounce the consecrated +words and to observe the prescribed forms. Now we cannot doubt that the +venerable Maël has observed these conditions. Therefore the penguins are +baptized.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think so?” asked St. Guénolé. “And what then do you believe that +baptism really is? Baptism is the process of regeneration by which man is +born of water and of the spirit, for having entered the water covered with +crimes, he goes out of it a neophyte, a new creature, abounding in the +fruits of righteousness; baptism is the seed of immortality; baptism is +the pledge of the resurrection; baptism is the burying with Christ in His +death and participation in His departure from the sepulchre. That is not a +gift to bestow upon birds. Reverend Fathers, let us consider. Baptism +washes away original sin; now the penguins were not conceived in sin. It +removes the penalty of sin; now the penguins have not sinned. It produces +grace and the gift of virtues, uniting Christians to Jesus Christ, as the +members to the body, and it is obvious to the senses that penguins cannot +acquire the virtues of confessors, of virgins, and of widows, or receive +grace and be united to—” +</p> + +<p> +St. Damascus did not allow him to finish. +</p> + +<p> +“That proves,” said he warmly, “that the baptism was useless; it does not +prove that it was not effective.” +</p> + +<p> +“But by this reasoning,” said St. Guénolé, “one might baptize in the name +of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, by aspersion or +immersion, not only a bird or a quadruped, but also an inanimate object, a +statue, a table, a chair, etc. That animal would be Christian, that idol, +that table would be Christian! It is absurd!” +</p> + +<p> +St. Augustine began to speak. There was a great silence. +</p> + +<p> +“I am going,” said the ardent bishop of Hippo, “to show you, by an +example, the power of formulas. It deals, it is true, with a diabolical +operation. But if it be established that formulas taught by the Devil have +effect upon unintelligent animals or even on inanimate objects, how can we +longer doubt that the effect of the sacramental formulas extends to the +minds of beasts and even to inert matter? +</p> + +<p> +“This is the example. There was during my lifetime in the town of Madaura, +the birthplace of the philosopher Apuleius, a witch who was able to +attract men to her chamber by burning a few of their hairs along with +certain herbs upon her tripod, pronouncing at the same time certain words. +Now one day when she wished by this means to gain the love of a young man, +she was deceived by her maid, and instead of the young man’s hairs, she +burned some hairs pulled from a leather bottle, made out of a goatskin +that hung in a tavern. During the night the leather bottle, full of wine, +capered through the town up to the witch’s door. This fact is undoubted. +And in sacraments as in enchantments it is the form which operates. The +effect of a divine formula cannot be less in power and extent than the +effect of an infernal formula.” +</p> + +<p> +Having spoken in this fashion the great St. Augustine sat down amidst +applause. +</p> + +<p> +One of the blessed, of an advanced age and having a melancholy appearance, +asked permission to speak. No one knew him. His name was Probus, and he +was not enrolled in the canon of the saints. +</p> + +<p> +“I beg the company’s pardon,” said he, “I have no halo, and I gained +eternal blessedness without any eminent distinction. But after what the +great St. Augustine has just told you I believe it right to impart a cruel +experience, which I had, relative to the conditions necessary for the +validity of a sacrament. The bishop of Hippo is indeed right in what he +said. A sacrament depends on the form; its virtue is in its form; its vice +is in its form. Listen, confessors and pontiffs, to my woeful story. I was +a priest in Rome under the rule of the Emperor Gordianus. Without desiring +to recommend myself to you for any special merit, I may say that I +exercised my priesthood with piety and zeal. For forty years I served the +church of St. Modestus-beyond-the-Walls. My habits were regular. Every +Saturday I went to a tavern-keeper called Barjas, who dwelt with his +wine-jars under the Porta Capena, and from him I bought the wine that I +consecrated daily throughout the week. During that long space of time I +never failed for a single morning to consecrate the holy sacrifice of the +mass. However, I had no joy, and it was with a heart oppressed by sorrow +that, on the steps of the altar I used to ask, ‘Why art thou so heavy, O +my soul, and why art thou so disquieted within me?’ The faithful whom I +invited to the holy table gave me cause for affliction, for having, so to +speak, the Host that I administered still upon their tongues, they fell +again into sin just as if the sacrament had been without power or +efficacy. At last I reached the end of my earthly trials, and failing +asleep in the Lord, I awoke in this abode of the elect. I learned then +from the mouth of the angel who brought me here, that Barjas, the +tavern-keeper of the Porta Capena, had sold for wine a decoction of roots +and barks in which there was not a single drop of the juice of the grape. +I had been unable to transmute this vile brew into blood, for it was not +wine, and wine alone is changed into the blood of Jesus Christ. Therefore +all my consecrations were invalid, and unknown to us, my faithful and +myself had for forty years been deprived of the sacrament and were in fact +in a state of excommunication. This revelation threw me into a stupor +which overwhelms me even to-day in this abode of bliss. I go all through +Paradise without ever meeting a single one of those Christians whom +formerly I admitted to the holy table in the basilica of the blessed +Modestus. Deprived of the bread of angels, they easily gave way to the +most abominable vices, and they have all gone to hell. It gives me some +satisfaction to think that Barjas, the tavern-keeper, is damned. There is +in these things a logic worthy of the author of all logic. Nevertheless my +unhappy example proves that it is sometimes inconvenient that form should +prevail over essence in the sacraments, and I humbly ask, Could not, +eternal wisdom remedy this?” +</p> + +<p> +“No,” answered the Lord. “The remedy would be worse than the disease. It +would be the ruin of the priesthood if essence prevailed over form in the +laws of salvation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas! Lord,” sighed the humble Probus. “Be persuaded by my humble +experience; as long as you reduce your sacraments to formulas your justice +will meet with terrible obstacles.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know that better than you do,” replied the Lord. “I see in a single +glance both the actual problems which are difficult, and the future +problems which will not be less difficult. Thus I can foretell that when +the sun will have turned round the earth two hundred and forty times more. +</p> + +<p> +“Sublime language,” exclaimed the angels. +</p> + +<p> +“And worthy of the creator of the world,” answered the pontiffs. +</p> + +<p> +“It is,” resumed the Lord, “a manner of speaking in accordance with my old +cosmogony and one which I cannot give up without losing my immutability. . +. . +</p> + +<p> +“After the sun, then, will have turned another two hundred and forty +times round the earth, there will not be a single cleric left in Rome who knows +Latin. When they sing their litanies in the churches people will invoke +Orichel, Roguel, and Totichel, and, as you know, these are devils and not +angels. Many robbers desiring to make their communions, but fearing that before +obtaining pardon they would be forced to give up the things they had robbed to +the Church, will make their confessions to travelling priests, who, ignorant of +both Italian and Latin, and only speaking the <i>patois</i> of their village, +will go through cities and towns selling the remission of sins for a base +price, often for a bottle of wine. Probably we shall not be inconvenienced by +those absolutions as they will want contrition to make them valid, but it may +be that their baptisms will cause us some embarrassment. The priests will +become so ignorant that they will baptize children <i>in nomine patria et filia +et spirita sancta</i>, as Louis de Potter will take a pleasure in relating in +the third volume of his ‘Philosophical, Political, and Critical History +of Christianity.’ It will be an arduous question to decide on the +validity of such baptisms; for even if in my sacred writings I tolerate a Greek +less elegant than Plato’s and a scarcely Ciceronian Latin, I cannot +possibly admit a piece of pure <i>patois</i> as a liturgical formula. And one +shudders when one thinks that millions of new-born babes will be baptized by +this method. But let us return to our penguins.” +</p> + +<p> +“Your divine words, Lord, have already led us back to them,” said St. Gal. +“In the signs of religion and the laws of salvation form necessarily +prevails over essence, and the validity of a sacrament solely depends upon +its form. The whole question is whether the penguins have been baptized +with the proper forms. Now there is no doubt about the answer.” +</p> + +<p> +The fathers and the doctors agreed, and their perplexity became only the +more cruel. +</p> + +<p> +“The Christian state,” said St. Cornelius, “is not without serious +inconveniences for a penguin. In it the birds are obliged to work out +their own salvation. How can they succeed? The habits of birds are, in +many points, contrary to the commandments of the Church, and the penguins +have no reason for changing theirs. I mean that they are not intelligent +enough to give up their present habits and assume better.” +</p> + +<p> +“They cannot,” said the Lord; “my decrees prevent them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Nevertheless,” resumed St. Cornelius, “in virtue of their baptism their +actions no longer remain indifferent. Henceforth they will be good or bad, +susceptible of merit or of demerit.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is precisely the question we have to deal with,” said the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +“I see only one solution,” said St. Augustine. “The penguins will go to +hell.” +</p> + +<p> +“But they have no soul,” observed St. Irenaeus. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a pity,” sighed Tertullian. +</p> + +<p> +“It is indeed,” resumed St. Gal. “And I admit that my disciple, the holy +Maël, has, in his blind zeal, created great theological difficulties for +the Holy Spirit and introduced disorder into the economy of mysteries.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is an old blunderer,” cried St. Adjutor of Alsace, shrugging his +shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +But the Lord cast a reproachful look on Adjutor. +</p> + +<p> +“Allow me to speak,” said he; “the holy Maël has not intuitive knowledge +like you, my blessed ones. He does not see me. He is an old man burdened +by infirmities; he is half deaf and three parts blind. You are too severe +on him. However, I recognise that the situation is an embarrassing one.” +</p> + +<p> +“Luckily it is but a passing disorder,” said St. Irenaeus. “The penguins +are baptized, but their eggs are not, and the evil will stop with the +present generation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not speak thus, Irenaeus my son,” said the Lord. “There are exceptions +to the laws that men of science lay down on the earth because they are +imperfect and have not an exact application to nature. But the laws that I +establish are perfect and suffer no exception. We must decide the fate of +the baptized penguins without violating any divine law, and in a manner +conformable to the decalogue as well as to the commandments of my Church.” +</p> + +<p> +“Lord,” said St. Gregory Nazianzen, “give them an immortal soul.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas! Lord, what would they do with it,” sighed Lactantius. “They have +not tuneful voices to sing your praises. They would not be able to +celebrate your mysteries.” +</p> + +<p> +“Without doubt,” said St. Augustine, “they would not observe the divine +law.” +</p> + +<p> +“They could not,” said the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +“They could not,” continued St. Augustine. “And if, Lord, in your wisdom, +you pour an immortal soul into them, they will burn eternally in hell in +virtue of your adorable decrees. Thus will the transcendent order, that +this old Welshman has disturbed, be re-established.” +</p> + +<p> +“You propose a correct solution to me, son of Monica,” said the Lord, “and +one that accords with my wisdom. But it does not satisfy my mercy. And, +although in my essence I am immutable, the longer I endure, the more I +incline to mildness. This change of character is evident to anyone who +reads my two Testaments.” +</p> + +<p> +As the discussion continued without much light being thrown upon the +matter and as the blessed showed a disposition to keep repeating the same +thing, it was decided to consult St. Catherine of Alexandria. This is what +was usually done in such cases. St. Catherine while on earth had +confounded fifty very learned doctors. She knew Plato’s philosophy in +addition to the Holy Scriptures, and she also possessed a knowledge of +rhetoric. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"></a> +VII. AN ASSEMBLY IN PARADISE<br /> +(<i>Continuation and End</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +St. Catherine entered the assembly, her head encircled by a crown of +emeralds, sapphires, and pearls, and she was clad in a robe of cloth of +gold. She carried at her side a blazing wheel, the image of the one whose +fragments had struck her persecutors. +</p> + +<p> +The Lord having invited her to speak, she expressed herself in these +terms: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, in order to solve the problem you deign to submit to me I shall not +study the habits of animals in general nor those of birds in particular. I +shall only remark to the doctors, confessors, and pontiffs gathered in +this assembly that the separation between man and animal is not complete +since there are monsters who proceed from both. Such are chimeras—half +nymphs and half serpents; such are the three Gorgons and the Capripeds; +such are the Scyllas and the Sirens who sing in the sea. These have a +woman’s breast and a fish’s tail. Such also are the Centaurs, men down to +the waist and the remainder horses. They are a noble race of monsters. One +of them, as you know, was able, guided by the light of reason alone, to +direct his steps towards eternal blessedness, and you sometimes see his +heroic bosom prancing on the clouds. Chiron, the Centaur, deserved for his +works on the earth to share the abode of the blessed; he it was who gave +Achilles his education; and that young hero, when he left the Centaur’s +hands, lived for two years, dressed as a young girl, among the daughters +of King Lycomedes. He shared their games and their bed without allowing +any suspicion to arise that he was not a young virgin like them. Chiron, +who taught him such good morals, is, with the Emperor Trajan, the only +righteous man who obtained celestial glory by following the law of nature. +And yet he was but half human. +</p> + +<p> +“I think I have proved by this example that, to reach eternal blessedness, +it is enough to possess some parts of humanity, always on the condition +that they are noble. And what Chiron, the Centaur, could obtain without +having been regenerated by baptism, would not the penguins deserve too, if +they became half penguins and half men? That is why, Lord, I entreat you +to give old Maël’s penguins a human head and breast so that they can +praise you worthily. And grant them also an immortal soul—but one of +small size.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus Catherine spoke, and the fathers, doctors, confessors, and pontiffs +heard her with a murmur of approbation. +</p> + +<p> +But St. Anthony, the Hermit, arose and stretching two red and knotty arms +towards the Most High: +</p> + +<p> +“Do not so, O Lord God,” he cried, “in the name of your holy Paraclete, do +not so!” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke with such vehemence that his long white beard shook on his chin +like the empty nose-bag of a hungry horse. +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, do not so. Birds with human heads exist already. St. Catherine has +told us nothing new.” +</p> + +<p> +“The imagination groups and compares; it never creates,” replied St. +Catherine drily. +</p> + +<p> +“They exist already,” continued St. Antony, who would listen to nothing. +“They are called harpies, and they are the most obscene animals in +creation. One day as I was having supper in the desert with the Abbot St. +Paul, I placed the table outside my cabin under an old sycamore tree. The +harpies came and sat in its branches; they deafened us with their shrill +cries and cast their excrement over all our food. The clamour of the +monsters prevented me from listening to the teaching of the Abbot St. +Paul, and we ate birds’ dung with our bread and lettuces. Lord, it is +impossible to believe that harpies could give thee worthy praise. +</p> + +<p> +“Truly in my temptations I have seen many hybrid beings, not only +women-serpents and women-fishes, but beings still more confusedly formed +such as men whose bodies were made out of a pot, a bell, a clock, a +cupboard full of food and crockery, or even out of a house with doors and +windows through which people engaged in their domestic tasks could be +seen. Eternity would not suffice were I to describe all the monsters that +assailed me in my solitude, from whales rigged like ships to a shower of +red insects which changed the water of my fountain into blood. But none +were as disgusting as the harpies whose offal polluted the leaves of my +sycamore.” +</p> + +<p> +“Harpies,” observed Lactantius, “are female Monsters with birds’ bodies. +They have a woman’s head and breast. Their forwardness, their +shamelessness, and their obscenity proceed from their female nature as the +poet Virgil demonstrated in his ‘Æneid.’ They share the curse of Eve.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let us not speak of the curse of Eve,” said the Lord. “The second Eve has +redeemed the first.” +</p> + +<p> +Paul Orosius, the author of a universal history that Bossuet was to +imitate in later years, arose and prayed to the Lord: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord, hear my prayer and Anthony’s. Do not make any more monsters like +the Centaurs, Sirens, and Fauns, whom the Greeks, those collectors of +fables, loved. You will derive no satisfaction from them. Those species of +monsters have pagan inclinations and their double nature does not dispose +them to purity of morals.” +</p> + +<p> +The bland Lactantius replied in these terms: +</p> + +<p> +“He who has just spoken is assuredly the best historian in Paradise, for +Herodotus, Thucydides, Polybius, Livy, Velleius Paterculus, Cornelius +Nepos, Suetonius, Manetho, Diodorus Siculus, Dion Cassius, and Lampridius +are deprived of the sight of God, and Tacitus suffers in hell the torments +that are reserved for blasphemers. But Paul Orosius does not know heaven +as well as he knows the earth, for he does not seem to bear in mind that +the angels, who proceed from man and bird, are purity itself.” +</p> + +<p> +“We are wandering,” said the Eternal. “What have we to do with all those +centaurs, harpies, and angels? We have to deal with penguins.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have spoken to the point, Lord,” said the chief of the fifty doctors, +who, during their mortal life had been confounded by the Virgin of +Alexandria, “and I dare express the opinion that, in order to put an end +to the scandal by which heaven is now stirred, old Maël’s penguins should, +as St. Catherine who confounded us has proposed, be given half of a human +body with an eternal soul proportioned to that half.” +</p> + +<p> +At this speech there arose in the assembly a great noise of private +conversations and disputes of the doctors. The Greek fathers argued with +the Latins concerning the substance, nature, and dimensions of the soul +that should be given to the penguins. +</p> + +<p> +“Confessors and pontiffs,” exclaimed the Lord, “do not imitate the +conclaves and synods of the earth. And do not bring into the Church +Triumphant those violences that trouble the Church Militant. For it is but +too true that in all the councils held under the inspiration of my spirit, +in Europe, in Asia, and in Africa, fathers have torn the beards and +scratched the eyes of other fathers. Nevertheless they were infallible, +for I was with them.” +</p> + +<p> +Order being restored, old Hermas arose and slowly uttered these words: +</p> + +<p> +“I will praise you, Lord, for that you caused my mother, Saphira, to be +born amidst your people, in the days when the dew of heaven refreshed the +earth which was in travail with its Saviour. And will praise you, Lord, +for having granted to me to see with my mortal eyes the Apostles of your +divine Son. And I will speak in this illustrious assembly because you have +willed that truth should proceed out of the mouths of the humble, and I +will say: ‘Change these penguins to men. It is the only determination +conformable to your justice and your mercy.’” +</p> + +<p> +Several doctors asked permission to speak, others began to do so. No one +listened, and all the confessors were tumultuously shaking their palms and +their crowns. +</p> + +<p> +The Lord, by a gesture of his right hand, appeased the quarrels of his +elect. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us not deliberate any longer,” said he. “The opinion broached by +gentle old Hermas is the only one conformable to my eternal designs. These +birds will be changed into men. I foresee in this several disadvantages. +Many of those men will commit sins they would not have committed as +penguins. Truly their fate through this change will be far less enviable +than if they had been without this baptism and this incorporation into the +family of Abraham. But my foreknowledge must not encroach upon their free +will. +</p> + +<p> +“In order not to impair human liberty, I will be ignorant of what I know, +I will thicken upon my eyes the veils I have pierced, and in my blind +clearsightedness I will let myself be surprised by what I have foreseen.” +</p> + +<p> +And immediately calling the archangel Raphael: +</p> + +<p> +“Go and find the holy Maël,” said he to him; “inform him of his mistake +and tell him, armed with my Name, to change these penguins into men.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"></a> +VIII. METAMORPHOSIS OF THE PENGUINS +</h2> + +<p> +The archangel, having gone down into the Island of the Penguins, found the +holy man asleep in the hollow of a rock surrounded by his new disciples. +He laid his hand on his shoulder and, having waked him, said in a gentle +voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Maël, fear not!” +</p> + +<p> +The holy man, dazzled by a vivid light, inebriated by a delicious odour, +recognised the angel of the Lord, and prostrated himself with his forehead +on the ground. +</p> + +<p> +The angel continued: +</p> + +<p> +“Maël, know thy error, believing that thou wert baptizing children of Adam +thou hast baptized birds; and it is, through thee that penguins have +entered into the Church of God.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words the old man remained stupefied. +</p> + +<p> +And the angel resumed: +</p> + +<p> +“Arise, Maël, arm thyself with the mighty Name of the Lord, and say to +these birds, ‘Be ye men!’” +</p> + +<p> +And the holy Maël, having wept and prayed, armed himself with the mighty +Name of the Lord and said to the birds: +</p> + +<p> +“Be ye men!” +</p> + +<p> +Immediately the penguins were transformed. Their foreheads enlarged and +their heads grew round like the dome of St. Maria Rotunda in Rome. Their +oval eyes opened more widely on the universe; a fleshy nose clothed the +two clefts of their nostrils; their beaks were changed into mouths, and +from their mouths went forth speech; their necks grew short and thick; +their wings became arms and their claws legs; a restless soul dwelt within +the breast of each of them. +</p> + +<p> +However, there remained with them some traces of their first nature. They +were inclined to look sideways; they balanced themselves on their short +thighs; their bodies were covered with fine down. +</p> + +<p> +And Maël gave thanks to the Lord, because he had incorporated these +penguins into the family of Abraham. +</p> + +<p> +But he grieved at the thought that he would soon leave the island to come +back no more, and that perhaps when he was far away the faith of the +penguins would perish for want of care like a young and tender plant. +</p> + +<p> +And he formed the idea of transporting their island to the coasts of +Armorica. +</p> + +<p> +“I know not the designs of eternal Wisdom,” said he to himself. “But if +God wills that this island be transported, who could prevent it?” +</p> + +<p> +And the holy man made a very fine cord about forty feet long out of the +flax of his stole. He fastened one end of the cord round a point of rock +that jutted up through the sand of the shore and, holding the other end of +the cord in his hand, he entered the stone trough. +</p> + +<p> +The trough glided over the sea and towed Penguin Island behind it; after +nine days’ sailing it approached the Breton coast, bringing the island +with it. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"></a> +BOOK II. THE ANCIENT TIMES +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"></a> +I. THE FIRST CLOTHES +</h2> + +<p> +One day St. Maël was sitting by the seashore on a warm stone that he +found. He thought it had been warmed by the sun and he gave thanks to God +for it, not knowing that the Devil had been resting on it. The apostle was +waiting for the monks of Yvern who had been commissioned to bring a +freight of skins and fabrics to clothe the inhabitants of the island of +Alca. +</p> + +<p> +Soon he saw a monk called Magis coming ashore and carrying a chest upon +his back. This monk enjoyed a great reputation for holiness. +</p> + +<p> +When he had drawn near to the old man he laid the chest on the ground and +wiping his forehead with the back of his sleeve, he said: +</p> + +<p> +“Well, father, you wish then to clothe these penguins?” +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing is more needful, my son,” said the old man. “Since they have been +incorporated into the family of Abraham these penguins share the curse of +Eve, and they know that they are naked, a thing of which they were +ignorant before. And it is high time to clothe them, for they are losing +the down that remained on them after their metamorphosis.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is true,” said Magis as he cast his eyes over the coast where the +penguins were to be seen looking for shrimps, gathering mussels, singing, +or sleeping, “they are naked. But do you not think, father, that it would +be better to leave them naked? Why clothe them? When they wear clothes and +are under the moral law they will assume an immense pride, a vile +hypocrisy, and an excessive cruelty.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is it possible, my son,” sighed the old man, “that you +understand so badly the effects of the moral law to which even the heathen +submit?” +</p> + +<p> +“The moral law,” answered Magis, “forces men who are beasts +to live otherwise than beasts, a thing that doubtless puts a constraint upon +them, but that also flatters and reassures them; and as they are proud, +cowardly, and covetous of pleasure, they willingly submit to restraints that +tickle their vanity and on which they found both their present security and the +hope of their future happiness. That is the principle of all morality. . . . +But let us not mislead ourselves. My companions are unloading their cargo of +stuffs and skins on the island. Think, father, while there is still time! To +clothe the penguins is a very serious business. At present when a penguin +desires a penguin he knows precisely what he desires and his lust is limited by +an exact knowledge of its object. At this moment two or three couples of +penguins are making love on the beach. See with what simplicity! No one pays +any attention and the actors themselves do not seem to be greatly preoccupied. +But when the female penguins are clothed, the male penguin will not form so +exact a notion of what it is that attracts him to them. His indeterminate +desires will fly out into all sorts of dreams and illusions; in short, father, +he will know love and its mad torments. And all the time the female penguins +will cast down their eyes and bite their lips, and take on airs as if they kept +a treasure under their clothes! . . . what a pity! +</p> + +<p> +“The evil will be endurable as long as these people remain rude and poor; +but only wait for a thousand years and you will see, father, with what +powerful weapons you have endowed the daughters of Alca. If you will allow +me, I can give you some idea of it beforehand. I have some old clothes in +this chest. Let us take at hazard one of these female penguins to whom the +male penguins give such little thought, and let us dress her as well as we +can. +</p> + +<p> +“Here is one coming towards us. She is neither more beautiful nor uglier +than the others; she is young. No one looks at her. She strolls indolently +along the shore, scratching her back and with her finger at her nose as +she walks. You cannot help seeing, father, that she has narrow shoulders, +clumsy breasts, a stout figure, and short legs. Her reddish knees pucker +at every step she takes, and there is, at each of her joints, what looks +like a little monkey’s head. Her broad and sinewy feet cling to the rock +with their four crooked toes, while the great toes stick up like the heads +of two cunning serpents. She begins to walk, all her muscles are engaged +in the task, and, when we see them working, we think of her as a machine +intended for walking rather than as a machine intended for making love, +although visibly she is both, and contains within herself several other +pieces of machinery, besides. Well, venerable apostle, you will see what I +am going to make of her.” +</p> + +<p> +With these words the monk, Magis, reached the female penguin in three +bounds, lifted her up, carried her in his arms with her hair trailing +behind her, and threw her, overcome with fright, at the feet of the holy +Maël. +</p> + +<p> +And whilst she wept and begged him to do her no harm, he took a pair of +sandals out of his chest and commanded her to put them on. +</p> + +<p> +“Her feet,” observed the old man, “will appear smaller when squeezed in by +the woollen cords. The soles, being two fingers high, will give an elegant +length to her legs and the weight they bear will seem magnified.” +</p> + +<p> +As the penguin tied on her sandals she threw a curious look towards the +open coffer, and seeing that it was full of jewels and finery, she smiled +through her tears. +</p> + +<p> +The monk twisted her hair on the back of her head and covered it with a +chaplet of flowers. He encircled her wrist with golden bracelets and +making her stand upright, he passed a large linen band beneath her +breasts, alleging that her bosom would thereby derive a new dignity and +that her sides would be compressed to the greater glory of her hips. +</p> + +<p> +He fixed this band with pins, taking them one by one out of his mouth. +</p> + +<p> +“You can tighten it still more,” said the penguin. +</p> + +<p> +When he had, with much care and study, enclosed the soft parts of her bust +in this way, he covered her whole body with a rose-coloured tunic which +gently followed the lines of her figure. +</p> + +<p> +“Does it hang well?” asked the penguin. +</p> + +<p> +And bending forward with her head on one side and her chin on her +shoulder, she kept looking attentively at the appearance of her toilet. +</p> + +<p> +Magis asked her if she did not think the dress a little long, but she +answered with assurance that it was not—she would hold it up. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately, taking the back of her skirt in her left hand, she drew it +obliquely across her hips, taking care to disclose a glimpse of her heels. +Then she went away, walking with short steps and swinging her hips. +</p> + +<p> +She did not turn her head, but as she passed near a stream she glanced out +of the corner of her eye at her own reflection. +</p> + +<p> +A male penguin, who met her by chance, stopped in surprise, and retracing +his steps began to follow her. As she went along the shore, others coming +back from fishing, went up to her, and after looking at her, walked behind +her. Those who were lying on the sand got up and joined the rest. +</p> + +<p> +Unceasingly, as she advanced, fresh penguins, descending from the paths of +the mountain, coming out of clefts of the rocks, and emerging from the +water, added to the size of her retinue. +</p> + +<p> +And all of them, men of ripe age with vigorous shoulders and hairy +breasts, agile youths, old men shaking the multitudinous wrinkles of their +rosy, and white-haired skins, or dragging their legs thinner and drier +than the juniper staff that served them as a third leg, hurried on, +panting and emitting an acrid odour and hoarse gasps. Yet she went on +peacefully and seemed to see nothing. +</p> + +<p> +“Father,” cried Magis, “notice how each one advances with his nose pointed +towards the centre of gravity of that young damsel now that the centre is +covered by a garment. The sphere inspires the meditations of geometers by +the number of its properties. When it proceeds from a physical and living +nature it acquires new qualities, and in order that the interest of that +figure might be fully revealed to the penguins it was necessary that, +ceasing to see it distinctly with their eyes, they should be led to +represent it to themselves in their minds. I myself feel at this moment +irresistibly attracted towards that penguin. Whether it be because her +skirt gives more importance to her hips, and that in its simple +magnificence it invests them with a synthetic and general character and +allows only the pure idea, the divine principle, of them to be seen, +whether this be the cause I cannot say, but I feel that if I embraced her +I would hold in my hands the heaven of human pleasure. It is certain that +modesty communicates an invincible attraction to women. My uneasiness is +so great that it would be vain for me to try to conceal it.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke, and, gathering up his habit, he rushed among the crowd of +penguins, pushing, jostling, trampling, and crushing, until he reached the +daughter of Alca, whom he seized and suddenly carried in his arms into a +cave that had been hollowed out by the sea. +</p> + +<p> +Then the penguins felt as if the sun had gone out. And the holy Maël knew +that the Devil had taken the features of the monk, Magis, in order that he +might give clothes to the daughter of Alca. He was troubled in spirit, and +his soul was sad. As with slow steps he went towards his hermitage he saw +the little penguins of six and seven years of age tightening their waists +with belts made of sea-weed and walking along the shore to see if anybody +would follow them. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"></a> +II. THE FIRST CLOTHES<br /> +(<i>Continuation and End</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +The holy Maël felt a profound sadness that the first clothes put upon a +daughter of Alca should have betrayed the penguin modesty instead of +helping it. He persisted, none the less, in his design of giving clothes +to the inhabitants of the miraculous island. Assembling them on the shore, +he distributed to them the garments that the monks of Yvern had brought. +The male penguins received short tunics and breeches, the female penguins +long robes. But these robes were far from creating the effect that the +former one had produced. They were not so beautiful, their shape was +uncouth and without art, and no attention was paid to them since every +woman bad one. As they prepared the meals and worked in the fields they +soon had nothing but slovenly bodices and soiled petticoats. +</p> + +<p> +The male penguins loaded their unfortunate consorts with work until they +looked like beasts of burden. They knew nothing of the troubles of the +heart and the disorders of passion. Their habits were innocent. Incest, +though frequent, was a sign of rustic simplicity and if drunkenness led a +youth to commit some such crime he thought nothing more about it the day +afterwards. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0013" id="link2H_4_0013"></a> +III. SETTING BOUNDS TO THE FIELDS AND THE ORIGIN OF PROPERTY +</h2> + +<p> +The island did not preserve the rugged appearance that it had formerly, +when, in the midst of floating icebergs it sheltered a population of birds +within its rocky amphitheatre. Its snow-clad peak had sunk down into a +hill from the summit of which one could see the coasts of Armorica +eternally covered with mist, and the ocean strewn with sullen reefs like +monsters half raised out of its depths. +</p> + +<p> +Its coasts were now very extensive and clearly defined and its shape +reminded one of a mulberry leaf. It was suddenly covered with coarse +grass, pleasing to the flocks, and with willows, ancient figtrees, and +mighty oaks. This fact is attested by the Venerable Bede and several other +authors worthy of credence. +</p> + +<p> +To the north the shore formed a deep bay that in after years became one of +the most famous ports in the universe. To the east, along a rocky coast +beaten by a foaming sea, there stretched a deserted and fragrant heath. It +was the Beach of Shadows, and the inhabitants of the island never ventured +on it for fear of the serpents that lodged in the hollows of the rocks and +lest they might encounter the souls of the dead who resembled livid +flames. To the south, orchards and woods bounded the languid Bay of +Divers. On this fortunate shore old Maël built a wooden church and a +monastery. To the west, two streams, the Clange and the Surelle, watered +the fertile valleys of Dalles and Dombes. +</p> + +<p> +Now one autumn morning, as the blessed Maël was walking in the valley of +Clange in company with a monk of Yvern called Bulloch, he saw bands of +fierce-looking men loaded with stones passing along the roads. At the same +time he heard in all directions cries and complaints mounting up from the +valley towards the tranquil sky. +</p> + +<p> +And he said to Bulloch: +</p> + +<p> +“I notice with sadness, my son, that since they became men the inhabitants +of this island act with less wisdom than formerly. When they were birds +they only quarrelled during the season of their love affairs. But now they +dispute all the time; they pick quarrels with each other in summer as well +as in winter. How greatly have they fallen from that peaceful majesty +which made the assembly of the penguins look like the Senate of a wise +republic! +</p> + +<p> +“Look towards Surelle, Bulloch, my son. In yonder pleasant valley a dozen +men penguins are busy knocking each other down with the spades and picks +that they might employ better in tilling the ground. The women, still more +cruel than the men, are tearing their opponents’ faces with their nails. +Alas! Bulloch, my son, why are they murdering each other in this way?” +</p> + +<p> +“From a spirit of fellowship, father, and through forethought for the +future,” answered Bulloch. “For man is essentially provident and sociable. +Such is his character and it is impossible to imagine it apart from a +certain appropriation of things. Those penguins whom you see are dividing +the ground among themselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Could they not divide it with less violence?” asked the aged man. “As +they fight they exchange invectives and threats. I do not distinguish +their words, but they are angry ones, judging from the tone.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are accusing one another of theft and encroachment,” answered +Bulloch. “That is the general sense of their speech.” +</p> + +<p> +At that moment the holy Maël clasped his hands and sighed deeply. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you see, my son,” he exclaimed, “that madman who with his teeth is +biting the nose of the adversary he has overthrown and that other one who +is pounding a woman’s head with a huge stone?” +</p> + +<p> +“I see them,” said Bulloch. “They are creating law; they are founding +property; they are establishing the principles of civilization, the basis +of society, and the foundations of the State.” +</p> + +<p> +“How is that?” asked old Maël. +</p> + +<p> +“By setting bounds to their fields. That is the origin of all government. +Your penguins, O Master, are performing the most august of functions. +Throughout the ages their work will be consecrated by lawyers, and +magistrates will confirm it.” +</p> + +<p> +Whilst the monk, Bulloch, was pronouncing these words a big penguin with a +fair skin and red hair went down into the valley carrying a trunk of a +tree upon his shoulder. He went up to a little penguin who was watering +his vegetables in the heat of the sun, and shouted to him: +</p> + +<p> +“Your field is mine!” +</p> + +<p> +And having delivered himself of this stout utterance he brought down his +club on the head of the little penguin, who fell dead upon the field that +his own hands had tilled. +</p> + +<p> +At this sight the holy Maël shuddered through his whole body and poured +forth a flood of tears. +</p> + +<p> +And in a voice stifled by horror and fear he addressed this prayer to +heaven: +</p> + +<p> +“O Lord, my God, O thou who didst receive young Abel’s sacrifices, thou +who didst curse Cain, avenge, O Lord, this innocent penguin sacrificed +upon his own field and make the murderer feel the weight of thy arm. Is +there a more odious crime, is there a graver offence against thy justice, +O Lord, than this murder and this robbery?” +</p> + +<p> +“Take care, father,” said Bulloch gently, “that what you call murder and +robbery may not really be war and conquest, those sacred foundations of +empires, those sources of all human virtues and all human greatness. +Reflect, above all, that in blaming the big penguin you are attacking +property in its origin and in its source. I shall have no trouble in +showing you how. To till the land is one thing, to possess it is another, +and these two things must not be confused; as regards ownership the right +of the first occupier is uncertain and badly founded. The right of +conquest, on the other hand, rests on more solid foundations. It is the +only right that receives respect since it is the only one that makes +itself respected. The sole and proud origin of property is force. It is +born and preserved by force. In that it is august and yields only to a +greater force. This is why it is correct to say that he who possesses is +noble. And that big red man, when he knocked down a labourer to get +possession of his field, founded at that moment a very noble house upon +this earth. I congratulate him upon it.” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken, Bulloch approached the big penguin, who was leaning +upon his club as he stood in the blood-stained furrow: +</p> + +<p> +“Lord Greatauk, dreaded Prince,” said he, bowing to the ground, +“I come to pay you the homage due to the founder of legitimate power and +hereditary wealth. The skull of the vile Penguin you have overthrown will, +buried in your field, attest for ever the sacred rights of your posterity over +this soil that you have ennobled. Blessed be your sons and your sons’ +sons! They shall be Greatauks, Dukes of Skull, and they shall rule over this +island of Alca.” +</p> + +<p> +Then raising his voice and turning towards the holy Maël: +</p> + +<p> +“Bless Greatauk, father, for all power comes from God.” +</p> + +<p> +Maël remained silent and motionless, with his eyes raised towards heaven; +he felt a painful uncertainty in judging the monk Bulloch’s doctrine. It +was, however, the doctrine destined to prevail in epochs of advanced +civilization. Bulloch can be considered as the creator of civil law in +Penguinia. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"></a> +IV. THE FIRST ASSEMBLY OF THE ESTATES OF PENGUINIA +</h2> + +<p> +“Bulloch, my son,” said old Maël, “we ought to make a census of the +Penguins and inscribe each of their names in a book.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is a most urgent matter,” answered Bulloch, “there can be no good +government without it.” +</p> + +<p> +Forthwith, the apostle, with the help of twelve monks, proceeded to make a +census of the people. +</p> + +<p> +And old Maël then said: +</p> + +<p> +“Now that we keep a register of all the inhabitants, we ought, Bulloch, my +son, to levy a just tax so as to provide for public expenses and the +maintenance of the Abbey. Each ought to contribute according to his means. +For this reason, my son, call together the Elders of Alca, and in +agreement with them we shall establish the tax.” +</p> + +<p> +The Elders, being called together, assembled to the number of thirty under +the great sycamore in the courtyard of the wooden monastery. They were the +first Estates of Penguinia. Three-fourths of them were substantial +peasants of Surelle and Clange. Greatauk, as the noblest of the Penguins, +sat upon the highest stone. +</p> + +<p> +The venerable Maël took his place in the midst of his monks and uttered +these words: +</p> + +<p> +“Children, the Lord when he pleases grants riches to men and he takes them +away from them. Now I have called you together to levy contributions from +the people so as to provide for public expenses and the maintenance of the +monks. I consider that these contributions ought to be in proportion to +the wealth of each. Therefore he who has a hundred oxen will give ten; he +who has ten will give one.” +</p> + +<p> +When the holy man had spoken, Morio, a labourer at Anis-on-the-Clange, one +of the richest of the Penguins, rose up and said: +</p> + +<p> +“O Father Maël, I think it right that each should contribute to the +public expenses and to the support of the Church. For my part I am ready to +give up all that I possess in the interest of my brother Penguins, and if it +were necessary I would even cheerfully part with my shirt. All the elders of +the people are ready, like me, to sacrifice their goods, and no one can doubt +their absolute devotion to their country and their creed. We have, then, only +to consider the public interest and to do what it requires. Now, Father, what +it requires, what it demands, is not to ask much from those who possess much, +for then the rich would be less rich and the poor still poorer. The poor live +on the wealth of the rich and that is the reason why that wealth is sacred. Do +not touch it, to do so would be an uncalled for evil. You will get no great +profit by taking from the rich, for they are very few in number; on the +contrary you will strip yourself of all your resources and plunge the country +into misery. Whereas if you ask a little from each inhabitant without regard to +his wealth, you will collect enough for the public necessities and you will +have no need to enquire into each citizen’s resources, a thing that would +be regarded by all as a most vexatious measure. By taxing all equally and +easily you will spare the poor, for you will leave them the wealth of the rich. +And how could you possibly proportion taxes to wealth? Yesterday I had two +hundred oxen, to-day I have sixty, to-morrow I shall have a hundred. Clunic has +three cows, but they are thin; Nicclu has only two, but they are fat. Which is +the richer, Clunic or Nicclu? The signs of opulence are deceitful. What is +certain is that everyone eats and drinks. Tax people according to what they +consume. That would be wisdom and it would be justice.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus spoke Morio amid the applause of the Elders. +</p> + +<p> +“I ask that this speech be graven on bronze,” cried the monk, Bulloch. “It +is spoken for the future; in fifteen hundred years the best of the +Penguins will not speak otherwise.” +</p> + +<p> +The Elders were still applauding when Greatauk, his hand on the pommel of +his sword, made this brief declaration: +</p> + +<p> +“Being noble, I shall not contribute; for to contribute is ignoble. It is +for the rabble to pay.” +</p> + +<p> +After this warning the Elders separated in silence. +</p> + +<p> +As in Rome, a new census was taken every five years; and by this means it +was observed that the population increased rapidly. Although children died +in marvellous abundance and plagues and famines came with perfect +regularity to devastate entire villages, new Penguins, in continually +greater numbers, contributed by their private misery to the public +prosperity. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0015" id="link2H_4_0015"></a> +V. THE MARRIAGE OF KRAKEN AND ORBEROSIA +</h2> + +<p> +During these times there lived in the island of Alca a Penguin whose arm was +strong and whose mind was subtle. He was called Kraken, and had his dwelling on +the Beach of Shadows whither the inhabitants never ventured for fear of +serpents that lodged in the hollows of the rocks and lest they might encounter +the souls of Penguins that had died without baptism. These, in appearance like +livid flames, and uttering doleful groans, wandered night and day along the +deserted beach. For it was generally believed, though without proof, that among +the Penguins that had been changed into men at the blessed Maël’s prayer, +several had not received baptism and returned after their death to lament amid +the tempests. Kraken dwelt on this savage coast in an inaccessible cavern. The +only way to it was through a natural tunnel a hundred feet long, the entrance +of which was concealed by a thick wood. One evening as Kraken was walking +through this deserted plain he happened to meet a young and charming woman +Penguin. She was the one that the monk Magis had clothed with his own hands and +thus was the first to have worn the garments of chastity. In remembrance of the +day when the astonished crowd of Penguins had seen her moving gloriously in her +robe tinted like the dawn, this maiden had received the name of Orberosia.<a +href="#fn-1" name="fnref-1" id="fnref-1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-1" id="fn-1"></a> <a href="#fnref-1">[1]</a> +“Orb, poetically, a globe when speaking of the heavenly bodies. By +extension any species of globular body.”—<i>Littré</i> +</p> + +<p> +At the sight of Kraken she uttered a cry of alarm and darted forward to +escape from him. But the hero seized her by the garments that floated +behind her, and addressed her in these words: +</p> + +<p> +“Damsel, tell me thy name, thy family and thy country.” +</p> + +<p> +But Orberosia kept looking at Kraken with alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it you, I see, sir,” she asked him, trembling, “or is it not rather +your troubled spirit?” +</p> + +<p> +She spoke in this way because the inhabitants of Alca, having no news of +Kraken since he went to live on the Beach of Shadows, believed that he had +died and descended among the demons of night. +</p> + +<p> +“Cease to fear, daughter of Alca,” answered Kraken. “He who speaks to thee +is not a wandering spirit, but a man full of strength and might. I shall +soon possess great riches.” +</p> + +<p> +And young Orberosia asked: +</p> + +<p> +“How dost thou think of acquiring great riches, O Kraken, since thou art a +child of Penguins?” +</p> + +<p> +“By my intelligence,” answered Kraken. +</p> + +<p> +“I know,” said Orberosia, “that in the time that thou dwelt among us thou +wert renowned for thy skill in hunting and fishing. No one equalled thee +in taking fishes in a net or in piercing with thy arrows the swift-flying +birds.” +</p> + +<p> +“It was but a vulgar and laborious industry, O maiden. I have found a +means of gaining much wealth for myself without fatigue. But tell me who +thou art?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am called Orberosia,” answered the young girl. +</p> + +<p> +“Why art thou so far away from thy dwelling and in the night?” +</p> + +<p> +“Kraken, it was not without the will of Heaven.” +</p> + +<p> +“What meanest thou, Orberosia?” +</p> + +<p> +“That Heaven, O Kraken, placed me in thy path, for what reason I know +not.” +</p> + +<p> +Kraken beheld her for a long time in silence. +</p> + +<p> +Then he said with gentleness: +</p> + +<p> +“Orberosia, come into my house; it is that of the bravest and most +ingenious of the sons of the Penguins. If thou art willing to follow me, I +will make thee my companion.” +</p> + +<p> +Then casting down her eyes, she murmured: +</p> + +<p> +“I will follow thee, master.” +</p> + +<p> +It is thus that the fair Orberosia became the consort of the hero Kraken. +This marriage was not celebrated with songs and torches because Kraken did +not consent to show himself to the people of the Penguins; but hidden in +his cave he planned great designs. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0016" id="link2H_4_0016"></a> +VI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA +</h2> + +<p class="letter"> +“We afterwards went to visit the cabinet of natural history. . . . The +care-taker showed us a sort of packet bound in straw that he told us contained +the skeleton of a dragon; a proof, added he, that the dragon is not a fabulous +animal.”—<i>Memoirs of Jacques Casanova</i>, Paris, 1843. Vol. IV., +pp. 404, 405 +</p> + +<p> +In the meantime the inhabitants of Alca practised the labours of peace. Those +of the northern coast went in boats to fish or to search for shell-fish. The +labourers of Dombes cultivated oats, rye, and wheat. The rich Penguins of the +valley of Dalles reared domestic animals, while those of the Bay of Divers +cultivated their orchards. Merchants of Port-Alca carried on a trade in salt +fish with Armorica and the gold of the two Britains, which began to be +introduced into the island, facilitated exchange. The Penguin people were +enjoying the fruit of their labours in perfect tranquillity when suddenly a +sinister rumour ran from village to village. It was said everywhere that a +frightful dragon had ravaged two farms in the Bay of Divers. +</p> + +<p> +A few days before, the maiden Orberosia had disappeared. Her absence had +at first caused no uneasiness because on several occasions she had been +carried off by violent men who were consumed with love. And thoughtful +people were not astonished at this, reflecting that the maiden was the +most beautiful of the Penguins. It was even remarked that she sometimes +went to meet her ravishers, for none of us can escape his destiny. But +this time, as she did not return, it was feared that the dragon had +devoured her. The more so as the inhabitants of the valley of Dalles soon +knew that the dragon was not a fable told by the women around the +fountains. For one night the monster devoured out of the village of Anis +six hens, a sheep, and a young orphan child called little Elo. The next +morning nothing was to be found either of the animals or of the child. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately the Elders of the village assembled in the public place and +seated themselves on the stone bench to take counsel concerning what it +was expedient to do in these terrible circumstances. +</p> + +<p> +Having called all those Penguins who had seen the dragon during the +disastrous night, they asked them: +</p> + +<p> +“Have you not noticed his form and his behaviour?” +</p> + +<p> +And each answered in his turn: +</p> + +<p> +“He has the claws of a lion, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a +serpent.” +</p> + +<p> +“His back bristles with thorny crests.” +</p> + +<p> +“His whole body is covered with yellow scales.” +</p> + +<p> +“His look fascinates and confounds. He vomits flames.” +</p> + +<p> +“He poisons the air with his breath.” +</p> + +<p> +“He has the head of a dragon, the claws of a lion, and the tail of a +fish.” +</p> + +<p> +And a woman of Anis, who was regarded as intelligent and of sound judgment +and from whom the dragon had taken three hens, deposed as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“He is formed like a man. The proof is that I thought he was my husband, +and I said to him, ‘Come to bed, you old fool.’” +</p> + +<p> +Others said: +</p> + +<p> +“He is formed like a cloud.” +</p> + +<p> +“He looks like a mountain.” +</p> + +<p> +And a little child came and said: +</p> + +<p> +“I saw the dragon taking off his head in the barn so that he might give a +kiss to my sister Minnie.” +</p> + +<p> +And the Elders also asked the inhabitants: +</p> + +<p> +“How big is the dragon?” +</p> + +<p> +And it was answered: +</p> + +<p> +“As big as an ox.” +</p> + +<p> +“Like the big merchant ships of the Bretons.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is the height of a man.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is higher than the fig-tree under which you are sitting.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is as large as a dog.” +</p> + +<p> +Questioned finally on his colour, the inhabitants said: +</p> + +<p> +“Red.” +</p> + +<p> +“Green.” +</p> + +<p> +“Blue.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yellow.” +</p> + +<p> +“His head is bright green, his wings are brilliant orange tinged with +pink, his limbs are silver grey, his hind-quarters and his tail are +striped with brown and pink bands, his belly bright yellow spotted with +black.” +</p> + +<p> +“His colour? He has no colour.” +</p> + +<p> +“He is the colour of a dragon.” +</p> + +<p> +After hearing this evidence the Elders remained uncertain as to what +should be done. Some advised to watch for him, to surprise him and +overthrow him by a multitude of arrows. Others, thinking it vain to oppose +so powerful a monster by force, counselled that he should be appeased by +offerings. +</p> + +<p> +“Pay him tribute,” said one of them who passed for a wise man. “We can +render him propitious to us by giving him agreeable presents, fruits, +wine, lambs, a young virgin.” +</p> + +<p> +Others held for poisoning the fountains where he was accustomed to drink +or for smoking him out of his cavern. +</p> + +<p> +But none of these counsels prevailed. The dispute was lengthy and the +Elders dispersed without coming to any resolution. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0017" id="link2H_4_0017"></a> +VII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +During all the month dedicated by the Romans to their false god Mars or +Mavors, the dragon ravaged the farms of Dalles and Dombes. He carried off +fifty sheep, twelve pigs, and three young boys. Every family was in +mourning and the island was full of lamentations. In order to remove the +scourge, the Elders of the unfortunate villages watered by the Clange and +the Surelle resolved to assemble and together go and ask the help of the +blessed Maël. +</p> + +<p> +On the fifth day of the month whose name among the Latins signifies +opening, because it opens the year, they went in procession to the wooden +monastery that had been built on the southern coast of the island. When +they were introduced into the cloister they filled it with their sobs and +groans. Moved by their lamentations, old Maël left the room in which he +devoted himself to the study of astronomy and the meditation of the +Scriptures, and went down to them, leaning on his pastoral staff. At his +approach, the Elders, prostrating themselves, held out to him green +branches of trees and some of them burnt aromatic herbs. +</p> + +<p> +And the holy man, seating himself beside the cloistral fountain under an +ancient fig-tree, uttered these words: +</p> + +<p> +“O my sons, offspring of the Penguins, why do you weep and groan? Why do +you hold out those suppliant boughs towards me? Why do you raise towards +heaven the smoke of those herbs? What calamity do you expect that I can +avert from your heads? Why do you beseech me? I am ready to give my life +for you. Only tell your father what it is you hope from him.” +</p> + +<p> +To these questions the chief of the Elders answered: +</p> + +<p> +“O Maël, father of the sons of Alca, I will speak for all. A horrible +dragon is laying waste our lands, depopulating our cattle-sheds, and carrying +off the flower of our youth. He has devoured the child Elo and seven young +boys; he has mangled the maiden Orberosia, the fairest of the Penguins, with +his teeth. There is not a village in which he does not emit his poisoned breath +and which he has not filled with desolation. A prey to this terrible scourge, +we come, O Maël, to pray thee, as the wisest, to advise us concerning the +safety of the inhabitants of this island lest the ancient race of Penguins be +extinguished.” +</p> + +<p> +“O chief of the Elders of Alca,” replied Maël, “thy words fill me with +profound grief, and I groan at the thought that this island is the prey of +a terrible dragon. But such an occurrence is not unique, for we find in +books several tales of very fierce dragons. The monsters are oftenest +found in caverns, by the brinks of waters, and, in preference, among pagan +peoples. Perhaps there are some among you who, although they have received +holy baptism and been incorporated into the family of Abraham, have yet +worshipped idols, like the ancient Romans, or hung up images, votive +tablets, fillets of wool, and garlands of flowers on the branches of some +sacred tree. Or perhaps some of the women Penguins have danced round a +magic stone and drunk water from the fountains where the nymphs dwell. If +it be so, believe, O Penguins, that the Lord has sent this dragon to +punish all for the crimes of some, and to lead you, O children of the +Penguins, to exterminate blasphemy, superstition, and impiety from amongst +you. For this reason I advise, as a remedy against the great evil from +which you suffer, that you carefully search your dwellings for idolatry, +and extirpate it from them. I think it would be also efficacious to pray +and do penance.” +</p> + +<p> +Thus spoke the holy Maël. And the Elders of the Penguin people kissed his +feet and returned to their villages with renewed hope. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0018" id="link2H_4_0018"></a> +VIII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +Following the counsel of the holy Maël the inhabitants of Alca endeavoured +to uproot the superstitions that had sprung up amongst them. They took +care to prevent the girls from dancing with incantations round the fairy +tree. Young mothers were sternly forbidden to rub their children against +the stones that stood upright in the fields so as to make them strong. An +old man of Dombes who foretold the future by shaking grains of barley on a +sieve, was thrown into a well. +</p> + +<p> +However, each night the monster still raided the poultry-yards and the +cattle-sheds. The frightened peasants barricaded themselves in their +houses. A woman with child who saw the shadow of a dragon on the road +through a window in the moonlight, was so terrified that she was brought +to bed before her time. +</p> + +<p> +In those days of trial, the holy Maël meditated unceasingly on the nature of +dragons and the means of combating them. After six months of study and prayer +he thought he had found what he sought. One evening as he was walking by the +sea with a young monk called Samuel, he expressed his thought to him in these +terms: +</p> + +<p> +“I have studied at length the history and habits of dragons, not to +satisfy a vain curiosity, but to discover examples to follow in the +present circumstances. For such, Samuel, my son, is the use of history. +</p> + +<p> +“It is an invariable fact that dragons are extremely vigilant. They never +sleep, and for this reason we often find them employed in guarding +treasures. A dragon guarded at Colchis the golden fleece that Jason +conquered from him. A dragon watched over the golden apples in the garden +of the Hesperides. He was killed by Hercules and transformed into a star +by Juno. This fact is related in some books, and if it be true, it was +done by magic, for the gods of the pagans are in reality demons. A dragon +prevented barbarous and ignorant men from drinking at the fountain of +Castalia. We must also remember the dragon of Andromeda, which was slain +by Perseus. But let us turn from these pagan fables, in which error is +always mixed with truth. We meet dragons in the histories of the glorious +archangel Michael, of St. George, St. Philip, St. James the Great, St. +Patrick, St. Martha, and St. Margaret. And it is in such writings, since +they are worthy of full credence, that we ought to look for comfort and +counsel. +</p> + +<p> +“The story of the dragon of Silena affords us particularly precious +examples. You must know, my son, that on the banks of a vast pool close to that +town there dwelt a dragon who sometimes approached the walls and poisoned with +his breath all who dwelt in the suburbs. And that they might not be devoured by +the monster, the inhabitants of Silena delivered up to him one of their number +every morning. The victim was chosen by lot, and after a hundred others, the +lot fell upon the king’s daughter. +</p> + +<p> +“Now St. George, who was a military tribune, as he passed through the town +of Silena, learned that the king’s daughter had just been given to the +fierce beast. He immediately mounted his horse, and, armed with his lance, +rushed to encounter the dragon, whom he reached just as the monster was +about to devour the royal virgin. And when St. George had overthrown the +dragon, the king’s daughter fastened her girdle round the beast’s neck and +he followed her like a dog led on a leash. +</p> + +<p> +“That is an example for us of the power of virgins over dragons. The +history of St. Martha furnishes us with a still more certain proof. Do you +know the story, Samuel, my son?” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, father,” answered Samuel. +</p> + +<p> +And the blessed Maël went on: +</p> + +<p> +“There was in a forest on the banks of the Rhone, between Arles and +Avignon, a dragon half quadruped and half fish, larger than an ox, with sharp +teeth like horns and huge wings at his shoulders. He sank the boats and +devoured their passengers. Now St. Martha, at the entreaty of the people, +approached this dragon, whom she found devouring a man. She put her girdle +round his neck and led him easily into the town. +</p> + +<p> +“These two examples lead me to think that we should have recourse to the +power of some virgin so as to conquer the dragon who scatters terror and +death through the island of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +“For this reason, Samuel my son, gird up thy loins and go, I pray thee, +with two of thy companions, into all the villages of this island, and proclaim +everywhere that a virgin alone shall be able to deliver the island from the +monster that devastates it. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou shalt sing psalms and canticles and thou shalt say: +</p> + +<p> +“‘O sons of the Penguins, if there be among you a pure virgin, let her +arise and go, armed with the sign of the cross, to combat the dragon!’” +</p> + +<p> +Thus the old man spake, and Samuel promised to obey him. The next day he +girded up his loins and set out with two of his companions to proclaim to +the inhabitants of Alca that a virgin alone would be able to deliver the +Penguins from the rage of the dragon. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"></a> +IX. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +Orberosia loved her husband, but she did not love him alone. At the hour +when Venus lightens in the pale sky, whilst Kraken scattered terror +through the villages, she used to visit in his moving hut, a young +shepherd of Dalles called Marcel, whose pleasing form was invested with +inexhaustible vigour. The fair Orberosia shared the shepherd’s aromatic +couch with delight, but far from making herself known to him, she took the +name of Bridget, and said that she was the daughter of a gardener in the +Bay of Divers. When regretfully she left his arms she walked across the +smoking fields towards the Coast of Shadows, and if she happened to meet +some belated peasant she immediately spread out her garments like great +wings and cried: +</p> + +<p> +“Passer by, lower your eyes, that you may not have to say, ‘Alas! alas! +woe is me, for I have seen the angel of the Lord.’” +</p> + +<p> +The villagers tremblingly knelt with their faces to the round. And several +of them used to say that angels, whom it would be death to see, passed +along the roads of the island in the night time. +</p> + +<p> +Kraken did not know of the loves of Orberosia and Marcel, for he was a +hero, and heroes never discover the secrets of their wives. But though he +did not know of these loves, he reaped the benefit of them. Every night he +found his companion more good-humoured and more beautiful, exhaling +pleasure and perfuming the nuptial bed with a delicious odour of fennel +and vervain. She loved Kraken with a love that never became importunate or +anxious, because she did not rest its whole weight on him alone. +</p> + +<p> +This lucky infidelity of Orberosia was destined soon to save the hero from +a great peril and to assure his fortune and his glory for ever. For it +happened that she saw passing in the twilight a neatherd from Belmont, who +was goading on his oxen, and she fell more deeply in love with him than +she had ever been with the shepherd Marcel. He was hunch-backed; his +shoulders were higher than his ears; his body was supported by legs of +different lengths; his rolling eyes flashed, from beneath his matted hair. +From his throat issued a hoarse voice and strident laughter; he smelt of +the cow-shed. However, to her he was beautiful. “A plant,” as Gnatho says, +“has been loved by one, a stream by another, a beast by a third.” +</p> + +<p> +Now, one day, as she was sighing within the neatherd’s arms in a village +barn, suddenly the blasts of a trumpet, with sounds and footsteps, fell +upon her ears; she looked through the window and saw the inhabitants +collected in the marketplace round a young monk, who, standing upon a +rock, uttered these words in a distinct voice: +</p> + +<p> +“Inhabitants of Belmont, Abbot Maël, our venerable father, informs you +through my mouth that neither by strength nor skill in arms shall you +prevail against the dragon; but the beast shall be overcome by a virgin. +If, then, there be among you a perfectly pure virgin, let her arise and go +towards the monster; and when she meets him let her tie her girdle round +his neck and she shall lead him as easily as if he were a little dog.” +</p> + +<p> +And the young monk, replacing his hood upon his head, departed to carry +the proclamation of the blessed Maël to other villages. +</p> + +<p> +Orberosia sat in the amorous straw, resting her head in her hand and +supporting her elbow upon her knee, meditating on what she had just heard. +</p> + +<p> +Although, so far as Kraken was concerned, she feared the power of a virgin +much less than the strength of armed men, she did not feel reassured by +the proclamation of the blessed Maël. A vague but sure instinct ruled her +mind and warned her that Kraken could not henceforth be a dragon with +safety. +</p> + +<p> +She said to the neatherd: +</p> + +<p> +“My own heart, what do you think about the dragon?” +</p> + +<p> +The rustic shook his head. +</p> + +<p> +“It is certain that dragons laid waste the earth in ancient times and some +have been seen as large as mountains. But they come no longer, and I +believe that what has been taken for a dragon is not one at all, but +pirates or merchants who have carried off the fair Orberosia and the best +of the children of Alca in their ships. But if one of those brigands +attempts to rob me of my oxen, I will either by force or craft find a way +to prevent him from doing me any harm.” +</p> + +<p> +This remark of the neatherd increased Orberosia’s apprehensions and added +to her solicitude for the husband whom she loved. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0020" id="link2H_4_0020"></a> +X. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +The days passed by and no maiden arose in the island to combat the +monster. And in the wooden monastery old Maël, seated on a bench in the +shade of an old fig-tree, accompanied by a pious monk called Regimental, +kept asking himself anxiously and sadly how it was that there was not in +Alca a single virgin fit to overthrow the monster. +</p> + +<p> +He sighed and brother Regimental sighed too. At that moment old Maël +called young Samuel, who happened to pass through the garden, and said to +him: +</p> + +<p> +“I have meditated anew, my son, on the means of destroying the dragon who +devours the flower of our youth, our flocks, and our harvests. In this +respect the story of the dragons of St. Riok and of St. Pol de Leon seems +to me particularly instructive. The dragon of St. Riok was six fathoms +long; his head was derived from the cock and the basilisk, his body from +the ox and the serpent; he ravaged the banks of the Elorn in the time of +King Bristocus. St. Riok, then aged two years, led him by a leash to the +sea, in which the monster drowned himself of his own accord. St. Pol’s +dragon was sixty feet long and not less terrible. The blessed apostle of +Leon bound him with his stole and allowed a young noble of great purity of +life to lead him. These examples prove that in the eyes of God a chaste +young man is as agreeable as a chaste girl. Heaven makes no distinction +between them. For this reason, my son, if you believe what I say, we will +both go to the Coast of Shadows; when we reach the dragon’s cavern we will +call the monster in a loud voice, and when he comes forth I will tie my +stole round his neck and you will lead him to the sea, where he will not +fail to drown himself.” +</p> + +<p> +At the old man’s words Samuel cast down his head and did not answer. +</p> + +<p> +“You seem to hesitate, my son,” said Maël. +</p> + +<p> +Brother Regimental, contrary to his custom, spoke without being addressed. +</p> + +<p> +“There is at least cause for some hesitation,” said he. “St. Riok was only +two years old when he overcame the dragon. Who says that nine or ten years +later he could have done as much? Remember, father, that the dragon who is +devastating our island has devoured little Elo and four or five other +young boys. Brother Samuel is not go presumptuous as to believe that at +nineteen years of age he is more innocent than they were at twelve and +fourteen. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” added the monk, with a groan, “who can boast of being chaste in +this world, where everything gives the example and model of love, where +all things in nature, animals, and plants, show us the caresses of love +and advise us to share them? Animals are eager to unite in their own +fashion, but the various marriages of quadrupeds, birds, fishes, and +reptiles are far from equalling in lust the nuptials of the trees. The +greatest extremes of lewdness that the pagans have imagined in their +fables are outstripped by the simple flowers of the field, and, if you +knew the irregularities of lilies and roses you would take those chalices +of impurity, those vases of scandal, away from your altars.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not speak in this way, Brother Regimental,” answered old Maël. “Since +they are subject to the law of nature, animals and plants are always +innocent. They have no souls to save, whilst man—” +</p> + +<p> +“You are right,” replied Brother Regimental, “it is quite a different +thing. But do not send young Samuel to the dragon—the dragon might +devour him. For the last five years Samuel is not in a state to show his +innocence to monsters. In the year of the comet, the Devil in order to +seduce him, put in his path a milkmaid, who was lifting up her petticoat +to cross a ford. Samuel was tempted, but he overcame the temptation. The +Devil, who never tires, sent him the image of that young girl in a dream. +The shade did what the reality was unable to accomplish, and Samuel +yielded. When he awoke be moistened his couch with his tears, but alas! +repentance did not give him back his innocence.” +</p> + +<p> +As he listened to this story Samuel asked himself how his secret could be +known, for he was ignorant that the Devil had borrowed the appearance of +Brother Regimental, so as to trouble the hearts of the monks of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +And old Maël remained deep in thought and kept asking himself in grief: +</p> + +<p> +“Who will deliver us from the dragon’s tooth? Who will preserve us from +his breath? Who will save us from his look?” +</p> + +<p> +However, the inhabitants of Alca began to take courage. The labourers of +Dombes and the neatherds of Belmont swore that they themselves would be of +more avail than a girl against the ferocious beast, and they exclaimed as +they stroked the muscles on their arms, “Let the dragon come!” Many men +and women had seen him. They did not agree about his form and his figure, +but all now united in saying that he was not as big as they had thought, +and that his height was not much greater than a man’s. The defence was +organised; towards nightfall watches were stationed at the entrances of +the villages ready to give the alarm; and during the night companies armed +with pitchforks and scythes protected the paddocks in which the animals +were shut up. Indeed, once in the village of Anis some plucky labourers +surprised him as he was scaling Morio’s wall, and, as they had flails, +scythes, and pitchforks, they fell upon him and pressed him hard. One of +them, a very quick and courageous man, thought to have run him through +with his pitchfork; but he slipped in a pool and so let him escape. The +others would certainly have caught him had they not waited to pick up the +rabbits and fowls that he dropped in his flight. +</p> + +<p> +Those labourers declared to the Elders of the village that the monster’s +form and proportions appeared to them human enough except for his head and his +tail, which were, in truth, terrifying. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0021" id="link2H_4_0021"></a> +XI. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +On that day Kraken came back to his cavern sooner than usual. He took from +his head his sealskin helmet with its two bull’s horns and its visor +trimmed with terrible hooks. He threw on the table his gloves that ended +in horrible claws—they were the beaks of sea-birds. He unhooked his +belt from which hung a long green tail twisted into many folds. Then he +ordered his page, Elo, to help him off with his boots and, as the child +did not succeed in doing this very quickly, he gave him a kick that sent +him to the other end of the grotto. +</p> + +<p> +Without looking at the fair Orberosia, who was spinning, he seated himself +in front of the fireplace, on which a sheep was roasting, and he muttered: +</p> + +<p> +“Ignoble Penguins. . . . There is no worse trade than a dragon’s.” +</p> + +<p> +“What does my master say?” asked the fair Orberosia. +</p> + +<p> +“They fear me no longer,” continued Kraken. “Formerly everyone fled at my +approach. I carried away hens and rabbits in my bag; I drove sheep and +pigs, cows, and oxen before me. To-day these clod-hoppers keep a good +guard; they sit up at night. Just now I was pursued in the village of Anis +by doughty labourers armed with flails and scythes and pitchforks. I had +to drop the hens and rabbits, put my tail under my arm, and run as fast as +I could. Now I ask you, is it seemly for a dragon of Cappadocia to run +away like a robber with his tail under his arm? Further, incommoded as I +was by crests, horns, hooks, claws, and scales, I barely escaped a brute +who ran half an inch of his pitchfork into my left thigh.” +</p> + +<p> +As he said this he carefully ran his hand over the insulted part, and, +after giving himself up for a few moments to bitter meditation: +</p> + +<p> +“What idiots those Penguins are! I am tired of blowing flames in the faces +of such imbeciles. Orberosia, do you hear me?” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken the hero raised his terrible helmet in his hands and +gazed at it for a long time in gloomy silence. Then he pronounced these +rapid words: +</p> + +<p> +“I have made this helmet with my own hands in the shape of a fish’s head, +covering it with the skin of a seal. To make it more terrible I have put +on it the horns of a bull and I have given it a boar’s jaws; I have hung +from it a horse’s tail dyed vermilion. When in the gloomy twilight I threw +it over my shoulders no inhabitant of this island had courage to withstand +its sight. Women and children, young men and old men fled distracted at +its approach, and I carried terror among the whole race of Penguins. By +what advice does that insolent people lose its earlier fears and dare +to-day to behold these horrible jaws and to attack this terrible crest?” +</p> + +<p> +And throwing his helmet on the rocky soil: +</p> + +<p> +“Perish, deceitful helmet!” cried Kraken. “I swear by all the demons of +Armor that I will never bear you upon my head again.” +</p> + +<p> +And having uttered this oath he stamped upon his helmet, his gloves, his +boots, and upon his tail with its twisted folds. +</p> + +<p> +“Kraken,” said the fair Orberosia, “will you allow your servant to employ +artifice to save your reputation and your goods? Do not despise a woman’s +help. You need it, for all men are imbeciles.” +</p> + +<p> +“Woman,” asked Kraken, “what are your plans?” +</p> + +<p> +And the fair Orberosia informed her husband that the monks were going +through the villages teaching the inhabitants the best way of combating +the dragon; that, according to their instructions, the beast would be +overcome by a virgin, and that if a maid placed her girdle around the +dragon’s neck she could lead him as easily as if he were a little dog. +</p> + +<p> +“How do you know that the monks teach this?” asked Kraken. +</p> + +<p> +“My friend,” answered Orberosia, “do not interrupt a serious subject by +frivolous questions. . . . ‘If, then,’ added the monks, ‘there be in Alca +a pure virgin, let her arise!’ Now, Kraken, I have determined to answer +their call. I will go and find the holy Maël and I will say to him: ‘I am +the virgin destined by Heaven to overthrow the dragon.’” +</p> + +<p> +At these words Kraken exclaimed: “How can you be that pure virgin? And why +do you want to overthrow me, Orberosia? Have you lost your reason? Be sure +that I will not allow myself to be conquered by you!” +</p> + +<p> +“Can you not try and understand me before you get angry?” sighed the fair +Orberosia with deep though gentle contempt. +</p> + +<p> +And she explained the cunning designs that she had formed. +</p> + +<p> +As he listened, the hero remained pensive. And when she ceased speaking: +</p> + +<p> +“Orberosia, your cunning, is deep,” said he, “And if your plans are +carried out according to your intentions I shall derive great advantages +from them. But how can you be the virgin destined by heaven?” +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t bother about that,” she replied, “and come to bed.” +</p> + +<p> +The next day in the grease-laden atmosphere of the cavern, Kraken plaited +a deformed skeleton out of osier rods and covered it with bristling, +scaly, and filthy skins. To one extremity of the skeleton Orberosia sewed +the fierce crest and the hideous mask that Kraken used to wear in his +plundering expeditions, and to the other end she fastened the tail with +twisted folds which the hero was wont to trail behind him. And when the +work was finished they showed little Elo and the other five children who +waited on them how to get inside this machine, how to make it walk, how to +blow horns and burn tow in it so as to send forth smoke and flames through +the dragon’s mouth. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0022" id="link2H_4_0022"></a> +XII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +Orberosia, having clothed herself in a robe made of coarse stuff and girt +herself with a thick cord, went to the monastery and asked to speak to the +blessed Maël. And because women were forbidden to enter the enclosure of +the monastery the old man advanced outside the gates, holding his pastoral +cross in his right hand and resting his left on the shoulder of Brother +Samuel, the youngest of his disciples. +</p> + +<p> +He asked: +</p> + +<p> +“Woman, who art thou?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am the maiden Orberosia.” +</p> + +<p> +At this reply Maël raised his trembling arms to heaven. +</p> + +<p> +“Do you speak truth, woman? It is a certain fact that Orberosia was +devoured by the dragon. And yet I see Orberosia and hear her. Did you not, +O my daughter, while within the dragon’s bowels arm yourself with the sign +of the cross and come uninjured out of his throat? That is what seems to +me the most credible explanation.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are not deceived, father,” answered Orberosia. “That is precisely +what happened to me. Immediately I came out of the creature’s bowels I +took refuge in a hermitage on the Coast of Shadows. I lived there in +solitude, giving myself up to prayer and meditation, and performing +unheard of austerities, until I learnt by a revelation from heaven that a +maid alone could overcome the dragon, and that I was that maid.” +</p> + +<p> +“Show me a sign of your mission,” said the old man. +</p> + +<p> +“I myself am the sign,” answered Orberosia. +</p> + +<p> +“I am not ignorant of the power of those who have placed a seal upon their +flesh,” replied the apostle of the Penguins. “But are you indeed such as +you say?” +</p> + +<p> +“You will see by the result,” answered Orberosia. +</p> + +<p> +The monk Regimental drew near: +</p> + +<p> +“That will,” said he, “be the best proof. King Solomon has +said: ‘Three things are hard to understand and a fourth is impossible: +they are the way of a serpent on the earth, the way of a bird in the air, the +way of a ship in the sea, and the way of a man with a maid!’ I regard +such matrons as nothing less than presumptuous who claim to compare themselves +in these matters with the wisest of kings. Father, if you are led by me you +will not consult them in regard to the pious Orberosia. When they have given +their opinion you will not be a bit farther on than before. Virginity is not +less difficult to prove than to keep. Pliny tells us in his history that its +signs are either imaginary or very uncertain.<a href="#fn-2" name="fnref-2" id="fnref-2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +One who bears upon her the fourteen signs of corruption may yet be pure in the +eyes of the angels, and, on the contrary, another who has been pronounced pure +by the matrons who inspected her may know that her good appearance is due to +the artifices of a cunning perversity. As for the purity of this holy girl +here, I would put my hand in the fire in witness of it.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-2" id="fn-2"></a> <a href="#fnref-2">[2]</a> +We have vainly sought for this phrase in Pliny’s “Natural +History.”—<i>Editor</i>. +</p> + +<p> +He spoke thus because he was the Devil. But old Maël did not know it. He +asked the pious Orberosia: +</p> + +<p> +“My daughter, how, would you proceed to conquer so fierce an animal as he +who devoured you?” +</p> + +<p> +The virgin answered: +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow at sunrise, O Maël, you will summon the people together on the +hill in front of the desolate moor that extends to the Coast of Shadows, +and you will take care that no man of the Penguins remains less than five +hundred paces from those rocks so that he may not be poisoned by the +monster’s breath. And the dragon will come out of the rocks and I will put +my girdle round his neck and lead him like an obedient dog.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ought you not to be accompanied by a courageous and pious man who will +kill the dragon?” asked Maël. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be as thou sayest, venerable father. I shall deliver the monster +to Kraken, who will stay him with his flashing sword. For I tell thee that +the noble Kraken, who was believed to be dead, will return among the +Penguins and he shall slay the dragon. And from the creature’s belly will +come forth the little children whom he has devoured.” +</p> + +<p> +“What you declare to me, O virgin,” cried the apostle, “seems wonderful +and beyond human power.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is,” answered the virgin Orberosia. “But learn, O Maël, that I have +had a revelation that as a reward for their deliverance, the Penguin +people will pay to the knight Kraken an annual tribute of three hundred +fowls, twelve sheep, two oxen, three pigs, one thousand eight hundred +bushels of corn, and vegetables according to their season; and that, +moreover, the children who will come out of the dragon’s belly will be +given and committed to the said Kraken to serve him and obey him in all +things. If the Penguin people fail to keep their engagements a new dragon +will come upon the island more terrible than the first. I have spoken.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0023" id="link2H_4_0023"></a> +XIII. THE DRAGON OF ALCA<br /> +(<i>Continuation and End</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +The people of the Penguins were assembled by Maël and they spent the night +on the Coast of Shadows within the bounds which the holy man had +prescribed in order that none among the Penguins should be poisoned by the +monster’s breath. +</p> + +<p> +The veil of night still covered the earth when, preceded by a hoarse +bellowing, the dragon showed his indistinct and monstrous form upon the +rocky coast. He crawled like a serpent and his writhing body seemed about +fifteen feet long. At his appearance the crowd drew back in terror. But +soon all eyes were turned towards the Virgin Orberosia, who, in the first +light of the dawn, clothed in white, advanced over the purple heather. +With an intrepid though modest gait she walked towards the beast, who, +uttering awful bellowings, opened his flaming throat. An immense cry of +terror and pity arose from the midst of the Penguins. But the virgin, +unloosing her linen girdle, put it round the dragon’s neck and led him on +the leash like a faithful dog amid the acclamations of the spectators. +</p> + +<p> +She had walked over a long stretch of the heath when Kraken appeared armed +with a flashing sword. The people, who believed him dead, uttered cries of +joy and surprise. The hero rushed towards the beast, turned him over on +his back, and with his sword cut open his belly, from whence came forth in +their shirts, with curling hair and folded hands, little Elo and the five +other children whom the monster had devoured. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately they threw themselves on their knees before the virgin +Orberosia, who took them in her arms and whispered into their ears: +</p> + +<p> +“You will go through the villages saying: ‘We are the poor little children +who were devoured by the dragon, and we came out of his belly in our +shirts.’ The inhabitants will give you abundance of all that you can +desire. But if you say anything else you will get nothing but cuffs and +whippings. Go!” +</p> + +<p> +Several Penguins, seeing the dragon disembowelled, rushed forward to cut +him to pieces, some from a feeling of rage and vengeance, others to get +the magic stone called dragonite, that is engendered in his head. The +mothers of the children who had come back to life ran to embrace their +little ones. But the holy Maël kept them back, saying that none of them +were holy enough to approach a dragon without dying. +</p> + +<p> +And soon little Elo, and the five other children came towards the people +and said: +</p> + +<p> +“We are the poor little children who were devoured by the dragon and we +came out of his belly in our shirts.” +</p> + +<p> +And all who heard them kissed them and said: +</p> + +<p> +“Blessed children, we will give you abundance of all that you can desire.” +</p> + +<p> +And the crowd of people dispersed, full of joy, singing hymns and +canticles. +</p> + +<p> +To commemorate this day on which Providence delivered the people from a +cruel scourge, processions were established in which the effigy of a +chained dragon was led about. +</p> + +<p> +Kraken levied the tribute and became the richest and most powerful of the +Penguins. As a sign of his victory and so as to inspire a salutary terror, +he wore a dragon’s crest upon his head and he had a habit of saying to the +people: +</p> + +<p> +“Now that the monster is dead I am the dragon.” +</p> + +<p> +For many years Orberosia bestowed her favours upon neatherds and +shepherds, whom she thought equal to the gods. But when she was no longer +beautiful she consecrated herself to the Lord. +</p> + +<p> +At her death she became the object of public veneration, and was admitted +into the calendar of the saints and adopted as the patron saint of +Penguinia. +</p> + +<p> +Kraken left a son, who, like his father, wore a dragon’s crest, and he was +for this reason surnamed Draco. He was the founder of the first royal +dynasty of the Penguins. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0024" id="link2H_4_0024"></a> +BOOK III.<br /> +THE MIDDLE AGES AND THE RENAISSANCE +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0025" id="link2H_4_0025"></a> +I. BRIAN THE GOOD AND QUEEN GLAMORGAN +</h2> + +<p> +The kings of Alca were descended from Draco, the son of Kraken, and they +wore on their heads a terrible dragon’s crest, as a sacred badge whose +appearance alone inspired the people with veneration, terror, and love. +They were perpetually in conflict either with their own vassals and +subjects or with the princes of the adjoining islands and continents. +</p> + +<p> +The most ancient of these kings has left but a name. We do not even know +how to pronounce or write it. The first of the Draconides whose history is +known was Brian the Good, renowned for his skill and courage in war and in +the chase. +</p> + +<p> +He was a Christian and loved learning. He also favoured men who had vowed +themselves to the monastic life. In the hall of his palace where, under +the sooty rafters, there hung the heads, pelts, and horns of wild beasts, +he held feasts to which all the harpers of Alca and of the neighbouring +islands were invited, and he himself used to join in singing the praises +of the heroes. He was just and magnanimous, but inflamed by so ardent a +love of glory that he could not restrain himself from putting to death +those who had sung better than himself. +</p> + +<p> +The monks of Yvern having been driven out by the pagans who ravaged +Brittany, King Brian summoned them into his kingdom and built a wooden +monastery for them near his palace. Every day he went with Queen +Glamorgan, his wife, into the monastery chapel and was present at the +religious ceremonies and joined in the hymns. +</p> + +<p> +Now among these monks there was a brother called Oddoul, who, while still +in the flower of his youth, had adorned himself with knowledge and virtue. +The devil entertained a great grudge against him, and attempted several +times to lead him into temptation. He took several shapes and appeared to +him in turn as a war-horse, a young maiden, and a cup of mead. Then he +rattled two dice in a dicebox and said to him: +</p> + +<p> +“Will you play with me for the kingdoms of, the world against one of the +hairs of your head?” +</p> + +<p> +But the man of the Lord, armed with the sign of the Cross, repulsed the +enemy. Perceiving that he could not seduce him, the devil thought of an +artful plan to ruin him. One summer night he approached the queen, who +slept upon her couch, showed her an image of the young monk whom she saw +every day in the wooden monastery, and upon this image he placed a spell. +Forthwith, like a subtle poison, love flowed into Glamorgan’s veins, and +she burned with an ardent desire to do as she listed with Oddoul. She +found unceasing pretexts to have him near her. Several times she asked him +to teach reading and singing to her children. +</p> + +<p> +“I entrust them to you,” said she to him. “And will follow the lessons you +will give them so that I myself may learn also. You will teach both mother +and sons at the same time.” +</p> + +<p> +But the young monk kept making excuses. At times he would say that he was +not a learned enough teacher, and on other occasions that his state +forbade him all intercourse with women. This refusal inflamed Glamorgan’s +passion. One day as she lay pining upon her couch, her malady having +become intolerable, she summoned Oddoul to her chamber. He came in +obedience to her orders, but remained with his eyes cast down towards the +threshold of the door. With impatience and grief she resented his not +looking at her. +</p> + +<p> +“See,” said she to him, “I have no more strength, a shadow is on my eyes. +My body is both burning and freezing.” +</p> + +<p> +And as he kept silence and made no movement, she called him in a voice of +entreaty: +</p> + +<p> +“Come to me, come!” +</p> + +<p> +With outstretched arms to which passion gave more length, she endeavoured +to seize him and draw him towards her. +</p> + +<p> +But he fled away, reproaching her for her wantonness. +</p> + +<p> +Then, incensed with rage and fearing that Oddoul might divulge the shame +into which she had fallen, she determined to ruin him so that he might not +ruin her. +</p> + +<p> +In a voice of lamentation that resounded throughout all the palace she +called for help, as if, in truth, she were in some great danger. Her +servants rushed up and saw the young monk fleeing and the queen pulling +back the sheets upon her couch. They all cried out together. And when King +Brian, attracted by the noise, entered the chamber, Glamorgan, showing him +her dishevelled hair, her eyes flooded with tears, and her bosom that in +the fury of her love she had torn with her nails, said: +</p> + +<p> +“My lord and husband, behold the traces of the insults I have undergone. +Driven by an infamous desire Oddoul has approached me and attempted to do +me violence.” +</p> + +<p> +When he heard these complaints and saw the blood, the king, transported +with fury, ordered his guards to seize the young monk and burn him alive +before the palace under the queen’s eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Being told of the affair, the Abbot of Yvern went to the king and said to +him: +</p> + +<p> +“King Brian, know by this example the difference between a Christian woman +and a pagan. Roman Lucretia was the most virtuous of idolatrous +princesses, yet she had not the strength to defend herself against the +attacks of an effeminate youth, and, ashamed of her weakness, she gave way +to despair, whilst Glamorgan has successfully withstood the assaults of a +criminal filled with rage, and possessed by the most terrible of demons.” +Meanwhile Oddoul, in the prison of the palace, was waiting for the moment +when he should be burned alive. But God did not suffer an innocent to +perish. He sent to him an angel, who, taking the form of one of the +queen’s servants called Gudrune, took him out of his prison and led him +into the very room where the woman whose appearance he had taken dwelt. +</p> + +<p> +And the angel said to young Oddoul: +</p> + +<p> +“I love thee because thou art daring.” +</p> + +<p> +And young Oddoul, believing that it was Gudrune herself, answered with +downcast looks: +</p> + +<p> +“It is by the grace of the Lord that I have resisted the violence of the +queen and braved the anger of that powerful woman.” +</p> + +<p> +And the angel asked: +</p> + +<p> +“What? Hast thou not done what the queen accuses thee of?” +</p> + +<p> +“In truth no, I have not done it,” answered Oddoul, his hand on his heart. +</p> + +<p> +“Thou hast not done it?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, I have not done it. The very thought of such an action fills me with +horror.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then,” cried the angel, “what art thou doing here, thou +impotent creature?”<a href="#fn-3" name="fnref-3" id="fnref-3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-3" id="fn-3"></a> <a href="#fnref-3">[3]</a> +The Penguin chronicler who relates the fact employs the expression, <i>Species +inductilis</i>. I have endeavoured to translate it literally. +</p> + +<p> +And she opened the door to facilitate the young man’s escape. Oddoul felt +himself pushed violently out. Scarcely had he gone down into the street +than a chamber-pot was poured over his head; and he thought: +</p> + +<p> +“Mysterious are thy designs, O Lord, and thy ways past finding out.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0026" id="link2H_4_0026"></a> +II. DRACO THE GREAT<br /> +(<i>Translation of the Relics of St. Orberosia</i>) +</h2> + +<p> +The direct posterity of Brian the Good was extinguished about the year 900 +in the person of Collic of the Short Nose. A cousin of that prince, Bosco +the Magnanimous, succeeded him, and took care, in order to assure himself +of the throne, to put to death all his relations. There issued from him a +long line of powerful kings. +</p> + +<p> +One of them, Draco the Great, attained great renown as a man of war. He +was defeated more frequently than the others. It is by this constancy in +defeat that great captains are recognized. In twenty years he burned down +more than a hundred thousand hamlets, market towns, unwalled towns, +villages, walled towns, cities, and universities. He set fire impartially +to his enemies’ territory and to his own domains. And he used to explain +his conduct by saying: +</p> + +<p> +“War without fire is like tripe without mustard: it is an insipid thing.” +</p> + +<p> +His justice was rigorous. When the peasants whom he made prisoners were +unable to raise the money for their ransoms he had them hanged from a +tree, and if any unhappy woman came to plead for her destitute husband he +dragged her by the hair at his horse’s tail. He lived like a soldier +without effeminacy. It is satisfactory to relate that his manner of life +was pure. Not only did he not allow his kingdom to decline from its +hereditary glory, but, even in his reverses he valiantly supported the +honour of the Penguin people. +</p> + +<p> +Draco the Great caused the relics of St. Orberosia to be transferred to +Alca. +</p> + +<p> +The body of the blessed saint had been buried in a grotto on the Coast of +Shadows at the end of a scented heath. The first pilgrims who went to +visit it were the boys and girls from the neighbouring villages. They used +to go there in the evening, by preference in couples, as if their pious +desires naturally sought satisfaction in darkness and solitude. They +worshipped the saint with a fervent and discreet worship whose mystery +they seemed jealously to guard, for they did not like to publish too +openly the experiences they felt. But they were heard to murmur one to +another words of love, delight, and rapture with which they mingled the +name of Orberosia. Some would sigh that there they forgot the world; +others would say that they came out of the grotto in peace and calm; the +young girls among them used to recall to each other the joy with which +they had been filled in it. +</p> + +<p> +Such were the marvels that the virgin of Alca performed in the morning of +her glorious eternity; they had the sweetness and indefiniteness of the +dawn. Soon the mystery of the grotto spread like a perfume throughout the +land; it was a ground of joy and edification for pious souls, and corrupt +men endeavoured, though in vain, by falsehood and calumny, to divert the +faithful from the springs of grace that flowed from the saint’s tomb. The +Church took measures so that these graces should not remain reserved for a +few children, but should be diffused throughout all Penguin Christianity. +Monks took up their quarters in the grotto, they built a monastery, a +chapel, and a hostelry on the coast, and pilgrims began to flock thither. +</p> + +<p> +As if strengthened by a longer sojourn in heaven, the blessed Orberosia +now performed still greater miracles for those who came to lay their +offerings on her tomb. She gave hopes to women who had been hitherto +barren, she sent dreams to reassure jealous old men concerning the +fidelity of the young wives whom they had suspected without cause, and she +protected the country from plagues, murrains, famines, tempests, and +dragons of Cappadocia. +</p> + +<p> +But during the troubles that desolated the kingdom in the time of King +Collic and his successors, the tomb of St. Orberosia was plundered of its +wealth, the monastery burned down, and the monks dispersed. The road that +had been so long trodden by devout pilgrims was overgrown with furze and +heather, and the blue thistles of the sands. For a hundred years the +miraculous tomb had been visited by none save vipers, weasels, and bats, +when, one day the saint appeared to a peasant of the neighbourhood, +Momordic by name. +</p> + +<p> +“I am the virgin Orberosia,” said she to him; “I have chosen thee to +restore my sanctuary. Warn the inhabitants of the country that if they +allow my memory to be blotted out, and leave my tomb without honour and +wealth, a new dragon will come and devastate Penguinia.” +</p> + +<p> +Learned churchmen held an inquiry concerning this apparition, and +pronounced it genuine, and not diabolical but truly heavenly, and in later +years it was remarked that in France, in like circumstances, St. Foy and +St. Catherine had acted in the same way and made use of similar language. +</p> + +<p> +The monastery was restored and pilgrims flocked to it anew. The virgin +Orberosia worked greater and greater miracles. She cured divers hurtful +maladies, particularly club-foot, dropsy, paralysis, and St. Guy’s +disease. The monks who kept the tomb were enjoying an enviable opulence, +when the saint, appearing to King Draco the Great, ordered him to +recognise her as the heavenly patron of the kingdom and to transfer her +precious remains to the cathedral of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +In consequence, the odoriferous relics of that virgin were carried with +great pomp to the metropolitan church and placed in the middle of the +choir in a shrine made of gold and enamel and ornamented with precious +stones. +</p> + +<p> +The chapter kept a record of the miracles wrought by the blessed +Orberosia. +</p> + +<p> +Draco the Great, who had never ceased to defend and exalt the Christian +faith, died fulfilled with the most pious sentiments and bequeathed his +great possessions to the Church. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0027" id="link2H_4_0027"></a> +III. QUEEN CRUCHA +</h2> + +<p> +Terrible disorders followed the death of Draco the Great. That prince’s +successors have often been accused of weakness, and it is true that none +of them followed, even from afar, the example of their valiant ancestor. +</p> + +<p> +His son, Chum, who was lame, failed to increase the territory of the +Penguins. Bolo, the son of Chum, was assassinated by the palace guards at +the age of nine, just as he was ascending the throne. His brother Gun +succeeded him. He was only seven years old and allowed himself to be +governed by his mother, Queen Crucha. +</p> + +<p> +Crucha was beautiful, learned, and intelligent; but she was unable to curb +her own passions. +</p> + +<p> +These are the terms in which the venerable Talpa expresses himself in his +chronicle regarding that illustrious queen: +</p> + +<p> +“In beauty of face and symmetry of figure Queen Crucha yields neither to +Semiramis of Babylon nor to Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons; nor to +Salome, the daughter of Herodias. But she offers in her person certain +singularities that will appear beautiful or uncomely according to the +contradictory opinions of men and the varying judgments of the world. She +has on her forehead two small horns which she conceals in the abundant +folds of her golden hair; one of her eyes is blue and one is black; her +neck is bent towards the left side; and, like Alexander of Macedon, she +has six fingers on her right hand, and a stain like a little monkey’s head +upon her skin. +</p> + +<p> +“Her gait is majestic and her manner affable. She is magnificent in her +expenses, but she is not always able to rule desire by reason. +</p> + +<p> +“One day, having noticed in the palace stables, a young groom of great +beauty, she immediately fell violently in love with him, and entrusted to +him the command of her armies. What one must praise unreservedly in this +great queen is the abundance of gifts that she makes to the churches, +monasteries, and chapels in her kingdom, and especially to the holy house +of Beargarden, where, by the grace of the Lord, I made my profession in my +fourteenth year. She has founded masses for the repose of her soul in such +great numbers that every priest in the Penguin Church is, so to speak, +transformed into a taper lighted in the sight of heaven to draw down the +divine mercy upon the august Crucha.” +</p> + +<p> +From these lines and from some others with which have enriched my text the +reader can judge of the historical and literary value of the “Gesta +Penguinorum.” Unhappily, that chronicle suddenly comes suddenly to an end +at the third year of Draco the Simple, the successor of Gun the Weak. Having +reached that point of my history, I deplore the loss of an agreeable and +trustworthy guide. +</p> + +<p> +During the two centuries that followed, the Penguins remained plunged in +blood-stained disorder. All the arts perished. In the midst of the general +ignorance, the monks in the shadow of their cloister devoted themselves to +study, and copied the Holy Scriptures with indefatigable zeal. As +parchment was scarce, they scraped the writing off old manuscripts in +order to transcribe upon them the divine word. Thus throughout the breadth +of Penguinia Bibles blossomed forth like roses on a bush. +</p> + +<p> +A monk of the order of St. Benedict, Ermold the Penguin, had himself alone +defaced four thousand Greek and Latin manuscripts so as to copy out the +Gospel of St. John four thousand times. Thus the masterpieces of ancient +poetry and eloquence were destroyed in great numbers. Historians are +unanimous in recognising that the Penguin convents were the refuge of +learning during the Middle Ages. +</p> + +<p> +Unending wars between the Penguins and the Porpoises filled the close of +this period. It is extremely difficult to know the truth concerning these +wars, not because accounts are wanting, but because there are so many of +them. The Porpoise Chronicles contradict the Penguin Chronicles at every +point. And, moreover, the Penguins contradict each other as well as the +Porpoises. I have discovered two chronicles that are in agreement, but one +has copied from the other. A single fact is certain, namely, that +massacres, rapes, conflagrations, and plunder succeeded one another +without interruption. +</p> + +<p> +Under the unhappy prince Bosco IX. the kingdom was at the verge of ruin. +On the news that the Porpoise fleet, composed of six hundred great ships, +was in sight of Alca, the bishop ordered a solemn procession. The +cathedral chapter, the elected magistrates, the members of Parliament, and +the clerics of the University entered the Cathedral and, taking up St. +Orberosia’s shrine, led it in procession through the town, followed by the +entire people singing hymns. The holy patron of Penguinia was not invoked +in vain. Nevertheless, the Porpoises besieged the town both by land and +sea, took it by assault, and for three days and three nights killed, +plundered, violated, and burned, with all the indifference that habit +produces. +</p> + +<p> +Our astonishment cannot be too great at the fact that, during those iron +ages, the faith was preserved intact among the Penguins. The splendour of +the truth in those times illumined all souls that had not been corrupted +by sophisms. This is the explanation of the unity of belief. A constant +practice of the Church doubtless contributed also to maintain this happy +communion of the faithful—every Penguin who thought differently from +the others was immediately burned at the stake. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0028" id="link2H_4_0028"></a> +IV. LETTERS: JOHANNES TALPA +</h2> + +<p> +During the minority of King Gun, Johannes Talpa, in the monastery of +Beargarden, where at the age of fourteen he had made his profession and +from which he never departed for a single day throughout his life, +composed his celebrated Latin chronicle in twelve books called “De Gestis +Penguinorum.” +</p> + +<p> +The monastery of Beargarden lifts its high walls on the summit of an +inaccessible peak. One sees around it only the blue tops of mountains, +divided by the clouds. +</p> + +<p> +When he began to write his “Gesta Penguinorum,” Johannes Talpa was already +old. The good monk has taken care to tell us this in his book: “My head +has long since lost,” he says, “its adornment of fair hair, and my scalp +resembles those convex mirrors of metal which the Penguin ladies consult +with so much care and zeal. My stature, naturally small, has with years +become diminished and bent. My white beard gives warmth to my breast.” +</p> + +<p> +With a charming simplicity, Talpa informs us of certain circumstances in +his life and some features in his character. “Descended,” he tells us, +“from a noble family, and destined from childhood for the ecclesiastical +state, I was taught grammar and music. I learnt to read under the guidance +of a master who was called Amicus, and who would have been better named +Inimicus. As I did not easily attain to a knowledge of my letters, he beat +me violently with rods so that I can say that he printed the alphabet in +strokes upon my back.” +</p> + +<p> +In another passage Talpa confesses his natural inclination towards +pleasure. These are his expressive words: “In my youth the ardour of my +senses was such that in the shadow of the woods I experienced a sensation +of boiling in a pot rather than of breathing the fresh air. I fled from +women, but in vain, for every object recalled them to me.” +</p> + +<p> +While he was writing his chronicle, a terrible war, at once foreign and +domestic, laid waste the Penguin land. The soldiers of Crucha came to +defend the monastery of Beargarden against the Penguin barbarians and +established themselves strongly within its walls. In order to render it +impregnable they pierced loop-holes through the walls and they took the +lead off the church roof to make balls for their slings. At night they +lighted huge fires in the courts and cloisters and on them they roasted +whole oxen which they spitted upon the ancient pine-trees of the mountain. +Sitting around the flames, amid smoke filled with a mingled odour of resin +and fat, they broached huge casks of wine and beer. Their songs, their +blasphemies, and the noise of their quarrels drowned the sound of the +morning bells. +</p> + +<p> +At last the Porpoises, having crossed the defiles, laid siege to the +monastery. They were warriors from the North, clad in copper armour. They +fastened ladders a hundred and fifty fathoms long to the sides of the +cliffs and sometimes in the darkness and storm these broke beneath the +weight of men and arms, and bunches of the besiegers were hurled into the +ravines and precipices. A prolonged wail would be heard going down into +the darkness, and the assault would begin again. The Penguins poured +streams of burning wax upon their assailants, which made them blaze like +torches. Sixty times the enraged Porpoises attempted to scale the +monastery and sixty times they were repulsed. +</p> + +<p> +For six months they had closely invested the monastery, when, on the day +of the Epiphany, a shepherd of the valley showed them a hidden path by +which they climbed the mountain, penetrated into the vaults of the abbey, +ran through the cloisters, the kitchens, the church, the chapter halls, +the library, the laundry, the cells, the refectories, and the dormitories, +and burned the buildings, killing and violating without distinction of age +or sex. The Penguins, awakened unexpectedly, ran to arms, but in the +darkness and alarm they struck at one another, whilst the Porpoises with +blows of their axes disputed the sacred vessels, the censers, the +candlesticks, dalmatics, reliquaries, golden crosses, and precious stones. +</p> + +<p> +The air was filled with an acrid odour of burnt flesh. Groans and +death-cries arose in the midst of the flames, and on the edges of the +crumbling roofs monks ran in thousands like ants, and fell into the +valley. Yet Johannes Talpa kept on writing his Chronicle. The soldiers of +Crucha retreated speedily and filled up all the issues from the monastery +with pieces of rock so as to shut up the Porpoises in the burning +buildings. And to crush the enemy beneath the ruin they employed the +trunks of old oaks as battering-rams. The burning timbers fell in with a +noise like thunder and the lofty arches of the naves crumbled beneath the +shock of these giant trees when moved by six hundred men together. Soon +there was left nothing of the rich and extensive abbey but the cell of +Johannes Talpa, which, by a marvellous chance, hung from the ruin of a +smoking gable. The old chronicler still kept writing. +</p> + +<p> +This admirable intensity of thought may seem excessive in the case of an +annalist who applies himself to relate the events of his own time. However +abstracted and detached we may be from surrounding things, we nevertheless +resent their influence. I have consulted the original manuscript of Johannes +Talpa in the National Library, where it is preserved (<i>Monumenta Peng</i>., +<i>K</i>. <i>L</i>6., 12390 <i>four</i>). It is a parchment manuscript of 628 +leaves. The writing is extremely confused, the letters instead of being in a +straight line, stray in all directions and are mingled together in great +disorder, or, more correctly speaking, in absolute confusion. They are so badly +formed that for the most part it is impossible not merely to say what they are, +but even to distinguish them from the splashes of ink with which they are +plentifully interspersed. Those inestimable pages bear witness in this way to +the troubles amid which they were written. To read them is difficult. On the +other hand, the monk of Beargarden’s style shows no trace of emotion. The +tone of the “Gesta Penguinorum” never departs from simplicity. The +narration is rapid and of a conciseness that sometimes approaches dryness. The +reflections are rare and, as a rule, judicious. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0029" id="link2H_4_0029"></a> +V. THE ARTS: THE PRIMITIVES OF PENGUIN PAINTING +</h2> + +<p> +The Penguin critics vie with one another in affirming that Penguin art has +from its origin been distinguished by a powerful and pleasing originality, +and that we may look elsewhere in vain for the qualities of grace and +reason that characterise its earliest works. But the Porpoises claim that +their artists were undoubtedly the instructors and masters of the +Penguins. It is difficult to form an opinion on the matter, because the +Penguins, before they began to admire their primitive painters, destroyed +all their works. +</p> + +<p> +We cannot be too sorry for this loss. For my own part I feel it cruelly, +for I venerate the Penguin antiquities and I adore the primitives. They +are delightful. I do not say the are all alike, for that would be untrue, +but they have common characters that are found in all schools—I mean +formulas from which they never depart—and there is besides something +finished in their work, for what they know they know well. Luckily we can +form a notion of the Penguin primitives from the Italian, Flemish, and +Dutch primitives, and from the French primitives, who are superior to all +the rest; as M. Gruyer tells us they are more logical, logic being a +peculiarly French quality. Even if this is denied it must at least be +admitted that to France belongs the credit of having kept primitives when +the other nations knew them no longer. The Exhibition of French Primitives +at the Pavilion Marsan in 1904 contained several little panels +contemporary with the later Valois kings and with Henry IV. +</p> + +<p> +I have made many journeys to see the pictures of the brothers Van Eyck, of +Memling, of Roger van der Weyden, of the painter of the death of Mary, of +Ambrogio Lorenzetti, and of the old Umbrian masters. It was, however, +neither Bruges, nor Cologne, nor Sienna, nor Perugia, that completed my +initiation; it was in the little town of Arezzo that I became a conscious +adept in primitive painting. That was ten years ago or even longer. At +that period of indigence and simplicity, the municipal museums, though +usually kept shut, were always opened to foreigners. One evening an old +woman with a candle showed me, for half a lira, the sordid museum of +Arezzo, and in it I discovered a painting by Margaritone, a “St. Francis,” +the pious sadness of which moved me to tears. I was deeply touched, and +Margaritone, of Arezzo became from that day my dearest primitive. +</p> + +<p> +I picture to myself the Penguin primitives in conformity with the works of +that master. It will not therefore be thought superfluous if in this place +I consider his works with some attention, if not in detail, at least under +their more general and, if I dare say so, most representative aspect. +</p> + +<p> +We possess five or six pictures signed with his hand. His masterpiece, +preserved in the National Gallery of London, represents the Virgin seated +on a throne and holding the infant Jesus in her arms. What strikes one +first when one looks at this figure is the proportion. The body from the +neck to the feet is only twice as long as the head, so that it appears +extremely short and podgy. This work is not less remarkable for its +painting than for its drawing. The great Margaritone had but a limited +number of colours in his possession, and he used them in all their purity +without ever modifying the tones. From this it follows that his colouring +has more vivacity than harmony. The cheeks of the Virgin and those of the +Child are of a bright vermilion which the old master, from a naïve +preference for clear definitions, has placed on each face in two +circumferences as exact as if they had been traced out by a pair of +compasses. +</p> + +<p> +A learned critic of the eighteenth century, the Abbé Lanzi, has treated +Margaritone’s works with profound disdain. “They are,” he says, “merely +crude daubs. In those unfortunate times people could neither draw nor +paint.” Such was the common opinion of the connoisseurs of the days of +powdered wigs. But the great Margaritone and his contemporaries were soon +to be avenged for this cruel contempt. There was born in the nineteenth +century, in the biblical villages and reformed cottages of pious England, +a multitude of little Samuels and little St. Johns, with hair curling like +lambs, who, about 1840, and 1850, became spectacled professors and founded +the cult of the primitives. +</p> + +<p> +That eminent theorist of Pre-Raphaelitism, Sir James Tuckett, does not +shrink from placing the Madonna of the National Gallery on a level with +the masterpieces of Christian art. “By giving to the Virgin’s head,” says +Sir James Tuckett, “a third of the total height of the figure, the old +master attracts the spectator’s attention and keeps it directed towards +the more sublime parts of the human figure, and in particular the eyes, +which we ordinarily describe as the spiritual organs. In this picture, +colouring and design conspire to produce an ideal and mystical impression. +The vermilion of the cheeks does not recall the natural appearance of the +skin; it rather seems as if the old master has applied the roses of +Paradise to the faces of the Mother and the Child.” +</p> + +<p> +We see, in such a criticism as this, a shining reflection, so to speak, of +the work which it exalts; yet MacSilly, the seraphic aesthete of +Edinburgh, has expressed in a still more moving and penetrating fashion +the impression produced upon his mind by the sight of this primitive +painting. “The Madonna of Margaritone,” says the revered MacSilly, +“attains the transcendent end of art. It inspires its beholders with +feelings of innocence and purity; it makes them like little children. And +so true is this, that at the age of sixty-six, after having had the joy of +contemplating it closely for three hours, I felt myself suddenly +transformed into a little child. While my cab was taking me through +Trafalgar Square I kept laughing and prattling and shaking my +spectacle-case as if it were a rattle. And when the maid in my +boarding-house had served my meal I kept pouring spoonfuls of soup into my +ear with all the artlessness of childhood.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is by such results,” adds MacSilly, “that the excellence of a work of +art is proved.” +</p> + +<p> +Margaritone, according to Vasari, died at the age of seventy-seven, +“regretting that he had lived to see a new form of art arising and the new +artists crowned with fame.” +</p> + +<p> +These lines, which I translate literally, have inspired Sir James Tuckett +with what are perhaps the finest pages in his work. They form part of his +“Breviary for Æsthetes”; all the Pre-Raphaelites know them by heart. I +place them here as the most precious ornament of this book. You will agree +that nothing more sublime has been written since the days of the Hebrew +prophets. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +MARGARITONE’S VISION +</p> + +<p> +Margaritone, full of years and labours, went one day to visit the studio +of a young painter who had lately settled in the town. He noticed in the +studio a freshly painted Madonna, which, although severe and rigid, +nevertheless, by a certain exactness in the proportions and a devilish +mingling of light and shade, assumed an appearance of relief and life. At +this sight the artless and sublime worker of Arezzo perceived with horror +what the future of painting would be. With his brow clasped in his hands +he exclaimed: +</p> + +<p> +“What things of shame does not this figure show forth! I discern in it the +end of that Christian art which paints the soul and inspires the beholder +with an ardent desire for heaven. Future painters will not restrain +themselves as does this one to portraying on the side of a wall or on a +wooden panel the cursed matter of which our bodies are formed; they will +celebrate and glorify it. They will clothe their figures with dangerous +appearances of flesh, and these figures will seem like real persons. Their +bodies will be seen; their forms will appear through their clothing. St. +Magdalen will have a bosom. St. Martha a belly, St. Barbara hips, St. +Agnes buttocks; St. Sebastian will unveil his youthful beauty, and St. +George will display beneath his armour the muscular wealth of a robust +virility; apostles, confessors, doctors, and God the Father himself will +appear as ordinary beings like you and me; the angels will affect an +equivocal, ambiguous, mysterious beauty which will trouble hearts. What +desire for heaven will these representations impart? None; but from them +you will learn to take pleasure in the forms of terrestrial life. Where +will painters stop in their indiscreet inquiries? They will stop nowhere. +They will go so far as to show men and women naked like the idols of the +Romans. There will be a sacred art and a profane art, and the sacred art +will not be less profane than the other.” +</p> + +<p> +“Get ye behind me, demons,” exclaimed the old master. For in +prophetic vision he saw the righteous and the saints assuming the appearance of +melancholy athletes. He saw Apollos playing the lute on a flowery hill, in the +midst of the Muses wearing light tunics. He saw Venuses lying under shady +myrtles and the Danae exposing their charming sides to the golden rain. He saw +pictures of Jesus under the pillars of the temple amidst patricians, fair +ladies, musicians, pages, negroes, dogs, and parrots. He saw in an inextricable +confusion of human limbs, outspread wings, and flying draperies, crowds of +tumultuous Nativities, opulent Holy Families, emphatic Crucifixions. He saw St. +Catherines, St. Barbaras, St. Agneses humiliating patricians by the +sumptuousness of their velvets, their brocades, and their pearls, and by the +splendour of their breasts. He saw Auroras scattering roses, and a multitude of +naked Dianas and Nymphs surprised on the banks of retired streams. And the +great Margaritone died, strangled by so horrible a presentiment of the +Renaissance and the Bolognese School. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0030" id="link2H_4_0030"></a> +VI. MARBODIUS +</h2> + +<p> +We possess a precious monument of the Penguin literature of the fifteenth +century. It is a narrative of a journey to hell undertaken by the monk +Marbodius, of the order of St. Benedict, who professed a fervent +admiration for the poet Virgil. This narrative, written in fairly good +Latin, has been published by M. du Clos des Limes. It is here translated +for the first time. I believe that I am doing a service to my +fellow-countrymen in making them acquainted with these pages, though +doubtless they are far from forming a unique example of this class of +mediaeval Latin literature. Among the fictions that may be compared with +them we may mention “The Voyage of St. Brendan,” “The Vision of +Albericus,” and “St. Patrick’s Purgatory,” imaginary descriptions, like +Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy,” of the supposed abode of the dead. The +narrative of Marbodius is one of the latest works dealing with this theme, +but it is not the least singular. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +THE DESCENT OF MARBODIUS INTO HELL +</p> + +<p> +In the fourteen hundred and fifty-third year of the incarnation of the Son +of God, a few days before the enemies of the Cross entered the city of +Helena and the great Constantine, it was given to me, Brother Marbodius, +an unworthy monk, to see and to hear what none had hitherto seen or heard. +I have composed a faithful narrative of those things so that their memory +may not perish with me, for man’s time is short. +</p> + +<p> +On the first day of May in the aforesaid year, at the hour of vespers, I +was seated in the Abbey of Corrigan on a stone in the cloisters and, as my +custom was, I read the verses of the poet whom I love best of all, Virgil, +who has sung of the labours: of the field, of shepherds, and of heroes. +Evening was hanging its purple folds from the arches of the cloisters and +in a voice of emotion I was murmuring the verses which describe how Dido, +the Phœnician queen, wanders with her ever-bleeding wound beneath the +myrtles of hell. At that moment Brother Hilary happened to pass by, +followed by Brother Jacinth, the porter. +</p> + +<p> +Brought up in the barbarous ages before the resurrection of the Muses, +Brother Hilary has not been initiated into the wisdom of the ancients; +nevertheless, the poetry of the Mantuan has, like a subtle torch, shed +some gleams of light into his understanding. +</p> + +<p> +“Brother Marbodius,” he asked me, “do those verses that you utter with +swelling breast and sparkling eyes—do they belong to that great +‘Æneid’ from which morning or evening your glances are never withheld?” +</p> + +<p> +I answered that I was reading in Virgil how the son of Anchises perceived Dido +like a moon behind the foliage.<a href="#fn-4" name="fnref-4" id="fnref-4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-4" id="fn-4"></a> <a href="#fnref-4">[4]</a> +The text runs<br /> +<br /> +. . . qualem primo qui syrgere mense<br /> +Aut videt aut vidisse putat per nubila lunam.<br /> +Brother Marbodius, by a strange misunderstanding, substitutes an entirely +different image for the one created by the poet. +</p> + +<p> +“Brother Marbodius,” he replied, “I am certain that on all occasions +Virgil gives expression to wise maxims and profound thoughts. But the +songs that he modulates on his Syracusan flute hold such a lofty meaning +and such exalted doctrine that I am continually puzzled by them.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take care, father,” cried Brother Jacinth, in an agitated voice. “Virgil +was a magician who wrought marvels by the help of demons. It is thus he +pierced through a mountain near Naples and fashioned a bronze horse that +had power to heal all the diseases of horses. He was a necromancer, and +there is still shown, in a certain town in Italy, the mirror in which he +made the dead appear. And yet a woman deceived this great sorcerer. A +Neapolitan courtesan invited him to hoist himself up to her window in the +basket that was used to bring the provisions, and she left him all night +suspended between two storeys.” +</p> + +<p> +Brother Hilary did not appear to hear these observations. +</p> + +<p> +“Virgil is a prophet,” he replied, “and a prophet who leaves +far behind him the sibyls with their sacred verses as well as the daughter of +King Priam, and that great diviner of future things, Plato of Athens. You will +find in the fourth of his Syracusan cantos the birth of our Lord foretold in a +lancune that seems of heaven rather than of earth.<a href="#fn-5" name="fnref-5" id="fnref-5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> +In the time of my early studies, when I read for the first time +J<small>AM</small> R<small>EDIT ET</small> V<small>IRGO</small>, I felt myself +bathed in an infinite delight, but I immediately experienced intense grief at +the thought that, for ever deprived of the presence of God, the author of this +prophetic verse, the noblest that has come from human lips, was pining among +the heathen in eternal darkness. This cruel thought did not leave me. It +pursued me even in my studies, my prayers, my meditations, and my ascetic +labours. Thinkin that Virgil was deprived of the sight of God and that possibly +he might even be suffering the fate of the reprobate in hell, I could neither +enjoy peace nor rest, and I went so far as to exclaim several times a day with +my arms outstretched to heaven: +</p> + + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-5" id="fn-5"></a> <a href="#fnref-5">[5]</a> +Three centuries before the epoch in which our Marbodius lived the words—<br /> +<br /> +Maro, vates gentilium<br /> +Da Christo testimonium.<br /> +<br /> +Were sung in the churches on Christmas Day. +</p> + +<p> +“‘Reveal to me, O Lord, the lot thou hast assigned to him who sang on +earth as the angels sing in heaven!’ +</p> + +<p> +“After some years my anguish ceased when I read in an old book that the +great apostle St. Paul, who called the Gentiles into the Church of Christ, went +to Naples and sanctified with his tears the tomb of the prince of poets.<a +href="#fn-6" name="fnref-6" id="fnref-6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> This was some +ground for believing that Virgil, like the Emperor Trajan, was admitted to +Paradise because even in error he had a presentiment of the truth. We are not +compelled to believe it, but I can easily persuade myself that it is +true.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-6" id="fn-6"></a> <a href="#fnref-6">[6]</a> +Ad maronis mausoleum<br /> +Ductus, fudit super eum<br /> +Piae rorem lacrymæ.<br /> +<br /> +Quem te, intuit, reddidissem,<br /> +Si te vivum invenissem<br /> +Poetarum maxime! +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken, old Hilary wished me the peace of a holy night and +went away with Brother Jacinth. +</p> + +<p> +I resumed the delightful study of my poet. Book in hand, I meditated upon +the way in which those whom Love destroys with its cruel malady wander +through the secret paths in the depth of the myrtle forest, and, as I +meditated, the quivering reflections of the stars came and mingled with +those of the leafless eglantines in the waters of the cloister fountain. +Suddenly the lights and the perfumes and the stillness of the sky were +overwhelmed, a fierce Northwind charged with storm and darkness burst +roaring upon me. It lifted me up and carried me like a wisp of straw over +fields, cities, rivers, and mountains, and through the midst of +thunder-clouds, during a long night composed of a whole series of nights +and days. And when, after this prolonged and cruel rage, the hurricane was +at last stilled, I found myself far from my native land at the bottom of a +valley bordered by cypress trees. Then a woman of wild beauty, trailing +long garments behind her, approached me. She placed her left hand on my +shoulder, and, pointing her right arm to an oak with thick foliage: +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” said she to me. +</p> + +<p> +Immediately I recognised the Sibyl who guards the sacred wood of Avernus, +and I discerned the fair Proserpine’s beautiful golden twig amongst the +tufted boughs of the tree to which her finger pointed. +</p> + +<p> +“O prophetic Virgin,” I exclaimed, “thou hast comprehended my desire and +thou hast satisfied it in this way. Thou hast revealed to me the tree that +bears the shining twig without which none can enter alive into the +dwelling-place of the dead. And in truth, eagerly did I long to converse +with the shade of Virgil.” +</p> + +<p> +Having said this, I snatched the golden branch from its ancient trunk and +I advanced without fear into the smoking gulf that leads to the miry banks +of the Styx, upon which the shades are tossed about like dead leaves. At +sight of the branch dedicated to Proserpine, Charon took me in his bark, +which groaned beneath my weight, and I alighted on the shores of the dead, +and was greeted by the mute baying of the threefold Cerberus. I pretended +to throw the shade of a stone at him, and the vain monster fled into his +cave. There, amidst the rushes, wandered the souls of those children whose +eyes had but opened and shut to the kindly light of day, and there in a +gloomy cavern Minos judges men. I penetrated into the myrtle wood in which +the victims of love wander languishing, Phaedra, Procris, the sad +Eriphyle, Evadne, Pasiphaë Laodamia, and Cenis, and the Phœnician Dido. +Then I went through the dusty plains reserved for famous warriors. Beyond +them open two ways. That to the left leads to Tartarus, the abode of the +wicked. I took that to the right, which leads to Elysium and to the +dwellings of Dis. Having hung the sacred branch at the goddess’s door, I +reached pleasant fields flooded with purple light. The shades of +philosophers and poets hold grave converse there. The Graces and the Muses +formed sprightly choirs upon the grass. Old Homer sang, accompanying +himself upon his rustic lyre. His eyes were closed, but divine images +shone upon his lips. I saw Solon, Democritus, and Pythagoras watching the +games of the young men in the meadow, and, through the foliage of an +ancient laurel, I perceived also Hesiod, Orpheus, the melancholy +Euripides, and the masculine Sappho. I passed and recognised, as they sat +on the bank of a fresh rivulet, the poet Horace, Varius, Gallus, and +Lycoris. A little apart, leaning against the trunk of a dark holm-oak, +Virgil was gazing pensively at the grove. Of lofty stature, though spare, +he still preserved that swarthy complexion, that rustic air, that +negligent bearing, and unpolished appearance which during his lifetime +concealed his genius. I saluted him piously and remained for a long time +without speech. +</p> + +<p> +At last when my halting voice could proceed out of my throat: +</p> + +<p> +“O thou, so dear to the Ausonian Muses, thou honour of the Latin name, +Virgil,” cried I, “it is through thee I have known what beauty is, it is +through thee I have known what the tables of the gods and the beds of the +goddesses are like. Suffer the praises of the humblest of thy adorers.” +</p> + +<p> +“Arise, stranger,” answered the divine poet. “I perceive that thou art a +living being among the shades, and that thy body treads down the grass in +this eternal evening. Thou art not the first man who has descended before +his death into these dwellings, although all intercourse between us and +the living is difficult. But cease from praise; I do not like eulogies and +the confused sounds of glory have always offended my ears. That is why I +fled from Rome, where I was known to the idle and curious, and laboured in +the solitude of my beloved Parthenope. And then I am not so convinced that +the men of thy generation understand my verses that should be gratified by +thy praises. Who art thou?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am called Marbodius of the Kingdom of Alca. I made my profession in the +Abbey of Corrigan. I read thy poems by day and I read them by night. It is +thee whom I have come to see in Hell; I was impatient to know what thy +fate was. On earth the learned often dispute about it. Some hold it +probable that, having lived under the power of demons, thou art now +burning in inextinguishable flames; others, more cautious, pronounce no +opinion, believing that all which is said concerning the dead is uncertain +and full of lies; several, though not in truth the ablest, maintain that, +because thou didst elevate the tone of the Sicilian Muses and foretell +that a new progeny would descend from heaven, thou wert admitted, like the +Emperor Trajan, to enjoy eternal blessedness in the Christian heaven.” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou seest that such is not the case,” answered the shade, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“I meet thee in truth, O Virgil, among the heroes and sages in those +Elysian Fields which thou thyself hast described. Thus, contrary to what +several on earth believe, no one has come to seek thee on the part of Him +who reigns on high?” +</p> + +<p> +After a rather long silence: +</p> + +<p> +“I will conceal nought from thee. He sent for me; one of his messengers, +a simple man, came to say that I was expected, and that, although I had not +been initiated into their mysteries, in consideration of my prophetic verses, a +place had been reserved for me among those of the new sect. But I refused to +accept that invitation; I had no desire to change my place. I did so not +because I share the admiration of the Greeks for the Elysian fields, or because +I taste here those joys which caused Proserpine to lose the remembrance of her +mother. I never believed much myself in what I say about these things in the +‘Æneid.’ I was instructed by philosophers and men of science and I +had a correct foreboding of the truth. Life in hell is extremely attenuated; we +feel neither pleasure nor pain; we are as if we were not. The dead have no +existence here except such as the living lend them. Nevertheless I prefer to +remain here.” +</p> + +<p> +“But what reason didst thou give, O Virgil, for so strange a refusal?” +</p> + +<p> +“I gave excellent ones. I said to the messenger of the god that I did not +deserve the honour he brought me, and that a meaning had been given to my +verses which they did not bear. In truth I have not in my fourth Eclogue +betrayed the faith of my ancestors. Some ignorant Jews alone have +interpreted in favour of a barbarian god a verse which celebrates the +return of the golden age predicted by the Sibylline oracles. I excused +myself then on the ground that I could not occupy a place which was +destined for me in error and to which I recognised that I had no right. +Then I alleged my disposition and my tastes, which do not accord with the +customs of the new heavens. +</p> + +<p> +“‘I am not unsociable,’ said I to this man. ‘I have +shown in life a complaisant and easy disposition, although the extreme +simplicity of my habits caused me to be suspected of avarice. I kept nothing +for myself alone. My library was open to all and I have conformed my conduct to +that fine saying of Euripides, “all ought to be common among +friends.” Those praises that seemed obtrusive when I myself received them +became agreeable to me when addressed to Varius or to Macer. But at bottom I am +rustic and uncultivated. I take pleasure in the society of animals; I was so +zealous in observing them and took so much care of them that I was regarded, +not altogether wrongly, as a good veterinary surgeon. I am told that the people +of thy sect claim an immortal soul for themselves, but refuse one to the +animals. That is a piece of nonsense that makes me doubt their judgment. +Perhaps I love the flocks and the shepherds a little too much. That would not +seem right amongst you. There is a maxim to which I endeavour to conform my +actions, “Nothing too much.” More even than my feeble health my +philosophy teaches me to use things with measure. I am sober; a lettuce and +some olives with a drop of Falernian wine form all my meals. I have, indeed, to +some extent gone with strange women, but I have not delayed over long in +taverns to watch the young Syrians dance to the sound of the <i>crotalum</i>.<a +href="#fn-7" name="fnref-7" id="fnref-7"><sup>[7]</sup></a> But if I have +restrained my desires it was for my own satisfaction and for the sake of good +discipline. To fear pleasure and to fly from joy appears to me the worst insult +that one can offer to nature. I am assured that during their lives certain of +the elect of thy god abstained from food and avoided women through love of +asceticism, and voluntarily exposed themselves to useless sufferings. I should +be afraid of meeting those, criminals whose frenzy horrifies me. A poet must +not be asked to attach himself too strictly to any scientific or moral +doctrine. Moreover, I am a Roman, and the Romans, unlike the Greeks, are unable +to pursue profound speculations in a subtle manner. If they adopt a philosophy +it is above all in order to derive some practical advantages from it. Siro, who +enjoyed great renown among us, taught me the system of Epicurus and thus freed +me from vain terrors and turned me aside from the cruelties to which religion +persuades ignorant men. I have embraced the views of Pythagoras concerning the +souls of men and animals, both of which are of divine essence; this invites us +to look upon ourselves without pride and without shame. I have learnt from the +Alexandrines how the earth, at first soft and without form, hardened in +proportion as Nereus withdrew himself from it to dig his humid dwellings; I +have learned how things were formed insensibly; in what manner the rains, +falling from the burdened clouds, nourished the silent forests, and by what +progress a few animals at last began to wander over the nameless mountains. I +could not accustom myself to your cosmogony either, for it seems to me fitter +for a camel-driver on the Syrian sands than for a disciple of Aristarchus of +Samos. And what would become of me in the abode of your beatitude if I did not +find there my friends, my ancestors, my masters, and my gods, and if it is not +given to me to see Rhea’s noble son, or Venus, mother of Æneas, with her +winning smile, or Pan, or the young Dryads, or the Sylvans, or old Silenus, +with his face stained by Ægle’s purple mulberries.’ These are the +reasons which I begged that simple man to plead before the successor of +Jupiter.” +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-7" id="fn-7"></a> <a href="#fnref-7">[7]</a> +This phrase seems to indicate that, if one is to believe Macrobius, the +“Copa” is by Virgil. +</p> + +<p> +“And since then, O great shade, thou hast received no other messages?” +</p> + +<p> +“I have received none.” +</p> + +<p> +“To console themselves for thy absence, O Virgil, they have three poets, +Commodianus, Prudentius, and Fortunatus, who were all three born in those +dark plays when neither prosody nor grammar were known. But tell me, O +Mantuan, hast thou never received other intelligence of the God whose +company thou didst so deliberately refuse?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never that I remember.” +</p> + +<p> +“Hast thou not told me that I am not the first who descended alive into +these abodes and presented himself before thee?” +</p> + +<p> +“Thou dost remind me of it. A century and a half ago, or so it seems to me +(it is difficult to reckon days and years amid the shades), my profound +peace was intruded upon by a strange visitor. As I was wandering beneath +the gloomy foliage that borders the Styx, I saw rising before me a human +form more opaque and darker than that of the inhabitants of these shores. +I recognised a living person. He was of high stature, thin, with an +aquiline nose, sharp chin, and hollow cheeks. His dark eyes shot forth +fire; a red hood girt with a crown of laurels bound his lean brows. His +bones pierced through the tight brown cloak that descended to his heels. +He saluted me with deference, tempered by a sort of fierce pride, and +addressed me in a speech more obscure and incorrect than that of those +Gauls with whom the divine Julius filled both his legions and the Curia. +At last I understood that he had been born near Fiesole, in an ancient +Etruscan colony that Sulla had founded on the banks of the Arno, and which +had prospered; that he had obtained municipal honours, but that he had +thrown himself vehemently into the sanguinary quarrels which arose between +the senate, the knights, and the people, that he had been defeated and +banished, and now he wandered in exile throughout the world. He described +Italy to me as distracted by more wars and discords than in the time of my +youth, and as sighing anew for a second Augustus. I pitied his misfortune, +remembering what I myself had formerly endured. +</p> + +<p> +“An audacious spirit unceasingly disquieted him, and his mind harboured +great thoughts, but alas! his rudeness and ignorance displayed the triumph +of barbarism. He knew neither poetry, nor science, nor even the tongue of +the Greeks, and he was ignorant, too, of the ancient traditions concerning +the origin of the world and the nature of the gods. He bravely repeated +fables which in my time would have brought smiles to the little children +who were not yet old enough to pay for admission at the baths. The vulgar +easily believe in monsters. The Etruscans especially peopled hell with +demons, hideous as a sick man’s dreams. That they have not abandoned their +childish imaginings after so many centuries is explained by the +continuation and progress of ignorance and misery, but that one of their +magistrates whose mind is raised above the common level should share these +popular illusions and should be frightened by the hideous demons that the +inhabitants of that country painted on the walls of their tombs in the +time of Porsena—that is something which might sadden even a sage. My +Etruscan visitor repeated verses to me which he had composed in a new +dialect, called by him the vulgar tongue, the sense of which I could not +understand. My ears were more surprised than charmed as I heard him repeat +the same sound three or four times at regular intervals in his efforts to +mark the rhythm. That artifice did not seem ingenious to me; but it is not +for the dead to judge of novelties. +</p> + +<p> +“But I do not reproach this colonist of Sulla, born in an unhappy time, +for making inharmonious verses or for being, if it be possible, as bad a +poet as Bavius or Maevius. I have grievances against him which touch me +more closely. The thing is monstrous and scarcely credible, but when this +man returned to earth he disseminated the most odious lies about me. He +affirmed in several passages of his barbarous poems that I had served him +as a guide in the modern Tartarus, a place I know nothing of. He +insolently proclaimed that I had spoken of the gods of Rome as false and +lying gods, and that I held as the true God the present successor of +Jupiter. Friend, when thou art restored to the kindly light of day and +beholdest again thy native land, contradict those abominable falsehoods. +Say to thy people that the singer of the pious Æneas has never worshipped +the god of the Jews. I am assured that his power is declining and that his +approaching fall is manifested by undoubted indications. This news would +give me some pleasure if one could rejoice in these abodes where we feel +neither fears nor desires.” +</p> + +<p> +He spoke, and with a gesture of farewell he went away. I beheld his. shade +gliding over the asphodels without bending their stalks. I saw that it +became fainter and vaguer as it receded farther from me, and it vanished +before it reached the wood of evergreen laurels. Then I understood the +meaning of the words, “The dead have no life, but that which the living +lend them,” and I walked slowly through the pale meadow to the gate of +horn. +</p> + +<p> +I affirm that all in this writing is true.<a href="#fn-8" name="fnref-8" id="fnref-8"><sup>[8]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-8" id="fn-8"></a> <a href="#fnref-8">[8]</a> +There is in Marbodius’s narrative a passage very worthy of notice, viz., +that in which the monk of Corrigan describes Dante Alighieri such as we picture +him to ourselves to-day. The miniatures in a very old manuscript of the +“Divine Comedy,” the “Codex Venetianus,” represent the +poet as a little fat man clad in a short tunic, the skirts of which fall above +his knees. As for Virgil, he still wears the philosophical beard, in the +wood-engravings of the sixteenth century.<br /> + One would not have thought either that Marbodius, or even Virgil, could +have known the Etruscan tombs of Chiusi and Corneto, where, in fact, there are +horrible and burlesque devils closely resembling those of Orcagna. +Nevertheless, the authenticity of the “Descent of Marbodius into +Hell” is indisputable. M. du Clos des Lunes has firmly established it. To +doubt it would be to doubt palaeography itself. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0031" id="link2H_4_0031"></a> +VII. SIGNS IN THE MOON +</h2> + +<p> +At that time, whilst Penguinia was still plunged in ignorance and +barbarism, Giles Bird-catcher, a Franciscan monk, known by his writings +under the name Ægidius Aucupis, devoted himself with indefatigable zeal +to the study of letters and the sciences. He gave his nights to +mathematics and music, which he called the two adorable sisters, the +harmonious daughters of Number and Imagination. He was versed in medicine +and astrology. He was suspected of practising magic, and it seemed true +that he wrought metamorphoses and discovered hidden things. +</p> + +<p> +The monks of his convent, finding in his cell Greek books which they could +not read, imagined them to be conjuring-books, and denounced their too +learned brother as a wizard. Ægidius Aucupis fled, and reached the island +of Ireland, where he lived for thirty studious years. He went from +monastery to monastery, searching for and copying the Greek and Latin +manuscripts which they contained. He also studied physics and alchemy. He +acquired a universal knowledge and discovered notable secrets concerning +animals, plants, and stones. He was found one day in the company of a very +beautiful woman who sang to her own accompaniment on the lute, and who was +afterwards discovered to be a machine which he had himself constructed. +</p> + +<p> +He often crossed the Irish Sea to go into the land of Wales and to visit +the libraries of the monasteries there. During one of these crossings, as +he remained during the night on the bridge of the ship, he saw beneath the +waters two sturgeons swimming side by side. He had very good hearing and +he knew the language of fishes. Now he heard one of the sturgeons say to +the other: +</p> + +<p> +“The man in the moon, whom we have often seen carrying fagots on his +shoulders, has fallen into the sea.” +</p> + +<p> +And the other sturgeon said in its turn: +</p> + +<p> +“And in the silver disc there will be seen the image of two lovers kissing +each other on the mouth.” +</p> + +<p> +Some years later, having returned to his native country, Ægidius Aucupis +found that ancient learning had been restored. Manners had softened. Men +no longer pursued the nymphs of the fountains, of the woods, and of the +mountains with their insults. They placed images of the Muses and of the +modest Graces in their gardens, and they rendered her former honours to +the Goddess with ambrosial lips, the joy of men and gods. They were +becoming reconciled to nature. They trampled vain terrors beneath their +feet and raised their eyes to heaven without fearing, as they formerly +did, to read signs of anger and threats of damnation in the skies. +</p> + +<p> +At this spectacle Ægidius Aucupis remembered what the two sturgeons of +the sea of Erin had foretold. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0032" id="link2H_4_0032"></a> +BOOK IV. MODERN TIMES: TRINCO +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0033" id="link2H_4_0033"></a> +I. MOTHER ROUQUIN +</h2> + +<p> +Ægidius Aucupis, the Erasmus of the Penguins, was not mistaken; his age +was an age of free inquiry. But that great man mistook the elegances of +the humanists for softness of manners, and he did not foresee the effects +that the awaking of intelligence would have amongst the Penguins. It +brought about the religious Reformation; Catholics massacred Protestants +and Protestants massacred Catholics. Such were the first results of +liberty of thought. The Catholics prevailed in Penguinia. But the spirit +of inquiry had penetrated among them without their knowing it. They joined +reason to faith, and claimed that religion had been divested of the +superstitious practices that dishonoured it, just as in later days the +booths that the cobblers, hucksters, and dealers in old clothes had built +against the walls of the cathedrals were cleared away. The word, legend, +which at first indicated what the faithful ought to read, soon suggested +the idea of pious fables and childish tales. +</p> + +<p> +The saints had to suffer from this state of mind. An obscure canon called +Princeteau, a very austere and crabbed man, designated so great a number +of them as not worthy of having their days observed, that he was surnamed +the exposer of the saints. He did not think, for instance, that if St. +Margaret’s prayer were applied as a poultice to a woman in travail that +the pains of childbirth would be softened. +</p> + +<p> +Even the venerable patron saint of Penguinia did not escape his rigid +criticism. This is what he says of her in his “Antiquities of Alca”: +</p> + +<p> +“Nothing is more uncertain than the history, or even the existence, of St. +Orberosia. An ancient anonymous annalist, a monk of Dombes, relates that a +woman called Orberosia was possessed by the devil in a cavern where, even +down to his own days, the little boys and girls of the village used to +play at a sort of game representing the devil and the fair Orberosia. He +adds that this woman became the concubine of a horrible dragon, who +ravaged the country. Such a statement is hardly credible, but the history +of Orberosia, as it has since been related, seems hardly more worthy of +belief. The life of that saint by the Abbot Simplicissimus is three +hundred years later than the pretended events which it relates and that +author shows himself excessively credulous and devoid of all critical +faculty.” +</p> + +<p> +Suspicion attacked even the supernatural origin of the Penguins. The +historian Ovidius Capito went so far as to deny the miracle of their +transformation. He thus begins his “Annals of Penguinia”: +</p> + +<p> +“A dense obscurity envelopes this history, and it would be no exaggeration +to say that it is a tissue of puerile fables and popular tales. The +Penguins claim that they are descended from birds who were baptized by St. +Maël and whom God changed into men at the intercession of that glorious +apostle. They hold that, situated at first in the frozen ocean, their +island, floating like Delos, was brought to anchor in these +heaven-favoured seas, of which it is to-day the queen. I conclude that +this myth is a reminiscence of the ancient migrations of the Penguins.” +</p> + +<p> +In the following century, which was that of the philosophers, scepticism +became still more acute. No further evidence of it is needed than the +following celebrated passage from the “Moral Essay”: +</p> + +<p> +“Arriving we know not from whence (for indeed their origins are not very +clear), and successively invaded and conquered by four or five peoples +from the north, south, east, and west, miscegenated, interbred, +amalgamated, and commingled, the Penguins boast of the purity of their +race, and with justice, for they have become a pure race. This mixture of +all mankind, red, black, yellow, and white, round-headed and long-headed, +as formed in the course of ages a fairly homogeneous human family, and one +which is recognisable by certain features due to a community of life and +customs. +</p> + +<p> +“This idea that they belong to the best race in the world, and that they +are its finest family, inspires them with noble pride, indomitable +courage, and a hatred for the human race. +</p> + +<p> +“The life of a people is but a succession of miseries, crimes, and +follies. This is true of the Penguin nation, as of all other nations. Save +for this exception its history is admirable from beginning to end.” +</p> + +<p> +The two classic ages of the Penguins are too well-known for me to lay +stress upon them. But what has not been sufficiently noticed is the way in +which the rationalist theologians such as Canon Princeteau called into +existence the unbelievers of the succeeding age. The former employed their +reason to destroy what did not seem to them, essential to their religion; +they only left untouched the most rigid article of faith. Their +intellectual successors, being taught by them how to make use of science +and reason, employed them against whatever beliefs remained. Thus rational +theology engendered natural philosophy. +</p> + +<p> +That is why (if I may turn from the Penguins of former days to the +Sovereign Pontiff, who, to-day governs the universal Church) we cannot +admire too greatly the wisdom of Pope Pius X. in condemning the study of +exegesis as contrary to revealed truth, fatal to sound theological +doctrine, and deadly to the faith. Those clerics who maintain the rights +of science in opposition to him are pernicious doctors and pestilent +teachers, and the faithful who approve of them are lacking in either +mental or moral ballast. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of the age of philosophers, the ancient kingdom of Penguinia +was utterly destroyed, the king put to death, the privileges of the nobles +abolished, and a Republic proclaimed in the midst of public misfortunes +and while a terrible war was raging. The assembly which then governed +Penguinia ordered all the metal articles contained in the churches to be +melted down. The patriots even desecrated the tombs of the kings. It is +said that when the tomb of Draco the Great was opened, that king presented +an appearance as black as ebony and so majestic that those who profaned +his corpse fled in terror. According to other accounts, these churlish men +insulted him by putting a pipe in his mouth and derisively offering him a +glass of wine. +</p> + +<p> +On the seventeenth day of the month of Mayflowers, the shrine of St. +Orberosia, which had for five hundred years been exposed to the veneration +of the faithful in the Church of St. Maël, was transported into the +town-hall and submitted to the examination of a jury of experts appointed +by the municipality. It was made of gilded copper in shape like the nave +of a church, entirely covered with enamels and decorated with precious +stones, which latter were perceived to be false. The chapter in its +foresight had removed the rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and great balls of +rock-crystal, and had substituted pieces of glass in their place. It +contained only a little dust and a piece of old linen, which were thrown +into a great fire that had been lighted on the Place de Grève to burn the +relics of the saints. The people danced around it singing patriotic songs. +</p> + +<p> +From the threshold of their booth, which leant against the town-hall, a +man called Rouquin and his wife were watching this group of madmen. +Rouquin clipped dogs and gelded cats; he also frequented the inns. His +wife was a ragpicker and a bawd, but she had plenty of shrewdness. +</p> + +<p> +“You see, Rouquin,” said she to her man, “they are committing a sacrilege. +They will repent of it.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know nothing about it, wife,” answered Rouquin; “they, have become +philosophers, and when one is once a philosopher he is a philosopher for +ever.” +</p> + +<p> +“I tell you, Rouquin, that sooner or later they will regret what they are +doing to-day. They ill-treat the saints because they have not helped them +enough, but for all that the quails won’t fall ready cooked into their +mouths. They will soon find themselves as badly off as before, and when +they have put out their tongues for enough they will become pious again. +Sooner than people think the day will come when Penguinia will again begin +to honour her blessed patron. Rouquin, it would be a good thing, in +readiness for that day, if we kept a handful of ashes and some rags and +bones in an old pot in our lodgings. We will say that they are the relics +of St. Orberosia and that we have saved them from the flames at the peril +of our lives. I am greatly mistaken if we don’t get honour and profit out +of them. That good action might be worth a place from the Curé to sell +tapers and hire chairs in the chapel of St. Orberosia.” +</p> + +<p> +On that same day Mother Rouquin took home with her a little ashes and some +bones, and put them in an old jam-pot in her cupboard. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0034" id="link2H_4_0034"></a> +II. TRINCO +</h2> + +<p> +The sovereign Nation had taken possession of the lands of the nobility and +clergy to sell them at a low price to the middle classes and the peasants. +The middle classes and the peasants thought that the revolution was a good +thing for acquiring lands and a bad one for retaining them. +</p> + +<p> +The legislators of the Republic made terrible laws for the defence of +property, and decreed death to anyone who should propose a division of +wealth. But that did not avail the Republic. The peasants who had become +proprietors bethought themselves that though it had made them rich, the +Republic had nevertheless caused a disturbance to wealth, and they desired +a system more respectful of private property and more capable of assuring +the permanence of the new institutions. +</p> + +<p> +They had not long to wait. The Republic, like Agrippina, bore her +destroyer in her bosom. +</p> + +<p> +Having great wars to carry on, it created military forces, and these were +destined both to save it and to destroy it. Its legislators thought they +could restrain their generals by the fear of punishment, but if they +sometimes cut off the heads of unlucky soldiers they could not do the same +to the fortunate soldiers who obtained over it the advantages of having +saved its existence. +</p> + +<p> +In the enthusiasm of victory the renovated Penguins delivered themselves +up to a dragon, more terrible than that of their fables, who, like a stork +amongst frogs, devoured them for fourteen years with his insatiable beak. +</p> + +<p> +Half a century after the reign of the new dragon a young Maharajah of +Malay, called Djambi, desirous, like the Scythian Anacharsis, of +instructing himself by travel, visited Penguinia and wrote an interesting +account of his travels. I transcribe the first page of his account: +</p> + +<h3>ACCOUNT OF THE TRAVELS OF YOUNG DJAMBI IN PENGUINIA</h3> + +<p> +After a voyage of ninety days I landed at the vast and deserted port of +the Penguins and travelled over untilled fields to their ruined capital. +Surrounded by ramparts and full of barracks and arsenals it had a martial +though desolate appearance. Feeble and crippled men wandered proudly +through the streets, wearing old uniforms and carrying rusty weapons. +</p> + +<p> +“What do you want?” I was rudely asked at the gate of the city by a +soldier whose moustaches pointed to the skies. +</p> + +<p> +“Sir,” I answered, “I come as an inquirer to visit this island.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is not an island,” replied the soldier. +</p> + +<p> +“What!” I exclaimed, “Penguin Island is not an island?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir, it is an insula. It was formerly called an island, but for a +century it has been decreed that it shall bear the name of insula. It is +the only insula in the whole universe. Have you a passport?” +</p> + +<p> +“Here it is.” +</p> + +<p> +“Go and get it signed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” +</p> + +<p> +A lame guide who conducted me came to a pause in a vast square. +</p> + +<p> +“The insula,” said he, “has given birth, as you know, to Trinco, the +greatest genius of the universe, whose statue you see before you. That +obelisk standing to your right commemorates Trinco’s birth; the column +that rises to your left has Trinco crowned with a diadem upon its summit. +You see here the triumphal arch dedicated to the glory of Trinco and his +family.” +</p> + +<p> +“What extraordinary feat has Trinco performed?” I asked. +</p> + +<p> +“War.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is nothing extraordinary. We Malayans make war constantly.” +</p> + +<p> +“That may be, but Trinco is the greatest warrior of all countries and all +times. There never existed a greater conqueror than he. As you anchored in +our port you saw to the east a volcanic island called Ampelophoria, shaped +like a cone, and of small size, but renowned for its wines. And to the +west a larger island which raises to the sky a long range of sharp teeth; +for this reason it is called the Dog’s Jaws. It is rich in copper mines. +We possessed both before Trinco’s reign and they were the boundaries of +our empire. Trinco extended the Penguin dominion over the Archipelago of +the Turquoises and the Green Continent, subdued the gloomy Porpoises, and +planted his flag amid the icebergs of the Pole and on the burning sands of +the African deserts. He raised troops in all the countries he conquered, +and when his armies marched past in the wake of our own light infantry, +our island grenadiers, our hussars, our dragoons, our artillery, and our +engineers there were to be seen yellow soldiers looking in their blue +armour like crayfish standing on their tails; red men with parrots’ +plumes, tattooed with solar and Phallic emblems, and with quivers of +poisoned arrows resounding on their backs; naked blacks armed only with +their teeth and nails; pygmies riding on cranes; gorillas carrying trunks +of trees and led by an old ape who wore upon his hairy breast the cross of +the Legion of Honour. And all those troops, led to Trinco’s banner by the +most ardent patriotism, flew on from victory to victory, and in thirty +years of war Trinco conquered half the known world.” +</p> + +<p> +“What!” cried I, “you possess half of the world.” +</p> + +<p> +“Trinco conquered it for us, and Trinco lost it to us. As great in his +defeats as in his victories he surrendered all that he had conquered. He +even allowed those two islands we possessed before his time, Ampelophoria +and the Dog’s Jaws, to be taken from us. He left Penguinia impoverished +and depopulated. The flower of the insula perished in his wars. At the +time of his fall there were left in our country none but the hunchbacks +and cripples from whom we are descended. But he gave us glory.” +</p> + +<p> +“He made you pay dearly for it!” +</p> + +<p> +“Glory never costs too much,” replied my guide. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0035" id="link2H_4_0035"></a> +III. THE JOURNEY OF DOCTOR OBNUBILE +</h2> + +<p> +After a succession of amazing vicissitudes, the memory of which is in +great part lost by the wrongs of time and the bad style of historians, the +Penguins established the government of the Penguins by themselves. They +elected a diet or assembly, and invested it with the privilege of naming +the Head of the State. The latter, chosen from among the simple Penguins, +wore no formidable monster’s crest upon his head and exercised no absolute +authority over the people. He was himself subject to the laws of the +nation. He was not given the title of king, and no ordinal number followed +his name. He bore such names as Paturle, Janvion, Traffaldin, Coquenhot, +and Bredouille. These magistrates did not make war. They were not suited +for that. +</p> + +<p> +The new state received the name of Public Thing or Republic. Its partisans +were called republicanists or republicans. They were also named +Thingmongers and sometimes Scamps, but this latter name was taken in ill +part. +</p> + +<p> +The Penguin democracy did not itself govern. It obeyed a financial +oligarchy which formed opinion by means of the newspapers, and held in its +hands the representatives, the ministers, and the president. It controlled +the finances of the republic, and directed the foreign affairs of the +country as if it were possessed of sovereign power. +</p> + +<p> +Empires and kingdoms in those days kept up enormous fleets. Penguinia, +compelled to do as they did, sank under the pressure of her armaments. +Everybody deplored or pretended to deplore so grievous a necessity. +However, the rich, and those engaged in business or affairs, submitted to +it with a good heart through a spirit of patriotism, and because they +counted on the soldiers and sailors to defend their goods at home and to +acquire markets and territories abroad. The great manufacturers encouraged +the making of cannons and ships through a zeal for the national defence +and in order to obtain orders. Among the citizens of middle rank and of +the liberal professions some resigned themselves to this state of affairs +without complaining, believing that it would last for ever; others waited +impatiently for its end and thought they might be able to lead the powers +to a simultaneous disarmament. +</p> + +<p> +The illustrious Professor Obnubile belonged to this latter class. +</p> + +<p> +“War,” said he, “is a barbarity to which the progress of civilization will +put an end. The great democracies are pacific and will soon impose their +will upon the aristocrats.” +</p> + +<p> +Professor Obnubile, who had for sixty years led a solitary and retired +life in his laboratory, whither external noises did not penetrate, +resolved to observe the spirit of the peoples for himself. He began his +studies with the greatest of all democracies and set sail for New +Atlantis. +</p> + +<p> +After a voyage of fifteen days his steamer entered, during the night, the +harbour of Titanport, where thousands of ships were anchored. An iron +bridge thrown across the water and shining with lights, stretched between +two piers so far apart that Professor Obnubile imagined he was sailing on +the seas of Saturn and that he saw the marvellous ring which girds the +planet of the Old Man. And this immense conduit bore upon it more than a +quarter of the wealth of the world. The learned Penguin, having +disembarked, was waited on by automatons in a hotel forty-eight stories +high. Then he took the great railway that led to Gigantopolis, the capital +of New Atlantis. In the train there were restaurants, gaming-rooms, +athletic arenas, telegraphic, commercial, and financial offices, a +Protestant Church, and the printing-office of a great newspaper, which +latter the doctor was unable to read, as he did not know the language of +the New Atlantans. The train passed along the banks of great rivers, +through manufacturing cities which concealed the sky with the smoke from +their chimneys, towns black in the day, towns red at night, full of noise +by day and full of noise also by night. +</p> + +<p> +“Here,” thought the doctor, “is a people far too much engaged in industry +and trade to make war. I am already certain that the New Atlantans pursue +a policy of peace. For it is an axiom admitted by all economists that +peace without and peace within are necessary for the progress of commerce +and industry.” +</p> + +<p> +As he surveyed Gigantopolis, he was confirmed in this opinion. People went +through the streets so swiftly propelled by hurry that they knocked down +all who were in their way. Obnubile was thrown down several times, but +soon succeeded in learning how to demean himself better; after an hour’s +walking he himself knocked down an Atlantan. +</p> + +<p> +Having reached a great square he saw the portico of a palace in the +Classic style, whose Corinthian columns reared their capitals of +arborescent acanthus seventy metres above the stylobate. +</p> + +<p> +As he stood with his head thrown back admiring the building, a man of +modest appearance approached him and said in Penguin: +</p> + +<p> +“I see by your dress that you are from Penguinia. I know your language; I +am a sworn interpreter. This is the Parliament palace. At the present +moment the representatives of the States are in deliberation. Would you +like to be present at the sitting?” +</p> + +<p> +The doctor was brought into the hall and cast his looks upon the crowd of +legislators who were sitting on cane chairs with their feet upon their +desks. +</p> + +<p> +The president arose and, in the midst of general inattention, muttered +rather than spoke the following formulas which the interpreter immediately +translated to the doctor. +</p> + +<p> +“The war for the opening of the Mongol markets being ended to the +satisfaction of the States, I propose that the accounts be laid before the +finance committee . . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there any opposition? . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“The proposal is carried.” +</p> + +<p> +“The war for the opening of the markets of Third-Zealand being ended to +the satisfaction of the States, I propose that the accounts be laid before +the finance committee. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there any opposition? . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“The proposal is carried.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have I heard aright?” asked Professor Obnubile. “What? you an industrial +people and engaged in all these wars!” +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly,” answered the interpreter, “these are industrial wars. Peoples +who have neither commerce nor industry are not obliged to make war, but a +business people is forced to adopt a policy of conquest. The number of +wars necessarily increases with our productive activity. As soon as one of +our industries fails to find a market for its products a war is necessary +to open new outlets. It is in this way we have had a coal war, a copper +war, and a cotton war. In Third-Zealand we have killed two-thirds of the +inhabitants in order to compel the remainder to buy our umbrellas and +braces.” +</p> + +<p> +At that moment a fat man who was sitting in the middle of the assembly +ascended the tribune. +</p> + +<p> +“I claim,” said he, “a war against the Emerald Republic, which insolently +contends with our pigs for the hegemony of hams and sauces in all the +markets of the universe.” +</p> + +<p> +“Who is that legislator?” asked Doctor Obnubile. +</p> + +<p> +“He is a pig merchant.” +</p> + +<p> +“Is there any opposition?” said the President. “I put the proposition to +the vote.” +</p> + +<p> +The war against the Emerald Republic was voted with uplifted hands by a +very large majority. +</p> + +<p> +“What?” said Obnubile to the interpreter; “you have voted a war with that +rapidity and that indifference!” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh! it is an unimportant war which will hardly cost eight million +dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +“And men . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“The men are included in the eight million dollars.” +</p> + +<p> +Then Doctor Obnubile bent his head in bitter reflection. +</p> + +<p> +“Since wealth and civilization admit of as many causes of wars as poverty +and barbarism, since the folly and wickedness of men are incurable, there +remains but one good action to be done. The wise man will collect enough +dynamite to blow up this planet. When its fragments fly through space an +imperceptible amelioration will be accomplished in the universe and a +satisfaction will be given to the universal conscience. Moreover, this +universal conscience does not exist.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0036" id="link2H_4_0036"></a> +BOOK V. MODERN TIMES: CHATILLON +</h2> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0037" id="link2H_4_0037"></a> +I. THE REVEREND FATHERS AGARIC AND CORNEMUSE +</h2> + +<p> +Every system of government produces people who are dissatisfied. The +Republic or Public Thing produced them at first from among the nobles who +had been despoiled of their ancient privileges. These looked with regret +and hope to Prince Crucho, the last of the Draconides, a prince adorned +both with the grace of youth and the melancholy of exile. It also produced +them from among the smaller traders, who, owing to profound economic +causes, no longer gained a livelihood. They believed that this was the +fault of the republic which they had at first adored and from which each +day they were now becoming more detached. The financiers, both Christians +and Jews, became by their insolence and their cupidity the scourge of the +country, which they plundered and degraded, as well as the scandal of a +government which they never troubled either to destroy or preserve, so +confident were they that they could operate without hindrance under all +governments. Nevertheless, their sympathies inclined to absolute power as +the best protection against the socialists, their puny but ardent +adversaries. And just as they imitated the habits of the aristocrats, so +they imitated their political and religious sentiments. Their women, in +particular, loved the Prince and had dreams of appearing one day at his +Court. +</p> + +<p> +However, the Republic retained some partisans and defenders. If it was not +in a position to believe in the fidelity of its own officials it could at +least still count on the devotion of the manual labourers, although it had +never relieved their misery. These came forth in crowds from their +quarries and their factories to defend it, and marched in long +processions, gloomy, emaciated, and sinister. They would have died for it +because it had given them hope. +</p> + +<p> +Now, under the Presidency of Theodore Formose, there lived in a peaceable +suburb of Alca a monk called Agaric, who kept a school and assisted in +arranging marriages. In his school he taught fencing and riding to the +sons of old families, illustrious by their birth, but now as destitute of +wealth as of privilege. And as soon as they were old enough he married +them to the daughters of the opulent and despised caste of financiers. +</p> + +<p> +Tall, thin, and dark, Agaric used to walk in deep thought, with his +breviary in his hand and his brow loaded with care, through the corridors +of the school and the alleys of the garden. His care was not limited to +inculcating in his pupils abstruse doctrines and mechanical precepts and +to endowing them afterwards with legitimate and rich wives. He entertained +political designs and pursued the realisation of a gigantic plan. His +thought of thoughts and labour of labours was to overthrow the Republic. +He was not moved to this by any personal interest. He believed that a +democratic state was opposed to the holy society to which body and soul he +belonged. And all the other monks, his brethren, thought the same. The +Republic was perpetually at strife with the congregation of monks and the +assembly of the faithful. True, to plot the death of the new government +was a difficult and perilous enterprise. Still, Agaric was in a position +to carry on a formidable conspiracy. At that epoch, when the clergy guided +the superior classes of the Penguins, this monk exercised a tremendous +influence over the aristocracy of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +All the young men whom he had brought up waited only for a favourable +moment to march against the popular power. The sons of the ancient +families did not practise the arts or engage in business. They were almost +all soldiers and served the Republic. They served it, but they did not +love it; they regretted the dragon’s crest. And the fair Jewesses shared +in these regrets in order that they might be taken for Christians. +</p> + +<p> +One July as he was walking in a suburban street which ended in some dusty +fields, Agaric heard groans coming from a moss-grown well that had been +abandoned by the gardeners. And almost immediately he was told by a +cobbler of the neighbourhood that a ragged man who had shouted out “Hurrah +for the Republic!” had been thrown into the well by some cavalry officers +who were passing, and had sunk up to his ears in the mud. Agaric was quite +ready to see a general significance in this particular fact. He inferred a +great fermentation in the whole aristocratic and military caste, and +concluded that it was the moment to act. +</p> + +<p> +The next day he went to the end of the Wood of Conils to visit the good Father +Cornemuse. He found the monk in his laboratory pouring a golden-coloured liquor +into a still. He was a short, fat, little man, with vermilion-tinted cheeks and +an elaborately polished bald head. His eyes had ruby-coloured pupils like a +guinea-pig’s. He graciously saluted his visitor and offered him a glass +of the St. Orberosian <i>liqueur</i>, which he manufactured, and from the sale +of which he gained immense wealth. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric made a gesture of refusal. Then, standing on his long feet and +pressing his melancholy hat against his stomach, he remained silent. +</p> + +<p> +“Take a seat,” said Cornemuse to him. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric sat down on a rickety stool, but continued mute. +</p> + +<p> +Then the monk of Conils inquired: +</p> + +<p> +“Tell me some news of your young pupils. Have the dear children sound +views?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am very satisfied with them,” answered the teacher. “It is everything +to be nurtured in sound principles. It is necessary to have sound views +before having any views at all, for afterwards it is too late. . . . Yes, +I have great grounds for comfort. But we live in a sad age.” +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” sighed Cornemuse. +</p> + +<p> +“We are passing through evil days. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“Times of trial.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yet, Cornemuse, the mind of the public is not so entirely corrupted as it +seems.” +</p> + +<p> +“Perhaps you are right.” +</p> + +<p> +“The people are tired of a government that ruins them and does nothing for +them. Every day fresh scandals spring up. The Republic is sunk in shame. +It is ruined.” +</p> + +<p> +“May God grant it!” +</p> + +<p> +“Cornemuse, what do you think of Prince Crucho?” +</p> + +<p> +“He is an amiable young man and, I dare say, a worthy scion of an august +stock. I pity him for having to endure the pains of exile at so early an +age. Spring has no flowers for the exile, and autumn no fruits. Prince +Crucho has sound views; he respects the clergy; he practises our religion; +besides, he consumes a good deal of my little products.” +</p> + +<p> +“Cornemuse, in many homes, both rich and poor, his return is hoped for. +Believe me, he will come back.” +</p> + +<p> +“May I live to throw my mantle beneath his feet!” sighed Cornemuse. +</p> + +<p> +Seeing that he held these sentiments, Agaric depicted to him the state of +people’s minds such as he himself imagined them. He showed him the nobles +and the rich exasperated against the popular government; the army refusing +to endure fresh insults; the officials willing to betray their chiefs; the +people discontented, riot ready to burst forth, and the enemies of the +monks, the agents of the constituted authority, thrown into the wells of +Alca. He concluded that it was the moment to strike a great blow. +</p> + +<p> +“We can,” he cried, “save the Penguin people, we can deliver it from its +tyrants, deliver it from itself, restore the Dragon’s crest, re-establish +the ancient State, the good State, for the honour of the faith and the +exaltation of the Church. We can do this if we will. We possess great +wealth and we exert secret influences; by our evangelistic and outspoken +journals we communicate with all the ecclesiastics in towns and county +alike, and we inspire them with our own eager enthusiasm and our own +burning faith. They will kindle their penitents and their congregations. I +can dispose of the chiefs of the army; I have an understanding with the +men of the people. Unknown to them I sway the minds of umbrella sellers, +publicans, shopmen, gutter merchants, newspaper boys, women of the +streets, and police agents. We have more people on our side than we need. +What are we waiting for? Let us act!” +</p> + +<p> +“What do you think of doing?” asked Cornemuse. +</p> + +<p> +“Of forming a vast conspiracy and overthrowing the Republic, of +re-establishing Crucho on the throne of the Draconides.” +</p> + +<p> +Cornemuse moistened his lips with his tongue several times. Then he said +with unction: +</p> + +<p> +“Certainly the restoration of the Draconides is desirable; it is +eminently desirable; and for my part, desire it with all my heart. As for the +Republic, you know what I think of it. . . . But would it not be better to +abandon it to its fate and let it die of the vices of its own constitution? +Doubtless, Agaric, what you propose is noble and generous. It would be a fine +thing to save this great and unhappy country, to re-establish it in its ancient +splendour. But reflect on it, we are Christians before we are Penguins. And we +must take heed not to compromise religion in political enterprises.” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric replied eagerly: +</p> + +<p> +“Fear nothing. We shall hold all the threads of the plot, but we ourselves +shall remain in the background. We shall not be seen.” +</p> + +<p> +“Like flies in milk,” murmured the monk of Conils. +</p> + +<p> +And turning his keen ruby-coloured eyes towards his brother monk: +</p> + +<p> +“Take care. Perhaps the Republic is stronger than it seems. Possibly, too, +by dragging it out of the nerveless inertia in which it now rests we may +only consolidate its forces. Its malice is great; if we attack it, it will +defend itself. It makes bad laws which hardly affect us; if it is +frightened it will make terrible ones against us. Let us not lightly +engage in an adventure in which we may get fleeced. You think the +opportunity a good one. I don’t, and I am going to tell you why. The +present government is not yet known by everybody, that is to say, it is +known by nobody. It proclaims that it is the Public Thing, the common +thing. The populace believes it and remains democratic and Republican. But +patience! This same people will one day demand that the public thing be +the people’s thing. I need not tell you how insolent, unregulated, and +contrary to Scriptural polity such claims seem to me. But the people will +make them, and enforce them, and then there will be an end of the present +government. The moment cannot now be far distant; and it is then that we +ought to act in the interests of our august body. Let us wait. What +hurries us? Our existence is not in peril. It has not been rendered +absolutely intolerable to us. The Republic fails in respect and submission +to us; it does not give the priests the honours it owes them. But it lets +us live. And such is the excellence of our position that with us to live +is to prosper. The Republic is hostile to us, but women revere us. +President Formose does not assist at the celebration of our mysteries, but +I have seen his wife and daughters at my feet. They buy my phials by the +gross. I have no better clients even among the aristocracy. Let us say +what there is to be said for it. There is no country in the world as good +for priests and monks as Penguinia. In what other country would you find +our virgin wax, our virile incense, our rosaries, our scapulars, our holy +water, and our St. Orberosian liqueur sold in such great quantities? What +other people would, like the Penguins, give a hundred golden crowns for a +wave of our hands, a sound from our mouths, a movement of our lips? For my +part, I gain a thousand times more, in this pleasant, faithful, and docile +Penguinia, by extracting the essence from a bundle of thyme, than I could +make by tiring my lungs with preaching the remission of sins in the most +populous states of Europe and America. Honestly, would Penguinia be better +off if a police officer came to take me away from here and put me on a +steamboat bound for the Islands of Night?” +</p> + +<p> +Having thus spoken, the monk of Conils got up and led his guest into a +huge shed where hundreds of orphans clothed in blue were packing bottles, +nailing up cases, and gumming tickets. The ear was deafened by the noise +of hammers mingled with the dull rumbling of bales being placed upon the +rails. +</p> + +<p> +“It is from here that consignments are forwarded,” said Cornemuse. “I have +obtained from the government a railway through the Wood and a station at +my door. Every three days I fill a truck with my own products. You see +that the Republic has not killed all beliefs.” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric made a last effort to engage the wise distiller in his enterprise. +He pointed him to a prompt, certain, dazzling success. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t you wish to share in it?” he added. “Don’t you wish to bring back +your king from exile?” +</p> + +<p> +“Exile is pleasant to men of good will,” answered the monk of Conils. “If +you are guided by me, my dear Brother Agaric, you will give up your +project for the present. For my own part I have no illusions. Whether or +not I belong to your party, if you lose, I shall have to pay like you.” +</p> + +<p> +Father Agaric took leave of his friend and went back satisfied to his +school. “Cornemuse,” thought he, “not being able to prevent the plot, +would like to make it succeed and he will give money.” Agaric was not +deceived. Such, indeed, was the solidarity among priests and monks that +the acts of a single one bound them all. That was at once both their +strength and their weakness. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0038" id="link2H_4_0038"></a> +II. PRINCE CRUCHO +</h2> + +<p> +Agaric resolved to proceed without delay to Prince Crucho, who honoured +him with his familiarity. In the dusk of the evening he went out of his +school by the side door, disguised as a cattle merchant and took passage +on board the St. Maël. +</p> + +<p> +The next day he landed in Porpoisea, for it was at Chitterlings Castle on +this hospitable soil that Crucho ate the bitter bread of exile. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric met the Prince on the road driving in a motor-car with two young +ladies at the rate of a hundred miles an hour. When the monk saw him he +shook his red umbrella and the prince stopped his car. +</p> + +<p> +“Is it you, Agaric? Get in! There are already three of us, but we can make +room for you. You can take one of these young ladies on your knee.” +</p> + +<p> +The pious Agaric got in. +</p> + +<p> +“What news, worthy father?” asked the young prince. +</p> + +<p> +“Great news,” answered Agaric. “Can I speak?” +</p> + +<p> +“You can. I have nothing secret from these two ladies.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sire, Penguinia claims you. You will not be deaf to her call.” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric described the state of feeling and outlined a vast plot. +</p> + +<p> +“On my first signal,” said he, “all your partisans will rise at once. With +cross in hand and habits girded up, your venerable clergy will lead the +armed crowd into Formose’s palace. We shall carry terror and death among +your enemies. For a reward of our efforts we only ask of you, Sire, that +you will not render them useless. We entreat you to come and seat yourself +on the throne that we shall prepare.” +</p> + +<p> +The prince returned a simple answer: +</p> + +<p> +“I shall enter Alca on a green horse.” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric declared that he accepted this manly response. Although, contrary +to his custom, he had a lady on his knee, he adjured the young prince, +with a sublime loftiness of soul, to be faithful to his royal duties. +</p> + +<p> +“Sire,” he cried, with tears in his eyes, “you will live to remember the +day on which you have been restored from exile, given back to your people, +reestablished on the throne of your ancestors by the hands of your monks, +and crowned by them with the august crest of the Dragon. King Crucho, may +you equal the glory of your ancestor Draco the Great!” +</p> + +<p> +The young prince threw himself with emotion on his restorer and attempted +to embrace him, but he was prevented from reaching him by the girth of the +two ladies, so tightly packed were they all in that historic carriage. +</p> + +<p> +“Worthy father,” said he, “I would like all Penguinia to witness this +embrace.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a cheering spectacle,” said Agaric. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time the motor-car rushed like a tornado through hamlets and +villages, crushing hens, geese, turkeys, ducks, guinea-fowls, cats, dogs, +pigs, children, labourers, and women beneath its insatiable tyres. And the +pious Agaric turned over his great designs in his mind. His voice, coming +from behind one of the ladies, expressed this thought: +</p> + +<p> +“We must have money, a great deal of money.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is your business,” answered the prince. +</p> + +<p> +But already the park gates were opening to the formidable motor-car. +</p> + +<p> +The dinner was sumptuous. They toasted the Dragon’s crest. Everybody knows +that a closed goblet is a sign of sovereignty; so Prince Crucho and +Princess Gudrune, his wife, drank out of goblets that were covered-over +like ciboriums. The prince had his filled several times with the wines of +Penguinia, both white and red. +</p> + +<p> +Crucho had received a truly princely education, and he excelled in +motoring, but was not ignorant of history either. He was said to be well +versed in the antiquities and famous deeds of his family; and, indeed, he +gave a notable proof of his knowledge in this respect. As they were +speaking of the various remarkable peculiarities that had been noticed in +famous women. +</p> + +<p> +“It is perfectly true,” said he, “that Queen Crucha, whose name I bear, +had the mark of a little monkey’s head upon her body.” +</p> + +<p> +During the evening Agaric had a decisive interview with three of the +prince’s oldest councillors. It was decided to ask for funds from Crucho’s +father-in-law, as he was anxious to have a king for son-in-law, from +several Jewish ladies, who were impatient to become ennobled, and, +finally, from the Prince Regent of the Porpoises, who had promised his aid +to the Draconides, thinking that by Crucho’s restoration he would weaken +the Penguins, the hereditary enemies of his people. The three old +councillors divided among themselves the three chief offices of the Court, +those of Chamberlain, Seneschal, and High Steward, and authorised the monk +to distribute the other places to the prince’s best advantage. +</p> + +<p> +“Devotion has to be rewarded,” said the three old councillors. +</p> + +<p> +“And treachery also,” said Agaric. +</p> + +<p> +“It is but too true,” replied one of them, the Marquis of Sevenwounds, who +had experience of revolutions. +</p> + +<p> +There was dancing, and after the ball Princess Gudrune tore up her green +robe to make cockades. With her own hands she sewed a piece of it on the +monk’s breast, upon which he shed tears of sensibility and gratitude. +</p> + +<p> +M. de Plume, the prince’s equerry, set out the same evening to look for a +green horse. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0039" id="link2H_4_0039"></a> +III. THE CABAL +</h2> + +<p> +After his return to the capital of Penguinia, the Reverend Father Agaric +disclosed his projects to Prince Adélestan des Boscénos, of whose +Draconian sentiments he was well aware. +</p> + +<p> +The prince belonged to the highest nobility. The Torticol des Boscénos +went back to Brian the Good, and under the Draconides had held the highest +offices in the kingdom. In 1179, Philip Torticol, High Admiral of +Penguinia, a brave, faithful, and generous, but vindictive man, delivered +over the port of La Crique and the Penguin fleet to the enemies of the +kingdom, because he suspected that Queen Crucha, whose lover he was, had +been unfaithful to him and loved a stable-boy. It was that great queen who +gave to the Boscénos the silver warming-pan which they bear in their arms. +As for their motto, it only goes back to the sixteenth century. The story +of its origin is as follows: One gala night, as he mingled with the crowd +of courtiers who were watching the fire-works in the king’s garden, Duke +John des Boscénos approached the Duchess of Skull and put his hand under +the petticoat of that lady, who made no complaint at the gesture. The +king, happening to pass, surprised them and contented himself with saying, +“And thus I find you.” These four words became the motto of the Boscénos. +</p> + +<p> +Prince Adélestan had not degenerated from his ancestors. He preserved an +unalterable fidelity for the race of the Draconides and desired nothing so +much as the restoration of Prince Crucho, an event which was in his eyes +to be the fore-runner of the restoration of his own fortune. He therefore +readily entered into the Reverend Father Agaric’s plans. He joined himself +at once to the monk’s projects, and hastened to put him into communication +with the most loyal Royalists of his acquaintance, Count Cléna, M. de La +Trumelle, Viscount Olive, and M. Bigourd. They met together one night in +the Duke of Ampoule’s country house, six miles eastward of Alca, to +consider ways and means. +</p> + +<p> +M. de La Trumelle was in favour of legal action. +</p> + +<p> +“We ought to keep within the law,” said he in substance. “We are for +order. It is by an untiring propaganda that we shall best pursue the +realisation of our hopes. We must change the feeling of the country. Our +cause will conquer because it is just.” +</p> + +<p> +The Prince des Boscénos expressed a contrary opinion. He thought that, in +order to triumph, just causes need force quite as much and even more than +unjust causes require it. +</p> + +<p> +“In the present situation,” said he tranquilly, “three methods of action +present themselves: to hire the butcher boys, to corrupt the ministers, +and to kidnap President Formose.” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a mistake to kidnap Formose,” objected M. de La Trumelle. +“The President is on our side.” +</p> + +<p> +The attitude and sentiments of the President of the Republic are explained +by the fact that one Dracophil proposed to seize Formose while another +Dracophil regarded him as a friend. Formose showed himself favourable to +the Royalists, whose habits he admired and imitated. If he smiled at the +mention of the Dragon’s crest it was at the thought of putting it on his +own head. He was envious of sovereign power, not because he felt himself +capable of exercising it, but because he loved to appear so. According to +the expression of a Penguin chronicler, “he was a goose.” +</p> + +<p> +Prince des Boscénos maintained his proposal to march against Formose’s +palace and the House of Parliament. +</p> + +<p> +Count Cléna was even still more energetic. +</p> + +<p> +“Let us begin,” said he, “by slaughtering, disembowelling, and braining +the Republicans and all partisans of the government. Afterwards we shall +see what more need be done.” +</p> + +<p> +M. de La Trumelle was a moderate, and moderates are always moderately +opposed to violence. He recognised that Count Cléna’s policy was inspired +by a noble feeling and that it was high-minded, but he timidly objected +that perhaps it was not conformable to principle, and that it presented +certain dangers. At last he consented to discuss it. +</p> + +<p> +“I propose,” added he, “to draw up an appeal to the people. Let us show +who we are. For my own part I can assure you that I shall not hide my flag +in my pocket.” +</p> + +<p> +M. Bigourd began to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen, the Penguins are dissatisfied with the new order because it +exists, and it is natural for men to complain of their condition. But at +the same time the Penguins are afraid to change their government because +new things alarm them. They have not known the Dragon’s crest and, +although they sometimes say that they regret it, we must not believe them. +It is easy to see that they speak in this way either without thought or +because they are in an ill-temper. Let us not have any illusions about +their feelings towards ourselves. They do not like us. They hate the +aristocracy both from a base envy and from a generous love of equality. +And these two united feelings are very strong in a people. Public opinion +is not against us, because it knows nothing about us. But when it knows +what we want it will not follow us. If we let it be seen that we wish to +destroy democratic government and restore the Dragon’s crest, who will be +our partisans? Only the butcher-boys and the little shopkeepers of Alca. +And could we even count on them to the end? They are dissatisfied, but at +the bottom of their hearts they are Republicans. They are more anxious to +sell their cursed wares than to see Crucho again. If we act openly we +shall only cause alarm. +</p> + +<p> +“To make people sympathise with us and follow us we must make them believe +that we want, not to overthrow the Republic, but, on the contrary, to +restore it, to cleanse, to purify, to embellish, to adorn, to beautify, +and to ornament it, to render it, in a word, glorious and attractive. +Therefore, we ought not to act openly ourselves. It is known that we are +not favourable to the present order. We must have recourse to a friend of +the Republic, and, if we are to do what is best, to a defender of this +government. We have plenty to choose from. It would be well to prefer the +most popular and, if I dare say so, the most republican of them. We shall +win him over to us by flattery, by presents, and above all by promises. +Promises cost less than presents, and are worth more. No one gives as much +as he who gives hopes. It is not necessary for the man we choose to be of +brilliant intellect. I would even prefer him to be of no great ability. +Stupid people show an inimitable grace in roguery. Be guided by me, +gentlemen, and overthrow the Republic by the agency of a Republican. Let +us be prudent. But prudence does not exclude energy. If you need me you +will find me at your disposal.” +</p> + +<p> +This speech made a great impression upon those who heard it. The mind of +the pious Agaric was particularly impressed. But each of them was anxious +to appoint himself to a position of honour and profit. A secret government +was organised of which all those present were elected active members. The +Duke of Ampoule, who was the great financier of the party, was chosen +treasurer and charged with organising funds for the propaganda. +</p> + +<p> +The meeting was on the point of coming to an end when a rough voice was +heard singing an old air: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Boscénos est un gros cochon;<br /> +On en va faire des andouilles<br /> +Des saucisses et du jambon<br /> +Pour le réveillon des pauv’ bougres. +</p> + +<p> +It had, for two hundred years, been a well-known song in the slums of +Alca. Prince Boscénos did not like to hear it. He went down into the +street, and, perceiving that the singer was a workman who was placing some +slates on the roof of a church, he politely asked him to sing something +else. +</p> + +<p> +“I will sing what I like,” answered the man. +</p> + +<p> +“My friend, to please me. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t want to please you.” +</p> + +<p> +Prince Boscénos was as a rule good-tempered, but he was easily angered and +a man of great strength. +</p> + +<p> +“Fellow, come down or I will go up to you,” cried he, in a terrible voice. +</p> + +<p> +As the workman, astride on his coping, showed no sign of budging, the +prince climbed quickly up the staircase of the tower and attacked the +singer. He gave him a blow that broke his jaw-bone and sent him rolling +into a water-spout. At that moment seven or eight carpenters, who were +working on the rafters, heard their companion’s cry and looked through the +window. Seeing the prince on the coping they climbed along a ladder that +was leaning on the slates and reached him just as he was slipping into the +tower. They sent him, head foremost, down the one hundred and thirty-seven +steps of the spiral staircase. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0040" id="link2H_4_0040"></a> +IV. VISCOUNTESS OLIVE +</h2> + +<p> +The Penguins had the finest army in the world. So had the Porpoises. And +it was the same with the other nations of Europe. The smallest amount of +thought will prevent any surprise at this. For all armies are the finest +in the world. The second finest army, if one could exist, would be in a +notoriously inferior position; it would be certain to be beaten. It ought +to be disbanded at once. Therefore, all armies are the finest in the +world. In France the illustrious Colonel Marchand understood this when, +before the passage of the Yalou, being questioned by some journalists +about the Russo-Japanese war, he did not hesitate to describe the Russian +army as the finest in the world, and also the Japanese. And it should be +noticed that even after suffering the most terrible reverses an army does +not fall from its position of being the finest in the world. For if +nations ascribe their victories to the ability of their generals and the +courage of their soldiers, they always attribute their defeats to an +inexplicable fatality. On the other hand, navies are classed according to +the number of their ships. There is a first, a second, a third, and so on. +So that there exists no doubt as to the result of naval wars. +</p> + +<p> +The Penguins had the finest army and the second navy in the world. This +navy was commanded by the famous Chatillon, who bore the title of +Emiralbahr, and by abbreviation Emiral. It is the same word which, +unfortunately in a corrupt form, is used to-day among several European +nations to designate the highest grade in the naval service. But as there +was but one Emiral among the Penguins, a singular prestige, if I dare say +so, was attached to that rank. +</p> + +<p> +The Emiral did not belong to the nobility. A child of the people, he was +loved by the people. They were flattered to see a man who sprang from +their own ranks holding a position of honour. Chatillon was good-looking +and fortune favoured him. He was not over-addicted to thought. No event +ever disturbed his serene outlook. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father Agaric, surrendering to M. Bigourd’s reasons and +recognising that the existing government could only be destroyed by one of +its defenders, cast his eyes upon Emiral Chatillon. He asked a large sum +of money from his friend, the Reverend Father Cornemuse, which the latter +handed him with a sigh. And with this sum he hired six hundred butcher +boys of Alca to run behind Chatillon’s horse and shout, “Hurrah for the +Emiral!” Henceforth Chatillon could not take a single step without being +cheered. +</p> + +<p> +Viscountess Olive asked him for a private interview. He received her at the +Admiralty<a href="#fn-9" name="fnref-9" id="fnref-9"><sup>[9]</sup></a> in a +room decorated with anchors, shells, and grenades. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-9" id="fn-9"></a> <a href="#fnref-9">[9]</a> +Or better, <i>Emiralty</i>. +</p> + +<p> +She was discreetly dressed in greyish blue. A hat trimmed with roses covered +her pretty, fair hair. Behind her veil her eyes shone like sapphires. Although +she came of Jewish origin there was no more fashionable woman in the whole +nobility. She was tall and well shaped; her form was that of the year, her +figure that of the season. +</p> + +<p> +“Emiral,” said she, in a delightful voice, “I cannot conceal my emotion +from you. . . . It is very natural . . . before a hero.” +</p> + +<p> +“You are too kind. But tell me, Viscountess, what brings me the honour of +your visit.” +</p> + +<p> +“For a long time I have been anxious to see you, to speak to you. . . . So +I very willingly undertook to convey a message to you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Please take a seat.” +</p> + +<p> +“How still it is here.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, it is quiet enough.” +</p> + +<p> +“You can hear the birds singing.” +</p> + +<p> +“Sit down, then, dear lady.” +</p> + +<p> +And he drew up an arm-chair for her. +</p> + +<p> +She took a seat with her back to the light. +</p> + +<p> +“Emiral, I came to bring you a very important message, a message. . .” +</p> + +<p> +“Explain.” +</p> + +<p> +“Emiral, have you ever seen Prince Crucho?” +</p> + +<p> +“Never.” +</p> + +<p> +She sighed. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a great pity. He would be so delighted to see you! He esteems and +appreciates you. He has your portrait on his desk beside his mother’s. +What a pity it is he is not better known! He is a charming prince and so +grateful for what is done for him! He will be a great king. For he will be +king without doubt. He will come back and sooner than people think. . . . +What I have to tell you, the message with which I am entrusted, refers +precisely to. . .” +</p> + +<p> +The Emiral stood up. +</p> + +<p> +“Not a word more, dear lady. I have the esteem, the confidence of the +Republic. I will not betray it. And why should I betray it? I am loaded +honours and dignities.” +</p> + +<p> +“Allow me to tell you, my dear Emiral, that your honours and dignities are +far from equalling what you deserve. If your services were properly +rewarded, you would be Emiralissimo and Generalissimo, Commander-in-chief +of the troops both on land and sea. The Republic is very ungrateful to +you.” +</p> + +<p> +“All governments are more or less ungrateful.” +</p> + +<p> +“Yes, but the Republicans are jealous of you. That class of person is +always afraid of his superiors. They cannot endure the Services. +Everything that has to do with the navy and the army is odious to them. +They are afraid of you.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is possible.” +</p> + +<p> +“They are wretches; they are ruining the country. Don’t you wish to save +Penguinia? +</p> + +<p> +“In what way?” +</p> + +<p> +“By sweeping away all the rascals of the Republic, all the Republicans.” +</p> + +<p> +“What a proposal to make to me, dear lady!” +</p> + +<p> +“It is what will certainly be done, if not by you, then by some one else. +The Generalissimo, to mention him alone, is ready to throw all the +ministers, deputies, and senators into the sea, and to recall Prince +Crucho.” +</p> + +<p> +“Oh, the rascal, the scoundrel,” exclaimed the Emiral. +</p> + +<p> +“Do to him what he would do to you. The prince will know how to recognise +your services, He will give you the Constable’s sword and a magnificent +grant. I am commissioned, in the mean time, to hand you a pledge of his +royal friendship.” +</p> + +<p> +As she said these words she drew a green cockade from her bosom. +</p> + +<p> +“What is that?” asked the Emiral. +</p> + +<p> +“It is his colours which Crucho sends you.” +</p> + +<p> +“Be good enough to take them back.” +</p> + +<p> +“So that they may be offered to the Generalissimo who will accept them! . +. . No, Emiral, let me place them on your glorious breast.” +</p> + +<p> +Chatillon gently repelled the lady. But for some minutes he thought her +extremely pretty, and he felt this impression still more when two bare +arms and the rosy palms of two delicate hands touched him lightly. He +yielded almost immediately. Olive was slow in fastening the ribbon. Then +when it was done she made a low courtesy and saluted Chatillon with the +title of Constable. +</p> + +<p> +“I have been ambitious like my comrades,” answered the sailor, +“I don’t hide it, and perhaps I am so still; but upon my word of +honour, when I look at you, the only, desire I feel is for a cottage and a +heart.” +</p> + +<p> +She turned upon him the charming sapphire glances that flashed from under +her eyelids. +</p> + +<p> +“That is to be had also . . . what are you doing, Emiral?” +</p> + +<p> +“I am looking for the heart.” +</p> + +<p> +When she left the Admiralty, the Viscountess went immediately to the +Reverend Father Agaric to give an account of her visit. +</p> + +<p> +“You must go to him again, dear lady,” said that austere monk. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0041" id="link2H_4_0041"></a> +V. THE PRINCE DES BOSCÉNOS +</h2> + +<p> +Morning and evening the newspapers that had been bought by the Dracophils +proclaimed Chatillon’s praises and hurled shame and opprobrium upon the +Ministers of the Republic. Chatillon’s portrait was sold through the +streets of Alca. Those young descendants of Remus who carry plaster +figures on their heads, offered busts of Chatillon for sale upon the +bridges. +</p> + +<p> +Every evening Chatillon rode upon his white horse round the Queen’s +Meadow, a place frequented by the people of fashion. The Dracophils posted +along the Emiral’s route a crowd of needy Penguins who kept shouting: “It +is Chatillon we want.” The middle classes of Alca conceived a profound +admiration for the Emiral. Shopwomen murmured: “He is good-looking.” Women +of fashion slackened the speed of their motor-cars and kissed hands to him +as they passed, amidst the hurrahs of an enthusiastic populace. +</p> + +<p> +One day, as he went into a tobacco shop, two Penguins who were putting +letters in the box recognized Chatillon and cried at the top of their +voices: “Hurrah for the Emiral! Down with the Republicans.” All those who +were passing stopped in front of the shop. Chatillon lighted his cigar +before the eyes of a dense crowd of frenzied citizens who waved their hats +and cheered. The crowd kept increasing, and the whole town, singing and +marching behind its hero, went back with him to the Admiralty. +</p> + +<p> +The Emiral had an old comrade in arms, Under-Emiral Vulcanmould, who had +served with great distinction, a man as true as gold and as loyal as his +sword. Vulcanmould plumed himself on his thoroughgoing independence and he +went among the partisans of Crucho and the Minister of the Republic +telling both parties what he thought of them. M. Bigourd maliciously +declared that he told each party what the other party thought of it. In +truth he had on several occasions been guilty of regrettable +indiscretions, which were overlooked as being the freedoms of a soldier +who knew nothing of intrigue. Every morning he went to see Chatillon, whom +he treated with the cordial roughness of a brother in arms. +</p> + +<p> +“Well, old buffer, so you are popular,” said he to him. “Your phiz is sold +on the heads of pipes and on liqueur bottles and every drunkard in Alca +spits out your name as he rolls in the gutter. . . . Chatillon, the hero +of the Penguins! Chatillon, defender of the Penguin glory! . . . Who would +have said it? Who would have thought it?” +</p> + +<p> +And he laughed with his harsh laugh. Then changing his tone: “But, joking +aside, are you not a bit surprised at what is happening to you?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, indeed,” answered Chatillon. +</p> + +<p> +And out went the honest Vulcanmould, banging the door behind him. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Chatillon had taken a little flat at number 18 +Johannes-Talpa Street, so that he might receive Viscountess Olive. They +met there every day. He was desperately in love with her. During his +martial and neptunian life he had loved crowds of women, red, black, +yellow, and white, and some of them had been very beautiful. But before he +met the Viscountess he did not know what a woman really was. When the +Viscountess Olive called him her darling, her dear darling, he felt in +heaven and it seemed to him that the stars shone in her hair. +</p> + +<p> +She would come a little late, and, as she put her bag on the table, she +would ask pensively: +</p> + +<p> +“Let me sit on your knee.” +</p> + +<p> +And then she would talk of subjects suggested by the pious Agaric, +interrupting the conversation with sighs and kisses. She would ask him to +dismiss such and such an officer, to give a command to another, to send +the squadron here or there. And at the right moment she would exclaim: +</p> + +<p> +“How young you are, my dear!” +</p> + +<p> +And he did whatever she wished, for he was simple, he was anxious to wear +the Constable’s sword, and to receive a large grant; he did not dislike +playing a double part, he had a vague idea of saving Penguinia, and he was +in love. +</p> + +<p> +This delightful woman induced him to remove the troops that were at La +Cirque, the port where Crucho was to land. By this means it was made +certain that there would be no obstacle to prevent the prince from +entering Penguinia. +</p> + +<p> +The pious Agaric organised public meetings so as to keep up the agitation. +The Dracophils held one or two every day in some of the thirty-six +districts of Alca, and preferably in the poorer quarters. They desired to +win over the poor, for they are the most numerous. On the fourth of May a +particularly fine meeting was held in an old cattle-market, situated in +the centre of a populous suburb filled with housewives sitting on the +doorsteps and children playing in the gutters. There were present about +two thousand people, in the opinion of the Republicans, and six thousand +according to the reckoning of the Dracophils. In the audience was to be +seen the flower of Penguin society, including Prince and Princess des +Boscénos, Count Cléna, M. de La Trumelle, M. Bigourd, and several rich +Jewish ladies. +</p> + +<p> +The Generalissimo of the national army had come in uniform. He was +cheered. +</p> + +<p> +The committee had been carefully formed. A man of the people, a workman, +but a man of sound principles, M. Rauchin, the secretary of the yellow +syndicate, was asked to preside, supported by Count Cléna and M. Michaud, +a butcher. +</p> + +<p> +The government which Penguinia had freely given itself was called by such +names as cesspool and drain in several eloquent speeches. But President +Formose was spared and no mention was made of Crucho or the priests. +</p> + +<p> +The meeting was not unanimous. A defender of the modern State and of the +Republic, a manual labourer, stood up. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen,” said M. Rauchin, the chairman, “we have told you that this +meeting would not be unanimous. We are not like our opponents, we are +honest men. I allow our opponent to speak. Heaven knows what you are going +to hear. Gentlemen, I beg of you to restrain as long as you can the +expression of your contempt, your disgust, and your indignation.” +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen,” said the opponent. . . . +</p> + +<p> +Immediately he was knocked down, trampled beneath the feet of the +indignant crowd, and his unrecognisable remains thrown out of the hall. +</p> + +<p> +The tumult was still resounding when Count Cléna ascended the tribune. +Cheers took the place of groans and when silence was restored the orator +uttered these words: +</p> + +<p> +“Comrades, we are going to see whether you have blood in your veins. What +we have got to do is to slaughter, disembowel, and brain all the +Republicans.” +</p> + +<p> +This speech let loose such a thunder of applause that the old shed rocked +with it, and a cloud of acrid and thick dust fell from its filthy walls +and worm-eaten beams and enveloped the audience. +</p> + +<p> +A resolution was carried vilifying the government and acclaiming +Chatillon. And the audience departed singing the hymn of the liberator: +“It is Chatillon we want.” +</p> + +<p> +The only way out of the old market was through a muddy alley shut in by +omnibus stables and coal sheds. There was no moon and a cold drizzle was +coming down. The police, who were assembled in great numbers, blocked the +alley and compelled the Dracophils to disperse in little groups. These +were the instructions they had received from their chief, who was anxious +to check the enthusiasm of the excited crowd. +</p> + +<p> +The Dracophils who were detained in the alley kept marking time and +singing, “It is Chatillon we want.” Soon, becoming impatient of the delay, +the cause of which they did not know, they began to push those in front of +them. This movement, propagated along the alley, threw those in front +against the broad chests of the police. The latter had no hatred for the +Dracophils. In the bottom of their hearts they liked Chatillon. But it is +natural to resist aggression and strong men are inclined to make use of +their strength. For these reasons the police kicked the Dracophils with +their hob-nailed boots. As a result there were sudden rushes backwards and +forwards. Threats and cries mingled with the songs. +</p> + +<p> +“Murder! Murder! . . . It is Chatillon we want! Murder! Murder!” +</p> + +<p> +And in the gloomy alley the more prudent kept saying, “Don’t push.” Among +these latter, in the darkness, his lofty figure rising above the moving +crowd, his broad shoulders and robust body noticeable among the trampled +limbs and crushed sides of the rest, stood the Prince des Boscénos, calm, +immovable, and placid. Serenely and indulgently he waited. In the mean +time, as the exit was opened at regular intervals between the ranks of the +police, the pressure of elbows against the chests of those around the +prince diminished and people began to breathe again. +</p> + +<p> +“You see we shall soon be able to go out,” said that kindly giant, with a +pleasant smile. “Time and patience . . .” +</p> + +<p> +He took a cigar from his case, raised it to his lips and struck a match. +Suddenly, in the light of the match, he saw Princess Anne, his wife, +clasped in Count Cléna’s arms. At this sight he rushed towards them, +striking both them and those around with his cane. He was disarmed, though +not without difficulty, but he could not be separated from his opponent. +And whilst the fainting princess was lifted from arm to arm to her +carriage over the excited and curious crowd, the two men still fought +furiously. Prince des Boscénos lost his hat, his eye-glass, his cigar, his +necktie, and his portfolio full of private letters and political +correspondence; he even lost the miraculous medals that he had received +from the good Father Cornemuse. But he gave his opponent so terrible a +kick in the stomach that the unfortunate Count was knocked through an iron +grating and went, head foremost, through a glass door and into a +coal-shed. +</p> + +<p> +Attracted by the struggle and the cries of those around, the police rushed +towards the prince, who furiously resisted them. He stretched three of +them gasping at his feet and put seven others to flight, with, +respectively, a broken jaw, a split lip, a nose pouring blood, a fractured +skull, a torn ear, a dislocated collar-bone, and broken ribs. He fell, +however, and was dragged bleeding and disfigured, with his clothes in +rags, to the nearest police-station, where, jumping about and bellowing, +he spent the night. +</p> + +<p> +At daybreak groups of demonstrators went about the town singing, “It is +Chatillon we want,” and breaking the windows of the houses in which the +Ministers of the Republic lived. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0042" id="link2H_4_0042"></a> +VI. THE EMIRAL’S FALL +</h2> + +<p> +That night marked the culmination of the Dracophil movement. The Royalists +had no longer any doubt of its triumph. Their chiefs sent congratulations +to Prince Crucho by wireless telegraphy. Their ladies embroidered scarves +and slippers for him. M. de Plume had found the green horse. +</p> + +<p> +The pious Agaric shared the common hope. But he still worked to win +partisans for the Pretender. They ought, he said, to lay their foundations +upon the bed-rock. +</p> + +<p> +With this design he had an interview with three Trade Union workmen. +</p> + +<p> +In these times the artisans no longer lived, as in the days of the +Draconides, under the government of corporations. They were free, but they +had no assured pay. After having remained isolated from each other for a +long time, without help and without support, they had formed themselves +into unions. The coffers of the unions were empty, as it was not the habit +of the unionists to pay their subscriptions. There were unions numbering +thirty thousand members, others with a thousand, five hundred, two +hundred, and so forth. Several numbered two or three members only, or even +a few less. But as the lists of adherents were not published, it was not +easy to distinguish the great unions from the small ones. +</p> + +<p> +After some dark and indirect steps the pious Agaric was put into +communication in a room in the Moulin de la Galette, with comrades +Dagobert, Tronc, and Balafille, the secretaries of three unions of which +the first numbered fourteen members, the second twenty-four, and the third +only one. Agaric showed extreme cleverness at this interview. +</p> + +<p> +“Gentlemen,” said he, “you and I have not, in most respects, the same +political and social views, but there are points in which we may come to +an understanding. We have a common enemy. The government exploits you and +despises us. Help us to overthrow it; we will supply you with the means so +far as we are able, and you can in addition count on our gratitude.” +</p> + +<p> +“Fork out the tin,” said Dagobert. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father placed on the table a bag which the distiller of +Conils had given him with tears in his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +“Done!” said the three companions. +</p> + +<p> +Thus was the solemn compact sealed. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as the monk had departed, carrying with him the joy of having won +over the masses to his cause, Dagobert, Tronc, and Balafille whistled to +their wives, Amelia, Queenie, and Matilda, who were waiting in the street +for the signal, and all six holding each other’s hands, danced around the +bag, singing: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +J’ai du bon pognon,<br /> +Tu n’l’auras pas Chatillon!<br /> +Hou! Hou! la calotte! +</p> + +<p> +And they ordered a salad-bowl full of warm wine. +</p> + +<p> +In the evening all six went through the street from stall to stall singing +their new song. The song became popular, for the detectives reported that +every day showed an increase of the number of workpeople who sang through +the slums: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +J’ai du bon pognon;<br /> +Tu n’l’auras pas Chatillon!<br /> +Hou! Hou! la calotte! +</p> + +<p> +The Dracophil agitation made no progress in the provinces. The pious +Agaric sought to find the cause of this, but was unable to discover it +until old Cornemuse revealed it to him. +</p> + +<p> +“I have proofs,” sighed the monk of Conils, “that the Duke of Ampoule, the +treasurer of the Dracophils, has brought property in Porpoisia with the +funds that he received for the propaganda.” +</p> + +<p> +The party wanted money. Prince des Boscénos had lost his portfolio in a +brawl and he was reduced to painful expedients which were repugnant to his +impetuous character. The Viscountess Olive was expensive. Cornemuse +advised that the monthly allowance of that lady should be diminished. +</p> + +<p> +“She is very useful to us,” objected the pious Agaric. +</p> + +<p> +“Undoubtedly,” answered Cornemuse, “but she does us an injury by ruining +us.” +</p> + +<p> +A schism divided the Dracophils. Misunderstandings reigned in their +councils. Some wished that in accordance with the policy of M. Bigourd and +the pious Agaric, they should carry on the design of reforming the +Republic. Others, wearied by their long constraint, had resolved to +proclaim the Dragon’s crest and swore to conquer beneath that sign. +</p> + +<p> +The latter urged the advantage of a clear situation and the impossibility +of making a pretence much longer, and in truth, the public began to see +whither the agitation was tending and that the Emiral’s partisans wanted +to destroy the very foundations of the Republic. +</p> + +<p> +A report was spread that the prince was to land at La Cirque and make his +entry into Alca on a green horse. +</p> + +<p> +These rumours excited the fanatical monks, delighted the poor nobles, +satisfied the rich Jewish ladies, and put hope in the hearts of the small +traders. But very few of them were inclined to purchase these benefits at +the price of a social catastrophe and the overthrow of the public credit; +and there were fewer still who would have risked their money, their peace, +their liberty, or a single hour from their pleasures in the business. On +the other hand, the workmen held themselves ready, as ever, to give a +day’s work to the Republic, and a strong resistance was being formed in +the suburbs. +</p> + +<p> +“The people are with us,” the pious Agaric used to say. +</p> + +<p> +However, men, women, and children, when leaving their factories, used to +shout with one voice: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +A bas Chatillon!<br /> +Hou! Hou! la calotte! +</p> + +<p> +As for the government, it showed the weakness, indecision, flabbiness, and +heedlessness common to all governments, and from which none has ever +departed without falling into arbitrariness and violence. In three words +it knew nothing, wanted nothing, and would do nothing. Formose, shut in +his presidential palace, remained blind, dumb, deaf, huge, invisible, +wrapped up in his pride as in an eider-down. +</p> + +<p> +Count Olive advised the Dracophils to make a last appeal for funds and to +attempt a great stroke while Alca was still in a ferment. +</p> + +<p> +An executive committee, which he himself had chosen, decided to kidnap the +members of the Chamber of Deputies, and considered ways and means. +</p> + +<p> +The affair was fixed for the twenty-eighth of July. On that day the sun +rose radiantly over the city. In front of the legislative palace women +passed to market with their baskets; hawkers cried their peaches, pears, +and grapes; cab horses with their noses in their bags munched their hay. +Nobody expected anything, not because the secret had been kept but because +it met with nothing but unbelievers. Nobody believed in a revolution, and +from this fact we may conclude that nobody desired one. About two o’clock +the deputies began to pass, few and unnoticed, through the side-door of +the palace. At three o’clock a few groups of badly dressed men had formed. +At half past three black masses coming from the adjacent streets spread +over Revolution Square. This vast expanse was soon covered by an ocean of +soft hats, and the crowd of demonstrators, continually increased by +sight-seers, having crossed the bridge, struck its dark wave against the +walls of the legislative enclosure. Cries, murmurs, and songs went up to +the impassive sky. “It is Chatillon we want!” “Down with the Deputies!” +“Down with the Republicans!” “Death to the Republicans!” The devoted band +of Dracophils, led by Prince des Boscénos, struck up the august canticle: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Vive Crucho,<br /> +Vaillant et sage,<br /> +Plein de courage<br /> +Des le berceau! +</p> + +<p> +Behind the wall silence alone replied. +</p> + +<p> +This silence and the absence of guards encouraged and at the same time +frightened the crowd. Suddenly a formidable voice cried out: +</p> + +<p> +“Attack!” +</p> + +<p> +And Prince des Boscénos was seen raising his gigantic form to the top of +the wall, which was covered with barbs and iron spikes. Behind him rushed +his companions, and the people followed. Some hammered against the wall to +make holes in it; others endeavoured to tear down the spikes and to pull +out the barbs. These defences had given way in places and some of the +invaders had stripped the wall and were sitting astride on the top. Prince +des Boscénos was waving an immense green flag. Suddenly the crowd wavered +and from it came a long cry of terror. The police and the Republican +carabineers issuing out of all the entrances of the palace formed +themselves into a column beneath the wall and in a moment it was cleared +of its besiegers. After a long moment of suspense the noise of arms was +heard, and the police charged the crowd with fixed bayonets. An instant +afterwards and on the deserted square strewn with hats and walking-sticks +there reigned a sinister silence. Twice again the Dracophils attempted to +form, twice they were repulsed. The rising was conquered. But Prince des +Boscénos, standing on the wall of the hostile palace, his flag in his +hand, still repelled the attack of a whole brigade. He knocked down all +who approached him. At last he, too, was thrown down, and fell on an iron +spike, to which he remained hooked, still clasping the standard of the +Draconides. +</p> + +<p> +On the following day the Ministers of the Republic and the Members of +Parliament determined to take energetic measures. In vain, this time, did +President Formose attempt to evade his responsibilities. The government +discussed the question of depriving Chatillon of his rank and dignities +and of indicting him before the High Court as a conspirator, an enemy of +the public good, a traitor, etc. +</p> + +<p> +At this news the Emiral’s old companions in arms, who the very evening +before had beset him with their adulations, made no effort to conceal +their joy. But Chatillon remained popular with the middle classes of Alca +and one still heard the hymn of the liberator sounding in the streets, “It +is Chatillon we want.” +</p> + +<p> +The Ministers were embarrassed. They intended to indict Chatillon before +the High Court. But they knew nothing; they remained in that total +ignorance reserved for those who govern men. They were incapable of +advancing any grave charges against Chatillon. They could supply the +prosecution with nothing but the ridiculous lies of their spies. +Chatillon’s share in the plot and his relations with Prince Crucho +remained the secret of the thirty thousand Dracophils. The Ministers and +the Deputies had suspicions and even certainties, but they had no proofs. +The Public Prosecutor said to the Minister of justice: “Very little is +needed for a political prosecution! but I have nothing at all and that is +not enough.” The affair made no progress. The enemies of the Republic were +triumphant. +</p> + +<p> +On the eighteenth of September the news ran in Alca that Chatillon had +taken flight. Everywhere there was surprise and astonishment. People +doubted, for they could not understand. +</p> + +<p> +This is what had happened: One day as the brave Under-Emiral Vulcanmould +happened, as if by chance, to go into the office of M. Barbotan, the +Minister of Foreign Affairs, he remarked with his usual frankness: +</p> + +<p> +“M. Barbotan, your colleagues do not seem to me to be up to much; it is +evident that they have never commanded a ship. That fool Chatillon gives +them a deuced bad fit of the shivers.” +</p> + +<p> +The Minister, in sign of denial, waved his paper-knife in the air above +his desk. +</p> + +<p> +“Don’t deny it,” answered Vulcanmould. “You don’t know how to get rid of +Chatillon. You do not dare to indict him before the High Court because you +are not sure of being able to bring forward a strong enough charge. +Bigourd will defend him, and Bigourd is a clever advocate. . . . You are +right, M. Barbotan, you are right. It would be a dangerous trial.” +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! my friend,” said the Minister, in a careless tone, “if you knew how +satisfied we are. . . . I receive the most reassuring news from my +prefects. The good sense of the Penguins will do justice to the intrigues +of this mutinous soldier. Can you suppose for a moment that a great +people, an intelligent, laborious people, devoted to liberal institutions +which. . .” +</p> + +<p> +Vulcanmould interrupted with a great sigh: +</p> + +<p> +“Ah! If I had time to do it I would relieve you of your difficulty. I +would juggle away my Chatillon like a nutmeg out of a thimble. I would +fillip him off to Porpoisia.” +</p> + +<p> +The Minister paid close attention. +</p> + +<p> +“It would not take long,” continued the sailor. “I would rid you in a +trice of the creature. . . . But just now I have other fish to fry. . . . +I am in a bad hole. I must find a pretty big sum. But, deuce take it, +honour before everything.” +</p> + +<p> +The Minister and the Under-Emiral looked at each other for a moment in +silence. Then Barbotan said with authority: +</p> + +<p> +“Under-Emiral Vulcanmould, get rid of this seditious soldier. You will +render a great service to Penguinia, and the Minister of Home Affairs will +see that your gambling debts are paid.” +</p> + +<p> +The same evening Vulcanmould called on Chatillon and looked at him for +some time with an expression of grief and mystery. +</p> + +<p> +“My do you look like that?” asked the Emiral in an uneasy tone. +</p> + +<p> +Vulcanmould said to him sadly: +</p> + +<p> +“Old brother in arms, all is discovered. For the past half-hour the +government knows everything.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words Chatillon sank down overwhelmed. +</p> + +<p> +Vulcanmould continued: +</p> + +<p> +“You may be arrested any moment. I advise you to make off.” +</p> + +<p> +And drawing out his watch: +</p> + +<p> +“Not a minute to lose.” +</p> + +<p> +“Have I time to call on the Viscountess Olive?” +</p> + +<p> +“It would be mad,” said Vulcanmould, handing him a passport and a pair of +blue spectacles, and telling him to have courage. +</p> + +<p> +“I will,” said Chatillon. +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye! old chum.” +</p> + +<p> +“Good-bye and thanks! You have saved my life.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is the least I could do.” +</p> + +<p> +A quarter of an hour later the brave Emiral had left the city of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +He embarked at night on an old cutter at La Cirque and set sail for +Porpoisia. But eight miles from the coast he was captured by a +despatch-boat which was sailing without lights and which was under, the +flag of the Queen of the Black Islands. That Queen had for a long time +nourished a fatal passion for Chatillon. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0043" id="link2H_4_0043"></a> +VII. CONCLUSION +</h2> + +<p> +<i>Nunc est bibendum</i>. Delivered from its fears and pleased at having +escaped from so great a danger, the government resolved to celebrate the +anniversary of the Penguin regeneration and the establishment of the Republic +by holding a general holiday. +</p> + +<p> +President Formose, the Ministers, and the members of the Chamber and of +the Senate were present at the ceremony. +</p> + +<p> +The Generalissimo of the Penguin army was present in uniform. He was +cheered. +</p> + +<p> +Preceded by the black flag of misery and the red flag of revolt, +deputations of workmen walked in the procession, their aspect one of grim +protection. +</p> + +<p> +President, Ministers, Deputies, officials, heads of the magistracy and of +the army, each, in their own names and in the name of the sovereign +people, renewed the ancient oath to live in freedom or to die. It was an +alternative upon which they were resolutely determined. But they preferred +to live in freedom. There were games, speeches, and songs. +</p> + +<p> +After the departure of the representatives of the State the crowd of +citizens separated slowly and peaceably, shouting out, “Hurrah for the +Republic!” “Hurrah for liberty!” “Down with the shaven pates!” +</p> + +<p> +The newspapers mentioned only one regrettable incident that happened on +that wonderful day. Prince des Boscénos was quietly smoking a cigar in the +Queen’s Meadow when the State procession passed by. The prince approached +the Minister’s carriage and said in a loud voice: “Death to the +Republicans!” He was immediately apprehended by the police, to whom he +offered a most desperate resistance. He knocked them down in crowds, but +he was conquered by numbers, and, bruised, scratched, swollen, and +unrecognisable even to the eyes of his wife, he was dragged through the +joyous streets into an obscure prison. +</p> + +<p> +The magistrates carried on the case against Chatillon in a peculiar style. +Letters were found at the Admiralty which revealed the complicity of the +Reverend Father Agaric in the plot. Immediately public opinion was +inflamed against the monks, and Parliament voted, one after the other, a +dozen laws which restrained, diminished, limited, prescribed, suppressed, +determined, and curtailed, their rights, immunities, exemptions, +privileges, and benefits, and created many invalidating disqualifications +against them. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father Agaric steadfastly endured the rigour of the laws +which struck himself personally, as well as the terrible fall of the +Emiral of which he was the chief cause. Far from yielding to evil fortune, +he regarded it as but a bird of passage. He was planning new political +designs more audacious than the first. +</p> + +<p> +When his projects were sufficiently ripe he went one day to the Wood of +Conils. A thrush sang in a tree and a little hedgehog crossed the stony +path in front of him with awkward steps. Agaric walked with great strides, +muttering fragments of sentences to himself. +</p> + +<p> +When he reached the door of the laboratory in which, for so many years, the +pious manufacturer had distilled the golden liqueur of St. Orberosia, he found +the place deserted and the door shut. Having walked around the building he saw +in the backyard the venerable Cornemuse, who, with his habit pinned up, was +climbing a ladder that leant against the wall. +</p> + +<p> +“Is that you, my dear friend?” said he to him. “What are you doing there?” +</p> + +<p> +“You can see for yourself,” answered the monk of Conils in a feeble +voice, turning a sorrowful look upon Agaric. “I am going into my +house.” +</p> + +<p> +The red pupils of his eyes no longer imitated the triumph and brilliance +of the ruby, they flashed mournful and troubled glances. His countenance +had lost its happy fulness. His shining head was no longer pleasant to the +sight; perspiration and inflamed blotches bad altered its inestimable +perfection. +</p> + +<p> +“I don’t understand,” said Agaric. +</p> + +<p> +“It is easy enough to understand. You see the consequences of your plot. +Although a multitude of laws are directed against me I have managed to +elude the greater number of them. Some, however, have struck me. These +vindictive men have closed my laboratories and my shops, and confiscated +my bottles, my stills, and my retorts. They have put seals on my doors and +now I am compelled to go in through the window. I am barely able to +extract in secret and from time to time the juice of a few plants and that +with an apparatus which the humblest labourer would despise.” +</p> + +<p> +“You suffer from the persecution,” said Agaric. “It strikes us all.” +</p> + +<p> +The monk of Conils passed his hand over his afflicted brow: +</p> + +<p> +“I told you so, Brother Agaric; I told you that your enterprise would turn +against ourselves.” +</p> + +<p> +“Our defeat is only momentary,” replied Agaric eagerly. “It is due to +purely accidental causes; it results from mere contingencies. Chatillon +was a fool; he has drowned himself in his own ineptitude. Listen to me, +Brother Cornemuse. We have not a moment to lose. We must free the Penguin +people, we must deliver them from their tyrants, save them from +themselves, restore the Dragon’s crest, reestablish the ancient State, the +good State, for the honour of religion and the exaltation of the Catholic +faith. Chatillon was a bad instrument; he broke in our hands. Let us take +a better instrument to replace him. I have the man who will destroy this +impious democracy. He is a civil official; his name is Gomoru. The +Penguins worship him, He has already betrayed his party for a plate of +rice. There’s the man we want!” +</p> + +<p> +At the beginning of this speech the monk of Conils had climbed into his +window and pulled up the ladder. +</p> + +<p> +“I foresee,” answered he, with his nose through the sash, “that you will +not stop until you have us all expelled from this pleasant, agreeable, and +sweet land of Penguinia. Good night; God keep you!” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric, standing before the wall, entreated his dearest brother to listen +to him for a moment: +</p> + +<p> +“Understand your own interest better, Cornemuse! Penguinia is ours. What +do we need to conquer it? just one effort more . . . one more little +sacrifice of money and . . .” +</p> + +<p> +But without listening further, the monk of Conils drew in his head and +closed his window. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0044" id="link2H_4_0044"></a> +BOOK VI. MODERN TIMES: THE AFFAIR OF THE EIGHTY THOUSAND TRUSSES OF HAY +</h2> + +<p class="poem"> +Ζεῦ πάτερ ἀλλὰ σὺ ρῦσαι ὑπ᾽ ἠέρος υἷας Αχαιῶν,<br /> +ποίησον δ᾽αἴθρην, δὸς δ᾽ὀφθαλμοῖ σιν ἰδέσθαι·<br /> +ἐν δὲ φάιει καὶ ὄλεσσον ἐπεί νύ τοι εὔαδεν οὕτως.<a href="#fn-10" name="fnref-10" id="fnref-10"><sup>[10]</sup></a><br /> +(Iliad, xvii. 645 <i>et seq</i>.) +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-10" id="fn-10"></a> <a href="#fnref-10">[10]</a> +O Father Zeus, only save thou the sons of the Acheans from the darkness, and +make clear sky and vouchsafe sight to our eyes, and then, so it be but light, +slay us, since such is thy good pleasure. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0045" id="link2H_4_0045"></a> +I. GENERAL GREATAUK, DUKE OF SKULL +</h2> + +<p> +A short time after the flight of the Emiral, a middle-class Jew called +Pyrot, desirous of associating with the aristocracy and wishing to serve +his country, entered the Penguin army. The Minister of War, who at the +time was Greatauk, Duke of Skull, could not endure him. He blamed him for +his zeal, his hooked nose, his vanity, his fondness for study, his thick +lips, and his exemplary conduct. Every time the author of any misdeed was +looked for, Greatauk used to say: +</p> + +<p> +“It must be Pyrot!” +</p> + +<p> +One morning General Panther, the Chief of the Staff, informed Greatauk of +a serious matter. Eighty thousand trusses of hay intended for the cavalry +had disappeared and not a trace of them was to be found. +</p> + +<p> +Greatauk exclaimed at once: +</p> + +<p> +“It must be Pyrot who has stolen them!” +</p> + +<p> +He remained in thought for some time and said: “The more I think of it the +more I am convinced that Pyrot has stolen those eighty thousand trusses of +hay. And I know it by this: he stole them in order that he might sell them +to our bitter enemies the Porpoises. What an infamous piece of treachery! +</p> + +<p> +“There is no doubt about it,” answered Panther; “it only remains to prove +it.” +</p> + +<p> +The same day, as he passed by a cavalry barracks, Prince des Boscénos +heard the troopers as they were sweeping out the yard, singing: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Boscénos est un gros cochon;<br /> +On en va faire des andouilles,<br /> +Des saucisses et du jambon<br /> +Pour le réveillon des pauv’ bougres. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to him contrary to all discipline that soldiers should sing this +domestic and revolutionary refrain which on days of riot had been uttered +by the lips of jeering workmen. On this occasion he deplored the moral +degeneration of the army, and thought with a bitter smile that his old +comrade Greatauk, the head of this degenerate army, basely exposed him to +the malice of an unpatriotic government. And he promised himself that he +would make an improvement before long. +</p> + +<p> +“That scoundrel Greatauk,” said he to himself, “will, not remain long a +Minister.” +</p> + +<p> +Prince des Boscénos was the most irreconcilable of the opponents of modern +democracy, free thought, and the government which the Penguins had +voluntarily given themselves. He had a vigorous and undisguised hatred for +the Jews, and he worked in public and in private, night and day, for the +restoration of the line of the Draconides. His ardent royalism was still +further excited by the thought of his private affairs, which were in a bad +way and were hourly growing worse. He had no hope of seeing an end to his +pecuniary embarrassments until the heir of Draco the Great entered the +city of Alca. +</p> + +<p> +When he returned to his house, the prince took out of his safe a bundle of +old letters consisting of a private correspondence of the most secret +nature, which he had obtained from a treacherous secretary. They proved +that his old comrade Greatauk, the Duke of Skull, had been guilty of +jobbery regarding the military stores and had received a present of no +great value from a manufacturer called Maloury. The very smallness of this +present deprived the Minister who had accepted it of all excuse. +</p> + +<p> +The prince re-read the letters with a bitter satisfaction, put them +carefully back into his safe, and dashed to the Minister of War. He was a +man of resolute character. On being told that the Minister could see no +one he knocked down the ushers, swept aside the orderlies, trampled under +foot the civil and military clerks, burst through the doors, and entered +the room of the astonished Greatauk. +</p> + +<p> +“I will not say much,” said he to him, “but I will speak to +the point. You are a confounded cad. I have asked you to put a flea in the ear +of General Mouchin, the tool of those Republicans, and you would not do it. I +have asked you to give a command to General des Clapiers, who works for the +Dracophils, and who has obliged me personally, and you would not do it. I have +asked you to dismiss General Tandem, the commander of Port Alca, who robbed me +of fifty louis at cards, and who had me handcuffed when I was brought before +the High Court as Emiral Chatillon’s accomplice. You would not do it. I +asked you for the hay and bran stores. You would not give them. I asked you to +send me on a secret mission to Porpoisia. You refused. And not satisfied with +these repeated refusals you have designated me to your Government colleagues as +a dangerous person, who ought to be watched, and it is owing to you that I have +been shadowed by the police. You old traitor! I ask nothing more from you and I +have but one word to say to you: Clear out; you have bothered us too long. +Besides, we will force the vile Republic to replace you by one of our own +party. You know that I am a man of my word. If in twenty-four hours you have +not handed in your resignation I will publish the Maloury <i>dossier</i> in the +newspapers.” +</p> + +<p> +But Greatauk calmly and serenely replied: +</p> + +<p> +“Be quiet, you fool. I am just having a Jew transported. I am handing over +Pyrot to justice as guilty of having stolen eighty thousand trusses of +hay.” +</p> + +<p> +Prince Boscénos, whose anger vanished like a dream, smiled. +</p> + +<p> +“Is that true?” +</p> + +<p> +“You will see.” +</p> + +<p> +“My congratulations, Greatauk. But as one always needs to take precautions +with you I shall immediately publish the good news. People will read this +evening about Pyrot’s arrest in every newspaper in Alca . . . .” +</p> + +<p> +And he went away muttering: +</p> + +<p> +“That Pyrot! I suspected he would come to a bad end.” +</p> + +<p> +A moment later General Panther appeared before Greatauk. +</p> + +<p> +“Sir,” said he, “I have just examined the business of the eighty thousand +trusses of hay. There is no evidence against Pyrot.” +</p> + +<p> +“Let it be found,” answered Greatauk. “Justice requires it. Have Pyrot +arrested at once.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0046" id="link2H_4_0046"></a> +II. PYROT +</h2> + +<p> +All Penguinia heard with horror of Pyrot’s crime; at the same time there +was a sort of satisfaction that this embezzlement combined with treachery +and even bordering on sacrilege, had been committed by a Jew. In order to +understand this feeling it is necessary to be acquainted with the state of +public opinion regarding the Jews both great and small. As we have had +occasion to say in this history, the universally detested and all powerful +financial caste was composed of Christians and of Jews. The Jews who +formed part of it and on whom the people poured all their hatred were the +upper-class Jews. They possessed immense riches and, it was said, held +more than a fifth part of the total property of Penguinia. Outside this +formidable caste there was a multitude of Jews of a mediocre condition, +who were not more loved than the others and who were feared much less. In +every ordered State, wealth is a sacred thing: in democracies it is the +only sacred thing. Now the Penguin State was democratic. Three or four +financial companies exercised a more extensive, and above all, more +effective and continuous power, than that of the Ministers of the +Republic. The latter were puppets whom the companies ruled in secret, whom +they compelled by intimidation or corruption to favour themselves at the +expense of the State, and whom they ruined by calumnies in the press if +they remained honest. In spite of the secrecy of the Exchequer, enough +appeared to make the country indignant, but the middle-class Penguins had, +from the greatest to the least of them, been brought up to hold money in +great reverence, and as they all had property, either much or little, they +were strongly impressed with the solidarity of capital and understood that +a small fortune is not safe unless a big one is protected. For these +reasons they conceived a religious respect for the Jews’ millions, and +self-interest being stronger with them than aversion, they were as much +afraid as they were of death to touch a single hair of one of the rich +Jews whom they detested. Towards the poorer Jews they felt less +ceremonious and when they saw any of them down they trampled on them. That +is why the entire nation learnt with thorough satisfaction that the +traitor was a Jew. They could take vengeance on all Israel in his person +without any fear of compromising the public credit. +</p> + +<p> +That Pyrot had stolen the eighty thousand trusses of hay nobody hesitated +for a moment to believe. No one doubted because the general ignorance in +which everybody was concerning the affair did not allow of doubt, for +doubt is a thing that demands motives. People do not doubt without reasons +in the same way that people believe without reasons. The thing was not +doubted because it was repeated everywhere and, with the public, to repeat +is to prove. It was not doubted because people wished to believe Pyrot +guilty and one believes what one wishes to believe. Finally, it was not +doubted because the faculty of doubt is rare amongst men; very few minds +carry in them its germs and these are not developed without cultivation. +Doubt is singular, exquisite, philosophic, immoral, transcendent, +monstrous, full of malignity, injurious to persons and to property, +contrary to the good order of governments, and to the prosperity of +empires, fatal to humanity, destructive of the gods, held in horror by +heaven and earth. The mass of the Penguins were ignorant of doubt: it +believed in Pyrot’s guilt and this conviction immediately became one of +its chief national beliefs and an essential truth in its patriotic creed. +</p> + +<p> +Pyrot was tried secretly and condemned. +</p> + +<p> +General Panther immediately went to the Minister of War to tell him the +result. +</p> + +<p> +“Luckily,” said he, “the judges were certain, for they had no proofs.” +</p> + +<p> +“Proofs,” muttered Greatauk, “Proofs, what do they prove? There is only +one certain, irrefragable proof—the confession of the guilty person. +Has Pyrot confessed?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, General.” +</p> + +<p> +“He will confess, he ought to. Panther, we must induce him; tell him it is +to his interest. Promise him that, if he confesses, he will obtain +favours, a reduction of his sentence, full pardon; promise him that if he +confesses his innocence will be admitted, that he will be decorated. +Appeal to his good feelings. Let him confess from patriotism, for the +flag, for the sake of order, from respect for the hierarchy, at the +special command of the Minister of War militarily. . . . But tell me, +Panther, has he not confessed already? There are tacit confessions; +silence is a confession.” +</p> + +<p> +“But, General, he is not silent; he keeps on squealing like a pig that he +is innocent.” +</p> + +<p> +“Panther, the confessions of a guilty man sometimes result from the +vehemence of his denials. To deny desperately is to confess. Pyrot has +confessed; we must have witnesses of his confessions, justice requires +them.” +</p> + +<p> +There was in Western Penguinia a seaport called La Cirque, formed of three +small bays and formerly greatly frequented by ships, but now solitary and +deserted. Gloomy lagoons stretched along its low coasts exhaling a pestilent +odour, while fever hovered over its sleepy waters. Here, on the borders of the +sea, there was built a high square tower, like the old Campanile at Venice, +from the side of which, close to the summit hung an open cage which was +fastened by a chain to a transverse beam. In the times of the Draconides the +Inquisitors of Alca used to put heretical clergy into this cage. It had been +empty for three hundred years, but now Pyrot was imprisoned in it under the +guard of sixty warders, who lived in the tower and did not lose sight of him +night or day, spying on him for confessions that they might afterwards report +to the Minister of War. For Greatauk, careful and prudent, desired confessions +and still further confessions. Greatauk, who was looked upon as a fool, was in +reality a man of great ability and full of rare foresight. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Pyrot, burnt by the sun, eaten by mosquitoes, soaked in +the rain, hail and snow, frozen by the cold, tossed about terribly by the +wind, beset by the sinister croaking of the ravens that perched upon his +cage, kept writing down his innocence on pieces torn off his shirt with a +tooth-pick dipped in blood. These rags were lost in the sea or fell into +the hands of the gaolers. But Pyrot’s protests moved nobody because his +confessions had been published. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0047" id="link2H_4_0047"></a> +III. COUNT DE MAUBEC DE LA DENTDULYNX +</h2> + +<p> +The morals of the Jews were not always pure; in most cases they were averse +from none of the vices of Christian civilization, but they retained from the +Patriarchal age a recognition of family, ties and an attachment to the +interests of the tribe. Pyrot’s brothers, half-brothers, uncles, +great-uncles, first, second, and third cousins, nephews and great-nephews, +relations by blood and relations by marriage, and all who were related to him +to the number of about seven hundred, were at first overwhelmed by the blow +that had struck their relative, and they shut themselves up in their houses, +covering themselves with ashes and blessing the hand that had chastised them. +For forty days they kept a strict fast. Then they bathed themselves and +resolved to search, without rest, at the cost of any toil and at the risk of +every danger, for the demonstration of an innocence which they did not doubt. +And how could they have doubted? Pyrot’s innocence had been revealed to +them in the same way that his guilt had been revealed to Christian +Penguinia’s; for these things, being hidden, assume a mystic character +and take on the authority of religious truths. The seven hundred Pyrotists set +to work with as much zeal as prudence, and made the most thorough inquiries in +secret. They were everywhere; they were seen nowhere. One would have said that, +like the pilot of Ulysses, they wandered freely over the earth. They penetrated +into the War Office and approached, under different disguises, the judges, the +registrars, and the witnesses of the affair. Then Greatauk’s cleverness +was seen. The witnesses knew nothing; the judges and registrars knew nothing. +Emissaries reached even Pyrot and anxiously questioned him in his cage amid the +prolonged moanings of the sea and the hoarse croaks of the ravens. It was in +vain; the prisoner knew nothing. The seven hundred Pyrotists could not subvert +the proofs of the accusation because they could not know what they were, and +they could not know what they were because there were none. Pyrot’s guilt +was indefeasible through its very nullity. And it was with a legitimate pride +that Greatauk, expressing himself as a true artist, said one day to General +Panther: “This case is a master-piece: it is made out of nothing.” +The seven hundred Pyrotists despaired of ever clearing up this dark business, +when suddenly they discovered, from a stolen letter, that the eighty thousand +trusses of hay had never existed, that a most distinguished nobleman, Count de +Maubec, had sold them to the State, that he had received the price but had +never delivered them. Indeed seeing that he was descended from the richest +landed proprietors of ancient Penguinia, the heir of the Maubecs of Dentdulynx, +once the possessors of four duchies, sixty counties, and six hundred and twelve +marquisates, baronies, and viscounties, he did not possess as much land as he +could cover with his hand, and would not have been able to cut a single +day’s mowing of forage off his own domains. As to his getting a single +rush from a land-owner or a merchant, that would have been quite impossible, +for everybody except the Ministers of State and the Government officials knew +that it would be easier to get blood from a stone than a farthing from a +Maubec. +</p> + +<p> +The seven hundred Pyrotists made a minute inquiry concerning the Count +Maubec de la Dentdulynx’s financial resources, and they proved that that +nobleman was chiefly supported by a house in which some generous ladies +were ready to furnish all comers with the most lavish hospitality. They +publicly proclaimed that he was guilty of the theft of the eighty thousand +trusses of straw for which an innocent man had been condemned and was now +imprisoned in the cage. +</p> + +<p> +Maubec belonged to an illustrious family which was allied to the +Draconides. There is nothing that a democracy esteems more highly than +noble birth. Maubec had also served in the Penguin army, and since the +Penguins were all soldiers, they loved their army to idolatry. Maubec, on +the field of battle, had received the Cross, which is a sign of honour +among the Penguins and which they valued even more highly than the +embraces of their wives. All Penguinia declared for Maubec, and the voice +of the people which began to assume a threatening tone, demanded severe +punishments for the seven hundred calumniating Pyrotists. +</p> + +<p> +Maubec was a nobleman; he challenged the seven hundred Pyrotists to combat +with either sword, sabre, pistols, carabines, or sticks. +</p> + +<p> +“Vile dogs,” he wrote to them in a famous letter, “you have crucified my +God and you want my life too; I warn you that I will not be such a duffer +as He was and that I will cut off your fourteen hundred ears. Accept my +boot on your seven hundred behinds.” +</p> + +<p> +The Chief of the Government at the time was a peasant called Robin Mielleux, a +man pleasant to the rich and powerful, but hard towards the poor, a man of +small courage and ignorant of his own interests. In a public declaration he +guaranteed Maubec’s innocence and honour, and presented the seven hundred +Pyrotists to the criminal courts where they were condemned, as libellers, to +imprisonment, to enormous fines, and to all the damages that were claimed by +their innocent victim. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed as if Pyrot was destined to remain for ever shut in the cage on +which the ravens perched. But all the Penguins being anxious to know and +prove that this Jew was guilty, all the proofs brought forward were found +not to be good, while some of them were also contradictory. The officers +of the Staff showed zeal but lacked prudence. Whilst Greatauk kept an +admirable silence, General Panther made inexhaustible speeches and every +morning demonstrated in the newspapers that the condemned man was guilty. +He would have done better, perhaps, if he had said nothing. The guilt was +evident and what is evident cannot be demonstrated. So much reasoning +disturbed people’s minds; their faith, though still alive, became less +serene. The more proofs one gives a crowd the more they ask for. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless the danger of proving too much would not have been great if +there had not been in Penguinia, as there are, indeed, everywhere, minds +framed for free inquiry, capable of studying a difficult question, and +inclined to philosophic doubt. They were few; they were not all inclined +to speak, and the public was by no means inclined to listen to them. +Still, they did not always meet with deaf ears. The great Jews, all the +Israelite millionaires of Alca, when spoken to of Pyrot, said: “We do not +know the man”; but they thought of saving him. They preserved the prudence +to which their wealth inclined them and wished that others would be less +timid. Their wish was to be gratified. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0048" id="link2H_4_0048"></a> +IV. COLOMBAN +</h2> + +<p> +Some weeks after the conviction of the seven hundred Pyrotists, a little, +gruff, hairy, short-sighted man left his house one morning with a paste-pot, a +ladder, and a bundle of posters and went about the streets pasting placards to +the walls on which might be read in large letters: <i>Pyrot is innocent, Maubec +is guilty</i>. He was not a bill-poster; his name was Colomban, and as the +author of sixty volumes on Penguin sociology he was numbered among the most +laborious and respected writers in Alca. Having given sufficient thought to the +matter and no longer doubting Pyrot’s innocence, he proclaimed it in the +manner which he thought would be most sensational. He met with no hindrance +while posting his bills in the quiet streets, but when he came to the populous +quarters, every time he mounted his ladder, inquisitive people crowded round +him and, dumbfounded with surprise and indignation, threw at him threatening +looks which he received with the calm that comes from courage and +short-sightedness. Whilst caretakers and tradespeople tore down the bills he +had posted, he kept on zealously placarding, carrying his tools and followed by +little boys who, with their baskets under their arms or their satchels on their +backs, were in no hurry to reach school. To the mute indignation against him, +protests and murmurs were now added. But Colomban did not condescend to see or +hear anything. As, at the entrance to the Rue St. Orberosia, he was posting one +of his squares of paper bearing the words: <i>Pyrot is innocent, Maubec is +guilty</i>, the riotous crowd showed signs of the most violent anger. They +called after him, “Traitor, thief, rascal, scoundrel.” A woman +opened a window and emptied a vase full of filth over his head, a cabby sent +his hat flying from one end of the street to the other by a blow of his whip +amid the cheers of the crowd who now felt themselves avenged. A butcher’s +boy knocked Colomban with his paste-pot, his brush, and his posters, from the +top of his ladder into the gutter, and the proud Penguins then felt the +greatness of their country. Colomban stood up, covered with filth, lame, and +with his elbow injured, but tranquil and resolute. +</p> + +<p> +“Low brutes,” he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. +</p> + +<p> +Then he went down on all-fours in the gutter to look for his glasses which +he had lost in his fall. It was then seen that his coat was split from the +collar to the tails and that his trousers were in rags. The rancour of the +crowd grew stronger. +</p> + +<p> +On the other side of the street stretched the big St. Orberosian Stores. The +patriots seized whatever they could lay their hands on from the shop front, and +hurled at Colomban oranges, lemons, pots of jam, pieces of chocolate, bottles +of liqueurs, boxes of sardines, pots of <i>foie gras</i>, hams, fowls, flasks +of oil, and bags of haricots. Covered with the débris of the food, bruised, +tattered, lame, and blind, he took to flight, followed by the shop-boys, +bakers, loafers, citizens, and hooligans whose number increased each moment and +who kept shouting: “Duck him! Death to the traitor! Duck him!” This +torrent of vulgar humanity swept along the streets and rushed into the Rue St. +Maël. The police did their duty. From all the adjacent streets constables +proceeded and, holding their scabbards with their left hands, they went at full +speed in front of the pursuers. They were on the point of grabbing Colomban in +their huge hands when he suddenly escaped them by falling through an open +man-hole to the bottom of a sewer. +</p> + +<p> +He spent the night there in the darkness, sitting close by the dirty water +amidst the fat and slimy rats. He thought of his task, and his swelling +heart filled with courage and pity. And when the dawn threw a pale ray of +light into the air-hole he got up and said, speaking to himself: +</p> + +<p> +“I see that the fight will be a stiff one.” +</p> + +<p> +Forthwith he composed a memorandum in which he clearly showed that Pyrot +could not have stolen from the Ministry of War the eighty thousand trusses +of hay which it had never received, for the reason that Maubec had never +delivered them, though he had received the money. Colomban caused this +statement to be distributed in the streets of Alca. The people refused to +read it and tore it up in anger. The shop-keepers shook their fists at the +distributers, who made off, chased by angry women armed with brooms. +Feelings grew warm and the ferment lasted the whole day. In the evening +bands of wild and ragged men went about the streets yelling: “Death to +Colomban!” The patriots snatched whole bundles of the memorandum from the +newsboys and burned them in the public squares, dancing wildly round these +bon-fires with girls whose petticoats were tied up to their waists. +</p> + +<p> +Some of the more enthusiastic among them went and broke the windows of the +house in which Colomban had lived in perfect tranquillity during his forty +years of work. +</p> + +<p> +Parliament was roused and asked the Chief of the Government what measures +he proposed to take in order to repel the odious attacks made by Colomban +upon the honour of the National Arm and the safety of Penguinia. Robin +Mielleux denounced Colomban’s impious audacity and proclaimed amid the +cheers of the legislators that the man would be summoned before the Courts +to answer for his infamous libel. +</p> + +<p> +The Minister of War was called to the tribune and appeared in it +transfigured. He had no longer the air, as in former days, of one of the +sacred geese of the Penguin citadels. Now, bristling, with outstretched +neck and hooked beak, he seemed the symbolical vulture fastened to the +livers of his country’s enemies. +</p> + +<p> +In the august silence of the assembly he pronounced these words only: +</p> + +<p> +“I swear that Pyrot is a rascal.” +</p> + +<p> +This speech of Greatauk was reported all over Penguinia and satisfied the +public conscience. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0049" id="link2H_4_0049"></a> +V. THE REVEREND FATHERS AGARIC AND CORNEMUSE +</h2> + +<p> +Colomban bore with meekness and surprise the weight of the general +reprobation. He could not go out without being stoned, so he did not go +out. He remained in his study with a superb obstinacy, writing new +memoranda in favour of the encaged innocent. In the mean time among the +few readers that he found, some, about a dozen, were struck by his reasons +and began to doubt Pyrot’s guilt. They broached the subject to their +friends and endeavoured to spread the light that had arisen in their +minds. One of them was a friend of Robin Mielleux and confided to him his +perplexities, with the result that he was no longer received by that +Minister. Another demanded explanations in an open letter to the Minister +of War. A third published a terrible pamphlet. The latter, whose name was +Kerdanic, was a formidable controversialist. The public was unmoved. It +was said that these defenders of the traitor had been bribed by the rich +Jews; they were stigmatized by the name of Pyrotists and the patriots +swore to exterminate them. There were only a thousand or twelve hundred +Pyrotists in the whole vast Republic, but it was believed that they were +everywhere. People were afraid of finding them in the promenades, at +meetings, at receptions, in fashionable drawing-rooms, at the +dinner-table, even in the conjugal couch. One half of the population was +suspected by the other half. The discord set all Alca on fire. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Father Agaric, who managed his big school for young nobles, +followed events with anxious attention. The misfortunes of the Penguin Church +had not disheartened him. He remained faithful to Prince Crucho and preserved +the hope of restoring the heir of the Draconides to the Penguin throne. It +appeared to him that the events that were happening or about to happen in the +country, the state of mind of which they were at once the effect and the cause, +and the troubles that necessarily resulted from them might—if they were +directed, guided, and led by the profound wisdom of a monk—overthrow the +Republic and incline the Penguins to restore Prince Crucho, from whose piety +the faithful hoped for so much solace. Wearing his huge black hat, the brims of +which looked like the wings of Night, he walked through the Wood of Conils +towards the factory where his venerable friend, Father Cornemuse, distilled the +hygienic St. Orberosian liqueur. The good monk’s industry, so cruelly +affected in the time of Emiral Chatillon, was being restored from its ruins. +One heard goods trains rumbling through the Wood and one saw in the sheds +hundreds of orphans clothed in blue, packing bottles and nailing up cases. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric found the venerable Cornemuse standing before his stoves and +surrounded by his retorts. The shining pupils of the old man’s eyes had +again become as rubies, his skull shone with its former elaborate and +careful polish. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric first congratulated the pious distiller on the restored activity of +his laboratories and workshops. +</p> + +<p> +“Business is recovering. I thank God for it,” answered the old man +of Conils. “Alas! it had fallen into a bad state, Brother Agaric. You saw +the desolation of this establishment. I need say no more.” +</p> + +<p> +Agaric turned away his head. +</p> + +<p> +“The St. Orberosian liqueur,” continued Cornemuse, “is making fresh +conquests. But none the less my industry remains uncertain and precarious. +The laws of ruin and desolation that struck it have not been abrogated, +they have only been suspended.” +</p> + +<p> +And the monk of Conils lifted his ruby eyes to heaven. +</p> + +<p> +Agaric put his hand on his shoulder. +</p> + +<p> +“What a sight, Cornemuse, does unhappy Penguinia present to us! +Everywhere disobedience, independence, liberty! We see the proud, the haughty, +the men of revolt rising up. After having braved the Divine laws they now rear +themselves against human laws, so true is it that in order to be a good citizen +a man must be a good Christian. Colomban is trying to imitate Satan. Numerous +criminals are following his fatal example. They want, in their rage, to put +aside all checks, to throw off all yokes, to free themselves from the most +sacred bonds, to escape from the most salutary restraints. They strike their +country to make it obey them. But they will be overcome by the weight of public +animadversion, vituperation, indignation, fury, execration, and abomination. +That is the abyss to which they have been led by atheism, free thought, and the +monstrous claim to judge for themselves and to form their own opinions.” +</p> + +<p> +“Doubtless, doubtless,” replied Father Cornemuse, shaking his head, “but I +confess that the care of distilling these simples has prevented me from +following public affairs. I only know that people are talking a great deal +about a man called Pyrot. Some maintain that he is guilty, others affirm +that he is innocent, but I do not clearly understand the motives that +drive both parties to mix themselves up in a business that concerns +neither of them.” +</p> + +<p> +The pious Agaric asked eagerly: +</p> + +<p> +“You do not doubt Pyrot’s guilt?” +</p> + +<p> +“I cannot doubt it, dear Agaric,” answered the monk of Conils. “That would +be contrary to the laws of my country which we ought to respect as long as +they are not opposed to the Divine laws. Pyrot is guilty, for he has been +convicted. As to saying more for or against his guilt, that would be to +erect my own authority against that of the judges, a thing which I will +take good care not to do. Besides, it is useless, for Pyrot has been +convicted. If he has not been convicted because he is guilty, he is guilty +because he has been convicted; it comes to the same thing. I believe in +his guilt as every good citizen ought to believe in it; and I will believe +in it as long as the established jurisdiction will order me to believe in +it, for it is not for a private person but for a judge to proclaim the +innocence of a convicted person. Human justice is venerable even in the +errors inherent in its fallible and limited nature. These errors are never +irreparable; if the judges do not repair them on earth, God will repair +them in Heaven. Besides I have great confidence in general Greatauk, who, +though he certainly does not look it, seems to me to be an abler man than +all those who are attacking him.” +</p> + +<p> +“Dearest Cornemuse,” cried the pious Agaric, “the Pyrot affair, if pushed +to the point whither we can lead it by the help of God and the necessary +funds, will produce the greatest benefits. It will lay bare the vices of +this Anti-Christian Republic and will incline the Penguins to restore the +throne of the Draconides and the prerogatives of the Church. But to do +that it is necessary for the people to see the clergy in the front rank of +its defenders. Let us march against the enemies of the army, against those +who insult our heroes, and everybody will follow us.” +</p> + +<p> +“Everybody will be too many,” murmured the monk of Conils, shaking his +head. “I see that the Penguins want to quarrel. If we mix ourselves up in +their quarrel they will become reconciled at our expense and we shall have +to pay the cost of the war. That is why, if you are guided by me, dear +Agaric, you will not engage the Church in this adventure.” +</p> + +<p> +“You know my energy; you know my prudence. I will compromise nothing. . . +. Dear Cornemuse, I only want from you the funds necessary for us to begin +the campaign.” +</p> + +<p> +For a long time Cornemuse refused to bear the expenses of what he thought +was a fatal enterprise. Agaric was in turn pathetic and terrible. At last, +yielding to his prayers and threats, Cornemuse, with banging head and +swinging arms, went to the austere cell that concealed his evangelical +poverty. In the whitewashed wall under a branch of blessed box, there was +fixed a safe. He opened it, and with a sigh took out a bundle of bills +which, with hesitating hands, he gave to the pious Agaric. +</p> + +<p> +“Do not doubt it, dear Cornemuse,” said the latter, thrusting the papers +into the pocket of his overcoat, “this Pyrot affair has been sent us by +God for the glory and exaltation of the Church of Penguinia.” +</p> + +<p> +“I pray that you may be right!” sighed the monk of Conils. +</p> + +<p> +And, left alone in his laboratory, he gazed, through his exquisite eyes, +with an ineffable sadness at his stoves and his retorts. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0050" id="link2H_4_0050"></a> +VI. THE SEVEN HUNDRED PYROTISTS +</h2> + +<p> +The seven hundred Pyrotists inspired the public with an increasing +aversion. Every day two or three of them were beaten to death in the +streets. One of them was publicly whipped, another thrown into the river, +a third tarred and feathered and led through a laughing crowd, a fourth +had his nose cut off by a captain of dragoons. They did not dare to show +themselves at their clubs, at tennis, or at the races; they put on a +disguise when they went to the Stock Exchange. In these circumstances the +Prince des Boscénos thought it urgent to curb their audacity and repress +their insolence. For this purpose he joined with Count Cléna, M. de La +Trumelle, Viscount Olive, and M. Bigourd in founding a great anti-Pyrotist +association to which citizens in hundreds of thousands, soldiers in +companies, regiments, brigades, divisions, and army corps, towns, +districts, and provinces, all gave their adhesion. +</p> + +<p> +About this time the Minister of War happening to visit one day his Chief +of Staff, saw with surprise that the large room where General Panther +worked, which was formerly quite bare, had now along each wall from floor +to ceiling in sets of deep pigeon-holes, triple and quadruple rows of +paper bundles of every as form and colour. These sudden and monstrous +records had in a few days reached the dimensions of a pile of archives +such as it takes centuries to accumulate. +</p> + +<p> +“What is this?” asked the astonished minister. +</p> + +<p> +“Proofs against Pyrot,” answered General Panther with patriotic +satisfaction. “We had not got them when we convicted him, but we have +plenty of them now.” +</p> + +<p> +The door was open, and Greatauk saw coming up the stair-case a long file +of porters who were unloading heavy bales of papers in the hall, and he +saw the lift slowly rising heavily loaded with paper packets. +</p> + +<p> +“What are those others?” said he. +</p> + +<p> +“They are fresh proofs against Pyrot that are now reaching us,” said +Panther. “I have asked for them in every county of Penguinia, in every +Staff Office and in every Court in Europe. I have ordered them in every +town in America and in Australia, and in every factory in Africa, and I am +expecting bales of them from Bremen and a ship-load from Melbourne.” And +Panther turned towards the Minister of War the tranquil and radiant look +of a hero. However, Greatauk, his eye-glass in his eye, was looking at the +formidable pile of papers with less satisfaction than uneasiness. +</p> + +<p> +“Very good,” said he, “very good! but I am afraid that this Pyrot business +may lose its beautiful simplicity. It was limpid; like a rock-crystal its +value lay in its transparency. You could have searched it in vain with a +magnifying-glass for a straw, a bend, a blot, for the least fault. When it +left my hands it was as pure as the light. Indeed it was the light. I give +you a pearl and you make a mountain out of it. To tell you the truth I am +afraid that by wishing to do too well you have done less well. Proofs! of +course it is good to have proofs, but perhaps it is better to have none at +all. I have already told you, Panther, there is only one irrefutable +proof, the confession of the guilty person (or if the innocent what +matter!). The Pyrot affair, as I arranged it, left no room for criticism; +there was no spot where it could be touched. It defied assault. It was +invulnerable because it was invisible. Now it gives an enormous handle for +discussion. I advise you, Panther, to use your paper packets with great +reserve. I should be particularly grateful if you would be more sparing of +your communications to journalists. You speak well, but you say too much. +Tell me, Panther, are there any forged documents among these?” +</p> + +<p> +“There are some adapted ones.” +</p> + +<p> +“That is what I meant. There are some adapted ones. So much the better. As +proofs, forged documents, in general, are better than genuine ones, first +of all because they have been expressly made to suit the needs of the +case, to order and measure, and therefore they are fitting and exact. They +are also preferable because they carry the mind into an ideal world and +turn it aside from the reality which, alas! in this world is never without +some alloy. . . . Nevertheless, I think I should have preferred, Panther, +that we had no proofs at all.” +</p> + +<p> +The first act of the Anti-Pyrotist Association was to ask the Government +immediately to summon the seven hundred Pyrotists and their accomplices +before the High Court of Justice as guilty of high treason. Prince des +Boscénos was charged to speak on behalf of the Association and presented +himself before the Council which had assembled to hear him. He expressed a +hope that the vigilance and firmness of the Government would rise to the +height of the occasion. He shook hands with each of the ministers and as +he passed General Greatauk he whispered in his ear: +</p> + +<p> +“Behave properly, you ruffian, or I will publish the Maloury +<i>dossier!</i>” +</p> + +<p> +Some days later by a unanimous vote of both Houses, on a motion proposed +by the Government, the Anti-Pyrotist Association was granted a charter +recognising it as beneficial to the public interest. +</p> + +<p> +The Association immediately sent a deputation to Chitterlings Castle in +Porpoisia, where Crucho was eating the bitter bread of exile, to assure +the prince of the love and devotion of the Anti-Pyrotist members. +</p> + +<p> +However, the Pyrotists grew in numbers, and now counted ten thousand. They +had their regular cafés on the boulevards. The patriots had theirs also, +richer and bigger, and every evening glasses of beer, saucers, +match-stands, jugs, chairs, and tables were hurled from one to the other. +Mirrors were smashed to bits, and the police ended the struggles by +impartially trampling the combatants of both parties under their +hob-nailed shoes. +</p> + +<p> +On one of these glorious nights, as Prince des Boscénos was leaving a +fashionable café in the company of some patriots, M. de La Trumelle +pointed out to him a little, bearded man with glasses, hatless, and having +only one sleeve to his coat, who was painfully dragging himself along the +rubbish-strewn pavement. +</p> + +<p> +“Look!” said he, “there is Colomban!” +</p> + +<p> +The prince had gentleness as well as strength; he was exceedingly mild; +but at the name of Colomban his blood boiled. He rushed at the little +spectacled man, and knocked him down with one blow of his fist on the +nose. +</p> + +<p> +M. de La Trumelle then perceived that, misled by an undeserved +resemblance, he had mistaken for Colomban, M. Bazile, a retired lawyer, +the secretary of the Anti-pyrotist Association, and an ardent and generous +patriot. Prince des Boscénos was one of those antique souls who never +bend. However, he knew how to recognise his faults. +</p> + +<p> +“M. Bazile,” said he, raising his hat, “if I have touched your face with +my hand you will excuse me and you will understand me, you will approve of +me, nay, you will compliment me, you will congratulate me and felicitate +me, when you know the cause of that act. I took you for Colomban.” +</p> + +<p> +M. Bazile, wiping his bleeding nostrils with his handkerchief and +displaying an elbow laid bare by the absence of his sleeve: +</p> + +<p> +“No, sir,” answered he drily, “I shall not felicitate you, I shall not +congratulate you, I shall not compliment you, for your action was, at the +very least, superfluous; it was, I will even say, supererogatory. Already +this evening I have been three times mistaken for Colomban and received a +sufficient amount of the treatment he deserves. The patriots have knocked +in my ribs and broken my back, and, sir, I was of opinion that that was +enough.” +</p> + +<p> +Scarcely had he finished this speech than a band of Pyrotists appeared, +and misled in their turn by that insidious resemblance, they believed that +the patriots were killing Colomban. They fell on Prince des Boscénos and +his companions with loaded canes and leather thongs, and left them for +dead. Then seizing Bazile they carried him in triumph, and in spite of his +protests, along the boulevards, amid cries of: “Hurrah for Colomban! +Hurrah for Pyrot!” At last the police, who had been sent after them, +attacked and defeated them and dragged them ignominiously to the station, +where Bazile, under the name of Colomban, was trampled on by an +innumerable quantity of thick, hob-nailed shoes. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0051" id="link2H_4_0051"></a> +VII. BIDAULT-COQUILLE AND MANIFLORE, THE SOCIALISTS +</h2> + +<p> +Whilst the wind of anger and hatred blew in Alca, Eugine Bidault-Coquille, +poorest and happiest of astronomers, installed in an old steam-engine of +the time of the Draconides, was observing the heavens through a bad +telescope, and photographing the paths of the meteors upon some damaged +photographic plates. His genius corrected the errors of his instruments +and his love of science triumphed over the worthlessness of his apparatus. +With an inextinguishable ardour he observed aerolites, meteors, and +fire-balls, and all the glowing ruins and blazing sparks which pass +through the terrestrial atmosphere with prodigious speed, and as a reward +for is studious vigils he received the indifference of the public, the +ingratitude of the State and the blame of the learned societies. Engulfed +in the celestial spaces he knew not what occurred upon the surface of the +earth. He never read the newspapers, and when he walked through the town +his mind was occupied with the November asteroids, and more than once he +found himself at the bottom of a pond in one of the public parks or +beneath the wheels of a motor omnibus. +</p> + +<p> +Elevated in stature as in thought he respected himself and others. This +was shown by his cold politeness as well as by a very thin black frock +coat and a tall hat which gave to his person an appearance at once +emaciated and sublime. He took his meals in a little restaurant from which +all customers less intellectual than himself had fled, and thenceforth his +napkin bound by its wooden ring rested alone in the abandoned rack. +</p> + +<p> +In this cook-shop his eyes fell one evening upon Colomban’s memorandum in +favour of Pyrot. He read it as he was cracking some bad nuts and suddenly, +exalted with astonishment, admiration, horror, and pity, he forgot all +about falling meteors and shooting stars and saw nothing but the innocent +man hanging in his cage exposed to the winds of heaven and the ravens +perching upon it. +</p> + +<p> +That image did not leave him. For a week he had been obsessed by the +innocent convict, when, as he was leaving his cook-shop, he saw a crowd of +citizens entering a public-house in which a public meeting was going on. +He went in. The meeting was disorderly; they were yelling, abusing one +another and knocking one another down in the smoke-laden hall. The +Pyrotists and the Anti-Pyrotists spoke in turn and were alternately +cheered and hissed at. An obscure and confused enthusiasm moved the +audience. With the audacity of a timid and retired man Bidault-Coquille +leaped upon the platform and spoke for three-quarters of an hour. He spoke +very quickly, without order, but with vehemence, and with all the +conviction of a mathematical mystic. He was cheered. When he got down from +the platform a big woman of uncertain age, dressed in red, and wearing an +immense hat trimmed with heroic feathers, throwing herself into his arms, +embraced him, and said to him: +</p> + +<p> +“You are splendid!” +</p> + +<p> +He thought in his simplicity that there was some truth in the statement. +</p> + +<p> +She declared to him that henceforth she would live but for Pyrot’s defence +and Colomban’s glory. He thought her sublime and beautiful. She was +Maniflore, a poor old courtesan, now forgotten and discarded, who had +suddenly become a vehement politician. +</p> + +<p> +She never left him. They spent glorious hours together in doss-houses and +in lodgings beautified by their love, in newspaper offices, in +meeting-halls and in lecture-halls. As he was an idealist, he persisted in +thinking her beautiful, although she gave him abundant opportunity of +seeing that she had preserved no charm of any kind. From her past beauty +she only retained a confidence in her capacity for pleasing and a lofty +assurance in demanding homage. Still, it must be admitted that this Pyrot +affair, so fruitful in prodigies, invested Maniflore with a sort of civic +majesty, and transformed her, at public meetings, into an august symbol of +justice and truth. +</p> + +<p> +Bidault-Coquille and Maniflore did not kindle the least spark of irony or +amusement in a single Anti-Pyrotist, a single defender of Greatauk, or a +single supporter of the army. The gods, in their anger, had refused to +those men the precious gift of humour. They gravely accused the courtesan +and the astronomer of being spies, of treachery, and of plotting against +their country. Bidault-Coquille and Maniflore grew visibly greater beneath +insult, abuse, and calumny. +</p> + +<p> +For long months Penguinia had been divided into two camps and, though at +first sight it may appear strange, hitherto the socialists had taken no +part in the contest. Their groups comprised almost all the manual workers +in the country, necessarily scattered, confused, broken up, and divided, +but formidable. The Pyrot affair threw the group leaders into a singular +embarrassment. They did not wish to place themselves either on the side of +the financiers or on the side of the army. They regarded the Jews, both +great and small, as their uncompromising opponents. Their principles were +not at stake, nor were their interests concerned in the affair. Still the +greater number felt how difficult it was growing for them to remain aloof +from struggles in which all Penguinia was engaged. +</p> + +<p> +Their leaders called a sitting of their federation at the Rue de la +Queue-du-diable-St. Maël, to take into consideration the conduct they +ought to adopt in the present circumstances and in future eventualities. +</p> + +<p> +Comrade Phœnix was the first to speak. +</p> + +<p> +“A crime,” said he, “the most odious and cowardly of crimes, a judicial +crime, has been committed. Military judges, coerced or misled by their +superior officers, have condemned an innocent man to an infamous and cruel +punishment. Let us not say that the victim is not one of our own party, +that he belongs to a caste which was, and always will be, our enemy. Our +party is the party of social justice; it can look upon no iniquity with +indifference. +</p> + +<p> +“It would be a shame for us if we left it to Kerdanic, a radical, to +Colomban, a member of the middle classes, and to a few moderate +Republicans, alone to proceed against the crimes of the army. If the +victim is not one of us, his executioners are our brothers’ executioners, +and before Greatauk struck down this soldier he shot our comrades who were +on strike. +</p> + +<p> +“Comrades, by an intellectual, moral and material effort you must rescue +Pyrot from his torment, and in performing this generous act you are not +turning aside from the liberating and revolutionary task you have +undertaken, for Pyrot his become the symbol of the oppressed and of all +the social iniquities that now exist; by destroying one you make all the +others tremble.” +</p> + +<p> +When Phœnix ended, comrade Sapor spoke in these terms: +</p> + +<p> +“You are advised to abandon your task in order to do something with which +you have no concern. Why throw yourselves into a conflict where, on +whatever side you turn, you will find none but your natural, +uncompromising, even necessary opponents? Are the financiers to be less +hated by us than the army? What inept and criminal generosity is it that +hurries you to save those seven hundred Pyrotists whom you will always +find confronting you in the social war? +</p> + +<p> +“It is proposed that you act the part of the police for your enemies, and +that you are to re-establish for them the order which their own crimes +have disturbed. Magnanimity pushed to this degree changes its name. +</p> + +<p> +“Comrades, there is a point at which infamy becomes fatal to a society. +Penguin society is being strangled by its infamy, and you are requested to +save it, to give it air that it can breathe. This is simply turning you +into ridicule. +</p> + +<p> +“Leave it to smother itself and let us gaze at its last convulsions with +joyful contempt, only regretting that it has so entirely corrupted the soil on +which it has been built that we shall find nothing but poisoned mud on which to +lay the foundations of a new society.” +</p> + +<p> +When Sapor had ended his speech comrade Lapersonne pronounced these few +words: +</p> + +<p> +“Phœnix calls us to Pyrot’s help for the reason that Pyrot is innocent. +It seems to me that that is a very bad reason. If Pyrot is innocent he has +behaved like a good soldier and has always conscientiously worked at his +trade, which principally consists in shooting the people. That is not a +motive to make the people brave all dangers in his defence. When it is +demonstrated to me that Pyrot is guilty and that he stole the army hay, I +shall be on his side.” +</p> + +<p> +Comrade Larrivée afterwards spoke. +</p> + +<p> +“I am not of my friend, Phœnix’s opinion but I am not with my friend +Sapor either. I do not believe that the party is bound to embrace a cause +as soon as we are told that that cause is just. That, I am afraid, is a +grievous abuse of words and a dangerous equivocation. For social justice +is not revolutionary justice. They are both in perpetual antagonism: to +serve the one is to oppose the other. As for me, my choice is made. I am +for revolutionary justice as against social justice. Still, in the present +case I am against abstention. I say that when a lucky chance brings us an +affair like this we should be fools not to profit by it. +</p> + +<p> +“How? We are given an opportunity of striking terrible, perhaps fatal, +blows against militarism. And am I to fold my arms? I tell you, comrades, +I am not a fakir, I have never been a fakir, and if there are fakirs here +let them not count on me. To sit in meditation is a policy without results +and one which I shall never adopt. +</p> + +<p> +“A party like ours ought to be continually asserting itself. It ought to +prove its existence by continual action. We will intervene in the Pyrot +affair but we will intervene in it in a revolutionary manner; we will +adopt violent action. . . . Perhaps you think that violence is +old-fashioned and superannuated, to be scrapped along with diligences, +hand-presses and aerial telegraphy. You are mistaken. To-day as yesterday +nothing is obtained except by violence; it is the one efficient +instrument. The only thing necessary is to know how to use it. You ask +what will our action be? I will tell you: it will be to stir up the +governing classes against one another, to put the army in conflict with +the capitalists, the government with the magistracy, the nobility and +clergy with the Jews, and if possible to drive them all to destroy one +another. To do this would be to carry on an agitation which would weaken +government in the same way that fever wears out the sick. +</p> + +<p> +“The Pyrot affair, little as we know how to turn it to advantage, will put +forward by ten years the growth of the Social party and the emancipation +of the proletariat, by disarmament, the general strike, and revolution.” +</p> + +<p> +The leaders of the party having each expressed a different opinion, the +discussion was continued, not without vivacity. The orators, as always +happens in such a case, reproduced the arguments they had already brought +forward, though with less order and moderation than before. The dispute +was prolonged and none changed his opinion. These opinions, in the final +analysis, were reduced to two: that of Sapor and Lapersonne who advised +abstention, and that of Phœnix and Larrivée, who wanted intervention. +Even these two contrary opinions were united in a common hatred of the +heads of the army and of their justice, and in a common belief in Pyrot’s +innocence. So that public opinion was hardly mistaken in regarding all the +Socialist leaders as pernicious Anti-Pyrotists. +</p> + +<p> +As for the vast masses in whose name they spoke and whom they represented +as far as speech can express the impossible—as for the proletarians +whose thought is difficult to know and who do not know it themselves, it +seemed that the Pyrot affair did not interest them. It was too literary +for them, it was in too classical a style, and had an upper-middle-class +and high-finance tone about it that did not please them much. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0052" id="link2H_4_0052"></a> +VIII. THE COLOMBAN TRIAL +</h2> + +<p> +When the Colomban trial began, the Pyrotists were not many more than +thirty thousand, but they were every where and might be found even among +the priests and millionaires. What injured them most was the sympathy of +the rich Jews. On the other hand they derived valuable advantages from +their feeble number. In the first place there were among them fewer fools +than among their opponents, who were over-burdened with them. Comprising +but a feeble minority, they co-operated easily, acted with harmony, and +had no temptation to divide and thus counteract one another’s efforts. +Each of them felt the necessity of doing the best possible and was the +more careful of his conduct as he found himself more in the public eye. +Finally, they had every reason to hope that they would gain fresh +adherents, while their opponents, having had everybody with them at the +beginning, could only decrease. +</p> + +<p> +Summoned before the judges at a public sitting, Colomban immediately +perceived that his judges were not anxious to discover the truth. As soon +as he opened his mouth the President ordered him to be silent in the +superior interests of the State. For the same reason, which is the supreme +reason, the witnesses for the defence were not heard. General Panther, the +Chief of the Staff, appeared in the witness-box, in full uniform and +decorated with all his orders. He deposed as follows: +</p> + +<p> +“The infamous Colomban states that we have no proofs against Pyrot. He +lies; we have them. I have in my archives seven hundred and thirty-two +square yards of them which at five hundred pounds each make three hundred +and sixty-six thousand pounds.” +</p> + +<p> +That superior officer afterwards gave, with elegance and ease, a summary +of those proofs. +</p> + +<p> +“They are of all colours and all shades,” said he in substance, “they are +of every form—pot, crown, sovereign, grape, dove-cot, grand eagle, +etc. The smallest is less than the hundredth part of a square inch, the +largest measures seventy yards long by ninety yards broad.” +</p> + +<p> +At this revelation the audience shuddered with horror. +</p> + +<p> +Greatauk came to give evidence in his turn. Simpler, and perhaps greater, +he wore a grey tunic and held his hands joined behind his back. +</p> + +<p> +“I leave,” said he calmly and in a slightly raised voice, “I leave to M. +Colomban the responsibility for an act that has brought our country to the +brink of ruin. The Pyrot affair is secret; it ought to remain secret. If +it were divulged the cruelest ills, wars, pillages, depredations, fires, +massacres, and epidemics would immediately burst upon Penguinia. I should +consider myself guilty of high treason if I uttered another word.” +</p> + +<p> +Some persons known for their political experience, among others M. +Bigourd, considered the evidence of the Minister of War as abler and of +greater weight than that of his Chief of Staff. +</p> + +<p> +The evidence of Colonel de Boisjoli made a great impression. +</p> + +<p> +“One evening at the Ministry of War,” said that officer, “the attaché of a +neighbouring Power told me that while visiting his sovereign’s stables he +had once admired some soft and fragrant hay, of a pretty green colour, the +finest hay he had ever seen! ‘Where did it come from?’ I asked him. He did +not answer, but there seemed to me no doubt about its origin. It was the +hay Pyrot had stolen. Those qualities of verdure, softness, and aroma, are +those of our national hay. The forage of the neighbouring Power is grey +and brittle; it sounds under the fork and smells of dust. One can draw one +own conclusions.” +</p> + +<p> +Lieutenant-Colonel Hastaing said in the witness-box, amid hisses, that he +did not believe Pyrot guilty. He was immediately seized by the police and +thrown into the bottom of a dungeon where, amid vipers, toads, and broken +glass, he remained insensible both to promises and threats. +</p> + +<p> +The usher called: +</p> + +<p> +“Count Pierre Maubec de la Dentdulynx.” +</p> + +<p> +There was deep silence, and a stately but ill-dressed nobleman, whose +moustaches pointed to the skies and whose dark eyes shot forth flashing +glances, was seen advancing toward the witness-box. +</p> + +<p> +He approached Colomban and casting upon him a look of ineffable disdain: +</p> + +<p> +“My evidence,” said he, “here it is: you excrement!” +</p> + +<p> +At these words the entire hall burst into enthusiastic applause and jumped +up, moved by one of those transports that stir men’s hearts and rouse them +to extraordinary actions. Without another word Count Maubec de la +Dentdulynx withdrew. +</p> + +<p> +All those present left the Court and formed a procession behind him. +Prostrate at his feet, Princess des Boscénos held his legs in a close +embrace, but he went on, stern and impassive, beneath a shower of +handkerchiefs and flowers. Viscountess Olive, clinging to his neck, could +not be removed, and the calm hero bore her along with him, floating on his +breast like a light scarf. +</p> + +<p> +When the court resumed its sitting, which it had been compelled to +suspend, the President called the experts. +</p> + +<p> +Vermillard, the famous expert in handwriting, gave the results of his +researches. +</p> + +<p> +“Having carefully studied,” said he, “the papers found in +Pyrot’s house, in particular his account book and his laundry books, I +noticed that, though apparently not out of the common, they formed an +impenetrable cryptogram, the key to which, however, I discovered. The +traitor’s infamy is to be seen in every line. In this system of writing +the words ‘Three glasses of beer and twenty francs for Adèle’ mean +‘I have delivered thirty thousand trusses of hay to a neighbouring +Power.’ From these documents I have even been able to establish the +composition of the hay delivered by this officer. The words waistcoat, drawers, +pocket handkerchief, collars, drink, tobacco, cigars, mean clover, meadowgrass, +lucern, burnet, oats, rye-grass, vernal-grass, and common cat’s tail +grass. And these are precisely the constituents of the hay furnished by Count +Maubec to the Penguin cavalry. In this way Pyrot mentioned his crimes in a +language that he believed would always remain indecipherable. One is confounded +by so much astuteness and so great a want of conscience.” +</p> + +<p> +Colomban, pronounced guilty without any extenuating circumstances, was +condemned to the severest penalty. The judges immediately signed a warrant +consuming him to solitary confinement. +</p> + +<p> +In the Place du Palais on the sides of a river whose banks had during the +course of twelve centuries seen so great a history, fifty thousand persons +were tumultuously awaiting the result of the trial. Here were the heads of +the Anti-Pyrotist Association, among whom might be seen Prince des +Boscénos, Count Cléna, Viscount Olive, and M. de La Trumelle; here crowded +the Reverend Father Agaric and the teachers of St. Maël College with their +pupils; here the monk Douillard and General Caraguel, embracing each +other, formed a sublime group. The market women and laundry women with +spits, shovels, tongs, beetles, and kettles full of water might be seen +running across the Pont-Vieux. On the steps in front of the bronze gates +were assembled all the defenders of Pyrot in Alca, professors, publicists, +workmen, some conservatives, others Radicals or Revolutionaries, and by +their negligent dress and fierce aspect could be recognised comrades +Phœnix, Larrivée, Lapersonne, Dagobert, and Varambille. Squeezed in his +funereal frock-coat and wearing his hat of ceremony, Bidault-Coquille +invoked the sentimental mathematics on behalf of Colomban and Colonel +Hastaing. Maniflore shone smiling and resplendent on the topmost step, +anxious, like Leaena, to deserve a glorious monument, or to be given, like +Epicharis, the praises of history. +</p> + +<p> +The seven hundred Pyrotists disguised as lemonade sellers, gutter-merchants, +collectors of odds and ends, or anti-Pyrotists, wandered round the vast +building. +</p> + +<p> +When Colomban appeared, so great an uproar burst forth that, struck by the +commotion of air and water, birds fell from the trees and fishes floated +on the surface of the stream. +</p> + +<p> +On all sides there were yells: +</p> + +<p> +“Duck Colomban, duck him, duck him!” +</p> + +<p> +There were some cries of “Justice and truth!” and a voice was even heard +shouting: +</p> + +<p> +“Down with the Army!” +</p> + +<p> +This was the signal for a terrible struggle. The combatants fell in +thousands, and their bodies formed howling and moving mounds on top of +which fresh champions gripped each other by the throats. Women, eager, +pale, and dishevelled, with clenched teeth and frantic nails, rushed on +the man, in transports that, in the brilliant light of the public square, +gave to their faces expressions unsurpassed even in the shade of curtains +and in the hollows of pillows. They were going to seize Colomban, to bite +him, to strangle, dismember and rend him, when Maniflore, tall and +dignified in her red tunic, stood forth, serene and terrible, confronting +these furies who recoiled from before her in terror. Colomban seemed to be +saved; his partisans succeeded in clearing a passage for him through the +Place du Palais and in putting him into a cab stationed at the corner of +the Pont-Vieux. The horse was already in full trot when Prince des +Boscénos, Count Cléna, and M. de La Trumelle knocked the driver off his +seat. Then, making the animal back and pushing the spokes of the wheels, +they ran the vehicle on to the parapet of the bridge, whence they +overturned it into the river amid the cheers of the delirious crowd. With +a resounding splash a jet of water rose upwards, and then nothing but a +slight eddy was to be seen on the surface of the stream. +</p> + +<p> +Almost immediately comrades Dagobert and Varambille, with the help of the +seven hundred disguised Pyrotists, sent Prince des Boscénos head foremost +into a river-laundry in which he was lamentably swallowed up. +</p> + +<p> +Serene night descended over the Place du Palais and shed silence and peace +upon the frightful ruins with which it was strewed. In the mean time, +Colomban, three thousand yards down the stream, cowering beside a lame old +horse on a bridge, was meditating on the ignorance and injustice of +crowds. +</p> + +<p> +“The business,” said he to himself, “is even more troublesome than I +believed. I foresee fresh difficulties.” +</p> + +<p> +He got up and approached the unhappy animal. +</p> + +<p> +“What have you, poor friend, done to them?” said he. “It is on my account +they have used you so cruelly.” +</p> + +<p> +He embraced the unfortunate beast and kissed the white star on his +forehead. Then he took him by the bridle and led him, both of them +limping, trough the sleeping city to his house, where sleep soon allowed +them to forget mankind. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0053" id="link2H_4_0053"></a> +IX. FATHER DOUILLARD +</h2> + +<p> +In their infinite gentleness and at the suggestion of the common father of +the faithful, the bishops, canons, vicars, curates, abbots, and friars of +Penguinia resolved to hold a solemn service in the cathedral of Alca, and +to pray that Divine mercy would deign to put an end to the troubles that +distracted one of the noblest countries in Christendom, and grant to +repentant Penguinia pardon for its crimes against God and the ministers of +religion. +</p> + +<p> +The ceremony took place on the fifteenth of June. General Caraguel, +surrounded by his staff, occupied the churchwarden’s pew. The congregation +was numerous and brilliant. According to M. Bigourd’s expression it was +both crowded and select. In the front rank was to be seen M. de la +Bertheoseille, Chamberlain to his Highness Prince Crucho. Near the pulpit, +which was to be ascended by the Reverend Father Douillard, of the Order of +St. Francis, were gathered, in an attitude of attention with their hands +crossed upon their wands of office, the great dignitaries of the +Anti-Pyrotist association, Viscount Olive, M. de La Trumelle, Count Cléna, +the Duke d’Ampoule, and Prince des Boscénos. Father Agaric was in the apse +with the teachers and pupils of St. Maël College. The right-hand transept +and aisle were reserved for officers and soldiers in uniform, this side +being thought the more honourable, since the Lord leaned his head to the +right when he died on the Cross. The ladies of the aristocracy, and among +them Countess Cléna, Viscountess Olive, and Princess des Boscénos, +occupied reserved seats. In the immense building and in the square outside +were gathered twenty thousand clergy of all sorts, as well as thirty +thousand of the laity. +</p> + +<p> +After the expiatory and propitiatory ceremony the Reverend Father +Douillard ascended the pulpit. The sermon had at first been entrusted to +the Reverend Father Agaric, but, in spite of his merits, he was thought +unequal to the occasion in zeal and doctrine, and the eloquent Capuchin +friar, who for six months had gone through the barracks preaching against +the enemies of God and authority, had been chosen in his place. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father Douillard, taking as his text, “He hath put down the +mighty from their seat,” established that all temporal power has God as +its principle and its end, and that it is ruined and destroyed when it +turns aside from the path that Providence has traced out for it and from +the end to which He has directed it. +</p> + +<p> +Applying these sacred rules to the government of Penguinia, he drew a +terrible picture of the evils that the country’s rulers had been unable +either to prevent or to foresee. +</p> + +<p> +“The first author of all these miseries and degradations, my +brethren,” said he, “is only too well known to you. He is a monster +whose destiny is providentially proclaimed by his name, for it is derived from +the Greek word, <i>pyros</i>, which means fire. Eternal wisdom warns us by this +etymology that a Jew was to set ablaze the country that had welcomed +him.” +</p> + +<p> +He depicted the country, persecuted by the persecutors of the Church, and +crying in its agony: +</p> + +<p> +“O woe! O glory! Those who have crucified my God are crucifying me!” +</p> + +<p> +At these words a prolonged shudder passed through the assembly. +</p> + +<p> +The powerful orator excited still greater indignation when he described +the proud and crime-stained Colomban, plunged into the stream, all the +waters of which could not cleanse him. He gathered up all the humiliations +and all the perils of the Penguins in order to reproach the President of +the Republic and his Prime Minister with them. +</p> + +<p> +“That Minister,” said he, “having been guilty of degrading cowardice in +not exterminating the seven hundred Pyrotists with their allies and +defenders, as Saul exterminated the Philistines at Gibeah, has rendered +himself unworthy of exercising the power that God delegated to him, and +every good citizen ought henceforth to insult his contemptible government. +Heaven will look favourably on those who despise him. ‘He hath put down +the mighty from their seat.’ God will depose these pusillanimous chiefs +and will put in their place strong men who will call upon Him. I tell you, +gentlemen, I tell you officers, non-commissioned officers, and soldiers +who listen to me, I tell you General of the Penguin armies, the hour has +come! If you do not obey God’s orders, if in His name you do not depose +those now in authority, if you do not establish a religious and strong +government in Penguinia, God will none the less destroy what He has +condemned, He will none the less save His people. He will save them, but, +if you are wanting, He will do so by means of a humble artisan or a simple +corporal. Hasten! The hour will soon be past.” +</p> + +<p> +Excited by this ardent exhortation, the sixty thousand people present rose +up trembling and shouting: “To arms! To arms! Death to the Pyrotists! +Hurrah for Crucho!” and all of them, monks, women, soldiers, noblemen, +citizens, and loafers, who were gathered beneath the superhuman arm +uplifted in the pulpit, struck up the hymn, “Let us save Penguinia!” They +rushed impetuously from the basilica and marched along the quays to the +Chamber of Deputies. +</p> + +<p> +Left alone in the deserted nave, the wise Cornemuse, lifting his arms to +heaven, murmured in broken accents: +</p> + +<p> +“Agnosco fortunam ecclesiæ penguicanæ! I see but too well whither this +will lead us.” +</p> + +<p> +The attack which the crowd made upon the legislative palace was repulsed. +Vigorously charged by the police and Alcan guards, the assailants were +already fleeing in disorder, when the Socialists, running from the slums +and led by comrades Phœnix, Dagobert, Lapersonne, and Varambille, threw +themselves upon them and completed their discomfiture. MM. de La Trumelle +and d’Ampoule were taken to the police station. Prince des Boscénos, after +a valiant struggle, fell upon the bloody pavement with a fractured skull. +</p> + +<p> +In the enthusiasm of victory, the comrades, mingled with an innumerable +crowd of paper-sellers and gutter-merchants, ran through the boulevards +all night, carrying, Maniflore in triumph, and breaking the mirrors of the +cafés and the glasses of the street lamps amid cries of “Down with Crucho! +Hurrah for the Social Revolution!” The Anti-Pyrotists in their turn upset +the newspaper kiosks and tore down the hoardings. +</p> + +<p> +These were spectacles of which cool reason cannot approve and they were +fit causes for grief to the municipal authorities, who desired to preserve +the good order of the roads and streets. But, what was sadder for a man of +heart was the sight or the canting humbugs, who, from fear of blows, kept +at an equal distance from the two camps, and who, although they allowed +their selfishness and cowardice to be visible, claimed admiration for the +generosity of their sentiments and the nobility of their souls. They +rubbed their eyes with onions, gaped like whitings, blew violently into +their handkerchiefs, and, bringing their voices out of the depths of their +stomachs, groaned forth: “O Penguins, cease these fratricidal struggles; +cease to rend your mother’s bosom!” As if men could live in society +without disputes and without quarrels, and as if civil discords were not +the necessary conditions of national life and progress. They showed +themselves hypocritical cowards by proposing a compromise between the just +and the unjust, offending the just in his rectitude and the unjust in his +courage. One of these creatures, the rich and powerful Machimel, a +champion coward, rose upon the town like a colossus of grief; his tears +formed poisonous lakes at his feet and his sighs capsized the boats of the +fishermen. +</p> + +<p> +During these stormy nights Bidault-Coquille at the top of his old +steam-engine, under the serene sky, boasted in his heart, while the +shooting stars registered themselves upon his photographic plates. He was +fighting for justice. He loved and was loved with a sublime passion. +Insult and calumny raised him to the clouds. A caricature of him in +company with those of Colomban, Kerdanic, and Colonel Hastaing was to be +seen in the newspaper kiosks. The Anti-Pyrotists proclaimed that he had +received fifty thousand francs from the big Jewish financiers. The +reporters of the militarist sheets held interviews regarding his +scientific knowledge with official scholars, who declared he had no +knowledge of the stars, disputed his most solid observations, denied his +most certain discoveries, and condemned his most ingenious and most +fruitful hypotheses. He exulted under these flattering blows of hatred and +envy. +</p> + +<p> +He contemplated the black immensity pierced by a multitude of lights, +without giving a thought to all the heavy slumbers, cruel insomnias, vain +dreams, spoilt pleasures, and infinitely diverse miseries that a great +city contains. +</p> + +<p> +“It is in this enormous city,” said he to himself, “that the just and the +unjust are joining battle.” +</p> + +<p> +And substituting a simple and magnificent poetry for the multiple and +vulgar reality, he represented to himself the Pyrot affair as a struggle +between good and bad angels. He awaited the eternal triumph of the Sons of +Light and congratulated himself on being a Child of the Day confounding +the Children of Night. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0054" id="link2H_4_0054"></a> +X. MR. JUSTICE CHAUSSEPIED +</h2> + +<p> +Hitherto blinded by fear, incautious and stupid before the bands of Friar +Douillard and the partisans of Prince Crucho, the Republicans at last +opened their eyes and grasped the real meaning of the Pyrot affair. The +deputies who had for two years turned pale at the shouts of the patriotic +crowds became, not indeed more courageous, but altered their cowardice and +blamed Robin Mielleux for disorders which their own compliance had +encouraged, and the instigators of which they had several times slavishly +congratulated. They reproached him for having imperilled the Republic by a +weakness which was really theirs and a timidity which they themselves had +imposed upon him. Some of them began to doubt whether it was not to their +interest to believe in Pyrot’s innocence rather than in his guilt, and +thenceforward they felt a bitter anguish at the thought that the unhappy +man might have been wrongly convicted and that in his aerial cage he might +be expiating another man’s crimes. “I cannot sleep on account of it!” was +what several members of Minister Guillaumette’s majority used to say. But +these were ambitious to replace their chief. +</p> + +<p> +These generous legislators overthrew the cabinet, and the President of the +Republic put in Robin Mielleux’s place, a patriarchal Republican with a +flowing beard, La Trinité by name, who, like most of the Penguins, +understood nothing about the affair, but thought that too many monks were +mixed up in it. +</p> + +<p> +General Greatauk before leaving the Ministry of War, gave his final advice +to Pariler, the Chief of the Staff. +</p> + +<p> +“I go and you remain,” said he, as he shook hands with him. “The Pyrot +affair is my daughter; I confide her to you, she is worthy of your love +and your care; she is beautiful. Do not forget that her beauty loves the +shade, is leased with mystery, and likes to remain veiled. Great her +modesty with gentleness. Too many indiscreet looks have already profaned +her charms. . . . Panther, you desired proofs and you obtained them. You +have many, perhaps too many, in your possession. I see that there will be +many tiresome interventions and much dangerous curiosity. If I were in +your place I would tear up all those documents. Believe me, the best of +proofs is none at all. That is the only one which nobody discusses.” +</p> + +<p> +Alas! General Panther did not realise the wisdom of this advice. The +future was only too thoroughly to justify Greatauk’s perspicacity. La +Trinité demanded the documents belonging, to the Pyrot affair. Péniche, +his Minister of War, refused them in the superior interests of the +national defence, telling him that the documents under General Panther’s +care formed the hugest mass of archives in the world. La Trinité studied +the case as well as he could, and, without penetrating to the bottom of +the matter, suspected it of irregularity. Conformably to his rights and +prerogatives he then ordered a fresh trial to be held. Immediately, +Péniche, his Minister of War, accused him of insulting the army and +betraying the country and flung his portfolio at his head. He was replaced +by a second, who did the same. To him succeeded a third, who imitated +these examples, and those after him to the number of seventy acted like +their predecessors, until the venerable La Trinité groaned beneath the +weight of bellicose portfolios. The seventy-first Minister of War, van +Julep, retained office. Not that he was in disagreement with so many and +such noble colleagues, but he had been commissioned by them generously to +betray his Prime Minister, to cover him with shame and opprobrium, and to +convert the new trial to the glory of Greatauk, the satisfaction of the +Anti-Pyrotists, the profit of the monks, and the restoration of Prince +Crucho. +</p> + +<p> +General van Julep, though endowed with high military virtues, was not +intelligent enough to employ the subtle conduct and exquisite methods of +Greatauk. He thought, like General Panther, that tangible proofs against +Pyrot were necessary, that they could never ave too many of them, that +they could never have even enough. He expressed these’ sentiments to his +Chief of Staff, who was only too inclined to agree with them. +</p> + +<p> +“Panther,” said he, “we are at the moment when we need abundant and +superabundant proofs.” +</p> + +<p> +“You have said enough, General,” answered Panther, “I will complete my +piles of documents.” +</p> + +<p> +Six months later the proofs against Pyrot filled two storeys of the +Ministry of War. The ceiling fell in beneath the weight of the bundles, +and the avalanche of falling documents crushed two head clerks, fourteen +second clerks, and sixty copying clerks, who were at work upon the ground +floor arranging a change in the fashion of the cavalry gaiters. The walls +of the huge edifice had to be propped. Passers-by saw with amazement +enormous beams and monstrous stanchions which reared themselves obliquely +against the noble front of the building, now tottering and disjointed, and +blocked up the streets, stopped the carriages, and presented to the +motor-omnibuses an obstacle against which they dashed with their loads of +passengers. +</p> + +<p> +The judges who had condemned Pyrot were not, properly speaking, judges but +soldiers. The judges who had condemned Colomban were real judges, but of +inferior rank, wearing seedy black clothes like church vergers, unlucky +wretches of judges, miserable judgelings. Above them were the superior +judges who wore ermine robes over their black gowns. These, renowned for +their knowledge and doctrine, formed a court whose terrible name expressed +power. It was called the Court of Appeal (Cassation) so as to make it +clear that it was the hammer suspended over the judgments and decrees of +all other jurisdictions. +</p> + +<p> +One of these superior red Judges of the Supreme Court, called Chaussepied, +led a modest and tranquil life in a suburb of Alca. His soul was pure, his +heart honest, his spirit just. When he had finished studying his documents +he used to play the violin and cultivate hyacinths. Every Sunday he dined +with his neighbours the Mesdemoiselles Helbivore. His old age was cheerful +and robust and his friends often praised the amenity of his character. +</p> + +<p> +For some months, however, he had been irritable and touchy, and when he +opened a newspaper his broad and ruddy face would become covered with +dolorous wrinkles and darkened with an angry purple. Pyrot was the cause +of it. Justice Chaussepied could not understand how an officer could have +committed so black a crime as to hand over eighty thousand trusses of +military hay to a neighbouring and hostile Power. And he could still less +conceive how a scoundrel should have found official defenders in +Penguinia. The thought that there existed in his country a Pyrot, a +Colonel Hastaing, a Colomban, a Kerdanic, a Phœnix, spoilt his hyacinths, +his violin, his heaven, and his earth, all nature, and even his dinner +with the Mesdemoiselles Helbivore! +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time the Pyrot case, having been presented to the Supreme +Court by the Keeper of Seals, it fell to Chaussepied to examine it and +cover its defects, in case any existed. Although as upright and honest as +a man can be, and trained by long habit to exercise his magistracy without +fear or favour, he expected to find in the documents he submitted to him +proofs of certain guilt and obvious criminality. After lengthened +difficulties and repeated refusals on the part of General Julep, Justice +Chaussepied was allowed to examine the documents. Numbered and initialed +they ran to the number of fourteen millions six hundred and twenty-six +thousand three hundred and twelve. As he studied them the judge was at +first surprised, then astonished, then stupefied, amazed, and, if I dare +say so, flabbergasted. He found among the documents prospectuses of new +fancy shops, newspapers, fashion-plates, paper bags, old business letters, +exercise books, brown paper, green paper for rubbing parquet floors, +playing cards, diagrams, six thousand copies of the “Key to Dreams,” but +not a single document in which any mention was made of Pyrot. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0055" id="link2H_4_0055"></a> +XI. CONCLUSION +</h2> + +<p> +The appeal was allowed, and Pyrot was brought down from his cage. But the +Anti-Pyrotists did not regard themselves as beaten. The military judges +re-tried Pyrot. Greatauk, in this second affair, surpassed himself. He +obtained a second conviction; he obtained it by declaring that the proofs +communicated to the Supreme Court were worth nothing, and that great care +had been taken to keep back the good ones, since they ought to remain +secret. In the opinion of connoisseurs he had never shown so much address. +On leaving the court, as he passed through the vestibule with a tranquil +step, and his hands behind his back, amidst a crowd of sight-seers, a +woman dressed in red and with her face covered by a black veil rushed at +him, brandishing a kitchen knife. +</p> + +<p> +“Die, scoundrel!” she cried. It was Maniflore. Before those present could +understand what was happening, the general seized her by the wrist, and +with apparent gentleness, squeezed it so forcibly that the knife fell from +her aching hand. +</p> + +<p> +Then he picked it up and handed it to Maniflore. +</p> + +<p> +“Madam,” said he with a bow, “you have dropped a household utensil.” +</p> + +<p> +He could not prevent the heroine from being taken to the police-station; +but he had her immediately released and afterwards he employed all his +influence to stop the prosecution. +</p> + +<p> +The second conviction of Pyrot was Greatauk’s last victory. +</p> + +<p> +Justice Chaussepied, who had formerly liked soldiers so much, and esteemed +their justice so highly, being now enraged with the military judges, +quashed their judgments as a monkey cracks nuts. He rehabilitated Pyrot a +second time; he would, if necessary, have rehabilitated him five hundred +times. +</p> + +<p> +Furious at having been cowards and at having allowed themselves to be +deceived and made game of, the Republicans turned against the monks and +clergy. The deputies passed laws of expulsion, separation, and spoliation +against them. What Father Cornemuse had foreseen took place. That good +monk was driven from the Wood of Conils. Treasury officers confiscated his +retorts and his stills, and the liquidators divided amongst them his +bottles of St. Oberosian liqueur. The pious distiller lost the annual +income of three million five hundred thousand francs that his products +procured for him. Father Agaric went into exile, abandoning his school +into the hands of laymen, who soon allowed it to fall into decay. +Separated from its foster-mother, the State, the Church of Penguinia +withered like a plucked flower. +</p> + +<p> +The victorious defenders of the innocent man now abused each other and +overwhelmed each other reciprocally with insults and calumnies. The +vehement Kerdanic hurled himself upon Phœnix as if ready to devour him. +The wealthy Jews and the seven hundred Pyrotists turned away with disdain +from the socialist comrades whose aid they had humbly implored in the +past. +</p> + +<p> +“We know you no longer,” said they. “To the devil with you and your social +justice. Social justice is the defence of property.” +</p> + +<p> +Having been elected a Deputy and chosen to be the leader of the new +majority, comrade Larrivée was appointed by the Chamber and public opinion +to the Premiership. He showed himself an energetic defender of the +military tribunals that had condemned Pyrot. When his former socialist +comrades claimed a little more justice and liberty for the employés of the +State as well as for manual workers, he opposed their proposals in an +eloquent speech. +</p> + +<p> +“Liberty,” said he, “is not licence. Between order and disorder my choice +is made: revolution is impotence. Progress has no more formidable enemy +than violence. Gentlemen, those who, as I am, are anxious for reform, +ought to apply themselves before everything else to cure this agitation +which enfeebles government just as fever exhausts those who are ill. It is +time to reassure honest people.” +</p> + +<p> +This speech was received with applause. The government of the Republic +remained in subjection to the great financial companies, the army was +exclusively devoted to the defence of capital, while the fleet was +designed solely to procure fresh orders for the mine-owners. Since the +rich refused to pay their just share of the taxes, the poor, as in the +past, paid for them. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time from the height of his old steamline, beneath the crowded +stars of night, Bidault-Coquille gazed sadly at the sleeping city. +Maniflore had left him. Consumed with a desire for fresh devotions and +fresh sacrifices, she had gone in company with a young Bulgarian to bear +justice and vengeance to Sofia. He did not regret her, having perceived +after the Affair, that she was less beautiful in form and in thought than +he had at first imagined. His impressions had been modified in the same +direction concerning many other forms and many other thoughts. And what +was cruelest of all to him, he regarded himself as not so great, not so +splendid, as he had believed. +</p> + +<p> +And he reflected: +</p> + +<p> +“You considered yourself sublime when you had but candour and good-will. +Of what were you proud, Bidault-Coquille? Of having been one of the first +to know that Pyrot was innocent and Greatauk a scoundrel. But +three-fourths of those who defended Greatauk against the attacks of the +seven hundred Pyrotists knew that better than you. Of what then did you +show yourself so proud? Of having dared to say what you thought? That is +civic courage, and, like military courage, it is a mere result of +imprudence. You have been imprudent. So far so good, but that is no reason +for praising yourself beyond measure. Your imprudence was trifling; it +exposed you to trifling perils; you did not risk your head by it. The +Penguins have lost that cruel and sanguinary pride which formerly gave a +tragic grandeur to their revolutions; it is the fatal result of the +weakening of beliefs and character. Ought one to look upon oneself as a +superior spirit for having shown a little more clear-sightedness than the +vulgar? I am very much afraid, on the contrary, Bidault-Coquille, that you +have given proof of a gross misunderstanding of the conditions of the +moral and intellectual development of a people. You imagined that social +injustices were threaded together like pearls and that it would be enough +to pull off one in order to unfasten the whole necklace. That is a very +ingenuous conception. You flattered yourself that at one stroke you were +establishing justice in your own country and in the universe. You were a +brave man, an honest idealist, though without much experimental +philosophy. But go home to your own heart and you will recognise that you +had in you a spice of malice and that our ingenuousness was not without +cunning. You believed you were performing a fine moral action. You said to +yourself: ‘Here am I, just and courageous once for all. I can henceforth +repose in the public esteem and the praise of historians.’ And now that +you have lost your illusions, now that you know how hard it is to redress +wrongs, and that the task must ever be begun afresh, you are going back to +your asteroids. You are right; but go back to them with modesty, +Bidault-Coquille!” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0056" id="link2H_4_0056"></a> +BOOK VII. MODERN TIMES +</h2> + +<p class="center"> +MADAME CÉRÈS +</p> + +<p class="center"> +“Only extreme things are tolerable.”<br /> +Count Robert de Montesquiou. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0057" id="link2H_4_0057"></a> +I. MADAME CLARENCE’S DRAWING-ROOM +</h2> + +<p> +Madame Clarence, the widow of an exalted functionary of the Republic, loved to +entertain. Every Thursday she collected together some friends of modest +condition who took pleasure in conversation. The ladies who went to see her, +very different in age and rank, were all without money, and had all suffered +much. There was a duchess who looked like a fortune-teller and a fortune-teller +who looked like a duchess. Madame Clarence was pretty enough to maintain some +old <i>liaisons</i>, but not to form new ones, and she generally inspired a +quiet esteem. She had a very pretty daughter, who, since she had no dower, +caused some alarm among the male guests; for the Penguins were as much afraid +of portionless girls as they were of the devil himself. Eveline Clarence, +noticing their reserve and perceiving its cause, used to hand them their tea +with an air of disdain. Moreover, she seldom appeared at the parties and talked +only to the ladies or the very young people. Her discreet and retiring presence +put no restraint upon the conversation, since those who took part in it thought +either that as she was a young girl she would not understand it, or that, being +twenty-five years old, she might listen to everything. +</p> + +<p> +One Thursday therefore, in Madame Clarence’s drawing-room, the +conversation turned upon love. The ladies spoke of it with pride, delicacy, and +mystery, the men with discretion and fatuity; everyone took an interest in the +conversation, for each one was interested in what he or she said. A great deal +of wit flowed; brilliant apostrophes were launched forth and keen repartees +were returned. But when Professor Haddock began to speak he overwhelmed +everybody. +</p> + +<p> +“It is the same with our ideas on love as with our ideas on everything +else,” said he, “they rest upon anterior habits whose very memory has been +effaced. In morals, the limitations that have lost their grounds for +existing, the most useless obligations, the cruelest and most injurious +restraints, are because of their profound antiquity and the mystery of +their origin, the least disputed and the least disputable as well as the +most respected, and they are those that cannot be violated without +incurring the most severe blame. All morality relative to the relations of +the sexes is founded on this principle: that a woman once obtained belongs +to the man, that she is his property like his horse or his weapons. And +this having ceased to be true, absurdities result from it, such as the +marriage or contract of sale of a woman to a man, with clauses restricting +the right of ownership introduced as a consequence of the gradual +diminution of the claims of the possessor. +</p> + +<p> +“The obligation imposed on a girl that she should bring her virginity to +her husband comes from the times when girls were married immediately they +were of a marriageable age. It is ridiculous that a girl who marries at +twenty-five or thirty should be subject to that obligation. You will, +perhaps, say that it is a present with which her husband, if she gets one +at last, will be gratified; but every moment we see men wooing married +women and showing themselves perfectly satisfied to take them as they find +them. +</p> + +<p> +“Still, even in our own day, the duty of girls is determined in religious +morality by the old belief that God, the most powerful of warriors, is +polygamous, that he has reserved all maidens for himself, and that men can +only take those whom he has left. This belief, although traces of it exist +in several metaphors of mysticism, is abandoned to-day, by most civilised +peoples. However, it still dominates the education of girls not only among +our believers, but even among our free-thinkers, who, as a rule, think +freely for the reason that they do not think at all. +</p> + +<p> +“Discretion means ability to separate and discern. We say that a girl is +discreet when she knows nothing at all. We cultivate her ignorance. In +spite of all our care the most discreet know something, for we cannot +conceal from them their own nature and their own sensations. But they know +badly, they know in a wrong way. That is all we obtain by our careful +education. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“Sir,” suddenly said Joseph Boutourlé, the High Treasurer of Alca, +“believe me, there are innocent girls, perfectly innocent girls, and it is +a great pity. I have known three. They married, and the result was +tragical.” +</p> + +<p> +“I have noticed,” Professor Haddock went on, “that Europeans in general +and Penguins in particular occupy themselves, after sport and motoring, +with nothing so much as with love. It is giving a great deal of importance +to a matter that has very little weight.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then, Professor,” exclaimed Madame Crémeur in a choking voice, “when a +woman has completely surrendered herself to you, you think it is a matter +of no importance?” +</p> + +<p> +“No, Madame; it can have its importance,” answered Professor Haddock, “but +it is necessary to examine if when she surrenders herself to us she offers +us a delicious fruit-garden or a plot of thistles and dandelions. And +then, do we not misuse words? In love, a woman lends herself rather than +gives herself. Look at the pretty Madame Pensée. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +“She is my mother,” said a tall, fair young man. +</p> + +<p> +“Sir, I have the greatest respect for her,” replied Professor Haddock; “do +not be afraid that I intend to say anything in the least offensive about +her. But allow me to tell you that, as a rule, the opinions of sons about +their mothers are not to be relied on. They do not bear enough in mind +that a mother is a mother only because she loved, and that she can still +love. That, however, is the case, and it would be deplorable were it +otherwise. I have noticed, on the contrary, that daughters do not deceive +themselves about their mothers’ faculty for loving or about the use they +make of it; they are rivals; they have their eyes upon them.” +</p> + +<p> +The insupportable Professor spoke a great deal longer, adding indecorum to +awkwardness, and impertinence to incivility, accumulating incongruities, +despising what is respectable, respecting what is despicable; but no one +listened to him further. +</p> + +<p> +During this time in a room that was simple without grace, a room sad for +the want of love, a room which, like all young girls’ rooms, had something +of the cold atmosphere of a place of waiting about it, Eveline Clarence +turned over the pages of club annuals and prospectuses of charities in +order to obtain from them some acquaintance with society. Being convinced +that her mother, shut up in her own intellectual but poor world, could +neither bring her out or push her into prominence, she decided that she +herself would seek the best means of winning a husband. At once calm and +obstinate, without dreams or illusions, and regarding marriage as but a +ticket of admission or a passport, she kept before her mind a clear notion +of the hazards, difficulties, and chances of her enterprise. She had the +art of pleasing and a coldness of temperament that enabled her to turn it +to its fullest advantage. Her weakness lay in the fact that she was +dazzled by anything that had an aristocratic air. +</p> + +<p> +When she was alone with her mother she said: +</p> + +<p> +“Mamma, we will go to-morrow to Father Douillard’s retreat.” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0058" id="link2H_4_0058"></a> +II. THE CHARITY OF ST. ORBEROSIA +</h2> + +<p> +Every Friday evening at nine o’clock the choicest of Alcan society +assembled in the aristocratic church of St. Maël for the Reverend Father +Douillard’s retreat. Prince and Princess des Boscénos, Viscount and +Viscountess Olive, M. and Madame Bigourd, Monsieur and Madame de La +Trumelle were never absent. The flower of the aristocracy might be seen +there, and fair Jewish baronesses also adorned it by their presence, for +the Jewish baronesses of Alca were Christians. +</p> + +<p> +This retreat, like all religious retreats, had for its object to procure +for those living in the world opportunities for recollection so that they +might think of their eternal salvation. It was also intended to draw down +upon so man noble and illustrious families the benediction of L. +Orberosia, who loves the Penguins. The Reverend Father Douillard strove +for the completion of his task with a truly apostolical zeal. He hoped to +restore the prerogatives of St. Orberosia as the patron saint of Penguinia +and to dedicate to her a monumental church on one of the hills that +dominate the city. His efforts had been crowned with great success, and +for the accomplishing of this national enterprise he had already united +more than a hundred thousand adherents and collected more than twenty +millions of francs. +</p> + +<p> +It was in the choir of St. Maël’s that St. Orberosia’s new shrine, shining +with gold, sparkling with precious stones, and surrounded by tapers and +flowers, had been erected. +</p> + +<p> +The following account may be read in the “History of the Miracles of the +Patron Saint of Alca” by the Abbé Plantain: +</p> + +<p> +“The ancient shrine had been melted down during the Terror and the +precious relics of the saint thrown into a fire that had been lit on the +Place de Grève; but a poor woman of great piety, named Rouquin, went by +night at the peril of her life to gather up the calcined bones and the +ashes of the blessed saint. She preserved them in a jam-pot, and when +religion was again restored, brought them to the venerable Curé of St. +Maëls. The woman ended her days piously as a vendor of tapers and +custodian of seats in the saint’s chapel.” +</p> + +<p> +It is certain that in the time of Father Douillard, although faith was +declining, the cult of St. Orberosia, which for three hundred years had +fallen under the criticism of Canon Princeteau and the silence of the +Doctors of the Church, recovered, and was surrounded with more pomp, more +splendour, and more fervour than ever. The theologians did not now +subtract a single iota from the legend. They held as certainly established +all the facts related by Abbot Simplicissimus, and in particular declared, +on the testimony of that monk, that the devil, assuming a monk’s form had +carried off the saint to a cave and had there striven with her until she +overcame him. Neither places nor dates caused them any embarrassment. They +paid no heed to exegesis and took good care not to grant as much to +science as Canon Princeteau had formerly conceded. They knew too well +whither that would lead. +</p> + +<p> +The church shone with lights and flowers. An operatic tenor sang the +famous canticle of St. Orberosia: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> +Virgin of Paradise<br /> +Come, come in the dusky night<br /> +And on us shed<br /> +Thy beams of light. +</p> + +<p> +Mademoiselle Clarence sat beside her mother and in front of Viscount +Cléna. She remained kneeling during a considerable time, for the attitude +of prayer is natural to discreet virgins and it shows off their figures. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father Douillard ascended the pulpit. He was a powerful +orator and could, at once melt, surprise, and rouse his hearers. Women +complained only that he fulminated against vice with excessive harshness +and in crude terms that made them blush. But they liked him none the less +for it. +</p> + +<p> +He treated in his sermon of the seventh trial of St. Orberosia, who was tempted +by the dragon which she went forth to combat. But she did not yield, and she +disarmed the monster. The orator demonstrated without difficulty that we, also, +by the aid of St. Orberosia, and strong in the virtue which she inspires, can +in our turn overthrow the dragons that dart upon us and are waiting to devour +us, the dragon of doubt, the dragon of impiety, the dragon of forgetfulness of +religious duties. He proved that the charity of St. Orberosia was a work of +social regeneration, and he concluded by an ardent appeal to the faithful +“to become instruments of the Divine mercy, eager upholders and +supporters of the charity of St. Orberosia, and to furnish it with all the +means which it required to take its flight and bear its salutary +fruits.”<a href="#fn-11" name="fnref-11" id="fnref-11"><sup>[11]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-11" id="fn-11"></a> <a href="#fnref-11">[11]</a> +Cf. J. Ernest Charles in the “Censeur,” May-August, 1907, p. 562, +col. 2. +</p> + +<p> +After the ceremony, the Reverend Father Douillard remained in the sacristy +at the disposal of those of the faithful who desired information +concerning the charity, or who wished to bring their contributions. +Mademoiselle Clarence wished to speak to Father Douillard, so did Viscount +Cléna. The crowd was large, and a queue was formed. By chance Viscount +Cléna and Mademoiselle Clarence were side by side and possibly they were +squeezed a little closely to each other by the crowd. Eveline had noticed +this fashionable young man, who was almost as well known as his father in +the world of sport. Cléna had noticed her, and, as he thought her pretty, +he bowed to her, then apologised and pretended to believe that he had been +introduced to the ladies, but could not remember where. They pretended to +believe it also. +</p> + +<p> +He presented himself the following week at Madame Clarence’s, thinking +that her house was a bit fast—a thing not likely to displease him—and +when he saw Eveline again he felt he had not been mistaken and that she +was an extremely pretty girl. +</p> + +<p> +Viscount Cléna had the finest motor-car in Europe. For three months he +drove the Clarences every day over hills and plains, through woods and +valleys; they visited famous sites and went over celebrated castles. He +said to Eveline all that could be said and did all that could be done to +overcome her resistance. She did not conceal from him that she loved him, +that she would always love him, and love no one but him. She remained +grave and trembling by his side. To his devouring passion she opposed the +invincible defence of a virtue conscious of its danger. At the end of +three months, after having gone uphill and down hill, turned sharp +corners, and negotiated level crossings, and experienced innumerable +break-downs, he knew her as well as he knew the fly-wheel of his car, but +not much better. He employed surprises, adventures, sudden stoppages in +the depths of forests and before hotels, but he had advanced no farther. +He said to himself that it was absurd; then, taking her again in his car +he set off at fifty miles an hour quite prepared to upset her in a ditch +or to smash himself and her against a tree. +</p> + +<p> +One day, having come to take her on some excursion, he found her more +charming than ever, and more provoking. He darted upon her as a storm +falls upon the reeds that border a lake. She bent with adorable weakness +beneath the breath of the storm, and twenty times was almost carried away +by its strength, but twenty times she arose, supple and, bowing to the +wind. After all these shocks one would have said that a light breeze had +barely touched her charming stem; she smiled as if ready to be plucked by +a bold hand. Then her unhappy aggressor, desperate, enraged, and three +parts mad, fled so as not to kill her, mistook the door, went into the +bedroom of Madame Clarence, whom he found putting on her hat in front of a +wardrobe, seized her, flung her on the bed, and possessed her before she +knew what had happened. +</p> + +<p> +The same day Eveline, who had been making inquiries, learned that Viscount +Cléna had nothing but debts, lived on money given him by an elderly lady, +and promoted the sale of the latest models of a motor-car manufacturer. +They separated with common accord and Eveline began again disdainfully to +serve tea to her mother’s guests. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0059" id="link2H_4_0059"></a> +III. HIPPOLYTE CÉRÈS +</h2> + +<p> +In Madame Clarence’s drawing-room the conversation turned upon love, and +many charming things were said about it. +</p> + +<p> +“Love is a sacrifice,” sighed Madame Crémeur. +</p> + +<p> +“I agree with you,” replied M. Boutourlé with animation. +</p> + +<p> +But Professor Haddock soon displayed his fastidious insolence. +</p> + +<p> +“It seems to me,” said he, “that the Penguin ladies have made a great fuss +since, through St. Maël’s agency, they became viviparous. But there is +nothing to be particularly proud of in that, for it is a state they share +in common with cows and pigs, and even with orange and lemon trees, for +the seeds of these plants germinate in the pericarp.” +</p> + +<p> +“The self-importance which the Penguin ladies give themselves does not go +so far back as that,” answered M. Boutourlé. “It dates from the day when +the holy apostle gave them clothes. But this self-importance was long kept +in restraint, and displayed itself fully only with increased luxury of +dress and in a small section of society. For go only two leagues from Alca +into the country at harvest time, and you will see whether women are +over-precise or self-important.” +</p> + +<p> +On that day M. Hippolyte Cérès paid his first call. He was a Deputy of +Alca, and one of the youngest members of the House. His father was said to +have kept a dram shop, but he himself was a lawyer of robust physique, a +good though prolix speaker, with a self-important air and a reputation for +ability. +</p> + +<p> +“M. Cérès,” said the mistress of the house, “your constituency is one of +the finest in Alca.” +</p> + +<p> +“And there are fresh improvements made in it every day, Madame.” +</p> + +<p> +“Unfortunately, it is impossible to take a stroll through it any longer,” +said M. Boutourlé. +</p> + +<p> +“Why?” asked M. Cérès. +</p> + +<p> +“On account of the motors, of course.” +</p> + +<p> +“Do not give them a bad name,” answered the Deputy. “They are our great +national industry.” +</p> + +<p> +“I know. The Penguins of to-day make me think of the ancient Egyptians. +According to Clement of Alexandria, Taine tells us—though he +misquotes the text—the Egyptians worshipped the crocodiles that +devoured them. The Penguins to-day worship the motors that crush them. +Without a doubt the future belongs to the metal beast. We are no more +likely to go back to cabs than we are to go back to the diligence. And the +long martyrdom of the horse will come to an end. The motor, which the +frenzied cupidity of manufacturers hurls like a juggernaut’s car upon the +bewildered people and of which the idle and fashionable make a foolish +though fatal elegance, will soon begin to perform its true function, and +putting its strength at the service of the entire people, will behave like +a docile, toiling monster. But in order that the motor may cease to be +injurious and become beneficent we must build roads suited to its speed, +roads which it cannot tear up with its ferocious tyres, and from which it +will send no clouds of poisonous dust into human lungs. We ought not to +allow slower vehicles or mere animals to go upon those roads, and we +should establish garages upon them and foot-bridges over them, and so +create order and harmony among the means of communication of the future. +That is the wish of every good citizen.” +</p> + +<p> +Madame Clarence led the conversation back to the improvements in M. Cérès’ +constituency. M. Cérès showed his enthusiasm for demolitions, tunnelings, +constructions, reconstructions, and all other fruitful operations. +</p> + +<p> +“We build to-day in an admirable style,” said he; “everywhere majestic +avenues are being reared. Was ever anything as fine as our arcaded bridges +and our domed hotels!” +</p> + +<p> +“You are forgetting that big palace surmounted an immense melon-shaped +dome,” grumbled by M. Daniset, an old art amateur, in a voice of +restrained rage. “I am amazed at the degree of ugliness which a modern +city can attain. Alca is becoming Americanised. Everywhere we are +destroying all that is free, unexpected, measured, restrained, human, or +traditional among the things that are left us. Everywhere we are +destroying that charming object, a piece of an old wall that bears up the +branches of a tree. Everywhere we are suppressing some fragment of light +and air, some fragment of nature, some fragment of the associations that +still remain with us, some fragment of our fathers, some fragment of +ourselves. And we are putting up frightful, enormous, infamous houses, +surmounted in Viennese style by ridiculous domes, or fashioned after the +models of the ‘new art’ without mouldings, or having profiles with +sinister corbels and burlesque pinnacles, and such monsters as these +shamelessly peer over the surrounding buildings. We see bulbous +protuberances stuck on the fronts of buildings and we are told they are +‘new art’ motives. I have seen the ‘new art’ in other countries, but it is +not so ugly as with us; it has fancy and it has simplicity. It is only in +our own country that by a sad privilege we may behold the newest and most +diverse styles of architectural ugliness. Not an enviable privilege!” +</p> + +<p> +“Are you not afraid,” asked M. Cérès severely, “are you not afraid that +these bitter criticisms tend to keep out of our capital the foreigners who +flow into it from all arts of the world and who leave millions behind +them?” +</p> + +<p> +“You may set your mind at rest about that,” answered M. Daniset. +“Foreigners do not come to admire our buildings; they come to see our +courtesans, our dressmakers, and our dancing saloons.” +</p> + +<p> +“We have one bad habit,” sighed M. Cérès, “it is that we calumniate +ourselves.” +</p> + +<p> +Madame Clarence as an accomplished hostess thought it was time to return +to the subject of love and asked M. Jumel his opinion of M. Leon Blum’s +recent book in which the author complained. . . . +</p> + +<p> +“. . . That an irrational custom,” went on Professor Haddock, “prevents +respectable young ladies from making love, a thing they would enjoy doing, +whilst mercenary girls do it too much and without getting any enjoyment +out of it. It is indeed deplorable. But M. Leon Blum need not fret too +much. If the evil exists, as he says it does, in our middle-class society, +I can assure him that everywhere else he would see a consoling spectacle. +Among the people, the mass of the people through town and country, girls +do not deny themselves that pleasure.” +</p> + +<p> +“It is depravity!” said Madame Crémeur. +</p> + +<p> +And she praised the innocence of young girls in terms full of modesty and +grace. It was charming to hear her. +</p> + +<p> +Professor Haddock’s views on the same subject were, on the contrary, +painful to listen to. +</p> + +<p> +“Respectable young girls,” said he, “are guarded and watched over. +Besides, men do not, as a rule, pursue them much, either through probity, +or from a fear of grave responsibilities, or because the seduction of a +young girl would not be to their credit. Even then we do not know what +really takes place, for the reason that what is hidden is not seen. This +is a condition necessary to the existence of all society. The scruples of +respectable young girls could be more easily overcome than those of +married women if the same pressure were brought to bear on them, and for +this there are two reasons: they have more illusions, and their curiosity +has not been satisfied. Women, for the most part, have been so +disappointed by their husbands that they have not courage enough to begin +again with somebody else. I myself have been met by this obstacle several +times in my attempts at seduction.” +</p> + +<p> +At the moment when Professor Haddock ended his unpleasant remarks, +Mademoiselle Eveline Clarence entered the drawing-room and listlessly +handed about tea with that expression of boredom which gave an oriental +charm to her beauty. +</p> + +<p> +“For my part,” said Hippolyte Cérès, looking at her, “I declare myself the +young ladies’ champion.” +</p> + +<p> +“He must be a fool,” thought the girl. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès, who had never set foot outside of his political world of +electors and elected, thought Madame Clarence’s drawing-room most select, +its mistress exquisite, and her daughter amazingly beautiful. His visits +became frequent and he paid court to both of them. Madame Clarence, who +now liked attention, thought him agreeable. Eveline showed no friendliness +towards him, and treated him with a hauteur and disdain that he took for +aristocratic behaviour and fashionable manners, and he thought all the +more of her on that account. This busy man taxed his ingenuity to please +them, and he sometimes succeeded. He got them cards for fashionable +functions and boxes at the Opera. He furnished Mademoiselle Clarence with +several opportunities of appearing to great advantage and in particular at +a garden party which, although given by a Minister, was regarded as really +fashionable, and gained its first success in society circles for the +Republic. +</p> + +<p> +At that party Eveline had been much noticed and had attracted the special +attention of a young diplomat called Roger Lambilly who, imagining that +she belonged to a rather fast set, invited her to his bachelor’s flat. She +thought him handsome and believed him rich, and she accepted. A little +moved, almost disquieted, she very nearly became the victim of her daring, +and only avoided defeat by an offensive measure audaciously carried out. +This was the most foolish escapade in her unmarried life. +</p> + +<p> +Being now on friendly terms with Ministers and with the President, Eveline +continued to wear her aristocratic and pious affectations, and these won +for her the sympathy of the chief personages in the anti-clerical and +democratic Republic. M. Hippolyte Cérès, seeing that she was succeeding +and doing him credit, liked her still more. He even went so far as to fall +madly in love with her. +</p> + +<p> +Henceforth, in spite of everything, she began to observe him with +interest, being curious to see if his passion would increase. He appeared +to her without elegance or grace, and not well bred, but active, +clear-sighted, full of resource, and not too great a bore. She still made +fun of him, but he had now won her interest. +</p> + +<p> +One day she wished to test him. It was during the elections, when members +of Parliament were, as the phrase runs, requesting a renewal of their +mandates. He had an opponent, who, though not dangerous at first and not +much of an orator, was rich and was reported to be gaining votes every +day. Hippolyte Cérès, banishing both dull security and foolish alarm from +his mind, redoubled his care. His chief method of action was by public +meetings at which he spoke vehemently against the rival candidate. His +committee held huge meetings on Saturday evenings and at three o’clock on +Sunday afternoons. One Sunday, as he called on the Clarences, he found +Eveline alone in the drawing-room. He had been chatting for about twenty +or twenty-five minutes, when, taking out his watch, he saw that it was a +quarter to three. The young girl showed herself amiable, engaging, +attractive, and full of promises. Cérès was fascinated, but he stood up to +go. +</p> + +<p> +“Stay a little longer,” said she in a pressing and agreeable voice which +made him promptly sit down again. +</p> + +<p> +She was full of interest, of abandon, curiosity, and weakness. He blushed, +turned pale, and again got up. +</p> + +<p> +Then, in order to keep him still longer, she looked at him out of two grey +and melting eyes, and though her bosom was heaving, she did not say +another word. He fell at her feet in distraction, but once more looking at +his watch, he jumped up with a terrible oath. +</p> + +<p> +“D—! a quarter to four! I must be off.” +</p> + +<p> +And immediately he rushed down the stairs. +</p> + +<p> +From that time onwards she had a certain amount of esteem for him. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0060" id="link2H_4_0060"></a> +IV. A POLITICIAN’S MARRIAGE +</h2> + +<p> +She was not quite in love with him, but she wished him to be in love with +her. She was, moreover, very reserved with him, and that not solely from +any want of inclination to be otherwise, since in affairs of love some +things are due to indifference, to inattention, to woman’s instinct, to +traditional custom and feeling, to a desire to try one’s power, and to +satisfaction at seeing its results. The reason of her prudence was that +she knew him to be very much infatuated and capable of taking advantage of +any familiarities she allowed as well as of reproaching her coarsely +afterwards if she discontinued them. +</p> + +<p> +As he was a professed anti-clerical and free-thinker, she thought it a +good plan to affect an appearance of piety in his presence and to be seen +with prayer-books bound in red morocco, such as Queen Marie Leczinska’s or +the Dauphiness Marie Josephine’s “The Last Two Weeks of Lent.” She lost no +opportunity, either, of showing him the subscriptions that she collected +for the endowment of the national cult of St. Orberosia. Eveline did not +act in this way because she wished to tease him. Nor did it spring from a +young girl’s archness, or a spirit of constraint, or even from +snobbishness, though there was more than a suspicion of this latter in her +behaviour. It was but her way of asserting herself, of stamping herself +with a definite character, of increasing her value. To rouse the Deputy’s +courage she wrapped herself up in religion, just as Brunhild surrounded +herself with flames so as to attract Sigurd. Her audacity was successful. +He thought her still more beautiful thus. Clericalism was in his eyes a +sign of good form. +</p> + +<p> +Cérès was re-elected by an enormous majority and returned to a House which +showed itself more inclined to the Left, more advanced, and, as it seemed, +more eager for reform than its predecessor. Perceiving at once that so +much zeal was but intended to hide a fear of change, and a sincere desire +to do nothing, he determined to adopt a policy that would satisfy these +aspirations. At the beginning of the session he made a great speech, +cleverly thought out and well arranged, dealing with the idea that all +reform ought to be put off for a long time. He showed himself heated, even +fervid; holding the principle that an orator should recommend moderation +with extreme vehemence. He was applauded by the entire assembly. The +Clarences listened to him from the President’s box and Eveline trembled in +spite of herself at the solemn sound of the applause. On the same bench +the fair Madame Pensée shivered at the intonations of his virile voice. +</p> + +<p> +As soon as he descended from the tribune, Cérès, even while the audience +were still clapping, went without a moment’s delay to salute the Clarences +in their box. Eveline saw in him the beauty of success, and as he leaned +towards the ladies, wiping his neck with his handkerchief and receiving +their congratulations with an air of modesty though not without a tinge of +self-conceit, the young girl glanced towards Madame Pensée and saw her, +palpitating and breathless, drinking in the hero’s applause with her head +thrown backwards. It seemed as if she were on the point of fainting. +Eveline immediately smiled tenderly on M. Cérès. +</p> + +<p> +The Alcan deputy’s speech had a great vogue. In political “spheres” it was +regarded as extremely able. “We have at last heard an honest +pronouncement,” said the chief Moderate journal. “It is a regular +programme!” they said in the House. It was agreed that he was a man of +immense talent. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès had now established himself as leader of the radicals, +socialists, and anti-clericals, and they appointed him President of their +group, which was then the most considerable in the House. He thus found +himself marked out for office in the next ministerial combination. +</p> + +<p> +After a long hesitation Eveline Clarence accepted the idea of marrying M. +Hippolyte Cérès. The great man was a little common for her taste. Nothing +had yet proved that he would one day reach the point where politics bring +in large sums of money. But she was entering her twenty-seventh year and +knew enough of life to see that she must not be too fastidious or show +herself too difficult to please. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès was celebrated; Hippolyte Cérès was happy. He was no +longer recognisable; the elegance of his clothes and deportment had +increased tremendously. He wore an undue number of white gloves. Now that +he was too much of a society man, Eveline began to doubt if it was not +worse than being too little of one. Madame Clarence regarded the +engagement with favour. She was reassured concerning her daughter’s future +and pleased to have flowers given her every Thursday for her drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +The celebration of the marriage raised some difficulties. Eveline was +pious and wished to receive the benediction of the Church. Hippolyte +Cérès, tolerant but a free-thinker, wanted only a civil marriage. There +were many discussions and even some violent scenes upon the subject. The +last took place in the young girl’s room at the moment when the +invitations were being written. Eveline declared that if she did not go to +church she would not believe herself married. She spoke of breaking off +the engagement, and of going abroad with her mother, or of retiring into a +convent. Then she became tender, weak, suppliant. She sighed, and +everything in her virginal chamber sighed in chorus, the holy-water font, +the palm-branch above her white bed, the books of devotion on their little +shelves, and the blue and white statuette of St. Orberosia chaining the +dragon of Cappadocia, that stood upon the marble mantelpiece. Hippolyte +Cérès was moved, softened, melted. +</p> + +<p> +Beautiful in her grief, her eyes shining with tears, her wrists girt by a +rosary of lapis lazuli and, so to speak, chained by her faith, she +suddenly flung herself at Hippolyte’s feet, and dishevelled, almost dying, +she embraced his knees. +</p> + +<p> +He nearly yielded. +</p> + +<p> +“A religious marriage,” he muttered, “a marriage in church, I could make +my constituents stand that, but my committee would not swallow the matter +so easily. . . . Still I’ll explain it to them . . . toleration, social +necessities . . . . They all send their daughters to Sunday school . . . . +But as for office, my dear I am afraid we are going to drown all hope of +that in your holy water.” +</p> + +<p> +At these words she stood up grave, generous, resigned, conquered also in +her turn. +</p> + +<p> +“My dear, I insist no longer.” +</p> + +<p> +“Then we won’t have a religious marriage. It will be better, much better +not.” +</p> + +<p> +“Very well, but be guided by me. I am going to try and arrange everything +both to your satisfaction and mine.” +</p> + +<p> +She sought the Reverend Father Douillard and explained the situation. He +showed himself even more accommodating and yielding than she had hoped. +</p> + +<p> +“Your husband is an intelligent man, a man of order and reason; he will +come over to us. You will sanctify him. It is not in vain that God has +granted him the blessing of a Christian wife. The Church needs no pomp and +ceremonial display for her benedictions. Now that she is persecuted, the +shadow of the crypts and the recesses of the catacombs are in better +accord with her festivals. Mademoiselle, when you have performed the civil +formalities come here to my private chapel in costume with M. Cérès. I +will marry you, a observe the most absolute discretion. I will obtain the +necessary dispensations from the Archbishop as well as all facilities +regarding the banns, confession-tickets, etc.” +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte, although he thought the combination a little dangerous, agreed +to it, a good deal flattered, at bottom. +</p> + +<p> +“I will go in a short coat,” he said. +</p> + +<p> +He went in a frock coat with white gloves and varnished shoes, and he +genuflected. +</p> + +<p> +“Politeness demands. . . .” +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0061" id="link2H_4_0061"></a> +V. THE VISIRE CABINET +</h2> + +<p> +The Cérès household was established with modest decency in a pretty flat +situated in a new building. Cérès loved his wife in a calm and tranquil +fashion. He was often kept late from home by the Commission on the Budget +and he worked more than three nights a week at a report on the postal +finances of which he hoped to make a masterpiece. Eveline thought she +could twist him round her finger, and this did not displease him. The bad +side of their situation was that they had not much money; in truth they +had very little. The servants of the Republic do not grow rich in her +service as easily as people think. Since the sovereign is no longer there +to distribute favours, each of them takes what he can, and his +depredations, limited by the depredations of all the others, are reduced +to modest proportions. Hence that austerity of morals that is noticed in +democratic leaders. They can only grow rich during periods of great +business activity and then they find themselves exposed to the envy of +their less favoured colleagues. Hippolyte Cérès had for a long time +foreseen such a period. He was one of those who had made preparations for +its arrival. Whilst waiting for it he endured his poverty with dignity, +and Eveline shared that poverty without suffering as much as one might +have thought. She was in close intimacy with the Reverend Father Douillard +and frequented the chapel of St. Orberosia, where she met with serious +society and people in a position to render her useful services. She knew +how to choose among them and gave her confidence to none but those who +deserved it. She had gained experience since her motor excursions with +Viscount Cléna, and above all she had now acquired the value of a married +woman. +</p> + +<p> +The deputy was at first uneasy about these pious practices, which were +ridiculed by the demagogic newspapers, but he was soon reassured, for he +saw all around him democratic leaders joyfully becoming reconciled to the +aristocracy and the Church. +</p> + +<p> +They found that they had reached one of those periods (which often recur) +when advance had been carried a little too far. Hippolyte Cérès gave a +moderate support to this view. His policy was not a policy of persecution +but a policy of tolerance. He had laid its foundations in his splendid +speech on the preparations for reform. The Prime Minister was looked upon +as too advanced. He proposed schemes which were admitted to be dangerous +to capital, and the great financial companies were opposed to him. Of +course it followed that the papers of all views supported the companies. +Seeing the danger increasing, the Cabinet abandoned its schemes, its +programme, and its opinions, but it was too late. A new administration was +already ready. An insidious question by Paul Visire which was immediately +made the subject of a resolution, and a fine speech by Hippolyte Cérès, +overthrew the Cabinet. +</p> + +<p> +The President of the Republic entrusted the formation of a new Cabinet to +this same Paul Visire, who, though still very young, had been a Minister +twice. He was a charming man, spending much of his time in the green-rooms +of theatres, very artistic, a great society man, of amazing ability and +industry. Paul Visire formed a temporary ministry intended to reassure +public feeling which had taken alarm, and Hippolyte Cérès was invited to +hold office in it. +</p> + +<p> +The new ministry, belonging to all the groups in the majority, represented the +most diverse and contrary opinions, but they were all moderate and convinced +conservatives.<a href="#fn-12" name="fnref-12" id="fnref-12"><sup>[12]</sup></a> +The Minister of Foreign Affairs was retained from the former cabinet. He was a +little dark man called Crombile, who worked fourteen hours a day with the +conviction that he dealt with tremendous questions. He refused to see even his +own diplomatic agents, and was terribly uneasy, though he did not disturb +anybody else, for the want of foresight of peoples is infinite and that of +governments is just as great. +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-12" id="fn-12"></a> <a href="#fnref-12">[12]</a> +As this ministry exercised considerable influence upon the destinies of the +country and of the world, we think it well to give its composition: Minister of +the Interior and Prime Minister, Paul Visire; Minister of Justice, Pierre Bouc; +Foreign Affairs, Victor Crombile; Finance, Terrasson; Education, Labillette; +Commerce, Posts and Telegraphs, Hippolyte Cérès; Agriculture, Aulac; Public +Works, Lapersonne; War, General Débonnaire; Admiralty, Admiral Vivier des +Murènes. +</p> + +<p> +The office of Public Works was given to a Socialist, Fortuné Lapersonne. +It was then a political custom and one of the most solemn, most severe, +most rigorous, and if I may dare say so, the most terrible and cruel of +all political customs, to include a member of the Socialist party in each +ministry intended to oppose Socialism, so that the enemies of wealth and +property should suffer the shame of being attacked by one of their own +party, and so that they could not unite against these forces without +turning to some one who might possibly attack themselves in the future. +Nothing but a profound ignorance of the human heart would permit the +belief that it was difficult to find a Socialist to occupy these +functions. Citizen Fortuné Lapersonne entered the Visire cabinet of his +own free will and without any constraint; and he found those who approved +of his action even among his former friends, so great was the fascination +that power exercised over the Penguins! +</p> + +<p> +General Débonnaire went to the War Office. He was looked upon as one of +the ablest generals in the army, but he was ruled by a woman, the Baroness +Bildermann, who, though she had reached the age of intrigue, was still +beautiful. She was in the pay of a neighbouring and hostile Power. +</p> + +<p> +The new Minister of Marine, the worthy Admiral Vivier des Murènes, was +generally regarded as an excellent seaman. He displayed a piety that would +have seemed excessive in an anti-clerical minister, if the Republic had +not recognised that religion was of great maritime utility. Acting on the +instruction of his spiritual director, the Reverend Father Douillard, the +worthy Admiral had dedicated his fleet to St. Orberosia and directed +canticles in honour of the Alcan Virgin to be composed by Christian bards. +These replaced the national hymn in the music played by the navy. +</p> + +<p> +Prime Minister Visire declared himself to be distinctly anticlerical but +ready to respect all creeds; he asserted that he was a sober-minded +reformer. Paul Visire and his colleagues desired reforms, and it was in +order not to compromise reform that they proposed none; for they were true +politicians and knew that reforms are compromised the moment they are +proposed. The government was well received, respectable people were +reassured, and the funds rose. +</p> + +<p> +The administration announced that four new ironclads would be put into +commission, that prosecutions would be undertaken against the Socialists, +and it formally declared its intention to have nothing to do with any +inquisitorial income-tax. The choice of Terrasson as Minister of Finance +was warmly approved by the press. Terrasson, an old minister famous for +his financial operations, gave warrant to all the hopes of the financiers +and shadowed forth a period of great business activity. Soon those three +udders of modern nations, monopolies, bill discounting, and fraudulent +speculation, were swollen with the milk of wealth. Already whispers were +heard of distant enterprises, and of planting colonies, and the boldest +put forward in the newspapers the project of a military and financial +protectorate over Nigritia. +</p> + +<p> +Without having yet shown what he was capable of, Hippolyte Cérès was +considered a man of weight. Business people thought highly of him. He was +congratulated on all sides for having broken with the extreme sections, +the dangerous men, and for having realised the responsibilities of +government. +</p> + +<p> +Madame Cérès shone alone amid the Ministers’ wives. Crombile withered away +in bachelordom. Paul Visire had married money in the person of +Mademoiselle Blampignon, an accomplished, estimable, and simple lady who +was always ill, and whose feeble health compelled her to stay with her +mother in the depths of a remote province. The other Ministers’ wives were +not born to charm the sight, and people smiled when they read that Madame +Labillette had appeared at the Presidency Ball wearing a headdress of +birds of paradise. Madame Vivier des Murènes, a woman of good family, was +stout rather than tall, had a face like a beef-steak and the voice of a +newspaper-seller. Madame Débonnaire, tall, dry, and florid, was devoted to +young officers. She ruined herself by her escapades and crimes and only +regained consideration by dint of ugliness and insolence. +</p> + +<p> +Madame Cérès was the charm of the Ministry and its tide to consideration. +Young, beautiful, and irreproachable, she charmed alike society and the +masses by her combination of elegant costumes and pleasant smiles. +</p> + +<p> +Her receptions were thronged by the great Jewish financiers. She gave the +most fashionable garden parties in the Republic. The newspapers described +her dresses and the milliners did not ask her to pay for them. She went to +Mass; she protected the chapel of St. Orberosia from the ill-will of the +people; and she aroused in aristocratic hearts the hope of a fresh +Concordat. +</p> + +<p> +With her golden hair, grey eyes, and supple and slight though rounded +figure, she was indeed pretty. She enjoyed an excellent reputation and she +was so adroit, and calm, so much mistress of herself, that she would have +preserved it intact even if she had been discovered in the very act of +ruining it. +</p> + +<p> +The session ended with a victory for the cabinet which, amid the almost +unanimous applause of the House, defeated a proposal for an inquisitorial +tax, and with a triumph for Madame Cérès who gave parties in honour of +three kings who were at the moment passing through Alca. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0062" id="link2H_4_0062"></a> +VI. THE SOFA OF THE FAVOURITE +</h2> + +<p> +The Prime Minister invited Monsieur and Madame Cérès to spend a couple of +weeks of the holidays in a little villa that he had taken in the +mountains, and in which he lived alone. The deplorable health of Madame +Paul Visire did not allow her to accompany her husband, and she remained +with her relatives in one of the southern provinces. +</p> + +<p> +The villa had belonged to the mistress of one of the last Kings of Alca: +the drawing-room retained its old furniture, and in it was still to be +found the Sofa of the Favourite. The country was charming; a pretty blue +stream, the Aiselle, flowed at the foot of the hill that dominated the +villa. Hippolyte Cérès loved fishing; when engaged at this monotonous +occupation he often formed his best Parliamentary combinations, and his +happiest oratorical inspirations. Trout swarmed in the Aiselle; he fished +it from morning till evening in a boat that the Prime Minister readily +placed at is disposal. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time, Eveline and Paul Visire sometimes took a turn together +in the garden, or had a little chat in the drawing-room. Eveline, although +she recognised the attraction that Visire had for women, had hitherto +displayed towards him only an intermittent and superficial coquetry, +without any deep intentions or settled design. He was a connoisseur and +saw that she was pretty. The House and the Opera had deprived him of all +leisure, but, in a little villa, the grey eyes and rounded figure of +Eveline took on a value in his eyes. One day as Hippolyte Cérès was +fishing in the Aiselle, he made her sit beside him on the Sofa of the +Favourite. Long rays of gold struck Eveline like arrows from a hidden +Cupid through the chinks of the curtains which protected her from the heat +and glare of a brilliant day. Beneath her white muslin dress her rounded +yet slender form was outlined in its grace and youth. Her skin was cool +and fresh, and had the fragrance of freshly mown hay. Paul Visire behaved +as the occasion warranted, and for her part, she was opposed neither to +the games of chance or of society. She believed it would be nothing or a +trifle; she was mistaken. +</p> + +<p> +“There was,” says the famous German ballad, “on the sunny side of the town +square, beside a wall whereon the creeper grew, a pretty little +letter-box, as blue as the corn-flowers, smiling and tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +“All day long there came to it, in their heavy shoes, small shop-keepers, +rich farmers, citizens, the tax-collector and the policeman, and they put +into it their business letters, their invoices, their summonses their +notices to pay taxes, the judges’ returns, and orders for the recruits to +assemble. It remained smiling and tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +“With joy, or in anxiety, there advanced towards it workmen and farm +servants, maids and nursemaids, accountants, clerks, and women carrying +their little children in their arms; they put into it notifications of +births, marriages, and deaths, letters between engaged couples, between +husbands and wives, from mothers to their sons, and from sons to their +mothers. It remained smiling and tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +“At twilight, young lads and young girls slipped furtively to it, and put +in love-letters, some moistened with tears that blotted the ink, others +with a little circle to show the place to kiss, all of them very long. It +remained smiling and tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +“Rich merchants came themselves through excess of carefulness at the hour +of daybreak, and put into it registered letters, and letters with five red +seals, full of bank notes or cheques on the great financial establishments +of the Empire. It remained smiling and tranquil. +</p> + +<p> +“But one day, Gaspar, whom it had never seen, and whom it did not know +from Adam, came to put in a letter, of which nothing is known but that it +was folded like a little hat. Immediately the pretty letter-box fell into +a swoon. Henceforth it remains no longer in its place; it runs through +streets, fields, and woods, girdled with ivy, and crowned with roses. It +keeps running up hill and down dale; the country policeman surprises it +sometimes, amidst the corn, in Gaspar’s arms kissing him upon the mouth.” +</p> + +<p> +Paul Visire had recovered all his customary nonchalance. Eveline remained +stretched on the Divan of the Favourite in an attitude of delicious +astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +The Reverend Father Douillard, an excellent moral theologian, and a man +who in the decadence of the Church has preserved his principles, was very +right to teach, in conformity with the doctrine of the Fathers, that while +a woman commits a great sin by giving herself for money, she commits a +much greater one by giving herself for nothing. For, in the first case she +acts to support her life, and that is sometimes not merely excusable but +pardonable, and even worthy of the Divine Grace, for God forbids suicide, +and is unwilling that his creatures should destroy themselves. Besides, in +giving herself in order to live, she remains humble, and derives no +pleasure from it a thing which diminishes the sin. But a woman who gives +herself for nothing sins with pleasure and exults in her fault. The pride +and delight with which she burdens her crime increase its load of moral +guilt. +</p> + +<p> +Madame Hippolyte Cérès’ example shows the profundity of these moral +truths. She perceived that she had senses. A second was enough to bring +about this discovery, to change her soul, to alter her whole life. To have +learned to know herself was at first a delight. The γυῶθί σεαυτὸν of the +ancient philosophy is not a precept the moral fulfilment of which procures +any pleasure, since one enjoys little satisfaction from knowing one’s +soul. It is not the same with the flesh, for in it sources of pleasure may +be revealed to us. Eveline immediately felt an obligation to her revealer +equal to the benefit she had received, and she imagined that he who had +discovered these heavenly depths was the sole possessor of the key to +them. Was this an error, and might she not be able to find others who also +had the golden key? It is difficult to decide; and Professor Haddock, when +the facts were divulged (which happened without much delay as we shall +see), treated the matter from an experimental point of view, in a +scientific review, and concluded that the chances Madame C— would +have of finding the exact equivalent of M. V— were in the proportion +of 305 to 975008. This is as much as to say that she would never find it. +Doubtless her instinct told her the same, for she attached herself +distractedly to him. +</p> + +<p> +I have related these facts with all the circumstances which seemed to me +worthy of attracting the attention of meditative and philosophic minds. +The Sofa of the Favourite is worthy of the majesty of history; on it were +decided the destinies of a great people; nay, on it was accomplished an +act whose renown was to extend over the neighbouring nations both friendly +and hostile, and even over all humanity. Too often events of this nature +escape the superficial minds and shallow spirits who inconsiderately +assume the task of writing history. Thus the secret springs of events +remain hidden from us. The fall of Empires and the transmission of +dominions astonish us and remain incomprehensible to us, because we have +not discovered the imperceptible point, or touched the secret spring which +when put in movement has destroyed and overthrown everything. The author +of this great history knows better than anyone else his faults and his +weaknesses, but he can do himself this justice—that he has always +kept the moderation, the seriousness, the austerity, which an account of +affairs of State demands, and that he has never departed from the gravity +which is suitable to a recital of human actions. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0063" id="link2H_4_0063"></a> +VII. THE FIRST CONSEQUENCES +</h2> + +<p> +When Eveline confided to Paul Visire that she had never experienced +anything similar, he did not believe her. He had had a good deal to do +with women and knew that they readily say these things to men in order to +make them more in love with them. Thus his experience, as sometimes +happens, made him disregard the truth. Incredulous, but gratified all the +same, he soon felt love and something more for her. This state at first +seemed favourable to his intellectual faculties. Visire delivered in the +chief town of his constituency a speech full of grace, brilliant and +happy, which was considered to be a masterpiece. +</p> + +<p> +The re-opening of Parliament was serene. A few isolated jealousies, a few +timid ambitions raised their heads in the House, and that was all. A smile +from the Prime Minister was enough to dissipate these shadows. She and he +saw each other twice a day, and wrote to each other in the interval. He +was accustomed to intimate relationships, was adroit, and knew how to +dissimulate; but Eveline displayed a foolish imprudence: she made herself +conspicuous with him in drawing-rooms, at the theatre, in the House, and +at the Embassies; she wore her love upon her face, upon her whole person, +in her moist glances, in the languishing smile of her lips, in the heaving +of her breast, in all her heightened, agitated, and distracted beauty. +Soon the entire country knew of their intimacy. Foreign Courts were +informed of it. The President of the Republic and Eveline’s husband alone +remained in ignorance. The President became acquainted with it in the +country, through a misplaced police report which found its way, it is not +known how, into his portmanteau. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès, without being either very subtle, or very perspicacious, +noticed that there was something different in his home. Eveline, who quite +lately had interested herself in his affairs, and shown, if not +tenderness, at least affection, towards him, displayed henceforth nothing +but indifference and repulsion. She had always had periods of absence, and +made prolonged visits to the Charity of St. Orberosia; now, she went out +in the morning, remained out all day, and sat down to dinner at nine +o’clock in the evening with the face of a somnambulist. Her husband +thought it absurd; however, he might perhaps have never known the reason +for this; a profound ignorance of women, a crass confidence in his own +merit, and in his own fortune, might perhaps have always hidden the truth +from him, if the two lovers had not, so to speak, compelled him to +discover it. +</p> + +<p> +When Paul Visire went to Eveline’s house and found her alone, they used to +say, as they embraced each other; “Not here! not here!” and immediately +they affected an extreme reserve. That was their invariable rule. Now, one +day, Paul Visire went to the house of his colleague Cérès, with whom he +had an engagement. It was Eveline who received him, the Minister of +Commerce being delayed by a commission. +</p> + +<p> +“Not here!” said the lovers, smiling. +</p> + +<p> +They said it, mouth to mouth, embracing, and clasping each other. They +were still saying it, when Hippolyte Cérès entered the drawing-room. +</p> + +<p> +Paul Visire did not lose his presence of mind. He declared to Madame Cérès +that he would give up his attempt to take the dust out of her eye. By this +attitude he did not deceive the husband, but he was able to leave the room +with some dignity. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès was thunderstruck. Eveline’s conduct appeared +incomprehensible to him; he asked her what reasons she had for it. +</p> + +<p> +“Why? why?” he kept repeating continually, “why?” +</p> + +<p> +She denied everything, not to convince him, for he had seen them, but from +expediency and good taste, and to avoid painful explanations. Hippolyte +Cérès suffered all the tortures of jealousy. He admitted it to himself, he +kept saying inwardly, “I am a strong man; I am clad in armour; but the +wound is underneath, it is in my heart,” and turning towards his wife, who +looked beautiful in her guilt, he would say: +</p> + +<p> +“It ought not to have been with him.” +</p> + +<p> +He was right—Eveline ought not to have loved in government circles. +</p> + +<p> +He suffered so much that he took up his revolver, exclaiming: “I will go +and kill him!” But he remembered that a Minister of Commerce cannot kill +his own Prime Minister, and he put his revolver back into his drawer. +</p> + +<p> +The weeks passed without calming his sufferings. Each morning he buckled +his strong man’s armour over his wound and sought in work and fame the +peace that fled from him. Every Sunday he inaugurated busts, statues, +fountains, artesian wells, hospitals, dispensaries, railways, canals, +public markets, drainage systems, triumphal arches, and slaughter houses, +and delivered moving speeches on each of these occasions. His fervid +activity devoured whole piles of documents; he changed the colours of the +postage stamps fourteen times in one week. Nevertheless, he gave vent to +outbursts of grief and rage that drove him insane; for whole days his +reason abandoned him. If he had been in the employment of a private +administration this would have been noticed immediately, but it is much +more difficult to discover insanity or frenzy in the conduct of affairs of +State. At that moment the government employees were forming themselves +into associations and federations amid a ferment that was giving alarm +both to the Parliament and to public feeling. The postmen were especially +prominent in their enthusiasm for trade unions. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès informed them in a circular that their action was strictly +legal. The following day he sent out a second circular forbidding all +associations of government employees as illegal. He dismissed one hundred +and eighty postmen, reinstated them, reprimanded them—and awarded +them gratuities. At Cabinet councils he was always on the point of +bursting forth. The presence of the Head of the State scarcely restrained +him within the limits of the decencies, and as he did not dare to attack +his rival he consoled himself by heaping invectives upon General +Débonnaire, the respected Minister of War. The General did not hear them, +for he was deaf and occupied himself in composing verses for the Baroness +Bildermann. Hippolyte Cérès offered an indistinct opposition to everything +the Prime Minister proposed. In a word, he was a madman. One faculty alone +escaped the ruin of his intellect: he retained his Parliamentary sense, +his consciousness of the temper of majorities, his thorough knowledge of +groups, and his certainty of the direction in which affairs were moving. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0064" id="link2H_4_0064"></a> +VIII. FURTHER CONSEQUENCES +</h2> + +<p> +The session ended calmly, and the Ministry saw no dangerous signs upon the +benches where the majority sat. It was visible, however, from certain +articles in the Moderate journals, that the demands of the Jewish and +Christian financiers were increasing daily, that the patriotism of the +banks required a civilizing expedition to Nigritia, and that the steel +trusts, eager in the defence of our coasts and colonies, were crying out +for armoured cruisers and still more armoured cruisers. Rumours of war +began to be heard. Such rumours sprang up every year as regularly as the +trade winds; serious people paid no heed to them and the government +usually let them die away from their own weakness unless they grew +stronger and spread. For in that case the country would be alarmed. The +financiers only wanted colonial wars and the people did not want any wars +at all. It loved to see its government proud and even insolent, but at the +least suspicion that a European war was brewing, its violent emotion would +quickly have reached the House. Paul Visire was not uneasy. The European +situation was in his view completely reassuring. He was only irritated by +the maniacal silence of his Minister of Foreign Affairs. That gnome went +to the Cabinet meetings with a portfolio bigger than himself stuffed full +of papers, said nothing, refused to answer all questions, even those asked +him by the respected President of the Republic, and, exhausted by his +obstinate labours, took a few moments’ sleep in his arm-chair in which +nothing but the top of his little black head was to be seen above the +green tablecloth. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Hippolyte Cérès became a strong man again. In company with his +colleague Lapersonne he formed numerous intimacies with ladies of the theatre. +They were both to be seen at night entering fashionable restaurants in the +company of ladies whom they over-topped by their lofty stature and their new +hats, and they were soon reckoned amongst the most sympathetic frequenters of +the boulevards. Fortuné Lapersonne had his own wound beneath his armour. His +wife, a young milliner whom he carried off from a marquis, had gone to live +with a chauffeur. He loved her still, and could not console himself for her +loss, so that very often in the private room of a restaurant, in the midst of a +group of girls who laughed and ate crayfish, the two ministers exchanged a look +full of their common sorrow and wiped away an unbidden tear. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte Cérès, although wounded to the heart, did not allow himself to +be beaten. He swore that he would be avenged. +</p> + +<p> +Madame Paul Visire, whose deplorable health forced her to live with her +relatives in a distant province, received an anonymous letter specifying +that M. Paul Visire, who had not a half-penny when he married her, was +spending her dowry on a married woman, E— C—, that he gave +this woman thirty-thousand-franc motor-cars, and pearl necklaces costing +twenty-five thousand francs, and that he was going straight to dishonour +and ruin. Madame Paul Visire read the letter, fell into hysterics, and +handed it to her father. +</p> + +<p> +“I am going to box your husband’s ears,” said M. Blampignon; “he is a +blackguard who will land you both in the workhouse unless we look out. He +may be Prime Minister, but he won’t frighten me.” +</p> + +<p> +When he stepped off the train M. Blampignon presented himself at the +Ministry of the Interior, and was immediately received. He entered the +Prime Minister’s room in a fury. +</p> + +<p> +“I have something to say to you, sir!” And he waved the anonymous letter. +</p> + +<p> +Paul Visire welcomed him smiling. +</p> + +<p> +“You are welcome, my dear father. I was going to write to you. . . . Yes, +to tell you of your nomination to the rank of officer of the Legion of +Honour. I signed the patent this morning.” +</p> + +<p> +M. Blampignon thanked his son-in-law warmly and threw the anonymous letter +into the fire. +</p> + +<p> +He returned to his provincial house and found his daughter fretting and +agitated. +</p> + +<p> +“Well! I saw your husband. He is a delightful fellow. But then, you don’t +understand how to deal with him.” +</p> + +<p> +About this time Hippolyte Cérès learned through a little scandalous +newspaper (it is always through the newspapers that ministers are informed +of the affairs of State) that the Prime Minister dined every evening with +Mademoiselle Lysiane of the Folies Dramatiques, whose charm seemed to have +made a great impression on him. Thenceforth Cérès took a gloomy joy in +watching his wife. She came in every evening to dine or dress with an air +of agreeable fatigue and the serenity that comes from enjoyment. +</p> + +<p> +Thinking that she knew nothing, he sent her anonymous communications. She +read them at the table before him and remained still listless and smiling. +</p> + +<p> +He then persuaded himself that she gave no heed to these vague reports, +and that in order to disturb her it would be necessary to enable her to +verify her lover’s infidelity and treason for herself. There were at the +Ministry a number of trustworthy agents charged with secret inquiries +regarding the national defence. They were then employed in watching the +spies of a neighbouring and hostile Power who had succeeded in entering +the Postal and Telegraphic service. M. Cérès ordered them to suspend their +work for the present and to inquire where, when, and how, the Minister of +the Interior saw Mademoiselle Lysiane. The agents performed their missions +faithfully and told the minister that they had several times seen the +Prime Minister with a woman, but that she was not Mademoiselle Lysiane. +Hippolyte Cérès asked them nothing further. He was right; the loves of +Paul Visire and Lysiane were but an alibi invented by Paul Visire himself, +with Eveline’s approval, for his fame was rather inconvenient to her, and +she sighed for secrecy and mystery. +</p> + +<p> +They were not shadowed by the agents of the Ministry of Commerce alone. +They were also followed by those of the Prefect of Police, and even by +those of the Minister of the Interior, who disputed with each other the +honour of protecting their chief. Then there were the emissaries of +several royalist, imperialist, and clerical organisations, those of eight +or ten blackmailers, several amateur detectives, a multitude of reporters, +and a crowd of photographers, who all made their appearance wherever these +two took refuge in their perambulating love affairs, at big hotels, small +hotels, town houses, country houses, private apartments, villas, museums, +palaces, hovels. They kept watch in the streets, from neighbouring houses, +trees, walls, stair-cases, landings, roofs, adjoining rooms, and even +chimneys. The Minister and his friend saw with alarm all round their bed +room, gimlets boring through doors and shutters, and drills making holes +in the walls. A photograph of Madame Cérès in night attire buttoning her +boots was the utmost that had been obtained. +</p> + +<p> +Paul Visire grew impatient and irritable, and often lost his good humour +and agreeableness. He came to the cabinet meetings in a rage and he, too, +poured invectives upon General Débonnaire—a brave man under fire but +a lax disciplinarian—and launched his sarcasms at against the +venerable admiral Vivier des Murènes whose ships went to the bottom +without any apparent reason. +</p> + +<p> +Fortuné Lapersonne listened open-eyed, and grumbled scoffingly between his +teeth: +</p> + +<p> +“He is not satisfied with robbing Hippolyte Cérès of his wife, but he must +go and rob him of his catchwords too.” +</p> + +<p> +These storms were made known by the indiscretion of some ministers and by +the complaints of the two old warriors, who declared their intention of +flinging their portfolios at the beggar’s head, but who did nothing of the +sort. These outbursts, far from injuring the lucky Prime Minister, had an +excellent effect on Parliament and public opinion, who looked on them as +signs of a keen solicitude for the welfare of the national army and navy. +The Prime Minister was the recipient of general approbation. +</p> + +<p> +To the congratulations of the various groups and of notable personages, he +replied with simple firmness: “Those are my principles!” and he had seven +or eight Socialists put in prison. +</p> + +<p> +The session ended, and Paul Visire, very exhausted, went to take the +waters. Hippolyte Cérès refused to leave his Ministry, where the trade +union of telephone girls was in tumultuous agitation. He opposed it with +an unheard of violence, for he had now become a woman-hater. On Sundays he +went into the suburbs to fish along with his colleague Lapersonne, wearing +the tall hat that never left him since he had become a Minister. And both +of them, forgetting the fish, complained of the inconstancy of women and +mingled their griefs. +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte still loved Eveline and he still suffered. However, hope had +slipped into his heart. She was now separated from her lover, and, +thinking to win her back, he directed all his efforts to that end. He put +forth all his skill, showed himself sincere, adaptable, affectionate, +devoted, even discreet; his heart taught him the delicacies of feeling. He +said charming and touching things to the faithless one, and, to soften +her, he told her all that he had suffered. +</p> + +<p> +Crossing the band of his trousers upon his stomach. +</p> + +<p> +“See,” said he, “how thin I have got.” +</p> + +<p> +He promised her everything he thought could gratify a woman, country +parties, hats, jewels. +</p> + +<p> +Sometimes he thought she would take pity on him. +</p> + +<p> +She no longer displayed an insolently happy countenance. Being separated +from Paul, her sadness had an air of gentleness. But the moment he made a +gesture to recover her she turned away fiercely and gloomily, girt with +her fault as if with a golden girdle. +</p> + +<p> +He did not give up, making himself humble, suppliant, lamentable. +</p> + +<p> +One day he went to Lapersonne and said to him with tears in his eyes: +</p> + +<p> +“Will you speak to her?” +</p> + +<p> +Lapersonne excused himself, thinking that his intervention would be +useless, but he gave some advice to his friend. +</p> + +<p> +“Make her think that you don’t care about her, that you love another, and +she will come back to you.” +</p> + +<p> +Hippolyte, adopting this method, inserted in the newspapers that he was +always to be found in the company of Mademoiselle Guinaud of the Opera. He +came home late or did not come home at all, assumed in Eveline’s presence +an appearance of inward joy impossible to restrain, took out of his +pocket, at dinner, a letter on scented paper which he pretended to read +with delight, and his lips seemed as in a dream to kiss invisible lips. +Nothing happened. Eveline did not even notice the change. Insensible to +all around her, she only came out of her lethargy to ask for some louis +from her husband, and if he did not give them she threw him a look of +contempt, ready to upbraid him with the shame which she poured upon him in +the sight of the whole world. Since she had loved she spent a great deal +on dress. She needed money, and she had only her husband to secure it for +her; she was so far faithful to him. +</p> + +<p> +He lost patience, became furious, and threatened her with his revolver. He +said one day before her to Madame Clarence: +</p> + +<p> +“I congratulate you, Madame; you have brought up your daughter to be a +wanton hussy.” +</p> + +<p> +“Take me away, Mamma,” exclaimed Eveline. “I will get a divorce!” +</p> + +<p> +He loved her more ardently than ever. In his jealous rage, suspecting her, +not without probability, of sending and receiving letters, he swore that +he would intercept them, re-established a censorship over the post, threw +private correspondence into confusion, delayed stock-exchange quotations, +prevented assignations, brought about bankruptcies, thwarted passions, and +caused suicides. The independent press gave utterance to the complaints of +the public and indignantly supported them. To justify these arbitrary +measures, the ministerial journals spoke darkly of plots and public +dangers, and promoted a belief in a monarchical conspiracy. The less +well-informed sheets gave more precise information, told of the seizure of +fifty thousand guns, and the landing of Prince Crucho. Feeling grew +throughout the country, and the republican organs called for the immediate +meeting of Parliament. Paul Visire returned to Paris, summoned his +colleagues, held an important Cabinet Council, and proclaimed through his +agencies that a plot had been actually formed against the national +representation, but that the Prime Minister held the threads of it in his +hand, and that a judicial inquiry was about to be opened. +</p> + +<p> +He immediately ordered the arrest of thirty Socialists, and whilst the +entire country was acclaiming him as its saviour, baffling the +watchfulness of his six hundred detectives, he secretly took Eveline to a +little house near the Northern railway station, where they remained until +night. After their departure, the maid of their hotel, as she was putting +their room in order, saw seven little crosses traced by a hairpin on the +wall at the head of the bed. +</p> + +<p> +That is all that Hippolyte Cérès obtained as a reward of his efforts. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0065" id="link2H_4_0065"></a> +IX. THE FINAL CONSEQUENCES +</h2> + +<p> +Jealousy is a virtue of democracies which preserves them from tyrants. +Deputies began to envy the Prime Minister his golden key. For a year his +domination over the beauteous Madame Cérès had been known to the whole +universe. The provinces, whither news and fashions only arrive after a +complete revolution of the earth round the sun, were at last informed of +the illegitimate loves of the Cabinet. The provinces preserve an austere +morality; women are more virtuous there than they are in the capital. +</p> + +<p> +Various reasons have been alleged for this: Education, example, simplicity +of life. Professor Haddock asserts that this virtue of provincial ladies +is solely due to the fact that the heels of their shoes are low. “A +woman,” said he, in a learned article in the “Anthropological Review”, “a +woman attracts a civilized man in proportion as her feet make an angle +with the ground. If this angle is as much as thirty-five degrees, the +attraction becomes acute. For the position of the feet upon the ground +determines the whole carriage of the body, and it results that provincial +women, since they wear low heels, are not very attractive, and preserve +their virtue with ease.” These conclusions were not generally accepted. It +was objected that under the influence of English and American fashions, +low heels had been introduced generally without producing the results +attributed to them by the learned Professor; moreover, it was said that +the difference he pretended to establish between the morals of the +metropolis and those of the provinces is perhaps illusory, and that if it +exists, it is apparently due to the fact that great cities offer more +advantages and facilities for love than small towns provide. However that +may be, the provinces began to murmur against the Prime Minister, and to +raise a scandal. This was not yet a danger, but there was a possibility +that it might become one. +</p> + +<p> +For the moment the peril was nowhere and yet everywhere. The majority +remained solid; but the leaders became stiff and exacting. Perhaps +Hippolyte Cérès would never have intentionally sacrificed his interests to +his vengeance. But thinking that he could henceforth, without compromising +his own fortune, secretly damage that of Paul Visire, he devoted himself +to the skilful and careful preparation of difficulties and perils for the +Head of the Government. Though far from equalling his rival in talent, +knowledge, and authority, he greatly surpassed him in his skill as a +lobbyist. The most acute parliamentarians attributed the recent +misfortunes of the majority to his refusal to vote. At committees, by a +calculated imprudence, he favoured motions which he knew the Prime +Minister could not accept. One day his intentional awkwardness provoked a +sudden and violent conflict between the Minister of the Interior, and his +departmental Treasurer. Then Cérès became frightened and went no further. +It would have been dangerous for him to overthrow the ministry too soon. +His ingenious hatred found an issue by circuitous paths. Paul Visire had a +poor cousin of easy morals who bore his name. Cérès, remembering this +lady, Celine Visire, brought her into prominence, arranged that she should +become intimate with several foreigners, and procured her engagements in +the music-halls. One summer night, on a stage in the Champs Elysées before +a tumultuous crowd, she performed risky dances to the sounds of wild music +which was audible in the gardens where the President of the Republic was +entertaining Royalty. The name of Visire, associated with these scandals, +covered the walls of the town, filled the newspapers, was repeated in the +cafés and at balls, and blazed forth in letters of fire upon the +boulevards. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody regarded the Prime Minister as responsible for the scandal of his +relatives, but a bad idea of his family came into existence, and the +influence of the statesman was diminished. +</p> + +<p> +Almost immediately he was made to feel this in a pretty sharp fashion. One +day in the House, on a simple question, Labillette, the Minister of +Religion and Public Worship, who was suffering from an attack of liver, +and beginning to be exasperated by the intentions and intrigues of the +clergy, threatened to close the Chapel of St. Orberosia, and spoke without +respect of the National Virgin. The entire Right rose up in indignation; +the Left appeared to give but a half-hearted support to the rash Minister. +The leaders of the majority did not care to attack a popular cult which +brought thirty millions a year into the country. The most moderate of the +supporters of the Right, M. Bigourd, made the question the subject of a +resolution and endangered the Cabinet. Luckily, Fortuné Lapersonne, the +Minister of Public Works, always conscious of the obligations of power, +was able in the Prime Minister’s absence to repair the awkwardness and +indecorum of his colleague, the Minister of Public Worship. He ascended +the tribune and bore witness to the respect in which the Government held +the heavenly Patron of the country, the consoler of so many ills which +science admitted its powerlessness to relieve. +</p> + +<p> +When Paul Visire, snatched at last from Eveline’s arms, appeared in the +House, the administration was saved; but the Prime Minister saw himself +compelled to grant important concessions to the upper classes. He proposed +in Parliament that six armoured cruisers should be laid down, and thus won +the sympathies of the Steel Trust; he gave new assurances that the income +tax would not be imposed, and he had eighteen Socialists arrested. +</p> + +<p> +He was soon to find himself opposed by more formidable obstacles. The +Chancellor of the neighbouring Empire in an ingenious and profound speech upon +the foreign relations of his sovereign, made a sly allusion to the intrigues +that inspired the policy of a great country. This reference, which was received +with smiles by the Imperial Parliament, was certain to irritate a punctilious +republic. It aroused the national susceptibility, which directed its wrath +against its amorous Minister. The Deputies seized upon a frivolous pretext to +show their dissatisfaction. A ridiculous incident, the fact that the wife of a +subprefect had danced at the Moulin Rouge, forced the minister to face a vote +of censure, and he was within a few votes of being defeated. According to +general opinion, Paul Visire had never been so weak, so vacillating, or so +spiritless, as on that occasion. +</p> + +<p> +He understood that he could only keep himself in office by a great +political stroke, and he decided on the expedition to Nigritia. This +measure was demanded by the great financial and industrial corporations +and was one which would bring concessions of immense forests to the +capitalists, a loan of eight millions to the banking companies, as well as +promotions and decorations to the naval and military officers. A pretext +presented itself; some insult needed to be avenged, or some debt to be +collected. Six battleships, fourteen cruisers, and eighteen transports +sailed up the mouth of the river Hippopotamus. Six hundred canoes vainly +opposed the landing of the troops. Admiral Vivier des Murènes’ cannons +produced an appalling effect upon the blacks, who replied to them with +flights of arrows, but in spite of their fanatical courage they were +entirely defeated. Popular enthusiasm was kindled by the newspapers which +the financiers subsidised, and burst into a blaze. Some Socialists alone +protested against this barbarous, doubtful, and dangerous enterprise. They +were at once arrested. +</p> + +<p> +At that moment when the Minister, supported by wealth, and now beloved by +the poor, seemed unconquerable, the light of hate showed Hippolyte Cérès +alone the danger, and looking with a gloomy joy at his rival, he muttered +between his teeth, “He is wrecked, the brigand!” +</p> + +<p> +Whilst the country intoxicated itself with glory, the neighbouring Empire +protested against the occupation of Nigritia by a European power, and +these protests following one another at shorter and shorter intervals +became more and more vehement. The newspapers of the interested Republic +concealed all causes for uneasiness; but Hippolyte Cérès heard the growing +menace, and determined at last to risk everything, even the fate of the +ministry, in order to ruin his enemy. He got men whom he could trust to +write and insert articles in several of the official journals, which, +seeming to express Paul Visire’s precise views, attributed warlike +intentions to the Head of the Government. +</p> + +<p> +These articles roused a terrible echo abroad, and they alarmed the public +opinion of a nation which, while fond of soldiers, was not fond of war. +Questioned in the House on the foreign policy of his government, Paul +Visire made a re-assuring statement, and promised to maintain a face +compatible with the dignity of a great nation. His Minister of Foreign +Affairs, Crombile, read a declaration which was absolutely unintelligible, +for the reason that it was couched in diplomatic language. The Minister +obtained a large majority. +</p> + +<p> +But the rumours of war did not cease, and in order to avoid a new and +dangerous motion, the Prime Minister distributed eighty thousand acres of +forests in Nigritia among the Deputies, and had fourteen Socialists +arrested. Hippolyte Cérès went gloomily about the lobbies, confiding to +the Deputies of his group that he was endeavouring to induce the Cabinet +to adopt a pacific policy, and that he still hoped to succeed. Day by day +the sinister rumours grew in volume, and penetrating amongst the public, +spread uneasiness and disquiet. Paul Visire himself began to take alarm. +What disturbed him most were the silence and absence of the Minister of +Foreign Affairs. Crombile no longer came to the meetings of the Cabinet. +Rising at five o’clock in the morning, he worked eighteen hours at his +desk, and at last fell exhausted into his waste-paper basket, from whence +the registrars removed him, together with the papers which they were going +to sell to the military attachés of the neighbouring Empire. +</p> + +<p> +General Débonnaire believed that a campaign was imminent, and prepared for +it. Far from fearing war, he prayed for it, and confided his generous +hopes to Baroness Bildermann, who informed the neighbouring nation, which, +acting on her information, proceeded to a rapid mobilization. +</p> + +<p> +The Minister of Finance unintentionally precipitated events. At the +moment, he was speculating for a fall, and in order to bring about a panic +on the Stock Exchange, he spread the rumour that war was now inevitable. +The neighbouring Empire, deceived by this action, and expecting to see its +territory invaded, mobilized its troops in all haste. The terrified +Chamber overthrew the Visire ministry by an enormous majority (814 votes +to 7, with 28 abstentions). It was too late. The very day of this fall the +neighbouring and hostile nation recalled its ambassador and flung eight +millions of men into Madame Cérès’ country. War became universal, and the +whole world was drowned in a torrent of blood. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h3>THE ZENITH OF PENGUIN CIVILIZATION</h3> + +<p> +Half a century after the events we have just related, Madame Cérès died +surrounded with respect and veneration, in the eighty-ninth year of her +age. She had long been the widow of a statesman whose name she bore with +dignity. Her modest and quiet funeral was followed by the orphans of the +parish and the sisters of the Sacred Compassion. +</p> + +<p> +The deceased left all her property to the Charity of St. Orberosia. +</p> + +<p> +“Alas!” sighed M. Monnoyer, a canon of St. Maël, as he received the pious +legacy, “it was high time for a generous benefactor to come to the relief +of our necessities. Rich and poor, learned and ignorant are turning away +from us. And when we try to lead back these misguided souls, neither +threats nor promises, neither gentleness nor violence, nor anything else +is now successful. The Penguin clergy pine in desolation; our country +priests, reduced to following the humblest of trades, are shoeless, and +compelled to live upon such scraps as they can pick up. In our ruined +churches the rain of heaven falls upon the faithful, and during the holy +offices they can hear the noise of stones falling from the arches. The +tower of the cathedral is tottering and will soon fall. St. Orberosia is +forgotten by the Penguins, her devotion abandoned, and her sanctuary +deserted. On her shrine, bereft of its gold and precious stones, the +spider silently weaves her web.” +</p> + +<p> +Hearing these lamentations, Pierre Mille, who at the age of ninety-eight +years had lost nothing of his intellectual and moral power, asked, the +canon if he did not think that St. Orberosia would one day rise out of +this wrongful oblivion. +</p> + +<p> +“I hardly dare to hope so,” sighed M. Monnoyer. +</p> + +<p> +“It is a pity!” answered Pierre Mille. “Orberosia is a charming figure and +her legend is a beautiful one. I discovered the other day by the merest +chance, one of her most delightful miracles, the miracle of Jean Violle. +Would you like to hear it, M. Monnoyer?” +</p> + +<p> +“I should be very pleased, M. Mille.” +</p> + +<p> +“Here it is, then, just as I found it in a fifteenth-century manuscript +</p> + +<p> +“Cécile, the wife of Nicolas Gaubert, a jeweller on the Pont-au-Change, +after having led an honest and chaste life for many years, and being now +past her prime, became infatuated with Jean Violle, the Countess de +Maubec’s page, who lived at the Hôtel du Paon on the Place de Grève. He +was not yet eighteen years old, and his face and figure were attractive. +Not being able to conquer her passion, Cécile resolved to satisfy it. She +attracted the page to her house, loaded him with caresses, supplied him +with sweetmeats and finally did as she wished with him. +</p> + +<p> +“Now one day, as they were together in the jeweller’s bed, Master Nicholas +came home sooner than he was expected. He found the bolt drawn, and heard +his wife on the other side of the door exclaiming, ‘My heart! my angel! my +love!’ Then suspecting that she was shut up with a gallant, he struck +great blows upon the door and began to shout ‘Slut! hussy! wanton! open so +that I may cut off your nose and ears!’ In this peril, the jeweller’s wife +besought St. Orberosia, and vowed her a large candle if she helped her and +the little page, who was dying of fear beside the bed, out of their +difficulty. +</p> + +<p> +“The saint heard the prayer. She immediately changed Jean Violle into a +girl. Seeing this, Cécile was completely reassured, and began to call out +to her husband: ‘Oh! you brutal villain, you jealous wretch! Speak gently +if you want the door to be opened.’ And scolding in this way, she ran to +the wardrobe and took out of it an old hood, a pair of stays, and a long +grey petticoat, in which she hastily wrapped the transformed page. Then +when this was done, ‘Catherine, dear Catherine,’ said she, loudly, ‘open +the door for your uncle; he is more fool than knave, and won’t do you any +harm.’ The boy who had become a girl, obeyed. Master Nicholas entered the +room and found in it a young maid whom he did not know, and his wife in +bed. ‘Big booby,’ said the latter to him, ‘don’t stand gaping at what you +see, just as I had come to bed because had a stomach ache, I received a +visit from Catherine, the daughter of my sister Jeanne de Palaiseau, with +whom we quarrelled fifteen years ago. Kiss your niece. She is well worth +the trouble.’ The jeweller gave Violle a hug, and from that moment wanted +nothing so much as to be alone with her a moment, so that he might embrace +her as much as he liked. For this reason he led her without any delay down +to the kitchen, under the pretext of giving her some walnuts and wine, and +he was no sooner there with her than he began to caress her very +affectionately. He would not have stopped at that if St. Orberosia had not +inspired his good wife with the idea of seeing what he was about. She +found him with the pretended niece sitting on his knee. She called him a +debauched creature, boxed his ears, and forced him to beg her pardon. The +next day Violle resumed his previous form.” +</p> + +<p> +Having heard this story the venerable Canon Monnoyer thanked Pierre Mille +for having told it, and, taking up his pen, began to write out a list of +horses that would win at the next race meeting. For he was a book-maker’s +clerk. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time Penguinia gloried in its wealth. Those who produced the +things necessary for life, wanted them; those who did not produce them had +more than enough. “But these,” as a member of the Institute said, “are +necessary economic fatalities.” The great Penguin people had no longer +either traditions, intellectual culture, or arts. The progress of +civilisation manifested itself among them by murderous industry, infamous +speculation, and hideous luxury. Its capital assumed, as did all the great +cities of the time, a cosmopolitan and financial character. An immense and +regular ugliness reigned within it. The country enjoyed perfect +tranquillity. It had reached its zenith. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2><a name="link2H_4_0066" id="link2H_4_0066"></a> +BOOK VIII. FUTURE TIMES +</h2> + +<h3> +THE ENDLESS HISTORY +</h3> + +<p> +Alca is becoming Americanised.—<i>M. Daniset</i>. +</p> + +<p> +And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants +of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.—<i>Genesis xix</i>. +25 +</p> + +<p> +Γῇ Ἑλλάδι πενίη μὲν αἐι κοτε σύντροφος ἐστι, ἀρετὴ δὲ ἔπακτός ἐστι, ἀπό τε +σοφίης κατεργασμένη καὶ νόμου ἰσχυροῦ.<a href="#fn-13" name="fnref-13" id="fnref-13"><sup>[13]</sup></a> +(Herodotus, Histories, VII cii.) +</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="fn-13" id="fn-13"></a> <a href="#fnref-13">[13]</a> +Poverty hast ever been familiar to Greece, but virtue has been acquired, having +been accomplished by wisdom and firm laws.<br /> +—Henry Cary’s Translation. +</p> + + +<p> +You have not seen angels then.—<i>Liber Terribilis</i>. +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +Bqsfttfusftpvtusbjufbmbvupsjufeftspjtf<br /> +ueftfnqfsfvstbqsftbxpjsqspdmbnfuspjtgpjt<br /> +tbmjcfsufmbgsbodftftutpvnjtfbeftdpnqbh<br /> +ojftgjobodjfsftrvjejtqptfoueftsjdifttftevqb<br /> +ztfuqbsmfnpzfoevofqsfttfbdifuffejsjhfoum<br /> +pqjojpo +</p> + +<p class="right"> +<i>Voufnpjoxfsjejrvf</i> +</p> + +<p class="letter"> +We are now beginning to study a chemistry which will deal with effects produced +by bodies containing a quantity of concentrated energy the like of which we +have not yet had at our disposal.—<i>Sir William Ramsay</i>. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +§. I +</p> + +<p> +The houses were never high enough to satisfy them; they kept on making +them still higher and built them of thirty or forty storeys: with offices, +shops, banks, societies one above another; they dug cellars and tunnels +ever deeper downwards. +</p> + +<p> +Fifteen millions of men laboured in a giant town by the light of beacons +which shed forth their glare both day and night. No light of heaven +pierced through the smoke of the factories with which the town was girt, +but sometimes the red disk of a rayless sun might be seen riding in the +black firmament through which iron bridges ploughed their way, and from +which there descended a continual shower of soot and cinders. It was the +most industrial of all the cities in the world and the richest. Its +organisation seemed perfect. None of the ancient aristocratic or +democratic forms remained; everything was subordinated to the interests of +the trusts. This environment gave rise to what anthropologists called the +multi-millionaire type. The men of this type were at once energetic and +frail, capable of great activity in forming mental combinations and of +prolonged labour in offices, but men whose nervous irritability suffered +from hereditary troubles which increased as time went on. +</p> + +<p> +Like all true aristocrats, like the patricians of republican Rome or the +squires of old England, these powerful men affected a great severity in +their habits and customs. They were the ascetics of wealth. At the +meetings of the trusts an observer would have noticed their smooth and +puffy faces, their lantern cheeks, their sunken eyes and wrinkled brows. +With bodies more withered, complexions yellower, lips drier, and eyes +filled with a more burning fanaticism than those of the old Spanish monks, +these multimillionaires gave themselves up with inextinguishable ardour to +the austerities of banking and industry. Several, denying themselves all +happiness, all pleasure, and all rest, spent their miserable lives in +rooms without light or air, furnished only with electrical apparatus, +living on eggs and milk, and sleeping on camp beds. By doing nothing +except pressing nickel buttons with their fingers, these mystics heaped up +riches of which they never even saw the signs, and acquired the vain +possibility of gratifying desires that they never experienced. +</p> + +<p> +The worship of wealth had its martyrs. One of these multi-millionaires, +the famous Samuel Box, preferred to die rather than surrender the smallest +atom of his property. One of his workmen, the victim of an accident while +at work, being refused any indemnity by his employer, obtained a verdict +in the courts, but repelled by innumerable obstacles of procedure, he fell +into the direst poverty. Being thus reduced to despair, he succeeded by +dint of cunning and audacity in confronting his employer with a loaded +revolver in his hand, and threatened to blow out his brains if he did not +give him some assistance. Samuel Box gave nothing, and let himself be +killed for the sake of principle. +</p> + +<p> +Examples that come from high quarters are followed. Those who possessed +some small capital (and they were necessarily the greater number), +affected the ideas and habits of the multi-millionaires, in order that +they might be classed among them. All passions which injured the increase +or the preservation of wealth, were regarded as dishonourable; neither +indolence, nor idleness, nor the taste for disinterested study, nor love +of the arts, nor, above all, extravagance, was ever forgiven; pity was +condemned as a dangerous weakness. Whilst every inclination to +licentiousness excited public reprobation, the violent and brutal +satisfaction of an appetite was, on the contrary, excused; violence, in +truth, was regarded as less injurious to morality, since it manifested a +form of social energy. The State was firmly based on two great public +virtues: respect for the rich and contempt for the poor. Feeble spirits +who were still moved by human suffering had no other resource than to take +refuge in a hypocrisy which it was impossible to blame, since it +contributed to the maintenance of order and the solidity of institutions. +</p> + +<p> +Thus, among the rich, all were devoted to their social order, or seemed to be +so; all gave good examples, if all did not follow them. Some felt the gravity +of their position cruelly; but they endured it either from pride or from duty. +Some attempted, in secret and by subterfuge, to escape from it for a moment. +One of these, Edward Martin, the President, of the Steel Trust, sometimes +dressed himself as a poor man, went forth to beg his bread, and allowed himself +to be jostled by the passers-by. One day, as he asked alms on a bridge, he +engaged in a quarrel with a real beggar, and filled with a fury of envy, he +strangled him. +</p> + +<p> +As they devoted their whole intelligence to business, they sought no +intellectual pleasures. The theatre, which had formerly been very flourishing +among them, was now reduced to pantomimes and comic dances. Even the pieces in +which women acted were given up; the taste for pretty forms and brilliant +toilettes had been lost; the somersaults of clowns and the music of negroes +were preferred above them, and what roused enthusiasm was the sight of women +upon the stage whose necks were bedizened with diamonds, or processions +carrying golden bars in triumph. Ladies of wealth were as much compelled as the +men to lead a respectable life. According to a tendency common to all +civilizations, public feeling set them up as symbols; they were, by their +austere magnificence, to represent both the splendour of wealth and its +intangibility. The old habits of gallantry had been reformed, Tut fashionable +lovers were now secretly replaced by muscular labourers or stray grooms. +Nevertheless, scandals were rare, a foreign journey concealed nearly all of +them, and the Princesses of the Trusts remained objects of universal esteem. +</p> + +<p> +The rich formed only a small minority, but their collaborators, who +composed the entire people, had been completely won over or completely +subjugated by them. They formed two classes, the agents of commerce or +banking, and workers in the factories. The former contributed an immense +amount of work and received large salaries. Some of them succeeded in +founding establishments of their own; for in the constant increase of the +public wealth the more intelligent and audacious could hope for anything. +Doubtless it would have been possible to find a certain number of +discontented and rebellious persons among the immense crowd of engineers +and accountants, but this powerful society had imprinted its firm +discipline even on the minds of its opponents. The very anarchists were +laborious and regular. +</p> + +<p> +As for the workmen who toiled in the factories that surrounded the town, +their decadence, both physical and moral, was terrible; they were examples +of the type of poverty as it is set forth by anthropology. Although the +development among them of certain muscles, due to the particular nature of +their work, might give a false idea of their strength, they presented sure +signs of morbid debility. Of low stature, with small heads and narrow +chests, they were further distinguished from the comfortable classes by a +multitude of physiological anomalies, and, in particular, by a common want +of symmetry between the head and the limbs. And they were destined to a +gradual and continuous degeneration, for the State made soldiers of the +more robust among them, and the health of these did not long withstand the +brothels and the drink-shops that sprang up around their barracks. The +proletarians became more and more feeble in mind. The continued weakening +of their intellectual faculties was not entirely due to their manner of +life; it resulted also from a methodical selection carried out by the +employers. The latter, fearing that workmen of too great ability might be +inclined to put forward legitimate demands, took care to eliminate them by +every possible means, and preferred to engage ignorant and stupid +labourers, who were incapable of defending their rights, but were yet +intelligent enough to perform their toil, which highly perfected machines +rendered extremely simple. Thus the proletarians were unable to do +anything to improve their lot. With difficulty did they succeed by means +of strikes in maintaining the rate of their wages. Even this means began +to fail them. The alternations of production inherent in the capitalist +system caused such cessations of work that, in several branches of +industry, as soon as a strike was declared, the accumulation of products +allowed the employers to dispense with the strikers. In a word, these +miserable employees were plunged in a gloomy apathy that nothing +enlightened and nothing exasperated. They were necessary instruments for +the social order and well adapted to their purpose. +</p> + +<p> +Upon the whole, this social order seemed the most firmly established that had +yet been seen, at least among kind, for that of bees and ants is incomparably +more stable. Nothing could foreshadow the ruin of a system founded on what is +strongest in human nature, pride and cupidity. However, keen observers +discovered several grounds for uneasiness. The most certain, although the least +apparent, were of an economic order, and consisted in the continually +increasing amount of over-production, which entailed long and cruel +interruptions of labour, though these were, it is true, utilized by the +manufacturers as a means of breaking the power of the workmen, by facing them +with the prospect of a lock-out. A more obvious peril resulted from the +physiological state of almost the entire population. “The health of the +poor is what it must be,” said the experts in hygiene, “but that of +the rich leaves much to be desired.” It was not difficult to find the +causes of this. The supply of oxygen necessary for life was insufficient in the +city, and men breathed in an artificial air. The food trusts, by means of the +most daring chemical syntheses, produced artificial wines, meat, milk, fruit, +and vegetables, and the diet thus imposed gave rise to stomach and brain +troubles. The multi-millionaires were bald at the age of eighteen; some showed +from time to time a dangerous weakness of mind. Over-strung and enfeebled, they +gave enormous sums to ignorant charlatans; and it was a common thing for some +bath-attendant or other trumpery who turned healer or prophet, to make a rapid +fortune by the practice of medicine or theology. The number of lunatics +increased continually; suicides multiplied in the world of wealth, and many of +them were accompanied by atrocious and extraordinary circumstances, which bore +witness to an unheard of perversion of intelligence and sensibility. +</p> + +<p> +Another fatal symptom created a strong impression upon average minds. +Terrible accidents, henceforth periodical and regular, entered into +people’s calculations, and kept mounting higher and higher in statistical +tables. Every day, machines burst into fragments, houses fell down, trains +laden with merchandise fell on to the streets, demolishing entire +buildings and crushing hundreds of passers-by. Through the ground, +honey-combed with tunnels, two or three storeys of work-shops would often +crash, engulfing all those who worked in them. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +§. 2 +</p> + +<p> +In the southwestern district of the city, on an eminence which had +preserved its ancient name of Fort Saint-Michel, there stretched a square +where some old trees still spread their exhausted arms above the +greensward. Landscape gardeners had constructed a cascade, grottos, a +torrent, a lake, and an island, on its northern slope. From this side one +could see the whole town with its streets, its boulevards, its squares, +the multitude of its roofs and domes, its air-passages, and its crowds of +men, covered with a veil of silence, and seemingly enchanted by the +distance. This square was the healthiest place in the capital; here no +smoke obscured the sky, and children were brought here to play. In summer +some employees from the neighbouring offices and laboratories used to +resort to it for a moment after their luncheons, but they did not disturb +its solitude and peace. +</p> + +<p> +It was owing to this custom that, one day in June, about mid-day, a +telegraph clerk, Caroline Meslier, came and sat down on a bench at the end +of a terrace. In order to refresh her eyes by the sight of a little green, +she turned her back to the town. Dark, with brown eyes, robust and placid, +Caroline appeared to be from twenty-five to twenty-eight years of age. +Almost immediately, a clerk in the Electricity Trust, George Clair, took +his place beside her. Fair, thin, and supple, he had features of a +feminine delicacy; he was scarcely older than she, and looked still +younger. As they met almost every day in this place, a comradeship had +sprung up between them, and they enjoyed chatting together. But their +conversation had never been tender, affectionate, or even intimate. +Caroline, although it had happened to her in the past to repent of her +confidence, might perhaps have been less reserved had not George Clair +always shown himself extremely restrained in his expressions and +behaviour. He always gave a purely intellectual character to the +conversation, keeping it within the realm of general ideas, and, moreover, +expressing himself on all subjects with the greatest freedom. He spoke +frequently of the organization of society, and the conditions of labour. +</p> + +<p> +“Wealth,” said he, “is one of the means of living happily; but people have +made it the sole end of existence.” +</p> + +<p> +And this state of things seemed monstrous to both of them. +</p> + +<p> +They returned continually to various scientific subjects with which they +were both familiar. +</p> + +<p> +On that day they discussed the evolution of chemistry. +</p> + +<p> +“From the moment,” said Clair, “that radium was seen to be transformed +into helium, people ceased to affirm the immutability of simple bodies; in +this way all those old laws about simple relations and about the +indestructibility of matter were abolished.” +</p> + +<p> +“However,” said she, “chemical laws exist.” +</p> + +<p> +For, being a woman, she had need of belief. +</p> + +<p> +He resumed carelessly: +</p> + +<p> +“Now that we can procure radium in sufficient quantities, science +possesses incomparable means of analysis; even at present we get glimpses, +within what are called simple bodies, of extremely diversified complex +ones, and we discover energies in matter which seem to increase even by +reason of its tenuity.” +</p> + +<p> +As they talked, they threw bits of bread to the birds, and some children +played around them. +</p> + +<p> +Passing from one subject to another: +</p> + +<p> +“This hill, in the quaternary epoch,” said Clair, “was inhabited by wild +horses. Last year, as they were tunnelling for the water mains, they found +a layer of the bones of primeval horses.” +</p> + +<p> +She was anxious to know whether, at that distant epoch, man had yet +appeared. +</p> + +<p> +He told her that man used to hunt the primeval horse long before he tried +to domesticate him. +</p> + +<p> +“Man,” he added, “was at first a hunter, then he became a shepherd, a +cultivator, a manufacturer . . . and these diverse civilizations succeeded +each other at intervals of time that the mind cannot conceive.” +</p> + +<p> +He took out his watch. +</p> + +<p> +Caroline asked if it was already time to go back to the office. +</p> + +<p> +He said it was not, that it was scarcely half-past twelve. +</p> + +<p> +A little girl was making mud pies at the foot of their bench; a little boy +of seven or eight years was playing in front of them. Whilst his mother +was sewing on an adjoining bench, he played all alone at being a run-away +horse, and with that power of illusion, of which children are capable, he +imagined that he was at the same time the horse, and those who ran after +him, and those who fled in terror before him. He kept struggling with +himself and shouting: “Stop him, Hi! Hi! This is an awful horse, he has +got the bit between his teeth.” +</p> + +<p> +Caroline asked the question: +</p> + +<p> +“Do you think that men were happy formerly?” +</p> + +<p> +Her companion answered: +</p> + +<p> +“They suffered less when they were younger. They acted like that little +boy: they played; they played at arts, at virtues, at vices, at heroism, +at beliefs, at pleasures; they had illusions which entertained them; they +made a noise; they amused themselves. But now. . . .” +</p> + +<p> +He interrupted himself, and looked again at his watch. +</p> + +<p> +The child, who was running, struck his foot against the little girl’s +pail, and fell his full length on the gravel. He remained a moment +stretched out motionless, then raised himself up on the palms of his +hands. His forehead puckered, his mouth opened, and he burst into tears. +His mother ran up, but Caroline had lifted him from the ground and was +wiping his eyes and mouth with her handkerchief. +</p> + +<p> +The child kept on sobbing and Clair took him in his arms. +</p> + +<p> +“Come, don’t cry, my little man! I am going to tell you a story. +</p> + +<p> +“A fisherman once threw his net into the sea and drew out a little, +sealed, copper pot, which he opened with his knife. Smoke came out of it, and +as it mounted up to the clouds the smoke grew thicker and thicker and became a +giant who gave such a terrible yawn that the whole world was blown to +dust....” +</p> + +<p> +Clair stopped himself, gave a dry laugh, and handed the child back to his +mother. Then he took out his watch again, and kneeling on the bench with +his elbows resting on its back he gazed at the town. As far as the eye +could reach, the multitude of houses stood out in their tiny immensity. +</p> + +<p> +Caroline turned her eyes in the same direction. +</p> + +<p> +“What splendid weather it is!” said she. “The sun’s rays change the smoke +on the horizon into gold. The worst thing about civilization is that it +deprives one of the light of day.” +</p> + +<p> +He did not answer; his looks remained fixed on a place in the town. +</p> + +<p> +After some seconds of silence they saw about half a mile away, in the +richer district on the other side of the river, a sort of tragic fog +rearing itself upwards. A moment afterwards an explosion was heard even +where they were sitting, and an immense tree of smoke mounted towards the +pure sky. Little by little the air was filled with an imperceptible murmur +caused by the shouts of thousands of men. Cries burst forth quite close to +the square. +</p> + +<p> +“What has been blown up?” +</p> + +<p> +The bewilderment was great, for although accidents were common, such a +violent explosion as this one had never been seen, and everybody perceived +that something terribly strange had happened. +</p> + +<p> +Attempts were made to locate the place of the accident; districts, +streets, different buildings, clubs, theatres, and shops were mentioned. +Information gradually became more precise and at last the truth was known. +</p> + +<p> +“The Steel Trust has just been blown up.” +</p> + +<p> +Clair put his watch back into his pocket. +</p> + +<p> +Caroline looked at him closely and her eyes filled with astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +At last she whispered in his ear: +</p> + +<p> +“Did you know it? Were you expecting it? Was it you . . .” +</p> + +<p> +He answered very calmly: +</p> + +<p> +“That town ought to be destroyed.” +</p> + +<p> +She replied in a gentle and thoughtful tone: +</p> + +<p> +“I think so too.” +</p> + +<p> +And both of them returned quietly to their work. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +§. 3 +</p> + +<p> +From that day onward, anarchist attempts followed one another every week +without interruption. The victims were numerous, and almost all of them +belonged to the poorer classes. These crimes roused public resentment. It was +among domestic servants, hotel-keepers, and the employees of such small shops +as the Trusts still allowed to exist, that indignation burst forth most +vehemently. In popular districts women might be heard demanding unusual +punishments for the dynamitards. (They were called by this old name, although +it was hardly appropriate to them, since, to these unknown chemists, dynamite +was an innocent material only fit to destroy ant-hills, and they considered it +mere child’s play to explode nitro-glycerine with a cartridge made of +fulminate of mercury.) Business ceased suddenly, and those who were least rich +were the first to feel the effects. They spoke of doing justice themselves to +the anarchists. In the mean time the factory workers remained hostile or +indifferent to violent action. They were threatened, as a result of the decline +of business, with a likelihood of losing their work, or even a lock-out in all +the factories. The Federation of Trade Unions proposed a general strike as the +most powerful means of influencing the employers, and the best aid that could +be given to the revolutionists, but all the trades with the exception of the +gilders refused to cease work. +</p> + +<p> +The police made numerous arrests. Troops summoned from all parts of the +National Federation protected the offices of the Trusts, the houses of the +multi-millionaires, the public halls, the banks, and the big shops. A fortnight +passed without a single explosion, and it was concluded that the dynamitards, +in all probability but a handful of persons, perhaps even still fewer, had all +been killed or captured, or that they were in hiding, or had taken flight. +Confidence returned; it returned at first among the poorer classes. Two or +three hundred thousand soldiers, who bad been lodged in the most closely +populated districts, stimulated trade, and people began to cry out: +“Hurrah for the army!” +</p> + +<p> +The rich, who had not been so quick to take alarm, were reassured more +slowly. But at the Stock Exchange a group of “bulls” spread optimistic +rumours and by a powerful effort put a brake upon the fall in prices. +Business improved. Newspapers with big circulations supported the +movement. With patriotic eloquence they depicted capital as laughing in +its impregnable position at the assaults of a few dastardly criminals, and +public wealth maintaining its serene ascendency in spite of the vain +threats made against it. They were sincere in their attitude, though at +the same time they found it benefited them. Outrages were forgotten or +their occurrence denied. On Sundays, at the race-meetings, the stands were +adorned by women covered with pearls and diamonds. It was observed with +joy that the capitalists had not suffered. Cheers were given for the +multi-millionaires in the saddling rooms. +</p> + +<p> +On the following day the Southern Railway Station, the Petroleum Trust, +and the huge church built at the expense of Thomas Morcellet were all +blown up. Thirty houses were in flames, and the beginning of a fire was +discovered at the docks. The firemen showed amazing intrepidity and zeal. +They managed their tall fire-escapes with automatic precision, and climbed +as high as thirty storeys to rescue the luckless inhabitants from the +flames. The soldiers performed their duties with spirit, and were given a +double ration of coffee. But these fresh casualties started a panic. +Millions of people, who wanted to take their money with them and leave the +town at once, crowded the great banking houses. These establishments, +after paying out money for three days, closed their doors amid mutterings +of a riot. A crowd of fugitives, laden with their baggage, besieged the +railway stations and took the town by storm. Many who were anxious to lay +in a stock of provisions and take refuge in the cellars, attacked the +grocery stores, although they were guarded by soldiers with fixed +bayonets. The public authorities displayed energy. Numerous arrests were +made and thousands of warrants issued against suspected persons. +</p> + +<p> +During the three weeks that followed no outrage was committed. There was a +rumour that bombs had been found in the Opera House, in the cellars of the +Town Hall, and beside one of the Pillars of the Stock Exchange. But it was +soon known that these were boxes of sweets that had been put in those +places by practical jokers or lunatics. One of the accused, when +questioned by a magistrate, declared that he was the chief author of the +explosions, and said that all his accomplices had lost their lives. These +confessions were published by the newspapers and helped to reassure public +opinion. It was only towards the close of the examination that the +magistrates saw they had to deal with a pretender who was in no way +connected with any of the crimes. +</p> + +<p> +The experts chosen by the courts discovered nothing that enabled them to +determine the engine employed in the work of destruction. According to +their conjectures the new explosive emanated from a gas which radium +evolves, and it was supposed that electric waves, produced by a special +type of oscillator, were propagated through space and thus caused the +explosion. But even the ablest chemist could say nothing precise or +certain. At last two policemen, who were passing in front of the Hôtel +Meyer, found on the pavement, close to a ventilator, an egg made of white +metal and provided with a capsule at each end. They picked it up +carefully, and, on the orders of their chief, carried it to the municipal +laboratory. Scarcely had the experts assembled to examine it, than the egg +burst and blew up the amphitheatre and the dome. All the experts perished, +and with them Collin, the General of Artillery, and the famous Professor +Tigre. +</p> + +<p> +The capitalist society did not allow itself to be daunted by this fresh +disaster. The great banks re-opened their doors, declaring that they would meet +demands partly in bullion and partly in paper money guaranteed by the State. +The Stock Exchange and the Trade Exchange, in spite of the complete cessation +of business, decided not to suspend their sittings. +</p> + +<p> +In the mean time the magisterial investigation into the case of those who +had been first accused had come to an end. Perhaps the evidence brought +against them might have appeared insufficient under other circumstances, +but the zeal both of the magistrates and the public made up for this +insufficiency. On the eve of the day fixed for the trial the Courts of +justice were blown up and eight hundred people were killed, the greater +number of them being judges and lawyers. A furious crowd broke into the +prison and lynched the prisoners. The troops sent to restore order were +received with showers of stones and revolver shots; several soldiers being +dragged from their horses and trampled underfoot. The soldiers fired on +the mob and many persons were killed. At last the public authorities +succeeded in establishing tranquillity. Next day the Bank was blown up. +</p> + +<p> +From that time onwards unheard-of things took place. The factory workers, +who had refused to strike, rushed in crowds into the town and set fire to +the houses. Entire regiments, led by their officers, joined the workmen, +went with them through the town singing revolutionary hymns, and took +barrels of petroleum from the docks with which to feed the fires. +Explosions were continual. One morning a monstrous tree of smoke, like the +ghost of a huge palm tree half a mile in height, rose above the giant +Telegraph Hall which suddenly fell into a complete ruin. +</p> + +<p> +Whilst half the town was in flames, the other half pursued its accustomed +life. In the mornings, milk pails could be heard jingling in the dairy +carts. In a deserted avenue some old navvy might be seen seated against a +wall slowly eating hunks of bread with perhaps a little meat. Almost all +the presidents of the trusts remained at their posts. Some of them +performed their duty with heroic simplicity. Raphael Box, the son of a +martyred multi-millionaire, was blown up as he was presiding at the +general meeting of the Sugar Trust. He was given a magnificent funeral and +the procession on its way to the cemetery had to climb six times over +piles of ruins or cross upon planks over the uprooted roads. +</p> + +<p> +The ordinary helpers of the rich, the clerks, employees, brokers, and +agents, preserved an unshaken fidelity. The surviving clerks of the Bank +that had been blown up, made their way along the ruined streets through +the midst of smoking houses to hand in their bills of exchange, and +several were swallowed up in the flames while endeavouring to present +their receipts. +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, any illusion concerning the state of affairs was impossible. +The enemy was master of the town. Instead of silence the noise of +explosions was now continuous and produced an insurmountable feeling of +horror. The lighting apparatus having been destroyed, the city was plunged +in darkness all through the night, and appalling crimes were committed. +The populous districts alone, having suffered the least, still preserved +measures of protection. The were paraded by patrols of volunteers who shot +the robbers, and at every street corner one stumbled over a body lying in +a pool of blood, the hands bound behind the back, a handkerchief over the +face, and a placard pinned upon the breast. +</p> + +<p> +It became impossible to clear away the ruins or to bury the dead. Soon the +stench from the corpses became intolerable. Epidemics raged and caused +innumerable deaths, while they also rendered the survivors feeble and +listless. Famine carried off almost all who were left. A hundred and one +days after the first outrage, whilst six army corps with field artillery +and siege artillery were marching, at night, into the poorest quarter of +the city, Caroline and Clair, holding each other’s hands, were watching +from the roof a lofty house, the only one still left standing, but now +surrounded by smoke and flame, joyous songs ascended from the street, +where the crowd was dancing in delirium. +</p> + +<p> +“To-morrow it will be ended,” said the man, “and it will be better.” +</p> + +<p> +The young woman, her hair loosened and her face shining with the +reflection of the flames, gazed with a pious joy at the circle of fire +that was growing closer around them. +</p> + +<p> +“It will be better,” said she also. +</p> + +<p> +And throwing herself into the destroyer’s arms she pressed a passionate +kiss upon his lips. +</p> + +<p class="center"> +§. 4 +</p> + +<p> +The other towns of the federation also suffered from disturbances and +outbreaks, and then order was restored. Reforms were introduced into +institutions and great changes took place in habits and customs, but the +country never recovered the loss of its capital, and never regained its former +prosperity. Commerce and industry dwindled away, and civilization abandoned +those countries which for so long it had preferred to all others. They became +insalubrious and sterile; the territory that had supported so many millions of +men became nothing more than a desert. On the hill of Fort St. Michel wild +horses cropped the coarse grass. +</p> + +<p> +Days flowed by like water from the fountains, and the centuries passed like +drops falling from the ends of stalactites. Hunters came to chase the bears +upon the hills that covered the forgotten city; shepherds led their flocks upon +them; labourers turned up the soil with their ploughs; gardeners cultivated +their lettuces and grafted their pear trees. They were not rich, and they had +no arts. The walls of their cabins were covered with old vines and roses. A +goat-skin clothed their tanned limbs, while their wives dressed themselves with +the wool that they themselves had spun. The goat-herds moulded little figures +of men and animals out of clay, or sang songs about the young girl who follows +her lover through woods or among the browsing goats while the pine trees +whisper together and the water utters its murmuring sound. The master of the +house grew angry with the beetles who devoured his figs; he planned snares to +protect his fowls from the velvet-tailed fox, and he poured out wine for his +neighbours saying: +</p> + +<p> +“Drink! The flies have not spoilt my vintage; the vines were dry before +they came.” +</p> + +<p> +Then in the course of ages the wealth of the villages and the corn that +filled the fields were pillaged by barbarian invaders. The country changed +its masters several times. The conquerors built castles upon the hills; +cultivation increased; mills, forges, tanneries, and looms were +established; roads were opened through the woods and over the marshes; the +river was covered with boats. The hamlets became large villages and +joining together formed a town which protected itself by deep trenches and +lofty walls. Later, becoming the capital of a great State, it found itself +straitened within its now useless ramparts and it converted them into +grass-covered walks. +</p> + +<p> +It grew very rich and large beyond measure. The houses were never high +enough to satisfy the people; they kept on making them still higher and +built them of thirty or forty storeys, with offices, shops, banks, +societies one above another; they dug cellars and tunnels ever deeper +downwards. Fifteen millions of men laboured in the giant town. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PENGUIN ISLAND ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 1930-h.htm or 1930-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/3/1930/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law 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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