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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1940-h.zip b/1940-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0847e28 --- /dev/null +++ b/1940-h.zip diff --git a/1940-h/1940-h.htm b/1940-h/1940-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f801ee --- /dev/null +++ b/1940-h/1940-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1249 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christ in Flanders + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: March 6, 2010 [EBook #1940] +Last Updated: April 3, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + CHRIST IN FLANDERS + </h1> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Ellen Marriage + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + DEDICATION + + To Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore, a daughter of Flanders, of whom + these modern days may well be proud, I dedicate this quaint legend + of old Flanders. + + DE BALZAC. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + CHRIST IN FLANDERS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p> + At a dimly remote period in the history of Brabant, communication between + the Island of Cadzand and the Flemish coast was kept up by a boat which + carried passengers from one shore to the other. Middelburg, the chief town + in the island, destined to become so famous in the annals of + Protestantism, at that time only numbered some two or three hundred + hearths; and the prosperous town of Ostend was an obscure haven, a + straggling village where pirates dwelt in security among the fishermen and + the few poor merchants who lived in the place. + </p> + <p> + But though the town of Ostend consisted altogether of some score of houses + and three hundred cottages, huts or hovels built of the driftwood of + wrecked vessels, it nevertheless rejoiced in the possession of a governor, + a garrison, a forked gibbet, a convent, and a burgomaster, in short, in + all the institutions of an advanced civilization. + </p> + <p> + Who reigned over Brabant and Flanders in those days? On this point + tradition is mute. Let us confess at once that this tale savors strongly + of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; elements which Flemish + narrators have infused into a story retailed so often to gatherings of + workers on winter evenings, that the details vary widely in poetic merit + and incongruity of detail. It has been told by every generation, handed + down by grandames at the fireside, narrated night and day, and the + chronicle has changed its complexion somewhat in every age. Like some + great building that has suffered many modifications of successive + generations of architects, some sombre weather-beaten pile, the delight of + a poet, the story would drive the commentator and the industrious winnower + of words, facts, and dates to despair. The narrator believes in it, as all + superstitious minds in Flanders likewise believe; and is not a whit wiser + nor more credulous than his audience. But as it would be impossible to + make a harmony of all the different renderings, here are the outlines of + the story; stripped, it may be, of its picturesque quaintness, but with + all its bold disregard of historical truth, and its moral teachings + approved by religion—a myth, the blossom of imaginative fancy; an + allegory that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To each his own + pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the wheat. + </p> + <p> + The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of Cadzand to + Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper loosed the + chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people embarked, + he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this being his last + journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely possible to see the + coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the sunset, or to make out upon + the hither shore any forms of belated passengers hurrying along the wall + of the dykes that surrounded the open country, or among the tall reeds of + the marshes. The boat was full. + </p> + <p> + "What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried. + </p> + <p> + Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to the + surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The traveler + seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant who had laid + himself down on the ground to wait till the boat should start, and had + slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. Was he a thief? or some one + belonging to the custom-house or the police? + </p> + <p> + As soon as the man appeared on the jetty to which the boat was moored, + seven persons who were standing in the stern of the shallop hastened to + sit down on the benches, so as to leave no room for the newcomer. It was + the swift and instinctive working of the aristocratic spirit, an impulse + of exclusiveness that comes from the rich man's heart. Four of the seven + personages belonged to the most aristocratic families in Flanders. First + among them was a young knight with two beautiful greyhounds; his long hair + flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; he clanked his gilded spurs, curled the + ends of his moustache from time to time with a swaggering grace, and + looked round disdainfully on the rest of the crew. A high-born damsel, + with a falcon on her wrist, only spoke with her mother or with a churchman + of high rank, who was evidently a relation. All these persons made a great + deal of noise, and talked among themselves as though there were no one + else in the boat; yet close beside them sat a man of great importance in + the district, a stout burgher of Bruges, wrapped about with a vast cloak. + His servant, armed to the teeth, had set down a couple of bags filled with + gold at his side. Next to the burgher came a man of learning, a doctor of + the University of Louvain, who was traveling with his clerk. This little + group of folk, who looked contemptuously at each other, was separated from + the passengers in the forward part of the boat by the bench of rowers. + </p> + <p> + The belated traveler glanced about him as he stepped on board, saw that + there was no room for him in the stern, and went to the bows in quest of a + seat. They were all poor people there. At first sight of the bareheaded + man in the brown camlet coat and trunk-hose, and plain stiff linen collar, + they noticed that he wore no ornaments, carried no cap nor bonnet in his + hand, and had neither sword nor purse at his girdle, and one and all took + him for a burgomaster sure of his authority, a worthy and kindly + burgomaster like so many a Fleming of old times, whose homely features and + characters have been immortalized by Flemish painters. The poorer + passengers, therefore, received him with demonstrations of respect that + provoked scornful tittering at the other end of the boat. An old soldier, + inured to toil and hardship, gave up his place on the bench to the + newcomer, and seated himself on the edge of the vessel, keeping his + balance by planting his feet against one of those traverse beams, like the + backbone of a fish, that hold the planks of a boat together. A young + mother, who bore her baby in her arms, and seemed to belong to the working + class in Ostend, moved aside to make room for the stranger. There was + neither servility nor scorn in her manner of doing this; it was a simple + sign of the goodwill by which the poor, who know by long experience the + value of a service and the warmth that fellowship brings, give expression + to the open-heartedness and the natural impulses of their souls; so + artlessly do they reveal their good qualities and their defects. The + stranger thanked her by a gesture full of gracious dignity, and took his + place between the young mother and the old soldier. Immediately behind him + sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten years of age. A beggar woman, old, + wrinkled, and clad in rags, was crouching, with her almost empty wallet, + on a great coil of rope that lay in the prow. One of the rowers, an old + sailor, who had known her in the days of her beauty and prosperity, had + let her come in "for the love of God," in the beautiful phrase that the + common people use. + </p> + <p> + "Thank you kindly, Thomas," the old woman had said. "I will say two <i>Paters</i> + and two <i>Aves</i> for you in my prayers to-night." + </p> + <p> + The skipper blew his horn for the last time, looked along the silent + shore, flung off the chain, ran along the side of the boat, and took up + his position at the helm. He looked at the sky, and as soon as they were + out in the open sea, he shouted to the men: "Pull away, pull with all your + might! The sea is smiling at a squall, the witch! I can feel the swell by + the way the rudder works, and the storm in my wounds." + </p> + <p> + The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the sound of the + sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept time together, + the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, but quite unlike the + previous manner of rowing; it was as if a cantering horse had broken into + a gallop. The gay company seated in the stern amused themselves by + watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, and sparkling eyes of the + rowers, the play of the tense muscles, the physical and mental forces that + were being exerted to bring them for a trifling toll across the channel. + So far from pitying the rowers' distress, they pointed out the men's faces + to each other, and laughed at the grotesque expressions on the faces of + the crew who were straining every muscle; but in the fore part of the boat + the soldier, the peasant, and the old beggar woman watched the sailors + with the sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live by the sweat of their + brow and know the rough struggle, the strenuous excitement of effort. + These folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in the open air, had all seen + the warnings of danger in the sky, and their faces were grave. The young + mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn of the Church for a lullaby. + </p> + <p> + "If we ever get there at all," the soldier remarked to the peasant, "it + will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us alive." + </p> + <p> + "Ah! He is the Master," said the old woman, "but I think it will be His + good pleasure to take us to Himself. Just look at that light down + there..." and she nodded her head as she spoke towards the sunset. + </p> + <p> + Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed + brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a + smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from the + depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he only means + mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away. Perhaps painting, + like poetry, could not prolong the existence of the picture presented by + sea and sky at that moment beyond the time of its actual duration. Art + demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists usually seek out Nature's + most striking effects, doubtless because they despair of rendering the + great and glorious charm of her daily moods; yet the human soul is often + stirred as deeply by her calm as by her emotion, and by silence as by + storm. + </p> + <p> + For a moment no one spoke on board the boat. Every one watched that sea + and sky, either with some presentiment of danger, or because they felt the + influence of the religious melancholy that takes possession of nearly all + of us at the close of the day, the hour of prayer, when all nature is + hushed save for the voices of the bells. The sea gleamed pale and wan, but + its hues changed, and the surface took all the colors of steel. The sky + was almost overspread with livid gray, but down in the west there were + long narrow bars like streaks of blood; while lines of bright light in the + eastern sky, sharp and clean as if drawn by the tip of a brush, were + separated by folds of cloud, like the wrinkles on an old man's brow. The + whole scene made a background of ashen grays and half-tints, in strong + contrast to the bale-fires of the sunset. If written language might borrow + of spoken language some of the bold figures of speech invented by the + people, it might be said with the soldier that "the weather has been + routed," or, as the peasant would say, "the sky glowered like an + executioner." Suddenly a wind arose from the quarter of the sunset, and + the skipper, who never took his eyes off the sea, saw the swell on the + horizon line, and cried: + </p> + <p> + "Stop rowing!" + </p> + <p> + The sailors stopped immediately, and let their oars lie on the water. + </p> + <p> + "The skipper is right," said Thomas coolly. A great wave caught up the + boat, carried it high on its crest, only to plunge it, as it were, into + the trough of the sea that seemed to yawn for them. At this mighty + upheaval, this sudden outbreak of the wrath of the sea, the company in the + stern turned pale, and sent up a terrible cry. + </p> + <p> + "We are lost!" + </p> + <p> + "Oh, not yet!" said the skipper calmly. + </p> + <p> + As he spoke, the clouds immediately above their heads were torn asunder by + the vehemence of the wind. The gray mass was rent and scattered east and + west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain light from the rift in the sky + fell full upon the boat, and the travelers beheld each other's faces. All + of them, the noble and the wealthy, the sailors and the poor passengers + alike, were amazed for a moment by the appearance of the last comer. His + golden hair, parted upon his calm, serene forehead, fell in thick curls + about his shoulders; and his face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant + with divine love, stood out against the surrounding gloom. He had no + contempt for death; he knew that he should not die. But if at the first + the company in the stern forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the + storm that threatened their lives, selfishness and their habits of life + soon prevailed again. + </p> + <p> + "How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we are all + running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle," said the + doctor. + </p> + <p> + He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when the storm + unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of the heavens, + the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke in. + </p> + <p> + "Oh! my poor child! my poor child!... Who will save my baby?" the mother + cried in a heart-rending voice. + </p> + <p> + "You yourself will save it," the stranger said. + </p> + <p> + The thrilling tones of that voice went to the young mother's heart and + brought hope with them; she heard the gracious words through all the + whistling of the wind and the shrieks of the passengers. + </p> + <p> + "Holy Virgin of Good Help, who art at Antwerp, I promise thee a thousand + pounds of wax and a statue, if thou wilt rescue me from this!" cried the + burgher, kneeling upon his bags of gold. + </p> + <p> + "The Virgin is no more at Antwerp than she is here," was the doctor's + comment on this appeal. + </p> + <p> + "She is in heaven," said a voice that seemed to come from the sea. + </p> + <p> + "Who said that?" + </p> + <p> + "'Tis the devil!" exclaimed the servant. "He is scoffing at the Virgin of + Antwerp." + </p> + <p> + "Let us have no more of your Holy Virgin at present," the skipper cried to + the passengers. "Put your hands to the scoops and bail the water out of + the boat.—And the rest of you," he went on, addressing the sailors, + "pull with all your might! Now is the time; in the name of the devil who + is leaving you in this world, be your own Providence! Every one knows that + the channel is fearfully dangerous; I have been to and fro across it these + thirty years. Am I facing a storm for the first time to-night?" + </p> + <p> + He stood at the helm, and looked, as before, at his boat and at the sea + and sky in turn. + </p> + <p> + "The skipper always laughs at everything," muttered Thomas. + </p> + <p> + "Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched creatures?" asked + the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier. + </p> + <p> + "No, no, noble maiden.... Listen!" and he caught her by the waist and said + in her ear, "I can swim, say nothing about it! I will hold you by your + fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I can only save you." + </p> + <p> + The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her knees entreating + absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In the beautiful eyes the + knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, and spoke in a smothered + voice. + </p> + <p> + "Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to take your + mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her happiness—in another + world," he added, and his voice dropped still lower. "And for ours in + this," he thought within himself. + </p> + <p> + The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the barony of + Gavres. + </p> + <p> + The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love that spoke + through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who haunted churches in + search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready money. The Bishop + bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be calm; it was all that + he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of the delicate feast with + which she would welcome him; perhaps at that very moment she was bathing, + perfuming herself, robing herself in velvet, fastening her necklace and + her jeweled clasps; and the perverse Bishop, so far from thinking of the + power of Holy Church, of his duty to comfort Christians and exhort them to + trust in God, mingled worldly regrets and lover's sighs with the holy + words of the breviary. By the dim light that shone on the pale faces of + the company, it was possible to see their differing expressions as the + boat was lifted high in air by a wave, to be cast back into the dark + depths; the shallop quivered like a fragile leaf, the plaything of the + north wind in the autumn; the hull creaked, it seemed ready to go to + pieces. Fearful shrieks went up, followed by an awful silence. + </p> + <p> + There was a strange difference between the behavior of the folk in the + bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of the boat. + The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast every time that + a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; but she clung to the + hope that the stranger's words had set in her heart. Each time that the + eyes turned to his face she drew fresh faith at the sight, the strong + faith of a helpless woman, a mother's faith. She lived by that divine + promise, the loving words from his lips; the simple creature waited + trustingly for them to be fulfilled, and scarcely feared the danger any + longer. + </p> + <p> + The soldier, holding fast to the vessel's side, never took his eyes off + the strange visitor. He copied on his own rough and swarthy features the + imperturbability of the other's face, applying to this task the whole + strength of a will and intelligence but little corrupted in the course of + a life of mechanical and passive obedience. So emulous was he of a calm + and tranquil courage greater than his own, that at last, perhaps + unconsciously, something of that mysterious nature passed into his own + soul. His admiration became an instinctive zeal for this man, a boundless + love for and belief in him, such a love as soldiers feel for their leader + when he has the power of swaying other men, when the halo of victories + surrounds him, and the magical fascination of genius is felt in all that + he does. The poor outcast was murmuring to herself: + </p> + <p> + "Ah! miserable wretch that I am! Have I not suffered enough to expiate the + sins of my youth? Ah! wretched woman, why did you lead the gay life of a + frivolous Frenchwoman? why did you devour the goods of God with churchmen, + the substance of the poor with extortioners and fleecers of the poor? Oh! + I have sinned indeed!—Oh my God! my God! let me finish my time in + hell here in this world of misery." + </p> + <p> + And again she cried, "Holy Virgin, Mother of God, have pity upon me!" + </p> + <p> + "Be comforted, mother. God is not a Lombard usurer. I may have killed + people good and bad at random in my time, but I am not afraid of the + resurrection." + </p> + <p> + "Ah! master Lancepesade, how happy those fair ladies are, to be so near to + a bishop, a holy man! They will get absolution for their sins," said the + old woman. "Oh! if I could only hear a priest say to me, 'Thy sins are + forgiven!' I should believe it then." + </p> + <p> + The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face made her + tremble. + </p> + <p> + "Have faith," he said, "and you will be saved." + </p> + <p> + "May God reward you, good sir," she answered. "If what you say is true, I + will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto to pray to her for + you and for me." + </p> + <p> + The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and submissive to + the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in instinctively with + the ways of Nature like cattle. At the one end of the boat stood riches, + pride, learning, debauchery, and crime—human society, such as art + and thought and education and worldly interests and laws have made it; and + at this end there was terror and wailing, innumerable different impulses + all repressed by hideous doubts—at this end, and at this only, the + agony of fear. + </p> + <p> + Above all these human lives stood a strong man, the skipper; no doubts + assailed him, the chief, the king, the fatalist among them. He was + trusting in himself rather than in Providence, crying, "Bail away!" + instead of "Holy Virgin," defying the storm, in fact, and struggling with + the sea like a wrestler. + </p> + <p> + But the helpless poor at the other end of the wherry! The mother rocking + on her bosom the little one who smiled at the storm; the woman once so + frivolous and gay, and now tormented with bitter remorse; the old soldier + covered with scars, a mutilated life the sole reward of his unflagging + loyalty and faithfulness. This veteran could scarcely count on the morsel + of bread soaked in tears to keep the life in him, yet he was always ready + to laugh, and went his way merrily, happy when he could drown his glory in + the depths of a pot of beer, or could tell tales of the wars to the + children who admired him, leaving his future with a light heart in the + hands of God. Lastly, there were the two peasants, used to hardships and + toil, labor incarnate, the labor by which the world lives. These simple + folk were indifferent to thought and its treasures, ready to sink them all + in a belief; and their faith was but so much the more vigorous because + they had never disputed about it nor analyzed it. Such a nature is a + virgin soil, conscience has not been tampered with, feeling is deep and + strong; repentance, trouble, love, and work have developed, purified, + concentrated, and increased their force of will a hundred times, the will—the + one thing in man that resembles what learned doctors call the Soul. + </p> + <p> + The boat, guided by the well-nigh miraculous skill of the steersman, came + almost within sight of Ostend, when, not fifty paces from the shore, she + was suddenly struck by a heavy sea and capsized. The stranger with the + light about his head spoke to this little world of drowning creatures: + </p> + <p> + "Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!" + </p> + <p> + He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. The young + mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at his side across + the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his homely fashion, "Ah! <i>nom + d'un pipe</i>! I would follow <i>you</i> to the devil;" and without + seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out sinner, + believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the stranger. + </p> + <p> + The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on the sea, why + should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and hastened after the + others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he sank in the sea + more than once, and rose again, but the third time he also walked on the + sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the wreck of his boat. The + miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but he tried to take his gold + with him, and it was his gold that dragged him down to the bottom. The + learned man had scoffed at the charlatan and at the fools who listened to + him; and when he heard the mysterious stranger propose to the passengers + that they should walk on the waves, he began to laugh, and the ocean + swallowed him. The girl was dragged down into the depths by her lover. The + Bishop and the older lady went to the bottom, heavily laden with sins, it + may be, but still more heavily laden with incredulity and confidence in + idols, weighted down by devotion, into which alms-deeds and true religion + entered but little. + </p> + <p> + The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry above the + surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; great + billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft a way for + them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the spray a dim + speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman's hut on the shore, + and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the light, seemed to hear + the voice of his fellow crying, "Courage!" through all the roaring of the + surf; yet no one had spoken a word—so absorbed was each by his own + peril. In this way they reached the shore. + </p> + <p> + When they were all seated near the fisherman's fire, they looked round in + vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed up the + steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage stood; he was + clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can cling when death + stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued the almost exhausted + seaman; then he said, as he held out a succoring hand above the man's + head: + </p> + <p> + "Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example would be too + bad." + </p> + <p> + He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to the fisherman's + door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; then, when the door of + the humble refuge opened, the Saviour disappeared. + </p> + <p> + The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where for long + afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ could be seen + in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French invasion, the monks + carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to the Saviour's last + visit to earth. + </p> + <p> + There at the convent I found myself shortly after the Revolution of 1830. + I was weary of life. If you had asked me the reason of my despair, I + should have found it almost impossible to give it, so languid had grown + the soul that was melted within me. The west wind had slackened the + springs of my intelligence. A cold gray light poured down from the + heavens, and the murky clouds that passed overhead gave a boding look to + the land; all these things, together with the immensity of the sea, said + to me, "Die to-day or die to-morrow, still must we not die?" And then—I + wandered on, musing on the doubtful future, on my blighted hopes. Gnawed + by these gloomy thoughts, I turned mechanically into the convent church, + with the gray towers that loomed like ghosts though the sea mists. I + looked round with no kindling of the imagination at the forest of columns, + at the slender arches set aloft upon the leafy capitals, a delicate + labyrinth of sculpture. I walked with careless eyes along the side aisles + that opened out before me like vast portals, ever turning upon their + hinges. It was scarcely possible to see, by the dim light of the autumn + day, the sculptured groinings of the roof, the delicate and clean-cut + lines of the mouldings of the graceful pointed arches. The organ pipes + were mute. There was no sound save the noise of my own footsteps to awaken + the mournful echoes lurking in the dark chapels. I sat down at the base of + one of the four pillars that supported the tower, near the choir. Thence I + could see the whole of the building. I gazed, and no ideas connected with + it arose in my mind. I saw without seeing the mighty maze of pillars, the + great rose windows that hung like a network suspended as by a miracle in + air above the vast doorways. I saw the doors at the end of the side + aisles, the aerial galleries, the stained glass windows framed in + archways, divided by slender columns, fretted into flower forms and + trefoil by fine filigree work of carved stone. A dome of glass at the end + of the choir sparkled as if it had been built of precious stones set + cunningly. In contrast to the roof with its alternating spaces of + whiteness and color, the two aisles lay to right and left in shadow so + deep that the faint gray outlines of their hundred shafts were scarcely + visible in the gloom. I gazed at the marvelous arcades, the scroll-work, + the garlands, the curving lines, and arabesques interwoven and interlaced, + and strangely lighted, until by sheer dint of gazing my perceptions became + confused, and I stood upon the borderland between illusion and reality, + taken in the snare set for the eyes, and almost light-headed by reason of + the multitudinous changes of the shapes about me. + </p> + <p> + Imperceptibly a mist gathered about the carven stonework, and I only + beheld it through a haze of fine golden dust, like the motes that hover in + the bars of sunlight slanting through the air of a chamber. Suddenly the + stone lacework of the rose windows gleamed through this vapor that had + made all forms so shadowy. Every moulding, the edges of every carving, the + least detail of the sculpture was dipped in silver. The sunlight kindled + fires in the stained windows, their rich colors sent out glowing sparks of + light. The shafts began to tremble, the capitals were gently shaken. A + light shudder as of delight ran through the building, the stones were + loosened in their setting, the wall-spaces swayed with graceful caution. + Here and there a ponderous pier moved as solemnly as a dowager when she + condescends to complete a quadrille at the close of a ball. A few slender + and graceful columns, their heads adorned with wreaths of trefoil, began + to laugh and dance here and there. Some of the pointed arches dashed at + the tall lancet windows, who, like ladies of the Middle Ages, wore the + armorial bearings of their houses emblazoned on their golden robes. The + dance of the mitred arcades with the slender windows became like a fray at + a tourney. + </p> + <p> + In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without leaving its + place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine music mingling with + the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, accompanied by the deep notes + of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers rocked and swayed on their + square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to me the most natural thing in + the world; and I, who had seen Charles X. hurled from his throne, was no + longer amazed by anything. Nay, I myself was gently swaying with a see-saw + movement that influenced my nerves pleasurably in a manner of which it is + impossible to give any idea. Yet in the midst of this heated riot, the + cathedral choir felt cold as if it were a winter day, and I became aware + of a multitude of women, robed in white, silent, and impassive, sitting + there. The sweet incense smoke that arose from the censers was grateful to + my soul. The tall wax candles flickered. The lectern, gay as a chanter + undone by the treachery of wine, was skipping about like a peal of Chinese + bells. + </p> + <p> + Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast that + everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on the crucifix + above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice and benevolence that + frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and marveled at the bluish vapor + that slid across the pillars, lending to them an indescribable charm. Then + some graceful women's forms began to stir on the friezes. The cherubs who + upheld the heavy columns shook out their wings. I felt myself uplifted by + some divine power that steeped me in infinite joy, in a sweet and languid + rapture. I would have given my life, I think, to have prolonged these + phantasmagoria for a little, but suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my + ears: + </p> + <p> + "Awake and follow me!" + </p> + <p> + A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through + every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow, + almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old woman + wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her throat there + was something white, which I dared not examine. I could scarcely see her + wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a stare upon the heavens. + She drew me after her along the aisles, leaving a trace of her presence in + the ashes that she shook from her dress. Her bones rattled as she walked, + like the bones of a skeleton; and as we went I heard behind me the + tinkling of a little bell, a thin, sharp sound that rang through my head + like the notes of a harmonica. + </p> + <p> + "Suffer!" she cried, "suffer! So it must be!" + </p> + <p> + We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest streets of the + town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me enter in. + She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless voice like a + cracked bell: + </p> + <p> + "Defend me! defend me!" + </p> + <p> + Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door in the + darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, opened to + her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, ragged + tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded brass. + </p> + <p> + "Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!" said she. + </p> + <p> + I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall torch and + two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was fresh from the + graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised her fleshless arm + and encircled me with a band of iron set with spikes, and as she raised it + a cry went up all about us, the cry of millions of voices—the + shouting of the dead! + </p> + <p> + "It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever," she said. "Thou art my + son." + </p> + <p> + We were sitting before the hearth, the ashes lay cold upon it; the old + shrunken woman grasped my hand so tightly in hers that I could not choose + but stay. I looked fixedly at her, striving to read the story of her life + from the things among which she was crouching. Had she indeed any life in + her? It was a mystery. Yet I saw plainly that once she must have been + young and beautiful; fair, with all the charm of simplicity, perfect as + some Greek statue, with the brow of a vestal. + </p> + <p> + "Ah! ah!" I cried, "now I know thee! Miserable woman, why hast thou + prostituted thyself? In the age of thy passions, in the time of thy + prosperity, the grace and purity of thy youth were forgotten. Forgetful of + thy heroic devotion, thy pure life, thy abundant faith, thou didst resign + thy primitive power and thy spiritual supremacy for fleshly power. Thy + linen vestments, thy couch of moss, the cell in the rock, bright with rays + of the Light Divine, was forsaken; thou hast sparkled with diamonds, and + shone with the glitter of luxury and pride. Then, grown bold and insolent, + seizing and overturning all things in thy course like a courtesan eager + for pleasure in her days of splendor, thou hast steeped thyself in blood + like some queen stupefied by empery. Dost thou not remember to have been + dull and heavy at times, and the sudden marvelous lucidity of other + moments; as when Art emerges from an orgy? Oh! poet, painter, and singer, + lover of splendid ceremonies and protector of the arts, was thy friendship + for art perchance a caprice, that so thou shouldst sleep beneath + magnificent canopies? Was there not a day when, in thy fantastic pride, + though chastity and humility were prescribed to thee, thou hadst brought + all things beneath thy feet, and set thy foot on the necks of princes; + when earthly dominion, and wealth, and the mind of man bore thy yoke? + Exulting in the abasement of humanity, joying to witness the uttermost + lengths to which man's folly would go, thou hast bidden thy lovers walk on + all fours, and required of them their lands and wealth, nay, even their + wives if they were worth aught to thee. Thou hast devoured millions of men + without a cause; thou hast flung away lives like sand blown by the wind + from West to East. Thou hast come down from the heights of thought to sit + among the kings of men. Woman! instead of comforting men, thou hast + tormented and afflicted them! Knowing that thou couldst ask and have, thou + hast demanded—blood! A little flour surely should have contented + thee, accustomed as thou hast been to live on bread and to mingle water + with thy wine. Unlike all others in all things, formerly thou wouldst bid + thy lovers fast, and they obeyed. Why should thy fancies have led thee to + require things impossible? Why, like a courtesan spoiled by her lovers, + hast thou doted on follies, and left those undeceived who sought to + explain and justify all thy errors? Then came the days of thy later + passions, terrible like the love of a woman of forty years, with a fierce + cry thou hast sought to clasp the whole universe in one last embrace—and + thy universe recoiled from thee! + </p> + <p> + "Then old men succeeded to thy young lovers; decrepitude came to thy feet + and made thee hideous. Yet, even then, men with the eagle power of vision + said to thee in a glance, 'Thou shalt perish ingloriously, because thou + hast fallen away, because thou hast broken the vows of thy maidenhood. The + angel with peace written on her forehead, who should have shed light and + joy along her path, has been a Messalina, delighting in the circus, in + debauchery, and abuse of power. The days of thy virginity cannot return; + henceforward thou shalt be subject to a master. Thy hour has come; the + hand of death is upon thee. Thy heirs believe that thou art rich; they + will kill thee and find nothing. Yet try at least to fling away this + raiment no longer in fashion; be once more as in the days of old!—Nay, + thou art dead, and by thy own deed!' + </p> + <p> + "Is not this thy story?" so I ended. "Decrepit, toothless, shivering + crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance from + passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that beggar's + garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches?—for what + were they spent? Where are thy treasures?—what great deeds hast thou + done?" + </p> + <p> + At this demand, the shriveled woman raised her bony form, flung off her + rags, and grew tall and radiant, smiling as she broke forth from the dark + chrysalid sheath. Then like a butterfly, this diaphanous creature emerged, + fair and youthful, clothed in white linen, an Indian from creation issuing + her palms. Her golden hair rippled over her shoulders, her eyes glowed, a + bright mist clung about her, a ring of gold hovered above her head, she + shook the flaming blade of a sword towards the spaces of heaven. + </p> + <p> + "See and believe!" she cried. + </p> + <p> + And suddenly I saw, afar off, many thousands of cathedrals like the one + that I had just quitted; but these were covered with pictures and with + frescoes, and I heard them echo with entrancing music. Myriads of human + creatures flocked to these great buildings, swarming about them like ants + on an ant-heap. Some were eager to rescue books from oblivion or to copy + manuscripts, others were helping the poor, but nearly all were studying. + Up above this countless multitude rose giant statues that they had erected + in their midst, and by the gleams of a strange light from some luminary as + powerful as the sun, I read the inscriptions on the bases of the statues—Science, + History, Literature. + </p> + <p> + The light died out. Again I faced the young girl. Gradually she slipped + into the dreary sheath, into the ragged cere-cloths, and became an aged + woman again. Her familiar brought her a little dust, and she stirred it + into the ashes of her chafing-dish, for the weather was cold and stormy; + and then he lighted for her, whose palaces had been lit with thousands of + wax-tapers, a little cresset, that she might see to read her prayers + through the hours of night. + </p> + <p> + "There is no faith left in the earth!..." she said. + </p> + <p> + In such a perilous plight did I behold the fairest and the greatest, the + truest and most life-giving of all Powers. + </p> + <p> + "Wake up, sir, the doors are just about to be shut," said a hoarse voice. + I turned and beheld the beadle's ugly countenance; the man was shaking me + by the arm, and the cathedral lay wrapped in shadows as a man is wrapped + in his cloak. + </p> + <p> + "Belief," I said to myself, "is Life! I have just witnessed the funeral of + a monarchy, now we must defend the church." + </p> + <p> + PARIS, February 1831. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 1940-h.htm or 1940-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/4/1940/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christ in Flanders + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Ellen Marriage + +Release Date: October, 1999 [Etext #1940] +Posting Date: March 6, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +CHRIST IN FLANDERS + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Ellen Marriage + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore, a daughter of Flanders, of whom + these modern days may well be proud, I dedicate this quaint legend + of old Flanders. + + DE BALZAC. + + + + + +CHRIST IN FLANDERS + + +At a dimly remote period in the history of Brabant, communication +between the Island of Cadzand and the Flemish coast was kept up by a +boat which carried passengers from one shore to the other. Middelburg, +the chief town in the island, destined to become so famous in the annals +of Protestantism, at that time only numbered some two or three hundred +hearths; and the prosperous town of Ostend was an obscure haven, a +straggling village where pirates dwelt in security among the fishermen +and the few poor merchants who lived in the place. + +But though the town of Ostend consisted altogether of some score of +houses and three hundred cottages, huts or hovels built of the driftwood +of wrecked vessels, it nevertheless rejoiced in the possession of a +governor, a garrison, a forked gibbet, a convent, and a burgomaster, in +short, in all the institutions of an advanced civilization. + +Who reigned over Brabant and Flanders in those days? On this point +tradition is mute. Let us confess at once that this tale savors strongly +of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; elements which Flemish +narrators have infused into a story retailed so often to gatherings of +workers on winter evenings, that the details vary widely in poetic merit +and incongruity of detail. It has been told by every generation, handed +down by grandames at the fireside, narrated night and day, and the +chronicle has changed its complexion somewhat in every age. Like some +great building that has suffered many modifications of successive +generations of architects, some sombre weather-beaten pile, the delight +of a poet, the story would drive the commentator and the industrious +winnower of words, facts, and dates to despair. The narrator believes in +it, as all superstitious minds in Flanders likewise believe; and is not +a whit wiser nor more credulous than his audience. But as it would be +impossible to make a harmony of all the different renderings, here +are the outlines of the story; stripped, it may be, of its picturesque +quaintness, but with all its bold disregard of historical truth, and its +moral teachings approved by religion--a myth, the blossom of imaginative +fancy; an allegory that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To +each his own pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the +wheat. + + + +The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of Cadzand to +Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper loosed +the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people +embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this +being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely +possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the sunset, +or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of belated passengers +hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded the open country, +or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat was full. + +"What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried. + +Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to +the surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The +traveler seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant who had +laid himself down on the ground to wait till the boat should start, and +had slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. Was he a thief? or +some one belonging to the custom-house or the police? + +As soon as the man appeared on the jetty to which the boat was moored, +seven persons who were standing in the stern of the shallop hastened to +sit down on the benches, so as to leave no room for the newcomer. It was +the swift and instinctive working of the aristocratic spirit, an impulse +of exclusiveness that comes from the rich man's heart. Four of the seven +personages belonged to the most aristocratic families in Flanders. First +among them was a young knight with two beautiful greyhounds; his long +hair flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; he clanked his gilded spurs, +curled the ends of his moustache from time to time with a swaggering +grace, and looked round disdainfully on the rest of the crew. A +high-born damsel, with a falcon on her wrist, only spoke with her mother +or with a churchman of high rank, who was evidently a relation. All +these persons made a great deal of noise, and talked among themselves as +though there were no one else in the boat; yet close beside them sat +a man of great importance in the district, a stout burgher of Bruges, +wrapped about with a vast cloak. His servant, armed to the teeth, had +set down a couple of bags filled with gold at his side. Next to the +burgher came a man of learning, a doctor of the University of Louvain, +who was traveling with his clerk. This little group of folk, who looked +contemptuously at each other, was separated from the passengers in the +forward part of the boat by the bench of rowers. + +The belated traveler glanced about him as he stepped on board, saw that +there was no room for him in the stern, and went to the bows in quest +of a seat. They were all poor people there. At first sight of the +bareheaded man in the brown camlet coat and trunk-hose, and plain stiff +linen collar, they noticed that he wore no ornaments, carried no cap nor +bonnet in his hand, and had neither sword nor purse at his girdle, and +one and all took him for a burgomaster sure of his authority, a worthy +and kindly burgomaster like so many a Fleming of old times, whose homely +features and characters have been immortalized by Flemish painters. +The poorer passengers, therefore, received him with demonstrations of +respect that provoked scornful tittering at the other end of the boat. +An old soldier, inured to toil and hardship, gave up his place on the +bench to the newcomer, and seated himself on the edge of the vessel, +keeping his balance by planting his feet against one of those traverse +beams, like the backbone of a fish, that hold the planks of a boat +together. A young mother, who bore her baby in her arms, and seemed to +belong to the working class in Ostend, moved aside to make room for the +stranger. There was neither servility nor scorn in her manner of doing +this; it was a simple sign of the goodwill by which the poor, who know +by long experience the value of a service and the warmth that fellowship +brings, give expression to the open-heartedness and the natural impulses +of their souls; so artlessly do they reveal their good qualities and +their defects. The stranger thanked her by a gesture full of gracious +dignity, and took his place between the young mother and the old +soldier. Immediately behind him sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten +years of age. A beggar woman, old, wrinkled, and clad in rags, was +crouching, with her almost empty wallet, on a great coil of rope that +lay in the prow. One of the rowers, an old sailor, who had known her in +the days of her beauty and prosperity, had let her come in "for the love +of God," in the beautiful phrase that the common people use. + +"Thank you kindly, Thomas," the old woman had said. "I will say two +_Paters_ and two _Aves_ for you in my prayers to-night." + +The skipper blew his horn for the last time, looked along the silent +shore, flung off the chain, ran along the side of the boat, and took up +his position at the helm. He looked at the sky, and as soon as they were +out in the open sea, he shouted to the men: "Pull away, pull with all +your might! The sea is smiling at a squall, the witch! I can feel the +swell by the way the rudder works, and the storm in my wounds." + +The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the sound of the +sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept time together, +the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, but quite unlike +the previous manner of rowing; it was as if a cantering horse had broken +into a gallop. The gay company seated in the stern amused themselves by +watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, and sparkling eyes of the +rowers, the play of the tense muscles, the physical and mental forces +that were being exerted to bring them for a trifling toll across the +channel. So far from pitying the rowers' distress, they pointed out the +men's faces to each other, and laughed at the grotesque expressions on +the faces of the crew who were straining every muscle; but in the fore +part of the boat the soldier, the peasant, and the old beggar woman +watched the sailors with the sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live +by the sweat of their brow and know the rough struggle, the strenuous +excitement of effort. These folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in +the open air, had all seen the warnings of danger in the sky, and their +faces were grave. The young mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn +of the Church for a lullaby. + +"If we ever get there at all," the soldier remarked to the peasant, "it +will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us alive." + +"Ah! He is the Master," said the old woman, "but I think it will be +His good pleasure to take us to Himself. Just look at that light down +there..." and she nodded her head as she spoke towards the sunset. + +Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed +brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a +smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from +the depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he only means +mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away. Perhaps painting, +like poetry, could not prolong the existence of the picture presented by +sea and sky at that moment beyond the time of its actual duration. Art +demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists usually seek out Nature's +most striking effects, doubtless because they despair of rendering the +great and glorious charm of her daily moods; yet the human soul is often +stirred as deeply by her calm as by her emotion, and by silence as by +storm. + +For a moment no one spoke on board the boat. Every one watched that sea +and sky, either with some presentiment of danger, or because they felt +the influence of the religious melancholy that takes possession of +nearly all of us at the close of the day, the hour of prayer, when all +nature is hushed save for the voices of the bells. The sea gleamed pale +and wan, but its hues changed, and the surface took all the colors of +steel. The sky was almost overspread with livid gray, but down in the +west there were long narrow bars like streaks of blood; while lines of +bright light in the eastern sky, sharp and clean as if drawn by the tip +of a brush, were separated by folds of cloud, like the wrinkles on an +old man's brow. The whole scene made a background of ashen grays and +half-tints, in strong contrast to the bale-fires of the sunset. If +written language might borrow of spoken language some of the bold +figures of speech invented by the people, it might be said with the +soldier that "the weather has been routed," or, as the peasant would +say, "the sky glowered like an executioner." Suddenly a wind arose from +the quarter of the sunset, and the skipper, who never took his eyes off +the sea, saw the swell on the horizon line, and cried: + +"Stop rowing!" + +The sailors stopped immediately, and let their oars lie on the water. + +"The skipper is right," said Thomas coolly. A great wave caught up the +boat, carried it high on its crest, only to plunge it, as it were, +into the trough of the sea that seemed to yawn for them. At this mighty +upheaval, this sudden outbreak of the wrath of the sea, the company in +the stern turned pale, and sent up a terrible cry. + +"We are lost!" + +"Oh, not yet!" said the skipper calmly. + +As he spoke, the clouds immediately above their heads were torn asunder +by the vehemence of the wind. The gray mass was rent and scattered east +and west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain light from the rift in +the sky fell full upon the boat, and the travelers beheld each other's +faces. All of them, the noble and the wealthy, the sailors and the poor +passengers alike, were amazed for a moment by the appearance of the last +comer. His golden hair, parted upon his calm, serene forehead, fell in +thick curls about his shoulders; and his face, sublime in its sweetness +and radiant with divine love, stood out against the surrounding gloom. +He had no contempt for death; he knew that he should not die. But if at +the first the company in the stern forgot for a moment the implacable +fury of the storm that threatened their lives, selfishness and their +habits of life soon prevailed again. + +"How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we are all +running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle," said +the doctor. + +He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when the storm +unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of the +heavens, the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke in. + +"Oh! my poor child! my poor child!... Who will save my baby?" the mother +cried in a heart-rending voice. + +"You yourself will save it," the stranger said. + +The thrilling tones of that voice went to the young mother's heart and +brought hope with them; she heard the gracious words through all the +whistling of the wind and the shrieks of the passengers. + +"Holy Virgin of Good Help, who art at Antwerp, I promise thee a thousand +pounds of wax and a statue, if thou wilt rescue me from this!" cried the +burgher, kneeling upon his bags of gold. + +"The Virgin is no more at Antwerp than she is here," was the doctor's +comment on this appeal. + +"She is in heaven," said a voice that seemed to come from the sea. + +"Who said that?" + +"'Tis the devil!" exclaimed the servant. "He is scoffing at the Virgin +of Antwerp." + +"Let us have no more of your Holy Virgin at present," the skipper cried +to the passengers. "Put your hands to the scoops and bail the water out +of the boat.--And the rest of you," he went on, addressing the sailors, +"pull with all your might! Now is the time; in the name of the devil who +is leaving you in this world, be your own Providence! Every one knows +that the channel is fearfully dangerous; I have been to and fro across +it these thirty years. Am I facing a storm for the first time to-night?" + +He stood at the helm, and looked, as before, at his boat and at the sea +and sky in turn. + +"The skipper always laughs at everything," muttered Thomas. + +"Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched creatures?" asked +the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier. + +"No, no, noble maiden.... Listen!" and he caught her by the waist and +said in her ear, "I can swim, say nothing about it! I will hold you by +your fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I can only save +you." + +The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her knees entreating +absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In the beautiful +eyes the knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, and spoke in a +smothered voice. + +"Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to take your +mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her happiness--in another +world," he added, and his voice dropped still lower. "And for ours in +this," he thought within himself. + +The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the barony of +Gavres. + +The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love that spoke +through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who haunted churches +in search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready money. The Bishop +bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be calm; it was all +that he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of the delicate feast +with which she would welcome him; perhaps at that very moment she was +bathing, perfuming herself, robing herself in velvet, fastening her +necklace and her jeweled clasps; and the perverse Bishop, so far from +thinking of the power of Holy Church, of his duty to comfort Christians +and exhort them to trust in God, mingled worldly regrets and lover's +sighs with the holy words of the breviary. By the dim light that shone +on the pale faces of the company, it was possible to see their differing +expressions as the boat was lifted high in air by a wave, to be cast +back into the dark depths; the shallop quivered like a fragile leaf, the +plaything of the north wind in the autumn; the hull creaked, it seemed +ready to go to pieces. Fearful shrieks went up, followed by an awful +silence. + +There was a strange difference between the behavior of the folk in the +bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of the boat. +The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast every time +that a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; but she clung +to the hope that the stranger's words had set in her heart. Each time +that the eyes turned to his face she drew fresh faith at the sight, the +strong faith of a helpless woman, a mother's faith. She lived by that +divine promise, the loving words from his lips; the simple creature +waited trustingly for them to be fulfilled, and scarcely feared the +danger any longer. + +The soldier, holding fast to the vessel's side, never took his eyes off +the strange visitor. He copied on his own rough and swarthy features the +imperturbability of the other's face, applying to this task the whole +strength of a will and intelligence but little corrupted in the course +of a life of mechanical and passive obedience. So emulous was he of a +calm and tranquil courage greater than his own, that at last, perhaps +unconsciously, something of that mysterious nature passed into his +own soul. His admiration became an instinctive zeal for this man, a +boundless love for and belief in him, such a love as soldiers feel for +their leader when he has the power of swaying other men, when the halo +of victories surrounds him, and the magical fascination of genius is +felt in all that he does. The poor outcast was murmuring to herself: + +"Ah! miserable wretch that I am! Have I not suffered enough to expiate +the sins of my youth? Ah! wretched woman, why did you lead the gay life +of a frivolous Frenchwoman? why did you devour the goods of God with +churchmen, the substance of the poor with extortioners and fleecers of +the poor? Oh! I have sinned indeed!--Oh my God! my God! let me finish my +time in hell here in this world of misery." + +And again she cried, "Holy Virgin, Mother of God, have pity upon me!" + +"Be comforted, mother. God is not a Lombard usurer. I may have killed +people good and bad at random in my time, but I am not afraid of the +resurrection." + +"Ah! master Lancepesade, how happy those fair ladies are, to be so near +to a bishop, a holy man! They will get absolution for their sins," said +the old woman. "Oh! if I could only hear a priest say to me, 'Thy sins +are forgiven!' I should believe it then." + +The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face made her +tremble. + +"Have faith," he said, "and you will be saved." + +"May God reward you, good sir," she answered. "If what you say is true, +I will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto to pray to her +for you and for me." + +The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and submissive +to the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in instinctively +with the ways of Nature like cattle. At the one end of the boat stood +riches, pride, learning, debauchery, and crime--human society, such as +art and thought and education and worldly interests and laws have made +it; and at this end there was terror and wailing, innumerable different +impulses all repressed by hideous doubts--at this end, and at this only, +the agony of fear. + +Above all these human lives stood a strong man, the skipper; no doubts +assailed him, the chief, the king, the fatalist among them. He was +trusting in himself rather than in Providence, crying, "Bail away!" +instead of "Holy Virgin," defying the storm, in fact, and struggling +with the sea like a wrestler. + +But the helpless poor at the other end of the wherry! The mother rocking +on her bosom the little one who smiled at the storm; the woman once +so frivolous and gay, and now tormented with bitter remorse; the old +soldier covered with scars, a mutilated life the sole reward of his +unflagging loyalty and faithfulness. This veteran could scarcely count +on the morsel of bread soaked in tears to keep the life in him, yet he +was always ready to laugh, and went his way merrily, happy when he could +drown his glory in the depths of a pot of beer, or could tell tales +of the wars to the children who admired him, leaving his future with a +light heart in the hands of God. Lastly, there were the two peasants, +used to hardships and toil, labor incarnate, the labor by which the +world lives. These simple folk were indifferent to thought and its +treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their faith was but +so much the more vigorous because they had never disputed about it nor +analyzed it. Such a nature is a virgin soil, conscience has not been +tampered with, feeling is deep and strong; repentance, trouble, love, +and work have developed, purified, concentrated, and increased their +force of will a hundred times, the will--the one thing in man that +resembles what learned doctors call the Soul. + +The boat, guided by the well-nigh miraculous skill of the steersman, +came almost within sight of Ostend, when, not fifty paces from the +shore, she was suddenly struck by a heavy sea and capsized. The stranger +with the light about his head spoke to this little world of drowning +creatures: + +"Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!" + +He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. The young +mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at his side +across the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his homely fashion, +"Ah! _nom d'un pipe_! I would follow _you_ to the devil;" and without +seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out sinner, +believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the stranger. + +The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on the sea, +why should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and hastened after +the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he sank +in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third time he also +walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the wreck +of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but he tried +to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that dragged him down +to the bottom. The learned man had scoffed at the charlatan and at the +fools who listened to him; and when he heard the mysterious stranger +propose to the passengers that they should walk on the waves, he began +to laugh, and the ocean swallowed him. The girl was dragged down into +the depths by her lover. The Bishop and the older lady went to the +bottom, heavily laden with sins, it may be, but still more heavily laden +with incredulity and confidence in idols, weighted down by devotion, +into which alms-deeds and true religion entered but little. + +The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry above the +surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; great +billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft a way +for them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the spray a +dim speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman's hut on the +shore, and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the light, seemed +to hear the voice of his fellow crying, "Courage!" through all the +roaring of the surf; yet no one had spoken a word--so absorbed was each +by his own peril. In this way they reached the shore. + +When they were all seated near the fisherman's fire, they looked round +in vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed up the +steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage stood; he was +clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can cling when +death stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued the almost +exhausted seaman; then he said, as he held out a succoring hand above +the man's head: + +"Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example would be too +bad." + +He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to the fisherman's +door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; then, when the door +of the humble refuge opened, the Saviour disappeared. + +The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where for long +afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ could be seen +in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French invasion, the monks +carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to the Saviour's +last visit to earth. + + + +There at the convent I found myself shortly after the Revolution of +1830. I was weary of life. If you had asked me the reason of my despair, +I should have found it almost impossible to give it, so languid had +grown the soul that was melted within me. The west wind had slackened +the springs of my intelligence. A cold gray light poured down from the +heavens, and the murky clouds that passed overhead gave a boding look to +the land; all these things, together with the immensity of the sea, said +to me, "Die to-day or die to-morrow, still must we not die?" And then--I +wandered on, musing on the doubtful future, on my blighted hopes. Gnawed +by these gloomy thoughts, I turned mechanically into the convent church, +with the gray towers that loomed like ghosts though the sea mists. +I looked round with no kindling of the imagination at the forest of +columns, at the slender arches set aloft upon the leafy capitals, a +delicate labyrinth of sculpture. I walked with careless eyes along the +side aisles that opened out before me like vast portals, ever turning +upon their hinges. It was scarcely possible to see, by the dim light of +the autumn day, the sculptured groinings of the roof, the delicate and +clean-cut lines of the mouldings of the graceful pointed arches. The +organ pipes were mute. There was no sound save the noise of my own +footsteps to awaken the mournful echoes lurking in the dark chapels. +I sat down at the base of one of the four pillars that supported the +tower, near the choir. Thence I could see the whole of the building. I +gazed, and no ideas connected with it arose in my mind. I saw without +seeing the mighty maze of pillars, the great rose windows that hung like +a network suspended as by a miracle in air above the vast doorways. I +saw the doors at the end of the side aisles, the aerial galleries, the +stained glass windows framed in archways, divided by slender columns, +fretted into flower forms and trefoil by fine filigree work of carved +stone. A dome of glass at the end of the choir sparkled as if it had +been built of precious stones set cunningly. In contrast to the roof +with its alternating spaces of whiteness and color, the two aisles lay +to right and left in shadow so deep that the faint gray outlines of +their hundred shafts were scarcely visible in the gloom. I gazed at the +marvelous arcades, the scroll-work, the garlands, the curving lines, and +arabesques interwoven and interlaced, and strangely lighted, until by +sheer dint of gazing my perceptions became confused, and I stood upon +the borderland between illusion and reality, taken in the snare set for +the eyes, and almost light-headed by reason of the multitudinous changes +of the shapes about me. + +Imperceptibly a mist gathered about the carven stonework, and I only +beheld it through a haze of fine golden dust, like the motes that hover +in the bars of sunlight slanting through the air of a chamber. Suddenly +the stone lacework of the rose windows gleamed through this vapor +that had made all forms so shadowy. Every moulding, the edges of every +carving, the least detail of the sculpture was dipped in silver. The +sunlight kindled fires in the stained windows, their rich colors sent +out glowing sparks of light. The shafts began to tremble, the capitals +were gently shaken. A light shudder as of delight ran through the +building, the stones were loosened in their setting, the wall-spaces +swayed with graceful caution. Here and there a ponderous pier moved as +solemnly as a dowager when she condescends to complete a quadrille at +the close of a ball. A few slender and graceful columns, their heads +adorned with wreaths of trefoil, began to laugh and dance here and +there. Some of the pointed arches dashed at the tall lancet windows, +who, like ladies of the Middle Ages, wore the armorial bearings of their +houses emblazoned on their golden robes. The dance of the mitred arcades +with the slender windows became like a fray at a tourney. + +In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without leaving +its place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine music mingling +with the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, accompanied by the deep +notes of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers rocked and swayed on +their square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to me the most natural +thing in the world; and I, who had seen Charles X. hurled from his +throne, was no longer amazed by anything. Nay, I myself was gently +swaying with a see-saw movement that influenced my nerves pleasurably in +a manner of which it is impossible to give any idea. Yet in the midst of +this heated riot, the cathedral choir felt cold as if it were a winter +day, and I became aware of a multitude of women, robed in white, silent, +and impassive, sitting there. The sweet incense smoke that arose from +the censers was grateful to my soul. The tall wax candles flickered. The +lectern, gay as a chanter undone by the treachery of wine, was skipping +about like a peal of Chinese bells. + +Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast that +everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on the +crucifix above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice and +benevolence that frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and marveled +at the bluish vapor that slid across the pillars, lending to them an +indescribable charm. Then some graceful women's forms began to stir on +the friezes. The cherubs who upheld the heavy columns shook out their +wings. I felt myself uplifted by some divine power that steeped me in +infinite joy, in a sweet and languid rapture. I would have given my +life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a little, but +suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears: + +"Awake and follow me!" + +A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through +every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow, +almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old +woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her +throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I could +scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a stare +upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the aisles, leaving a +trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from her dress. Her +bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a skeleton; and as we +went I heard behind me the tinkling of a little bell, a thin, sharp +sound that rang through my head like the notes of a harmonica. + +"Suffer!" she cried, "suffer! So it must be!" + +We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest streets of the +town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me enter +in. She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless voice +like a cracked bell: + +"Defend me! defend me!" + +Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door in the +darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, opened +to her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, ragged +tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded brass. + +"Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!" said she. + +I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall torch and +two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was fresh from the +graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised her fleshless +arm and encircled me with a band of iron set with spikes, and as she +raised it a cry went up all about us, the cry of millions of voices--the +shouting of the dead! + +"It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever," she said. "Thou art my +son." + +We were sitting before the hearth, the ashes lay cold upon it; the +old shrunken woman grasped my hand so tightly in hers that I could not +choose but stay. I looked fixedly at her, striving to read the story of +her life from the things among which she was crouching. Had she indeed +any life in her? It was a mystery. Yet I saw plainly that once she must +have been young and beautiful; fair, with all the charm of simplicity, +perfect as some Greek statue, with the brow of a vestal. + +"Ah! ah!" I cried, "now I know thee! Miserable woman, why hast thou +prostituted thyself? In the age of thy passions, in the time of thy +prosperity, the grace and purity of thy youth were forgotten. Forgetful +of thy heroic devotion, thy pure life, thy abundant faith, thou didst +resign thy primitive power and thy spiritual supremacy for fleshly +power. Thy linen vestments, thy couch of moss, the cell in the rock, +bright with rays of the Light Divine, was forsaken; thou hast sparkled +with diamonds, and shone with the glitter of luxury and pride. Then, +grown bold and insolent, seizing and overturning all things in thy +course like a courtesan eager for pleasure in her days of splendor, thou +hast steeped thyself in blood like some queen stupefied by empery. Dost +thou not remember to have been dull and heavy at times, and the sudden +marvelous lucidity of other moments; as when Art emerges from an +orgy? Oh! poet, painter, and singer, lover of splendid ceremonies and +protector of the arts, was thy friendship for art perchance a caprice, +that so thou shouldst sleep beneath magnificent canopies? Was there not +a day when, in thy fantastic pride, though chastity and humility were +prescribed to thee, thou hadst brought all things beneath thy feet, and +set thy foot on the necks of princes; when earthly dominion, and +wealth, and the mind of man bore thy yoke? Exulting in the abasement of +humanity, joying to witness the uttermost lengths to which man's folly +would go, thou hast bidden thy lovers walk on all fours, and required +of them their lands and wealth, nay, even their wives if they were worth +aught to thee. Thou hast devoured millions of men without a cause; thou +hast flung away lives like sand blown by the wind from West to East. +Thou hast come down from the heights of thought to sit among the kings +of men. Woman! instead of comforting men, thou hast tormented and +afflicted them! Knowing that thou couldst ask and have, thou hast +demanded--blood! A little flour surely should have contented thee, +accustomed as thou hast been to live on bread and to mingle water with +thy wine. Unlike all others in all things, formerly thou wouldst bid thy +lovers fast, and they obeyed. Why should thy fancies have led thee to +require things impossible? Why, like a courtesan spoiled by her lovers, +hast thou doted on follies, and left those undeceived who sought to +explain and justify all thy errors? Then came the days of thy later +passions, terrible like the love of a woman of forty years, with a +fierce cry thou hast sought to clasp the whole universe in one last +embrace--and thy universe recoiled from thee! + +"Then old men succeeded to thy young lovers; decrepitude came to thy +feet and made thee hideous. Yet, even then, men with the eagle power +of vision said to thee in a glance, 'Thou shalt perish ingloriously, +because thou hast fallen away, because thou hast broken the vows of thy +maidenhood. The angel with peace written on her forehead, who should +have shed light and joy along her path, has been a Messalina, delighting +in the circus, in debauchery, and abuse of power. The days of thy +virginity cannot return; henceforward thou shalt be subject to a master. +Thy hour has come; the hand of death is upon thee. Thy heirs believe +that thou art rich; they will kill thee and find nothing. Yet try at +least to fling away this raiment no longer in fashion; be once more as +in the days of old!--Nay, thou art dead, and by thy own deed!' + +"Is not this thy story?" so I ended. "Decrepit, toothless, shivering +crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance from +passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that beggar's +garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches?--for what were +they spent? Where are thy treasures?--what great deeds hast thou done?" + +At this demand, the shriveled woman raised her bony form, flung off her +rags, and grew tall and radiant, smiling as she broke forth from the +dark chrysalid sheath. Then like a butterfly, this diaphanous creature +emerged, fair and youthful, clothed in white linen, an Indian from +creation issuing her palms. Her golden hair rippled over her shoulders, +her eyes glowed, a bright mist clung about her, a ring of gold hovered +above her head, she shook the flaming blade of a sword towards the +spaces of heaven. + +"See and believe!" she cried. + +And suddenly I saw, afar off, many thousands of cathedrals like the one +that I had just quitted; but these were covered with pictures and with +frescoes, and I heard them echo with entrancing music. Myriads of human +creatures flocked to these great buildings, swarming about them like +ants on an ant-heap. Some were eager to rescue books from oblivion or +to copy manuscripts, others were helping the poor, but nearly all were +studying. Up above this countless multitude rose giant statues that they +had erected in their midst, and by the gleams of a strange light from +some luminary as powerful as the sun, I read the inscriptions on the +bases of the statues--Science, History, Literature. + +The light died out. Again I faced the young girl. Gradually she slipped +into the dreary sheath, into the ragged cere-cloths, and became an aged +woman again. Her familiar brought her a little dust, and she stirred it +into the ashes of her chafing-dish, for the weather was cold and stormy; +and then he lighted for her, whose palaces had been lit with thousands +of wax-tapers, a little cresset, that she might see to read her prayers +through the hours of night. + +"There is no faith left in the earth!..." she said. + +In such a perilous plight did I behold the fairest and the greatest, the +truest and most life-giving of all Powers. + + + +"Wake up, sir, the doors are just about to be shut," said a hoarse +voice. I turned and beheld the beadle's ugly countenance; the man was +shaking me by the arm, and the cathedral lay wrapped in shadows as a man +is wrapped in his cloak. + +"Belief," I said to myself, "is Life! I have just witnessed the funeral +of a monarchy, now we must defend the church." + + +PARIS, February 1831. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 1940.txt or 1940.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/4/1940/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26dddea --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1940 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1940) diff --git a/old/20040628-1940-h.zip b/old/20040628-1940-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0fba36 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20040628-1940-h.zip diff --git a/old/20040628-1940.txt b/old/20040628-1940.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6855554 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20040628-1940.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1120 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: Christ in Flanders + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: June 28, 2004 [EBook #1940] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers + + + + + CHRIST IN FLANDERS + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + Translated by Ellen Marriage + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore, a daughter of Flanders, of whom + these modern days may well be proud, I dedicate this quaint legend + of old Flanders. + +DE BALZAC. + + + + + CHRIST IN FLANDERS + + + +At a dimly remote period in the history of Brabant, communication +between the Island of Cadzand and the Flemish coast was kept up by a +boat which carried passengers from one shore to the other. Middelburg, +the chief town in the island, destined to become so famous in the +annals of Protestantism, at that time only numbered some two or three +hundred hearths; and the prosperous town of Ostend was an obscure +haven, a straggling village where pirates dwelt in security among the +fishermen and the few poor merchants who lived in the place. + +But though the town of Ostend consisted altogether of some score of +houses and three hundred cottages, huts or hovels built of the +driftwood of wrecked vessels, it nevertheless rejoiced in the +possession of a governor, a garrison, a forked gibbet, a convent, and +a burgomaster, in short, in all the institutions of an advanced +civilization. + +Who reigned over Brabant and Flanders in those days? On this point +tradition is mute. Let us confess at once that this tale savors +strongly of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; elements +which Flemish narrators have infused into a story retailed so often to +gatherings of workers on winter evenings, that the details vary widely +in poetic merit and incongruity of detail. It has been told by every +generation, handed down by grandames at the fireside, narrated night +and day, and the chronicle has changed its complexion somewhat in +every age. Like some great building that has suffered many +modifications of successive generations of architects, some sombre +weather-beaten pile, the delight of a poet, the story would drive the +commentator and the industrious winnower of words, facts, and dates to +despair. The narrator believes in it, as all superstitious minds in +Flanders likewise believe; and is not a whit wiser nor more credulous +than his audience. But as it would be impossible to make a harmony of +all the different renderings, here are the outlines of the story; +stripped, it may be, of its picturesque quaintness, but with all its +bold disregard of historical truth, and its moral teachings approved +by religion--a myth, the blossom of imaginative fancy; an allegory +that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To each his own +pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the wheat. + + + +The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of Cadzand to +Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper loosed +the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people +embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this +being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely +possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the +sunset, or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of belated +passengers hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded the +open country, or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat was +full. + +"What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried. + +Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to the +surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The +traveler seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant who +had laid himself down on the ground to wait till the boat should +start, and had slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. Was he a +thief? or some one belonging to the custom-house or the police? + +As soon as the man appeared on the jetty to which the boat was moored, +seven persons who were standing in the stern of the shallop hastened +to sit down on the benches, so as to leave no room for the newcomer. +It was the swift and instinctive working of the aristocratic spirit, +an impulse of exclusiveness that comes from the rich man's heart. Four +of the seven personages belonged to the most aristocratic families in +Flanders. First among them was a young knight with two beautiful +greyhounds; his long hair flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; he +clanked his gilded spurs, curled the ends of his moustache from time +to time with a swaggering grace, and looked round disdainfully on the +rest of the crew. A high-born damsel, with a falcon on her wrist, only +spoke with her mother or with a churchman of high rank, who was +evidently a relation. All these persons made a great deal of noise, +and talked among themselves as though there were no one else in the +boat; yet close beside them sat a man of great importance in the +district, a stout burgher of Bruges, wrapped about with a vast cloak. +His servant, armed to the teeth, had set down a couple of bags filled +with gold at his side. Next to the burgher came a man of learning, a +doctor of the University of Louvain, who was traveling with his clerk. +This little group of folk, who looked contemptuously at each other, +was separated from the passengers in the forward part of the boat by +the bench of rowers. + +The belated traveler glanced about him as he stepped on board, saw +that there was no room for him in the stern, and went to the bows in +quest of a seat. They were all poor people there. At first sight of +the bareheaded man in the brown camlet coat and trunk-hose, and plain +stiff linen collar, they noticed that he wore no ornaments, carried no +cap nor bonnet in his hand, and had neither sword nor purse at his +girdle, and one and all took him for a burgomaster sure of his +authority, a worthy and kindly burgomaster like so many a Fleming of +old times, whose homely features and characters have been immortalized +by Flemish painters. The poorer passengers, therefore, received him +with demonstrations of respect that provoked scornful tittering at the +other end of the boat. An old soldier, inured to toil and hardship, +gave up his place on the bench to the newcomer, and seated himself on +the edge of the vessel, keeping his balance by planting his feet +against one of those traverse beams, like the backbone of a fish, that +hold the planks of a boat together. A young mother, who bore her baby +in her arms, and seemed to belong to the working class in Ostend, +moved aside to make room for the stranger. There was neither servility +nor scorn in her manner of doing this; it was a simple sign of the +goodwill by which the poor, who know by long experience the value of a +service and the warmth that fellowship brings, give expression to the +open-heartedness and the natural impulses of their souls; so artlessly +do they reveal their good qualities and their defects. The stranger +thanked her by a gesture full of gracious dignity, and took his place +between the young mother and the old soldier. Immediately behind him +sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten years of age. A beggar woman, +old, wrinkled, and clad in rags, was crouching, with her almost empty +wallet, on a great coil of rope that lay in the prow. One of the +rowers, an old sailor, who had known her in the days of her beauty and +prosperity, had let her come in "for the love of God," in the +beautiful phrase that the common people use. + +"Thank you kindly, Thomas," the old woman had said. "I will say two +/Paters/ and two /Aves/ for you in my prayers to-night." + +The skipper blew his horn for the last time, looked along the silent +shore, flung off the chain, ran along the side of the boat, and took +up his position at the helm. He looked at the sky, and as soon as they +were out in the open sea, he shouted to the men: "Pull away, pull with +all your might! The sea is smiling at a squall, the witch! I can feel +the swell by the way the rudder works, and the storm in my wounds." + +The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the sound of +the sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept time +together, the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, but +quite unlike the previous manner of rowing; it was as if a cantering +horse had broken into a gallop. The gay company seated in the stern +amused themselves by watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, and +sparkling eyes of the rowers, the play of the tense muscles, the +physical and mental forces that were being exerted to bring them for a +trifling toll across the channel. So far from pitying the rowers' +distress, they pointed out the men's faces to each other, and laughed +at the grotesque expressions on the faces of the crew who were +straining every muscle; but in the fore part of the boat the soldier, +the peasant, and the old beggar woman watched the sailors with the +sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live by the sweat of their brow +and know the rough struggle, the strenuous excitement of effort. These +folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in the open air, had all seen +the warnings of danger in the sky, and their faces were grave. The +young mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn of the Church for a +lullaby. + +"If we ever get there at all," the soldier remarked to the peasant, +"it will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us alive." + +"Ah! He is the Master," said the old woman, "but I think it will be +His good pleasure to take us to Himself. Just look at that light down +there . . ." and she nodded her head as she spoke towards the sunset. + +Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed +brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a +smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from +the depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he only +means mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away. Perhaps +painting, like poetry, could not prolong the existence of the picture +presented by sea and sky at that moment beyond the time of its actual +duration. Art demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists usually +seek out Nature's most striking effects, doubtless because they +despair of rendering the great and glorious charm of her daily moods; +yet the human soul is often stirred as deeply by her calm as by her +emotion, and by silence as by storm. + +For a moment no one spoke on board the boat. Every one watched that +sea and sky, either with some presentiment of danger, or because they +felt the influence of the religious melancholy that takes possession +of nearly all of us at the close of the day, the hour of prayer, when +all nature is hushed save for the voices of the bells. The sea gleamed +pale and wan, but its hues changed, and the surface took all the +colors of steel. The sky was almost overspread with livid gray, but +down in the west there were long narrow bars like streaks of blood; +while lines of bright light in the eastern sky, sharp and clean as if +drawn by the tip of a brush, were separated by folds of cloud, like +the wrinkles on an old man's brow. The whole scene made a background +of ashen grays and half-tints, in strong contrast to the bale-fires of +the sunset. If written language might borrow of spoken language some +of the bold figures of speech invented by the people, it might be said +with the soldier that "the weather has been routed," or, as the +peasant would say, "the sky glowered like an executioner." Suddenly a +wind arose from the quarter of the sunset, and the skipper, who never +took his eyes off the sea, saw the swell on the horizon line, and +cried: + +"Stop rowing!" + +The sailors stopped immediately, and let their oars lie on the water. + +"The skipper is right," said Thomas coolly. A great wave caught up the +boat, carried it high on its crest, only to plunge it, as it were, +into the trough of the sea that seemed to yawn for them. At this +mighty upheaval, this sudden outbreak of the wrath of the sea, the +company in the stern turned pale, and sent up a terrible cry. + +"We are lost!" + +"Oh, not yet!" said the skipper calmly. + +As he spoke, the clouds immediately above their heads were torn +asunder by the vehemence of the wind. The gray mass was rent and +scattered east and west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain light from +the rift in the sky fell full upon the boat, and the travelers beheld +each other's faces. All of them, the noble and the wealthy, the +sailors and the poor passengers alike, were amazed for a moment by the +appearance of the last comer. His golden hair, parted upon his calm, +serene forehead, fell in thick curls about his shoulders; and his +face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant with divine love, stood out +against the surrounding gloom. He had no contempt for death; he knew +that he should not die. But if at the first the company in the stern +forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the storm that threatened +their lives, selfishness and their habits of life soon prevailed +again. + +"How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we are all +running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle," said +the doctor. + +He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when the storm +unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of the +heavens, the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke in. + +"Oh! my poor child! my poor child! . . . Who will save my baby?" the +mother cried in a heart-rending voice. + +"You yourself will save it," the stranger said. + +The thrilling tones of that voice went to the young mother's heart and +brought hope with them; she heard the gracious words through all the +whistling of the wind and the shrieks of the passengers. + +"Holy Virgin of Good Help, who art at Antwerp, I promise thee a +thousand pounds of wax and a statue, if thou wilt rescue me from +this!" cried the burgher, kneeling upon his bags of gold. + +"The Virgin is no more at Antwerp than she is here," was the doctor's +comment on this appeal. + +"She is in heaven," said a voice that seemed to come from the sea. + +"Who said that?" + +"'Tis the devil!" exclaimed the servant. "He is scoffing at the Virgin +of Antwerp." + +"Let us have no more of your Holy Virgin at present," the skipper +cried to the passengers. "Put your hands to the scoops and bail the +water out of the boat.--And the rest of you," he went on, addressing +the sailors, "pull with all your might! Now is the time; in the name +of the devil who is leaving you in this world, be your own Providence! +Every one knows that the channel is fearfully dangerous; I have been +to and fro across it these thirty years. Am I facing a storm for the +first time to-night?" + +He stood at the helm, and looked, as before, at his boat and at the +sea and sky in turn. + +"The skipper always laughs at everything," muttered Thomas. + +"Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched creatures?" +asked the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier. + +"No, no, noble maiden. . . . Listen!" and he caught her by the waist +and said in her ear, "I can swim, say nothing about it! I will hold +you by your fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I can +only save you." + +The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her knees +entreating absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In the +beautiful eyes the knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, and +spoke in a smothered voice. + +"Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to take +your mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her happiness--in +another world," he added, and his voice dropped still lower. "And for +ours in this," he thought within himself. + +The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the barony of +Gavres. + +The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love that +spoke through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who haunted +churches in search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready money. +The Bishop bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be calm; +it was all that he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of the +delicate feast with which she would welcome him; perhaps at that very +moment she was bathing, perfuming herself, robing herself in velvet, +fastening her necklace and her jeweled clasps; and the perverse +Bishop, so far from thinking of the power of Holy Church, of his duty +to comfort Christians and exhort them to trust in God, mingled worldly +regrets and lover's sighs with the holy words of the breviary. By the +dim light that shone on the pale faces of the company, it was possible +to see their differing expressions as the boat was lifted high in air +by a wave, to be cast back into the dark depths; the shallop quivered +like a fragile leaf, the plaything of the north wind in the autumn; +the hull creaked, it seemed ready to go to pieces. Fearful shrieks +went up, followed by an awful silence. + +There was a strange difference between the behavior of the folk in the +bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of the +boat. The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast every +time that a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; but +she clung to the hope that the stranger's words had set in her heart. +Each time that the eyes turned to his face she drew fresh faith at the +sight, the strong faith of a helpless woman, a mother's faith. She +lived by that divine promise, the loving words from his lips; the +simple creature waited trustingly for them to be fulfilled, and +scarcely feared the danger any longer. + +The soldier, holding fast to the vessel's side, never took his eyes +off the strange visitor. He copied on his own rough and swarthy +features the imperturbability of the other's face, applying to this +task the whole strength of a will and intelligence but little +corrupted in the course of a life of mechanical and passive obedience. +So emulous was he of a calm and tranquil courage greater than his own, +that at last, perhaps unconsciously, something of that mysterious +nature passed into his own soul. His admiration became an instinctive +zeal for this man, a boundless love for and belief in him, such a love +as soldiers feel for their leader when he has the power of swaying +other men, when the halo of victories surrounds him, and the magical +fascination of genius is felt in all that he does. The poor outcast +was murmuring to herself: + +"Ah! miserable wretch that I am! Have I not suffered enough to expiate +the sins of my youth? Ah! wretched woman, why did you leave the gay +life of a frivolous Frenchwoman? why did you devour the goods of God +with churchmen, the substance of the poor with extortioners and +fleecers of the poor? Oh! I have sinned indeed!--Oh my God! my God! +let me finish my time in hell here in this world of misery." + +And again she cried, "Holy Virgin, Mother of God, have pity upon me!" + +"Be comforted, mother. God is not a Lombard usurer. I may have killed +people good and bad at random in my time, but I am not afraid of the +resurrection." + +"Ah! master Lancepesade, how happy those fair ladies are, to be so +near to a bishop, a holy man! They will get absolution for their +sins," said the old woman. "Oh! if I could only hear a priest say to +me, 'Thy sins are forgiven!' I should believe it then." + +The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face made her +tremble. + +"Have faith," he said, "and you will be saved." + +"May God reward you, good sir," she answered. "If what you say is +true, I will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto to +pray to her for you and for me." + +The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and submissive +to the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in +instinctively with the ways of Nature like cattle. At the one end of +the boat stood riches, pride, learning, debauchery, and crime--human +society, such as art and thought and education and worldly interests +and laws have made it; and at this end there was terror and wailing, +innumerable different impulses all repressed by hideous doubts--at +this end, and at this only, the agony of fear. + +Above all these human lives stood a strong man, the skipper; no doubts +assailed him, the chief, the king, the fatalist among them. He was +trusting in himself rather than in Providence, crying, "Bail away!" +instead of "Holy Virgin," defying the storm, in fact, and struggling +with the sea like a wrestler. + +But the helpless poor at the other end of the wherry! The mother +rocking on her bosom the little one who smiled at the storm; the woman +once so frivolous and gay, and now tormented with bitter remorse; the +old soldier covered with scars, a mutilated life the sole reward of +his unflagging loyalty and faithfulness. This veteran could scarcely +count on the morsel of bread soaked in tears to keep the life in him, +yet he was always ready to laugh, and went his way merrily, happy when +he could drown his glory in the depths of a pot of beer, or could tell +tales of the wars to the children who admired him, leaving his future +with a light heart in the hands of God. Lastly, there were the two +peasants, used to hardships and toil, labor incarnate, the labor by +which the world lives. These simple folk were indifferent to thought +and its treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their faith +was but so much the more vigorous because they had never disputed +about it nor analyzed it. Such a nature is a virgin soil, conscience +has not been tampered with, feeling is deep and strong; repentance, +trouble, love, and work have developed, purified, concentrated, and +increased their force of will a hundred times, the will--the one thing +in man that resembles what learned doctors call the Soul. + +The boat, guided by the well-nigh miraculous skill of the steersman, +came almost within sight of Ostend, when, not fifty paces from the +shore, she was suddenly struck by a heavy sea and capsized. The +stranger with the light about his head spoke to this little world of +drowning creatures: + +"Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!" + +He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. The +young mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at his +side across the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his homely +fashion, "Ah! /nom d'un pipe/! I would follow /you/ to the devil;" and +without seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out +sinner, believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the +stranger. + +The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on the sea, +why should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and hastened +after the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he +sank in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third time he +also walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the +wreck of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but +he tried to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that dragged +him down to the bottom. The learned man had scoffed at the charlatan +and at the fools who listened to him; and when he heard the mysterious +stranger propose to the passengers that they should walk on the waves, +he began to laugh, and the ocean swallowed him. The girl was dragged +down into the depths by her lover. The Bishop and the older lady went +to the bottom, heavily laden with sins, it may be, but still more +heavily laden with incredulity and confidence in idols, weighted down +by devotion, into which alms-deeds and true religion entered but +little. + +The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry above the +surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; great +billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft a way +for them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the spray a +dim speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman's hut on +the shore, and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the light, +seemed to hear the voice of his fellow crying, "Courage!" through all +the roaring of the surf; yet no one had spoken a word--so absorbed was +each by his own peril. In this way they reached the shore. + +When they were all seated near the fisherman's fire, they looked round +in vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed up +the steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage stood; he +was clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can cling +when death stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued the +almost exhausted seaman; then he said, as he held out a succoring hand +above the man's head: + +"Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example would be +too bad." + +He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to the +fisherman's door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; then, +when the door of the humble refuge opened, the Saviour disappeared. + +The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where for +long afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ could +be seen in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French invasion, +the monks carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to the +Saviour's last visit to earth. + + + +There at the convent I found myself shortly after the Revolution of +1830. I was weary of life. If you had asked me the reason of my +despair, I should have found it almost impossible to give it, so +languid had grown the soul that was melted within me. The west wind +had slackened the springs of my intelligence. A cold gray light poured +down from the heavens, and the murky clouds that passed overhead gave +a boding look to the land; all these things, together with the +immensity of the sea, said to me, "Die to-day or die to-morrow, still +must we not die?" And then--I wandered on, musing on the doubtful +future, on my blighted hopes. Gnawed by these gloomy thoughts, I +turned mechanically into the convent church, with the gray towers that +loomed like ghosts though the sea mists. I looked round with no +kindling of the imagination at the forest of columns, at the slender +arches set aloft upon the leafy capitals, a delicate labyrinth of +sculpture. I walked with careless eyes along the side aisles that +opened out before me like vast portals, ever turning upon their +hinges. It was scarcely possible to see, by the dim light of the +autumn day, the sculptured groinings of the roof, the delicate and +clean-cut lines of the mouldings of the graceful pointed arches. The +organ pipes were mute. There was no sound save the noise of my own +footsteps to awaken the mournful echoes lurking in the dark chapels. I +sat down at the base of one of the four pillars that supported the +tower, near the choir. Thence I could see the whole of the building. I +gazed, and no ideas connected with it arose in my mind. I saw without +seeing the mighty maze of pillars, the great rose windows that hung +like a network suspended as by a miracle in air above the vast +doorways. I saw the doors at the end of the side aisles, the aerial +galleries, the stained glass windows framed in archways, divided by +slender columns, fretted into flower forms and trefoil by fine +filigree work of carved stone. A dome of glass at the end of the choir +sparkled as if it had been built of precious stones set cunningly. In +contrast to the roof with its alternating spaces of whiteness and +color, the two aisles lay to right and left in shadow so deep that the +faint gray outlines of their hundred shafts were scarcely visible in +the gloom. I gazed at the marvelous arcades, the scroll-work, the +garlands, the curving lines, and arabesques interwoven and interlaced, +and strangely lighted, until by sheer dint of gazing my perceptions +became confused, and I stood upon the borderland between illusion and +reality, taken in the snare set for the eyes, and almost light-headed +by reason of the multitudinous changes of the shapes about me. + +Imperceptibly a mist gathered about the carven stonework, and I only +beheld it through a haze of fine golden dust, like the motes that +hover in the bars of sunlight slanting through the air of a chamber. +Suddenly the stone lacework of the rose windows gleamed through this +vapor that had made all forms so shadowy. Every moulding, the edges of +every carving, the least detail of the sculpture was dipped in silver. +The sunlight kindled fires in the stained windows, their rich colors +sent out glowing sparks of light. The shafts began to tremble, the +capitals were gently shaken. A light shudder as of delight ran through +the building, the stones were loosened in their setting, the +wall-spaces swayed with graceful caution. Here and there a ponderous +pier moved as solemnly as a dowager when she condescends to complete a +quadrille at the close of a ball. A few slender and graceful columns, +their heads adorned with wreaths of trefoil, began to laugh and dance +here and there. Some of the pointed arches dashed at the tall lancet +windows, who, like ladies of the Middle Ages, wore the armorial +bearings of their houses emblazoned on their golden robes. The dance +of the mitred arcades with the slender windows became like a fray at a +tourney. + +In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without leaving +its place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine music +mingling with the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, accompanied +by the deep notes of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers rocked +and swayed on their square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to me +the most natural thing in the world; and I, who had seen Charles X. +hurled from his throne, was no longer amazed by anything. Nay, I +myself was gently swaying with a see-saw movement that influenced my +nerves pleasurably in a manner of which it is impossible to give any +idea. Yet in the midst of this heated riot, the cathedral choir felt +cold as if it were a winter day, and I became aware of a multitude of +women, robed in white, silent, and impassive, sitting there. The sweet +incense smoke that arose from the censers was grateful to my soul. The +tall wax candles flickered. The lectern, gay as a chanter undone by +the treachery of wine, was skipping about like a peal of Chinese +bells. + +Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast that +everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on the +crucifix above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice and +benevolence that frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and marveled at +the bluish vapor that slid across the pillars, lending to them an +indescribable charm. Then some graceful women's forms began to stir on +the friezes. The cherubs who upheld the heavy columns shook out their +wings. I felt myself uplifted by some divine power that steeped me in +infinite joy, in a sweet and languid rapture. I would have given my +life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a little, +but suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears: + +"Awake and follow me!" + +A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through +every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow, +almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old +woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her +throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I could +scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a +stare upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the aisles, +leaving a trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from her +dress. Her bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a skeleton; +and as we went I heard behind me the tinkling of a little bell, a +thin, sharp sound that rang through my head like the notes of a +harmonica. + +"Suffer!" she cried, "suffer! So it must be!" + +We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest streets of the +town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me enter +in. She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless voice +like a cracked bell: + +"Defend me! defend me!" + +Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door in the +darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, opened to +her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, ragged +tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded brass. + +"Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!" said she. + +I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall torch +and two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was fresh from +the graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised her +fleshless arm and encircled me with a band of iron set with spikes, +and as she raised it a cry went up all about us, the cry of millions +of voices--the shouting of the dead! + +"It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever," she said. "Thou art my +son." + +We were sitting before the hearth, the ashes lay cold upon it; the old +shrunken woman grasped my hand so tightly in hers that I could not +choose but stay. I looked fixedly at her, striving to read the story +of her life from the things among which she was crouching. Had she +indeed any life in her? It was a mystery. Yet I saw plainly that once +she must have been young and beautiful; fair, with all the charm of +simplicity, perfect as some Greek statue, with the brow of a vestal. + +"Ah! ah!" I cried, "now I know thee! Miserable woman, why hast thou +prostituted thyself? In the age of thy passions, in the time of thy +prosperity, the grace and purity of thy youth were forgotten. +Forgetful of thy heroic devotion, thy pure life, thy abundant faith, +thou didst resign thy primitive power and thy spiritual supremacy for +fleshly power. Thy linen vestments, thy couch of moss, the cell in the +rock, bright with rays of the Light Divine, was forsaken; thou hast +sparkled with diamonds, and shone with the glitter of luxury and +pride. Then, grown bold and insolent, seizing and overturning all +things in thy course like a courtesan eager for pleasure in her days +of splendor, thou hast steeped thyself in blood like some queen +stupefied by empery. Dost thou not remember to have been dull and +heavy at times, and the sudden marvelous lucidity of other moments; as +when Art emerges from an orgy? Oh! poet, painter, and singer, lover of +splendid ceremonies and protector of the arts, was thy friendship for +art perchance a caprice, that so thou shouldst sleep beneath +magnificent canopies? Was there not a day when, in thy fantastic +pride, though chastity and humility were prescribed to thee, thou +hadst brought all things beneath thy feet, and set thy foot on the +necks of princes; when earthly dominion, and wealth, and the mind of +man bore thy yoke? Exulting in the abasement of humanity, joying to +witness the uttermost lengths to which man's folly would go, thou hast +bidden thy lovers walk on all fours, and required of them their lands +and wealth, nay, even their wives if they were worth aught to thee. +Thou hast devoured millions of men without a cause; thou hast flung +away lives like sand blown by the wind from West to East. Thou hast +come down from the heights of thought to sit among the kings of men. +Woman! instead of comforting men, thou hast tormented and afflicted +them! Knowing that thou couldst ask and have, thou hast demanded +--blood! A little flour surely should have contented thee, accustomed +as thou hast been to live on bread and to mingle water with thy wine. +Unlike all others in all things, formerly thou wouldst bid thy lovers +fast, and they obeyed. Why should thy fancies have led thee to require +things impossible? Why, like a courtesan spoiled by her lovers, hast +thou doted on follies, and left those undeceived who sought to explain +and justify all thy errors? Then came the days of thy later passions, +terrible like the love of a woman of forty years, with a fierce cry +thou hast sought to clasp the whole universe in one last embrace--and +thy universe recoiled from thee! + +"Then old men succeeded to thy young lovers; decrepitude came to thy +feet and made thee hideous. Yet, even then, men with the eagle power +of vision said to thee in a glance, 'Thou shalt perish ingloriously, +because thou hast fallen away, because thou hast broken the vows of +thy maidenhood. The angel with peace written on her forehead, who +should have shed light and joy along her path, has been a Messalina, +delighting in the circus, in debauchery, and abuse of power. The days +of thy virginity cannot return; henceforward thou shalt be subject to +a master. Thy hour has come; the hand of death is upon thee. Thy heirs +believe that thou art rich; they will kill thee and find nothing. Yet +try at least to fling away this raiment no longer in fashion; be once +more as in the days of old!--Nay, thou art dead, and by thy own deed!' + +"Is not this thy story?" so I ended. "Decrepit, toothless, shivering +crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance from +passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that beggar's +garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches?--for what +were they spent? Where are thy treasures?--what great deeds hast thou +done?" + +At this demand, the shriveled woman raised her bony form, flung off +her rags, and grew tall and radiant, smiling as she broke forth from +the dark chrysalid sheath. Then like a butterfly, this diaphanous +creature emerged, fair and youthful, clothed in white linen, an Indian +from creation issuing her palms. Her golden hair rippled over her +shoulders, her eyes glowed, a bright mist clung about her, a ring of +gold hovered above her head, she shook the flaming blade of a sword +towards the spaces of heaven. + +"See and believe!" she cried. + +And suddenly I saw, afar off, many thousands of cathedrals like the +one that I had just quitted; but these were covered with pictures and +with frescoes, and I heard them echo with entrancing music. Myriads of +human creatures flocked to these great buildings, swarming about them +like ants on an ant-heap. Some were eager to rescue books from +oblivion or to copy manuscripts, others were helping the poor, but +nearly all were studying. Up above this countless multitude rose giant +statues that they had erected in their midst, and by the gleams of a +strange light from some luminary as powerful as the sun, I read the +inscriptions on the bases of the statues--Science, History, +Literature. + +The light died out. Again I faced the young girl. Gradually she +slipped into the dreary sheath, into the ragged cere-cloths, and +became an aged woman again. Her familiar brought her a little dust, +and she stirred it into the ashes of her chafing-dish, for the weather +was cold and stormy; and then he lighted for her, whose palaces had +been lit with thousands of wax-tapers, a little cresset, that she +might see to read her prayers through the hours of night. + +"There is no faith left in the earth! . . ." she said. + +In such a perilous plight did I behold the fairest and the greatest, +the truest and most life-giving of all Powers. + + + +"Wake up, sir, the doors are just about to be shut," said a hoarse +voice. I turned and beheld the beadle's ugly countenance; the man was +shaking me by the arm, and the cathedral lay wrapped in shadows as a +man is wrapped in his cloak. + +"Belief," I said to myself, "is Life! I have just witnessed the +funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church." + + + +PARIS, February 183l. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + +***** This file should be named 1940.txt or 1940.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/9/4/1940/ + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + + + + +Christ in Flanders + +by Honore de Balzac + +Translated by Ellen Marriage + + + + +DEDICATION + + To Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore, a daughter of Flanders, of whom + these modern days may well be proud, I dedicate this quaint legend + of old Flanders. + +DE BALZAC. + + + + +CHRIST IN FLANDERS + + + +At a dimly remote period in the history of Brabant, communication +between the Island of Cadzand and the Flemish coast was kept up by a +boat which carried passengers from one shore to the other. Middelburg, +the chief town in the island, destined to become so famous in the +annals of Protestantism, at that time only numbered some two or three +hundred hearths; and the prosperous town of Ostend was an obscure +haven, a straggling village where pirates dwelt in security among the +fishermen and the few poor merchants who lived in the place. + +But though the town of Ostend consisted altogether of some score of +houses and three hundred cottages, huts or hovels built of the +driftwood of wrecked vessels, it nevertheless rejoiced in the +possession of a governor, a garrison, a forked gibbet, a convent, and +a burgomaster, in short, in all the institutions of an advanced +civilization. + +Who reigned over Brabant and Flanders in those days? On this point +tradition is mute. Let us confess at once that this tale savors +strongly of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; elements +which Flemish narrators have infused into a story retailed so often to +gatherings of workers on winter evenings, that the details vary widely +in poetic merit and incongruity of detail. It has been told by every +generation, handed down by grandames at the fireside, narrated night +and day, and the chronicle has changed its complexion somewhat in +every age. Like some great building that has suffered many +modifications of successive generations of architects, some sombre +weather-beaten pile, the delight of a poet, the story would drive the +commentator and the industrious winnower of words, facts, and dates to +despair. The narrator believes in it, as all superstitious minds in +Flanders likewise believe; and is not a whit wiser nor more credulous +than his audience. But as it would be impossible to make a harmony of +all the different renderings, here are the outlines of the story; +stripped, it may be, of its picturesque quaintness, but with all its +bold disregard of historical truth, and its moral teachings approved +by religion--a myth, the blossom of imaginative fancy; an allegory +that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To each his own +pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the wheat. + + + +The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of Cadzand to +Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper loosed +the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where people +embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, this +being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was scarcely +possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of the +sunset, or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of belated +passengers hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded the +open country, or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat was +full. + +"What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried. + +Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, to the +surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. The +traveler seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant who +had laid himself down on the ground to wait till the boat should +start, and had slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. Was he a +thief? or some one belonging to the custom-house or the police? + +As soon as the man appeared on the jetty to which the boat was moored, +seven persons who were standing in the stern of the shallop hastened +to sit down on the benches, so as to leave no room for the newcomer. +It was the swift and instinctive working of the aristocratic spirit, +an impulse of exclusiveness that comes from the rich man's heart. Four +of the seven personages belonged to the most aristocratic families in +Flanders. First among them was a young knight with two beautiful +greyhounds; his long hair flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; he +clanked his gilded spurs, curled the ends of his moustache from time +to time with a swaggering grace, and looked round disdainfully on the +rest of the crew. A high-born damsel, with a falcon on her wrist, only +spoke with her mother or with a churchman of high rank, who was +evidently a relation. All these persons made a great deal of noise, +and talked among themselves as though there were no one else in the +boat; yet close beside them sat a man of great importance in the +district, a stout burgher of Bruges, wrapped about with a vast cloak. +His servant, armed to the teeth, had set down a couple of bags filled +with gold at his side. Next to the burgher came a man of learning, a +doctor of the University of Louvain, who was traveling with his clerk. +This little group of folk, who looked contemptuously at each other, +was separated from the passengers in the forward part of the boat by +the bench of rowers. + +The belated traveler glanced about him as he stepped on board, saw +that there was no room for him in the stern, and went to the bows in +quest of a seat. They were all poor people there. At first sight of +the bareheaded man in the brown camlet coat and trunk-hose, and plain +stiff linen collar, they noticed that he wore no ornaments, carried no +cap nor bonnet in his hand, and had neither sword nor purse at his +girdle, and one and all took him for a burgomaster sure of his +authority, a worthy and kindly burgomaster like so many a Fleming of +old times, whose homely features and characters have been immortalized +by Flemish painters. The poorer passengers, therefore, received him +with demonstrations of respect that provoked scornful tittering at the +other end of the boat. An old soldier, inured to toil and hardship, +gave up his place on the bench to the newcomer, and seated himself on +the edge of the vessel, keeping his balance by planting his feet +against one of those traverse beams, like the backbone of a fish, that +hold the planks of a boat together. A young mother, who bore her baby +in her arms, and seemed to belong to the working class in Ostend, +moved aside to make room for the stranger. There was neither servility +nor scorn in her manner of doing this; it was a simple sign of the +goodwill by which the poor, who know by long experience the value of a +service and the warmth that fellowship brings, give expression to the +open-heartedness and the natural impulses of their souls; so artlessly +do they reveal their good qualities and their defects. The stranger +thanked her by a gesture full of gracious dignity, and took his place +between the young mother and the old soldier. Immediately behind him +sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten years of age. A beggar woman, +old, wrinkled, and clad in rags, was crouching, with her almost empty +wallet, on a great coil of rope that lay in the prow. One of the +rowers, an old sailor, who had known her in the days of her beauty and +prosperity, had let her come in "for the love of God," in the +beautiful phrase that the common people use. + +"Thank you kindly, Thomas," the old woman had said. "I will say two +/Paters/ and two /Aves/ for you in my prayers to-night." + +The skipper blew his horn for the last time, looked along the silent +shore, flung off the chain, ran along the side of the boat, and took +up his position at the helm. He looked at the sky, and as soon as they +were out in the open sea, he shouted to the men: "Pull away, pull with +all your might! The sea is smiling at a squall, the witch! I can feel +the swell by the way the rudder works, and the storm in my wounds." + +The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the sound of +the sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept time +together, the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, but +quite unlike the previous manner of rowing; it was as if a cantering +horse had broken into a gallop. The gay company seated in the stern +amused themselves by watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, and +sparkling eyes of the rowers, the play of the tense muscles, the +physical and mental forces that were being exerted to bring them for a +trifling toll across the channel. So far from pitying the rowers' +distress, they pointed out the men's faces to each other, and laughed +at the grotesque expressions on the faces of the crew who were +straining every muscle; but in the fore part of the boat the soldier, +the peasant, and the old beggar woman watched the sailors with the +sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live by the sweat of their brow +and know the rough struggle, the strenuous excitement of effort. These +folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in the open air, had all seen +the warnings of danger in the sky, and their faces were grave. The +young mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn of the Church for a +lullaby. + +"If we ever get there at all," the soldier remarked to the peasant, +"it will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us alive." + +"Ah! He is the Master," said the old woman, "but I think it will be +His good pleasure to take us to Himself. Just look at that light down +there . . ." and she nodded her head as she spoke towards the sunset. + +Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of crimson-flushed +brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There was a +smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come from +the depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he only +means mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away. Perhaps +painting, like poetry, could not prolong the existence of the picture +presented by sea and sky at that moment beyond the time of its actual +duration. Art demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists usually +seek out Nature's most striking effects, doubtless because they +despair of rendering the great and glorious charm of her daily moods; +yet the human soul is often stirred as deeply by her calm as by her +emotion, and by silence as by storm. + +For a moment no one spoke on board the boat. Every one watched that +sea and sky, either with some presentiment of danger, or because they +felt the influence of the religious melancholy that takes possession +of nearly all of us at the close of the day, the hour of prayer, when +all nature is hushed save for the voices of the bells. The sea gleamed +pale and wan, but its hues changed, and the surface took all the +colors of steel. The sky was almost overspread with livid gray, but +down in the west there were long narrow bars like streaks of blood; +while lines of bright light in the eastern sky, sharp and clean as if +drawn by the tip of a brush, were separated by folds of cloud, like +the wrinkles on an old man's brow. The whole scene made a background +of ashen grays and half-tints, in strong contrast to the bale-fires of +the sunset. If written language might borrow of spoken language some +of the bold figures of speech invented by the people, it might be said +with the soldier that "the weather has been routed," or, as the +peasant would say, "the sky glowered like an executioner." Suddenly a +wind arose from the quarter of the sunset, and the skipper, who never +took his eyes off the sea, saw the swell on the horizon line, and +cried: + +"Stop rowing!" + +The sailors stopped immediately, and let their oars lie on the water. + +"The skipper is right," said Thomas coolly. A great wave caught up the +boat, carried it high on its crest, only to plunge it, as it were, +into the trough of the sea that seemed to yawn for them. At this +mighty upheaval, this sudden outbreak of the wrath of the sea, the +company in the stern turned pale, and sent up a terrible cry. + +"We are lost!" + +"Oh, not yet!" said the skipper calmly. + +As he spoke, the clouds immediately above their heads were torn +asunder by the vehemence of the wind. The gray mass was rent and +scattered east and west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain light from +the rift in the sky fell full upon the boat, and the travelers beheld +each other's faces. All of them, the noble and the wealthy, the +sailors and the poor passengers alike, were amazed for a moment by the +appearance of the last comer. His golden hair, parted upon his calm, +serene forehead, fell in thick curls about his shoulders; and his +face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant with divine love, stood out +against the surrounding gloom. He had no contempt for death; he knew +that he should not die. But if at the first the company in the stern +forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the storm that threatened +their lives, selfishness and their habits of life soon prevailed +again. + +"How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we are all +running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle," said +the doctor. + +He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when the storm +unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of the +heavens, the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke in. + +"Oh! my poor child! my poor child! . . . Who will save my baby?" the +mother cried in a heart-rending voice. + +"You yourself will save it," the stranger said. + +The thrilling tones of that voice went to the young mother's heart and +brought hope with them; she heard the gracious words through all the +whistling of the wind and the shrieks of the passengers. + +"Holy Virgin of Good Help, who art at Antwerp, I promise thee a +thousand pounds of wax and a statue, if thou wilt rescue me from +this!" cried the burgher, kneeling upon his bags of gold. + +"The Virgin is no more at Antwerp than she is here," was the doctor's +comment on this appeal. + +"She is in heaven," said a voice that seemed to come from the sea. + +"Who said that?" + +"'Tis the devil!" exclaimed the servant. "He is scoffing at the Virgin +of Antwerp." + +"Let us have no more of your Holy Virgin at present," the skipper +cried to the passengers. "Put your hands to the scoops and bail the +water out of the boat.--And the rest of you," he went on, addressing +the sailors, "pull with all your might! Now is the time; in the name +of the devil who is leaving you in this world, be your own Providence! +Every one knows that the channel is fearfully dangerous; I have been +to and fro across it these thirty years. Am I facing a storm for the +first time to-night?" + +He stood at the helm, and looked, as before, at his boat and at the +sea and sky in turn. + +"The skipper always laughs at everything," muttered Thomas. + +"Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched creatures?" +asked the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier. + +"No, no, noble maiden. . . . Listen!" and he caught her by the waist +and said in her ear, "I can swim, say nothing about it! I will hold +you by your fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I can +only save you." + +The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her knees +entreating absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In the +beautiful eyes the knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, and +spoke in a smothered voice. + +"Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to take +your mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her happiness--in +another world," he added, and his voice dropped still lower. "And for +ours in this," he thought within himself. + +The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the barony of +Gavres. + +The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love that +spoke through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who haunted +churches in search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready money. +The Bishop bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be calm; +it was all that he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of the +delicate feast with which she would welcome him; perhaps at that very +moment she was bathing, perfuming herself, robing herself in velvet, +fastening her necklace and her jeweled clasps; and the perverse +Bishop, so far from thinking of the power of Holy Church, of his duty +to comfort Christians and exhort them to trust in God, mingled worldly +regrets and lover's sighs with the holy words of the breviary. By the +dim light that shone on the pale faces of the company, it was possible +to see their differing expressions as the boat was lifted high in air +by a wave, to be cast back into the dark depths; the shallop quivered +like a fragile leaf, the plaything of the north wind in the autumn; +the hull creaked, it seemed ready to go to pieces. Fearful shrieks +went up, followed by an awful silence. + +There was a strange difference between the behavior of the folk in the +bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of the +boat. The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast every +time that a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; but +she clung to the hope that the stranger's words had set in her heart. +Each time that the eyes turned to his face she drew fresh faith at the +sight, the strong faith of a helpless woman, a mother's faith. She +lived by that divine promise, the loving words from his lips; the +simple creature waited trustingly for them to be fulfilled, and +scarcely feared the danger any longer. + +The soldier, holding fast to the vessel's side, never took his eyes +off the strange visitor. He copied on his own rough and swarthy +features the imperturbability of the other's face, applying to this +task the whole strength of a will and intelligence but little +corrupted in the course of a life of mechanical and passive obedience. +So emulous was he of a calm and tranquil courage greater than his own, +that at last, perhaps unconsciously, something of that mysterious +nature passed into his own soul. His admiration became an instinctive +zeal for this man, a boundless love for and belief in him, such a love +as soldiers feel for their leader when he has the power of swaying +other men, when the halo of victories surrounds him, and the magical +fascination of genius is felt in all that he does. The poor outcast +was murmuring to herself: + +"Ah! miserable wretch that I am! Have I not suffered enough to expiate +the sins of my youth? Ah! wretched woman, why did you leave the gay +life of a frivolous Frenchwoman? why did you devour the goods of God +with churchmen, the substance of the poor with extortioners and +fleecers of the poor? Oh! I have sinned indeed!--Oh my God! my God! +let me finish my time in hell here in this world of misery." + +And again she cried, "Holy Virgin, Mother of God, have pity upon me!" + +"Be comforted, mother. God is not a Lombard usurer. I may have killed +people good and bad at random in my time, but I am not afraid of the +resurrection." + +"Ah! master Lancepesade, how happy those fair ladies are, to be so +near to a bishop, a holy man! They will get absolution for their +sins," said the old woman. "Oh! if I could only hear a priest say to +me, 'Thy sins are forgiven!' I should believe it then." + +The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face made her +tremble. + +"Have faith," he said, "and you will be saved." + +"May God reward you, good sir," she answered. "If what you say is +true, I will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto to +pray to her for you and for me." + +The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and submissive +to the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in +instinctively with the ways of Nature like cattle. At the one end of +the boat stood riches, pride, learning, debauchery, and crime--human +society, such as art and thought and education and worldly interests +and laws have made it; and at this end there was terror and wailing, +innumerable different impulses all repressed by hideous doubts--at +this end, and at this only, the agony of fear. + +Above all these human lives stood a strong man, the skipper; no doubts +assailed him, the chief, the king, the fatalist among them. He was +trusting in himself rather than in Providence, crying, "Bail away!" +instead of "Holy Virgin," defying the storm, in fact, and struggling +with the sea like a wrestler. + +But the helpless poor at the other end of the wherry! The mother +rocking on her bosom the little one who smiled at the storm; the woman +once so frivolous and gay, and now tormented with bitter remorse; the +old soldier covered with scars, a mutilated life the sole reward of +his unflagging loyalty and faithfulness. This veteran could scarcely +count on the morsel of bread soaked in tears to keep the life in him, +yet he was always ready to laugh, and went his way merrily, happy when +he could drown his glory in the depths of a pot of beer, or could tell +tales of the wars to the children who admired him, leaving his future +with a light heart in the hands of God. Lastly, there were the two +peasants, used to hardships and toil, labor incarnate, the labor by +which the world lives. These simple folk were indifferent to thought +and its treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their faith +was but so much the more vigorous because they had never disputed +about it nor analyzed it. Such a nature is a virgin soil, conscience +has not been tampered with, feeling is deep and strong; repentance, +trouble, love, and work have developed, purified, concentrated, and +increased their force of will a hundred times, the will--the one thing +in man that resembles what learned doctors call the Soul. + +The boat, guided by the well-nigh miraculous skill of the steersman, +came almost within sight of Ostend, when, not fifty paces from the +shore, she was suddenly struck by a heavy sea and capsized. The +stranger with the light about his head spoke to this little world of +drowning creatures: + +"Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!" + +He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. The +young mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at his +side across the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his homely +fashion, "Ah! /nom d'un pipe/! I would follow /you/ to the devil;" and +without seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The worn-out +sinner, believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed the +stranger. + +The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on the sea, +why should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and hastened +after the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith tottered; he +sank in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third time he +also walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora to the +wreck of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, but +he tried to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that dragged +him down to the bottom. The learned man had scoffed at the charlatan +and at the fools who listened to him; and when he heard the mysterious +stranger propose to the passengers that they should walk on the waves, +he began to laugh, and the ocean swallowed him. The girl was dragged +down into the depths by her lover. The Bishop and the older lady went +to the bottom, heavily laden with sins, it may be, but still more +heavily laden with incredulity and confidence in idols, weighted down +by devotion, into which alms-deeds and true religion entered but +little. + +The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry above the +surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; great +billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft a way +for them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the spray a +dim speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman's hut on +the shore, and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the light, +seemed to hear the voice of his fellow crying, "Courage!" through all +the roaring of the surf; yet no one had spoken a word--so absorbed was +each by his own peril. In this way they reached the shore. + +When they were all seated near the fisherman's fire, they looked round +in vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed up +the steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage stood; he +was clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can cling +when death stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued the +almost exhausted seaman; then he said, as he held out a succoring hand +above the man's head: + +"Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example would be +too bad." + +He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to the +fisherman's door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; then, +when the door of the humble refuge opened, the Saviour disappeared. + +The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where for +long afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ could +be seen in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French invasion, +the monks carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to the +Saviour's last visit to earth. + + + +There at the convent I found myself shortly after the Revolution of +1830. I was weary of life. If you had asked me the reason of my +despair, I should have found it almost impossible to give it, so +languid had grown the soul that was melted within me. The west wind +had slackened the springs of my intelligence. A cold gray light poured +down from the heavens, and the murky clouds that passed overhead gave +a boding look to the land; all these things, together with the +immensity of the sea, said to me, "Die to-day or die to-morrow, still +must we not die?" And then--I wandered on, musing on the doubtful +future, on my blighted hopes. Gnawed by these gloomy thoughts, I +turned mechanically into the convent church, with the gray towers that +loomed like ghosts though the sea mists. I looked round with no +kindling of the imagination at the forest of columns, at the slender +arches set aloft upon the leafy capitals, a delicate labyrinth of +sculpture. I walked with careless eyes along the side aisles that +opened out before me like vast portals, ever turning upon their +hinges. It was scarcely possible to see, by the dim light of the +autumn day, the sculptured groinings of the roof, the delicate and +clean-cut lines of the mouldings of the graceful pointed arches. The +organ pipes were mute. There was no sound save the noise of my own +footsteps to awaken the mournful echoes lurking in the dark chapels. I +sat down at the base of one of the four pillars that supported the +tower, near the choir. Thence I could see the whole of the building. I +gazed, and no ideas connected with it arose in my mind. I saw without +seeing the mighty maze of pillars, the great rose windows that hung +like a network suspended as by a miracle in air above the vast +doorways. I saw the doors at the end of the side aisles, the aerial +galleries, the stained glass windows framed in archways, divided by +slender columns, fretted into flower forms and trefoil by fine +filigree work of carved stone. A dome of glass at the end of the choir +sparkled as if it had been built of precious stones set cunningly. In +contrast to the roof with its alternating spaces of whiteness and +color, the two aisles lay to right and left in shadow so deep that the +faint gray outlines of their hundred shafts were scarcely visible in +the gloom. I gazed at the marvelous arcades, the scroll-work, the +garlands, the curving lines, and arabesques interwoven and interlaced, +and strangely lighted, until by sheer dint of gazing my perceptions +became confused, and I stood upon the borderland between illusion and +reality, taken in the snare set for the eyes, and almost light-headed +by reason of the multitudinous changes of the shapes about me. + +Imperceptibly a mist gathered about the carven stonework, and I only +beheld it through a haze of fine golden dust, like the motes that +hover in the bars of sunlight slanting through the air of a chamber. +Suddenly the stone lacework of the rose windows gleamed through this +vapor that had made all forms so shadowy. Every moulding, the edges of +every carving, the least detail of the sculpture was dipped in silver. +The sunlight kindled fires in the stained windows, their rich colors +sent out glowing sparks of light. The shafts began to tremble, the +capitals were gently shaken. A light shudder as of delight ran through +the building, the stones were loosened in their setting, the wall- +spaces swayed with graceful caution. Here and there a ponderous pier +moved as solemnly as a dowager when she condescends to complete a +quadrille at the close of a ball. A few slender and graceful columns, +their heads adorned with wreaths of trefoil, began to laugh and dance +here and there. Some of the pointed arches dashed at the tall lancet +windows, who, like ladies of the Middle Ages, wore the armorial +bearings of their houses emblazoned on their golden robes. The dance +of the mitred arcades with the slender windows became like a fray at a +tourney. + +In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without leaving +its place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine music +mingling with the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, accompanied +by the deep notes of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers rocked +and swayed on their square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to me +the most natural thing in the world; and I, who had seen Charles X. +hurled from his throne, was no longer amazed by anything. Nay, I +myself was gently swaying with a see-saw movement that influenced my +nerves pleasurably in a manner of which it is impossible to give any +idea. Yet in the midst of this heated riot, the cathedral choir felt +cold as if it were a winter day, and I became aware of a multitude of +women, robed in white, silent, and impassive, sitting there. The sweet +incense smoke that arose from the censers was grateful to my soul. The +tall wax candles flickered. The lectern, gay as a chanter undone by +the treachery of wine, was skipping about like a peal of Chinese +bells. + +Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast that +everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on the +crucifix above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice and +benevolence that frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and marveled at +the bluish vapor that slid across the pillars, lending to them an +indescribable charm. Then some graceful women's forms began to stir on +the friezes. The cherubs who upheld the heavy columns shook out their +wings. I felt myself uplifted by some divine power that steeped me in +infinite joy, in a sweet and languid rapture. I would have given my +life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a little, +but suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears: + +"Awake and follow me!" + +A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept through +every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the sallow, +almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold old +woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at her +throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I could +scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in a +stare upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the aisles, +leaving a trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from her +dress. Her bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a skeleton; +and as we went I heard behind me the tinkling of a little bell, a +thin, sharp sound that rang through my head like the notes of a +harmonica. + +"Suffer!" she cried, "suffer! So it must be!" + +We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest streets of the +town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me enter +in. She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless voice +like a cracked bell: + +"Defend me! defend me!" + +Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door in the +darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, opened to +her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, ragged +tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded brass. + +"Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!" said she. + +I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall torch +and two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was fresh from +the graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised her +fleshless arm and encircled me with a band of iron set with spikes, +and as she raised it a cry went up all about us, the cry of millions +of voices--the shouting of the dead! + +"It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever," she said. "Thou art my +son." + +We were sitting before the hearth, the ashes lay cold upon it; the old +shrunken woman grasped my hand so tightly in hers that I could not +choose but stay. I looked fixedly at her, striving to read the story +of her life from the things among which she was crouching. Had she +indeed any life in her? It was a mystery. Yet I saw plainly that once +she must have been young and beautiful; fair, with all the charm of +simplicity, perfect as some Greek statue, with the brow of a vestal. + +"Ah! ah!" I cried, "now I know thee! Miserable woman, why hast thou +prostituted thyself? In the age of thy passions, in the time of thy +prosperity, the grace and purity of thy youth were forgotten. +Forgetful of thy heroic devotion, thy pure life, thy abundant faith, +thou didst resign thy primitive power and thy spiritual supremacy for +fleshly power. Thy linen vestments, thy couch of moss, the cell in the +rock, bright with rays of the Light Divine, was forsaken; thou hast +sparkled with diamonds, and shone with the glitter of luxury and +pride. Then, grown bold and insolent, seizing and overturning all +things in thy course like a courtesan eager for pleasure in her days +of splendor, thou hast steeped thyself in blood like some queen +stupefied by empery. Dost thou not remember to have been dull and +heavy at times, and the sudden marvelous lucidity of other moments; as +when Art emerges from an orgy? Oh! poet, painter, and singer, lover of +splendid ceremonies and protector of the arts, was thy friendship for +art perchance a caprice, that so thou shouldst sleep beneath +magnificent canopies? Was there not a day when, in thy fantastic +pride, though chastity and humility were prescribed to thee, thou +hadst brought all things beneath thy feet, and set thy foot on the +necks of princes; when earthly dominion, and wealth, and the mind of +man bore thy yoke? Exulting in the abasement of humanity, joying to +witness the uttermost lengths to which man's folly would go, thou hast +bidden thy lovers walk on all fours, and required of them their lands +and wealth, nay, even their wives if they were worth aught to thee. +Thou hast devoured millions of men without a cause; thou hast flung +away lives like sand blown by the wind from West to East. Thou hast +come down from the heights of thought to sit among the kings of men. +Woman! instead of comforting men, thou hast tormented and afflicted +them! Knowing that thou couldst ask and have, thou hast demanded-- +blood! A little flour surely should have contented thee, accustomed as +thou hast been to live on bread and to mingle water with thy wine. +Unlike all others in all things, formerly thou wouldst bid thy lovers +fast, and they obeyed. Why should thy fancies have led thee to require +things impossible? Why, like a courtesan spoiled by her lovers, hast +thou doted on follies, and left those undeceived who sought to explain +and justify all thy errors? Then came the days of thy later passions, +terrible like the love of a woman of forty years, with a fierce cry +thou hast sought to clasp the whole universe in one last embrace--and +thy universe recoiled from thee! + +"Then old men succeeded to thy young lovers; decrepitude came to thy +feet and made thee hideous. Yet, even then, men with the eagle power +of vision said to thee in a glance, 'Thou shalt perish ingloriously, +because thou hast fallen away, because thou hast broken the vows of +thy maidenhood. The angel with peace written on her forehead, who +should have shed light and joy along her path, has been a Messalina, +delighting in the circus, in debauchery, and abuse of power. The days +of thy virginity cannot return; henceforward thou shalt be subject to +a master. Thy hour has come; the hand of death is upon thee. Thy heirs +believe that thou art rich; they will kill thee and find nothing. Yet +try at least to fling away this raiment no longer in fashion; be once +more as in the days of old!--Nay, thou art dead, and by thy own deed!' + +"Is not this thy story?" so I ended. "Decrepit, toothless, shivering +crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance from +passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that beggar's +garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches?--for what +were they spent? Where are thy treasures?--what great deeds hast thou +done?" + +At this demand, the shriveled woman raised her bony form, flung off +her rags, and grew tall and radiant, smiling as she broke forth from +the dark chrysalid sheath. Then like a butterfly, this diaphanous +creature emerged, fair and youthful, clothed in white linen, an Indian +from creation issuing her palms. Her golden hair rippled over her +shoulders, her eyes glowed, a bright mist clung about her, a ring of +gold hovered above her head, she shook the flaming blade of a sword +towards the spaces of heaven. + +"See and believe!" she cried. + +And suddenly I saw, afar off, many thousands of cathedrals like the +one that I had just quitted; but these were covered with pictures and +with frescoes, and I heard them echo with entrancing music. Myriads of +human creatures flocked to these great buildings, swarming about them +like ants on an ant-heap. Some were eager to rescue books from +oblivion or to copy manuscripts, others were helping the poor, but +nearly all were studying. Up above this countless multitude rose giant +statues that they had erected in their midst, and by the gleams of a +strange light from some luminary as powerful as the sun, I read the +inscriptions on the bases of the statues--Science, History, +Literature. + +The light died out. Again I faced the young girl. Gradually she +slipped into the dreary sheath, into the ragged cere-cloths, and +became an aged woman again. Her familiar brought her a little dust, +and she stirred it into the ashes of her chafing-dish, for the weather +was cold and stormy; and then he lighted for her, whose palaces had +been lit with thousands of wax-tapers, a little cresset, that she +might see to read her prayers through the hours of night. + +"There is no faith left in the earth! . . ." she said. + +In such a perilous plight did I behold the fairest and the greatest, +the truest and most life-giving of all Powers. + + + +"Wake up, sir, the doors are just about to be shut," said a hoarse +voice. I turned and beheld the beadle's ugly countenance; the man was +shaking me by the arm, and the cathedral lay wrapped in shadows as a +man is wrapped in his cloak. + +"Belief," I said to myself, "is Life! I have just witnessed the +funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church." + + + +PARIS, February 183l. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + diff --git a/old/flndr10.zip b/old/flndr10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fedd47d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/flndr10.zip diff --git a/old/flndr10h.htm b/old/flndr10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..287c0ed --- /dev/null +++ b/old/flndr10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,1661 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<title>Christ in Flanderst</title> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +</head> + + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac +#83 in our series by Honore de Balzac + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Christ in Flanders + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: October, 1999 [EBook #1940] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 8, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + + + + +Produced by Walter Debeuf + + + + + + +</pre> + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com<br> +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + +<p>Christ in Flanders</p> + +<p>by Honore de Balzac</p> + +<p>Translated by Ellen Marriage</p> + +<h3><br> + DEDICATION</h3> + +<p>To Marcelline Desbordes-Valmore, a daughter of Flanders, of +whom<br> + these modern days may well be proud, I dedicate this quaint +legend<br> + of old Flanders.</p> + +<h4>DE BALZAC.</h4> + +<h4> </h4> + +<h1><br> + CHRIST IN FLANDERS</h1> + +<h1> </h1> + +<p>At a dimly remote period in the history of Brabant, +communication<br> + between the Island of Cadzand and the Flemish coast was kept up +by a<br> + boat which carried passengers from one shore to the other. +Middelburg,<br> + the chief town in the island, destined to become so famous in +the<br> + annals of Protestantism, at that time only numbered some two or +three<br> + hundred hearths; and the prosperous town of Ostend was an +obscure<br> + haven, a straggling village where pirates dwelt in security +among the<br> + fishermen and the few poor merchants who lived in the place.</p> + +<p>But though the town of Ostend consisted altogether of some +score of<br> + houses and three hundred cottages, huts or hovels built of +the<br> + driftwood of wrecked vessels, it nevertheless rejoiced in +the<br> + possession of a governor, a garrison, a forked gibbet, a +convent, and<br> + a burgomaster, in short, in all the institutions of an +advanced<br> + civilization.</p> + +<p><br> + Who reigned over Brabant and Flanders in those days? On this +point<br> + tradition is mute. Let us confess at once that this tale +savors<br> + strongly of the marvelous, the mysterious, and the vague; +elements<br> + which Flemish narrators have infused into a story retailed so +often to<br> + gatherings of workers on winter evenings, that the details vary +widely<br> + in poetic merit and incongruity of detail. It has been told by +every<br> + generation, handed down by grandames at the fireside, narrated +night<br> + and day, and the chronicle has changed its complexion somewhat +in<br> + every age. Like some great building that has suffered many<br> + modifications of successive generations of architects, some +sombre<br> + weather-beaten pile, the delight of a poet, the story would +drive the<br> + commentator and the industrious winnower of words, facts, and +dates to<br> + despair. The narrator believes in it, as all superstitious minds +in<br> + Flanders likewise believe; and is not a whit wiser nor more +credulous<br> + than his audience. But as it would be impossible to make a +harmony of<br> + all the different renderings, here are the outlines of the +story;<br> + stripped, it may be, of its picturesque quaintness, but with all +its<br> + bold disregard of historical truth, and its moral teachings +approved<br> + by religion--a myth, the blossom of imaginative fancy; an +allegory<br> + that the wise may interpret to suit themselves. To each his +own<br> + pasturage, and the task of separating the tares from the +wheat.</p> + +<p>The boat that served to carry passengers from the Island of +Cadzand to<br> + Ostend was upon the point of departure; but before the skipper +loosed<br> + the chain that secured the shallop to the little jetty, where +people<br> + embarked, he blew a horn several times, to warn late lingerers, +this<br> + being his last journey that day. Night was falling. It was +scarcely<br> + possible to see the coast of Flanders by the dying fires of +the<br> + sunset, or to make out upon the hither shore any forms of +belated<br> + passengers hurrying along the wall of the dykes that surrounded +the<br> + open country, or among the tall reeds of the marshes. The boat +was<br> + full.</p> + +<p>"What are you waiting for? Let us put off!" they cried.</p> + +<p>Just at that moment a man appeared a few paces from the jetty, +to the<br> + surprise of the skipper, who had heard no sound of footsteps. +The<br> + traveler seemed to have sprung up from the earth, like a peasant +who<br> + had laid himself down on the ground to wait till the boat +should<br> + start, and had slept till the sound of the horn awakened him. +Was he a<br> + thief? or some one belonging to the custom-house or the +police?</p> + +<p>As soon as the man appeared on the jetty to which the boat was +moored,<br> + seven persons who were standing in the stern of the shallop +hastened<br> + to sit down on the benches, so as to leave no room for the +newcomer.<br> + It was the swift and instinctive working of the aristocratic +spirit,<br> + an impulse of exclusiveness that comes from the rich man's +heart. Four<br> + of the seven personages belonged to the most aristocratic +families in<br> + Flanders. First among them was a young knight with two +beautiful<br> + greyhounds; his long hair flowed from beneath a jeweled cap; +he<br> + clanked his gilded spurs, curled the ends of his moustache from +time<br> + to time with a swaggering grace, and looked round disdainfully +on the<br> + rest of the crew. A high-born damsel, with a falcon on her +wrist, only<br> + spoke with her mother or with a churchman of high rank, who +was<br> + evidently a relation. All these persons made a great deal of +noise,<br> + and talked among themselves as though there were no one else in +the<br> + boat; yet close beside them sat a man of great importance in +the<br> + district, a stout burgher of Bruges, wrapped about with a vast +cloak.<br> + His servant, armed to the teeth, had set down a couple of bags +filled<br> + with gold at his side. Next to the burgher came a man of +learning, a<br> + doctor of the University of Louvain, who was traveling with his +clerk.<br> + This little group of folk, who looked contemptuously at each +other,<br> + was separated from the passengers in the forward part of the +boat by<br> + the bench of rowers.</p> + +<p>The belated traveler glanced about him as he stepped on board, +saw<br> + that there was no room for him in the stern, and went to the +bows in<br> + quest of a seat. They were all poor people there. At first sight +of<br> + the bareheaded man in the brown camlet coat and trunk-hose, and +plain<br> + stiff linen collar, they noticed that he wore no ornaments, +carried no<br> + cap nor bonnet in his hand, and had neither sword nor purse at +his<br> + girdle, and one and all took him for a burgomaster sure of +his<br> + authority, a worthy and kindly burgomaster like so many a +Fleming of<br> + old times, whose homely features and characters have been +immortalized<br> + by Flemish painters. The poorer passengers, therefore, received +him<br> + with demonstrations of respect that provoked scornful tittering +at the<br> + other end of the boat. An old soldier, inured to toil and +hardship,<br> + gave up his place on the bench to the newcomer, and seated +himself on<br> + the edge of the vessel, keeping his balance by planting his +feet<br> + against one of those traverse beams, like the backbone of a +fish, that<br> + hold the planks of a boat together. A young mother, who bore her +baby<br> + in her arms, and seemed to belong to the working class in +Ostend,<br> + moved aside to make room for the stranger. There was neither +servility<br> + nor scorn in her manner of doing this; it was a simple sign of +the<br> + goodwill by which the poor, who know by long experience the +value of a<br> + service and the warmth that fellowship brings, give expression +to the<br> + open-heartedness and the natural impulses of their souls; so +artlessly<br> + do they reveal their good qualities and their defects. The +stranger<br> + thanked her by a gesture full of gracious dignity, and took his +place<br> + between the young mother and the old soldier. Immediately behind +him<br> + sat a peasant and his son, a boy ten years of age. A beggar +woman,<br> + old, wrinkled, and clad in rags, was crouching, with her almost +empty<br> + wallet, on a great coil of rope that lay in the prow. One of +the<br> + rowers, an old sailor, who had known her in the days of her +beauty and<br> + prosperity, had let her come in "for the love of God," in +the<br> + beautiful phrase that the common people use.</p> + +<p>"Thank you kindly, Thomas," the old woman had said. "I will +say two<br> + <i>Paters</i> and two <i>Aves</i> for you in my prayers +to-night."</p> + +<p>The skipper blew his horn for the last time, looked along the +silent<br> + shore, flung off the chain, ran along the side of the boat, and +took<br> + up his position at the helm. He looked at the sky, and as soon +as they<br> + were out in the open sea, he shouted to the men: "Pull away, +pull with<br> + all your might! The sea is smiling at a squall, the witch! I can +feel<br> + the swell by the way the rudder works, and the storm in my +wounds."</p> + +<p>The nautical phrases, unintelligible to ears unused to the +sound of<br> + the sea, seemed to put fresh energy into the oars; they kept +time<br> + together, the rhythm of the movement was still even and steady, +but<br> + quite unlike the previous manner of rowing; it was as if a +cantering<br> + horse had broken into a gallop. The gay company seated in the +stern<br> + amused themselves by watching the brawny arms, the tanned faces, +and<br> + sparkling eyes of the rowers, the play of the tense muscles, +the<br> + physical and mental forces that were being exerted to bring them +for a<br> + trifling toll across the channel. So far from pitying the +rowers'<br> + distress, they pointed out the men's faces to each other, and +laughed<br> + at the grotesque expressions on the faces of the crew who +were<br> + straining every muscle; but in the fore part of the boat the +soldier,<br> + the peasant, and the old beggar woman watched the sailors with +the<br> + sympathy naturally felt by toilers who live by the sweat of +their brow<br> + and know the rough struggle, the strenuous excitement of effort. +These<br> + folk, moreover, whose lives were spent in the open air, had all +seen<br> + the warnings of danger in the sky, and their faces were grave. +The<br> + young mother rocked her child, singing an old hymn of the Church +for a<br> + lullaby.</p> + +<p>"If we ever get there at all," the soldier remarked to the +peasant,<br> + "it will be because the Almighty is bent on keeping us +alive."</p> + +<p>"Ah! He is the Master," said the old woman, "but I think it +will be<br> + His good pleasure to take us to Himself. Just look at that light +down<br> + there . . ." and she nodded her head as she spoke towards the +sunset.</p> + +<p>Streaks of fiery red glared from behind the masses of +crimson-flushed<br> + brown cloud that seemed about to unloose a furious gale. There +was a<br> + smothered murmur of the sea, a moaning sound that seemed to come +from<br> + the depths, a low warning growl, such as a dog gives when he +only<br> + means mischief as yet. After all, Ostend was not far away. +Perhaps<br> + painting, like poetry, could not prolong the existence of the +picture<br> + presented by sea and sky at that moment beyond the time of its +actual<br> + duration. Art demands vehement contrasts, wherefore artists +usually<br> + seek out Nature's most striking effects, doubtless because +they<br> + despair of rendering the great and glorious charm of her daily +moods;<br> + yet the human soul is often stirred as deeply by her calm as by +her<br> + emotion, and by silence as by storm.</p> + +<p>For a moment no one spoke on board the boat. Every one watched +that<br> + sea and sky, either with some presentiment of danger, or because +they<br> + felt the influence of the religious melancholy that takes +possession<br> + of nearly all of us at the close of the day, the hour of prayer, +when<br> + all nature is hushed save for the voices of the bells. The sea +gleamed<br> + pale and wan, but its hues changed, and the surface took all +the<br> + colors of steel. The sky was almost overspread with livid gray, +but<br> + down in the west there were long narrow bars like streaks of +blood;<br> + while lines of bright light in the eastern sky, sharp and clean +as if<br> + drawn by the tip of a brush, were separated by folds of cloud, +like<br> + the wrinkles on an old man's brow. The whole scene made a +background<br> + of ashen grays and half-tints, in strong contrast to the +bale-fires of<br> + the sunset. If written language might borrow of spoken language +some<br> + of the bold figures of speech invented by the people, it might +be said<br> + with the soldier that "the weather has been routed," or, as +the<br> + peasant would say, "the sky glowered like an executioner." +Suddenly a<br> + wind arose from the quarter of the sunset, and the skipper, who +never<br> + took his eyes off the sea, saw the swell on the horizon line, +and<br> + cried:</p> + +<p>"Stop rowing!"</p> + +<p>The sailors stopped immediately, and let their oars lie on the +water.</p> + +<p>"The skipper is right," said Thomas coolly. A great wave +caught up the<br> + boat, carried it high on its crest, only to plunge it, as it +were,<br> + into the trough of the sea that seemed to yawn for them. At +this<br> + mighty upheaval, this sudden outbreak of the wrath of the sea, +the<br> + company in the stern turned pale, and sent up a terrible +cry.</p> + +<p>"We are lost!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, not yet!" said the skipper calmly.</p> + +<p>As he spoke, the clouds immediately above their heads were +torn<br> + asunder by the vehemence of the wind. The gray mass was rent +and<br> + scattered east and west with ominous speed, a dim uncertain +light from<br> + the rift in the sky fell full upon the boat, and the travelers +beheld<br> + each other's faces. All of them, the noble and the wealthy, +the<br> + sailors and the poor passengers alike, were amazed for a moment +by the<br> + appearance of the last comer. His golden hair, parted upon his +calm,<br> + serene forehead, fell in thick curls about his shoulders; and +his<br> + face, sublime in its sweetness and radiant with divine love, +stood out<br> + against the surrounding gloom. He had no contempt for death; he +knew<br> + that he should not die. But if at the first the company in the +stern<br> + forgot for a moment the implacable fury of the storm that +threatened<br> + their lives, selfishness and their habits of life soon +prevailed<br> + again.</p> + +<p><br> + "How lucky that stupid burgomaster is, not to see the risks we +are all<br> + running! He is just like a dog, he will die without a struggle," +said<br> + the doctor.</p> + +<p>He had scarcely pronounced this highly judicious dictum when +the storm<br> + unloosed all its legions. The wind blew from every quarter of +the<br> + heavens, the boat span round like a top, and the sea broke +in.</p> + +<p>"Oh! my poor child! my poor child! . . . Who will save my +baby?" the<br> + mother cried in a heart-rending voice.</p> + +<p>"You yourself will save it," the stranger said.</p> + +<p>The thrilling tones of that voice went to the young mother's +heart and<br> + brought hope with them; she heard the gracious words through all +the<br> + whistling of the wind and the shrieks of the passengers.</p> + +<p>"Holy Virgin of Good Help, who art at Antwerp, I promise thee +a<br> + thousand pounds of wax and a statue, if thou wilt rescue me +from<br> + this!" cried the burgher, kneeling upon his bags of gold.</p> + +<p>"The Virgin is no more at Antwerp than she is here," was the +doctor's<br> + comment on this appeal.</p> + +<p>"She is in heaven," said a voice that seemed to come from the +sea.</p> + +<p>"Who said that?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis the devil!" exclaimed the servant. "He is scoffing at +the Virgin<br> + of Antwerp."</p> + +<p>"Let us have no more of your Holy Virgin at present," the +skipper<br> + cried to the passengers. "Put your hands to the scoops and bail +the<br> + water out of the boat.--And the rest of you," he went on, +addressing<br> + the sailors, "pull with all your might! Now is the time; in the +name<br> + of the devil who is leaving you in this world, be your own +Providence!<br> + Every one knows that the channel is fearfully dangerous; I have +been<br> + to and fro across it these thirty years. Am I facing a storm for +the<br> + first time to-night?"</p> + +<p>He stood at the helm, and looked, as before, at his boat and +at the<br> + sea and sky in turn.</p> + +<p>"The skipper always laughs at everything," muttered +Thomas.</p> + +<p>"Will God leave us to perish along with those wretched +creatures?"<br> + asked the haughty damsel of the handsome cavalier.</p> + +<p>"No, no, noble maiden. . . . Listen!" and he caught her by the +waist<br> + and said in her ear, "I can swim, say nothing about it! I will +hold<br> + you by your fair hair and bring you safely to the shore; but I +can<br> + only save you."</p> + +<p>The girl looked at her aged mother. The lady was on her +knees<br> + entreating absolution of the Bishop, who did not heed her. In +the<br> + beautiful eyes the knight read a vague feeling of filial piety, +and<br> + spoke in a smothered voice.</p> + +<p>"Submit yourself to the will of God. If it is His pleasure to +take<br> + your mother to Himself, it will doubtless be for her +happiness--in<br> + another world," he added, and his voice dropped still lower. +"And for<br> + ours in this," he thought within himself.</p> + +<p>The Dame of Rupelmonde was lady of seven fiefs beside the +barony of<br> + Gavres.</p> + +<p>The girl felt the longing for life in her heart, and for love +that<br> + spoke through the handsome adventurer, a young miscreant who +haunted<br> + churches in search of a prize, an heiress to marry, or ready +money.<br> + The Bishop bestowed his benison on the waves, and bade them be +calm;<br> + it was all that he could do. He thought of his concubine, and of +the<br> + delicate feast with which she would welcome him; perhaps at that +very<br> + moment she was bathing, perfuming herself, robing herself in +velvet,<br> + fastening her necklace and her jeweled clasps; and the +perverse<br> + Bishop, so far from thinking of the power of Holy Church, of his +duty<br> + to comfort Christians and exhort them to trust in God, mingled +worldly<br> + regrets and lover's sighs with the holy words of the breviary. +By the<br> + dim light that shone on the pale faces of the company, it was +possible<br> + to see their differing expressions as the boat was lifted high +in air<br> + by a wave, to be cast back into the dark depths; the shallop +quivered<br> + like a fragile leaf, the plaything of the north wind in the +autumn;<br> + the hull creaked, it seemed ready to go to pieces. Fearful +shrieks<br> + went up, followed by an awful silence.</p> + +<p>There was a strange difference between the behavior of the +folk in the<br> + bows and that of the rich or great people at the other end of +the<br> + boat. The young mother clasped her infant tightly to her breast +every<br> + time that a great wave threatened to engulf the fragile vessel; +but<br> + she clung to the hope that the stranger's words had set in her +heart.<br> + Each time that the eyes turned to his face she drew fresh faith +at the<br> + sight, the strong faith of a helpless woman, a mother's faith. +She<br> + lived by that divine promise, the loving words from his lips; +the<br> + simple creature waited trustingly for them to be fulfilled, +and<br> + scarcely feared the danger any longer.</p> + +<p>The soldier, holding fast to the vessel's side, never took his +eyes<br> + off the strange visitor. He copied on his own rough and +swarthy<br> + features the imperturbability of the other's face, applying to +this<br> + task the whole strength of a will and intelligence but +little<br> + corrupted in the course of a life of mechanical and passive +obedience.<br> + So emulous was he of a calm and tranquil courage greater than +his own,<br> + that at last, perhaps unconsciously, something of that +mysterious<br> + nature passed into his own soul. His admiration became an +instinctive<br> + zeal for this man, a boundless love for and belief in him, such +a love<br> + as soldiers feel for their leader when he has the power of +swaying<br> + other men, when the halo of victories surrounds him, and the +magical<br> + fascination of genius is felt in all that he does. The poor +outcast<br> + was murmuring to herself:</p> + +<p>"Ah! miserable wretch that I am! Have I not suffered enough to +expiate<br> + the sins of my youth? Ah! wretched woman, why did you leave the +gay<br> + life of a frivolous Frenchwoman? why did you devour the goods of +God<br> + with churchmen, the substance of the poor with extortioners +and<br> + fleecers of the poor? Oh! I have sinned indeed!--Oh my God! my +God!<br> + let me finish my time in hell here in this world of misery."</p> + +<p>And again she cried, "Holy Virgin, Mother of God, have pity +upon me!"</p> + +<p>"Be comforted, mother. God is not a Lombard usurer. I may have +killed<br> + people good and bad at random in my time, but I am not afraid of +the<br> + resurrection."</p> + +<p>"Ah! master Lancepesade, how happy those fair ladies are, to +be so<br> + near to a bishop, a holy man! They will get absolution for +their<br> + sins," said the old woman. "Oh! if I could only hear a priest +say to<br> + me, 'Thy sins are forgiven!' I should believe it then."</p> + +<p>The stranger turned towards her, and the goodness in his face +made her<br> + tremble.</p> + +<p>"Have faith," he said, "and you will be saved."</p> + +<p>"May God reward you, good sir," she answered. "If what you say +is<br> + true, I will go on pilgrimage barefooted to Our Lady of Loretto +to<br> + pray to her for you and for me."</p> + +<p>The two peasants, father and son, were silent, patient, and +submissive<br> + to the will of God, like folk whose wont it is to fall in<br> + instinctively with the ways of Nature like cattle. At the one +end of<br> + the boat stood riches, pride, learning, debauchery, and +crime--human<br> + society, such as art and thought and education and worldly +interests<br> + and laws have made it; and at this end there was terror and +wailing,<br> + innumerable different impulses all repressed by hideous +doubts--at<br> + this end, and at this only, the agony of fear.</p> + +<p>Above all these human lives stood a strong man, the skipper; +no doubts<br> + assailed him, the chief, the king, the fatalist among them. He +was<br> + trusting in himself rather than in Providence, crying, "Bail +away!"<br> + instead of "Holy Virgin," defying the storm, in fact, and +struggling<br> + with the sea like a wrestler.</p> + +<p>But the helpless poor at the other end of the wherry! The +mother<br> + rocking on her bosom the little one who smiled at the storm; the +woman<br> + once so frivolous and gay, and now tormented with bitter +remorse; the<br> + old soldier covered with scars, a mutilated life the sole reward +of<br> + his unflagging loyalty and faithfulness. This veteran could +scarcely<br> + count on the morsel of bread soaked in tears to keep the life in +him,<br> + yet he was always ready to laugh, and went his way merrily, +happy when<br> + he could drown his glory in the depths of a pot of beer, or +could tell<br> + tales of the wars to the children who admired him, leaving his +future<br> + with a light heart in the hands of God. Lastly, there were the +two<br> + peasants, used to hardships and toil, labor incarnate, the labor +by<br> + which the world lives. These simple folk were indifferent to +thought<br> + and its treasures, ready to sink them all in a belief; and their +faith<br> + was but so much the more vigorous because they had never +disputed<br> + about it nor analyzed it. Such a nature is a virgin soil, +conscience<br> + has not been tampered with, feeling is deep and strong; +repentance,<br> + trouble, love, and work have developed, purified, concentrated, +and<br> + increased their force of will a hundred times, the will--the one +thing<br> + in man that resembles what learned doctors call the Soul.</p> + +<p>The boat, guided by the well-nigh miraculous skill of the +steersman,<br> + came almost within sight of Ostend, when, not fifty paces from +the<br> + shore, she was suddenly struck by a heavy sea and capsized. +The<br> + stranger with the light about his head spoke to this little +world of<br> + drowning creatures:</p> + +<p>"Those who have faith shall be saved; let them follow me!"</p> + +<p>He stood upright, and walked with a firm step upon the waves. +The<br> + young mother at once took her child in her arms, and followed at +his<br> + side across the sea. The soldier too sprang up, saying in his +homely<br> + fashion, "Ah! <i>nom d'un pipe</i>! I would follow <i>you</i> to +the devil;" and<br> + without seeming astonished by it, he walked on the water. The +worn-out<br> + sinner, believing in the omnipotence of God, also followed +the<br> + stranger.</p> + +<p>The two peasants said to each other, "If they are walking on +the sea,<br> + why should we not do as they do?" and they also arose and +hastened<br> + after the others. Thomas tried to follow, but his faith +tottered; he<br> + sank in the sea more than once, and rose again, but the third +time he<br> + also walked on the sea. The bold steersman clung like a remora +to the<br> + wreck of his boat. The miser had had faith, and had risen to go, +but<br> + he tried to take his gold with him, and it was his gold that +dragged<br> + him down to the bottom. The learned man had scoffed at the +charlatan<br> + and at the fools who listened to him; and when he heard the +mysterious<br> + stranger propose to the passengers that they should walk on the +waves,<br> + he began to laugh, and the ocean swallowed him. The girl was +dragged<br> + down into the depths by her lover. The Bishop and the older lady +went<br> + to the bottom, heavily laden with sins, it may be, but still +more<br> + heavily laden with incredulity and confidence in idols, weighted +down<br> + by devotion, into which alms-deeds and true religion entered +but<br> + little.</p> + +<p><br> + The faithful flock, who walked with a firm step high and dry +above the<br> + surge, heard all about them the dreadful whistling of the blast; +great<br> + billows broke across their path, but an irresistible force cleft +a way<br> + for them through the sea. These believing ones saw through the +spray a<br> + dim speck of light flickering in the window of a fisherman's hut +on<br> + the shore, and each one, as he pushed on bravely towards the +light,<br> + seemed to hear the voice of his fellow crying, "Courage!" +through all<br> + the roaring of the surf; yet no one had spoken a word--so +absorbed was<br> + each by his own peril. In this way they reached the shore.</p> + +<p>When they were all seated near the fisherman's fire, they +looked round<br> + in vain for their guide with the light about him. The sea washed +up<br> + the steersman at the base of the cliff on which the cottage +stood; he<br> + was clinging with might and main to the plank as a sailor can +cling<br> + when death stares him in the face; the MAN went down and rescued +the<br> + almost exhausted seaman; then he said, as he held out a +succoring hand<br> + above the man's head:</p> + +<p>"Good, for this once; but do not try it again; the example +would be<br> + too bad."</p> + +<p>He took the skipper on his shoulders, and carried him to +the<br> + fisherman's door; knocked for admittance for the exhausted man; +then,<br> + when the door of the humble refuge opened, the Saviour +disappeared.</p> + +<p>The Convent of Mercy was built for sailors on this spot, where +for<br> + long afterwards (so it was said) the footprints of Jesus Christ +could<br> + be seen in the sand; but in 1793, at the time of the French +invasion,<br> + the monks carried away this precious relic, that bore witness to +the<br> + Saviour's last visit to earth.</p> + +<p>There at the convent I found myself shortly after the +Revolution of<br> + 1830. I was weary of life. If you had asked me the reason of +my<br> + despair, I should have found it almost impossible to give it, +so<br> + languid had grown the soul that was melted within me. The west +wind<br> + had slackened the springs of my intelligence. A cold gray light +poured<br> + down from the heavens, and the murky clouds that passed overhead +gave<br> + a boding look to the land; all these things, together with +the<br> + immensity of the sea, said to me, "Die to-day or die to-morrow, +still<br> + must we not die?" And then--I wandered on, musing on the +doubtful<br> + future, on my blighted hopes. Gnawed by these gloomy thoughts, +I<br> + turned mechanically into the convent church, with the gray +towers that<br> + loomed like ghosts though the sea mists. I looked round with +no<br> + kindling of the imagination at the forest of columns, at the +slender<br> + arches set aloft upon the leafy capitals, a delicate labyrinth +of<br> + sculpture. I walked with careless eyes along the side aisles +that<br> + opened out before me like vast portals, ever turning upon +their<br> + hinges. It was scarcely possible to see, by the dim light of +the<br> + autumn day, the sculptured groinings of the roof, the delicate +and<br> + clean-cut lines of the mouldings of the graceful pointed arches. +The<br> + organ pipes were mute. There was no sound save the noise of my +own<br> + footsteps to awaken the mournful echoes lurking in the dark +chapels. I<br> + sat down at the base of one of the four pillars that supported +the<br> + tower, near the choir. Thence I could see the whole of the +building. I<br> + gazed, and no ideas connected with it arose in my mind. I saw +without<br> + seeing the mighty maze of pillars, the great rose windows that +hung<br> + like a network suspended as by a miracle in air above the +vast<br> + doorways. I saw the doors at the end of the side aisles, the +aerial<br> + galleries, the stained glass windows framed in archways, divided +by<br> + slender columns, fretted into flower forms and trefoil by +fine<br> + filigree work of carved stone. A dome of glass at the end of the +choir<br> + sparkled as if it had been built of precious stones set +cunningly. In<br> + contrast to the roof with its alternating spaces of whiteness +and<br> + color, the two aisles lay to right and left in shadow so deep +that the<br> + faint gray outlines of their hundred shafts were scarcely +visible in<br> + the gloom. I gazed at the marvelous arcades, the scroll-work, +the<br> + garlands, the curving lines, and arabesques interwoven and +interlaced,<br> + and strangely lighted, until by sheer dint of gazing my +perceptions<br> + became confused, and I stood upon the borderland between +illusion and<br> + reality, taken in the snare set for the eyes, and almost +light-headed<br> + by reason of the multitudinous changes of the shapes about +me.</p> + +<p>Imperceptibly a mist gathered about the carven stonework, and +I only<br> + beheld it through a haze of fine golden dust, like the motes +that<br> + hover in the bars of sunlight slanting through the air of a +chamber.<br> + Suddenly the stone lacework of the rose windows gleamed through +this<br> + vapor that had made all forms so shadowy. Every moulding, the +edges of<br> + every carving, the least detail of the sculpture was dipped in +silver.<br> + The sunlight kindled fires in the stained windows, their rich +colors<br> + sent out glowing sparks of light. The shafts began to tremble, +the<br> + capitals were gently shaken. A light shudder as of delight ran +through<br> + the building, the stones were loosened in their setting, the +wall-<br> + spaces swayed with graceful caution. Here and there a ponderous +pier<br> + moved as solemnly as a dowager when she condescends to complete +a<br> + quadrille at the close of a ball. A few slender and graceful +columns,<br> + their heads adorned with wreaths of trefoil, began to laugh and +dance<br> + here and there. Some of the pointed arches dashed at the tall +lancet<br> + windows, who, like ladies of the Middle Ages, wore the +armorial<br> + bearings of their houses emblazoned on their golden robes. The +dance<br> + of the mitred arcades with the slender windows became like a +fray at a<br> + tourney.</p> + +<p>In another moment every stone in the church vibrated, without +leaving<br> + its place; for the organ-pipes spoke, and I heard divine +music<br> + mingling with the songs of angels, and unearthly harmony, +accompanied<br> + by the deep notes of the bells, that boomed as the giant towers +rocked<br> + and swayed on their square bases. This strange Sabbath seemed to +me<br> + the most natural thing in the world; and I, who had seen Charles +X.<br> + hurled from his throne, was no longer amazed by anything. Nay, +I<br> + myself was gently swaying with a see-saw movement that +influenced my<br> + nerves pleasurably in a manner of which it is impossible to give +any<br> + idea. Yet in the midst of this heated riot, the cathedral choir +felt<br> + cold as if it were a winter day, and I became aware of a +multitude of<br> + women, robed in white, silent, and impassive, sitting there. The +sweet<br> + incense smoke that arose from the censers was grateful to my +soul. The<br> + tall wax candles flickered. The lectern, gay as a chanter undone +by<br> + the treachery of wine, was skipping about like a peal of +Chinese<br> + bells.</p> + +<p><br> + Then I knew that the whole cathedral was whirling round so fast +that<br> + everything appeared to be undisturbed. The colossal Figure on +the<br> + crucifix above the altar smiled upon me with a mingled malice +and<br> + benevolence that frightened me; I turned my eyes away, and +marveled at<br> + the bluish vapor that slid across the pillars, lending to them +an<br> + indescribable charm. Then some graceful women's forms began to +stir on<br> + the friezes. The cherubs who upheld the heavy columns shook out +their<br> + wings. I felt myself uplifted by some divine power that steeped +me in<br> + infinite joy, in a sweet and languid rapture. I would have given +my<br> + life, I think, to have prolonged these phantasmagoria for a +little,<br> + but suddenly a shrill voice clamored in my ears:</p> + +<p>"Awake and follow me!"</p> + +<p>A withered woman took my hand in hers; its icy coldness crept +through<br> + every nerve. The bones of her face showed plainly through the +sallow,<br> + almost olive-tinted wrinkles of the skin. The shrunken, ice-cold +old<br> + woman wore a black robe, which she trailed in the dust, and at +her<br> + throat there was something white, which I dared not examine. I +could<br> + scarcely see her wan and colorless eyes, for they were fixed in +a<br> + stare upon the heavens. She drew me after her along the +aisles,<br> + leaving a trace of her presence in the ashes that she shook from +her<br> + dress. Her bones rattled as she walked, like the bones of a +skeleton;<br> + and as we went I heard behind me the tinkling of a little bell, +a<br> + thin, sharp sound that rang through my head like the notes of +a<br> + harmonica.</p> + +<p>"Suffer!" she cried, "suffer! So it must be!"</p> + +<p>We came out of the church; we went through the dirtiest +streets of the<br> + town, till we came at last to a dingy dwelling, and she bade me +enter<br> + in. She dragged me with her, calling to me in a harsh, tuneless +voice<br> + like a cracked bell:</p> + +<p>"Defend me! defend me!"</p> + +<p>Together we went up a winding staircase. She knocked at a door +in the<br> + darkness, and a mute, like some familiar of the Inquisition, +opened to<br> + her. In another moment we stood in a room hung with ancient, +ragged<br> + tapestry, amid piles of old linen, crumpled muslin, and gilded +brass.</p> + +<p>"Behold the wealth that shall endure for ever!" said she.</p> + +<p>I shuddered with horror; for just then, by the light of a tall +torch<br> + and two altar candles, I saw distinctly that this woman was +fresh from<br> + the graveyard. She had no hair. I turned to fly. She raised +her<br> + fleshless arm and encircled me with a band of iron set with +spikes,<br> + and as she raised it a cry went up all about us, the cry of +millions<br> + of voices--the shouting of the dead!</p> + +<p>"It is my purpose to make thee happy for ever," she said. +"Thou art my<br> + son."</p> + +<p>We were sitting before the hearth, the ashes lay cold upon it; +the old<br> + shrunken woman grasped my hand so tightly in hers that I could +not<br> + choose but stay. I looked fixedly at her, striving to read the +story<br> + of her life from the things among which she was crouching. Had +she<br> + indeed any life in her? It was a mystery. Yet I saw plainly that +once<br> + she must have been young and beautiful; fair, with all the charm +of<br> + simplicity, perfect as some Greek statue, with the brow of a +vestal.</p> + +<p>"Ah! ah!" I cried, "now I know thee! Miserable woman, why hast +thou<br> + prostituted thyself? In the age of thy passions, in the time of +thy<br> + prosperity, the grace and purity of thy youth were +forgotten.<br> + Forgetful of thy heroic devotion, thy pure life, thy abundant +faith,<br> + thou didst resign thy primitive power and thy spiritual +supremacy for<br> + fleshly power. Thy linen vestments, thy couch of moss, the cell +in the<br> + rock, bright with rays of the Light Divine, was forsaken; thou +hast<br> + sparkled with diamonds, and shone with the glitter of luxury +and<br> + pride. Then, grown bold and insolent, seizing and overturning +all<br> + things in thy course like a courtesan eager for pleasure in her +days<br> + of splendor, thou hast steeped thyself in blood like some +queen<br> + stupefied by empery. Dost thou not remember to have been dull +and<br> + heavy at times, and the sudden marvelous lucidity of other +moments; as<br> + when Art emerges from an orgy? Oh! poet, painter, and singer, +lover of<br> + splendid ceremonies and protector of the arts, was thy +friendship for<br> + art perchance a caprice, that so thou shouldst sleep beneath<br> + magnificent canopies? Was there not a day when, in thy +fantastic<br> + pride, though chastity and humility were prescribed to thee, +thou<br> + hadst brought all things beneath thy feet, and set thy foot on +the<br> + necks of princes; when earthly dominion, and wealth, and the +mind of<br> + man bore thy yoke? Exulting in the abasement of humanity, joying +to<br> + witness the uttermost lengths to which man's folly would go, +thou hast<br> + bidden thy lovers walk on all fours, and required of them their +lands<br> + and wealth, nay, even their wives if they were worth aught to +thee.<br> + Thou hast devoured millions of men without a cause; thou hast +flung<br> + away lives like sand blown by the wind from West to East. Thou +hast<br> + come down from the heights of thought to sit among the kings of +men.<br> + Woman! instead of comforting men, thou hast tormented and +afflicted<br> + them! Knowing that thou couldst ask and have, thou hast +demanded--<br> + blood! A little flour surely should have contented thee, +accustomed as<br> + thou hast been to live on bread and to mingle water with thy +wine.<br> + Unlike all others in all things, formerly thou wouldst bid thy +lovers<br> + fast, and they obeyed. Why should thy fancies have led thee to +require<br> + things impossible? Why, like a courtesan spoiled by her lovers, +hast<br> + thou doted on follies, and left those undeceived who sought to +explain<br> + and justify all thy errors? Then came the days of thy later +passions,<br> + terrible like the love of a woman of forty years, with a fierce +cry<br> + thou hast sought to clasp the whole universe in one last +embrace--and<br> + thy universe recoiled from thee!</p> + +<p><br> + "Then old men succeeded to thy young lovers; decrepitude came to +thy<br> + feet and made thee hideous. Yet, even then, men with the eagle +power<br> + of vision said to thee in a glance, 'Thou shalt perish +ingloriously,<br> + because thou hast fallen away, because thou hast broken the vows +of<br> + thy maidenhood. The angel with peace written on her forehead, +who<br> + should have shed light and joy along her path, has been a +Messalina,<br> + delighting in the circus, in debauchery, and abuse of power. The +days<br> + of thy virginity cannot return; henceforward thou shalt be +subject to<br> + a master. Thy hour has come; the hand of death is upon thee. Thy +heirs<br> + believe that thou art rich; they will kill thee and find +nothing. Yet<br> + try at least to fling away this raiment no longer in fashion; be +once<br> + more as in the days of old!--Nay, thou art dead, and by thy own +deed!'</p> + +<p>"Is not this thy story?" so I ended. "Decrepit, toothless, +shivering<br> + crone, now forgotten, going thy ways without so much as a glance +from<br> + passers-by! Why art thou still alive? What doest thou in that +beggar's<br> + garb, uncomely and desired of none? Where are thy riches?--for +what<br> + were they spent? Where are thy treasures?--what great deeds hast +thou<br> + done?"</p> + +<p>At this demand, the shriveled woman raised her bony form, +flung off<br> + her rags, and grew tall and radiant, smiling as she broke forth +from<br> + the dark chrysalid sheath. Then like a butterfly, this +diaphanous<br> + creature emerged, fair and youthful, clothed in white linen, an +Indian<br> + from creation issuing her palms. Her golden hair rippled over +her<br> + shoulders, her eyes glowed, a bright mist clung about her, a +ring of<br> + gold hovered above her head, she shook the flaming blade of a +sword<br> + towards the spaces of heaven.</p> + +<p>"See and believe!" she cried.</p> + +<p>And suddenly I saw, afar off, many thousands of cathedrals +like the<br> + one that I had just quitted; but these were covered with +pictures and<br> + with frescoes, and I heard them echo with entrancing music. +Myriads of<br> + human creatures flocked to these great buildings, swarming about +them<br> + like ants on an ant-heap. Some were eager to rescue books +from<br> + oblivion or to copy manuscripts, others were helping the poor, +but<br> + nearly all were studying. Up above this countless multitude rose +giant<br> + statues that they had erected in their midst, and by the gleams +of a<br> + strange light from some luminary as powerful as the sun, I read +the<br> + inscriptions on the bases of the statues--Science, History,<br> + Literature.</p> + +<p>The light died out. Again I faced the young girl. Gradually +she<br> + slipped into the dreary sheath, into the ragged cere-cloths, +and<br> + became an aged woman again. Her familiar brought her a little +dust,<br> + and she stirred it into the ashes of her chafing-dish, for the +weather<br> + was cold and stormy; and then he lighted for her, whose palaces +had<br> + been lit with thousands of wax-tapers, a little cresset, that +she<br> + might see to read her prayers through the hours of night.</p> + +<p>"There is no faith left in the earth! . . ." she said.</p> + +<p>In such a perilous plight did I behold the fairest and the +greatest,<br> + the truest and most life-giving of all Powers.</p> + +<p>"Wake up, sir, the doors are just about to be shut," said a +hoarse<br> + voice. I turned and beheld the beadle's ugly countenance; the +man was<br> + shaking me by the arm, and the cathedral lay wrapped in shadows +as a<br> + man is wrapped in his cloak.</p> + +<p>"Belief," I said to myself, "is Life! I have just witnessed +the<br> + funeral of a monarchy, now we must defend the church."</p> + +<p>PARIS, February 183l.</p> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Christ in Flanders, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRIST IN FLANDERS *** + +This file should be named flndr10h.htm or flndr10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, flndr11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, flndr11ah.htm + +Produced by Walter Debeuf + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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