diff options
Diffstat (limited to '35736-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 35736-8.txt | 1400 |
1 files changed, 1400 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/35736-8.txt b/35736-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9db836 --- /dev/null +++ b/35736-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1400 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life and Death, by Henryk Sienkiewicz + +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: Life and Death + And Other Legends and Stories + +Author: Henryk Sienkiewicz + +Translator: Jeremiah Curtin + +Release Date: April 1, 2011 [EBook #35736] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND DEATH *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + + + + + + + + +Life and Death + +_And Other Legends and Stories_ + + + + +THE WORKS OF HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ + +TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL POLISH BY JEREMIAH CURTIN. + + +_The Zagloba Romances_ + + WITH FIRE AND SWORD. 1 vol. + THE DELUGE. 2 vols. + PAN MICHAEL. 1 vol. + + + QUO VADIS. 1 vol. + THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS. 2 vols. + CHILDREN OF THE SOIL. 1 vol. + HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES. 1 vol. + SIELANKA, AND OTHER STORIES. 1 vol. + IN VAIN. 1 vol. + LIFE AND DEATH AND OTHER LEGENDS AND STORIES. 1 vol. + + + WITHOUT DOGMA. (Translated by Iza Young.) 1 vol. + + + + +[Illustration: HOUSE PRESENTED TO HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ BY THE POLES + +Mr. Sienkiewicz and Mr. Curtin in the foreground] + + + + + Life and Death + + _And Other Legends and Stories_ + + + By Henryk Sienkiewicz + + Author of "With Fire and Sword," "The Deluge," + "Pan Michael," "Quo Vadis," "Knights + of the Cross," etc. + + + _Translated from the Original Polish by_ + Jeremiah Curtin + + + Boston + Little, Brown, and Company + 1904 + + + + + _Copyright, 1897, 1899, 1900, 1904_, + BY JEREMIAH CURTIN. + + _All rights reserved_ + + + THE UNIVERSITY PRESS + CAMBRIDGE, U. S. A. + + + + +PREFACE + + +_"Is He the Dearest One?" was produced under the following circumstances: +About fourteen years ago there was a famine, or at least hunger, in +Silesia. Though that land is a German possession at present, it was once a +part of the Polish Commonwealth, and there are many un-Germanized Poles in +it yet._ + +_The mother in this sketch is Poland. Yasko, the most unfortunate of her +sons, is Silesia. Poor, ill-fated, he neglects his own language, forgets +his mother; but she does not forget him, as was shown on the occasion of +that hunger in Silesia. The Poles of Russian Poland collected one million +marks and sent them to Yasko._ + +_The ship "Purple" represents Poland and its career, and is a very brief +summary of the essence and meaning of Polish history. Like some of the +author's most beautiful short productions, it was written for a benevolent +object, all the money obtained for it being devoted to that object._ + +_All persons who have read "Charcoal Sketches," in Sienkiewicz's "Hania," +will be interested to learn the origin of that striking production. It was +written mainly and finished in Los Angeles, Cal., as Sienkiewicz told me +in Switzerland six years ago, but it was begun at Anaheim Landing, as is +described in the sketch printed in this volume, "The Cranes." Besides +being begun at Anaheim Landing, the whole plan of "Charcoal Sketches" was +worked out there. "The Cranes" appeared in Lvov, or Lemburg, a few years +ago, in a paper which was published for one day only, and was made up of +contributions from Polish authors who gave these contributions for a +benevolent purpose. The Hindu legend, "Life and Death," to be read by +Sienkiewicz at Warsaw in January, is his latest work._ + +_JEREMIAH CURTIN._ + + _Torbole, Lago di Garda, Austria, + December 18, 1903._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + + _Page_ + + LIFE AND DEATH: A HINDU LEGEND 3 + + IS HE THE DEAREST ONE? 21 + + A LEGEND OF THE SEA 29 + + THE CRANES 41 + + THE JUDGMENT OF PETER AND PAUL ON OLYMPUS 55 + + + + +LIFE AND DEATH _A HINDU LEGEND_ + + +LIFE AND DEATH _A HINDU LEGEND_ + + +I + +LIFE AND DEATH + + +There were two regions lying side by side, as it were two immense plains, +with a clear river flowing between them. + +At one point the banks of this river sloped gently to a shallow ford in +the shape of a pond with transparent, calm water. + +Beneath the azure surface of this ford could be seen its golden bed, from +which grew stems of lotus; on those stems bloomed white and rose-colored +flowers above the mirror of water. Rainbow-hued insects and butterflies +circled around the flowers and among the palms of the shore, while higher +up in the sunny air birds gave out sounds like those of silver bells. This +pond was the passage from one region to the other. + +The first region was called the Plain of Life, the second the Plain of +Death. + +The supreme and all mighty Brahma had created both plains, and had +commanded the good Vishnu to rule in the Region of Life, while the wise +Siva was lord in the Region of Death. + +"Do what ye understand to be best," said Brahma to the two rulers. + +Hence in the region belonging to Vishnu life moved with all its activity. +The sun rose and set; day followed night, and night followed day; the sea +rose and fell; in the sky appeared clouds big with rain; the earth was +soon covered with forests, and crowded with beasts, birds, and people. + +So that all living creatures might increase greatly and multiply, the +kindly god created Love, which he made to be Happiness also. + +After this Brahma summoned Vishnu and said to him: + +"Thou canst produce nothing better on earth, and since heaven is created +already by me, do thou rest and let those whom thou callest people weave +the thread of life for themselves unassisted." + +Vishnu obeyed this command, and henceforward men ordered their own lives. +From their good thoughts came joy, from their evil ones, sorrow; and they +saw soon with wonder that life was not an unbroken rejoicing, but that +with the life thread which Brahma had mentioned they wove out two webs as +it were with two faces,--on one of these was a smile; there were tears in +the eyes of the other. + +They went then to the throne of Vishnu and made complaint to him: + +"O Lord! life is grievous through sorrow." + +"Let Love give you happiness," said Vishnu in answer. + +At these words they went away quieted, for Love indeed scattered their +sorrows, which, in view of the happiness given, seemed so insignificant as +to be undeserving of notice. + +But Love is also the mighty mother of life, hence, though the region which +Vishnu ruled was enormous, it was soon insufficient for the myriads of +people; soon there was not fruit enough upon trees there, nor berries +enough upon bushes, nor honey enough from cliff bees. + +Thereupon all the men who were wisest fell to cutting down forests for the +clearing of land, for the sowing of seed, for the winning of harvests. + +Thus Labor appeared among people. Soon all had to turn to it, and labor +became not merely the basis of life, but life itself very nearly. + +But from Labor came Toil, and Toil produced Weariness. + +Great throngs of people appeared before Vishnu a second time. + +"O Lord!" exclaimed they, stretching their hands to him, "toil has +weakened our bodies, weariness spreads through our bones, we are yearning +for rest, but Life drives us always to labor." + +To this Vishnu answered: + +"The great and all mighty Brahma has not allowed me to shape Life any +further, but I am free to make that which will cause it to halt, and rest +will come then to you." + +And Vishnu made Sleep. + +Men received this new gift with rejoicing, and very soon saw in it one of +the greatest boons given by the deity thus far. In sleep vanished care and +vexation, during sleep strength returned to the weary; sleep, like a +cherishing mother, wiped away tears of sorrow and surrounded the heads of +the slumbering with oblivion. + +So people glorified sleep, and repeated: + +"Be blessed, for thou art far better than life in our waking hours." + +And they had one regret only, that it did not continue forever. After +sleep came awakening, and after awakening came labor with fresh toil and +weariness. + +This thought began soon to torture all men so sorely, that for the third +time they stood before Vishnu. + +"O Lord," said they, "thou hast given us a boon which, though great and +unspeakably precious, is incomplete as it now appears. Wilt thou grant us +that sleep be eternal?" + +Vishnu wrinkled his brows then in anger at this their insistence, and +answered: + +"I cannot give what ye ask of me, but go to the neighboring ford, and +beyond ye will find that for which ye are seeking." + +The people heard the god's voice and went on in legions immediately. They +went to the ford, and, halting there, gazed at the shore lying opposite. + +Beyond the clear, calm, and flower-bedecked surface stretched the Plain of +Death, or the Kingdom of Siva. + +The sun never rose and never set in that region; there was no day and no +night there, but the whole plain was of a lily-colored, absolute +clearness. No shadow fell in that region, for clearness inhered there so +thoroughly that it seemed the real essence of Siva's dominions. + +The region was not empty. As far as the eye could reach were seen heights +and valleys where beautiful trees stood in groups; on those trees rose +climbing plants, while ivy and grapevines were hanging from the cliff +sides. + +But the cliffs and the tree trunks and the slender plant stems were almost +transparent, as if formed out of light grown material. The leaves of the +ivy had in them a delicate roseate light as of dawn. And all was in +marvellous rest, such as none on the Plain of Life had experienced; all +was as if sunk in serene meditation, as if dreaming and resting in +continuous slumber, unthreatened by waking. + +In the clear air not the slightest breeze was discovered, not a flower was +seen moving, not a leaf showed a quiver. + +The people who had come to the shore with loud conversation and clamor +grew silent at sight of those lily-colored, motionless spaces, and +whispered: + +"What quiet! How everything rests there in clearness!" + +"Oh, yes, there is rest and unbroken repose in that region." + +So some, namely, those who were weariest, said after a silence: + +"Let us find the sleep which is surely unbroken." + +And they entered the water. The rainbow-hued surface opened straightway +before them, as if wishing to lighten the passage. Those who remained on +the shore began now to call after them, but no man turned his head, and +all hurried forward with willingness and lightly, attracted more and more +by the charm of that wonderful region. + +The throng which gazed from the shore of Life at them noted this also: +that as they moved forward their bodies grew gradually less heavy, +becoming transparent and purer, more radiant, and as it were blending with +that absolute clearness which filled the whole Plain of Death, Siva's +kingdom. + +And when they had passed and disposed themselves amid flowers and at trees +or the bases of cliffs, to repose there, their eyes were closed, but their +faces had on them not only an expression of ineffable peace, but also of +happiness such as Love itself on the Plain of Life had never given. + +Seeing this, those who had halted behind said one to another: + +"The region belonging to Siva is sweeter and better." + +And they began to pass to that shore in increasing numbers. There went in +solemn procession old men, and men in ripe years, and husbands and wives, +and mothers who led little children, and maidens, and youths, and then +thousands and millions of people pushed on toward that Calm Passage, till +at last the Plain of Life was depopulated almost entirely. + +Then Vishnu, whose task it was to keep life from extinction, was +frightened because of the advice which he had given in his anger, and not +knowing what to do else hastened quickly to Brahma. + +"Save Life, O Creator!" said he. "Behold, thou hast made the inheritance +of Death now so beautiful, so serene, and so blissful that all men are +leaving my kingdom." + +"Have none remained with thee there?" inquired Brahma. + +"Only one youth and one maiden, who are in love beyond measure; they +renounce endless bliss rather than close their eyes and gaze on each other +no longer." + +"What dost thou wish, then?" + +"Make the region of Death less delightful, less happy; if not, even those +two when their springtime of love shall be ended will leave me and follow +the others." + +Brahma thought for a moment and answered: + +"No! Oh no! I will not decrease beauty and happiness in the region of +Death, but I will do something for Life in its own realm. Henceforward +people will not pass to the other shore willingly, they must be forced to +it." + +When he had said this he made a thick veil out of darkness which no one +could see through, and next he created two terrible beings, one of these +he named Fear and the other one Pain. He commanded them then to hang that +black veil at the Passage. + +Thereafter Vishnu's kingdom was as crowded with life as it had been, for +though the region of Death was as calm, as serene, and as blissful as +ever, people dreaded the Passage. + + +[Illustration: SMALL CHAPEL ON THE SIENKIEWICZ ESTATE] + + + + +IS HE THE DEAREST ONE? + + +II + +IS HE THE DEAREST ONE? + + +In the distance a dark strip of pine wood was visible. In front of the +wood was a meadow, and amid fields of grain stood a cottage covered with a +straw roof and with moss. Birch trees hung their tresses above it. On a +fir tree stood a stork on its nest, and in a cherry garden were dark +beehives. + +Through an open gate a wanderer walked into the yard and said to the +mistress of the cottage, who was standing on its threshold: + +"Peace to this quiet house, to those trees, to the grain, to the whole +place, and to thee, mother!" + +The woman greeted him kindly, and added: + +"I will bring bread and milk to thee, wayfarer; but sit down the while and +rest, for it is clear that thou art coming back from a long journey." + +"I have wandered like that stork, and like a swallow; I come from afar, I +bring news from thy children." + +Her whole soul rushed to the eyes of that mother, and she asked the +wayfarer straightway: + +"Dost thou know of my Yasko?" + +"Dost thou love that son most that thou askest first about him? Well, one +son of thine is in forests, he works with his axe, he spreads his net in +lakes; another herds horses in the steppe, he sings plaintive songs and +looks at the stars; the third son climbs mountains, passes over naked +rocks and high pastures, spends the night with sheep and shouts at the +eagles. All bend down before thy knees and send thee greeting." + +"But Yasko?" asked the mother with an anxious face. + +"I keep sad news for the last. Life is going ill with Yasko: the field +does not give its fruit to him, poverty and hunger torment the man, his +days and months pass in suffering. Amid strangers and misery he has even +forgotten thy language; forget him, since he has no thought for thee." + +When he had finished, the woman took the man's hand, led him to her pantry +in the cottage, and, seizing a loaf from the shelf, she said: + +"Give this bread, O wayfarer, to Yasko!" + +Then she untied a small kerchief, took a bright silver coin from it, and +with trembling voice added: + +"I am not rich, but this too is for Yasko." + +"Woman!" said the wayfarer now with astonishment, "thou hast many sons, +but thou sendest gifts to only one of them. Dost thou love him more than +the others? Is he the dearest one?" + +She raised her great sad eyes, filled with tears, and answered: + +"My blessing is for them all, but my gifts are to Yasko, for I am a +mother, and he is my poorest son." + + + + +A LEGEND OF THE SEA + + +III + +A LEGEND OF THE SEA + + +There was a ship named "The Purple," so strong and so great that she +feared neither winds nor waves, even when they were raging most terribly. + +"The Purple" swept on, with every sail set, she rose upon each swelling +wave and crushed with her conquering prow hidden rocks on which other +ships foundered. She moved ever forward with sails which were gleaming in +sunlight, and moved with such swiftness that foam roared at her sides and +stretched out behind in a broad, endless road-streak. + +"That is a glorious craft," cried out crews on all other ships; "a man +might think that she sails just to punish the ocean." + +From time to time they called out to the crew of "The Purple": + +"Hei, men, to what port are ye sailing?" + +"To that port to which wind blows," said the men on "The Purple." + +"Have a care, there are rocks ahead! There are whirlpools!" + +In reply to this warning came back a song as loud as the wind was: + +"Let us sail on, let us sail ever joyously." + +Men on "The Purple" were gladsome. The crew, confiding in the strength of +their ship and the size of it, jeered at all perils. On other ships stern +discipline ruled, but on "The Purple" each man did what seemed good to +him. + +Life on that ship was one ceaseless holiday. The storms which she had +passed, the rocks which she had crushed, increased the crew's confidence. +"There are no reefs, there are no winds to wreck this ship," roared the +sailors. "Let a hurricane shiver the ocean, 'The Purple' will always sail +forward." + +And "The Purple" sailed; she was proud, she was splendid. + +Whole years passed--she was to all seeming invincible, she helped other +ships and took in on her deck drowning passengers. + +Blind faith increased every day in the breasts of the crew on "The +Purple." They grew slothful in good fortune and forgot their own art, they +forgot how to navigate. "Our 'Purple' will sail herself," said they. "Why +toil, why watch the ship, why pull at rudder, masts, sails, and ropes? Why +live by hard work and the sweat of our brows, when our ship is divine, +indestructible? Let us sail on, let us sail joyously." + +And they sailed for a very long period. At last, after years, the crew +became utterly effeminate, they forgot every duty, and no man of them +knew that that ship was decaying. Bitter water had weakened the spars, the +strong rigging had loosened, waves without number had shattered the +gunwales, dry rot was at work in the mainmast, the sails had grown weak +through exposure. + +The voice of sound sense was heard now despite every madness: + +"Be careful!" cried some of the sailors. + +"Never mind! We will sail with the current," cried out the majority. But +once such a storm came that to that hour its like had not been on the +water. The wind whirled ocean and clouds into one hellish chaos. Pillars +of water rose up and flew then with roars at "The Purple"; they were +raging and bellowing dreadfully. They fell on the ship, they drove her +down to the bottom, they hurled her up to the clouds, then cast her down +again. The weak rigging snapped, and now a quick cry of despair was heard +on the deck of that vessel. + +"'The Purple' is sinking!" + +"The Purple" was really sinking, while the crew, unaccustomed to work and +to navigate, knew not how to save her. + +But when the first moment of terror had passed, rage boiled up in their +hearts, for those mariners still loved that ship of theirs. + +All sprang up speedily, some rushed to fire cannon-balls at the winds and +foaming water, others seized what each man could find near him and flogged +that sea which was drowning "The Purple." + +Great was that fight of despair against the elements. But the waves had +more strength than the mariners. The guns filled with water and then they +were silent. Gigantic whirls seized struggling sailors and swept them out +into watery chaos. + +The crew decreased every minute, but they struggled on yet. Covered with +water, half-blinded, concealed by a mountain of foam, they fought till +they dropped in the battle. + +Strength left them, but after brief rest they sprang again to the +struggle. + +At last their hands fell. They felt that death was approaching. Dull +despair seized them. Those sailors looked at one another as if demented. + +Now those same voices which had warned previously of danger were raised +again, and more powerfully, so powerfully this time that the roar of the +waves could not drown them. + +Those voices said: + +"O blind men! How can ye cannonade wind, or flog waves? Mend your vessel! +Go to the hold. Work there. The ship 'Purple' is afloat yet." + +At these words those mariners, half-dead already, recovered, all rushed to +the hold and began then to work in it. And they worked from morning till +night in the sweat of their brows and with effort, seeking thus to +retrieve their past sloth and their blindness. + + + + +THE CRANES + + +IV + +THE CRANES + + +Homesickness (nostalgia) tortures mainly people who for various reasons +are utterly unable to return to their own country, but even those for whom +return is merely a question of will power feel its attacks sometimes. The +cause may be anything: a sunrise or a sunset which calls to mind a dawn or +an evening at home, some note of a foreign song in which the rhythm of +one's own country is heard, some group of trees which call to mind +remotely the native village--anything suffices! + +At such moments an immense, irresistible sadness seizes hold on the heart, +and immediately a feeling comes to a man that he is, as it were, a leaf +torn away from a distant but beloved tree. And in such moments the man is +forced to return, or, if he has imagination, he is driven to create. + +Once--a good many years back--I was sojourning on the shore of the Pacific +Ocean in a place called Anaheim Landing. My society was made up of some +sailor fishermen, Norwegians for the greater part, and a German, who gave +food to those fishermen and lodged them. Their days were passed on the +water; every evening they amused themselves with poker, a game at cards +which years ago was common in all the dramshops of America, long before +fashionable ladies in Europe began to play it. I was quite alone, and my +time passed in wandering with a gun over the open plain or along the shore +of the Pacific. I visited the sandbanks which a small river made as with a +broad mouth it entered the ocean; I waded in the shallow waters of this +river, noted its unknown fishes, its shells, and looked at the great +sea-lions which sunned themselves on a number of rocks at the river mouth. +Opposite was a small sandy island swarming with mews, pelicans, and +albatrosses; a real and populous bird commonwealth, filled with cries and +uproar. + +At times, when the day was calm, and when amid silence the surface of the +water took on a tinge almost violet, changing into gold, I sat in a boat +and rowed toward the little island, on which pelicans, unused to the sight +of man, looked at me less with fear than astonishment, as if wishing to +ask, "What sort of seal is this that we have not seen till to-day?" +Frequently I looked from that bank at sunsets which were simply +marvellous; they changed the whole horizon into one sea, gleaming with +gold, fire, and opal, which, passing into a brilliant purple, faded +gradually until the moon shone on the amethyst background of the heavens, +and the wonderful semi-tropical night had embraced the earth and the sky. +The empty land, the endlessness of the ocean, and the excess of light +disposed me somewhat toward mysticism. I became pantheistic, and had the +feeling that everything surrounding me formed a certain single great soul +which appears as the ocean, the sky, the plain, or diminishes into such +small living existences as birds, fish, shells, or broom on the ocean +shore. At times I thought also that those sand-hills and empty banks might +be inhabited by invisible beings like the ancient Greek fauns, nymphs, or +naiads. A man does not believe in such things when he turns to his own +reason; but involuntarily he admits that they are possible when he lives +only with Nature and in perfect seclusion. Life changes then, as it were, +into a drowsiness in which visions are more powerful than thought. As for +me, I was conscious only of that boundless calm which surrounded me, and I +felt that it was pleasant to be in it. At times I thought of future +"letters about my journey"; at times, too, I, as a young man, thought also +of "her," the unknown whom I should meet and love some time. In that +relaxation of thought, and on that empty, clear ocean shore, amid those +uncompleted ideas, undescribed desires, in that half dream, in +semi-consciousness, I was happier than ever in life before. But on a +certain evening I sat long on the little island and returned to the shore +after nightfall. The flowing tide brought me in--I scarcely had need to +lift an oar then. In other regions the flow of the tide is tempestuous, +but in that land of eternal good weather waves touch the sand shore with +gentleness; the ocean does not strike land with an outburst. Such silence +surrounded me that a quarter of a mile from the shore line I could have +heard the conversation of men. But that shore was unoccupied. I heard only +the squeak of the oars on my boat and the low plash of water moved by +them. + +Just then, from above, certain piercing cries reached me. I raised my +head, but on the dark background of the sky I could discern nothing. When +the cries were heard a second time, directly above, I recognized in them +the voices of cranes. + +Evidently a whole flock of cranes was flying somewhere above my head +toward the island of Santa Catalina. But I remembered that I had heard +cries like those more than once, when as a boy I journeyed from school for +vacation--and straightway a mighty homesickness seized hold of me. I +returned to the little room which I had hired in the cabin of the German, +but could not sleep. Pictures of my country passed then before my mind: +now a pine forest, now broad fields with pear trees on the boundaries, +now pleasant cottages, now village churches, now white mansions surrounded +by dense orchards. I yearned for such scenes all that night. + + +[Illustration: A VIEW OF THE HOUSE FROM THE POND ON THE SIENKIEWICZ +ESTATE] + + +I went out next morning, as usual, to the sand-banks. I felt that the +ocean and the sky, and the sand mounds on the shore, and the plains, and +the cliffs on which seals were basking in the sunlight, were things to me +absolutely foreign, things with which I had nothing in common, as they had +nothing in common with me. + +Only yesterday I had wandered about in that neighborhood and had judged +that my pulse was beating in answer to the pulse of that immense +universe; to-day I put to myself this question: What have I to do here; +why do I not go back to my birthplace? The feeling of harmony and +sweetness in life had vanished, leaving nothing behind it. Time, which +before had seemed so quiet and soothing, which was measured by the ebb and +flow of the ocean, now seemed unendurably tedious. I began to think of my +own land, of that which had remained in it, and that which had changed +with time's passage. + +America and my journey ceased altogether to interest me, and immediately +there swarmed in my head a throng of visions ever denser and denser, +composed wholly of memories. I could not tear myself free from them, +though they brought no delight to me. On the contrary, there was in those +memories much sadness, and even suffering, which rose from comparing our +sleepy and helpless country life with the bustling activity of America. +But the more our life seemed to me helpless and sleepy, the more it +mastered my soul, the dearer it grew to me, and the more I longed for it. +During succeeding days the visions grew still more definite, and at last +imagination began to develop, to arrange, to bring clearness and order +into one artistic plan. I began to create my own world. + +A week later, on a certain night when the Norwegians went out on the +ocean, I sat down in my little room and from under my pen flowed the +following words: "In Barania Glova, in the chancellery of the village +mayor, it was as calm as in time of sowing poppy seed." + +And thus, because cranes flew over the shore of the Pacific, I composed +"Charcoal Sketches." + + + + +THE JUDGMENT OF PETER AND PAUL ON OLYMPUS + + +V + +THE JUDGMENT OF PETER AND PAUL ON OLYMPUS + +A POEM IN PROSE + + +It was a night of spring, calm, silvery, and fragrant with dewy jasmine. +The full moon was sailing above Olympus, and on the glittering, snowy +summit of the mountain it shone with a clear, pensive, greenish light. +Farther down in the Vale of Tempe was a dark thicket of thorn-bushes, +shaken by the songs of nightingales--by entreaties, by complaints, by +calls, by allurements, by languor, by sighs. These sounds flowed like the +music of flutes, filling the night; they fell like a pouring rain, and +rushed on like rivers. At moments they ceased; then such silence followed +that one might almost hear the snow thawing on the heights under the warm +breath of May. It was an ambrosial night. + +On that night came Peter and Paul, and sat on the highest grassmound of +the slope to pass judgment on the gods of antiquity. The heads of the +Apostles were encircled by halos, which illuminated their gray hair, stern +brows, and severe eyes. Below, in the deep shade of beeches, stood the +assembly of gods, abandoned and in dread, awaiting their sentence. + +Peter motioned with his hand, and at the sign Zeus stepped forth first +from the assembly and approached the Apostles. The Cloud-Compeller was +still mighty, and as huge as if cut out of marble by Phidias, but weakened +and gloomy. His old eagle dragged along at his feet with broken wing, and +the blue thunderbolt, grown reddish in places from rust, and partly +quenched, seemed to be slipping from the stiffening right hand of the +former father of gods and men. But when he stood before the Apostles the +feeling of ancient supremacy filled his broad breast. He raised his head +haughtily, and fixed on the face of the aged fisherman of Galilee his +proud and glittering eyes, which were as angry and as terrible as +lightnings. + +Olympus, accustomed to tremble before its ruler, shook to its foundations. +The beeches quivered with fear, the song of the nightingales ceased, and +the moon sailing above the snows grew as white as the linen web of +Arachne. The eagle screamed through his crooked beak for the last time, +and the lightning, as if animated by its ancient force, flashed and began +to roar terribly at the feet of its master; it reared, hissed, snapped, +and raised its three-cornered, flaming forehead, like a serpent ready to +stab with poisonous fang. But Peter pressed the fiery bolts with his foot +and crushed them to the earth. Turning then to the Cloud-Compeller, he +pronounced this sentence: "Thou art cursed and condemned through all +eternity." At once Zeus was extinguished. Growing pale in the twinkle of +an eye, he whispered, with blackening lips, "[Greek: Anagkê]" +("Necessity"), and vanished through the earth. + +Poseidon of the dark curls next stood before the Apostles, with night in +his eyes, and in his hand the blunted trident. To him then spoke Peter: + +"It is not thou who wilt rouse the billows. It is not thou who wilt lead +the storm-tossed ships to a quiet haven, but she who is called the 'Star +of the Sea.'" + +When Poseidon heard this he screamed, as if pierced with sudden pain, and +turned into vanishing mist. + +Next rose Apollo, the Silver-bowed, with a hollow lute in his hand, and +walked toward the holy men. Behind him moved slowly the nine Muses, +looking like nine white pillars. Terror-stricken, they stood before the +judgment-seat, as if petrified, breathless, and without hope; but the +radiant Apollo turned to Paul, and, in a voice which resembled wondrous +music, said: + +"Slay me not! Protect me, lord; for shouldst thou slay me, thou wouldst +have to restore me to life again. I am the blossom of the soul of +humanity; I am its gladness; I am light; I am the yearning for God. Thou +knowest best that the song of earth will not reach heaven if thou break +its wings. Hence I implore thee, O saint, not to smite down Song." + +A moment of silence came. Peter raised his eyes toward the stars. Paul +placed his hands on his sword-hilt, rested his forehead on them, and for a +time fell into deep thought. At last he rose, made the sign of the cross +calmly above the radiant head of the god, and said: + +"Let Song live!" + +Apollo sat down with his lute at the feet of the Apostle. The night became +clearer, the jasmine gave out a stronger perfume, the glad fountains +sounded, the Muses gathered together like a flock of white swans, and, +with voices still quivering from fear, began to sing in low tones +marvellous words never heard on the heights of Olympus till that hour: + + To thy protection we flee, holy Mother of God. + We come with our prayers; deign thou not to reject us, + But be pleased to preserve us from every evil, + O thou, our Lady! + +Thus they sang on the heather, raising their eyes like pious nuns with +heads covered with white. + +Other gods came now. Bacchus and his chorus dashed past, wild, +unrestrained, crowned with ivy and grapevine, and bearing the cithara and +the thyrsus. They rushed on madly, with shouts of despair, and fell into +the bottomless pit. + +Then before the Apostles stood a lofty, proud, sarcastic divinity, who, +without waiting for question or sentence, spoke first. On her lips was a +smile of derision. + +"I am Pallas Athene. I do not beg life of you. I am an illusion, nothing +more. Odysseus honored and obeyed me only when he had become senile. +Telemachus listened to me only till hair covered his chin. Ye cannot take +immortality from me, and I declare that I have been a shadow, that I am a +shadow now, and shall remain a shadow forever." + +At last her turn came to the most beautiful, the most honored goddess. As +she approached, sweet, marvellous, tearful, the heart under her snow-white +breast beat like the heart in a bird, and her lips quivered like those of +a child that fears cruel punishment. She fell at their feet, and, +stretching forth her divine arms, cried in fear and humility: + +"I am sinful, I deserve blame, but I am Joy. Have mercy, forgive; I am the +one happiness of mankind." Then sobbing and fear took away her voice. + +But Peter looked at the goddess with compassion, and placed his aged palm +on her golden hair, while Paul, bending toward a cluster of white +field-lilies, broke off one blossom, and touching her with it, said: + +"Joy, be henceforth like this flower, and live thou for mankind." + +Then came dawn--the divine dawn that looked out from beyond a depression +between two peaks. The nightingales stopped singing, and immediately +finches, linnets, and wrens began to draw their sleepy little heads from +under their moistened wings, shaking the dew from their feathers, and +repeating in low voices, "_Svit! svit!_" ("Light! light!"). + +The earth awoke, smiled, and was delighted, because Song and Joy had not +been taken from it. + + + + +_THE ZAGLOBA ROMANCES by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from the Polish by +Jeremiah Curtin._ + + +WITH FIRE AND SWORD + +An Historical Novel of Poland and Russia. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50. + +The first of the famous trilogy of historical romances of Poland, Russia, +and Sweden. Their publication has been received as an event in literature. +Charles Dudley Warner, in _Harper's Magazine_, affirms that the Polish +author has in Zagloba _given a new creation to literature_. + +_A capital story._ The only modern romance with which it can be compared +for fire, sprightliness, rapidity of action, swift changes, and absorbing +interest is "The Three Musketeers" of Dumas.--_New York Tribune._ + + +THE DELUGE + +An Historical Novel of Poland, Sweden, and Russia. A Sequel to "With Fire +and Sword." With map. 2 vols. Crown 8vo. $3.00. + +Marvellous in its grand descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + +Has the humor of a Cervantes and the grim vigor of Defoe.--_Boston +Gazette._ + + +PAN MICHAEL + +An Historical Novel of Poland, Russia, and the Ukraine. A Sequel to "With +Fire and Sword" and "The Deluge." Crown 8vo. $1.50. + + +The interest of the trilogy, both historical and romantic, is splendidly +sustained.--_The Dial_, Chicago. + + +QUO VADIS + +A Narrative of the Time of Nero. By HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ. Translated from +the Polish by JEREMIAH CURTIN. Illustrated. Crown 8vo. $1.50. + +One of the greatest books of our day.--_The Bookman._ + +The book is like a grand historical pageant.--_Literary World._ + +Of intense interest to the whole Christian civilization.--_Chicago +Tribune._ + +Interest never wanes; and the story is carried through its many phases of +conflict and terror to a climax that enthralls.--_Chicago Record._ + +As a study of the introduction of the gospel of love into the pagan world +typified by Rome, it is marvellously fine.--_Chicago Interior._ + +The picture here given of life in Rome under the last of the Cæsars is one +of unparalleled power and vividness.--_Boston Home Journal._ + +One of the most remarkable books of the decade. It burns upon the brain +the struggles and triumphs of the early church.--_Boston Daily +Advertiser._ + +It will become recognized by virtue of its own merits as the one heroic +monument built by the modern novelist above the ruins of decadent Rome, +and in honor of the blessed martyrs of the early Church.--_Brooklyn +Eagle._ + +Our debt to Sienkiewicz is not less than our debt to his translator and +friend, Jeremiah Curtin. The diversity of the language, the rapid flow of +thought, the picturesque imagery of the descriptions are all his.--_Boston +Transcript._ + + +THE KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS + +An Historical Romance of Poland and Germany. By HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ. +Translated from the Polish by JEREMIAH CURTIN. Illustrated. 2 vols. Crown +8vo. $2.00. + +The greatest work Sienkiewicz has given us.--_Buffalo Express._ + +It seems superior even to "Quo Vadis" in strength and realism.--_The +Churchman._ + +The construction of the story is beyond praise. It is difficult to +conceive of any one who will not pick the book up with +eagerness.--_Chicago Evening Post._ + +There are some scenes in the book that for power and excitement remind one +of the great encounter between Ursus and the bull in "Quo +Vadis."--_Minneapolis Tribune._ + +Vivid, dramatic, and vigorous.... His imaginative power, his command of +language, and the picturesque scenes he sets combine to fascinate the +reader.--_Philadelphia Bulletin._ + +A book that holds your almost breathless attention as in a vise from the +very beginning, for in it love and strife, the most thrilling of all +worldly subjects, are described masterfully.--_The Boston Journal._ + +Another remarkable book. His descriptions are tremendously effective; one +can almost hear the sound of the carnage; to the mind's eye the scene of +battle is unfolded by a master artist.--_The Hartford Courant._ + +Thrillingly dramatic, full of strange local color and very faithful to its +period, besides having that sense of the mysterious and weird that throbs +in the Polish blood and infects alike their music and literature.--_The +St. Paul Globe._ + + + + +_OTHER NOVELS AND ROMANCES by Henryk Sienkiewicz. Translated from the +Polish by Jeremiah Curtin._ + + +CHILDREN OF THE SOIL + +Crown 8vo. $1.50. + +It must be reckoned among the finer fictions of our time, and shows its +author to be almost as great a master in the field of the domestic novel +as he had previously been shown to be in that of imaginative historical +romances.--_The Dial_, Chicago. + + +HANIA, AND OTHER STORIES + +With portrait. Crown 8vo. $1.50. + +At the highest level of the author's genius.--_The Outlook._ + + +SIELANKA, A FOREST PICTURE + +And Other Stories. With frontispiece. Crown 8vo. $1.50. + +They exhibit the masterly genius of Sienkiewicz even better than his +longer romances. They abound in fine character-drawings and beautiful +descriptions.--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._ + + +LIFE AND DEATH AND OTHER LEGENDS AND STORIES + +Illustrated. 16mo. Decorated cloth, $1.00. + + +WITHOUT DOGMA + +A Novel of Modern Poland. (Translated from the Polish by Iza Young.) Crown +8vo. $1.50. + +A human document read in the light of a great imagination.--_Boston +Beacon._ + + +LITTLE, BROWN, & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS + +BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these +letters have been replaced with transliterations. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life and Death, by Henryk Sienkiewicz + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND DEATH *** + +***** This file should be named 35736-8.txt or 35736-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/7/3/35736/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive.) + + +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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |