“I know who it is you have come to announce,” said Seraphita in a sleepy voice. “Wilfrid may enter.”
Hearing these words a man suddenly presented himself, crossed the room and sat down beside her.
“My dear Seraphita, are you ill?” he said. “You look paler than usual.”
She turned slowly towards him, tossing back her hair like a pretty woman whose aching head leaves her no strength even for complaint.
“I was foolish enough to cross the fiord with Minna,” she said. “We ascended2 the Falberg.”
“Do you mean to kill yourself?” he said with a lover’s terror.
“No, my good Wilfrid; I took the greatest care of your Minna.”
Wilfrid struck his hand violently on a table, rose hastily, and made several steps towards the door with an exclamation4 full of pain; then he returned and seemed about to remonstrate5.
“Why this disturbance6 if you think me ill?” she said.
“Forgive me, have mercy!” he cried, kneeling beside her. “Speak to me harshly if you will; exact all that the cruel fancies of a woman lead you to imagine I least can bear; but oh, my beloved, do not doubt my love. You take Minna like an axe7 to hew8 me down. Have mercy!”
“Why do you say these things, my friend, when you know that they are useless?” she replied, with a look which grew in the end so soft that Wilfrid ceased to behold9 her eyes, but saw in their place a fluid light, the shimmer10 of which was like the last vibrations11 of an Italian song.
“Ah! no man dies of anguish12!” he murmured.
“You are suffering?” she said in a voice whose intonations13 produced upon his heart the same effect as that of her look. “Would I could help you!”
“Love me as I love you.”
“Poor Minna!” she replied.
“Why am I unarmed!” exclaimed Wilfrid, violently.
“You are out of temper,” said Seraphita, smiling. “Come, have I not spoken to you like those Parisian women whose loves you tell of?”
Wilfrid sat down, crossed his arms, and looked gloomily at Seraphita. “I forgive you,” he said; “for you know not what you do.”
“You mistake,” she replied; “every woman from the days of Eve does good and evil knowingly.”
“I believe it,” he said.
“I am sure of it, Wilfrid. Our instinct is precisely15 that which makes us perfect. What you men learn, we feel.”
“Why, then, do you not feel how much I love you?”
“Because you do not love me.”
“Good God!”
“If you did, would you complain of your own sufferings?”
“You are terrible to-night, Seraphita. You are a demon16.”
“No, but I am gifted with the faculty17 of comprehending, and it is awful. Wilfrid, sorrow is a lamp which illumines life.”
“Why did you ascend3 the Falberg?”
“Minna will tell you. I am too weary to talk. You must talk to me — you who know so much, who have learned all things and forgotten nothing; you who have passed through every social test. Talk to me, amuse me, I am listening.”
“What can I tell you that you do not know? Besides, the request is ironical18. You allow yourself no intercourse19 with social life; you trample20 on its conventions, its laws, its customs, sentiments, and sciences; you reduce them all to the proportions such things take when viewed by you beyond this universe.”
“Therefore you see, my friend, that I am not a woman. You do wrong to love me. What! am I to leave the ethereal regions of my pretended strength, make myself humbly21 small, cringe like the hapless female of all species, that you may lift me up? and then, when I, helpless and broken, ask you for help, when I need your arm, you will repulse22 me! No, we can never come to terms.”
“You are more maliciously23 unkind to-night than I have ever known you.”
“Unkind!” she said, with a look which seemed to blend all feelings into one celestial24 emotion, “no, I am ill, I suffer, that is all. Leave me, my friend; it is your manly25 right. We women should ever please you, entertain you, be gay in your presence and have no whims26 save those that amuse you. Come, what shall I do for you, friend? Shall I sing, shall I dance, though weariness deprives me of the use of voice and limbs? — Ah! gentlemen, be we on our deathbeds, we yet must smile to please you; you call that, methinks, your right. Poor women! I pity them. Tell me, you who abandon them when they grow old, is it because they have neither hearts nor souls? Wilfrid, I am a hundred years old; leave me! leave me! go to Minna!”
“Oh, my eternal love!”
“Do you know the meaning of eternity27? Be silent, Wilfrid. You desire me, but you do not love me. Tell me, do I not seem to you like those coquettish Parisian women?”
“Certainly I no longer find you the pure celestial maiden28 I first saw in the church of Jarvis.”
At these words Seraphita passed her hands across her brow, and when she removed them Wilfrid was amazed at the saintly expression that overspread her face.
“You are right, my friend,” she said; “I do wrong whenever I set my feet upon your earth.”
“Oh, Seraphita, be my star! stay where you can ever bless me with that clear light!”
As he spoke14, he stretched forth29 his hand to take that of the young girl, but she withdrew it, neither disdainfully nor in anger. Wilfrid rose abruptly30 and walked to the window that she might not see the tears that rose to his eyes.
“Why do you weep?” she said. “You are not a child, Wilfrid. Come back to me. I wish it. You are annoyed if I show just displeasure. You see that I am fatigued31 and ill, yet you force me to think and speak, and listen to persuasions32 and ideas that weary me. If you had any real perception of my nature, you would have made some music, you would have lulled33 my feelings — but no, you love me for yourself and not for myself.”
The storm which convulsed the young man’s heart calmed down at these words. He slowly approached her, letting his eyes take in the seductive creature who lay exhausted34 before him, her head resting in her hand and her elbow on the couch.
“You think that I do not love you,” she resumed. “You are mistaken. Listen to me, Wilfrid. You are beginning to know much; you have suffered much. Let me explain your thoughts to you. You wished to take my hand just now”; she rose to a sitting posture35, and her graceful36 motions seemed to emit light. “When a young girl allows her hand to be taken it is as though she made a promise, is it not? and ought she not to fulfil it? You well know that I cannot be yours. Two sentiments divide and inspire the love of all the women of the earth. Either they devote themselves to suffering, degraded, and criminal beings whom they desire to console, uplift, redeem37; or they give themselves to superior men, sublime38 and strong, whom they adore and seek to comprehend, and by whom they are often annihilated39. You have been degraded, though now you are purified by the fires of repentance40, and to-day you are once more noble; but I know myself too feeble to be your equal, and too religious to bow before any power but that On High. I may refer thus to your life, my friend, for we are in the North, among the clouds, where all things are abstractions.”
“You stab me, Seraphita, when you speak like this. It wounds me to hear you apply the dreadful knowledge with which you strip from all things human the properties that time and space and form have given them, and consider them mathematically in the abstract, as geometry treats substances from which it extracts solidity.”
“Well, I will respect your wishes, Wilfrid. Let the subject drop. Tell me what you think of this bearskin rug which my poor David has spread out.”
“It is very handsome.”
“Did you ever see me wear this ‘doucha greka’?”
She pointed41 to a pelisse made of cashmere and lined with the skin of the black fox — the name she gave it signifying “warm to the soul.”
“Do you believe that any sovereign has a fur that can equal it?” she asked.
“It is worthy43 of her who wears it.”
“And whom you think beautiful?”
“Human words do not apply to her. Heart to heart is the only language I can use.”
“Wilfrid, you are kind to soothe44 my griefs with such sweet words — which you have said to others.”
“Farewell!”
“Stay. I love both you and Minna, believe me. To me you two are as one being. United thus you can be my brother or, if you will, my sister. Marry her; let me see you both happy before I leave this world of trial and of pain. My God! the simplest of women obtain what they ask of a lover; they whisper ‘Hush!’ and he is silent; ‘Die’ and he dies; ‘Love me afar’ and he stays at a distance, like courtiers before a king! All I desire is to see you happy, and you refuse me! Am I then powerless? — Wilfrid, listen, come nearer to me. Yes, I should grieve to see you marry Minna but — when I am here no longer, then — promise me to marry her; heaven destined45 you for each other.”
“I listen to you with fascination46, Seraphita. Your words are incomprehensible, but they charm me. What is it you mean to say?”
“You are right; I forget to be foolish — to be the poor creature whose weaknesses gratify you. I torment47 you, Wilfrid. You came to these Northern lands for rest, you, worn-out by the impetuous struggle of genius unrecognized, you, weary with the patient toils48 of science, you, who well-nigh dyed your hands in crime and wore the fetters49 of human justice —”
Wilfrid dropped speechless on the carpet. Seraphita breathed softly on his forehead, and in a moment he fell asleep at her feet.
“Sleep! rest!” she said, rising.
She passed her hands over Wilfrid’s brow; then the following sentences escaped her lips, one by one — all different in tone and accent, but all melodious50, full of a Goodness that seemed to emanate51 from her head in vaporous waves, like the gleams the goddess chastely52 lays upon Endymion sleeping.
“I cannot show myself such as I am to thee, dear Wilfrid — to thee who art strong.
“The hour is come; the hour when the effulgent53 lights of the future cast their reflections backward on the soul; the hour when the soul awakes into freedom.
“Now am I permitted to tell thee how I love thee. Dost thou not see the nature of my love, a love without self-interest; a sentiment full of thee, thee only; a love which follows thee into the future to light that future for thee — for it is the one True Light. Canst thou now conceive with what ardor54 I would have thee leave this life which weighs thee down, and behold thee nearer than thou art to that world where Love is never-failing? Can it be aught but suffering to love for one life only? Hast thou not felt a thirst for the eternal love? Dost thou not feel the bliss55 to which a creature rises when, with twin-soul, it loves the Being who betrays not love, Him before whom we kneel in adoration56?
“Would I had wings to cover thee, Wilfrid; power to give thee strength to enter now into that world where all the purest joys of purest earthly attachments57 are but shadows in the Light that shines, unceasing, to illumine and rejoice all hearts.
“Forgive a friendly soul for showing thee the picture of thy sins, in the charitable hope of soothing58 the sharp pangs59 of thy remorse60. Listen to the pardoning choir61; refresh thy soul in the dawn now rising for thee beyond the night of death. Yes, thy life, thy true life is there!
“May my words now reach thee clothed in the glorious forms of dreams; may they deck themselves with images glowing and radiant as they hover62 round you. Rise, rise, to the height where men can see themselves distinctly, pressed together though they be like grains of sand upon a sea-shore. Humanity rolls out like a many-colored ribbon. See the diverse shades of that flower of the celestial gardens. Behold the beings who lack intelligence, those who begin to receive it, those who have passed through trials, those who love, those who follow wisdom and aspire63 to the regions of Light!
“Canst thou comprehend, through this thought made visible, the destiny of humanity? — whence it came, whither to goeth? Continue steadfast64 in the Path. Reaching the end of thy journey thou shalt hear the clarions of omnipotence65 sounding the cries of victory in chords of which a single one would shake the earth, but which are lost in the spaces of a world that hath neither east nor west.
“Canst thou comprehend, my poor beloved Tried-one, that unless the torpor66 and the veils of sleep had wrapped thee, such sights would rend67 and bear away thy mind as the whirlwinds rend and carry into space the feeble sails, depriving thee forever of thy reason? Dost thou understand that the Soul itself, raised to its utmost power can scarcely endure in dreams the burning communications of the Spirit?
“Speed thy way through the luminous68 spheres; behold, admire, hasten! Flying thus thou canst pause or advance without weariness. Like other men, thou wouldst fain be plunged70 forever in these spheres of light and perfume where now thou art, free of thy swooning body, and where thy thought alone has utterance71. Fly! enjoy for a fleeting72 moment the wings thou shalt surely win when Love has grown so perfect in thee that thou hast no senses left; when thy whole being is all mind, all love. The higher thy flight the less canst thou see the abysses. There are none in heaven. Look at the friend who speaks to thee; she who holds thee above this earth in which are all abysses. Look, behold, contemplate73 me yet a moment longer, for never again wilt74 thou see me, save imperfectly as the pale twilight75 of this world may show me to thee.”
Seraphita stood erect76, her head with floating hair inclining gently forward, in that aerial attitude which great painters give to messengers from heaven; the folds of her raiment fell with the same unspeakable grace which holds an artist — the man who translates all things into sentiment — before the exquisite77 well-known lines of Polyhymnia’s veil. Then she stretched forth her hand. Wilfrid rose. When he looked at Seraphita she was lying on the bear’s -skin, her head resting on her hand, her face calm, her eyes brilliant. Wilfrid gazed at her silently; but his face betrayed a deferential78 fear in its almost timid expression.
“Yes, dear,” he said at last, as though he were answering some question; “we are separated by worlds. I resign myself; I can only adore you. But what will become of me, poor and alone!”
“Wilfrid, you have Minna.”
He shook his head.
“Do not be so disdainful; woman understands all things through love; what she does not understand she feels; what she does not feel she sees; when she neither sees, nor feels, nor understands, this angel of earth divines to protect you, and hides her protection beneath the grace of love.”
“Seraphita, am I worthy to belong to a woman?”
“Ah, now,” she said, smiling, “you are suddenly very modest; is it a snare79? A woman is always so touched to see her weakness glorified80. Well, come and take tea with me the day after to-morrow evening; good Monsieur Becker will be here, and Minna, the purest and most artless creature I have known on earth. Leave me now, my friend; I need to make long prayers and expiate81 my sins.”
“You, can you commit sin?”
“Poor friend! if we abuse our power, is not that the sin of pride? I have been very proud to-day. Now leave me, till to-morrow.”
“Till to-morrow,” said Wilfrid faintly, casting a long glance at the being of whom he desired to carry with him an ineffaceable memory.
Though he wished to go far away, he was held, as it were, outside the house for some moments, watching the light which shone from all the windows of the Swedish dwelling82.
“What is the matter with me?” he asked himself. “No, she is not a mere42 creature, but a whole creation. Of her world, even through veils and clouds, I have caught echoes like the memory of sufferings healed, like the dazzling vertigo83 of dreams in which we hear the plaints of generations mingling84 with the harmonies of some higher sphere where all is Light and all is Love. Am I awake? Do I still sleep? Are these the eyes before which the luminous space retreated further and further indefinitely while the eyes followed it? The night is cold, yet my head is on fire. I will go to the parsonage. With the pastor85 and his daughter I shall recover the balance of my mind.”
But still he did not leave the spot whence his eyes could plunge69 into Seraphita’s salon. The mysterious creature seemed to him the radiating centre of a luminous circle which formed an atmosphere about her wider than that of other beings; whoever entered it felt the compelling influence of, as it were, a vortex of dazzling light and all consuming thoughts. Forced to struggle against this inexplicable86 power, Wilfrid only prevailed after strong efforts; but when he reached and passed the inclosing wall of the courtyard, he regained87 his freedom of will, walked rapidly towards the parsonage, and was soon beneath the high wooden arch which formed a sort of peristyle to Monsieur Becker’s dwelling. He opened the first door, against which the wind had driven the snow, and knocked on the inner one, saying:—
“Will you let me spend the evening with you, Monsieur Becker?”
“Yes,” cried two voices, mingling their intonations.
Entering the parlor88, Wilfrid returned by degrees to real life. He bowed affectionately to Minna, shook hands with Monsieur Becker, and looked about at the picture of a home which calmed the convulsions of his physical nature, in which a phenomenon was taking place analogous89 to that which sometimes seizes upon men who have given themselves up to protracted90 contemplations. If some strong thought bears upward on phantasmal wing a man of learning or a poet, isolates91 him from the external circumstances which environ him here below, and leads him forward through illimitable regions where vast arrays of facts become abstractions, where the greatest works of Nature are but images, then woe92 betide him if a sudden noise strikes sharply on his senses and calls his errant soul back to its prison-house of flesh and bones. The shock of the reunion of these two powers, body and mind — one of which partakes of the unseen qualities of a thunderbolt, while the other shares with sentient93 nature that soft resistant94 force which deifies destruction — this shock, this struggle, or, rather let us say, this painful meeting and co-mingling, gives rise to frightful95 sufferings. The body receives back the flame that consumes it; the flame has once more grasped its prey96. This fusion97, however, does not take place without convulsions, explosions, tortures; analogous and visible signs of which may be seen in chemistry, when two antagonistic98 substances which science has united separate.
For the last few days whenever Wilfrid entered Seraphita’s presence his body seemed to fall away from him into nothingness. With a single glance this strange being led him in spirit through the spheres where meditation99 leads the learned man, prayer the pious100 heart, where vision transports the artist, and sleep the souls of men — each and all have their own path to the Height, their own guide to reach it, their own individual sufferings in the dire101 return. In that sphere alone all veils are rent away, and the revelation, the awful flaming certainty of an unknown world, of which the soul brings back mere fragments to this lower sphere, stands revealed. To Wilfrid one hour passed with Seraphita was like the sought-for dreams of Theriakis, in which each knot of nerves becomes the centre of a radiating delight. But he left her bruised102 and wearied as some young girl endeavoring to keep step with a giant.
The cold air, with its stinging flagellations, had begun to still the nervous tremors103 which followed the reunion of his two natures, so powerfully disunited for a time; he was drawn104 towards the parsonage, then towards Minna, by the sight of the every-day home life for which he thirsted as the wandering European thirsts for his native land when nostalgia105 seizes him amid the fairy scenes of Orient that have seduced106 his senses. More weary than he had ever yet been, Wilfrid dropped into a chair and looked about him for a time, like a man who awakens107 from sleep. Monsieur Becker and his daughter accustomed, perhaps, to the apparent eccentricity108 of their guest, continued the employments in which they were engaged.
The parlor was ornamented109 with a collection of the shells and insects of Norway. These curiosities, admirably arranged on a background of the yellow pine which panelled the room, formed, as it were, a rich tapestry111 to which the fumes112 of tobacco had imparted a mellow113 tone. At the further end of the room, opposite to the door, was an immense wrought-iron stove, carefully polished by the serving-woman till it shone like burnished114 steel. Seated in a large tapestried115 armchair near the stove, before a table, with his feet in a species of muff, Monsieur Becker was reading a folio volume which was propped116 against a pile of other books as on a desk. At his left stood a jug117 of beer and a glass, at his right burned a smoky lamp fed by some species of fish-oil. The pastor seemed about sixty years of age. His face belonged to a type often painted by Rembrandt; the same small bright eyes, set in wrinkles and surmounted118 by thick gray eyebrows119; the same white hair escaping in snowy flakes120 from a black velvet121 cap; the same broad, bald brow, and a contour of face which the ample chin made almost square; and lastly, the same calm tranquillity122, which, to an observer, denoted the possession of some inward power, be it the supremacy123 bestowed124 by money, or the magisterial125 influence of the burgomaster, or the consciousness of art, or the cubic force of blissful ignorance. This fine old man, whose stout126 body proclaimed his vigorous health, was wrapped in a dressing-gown of rough gray cloth plainly bound. Between his lips was a meerschaum pipe, from which, at regular intervals127, he blew the smoke, following with abstracted vision its fantastic wreathings — his mind employed, no doubt, in assimilating through some meditative128 process the thoughts of the author whose works he was studying.
On the other side of the stove and near a door which communicated with the kitchen Minna was indistinctly visible in the haze129 of the good man’s smoke, to which she was apparently130 accustomed. Beside her on a little table were the implements131 of household work, a pile of napkins, and another of socks waiting to be mended, also a lamp like that which shone on the white page of the book in which the pastor was absorbed. Her fresh young face, with its delicate outline, expressed an infinite purity which harmonized with the candor132 of the white brow and the clear blue eyes. She sat erect, turning slightly toward the lamp for better light, unconsciously showing as she did so the beauty of her waist and bust133. She was already dressed for the night in a long robe of white cotton; a cambric cap, without other ornament110 than a frill of the same, confined her hair. Though evidently plunged in some inward meditation, she counted without a mistake the threads of her napkins or the meshes134 of her socks. Sitting thus, she presented the most complete image, the truest type, of the woman destined for terrestrial labor135, whose glance may piece the clouds of the sanctuary136 while her thought, humble137 and charitable, keeps her ever on the level of man.
Wilfrid had flung himself into a chair between the two tables and was contemplating138 with a species of intoxication139 this picture full of harmony, to which the clouds of smoke did no despite. The single window which lighted the parlor during the fine weather was now carefully closed. An old tapestry, used for a curtain and fastened to a stick, hung before it in heavy folds. Nothing in the room was picturesque140, nothing brilliant; everything denoted rigorous simplicity141, true heartiness142, the ease of unconventional nature, and the habits of a domestic life which knew neither cares nor troubles. Many a dwelling is like a dream, the sparkle of passing pleasure seems to hide some ruin beneath the cold smile of luxury; but this parlor, sublime in reality, harmonious143 in tone, diffused144 the patriarchal ideas of a full and self-contained existence. The silence was unbroken save by the movements of the servant in the kitchen engaged in preparing the supper, and by the sizzling of the dried fish which she was frying in salt butter according to the custom of the country.
“Will you smoke a pipe?” said the pastor, seizing a moment when he thought that Wilfrid might listen to him.
“Thank you, no, dear Monsieur Becker,” replied the visitor.
“You seem to suffer more to-day than usual,” said Minna, struck by the feeble tones of the stranger’s voice.
“I am always so when I leave the chateau145.”
Minna quivered.
“A strange being lives there, Monsieur Becker,” he continued after a pause. “For the six months that I have been in this village I have never yet dared to question you about her, and even now I do violence to my feelings in speaking of her. I began by keenly regretting that my journey in this country was arrested by the winter weather and that I was forced to remain here. But during the last two months chains have been forged and riveted146 which bind147 me irrevocably to Jarvis, till now I fear to end my days here. You know how I first met Seraphita, what impression her look and voice made upon me, and how at last I was admitted to her home where she receives no one. From the very first day I have longed to ask you the history of this mysterious being. On that day began, for me, a series of enchantments149.”
“Enchantments!” cried the pastor shaking the ashes of his pipe into an earthen-ware dish full of sand, “are there enchantments in these days?”
“You, who are carefully studying at this moment that volume of the ‘Incantations’ of Jean Wier, will surely understand the explanation of my sensations if I try to give it to you,” replied Wilfrid. “If we study Nature attentively150 in its great evolutions as in its minutest works, we cannot fail to recognize the possibility of enchantment148 — giving to that word its exact significance. Man does not create forces; he employs the only force that exists and which includes all others namely Motion, the breath incomprehensible of the sovereign Maker151 of the universe. Species are too distinctly separated for the human hand to mingle152 them. The only miracle of which man is capable is done through the conjunction of two antagonistic substances. Gunpowder153 for instance is germane154 to a thunderbolt. As to calling forth a creation, and a sudden one, all creation demands time, and time neither recedes155 nor advances at the word of command. So, in the world without us, plastic nature obeys laws the order and exercise of which cannot be interfered156 with by the hand of man. But after fulfilling, as it were, the function of Matter, it would be unreasonable157 not to recognize within us the existence of a gigantic power, the effects of which are so incommensurable that the known generations of men have never yet been able to classify them. I do not speak of man’s faculty of abstraction, of constraining158 Nature to confine itself within the Word — a gigantic act on which the common mind reflects as little as it does on the nature of Motion, but which, nevertheless, has led the Indian theosophists to explain creation by a word to which they give an inverse159 power. The smallest atom of their subsistence, namely, the grain of rice, from which a creation issues and in which alternately creation again is held, presented to their minds so perfect an image of the creative word, and of the abstractive word, that to them it was easy to apply the same system to the creation of worlds. The majority of men content themselves with the grain of rice sown in the first chapter of all the Geneses. Saint John, when he said the Word was God only complicated the difficulty. But the fructification, germination160, and efflorescence of our ideas is of little consequence if we compare that property, shared by many men, with the wholly individual faculty of communicating to that property, by some mysterious concentration, forces that are more or less active, of carrying it up to a third, a ninth, or a twenty-seventh power, of making it thus fasten upon the masses and obtain magical results by condensing the processes of nature.
“What I mean by enchantments,” continued Wilfrid after a moment’s pause, “are those stupendous actions taking place between two membranes161 in the tissue of the brain. We find in the unexplorable nature of the Spiritual World certain beings armed with these wondrous162 faculties163, comparable only to the terrible power of certain gases in the physical world, beings who combine with other beings, penetrate164 them as active agents, and produce upon them witchcrafts, charms, against which these helpless slaves are wholly defenceless; they are, in fact, enchanted165, brought under subjection, reduced to a condition of dreadful vassalage166. Such mysterious beings overpower others with the sceptre and the glory of a superior nature — acting167 upon them at times like the torpedo168 which electrifies169 or paralyzes the fisherman, at other times like a dose of phosphorous which stimulates170 life and accelerates its propulsion; or again, like opium171, which puts to sleep corporeal172 nature, disengages the spirit from every bond, enables it to float above the world and shows this earth to the spiritual eye as through a prism, extracting from it the food most needed; or, yet again, like catalepsy, which deadens all faculties for the sake of one only vision. Miracles, enchantments, incantations, witchcrafts, spells, and charms, in short, all those acts improperly173 termed supernatural, are only possible and can only be explained by the despotism with which some spirit compels us to feel the effects of a mysterious optic which increases, or diminishes, or exalts174 creation, moves within us as it pleases, deforms175 or embellishes176 all things to our eyes, tears us from heaven, or drags us to hell — two terms by which men agree to express the two extremes of joy and misery177.
“These phenomena178 are within us, not without us,” Wilfrid went on. “The being whom we call Seraphita seems to me one of those rare and terrible spirits to whom power is given to bind men, to crush nature, to enter into participation179 of the occult power of God. The course of her enchantments over me began on that first day, when silence as to her was imposed upon me against my will. Each time that I have wished to question you it seemed as though I were about to reveal a secret of which I ought to be the incorruptible guardian180. Whenever I have tried to speak, a burning seal has been laid upon my lips, and I myself have become the involuntary minister of these mysteries. You see me here to-night, for the hundredth time, bruised, defeated, broken, after leaving the hallucinating sphere which surrounds that young girl, so gentle, so fragile to both of you, but to me the cruellest of magicians! Yes, to me she is like a sorcerer holding in her right hand the invisible wand that moves the globe, and in her left the thunderbolt that rends181 asunder182 all things at her will. No longer can I look upon her brow; the light of it is insupportable. I skirt the borders of the abyss of madness too closely to be longer silent. I must speak. I seize this moment, when courage comes to me, to resist the power which drags me onward183 without inquiring whether or not I have the force to follow. Who is she? Did you know her young? What of her birth? Had she father and mother, or was she born of the conjunction of ice and sun? She burns and yet she freeze; she shows herself and then withdraws; she attracts me and repulses184 me; she brings me life, she gives me death; I love her and yet I hate her! I cannot live thus; let me be wholly in heaven or in hell!”
Holding his refilled pipe in one hand, and in the other the cover which he forgot to replace, Monsieur Becker listened to Wilfrid with a mysterious expression on his face, looking occasionally at his daughter, who seemed to understand the man’s language as in harmony with the strange being who inspired it. Wilfrid was splendid to behold at this moment — like Hamlet listening to the ghost of his father as it rises for him alone in the midst of the living.
“This is certainly the language of a man in love,” said the good pastor, innocently.
“In love!” cried Wilfrid, “yes, to common minds. But, dear Monsieur Becker, no words can express the frenzy185 which draws me to the feet of that unearthly being.”
“Then you do love her?” said Minna, in a tone of reproach.
“Mademoiselle, I feel such extraordinary agitation186 when I see her, and such deep sadness when I see her no more, that in any other man what I feel would be called love. But that sentiment draws those who feel it ardently187 together, whereas between her and me a great gulf188 lies, whose icy coldness penetrates189 my very being in her presence; though the feeling dies away when I see her no longer. I leave her in despair; I return to her with ardor — like men of science who seek a secret from Nature only to be baffled, or like the painter who would fain put life upon his canvas and strives with all the resources of his art in the vain attempt.”
“Monsieur, all that you say is true,” replied the young girl, artlessly.
“How can you know, Minna?” asked the old pastor.
“Ah! my father, had you been with us this morning on the summit of the Falberg, had you seen him praying, you would not ask me that question. You would say, like Monsieur Wilfrid, that he saw his Seraphita for the first time in our temple, ‘It is the Spirit of Prayer.’”
These words were followed by a moment’s silence.
“Ah, truly!” said Wilfrid, “she has nothing in common with the creatures who grovel190 upon this earth.”
“On the Falberg!” said the old pastor, “how could you get there?”
“I do not know,” replied Minna; “the way is like a dream to me, of which no more than a memory remains191. Perhaps I should hardly believe that I had been there were it not for this tangible192 proof.”
She drew the flower from her bosom193 and showed it to them. All three gazed at the pretty saxifrage, which was still fresh, and now shone in the light of the two lamps like a third luminary194.
“This is indeed supernatural,” said the old man, astounded195 at the sight of a flower blooming in winter.
“A mystery!” cried Wilfrid, intoxicated196 with its perfume.
“The flower makes me giddy,” said Minna; “I fancy I still hear that voice — the music of thought; that I still see the light of that look, which is Love.”
“I implore197 you, my dear Monsieur Becker, tell me the history of Seraphita — enigmatical human flower — whose image is before us in this mysterious bloom.”
“My dear friend,” said the old man, emitting a puff198 of smoke, “to explain the birth of that being it is absolutely necessary that I disperse199 the clouds which envelop200 the most obscure of Christian201 doctrines202. It is not easy to make myself clear when speaking of that incomprehensible revelation — the last effulgence203 of faith that has shone upon our lump of mud. Do you know Swedenborg?”
“By name only — of him, of his books, and his religion I know nothing.”
“Then I must relate to you the whole chronicle of Swedenborg.”
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1
salon
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| n.[法]沙龙；客厅；营业性的高级服务室 | |
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2
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
ascend
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| vi.渐渐上升，升高；vt.攀登，登上 | |
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4
exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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8
hew
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| v.砍；伐；削 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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10
shimmer
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| v./n.发微光，发闪光；微光 | |
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vibrations
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| n.摆动( vibration的名词复数 )；震动；感受；（偏离平衡位置的）一次性往复振动 | |
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12
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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13
intonations
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| n.语调，说话的抑扬顿挫( intonation的名词复数 )；（演奏或唱歌中的）音准 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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18
ironical
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| adj.讽刺的，冷嘲的 | |
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19
intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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20
trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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21
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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23
maliciously
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| adv.有敌意地 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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26
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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28
maiden
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| n.少女，处女；adj.未婚的，纯洁的，无经验的 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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31
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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32
persuasions
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| n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰 | |
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33
lulled
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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34
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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37
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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38
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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39
annihilated
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| v.（彻底）消灭( annihilate的过去式和过去分词 )；使无效；废止；彻底击溃 | |
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40
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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41
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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42
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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43
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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44
soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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45
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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46
fascination
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| n.令人着迷的事物，魅力，迷恋 | |
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47
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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48
toils
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| 网 | |
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49
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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50
melodious
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| adj.旋律美妙的，调子优美的，音乐性的 | |
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51
emanate
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| v.发自，来自，出自 | |
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52
chastely
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| adv.贞洁地，清高地，纯正地 | |
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53
effulgent
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| adj.光辉的；灿烂的 | |
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54
ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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55
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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56
adoration
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| n.爱慕，崇拜 | |
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57
attachments
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| n.（用电子邮件发送的）附件( attachment的名词复数 )；附着；连接；附属物 | |
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58
soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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59
pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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60
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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61
choir
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| n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱 | |
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62
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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63
aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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64
steadfast
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| adj.固定的，不变的，不动摇的；忠实的；坚贞不移的 | |
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65
omnipotence
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| n.全能，万能，无限威力 | |
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66
torpor
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| n.迟钝；麻木；（动物的）冬眠 | |
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67
rend
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| vt.把…撕开，割裂；把…揪下来，强行夺取 | |
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68
luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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69
plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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70
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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71
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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72
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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73
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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74
wilt
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| v.(使)植物凋谢或枯萎；(指人)疲倦，衰弱 | |
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75
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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76
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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77
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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78
deferential
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| adj. 敬意的，恭敬的 | |
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79
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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80
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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81
expiate
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| v.抵补，赎罪 | |
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82
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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83
vertigo
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| n.眩晕 | |
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84
mingling
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| adj.混合的 | |
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85
pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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86
inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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87
regained
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| 复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地 | |
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88
parlor
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| n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅 | |
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89
analogous
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| adj.相似的；类似的 | |
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90
protracted
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| adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
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91
isolates
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| v.使隔离( isolate的第三人称单数 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析 | |
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92
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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93
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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94
resistant
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| adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的 | |
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95
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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96
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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97
fusion
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| n.溶化；熔解；熔化状态，熔和；熔接 | |
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98
antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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99
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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100
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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101
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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102
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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103
tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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104
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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105
nostalgia
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| n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧 | |
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106
seduced
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| 诱奸( seduce的过去式和过去分词 )； 勾引； 诱使堕落； 使入迷 | |
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107
awakens
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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108
eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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109
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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110
ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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111
tapestry
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| n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面 | |
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112
fumes
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| n.(强烈而刺激的)气味，气体 | |
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113
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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114
burnished
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| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
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115
tapestried
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| adj.饰挂绣帷的，织在绣帷上的v.用挂毯（或绣帷）装饰( tapestry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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116
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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117
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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118
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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119
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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120
flakes
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| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
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121
velvet
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| n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的 | |
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122
tranquillity
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| n. 平静, 安静 | |
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123
supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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124
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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125
magisterial
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| adj.威风的，有权威的；adv.威严地 | |
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127
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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128
meditative
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| adj.沉思的，冥想的 | |
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129
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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130
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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131
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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132
candor
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| n.坦白，率真 | |
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133
bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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134
meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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135
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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136
sanctuary
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| n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区 | |
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137
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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138
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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139
intoxication
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| n.wild excitement;drunkenness；poisoning | |
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140
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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141
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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142
heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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143
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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144
diffused
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| 散布的，普及的，扩散的 | |
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145
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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146
riveted
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| 铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意 | |
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147
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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148
enchantment
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| n.迷惑，妖术，魅力 | |
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149
enchantments
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| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
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150
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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151
maker
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| n.制造者，制造商 | |
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152
mingle
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| vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往 | |
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153
gunpowder
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| n.火药 | |
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154
germane
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| adj.关系密切的，恰当的 | |
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155
recedes
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的第三人称单数 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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156
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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157
unreasonable
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| adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的 | |
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158
constraining
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| 强迫( constrain的现在分词 )； 强使； 限制； 约束 | |
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159
inverse
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| adj.相反的，倒转的，反转的；n.相反之物；v.倒转 | |
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160
germination
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| n.萌芽，发生；萌发；生芽；催芽 | |
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161
membranes
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| n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物 | |
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162
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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163
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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164
penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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165
enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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166
vassalage
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| n.家臣身份，隶属 | |
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167
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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168
torpedo
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| n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏 | |
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169
electrifies
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| v.使电气化( electrify的第三人称单数 )；使兴奋 | |
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170
stimulates
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| v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用 | |
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171
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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172
corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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173
improperly
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| 不正确地，不适当地 | |
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174
exalts
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| 赞扬( exalt的第三人称单数 )； 歌颂； 提升； 提拔 | |
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175
deforms
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| 使变形，使残废，丑化( deform的第三人称单数 ) | |
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176
embellishes
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| v.美化( embellish的第三人称单数 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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177
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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178
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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179
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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180
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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181
rends
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| v.撕碎( rend的第三人称单数 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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182
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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183
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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184
repulses
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| v.击退( repulse的第三人称单数 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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185
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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186
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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187
ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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188
gulf
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| n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂 | |
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189
penetrates
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| v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透 | |
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190
grovel
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| vi.卑躬屈膝，奴颜婢膝 | |
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191
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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192
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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193
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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194
luminary
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| n.名人，天体 | |
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195
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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196
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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197
implore
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| vt.乞求，恳求，哀求 | |
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198
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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199
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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200
envelop
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| vt.包，封，遮盖；包围 | |
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201
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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202
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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203
effulgence
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| n.光辉 | |
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