The monks10 worked and prayed, and their Father Superior played on the organ, made Latin verses, and wrote music. The wonderful old man possessed11 an extraordinary gift. He played on the organ with such art that even the oldest monks, whose hearing had grown somewhat dull towards the end of their lives, could not restrain their tears when the sounds of the organ floated from his cell. When he spoke12 of anything, even of the most ordinary things—for instance of the trees, of the wild beasts, or of the sea—they could not listen to him without a smile or tears, and it seemed that the same chords vibrated in his soul as in the organ. If he were moved to anger or abandoned himself to intense joy, or began speaking of something terrible or grand, then a passionate13 inspiration took possession of him, tears came into his flashing eyes, his face flushed, and his voice thundered, and as the monks listened to him they felt that their souls were spell-bound by his inspiration; at such marvellous, splendid moments his power over them was boundless14, and if he had bidden his elders fling themselves into the sea, they would all, every one of them, have hastened to carry out his wishes.
His music, his voice, his poetry in which he glorified15 God, the heavens and the earth, were a continual source of joy to the monks. It sometimes happened that through the monotony of their lives they grew weary of the trees, the flowers, the spring, the autumn, their ears were tired of the sound of the sea, and the song of the birds seemed tedious to them, but the talents of their Father Superior were as necessary to them as their daily bread.
Dozens of years passed by, and every day was like every other day, every night was like every other night. Except the birds and the wild beasts, not one soul appeared near the monastery. The nearest human habitation was far away, and to reach it from the monastery, or to reach the monastery from it, meant a journey of over seventy miles across the desert. Only men who despised life, who had renounced16 it, and who came to the monastery as to the grave, ventured to cross the desert.
What was the amazement17 of the monks, therefore, when one night there knocked at their gate a man who turned out to be from the town, and the most ordinary sinner who loved life. Before saying his prayers and asking for the Father Superior’s blessing18, this man asked for wine and food. To the question how he had come from the town into the desert, he answered by a long story of hunting; he had gone out hunting, had drunk too much, and lost his way. To the suggestion that he should enter the monastery and save his soul, he replied with a smile: “I am not a fit companion for you!”
When he had eaten and drunk he looked at the monks who were serving him, shook his head reproachfully, and said:
“You don’t do anything, you monks. You are good for nothing but eating and drinking. Is that the way to save one’s soul? Only think, while you sit here in peace, eat and drink and dream of beatitude, your neighbours are perishing and going to hell. You should see what is going on in the town! Some are dying of hunger, others, not knowing what to do with their gold, sink into profligacy19 and perish like flies stuck in honey. There is no faith, no truth in men. Whose task is it to save them? Whose work is it to preach to them? It is not for me, drunk from morning till night as I am. Can a meek20 spirit, a loving heart, and faith in God have been given you for you to sit here within four walls doing nothing?”
The townsman’s drunken words were insolent21 and unseemly, but they had a strange effect upon the Father Superior. The old man exchanged glances with his monks, turned pale, and said:
“My brothers, he speaks the truth, you know. Indeed, poor people in their weakness and lack of understanding are perishing in vice22 and infidelity, while we do not move, as though it did not concern us. Why should I not go and remind them of the Christ whom they have forgotten?”
The townsman’s words had carried the old man away. The next day he took his staff, said farewell to the brotherhood, and set off for the town. And the monks were left without music, and without his speeches and verses. They spent a month drearily23, then a second, but the old man did not come back. At last after three months had passed the familiar tap of his staff was heard. The monks flew to meet him and showered questions upon him, but instead of being delighted to see them he wept bitterly and did not utter a word. The monks noticed that he looked greatly aged24 and had grown thinner; his face looked exhausted25 and wore an expression of profound sadness, and when he wept he had the air of a man who has been outraged26.
The monks fell to weeping too, and began with sympathy asking him why he was weeping, why his face was so gloomy, but he locked himself in his cell without uttering a word. For seven days he sat in his cell, eating and drinking nothing, weeping and not playing on his organ. To knocking at his door and to the entreaties27 of the monks to come out and share his grief with them he replied with unbroken silence.
At last he came out. Gathering28 all the monks around him, with a tear-stained face and with an expression of grief and indignation, he began telling them of what had befallen him during those three months. His voice was calm and his eyes were smiling while he described his journey from the monastery to the town. On the road, he told them, the birds sang to him, the brooks29 gurgled, and sweet youthful hopes agitated30 his soul; he marched on and felt like a soldier going to battle and confident of victory; he walked on dreaming, and composed poems and hymns31, and reached the end of his journey without noticing it.
But his voice quivered, his eyes flashed, and he was full of wrath32 when he came to speak of the town and of the men in it. Never in his life had he seen or even dared to imagine what he met with when he went into the town. Only then for the first time in his life, in his old age, he saw and understood how powerful was the devil, how fair was evil and how weak and faint-hearted and worthless were men. By an unhappy chance the first dwelling33 he entered was the abode34 of vice. Some fifty men in possession of much money were eating and drinking wine beyond measure. Intoxicated35 by the wine, they sang songs and boldly uttered terrible, revolting words such as a God-fearing man could not bring himself to pronounce; boundlessly36 free, self-confident, and happy, they feared neither God nor the devil, nor death, but said and did what they liked, and went whither their lust37 led them. And the wine, clear as amber38, flecked with sparks of gold, must have been irresistibly39 sweet and fragrant40, for each man who drank it smiled blissfully and wanted to drink more. To the smile of man it responded with a smile and sparkled joyfully41 when they drank it, as though it knew the devilish charm it kept hidden in its sweetness.
The old man, growing more and more incensed42 and weeping with wrath, went on to describe what he had seen. On a table in the midst of the revellers, he said, stood a sinful, half-naked woman. It was hard to imagine or to find in nature anything more lovely and fascinating. This reptile43, young, longhaired, dark-skinned, with black eyes and full lips, shameless and insolent, showed her snow-white teeth and smiled as though to say: “Look how shameless, how beautiful I am.” Silk and brocade fell in lovely folds from her shoulders, but her beauty would not hide itself under her clothes, but eagerly thrust itself through the folds, like the young grass through the ground in spring. The shameless woman drank wine, sang songs, and abandoned herself to anyone who wanted her.
Then the old man, wrathfully brandishing44 his arms, described the horse-races, the bull-fights, the theatres, the artists’ studios where they painted naked women or moulded them of clay. He spoke with inspiration, with sonorous45 beauty, as though he were playing on unseen chords, while the monks, petrified46, greedily drank in his words and gasped47 with rapture. . . .
After describing all the charms of the devil, the beauty of evil, and the fascinating grace of the dreadful female form, the old man cursed the devil, turned and shut himself up in his cell. . . .
When he came out of his cell in the morning there was not a monk left in the monastery; they had all fled to the town.
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1
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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3
subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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4
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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5
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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6
negligent
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| adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的 | |
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7
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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brotherhood
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| n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊 | |
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9
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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10
monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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11
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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12
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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13
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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14
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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15
glorified
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| 美其名的，变荣耀的 | |
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16
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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17
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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18
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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profligacy
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| n.放荡，不检点，肆意挥霍 | |
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20
meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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22
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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23
drearily
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| 沉寂地，厌倦地，可怕地 | |
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24
aged
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| adj.年老的，陈年的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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26
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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27
entreaties
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| n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 ) | |
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28
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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29
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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30
agitated
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| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
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31
hymns
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 ) | |
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32
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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33
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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34
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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35
intoxicated
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| 喝醉的，极其兴奋的 | |
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36
boundlessly
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| adv.无穷地，无限地 | |
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37
lust
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| n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望 | |
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38
amber
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| n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的 | |
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39
irresistibly
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| adv.无法抵抗地，不能自持地；极为诱惑人地 | |
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40
fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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41
joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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42
incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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43
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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44
brandishing
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| v.挥舞( brandish的现在分词 )；炫耀 | |
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45
sonorous
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| adj.响亮的，回响的；adv.圆润低沉地；感人地；n.感人，堂皇 | |
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46
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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47
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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