But for that matter, Monsieur Mirabelle himself, who in this affair displayed great wisdom and circumspection5, paved the way to a solution.
"You must fully6 understand," he observed to Madame Doulce, "that the opinion of the newspapers cannot affect our decision. We are absolutely indifferent to it, and we do not disturb ourselves in the slightest degree, no matter what fifty public sheets may say about the unfortunate young fellow. Whether the journalists have told the truth or distorted it is their affair, not mine. I do not know [Pg 109] and I do not wish to know what they have written. But the fact of the suicide is notorious. You cannot dispute it. It would now be advisable to investigate closely, and by the light of science, the circumstances in which the deed was committed. Do not be surprised by my thus invoking7 the aid of science. Science has no better friend than religion. Now medical science may in the present case be of great assistance to us. You will understand in a moment. Mother Church ejects the suicide from her bosom8 only when his act is an act of despair. The madmen who attempt their own lives are not those who have lost all hope, and the Church does not deny them her prayers; she prays for all who are unfortunate. Now, if it could be proved that this poor boy had acted under the influence of a high fever or of a mental disorder9, if a medical man were in a position to certify10 that the poor fellow was not in possession of his faculties11 when he slew12 himself with his own hand, there would be no obstacle to the celebration of a religious service."
Having hearkened to the words of Monsieur l'Abbé Mirabelle, Madame Doulce hastened back to the theatre. The rehearsal13 of La Grille was over. She found Pradel in his office with a couple of young actresses, one of whom was soliciting14 an engagement, the other, leave of absence. He refused, in conformity15 with his principle never to grant a [Pg 110] request until he had first refused it. In this way he bestowed16 a value upon his most trifling17 concessions18. His glistening19 eyes and his patriarchal beard, his manner, at once amorous20 and paternal21, gave him a resemblance to Lot, as we see him between his two daughters in the prints of the Old Masters. Standing22 on the table was an amphora of gilt23 pasteboard which fostered this illusion.
"It can't be done," he was telling each of them. "It really can't be done, my child——Well, after all, look in to-morrow."
Having dismissed them, he inquired, as he signed some letters:
"Well, Madame Doulce, what news do you bring?"
Constantin Marc, appearing with Nanteuil, hastily exclaimed:
"What about my scenery, Monsieur Pradel?"
Thereupon he described for the twentieth time the landscape, upon which the curtain ought to rise.
"In the foreground, an old park. The trunks of the great trees, on the north side, are green with moss24. The dampness of the soil must be felt."
And the manager replied:
"You may rest assured that everything that can be done will be done, and that it will be most appropriate. Well, Madame Doulce, what news?"
[Pg 111]
"At the back, in a slight mist," said the author, "the grey stones and the slate26 roofs of the Abbaye-aux-Dames."
"Quite so. Pray be seated, Madame Doulce; you have my attention."
"I was most courteously27 received at the Archbishop's Palace," said Madame Doulce.
"Monsieur Pradel, it is imperative28 that the walls of the Abbaye should appear inscrutable, of great thickness, and yet subtilized by the mists of coming night. A pale-gold sky——"
"Monsieur l'Abbé Mirabelle," resumed Madame Doulce, "is a priest of the highest distinction——"
"Monsieur Marc, are you particularly keen on your pale-gold sky?" inquired the stage manager. "Go on, Madame Doulce, go on, I am listening to you."
At this moment Monsieur Marchegeay, the stage manager, burst into the room. His green eyes were glittering, and his red moustache was dancing like a flame. The words rolled off his tongue:
"They are at it again! Lydie, the little super, is screaming like a stoat on the stairs. She says Delage tried to violate her. [Pg 112] It's at least the tenth time in a month that she has come out with that story. This is an infernal nuisance!"
"Such conduct cannot be tolerated in a house like this," said Pradel. "You'll have to fine Delage. Pray continue, Madame Doulce."
"Monsieur l'Abbé Mirabelle explained to me in the clearest manner that suicide is an act of despair."
But Constantin Marc was inquiring of Pradel with interest, whether Lydie, the little super, was pretty.
"You have seen her in La Nuit du 23 octobre; she plays the woman of the people who, in the Plaine de Grenelle, is buying wafers of Madame Ravaud."
"A very pretty girl, to my thinking," said Constantin Marc.
"Undoubtedly31," responded Pradel. "But she would be still prettier if her ankles weren't like stakes."
"And Delage has outraged33 her. That fellow possesses the sense of love. Love is a simple and primitive34 act. It's a struggle, it's hatred35. Violence is necessary to it. Love by mutual36 consent is merely a tedious obligation."
And he cried, greatly excited.
"Delage is prodigious38!"
"Don't get yourself into a fix," said Pradel.
[Pg 113]
"This same little Lydie entices39 my actors into her dressing-room, and then all of a sudden she screams out that she is being outraged in order to get hush-money out of them. It's her lover who has taught her the trick, and takes the coin. You were saying, Madame Doulce——"
"After a long and interesting conversation," resumed Madame Doulce, "Monsieur l'Abbé Mirabelle suggested a favourable40 solution. He gave me to understand that, in order to remove all difficulties, it would be sufficient for a physician to certify that Chevalier was not in full possession of his faculties, and that he was not responsible for his acts."
"But," observed Pradel, "Chevalier wasn't insane. He was in full possession of his faculties."
"It's not for us to say," replied Madame Doulce. "What do we know about it?"
"No," said Nanteuil, "he was not in full possession of his faculties."
"After all, it's possible. Insanity43 and reason, it's a matter of appreciation44. To whom could we apply for a certificate?"
Madame Doulce and Pradel called to mind three physicians in succession; but they were unable to find the address of the first; the second was bad-tempered45, and it was decided46 that the third was dead.
[Pg 114]
Nanteuil suggested that they should approach Dr. Trublet.
"That's an idea!" exclaimed Pradel. "Let us ask a certificate of Dr. Socrates. What's to-day? Friday. It's his day for consultations47. We shall find him at home."
Dr. Trublet lived in an old house at the top of the Rue48 de Seine. Pradel took Nanteuil with him, with the idea that Socrates would refuse nothing to a pretty woman. Constantin Marc, who could not live, when in Paris, save in the company of theatrical49 folk, accompanied them. The Chevalier affair was beginning to amuse him. He found it theatrical, that is, appropriate to theatrical performers. Although the hour for consultations was over, the doctor's sitting-room50 was still full of people in search of healing. Trublet dismissed them, and received his theatrical friends in his private room. He was standing in front of a table encumbered51 with books and papers. An adjustable52 arm-chair, infirm and cynical53, displayed itself by the window. The director of the Odéon set forth54 the object of his call, and ended by saying:
"Chevalier's funeral service cannot be celebrated55 in the church unless you certify that the unfortunate young man was not altogether sane41."
Dr. Trublet declared that Chevalier might very well do without a religious service.
[Pg 115]
"Adrienne Lecouvreur, who was of more account than Chevalier, did without one. Mademoiselle Monime had no Mass said for her after her death, and, as you are aware, she was denied 'the honour of rotting in a nasty cemetery56 in the company of all the beggars of the quarter.' She was none the worse off for that."
"You are not ignorant of the fact, Dr. Socrates," replied Pradel, "that actors and actresses are the most religious of people. My company would be deeply grieved if they could not be present at the celebration of a Mass for their colleague. They have already secured the co-operation of several lyric57 artists, and the music will be very fine."
"Now that's a reason," said Trublet "I do not gainsay58 it. Charles Monselet, who was a witty59 fellow, was reflecting, only a few hours before his death, on his musical Mass, 'I know a great many singers at the Opéra,' he said, 'I shall have a Pie Jésu aux truffes.' But, as on this occasion the Archbishop does not authorize60 a spiritual concert, it would be more convenient to postpone61 it to some other occasion."
"As far as I am concerned," replied the director, "I have no religious belief. But I consider that the Church and the Stage are two great social powers, and that it is beneficial that they should be friends and allies. For my own part, I never lose [Pg 116] an opportunity of sealing the alliance. This coming Lent, I shall have Durville read one of Bourdaloue's sermons. I receive a State subsidy62. I must observe the Concordat63. Moreover, whatever people may say, Catholicism is the most acceptable form of religious indifference64."
"Well then," objected Constantin Marc, "since you wish to show deference65 to the Church, why do you foist66 upon her, by force or by subterfuge67, a coffin68 which she doesn't want?"
"My dear Pradel, don't you have anything more to do with the matter."
"Whereupon Nanteuil, her eyes blazing, her voice sibilant, cried:
"He must go to church, doctor; sign what is asked of you, write that he was not in possession of his faculties, I entreat70 you."
There was not religion alone at the back of this desire. Blended with it was an intimate feeling, an obscure background of old beliefs, of which she herself was unaware71. She hoped that if he were carried into the church, and sprinkled with holy water, Chevalier would be appeased72, would become one of the peaceful dead, and would no longer torment73 her. She feared, on the other hand, that if he were deprived of benediction74 and prayers he [Pg 117] would perpetually hover75 about her, accursed and maleficent. And, more simply still, in her dread76 of seeing him again, she was anxious that the priests should take good care to bury him, and that everybody should attend the funeral, so that he should be all the more thoroughly77 buried; as thoroughly buried, in short, as it was possible to be. Her lips trembled and she wrung78 her hands.
Trublet, who had long graduated in human nature, watched her with interest. He understood and took a special interest in the female of the human machine. This particular specimen79 filled him with joy. His snub-nosed face beamed with delight as he watched her.
"Don't be uneasy, child. There is always a way of coming to an understanding with the Church. What you are asking me is not within my powers; I am a lay doctor. But we have to-day, thank God, religious physicians who send their patients to the ecclesiastical waters, and whose special function is to attest80 miraculous81 cures. I know one who lives in this part of the town; I'll give you his address. Go and see him; the Bishop4 will refuse him nothing. He will arrange the matter for you."
"Not at all," said Pradel. "You always attended poor Chevalier. It is for you to give a certificate."
Romilly agreed:
[Pg 118]
"But," objected Trublet, "what do you want me to say?"
"It's very simple," Pradel replied. "Say that he was to a certain extent irresponsible."
"You are simply asking me to speak like a police surgeon. It's expecting too much of me."
"Quite the contrary. I am of opinion that he was not in the least responsible for his actions."
"Well, then?"
"But I also consider that, in this respect, he differed in nowise from you, myself, and all other men. My judicial85 colleagues distinguish between individual responsibilities. They have procedures by which they recognize full responsibilities, and those which lack one or more fractional parts. It is a remarkable86 fact, moreover, that in order to get a poor wretch87 condemned88 they always find him fully responsible. May we not therefore consider that their own responsibility is full—like the moon?"
And Dr. Socrates proceeded to unfold before [Pg 119] the astonished stage folk a comprehensive theory of universal determinism. He went back to the origins of life, and, like the Silenus of Virgil, who, smeared89 with the juice of mulberries, sang to the shepherds of Sicily and the naiad Aglaia of the origin of the world, he broke out into a flood of words:
"To call upon a poor wretch to answer for his actions! Why, even when the solar system was still no more than a pale nebula90, forming, in the ether, a fragile halo, whose circumference91 was a thousand times greater than the orbit of Neptune92, we had all of us, for ages past, been fully conditioned, determined93 and irrevocably destined94, and your responsibility, my dear child, my responsibility, Chevalier's, and that of all men, had been, not mitigated95, but abolished beforehand. All our movements, the result of previous movements of matter, are subject to the laws which govern the cosmic forces, and the human mechanism96 is merely a particular instance of the universal mechanism."
Pointing to a locked cupboard, he proceeded.
"I have there, contained in bottles, that which would transform, destroy, or excite to frenzy97 the will of fifty thousand men."
"Wouldn't be playing the game," objected Pradel.
"I agree, it wouldn't be playing the game. [Pg 120] But these substances are not essentially98 laboratory products. The laboratory combines, it does not create anything. These substances are scattered99 throughout nature. In their free state, they surround and enter into us, they determine our will, they circumscribe100 our freedom of device, which is merely the illusion engendered101 within us by the ignorance of our determinations."
"What on earth do you mean?" asked Pradel, taken aback.
"I mean that our will is an illusion caused by our ignorance of the causes which compel us to exert our will. That which wills within us is not ourselves, but myriads102 of cells of prodigious activity, of which we know nothing, which are unaware of us, which are ignorant of one another, but which nevertheless constitute us. By means of their restlessness they produce innumerable currents which we call our passions, our thoughts, our joys, our sufferings, our desires, our fears, and our will. We believe that we are our own masters, while a mere37 drop of alcohol stimulates103, and then benumbs the very elements by which we feel and will."
Constantin Marc interrupted the physician:
"Excuse me! Since you are speaking of the action of alcohol, I should like your advice on the subject. I am in the habit of drinking a small [Pg 121] glass of Armagnac brandy after each meal. That's not too much, is it?"
"It's a great deal too much. Alcohol is a poison. If you have a bottle of brandy at home, fling it out of the window."
Pradel was pondering. He considered that in suppressing will and responsibility in all human things Dr. Socrates was doing him a personal injury.
"You may say what you like. Will and responsibility are not illusions. They are tangible104 and powerful realities. I know how the terms of my contract bind105 me, and I impose my will on others."
And he added with some bitterness:
"I believe in the will, in moral responsibility, in the distinction between good and evil. Doubtless these are, according to you, stupid ideas."
"They are indeed stupid ideas," replied the physician, "but they are very suitable to us, since we are mere animals. We are for ever forgetting this. They are stupid, venerable, wholesome106 ideas. Men have felt that, without these ideas, they would all go mad. They had only the choice between stupidity and madness. Very reasonably they chose stupidity. Such is the foundation of moral ideas."
[Pg 122]
The physician calmly proceeded:
"The distinction between good and evil in human societies has never emerged from the grossest empiricism. It was constituted in a wholly practical spirit and as a simple convenience. We do not trouble ourselves about it where cut-glass or a tree is concerned. We practise moral indifference with regard to animals. We practise it in the case of savage108 races. This enables us to exterminate109 them without remorse110. That's what is known as the colonial policy. Nor do we find that believers exact a high degree of morality from their god. In the present state of society, they would not willingly admit that he was lecherous111 or compromised himself with women; but they do think it fitting that he should be vindictive112 and cruel. Morality is a mutual agreement to keep what we possess: land, houses, furniture, women, and our lives. It does not imply, in the case of those who bow to it, any particular intelligence or character. It is instinctive113 and ferocious114. Written law follows it closely, and is in more or less harmonious115 agreement with it. Hence we see that great-hearted men, or men of brilliant genius, have almost all been accused of impiety116, and, like Socrates, the son of Phenaretes, and Beno?t Malon, have been smitten117 by the tribunals of their country. And it may be stated that a man who has not, at [Pg 123] the very least, been sentenced to imprisonment118 does little credit to the land of his fathers."
"There are exceptions," remarked Pradel.
"Few," replied Dr. Trublet.
But Nanteuil, pursuing her idea, remarked.
"My little Socrates, you can very well certify that he was insane. It is the truth. He was not sane, I know it only too well."
"No doubt he was mad, my dear child. But it is a question of determining whether he was madder than other men. The entire history of humanity, replete119 with tortures, ecstasies120, and massacres121, is the history of raving122, demented creatures."
"Doctor," inquired Constantin Marc, "are you by chance one of those who do not admire War? It is nevertheless a magnificent thing, when you come to think of it. The animals merely eat one another. Men have conceived the idea of beautiful massacres. They have learnt to kill one another in glittering cuirasses, in helmets topped with plumes123, or maned with scarlet124. By the use of artillery125, and the art of fortification, they have introduced chemistry and mathematics among the necessary means of destruction. War is a sublime126 invention. And, since the extermination127 of human beings appears to us the only object of life, the wisdom of man resides in this, that he has made [Pg 124] this extermination a delight and a splendour. After all, doctor, you cannot deny that murder is a law of nature, and that it is consequently divine."
To which Dr. Socrates replied:
"We are only miserable128 animals, and yet we are our own providence129 and our own gods. The lower animals, whose immemorial reign130 preceded our own upon this planet, have transformed it by their genius and their courage. The insects have traced roads, excavated131 the soil, hollowed the trunks of trees and rocks, built dwellings132, founded cities, metamorphosed the soil, the air, and the waters. The labour of the humblest of these, that of the madrepores, has created islands and continents. Every material change produces a moral change, since morals depend upon environment. The transformation133 to which man in his turn has subjected the earth is undoubtedly more profound and more harmonious than the transformation wrought134 by other animals. Why should not humanity succeed in changing nature to the extent of making it pacific? Why should not humanity, miserably135 puny136 though it is and will be, succeed, some day, in suppressing, or at least in controlling the struggle for life? Why indeed should not humanity abolish the law of murder? We may expect a great deal from chemistry. Yet I do not guarantee anything. It is possible that our [Pg 125] race will persist in melancholy137, delirium138, mania139, dementia, and stupor140 until its lamentable141 end amid ice and darkness. This world is perhaps irremediably wicked. At all events, I shall have got plenty of amusement out of it. It affords those who are in it an interesting spectacle, and I am beginning to think that Chevalier was madder than the rest in that he voluntarily left his seat."
Nanteuil took a pen from the desk, and held it out, dipped in ink, to the doctor.
He began to write:
"Having been called on several occasions to attend——"
"Aimé," replied Nanteuil.
"Aimé Chevalier, I have noticed in his system certain disorders143 of sensibility, vision and motor control, ordinary indications of——"
He went to fetch a book from a shelf of his library.
"It's a thousand chances that I shall find something to confirm my diagnosis144 in the lectures of Professor Ball on mental diseases."
He turned over the leaves of the book.
"Just see, my dear Romilly, this is what I find to begin with; in the eighteenth lecture, page 389: 'Many madmen are to be met with among actors.' [Pg 126] This remark of Professor Ball's reminds me that the celebrated Cabanis one day asked Dr. Esprit Blanche whether the stage was not a cause of madness."
"Really?" asked Romilly uneasily.
"Not a doubt of it," replied Trublet. "But listen to what Professor Ball says on the same page. 'It is an incontestable fact that medical men are excessively predisposed to mental aberration145.' Nothing is truer. Among medical men, those who are more especially predestined to insanity are the alienists. It is often difficult to determine which of the two is the crazier, the madman or his doctor. People say too that men of genius are prone146 to insanity. That is certainly the case. Still, a man is not a reasoning being merely because he is an idiot."
After glancing a little further through the pages of Professor Ball's lectures, he resumed his writing:
"Ordinary indications of maniacal147 excitement, and, if it be taken into consideration that the subject was of a neuropathic temperament148, there is reason to believe that his constitution predisposed him to insanity, which, according to the highest authorities, is merely an exaggeration of the habitual149 temperament of the individual, and hence it is not possible to credit him with full moral responsibility."
He signed the sheet and handed it to Pradel, saying:
[Pg 127]
"Here's something that is innocuous and too devoid150 of meaning to contain the slightest falsehood."
Pradel rose and said:
"Believe me, my dear doctors we should not have asked you to tell a lie."
"Why not? I am a medical man. I keep a lie-shop. I relieve, I console. How is it possible to relieve and console without lying?"
Then, with a sympathetic glance at Nanteuil; he added:
"Only women and physicians know how necessary untruthfulness is, and how beneficial to man."
And, as Pradel, Constantin Mate, and Romilly were taking their leave, he said:
"Pray go out by the dining-room. I've just received a small cask of old Armagnac. You'll tell me what you think of it!"
Nanteuil had remained behind in the doctor's consulting room.
"My little Socrates, I have spent an awful night. I saw him."
"During your sleep?"
"No, when wide awake."
"You are sure you were not sleeping?"
"Quite sure."
He was on the point of asking her if the apparition151 had spoken to her. But he left the question [Pg 128] unspoken, fearing lest he might suggest to so sensitive a subject those hallucinations of the sense of hearing, which, by reason of their imperious nature, he dreaded152 far more than visual hallucinations. He was familiar with the docility153 of the sick in obeying orders given them by voices. Abandoning the idea of questioning Félicie, he resolved, at all hazards, to remove any scruples154 of conscience which might be troubling her. At the same time, having observed that, generally speaking, the sense of moral responsibility is weak in women, he made no great effort in that direction, and contented155 himself with remarking lightly:
"My dear child, you must not consider yourself responsible for the death of that poor fellow. A suicide inspired by passion is the inevitable156 termination of a pathological condition. Every individual who commits suicide had to commit suicide. You are merely the incidental cause of an accident, which is, of course, deplorable, but the importance of which should not be exaggerated."
Thinking that he had said enough on this score, he applied157 himself immediately to dispersing159 the terrors which surrounded her. He sought to convince her by simple arguments that she was beholding161 images which had no reality, mere reflections of her own thoughts. In order to illustrate162 [Pg 129] his demonstration163, he told her a story of a reassuring164 nature.
"An English physician," he told her, "was attending a lady, like yourself, highly intelligent, who, like yourself, was in the habit of seeing cats under her furniture, and was visited by phantoms165. He convinced her that these apparitions167 corresponded to nothing in reality. She believed him, and worried herself no longer. One fine day, after a long period of retirement168, she reappeared in society, and on entering a drawing-room she saw the lady of the house who, pointing to an arm-chair, begged her to be seated. She also saw, seated in this chair, a crafty-looking old gentleman. She argued to herself that one of the two persons was necessarily a creature of the imagination, and, deciding that the gentleman had no real existence, she sat down on the arm-chair. On touching169 the bottom, she drew a long breath. From that day onward170, she never again set eyes on any further phantoms, either of man or of beast. When smothering171 the crafty-looking old gentleman, she had smothered172 them all—fundamentally."
Félicie shook her head, saying:
"That does not apply to this case."
She meant to say that her own phantom166 was not a grotesque173 old man, on whom one could sit, but a jealous dead man who did not pay her visits without [Pg 130] some object. But she feared to speak of these things; and, letting her hands fall upon her knees, she held her peace.
Seeing her thus, dejected and crushed, he pointed out that these disorders of the vision were neither rare nor very serious, and that they soon vanished without leaving any traces.
"I myself," he said, "once had a vision."
"You?"
"Yes, I had a vision, some twenty years ago. It was in Egypt."
He noticed that she was looking at him inquiringly, so he began the story of his hallucination, having switched on all the electric lights, in order to disperse174 the phantoms of darkness.
"In the days when I was practising in Cairo, I was accustomed, in the February of each year, to go up the Nile as far as Luxor, and thence I proceeded, in company with some friends, to visit the tombs and temples in the desert. These trips across the sands are made on donkey-back. The last time I went to Luxor I hired a young donkey-boy, whose white donkey Rameses was stronger than the others. This donkey-boy, whose name was Selim, was also stronger, slenderer, and better looking than the other donkey-boys. He was fifteen years old. His shy, gentle eyes shone from behind a magnificent veil of long black lashes175; his brown face [Pg 131] was a pure clear-cut oval. He tramped barefoot through the desert with a step which made one think of those dances of warriors176 of which the Bible speaks. His every movement was graceful177; his young animal-like gaiety was charming. As he prodded178 Rameses' back with the point of his stick, he would chatter179 to me in a limited vocabulary in which English, French and Arabic were intermingled; he enjoyed telling me of the travellers whom he had escorted and who, he believed, were all princes or princesses; but if I asked him about his relations or his companions he remained silent, and assumed an air of indifference and boredom180. When cadging181 for a promise of substantial baksheesh, the nasal twang of his voice assumed caressing182 inflexions. He thought out subtle stratagems183 and expended184 whole treasuries185 of prayers in order to obtain a cigarette. Noticing that I liked to see the donkey-boys treat their beasts with kindness, he used, in my presence, to kiss Rameses on the nostrils186, and when we halted he would waltz with him. He often displayed real ingenuity187 in getting what he wanted. But he was far too short-sighted ever to show the slightest gratitude188 for what he had obtained. Greedy of piastres, he coveted189 still more eagerly such small glittering articles as one cannot keep covered—gold scarf-pins, rings, sleeve-links, or nickel cigar-lighters; and when he saw a gold [Pg 132] chain his face would light up with a gleam of pleasure.
"The following summer was the hardest time of my life. An epidemic190 of cholera191 had broken out in Lower Egypt. I was running about the town all day long in a scorching192 atmosphere. Cairo summers are overpowering to Europeans. We were going through the hottest weeks I had ever known. I heard one day that Selim, brought before the native court of Cairo, had been sentenced to death. He had murdered the daughter of some fellaheen, a little girl nine years old, in order to rob her of her ear-rings, and had thrown her into a cistern193. The rings, stained with blood, had been found under a big stone in the Valley of the Kings. They were the crude jewels which the Nubian nomads194 hammer out of shillings or two-franc pieces, I was told that Selim would certainly be hanged, because the little girl's mother refused the tendered blood-money. Now, the Khedive does not enjoy the prerogative195 of mercy, and the murderer, according to Moslem196 law, can redeem197 his life only if the parents of the victim consent to receive from him a sum of money as compensation. I was too busy to give thought to the matter. I could readily imagine that Selim, cunning but thoughtless, caressing yet unfeeling, had played with the little girl, torn off her ear-rings, killed her, and hidden her [Pg 133] body. The affair soon passed out of my mind. The epidemic was spreading from Old Cairo to the European quarters. I was visiting from thirty to forty sick persons daily, practising venous injections in every case. I was suffering from liver trouble, an?mia was playing havoc198 with me, and I was dropping with fatigue199. In order to husband my strength, I took a little rest at noon. I was accustomed, after luncheon200, to lie down in the inner courtyard of my house, and there for an hour I bathed myself in the African shade, as dense201 and cool as water. One day, as I was lying there on a divan202 in my courtyard, just as I was lighting203 a cigarette, I saw Selim approaching. With his beautiful bronze arm he lifted the door-curtain, and came towards me in his blue robe. He did not speak, but smiled with his shy and innocent smile, and the deep red of his lips disclosed his dazzling teeth. His eyes, beneath the blue shadow of his eyelashes, shone with covetousness204 while gazing at my watch which lay on the table.
"I thought he had escaped. And this surprised me, not because captives are strictly205 watched in Oriental prisons, where men, women, horses and dogs are herded206 in imperfectly closed courtyards, and guarded by a soldier armed with a stick. But Moslems are never tempted207 to flee from their fate. Selim knelt down with an appealing grace, and [Pg 134] approached his lips to my hand, to kiss it according to ancient custom. I was not asleep, and I had proof of it. I also had proof that the apparition had been before me only for a short time. When Selim had vanished I noticed that my cigarette, which was alight, was not yet tipped with ash."
"Was he dead when you saw him?" asked Nanteuil.
"Not a bit of it," replied the doctor, "I heard a few days later that Selim, in his jail, wove little baskets, or played for hours at a time with a chaplet of glass balls, and that he would smilingly beg a piastre of European visitors, who were surprised by the caressing softness of his eyes. Moslem justice is slow. He was hanged six months later. No one, not even he himself, was greatly concerned about it. I was in Europe at the time."
"And since then he has never reappeared?"
"Never."
Nanteuil looked at him, disappointed.
"I thought he had come when he was dead. But since he was in prison you certainly could not have seen him in your house. You only thought you saw him."
The physician, understanding what was in Félicie's mind, quickly replied:
"My dear little Nanteuil, believe what I tell [Pg 135] you. The phantoms of the dead have no more reality than the phantoms of the living."
Without attending to what he was saying, she asked him if it was really because he suffered from his liver that he had a vision. He replied that he believed that the bad state of his digestive organs, general fatigue, and a tendency to congestion208, had all predisposed him to behold160 an apparition.
"There was; I believe," he added, "a more immediate158 cause. Stretched out on my divan, my head was very low. I raised it to light a cigarette, and let it fall back immediately. This attitude is particularly favourable to hallucinations. It is sometimes enough to lie down with one's head thrown back to see and to hear imaginary shapes and sounds. That is why I advise you, my child, to sleep with a bolster209 and a fat pillow."
She began to laugh.
"As mamma does—majestically!"
Then, flitting off to another idea:
"Tell me; Socrates, how comes it that you saw this sordid210 individual rather than another? You had hired a donkey from him, and you were no longer thinking of him. And yet he came. Say what you like, it's queer."
"You ask me why it was he rather than another? It would be very hard for me to tell you. Our visions, bound up with our innermost [Pg 136] thoughts, often present their images to us; sometimes there is no connection between them, and they show us an unexpected figure."
"The dead do not return. When one of them appears to you, rest assured that what you see is a thing imagined by your brain."
"Can you," she inquired; "guarantee that there is nothing after death?"
"My child, there is nothing after death that could frighten you."
She rose, picked up her little bag and her part, and held out her hand to the doctor, saying:
"As for you, you don't believe in anything, do you, old Socrates?"
He detained her for a moment in the waiting-room, warned her to take good care of herself, to lead a quiet, restful life, and to take sufficient rest.
"Do you suppose that is easy in our profession? To-morrow I have a rehearsal in the green-room, and one on the stage, and I have to try on a gown, while to-night I am acting212. For more than a year now I've been leading that sort of life."
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1
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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2
negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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3
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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4
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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5
circumspection
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| n.细心，慎重 | |
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6
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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9
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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10
certify
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| vt.证明，证实；发证书(或执照)给 | |
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11
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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12
slew
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| v.（使）旋转；n.大量，许多 | |
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13
rehearsal
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| n.排练，排演；练习 | |
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14
soliciting
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| v.恳求( solicit的现在分词 )；（指娼妇）拉客；索求；征求 | |
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15
conformity
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| n.一致，遵从，顺从 | |
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16
bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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18
concessions
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| n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权 | |
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19
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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20
amorous
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| adj.多情的；有关爱情的 | |
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21
paternal
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| adj.父亲的，像父亲的，父系的，父方的 | |
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22
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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23
gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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24
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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25
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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26
slate
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| n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订 | |
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27
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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28
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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29
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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30
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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31
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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32
musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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33
outraged
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| a.震惊的，义愤填膺的 | |
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34
primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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35
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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36
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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37
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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38
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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39
entices
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| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的第三人称单数 ) | |
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40
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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41
sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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42
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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43
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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44
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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45
bad-tempered
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| adj.脾气坏的 | |
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46
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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47
consultations
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| n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找 | |
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48
rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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49
theatrical
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| adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的 | |
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50
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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51
encumbered
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| v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
adjustable
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| adj.可调整的，可校准的 | |
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53
cynical
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| adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的 | |
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54
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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55
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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56
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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57
lyric
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| n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的 | |
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58
gainsay
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| v.否认，反驳 | |
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59
witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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60
authorize
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| v.授权，委任；批准，认可 | |
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61
postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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62
subsidy
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| n.补助金，津贴 | |
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63
concordat
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| n.协定；宗派间的协约 | |
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64
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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65
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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66
foist
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| vt.把…强塞给，骗卖给 | |
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67
subterfuge
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| n.诡计；藉口 | |
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68
coffin
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| n.棺材，灵柩 | |
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69
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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70
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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71
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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72
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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73
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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74
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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75
hover
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| vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫 | |
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76
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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77
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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78
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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79
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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80
attest
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| vt.证明，证实；表明 | |
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81
miraculous
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| adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的 | |
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82
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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83
entreaty
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| n.恳求，哀求 | |
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84
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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85
judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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86
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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87
wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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88
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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89
smeared
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| 弄脏； 玷污； 涂抹； 擦上 | |
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90
nebula
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| n.星云，喷雾剂 | |
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91
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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92
Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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93
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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94
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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95
mitigated
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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96
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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97
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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98
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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circumscribe
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| v.在...周围划线，限制，约束 | |
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101
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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102
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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103
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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104
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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105
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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106
wholesome
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| adj.适合；卫生的；有益健康的；显示身心健康的 | |
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107
paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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108
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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109
exterminate
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| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
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110
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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111
lecherous
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| adj.好色的；淫邪的 | |
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112
vindictive
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| adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的 | |
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113
instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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114
ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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115
harmonious
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| adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的 | |
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116
impiety
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| n.不敬；不孝 | |
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117
smitten
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| 猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去分词 ) | |
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118
imprisonment
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| n.关押，监禁，坐牢 | |
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119
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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120
ecstasies
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| 狂喜( ecstasy的名词复数 )； 出神； 入迷； 迷幻药 | |
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121
massacres
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| 大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败 | |
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122
raving
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| adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地 | |
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123
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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124
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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125
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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126
sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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127
extermination
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| n.消灭，根绝 | |
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128
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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129
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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130
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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131
excavated
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| v.挖掘( excavate的过去式和过去分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘 | |
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132
dwellings
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| n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 ) | |
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133
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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134
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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135
miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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136
puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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137
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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138
delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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139
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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140
stupor
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| v.昏迷；不省人事 | |
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141
lamentable
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| adj.令人惋惜的，悔恨的 | |
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142
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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143
disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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144
diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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145
aberration
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| n.离开正路，脱离常规，色差 | |
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146
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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147
maniacal
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| adj.发疯的 | |
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148
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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149
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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150
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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151
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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152
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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153
docility
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| n.容易教，易驾驶，驯服 | |
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154
scruples
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| n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 ) | |
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155
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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156
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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157
applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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158
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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159
dispersing
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| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
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160
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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161
beholding
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| v.看，注视( behold的现在分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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162
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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163
demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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164
reassuring
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| a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的 | |
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165
phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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166
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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167
apparitions
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| n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 )；幽灵；鬼；（特异景象等的）出现 | |
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168
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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169
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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170
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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171
smothering
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的现在分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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172
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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173
grotesque
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| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
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174
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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175
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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176
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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177
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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178
prodded
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| v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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179
chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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180
boredom
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| n.厌烦，厌倦，乏味，无聊 | |
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181
cadging
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| v.乞讨，乞得，索取( cadge的现在分词 ) | |
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182
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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183
stratagems
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| n.诡计，计谋( stratagem的名词复数 )；花招 | |
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184
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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185
treasuries
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| n.（政府的）财政部( treasury的名词复数 )；国库，金库 | |
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186
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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187
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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188
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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189
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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190
epidemic
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| n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的 | |
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191
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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192
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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193
cistern
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| n.贮水池 | |
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194
nomads
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| n.游牧部落的一员( nomad的名词复数 )；流浪者；游牧生活；流浪生活 | |
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195
prerogative
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| n.特权 | |
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196
Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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197
redeem
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| v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等） | |
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198
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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199
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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200
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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201
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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202
divan
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| n.长沙发；（波斯或其他东方诗人的）诗集 | |
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203
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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204
covetousness
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205
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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206
herded
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| 群集，纠结( herd的过去式和过去分词 )； 放牧； （使）向…移动 | |
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207
tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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208
congestion
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| n.阻塞，消化不良 | |
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209
bolster
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| n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励 | |
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210
sordid
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| adj.肮脏的，不干净的，卑鄙的，暗淡的 | |
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211
exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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212
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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