Hardly had he recalled the legend and pictured in his imagination the dark apparition4 he had seen in the rye-field, when, from behind a pine-tree exactly opposite, there came out noiselessly, without the slightest rustle5, a man of medium height with uncovered grey head, all in black, and barefooted like a beggar, and his black eyebrows6 stood out conspicuously7 on his pale, death-like face. Nodding his head graciously, this beggar or pilgrim came noiselessly to the seat and sat down, and Kovrin recognised him as the black monk.
For a minute they looked at one another, Kovrin with amazement8, and the monk with friendliness9, and, just as before, a little slyness, as though he were thinking something to himself.
"But you are a mirage10," said Kovrin. "Why are you here and sitting still? That does not fit in with the legend."
"That does not matter," the monk answered in a low voice, not immediately turning his face towards him. "The legend, the mirage, and I are all the products of your excited imagination. I am a phantom11."
"Then you don't exist?" said Kovrin.
"You can think as you like," said the monk, with a faint smile. "I exist in your imagination, and your imagination is part of nature, so I exist in nature."
"You have a very old, wise, and extremely expressive12 face, as though you really had lived more than a thousand years," said Kovrin. "I did not know that my imagination was capable of creating such phenomena13. But why do you look at me with such enthusiasm? Do you like me?"
"Yes, you are one of those few who are justly called the chosen of God. You do the service of eternal truth. Your thoughts, your designs, the marvellous studies you are engaged in, and all your life, bear the Divine, the heavenly stamp, seeing that they are consecrated14 to the rational and the beautiful—that is, to what is eternal."
"You said 'eternal truth.' ... But is eternal truth of use to man and within his reach, if there is no eternal life?"
"There is eternal life," said the monk.
"Do you believe in the immortality15 of man?"
"Yes, of course. A grand, brilliant future is in store for you men. And the more there are like you on earth, the sooner will this future be realised. Without you who serve the higher principle and live in full understanding and freedom, mankind would be of little account; developing in a natural way, it would have to wait a long time for the end of its earthly history. You will lead it some thousands of years earlier into the kingdom of eternal truth—and therein lies your supreme16 service. You are the incarnation of the blessing17 of God, which rests upon men."
"And what is the object of eternal life?" asked Kovrin.
"As of all life—enjoyment18. True enjoyment lies in knowledge, and eternal life provides innumerable and inexhaustible sources of knowledge, and in that sense it has been said: 'In My Father's house there are many mansions19.'"
"If only you knew how pleasant it is to hear you!" said Kovrin, rubbing his hands with satisfaction.
"I am very glad."
"But I know that when you go away I shall be worried by the question of your reality. You are a phantom, an hallucination. So I am mentally deranged20, not normal?"
"What if you are? Why trouble yourself? You are ill because you have overworked and exhausted21 yourself, and that means that you have sacrificed your health to the idea, and the time is near at hand when you will give up life itself to it. What could be better? That is the goal towards which all divinely endowed, noble natures strive."
"And are you sure that the men of genius, whom all men trust, did not see phantoms23, too? The learned say now that genius is allied24 to madness. My friend, healthy and normal people are only the common herd25. Reflections upon the neurasthenia of the age, nervous exhaustion26 and degeneracy, et cetera, can only seriously agitate27 those who place the object of life in the present—that is, the common herd."
"The Romans used to say: Mens sana in corpore sano."
"Not everything the Greeks and the Romans said is true. Exaltation, enthusiasm, ecstasy—all that distinguishes prophets, poets, martyrs28 for the idea, from the common folk—is repellent to the animal side of man—that is, his physical health. I repeat, if you want to be healthy and normal, go to the common herd."
"Strange that you repeat what often comes into my mind," said Kovrin. "It is as though you had seen and overheard my secret thoughts. But don't let us talk about me. What do you mean by 'eternal truth'?"
The monk did not answer. Kovrin looked at him and could not distinguish his face. His features grew blurred29 and misty30. Then the monk's head and arms disappeared; his body seemed merged31 into the seat and the evening twilight32, and he vanished altogether.
"The hallucination is over," said Kovrin; and he laughed. "It's a pity."
He went back to the house, light-hearted and happy. The little the monk had said to him had flattered, not his vanity, but his whole soul, his whole being. To be one of the chosen, to serve eternal truth, to stand in the ranks of those who could make mankind worthy33 of the kingdom of God some thousands of years sooner—that is, to free men from some thousands of years of unnecessary struggle, sin, and suffering; to sacrifice to the idea everything—youth, strength, health; to be ready to die for the common weal—what an exalted34, what a happy lot! He recalled his past—pure, chaste35, laborious36; he remembered what he had learned himself and what he had taught to others, and decided37 that there was no exaggeration in the monk's words.
Tanya came to meet him in the park: she was by now wearing a different dress.
"Are you here?" she said. "And we have been looking and looking for you.... But what is the matter with you?" she asked in wonder, glancing at his radiant, ecstatic face and eyes full of tears. "How strange you are, Andryusha!"
"I am pleased, Tanya," said Kovrin, laying his hand on her shoulders. "I am more than pleased: I am happy. Tanya, darling Tanya, you are an extraordinary, nice creature. Dear Tanya, I am so glad, I am so glad!"
"I have just passed through an exalted, wonderful, unearthly moment. But I can't tell you all about it or you would call me mad and not believe me. Let us talk of you. Dear, delightful39 Tanya! I love you, and am used to loving you. To have you near me, to meet you a dozen times a day, has become a necessity of my existence; I don't know how I shall get on without you when I go back home."
"Oh," laughed Tanya, "you will forget about us in two days. We are humble40 people and you are a great man."
"No; let us talk in earnest!" he said. "I shall take you with me, Tanya. Yes? Will you come with me? Will you be mine?"
"Come," said Tanya, and tried to laugh again, but the laugh would not come, and patches of colour came into her face.
She began breathing quickly and walked very quickly, but not to the house, but further into the park.
And Kovrin followed her and went on talking, with the same radiant, enthusiastic face:
"I want a love that will dominate me altogether; and that love only you, Tanya, can give me. I am happy! I am happy!"
She was overwhelmed, and huddling42 and shrinking together, seemed ten years older all at once, while he thought her beautiful and expressed his rapture43 aloud:
"How lovely she is!"
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1
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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8
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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mirage
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| n.海市蜃楼，幻景 | |
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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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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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consecrated
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| adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献 | |
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immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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deranged
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| adj.疯狂的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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phantoms
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| n.鬼怪，幽灵( phantom的名词复数 ) | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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agitate
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| vi.(for,against)煽动，鼓动；vt.搅动 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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29
blurred
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| v.（使）变模糊( blur的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）难以区分；模模糊糊；迷离 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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31
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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32
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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33
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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34
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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chaste
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| adj.贞洁的；有道德的；善良的；简朴的 | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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40
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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41
wringing
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| 淋湿的，湿透的 | |
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42
huddling
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| n. 杂乱一团, 混乱, 拥挤 v. 推挤, 乱堆, 草率了事 | |
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43
rapture
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| n.狂喜；全神贯注；着迷；v.使狂喜 | |
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