§ 1
Mrs. Croome was heard in the passage, someone was admitted, there were voices, and the handle of the parlour door was turned. “’Asn’t E come, then?” they heard the voice of Mrs. Croome through the opening. Dr. Elihu Barrack appeared in the doorway1.
He was a round-headed young man with a clean-shaven face, a mouth that was determinedly3 determined2 and slightly oblique4, a short nose, and a general expression of resolution; the fact that he had an artificial leg was scarcely perceptible in his bearing. He considered the four men before him for a moment, and then addressed himself to Mr. Huss in a tone of brisk authority. “You ought to be in bed,” he said.
“I had this rather important discussion,” 101said Mr. Huss, with a gesture portending5 introductions.
“But sitting up will fatigue6 you,” the doctor insisted, sticking to his patient.
“It won’t distress7 me so much as leaving these things unsaid would have done.”
“Opinions may differ upon that,” said Mr. Farr darkly.
“We are still far from any settlement of our difficulties,” said Sir Eliphaz to the universe.
“I have indicated my view at any rate,” said Mr. Huss. “I suppose now Sir Alpheus is here—”
“He isn’t here,” said Dr. Barrack neatly8. “He telegraphs to say that he is held up, and will come by the next train. So you get a reprieve9, Mr. Huss.”
“In that case I shall go on talking.”
“You had better go to bed.”
“No. I couldn’t lie quiet.” And Mr. Huss proceeded to name his guests to Dr. Barrack, who nodded shortly to each of them in turn, and said: “Pleased-t-meet you.” His face betrayed no excess of pleasure. His eye was hard. He remained standing10, as if waiting for them to display symptoms.
“Our discussion has wandered far,” said Sir Eliphaz. “Our original business here was to 102determine the future development of Woldingstanton School, which we think should be made more practical and technical than hitherto, and less concerned with history and philosophy than it has been under Mr. Huss. (Won’t you sit down, Doctor?)”
The doctor sat down, still watching Sir Eliphaz with hard intelligence.
“Well, we have drifted from that,” Sir Eliphaz continued.
“Not so far as you may think,” said Mr. Huss.
“At any rate Mr. Huss has been regaling us with a discourse11 upon the miseries12 of life, how we are all eaten up by parasites13 and utterly14 wretched, and how everything is wretched and this an accursed world ruled either by a cruel God or a God so careless as to be practically no God at all.”
“Nice stuff for nineteen eighteen A.D.,” said Mr. Dad, putting much meaning into the “A.D.”
“Since I left Woldingstanton and came here,” said Mr. Huss, “I have done little else but think. I have not slept during the night, I have had nothing to occupy me during the day, and I have been thinking about fundamental things. I have been forced to revise my faith, and to look more closely than I have 103ever done before into the meaning of my beliefs and into my springs of action. I have been wrenched15 away from that habitual16 confidence in the order of things which seemed the more natural state for a mind to be in. But that has only widened a difference that already existed between me and these three gentlemen, and that was showing very plainly in the days when success still justified17 my grip upon Woldingstanton. Suddenly, swiftly, I have had misfortune following upon misfortune—without cause or justification18. I am thrown now into the darkest doubt and dismay; the universe seems harsh and black to me; whereas formerly19 I believed that at the core of it and universally pervading20 it was the Will of a God of Light.... I have always denied, even when my faith was undimmed, that the God of Righteousness ruled this world in detail and entirely21, giving us day by day our daily rewards and punishments. These gentlemen on the contrary do believe that. They say that God does rule the world traceably and directly, and that success is the measure of his approval and pain and suffering the fulfilment of unrighteousness. And as for what has this to do with education—it has all to do with education. You can settle no practical questions until you have settled 104such disputes as this. Before you can prepare boys to play their part in the world you must ask what is this world for which you prepare them; is it a tragedy or comedy? What is the nature of this drama in which they are to play?”
Dr. Barrack indicated that this statement was noted22 and approved.
“For clearly,” said Mr. Huss, “if success is the justification of life you must train for success. There is no need for men to understand life, then, so long as they do their job in it. That is the opinion of these governors of mine. It has been the opinion of most men of the world—always. Obey the Thing that Is! that is the lesson they would have taught to my boys. Acquiesce23. Life for them is not an adventure, not a struggle, but simply obedience24 and the enjoyment25 of rewards.... That, Dr. Barrack, is what such a technical education as they want set up at Woldingstanton really means....
“But I have believed always and taught always that what God demands from man is his utmost effort to co-operate and understand. I have taught the imagination, first and most; I have made knowledge, knowledge of what man is and what man’s world is and what man may 105be, which is the adventure of mankind, the substance of all my teaching. At Woldingstanton I have taught philosophy; I have taught the whole history of mankind. If I could not have done that without leaving chemistry and physics, mathematics and languages out of the curriculum altogether I would have left them out. And you see why, Dr. Barrack.”
“I see your position certainly,” said Dr. Barrack.
“And now that my heavens are darkened, now that my eyes have been opened to the wretchedness, futility26 and horror in the texture27 of life, I still cling, I cling more than ever, to the spirit of righteousness within me. If there is no God, no mercy, no human kindliness28 in the great frame of space and time, if life is a writhing29 torment30, an itch31 upon one little planet, and the stars away there in the void no more than huge empty flares32, signifying nothing, then all the brighter shines the flame of God in my heart. If the God in my heart is no son of any heavenly father then is he Prometheus the rebel; it does not shake my faith that he is the Master for whom I will live and die. And all the more do I cling to this fire of human tradition we have lit upon this little planet, if it is the one gleam of spirit in all the windy vastness of a dead and empty universe.”
106Dr. Barrack seemed about to interrupt with some comment, and then, it was manifest, deferred33 his interpolation.
“Loneliness and littleness,” said Mr. Huss, “harshness in the skies above and in the texture of all things. If so it is that things are, so we must see them. Every baby in its mother’s arms feels safe in a safe creation; every child in its home. Many men and women have lived and died happy in that illusion of security. But this war has torn away the veil of illusion from millions of men.... Mankind is coming of age. We can see life at last for what it is and what it is not. Here we spin upon a ball of rock and nickel-steel, upon which a film of water, a few score miles of air, lie like the bloom upon a plum. All about that ball is space unfathomable; all the suns and stars are mere34 grains of matter scattered35 through a vastness that is otherwise utterly void. To that thin bloom upon a particle we are confined; if we tunnel down into the earth, presently it is too hot for us to live; if we soar five miles into the air we freeze, the blood runs out of our vessels37 into our lungs, we die suffocated38 and choked with blood....
“Out of the litter of muds and gravels39 that make the soil of the world we have picked some 107traces of the past of our race and the past of life. In our observatories40 and laboratories we have gleaned41 some hints of its future. We have a vision of the opening of the story, but the first pages we cannot read. We discover life, a mere stir amidst the mud, creeping along the littoral42 of warm and shallow seas in the brief nights and days of a swiftly rotating earth. We follow through vast ages the story of life’s extension into the waters, and its invasion of the air and land. Plants creep upon the land and raise themselves by stems towards the sun; a few worms and crustaceans43 follow, insects appear; and at length come our amphibious ancestors, breathing air by means of a swimming bladder used as a lung. From the first the land animals are patched-up creatures. They eke44 out the fish ear they inherit by means of an ear drum made out of a gill slit45. You can trace scale and fin36 in bone and limb. At last this green scum of vegetable life with the beasts entangled46 in its meshes47 creeps in the form of forests over the hills; grass spreads across the plains, and great animals follow it out into the open. What does it all signify? No more than green moss48 spreading over an old tile. Steadily49 the earth cools and the day lengthens50. Through long ages of warmth and moisture the wealth of 108unmeaning life increases; come ages of chill and retrocession, glacial periods, and periods when whole genera and orders die out. Comes man at last, the destroyer, the war-maker, setting fire to the world, burning the forests, exhausting the earth. What hope has he in the end? Always the day drags longer and longer and always the sun radiates its energy away. A time will come when the sun will glow dull red in the heavens, shorn of all its beams, and neither rising nor setting. A day will come when the earth will be as dead and frozen as the moon.... A spirit in our hearts, the God of mankind, cries ‘No!’ but is there any voice outside us in all the cold and empty universe that echoes that ‘No’?”
109
§ 2
“Ah, Mr. Huss, Mr. Huss!” said Sir Eliphaz.
His eye seemed seeking some point of attachment51, and found it at last in the steel engraving52 of Queen Victoria giving a Bible to a dusky potentate53, which adorned54 the little parlour.
“Your sickness colours your vision,” said Sir Eliphaz. “What you say is so profoundly true and so utterly false. Mysteriously evolved, living as you say in a mere bloom of air and moisture upon this tiny planet, how could we exist, how could we continue, were we not sustained in every moment by the Mercy and Wisdom of God? The flimsier life is, the greater the wonder of his Providence55. Not a sparrow,” said Sir Eliphaz, and then enlarging the metaphor56 with a boom in his voice, “not a hair of my head, falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent.... I am a man much occupied. I cannot do the reading I would. But while you have been reviling57 the works of 110God I have been thinking of some wonders....”
Sir Eliphaz lifted up a hand with thumb and finger opposed, as though he held some exquisite58 thing therein.
“The human eye,” said Sir Eliphaz, with an intensity59 of appreciation60 that brought tears to his own....
“The cross-fertilization of plants....
“The marvellous transformations62 of the higher insects....
“The highly elaborate wing scales of the Lepidoptera.
“The mercy that tempers the wind to the shorn lamb....
“The dark warm marvels63 of embryology; the order and rhythm and obedience with which the cells of the fertilized64 ovum divide to build up the perfect body of a living thing, yea, even of a human being—in God’s image. First there is one cell, then two; the process of division is extremely beautiful and is called, I believe, karyokinesis; then after the two come four, each knows his part, each divides certainly and marvellously; eight, sixteen, thirty-two.... Each of those thirty-two cells is a complete thirty-second part of a man. Presently this cell says, ‘I become a hair’; this, ‘a blood corpuscle,’ 111this ‘a cell in the brain of a man, to mirror the universe.’ Each goes to his own appointed place....
“Would that we could do the like!” said Sir Eliphaz.
“Then consider water,” said Sir Eliphaz. “I am not deeply versed65 in physical science, but there are certain things about water that fill me with wonder and amaze. All other liquids contract when they solidify66. With one or two exceptions—useful in the arts. Water expands. Now water is a non-conductor of heat, and if water contracted and became heavier when it became ice, it would sink to the bottom of the polar seas and remain there unmelted. More ice would sink down to it, until all the ocean was ice and life ceased. But water does not do so. No!... Were it not for the vapour of water, which catches and entangles67 the sun’s heat, this world would scorch68 by day and freeze by night. Mercy upon mercy, I myself,” said Sir Eliphaz in tones of happy confession69, “am ninety per cent. water.... We all are....
“And think how mercifully winter is tempered to us by the snow! When water freezes in the air in winter-time, it does not come pelting70 down as lumps of ice. Conceivably it 112might, and then where should we be? But it belongs to the hexagonal system—a system prone71 to graceful72 frameworks. It crystallizes into the most delicate and beautiful lace of six-rayed crystals—wonderful under the microscope. They flake73 delicately. They lie loosely one upon another. Out of ice is woven a warm garment like wool, white like wool because like wool it is full of air—a warm garment for bud and shoot....
“Then again—you revile74 God for the parasites he sends. But are they not sent to teach us a great moral lesson? Each one for himself and God for us all. Not so the parasites. They choose a life of base dependence76. With that comes physical degeneration, swift and sure. They are the Socialists77 of nature. They lose their limbs. They lose colour, become blenched78, unappetising beings, vile75 creatures of sloth—often microscopic79. Do they not urge us by their shameful80 lives to self help and exertion81? Yet even parasites have a use! I am told that were it not for parasitic82 bacteria man could not digest his food. A lichen83 again is made up of an alga and a fungus84, mutually parasitic. That is called symbiosis—living together for a mutual85 benefit. Maybe every one of those thousands of parasites you deem so horrible is working its way upward towards an arrangement—”
113Sir Eliphaz weighed his words: “Some mutually advantageous86 arrangement with its host. A paying guest.
“And finally,” said Sir Eliphaz, with the roll of distant thunder in his voice, “think of the stately procession of life upon the earth, through a myriad87 of forms the glorious crescendo88 of evolution, up to its climax89, man. What a work is man! The paragon90 of creation, the microcosm of the cosmos91, the ultimate birth of time.... And you would have us doubt the guiding hand!”
He ceased with a gesture.
Mr. Dad made a noise like responses in church.
114
§ 3
“A certain beauty in the world is no mark of God’s favour,” said Mr. Huss. “There is no beauty one may not balance by an equal ugliness. The wart-hog and the hyæna, the tapeworm and the stinkhorn, are equally God’s creations. Nothing you have said points to anything but a cold indifference92 towards us of this order in which we live. Beauty happens; it is not given. Pain, suffering, happiness; there is no heed93. Only in the heart of man burns the fire of righteousness.”
For a time Mr. Huss was silent. Then he went on answering Sir Eliphaz.
“You spoke94 of the wonder of the cross-fertilization of plants. But do you not know that half these curious and elaborate adaptations no longer work? Scarcely was their evolution completed before the special need that produced them ceased. Half the intricate flowers you see are as futile95 as the ruins of Palmyra. They are self-fertilized or wind-fertilized. The transformation61 of the higher insects which give us 115our gnats96 and wasps97, our malaria98 and apple-maggots in due season, are a matter for human astonishment99 rather than human gratitude100. If there is any design in these strange and intricate happenings, surely it is the design of a misplaced and inhuman101 ingenuity102. The scales of the lepidoptera, again, have wasted their glittering splendours for millions of years. If they were meant for man, why do the most beautiful species fly by night in the tropical forests? As for the human eye, oculists and opticians are scarcely of your opinion. You hymn103 the peculiar104 properties of water that make life possible. They make it possible. Do they make it other than it is?
“You have talked of the marvels of embryonic105 growth in the egg. I admit the wonderful precision of the process; but how does it touch my doubts? Rather it confuses them, as though the God who rules the world ruled not so much in love as in irony106. Wonderfully indeed do the cells divide and the chromoplasts of the division slide along their spindle lines. They divide not as if a divine hand guided them but with remorseless logic107, with the pitiless consistency108 of a mathematical process. They divide and marshal themselves and turn this way and that, to make an idiot, to make a congenital cripple. 116Millions of such miracles pile up—and produce the swaying drunkard at the pot-house door.
“You talk of the crescendo of evolution, of the first beginnings of life, and how the scheme unfolds until it culminates109 in us—us, here, under these circumstances, you and Mr. Dad and Farr and me—waiting for the knife. Would that I could see any such crescendo! I see change indeed and change and change, without plan and without heart. Consider for example the migrations110 of birds across the Mediterranean111, and the tragic112 absurdity113 of its incidents. Ages ago, and for long ages, there stretched continuous land connexions from Africa to Europe. Then the instinct was formed; the birds flew over land from the heated south to the northern summer to build and breed. Slowly age by age the seas crept over those necks of land. Those linking tracts114 have been broken now for a hundred thousand years, and yet over a constantly widening sea, in which myriads115 perish exhausted116, instinct, blind and pitiless, still drives those birds. And again think of those vain urgencies for some purpose long since forgotten, that drive the swarming117 lemmings to their fate. And look at man, your evolution’s crown; consider his want of balance, the invalidism118 of his women, the extravagant119 117disproportion of his desires. Consider the Record of the Rocks honestly and frankly120, and where can you trace this crescendo you suggest? There have been great ages of marvellous tree-ferns and wonderful forest swamps, and all those glorious growths have died. They did not go on; they reached a climax and died; another sort of plant succeeded them. Then think of all that wonderful fauna121 of the Mesozoic times, the age of Leviathan; the theriodonts, reptilian122 beasts, the leaping dinosaurs123, the mososaurs and suchlike monsters of the deep, the bat-winged pterodactyls, the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Think of the marvels of the Mesozoic seas; the thousands of various ammonites, the wealth of fish life. Across all that world of life swept death, as the wet fingers of a child wipe a drawing from a slate124. They left no descendants, they clambered to a vast variety and complexity125 and ceased. The dawn of the Eocene was the bleak126 dawn of a denuded127 world. Crescendo if you will, but thereafter diminuendo, pianissimo. And then once again from fresh obscure starting points far down the stem life swelled128, and swelled again, only to dwindle129. The world we live in to-day is a meagre spectacle beside the abundance of the earlier Tertiary time, when Behemoth in a thousand forms, 118Deinotherium, Titanotherium, Helladotherium, sabre-toothed tiger, a hundred sorts of elephant, and the like, pushed through the jungles that are now this mild world of to-day. Where is that crescendo now? Crescendo! Through those long ages our ancestors were hiding under leaves and climbing into trees to be out of the way of the crescendo. As the motif130 of a crescendo they sang exceedingly small. And now for a little while the world is ours, and we wax in our turn. To what good? To what end? Tell me, you who say the world is good, tell me the end. How can we escape at last the common fate under the darkling sky of a frozen world?”
He paused for some moments, weary with speaking.
“There is no comfort,” he said, “in the flowers or the stars; no assurance in the past and no sure hope in the future. There is nothing but the God of faith and courage in the hearts of men.... And He gives no sign of power, no earnest of victory.... He gives no sign....”
Whereupon Sir Eliphaz breathed the word: “Immortality132!”
“Let me say a word or two upon Immortality,” said Sir Eliphaz, breaking suddenly into eagerness, “for that, I presume, is the thing 119we have forgotten. That, I see, is the difference between us and you, Mr. Huss; that is why we can sit here, content to play our partial rôles, knowing full surely that some day the broken lines and inconsecutivenesses that perplex us in this life will all be revealed and resolved into their perfect circles, while you to whom this earthly life is all and final, you must needs be a rebel, you must needs preach a doctrine133 between defiance134 and despair.... If indeed death ended all! Ah! Then indeed you might claim that reason was on your side. The afflictions of man are very many. Why should I deny it?”
The patentee and chief proprietor135 of the Temanite blocks paused for a moment.
“Yes,” he said, peering up through his eyebrows136 at the sky, “that is the real issue. Blind to that, you are blind to everything.”
“I don’t know whether I am with you on this question of immortality, Sir Eliphaz,” warned Dr. Barrack, coughing shortly.
“For my part I’m altogether with him,” said Mr. Dad. “If there is no immortal131 life—well, what’s the good of being temperate137 and decent and careful for five and fifty years?”
Sir Eliphaz had decided138 now to drop all apologetics for the scheme of Nature.
120“A place of trial, a place of stimulus139 and training,” he said, “Respice finem. The clues are all—beyond.”
“But if you really consider this world as a place for soul making,” said Mr. Huss, “what do you think you are doing when you propose to turn Woldingstanton over to Farr?”
“At any rate,” said Farr tartly140, “we do not want soul-blackening and counsels of despair at Woldingstanton. We want the boys taught to serve and help first in this lowly economic sphere, cheerfully and enterprisingly, and then in higher things, before they pass on—”
“If death ends all, then what is the good of trying?” Mr. Dad said, still brooding over the question. “If I thought that—!”
He added with deep conviction, “I should let myself go.... Anyone would.”
He blew heavily, stuck his hands in his pockets, and sat more deeply in his chair, an indignant man, a business man asked to give up something for nothing.
For a moment the little gathering141 hung, only too manifestly contemplating142 the spectacle of Mr. Dad amidst wine, women, and waistcoats without restraint, letting himself go, eating, drinking, and rejoicing, being a perfect devil, because on the morrow he had to die....
121“Immortal,” said Mr. Huss. “I did not expect immortality to come into this discussion....
“Are you immortal, Farr?” he asked abruptly143.
“I hope so,” said Mr. Farr. “Unworthy though I be.”
“Exactly,” said Mr. Huss. “And so that is the way out for us. You and I, Mr. Dad from his factory, and Sir Eliphaz from his building office, are to soar. It is all arranged for us, and that is why the tragic greatness of life is to be hidden from my boys....
“Yet even so,” continued Mr. Huss, “I do not see why you should be so anxious for technical science and so hostile to the history of mankind.”
“Because it is not a true history,” said Sir Eliphaz, his hair waving about like the hair of a man electrified144 by fresh ideas. “Because it is a bunch of loose ends that are really not ends at all, but only beginnings that pass suddenly into the unseen. I admit that in this world nothing is rationalized, nothing is clearly just. I admit everything you say. But the reason? The reason? Because this life is only the first page of the great book we have to read. We sit here, Mr. Huss, like men in a waiting-room.... 122All this life is like waiting outside, in a place of some disorder145, before being admitted to the wider reality, the larger sphere, where all the cruelties, all these confusions, everything—will be explained, justified—and set right.”
He paused, and then perceiving that Mr. Huss was about to speak he resumed, raising his voice slightly.
“And I do not speak without my book in these matters,” he said. “I have been greatly impressed—and, what is more, Lady Burrows146 has been greatly impressed, by the writings of two thoroughly147 scientific men, two thoroughly scientific men, Dr. Conan Doyle and Sir Oliver Lodge148. Ever since she lost her younger sister early in life Lady Burrows has followed up this interest. It has been a great consolation149 to her. And the point is, as Sir Oliver insists in that wonderful book ‘Raymond,’ that continued existence in another world is as proven now as the atomic theory in chemistry. It is not a matter of faith, but knowledge. The partition is breached150 at last. We are in communication. News is coming through.... Scientific certainty....”
Sir Eliphaz cleared his throat. “We have already evidences and descriptions of the life into which we shall pass. Remember this is no 123idle talk, no deception151 by Sludges and the like; it is a great English scientific man who publishes these records; it is a great French philosopher, no less a man than that wonderful thinker—and how he thinks!—Professor Bergson, who counselled their publication. A glory of science and a glory of philosophy combine to reassure152 us. We walk at last upon a path of fact into that further world. We know already much. We know, for example, that those who have passed over to that higher plane have bodies still. That I found—comforting. Without that—one would feel bleak. But, the messages say, the internal organs are constituted differently. Naturally. As one would have expected. The dietary is, I gather, practically non-existent. Needless. As the outline is the same the space is, I presume, used for other purposes. Some sort of astral storage.... They do not bleed. An interesting fact. Lady Burrows’ sister is now practically bloodless. And her teeth—she had lost several, she suffered greatly with her teeth—her teeth have all been replaced—a beautiful set. Used now only for articulate speech.”
“‘Raymond’ all over again,” said the doctor.
“You have read the book!” said Sir Eliphaz.
124The doctor grunted153 in a manner that mingled154 assent155 and disapproval156. His expression betrayed the scientific bigot.
“We know now details of the passage,” said Sir Eliphaz. “We have some particulars. We know, for instance, that people blown to pieces take some little time to reconstitute. There is a correlation157 between this corruptible158 body and the spirit body that replaces it. There is a sort of spirit doctor over there, very helpful in such cases. And burnt bodies, too, are a trouble.... The sexes are still distinct, but all the coarseness of sex is gone. The passions fade in that better world. Every passion. Even the habit of smoking and the craving159 for alcohol fade. Not at first. The newly dead will sometimes ask for a cigar. They are given cigars, higher-plane cigars, and they do not ask for more. There are no children born there. Nothing of that sort. That, it is very important to understand. Here is the place of birth; this is where lives begin. This coarse little planet is the seed-bed of life. When it has served its purpose and populated those higher planes, then indeed it may freeze, as you say. A mere empty hull160. A seed-case that has served its purpose, mattering nothing. These are the thoughts, the comforting and beautiful 125thoughts, that receive the endorsement161 of our highest scientific and philosophical162 intelligences.... One thinks of that life there, no doubt in some other dimension of space, that world arranged in planes—metaphorical planes, of course, in which people go to and fro, living in a sort of houses, surrounded by a sort of beautiful things, made, so we are told, from the smells of the things we have here. That is curious, but not irrational163. Our favorite doggies will be there. Sublimated164 also. That thought has been a great comfort to Lady Burrows.... We had a dog called Fido, a leetle, teeny fellow—practically human....
“These blessed ones engage very largely in conversation. Other occupations I found difficult to trace. Raymond attended a sort of reception on the very highest plane. It was a special privilege. Perhaps a compliment to Sir Oliver. He met the truth of revealed religion, so to speak, personally. It was a wonderful moment. Sir Oliver suppresses the more solemn details. Lady Burrows intends to write to him. She is anxious for particulars. But I will not dilate165,” said Sir Eliphaz. “I will not dilate.”
“And you believe this stuff?” said the doctor in tones of the deepest disgust.
126Sir Eliphaz waved himself upon the questioner.
“So far as poor earthly expressions can body forth166 spiritual things,” he hedged.
He regarded his colleagues with an eye of florid defiance. Both Mr. Farr and Mr. Dad had slightly shamefaced expressions, and Mr. Dad’s ears were red.
Mr. Dad cleared his throat. “I’m sure there’s something in it—anyhow,” said Mr. Dad hoarsely167, doing his best in support.
“If I was born with a hare lip,” said the doctor, “would that be put right? Do congenital idiots get sublimated? What becomes of a dog one has shot for hydrophobia?”
“To all of such questions,” said Sir Eliphaz serenely168, “the answer is—we don’t know. Why should we?”
127
§ 4
Mr. Huss seemed lost in meditation169. His pale and sunken face and crumpled170 pose contrasted strongly with the bristling171 intellectual rectitude and mounting choler of Dr. Elihu Barrack.
“No, Sir Eliphaz,” said Mr. Huss, and sighed.
“No,” he repeated.
“What a poor phantom172 of a world these people conjure173 up! What a mockery of loss and love! The very mothers and lovers who mourn their dead will not believe their foolish stories. Restoration! It is a crowning indignity174. It makes me think of nothing in the world but my dear boy’s body, broken and crumpled, and some creature, half fool and half impostor, sitting upon it, getting between it and me, and talking cheap rubbish over it about planes of being and astral bodies....
“After all, you teach me, Sir Eliphaz, that life, for all its grossness and pain and horror, is not so bad as it might be—if such things as this were true. But it needs no sifting175 of the 128evidence to know they are untrue. No sane176 man believes this stuff for ten minutes together. It is impossible to believe it....”
Dr. Elihu Barrack applauded. Sir Eliphaz acted a fine self-restraint.
“They are contrary to the texture of everything we know,” said Mr. Huss. “They are less convincing than the wildest dreams. By pain, by desire, by muscular effort, by the feeling of sunshine or of rain in the face, by their sense of justice and suchlike essential things do men test the reality of appearances before them. This certainly is no reality. It has none of the feel of reality. I will not even argue about it. It is thrust now upon a suffering world as comfort, and even as comfort for people stunned177 and uncritical with grief it fails. You and Lady Burrows may be pleased to think that somehow you two, with your teeth restored and your complexions178 rejuvenated179, will meet again the sublimation180 of your faithful Fido. At any rate, thank God for that, I know clearly that so I shall never meet my son. Never! He has gone from me....”
For some moments mental and physical suffering gripped him, and he could not speak; but his purpose to continue was so manifested by sweating face and gripping hand that no one spoke until he spoke again.
129“Now let me speak plainly about Immortality. For surely I stand nearest to that possibility of all of us here. Immortality, then, is no such dodging181 away as you imagine, from this strange world which is so desolating182, so dreadful, so inexplicable—and at times so utterly lonely. There may be a God in the universe or there may not be.... God, if he exists, can be terribly silent.... But if there is a God, he is a coherent God. If there is a God above and in the scheme of things, then not only you and I and my dead son, but the crushed frog and the trampled183 anthill signify. On that the God in my heart insists. There has to be an answer, not only to the death of my son but to the dying penguin184 roasted alive for a farthing’s worth of oil. There must be an answer to the men who go in ships to do such things. There has to be a justification for all the filth185 and wretchedness of louse and fluke. I will not have you slipping by on the other side, chattering186 of planes of living and sublimated atoms, while there is a drunken mother or a man dying of cholera187 in this world. I will not hear of a God who is just a means for getting away. Whatever foulness188 and beastliness there is, you must square God with that. Or there is no universal God, but only a coldness, a vast cruel difference....
130“I would not make my peace with such a God if I could....
“I tell you of these black and sinister189 realities, and what do you reply? That it is all right, because after death we shall get away from them. Why! if presently I go down under the surgeon’s knife, down out of this hot and weary world, and then find myself being put together by a spirit doctor in this beyond of yours, waking up to a new world of amiable190 conversations and artificial flowers, having my hair restored and the gaps among my teeth filled up, I shall feel like someone who has deserted191 his kind, who has sneaked192 from a sickroom into a party.... Well—my infection will go with me. I shall talk of nothing but the tragedy out of which I have come—which still remains—which continues—tragedy.
“And yet I believe in Immortality!”
Dr. Barrack, who had hitherto been following Mr. Huss with evident approval, started, sounded a note of surprise and protest, and fixed193 accusing eyes upon him. For the moment he did not interrupt.
“But it is not I that am immortal, but the God within me. All this personal immortality of which you talk is a mockery of our personalities194. What is there personal in us that can 131live? What makes us our very selves? It is all a matter of little mean things, small differences, slight defects. Where does personal love grip?—on just these petty things.... Oh! dearly and bitterly did I love my son, and what is it that my heart most craves195 for now? His virtues196? No! His ambitions? His achievements?... No! none of these things.... But for a certain queer flush among his freckles197, for a kind of high crack in his voice ... a certain absurd hopefulness in his talk ... the sound of his footsteps, a little halt there was in the rhythm of them. These are the things we long for. These are the things that wring198 the heart.... But all these things are just the mortal things, just the defects that would be touched out upon this higher plane you talk about. You would give him back to me smoothed and polished and regularized. So, I grant, it must be if there is to be this higher plane. But what does it leave of personal distinction? What does it leave of personal love?
“When my son has had his defects smoothed away, then he will be like all sons. When the older men have been ironed out, they will be like the younger men. There is no personality in hope and honour and righteousness and truth.... My son has gone. He has gone 132for evermore. The pain may some day go.... The immortal thing in us is the least personal thing. It is not you nor I who go on living; it is Man that lives on, Man the Universal, and he goes on living, a tragic rebel in this same world and in no other....”
Mr. Huss leant back in his chair.
“There burns an undying fire in the hearts of men. By that fire I live. By that I know the God of my Salvation199. His will is Truth; His will is Service. He urges me to conflict, without consolations200, without rewards. He takes and does not restore. He uses up and does not atone201. He suffers—perhaps to triumph, and we must suffer and find our hope of triumph in Him. He will not let me shut my eyes to sorrow, failure, or perplexity. Though the universe torment and slay202 me, yet will I trust in Him. And if He also must die—Nevertheless I can do no more; I must serve Him....”
He ceased. For some moments no one spoke, silenced by his intensity.
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1
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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2
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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determinedly
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| adv.决意地；坚决地，坚定地 | |
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4
oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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5
portending
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| v.预示( portend的现在分词 )；预兆；给…以警告；预告 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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9
reprieve
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| n.暂缓执行（死刑）；v.缓期执行；给…带来缓解 | |
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10
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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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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12
miseries
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| n.痛苦( misery的名词复数 )；痛苦的事；穷困；常发牢骚的人 | |
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parasites
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| 寄生物( parasite的名词复数 )； 靠他人为生的人； 诸虫 | |
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14
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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15
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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16
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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17
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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18
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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19
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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20
pervading
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的现在分词 ) | |
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21
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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22
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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23
acquiesce
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| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
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24
obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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25
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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26
futility
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| n.无用 | |
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27
texture
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| n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理 | |
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28
kindliness
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| n.厚道，亲切，友好的行为 | |
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29
writhing
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| （因极度痛苦而）扭动或翻滚( writhe的现在分词 ) | |
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30
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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31
itch
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| n.痒，渴望，疥癣；vi.发痒，渴望 | |
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32
flares
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| n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开 | |
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33
deferred
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| adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从 | |
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34
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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35
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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36
fin
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| n.鳍；(飞机的)安定翼 | |
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37
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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38
suffocated
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| （使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气 | |
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39
gravels
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| 沙砾( gravel的名词复数 )； 砾石； 石子； 结石 | |
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40
observatories
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| n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 ) | |
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41
gleaned
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| v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗 | |
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42
littoral
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| adj.海岸的；湖岸的；n.沿（海）岸地区 | |
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43
crustaceans
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| n.甲壳纲动物（如蟹、龙虾）( crustacean的名词复数 ) | |
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44
eke
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| v.勉强度日，节约使用 | |
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45
slit
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| n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂 | |
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46
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
meshes
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| 网孔( mesh的名词复数 )； 网状物； 陷阱； 困境 | |
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48
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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49
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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50
lengthens
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| （时间或空间）延长，伸长( lengthen的第三人称单数 ) | |
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51
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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52
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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53
potentate
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| n.统治者；君主 | |
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54
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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55
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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56
metaphor
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| n.隐喻，暗喻 | |
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57
reviling
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| v.辱骂，痛斥( revile的现在分词 ) | |
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58
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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59
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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60
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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61
transformation
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| n.变化；改造；转变 | |
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62
transformations
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| n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换 | |
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63
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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64
Fertilized
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| v.施肥( fertilize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
versed
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| adj. 精通，熟练 | |
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66
solidify
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| v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结 | |
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67
entangles
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| v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的第三人称单数 ) | |
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68
scorch
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| v.烧焦，烤焦；高速疾驶；n.烧焦处，焦痕 | |
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69
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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70
pelting
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| 微不足道的，无价值的，盛怒的 | |
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71
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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72
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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73
flake
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| v.使成薄片；雪片般落下；n.薄片 | |
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74
revile
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| v.辱骂，谩骂 | |
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75
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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76
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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77
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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78
blenched
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| v.（因惊吓而）退缩，惊悸( blench的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）变白，（使）变苍白 | |
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79
microscopic
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| adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的 | |
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80
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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81
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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82
parasitic
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| adj.寄生的 | |
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83
lichen
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| n.地衣, 青苔 | |
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84
fungus
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| n.真菌，真菌类植物 | |
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85
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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86
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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87
myriad
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| adj.无数的；n.无数，极大数量 | |
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88
crescendo
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| n.(音乐)渐强，高潮 | |
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89
climax
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| n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点 | |
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90
paragon
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| n.模范，典型 | |
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91
cosmos
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| n.宇宙；秩序，和谐 | |
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92
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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93
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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94
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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95
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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96
gnats
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| n.叮人小虫( gnat的名词复数 ) | |
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97
wasps
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| 黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人 | |
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98
malaria
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| n.疟疾 | |
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99
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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100
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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101
inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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102
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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103
hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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104
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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105
embryonic
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| adj.胚胎的 | |
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106
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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107
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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108
consistency
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| n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度 | |
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109
culminates
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| v.达到极点( culminate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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110
migrations
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| n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 ) | |
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111
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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112
tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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113
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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114
tracts
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| 大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文 | |
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115
myriads
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| n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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116
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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117
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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118
invalidism
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| 病弱，病身； 伤残 | |
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119
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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120
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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121
fauna
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| n.(一个地区或时代的)所有动物，动物区系 | |
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122
reptilian
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| adj.（像）爬行动物的；（像）爬虫的；卑躬屈节的；卑鄙的n.两栖动物；卑劣的人 | |
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123
dinosaurs
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| n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西 | |
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124
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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125
complexity
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| n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物 | |
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126
bleak
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| adj.(天气)阴冷的；凄凉的；暗淡的 | |
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127
denuded
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| adj.[医]变光的，裸露的v.使赤裸( denude的过去式和过去分词 )；剥光覆盖物 | |
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128
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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129
dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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130
motif
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| n.(图案的)基本花纹，(衣服的)花边；主题 | |
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131
immortal
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| adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的 | |
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132
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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133
doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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134
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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135
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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136
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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137
temperate
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| adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的 | |
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138
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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139
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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140
tartly
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| adv.辛辣地，刻薄地 | |
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141
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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142
contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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143
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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144
electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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146
burrows
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| n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻 | |
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147
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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148
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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149
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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150
breached
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| 攻破( breach的现在分词 )； 破坏，违反 | |
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151
deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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152
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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153
grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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154
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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155
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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156
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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157
correlation
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| n.相互关系，相关，关连 | |
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158
corruptible
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| 易腐败的，可以贿赂的 | |
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159
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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160
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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161
endorsement
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| n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注 | |
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162
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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163
irrational
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| adj.无理性的，失去理性的 | |
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164
sublimated
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| v.（使某物质）升华( sublimate的过去式和过去分词 )；使净化；纯化 | |
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165
dilate
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| vt.使膨胀，使扩大 | |
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166
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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167
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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168
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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169
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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170
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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171
bristling
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| a.竖立的 | |
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172
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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173
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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174
indignity
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| n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑 | |
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175
sifting
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| n.筛，过滤v.筛( sift的现在分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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176
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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177
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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178
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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179
rejuvenated
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| 更生的 | |
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180
sublimation
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| n.升华，升华物，高尚化 | |
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181
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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182
desolating
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| 毁坏( desolate的现在分词 )； 极大地破坏； 使沮丧； 使痛苦 | |
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183
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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184
penguin
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| n.企鹅 | |
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185
filth
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| n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥 | |
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186
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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187
cholera
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| n.霍乱 | |
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188
foulness
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| n. 纠缠, 卑鄙 | |
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189
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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190
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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191
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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192
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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193
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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194
personalities
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| n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 ) | |
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195
craves
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| 渴望，热望( crave的第三人称单数 )； 恳求，请求 | |
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196
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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197
freckles
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| n.雀斑，斑点( freckle的名词复数 ) | |
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198
wring
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| n.扭绞；v.拧，绞出，扭 | |
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199
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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200
consolations
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| n.安慰，慰问( consolation的名词复数 )；起安慰作用的人（或事物） | |
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201
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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202
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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