Pere Lactance died in the most terrible agony on September 18th, 1634, exactly a month from the date of Grandier’s death. His brother-monks considered that this was due to the vengeance2 of Satan; but others were not wanting who said, remembering the summons uttered by Grandier, that it was rather due to the justice of God. Several attendant circumstances seemed to favour the latter opinion. The author of the History of the Devils of Loudzin gives an account of one of these circumstances, for the authenticity3 of which he vouches4, and from which we extract the following:
“Some days after the execution of Grandier, Pere Lactance fell ill of the disease of which he died. Feeling that it was of supernatural origin, he determined5 to take a pilgrimage to Notre Dame6 des Andilliers de Saumur, where many miracles were wrought7, and which was held in high estimation in the neighbourhood. A place in the carriage of the Sieur de Canaye was offered him for the journey; for this gentleman, accompanied by a large party on pleasure bent8, was just then setting out for his estate of Grand Fonds, which lay in the same direction. The reason for the offer was that Canaye and his friends, having heard that the last words of Grandier had affected9 Pere Lactance’s mind, expected to find a great deal of amusement in exciting the terrors of their travelling-companion. And in truth, for a day or two, the boon10 companions sharpened their wits at the expense of the worthy11 monk1, when all at once, on a good road and without apparent cause, the carriage overturned. Though no one was hurt, the accident appeared so strange to the pleasure-seekers that it put an end to the jokes of even the boldest among them. Pere Lactance himself appeared melancholy12 and preoccupied13, and that evening at supper refused to eat, repeating over and over again—
“‘It was wrong of me to deny Grandier the confessor he asked for; God is punishing me, God is punishing me!’
“On the following morning the journey was resumed, but the evident distress14 of mind under which Pere Lactance laboured had so damped the spirits of the party that all their gaiety had disappeared. Suddenly, just outside Fenet, where the road was in excellent condition and no obstacle to their progress apparent, the carriage upset for the second time. Although again no one was hurt, the travellers felt that there was among them someone against whom God’s anger was turned, and their suspicions pointing to Pere Lactance, they went on their way, leaving him behind, and feeling very uncomfortable at the thought that they had spent two or three days in his society.
“Pere Lactance at last reached Notre-Dame des Andilliers; but however numerous were the miracles there performed, the remission of the doom15 pronounced by the martyr16 on Pere Lactance was not added to their number; and at a quarter-past six on September 18th, exactly a month to the very minute after Grandier’s death, Pere Lactance expired in excruciating agony.”
Pere Tranquille’s turn came four years later. The malady17 which attacked him was so extraordinary that the physicians were quite at a loss, and forced to declare their ignorance of any remedy. His shrieks18 and blasphemies19 were so distinctly heard in the streets, that his brother Franciscans, fearing the effect they would have on his after-reputation, especially in the minds of those who had seen Grandier die with words of prayer on his lips, spread abroad the report that the devils whom he had expelled from the bodies of the nuns20 had entered into the body of the exorcist. He died shrieking—
“My God! how I suffer! Not all the devils and all the damned together endure what I endure!” His panegyrist, in whose book we find all the horrible details of his death employed to much purpose to illustrate21 the advantages of belonging to the true faith, remarks—
“Truly big generous heart must have been a hot hell for those fiends who entered his body to torment23 it.”
The following epitaph which was placed over his grave was interpreted, according to the prepossessions of those who read it, either as a testimony24 to his sanctity or as a proof of his punishment:—
“Here lies Pere Tranquille, of Saint-Remi; a humble25 Capuchin preacher. The demons26 no longer able to endure his fearlessly exercised power as an exorcist, and encouraged by sorcerers, tortured him to death, on May 31st, 1638.”
But a death about which there could be no doubt as to the cause was that of the surgeon Mannouri, the same who had, as the reader may recollect28, been the first to torture Grandier. One evening about ten o’clock he was returning from a visit to a patient who lived on the outskirts29 of the town, accompanied by a colleague and preceded by his surgery attendant carrying a lantern. When they reached the centre of the town in the rue22 Grand-Pave, which passes between the walls of the castle grounds and the gardens of the Franciscan monastery30, Mannouri suddenly stopped, and, staring fixedly31 at some object which was invisible to his companions, exclaimed with a start—
“Oh! there is Grandier!
“Where? where?” cried the others.
He pointed32 in the direction towards which his eyes were turned, and beginning to tremble violently, asked—
“What do you want with me, Grandier? What do you want?”
A moment later he added
“Yes-yes, I am coming.”
Immediately it seemed as if the vision vanished from before his eyes, but the effect remained. His brother-surgeon and the servant brought him home, but neither candles nor the light of day could allay33 his fears; his disordered brain showed him Grandier ever standing34 at the foot of his bed. A whole week he continued, as was known all over the town, in this condition of abject35 terror; then the spectre seemed to move from its place and gradually to draw nearer, for he kept on repeating, “He is coming! he is coming!” and at length, towards evening, at about the same hour at which Grandier expired, Surgeon Mannouri drew his last breath.
We have still to tell of M. de Laubardemont. All we know is thus related in the letters of M. de Patin:—
“On the 9th inst., at nine o’clock in the evening, a carriage was attacked by robbers; on hearing the noise the townspeople ran to the spot, drawn36 thither37 as much by curiosity as by humanity. A few shots were exchanged and the robbers put to flight, with the exception of one man belonging to their band who was taken prisoner, and another who lay wounded on the paving-stones. This latter died next day without having spoken, and left no clue behind as to who he was. His identity was, however, at length made clear. He was the son of a high dignitary named de Laubardemont, who in 1634, as royal commissioner38, condemned39 Urbain Grandier, a poor, priest of Loudun, to be burnt alive, under the pretence40 that he had caused several nuns of Loudun to be possessed41 by devils. These nuns he had so tutored as to their behaviour that many people foolishly believed them to be demoniacs. May we not regard the fate of his son as a chastisement42 inflicted43 by Heaven on this unjust judge—an expiation44 exacted for the pitilessly cruel death inflicted on his victim, whose blood still cries unto the Lord from the ground?”
Naturally the persecution45 of Urbain Grandier attracted the attention not only of journalists but of poets. Among the many poems which were inspired by it, the following is one of the best. Urbain speaks:
“From hell came the tidings that by horrible sanctions
Though not one could be found to accuse me.
In the trial which delivered me to torture and the stake,
And his testimony was the only proof against me.
The English in their rage burnt the Maid alive;
Like her, I too fell a victim to revenge;
We were both accused falsely of the same crime;
In Loudun some hold me guilty of witchcraft48,
Some believe me innocent; some halt between two minds.
Like Hercules, I loved passionately49;
Like him, I was consumed by fire;
But he by death became a god.
That no one can judge whether the flames saved or destroyed me;
Whether they blackened me for hell, or purified me for heaven.
They said that I felt no pain, being a sorcerer died unrepentant;
That the prayers I uttered were impious words;
That casting my eyes to heaven I mocked the saints;
That my death may be admired although my life was not blameless;
That my resignation showed that I died in hope and faith;
Is perfect love; and that the soul is purified
From the sins of life by a death like mine.”
The End
The End
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1
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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2
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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authenticity
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| n.真实性 | |
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4
vouches
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| v.保证( vouch的第三人称单数 )；担保；确定；确定地说 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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dame
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| n.女士 | |
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7
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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8
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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9
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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boon
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| n.恩赐，恩物，恩惠 | |
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11
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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12
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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13
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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14
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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15
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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16
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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17
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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18
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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blasphemies
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| n.对上帝的亵渎，亵渎的言词[行为]( blasphemy的名词复数 )；侮慢的言词（或行为） | |
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nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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23
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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24
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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25
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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26
demons
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| n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念 | |
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27
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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28
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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29
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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30
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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31
fixedly
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| adv.固定地；不屈地，坚定不移地 | |
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32
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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33
allay
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| v.消除，减轻(恐惧、怀疑等) | |
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34
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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35
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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36
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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37
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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38
commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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39
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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40
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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41
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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42
chastisement
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| n.惩罚 | |
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43
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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44
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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45
persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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46
pact
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| n.合同，条约，公约，协定 | |
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47
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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48
witchcraft
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| n.魔法，巫术 | |
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49
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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50
injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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51
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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52
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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53
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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54
invoked
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| v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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55
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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56
murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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