As a sick man is relieved to know at least the nature of his malady1, so Paul would have been relieved to know at least why all these things had befallen him, and like his mother, he went over all the story of his past life.
The moaning of the wind outside mingled2 with his earliest memories, faint and indistinct. He saw himself in a courtyard, where, he did not know, but perhaps the courtyard of the house where his mother was a servant, and he was climbing on the wall with other boys. The top of the wall was edged with pieces of glass as sharp as knives, but this did not prevent the boys from scrambling3 up to look over, even though they cut their hands. As a matter of fact, there was a certain daring pleasure in wounding themselves, and they showed each other their blood and then dried it beneath their armpits, under the delusion4 that nobody would notice their cut hands. From the top of the wall they could see nothing except the street, into which they were perfectly5 free to go; but they preferred climbing on to the wall because that was forbidden, and they amused themselves by throwing stones at the few people who passed and then hiding, their sensations divided between delight in their own boldness and their fear of being discovered. A deaf and dumb girl, who was also a cripple, used to sit by the wood pile at the bottom of the courtyard, and from there she used to watch them with an expression at once imploring6 and severe in her large dark eyes. The boys were afraid of her, but they did not dare to molest7 her; on the contrary, they lowered their voices as though she could hear them and sometimes they even invited her to play with them. Then the crippled child used to laugh with an almost insane delight, but she never moved from her corner.
In imagination he saw again those dark eyes, in whose depths the light of sorrow and desire already shone; he saw them far off at the bottom of his memory as at the bottom of that mysterious courtyard, and it seemed to him that they resembled the eyes of Agnes.
Then he saw himself again in that same street where he had thrown stones at the passers-by, but farther down, at the turning of a little lane shut in by a group of dilapidated old houses. His home lay just between the street and the lane, in the house of well-to-do people, all women and all fat and serious; they used to close all doors and windows at dusk and they received no visitors except other women and priests, with whom they used to joke and laugh, but always in a decorous, guarded manner.
It had been one of these priests who had caught him by the shoulders one day, and gripping him firmly between his bony knees and raising his timid face with a vigorous hand, had asked him:
"Is it true that you want to be a priest?"
The boy had nodded yes, and having been given a sacred picture and a friendly slap he had remained in a corner of the room listening to the conversation between the priests and the women. They were discussing the parish priest of Aar and describing how he went out hunting and smoked a pipe and let his beard grow, yet how nevertheless the Bishop8 hesitated to interdict9 him because he would have great difficulty in finding another priest willing to bury himself in that remote village. Moreover, the easygoing priest in possession threatened to tie up and fling into the river anyone who ventured to try and oust10 him from his place.
"The worst of it is that the simpletons of Aar are attached to the man, although they are frightened of him and his sorceries. Some of them actually believe he is the Antichrist, and the women all declare that they will help him to truss up his successor and throw him into the river."
"Do you hear that, Paul? If you become a priest and have any idea of going back to your mother's village, you must look out for a lively time!"
It was a woman who flung this joke at him, Marielena; she was the one who had charge of him, and when she drew him towards her to comb his hair her fat stomach and her soft breast used to make him think she was made of cushions. He was very fond of Marielena; in spite of her corpulent body she had a refined and pretty face, with cheeks softly tinted11 with pink and gentle brown eyes. He used to look up at her as one looks at the ripe fruit hanging on the tree, and perhaps she had been his first love.
Then came his life at the Seminary. His mother had taken him there one October morning, when the sky was blue and everything smelt12 of new wine. The road mounted steeply and at the top of the hill was the archway which connected the Seminary with the Bishop's house, curved like a vast frame over the sunny landscape of cottages, trees and granite13 steps, with the cathedral tower at the bottom of the picture. The grass was springing up between the cobblestones in front of the Bishop's house, several men rode past on horseback and the horses had long legs with hairy fetlocks and were shod with gleaming iron shoes. He noticed all these things because he kept his eyes shyly on the ground, a little ashamed of himself, a little ashamed of his mother. Yes, why not confess it once for all? He had always been more or less ashamed of his mother, because she was a servant and came from that village of poor simpletons. Only later, very much later, had he overcome this ignoble14 feeling by sheer force of pride and will, and the more he had been unreasonably15 ashamed of his origin, all the more did he subsequently glory in it to himself and before God, choosing voluntarily to live in this miserable16 hamlet, subjecting himself to his mother, and respecting her most trifling17 wishes and conforming to her humblest ways.
But the remembrance of his mother as a servant, aye, even less than a servant, a mere18 drudge19 in the Seminary kitchen, brought back with it the most humiliating memories of his youth. And yet she worked as a servant for his sake. On the days when he went to confession20 and communion his Superior obliged him to go and kiss his mother's hand and ask her pardon for the faults he had committed. The hand which she dried hurriedly with a dishcloth smelt of soapsuds and was chapped and wrinkled like an old wall, and he was filled with shame and rage at being forced to kiss it; but he asked forgiveness of God for his inability to ask forgiveness of her.
Thus God had revealed Himself to Paul, as hidden behind his mother in the damp and smoky kitchen of the Seminary: God Who is in every place, in heaven and on earth and in all things created.
And in his hours of exaltation, when he lay in his little room staring with wide-open eyes into the darkness, he had dwelt with wonder on the thought, "I shall be a priest, I shall be able to consecrate21 the host and change it into God." And at those times he thought also of his mother, and when he was away from her and could not see her, he loved her and realized that his own greatness was all due to her, for instead of sending him to herd22 goats or carry sacks of grain to the mill, as his father had done, she was making him into a priest, one who had power to consecrate the host and change it into God.
It was thus he conceived his mission in life. He knew nothing of the world; his brightest and most emotional memories were the ceremonies of the great religious festivals, and recalling these memories now, in all the bitterness of his present anguish23, they awoke in him a sense of light and joy and presented themselves to his mind's eye as great living pictures. And the remembered music of the cathedral organ and the sense of mystery in the ceremonies of Holy Week became part of his present sorrow, of that anguish of life and death which seemed to weigh him down upon his bed as the burden of man's sin had lain upon Christ in the sepulchre.
It was during one of these periods of mystical agitation24 that for the first time he had come into intimate relations with a woman. When he thought of it now it seemed like a dream, neither good nor evil, but only strange.
Every holiday he went to visit the women with whom he had lived during his boyhood, and they welcomed him as though he were already a priest, with familiar friendliness25 and cheerfulness, but always with a certain dignity. When he looked at Marielena he used to blush, and then scorned himself for blushing, because though he still liked her, he now saw her in all her crude realism, fat, soft and shapeless; nevertheless her presence and her gentle eyes still roused little tremors26 in him.
Marielena and her sisters used often to invite him to dinner on feast days. On one occasion, Palm Sunday, he happened to arrive early, and whilst his hostesses were busy laying the table and awaiting their other guests, Paul went out into their little garden and began to walk up and down the path which ran beside the outer wall, beneath the aspens covered with little golden leaves. The sky was all a milky27 blue, the air soft and warm with the light wind from the eastern hills, and the cuckoo could already be heard calling in the distance.
Just as he was standing28 on tiptoe childishly to pick a drop of resin29 off an almond tree, he suddenly saw a pair of large greenish eyes fixed30 upon him from the lane on the other side of the garden wall. They looked like the eyes of a cat, and the whole personality of the woman, who was sitting crouched31 upon the steps of a dark doorway32 at the end of the lane, had something feline33 about it. He could conjure34 up her image again so clearly that he even felt as if he still held the drop of soft resin between his finger and thumb, whilst his fascinated eyes could not withdraw themselves from hers! And over the doorway he remembered a little window surrounded by a white line with a small cross over it. He had known that doorway and that window very well ever since he was a boy, and the cross placed there as a charm against temptation had always amused him, because the woman who lived in the cottage, Maria Paska, was a lost woman. He could see her now before him, with her fringed kerchief showing her white neck, and her long coral ear-rings, like two long drops of blood. With her elbows resting on her knees and her pale, delicate face supported between her hands, Maria Paska looked at him steadily35, and at last she smiled at him, but without moving. Her white even teeth and the somewhat cruel expression of her eyes only served to accentuate36 the feline look about her face. Suddenly, however, she dropped her hands into her lap, raised her head and assumed a grave and sad expression. A big man, with his cap drawn37 down to hide his face, was coming cautiously down the lane and keeping close in the shadow of the wall.
Then Maria Paska got up quickly and went into the house, and the big man followed her and shut the door.
Paul never forgot his terrible agitation as he walked about in the little garden and thought of those two shut up in that squalid house in the lane. It was a sort of uneasy sadness, a sense of discomfort38 that made him want to be alone and to hide himself like a sick animal, and during dinner he was unusually silent amidst the cheerful talk of the other guests. Directly dinner was over he returned to the garden: the woman was there, on the look-out again and in the same position as before. The sun never reached the damp corner where her door was, and she looked as if she were so white and delicate because she always lived in the shade.
When she saw the seminarist she did not move, but she smiled at him, and then her face became grave as on the arrival of the big man. She called out to Paul, speaking as one would speak to a young boy:
"I say, will you come and bless my house on Saturday? Last year the priest who was going round blessing39 the houses refused to come into mine. May he go to hell, he and all his bag of tricks!"
Paul made no answer, he felt inclined to throw a stone at the woman, in fact he did pick one up from the wall, but then put it back and wiped his hand on his handkerchief. But all through Holy Week, whilst he was hearing Mass, or taking part in the sacred function, or, taper40 in hand, escorting the Bishop with all the other seminarists, he always seemed to see the woman's eyes staring at him till it became a veritable obsession41. He had wanted to exorcize her, as one possessed42 of the Devil, yet at the same time he felt somehow that the spirit of evil was within himself. During the ceremony of feet-washing, when the Bishop stooped before the twelve beggars (who looked as though they might really have been the twelve apostles), Paul's heart was moved by the thought that on the Saturday before Easter of the previous year the priest had refused to bless the house of the lost woman. And yet Christ had pardoned Mary Magdalene. Perhaps if the priest had blessed the lost woman's house she might have amended43 her ways. This last reflection presently began to take hold of him to the exclusion44 of all other thoughts, but on examining it now at this distance of time he perceived that here his instinct had played him false, for at that period he had not yet learnt to know himself. And yet perhaps, even if he had known himself, he would still have gone back on the Saturday to see the lost woman in the lane.
When he turned the corner he saw that Maria Paska was not sitting on her doorstep, but the door was open, a sign that she had no visitor. Involuntarily he imitated the big man and went down the lane in the shadow of the wall, but he wished she had been there on the look-out and that she had risen up with a grave, sad face at his approach. When he reached the end of the lane he saw her drawing water from a well at the side of the house, and his heart gave a jump, for she looked just like the pictures of Mary Magdalene; and she turned and saw him as she was drawing up the bucket, and blushed. Never in his life had he seen a more beautiful woman. Then he was seized with a desire to run away, but he was too shy, and as she re-entered the house carrying the jug45 of water in her hand she said something to him which he did not understand, but he followed her inside and she shut the door. A little wooden staircase ending in a trapdoor gave access to the upper room, the one with the window over which hung a cross as a protection against temptation, and she led him up, snatching his cap from his head and tossing it aside with a laugh.
Paul went to see her again several times, but after he had been ordained46 and had taken the vow47 of chastity he had kept away from all women. His senses seemed to have grown petrified48 within the frozen armour49 of his vow, and when he heard scandalous tales of other priests he felt a pride in his own purity, and only thought of his adventure with the woman in the lane as an illness from which he had completely recovered.
During the first years passed in the little village he thought of himself as having already lived his life, as having known all it could offer, misery50, humiliation51, love, pleasure, sin and expiation52; as having withdrawn53 from the world like some old hermit54 and waiting only for the Kingdom of God. And now suddenly he beheld55 the earthly life again in a woman's eyes, and at first he had been so deceived as to mistake it for the life eternal.
To love and be loved, is not this the Kingdom of God upon earth? And his heart swelled56 within him at the remembrance. O Lord, are we so blind? Where shall we find the light? Paul knew himself to be ignorant: his knowledge was made up of fragments of books of which he only imperfectly understood the meaning, but above all the Bible had impressed him with its romanticism and its realistic pictures of past ages. Wherefore he could place no reliance even on himself nor on his own inward searchings: he realized that he had no self-knowledge, that he was not master of himself and that he deceived himself ever and always.
His feet had been set upon the wrong road. He was a man of strong natural instincts, like his forbears, the millers57 and shepherds, and he suffered because he was not allowed to obey his instincts. Here he got back to his first simple and correct diagnosis58 of what ailed59 him: he was unhappy because he was a man and was forbidden to lead man's natural life of love and joy and the fulfilment of life's natural ends. Then he reflected that pleasure enjoyed leaves only horror and anguish behind it; therefore it could not be the flesh that cried out for its chance of life, but rather the soul imprisoned60 within the flesh that longed to escape from its prison. In those supreme61 moments of love it had been the soul which had soared upward in a rapid flight, only to fall back more swiftly into its cage; but that instant of freedom had sufficed to show it the place to which it would take its flight when its prison days were ended and the wall of flesh for ever overthrown62, a place of infinite joy, the Infinite itself.
He smiled at last, saddened and weary. Where had he read all these things? Certainly he must have read them somewhere, for he had no pretensions63 to evolve new ideas himself. But it was of no consequence, the truth is always the same, alike for all men, as all men's hearts are alike. He had thought himself different from other men, a voluntary exile and worthy64 of being near to God, and perhaps God was punishing him in this way, by sending him back among men, into the community of passion and of pain.
He must rise up and pursue his appointed way.
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1
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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2
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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3
scrambling
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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5
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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6
imploring
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| 恳求的，哀求的 | |
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7
molest
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| vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏 | |
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8
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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9
interdict
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| v.限制；禁止；n.正式禁止；禁令 | |
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10
oust
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| vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐 | |
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11
tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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12
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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13
granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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14
ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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15
unreasonably
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| adv. 不合理地 | |
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16
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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17
trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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18
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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19
drudge
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| n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳 | |
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20
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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21
consecrate
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| v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献 | |
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22
herd
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| n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起 | |
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23
anguish
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| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
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24
agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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25
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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26
tremors
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| 震颤( tremor的名词复数 )； 战栗； 震颤声； 大地的轻微震动 | |
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27
milky
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| adj.牛奶的，多奶的；乳白色的 | |
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28
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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29
resin
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| n.树脂，松香，树脂制品；vt.涂树脂 | |
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30
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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31
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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32
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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33
feline
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| adj.猫科的 | |
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34
conjure
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| v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法 | |
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35
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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36
accentuate
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| v.着重，强调 | |
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37
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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38
discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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39
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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40
taper
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| n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小 | |
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41
obsession
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| n.困扰，无法摆脱的思想(或情感) | |
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42
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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43
Amended
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| adj. 修正的 动词amend的过去式和过去分词 | |
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44
exclusion
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| n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行 | |
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45
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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46
ordained
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| v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定 | |
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47
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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48
petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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49
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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50
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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51
humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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52
expiation
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| n.赎罪，补偿 | |
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53
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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54
hermit
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| n.隐士，修道者；隐居 | |
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55
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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56
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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57
millers
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| n.（尤指面粉厂的）厂主( miller的名词复数 )；磨房主；碾磨工；铣工 | |
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58
diagnosis
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| n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断 | |
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59
ailed
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| v.生病( ail的过去式和过去分词 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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60
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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62
overthrown
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| adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词 | |
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63
pretensions
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| 自称( pretension的名词复数 )； 自命不凡； 要求； 权力 | |
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64
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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