Already did the emperor know who Lazarus was, and prepared to meet him. But the monarch8 was a brave man, and felt his own tremendous, unconquerable power, and in his fatal duel9 with him who had miraculously10 risen from the dead he wanted not to invoke11 human help. And so he met Lazarus face to face:
"Lift not thine eyes upon me, Lazarus," he ordered. "I heard thy face is like that of Medusa and turns into stone whomsoever thou lookest at. Now, I wish to see thee and to have a talk with thee, before I turn into stone,"—added he in a tone of kingly jesting, not devoid12 of fear.
Coming close to him, he carefully examined Lazarus' face and his strange festal garments. And although he had a keen eye, he was deceived by his appearance.
"So. Thou dost not appear terrible, my venerable old man. But the worse for us, if horror assumes such a respectable and pleasant air. Now let us have a talk."
Augustus sat, and questioning Lazarus with his eye as much as with words, started the conversation:
"Why didst thou not greet me as thou enteredst?"
Lazarus answered indifferent:
"I knew not it was necessary."
"No."
Augustus approvingly shook his head.
"That is good. I do not like Christians14. They shake the tree of life before it is covered with fruit, and disperse15 its odorous bloom to the winds. But who art thou?"
With a visible effort Lazarus answered:
"I was dead."
"I had heard that. But who art thou now?"
"I was dead."
"Listen to me, stranger," said the emperor, distinctly and severely17 giving utterance18 to the thought that had come to him at the beginning, "my realm is the realm of Life, my people are of the living, not of the dead. Thou art here one too many. I know not who thou art and what thou sawest there; but, if thou liest, I hate thy lies, and if thou tellst the truth, I hate thy truth. In my bosom19 I feel the throb20 of life; I feel strength in my arm, and my proud thoughts, like eagles, pierce the space. And yonder in the shelter of my rule, under the protection of laws created by me, people live and toil21 and rejoice. Dost thou hear the battle-cry, the challenge men throw into the face of the future?"
"Be blessed, O great and divine Life!"
Lazarus was silent, and with growing sternness the emperor went on:
"Thou art not wanted here, miserable23 remnant, snatched from under Death's teeth, thou inspirest weariness and disgust with life; like a caterpillar24 in the fields, thou gloatest on the rich ear of joy and belchest out the drivel of despair and sorrow. Thy truth is like a rusty25 sword in the hands of a nightly murderer,—and as a murderer thou shalt be executed. But before that, let me look into thine eyes. Perchance, only cowards are afraid of them, but in the brave they awake the thirst for strife26 and victory; then thou shalt be rewarded, not executed.... Now, look at me, Lazarus."
At first it appeared to the deified Augustus that a friend was looking at him,—so soft, so tenderly fascinating was Lazarus' glance. It promised not horror, but sweet rest and the Infinite seemed to him a tender mistress, a compassionate27 sister, a mother. But stronger and stronger grew its embraces, and already the mouth, greedy of hissing28 kisses, interfered29 with the monarch's breathing, and already to the surface of the soft tissues of the body came the iron of the bones and tightened30 its merciless circle,—and unknown fangs31, blunt and cold, touched his heart and sank into it with slow indolence.
"It pains," said the deified Augustus, growing pale. "But look at me, Lazarus, look."
It was as though some heavy gates, ever closed, were slowly moving apart, and through the growing interstice the appalling horror of the Infinite poured in slowly and steadily32. Like two shadows there entered the shoreless void and the unfathomable darkness; they extinguished the sun, ravished the earth from under the feet, and the roof from over the head. No more did the frozen heart ache.
Time stood still, and the beginning of each thing grew frightfully near to its end. Augustus' throne just erected34, crumbled35 down, and the void was already in the place of the throne and of Augustus. Noiselessly did Rome crumble36 down, and a new city stood on its site and it too was swallowed by the void. Like fantastic giants, cities, states, and countries fell down and vanished in the void darkness—and with uttermost indifference37 did the insatiable black womb of the Infinite swallow them.
"Halt!"—ordered the emperor.
In his voice sounded already a note of indifference, his hands dropped in languor38, and in the vain struggle with the onrushing darkness his fiery39 eyes now blazed up, and now went out.
"My life thou hast taken from me, Lazarus,"—said he in a spiritless, feeble voice.
And these words of hopelessness saved him. He remembered his people, whose shield he was destined40 to be, and keen salutary pain pierced his deadened heart. "They are doomed41 to death," he thought wearily. "Serene42 shadows in the darkness of the Infinite," thought he, and horror grew upon him. "Frail43 vessels44 with living seething45 blood with a heart that knows sorrow and also great joy," said he in his heart, and tenderness pervaded46 it.
Thus pondering and oscillating between the poles of Life and Death, he slowly came back to life, to find in its suffering and in its joys a shield against the darkness of the void and the horror of the Infinite.
"No, thou hast not murdered me, Lazarus," said he firmly, "but I will take thy life. Be gone."
That evening the deified Augustus partook of his meats and drinks with particular joy. Now and then his lifted hand remained suspended in the air, and a dull glimmer47 replaced the bright sheen of his fiery eye. It was the cold wave of Horror that surged at his feet. Defeated, but not undone48, ever awaiting its hour, that Horror stood at the emperor's bedside, like a black shadow all through his life; it swayed his nights, but yielded the days to the sorrows and joys of life.
The following day, the hangman with a hot iron burned out Lazarus' eyes. Then he was sent home. The deified Augustus dared not kill him.
Lazarus returned to the desert, and the wilderness49 met him with hissing gusts50 of wind and the heat of the blazing sun. Again he was sitting on a stone, his rough, bushy beard lifted up; and the two black holes in place of his eyes looked at the sky with an expression of dull terror. Afar-off the holy city stirred noisily and restlessly, but around him everything was deserted51 and dumb. No one approached the place where lived he who had miraculously risen from the dead, and long since his neighbors had forsaken52 their houses. Driven by the hot iron into the depth of his skull53, his cursed knowledge hid there in an ambush54. As though leaping out from an ambush it plunged55 its thousand invisible eyes into the man,—and no one dared look at Lazarus.
And in the evening, when the sun, reddening and growing wider, would come nearer and nearer the western horizon, the blind Lazarus would slowly follow it. He would stumble against stones and fall, stout and weak as he was; would rise heavily to his feet and walk on again; and on the red screen of the sunset his black body and outspread hands would form a monstrous56 likeness57 of a cross.
And it came to pass that once he went out and did not come back. Thus seemingly ended the second life of him who for three days had been under the enigmatical sway of death, and rose miraculously from the dead.
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1
crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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7
penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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8
monarch
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| n.帝王，君主，最高统治者 | |
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9
duel
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| n./v.决斗；(双方的)斗争 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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invoke
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| v.求助于(神、法律)；恳求，乞求 | |
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devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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15
disperse
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| vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散 | |
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16
apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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17
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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18
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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21
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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22
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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24
caterpillar
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| n.毛虫，蝴蝶的幼虫 | |
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25
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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26
strife
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| n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争 | |
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27
compassionate
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| adj.有同情心的，表示同情的 | |
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28
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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29
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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30
tightened
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| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
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31
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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32
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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33
tottering
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| adj.蹒跚的，动摇的v.走得或动得不稳( totter的现在分词 )；踉跄；蹒跚；摇摇欲坠 | |
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34
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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35
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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36
crumble
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| vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁 | |
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37
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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38
languor
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| n.无精力，倦怠 | |
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39
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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40
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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41
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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42
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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43
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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44
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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45
seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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46
pervaded
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| v.遍及，弥漫( pervade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
glimmer
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| v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光 | |
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48
undone
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| a.未做完的，未完成的 | |
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49
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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50
gusts
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| 一阵强风( gust的名词复数 )； （怒、笑等的）爆发； （感情的）迸发； 发作 | |
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51
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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52
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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53
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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54
ambush
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| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
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55
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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56
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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57
likeness
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| n.相像，相似（之处） | |
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