第 95 节
作者:
这就是结局 更新:2021-02-20 15:59 字数:9322
sacrifice can save。 Ha! ha!〃 And the shape again suddenly
dilated into the gloom of its giant stature; and its ghastly
laugh exulted; as if the Foe; a moment baffled; had regained its
might。 〃Ha! ha!thou canst save her life; if thou wilt
sacrifice thine own! Is it for this thou hast lived on through
crumbling empires and countless generations of thy race? At last
shall Death reclaim thee? Wouldst thou save her?DIE FOR HER!
Fall; O stately column; over which stars yet unformed may gleam;
fall; that the herb at thy base may drink a few hours longer
the sunlight and the dews! Silent! Art thou ready for the
sacrifice? See; the moon moves up through heaven。 Beautiful and
wise one; wilt thou bid her smile to…morrow on thy headless
clay?〃
〃Back! for my soul; in answering thee from depths where thou
canst not hear it; has regained its glory; and I hear the wings
of Adon…Ai gliding musical through the air。〃
He spoke; and; with a low shriek of baffled rage and hate; the
Thing was gone; and through the room rushed; luminous and sudden;
the Presence of silvery light。
As the heavenly visitor stood in the atmosphere of his own
lustre; and looked upon the face of the Theurgist with an aspect
of ineffable tenderness and love; all space seemed lighted from
his smile。 Along the blue air without; from that chamber in
which his wings had halted; to the farthest star in the azure
distance; it seemed as if the track of his flight were visible;
by a lengthened splendour in the air; like the column of
moonlight on the sea。 Like the flower that diffuses perfume as
the very breath of its life; so the emanation of that presence
was joy。 Over the world; as a million times swifter than light;
than electricity; the Son of Glory had sped his way to the side
of love; his wings had scattered delight as the morning scatters
dew。 For that brief moment; Poverty had ceased to mourn; Disease
fled from its prey; and Hope breathed a dream of Heaven into the
darkness of Despair。
〃Thou art right;〃 said the melodious Voice。 〃Thy courage has
restored thy power。 Once more; in the haunts of earth; thy soul
charms me to thy side。 Wiser now; in the moment when thou
comprehendest Death; than when thy unfettered spirit learned the
solemn mystery of Life; the human affections that thralled and
humbled thee awhile bring to thee; in these last hours of thy
mortality; the sublimest heritage of thy race;the eternity that
commences from the grave。〃
〃O Adon…Ai;〃 said the Chaldean; as; circumfused in the splendour
of the visitant; a glory more radiant than human beauty settled
round his form; and seemed already to belong to the eternity of
which the Bright One spoke; 〃as men; before they die; see and
comprehend the enigmas hidden from them before (The greatest
poet; and one of the noblest thinkers; of the last age; said; on
his deathbed; 〃Many things obscure to me before; now clear up;
and become visible。〃See the 〃Life of Schiller。〃); so in this
hour; when the sacrifice of self to another brings the course of
ages to its goal; I see the littleness of Life; compared to the
majesty of Death; but oh; Divine Consoler; even here; even in thy
presence; the affections that inspire me; sadden。 To leave
behind me in this bad world; unaided; unprotected; those for whom
I die! the wife! the child!oh; speak comfort to me in this!〃
〃And what;〃 said the visitor; with a slight accent of reproof in
the tone of celestial pity;〃what; with all thy wisdom and thy
starry secrets; with all thy empire of the past; and thy visions
of the future; what art thou to the All…Directing and Omniscient?
Canst thou yet imagine that thy presence on earth can give to the
hearts thou lovest the shelter which the humblest take from the
wings of the Presence that lives in heaven? Fear not thou for
their future。 Whether thou live or die; their future is the care
of the Most High! In the dungeon and on the scaffold looks
everlasting the Eye of HIM; tenderer than thou to love; wiser
than thou to guide; mightier than thou to save!〃
Zanoni bowed his head; and when he looked up again; the last
shadow had left his brow。 The visitor was gone; but still the
glory of his presence seemed to shine upon the spot; still the
solitary air seemed to murmur with tremulous delight。 And thus
ever shall it be with those who have once; detaching themselves
utterly from life; received the visit of the Angel FAITH。
Solitude and space retain the splendour; and it settles like a
halo round their graves。
CHAPTER 7。XIV。
Dann zur Blumenflor der Sterne
Aufgeschauet liebewarm;
Fass' ihn freundlich Arm in Arm
Trag' ihn in die blaue Ferne。
Uhland; 〃An den Tod。〃
Then towards the Garden of the Star
Lift up thine aspect warm with love;
And; friendlike link'd through space afar;
Mount with him; arm in arm; above。
Uhland; 〃Poem to Death。〃
He stood upon the lofty balcony that overlooked the quiet city。
Though afar; the fiercest passions of men were at work on the web
of strife and doom; all that gave itself to his view was calm and
still in the rays of the summer moon; for his soul was wrapped
from man and man's narrow sphere; and only the serener glories of
creation were present to the vision of the seer。 There he stood;
alone and thoughtful; to take the last farewell of the wondrous
life that he had known。
Coursing through the fields of space; he beheld the gossamer
shapes; whose choral joys his spirit had so often shared。 There;
group upon group; they circled in the starry silence multiform in
the unimaginable beauty of a being fed by ambrosial dews and
serenest light。 In his trance; all the universe stretched
visible beyond; in the green valleys afar; he saw the dances of
the fairies; in the bowels of the mountains; he beheld the race
that breathe the lurid air of the volcanoes; and hide from the
light of heaven; on every leaf in the numberless forests; in
every drop of the unmeasured seas; he surveyed its separate and
swarming world; far up; in the farthest blue; he saw orb upon orb
ripening into shape; and planets starting from the central fire;
to run their day of ten thousand years。 For everywhere in
creation is the breath of the Creator; and in every spot where
the breath breathes is life! And alone; in the distance; the
lonely man beheld his Magian brother。 There; at work with his
numbers and his Cabala; amidst the wrecks of Rome; passionless
and calm; sat in his cell the mystic Mejnour;living on; living
ever while the world lasts; indifferent whether his knowledge
produces weal or woe; a mechanical agent of a more tender and a
wiser will; that guides every spring to its inscrutable designs。
Living on;living ever;as science that cares alone for
knowledge; and halts not to consider how knowledge advances
happiness; how Human Improvement; rushing through civilisation;
crushes in its march all who cannot grapple to its wheels (〃You
colonise the lands of the savage with the Anglo…Saxon;you
civilise that portion of THE EARTH; but is the SAVAGE civilised?
He is exterminated! You accumulate machinery;you increase the
total of wealth; but what becomes of the labour you displace?
One generation is sacrificed to the next。 You diffuse
knowledge;and the world seems to grow brighter; but Discontent
at Poverty replaces Ignorance; happy with its crust。 Every
improvement; every advancement in civilisation; injures some; to
benefit others; and either cherishes the want of to…day; or
prepares the revolution of to…morrow。〃Stephen Montague。); ever;
with its Cabala and its number; lives on to change; in its
bloodless movements; the face of the habitable world!
And; 〃Oh; farewell to life!〃 murmured the glorious dreamer。
〃Sweet; O life! hast thou been to me。 How fathomless thy joys;
how rapturously has my soul bounded forth upon the upward paths!
To him who forever renews his youth in the clear fount of Nature;
how exquisite is the mere happiness TO BE! Farewell; ye lamps of
heaven; and ye million tribes; the Populace of Air。 Not a mote
in the beam; not an herb on the mountain; not a pebble on the
shore; not a seed far…blown into the wilderness; but contributed
to the lore that sought in all the true principle of life; the
Beautiful; the Joyous; the Immortal。 To others; a land; a city;
a hearth; has been a home; MY home has been wherever the
intellect could pierce; or the spirit could breathe the air。〃
He paused; and through the immeasurable space his eyes and his
heart; penetrating the dismal dungeon; rested on his child。 He
saw it slumbering in the arms of the pale mother; and HIS soul
spoke to the sleeping soul。 〃Forgive me; if my desire was sin; I
dreamed to have reared and nurtured thee to the divinest
destinies my visions could foresee。 Betimes; as the mortal part
was strengthened against disease; to have purified the spiritual
from ever