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