The Tale of Balen

第22章

Painmadehissoulweak;itcriedfortheoldfaith。Theyarethetearsthatfallintothenew—madegravethatcementthepowerofthepriest。Forthecryofthesoulthatlovesandlosesisthis,onlythis:"BridgeoverDeath;blendtheHerewiththeHereafter;causethemortaltorobehimselfinimmortality;letmenotsayofmyDeadthatitisdead!Iwillbelieveallelse,bearallelse,endureallelse!"

Mutteringtohimself,Waldowalkedwithbenthead,themistinhiseyes。

Tothesoul’swildcryforitsowntherearemanyanswers。Hebegantothinkofthem。Wasnotthereoneofthemallfromwhichhemightsuckonedropofcomfort?

"Youshallseeheragain,"saystheChristian,thetrueBibleChristian。

"Yes,youshallseeheragain。’AndIsawthedead,greatandsmall,standbeforeGod。Andthebookswereopened,andthedeadwerejudgedfromthosethingswhichwerewritteninthebooks。Andwhosoeverwasnotfoundwritteninthebookoflifewascastintothelakeoffire,whichistheseconddeath。’Yes;youshallseeheragain。Shediedso——withherkneeunbent,withherhandunraised,withaprayerunuttered,intheprideofherintellectandthestrengthofheryouth。Shelovedandshewasloved;

butshesaidnoprayertoGod;shecriedfornomercy;sherepentedofnosin!Yes;youshallseeheragain。"

InhisbitternessWaldolaughedlow:

Ah,hehadlongceasedtohearkentothehellishvoice。

Butyetanotherspeaks。

"Youshallseeheragain,"saidthenineteenth—centuryChristian,deepintowhosesoulmodernunbeliefandthoughthavecrept,thoughheknowsitnot。

HeitiswhouseshisBibleasthepearl—fishersusetheirshells,sortingoutgemsfromrefuse;hesetshispearlsafterhisownfashion,andhesetsthemwell。"Donotfear,"hesays;"hellandjudgmentarenot。Godislove。Iknowthatbeyondthisblueskyaboveusisaloveaswide—

spreadingoverall。TheAll—Fatherwillshowhertoyouagain;notspiritonly——thelittlehands,thelittlefeetyouloved,youshallliedownandkissthemifyouwill。Christarose,anddideatanddrink,soshallshearise。Thedead,allthedead,raisedincorruptible!Godislove。Youshallseeheragain。"

Itisaheavenlysong,thisofthenineteenth—centuryChristian。Amanmightdryhistearstolistentoit,butforthisonething——Waldomutteredtohimselfconfusedly:

"ThethingIlovedwasawomanproudandyoung;ithadamotheronce,who,dying,kissedherlittlebaby,andprayedGodthatshemightseeitagain。

Ifithadlivedthelovedthingwoulditselfhavehadason,who,whenheclosedthewearyeyesandsmoothedthewrinkledforeheadofhismother,wouldhaveprayedGodtoseethatoldfacesmileagainintheHereafter。

Tothesonheavenwillbenoheavenifthesweetwornfaceisnotinoneofthechoirs;hewilllookforitthroughthephalanxofGod’sglorifiedangels;andtheyouthwilllookforthemaid,andthemotherforthebaby。

’Andwhosethenshallshebeattheresurrectionofthedead?’"

"Ah,God!ah,God!abeautifuldream,"hecried;"butcananyonedreamitnotsleeping?"

Waldopacedon,moaninginagonyandlonging。

HeheardtheTranscendentalist’shighanswer。

"Whathaveyoutodowithflesh,thegrossandmiserablegarmentinwhichspirithidesitself?Youshallseeheragain。Butthehand,thefoot,theforeheadyouloved,youshallseenomore。Theloves,thefears,thefrailtiesthatarebornwiththeflesh,withthefleshtheyshalldie。Letthemdie!Thereisthatinmanthatcannotdie——aseed,agermanembryo,aspiritualessence。Higherthanshewasonearth,asthetreeishigherthantheseed,themanthantheembryo,soshallyoubeholdher;changed,glorified!"

Highwords,ringingwell;theyaretheofferingofjewelstothehungry,ofgoldtothemanwhodiesforbread。Breadiscorruptible,goldisincorruptible;breadislight,goldisheavy;breadiscommon,goldisrare;butthehungrymanwillbarterallyourminesforonemorselofbread。AroundGod’sthronetheremaybechoirsandcompaniesofangels,cherubimandseraphim,risingtierabovetier,butnotforoneofthemalldoesthesoulcryaloud。Onlyperhapsforalittlehumanwomanfullofsin,thatitonceloved。

"Changeisdeath,changeisdeath!"hecried。"Iwantnoangel,onlyshe;

noholierandnobetter,withallhersinsuponher,sogivehermeorgivemenothing!"

And,truly,doesnottheheartloveitsownwiththestrongestpassionfortheirveryfrailties?Heavenmightkeepitsangelsifmenwerebutlefttomen。

"Changeisdeath,"hecried,"changeisdeath!Whodarestosaythebodyneverdies,becauseitturnsagaintograssandflowers?Andyettheydaretosaythespiritneverdies,becauseinspacesomestrangeunearthlybeingmayhavesprungupuponitsruins。Leaveme!Leaveme!"hecriedinfranticbitterness。"GivemebackwhatIhavelost,orgivemenothing。"

Forthesoul’sfiercecryforimmortalityisthis——onlythis:Returntomeafterdeaththethingasitwasbefore。LeavemeintheHereafterthebeingthatIamtoday。Robmeofthethoughts,thefeelings,thedesiresthataremylife,andyouhaveleftnothingtotake。Yourimmortalityisannihilation,yourHereafterisalie。

Waldoflungopenthedoor,andwalkedoutintothestarlight,hispain—

strickenthoughtseverdrivinghimonashepacedthere。

"TheremustbeaHereafterbecausemanlongsforit!"hewhispered。"Isnotalllifefromthecradletothegraveonelongyearningforthatwhichwenevertouch?TheremustbeaHereafterbecausewecannotthinkofanyendtolife。Canwethinkofabeginning?Isiteasiertosay’Iwasnot’

thantosay’Ishallnotbe’?Andyet,wherewereweninetyyearsago?

Dreams,dreams!Ah,alldreamsandlies!Nogroundanywhere。"

Hewentbackintothecabinandwalkedthere。Hourafterhourpassed,andhewasdreaming。

For,markyou,menwilldream;themostthatcanbeaskedofthemisbutthatthedreambenotintooglaringdiscordwiththethingtheyknow。Hewalkedwithbenthead。

Alldies,alldies!therosesareredwiththematterthatoncereddenedthecheekofthechild;theflowersbloomthefairestonthelastyear’sbattleground;theworkofdeath’sfingercunninglywreathedoverisattheheartofallthings,evenoftheliving。

Death’sfingeriseverywhere。Therocksarebuiltupofalifethatwas。

Bodies,thoughts,andlovesdie:fromwherespringsthatwhispertothetinysoulofman,"Youshallnotdie"?Ah,istherenotruthofwhichthisdreamisshadow?

Hefellintoperfectsilence。And,atlast,ashewalkedtherewithhisbenthead,hissoulpasseddownthestepsofcontemplationintothatvastlandwherethereisalwayspeace;thatlandwherethesoul,gazinglong,losesallconsciousnessofitslittleself,andalmostfeelsitshandontheoldmysteryofUniversalunitythatsurroundsit。

"Nodeath,nodeath,"hemuttered;"thereisthatwhichneverdies——whichabides。Itisbuttheindividualthatperishes,thewholeremains。Itistheorganismthatvanishes,theatomsarethere。Itisbutthemanthatdies,theUniversalWholeofwhichheispartreworkshimintoitsinmostself。Ah,whatmatterthatman’sdaybeshort!——thatthesunriseseeshim,andthesunsetseeshisgrave;thatofwhichheisbutthebreathhasbreathedhimforthanddrawnhimbackagain。Thatabides——weabide。"

Forthelittlesoulthatcriesaloudforcontinuedpersonalexistenceforitselfanditsbeloved,thereisnohelp。Forthesoulwhichknowsitselfnomoreasaunit,butasapartoftheUniversalUnityofwhichtheBelovedalsoisapart;whichfeelswithinitselfthethroboftheUniversalLife;forthatsoulthereisnodeath。

"Letusdie,beloved,youandI,thatwemaypassonforeverthroughtheUniversalLife!Inthatdeepworldofcontemplationallfiercedesiresdieout,andpeacecomesdown。He,Waldo,ashewalkedthere,sawnomoretheworldthatwasabouthim;criedoutnomoreforthethingthathehadlost。

Hissoulrested。WasitonlyJohn,thinkyou,whosawtheheavensopen?

Thedreamersseeiteveryday。

Longyearsbeforethefatherhadwalkedinthelittlecabin,andseenchoirsofangels,andaprincelikeuntomen,butclothedinimmortality。

Theson’sknowledgewasnotasthefather’s,thereforethedreamwasnew—

tinted,butthesweetnesswasallthere,theinfinitepeacethatmenfindnotinthelittlecankeredkingdomofthetangible。Thebarsoftherealaresetcloseaboutus;wecannotopenourwingsbuttheyarestruckagainstthem,anddropbleeding。But,whenweglidebetweenthebarsintothegreatunknownbeyond,wemaysailforeverinthegloriousblue,seeingnothingbutourownshadows。

Soagesucceedsage,anddreamsucceedsdream,andofthejoyofthedreamernomanknowethbuthewhodreameth。

Ourfathershadtheirdream;wehaveours;thegenerationthatfollowswillhaveitsown。Withoutdreamsandphantomsmancannotexist。

Chapter2。XIV。WaldoGoesOuttoSitintheSunshine。

Ithadbeenaprincelyday。Thelongmorninghadmeltedslowlyintoarichafternoon。Rainshadcoveredthekaroowithaheavycoatofgreenthathidtheredeartheverywhere。Intheverychinksofthestonewallsdarkgreenleaveshungout,andbeautyandgrowthhadcreptevenintothebedsofthesandyfurrowsandlinedthemwithweeds。Onthebrokensodwallsoftheoldpigstychick—weedsflourished,andice—plantsliftedheirtransparentleaves。Waldowasatworkinthewagon—houseagain。HewasmakingakitchentableforEm。Asthelongcurlsgatheredinheapsbeforehisplane,hepausedforaninstantnowandagaintothrowonedowntoasmallnakednigger,whohadcreptfromitsmother,whostoodchurninginthesunshine,andhadcrawledintot

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