下载辰思小说免费APP
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