_Antony_--"Leave it to the Church."
_Hilarion_--"Then the Scripture is useless?"
_Antony_--"Not at all. Although the Old Testament, I admit, has--well, obscurities ... But the New shines forth with a pure light."
_Hilarion_--"And yet the Angel of the Annunciation, in Matthew, appears to Joseph, whilst in Luke it is to Mary. The anointing of Jesus by a woman comes to pa.s.s, according to the First Gospel, at the beginning of his public life, but according to the three others, a few days before his death. The drink which they offer him on the Cross is, in Matthew, vinegar and gall, in Mark, wine and myrrh. If we follow Luke and Matthew, the Apostles ought to take neither money nor bag--in fact, not even sandals or a staff; while in Mark, on the contrary, Jesus forbids them to carry with them anything except sandals and a staff. Here is where I get lost ..."
_Antony_, in amazement--"In fact ... in fact ..."
_Hilarion_--"At the contact of the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus turned round, and said, "Who has touched me?" So, then, He did not know who touched Him? That is opposed to the omniscience of Jesus. If the tomb was watched by guards, the women had not to worry themselves about an a.s.sistant to lift up the stone from the tomb. Therefore, there were no guards there--or rather, the holy women were not there at all. At Emmaus, He eats with His disciples, and makes them feel His wounds. It is a human body, a material object, which can be weighed, and which, nevertheless, pa.s.ses through stone walls. Is this possible?"
_Antony_--"It would take a good deal of time to answer you."
_Hilarion_--"Why did He receive the Holy Ghost, although He was the Son?
What need had He of baptism, if He were the Word? How could the Devil tempt Him--G.o.d?
"Have these thoughts never occurred to you?"
_Antony_--"Yes! often! Torpid or frantic, they dwell in my conscience. I crush them out; they spring up again, they stifle me; and sometimes I believe that I am accursed."
_Hilarion_--"Then you have nothing to do but to serve G.o.d?"
_Antony_--"I have always need to adore Him."
After a prolonged silence, Hilarion resumes:
"But apart from dogma, entire liberty of research is permitted us. Do you wish to become acquainted with the hierarchy of Angels, the virtue of Numbers, the explanation of germs and metamorphoses?"
_Antony_--"Yes! yes! My mind is struggling to escape from its prison. It seems to me that, by gathering my forces, I shall be able to effect this. Sometimes--even for an interval brief as a lightning-flash--I feel myself, as it were, suspended in mid-air; then I fall back again!"
_Hilarion_--"The secret which you are anxious to possess is guarded by sages. They live in a distant country, sitting under gigantic trees, robed in white, and calm as G.o.ds. A warm atmosphere nourishes them. All around leopards stride through the plains. The murmuring of fountains mingles with the neighing of unicorns. You shall hear them; and the face of the Unknown shall be unveiled!"
_Antony_, sighing--"The road is long and I am old!"
_Hilarion_--"Oh! oh! men of learning are not rare! There are some of them even very close to you here! Let us enter!"
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIERY TRIAL.
And Antony sees in front of him an immense basilica. The light projects itself from the lower end with the magical effect of a many-coloured sun. It lights up the innumerable heads of the mult.i.tude which fills the nave and surges between the columns towards the side-aisles, where one can distinguish in the wooden compartments altars, beds, chainlets of little blue stones, and constellations painted on the walls.
In the midst of the crowd groups are stationed here and there; men standing on stools are discoursing with lifted fingers; others are praying with arms crossed, or lying down on the ground, or singing hymns, or drinking wine. Around a table the faithful are carrying on the love-feasts; martyrs are unswathing their limbs to show their wounds; old men, leaning on their staffs, are relating their travels.
Amongst them are people from the country of the Germans, from Thrace, Gaul, Scythia and the Indies--with snow on their beards, feathers in their hair, thorns in the fringes of their garments, sandals covered with dust, and skins burnt by the sun. All costumes are mingled--mantles of purple and robes of linen, embroidered dalmatics, woollen jackets, sailors" caps and bishops" mitres. Their eyes gleam strangely. They have the appearance of executioners or of eunuchs.
Hilarion advances among them. Antony, pressing against his shoulder, observes them. He notices a great many women. Several of them are dressed like men, with their hair cut short. He is afraid of them.
_Hilarion_--"These are the Christian women who have converted their husbands. Besides, the women are always for Jesus--even the idolaters--as witness Procula, the wife of Pilate, and Poppaea, the concubine of Nero. Don"t tremble any more! Come on!"
There are fresh arrivals every moment.
They multiply; they separate, swift as shadows, all the time making a great uproar, or intermingling yells of rage, exclamations of love, canticles, and upbraidings.
_Antony_, in a low tone--"What do they want?"
_Hilarion_--"The Lord said, "I may still have to speak to you about many things." They possess those things."
And he pushes him towards a throne of gold, five paces off, where, surrounded by ninety-five disciples, all anointed with oil, pale and emaciated, sits the prophet Manes--beautiful as an archangel, motionless as a statue--wearing an Indian robe, with carbuncles in his plaited hair, a book of coloured pictures in his left hand, and a globe under his right. The pictures represent the creatures who are slumbering in chaos. Antony bends forward to see him. Then Manes makes his globe revolve, and, attuning his words to the music of a lyre, from which bursts forth crystalline sounds, he says:
"The celestial earth is at the upper extremity, the mortal earth at the lower. It is supported by two angels, the Splenditenens and the Omophorus, with six faces.
"At the summit of Heaven, the Impa.s.sible Divinity occupies the highest seat; underneath, face to face, are the Son of G.o.d and the Prince of Darkness.
"The darkness having made its way into His kingdom, G.o.d extracted from His essence a virtue which produced the first man; and He surrounded him with five elements. But the demons of darkness deprived him of one part, and that part is the soul.
"There is but one soul, spread through the universe, like the water of a stream divided into many channels. This it is that sighs in the wind, grinds in the marble which is sawn, howls in the voice of the sea; and it sheds milky tears when the leaves are torn off the fig-tree.
"The souls that leave this world emigrate towards the stars, which are animated beings."
Antony begins to laugh:
"Ah! ah! what an absurd hallucination!"
_A man_, beardless, and of austere aspect--"Why?"
Antony is about to reply. But Hilarion tells him in an undertone, that this man is the mighty Origen; and Manes resumes:
"At first, they stay in the moon, where they are purified. After that, they ascend to the sun."
_Antony_, slowly--"I know nothing to prevent us from believing it."
_Manes_--"The end of every creature is the liberation of the celestial ray shut up in matter. It makes its escape more easily through perfumes, spices, the aroma of old wine, the light substances that resemble thought. But the actions of daily life withhold it. The murderer will be born again in the body of a eunuch; he who slays an animal will become that animal. If you plant a vine-tree, you will be fastened in its branches. Food absorbs those who use it. Therefore, mortify yourselves!
fast!"
_Hilarion_--"They are temperate, as you see!"
_Manes_--"There is a great deal of it in flesh-meats, less in herbs.
Besides, the Pure, by the force of their merits, despoil vegetables of that luminous spark, and it flies towards its source. The animals, by generation, imprison it in the flesh. Therefore, avoid women!"
_Hilarion_--"Admire their countenance!"
_Manes_--"Or, rather, act so well that they may not be prolific. It is better for the soul to sink on the earth than to languish in carnal fetters."