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diff --git a/old/7jurg10.txt b/old/7jurg10.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d6c3c98..0000000 --- a/old/7jurg10.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11912 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell -#2 in our series by James Branch Cabell - -Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the -copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing -this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. - -This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project -Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the -header without written permission. - -Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the -eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is -important information about your specific rights and restrictions in -how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: Jurgen - A Comedy of Justice - -Author: James Branch Cabell - -Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8771] -[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] -[This file was first posted on August 12, 2003] - -Edition: 10 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. -With thanks to the McCain Library, Agnes Scott College. - - - - - -JURGEN - -_A Comedy of Justice_ - - - -By - -JAMES BRANCH CABELL - -1922 - - - - _"Of JURGEN eke they maken mencioun, - That of an old wyf gat his youthe agoon, - And gat himselfe a shirte as bright as fyre - Wherein to jape, yet gat not his desire - In any countrie ne condicioun."_ - - - - - - -TO - -BURTON RASCOE - - Before each tarradiddle, - Uncowed by sciolists, - Robuster persons twiddle - Tremendously big fists. - - "Our gods are good," they tell us; - "Nor will our gods defer - Remission of rude fellows' - Ability to err." - - So this, your JURGEN, travels - Content to compromise - Ordainments none unravels - Explicitly ... and sighs. - - - - - - * * * * * - - -"Others, with better moderation, do either entertain the vulgar -history of Jurgen as a fabulous addition unto the true and authentic -story of St. Iurgenius of Poictesme, or else we conceive the literal -acception to be a misconstruction of the symbolical expression: -apprehending a veritable history, in an emblem or piece of Christian -poesy. And this emblematical construction hath been received by men -not forward to extenuate the acts of saints." - - --PHILIP BORSDALE. - - -"A forced construction is very idle. If readers of _The High -History of Jurgen_ do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory -will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all, the whole is -as plain as a pikestaff. It might as well be pretended that we -cannot see Poussin's pictures without first being told the allegory, -as that the allegory aids us in understanding _Jurgen_." - - --E. NOEL CODMAN. - - -"Too urbane to advocate delusion, too hale for the bitterness of -irony, this fable of Jurgen is, as the world itself, a book wherein -each man will find what his nature enables him to see; which gives -us back each his own image; and which teaches us each the lesson -that each of us desires to learn." - - --JOHN FREDERICK LEWISTAM. - - - * * * * * - - - - -_CONTENTS_ - - A FOREWORD: WHICH ASSERTS NOTHING - - I WHY JURGEN DID THE MANLY THING - - II ASSUMPTION OF A NOTED GARMENT - - III THE GARDEN BETWEEN DAWN AND SUNRISE - - IV THE DOROTHY WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND - - V REQUIREMENTS OF BREAD AND BUTTER - - VI SHOWING THAT SEREDA IS FEMININE - - VII OF COMPROMISES ON A WEDNESDAY - - VIII OLD TOYS AND A NEW SHADOW - - IX THE ORTHODOX RESCUE OF GUENEVERE - - X PITIFUL DISGUISES OF THRAGNAR - - XI APPEARANCE OF THE DUKE OF LOGREUS - - XII EXCURSUS OF YOLANDE'S UNDOING - - XIII PHILOSOPHY OF GOGYRVAN GAWR - - XIV PRELIMINARY TACTICS OF DUKE JURGEN - - XV OF COMPROMISES IN GLATHION - - XVI DIVERS IMBROGLIOS OF KING SMOIT - - XVII ABOUT A COCK THAT CROWED TOO SOON - - XVIII WHY MERLIN TALKED IN TWILIGHT - - XIX THE BROWN MAN WITH QUEER FEET - - XX EFFICACY OF PRAYER - - XXI HOW ANAITIS VOYAGED - - XXII AS TO A VEIL THEY BROKE - - XXIII SHORTCOMINGS OF PRINCE JURGEN - - XXIV OF COMPROMISES IN COCAIGNE - - XXV CANTRAPS OF THE MASTER PHILOLOGIST - - XXVI IN TIME'S HOUR-GLASS - - XXVII VEXATIOUS ESTATE OF QUEEN HELEN - - XXVIII OF COMPROMISES IN LEUKE - - XXIX CONCERNING HORVENDILE'S NONSENSE - - XXX ECONOMICS OF KING JURGEN - - XXXI THE FALL OF PSEUDOPOLIS - - XXXII SUNDRY DEVICES OF THE PHILISTINES - - XXXIII FAREWELL TO CHLORIS - - XXXIV HOW EMPEROR JURGEN FARED INFERNALLY - - XXXV WHAT GRANDFATHER SATAN REPORTED - - XXXVI WHY COTH WAS CONTRADICTED - - XXXVII INVENTION OF THE LOVELY VAMPIRE - -XXXVIII AS TO APPLAUDED PRECEDENTS - - XXXIX OF COMPROMISES IN HELL - - XL THE ASCENSION OF POPE JURGEN - - XLI OF COMPROMISES IN HEAVEN - - XLII TWELVE THAT ARE FRETTED HOURLY - - XLIII POSTURES BEFORE A SHADOW - - XLIV IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE - - XLV THE FAITH OF GUENEVERE - - XLVI THE DESIRE OF ANAITIS - - XLVII THE VISION OF HELEN - - XLVIII CANDID OPINIONS OF DAME LISA - - XLIX OF THE COMPROMISE WITH KOSHCHEI - - L THE MOMENT THAT DID NOT COUNT - - - - -A FOREWORD - -_"Nescio quid certe est: et Hylax in limine latrat."_ - - - - -_A Foreword: Which Asserts Nothing._ - - -In Continental periodicals not more than a dozen articles in all -would seem to have given accounts or partial translations of the -Jurgen legends. No thorough investigation of this epos can be said -to have appeared in print, anywhere, prior to the publication, in -1913, of the monumental _Synopses of Aryan Mythology_ by Angelo -de Ruiz. It is unnecessary to observe that in this exhaustive digest -Professor de Ruiz has given (VII, p. 415 _et sequentia_) a -summary of the greater part of these legends as contained in the -collections of Verville and Buelg; and has discussed at length and -with much learning the esoteric meaning of these folk-stories and -their bearing upon questions to which the "solar theory" of myth -explanation has given rise. To his volumes, and to the pages of Mr. -Lewistam's _Key to the Popular Tales of Poictesme_, must be -referred all those who may elect to think of Jurgen as the -resplendent, journeying and procreative sun. - -Equally in reading hereinafter will the judicious waive all -allegorical interpretation, if merely because the suggestions -hitherto advanced are inconveniently various. Thus Verville -finds the Nessus shirt a symbol of retribution, where Buelg, -with rather wide divergence, would have it represent the dangerous -gift of genius. Then it may be remembered that Dr. Codman says, -without any hesitancy, of Mother Sereda: "This Mother Middle is -the world generally (an obvious anagram of _Erda es_), and this -Sereda rules not merely the middle of the working-days but the -midst of everything. She is the factor of _middleness_, of -mediocrity, of an avoidance of extremes, of the eternal compromise -begotten by use and wont. She is the Mrs. Grundy of the Leshy; she is -Comstockery: and her shadow is common-sense." Yet Codman speaks with -certainly no more authority than Prote, when the latter, in his -_Origins of Fable_, declares this epos is "a parable of ... man's -vain journeying in search of that rationality and justice which his -nature craves, and discovers nowhere in the universe: and the shirt -is an emblem of this instinctive craving, as ... the shadow symbolizes -conscience. Sereda typifies a surrender to life as it is, a giving up -of man's rebellious self-centredness and selfishness: the anagram being -_se dare_." - -Thus do interpretations throng and clash, and neatly equal the -commentators in number. Yet possibly each one of these unriddlings, -with no doubt a host of others, is conceivable: so that wisdom will -dwell upon none of them very seriously. - -With the origin and the occult meaning of the folklore of Poictesme -this book at least is in no wise concerned: its unambitious aim has -been merely to familiarize English readers with the Jurgen epos for -the tale's sake. And this tale of old years is one which, by rare -fortune, can be given to English readers almost unabridged, in view -of the singular delicacy and pure-mindedness of the Jurgen mythos: -in all, not more than a half-dozen deletions have seemed expedient -(and have been duly indicated) in order to remove such sparse and -unimportant outcroppings of mediaeval frankness as might conceivably -offend the squeamish. - -Since this volume is presented simply as a story to be read for -pastime, neither morality nor symbolism is hereinafter educed, and -no "parallels" and "authorities" are quoted. Even the gaps are left -unbridged by guesswork: whereas the historic and mythological -problems perhaps involved are relinquished to those really -thoroughgoing scholars whom erudition qualifies to deal with such -topics, and tedium does not deter.... - -In such terms, and thus far, ran the Foreword to the first issues of -this book, whose later fortunes have made necessary the lengthening -of the Foreword with a postscript. The needed addition--this much at -least chiming with good luck--is brief. It is just that fragment -which some scholars, since the first appearance of this volume, have -asserted--upon what perfect frankness must describe as not -indisputable grounds--to be a portion of the thirty-second chapter -of the complete form of _La Haulte Histoire de Jurgen_. - -And in reply to what these scholars assert, discretion says nothing. -For this fragment was, of course, unknown when the High History was -first put into English, and there in consequence appears, here, -little to be won either by endorsing or denying its claims to -authenticity. Rather, does discretion prompt the appending, without -any gloss or scholia, of this fragment, which deals with - - _The Judging of Jurgen._ - -Now a court was held by the Philistines to decide whether or no King -Jurgen should be relegated to limbo. And when the judges were -prepared for judging, there came into the court a great tumblebug, -rolling in front of him his loved and properly housed young ones. -With the creature came pages, in black and white, bearing a sword, a -staff and a lance. - -This insect looked at Jurgen, and its pincers rose erect in horror. -The bug cried to the three judges, "Now, by St. Anthony! this Jurgen -must forthwith be relegated to limbo, for he is offensive and lewd -and lascivious and indecent." - -"And how can that be?" says Jurgen. - -"You are offensive," the bug replied, "because this page has a sword -which I choose to say is not a sword. You are lewd because that page -has a lance which I prefer to think is not a lance. You are -lascivious because yonder page has a staff which I elect to declare -is not a staff. And finally, you are indecent for reasons of which a -description would be objectionable to me, and which therefore I must -decline to reveal to anybody." - -"Well, that sounds logical," says Jurgen, "but still, at the same -time, it would be no worse for an admixture of common-sense. For you -gentlemen can see for yourselves, by considering these pages fairly -and as a whole, that these pages bear a sword and a lance and a -staff, and nothing else whatever; and you will deduce, I hope, that -all the lewdness is in the insectival mind of him who itches to be -calling these things by other names." - -The judges said nothing as yet. But they that guarded Jurgen, and -all the other Philistines, stood to this side and to that side with -their eyes shut tight, and all these said: "We decline to look at -the pages fairly and as a whole, because to look might seem to imply -a doubt of what the tumblebug has decreed. Besides, as long as the -tumblebug has reasons which he declines to reveal, his reasons stay -unanswerable, and you are plainly a prurient rascal who are making -trouble for yourself." - -"To the contrary," says Jurgen, "I am a poet, and I make -literature." - -"But in Philistia to make literature and to make trouble for -yourself are synonyms," the tumblebug explained. "I know, for -already we of Philistia have been pestered by three of these makers -of literature. Yes, there was Edgar, whom I starved and hunted until -I was tired of it: then I chased him up a back alley one night, and -knocked out those annoying brains of his. And there was Walt, whom I -chivvied and battered from place to place, and made a paralytic of -him: and him, too, I labelled offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent. Then later there was Mark, whom I frightened into -disguising himself in a clown's suit, so that nobody might suspect -him to be a maker of literature: indeed, I frightened him so that he -hid away the greater part of what he had made until after he was -dead, and I could not get at him. That was a disgusting trick to -play on me, I consider. Still, these are the only three detected -makers of literature that have ever infested Philistia, thanks be to -goodness and my vigilance, but for both of which we might have been -no more free from makers of literature than are the other -countries." - -"Now, but these three," cried Jurgen, "are the glory of Philistia: -and of all that Philistia has produced, it is these three alone, -whom living ye made least of, that to-day are honored wherever art -is honored, and where nobody bothers one way or the other about -Philistia." - -"What is art to me and my way of living?" replied the tumblebug, -wearily. "I have no concern with art and letters and the other lewd -idols of foreign nations. I have in charge the moral welfare of my -young, whom I roll here before me, and trust with St. Anthony's aid -to raise in time to be God-fearing tumblebugs like me, delighting in -what is proper to their nature. For the rest, I have never minded -dead men being well-spoken-of. No, no, my lad: once whatever I may -do means nothing to you, and once you are really rotten, you will -find the tumblebug friendly enough. Meanwhile I am paid to protest -that living persons are offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent, and one must live." - -Then the Philistines who stood to this side and to that side said in -indignant unison: "And we, the reputable citizenry of Philistia, are -not at all in sympathy with those who would take any protest against -the tumblebug as a justification of what they are pleased to call -art. The harm done by the tumblebug seems to us very slight, whereas -the harm done by the self-styled artist may be very great." - -Jurgen now looked more attentively at this queer creature: and he -saw that the tumblebug was malodorous, certainly, but at bottom -honest and well-meaning; and this seemed to Jurgen the saddest thing -he had found among the Philistines. For the tumblebug was sincere in -his insane doings, and all Philistia honored him sincerely, so that -there was nowhere any hope for this people. - -Therefore King Jurgen addressed himself, as his need was, to submit -to the strange customs of the Philistines. "Now do you judge me -fairly," cried Jurgen to his judges, "if there be any justice in -this mad country. And if there be none, do you relegate me to limbo -or to any other place, so long as in that place this tumblebug is -not omnipotent and sincere and insane." - -And Jurgen waited.... - - - - -* * * * * - - - - JURGEN - - ... _amara lento temperet risu_ - - - - -1. - -Why Jurgen Did the Manly Thing - - -It is a tale which they narrate in Poictesme, saying: In the 'old -days lived a pawnbroker named Jurgen; but what his wife called him -was very often much worse than that. She was a high-spirited woman, -with no especial gift for silence. Her name, they say, was Adelais, -but people by ordinary called her Dame Lisa. - -They tell, also, that in the old days, after putting up the shop-windows -for the night, Jurgen was passing the Cistercian Abbey, on his way home: -and one of the monks had tripped over a stone in the roadway. He was -cursing the devil who had placed it there. - -"Fie, brother!" says Jurgen, "and have not the devils enough to bear -as it is?" - -"I never held with Origen," replied the monk; "and besides, it hurt -my great-toe confoundedly." - -"None the less," observes Jurgen, "it does not behoove God-fearing -persons to speak with disrespect of the divinely appointed Prince of -Darkness. To your further confusion, consider this monarch's -industry! day and night you may detect him toiling at the task -Heaven set him. That is a thing can be said of few communicants and -of no monks. Think, too, of his fine artistry, as evidenced in all -the perilous and lovely snares of this world, which it is your -business to combat, and mine to lend money upon. Why, but for him we -would both be vocationless! Then, too, consider his philanthropy! -and deliberate how insufferable would be our case if you and I, and -all our fellow parishioners, were to-day hobnobbing with other -beasts in the Garden which we pretend to desiderate on Sundays! To -arise with swine and lie down with the hyena?--oh, intolerable!" - -Thus he ran on, devising reasons for not thinking too harshly of the -Devil. Most of it was an abridgement of some verses Jurgen had -composed, in the shop when business was slack. - -"I consider that to be stuff and nonsense," was the monk's glose. - -"No doubt your notion is sensible," observed the pawnbroker: "but -mine is the prettier." - -Then Jurgen passed the Cistercian Abbey, and was approaching -Bellegarde, when he met a black gentleman, who saluted him and said: - -"Thanks, Jurgen, for your good word." - -"Who are you, and why do you thank me?" asks Jurgen. - -"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. May -your life be free from care!" - -"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married." - -"Eh, sirs, and a fine clever poet like you!" - -"Yet it is a long while now since I was a practising poet." - -"Why, to be sure! You have the artistic temperament, which is not -exactly suited to the restrictions of domestic life. Then I suppose -your wife has her own personal opinion about poetry, Jurgen." - -"Indeed, sir, her opinion would not bear repetition, for I am sure -you are unaccustomed to such language." - -"This is very sad. I am afraid your wife does not quite understand -you, Jurgen." - -"Sir," says Jurgen, astounded, "do you read people's inmost -thoughts?" - -The black gentleman seemed much dejected. He pursed his lips, and -fell to counting upon his fingers: as they moved his sharp nails -glittered like flame-points. - -"Now but this is a very deplorable thing," says the black gentleman, -"to have befallen the first person I have found ready to speak a -kind word for evil. And in all these centuries, too! Dear me, this -is a most regrettable instance of mismanagement! No matter, Jurgen, -the morning is brighter than the evening. How I will reward you, to -be sure!" - -So Jurgen thanked the simple old creature politely. And when Jurgen -reached home his wife was nowhere to be seen. He looked on all sides -and questioned everyone, but to no avail. Dame Lisa had vanished in -the midst of getting supper ready--suddenly, completely and -inexplicably, just as (in Jurgen's figure) a windstorm passes and -leaves behind it a tranquillity which seems, by contrast, uncanny. -Nothing could explain the mystery, short of magic: and Jurgen on a -sudden recollected the black gentleman's queer promise. Jurgen -crossed himself. - -"How unjustly now," says Jurgen, "do some people get an ill name for -gratitude! And now do I perceive how wise I am, always to speak -pleasantly of everybody, in this world of tale-bearers." - -Then Jurgen prepared his own supper, went to bed, and slept soundly. - -"I have implicit confidence," says he, "in Lisa. I have particular -confidence in her ability to take care of herself in any -surroundings." - -That was all very well: but time passed, and presently it began to -be rumored that Dame Lisa walked on Morven. Her brother, who was a -grocer and a member of the town-council, went thither to see about -this report. And sure enough, there was Jurgen's wife walking in the -twilight and muttering incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the town-councillor, "this is very unseemly -conduct for a married woman, and a thing likely to be talked about." - -"Follow me!" replied Dame Lisa. And the town-councillor followed her -a little way in the dusk, but when she came to Amneran Heath and -still went onward, he knew better than to follow. - -Next evening the elder sister of Dame Lisa went to Morven. This -sister had married a notary, and was a shrewd woman. In consequence, -she took with her this evening a long wand of peeled willow-wood. -And there was Jurgen's wife walking in the twilight and muttering -incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the notary's wife, who was a shrewd woman, "and -do you not know that all this while Jurgen does his own sewing, and -is once more making eyes at Countess Dorothy?" - -Dame Lisa shuddered; but she only said, "Follow me!" - -And the notary's wife followed her to Amneran Heath, and across the -heath, to where a cave was. This was a place of abominable repute. A -lean hound came to meet them there in the twilight, lolling his -tongue: but the notary's wife struck thrice with her wand, and the -silent beast left them. And Dame Lisa passed silently into the cave, -and her sister turned and went home to her children, weeping. - -So the next evening Jurgen himself came to Morven, because all his -wife's family assured him this was the manly thing to do. Jurgen -left the shop in charge of Urien Villemarche, who was a highly -efficient clerk. Jurgen followed his wife across Amneran Heath until -they reached the cave. Jurgen would willingly have been elsewhere. - -For the hound squatted upon his haunches, and seemed to grin at -Jurgen; and there were other creatures abroad, that flew low in the -twilight, keeping close to the ground like owls; but they were -larger than owls and were more discomforting. And, moreover, all -this was just after sunset upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything -is rather more than likely to happen. - -So Jurgen said, a little peevishly: "Lisa, my dear, if you go into -the cave I will have to follow you, because it is the manly thing to -do. And you know how easily I take cold." - -The voice of Dame Lisa, now, was thin and wailing, a curiously -changed voice. "There is a cross about your neck. You must throw -that away." - -Jurgen was wearing such a cross, through motives of sentiment, -because it had once belonged to his dead mother. But now, to -pleasure his wife, he removed the trinket, and hung it on a barberry -bush; and with the reflection that this was likely to prove a -deplorable business, he followed Dame Lisa into the cave. - - - - -2. - -Assumption of a Noted Garment - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -presently to a centaur: and this surprised him not a little, because -Jurgen knew that centaurs were imaginary creatures. - -Certainly they were curious to look at: for here was the body of a -fine bay horse, and rising from its shoulders, the sun-burnt body of -a young fellow who regarded Jurgen with grave and not unfriendly -eyes. The Centaur was lying beside a fire of cedar and juniper wood: -near him was a platter containing a liquid with which he was -anointing his hoofs. This stuff, as the Centaur rubbed it in with -his fingers, turned the appearance of his hoofs to gold. - -"Hail, friend," says Jurgen, "if you be the work of God." - -"Your protasis is not good Greek," observed the Centaur, "because in -Hellas we did not make such reservations. Besides, it is not so much -my origin as my destination which concerns you." - -"Well, friend, and whither are you going?" - -"To the garden between dawn and sunrise, Jurgen." - -"Surely, now, but that is a fine name for a garden! and it is a -place I would take joy to be seeing." - -"Up upon my back, Jurgen, and I will take you thither," says the -Centaur, and heaved to his feet. Then said the Centaur, when the -pawnbroker hesitated: "Because, as you must understand, there is no -other way. For this garden does not exist, and never did exist, in -what men humorously called real life; so that of course only -imaginary creatures such as I can enter it." - -"That sounds very reasonable," Jurgen estimated: "but as it happens, -I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to have been carried off by -a devil, poor fellow!" - -And Jurgen began to explain to the Centaur what had befallen. - -The Centaur laughed. "It may be for that reason I am here. There is, -in any event, only one remedy in this matter. Above all devils--and -above all gods, they tell me, but certainly above all centaurs--is -the power of Koshchei the Deathless, who made things as they are." - -"It is not always wholesome," Jurgen submitted, "to speak of -Koshchei. It seems especially undesirable in a dark place like -this." - -"None the less, I suspect it is to him you must go for justice." - -"I would prefer not doing that," said Jurgen, with unaffected -candor. - -"You have my sympathy: but there is no question of preference where -Koshchei is concerned. Do you think, for example, that I am frowzing -in this underground place by my own choice? and knew your name by -accident?" - -Jurgen was frightened, a little. "Well, well! but it is usually the -deuce and all, this doing of the manly thing. How, then, can I come -to Koshchei?" - -"Roundabout," says the Centaur. "There is never any other way." - -"And is the road to this garden roundabout?" - -"Oh, very much so, inasmuch as it circumvents both destiny and -common-sense." - -"Needs must, then," says Jurgen: "at all events, I am willing to -taste any drink once." - -"You will be chilled, though, traveling as you are. For you and I -are going a queer way, in search of justice, over the grave of a -dream and through the malice of time. So you had best put on this -shirt above your other clothing." - -"Indeed it is a fine snug shining garment, with curious figures on -it. I accept such raiment gladly. And whom shall I be thanking for -his kindness, now?" - -"My name," said the Centaur, "is Nessus." - -"Well, then, friend Nessus, I am at your service." - -And in a trice Jurgen was on the Centaur's back, and the two of them -had somehow come out of the cave, and were crossing Amneran Heath. -So they passed into a wooded place, where the light of sunset yet -lingered, rather unaccountably. Now the Centaur went westward. And -now about the pawnbroker's shoulders and upon his breast and over -his lean arms glittered like a rainbow the many-colored shirt of -Nessus. - -For a while they went through the woods, which were composed of big -trees standing a goodish distance from one another, with the -Centaur's gilded hoofs rustling and sinking in a thick carpet of -dead leaves, all gray and brown, in level stretches that were -unbroken by any undergrowth. And then they came to a white roadway -that extended due west, and so were done with the woods. Now -happened an incredible thing in which Jurgen would never have -believed had he not seen it with his own eyes: for now the Centaur -went so fast that he gained a little by a little upon the sun, thus -causing it to rise in the west a little by a little; and these two -sped westward in the glory of a departed sunset. The sun fell full -in Jurgen's face as he rode straight toward the west, so that he -blinked and closed his eyes, and looked first toward this side, then -the other. Thus it was that the country about him, and the persons -they were passing, were seen by him in quick bright flashes, like -pictures suddenly transmuted into other pictures; and all his -memories of this shining highway were, in consequence, always -confused and incoherent. - -He wondered that there seemed to be so many young women along the -road to the garden. Here was a slim girl in white teasing a great -brown and yellow dog that leaped about her clumsily; here a girl sat -in the branches of a twisted and gnarled tree, and back of her was a -broad muddied river, copper-colored in the sun; and here shone the -fair head of a tall girl on horseback, who seemed to wait for -someone: in fine, the girls along the way were numberless, and -Jurgen thought he recollected one or two of them. - -But the Centaur went so swiftly that Jurgen could not be sure. - - - - -3. - -The Garden between Dawn and Sunrise - - -Thus it was that Jurgen and the Centaur came to the garden between -dawn and sunrise, entering this place in a fashion which it is not -convenient to record. But as they passed over the bridge three fled -before them, screaming. And when the life had been trampled out of -the small furry bodies which these three had misused, there was none -to oppose the Centaur's entry into the garden between dawn and -sunrise. - -This was a wonderful garden: yet nothing therein was strange. -Instead, it seemed that everything hereabouts was heart-breakingly -familiar and very dear to Jurgen. For he had come to a broad lawn -which slanted northward to a well-remembered brook: and -multitudinous maples and locust-trees stood here and there, -irregularly, and were being played with very lazily by an irresolute -west wind, so that foliage seemed to toss and ripple everywhere like -green spray: but autumn was at hand, for the locust-trees were -dropping a Danae's shower of small round yellow leaves. Around the -garden was an unforgotten circle of blue hills. And this was a place -of lucent twilight, unlit by either sun or stars, and with no -shadows anywhere in the diffused faint radiancy that revealed this -garden, which is not visible to any man except in the brief interval -between dawn and sunrise. - -"Why, but it is Count Emmerick's garden at Storisende," says Jurgen, -"where I used to be having such fine times when I was a lad." - -"I will wager," said Nessus, "that you did not use to walk alone in -this garden." - -"Well, no; there was a girl." - -"Just so," assented Nessus. "It is a local by-law: and here are -those who comply with it." - -For now had come toward them, walking together in the dawn, a -handsome boy and girl. And the girl was incredibly beautiful, -because everybody in the garden saw her with the vision of the boy -who was with her. "I am Rudolph," said this boy, "and she is Anne." - -"And are you happy here?" asked Jurgen. - -"Oh, yes, sir, we are tolerably happy: but Anne's father is very -rich, and my mother is poor, so that we cannot be quite happy until -I have gone into foreign lands and come back with a great many lakhs -of rupees and pieces of eight." - -"And what will you do with all this money, Rudolph?" - -"My duty, sir, as I see it. But I inherit defective eyesight." - -"God speed to you, Rudolph!" said Jurgen, "for many others are in -your plight." - -Then came to Jurgen and the Centaur another boy with the small -blue-eyed person in whom he took delight. And this fat and indolent -looking boy informed them that he and the girl who was with him were -walking in the glaze of the red mustard jar, which Jurgen thought -was gibberish: and the fat boy said that he and the girl had decided -never to grow any older, which Jurgen said was excellent good sense -if only they could manage it. - -"Oh, I can manage that," said this fat boy, reflectively, "if only I -do not find the managing of it uncomfortable." - -Jurgen for a moment regarded him, and then gravely shook hands. - -"I feel for you," said Jurgen, "for I perceive that you, too, are a -monstrous clever fellow: so life will get the best of you." - -"But is not cleverness the main thing, sir?" - -"Time will show you, my lad," says Jurgen, a little sorrowfully. -"And God speed to you, for many others are in your plight." - -And a host of boys and girls did Jurgen see in the garden. And all -the faces that Jurgen saw were young and glad and very lovely and -quite heart-breakingly confident, as young persons beyond numbering -came toward Jurgen and passed him there, in the first glow of dawn: -so they all went exulting in the glory of their youth, and -foreknowing life to be a puny antagonist from whom one might take -very easily anything which one desired. And all passed in -couples--"as though they came from the Ark," said Jurgen. But the -Centaur said they followed a precedent which was far older than the -Ark. - -"For in this garden," said the Centaur, "each man that ever lived -has sojourned for a little while, with no company save his -illusions. I must tell you again that in this garden are encountered -none but imaginary creatures. And stalwart persons take their hour -of recreation here, and go hence unaccompanied, to become aldermen -and respected merchants and bishops, and to be admired as captains -upon prancing horses, or even as kings upon tall thrones; each in -his station thinking not at all of the garden ever any more. But now -and then come timid persons, Jurgen, who fear to leave this garden -without an escort: so these must need go hence with one or another -imaginary creature, to guide them about alleys and by-paths, because -imaginary creatures find little nourishment in the public highways, -and shun them. Thus must these timid persons skulk about obscurely -with their diffident and skittish guides, and they do not ever -venture willingly into the thronged places where men get horses and -build thrones." - -"And what becomes of these timid persons, Centaur?" - -"Why, sometimes they spoil paper, Jurgen, and sometimes they spoil -human lives." - -"Then are these accursed persons," Jurgen considered. - -"You should know best," replied the Centaur. - -"Oh, very probably," said Jurgen. "Meanwhile here is one who walks -alone in this garden, and I wonder to see the local by-laws thus -violated." - -Now Nessus looked at Jurgen for a while without speaking: and in the -eyes of the Centaur was so much of comprehension and compassion that -it troubled Jurgen. For somehow it made Jurgen fidget and consider -this an unpleasantly personal way of looking at anybody. - -"Yes, certainly," said the Centaur, "this woman walks alone. But -there is no help for her loneliness, since the lad who loved this -woman is dead." - -"Nessus, I am willing to be reasonably sorry about it. Still, is -there any need of pulling quite such a portentously long face? After -all, a great many other persons have died, off and on: and for -anything I can say to the contrary, this particular young fellow may -have been no especial loss to anybody." - -Again the Centaur said, "You should know best." - - - - -4. - -The Dorothy Who Did Not Understand - - -For now had come to Jurgen and the Centaur a gold-haired woman, -clothed all in white, and walking alone. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest: and yet whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. Perhaps this was because he never saw her as she -was. For certainly the color of her eyes stayed a matter never -revealed to him: gray, blue or green, there was no saying: they -varied as does the sea; but always these eyes were lovely and -friendly and perturbing. - -Jurgen remembered that: for Jurgen saw this was Count Emmerick's -second sister, Dorothy la Desiree, whom Jurgen very long ago (a many -years before he met Dame Lisa and set up in business as a -pawnbroker) had hymned in innumerable verses as Heart's Desire. - -"And this is the only woman whom I ever loved," Jurgen remembered, -upon a sudden. For people cannot always be thinking of these -matters. - -So he saluted her, with such deference as is due to a countess from -a tradesman, and yet with unforgotten tremors waking in his staid -body. But the strangest was yet to be seen, for he noted now that -this was not a handsome woman in middle life but a young girl. - -"I do not understand," he said, aloud: "for you are Dorothy. And yet -it seems to me that you are not the Countess Dorothy who is Heitman -Michael's wife." - -And the girl tossed her fair head, with that careless lovely gesture -which the Countess had forgotten. "Heitman Michael is well enough, -for a nobleman, and my brother is at me day and night to marry the -man: and certainly Heitman Michael's wife will go in satin and -diamonds at half the courts of Christendom, with many lackeys to -attend her. But I am not to be thus purchased." - -"So you told a boy that I remember, very long ago. Yet you married -Heitman Michael, for all that, and in the teeth of a number of other -fine declarations." - -"Oh, no, not I," said this Dorothy, wondering. "I never married -anybody. And Heitman Michael has never married anybody, either, old -as he is. For he is twenty-eight, and looks every day of it! But who -are you, friend, that have such curious notions about me?" - -"That question I will answer, just as though it were put reasonably. -For surely you perceive I am Jurgen." - -"I never knew but one Jurgen. And he is a young man, barely come of -age--" Then as she paused in speech, whatever was the matter upon -which this girl now meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by -the thought of it, and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took -infinite joy. - -And Jurgen understood. He had come back somehow to the Dorothy whom -he had loved: but departed, and past overtaking by the fleet hoofs -of centaurs, was the boy who had once loved this Dorothy, and who -had rhymed of her as his Heart's Desire: and in the garden there was -of this boy no trace. Instead, the girl was talking to a staid and -paunchy pawnbroker, of forty-and-something. - -So Jurgen shrugged, and looked toward the Centaur: but Nessus had -discreetly wandered away from them, in search of four-leafed -clovers. Now the east had grown brighter, and its crimson began to -be colored with gold. - -"Yes, I have heard of this other Jurgen," says the pawnbroker. "Oh, -Madame Dorothy, but it was he that loved you!" - -"No more than I loved him. Through a whole summer have I loved -Jurgen." - -And the knowledge that this girl spoke a wondrous truth was now to -Jurgen a joy that was keen as pain. And he stood motionless for a -while, scowling and biting his lips. - -"I wonder how long the poor devil loved you! He also loved for a -whole summer, it may be. And yet again, it may be that he loved you -all his life. For twenty years and for more than twenty years I have -debated the matter: and I am as well informed as when I started." - -"But, friend, you talk in riddles." - -"Is not that customary when age talks with youth? For I am an old -fellow, in my forties: and you, as I know now, are near -eighteen,--or rather, four months short of being eighteen, for it is -August. Nay, more, it is the August of a year I had not looked ever -to see again; and again Dom Manuel reigns over us, that man of iron -whom I saw die so horribly. All this seems very improbable." - -Then Jurgen meditated for a while. He shrugged. - -"Well, and what could anybody expect me to do about it? Somehow it -has befallen that I, who am but the shadow of what I was, now walk -among shadows, and we converse with the thin intonations of dead -persons. For, Madame Dorothy, you who are not yet eighteen, in this -same garden there was once a boy who loved a girl, with such love as -it puzzles me to think of now. I believe that she loved him. Yes, -certainly it is a cordial to the tired and battered heart which -nowadays pumps blood for me, to think that for a little while, for a -whole summer, these two were as brave and comely and clean a pair of -sweethearts as the world has known." - -Thus Jurgen spoke. But his thought was that this was a girl whose -equal for loveliness and delight was not to be found between two -oceans. Long and long ago that doubtfulness of himself which was -closer to him than his skin had fretted Jurgen into believing the -Dorothy he had loved was but a piece of his imaginings. But -certainly this girl was real. And sweet she was, and innocent she -was, and light of heart and feet, beyond the reach of any man's -inventiveness. No, Jurgen had not invented her; and it strangely -contented him to know as much. - -"Tell me your story, sir," says she, "for I love all romances." - -"Ah, my dear child, but I cannot tell you very well of just what -happened. As I look back, there is a blinding glory of green woods -and lawns and moonlit nights and dance music and unreasonable -laughter. I remember her hair and eyes, and the curving and the feel -of her red mouth, and once when I was bolder than ordinary--But that -is hardly worth raking up at this late day. Well, I see these things -in memory as plainly as I now seem to see your face: but I can -recollect hardly anything she said. Perhaps, now I think of it, she -was not very intelligent, and said nothing worth remembering. But -the boy loved her, and was happy, because her lips and heart were -his, and he, as the saying is, had plucked a diamond from the -world's ring. True, she was a count's daughter and the sister of a -count: but in those days the boy quite firmly intended to become a -duke or an emperor or something of that sort, so the transient -discrepancy did not worry them." - -"I know. Why, Jurgen is going to be a duke, too," says she, very -proudly, "though he did think, a great while ago, before he knew me, -of being a cardinal, on account of the robes. But cardinals are not -allowed to marry, you see--And I am forgetting your story, too! What -happened then?" - -"They parted in September--with what vows it hardly matters now--and -the boy went into Gatinais, to win his spurs under the old Vidame de -Soyecourt. And presently--oh, a good while before Christmas!--came -the news that Dorothy la Desiree had married rich Heitman Michael." - -"But that is what I am called! And as you know, there is a Heitman -Michael who is always plaguing me. Is that not strange! for you tell -me all this happened a great while ago." - -"Indeed, the story is very old, and old it was when Methuselah was -teething. There is no older and more common story anywhere. As the -sequel, it would be heroic to tell you this boy's life was ruined. -But I do not think it was. Instead, he had learned all of a sudden -that which at twenty-one is heady knowledge. That was the hour which -taught him sorrow and rage, and sneering, too, for a redemption. Oh, -it was armor that hour brought him, and a humor to use it, because -no woman now could hurt him very seriously. No, never any more!" - -"Ah, the poor boy!" she said, divinely tender, and smiling as a -goddess smiles, not quite in mirth. - -"Well, women, as he knew by experience now, were the pleasantest of -playfellows. So he began to play. Rampaging through the world he -went in the pride of his youth and in the armor of his hurt. And -songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and sword-play he made for -the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made for the pleasure of -women, in places where renown was, and where he trod boldly, giving -pleasure to everybody, in those fine days. But the whispering, and -all that followed the whispering, was his best game, and the game he -played for the longest while, with many brightly colored playmates -who took the game more seriously than he did. And their faith in the -game's importance, and in him and his high-sounding nonsense, he -very often found amusing: and in their other chattels too he took -his natural pleasure. Then, when he had played sufficiently, he held -a consultation with divers waning appetites; and he married the -handsome daughter of an estimable pawnbroker in a fair line of -business. And he lived with his wife very much as two people -customarily live together. So, all in all, I would not say his life -was ruined." - -"Why, then, it was," said Dorothy. She stirred uneasily, with an -impatient sigh; and you saw that she was vaguely puzzled. "Oh, but -somehow I think you are a very horrible old man: and you seem doubly -horrible in that glittering queer garment you are wearing." - -"No woman ever praised a woman's handiwork, and each of you is -particularly severe upon her own. But you are interrupting the -saga." - -"I do not see"--and those large bright eyes of which the color was -so indeterminable and so dear to Jurgen, seemed even larger -now--"but I do not see how there could well be any more." - -"Still, human hearts survive the benediction of the priest, as you may -perceive any day. This man, at least, inherited his father-in-law's -business, and found it, quite as he had anticipated, the fittest of -vocations for a cashiered poet. And so, I suppose, he was content. Ah, -yes; but after a while Heitman Michael returned from foreign parts, -along with his lackeys, and plate, and chest upon chest of merchandise, -and his fine horses, and his wife. And he who had been her lover could -see her now, after so many years, whenever he liked. She was a handsome -stranger. That was all. She was rather stupid. She was nothing -remarkable, one way or another. This respectable pawnbroker saw that -quite plainly: day by day he writhed under the knowledge. Because, as -I must tell you, he could not retain composure in her presence, even -now. No, he was never able to do that." - -The girl somewhat condensed her brows over this information. "You -mean that he still loved her. Why, but of course!" - -"My child," says Jurgen, now with a reproving forefinger, "you are -an incurable romanticist. The man disliked her and despised her. At -any event, he assured himself that he did. Well, even so, this -handsome stupid stranger held his eyes, and muddled his thoughts, -and put errors into his accounts: and when he touched her hand he -did not sleep that night as he was used to sleep. Thus he saw her, -day after day. And they whispered that this handsome and stupid -stranger had a liking for young men who aided her artfully to -deceive her husband: but she never showed any such favor to the -respectable pawnbroker. For youth had gone out of him, and it seemed -that nothing in particular happened. Well, that was his saga. About -her I do not know. And I shall never know! But certainly she got the -name of deceiving Heitman Michael with two young men, or with five -young men it might be, but never with a respectable pawnbroker." - -"I think that is an exceedingly cynical and stupid story," observed -the girl. "And so I shall be off to look for Jurgen. For he makes -love very amusingly," says Dorothy, with the sweetest, loveliest -meditative smile that ever was lost to heaven. - -And a madness came upon Jurgen, there in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, and a disbelief in such injustice as now seemed incredible. - -"No, Heart's Desire," he cried, "I will not let you go. For you are -dear and pure and faithful, and all my evil dream, wherein you were -a wanton and be-fooled me, was not true. Surely, mine was a dream -that can never be true so long as there is any justice upon earth. -Why, there is no imaginable God who would permit a boy to be robbed -of that which in my evil dream was taken from me!" - -"And still I cannot understand your talking, about this dream of -yours--!" - -"Why, it seemed to me I had lost the most of myself; and there was -left only a brain which played with ideas, and a body that went -delicately down pleasant ways. And I could not believe as my fellows -believed, nor could I love them, nor could I detect anything in -aught they said or did save their exceeding folly: for I had lost -their cordial common faith in the importance of what use they made -of half-hours and months and years; and because a jill-flirt had -opened my eyes so that they saw too much, I had lost faith in the -importance of my own actions, too. There was a little time of which -the passing might be made endurable; beyond gaped unpredictable -darkness: and that was all there was of certainty anywhere. Now tell -me, Heart's Desire, but was not that a foolish dream? For these -things never happened. Why, it would not be fair if these things -ever happened!" - -And the girl's eyes were wide and puzzled and a little frightened. -"I do not understand what you are saying: and there is that about -you which troubles me unspeakably. For you call me by the name which -none but Jurgen used, and it seems to me that you are Jurgen; and -yet you are not Jurgen." - -"But I am truly Jurgen. And look you, I have done what never any man -has done before! For I have won back to that first love whom every -man must lose, no matter whom he marries. I have come back again, -passing very swiftly over the grave of a dream and through the -malice of time, to my Heart's Desire! And how strange it seems that -I did not know this thing was inevitable!" - -"Still, friend, I do not understand you." - -"Why, but I yawned and fretted in preparation for some great and -beautiful adventure which was to befall me by and by, and dazedly I -toiled forward. Whereas behind me all the while was the garden -between dawn and sunrise, and therein you awaited me! Now assuredly, -the life of every man is a quaintly builded tale, in which the right -and proper ending comes first. Thereafter time runs forward, not as -schoolmen fable in a straight line, but in a vast closed curve, -returning to the place of its starting. And it is by a dim -foreknowledge of this, by some faint prescience of justice and -reparation being given them by and by, that men have heart to live. -For I know now that I have always known this thing. What else was -living good for unless it brought me back to you?" - -But the girl shook her small glittering head, very sadly. "I do not -understand you, and I fear you. For you talk foolishness and in your -face I see the face of Jurgen as one might see the face of a dead -man drowned in muddy water." - -"Yet am I truly Jurgen, and, as it seems to me, for the first time -since we were parted. For I am strong and admirable--even I, who -sneered and played so long, because I thought myself a thing of -no worth at all. That which has been since you and I were young -together is as a mist that passes: and I am strong and admirable, -and all my being is one vast hunger for you, my dearest, and I will -not let you go, for you, and you alone, are my Heart's Desire." - -Now the girl was looking at him very steadily, with a small puzzled -frown, and with her vivid young soft lips a little parted. And all -her tender loveliness was glorified by the light of a sky that had -turned to dusty palpitating gold. - -"Ah, but you say that you are strong and admirable: and I can only -marvel at such talking. For I see that which all men see." - -And then Dorothy showed him the little mirror which was attached to -the long chain of turquoise matrix about her neck: and Jurgen -studied the frightened foolish aged face that he found in the -mirror. - -Thus drearily did sanity return to Jurgen: and his flare of passion -died, and the fever and storm and the impetuous whirl of things was -ended, and the man was very weary. And in the silence he heard the -piping cry of a bird that seemed to seek for what it could not find. - -"Well, I am answered," said the pawnbroker: "and yet I know that -this is not the final answer. Dearer than any hope of heaven was -that moment when awed surmises first awoke as to the new strange -loveliness which I had seen in the face of Dorothy. It was then I -noted the new faint flush suffusing her face from chin to brow so -often as my eyes encountered and found new lights in the shining -eyes which were no longer entirely frank in meeting mine. Well, let -that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"It is a grief to remember how we followed love, and found his -service lovely. It is bitter to recall the sweetness of those vows -which proclaimed her mine eternally,--vows that were broken in their -making by prolonged and unforgotten kisses. We used to laugh at -Heitman Michael then; we used to laugh at everything. Thus for a -while, for a whole summer, we were as brave and comely and clean a -pair of sweethearts as the world has known. But let that be, for I -do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"Our love was fair but short-lived. There is none that may revive -him since the small feet of Dorothy trod out this small love's life. -Yet when this life of ours too is over--this parsimonious life which -can allow us no more love for anybody,--must we not win back, -somehow, to that faith we vowed against eternity? and be content -again, in some fair-colored realm? Assuredly I think this thing will -happen. Well, but let that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's -wife." - -"Why, this is excellent hearing," observed Dorothy, "because I see -that you are converting your sorrow into the raw stuff of verses. So -I shall be off to look for Jurgen, since he makes love quite -otherwise and far more amusingly." - -And again, whatever was the matter upon which this girl now -meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by the thought of it, -and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took infinite joy. - -Thus it was for a moment only: for she left Jurgen now, with the -friendliest light waving of her hand; and so passed from him, not -thinking of this old fellow any longer, as he could see, even in the -instant she turned from him. And she went toward the dawn, in search -of that young Jurgen whom she, who was perfect in all things, had -loved, though only for a little while, not undeservedly. - - - - -5. - -Requirements of Bread and Butter - - -"Nessus," says Jurgen, "and am I so changed? For that Dorothy whom I -loved in youth did not know me." - -"Good and evil keep very exact accounts," replied the Centaur, "and -the face of every man is their ledger. Meanwhile the sun rises, it -is already another workday: and when the shadows of those two who -come to take possession fall full upon the garden, I warn you, there -will be astounding changes brought about by the requirements of -bread and butter. You have not time to revive old memories by -chatting with the others to whom you babbled aforetime in this -garden." - -"Ah, Centaur, in the garden between dawn and sunrise there was never -any other save Dorothy la Desiree." - -The Centaur shrugged. "It may be you forget; it is certain that you -underestimate the local population. Some of the transient visitors -you have seen, and in addition hereabouts dwell the year round all -manner of imaginary creatures. The fairies live just southward, and -the gnomes too. To your right is the realm of the Valkyries: the -Amazons and the Cynocephali are their allies: all three of these -nations are continually at loggerheads with their neighbors, the -Baba-Yagas, whom Morfei cooks for, and whose monarch is Oh, a person -very dangerous to name. Northward dwell the Lepracauns and the Men -of Hunger, whose king is Clobhair. My people, who are ruled by -Chiron, live even further to the north. The Sphinx pastures on -yonder mountain; and now the Chimaera is old and generally derided, -they say that Cerberus visits the Sphinx at twilight, although I was -never the person to disseminate scandal--" - -"Centaur," said Jurgen, "and what is Dorothy doing here?" - -"Why, all the women that any man has ever loved live here," replied -the Centaur, "for very obvious reasons." - -"That is a hard saying, friend." - -Nessus tapped with his forefinger upon the back of Jurgen's hand. -"Worm's-meat! this is the destined food, do what you will, of small -white worms. This by and by will be a struggling pale corruption, -like seething milk. That too is a hard saying, Jurgen. But it is a -true saying." - -"And was that Dorothy whom I loved in youth an imaginary creature?" - -"My poor Jurgen, you who were once a poet! she was your masterpiece. -For there was only a shallow, stupid and airy, high-nosed and -light-haired miss, with no remarkable good looks,--and consider what -your ingenuity made from such poor material! You should be proud of -yourself." - -"No, Centaur, I cannot very well be proud of my folly: yet I do not -regret it. I have been befooled by a bright shadow of my own -raising, you tell me, and I concede it to be probable. No less, I -served a lovely shadow; and my heart will keep the memory of that -loveliness until life ends, in a world where other men follow -pantingly after shadows which are not even pretty." - -"There is something in that, Jurgen: there is also something in an -old tale we used to tell in Thessaly, about a fox and certain -grapes." - -"Well, but look you, Nessus, there is an emperor that reigns now in -Constantinople and occasionally does business with me. Yes, and I -could tell you tales of by what shifts he came to the throne--" - -"Men's hands are by ordinary soiled in climbing," quoth the Centaur. - -"And 'Jurgen,' this emperor says to me, not many months ago, as he -sat in his palace, crowned and dreary and trying to cheat me out of -my fair profit on some emeralds,--'Jurgen, I cannot sleep of nights, -because of that fool Alexius, who comes into my room with staring -eyes and the bowstring still about his neck. And my Varangians must -be in league with that silly ghost, because I constantly order them -to keep Alexius out of my bedchamber, and they do not obey me, -Jurgen. To be King of the East is not to the purpose, Jurgen, when -one must submit to such vexations.' Yes, it was Caesar Pharamond -himself said this to me: and I deduce the shadow of a crown has led -him into an ugly pickle, for all that he is the mightiest monarch in -the world. And I would not change with Caesar Pharamond, not I who am -a respectable pawnbroker, with my home in fee and my bit of tilled -land. Well, this is a queer world, to be sure: and this garden is -visited by no stranger things than pop into a man's mind sometimes, -without his knowing how." - -"Ah, but you must understand that the garden is speedily to be -remodeled. Yonder you may observe the two whose requirements are to -rid the place of all fantastic unremunerative notions; and who will -develop the natural resources of this garden according to generally -approved methods." - -And from afar Jurgen could see two figures coming out of the east, -so tall that their heads rose above the encircling hills and -glistened in the rays of a sun which was not yet visible. One was a -white pasty-looking giant, with a crusty expression: he walked with -the aid of a cane. The other was of a pale yellow color: his face -was oily, and he rode on a vast cow that was called AEdhumla. - -"Make way there, brother, with your staff of life," says the yellow -giant, "for there is much to do hereabouts." - -"Ay, brother, this place must be altered a deal before it meets with -our requirements," the other grumbled. "May I be toasted if I know -where to begin!" - -Then as the giants turned dull and harsh faces toward the garden, -the sun came above the circle of blue hills, so that the mingled -shadows of these two giants fell across the garden. For an instant -Jurgen saw the place oppressed by that attenuated mile-long shadow, -as in heraldry you may see a black bar painted sheer across some -brightly emblazoned shield. Then the radiancy of everything twitched -and vanished, as a bubble bursts. - -And Jurgen was standing in the midst of a field, very neatly plowed, -but with nothing as yet growing in it. And the Centaur was with him -still, it seemed, for there were the creature's hoofs, but all the -gold had been washed or rubbed away from them in traveling with -Jurgen. - -"See, Nessus!" Jurgen cried, "the garden is made desolate. Oh, -Nessus, was it fair that so much loveliness should be thus wasted!" - -"Nay," said the Centaur, "nay!" Long and wailingly he whinneyed, -"Nay!" - -And when Jurgen raised his eyes he saw that his companion was not a -centaur, but only a strayed riding-horse. - -"Were you the animal, then," says Jurgen, "and was it a quite -ordinary animal, that conveyed me to the garden between dawn and -sunrise?" And Jurgen laughed disconsolately. "At all events, you -have clothed me in a curious fine shirt. And, now I look, your -bridle is marked with a coronet. So I will return you to the castle -at Bellegarde, and it may be that Heitman Michael will reward me." - -Then Jurgen mounted this horse and rode away from the plowed field -wherein nothing grew as yet. As they left the furrows they came to a -signboard with writing on it, in a peculiar red and yellow -lettering. - -Jurgen paused to decipher this. - -"Read me!" was written on the signboard: "read me, and judge if you -understand! So you stopped in your journey because I called, -scenting something unusual, something droll. Thus, although I am -nothing, and even less, there is no one that sees me but lingers -here. Stranger, I am a law of the universe. Stranger, render the law -what is due the law!" - -Jurgen felt cheated. "A very foolish signboard, indeed! for how can -it be 'a law of the universe', when there is no meaning to it!" says -Jurgen. "Why, for any law to be meaningless would not be fair." - - - - -6. - -Showing that Sereda Is Feminine - - -Then, having snapped his fingers at that foolish signboard, Jurgen -would have turned easterly, toward Bellegarde: but his horse -resisted. The pawnbroker decided to accept this as an omen. - -"Forward, then!" he said, "in the name of Koshchei." And thereafter -Jurgen permitted the horse to choose its own way. - -Thus Jurgen came through a forest, wherein he saw many things not -salutary to notice, to a great stone house like a prison, and he -sought shelter there. But he could find nobody about the place, -until he came to a large hall, newly swept. This was a depressing -apartment, in its chill neat emptiness, for it was unfurnished save -for a bare deal table, upon which lay a yardstick and a pair of -scales. Above this table hung a wicker cage, containing a blue bird, -and another wicker cage containing three white pigeons. And in this -hall a woman, no longer young, dressed all in blue, and wearing a -white towel by way of head-dress was assorting curiously colored -cloths. - -She had very bright eyes, with wrinkled lids; and now as she looked -up at Jurgen her shrunk jaws quivered. - -"Ah," says she, "I have a visitor. Good day to you, in your -glittering shirt. It is a garment I seem to recognize." - -"Good day, grandmother! I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to -have been carried off by a devil, poor fellow! Now, having lost my -way, I have come to pass the night under your roof." - -"Very good: but few come seeking Mother Sereda of their own accord." - -Then Jurgen knew with whom he talked: and inwardly he was perturbed, -for all the Leshy are unreliable in their dealings. - -So when he spoke it was very civilly. "And what do you do here, -grandmother?" - -"I bleach. In time I shall bleach that garment you are wearing. For -I take the color out of all things. Thus you see these stuffs here, -as they are now. Clotho spun the glowing threads, and Lachesis wove -them, as you observe, in curious patterns, very marvelous to see: -but when I am done with these stuffs there will be no more color or -beauty or strangeness anywhere apparent than in so many dishclouts." - -"Now I perceive," says Jurgen, "that your power and dominion is more -great than any other power which is in the world." - -He made a song of this, in praise of the Leshy and their Days, but -more especially in praise of the might of Mother Sereda and of the -ruins that have fallen on Wednesday. To Chetverg and Utornik and -Subbota he gave their due. Pyatinka and Nedelka also did Jurgen -commend for such demolishments as have enregistered their names in -the calendar of saints, no less. Ah, but there was none like Mother -Sereda: hers was the centre of that power which is the Leshy's. The -others did but nibble at temporal things, like furtive mice: she -devastated, like a sandstorm, so that there were many dustheaps -where Mother Sereda had passed, but nothing else. - -And so on, and so on. The song was no masterpiece, and would not be -bettered by repetition. But it was all untrammeled eulogy, and the -old woman beat time to it with her lean hands: and her shrunk jaws -quivered, and she nodded her white-wrapped head this way and that -way, with a rolling motion, and on her thin lips was a very proud -and foolish smile. - -"That is a good song," says she; "oh, yes, an excellent song! But -you report nothing of my sister Pandelis who controls the day of the -Moon." - -"Monday!" says Jurgen: "yes, I neglected Monday, perhaps because she -is the oldest of you, but in part because of the exigencies of my -rhyme scheme. We must let Pandelis go unhymned. How can I remember -everything when I consider the might of Sereda?" - -"Why, but," says Mother Sereda, "Pandelis may not like it, and she -may take holiday from her washing some day to have a word with you. -However, I repeat, that is an excellent song. And in return for your -praise of me, I will tell you that, if your wife has been carried -off by a devil, your affair is one which Koshchei alone can remedy. -Assuredly, I think it is to him you must go for justice." - -"But how may I come to him, grandmother?" - -"Oh, as to that, it does not matter at all which road you follow. -All highways, as the saying is, lead roundabout to Koshchei. The one -thing needful is not to stand still. This much I will tell you also -for your song's sake, because that was an excellent song, and nobody -ever made a song in praise of me before to-day." - -Now Jurgen wondered to see what a simple old creature was this -Mother Sereda, who sat before him shaking and grinning and frail as -a dead leaf, with her head wrapped in a common kitchen-towel, and -whose power was so enormous. - -"To think of it," Jurgen reflected, "that the world I inhabit is -ordered by beings who are not one-tenth so clever as I am! I have -often suspected as much, and it is decidedly unfair. Now let me see -if I cannot make something out of being such a monstrous clever -fellow." - -Jurgen said aloud: "I do not wonder that no practising poet ever -presumed to make a song of you. You are too majestical. You frighten -these rhymesters, who feel themselves to be unworthy of so great a -theme. So it remained for you to be appreciated by a pawnbroker, -since it is we who handle and observe the treasures of this world -after you have handled them." - -"Do you think so?" says she, more pleased than ever. "Now, may be -that was the way of it. But I wonder that you who are so fine a poet -should ever have become a pawnbroker." - -"Well, and indeed, Mother Sereda, your wonder seems to me another -wonder: for I can think of no profession better suited to a retired -poet. Why, there is the variety of company! for high and low and -even the genteel are pressed sometimes for money: then the plowman -slouches into my shop, and the duke sends for me privately. So the -people I know, and the bits of their lives I pop into, give me a -deal to romance about." - -"Ah, yes, indeed," says Mother Sereda, wisely, "that well may be the -case. But I do not hold with romance, myself." - -"Moreover, sitting in my shop, I wait there quiet-like while tribute -comes to me from the ends of earth: everything which men and women -have valued anywhere comes sooner or later to me: and jewels and -fine knickknacks that were the pride of queens they bring me, and -wedding rings, and the baby's cradle with his little tooth marks on -the rim of it, and silver coffin-handles, or it may be an old -frying-pan, they bring me, but all comes to Jurgen. So that just to -sit there in my dark shop quiet-like, and wonder about the history -of my belongings and how they were made mine, is poetry, and is the -deep and high and ancient thinking of a god who is dozing among what -time has left of a dead world, if you understand me, Mother Sereda." - -"I understand: oho, I understand that which pertains to gods, for a -sufficient reason." - -"And then another thing, you do not need any turn for business: -people are glad to get whatever you choose to offer, for they would -not come otherwise. So you get the shining and rough-edged coins -that you can feel the proud king's head on, with his laurel-wreath -like millet seed under your fingers; and you get the flat and -greenish coins that are smeared with the titles and the chins and -hooked noses of emperors whom nobody remembers or cares about any -longer: all just by waiting there quiet-like, and making a favor of -it to let customers give you their belongings for a third of what -they are worth. And that is easy labor, even for a poet." - -"I understand: I understand all labor." - -"And people treat you a deal more civilly than any real need is, -because they are ashamed of trafficking with you at all: I dispute -if a poet could get such civility shown him in any other profession. -And finally, there is the long idleness between business interviews, -with nothing to do save sit there quiet-like and think about the -queerness of things in general: and that is always rare employment -for a poet, even without the tatters of so many lives and homes -heaped up about him like spillikins. So that I would say in all, -Mother Sereda, there is certainly no profession better suited to an -old poet than the profession of pawnbroking." - -"Certainly, there may be something in what you tell me," observes -Mother Sereda. "I know what the Little Gods are, and I know what -work is, but I do not think about these other matters, nor about -anything else. I bleach." - -"Ah, and a great deal more I could be saying, too, godmother, but -for the fear of wearying you. Nor would I have run on at all about -my private affairs were it not that we two are so close related. And -kith makes kind, as people say." - -"But how can you and I be kin?" - -"Why, heyday, and was I not born upon a Wednesday? That makes you my -godmother, does it not?" - -"I do not know, dearie, I am sure. Nobody ever cared to claim kin -with Mother Sereda before this," says she, pathetically. - -"There can be no doubt, though, on the point, no possible doubt. -Sabellius states it plainly. Artemidorus Minor, I grant you, holds -the question debatable, but his reasons for doing so are tolerably -notorious. Besides, what does all his flimsy sophistry avail against -Nicanor's fine chapter on this very subject? Crushing, I consider -it. His logic is final and irrefutable. What can anyone say against -Saevius Nicanor?--ah, what indeed?" demanded Jurgen. - -And he wondered if there might not have been perchance some such -persons somewhere, after all. Their names, in any event, sounded -very plausible to Jurgen. - -"Ah, dearie, I was never one for learning. It may be as you say." - -"You say 'it may be', godmother. That embarrasses me, rather, -because I was about to ask for my christening gift, which in the -press of other matters you overlooked some forty years back. You -will readily conceive that your negligence, however unintentional, -might possibly give rise to unkindly criticism: and so I felt I -ought to mention it, in common fairness to you." - -"As for that, dearie, ask what you will within the limits of my -power. For mine are all the sapphires and turquoises and whatever -else in this dusty world is blue; and mine likewise are all the -Wednesdays that have ever been or ever will be: and any one of these -will I freely give you in return for your fine speeches and your -tender heart." - -"Ah, but, godmother, would it be quite just for you to accord me so -much more than is granted to other persons?" - -"Why, no: but what have I to do with justice? I bleach. Come now, -then, do you make a choice! for I can assure you that my sapphires -are of the first water, and that many of my oncoming Wednesdays will -be well worth seeing." - -"No, godmother, I never greatly cared for jewelry: and the future is -but dressing and undressing, and shaving, and eating, and computing -percentage, and so on; the future does not interest me now. So I -shall modestly content myself with a second-hand Wednesday, with one -that you have used and have no further need of: and it will be a -Wednesday in the August of such and such a year." - -Mother Sereda agreed to this. "But there are certain rules to be -observed," says she, "for one must have system." - -As she spoke, she undid the towel about her head, and she took a -blue comb from her white hair: and she showed Jurgen what was -engraved on the comb. It frightened Jurgen, a little: but he nodded -assent. - -"First, though," says Mother Sereda, "here is the blue bird. Would -you not rather have that, dearie, than your Wednesday? Most people -would." - -"Ah, but, godmother," he replied, "I am Jurgen. No, it is not the -blue bird I desire." - -So Mother Sereda took from the wall the wicker cage containing the -three white pigeons: and going before him, with small hunched shoulders, -and shuffling her feet along the flagstones, she led the way into a -courtyard, where, sure enough, they found a tethered he-goat. Of a -dark blue color this beast was, and his eyes were wiser than the eyes -of a beast. - -Then Jurgen set about that which Mother Sereda said was necessary. - - - - -7. - -Of Compromises on a Wednesday - - -So it was that, riding upon a horse whose bridle was marked with a -coronet, the pawnbroker returned to a place, and to a moment, which -he remembered. It was rather queer to be a fine young fellow again, -and to foresee all that was to happen for the next twenty years. - -As it chanced, the first person he encountered was his mother Azra, -whom Coth had loved very greatly but not long. And Jurgen talked -with Azra of what clothes he would be likely to need in Gatinais, -and of how often he would write to her. She disparaged the new shirt -he was wearing, as was to be expected, since Azra had always -preferred to select her son's clothing rather than trust to Jurgen's -taste. His new horse she admitted to be a handsome animal; and only -hoped he had not stolen it from anybody who would get him into -trouble. For Azra, it must be recorded, had never any confidence in -her son; and was the only woman, Jurgen felt, who really understood -him. - -And now as his beautiful young mother impartially petted and snapped -at him, poor Jurgen thought of that very real dissension and -severance which in the oncoming years was to arise between them; and -of how she would die without his knowing of her death for two whole -months; and of how his life thereafter would be changed, somehow, -and the world would become an unstable place in which you could no -longer put cordial faith. And he foreknew all the remorse he was to -shrug away, after the squandering of so much pride and love. But -these things were not yet: and besides, these things were -inevitable. - -"And yet that these things should be inevitable is decidedly not -fair," said Jurgen. - -So it was with all the persons he encountered. The people whom he -loved when at his best as a fine young fellow were so very soon, and -through petty causes, to become nothing to him, and he himself was -to be converted into a commonplace tradesman. And living seemed to -Jurgen a wasteful and inequitable process. - -Then Jurgen left the home of his youth, and rode toward Bellegarde, -and tethered his horse upon the heath, and went into the castle. -Thus Jurgen came to Dorothy. She was lovely and dear, and yet, by -some odd turn, not quite so lovely and dear as the Dorothy he had -seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. And Dorothy, like -everybody else, praised Jurgen's wonderful new shirt. - -"It is designed for such festivals," said Jurgen, modestly--"a -little notion of my own. A bit extreme, some persons might consider -it, but there is no pleasing everybody. And I like a trifle of -color." - -For there was a masque that night at the castle of Bellegarde: and -wildly droll and sad it was to Jurgen to remember what was to befall -so many of the participants. - -Jurgen had not forgotten this Wednesday, this ancient Wednesday upon -which Messire de Montors had brought the Confraternity of St. Medard -from Brunbelois, to enact a masque of The Birth of Hercules, as the -vagabonds were now doing, to hilarious applause. Jurgen remembered -it was the day before Bellegarde discovered that Count Emmerick's -guest, the Vicomte de Puysange, was in reality the notorious outlaw, -Perion de la Foret. Well, yonder the yet undetected impostor was -talking very earnestly with Dame Melicent: and Jurgen knew all that -was in store for this pair of lovers. - -Meanwhile, as Jurgen reflected, the real Vicomte de Puysange was at -this moment lying in a delirium, yonder at Benoit's: to-morrow the -true Vicomte would be recognized, and within the year the Vicomte -would have married Felise de Soyecourt, and later Jurgen would meet -her, in the orchard; and Jurgen knew what was to happen then also. - -And Messire de Montors was watching Dame Melicent, sidewise, while -he joked with little Ettarre, who was this night permitted to stay -up later than usual, in honor of the masque: and Jurgen knew that -this young bishop was to become Pope of Rome, no less; and that the -child he joked with was to become the woman for possession of whom -Guiron des Rocques and the surly-looking small boy yonder, Maugis -d'Aigremont, would contend with each other until the country -hereabouts had been devastated, and the castle wherein Jurgen now -was had been besieged, and this part of it burned. And wildly droll -and sad it was to Jurgen thus to remember all that was going to -happen to these persons, and to all the other persons who were -frolicking in the shadow of their doom and laughing at this trivial -masque. - -For here--with so much of ruin and failure impending, and with -sorrow prepared so soon to smite a many of these revellers in ways -foreknown to Jurgen; and with death resistlessly approaching so -soon to make an end of almost all this company in some unlovely -fashion that Jurgen foreknew exactly,--here laughter seemed -unreasonable and ghastly. Why, but Reinault yonder, who laughed so -loud, with his cropped head flung back: would Reinault be laughing -in quite this manner if he knew the round strong throat he thus -exposed was going to be cut like the throat of a calf, while three -Burgundians held him? Jurgen knew this thing was to befall Reinault -Vinsauf before October was out. So he looked at Reinault's throat, -and shudderingly drew in his breath between set teeth. - -"And he is worth a score of me, this boy!" thought Jurgen: "and it -is I who am going to live to be an old fellow, with my bit of land -in fee, years after dirt clogs those bright generous eyes, and years -after this fine big-hearted boy is wasted! And I shall forget all -about him, too. Marion l'Edol, that very pretty girl behind him, is -to become a blotched and toothless haunter of alleys, a leering -plucker at men's sleeves! And blue-eyed Colin here, with his baby -mouth, is to be hanged for that matter of coin-clipping--let me -recall, now,--yes, within six years of to-night! Well, but in a way, -these people are blessed in lacking foresight. For they laugh, and I -cannot laugh, and to me their laughter is more terrible than -weeping. Yes, they may be very wise in not glooming over what is -inevitable; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say they are -wrong: but still, at the same time--! And assuredly, living seems to -me in everything a wasteful and inequitable process." - -Thus Jurgen, while the others passed a very pleasant evening. - -And presently, when the masque was over, Dorothy and Jurgen went out -upon the terrace, to the east of Bellegarde, and so came to an -unforgotten world of moonlight. They sat upon a bench of carved -stone near the balustrade which overlooked the highway: and the boy -and the girl gazed wistfully beyond the highway, over luminous -valleys and tree-tops. Just so they had sat there, as Jurgen -perfectly remembered, when Mother Sereda first used this Wednesday. - -"My Heart's Desire," says Jurgen, "I am sad to-night. For I am -thinking of what life will do to us, and what offal the years will -make of you and me." - -"My own sweetheart," says she, "and do we not know very well what is -to happen?" And Dorothy began to talk of all the splendid things -that Jurgen was to do, and of the happy life which was to be theirs -together. - -"It is horrible," he said: "for we are more fine than we shall ever -be hereafter. We have a splendor for which the world has no -employment. It will be wasted. And such wastage is not fair." - -"But presently you will be so and so," says she: and fondly predicts -all manner of noble exploits which, as Jurgen remembered, had once -seemed very plausible to him also. Now he had clearer knowledge as -to the capacities of the boy of whom he had thought so well. - -"No, Heart's Desire: no, I shall be quite otherwise." - -"--and to think how proud I shall be of you! 'But then I always knew -it', I shall tell everybody, very condescendingly--" - -"No, Heart's Desire: for you will not think of me at all." - -"Ah, sweetheart! and can you really believe that I shall ever care a -snap of my fingers for anybody but you?" - -Then Jurgen laughed a little; for Heitman Michael came now across -the lonely terrace, in search of Madame Dorothy: and Jurgen foreknew -this was the man to whom within two months of this evening Dorothy -was to give her love and all the beauty that was hers, and with whom -she was to share the ruinous years which lay ahead. - -But the girl did not know this, and Dorothy gave a little shrugging -gesture. "I have promised to dance with him, and so I must. But the -old fellow is a great plague." - -For Heitman Michael was nearing thirty, and this to Dorothy and -Jurgen was an age that bordered upon senility. - -"Now, by heaven," said Jurgen, "wherever Heitman Michael does his -next dancing it will not be hereabouts." - -Jurgen had decided what he must do. - -And then Heitman Michael saluted them civilly. "But I fear I must -rob you of this fair lady, Master Jurgen," says he. - -Jurgen remembered that the man had said precisely this a score of -years ago; and that Jurgen had mumbled polite regrets, and had stood -aside while Heitman Michael bore off Dorothy to dance with him. And -this dance had been the beginning of intimacy between Heitman -Michael and Dorothy. - -"Heitman," says Jurgen, "the bereavement which you threaten is very -happily spared me, since, as it happens, the next dance is to be -mine." - -"We can but leave it to the lady," says Heitman Michael, laughing. - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "For I know too well what would come of that. -I intend to leave my destiny to no one." - -"Your conduct, Master Jurgen, is somewhat strange," observed Heitman -Michael. - -"Ah, but I will show you a thing yet stranger. For, look you, there -seem to be three of us here on this terrace. Yet I can assure you -there are four." - -"Read me the riddle, my boy, and have done." - -"The fourth of us, Heitman, is a goddess that wears a speckled -garment and has black wings. She can boast of no temples, and no -priests cry to her anywhere, because she is the only deity whom no -prayers can move or any sacrifices placate. I allude, sir, to the -eldest daughter of Nox and Erebus." - -"You speak of death, I take it." - -"Your apprehension, Heitman, is nimble. Even so, it is not quick -enough, I fear, to forerun the whims of goddesses. Indeed, what -person could have foreseen that this implacable lady would have -taken such a strong fancy for your company." - -"Ah, my young bantam," replies Heitman Michael, "it is quite true -that she and I are acquainted. I may even boast of having despatched -one or two stout warriors to serve her underground. Now, as I divine -your meaning, you plan that I should decrease her obligation by -sending her a whippersnapper." - -"My notion, Heitman, is that since this dark goddess is about to -leave us, she should not, in common gallantry, be permitted to go -hence unaccompanied. I propose, therefore, that we forthwith decide -who is to be her escort." - -Now Heitman Michael had drawn his sword. "You are insane. But you -extend an invitation which I have never yet refused." - -"Heitman," cries Jurgen, in honest gratitude and admiration, "I bear -you no ill-will. But it is highly necessary you die to-night, in -order that my soul may not perish too many years before my body." - -With that he too whipped out his sword. - -So they fought. Now Jurgen was a very acceptable swordsman, but from -the start he found in Heitman Michael his master. Jurgen had never -reckoned upon that, and he considered it annoying. If Heitman -Michael perforated Jurgen the future would be altered, certainly, -but not quite as Jurgen had decided it ought to be remodeled. So -this unlooked-for complication seemed preposterous, and Jurgen began -to be irritated by the suspicion that he was getting himself killed -for nothing at all. - -Meanwhile his unruffled tall antagonist seemed but to play with -Jurgen, so that Jurgen was steadily forced back toward the -balustrade. And presently Jurgen's sword was twisted from his hand, -and sent flashing over the balustrade, into the public highway. - -"So now, Master Jurgen," says Heitman Michael, "that is the end of -your nonsense. Why, no, there is not any occasion to posture like a -statue. I do not intend to kill you. Why the devil's name, should I? -To do so would only get me an ill name with your parents: and -besides it is infinitely more pleasant to dance with this lady, just -as I first intended." And he turned gaily toward Madame Dorothy. - -But Jurgen found this outcome of affairs insufferable. This man was -stronger than he, this man was of the sort that takes and uses -gallantly all the world's prizes which mere poets can but -respectfully admire. All was to do again: Heitman Michael, in his -own hateful phrase, would act just as he had first intended, and -Jurgen would be brushed aside by the man's brute strength. This man -would take away Dorothy, and leave the life of Jurgen to become a -business which Jurgen remembered with distaste. It was unfair. - -So Jurgen snatched out his dagger, and drove it deep into the -undefended back of Heitman Michael. Three times young Jurgen stabbed -and hacked the burly soldier, just underneath the left ribs. Even in -his fury Jurgen remembered to strike on the left side. - -It was all very quickly done. Heitman Michael's arms jerked upward, -and in the moonlight his fingers spread and clutched. He made -curious gurgling noises. Then the strength went from his knees, so -that he toppled backward. His head fell upon Jurgen's shoulder, -resting there for an instant fraternally; and as Jurgen shuddered -away from the abhorred contact, the body of Heitman Michael -collapsed. Now he lay staring upward, dead at the feet of his -murderer. He was horrible looking, but he was quite dead. - -"What will become of you?" Dorothy whispered, after a while. "Oh, -Jurgen, it was foully done, that which you did was infamous! What -will become of you, my dear?" - -"I will take my doom," says Jurgen, "and without whimpering, so that -I get justice. But I shall certainly insist upon justice." Then -Jurgen raised his face to the bright heavens. "The man was stronger -than I and wanted what I wanted. So I have compromised with -necessity, in the only way I could make sure of getting that which -was requisite to me. I cry for justice to the power that gave him -strength and gave me weakness, and gave to each of us his desires. -That which I have done, I have done. Now judge!" - -Then Jurgen tugged and shoved the heavy body of Heitman Michael, -until it lay well out of sight, under the bench upon which Jurgen -and Dorothy had been sitting. "Rest there, brave sir, until they -find you. Come to me now, my Heart's Desire. Good, that is -excellent. Here I sit with my true love, upon the body of my enemy. -Justice is satisfied, and all is quite as it should be. For you must -understand that I have fallen heir to a fine steed, whose bridle is -marked with a coronet,--prophetically, I take it,--and upon this -steed you will ride pillion with me to Lisuarte. There we will find -a priest to marry us. We will go together into Gatinais. Meanwhile, -there is a bit of neglected business to be attended to." And he drew -the girl close to him. - -For Jurgen was afraid of nothing now. And Jurgen thought: - -"Oh, that I could detain the moment! that I could make some fitting -verses to preserve this moment in my own memory! Could I but get -into words the odor and the thick softness of this girl's hair as my -hands, that are a-quiver in every nerve of them, caress her hair; -and get into enduring words the glitter and the cloudy shadowings of -her hair in this be-drenching moonlight! For I shall forget all this -beauty, or at best I shall remember this moment very dimly." - -"You have done very wrong--" says Dorothy. - -Says Jurgen, to himself: "Already the moment passes this miserably -happy moment wherein once more life shudders and stands heart-stricken -at the height of bliss! it passes, and I know even as I lift this girl's -soft face to mine, and mark what faith and submissiveness and expectancy -is in her face, that whatever the future holds for us, and whatever of -happiness we two may know hereafter, we shall find no instant happier -than this, which passes from us irretrievably while I am thinking about -it, poor fool, in place of rising to the issue." - -"--And heaven only knows what will become of you Jurgen--" - -Says Jurgen, still to himself: "Yes, something must remain to me of -all this rapture, though it be only guilt and sorrow: something I -mean to wrest from this high moment which was once wasted -fruitlessly. Now I am wiser: for I know there is not any memory with -less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we -resisted. So I will not waste the one real passion I have known, nor -leave unfed the one desire which ever caused me for a heart-beat to -forget to think about Jurgen's welfare. And thus, whatever happens, -I shall not always regret that I did not avail myself of this girl's -love before it was taken from me." - -So Jurgen made such advances as seemed good to him. And he noted, -with amusing memories of how much afraid he had once been of -shocking his Dorothy's notions of decorum, that she did not repulse -him very vigorously. - -"Here, over a dead body! Oh, Jurgen, this is horrible! Now, Jurgen, -remember that somebody may come any minute! And I thought I could -trust you! Ah, and is this all the respect you have for me!" This -much she said in duty. Meanwhile the eyes of Dorothy were dilated -and very tender. - -"Faith, I take no chances, this second time. And so whatever -happens, I shall not always regret that which I left undone." - -Now upon his lips was laughter, and his arms were about the -submissive girl. And in his heart was an unnamable depression and a -loneliness, because it seemed to him that this was not the Dorothy -whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. For in my -arms now there is just a very pretty girl who is not over-careful in -her dealings with young men, thought Jurgen, as their lips met. -Well, all life is a compromise; and a pretty girl is something -tangible, at any rate. So he laughed, triumphantly, and prepared for -the sequel. - -But as Jurgen laughed triumphantly, with his arm beneath the head of -Dorothy, and with the tender face of Dorothy passive beneath his lips, -and with unreasonable wistfulness in his heart, the castle bell tolled -midnight. What followed was curious: for as Wednesday passed, the face -of Dorothy altered, her flesh roughened under his touch, and her cheeks -fell away, and fine lines came about her eyes, and she became the -Countess Dorothy whom Jurgen remembered as Heitman Michael's wife. -There was no doubt about it, in that be-drenching moonlight: and she -was leering at him, and he was touching her everywhere, this horrible -lascivious woman, who was certainly quite old enough to know better -than to permit such liberties. And her breath was sour and nauseous. -Jurgen drew away from her, with a shiver of loathing, and he closed his -eyes, to shut away that sensual face. - -"No," he said; "it would not be fair to what we owe to others. In -fact, it would be a very heinous sin. We should weigh such -considerations occasionally, madame." - -Then Jurgen left his temptress, with simple dignity. "I go to search -for my dear wife, madame, in a frame of mind which I would strongly -advise you to adopt toward your husband." - -And he went straightway down the terraces of Bellegarde, and turned -southward to where his horse was tethered upon Amneran Heath: and -Jurgen was feeling very virtuous. - - - - -8. - -Old Toys and a New Shadow - - -Jurgen had behaved with conspicuous nobility, Jurgen reflected: but -he had committed himself. "I go in search of my dear wife," he had -stated, in the exaltation of virtuous sentiments. And now Jurgen -found himself alone in a world of moonlight just where he had last -seen his wife. - -"Well, well," he said, "now that my Wednesday is done with, and I am -again a reputable pawnbroker, let us remember the advisability of -sometimes doing the manly thing! It was into this cave that Lisa -went. So into this cave go I, for the second time, rather than home -to my unsympathetic relatives-in-law. Or at least, I think I am -going--" - -"Ay," said a squeaking voice, "this is the time. A ab hur hus!" - -"High time!" - -"Oh, more than time!" - -"Look, the man in the oak!" - -"Oho, the fire-drake!" - -Thus many voices screeched and wailed confusedly. But Jurgen, -staring about him, could see nobody: and all the tiny voices seemed -to come from far overhead, where nothing was visible save the clouds -which of a sudden were gathering; for a wind was rising, and already -the moon was overcast. Now for a while that noise high in the air -became like a wrangling of sparrows, wherein no words were -distinguishable. - -Then said a small shrill voice distinctly: "Note now, sweethearts, -how high we pass over the wind-vexed heath, where the gallows' -burden creaks and groans swaying to and fro in the night! Now the -rain breaks loose as a hawk from the fowler, and grave Queen Holda -draws her tresses over the moon's bright shield. Now the bed is -made, and the water drawn, and we the bride's maids seek for the -lass who will be bride to Sclaug." - -Said another: "Oh, search for a maid with golden hair, who is -perfect, tender and pure, and fit for a king who is old as love, -with no trace of love in him. Even now our grinning dusty master -wakes from sleep, and his yellow fingers shake to think of her -flower-soft lips who comes to-night to his lank embrace and warms -the ribs that our eyes have seen. Who will be bride to Sclaug?" - -And a third said: "The wedding-gown we have brought with us, we that -a-questing ride; and a maid will go hence on Phorgemon in -Cleopatra's shroud. Hah. Will o'the Wisp will marry the couple--" - -"No, no! let Brachyotus!" - -"No, be it Kitt with the candle-stick!" - -"Eman hetan, a fight, a fight!" - -"Oho, Tom Tumbler, 'ware of Stadlin!" - -"Hast thou the marmaritin, Tib?" - -"A ab hur hus!" - -"Come, Bembo, come away!" - -So they all fell to screeching and whistling and wrangling high over -Jurgen's head, and Jurgen was not pleased with his surroundings. - -"For these are the witches of Amneran about some deviltry or another -in which I prefer to take no part. I now regret that I flung away a -cross in this neighborhood so very recently, and trust the action -was understood. If my wife had not made a point of it, and had not -positively insisted upon it, I would never have thought of doing -such a thing. I intended no reflection upon anybody. Even so, I -consider this heath to be unwholesome. And upon the whole, I prefer -to seek whatever I may encounter in this cave." - -So in went Jurgen, for the second time. - -And the tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no -one. But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at -the far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -to the place where he had found the Centaur. This part of the cave -was now vacant. But behind where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen -was an opening in the cave's wall, and through this opening streamed -the light. Jurgen stooped and crawled through the orifice. - -He stood erect. He caught his breath sharply. Here at his feet was, -of all things, a tomb carved with the recumbent effigy of a woman. -Now this part of the cave was lighted by lamps upon tall iron -stands, so that everything was clearly visible, even to Jurgen, -whose eyesight had of late years failed him. This was certainly a -low flat tombstone such as Jurgen had seen in many churches: but the -tinted effigy thereupon was curious, somehow Jurgen looked more -closely. He touched the thing. - -Then he recoiled, because there is no mistaking the feel of dead -flesh. The effigy was not colored stone: it was the body of a dead -woman. More unaccountable still, it was the body of Felise de -Puysange, whom Jurgen had loved very long ago in Gatinais, a great -many years before he set up in business as a pawnbroker. - -Very strange it was to Jurgen again to see her face. He had often -wondered what had become of this large brown woman; had wondered if -he were really the first man for whom she had put a deceit upon her -husband; and had wondered what sort of person Madame Felise de -Puysange had been in reality. - -"Two months it was that we played at intimacy, was it not, Felise? -You comprehend, my dear, I really remember very little about you. -But I recall quite clearly the door left just a-jar, and how as I -opened it gently I would see first of all the lamp upon your -dressing-table, turned down almost to extinction, and the glowing -dust upon its glass shade. Is it not strange that our exceeding -wickedness should have resulted in nothing save the memory of dust -upon a lamp chimney? Yet you were very handsome, Felise. I dare say -I would have liked you if I had ever known you. But when you told me -of the child you had lost, and showed me his baby picture, I took a -dislike to you. It seemed to me you were betraying that child by -dealing over-generously with me: and always between us afterward was -his little ghost. Yet I did not at all mind the deceits you put upon -your husband. It is true I knew your husband rather intimately--. -Well, and they tell me the good Vicomte was vastly pleased by the -son you bore him some months after you and I had parted. So there -was no great harm done, after all--" - -Then Jurgen saw there was another woman's body lying like an effigy -upon another low flat tomb, and beyond that another, and then still -others. And Jurgen whistled. - -"What, all of them!" he said. "Am I to be confronted with every -pound of tender flesh I have embraced? Yes, here is Graine, and -Rosamond, and Marcoueve, and Elinor. This girl, though, I do not -remember at all. And this one is, I think, the little Jewess I -purchased from Hassan Bey in Sidon, but how can one be sure? Still, -this is certainly Judith, and this is Myrina. I have half a mind to -look again for that mole, but I suppose it would be indecorous. -Lord, how one's women do add up! There must be several scores of -them in all. It is the sort of spectacle that turns a man to serious -thinking. Well, but it is a great comfort to reflect that I dealt -fairly with every one of them. Several of them treated me most -unjustly, too. But that is past and done with: and I bear no malice -toward such fickle and short-sighted creatures as could not be -contented with one lover, and he the Jurgen that was!" - -Thereafter, Jurgen, standing among his dead, spread out his arms in -an embracing gesture. - -"Hail to you, ladies, and farewell! for you and I have done with love. -Well, love is very pleasant to observe as he advances, overthrowing all -ancient memories with laughter. And yet for each gay lover who concedes -the lordship of love, and wears intrepidly love's liveries, the end of -all is death. Love's sowing is more agreeable than love's harvest: or, -let us put it, he allures us into byways leading nowhither, among -blossoms which fall before the first rough wind: so at the last, with -much excitement and breath and valuable time quite wasted, we find that -the end of all is death. Then would it have been more shrewd, dear -ladies, to have avoided love? To the contrary, we were unspeakably wise -to indulge the high-hearted insanity that love induced; since love alone -can lend young people rapture, however transiently, in a world wherein -the result of every human endeavor is transient, and the end of all is -death." - -Then Jurgen courteously bowed to his dead loves, and left them, and -went forward as the cave stretched. - -But now the light was behind him, so that Jurgen's shadow, as he -came to a sharp turn in the cave, loomed suddenly upon the cave -wall, confronting him. This shadow was clear-cut and unarguable. - -Jurgen regarded it intently. He turned this way, then the other; he -looked behind him, raised one hand, shook his head tentatively; then -he twisted his head sideways with his chin well lifted, and squinted -so as to get a profile view of this shadow. Whatever Jurgen did the -shadow repeated, which was natural enough. The odd part was that it -in nothing resembled the shadow which ought to attend any man, and -this was an uncomfortable discovery to make in loneliness deep under -ground. - -"I do not exactly like this," said Jurgen. "Upon my word, I do not -like this at all. It does not seem fair. It is perfectly -preposterous. Well"--and here he shrugged,--"well, and what could -anybody expect me to do about it? Ah, what indeed! So I shall treat -the incident with dignified contempt, and continue my exploration of -this cave." - - - - -9. - -The Orthodox Rescue of Guenevere - - -Now the tale tells how the cave narrowed and again turned sharply, -so that Jurgen came as through a corridor into quite another sort of -underground chamber. Yet this also was a discomfortable place. - -Here suspended from the roof of the vault was a kettle of quivering -red flames. These lighted a very old and villainous looking man in -full armor, girded with a sword, and crowned royally: he sat erect -upon a throne, motionless, with staring eyes that saw nothing. Back -of him Jurgen noted many warriors seated in rows, and all staring at -Jurgen with wide-open eyes that saw nothing. The red flaming of the -kettle was reflected in all these eyes, and to observe this was not -pleasant. - -Jurgen waited non-committally. Nothing happened. Then Jurgen saw -that at this unengaging monarch's feet were three chests. The lids -had been ripped from two of them, and these were filled with silver -coins. Upon the middle chest, immediately before the king, sat a -woman, with her face resting against the knees of the glaring, -withered, motionless, old rascal. - -"And this is a young woman. Obviously! Observe the glint of that -thick coil of hair! the rich curve of the neck! Oh, clearly, a -tidbit fit to fight for, against any moderate odds!" - -So ran the thoughts of Jurgen. Bold as a dragon now, he stepped -forward and lifted the girl's head. - -Her eyes were closed. She was, even so, the most beautiful creature -Jurgen had ever imagined. - -"She does not breathe. And yet, unless memory fails me, this is -certainly a living woman in my arms. Evidently this is a sleep -induced by necromancy. Well, it is not for nothing I have read so -many fairy tales. There are orthodoxies to be observed in the -awakening of every enchanted princess. And Lisa, wherever she may -be, poor dear! is nowhere in this neighborhood, because I hear -nobody talking. So I may consider myself at liberty to do the -traditional thing by this princess. Indeed, it is the only fair -thing for me to do, and justice demands it." - -In consequence, Jurgen kissed the girl. Her lips parted and -softened, and they assumed a not unpleasant sort of submissive -ardor. Her eyes, enormous when seen thus closely, had languorously -opened, had viewed him without wonder, and then the lids had fallen, -about half-way, just as, Jurgen remembered, the eyelids of a woman -ought to do when she is being kissed properly. She clung a little, -and now she shivered a little, but not with cold: Jurgen perfectly -remembered that ecstatic shudder convulsing a woman's body: -everything, in fine, was quite as it should be. So Jurgen put an end -to the kiss, which, as you may surmise, was a tolerably lengthy -affair. - -His heart was pounding as though determined to burst from his body, -and he could feel the blood tingling at his finger-tips. He wondered -what in the world had come over him, who was too old for such -emotions. - -Yet, truly, this was the loveliest girl that Jurgen had ever -imagined. Fair was she to look on, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer person might no man boast of having -seen. And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks flushed by -that red flickering overhead, and she was very lovely to observe. -She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her neck -was a collar of red gold. When she spoke her voice was music. - -"I knew that you would come," the girl said, happily. - -"I am very glad that I came," observed Jurgen. - -"But time presses." - -"Time sets an admirable example, my dear Princess--" - -"Oh, messire, but do you not perceive that you have brought life -into this horrible place! You have given of this life to me, in the -most direct and speedy fashion. But life is very contagious. Already -it is spreading by infection." - -And Jurgen regarded the old king, as the girl indicated. The -withered ruffian stayed motionless: but from his nostrils came slow -augmenting jets of vapor, as though he were beginning to breathe in -a chill place. This was odd, because the cave was not cold. - -"And all the others too are snorting smoke," says Jurgen. "Upon my -word I think this is a delightful place to be leaving." - -First, though, he unfastened the king's sword-belt, and girded -himself therewith, sword, dagger and all. "Now I have arms befitting -my fine shirt," says Jurgen. - -Then the girl showed him a sort of passage way, by which they -ascended forty-nine steps roughly hewn in stone, and so came to -daylight. At the top of the stairway was an iron trapdoor, and this -door at the girl's instruction Jurgen lowered. There was no way of -fastening the door from without. - -"But Thragnar is not to be stopped by bolts or padlocks," the girl -said. "Instead, we must straightway mark this door with a cross, -since that is a symbol which Thragnar cannot pass." - -Jurgen's hand had gone instinctively to his throat. Now he shrugged. -"My dear young lady, I no longer carry the cross. I must fight -Thragnar with other weapons." - -"Two sticks will serve, laid crosswise--" - -Jurgen submitted that nothing would be easier than to lift the -trapdoor, and thus dislodge the sticks. "They will tumble apart -without anyone having to touch them, and then what becomes of your -crucifix?" - -"Why, how quickly you think of everything!" she said, admiringly. -"Here is a strip from my sleeve, then. We will tie the twigs -together." - -Jurgen did this, and laid upon the trapdoor a recognizable crucifix. -"Still, when anyone raises the trapdoor whatever lies upon it will -fall off. Without disparaging the potency of your charm, I cannot -but observe that in this case it is peculiarly difficult to handle. -Magician or no, I would put heartier faith in a stout padlock." - -So the girl tore another strip, from the hem of her gown, and then -another from her right sleeve, and with these they fastened their -cross to the surface of the trapdoor, in such a fashion that the -twigs could not be dislodged from beneath. They mounted the fine -steed whose bridle was marked with a coronet, the girl riding -pillion, and they turned westward, since the girl said this was -best. - -For, as she now told Jurgen, she was Guenevere, the daughter of -Gogyrvan, King of Glathion and the Red Islands. So Jurgen told her -he was the Duke of Logreus, because he felt it was not appropriate -for a pawnbroker to be rescuing princesses: and he swore, too, that -he would restore her safely to her father, whatever Thragnar might -attempt. And all the story of her nefarious capture and imprisonment -by King Thragnar did Dame Guenevere relate to Jurgen, as they rode -together through the pleasant May morning. - -She considered the Troll King could not well molest them. "For now -you have his charmed sword, Caliburn, the only weapon with which -Thragnar can be slain. Besides, the sign of the cross he cannot -pass. He beholds and trembles." - -"My dear Princess, he has but to push up the trapdoor from beneath, -and the cross, being tied to the trapdoor, is promptly moved out of -his way. Failing this expedient, he can always come out of the cave -by the other opening, through which I entered. If this Thragnar has -any intelligence at all and a reasonable amount of tenacity, he will -presently be at hand." - -"Even so, he can do no harm unless we accept a present from him. The -difficulty is that he will come in disguise." - -"Why, then, we will accept gifts from nobody." - -"There is, moreover, a sign by which you may distinguish Thragnar. -For if you deny what he says, he will promptly concede you are in -the right. This was the curse put upon him by Miramon Lluagor, for a -detection and a hindrance." - -"By that unhuman trait," says Jurgen, "Thragnar ought to be very -easy to distinguish." - - - - -10. - -Pitiful Disguises of Thragnar - - -Next, the tale tells that as Jurgen and the Princess were nearing -Gihon, a man came riding toward them, full armed in black, and -having a red serpent with an apple in its mouth painted upon his -shield. - -"Sir knight," says he, speaking hollowly from the closed helmet, -"you must yield to me that lady." - -"I think," says Jurgen, civilly, "that you are mistaken." - -So they fought, and presently, since Caliburn was a resistless -weapon, and he who wore the scabbard of Caliburn could not be -wounded, Jurgen prevailed; and gave the strange knight so heavy a -buffet that the knight fell senseless. - -"Do you think," says Jurgen, about to unlace his antagonist's -helmet, "that this is Thragnar?" - -"There is no possible way of telling," replied Dame Guenevere: "if -it is the Troll King he should have offered you gifts, and when you -contradicted him he should have admitted you were right. Instead, he -proffered nothing, and to contradiction he answered nothing, so that -proves nothing." - -"But silence is a proverbial form of assent. At all events, we will -have a look at him." - -"But that too will prove nothing, since Thragnar goes about his -mischiefs so disguised by enchantments as invariably to resemble -somebody else, and not himself at all." - -"Such dishonest habits introduce an element of uncertainty, I grant -you," says Jurgen. "Still, one can rarely err by keeping on the safe -side. This person is, in any event, a very ill-bred fellow, with -probably immoral intentions. Yes, caution is the main thing, and in -justice to ourselves we will keep on the safe side." - -So without unloosing the helmet, he struck off the strange knight's -head, and left him thus. The Princess was now mounted on the horse -of their deceased assailant. - -"Assuredly," says Jurgen then, "a magic sword is a fine thing, and a -very necessary equipment, too, for a knight errant of my age." - -"But you talk as though you were an old man, Messire de Logreus!" - -"Come now," thinks Jurgen, "this is a princess of rare -discrimination. What, after all, is forty-and-something when one is -well-preserved? This uncommonly intelligent girl reminds me a little -of Marcoueve, whom I loved in Artein: besides, she does not look at -me as women look at an elderly man. I like this princess, in fact, I -adore this princess. I wonder now what would she say if I told her -as much?" - -But Jurgen did not tempt chance that time, for just then they -encountered a boy who had frizzed hair and painted cheeks. He walked -mincingly, in a curious garb of black bespangled with gold lozenges, -and he carried a gilded dung fork. - - * * * * * - -Then Jurgen and the Princess came to a black and silver pavilion -standing by the roadside. At the door of the pavilion was an -apple-tree in blossom: from a branch of this tree was suspended -a black hunting-horn, silver-mounted. A woman waited there alone. -Before her was a chess-board, with the ebony and silver pieces set -ready for a game, and upon the table to her left hand glittered -flagons and goblets of silver. Eagerly this woman rose and came -toward the travellers. - -"Oh, my dear Jurgen," says she, "but how fine you look in that new -shirt you are wearing! But there was never a man had better taste in -dress, as I have always said: and it is long I have waited for you -in this pavilion, which belongs to a black gentleman who seems to be -a great friend of yours. And he went into Crim Tartary this morning, -with some missionaries, by the worst piece of luck, for I know how -sorry he will be to miss you, dear. Now, but I am forgetting that -you must be very tired and thirsty, my darling, after your travels. -So do you and the young lady have a sip of this, and then we will be -telling one another of our adventures." - -For this woman had the appearance of Jurgen's wife, Dame Lisa, and -of none other. - -Jurgen regarded her with two minds. "You certainly seem to be Lisa. -But it is a long while since I saw Lisa in such an amiable mood." - -"You must know," says she, still smiling, "that I have learned to -appreciate you since we were separated." - -"The fiend who stole you from me may possibly have brought about -that wonder. None the less, you have met me riding at adventure with -a young woman. And you have assaulted neither of us, you have not -even raised your voice. No, quite decidedly, here is a miracle -beyond the power of any fiend." - -"Ah, but I have been doing a great deal of thinking, Jurgen dear, as -to our difficulties in the past. And it seems to me that you were -almost always in the right." - -Guenevere nudged Jurgen. "Did you note that? This is certainly -Thragnar in disguise." - -"I am beginning to think that at all events it is not Lisa." Then -Jurgen magisterially cleared his throat. "Lisa, if you indeed be -Lisa, you must understand I am through with you. The plain truth is -that you tire me. You talk and talk: no woman breathing equals you -at mere volume and continuity of speech: but you say nothing that I -have not heard seven hundred and eighty times if not oftener." - -"You are perfectly right, my dear," says Dame Lisa, piteously. "But -then I never pretended to be as clever as you." - -"Spare me your beguilements, if you please. And besides, I am in -love with this princess. Now spare me your recriminations, also, for -you have no real right to complain. If you had stayed the person -whom I promised the priest to love, I would have continued to think -the world of you. But you did nothing of the sort. From a cuddlesome -and merry girl, who thought whatever I did was done to perfection, -you elected to develop into an uncommonly plain and short-tempered -old woman." And Jurgen paused. "Eh?" said he, "and did you not do -this?" - -Dame Lisa answered sadly: "My dear, you are perfectly right, from -your way of thinking. However, I could not very well help getting -older." - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen, "this is astonishingly inadequate -impersonation, as any married man would see at once. Well, I made no -contract to love any such plain and short-tempered person. I -repudiate the claims of any such person, as manifestly unfair. And I -pledge undying affection to this high and noble Princess Guenevere, -who is the fairest lady that I have ever seen." - -"You are right," wailed Dame Lisa, "and I was entirely to blame. It -was because I loved you, and wanted you to get on in the world and -be a credit to my father's line of business, that I nagged you so. -But you will never understand the feelings of a wife, nor will you -understand that even now I desire your happiness above all else. -Here is our wedding-ring, then, Jurgen. I give you back your -freedom. And I pray that this princess may make you very happy, my -dear. For surely you deserve a princess if ever any man did." - -Jurgen shook his head. "It is astounding that a demon so much talked -about should be so poor an impersonator. It raises the staggering -supposition that the majority of married women must go to Heaven. As -for your ring, I am not accepting gifts this morning, from anyone. -But you understand, I trust, that I am hopelessly enamored of the -Princess on account of her beauty." - -"Oh, and I cannot blame you, my dear. She is the loveliest person I -have ever seen." - -"Hah, Thragnar!" says Jurgen, "I have you now. A woman might, just -possibly, have granted her own homeliness: but no woman that ever -breathed would have conceded the Princess had a ray of good looks." - -So with Caliburn he smote, and struck off the head of this thing -which foolishly pretended to be Dame Lisa. - -"Well done! oh, bravely done!" cried Guenevere. "Now the enchantment -is dissolved, and Thragnar is slain by my clever champion." - -"I could wish there were some surer sign of that," said Jurgen. "I -would have preferred that the pavilion and the decapitated Troll -King had vanished with a peal of thunder and an earthquake and such -other phenomena as are customary. Instead, nothing is changed except -that the woman who was talking to me a moment since now lies at my -feet in a very untidy condition. You conceive, madame, I used to -tease her about that twisted little-finger, in the days before we -began to squabble: and it annoys me that Thragnar should not have -omitted even Lisa's crooked little-finger on her left hand. Yes, -such painstaking carefulness worries me. For you conceive also, -madame, it would be more or less awkward if I had made an error, and -if the appearance were in reality what it seemed to be, because I -was pretty trying sometimes. At all events, I have done that which -seemed equitable, and I have found no comfort in the doing of it, -and I do not like this place." - - - - -11. - -Appearance of the Duke of Logreus - - -So Jurgen brushed from the table the chessmen that were set there in -readiness for a game, and he emptied the silver flagons upon the -ground. His reasons for not meddling with the horn he explained to -the Princess: she shivered, and said that, such being the case, he -was certainly very sensible. Then they mounted, and departed from -the black and silver pavilion. They came thus without further -adventure to Gogyrvan Gawr's city of Cameliard. - -Now there was shouting and the bells all rang when the people knew -their Princess was returned to them: the houses were hung with -painted cloths and banners, and trumpets sounded, as Guenevere and -Jurgen came to the King in his Hall of Judgment. And this Gogyrvan, -that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth and Camwy and -Sargyll, came down from his wide throne, and he embraced first -Guenevere, then Jurgen. - -"And demand of me what you will, Duke of Logreus," said Gogyrvan, -when he had heard the champion's name, "and it is yours for the -asking. For you have restored to me the best loved daughter that -ever was the pride of a high king." - -"Sir," replied Jurgen, reasonably, "a service rendered so gladly -should be its own reward. So I am asking that you do in turn restore -to me the Princess Guenevere, in honorable marriage, do you -understand, because I am a poor lorn widower, I am tolerably -certain, but I am quite certain I love your daughter with my whole -heart." - -Thus Jurgen, whose periods were confused by emotion. - -"I do not see what the condition of your heart has to do with any -such unreasonable request. And you have no good sense to be asking -this thing of me when here are the servants of Arthur, that is now -King of the Britons, come to ask for my daughter as his wife. That -you are Duke of Logreus you tell me, and I concede a duke is all -very well: but I expect you in return to concede a king takes -precedence, with any man whose daughter is marriageable. But -to-morrow or the next day it may be, you and I will talk over -your reward more privately. Meanwhile it is very queer and very -frightened you are looking, to be the champion who conquered -Thragnar." - -For Jurgen was staring at the great mirror behind the King's throne. -In this mirror Jurgen saw the back of Gogyrvan's crowned head, and -beyond this, Jurgen saw a queer and frightened looking young fellow, -with sleek black hair, and an impudent nose, and wide-open bright -brown eyes which were staring hard at Jurgen: and the lad's very red -and very heavy lips were parted, so that you saw what fine strong -teeth he had: and he wore a glittering shirt with curious figures on -it - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, and he saw the lad in the mirror was -speaking too, "I was thinking that is a remarkable mirror you have -there." - -"It is like any other mirror," replies the King, "in that it shows -things as they are. But if you fancy it as your reward, why, take it -and welcome." - -"And are you still talking of rewards!" cries Jurgen. "Why, if that -mirror shows things as they are, I have come out of my borrowed -Wednesday still twenty-one. Oh, but it was the clever fellow I was, -to flatter Mother Sereda so cunningly, and to fool her into such -generosity! And I wonder that you who are only a king, with bleared -eyes under your crown, and with a drooping belly under all your -royal robes, should be talking of rewarding a fine young fellow of -twenty-one, for there is nothing you have which I need be wanting -now." - -"Then you will not be plaguing me any more with your nonsense about -my daughter: and that is excellent news." - -"But I have no requirement to be asking your good graces now," said -Jurgen, "nor the good will of any man alive that has a handsome -daughter or a handsome wife. For now I have the aid of a lad that -was very recently made Duke of Logreus: and with his countenance I -can look out for myself, and I can get justice done me everywhere, -in all the bedchambers of the world." - -And Jurgen snapped his fingers, and was about to turn away from the -King. There was much sunlight in the hall, so that Jurgen in this -half-turn confronted his shadow as it lay plain upon the flagstones. -And Jurgen looked at it very intently. - -"Of course," said Jurgen presently, "I only meant in a manner of -speaking, sir: and was paraphrasing the splendid if hackneyed -passage from Sornatius, with which you are doubtless familiar, in -which he goes on to say, so much more beautifully than I could -possibly express without quoting him word for word, that all this -was spoken jestingly, and without the least intention of offending -anybody, oh, anybody whatever, I can assure you, sir." - -"Very well," said Gogyrvan Gawr: and he smiled, for no reason that -was apparent to Jurgen, who was still watching his shadow sidewise. -"To-morrow, I repeat, I must talk with you more privately. To-day I -am giving a banquet such as was never known in these parts, because -my daughter is restored to me, and because my daughter is going to -be queen over all the Britons." - -So said Gogyrvan, that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth -and Camwy and Sargyll: and this was done. And everywhere at the -banquet Jurgen heard talk of this King Arthur who was to marry Dame -Guenevere, and of the prophecy which Merlin Ambrosius had made as to -the young monarch. For Merlin had predicted: - -"He shall afford succor, and shall tread upon the necks of his -enemies: the isles of the ocean shall be subdued by him, and he -shall possess the forests of Gaul: the house of Romulus shall fear -his rage, and his acts shall be food for the narrators." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, to himself, "this monarch reminds me in -all things of David of Israel, who was so splendid and famous, and -so greedy, in the ancient ages. For to these forests and islands and -necks and other possessions, this Arthur Pendragon must be adding my -one ewe lamb; and I lack a Nathan to convert him to repentance. Now, -but this, to be sure, is a very unfair thing." - -Then Jurgen looked again into a mirror: and presently the eyes of -the lad he found therein began to twinkle. - -"Have at you, David!" said Jurgen, valorously; "since after all, I -see no reason to despair." - - - - -12. - -Excursus of Yolande's Undoing - - -Now Jurgen, self-appointed Duke of Logreus, abode at the court of -King Gogyrvan. The month of May passed quickly and pleasantly: but -the monstrous shadow which followed Jurgen did not pass. Still, no -one noticed it: that was the main thing. For himself, he was not -afraid of shadows, and the queerness of this one was not enough to -distract his thoughts from Guenevere, nor from his love-making with -Guenevere. - -For these were quiet times in Glathion, now that the war with Rience -of Northgalis was satisfactorily ended: and love-making was now -everywhere in vogue. By way of diversion, gentlemen hunted and -fished and rode a-hawking and amicably slashed and battered one -another in tournaments: but their really serious pursuit was -lovemaking, after the manner of chivalrous persons, who knew that -the King's trumpets would presently be summoning them into less -softly furnished fields of action, from one or another of which they -would return feet foremost on a bier. So Jurgen sighed and warbled -and made eyes with many excellent fighting-men: and the Princess -listened with many other ladies whose hearts were not of flint. And -Gogyrvan meditated. - -Now it was the kingly custom of Gogyrvan when his dinner was spread -at noontide, not to go to meat until all such as demanded justice -from him had been furnished with a champion to redress the wrong. -One day as the gaunt old King sat thus in his main hall, upon a seat -of green rushes covered with yellow satin, and with a cushion of -yellow satin under his elbow, and with his barons ranged about him -according to their degrees, a damsel came with a very heart-rending -tale of the oppression that was on her. - -Gogyrvan blinked at her, and nodded. "You are the handsomest woman I -have seen in a long while," says he, irrelevantly. "You are a woman -I have waited for. Duke Jurgen of Logreus will undertake this -adventure." - -There being no help for it, Jurgen rode off with this Dame Yolande, -not very well pleased: but as they rode he jested with her. And so, -with much laughter by the way, Yolande conducted him to the Green -Castle, of which she had been dispossessed by Graemagog, a most -formidable giant. - -"Now prepare to meet your death, sir knight!" cried Graemagog, -laughing horribly, and brandishing his club; "for all knights who -come hither I have sworn to slay." - -"Well, if truth-telling were a sin you would be a very virtuous -giant," says Jurgen, and he flourished Thragnar's sword, resistless -Caliburn. - -Then they fought, and Jurgen killed Graemagog. Thus was the Green -Castle restored to Dame Yolande, and the maidens who attended her -aforetime were duly released from the cellarage. They were now -maidens by courtesy only, but so tender is the heart of women that -they all wept over Graemagog. - -Yolande was very grateful, and proffered every manner of reward. - -"But, no, I will take none of these fine jewels, nor money, nor -lands either," says Jurgen. "For Logreus, I must tell you, is a -fairly well-to-do duchy, and the killing of giants is by way of -being my favorite pastime. He is well paid that is well satisfied. -Yet if you must reward me for such a little service, do you swear to -do what you can to get me the love of my lady, and that will -suffice." - -Yolande, without any particular enthusiasm, consented to attempt -this: and indeed Yolande, at Jurgen's request, made oath upon the -Four Evangelists that she would do everything within her power to -aid him. - -"Very well," said Jurgen, "you have sworn, and it is you whom I -love." - -Surprise now made her lovely. Yolande was frankly delighted at the -thought of marrying the young Duke of Logreus, and offered to send -for a priest at once. - -"My dear," says Jurgen, "there is no need to bother a priest about -our private affairs." - -She took his meaning, and sighed. "Now I regret," said she, "that I -made so solemn an oath. Your trick was unfair." - -"Oh, not at all," said Jurgen: "and presently you will not regret -it. For indeed the game is well worth the candle." - -"How is that shown, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Why, by candle-light," says Jurgen,--"naturally." - -"In that event, we will talk no further of it until this evening." - -So that evening Yolande sent for him. She was, as Gogyrvan had said, -a remarkably handsome woman, sleek and sumptuous and crowned with a -wealth of copper-colored hair. To-night she was at her best in a -tunic of shimmering blue, with a surcote of gold embroidery, and -with gold embroidered pendent sleeves that touched the floor. Thus -she was when Jurgen came to her. - -"Now," says Yolande, frowning, "you may as well come out -straightforwardly with what you were hinting at this morning." - -But first Jurgen looked about the apartment, and it was lighted by a -tall gilt stand whereon burned candles. - -He counted these, and he whistled. "Seven candles! upon my word, -sweetheart, you do me great honor, for this is a veritable -illumination. To think of it, now, that you should honor me, as -people do saints, with seven candles! Well, I am only mortal, but -none the less I am Jurgen, and I shall endeavor to repay this -sevenfold courtesy without discount." - -"Oh, Messire de Logreus," cried Dame Yolande, "but what -incomprehensible nonsense you talk! You misinterpret matters, for I -can assure you I had nothing of that sort in mind. Besides, I do not -know what you are talking about." - -"Indeed, I must warn you that my actions often speak more -unmistakably than my words. It is what learned persons term an -idiosyncrasy." - -"--And I certainly do not see how any of the saints can be concerned -in this. If you had said the Four Evangelists now--! For we were -talking of the Four Evangelists, you remember, this morning--Oh, but -how stupid it is of you, Messire de Logreus, to stand there grinning -and looking at me in a way that makes me blush!" - -"Well, that is easily remedied," said Jurgen, as he blew out the -candles, "since women do not blush in the dark." - -"What do you plan, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Ah, do not be alarmed!" said Jurgen. "I shall deal fairly with -you." - -And in fact Yolande confessed afterward that, considering -everything, Messire de Logreus was very generous. Jurgen confessed -nothing: and as the room was profoundly dark nobody else can speak -with authority as to what happened there. It suffices that the Duke -of Logreus and the Lady of the Green Castle parted later on the most -friendly terms. - -"You have undone me, with your games and your candles and your -scrupulous returning of courtesies," said Yolande, and yawned, for -she was sleepy; "but I fear that I do not hate you as much as I -ought to." - -"No woman ever does," says Jurgen, "at this hour." He called for -breakfast, then kissed Yolande--for this, as Jurgen had said, was -their hour of parting,--and he rode away from the Green Castle in -high spirits. - -"Why, what a thing it is again to be a fine young fellow!" said -Jurgen. "Well, even though her big brown eyes protrude too -much--something like a lobster's--she is a splendid woman, that Dame -Yolande: and it is a comfort to reflect I have seen justice was done -her." - -Then he rode back to Cameliard, singing with delight in the thought -that he was riding toward the Princess Guenevere, whom he loved with -his whole heart. - - - - -13. - -Philosophy of Gogyrvan Gawr - - -At Cameliard the young Duke of Logreus spent most of his time in the -company of Guenevere, whose father made no objection overtly. -Gogyrvan had his promised talk with Jurgen. - -"I lament that Dame Yolande dealt over-thriftily with you," the King -said, first of all: "for I estimated you two would be as spark and -tinder, kindling between you an amorous conflagration to burn up all -this nonsense about my daughter." - -"Thrift, sir," said Jurgen, discreetly, "is a proverbial virtue, and -fires may not consume true love." - -"That is the truth," Gogyrvan admitted, "whoever says it." And he -sighed. - -Then for a while he sat in nodding meditation. Tonight the old King -wore a disreputably rusty gown of black stuff, with fur about the -neck and sleeves of it, and his scant white hair was covered by a -very shabby black cap. So he huddled over a small fire in a large -stone fireplace carved with shields; beside him was white wine and -red, which stayed untasted while Gogyrvan meditated upon things that -fretted him. - -"Now, then!" says Gogyrvan Gawr: "this marriage with the high King -of the Britons must go forward, of course. That was settled last -year, when Arthur and his devil-mongers, the Lady of the Lake and -Merlin Ambrosius, were at some pains to rescue me at Carohaise. I -estimate that Arthur's ambassadors, probably the devil-mongers -themselves, will come for my daughter before June is out. Meanwhile, -you two have youth and love for playthings, and it is spring." - -"What is the season of the year to me," groaned Jurgen, "when I -reflect that within a week or so the lady of my heart will be borne -away from me forever? How can I be happy, when all the while I know -the long years of misery and vain regret are near at hand?" - -"You are saying that," observed the King, "in part because you drank -too much last night, and in part because you think it is expected of -you. For in point of fact, you are as happy as anyone is permitted -to be in this world, through the simple reason that you are young. -Misery, as you employ the word, I consider to be a poetical trophe: -but I can assure you that the moment you are no longer young the -years of vain regret will begin, either way." - -"That is true," said Jurgen, heartily. - -"How do you know? Now then, put it I were insane enough to marry my -daughter to a mere duke, you would grow damnably tired of her: I can -assure you of that also, for in disposition Guenevere is her sainted -mother all over again. She is nice looking, of course, because in -that she takes after my side of the family: but, between ourselves, -she is not particularly intelligent, and she will always be making -eyes at some man or another. To-day it appears to be your turn to -serve as her target, in a fine glittering shirt of which the like -was never seen in Glathion. I deplore, but even so I cannot deny, -your rights as the champion who rescued her: and I must bid you make -the most of that turn." - -"Meanwhile, it occurs to me, sir, that it is unusual to betroth your -daughter to one man, and permit her to go freely with another." - -"If you insist upon it," said Gogyrvan Gawr, "I can of course lock -up the pair of you, in separate dungeons, until the wedding day. -Meanwhile, it occurs to me you should be the last commentator to -grumble." - -"Why, I tell you plainly, sir, that critical persons would say you -are taking very small care of your daughter's honor." - -"To that there are several answers," replied the King. "One is that -I remember my late wife as tenderly as possible, and I reflect I -have only her word for it as to Guenevere's being my daughter. -Another is that, though my daughter is a quiet and well-conducted -young woman, I never heard King Thragnar was anything of this sort." - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you hinting!" - -"All sorts of things, however, happen in caves, things which it is -wiser to ignore in sunlight. So I ignore: I ask no questions: my -business is to marry my daughter acceptably, and that only. Such -discoveries as may be made by her husband afterward are his affair, -not mine. This much I might tell you, Messire de Logreus, by way of -answer. But the real answer is to bid you consider this: that a -woman's honor is concerned with one thing only, and it is a thing -with which the honor of a man is not concerned at all." - -"But now you talk in riddles, King, and I wonder what it is you -would have me do." - -Gogyrvan grinned. "Obviously, I advise you to give thanks you were -born a man, because that sturdier sex has so much less need to -bother over breakage." - -"What sort of breakage, sir?" says Jurgen. - -Gogyrvan told him. - -Duke Jurgen for the second time looked properly horrified. "Your -aphorisms, King, are abominable, and of a sort unlikely to quiet my -misery. However, we were speaking of your daughter, and it is she -who must be considered rather than I." - -"Now I perceive that you take my meaning perfectly. Yes, in all -matters which concern my daughter I would have you lie like a -gentleman." - -"Well, I am afraid, sir," said Jurgen, after a pause, "that you are -a person of somewhat degraded ideals." - -"Ah, but you are young. Youth can afford ideals, being vigorous -enough to stand the hard knocks they earn their possessor. But I am -an old fellow cursed with a tender heart and tolerably keen eyes. -That combination, Messire de Logreus, is one which very often forces -me to jeer out of season, simply because I know myself to be upon -the verge of far more untimely tears." - -Thus Gogyrvan replied. He was silent for a while, and he -contemplated the fire. Then he waved a shriveled hand toward the -window, and Gogyrvan began to speak, meditatively: - -"Messire de Logreus, it is night in my city of Cameliard. And -somewhere one of those roofs harbors a girl whom we will call -Lynette. She has a lover--we will say he is called Sagramor. The -names do not matter. Tonight, as I speak with you, Lynette lies -motionless in the carved wide bed that formerly was her mother's. -She is thinking of Sagramor. The room is dark save where moonlight -silvers the diamond-shaped panes of ancient windows. In every corner -of the room mysterious quivering suggestions lurk." - -"Ah, sire," says Jurgen, "you also are a poet!" - -"Do not interrupt me, then! Lynette, I repeat, is thinking of Sagramor. -Again they sit near the lake, under an apple-tree older than Rome. -The knotted branches of the tree are upraised as in benediction: -and petals--petals, fluttering, drifting, turning,--interminable white -petals fall silently in the stillness. Neither speaks: for there is no -need. Silently he brushes a petal from the blackness of her hair, and -silently he kisses her. The lake is dusky and hard-seeming as jade. -Two lonely stars hang low in the green sky. It is droll that the chest -of a man is hairy, oh, very droll! And a bird is singing, a silvery -needle of sound moves fitfully in the stillness. Surely high Heaven -is thus quietly colored and thus strangely lovely. So at least thinks -little Lynette, lying motionless like a little mouse, in the carved -wide bed wherein Lynette was born." - -"A very moving touch, that," Jurgen interpolated. - -"Now, there is another sort of singing: for now the pot-house -closes, big shutters bang, feet shuffle, a drunken man hiccoughs in -his singing. It is a love-song he is murdering. He sheds -inexplicable tears as he lurches nearer and nearer to Lynette's -window, and his heart is all magnanimity, for Sagramor is -celebrating his latest conquest. Do you not think that this or -something very like this is happening to-night in my city of -Cameliard, Messire de Logreus?". - -"It happens momently," said Jurgen, "everywhere. For thus is every -woman for a little while, and thus is every man for all time." - -"That being a dreadful truth," continued Gogyrvan, "you may take it -as one of the many reasons why I jeer out of season in order to -stave off far more untimely tears. For this thing happens: in my -city it happens, and in my castle it happens. King or no, I am -powerless to prevent its happening. So I can but shrug and hearten -my old blood with a fresh bottle. No less, I regard the young woman, -who is quite possibly my daughter, with considerable affection: and -it would be salutary for you to remember that circumstance, Messire -de Logreus, if ever you are tempted to be candid." - -Jurgen was horrified. "But with the Princess, sir, it is unthinkable -that I should not deal fairly." - -King Gogyrvan continued to look at Jurgen. Gogyrvan Gawr said -nothing, and not a muscle of him moved. - -"Although of course," said Jurgen, "I would, in simple justice to -her, not ever consider volunteering any information likely to cause -pain." - -"Again I perceive," said Gogyrvan, "that you understand me. Yet I -did not speak of my daughter only, but of everybody." - -"How then, sir, would you have me deal with everybody?" - -"Why, I can but repeat my words," says Gogyrvan, very patiently: "I -would have you lie like a gentleman. And now be off with you, for I -am going to sleep. I shall not be wide awake again until my daughter -is safely married. And that is absolutely all I can do for you." - -"Do you think this is reputable conduct, King?" - -"Oh, no!" says Gogyrvan, surprised. "It is what we call -philanthropy." - - - - -14. - -Preliminary Tactics of Duke Jurgen - - -So Jurgen abode at court, and was tolerably content for a little -while. He loved a princess, the fairest and most perfect of mortal -women; and loved her (a circumstance to which he frequently -recurred) as never any other man had loved in the world's history: -and very shortly he was to stand by and see her married to another. -Here was a situation to delight the chivalrous court of Glathion, -for every requirement of romance was exactly fulfilled. - -Now the appearance of Guenevere, whom Jurgen loved with an entire -heart, was this:--She was of middling height, with a figure not yet -wholly the figure of a woman. She had fine and very thick hair, and -the color of it was the yellow of corn floss. When Guenevere undid -her hair it was a marvel to Jurgen to note how snugly this hair -descended about the small head and slender throat, and then -broadened boldly and clothed her with a loose soft foam of pallid -gold. For Jurgen delighted in her hair; and with increasing -intimacy, loved to draw great strands of it back of his head, -crossing them there, and pressing soft handfuls of her perfumed hair -against his cheeks as he kissed the Princess. - -The head of Guenevere, be it repeated, was small: you wondered at -the proud free tossing movements of that little head which had to -sustain the weight of so much hair. The face of Guenevere was -colored tenderly and softly: it made the faces of other women seem -the work of a sign-painter, just splotched in anyhow. Gray eyes had -Guenevere, veiled by incredibly long black lashes that curved -incredibly. Her brows arched rather high above her eyes: that was -almost a fault. Her nose was delicate and saucy: her chin was -impudence made flesh: and her mouth was a tiny and irresistible -temptation. - -"And so on, and so on! But indeed there is no sense at all in -describing this lovely girl as though I were taking an inventory of -my shopwindow," said Jurgen. "Analogues are all very well, and they -have the unanswerable sanction of custom: none the less, when I -proclaim that my adored mistress's hair reminds me of gold I am -quite consciously lying. It looks like yellow hair, and nothing -else: nor would I willingly venture within ten feet of any woman -whose head sprouted with wires, of whatever metal. And to protest -that her eyes are as gray and fathomless as the sea is very well -also, and the sort of thing which seems expected of me: but imagine -how horrific would be puddles of water slopping about in a lady's -eye-sockets! If we poets could actually behold the monsters we rhyme -of, we would scream and run. Still, I rather like this sirvente." - -For he was making a sirvente in praise of Guenevere. It was the -pleasant custom of Gogyrvan's court that every gentleman must -compose verses in honor of the lady of whom he was hopelessly -enamored; as well as that in these verses he should address the lady -(as one whose name was too sacred to mention) otherwise than did her -sponsors. So Duke Jurgen of Logreus duly rhapsodized of his -Phyllida. - -"I borrow for my dear love the appellation of that noted but by much -inferior lady who was beloved by Ariphus of Belsize," he explained. -"You will remember Poliger suspects she was a princess of the house of -Scleroveus: and you of course recall Pisander's masterly summing-up of -the probabilities, in his _Heraclea_." - -"Oh, yes," they said. And the courtiers of Gogyrvan Gawr, like -Mother Sereda, were greatly impressed by young Duke Jurgen's -erudition. - -For Jurgen was Duke of Logreus nowadays, with his glittering shirt -and the coronet upon his bridle to show for it. Awkwardly this -proved to be an earl's coronet, but incongruities are not always -inexplicable. - -"It was Earl Giarmuid's horse. You have doubtless heard of Giarmuid: -but to ask that is insulting." - -"Oh, not at all. It is humor. We perfectly understand your humor, -Duke Jurgen." - -"And a very pretty fighter I found this famous Giarmuid as I -traveled westward. And since he killed my steed in the heat of our -conversation, I was compelled to take over his horse, after I had -given this poor Giarmuid proper interment. Oh, yes, a very pretty -fighter, and I had heard much talk of him in Logreus. He was Lord of -Ore and Persaunt, you remember, though of course the estate came by -his mother's side." - -"Oh, yes," they said. "You must not think that we of Glathion are -quite shut out from the great world. We have heard of all these -affairs. And we have also heard fine things of your duchy of -Logreus, messire." - -"Doubtless," said Jurgen; and turned again to his singing. - -"Lo, for I pray to thee, resistless Love," he descanted, "that thou -to-day make cry unto my love, to Phyllida whom I, poor Logreus, love -so tenderly, not to deny me love! Asked why, say thou my drink and -food is love, in days wherein I think and brood on love, and truly -find naught good in aught save love, since Phyllida hath taught me -how to love." - -Here Jurgen groaned with nicely modulated ardor; and he continued: -"If she avow such constant hate of love as would ignore my great and -constant love, plead thou no more! With listless lore of love woo -Death resistlessly, resistless Love, in place of her that saith such -scorn of love as lends to Death the lure and grace I love." - -Thus Jurgen sang melodiously of his Phyllida, and meant thereby (as -everybody knew) the Princess Guenevere. Since custom compelled him -to deal in analogues, he dealt wholesale. Gems and metals, the -blossoms of the field and garden, fires and wounds and sunrises and -perfumes, an armory of lethal weapons, ice and a concourse of -mythological deities were his starting-point. Then the seas -and heavens were dredged of phenomena to be mentioned with -disparagement, in comparison with one or another feature of Duke -Jurgen's Phyllida. Zoology and history, and generally the remembered -contents of his pawnshop, were overhauled and made to furnish -targets for depreciation: whereas in dealing with the famous ladies -loved by earlier poets, Duke Jurgen was positively insulting, -allowing hardly a rag of merit. Still, he was careful to be just: -and he allowed that these poor creatures might figure advantageously -enough in eyes which had never beheld his Phyllida. And to all this -information the lady whom he hymned attended willingly. - -"She is a princess," reflected Jurgen. "She is quite beautiful. She -is young, and whatever her father's opinion, she is reasonably -intelligent, as women go. Nobody could ask more. Why, then, am I not -out of my head about her? Already she permits a kiss or two when -nobody is around, and presently she will permit more. And she thinks -I am quite the cleverest person living. Come, Jurgen, man! is there -no heart in this spry young body you have regained? Come, let us -have a little honest rapture and excitement over this promising -situation!" - -But somehow Jurgen could not manage it. He was interested in what, -he knew, was going to happen. Yes, undoubtedly he looked forward to -more intimate converse with this beautiful young princess, but it -was rather as one anticipates partaking of a favorite dessert. -Jurgen felt that a liaison arranged for in this spirit was neither -one thing or the other. - -"If only I could feel like a cold-blooded villain, now, I would at -worst be classifiable. But I intend the girl no harm, I am honestly -fond of her. I shall talk my best, broaden her ideas, and give her, -I flatter myself, considerable pleasure: vulgar prejudices apart, I -shall leave her no whit the worse. Why, the dear little thing, not -for the ransom of seven emperors would I do her any hurt! And in -these matters discretion is everything, simply everything. No, quite -decidedly, I am not a cold-blooded villain; and I shall deal fairly -with the Princess." - -Thus Jurgen was disappointed by his own emotions, as he turned them -from side to side, and prodded them, and shifted to a fresh -viewpoint, only to find it no more favorable than the one -relinquished: but he veiled the inadequacy of his emotions with very -moving fervors. The tale does not record his conversations with -Guenevere: for Jurgen now discoursed plain idiocy, as one purveys -sweetmeats to a child in fond astonishment at the pet's appetite. -And leisurely Jurgen advanced: there was no hurry, with weeks -wherein to accomplish everything: meanwhile this routine work had a -familiar pleasantness. - -For the amateur co-ordinates matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. There is no harm at all in -respectful allusions to a love that comprehends its hopelessness: it -was merely a fact which Jurgen mentioned, and was about to pass on; -only Guenevere, in modesty, was forced to disparage her own -attractions, as an inadequate cause for so much misery. Common -courtesy demanded that Jurgen enter upon a rebuttal. To emphasize -one point in this, the orator was forced to take the hand of his -audience: but strangers did that every day, with nobody objecting; -moreover, the hand was here, not so much seized as displayed by its -detainer, as evidence of what he contended. How else was he to prove -the Princess of Glathion had the loveliest hand in the world? It was -not a matter he could request Guenevere to accept on hearsay: and -Jurgen wanted to deal fairly with her. - -Well, but before relinquishing the loveliest hand in the world a -connoisseur will naturally kiss each fingertip: this is merely a -tribute to perfection, and has no personal application. Besides, a -kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think -of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl -demurring against this apothegm--as custom again exacted,--was, -still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says -Jurgen presently, you see for yourself. Is anything changed between -us? Do we not sit here, just as we were before? Why, to be sure! a -kiss is now attestedly a quite innocuous performance, with nothing -very fearful about it one way or the other. It even has its pleasant -side. Thus there is no need to make a pother over kisses or over an -arm about you, when it is more comfortable sitting so: how can one -reasonably deny to a sincere friend what is accorded to a cousin or -an old cloak? It would be nonsense, as Jurgen demonstrated with a -very apt citation from Napsacus. - -Then, sitting so, in the heat of conversation a speaker naturally -gesticulates: and a deal of his eloquence is dependent upon his -hands. When anyone is talking it is discourteous to interrupt, -whereas to lay hold of a gentleman's hand outright, as Jurgen -parenthesized, is a little forward. No, he really did not think it -would be quite proper for Guenevere to hold his hand. Let us -preserve decorum, even in trifles. - -"Ah, but you know that you are doing wrong!" - -"I doing wrong! I, who am simply sitting here and talking my poor -best in an effort to entertain you! Come now, Princess, but tell me -what you mean!" - -"You should know very well what I mean." - -"But I protest to you I have not the least notion. How can I -possibly know what you mean when you refuse to tell me what you -mean?" - -And since the Princess declined to put into words just what she -meant, things stayed as they were, for the while. - -Thus did Jurgen co-ordinate matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. And in short, affairs sped very much -as Jurgen had anticipated. - -Now, by ordinary, Jurgen talked with Guenevere in dimly lighted -places. He preferred this, because then he was not bothered by that -unaccountable shadow whose presence in sunlight put him out. Nobody -ever seemed to notice this preposterous shadow; it was patent, -indeed, that nobody could see it save Jurgen: none the less, the -thing worried him. So even from the first he remembered Guenevere as -a soft voice and a delectable perfume in twilight, as a beauty not -clearly visioned. - -And Gogyrvan's people worried him. The hook-nosed tall old King had -been by Jurgen dismissed from thought, as an enigma not important -enough to be worth the trouble of solving. Gogyrvan at once seemed -to be schooling himself to patience under some private annoyance and -to be revolving in his mind some private jest; he was queer, and -probably abominable: but to grant the old rascal his due, he was not -meddlesome. - -The people about Gogyrvan, though, were perplexing. These men who -considered that all you possessed was loaned you to devote to the -service of your God, your King and every woman who crossed your -path, could hardly be behaving rationally. To talk of serving God -sounded as sonorously and as inspiritingly as a drum: yes, and a -drum had nothing but air in it. The priests said so-and-so: but did -anybody believe the gallant Bishop of Merion, for example, was -always to be depended upon? - -"I would like the opinion of Prince Evrawc's wife as to that," said -Jurgen, with a grin. For it was well-known that all affairs between -this Dame Alundyne and the Bishop were so discreetly managed as to -afford no reason for any scandal whatever. - -As for serving the King, there in plain view was Gogyrvan Gawr, for -anyone who so elected, to regard and grow enthusiastic over: -Gogyrvan might be shrewd enough, but to Jurgen he suggested very -little of the Lord's anointed. To the contrary, he reminded you of -Jurgen's brother-in-law, the grocer, without being graced by the -tradesman's friendly interest in customers. Gogyrvan Gawr was a -person whom Jurgen simply could not imagine any intelligent Deity -selecting as steward. And finally, when it came to serving women, -what sort of service did women most cordially appreciate? Jurgen had -his answer pat enough, but it was an answer not suitable for -utterance in a mixed company. - -"No one of my honest opinions, in fact, is adapted to further my -popularity in Glathion, because I am a monstrous clever fellow who -does justice to things as they are. Therefore I must remember -always, in justice to myself, that I very probably hold traffic with -madmen. Yet Rome was a fine town, and it was geese who saved it. -These people may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to -say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--! Yes, that is how -I feel about it." - -Thus did Jurgen abide at the chivalrous court of Glathion, and -conform to all its customs. In the matter of love-songs nobody -protested more movingly that the lady whom he loved (quite -hopelessly, of course), embodied all divine perfections: and when it -came to knightly service, the possession of Caliburn made the -despatching of thieves and giants and dragons seem hardly -sportsmanlike. Still, Jurgen fought a little, now and then, in order -to conform to the customs of Glathion: and the Duke of Logreus was -widely praised as a very promising young knight. - -And all the while he fretted because he could just dimly perceive -that ideal which was served in Glathion, and the beauty of this -ideal, but could not possibly believe in it. Here was, again, a -loveliness perceived in twilight, a beauty not clearly visioned. - -"Yet am not I a monstrous clever fellow," he would console himself, -"to take them all in so completely? It is a joke to which, I think, -I do full justice." - -So Jurgen abode among these persons to whom life was a high-hearted -journeying homeward. God the Father awaited you there, ready to -punish at need, but eager to forgive, after the manner of all -fathers: that one became a little soiled in traveling, and sometimes -blundered into the wrong lane, was a matter which fathers -understood: meanwhile here was an ever-present reminder of His -perfection incarnated in woman, the finest and the noblest of His -creations. Thus was every woman a symbol to be honored magnanimously -and reverently. So said they all. - -"Why, but to be sure!" assented Jurgen. And in support of his -position he very edifyingly quoted Ophelion, and Fabianus Papirius, -and Sextius Niger to boot. - - - - -15. - -Of compromises in Glathion - - -The tale records that it was not a great while before, in simple -justice to Guenevere, Duke Jurgen had afforded her the advantage of -frank conversation in actual privacy. For conventions have to be -regarded, of course. Thus the time of a princess is not her own, and -at any hour of day all sorts of people are apt to request an -audience just when some most improving conversation is progressing -famously: but the Hall of Judgment stood vacant and unguarded at -night. - -"But I would never consider doing such a thing," said Guenevere: -"and whatever must you think of me, to make such a proposal!" - -"That too, my dearest, is a matter which I can only explain in -private." - -"And if I were to report your insolence to my father--" - -"You would annoy him exceedingly: and from such griefs it is our -duty to shield the aged." - -"And besides, I am afraid." - -"Oh, my dearest," says Jurgen, and his voice quavered, because his -love and his sorrow seemed very great to him: "but, oh, my dearest, -can it be that you have not faith in me! For with all my body and -soul I love you, as I have loved you ever since I first raised your -face between my hands, and understood that I had never before known -beauty. Indeed, I love you as, I think, no man has ever loved any -woman that lived in the long time that is gone, for my love is -worship, and no less. The touch of your hand sets me to trembling, -dear; and the look of your gray eyes makes me forget there is -anything of pain or grief or evil anywhere: for you are the -loveliest thing God ever made, with joy in the new skill that had -come to His fingers. And you have not faith in me!" - -Then the Princess gave a little sobbing laugh of content and -repentance, and she clasped the hand of her grief-stricken lover. -"Forgive me, Jurgen, for I cannot bear to see you so unhappy!" - -"Ah, and what is my grief to you!" he asks of her, bitterly. - -"Much, oh, very much, my dear!" she whispered. - -So in the upshot Jurgen was never to forget that moment wherein he -waited behind the door, and through the crack between the half-open -door and the door-frame saw Guenevere approach irresolutely, a -wavering white blur in the dark corridor. She came to talk with him -where they would not be bothered with interruptions: but she came -delightfully perfumed, in her night-shift, and in nothing else. -Jurgen wondered at the way of these women even as his arms went -about her in the gloom. He remembered always the feel of that warm -and slender and yielding body, naked under the thin fabric of the -shift, as his arms first went about her: of all their moments -together that last breathless minute before either of them had -spoken stayed in his memory as the most perfect. - -And yet what followed was pleasant enough, for now it was to the -wide and softly cushioned throne of a king, no less, that Guenevere -and Jurgen resorted, so as to talk where they would not be bothered -with interruptions. The throne of Gogyrvan was perfectly dark, under -its canopy, in the unlighted hall, and in the dark nobody can see -what happens. - -Thereafter these two contrived to talk together nightly upon the -throne of Glathion: but what remained in Jurgen's memory was that -last moment behind the door, and the six tall windows upon the east -side of the hall, those windows which were of commingled blue and -silver, but were all an opulent glitter, throughout that time in the -night when the moon was clear of the tree-tops and had not yet risen -high enough to be shut off by the eaves. For that was all which -Jurgen really saw in the Hall of Judgment. There would be a brief -period wherein upon the floor beneath each window would show a -narrow quadrangle of moonlight: but the windows were set in a wall -so deep that this soon passed. On the west side were six windows -also, but about these was a porch; so no light ever came from the -west. - -Thus in the dark they would laugh and talk with lowered voices. -Jurgen came to these encounters well primed with wine, and in -consequence, as he quite comprehended, talked like an angel, without -confining himself exclusively to celestial topics. He was often -delighted by his own brilliance, and it seemed to him a pity there -was no one handy to take it down: so much of his talking was -necessarily just a little over the head of any girl, however -beautiful and adorable. - -And Guenevere, he found, talked infinitely better at night. It was -not altogether the wine which made him think that, either: the girl -displayed a side she veiled in the day time. A girl, far less a -princess, is not supposed to know more than agrees with a man's -notion of maidenly ignorance, she contended. - -"Nobody ever told me anything about so many interesting matters. -Why, I remember--" And Guenevere narrated a quaintly pathetic little -story, here irrelevant, of what had befallen her some three or four -years earlier. "My mother was living then: but she had never said a -word about such things, and frightened as I was, I did not go to -her." - -Jurgen asked questions. - -"Why, yes. There was nothing else to do. I cannot talk freely with -my maids and ladies even now. I cannot question them, that is: of -course I can listen as they talk among themselves. For me to do more -would be unbecoming in a princess. And I wonder quietly about so -many things!" She educed instances. "After that I used to notice the -animals and the poultry. So I worked out problems for myself, after -a fashion. But nobody ever told me anything directly." - -"Yet I dare say that Thragnar--well, the Troll King, being very -wise, must have made zoology much clearer." - -"Thragnar was a skilled enchanter," says a demure voice in the dark; -"and through the potency of his abominable arts, I can remember -nothing whatever about Thragnar." - -Jurgen laughed, ruefully. Still, he was tolerably sure about -Thragnar now. - -So they talked: and Jurgen marvelled, as millions of men had done -aforetime, and have done since, at the girl's eagerness, now that -barriers were down, to discuss in considerable detail all such -matters as etiquette had previously compelled them to ignore. About -her ladies in waiting, for example, she afforded him some very -curious data: and concerning men in general she asked innumerable -questions that Jurgen found delicious. - -Such innocence combined--upon the whole--with a certain moral -obtuseness, seemed inconceivable. For to Jurgen it now appeared that -Guenevere was behaving with not quite the decorum which might fairly -be expected of a princess. Contrition, at least, one might have -looked for, over this hole and corner business: whereas it worried -him to note that Guenevere was coming to accept affairs almost as a -matter of course. Certainly she did not seem to think at all of any -wickedness anywhere: the utmost she suggested was the necessity of -being very careful. And while she never contradicted him in these -private conversations, and submitted in everything to his judgment, -her motive now appeared to be hardly more than a wish to please him. -It was almost as though she were humoring him in his foolishness. -And all this within six weeks! reflected Jurgen: and he nibbled his -finger-nails, with a mental side-glance toward the opinions of King -Gogyrvan Gawr. - -But in daylight the Princess remained unchanged. In daylight Jurgen -adored her, but with no feeling of intimacy. Very rarely did -occasion serve for them to be actually alone in the day time. Once -or twice, though, he kissed her in open sunlight: and then her eyes -were melting but wary, and the whole affair was rather flat. She did -not repulse him: but she stayed a princess, appreciative of her -station, and seemed not at all the invisible person who talked with -him at night in the Hall of Judgment. - -Presently, by common consent, they began to avoid each other by -daylight. Indeed, the time of the Princess was now pre-occupied: for -now had come into Glathion a ship with saffron colored sails, and -having for its figure-head a dragon that was painted with thirty -colors. Such was the ship which brought Messire Merlin Ambrosius and -Dame Anaitis, the Lady of the Lake, with a great retinue, to fetch -young Guenevere to London, where she was to be married to King -Arthur. - -First there was a week of feasting and tourneys and high mirth of -every kind. Now the trumpets blared, and upon a scaffolding that was -gay with pennons and smart tapestries King Gogyrvan sat nodding and -blinking in his brightest raiment, to judge who did the best: and -into the field came joyously a press of dukes and earls and barons -and many famous knights, to contend for honor and a trumpery chaplet -of pearls. - -Jurgen shrugged, and honored custom. The Duke of Logreus acquitted -himself with credit in the opening tournament, unhorsing Sir Dodinas -le Sauvage, Earl Roth of Meliot, Sir Epinogris, and Sir Hector de -Maris: then Earl Damas of Listenise smote like a whirlwind, and -Jurgen slid contentedly down the tail of his fine horse. His part in -the tournament was ended, and he was heartily glad of it. He -preferred to contemplate rather than share in such festivities: and -he now followed his bent with a most exquisite misery, because he -considered that never had any other poet occupied a situation more -picturesque. - -By day he was the Duke of Logreus, which in itself was a notable -advance upon pawnbroking: after nightfall he discounted the peculiar -privileges of a king. It was the secrecy, the deluding of everybody, -which he especially enjoyed: and in the thought of what a monstrous -clever fellow was Jurgen, he almost lost sight of the fact that he -was miserable over the impending marriage of the lady he loved. - -Once or twice he caught the tail-end of a glance from Gogyrvan's -bright old eye. Jurgen by this time abhorred Gogyrvan, as a person -of abominably unjust dealings. - -"To take no better care of his own daughter," Jurgen considered, "is -infamous. The man is neglecting his duties as a father, and to do -that is not fair." - - - - -16. - -Divers Imbroglios of King Smoit - - -Now it befell that for three nights in succession the Princess -Guenevere was unable to converse with Jurgen in the Hall of -Judgment. So upon one of these disengaged evenings Duke Jurgen held -a carouse with Aribert and Urien, two of Gogyrvan's barons, who had -just returned from Pengwaed-Gir, and had queer tales to narrate of -the Trooping Fairies who garrison that place. - -All three were seasoned topers, so Jurgen went to bed prepared for -anything. Later he sat up in bed, and found it was much as he had -suspected. The room was haunted, and at the foot of his couch were -two ghosts: one an impudent-looking leering phantom, in a suit of -old-fashioned armor, and the other a beautiful pale lady, in the -customary flowing white draperies. - -"Good-morning to you both," says Jurgen, "and sorry am I that I -cannot truthfully observe I am glad to see you. Though you are -welcome enough if you can manage to haunt the room quietly." Then, -seeing that both phantoms looked puzzled, Jurgen proceeded to -explain. "Last year, when I was traveling upon business in -Westphalia, it was my grief to spend a night in the haunted castle -of Neuedesberg, for I could not get any sleep at all in that place. -There was a ghost in charge who persisted in rattling very large -iron chains and in groaning dismally throughout the night. Then -toward morning he took the form of a monstrous cat, and climbed upon -the foot of my bed: and there he squatted yowling until daybreak. -And as I am ignorant of German, I was not able to convey to him any -idea of my disapproval of his conduct. Now I trust that as -compatriots, or as I might say with more exactness, as former -compatriots, you will appreciate that such behavior is out of all -reason." - -"Messire," says the male ghost, and he oozed to his full height, -"you are guilty of impertinence in harboring such a suspicion. I can -only hope it proceeds from ignorance." - -"For I am sure," put in the lady, "that I always disliked cats, and -we never had them about the castle." - -"And you must pardon my frankness, messire," continued the male -ghost, "but you cannot have moved widely in noble company if you are -indeed unable to distinguish between members of the feline species -and of the reigning family of Glathion." - -"Well, I have seen dowager queens who justified some such -confusion," observed Jurgen. "Still, I entreat the forgiveness of -both of you, for I had no idea that I was addressing royalty." - -"I was King Smoit," explained the male phantom, "and this was my -ninth wife, Queen Sylvia Tereu." - -Jurgen bowed as gracefully, he flattered himself, as was possible in -his circumstances. It is not easy to bow gracefully while sitting -erect in bed. - -"Often and over again have I heard of you, King Smoit," says Jurgen. -"You were the grandfather of Gogyrvan Gawr, and you murdered your -ninth wife, and your eighth wife, and your fifth wife, and your -third wife too: and you went under the title of the Black King, for -you were reputed the wickedest monarch that ever reigned in Glathion -and the Red Islands." - -It seemed to Jurgen that King Smoit evinced embarrassment, but it is -hard to be quite certain when a ghost is blushing. "Perhaps I was -spoken of in some such terms," says Smoit, "for the neighbors were -censorious gossips, and I was not lucky in my marriages. And I -regret, I bitterly regret, to confess that, in a moment of extreme -yet not quite unprovoked excitement, I assassinated the lady whom -you now behold." - -"And I am sure, through no fault of mine," says Sylvia Tereu. - -"Certainly, my dear, you resisted with all your might. I only wish -that you had been a larger and a brawnier woman. But you, messire, -can now perceive, I suppose, the folly of expecting a high King of -Glathion, and the queen that he took delight in, to sit upon your -bed and howl?" - -So then, upon reflection, Jurgen admitted he had never had that -experience; nor, he handsomely added, could he recall any similar -incident among his friends. - -"The notion is certainly preposterous," went on King Smoit, and very -grimly he smiled. "We are drawn hither by quite other intentions. In -fact, we wish to ask of you, as a member of the family, your -assistance in a delicate affair." - -"I would be delighted," Jurgen stated, "to aid you in any possible -way. But why do you call me a member of the family?" - -"Now, to deal frankly," says Smoit, with a grin, "I am not claiming -any alliance with the Duke of Logreus--" - -"Sometimes," says Jurgen, "one prefers to travel incognito. As a -king, you ought to understand that." - ---"My interest is rather in the grandson of Steinvor. Now you will -remember your grandmother Steinvor as, I do not doubt, a charming -old lady. But I remember Steinvor, the wife of Ludwig, as one of the -loveliest girls that a king's eyes ever lighted on." - -"Oh, sir," says Jurgen, horrified, "and what is this you are telling -me!" - -"Merely that I had always an affectionate nature," replied King -Smoit, "and that I was a fine upstanding young king in those days. -And one of the results of my being these things was your father, -whom men called Coth the son of Ludwig. But I can assure you Ludwig -had done nothing to deserve it." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen: "all this is very scandalous: and very -upsetting, too, it is to have a brand-new grandfather foisted upon -you at this hour of the morning. Still, it happened a great while -ago: and if Ludwig did not fret over it, I see no reason why I -should do so. And besides, King Smoit, it may be that you are not -telling me the truth." - -"If you doubt my confession, messire my grandson, you have only to -look into the next mirror. It is precisely on this account that we -have ventured to dispel your slumbers. For to me you bear a striking -resemblance. You have the family face." - -Now Jurgen considered the lineaments of King Smoit of Glathion. -"Really," said Jurgen, "of course it is very flattering to be told -that your appearance is regal. I do not at all know what to say in -reply to the implied compliment, without seeming uncivil. I would -never for a moment question that you were much admired in your day, -sir, and no doubt very justly so. None the less--well, my nose, now, -from such glimpses of it as mirrors have hitherto afforded, does not -appear to be a snub-nose." - -"Ah, but appearances are proverbially deceitful," observed King -Smoit. - -"And about the left hand corner," protested Queen Sylvia Tereu, "I -detect a distinct resemblance." - -"Now I may seem unduly obtuse," said Jurgen, "for I am a little -obtuse. It is a habit with me, a very bad habit formed in early -infancy, and I have never been able to break myself of it. And so I -have not any notion at what you two are aiming." - -Replied the ghost of King Smoit: "I will explain. Just sixty-three -years ago to-night I murdered my ninth wife in circumstances of -peculiar brutality, as you with rather questionable taste have -mentioned." - -Then Jurgen was somewhat abashed, and felt that it did not become him, -who had so recently cut off the head of his own wife, to assume the airs -of a precisian. "Of course," says Jurgen, more broad-mindedly, "these -little family differences are always apt to occur in married life." - -"So be it! Though, by the so-and-sos of Ursula's eleven thousand -traveling companions, there was a time wherein I would not have -brooked such criticism. Ah, well, that time is overpast, and I am a -bloodless thing that the wind sweeps at the wind's will through -lands in which but yesterday King Smoit was dreaded. So I let that -which has been be." - -"Well, that seems reasonable," said Jurgen, "and to be a trifle -rhetorical is the privilege of grandfathers. Therefore I entreat -you, sir, to continue." - -"Two years afterward I followed the Emperor Locrine in his -expedition against the Suevetii, an evil and luxurious people who -worship Gozarin peculiarly, by means of little boats. I must tell -you, grandson, that was a goodly raid, conducted by a band of tidy -fighters in a land of wealth and of fine women. But alack, as the -saying is, in our return from Osnach my loved general Locrine was -captured by that arch-fiend Duke Corineus of Cornwall: and I, among -many others who had followed the Emperor, paid for our merry -larcenies and throat-cuttings a very bitter price. Corineus was not -at all broadminded, not what you would call a man of the world. So -it was in a noisome dungeon that I was incarcerated,--I, Smoit of -Glathion, who conquered Enisgarth and Sargyll in open battle and -fearlessly married the heiress of Camwy! But I spare you the -unpleasant details. It suffices to say that I was dissatisfied with -my quarters. Yet fain to leave them as I became, there was but one -way. It involved the slaying of my gaoler, a step which was, I -confess, to me distasteful. I was getting on in life, and had grown -tired of killing people. Yet, to mature deliberation, the life of a -graceless varlet, void of all gentleness and with no bowels of -compassion, and deaf to suggestions of bribery, appeared of no -overwhelming importance." - -"I can readily imagine, grandfather, that you were not deeply -interested in either the nature or the anatomy of your gaoler. So -you did what was unavoidable." - -"Yes, I treacherously slew him, and escaped in an impenetrable -disguise to Glathion, where not long afterward I died. My dying -just then was most annoying, for I was on the point of being married, -and she was a remarkably attractive girl,--King Tyrnog's daughter, -from Craintnor way. She would have been my thirteenth wife. And not -a week before the ceremony I tripped and fell down my own castle -steps, and broke my neck. It was a humiliating end for one who had -been a warrior of considerable repute. Upon my word, it made me think -there might be something, after all, in those old superstitions about -thirteen being an unlucky number. But what was I saying?--oh, yes! -It is also unlucky to be careless about one's murders. You will -readily understand that for one or two such affairs I am condemned -yearly to haunt the scene of my crime on its anniversary: such -an arrangement is fair enough, and I make no complaint, though of -course it does rather break into the evening. But it happened that -I treacherously slew my gaoler with a large cobble-stone on the -fifteenth of June. Now the unfortunate part, the really awkward -feature, was that this was to an hour the anniversary of the death -of my ninth wife." - -"And you murdering insignificant strangers on such a day!" said -Queen Sylvia. "You climbing out of jail windows figged out as a lady -abbess, on an anniversary you ought to have kept on your knees in -unavailing repentance! But you were a hard man, Smoit, and it was -little loving courtesy you showed your wife at a time when she might -reasonably look to be remembered, and that is a fact." - -"My dear, I admit it was heedless of me. I could not possibly say -more. At any rate, grandson, I discovered after my decease that such -heedlessness entailed my haunting on every fifteenth of June at -three in the morning two separate places." - -"Well, but that was justice," says Jurgen. - -"It may have been justice," Smoit admitted: "but my point is that -it happened to be impossible. However, I was aided by my -great-great-grandfather Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief. -He too had the family face; and in every way resembled me so -closely that he impersonated me to everyone's entire satisfaction; -and with my wife's assistance re-enacted my disastrous crime upon -the scene of its occurrence, June after June." - -"Indeed," said Queen Sylvia, "he handled his sword infinitely better -than you, my dear. It was a thrilling pleasure to be murdered by -Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief, and I shall always regret -him." - -"For you must understand, grandson, that the term of King Penpingon -Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief's stay in Purgatory has now run out, -and he has recently gone to Heaven. That was pleasant for him, I -dare say, so I do not complain. Still, it leaves me with no one to -take my place. Angels, as you will readily understand, are not -permitted to perpetrate murders, even in the way of kindness. It -might be thought to establish a dangerous precedent." - -"All this," said Jurgen, "seems regrettable, but not strikingly -explicit. I have a heart and a half to serve you, sir, with not -seven-eighths of a notion as to what you want of me. Come, put a -name to it!" - -"You have, as I have said, the family face. You are, in fact, the -living counterpart of Smoit of Glathion. So I beseech you, messire -my grandson, for this one night to impersonate my ghost, and with -the assistance of Queen Sylvia Tereu to see that at three o'clock -the White Turret is haunted to everyone's satisfaction. Otherwise," -said Smoit, gloomily, "the consequences will be deplorable." - -"But I have had no experience at haunting," Jurgen confessed. "It is -a pursuit in which I do not pretend to competence: and I do not even -know just how one goes about it." - -"That matter is simple, although mysterious preliminaries will be, -of course, necessitated, in order to convert a living person into a -ghost--" - -"The usual preliminaries, sir, are out of the question: and I must -positively decline to be stabbed or poisoned or anything of that -kind, even to humor my grandfather." - -Both Smoit and Sylvia protested that any such radical step would be -superfluous, since Jurgen's ghostship was to be transient. In fact, -all Jurgen would have to do would be to drain the embossed goblet -which Sylvia Tereu held out to him, with Druidical invocations. - -And for a moment Jurgen hesitated. The whole business seemed rather -improbable. Still, the ties of kin are strong, and it is not often -one gets the chance to aid, however slightly, one's long-dead -grandfather: besides, the potion smelt very invitingly. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." Then -Jurgen drank. - -The flavor was excellent. Yet the drink seemed not to affect Jurgen, -at first. Then he began to feel a trifle light-headed. Next he -looked downward, and was surprised to notice there was nobody in his -bed. Closer investigation revealed the shadowy outline of a human -figure, through which the bedclothing had collapsed. This, he -decided, was all that was left of Jurgen. And it gave him a queer -sensation. Jurgen jumped like a startled horse, and so violently -that he flew out of bed, and found himself floating imponderably -about the room. - -Now Jurgen recognized the feeling perfectly. He had often had it in -his sleep, in dreams wherein he would bend his legs at the knees so -that his feet came up behind him, and he would pass through the air -without any effort. Then it seemed ridiculously simple, and he would -wonder why he never thought of it before. And then he would reflect: -"This is an excellent way of getting around. I will come to -breakfast this way in the morning, and show Lisa how simple it is. -How it will astonish her, to be sure, and how clever she will think -me!" And then Jurgen would wake up, and find that somehow he had -forgotten the trick of it. - -But just now this manner of locomotion was undeniably easy. So -Jurgen floated around his bed once or twice, then to the ceiling, -for practice. Through inexperience, he miscalculated the necessary -force, and popped through into the room above, where he found -himself hovering immediately over the Bishop of Merion. His eminence -was not alone, but as both occupants of the apartment were asleep, -Jurgen witnessed nothing unepiscopal. Now Jurgen rejoined his -grandfather, and girded on charmed Caliburn, and demanded what must -next be done. - -"The assassination will take place in the White Turret, as usual. -Queen Sylvia will instruct you in the details. You can invent most -of the affair, however, as the Lady of the Lake, who occupies this -room to-night, is very probably unacquainted with our terrible -history." - -Then King Smoit observed that it was high time he kept his -appointment in Cornwall, and he melted into air, with an easy -confidence that bespoke long practise: and Jurgen followed Queen -Sylvia Tereu. - - - - -17. - -About a Cock That Crowed Too Soon - - -Next the tale tells of how Jurgen and the ghost of Queen Sylvia -Tereu came into the White Turret. The Lady of the Lake was in bed: -she slept unaccompanied, as Jurgen noted with approval, for he -wished to intrude upon no more tete-a-tetes. And Dame Anaitis did -not at first awake. - -Now this was a gloomy and high-paneled apartment, with exactly the -traditional amount of moonlight streaming through two windows. Any -ghost, even an apprentice, could have acquitted himself with credit -in such surroundings, and Jurgen thought he did extremely well. He -was atavistically brutal, and to improvise the accompanying dialogue -he did not find difficult. So everything went smoothly, and with -such spirit that Anaitis was presently wakened by Queen Sylvia's -very moving wails for mercy, and sat erect in bed, as though a -little startled. Then the Lady of the Lake leaned back among the -pillows, and witnessed the remainder of the terrible scene with -remarkable self-possession. - -So it was that the tragedy swelled to its appalling climax, and -subsided handsomely. With the aid of Caliburn, Jurgen had murdered -his temporary wife. He had dragged her insensate body across the -floor, by the hair of her head, and had carefully remembered first -to put her comb in his pocket, as Queen Sylvia had requested, so -that it would not be lost. He had given vent to several fiendish -"Ha-ha's" and all the old high imprecations he remembered: and in -short, everything had gone splendidly when he left the White Turret -with a sense of self-approval and Queen Sylvia Tereu. - -The two of them paused in the winding stairway; and in the darkness, -after he had restored her comb, the Queen was telling Jurgen how -sorry she was to part with him. - -"For it is back to the cold grave I must be going now, Messire -Jurgen, and to the tall flames of Purgatory: and it may be that I -shall not ever see you any more." - -"I shall regret the circumstance, madame," says Jurgen, "for you are -the loveliest person I have ever seen." - -The Queen was pleased. "That is a delightfully boyish speech, and -one can see it comes from the heart. I only wish that I could meet -with such unsophisticated persons in my present abode. Instead, I am -herded with battered sinners who have no heart, who are not frank -and outspoken about anything, and I detest their affectations." - -"Ah, then you are not happy with your husband, Sylvia? I suspected -as much." - -"I see very little of Smoit. It is true he has eight other wives all -resident in the same flame, and cannot well show any partiality. Two -of his Queens, though, went straight to Heaven: and his eighth wife, -Gudrun, we are compelled to fear, must have been an unrepentant -sinner, for she has never reached Purgatory. But I always distrusted -Gudrun, myself: otherwise I would never have suggested to Smoit that -he have her strangled in order to make me his queen. You see, I -thought it a fine thing to be a queen, in those days, Jurgen, when I -was an artless slip of a girl. And Smoit was all honey and perfume -and velvet, in those days, Jurgen, and little did I suspect the -cruel fate that was to befall me." - -"Indeed, it is a sad thing, Sylvia, to be murdered by the hand -which, so to speak, is sworn to keep an eye on your welfare, and -which rightfully should serve you on its knees." - -"It was not that I minded. Smoit killed me in a fit of jealousy, and -jealousy is in its blundering way a compliment. No, a worse thing -than that befell me, Jurgen, and embittered all my life in the -flesh." And Sylvia began to weep. - -"And what was that thing, Sylvia?" - -Queen Sylvia whispered the terrible truth. "My husband did not -understand me." - -"Now, by Heaven," says Jurgen, "when a woman tells me that, even -though the woman be dead, I know what it is she expects of me." - -So Jurgen put his arm about the ghost of Queen Sylvia Tereu, and -comforted her. Then, finding her quite willing to be comforted, -Jurgen sat for a while upon the dark steps, with one arm still about -Queen Sylvia. The effect of the potion had evidently worn off, -because Jurgen found himself to be composed no longer of cool -imponderable vapor, but of the warmest and hardest sort of flesh -everywhere. But probably the effect of the wine which Jurgen had -drunk earlier in the evening had not worn off: for now Jurgen began -to talk wildishly in the dark, about the necessity of his, in some -way, avenging the injury inflicted upon his nominal grandfather, -Ludwig, and Jurgen drew his sword, charmed Caliburn. - -"For, as you perceive," said Jurgen, "I carry such weapons as are -sufficient for all ordinary encounters. And am I not to use them, to -requite King Smoit for the injustice he did poor Ludwig? Why, -certainly I must. It is my duty." - -"Ah, but Smoit by this is back in Purgatory," Queen Sylvia -protested, "And to draw your sword against a woman is cowardly." - -"The avenging sword of Jurgen, my charming Sylvia, is the terror of -envious men, but it is the comfort of all pretty women." - -"It is undoubtedly a very large sword," said she: "oh, a magnificent -sword, as I can perceive even in the dark. But Smoit, I repeat, is -not here to measure weapons with you." - -"Now your arguments irritate me, whereas an honest woman would see -to it that all the legacies of her dead husband were duly -satisfied--" - -"Oh, oh! and what do you mean--?" - -"Well, but certainly a grandson is--at one remove, I grant you,--a -sort of legacy." - -"There is something in what you advance--" - -"There is a great deal in what I advance, I can assure you. It is -the most natural and most penetrating kind of logic; and I wish -merely to discharge a duty--" - -"But you upset me, with that big sword of yours, you make me -nervous, and I cannot argue so long as you are flourishing it about. -Come now, put up your sword! Oh, what is anybody to do with you! -Here is the sheath for your sword," says she. - -At this point they were interrupted. - -"Duke of Logreus," says the voice of Dame Anaitis, "do you not think -it would be better to retire, before such antics at the door of my -bedroom give rise to a scandal?" - -For Anaitis had half-opened the door of her bedroom, and with a lamp -in her hand, was peering out into the narrow stairway. Jurgen was a -little embarrassed, for his apparent intimacy with a lady who had -been dead for sixty-three years would be, he felt, a matter -difficult to explain. So Jurgen rose to his feet, and hastily put up -the weapon he had exhibited to Queen Sylvia, and decided to pass -airily over the whole affair. And outside, a cock crowed, for it was -now dawn. - -"I bid you a good morning, Dame Anaitis," said Jurgen. "But the -stairways hereabouts are confusing, and I must have lost my way. I -was going for a stroll. This is my distant relative Queen Sylvia -Tereu, who kindly offered to accompany me. We were going out to -gather mushrooms and to watch the sunrise, you conceive." - -"Messire de Logreus, I think you had far better go back to bed." - -"To the contrary, madame, it is my manifest duty to serve as Queen -Sylvia's escort--" - -"For all that, messire, I do not see any Queen Sylvia." - -Jurgen looked about him. And certainly his grandfather's ninth wife -was no longer visible. "Yes, she has vanished. But that was to be -expected at cockcrow. Still, that cock crew just at the wrong -moment," said Jurgen, ruefully. "It was not fair." - -And Dame Anaitis said: "Gogyrvan's cellar is well stocked: and you -sat late with Urien and Aribert: and doubtless they also were lucky -enough to discover a queen or two in Gogyrvan's cellar. No less, I -think you are still a little drunk." - -"Now answer me this, Dame Anaitis: were you not visited by two -ghosts to-night?" - -"Why, that is as it may be," she replied: "but the White Turret is -notoriously haunted, and it is few quiet nights I have passed there, -for Gogyrvan's people were a bad lot." - -"Upon my word," wonders Jurgen, "what manner of person is this Dame -Anaitis, who remains unstirred by such a brutal murder as I have -committed, and makes no more of ghosts than I would of moths? I have -heard she is an enchantress, I am sure she is a fine figure of a -woman: and in short, here is a matter which would repay looking -into, were not young Guenevere the mistress of my heart." - -Aloud he said: "Perhaps then I am drunk, madame. None the less, I -still think the cock crew just at the wrong moment." - -"Some day you must explain the meaning of that," says she. -"Meanwhile I am going back to bed, and I again advise you to do the -same." - -Then the door closed, the bolt fell, and Jurgen went away, still in -considerable excitement. - -"This Dame Anaitis is an interesting personality," he reflected, -"and it would be a pleasure, now, to demonstrate to her my grievance -against the cock, did occasion serve. Well, things less likely than -that have happened. Then, too, she came upon me when my sword was -out, and in consequence knows I wield a respectable weapon. She may -feel the need of a good swordsman some day, this handsome Lady of -the Lake who has no husband. So let us cultivate patience. -Meanwhile, it appears that I am of royal blood. Well, I fancy there -is something in the scandal, for I detect in me a deal in common -with this King Smoit. Twelve wives, though! no, that is too many. I -would limit no man's liaisons, but twelve wives in lawful matrimony -bespeaks an optimism unknown to me. No, I do not think I am drunk: -but it is unquestionable that I am not walking very straight. -Certainly, too, we did drink a great deal. So I had best go quietly -back to bed, and say nothing more about to-night's doings." - -As much he did. And this was the first time that Jurgen, who had -been a pawnbroker, held any discourse with Dame Anaitis, whom men -called the Lady of the Lake. - - - - -18. - -Why Merlin Talked in Twilight - - -It was two days later that Jurgen was sent for by Merlin Ambrosius. -The Duke of Logreus came to the magician in twilight, for the -windows of this room were covered with sheets which shut out the -full radiance of day. Everything in the room was thus visible in a -diffused and tempered light that cast no shadows. In his hand Merlin -held a small mirror, about three inches square, from which he raised -his dark eyes puzzlingly. - -"I have been talking to my fellow ambassador, Dame Anaitis: and I -have been wondering, Messire de Logreus, if you have ever reared -white pigeons." - -Jurgen looked at the little mirror. "There was a woman of the Leshy -who not long ago showed me an employment to which one might put the -blood of white pigeons. She too used such a mirror. I saw what -followed, but I must tell you candidly that I understood nothing of -the ins and outs of the affair." - -Merlin nodded. "I suspected something of the sort. So I elected to -talk with you in a room wherein, as you perceive, there are no -shadows." - -"Now, upon my word," says Jurgen, "but here at last is somebody who -can see my attendant! Why is it, pray, that no one else can do so?" - -"It was my own shadow which drew my notice to your follower. For I, -too, have had a shadow given me. It was the gift of my father, of -whom you have probably heard." - -It was Jurgen's turn to nod. Everybody knew who had begotten Merlin -Ambrosius, and sensible persons preferred not to talk of the matter. -Then Merlin went on to speak of the traffic between Merlin and -Merlin's shadow. - -"Thus and thus," says Merlin, "I humor my shadow. And thus and thus -my shadow serves me. There is give-and-take, such as is requisite -everywhere." - -"I understand," says Jurgen: "but has no other person ever perceived -this shadow of yours?" - -"Once only, when for a while my shadow deserted me," Merlin replied. -"It was on a Sunday my shadow left me, so that I walked unattended -in naked sunlight: for my shadow was embracing the church-steeple, -where church-goers knelt beneath him. The church-goers were -obscurely troubled without suspecting why, for they looked only at -each other. The priest and I alone saw him quite clearly,--the -priest because this thing was evil, and I because this thing was -mine." - -"Well, now I wonder what did the priest say to your bold shadow?" - -"'But you must go away!'--and the priest spoke without any fear. Why -is it they seem always without fear, those dull and calm-eyed -priests? 'Such conduct is unseemly. For this is High God's house, -and far-off peoples are admonished by its steadfast spire, pointing -always heavenward, that the place is holy,' said the priest. And my -shadow answered, 'But I only know that steeples are of phallic -origin.' And my shadow wept, wept ludicrously, clinging to the -steeple where church-goers knelt beneath him." - -"Now, and indeed that must have been disconcerting, Messire Merlin. -Still, as you got your shadow back again, there was no great harm -done. But why is it that such attendants follow some men while other -men are permitted to live in decent solitude? It does not seem quite -fair." - -"Perhaps I could explain it to you, friend, but certainly I shall not. -You know too much as it is. For you appear in that bright garment of -yours to have come from a land and a time which even I, who am a skilled -magician, can only cloudily foresee, and cannot understand at all. What -puzzles me, however"--and Merlin's fore-finger shot out. "How many feet -had the first wearer of your shirt? and were you ever an old man?" says -he. - -"Well, four, and I was getting on," says Jurgen. - -"And I did not guess! But certainly that is it,--an old poet loaned -at once a young man's body and the Centaur's shirt. Aderes has -loosed a new jest into the world, for her own reasons--" - -"But you have things backwards. It was Sereda whom I cajoled so -nicely." - -"Names that are given by men amount to very little in a case like -this. The shadow which follows you I recognize--and revere--as the -gift of Aderes, a dreadful Mother of small Gods. No doubt she has a -host of other names. And you cajoled her, you consider! I would not -willingly walk in the shirt of any person who considers that. But -she will enlighten you, my friend, at her appointed time." - -"Well, so that she deals justly--" Jurgen said, and shrugged. - -Now Merlin put aside the mirror. "Meanwhile it was another matter -entirely that Dame Anaitis and I discussed, and about which I wished -to be speaking with you. Gogyrvan is sending to King Arthur, along -with Gogyrvan's daughter, that Round Table which Uther Pendragon -gave Gogyrvan, and a hundred knights to fill the sieges of this -table. Gogyrvan, who, with due respect, possesses a deplorable sense -of humor, has numbered you among these knights. Now it is rumored -the Princess is given to conversing a great deal with you in -private, and Arthur has never approved of garrulity. So I warn you -that for you to come with us to London would not be convenient." - -"I hardly think so, either," said Jurgen, with appropriate -melancholy; "for me to pursue the affair any further would only -result in marring what otherwise will always be a perfect memory of -divers very pleasant conversations." - -"Old poet, you are well advised," said Merlin,--"especially now that -the little princess whom we know is about to enter queenhood and -become a symbol. I am sorry for her, for she will be worshipped as a -revelation of Heaven's splendor, and being flesh and blood, she will -not like it. And it is to no effect I have forewarned King Arthur, -for that must happen which will always happen so long as wisdom is -impotent against human stupidity. So wisdom can but make the best of -it, and be content to face the facts of a great mystery." - -Thereupon, Merlin arose, and lifted the tapestry behind him, so that -Jurgen could see what hitherto this tapestry had screened. - - * * * * * - -"You have embarrassed me horribly," said Jurgen, "and I can feel -that I am still blushing, about the ankles. Well, I was wrong: so -let us say no more concerning it." - -"I wished to show you," Merlin returned, "that I know what I am -talking about. However, my present purpose is to put Guenevere out -of your head: for in your heart I think she never was, old poet, who -go so modestly in the Centaur's shirt. Come, tell me now! and does -the thought of her approaching marriage really disturb you?" - -"I am the unhappiest man that breathes," said Jurgen, with unction. -"All night I lie awake in my tumbled bed, and think of the miserable -day which is past, and of what is to happen in that equally -miserable day whose dawn I watch with a sick heart. And I cry aloud, -in the immortal words of Apollonius Myronides--" - -"Of whom?" says Merlin. - -"I allude to the author of the _Myrosis_," Jurgen -explained,--"whom so many persons rashly identify with Apollonius -Herophileius." - -"Oh, yes, of course! your quotation is very apt. Why, then your -condition is sad but not incurable. For I am about to give you this -token, with which, if you are bold enough, you will do thus and -thus." - -"But indeed this is a somewhat strange token, and the arms and legs, -and even the head, of this little man are remarkably alike! Well, -and you tell me thus and thus. But how does it happen, Messire -Merlin, that you have never used this token in the fashion you -suggest to me?" - -"Because I was afraid. You forget I am only a magician, whose -conjuring raises nothing more formidable than devils. But this is a -bit of the Old Magic that is no longer understood, and I prefer not -to meddle with it. You, to the contrary, are a poet, and the Old -Magic was always favorable to poets." - -"Well, I will think about it," says Jurgen, "if this will really put -Dame Guenevere out of my head." - -"Be assured it will do that," said Merlin. "For with reason does the -_Dirghagama_ declare, 'The brightness of the glowworm cannot be -compared to that of a lamp.'" - -"A very pleasant little work, the _Dirghagama_," said Jurgen, -tolerantly--"though superficial, of course." - -Then Merlin Ambrosius gave Jurgen the token, and some advice. - -So that night Jurgen told Guenevere he would not go in her train to -London. He told her candidly that Merlin was suspicious of their -intercourse. - -"And therefore, in order to protect you and to protect your fame, my -dearest dear," said Jurgen, "it is necessary that I sacrifice myself -and everything I prize in life. I shall suffer very much: but my -consolation will be that I have dealt fairly with you whom I love -with an entire heart, and shall have preserved you through my -misery." - -But Guenevere did not appear to notice how noble this was of Jurgen. -Instead, she wept very softly, in a heartbroken way that Jurgen -found unbearable. - -"For no man, whether emperor or peasant," says the Princess, "has -ever been loved more dearly or faithfully or more wholly without any -reserve or forethought than you, my dearest, have been loved by me. -All that I had I have given you. All that I had you have taken, -consuming it. So now you leave me with not anything more to give -you, not even any anger or contempt, now that you turn me adrift, -for there is nothing in me anywhere save love of you, who are -unworthy." - -"But I die many deaths," said Jurgen, "when you speak thus to me." -And in point of fact, he did feel rather uncomfortable. - -"I speak the truth, though. You have had all: and so you are a -little weary, and perhaps a little afraid of what may happen if you -do not break off with me." - -"Now you misjudge me, darling--" - -"No, I do not misjudge you, Jurgen. Instead, for the first time I -judge both of us. You I forgive, because I love you, but myself I do -not forgive, and I cannot ever forgive, for having been a -spendthrift fool." - -And Jurgen found such talking uncomfortable and tedious and very -unfair to him. "For there is nothing I can do to help matters," says -Jurgen. "Why, what could anybody possibly expect me to do about it? -And so why not be happy while we may? It is not as though we had any -time to waste." - -For this was the last night but one before the day that was set for -Guenevere's departure. - - - - -19. - -The Brown Man with Queer Feet - - -Early in the following morning Jurgen left Cameliard, traveling -toward Carohaise, and went into the Druid forest there, and followed -Merlin's instructions. - -"Not that I for a moment believe in such nonsense," said Jurgen: -"but it will be amusing to see what comes of this business, and it -is unjust to deny even nonsense a fair trial." - -So he presently observed a sun-browned brawny fellow, who sat upon -the bank of a stream, dabbling his feet in the water, and making -music with a pipe constructed of seven reeds of irregular lengths. -To him Jurgen displayed, in such a manner as Merlin had prescribed, -the token which Merlin had given. The man made a peculiar sign, and -rose. Jurgen saw that this man's feet were unusual. - -Jurgen bowed low, and he said, as Merlin had bidden: "Now praise be -to thee, thou lord of the two truths! I have come to thee, O most -wise, that I may learn thy secret. I would know thee, and would know -the forty-two mighty ones who dwell with thee in the hall of the two -truths, and who are nourished by evil-doers, and who partake of -wicked blood each day of the reckoning before Wennofree. I would -know thee for what thou art." - -The brown man answered: "I am everything that was and that is to be. -Never has any mortal been able to discover what I am." - -Then this brown man conducted Jurgen to an open glen, at the heart -of the forest. - -"Merlin dared not come himself, because," observed the brown man, -"Merlin is wise. But you are a poet. So you will presently forget -that which you are about to see, or at worst you will tell pleasant -lies about it, particularly to yourself." - -"I do not know about that," says Jurgen, "but I am willing to taste -any drink once. What are you about to show me?" - -The brown man answered: "All." - -So it was near evening when they came out of the glen. It was dark -now, for a storm had risen. The brown man was smiling, and Jurgen -was in a flutter. - -"It is not true," Jurgen protested. "What you have shown me is a -pack of nonsense. It is the degraded lunacy of a so-called Realist. -It is sorcery and pure childishness and abominable blasphemy. It is, -in a word, something I do not choose to believe. You ought to be -ashamed of yourself!" - -"Even so, you do believe me, Jurgen." - -"I believe that you are an honest man and that I am your cousin: so -there are two more lies for you." - -The brown man said, still smiling: "Yes, you are certainly a poet, -you who have borrowed the apparel of my cousin. For you come out of -my glen, and from my candor, as sane as when you entered. That is -not saying much, to be sure, in praise of a poet's sanity at any -time. But Merlin would have died, and Merlin would have died without -regret, if Merlin had seen what you have seen, because Merlin -receives facts reasonably." - -"Facts! sanity! and reason!" Jurgen raged: "why, but what nonsense -you are talking! Were there a bit of truth in your silly puppetry -this world of time and space and consciousness would be a bubble, a -bubble which contained the sun and moon and the high stars, and -still was but a bubble in fermenting swill! I must go cleanse my -mind of all this foulness. You would have me believe that men, that -all men who have ever lived or shall ever live hereafter, that even -I am of no importance! Why, there would be no justice in any such -arrangement, no justice anywhere!" - -"That vexed you, did it not? It vexes me at times, even me, who -under Koshchei's will alone am changeless." - -"I do not know about your variability: but I stick to my opinion -about your veracity," says Jurgen, for all that he was upon the -verge of hysteria. "Yes, if lies could choke people that shaggy -throat would certainly be sore." - -Then the brown man stamped his foot, and the striking of his foot -upon the moss made a new noise such as Jurgen had never heard: for -the noise seemed to come multitudinously from every side, at first -as though each leaf in the forest were tinily cachinnating; and then -this noise was swelled by the mirth of larger creatures, and echoes -played with this noise, until there was a reverberation everywhere -like that of thunder. The earth moved under their feet very much as -a beast twitches its skin under the annoyance of flies. Another -queer thing Jurgen noticed, and it was that the trees about the glen -had writhed and arched their trunks, and so had bended, much as -candles bend in very hot weather, to lay their topmost foliage at -the feet of the brown man. And the brown man's appearance was -changed as he stood there, terrible in a continuous brown glare from -the low-hanging clouds, and with the forest making obeisance, and -with shivering and laughter everywhere. - -"Make answer, you who chatter about justice! how if I slew you now," -says the brown man,--"I being what I am?" - -"Slay me, then!" says Jurgen, with shut eyes, for he did not at all -like the appearance of things. "Yes, you can kill me if you choose, -but it is beyond your power to make me believe that there is no -justice anywhere, and that I am unimportant. For I would have you -know I am a monstrous clever fellow. As for you, you are either a -delusion or a god or a degraded Realist. But whatever you are, you -have lied to me, and I know that you have lied, and I will not -believe in the insignificance of Jurgen." - -Chillingly came the whisper of the brown man: "Poor fool! O -shuddering, stiff-necked fool! and have you not just seen that which -you may not ever quite forget?" - -"None the less, I think there is something in me which will endure. -I am fettered by cowardice, I am enfeebled by disastrous memories; -and I am maimed by old follies. Still, I seem to detect in myself -something which is permanent and rather fine. Underneath everything, -and in spite of everything, I really do seem to detect that -something. What role that something is to enact after the death of -my body, and upon what stage, I cannot guess. When fortune knocks I -shall open the door. Meanwhile I tell you candidly, you brown man, -there is something in Jurgen far too admirable for any intelligent -arbiter ever to fling into the dustheap. I am, if nothing else, a -monstrous clever fellow: and I think I shall endure, somehow. Yes, -cap in hand goes through the land, as the saying is, and I believe I -can contrive some trick to cheat oblivion when the need arises," -says Jurgen, trembling, and gulping, and with his eyes shut tight, -but even so, with his mind quite made up about it. "Of course you -may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say you are -wrong: but still, at the same time--" - -"Now but before a fool's opinion of himself," the brown man cried, -"the Gods are powerless. Oh, yes, and envious, too!" - -And when Jurgen very cautiously opened his eyes the brown man had -left him physically unharmed. But the state of Jurgen's nervous -system was deplorable. - - - - -20. - -Efficacy of Prayer - - -Jurgen went in a tremble to the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn in -Cameliard. All night Jurgen prayed there, not in repentance, but in -terror. For his dead he prayed, that they should not have been -blotted out in nothingness, for the dead among his kindred whom he -had loved in boyhood, and for these only. About the men and women -whom he had known since then he did not seem to care, or not at -least so vitally. But he put up a sort of prayer for Dame -Lisa--"wherever my dear wife may be, and, O God, grant that I may -come to her at last, and be forgiven!" he wailed, and wondered if he -really meant it. - -He had forgotten about Guenevere. And nobody knows what were that -night the thoughts of the young Princess, nor if she offered any -prayers, in the deserted Hall of Judgment. - -In the morning a sprinkling of persons came to early mass. Jurgen -attended with fervor, and started doorward with the others. Just -before him a merchant stopped to get a pebble from his shoe, and the -merchant's wife went forward to the holy-water font. - -"Madame, permit me," said a handsome young esquire, and offered her -holy water. - -"At eleven," said the merchant's wife, in low tones. "He will be out -all day." - -"My dear," says her husband, as he rejoined her, "and who was the -young gentleman?" - -"Why, I do not know, darling. I never saw him before." - -"He was certainly very civil. I wish there were more like him. And a -fine looking young fellow, too!" - -"Was he? I did not notice," said the merchant's wife, indifferently. - -And Jurgen saw and heard and regarded the departing trio ruefully. -It seemed to him incredible the world should be going on just as it -went before he ventured into the Druid forest. - -He paused before a crucifix, and he knelt and looked up wistfully. -"If one could only know," says Jurgen, "what really happened in -Judea! How immensely would matters be simplified, if anyone but knew -the truth about You, Man upon the Cross!" - -Now the Bishop of Merion passed him, coming from celebration of the -early mass. "My Lord Bishop," says Jurgen, simply, "can you tell me -the truth about this Christ?" - -"Why, indeed, Messire de Logreus," replied the Bishop, "one cannot -but sympathize with Pilate in thinking that the truth about Him is -very hard to get at, even nowadays. Was He Melchisedek, or Shem, or -Adam? or was He verily the Logos? and in that event, what sort of a -something was the Logos? Granted He was a god, were the Arians or -the Sabellians in the right? had He existed always, co-substantial -with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or was He a creation of the -Father, a kind of Israelitic Zagreus? Was He the husband of -Acharamoth, that degraded Sophia, as the Valentinians aver? or the -son of Pantherus, as say the Jews? or Kalakau, as contends -Basilides? or was it, as the Docetes taught, only a tinted cloud in -the shape of a man that went from Jordan to Golgotha? Or were the -Merinthians right? These are a few of the questions, Messire de -Logreus, which naturally arise. And not all of them are to be -settled out of hand." - -Thus speaking, the gallant prelate bowed, then raised three fingers -in benediction, and so quitted Jurgen, who was still kneeling before -the crucifix. - -"Ah, ah!" says Jurgen, to himself, "but what a variety of -interesting problems are, in point of fact, suggested by religion. -And what delectable exercise would the settling of these problems, -once for all, afford the mind of a monstrous clever fellow! Come -now, it might be well for me to enter the priesthood. It may be that -I have a call." - -But people were shouting in the street. So Jurgen rose and dusted -his knees. And as Jurgen came out of the Cathedral of the Sacred -Thorn the cavalcade was passing that bore away Dame Guenevere to the -arms and throne of her appointed husband. Jurgen stood upon the -Cathedral porch, his mind in part pre-occupied by theology, but -still not failing to observe how beautiful was this young princess, -as she rode by on her white palfrey, green-garbed and crowned and -a-glitter with jewels. She was smiling as she passed him, bowing -her small tenderly-colored young countenance this way and that way, -to the shouting people, and not seeing Jurgen at all. - -Thus she went to her bridal, that Guenevere who was the symbol of -all beauty and purity to the chivalrous people of Glathion. The mob -worshipped her; and they spoke as though it were an angel who -passed. - -"Our beautiful young Princess!" - -"Ah, there is none like her anywhere!" - -"And never a harsh word for anyone, they say--!" - -"Oh, but she is the most admirable of ladies--!" - -"And so brave too, that lovely smiling child who is leaving her home -forever!" - -"And so very, very pretty!" - -"--So generous!" - -"King Arthur will be hard put to it to deserve her!" - -Said Jurgen: "Now it is droll that to these truths I have but to add -another truth in order to have large paving-stones flung at her! and -to have myself tumultuously torn into fragments, by those -unpleasantly sweaty persons who, thank Heaven, are no longer -jostling me!" - -For the Cathedral porch had suddenly emptied, because as the -procession passed heralds were scattering silver among the -spectators. - -"Arthur will have a very lovely queen," says a soft lazy voice. - -And Jurgen turned and saw that beside him was Dame Anaitis, whom -people called the Lady of the Lake. - -"Yes, he is greatly to be envied," says Jurgen, politely. "But do -you not ride with them to London?" - -"Why, no," says the Lady of the Lake, "because my part in this -bridal was done when I mixed the stirrup-cup of which the Princess -and young Lancelot drank this morning. He is the son of King Ban of -Benwick, that tall young fellow in blue armor. I am partial to -Lancelot, for I reared him, at the bottom of a lake that belongs to -me, and I consider he does me credit. I also believe that Madame -Guenevere by this time agrees with me. And so, my part being done to -serve my creator, I am off for Cocaigne." - -"And what is this Cocaigne?" - -"It is an island wherein I rule." - -"I did not know you were a queen, madame." - -"Why, indeed there are a many things unknown to you, Messire de -Logreus, in a world where nobody gets any assuredness of knowledge -about anything. For it is a world wherein all men that live have but -a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that -a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure." - -"I believe," said Jurgen, as his thoughts shuddered away from what -he had seen and heard in the Druid forest, "that you speak wisdom." - -"Then in Cocaigne we are all wise: for that is our religion. But of -what are you thinking, Duke of Logreus?" - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, "that your eyes are unlike the eyes -of any other woman that I have ever seen." - -Smilingly the dark woman asked him wherein they differed, and -smilingly he said he did not know. They were looking at each other -warily. In each glance an experienced gamester acknowledged a worthy -opponent. - -"Why, then you must come with me into Cocaigne," says Anaitis, "and -see if you cannot discover wherein lies that difference. For it is -not a matter I would care to leave unsettled." - -"Well, that seems only just to you," says Jurgen. "Yes, certainly I -must deal fairly with you." - -Then they left the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn, walking together. -The folk who went toward London were now well out of sight and -hearing, which possibly accounts for the fact that Jurgen was now in -no wise thinking of Guenevere. So it was that Guenevere rode out of -Jurgen's life for a while: and as she rode she talked with Lancelot. - - - - -21. - -How Anaitis Voyaged - - -Now the tale tells that Jurgen and this Lady of the Lake came -presently to the wharves of Cameliard, and went aboard the ship -which had brought Anaitis and Merlin into Glathion. This ship was -now to every appearance deserted: yet all its saffron colored sails -were spread, as though in readiness for the ship's departure. - -"The crew are scrambling, it may be, for the largesse, and fighting -over Gogyrvan's silver pieces," says Anaitis, "but I think they will -not be long in returning. So we will sit here upon the prow, and -await their leisure." - -"But already the vessel moves," says Jurgen, "and I hear behind -us the rattling of silver chains and the flapping of shifted -saffron-colored sails." - -"They are roguish fellows," says Anaitis, smiling. "Evidently, they -hid from us, pretending there was nobody aboard. Now they think to -give us a surprise when the ship sets out to sea as though it were -of itself. But we will disappoint these merry rascals, by seeming to -notice nothing unusual." - -So Jurgen sat with Anaitis in the two tall chairs that were in the -prow of the vessel, under a canopy of crimson stuff embroidered with -gold dragons, and just back of the ship's figurehead, which was a -dragon painted with thirty colors: and the ship moved out of the -harbor, and so into the open sea. Thus they passed Enisgarth. - -"And it is a queer crew that serve you, Anaitis, who are Queen of -Cocaigne: for I can hear them talking, far back of us, and their -language is all a cheeping and a twittering, as though the mice and -the bats were holding conference." - -"Why, you must understand that these are outlanders who speak a -dialect of their own, and are not like any other people you have -ever seen." - -"Indeed, now, that is very probable, for I have seen none of your -crew. Sometimes it is as though small flickerings passed over the -deck, and that is all." - -"It is but the heat waves rising from the deck, for the day is -warmer than you would think, sitting here under this canopy. And -besides, what call have you and I to be bothering over the pranks of -common mariners, so long as they do their proper duty?" - -"I was thinking, O woman with unusual eyes, that these are hardly -common mariners." - -"And I was thinking, Duke Jurgen, that I would tell you a tale of -the Old Gods, to make the time speed more pleasantly as we sit here -untroubled as a god and a goddess." - -Now they had passed Camwy: and Anaitis began to narrate the history -of Anistar and Calmoora and of the unusual concessions they granted -each other, and of how Calmoora contented her five lovers: and -Jurgen found the tale perturbing. - -While Anaitis talked the sky grew dark, as though the sun were -ashamed and veiled his shame with clouds: and they went forward in a -gray twilight which deepened steadily over a tranquil sea. So they -passed the lights of Sargyll, most remote of the Red Islands, while -Anaitis talked of Procris and King Minos and Pasiphae. As color went -out of the air new colors entered into the sea, which now assumed -the varied gleams of water that has long been stagnant. And a -silence brooded over the sea, so that there was no noise anywhere -except the sound of the voice of Anaitis, saying, "All men that live -have but a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. -So that a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his -own body; and yet the body of man is capable of much curious -pleasure." - -They came thus to a low-lying naked beach, where there was no sign -of habitation. Anaitis said this was the land they were seeking, and -they went ashore. - -"Even now," says Jurgen, "I have seen none of the crew who brought -us hither." - -And the beautiful dark woman shrugged, and marveled why he need -perpetually be bothering over the doings of common sailors. - -They went forward across the beach, through sand hills, to a moor, -seeing no one, and walking in a gray fog. They passed many gray fat -sluggish worms and some curious gray reptiles such as Jurgen had -never imagined to exist, but Anaitis said these need not trouble -them. - -"So there is no call to be fingering your charmed sword as we walk -here, Duke Jurgen, for these great worms do not ever harm the -living." - -"For whom, then, do they lie here in wait, in this gray fog, -wherethrough the green lights flutter, and wherethrough I hear at -times a thin and far-off wailing?" - -"What is that to you, Duke Jurgen, since you and I are still in the -warm flesh? Surely there was never a man who asked more idle -questions." - -"Yet this is an uncomfortable twilight." - -"To the contrary, you should rejoice that it is a fog too heavy to -be penetrated by the Moon." - -"But what have I to do with the Moon?" - -"Nothing, as yet. And that is as well for you, Duke Jurgen, since it -is authentically reported you have derided the day which is sacred -to the Moon. Now the Moon does not love derision, as I well know, -for in part I serve the Moon." - -"Eh?" says Jurgen: and he began to reflect. - -So they came to a wall that was high and gray, and to the door which -was in the wall. - -"You must knock two or three times," says Anaitis, "to get into -Cocaigne." - -Jurgen observed the bronze knocker upon the door, and he grinned in -order to hide his embarrassment. - -"It is a quaint fancy," said he, "and the two constituents of it -appear to have been modeled from life." - -"They were copied very exactly from Adam and Eve," says Anaitis, -"who were the first persons to open this gateway." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "there is no earthly doubt that men -degenerate, since here under my hand is the proof of it." - -With that he knocked, and the door opened, and the two of them -entered. - - - - -22. - -As to a Veil They Broke - - -So it was that Jurgen came into Cocaigne, wherein is the bedchamber -of Time. And Time, they report, came in with Jurgen, since Jurgen -was mortal: and Time, they say, rejoiced in this respite from the -slow toil of dilapidating cities stone by stone, and with his eyes -tired by the finicky work of etching in wrinkles, went happily into -his bedchamber, and fell asleep just after sunset on this fine -evening in late June: so that the weather remained fair and -changeless, with no glaring sun rays anywhere, and with one large -star shining alone in clear daylight. This was the star of Venus -Mechanitis, and Jurgen later derived considerable amusement from -noting how this star was trundled about the dome of heaven by a -largish beetle, named Khepre. And the trees everywhere kept their -first fresh foliage, and the birds were about their indolent evening -songs, all during Jurgen's stay in Cocaigne, for Time had gone to -sleep at the pleasantest hour of the year's most pleasant season. So -tells the tale. - -And Jurgen's shadow also went in with Jurgen, but in Cocaigne as in -Glathion, nobody save Jurgen seemed to notice this curious shadow -which now followed Jurgen everywhere. - -In Cocaigne Queen Anaitis had a palace, where domes and pinnacles -beyond numbering glimmered with a soft whiteness above the top of an -old twilit forest, wherein the vegetation was unlike that which is -nourished by ordinary earth. There was to be seen in these woods, -for instance, a sort of moss which made Jurgen shudder. So Anaitis -and Jurgen came through narrow paths, like murmuring green caverns, -into a courtyard walled and paved with yellow marble, wherein was -nothing save the dimly colored statue of a god with ten heads and -thirty-four arms: he was represented as very much engrossed by a -woman, and with his unoccupied hands was holding yet other women. - -"It is Jigsbyed," said Anaitis. - -Said Jurgen: "I do not criticize. Nevertheless, I think this -Jigsbyed is carrying matters to extremes." - -Then they passed the statue of Tangaro Loloquong, and afterward the -statue of Legba. Jurgen stroked his chin, and his color heightened. -"Now certainly, Queen Anaitis," he said, "you have unusual taste in -sculpture." - -Thence Jurgen came with Anaitis into a white room, with copper -plaques upon the walls, and there four girls were heating water in a -brass tripod. They bathed Jurgen, giving him astonishing caresses -meanwhile--with the tongue, the hair, the finger-nails, and the tips -of the breasts,--and they anointed him with four oils, then dressed -him again in his glittering shirt. Of Caliburn, said Anaitis, there -was no present need: so Jurgen's sword was hung upon the wall. - -These girls brought silver bowls containing wine mixed with honey, -and they brought pomegranates and eggs and barleycorn, and -triangular red-colored loaves, whereon they sprinkled sweet-smelling -little seeds with formal gestures. Then Anaitis and Jurgen broke -their fast, eating together while the four girls served them. - -"And now," says Jurgen, "and now, my dear, I would suggest that we -enter into the pursuit of those curious pleasures of which you were -telling me." - -"I am very willing," responded Anaitis, "since there is no one of -these pleasures but is purchased by some diversion of man's nature. -Yet first, as I need hardly inform you, there is a ceremonial to be -observed." - -"And what, pray, is this ceremonial?" - -"Why, we call it the Breaking of the Veil." And Queen Anaitis -explained what they must do. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Anaitis led Jurgen into a sort of chapel, adorned with very -unchurchlike paintings. There were four shrines, dedicated severally -to St. Cosmo, to St. Damianus, to St. Guignole of Brest, and to St. -Foutin de Varailles. In this chapel were a hooded man, clothed in -long garments that were striped with white and yellow, and two naked -children, both girls. One of the children carried a censer: the -other held in one hand a vividly blue pitcher half filled with -water, and in her left hand a cellar of salt. - -First of all, the hooded man made Jurgen ready. "Behold the lance," -said the hooded man, "which must serve you in this adventure." - -"I accept the adventure," Jurgen replied, "because I believe the -weapon to be trustworthy." - -Said the hooded man: "So be it! but as you are, so once was I." - -Meanwhile Duke Jurgen held the lance erect, shaking it with his -right hand. This lance was large, and the tip of it was red with -blood. - -"Behold," said Jurgen, "I am a man born of a woman incomprehensibly. -Now I, who am miraculous, am found worthy to perform a miracle, and -to create that which I may not comprehend." - -Anaitis took salt and water from the child, and mingled these. "Let -the salt of earth enable the thin fluid to assume the virtue of the -teeming sea!" - -Then, kneeling, she touched the lance, and began to stroke it -lovingly. To Jurgen she said: "Now may you be fervent of soul and -body! May the endless Serpent be your crown, and the fertile flame -of the sun your strength!" - -Said the hooded man, again: "So be it!" His voice was high and -bleating, because of that which had been done to him. - -"That therefore which we cannot understand we also invoke," said -Jurgen. "By the power of the lifted lance"--and now with his left -hand he took the hand of Anaitis,--"I, being a man born of a woman -incomprehensibly, now seize upon that which alone I desire with my -whole being. I lead you toward the east. I upraise you above the -earth and all the things of earth." - -Then Jurgen raised Queen Anaitis so that she sat upon the altar, and -that which was there before tumbled to the ground. Anaitis placed -together the tips of her thumbs and of her fingers, so that her -hands made an open triangle; and waited thus. Upon her head was a -network of red coral, with branches radiating downward: her gauzy -tunic had twenty-two openings, so as to admit all imaginable -caresses, and was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled: her dark eyes glittered and her breath came fast. - -Now the hooded man and the two naked girls performed their share in -the ceremonial, which part it is not essential to record. But Jurgen -was rather shocked by it. - -None the less, Jurgen said: "O cord that binds the circling of the -stars! O cup which holds all time, all color, and all thought! O -soul of space! not unto any image of thee do we attain unless thy -image show in what we are about to do. Therefore by every plant -which scatters its seed and by the moist warm garden which receives -and nourishes it, by the comminglement of bloodshed with pleasure, -by the joy that mimics anguish with sighs and shudderings, and by -the contentment which mimics death,--by all these do we invoke thee. -O thou, continuous one, whose will these children attend, and whom I -now adore in this fair-colored and soft woman's body, it is thou -whom I honor, not any woman, in doing what seems good to me: and it -is thou who art about to speak, and not she." - -Then Anaitis said: "Yea, for I speak with the tongue of every woman, -and I shine in the eyes of every woman, when the lance is lifted. To -serve me is better than all else. When you invoke me with a heart -wherein is kindled the serpent flame, if but for a moment, you will -understand the delights of my garden, what joy unwordable pulsates -therein, and how potent is the sole desire which uses all of a man. -To serve me you will then be eager to surrender whatever else is in -your life: and other pleasures you will take with your left hand, -not thinking of them entirely: for I am the desire which uses all of -a man, and so wastes nothing. And I accept you, I yearn toward you, -I who am daughter and somewhat more than daughter to the Sun. I who -am all pleasure, all ruin, and a drunkenness of the inmost sense, -desire you." - -Now Jurgen held his lance erect before Anaitis. "O secret of all -things, hidden in the being of all which lives, now that the lance -is exalted I do not dread thee: for thou art in me, and I am thou. I -am the flame that burns in every beating heart and in the core of -the farthest star. I too am life and the giver of life, and in me -too is death. Wherein art thou better than I? I am alone: my will is -justice: and there comes no other god where I am." - -Said the hooded man behind Jurgen: "So be it! but as you are, so -once was I." - -The two naked children stood one at each side of Anaitis, and waited -there trembling. These girls, as Jurgen afterward learned, were -Alecto and Tisiphone, two of the Eumenides. And now Jurgen shifted -the red point of the lance, so that it rested in the open triangle -made by the fingers of Anaitis. - -"I am life and the giver of life," cried Jurgen. "Thou that art one, -that makest use of all! I who am a man born of woman, I in my -station honor thee in honoring this desire which uses all of a man. -Make open therefore the way of creation, encourage the flaming dust -which is in our hearts, and aid us in that flame's perpetuation! For -is not that thy law?" - -Anaitis answered: "There is no law in Cocaigne save, Do that which -seems good to you." - -Then said the naked children: "Perhaps it is the law, but certainly -it is not justice. Yet we are little and quite helpless. So -presently we must be made as you are for now you two are no longer -two, and your flesh is not shared merely with each other. For your -flesh becomes our flesh, and your sins our sins: and we have no -choice." - -Jurgen lifted Anaitis from the altar, and they went into the chancel -and searched for the adytum. There seemed to be no doors anywhere in -the chancel: but presently Jurgen found an opening screened by a -pink veil. Jurgen thrust with his lance and broke this veil. He -heard the sound of one brief wailing cry: it was followed by soft -laughter. So Jurgen came into the adytum. - -Black candles were burning in this place, and sulphur too was -burning there, before a scarlet cross, of which the top was a -circle, and whereon was nailed a living toad. And other curious -matters Jurgen likewise noticed. - -He laughed, and turned to Anaitis: now that the candles were behind -him, she was standing in his shadow. "Well, well! but you are a -little old-fashioned, with all these equivocal mummeries. And I did -not know that civilized persons any longer retained sufficient -credulity to wring a thrill from god-baiting. Still, women must be -humored, bless them! and at last, I take it, we have quite fairly -fulfilled the ceremonial requisite to the pursuit of curious -pleasures." - -Queen Anaitis was very beautiful, even under his bedimming shadow. -Triumphant too was the proud face beneath that curious coral -network, and yet this woman's face was sad. - -"Dear fool," she said, "it was not wise, when you sang of the Leshy, -to put an affront upon Monday. But you have forgotten that. And now -you laugh because that which we have done you do not understand: and -equally that which I am you do not understand." - -"No matter what you may be, my dear, I am sure that you will -presently tell me all about it. For I assume that you mean to deal -fairly with me." - -"I shall do that which becomes me, Duke Jurgen--" - -"That is it, my dear, precisely! You intend to be true to yourself, -whatever happens. The aspiration does you infinite honor, and I -shall try to help you. Now I have noticed that every woman is most -truly herself," says Jurgen, oracularly, "in the dark." - -Then Jurgen looked at her for a moment, with twinkling eyes: then -Anaitis, standing in his shadow, smiled with glowing eyes: then -Jurgen blew out those black candles: and then it was quite dark. - - - - -23. - -Shortcomings of Prince Jurgen - - -Now the happenings just recorded befell on the eve of the Nativity -of St. John the Baptist: and thereafter Jurgen abode in Cocaigne, -and complied with the customs of that country. - -In the palace of Queen Anaitis, all manner of pastimes were -practised without any cessation. Jurgen, who considered himself to -be somewhat of an authority upon such contrivances, was soon -astounded by his own innocence. For Anaitis showed him whatever was -being done in Cocaigne, to this side and to that side, under the -direction of Anaitis, whom Jurgen found to be a nature myth of -doubtful origin connected with the Moon; and who, in consequence, -ruled not merely in Cocaigne but furtively swayed the tides of life -everywhere the Moon keeps any power over tides. It was the mission -of Anaitis to divert and turn aside and deflect: in this the jealous -Moon abetted her because sunlight makes for straightforwardness. So -Anaitis and the Moon were staunch allies. These mysteries of their -private relations, however, as revealed to Jurgen, are not very -nicely repeatable. - -"But you dishonored the Moon, Prince Jurgen, denying praise to the -day of the Moon. Or so, at least, I have heard." - -"I remember doing nothing of the sort. But I remember considering it -unjust to devote one paltry day to the Moon's majesty. For night is -sacred to the Moon, each night that ever was the friend of -lovers,--night, the renewer and begetter of all life." - -"Why, indeed, there is something in that argument," says Anaitis, -dubiously. - -"'Something', do you say! why, but to my way of thinking it proves -the Moon is precisely seven times more honorable than any of the -Leshy. It is merely, my dear, a question of arithmetic." - -"Was it for that reason you did not praise Pandelis and her Mondays -with the other Leshy?" - -"Why, to be sure," said Jurgen, glibly. "I did not find it at all -praiseworthy that such an insignificant Leshy as Pandelis should -name her day after the Moon: to me it seemed blasphemy." Then Jurgen -coughed, and looked sidewise at his shadow. "Had it been Sereda, -now, the case would have been different, and the Moon might well -have appreciated the delicate compliment." - -Anaitis appeared relieved. "I shall report your explanation. -Candidly, there were ill things in store for you, Prince Jurgen, -because your language was misunderstood. But that which you now say -puts quite a different complexion upon matters." - -Jurgen laughed, not understanding the mystery, but confident he -could always say whatever was required of him. - -"Now let us see a little more of Cocaigne!" cries Jurgen. - -For Jurgen was greatly interested by the pursuits of Cocaigne, and -for a week or ten days participated therein industriously. Anaitis, -who reported the Moon's honor to be satisfied, now spared no effort -to divert him, and they investigated innumerable pastimes together. - -"For all men that live have but a little while to live," said -Anaitis, "and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a man -possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his body: and yet -the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus and -thus," says Anaitis. And she revealed devices to her Prince Consort. - -For Jurgen found that unknowingly he had in due and proper form -espoused Queen Anaitis, by participating in the Breaking of the -Veil, which is the marriage ceremony of Cocaigne. His earlier -relations with Dame Lisa had, of course, no legal standing in -Cocaigne, where the Church is not Christian and the Law is, Do that -which seems good to you. - -"Well, when in Rome," said Jurgen, "one must be romantic. But -certainly this proves that nobody ever knows when he is being -entrapped into respectability: and never did a fine young fellow -marry a high queen with less premeditation." - -"Ah, my dear," says Anaitis, "you were controlled by the finger of -Fate." - -"I do not altogether like that figure of speech. It makes one seem -too trivial, to be controlled by a mere finger. No, it is not quite -complimentary to call what prompted me a finger." - -"By the long arm of coincidence, then." - -"Much more appropriate, my love," says Jurgen, complacently: "it -sounds more dignified, and does not wound my self esteem." - -Now this Anaitis who was Queen of Cocaigne was a delicious tall dark -woman, thinnish, and lovely, and very restless. From the first her -new Prince Consort was puzzled by her fervors, and presently was -fretted by them. He humbly failed to understand how anyone could be -so frantic over Jurgen. It seemed unreasonable. And in her more -affectionate moments this nature myth positively frightened him: for -transports such as these could not but rouse discomfortable -reminiscences of the female spider, who ends such recreations by -devouring her partner. - -"Thus to be loved is very flattering," he would reflect, "and I -again am Jurgen, asking odds of none. But even so, I am mortal. She -ought to remember that, in common fairness." - -Then the jealousy of Anaitis, while equally flattering, was equally -out of reason. She suspected everybody, seemed assured that every -bosom cherished a mad passion for Jurgen, and that not for a moment -could he be trusted. Well, as Jurgen frankly conceded, his conduct -toward Stella, that ill-starred yogini of Indawadi, had in point of -fact displayed, when viewed from an especial and quite unconscionable -point of view, an aspect which, when isolated by persons judging -hastily, might, just possibly, appear to approach remotely, in one -or two respects, to temporary forgetfulness of Anaitis, if indeed -there were people anywhere so mentally deficient as to find such -forgetfulness conceivable. - -But the main thing, the really important feature, which Anaitis -could not be made to understand, was that she had interrupted her -consort in what was, in effect, a philosophical experiment, -necessarily attempted in the dark. The muntrus requisite to the -sacti sodhana were always performed in darkness: everybody knew -that. For the rest, this Stella had asserted so-and-so; in simple -equity she was entitled to a chance to prove her allegations if she -could: so Jurgen had proceeded to deal fairly with her. Besides, why -keep talking about this Stella, after a vengeance so spectacular and -thorough as that to which Anaitis had out of hand resorted? why keep -reverting to a topic which was repugnant to Jurgen and visibly upset -the dearest nature myth in all legend? Was it quite fair to anyone -concerned? That was the sensible way in which Jurgen put it. - -Still, he became honestly fond of Anaitis. Barring her -eccentricities when roused to passion, she was a generous and kindly -creature, although in Jurgen's opinion somewhat narrow-minded. - -"My love," he would say to her, "you appear positively unable to -keep away from virtuous persons! You are always seeking out the -people who endeavor to be upright and straightforward, and you are -perpetually laying plans to divert these people. Ah, but why bother -about them? What need have you to wear yourself out, and to devote -your entire time to such proselitizing, when you might be so much -more agreeably employed? You should learn, in justice to yourself as -well as to others, to be tolerant of all things; and to acknowledge -that in a being of man's mingled nature a strain of respectability -is apt to develop every now and then, whatever you might prefer." - -But Anaitis had high notions as to her mission, and merely told him -that he ought not to speak with levity of such matters. "I would be -much happier staying at home with you and the children," she would -say, "but I feel that it is my duty--" - -"And your duty to whom, in heaven's name?" - -"Please do not employ such distasteful expressions, Jurgen. It is my -duty to the power I serve, my very manifest duty to my creator. But -you have no sense of religion, I am afraid; and the reflection is -often a considerable grief to me." - -"Ah, but, my dear, you are quite certain as to who made you, and for -what purpose you were made. You nature myths were created in the -Mythopoeic age by the perversity of old heathen nations: and you -serve your creator religiously. That is quite as it should be. But I -have no such authentic information as to my origin and mission in -life, I appear at all events to have no natural talent for being -diverted, I do not take to it wholeheartedly, and these are facts we -have to face." Now Jurgen put his arm around her. "My dear Anaitis, -you must not think it mere selfishness on my part. I was born with a -something lacking that is requisite for anyone who aspires to be as -thoroughly misled as most people: and you will have to love me in -spite of it." - -"I almost wish I had never seen you as I saw you in that corridor, -Jurgen. For I felt drawn toward you then and there. I almost wish I -had never seen you at all. I cannot help being fond of you: and yet -you laugh at the things I know to be required of me, and sometimes -you make me laugh, too." - -"But, darling, are you not just the least, littlest, tiniest, very -weest trifle bigoted? For instance, I can see that you think I ought -to evince more interest in your striking dances, and your strange -pleasures, and your surprising caresses, and all your other -elaborate diversions. And I do think they do you credit, great -credit, and I admire your inventiveness no less than your -industry--" - -"You have no sense of reverence, Jurgen, you seem to have no sense -at all of what is due to one's creator. I suppose you cannot help -that: but you might at least remember it troubles me to hear you -talk so flippantly of my religion." - -"But I do not talk flippantly--" - -"Indeed you do, though. And it does not sound at all well, let me -tell you." - -"--Instead, I but point out that your creed necessitates, upon the -whole, an ardor I lack. You, my pet, were created by perversity: and -everyone knows it is the part of piety to worship one's creator in -fashions acceptable to that creator. So, I do not criticize your -religious connections, dear, and nobody admires these ceremonials of -your faith more heartily than I do. I merely confess that to -celebrate these rites so frequently requires a sustention of -enthusiasm which is beyond me. In fine, I have not your fervent -temperament, I am more sceptical. You may be right; and certainly I -cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is how I feel about it, my precious, and that is why I -find, with constant repetition of these ceremonials, a certain lack -of firmness developing in my responses: and finally, darling, that -is all there is to it." - -"I never in my whole incarnation had such a Prince Consort! -Sometimes I think you do not care a bit about me one way or the -other, Jurgen." - -"Ah, but I do care for you very much. And to prove it, come now let -us try some brand-new diversion, at sight of which the skies will be -blackened and the earth will shudder or something of that sort, and -then I will take the children fishing, as I promised." - -"No, Jurgen, I do not feel like diverting you just now. You take all -the solemnity out of it with your jeering. Besides, you are always -with the children. Jurgen, I believe you are fonder of the children -than you are of me. And when you are not with them you are locked up -in the Library." - -"Well, and was there ever such a treasury as the Library of -Cocaigne? All the diversions that you nature myths have practised I -find recorded there: and to read of your ingenious devices delights -and maddens me. For it is eminently interesting to meditate upon -strange pleasures, and to make verses about them is the most amiable -of avocations: it is merely the pursuit of them that I would -discourage, as disappointing and mussy. Besides, the Library is the -only spot I have to myself in the palace, what with your fellow -nature myths making the most of life all over the place." - -"It is necessary, Jurgen, for one in my position to entertain more -or less. And certainly I cannot close the doors against my own -relatives." - -"Such riffraff, though, my darling! Such odds and ends! I cannot -congratulate you upon your kindred, for I do not get on at all with -these patchwork combinations, that are one-third man and the other -two-thirds a vulgar fraction of bull or hawk or goat or serpent or -ape or jackal or what not. Priapos is the only male myth who comes -here in anything like the semblance of a complete human being: and I -had infinitely rather he stayed away, because even I who am Jurgen -cannot but be envious of him." - -"And why, pray?" - -"Well, where I go reasonably equipped with Caliburn, Priapos carries -a lance I envy--" - -"Like all the Bacchic myths he usually carries a thyrsos, and it is -a showy weapon, certainly; but it is not of much use in actual -conflict." - -"My darling! and how do you know?" - -"Why, Jurgen, how do women always know these things?--by intuition, -I suppose." - -"You mean that you judge all affairs by feeling rather than reason? -Indeed, I dare say that is true of most women, and men are daily -chafed and delighted, about equally, by your illogical method of -putting things together. But to get back to the congenial task of -criticizing your kindred, your cousin Apis, for example, may be a -very good sort of fellow: but, say what you will, it is ill-advised -of him to be going about in public with a bull's head. It makes him -needlessly conspicuous, if not actually ridiculous: and it puts me -out when I try to talk to him." - -"Now, Jurgen, pray remember that you speak of a very generally -respected myth, and that you are being irreverent--" - -"--And moreover, I take the liberty of repeating, my darling, that -even though this Ba of Mendes is your cousin, it honestly does -embarrass me to have to meet three-quarters of a goat socially--" - -"But, Jurgen, I must as a master of course invite prolific Ba to my -feasts of the Sacae--" - -"Even so, my dear, in issuing invitations a hostess may fairly presuppose -that her guests will not make beasts of themselves. I often wish that -this mere bit of ordinary civility were more rigorously observed by Ba -and Hortanes and Fricco and Vul and Baal-Peor, and by all your other -cousins who come to visit you in such a zoologically muddled condition. -It shows a certain lack of respect for you, my darling." - -"Oh, but it is all in the family, Jurgen--" - -"Besides, they have no conversation. They merely bellow--or twitter -or bleat or low or gibber or purr, according to their respective -incarnations,--about unspeakable mysteries and monstrous pleasures -until I am driven to the verge of virtue by their imbecility." - -"If you were more practical, Jurgen, you would realize that it -speaks splendidly for anyone to be really interested in his -vocation--" - -"And your female relatives are just as annoying, with their eternal -whispered enigmas, and their crescent moons, and their mystic roses -that change color and require continual gardening, and their -pathetic belief that I have time to fool with them. And the entire -pack practises symbolism until the house is positively littered with -asherahs and combs and phalloses and linghams and yonis and arghas -and pulleiars and talys, and I do not know what other idiotic toys -that I am continually stepping on!" - -"Which of those minxes has been making up to you?" says Anaitis, her -eyes snapping. - -"Ah, ah! now many of your female cousins are enticing enough--" - -"I knew it! Oh, but you need not think you deluded me--!" - -"My darling, pray consider! be reasonable about it! Your feminine -guests at present are Sekhmet in the form of a lioness, Io -incarnated as a cow, Hekt as a frog, Derceto as a sturgeon, and--ah, -yes!--Thoueris as a hippopotamus. I leave it to your sense of -justice, dear Anaitis, if of ladies with such tastes in dress a -lovely myth like you can reasonably be jealous." - -"And I know perfectly well who it is! It is that Ephesian hussy, and -I had several times noticed her behavior. Very well, oh, very well, -indeed! nevertheless, I shall have a plain word or two with her at -once, and the sooner she gets out of my house the better, as I shall -tell her quite frankly. And as for you, Jurgen--!" - -"But, my dear Lisa--!" - -"What do you call me? Lisa was never an epithet of mine. Why do you -call me Lisa?" - -"It was a slip of the tongue, my pet, an involuntary but not -unnatural association of ideas. As for the Ephesian Diana, she -reminds me of an animated pine-cone, with that eruption of breasts -all over her, and I can assure you of your having no particular -reason to be jealous of her. It was merely of the female myths in -general I spoke. Of course they all make eyes at me: I cannot well -help that, and you should have anticipated as much when you selected -such an attractive Prince Consort. What do these poor enamored -creatures matter when to you my heart is ever faithful?" - -"It is not your heart I am worrying over, Jurgen, for I believe you -have none. Yes, you have quite succeeded in worrying me to -distraction, if that is any comfort to you. However, let us not talk -about it. For it is now necessary, absolutely imperative, that I go -into Armenia to take part in the mourning for Tammouz: people would -not understand it at all if I stayed away from such important -orgies. And I shall get no benefit whatever from the trip, much as I -need the change, because, without speaking of that famous heart of -yours, you are always up to some double-dealing, and I shall not -know into what mischief you may be thrusting yourself." - -Jurgen laughed, and kissed her. "Be off, and attend to your -religious duties, dear, by all means. And I promise you I will stay -safe locked in the Library till you come back." - -Thus Jurgen abode among the offspring of heathen perversity, and -conformed to their customs. Death ends all things for all, they -contended, and life is brief: for how few years do men endure, and -how quickly is the most subtle and appalling nature myth explained -away by the Philologists! So the wise person, and equally the -foreseeing nature myth, will take his glut of pleasure while there -is yet time to take anything, and will waste none of his short lien -upon desire and vigor by asking questions. - -"Oh, but by all means!" said Jurgen, and he docilely crowned himself -with a rose garland, and drank his wine, and kissed his Anaitis. -Then, when the feast of the Sacae was at full-tide, he would whisper -to Anaitis, "I will be back in a moment, darling," and she would -frown fondly at him as he very quietly slipped from his ivory dining -couch, and went, with the merest suspicion of a reel, into the -Library. She knew that Jurgen had no intention of coming back: and -she despaired of his ever taking the position in the social life of -Cocaigne to which he was entitled no less by his rank as Prince -Consort than by his personal abilities. For Anaitis did not really -think that, as went natural endowments, her Jurgen had much reason -to envy even such a general favorite as Priapos, say, from what she -knew of both. - -So it was that Jurgen honored custom. "Because these beastly nature -myths may be right," said Jurgen; "and certainly I cannot go so far -as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--!" - -For Jurgen was content to dismiss no riddle with a mere "I do not -know." Jurgen was no more able to give up questioning the meaning of -life than could a trout relinquish swimming: indeed, he lived -submerged in a flood of curiosity and doubt, as his native element. -That death ended all things might very well be the case: yet if the -outcome proved otherwise, how much more pleasant it would be, for -everyone concerned, to have aforetime established amicable relations -with the overlords of his second life, by having done whatever it -was they expected of him here. - -"Yes, I feel that something is expected of me," says Jurgen: "and -without knowing what it is, I am tolerably sure, somehow, that it is -not an indulgence in endless pleasure. Besides, I do not think death -is going to end all for me. If only I could be quite certain my -encounter with King Smoit, and with that charming little Sylvia -Tereu, was not a dream! As it is, plain reasoning assures me I am -not indispensable to the universe: but with this reasoning, somehow, -does not travel my belief. No, it is only fair to my own interests -to go graveward a little more openmindedly than do these nature -myths, since I lack the requisite credulity to become a free-thinking -materialist. To believe that we know nothing assuredly, and cannot -ever know anything assuredly, is to take too much on faith." - -And Jurgen paused to shake his sleek black head two or three times, -very sagely. - -"No, I cannot believe in nothingness being the destined end of all: -that would be too futile a climax to content a dramatist clever -enough to have invented Jurgen. No, it is just as I said to the -brown man: I cannot believe in the annihilation of Jurgen by any -really thrifty overlords; so I shall see to it that Jurgen does -nothing which he cannot more or less plausibly excuse, in case of -supernal inquiries. That is far safer." - -Now Jurgen was shaking his head again: and he sighed. - -"For the pleasures of Cocaigne do not satisfy me. They are all well -enough in their way; and I admit the truism that in seeking bed and -board two heads are better than one. Yes, Anaitis makes me an -excellent wife. Nevertheless, her diversions do not satisfy me, and -gallantly to make the most of life is not enough. No, it is -something else that I desire: and Anaitis does not quite understand -me." - - - - -24. - -Of Compromises in Cocaigne - - -Thus Jurgen abode for a little over two months in Cocaigne, and -complied with the customs of that country. Nothing altered in -Cocaigne: but in the world wherein Jurgen was reared, he knew, it -would by this time be September, with the leaves flaring gloriously, -and the birds flocking southward, and the hearts of Jurgen's fellows -turning to not unpleasant regrets. But in Cocaigne there was no -regret and no variability, but only an interminable flow of curious -pleasures, illumined by the wandering star of Venus Mechanitis. - -"Why is it, then, that I am not content?" said Jurgen. "And what -thing is this which I desire? It seems to me there is some injustice -being perpetrated upon Jurgen, somewhere." - -Meanwhile he lived with Anaitis the Sun's daughter very much as he -had lived with Lisa, who was daughter to a pawnbroker. Anaitis -displayed upon the whole a milder temper: in part because she could -confidently look forward to several centuries more of life before -being explained away by the Philologists, and so had less need than -Dame Lisa to worry over temporal matters; and in part because there -was less to ruin one's disposition in two months than in ten years -of Jurgen's company. Anaitis nagged and sulked for a while when her -Prince Consort slackened in the pursuit of strange delights, as he -did very soon, with frank confession that his tastes were simple and -that these outlandish refinements bored him. Later Anaitis seemed to -despair of his ever becoming proficient in curious pleasures, and -she permitted Jurgen to lead a comparatively normal life, with only -an occasional and half-hearted remonstrance. - -What puzzled Jurgen was that she did not seem to tire of him: and he -would often wonder what this lovely myth, so skilled and potent in -arts wherein he was the merest bungler, could find to care for in -Jurgen. For now they lived together like any other humdrum married -couple, and their occasional exchange of endearments was as much a -matter of course as their meals, and hardly more exciting. - -"Poor dear, I believe it is simply because I am a monstrous clever -fellow. She distrusts my cleverness, she very often disapproves of -it, and yet she values it as queer, as a sort of curiosity. Well, -but who can deny that cleverness is truly a curiosity in Cocaigne?" - -So Anaitis petted and pampered her Prince Consort, and took such -open pride in his queerness as very nearly embarrassed him -sometimes. She could not understand his attitude of polite amusement -toward his associates and the events which befell him, and even -toward his own doings and traits. Whatever happened, Jurgen -shrugged, and, delicately avoiding actual laughter, evinced -amusement. Anaitis could not understand this at all, of course, -since Asian myths are remarkably destitute of humor. To Jurgen in -private she protested that he ought to be ashamed of his levity: but -none the less, she would draw him out, when among the bestial and -grim nature myths, and she would glow visibly with fond pride in -Jurgen's queerness. - -"She mothers me," reflected Jurgen. "Upon my word, I believe that in -the end this is the only way in which females are capable of loving. -And she is a dear and lovely creature, of whom I am sincerely fond. -What is this thing, then, that I desire? Why do I feel life is not -treating me quite justly?" - -So the summer had passed; and Anaitis travelled a great deal, being -a popular myth in every land. Her sense of duty was so strong that -she endeavored to grace in person all the peculiar festivals held in -her honor, and this, now the harvest season was at hand, left her -with hardly a moment disengaged. Then, too, the mission of Anaitis -was to divert; and there were so many people whom she had personally -to visit--so many notable ascetics who were advancing straight -toward canonization, and whom her underlings were unable to -divert,--that Anaitis was compelled to pass night after night in -unwholesomely comfortless surroundings, in monasteries and in the -cells and caves of hermits. - -"You are wearing yourself out, my darling," Jurgen would say: "and -does it not seem, after all, a game that is hardly worth the candle? -I know that, for my part, before I would travel so many miles into a -desert, and then climb a hundred foot pillar, just to whisper -diverting notions into an anchorite's very dirty ear, I would let -the gaunt rascal go to Heaven. But you associate so much with -saintly persons that you have contracted their incapacity for seeing -the humorous side of things. Well, you are a dear, even so. Here is -a kiss for you: and do you come back to your adoring husband as soon -as you conveniently can without neglecting your duty." - -"They report that this Stylites is very far gone in rectitude," said -Anaitis, absent-mindedly, as she prepared for the journey, "but I -have hopes for him." - -Then Anaitis put purple powder on her hair, and hastily got together -a few beguiling devices, and went into the Thebaid. Jurgen went back -to the Library, and the _System of Worshipping a Girl_, and the -unique manuscripts of Astyanassa and Elephantis and Sotades, and the -Dionysiac Formulae, and the Chart of Postures, and the _Litany of -the Centre of Delight_, and the Spintrian Treatises, and the -_Thirty-two Gratifications_, and innumerable other volumes -which he found instructive. - -The Library was a vaulted chamber, having its walls painted with the -twelve Asan of Cyrene; the ceiling was frescoed with the arched body -of a woman, whose toes rested upon the cornice of the east wall, and -whose out-stretched finger-tips touched the cornice of the western -wall. The clothing of this painted woman was remarkable: and to -Jurgen her face was not unfamiliar. - -"Who is that?" he inquired, of Anaitis. - -Looking a little troubled, Anaitis told him this was AEsred. - -"Well, I have heard her called otherwise: and I have seen her in -quite other clothing." - -"You have seen AEsred!" - -"Yes, with a kitchen towel about her head, and otherwise -unostentatiously appareled--but very becomingly, I can assure you!" -Here Jurgen glanced sidewise at his shadow, and he cleared his -throat. "Oh, and a most charming and a most estimable old lady I -found this AEsred to be, I can assure you also." - -"I would prefer to know nothing about it," said Anaitis, hastily, "I -would prefer, for both our sakes, that you say no more of AEsred." -Jurgen shrugged. - -Now in the Library of Cocaigne was garnered a record of all that the -nature myths had invented in the way of pleasure. And here, with no -companion save his queer shadow, and with AEsred arched above and -bleakly regarding him, Jurgen spent most of his time, rather -agreeably, in investigating and meditating upon the more curious of -these recreations. The painted Asan were, in all conscience, food -for wonder: but over and above these dozen surprising pastimes, the -books of Anaitis revealed to Jurgen, without disguise or reticence, -every other far-fetched frolic of heathenry. Hitherto unheard-of -forms of diversion were unveiled to him, and every recreation which -ingenuity had been able to contrive, for the gratifying of the most -subtle and the most strong-stomached tastes. No possible sort of -amusement would seem to have been omitted, in running the quaint -gamut of refinements upon nature which Anaitis and her cousins had -at odd moments invented, to satiate their desire for some more suave -or more strange or more sanguinary pleasure. Yet the deeper Jurgen -investigated, and the longer he meditated, the more certain it -seemed to him that all such employment was a peculiarly -unimaginative pursuit of happiness. - -"I am willing to taste any drink once. So I must give diversion a -fair trial. But I am afraid these are the games of mental childhood. -Well, that reminds me I promised the children to play with them for -a while before supper." - -So he came out, and presently, brave in the shirt of Nessus, and -mimicked in every action by that incongruous shadow, Prince Jurgen -was playing tag with the three little Eumenides, the daughters of -Anaitis by her former marriage with Acheron, the King of Midnight. - -Anaitis and the dark potentate had parted by mutual consent. -"Acheron meant well," she would say, with a forgiving sigh, "and -that in the Moon's absence he occasionally diverted travellers, I do -not deny. But he did not understand me." - -And Jurgen agreed that this tragedy sometimes befell even the -irreproachably diverting. - -The three Eumenides at this period were half-grown girls, whom their -mother was carefully tutoring to drive guilty persons mad by the -stings of conscience: and very quaint it was to see the young Furies -at practise in the schoolroom, black-robed, and waving lighted -torches, and crowned each with her garland of pet serpents. They -became attached to Jurgen, who was always fond of children, and who -had frequently regretted that Dame Lisa had borne him none. - -"It is enough to get the poor dear a name for eccentricity," he had -been used to say. - -So Jurgen now made much of his step-children: and indeed he found -their innocent prattle quite as intelligent, in essentials, as the -talk of the full-grown nature myths who infested the palace of -Anaitis. And the four of them--Jurgen, and critical Alecto, and -grave Tisiphone, and fairy-like little Megaera,--would take long -walks, and play with their dolls (though Alecto was a trifle -condescending toward dolls), and romp together in the eternal -evening of Cocaigne; and discuss what sort of dresses and trinkets -Mother would probably bring them when she came back from Ecbatana or -Lesbos, and would generally enjoy themselves. - -Rather pathetically earnest and unimaginative little lasses, Jurgen -found the young Eumenides: they inherited much of their mother's -narrow-mindedness, if not their father's brooding and gloomy -tendencies; but in them narrow-mindedness showed merely as amusing. -And Jurgen loved them, and would often reflect what a pity it was -that these dear little girls were destined when they reached -maturity, to spend the rest of their lives in haunting criminals and -adulterers and parricides and, generally, such persons as must -inevitably tarnish the girls' outlook upon life, and lead them to -see too much of the worst side of human nature. - -So Jurgen was content enough. But still he was not actually happy, -not even among the endless pleasures of Cocaigne. - -"And what is this thing that I desire?" he would ask himself, again -and again. - -And still he did not know: he merely felt he was not getting -justice: and a dim sense of this would trouble him even while he was -playing with the Eumenides. - - - - -25. - -Cantraps of the Master Philologist - - -But now, as has been recorded, it was September, and Jurgen could -see that Anaitis too was worrying over something. She kept it from -him as long as possible: first said it was nothing at all, then said -he would know it soon enough, then wept a little over the -possibility that he would probably be very glad to hear it, and -eventually told him. For in becoming the consort of a nature myth -connected with the Moon Jurgen had of course exposed himself to the -danger of being converted into a solar legend by the Philologists, -and in that event would be compelled to leave Cocaigne with the -Equinox, to enter into autumnal exploits elsewhere. And Anaitis was -quite heart-broken over the prospect of losing Jurgen. - -"For I have never had such a Prince Consort in Cocaigne, so -maddening, and so helpless, and so clever; and the girls are so fond -of you, although they have not been able to get on at all with so -many of their step-fathers! And I know that you are flippant and -heartless, but you have quite spoiled me for other men. No, Jurgen, -there is no need to argue, for I have experimented with at least a -dozen lovers lately, when I was traveling, and they bored me -insufferably. They had, as you put it, dear, no conversation: and -you are the only young man I have found in all these ages who could -talk interestingly." - -"There is a reason for that, since like you, Anaitis, I am not so -youthful as I appear." - -"I do not care a straw about appearances," wept Anaitis, "but I know -that I love you, and that you must be leaving me with the Equinox -unless you can settle matters with the Master Philologist." - -"Well, my pet," says Jurgen, "the Jews got into Jericho by trying." - -He armed, and girded himself with Caliburn, drank a couple of -bottles of wine, put on the shirt of Nessus over all, and then went -to seek this thaumaturgist. - -Anaitis showed him the way to an unpretentious residence, where a -week's washing was drying and flapping in the side yard. Jurgen -knocked boldly, and after an interval the door was opened by the -Master Philologist himself. - -"You must pardon this informality," he said, blinking through his -great spectacles, which had dust on them: "but time was by ill luck -arrested hereabouts on a Thursday evening, and so the maid is out -indefinitely. I would suggest, therefore, that the lady wait outside -upon the porch. For the neighbors to see her go in would not be -respectable." - -"Do you know what I have come for?" says Jurgen, blustering, and -splendid in his glittering shirt and his gleaming armor. "For I warn -you I am justice." - -"I think you are lying, and I am sure you are making an unnecessary -noise. In any event, justice is a word, and I control all words." - -"You will discover very soon, sir, that actions speak louder than -words." - -"I believe that is so," said the Master Philologist, still blinking, -"just as the Jewish mob spoke louder than He Whom they crucified. -But the Word endures." - -"You are a quibbler!" - -"You are my guest. So I advise you, in pure friendliness, not to -impugn the power of my words." - -Said Jurgen, scornfully: "But is justice, then, a word?" - -"Oh, yes, it is one of the most useful. It is the Spanish _justicia_, -the Portuguese _justica_, the Italian _giustizia_, all from -the Latin _justus_. Oh, yes indeed, but justice is one of my best -connected words, and one of the best trained also, I can assure you." - -"Aha, and to what degraded uses do you put this poor enslaved -intimidated justice!" - -"There is but one intelligent use," said the Master Philologist, -unruffled, "for anybody to make of words. I will explain it to you, -if you will come in out of this treacherous draught. One never knows -what a cold may lead to." - -Then the door closed upon them, and Anaitis waited outside, in some -trepidation. - -Presently Jurgen came out of that unpretentious residence, and so -back to Anaitis, discomfited. Jurgen flung down his magic sword, -charmed Caliburn. - -"This, Anaitis, I perceive to be an outmoded weapon. There is no -weapon like words, no armor against words, and with words the Master -Philologist has conquered me. It is not at all equitable: but the -man showed me a huge book wherein were the names of everything in -the world, and justice was not among them. It develops that, -instead, justice is merely a common noun, vaguely denoting an -ethical idea of conduct proper to the circumstances, whether of -individuals or communities. It is, you observe, just a grammarian's -notion." - -"But what has he decided about you, Jurgen?" - -"Alas, dear Anaitis, he has decided, in spite of all that I could -do, to derive Jurgen from _jargon_, indicating a confused -chattering such as birds give forth at sunrise: thus ruthlessly does -the Master Philologist convert me into a solar legend. So the affair -is settled, and we must part, my darling." - -Anaitis took up the sword. "But this is valuable, since the man who -wields it is the mightiest of warriors." - -"It is a rush, a rotten twig, a broomstraw, against the insidious -weapons of the Master Philologist. But keep it if you like, my dear, -and give it to your next Prince Consort. I am ashamed to have -trifled with such toys," says Jurgen, in fretted disgust. "And -besides, the Master Philologist assures me I shall mount far higher -through the aid of this." - -"But what is on that bit of parchment?" - -"Thirty-two of the Master Philologist's own words that I begged of -him. See, my dear, he made this cantrap for me with his own hand and -ink." And Jurgen read from the parchment, impressively: "'At the -death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who should be named John -the Twentieth, was through an error in the reckoning elevated to the -papal chair as John the Twenty-first.'" - -Said Anaitis, blankly: "And is that all?" - -"Why, yes: and surely thirty-two whole words should be enough for -the most exacting." - -"But is it magic? are you certain it is authentic magic?" - -"I have learned that there is always magic in words." - -"Now, if you ask my opinion, Jurgen, your cantrap is nonsense, and -can never be of any earthly use to anybody. Without boasting, dear, -I have handled a great deal of black magic in my day, but I never -encountered a spell at all like this." - -"None the less, my darling, it is evidently a cantrap, for else the -Master Philologist would never have given it to me." - -"But how are you to use it, pray?" - -"Why, as need directs," said Jurgen, and he put the parchment into -the pocket of his glittering shirt. "Yes, I repeat, there is always -something to be done with words, and here are thirty-two authentic -words from the Master Philologist himself, not to speak of three -commas and a full-stop. Oh, I shall certainly go far with this." - -"We women have firmer faith in the sword," replied Anaitis. "At all -events, you and I cannot remain upon this thaumaturgist's porch -indefinitely." - -So Anaitis put up Caliburn, and carried it from the thaumaturgist's -unpretentious residence to her fine palace in the old twilit wood: -and afterward, as everybody knows, she gave this sword to King -Arthur, who with its aid rose to be hailed as one of the Nine -Worthies of the World. So did the husband of Guenevere win for -himself eternal fame with that which Jurgen flung away. - - - - -26. - -In Time's Hour-Glass - - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, when he had taken off all that foolish -ironmongery, and had made himself comfortable in his shirt; "well, -beyond doubt, the situation is awkward. I was content enough in -Cocaigne, and it is unfair that I should be thus ousted. Still, a -sensible person will manage to be content anywhere. But whither, -pray, am I expected to go?" - -"Into whatever land you may elect, my dear," said Anaitis, fondly. -"That much at least I can manage for you: and the interpretation of -your legend can be arranged afterward." - -"But I grow tired of all the countries I have ever seen, dear -Anaitis, and in my time I have visited nearly all the lands that are -known to men." - -"That too can be arranged: and you can go instead into one of the -countries which are desired by men. Indeed there are a number of -such realms which no man has ever visited except in dreams, so that -your choice is wide." - -"But how am I to make a choice without having seen any of these -countries? It is not fair to be expecting me to do anything of the -sort." - -"Why, I will show them to you," Anaitis replied. - -The two of them then went together into a small blue chamber, the -walls of which were ornamented with gold stars placed helter-skelter. -The room was entirely empty save for an hour-glass near twice the -height of a man. - -"It is Time's own glass," said Anaitis, "which was left in my -keeping when Time went to sleep." - -Anaitis opened a little door of carved crystal that was in the lower -half of the hour-glass, just above the fallen sands. With her -finger-tips she touched the sand that was in Time's hour-glass, and -in the sand she drew a triangle with equal sides, she who was -strangely gifted and perverse. Then she drew just such another -figure so that the tip of it penetrated the first triangle. The sand -began to smoulder there, and vapors rose into the upper part of the -hour-glass, and Jurgen saw that all the sand in Time's hour-glass -was kindled by a magic generated by the contact of these two -triangles. And in the vapors a picture formed. - -"I see a land of woods and rivers, Anaitis. A very old fellow, -regally crowned, lies asleep under an ash-tree, guarded by a -watchman who has more arms and hands than Jigsbyed." - -"It is Atlantis you behold, and the sleeping of ancient Time--Time, -to whom this glass belongs,--while Briareus watches." - -"Time sleeps quite naked, Anaitis, and, though it is a delicate -matter to talk about, I notice he has met with a deplorable -accident." - -"So that Time begets nothing any more, Jurgen, the while he brings -about old happenings over and over, and changes the name of what is -ancient, in order to persuade himself he has a new plaything. There -is really no more tedious and wearing old dotard anywhere, I can -assure you. But Atlantis is only the western province of Cocaigne. -Now do you look again, Jurgen!" - -"Now I behold a flowering plain and three steep hills, with a castle -upon each hill. There are woods wherein the foliage is crimson: -shining birds with white bodies and purple heads feed upon the -clusters of golden berries that grow everywhere: and people go about -in green clothes, with gold chains about their necks, and with broad -bands of gold upon their arms, and all these people have untroubled -faces." - -"That is Inislocha: and to the south is Inis Daleb, and to the north -Inis Ercandra. And there is sweet music to be listening to -eternally, could we but hear the birds of Rhiannon, and there is the -best of wine to drink, and there delight is common. For thither -comes nothing hard nor rough, and no grief, nor any regret, nor -sickness, nor age, nor death, for this is the Land of Women, a land -of many-colored hospitality." - -"Why, then, it is no different from Cocaigne. And into no realm -where pleasure is endless will I ever venture again of my own free -will, for I find that I do not enjoy pleasure." - -Then Anaitis showed him Ogygia, and Trypheme, and Sudarsana, and the -Fortunate Islands, and AEaea, and Caer-Is, and Invallis, and the -Hesperides, and Meropis, and Planasia, and Uttarra, and Avalon, and -Tir-nam-Beo, and Theleme, and a number of other lands to enter which -men have desired: and Jurgen groaned. - -"I am ashamed of my fellows," says he: "for it appears their notion -of felicity is to dwell eternally in a glorified brothel. I do not -think that as a self-respecting young Prince I would care to inhabit -any of these earthly paradises, for were there nothing else, I would -always be looking for an invasion by the police." - -"There remains, then, but one other realm, which I have not shown -you, in part because it is an obscure little place, and in part -because, for a reason that I have, I shall not assist you to go -thither. Still, there is Leuke, where Queen Helen rules: and Leuke -it is that you behold." - -"But Leuke seems like any other country in autumn, and appears to be -reasonably free from the fantastic animals and overgrown flowers -which made the other paradises look childish. Come now, there is an -attractive simplicity about Leuke. I might put up with Leuke if the -local by-laws allowed me a rational amount of discomfort." - -"Discomfort you would have full measure. For the heart of no man -remains untroubled after he has once viewed Queen Helen and the -beauty that is hers. It is for that reason, Jurgen, I shall not help -you to go into Leuke: for in Leuke you would forget me, having seen -Queen Helen." - -"Why, what nonsense you are talking, my darling! I will wager she -cannot hold a candle to you." - -"See for yourself!" said Anaitis, sadly. - -Now through the rolling vapors came confusedly a gleaming and a -surging glitter of all the loveliest colors of heaven and earth: -and these took order presently, and Jurgen saw before him in the -hour-glass that young Dorothy who was not Heitman Michael's wife. -And long and wistfully he looked at her, and the blinding tears -came to his eyes for no reason at all, and for the while he could -not speak. - -Then Jurgen yawned, and said, "But certainly this is not the Helen -who was famed for beauty." - -"I can assure you that it is," said Anaitis: "and that it is she who -rules in Leuke, whither I do not intend you shall go." - -"Why, but, my darling! this is preposterous. The girl is nothing to -look at twice, one way or the other. She is not actually ugly, I -suppose, if one happens to admire that washed-out blonde type, as of -course some people do. But to call her beautiful is out of reason; -and that I must protest in simple justice." - -"Do you really think so?" says Anaitis, brightening. - -"I most assuredly do. Why, you remember what Calpurnius Bassus says -about all blondes?" - -"No, I believe not. What did he say, dear?" - -"I would only spoil the splendid passage by quoting it inaccurately -from memory. But he was quite right, and his opinion is mine in -every particular. So if that is the best Leuke can offer, I heartily -agree with you I had best go into some other country." - -"I suppose you already have your eyes upon some minx or other?" - -"Well, my love, those girls in the Hesperides were strikingly like -you, with even more wonderful hair than yours: and the girl Aille -whom we saw in Tir-nam-Beo likewise resembled you remarkably, except -that I thought she had the better figure. So I believe in either of -those countries I could be content enough, after a while. Since part -from you I must," said Jurgen, tenderly, "I intend, in common -fairness to myself, to find a companion as like you as possible. You -conceive I can pretend it is you at first: and then as I grow fonder -of her for her own sake, you will gradually be put out of my mind -without my incurring any intolerable anguish." - -Anaitis was not pleased. "So you are already hankering after those -huzzies! And you think them better looking than I am! And you tell -me so to my face!" - -"My darling, you cannot deny we have been married all of three whole -months: and nobody can maintain an infatuation for any woman that -long, in the teeth of having nothing refused him. Infatuation is -largely a matter of curiosity, and both of these emotions die when -they are fed." - -"Jurgen," said Anaitis, with conviction, "you are lying to me about -something. I can see it in your eyes." - -"There is no deceiving a woman's intuition. Yes, I was not speaking -quite honestly when I pretended I had as lief go into the Hesperides -as to Tir-nam-Beo: it was wrong of me, and I ask your pardon. I -thought that by affecting indifference I could manage you better. -But you saw through me at once, and very rightly became angry. So I -fling my cards upon the table, I no longer beat about the bushes of -equivocation. It is Aille, the daughter of Cormac, whom I love, and -who can blame me? Did you ever in your life behold a more enticing -figure, Anaitis?--certainly I never did. Besides, I noticed--but -never mind about that! Still I could not help seeing them. And then -such eyes! twin beacons that light my way to comfort for my not -inconsiderable regret at losing you, my darling. Oh, yes, assuredly -it is to Tir-nam-Beo I elect to go." - -"Whither you go, my fine fellow, is a matter in which I have the -choice, not you. And you are going to Leuke." - -"My love, now do be reasonable! We both agreed that Leuke was not a -bit suitable. Why, were there nothing else, in Leuke there are no -attractive women." - -"Have you no sense except book-sense! It is for that reason I am -sending you to Leuke." - -And thus speaking, Anaitis set about a strong magic that hastened -the coming of the Equinox. In the midst of her charming she wept a -little, for she was fond of Jurgen. - -And Jurgen preserved a hurt and angry face as well as he could: for -at the sight of Queen Helen, who was so like young Dorothy la -Desiree, he had ceased to care for Queen Anaitis and her diverting -ways, or to care for aught else in the world save only Queen Helen, -the delight of gods and men. But Jurgen had learned that Anaitis -required management. - -"For her own good," as he put it, "and in simple justice to the many -admirable qualities which she possesses." - - - - -27. - -Vexatious Estate of Queen Helen - - -"But how can I travel with the Equinox, with a fictitious thing, -with a mere convention?" Jurgen had said. "To demand any such -proceeding of me is preposterous." - -"Is it any more preposterous than to travel with an imaginary -creature like a centaur?" they had retorted. "Why, Prince Jurgen, we -wonder how you, who have done that perfectly unheard-of thing, can -have the effrontery to call anything else preposterous! Is there no -reason at all in you? Why, conventions are respectable, and that is -a deal more than can be said for a great many centaurs. Would you be -throwing stones at respectability, Prince Jurgen? Why, we are -unutterably astounded at your objection to any such well-known -phenomenon as the Equinox!" And so on, and so on, and so on, said -they. - -And in fine, they kept at him until Jurgen was too confused to -argue, and his head was in a whirl, and one thing seemed as -preposterous as another: and he ceased to notice any especial -improbability in his traveling with the Equinox, and so passed -without any further protest or argument about it, from Cocaigne to -Leuke. But he would not have been thus readily flustered had Jurgen -not been thinking all the while of Queen Helen and of the beauty -that was hers. - -So he inquired forthwith the way that one might quickliest come into -the presence of Queen Helen. - -"Why, you will find Queen Helen," he was told, "in her palace at -Pseudopolis." His informant was a hamadryad, whom Jurgen encountered -upon the outskirts of a forest overlooking the city from the west. -Beyond broad sloping stretches of ripe corn, you saw Pseudopolis as -a city builded of gold and ivory, now all a dazzling glitter under a -hard-seeming sky that appeared unusually remote from earth. - -"And is the Queen as fair as people report?" asks Jurgen. - -"Men say that she excels all other women," replied the Hamadryad, -"as immeasurably as all we women perceive her husband to surpass all -other men--" - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen. - -"--Although, for one, I see nothing remarkable in Queen Helen's -looks. And I cannot but think that a woman who has been so much -talked about ought to be more careful in the way she dresses." - -"So this Queen Helen is already provided with a husband!" Jurgen was -displeased, but saw no reason for despair. Then Jurgen inquired as -to the Queen's husband, and learned that Achilles, the son of -Peleus, was now wedded to Helen, the Swan's daughter, and that these -two ruled in Pseudopolis. - -"For they report," said the Hamadryad, "that in Ades' dreary kingdom -Achilles remembered her beauty, and by this memory was heartened to -break the bonds of Ades: so did Achilles, King of Men, and all his -ancient comrades come forth resistlessly upon a second quest of this -Helen, whom people call--and as I think, with considerable -exaggeration--the wonder of this world. Then the Gods fulfilled the -desire of Achilles, because, they said, the man who has once beheld -Queen Helen will never any more regain contentment so long as his -life lacks this wonder of the world. Personally, I would dislike to -think that all men are so foolish." - -"Men are not always rational, I grant you: but then," says Jurgen, -slyly, "so many of their ancestresses are feminine." - -"But an ancestress is always feminine. Nobody ever heard of a man -being an ancestress. Men are ancestors. Why, whatever are you -talking about?" - -"Well, we were speaking, I believe, of Queen Helen's marriage." - -"To be sure we were! And I was telling you about the Gods, when you -made that droll mistake about ancestors. Everybody makes mistakes -sometimes, however, and foreigners are always apt to get words -confused. I could see at once you were a foreigner--" - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "but you were not telling me about myself but -about the Gods." - -"Why, you must know the aging Gods desired tranquillity. So we will -give her to Achilles, they said; and then, it may be, this King of -Men will retain her so safely that his littler fellows will despair, -and will cease to war for Helen: and so we shall not be bothered any -longer by their wars and other foolishnesses. For this reason it was -that the Gods gave Helen to Achilles, and sent the pair to reign in -Leuke: though, for my part," concluded the Hamadryad, "I shall never -cease to wonder what he saw in her--no, not if I live to be a -thousand." - -"I must," says Jurgen, "observe this monarch Achilles before the world -is a day older. A king is all very well, of course, but no husband -wears a crown so as to prevent the affixion of other head-gear." - -And Jurgen went down into Pseudopolis, swaggering. - - * * * * * - -So in the evening, just after sunset, Jurgen returned to the -Hamadryad: he walked now with the aid of the ashen staff which -Thersites had given Jurgen, and Jurgen was mirthless and rather -humble. - -"I have observed your King Achilles," Jurgen says, "and he is a -better man than I. Queen Helen, as I confess with regret, is -worthily mated." - -"And what have you to say about her?" inquires the Hamadryad. - -"Why, there is nothing more to say than that she is worthily mated, -and fit to be the wife of Achilles." For once, poor Jurgen was -really miserable. "For I admire this man Achilles, I envy him, and I -fear him," says Jurgen: "and it is not fair that he should have been -created my superior." - -"But is not Queen Helen the loveliest of ladies that you have ever -seen?" - -"As to that--!" says Jurgen. He led the Hamadryad to a forest pool -hard-by the oak-tree in which she resided. The dusky water lay -unruffled, a natural mirror. "Look!" said Jurgen, and he spoke with -a downward waving of his staff. - -The silence gathering in the woods was wonderful. Here the air was -sweet and pure: and the little wind which went about the ilex boughs -in search of night was a tender and peaceful wind, because it knew -that the all-healing night was close at hand. - -The Hamadryad replied, "But I see only my own face." - -"It is the answer to your question, none the less. Now do you tell -me your name, my dear, so that I may know who in reality is the -loveliest of all the ladies I have ever seen." - -The Hamadryad told him that her name was Chloris, and that she -always looked a fright with her hair arranged as it was to-day, and -that he was a strangely impudent fellow. So he in turn confessed to -her he was King Jurgen of Eubonia, drawn from his remote kingdom by -exaggerated reports as to the beauty of Queen Helen. Chloris agreed -with him that rumor was in such matters invariably untrustworthy. - -This led to further talk as twilight deepened: and the while that a -little by a little this pretty girl was converted into a warm -breathing shadow, hardly visible to the eye, the shadow of Jurgen -departed from him, and he began to talk better and better. He had -seen Queen Helen face to face, and other women now seemed -unimportant. Whether or not he got into the graces of this Hamadryad -did not greatly matter, one way or the other: and in consequence -Jurgen talked with such fluency, such apposite remarks and such -tenderness as astounded him. - -So he sat listening with delight to the seductive tongue of that -monstrous clever fellow, Jurgen. For this plump brown-haired -bright-eyed little creature, this Chloris, he was honestly sorry. -Into the uneventful life of a hamadryad, here in this uncultured -forest, could not possibly have entered much pleasurable excitement, -and it seemed only right to inject a little. "Why, simply in justice -to her!" Jurgen reflected. "I must deal fairly." - -Now it grew darker and darker under the trees, and in the dark -nobody can see what happens. There were only two voices that talked, -with lengthy pauses: and they spoke gravely of unimportant trifles, -like children at play together. - -"And how does a king come thus to be traveling without any retinue -or even a sword about him?" - -"Why, I travel with a staff, my dear, as you perceive: and it -suffices me." - -"Certainly it is large enough, in all conscience. Alas, young -outlander, who call yourself a king! you carry the bludgeon of a -highwayman, and I am afraid of it." - -"My staff is a twig from Yggdrasill, the tree of universal life: -Thersites gave it me, and the sap that throbs therein arises from -the Undar fountain, where the grave Norns make laws for men and fix -their destinies." - -"Thersites is a scoffer, and his gifts are mockery. I would have -none of them." - -The two began to wrangle, not at all angrily, as to what Jurgen had -best do with his prized staff. "Do you take it away from me, at any -rate!" says Chloris. So Jurgen hid his staff where Chloris could not -possibly see it; and he drew the Hamadryad close to him, and he -laughed contentedly. - -"Oh, oh! O wretched King," cried Chloris, "I fear that you will be -the death of me! And you have no right to oppress me in this way, -for I am not your subject." - -"Rather shall you be my queen, dear Chloris, receiving all that I -most prize." - -"But you are too domineering: and I am afraid to be alone with you -and your big staff! Ah! not without knowing what she talked about -did my mother use to quote her AEolic saying, The king is cruel and -takes joy in bloodshed!" - -"Presently you will not be afraid of me, nor will you be afraid of -my staff. Custom is all. For this likewise is an AEolic saying, The -taste of the first olive is unpleasant, but the second is good." - -Now for a while was silence save for the small secretive rumors of -the forest. One of the large green locusts which frequent the Island -of Leuke began shrilling tentatively. - -"Wait now, King Jurgen, for surely I hear footsteps, and one comes -to trouble us." - -"It is a wind in the tree-tops: or perhaps it is a god who envies -me. I pause for neither." - -"Ah, but speak reverently of the Gods! For is not Love a god, and a -jealous god that has wings with which to leave us?" - -"Then am I a god, for in my heart is love, and in every fibre of me -is love, and from me now love emanates." - -"But certainly I heard somebody approaching through the forest--" - -"Well, and do you not perceive I have withdrawn my staff from its -hiding-place?" - -"Ah, you have great faith in that staff of yours!" - -"I fear nobody when I brandish it." - -Another locust had answered the first one. Now the two insects were -in full dispute, suffusing the warm darkness with their pertinacious -whirrings. - -"King of Eubonia, it is certainly true, that which you told me about -olives." - -"Yes, for always love begets truthfulness." - -"I pray it may beget between us utter truthfulness, and nothing -else, King Jurgen." - -"Not 'Jurgen' now, but 'love'." - -"Indeed, they tell that even so, in such deep darkness, Love came to -his sweetheart Psyche." - -"Then why do you complain because I piously emulate the Gods, and -offer unto Love the sincerest form of flattery?" And Jurgen shook -his staff at her. - -"Ah, but you are strangely ready with your flattery! and Love -threatened Psyche with no such enormous staff." - -"That is possible: for I am Jurgen. And I deal fairly with all -women, and raise my staff against none save in the way of kindness." - -So they talked nonsense, in utter darkness, while the locusts, and -presently a score of locusts, disputed obstinately. Now Chloris and -Jurgen were invisible, even to each other, as they talked under her -oak-tree: but before them the fields shone mistily under a gold-dusted -dome, for this night seemed builded of stars. And the white towers of -Pseudopolis also could Jurgen see, as he laughed there and took his -pleasure with Chloris. He reflected that very probably Achilles and -Helen were laughing thus, and were not dissimilarly occupied, out -yonder, in this night of wonder. - -He sighed. But in a while Jurgen and the Hamadryad were speaking -again, just as inconsequently, and the locusts were whirring just as -obstinately. Later the moon rose, and they all slept. - -With the dawn Jurgen arose, and left this Hamadryad Chloris still -asleep. He stood where he overlooked the city and the shirt of -Nessus glittered in the level sun rays: and Jurgen thought of Queen -Helen. Then he sighed, and went back to Chloris and wakened her with -the sort of salutation that appeared her just due. - - - - -28. - -Of Compromises in Leuke - - -Now the tale tells that ten days later Jurgen and his Hamadryad were -duly married, in consonance with the law of the Wood: not for a -moment did Chloris consider any violation of the proprieties, so -they were married the first evening she could assemble her kindred. - -"Still, Chloris, I already have two wives," says Jurgen, "and it is -but fair to confess it." - -"I thought it was only yesterday you arrived in Leuke." - -"That is true: for I came with the Equinox, over the long sea." - -"Then Jugatinus has not had time to marry you to anybody, and -certainly he would never think of marrying you to two wives. Why do -you talk such nonsense?" - -"No, it is true, I was not married by Jugatinus." - -"So there!" says Chloris, as if that settled matters. "Now you see -for yourself." - -"Why, yes, to be sure," says Jurgen, "that does put rather a -different light upon it, now I think of it." - -"It makes all the difference in the world." - -"I would hardly go that far. Still, I perceive it makes a -difference." - -"Why, you talk as if everybody did not know that Jugatinus marries -people!" - -"No, dear, let us be fair! I did not say precisely that." - -"--And as if everybody was not always married by Jugatinus!" - -"Yes, here in Leuke, perhaps. But outside of Leuke, you understand, -my darling!" - -"But nobody goes outside of Leuke. Nobody ever thinks of leaving -Leuke. I never heard such nonsense." - -"You mean, nobody ever leaves this island?" - -"Nobody that you ever hear of. Of course, there are Lares and -Penates, with no social position, that the kings of Pseudopolis -sometimes take a-voyaging--" - -"Still, the people of other countries do get married." - -"No, Jurgen," said Chloris, sadly, "it is a rule with Jugatinus -never to leave the island; and indeed I am sure he has never even -considered such unheard-of conduct: so, of course, the people of -other countries are not able to get married." - -"Well, but, Chloris, in Eubonia--" - -"Now if you do not mind, dear, I think we had better talk about -something more pleasant. I do not blame you men of Eubonia, because -all men are in such matters perfectly irresponsible. And perhaps it -is not altogether the fault of the women, either, though I do think -any really self-respecting woman would have the strength of -character to keep out of such irregular relations, and that much I -am compelled to say. So do not let us talk any more about these -persons whom you describe as your wives. It is very nice of you, -dear, to call them that, and I appreciate your delicacy. Still, I -really do believe we had better talk about something else." - -Jurgen deliberated. "Yet do you not think, Chloris, that in the -absence of Jugatinus--and in, as I understand it, the unavoidable -absence of Jugatinus,--somebody else might perform the ceremony?" - -"Oh, yes, if they wanted to. But it would not count. Nobody but -Jugatinus can really marry people. And so of course nobody else -does." - -"What makes you sure of that?" - -"Why, because," said Chloris, triumphantly, "nobody ever heard of -such a thing." - -"You have voiced," said Jurgen, "an entire code of philosophy. Let -us by all means go to Jugatinus and be married." - -So they were married by Jugatinus, according to the ceremony with -which the People of the Wood were always married by Jugatinus. First -Virgo loosed the girdle of Chloris in such fashion as was customary; -and Chloris, after sitting much longer than Jurgen liked in the lap -of Mutinus (who was in the state that custom required of him) was -led back to Jurgen by Domiducus in accordance with immemorial -custom; Subigo did her customary part; then Praema grasped the -bride's plump arms: and everything was perfectly regular. - -Thereafter Jurgen disposed of his staff in the way Thersites had -directed: and thereafter Jurgen abode with Chloris upon the -outskirts of the forest, and complied with the customs of Leuke. Her -tree was a rather large oak, for Chloris was now in her two hundred -and sixty-sixth year; and at first its commodious trunk sheltered -them. But later Jurgen builded himself a little cabin thatched with -birds' wings, and made himself more comfortable. - -"It is well enough for you, my dear, in fact it is expected of you, -to live in a tree-bole. But it makes me feel uncomfortably like a -worm, and it needlessly emphasizes the restrictions of married life. -Besides, you do not want me under your feet all the time, nor I you. -No, let us cultivate a judicious abstention from familiarity: such -is one secret of an enduring, because endurable, marriage. But why -is it, pray, that you have never married before, in all these -years?" - -She told him. At first Jurgen could not believe her, but presently -Jurgen was convinced, through at least two of his senses, that what -Chloris told him was true about hamadryads. - -"Otherwise, you are not markedly unlike the women of Eubonia," said -Jurgen. - -And now Jurgen met many of the People of the Wood; but since the -tree of Chloris stood upon the verge of the forest, he saw far more -of the People of the Field, who dwelt between the forest and the -city of Pseudopolis. These were the neighbors and the ordinary -associates of Chloris and Jurgen; though once in a while, of course, -there would be family gatherings in the forest. But Jurgen presently -had found good reason to distrust the People of the Wood, and went -to none of these gatherings. - -"For in Eubonia," he said, "we are taught that your wife's relatives -will never find fault with you to your face so long as you keep away -from them. And more than that, no sensible man expects." - -Meanwhile, King Jurgen was perplexed by the People of the Field, who -were his neighbors. They one and all did what they had always done. -Thus Runcina saw to it that the Fields were weeded: Seia took care -of the seed while it was buried in the earth: Nodosa arranged the -knots and joints of the stalk: Volusia folded the blade around the -corn: each had an immemorial duty. And there was hardly a day that -somebody was not busied in the Fields, whether it was Occator -harrowing, or Sator and Sarritor about their sowing and raking, or -Stercutius manuring the ground: and Hippona was always bustling -about in one place or another looking after the horses, or else -Bubona would be there attending to the cattle. There was never any -restfulness in the Fields. - -"And why do you do these things year in and year out?" asked Jurgen. - -"Why, King of Eubonia, we have always done these things," they said, -in high astonishment. - -"Yes, but why not stop occasionally?" - -"Because in that event the work would stop. The corn would die, the -cattle would perish, and the Fields would become jungles." - -"But, as I understand it, this is not your corn, nor your cattle, -nor your Fields. You derive no good from them. And there is nothing -to prevent your ceasing this interminable labor, and living as do -the People of the Wood, who perform no heavy work whatever." - -"I should think not!" said Aristaeus, and his teeth flashed in a smile -that was very pleasant to see, as he strained at the olive-press. -"Whoever heard of the People of the Wood doing anything useful!" - -"Yes, but," says Jurgen, patiently, "do you think it is quite fair -to yourselves to be always about some tedious and difficult labor -when nobody compels you to do it? Why do you not sometimes take -holiday?" - -"King Jurgen," replied Fornax, looking up from the little furnace -wherein she was parching corn, "you are talking nonsense. The People -of the Field have never taken holiday. Nobody ever heard of such a -thing." - -"We should think not indeed!" said all the others, sagely. - -"Ah, ah!" said Jurgen, "so that is your demolishing reason. Well, I -shall inquire about this matter among the People of the Wood, for -they may be more sensible." - -Then as Jurgen was about to enter the forest, he encountered -Terminus, perfumed with ointment, and crowned with a garland of -roses, and standing stock still. - -"Aha," said Jurgen, "so here is one of the People of the Wood about -to go down into the Fields. But if I were you, my friend, I would -keep away from any such foolish place." - -"I never go down into the Fields," said Terminus. - -"Oh, then, you are returning into the forest." - -"But certainly not. Whoever heard of my going into the forest!" - -"Indeed, now I look at you, you are merely standing here." - -"I have always stood here," said Terminus. - -"And do you never move?" - -"No," said Terminus. - -"And for what reason?" - -"Because I have always stood here without moving," replied Terminus. -"Why, for me to move would be a quite unheard-of thing." - -So Jurgen left him, and went into the forest. And there Jurgen -encountered a smiling young fellow, who rode upon the back of a -large ram. This young man had his left fore-finger laid to his lips, -and his right hand held an astonishing object to be thus publicly -displayed. - -"But, oh, dear me! now, really, sir--!" says Jurgen. - -"Bah!" says the ram. - -But the smiling young fellow said nothing at all as he passed -Jurgen, because it is not the custom of Harpocrates to speak. - -"Which would be well enough," reflected Jurgen, "if only his custom -did not make for stiffness and the embarrassment of others." - -Thereafter Jurgen came upon a considerable commotion in the bushes, -where a satyr was at play with an oread. - -"Oh, but this forest is not respectable!" said Jurgen. "Have you no -ethics and morals, you People of the Wood! Have you no sense of -responsibility whatever, thus to be frolicking on a working-day?" - -"Why, no," responded the Satyr, "of course not. None of my people -have such things: and so the natural vocation of all satyrs is that -which you are now interrupting." - -"Perhaps you speak the truth," said Jurgen. "Still, you ought to be -ashamed of the fact that you are not lying." - -"For a satyr to be ashamed of himself would be indeed an unheard-of -thing! Now go away, you in the glittering shirt! for we are studying -eudaemonism, and you are talking nonsense, and I am busy, and you -annoy me," said the Satyr. - -"Well, but in Cocaigne," said Jurgen, "this eudaemonism was -considered an indoor diversion." - -"And did you ever hear of a satyr going indoors?" - -"Why, save us from all hurt and harm! but what has that to do with -it?" - -"Do not try to equivocate, you shining idiot! For now you see for -yourself you are talking nonsense. And I repeat that such unheard-of -nonsense irritates me," said the Satyr. - -The Oread said nothing at all. But she too looked annoyed, and -Jurgen reflected that it was probably not the custom of oreads to be -rescued from the eudaemonism of satyrs. - -So Jurgen left them; and yet deeper in the forest he found a bald-headed -squat old man, with a big paunch and a flat red nose and very small -bleared eyes. Now the old fellow was so helplessly drunk that he could -not walk: instead, he sat upon the ground, and leaned against a tree-bole. - -"This is a very disgusting state for you to be in so early in the -morning," observed Jurgen. - -"But Silenus is always drunk," the bald-headed man responded, with a -dignified hiccough. - -"So here is another one of you! Well, and why are you always drunk, -Silenus?" - -"Because Silenus is the wisest of the People of the Wood." - -"Ah, ah! but I apologize. For here at last is somebody with a -plausible excuse for his daily employment. Now, then, Silenus, since -you are so wise, come tell me, is it really the best fate for a man -to be drunk always?" - -"Not at all. Drunkenness is a joy reserved for the Gods: so do men -partake of it impiously, and so are they very properly punished for -their audacity. For men, it is best of all never to be born; but, -being born, to die very quickly." - -"Ah, yes! but failing either?" - -"The third best thing for a man is to do that which seems expected -of him," replied Silenus. - -"But that is the Law of Philistia: and with Philistia, they inform -me, Pseudopolis is at war." - -Silenus meditated. Jurgen had discovered an uncomfortable thing -about this old fellow, and it was that his small bleared eyes did -not blink nor the lids twitch at all. His eyes moved, as through -magic the eyes of a painted statue might move horribly, under quite -motionless red lids. Therefore it was uncomfortable when these eyes -moved toward you. - -"Young fellow in the glittering shirt, I will tell you a secret: and -it is that the Philistines were created after the image of Koshchei -who made some things as they are. Do you think upon that! So the -Philistines do that which seems expected. And the people of Leuke -were created after the image of Koshchei who made yet other things -as they are: therefore do the people of Leuke do that which is -customary, adhering to classical tradition. Do you think upon that -also! Then do you pick your side in this war, remembering that you -side with stupidity either way. And when that happens which will -happen, do you remember how Silenus foretold to you precisely what -would happen, a long while before it happened, because Silenus was -so old and so wise and so very disreputably drunk, and so very, very -sleepy." - -"Yes, certainly, Silenus: but how will this war end?" - -"Dullness will conquer dullness: and it will not matter." - -"Ah, yes! but what will become, in all this fighting, of Jurgen?" - -"That will not matter either," said Silenus, comfortably. "Nobody -will bother about you." And with that he closed his horrible bleared -eyes and went to sleep. - -So Jurgen left the old tippler, and started to leave the forest -also. "For undoubtedly all the people in Leuke are resolute to do -that which is customary," reflected Jurgen, "for the unarguable -reason it is their custom, and has always been their custom. And -they will desist from these practises when the cat eats acorns, but -not before. So it is the part of wisdom to inquire no further into -the matter. For after all, these people may be right; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say they are wrong." Jurgen shrugged. "But -still, at the same time--!" - -Now in returning to his cabin Jurgen heard a frightful sort of -yowling and screeching as of mad people. - -"Hail, daughter of various-formed Protogonus, thou that takest joy -in mountains and battles and in the beating of the drum! Hail, thou -deceitful saviour, mother of all gods, that comest now, pleased with -long wanderings, to be propitious to us!" - -But the uproar was becoming so increasingly unpleasant that Jurgen -at this point withdrew into a thicket: and thence he witnessed the -passing through the Woods of a notable procession. There were -features connected with this procession sufficiently unusual to -cause Jurgen to vow that the desiderated moment wherein he walked -unhurt from the forest would mark the termination of his last visit -thereto. Then amazement tripped up the heels of terror: for now -passed Mother Sereda, or, as Anaitis had called her, AEsred. To-day, -in place of a towel about her head, she wore a species of crown, -shaped like a circlet of crumbling towers: she carried a large key, -and her chariot was drawn by two lions. She was attended by howling -persons, with shaved heads: and it was apparent that these persons -had parted with possessions which Jurgen valued. - -"This is undoubtedly," said he, "a most unwholesome forest." - -Jurgen inquired about this procession, later, and from Chloris he -got information which surprised him. - -"And these are the beings who I had thought were poetic ornaments of -speech! But what is the old lady doing in such high company?" - -He described Mother Sereda, and Chloris told him who this was. Now -Jurgen shook his sleek black head. - -"Behold another mystery! Yet after all, it is no concern of mine if -the old lady elects for an additional anagram. I should be the last -person to criticize her, inasmuch as to me she has been more than -generous. Well, I shall preserve her friendship by the infallible -recipe of keeping out of her way. Oh, but I shall certainly keep out -of her way now that I have perceived what is done to the men who -serve her." - -And after that Jurgen and Chloris lived very pleasantly together, -though Jurgen began to find his Hamadryad a trifle unperceptive, if -not actually obtuse. - -"She does not understand me, and she does not always treat my -superior wisdom quite respectfully. That is unfair, but it seems to -be an unavoidable feature of married life. Besides, if any woman had -ever understood me she would, in self-protection, have refused to -marry me. In any case, Chloris is a dear brown plump delicious -partridge of a darling: and cleverness in women is, after all, a -virtue misplaced." - -And Jurgen did not return into the Woods, nor did he go down into -the city. Neither the People of the Field nor of the Wood, of -course, ever went within city gates. "But I would think that you -would like to see the fine sights of Pseudopolis," says -Chloris,--"and that fine Queen of theirs," she added, almost as -though she spoke without premeditation. - -"Woman dear," says Jurgen, "I do not wish to appear boastful. But in -Eubonia, now! well, really some day we must return to my kingdom, -and you shall inspect for yourself a dozen or two of my cities--Ziph -and Eglington and Poissieux and Gazden and Baeremburg, at all events. -And then you will concede with me that this little village of -Pseudopolis, while well enough in its way--!" And Jurgen shrugged. -"But as for saying more!" - -"Sometimes," said Chloris, "I wonder if there is any such place as -your fine kingdom of Eubonia: for certainly it grows larger and more -splendid every time you talk of it." - -"Now can it be," asks Jurgen, more hurt than angry, "that you -suspect me of uncandid dealing and, in short, of being an impostor!" - -"Why, what does it matter? You are Jurgen," she answered, happily. - -And the man was moved as she smiled at him across the glowing queer -embroidery-work at which Chloris seemed to labor interminably: he -was conscious of a tenderness for her which was oddly remorseful: -and it appeared to him that if he had known lovelier women he had -certainly found nowhere anyone more lovable than was this plump and -busy and sunny-tempered little wife of his. - -"My dear, I do not care to see Queen Helen again, and that is a -fact. I am contented here, with a wife befitting my station, suited -to my endowments, and infinitely excelling my deserts." - -"And do you think of that tow-headed bean-pole very often, King -Jurgen?" - -"That is unfair, and you wrong me, Chloris, with these unmerited -suspicions. It pains me to reflect, my dear, that you esteem the tie -between us so lightly you can consider me capable of breaking it -even in thought." - -"To talk of fairness is all very well, but it is no answer to a -plain question." - -Jurgen looked full at her; and he laughed. "You women are so -unscrupulously practical. My dear, I have seen Queen Helen face to -face. But it is you whom I love as a man customarily loves a woman." - -"That is not saying much." - -"No: for I endeavor to speak in consonance with my importance. You -forget that I have also seen Achilles." - -"But you admired Achilles! You told me so yourself." - -"I admired the perfections of Achilles, but I cordially dislike the -man who possesses them. Therefore I shall keep away from both the -King and Queen of Pseudopolis." - -"Yet you will not go into the Woods, either, Jurgen--" - -"Not after what I have witnessed there," said Jurgen, with an -exaggerated shudder that was not very much exaggerated. - -Now Chloris laughed, and quitted her queer embroidery in order to -rumple up his hair. "And you find the People of the Field so -insufferably stupid, and so uninterested by your Zorobasiuses and -Ptolemopiters and so on, that you keep away from them also. O -foolish man of mine, you are determined to be neither fish nor beast -nor poultry and nowhere will you ever consent to be happy." - -"It was not I who determined my nature, Chloris: and as for being -happy, I make no complaint. Indeed, I have nothing to complain of, -nowadays. So I am very well contented by my dear wife and by my -manner of living in Leuke," said Jurgen, with a sigh. - - - - -29. - -Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense - - -It was on a bright and tranquil day in November, at the period which -the People of the Field called the summer of Alcyone, that Jurgen -went down from the forest; and after skirting the moats of -Pseudopolis, and avoiding a meeting with any of the town's -dispiritingly glorious inhabitants, Jurgen came to the seashore. - -Chloris had suggested his doing this, in order that she could have a -chance to straighten things in his cabin while she was tidying her -tree for the winter, and could so make one day's work serve for two. -For the dryad of an oak-tree has large responsibilities, what with -the care of so many dead leaves all winter, and the acorns being -blown from their places and littering up the ground everywhere, and -the bark cracking until it looks positively disreputable: and Jurgen -was at any such work less a help than a hindrance. So Chloris gave -him a parcel of lunch and a perfunctory kiss, and told him to go -down to the seashore and get inspired and make up a pretty poem -about her. "And do you be back in time for an early supper, Jurgen," -says she, "but not a minute before." - -Thus it befell that Jurgen reflectively ate his lunch in solitude, -and regarded the Euxine. The sun was high, and the queer shadow that -followed Jurgen was huddled into shapelessness. - -"This is indeed an inspiring spectacle," Jurgen reflected. "How puny -seems the race of man, in contrast with this mighty sea, which now -spreads before me like, as So-and-so has very strikingly observed, a -something or other under such and such conditions!" Then Jurgen -shrugged. "Really, now I think of it, though, there is no call for -me to be suffused with the traditional emotions. It looks like a -great deal of water, and like nothing else in particular. And I -cannot but consider the water is behaving rather futilely." - -So he sat in drowsy contemplation of the sea. Far out a shadow would -form on the water, like the shadow of a broadish plank, scudding -shoreward, and lengthening and darkening as it approached. Presently -it would be some hundred feet in length, and would assume a hard -smooth darkness, like that of green stone: this was the under side -of the wave. Then the top of it would curdle, the southern end of -the wave would collapse, and with exceeding swiftness this white -feathery falling would plunge and scamper and bluster northward, the -full length of the wave. It would be neater and more workmanlike to -have each wave tumble down as a whole. From the smacking and the -splashing, what looked like boiling milk would thrust out over the -brown sleek sands: and as the mess spread it would thin to a -reticulated whiteness, like lace, and then to the appearance of -smoke sprays clinging to the sands. Plainly the tide was coming in. - -Or perhaps it was going out. Jurgen's notions as to such phenomena -were vague. But, either way, the sea was stirring up a large -commotion and a rather pleasant and invigorating odor. - -And then all this would happen once more: and then it would happen -yet again. It had happened a number of hundred of times since Jurgen -first sat down to eat his lunch: and what was gained by it? The sea -was behaving stupidly. There was no sense in this continual sloshing -and spanking and scrabbling and spluttering. - -Thus Jurgen, as he nodded over the remnants of his lunch. - -"Sheer waste of energy, I am compelled to call it," said Jurgen, -aloud, just as he noticed there were two other men on this long -beach. - -One came from the north, one from the south, so that they met not -far from where Jurgen was sitting: and by an incredible coincidence -Jurgen had known both of these men in his first youth. So he hailed -them, and they recognized him at once. One of these travellers was -the Horvendile who had been secretary to Count Emmerick when Jurgen -was a lad: and the other was Perion de la Foret, that outlaw who had -come to Bellegarde very long ago disguised as the Vicomte de -Puysange. And all three of these old acquaintances had kept their -youth surprisingly. - -Now Horvendile and Perion marveled at the fine shirt which Jurgen -was wearing. - -"Why, you must know," he said, modestly, "that I have lately become -King of Eubonia, and must dress according to my station." - -So they said they had always expected some such high honor to befall -him, and then the three of them fell to talking. And Perion told how -he had come through Pseudopolis, on his way to King Theodoret at -Lacre Kai, and how in the market-place at Pseudopolis he had seen -Queen Helen. "She is a very lovely lady," said Perion, "and I -marvelled over her resemblance to Count Emmerick's fair sister, whom -we all remember." - -"I noticed that at once," said Horvendile, and he smiled strangely, -"when I, too, passed through the city." - -"Why, but nobody could fail to notice it," said Jurgen. - -"It is not, of course, that I consider her to be as lovely as Dame -Melicent," continued Perion, "since, as I have contended in all -quarters of the world, there has never lived, and will never live, -any woman so beautiful as Melicent. But you gentlemen appear -surprised by what seems to me a very simple statement. Your air, in -fine, is one that forces me to point out it is a statement I can -permit nobody to deny." And Perion's honest eyes had narrowed -unpleasantly, and his sun-browned countenance was uncomfortably -stern. - -"Dear sir," said Jurgen, hastily, "it was merely that it appeared to -me the lady whom they call Queen Helen hereabouts is quite evidently -Count Emmerick's sister Dorothy la Desiree." - -"Whereas I recognized her at once," says Horvendile, "as Count -Emmerick's third sister, La Beale Ettarre." - -And now they stared at one another, for it was certain that these -three sisters were not particularly alike. - -"Putting aside any question of eyesight," observes Perion, "it is -indisputable that the language of both of you is distorted. For one -of you says this is Madame Dorothy, and the other says this is -Madame Ettarre: whereas everybody knows that this Queen Helen, -whomever she may resemble, cannot possibly be anybody else save -Queen Helen." - -"To you, who are always the same person," replied Jurgen, "that may -sound reasonable. For my part, I am several people: and I detect no -incongruity in other persons' resembling me." - -"There would be no incongruity anywhere," suggested Horvendile, "if -Queen Helen were the woman whom we had loved in vain. For the woman -whom when we were young we loved in vain is the one woman that we -can never see quite clearly, whatever happens. So we might easily, I -suppose, confuse her with some other woman." - -"But Melicent is the lady whom I have loved in vain," said Perion, -"and I care nothing whatever about Queen Helen. Why should I? What -do you mean now, Horvendile, by your hints that I have faltered in -my constancy to Dame Melicent since I saw Queen Helen? I do not like -such hints." - -"No less, it is Ettarre whom I love, and have loved not quite in -vain, and have loved unfalteringly," says Horvendile, with his quiet -smile: "and I am certain that it was Ettarre whom I beheld when I -looked upon Queen Helen." - -"I may confess," says Jurgen, clearing his throat, "that I have -always regarded Madame Dorothy with peculiar respect and admiration. -For the rest, I am married. Even so, I think that Madame Dorothy is -Queen Helen." - -Then they fell to debating this mystery. And presently Perion said -the one way out was to leave the matter to Queen Helen. "She at all -events must know who she is. So do one of you go back into the city, -and embrace her knees as is the custom of this country when one -implores a favor of the King or the Queen: and do you then ask her -fairly." - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "I am upon terms of some intimacy with a -hamadryad just at present. I am content with my Hamadryad. And I -intend never to venture into the presence of Queen Helen any more, -in order to preserve my contentment." - -"Why, but I cannot go," says Perion, "because Dame Melicent has a -little mole upon her left cheek. And Queen Helen's cheek is -flawless. You understand, of course, that I am certain this mole -immeasurably enhances the beauty of Dame Melicent," he added, -loyally. "None the less, I mean to hold no further traffic with -Queen Helen." - -"Now my reason for not going is this," said Horvendile:--"that if I -attempted to embrace the knees of Ettarre, whom people hereabouts -call Helen, she would instantly vanish. Other matters apart, I do -not wish to bring any such misfortune upon the Island of Leuke." - -"But that," said Perion, "is nonsense." - -"Of course it is," said Horvendile. "That is probably why it -happens." - -So none of them would go. And each of them clung, none the less, to -his own opinion about Queen Helen. And presently Perion said they -were wasting both time and words. Then Perion bade the two farewell, -and Perion continued southward, toward Lacre Kai. And as he went he -sang a song in honor of Dame Melicent, whom he celebrated as Heart -o' My Heart: and the two who heard him agreed that Perion de la -Foret was probably the worst poet in the world. - -"Nevertheless, there goes a very chivalrous and worthy gentleman," -said Horvendile, "intent to play out the remainder of his romance. I -wonder if the Author gets much pleasure from these simple -characters? At least they must be easy to handle." - -"I cultivate a judicious amount of gallantry," says Jurgen: "I do -not any longer aspire to be chivalrous. And indeed, Horvendile, it -seems to me indisputable that each one of us is the hero in his own -romance, and cannot understand any other person's romance, but -misinterprets everything therein, very much as we three have fallen -out in the simple matter of a woman's face." - -Now young Horvendile meditatively stroked his own curly and reddish -hair, brushing it away from his ears with his left hand, as he sat -there staring meditatively at nothing in particular. - -"I would put it, Jurgen, that we three have met like characters out -of three separate romances which the Author has composed in -different styles." - -"That also," Jurgen submitted, "would be nonsense." - -"Ah, but perhaps the Author very often perpetrates nonsense. Come -Jurgen, you who are King of Eubonia!" says Horvendile, with his -wide-set eyes a-twinkle; "what is there in you or me to attest that -our Author has not composed our romances with his tongue in his -cheek?" - -"Messire Horvendile, if you are attempting to joke about Koshchei -who made all things as they are, I warn you I do not consider that -sort of humor very wholesome. Without being prudish, I believe in -common-sense: and I would vastly prefer to have you talk about -something else." - -Horvendile was still smiling. "You look some day to come to -Koshchei, as you call the Author. That is easily said, and sounds -excellently. Ah, but how will you recognize Koshchei? and how do you -know you have not already passed by Koshchei in some street or -meadow? Come now, King Jurgen," said Horvendile, and still his young -face wore an impish smile; "come tell me, how do you know that I am -not Koshchei who made all things as they are?" - -"Be off with you!" says Jurgen; "you would never have had the wit to -invent a Jurgen. Something else is troubling me: I have just -recollected that the young Perion who left us only a moment since, -grew to be rich and gray-headed and famous, and took Dame Melicent -from her pagan husband, and married her himself: and that all this -happened long years ago. So our recent talk with young Perion seems -very improbable." - -"Why, but do you not remember, too, that I ran away in the night -when Maugis d'Aigremont stormed Storisende? and was never heard of -any more? and that all this, too, took place a long, long while ago? -Yet we have met as three fine young fellows, here on the beach of -fabulous Leuke. I put it to you fairly, King Jurgen: now how could -this conceivably have come about unless the Author sometimes -composes nonsense?" - -"Truly the way that you express it, Horvendile, the thing does seem -a little strange; and I can think of no explanation rendering it -plausible." - -"Again, see now, King Jurgen of Eubonia, how you underrate the -Author's ability. This is one of the romancer's most venerable -devices that is being practised. See for yourself!" And suddenly -Horvendile pushed Jurgen so that Jurgen tumbled over in the warm -sand. - -Then Jurgen arose, gaping and stretching himself. "That was a very -foolish dream I had, napping here in the sun. For it was certainly a -dream. Otherwise, they would have left footprints, these young -fellows who have gone the way of youth so long ago. And it was a -dream that had no sense in it. But indeed it would be strange if -that were the whole point of it, and if living, too, were such a -dream, as that queer Horvendile would have me think." - -Jurgen snapped his fingers. - -"Well, and what in common fairness could he or anyone else expect me -to do about it! That is the answer I fling at you, you Horvendile -whom I made up in a dream. And I disown you as the most futile of my -inventions. So be off with you! and a good riddance, too, for I -never held with upsetting people." - -Then Jurgen dusted himself, and trudged home to an early supper with -the Hamadryad who contented him. - - - - -30. - -Economics of King Jurgen - - -Now Jurgen's curious dream put notions into the restless head of -Jurgen. So mighty became his curiosity that he went shuddering into -the abhorred Woods, and passed over Coalisnacoan (which is the Ferry -of Dogs), and did all such detestable things as were necessary to -placate Phobetor. Then Jurgen tricked Phobetor by an indescribable -device, wherein surprising use was made of a cheese and three -beetles and a gimlet, and so cheated Phobetor out of a gray magic. -And that night while Pseudopolis slept King Jurgen came down into -this city of gold and ivory. - -Jurgen went with distaste among the broad-browed and great-limbed -monarchs of Pseudopolis, for they reminded him of things that he had -long ago put aside, and they made him feel unpleasantly ignoble and -insignificant. That was his real reason for avoiding the city. - -Now he passed between unlighted and silent palaces, walking in -deserted streets where the moon made ominous shadows. Here was the -house of Ajax Telamon who reigned in sea-girt Salamis, here that of -god-like Philoctetes: much-counseling Odysseus dwelt just across the -way, and the corner residence was fair-haired Agamemnon's: in the -moonlight Jurgen easily made out these names engraved upon the -bronze shield that hung beside each doorway. To every side of him -slept the heroes of old song while Jurgen skulked under their -windows. - -He remembered how incuriously--not even scornfully--these people had -overlooked him on that disastrous afternoon when he had ventured -into Pseudopolis by daylight. And a spiteful little gust of rage -possessed him, and Jurgen shook his fist at the big silent palaces. - -"Yah!" he snarled: for he did not know at all what it was that he -desired to say to those great stupid heroes who did not care what he -said, but he knew that he hated them. Then Jurgen became aware of -himself growling there like a kicked cur who is afraid to bite, and -he began to laugh at this Jurgen. - -"Your pardon, gentlemen of Greece," says he, with a wide ceremonious -bow, "and I think the information I wished to convey was that I am a -monstrous clever fellow." - -Jurgen went into the largest palace, and crept stealthily by the -bedroom of Achilles, King of Men, treading a-tip-toe; and so came at -last into a little room panelled with cedar-wood where slept Queen -Helen. She was smiling in her sleep when he had lighted his lamp, -with due observance of the gray magic. She was infinitely beautiful, -this young Dorothy whom people hereabouts through some odd error -called Helen. - -For Jurgen saw very well that this was Count Emmerick's sister -Dorothy la Desiree, whom Jurgen had vainly loved in the days when -Jurgen was young alike in body and heart. Just once he had won back -to her, in the garden between dawn and sunrise: but he was then a -time-battered burgher whom Dorothy did not recognise. Now he -returned to her a king, less admirable it might be than some of the -many other kings without realms who slept now in Pseudopolis, but -still very fine in his borrowed youth, and above all, armored by a -gray magic: so that improbabilities were possible. And Jurgen's eyes -were furtive, and he passed his tongue across his upper lip from one -corner to the other, and his hand went out toward the robe of -violet-colored wool which covered the sleeping girl, for he stood -ready to awaken Dorothy la Desiree in the way he often awoke -Chloris. - -But a queer thought held him. Nothing, he recollected, had shown the -power to hurt him very deeply since he had lost this young Dorothy. -And to affairs which threatened to result unpleasantly, he had -always managed to impart an agreeable turn, since then, by virtue of -preserving a cool heart. What if by some misfortune he were to get -back his real youth? and were to become again the flustered boy who -blundered from stammering rapture to wild misery, and back again, at -the least word or gesture of a gold-haired girl? - -"Thank you, no!" says Jurgen. "The boy was more admirable than I, -who am by way of being not wholly admirable. But then he had a -wretched time of it, by and large. Thus it may be that my real youth -lies sleeping here: and for no consideration would I re-awaken it." - -And yet tears came into his eyes, for no reason at all. And it -seemed to him that the sleeping woman, here at his disposal, was not -the young Dorothy whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, although the two were curiously alike; and that of the two -this woman here was, somehow, infinitely the lovelier. - -"Lady, if you indeed be the Swan's daughter, long and long ago there -was a child that was ill. And his illness turned to a fever, and in -his fever he arose from his bed one night, saying that he must set -out for Troy, because of his love for Queen Helen. I was once that -child. I remember how strange it seemed to me I should be talking -such nonsense: I remember how the warm room smelt of drugs: and I -remember how I pitied the trouble in my nurse's face, drawn and old -in the yellow lamplight. For she loved me, and she did not -understand: and she pleaded with me to be a good boy and not to -worry my sleeping parents. But I perceive now that I was not talking -nonsense." - -He paused, considering the riddle: and his fingers fretted with the -robe of violet-colored wool beneath which lay Queen Helen. "Yours -is that beauty of which men know by fabulous report alone, and which -they may not ever find, nor ever win to, quite. And for that beauty -I have hungered always, even in childhood. Toward that beauty I have -struggled always, but not quite whole-heartedly. That night forecast -my life. I have hungered for you: and"--Jurgen smiled here--"and I -have always stayed a passably good boy, lest I should beyond reason -disturb my family. For to do that, I thought, would not be fair: and -still I believe for me to have done that would have been unfair." - -He grimaced at this point: for Jurgen was finding his scruples -inconveniently numerous. - -"And now I think that what I do to-night is not quite fair to Chloris. -And I do not know what thing it is that I desire, and the will of -Jurgen is a feather in the wind. But I know that I would like to love -somebody as Chloris loves me, and as so many women have loved me. And -I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen Helen, at every -moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I first seemed to -find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. It is the memory -of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face of a jill-flirt, -which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other men give women: -and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved nothing--not even you, -not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. Well, what if I took vengeance -now upon this thieving comeliness, upon this robber that strips life of -joy and sorrow?" - -Jurgen stood at Queen Helen's bedside, watching her, for a long -while. He had shifted into a less fanciful mood: and the shadow that -followed him was ugly and hulking and wavering upon the cedarn wall -of Queen Helen's sleeping-chamber. - -"Mine is a magic which does not fail," old Phobetor had said, while -his attendants raised his eyelids so that he could see King Jurgen. - -Now Jurgen remembered this. And reflectively he drew back the robe -of violet-colored wool, a little way. The breast of Queen Helen lay -bare. And she did not move at all, but she smiled in her sleep. - -Never had Jurgen imagined that any woman could be so beautiful nor -so desirable as this woman, or that he could ever know such rapture. -So Jurgen paused. - -"Because," said Jurgen now, "it may be this woman has some fault: it -may be there is some fleck in her beauty somewhere. And sooner than -know that, I would prefer to retain my unreasonable dreams, and this -longing which is unfed and hopeless, and the memory of to-night. -Besides, if she were perfect in everything, how could I live any -longer, who would have no more to desire? No, I would be betraying -my own interests, either way; and injustice is always despicable." - -So Jurgen sighed and gently replaced the robe of violet-colored -wool, and he returned to his Hamadryad. - -"And now that I think of it, too," reflected Jurgen, "I am behaving -rather nobly. Yes, it is questionless that I have to-night evinced a -certain delicacy of feeling which merits appreciation, at all events -by King Achilles." - - - - -31. - -The Fall of Pseudopolis - - -So Jurgen abode in Leuke, and complied with the customs of that -country; and what with one thing and another, he and Chloris made -the time pass pleasantly enough, until the winter solstice was at -hand. Now Pseudopolis, as has been said, was at war with Philistia: -so it befell that at this season Leuke was invaded by an army of -Philistines, led by their Queen Dolores, a woman who was wise but -not entirely reliable. They came from the coast, a terrible army -insanely clad in such garments as had been commanded by Ageus, a god -of theirs; and chaunting psalms in honor of their god Vel-Tyno, who -had inspired this crusade: thus they swept down upon Pseudopolis, -and encamped before the city. - -These Philistines fought in this campaign by casting before them a -more horrible form of Greek fire, which consumed whatever was not -gray-colored. For that color alone was now favored by their god -Vel-Tyno. "And all other colors," his oracles had decreed, "are -forevermore abominable, until I say otherwise." - -So the forces of Philistia were marshalled in the plain before -Pseudopolis, and Queen Dolores spoke to her troops. And smilingly -she said:-- - -"Whenever you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No -mercy will be shown, no prisoners taken. As the Philistines under -Libnah and Goliath and Gershon, and a many other tall captains, made -for themselves a name which is still mighty in traditions and -legend, even thus to-day may the name of Realist be so fixed in -Pseudopolis, by your deeds to-day, that no one shall ever dare again -even to look askance at a Philistine. Open the door for Realism, -once for all!" - -Meanwhile within the city Achilles, King of Men, addressed his -army:-- - -"The eyes of all the world will be upon you, because you are in some -especial sense the soldiers of Romance. Let it be your pride, -therefore, to show all men everywhere, not only what good soldiers -you are, but also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and -straight in everything, and pure and clean through and through. Let -us set ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory to live -up to it, and then let us live up to it, and add a new laurel to the -crown of Pseudopolis. May the Gods of Old keep you and guide you!" - -Then said Thersites, in his beard: "Certainly Pelides has learned -from history with what weapon a strong man discomfits the -Philistines." - -But the other kings applauded, and the trumpet was sounded, and the -battle was joined. And that day the forces of Philistia were -everywhere triumphant. But they report a queer thing happened: and -it was that when the Philistines shouted in their triumph, Achilles -and all they who served him rose from the ground like gleaming -clouds and passed above the heads of the Philistines, deriding them. - -Thus was Pseudopolis left empty, so that the Philistines entered -thereinto without any opposition. They defiled this city of -blasphemous colors, then burned it as a sacrifice to their god -Vel-Tyno, because the color of ashes is gray. - -Then the Philistines erected lithoi (which were not unlike may-poles), -and began to celebrate their religious rites. - - * * * * * - -So it was reported: but Jurgen witnessed none of these events. - -"Let them fight it out," said Jurgen: "it is not my affair. I agree -with Silenus: dullness will conquer dullness, and it will not -matter. But do you, woman dear, take shelter with your kindred in -the unconquerable Woods, for there is no telling what damage the -Philistines may do hereabouts." - -"Will you go with me, Jurgen?" - -"My dear, you know very well that it is impossible for me ever again -to go into the Woods, after the trick I played upon Phobetor." - -"And if only you had kept your head about that bean-pole of a Helen, -in her yellow wig--for I have not a doubt that every strand of it is -false, and at all events this is not a time to be arguing about it, -Jurgen,--why, then you would never have meddled with Uncle Phobetor! -It simply shows you!" - -"Yes," said Jurgen. - -"Still, I do not know. If you come with me into the Woods, Uncle -Phobetor in his impetuous way will quite certainly turn you into a -boar-pig, because he has always done that to the people who -irritated him--" - -"I seem to recognise that reason." - -"--But give me time, and I can get around Uncle Phobetor, just as I -have always done, and he will turn you back." - -"No," says Jurgen, obstinately, "I do not wish to be turned into a -boar-pig." - -"Now, Jurgen, let us be sensible about this! Of course, it is a -little humiliating. But I will take the very best of care of you, -and feed you with my own acorns, and it will be a purely temporary -arrangement. And to be a pig for a week or two, or even for a month, -is infinitely better for a poet than being captured by the -Philistines." - -"How do I know that?" says Jurgen. - -"--For it is not, after all, as if Uncle Phobetor's heart were not -in the right place. It is just his way. And besides, you must -remember what you did with that gimlet!" - -Said Jurgen: "All this is hardly to the purpose. You forget I have -seen the hapless swine of Phobetor, and I know how he ameliorates -the natural ferocity of his boar-pigs. No, I am Jurgen. So I remain. -I will face the Philistines and whatever they may possibly do to me, -rather than suffer that which Phobetor will quite certainly do to -me." - -"Then I stay too," said Chloris. - -"No, woman dear--!" - -"But do you not understand?" says Chloris, a little pale, as he saw -now. "Since the life of a hamadryad is linked with the life of her -tree, nobody can harm me so long as my tree lives: and if they cut -down my tree I shall die, wherever I may happen to be." - -"I had forgotten that." He was really troubled now. - -"--And you can see for yourself, Jurgen, it is quite out of the -question for me to be carrying that great oak anywhere, and I wonder -at your talking such nonsense." - -"Indeed, my dear," says Jurgen, "we are very neatly trapped. Well, -nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbor chooses. -Nevertheless, it is not fair." - -As he spoke the Philistines came forth from the burning city. Again -the trumpet sounded, and the Philistines advanced in their order of -battle. - - - - -32. - -Sundry Devices of the Philistines - - -Meanwhile the People of the Field had watched Pseudopolis burn, and -had wondered what would befall them. They had not long to wonder, -for next day the Fields were occupied, without any resistance by the -inhabitants. - -"The People of the Field," said they, "have never fought, and for -them to begin now would be a very unheard-of thing indeed." - -So the Fields were captured by the Philistines, and Chloris and -Jurgen and all the People of the Field were judged summarily. They -were declared to be obsolete illusions, whose merited doom was to be -relegated to limbo. To Jurgen this appeared unreasonable. - -"For I am no illusion," he asserted. "I am manifestly flesh and -blood, and in addition, I am the high King of Eubonia, and no less. -Why, in disputing these facts you contest circumstances that are so -well known hereabouts as to rank among mathematical certainties. And -that makes you look foolish, as I tell you for your own good." - -This vexed the leaders of the Philistines, as it always vexes people -to be told anything for their own good. "We would have you know," -said they, "that we are not mathematicians; and that moreover, we -have no kings in Philistia, where all must do what seems to be -expected of them, and have no other law." - -"How then can you be the leaders of Philistia?" - -"Why, it is expected that women and priests should behave -unaccountably. Therefore all we who are women or priests do what we -will in Philistia, and the men there obey us. And it is we, the -priests of Philistia, who do not think you can possibly have any -flesh and blood under a shirt which we recognize to be a -conventional figure of speech. It does not stand to reason. And -certainly you could not ever prove such a thing by mathematics; and -to say so is nonsense." - -"But I can prove it by mathematics, quite irrefutably. I can prove -anything you require of me by whatever means you may prefer," said -Jurgen, modestly, "for the simple reason that I am a monstrous -clever fellow." - -Then spoke the wise Queen Dolores, saying: "I have studied -mathematics. I will question this young man, in my tent to-night, -and in the morning I will report the truth as to his claims. Are you -content to endure this interrogatory, my spruce young fellow who -wear the shirt of a king?" - -Jurgen looked full upon her: she was lovely as a hawk is lovely: and -of all that Jurgen saw Jurgen approved. He assumed the rest to be in -keeping: and deduced that Dolores was a fine woman. - -"Madame and Queen," said Jurgen, "I am content. And I can promise to -deal fairly with you." - -So that evening Jurgen was conducted into the purple tent of Queen -Dolores of Philistia. It was quite dark there, and Jurgen went in -alone, and wondering what would happen next: but this scented -darkness he found of excellent augury, if only because it prevented -his shadow from following him. - -"Now, you who claim to be flesh and blood, and King of Eubonia, -too," says the voice of Queen Dolores, "what is this nonsense you -were talking about proving any such claims by mathematics?" - -"Well, but my mathematics," replied Jurgen, "are Praxagorean." - -"What, do you mean Praxagoras of Cos?" - -"As if," scoffed Jurgen, "anybody had ever heard of any other -Praxagoras!" - -"But he, as I recall, belonged to the medical school of the -Dogmatici," observed the wise Queen Dolores, "and was particularly -celebrated for his researches in anatomy. Was he, then, also a -mathematician?" - -"The two are not incongruous, madame, as I would be delighted to -demonstrate." - -"Oh, nobody said that! For, indeed, it does seem to me I have heard -of this Praxagorean system of mathematics, though, I confess, I have -never studied it." - -"Our school, madame, postulates, first of all, that since the -science of mathematics is an abstract science, it is best inculcated -by some concrete example." - -Said the Queen: "But that sounds rather complicated." - -"It occasionally leads to complications," Jurgen admitted, "through -a choice of the wrong example. But the axiom is no less true." - -"Come, then, and sit next to me on this couch if you can find it in -the dark; and do you explain to me what you mean." - -"Why, madame, by a concrete example I mean one that is perceptible -to any of the senses--as to sight or hearing, or touch--" - -"Oh, oh!" said the Queen, "now I perceive what you mean by a -concrete example. And grasping this, I can understand that -complications must of course arise from a choice of the wrong -example." - -"Well, then, madame, it is first necessary to implant in you, by the -force of example, a lively sense of the peculiar character, and -virtues and properties, of each of the numbers upon which is based -the whole science of Praxagorean mathematics. For in order to -convince you thoroughly, we must start far down, at the beginning of -all things." - -"I see," said the Queen, "or rather, in this darkness I cannot see -at all, but I perceive your point. Your opening interests me: and -you may go on." - -"Now ONE, or the monad," says Jurgen, "is the principle and the end -of all: it reveals the sublime knot which binds together the chain -of causes: it is the symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, -of conservation, and of general harmony." And Jurgen emphasized -these characteristics vigorously. "In brief, ONE is a symbol of the -union of things: it introduces that generating virtue which is the -cause of all combinations: and consequently ONE is a good -principle." - -"Ah, ah!" said Queen Dolores, "I heartily admire a good principle. -But what has become of your concrete example?" - -"It is ready for you, madame: there is but ONE Jurgen." - -"Oh, I assure you, I am not yet convinced of that. Still, the -audacity of your example will help me to remember ONE, whether or -not you prove to be really unique." - -"Now, TWO, or the dyad, the origin of contrasts--" - -Jurgen went on penetratingly to demonstrate that TWO was a symbol of -diversity and of restlessness and of disorder, ending in collapse -and separation: and was accordingly an evil principle. Thus was the -life of every man made wretched by the struggle between his TWO -components, his soul and his body; and thus was the rapture of -expectant parents considerably abated by the advent of TWINS. - -THREE, or the triad, however, since everything was composed of three -substances, contained the most sublime mysteries, which Jurgen duly -communicated. We must remember, he pointed out, that Zeus carried a -TRIPLE thunderbolt, and Poseidon a TRIDENT, whereas Ades was guarded -by a dog with THREE heads: this in addition to the omnipotent -brothers themselves being a TRIO. - -Thus Jurgen continued to impart the Praxagorean significance of each -digit separately: and by and by the Queen was declaring his flow of -wisdom was superhuman. - -"Ah, but, madame, not even the wisdom of a king is without limit. -EIGHT, I repeat, then, is appropriately the number of the -Beatitudes. And NINE, or the ennead, also, being the multiple of -THREE, should be regarded as sacred--" - -The Queen attended docilely to his demonstration of the peculiar -properties of NINE. And when he had ended she confessed that beyond -doubt NINE should be regarded as miraculous. But she repudiated his -analogues as to the muses, the lives of a cat, and how many tailors -made a man. - -"Rather, I shall remember always," she declared, "that King Jurgen -of Eubonia is a NINE days' wonder." - -"Well, madame," said Jurgen, with a sigh, "now that we have reached -NINE, I regret to say we have exhausted the digits." - -"Oh, what a pity!" cried Queen Dolores. "Nevertheless, I will -concede the only illustration I disputed; there is but ONE Jurgen: -and certainly this Praxagorean system of mathematics is a -fascinating study." And promptly she commenced to plan Jurgen's -return with her into Philistia, so that she might perfect herself in -the higher branches of mathematics. "For you must teach me calculus -and geometry and all other sciences in which these digits are -employed. We can arrange some compromise with the priests. That is -always possible with the priests of Philistia, and indeed the -priests of Sesphra can be made to help anybody in anything. And as -for your Hamadryad, I will attend to her myself." - -"But, no," says Jurgen, "I am ready enough in all conscience to -compromise elsewhere: but to compound with the forces of Philistia -is the one thing I cannot do." - -"Do you mean that, King Jurgen?" The Queen was astounded. - -"I mean it, my dear, as I mean nothing else. You are in many ways an -admirable people, and you are in all ways a formidable people. So I -admire, I dread, I avoid, and at the very last pinch I defy. For you -are not my people, and willy-nilly my gorge rises against your laws, -as equally insane and abhorrent. Mind you, though, I assert nothing. -You may be right in attributing wisdom to these laws; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is the way I feel about it. So I, who compromise with -everything else, can make no compromise with Philistia. No, my -adored Dolores, it is not a virtue, rather it is an instinct with -me, and I have no choice." - -Even Dolores, who was Queen of all the Philistines, could perceive -that this man spoke truthfully. "I am sorry," says she, with real -regret, "for you could be much run after in Philistia." - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "as an instructor in mathematics." - -"But, no, King Jurgen, not only in mathematics," said Dolores, -reasonably. "There is poetry, for instance! For they tell me you are -a poet, and a great many of my people take poetry quite seriously, I -believe. Of course, I do not have much time for reading, myself. So -you can be the Poet Laureate of Philistia, on any salary you like. -And you can teach us all your ideas by writing beautiful poems about -them. And you and I can be very happy together." - -"Teach, teach! there speaks Philistia, and very temptingly, too, -through an adorable mouth, that would bribe me with praise and fine -food and soft days forever. It is a thing that happens rather often, -though. And I can but repeat that art is not a branch of pedagogy!" - -"Really I am heartily sorry. For apart from mathematics, I like you, -King Jurgen, just as a person." - -"I, too, am sorry, Dolores. For I confess to a weakness for the -women of Philistia." - -"Certainly you have given me no cause to suspect you of any weakness -in that quarter," observed Dolores, "in the long while you have been -alone with me, and have talked so wisely and have reasoned so -deeply. I am afraid that after to-night I shall find all other men -more or less superficial. Heigho! and I shall probably weep my eyes -out to-morrow when you are relegated to limbo. For that is what the -priests will do with you, King Jurgen, on one plea or another, if -you do not conform to the laws of Philistia." - -"And that one compromise I cannot make! Ah, but even now I have a -plan wherewith to escape your priests: and failing that, I possess a -cantrap to fall back upon in my hour of direst need. My private -affairs are thus not yet in a hopeless or even in a dejected -condition. This fact now urges me to observe that TEN, or the -decade, is the measure of all, since it contains all the numeric -relations and harmonies--" - -So they continued their study of mathematics until it was time for -Jurgen to appear again before his judges. - -And in the morning Queen Dolores sent word to her priests that she -was too sleepy to attend their council, but that the man was -indisputably flesh and blood, amply deserved to be a king, and as a -mathematician had not his peer. - -Now these points being settled, the judges conferred, and Jurgen was -decreed a backslider into the ways of undesirable error. His judges -were the priests of Vel-Tyno and Sesphra and Ageus, who are the Gods -of Philistia. - -Then the priest of Ageus put on his spectacles and consulted the -canonical law, and declared that this change in the indictment -necessitated a severance of Jurgen from the others, in the -infliction of punishment. - -"For each, of course, must be relegated to the limbo of his fathers, -as was foretold, in order that the prophecies may be fulfilled. -Religion languishes when prophecies are not fulfilled. Now it -appears that the forefathers of the flesh and blood prisoner were of -a different faith from the progenitors of these obsolete illusions, -and that his fathers foretold quite different things, and that their -limbo was called Hell." - -"It is little you know," says Jurgen, "of the religion of Eubonia." - -"We have it written down in this great book," the priest of Vel-Tyno -then told him,--"every word of it without blot or error." - -"Then you will see that the King of Eubonia is the head of the -church there, and changes all the prophecies at will. Learned -Gowlais says so directly: and the judicious Stevegonius was forced -to agree with him, however unwillingly, as you will instantly -discover by consulting the third section of his widely famous -nineteenth chapter." - -"Both Gowlais and Stevegonius were probably notorious heretics," -says the priest of Ageus. "I believe that was settled once for all -at the Diet of Orthumar." - -"Eh!" says Jurgen. He did not like this priest. "Now I will wager, -sirs," Jurgen continued, a trifle patronizingly, "that you gentlemen -have not read Gowlais, or even Stevegonius, in the light of -Vossler's commentaries. And that is why you underrate them." - -"I at least have read every word that was ever written by any of -these three," replied the priest of Sesphra--"and with, as I need -hardly say, the liveliest abhorrence. And this Gowlais in -particular, as I hasten to agree with my learned confrere, is a most -notorious heretic--" - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you telling me -about Gowlais!" - -"I tell you that I have been roused to indignation by his -_Historia de Bello Veneris_--" - -"You surprise me: still--" - -"--Shocked by his _Pornoboscodidascolo_--" - -"I can hardly believe it: even so, you must grant--" - -"--And horrified by his _Liber de immortalitate Mentulae_--" - -"Well, conceding you that earlier work, sir, yet, at the same -time--" - -"--And have been disgusted by his _De modo coeundi_--" - -"Ah, but, none the less--" - -"--And have shuddered over the unspeakable enormities of -his _Erotopaegnion!_ of his _Cinaedica!_ and especially of his -_Epipedesis_, that most pestilential and abominable book, -_quem sine horrore nemo potest legere_--" - -"Still, you cannot deny--" - -"--And have read also all the confutations of this detestable -Gowlais: as those of Zanchius, Faventinus, Lelius Vincentius, -Lagalla, Thomas Giaminus, and eight other admirable commentators--" - -"You are very exact, sir: but--" - -"--And that, in short, I have read every book you can imagine," says -the priest of Sesphra. - -The shoulders of Jurgen rose to his ears, and Jurgen silently flung -out his hands, palms upward. - -"For, I perceive," says Jurgen, to himself, "that this Realist is -too circumstantial for me. None the less, he invents his facts: it -is by citing books which never existed that he publicly confutes the -Gowlais whom I invented privately: and that is not fair. Now there -remains only one chance for Jurgen; but luckily that chance is -sure." - -"Why are you fumbling in your pocket?" asks the old priest of Ageus, -fidgeting and peering. - -"Aha, you may well ask!" cried Jurgen. He unfolded the cantrap which -had been given him by the Master Philologist, and which Jurgen had -treasured against the time when more was needed than a glib tongue. -"O most unrighteous judges," says Jurgen, sternly, "now hear and -tremble! 'At the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who -should be named John the Twentieth, was through an error in the -reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the Twenty-first!'" - -"Hah, and what have we to do with that?" inquired the priest of -Vel-Tyno, with raised eyebrows. "Why are you telling us of these -irrelevant matters?" - -"Because I thought it would interest you," said Jurgen. "It was a -fact that appeared to me rather amusing. So I thought I would -mention it." - -"Then you have very queer ideas of amusement," they told him. And -Jurgen perceived that either he had not employed his cantrap -correctly or else that its magic was unappreciated by the leaders of -Philistia. - - - - -33. - -Farewell to Chloris - - -Now the Philistines led out their prisoners, and made ready to -inflict the doom which was decreed. And they permitted the young -King of Eubonia to speak with Chloris. - -"Farewell to you now, Jurgen!" says Chloris, weeping softly. "It is -little I care what foolish words these priests of Philistia may -utter against me. But the big-armed axemen are felling my tree -yonder, to get them timber to make a bedstead for the Queen of -Philistia: for that is what this Queen Dolores ordered them to do -the first thing this morning." - -And Jurgen raised his hands. "You women!" he said. "What man would -ever have thought of that?" - -"So when my tree is felled I must depart into a sombre land wherein -there is no laughter at all; and where the puzzled dead go wandering -futilely through fields of scentless asphodel, and through tall -sullen groves of myrtle,--the puzzled quiet dead, who may not even -weep as I do now, but can only wonder what it is that they regret. -And I too must taste of Lethe, and forget all I have loved." - -"You should give thanks to the imagination of your forefathers, my -dear, that your doom is no worse. For I am going into a more -barbaric limbo, into the Hell of a people who thought entirely too -much about flames and pitchforks," says Jurgen, ruefully. "I tell -you it is the deuce and all, to come of morbid ancestry." And he -kissed Chloris, upon the brow. "My dear, dear girl," he said, with a -gulp, "as long as you remember me, do so with charity." - -"Jurgen"--and she clung close to him--"you were not ever unkind, not -even for a moment. Jurgen, you have not ever spoken one harsh word -to me or any other person, in all the while we were together. O -Jurgen, whom I have loved as you could love nobody, it was not much -those other women had left me to worship!" - -"Indeed, it is a pity that you loved me, Chloris, for I was not -worthy." And for the instant Jurgen meant it. - -"If any other person said that, Jurgen, I would be very angry. And even -to hear you say it troubles me, because there was never a hamadryad -between two hills that had a husband one-half so clever-foolish as he -made light of time and chance, with his sleek black head cocked to one -side, and his mischievous brown eyes a-twinkle." - -And Jurgen wondered that this should be the notion Chloris had of -him, and that a gesture should be the things she remembered about -him: and he was doubly assured that no woman bothers to understand -the man she elects to love and cosset and slave for. - -"O woman dear," says Jurgen, "but I have loved you, and my heart is -water now that you are taken from me: and to remember your ways and -the joy I had in them will be a big and grinding sorrow in the long -time to come. Oh, not with any heroic love have I loved you, nor -with any madness and high dreams, nor with much talking either; but -with a love befitting my condition, with a quiet and cordial love." - -"And must you be trying, while I die, to get your grieving for me -into the right words?" she asks him, smiling very sadly. "No matter: -you are Jurgen, and I have loved you. And I am glad that I shall -know nothing about it when in the long time, to come you will be -telling so many other women about what was said by Zorobasius and -Ptolemopiter, and when you will be posturing and romancing for their -delight. For presently I shall have tasted Lethe: and presently I -shall have forgotten you, King Jurgen, and all the joy I had in you, -and all the pride, and all the love I had for you, King Jurgen, who -loved me as much as you were able." - -"Why, and will there be any love-making, do you think, in Hell?" he -asks her, with a doleful smile. - -"There will be love-making," she replied, "wherever you go, King -Jurgen. And there will be women to listen. And at the last there -will be a bean-pole of a woman, in a wig." - -"I am sorry--" he said. "And yet I have loved you, Chloris." - -"That is my comfort now. And presently there will be Lethe. I put -the greater faith in Lethe. And still, I cannot help but love you, -Jurgen, in whom I have no faith at all." - -He said, again: "I am not worthy." - -They kissed. Then each of them was conveyed to an appropriate doom. - -And tears were in the eyes of Jurgen, who was not used to weep: and -he thought not at all of what was to befall him, but only of this -and that small trivial thing which would have pleased his Chloris -had Jurgen done it, and which for one reason or another Jurgen had -left undone. - -"I was not ever unkind to her, says she! ah, but I might have been -so much kinder. And now I shall not ever see her any more, nor ever -any more may I awaken delight and admiration in those bright tender -eyes which saw no fault in me! Well, but it is a comfort surely that -she does not know how I devoted the last night she was to live to -teaching mathematics." - -And then Jurgen wondered how he would be despatched into the Hell of -his fathers? And when the Philistines showed him in what manner they -proposed to inflict their sentence he wondered at his own -obtuseness. - -"For I might have surmised this would be the way of it," said -Jurgen. "And yet as always there is a simplicity in the methods of -the Philistines which is unimaginable by really clever fellows. And -as always, too, these methods are unfair to us clever fellows. Well, -I am willing to taste any drink once: but this is a very horrible -device, none the less; and I wonder if I have the pluck to endure -it?" - -Then as he stood considering this matter, a man-at-arms came -hurrying. He brought with him three great rolled parchments, with -seals and ribbons and everything in order: and these were Jurgen's -pardon and Jurgen's nomination as Poet Laureate of Philistia and -Jurgen's appointment as Mathematician Royal. - -The man-at-arms brought also a letter from Queen Dolores, and this -Jurgen read with a frown. - -"Do you consider now what fun it would be to hood-wink everybody by -pretending to conform to our laws!" said this letter, and it said -nothing more: Dolores was really a wise woman. Yet there was a -postscript. "For we could be so happy!" said the postscript. - -And Jurgen looked toward the Woods, where men were sawing up a great -oak-tree. And Jurgen gave a fine laugh, and with fine deliberateness -he tore up the Queen's letter into little strips. Then statelily he -took the parchments, and found they were so tough he could not tear -them. This was uncommonly awkward, for Jurgen's ill-advised attempt -to tear the parchments impaired the dignity of his magnanimous -self-sacrifice: he even suspected one of the guards of smiling. So -there was nothing for it but presently to give up that futile tugging -and jerking, and to compromise by crumpling these parchments. - -"This is my answer," said Jurgen heroically, and with some -admiration of himself, but still a little dashed by the uncalled-for -toughness of the parchments. - -Then Jurgen cried farewell to fallen Leuke; and scornfully he cried -farewell to the Philistines and to their devices. Then he submitted -to their devices. Thus, it was without making any special protest -about it that Jurgen was relegated to limbo, and was despatched to -the Hell of his fathers, two days before Christmas. - - - - -34. - -How Emperor Jurgen Fared Infernally - - -Now the tale tells how the devils of Hell were in one of their churches -celebrating Christmas in such manner as the devils observe that day; -and how Jurgen came through the trapdoor in the vestry-room; and how -he saw and wondered over the creatures which inhabited this place. For -to him after the Christmas services came all such devils as his fathers -had foretold, and in not a hair or scale or talon did they differ from -the worst that anybody had been able to imagine. - -"Anatomy is hereabouts even more inconsequent than in Cocaigne," was -Jurgen's first reflection. But the first thing the devils did was to -search Jurgen very carefully, in order to make sure he was not -bringing any water into Hell. - -"Now, who may you be, that come to us alive, in a fine shirt of -which we never saw the like before?" asked Dithican. He had the head -of a tiger, but otherwise the appearance of a large bird, with -shining feathers and four feet: his neck was yellow, his body green, -and his feet black. - -"It would not be treating honestly with you to deny that I am the -Emperor of Noumaria," said Jurgen, somewhat advancing his estate. - -Now spoke Amaimon, in the form of a thick suet-colored worm going -upright upon his tail, which shone like the tail of a glowworm. He -had no feet, but under his chops were two short hands, and upon his -back were bristles such as grow upon hedgehogs. - -"But we are rather overrun with emperors," said Amaimon, doubtfully, -"and their crimes are a great trouble to us. Were you a very wicked -ruler?" - -"Never since I became an emperor," replied Jurgen, "has any of my -subjects uttered one word of complaint against me. So it stands to -reason I have nothing very serious with which to reproach myself." - -"Your conscience, then, does not demand that you be punished?" - -"My conscience, gentlemen, is too well-bred to insist on anything." - -"You do not even wish to be tortured?" - -"Well, I admit I had expected something of the sort. But none the -less, I will not make a point of it," said Jurgen, handsomely. "No, -I shall be quite satisfied even though you do not torture me at -all." - -And then the mob of devils made a great to-do over Jurgen. - -"For it is exceedingly good to have at least one unpretentious and -undictatorial human being in Hell. Nobody as a rule drops in on us -save inordinately proud and conscientious ghosts, whose self-conceit -is intolerable, and whose demands are outrageous." - -"How can that be?" - -"Why, we have to punish them. Of course they are not properly -punished until they are convinced that what is happening to them is -just and adequate. And you have no notion what elaborate tortures -they insist their exceeding wickedness has merited, as though that -which they did or left undone could possibly matter to anybody. And -to contrive these torments quite tires us out." - -"But wherefore is this place called the Hell of my fathers?" - -"Because your forefathers builded it in dreams," they told him, "out -of the pride which led them to believe that what they did was of -sufficient importance to merit punishment. Or so at least we have -heard: but if you want the truth of the matter you must go to our -Grandfather at Barathum." - -"I shall go to him, then. And do my own grandfathers, and all the -forefathers that I had in the old time, inhabit this gray place?" - -"All such as are born with what they call a conscience come hither," -the devils said. "Do you think you could persuade them to go -elsewhere? For in that event, we would be deeply obliged to you. -Their self-conceit is pitiful: but it is also a nuisance, because it -prevents our getting any rest." - -"Perhaps I can help you to obtain justice, and certainly to attempt -to secure justice for you is my imperial duty. But who governs this -country?" - -They told him how Hell was divided into principalities that had for -governors Lucifer and Beelzebub and Belial and Ascheroth and -Phlegeton: but that over all these was Grandfather Satan, who lived -in the Black House at Barathum. - -"Well, I prefer," says Jurgen, "to deal directly with your -principal, especially if he can explain the polity of this insane -and murky country. Do some of you conduct me to him in such state as -becomes an emperor!" - -So Cannagosta fetched a wheelbarrow, and Jurgen got into it, and -Cannagosta trundled him away. Cannagosta was something like an ox, -but rather more like a cat, and his hair was curly. - -And as they came through Chorasma, a very uncomfortable place where -the damned abide in torment, whom should Jurgen see but his own -father, Coth, the son of Smoit and Steinvor, standing there chewing -his long moustaches in the midst of an especially tall flame. - -"Do you stop now for a moment!" says Jurgen, to his escort. - -"Oh, but this is the most vexatious person in all Hell!" cried -Cannagosta; "and a person whom there is absolutely no pleasing!" - -"Nobody knows that better than I," says Jurgen. - -And Jurgen civilly bade his father good-day, but Coth did not -recognize this spruce young Emperor of Noumaria, who went about Hell -in a wheelbarrow. - -"You do not know me, then?" says Jurgen. - -"How should I know you when I never saw you before?" replied Coth, -irritably. - -And Jurgen did not argue the point: for he knew that he and his -father could never agree about anything. So Jurgen kept silent for -that time, and Cannagosta wheeled him through the gray twilight, -descending always deeper and yet deeper into the lowlands of Hell, -until they had come to Barathum. - - - - -35. - -What Grandfather Satan Reported - - -Next the tale tells how three inferior devils made a loud music with -bagpipes as Jurgen went into the Black House of Barathum, to talk -with Grandfather Satan. - -Satan was like a man of sixty, or it might be sixty-two, in all -things save that he was covered with gray fur, and had horns like -those of a stag. He wore a breech-clout of very dark gray, and he -sat in a chair of black marble, on a dais: his bushy tail, which was -like that of a squirrel, waved restlessly over his head as he looked -at Jurgen, without speaking, and without turning his mind from an -ancient thought. And his eyes were like light shining upon little -pools of ink, for they had no whites to them. - -"What is the meaning of this insane country?" says Jurgen, plunging -at the heart of things. "There is no sense in it, and no fairness at -all." - -"Ah," replied Satan, in his curious hoarse voice, "you may well say -that: and it is what I was telling my wife only last night." - -"You have a wife, then!" says Jurgen, who was always interested in -such matters. "Why, but to be sure! either as a Christian or as a -married man, I should have comprehended this was Satan's due. And -how do you get on with her?" - -"Pretty well," says Grandfather Satan: "but she does not understand -me." - -"_Et tu, Brute!_" says Jurgen. - -"And what does that mean?" - -"It is an expression connotating astonishment over an event without -parallel. But everything in Hell seems rather strange, and the place -is not at all as it was rumored to be by the priests and the bishops -and the cardinals that used to be exhorting me in my fine palace at -Breschau." - -"And where, did you say, is this palace?" - -"In Noumaria, where I am the Emperor Jurgen. And I need not insult -you by explaining Breschau is my capital city, and is noted for -its manufacture of linen and woolen cloth and gloves and cameos -and brandy, though the majority of my subjects are engaged in -cattle-breeding and agricultural pursuits." - -"Of course not: for I have studied geography. And, Jurgen, it is -often I have heard of you, though never of your being an emperor." - -"Did I not say this place was not in touch with new ideas?" - -"Ah, but you must remember that thoughtful persons keep out of Hell. -Besides, the war with Heaven prevents us from thinking of other -matters. In any event, you Emperor Jurgen, by what authority do you -question Satan, in Satan's home?" - -"I have heard that word which the ass spoke with the cat," replied -Jurgen; for he recollected upon a sudden what Merlin had shown him. - -Grandfather Satan nodded comprehendingly. "All honor be to Set and -Bast! and may their power increase. This, Emperor, is how my kingdom -came about." - -Then Satan, sitting erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, -explained how he, and all the domain and all the infernal -hierarchies he ruled, had been created extempore by Koshchei, to -humor the pride of Jurgen's forefathers. "For they were exceedingly -proud of their sins. And Koshchei happened to notice Earth once upon -a time, with your forefathers walking about it exultant in the -enormity of their sins and in the terrible punishments they expected -in requital. Now Koshchei will do almost anything to humor pride, -because to be proud is one of the two things that are impossible to -Koshchei. So he was pleased, oh, very much pleased: and after he had -had his laugh out, he created Hell extempore, and made it just such -a place as your forefathers imagined it ought to be, in order to -humor the pride of your forefathers." - -"And why is pride impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because he made things as they are; and day and night he -contemplates things as they are, having nothing else to look at. -How, then, can Koshchei be proud?" - -"I see. It is as if I were imprisoned in a cell wherein there was -nothing, absolutely nothing, except my verses. I shudder to think of -it! But what is this other thing which is impossible to Koshchei?" - -"I do not know. It is something that does not enter into Hell." - -"Well, I wish I too had never entered here, and now you must assist -me to get out of this murky place." - -"And why must I assist you?" - -"Because," said Jurgen, and he drew out the cantrap of the Master -Philologist, "because at the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro -Juliani, who should be named John the Twentieth, was through an -error in the reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the -Twenty-first. Do you not find my reason sufficient?" - -"No," said Grandfather Satan, after thinking it over, "I cannot say -that I do. But, then, popes go to Heaven. It is considered to look -better, all around, and particularly by my countrymen, inasmuch as -many popes have been suspected of pro-Celestialism. So we admit none -of them into Hell, in order to be on the safe side, now that we are -at war. In consequence, I am no judge of popes and their affairs, -nor do I pretend to be." - -And Jurgen perceived that again he had employed his cantrap -incorrectly or else that it was impotent to rescue people from -Satan. "But who would have thought," he reflected, "that Grandfather -Satan was such a simple old creature!" - -"How long, then, must I remain here?" asks Jurgen, after a dejected -pause. - -"I do not know," replies Satan. "It must depend entirely upon what -your father thinks about it--" - -"But what has he to do with it?" - -"--Since I and all else that is here are your father's absurd -notions, as you have so frequently proved by logic. And it is hardly -possible that such a clever fellow as you can be mistaken." - -"Why, of course, that is not possible," says Jurgen. "Well, the -matter is rather complicated. But I am willing to taste any drink -once: and I shall manage to get justice somehow, even in this -unreasonable place where my father's absurd notions are the truth." - -So Jurgen left the Black House of Barathum: and Jurgen also left -Grandfather Satan, erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, and -with his eyes gleaming in the dim light, as he sat there restively -swishing his soft bushy tail, and not ever turning his mind from an -ancient thought. - - - - -36. - -Why Coth was Contradicted - - -Then Jurgen went back to Chorasma, where Coth, the son of Smoit and -Steinvor, stood conscientiously in the midst of the largest and -hottest flame he had been able to imagine, and rebuked the outworn -devils who were tormenting him, because the tortures they inflicted -were not adequate to the wickedness of Coth. - -And Jurgen cried to his father: "The lewd fiend Cannagosta told you -I was the Emperor of Noumaria, and I do not deny it even now. But do -you not perceive I am likewise your son Jurgen?" - -"Why, so it is," said Coth, "now that I look at the rascal. And how, -Jurgen, did you become an emperor?" - -"Oh, sir, and is this a place wherein to talk about mere earthly -dignities? I am surprised your mind should still run upon these -empty vanities even here in torment." - -"But it is inadequate torment, Jurgen, such as does not salve my -conscience. There is no justice in this place, and no way of getting -justice. For these shiftless devils do not take seriously that which -I did, and they merely pretend to punish me, and so my conscience -stays unsatisfied." - -"Well, but, father, I have talked with them, and they seem to think -your crimes do not amount to much, after all." - -Coth flew into one of his familiar rages. "I would have you know -that I killed eight men in cold blood, and held five other men while -they were being killed. I estimate the sum of such iniquity as ten -and a half murders, and for these my conscience demands that I be -punished." - -"Ah, but, sir, that was fifty years or more ago, and these men would -now be dead in any event, so you see it does not matter now." - -"I went astray with women, with I do not know how many women." - -Jurgen shook his head. "This is very shocking news for a son to -receive, and you can imagine my feelings. None the less, sir, that -also was fifty years ago, and nobody is bothering over it now." - -"You jackanapes, I tell you that I swore and stole and forged and -burned four houses and broke the Sabbath and was guilty of mayhem -and spoke disrespectfully to my mother and worshipped a stone image -in Porutsa. I tell you I shattered the whole Decalogue, time and -again. I committed all the crimes that were ever heard of, and -invented six new ones." - -"Yes, sir," said Jurgen: "but, still, what does it matter if you -did?" - -"Oh, take away this son of mine!" cried Coth: "for he is his mother -all over again; and though I was the vilest sinner that ever lived, -I have not deserved to be plagued twice with such silly questions. -And I demand that you loitering devils bring more fuel." - -"Sir," said a panting little fiend, in the form of a tadpole with -hairy arms and legs like a monkey's, as he ran up with four bundles -of faggots, "we are doing the very best we can for your discomfort. -But you damned have no consideration for us, and do not remember -that we are on our feet day and night, waiting upon you," said the -little devil, whimpering, as with his pitchfork he raked up the fire -about Coth. "You do not even remember the upset condition of the -country, on account of the war with Heaven, which makes it so hard -for us to get you all the inconveniences of life. Instead, you -lounge in your flames, and complain about the service, and -Grandfather Satan punishes us, and it is not fair." - -"I think, myself," said Jurgen, "you should be gentler with the boy. -And as for your crimes, sir, come, will you not conquer this pride -which you nickname conscience, and concede that after any man has -been dead a little while it does not matter at all what he did? Why, -about Bellegarde no one ever thinks of your throat-cutting and -Sabbath-breaking except when very old people gossip over the fire, -and your wickedness brightens up the evening for them. To the rest -of us you are just a stone in the churchyard which describes you as -a paragon of all the virtues. And outside of Bellegarde, sir, your -name and deeds mean nothing now to anybody, and no one anywhere -remembers you. So really your wickedness is not bothering any person -now save these poor toiling devils: and I think that, in -consequence, you might consent to put up with such torments as they -can conveniently contrive, without complaining so ill-temperedly -about it." - -"Ah, but my conscience, Jurgen! that is the point." - -"Oh, if you continue to talk about your conscience, sir, you -restrict the conversation to matters I do not understand, and so -cannot discuss. But I dare say we will find occasion to thresh out -this, and all other matters, by and by: and you and I will make the -best of this place, for now I will never leave you." - -Coth began to weep: and he said that his sins in the flesh had been -too heinous for this comfort to be permitted him in the unendurable -torment which he had fairly earned, and hoped some day to come by. - -"Do you care about me, one way or the other, then?" says Jurgen, -quite astounded. - -And from the midst of his flame Coth, the son of Smoit, talked of -the birth of Jurgen, and of the infant that had been Jurgen, and of -the child that had been Jurgen. And a horrible, deep, unreasonable -emotion moved in Jurgen as he listened to the man who had begotten -him, and whose flesh was Jurgen's flesh, and whose thoughts had not -ever been Jurgen's thoughts: and Jurgen did not like it. Then the -voice of Coth was bitterly changed, as he talked of the young man -that had been Jurgen, of the young man who was idle and rebellious -and considerate of nothing save his own light desires; and of the -division which had arisen between Jurgen and Jurgen's father Coth -spoke likewise: and Jurgen felt better now, but was still grieved to -know how much his father had once loved him. - -"It is lamentably true," says Jurgen, "that I was an idle and -rebellious son. So I did not follow your teachings. I went astray, -oh, very terribly astray. I even went astray, sir I must tell you, -with a nature myth connected with the Moon." - -"Oh, hideous abomination of the heathen!" - -"And she considered, sir, that thereafter I was likely to become a -solar legend." - -"I should not wonder," said Coth, and he shook his bald and dome-shaped -head despondently. "Ah, my son, it simply shows you what comes of these -wild courses." - -"And in that event, I would, of course, be released from sojourning -in the underworld by the Spring Equinox. Do you not think so, sir?" -says Jurgen, very coaxingly, because he remembered that, according -to Satan, whatever Coth believed would be the truth in Hell. - -"I am sure," said Coth--"why, I am sure I do not know anything about -such matters." - -"Yes, but what do you think?" - -"I do not think about it at all." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Jurgen, you have a very uncivil habit of arguing with people--" - -"Still, sir--" - -"And I have spoken to you about it before--" - -"Yet, father--" - -"And I do not wish to have to speak to you about it again--" - -"None the less, sir--" - -"And when I say that I have no opinion--" - -"But everybody has an opinion, father!" Jurgen shouted this, and -felt it was quite like old times. - -"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice, sir!" - -"But I only meant--" - -"Do not lie to me, Jurgen! and stop interrupting me! For, as I was -saying when you began to yell at your father as though you were -addressing an unreasonable person, it is my opinion that I know -nothing whatever about Equinoxes! and do not care to know anything -about Equinoxes, I would have you understand! and that the less said -as to such disreputable topics the better, as I tell you to your -face!" - -And Jurgen groaned. "Here is a pretty father! If you had thought so, -it would have happened. But you imagine me in a place like this, and -have not sufficient fairness, far less paternal affection, to -imagine me out of it." - -"I can only think of your well merited affliction, you quarrelsome -scoundrel! and of the host of light women with whom you have sinned! -and of the doom which has befallen you in consequence!" - -"Well, at worst," says Jurgen, "there are no women here. That ought -to be a comfort to you." - -"I think there are women here," snapped his father. "It is reputed -that quite a number of women have had consciences. But these -conscientious women are probably kept separate from us men, in some -other part of Hell, for the reason that if they were admitted into -Chorasma they would attempt to tidy the place and make it habitable. -I know your mother would have been meddling out of hand." - -"Oh, sir, and must you still be finding fault with mother?" - -"Your mother, Jurgen, was in many ways an admirable woman. But," -said Coth, "she did not understand me." - -"Ah, well, that may have been the trouble. Still, all this you say -about women being here is mere guess-work." - -"It is not!" said Coth, "and I want none of your impudence, either. -How many times must I tell you that?" - -Jurgen scratched his ear reflectively. For he still remembered what -Grandfather Satan had said, and Coth's irritation seemed promising. -"Well, but the women here are all ugly, I wager." - -"They are not!" said his father, angrily. "Why do you keep -contradicting me?" - -"Because you do not know what you are talking about," says Jurgen, -egging him on. "How could there be any pretty women in this horrible -place? For the soft flesh would be burned away from their little -bones, and the loveliest of queens would be reduced to a horrid -cinder." - -"I think there are any number of vampires and succubi and such -creatures, whom the flames do not injure at all, because these -creatures are informed with an ardor that is unquenchable and is -more hot than fire. And you understand perfectly what I mean, so -there is no need for you to stand there goggling at me like a -horrified abbess!" - -"Oh, sir, but you know very well that I would have nothing to do -with such unregenerate persons." - -"I do not know anything of the sort. You are probably lying to me. -You always lied to me. I think you are on your way to meet a vampire -now." - -"What, sir, a hideous creature with fangs and leathery wings!" - -"No, but a very poisonous and seductively beautiful creature." - -"Come, now! you do not really think she is beautiful." - -"I do think so. How dare you tell me what I think and do not think!" - -"Ah, well, I shall have nothing to do with her." - -"I think you will," said his father: "ah, but I think you will be up -to your tricks with her before this hour is out. For do I not know -what emperors are? and do I not know you?" - -And Coth fell to talking of Jurgen's past, in the customary terms of -a family squabble, such as are not very nicely repeatable elsewhere. -And the fiends who had been tormenting Coth withdrew in -embarrassment, and so long as Coth continued talking they kept out -of earshot. - - - - -37. - -Invention of the Lovely Vampire - - -So again Coth parted with his son in anger, and Jurgen returned -again toward Barathum; and, whether or not it was a coincidence, -Jurgen met precisely the vampire of whom he had inveigled his father -into thinking. She was the most seductively beautiful creature that -it would be possible for Jurgen's father or any other man to -imagine: and her clothes were orange-colored, for a reason -sufficiently well known in Hell, and were embroidered everywhere -with green fig-leaves. - -"A good morning to you, madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you -going?" - -"Why, to no place at all, good youth. For this is my vacation, -granted yearly by the Law of Kalki--" - -"And who is Kalki, madame?" - -"Nobody as yet: but he will come as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law -precedes him, so that I am spending my vacation peacefully in Hell, -with none of my ordinary annoyances to bother me." - -"And what, madame, can they be?" - -"Why, you must understand that it is little rest a vampire gets on -earth, with so many fine young fellows like yourself going about -everywhere eager to be destroyed." - -"But how, madame, did you happen to become a vampire if the life -does not please you? And what is it that they call you?" - -"My name, sir," replied the Vampire, sorrowfully, "is Florimel, -because my nature no less than my person was as beautiful as the -flowers of the field and as sweet as the honey which the bees (who -furnish us with such admirable examples of industry) get out of -these flowers. But a sad misfortune changed all this. For I chanced -one day to fall ill and die (which, of course, might happen to -anyone), and as my funeral was leaving the house the cat jumped over -my coffin. That was a terrible misfortune to befall a poor dead girl -so generally respected, and in wide demand as a seamstress; though, -even then, the worst might have been averted had not my sister-in-law -been of what they call a humane disposition and foolishly attached to -the cat. So they did not kill it, and I, of course, became a vampire." - -"Yes, I can understand that was inevitable. Still, it seems hardly -fair. I pity you, my dear." And Jurgen sighed. - -"I would prefer, sir, that you did not address me thus familiarly, -since you and I have omitted the formality of an introduction; and -in the absence of any joint acquaintances are unlikely ever to meet -properly." - -"I have no herald handy, for I travel incognito. However, I am that -Jurgen who recently made himself Emperor of Noumaria, King of -Eubonia, Prince of Cocaigne, and Duke of Logreus; and of whom you -have doubtless heard." - -"Why, to be sure!" says she, patting her hair straight. "And who -would have anticipated meeting your highness in such a place!" - -"One says 'majesty' to an emperor, my dear. It is a detail, of -course: but in my position one has to be a little exigent." - -"I perfectly comprehend, your majesty; and indeed I might have -divined your rank from your lovely clothes. I can but entreat you to -overlook my unintentional breach of etiquette: and I make bold to -add that a kind heart reveals the splendor of its graciousness -through the interest which your majesty has just evinced in my -disastrous history." - -"Upon my word," thinks Jurgen, "but in this flow of words I seem to -recognize my father's imagination when in anger." - -Then Florimel told Jurgen of her horrible awakening in the grave, -and of what had befallen her hands and feet there, the while that -against her will she fed repugnantly, destroying first her kindred -and then the neighbors. This done, she had arisen. - -"For the cattle still lived, and that troubled me. When I had put an -end to this annoyance, I climbed into the church belfry, not alone, -for one went with me of whom I prefer not to talk; and at midnight I -sounded the bell so that all who heard it would sicken and die. And -I wept all the while, because I knew that when everything had been -destroyed which I had known in my first life in the flesh, I would -be compelled to go into new lands, in search of the food which alone -can nourish me, and I was always sincerely attached to my home. So -it was, your majesty, that I forever relinquished my sewing, and -became a lovely peril, a flashing desolation, and an evil which -smites by night, in spite of my abhorrence of irregular hours: and -what I do I dislike extremely, for it is a sad fate to become a -vampire, and still to sympathize with your victims, and particularly -with their poor mothers." - -So Jurgen comforted Florimel, and he put his arm around her. - -"Come, come!" he said, "but I will see that your vacation passes -pleasantly. And I intend to deal fairly with you, too." - -Then he glanced sidewise at his shadow, and whispered a suggestion -which caused Florimel to sigh. "By the terms of my doom," said she, -"at no time during the nine lives of the cat can I refuse. Still, it -is a comfort you are the Emperor of Noumaria and have a kind heart." - -"Oh, and a many other possessions, my dear! and I again assure you -that I intend to deal fairly with you." - -So Florimel conducted Jurgen, through the changeless twilight of -Barathum, like that of a gray winter afternoon, to a quiet cleft by -the Sea of Blood, which she had fitted out very cosily in imitation -of her girlhood home; and she lighted a candle, and made him welcome -to her cleft. And when Jurgen was about to enter it he saw that his -shadow was following him into the Vampire's home. - -"Let us extinguish this candle!" says Jurgen, "for I have seen so -many flames to-day that my eyes are tired." - -So Florimel extinguished the candle, with a good-will that delighted -Jurgen. And now they were in utter darkness, and in the dark nobody -can see what is happening. But that Florimel now trusted Jurgen and -his Noumarian claims was evinced by her very first remark. - -"I was in the beginning suspicious of your majesty," said Florimel, -"because I had always heard that every emperor carried a magnificent -sceptre, and you then displayed nothing of the sort. But now, -somehow, I do not doubt you any longer. And of what is your majesty -thinking?" - -"Why, I was reflecting, my dear," says Jurgen, "that my father -imagines things very satisfactorily." - - - - -38. - -As to Applauded Precedents - - -Afterward Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country. And the tale tells that a week or it might be ten days -after his meeting with Florimel, Jurgen married her, without being -at all hindered by his having three other wives. For the devils, he -found, esteemed polygamy, and ranked it above mere skill at -torturing the damned, through a literal interpretation of the saying -that it is better to marry than to burn. - -"And formerly," they told Jurgen, "you could hardly come across a -marriage anywhere that was not hallmarked 'made in Heaven': but -since we have been at war with Heaven we have quite taken away that -trade from our enemies. So you may marry here as much as you like." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "I shall marry in haste, and repeat at -leisure. But can one obtain a divorce here?" - -"Oh, no," said they. "We trafficked in them for a while, but we -found that all persons who obtained divorces through our industry -promptly thanked Heaven they were free at last. In the face of such -ingratitude we gave over that profitless trade, and now there is a -manufactory, for specialties in men's clothing, upon the old -statutory grounds." - -"But these makeshifts are unsatisfactory, and I wish to know, in -confidence, what do you do in Hell when there is no longer any -putting up with your wives." - -The devils all blushed. "We would prefer not to tell you," said -they, "for it might get to their ears." - -"Now do I perceive," said Jurgen, "that Hell is pretty much like any -other place." - -So Jurgen and the lovely Vampire were duly married. First Jurgen's -nails were trimmed, and the parings were given to Florimel. A -broomstick was laid before them, and they stepped over it. Then -Florimel said "Temon!" thrice, and nine times did Jurgen reply -"Arigizator!" Afterward the Emperor Jurgen and his bride were given -a posset of dudaim and eruca, and the devils modestly withdrew. - -Thereafter Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country, and was tolerably content for a while. Now Jurgen -shared with Florimel that quiet cleft which she had fitted out in -imitation of her girlhood home: and they lived in the suburbs of -Barathum, very respectably, by the shore of the sea. There was, of -course, no water in Hell; indeed the importation of water was -forbidden, under severe penalties, in view of its possible use for -baptismal purposes: this sea was composed of the blood that had been -shed by piety in furthering the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and -was reputed to be the largest ocean in existence. And it explained -the nonsensical saying which Jurgen had so often heard, as to Hell's -being paved with good intentions. - -"For Epigenes of Rhodes is right, after all," said Jurgen, "in -suggesting a misprint: and the word should be 'laved'." - -"Why, to be sure, your majesty," assented Florimel: "ah, but I -always said your majesty had remarkable powers of penetration, quite -apart from your majesty's scholarship." - -For Florimel had this cajoling way of speaking. None the less, all -vampires have their foibles, and are nourished by the vigor and -youth of their lovers. So one morning Florimel complained of being -unwell, and attributed it to indigestion. - -Jurgen stroked her head meditatively; then he opened his glittering -shirt, and displayed what was plain enough to see. - -"I am full of vigor and I am young," said Jurgen, "but my vigor and -my youthfulness are of a peculiar sort, and are not wholesome. So -let us have no more of your tricks, or you will quite spoil your -vacation by being very ill indeed." - -"But I had thought all emperors were human!" said Florimel, in a -flutter of blushing penitence, exceedingly pretty to observe. - -"Even so, sweetheart, all emperors are not Jurgens," he replied, -magnificently. "Therefore you will find that not every emperor is -justly styled the father of his people, or is qualified by nature to -wield the sceptre of Noumaria. I trust this lesson will suffice." - -"It will," said Florimel, with a wry face. - -So thereafter they had no further trouble of this sort, and the -wound on Jurgen's breast was soon healed. - -And Jurgen kept away from the damned, of course, because he and -Florimel were living respectably. They paid a visit to Jurgen's -father, however, very shortly after they were married, because this -was the proper thing to do. And Coth was civil enough, for Coth, and -voiced a hope that Florimel might have a good influence upon Jurgen -and make him worth his salt, but did not pretend to be optimistic. -Yet this visit was never returned, because Coth considered his -wickedness was too great for him to be spared a moment of torment, -and so would not leave his flame. - -"And really, your majesty," said Florimel, "I do not wish for an -instant to have the appearance of criticizing your majesty's -relatives. But I do think that your majesty's father might have -called upon us, at least once, particularly after I offered to have -a fire made up for him to sit on any time he chose to come. I -consider that your majesty's father assumes somewhat extravagant -airs, in the lack of any definite proof as to his having been a bit -more wicked than anybody else: and the child-like candor which has -always been with me a leading characteristic prevents concealment of -my opinion." - -"Oh, it is just his conscience, dear." - -"A conscience is all very well in its place, your majesty; and I, -for one, would never have been able to endure the interminable labor -of seducing and assassinating so many fine young fellows if my -conscience had not assured me that it was all the fault of my -sister-in-law. But, even so, there is no sense in letting your -conscience make a slave of you: and when conscience reduces your -majesty's father to ignoring the rules of common civility and -behaving like a candle-wick, I am sure that matters are being -carried too far." - -"And right you are, my dear. However, we do not lack for company. So -come now, make yourself fine, and shake the black dog from your -back, for we are spending the evening with the Asmodeuses." - -"And will your majesty talk politics again?" - -"Oh, I suppose so. They appear to like it." - -"I only wish that I did, your majesty," observed Florimel, and she -yawned by anticipation. - -For with the devils Jurgen got on garrulously. The religion of Hell -is patriotism, and the government is an enlightened democracy. This -contented the devils, and Jurgen had learned long ago never to fall -out with either of these codes, without which, as the devils were -fond of observing, Hell would not be what it is. - -They were, to Jurgen's finding, simple-minded fiends who allowed -themselves to be deplorably overworked by the importunate dead. They -got no rest because of the damned, who were such persons as had been -saddled with a conscience, and who in consequence demanded -interminable torments. And at the time of Jurgen's coming into Hell -political affairs were in a very bad way, because there was a -considerable party among the younger devils who were for compounding -the age-old war with Heaven, at almost any price, in order to get -relief from this unceasing influx of conscientious dead persons in -search of torment. For it was well-known that when Satan submitted -to be bound in chains there would be no more death: and the annoying -immigration would thus be ended. So said the younger devils: and -considered Grandfather Satan ought to sacrifice himself for the -general welfare. - -Then too they pointed out that Satan had been perforce their -presiding magistrate ever since the settlement of Hell, because a -change of administration is inexpedient in war-time: so that Satan -must term after term be re-elected: and of course Satan had been -voted absolute power in everything, since this too is customary in -wartime. Well, and after the first few thousand years of this the -younger devils began to whisper that such government was not ideal -democracy. - -But their more conservative elders were enraged by these effete and -wild new notions, and dealt with their juniors somewhat severely, -tearing them into bits and quite destroying them. The elder devils -then proceeded to inflict even more startling punishments. - - * * * * * - -So Grandfather Satan was much vexed, because the laws were being -violated everywhere: and a day or two after Jurgen's advent Satan -issued a public appeal to his subjects, that the code of Hell should -be better respected. But under a democratic government people do not -like to be perpetually bothering about law and order, as one of the -older and stronger devils pointed out to Jurgen. - -Jurgen drew a serious face, and he stroked his chin. "Why, but look -you," says Jurgen, "in deploring the mob spirit that has been -manifesting itself sporadically throughout this country against the -advocates of peace and submission to the commands of Heaven and -other pro-Celestial propaganda,--and in warning loyal citizenship -that such outbursts must be guarded against, as hurtful to the -public welfare of Hell,--why, Grandfather Satan should bear in mind -that the government, in large measure, holds the remedy of the evil -in its own hands." And Jurgen looked very severely toward Satan. - -"Come now," says Phlegeton, nodding his head, which was like that of -a bear, except for his naked long, red ears, inside each of which -was a flame like that of a spirit-lamp: "come now, but this young -emperor in the fine shirt speaks uncommonly well!" - -"So we spoke together in Pandemonium," said Belial, wistfully, "in -the brave days when Pandemonium was newly built and we were all imps -together." - -"Yes, his talk is of the old school, than which there is none -better. So pray continue, Emperor Jurgen," cried the elderly devils, -"and let us know what you are talking about." - -"Why, merely this," says Jurgen, and again he looked severely toward -Satan: "I tell you that as long as sentimental weakness marks the -prosecution of offences in violation of the laws necessitated by -war-time conditions; as long as deserved punishment for overt acts -of pro-Celestialism is withheld; as long as weak-kneed clemency -condones even a suspicion of disloyal thinking: then just so long -will a righteously incensed, if now and then misguided patriotism -take into its own hands vengeance upon the offenders." - -"But, still--" said Grandfather Satan. - -"Ineffectual administration of the law," continued Jurgen, sternly, -"is the true defence of these outbursts: and far more justly -deplorable than acts of mob violence is the policy of condonation -that furnishes occasion for them. The patriotic people of Hell are -not in a temper to be trifled with, now that they are at war. -Conviction for offenses against the nation should not be behedged -about with technicalities devised for over-refined peacetime -jurisprudence. Why, there is no one of you, I am sure, but has at -his tongue's tip the immortal words of Livonius as to this very -topic: and so I shall not repeat them. But I fancy you will agree -with me that what Livonius says is unanswerable." - -So it was that Jurgen went on at a great rate, and looking always -very sternly at Grandfather Satan. - -"Yes, yes!" said Satan, wriggling uncomfortably, but still not -thinking of Jurgen entirely: "yes, all this is excellent oratory, -and not for a moment would I decry the authority of Livonius. And -your quotation is uncommonly apropos and all that sort of thing. But -with what are you charging me?" - -"With sentimental weakness," retorted Jurgen. "Was it not only -yesterday one of the younger devils was brought before you, upon the -charge that he had said the climate in Heaven was better than the -climate here? And you, sir, Hell's chief magistrate--you it was who -actually asked him if he had ever uttered such a disloyal heresy!" - -"Now, but what else was I to do?" said Satan, fidgeting, and -swishing his great bushy tail so that it rustled against his horns, -and still not really turning his mind from that ancient thought. - -"You should have remembered, sir, that a devil whose patriotism is -impugned is a devil to be punished; and that there is no time to be -prying into irrevelant questions of his guilt or innocence. -Otherwise, I take it, you will never have any real democracy in -Hell." - -Now Jurgen looked very impressive, and the devils were all cheering -him. - -"And so," says Jurgen, "your disgusted hearers were wearied by such -frivolous interrogatories, and took the fellow out of your hands, -and tore him into particularly small bits. Now I warn you, -Grandfather Satan, that it is your duty as a democratic magistrate -just so to deal with such offenders first of all, and to ask your -silly questions afterward. For what does Rudigernus say outright -upon this point? and Zantipher Magnus, too? Why, my dear sir, I ask -you plainly, where in the entire history of international -jurisprudence will you find any more explicit language than these -two employ?" - -"Now certainly," says Satan, with his bleak smile, "you cite very -respectable authority: and I shall take your reproof in good part. I -will endeavor to be more strict in the future. And you must not -blame my laxity too severely, Emperor Jurgen, for it is a long while -since any man came living into Hell to instruct us how to manage -matters in time of war. No doubt, precisely as you say, we do need a -little more severity hereabouts, and would gain by adopting more -human methods. Rudigernus, now?--yes, Rudigernus is rather -unanswerable, and I concede it frankly. So do you come home and have -supper with me, Emperor Jurgen, and we will talk over these things." - -Then Jurgen went off arm in arm with Grandfather Satan, and Jurgen's -erudition and sturdy common-sense were forevermore established among -the older and more solid element in Hell. And Satan followed Jurgen's -suggestions, and the threatened rebellion was satisfactorily -discouraged, by tearing into very small fragments anybody who -grumbled about anything. So that all the subjects of Satan went -about smiling broadly all the time at the thought of what might -befall them if they seemed dejected. Thus was Hell a happier -looking place because of Jurgen's coming. - - - - -39. - -Of Compromises in Hell - - -Now Grandfather Satan's wife was called Phyllis: and apart from -having wings like a bat's, she was the loveliest little slip of -devilishness that Jurgen had seen in a long while. Jurgen spent this -night at the Black House of Barathum, and two more nights, or it -might be three nights: and the details of what Jurgen used to do -there, after supper, when he would walk alone in the Black House -Gardens, among the artfully colored cast-iron flowers and shrubbery, -and would so come to the grated windows of Phyllis's room, and would -stand there joking with her in the dark, are not requisite to this -story. - -Satan was very jealous of his wife, and kept one of her wings -clipped and held her under lock and key, as the treasure that she -was. But Jurgen was accustomed to say afterward that, while the -gratings over the windows were very formidable, they only seemed -somehow to enhance the piquancy of his commerce with Dame Phyllis. -This queen, said Jurgen, he had found simply unexcelled at repartee. - -Florimel considered the saying cryptic: just what precisely did his -majesty mean? - -"Why, that in any and all circumstances Dame Phyllis knows how to -take a joke, and to return as good as she receives." - -"So your majesty has already informed me: and certainly jokes can be -exchanged through a grating--" - -"Yes, that was what I meant. And Dame Phyllis appeared to appreciate -my ready flow of humor. She informs me Grandfather Satan is of a -cold dry temperament, with very little humor in him, so that they go -for months without exchanging any pleasantries. Well, I am willing -to taste any drink once: and for the rest, remembering that my host -had very enormous and intimidating horns, I was at particular pains -to deal fairly with my hostess. Though, indeed, it was more for the -honor and the glory of the affair than anything else that I -exchanged pleasantries with Satan's wife. For to do that, my dear, I -felt was worthy of the Emperor Jurgen." - -"Ah, I am afraid your majesty is a sad scapegrace," replied -Florimel: "however, we all know that the sceptre of an emperor is -respected everywhere." - -"Indeed," says Jurgen, "I have often regretted that I did not bring -with me my jewelled sceptre when I left Noumaria." - -She shivered at some unspoken thought: it was not until some while -afterward that Florimel told Jurgen of her humiliating misadventure -with the absent-minded Sultan of Garcao's sceptre. Now she only -replied that jewels might, conceivably, seem ostentatious and out of -place. - -Jurgen agreed to this truism: for of course they were living very -quietly, and Jurgen was splendid enough for any reasonable wife's -requirements, in his glittering shirt. - -So Jurgen got on pleasantly with Florimel. But he never became as -fond of her as he had been of Guenevere or Anaitis, nor one-tenth as -fond of her as he had been of Chloris. In the first place, he -suspected that Florimel had been invented by his father, and Coth -and Jurgen had never any tastes in common: and in the second place, -Jurgen could not but see that Florimel thought a great deal of his -being an emperor. - -"It is my title she loves, not me," reflected Jurgen, sadly, "and -her affection is less for that which is really integral to me than -for imperial orbs and sceptres and such-like external trappings." - -And Jurgen would come out of Florimel's cleft considerably dejected, -and would sit alone by the Sea of Blood, and would meditate how -inequitable it was that the mere title of emperor should thus shut -him off from sincerity and candor. - -"We who are called kings and emperors are men like other men: we are -as rightly entitled as other persons to the solace of true love and -affection: instead, we live in a continuous isolation, and women -offer us all things save their hearts, and we are a lonely folk. -No, I cannot believe that Florimel loves me for myself alone: it is -my title which dazzles her. And I would that I had never made myself -the emperor of Noumaria: for this emperor goes about everywhere -in a fabulous splendor, and is, very naturally, resistless in his -semi-mythical magnificence. Ah, but these imperial gewgaws distract -the thoughts of Florimel from the real Jurgen; so that the real -Jurgen is a person whom she does not understand at all. And it is -not fair." - -Then, too, he had a sort of prejudice against the way in which -Florimel spent her time in seducing and murdering young men. It was -not possible, of course, actually to blame the girl, since she was -the victim of circumstances, and had no choice about becoming a -vampire, once the cat had jumped over her coffin. Still, Jurgen -always felt, in his illogical masculine way, that her vocation was -not nice. And equally in the illogical way of men, did he persist in -coaxing Florimel to tell him of her vampiric transactions, in spite -of his underlying feeling that he would prefer to have his wife -engaged in some other trade: and the merry little creature would -humor him willingly enough, with her purple eyes a-sparkle, and with -her vivid lips curling prettily back, so as to show her tiny white -sharp teeth quite plainly. - -She was really very pretty thus, as she told him of what happened -in Copenhagen when young Count Osmund went down into the blind -beggar-woman's cellar, and what they did with bits of him; and -of how one kind of serpent came to have a secret name, which, -when cried aloud in the night, with the appropriate ceremony, will -bring about delicious happenings; and of what one can do with small -unchristened children, if only they do not kiss you, with their -moist uncertain little mouths, for then this thing is impossible; -and of what use she had made of young Sir Ganelon's skull, when he -was through with it, and she with him; and of what the young priest -Wulfnoth had said to the crocodiles at the very last. - -"Oh, yes, my life has its amusing side," said Florimel: "and one -likes to feel, of course, that one is not wholly out of touch with -things, and is even, in one's modest way, contributing to the -suppression of folly. But even so, your majesty, the calls that are -made upon one! the things that young men expect of you, as the price -of their bodily and spiritual ruin! and the things their relatives say -about you! and, above all, the constant strain, the irregular hours, -and the continual effort to live up to one's position! Oh, yes, your -majesty, I was far happier when I was a consumptive seamstress and took -pride in my buttonholes. But from a sister-in-law who only has you in -to tea occasionally as a matter of duty, and who is prominent in -churchwork, one may, of course, expect anything. And that reminds -me that I really must tell your majesty about what happened in the -hay-loft, just after the abbot had finished undressing--" - -So she would chatter away, while Jurgen listened and smiled -indulgently. For she certainly was very pretty. And so they kept -house in Hell contentedly enough until Florimel's vacation was at an -end: and then they parted, without any tears but in perfect -friendliness. - -And Jurgen always remembered Florimel most pleasantly, but not as a -wife with whom he had ever been on terms of actual intimacy. - -Now when this lovely Vampire had quitted him, the Emperor Jurgen, in -spite of his general popularity and the deference accorded his -political views, was not quite happy in Hell. - -"It is a comfort, at any rate," said Jurgen, "to discover who -originated the theory of democratic government. I have long wondered -who started the notion that the way to get a wise decision on any -conceivable question was to submit it to a popular vote. Now I know. -Well, and the devils may be right in their doctrines; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same -time--!" - -For instance, this interminable effort to make the universe safe for -democracy, this continual warring against Heaven because Heaven -clung to a tyrannical form of autocratic government, sounded both -logical and magnanimous, and was, of course, the only method of -insuring any general triumph for democracy: yet it seemed rather -futile to Jurgen, since, as he knew now, there was certainly -something in the Celestial system which made for military -efficiency, so that Heaven usually won. Moreover, Jurgen could not -get over the fact that Hell was just a notion of his ancestors with -which Koshchei had happened to fall in: for Jurgen had never much -patience with antiquated ideas, particularly when anyone put them -into practice, as Koshchei had done. - -"Why, this place appears to me a glaring anachronism," said Jurgen, -brooding over the fires of Chorasma: "and its methods of tormenting -conscientious people I cannot but consider very crude indeed. The -devils are simple-minded and they mean well, as nobody would dream -of denying, but that is just it: for hereabouts is needed some more -pertinacious and efficiently disagreeable person--" - -And that, of course, reminded him of Dame Lisa: and so it was the -thoughts of Jurgen turned again to doing the manly thing. And he -sighed, and went among the devils tentatively looking and inquiring -for that intrepid fiend who in the form of a black gentleman had -carried off Dame Lisa. But a queer happening befell, and it was that -nowhere could Jurgen find the black gentleman, nor did any of the -devils know anything about him. - -"From what you tell us, Emperor Jurgen," said they all, "your wife -was an acidulous shrew, and the sort of woman who believes that -whatever she does is right." - -"It was not a belief," says Jurgen: "it was a mania with the poor -dear." - -"By that fact, then, she is forever debarred from entering Hell." - -"You tell me news," says Jurgen, "which if generally known would -lead many husbands into vicious living." - -"But it is notorious that people are saved by faith. And there is no -faith stronger than that of a bad-tempered woman in her own -infallibility. Plainly, this wife of yours is the sort of person who -cannot be tolerated by anybody short of the angels. We deduce that -your Empress must be in Heaven." - -"Well, that sounds reasonable. And so to Heaven I will go, and it -may be that there I shall find justice." - -"We would have you know," the fiends cried, bristling, "that in Hell -we have all kinds of justice, since our government is an enlightened -democracy." - -"Just so," says Jurgen: "in an enlightened democracy one has all -kinds of justice, and I would not dream of denying it. But you have -not, you conceive, that lesser plague, my wife; and it is she whom I -must continue to look for." - -"Oh, as you like," said they, "so long as you do not criticize the -exigencies of war-time. But certainly we are sorry to see you going -into a country where the benighted people put up with an autocrat -Who was not duly elected to His position. And why need you continue -seeking your wife's society when it is so much pleasanter living in -Hell?" - -And Jurgen shrugged. "One has to do the manly thing sometimes." - -So the fiends told him the way to Heaven's frontiers, pitying him. -"But the crossing of the frontier must be your affair." - -"I have a cantrap," said Jurgen; "and my stay in Hell has taught me -how to use it." - -Then Jurgen followed his instructions, and went into Meridie, and -turned to the left when he had come to the great puddle where the -adders and toads are reared, and so passed through the mists of -Tartarus, with due care of the wild lightning, and took the second -turn to his left--"always in seeking Heaven be guided by your -heart," had been the advice given him by devils,--and thus avoiding -the abode of Jemra, he crossed the bridge over the Bottomless Pit -and the solitary Narakas. And Brachus, who kept the toll-gate on -this bridge, did that of which the fiends had forewarned Jurgen: but -for this, of course, there was no help. - - - - -40. - -The Ascension of Pope Jurgen - - -The tale tells how on the feast of the Annunciation Jurgen came to -the high white walls which girdle Heaven. For Jurgen's forefathers -had, of course, imagined that Hell stood directly contiguous to -Heaven, so that the blessed could augment their felicity by gazing -down upon the tortures of the damned. Now at this time a boy angel -was looking over the parapet of Heaven's wall. - -"And a good day to you, my fine young fellow," says Jurgen. "But of -what are you thinking so intently?" For just as Dives had done long -years before, now Jurgen found that a man's voice carries perfectly -between Hell and Heaven. - -"Sir," replies the boy, "I was pitying the poor damned." - -"Why, then, you must be Origen," says Jurgen, laughing. - -"No, sir, my name is Jurgen." - -"Heyday!" says Jurgen: "well, but this Jurgen has been a great many -persons in my time. So very possibly you speak the truth." - -"I am Jurgen, the son of Coth and Azra." - -"Ah, ah! but so were all of them, my boy." - -"Why, then, I am Jurgen, the grandson of Steinvor, and the -grandchild whom she loved above her other grandchildren: and so I -abide forever in Heaven with all the other illusions of Steinvor. -But who, messire, are you that go about Hell unscorched, in such a -fine looking shirt?" - -Jurgen reflected. Clearly it would never do to give his real name, -and thus raise the question as to whether Jurgen was in Heaven or -Hell. Then he recollected the cantrap of the Master Philologist, -which Jurgen had twice employed incorrectly. And Jurgen cleared his -throat, for he believed that he now understood the proper use of -cantraps. - -"Perhaps," says Jurgen, "I ought not to tell you who I am. But what -is life without confidence in one another? Besides, you appear a boy -of remarkable discretion. So I will confide in you that I am Pope -John the Twentieth, Heaven's regent upon Earth, now visiting this -place upon Celestial business which I am not at liberty to divulge -more particularly, for reasons that will at once occur to a young -man of your unusual cleverness." - -"Oh, but I say! that is droll. Do you just wait a moment!" cried the -boy angel. - -His bright face vanished, with a whisking of brown curls: and Jurgen -carefully re-read the cantrap of the Master Philologist. "Yes, I -have found, I think, the way to use such magic," observes Jurgen. - -Presently the young angel re-appeared at the parapet. "I say, messire! -I looked on the Register--all popes are admitted here the moment they -die, without inquiring into their private affairs, you know, so as to -avoid any unfortunate scandal,--and we have twenty-three Pope Johns -listed. And sure enough, the mansion prepared for John the Twentieth -is vacant. He seems to be the only pope that is not in Heaven." - -"Why, but of course not," says Jurgen, complacently, "inasmuch as -you see me, who was once Bishop of Rome and servant to the servants -of God, standing down here on this cinder-heap." - -"Yes, but none of the others in your series appears to place you. -John the Nineteenth says he never heard of you, and not to bother -him in the middle of a harp lesson--" - -"He died before my accession, naturally." - -"--And John the Twenty-first says he thinks they lost count somehow, -and that there never was any Pope John the Twentieth. He says you -must be an impostor." - -"Ah, professional jealousy!" sighed Jurgen: "dear me, this is very -sad, and gives one a poor opinion of human nature. Now, my boy, I -put it to you fairly, how could there have been a twenty-first -unless there had been a twentieth? And what becomes of the great -principle of papal infallibility when a pope admits to a mistake in -elementary arithmetic? Oh, but this is a very dangerous heresy, let -me tell you, an Inquisition matter, a consistory business! Yet, -luckily, upon his own contention, this Pedro Juliani--" - -"And that was his name, too, for he told me! You evidently know all -about it, messire," said the young angel, visibly impressed. - -"Of course, I know all about it. Well, I repeat, upon his own -contention this man is non-existent, and so, whatever he may say -amounts to nothing. For he tells you there was never any Pope John -the Twentieth: and either he is lying or he is telling you the -truth. If he is lying, you, of course, ought not to believe him: -yet, if he is telling you the truth, about there never having been -any Pope John the Twentieth, why then, quite plainly, there was -never any Pope John the Twenty-first, so that this man asserts his -own non-existence; and thus is talking nonsense, and you, of course, -ought not to believe in nonsense. Even did we grant his insane -contention that he is nobody, you are too well brought up, I am -sure, to dispute that nobody tells lies in Heaven: it follows that -in this case nobody is lying; and so, of course, I must be telling -the truth, and you have no choice save to believe me." - -"Now, certainly that sounds all right," the younger Jurgen conceded: -"though you explain it so quickly it is a little difficult to follow -you." - -"Ah, but furthermore, and over and above this, and as a tangible -proof of the infallible particularity of every syllable of my -assertion," observes the elder Jurgen, "if you will look in the -garret of Heaven you will find the identical ladder upon which I -descended hither, and which I directed them to lay aside until I was -ready to come up again. Indeed, I was just about to ask you to fetch -it, inasmuch as my business here is satisfactorily concluded." - -Well, the boy agreed that the word of no pope, whether in Hell or -Heaven, was tangible proof like a ladder: and again he was off. -Jurgen waited, in tolerable confidence. - -It was a matter of logic. Jacob's Ladder must from all accounts have -been far too valuable to throw away after one night's use at Beth-El; -it would come in very handy on Judgment Day: and Jurgen's knowledge -of Lisa enabled him to deduce that anything which was being kept -because it would come in handy some day would inevitably be stored -in the garret, in any establishment imaginable by women. "And it is -notorious that Heaven is a delusion of old women. Why, the thing is -a certainty," said Jurgen; "simply a mathematical certainty." - -And events proved his logic correct: for presently the younger -Jurgen came back with Jacob's Ladder, which was rather cobwebby and -obsolete looking after having been lain aside so long. - -"So you see you were perfectly right," then said this younger -Jurgen, as he lowered Jacob's Ladder into Hell. "Oh, Messire John, -do hurry up and have it out with that old fellow who slandered you!" - -Thus it came about that Jurgen clambered merrily from Hell to Heaven -upon a ladder of unalloyed, time-tested gold: and as he climbed the -shirt of Nessus glittered handsomely in the light which shone from -Heaven: and by this great light above him, as Jurgen mounted higher -and yet higher, the shadow of Jurgen was lengthened beyond belief -along the sheer white wall of Heaven, as though the shadow were -reluctant and adhered tenaciously to Hell. Yet presently Jurgen -leaped the ramparts: and then the shadow leaped too; and so his -shadow came with Jurgen into Heaven, and huddled dispiritedly at -Jurgen's feet. - -"Well, well!" thinks Jurgen, "certainly there is no disputing the -magic of the Master Philologist when it is correctly employed. For -through its aid I am entering alive into Heaven, as only Enoch and -Elijah have done before me: and moreover, if this boy is to be -believed, one of the very handsomest of Heaven's many mansions -awaits my occupancy. One could not ask more of any magician fairly. -Aha, if only Lisa could see me now!" - -That was his first thought. Afterward Jurgen tore up the cantrap and -scattered its fragments as the Master Philologist had directed. Then -Jurgen turned to the boy who aided Jurgen to get into Heaven. - -"Come, youngster, and let us have a good look at you!" - -And Jurgen talked with the boy that he had once been, and stood face -to face with all that Jurgen had been and was not any longer. And -this was the one happening which befell Jurgen that the writer of -the tale lacked heart to tell of. - -So Jurgen quitted the boy that he had been. But first had Jurgen -learned that in this place his grandmother Steinvor (whom King Smoit -had loved) abode and was happy in her notion of Heaven; and that -about her were her notions of her children and of her grandchildren. -Steinvor had never imagined her husband in Heaven, nor King Smoit -either. - -"That is a circumstance," says Jurgen, "which heartens me to hope -one may find justice here. Yet I shall keep away from my -grandmother, the Steinvor whom I knew and loved, and who loved me so -blindly that this boy here is her notion of me. Yes, in mere -fairness to her, I must keep away." - -So he avoided that part of Heaven wherein were his grandmother's -illusions: and this was counted for righteousness in Jurgen. That -part of Heaven smelt of mignonette, and a starling was singing -there. - - - - -41. - -Of Compromises in Heaven - - -Jurgen then went unhindered to where the God of Jurgen's grandmother -sat upon a throne, beside a sea of crystal. A rainbow, made high -and narrow like a window frame, so as to fit the throne, formed an -arch-way in which He sat: at His feet burned seven lamps, and four -remarkable winged creatures sat there chaunting softly, "Glory and -honor and thanks to Him Who liveth forever!" In one hand of the God -was a sceptre, and in the other a large book with seven red spots on -it. - -There were twelve smaller thrones, without rainbows, upon each side -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, in two semi-circles: upon these -inferior thrones sat benignant-looking elderly angels, with long -white hair, all crowned, and clothed in white robes, and having a -harp in one hand, and in the other a gold flask, about pint size. -And everywhere fluttered and glittered the multicolored wings of -seraphs and cherubs, like magnified paroquets, as they went softly -and gaily about the golden haze that brooded over Heaven, to a -continuous sound of hushed organ music and a remote and -undistinguishable singing. - -Now the eyes of this God met the eyes of Jurgen: and Jurgen waited -thus for a long while, and far longer, indeed, than Jurgen -suspected. - -"I fear You," Jurgen said, at last: "and, yes, I love You: and yet I -cannot believe. Why could You not let me believe, where so many -believed? Or else, why could You not let me deride, as the remainder -derided so noisily? O God, why could You not let me have faith? for -You gave me no faith in anything, not even in nothingness. It was -not fair." - -And in the highest court of Heaven, and in plain view of all the -angels, Jurgen began to weep. - -"I was not ever your God, Jurgen." - -"Once very long ago," said Jurgen, "I had faith in You." - -"No, for that boy is here with Me, as you yourself have seen. And -to-day there is nothing remaining of him anywhere in the man that is -Jurgen." - -"God of my grandmother! God Whom I too loved in boyhood!" said -Jurgen then: "why is it that I am denied a God? For I have searched: -and nowhere can I find justice, and nowhere can I find anything to -worship." - -"What, Jurgen, and would you look for justice, of all places, in -Heaven?" - -"No," Jurgen said; "no, I perceive it cannot be considered here. -Else You would sit alone." - -"And for the rest, you have looked to find your God without, not -looking within to see that which is truly worshipped in the thoughts -of Jurgen. Had you done so, you would have seen, as plainly as I now -see, that which alone you are able to worship. And your God is -maimed: the dust of your journeying is thick upon him; your vanity -is laid as a napkin upon his eyes; and in his heart is neither love -nor hate, not even for his only worshipper." - -"Do not deride him, You Who have so many worshippers! At least, he -is a monstrous clever fellow," said Jurgen: and boldly he said it, -in the highest court of Heaven, and before the pensive face of the -God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -"Ah, very probably. I do not meet with many clever people. And as -for My numerous worshippers, you forget how often you have -demonstrated that I was the delusion of an old woman." - -"Well, and was there ever a flaw in my logic?" - -"I was not listening to you, Jurgen. You must know that logic does -not much concern us, inasmuch as nothing is logical hereabouts." - -And now the four winged creatures ceased their chaunting, and the -organ music became a far-off murmuring. And there was silence in -Heaven. And the God of Jurgen's grandmother, too, was silent for a -while, and the rainbow under which He sat put off its seven colors -and burned with an unendurable white, tinged bluishly, while the God -considered ancient things. Then in the silence this God began to -speak. - -Some years ago (said the God of Jurgen's grandmother) it was -reported to Koshchei that scepticism was abroad in his universe, and -that one walked therein who would be contented with no rational -explanation. "Bring me this infidel," says Koshchei: so they brought -to him in the void a little bent gray woman in an old gray shawl. -"Now, tell me why you will not believe," says Koshchei, "in things -as they are." - -Then the decent little bent gray woman answered civilly; "I do not -know, sir, who you may happen to be. But, since you ask me, -everybody knows that things as they are must be regarded as -temporary afflictions, and as trials through which we are -righteously condemned to pass, in order to attain to eternal life -with our loved ones in Heaven." - -"Ah, yes," said Koshchei, who made things as they are; "ah, yes, to -be sure! and how did you learn of this?" - -"Why, every Sunday morning the priest discoursed to us about Heaven, -and of how happy we would be there after death." - -"Has this woman died, then?" asked Koshchei. - -"Yes, sir," they told him,--"recently. And she will believe nothing -we explain to her, but demands to be taken to Heaven." - -"Now, this is very vexing," Koshchei said, "and I cannot, of course, -put up with such scepticism. That would never do. So why do you not -convey her to this Heaven which she believes in, and thus put an end -to the matter?" - -"But, sir," they told him, "there is no such place." - -Then Koshchei reflected. "It is certainly strange that a place which -does not exist should be a matter of public knowledge in another -place. Where does this woman come from?" - -"From Earth," they told him. - -"Where is that?" he asked: and they explained to him as well as they -could. - -"Oh, yes, over that way," Koshchei interrupted. "I remember. -Now--but what is your name, woman who wish to go to Heaven?" - -"Steinvor, sir: and if you please I am rather in a hurry to be with -my children again. You see, I have not seen any of them for a long -while." - -"But stay," said Koshchei: "what is that which comes into this -woman's eyes as she speaks of her children?" They told him it was -love. - -"Did I create this love?" says Koshchei, who made things as they -are. And they told him, no: and that there were many sorts of love, -but that this especial sort was an illusion which women had invented -for themselves, and which they exhibited in all dealings with their -children. And Koshchei sighed. - -"Tell me about your children," Koshchei then said to Steinvor: "and -look at me as you talk, so that I may see your eyes." - -So Steinvor talked of her children: and Koshchei, who made all -things, listened very attentively. Of Coth she told him, of her only -son, confessing Coth was the finest boy that ever lived,--"a little -wild, sir, at first, but then you know what boys are,"--and telling -of how well Coth had done in business and of how he had even risen -to be an alderman. Koshchei, who made all things, seemed properly -impressed. Then Steinvor talked of her daughters, of Imperia and -Lindamira and Christine: of Imperia's beauty, and of Lindamira's -bravery under the mishaps of an unlucky marriage, and of Christine's -superlative housekeeping. "Fine women, sir, every one of them, with -children of their own! and to me they still seem such babies, bless -them!" And the decent little bent gray woman laughed. "I have been -very lucky in my children, sir, and in my grandchildren, too," she -told Koshchei. "There is Jurgen, now, my Coth's boy! You may not -believe it, sir, but there is a story I must tell you about -Jurgen--" So she ran on very happily and proudly, while Koshchei, -who made all things, listened, and watched the eyes of Steinvor. - -Then privately Koshchei asked, "Are these children and grandchildren -of Steinvor such as she reports?" - -"No, sir," they told him privately. - -So as Steinvor talked Koshchei devised illusions in accordance with -that which Steinvor said, and created such children and -grandchildren as she described. Male and female he created them -standing behind Steinvor, and all were beautiful and stainless: and -Koshchei gave life to these illusions. - -Then Koshchei bade her turn about. She obeyed: and Koshchei was -forgotten. - -Well, Koshchei sat there alone in the void, looking not very happy, -and looking puzzled, and drumming upon his knee, and staring at the -little bent gray woman, who was busied with her children and -grandchildren, and had forgotten all about him. "But surely, -Lindamira," he hears Steinvor say, "we are not yet in Heaven."--"Ah, -my dear mother," replies her illusion of Lindamira, "to be with you -again is Heaven: and besides, it may be that Heaven is like this, -after all."--"My darling child, it is sweet of you to say that, and -exactly like you to say that. But you know very well that Heaven is -fully described in the Book of Revelations, in the Bible, as the -glorious place that Heaven is. Whereas, as you can see for yourself, -around us is nothing at all, and no person at all except that very -civil gentleman to whom I was just talking; and who, between -ourselves, seems woefully uninformed about the most ordinary -matters." - -"Bring Earth to me," says Koshchei. This was done, and Koshchei -looked over the planet, and found a Bible. Koshchei opened the -Bible, and read the Revelation of St. John the Divine, while -Steinvor talked with her illusions. "I see," said Koshchei. "The -idea is a little garish. Still--!" So he replaced the Bible, and -bade them put Earth, too, in its proper place, for Koshchei dislikes -wasting anything. Then Koshchei smiled and created Heaven about -Steinvor and her illusions, and he made Heaven just such a place as -was described in the book. - -"And so, Jurgen, that was how it came about," ended the God of -Jurgen's grandmother. "And Me also Koshchei created at that time, -with the seraphim and the saints and all the blessed, very much as -you see us: and, of course, he caused us to have been here always, -since the beginning of time, because that, too, was in the book." - -"But how could that be done?" says Jurgen, with brows puckering. -"And in what way could Koshchei juggle so with time?" - -"How should I know, since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as -you have so frequently proved by logic? Let it suffice that whatever -Koshchei wills, not only happens, but has already happened beyond -the ancientest memory of man and his mother. How otherwise could he -be Koshchei?" - -"And all this," said Jurgen, virtuously, "for a woman who was not -even faithful to her husband!" - -"Oh, very probably!" said the God: "at all events, it was done for a -woman who loved. Koshchei will do almost anything to humor love, -since love is one of the two things which are impossible to -Koshchei." - -"I have heard that pride is impossible to Koshchei--" - -The God of Jurgen's grandmother raised His white eyebrows. "What is -pride? I do not think I ever heard of it before. Assuredly it is -something that does not enter here." - -"But why is love impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because Koshchei made things as they are, and day and night he -contemplates things as they are. How, then, can Koshchei love -anything?" - -But Jurgen shook his sleek black head. "That I cannot understand at -all. If I were imprisoned in a cell wherein was nothing except my -verses I would not be happy, and certainly I would not be proud: but -even so, I would love my verses. I am afraid that I fall in more -readily with the ideas of Grandfather Satan than with Yours; and -without contradicting You, I cannot but wonder if what You reveal is -true." - -"And how should I know whether or not I speak the truth?" the God -asked of him, "since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as you -have so frequently proved by logic." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, "You may be right in all matters, and -certainly I cannot presume to say You are wrong: but still, at the -same time--! No, even now I do not quite believe in You." - -"Who could expect it of a clever fellow, who sees so clearly through -the illusions of old women?" the God asked, a little wearily. - -And Jurgen answered: - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, and Your -doings as they are recorded I find incoherent and a little droll. -But I am glad the affair has been so arranged that You may always -now be real to brave and gentle persons who have believed in and -have worshipped and have loved You. To have disappointed them would -have been unfair: and it is right that before the faith they had in -You not even Koshchei who made things as they are was able to be -reasonable. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You; but -remembering the sum of love and faith that has been given You, I -tremble. I think of the dear people whose living was confident and -glad because of their faith in You: I think of them, and in my heart -contends a blind contrition, and a yearning, and an enviousness, and -yet a tender sort of amusement colors all. Oh, God, there was never -any other deity who had such dear worshippers as You have had, and -You should be very proud of them. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, yet I am not -as those who would come peering at You reasonably. I, Jurgen, see -You only through a mist of tears. For You were loved by those whom I -loved greatly very long ago: and when I look at You it is Your -worshippers and the dear believers of old that I remember. And it -seems to me that dates and manuscripts and the opinions of learned -persons are very trifling things beside what I remember, and what I -envy!" - -"Who could have expected such a monstrous clever fellow ever to envy -the illusions of old women?" the God of Jurgen's grandmother asked -again: and yet His countenance was not unfriendly. - -"Why, but," said Jurgen, on a sudden, "why, but my grandmother--in a -way--was right about Heaven and about You also. For certainly You -seem to exist, and to reign in just such estate as she described. -And yet, according to Your latest revelation, I too was right--in a -way--about these things being an old woman's delusions. I wonder -now--?" - -"Yes, Jurgen?" - -"Why, I wonder if everything is right, in a way? I wonder if that is -the large secret of everything? It would not be a bad solution, -sir," said Jurgen, meditatively. - -The God smiled. Then suddenly that part of Heaven was vacant, except -for Jurgen, who stood there quite alone. And before him was the throne -of the vanished God and the sceptre of the God, and Jurgen saw that -the seven spots upon the great book were of red sealing-wax. - -Jurgen was afraid: but he was particularly appalled by his -consciousness that he was not going to falter. "What, you who have -been duke and prince and king and emperor and pope! and do such -dignities content a Jurgen? Why, not at all," says Jurgen. - -So Jurgen ascended the throne of Heaven, and sat beneath that -wondrous rainbow: and in his lap now was the book, and in his hand -was the sceptre, of the God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -Jurgen sat thus, for a long while regarding the bright vacant courts -of Heaven. "And what will you do now?" says Jurgen, aloud. "Oh, -fretful little Jurgen, you that have complained because you had not -your desire, you are omnipotent over Earth and all the affairs of -men. What now is your desire?" And sitting thus terribly enthroned, -the heart of Jurgen was as lead within him, and he felt old and very -tired. "For I do not know. Oh, nothing can help me, for I do not -know what thing it is that I desire! And this book and this sceptre -and this throne avail me nothing at all, and nothing can ever avail -me: for I am Jurgen who seeks he knows not what." - -So Jurgen shrugged, and climbed down from the throne of the God, and -wandering at adventure, came presently to four archangels. They were -seated upon a fleecy cloud, and they were eating milk and honey from -gold porringers: and of these radiant beings Jurgen inquired the -quickest way out of Heaven. - -"For hereabouts are none of my illusions," said Jurgen, "and I must -now return to such illusions as are congenial. One must believe in -something. And all that I have seen in Heaven I have admired and -envied, but in none of these things could I believe, and with none -of these things could I be satisfied. And while I think of it, I -wonder now if any of you gentlemen can give me news of that Lisa who -used to be my wife?" - -He described her; and they regarded him with compassion. - -But these archangels, he found, had never heard of Lisa, and they -assured him there was no such person in Heaven. For Steinvor had -died when Jurgen was a boy, and so she had never seen Lisa; and in -consequence, had not thought about Lisa one way or the other, when -Steinvor outlined her notions to Koshchei who made things as they -are. - -Now Jurgen discovered, too, that, when his eyes first met the eyes -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, Jurgen had stayed motionless for -thirty-seven days, forgetful of everything save that the God of his -grandmother was love. - -"Nobody else has willingly turned away so soon," Zachariel told him: -"and we think that your insensibility is due to some evil virtue in -the glittering garment which you are wearing, and of which the like -was never seen in Heaven." - -"I did but search for justice," Jurgen said: "and I could not find -it in the eyes of your God, but only love and such forgiveness as -troubled me." - -"Because of that should you rejoice," the four archangels said; "and -so should all that lives rejoice: and more particularly should we -rejoice that dwell in Heaven, and hourly praise our Lord God's -negligence of justice, whereby we are permitted to enter into this -place." - - - - -42. - -Twelve That are Fretted Hourly - - -So it was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more -than likely to happen, that Jurgen went hastily out of Heaven, -without having gained or wasted any love there. St. Peter unbarred -for him, not the main entrance, but a small private door, carved -with innumerable fishes in bas-relief, because this exit opened -directly upon any place you chose to imagine. - -"For thus," St. Peter said, "you may return without loss of time to -your own illusions." - -"There was a cross," said Jurgen, "which I used to wear about my -neck, through motives of sentiment, because it once belonged to my -dead mother. For no woman has ever loved me save that Azra who was -my mother--" - -"I wonder if your mother told you that?" St. Peter asked him, -smiling reminiscently. "Mine did, time and again. And sometimes I -have wondered--? For, as you may remember, I was a married man, -Jurgen: and my wife did not quite understand me," said St. Peter, -with a sigh. - -"Why, indeed," says Jurgen, "my case is not entirely dissimilar: and -the more I marry, the less I find of comprehension. I should have -had more sympathy with King Smoit, who was certainly my grandfather. -Well, you conceive, St. Peter, these other women have trusted me, -more or less, because they loved a phantom Jurgen. But Azra trusted -me not at all, because she loved me with clear eyes. She -comprehended Jurgen, and yet loved him: though I for one, with all -my cleverness, cannot do either of these things. None the less, in -order to do the manly thing, in order to pleasure a woman,--and a -married woman, too!--I flung away the little gold cross which was -all that remained to me of my mother: and since then, St. Peter, the -illusions of sentiment have given me a woefully wide berth. So I -shall relinquish Heaven to seek a cross." - -"That has been done before, Jurgen, and I doubt if much good came of -it." - -"Heyday, and did it not lead to the eternal glory of the first and -greatest of the popes? It seems to me, sir, that you have either -very little memory or very little gratitude, and I am tempted to -crow in your face." - -"Why, now you talk like a cherub, Jurgen, and you ought to have -better manners. Do you suppose that we Apostles enjoy hearing jokes -made about the Church?" - -"Well, it is true, St. Peter, that you founded the Church--" - -"Now, there you go again! That is what those patronizing seraphim -and those impish cherubs are always telling us. You see, we Twelve -sit together in Heaven, each on his white throne: and we behold -everything that happens on Earth. Now from our station there has -been no ignoring the growth and doings of what you might loosely -call Christianity. And sometimes that which we see makes us very -uncomfortable, Jurgen. Especially as just then some cherub is sure -to flutter by, in a broad grin, and chuckle, 'But you started it.' -And we did; I cannot deny that in a way we did. Yet really we never -anticipated anything of this sort, and it is not fair to tease us -about it." - -"Indeed, St. Peter, now I think of it, you ought to be held -responsible for very little that has been said or done in the shadow -of a steeple. For as I remember it, you Twelve attempted to convert -a world to the teachings of Jesus: and good intentions ought to be -respected, however drolly they may turn out." - -It was apparent this sympathy was grateful to the old Saint, for he -was moved to a more confidential tone. Meditatively he stroked his -long white beard, then said with indignation: "If only they would -not claim sib with us we could stand it: but as it is, for centuries -we have felt like fools. It is particularly embarrassing for me, of -course, being on the wicket; for to cap it all, Jurgen, the little -wretches die, and come to Heaven impudent as sparrows, and expect me -to let them in! From their thumbscrewings, and their auto-da-fes, -and from their massacres, and patriotic sermons, and holy wars, and -from every manner of abomination, they come to me, smirking. And -millions upon millions of them, Jurgen! There is no form of cruelty -or folly that has not come to me for praise, and no sort of criminal -idiot who has not claimed fellowship with me, who was an Apostle and -a gentleman. Why, Jurgen, you may not believe it, but there was an -eminent bishop came to me only last week in the expectation that I -was going to admit him,--and I with the full record of his work for -temperance, all fairly written out and in my hand!" - -Now Jurgen was surprised. "But temperance is surely a virtue, St. -Peter." - -"Ah, but his notion of temperance! and his filthy ravings to my -face, as though he were talking in some church or other! Why, the -slavering little blasphemer! to my face he spoke against the first -of my Master's miracles, and against the last injunction which was -laid upon us Twelve, spluttering that the wine was unfermented! To -me he said this, look you, Jurgen! to me, who drank of that noble -wine at Cana and equally of that sustaining wine we had in the -little upper room in Jerusalem when the hour of trial was near and -our Master would have us at our best! With me, who have since tasted -of that unimaginable wine which the Master promised us in His -kingdom, the busy wretch would be arguing! and would have convinced -me, in the face of all my memories, that my Master, Who was a Man -among men, was nourished by such thin swill as bred this niggling -brawling wretch to plague me!" - -"Well, but indeed, St. Peter, there is no denying that wine is often -misused." - -"So he informed me, Jurgen. And I told him by that argument he would -prohibit the making of bishops, for reasons he would find in the -mirror: and that, remembering what happened at the Crucifixion, he -would clap every lumber dealer into jail. So they took him away -still slavering," said St. Peter, wearily. "He was threatening to -have somebody else elected in my place when I last heard him: but -that was only old habit." - -"I do not think, however, that I encountered any such bishop, sir, -down yonder." - -"In the Hell of your fathers? Oh, no: your fathers meant well, but -their notions were limited. No, we have quite another eternal home -for these blasphemers, in a region that was fitted out long ago, -when the need grew pressing to provide a place for zealous -Churchmen." - -"And who devised this place, St. Peter?" - -"As a very special favor, we Twelve to whom is imputed the beginning -and the patronizing of such abominations were permitted to design -and furnish this place. And, of course, we put it in charge of our -former confrere, Judas. He seemed the appropriate person. Equally of -course, we put a very special roof upon it, the best imitation which -we could contrive of the War Roof, so that none of those grinning -cherubs could see what long reward it was we Twelve who founded -Christianity had contrived for these blasphemers." - -"Well, doubtless that was wise." - -"Ah, and if we Twelve had our way there would be just such another -roof kept always over Earth. For the slavering madman has left a -many like him clamoring and spewing about the churches that were -named for us Twelve, and in the pulpits of the churches that were -named for us: and we find it embarrassing. It is the doctrine of -Mahound they splutter, and not any doctrine that we ever preached or -even heard of: and they ought to say so fairly, instead of libeling -us who were Apostles and gentlemen. But thus it is that the rascals -make free with our names: and the cherubs keep track of these -antics, and poke fun at us. So that it is not all pleasure, this -being a Holy Apostle in Heaven, Jurgen, though once we Twelve were -happy enough." And St. Peter sighed. - -"One thing I did not understand, sir: and that was when you spoke -just now of the War Roof." - -"It is a stone roof, made of the two tablets handed down at Sinai, -which God fits over Earth whenever men go to war. For He is -merciful: and many of us here remember that once upon a time we were -men and women. So when men go to war God screens the sight of what -they do, because He wishes to be merciful to us." - -"That must prevent, however, the ascent of all prayers that are made -in war-time." - -"Why, but, of course, that is the roof's secondary purpose," replied -St. Peter. "What else would you expect when the Master's teachings -are being flouted? Rumors get through, though, somehow, and horribly -preposterous rumors. For instance, I have actually heard that in -war-time prayers are put up to the Lord God to back His favorites -and take part in the murdering. Not," said the good Saint, in haste, -"that I would believe even a Christian bishop to be capable of such -blasphemy: I merely want to show you, Jurgen, what wild stories get -about. Still, I remember, back in Cappadocia--" And then St. Peter -slapped his thigh. "But would you keep me gossiping here forever, -Jurgen, with the Souls lining up at the main entrance like ants that -swarm to molasses! Come, out of Heaven with you, Jurgen! and back to -whatever place you imagine will restore to you your own proper -illusions! and let me be returning to my duties." - -"Well, then, St. Peter, I imagine Amneran Heath, where I flung away -my mother's last gift to me." - -"And Amneran Heath it is," said St. Peter, as he thrust Jurgen through -the small private door that was carved with fishes in bas-relief. - -And Jurgen saw that the Saint spoke truthfully. - - - - -43. - -Postures before a Shadow - - -Thus Jurgen stood again upon Amneran Heath. And again it was -Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than likely to -happen: and the low moon was bright, so that the shadow of Jurgen -was long and thin. And Jurgen searched for the gold cross that he -had worn through motives of sentiment, but he could not find it, nor -did he ever recover it: but barberry bushes and the thorns of -barberry bushes he found in great plenty as he searched vainly. All -the while that he searched, the shirt of Nessus glittered in the -moonlight, and the shadow of Jurgen streamed long and thin, and -every movement that was made by Jurgen the shadow parodied. And as -always, it was the shadow of a lean woman, with her head wrapped in -a towel. - -Now Jurgen regarded this shadow, and to Jurgen it was abhorrent. - -"Oh, Mother Sereda," says he, "for a whole year your shadow has -dogged me. Many lands we have visited, and many sights we have seen: -and at the end all that we have done is a tale that is told: and it -is a tale that does not matter. So I stand where I stood at the -beginning of my foiled journeying. The gift you gave me has availed -me nothing: and I do not care whether I be young or old: and I have -lost all that remained to me of my mother and of my mother's love, -and I have betrayed my mother's pride in me, and I am weary." - -Now a little whispering gathered upon the ground, as though dead -leaves were moving there: and the whispering augmented (because this -was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than -likely to happen), and the whispering became the ghost of a voice. - -"You flattered me very cunningly, Jurgen, for you are a monstrous -clever fellow." This it was that the voice said drily. - -"A number of people might say that with tolerable justice," Jurgen -declared: "and yet I guess who speaks. As for flattering you, -godmother, I was only joking that day in Glathion: in fact, I was -careful to explain as much, the moment I noticed your shadow seemed -interested in my idle remarks and was writing them all down in a -notebook. Oh, no, I can assure you I trafficked quite honestly, and -have dealt fairly everywhere. For the rest, I really am very clever: -it would be foolish of me to deny it." - -"Vain fool!" said the voice of Mother Sereda. - -Jurgen replied: "It may be that I am vain. But it is certain that I -am clever. And even more certain is the fact that I am weary. For, -look you, in the tinsel of my borrowed youth I have gone romancing -through the world; and into lands unvisited by other men have I -ventured, playing at spillikins with women and gear and with the -welfare of kingdoms; and into Hell have I fallen, and into Heaven -have I climbed, and into the place of the Lord God Himself have I -crept stealthily: and nowhere have I found what I desired. Nor do I -know what my desire is, even now. But I know that it is not possible -for me to become young again, whatever I may appear to others." - -"Indeed, Jurgen, youth has passed out of your heart, beyond the -reach of Leshy: and the nearest you can come to regaining youth is -to behave childishly." - -"O godmother, but do give rein to your better instincts and all that -sort of thing, and speak with me more candidly! Come now, dear lady, -there should be no secrets between you and me. In Leuke you were -reported to be Cybele, the great Res Dea, the mistress of every -tangible thing. In Cocaigne they spoke of you as AEsred. And at -Cameliard Merlin called you Aderes, dark Mother of the Little Gods. -Well, but at your home in the forest, where I first had the honor of -making your acquaintance, godmother, you told me you were Sereda, -who takes the color out of things, and controls all Wednesdays. Now -these anagrams bewilder me, and I desire to know you frankly for -what you are." - -"It may be that I am all these. Meanwhile I bleach, and sooner or -later I bleach everything. It may be that some day, Jurgen, I shall -even take the color out of a fool's conception of himself." - -"Yes, yes! but just between ourselves, godmother, is it not this -shadow of you that prevents my entering, quite, into the appropriate -emotion, the spirit of the occasion, as one might say, and robs my -life of the zest which other persons apparently get out of living? -Come now, you know it is! Well, and for my part, godmother, I love a -jest as well as any man breathing, but I do prefer to have it -intelligible." - -"Now, let me tell you something plainly, Jurgen!" Mother Sereda -cleared her invisible throat, and began to speak rather indignantly. - - * * * * * - -"Well, godmother, if you will pardon my frankness, I do not think it -is quite nice to talk about such things, and certainly not with so -much candor. However, dismissing these considerations of delicacy, -let us revert to my original question. You have given me youth and -all the appurtenances of youth: and therewith you have given, too, -in your joking way--which nobody appreciates more heartily than -I,--a shadow that renders all things not quite satisfactory, not -wholly to be trusted, not to be met with frankness. Now--as you -understand, I hope,--I concede the jest, I do not for a moment deny -it is a master-stroke of humor. But, after all, just what exactly is -the point of it? What does it mean?" - -"It may be that there is no meaning anywhere. Could you face that -interpretation, Jurgen?" - -"No," said Jurgen: "I have faced god and devil, but that I will not -face." - -"No more would I who have so many names face that. You jested with -me. So I jest with you. Probably Koshchei jests with all of us. And -he, no doubt--even Koshchei who made things as they are,--is in turn -the butt of some larger jest." - -"He may be, certainly," said Jurgen: "yet, on the other hand--" - -"About these matters I do not know. How should I? But I think that -all of us take part in a moving and a shifting and a reasoned using -of the things which are Koshchei's, a using such as we do not -comprehend, and are not fit to comprehend." - -"That is possible," said Jurgen: "but, none the less--!" - -"It is as a chessboard whereon the pieces move diversely: the -knights leaping sidewise, and the bishops darting obliquely, and the -rooks charging straightforward, and the pawns laboriously hobbling -from square to square, each at the player's will. There is no -discernible order, all to the onlooker is manifestly in confusion: -but to the player there is a meaning in the disposition of the -pieces." - -"I do not deny it: still, one must grant--" - -"And I think it is as though each of the pieces, even the pawns, had -a chessboard of his own which moves as he is moved, and whereupon he -moves the pieces to suit his will, in the very moment wherein he is -moved willy-nilly." - -"You may be right: yet, even so--" - -"And Koshchei who directs this infinite moving of puppets may well -be the futile harried king in some yet larger game." - -"Now, certainly I cannot contradict you: but, at the same time--!" - -"So goes this criss-cross multitudinous moving as far as thought can -reach: and beyond that the moving goes. All moves. All moves -uncomprehendingly, and to the sound of laughter. For all moves in -consonance with a higher power that understands the meaning of the -movement. And each moves the pieces before him in consonance with -his ability. So the game is endless and ruthless: and there is -merriment overhead, but it is very far away." - -"Nobody is more willing to concede that these are handsome fancies, -Mother Sereda. But they make my head ache. Moreover, two people are -needed to play chess, and your hypothesis does not provide anybody -with an antagonist. Lastly, and above all, how do I know there is a -word of truth in your high-sounding fancies?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -Jurgen slapped his hands together. "Hah, Mother Sereda!" says he, -"but now I have you. It is that, precisely that damnable question, -which your shadow has been whispering to me from the beginning of -our companionship. And I am through with you. I will have no more of -your gifts, which are purchased at the cost of hearing that whisper. -I am resolved henceforward to be as other persons, and to believe -implicitly in my own importance." - -"But have you any reason to blame me? I restored to you your youth. -And when, just at the passing of that replevined Wednesday which I -loaned, you rebuked the Countess Dorothy very edifyingly, I was -pleased to find a man so chaste: and therefore I continued my grant -of youth--" - -"Ah, yes!" said Jurgen: "then that was the way of it! You were -pleased, just in the nick of time, by my virtuous rebuke of the -woman who tempted me. Yes, to be sure. Well, well! come now, you -know, that is very gratifying." - -"None the less your chastity, however unusual, has proved a barren -virtue. For what have you made of a year of youth? Why, each thing -that every man of forty-odd by ordinary regrets having done, you -have done again, only more swiftly, compressing the follies of a -quarter of a century into the space of one year. You have sought -bodily pleasures. You have made jests. You have asked many idle -questions. And you have doubted all things, including Jurgen. In the -face of your memories, in the face of what you probably considered -cordial repentance, you have made of your second youth just nothing. -Each thing that every man of forty-odd regrets having done, you have -done again." - -"Yes: it is undeniable that I re-married," said Jurgen. "Indeed, now -I think of it, there was Anaitis and Chloris and Florimel, so that I -have married thrice in one year. But I am largely the victim of -heredity, you must remember, since it was without consulting me that -Smoit of Glathion perpetuated his characteristics." - -"Your marriages I do not criticize, for each was in accordance with -the custom of the country: the law is always respectable; and -matrimony is an honorable estate, and has a steadying influence, in -all climes. It is true my shadow reports several other affairs--" - -"Oh, godmother, and what is this you are telling me!" - -"There was a Yolande and a Guenevere"--the voice of Mother Sereda -appeared to read from a memorandum,--"and a Sylvia, who was your own -step-grandmother, and a Stella, who was a yogini, whatever that may -be; and a Phyllis and a Dolores, who were the queens of Hell and -Philistia severally. Moreover, you visited the Queen of Pseudopolis -in circumstances which could not but have been unfavorably viewed by -her husband. Oh, yes, you have committed follies with divers women." - -"Follies, it may be, but no crimes, not even a misdemeanor. Look -you, Mother Sereda, does your shadow report in all this year one -single instance of misconduct with a woman?" says Jurgen, sternly. - -"No, dearie, as I joyfully concede. The very worst reported is that -matters were sometimes assuming a more or less suspicious turn when -you happened to put out the light. And, of course, shadows cannot -exist in absolute darkness." - -"See now," said Jurgen, "what a thing it is to be careful! Careful, -I mean, in one's avoidance of even an appearance of evil. In what -other young man of twenty-one may you look to find such continence? -And yet you grumble!" - -"I do not complain because you have lived chastely. That pleases me, -and is the single reason you have been spared this long." - -"Oh, godmother, and whatever are you telling me!" - -"Yes, dearie, had you once sinned with a woman in the youth I gave, -you would have been punished instantly and very terribly. For I was -always a great believer in chastity, and in the old days I used to -insure the chastity of all my priests in the only way that is -infallible." - -"In fact, I noticed something of the sort as you passed in Leuke." - -"And over and over again I have been angered by my shadow's reports, -and was about to punish you, my poor dearie, when I would remember -that you held fast to the rarest of all virtues in a man, and that -my shadow reported no irregularities with women. And that would -please me, I acknowledge: so I would let matters run on a while -longer. But it is a shiftless business, dearie, for you are making -nothing of the youth I restored to you. And had you a thousand lives -the result would be the same." - -"Nevertheless, I am a monstrous clever fellow." Jurgen chuckled -here. - -"You are, instead, a palterer; and your life, apart from that fine -song you made about me, is sheer waste." - -"Ah, if you come to that, there was a brown man in the Druid forest, -who showed me a very curious spectacle, last June. And I am not apt -to lose the memory of what he showed me, whatever you may say, and -whatever I may have said to him." - -"This and a many other curious spectacles you have seen and have -made nothing of, in the false youth I gave you. And therefore my -shadow was angry that in the revelation of so much futile trifling I -did not take away the youth I gave--as I have half a mind to do, -even now, I warn you, dearie, for there is really no putting up with -you. But I spared you because of my shadow's grudging reports as to -your continence, which is a virtue that we of the Leshy peculiarly -revere." - -Now Jurgen considered. "Eh?--then it is within your ability to make -me old again, or rather, an excellently preserved person of forty-odd, -or say, thirty-nine, by the calendar, but not looking it by a long -shot? Such threats are easily voiced. But how can I know that you are -speaking the truth?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -"Ah, godmother, and must you still be mumbling that! Come now, -forget you are a woman, and be reasonable! You exercise the fair and -ancient privilege of kinship by calling me harsh names, but it is in -the face of this plain fact: I got from you what never man has got -before. I am a monstrous clever fellow, say what you will: for -already I have cajoled you out of a year of youth, a year wherein I -have neither builded nor robbed any churches, but have had upon the -whole a very pleasant time. Ah, you may murmur platitudes and -threats and axioms and anything else which happens to appeal to you: -the fact remains that I got what I wanted. Yes, I cajoled you very -neatly into giving me eternal youth. For, of course, poor dear, you -are now powerless to take it back: and so I shall retain, in spite -of you, the most desirable possession in life." - -"I gave, in honor of your chastity, which is the one commendable -trait that you possess--" - -"My chastity, I grant you, is remarkable. Nevertheless, you really -gave because I was the cleverer." - -"--And what I give I can retract at will!" - -"Come, come, you know very well you can do nothing of the sort. I -refer you to Saevius Nicanor. None of the Leshy can ever take back -the priceless gift of youth. That is explicitly proved, in the -Appendix." - -"Now, but I am becoming angry--" - -"To the contrary, as I perceive with real regret, you are becoming -ridiculous, since you dispute the authority of Saevius Nicanor." - -"--And I will show you--oh, but I will show you, you jackanapes!" - -"Ah, but come now! keep your temper in hand! All fairly erudite -persons know you cannot do the thing you threaten: and it is -notorious that the weakest wheel of every cart creaks loudest. So do -you cultivate a judicious taciturnity! for really nobody is going to -put up with petulance in an ugly and toothless woman of your age, as -I tell you for your own good." - -It always vexes people to be told anything for their own good. So -what followed happened quickly. A fleece of cloud slipped over the -moon. The night seemed bitterly cold, for the space of a heart-beat, -and then matters were comfortable enough. The moon emerged in its -full glory, and there in front of Jurgen was the proper shadow of -Jurgen. He dazedly regarded his hands, and they were the hands of an -elderly person. He felt the calves of his legs, and they were -shrunken. He patted himself centrally, and underneath the shirt of -Nessus the paunch of Jurgen was of impressive dimension. In other -respects he had abated. - -"Then, too, I have forgotten something very suddenly," reflected -Jurgen. "It was something I wanted to forget. Ah, yes! but what was -it that I wanted to forget? Why, there was a brown man--with -something unusual about his feet--He talked nonsense and behaved -idiotically in a Druid forest--He was probably insane. No, I do not -remember what it was that I have forgotten: but I am sure it has -gnawed away in the back of my mind, like a small ruinous maggot: and -that, after all, it was of no importance." - -Aloud he wailed, in his most moving tones: "Oh, Mother Sereda, I did -not mean to anger you. It was not fair to snap me up on a -thoughtless word! Have mercy upon me, Mother Sereda, for I would -never have alluded to your being so old and plain-looking if I had -known you were so vain!" - -But Mother Sereda did not appear to be softened by this form of -entreaty, for nothing happened. - -"Well, then, thank goodness, that is over!" says Jurgen, to himself. -"Of course, she may be listening still, and it is dangerous jesting -with the Leshy: but really they do not seem to be very intelligent. -Otherwise this irritable maunderer would have known that, everything -else apart, I am heartily tired of the responsibilities of youth -under any such constant surveillance. Now all is changed: there is -no call to avoid a suspicion of wrong doing by transacting all -philosophical investigations in the dark: and I am no longer -distrustful of lamps or candles, or even of sunlight. Old body, you -are as grateful as old slippers, to a somewhat wearied man: and for -the second time I have tricked Mother Sereda rather neatly. My -knowledge of Lisa, however painfully acquired, is a decided -advantage in dealing with anything that is feminine." - -Then Jurgen regarded the black cave. "And that reminds me it still -would be, I suppose, the manly thing to continue my quest for Lisa. -The intimidating part is that if I go into this cave for the third -time I shall almost certainly get her back. By every rule of -tradition the third attempt is invariably successful. I wonder if I -want Lisa back?" - -Jurgen meditated: and he shook a grizzled head. "I do not definitely -know. She was an excellent cook. There were pies that I shall always -remember with affection. And she meant well, poor dear! But then if -it was really her head that I sliced off last May--or if her temper -is not any better--Still, it is an interminable nuisance washing -your own dishes: and I appear to have no aptitude whatever for -sewing and darning things. But, to the other hand, Lisa nags so: and -she does not understand me--" - -Jurgen shrugged. "See-saw! the argument for and against might run on -indefinitely. Since I have no real preference, I will humor -prejudice by doing the manly thing. For it seems only fair: and -besides, it may fail after all" - -Then he went into the cave for the third time. - - - - -44. - -In the Manager's Office - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came to -the place where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen. Again Jurgen -stooped, and crawled through the opening in the cave's wall, and so -came to where lamps were burning upon tall iron stands. Now, one by -one, these lamps were going out, and there were now no women here: -instead, Jurgen trod inch deep in fine white ashes, leaving the -print of his feet upon them. - -He went forward as the cave stretched. He came to a sharp turn in -the cave, with the failing lamplight now behind him, so that his -shadow confronted Jurgen, blurred but unarguable. It was the proper -shadow of a commonplace and elderly pawnbroker, and Jurgen regarded -it with approval. - -Jurgen came then into a sort of underground chamber, from the roof -of which was suspended a kettle of quivering red flames. Facing him -was a throne, and back of this were rows of benches: but here, too, -was nobody. Resting upright against the vacant throne was a -triangular white shield: and when Jurgen looked more closely he -could see there was writing upon it. Jurgen carried this shield as -close as he could to the kettle of flames, for his eyesight was now -not very good, and besides, the flames in the kettle were burning -low: and Jurgen deciphered the message that was written upon the -shield, in black and red letters. - -"Absent upon important affairs," it said. "Will be back in an hour." -And it was signed, "Thragnar R." - -"I wonder now for whom King Thragnar left this notice?" reflected -Jurgen--"certainly not for me. And I wonder, too, if he left it here -a year ago or only this evening? And I wonder if it was Thragnar's -head I removed in the black and silver pavilion? Ah, well, there are -a number of things to wonder about in this incredible cave, wherein -the lights are dying out, as I observe with some discomfort. And I -think the air grows chillier." - -Then Jurgen looked to his right, at the stairway which he and -Guenevere had ascended; and he shook his head. "Glathion is no fit -resort for a respectable pawnbroker. Chivalry is for young people, -like the late Duke of Logreus. But I must get out of this place, for -certainly there is in the air a deathlike chill." - -So Jurgen went on down the aisle between the rows of benches -wherefrom Thragnar's warriors had glared at Jurgen when he was last -in this part of the cave. At the end of the aisle was a wooden door -painted white. It was marked, in large black letters, "Office of the -Manager--Keep Out." So Jurgen opened this door. - -He entered into a notable place illuminated by six cresset lights. -These lights were the power of Assyria, and Nineveh, and Egypt, and -Rome, and Athens, and Byzantium: six other cressets stood ready -there, but fire had not yet been laid to these. Back of all was a -large blackboard with much figuring on it in red chalk. And here, -too, was the black gentleman, who a year ago had given his blessing -to Jurgen, for speaking civilly of the powers of darkness. To-night -the black gentleman wore a black dressing-gown that was embroidered -with all the signs of the Zodiac. He sat at a table, the top of -which was curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver: and he was -copying entries from one big book into another. He looked up from -his writing pleasantly enough, and very much as though he were -expecting Jurgen. - -"You find me busy with the Stellar Accounts," says he, "which appear -to be in a fearful muddle. But what more can I do for you, -Jurgen?--for you, my friend, who spoke a kind word for things as -they are, and furnished me with one or two really very acceptable -explanations as to why I had created evil?" - -"I have been thinking, Prince--" begins the pawnbroker. - -"And why do you call me a prince, Jurgen?" - -"I do not know, sir. But I suspect that my quest is ended, and that -you are Koshchei the Deathless." - -The black gentleman nodded. "Something of the sort. Koshchei, or -Ardnari, or Ptha, or Jaldalaoth, or Abraxas,--it is all one what I -may be called hereabouts. My real name you never heard: no man has -ever heard my name. So that matter we need hardly go into." - -"Precisely, Prince. Well, but it is a long way that I have traveled -roundabout, to win to you who made things as they are. And it is -eager I am to learn just why you made things as they are." - -Up went the black gentleman's eyebrows into regular Gothic arches. -"And do you really think, Jurgen, that I am going to explain to you -why I made things as they are?" - -"I fail to see, Prince, how my wanderings could have any other -equitable climax." - -"But, friend, I have nothing to do with justice. To the contrary, I -am Koshchei who made things as they are." - -Jurgen saw the point. "Your reasoning, Prince, is unanswerable. I -bow to it. I should even have foreseen it. Do you tell me, then, -what thing is this which I desire, and cannot find in any realm that -man has known nor in any kingdom that man has imagined." - -Koshchei was very patient. "I am not, I confess, anything like as -well acquainted with what has been going on in this part of the -universe as I ought to be. Of course, events are reported to me, in -a general sort of way, and some of my people were put in charge of -these stars, a while back: but they appear to have run the -constellation rather shiftlessly. Still, I have recently been -figuring on the matter, and I do not despair of putting the suns -hereabouts to some profitable use, in one way or another, after all. -Of course, it is not as if it were an important constellation. But I -am an Economist, and I dislike waste--" - -Then he was silent for an instant, not greatly worried by the -problem, as Jurgen could see, but mildly vexed by his inability to -divine the solution out of hand. Presently Koshchei said: - -"And in the mean time, Jurgen, I am afraid I cannot answer your -question on the spur of the moment. You see, there appears to have -been a great number of human beings, as you call them, evolved -upon--oh, yes!--upon Earth. I have the approximate figures over -yonder, but they would hardly interest you. And the desires of each -one of these human beings seem to have been multitudinous and -inconstant. Yet, Jurgen, you might appeal to the local authorities, -for I remember appointing some, at the request of a very charming -old lady." - -"In fine, you do not know what thing it is that I desire," said -Jurgen, much surprised. - -"Why, no, I have not the least notion," replied Koshchei. "Still, I -suspect that if you got it you would protest it was a most unjust -affliction. So why keep worrying about it?" - -Jurgen demanded, almost indignantly: "But have you not then, Prince, -been guiding all my journeying during this last year?" - -"Now, really, Jurgen, I remember our little meeting very pleasantly. -And I endeavored forthwith to dispose of your most urgent annoyance. -But I confess I have had one or two other matters upon my mind since -then. You see, Jurgen, the universe is rather large, and the running -of it is a considerable tax upon my time. I cannot manage to see -anything like as much of my friends as I would be delighted to see -of them. And so perhaps, what with one thing and another, I have not -given you my undivided attention all through the year--not every -moment of it, that is." - -"Ah, Prince, I see that you are trying to spare my feelings, and it -is kind of you. But the upshot is that you do not know what I have -been doing, and you did not care what I was doing. Dear me! but this -is a very sad come-down for my pride." - -"Yes, but reflect how remarkable a possession is that pride of -yours, and how I wonder at it, and how I envy it in vain,--I, who -have nothing anywhere to contemplate save my own handiwork. Do you -consider, Jurgen, what I would give if I could find, anywhere in -this universe of mine, anything which would make me think myself -one-half so important as you think Jurgen is!" And Koshchei sighed. - -But instead, Jurgen considered the humiliating fact that Koshchei -had not been supervising Jurgen's travels. And of a sudden Jurgen -perceived that this Koshchei the Deathless was not particularly -intelligent. Then Jurgen wondered why he should ever have expected -Koshchei to be intelligent? Koshchei was omnipotent, as men estimate -omnipotence: but by what course of reasoning had people come to -believe that Koshchei was clever, as men estimate cleverness? The -fact that, to the contrary, Koshchei seemed well-meaning, but rather -slow of apprehension and a little needlessly fussy, went far toward -explaining a host of matters which had long puzzled Jurgen. -Cleverness was, of course, the most admirable of all traits: but -cleverness was not at the top of things, and never had been. "Very -well, then!" says Jurgen, with a shrug; "let us come to my third -request and to the third thing that I have been seeking. Here, -though, you ought to be more communicative. For I have been -thinking, Prince, my wife's society is perhaps becoming to you a -trifle burdensome." - -"Eh, sirs, I am not unaccustomed to women. I may truthfully say that -as I find them, so do I take them. And I was willing to oblige a -fellow rebel." - -"But I do not know, Prince, that I have ever rebelled. Far from it, -I have everywhere conformed with custom." - -"Your lips conformed, but all the while your mind made verses, -Jurgen. And poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." - -"--And besides, you call me a fellow rebel. Now, how can it be -possible that Koshchei, who made all things as they are, should be a -rebel? unless, indeed, there is some power above even Koshchei. I -would very much like to have that explained to me, sir." - -"No doubt: but then why should I explain it to you, Jurgen?" says -the black gentleman. - -"Well, be that as it may, Prince! But--to return a little--I do not -know that you have obliged me in carrying off my wife. I mean, of -course, my first wife." - -"Why, Jurgen," says the black gentleman, in high astonishment, "do -you mean to tell me that you want the plague of your life back -again!" - -"I do not know about that either, sir. She was certainly very hard -to live with. On the other hand, I had become used to having her -about. I rather miss her, now that I am again an elderly person. -Indeed, I believe I have missed Lisa all along." - -The black gentleman meditated. "Come, friend," he says, at last. "You -were a poet of some merit. You displayed a promising talent which might -have been cleverly developed, in any suitable environment. Now, I -repeat, I am an Economist: I dislike waste: and you were never fitted -to be anything save a poet. The trouble was"--and Koshchei lowered his -voice to an impressive whisper,--"the trouble was your wife did not -understand you. She hindered your art. Yes, that precisely sums it up: -she interfered with your soul-development, and your instinctive need of -self-expression, and all that sort of thing. You are very well rid of -this woman, who converted a poet into a pawnbroker. To the other side, -as is with point observed somewhere or other, it is not good for man to -live alone. But, friend, I have just the wife for you." - -"Well, Prince," said Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Koshchei waved his hand: and there, quick as winking, was the -loveliest lady that Jurgen had ever imagined. - - - - -45. - -The Faith of Guenevere - - -Very fair was this woman to look upon, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer woman might no man boast of having seen. -And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks red and white, very -lovely to observe. She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and -about her neck was a collar of red gold. And she told him, quite as -though she spoke with a stranger, that she was Queen Guenevere. - -"But Lancelot is turned monk, at Glastonbury: and Arthur is gone -into Avalon," says she: "and I will be your wife if you will have -me, Jurgen." - -And Jurgen saw that Guenevere did not know him at all, and that even -his name to her was meaningless. There were a many ways of accounting -for this: but he put aside the unflattering explanation that she had -simply forgotten all about Jurgen, in favor of the reflection that the -Jurgen she had known was a scapegrace of twenty-one. Whereas he was -now a staid and knowledgeable pawnbroker. - -And it seemed to Jurgen that he had never really loved any woman -save Guenevere, the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr, and the pawnbroker -was troubled. - -"For again you make me think myself a god," says Jurgen. "Madame -Guenevere, when man recognized himself to be Heaven's vicar upon -earth, it was to serve and to glorify and to protect you and your -radiant sisterhood that man consecrated his existence. You were -beautiful, and you were frail; you were half goddess and half -bric-a-brac. Ohime, I recognize the call of chivalry, and my -heart-strings resound: yet, for innumerable reasons, I hesitate -to take you for my wife, and to concede myself your appointed -protector, responsible as such to Heaven. For one matter, I am not -altogether sure that I am Heaven's vicar here upon earth. Certainly -the God of Heaven said nothing to me about it, and I cannot but -suspect that Omniscience would have selected some more competent -representative." - -"It is so written, Messire Jurgen." - -Jurgen shrugged. "I too, in the intervals of business, have written -much that is beautiful. Very often my verses were so beautiful that -I would have given anything in the world in exchange for somewhat -less sure information as to the author's veracity. Ah, no, madame, -desire and knowledge are pressing me so sorely that, between them, I -dare not love you, and still I cannot help it!" - -Then Jurgen gave a little wringing gesture with his hands. His smile -was not merry; and it seemed pitiful that Guenevere should not -remember him. - -"Madame and queen," says Jurgen, "once long and long ago there was a -man who worshipped all women. To him they were one and all of -sacred, sweet intimidating beauty. He shaped sonorous rhymes of -this, in praise of the mystery and sanctity of women. Then a count's -tow-headed daughter whom he loved, with such love as it puzzles me -to think of now, was shown to him just as she was, as not even -worthy of hatred. The goddess stood revealed, unveiled, and -displaying in all things such mediocrity as he fretted to find in -himself. That was unfortunate. For he began to suspect that women, -also, are akin to their parents; and are no wiser, and no more -subtle, and no more immaculate, than the father who begot them. -Madame and queen, it is not good for any man to suspect this." - -"It is certainly not the conduct of a chivalrous person, nor of an -authentic poet," says Queen Guenevere. "And yet your eyes are big -with tears." - -"Hah, madame," he replied, "but it amuses me to weep for a dead man -with eyes that once were his. For he was a dear lad before he went -rampaging through the world, in the pride of his youth and in the -armor of his hurt. And songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and -sword play he made for the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made -for the pleasure of women, in places where renown was, and where he -trod boldly, giving pleasure to everybody in those fine days. But -for all his laughter, he could not understand his fellows, nor could -he love them, nor could he detect anything in aught they said or did -save their exceeding folly." - -"Why, man's folly is indeed very great, Messire Jurgen, and the -doings of this world are often inexplicable: and so does it come -about that man can be saved by faith alone." - -"Ah, but this boy had lost his fellows' cordial common faith in the -importance of what use they made of half-hours and months and years; -and because a jill-flirt had opened his eyes so that they saw too -much, he had lost faith in the importance of his own actions, too. -There was a little time of which the passing might be made not -unendurable; beyond gaped unpredictable darkness; and that was all -there was of certainty anywhere. Meanwhile, he had the loan of a -brain which played with ideas, and a body that went delicately down -pleasant ways. And so he was never the mate for you, dear Guenevere, -because he had not sufficient faith in anything at all, not even in -his own deductions." - -Now said Queen Guenevere: "Farewell to you, then, Jurgen, for it is -I that am leaving you forever. I was to them that served me the -lovely and excellent masterwork of God: in Caerleon and Northgalis -and at Joyeuse Garde might men behold me with delight, because, men -said, to view me was to comprehend the power and kindliness of their -Creator. Very beautiful was Iseult, and the face of Luned sparkled -like a moving gem; Morgaine and Enid and Viviane and shrewd Nimue -were lovely, too; and the comeliness of Ettarde exalted the beholder -like a proud music: these, going statelily about Arthur's hall, -seemed Heaven's finest craftsmanship until the Queen came to her -dais, as the moon among glowing stars: men then affirmed that God in -making Guenevere had used both hands. And it is I that am leaving -you forever. My beauty was no human white and red, said they, but an -explicit sign of Heaven's might. In approaching me men thought of -God, because in me, they said, His splendor was incarnate. That -which I willed was neither right nor wrong: it was divine. This -thing it was that the knights saw in me; this surety, as to the -power and kindliness of their great Father, it was of which the -chevaliers of yesterday were conscious in beholding me, and of men's -need to be worthy of such parentage; and it is I that am leaving you -forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a rudderless -boat that goes from wave to wave: I am turned to unfertile dust -which a whirlwind makes coherent, and presently lets fall. And so, -farewell to you, Queen Guenevere, for it is a sorrowful thing and a -very unfair thing that is happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr. And -instantly she vanished like the flame of a blown out altar-candle. - - - - -46. - -The Desire of Anaitis - - -And again Koshchei waved his hand. Then came to Jurgen a woman who -was strangely gifted and perverse. Her dark eyes glittered: upon her -head was a net-work of red coral, with branches radiating downward, -and her tunic was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled. - -And Anaitis also had forgotten Jurgen, or else she did not recognize -him in this man of forty and something: and again belief awoke in -Jurgen's heart that this was the only woman whom Jurgen had really -loved, as he listened to Anaitis and to her talk of marvelous -things. - -Of the lore of Thais she spoke, and of the schooling of Sappho, and -of the secrets of Rhodope, and of the mourning for Adonis: and the -refrain of all her talking was not changed. "For we have but a -little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a -man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus -and thus," says she. And the bright-colored pensive woman spoke with -antique directness of matters that Jurgen, being no longer a -scapegrace of twenty-one, found rather embarrassing. - -"Come, come!" thinks he, "but it will never do to seem provincial. I -believe that I am actually blushing." - -Aloud he said: "Sweetheart, there was--why, not a half-hour -since!--a youth who sought quite zealously for the over-mastering -frenzies you prattle about. But, candidly, he could not find the -flesh whose touch would rouse insanity. The lad had opportunities, -too, let me tell you! Hah, I recall with tenderness the glitter of -eyes and hair, and the gay garments, and the soft voices of those -fond foolish women, even now. But he went from one pair of lips to -another, with an ardor that was always half-feigned, and with -protestations which were conscious echoes of some romance or other. -Such escapades were pleasant enough: but they were not very serious, -after all. For these things concerned his body alone: and I am more -than an edifice of viands reared by my teeth. To pretend that what -my body does or endures is of importance seems rather silly -nowadays. I prefer to regard it as a necessary beast of burden which -I maintain, at considerable expense and trouble. So I shall make no -more pother about it." - -But then again Queen Anaitis spoke of marvelous things; and he -listened, fair-mindedly; for the Queen spoke now of that which was -hers to share with him. - -"Well, I have heard," says Jurgen, "that you have a notable -residence in Cocaigne." - -"But that is only a little country place, to which I sometimes -repair in summer, in order to live rustically. No, Jurgen, you must -see my palaces. In Babylon I have a palace where many abide with -cords about them and burn bran for perfume, while they await that -thing which is to befall them. In Armenia I have a palace surrounded -by vast gardens, where only strangers have the right to enter: they -there receive a hospitality that is more than gallant. In Paphos I -have a palace wherein is a little pyramid of white stone, very -curious to see: but still more curious is the statue in my palace at -Amathus, of a bearded woman, which displays other features that -women do not possess. And in Alexandria I have a palace that is -tended by thirty-six exceedingly wise and sacred persons, and -wherein it is always night: and there folk seek for monstrous -pleasures, even at the price of instant death, and win to both of -these swiftly. Everywhere my palaces stand upon high places near the -sea: so they are beheld from afar by those whom I hold dearest, my -beautiful broad-chested mariners, who do not fear even me, but know -that in my palaces they will find notable employment. For I must -tell you of what is to be encountered within these places that are -mine, and of how pleasantly we pass our time there." Then she told -him. - -Now he listened more attentively than ever, and his eyes were -narrowed, and his lips were lax and motionless and foolish-looking, -and he was deeply interested. For Anaitis had thought of some new -diversions since their last meeting: and to Jurgen, even at forty -and something, this queen's voice was all a horrible and strange and -lovely magic. "She really tempts very nicely, too," he reflected, -with a sort of pride in her. - -Then Jurgen growled and shook himself, half angrily: and he tweaked -the ear of Queen Anaitis. - -"Sweetheart," says he, "you paint a glowing picture: but you are -shrewd enough to borrow your pigments from the day-dreams of -inexperience. What you prattle about is not at all as you describe -it. You forget you are talking to a widely married man of varied -experience. Moreover, I shudder to think of what might happen if -Lisa were to walk in unexpectedly. And for the rest, all this to-do -over nameless delights and unspeakable caresses and other anonymous -antics seems rather naive. My ears are beset by eloquent gray hairs -which plead at closer quarters than does that fibbing little tongue -of yours. And so be off with you!" - -With that Queen Anaitis smiled very cruelly, and she said: "Farewell -to you, then Jurgen, for it is I that am leaving you forever. -Henceforward you must fret away much sunlight by interminably -shunning discomfort and by indulging tepid preferences. For I, and -none but I, can waken that desire which uses all of a man, and so -wastes nothing, even though it leave that favored man forever after -like wan ashes in the sunlight. And with you I have no more concern, -for it is I that am leaving you forever. Join with your graying -fellows, then! and help them to affront the clean sane sunlight, by -making guilds and laws and solemn phrases wherewith to rid the world -of me. I, Anaitis, laugh, and my heart is a wave in the sunlight. -For there is no power like my power, and no living thing which can -withstand my power; and those who deride me, as I well know, are but -the dead dry husks that a wind moves, with hissing noises, while I -harvest in open sunlight. For I am the desire that uses all of a -man: and it is I that am leaving you forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a puzzled -ghost who furtively observes the doings of loud-voiced ruddy -persons: and I am compact of weariness and apprehension, for I no -longer discern what thing is I, nor what is my desire, and I fear -that I am already dead. So farewell to you, Queen Anaitis, for this, -too, is a sorrowful thing and a very unfair thing that is -happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the Sun's daughter. And all the colors of -her loveliness flickered and merged into the likeness of a tall thin -flame, that aspired; and then this flame was extinguished. - - - - -47. - -The Vision of Helen - - -And for the third time Koshchei waved his hand. Now came to Jurgen a -gold-haired woman, clothed all in white. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest; and yet, whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. And, beholding her, Jurgen kneeled. - -He hid his face in her white robe: and he stayed thus, without -speaking, for a long while. - -"Lady of my vision," he said, and his voice broke--"there is that in -you which wakes old memories. For now assuredly I believe your -father was not Dom Manuel but that ardent bird which nestled very -long ago in Leda's bosom. And now Troy's sons are all in Ades' -keeping, in the world below; fire has consumed the walls of Troy, -and the years have forgotten her tall conquerors; but still you are -bringing woe on woe to hapless sufferers." - -And again his voice broke. For the world seemed cheerless, and like -a house that none has lived in for a great while. - -Queen Helen, the delight of gods and men, replied nothing at all, -because there was no need, inasmuch as the man who has once glimpsed -her loveliness is beyond saving, and beyond the desire of being -saved. - -"To-night," says Jurgen, "as once through the gray art of Phobetor, -now through the will of Koshchei, it appears that you stand within -arm's reach. Hah, lady, were that possible--and I know very well it -is not possible, whatever my senses may report,--I am not fit to -mate with your perfection. At the bottom of my heart, I no longer -desire perfection. For we who are tax-payers as well as immortal -souls must live by politic evasions and formulae and catchwords that -fret away our lives as moths waste a garment; we fall insensibly to -common-sense as to a drug; and it dulls and kills whatever in us is -rebellious and fine and unreasonable; and so you will find no man of -my years with whom living is not a mechanism which gnaws away time -unprompted. For within this hour I have become again a creature of -use and wont; I am the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and I -have put my dreams upon an allowance. Yet even now I love you more -than I love books and indolence and flattery and the charitable wine -which cheats me into a favorable opinion of myself. What more can an -old poet say? For that reason, lady, I pray you begone, because your -loveliness is a taunt which I find unendurable." - -But his voice yearned, because this was Queen Helen, the delight of -gods and men, who regarded him with grave, kind eyes. She seemed to -view, as one appraises the pattern of an unrolled carpet, every -action of Jurgen's life: and she seemed, too, to wonder, without -reproach or trouble, how men could be so foolish, and of their own -accord become so miry. - -"Oh, I have failed my vision!" cries Jurgen. "I have failed, and I -know very well that every man must fail: and yet my shame is no less -bitter. For I am transmuted by time's handling! I shudder at the -thought of living day-in and day-out with my vision! And so I will -have none of you for my wife." - -Then, trembling, Jurgen raised toward his lips the hand of her who -was the world's darling. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Oh, very long ago I found your -beauty mirrored in a wanton's face! and often in a woman's face I -have found one or another feature wherein she resembled you, and for -the sake of it have lied to that woman glibly. And all my verses, as -I know now, were vain enchantments striving to evoke that hidden -loveliness of which I knew by dim report alone. Oh, all my life was -a foiled quest of you, Queen Helen, and an unsatiated hungering. And -for a while I served my vision, honoring you with clean-handed -deeds. Yes, certainly it should be graved upon my tomb, 'Queen Helen -ruled this earth while it stayed worthy.' But that was very long -ago. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Your beauty has been to me as -a robber that stripped my life of joy and sorrow, and I desire not -ever to dream of your beauty any more. For I have been able to love -nobody. And I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen -Helen, at every moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I -first seemed to find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. -It is the memory of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face -of a jill-flirt, which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other -men give women; and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved -nothing--not even you, not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Hereafter I rove no more -a-questing anything; instead, I potter after hearthside comforts, -and play the physician with myself, and strive painstakingly to make -old bones. And no man's notion anywhere seems worth a cup of mulled -wine; and for the sake of no notion would I endanger the routine -which so hideously bores me. For I am transmuted by time's handling; -I have become the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and it does -not seem fair, but there is no help for it. So it is necessary that -I now cry farewell to you, Queen Helen: for I have failed in the -service of my vision, and I deny you utterly!" - -Thus he cried farewell to the Swan's daughter: and Queen Helen -vanished as a bright mist passes, not departing swiftly, as had -departed Queen Guenevere and Queen Anaitis; and Jurgen was alone -with the black gentleman. And to Jurgen the world seemed cheerless, -and like a house that none has lived in for a great while. - - - - -48. - -Candid Opinions of Dame Lisa - - -"Eh, sirs!" observes Koshchei the Deathless, "but some of us are -certainly hard to please." And now Jurgen was already intent to -shrug off his display of emotion. "In selecting a wife, sir," -submitted Jurgen, "there are all sorts of matters to be -considered--" - -Then bewilderment smote him. For it occurred to Jurgen that his -previous commerce with these three women was patently unknown to -Koshchei. Why, Koshchei, who made all things as they are--Koshchei, -no less--was now doing for Jurgen Koshchei's utmost: and that utmost -amounted to getting for Jurgen what Jurgen had once, with the aid of -youth and impudence, got for himself. Not even Koshchei, then, could -do more for Jurgen than might be accomplished by that youth and -impudence and tendency to pry into things generally which Jurgen had -just relinquished as over-restless nuisances. Jurgen drew the -inference, and shrugged; decidedly cleverness was not at the top. -However, there was no pressing need to enlighten Koshchei, and no -wisdom in attempting it. - -"--For you must understand, sir," continued Jurgen, smoothly, "that, -whatever the first impulse of the moment, it was apparent to any -reflective person that in the past of each of these ladies there was -much to suggest inborn inaptitude for domestic life. And I am a -peace-loving fellow, sir; nor do I hold with moral laxity, now that -I am forty-odd, except, of course, in talk when it promotes -sociability, and in verse-making wherein it is esteemed as a -conventional ornament. Still, Prince, the chance I lost! I do not -refer to matrimony, you conceive. But in the presence of these -famous fair ones now departed from me forever, with what glowing -words I ought to have spoken! upon a wondrous ladder of trophes, -metaphors and recondite allusions, to what stylistic heights of -Asiatic prose I ought to have ascended! and instead, I twaddled like -a schoolmaster. Decidedly, Lisa is right, and I am good-for-nothing. -However," Jurgen added, hopefully, "it appeared to me that when I -last saw her, a year ago this evening, Lisa was somewhat less -outspoken than usual." - -"Eh, sirs, but she was under a very potent spell. I found that -necessary in the interest of law and order hereabouts. I, who made -things as they are, am not accustomed to the excesses of practical -persons who are ruthlessly bent upon reforming their associates. -Indeed, it is one of the advantages of my situation that such folk -do not consider things as they are, and in consequence very rarely -bother me." And the black gentleman in turn shrugged. "You will -pardon me, but I notice in my accounts that I am positively -committed to color this year's anemones to-night, and there is a -rather large planetary system to be discontinued at half-past ten. -So time presses." - -"And time is inexorable. Prince, with all due respect, I fancy it is -precisely this truism which you have overlooked. You produce the -most charming of women, in a determined onslaught upon my fancy; but -you forget you are displaying them to a man of forty-and-something." - -"And does that make so great a difference?" - -"Oh, a sad difference, Prince! For as a man gets on in life he -changes in many ways. He handles sword and lance less creditably, -and does not carry as heavy a staff as he once flourished. He takes -less interest in conversation, and his flow of humor diminishes. He -is not the tireless mathematician that he was, if only because his -faith in his personal endowments slackens. He recognizes his -limitations, and in consequence the unimportance of his opinions, -and indeed he recognizes the probable unimportance of all fleshly -matters. So he relinquishes trying to figure out things, and -sceptres and candles appear to him about equivalent; and he is -inclined to give up philosophical experiments, and to let things -pass unplumbed. Oh, yes, it makes a difference." And Jurgen sighed. -"And yet, for all that, it is a relief, sir, in a way." - -"Nevertheless," said Koshchei, "now that you have inspected the -flower of womanhood, I cannot soberly believe you prefer your -termagant of a wife." - -"Frankly, Prince, I also am, as usual, undecided. You may be right -in all you have urged; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say -you are wrong; but still, at the same time--! Come now, could you -not let me see my first wife for just a moment?" - -This was no sooner asked than granted; for there, sure enough, was -Dame Lisa. She was no longer restricted to quiet speech by any -stupendous necromancy: and uncommonly plain she looked, after the -passing of those lovely ladies. - -"Aha, you rascal!" begins Dame Lisa, addressing Jurgen; "and so you -thought to be rid of me! Oh, a precious lot you are! and a deal of -thanks I get for my scrimping and slaving!" And she began scolding -away. - -But she began, somewhat to Jurgen's astonishment, by stating that he -was even worse than the Countess Dorothy. Then he recollected that, -by not the most disastrous piece of luck conceivable, Dame Lisa's -latest news from the outside world had been rendered by her sister, -the notary's wife, a twelvemonth back. - -And rather unaccountably Jurgen fell to thinking of how -unsubstantial seemed these curious months devoted to other women, as -set against the commonplace years which he and Lisa had fretted -through together; of the fine and merry girl that Lisa had been -before she married him; of how well she knew his tastes in cookery -and all his little preferences, and of how cleverly she humored them -on those rare days when nothing had occurred to vex her; of all the -buttons she had replaced, and all the socks she had darned, and of -what tempests had been loosed when anyone else had had the audacity -to criticize Jurgen; and of how much more unpleasant--everything -considered--life was without her than with her. She was so -unattractive looking, too, poor dear, that you could not but be -sorry for her. And Jurgen's mood was half yearning and half -penitence. - -"I think I will take her back, Prince," says Jurgen, very -subdued,--"now that I am forty-and-something. For I do not know but -it is as hard on her as on me." - -"My friend, do you forget the poet that you might be, even yet? No -rational person would dispute that the society and amiable chat of -Dame Lisa must naturally be a desideratum--" - -But Dame Lisa was always resentful of long words. "Be silent, you -black scoffer, and do not allude to such disgraceful things in the -presence of respectable people! For I am a decent Christian woman, I -would have you understand. But everybody knows your reputation! and -a very fit companion you are for that scamp yonder! and volumes -could not say more!" - -Thus casually, and with comparative lenience, did Dame Lisa dispose -of Koshchei, who made things as they are, for she believed him to be -merely Satan. And to her husband Dame Lisa now addressed herself -more particularly. - -"Jurgen, I always told you you would come to this, and now I hope -you are satisfied. Jurgen, do not stand there with your mouth open, -like a scared fish, when I ask you a civil question! but answer when -you are spoken to! Yes, and you need not try to look so idiotically -innocent, Jurgen, because I am disgusted with you. For, Jurgen, you -heard perfectly well what your very suitable friend just said about -me, with my own husband standing by. No--now I beg of you!--do not -ask me what he said, Jurgen! I leave that to your conscience, and I -prefer to talk no more about it. You know that when I am once -disappointed in a person I am through with that person. So, very -luckily, there is no need at all for you to pile hypocrisy on -cowardice, because if my own husband has not the feelings of a man, -and cannot protect me from insults and low company, I had best be -going home and getting supper ready. I dare say the house is like a -pig-sty: and I can see by looking at you that you have been ruining -your eyes by reading in bed again. And to think of your going about -in public, even among such associates, with a button off your -shirt!" - -She was silent for one terrible moment; then Lisa spoke in frozen -despair. - -"And now I look at that shirt, I ask you fairly, Jurgen, do you -consider that a man of your age has any right to be going about in a -shirt that nobody--in a shirt which--in a shirt that I can only--Ah, -but I never saw such a shirt! and neither did anybody else! You -simply cannot imagine what a figure you cut in it, Jurgen. Jurgen, I -have been patient with you; I have put up with a great deal, saying -nothing where many women would have lost their temper; but I simply -cannot permit you to select your own clothes, and so ruin the -business and take the bread out of our mouths. In short, you are -enough to drive a person mad; and I warn you that I am done with you -forever." - -Dame Lisa went with dignity to the door of Koshchei's office. - -"So you can come with me or not, precisely as you elect. It is all -one to me, I can assure you, after the cruel things you have said, -and the way you have stormed at me, and have encouraged that -notorious blackamoor to insult me in terms which I, for one, would -not soil my lips by repeating. I do not doubt you consider it is all -very clever and amusing, but you know now what I think about it. And -upon the whole, if you do not feel the exertion will kill you, you -had better come home the long way, and stop by Sister's and ask her -to let you have a half-pound of butter; for I know you too well to -suppose you have been attending to the churning." - -Dame Lisa here evinced a stately sort of mirth such as is -unimaginable by bachelors. - -"You churning while I was away!--oh, no, not you! There is probably -not so much as an egg in the house. For my lord and gentleman has -had other fish to fry, in his fine new courting clothes. And -that--and on a man of your age, with a paunch to you like a beer -barrel and with legs like pipe-stems!--yes, that infamous shirt of -yours is the reason you had better, for your own comfort, come home -the long way. For I warn you, Jurgen, that the style in which I have -caught you rigged out has quite decided me, before I go home or -anywhere else, to stop by for a word or so with your high and mighty -Madame Dorothy. So you had just as well not be along with me, for -there is no pulling wool over my eyes any longer, and you two need -never think to hoodwink me again about your goings-on. No, Jurgen, -you cannot fool me; for I can read you like a book. And such -behavior, at your time of life, does not surprise me at all, because -it is precisely what I would have expected of you." - -With that Dame Lisa passed through the door and went away, still -talking. It was of Heitman Michael's wife that the wife of Jurgen -spoke, discoursing of the personal traits, and of the past doings, -and (with augmented fervor) of the figure and visage of Madame -Dorothy, as all these abominations appeared to the eye of -discernment, and must be revealed by the tongue of candor, as a -matter of public duty. - -So passed Dame Lisa, neither as flame nor mist, but as the voice of -judgment. - - - - -49. - -Of the Compromise with Koshchei - - -"Phew!" said Koshchei, in the ensuing silence: "you had better stay -overnight, in any event. I really think, friend, you will be more -comfortable, just now at least, in this quiet cave." - -But Jurgen had taken up his hat. "No, I dare say I, too, had better -be going," says Jurgen. "I thank you very heartily for your intended -kindness, sir, still I do not know but it is better as it is. And is -there anything"--Jurgen coughed delicately--"and is there anything -to pay, sir?" - -"Oh, just a trifle, first of all, for a year's maintenance of Dame -Lisa. You see, Jurgen, that is an almighty fine shirt you are -wearing: it rather appeals to me; and I fancy, from something your -wife let drop just now, it did not impress her as being quite suited -to you. So, in the interest of domesticity, suppose you ransom Dame -Lisa with that fine shirt of yours?" - -"Why, willingly," said Jurgen, and he took off the shirt of Nessus. - -"You have worn this for some time, I understand," said Koshchei, -meditatively: "and did you ever notice any inconvenience in wearing -this garment?" - -"Not that I could detect, Prince; it fitted me, and seemed to -impress everybody most favorably." - -"There!" said Koshchei; "that is what I have always contended. To -the strong man, and to wholesome matter of fact people generally, it -is a fatal irritant; but persons like you can wear the shirt of -Nessus very comfortably for a long, long while, and be generally -admired; and you end by exchanging it for your wife's society. But -now, Jurgen, about yourself. You probably noticed that my door was -marked Keep Out. One must have rules, you know. Often it is a -nuisance, but still rules are rules; and so I must tell you, Jurgen, -it is not permitted any person to leave my presence unmaimed, if not -actually annihilated. One really must have rules, you know." - -"You would chop off an arm? or a hand? or a whole finger? Come now, -Prince, you must be joking!" - -Koshchei the Deathless was very grave as he sat there, in meditation, -drumming with his long jet-black fingers upon the table-top that was -curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver. In the lamplight his -sharp nails glittered like flame points, and the color suddenly -withdrew from his eyes, so that they showed like small white eggs. - -"But, man, how strange you are!" said Koshchei, presently; and life -flowed back into his eyes, and Jurgen ventured the liberty of -breathing. "Inside, I mean. Why, there is hardly anything left. Now -rules are rules, of course; but you, who are the remnant of a poet, -may depart unhindered whenever you will, and I shall take nothing -from you. For really it is necessary to draw the line somewhere." - -Jurgen meditated this clemency; and with a sick heart he seemed to -understand. "Yes; that is probably the truth; for I have not -retained the faith, nor the desire, nor the vision. Yes, that is -probably the truth. Well, at all events, Prince, I very unfeignedly -admired each of the ladies to whom you were friendly enough to -present me, and I was greatly flattered by their offers. More than -generous I thought them. But it really would not do for me to take -up with any one of them now. For Lisa is my wife, you see. A great -deal has passed between us, sir, in the last ten years--And I have -been a sore disappointment to her, in many ways--And I am used to -her--" - -Then Jurgen considered, and regarded the black gentleman with -mingled envy and commiseration. "Why, no, you probably would not -understand, sir, on account of your not being, I suppose, a married -person. But I can assure you it is always pretty much like that." - -"I lack grounds to dispute your aphorism," observed Koshchei, -"inasmuch as matrimony was certainly not included in my doom. None -the less, to a by-stander, the conduct of you both appears -remarkable. I could not understand, for example, just how your wife -proposed to have you keep out of her sight forever and still have -supper with her to-night; nor why she should desire to sup with such -a reprobate as she described with unbridled pungency and -disapproval." - -"Ah, but again, it is always pretty much like that, sir. And the -truth of it, Prince, is a great symbol. The truth of it is, we have -lived together so long that my wife has become rather foolishly fond -of me. So she is not, as one might say, quite reasonable about me. -No, sir; it is the fashion of women to discard civility toward those -for whom they suffer most willingly; and whom a woman loveth she -chasteneth, after a good precedent." - -"But her talking, Jurgen, has nowhere any precedent. Why, it deafens, -it appals, it submerges you in an uproarious sea of fault-finding; and -in a word, you might as profitably oppose a hurricane. Yet you want her -back! Now assuredly, Jurgen, I do not think very highly of your wisdom, -but by your bravery I am astounded." - -"Ah, Prince, it is because I can perceive that all women are poets, -though the medium they work in is not always ink. So the moment Lisa -is set free from what, in a manner of speaking, sir, inconsiderate -persons might, in their unthinking way, refer to as the terrors of -an underground establishment that I do not for an instant doubt to -be conducted after a system which furthers the true interests of -everybody, and so reflects vast credit upon its officials, if you -will pardon my frankness"--and Jurgen smiled ingratiatingly,--"why, -at that moment Lisa's thoughts take form in very much the high -denunciatory style of Jeremiah and Amos, who were remarkably fine -poets. Her concluding observations as to the Countess, in -particular, I consider to have been an example of sustained -invective such as one rarely encounters in this degenerate age. -Well, her next essay in creative composition is my supper, which -will be an equally spirited impromptu. To-morrow she will darn and -sew me an epic; and her desserts will continue to be in the richest -lyric vein. Such, sir, are the poems of Lisa, all addressed to me, -who came so near to gallivanting with mere queens!" - -"What, can it be that you are remorseful?" said Koshchei. - -"Oh, Prince, when I consider steadfastly the depth and the intensity -of that devotion which, for so many years, has tended me, and has -endured the society of that person whom I peculiarly know to be the -most tedious and irritating of companions, I stand aghast, before a -miracle. And I cry, Oh, certainly a goddess! and I can think of no -queen who is fairly mentionable in the same breath. Hah, all we -poets write a deal about love: but none of us may grasp the word's -full meaning until he reflects that this is a passion mighty enough -to induce a woman to put up with him." - -"Even so, it does not seem to induce quite thorough confidence. -Jurgen, I was grieved to see that Dame Lisa evidently suspects you -of running after some other woman in your wife's absence." - -"Think upon that now! And you saw for yourself how little the -handsomest of women could tempt me. Yet even Lisa's absurd notion I -can comprehend and pardon. And again, you probably would not -understand my overlooking such a thing, sir, on account of your not -being a married person. Nevertheless, my forgiveness also is a great -symbol." - -Then Jurgen sighed and he shook hands, very circumspectly, with -Koshchei, who made things as they are; and Jurgen started out of the -office. - -"But I will bear you company a part of the way," says Koshchei. - -So Koshchei removed his dressing-gown, and he put on the fine laced -coat which was hung over the back of a strange looking chair with -three legs, each of a different metal; the shirt of Nessus Koshchei -folded and put aside, saying that some day he might be able to use -it somehow. And Koshchei paused before the blackboard and he -scratched his head reflectively. Jurgen saw that this board was -nearly covered with figures which had not yet been added up; and -this blackboard seemed to him the most frightful thing he had faced -anywhere. - -Then Koshchei came out of the cave with Jurgen, and Koshchei walked -with Jurgen across Amneran Heath, and through Morven, in the late -evening. And Koshchei talked as they went; and a queer thing Jurgen -noticed, and it was that the moon was sinking in the east, as though -the time were getting earlier and earlier. But Jurgen did not -presume to criticize this, in the presence of Koshchei, who made -things as they are. - -"And I manage affairs as best I can, Jurgen. But they get in a -fearful muddle sometimes. Eh, sirs, I have no competent assistants. -I have to look out for everything, absolutely everything! And of -course, while in a sort of way I am infallible, mistakes will occur -every now and then in the actual working out of plans that in the -abstract are right enough. So it really does please me to hear -anybody putting in a kind word for things as they are, because, -between ourselves, there is a deal of dissatisfaction about. And I -was honestly delighted, just now, to hear you speaking up for evil -in the face of that rapscallion monk. So I give you thanks and many -thanks, Jurgen, for your kind word." - -"'Just now!'" thinks Jurgen. He perceived that they had passed the -Cistercian Abbey, and were approaching Bellegarde. And it was as in -a dream that Jurgen was speaking, _"Who are you, and why do you -thank me?"_ asks Jurgen. - -_"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. -May your life lie free from care."_ - -_"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married_--" -Then resolutely Jurgen put aside the spell that was befogging him. -"See here, Prince, are you beginning all over again? For I really -cannot stand any more of your benevolences." - -Koshchei smiled. "No, Jurgen, I am not beginning all over again. For -now I have never begun, and now there is no word of truth in -anything which you remember of the year just past. Now none of these -things has ever happened." - -"But how can that be, Prince?" - -"Why should I tell you, Jurgen? Let it suffice that what I will, not -only happens, but has already happened, beyond the ancientest memory -of man and his mother. How otherwise could I be Koshchei? And so -farewell to you, poor Jurgen, to whom nothing in particular has -happened now. It is not justice I am giving you, but something -infinitely more acceptable to you and all your kind." - -"But, to be sure!" says Jurgen. "I fancy that nobody anywhere cares -much for justice. So farewell to you, Prince. And at our parting I -ask no more questions of you, for I perceive it is scant comfort a -man gets from questioning Koshchei, who made things as they are. But -I am wondering what pleasure you get out of it all?" - -"Eh, sirs," says Koshchei, with not the most candid of smiles, "I -contemplate the spectacle with appropriate emotions." - -And so speaking, Koshchei quitted Jurgen forever. - -"Yet how may I be sure," thought Jurgen, instantly, "that this black -gentleman was really Koshchei? He said he was? Why, yes; and -Horvendile to all intents told me that Horvendile was Koshchei. Aha, -and what else did Horvendile say!--'This is one of the romancer's -most venerable devices that is being practised.' Why, but there was -Smoit of Glathion, also, so that this is the third time I have been -fobbed off with the explanation I was dreaming! and left with no -proof, one way or the other." - -Thus Jurgen, indignantly, and then he laughed. "Why, but, of course! -I may have talked face to face with Koshchei, who made all things as -they are; and again, I may not have. That is the whole point of -it--the cream, as one might say, of the jest--that I cannot ever be -sure. Well!"--and Jurgen shrugged here--"well, and what could I be -expected to do about it?" - - - - -50. - -The Moment That Did Not Count - - -And that is really all the story save for the moment Jurgen paused -on his way home. For Koshchei (if it, indeed, was Koshchei) had -quitted Jurgen just as they approached Bellegarde: and as the -pawnbroker walked on alone in the pleasant April evening one called -to him from the terrace. Even in the dusk he knew this was the -Countess Dorothy. - -"May I speak with you a moment?" says she. - -"Very willingly, madame." And Jurgen ascended from the highway to -the terrace. - -"I thought it would be near your supper hour. So I was waiting here -until you passed. You conceive, it is not quite convenient for me to -seek you out at the shop." - -"Why, no, madame. There is a prejudice," said Jurgen, soberly. And -he waited. - -He saw that Madame Dorothy was perfectly composed, yet anxious to -speed the affair. "You must know," said she, "that my husband's -birthday approaches, and I wish to surprise him with a gift. It is -therefore necessary that I raise some money without troubling him. -How much--abominable usurer!--could you advance me upon this -necklace?" - -Jurgen turned it in his hand. It was a handsome piece of jewelry, -familiar to him as formerly the property of Heitman Michael's -mother. Jurgen named a sum. - -"But that," the Countess says, "is not a fraction of its worth!" - -"Times are very hard, madame. Of course, if you cared to sell -outright I could deal more generously." - -"Old monster, I could not do that. It would not be convenient." She -hesitated here. "It would not be explicable." - -"As to that, madame, I could make you an imitation in paste which -nobody could distinguish from the original, I can amply understand -that you desire to veil from your husband any sacrifices that are -entailed by your affection." - -"It is my affection for him," said the Countess quickly. - -"I alluded to your affection for him," said Jurgen--"naturally." - -Then Countess Dorothy named a price for the necklace. "For it is -necessary I have that much, and not a penny less." And Jurgen shook -his head dubiously, and vowed that ladies were unconscionable -bargainers: but Jurgen agreed to what she asked, because the -necklace was worth almost as much again. Then Jurgen suggested that -the business could be most conveniently concluded through an -emissary. - -"If Messire de Nerac, for example, could have matters explained to -him, and could manage to visit me tomorrow, I am sure we could carry -through this amiable imposture without any annoyance whatever to -Heitman Michael," says Jurgen, smoothly. - -"Nerac will come then," says the Countess. "And you may give him the -money, precisely as though it were for him." - -"But certainly, madame. A very estimable young nobleman, that! and -it is a pity his debts are so large. I heard that he had lost -heavily at dice within the last month; and I grieved, madame." - -"He has promised me when these debts are settled to play no -more--But again what am I saying! I mean, Master Inquisitive, that I -take considerable interest in the welfare of Messire de Nerac: and -so I have sometimes chided him on his wild courses. And that is all -I mean." - -"Precisely, madame. And so Messire de Nerac will come to me to-morrow -for the money: and there is no more to say." - -Jurgen paused. The moon was risen now. These two sat together upon a -bench of carved stone near the balustrade: and before them, upon the -other side of the highway, were luminous valleys and tree-tops. -Fleetingly Jurgen recollected the boy and girl who had once sat in -this place, and had talked of all the splendid things which Jurgen -was to do, and of the happy life that was to be theirs together. -Then he regarded the composed and handsome woman beside him, and he -considered that the money to pay her latest lover's debts had been -assured with a suitable respect for appearances. - -"Come, but this is a gallant lady, who would defy the almanac," -reflected Jurgen. "Even so, thirty-eight is an undeniable and -somewhat autumnal figure, and I suspect young Nerac is bleeding -his elderly mistress. Well, but at his age nobody has a conscience. -Yes, and Madame Dorothy is handsome still; and still my pulse is -playing me queer tricks, because she is near me, and my voice has -not the intonation I intend, because she is near me; and still I am -three-quarters in love with her. Yes, in the light of such cursed -folly as even now possesses me, I have good reason to give thanks -for the regained infirmities of age. Yet living seems to me a -wasteful and inequitable process, for this is a poor outcome for -the boy and girl that I remember. And weighing this outcome, I am -tempted to weep and to talk romantically, even now." - -But he did not. For really, weeping was not requisite. Jurgen was -making his fair profit out of the Countess's folly, and it was -merely his duty to see that this little business transaction was -managed without any scandal. - -"So there is nothing more to say," observed Jurgen, as he rose in -the moonlight, "save that I shall always be delighted to serve you, -madame, and I may reasonably boast that I have earned a reputation -for fair dealing." - -And he thought: "In effect, since certainly as she grows older she -will need yet more money for her lovers, I am offering to pimp for -her." Then Jurgen shrugged. "That is one side of the affair. The -other is that I transact my legitimate business,--I, who am that -which the years have made of me." - -Thus it was that Jurgen quitted the Countess Dorothy, whom, as you -have heard, this pawnbroker had loved in his first youth under the -name of Heart's Desire; and whom in the youth that was loaned him by -Mother Sereda he had loved as Queen Helen, the delight of gods and -men. For Jurgen was quitting Madame Dorothy after the simplest of -business transactions, which consumed only a moment, and did not -actually count one way or the other. - -And after this moment which did not count, the pawnbroker resumed -his journey, and so came presently to his home. He peeped through -the window. And there in a snug room, with supper laid, sat Dame -Lisa about some sewing, and evidently in a quite amiable frame of -mind. - -Then terror smote the Jurgen who had faced sorcerers and gods and -devils intrepidly. "For I forgot about the butter!" - -But immediately afterward he recollected that, now, not even what -Lisa had said to him in the cave was real. Neither he nor Lisa, now, -had ever been in the cave, and probably there was no longer any such -place, and now there never had been any such place. It was rather -confusing. - -"Ah, but I must remember carefully," said Jurgen, "that I have not -seen Lisa since breakfast, this morning. Nothing whatever has -happened. There has been no requirement laid upon me, after all, to -do the manly thing. So I retain my wife, such as she is, poor dear! -I retain my home. I retain my shop and a fair line of business. Yes, -Koshchei--if it was really Koshchei--has dealt with me very justly. -And probably his methods are everything they should be; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say that they are wrong: but still, at the -same time--!" - -Then Jurgen sighed, and entered his snug home. Thus it was in the -old days. - - -EXPLICIT - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - -This file should be named 7jurg10.txt or 7jurg10.zip -Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7jurg11.txt -VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7jurg10a.txt - -Produced by Suzanne L. 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Do not change or edit the -header without written permission. - -Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the -eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is -important information about your specific rights and restrictions in -how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a -donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. - - -**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** - -**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** - -*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** - - -Title: Jurgen - A Comedy of Justice - -Author: James Branch Cabell - -Release Date: August, 2005 [EBook #8771] -[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] -[This file was first posted on August 12, 2003] - -Edition: 10 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks -and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. -With thanks to the McCain Library, Agnes Scott College. - - - - - -JURGEN - -_A Comedy of Justice_ - - - -By - -JAMES BRANCH CABELL - -1922 - - - - _"Of JURGEN eke they maken mencioun, - That of an old wyf gat his youthe agoon, - And gat himselfe a shirte as bright as fyre - Wherein to jape, yet gat not his desire - In any countrie ne condicioun."_ - - - - - - -TO - -BURTON RASCOE - - Before each tarradiddle, - Uncowed by sciolists, - Robuster persons twiddle - Tremendously big fists. - - "Our gods are good," they tell us; - "Nor will our gods defer - Remission of rude fellows' - Ability to err." - - So this, your JURGEN, travels - Content to compromise - Ordainments none unravels - Explicitly ... and sighs. - - - - - - * * * * * - - -"Others, with better moderation, do either entertain the vulgar -history of Jurgen as a fabulous addition unto the true and authentic -story of St. Iurgenius of Poictesme, or else we conceive the literal -acception to be a misconstruction of the symbolical expression: -apprehending a veritable history, in an emblem or piece of Christian -poesy. And this emblematical construction hath been received by men -not forward to extenuate the acts of saints." - - --PHILIP BORSDALE. - - -"A forced construction is very idle. If readers of _The High -History of Jurgen_ do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory -will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all, the whole is -as plain as a pikestaff. It might as well be pretended that we -cannot see Poussin's pictures without first being told the allegory, -as that the allegory aids us in understanding _Jurgen_." - - --E. NOEL CODMAN. - - -"Too urbane to advocate delusion, too hale for the bitterness of -irony, this fable of Jurgen is, as the world itself, a book wherein -each man will find what his nature enables him to see; which gives -us back each his own image; and which teaches us each the lesson -that each of us desires to learn." - - --JOHN FREDERICK LEWISTAM. - - - * * * * * - - - - -_CONTENTS_ - - A FOREWORD: WHICH ASSERTS NOTHING - - I WHY JURGEN DID THE MANLY THING - - II ASSUMPTION OF A NOTED GARMENT - - III THE GARDEN BETWEEN DAWN AND SUNRISE - - IV THE DOROTHY WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND - - V REQUIREMENTS OF BREAD AND BUTTER - - VI SHOWING THAT SEREDA IS FEMININE - - VII OF COMPROMISES ON A WEDNESDAY - - VIII OLD TOYS AND A NEW SHADOW - - IX THE ORTHODOX RESCUE OF GUENEVERE - - X PITIFUL DISGUISES OF THRAGNAR - - XI APPEARANCE OF THE DUKE OF LOGREUS - - XII EXCURSUS OF YOLANDE'S UNDOING - - XIII PHILOSOPHY OF GOGYRVAN GAWR - - XIV PRELIMINARY TACTICS OF DUKE JURGEN - - XV OF COMPROMISES IN GLATHION - - XVI DIVERS IMBROGLIOS OF KING SMOIT - - XVII ABOUT A COCK THAT CROWED TOO SOON - - XVIII WHY MERLIN TALKED IN TWILIGHT - - XIX THE BROWN MAN WITH QUEER FEET - - XX EFFICACY OF PRAYER - - XXI HOW ANAÏTIS VOYAGED - - XXII AS TO A VEIL THEY BROKE - - XXIII SHORTCOMINGS OF PRINCE JURGEN - - XXIV OF COMPROMISES IN COCAIGNE - - XXV CANTRAPS OF THE MASTER PHILOLOGIST - - XXVI IN TIME'S HOUR-GLASS - - XXVII VEXATIOUS ESTATE OF QUEEN HELEN - - XXVIII OF COMPROMISES IN LEUKÊ - - XXIX CONCERNING HORVENDILE'S NONSENSE - - XXX ECONOMICS OF KING JURGEN - - XXXI THE FALL OF PSEUDOPOLIS - - XXXII SUNDRY DEVICES OF THE PHILISTINES - - XXXIII FAREWELL TO CHLORIS - - XXXIV HOW EMPEROR JURGEN FARED INFERNALLY - - XXXV WHAT GRANDFATHER SATAN REPORTED - - XXXVI WHY COTH WAS CONTRADICTED - - XXXVII INVENTION OF THE LOVELY VAMPIRE - -XXXVIII AS TO APPLAUDED PRECEDENTS - - XXXIX OF COMPROMISES IN HELL - - XL THE ASCENSION OF POPE JURGEN - - XLI OF COMPROMISES IN HEAVEN - - XLII TWELVE THAT ARE FRETTED HOURLY - - XLIII POSTURES BEFORE A SHADOW - - XLIV IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE - - XLV THE FAITH OF GUENEVERE - - XLVI THE DESIRE OF ANAÏTIS - - XLVII THE VISION OF HELEN - - XLVIII CANDID OPINIONS OF DAME LISA - - XLIX OF THE COMPROMISE WITH KOSHCHEI - - L THE MOMENT THAT DID NOT COUNT - - - - -A FOREWORD - -_"Nescio quid certè est: et Hylax in limine latrat."_ - - - - -_A Foreword: Which Asserts Nothing._ - - -In Continental periodicals not more than a dozen articles in all -would seem to have given accounts or partial translations of the -Jurgen legends. No thorough investigation of this epos can be said -to have appeared in print, anywhere, prior to the publication, in -1913, of the monumental _Synopses of Aryan Mythology_ by Angelo -de Ruiz. It is unnecessary to observe that in this exhaustive digest -Professor de Ruiz has given (VII, p. 415 _et sequentia_) a -summary of the greater part of these legends as contained in the -collections of Verville and Bülg; and has discussed at length and -with much learning the esoteric meaning of these folk-stories and -their bearing upon questions to which the "solar theory" of myth -explanation has given rise. To his volumes, and to the pages of Mr. -Lewistam's _Key to the Popular Tales of Poictesme_, must be -referred all those who may elect to think of Jurgen as the -resplendent, journeying and procreative sun. - -Equally in reading hereinafter will the judicious waive all -allegorical interpretation, if merely because the suggestions -hitherto advanced are inconveniently various. Thus Verville -finds the Nessus shirt a symbol of retribution, where Bülg, -with rather wide divergence, would have it represent the dangerous -gift of genius. Then it may be remembered that Dr. Codman says, -without any hesitancy, of Mother Sereda: "This Mother Middle is -the world generally (an obvious anagram of _Erda es_), and this -Sereda rules not merely the middle of the working-days but the -midst of everything. She is the factor of _middleness_, of -mediocrity, of an avoidance of extremes, of the eternal compromise -begotten by use and wont. She is the Mrs. Grundy of the Léshy; she is -Comstockery: and her shadow is common-sense." Yet Codman speaks with -certainly no more authority than Prote, when the latter, in his -_Origins of Fable_, declares this epos is "a parable of ... man's -vain journeying in search of that rationality and justice which his -nature craves, and discovers nowhere in the universe: and the shirt -is an emblem of this instinctive craving, as ... the shadow symbolizes -conscience. Sereda typifies a surrender to life as it is, a giving up -of man's rebellious self-centredness and selfishness: the anagram being -_se dare_." - -Thus do interpretations throng and clash, and neatly equal the -commentators in number. Yet possibly each one of these unriddlings, -with no doubt a host of others, is conceivable: so that wisdom will -dwell upon none of them very seriously. - -With the origin and the occult meaning of the folklore of Poictesme -this book at least is in no wise concerned: its unambitious aim has -been merely to familiarize English readers with the Jurgen epos for -the tale's sake. And this tale of old years is one which, by rare -fortune, can be given to English readers almost unabridged, in view -of the singular delicacy and pure-mindedness of the Jurgen mythos: -in all, not more than a half-dozen deletions have seemed expedient -(and have been duly indicated) in order to remove such sparse and -unimportant outcroppings of mediæval frankness as might conceivably -offend the squeamish. - -Since this volume is presented simply as a story to be read for -pastime, neither morality nor symbolism is hereinafter educed, and -no "parallels" and "authorities" are quoted. Even the gaps are left -unbridged by guesswork: whereas the historic and mythological -problems perhaps involved are relinquished to those really -thoroughgoing scholars whom erudition qualifies to deal with such -topics, and tedium does not deter.... - -In such terms, and thus far, ran the Foreword to the first issues of -this book, whose later fortunes have made necessary the lengthening -of the Foreword with a postscript. The needed addition--this much at -least chiming with good luck--is brief. It is just that fragment -which some scholars, since the first appearance of this volume, have -asserted--upon what perfect frankness must describe as not -indisputable grounds--to be a portion of the thirty-second chapter -of the complete form of _La Haulte Histoire de Jurgen_. - -And in reply to what these scholars assert, discretion says nothing. -For this fragment was, of course, unknown when the High History was -first put into English, and there in consequence appears, here, -little to be won either by endorsing or denying its claims to -authenticity. Rather, does discretion prompt the appending, without -any gloss or scholia, of this fragment, which deals with - - _The Judging of Jurgen._ - -Now a court was held by the Philistines to decide whether or no King -Jurgen should be relegated to limbo. And when the judges were -prepared for judging, there came into the court a great tumblebug, -rolling in front of him his loved and properly housed young ones. -With the creature came pages, in black and white, bearing a sword, a -staff and a lance. - -This insect looked at Jurgen, and its pincers rose erect in horror. -The bug cried to the three judges, "Now, by St. Anthony! this Jurgen -must forthwith be relegated to limbo, for he is offensive and lewd -and lascivious and indecent." - -"And how can that be?" says Jurgen. - -"You are offensive," the bug replied, "because this page has a sword -which I choose to say is not a sword. You are lewd because that page -has a lance which I prefer to think is not a lance. You are -lascivious because yonder page has a staff which I elect to declare -is not a staff. And finally, you are indecent for reasons of which a -description would be objectionable to me, and which therefore I must -decline to reveal to anybody." - -"Well, that sounds logical," says Jurgen, "but still, at the same -time, it would be no worse for an admixture of common-sense. For you -gentlemen can see for yourselves, by considering these pages fairly -and as a whole, that these pages bear a sword and a lance and a -staff, and nothing else whatever; and you will deduce, I hope, that -all the lewdness is in the insectival mind of him who itches to be -calling these things by other names." - -The judges said nothing as yet. But they that guarded Jurgen, and -all the other Philistines, stood to this side and to that side with -their eyes shut tight, and all these said: "We decline to look at -the pages fairly and as a whole, because to look might seem to imply -a doubt of what the tumblebug has decreed. Besides, as long as the -tumblebug has reasons which he declines to reveal, his reasons stay -unanswerable, and you are plainly a prurient rascal who are making -trouble for yourself." - -"To the contrary," says Jurgen, "I am a poet, and I make -literature." - -"But in Philistia to make literature and to make trouble for -yourself are synonyms," the tumblebug explained. "I know, for -already we of Philistia have been pestered by three of these makers -of literature. Yes, there was Edgar, whom I starved and hunted until -I was tired of it: then I chased him up a back alley one night, and -knocked out those annoying brains of his. And there was Walt, whom I -chivvied and battered from place to place, and made a paralytic of -him: and him, too, I labelled offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent. Then later there was Mark, whom I frightened into -disguising himself in a clown's suit, so that nobody might suspect -him to be a maker of literature: indeed, I frightened him so that he -hid away the greater part of what he had made until after he was -dead, and I could not get at him. That was a disgusting trick to -play on me, I consider. Still, these are the only three detected -makers of literature that have ever infested Philistia, thanks be to -goodness and my vigilance, but for both of which we might have been -no more free from makers of literature than are the other -countries." - -"Now, but these three," cried Jurgen, "are the glory of Philistia: -and of all that Philistia has produced, it is these three alone, -whom living ye made least of, that to-day are honored wherever art -is honored, and where nobody bothers one way or the other about -Philistia." - -"What is art to me and my way of living?" replied the tumblebug, -wearily. "I have no concern with art and letters and the other lewd -idols of foreign nations. I have in charge the moral welfare of my -young, whom I roll here before me, and trust with St. Anthony's aid -to raise in time to be God-fearing tumblebugs like me, delighting in -what is proper to their nature. For the rest, I have never minded -dead men being well-spoken-of. No, no, my lad: once whatever I may -do means nothing to you, and once you are really rotten, you will -find the tumblebug friendly enough. Meanwhile I am paid to protest -that living persons are offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent, and one must live." - -Then the Philistines who stood to this side and to that side said in -indignant unison: "And we, the reputable citizenry of Philistia, are -not at all in sympathy with those who would take any protest against -the tumblebug as a justification of what they are pleased to call -art. The harm done by the tumblebug seems to us very slight, whereas -the harm done by the self-styled artist may be very great." - -Jurgen now looked more attentively at this queer creature: and he -saw that the tumblebug was malodorous, certainly, but at bottom -honest and well-meaning; and this seemed to Jurgen the saddest thing -he had found among the Philistines. For the tumblebug was sincere in -his insane doings, and all Philistia honored him sincerely, so that -there was nowhere any hope for this people. - -Therefore King Jurgen addressed himself, as his need was, to submit -to the strange customs of the Philistines. "Now do you judge me -fairly," cried Jurgen to his judges, "if there be any justice in -this mad country. And if there be none, do you relegate me to limbo -or to any other place, so long as in that place this tumblebug is -not omnipotent and sincere and insane." - -And Jurgen waited.... - - - - -* * * * * - - - - JURGEN - - ... _amara lento temperet risu_ - - - - -1. - -Why Jurgen Did the Manly Thing - - -It is a tale which they narrate in Poictesme, saying: In the 'old -days lived a pawnbroker named Jurgen; but what his wife called him -was very often much worse than that. She was a high-spirited woman, -with no especial gift for silence. Her name, they say, was Adelais, -but people by ordinary called her Dame Lisa. - -They tell, also, that in the old days, after putting up the shop-windows -for the night, Jurgen was passing the Cistercian Abbey, on his way home: -and one of the monks had tripped over a stone in the roadway. He was -cursing the devil who had placed it there. - -"Fie, brother!" says Jurgen, "and have not the devils enough to bear -as it is?" - -"I never held with Origen," replied the monk; "and besides, it hurt -my great-toe confoundedly." - -"None the less," observes Jurgen, "it does not behoove God-fearing -persons to speak with disrespect of the divinely appointed Prince of -Darkness. To your further confusion, consider this monarch's -industry! day and night you may detect him toiling at the task -Heaven set him. That is a thing can be said of few communicants and -of no monks. Think, too, of his fine artistry, as evidenced in all -the perilous and lovely snares of this world, which it is your -business to combat, and mine to lend money upon. Why, but for him we -would both be vocationless! Then, too, consider his philanthropy! -and deliberate how insufferable would be our case if you and I, and -all our fellow parishioners, were to-day hobnobbing with other -beasts in the Garden which we pretend to desiderate on Sundays! To -arise with swine and lie down with the hyena?--oh, intolerable!" - -Thus he ran on, devising reasons for not thinking too harshly of the -Devil. Most of it was an abridgement of some verses Jurgen had -composed, in the shop when business was slack. - -"I consider that to be stuff and nonsense," was the monk's glose. - -"No doubt your notion is sensible," observed the pawnbroker: "but -mine is the prettier." - -Then Jurgen passed the Cistercian Abbey, and was approaching -Bellegarde, when he met a black gentleman, who saluted him and said: - -"Thanks, Jurgen, for your good word." - -"Who are you, and why do you thank me?" asks Jurgen. - -"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. May -your life be free from care!" - -"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married." - -"Eh, sirs, and a fine clever poet like you!" - -"Yet it is a long while now since I was a practising poet." - -"Why, to be sure! You have the artistic temperament, which is not -exactly suited to the restrictions of domestic life. Then I suppose -your wife has her own personal opinion about poetry, Jurgen." - -"Indeed, sir, her opinion would not bear repetition, for I am sure -you are unaccustomed to such language." - -"This is very sad. I am afraid your wife does not quite understand -you, Jurgen." - -"Sir," says Jurgen, astounded, "do you read people's inmost -thoughts?" - -The black gentleman seemed much dejected. He pursed his lips, and -fell to counting upon his fingers: as they moved his sharp nails -glittered like flame-points. - -"Now but this is a very deplorable thing," says the black gentleman, -"to have befallen the first person I have found ready to speak a -kind word for evil. And in all these centuries, too! Dear me, this -is a most regrettable instance of mismanagement! No matter, Jurgen, -the morning is brighter than the evening. How I will reward you, to -be sure!" - -So Jurgen thanked the simple old creature politely. And when Jurgen -reached home his wife was nowhere to be seen. He looked on all sides -and questioned everyone, but to no avail. Dame Lisa had vanished in -the midst of getting supper ready--suddenly, completely and -inexplicably, just as (in Jurgen's figure) a windstorm passes and -leaves behind it a tranquillity which seems, by contrast, uncanny. -Nothing could explain the mystery, short of magic: and Jurgen on a -sudden recollected the black gentleman's queer promise. Jurgen -crossed himself. - -"How unjustly now," says Jurgen, "do some people get an ill name for -gratitude! And now do I perceive how wise I am, always to speak -pleasantly of everybody, in this world of tale-bearers." - -Then Jurgen prepared his own supper, went to bed, and slept soundly. - -"I have implicit confidence," says he, "in Lisa. I have particular -confidence in her ability to take care of herself in any -surroundings." - -That was all very well: but time passed, and presently it began to -be rumored that Dame Lisa walked on Morven. Her brother, who was a -grocer and a member of the town-council, went thither to see about -this report. And sure enough, there was Jurgen's wife walking in the -twilight and muttering incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the town-councillor, "this is very unseemly -conduct for a married woman, and a thing likely to be talked about." - -"Follow me!" replied Dame Lisa. And the town-councillor followed her -a little way in the dusk, but when she came to Amneran Heath and -still went onward, he knew better than to follow. - -Next evening the elder sister of Dame Lisa went to Morven. This -sister had married a notary, and was a shrewd woman. In consequence, -she took with her this evening a long wand of peeled willow-wood. -And there was Jurgen's wife walking in the twilight and muttering -incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the notary's wife, who was a shrewd woman, "and -do you not know that all this while Jurgen does his own sewing, and -is once more making eyes at Countess Dorothy?" - -Dame Lisa shuddered; but she only said, "Follow me!" - -And the notary's wife followed her to Amneran Heath, and across the -heath, to where a cave was. This was a place of abominable repute. A -lean hound came to meet them there in the twilight, lolling his -tongue: but the notary's wife struck thrice with her wand, and the -silent beast left them. And Dame Lisa passed silently into the cave, -and her sister turned and went home to her children, weeping. - -So the next evening Jurgen himself came to Morven, because all his -wife's family assured him this was the manly thing to do. Jurgen -left the shop in charge of Urien Villemarche, who was a highly -efficient clerk. Jurgen followed his wife across Amneran Heath until -they reached the cave. Jurgen would willingly have been elsewhere. - -For the hound squatted upon his haunches, and seemed to grin at -Jurgen; and there were other creatures abroad, that flew low in the -twilight, keeping close to the ground like owls; but they were -larger than owls and were more discomforting. And, moreover, all -this was just after sunset upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything -is rather more than likely to happen. - -So Jurgen said, a little peevishly: "Lisa, my dear, if you go into -the cave I will have to follow you, because it is the manly thing to -do. And you know how easily I take cold." - -The voice of Dame Lisa, now, was thin and wailing, a curiously -changed voice. "There is a cross about your neck. You must throw -that away." - -Jurgen was wearing such a cross, through motives of sentiment, -because it had once belonged to his dead mother. But now, to -pleasure his wife, he removed the trinket, and hung it on a barberry -bush; and with the reflection that this was likely to prove a -deplorable business, he followed Dame Lisa into the cave. - - - - -2. - -Assumption of a Noted Garment - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -presently to a centaur: and this surprised him not a little, because -Jurgen knew that centaurs were imaginary creatures. - -Certainly they were curious to look at: for here was the body of a -fine bay horse, and rising from its shoulders, the sun-burnt body of -a young fellow who regarded Jurgen with grave and not unfriendly -eyes. The Centaur was lying beside a fire of cedar and juniper wood: -near him was a platter containing a liquid with which he was -anointing his hoofs. This stuff, as the Centaur rubbed it in with -his fingers, turned the appearance of his hoofs to gold. - -"Hail, friend," says Jurgen, "if you be the work of God." - -"Your protasis is not good Greek," observed the Centaur, "because in -Hellas we did not make such reservations. Besides, it is not so much -my origin as my destination which concerns you." - -"Well, friend, and whither are you going?" - -"To the garden between dawn and sunrise, Jurgen." - -"Surely, now, but that is a fine name for a garden! and it is a -place I would take joy to be seeing." - -"Up upon my back, Jurgen, and I will take you thither," says the -Centaur, and heaved to his feet. Then said the Centaur, when the -pawnbroker hesitated: "Because, as you must understand, there is no -other way. For this garden does not exist, and never did exist, in -what men humorously called real life; so that of course only -imaginary creatures such as I can enter it." - -"That sounds very reasonable," Jurgen estimated: "but as it happens, -I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to have been carried off by -a devil, poor fellow!" - -And Jurgen began to explain to the Centaur what had befallen. - -The Centaur laughed. "It may be for that reason I am here. There is, -in any event, only one remedy in this matter. Above all devils--and -above all gods, they tell me, but certainly above all centaurs--is -the power of Koshchei the Deathless, who made things as they are." - -"It is not always wholesome," Jurgen submitted, "to speak of -Koshchei. It seems especially undesirable in a dark place like -this." - -"None the less, I suspect it is to him you must go for justice." - -"I would prefer not doing that," said Jurgen, with unaffected -candor. - -"You have my sympathy: but there is no question of preference where -Koshchei is concerned. Do you think, for example, that I am frowzing -in this underground place by my own choice? and knew your name by -accident?" - -Jurgen was frightened, a little. "Well, well! but it is usually the -deuce and all, this doing of the manly thing. How, then, can I come -to Koshchei?" - -"Roundabout," says the Centaur. "There is never any other way." - -"And is the road to this garden roundabout?" - -"Oh, very much so, inasmuch as it circumvents both destiny and -common-sense." - -"Needs must, then," says Jurgen: "at all events, I am willing to -taste any drink once." - -"You will be chilled, though, traveling as you are. For you and I -are going a queer way, in search of justice, over the grave of a -dream and through the malice of time. So you had best put on this -shirt above your other clothing." - -"Indeed it is a fine snug shining garment, with curious figures on -it. I accept such raiment gladly. And whom shall I be thanking for -his kindness, now?" - -"My name," said the Centaur, "is Nessus." - -"Well, then, friend Nessus, I am at your service." - -And in a trice Jurgen was on the Centaur's back, and the two of them -had somehow come out of the cave, and were crossing Amneran Heath. -So they passed into a wooded place, where the light of sunset yet -lingered, rather unaccountably. Now the Centaur went westward. And -now about the pawnbroker's shoulders and upon his breast and over -his lean arms glittered like a rainbow the many-colored shirt of -Nessus. - -For a while they went through the woods, which were composed of big -trees standing a goodish distance from one another, with the -Centaur's gilded hoofs rustling and sinking in a thick carpet of -dead leaves, all gray and brown, in level stretches that were -unbroken by any undergrowth. And then they came to a white roadway -that extended due west, and so were done with the woods. Now -happened an incredible thing in which Jurgen would never have -believed had he not seen it with his own eyes: for now the Centaur -went so fast that he gained a little by a little upon the sun, thus -causing it to rise in the west a little by a little; and these two -sped westward in the glory of a departed sunset. The sun fell full -in Jurgen's face as he rode straight toward the west, so that he -blinked and closed his eyes, and looked first toward this side, then -the other. Thus it was that the country about him, and the persons -they were passing, were seen by him in quick bright flashes, like -pictures suddenly transmuted into other pictures; and all his -memories of this shining highway were, in consequence, always -confused and incoherent. - -He wondered that there seemed to be so many young women along the -road to the garden. Here was a slim girl in white teasing a great -brown and yellow dog that leaped about her clumsily; here a girl sat -in the branches of a twisted and gnarled tree, and back of her was a -broad muddied river, copper-colored in the sun; and here shone the -fair head of a tall girl on horseback, who seemed to wait for -someone: in fine, the girls along the way were numberless, and -Jurgen thought he recollected one or two of them. - -But the Centaur went so swiftly that Jurgen could not be sure. - - - - -3. - -The Garden between Dawn and Sunrise - - -Thus it was that Jurgen and the Centaur came to the garden between -dawn and sunrise, entering this place in a fashion which it is not -convenient to record. But as they passed over the bridge three fled -before them, screaming. And when the life had been trampled out of -the small furry bodies which these three had misused, there was none -to oppose the Centaur's entry into the garden between dawn and -sunrise. - -This was a wonderful garden: yet nothing therein was strange. -Instead, it seemed that everything hereabouts was heart-breakingly -familiar and very dear to Jurgen. For he had come to a broad lawn -which slanted northward to a well-remembered brook: and -multitudinous maples and locust-trees stood here and there, -irregularly, and were being played with very lazily by an irresolute -west wind, so that foliage seemed to toss and ripple everywhere like -green spray: but autumn was at hand, for the locust-trees were -dropping a Danaë's shower of small round yellow leaves. Around the -garden was an unforgotten circle of blue hills. And this was a place -of lucent twilight, unlit by either sun or stars, and with no -shadows anywhere in the diffused faint radiancy that revealed this -garden, which is not visible to any man except in the brief interval -between dawn and sunrise. - -"Why, but it is Count Emmerick's garden at Storisende," says Jurgen, -"where I used to be having such fine times when I was a lad." - -"I will wager," said Nessus, "that you did not use to walk alone in -this garden." - -"Well, no; there was a girl." - -"Just so," assented Nessus. "It is a local by-law: and here are -those who comply with it." - -For now had come toward them, walking together in the dawn, a -handsome boy and girl. And the girl was incredibly beautiful, -because everybody in the garden saw her with the vision of the boy -who was with her. "I am Rudolph," said this boy, "and she is Anne." - -"And are you happy here?" asked Jurgen. - -"Oh, yes, sir, we are tolerably happy: but Anne's father is very -rich, and my mother is poor, so that we cannot be quite happy until -I have gone into foreign lands and come back with a great many lakhs -of rupees and pieces of eight." - -"And what will you do with all this money, Rudolph?" - -"My duty, sir, as I see it. But I inherit defective eyesight." - -"God speed to you, Rudolph!" said Jurgen, "for many others are in -your plight." - -Then came to Jurgen and the Centaur another boy with the small -blue-eyed person in whom he took delight. And this fat and indolent -looking boy informed them that he and the girl who was with him were -walking in the glaze of the red mustard jar, which Jurgen thought -was gibberish: and the fat boy said that he and the girl had decided -never to grow any older, which Jurgen said was excellent good sense -if only they could manage it. - -"Oh, I can manage that," said this fat boy, reflectively, "if only I -do not find the managing of it uncomfortable." - -Jurgen for a moment regarded him, and then gravely shook hands. - -"I feel for you," said Jurgen, "for I perceive that you, too, are a -monstrous clever fellow: so life will get the best of you." - -"But is not cleverness the main thing, sir?" - -"Time will show you, my lad," says Jurgen, a little sorrowfully. -"And God speed to you, for many others are in your plight." - -And a host of boys and girls did Jurgen see in the garden. And all -the faces that Jurgen saw were young and glad and very lovely and -quite heart-breakingly confident, as young persons beyond numbering -came toward Jurgen and passed him there, in the first glow of dawn: -so they all went exulting in the glory of their youth, and -foreknowing life to be a puny antagonist from whom one might take -very easily anything which one desired. And all passed in -couples--"as though they came from the Ark," said Jurgen. But the -Centaur said they followed a precedent which was far older than the -Ark. - -"For in this garden," said the Centaur, "each man that ever lived -has sojourned for a little while, with no company save his -illusions. I must tell you again that in this garden are encountered -none but imaginary creatures. And stalwart persons take their hour -of recreation here, and go hence unaccompanied, to become aldermen -and respected merchants and bishops, and to be admired as captains -upon prancing horses, or even as kings upon tall thrones; each in -his station thinking not at all of the garden ever any more. But now -and then come timid persons, Jurgen, who fear to leave this garden -without an escort: so these must need go hence with one or another -imaginary creature, to guide them about alleys and by-paths, because -imaginary creatures find little nourishment in the public highways, -and shun them. Thus must these timid persons skulk about obscurely -with their diffident and skittish guides, and they do not ever -venture willingly into the thronged places where men get horses and -build thrones." - -"And what becomes of these timid persons, Centaur?" - -"Why, sometimes they spoil paper, Jurgen, and sometimes they spoil -human lives." - -"Then are these accursed persons," Jurgen considered. - -"You should know best," replied the Centaur. - -"Oh, very probably," said Jurgen. "Meanwhile here is one who walks -alone in this garden, and I wonder to see the local by-laws thus -violated." - -Now Nessus looked at Jurgen for a while without speaking: and in the -eyes of the Centaur was so much of comprehension and compassion that -it troubled Jurgen. For somehow it made Jurgen fidget and consider -this an unpleasantly personal way of looking at anybody. - -"Yes, certainly," said the Centaur, "this woman walks alone. But -there is no help for her loneliness, since the lad who loved this -woman is dead." - -"Nessus, I am willing to be reasonably sorry about it. Still, is -there any need of pulling quite such a portentously long face? After -all, a great many other persons have died, off and on: and for -anything I can say to the contrary, this particular young fellow may -have been no especial loss to anybody." - -Again the Centaur said, "You should know best." - - - - -4. - -The Dorothy Who Did Not Understand - - -For now had come to Jurgen and the Centaur a gold-haired woman, -clothed all in white, and walking alone. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest: and yet whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. Perhaps this was because he never saw her as she -was. For certainly the color of her eyes stayed a matter never -revealed to him: gray, blue or green, there was no saying: they -varied as does the sea; but always these eyes were lovely and -friendly and perturbing. - -Jurgen remembered that: for Jurgen saw this was Count Emmerick's -second sister, Dorothy la Désirée, whom Jurgen very long ago (a many -years before he met Dame Lisa and set up in business as a -pawnbroker) had hymned in innumerable verses as Heart's Desire. - -"And this is the only woman whom I ever loved," Jurgen remembered, -upon a sudden. For people cannot always be thinking of these -matters. - -So he saluted her, with such deference as is due to a countess from -a tradesman, and yet with unforgotten tremors waking in his staid -body. But the strangest was yet to be seen, for he noted now that -this was not a handsome woman in middle life but a young girl. - -"I do not understand," he said, aloud: "for you are Dorothy. And yet -it seems to me that you are not the Countess Dorothy who is Heitman -Michael's wife." - -And the girl tossed her fair head, with that careless lovely gesture -which the Countess had forgotten. "Heitman Michael is well enough, -for a nobleman, and my brother is at me day and night to marry the -man: and certainly Heitman Michael's wife will go in satin and -diamonds at half the courts of Christendom, with many lackeys to -attend her. But I am not to be thus purchased." - -"So you told a boy that I remember, very long ago. Yet you married -Heitman Michael, for all that, and in the teeth of a number of other -fine declarations." - -"Oh, no, not I," said this Dorothy, wondering. "I never married -anybody. And Heitman Michael has never married anybody, either, old -as he is. For he is twenty-eight, and looks every day of it! But who -are you, friend, that have such curious notions about me?" - -"That question I will answer, just as though it were put reasonably. -For surely you perceive I am Jurgen." - -"I never knew but one Jurgen. And he is a young man, barely come of -age--" Then as she paused in speech, whatever was the matter upon -which this girl now meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by -the thought of it, and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took -infinite joy. - -And Jurgen understood. He had come back somehow to the Dorothy whom -he had loved: but departed, and past overtaking by the fleet hoofs -of centaurs, was the boy who had once loved this Dorothy, and who -had rhymed of her as his Heart's Desire: and in the garden there was -of this boy no trace. Instead, the girl was talking to a staid and -paunchy pawnbroker, of forty-and-something. - -So Jurgen shrugged, and looked toward the Centaur: but Nessus had -discreetly wandered away from them, in search of four-leafed -clovers. Now the east had grown brighter, and its crimson began to -be colored with gold. - -"Yes, I have heard of this other Jurgen," says the pawnbroker. "Oh, -Madame Dorothy, but it was he that loved you!" - -"No more than I loved him. Through a whole summer have I loved -Jurgen." - -And the knowledge that this girl spoke a wondrous truth was now to -Jurgen a joy that was keen as pain. And he stood motionless for a -while, scowling and biting his lips. - -"I wonder how long the poor devil loved you! He also loved for a -whole summer, it may be. And yet again, it may be that he loved you -all his life. For twenty years and for more than twenty years I have -debated the matter: and I am as well informed as when I started." - -"But, friend, you talk in riddles." - -"Is not that customary when age talks with youth? For I am an old -fellow, in my forties: and you, as I know now, are near -eighteen,--or rather, four months short of being eighteen, for it is -August. Nay, more, it is the August of a year I had not looked ever -to see again; and again Dom Manuel reigns over us, that man of iron -whom I saw die so horribly. All this seems very improbable." - -Then Jurgen meditated for a while. He shrugged. - -"Well, and what could anybody expect me to do about it? Somehow it -has befallen that I, who am but the shadow of what I was, now walk -among shadows, and we converse with the thin intonations of dead -persons. For, Madame Dorothy, you who are not yet eighteen, in this -same garden there was once a boy who loved a girl, with such love as -it puzzles me to think of now. I believe that she loved him. Yes, -certainly it is a cordial to the tired and battered heart which -nowadays pumps blood for me, to think that for a little while, for a -whole summer, these two were as brave and comely and clean a pair of -sweethearts as the world has known." - -Thus Jurgen spoke. But his thought was that this was a girl whose -equal for loveliness and delight was not to be found between two -oceans. Long and long ago that doubtfulness of himself which was -closer to him than his skin had fretted Jurgen into believing the -Dorothy he had loved was but a piece of his imaginings. But -certainly this girl was real. And sweet she was, and innocent she -was, and light of heart and feet, beyond the reach of any man's -inventiveness. No, Jurgen had not invented her; and it strangely -contented him to know as much. - -"Tell me your story, sir," says she, "for I love all romances." - -"Ah, my dear child, but I cannot tell you very well of just what -happened. As I look back, there is a blinding glory of green woods -and lawns and moonlit nights and dance music and unreasonable -laughter. I remember her hair and eyes, and the curving and the feel -of her red mouth, and once when I was bolder than ordinary--But that -is hardly worth raking up at this late day. Well, I see these things -in memory as plainly as I now seem to see your face: but I can -recollect hardly anything she said. Perhaps, now I think of it, she -was not very intelligent, and said nothing worth remembering. But -the boy loved her, and was happy, because her lips and heart were -his, and he, as the saying is, had plucked a diamond from the -world's ring. True, she was a count's daughter and the sister of a -count: but in those days the boy quite firmly intended to become a -duke or an emperor or something of that sort, so the transient -discrepancy did not worry them." - -"I know. Why, Jurgen is going to be a duke, too," says she, very -proudly, "though he did think, a great while ago, before he knew me, -of being a cardinal, on account of the robes. But cardinals are not -allowed to marry, you see--And I am forgetting your story, too! What -happened then?" - -"They parted in September--with what vows it hardly matters now--and -the boy went into Gâtinais, to win his spurs under the old Vidame de -Soyecourt. And presently--oh, a good while before Christmas!--came -the news that Dorothy la Désirée had married rich Heitman Michael." - -"But that is what I am called! And as you know, there is a Heitman -Michael who is always plaguing me. Is that not strange! for you tell -me all this happened a great while ago." - -"Indeed, the story is very old, and old it was when Methuselah was -teething. There is no older and more common story anywhere. As the -sequel, it would be heroic to tell you this boy's life was ruined. -But I do not think it was. Instead, he had learned all of a sudden -that which at twenty-one is heady knowledge. That was the hour which -taught him sorrow and rage, and sneering, too, for a redemption. Oh, -it was armor that hour brought him, and a humor to use it, because -no woman now could hurt him very seriously. No, never any more!" - -"Ah, the poor boy!" she said, divinely tender, and smiling as a -goddess smiles, not quite in mirth. - -"Well, women, as he knew by experience now, were the pleasantest of -playfellows. So he began to play. Rampaging through the world he -went in the pride of his youth and in the armor of his hurt. And -songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and sword-play he made for -the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made for the pleasure of -women, in places where renown was, and where he trod boldly, giving -pleasure to everybody, in those fine days. But the whispering, and -all that followed the whispering, was his best game, and the game he -played for the longest while, with many brightly colored playmates -who took the game more seriously than he did. And their faith in the -game's importance, and in him and his high-sounding nonsense, he -very often found amusing: and in their other chattels too he took -his natural pleasure. Then, when he had played sufficiently, he held -a consultation with divers waning appetites; and he married the -handsome daughter of an estimable pawnbroker in a fair line of -business. And he lived with his wife very much as two people -customarily live together. So, all in all, I would not say his life -was ruined." - -"Why, then, it was," said Dorothy. She stirred uneasily, with an -impatient sigh; and you saw that she was vaguely puzzled. "Oh, but -somehow I think you are a very horrible old man: and you seem doubly -horrible in that glittering queer garment you are wearing." - -"No woman ever praised a woman's handiwork, and each of you is -particularly severe upon her own. But you are interrupting the -saga." - -"I do not see"--and those large bright eyes of which the color was -so indeterminable and so dear to Jurgen, seemed even larger -now--"but I do not see how there could well be any more." - -"Still, human hearts survive the benediction of the priest, as you may -perceive any day. This man, at least, inherited his father-in-law's -business, and found it, quite as he had anticipated, the fittest of -vocations for a cashiered poet. And so, I suppose, he was content. Ah, -yes; but after a while Heitman Michael returned from foreign parts, -along with his lackeys, and plate, and chest upon chest of merchandise, -and his fine horses, and his wife. And he who had been her lover could -see her now, after so many years, whenever he liked. She was a handsome -stranger. That was all. She was rather stupid. She was nothing -remarkable, one way or another. This respectable pawnbroker saw that -quite plainly: day by day he writhed under the knowledge. Because, as -I must tell you, he could not retain composure in her presence, even -now. No, he was never able to do that." - -The girl somewhat condensed her brows over this information. "You -mean that he still loved her. Why, but of course!" - -"My child," says Jurgen, now with a reproving forefinger, "you are -an incurable romanticist. The man disliked her and despised her. At -any event, he assured himself that he did. Well, even so, this -handsome stupid stranger held his eyes, and muddled his thoughts, -and put errors into his accounts: and when he touched her hand he -did not sleep that night as he was used to sleep. Thus he saw her, -day after day. And they whispered that this handsome and stupid -stranger had a liking for young men who aided her artfully to -deceive her husband: but she never showed any such favor to the -respectable pawnbroker. For youth had gone out of him, and it seemed -that nothing in particular happened. Well, that was his saga. About -her I do not know. And I shall never know! But certainly she got the -name of deceiving Heitman Michael with two young men, or with five -young men it might be, but never with a respectable pawnbroker." - -"I think that is an exceedingly cynical and stupid story," observed -the girl. "And so I shall be off to look for Jurgen. For he makes -love very amusingly," says Dorothy, with the sweetest, loveliest -meditative smile that ever was lost to heaven. - -And a madness came upon Jurgen, there in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, and a disbelief in such injustice as now seemed incredible. - -"No, Heart's Desire," he cried, "I will not let you go. For you are -dear and pure and faithful, and all my evil dream, wherein you were -a wanton and be-fooled me, was not true. Surely, mine was a dream -that can never be true so long as there is any justice upon earth. -Why, there is no imaginable God who would permit a boy to be robbed -of that which in my evil dream was taken from me!" - -"And still I cannot understand your talking, about this dream of -yours--!" - -"Why, it seemed to me I had lost the most of myself; and there was -left only a brain which played with ideas, and a body that went -delicately down pleasant ways. And I could not believe as my fellows -believed, nor could I love them, nor could I detect anything in -aught they said or did save their exceeding folly: for I had lost -their cordial common faith in the importance of what use they made -of half-hours and months and years; and because a jill-flirt had -opened my eyes so that they saw too much, I had lost faith in the -importance of my own actions, too. There was a little time of which -the passing might be made endurable; beyond gaped unpredictable -darkness: and that was all there was of certainty anywhere. Now tell -me, Heart's Desire, but was not that a foolish dream? For these -things never happened. Why, it would not be fair if these things -ever happened!" - -And the girl's eyes were wide and puzzled and a little frightened. -"I do not understand what you are saying: and there is that about -you which troubles me unspeakably. For you call me by the name which -none but Jurgen used, and it seems to me that you are Jurgen; and -yet you are not Jurgen." - -"But I am truly Jurgen. And look you, I have done what never any man -has done before! For I have won back to that first love whom every -man must lose, no matter whom he marries. I have come back again, -passing very swiftly over the grave of a dream and through the -malice of time, to my Heart's Desire! And how strange it seems that -I did not know this thing was inevitable!" - -"Still, friend, I do not understand you." - -"Why, but I yawned and fretted in preparation for some great and -beautiful adventure which was to befall me by and by, and dazedly I -toiled forward. Whereas behind me all the while was the garden -between dawn and sunrise, and therein you awaited me! Now assuredly, -the life of every man is a quaintly builded tale, in which the right -and proper ending comes first. Thereafter time runs forward, not as -schoolmen fable in a straight line, but in a vast closed curve, -returning to the place of its starting. And it is by a dim -foreknowledge of this, by some faint prescience of justice and -reparation being given them by and by, that men have heart to live. -For I know now that I have always known this thing. What else was -living good for unless it brought me back to you?" - -But the girl shook her small glittering head, very sadly. "I do not -understand you, and I fear you. For you talk foolishness and in your -face I see the face of Jurgen as one might see the face of a dead -man drowned in muddy water." - -"Yet am I truly Jurgen, and, as it seems to me, for the first time -since we were parted. For I am strong and admirable--even I, who -sneered and played so long, because I thought myself a thing of -no worth at all. That which has been since you and I were young -together is as a mist that passes: and I am strong and admirable, -and all my being is one vast hunger for you, my dearest, and I will -not let you go, for you, and you alone, are my Heart's Desire." - -Now the girl was looking at him very steadily, with a small puzzled -frown, and with her vivid young soft lips a little parted. And all -her tender loveliness was glorified by the light of a sky that had -turned to dusty palpitating gold. - -"Ah, but you say that you are strong and admirable: and I can only -marvel at such talking. For I see that which all men see." - -And then Dorothy showed him the little mirror which was attached to -the long chain of turquoise matrix about her neck: and Jurgen -studied the frightened foolish aged face that he found in the -mirror. - -Thus drearily did sanity return to Jurgen: and his flare of passion -died, and the fever and storm and the impetuous whirl of things was -ended, and the man was very weary. And in the silence he heard the -piping cry of a bird that seemed to seek for what it could not find. - -"Well, I am answered," said the pawnbroker: "and yet I know that -this is not the final answer. Dearer than any hope of heaven was -that moment when awed surmises first awoke as to the new strange -loveliness which I had seen in the face of Dorothy. It was then I -noted the new faint flush suffusing her face from chin to brow so -often as my eyes encountered and found new lights in the shining -eyes which were no longer entirely frank in meeting mine. Well, let -that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"It is a grief to remember how we followed love, and found his -service lovely. It is bitter to recall the sweetness of those vows -which proclaimed her mine eternally,--vows that were broken in their -making by prolonged and unforgotten kisses. We used to laugh at -Heitman Michael then; we used to laugh at everything. Thus for a -while, for a whole summer, we were as brave and comely and clean a -pair of sweethearts as the world has known. But let that be, for I -do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"Our love was fair but short-lived. There is none that may revive -him since the small feet of Dorothy trod out this small love's life. -Yet when this life of ours too is over--this parsimonious life which -can allow us no more love for anybody,--must we not win back, -somehow, to that faith we vowed against eternity? and be content -again, in some fair-colored realm? Assuredly I think this thing will -happen. Well, but let that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's -wife." - -"Why, this is excellent hearing," observed Dorothy, "because I see -that you are converting your sorrow into the raw stuff of verses. So -I shall be off to look for Jurgen, since he makes love quite -otherwise and far more amusingly." - -And again, whatever was the matter upon which this girl now -meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by the thought of it, -and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took infinite joy. - -Thus it was for a moment only: for she left Jurgen now, with the -friendliest light waving of her hand; and so passed from him, not -thinking of this old fellow any longer, as he could see, even in the -instant she turned from him. And she went toward the dawn, in search -of that young Jurgen whom she, who was perfect in all things, had -loved, though only for a little while, not undeservedly. - - - - -5. - -Requirements of Bread and Butter - - -"Nessus," says Jurgen, "and am I so changed? For that Dorothy whom I -loved in youth did not know me." - -"Good and evil keep very exact accounts," replied the Centaur, "and -the face of every man is their ledger. Meanwhile the sun rises, it -is already another workday: and when the shadows of those two who -come to take possession fall full upon the garden, I warn you, there -will be astounding changes brought about by the requirements of -bread and butter. You have not time to revive old memories by -chatting with the others to whom you babbled aforetime in this -garden." - -"Ah, Centaur, in the garden between dawn and sunrise there was never -any other save Dorothy la Désirée." - -The Centaur shrugged. "It may be you forget; it is certain that you -underestimate the local population. Some of the transient visitors -you have seen, and in addition hereabouts dwell the year round all -manner of imaginary creatures. The fairies live just southward, and -the gnomes too. To your right is the realm of the Valkyries: the -Amazons and the Cynocephali are their allies: all three of these -nations are continually at loggerheads with their neighbors, the -Baba-Yagas, whom Morfei cooks for, and whose monarch is Oh, a person -very dangerous to name. Northward dwell the Lepracauns and the Men -of Hunger, whose king is Clobhair. My people, who are ruled by -Chiron, live even further to the north. The Sphinx pastures on -yonder mountain; and now the Chimæra is old and generally derided, -they say that Cerberus visits the Sphinx at twilight, although I was -never the person to disseminate scandal--" - -"Centaur," said Jurgen, "and what is Dorothy doing here?" - -"Why, all the women that any man has ever loved live here," replied -the Centaur, "for very obvious reasons." - -"That is a hard saying, friend." - -Nessus tapped with his forefinger upon the back of Jurgen's hand. -"Worm's-meat! this is the destined food, do what you will, of small -white worms. This by and by will be a struggling pale corruption, -like seething milk. That too is a hard saying, Jurgen. But it is a -true saying." - -"And was that Dorothy whom I loved in youth an imaginary creature?" - -"My poor Jurgen, you who were once a poet! she was your masterpiece. -For there was only a shallow, stupid and airy, high-nosed and -light-haired miss, with no remarkable good looks,--and consider what -your ingenuity made from such poor material! You should be proud of -yourself." - -"No, Centaur, I cannot very well be proud of my folly: yet I do not -regret it. I have been befooled by a bright shadow of my own -raising, you tell me, and I concede it to be probable. No less, I -served a lovely shadow; and my heart will keep the memory of that -loveliness until life ends, in a world where other men follow -pantingly after shadows which are not even pretty." - -"There is something in that, Jurgen: there is also something in an -old tale we used to tell in Thessaly, about a fox and certain -grapes." - -"Well, but look you, Nessus, there is an emperor that reigns now in -Constantinople and occasionally does business with me. Yes, and I -could tell you tales of by what shifts he came to the throne--" - -"Men's hands are by ordinary soiled in climbing," quoth the Centaur. - -"And 'Jurgen,' this emperor says to me, not many months ago, as he -sat in his palace, crowned and dreary and trying to cheat me out of -my fair profit on some emeralds,--'Jurgen, I cannot sleep of nights, -because of that fool Alexius, who comes into my room with staring -eyes and the bowstring still about his neck. And my Varangians must -be in league with that silly ghost, because I constantly order them -to keep Alexius out of my bedchamber, and they do not obey me, -Jurgen. To be King of the East is not to the purpose, Jurgen, when -one must submit to such vexations.' Yes, it was Cæsar Pharamond -himself said this to me: and I deduce the shadow of a crown has led -him into an ugly pickle, for all that he is the mightiest monarch in -the world. And I would not change with Cæsar Pharamond, not I who am -a respectable pawnbroker, with my home in fee and my bit of tilled -land. Well, this is a queer world, to be sure: and this garden is -visited by no stranger things than pop into a man's mind sometimes, -without his knowing how." - -"Ah, but you must understand that the garden is speedily to be -remodeled. Yonder you may observe the two whose requirements are to -rid the place of all fantastic unremunerative notions; and who will -develop the natural resources of this garden according to generally -approved methods." - -And from afar Jurgen could see two figures coming out of the east, -so tall that their heads rose above the encircling hills and -glistened in the rays of a sun which was not yet visible. One was a -white pasty-looking giant, with a crusty expression: he walked with -the aid of a cane. The other was of a pale yellow color: his face -was oily, and he rode on a vast cow that was called Ædhumla. - -"Make way there, brother, with your staff of life," says the yellow -giant, "for there is much to do hereabouts." - -"Ay, brother, this place must be altered a deal before it meets with -our requirements," the other grumbled. "May I be toasted if I know -where to begin!" - -Then as the giants turned dull and harsh faces toward the garden, -the sun came above the circle of blue hills, so that the mingled -shadows of these two giants fell across the garden. For an instant -Jurgen saw the place oppressed by that attenuated mile-long shadow, -as in heraldry you may see a black bar painted sheer across some -brightly emblazoned shield. Then the radiancy of everything twitched -and vanished, as a bubble bursts. - -And Jurgen was standing in the midst of a field, very neatly plowed, -but with nothing as yet growing in it. And the Centaur was with him -still, it seemed, for there were the creature's hoofs, but all the -gold had been washed or rubbed away from them in traveling with -Jurgen. - -"See, Nessus!" Jurgen cried, "the garden is made desolate. Oh, -Nessus, was it fair that so much loveliness should be thus wasted!" - -"Nay," said the Centaur, "nay!" Long and wailingly he whinneyed, -"Nay!" - -And when Jurgen raised his eyes he saw that his companion was not a -centaur, but only a strayed riding-horse. - -"Were you the animal, then," says Jurgen, "and was it a quite -ordinary animal, that conveyed me to the garden between dawn and -sunrise?" And Jurgen laughed disconsolately. "At all events, you -have clothed me in a curious fine shirt. And, now I look, your -bridle is marked with a coronet. So I will return you to the castle -at Bellegarde, and it may be that Heitman Michael will reward me." - -Then Jurgen mounted this horse and rode away from the plowed field -wherein nothing grew as yet. As they left the furrows they came to a -signboard with writing on it, in a peculiar red and yellow -lettering. - -Jurgen paused to decipher this. - -"Read me!" was written on the signboard: "read me, and judge if you -understand! So you stopped in your journey because I called, -scenting something unusual, something droll. Thus, although I am -nothing, and even less, there is no one that sees me but lingers -here. Stranger, I am a law of the universe. Stranger, render the law -what is due the law!" - -Jurgen felt cheated. "A very foolish signboard, indeed! for how can -it be 'a law of the universe', when there is no meaning to it!" says -Jurgen. "Why, for any law to be meaningless would not be fair." - - - - -6. - -Showing that Sereda Is Feminine - - -Then, having snapped his fingers at that foolish signboard, Jurgen -would have turned easterly, toward Bellegarde: but his horse -resisted. The pawnbroker decided to accept this as an omen. - -"Forward, then!" he said, "in the name of Koshchei." And thereafter -Jurgen permitted the horse to choose its own way. - -Thus Jurgen came through a forest, wherein he saw many things not -salutary to notice, to a great stone house like a prison, and he -sought shelter there. But he could find nobody about the place, -until he came to a large hall, newly swept. This was a depressing -apartment, in its chill neat emptiness, for it was unfurnished save -for a bare deal table, upon which lay a yardstick and a pair of -scales. Above this table hung a wicker cage, containing a blue bird, -and another wicker cage containing three white pigeons. And in this -hall a woman, no longer young, dressed all in blue, and wearing a -white towel by way of head-dress was assorting curiously colored -cloths. - -She had very bright eyes, with wrinkled lids; and now as she looked -up at Jurgen her shrunk jaws quivered. - -"Ah," says she, "I have a visitor. Good day to you, in your -glittering shirt. It is a garment I seem to recognize." - -"Good day, grandmother! I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to -have been carried off by a devil, poor fellow! Now, having lost my -way, I have come to pass the night under your roof." - -"Very good: but few come seeking Mother Sereda of their own accord." - -Then Jurgen knew with whom he talked: and inwardly he was perturbed, -for all the Léshy are unreliable in their dealings. - -So when he spoke it was very civilly. "And what do you do here, -grandmother?" - -"I bleach. In time I shall bleach that garment you are wearing. For -I take the color out of all things. Thus you see these stuffs here, -as they are now. Clotho spun the glowing threads, and Lachesis wove -them, as you observe, in curious patterns, very marvelous to see: -but when I am done with these stuffs there will be no more color or -beauty or strangeness anywhere apparent than in so many dishclouts." - -"Now I perceive," says Jurgen, "that your power and dominion is more -great than any other power which is in the world." - -He made a song of this, in praise of the Léshy and their Days, but -more especially in praise of the might of Mother Sereda and of the -ruins that have fallen on Wednesday. To Chetverg and Utornik and -Subbota he gave their due. Pyatinka and Nedelka also did Jurgen -commend for such demolishments as have enregistered their names in -the calendar of saints, no less. Ah, but there was none like Mother -Sereda: hers was the centre of that power which is the Léshy's. The -others did but nibble at temporal things, like furtive mice: she -devastated, like a sandstorm, so that there were many dustheaps -where Mother Sereda had passed, but nothing else. - -And so on, and so on. The song was no masterpiece, and would not be -bettered by repetition. But it was all untrammeled eulogy, and the -old woman beat time to it with her lean hands: and her shrunk jaws -quivered, and she nodded her white-wrapped head this way and that -way, with a rolling motion, and on her thin lips was a very proud -and foolish smile. - -"That is a good song," says she; "oh, yes, an excellent song! But -you report nothing of my sister Pandelis who controls the day of the -Moon." - -"Monday!" says Jurgen: "yes, I neglected Monday, perhaps because she -is the oldest of you, but in part because of the exigencies of my -rhyme scheme. We must let Pandelis go unhymned. How can I remember -everything when I consider the might of Sereda?" - -"Why, but," says Mother Sereda, "Pandelis may not like it, and she -may take holiday from her washing some day to have a word with you. -However, I repeat, that is an excellent song. And in return for your -praise of me, I will tell you that, if your wife has been carried -off by a devil, your affair is one which Koshchei alone can remedy. -Assuredly, I think it is to him you must go for justice." - -"But how may I come to him, grandmother?" - -"Oh, as to that, it does not matter at all which road you follow. -All highways, as the saying is, lead roundabout to Koshchei. The one -thing needful is not to stand still. This much I will tell you also -for your song's sake, because that was an excellent song, and nobody -ever made a song in praise of me before to-day." - -Now Jurgen wondered to see what a simple old creature was this -Mother Sereda, who sat before him shaking and grinning and frail as -a dead leaf, with her head wrapped in a common kitchen-towel, and -whose power was so enormous. - -"To think of it," Jurgen reflected, "that the world I inhabit is -ordered by beings who are not one-tenth so clever as I am! I have -often suspected as much, and it is decidedly unfair. Now let me see -if I cannot make something out of being such a monstrous clever -fellow." - -Jurgen said aloud: "I do not wonder that no practising poet ever -presumed to make a song of you. You are too majestical. You frighten -these rhymesters, who feel themselves to be unworthy of so great a -theme. So it remained for you to be appreciated by a pawnbroker, -since it is we who handle and observe the treasures of this world -after you have handled them." - -"Do you think so?" says she, more pleased than ever. "Now, may be -that was the way of it. But I wonder that you who are so fine a poet -should ever have become a pawnbroker." - -"Well, and indeed, Mother Sereda, your wonder seems to me another -wonder: for I can think of no profession better suited to a retired -poet. Why, there is the variety of company! for high and low and -even the genteel are pressed sometimes for money: then the plowman -slouches into my shop, and the duke sends for me privately. So the -people I know, and the bits of their lives I pop into, give me a -deal to romance about." - -"Ah, yes, indeed," says Mother Sereda, wisely, "that well may be the -case. But I do not hold with romance, myself." - -"Moreover, sitting in my shop, I wait there quiet-like while tribute -comes to me from the ends of earth: everything which men and women -have valued anywhere comes sooner or later to me: and jewels and -fine knickknacks that were the pride of queens they bring me, and -wedding rings, and the baby's cradle with his little tooth marks on -the rim of it, and silver coffin-handles, or it may be an old -frying-pan, they bring me, but all comes to Jurgen. So that just to -sit there in my dark shop quiet-like, and wonder about the history -of my belongings and how they were made mine, is poetry, and is the -deep and high and ancient thinking of a god who is dozing among what -time has left of a dead world, if you understand me, Mother Sereda." - -"I understand: oho, I understand that which pertains to gods, for a -sufficient reason." - -"And then another thing, you do not need any turn for business: -people are glad to get whatever you choose to offer, for they would -not come otherwise. So you get the shining and rough-edged coins -that you can feel the proud king's head on, with his laurel-wreath -like millet seed under your fingers; and you get the flat and -greenish coins that are smeared with the titles and the chins and -hooked noses of emperors whom nobody remembers or cares about any -longer: all just by waiting there quiet-like, and making a favor of -it to let customers give you their belongings for a third of what -they are worth. And that is easy labor, even for a poet." - -"I understand: I understand all labor." - -"And people treat you a deal more civilly than any real need is, -because they are ashamed of trafficking with you at all: I dispute -if a poet could get such civility shown him in any other profession. -And finally, there is the long idleness between business interviews, -with nothing to do save sit there quiet-like and think about the -queerness of things in general: and that is always rare employment -for a poet, even without the tatters of so many lives and homes -heaped up about him like spillikins. So that I would say in all, -Mother Sereda, there is certainly no profession better suited to an -old poet than the profession of pawnbroking." - -"Certainly, there may be something in what you tell me," observes -Mother Sereda. "I know what the Little Gods are, and I know what -work is, but I do not think about these other matters, nor about -anything else. I bleach." - -"Ah, and a great deal more I could be saying, too, godmother, but -for the fear of wearying you. Nor would I have run on at all about -my private affairs were it not that we two are so close related. And -kith makes kind, as people say." - -"But how can you and I be kin?" - -"Why, heyday, and was I not born upon a Wednesday? That makes you my -godmother, does it not?" - -"I do not know, dearie, I am sure. Nobody ever cared to claim kin -with Mother Sereda before this," says she, pathetically. - -"There can be no doubt, though, on the point, no possible doubt. -Sabellius states it plainly. Artemidorus Minor, I grant you, holds -the question debatable, but his reasons for doing so are tolerably -notorious. Besides, what does all his flimsy sophistry avail against -Nicanor's fine chapter on this very subject? Crushing, I consider -it. His logic is final and irrefutable. What can anyone say against -Sævius Nicanor?--ah, what indeed?" demanded Jurgen. - -And he wondered if there might not have been perchance some such -persons somewhere, after all. Their names, in any event, sounded -very plausible to Jurgen. - -"Ah, dearie, I was never one for learning. It may be as you say." - -"You say 'it may be', godmother. That embarrasses me, rather, -because I was about to ask for my christening gift, which in the -press of other matters you overlooked some forty years back. You -will readily conceive that your negligence, however unintentional, -might possibly give rise to unkindly criticism: and so I felt I -ought to mention it, in common fairness to you." - -"As for that, dearie, ask what you will within the limits of my -power. For mine are all the sapphires and turquoises and whatever -else in this dusty world is blue; and mine likewise are all the -Wednesdays that have ever been or ever will be: and any one of these -will I freely give you in return for your fine speeches and your -tender heart." - -"Ah, but, godmother, would it be quite just for you to accord me so -much more than is granted to other persons?" - -"Why, no: but what have I to do with justice? I bleach. Come now, -then, do you make a choice! for I can assure you that my sapphires -are of the first water, and that many of my oncoming Wednesdays will -be well worth seeing." - -"No, godmother, I never greatly cared for jewelry: and the future is -but dressing and undressing, and shaving, and eating, and computing -percentage, and so on; the future does not interest me now. So I -shall modestly content myself with a second-hand Wednesday, with one -that you have used and have no further need of: and it will be a -Wednesday in the August of such and such a year." - -Mother Sereda agreed to this. "But there are certain rules to be -observed," says she, "for one must have system." - -As she spoke, she undid the towel about her head, and she took a -blue comb from her white hair: and she showed Jurgen what was -engraved on the comb. It frightened Jurgen, a little: but he nodded -assent. - -"First, though," says Mother Sereda, "here is the blue bird. Would -you not rather have that, dearie, than your Wednesday? Most people -would." - -"Ah, but, godmother," he replied, "I am Jurgen. No, it is not the -blue bird I desire." - -So Mother Sereda took from the wall the wicker cage containing the -three white pigeons: and going before him, with small hunched shoulders, -and shuffling her feet along the flagstones, she led the way into a -courtyard, where, sure enough, they found a tethered he-goat. Of a -dark blue color this beast was, and his eyes were wiser than the eyes -of a beast. - -Then Jurgen set about that which Mother Sereda said was necessary. - - - - -7. - -Of Compromises on a Wednesday - - -So it was that, riding upon a horse whose bridle was marked with a -coronet, the pawnbroker returned to a place, and to a moment, which -he remembered. It was rather queer to be a fine young fellow again, -and to foresee all that was to happen for the next twenty years. - -As it chanced, the first person he encountered was his mother Azra, -whom Coth had loved very greatly but not long. And Jurgen talked -with Azra of what clothes he would be likely to need in Gâtinais, -and of how often he would write to her. She disparaged the new shirt -he was wearing, as was to be expected, since Azra had always -preferred to select her son's clothing rather than trust to Jurgen's -taste. His new horse she admitted to be a handsome animal; and only -hoped he had not stolen it from anybody who would get him into -trouble. For Azra, it must be recorded, had never any confidence in -her son; and was the only woman, Jurgen felt, who really understood -him. - -And now as his beautiful young mother impartially petted and snapped -at him, poor Jurgen thought of that very real dissension and -severance which in the oncoming years was to arise between them; and -of how she would die without his knowing of her death for two whole -months; and of how his life thereafter would be changed, somehow, -and the world would become an unstable place in which you could no -longer put cordial faith. And he foreknew all the remorse he was to -shrug away, after the squandering of so much pride and love. But -these things were not yet: and besides, these things were -inevitable. - -"And yet that these things should be inevitable is decidedly not -fair," said Jurgen. - -So it was with all the persons he encountered. The people whom he -loved when at his best as a fine young fellow were so very soon, and -through petty causes, to become nothing to him, and he himself was -to be converted into a commonplace tradesman. And living seemed to -Jurgen a wasteful and inequitable process. - -Then Jurgen left the home of his youth, and rode toward Bellegarde, -and tethered his horse upon the heath, and went into the castle. -Thus Jurgen came to Dorothy. She was lovely and dear, and yet, by -some odd turn, not quite so lovely and dear as the Dorothy he had -seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. And Dorothy, like -everybody else, praised Jurgen's wonderful new shirt. - -"It is designed for such festivals," said Jurgen, modestly--"a -little notion of my own. A bit extreme, some persons might consider -it, but there is no pleasing everybody. And I like a trifle of -color." - -For there was a masque that night at the castle of Bellegarde: and -wildly droll and sad it was to Jurgen to remember what was to befall -so many of the participants. - -Jurgen had not forgotten this Wednesday, this ancient Wednesday upon -which Messire de Montors had brought the Confraternity of St. Médard -from Brunbelois, to enact a masque of The Birth of Hercules, as the -vagabonds were now doing, to hilarious applause. Jurgen remembered -it was the day before Bellegarde discovered that Count Emmerick's -guest, the Vicomte de Puysange, was in reality the notorious outlaw, -Perion de la Forêt. Well, yonder the yet undetected impostor was -talking very earnestly with Dame Melicent: and Jurgen knew all that -was in store for this pair of lovers. - -Meanwhile, as Jurgen reflected, the real Vicomte de Puysange was at -this moment lying in a delirium, yonder at Benoit's: to-morrow the -true Vicomte would be recognized, and within the year the Vicomte -would have married Félise de Soyecourt, and later Jurgen would meet -her, in the orchard; and Jurgen knew what was to happen then also. - -And Messire de Montors was watching Dame Melicent, sidewise, while -he joked with little Ettarre, who was this night permitted to stay -up later than usual, in honor of the masque: and Jurgen knew that -this young bishop was to become Pope of Rome, no less; and that the -child he joked with was to become the woman for possession of whom -Guiron des Rocques and the surly-looking small boy yonder, Maugis -d'Aigremont, would contend with each other until the country -hereabouts had been devastated, and the castle wherein Jurgen now -was had been besieged, and this part of it burned. And wildly droll -and sad it was to Jurgen thus to remember all that was going to -happen to these persons, and to all the other persons who were -frolicking in the shadow of their doom and laughing at this trivial -masque. - -For here--with so much of ruin and failure impending, and with -sorrow prepared so soon to smite a many of these revellers in ways -foreknown to Jurgen; and with death resistlessly approaching so -soon to make an end of almost all this company in some unlovely -fashion that Jurgen foreknew exactly,--here laughter seemed -unreasonable and ghastly. Why, but Reinault yonder, who laughed so -loud, with his cropped head flung back: would Reinault be laughing -in quite this manner if he knew the round strong throat he thus -exposed was going to be cut like the throat of a calf, while three -Burgundians held him? Jurgen knew this thing was to befall Reinault -Vinsauf before October was out. So he looked at Reinault's throat, -and shudderingly drew in his breath between set teeth. - -"And he is worth a score of me, this boy!" thought Jurgen: "and it -is I who am going to live to be an old fellow, with my bit of land -in fee, years after dirt clogs those bright generous eyes, and years -after this fine big-hearted boy is wasted! And I shall forget all -about him, too. Marion l'Edol, that very pretty girl behind him, is -to become a blotched and toothless haunter of alleys, a leering -plucker at men's sleeves! And blue-eyed Colin here, with his baby -mouth, is to be hanged for that matter of coin-clipping--let me -recall, now,--yes, within six years of to-night! Well, but in a way, -these people are blessed in lacking foresight. For they laugh, and I -cannot laugh, and to me their laughter is more terrible than -weeping. Yes, they may be very wise in not glooming over what is -inevitable; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say they are -wrong: but still, at the same time--! And assuredly, living seems to -me in everything a wasteful and inequitable process." - -Thus Jurgen, while the others passed a very pleasant evening. - -And presently, when the masque was over, Dorothy and Jurgen went out -upon the terrace, to the east of Bellegarde, and so came to an -unforgotten world of moonlight. They sat upon a bench of carved -stone near the balustrade which overlooked the highway: and the boy -and the girl gazed wistfully beyond the highway, over luminous -valleys and tree-tops. Just so they had sat there, as Jurgen -perfectly remembered, when Mother Sereda first used this Wednesday. - -"My Heart's Desire," says Jurgen, "I am sad to-night. For I am -thinking of what life will do to us, and what offal the years will -make of you and me." - -"My own sweetheart," says she, "and do we not know very well what is -to happen?" And Dorothy began to talk of all the splendid things -that Jurgen was to do, and of the happy life which was to be theirs -together. - -"It is horrible," he said: "for we are more fine than we shall ever -be hereafter. We have a splendor for which the world has no -employment. It will be wasted. And such wastage is not fair." - -"But presently you will be so and so," says she: and fondly predicts -all manner of noble exploits which, as Jurgen remembered, had once -seemed very plausible to him also. Now he had clearer knowledge as -to the capacities of the boy of whom he had thought so well. - -"No, Heart's Desire: no, I shall be quite otherwise." - -"--and to think how proud I shall be of you! 'But then I always knew -it', I shall tell everybody, very condescendingly--" - -"No, Heart's Desire: for you will not think of me at all." - -"Ah, sweetheart! and can you really believe that I shall ever care a -snap of my fingers for anybody but you?" - -Then Jurgen laughed a little; for Heitman Michael came now across -the lonely terrace, in search of Madame Dorothy: and Jurgen foreknew -this was the man to whom within two months of this evening Dorothy -was to give her love and all the beauty that was hers, and with whom -she was to share the ruinous years which lay ahead. - -But the girl did not know this, and Dorothy gave a little shrugging -gesture. "I have promised to dance with him, and so I must. But the -old fellow is a great plague." - -For Heitman Michael was nearing thirty, and this to Dorothy and -Jurgen was an age that bordered upon senility. - -"Now, by heaven," said Jurgen, "wherever Heitman Michael does his -next dancing it will not be hereabouts." - -Jurgen had decided what he must do. - -And then Heitman Michael saluted them civilly. "But I fear I must -rob you of this fair lady, Master Jurgen," says he. - -Jurgen remembered that the man had said precisely this a score of -years ago; and that Jurgen had mumbled polite regrets, and had stood -aside while Heitman Michael bore off Dorothy to dance with him. And -this dance had been the beginning of intimacy between Heitman -Michael and Dorothy. - -"Heitman," says Jurgen, "the bereavement which you threaten is very -happily spared me, since, as it happens, the next dance is to be -mine." - -"We can but leave it to the lady," says Heitman Michael, laughing. - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "For I know too well what would come of that. -I intend to leave my destiny to no one." - -"Your conduct, Master Jurgen, is somewhat strange," observed Heitman -Michael. - -"Ah, but I will show you a thing yet stranger. For, look you, there -seem to be three of us here on this terrace. Yet I can assure you -there are four." - -"Read me the riddle, my boy, and have done." - -"The fourth of us, Heitman, is a goddess that wears a speckled -garment and has black wings. She can boast of no temples, and no -priests cry to her anywhere, because she is the only deity whom no -prayers can move or any sacrifices placate. I allude, sir, to the -eldest daughter of Nox and Erebus." - -"You speak of death, I take it." - -"Your apprehension, Heitman, is nimble. Even so, it is not quick -enough, I fear, to forerun the whims of goddesses. Indeed, what -person could have foreseen that this implacable lady would have -taken such a strong fancy for your company." - -"Ah, my young bantam," replies Heitman Michael, "it is quite true -that she and I are acquainted. I may even boast of having despatched -one or two stout warriors to serve her underground. Now, as I divine -your meaning, you plan that I should decrease her obligation by -sending her a whippersnapper." - -"My notion, Heitman, is that since this dark goddess is about to -leave us, she should not, in common gallantry, be permitted to go -hence unaccompanied. I propose, therefore, that we forthwith decide -who is to be her escort." - -Now Heitman Michael had drawn his sword. "You are insane. But you -extend an invitation which I have never yet refused." - -"Heitman," cries Jurgen, in honest gratitude and admiration, "I bear -you no ill-will. But it is highly necessary you die to-night, in -order that my soul may not perish too many years before my body." - -With that he too whipped out his sword. - -So they fought. Now Jurgen was a very acceptable swordsman, but from -the start he found in Heitman Michael his master. Jurgen had never -reckoned upon that, and he considered it annoying. If Heitman -Michael perforated Jurgen the future would be altered, certainly, -but not quite as Jurgen had decided it ought to be remodeled. So -this unlooked-for complication seemed preposterous, and Jurgen began -to be irritated by the suspicion that he was getting himself killed -for nothing at all. - -Meanwhile his unruffled tall antagonist seemed but to play with -Jurgen, so that Jurgen was steadily forced back toward the -balustrade. And presently Jurgen's sword was twisted from his hand, -and sent flashing over the balustrade, into the public highway. - -"So now, Master Jurgen," says Heitman Michael, "that is the end of -your nonsense. Why, no, there is not any occasion to posture like a -statue. I do not intend to kill you. Why the devil's name, should I? -To do so would only get me an ill name with your parents: and -besides it is infinitely more pleasant to dance with this lady, just -as I first intended." And he turned gaily toward Madame Dorothy. - -But Jurgen found this outcome of affairs insufferable. This man was -stronger than he, this man was of the sort that takes and uses -gallantly all the world's prizes which mere poets can but -respectfully admire. All was to do again: Heitman Michael, in his -own hateful phrase, would act just as he had first intended, and -Jurgen would be brushed aside by the man's brute strength. This man -would take away Dorothy, and leave the life of Jurgen to become a -business which Jurgen remembered with distaste. It was unfair. - -So Jurgen snatched out his dagger, and drove it deep into the -undefended back of Heitman Michael. Three times young Jurgen stabbed -and hacked the burly soldier, just underneath the left ribs. Even in -his fury Jurgen remembered to strike on the left side. - -It was all very quickly done. Heitman Michael's arms jerked upward, -and in the moonlight his fingers spread and clutched. He made -curious gurgling noises. Then the strength went from his knees, so -that he toppled backward. His head fell upon Jurgen's shoulder, -resting there for an instant fraternally; and as Jurgen shuddered -away from the abhorred contact, the body of Heitman Michael -collapsed. Now he lay staring upward, dead at the feet of his -murderer. He was horrible looking, but he was quite dead. - -"What will become of you?" Dorothy whispered, after a while. "Oh, -Jurgen, it was foully done, that which you did was infamous! What -will become of you, my dear?" - -"I will take my doom," says Jurgen, "and without whimpering, so that -I get justice. But I shall certainly insist upon justice." Then -Jurgen raised his face to the bright heavens. "The man was stronger -than I and wanted what I wanted. So I have compromised with -necessity, in the only way I could make sure of getting that which -was requisite to me. I cry for justice to the power that gave him -strength and gave me weakness, and gave to each of us his desires. -That which I have done, I have done. Now judge!" - -Then Jurgen tugged and shoved the heavy body of Heitman Michael, -until it lay well out of sight, under the bench upon which Jurgen -and Dorothy had been sitting. "Rest there, brave sir, until they -find you. Come to me now, my Heart's Desire. Good, that is -excellent. Here I sit with my true love, upon the body of my enemy. -Justice is satisfied, and all is quite as it should be. For you must -understand that I have fallen heir to a fine steed, whose bridle is -marked with a coronet,--prophetically, I take it,--and upon this -steed you will ride pillion with me to Lisuarte. There we will find -a priest to marry us. We will go together into Gâtinais. Meanwhile, -there is a bit of neglected business to be attended to." And he drew -the girl close to him. - -For Jurgen was afraid of nothing now. And Jurgen thought: - -"Oh, that I could detain the moment! that I could make some fitting -verses to preserve this moment in my own memory! Could I but get -into words the odor and the thick softness of this girl's hair as my -hands, that are a-quiver in every nerve of them, caress her hair; -and get into enduring words the glitter and the cloudy shadowings of -her hair in this be-drenching moonlight! For I shall forget all this -beauty, or at best I shall remember this moment very dimly." - -"You have done very wrong--" says Dorothy. - -Says Jurgen, to himself: "Already the moment passes this miserably -happy moment wherein once more life shudders and stands heart-stricken -at the height of bliss! it passes, and I know even as I lift this girl's -soft face to mine, and mark what faith and submissiveness and expectancy -is in her face, that whatever the future holds for us, and whatever of -happiness we two may know hereafter, we shall find no instant happier -than this, which passes from us irretrievably while I am thinking about -it, poor fool, in place of rising to the issue." - -"--And heaven only knows what will become of you Jurgen--" - -Says Jurgen, still to himself: "Yes, something must remain to me of -all this rapture, though it be only guilt and sorrow: something I -mean to wrest from this high moment which was once wasted -fruitlessly. Now I am wiser: for I know there is not any memory with -less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we -resisted. So I will not waste the one real passion I have known, nor -leave unfed the one desire which ever caused me for a heart-beat to -forget to think about Jurgen's welfare. And thus, whatever happens, -I shall not always regret that I did not avail myself of this girl's -love before it was taken from me." - -So Jurgen made such advances as seemed good to him. And he noted, -with amusing memories of how much afraid he had once been of -shocking his Dorothy's notions of decorum, that she did not repulse -him very vigorously. - -"Here, over a dead body! Oh, Jurgen, this is horrible! Now, Jurgen, -remember that somebody may come any minute! And I thought I could -trust you! Ah, and is this all the respect you have for me!" This -much she said in duty. Meanwhile the eyes of Dorothy were dilated -and very tender. - -"Faith, I take no chances, this second time. And so whatever -happens, I shall not always regret that which I left undone." - -Now upon his lips was laughter, and his arms were about the -submissive girl. And in his heart was an unnamable depression and a -loneliness, because it seemed to him that this was not the Dorothy -whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. For in my -arms now there is just a very pretty girl who is not over-careful in -her dealings with young men, thought Jurgen, as their lips met. -Well, all life is a compromise; and a pretty girl is something -tangible, at any rate. So he laughed, triumphantly, and prepared for -the sequel. - -But as Jurgen laughed triumphantly, with his arm beneath the head of -Dorothy, and with the tender face of Dorothy passive beneath his lips, -and with unreasonable wistfulness in his heart, the castle bell tolled -midnight. What followed was curious: for as Wednesday passed, the face -of Dorothy altered, her flesh roughened under his touch, and her cheeks -fell away, and fine lines came about her eyes, and she became the -Countess Dorothy whom Jurgen remembered as Heitman Michael's wife. -There was no doubt about it, in that be-drenching moonlight: and she -was leering at him, and he was touching her everywhere, this horrible -lascivious woman, who was certainly quite old enough to know better -than to permit such liberties. And her breath was sour and nauseous. -Jurgen drew away from her, with a shiver of loathing, and he closed his -eyes, to shut away that sensual face. - -"No," he said; "it would not be fair to what we owe to others. In -fact, it would be a very heinous sin. We should weigh such -considerations occasionally, madame." - -Then Jurgen left his temptress, with simple dignity. "I go to search -for my dear wife, madame, in a frame of mind which I would strongly -advise you to adopt toward your husband." - -And he went straightway down the terraces of Bellegarde, and turned -southward to where his horse was tethered upon Amneran Heath: and -Jurgen was feeling very virtuous. - - - - -8. - -Old Toys and a New Shadow - - -Jurgen had behaved with conspicuous nobility, Jurgen reflected: but -he had committed himself. "I go in search of my dear wife," he had -stated, in the exaltation of virtuous sentiments. And now Jurgen -found himself alone in a world of moonlight just where he had last -seen his wife. - -"Well, well," he said, "now that my Wednesday is done with, and I am -again a reputable pawnbroker, let us remember the advisability of -sometimes doing the manly thing! It was into this cave that Lisa -went. So into this cave go I, for the second time, rather than home -to my unsympathetic relatives-in-law. Or at least, I think I am -going--" - -"Ay," said a squeaking voice, "this is the time. A ab hur hus!" - -"High time!" - -"Oh, more than time!" - -"Look, the man in the oak!" - -"Oho, the fire-drake!" - -Thus many voices screeched and wailed confusedly. But Jurgen, -staring about him, could see nobody: and all the tiny voices seemed -to come from far overhead, where nothing was visible save the clouds -which of a sudden were gathering; for a wind was rising, and already -the moon was overcast. Now for a while that noise high in the air -became like a wrangling of sparrows, wherein no words were -distinguishable. - -Then said a small shrill voice distinctly: "Note now, sweethearts, -how high we pass over the wind-vexed heath, where the gallows' -burden creaks and groans swaying to and fro in the night! Now the -rain breaks loose as a hawk from the fowler, and grave Queen Holda -draws her tresses over the moon's bright shield. Now the bed is -made, and the water drawn, and we the bride's maids seek for the -lass who will be bride to Sclaug." - -Said another: "Oh, search for a maid with golden hair, who is -perfect, tender and pure, and fit for a king who is old as love, -with no trace of love in him. Even now our grinning dusty master -wakes from sleep, and his yellow fingers shake to think of her -flower-soft lips who comes to-night to his lank embrace and warms -the ribs that our eyes have seen. Who will be bride to Sclaug?" - -And a third said: "The wedding-gown we have brought with us, we that -a-questing ride; and a maid will go hence on Phorgemon in -Cleopatra's shroud. Hah. Will o'the Wisp will marry the couple--" - -"No, no! let Brachyotus!" - -"No, be it Kitt with the candle-stick!" - -"Eman hetan, a fight, a fight!" - -"Oho, Tom Tumbler, 'ware of Stadlin!" - -"Hast thou the marmaritin, Tib?" - -"A ab hur hus!" - -"Come, Bembo, come away!" - -So they all fell to screeching and whistling and wrangling high over -Jurgen's head, and Jurgen was not pleased with his surroundings. - -"For these are the witches of Amneran about some deviltry or another -in which I prefer to take no part. I now regret that I flung away a -cross in this neighborhood so very recently, and trust the action -was understood. If my wife had not made a point of it, and had not -positively insisted upon it, I would never have thought of doing -such a thing. I intended no reflection upon anybody. Even so, I -consider this heath to be unwholesome. And upon the whole, I prefer -to seek whatever I may encounter in this cave." - -So in went Jurgen, for the second time. - -And the tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no -one. But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at -the far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -to the place where he had found the Centaur. This part of the cave -was now vacant. But behind where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen -was an opening in the cave's wall, and through this opening streamed -the light. Jurgen stooped and crawled through the orifice. - -He stood erect. He caught his breath sharply. Here at his feet was, -of all things, a tomb carved with the recumbent effigy of a woman. -Now this part of the cave was lighted by lamps upon tall iron -stands, so that everything was clearly visible, even to Jurgen, -whose eyesight had of late years failed him. This was certainly a -low flat tombstone such as Jurgen had seen in many churches: but the -tinted effigy thereupon was curious, somehow Jurgen looked more -closely. He touched the thing. - -Then he recoiled, because there is no mistaking the feel of dead -flesh. The effigy was not colored stone: it was the body of a dead -woman. More unaccountable still, it was the body of Félise de -Puysange, whom Jurgen had loved very long ago in Gâtinais, a great -many years before he set up in business as a pawnbroker. - -Very strange it was to Jurgen again to see her face. He had often -wondered what had become of this large brown woman; had wondered if -he were really the first man for whom she had put a deceit upon her -husband; and had wondered what sort of person Madame Félise de -Puysange had been in reality. - -"Two months it was that we played at intimacy, was it not, Félise? -You comprehend, my dear, I really remember very little about you. -But I recall quite clearly the door left just a-jar, and how as I -opened it gently I would see first of all the lamp upon your -dressing-table, turned down almost to extinction, and the glowing -dust upon its glass shade. Is it not strange that our exceeding -wickedness should have resulted in nothing save the memory of dust -upon a lamp chimney? Yet you were very handsome, Félise. I dare say -I would have liked you if I had ever known you. But when you told me -of the child you had lost, and showed me his baby picture, I took a -dislike to you. It seemed to me you were betraying that child by -dealing over-generously with me: and always between us afterward was -his little ghost. Yet I did not at all mind the deceits you put upon -your husband. It is true I knew your husband rather intimately--. -Well, and they tell me the good Vicomte was vastly pleased by the -son you bore him some months after you and I had parted. So there -was no great harm done, after all--" - -Then Jurgen saw there was another woman's body lying like an effigy -upon another low flat tomb, and beyond that another, and then still -others. And Jurgen whistled. - -"What, all of them!" he said. "Am I to be confronted with every -pound of tender flesh I have embraced? Yes, here is Graine, and -Rosamond, and Marcouève, and Elinor. This girl, though, I do not -remember at all. And this one is, I think, the little Jewess I -purchased from Hassan Bey in Sidon, but how can one be sure? Still, -this is certainly Judith, and this is Myrina. I have half a mind to -look again for that mole, but I suppose it would be indecorous. -Lord, how one's women do add up! There must be several scores of -them in all. It is the sort of spectacle that turns a man to serious -thinking. Well, but it is a great comfort to reflect that I dealt -fairly with every one of them. Several of them treated me most -unjustly, too. But that is past and done with: and I bear no malice -toward such fickle and short-sighted creatures as could not be -contented with one lover, and he the Jurgen that was!" - -Thereafter, Jurgen, standing among his dead, spread out his arms in -an embracing gesture. - -"Hail to you, ladies, and farewell! for you and I have done with love. -Well, love is very pleasant to observe as he advances, overthrowing all -ancient memories with laughter. And yet for each gay lover who concedes -the lordship of love, and wears intrepidly love's liveries, the end of -all is death. Love's sowing is more agreeable than love's harvest: or, -let us put it, he allures us into byways leading nowhither, among -blossoms which fall before the first rough wind: so at the last, with -much excitement and breath and valuable time quite wasted, we find that -the end of all is death. Then would it have been more shrewd, dear -ladies, to have avoided love? To the contrary, we were unspeakably wise -to indulge the high-hearted insanity that love induced; since love alone -can lend young people rapture, however transiently, in a world wherein -the result of every human endeavor is transient, and the end of all is -death." - -Then Jurgen courteously bowed to his dead loves, and left them, and -went forward as the cave stretched. - -But now the light was behind him, so that Jurgen's shadow, as he -came to a sharp turn in the cave, loomed suddenly upon the cave -wall, confronting him. This shadow was clear-cut and unarguable. - -Jurgen regarded it intently. He turned this way, then the other; he -looked behind him, raised one hand, shook his head tentatively; then -he twisted his head sideways with his chin well lifted, and squinted -so as to get a profile view of this shadow. Whatever Jurgen did the -shadow repeated, which was natural enough. The odd part was that it -in nothing resembled the shadow which ought to attend any man, and -this was an uncomfortable discovery to make in loneliness deep under -ground. - -"I do not exactly like this," said Jurgen. "Upon my word, I do not -like this at all. It does not seem fair. It is perfectly -preposterous. Well"--and here he shrugged,--"well, and what could -anybody expect me to do about it? Ah, what indeed! So I shall treat -the incident with dignified contempt, and continue my exploration of -this cave." - - - - -9. - -The Orthodox Rescue of Guenevere - - -Now the tale tells how the cave narrowed and again turned sharply, -so that Jurgen came as through a corridor into quite another sort of -underground chamber. Yet this also was a discomfortable place. - -Here suspended from the roof of the vault was a kettle of quivering -red flames. These lighted a very old and villainous looking man in -full armor, girded with a sword, and crowned royally: he sat erect -upon a throne, motionless, with staring eyes that saw nothing. Back -of him Jurgen noted many warriors seated in rows, and all staring at -Jurgen with wide-open eyes that saw nothing. The red flaming of the -kettle was reflected in all these eyes, and to observe this was not -pleasant. - -Jurgen waited non-committally. Nothing happened. Then Jurgen saw -that at this unengaging monarch's feet were three chests. The lids -had been ripped from two of them, and these were filled with silver -coins. Upon the middle chest, immediately before the king, sat a -woman, with her face resting against the knees of the glaring, -withered, motionless, old rascal. - -"And this is a young woman. Obviously! Observe the glint of that -thick coil of hair! the rich curve of the neck! Oh, clearly, a -tidbit fit to fight for, against any moderate odds!" - -So ran the thoughts of Jurgen. Bold as a dragon now, he stepped -forward and lifted the girl's head. - -Her eyes were closed. She was, even so, the most beautiful creature -Jurgen had ever imagined. - -"She does not breathe. And yet, unless memory fails me, this is -certainly a living woman in my arms. Evidently this is a sleep -induced by necromancy. Well, it is not for nothing I have read so -many fairy tales. There are orthodoxies to be observed in the -awakening of every enchanted princess. And Lisa, wherever she may -be, poor dear! is nowhere in this neighborhood, because I hear -nobody talking. So I may consider myself at liberty to do the -traditional thing by this princess. Indeed, it is the only fair -thing for me to do, and justice demands it." - -In consequence, Jurgen kissed the girl. Her lips parted and -softened, and they assumed a not unpleasant sort of submissive -ardor. Her eyes, enormous when seen thus closely, had languorously -opened, had viewed him without wonder, and then the lids had fallen, -about half-way, just as, Jurgen remembered, the eyelids of a woman -ought to do when she is being kissed properly. She clung a little, -and now she shivered a little, but not with cold: Jurgen perfectly -remembered that ecstatic shudder convulsing a woman's body: -everything, in fine, was quite as it should be. So Jurgen put an end -to the kiss, which, as you may surmise, was a tolerably lengthy -affair. - -His heart was pounding as though determined to burst from his body, -and he could feel the blood tingling at his finger-tips. He wondered -what in the world had come over him, who was too old for such -emotions. - -Yet, truly, this was the loveliest girl that Jurgen had ever -imagined. Fair was she to look on, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer person might no man boast of having -seen. And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks flushed by -that red flickering overhead, and she was very lovely to observe. -She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her neck -was a collar of red gold. When she spoke her voice was music. - -"I knew that you would come," the girl said, happily. - -"I am very glad that I came," observed Jurgen. - -"But time presses." - -"Time sets an admirable example, my dear Princess--" - -"Oh, messire, but do you not perceive that you have brought life -into this horrible place! You have given of this life to me, in the -most direct and speedy fashion. But life is very contagious. Already -it is spreading by infection." - -And Jurgen regarded the old king, as the girl indicated. The -withered ruffian stayed motionless: but from his nostrils came slow -augmenting jets of vapor, as though he were beginning to breathe in -a chill place. This was odd, because the cave was not cold. - -"And all the others too are snorting smoke," says Jurgen. "Upon my -word I think this is a delightful place to be leaving." - -First, though, he unfastened the king's sword-belt, and girded -himself therewith, sword, dagger and all. "Now I have arms befitting -my fine shirt," says Jurgen. - -Then the girl showed him a sort of passage way, by which they -ascended forty-nine steps roughly hewn in stone, and so came to -daylight. At the top of the stairway was an iron trapdoor, and this -door at the girl's instruction Jurgen lowered. There was no way of -fastening the door from without. - -"But Thragnar is not to be stopped by bolts or padlocks," the girl -said. "Instead, we must straightway mark this door with a cross, -since that is a symbol which Thragnar cannot pass." - -Jurgen's hand had gone instinctively to his throat. Now he shrugged. -"My dear young lady, I no longer carry the cross. I must fight -Thragnar with other weapons." - -"Two sticks will serve, laid crosswise--" - -Jurgen submitted that nothing would be easier than to lift the -trapdoor, and thus dislodge the sticks. "They will tumble apart -without anyone having to touch them, and then what becomes of your -crucifix?" - -"Why, how quickly you think of everything!" she said, admiringly. -"Here is a strip from my sleeve, then. We will tie the twigs -together." - -Jurgen did this, and laid upon the trapdoor a recognizable crucifix. -"Still, when anyone raises the trapdoor whatever lies upon it will -fall off. Without disparaging the potency of your charm, I cannot -but observe that in this case it is peculiarly difficult to handle. -Magician or no, I would put heartier faith in a stout padlock." - -So the girl tore another strip, from the hem of her gown, and then -another from her right sleeve, and with these they fastened their -cross to the surface of the trapdoor, in such a fashion that the -twigs could not be dislodged from beneath. They mounted the fine -steed whose bridle was marked with a coronet, the girl riding -pillion, and they turned westward, since the girl said this was -best. - -For, as she now told Jurgen, she was Guenevere, the daughter of -Gogyrvan, King of Glathion and the Red Islands. So Jurgen told her -he was the Duke of Logreus, because he felt it was not appropriate -for a pawnbroker to be rescuing princesses: and he swore, too, that -he would restore her safely to her father, whatever Thragnar might -attempt. And all the story of her nefarious capture and imprisonment -by King Thragnar did Dame Guenevere relate to Jurgen, as they rode -together through the pleasant May morning. - -She considered the Troll King could not well molest them. "For now -you have his charmed sword, Caliburn, the only weapon with which -Thragnar can be slain. Besides, the sign of the cross he cannot -pass. He beholds and trembles." - -"My dear Princess, he has but to push up the trapdoor from beneath, -and the cross, being tied to the trapdoor, is promptly moved out of -his way. Failing this expedient, he can always come out of the cave -by the other opening, through which I entered. If this Thragnar has -any intelligence at all and a reasonable amount of tenacity, he will -presently be at hand." - -"Even so, he can do no harm unless we accept a present from him. The -difficulty is that he will come in disguise." - -"Why, then, we will accept gifts from nobody." - -"There is, moreover, a sign by which you may distinguish Thragnar. -For if you deny what he says, he will promptly concede you are in -the right. This was the curse put upon him by Miramon Lluagor, for a -detection and a hindrance." - -"By that unhuman trait," says Jurgen, "Thragnar ought to be very -easy to distinguish." - - - - -10. - -Pitiful Disguises of Thragnar - - -Next, the tale tells that as Jurgen and the Princess were nearing -Gihon, a man came riding toward them, full armed in black, and -having a red serpent with an apple in its mouth painted upon his -shield. - -"Sir knight," says he, speaking hollowly from the closed helmet, -"you must yield to me that lady." - -"I think," says Jurgen, civilly, "that you are mistaken." - -So they fought, and presently, since Caliburn was a resistless -weapon, and he who wore the scabbard of Caliburn could not be -wounded, Jurgen prevailed; and gave the strange knight so heavy a -buffet that the knight fell senseless. - -"Do you think," says Jurgen, about to unlace his antagonist's -helmet, "that this is Thragnar?" - -"There is no possible way of telling," replied Dame Guenevere: "if -it is the Troll King he should have offered you gifts, and when you -contradicted him he should have admitted you were right. Instead, he -proffered nothing, and to contradiction he answered nothing, so that -proves nothing." - -"But silence is a proverbial form of assent. At all events, we will -have a look at him." - -"But that too will prove nothing, since Thragnar goes about his -mischiefs so disguised by enchantments as invariably to resemble -somebody else, and not himself at all." - -"Such dishonest habits introduce an element of uncertainty, I grant -you," says Jurgen. "Still, one can rarely err by keeping on the safe -side. This person is, in any event, a very ill-bred fellow, with -probably immoral intentions. Yes, caution is the main thing, and in -justice to ourselves we will keep on the safe side." - -So without unloosing the helmet, he struck off the strange knight's -head, and left him thus. The Princess was now mounted on the horse -of their deceased assailant. - -"Assuredly," says Jurgen then, "a magic sword is a fine thing, and a -very necessary equipment, too, for a knight errant of my age." - -"But you talk as though you were an old man, Messire de Logreus!" - -"Come now," thinks Jurgen, "this is a princess of rare -discrimination. What, after all, is forty-and-something when one is -well-preserved? This uncommonly intelligent girl reminds me a little -of Marcouève, whom I loved in Artein: besides, she does not look at -me as women look at an elderly man. I like this princess, in fact, I -adore this princess. I wonder now what would she say if I told her -as much?" - -But Jurgen did not tempt chance that time, for just then they -encountered a boy who had frizzed hair and painted cheeks. He walked -mincingly, in a curious garb of black bespangled with gold lozenges, -and he carried a gilded dung fork. - - * * * * * - -Then Jurgen and the Princess came to a black and silver pavilion -standing by the roadside. At the door of the pavilion was an -apple-tree in blossom: from a branch of this tree was suspended -a black hunting-horn, silver-mounted. A woman waited there alone. -Before her was a chess-board, with the ebony and silver pieces set -ready for a game, and upon the table to her left hand glittered -flagons and goblets of silver. Eagerly this woman rose and came -toward the travellers. - -"Oh, my dear Jurgen," says she, "but how fine you look in that new -shirt you are wearing! But there was never a man had better taste in -dress, as I have always said: and it is long I have waited for you -in this pavilion, which belongs to a black gentleman who seems to be -a great friend of yours. And he went into Crim Tartary this morning, -with some missionaries, by the worst piece of luck, for I know how -sorry he will be to miss you, dear. Now, but I am forgetting that -you must be very tired and thirsty, my darling, after your travels. -So do you and the young lady have a sip of this, and then we will be -telling one another of our adventures." - -For this woman had the appearance of Jurgen's wife, Dame Lisa, and -of none other. - -Jurgen regarded her with two minds. "You certainly seem to be Lisa. -But it is a long while since I saw Lisa in such an amiable mood." - -"You must know," says she, still smiling, "that I have learned to -appreciate you since we were separated." - -"The fiend who stole you from me may possibly have brought about -that wonder. None the less, you have met me riding at adventure with -a young woman. And you have assaulted neither of us, you have not -even raised your voice. No, quite decidedly, here is a miracle -beyond the power of any fiend." - -"Ah, but I have been doing a great deal of thinking, Jurgen dear, as -to our difficulties in the past. And it seems to me that you were -almost always in the right." - -Guenevere nudged Jurgen. "Did you note that? This is certainly -Thragnar in disguise." - -"I am beginning to think that at all events it is not Lisa." Then -Jurgen magisterially cleared his throat. "Lisa, if you indeed be -Lisa, you must understand I am through with you. The plain truth is -that you tire me. You talk and talk: no woman breathing equals you -at mere volume and continuity of speech: but you say nothing that I -have not heard seven hundred and eighty times if not oftener." - -"You are perfectly right, my dear," says Dame Lisa, piteously. "But -then I never pretended to be as clever as you." - -"Spare me your beguilements, if you please. And besides, I am in -love with this princess. Now spare me your recriminations, also, for -you have no real right to complain. If you had stayed the person -whom I promised the priest to love, I would have continued to think -the world of you. But you did nothing of the sort. From a cuddlesome -and merry girl, who thought whatever I did was done to perfection, -you elected to develop into an uncommonly plain and short-tempered -old woman." And Jurgen paused. "Eh?" said he, "and did you not do -this?" - -Dame Lisa answered sadly: "My dear, you are perfectly right, from -your way of thinking. However, I could not very well help getting -older." - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen, "this is astonishingly inadequate -impersonation, as any married man would see at once. Well, I made no -contract to love any such plain and short-tempered person. I -repudiate the claims of any such person, as manifestly unfair. And I -pledge undying affection to this high and noble Princess Guenevere, -who is the fairest lady that I have ever seen." - -"You are right," wailed Dame Lisa, "and I was entirely to blame. It -was because I loved you, and wanted you to get on in the world and -be a credit to my father's line of business, that I nagged you so. -But you will never understand the feelings of a wife, nor will you -understand that even now I desire your happiness above all else. -Here is our wedding-ring, then, Jurgen. I give you back your -freedom. And I pray that this princess may make you very happy, my -dear. For surely you deserve a princess if ever any man did." - -Jurgen shook his head. "It is astounding that a demon so much talked -about should be so poor an impersonator. It raises the staggering -supposition that the majority of married women must go to Heaven. As -for your ring, I am not accepting gifts this morning, from anyone. -But you understand, I trust, that I am hopelessly enamored of the -Princess on account of her beauty." - -"Oh, and I cannot blame you, my dear. She is the loveliest person I -have ever seen." - -"Hah, Thragnar!" says Jurgen, "I have you now. A woman might, just -possibly, have granted her own homeliness: but no woman that ever -breathed would have conceded the Princess had a ray of good looks." - -So with Caliburn he smote, and struck off the head of this thing -which foolishly pretended to be Dame Lisa. - -"Well done! oh, bravely done!" cried Guenevere. "Now the enchantment -is dissolved, and Thragnar is slain by my clever champion." - -"I could wish there were some surer sign of that," said Jurgen. "I -would have preferred that the pavilion and the decapitated Troll -King had vanished with a peal of thunder and an earthquake and such -other phenomena as are customary. Instead, nothing is changed except -that the woman who was talking to me a moment since now lies at my -feet in a very untidy condition. You conceive, madame, I used to -tease her about that twisted little-finger, in the days before we -began to squabble: and it annoys me that Thragnar should not have -omitted even Lisa's crooked little-finger on her left hand. Yes, -such painstaking carefulness worries me. For you conceive also, -madame, it would be more or less awkward if I had made an error, and -if the appearance were in reality what it seemed to be, because I -was pretty trying sometimes. At all events, I have done that which -seemed equitable, and I have found no comfort in the doing of it, -and I do not like this place." - - - - -11. - -Appearance of the Duke of Logreus - - -So Jurgen brushed from the table the chessmen that were set there in -readiness for a game, and he emptied the silver flagons upon the -ground. His reasons for not meddling with the horn he explained to -the Princess: she shivered, and said that, such being the case, he -was certainly very sensible. Then they mounted, and departed from -the black and silver pavilion. They came thus without further -adventure to Gogyrvan Gawr's city of Cameliard. - -Now there was shouting and the bells all rang when the people knew -their Princess was returned to them: the houses were hung with -painted cloths and banners, and trumpets sounded, as Guenevere and -Jurgen came to the King in his Hall of Judgment. And this Gogyrvan, -that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth and Camwy and -Sargyll, came down from his wide throne, and he embraced first -Guenevere, then Jurgen. - -"And demand of me what you will, Duke of Logreus," said Gogyrvan, -when he had heard the champion's name, "and it is yours for the -asking. For you have restored to me the best loved daughter that -ever was the pride of a high king." - -"Sir," replied Jurgen, reasonably, "a service rendered so gladly -should be its own reward. So I am asking that you do in turn restore -to me the Princess Guenevere, in honorable marriage, do you -understand, because I am a poor lorn widower, I am tolerably -certain, but I am quite certain I love your daughter with my whole -heart." - -Thus Jurgen, whose periods were confused by emotion. - -"I do not see what the condition of your heart has to do with any -such unreasonable request. And you have no good sense to be asking -this thing of me when here are the servants of Arthur, that is now -King of the Britons, come to ask for my daughter as his wife. That -you are Duke of Logreus you tell me, and I concede a duke is all -very well: but I expect you in return to concede a king takes -precedence, with any man whose daughter is marriageable. But -to-morrow or the next day it may be, you and I will talk over -your reward more privately. Meanwhile it is very queer and very -frightened you are looking, to be the champion who conquered -Thragnar." - -For Jurgen was staring at the great mirror behind the King's throne. -In this mirror Jurgen saw the back of Gogyrvan's crowned head, and -beyond this, Jurgen saw a queer and frightened looking young fellow, -with sleek black hair, and an impudent nose, and wide-open bright -brown eyes which were staring hard at Jurgen: and the lad's very red -and very heavy lips were parted, so that you saw what fine strong -teeth he had: and he wore a glittering shirt with curious figures on -it - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, and he saw the lad in the mirror was -speaking too, "I was thinking that is a remarkable mirror you have -there." - -"It is like any other mirror," replies the King, "in that it shows -things as they are. But if you fancy it as your reward, why, take it -and welcome." - -"And are you still talking of rewards!" cries Jurgen. "Why, if that -mirror shows things as they are, I have come out of my borrowed -Wednesday still twenty-one. Oh, but it was the clever fellow I was, -to flatter Mother Sereda so cunningly, and to fool her into such -generosity! And I wonder that you who are only a king, with bleared -eyes under your crown, and with a drooping belly under all your -royal robes, should be talking of rewarding a fine young fellow of -twenty-one, for there is nothing you have which I need be wanting -now." - -"Then you will not be plaguing me any more with your nonsense about -my daughter: and that is excellent news." - -"But I have no requirement to be asking your good graces now," said -Jurgen, "nor the good will of any man alive that has a handsome -daughter or a handsome wife. For now I have the aid of a lad that -was very recently made Duke of Logreus: and with his countenance I -can look out for myself, and I can get justice done me everywhere, -in all the bedchambers of the world." - -And Jurgen snapped his fingers, and was about to turn away from the -King. There was much sunlight in the hall, so that Jurgen in this -half-turn confronted his shadow as it lay plain upon the flagstones. -And Jurgen looked at it very intently. - -"Of course," said Jurgen presently, "I only meant in a manner of -speaking, sir: and was paraphrasing the splendid if hackneyed -passage from Sornatius, with which you are doubtless familiar, in -which he goes on to say, so much more beautifully than I could -possibly express without quoting him word for word, that all this -was spoken jestingly, and without the least intention of offending -anybody, oh, anybody whatever, I can assure you, sir." - -"Very well," said Gogyrvan Gawr: and he smiled, for no reason that -was apparent to Jurgen, who was still watching his shadow sidewise. -"To-morrow, I repeat, I must talk with you more privately. To-day I -am giving a banquet such as was never known in these parts, because -my daughter is restored to me, and because my daughter is going to -be queen over all the Britons." - -So said Gogyrvan, that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth -and Camwy and Sargyll: and this was done. And everywhere at the -banquet Jurgen heard talk of this King Arthur who was to marry Dame -Guenevere, and of the prophecy which Merlin Ambrosius had made as to -the young monarch. For Merlin had predicted: - -"He shall afford succor, and shall tread upon the necks of his -enemies: the isles of the ocean shall be subdued by him, and he -shall possess the forests of Gaul: the house of Romulus shall fear -his rage, and his acts shall be food for the narrators." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, to himself, "this monarch reminds me in -all things of David of Israel, who was so splendid and famous, and -so greedy, in the ancient ages. For to these forests and islands and -necks and other possessions, this Arthur Pendragon must be adding my -one ewe lamb; and I lack a Nathan to convert him to repentance. Now, -but this, to be sure, is a very unfair thing." - -Then Jurgen looked again into a mirror: and presently the eyes of -the lad he found therein began to twinkle. - -"Have at you, David!" said Jurgen, valorously; "since after all, I -see no reason to despair." - - - - -12. - -Excursus of Yolande's Undoing - - -Now Jurgen, self-appointed Duke of Logreus, abode at the court of -King Gogyrvan. The month of May passed quickly and pleasantly: but -the monstrous shadow which followed Jurgen did not pass. Still, no -one noticed it: that was the main thing. For himself, he was not -afraid of shadows, and the queerness of this one was not enough to -distract his thoughts from Guenevere, nor from his love-making with -Guenevere. - -For these were quiet times in Glathion, now that the war with Rience -of Northgalis was satisfactorily ended: and love-making was now -everywhere in vogue. By way of diversion, gentlemen hunted and -fished and rode a-hawking and amicably slashed and battered one -another in tournaments: but their really serious pursuit was -lovemaking, after the manner of chivalrous persons, who knew that -the King's trumpets would presently be summoning them into less -softly furnished fields of action, from one or another of which they -would return feet foremost on a bier. So Jurgen sighed and warbled -and made eyes with many excellent fighting-men: and the Princess -listened with many other ladies whose hearts were not of flint. And -Gogyrvan meditated. - -Now it was the kingly custom of Gogyrvan when his dinner was spread -at noontide, not to go to meat until all such as demanded justice -from him had been furnished with a champion to redress the wrong. -One day as the gaunt old King sat thus in his main hall, upon a seat -of green rushes covered with yellow satin, and with a cushion of -yellow satin under his elbow, and with his barons ranged about him -according to their degrees, a damsel came with a very heart-rending -tale of the oppression that was on her. - -Gogyrvan blinked at her, and nodded. "You are the handsomest woman I -have seen in a long while," says he, irrelevantly. "You are a woman -I have waited for. Duke Jurgen of Logreus will undertake this -adventure." - -There being no help for it, Jurgen rode off with this Dame Yolande, -not very well pleased: but as they rode he jested with her. And so, -with much laughter by the way, Yolande conducted him to the Green -Castle, of which she had been dispossessed by Graemagog, a most -formidable giant. - -"Now prepare to meet your death, sir knight!" cried Graemagog, -laughing horribly, and brandishing his club; "for all knights who -come hither I have sworn to slay." - -"Well, if truth-telling were a sin you would be a very virtuous -giant," says Jurgen, and he flourished Thragnar's sword, resistless -Caliburn. - -Then they fought, and Jurgen killed Graemagog. Thus was the Green -Castle restored to Dame Yolande, and the maidens who attended her -aforetime were duly released from the cellarage. They were now -maidens by courtesy only, but so tender is the heart of women that -they all wept over Graemagog. - -Yolande was very grateful, and proffered every manner of reward. - -"But, no, I will take none of these fine jewels, nor money, nor -lands either," says Jurgen. "For Logreus, I must tell you, is a -fairly well-to-do duchy, and the killing of giants is by way of -being my favorite pastime. He is well paid that is well satisfied. -Yet if you must reward me for such a little service, do you swear to -do what you can to get me the love of my lady, and that will -suffice." - -Yolande, without any particular enthusiasm, consented to attempt -this: and indeed Yolande, at Jurgen's request, made oath upon the -Four Evangelists that she would do everything within her power to -aid him. - -"Very well," said Jurgen, "you have sworn, and it is you whom I -love." - -Surprise now made her lovely. Yolande was frankly delighted at the -thought of marrying the young Duke of Logreus, and offered to send -for a priest at once. - -"My dear," says Jurgen, "there is no need to bother a priest about -our private affairs." - -She took his meaning, and sighed. "Now I regret," said she, "that I -made so solemn an oath. Your trick was unfair." - -"Oh, not at all," said Jurgen: "and presently you will not regret -it. For indeed the game is well worth the candle." - -"How is that shown, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Why, by candle-light," says Jurgen,--"naturally." - -"In that event, we will talk no further of it until this evening." - -So that evening Yolande sent for him. She was, as Gogyrvan had said, -a remarkably handsome woman, sleek and sumptuous and crowned with a -wealth of copper-colored hair. To-night she was at her best in a -tunic of shimmering blue, with a surcote of gold embroidery, and -with gold embroidered pendent sleeves that touched the floor. Thus -she was when Jurgen came to her. - -"Now," says Yolande, frowning, "you may as well come out -straightforwardly with what you were hinting at this morning." - -But first Jurgen looked about the apartment, and it was lighted by a -tall gilt stand whereon burned candles. - -He counted these, and he whistled. "Seven candles! upon my word, -sweetheart, you do me great honor, for this is a veritable -illumination. To think of it, now, that you should honor me, as -people do saints, with seven candles! Well, I am only mortal, but -none the less I am Jurgen, and I shall endeavor to repay this -sevenfold courtesy without discount." - -"Oh, Messire de Logreus," cried Dame Yolande, "but what -incomprehensible nonsense you talk! You misinterpret matters, for I -can assure you I had nothing of that sort in mind. Besides, I do not -know what you are talking about." - -"Indeed, I must warn you that my actions often speak more -unmistakably than my words. It is what learned persons term an -idiosyncrasy." - -"--And I certainly do not see how any of the saints can be concerned -in this. If you had said the Four Evangelists now--! For we were -talking of the Four Evangelists, you remember, this morning--Oh, but -how stupid it is of you, Messire de Logreus, to stand there grinning -and looking at me in a way that makes me blush!" - -"Well, that is easily remedied," said Jurgen, as he blew out the -candles, "since women do not blush in the dark." - -"What do you plan, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Ah, do not be alarmed!" said Jurgen. "I shall deal fairly with -you." - -And in fact Yolande confessed afterward that, considering -everything, Messire de Logreus was very generous. Jurgen confessed -nothing: and as the room was profoundly dark nobody else can speak -with authority as to what happened there. It suffices that the Duke -of Logreus and the Lady of the Green Castle parted later on the most -friendly terms. - -"You have undone me, with your games and your candles and your -scrupulous returning of courtesies," said Yolande, and yawned, for -she was sleepy; "but I fear that I do not hate you as much as I -ought to." - -"No woman ever does," says Jurgen, "at this hour." He called for -breakfast, then kissed Yolande--for this, as Jurgen had said, was -their hour of parting,--and he rode away from the Green Castle in -high spirits. - -"Why, what a thing it is again to be a fine young fellow!" said -Jurgen. "Well, even though her big brown eyes protrude too -much--something like a lobster's--she is a splendid woman, that Dame -Yolande: and it is a comfort to reflect I have seen justice was done -her." - -Then he rode back to Cameliard, singing with delight in the thought -that he was riding toward the Princess Guenevere, whom he loved with -his whole heart. - - - - -13. - -Philosophy of Gogyrvan Gawr - - -At Cameliard the young Duke of Logreus spent most of his time in the -company of Guenevere, whose father made no objection overtly. -Gogyrvan had his promised talk with Jurgen. - -"I lament that Dame Yolande dealt over-thriftily with you," the King -said, first of all: "for I estimated you two would be as spark and -tinder, kindling between you an amorous conflagration to burn up all -this nonsense about my daughter." - -"Thrift, sir," said Jurgen, discreetly, "is a proverbial virtue, and -fires may not consume true love." - -"That is the truth," Gogyrvan admitted, "whoever says it." And he -sighed. - -Then for a while he sat in nodding meditation. Tonight the old King -wore a disreputably rusty gown of black stuff, with fur about the -neck and sleeves of it, and his scant white hair was covered by a -very shabby black cap. So he huddled over a small fire in a large -stone fireplace carved with shields; beside him was white wine and -red, which stayed untasted while Gogyrvan meditated upon things that -fretted him. - -"Now, then!" says Gogyrvan Gawr: "this marriage with the high King -of the Britons must go forward, of course. That was settled last -year, when Arthur and his devil-mongers, the Lady of the Lake and -Merlin Ambrosius, were at some pains to rescue me at Carohaise. I -estimate that Arthur's ambassadors, probably the devil-mongers -themselves, will come for my daughter before June is out. Meanwhile, -you two have youth and love for playthings, and it is spring." - -"What is the season of the year to me," groaned Jurgen, "when I -reflect that within a week or so the lady of my heart will be borne -away from me forever? How can I be happy, when all the while I know -the long years of misery and vain regret are near at hand?" - -"You are saying that," observed the King, "in part because you drank -too much last night, and in part because you think it is expected of -you. For in point of fact, you are as happy as anyone is permitted -to be in this world, through the simple reason that you are young. -Misery, as you employ the word, I consider to be a poetical trophe: -but I can assure you that the moment you are no longer young the -years of vain regret will begin, either way." - -"That is true," said Jurgen, heartily. - -"How do you know? Now then, put it I were insane enough to marry my -daughter to a mere duke, you would grow damnably tired of her: I can -assure you of that also, for in disposition Guenevere is her sainted -mother all over again. She is nice looking, of course, because in -that she takes after my side of the family: but, between ourselves, -she is not particularly intelligent, and she will always be making -eyes at some man or another. To-day it appears to be your turn to -serve as her target, in a fine glittering shirt of which the like -was never seen in Glathion. I deplore, but even so I cannot deny, -your rights as the champion who rescued her: and I must bid you make -the most of that turn." - -"Meanwhile, it occurs to me, sir, that it is unusual to betroth your -daughter to one man, and permit her to go freely with another." - -"If you insist upon it," said Gogyrvan Gawr, "I can of course lock -up the pair of you, in separate dungeons, until the wedding day. -Meanwhile, it occurs to me you should be the last commentator to -grumble." - -"Why, I tell you plainly, sir, that critical persons would say you -are taking very small care of your daughter's honor." - -"To that there are several answers," replied the King. "One is that -I remember my late wife as tenderly as possible, and I reflect I -have only her word for it as to Guenevere's being my daughter. -Another is that, though my daughter is a quiet and well-conducted -young woman, I never heard King Thragnar was anything of this sort." - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you hinting!" - -"All sorts of things, however, happen in caves, things which it is -wiser to ignore in sunlight. So I ignore: I ask no questions: my -business is to marry my daughter acceptably, and that only. Such -discoveries as may be made by her husband afterward are his affair, -not mine. This much I might tell you, Messire de Logreus, by way of -answer. But the real answer is to bid you consider this: that a -woman's honor is concerned with one thing only, and it is a thing -with which the honor of a man is not concerned at all." - -"But now you talk in riddles, King, and I wonder what it is you -would have me do." - -Gogyrvan grinned. "Obviously, I advise you to give thanks you were -born a man, because that sturdier sex has so much less need to -bother over breakage." - -"What sort of breakage, sir?" says Jurgen. - -Gogyrvan told him. - -Duke Jurgen for the second time looked properly horrified. "Your -aphorisms, King, are abominable, and of a sort unlikely to quiet my -misery. However, we were speaking of your daughter, and it is she -who must be considered rather than I." - -"Now I perceive that you take my meaning perfectly. Yes, in all -matters which concern my daughter I would have you lie like a -gentleman." - -"Well, I am afraid, sir," said Jurgen, after a pause, "that you are -a person of somewhat degraded ideals." - -"Ah, but you are young. Youth can afford ideals, being vigorous -enough to stand the hard knocks they earn their possessor. But I am -an old fellow cursed with a tender heart and tolerably keen eyes. -That combination, Messire de Logreus, is one which very often forces -me to jeer out of season, simply because I know myself to be upon -the verge of far more untimely tears." - -Thus Gogyrvan replied. He was silent for a while, and he -contemplated the fire. Then he waved a shriveled hand toward the -window, and Gogyrvan began to speak, meditatively: - -"Messire de Logreus, it is night in my city of Cameliard. And -somewhere one of those roofs harbors a girl whom we will call -Lynette. She has a lover--we will say he is called Sagramor. The -names do not matter. Tonight, as I speak with you, Lynette lies -motionless in the carved wide bed that formerly was her mother's. -She is thinking of Sagramor. The room is dark save where moonlight -silvers the diamond-shaped panes of ancient windows. In every corner -of the room mysterious quivering suggestions lurk." - -"Ah, sire," says Jurgen, "you also are a poet!" - -"Do not interrupt me, then! Lynette, I repeat, is thinking of Sagramor. -Again they sit near the lake, under an apple-tree older than Rome. -The knotted branches of the tree are upraised as in benediction: -and petals--petals, fluttering, drifting, turning,--interminable white -petals fall silently in the stillness. Neither speaks: for there is no -need. Silently he brushes a petal from the blackness of her hair, and -silently he kisses her. The lake is dusky and hard-seeming as jade. -Two lonely stars hang low in the green sky. It is droll that the chest -of a man is hairy, oh, very droll! And a bird is singing, a silvery -needle of sound moves fitfully in the stillness. Surely high Heaven -is thus quietly colored and thus strangely lovely. So at least thinks -little Lynette, lying motionless like a little mouse, in the carved -wide bed wherein Lynette was born." - -"A very moving touch, that," Jurgen interpolated. - -"Now, there is another sort of singing: for now the pot-house -closes, big shutters bang, feet shuffle, a drunken man hiccoughs in -his singing. It is a love-song he is murdering. He sheds -inexplicable tears as he lurches nearer and nearer to Lynette's -window, and his heart is all magnanimity, for Sagramor is -celebrating his latest conquest. Do you not think that this or -something very like this is happening to-night in my city of -Cameliard, Messire de Logreus?". - -"It happens momently," said Jurgen, "everywhere. For thus is every -woman for a little while, and thus is every man for all time." - -"That being a dreadful truth," continued Gogyrvan, "you may take it -as one of the many reasons why I jeer out of season in order to -stave off far more untimely tears. For this thing happens: in my -city it happens, and in my castle it happens. King or no, I am -powerless to prevent its happening. So I can but shrug and hearten -my old blood with a fresh bottle. No less, I regard the young woman, -who is quite possibly my daughter, with considerable affection: and -it would be salutary for you to remember that circumstance, Messire -de Logreus, if ever you are tempted to be candid." - -Jurgen was horrified. "But with the Princess, sir, it is unthinkable -that I should not deal fairly." - -King Gogyrvan continued to look at Jurgen. Gogyrvan Gawr said -nothing, and not a muscle of him moved. - -"Although of course," said Jurgen, "I would, in simple justice to -her, not ever consider volunteering any information likely to cause -pain." - -"Again I perceive," said Gogyrvan, "that you understand me. Yet I -did not speak of my daughter only, but of everybody." - -"How then, sir, would you have me deal with everybody?" - -"Why, I can but repeat my words," says Gogyrvan, very patiently: "I -would have you lie like a gentleman. And now be off with you, for I -am going to sleep. I shall not be wide awake again until my daughter -is safely married. And that is absolutely all I can do for you." - -"Do you think this is reputable conduct, King?" - -"Oh, no!" says Gogyrvan, surprised. "It is what we call -philanthropy." - - - - -14. - -Preliminary Tactics of Duke Jurgen - - -So Jurgen abode at court, and was tolerably content for a little -while. He loved a princess, the fairest and most perfect of mortal -women; and loved her (a circumstance to which he frequently -recurred) as never any other man had loved in the world's history: -and very shortly he was to stand by and see her married to another. -Here was a situation to delight the chivalrous court of Glathion, -for every requirement of romance was exactly fulfilled. - -Now the appearance of Guenevere, whom Jurgen loved with an entire -heart, was this:--She was of middling height, with a figure not yet -wholly the figure of a woman. She had fine and very thick hair, and -the color of it was the yellow of corn floss. When Guenevere undid -her hair it was a marvel to Jurgen to note how snugly this hair -descended about the small head and slender throat, and then -broadened boldly and clothed her with a loose soft foam of pallid -gold. For Jurgen delighted in her hair; and with increasing -intimacy, loved to draw great strands of it back of his head, -crossing them there, and pressing soft handfuls of her perfumed hair -against his cheeks as he kissed the Princess. - -The head of Guenevere, be it repeated, was small: you wondered at -the proud free tossing movements of that little head which had to -sustain the weight of so much hair. The face of Guenevere was -colored tenderly and softly: it made the faces of other women seem -the work of a sign-painter, just splotched in anyhow. Gray eyes had -Guenevere, veiled by incredibly long black lashes that curved -incredibly. Her brows arched rather high above her eyes: that was -almost a fault. Her nose was delicate and saucy: her chin was -impudence made flesh: and her mouth was a tiny and irresistible -temptation. - -"And so on, and so on! But indeed there is no sense at all in -describing this lovely girl as though I were taking an inventory of -my shopwindow," said Jurgen. "Analogues are all very well, and they -have the unanswerable sanction of custom: none the less, when I -proclaim that my adored mistress's hair reminds me of gold I am -quite consciously lying. It looks like yellow hair, and nothing -else: nor would I willingly venture within ten feet of any woman -whose head sprouted with wires, of whatever metal. And to protest -that her eyes are as gray and fathomless as the sea is very well -also, and the sort of thing which seems expected of me: but imagine -how horrific would be puddles of water slopping about in a lady's -eye-sockets! If we poets could actually behold the monsters we rhyme -of, we would scream and run. Still, I rather like this sirvente." - -For he was making a sirvente in praise of Guenevere. It was the -pleasant custom of Gogyrvan's court that every gentleman must -compose verses in honor of the lady of whom he was hopelessly -enamored; as well as that in these verses he should address the lady -(as one whose name was too sacred to mention) otherwise than did her -sponsors. So Duke Jurgen of Logreus duly rhapsodized of his -Phyllida. - -"I borrow for my dear love the appellation of that noted but by much -inferior lady who was beloved by Ariphus of Belsize," he explained. -"You will remember Poliger suspects she was a princess of the house of -Scleroveus: and you of course recall Pisander's masterly summing-up of -the probabilities, in his _Heraclea_." - -"Oh, yes," they said. And the courtiers of Gogyrvan Gawr, like -Mother Sereda, were greatly impressed by young Duke Jurgen's -erudition. - -For Jurgen was Duke of Logreus nowadays, with his glittering shirt -and the coronet upon his bridle to show for it. Awkwardly this -proved to be an earl's coronet, but incongruities are not always -inexplicable. - -"It was Earl Giarmuid's horse. You have doubtless heard of Giarmuid: -but to ask that is insulting." - -"Oh, not at all. It is humor. We perfectly understand your humor, -Duke Jurgen." - -"And a very pretty fighter I found this famous Giarmuid as I -traveled westward. And since he killed my steed in the heat of our -conversation, I was compelled to take over his horse, after I had -given this poor Giarmuid proper interment. Oh, yes, a very pretty -fighter, and I had heard much talk of him in Logreus. He was Lord of -Ore and Persaunt, you remember, though of course the estate came by -his mother's side." - -"Oh, yes," they said. "You must not think that we of Glathion are -quite shut out from the great world. We have heard of all these -affairs. And we have also heard fine things of your duchy of -Logreus, messire." - -"Doubtless," said Jurgen; and turned again to his singing. - -"Lo, for I pray to thee, resistless Love," he descanted, "that thou -to-day make cry unto my love, to Phyllida whom I, poor Logreus, love -so tenderly, not to deny me love! Asked why, say thou my drink and -food is love, in days wherein I think and brood on love, and truly -find naught good in aught save love, since Phyllida hath taught me -how to love." - -Here Jurgen groaned with nicely modulated ardor; and he continued: -"If she avow such constant hate of love as would ignore my great and -constant love, plead thou no more! With listless lore of love woo -Death resistlessly, resistless Love, in place of her that saith such -scorn of love as lends to Death the lure and grace I love." - -Thus Jurgen sang melodiously of his Phyllida, and meant thereby (as -everybody knew) the Princess Guenevere. Since custom compelled him -to deal in analogues, he dealt wholesale. Gems and metals, the -blossoms of the field and garden, fires and wounds and sunrises and -perfumes, an armory of lethal weapons, ice and a concourse of -mythological deities were his starting-point. Then the seas -and heavens were dredged of phenomena to be mentioned with -disparagement, in comparison with one or another feature of Duke -Jurgen's Phyllida. Zoology and history, and generally the remembered -contents of his pawnshop, were overhauled and made to furnish -targets for depreciation: whereas in dealing with the famous ladies -loved by earlier poets, Duke Jurgen was positively insulting, -allowing hardly a rag of merit. Still, he was careful to be just: -and he allowed that these poor creatures might figure advantageously -enough in eyes which had never beheld his Phyllida. And to all this -information the lady whom he hymned attended willingly. - -"She is a princess," reflected Jurgen. "She is quite beautiful. She -is young, and whatever her father's opinion, she is reasonably -intelligent, as women go. Nobody could ask more. Why, then, am I not -out of my head about her? Already she permits a kiss or two when -nobody is around, and presently she will permit more. And she thinks -I am quite the cleverest person living. Come, Jurgen, man! is there -no heart in this spry young body you have regained? Come, let us -have a little honest rapture and excitement over this promising -situation!" - -But somehow Jurgen could not manage it. He was interested in what, -he knew, was going to happen. Yes, undoubtedly he looked forward to -more intimate converse with this beautiful young princess, but it -was rather as one anticipates partaking of a favorite dessert. -Jurgen felt that a liaison arranged for in this spirit was neither -one thing or the other. - -"If only I could feel like a cold-blooded villain, now, I would at -worst be classifiable. But I intend the girl no harm, I am honestly -fond of her. I shall talk my best, broaden her ideas, and give her, -I flatter myself, considerable pleasure: vulgar prejudices apart, I -shall leave her no whit the worse. Why, the dear little thing, not -for the ransom of seven emperors would I do her any hurt! And in -these matters discretion is everything, simply everything. No, quite -decidedly, I am not a cold-blooded villain; and I shall deal fairly -with the Princess." - -Thus Jurgen was disappointed by his own emotions, as he turned them -from side to side, and prodded them, and shifted to a fresh -viewpoint, only to find it no more favorable than the one -relinquished: but he veiled the inadequacy of his emotions with very -moving fervors. The tale does not record his conversations with -Guenevere: for Jurgen now discoursed plain idiocy, as one purveys -sweetmeats to a child in fond astonishment at the pet's appetite. -And leisurely Jurgen advanced: there was no hurry, with weeks -wherein to accomplish everything: meanwhile this routine work had a -familiar pleasantness. - -For the amateur co-ordinates matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. There is no harm at all in -respectful allusions to a love that comprehends its hopelessness: it -was merely a fact which Jurgen mentioned, and was about to pass on; -only Guenevere, in modesty, was forced to disparage her own -attractions, as an inadequate cause for so much misery. Common -courtesy demanded that Jurgen enter upon a rebuttal. To emphasize -one point in this, the orator was forced to take the hand of his -audience: but strangers did that every day, with nobody objecting; -moreover, the hand was here, not so much seized as displayed by its -detainer, as evidence of what he contended. How else was he to prove -the Princess of Glathion had the loveliest hand in the world? It was -not a matter he could request Guenevere to accept on hearsay: and -Jurgen wanted to deal fairly with her. - -Well, but before relinquishing the loveliest hand in the world a -connoisseur will naturally kiss each fingertip: this is merely a -tribute to perfection, and has no personal application. Besides, a -kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think -of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl -demurring against this apothegm--as custom again exacted,--was, -still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says -Jurgen presently, you see for yourself. Is anything changed between -us? Do we not sit here, just as we were before? Why, to be sure! a -kiss is now attestedly a quite innocuous performance, with nothing -very fearful about it one way or the other. It even has its pleasant -side. Thus there is no need to make a pother over kisses or over an -arm about you, when it is more comfortable sitting so: how can one -reasonably deny to a sincere friend what is accorded to a cousin or -an old cloak? It would be nonsense, as Jurgen demonstrated with a -very apt citation from Napsacus. - -Then, sitting so, in the heat of conversation a speaker naturally -gesticulates: and a deal of his eloquence is dependent upon his -hands. When anyone is talking it is discourteous to interrupt, -whereas to lay hold of a gentleman's hand outright, as Jurgen -parenthesized, is a little forward. No, he really did not think it -would be quite proper for Guenevere to hold his hand. Let us -preserve decorum, even in trifles. - -"Ah, but you know that you are doing wrong!" - -"I doing wrong! I, who am simply sitting here and talking my poor -best in an effort to entertain you! Come now, Princess, but tell me -what you mean!" - -"You should know very well what I mean." - -"But I protest to you I have not the least notion. How can I -possibly know what you mean when you refuse to tell me what you -mean?" - -And since the Princess declined to put into words just what she -meant, things stayed as they were, for the while. - -Thus did Jurgen co-ordinate matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. And in short, affairs sped very much -as Jurgen had anticipated. - -Now, by ordinary, Jurgen talked with Guenevere in dimly lighted -places. He preferred this, because then he was not bothered by that -unaccountable shadow whose presence in sunlight put him out. Nobody -ever seemed to notice this preposterous shadow; it was patent, -indeed, that nobody could see it save Jurgen: none the less, the -thing worried him. So even from the first he remembered Guenevere as -a soft voice and a delectable perfume in twilight, as a beauty not -clearly visioned. - -And Gogyrvan's people worried him. The hook-nosed tall old King had -been by Jurgen dismissed from thought, as an enigma not important -enough to be worth the trouble of solving. Gogyrvan at once seemed -to be schooling himself to patience under some private annoyance and -to be revolving in his mind some private jest; he was queer, and -probably abominable: but to grant the old rascal his due, he was not -meddlesome. - -The people about Gogyrvan, though, were perplexing. These men who -considered that all you possessed was loaned you to devote to the -service of your God, your King and every woman who crossed your -path, could hardly be behaving rationally. To talk of serving God -sounded as sonorously and as inspiritingly as a drum: yes, and a -drum had nothing but air in it. The priests said so-and-so: but did -anybody believe the gallant Bishop of Merion, for example, was -always to be depended upon? - -"I would like the opinion of Prince Evrawc's wife as to that," said -Jurgen, with a grin. For it was well-known that all affairs between -this Dame Alundyne and the Bishop were so discreetly managed as to -afford no reason for any scandal whatever. - -As for serving the King, there in plain view was Gogyrvan Gawr, for -anyone who so elected, to regard and grow enthusiastic over: -Gogyrvan might be shrewd enough, but to Jurgen he suggested very -little of the Lord's anointed. To the contrary, he reminded you of -Jurgen's brother-in-law, the grocer, without being graced by the -tradesman's friendly interest in customers. Gogyrvan Gawr was a -person whom Jurgen simply could not imagine any intelligent Deity -selecting as steward. And finally, when it came to serving women, -what sort of service did women most cordially appreciate? Jurgen had -his answer pat enough, but it was an answer not suitable for -utterance in a mixed company. - -"No one of my honest opinions, in fact, is adapted to further my -popularity in Glathion, because I am a monstrous clever fellow who -does justice to things as they are. Therefore I must remember -always, in justice to myself, that I very probably hold traffic with -madmen. Yet Rome was a fine town, and it was geese who saved it. -These people may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to -say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--! Yes, that is how -I feel about it." - -Thus did Jurgen abide at the chivalrous court of Glathion, and -conform to all its customs. In the matter of love-songs nobody -protested more movingly that the lady whom he loved (quite -hopelessly, of course), embodied all divine perfections: and when it -came to knightly service, the possession of Caliburn made the -despatching of thieves and giants and dragons seem hardly -sportsmanlike. Still, Jurgen fought a little, now and then, in order -to conform to the customs of Glathion: and the Duke of Logreus was -widely praised as a very promising young knight. - -And all the while he fretted because he could just dimly perceive -that ideal which was served in Glathion, and the beauty of this -ideal, but could not possibly believe in it. Here was, again, a -loveliness perceived in twilight, a beauty not clearly visioned. - -"Yet am not I a monstrous clever fellow," he would console himself, -"to take them all in so completely? It is a joke to which, I think, -I do full justice." - -So Jurgen abode among these persons to whom life was a high-hearted -journeying homeward. God the Father awaited you there, ready to -punish at need, but eager to forgive, after the manner of all -fathers: that one became a little soiled in traveling, and sometimes -blundered into the wrong lane, was a matter which fathers -understood: meanwhile here was an ever-present reminder of His -perfection incarnated in woman, the finest and the noblest of His -creations. Thus was every woman a symbol to be honored magnanimously -and reverently. So said they all. - -"Why, but to be sure!" assented Jurgen. And in support of his -position he very edifyingly quoted Ophelion, and Fabianus Papirius, -and Sextius Niger to boot. - - - - -15. - -Of Compromises in Glathion - - -The tale records that it was not a great while before, in simple -justice to Guenevere, Duke Jurgen had afforded her the advantage of -frank conversation in actual privacy. For conventions have to be -regarded, of course. Thus the time of a princess is not her own, and -at any hour of day all sorts of people are apt to request an -audience just when some most improving conversation is progressing -famously: but the Hall of Judgment stood vacant and unguarded at -night. - -"But I would never consider doing such a thing," said Guenevere: -"and whatever must you think of me, to make such a proposal!" - -"That too, my dearest, is a matter which I can only explain in -private." - -"And if I were to report your insolence to my father--" - -"You would annoy him exceedingly: and from such griefs it is our -duty to shield the aged." - -"And besides, I am afraid." - -"Oh, my dearest," says Jurgen, and his voice quavered, because his -love and his sorrow seemed very great to him: "but, oh, my dearest, -can it be that you have not faith in me! For with all my body and -soul I love you, as I have loved you ever since I first raised your -face between my hands, and understood that I had never before known -beauty. Indeed, I love you as, I think, no man has ever loved any -woman that lived in the long time that is gone, for my love is -worship, and no less. The touch of your hand sets me to trembling, -dear; and the look of your gray eyes makes me forget there is -anything of pain or grief or evil anywhere: for you are the -loveliest thing God ever made, with joy in the new skill that had -come to His fingers. And you have not faith in me!" - -Then the Princess gave a little sobbing laugh of content and -repentance, and she clasped the hand of her grief-stricken lover. -"Forgive me, Jurgen, for I cannot bear to see you so unhappy!" - -"Ah, and what is my grief to you!" he asks of her, bitterly. - -"Much, oh, very much, my dear!" she whispered. - -So in the upshot Jurgen was never to forget that moment wherein he -waited behind the door, and through the crack between the half-open -door and the door-frame saw Guenevere approach irresolutely, a -wavering white blur in the dark corridor. She came to talk with him -where they would not be bothered with interruptions: but she came -delightfully perfumed, in her night-shift, and in nothing else. -Jurgen wondered at the way of these women even as his arms went -about her in the gloom. He remembered always the feel of that warm -and slender and yielding body, naked under the thin fabric of the -shift, as his arms first went about her: of all their moments -together that last breathless minute before either of them had -spoken stayed in his memory as the most perfect. - -And yet what followed was pleasant enough, for now it was to the -wide and softly cushioned throne of a king, no less, that Guenevere -and Jurgen resorted, so as to talk where they would not be bothered -with interruptions. The throne of Gogyrvan was perfectly dark, under -its canopy, in the unlighted hall, and in the dark nobody can see -what happens. - -Thereafter these two contrived to talk together nightly upon the -throne of Glathion: but what remained in Jurgen's memory was that -last moment behind the door, and the six tall windows upon the east -side of the hall, those windows which were of commingled blue and -silver, but were all an opulent glitter, throughout that time in the -night when the moon was clear of the tree-tops and had not yet risen -high enough to be shut off by the eaves. For that was all which -Jurgen really saw in the Hall of Judgment. There would be a brief -period wherein upon the floor beneath each window would show a -narrow quadrangle of moonlight: but the windows were set in a wall -so deep that this soon passed. On the west side were six windows -also, but about these was a porch; so no light ever came from the -west. - -Thus in the dark they would laugh and talk with lowered voices. -Jurgen came to these encounters well primed with wine, and in -consequence, as he quite comprehended, talked like an angel, without -confining himself exclusively to celestial topics. He was often -delighted by his own brilliance, and it seemed to him a pity there -was no one handy to take it down: so much of his talking was -necessarily just a little over the head of any girl, however -beautiful and adorable. - -And Guenevere, he found, talked infinitely better at night. It was -not altogether the wine which made him think that, either: the girl -displayed a side she veiled in the day time. A girl, far less a -princess, is not supposed to know more than agrees with a man's -notion of maidenly ignorance, she contended. - -"Nobody ever told me anything about so many interesting matters. -Why, I remember--" And Guenevere narrated a quaintly pathetic little -story, here irrelevant, of what had befallen her some three or four -years earlier. "My mother was living then: but she had never said a -word about such things, and frightened as I was, I did not go to -her." - -Jurgen asked questions. - -"Why, yes. There was nothing else to do. I cannot talk freely with -my maids and ladies even now. I cannot question them, that is: of -course I can listen as they talk among themselves. For me to do more -would be unbecoming in a princess. And I wonder quietly about so -many things!" She educed instances. "After that I used to notice the -animals and the poultry. So I worked out problems for myself, after -a fashion. But nobody ever told me anything directly." - -"Yet I dare say that Thragnar--well, the Troll King, being very -wise, must have made zoology much clearer." - -"Thragnar was a skilled enchanter," says a demure voice in the dark; -"and through the potency of his abominable arts, I can remember -nothing whatever about Thragnar." - -Jurgen laughed, ruefully. Still, he was tolerably sure about -Thragnar now. - -So they talked: and Jurgen marvelled, as millions of men had done -aforetime, and have done since, at the girl's eagerness, now that -barriers were down, to discuss in considerable detail all such -matters as etiquette had previously compelled them to ignore. About -her ladies in waiting, for example, she afforded him some very -curious data: and concerning men in general she asked innumerable -questions that Jurgen found delicious. - -Such innocence combined--upon the whole--with a certain moral -obtuseness, seemed inconceivable. For to Jurgen it now appeared that -Guenevere was behaving with not quite the decorum which might fairly -be expected of a princess. Contrition, at least, one might have -looked for, over this hole and corner business: whereas it worried -him to note that Guenevere was coming to accept affairs almost as a -matter of course. Certainly she did not seem to think at all of any -wickedness anywhere: the utmost she suggested was the necessity of -being very careful. And while she never contradicted him in these -private conversations, and submitted in everything to his judgment, -her motive now appeared to be hardly more than a wish to please him. -It was almost as though she were humoring him in his foolishness. -And all this within six weeks! reflected Jurgen: and he nibbled his -finger-nails, with a mental side-glance toward the opinions of King -Gogyrvan Gawr. - -But in daylight the Princess remained unchanged. In daylight Jurgen -adored her, but with no feeling of intimacy. Very rarely did -occasion serve for them to be actually alone in the day time. Once -or twice, though, he kissed her in open sunlight: and then her eyes -were melting but wary, and the whole affair was rather flat. She did -not repulse him: but she stayed a princess, appreciative of her -station, and seemed not at all the invisible person who talked with -him at night in the Hall of Judgment. - -Presently, by common consent, they began to avoid each other by -daylight. Indeed, the time of the Princess was now pre-occupied: for -now had come into Glathion a ship with saffron colored sails, and -having for its figure-head a dragon that was painted with thirty -colors. Such was the ship which brought Messire Merlin Ambrosius and -Dame Anaïtis, the Lady of the Lake, with a great retinue, to fetch -young Guenevere to London, where she was to be married to King -Arthur. - -First there was a week of feasting and tourneys and high mirth of -every kind. Now the trumpets blared, and upon a scaffolding that was -gay with pennons and smart tapestries King Gogyrvan sat nodding and -blinking in his brightest raiment, to judge who did the best: and -into the field came joyously a press of dukes and earls and barons -and many famous knights, to contend for honor and a trumpery chaplet -of pearls. - -Jurgen shrugged, and honored custom. The Duke of Logreus acquitted -himself with credit in the opening tournament, unhorsing Sir Dodinas -le Sauvage, Earl Roth of Meliot, Sir Epinogris, and Sir Hector de -Maris: then Earl Damas of Listenise smote like a whirlwind, and -Jurgen slid contentedly down the tail of his fine horse. His part in -the tournament was ended, and he was heartily glad of it. He -preferred to contemplate rather than share in such festivities: and -he now followed his bent with a most exquisite misery, because he -considered that never had any other poet occupied a situation more -picturesque. - -By day he was the Duke of Logreus, which in itself was a notable -advance upon pawnbroking: after nightfall he discounted the peculiar -privileges of a king. It was the secrecy, the deluding of everybody, -which he especially enjoyed: and in the thought of what a monstrous -clever fellow was Jurgen, he almost lost sight of the fact that he -was miserable over the impending marriage of the lady he loved. - -Once or twice he caught the tail-end of a glance from Gogyrvan's -bright old eye. Jurgen by this time abhorred Gogyrvan, as a person -of abominably unjust dealings. - -"To take no better care of his own daughter," Jurgen considered, "is -infamous. The man is neglecting his duties as a father, and to do -that is not fair." - - - - -16. - -Divers Imbroglios of King Smoit - - -Now it befell that for three nights in succession the Princess -Guenevere was unable to converse with Jurgen in the Hall of -Judgment. So upon one of these disengaged evenings Duke Jurgen held -a carouse with Aribert and Urien, two of Gogyrvan's barons, who had -just returned from Pengwaed-Gir, and had queer tales to narrate of -the Trooping Fairies who garrison that place. - -All three were seasoned topers, so Jurgen went to bed prepared for -anything. Later he sat up in bed, and found it was much as he had -suspected. The room was haunted, and at the foot of his couch were -two ghosts: one an impudent-looking leering phantom, in a suit of -old-fashioned armor, and the other a beautiful pale lady, in the -customary flowing white draperies. - -"Good-morning to you both," says Jurgen, "and sorry am I that I -cannot truthfully observe I am glad to see you. Though you are -welcome enough if you can manage to haunt the room quietly." Then, -seeing that both phantoms looked puzzled, Jurgen proceeded to -explain. "Last year, when I was traveling upon business in -Westphalia, it was my grief to spend a night in the haunted castle -of Neuedesberg, for I could not get any sleep at all in that place. -There was a ghost in charge who persisted in rattling very large -iron chains and in groaning dismally throughout the night. Then -toward morning he took the form of a monstrous cat, and climbed upon -the foot of my bed: and there he squatted yowling until daybreak. -And as I am ignorant of German, I was not able to convey to him any -idea of my disapproval of his conduct. Now I trust that as -compatriots, or as I might say with more exactness, as former -compatriots, you will appreciate that such behavior is out of all -reason." - -"Messire," says the male ghost, and he oozed to his full height, -"you are guilty of impertinence in harboring such a suspicion. I can -only hope it proceeds from ignorance." - -"For I am sure," put in the lady, "that I always disliked cats, and -we never had them about the castle." - -"And you must pardon my frankness, messire," continued the male -ghost, "but you cannot have moved widely in noble company if you are -indeed unable to distinguish between members of the feline species -and of the reigning family of Glathion." - -"Well, I have seen dowager queens who justified some such -confusion," observed Jurgen. "Still, I entreat the forgiveness of -both of you, for I had no idea that I was addressing royalty." - -"I was King Smoit," explained the male phantom, "and this was my -ninth wife, Queen Sylvia Tereu." - -Jurgen bowed as gracefully, he flattered himself, as was possible in -his circumstances. It is not easy to bow gracefully while sitting -erect in bed. - -"Often and over again have I heard of you, King Smoit," says Jurgen. -"You were the grandfather of Gogyrvan Gawr, and you murdered your -ninth wife, and your eighth wife, and your fifth wife, and your -third wife too: and you went under the title of the Black King, for -you were reputed the wickedest monarch that ever reigned in Glathion -and the Red Islands." - -It seemed to Jurgen that King Smoit evinced embarrassment, but it is -hard to be quite certain when a ghost is blushing. "Perhaps I was -spoken of in some such terms," says Smoit, "for the neighbors were -censorious gossips, and I was not lucky in my marriages. And I -regret, I bitterly regret, to confess that, in a moment of extreme -yet not quite unprovoked excitement, I assassinated the lady whom -you now behold." - -"And I am sure, through no fault of mine," says Sylvia Tereu. - -"Certainly, my dear, you resisted with all your might. I only wish -that you had been a larger and a brawnier woman. But you, messire, -can now perceive, I suppose, the folly of expecting a high King of -Glathion, and the queen that he took delight in, to sit upon your -bed and howl?" - -So then, upon reflection, Jurgen admitted he had never had that -experience; nor, he handsomely added, could he recall any similar -incident among his friends. - -"The notion is certainly preposterous," went on King Smoit, and very -grimly he smiled. "We are drawn hither by quite other intentions. In -fact, we wish to ask of you, as a member of the family, your -assistance in a delicate affair." - -"I would be delighted," Jurgen stated, "to aid you in any possible -way. But why do you call me a member of the family?" - -"Now, to deal frankly," says Smoit, with a grin, "I am not claiming -any alliance with the Duke of Logreus--" - -"Sometimes," says Jurgen, "one prefers to travel incognito. As a -king, you ought to understand that." - ---"My interest is rather in the grandson of Steinvor. Now you will -remember your grandmother Steinvor as, I do not doubt, a charming -old lady. But I remember Steinvor, the wife of Ludwig, as one of the -loveliest girls that a king's eyes ever lighted on." - -"Oh, sir," says Jurgen, horrified, "and what is this you are telling -me!" - -"Merely that I had always an affectionate nature," replied King -Smoit, "and that I was a fine upstanding young king in those days. -And one of the results of my being these things was your father, -whom men called Coth the son of Ludwig. But I can assure you Ludwig -had done nothing to deserve it." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen: "all this is very scandalous: and very -upsetting, too, it is to have a brand-new grandfather foisted upon -you at this hour of the morning. Still, it happened a great while -ago: and if Ludwig did not fret over it, I see no reason why I -should do so. And besides, King Smoit, it may be that you are not -telling me the truth." - -"If you doubt my confession, messire my grandson, you have only to -look into the next mirror. It is precisely on this account that we -have ventured to dispel your slumbers. For to me you bear a striking -resemblance. You have the family face." - -Now Jurgen considered the lineaments of King Smoit of Glathion. -"Really," said Jurgen, "of course it is very flattering to be told -that your appearance is regal. I do not at all know what to say in -reply to the implied compliment, without seeming uncivil. I would -never for a moment question that you were much admired in your day, -sir, and no doubt very justly so. None the less--well, my nose, now, -from such glimpses of it as mirrors have hitherto afforded, does not -appear to be a snub-nose." - -"Ah, but appearances are proverbially deceitful," observed King -Smoit. - -"And about the left hand corner," protested Queen Sylvia Tereu, "I -detect a distinct resemblance." - -"Now I may seem unduly obtuse," said Jurgen, "for I am a little -obtuse. It is a habit with me, a very bad habit formed in early -infancy, and I have never been able to break myself of it. And so I -have not any notion at what you two are aiming." - -Replied the ghost of King Smoit: "I will explain. Just sixty-three -years ago to-night I murdered my ninth wife in circumstances of -peculiar brutality, as you with rather questionable taste have -mentioned." - -Then Jurgen was somewhat abashed, and felt that it did not become him, -who had so recently cut off the head of his own wife, to assume the airs -of a precisian. "Of course," says Jurgen, more broad-mindedly, "these -little family differences are always apt to occur in married life." - -"So be it! Though, by the so-and-sos of Ursula's eleven thousand -traveling companions, there was a time wherein I would not have -brooked such criticism. Ah, well, that time is overpast, and I am a -bloodless thing that the wind sweeps at the wind's will through -lands in which but yesterday King Smoit was dreaded. So I let that -which has been be." - -"Well, that seems reasonable," said Jurgen, "and to be a trifle -rhetorical is the privilege of grandfathers. Therefore I entreat -you, sir, to continue." - -"Two years afterward I followed the Emperor Locrine in his -expedition against the Suevetii, an evil and luxurious people who -worship Gozarin peculiarly, by means of little boats. I must tell -you, grandson, that was a goodly raid, conducted by a band of tidy -fighters in a land of wealth and of fine women. But alack, as the -saying is, in our return from Osnach my loved general Locrine was -captured by that arch-fiend Duke Corineus of Cornwall: and I, among -many others who had followed the Emperor, paid for our merry -larcenies and throat-cuttings a very bitter price. Corineus was not -at all broadminded, not what you would call a man of the world. So -it was in a noisome dungeon that I was incarcerated,--I, Smoit of -Glathion, who conquered Enisgarth and Sargyll in open battle and -fearlessly married the heiress of Camwy! But I spare you the -unpleasant details. It suffices to say that I was dissatisfied with -my quarters. Yet fain to leave them as I became, there was but one -way. It involved the slaying of my gaoler, a step which was, I -confess, to me distasteful. I was getting on in life, and had grown -tired of killing people. Yet, to mature deliberation, the life of a -graceless varlet, void of all gentleness and with no bowels of -compassion, and deaf to suggestions of bribery, appeared of no -overwhelming importance." - -"I can readily imagine, grandfather, that you were not deeply -interested in either the nature or the anatomy of your gaoler. So -you did what was unavoidable." - -"Yes, I treacherously slew him, and escaped in an impenetrable -disguise to Glathion, where not long afterward I died. My dying -just then was most annoying, for I was on the point of being married, -and she was a remarkably attractive girl,--King Tyrnog's daughter, -from Craintnor way. She would have been my thirteenth wife. And not -a week before the ceremony I tripped and fell down my own castle -steps, and broke my neck. It was a humiliating end for one who had -been a warrior of considerable repute. Upon my word, it made me think -there might be something, after all, in those old superstitions about -thirteen being an unlucky number. But what was I saying?--oh, yes! -It is also unlucky to be careless about one's murders. You will -readily understand that for one or two such affairs I am condemned -yearly to haunt the scene of my crime on its anniversary: such -an arrangement is fair enough, and I make no complaint, though of -course it does rather break into the evening. But it happened that -I treacherously slew my gaoler with a large cobble-stone on the -fifteenth of June. Now the unfortunate part, the really awkward -feature, was that this was to an hour the anniversary of the death -of my ninth wife." - -"And you murdering insignificant strangers on such a day!" said -Queen Sylvia. "You climbing out of jail windows figged out as a lady -abbess, on an anniversary you ought to have kept on your knees in -unavailing repentance! But you were a hard man, Smoit, and it was -little loving courtesy you showed your wife at a time when she might -reasonably look to be remembered, and that is a fact." - -"My dear, I admit it was heedless of me. I could not possibly say -more. At any rate, grandson, I discovered after my decease that such -heedlessness entailed my haunting on every fifteenth of June at -three in the morning two separate places." - -"Well, but that was justice," says Jurgen. - -"It may have been justice," Smoit admitted: "but my point is that -it happened to be impossible. However, I was aided by my -great-great-grandfather Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief. -He too had the family face; and in every way resembled me so -closely that he impersonated me to everyone's entire satisfaction; -and with my wife's assistance re-enacted my disastrous crime upon -the scene of its occurrence, June after June." - -"Indeed," said Queen Sylvia, "he handled his sword infinitely better -than you, my dear. It was a thrilling pleasure to be murdered by -Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief, and I shall always regret -him." - -"For you must understand, grandson, that the term of King Penpingon -Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief's stay in Purgatory has now run out, -and he has recently gone to Heaven. That was pleasant for him, I -dare say, so I do not complain. Still, it leaves me with no one to -take my place. Angels, as you will readily understand, are not -permitted to perpetrate murders, even in the way of kindness. It -might be thought to establish a dangerous precedent." - -"All this," said Jurgen, "seems regrettable, but not strikingly -explicit. I have a heart and a half to serve you, sir, with not -seven-eighths of a notion as to what you want of me. Come, put a -name to it!" - -"You have, as I have said, the family face. You are, in fact, the -living counterpart of Smoit of Glathion. So I beseech you, messire -my grandson, for this one night to impersonate my ghost, and with -the assistance of Queen Sylvia Tereu to see that at three o'clock -the White Turret is haunted to everyone's satisfaction. Otherwise," -said Smoit, gloomily, "the consequences will be deplorable." - -"But I have had no experience at haunting," Jurgen confessed. "It is -a pursuit in which I do not pretend to competence: and I do not even -know just how one goes about it." - -"That matter is simple, although mysterious preliminaries will be, -of course, necessitated, in order to convert a living person into a -ghost--" - -"The usual preliminaries, sir, are out of the question: and I must -positively decline to be stabbed or poisoned or anything of that -kind, even to humor my grandfather." - -Both Smoit and Sylvia protested that any such radical step would be -superfluous, since Jurgen's ghostship was to be transient. In fact, -all Jurgen would have to do would be to drain the embossed goblet -which Sylvia Tereu held out to him, with Druidical invocations. - -And for a moment Jurgen hesitated. The whole business seemed rather -improbable. Still, the ties of kin are strong, and it is not often -one gets the chance to aid, however slightly, one's long-dead -grandfather: besides, the potion smelt very invitingly. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." Then -Jurgen drank. - -The flavor was excellent. Yet the drink seemed not to affect Jurgen, -at first. Then he began to feel a trifle light-headed. Next he -looked downward, and was surprised to notice there was nobody in his -bed. Closer investigation revealed the shadowy outline of a human -figure, through which the bedclothing had collapsed. This, he -decided, was all that was left of Jurgen. And it gave him a queer -sensation. Jurgen jumped like a startled horse, and so violently -that he flew out of bed, and found himself floating imponderably -about the room. - -Now Jurgen recognized the feeling perfectly. He had often had it in -his sleep, in dreams wherein he would bend his legs at the knees so -that his feet came up behind him, and he would pass through the air -without any effort. Then it seemed ridiculously simple, and he would -wonder why he never thought of it before. And then he would reflect: -"This is an excellent way of getting around. I will come to -breakfast this way in the morning, and show Lisa how simple it is. -How it will astonish her, to be sure, and how clever she will think -me!" And then Jurgen would wake up, and find that somehow he had -forgotten the trick of it. - -But just now this manner of locomotion was undeniably easy. So -Jurgen floated around his bed once or twice, then to the ceiling, -for practice. Through inexperience, he miscalculated the necessary -force, and popped through into the room above, where he found -himself hovering immediately over the Bishop of Merion. His eminence -was not alone, but as both occupants of the apartment were asleep, -Jurgen witnessed nothing unepiscopal. Now Jurgen rejoined his -grandfather, and girded on charmed Caliburn, and demanded what must -next be done. - -"The assassination will take place in the White Turret, as usual. -Queen Sylvia will instruct you in the details. You can invent most -of the affair, however, as the Lady of the Lake, who occupies this -room to-night, is very probably unacquainted with our terrible -history." - -Then King Smoit observed that it was high time he kept his -appointment in Cornwall, and he melted into air, with an easy -confidence that bespoke long practise: and Jurgen followed Queen -Sylvia Tereu. - - - - -17. - -About a Cock That Crowed Too Soon - - -Next the tale tells of how Jurgen and the ghost of Queen Sylvia -Tereu came into the White Turret. The Lady of the Lake was in bed: -she slept unaccompanied, as Jurgen noted with approval, for he -wished to intrude upon no more tête-à-têtes. And Dame Anaïtis did -not at first awake. - -Now this was a gloomy and high-paneled apartment, with exactly the -traditional amount of moonlight streaming through two windows. Any -ghost, even an apprentice, could have acquitted himself with credit -in such surroundings, and Jurgen thought he did extremely well. He -was atavistically brutal, and to improvise the accompanying dialogue -he did not find difficult. So everything went smoothly, and with -such spirit that Anaïtis was presently wakened by Queen Sylvia's -very moving wails for mercy, and sat erect in bed, as though a -little startled. Then the Lady of the Lake leaned back among the -pillows, and witnessed the remainder of the terrible scene with -remarkable self-possession. - -So it was that the tragedy swelled to its appalling climax, and -subsided handsomely. With the aid of Caliburn, Jurgen had murdered -his temporary wife. He had dragged her insensate body across the -floor, by the hair of her head, and had carefully remembered first -to put her comb in his pocket, as Queen Sylvia had requested, so -that it would not be lost. He had given vent to several fiendish -"Ha-ha's" and all the old high imprecations he remembered: and in -short, everything had gone splendidly when he left the White Turret -with a sense of self-approval and Queen Sylvia Tereu. - -The two of them paused in the winding stairway; and in the darkness, -after he had restored her comb, the Queen was telling Jurgen how -sorry she was to part with him. - -"For it is back to the cold grave I must be going now, Messire -Jurgen, and to the tall flames of Purgatory: and it may be that I -shall not ever see you any more." - -"I shall regret the circumstance, madame," says Jurgen, "for you are -the loveliest person I have ever seen." - -The Queen was pleased. "That is a delightfully boyish speech, and -one can see it comes from the heart. I only wish that I could meet -with such unsophisticated persons in my present abode. Instead, I am -herded with battered sinners who have no heart, who are not frank -and outspoken about anything, and I detest their affectations." - -"Ah, then you are not happy with your husband, Sylvia? I suspected -as much." - -"I see very little of Smoit. It is true he has eight other wives all -resident in the same flame, and cannot well show any partiality. Two -of his Queens, though, went straight to Heaven: and his eighth wife, -Gudrun, we are compelled to fear, must have been an unrepentant -sinner, for she has never reached Purgatory. But I always distrusted -Gudrun, myself: otherwise I would never have suggested to Smoit that -he have her strangled in order to make me his queen. You see, I -thought it a fine thing to be a queen, in those days, Jurgen, when I -was an artless slip of a girl. And Smoit was all honey and perfume -and velvet, in those days, Jurgen, and little did I suspect the -cruel fate that was to befall me." - -"Indeed, it is a sad thing, Sylvia, to be murdered by the hand -which, so to speak, is sworn to keep an eye on your welfare, and -which rightfully should serve you on its knees." - -"It was not that I minded. Smoit killed me in a fit of jealousy, and -jealousy is in its blundering way a compliment. No, a worse thing -than that befell me, Jurgen, and embittered all my life in the -flesh." And Sylvia began to weep. - -"And what was that thing, Sylvia?" - -Queen Sylvia whispered the terrible truth. "My husband did not -understand me." - -"Now, by Heaven," says Jurgen, "when a woman tells me that, even -though the woman be dead, I know what it is she expects of me." - -So Jurgen put his arm about the ghost of Queen Sylvia Tereu, and -comforted her. Then, finding her quite willing to be comforted, -Jurgen sat for a while upon the dark steps, with one arm still about -Queen Sylvia. The effect of the potion had evidently worn off, -because Jurgen found himself to be composed no longer of cool -imponderable vapor, but of the warmest and hardest sort of flesh -everywhere. But probably the effect of the wine which Jurgen had -drunk earlier in the evening had not worn off: for now Jurgen began -to talk wildishly in the dark, about the necessity of his, in some -way, avenging the injury inflicted upon his nominal grandfather, -Ludwig, and Jurgen drew his sword, charmed Caliburn. - -"For, as you perceive," said Jurgen, "I carry such weapons as are -sufficient for all ordinary encounters. And am I not to use them, to -requite King Smoit for the injustice he did poor Ludwig? Why, -certainly I must. It is my duty." - -"Ah, but Smoit by this is back in Purgatory," Queen Sylvia -protested, "And to draw your sword against a woman is cowardly." - -"The avenging sword of Jurgen, my charming Sylvia, is the terror of -envious men, but it is the comfort of all pretty women." - -"It is undoubtedly a very large sword," said she: "oh, a magnificent -sword, as I can perceive even in the dark. But Smoit, I repeat, is -not here to measure weapons with you." - -"Now your arguments irritate me, whereas an honest woman would see -to it that all the legacies of her dead husband were duly -satisfied--" - -"Oh, oh! and what do you mean--?" - -"Well, but certainly a grandson is--at one remove, I grant you,--a -sort of legacy." - -"There is something in what you advance--" - -"There is a great deal in what I advance, I can assure you. It is -the most natural and most penetrating kind of logic; and I wish -merely to discharge a duty--" - -"But you upset me, with that big sword of yours, you make me -nervous, and I cannot argue so long as you are flourishing it about. -Come now, put up your sword! Oh, what is anybody to do with you! -Here is the sheath for your sword," says she. - -At this point they were interrupted. - -"Duke of Logreus," says the voice of Dame Anaïtis, "do you not think -it would be better to retire, before such antics at the door of my -bedroom give rise to a scandal?" - -For Anaïtis had half-opened the door of her bedroom, and with a lamp -in her hand, was peering out into the narrow stairway. Jurgen was a -little embarrassed, for his apparent intimacy with a lady who had -been dead for sixty-three years would be, he felt, a matter -difficult to explain. So Jurgen rose to his feet, and hastily put up -the weapon he had exhibited to Queen Sylvia, and decided to pass -airily over the whole affair. And outside, a cock crowed, for it was -now dawn. - -"I bid you a good morning, Dame Anaïtis," said Jurgen. "But the -stairways hereabouts are confusing, and I must have lost my way. I -was going for a stroll. This is my distant relative Queen Sylvia -Tereu, who kindly offered to accompany me. We were going out to -gather mushrooms and to watch the sunrise, you conceive." - -"Messire de Logreus, I think you had far better go back to bed." - -"To the contrary, madame, it is my manifest duty to serve as Queen -Sylvia's escort--" - -"For all that, messire, I do not see any Queen Sylvia." - -Jurgen looked about him. And certainly his grandfather's ninth wife -was no longer visible. "Yes, she has vanished. But that was to be -expected at cockcrow. Still, that cock crew just at the wrong -moment," said Jurgen, ruefully. "It was not fair." - -And Dame Anaïtis said: "Gogyrvan's cellar is well stocked: and you -sat late with Urien and Aribert: and doubtless they also were lucky -enough to discover a queen or two in Gogyrvan's cellar. No less, I -think you are still a little drunk." - -"Now answer me this, Dame Anaïtis: were you not visited by two -ghosts to-night?" - -"Why, that is as it may be," she replied: "but the White Turret is -notoriously haunted, and it is few quiet nights I have passed there, -for Gogyrvan's people were a bad lot." - -"Upon my word," wonders Jurgen, "what manner of person is this Dame -Anaïtis, who remains unstirred by such a brutal murder as I have -committed, and makes no more of ghosts than I would of moths? I have -heard she is an enchantress, I am sure she is a fine figure of a -woman: and in short, here is a matter which would repay looking -into, were not young Guenevere the mistress of my heart." - -Aloud he said: "Perhaps then I am drunk, madame. None the less, I -still think the cock crew just at the wrong moment." - -"Some day you must explain the meaning of that," says she. -"Meanwhile I am going back to bed, and I again advise you to do the -same." - -Then the door closed, the bolt fell, and Jurgen went away, still in -considerable excitement. - -"This Dame Anaïtis is an interesting personality," he reflected, -"and it would be a pleasure, now, to demonstrate to her my grievance -against the cock, did occasion serve. Well, things less likely than -that have happened. Then, too, she came upon me when my sword was -out, and in consequence knows I wield a respectable weapon. She may -feel the need of a good swordsman some day, this handsome Lady of -the Lake who has no husband. So let us cultivate patience. -Meanwhile, it appears that I am of royal blood. Well, I fancy there -is something in the scandal, for I detect in me a deal in common -with this King Smoit. Twelve wives, though! no, that is too many. I -would limit no man's liaisons, but twelve wives in lawful matrimony -bespeaks an optimism unknown to me. No, I do not think I am drunk: -but it is unquestionable that I am not walking very straight. -Certainly, too, we did drink a great deal. So I had best go quietly -back to bed, and say nothing more about to-night's doings." - -As much he did. And this was the first time that Jurgen, who had -been a pawnbroker, held any discourse with Dame Anaïtis, whom men -called the Lady of the Lake. - - - - -18. - -Why Merlin Talked in Twilight - - -It was two days later that Jurgen was sent for by Merlin Ambrosius. -The Duke of Logreus came to the magician in twilight, for the -windows of this room were covered with sheets which shut out the -full radiance of day. Everything in the room was thus visible in a -diffused and tempered light that cast no shadows. In his hand Merlin -held a small mirror, about three inches square, from which he raised -his dark eyes puzzlingly. - -"I have been talking to my fellow ambassador, Dame Anaïtis: and I -have been wondering, Messire de Logreus, if you have ever reared -white pigeons." - -Jurgen looked at the little mirror. "There was a woman of the Léshy -who not long ago showed me an employment to which one might put the -blood of white pigeons. She too used such a mirror. I saw what -followed, but I must tell you candidly that I understood nothing of -the ins and outs of the affair." - -Merlin nodded. "I suspected something of the sort. So I elected to -talk with you in a room wherein, as you perceive, there are no -shadows." - -"Now, upon my word," says Jurgen, "but here at last is somebody who -can see my attendant! Why is it, pray, that no one else can do so?" - -"It was my own shadow which drew my notice to your follower. For I, -too, have had a shadow given me. It was the gift of my father, of -whom you have probably heard." - -It was Jurgen's turn to nod. Everybody knew who had begotten Merlin -Ambrosius, and sensible persons preferred not to talk of the matter. -Then Merlin went on to speak of the traffic between Merlin and -Merlin's shadow. - -"Thus and thus," says Merlin, "I humor my shadow. And thus and thus -my shadow serves me. There is give-and-take, such as is requisite -everywhere." - -"I understand," says Jurgen: "but has no other person ever perceived -this shadow of yours?" - -"Once only, when for a while my shadow deserted me," Merlin replied. -"It was on a Sunday my shadow left me, so that I walked unattended -in naked sunlight: for my shadow was embracing the church-steeple, -where church-goers knelt beneath him. The church-goers were -obscurely troubled without suspecting why, for they looked only at -each other. The priest and I alone saw him quite clearly,--the -priest because this thing was evil, and I because this thing was -mine." - -"Well, now I wonder what did the priest say to your bold shadow?" - -"'But you must go away!'--and the priest spoke without any fear. Why -is it they seem always without fear, those dull and calm-eyed -priests? 'Such conduct is unseemly. For this is High God's house, -and far-off peoples are admonished by its steadfast spire, pointing -always heavenward, that the place is holy,' said the priest. And my -shadow answered, 'But I only know that steeples are of phallic -origin.' And my shadow wept, wept ludicrously, clinging to the -steeple where church-goers knelt beneath him." - -"Now, and indeed that must have been disconcerting, Messire Merlin. -Still, as you got your shadow back again, there was no great harm -done. But why is it that such attendants follow some men while other -men are permitted to live in decent solitude? It does not seem quite -fair." - -"Perhaps I could explain it to you, friend, but certainly I shall not. -You know too much as it is. For you appear in that bright garment of -yours to have come from a land and a time which even I, who am a skilled -magician, can only cloudily foresee, and cannot understand at all. What -puzzles me, however"--and Merlin's fore-finger shot out. "How many feet -had the first wearer of your shirt? and were you ever an old man?" says -he. - -"Well, four, and I was getting on," says Jurgen. - -"And I did not guess! But certainly that is it,--an old poet loaned -at once a young man's body and the Centaur's shirt. Adères has -loosed a new jest into the world, for her own reasons--" - -"But you have things backwards. It was Sereda whom I cajoled so -nicely." - -"Names that are given by men amount to very little in a case like -this. The shadow which follows you I recognize--and revere--as the -gift of Adères, a dreadful Mother of small Gods. No doubt she has a -host of other names. And you cajoled her, you consider! I would not -willingly walk in the shirt of any person who considers that. But -she will enlighten you, my friend, at her appointed time." - -"Well, so that she deals justly--" Jurgen said, and shrugged. - -Now Merlin put aside the mirror. "Meanwhile it was another matter -entirely that Dame Anaïtis and I discussed, and about which I wished -to be speaking with you. Gogyrvan is sending to King Arthur, along -with Gogyrvan's daughter, that Round Table which Uther Pendragon -gave Gogyrvan, and a hundred knights to fill the sieges of this -table. Gogyrvan, who, with due respect, possesses a deplorable sense -of humor, has numbered you among these knights. Now it is rumored -the Princess is given to conversing a great deal with you in -private, and Arthur has never approved of garrulity. So I warn you -that for you to come with us to London would not be convenient." - -"I hardly think so, either," said Jurgen, with appropriate -melancholy; "for me to pursue the affair any further would only -result in marring what otherwise will always be a perfect memory of -divers very pleasant conversations." - -"Old poet, you are well advised," said Merlin,--"especially now that -the little princess whom we know is about to enter queenhood and -become a symbol. I am sorry for her, for she will be worshipped as a -revelation of Heaven's splendor, and being flesh and blood, she will -not like it. And it is to no effect I have forewarned King Arthur, -for that must happen which will always happen so long as wisdom is -impotent against human stupidity. So wisdom can but make the best of -it, and be content to face the facts of a great mystery." - -Thereupon, Merlin arose, and lifted the tapestry behind him, so that -Jurgen could see what hitherto this tapestry had screened. - - * * * * * - -"You have embarrassed me horribly," said Jurgen, "and I can feel -that I am still blushing, about the ankles. Well, I was wrong: so -let us say no more concerning it." - -"I wished to show you," Merlin returned, "that I know what I am -talking about. However, my present purpose is to put Guenevere out -of your head: for in your heart I think she never was, old poet, who -go so modestly in the Centaur's shirt. Come, tell me now! and does -the thought of her approaching marriage really disturb you?" - -"I am the unhappiest man that breathes," said Jurgen, with unction. -"All night I lie awake in my tumbled bed, and think of the miserable -day which is past, and of what is to happen in that equally -miserable day whose dawn I watch with a sick heart. And I cry aloud, -in the immortal words of Apollonius Myronides--" - -"Of whom?" says Merlin. - -"I allude to the author of the _Myrosis_," Jurgen -explained,--"whom so many persons rashly identify with Apollonius -Herophileius." - -"Oh, yes, of course! your quotation is very apt. Why, then your -condition is sad but not incurable. For I am about to give you this -token, with which, if you are bold enough, you will do thus and -thus." - -"But indeed this is a somewhat strange token, and the arms and legs, -and even the head, of this little man are remarkably alike! Well, -and you tell me thus and thus. But how does it happen, Messire -Merlin, that you have never used this token in the fashion you -suggest to me?" - -"Because I was afraid. You forget I am only a magician, whose -conjuring raises nothing more formidable than devils. But this is a -bit of the Old Magic that is no longer understood, and I prefer not -to meddle with it. You, to the contrary, are a poet, and the Old -Magic was always favorable to poets." - -"Well, I will think about it," says Jurgen, "if this will really put -Dame Guenevere out of my head." - -"Be assured it will do that," said Merlin. "For with reason does the -_Dirghâgama_ declare, 'The brightness of the glowworm cannot be -compared to that of a lamp.'" - -"A very pleasant little work, the _Dirghâgama_," said Jurgen, -tolerantly--"though superficial, of course." - -Then Merlin Ambrosius gave Jurgen the token, and some advice. - -So that night Jurgen told Guenevere he would not go in her train to -London. He told her candidly that Merlin was suspicious of their -intercourse. - -"And therefore, in order to protect you and to protect your fame, my -dearest dear," said Jurgen, "it is necessary that I sacrifice myself -and everything I prize in life. I shall suffer very much: but my -consolation will be that I have dealt fairly with you whom I love -with an entire heart, and shall have preserved you through my -misery." - -But Guenevere did not appear to notice how noble this was of Jurgen. -Instead, she wept very softly, in a heartbroken way that Jurgen -found unbearable. - -"For no man, whether emperor or peasant," says the Princess, "has -ever been loved more dearly or faithfully or more wholly without any -reserve or forethought than you, my dearest, have been loved by me. -All that I had I have given you. All that I had you have taken, -consuming it. So now you leave me with not anything more to give -you, not even any anger or contempt, now that you turn me adrift, -for there is nothing in me anywhere save love of you, who are -unworthy." - -"But I die many deaths," said Jurgen, "when you speak thus to me." -And in point of fact, he did feel rather uncomfortable. - -"I speak the truth, though. You have had all: and so you are a -little weary, and perhaps a little afraid of what may happen if you -do not break off with me." - -"Now you misjudge me, darling--" - -"No, I do not misjudge you, Jurgen. Instead, for the first time I -judge both of us. You I forgive, because I love you, but myself I do -not forgive, and I cannot ever forgive, for having been a -spendthrift fool." - -And Jurgen found such talking uncomfortable and tedious and very -unfair to him. "For there is nothing I can do to help matters," says -Jurgen. "Why, what could anybody possibly expect me to do about it? -And so why not be happy while we may? It is not as though we had any -time to waste." - -For this was the last night but one before the day that was set for -Guenevere's departure. - - - - -19. - -The Brown Man with Queer Feet - - -Early in the following morning Jurgen left Cameliard, traveling -toward Carohaise, and went into the Druid forest there, and followed -Merlin's instructions. - -"Not that I for a moment believe in such nonsense," said Jurgen: -"but it will be amusing to see what comes of this business, and it -is unjust to deny even nonsense a fair trial." - -So he presently observed a sun-browned brawny fellow, who sat upon -the bank of a stream, dabbling his feet in the water, and making -music with a pipe constructed of seven reeds of irregular lengths. -To him Jurgen displayed, in such a manner as Merlin had prescribed, -the token which Merlin had given. The man made a peculiar sign, and -rose. Jurgen saw that this man's feet were unusual. - -Jurgen bowed low, and he said, as Merlin had bidden: "Now praise be -to thee, thou lord of the two truths! I have come to thee, O most -wise, that I may learn thy secret. I would know thee, and would know -the forty-two mighty ones who dwell with thee in the hall of the two -truths, and who are nourished by evil-doers, and who partake of -wicked blood each day of the reckoning before Wennofree. I would -know thee for what thou art." - -The brown man answered: "I am everything that was and that is to be. -Never has any mortal been able to discover what I am." - -Then this brown man conducted Jurgen to an open glen, at the heart -of the forest. - -"Merlin dared not come himself, because," observed the brown man, -"Merlin is wise. But you are a poet. So you will presently forget -that which you are about to see, or at worst you will tell pleasant -lies about it, particularly to yourself." - -"I do not know about that," says Jurgen, "but I am willing to taste -any drink once. What are you about to show me?" - -The brown man answered: "All." - -So it was near evening when they came out of the glen. It was dark -now, for a storm had risen. The brown man was smiling, and Jurgen -was in a flutter. - -"It is not true," Jurgen protested. "What you have shown me is a -pack of nonsense. It is the degraded lunacy of a so-called Realist. -It is sorcery and pure childishness and abominable blasphemy. It is, -in a word, something I do not choose to believe. You ought to be -ashamed of yourself!" - -"Even so, you do believe me, Jurgen." - -"I believe that you are an honest man and that I am your cousin: so -there are two more lies for you." - -The brown man said, still smiling: "Yes, you are certainly a poet, -you who have borrowed the apparel of my cousin. For you come out of -my glen, and from my candor, as sane as when you entered. That is -not saying much, to be sure, in praise of a poet's sanity at any -time. But Merlin would have died, and Merlin would have died without -regret, if Merlin had seen what you have seen, because Merlin -receives facts reasonably." - -"Facts! sanity! and reason!" Jurgen raged: "why, but what nonsense -you are talking! Were there a bit of truth in your silly puppetry -this world of time and space and consciousness would be a bubble, a -bubble which contained the sun and moon and the high stars, and -still was but a bubble in fermenting swill! I must go cleanse my -mind of all this foulness. You would have me believe that men, that -all men who have ever lived or shall ever live hereafter, that even -I am of no importance! Why, there would be no justice in any such -arrangement, no justice anywhere!" - -"That vexed you, did it not? It vexes me at times, even me, who -under Koshchei's will alone am changeless." - -"I do not know about your variability: but I stick to my opinion -about your veracity," says Jurgen, for all that he was upon the -verge of hysteria. "Yes, if lies could choke people that shaggy -throat would certainly be sore." - -Then the brown man stamped his foot, and the striking of his foot -upon the moss made a new noise such as Jurgen had never heard: for -the noise seemed to come multitudinously from every side, at first -as though each leaf in the forest were tinily cachinnating; and then -this noise was swelled by the mirth of larger creatures, and echoes -played with this noise, until there was a reverberation everywhere -like that of thunder. The earth moved under their feet very much as -a beast twitches its skin under the annoyance of flies. Another -queer thing Jurgen noticed, and it was that the trees about the glen -had writhed and arched their trunks, and so had bended, much as -candles bend in very hot weather, to lay their topmost foliage at -the feet of the brown man. And the brown man's appearance was -changed as he stood there, terrible in a continuous brown glare from -the low-hanging clouds, and with the forest making obeisance, and -with shivering and laughter everywhere. - -"Make answer, you who chatter about justice! how if I slew you now," -says the brown man,--"I being what I am?" - -"Slay me, then!" says Jurgen, with shut eyes, for he did not at all -like the appearance of things. "Yes, you can kill me if you choose, -but it is beyond your power to make me believe that there is no -justice anywhere, and that I am unimportant. For I would have you -know I am a monstrous clever fellow. As for you, you are either a -delusion or a god or a degraded Realist. But whatever you are, you -have lied to me, and I know that you have lied, and I will not -believe in the insignificance of Jurgen." - -Chillingly came the whisper of the brown man: "Poor fool! O -shuddering, stiff-necked fool! and have you not just seen that which -you may not ever quite forget?" - -"None the less, I think there is something in me which will endure. -I am fettered by cowardice, I am enfeebled by disastrous memories; -and I am maimed by old follies. Still, I seem to detect in myself -something which is permanent and rather fine. Underneath everything, -and in spite of everything, I really do seem to detect that -something. What rôle that something is to enact after the death of -my body, and upon what stage, I cannot guess. When fortune knocks I -shall open the door. Meanwhile I tell you candidly, you brown man, -there is something in Jurgen far too admirable for any intelligent -arbiter ever to fling into the dustheap. I am, if nothing else, a -monstrous clever fellow: and I think I shall endure, somehow. Yes, -cap in hand goes through the land, as the saying is, and I believe I -can contrive some trick to cheat oblivion when the need arises," -says Jurgen, trembling, and gulping, and with his eyes shut tight, -but even so, with his mind quite made up about it. "Of course you -may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say you are -wrong: but still, at the same time--" - -"Now but before a fool's opinion of himself," the brown man cried, -"the Gods are powerless. Oh, yes, and envious, too!" - -And when Jurgen very cautiously opened his eyes the brown man had -left him physically unharmed. But the state of Jurgen's nervous -system was deplorable. - - - - -20. - -Efficacy of Prayer - - -Jurgen went in a tremble to the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn in -Cameliard. All night Jurgen prayed there, not in repentance, but in -terror. For his dead he prayed, that they should not have been -blotted out in nothingness, for the dead among his kindred whom he -had loved in boyhood, and for these only. About the men and women -whom he had known since then he did not seem to care, or not at -least so vitally. But he put up a sort of prayer for Dame -Lisa--"wherever my dear wife may be, and, O God, grant that I may -come to her at last, and be forgiven!" he wailed, and wondered if he -really meant it. - -He had forgotten about Guenevere. And nobody knows what were that -night the thoughts of the young Princess, nor if she offered any -prayers, in the deserted Hall of Judgment. - -In the morning a sprinkling of persons came to early mass. Jurgen -attended with fervor, and started doorward with the others. Just -before him a merchant stopped to get a pebble from his shoe, and the -merchant's wife went forward to the holy-water font. - -"Madame, permit me," said a handsome young esquire, and offered her -holy water. - -"At eleven," said the merchant's wife, in low tones. "He will be out -all day." - -"My dear," says her husband, as he rejoined her, "and who was the -young gentleman?" - -"Why, I do not know, darling. I never saw him before." - -"He was certainly very civil. I wish there were more like him. And a -fine looking young fellow, too!" - -"Was he? I did not notice," said the merchant's wife, indifferently. - -And Jurgen saw and heard and regarded the departing trio ruefully. -It seemed to him incredible the world should be going on just as it -went before he ventured into the Druid forest. - -He paused before a crucifix, and he knelt and looked up wistfully. -"If one could only know," says Jurgen, "what really happened in -Judea! How immensely would matters be simplified, if anyone but knew -the truth about You, Man upon the Cross!" - -Now the Bishop of Merion passed him, coming from celebration of the -early mass. "My Lord Bishop," says Jurgen, simply, "can you tell me -the truth about this Christ?" - -"Why, indeed, Messire de Logreus," replied the Bishop, "one cannot -but sympathize with Pilate in thinking that the truth about Him is -very hard to get at, even nowadays. Was He Melchisedek, or Shem, or -Adam? or was He verily the Logos? and in that event, what sort of a -something was the Logos? Granted He was a god, were the Arians or -the Sabellians in the right? had He existed always, co-substantial -with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or was He a creation of the -Father, a kind of Israelitic Zagreus? Was He the husband of -Acharamoth, that degraded Sophia, as the Valentinians aver? or the -son of Pantherus, as say the Jews? or Kalakau, as contends -Basilidês? or was it, as the Docetês taught, only a tinted cloud in -the shape of a man that went from Jordan to Golgotha? Or were the -Merinthians right? These are a few of the questions, Messire de -Logreus, which naturally arise. And not all of them are to be -settled out of hand." - -Thus speaking, the gallant prelate bowed, then raised three fingers -in benediction, and so quitted Jurgen, who was still kneeling before -the crucifix. - -"Ah, ah!" says Jurgen, to himself, "but what a variety of -interesting problems are, in point of fact, suggested by religion. -And what delectable exercise would the settling of these problems, -once for all, afford the mind of a monstrous clever fellow! Come -now, it might be well for me to enter the priesthood. It may be that -I have a call." - -But people were shouting in the street. So Jurgen rose and dusted -his knees. And as Jurgen came out of the Cathedral of the Sacred -Thorn the cavalcade was passing that bore away Dame Guenevere to the -arms and throne of her appointed husband. Jurgen stood upon the -Cathedral porch, his mind in part pre-occupied by theology, but -still not failing to observe how beautiful was this young princess, -as she rode by on her white palfrey, green-garbed and crowned and -a-glitter with jewels. She was smiling as she passed him, bowing -her small tenderly-colored young countenance this way and that way, -to the shouting people, and not seeing Jurgen at all. - -Thus she went to her bridal, that Guenevere who was the symbol of -all beauty and purity to the chivalrous people of Glathion. The mob -worshipped her; and they spoke as though it were an angel who -passed. - -"Our beautiful young Princess!" - -"Ah, there is none like her anywhere!" - -"And never a harsh word for anyone, they say--!" - -"Oh, but she is the most admirable of ladies--!" - -"And so brave too, that lovely smiling child who is leaving her home -forever!" - -"And so very, very pretty!" - -"--So generous!" - -"King Arthur will be hard put to it to deserve her!" - -Said Jurgen: "Now it is droll that to these truths I have but to add -another truth in order to have large paving-stones flung at her! and -to have myself tumultuously torn into fragments, by those -unpleasantly sweaty persons who, thank Heaven, are no longer -jostling me!" - -For the Cathedral porch had suddenly emptied, because as the -procession passed heralds were scattering silver among the -spectators. - -"Arthur will have a very lovely queen," says a soft lazy voice. - -And Jurgen turned and saw that beside him was Dame Anaïtis, whom -people called the Lady of the Lake. - -"Yes, he is greatly to be envied," says Jurgen, politely. "But do -you not ride with them to London?" - -"Why, no," says the Lady of the Lake, "because my part in this -bridal was done when I mixed the stirrup-cup of which the Princess -and young Lancelot drank this morning. He is the son of King Ban of -Benwick, that tall young fellow in blue armor. I am partial to -Lancelot, for I reared him, at the bottom of a lake that belongs to -me, and I consider he does me credit. I also believe that Madame -Guenevere by this time agrees with me. And so, my part being done to -serve my creator, I am off for Cocaigne." - -"And what is this Cocaigne?" - -"It is an island wherein I rule." - -"I did not know you were a queen, madame." - -"Why, indeed there are a many things unknown to you, Messire de -Logreus, in a world where nobody gets any assuredness of knowledge -about anything. For it is a world wherein all men that live have but -a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that -a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure." - -"I believe," said Jurgen, as his thoughts shuddered away from what -he had seen and heard in the Druid forest, "that you speak wisdom." - -"Then in Cocaigne we are all wise: for that is our religion. But of -what are you thinking, Duke of Logreus?" - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, "that your eyes are unlike the eyes -of any other woman that I have ever seen." - -Smilingly the dark woman asked him wherein they differed, and -smilingly he said he did not know. They were looking at each other -warily. In each glance an experienced gamester acknowledged a worthy -opponent. - -"Why, then you must come with me into Cocaigne," says Anaïtis, "and -see if you cannot discover wherein lies that difference. For it is -not a matter I would care to leave unsettled." - -"Well, that seems only just to you," says Jurgen. "Yes, certainly I -must deal fairly with you." - -Then they left the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn, walking together. -The folk who went toward London were now well out of sight and -hearing, which possibly accounts for the fact that Jurgen was now in -no wise thinking of Guenevere. So it was that Guenevere rode out of -Jurgen's life for a while: and as she rode she talked with Lancelot. - - - - -21. - -How Anaïtis Voyaged - - -Now the tale tells that Jurgen and this Lady of the Lake came -presently to the wharves of Cameliard, and went aboard the ship -which had brought Anaïtis and Merlin into Glathion. This ship was -now to every appearance deserted: yet all its saffron colored sails -were spread, as though in readiness for the ship's departure. - -"The crew are scrambling, it may be, for the largesse, and fighting -over Gogyrvan's silver pieces," says Anaïtis, "but I think they will -not be long in returning. So we will sit here upon the prow, and -await their leisure." - -"But already the vessel moves," says Jurgen, "and I hear behind -us the rattling of silver chains and the flapping of shifted -saffron-colored sails." - -"They are roguish fellows," says Anaïtis, smiling. "Evidently, they -hid from us, pretending there was nobody aboard. Now they think to -give us a surprise when the ship sets out to sea as though it were -of itself. But we will disappoint these merry rascals, by seeming to -notice nothing unusual." - -So Jurgen sat with Anaïtis in the two tall chairs that were in the -prow of the vessel, under a canopy of crimson stuff embroidered with -gold dragons, and just back of the ship's figurehead, which was a -dragon painted with thirty colors: and the ship moved out of the -harbor, and so into the open sea. Thus they passed Enisgarth. - -"And it is a queer crew that serve you, Anaïtis, who are Queen of -Cocaigne: for I can hear them talking, far back of us, and their -language is all a cheeping and a twittering, as though the mice and -the bats were holding conference." - -"Why, you must understand that these are outlanders who speak a -dialect of their own, and are not like any other people you have -ever seen." - -"Indeed, now, that is very probable, for I have seen none of your -crew. Sometimes it is as though small flickerings passed over the -deck, and that is all." - -"It is but the heat waves rising from the deck, for the day is -warmer than you would think, sitting here under this canopy. And -besides, what call have you and I to be bothering over the pranks of -common mariners, so long as they do their proper duty?" - -"I was thinking, O woman with unusual eyes, that these are hardly -common mariners." - -"And I was thinking, Duke Jurgen, that I would tell you a tale of -the Old Gods, to make the time speed more pleasantly as we sit here -untroubled as a god and a goddess." - -Now they had passed Camwy: and Anaïtis began to narrate the history -of Anistar and Calmoora and of the unusual concessions they granted -each other, and of how Calmoora contented her five lovers: and -Jurgen found the tale perturbing. - -While Anaïtis talked the sky grew dark, as though the sun were -ashamed and veiled his shame with clouds: and they went forward in a -gray twilight which deepened steadily over a tranquil sea. So they -passed the lights of Sargyll, most remote of the Red Islands, while -Anaïtis talked of Procris and King Minos and Pasiphaë. As color went -out of the air new colors entered into the sea, which now assumed -the varied gleams of water that has long been stagnant. And a -silence brooded over the sea, so that there was no noise anywhere -except the sound of the voice of Anaïtis, saying, "All men that live -have but a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. -So that a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his -own body; and yet the body of man is capable of much curious -pleasure." - -They came thus to a low-lying naked beach, where there was no sign -of habitation. Anaïtis said this was the land they were seeking, and -they went ashore. - -"Even now," says Jurgen, "I have seen none of the crew who brought -us hither." - -And the beautiful dark woman shrugged, and marveled why he need -perpetually be bothering over the doings of common sailors. - -They went forward across the beach, through sand hills, to a moor, -seeing no one, and walking in a gray fog. They passed many gray fat -sluggish worms and some curious gray reptiles such as Jurgen had -never imagined to exist, but Anaïtis said these need not trouble -them. - -"So there is no call to be fingering your charmed sword as we walk -here, Duke Jurgen, for these great worms do not ever harm the -living." - -"For whom, then, do they lie here in wait, in this gray fog, -wherethrough the green lights flutter, and wherethrough I hear at -times a thin and far-off wailing?" - -"What is that to you, Duke Jurgen, since you and I are still in the -warm flesh? Surely there was never a man who asked more idle -questions." - -"Yet this is an uncomfortable twilight." - -"To the contrary, you should rejoice that it is a fog too heavy to -be penetrated by the Moon." - -"But what have I to do with the Moon?" - -"Nothing, as yet. And that is as well for you, Duke Jurgen, since it -is authentically reported you have derided the day which is sacred -to the Moon. Now the Moon does not love derision, as I well know, -for in part I serve the Moon." - -"Eh?" says Jurgen: and he began to reflect. - -So they came to a wall that was high and gray, and to the door which -was in the wall. - -"You must knock two or three times," says Anaïtis, "to get into -Cocaigne." - -Jurgen observed the bronze knocker upon the door, and he grinned in -order to hide his embarrassment. - -"It is a quaint fancy," said he, "and the two constituents of it -appear to have been modeled from life." - -"They were copied very exactly from Adam and Eve," says Anaïtis, -"who were the first persons to open this gateway." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "there is no earthly doubt that men -degenerate, since here under my hand is the proof of it." - -With that he knocked, and the door opened, and the two of them -entered. - - - - -22. - -As to a Veil They Broke - - -So it was that Jurgen came into Cocaigne, wherein is the bedchamber -of Time. And Time, they report, came in with Jurgen, since Jurgen -was mortal: and Time, they say, rejoiced in this respite from the -slow toil of dilapidating cities stone by stone, and with his eyes -tired by the finicky work of etching in wrinkles, went happily into -his bedchamber, and fell asleep just after sunset on this fine -evening in late June: so that the weather remained fair and -changeless, with no glaring sun rays anywhere, and with one large -star shining alone in clear daylight. This was the star of Venus -Mechanitis, and Jurgen later derived considerable amusement from -noting how this star was trundled about the dome of heaven by a -largish beetle, named Khepre. And the trees everywhere kept their -first fresh foliage, and the birds were about their indolent evening -songs, all during Jurgen's stay in Cocaigne, for Time had gone to -sleep at the pleasantest hour of the year's most pleasant season. So -tells the tale. - -And Jurgen's shadow also went in with Jurgen, but in Cocaigne as in -Glathion, nobody save Jurgen seemed to notice this curious shadow -which now followed Jurgen everywhere. - -In Cocaigne Queen Anaïtis had a palace, where domes and pinnacles -beyond numbering glimmered with a soft whiteness above the top of an -old twilit forest, wherein the vegetation was unlike that which is -nourished by ordinary earth. There was to be seen in these woods, -for instance, a sort of moss which made Jurgen shudder. So Anaïtis -and Jurgen came through narrow paths, like murmuring green caverns, -into a courtyard walled and paved with yellow marble, wherein was -nothing save the dimly colored statue of a god with ten heads and -thirty-four arms: he was represented as very much engrossed by a -woman, and with his unoccupied hands was holding yet other women. - -"It is Jigsbyed," said Anaïtis. - -Said Jurgen: "I do not criticize. Nevertheless, I think this -Jigsbyed is carrying matters to extremes." - -Then they passed the statue of Tangaro Loloquong, and afterward the -statue of Legba. Jurgen stroked his chin, and his color heightened. -"Now certainly, Queen Anaïtis," he said, "you have unusual taste in -sculpture." - -Thence Jurgen came with Anaïtis into a white room, with copper -plaques upon the walls, and there four girls were heating water in a -brass tripod. They bathed Jurgen, giving him astonishing caresses -meanwhile--with the tongue, the hair, the finger-nails, and the tips -of the breasts,--and they anointed him with four oils, then dressed -him again in his glittering shirt. Of Caliburn, said Anaïtis, there -was no present need: so Jurgen's sword was hung upon the wall. - -These girls brought silver bowls containing wine mixed with honey, -and they brought pomegranates and eggs and barleycorn, and -triangular red-colored loaves, whereon they sprinkled sweet-smelling -little seeds with formal gestures. Then Anaïtis and Jurgen broke -their fast, eating together while the four girls served them. - -"And now," says Jurgen, "and now, my dear, I would suggest that we -enter into the pursuit of those curious pleasures of which you were -telling me." - -"I am very willing," responded Anaïtis, "since there is no one of -these pleasures but is purchased by some diversion of man's nature. -Yet first, as I need hardly inform you, there is a ceremonial to be -observed." - -"And what, pray, is this ceremonial?" - -"Why, we call it the Breaking of the Veil." And Queen Anaïtis -explained what they must do. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Anaïtis led Jurgen into a sort of chapel, adorned with very -unchurchlike paintings. There were four shrines, dedicated severally -to St. Cosmo, to St. Damianus, to St. Guignole of Brest, and to St. -Foutin de Varailles. In this chapel were a hooded man, clothed in -long garments that were striped with white and yellow, and two naked -children, both girls. One of the children carried a censer: the -other held in one hand a vividly blue pitcher half filled with -water, and in her left hand a cellar of salt. - -First of all, the hooded man made Jurgen ready. "Behold the lance," -said the hooded man, "which must serve you in this adventure." - -"I accept the adventure," Jurgen replied, "because I believe the -weapon to be trustworthy." - -Said the hooded man: "So be it! but as you are, so once was I." - -Meanwhile Duke Jurgen held the lance erect, shaking it with his -right hand. This lance was large, and the tip of it was red with -blood. - -"Behold," said Jurgen, "I am a man born of a woman incomprehensibly. -Now I, who am miraculous, am found worthy to perform a miracle, and -to create that which I may not comprehend." - -Anaïtis took salt and water from the child, and mingled these. "Let -the salt of earth enable the thin fluid to assume the virtue of the -teeming sea!" - -Then, kneeling, she touched the lance, and began to stroke it -lovingly. To Jurgen she said: "Now may you be fervent of soul and -body! May the endless Serpent be your crown, and the fertile flame -of the sun your strength!" - -Said the hooded man, again: "So be it!" His voice was high and -bleating, because of that which had been done to him. - -"That therefore which we cannot understand we also invoke," said -Jurgen. "By the power of the lifted lance"--and now with his left -hand he took the hand of Anaïtis,--"I, being a man born of a woman -incomprehensibly, now seize upon that which alone I desire with my -whole being. I lead you toward the east. I upraise you above the -earth and all the things of earth." - -Then Jurgen raised Queen Anaïtis so that she sat upon the altar, and -that which was there before tumbled to the ground. Anaïtis placed -together the tips of her thumbs and of her fingers, so that her -hands made an open triangle; and waited thus. Upon her head was a -network of red coral, with branches radiating downward: her gauzy -tunic had twenty-two openings, so as to admit all imaginable -caresses, and was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled: her dark eyes glittered and her breath came fast. - -Now the hooded man and the two naked girls performed their share in -the ceremonial, which part it is not essential to record. But Jurgen -was rather shocked by it. - -None the less, Jurgen said: "O cord that binds the circling of the -stars! O cup which holds all time, all color, and all thought! O -soul of space! not unto any image of thee do we attain unless thy -image show in what we are about to do. Therefore by every plant -which scatters its seed and by the moist warm garden which receives -and nourishes it, by the comminglement of bloodshed with pleasure, -by the joy that mimics anguish with sighs and shudderings, and by -the contentment which mimics death,--by all these do we invoke thee. -O thou, continuous one, whose will these children attend, and whom I -now adore in this fair-colored and soft woman's body, it is thou -whom I honor, not any woman, in doing what seems good to me: and it -is thou who art about to speak, and not she." - -Then Anaïtis said: "Yea, for I speak with the tongue of every woman, -and I shine in the eyes of every woman, when the lance is lifted. To -serve me is better than all else. When you invoke me with a heart -wherein is kindled the serpent flame, if but for a moment, you will -understand the delights of my garden, what joy unwordable pulsates -therein, and how potent is the sole desire which uses all of a man. -To serve me you will then be eager to surrender whatever else is in -your life: and other pleasures you will take with your left hand, -not thinking of them entirely: for I am the desire which uses all of -a man, and so wastes nothing. And I accept you, I yearn toward you, -I who am daughter and somewhat more than daughter to the Sun. I who -am all pleasure, all ruin, and a drunkenness of the inmost sense, -desire you." - -Now Jurgen held his lance erect before Anaïtis. "O secret of all -things, hidden in the being of all which lives, now that the lance -is exalted I do not dread thee: for thou art in me, and I am thou. I -am the flame that burns in every beating heart and in the core of -the farthest star. I too am life and the giver of life, and in me -too is death. Wherein art thou better than I? I am alone: my will is -justice: and there comes no other god where I am." - -Said the hooded man behind Jurgen: "So be it! but as you are, so -once was I." - -The two naked children stood one at each side of Anaïtis, and waited -there trembling. These girls, as Jurgen afterward learned, were -Alecto and Tisiphonê, two of the Eumenidês. And now Jurgen shifted -the red point of the lance, so that it rested in the open triangle -made by the fingers of Anaïtis. - -"I am life and the giver of life," cried Jurgen. "Thou that art one, -that makest use of all! I who am a man born of woman, I in my -station honor thee in honoring this desire which uses all of a man. -Make open therefore the way of creation, encourage the flaming dust -which is in our hearts, and aid us in that flame's perpetuation! For -is not that thy law?" - -Anaïtis answered: "There is no law in Cocaigne save, Do that which -seems good to you." - -Then said the naked children: "Perhaps it is the law, but certainly -it is not justice. Yet we are little and quite helpless. So -presently we must be made as you are for now you two are no longer -two, and your flesh is not shared merely with each other. For your -flesh becomes our flesh, and your sins our sins: and we have no -choice." - -Jurgen lifted Anaïtis from the altar, and they went into the chancel -and searched for the adytum. There seemed to be no doors anywhere in -the chancel: but presently Jurgen found an opening screened by a -pink veil. Jurgen thrust with his lance and broke this veil. He -heard the sound of one brief wailing cry: it was followed by soft -laughter. So Jurgen came into the adytum. - -Black candles were burning in this place, and sulphur too was -burning there, before a scarlet cross, of which the top was a -circle, and whereon was nailed a living toad. And other curious -matters Jurgen likewise noticed. - -He laughed, and turned to Anaïtis: now that the candles were behind -him, she was standing in his shadow. "Well, well! but you are a -little old-fashioned, with all these equivocal mummeries. And I did -not know that civilized persons any longer retained sufficient -credulity to wring a thrill from god-baiting. Still, women must be -humored, bless them! and at last, I take it, we have quite fairly -fulfilled the ceremonial requisite to the pursuit of curious -pleasures." - -Queen Anaïtis was very beautiful, even under his bedimming shadow. -Triumphant too was the proud face beneath that curious coral -network, and yet this woman's face was sad. - -"Dear fool," she said, "it was not wise, when you sang of the Léshy, -to put an affront upon Monday. But you have forgotten that. And now -you laugh because that which we have done you do not understand: and -equally that which I am you do not understand." - -"No matter what you may be, my dear, I am sure that you will -presently tell me all about it. For I assume that you mean to deal -fairly with me." - -"I shall do that which becomes me, Duke Jurgen--" - -"That is it, my dear, precisely! You intend to be true to yourself, -whatever happens. The aspiration does you infinite honor, and I -shall try to help you. Now I have noticed that every woman is most -truly herself," says Jurgen, oracularly, "in the dark." - -Then Jurgen looked at her for a moment, with twinkling eyes: then -Anaïtis, standing in his shadow, smiled with glowing eyes: then -Jurgen blew out those black candles: and then it was quite dark. - - - - -23. - -Shortcomings of Prince Jurgen - - -Now the happenings just recorded befell on the eve of the Nativity -of St. John the Baptist: and thereafter Jurgen abode in Cocaigne, -and complied with the customs of that country. - -In the palace of Queen Anaïtis, all manner of pastimes were -practised without any cessation. Jurgen, who considered himself to -be somewhat of an authority upon such contrivances, was soon -astounded by his own innocence. For Anaïtis showed him whatever was -being done in Cocaigne, to this side and to that side, under the -direction of Anaïtis, whom Jurgen found to be a nature myth of -doubtful origin connected with the Moon; and who, in consequence, -ruled not merely in Cocaigne but furtively swayed the tides of life -everywhere the Moon keeps any power over tides. It was the mission -of Anaïtis to divert and turn aside and deflect: in this the jealous -Moon abetted her because sunlight makes for straightforwardness. So -Anaïtis and the Moon were staunch allies. These mysteries of their -private relations, however, as revealed to Jurgen, are not very -nicely repeatable. - -"But you dishonored the Moon, Prince Jurgen, denying praise to the -day of the Moon. Or so, at least, I have heard." - -"I remember doing nothing of the sort. But I remember considering it -unjust to devote one paltry day to the Moon's majesty. For night is -sacred to the Moon, each night that ever was the friend of -lovers,--night, the renewer and begetter of all life." - -"Why, indeed, there is something in that argument," says Anaïtis, -dubiously. - -"'Something', do you say! why, but to my way of thinking it proves -the Moon is precisely seven times more honorable than any of the -Léshy. It is merely, my dear, a question of arithmetic." - -"Was it for that reason you did not praise Pandelis and her Mondays -with the other Léshy?" - -"Why, to be sure," said Jurgen, glibly. "I did not find it at all -praiseworthy that such an insignificant Léshy as Pandelis should -name her day after the Moon: to me it seemed blasphemy." Then Jurgen -coughed, and looked sidewise at his shadow. "Had it been Sereda, -now, the case would have been different, and the Moon might well -have appreciated the delicate compliment." - -Anaïtis appeared relieved. "I shall report your explanation. -Candidly, there were ill things in store for you, Prince Jurgen, -because your language was misunderstood. But that which you now say -puts quite a different complexion upon matters." - -Jurgen laughed, not understanding the mystery, but confident he -could always say whatever was required of him. - -"Now let us see a little more of Cocaigne!" cries Jurgen. - -For Jurgen was greatly interested by the pursuits of Cocaigne, and -for a week or ten days participated therein industriously. Anaïtis, -who reported the Moon's honor to be satisfied, now spared no effort -to divert him, and they investigated innumerable pastimes together. - -"For all men that live have but a little while to live," said -Anaïtis, "and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a man -possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his body: and yet -the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus and -thus," says Anaïtis. And she revealed devices to her Prince Consort. - -For Jurgen found that unknowingly he had in due and proper form -espoused Queen Anaïtis, by participating in the Breaking of the -Veil, which is the marriage ceremony of Cocaigne. His earlier -relations with Dame Lisa had, of course, no legal standing in -Cocaigne, where the Church is not Christian and the Law is, Do that -which seems good to you. - -"Well, when in Rome," said Jurgen, "one must be romantic. But -certainly this proves that nobody ever knows when he is being -entrapped into respectability: and never did a fine young fellow -marry a high queen with less premeditation." - -"Ah, my dear," says Anaïtis, "you were controlled by the finger of -Fate." - -"I do not altogether like that figure of speech. It makes one seem -too trivial, to be controlled by a mere finger. No, it is not quite -complimentary to call what prompted me a finger." - -"By the long arm of coincidence, then." - -"Much more appropriate, my love," says Jurgen, complacently: "it -sounds more dignified, and does not wound my self esteem." - -Now this Anaïtis who was Queen of Cocaigne was a delicious tall dark -woman, thinnish, and lovely, and very restless. From the first her -new Prince Consort was puzzled by her fervors, and presently was -fretted by them. He humbly failed to understand how anyone could be -so frantic over Jurgen. It seemed unreasonable. And in her more -affectionate moments this nature myth positively frightened him: for -transports such as these could not but rouse discomfortable -reminiscences of the female spider, who ends such recreations by -devouring her partner. - -"Thus to be loved is very flattering," he would reflect, "and I -again am Jurgen, asking odds of none. But even so, I am mortal. She -ought to remember that, in common fairness." - -Then the jealousy of Anaïtis, while equally flattering, was equally -out of reason. She suspected everybody, seemed assured that every -bosom cherished a mad passion for Jurgen, and that not for a moment -could he be trusted. Well, as Jurgen frankly conceded, his conduct -toward Stella, that ill-starred yogini of Indawadi, had in point of -fact displayed, when viewed from an especial and quite unconscionable -point of view, an aspect which, when isolated by persons judging -hastily, might, just possibly, appear to approach remotely, in one -or two respects, to temporary forgetfulness of Anaïtis, if indeed -there were people anywhere so mentally deficient as to find such -forgetfulness conceivable. - -But the main thing, the really important feature, which Anaïtis -could not be made to understand, was that she had interrupted her -consort in what was, in effect, a philosophical experiment, -necessarily attempted in the dark. The muntrus requisite to the -sacti sodhana were always performed in darkness: everybody knew -that. For the rest, this Stella had asserted so-and-so; in simple -equity she was entitled to a chance to prove her allegations if she -could: so Jurgen had proceeded to deal fairly with her. Besides, why -keep talking about this Stella, after a vengeance so spectacular and -thorough as that to which Anaïtis had out of hand resorted? why keep -reverting to a topic which was repugnant to Jurgen and visibly upset -the dearest nature myth in all legend? Was it quite fair to anyone -concerned? That was the sensible way in which Jurgen put it. - -Still, he became honestly fond of Anaïtis. Barring her -eccentricities when roused to passion, she was a generous and kindly -creature, although in Jurgen's opinion somewhat narrow-minded. - -"My love," he would say to her, "you appear positively unable to -keep away from virtuous persons! You are always seeking out the -people who endeavor to be upright and straightforward, and you are -perpetually laying plans to divert these people. Ah, but why bother -about them? What need have you to wear yourself out, and to devote -your entire time to such proselitizing, when you might be so much -more agreeably employed? You should learn, in justice to yourself as -well as to others, to be tolerant of all things; and to acknowledge -that in a being of man's mingled nature a strain of respectability -is apt to develop every now and then, whatever you might prefer." - -But Anaïtis had high notions as to her mission, and merely told him -that he ought not to speak with levity of such matters. "I would be -much happier staying at home with you and the children," she would -say, "but I feel that it is my duty--" - -"And your duty to whom, in heaven's name?" - -"Please do not employ such distasteful expressions, Jurgen. It is my -duty to the power I serve, my very manifest duty to my creator. But -you have no sense of religion, I am afraid; and the reflection is -often a considerable grief to me." - -"Ah, but, my dear, you are quite certain as to who made you, and for -what purpose you were made. You nature myths were created in the -Mythopoeic age by the perversity of old heathen nations: and you -serve your creator religiously. That is quite as it should be. But I -have no such authentic information as to my origin and mission in -life, I appear at all events to have no natural talent for being -diverted, I do not take to it wholeheartedly, and these are facts we -have to face." Now Jurgen put his arm around her. "My dear Anaïtis, -you must not think it mere selfishness on my part. I was born with a -something lacking that is requisite for anyone who aspires to be as -thoroughly misled as most people: and you will have to love me in -spite of it." - -"I almost wish I had never seen you as I saw you in that corridor, -Jurgen. For I felt drawn toward you then and there. I almost wish I -had never seen you at all. I cannot help being fond of you: and yet -you laugh at the things I know to be required of me, and sometimes -you make me laugh, too." - -"But, darling, are you not just the least, littlest, tiniest, very -weest trifle bigoted? For instance, I can see that you think I ought -to evince more interest in your striking dances, and your strange -pleasures, and your surprising caresses, and all your other -elaborate diversions. And I do think they do you credit, great -credit, and I admire your inventiveness no less than your -industry--" - -"You have no sense of reverence, Jurgen, you seem to have no sense -at all of what is due to one's creator. I suppose you cannot help -that: but you might at least remember it troubles me to hear you -talk so flippantly of my religion." - -"But I do not talk flippantly--" - -"Indeed you do, though. And it does not sound at all well, let me -tell you." - -"--Instead, I but point out that your creed necessitates, upon the -whole, an ardor I lack. You, my pet, were created by perversity: and -everyone knows it is the part of piety to worship one's creator in -fashions acceptable to that creator. So, I do not criticize your -religious connections, dear, and nobody admires these ceremonials of -your faith more heartily than I do. I merely confess that to -celebrate these rites so frequently requires a sustention of -enthusiasm which is beyond me. In fine, I have not your fervent -temperament, I am more sceptical. You may be right; and certainly I -cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is how I feel about it, my precious, and that is why I -find, with constant repetition of these ceremonials, a certain lack -of firmness developing in my responses: and finally, darling, that -is all there is to it." - -"I never in my whole incarnation had such a Prince Consort! -Sometimes I think you do not care a bit about me one way or the -other, Jurgen." - -"Ah, but I do care for you very much. And to prove it, come now let -us try some brand-new diversion, at sight of which the skies will be -blackened and the earth will shudder or something of that sort, and -then I will take the children fishing, as I promised." - -"No, Jurgen, I do not feel like diverting you just now. You take all -the solemnity out of it with your jeering. Besides, you are always -with the children. Jurgen, I believe you are fonder of the children -than you are of me. And when you are not with them you are locked up -in the Library." - -"Well, and was there ever such a treasury as the Library of -Cocaigne? All the diversions that you nature myths have practised I -find recorded there: and to read of your ingenious devices delights -and maddens me. For it is eminently interesting to meditate upon -strange pleasures, and to make verses about them is the most amiable -of avocations: it is merely the pursuit of them that I would -discourage, as disappointing and mussy. Besides, the Library is the -only spot I have to myself in the palace, what with your fellow -nature myths making the most of life all over the place." - -"It is necessary, Jurgen, for one in my position to entertain more -or less. And certainly I cannot close the doors against my own -relatives." - -"Such riffraff, though, my darling! Such odds and ends! I cannot -congratulate you upon your kindred, for I do not get on at all with -these patchwork combinations, that are one-third man and the other -two-thirds a vulgar fraction of bull or hawk or goat or serpent or -ape or jackal or what not. Priapos is the only male myth who comes -here in anything like the semblance of a complete human being: and I -had infinitely rather he stayed away, because even I who am Jurgen -cannot but be envious of him." - -"And why, pray?" - -"Well, where I go reasonably equipped with Caliburn, Priapos carries -a lance I envy--" - -"Like all the Bacchic myths he usually carries a thyrsos, and it is -a showy weapon, certainly; but it is not of much use in actual -conflict." - -"My darling! and how do you know?" - -"Why, Jurgen, how do women always know these things?--by intuition, -I suppose." - -"You mean that you judge all affairs by feeling rather than reason? -Indeed, I dare say that is true of most women, and men are daily -chafed and delighted, about equally, by your illogical method of -putting things together. But to get back to the congenial task of -criticizing your kindred, your cousin Apis, for example, may be a -very good sort of fellow: but, say what you will, it is ill-advised -of him to be going about in public with a bull's head. It makes him -needlessly conspicuous, if not actually ridiculous: and it puts me -out when I try to talk to him." - -"Now, Jurgen, pray remember that you speak of a very generally -respected myth, and that you are being irreverent--" - -"--And moreover, I take the liberty of repeating, my darling, that -even though this Ba of Mendes is your cousin, it honestly does -embarrass me to have to meet three-quarters of a goat socially--" - -"But, Jurgen, I must as a master of course invite prolific Ba to my -feasts of the Sacæ--" - -"Even so, my dear, in issuing invitations a hostess may fairly presuppose -that her guests will not make beasts of themselves. I often wish that -this mere bit of ordinary civility were more rigorously observed by Ba -and Hortanes and Fricco and Vul and Baal-Peor, and by all your other -cousins who come to visit you in such a zoologically muddled condition. -It shows a certain lack of respect for you, my darling." - -"Oh, but it is all in the family, Jurgen--" - -"Besides, they have no conversation. They merely bellow--or twitter -or bleat or low or gibber or purr, according to their respective -incarnations,--about unspeakable mysteries and monstrous pleasures -until I am driven to the verge of virtue by their imbecility." - -"If you were more practical, Jurgen, you would realize that it -speaks splendidly for anyone to be really interested in his -vocation--" - -"And your female relatives are just as annoying, with their eternal -whispered enigmas, and their crescent moons, and their mystic roses -that change color and require continual gardening, and their -pathetic belief that I have time to fool with them. And the entire -pack practises symbolism until the house is positively littered with -asherahs and combs and phalloses and linghams and yonis and arghas -and pulleiars and talys, and I do not know what other idiotic toys -that I am continually stepping on!" - -"Which of those minxes has been making up to you?" says Anaïtis, her -eyes snapping. - -"Ah, ah! now many of your female cousins are enticing enough--" - -"I knew it! Oh, but you need not think you deluded me--!" - -"My darling, pray consider! be reasonable about it! Your feminine -guests at present are Sekhmet in the form of a lioness, Io -incarnated as a cow, Hekt as a frog, Derceto as a sturgeon, and--ah, -yes!--Thoueris as a hippopotamus. I leave it to your sense of -justice, dear Anaïtis, if of ladies with such tastes in dress a -lovely myth like you can reasonably be jealous." - -"And I know perfectly well who it is! It is that Ephesian hussy, and -I had several times noticed her behavior. Very well, oh, very well, -indeed! nevertheless, I shall have a plain word or two with her at -once, and the sooner she gets out of my house the better, as I shall -tell her quite frankly. And as for you, Jurgen--!" - -"But, my dear Lisa--!" - -"What do you call me? Lisa was never an epithet of mine. Why do you -call me Lisa?" - -"It was a slip of the tongue, my pet, an involuntary but not -unnatural association of ideas. As for the Ephesian Diana, she -reminds me of an animated pine-cone, with that eruption of breasts -all over her, and I can assure you of your having no particular -reason to be jealous of her. It was merely of the female myths in -general I spoke. Of course they all make eyes at me: I cannot well -help that, and you should have anticipated as much when you selected -such an attractive Prince Consort. What do these poor enamored -creatures matter when to you my heart is ever faithful?" - -"It is not your heart I am worrying over, Jurgen, for I believe you -have none. Yes, you have quite succeeded in worrying me to -distraction, if that is any comfort to you. However, let us not talk -about it. For it is now necessary, absolutely imperative, that I go -into Armenia to take part in the mourning for Tammouz: people would -not understand it at all if I stayed away from such important -orgies. And I shall get no benefit whatever from the trip, much as I -need the change, because, without speaking of that famous heart of -yours, you are always up to some double-dealing, and I shall not -know into what mischief you may be thrusting yourself." - -Jurgen laughed, and kissed her. "Be off, and attend to your -religious duties, dear, by all means. And I promise you I will stay -safe locked in the Library till you come back." - -Thus Jurgen abode among the offspring of heathen perversity, and -conformed to their customs. Death ends all things for all, they -contended, and life is brief: for how few years do men endure, and -how quickly is the most subtle and appalling nature myth explained -away by the Philologists! So the wise person, and equally the -foreseeing nature myth, will take his glut of pleasure while there -is yet time to take anything, and will waste none of his short lien -upon desire and vigor by asking questions. - -"Oh, but by all means!" said Jurgen, and he docilely crowned himself -with a rose garland, and drank his wine, and kissed his Anaïtis. -Then, when the feast of the Sacæ was at full-tide, he would whisper -to Anaïtis, "I will be back in a moment, darling," and she would -frown fondly at him as he very quietly slipped from his ivory dining -couch, and went, with the merest suspicion of a reel, into the -Library. She knew that Jurgen had no intention of coming back: and -she despaired of his ever taking the position in the social life of -Cocaigne to which he was entitled no less by his rank as Prince -Consort than by his personal abilities. For Anaïtis did not really -think that, as went natural endowments, her Jurgen had much reason -to envy even such a general favorite as Priapos, say, from what she -knew of both. - -So it was that Jurgen honored custom. "Because these beastly nature -myths may be right," said Jurgen; "and certainly I cannot go so far -as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--!" - -For Jurgen was content to dismiss no riddle with a mere "I do not -know." Jurgen was no more able to give up questioning the meaning of -life than could a trout relinquish swimming: indeed, he lived -submerged in a flood of curiosity and doubt, as his native element. -That death ended all things might very well be the case: yet if the -outcome proved otherwise, how much more pleasant it would be, for -everyone concerned, to have aforetime established amicable relations -with the overlords of his second life, by having done whatever it -was they expected of him here. - -"Yes, I feel that something is expected of me," says Jurgen: "and -without knowing what it is, I am tolerably sure, somehow, that it is -not an indulgence in endless pleasure. Besides, I do not think death -is going to end all for me. If only I could be quite certain my -encounter with King Smoit, and with that charming little Sylvia -Tereu, was not a dream! As it is, plain reasoning assures me I am -not indispensable to the universe: but with this reasoning, somehow, -does not travel my belief. No, it is only fair to my own interests -to go graveward a little more openmindedly than do these nature -myths, since I lack the requisite credulity to become a free-thinking -materialist. To believe that we know nothing assuredly, and cannot -ever know anything assuredly, is to take too much on faith." - -And Jurgen paused to shake his sleek black head two or three times, -very sagely. - -"No, I cannot believe in nothingness being the destined end of all: -that would be too futile a climax to content a dramatist clever -enough to have invented Jurgen. No, it is just as I said to the -brown man: I cannot believe in the annihilation of Jurgen by any -really thrifty overlords; so I shall see to it that Jurgen does -nothing which he cannot more or less plausibly excuse, in case of -supernal inquiries. That is far safer." - -Now Jurgen was shaking his head again: and he sighed. - -"For the pleasures of Cocaigne do not satisfy me. They are all well -enough in their way; and I admit the truism that in seeking bed and -board two heads are better than one. Yes, Anaïtis makes me an -excellent wife. Nevertheless, her diversions do not satisfy me, and -gallantly to make the most of life is not enough. No, it is -something else that I desire: and Anaïtis does not quite understand -me." - - - - -24. - -Of Compromises in Cocaigne - - -Thus Jurgen abode for a little over two months in Cocaigne, and -complied with the customs of that country. Nothing altered in -Cocaigne: but in the world wherein Jurgen was reared, he knew, it -would by this time be September, with the leaves flaring gloriously, -and the birds flocking southward, and the hearts of Jurgen's fellows -turning to not unpleasant regrets. But in Cocaigne there was no -regret and no variability, but only an interminable flow of curious -pleasures, illumined by the wandering star of Venus Mechanitis. - -"Why is it, then, that I am not content?" said Jurgen. "And what -thing is this which I desire? It seems to me there is some injustice -being perpetrated upon Jurgen, somewhere." - -Meanwhile he lived with Anaïtis the Sun's daughter very much as he -had lived with Lisa, who was daughter to a pawnbroker. Anaïtis -displayed upon the whole a milder temper: in part because she could -confidently look forward to several centuries more of life before -being explained away by the Philologists, and so had less need than -Dame Lisa to worry over temporal matters; and in part because there -was less to ruin one's disposition in two months than in ten years -of Jurgen's company. Anaïtis nagged and sulked for a while when her -Prince Consort slackened in the pursuit of strange delights, as he -did very soon, with frank confession that his tastes were simple and -that these outlandish refinements bored him. Later Anaïtis seemed to -despair of his ever becoming proficient in curious pleasures, and -she permitted Jurgen to lead a comparatively normal life, with only -an occasional and half-hearted remonstrance. - -What puzzled Jurgen was that she did not seem to tire of him: and he -would often wonder what this lovely myth, so skilled and potent in -arts wherein he was the merest bungler, could find to care for in -Jurgen. For now they lived together like any other humdrum married -couple, and their occasional exchange of endearments was as much a -matter of course as their meals, and hardly more exciting. - -"Poor dear, I believe it is simply because I am a monstrous clever -fellow. She distrusts my cleverness, she very often disapproves of -it, and yet she values it as queer, as a sort of curiosity. Well, -but who can deny that cleverness is truly a curiosity in Cocaigne?" - -So Anaïtis petted and pampered her Prince Consort, and took such -open pride in his queerness as very nearly embarrassed him -sometimes. She could not understand his attitude of polite amusement -toward his associates and the events which befell him, and even -toward his own doings and traits. Whatever happened, Jurgen -shrugged, and, delicately avoiding actual laughter, evinced -amusement. Anaïtis could not understand this at all, of course, -since Asian myths are remarkably destitute of humor. To Jurgen in -private she protested that he ought to be ashamed of his levity: but -none the less, she would draw him out, when among the bestial and -grim nature myths, and she would glow visibly with fond pride in -Jurgen's queerness. - -"She mothers me," reflected Jurgen. "Upon my word, I believe that in -the end this is the only way in which females are capable of loving. -And she is a dear and lovely creature, of whom I am sincerely fond. -What is this thing, then, that I desire? Why do I feel life is not -treating me quite justly?" - -So the summer had passed; and Anaïtis travelled a great deal, being -a popular myth in every land. Her sense of duty was so strong that -she endeavored to grace in person all the peculiar festivals held in -her honor, and this, now the harvest season was at hand, left her -with hardly a moment disengaged. Then, too, the mission of Anaïtis -was to divert; and there were so many people whom she had personally -to visit--so many notable ascetics who were advancing straight -toward canonization, and whom her underlings were unable to -divert,--that Anaïtis was compelled to pass night after night in -unwholesomely comfortless surroundings, in monasteries and in the -cells and caves of hermits. - -"You are wearing yourself out, my darling," Jurgen would say: "and -does it not seem, after all, a game that is hardly worth the candle? -I know that, for my part, before I would travel so many miles into a -desert, and then climb a hundred foot pillar, just to whisper -diverting notions into an anchorite's very dirty ear, I would let -the gaunt rascal go to Heaven. But you associate so much with -saintly persons that you have contracted their incapacity for seeing -the humorous side of things. Well, you are a dear, even so. Here is -a kiss for you: and do you come back to your adoring husband as soon -as you conveniently can without neglecting your duty." - -"They report that this Stylites is very far gone in rectitude," said -Anaïtis, absent-mindedly, as she prepared for the journey, "but I -have hopes for him." - -Then Anaïtis put purple powder on her hair, and hastily got together -a few beguiling devices, and went into the Thebaid. Jurgen went back -to the Library, and the _System of Worshipping a Girl_, and the -unique manuscripts of Astyanassa and Elephantis and Sotadês, and the -Dionysiac Formulae, and the Chart of Postures, and the _Litany of -the Centre of Delight_, and the Spintrian Treatises, and the -_Thirty-two Gratifications_, and innumerable other volumes -which he found instructive. - -The Library was a vaulted chamber, having its walls painted with the -twelve Asan of Cyrenê; the ceiling was frescoed with the arched body -of a woman, whose toes rested upon the cornice of the east wall, and -whose out-stretched finger-tips touched the cornice of the western -wall. The clothing of this painted woman was remarkable: and to -Jurgen her face was not unfamiliar. - -"Who is that?" he inquired, of Anaïtis. - -Looking a little troubled, Anaïtis told him this was Æsred. - -"Well, I have heard her called otherwise: and I have seen her in -quite other clothing." - -"You have seen Æsred!" - -"Yes, with a kitchen towel about her head, and otherwise -unostentatiously appareled--but very becomingly, I can assure you!" -Here Jurgen glanced sidewise at his shadow, and he cleared his -throat. "Oh, and a most charming and a most estimable old lady I -found this Æsred to be, I can assure you also." - -"I would prefer to know nothing about it," said Anaïtis, hastily, "I -would prefer, for both our sakes, that you say no more of Æsred." -Jurgen shrugged. - -Now in the Library of Cocaigne was garnered a record of all that the -nature myths had invented in the way of pleasure. And here, with no -companion save his queer shadow, and with Æsred arched above and -bleakly regarding him, Jurgen spent most of his time, rather -agreeably, in investigating and meditating upon the more curious of -these recreations. The painted Asan were, in all conscience, food -for wonder: but over and above these dozen surprising pastimes, the -books of Anaïtis revealed to Jurgen, without disguise or reticence, -every other far-fetched frolic of heathenry. Hitherto unheard-of -forms of diversion were unveiled to him, and every recreation which -ingenuity had been able to contrive, for the gratifying of the most -subtle and the most strong-stomached tastes. No possible sort of -amusement would seem to have been omitted, in running the quaint -gamut of refinements upon nature which Anaïtis and her cousins had -at odd moments invented, to satiate their desire for some more suave -or more strange or more sanguinary pleasure. Yet the deeper Jurgen -investigated, and the longer he meditated, the more certain it -seemed to him that all such employment was a peculiarly -unimaginative pursuit of happiness. - -"I am willing to taste any drink once. So I must give diversion a -fair trial. But I am afraid these are the games of mental childhood. -Well, that reminds me I promised the children to play with them for -a while before supper." - -So he came out, and presently, brave in the shirt of Nessus, and -mimicked in every action by that incongruous shadow, Prince Jurgen -was playing tag with the three little Eumenidês, the daughters of -Anaïtis by her former marriage with Acheron, the King of Midnight. - -Anaïtis and the dark potentate had parted by mutual consent. -"Acheron meant well," she would say, with a forgiving sigh, "and -that in the Moon's absence he occasionally diverted travellers, I do -not deny. But he did not understand me." - -And Jurgen agreed that this tragedy sometimes befell even the -irreproachably diverting. - -The three Eumenidês at this period were half-grown girls, whom their -mother was carefully tutoring to drive guilty persons mad by the -stings of conscience: and very quaint it was to see the young Furies -at practise in the schoolroom, black-robed, and waving lighted -torches, and crowned each with her garland of pet serpents. They -became attached to Jurgen, who was always fond of children, and who -had frequently regretted that Dame Lisa had borne him none. - -"It is enough to get the poor dear a name for eccentricity," he had -been used to say. - -So Jurgen now made much of his step-children: and indeed he found -their innocent prattle quite as intelligent, in essentials, as the -talk of the full-grown nature myths who infested the palace of -Anaïtis. And the four of them--Jurgen, and critical Alecto, and -grave Tisiphonê, and fairy-like little Megæra,--would take long -walks, and play with their dolls (though Alecto was a trifle -condescending toward dolls), and romp together in the eternal -evening of Cocaigne; and discuss what sort of dresses and trinkets -Mother would probably bring them when she came back from Ecbatana or -Lesbos, and would generally enjoy themselves. - -Rather pathetically earnest and unimaginative little lasses, Jurgen -found the young Eumenidês: they inherited much of their mother's -narrow-mindedness, if not their father's brooding and gloomy -tendencies; but in them narrow-mindedness showed merely as amusing. -And Jurgen loved them, and would often reflect what a pity it was -that these dear little girls were destined when they reached -maturity, to spend the rest of their lives in haunting criminals and -adulterers and parricides and, generally, such persons as must -inevitably tarnish the girls' outlook upon life, and lead them to -see too much of the worst side of human nature. - -So Jurgen was content enough. But still he was not actually happy, -not even among the endless pleasures of Cocaigne. - -"And what is this thing that I desire?" he would ask himself, again -and again. - -And still he did not know: he merely felt he was not getting -justice: and a dim sense of this would trouble him even while he was -playing with the Eumenidês. - - - - -25. - -Cantraps of the Master Philologist - - -But now, as has been recorded, it was September, and Jurgen could -see that Anaïtis too was worrying over something. She kept it from -him as long as possible: first said it was nothing at all, then said -he would know it soon enough, then wept a little over the -possibility that he would probably be very glad to hear it, and -eventually told him. For in becoming the consort of a nature myth -connected with the Moon Jurgen had of course exposed himself to the -danger of being converted into a solar legend by the Philologists, -and in that event would be compelled to leave Cocaigne with the -Equinox, to enter into autumnal exploits elsewhere. And Anaïtis was -quite heart-broken over the prospect of losing Jurgen. - -"For I have never had such a Prince Consort in Cocaigne, so -maddening, and so helpless, and so clever; and the girls are so fond -of you, although they have not been able to get on at all with so -many of their step-fathers! And I know that you are flippant and -heartless, but you have quite spoiled me for other men. No, Jurgen, -there is no need to argue, for I have experimented with at least a -dozen lovers lately, when I was traveling, and they bored me -insufferably. They had, as you put it, dear, no conversation: and -you are the only young man I have found in all these ages who could -talk interestingly." - -"There is a reason for that, since like you, Anaïtis, I am not so -youthful as I appear." - -"I do not care a straw about appearances," wept Anaïtis, "but I know -that I love you, and that you must be leaving me with the Equinox -unless you can settle matters with the Master Philologist." - -"Well, my pet," says Jurgen, "the Jews got into Jericho by trying." - -He armed, and girded himself with Caliburn, drank a couple of -bottles of wine, put on the shirt of Nessus over all, and then went -to seek this thaumaturgist. - -Anaïtis showed him the way to an unpretentious residence, where a -week's washing was drying and flapping in the side yard. Jurgen -knocked boldly, and after an interval the door was opened by the -Master Philologist himself. - -"You must pardon this informality," he said, blinking through his -great spectacles, which had dust on them: "but time was by ill luck -arrested hereabouts on a Thursday evening, and so the maid is out -indefinitely. I would suggest, therefore, that the lady wait outside -upon the porch. For the neighbors to see her go in would not be -respectable." - -"Do you know what I have come for?" says Jurgen, blustering, and -splendid in his glittering shirt and his gleaming armor. "For I warn -you I am justice." - -"I think you are lying, and I am sure you are making an unnecessary -noise. In any event, justice is a word, and I control all words." - -"You will discover very soon, sir, that actions speak louder than -words." - -"I believe that is so," said the Master Philologist, still blinking, -"just as the Jewish mob spoke louder than He Whom they crucified. -But the Word endures." - -"You are a quibbler!" - -"You are my guest. So I advise you, in pure friendliness, not to -impugn the power of my words." - -Said Jurgen, scornfully: "But is justice, then, a word?" - -"Oh, yes, it is one of the most useful. It is the Spanish _justicia_, -the Portuguese _justiça_, the Italian _giustizia_, all from -the Latin _justus_. Oh, yes indeed, but justice is one of my best -connected words, and one of the best trained also, I can assure you." - -"Aha, and to what degraded uses do you put this poor enslaved -intimidated justice!" - -"There is but one intelligent use," said the Master Philologist, -unruffled, "for anybody to make of words. I will explain it to you, -if you will come in out of this treacherous draught. One never knows -what a cold may lead to." - -Then the door closed upon them, and Anaïtis waited outside, in some -trepidation. - -Presently Jurgen came out of that unpretentious residence, and so -back to Anaïtis, discomfited. Jurgen flung down his magic sword, -charmed Caliburn. - -"This, Anaïtis, I perceive to be an outmoded weapon. There is no -weapon like words, no armor against words, and with words the Master -Philologist has conquered me. It is not at all equitable: but the -man showed me a huge book wherein were the names of everything in -the world, and justice was not among them. It develops that, -instead, justice is merely a common noun, vaguely denoting an -ethical idea of conduct proper to the circumstances, whether of -individuals or communities. It is, you observe, just a grammarian's -notion." - -"But what has he decided about you, Jurgen?" - -"Alas, dear Anaïtis, he has decided, in spite of all that I could -do, to derive Jurgen from _jargon_, indicating a confused -chattering such as birds give forth at sunrise: thus ruthlessly does -the Master Philologist convert me into a solar legend. So the affair -is settled, and we must part, my darling." - -Anaïtis took up the sword. "But this is valuable, since the man who -wields it is the mightiest of warriors." - -"It is a rush, a rotten twig, a broomstraw, against the insidious -weapons of the Master Philologist. But keep it if you like, my dear, -and give it to your next Prince Consort. I am ashamed to have -trifled with such toys," says Jurgen, in fretted disgust. "And -besides, the Master Philologist assures me I shall mount far higher -through the aid of this." - -"But what is on that bit of parchment?" - -"Thirty-two of the Master Philologist's own words that I begged of -him. See, my dear, he made this cantrap for me with his own hand and -ink." And Jurgen read from the parchment, impressively: "'At the -death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who should be named John -the Twentieth, was through an error in the reckoning elevated to the -papal chair as John the Twenty-first.'" - -Said Anaïtis, blankly: "And is that all?" - -"Why, yes: and surely thirty-two whole words should be enough for -the most exacting." - -"But is it magic? are you certain it is authentic magic?" - -"I have learned that there is always magic in words." - -"Now, if you ask my opinion, Jurgen, your cantrap is nonsense, and -can never be of any earthly use to anybody. Without boasting, dear, -I have handled a great deal of black magic in my day, but I never -encountered a spell at all like this." - -"None the less, my darling, it is evidently a cantrap, for else the -Master Philologist would never have given it to me." - -"But how are you to use it, pray?" - -"Why, as need directs," said Jurgen, and he put the parchment into -the pocket of his glittering shirt. "Yes, I repeat, there is always -something to be done with words, and here are thirty-two authentic -words from the Master Philologist himself, not to speak of three -commas and a full-stop. Oh, I shall certainly go far with this." - -"We women have firmer faith in the sword," replied Anaïtis. "At all -events, you and I cannot remain upon this thaumaturgist's porch -indefinitely." - -So Anaïtis put up Caliburn, and carried it from the thaumaturgist's -unpretentious residence to her fine palace in the old twilit wood: -and afterward, as everybody knows, she gave this sword to King -Arthur, who with its aid rose to be hailed as one of the Nine -Worthies of the World. So did the husband of Guenevere win for -himself eternal fame with that which Jurgen flung away. - - - - -26. - -In Time's Hour-Glass - - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, when he had taken off all that foolish -ironmongery, and had made himself comfortable in his shirt; "well, -beyond doubt, the situation is awkward. I was content enough in -Cocaigne, and it is unfair that I should be thus ousted. Still, a -sensible person will manage to be content anywhere. But whither, -pray, am I expected to go?" - -"Into whatever land you may elect, my dear," said Anaïtis, fondly. -"That much at least I can manage for you: and the interpretation of -your legend can be arranged afterward." - -"But I grow tired of all the countries I have ever seen, dear -Anaïtis, and in my time I have visited nearly all the lands that are -known to men." - -"That too can be arranged: and you can go instead into one of the -countries which are desired by men. Indeed there are a number of -such realms which no man has ever visited except in dreams, so that -your choice is wide." - -"But how am I to make a choice without having seen any of these -countries? It is not fair to be expecting me to do anything of the -sort." - -"Why, I will show them to you," Anaïtis replied. - -The two of them then went together into a small blue chamber, the -walls of which were ornamented with gold stars placed helter-skelter. -The room was entirely empty save for an hour-glass near twice the -height of a man. - -"It is Time's own glass," said Anaïtis, "which was left in my -keeping when Time went to sleep." - -Anaïtis opened a little door of carved crystal that was in the lower -half of the hour-glass, just above the fallen sands. With her -finger-tips she touched the sand that was in Time's hour-glass, and -in the sand she drew a triangle with equal sides, she who was -strangely gifted and perverse. Then she drew just such another -figure so that the tip of it penetrated the first triangle. The sand -began to smoulder there, and vapors rose into the upper part of the -hour-glass, and Jurgen saw that all the sand in Time's hour-glass -was kindled by a magic generated by the contact of these two -triangles. And in the vapors a picture formed. - -"I see a land of woods and rivers, Anaïtis. A very old fellow, -regally crowned, lies asleep under an ash-tree, guarded by a -watchman who has more arms and hands than Jigsbyed." - -"It is Atlantis you behold, and the sleeping of ancient Time--Time, -to whom this glass belongs,--while Briareus watches." - -"Time sleeps quite naked, Anaïtis, and, though it is a delicate -matter to talk about, I notice he has met with a deplorable -accident." - -"So that Time begets nothing any more, Jurgen, the while he brings -about old happenings over and over, and changes the name of what is -ancient, in order to persuade himself he has a new plaything. There -is really no more tedious and wearing old dotard anywhere, I can -assure you. But Atlantis is only the western province of Cocaigne. -Now do you look again, Jurgen!" - -"Now I behold a flowering plain and three steep hills, with a castle -upon each hill. There are woods wherein the foliage is crimson: -shining birds with white bodies and purple heads feed upon the -clusters of golden berries that grow everywhere: and people go about -in green clothes, with gold chains about their necks, and with broad -bands of gold upon their arms, and all these people have untroubled -faces." - -"That is Inislocha: and to the south is Inis Daleb, and to the north -Inis Ercandra. And there is sweet music to be listening to -eternally, could we but hear the birds of Rhiannon, and there is the -best of wine to drink, and there delight is common. For thither -comes nothing hard nor rough, and no grief, nor any regret, nor -sickness, nor age, nor death, for this is the Land of Women, a land -of many-colored hospitality." - -"Why, then, it is no different from Cocaigne. And into no realm -where pleasure is endless will I ever venture again of my own free -will, for I find that I do not enjoy pleasure." - -Then Anaïtis showed him Ogygia, and Tryphême, and Sudarsana, and the -Fortunate Islands, and Æaea, and Caer-Is, and Invallis, and the -Hesperides, and Meropis, and Planasia, and Uttarra, and Avalon, and -Tir-nam-Beo, and Thelême, and a number of other lands to enter which -men have desired: and Jurgen groaned. - -"I am ashamed of my fellows," says he: "for it appears their notion -of felicity is to dwell eternally in a glorified brothel. I do not -think that as a self-respecting young Prince I would care to inhabit -any of these earthly paradises, for were there nothing else, I would -always be looking for an invasion by the police." - -"There remains, then, but one other realm, which I have not shown -you, in part because it is an obscure little place, and in part -because, for a reason that I have, I shall not assist you to go -thither. Still, there is Leukê, where Queen Helen rules: and Leukê -it is that you behold." - -"But Leukê seems like any other country in autumn, and appears to be -reasonably free from the fantastic animals and overgrown flowers -which made the other paradises look childish. Come now, there is an -attractive simplicity about Leukê. I might put up with Leukê if the -local by-laws allowed me a rational amount of discomfort." - -"Discomfort you would have full measure. For the heart of no man -remains untroubled after he has once viewed Queen Helen and the -beauty that is hers. It is for that reason, Jurgen, I shall not help -you to go into Leukê: for in Leukê you would forget me, having seen -Queen Helen." - -"Why, what nonsense you are talking, my darling! I will wager she -cannot hold a candle to you." - -"See for yourself!" said Anaïtis, sadly. - -Now through the rolling vapors came confusedly a gleaming and a -surging glitter of all the loveliest colors of heaven and earth: -and these took order presently, and Jurgen saw before him in the -hour-glass that young Dorothy who was not Heitman Michael's wife. -And long and wistfully he looked at her, and the blinding tears -came to his eyes for no reason at all, and for the while he could -not speak. - -Then Jurgen yawned, and said, "But certainly this is not the Helen -who was famed for beauty." - -"I can assure you that it is," said Anaïtis: "and that it is she who -rules in Leukê, whither I do not intend you shall go." - -"Why, but, my darling! this is preposterous. The girl is nothing to -look at twice, one way or the other. She is not actually ugly, I -suppose, if one happens to admire that washed-out blonde type, as of -course some people do. But to call her beautiful is out of reason; -and that I must protest in simple justice." - -"Do you really think so?" says Anaïtis, brightening. - -"I most assuredly do. Why, you remember what Calpurnius Bassus says -about all blondes?" - -"No, I believe not. What did he say, dear?" - -"I would only spoil the splendid passage by quoting it inaccurately -from memory. But he was quite right, and his opinion is mine in -every particular. So if that is the best Leukê can offer, I heartily -agree with you I had best go into some other country." - -"I suppose you already have your eyes upon some minx or other?" - -"Well, my love, those girls in the Hesperides were strikingly like -you, with even more wonderful hair than yours: and the girl Aillê -whom we saw in Tir-nam-Beo likewise resembled you remarkably, except -that I thought she had the better figure. So I believe in either of -those countries I could be content enough, after a while. Since part -from you I must," said Jurgen, tenderly, "I intend, in common -fairness to myself, to find a companion as like you as possible. You -conceive I can pretend it is you at first: and then as I grow fonder -of her for her own sake, you will gradually be put out of my mind -without my incurring any intolerable anguish." - -Anaïtis was not pleased. "So you are already hankering after those -huzzies! And you think them better looking than I am! And you tell -me so to my face!" - -"My darling, you cannot deny we have been married all of three whole -months: and nobody can maintain an infatuation for any woman that -long, in the teeth of having nothing refused him. Infatuation is -largely a matter of curiosity, and both of these emotions die when -they are fed." - -"Jurgen," said Anaïtis, with conviction, "you are lying to me about -something. I can see it in your eyes." - -"There is no deceiving a woman's intuition. Yes, I was not speaking -quite honestly when I pretended I had as lief go into the Hesperides -as to Tir-nam-Beo: it was wrong of me, and I ask your pardon. I -thought that by affecting indifference I could manage you better. -But you saw through me at once, and very rightly became angry. So I -fling my cards upon the table, I no longer beat about the bushes of -equivocation. It is Aillê, the daughter of Cormac, whom I love, and -who can blame me? Did you ever in your life behold a more enticing -figure, Anaïtis?--certainly I never did. Besides, I noticed--but -never mind about that! Still I could not help seeing them. And then -such eyes! twin beacons that light my way to comfort for my not -inconsiderable regret at losing you, my darling. Oh, yes, assuredly -it is to Tir-nam-Beo I elect to go." - -"Whither you go, my fine fellow, is a matter in which I have the -choice, not you. And you are going to Leukê." - -"My love, now do be reasonable! We both agreed that Leukê was not a -bit suitable. Why, were there nothing else, in Leukê there are no -attractive women." - -"Have you no sense except book-sense! It is for that reason I am -sending you to Leukê." - -And thus speaking, Anaïtis set about a strong magic that hastened -the coming of the Equinox. In the midst of her charming she wept a -little, for she was fond of Jurgen. - -And Jurgen preserved a hurt and angry face as well as he could: for -at the sight of Queen Helen, who was so like young Dorothy la -Désirée, he had ceased to care for Queen Anaïtis and her diverting -ways, or to care for aught else in the world save only Queen Helen, -the delight of gods and men. But Jurgen had learned that Anaïtis -required management. - -"For her own good," as he put it, "and in simple justice to the many -admirable qualities which she possesses." - - - - -27. - -Vexatious Estate of Queen Helen - - -"But how can I travel with the Equinox, with a fictitious thing, -with a mere convention?" Jurgen had said. "To demand any such -proceeding of me is preposterous." - -"Is it any more preposterous than to travel with an imaginary -creature like a centaur?" they had retorted. "Why, Prince Jurgen, we -wonder how you, who have done that perfectly unheard-of thing, can -have the effrontery to call anything else preposterous! Is there no -reason at all in you? Why, conventions are respectable, and that is -a deal more than can be said for a great many centaurs. Would you be -throwing stones at respectability, Prince Jurgen? Why, we are -unutterably astounded at your objection to any such well-known -phenomenon as the Equinox!" And so on, and so on, and so on, said -they. - -And in fine, they kept at him until Jurgen was too confused to -argue, and his head was in a whirl, and one thing seemed as -preposterous as another: and he ceased to notice any especial -improbability in his traveling with the Equinox, and so passed -without any further protest or argument about it, from Cocaigne to -Leukê. But he would not have been thus readily flustered had Jurgen -not been thinking all the while of Queen Helen and of the beauty -that was hers. - -So he inquired forthwith the way that one might quickliest come into -the presence of Queen Helen. - -"Why, you will find Queen Helen," he was told, "in her palace at -Pseudopolis." His informant was a hamadryad, whom Jurgen encountered -upon the outskirts of a forest overlooking the city from the west. -Beyond broad sloping stretches of ripe corn, you saw Pseudopolis as -a city builded of gold and ivory, now all a dazzling glitter under a -hard-seeming sky that appeared unusually remote from earth. - -"And is the Queen as fair as people report?" asks Jurgen. - -"Men say that she excels all other women," replied the Hamadryad, -"as immeasurably as all we women perceive her husband to surpass all -other men--" - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen. - -"--Although, for one, I see nothing remarkable in Queen Helen's -looks. And I cannot but think that a woman who has been so much -talked about ought to be more careful in the way she dresses." - -"So this Queen Helen is already provided with a husband!" Jurgen was -displeased, but saw no reason for despair. Then Jurgen inquired as -to the Queen's husband, and learned that Achilles, the son of -Peleus, was now wedded to Helen, the Swan's daughter, and that these -two ruled in Pseudopolis. - -"For they report," said the Hamadryad, "that in Adês' dreary kingdom -Achilles remembered her beauty, and by this memory was heartened to -break the bonds of Adês: so did Achilles, King of Men, and all his -ancient comrades come forth resistlessly upon a second quest of this -Helen, whom people call--and as I think, with considerable -exaggeration--the wonder of this world. Then the Gods fulfilled the -desire of Achilles, because, they said, the man who has once beheld -Queen Helen will never any more regain contentment so long as his -life lacks this wonder of the world. Personally, I would dislike to -think that all men are so foolish." - -"Men are not always rational, I grant you: but then," says Jurgen, -slyly, "so many of their ancestresses are feminine." - -"But an ancestress is always feminine. Nobody ever heard of a man -being an ancestress. Men are ancestors. Why, whatever are you -talking about?" - -"Well, we were speaking, I believe, of Queen Helen's marriage." - -"To be sure we were! And I was telling you about the Gods, when you -made that droll mistake about ancestors. Everybody makes mistakes -sometimes, however, and foreigners are always apt to get words -confused. I could see at once you were a foreigner--" - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "but you were not telling me about myself but -about the Gods." - -"Why, you must know the aging Gods desired tranquillity. So we will -give her to Achilles, they said; and then, it may be, this King of -Men will retain her so safely that his littler fellows will despair, -and will cease to war for Helen: and so we shall not be bothered any -longer by their wars and other foolishnesses. For this reason it was -that the Gods gave Helen to Achilles, and sent the pair to reign in -Leukê: though, for my part," concluded the Hamadryad, "I shall never -cease to wonder what he saw in her--no, not if I live to be a -thousand." - -"I must," says Jurgen, "observe this monarch Achilles before the world -is a day older. A king is all very well, of course, but no husband -wears a crown so as to prevent the affixion of other head-gear." - -And Jurgen went down into Pseudopolis, swaggering. - - * * * * * - -So in the evening, just after sunset, Jurgen returned to the -Hamadryad: he walked now with the aid of the ashen staff which -Thersitês had given Jurgen, and Jurgen was mirthless and rather -humble. - -"I have observed your King Achilles," Jurgen says, "and he is a -better man than I. Queen Helen, as I confess with regret, is -worthily mated." - -"And what have you to say about her?" inquires the Hamadryad. - -"Why, there is nothing more to say than that she is worthily mated, -and fit to be the wife of Achilles." For once, poor Jurgen was -really miserable. "For I admire this man Achilles, I envy him, and I -fear him," says Jurgen: "and it is not fair that he should have been -created my superior." - -"But is not Queen Helen the loveliest of ladies that you have ever -seen?" - -"As to that--!" says Jurgen. He led the Hamadryad to a forest pool -hard-by the oak-tree in which she resided. The dusky water lay -unruffled, a natural mirror. "Look!" said Jurgen, and he spoke with -a downward waving of his staff. - -The silence gathering in the woods was wonderful. Here the air was -sweet and pure: and the little wind which went about the ilex boughs -in search of night was a tender and peaceful wind, because it knew -that the all-healing night was close at hand. - -The Hamadryad replied, "But I see only my own face." - -"It is the answer to your question, none the less. Now do you tell -me your name, my dear, so that I may know who in reality is the -loveliest of all the ladies I have ever seen." - -The Hamadryad told him that her name was Chloris, and that she -always looked a fright with her hair arranged as it was to-day, and -that he was a strangely impudent fellow. So he in turn confessed to -her he was King Jurgen of Eubonia, drawn from his remote kingdom by -exaggerated reports as to the beauty of Queen Helen. Chloris agreed -with him that rumor was in such matters invariably untrustworthy. - -This led to further talk as twilight deepened: and the while that a -little by a little this pretty girl was converted into a warm -breathing shadow, hardly visible to the eye, the shadow of Jurgen -departed from him, and he began to talk better and better. He had -seen Queen Helen face to face, and other women now seemed -unimportant. Whether or not he got into the graces of this Hamadryad -did not greatly matter, one way or the other: and in consequence -Jurgen talked with such fluency, such apposite remarks and such -tenderness as astounded him. - -So he sat listening with delight to the seductive tongue of that -monstrous clever fellow, Jurgen. For this plump brown-haired -bright-eyed little creature, this Chloris, he was honestly sorry. -Into the uneventful life of a hamadryad, here in this uncultured -forest, could not possibly have entered much pleasurable excitement, -and it seemed only right to inject a little. "Why, simply in justice -to her!" Jurgen reflected. "I must deal fairly." - -Now it grew darker and darker under the trees, and in the dark -nobody can see what happens. There were only two voices that talked, -with lengthy pauses: and they spoke gravely of unimportant trifles, -like children at play together. - -"And how does a king come thus to be traveling without any retinue -or even a sword about him?" - -"Why, I travel with a staff, my dear, as you perceive: and it -suffices me." - -"Certainly it is large enough, in all conscience. Alas, young -outlander, who call yourself a king! you carry the bludgeon of a -highwayman, and I am afraid of it." - -"My staff is a twig from Yggdrasill, the tree of universal life: -Thersitês gave it me, and the sap that throbs therein arises from -the Undar fountain, where the grave Norns make laws for men and fix -their destinies." - -"Thersitês is a scoffer, and his gifts are mockery. I would have -none of them." - -The two began to wrangle, not at all angrily, as to what Jurgen had -best do with his prized staff. "Do you take it away from me, at any -rate!" says Chloris. So Jurgen hid his staff where Chloris could not -possibly see it; and he drew the Hamadryad close to him, and he -laughed contentedly. - -"Oh, oh! O wretched King," cried Chloris, "I fear that you will be -the death of me! And you have no right to oppress me in this way, -for I am not your subject." - -"Rather shall you be my queen, dear Chloris, receiving all that I -most prize." - -"But you are too domineering: and I am afraid to be alone with you -and your big staff! Ah! not without knowing what she talked about -did my mother use to quote her Æolic saying, The king is cruel and -takes joy in bloodshed!" - -"Presently you will not be afraid of me, nor will you be afraid of -my staff. Custom is all. For this likewise is an Æolic saying, The -taste of the first olive is unpleasant, but the second is good." - -Now for a while was silence save for the small secretive rumors of -the forest. One of the large green locusts which frequent the Island -of Leukê began shrilling tentatively. - -"Wait now, King Jurgen, for surely I hear footsteps, and one comes -to trouble us." - -"It is a wind in the tree-tops: or perhaps it is a god who envies -me. I pause for neither." - -"Ah, but speak reverently of the Gods! For is not Love a god, and a -jealous god that has wings with which to leave us?" - -"Then am I a god, for in my heart is love, and in every fibre of me -is love, and from me now love emanates." - -"But certainly I heard somebody approaching through the forest--" - -"Well, and do you not perceive I have withdrawn my staff from its -hiding-place?" - -"Ah, you have great faith in that staff of yours!" - -"I fear nobody when I brandish it." - -Another locust had answered the first one. Now the two insects were -in full dispute, suffusing the warm darkness with their pertinacious -whirrings. - -"King of Eubonia, it is certainly true, that which you told me about -olives." - -"Yes, for always love begets truthfulness." - -"I pray it may beget between us utter truthfulness, and nothing -else, King Jurgen." - -"Not 'Jurgen' now, but 'love'." - -"Indeed, they tell that even so, in such deep darkness, Love came to -his sweetheart Psychê." - -"Then why do you complain because I piously emulate the Gods, and -offer unto Love the sincerest form of flattery?" And Jurgen shook -his staff at her. - -"Ah, but you are strangely ready with your flattery! and Love -threatened Psychê with no such enormous staff." - -"That is possible: for I am Jurgen. And I deal fairly with all -women, and raise my staff against none save in the way of kindness." - -So they talked nonsense, in utter darkness, while the locusts, and -presently a score of locusts, disputed obstinately. Now Chloris and -Jurgen were invisible, even to each other, as they talked under her -oak-tree: but before them the fields shone mistily under a gold-dusted -dome, for this night seemed builded of stars. And the white towers of -Pseudopolis also could Jurgen see, as he laughed there and took his -pleasure with Chloris. He reflected that very probably Achilles and -Helen were laughing thus, and were not dissimilarly occupied, out -yonder, in this night of wonder. - -He sighed. But in a while Jurgen and the Hamadryad were speaking -again, just as inconsequently, and the locusts were whirring just as -obstinately. Later the moon rose, and they all slept. - -With the dawn Jurgen arose, and left this Hamadryad Chloris still -asleep. He stood where he overlooked the city and the shirt of -Nessus glittered in the level sun rays: and Jurgen thought of Queen -Helen. Then he sighed, and went back to Chloris and wakened her with -the sort of salutation that appeared her just due. - - - - -28. - -Of Compromises in Leukê - - -Now the tale tells that ten days later Jurgen and his Hamadryad were -duly married, in consonance with the law of the Wood: not for a -moment did Chloris consider any violation of the proprieties, so -they were married the first evening she could assemble her kindred. - -"Still, Chloris, I already have two wives," says Jurgen, "and it is -but fair to confess it." - -"I thought it was only yesterday you arrived in Leukê." - -"That is true: for I came with the Equinox, over the long sea." - -"Then Jugatinus has not had time to marry you to anybody, and -certainly he would never think of marrying you to two wives. Why do -you talk such nonsense?" - -"No, it is true, I was not married by Jugatinus." - -"So there!" says Chloris, as if that settled matters. "Now you see -for yourself." - -"Why, yes, to be sure," says Jurgen, "that does put rather a -different light upon it, now I think of it." - -"It makes all the difference in the world." - -"I would hardly go that far. Still, I perceive it makes a -difference." - -"Why, you talk as if everybody did not know that Jugatinus marries -people!" - -"No, dear, let us be fair! I did not say precisely that." - -"--And as if everybody was not always married by Jugatinus!" - -"Yes, here in Leukê, perhaps. But outside of Leukê, you understand, -my darling!" - -"But nobody goes outside of Leukê. Nobody ever thinks of leaving -Leukê. I never heard such nonsense." - -"You mean, nobody ever leaves this island?" - -"Nobody that you ever hear of. Of course, there are Lares and -Penates, with no social position, that the kings of Pseudopolis -sometimes take a-voyaging--" - -"Still, the people of other countries do get married." - -"No, Jurgen," said Chloris, sadly, "it is a rule with Jugatinus -never to leave the island; and indeed I am sure he has never even -considered such unheard-of conduct: so, of course, the people of -other countries are not able to get married." - -"Well, but, Chloris, in Eubonia--" - -"Now if you do not mind, dear, I think we had better talk about -something more pleasant. I do not blame you men of Eubonia, because -all men are in such matters perfectly irresponsible. And perhaps it -is not altogether the fault of the women, either, though I do think -any really self-respecting woman would have the strength of -character to keep out of such irregular relations, and that much I -am compelled to say. So do not let us talk any more about these -persons whom you describe as your wives. It is very nice of you, -dear, to call them that, and I appreciate your delicacy. Still, I -really do believe we had better talk about something else." - -Jurgen deliberated. "Yet do you not think, Chloris, that in the -absence of Jugatinus--and in, as I understand it, the unavoidable -absence of Jugatinus,--somebody else might perform the ceremony?" - -"Oh, yes, if they wanted to. But it would not count. Nobody but -Jugatinus can really marry people. And so of course nobody else -does." - -"What makes you sure of that?" - -"Why, because," said Chloris, triumphantly, "nobody ever heard of -such a thing." - -"You have voiced," said Jurgen, "an entire code of philosophy. Let -us by all means go to Jugatinus and be married." - -So they were married by Jugatinus, according to the ceremony with -which the People of the Wood were always married by Jugatinus. First -Virgo loosed the girdle of Chloris in such fashion as was customary; -and Chloris, after sitting much longer than Jurgen liked in the lap -of Mutinus (who was in the state that custom required of him) was -led back to Jurgen by Domiducus in accordance with immemorial -custom; Subigo did her customary part; then Praema grasped the -bride's plump arms: and everything was perfectly regular. - -Thereafter Jurgen disposed of his staff in the way Thersitês had -directed: and thereafter Jurgen abode with Chloris upon the -outskirts of the forest, and complied with the customs of Leukê. Her -tree was a rather large oak, for Chloris was now in her two hundred -and sixty-sixth year; and at first its commodious trunk sheltered -them. But later Jurgen builded himself a little cabin thatched with -birds' wings, and made himself more comfortable. - -"It is well enough for you, my dear, in fact it is expected of you, -to live in a tree-bole. But it makes me feel uncomfortably like a -worm, and it needlessly emphasizes the restrictions of married life. -Besides, you do not want me under your feet all the time, nor I you. -No, let us cultivate a judicious abstention from familiarity: such -is one secret of an enduring, because endurable, marriage. But why -is it, pray, that you have never married before, in all these -years?" - -She told him. At first Jurgen could not believe her, but presently -Jurgen was convinced, through at least two of his senses, that what -Chloris told him was true about hamadryads. - -"Otherwise, you are not markedly unlike the women of Eubonia," said -Jurgen. - -And now Jurgen met many of the People of the Wood; but since the -tree of Chloris stood upon the verge of the forest, he saw far more -of the People of the Field, who dwelt between the forest and the -city of Pseudopolis. These were the neighbors and the ordinary -associates of Chloris and Jurgen; though once in a while, of course, -there would be family gatherings in the forest. But Jurgen presently -had found good reason to distrust the People of the Wood, and went -to none of these gatherings. - -"For in Eubonia," he said, "we are taught that your wife's relatives -will never find fault with you to your face so long as you keep away -from them. And more than that, no sensible man expects." - -Meanwhile, King Jurgen was perplexed by the People of the Field, who -were his neighbors. They one and all did what they had always done. -Thus Runcina saw to it that the Fields were weeded: Seia took care -of the seed while it was buried in the earth: Nodosa arranged the -knots and joints of the stalk: Volusia folded the blade around the -corn: each had an immemorial duty. And there was hardly a day that -somebody was not busied in the Fields, whether it was Occator -harrowing, or Sator and Sarritor about their sowing and raking, or -Stercutius manuring the ground: and Hippona was always bustling -about in one place or another looking after the horses, or else -Bubona would be there attending to the cattle. There was never any -restfulness in the Fields. - -"And why do you do these things year in and year out?" asked Jurgen. - -"Why, King of Eubonia, we have always done these things," they said, -in high astonishment. - -"Yes, but why not stop occasionally?" - -"Because in that event the work would stop. The corn would die, the -cattle would perish, and the Fields would become jungles." - -"But, as I understand it, this is not your corn, nor your cattle, -nor your Fields. You derive no good from them. And there is nothing -to prevent your ceasing this interminable labor, and living as do -the People of the Wood, who perform no heavy work whatever." - -"I should think not!" said Aristæus, and his teeth flashed in a smile -that was very pleasant to see, as he strained at the olive-press. -"Whoever heard of the People of the Wood doing anything useful!" - -"Yes, but," says Jurgen, patiently, "do you think it is quite fair -to yourselves to be always about some tedious and difficult labor -when nobody compels you to do it? Why do you not sometimes take -holiday?" - -"King Jurgen," replied Fornax, looking up from the little furnace -wherein she was parching corn, "you are talking nonsense. The People -of the Field have never taken holiday. Nobody ever heard of such a -thing." - -"We should think not indeed!" said all the others, sagely. - -"Ah, ah!" said Jurgen, "so that is your demolishing reason. Well, I -shall inquire about this matter among the People of the Wood, for -they may be more sensible." - -Then as Jurgen was about to enter the forest, he encountered -Terminus, perfumed with ointment, and crowned with a garland of -roses, and standing stock still. - -"Aha," said Jurgen, "so here is one of the People of the Wood about -to go down into the Fields. But if I were you, my friend, I would -keep away from any such foolish place." - -"I never go down into the Fields," said Terminus. - -"Oh, then, you are returning into the forest." - -"But certainly not. Whoever heard of my going into the forest!" - -"Indeed, now I look at you, you are merely standing here." - -"I have always stood here," said Terminus. - -"And do you never move?" - -"No," said Terminus. - -"And for what reason?" - -"Because I have always stood here without moving," replied Terminus. -"Why, for me to move would be a quite unheard-of thing." - -So Jurgen left him, and went into the forest. And there Jurgen -encountered a smiling young fellow, who rode upon the back of a -large ram. This young man had his left fore-finger laid to his lips, -and his right hand held an astonishing object to be thus publicly -displayed. - -"But, oh, dear me! now, really, sir--!" says Jurgen. - -"Bah!" says the ram. - -But the smiling young fellow said nothing at all as he passed -Jurgen, because it is not the custom of Harpocrates to speak. - -"Which would be well enough," reflected Jurgen, "if only his custom -did not make for stiffness and the embarrassment of others." - -Thereafter Jurgen came upon a considerable commotion in the bushes, -where a satyr was at play with an oread. - -"Oh, but this forest is not respectable!" said Jurgen. "Have you no -ethics and morals, you People of the Wood! Have you no sense of -responsibility whatever, thus to be frolicking on a working-day?" - -"Why, no," responded the Satyr, "of course not. None of my people -have such things: and so the natural vocation of all satyrs is that -which you are now interrupting." - -"Perhaps you speak the truth," said Jurgen. "Still, you ought to be -ashamed of the fact that you are not lying." - -"For a satyr to be ashamed of himself would be indeed an unheard-of -thing! Now go away, you in the glittering shirt! for we are studying -eudæmonism, and you are talking nonsense, and I am busy, and you -annoy me," said the Satyr. - -"Well, but in Cocaigne," said Jurgen, "this eudæmonism was -considered an indoor diversion." - -"And did you ever hear of a satyr going indoors?" - -"Why, save us from all hurt and harm! but what has that to do with -it?" - -"Do not try to equivocate, you shining idiot! For now you see for -yourself you are talking nonsense. And I repeat that such unheard-of -nonsense irritates me," said the Satyr. - -The Oread said nothing at all. But she too looked annoyed, and -Jurgen reflected that it was probably not the custom of oreads to be -rescued from the eudæmonism of satyrs. - -So Jurgen left them; and yet deeper in the forest he found a bald-headed -squat old man, with a big paunch and a flat red nose and very small -bleared eyes. Now the old fellow was so helplessly drunk that he could -not walk: instead, he sat upon the ground, and leaned against a tree-bole. - -"This is a very disgusting state for you to be in so early in the -morning," observed Jurgen. - -"But Silenus is always drunk," the bald-headed man responded, with a -dignified hiccough. - -"So here is another one of you! Well, and why are you always drunk, -Silenus?" - -"Because Silenus is the wisest of the People of the Wood." - -"Ah, ah! but I apologize. For here at last is somebody with a -plausible excuse for his daily employment. Now, then, Silenus, since -you are so wise, come tell me, is it really the best fate for a man -to be drunk always?" - -"Not at all. Drunkenness is a joy reserved for the Gods: so do men -partake of it impiously, and so are they very properly punished for -their audacity. For men, it is best of all never to be born; but, -being born, to die very quickly." - -"Ah, yes! but failing either?" - -"The third best thing for a man is to do that which seems expected -of him," replied Silenus. - -"But that is the Law of Philistia: and with Philistia, they inform -me, Pseudopolis is at war." - -Silenus meditated. Jurgen had discovered an uncomfortable thing -about this old fellow, and it was that his small bleared eyes did -not blink nor the lids twitch at all. His eyes moved, as through -magic the eyes of a painted statue might move horribly, under quite -motionless red lids. Therefore it was uncomfortable when these eyes -moved toward you. - -"Young fellow in the glittering shirt, I will tell you a secret: and -it is that the Philistines were created after the image of Koshchei -who made some things as they are. Do you think upon that! So the -Philistines do that which seems expected. And the people of Leukê -were created after the image of Koshchei who made yet other things -as they are: therefore do the people of Leukê do that which is -customary, adhering to classical tradition. Do you think upon that -also! Then do you pick your side in this war, remembering that you -side with stupidity either way. And when that happens which will -happen, do you remember how Silenus foretold to you precisely what -would happen, a long while before it happened, because Silenus was -so old and so wise and so very disreputably drunk, and so very, very -sleepy." - -"Yes, certainly, Silenus: but how will this war end?" - -"Dullness will conquer dullness: and it will not matter." - -"Ah, yes! but what will become, in all this fighting, of Jurgen?" - -"That will not matter either," said Silenus, comfortably. "Nobody -will bother about you." And with that he closed his horrible bleared -eyes and went to sleep. - -So Jurgen left the old tippler, and started to leave the forest -also. "For undoubtedly all the people in Leukê are resolute to do -that which is customary," reflected Jurgen, "for the unarguable -reason it is their custom, and has always been their custom. And -they will desist from these practises when the cat eats acorns, but -not before. So it is the part of wisdom to inquire no further into -the matter. For after all, these people may be right; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say they are wrong." Jurgen shrugged. "But -still, at the same time--!" - -Now in returning to his cabin Jurgen heard a frightful sort of -yowling and screeching as of mad people. - -"Hail, daughter of various-formed Protogonus, thou that takest joy -in mountains and battles and in the beating of the drum! Hail, thou -deceitful saviour, mother of all gods, that comest now, pleased with -long wanderings, to be propitious to us!" - -But the uproar was becoming so increasingly unpleasant that Jurgen -at this point withdrew into a thicket: and thence he witnessed the -passing through the Woods of a notable procession. There were -features connected with this procession sufficiently unusual to -cause Jurgen to vow that the desiderated moment wherein he walked -unhurt from the forest would mark the termination of his last visit -thereto. Then amazement tripped up the heels of terror: for now -passed Mother Sereda, or, as Anaïtis had called her, Æsred. To-day, -in place of a towel about her head, she wore a species of crown, -shaped like a circlet of crumbling towers: she carried a large key, -and her chariot was drawn by two lions. She was attended by howling -persons, with shaved heads: and it was apparent that these persons -had parted with possessions which Jurgen valued. - -"This is undoubtedly," said he, "a most unwholesome forest." - -Jurgen inquired about this procession, later, and from Chloris he -got information which surprised him. - -"And these are the beings who I had thought were poetic ornaments of -speech! But what is the old lady doing in such high company?" - -He described Mother Sereda, and Chloris told him who this was. Now -Jurgen shook his sleek black head. - -"Behold another mystery! Yet after all, it is no concern of mine if -the old lady elects for an additional anagram. I should be the last -person to criticize her, inasmuch as to me she has been more than -generous. Well, I shall preserve her friendship by the infallible -recipe of keeping out of her way. Oh, but I shall certainly keep out -of her way now that I have perceived what is done to the men who -serve her." - -And after that Jurgen and Chloris lived very pleasantly together, -though Jurgen began to find his Hamadryad a trifle unperceptive, if -not actually obtuse. - -"She does not understand me, and she does not always treat my -superior wisdom quite respectfully. That is unfair, but it seems to -be an unavoidable feature of married life. Besides, if any woman had -ever understood me she would, in self-protection, have refused to -marry me. In any case, Chloris is a dear brown plump delicious -partridge of a darling: and cleverness in women is, after all, a -virtue misplaced." - -And Jurgen did not return into the Woods, nor did he go down into -the city. Neither the People of the Field nor of the Wood, of -course, ever went within city gates. "But I would think that you -would like to see the fine sights of Pseudopolis," says -Chloris,--"and that fine Queen of theirs," she added, almost as -though she spoke without premeditation. - -"Woman dear," says Jurgen, "I do not wish to appear boastful. But in -Eubonia, now! well, really some day we must return to my kingdom, -and you shall inspect for yourself a dozen or two of my cities--Ziph -and Eglington and Poissieux and Gazden and Bäremburg, at all events. -And then you will concede with me that this little village of -Pseudopolis, while well enough in its way--!" And Jurgen shrugged. -"But as for saying more!" - -"Sometimes," said Chloris, "I wonder if there is any such place as -your fine kingdom of Eubonia: for certainly it grows larger and more -splendid every time you talk of it." - -"Now can it be," asks Jurgen, more hurt than angry, "that you -suspect me of uncandid dealing and, in short, of being an impostor!" - -"Why, what does it matter? You are Jurgen," she answered, happily. - -And the man was moved as she smiled at him across the glowing queer -embroidery-work at which Chloris seemed to labor interminably: he -was conscious of a tenderness for her which was oddly remorseful: -and it appeared to him that if he had known lovelier women he had -certainly found nowhere anyone more lovable than was this plump and -busy and sunny-tempered little wife of his. - -"My dear, I do not care to see Queen Helen again, and that is a -fact. I am contented here, with a wife befitting my station, suited -to my endowments, and infinitely excelling my deserts." - -"And do you think of that tow-headed bean-pole very often, King -Jurgen?" - -"That is unfair, and you wrong me, Chloris, with these unmerited -suspicions. It pains me to reflect, my dear, that you esteem the tie -between us so lightly you can consider me capable of breaking it -even in thought." - -"To talk of fairness is all very well, but it is no answer to a -plain question." - -Jurgen looked full at her; and he laughed. "You women are so -unscrupulously practical. My dear, I have seen Queen Helen face to -face. But it is you whom I love as a man customarily loves a woman." - -"That is not saying much." - -"No: for I endeavor to speak in consonance with my importance. You -forget that I have also seen Achilles." - -"But you admired Achilles! You told me so yourself." - -"I admired the perfections of Achilles, but I cordially dislike the -man who possesses them. Therefore I shall keep away from both the -King and Queen of Pseudopolis." - -"Yet you will not go into the Woods, either, Jurgen--" - -"Not after what I have witnessed there," said Jurgen, with an -exaggerated shudder that was not very much exaggerated. - -Now Chloris laughed, and quitted her queer embroidery in order to -rumple up his hair. "And you find the People of the Field so -insufferably stupid, and so uninterested by your Zorobasiuses and -Ptolemopiters and so on, that you keep away from them also. O -foolish man of mine, you are determined to be neither fish nor beast -nor poultry and nowhere will you ever consent to be happy." - -"It was not I who determined my nature, Chloris: and as for being -happy, I make no complaint. Indeed, I have nothing to complain of, -nowadays. So I am very well contented by my dear wife and by my -manner of living in Leukê," said Jurgen, with a sigh. - - - - -29. - -Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense - - -It was on a bright and tranquil day in November, at the period which -the People of the Field called the summer of Alcyonê, that Jurgen -went down from the forest; and after skirting the moats of -Pseudopolis, and avoiding a meeting with any of the town's -dispiritingly glorious inhabitants, Jurgen came to the seashore. - -Chloris had suggested his doing this, in order that she could have a -chance to straighten things in his cabin while she was tidying her -tree for the winter, and could so make one day's work serve for two. -For the dryad of an oak-tree has large responsibilities, what with -the care of so many dead leaves all winter, and the acorns being -blown from their places and littering up the ground everywhere, and -the bark cracking until it looks positively disreputable: and Jurgen -was at any such work less a help than a hindrance. So Chloris gave -him a parcel of lunch and a perfunctory kiss, and told him to go -down to the seashore and get inspired and make up a pretty poem -about her. "And do you be back in time for an early supper, Jurgen," -says she, "but not a minute before." - -Thus it befell that Jurgen reflectively ate his lunch in solitude, -and regarded the Euxine. The sun was high, and the queer shadow that -followed Jurgen was huddled into shapelessness. - -"This is indeed an inspiring spectacle," Jurgen reflected. "How puny -seems the race of man, in contrast with this mighty sea, which now -spreads before me like, as So-and-so has very strikingly observed, a -something or other under such and such conditions!" Then Jurgen -shrugged. "Really, now I think of it, though, there is no call for -me to be suffused with the traditional emotions. It looks like a -great deal of water, and like nothing else in particular. And I -cannot but consider the water is behaving rather futilely." - -So he sat in drowsy contemplation of the sea. Far out a shadow would -form on the water, like the shadow of a broadish plank, scudding -shoreward, and lengthening and darkening as it approached. Presently -it would be some hundred feet in length, and would assume a hard -smooth darkness, like that of green stone: this was the under side -of the wave. Then the top of it would curdle, the southern end of -the wave would collapse, and with exceeding swiftness this white -feathery falling would plunge and scamper and bluster northward, the -full length of the wave. It would be neater and more workmanlike to -have each wave tumble down as a whole. From the smacking and the -splashing, what looked like boiling milk would thrust out over the -brown sleek sands: and as the mess spread it would thin to a -reticulated whiteness, like lace, and then to the appearance of -smoke sprays clinging to the sands. Plainly the tide was coming in. - -Or perhaps it was going out. Jurgen's notions as to such phenomena -were vague. But, either way, the sea was stirring up a large -commotion and a rather pleasant and invigorating odor. - -And then all this would happen once more: and then it would happen -yet again. It had happened a number of hundred of times since Jurgen -first sat down to eat his lunch: and what was gained by it? The sea -was behaving stupidly. There was no sense in this continual sloshing -and spanking and scrabbling and spluttering. - -Thus Jurgen, as he nodded over the remnants of his lunch. - -"Sheer waste of energy, I am compelled to call it," said Jurgen, -aloud, just as he noticed there were two other men on this long -beach. - -One came from the north, one from the south, so that they met not -far from where Jurgen was sitting: and by an incredible coincidence -Jurgen had known both of these men in his first youth. So he hailed -them, and they recognized him at once. One of these travellers was -the Horvendile who had been secretary to Count Emmerick when Jurgen -was a lad: and the other was Perion de la Forêt, that outlaw who had -come to Bellegarde very long ago disguised as the Vicomte de -Puysange. And all three of these old acquaintances had kept their -youth surprisingly. - -Now Horvendile and Perion marveled at the fine shirt which Jurgen -was wearing. - -"Why, you must know," he said, modestly, "that I have lately become -King of Eubonia, and must dress according to my station." - -So they said they had always expected some such high honor to befall -him, and then the three of them fell to talking. And Perion told how -he had come through Pseudopolis, on his way to King Theodoret at -Lacre Kai, and how in the market-place at Pseudopolis he had seen -Queen Helen. "She is a very lovely lady," said Perion, "and I -marvelled over her resemblance to Count Emmerick's fair sister, whom -we all remember." - -"I noticed that at once," said Horvendile, and he smiled strangely, -"when I, too, passed through the city." - -"Why, but nobody could fail to notice it," said Jurgen. - -"It is not, of course, that I consider her to be as lovely as Dame -Melicent," continued Perion, "since, as I have contended in all -quarters of the world, there has never lived, and will never live, -any woman so beautiful as Melicent. But you gentlemen appear -surprised by what seems to me a very simple statement. Your air, in -fine, is one that forces me to point out it is a statement I can -permit nobody to deny." And Perion's honest eyes had narrowed -unpleasantly, and his sun-browned countenance was uncomfortably -stern. - -"Dear sir," said Jurgen, hastily, "it was merely that it appeared to -me the lady whom they call Queen Helen hereabouts is quite evidently -Count Emmerick's sister Dorothy la Désirée." - -"Whereas I recognized her at once," says Horvendile, "as Count -Emmerick's third sister, La Beale Ettarre." - -And now they stared at one another, for it was certain that these -three sisters were not particularly alike. - -"Putting aside any question of eyesight," observes Perion, "it is -indisputable that the language of both of you is distorted. For one -of you says this is Madame Dorothy, and the other says this is -Madame Ettarre: whereas everybody knows that this Queen Helen, -whomever she may resemble, cannot possibly be anybody else save -Queen Helen." - -"To you, who are always the same person," replied Jurgen, "that may -sound reasonable. For my part, I am several people: and I detect no -incongruity in other persons' resembling me." - -"There would be no incongruity anywhere," suggested Horvendile, "if -Queen Helen were the woman whom we had loved in vain. For the woman -whom when we were young we loved in vain is the one woman that we -can never see quite clearly, whatever happens. So we might easily, I -suppose, confuse her with some other woman." - -"But Melicent is the lady whom I have loved in vain," said Perion, -"and I care nothing whatever about Queen Helen. Why should I? What -do you mean now, Horvendile, by your hints that I have faltered in -my constancy to Dame Melicent since I saw Queen Helen? I do not like -such hints." - -"No less, it is Ettarre whom I love, and have loved not quite in -vain, and have loved unfalteringly," says Horvendile, with his quiet -smile: "and I am certain that it was Ettarre whom I beheld when I -looked upon Queen Helen." - -"I may confess," says Jurgen, clearing his throat, "that I have -always regarded Madame Dorothy with peculiar respect and admiration. -For the rest, I am married. Even so, I think that Madame Dorothy is -Queen Helen." - -Then they fell to debating this mystery. And presently Perion said -the one way out was to leave the matter to Queen Helen. "She at all -events must know who she is. So do one of you go back into the city, -and embrace her knees as is the custom of this country when one -implores a favor of the King or the Queen: and do you then ask her -fairly." - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "I am upon terms of some intimacy with a -hamadryad just at present. I am content with my Hamadryad. And I -intend never to venture into the presence of Queen Helen any more, -in order to preserve my contentment." - -"Why, but I cannot go," says Perion, "because Dame Melicent has a -little mole upon her left cheek. And Queen Helen's cheek is -flawless. You understand, of course, that I am certain this mole -immeasurably enhances the beauty of Dame Melicent," he added, -loyally. "None the less, I mean to hold no further traffic with -Queen Helen." - -"Now my reason for not going is this," said Horvendile:--"that if I -attempted to embrace the knees of Ettarre, whom people hereabouts -call Helen, she would instantly vanish. Other matters apart, I do -not wish to bring any such misfortune upon the Island of Leukê." - -"But that," said Perion, "is nonsense." - -"Of course it is," said Horvendile. "That is probably why it -happens." - -So none of them would go. And each of them clung, none the less, to -his own opinion about Queen Helen. And presently Perion said they -were wasting both time and words. Then Perion bade the two farewell, -and Perion continued southward, toward Lacre Kai. And as he went he -sang a song in honor of Dame Melicent, whom he celebrated as Heart -o' My Heart: and the two who heard him agreed that Perion de la -Forêt was probably the worst poet in the world. - -"Nevertheless, there goes a very chivalrous and worthy gentleman," -said Horvendile, "intent to play out the remainder of his romance. I -wonder if the Author gets much pleasure from these simple -characters? At least they must be easy to handle." - -"I cultivate a judicious amount of gallantry," says Jurgen: "I do -not any longer aspire to be chivalrous. And indeed, Horvendile, it -seems to me indisputable that each one of us is the hero in his own -romance, and cannot understand any other person's romance, but -misinterprets everything therein, very much as we three have fallen -out in the simple matter of a woman's face." - -Now young Horvendile meditatively stroked his own curly and reddish -hair, brushing it away from his ears with his left hand, as he sat -there staring meditatively at nothing in particular. - -"I would put it, Jurgen, that we three have met like characters out -of three separate romances which the Author has composed in -different styles." - -"That also," Jurgen submitted, "would be nonsense." - -"Ah, but perhaps the Author very often perpetrates nonsense. Come -Jurgen, you who are King of Eubonia!" says Horvendile, with his -wide-set eyes a-twinkle; "what is there in you or me to attest that -our Author has not composed our romances with his tongue in his -cheek?" - -"Messire Horvendile, if you are attempting to joke about Koshchei -who made all things as they are, I warn you I do not consider that -sort of humor very wholesome. Without being prudish, I believe in -common-sense: and I would vastly prefer to have you talk about -something else." - -Horvendile was still smiling. "You look some day to come to -Koshchei, as you call the Author. That is easily said, and sounds -excellently. Ah, but how will you recognize Koshchei? and how do you -know you have not already passed by Koshchei in some street or -meadow? Come now, King Jurgen," said Horvendile, and still his young -face wore an impish smile; "come tell me, how do you know that I am -not Koshchei who made all things as they are?" - -"Be off with you!" says Jurgen; "you would never have had the wit to -invent a Jurgen. Something else is troubling me: I have just -recollected that the young Perion who left us only a moment since, -grew to be rich and gray-headed and famous, and took Dame Melicent -from her pagan husband, and married her himself: and that all this -happened long years ago. So our recent talk with young Perion seems -very improbable." - -"Why, but do you not remember, too, that I ran away in the night -when Maugis d'Aigremont stormed Storisende? and was never heard of -any more? and that all this, too, took place a long, long while ago? -Yet we have met as three fine young fellows, here on the beach of -fabulous Leukê. I put it to you fairly, King Jurgen: now how could -this conceivably have come about unless the Author sometimes -composes nonsense?" - -"Truly the way that you express it, Horvendile, the thing does seem -a little strange; and I can think of no explanation rendering it -plausible." - -"Again, see now, King Jurgen of Eubonia, how you underrate the -Author's ability. This is one of the romancer's most venerable -devices that is being practised. See for yourself!" And suddenly -Horvendile pushed Jurgen so that Jurgen tumbled over in the warm -sand. - -Then Jurgen arose, gaping and stretching himself. "That was a very -foolish dream I had, napping here in the sun. For it was certainly a -dream. Otherwise, they would have left footprints, these young -fellows who have gone the way of youth so long ago. And it was a -dream that had no sense in it. But indeed it would be strange if -that were the whole point of it, and if living, too, were such a -dream, as that queer Horvendile would have me think." - -Jurgen snapped his fingers. - -"Well, and what in common fairness could he or anyone else expect me -to do about it! That is the answer I fling at you, you Horvendile -whom I made up in a dream. And I disown you as the most futile of my -inventions. So be off with you! and a good riddance, too, for I -never held with upsetting people." - -Then Jurgen dusted himself, and trudged home to an early supper with -the Hamadryad who contented him. - - - - -30. - -Economics of King Jurgen - - -Now Jurgen's curious dream put notions into the restless head of -Jurgen. So mighty became his curiosity that he went shuddering into -the abhorred Woods, and passed over Coalisnacoan (which is the Ferry -of Dogs), and did all such detestable things as were necessary to -placate Phobetor. Then Jurgen tricked Phobetor by an indescribable -device, wherein surprising use was made of a cheese and three -beetles and a gimlet, and so cheated Phobetor out of a gray magic. -And that night while Pseudopolis slept King Jurgen came down into -this city of gold and ivory. - -Jurgen went with distaste among the broad-browed and great-limbed -monarchs of Pseudopolis, for they reminded him of things that he had -long ago put aside, and they made him feel unpleasantly ignoble and -insignificant. That was his real reason for avoiding the city. - -Now he passed between unlighted and silent palaces, walking in -deserted streets where the moon made ominous shadows. Here was the -house of Ajax Telamon who reigned in sea-girt Salamis, here that of -god-like Philoctetês: much-counseling Odysseus dwelt just across the -way, and the corner residence was fair-haired Agamemnon's: in the -moonlight Jurgen easily made out these names engraved upon the -bronze shield that hung beside each doorway. To every side of him -slept the heroes of old song while Jurgen skulked under their -windows. - -He remembered how incuriously--not even scornfully--these people had -overlooked him on that disastrous afternoon when he had ventured -into Pseudopolis by daylight. And a spiteful little gust of rage -possessed him, and Jurgen shook his fist at the big silent palaces. - -"Yah!" he snarled: for he did not know at all what it was that he -desired to say to those great stupid heroes who did not care what he -said, but he knew that he hated them. Then Jurgen became aware of -himself growling there like a kicked cur who is afraid to bite, and -he began to laugh at this Jurgen. - -"Your pardon, gentlemen of Greece," says he, with a wide ceremonious -bow, "and I think the information I wished to convey was that I am a -monstrous clever fellow." - -Jurgen went into the largest palace, and crept stealthily by the -bedroom of Achilles, King of Men, treading a-tip-toe; and so came at -last into a little room panelled with cedar-wood where slept Queen -Helen. She was smiling in her sleep when he had lighted his lamp, -with due observance of the gray magic. She was infinitely beautiful, -this young Dorothy whom people hereabouts through some odd error -called Helen. - -For Jurgen saw very well that this was Count Emmerick's sister -Dorothy la Désirée, whom Jurgen had vainly loved in the days when -Jurgen was young alike in body and heart. Just once he had won back -to her, in the garden between dawn and sunrise: but he was then a -time-battered burgher whom Dorothy did not recognise. Now he -returned to her a king, less admirable it might be than some of the -many other kings without realms who slept now in Pseudopolis, but -still very fine in his borrowed youth, and above all, armored by a -gray magic: so that improbabilities were possible. And Jurgen's eyes -were furtive, and he passed his tongue across his upper lip from one -corner to the other, and his hand went out toward the robe of -violet-colored wool which covered the sleeping girl, for he stood -ready to awaken Dorothy la Désirée in the way he often awoke -Chloris. - -But a queer thought held him. Nothing, he recollected, had shown the -power to hurt him very deeply since he had lost this young Dorothy. -And to affairs which threatened to result unpleasantly, he had -always managed to impart an agreeable turn, since then, by virtue of -preserving a cool heart. What if by some misfortune he were to get -back his real youth? and were to become again the flustered boy who -blundered from stammering rapture to wild misery, and back again, at -the least word or gesture of a gold-haired girl? - -"Thank you, no!" says Jurgen. "The boy was more admirable than I, -who am by way of being not wholly admirable. But then he had a -wretched time of it, by and large. Thus it may be that my real youth -lies sleeping here: and for no consideration would I re-awaken it." - -And yet tears came into his eyes, for no reason at all. And it -seemed to him that the sleeping woman, here at his disposal, was not -the young Dorothy whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, although the two were curiously alike; and that of the two -this woman here was, somehow, infinitely the lovelier. - -"Lady, if you indeed be the Swan's daughter, long and long ago there -was a child that was ill. And his illness turned to a fever, and in -his fever he arose from his bed one night, saying that he must set -out for Troy, because of his love for Queen Helen. I was once that -child. I remember how strange it seemed to me I should be talking -such nonsense: I remember how the warm room smelt of drugs: and I -remember how I pitied the trouble in my nurse's face, drawn and old -in the yellow lamplight. For she loved me, and she did not -understand: and she pleaded with me to be a good boy and not to -worry my sleeping parents. But I perceive now that I was not talking -nonsense." - -He paused, considering the riddle: and his fingers fretted with the -robe of violet-colored wool beneath which lay Queen Helen. "Yours -is that beauty of which men know by fabulous report alone, and which -they may not ever find, nor ever win to, quite. And for that beauty -I have hungered always, even in childhood. Toward that beauty I have -struggled always, but not quite whole-heartedly. That night forecast -my life. I have hungered for you: and"--Jurgen smiled here--"and I -have always stayed a passably good boy, lest I should beyond reason -disturb my family. For to do that, I thought, would not be fair: and -still I believe for me to have done that would have been unfair." - -He grimaced at this point: for Jurgen was finding his scruples -inconveniently numerous. - -"And now I think that what I do to-night is not quite fair to Chloris. -And I do not know what thing it is that I desire, and the will of -Jurgen is a feather in the wind. But I know that I would like to love -somebody as Chloris loves me, and as so many women have loved me. And -I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen Helen, at every -moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I first seemed to -find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. It is the memory -of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face of a jill-flirt, -which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other men give women: -and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved nothing--not even you, -not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. Well, what if I took vengeance -now upon this thieving comeliness, upon this robber that strips life of -joy and sorrow?" - -Jurgen stood at Queen Helen's bedside, watching her, for a long -while. He had shifted into a less fanciful mood: and the shadow that -followed him was ugly and hulking and wavering upon the cedarn wall -of Queen Helen's sleeping-chamber. - -"Mine is a magic which does not fail," old Phobetor had said, while -his attendants raised his eyelids so that he could see King Jurgen. - -Now Jurgen remembered this. And reflectively he drew back the robe -of violet-colored wool, a little way. The breast of Queen Helen lay -bare. And she did not move at all, but she smiled in her sleep. - -Never had Jurgen imagined that any woman could be so beautiful nor -so desirable as this woman, or that he could ever know such rapture. -So Jurgen paused. - -"Because," said Jurgen now, "it may be this woman has some fault: it -may be there is some fleck in her beauty somewhere. And sooner than -know that, I would prefer to retain my unreasonable dreams, and this -longing which is unfed and hopeless, and the memory of to-night. -Besides, if she were perfect in everything, how could I live any -longer, who would have no more to desire? No, I would be betraying -my own interests, either way; and injustice is always despicable." - -So Jurgen sighed and gently replaced the robe of violet-colored -wool, and he returned to his Hamadryad. - -"And now that I think of it, too," reflected Jurgen, "I am behaving -rather nobly. Yes, it is questionless that I have to-night evinced a -certain delicacy of feeling which merits appreciation, at all events -by King Achilles." - - - - -31. - -The Fall of Pseudopolis - - -So Jurgen abode in Leukê, and complied with the customs of that -country; and what with one thing and another, he and Chloris made -the time pass pleasantly enough, until the winter solstice was at -hand. Now Pseudopolis, as has been said, was at war with Philistia: -so it befell that at this season Leukê was invaded by an army of -Philistines, led by their Queen Dolores, a woman who was wise but -not entirely reliable. They came from the coast, a terrible army -insanely clad in such garments as had been commanded by Ageus, a god -of theirs; and chaunting psalms in honor of their god Vel-Tyno, who -had inspired this crusade: thus they swept down upon Pseudopolis, -and encamped before the city. - -These Philistines fought in this campaign by casting before them a -more horrible form of Greek fire, which consumed whatever was not -gray-colored. For that color alone was now favored by their god -Vel-Tyno. "And all other colors," his oracles had decreed, "are -forevermore abominable, until I say otherwise." - -So the forces of Philistia were marshalled in the plain before -Pseudopolis, and Queen Dolores spoke to her troops. And smilingly -she said:-- - -"Whenever you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No -mercy will be shown, no prisoners taken. As the Philistines under -Libnah and Goliath and Gershon, and a many other tall captains, made -for themselves a name which is still mighty in traditions and -legend, even thus to-day may the name of Realist be so fixed in -Pseudopolis, by your deeds to-day, that no one shall ever dare again -even to look askance at a Philistine. Open the door for Realism, -once for all!" - -Meanwhile within the city Achilles, King of Men, addressed his -army:-- - -"The eyes of all the world will be upon you, because you are in some -especial sense the soldiers of Romance. Let it be your pride, -therefore, to show all men everywhere, not only what good soldiers -you are, but also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and -straight in everything, and pure and clean through and through. Let -us set ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory to live -up to it, and then let us live up to it, and add a new laurel to the -crown of Pseudopolis. May the Gods of Old keep you and guide you!" - -Then said Thersitês, in his beard: "Certainly Pelidês has learned -from history with what weapon a strong man discomfits the -Philistines." - -But the other kings applauded, and the trumpet was sounded, and the -battle was joined. And that day the forces of Philistia were -everywhere triumphant. But they report a queer thing happened: and -it was that when the Philistines shouted in their triumph, Achilles -and all they who served him rose from the ground like gleaming -clouds and passed above the heads of the Philistines, deriding them. - -Thus was Pseudopolis left empty, so that the Philistines entered -thereinto without any opposition. They defiled this city of -blasphemous colors, then burned it as a sacrifice to their god -Vel-Tyno, because the color of ashes is gray. - -Then the Philistines erected lithoi (which were not unlike may-poles), -and began to celebrate their religious rites. - - * * * * * - -So it was reported: but Jurgen witnessed none of these events. - -"Let them fight it out," said Jurgen: "it is not my affair. I agree -with Silenus: dullness will conquer dullness, and it will not -matter. But do you, woman dear, take shelter with your kindred in -the unconquerable Woods, for there is no telling what damage the -Philistines may do hereabouts." - -"Will you go with me, Jurgen?" - -"My dear, you know very well that it is impossible for me ever again -to go into the Woods, after the trick I played upon Phobetor." - -"And if only you had kept your head about that bean-pole of a Helen, -in her yellow wig--for I have not a doubt that every strand of it is -false, and at all events this is not a time to be arguing about it, -Jurgen,--why, then you would never have meddled with Uncle Phobetor! -It simply shows you!" - -"Yes," said Jurgen. - -"Still, I do not know. If you come with me into the Woods, Uncle -Phobetor in his impetuous way will quite certainly turn you into a -boar-pig, because he has always done that to the people who -irritated him--" - -"I seem to recognise that reason." - -"--But give me time, and I can get around Uncle Phobetor, just as I -have always done, and he will turn you back." - -"No," says Jurgen, obstinately, "I do not wish to be turned into a -boar-pig." - -"Now, Jurgen, let us be sensible about this! Of course, it is a -little humiliating. But I will take the very best of care of you, -and feed you with my own acorns, and it will be a purely temporary -arrangement. And to be a pig for a week or two, or even for a month, -is infinitely better for a poet than being captured by the -Philistines." - -"How do I know that?" says Jurgen. - -"--For it is not, after all, as if Uncle Phobetor's heart were not -in the right place. It is just his way. And besides, you must -remember what you did with that gimlet!" - -Said Jurgen: "All this is hardly to the purpose. You forget I have -seen the hapless swine of Phobetor, and I know how he ameliorates -the natural ferocity of his boar-pigs. No, I am Jurgen. So I remain. -I will face the Philistines and whatever they may possibly do to me, -rather than suffer that which Phobetor will quite certainly do to -me." - -"Then I stay too," said Chloris. - -"No, woman dear--!" - -"But do you not understand?" says Chloris, a little pale, as he saw -now. "Since the life of a hamadryad is linked with the life of her -tree, nobody can harm me so long as my tree lives: and if they cut -down my tree I shall die, wherever I may happen to be." - -"I had forgotten that." He was really troubled now. - -"--And you can see for yourself, Jurgen, it is quite out of the -question for me to be carrying that great oak anywhere, and I wonder -at your talking such nonsense." - -"Indeed, my dear," says Jurgen, "we are very neatly trapped. Well, -nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbor chooses. -Nevertheless, it is not fair." - -As he spoke the Philistines came forth from the burning city. Again -the trumpet sounded, and the Philistines advanced in their order of -battle. - - - - -32. - -Sundry Devices of the Philistines - - -Meanwhile the People of the Field had watched Pseudopolis burn, and -had wondered what would befall them. They had not long to wonder, -for next day the Fields were occupied, without any resistance by the -inhabitants. - -"The People of the Field," said they, "have never fought, and for -them to begin now would be a very unheard-of thing indeed." - -So the Fields were captured by the Philistines, and Chloris and -Jurgen and all the People of the Field were judged summarily. They -were declared to be obsolete illusions, whose merited doom was to be -relegated to limbo. To Jurgen this appeared unreasonable. - -"For I am no illusion," he asserted. "I am manifestly flesh and -blood, and in addition, I am the high King of Eubonia, and no less. -Why, in disputing these facts you contest circumstances that are so -well known hereabouts as to rank among mathematical certainties. And -that makes you look foolish, as I tell you for your own good." - -This vexed the leaders of the Philistines, as it always vexes people -to be told anything for their own good. "We would have you know," -said they, "that we are not mathematicians; and that moreover, we -have no kings in Philistia, where all must do what seems to be -expected of them, and have no other law." - -"How then can you be the leaders of Philistia?" - -"Why, it is expected that women and priests should behave -unaccountably. Therefore all we who are women or priests do what we -will in Philistia, and the men there obey us. And it is we, the -priests of Philistia, who do not think you can possibly have any -flesh and blood under a shirt which we recognize to be a -conventional figure of speech. It does not stand to reason. And -certainly you could not ever prove such a thing by mathematics; and -to say so is nonsense." - -"But I can prove it by mathematics, quite irrefutably. I can prove -anything you require of me by whatever means you may prefer," said -Jurgen, modestly, "for the simple reason that I am a monstrous -clever fellow." - -Then spoke the wise Queen Dolores, saying: "I have studied -mathematics. I will question this young man, in my tent to-night, -and in the morning I will report the truth as to his claims. Are you -content to endure this interrogatory, my spruce young fellow who -wear the shirt of a king?" - -Jurgen looked full upon her: she was lovely as a hawk is lovely: and -of all that Jurgen saw Jurgen approved. He assumed the rest to be in -keeping: and deduced that Dolores was a fine woman. - -"Madame and Queen," said Jurgen, "I am content. And I can promise to -deal fairly with you." - -So that evening Jurgen was conducted into the purple tent of Queen -Dolores of Philistia. It was quite dark there, and Jurgen went in -alone, and wondering what would happen next: but this scented -darkness he found of excellent augury, if only because it prevented -his shadow from following him. - -"Now, you who claim to be flesh and blood, and King of Eubonia, -too," says the voice of Queen Dolores, "what is this nonsense you -were talking about proving any such claims by mathematics?" - -"Well, but my mathematics," replied Jurgen, "are Praxagorean." - -"What, do you mean Praxagoras of Cos?" - -"As if," scoffed Jurgen, "anybody had ever heard of any other -Praxagoras!" - -"But he, as I recall, belonged to the medical school of the -Dogmatici," observed the wise Queen Dolores, "and was particularly -celebrated for his researches in anatomy. Was he, then, also a -mathematician?" - -"The two are not incongruous, madame, as I would be delighted to -demonstrate." - -"Oh, nobody said that! For, indeed, it does seem to me I have heard -of this Praxagorean system of mathematics, though, I confess, I have -never studied it." - -"Our school, madame, postulates, first of all, that since the -science of mathematics is an abstract science, it is best inculcated -by some concrete example." - -Said the Queen: "But that sounds rather complicated." - -"It occasionally leads to complications," Jurgen admitted, "through -a choice of the wrong example. But the axiom is no less true." - -"Come, then, and sit next to me on this couch if you can find it in -the dark; and do you explain to me what you mean." - -"Why, madame, by a concrete example I mean one that is perceptible -to any of the senses--as to sight or hearing, or touch--" - -"Oh, oh!" said the Queen, "now I perceive what you mean by a -concrete example. And grasping this, I can understand that -complications must of course arise from a choice of the wrong -example." - -"Well, then, madame, it is first necessary to implant in you, by the -force of example, a lively sense of the peculiar character, and -virtues and properties, of each of the numbers upon which is based -the whole science of Praxagorean mathematics. For in order to -convince you thoroughly, we must start far down, at the beginning of -all things." - -"I see," said the Queen, "or rather, in this darkness I cannot see -at all, but I perceive your point. Your opening interests me: and -you may go on." - -"Now ONE, or the monad," says Jurgen, "is the principle and the end -of all: it reveals the sublime knot which binds together the chain -of causes: it is the symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, -of conservation, and of general harmony." And Jurgen emphasized -these characteristics vigorously. "In brief, ONE is a symbol of the -union of things: it introduces that generating virtue which is the -cause of all combinations: and consequently ONE is a good -principle." - -"Ah, ah!" said Queen Dolores, "I heartily admire a good principle. -But what has become of your concrete example?" - -"It is ready for you, madame: there is but ONE Jurgen." - -"Oh, I assure you, I am not yet convinced of that. Still, the -audacity of your example will help me to remember ONE, whether or -not you prove to be really unique." - -"Now, TWO, or the dyad, the origin of contrasts--" - -Jurgen went on penetratingly to demonstrate that TWO was a symbol of -diversity and of restlessness and of disorder, ending in collapse -and separation: and was accordingly an evil principle. Thus was the -life of every man made wretched by the struggle between his TWO -components, his soul and his body; and thus was the rapture of -expectant parents considerably abated by the advent of TWINS. - -THREE, or the triad, however, since everything was composed of three -substances, contained the most sublime mysteries, which Jurgen duly -communicated. We must remember, he pointed out, that Zeus carried a -TRIPLE thunderbolt, and Poseidon a TRIDENT, whereas Adês was guarded -by a dog with THREE heads: this in addition to the omnipotent -brothers themselves being a TRIO. - -Thus Jurgen continued to impart the Praxagorean significance of each -digit separately: and by and by the Queen was declaring his flow of -wisdom was superhuman. - -"Ah, but, madame, not even the wisdom of a king is without limit. -EIGHT, I repeat, then, is appropriately the number of the -Beatitudes. And NINE, or the ennead, also, being the multiple of -THREE, should be regarded as sacred--" - -The Queen attended docilely to his demonstration of the peculiar -properties of NINE. And when he had ended she confessed that beyond -doubt NINE should be regarded as miraculous. But she repudiated his -analogues as to the muses, the lives of a cat, and how many tailors -made a man. - -"Rather, I shall remember always," she declared, "that King Jurgen -of Eubonia is a NINE days' wonder." - -"Well, madame," said Jurgen, with a sigh, "now that we have reached -NINE, I regret to say we have exhausted the digits." - -"Oh, what a pity!" cried Queen Dolores. "Nevertheless, I will -concede the only illustration I disputed; there is but ONE Jurgen: -and certainly this Praxagorean system of mathematics is a -fascinating study." And promptly she commenced to plan Jurgen's -return with her into Philistia, so that she might perfect herself in -the higher branches of mathematics. "For you must teach me calculus -and geometry and all other sciences in which these digits are -employed. We can arrange some compromise with the priests. That is -always possible with the priests of Philistia, and indeed the -priests of Sesphra can be made to help anybody in anything. And as -for your Hamadryad, I will attend to her myself." - -"But, no," says Jurgen, "I am ready enough in all conscience to -compromise elsewhere: but to compound with the forces of Philistia -is the one thing I cannot do." - -"Do you mean that, King Jurgen?" The Queen was astounded. - -"I mean it, my dear, as I mean nothing else. You are in many ways an -admirable people, and you are in all ways a formidable people. So I -admire, I dread, I avoid, and at the very last pinch I defy. For you -are not my people, and willy-nilly my gorge rises against your laws, -as equally insane and abhorrent. Mind you, though, I assert nothing. -You may be right in attributing wisdom to these laws; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is the way I feel about it. So I, who compromise with -everything else, can make no compromise with Philistia. No, my -adored Dolores, it is not a virtue, rather it is an instinct with -me, and I have no choice." - -Even Dolores, who was Queen of all the Philistines, could perceive -that this man spoke truthfully. "I am sorry," says she, with real -regret, "for you could be much run after in Philistia." - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "as an instructor in mathematics." - -"But, no, King Jurgen, not only in mathematics," said Dolores, -reasonably. "There is poetry, for instance! For they tell me you are -a poet, and a great many of my people take poetry quite seriously, I -believe. Of course, I do not have much time for reading, myself. So -you can be the Poet Laureate of Philistia, on any salary you like. -And you can teach us all your ideas by writing beautiful poems about -them. And you and I can be very happy together." - -"Teach, teach! there speaks Philistia, and very temptingly, too, -through an adorable mouth, that would bribe me with praise and fine -food and soft days forever. It is a thing that happens rather often, -though. And I can but repeat that art is not a branch of pedagogy!" - -"Really I am heartily sorry. For apart from mathematics, I like you, -King Jurgen, just as a person." - -"I, too, am sorry, Dolores. For I confess to a weakness for the -women of Philistia." - -"Certainly you have given me no cause to suspect you of any weakness -in that quarter," observed Dolores, "in the long while you have been -alone with me, and have talked so wisely and have reasoned so -deeply. I am afraid that after to-night I shall find all other men -more or less superficial. Heigho! and I shall probably weep my eyes -out to-morrow when you are relegated to limbo. For that is what the -priests will do with you, King Jurgen, on one plea or another, if -you do not conform to the laws of Philistia." - -"And that one compromise I cannot make! Ah, but even now I have a -plan wherewith to escape your priests: and failing that, I possess a -cantrap to fall back upon in my hour of direst need. My private -affairs are thus not yet in a hopeless or even in a dejected -condition. This fact now urges me to observe that TEN, or the -decade, is the measure of all, since it contains all the numeric -relations and harmonies--" - -So they continued their study of mathematics until it was time for -Jurgen to appear again before his judges. - -And in the morning Queen Dolores sent word to her priests that she -was too sleepy to attend their council, but that the man was -indisputably flesh and blood, amply deserved to be a king, and as a -mathematician had not his peer. - -Now these points being settled, the judges conferred, and Jurgen was -decreed a backslider into the ways of undesirable error. His judges -were the priests of Vel-Tyno and Sesphra and Ageus, who are the Gods -of Philistia. - -Then the priest of Ageus put on his spectacles and consulted the -canonical law, and declared that this change in the indictment -necessitated a severance of Jurgen from the others, in the -infliction of punishment. - -"For each, of course, must be relegated to the limbo of his fathers, -as was foretold, in order that the prophecies may be fulfilled. -Religion languishes when prophecies are not fulfilled. Now it -appears that the forefathers of the flesh and blood prisoner were of -a different faith from the progenitors of these obsolete illusions, -and that his fathers foretold quite different things, and that their -limbo was called Hell." - -"It is little you know," says Jurgen, "of the religion of Eubonia." - -"We have it written down in this great book," the priest of Vel-Tyno -then told him,--"every word of it without blot or error." - -"Then you will see that the King of Eubonia is the head of the -church there, and changes all the prophecies at will. Learned -Gowlais says so directly: and the judicious Stevegonius was forced -to agree with him, however unwillingly, as you will instantly -discover by consulting the third section of his widely famous -nineteenth chapter." - -"Both Gowlais and Stevegonius were probably notorious heretics," -says the priest of Ageus. "I believe that was settled once for all -at the Diet of Orthumar." - -"Eh!" says Jurgen. He did not like this priest. "Now I will wager, -sirs," Jurgen continued, a trifle patronizingly, "that you gentlemen -have not read Gowlais, or even Stevegonius, in the light of -Vossler's commentaries. And that is why you underrate them." - -"I at least have read every word that was ever written by any of -these three," replied the priest of Sesphra--"and with, as I need -hardly say, the liveliest abhorrence. And this Gowlais in -particular, as I hasten to agree with my learned confrère, is a most -notorious heretic--" - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you telling me -about Gowlais!" - -"I tell you that I have been roused to indignation by his -_Historia de Bello Veneris_--" - -"You surprise me: still--" - -"--Shocked by his _Pornoboscodidascolo_--" - -"I can hardly believe it: even so, you must grant--" - -"--And horrified by his _Liber de immortalitate Mentulæ_--" - -"Well, conceding you that earlier work, sir, yet, at the same -time--" - -"--And have been disgusted by his _De modo coeundi_--" - -"Ah, but, none the less--" - -"--And have shuddered over the unspeakable enormities of -his _Erotopægnion!_ of his _Cinædica!_ and especially of his -_Epipedesis_, that most pestilential and abominable book, -_quem sine horrore nemo potest legere_--" - -"Still, you cannot deny--" - -"--And have read also all the confutations of this detestable -Gowlais: as those of Zanchius, Faventinus, Lelius Vincentius, -Lagalla, Thomas Giaminus, and eight other admirable commentators--" - -"You are very exact, sir: but--" - -"--And that, in short, I have read every book you can imagine," says -the priest of Sesphra. - -The shoulders of Jurgen rose to his ears, and Jurgen silently flung -out his hands, palms upward. - -"For, I perceive," says Jurgen, to himself, "that this Realist is -too circumstantial for me. None the less, he invents his facts: it -is by citing books which never existed that he publicly confutes the -Gowlais whom I invented privately: and that is not fair. Now there -remains only one chance for Jurgen; but luckily that chance is -sure." - -"Why are you fumbling in your pocket?" asks the old priest of Ageus, -fidgeting and peering. - -"Aha, you may well ask!" cried Jurgen. He unfolded the cantrap which -had been given him by the Master Philologist, and which Jurgen had -treasured against the time when more was needed than a glib tongue. -"O most unrighteous judges," says Jurgen, sternly, "now hear and -tremble! 'At the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who -should be named John the Twentieth, was through an error in the -reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the Twenty-first!'" - -"Hah, and what have we to do with that?" inquired the priest of -Vel-Tyno, with raised eyebrows. "Why are you telling us of these -irrelevant matters?" - -"Because I thought it would interest you," said Jurgen. "It was a -fact that appeared to me rather amusing. So I thought I would -mention it." - -"Then you have very queer ideas of amusement," they told him. And -Jurgen perceived that either he had not employed his cantrap -correctly or else that its magic was unappreciated by the leaders of -Philistia. - - - - -33. - -Farewell to Chloris - - -Now the Philistines led out their prisoners, and made ready to -inflict the doom which was decreed. And they permitted the young -King of Eubonia to speak with Chloris. - -"Farewell to you now, Jurgen!" says Chloris, weeping softly. "It is -little I care what foolish words these priests of Philistia may -utter against me. But the big-armed axemen are felling my tree -yonder, to get them timber to make a bedstead for the Queen of -Philistia: for that is what this Queen Dolores ordered them to do -the first thing this morning." - -And Jurgen raised his hands. "You women!" he said. "What man would -ever have thought of that?" - -"So when my tree is felled I must depart into a sombre land wherein -there is no laughter at all; and where the puzzled dead go wandering -futilely through fields of scentless asphodel, and through tall -sullen groves of myrtle,--the puzzled quiet dead, who may not even -weep as I do now, but can only wonder what it is that they regret. -And I too must taste of Lethê, and forget all I have loved." - -"You should give thanks to the imagination of your forefathers, my -dear, that your doom is no worse. For I am going into a more -barbaric limbo, into the Hell of a people who thought entirely too -much about flames and pitchforks," says Jurgen, ruefully. "I tell -you it is the deuce and all, to come of morbid ancestry." And he -kissed Chloris, upon the brow. "My dear, dear girl," he said, with a -gulp, "as long as you remember me, do so with charity." - -"Jurgen"--and she clung close to him--"you were not ever unkind, not -even for a moment. Jurgen, you have not ever spoken one harsh word -to me or any other person, in all the while we were together. O -Jurgen, whom I have loved as you could love nobody, it was not much -those other women had left me to worship!" - -"Indeed, it is a pity that you loved me, Chloris, for I was not -worthy." And for the instant Jurgen meant it. - -"If any other person said that, Jurgen, I would be very angry. And even -to hear you say it troubles me, because there was never a hamadryad -between two hills that had a husband one-half so clever-foolish as he -made light of time and chance, with his sleek black head cocked to one -side, and his mischievous brown eyes a-twinkle." - -And Jurgen wondered that this should be the notion Chloris had of -him, and that a gesture should be the things she remembered about -him: and he was doubly assured that no woman bothers to understand -the man she elects to love and cosset and slave for. - -"O woman dear," says Jurgen, "but I have loved you, and my heart is -water now that you are taken from me: and to remember your ways and -the joy I had in them will be a big and grinding sorrow in the long -time to come. Oh, not with any heroic love have I loved you, nor -with any madness and high dreams, nor with much talking either; but -with a love befitting my condition, with a quiet and cordial love." - -"And must you be trying, while I die, to get your grieving for me -into the right words?" she asks him, smiling very sadly. "No matter: -you are Jurgen, and I have loved you. And I am glad that I shall -know nothing about it when in the long time, to come you will be -telling so many other women about what was said by Zorobasius and -Ptolemopiter, and when you will be posturing and romancing for their -delight. For presently I shall have tasted Lethê: and presently I -shall have forgotten you, King Jurgen, and all the joy I had in you, -and all the pride, and all the love I had for you, King Jurgen, who -loved me as much as you were able." - -"Why, and will there be any love-making, do you think, in Hell?" he -asks her, with a doleful smile. - -"There will be love-making," she replied, "wherever you go, King -Jurgen. And there will be women to listen. And at the last there -will be a bean-pole of a woman, in a wig." - -"I am sorry--" he said. "And yet I have loved you, Chloris." - -"That is my comfort now. And presently there will be Lethê. I put -the greater faith in Lethê. And still, I cannot help but love you, -Jurgen, in whom I have no faith at all." - -He said, again: "I am not worthy." - -They kissed. Then each of them was conveyed to an appropriate doom. - -And tears were in the eyes of Jurgen, who was not used to weep: and -he thought not at all of what was to befall him, but only of this -and that small trivial thing which would have pleased his Chloris -had Jurgen done it, and which for one reason or another Jurgen had -left undone. - -"I was not ever unkind to her, says she! ah, but I might have been -so much kinder. And now I shall not ever see her any more, nor ever -any more may I awaken delight and admiration in those bright tender -eyes which saw no fault in me! Well, but it is a comfort surely that -she does not know how I devoted the last night she was to live to -teaching mathematics." - -And then Jurgen wondered how he would be despatched into the Hell of -his fathers? And when the Philistines showed him in what manner they -proposed to inflict their sentence he wondered at his own -obtuseness. - -"For I might have surmised this would be the way of it," said -Jurgen. "And yet as always there is a simplicity in the methods of -the Philistines which is unimaginable by really clever fellows. And -as always, too, these methods are unfair to us clever fellows. Well, -I am willing to taste any drink once: but this is a very horrible -device, none the less; and I wonder if I have the pluck to endure -it?" - -Then as he stood considering this matter, a man-at-arms came -hurrying. He brought with him three great rolled parchments, with -seals and ribbons and everything in order: and these were Jurgen's -pardon and Jurgen's nomination as Poet Laureate of Philistia and -Jurgen's appointment as Mathematician Royal. - -The man-at-arms brought also a letter from Queen Dolores, and this -Jurgen read with a frown. - -"Do you consider now what fun it would be to hood-wink everybody by -pretending to conform to our laws!" said this letter, and it said -nothing more: Dolores was really a wise woman. Yet there was a -postscript. "For we could be so happy!" said the postscript. - -And Jurgen looked toward the Woods, where men were sawing up a great -oak-tree. And Jurgen gave a fine laugh, and with fine deliberateness -he tore up the Queen's letter into little strips. Then statelily he -took the parchments, and found they were so tough he could not tear -them. This was uncommonly awkward, for Jurgen's ill-advised attempt -to tear the parchments impaired the dignity of his magnanimous -self-sacrifice: he even suspected one of the guards of smiling. So -there was nothing for it but presently to give up that futile tugging -and jerking, and to compromise by crumpling these parchments. - -"This is my answer," said Jurgen heroically, and with some -admiration of himself, but still a little dashed by the uncalled-for -toughness of the parchments. - -Then Jurgen cried farewell to fallen Leukê; and scornfully he cried -farewell to the Philistines and to their devices. Then he submitted -to their devices. Thus, it was without making any special protest -about it that Jurgen was relegated to limbo, and was despatched to -the Hell of his fathers, two days before Christmas. - - - - -34. - -How Emperor Jurgen Fared Infernally - - -Now the tale tells how the devils of Hell were in one of their churches -celebrating Christmas in such manner as the devils observe that day; -and how Jurgen came through the trapdoor in the vestry-room; and how -he saw and wondered over the creatures which inhabited this place. For -to him after the Christmas services came all such devils as his fathers -had foretold, and in not a hair or scale or talon did they differ from -the worst that anybody had been able to imagine. - -"Anatomy is hereabouts even more inconsequent than in Cocaigne," was -Jurgen's first reflection. But the first thing the devils did was to -search Jurgen very carefully, in order to make sure he was not -bringing any water into Hell. - -"Now, who may you be, that come to us alive, in a fine shirt of -which we never saw the like before?" asked Dithican. He had the head -of a tiger, but otherwise the appearance of a large bird, with -shining feathers and four feet: his neck was yellow, his body green, -and his feet black. - -"It would not be treating honestly with you to deny that I am the -Emperor of Noumaria," said Jurgen, somewhat advancing his estate. - -Now spoke Amaimon, in the form of a thick suet-colored worm going -upright upon his tail, which shone like the tail of a glowworm. He -had no feet, but under his chops were two short hands, and upon his -back were bristles such as grow upon hedgehogs. - -"But we are rather overrun with emperors," said Amaimon, doubtfully, -"and their crimes are a great trouble to us. Were you a very wicked -ruler?" - -"Never since I became an emperor," replied Jurgen, "has any of my -subjects uttered one word of complaint against me. So it stands to -reason I have nothing very serious with which to reproach myself." - -"Your conscience, then, does not demand that you be punished?" - -"My conscience, gentlemen, is too well-bred to insist on anything." - -"You do not even wish to be tortured?" - -"Well, I admit I had expected something of the sort. But none the -less, I will not make a point of it," said Jurgen, handsomely. "No, -I shall be quite satisfied even though you do not torture me at -all." - -And then the mob of devils made a great to-do over Jurgen. - -"For it is exceedingly good to have at least one unpretentious and -undictatorial human being in Hell. Nobody as a rule drops in on us -save inordinately proud and conscientious ghosts, whose self-conceit -is intolerable, and whose demands are outrageous." - -"How can that be?" - -"Why, we have to punish them. Of course they are not properly -punished until they are convinced that what is happening to them is -just and adequate. And you have no notion what elaborate tortures -they insist their exceeding wickedness has merited, as though that -which they did or left undone could possibly matter to anybody. And -to contrive these torments quite tires us out." - -"But wherefore is this place called the Hell of my fathers?" - -"Because your forefathers builded it in dreams," they told him, "out -of the pride which led them to believe that what they did was of -sufficient importance to merit punishment. Or so at least we have -heard: but if you want the truth of the matter you must go to our -Grandfather at Barathum." - -"I shall go to him, then. And do my own grandfathers, and all the -forefathers that I had in the old time, inhabit this gray place?" - -"All such as are born with what they call a conscience come hither," -the devils said. "Do you think you could persuade them to go -elsewhere? For in that event, we would be deeply obliged to you. -Their self-conceit is pitiful: but it is also a nuisance, because it -prevents our getting any rest." - -"Perhaps I can help you to obtain justice, and certainly to attempt -to secure justice for you is my imperial duty. But who governs this -country?" - -They told him how Hell was divided into principalities that had for -governors Lucifer and Beelzebub and Belial and Ascheroth and -Phlegeton: but that over all these was Grandfather Satan, who lived -in the Black House at Barathum. - -"Well, I prefer," says Jurgen, "to deal directly with your -principal, especially if he can explain the polity of this insane -and murky country. Do some of you conduct me to him in such state as -becomes an emperor!" - -So Cannagosta fetched a wheelbarrow, and Jurgen got into it, and -Cannagosta trundled him away. Cannagosta was something like an ox, -but rather more like a cat, and his hair was curly. - -And as they came through Chorasma, a very uncomfortable place where -the damned abide in torment, whom should Jurgen see but his own -father, Coth, the son of Smoit and Steinvor, standing there chewing -his long moustaches in the midst of an especially tall flame. - -"Do you stop now for a moment!" says Jurgen, to his escort. - -"Oh, but this is the most vexatious person in all Hell!" cried -Cannagosta; "and a person whom there is absolutely no pleasing!" - -"Nobody knows that better than I," says Jurgen. - -And Jurgen civilly bade his father good-day, but Coth did not -recognize this spruce young Emperor of Noumaria, who went about Hell -in a wheelbarrow. - -"You do not know me, then?" says Jurgen. - -"How should I know you when I never saw you before?" replied Coth, -irritably. - -And Jurgen did not argue the point: for he knew that he and his -father could never agree about anything. So Jurgen kept silent for -that time, and Cannagosta wheeled him through the gray twilight, -descending always deeper and yet deeper into the lowlands of Hell, -until they had come to Barathum. - - - - -35. - -What Grandfather Satan Reported - - -Next the tale tells how three inferior devils made a loud music with -bagpipes as Jurgen went into the Black House of Barathum, to talk -with Grandfather Satan. - -Satan was like a man of sixty, or it might be sixty-two, in all -things save that he was covered with gray fur, and had horns like -those of a stag. He wore a breech-clout of very dark gray, and he -sat in a chair of black marble, on a daïs: his bushy tail, which was -like that of a squirrel, waved restlessly over his head as he looked -at Jurgen, without speaking, and without turning his mind from an -ancient thought. And his eyes were like light shining upon little -pools of ink, for they had no whites to them. - -"What is the meaning of this insane country?" says Jurgen, plunging -at the heart of things. "There is no sense in it, and no fairness at -all." - -"Ah," replied Satan, in his curious hoarse voice, "you may well say -that: and it is what I was telling my wife only last night." - -"You have a wife, then!" says Jurgen, who was always interested in -such matters. "Why, but to be sure! either as a Christian or as a -married man, I should have comprehended this was Satan's due. And -how do you get on with her?" - -"Pretty well," says Grandfather Satan: "but she does not understand -me." - -"_Et tu, Brute!_" says Jurgen. - -"And what does that mean?" - -"It is an expression connotating astonishment over an event without -parallel. But everything in Hell seems rather strange, and the place -is not at all as it was rumored to be by the priests and the bishops -and the cardinals that used to be exhorting me in my fine palace at -Breschau." - -"And where, did you say, is this palace?" - -"In Noumaria, where I am the Emperor Jurgen. And I need not insult -you by explaining Breschau is my capital city, and is noted for -its manufacture of linen and woolen cloth and gloves and cameos -and brandy, though the majority of my subjects are engaged in -cattle-breeding and agricultural pursuits." - -"Of course not: for I have studied geography. And, Jurgen, it is -often I have heard of you, though never of your being an emperor." - -"Did I not say this place was not in touch with new ideas?" - -"Ah, but you must remember that thoughtful persons keep out of Hell. -Besides, the war with Heaven prevents us from thinking of other -matters. In any event, you Emperor Jurgen, by what authority do you -question Satan, in Satan's home?" - -"I have heard that word which the ass spoke with the cat," replied -Jurgen; for he recollected upon a sudden what Merlin had shown him. - -Grandfather Satan nodded comprehendingly. "All honor be to Set and -Bast! and may their power increase. This, Emperor, is how my kingdom -came about." - -Then Satan, sitting erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, -explained how he, and all the domain and all the infernal -hierarchies he ruled, had been created extempore by Koshchei, to -humor the pride of Jurgen's forefathers. "For they were exceedingly -proud of their sins. And Koshchei happened to notice Earth once upon -a time, with your forefathers walking about it exultant in the -enormity of their sins and in the terrible punishments they expected -in requital. Now Koshchei will do almost anything to humor pride, -because to be proud is one of the two things that are impossible to -Koshchei. So he was pleased, oh, very much pleased: and after he had -had his laugh out, he created Hell extempore, and made it just such -a place as your forefathers imagined it ought to be, in order to -humor the pride of your forefathers." - -"And why is pride impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because he made things as they are; and day and night he -contemplates things as they are, having nothing else to look at. -How, then, can Koshchei be proud?" - -"I see. It is as if I were imprisoned in a cell wherein there was -nothing, absolutely nothing, except my verses. I shudder to think of -it! But what is this other thing which is impossible to Koshchei?" - -"I do not know. It is something that does not enter into Hell." - -"Well, I wish I too had never entered here, and now you must assist -me to get out of this murky place." - -"And why must I assist you?" - -"Because," said Jurgen, and he drew out the cantrap of the Master -Philologist, "because at the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro -Juliani, who should be named John the Twentieth, was through an -error in the reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the -Twenty-first. Do you not find my reason sufficient?" - -"No," said Grandfather Satan, after thinking it over, "I cannot say -that I do. But, then, popes go to Heaven. It is considered to look -better, all around, and particularly by my countrymen, inasmuch as -many popes have been suspected of pro-Celestialism. So we admit none -of them into Hell, in order to be on the safe side, now that we are -at war. In consequence, I am no judge of popes and their affairs, -nor do I pretend to be." - -And Jurgen perceived that again he had employed his cantrap -incorrectly or else that it was impotent to rescue people from -Satan. "But who would have thought," he reflected, "that Grandfather -Satan was such a simple old creature!" - -"How long, then, must I remain here?" asks Jurgen, after a dejected -pause. - -"I do not know," replies Satan. "It must depend entirely upon what -your father thinks about it--" - -"But what has he to do with it?" - -"--Since I and all else that is here are your father's absurd -notions, as you have so frequently proved by logic. And it is hardly -possible that such a clever fellow as you can be mistaken." - -"Why, of course, that is not possible," says Jurgen. "Well, the -matter is rather complicated. But I am willing to taste any drink -once: and I shall manage to get justice somehow, even in this -unreasonable place where my father's absurd notions are the truth." - -So Jurgen left the Black House of Barathum: and Jurgen also left -Grandfather Satan, erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, and -with his eyes gleaming in the dim light, as he sat there restively -swishing his soft bushy tail, and not ever turning his mind from an -ancient thought. - - - - -36. - -Why Coth was Contradicted - - -Then Jurgen went back to Chorasma, where Coth, the son of Smoit and -Steinvor, stood conscientiously in the midst of the largest and -hottest flame he had been able to imagine, and rebuked the outworn -devils who were tormenting him, because the tortures they inflicted -were not adequate to the wickedness of Coth. - -And Jurgen cried to his father: "The lewd fiend Cannagosta told you -I was the Emperor of Noumaria, and I do not deny it even now. But do -you not perceive I am likewise your son Jurgen?" - -"Why, so it is," said Coth, "now that I look at the rascal. And how, -Jurgen, did you become an emperor?" - -"Oh, sir, and is this a place wherein to talk about mere earthly -dignities? I am surprised your mind should still run upon these -empty vanities even here in torment." - -"But it is inadequate torment, Jurgen, such as does not salve my -conscience. There is no justice in this place, and no way of getting -justice. For these shiftless devils do not take seriously that which -I did, and they merely pretend to punish me, and so my conscience -stays unsatisfied." - -"Well, but, father, I have talked with them, and they seem to think -your crimes do not amount to much, after all." - -Coth flew into one of his familiar rages. "I would have you know -that I killed eight men in cold blood, and held five other men while -they were being killed. I estimate the sum of such iniquity as ten -and a half murders, and for these my conscience demands that I be -punished." - -"Ah, but, sir, that was fifty years or more ago, and these men would -now be dead in any event, so you see it does not matter now." - -"I went astray with women, with I do not know how many women." - -Jurgen shook his head. "This is very shocking news for a son to -receive, and you can imagine my feelings. None the less, sir, that -also was fifty years ago, and nobody is bothering over it now." - -"You jackanapes, I tell you that I swore and stole and forged and -burned four houses and broke the Sabbath and was guilty of mayhem -and spoke disrespectfully to my mother and worshipped a stone image -in Porutsa. I tell you I shattered the whole Decalogue, time and -again. I committed all the crimes that were ever heard of, and -invented six new ones." - -"Yes, sir," said Jurgen: "but, still, what does it matter if you -did?" - -"Oh, take away this son of mine!" cried Coth: "for he is his mother -all over again; and though I was the vilest sinner that ever lived, -I have not deserved to be plagued twice with such silly questions. -And I demand that you loitering devils bring more fuel." - -"Sir," said a panting little fiend, in the form of a tadpole with -hairy arms and legs like a monkey's, as he ran up with four bundles -of faggots, "we are doing the very best we can for your discomfort. -But you damned have no consideration for us, and do not remember -that we are on our feet day and night, waiting upon you," said the -little devil, whimpering, as with his pitchfork he raked up the fire -about Coth. "You do not even remember the upset condition of the -country, on account of the war with Heaven, which makes it so hard -for us to get you all the inconveniences of life. Instead, you -lounge in your flames, and complain about the service, and -Grandfather Satan punishes us, and it is not fair." - -"I think, myself," said Jurgen, "you should be gentler with the boy. -And as for your crimes, sir, come, will you not conquer this pride -which you nickname conscience, and concede that after any man has -been dead a little while it does not matter at all what he did? Why, -about Bellegarde no one ever thinks of your throat-cutting and -Sabbath-breaking except when very old people gossip over the fire, -and your wickedness brightens up the evening for them. To the rest -of us you are just a stone in the churchyard which describes you as -a paragon of all the virtues. And outside of Bellegarde, sir, your -name and deeds mean nothing now to anybody, and no one anywhere -remembers you. So really your wickedness is not bothering any person -now save these poor toiling devils: and I think that, in -consequence, you might consent to put up with such torments as they -can conveniently contrive, without complaining so ill-temperedly -about it." - -"Ah, but my conscience, Jurgen! that is the point." - -"Oh, if you continue to talk about your conscience, sir, you -restrict the conversation to matters I do not understand, and so -cannot discuss. But I dare say we will find occasion to thresh out -this, and all other matters, by and by: and you and I will make the -best of this place, for now I will never leave you." - -Coth began to weep: and he said that his sins in the flesh had been -too heinous for this comfort to be permitted him in the unendurable -torment which he had fairly earned, and hoped some day to come by. - -"Do you care about me, one way or the other, then?" says Jurgen, -quite astounded. - -And from the midst of his flame Coth, the son of Smoit, talked of -the birth of Jurgen, and of the infant that had been Jurgen, and of -the child that had been Jurgen. And a horrible, deep, unreasonable -emotion moved in Jurgen as he listened to the man who had begotten -him, and whose flesh was Jurgen's flesh, and whose thoughts had not -ever been Jurgen's thoughts: and Jurgen did not like it. Then the -voice of Coth was bitterly changed, as he talked of the young man -that had been Jurgen, of the young man who was idle and rebellious -and considerate of nothing save his own light desires; and of the -division which had arisen between Jurgen and Jurgen's father Coth -spoke likewise: and Jurgen felt better now, but was still grieved to -know how much his father had once loved him. - -"It is lamentably true," says Jurgen, "that I was an idle and -rebellious son. So I did not follow your teachings. I went astray, -oh, very terribly astray. I even went astray, sir I must tell you, -with a nature myth connected with the Moon." - -"Oh, hideous abomination of the heathen!" - -"And she considered, sir, that thereafter I was likely to become a -solar legend." - -"I should not wonder," said Coth, and he shook his bald and dome-shaped -head despondently. "Ah, my son, it simply shows you what comes of these -wild courses." - -"And in that event, I would, of course, be released from sojourning -in the underworld by the Spring Equinox. Do you not think so, sir?" -says Jurgen, very coaxingly, because he remembered that, according -to Satan, whatever Coth believed would be the truth in Hell. - -"I am sure," said Coth--"why, I am sure I do not know anything about -such matters." - -"Yes, but what do you think?" - -"I do not think about it at all." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Jurgen, you have a very uncivil habit of arguing with people--" - -"Still, sir--" - -"And I have spoken to you about it before--" - -"Yet, father--" - -"And I do not wish to have to speak to you about it again--" - -"None the less, sir--" - -"And when I say that I have no opinion--" - -"But everybody has an opinion, father!" Jurgen shouted this, and -felt it was quite like old times. - -"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice, sir!" - -"But I only meant--" - -"Do not lie to me, Jurgen! and stop interrupting me! For, as I was -saying when you began to yell at your father as though you were -addressing an unreasonable person, it is my opinion that I know -nothing whatever about Equinoxes! and do not care to know anything -about Equinoxes, I would have you understand! and that the less said -as to such disreputable topics the better, as I tell you to your -face!" - -And Jurgen groaned. "Here is a pretty father! If you had thought so, -it would have happened. But you imagine me in a place like this, and -have not sufficient fairness, far less paternal affection, to -imagine me out of it." - -"I can only think of your well merited affliction, you quarrelsome -scoundrel! and of the host of light women with whom you have sinned! -and of the doom which has befallen you in consequence!" - -"Well, at worst," says Jurgen, "there are no women here. That ought -to be a comfort to you." - -"I think there are women here," snapped his father. "It is reputed -that quite a number of women have had consciences. But these -conscientious women are probably kept separate from us men, in some -other part of Hell, for the reason that if they were admitted into -Chorasma they would attempt to tidy the place and make it habitable. -I know your mother would have been meddling out of hand." - -"Oh, sir, and must you still be finding fault with mother?" - -"Your mother, Jurgen, was in many ways an admirable woman. But," -said Coth, "she did not understand me." - -"Ah, well, that may have been the trouble. Still, all this you say -about women being here is mere guess-work." - -"It is not!" said Coth, "and I want none of your impudence, either. -How many times must I tell you that?" - -Jurgen scratched his ear reflectively. For he still remembered what -Grandfather Satan had said, and Coth's irritation seemed promising. -"Well, but the women here are all ugly, I wager." - -"They are not!" said his father, angrily. "Why do you keep -contradicting me?" - -"Because you do not know what you are talking about," says Jurgen, -egging him on. "How could there be any pretty women in this horrible -place? For the soft flesh would be burned away from their little -bones, and the loveliest of queens would be reduced to a horrid -cinder." - -"I think there are any number of vampires and succubi and such -creatures, whom the flames do not injure at all, because these -creatures are informed with an ardor that is unquenchable and is -more hot than fire. And you understand perfectly what I mean, so -there is no need for you to stand there goggling at me like a -horrified abbess!" - -"Oh, sir, but you know very well that I would have nothing to do -with such unregenerate persons." - -"I do not know anything of the sort. You are probably lying to me. -You always lied to me. I think you are on your way to meet a vampire -now." - -"What, sir, a hideous creature with fangs and leathery wings!" - -"No, but a very poisonous and seductively beautiful creature." - -"Come, now! you do not really think she is beautiful." - -"I do think so. How dare you tell me what I think and do not think!" - -"Ah, well, I shall have nothing to do with her." - -"I think you will," said his father: "ah, but I think you will be up -to your tricks with her before this hour is out. For do I not know -what emperors are? and do I not know you?" - -And Coth fell to talking of Jurgen's past, in the customary terms of -a family squabble, such as are not very nicely repeatable elsewhere. -And the fiends who had been tormenting Coth withdrew in -embarrassment, and so long as Coth continued talking they kept out -of earshot. - - - - -37. - -Invention of the Lovely Vampire - - -So again Coth parted with his son in anger, and Jurgen returned -again toward Barathum; and, whether or not it was a coincidence, -Jurgen met precisely the vampire of whom he had inveigled his father -into thinking. She was the most seductively beautiful creature that -it would be possible for Jurgen's father or any other man to -imagine: and her clothes were orange-colored, for a reason -sufficiently well known in Hell, and were embroidered everywhere -with green fig-leaves. - -"A good morning to you, madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you -going?" - -"Why, to no place at all, good youth. For this is my vacation, -granted yearly by the Law of Kalki--" - -"And who is Kalki, madame?" - -"Nobody as yet: but he will come as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law -precedes him, so that I am spending my vacation peacefully in Hell, -with none of my ordinary annoyances to bother me." - -"And what, madame, can they be?" - -"Why, you must understand that it is little rest a vampire gets on -earth, with so many fine young fellows like yourself going about -everywhere eager to be destroyed." - -"But how, madame, did you happen to become a vampire if the life -does not please you? And what is it that they call you?" - -"My name, sir," replied the Vampire, sorrowfully, "is Florimel, -because my nature no less than my person was as beautiful as the -flowers of the field and as sweet as the honey which the bees (who -furnish us with such admirable examples of industry) get out of -these flowers. But a sad misfortune changed all this. For I chanced -one day to fall ill and die (which, of course, might happen to -anyone), and as my funeral was leaving the house the cat jumped over -my coffin. That was a terrible misfortune to befall a poor dead girl -so generally respected, and in wide demand as a seamstress; though, -even then, the worst might have been averted had not my sister-in-law -been of what they call a humane disposition and foolishly attached to -the cat. So they did not kill it, and I, of course, became a vampire." - -"Yes, I can understand that was inevitable. Still, it seems hardly -fair. I pity you, my dear." And Jurgen sighed. - -"I would prefer, sir, that you did not address me thus familiarly, -since you and I have omitted the formality of an introduction; and -in the absence of any joint acquaintances are unlikely ever to meet -properly." - -"I have no herald handy, for I travel incognito. However, I am that -Jurgen who recently made himself Emperor of Noumaria, King of -Eubonia, Prince of Cocaigne, and Duke of Logreus; and of whom you -have doubtless heard." - -"Why, to be sure!" says she, patting her hair straight. "And who -would have anticipated meeting your highness in such a place!" - -"One says 'majesty' to an emperor, my dear. It is a detail, of -course: but in my position one has to be a little exigent." - -"I perfectly comprehend, your majesty; and indeed I might have -divined your rank from your lovely clothes. I can but entreat you to -overlook my unintentional breach of etiquette: and I make bold to -add that a kind heart reveals the splendor of its graciousness -through the interest which your majesty has just evinced in my -disastrous history." - -"Upon my word," thinks Jurgen, "but in this flow of words I seem to -recognize my father's imagination when in anger." - -Then Florimel told Jurgen of her horrible awakening in the grave, -and of what had befallen her hands and feet there, the while that -against her will she fed repugnantly, destroying first her kindred -and then the neighbors. This done, she had arisen. - -"For the cattle still lived, and that troubled me. When I had put an -end to this annoyance, I climbed into the church belfry, not alone, -for one went with me of whom I prefer not to talk; and at midnight I -sounded the bell so that all who heard it would sicken and die. And -I wept all the while, because I knew that when everything had been -destroyed which I had known in my first life in the flesh, I would -be compelled to go into new lands, in search of the food which alone -can nourish me, and I was always sincerely attached to my home. So -it was, your majesty, that I forever relinquished my sewing, and -became a lovely peril, a flashing desolation, and an evil which -smites by night, in spite of my abhorrence of irregular hours: and -what I do I dislike extremely, for it is a sad fate to become a -vampire, and still to sympathize with your victims, and particularly -with their poor mothers." - -So Jurgen comforted Florimel, and he put his arm around her. - -"Come, come!" he said, "but I will see that your vacation passes -pleasantly. And I intend to deal fairly with you, too." - -Then he glanced sidewise at his shadow, and whispered a suggestion -which caused Florimel to sigh. "By the terms of my doom," said she, -"at no time during the nine lives of the cat can I refuse. Still, it -is a comfort you are the Emperor of Noumaria and have a kind heart." - -"Oh, and a many other possessions, my dear! and I again assure you -that I intend to deal fairly with you." - -So Florimel conducted Jurgen, through the changeless twilight of -Barathum, like that of a gray winter afternoon, to a quiet cleft by -the Sea of Blood, which she had fitted out very cosily in imitation -of her girlhood home; and she lighted a candle, and made him welcome -to her cleft. And when Jurgen was about to enter it he saw that his -shadow was following him into the Vampire's home. - -"Let us extinguish this candle!" says Jurgen, "for I have seen so -many flames to-day that my eyes are tired." - -So Florimel extinguished the candle, with a good-will that delighted -Jurgen. And now they were in utter darkness, and in the dark nobody -can see what is happening. But that Florimel now trusted Jurgen and -his Noumarian claims was evinced by her very first remark. - -"I was in the beginning suspicious of your majesty," said Florimel, -"because I had always heard that every emperor carried a magnificent -sceptre, and you then displayed nothing of the sort. But now, -somehow, I do not doubt you any longer. And of what is your majesty -thinking?" - -"Why, I was reflecting, my dear," says Jurgen, "that my father -imagines things very satisfactorily." - - - - -38. - -As to Applauded Precedents - - -Afterward Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country. And the tale tells that a week or it might be ten days -after his meeting with Florimel, Jurgen married her, without being -at all hindered by his having three other wives. For the devils, he -found, esteemed polygamy, and ranked it above mere skill at -torturing the damned, through a literal interpretation of the saying -that it is better to marry than to burn. - -"And formerly," they told Jurgen, "you could hardly come across a -marriage anywhere that was not hallmarked 'made in Heaven': but -since we have been at war with Heaven we have quite taken away that -trade from our enemies. So you may marry here as much as you like." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "I shall marry in haste, and repeat at -leisure. But can one obtain a divorce here?" - -"Oh, no," said they. "We trafficked in them for a while, but we -found that all persons who obtained divorces through our industry -promptly thanked Heaven they were free at last. In the face of such -ingratitude we gave over that profitless trade, and now there is a -manufactory, for specialties in men's clothing, upon the old -statutory grounds." - -"But these makeshifts are unsatisfactory, and I wish to know, in -confidence, what do you do in Hell when there is no longer any -putting up with your wives." - -The devils all blushed. "We would prefer not to tell you," said -they, "for it might get to their ears." - -"Now do I perceive," said Jurgen, "that Hell is pretty much like any -other place." - -So Jurgen and the lovely Vampire were duly married. First Jurgen's -nails were trimmed, and the parings were given to Florimel. A -broomstick was laid before them, and they stepped over it. Then -Florimel said "Temon!" thrice, and nine times did Jurgen reply -"Arigizator!" Afterward the Emperor Jurgen and his bride were given -a posset of dudaïm and eruca, and the devils modestly withdrew. - -Thereafter Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country, and was tolerably content for a while. Now Jurgen -shared with Florimel that quiet cleft which she had fitted out in -imitation of her girlhood home: and they lived in the suburbs of -Barathum, very respectably, by the shore of the sea. There was, of -course, no water in Hell; indeed the importation of water was -forbidden, under severe penalties, in view of its possible use for -baptismal purposes: this sea was composed of the blood that had been -shed by piety in furthering the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and -was reputed to be the largest ocean in existence. And it explained -the nonsensical saying which Jurgen had so often heard, as to Hell's -being paved with good intentions. - -"For Epigenes of Rhodes is right, after all," said Jurgen, "in -suggesting a misprint: and the word should be 'laved'." - -"Why, to be sure, your majesty," assented Florimel: "ah, but I -always said your majesty had remarkable powers of penetration, quite -apart from your majesty's scholarship." - -For Florimel had this cajoling way of speaking. None the less, all -vampires have their foibles, and are nourished by the vigor and -youth of their lovers. So one morning Florimel complained of being -unwell, and attributed it to indigestion. - -Jurgen stroked her head meditatively; then he opened his glittering -shirt, and displayed what was plain enough to see. - -"I am full of vigor and I am young," said Jurgen, "but my vigor and -my youthfulness are of a peculiar sort, and are not wholesome. So -let us have no more of your tricks, or you will quite spoil your -vacation by being very ill indeed." - -"But I had thought all emperors were human!" said Florimel, in a -flutter of blushing penitence, exceedingly pretty to observe. - -"Even so, sweetheart, all emperors are not Jurgens," he replied, -magnificently. "Therefore you will find that not every emperor is -justly styled the father of his people, or is qualified by nature to -wield the sceptre of Noumaria. I trust this lesson will suffice." - -"It will," said Florimel, with a wry face. - -So thereafter they had no further trouble of this sort, and the -wound on Jurgen's breast was soon healed. - -And Jurgen kept away from the damned, of course, because he and -Florimel were living respectably. They paid a visit to Jurgen's -father, however, very shortly after they were married, because this -was the proper thing to do. And Coth was civil enough, for Coth, and -voiced a hope that Florimel might have a good influence upon Jurgen -and make him worth his salt, but did not pretend to be optimistic. -Yet this visit was never returned, because Coth considered his -wickedness was too great for him to be spared a moment of torment, -and so would not leave his flame. - -"And really, your majesty," said Florimel, "I do not wish for an -instant to have the appearance of criticizing your majesty's -relatives. But I do think that your majesty's father might have -called upon us, at least once, particularly after I offered to have -a fire made up for him to sit on any time he chose to come. I -consider that your majesty's father assumes somewhat extravagant -airs, in the lack of any definite proof as to his having been a bit -more wicked than anybody else: and the child-like candor which has -always been with me a leading characteristic prevents concealment of -my opinion." - -"Oh, it is just his conscience, dear." - -"A conscience is all very well in its place, your majesty; and I, -for one, would never have been able to endure the interminable labor -of seducing and assassinating so many fine young fellows if my -conscience had not assured me that it was all the fault of my -sister-in-law. But, even so, there is no sense in letting your -conscience make a slave of you: and when conscience reduces your -majesty's father to ignoring the rules of common civility and -behaving like a candle-wick, I am sure that matters are being -carried too far." - -"And right you are, my dear. However, we do not lack for company. So -come now, make yourself fine, and shake the black dog from your -back, for we are spending the evening with the Asmodeuses." - -"And will your majesty talk politics again?" - -"Oh, I suppose so. They appear to like it." - -"I only wish that I did, your majesty," observed Florimel, and she -yawned by anticipation. - -For with the devils Jurgen got on garrulously. The religion of Hell -is patriotism, and the government is an enlightened democracy. This -contented the devils, and Jurgen had learned long ago never to fall -out with either of these codes, without which, as the devils were -fond of observing, Hell would not be what it is. - -They were, to Jurgen's finding, simple-minded fiends who allowed -themselves to be deplorably overworked by the importunate dead. They -got no rest because of the damned, who were such persons as had been -saddled with a conscience, and who in consequence demanded -interminable torments. And at the time of Jurgen's coming into Hell -political affairs were in a very bad way, because there was a -considerable party among the younger devils who were for compounding -the age-old war with Heaven, at almost any price, in order to get -relief from this unceasing influx of conscientious dead persons in -search of torment. For it was well-known that when Satan submitted -to be bound in chains there would be no more death: and the annoying -immigration would thus be ended. So said the younger devils: and -considered Grandfather Satan ought to sacrifice himself for the -general welfare. - -Then too they pointed out that Satan had been perforce their -presiding magistrate ever since the settlement of Hell, because a -change of administration is inexpedient in war-time: so that Satan -must term after term be re-elected: and of course Satan had been -voted absolute power in everything, since this too is customary in -wartime. Well, and after the first few thousand years of this the -younger devils began to whisper that such government was not ideal -democracy. - -But their more conservative elders were enraged by these effete and -wild new notions, and dealt with their juniors somewhat severely, -tearing them into bits and quite destroying them. The elder devils -then proceeded to inflict even more startling punishments. - - * * * * * - -So Grandfather Satan was much vexed, because the laws were being -violated everywhere: and a day or two after Jurgen's advent Satan -issued a public appeal to his subjects, that the code of Hell should -be better respected. But under a democratic government people do not -like to be perpetually bothering about law and order, as one of the -older and stronger devils pointed out to Jurgen. - -Jurgen drew a serious face, and he stroked his chin. "Why, but look -you," says Jurgen, "in deploring the mob spirit that has been -manifesting itself sporadically throughout this country against the -advocates of peace and submission to the commands of Heaven and -other pro-Celestial propaganda,--and in warning loyal citizenship -that such outbursts must be guarded against, as hurtful to the -public welfare of Hell,--why, Grandfather Satan should bear in mind -that the government, in large measure, holds the remedy of the evil -in its own hands." And Jurgen looked very severely toward Satan. - -"Come now," says Phlegeton, nodding his head, which was like that of -a bear, except for his naked long, red ears, inside each of which -was a flame like that of a spirit-lamp: "come now, but this young -emperor in the fine shirt speaks uncommonly well!" - -"So we spoke together in Pandemonium," said Belial, wistfully, "in -the brave days when Pandemonium was newly built and we were all imps -together." - -"Yes, his talk is of the old school, than which there is none -better. So pray continue, Emperor Jurgen," cried the elderly devils, -"and let us know what you are talking about." - -"Why, merely this," says Jurgen, and again he looked severely toward -Satan: "I tell you that as long as sentimental weakness marks the -prosecution of offences in violation of the laws necessitated by -war-time conditions; as long as deserved punishment for overt acts -of pro-Celestialism is withheld; as long as weak-kneed clemency -condones even a suspicion of disloyal thinking: then just so long -will a righteously incensed, if now and then misguided patriotism -take into its own hands vengeance upon the offenders." - -"But, still--" said Grandfather Satan. - -"Ineffectual administration of the law," continued Jurgen, sternly, -"is the true defence of these outbursts: and far more justly -deplorable than acts of mob violence is the policy of condonation -that furnishes occasion for them. The patriotic people of Hell are -not in a temper to be trifled with, now that they are at war. -Conviction for offenses against the nation should not be behedged -about with technicalities devised for over-refined peacetime -jurisprudence. Why, there is no one of you, I am sure, but has at -his tongue's tip the immortal words of Livonius as to this very -topic: and so I shall not repeat them. But I fancy you will agree -with me that what Livonius says is unanswerable." - -So it was that Jurgen went on at a great rate, and looking always -very sternly at Grandfather Satan. - -"Yes, yes!" said Satan, wriggling uncomfortably, but still not -thinking of Jurgen entirely: "yes, all this is excellent oratory, -and not for a moment would I decry the authority of Livonius. And -your quotation is uncommonly apropos and all that sort of thing. But -with what are you charging me?" - -"With sentimental weakness," retorted Jurgen. "Was it not only -yesterday one of the younger devils was brought before you, upon the -charge that he had said the climate in Heaven was better than the -climate here? And you, sir, Hell's chief magistrate--you it was who -actually asked him if he had ever uttered such a disloyal heresy!" - -"Now, but what else was I to do?" said Satan, fidgeting, and -swishing his great bushy tail so that it rustled against his horns, -and still not really turning his mind from that ancient thought. - -"You should have remembered, sir, that a devil whose patriotism is -impugned is a devil to be punished; and that there is no time to be -prying into irrevelant questions of his guilt or innocence. -Otherwise, I take it, you will never have any real democracy in -Hell." - -Now Jurgen looked very impressive, and the devils were all cheering -him. - -"And so," says Jurgen, "your disgusted hearers were wearied by such -frivolous interrogatories, and took the fellow out of your hands, -and tore him into particularly small bits. Now I warn you, -Grandfather Satan, that it is your duty as a democratic magistrate -just so to deal with such offenders first of all, and to ask your -silly questions afterward. For what does Rudigernus say outright -upon this point? and Zantipher Magnus, too? Why, my dear sir, I ask -you plainly, where in the entire history of international -jurisprudence will you find any more explicit language than these -two employ?" - -"Now certainly," says Satan, with his bleak smile, "you cite very -respectable authority: and I shall take your reproof in good part. I -will endeavor to be more strict in the future. And you must not -blame my laxity too severely, Emperor Jurgen, for it is a long while -since any man came living into Hell to instruct us how to manage -matters in time of war. No doubt, precisely as you say, we do need a -little more severity hereabouts, and would gain by adopting more -human methods. Rudigernus, now?--yes, Rudigernus is rather -unanswerable, and I concede it frankly. So do you come home and have -supper with me, Emperor Jurgen, and we will talk over these things." - -Then Jurgen went off arm in arm with Grandfather Satan, and Jurgen's -erudition and sturdy common-sense were forevermore established among -the older and more solid element in Hell. And Satan followed Jurgen's -suggestions, and the threatened rebellion was satisfactorily -discouraged, by tearing into very small fragments anybody who -grumbled about anything. So that all the subjects of Satan went -about smiling broadly all the time at the thought of what might -befall them if they seemed dejected. Thus was Hell a happier -looking place because of Jurgen's coming. - - - - -39. - -Of Compromises in Hell - - -Now Grandfather Satan's wife was called Phyllis: and apart from -having wings like a bat's, she was the loveliest little slip of -devilishness that Jurgen had seen in a long while. Jurgen spent this -night at the Black House of Barathum, and two more nights, or it -might be three nights: and the details of what Jurgen used to do -there, after supper, when he would walk alone in the Black House -Gardens, among the artfully colored cast-iron flowers and shrubbery, -and would so come to the grated windows of Phyllis's room, and would -stand there joking with her in the dark, are not requisite to this -story. - -Satan was very jealous of his wife, and kept one of her wings -clipped and held her under lock and key, as the treasure that she -was. But Jurgen was accustomed to say afterward that, while the -gratings over the windows were very formidable, they only seemed -somehow to enhance the piquancy of his commerce with Dame Phyllis. -This queen, said Jurgen, he had found simply unexcelled at repartee. - -Florimel considered the saying cryptic: just what precisely did his -majesty mean? - -"Why, that in any and all circumstances Dame Phyllis knows how to -take a joke, and to return as good as she receives." - -"So your majesty has already informed me: and certainly jokes can be -exchanged through a grating--" - -"Yes, that was what I meant. And Dame Phyllis appeared to appreciate -my ready flow of humor. She informs me Grandfather Satan is of a -cold dry temperament, with very little humor in him, so that they go -for months without exchanging any pleasantries. Well, I am willing -to taste any drink once: and for the rest, remembering that my host -had very enormous and intimidating horns, I was at particular pains -to deal fairly with my hostess. Though, indeed, it was more for the -honor and the glory of the affair than anything else that I -exchanged pleasantries with Satan's wife. For to do that, my dear, I -felt was worthy of the Emperor Jurgen." - -"Ah, I am afraid your majesty is a sad scapegrace," replied -Florimel: "however, we all know that the sceptre of an emperor is -respected everywhere." - -"Indeed," says Jurgen, "I have often regretted that I did not bring -with me my jewelled sceptre when I left Noumaria." - -She shivered at some unspoken thought: it was not until some while -afterward that Florimel told Jurgen of her humiliating misadventure -with the absent-minded Sultan of Garçao's sceptre. Now she only -replied that jewels might, conceivably, seem ostentatious and out of -place. - -Jurgen agreed to this truism: for of course they were living very -quietly, and Jurgen was splendid enough for any reasonable wife's -requirements, in his glittering shirt. - -So Jurgen got on pleasantly with Florimel. But he never became as -fond of her as he had been of Guenevere or Anaïtis, nor one-tenth as -fond of her as he had been of Chloris. In the first place, he -suspected that Florimel had been invented by his father, and Coth -and Jurgen had never any tastes in common: and in the second place, -Jurgen could not but see that Florimel thought a great deal of his -being an emperor. - -"It is my title she loves, not me," reflected Jurgen, sadly, "and -her affection is less for that which is really integral to me than -for imperial orbs and sceptres and such-like external trappings." - -And Jurgen would come out of Florimel's cleft considerably dejected, -and would sit alone by the Sea of Blood, and would meditate how -inequitable it was that the mere title of emperor should thus shut -him off from sincerity and candor. - -"We who are called kings and emperors are men like other men: we are -as rightly entitled as other persons to the solace of true love and -affection: instead, we live in a continuous isolation, and women -offer us all things save their hearts, and we are a lonely folk. -No, I cannot believe that Florimel loves me for myself alone: it is -my title which dazzles her. And I would that I had never made myself -the emperor of Noumaria: for this emperor goes about everywhere -in a fabulous splendor, and is, very naturally, resistless in his -semi-mythical magnificence. Ah, but these imperial gewgaws distract -the thoughts of Florimel from the real Jurgen; so that the real -Jurgen is a person whom she does not understand at all. And it is -not fair." - -Then, too, he had a sort of prejudice against the way in which -Florimel spent her time in seducing and murdering young men. It was -not possible, of course, actually to blame the girl, since she was -the victim of circumstances, and had no choice about becoming a -vampire, once the cat had jumped over her coffin. Still, Jurgen -always felt, in his illogical masculine way, that her vocation was -not nice. And equally in the illogical way of men, did he persist in -coaxing Florimel to tell him of her vampiric transactions, in spite -of his underlying feeling that he would prefer to have his wife -engaged in some other trade: and the merry little creature would -humor him willingly enough, with her purple eyes a-sparkle, and with -her vivid lips curling prettily back, so as to show her tiny white -sharp teeth quite plainly. - -She was really very pretty thus, as she told him of what happened -in Copenhagen when young Count Osmund went down into the blind -beggar-woman's cellar, and what they did with bits of him; and -of how one kind of serpent came to have a secret name, which, -when cried aloud in the night, with the appropriate ceremony, will -bring about delicious happenings; and of what one can do with small -unchristened children, if only they do not kiss you, with their -moist uncertain little mouths, for then this thing is impossible; -and of what use she had made of young Sir Ganelon's skull, when he -was through with it, and she with him; and of what the young priest -Wulfnoth had said to the crocodiles at the very last. - -"Oh, yes, my life has its amusing side," said Florimel: "and one -likes to feel, of course, that one is not wholly out of touch with -things, and is even, in one's modest way, contributing to the -suppression of folly. But even so, your majesty, the calls that are -made upon one! the things that young men expect of you, as the price -of their bodily and spiritual ruin! and the things their relatives say -about you! and, above all, the constant strain, the irregular hours, -and the continual effort to live up to one's position! Oh, yes, your -majesty, I was far happier when I was a consumptive seamstress and took -pride in my buttonholes. But from a sister-in-law who only has you in -to tea occasionally as a matter of duty, and who is prominent in -churchwork, one may, of course, expect anything. And that reminds -me that I really must tell your majesty about what happened in the -hay-loft, just after the abbot had finished undressing--" - -So she would chatter away, while Jurgen listened and smiled -indulgently. For she certainly was very pretty. And so they kept -house in Hell contentedly enough until Florimel's vacation was at an -end: and then they parted, without any tears but in perfect -friendliness. - -And Jurgen always remembered Florimel most pleasantly, but not as a -wife with whom he had ever been on terms of actual intimacy. - -Now when this lovely Vampire had quitted him, the Emperor Jurgen, in -spite of his general popularity and the deference accorded his -political views, was not quite happy in Hell. - -"It is a comfort, at any rate," said Jurgen, "to discover who -originated the theory of democratic government. I have long wondered -who started the notion that the way to get a wise decision on any -conceivable question was to submit it to a popular vote. Now I know. -Well, and the devils may be right in their doctrines; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same -time--!" - -For instance, this interminable effort to make the universe safe for -democracy, this continual warring against Heaven because Heaven -clung to a tyrannical form of autocratic government, sounded both -logical and magnanimous, and was, of course, the only method of -insuring any general triumph for democracy: yet it seemed rather -futile to Jurgen, since, as he knew now, there was certainly -something in the Celestial system which made for military -efficiency, so that Heaven usually won. Moreover, Jurgen could not -get over the fact that Hell was just a notion of his ancestors with -which Koshchei had happened to fall in: for Jurgen had never much -patience with antiquated ideas, particularly when anyone put them -into practice, as Koshchei had done. - -"Why, this place appears to me a glaring anachronism," said Jurgen, -brooding over the fires of Chorasma: "and its methods of tormenting -conscientious people I cannot but consider very crude indeed. The -devils are simple-minded and they mean well, as nobody would dream -of denying, but that is just it: for hereabouts is needed some more -pertinacious and efficiently disagreeable person--" - -And that, of course, reminded him of Dame Lisa: and so it was the -thoughts of Jurgen turned again to doing the manly thing. And he -sighed, and went among the devils tentatively looking and inquiring -for that intrepid fiend who in the form of a black gentleman had -carried off Dame Lisa. But a queer happening befell, and it was that -nowhere could Jurgen find the black gentleman, nor did any of the -devils know anything about him. - -"From what you tell us, Emperor Jurgen," said they all, "your wife -was an acidulous shrew, and the sort of woman who believes that -whatever she does is right." - -"It was not a belief," says Jurgen: "it was a mania with the poor -dear." - -"By that fact, then, she is forever debarred from entering Hell." - -"You tell me news," says Jurgen, "which if generally known would -lead many husbands into vicious living." - -"But it is notorious that people are saved by faith. And there is no -faith stronger than that of a bad-tempered woman in her own -infallibility. Plainly, this wife of yours is the sort of person who -cannot be tolerated by anybody short of the angels. We deduce that -your Empress must be in Heaven." - -"Well, that sounds reasonable. And so to Heaven I will go, and it -may be that there I shall find justice." - -"We would have you know," the fiends cried, bristling, "that in Hell -we have all kinds of justice, since our government is an enlightened -democracy." - -"Just so," says Jurgen: "in an enlightened democracy one has all -kinds of justice, and I would not dream of denying it. But you have -not, you conceive, that lesser plague, my wife; and it is she whom I -must continue to look for." - -"Oh, as you like," said they, "so long as you do not criticize the -exigencies of war-time. But certainly we are sorry to see you going -into a country where the benighted people put up with an autocrat -Who was not duly elected to His position. And why need you continue -seeking your wife's society when it is so much pleasanter living in -Hell?" - -And Jurgen shrugged. "One has to do the manly thing sometimes." - -So the fiends told him the way to Heaven's frontiers, pitying him. -"But the crossing of the frontier must be your affair." - -"I have a cantrap," said Jurgen; "and my stay in Hell has taught me -how to use it." - -Then Jurgen followed his instructions, and went into Meridie, and -turned to the left when he had come to the great puddle where the -adders and toads are reared, and so passed through the mists of -Tartarus, with due care of the wild lightning, and took the second -turn to his left--"always in seeking Heaven be guided by your -heart," had been the advice given him by devils,--and thus avoiding -the abode of Jemra, he crossed the bridge over the Bottomless Pit -and the solitary Narakas. And Brachus, who kept the toll-gate on -this bridge, did that of which the fiends had forewarned Jurgen: but -for this, of course, there was no help. - - - - -40. - -The Ascension of Pope Jurgen - - -The tale tells how on the feast of the Annunciation Jurgen came to -the high white walls which girdle Heaven. For Jurgen's forefathers -had, of course, imagined that Hell stood directly contiguous to -Heaven, so that the blessed could augment their felicity by gazing -down upon the tortures of the damned. Now at this time a boy angel -was looking over the parapet of Heaven's wall. - -"And a good day to you, my fine young fellow," says Jurgen. "But of -what are you thinking so intently?" For just as Dives had done long -years before, now Jurgen found that a man's voice carries perfectly -between Hell and Heaven. - -"Sir," replies the boy, "I was pitying the poor damned." - -"Why, then, you must be Origen," says Jurgen, laughing. - -"No, sir, my name is Jurgen." - -"Heyday!" says Jurgen: "well, but this Jurgen has been a great many -persons in my time. So very possibly you speak the truth." - -"I am Jurgen, the son of Coth and Azra." - -"Ah, ah! but so were all of them, my boy." - -"Why, then, I am Jurgen, the grandson of Steinvor, and the -grandchild whom she loved above her other grandchildren: and so I -abide forever in Heaven with all the other illusions of Steinvor. -But who, messire, are you that go about Hell unscorched, in such a -fine looking shirt?" - -Jurgen reflected. Clearly it would never do to give his real name, -and thus raise the question as to whether Jurgen was in Heaven or -Hell. Then he recollected the cantrap of the Master Philologist, -which Jurgen had twice employed incorrectly. And Jurgen cleared his -throat, for he believed that he now understood the proper use of -cantraps. - -"Perhaps," says Jurgen, "I ought not to tell you who I am. But what -is life without confidence in one another? Besides, you appear a boy -of remarkable discretion. So I will confide in you that I am Pope -John the Twentieth, Heaven's regent upon Earth, now visiting this -place upon Celestial business which I am not at liberty to divulge -more particularly, for reasons that will at once occur to a young -man of your unusual cleverness." - -"Oh, but I say! that is droll. Do you just wait a moment!" cried the -boy angel. - -His bright face vanished, with a whisking of brown curls: and Jurgen -carefully re-read the cantrap of the Master Philologist. "Yes, I -have found, I think, the way to use such magic," observes Jurgen. - -Presently the young angel re-appeared at the parapet. "I say, messire! -I looked on the Register--all popes are admitted here the moment they -die, without inquiring into their private affairs, you know, so as to -avoid any unfortunate scandal,--and we have twenty-three Pope Johns -listed. And sure enough, the mansion prepared for John the Twentieth -is vacant. He seems to be the only pope that is not in Heaven." - -"Why, but of course not," says Jurgen, complacently, "inasmuch as -you see me, who was once Bishop of Rome and servant to the servants -of God, standing down here on this cinder-heap." - -"Yes, but none of the others in your series appears to place you. -John the Nineteenth says he never heard of you, and not to bother -him in the middle of a harp lesson--" - -"He died before my accession, naturally." - -"--And John the Twenty-first says he thinks they lost count somehow, -and that there never was any Pope John the Twentieth. He says you -must be an impostor." - -"Ah, professional jealousy!" sighed Jurgen: "dear me, this is very -sad, and gives one a poor opinion of human nature. Now, my boy, I -put it to you fairly, how could there have been a twenty-first -unless there had been a twentieth? And what becomes of the great -principle of papal infallibility when a pope admits to a mistake in -elementary arithmetic? Oh, but this is a very dangerous heresy, let -me tell you, an Inquisition matter, a consistory business! Yet, -luckily, upon his own contention, this Pedro Juliani--" - -"And that was his name, too, for he told me! You evidently know all -about it, messire," said the young angel, visibly impressed. - -"Of course, I know all about it. Well, I repeat, upon his own -contention this man is non-existent, and so, whatever he may say -amounts to nothing. For he tells you there was never any Pope John -the Twentieth: and either he is lying or he is telling you the -truth. If he is lying, you, of course, ought not to believe him: -yet, if he is telling you the truth, about there never having been -any Pope John the Twentieth, why then, quite plainly, there was -never any Pope John the Twenty-first, so that this man asserts his -own non-existence; and thus is talking nonsense, and you, of course, -ought not to believe in nonsense. Even did we grant his insane -contention that he is nobody, you are too well brought up, I am -sure, to dispute that nobody tells lies in Heaven: it follows that -in this case nobody is lying; and so, of course, I must be telling -the truth, and you have no choice save to believe me." - -"Now, certainly that sounds all right," the younger Jurgen conceded: -"though you explain it so quickly it is a little difficult to follow -you." - -"Ah, but furthermore, and over and above this, and as a tangible -proof of the infallible particularity of every syllable of my -assertion," observes the elder Jurgen, "if you will look in the -garret of Heaven you will find the identical ladder upon which I -descended hither, and which I directed them to lay aside until I was -ready to come up again. Indeed, I was just about to ask you to fetch -it, inasmuch as my business here is satisfactorily concluded." - -Well, the boy agreed that the word of no pope, whether in Hell or -Heaven, was tangible proof like a ladder: and again he was off. -Jurgen waited, in tolerable confidence. - -It was a matter of logic. Jacob's Ladder must from all accounts have -been far too valuable to throw away after one night's use at Beth-El; -it would come in very handy on Judgment Day: and Jurgen's knowledge -of Lisa enabled him to deduce that anything which was being kept -because it would come in handy some day would inevitably be stored -in the garret, in any establishment imaginable by women. "And it is -notorious that Heaven is a delusion of old women. Why, the thing is -a certainty," said Jurgen; "simply a mathematical certainty." - -And events proved his logic correct: for presently the younger -Jurgen came back with Jacob's Ladder, which was rather cobwebby and -obsolete looking after having been lain aside so long. - -"So you see you were perfectly right," then said this younger -Jurgen, as he lowered Jacob's Ladder into Hell. "Oh, Messire John, -do hurry up and have it out with that old fellow who slandered you!" - -Thus it came about that Jurgen clambered merrily from Hell to Heaven -upon a ladder of unalloyed, time-tested gold: and as he climbed the -shirt of Nessus glittered handsomely in the light which shone from -Heaven: and by this great light above him, as Jurgen mounted higher -and yet higher, the shadow of Jurgen was lengthened beyond belief -along the sheer white wall of Heaven, as though the shadow were -reluctant and adhered tenaciously to Hell. Yet presently Jurgen -leaped the ramparts: and then the shadow leaped too; and so his -shadow came with Jurgen into Heaven, and huddled dispiritedly at -Jurgen's feet. - -"Well, well!" thinks Jurgen, "certainly there is no disputing the -magic of the Master Philologist when it is correctly employed. For -through its aid I am entering alive into Heaven, as only Enoch and -Elijah have done before me: and moreover, if this boy is to be -believed, one of the very handsomest of Heaven's many mansions -awaits my occupancy. One could not ask more of any magician fairly. -Aha, if only Lisa could see me now!" - -That was his first thought. Afterward Jurgen tore up the cantrap and -scattered its fragments as the Master Philologist had directed. Then -Jurgen turned to the boy who aided Jurgen to get into Heaven. - -"Come, youngster, and let us have a good look at you!" - -And Jurgen talked with the boy that he had once been, and stood face -to face with all that Jurgen had been and was not any longer. And -this was the one happening which befell Jurgen that the writer of -the tale lacked heart to tell of. - -So Jurgen quitted the boy that he had been. But first had Jurgen -learned that in this place his grandmother Steinvor (whom King Smoit -had loved) abode and was happy in her notion of Heaven; and that -about her were her notions of her children and of her grandchildren. -Steinvor had never imagined her husband in Heaven, nor King Smoit -either. - -"That is a circumstance," says Jurgen, "which heartens me to hope -one may find justice here. Yet I shall keep away from my -grandmother, the Steinvor whom I knew and loved, and who loved me so -blindly that this boy here is her notion of me. Yes, in mere -fairness to her, I must keep away." - -So he avoided that part of Heaven wherein were his grandmother's -illusions: and this was counted for righteousness in Jurgen. That -part of Heaven smelt of mignonette, and a starling was singing -there. - - - - -41. - -Of Compromises in Heaven - - -Jurgen then went unhindered to where the God of Jurgen's grandmother -sat upon a throne, beside a sea of crystal. A rainbow, made high -and narrow like a window frame, so as to fit the throne, formed an -arch-way in which He sat: at His feet burned seven lamps, and four -remarkable winged creatures sat there chaunting softly, "Glory and -honor and thanks to Him Who liveth forever!" In one hand of the God -was a sceptre, and in the other a large book with seven red spots on -it. - -There were twelve smaller thrones, without rainbows, upon each side -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, in two semi-circles: upon these -inferior thrones sat benignant-looking elderly angels, with long -white hair, all crowned, and clothed in white robes, and having a -harp in one hand, and in the other a gold flask, about pint size. -And everywhere fluttered and glittered the multicolored wings of -seraphs and cherubs, like magnified paroquets, as they went softly -and gaily about the golden haze that brooded over Heaven, to a -continuous sound of hushed organ music and a remote and -undistinguishable singing. - -Now the eyes of this God met the eyes of Jurgen: and Jurgen waited -thus for a long while, and far longer, indeed, than Jurgen -suspected. - -"I fear You," Jurgen said, at last: "and, yes, I love You: and yet I -cannot believe. Why could You not let me believe, where so many -believed? Or else, why could You not let me deride, as the remainder -derided so noisily? O God, why could You not let me have faith? for -You gave me no faith in anything, not even in nothingness. It was -not fair." - -And in the highest court of Heaven, and in plain view of all the -angels, Jurgen began to weep. - -"I was not ever your God, Jurgen." - -"Once very long ago," said Jurgen, "I had faith in You." - -"No, for that boy is here with Me, as you yourself have seen. And -to-day there is nothing remaining of him anywhere in the man that is -Jurgen." - -"God of my grandmother! God Whom I too loved in boyhood!" said -Jurgen then: "why is it that I am denied a God? For I have searched: -and nowhere can I find justice, and nowhere can I find anything to -worship." - -"What, Jurgen, and would you look for justice, of all places, in -Heaven?" - -"No," Jurgen said; "no, I perceive it cannot be considered here. -Else You would sit alone." - -"And for the rest, you have looked to find your God without, not -looking within to see that which is truly worshipped in the thoughts -of Jurgen. Had you done so, you would have seen, as plainly as I now -see, that which alone you are able to worship. And your God is -maimed: the dust of your journeying is thick upon him; your vanity -is laid as a napkin upon his eyes; and in his heart is neither love -nor hate, not even for his only worshipper." - -"Do not deride him, You Who have so many worshippers! At least, he -is a monstrous clever fellow," said Jurgen: and boldly he said it, -in the highest court of Heaven, and before the pensive face of the -God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -"Ah, very probably. I do not meet with many clever people. And as -for My numerous worshippers, you forget how often you have -demonstrated that I was the delusion of an old woman." - -"Well, and was there ever a flaw in my logic?" - -"I was not listening to you, Jurgen. You must know that logic does -not much concern us, inasmuch as nothing is logical hereabouts." - -And now the four winged creatures ceased their chaunting, and the -organ music became a far-off murmuring. And there was silence in -Heaven. And the God of Jurgen's grandmother, too, was silent for a -while, and the rainbow under which He sat put off its seven colors -and burned with an unendurable white, tinged bluishly, while the God -considered ancient things. Then in the silence this God began to -speak. - -Some years ago (said the God of Jurgen's grandmother) it was -reported to Koshchei that scepticism was abroad in his universe, and -that one walked therein who would be contented with no rational -explanation. "Bring me this infidel," says Koshchei: so they brought -to him in the void a little bent gray woman in an old gray shawl. -"Now, tell me why you will not believe," says Koshchei, "in things -as they are." - -Then the decent little bent gray woman answered civilly; "I do not -know, sir, who you may happen to be. But, since you ask me, -everybody knows that things as they are must be regarded as -temporary afflictions, and as trials through which we are -righteously condemned to pass, in order to attain to eternal life -with our loved ones in Heaven." - -"Ah, yes," said Koshchei, who made things as they are; "ah, yes, to -be sure! and how did you learn of this?" - -"Why, every Sunday morning the priest discoursed to us about Heaven, -and of how happy we would be there after death." - -"Has this woman died, then?" asked Koshchei. - -"Yes, sir," they told him,--"recently. And she will believe nothing -we explain to her, but demands to be taken to Heaven." - -"Now, this is very vexing," Koshchei said, "and I cannot, of course, -put up with such scepticism. That would never do. So why do you not -convey her to this Heaven which she believes in, and thus put an end -to the matter?" - -"But, sir," they told him, "there is no such place." - -Then Koshchei reflected. "It is certainly strange that a place which -does not exist should be a matter of public knowledge in another -place. Where does this woman come from?" - -"From Earth," they told him. - -"Where is that?" he asked: and they explained to him as well as they -could. - -"Oh, yes, over that way," Koshchei interrupted. "I remember. -Now--but what is your name, woman who wish to go to Heaven?" - -"Steinvor, sir: and if you please I am rather in a hurry to be with -my children again. You see, I have not seen any of them for a long -while." - -"But stay," said Koshchei: "what is that which comes into this -woman's eyes as she speaks of her children?" They told him it was -love. - -"Did I create this love?" says Koshchei, who made things as they -are. And they told him, no: and that there were many sorts of love, -but that this especial sort was an illusion which women had invented -for themselves, and which they exhibited in all dealings with their -children. And Koshchei sighed. - -"Tell me about your children," Koshchei then said to Steinvor: "and -look at me as you talk, so that I may see your eyes." - -So Steinvor talked of her children: and Koshchei, who made all -things, listened very attentively. Of Coth she told him, of her only -son, confessing Coth was the finest boy that ever lived,--"a little -wild, sir, at first, but then you know what boys are,"--and telling -of how well Coth had done in business and of how he had even risen -to be an alderman. Koshchei, who made all things, seemed properly -impressed. Then Steinvor talked of her daughters, of Imperia and -Lindamira and Christine: of Imperia's beauty, and of Lindamira's -bravery under the mishaps of an unlucky marriage, and of Christine's -superlative housekeeping. "Fine women, sir, every one of them, with -children of their own! and to me they still seem such babies, bless -them!" And the decent little bent gray woman laughed. "I have been -very lucky in my children, sir, and in my grandchildren, too," she -told Koshchei. "There is Jurgen, now, my Coth's boy! You may not -believe it, sir, but there is a story I must tell you about -Jurgen--" So she ran on very happily and proudly, while Koshchei, -who made all things, listened, and watched the eyes of Steinvor. - -Then privately Koshchei asked, "Are these children and grandchildren -of Steinvor such as she reports?" - -"No, sir," they told him privately. - -So as Steinvor talked Koshchei devised illusions in accordance with -that which Steinvor said, and created such children and -grandchildren as she described. Male and female he created them -standing behind Steinvor, and all were beautiful and stainless: and -Koshchei gave life to these illusions. - -Then Koshchei bade her turn about. She obeyed: and Koshchei was -forgotten. - -Well, Koshchei sat there alone in the void, looking not very happy, -and looking puzzled, and drumming upon his knee, and staring at the -little bent gray woman, who was busied with her children and -grandchildren, and had forgotten all about him. "But surely, -Lindamira," he hears Steinvor say, "we are not yet in Heaven."--"Ah, -my dear mother," replies her illusion of Lindamira, "to be with you -again is Heaven: and besides, it may be that Heaven is like this, -after all."--"My darling child, it is sweet of you to say that, and -exactly like you to say that. But you know very well that Heaven is -fully described in the Book of Revelations, in the Bible, as the -glorious place that Heaven is. Whereas, as you can see for yourself, -around us is nothing at all, and no person at all except that very -civil gentleman to whom I was just talking; and who, between -ourselves, seems woefully uninformed about the most ordinary -matters." - -"Bring Earth to me," says Koshchei. This was done, and Koshchei -looked over the planet, and found a Bible. Koshchei opened the -Bible, and read the Revelation of St. John the Divine, while -Steinvor talked with her illusions. "I see," said Koshchei. "The -idea is a little garish. Still--!" So he replaced the Bible, and -bade them put Earth, too, in its proper place, for Koshchei dislikes -wasting anything. Then Koshchei smiled and created Heaven about -Steinvor and her illusions, and he made Heaven just such a place as -was described in the book. - -"And so, Jurgen, that was how it came about," ended the God of -Jurgen's grandmother. "And Me also Koshchei created at that time, -with the seraphim and the saints and all the blessed, very much as -you see us: and, of course, he caused us to have been here always, -since the beginning of time, because that, too, was in the book." - -"But how could that be done?" says Jurgen, with brows puckering. -"And in what way could Koshchei juggle so with time?" - -"How should I know, since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as -you have so frequently proved by logic? Let it suffice that whatever -Koshchei wills, not only happens, but has already happened beyond -the ancientest memory of man and his mother. How otherwise could he -be Koshchei?" - -"And all this," said Jurgen, virtuously, "for a woman who was not -even faithful to her husband!" - -"Oh, very probably!" said the God: "at all events, it was done for a -woman who loved. Koshchei will do almost anything to humor love, -since love is one of the two things which are impossible to -Koshchei." - -"I have heard that pride is impossible to Koshchei--" - -The God of Jurgen's grandmother raised His white eyebrows. "What is -pride? I do not think I ever heard of it before. Assuredly it is -something that does not enter here." - -"But why is love impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because Koshchei made things as they are, and day and night he -contemplates things as they are. How, then, can Koshchei love -anything?" - -But Jurgen shook his sleek black head. "That I cannot understand at -all. If I were imprisoned in a cell wherein was nothing except my -verses I would not be happy, and certainly I would not be proud: but -even so, I would love my verses. I am afraid that I fall in more -readily with the ideas of Grandfather Satan than with Yours; and -without contradicting You, I cannot but wonder if what You reveal is -true." - -"And how should I know whether or not I speak the truth?" the God -asked of him, "since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as you -have so frequently proved by logic." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, "You may be right in all matters, and -certainly I cannot presume to say You are wrong: but still, at the -same time--! No, even now I do not quite believe in You." - -"Who could expect it of a clever fellow, who sees so clearly through -the illusions of old women?" the God asked, a little wearily. - -And Jurgen answered: - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, and Your -doings as they are recorded I find incoherent and a little droll. -But I am glad the affair has been so arranged that You may always -now be real to brave and gentle persons who have believed in and -have worshipped and have loved You. To have disappointed them would -have been unfair: and it is right that before the faith they had in -You not even Koshchei who made things as they are was able to be -reasonable. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You; but -remembering the sum of love and faith that has been given You, I -tremble. I think of the dear people whose living was confident and -glad because of their faith in You: I think of them, and in my heart -contends a blind contrition, and a yearning, and an enviousness, and -yet a tender sort of amusement colors all. Oh, God, there was never -any other deity who had such dear worshippers as You have had, and -You should be very proud of them. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, yet I am not -as those who would come peering at You reasonably. I, Jurgen, see -You only through a mist of tears. For You were loved by those whom I -loved greatly very long ago: and when I look at You it is Your -worshippers and the dear believers of old that I remember. And it -seems to me that dates and manuscripts and the opinions of learned -persons are very trifling things beside what I remember, and what I -envy!" - -"Who could have expected such a monstrous clever fellow ever to envy -the illusions of old women?" the God of Jurgen's grandmother asked -again: and yet His countenance was not unfriendly. - -"Why, but," said Jurgen, on a sudden, "why, but my grandmother--in a -way--was right about Heaven and about You also. For certainly You -seem to exist, and to reign in just such estate as she described. -And yet, according to Your latest revelation, I too was right--in a -way--about these things being an old woman's delusions. I wonder -now--?" - -"Yes, Jurgen?" - -"Why, I wonder if everything is right, in a way? I wonder if that is -the large secret of everything? It would not be a bad solution, -sir," said Jurgen, meditatively. - -The God smiled. Then suddenly that part of Heaven was vacant, except -for Jurgen, who stood there quite alone. And before him was the throne -of the vanished God and the sceptre of the God, and Jurgen saw that -the seven spots upon the great book were of red sealing-wax. - -Jurgen was afraid: but he was particularly appalled by his -consciousness that he was not going to falter. "What, you who have -been duke and prince and king and emperor and pope! and do such -dignities content a Jurgen? Why, not at all," says Jurgen. - -So Jurgen ascended the throne of Heaven, and sat beneath that -wondrous rainbow: and in his lap now was the book, and in his hand -was the sceptre, of the God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -Jurgen sat thus, for a long while regarding the bright vacant courts -of Heaven. "And what will you do now?" says Jurgen, aloud. "Oh, -fretful little Jurgen, you that have complained because you had not -your desire, you are omnipotent over Earth and all the affairs of -men. What now is your desire?" And sitting thus terribly enthroned, -the heart of Jurgen was as lead within him, and he felt old and very -tired. "For I do not know. Oh, nothing can help me, for I do not -know what thing it is that I desire! And this book and this sceptre -and this throne avail me nothing at all, and nothing can ever avail -me: for I am Jurgen who seeks he knows not what." - -So Jurgen shrugged, and climbed down from the throne of the God, and -wandering at adventure, came presently to four archangels. They were -seated upon a fleecy cloud, and they were eating milk and honey from -gold porringers: and of these radiant beings Jurgen inquired the -quickest way out of Heaven. - -"For hereabouts are none of my illusions," said Jurgen, "and I must -now return to such illusions as are congenial. One must believe in -something. And all that I have seen in Heaven I have admired and -envied, but in none of these things could I believe, and with none -of these things could I be satisfied. And while I think of it, I -wonder now if any of you gentlemen can give me news of that Lisa who -used to be my wife?" - -He described her; and they regarded him with compassion. - -But these archangels, he found, had never heard of Lisa, and they -assured him there was no such person in Heaven. For Steinvor had -died when Jurgen was a boy, and so she had never seen Lisa; and in -consequence, had not thought about Lisa one way or the other, when -Steinvor outlined her notions to Koshchei who made things as they -are. - -Now Jurgen discovered, too, that, when his eyes first met the eyes -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, Jurgen had stayed motionless for -thirty-seven days, forgetful of everything save that the God of his -grandmother was love. - -"Nobody else has willingly turned away so soon," Zachariel told him: -"and we think that your insensibility is due to some evil virtue in -the glittering garment which you are wearing, and of which the like -was never seen in Heaven." - -"I did but search for justice," Jurgen said: "and I could not find -it in the eyes of your God, but only love and such forgiveness as -troubled me." - -"Because of that should you rejoice," the four archangels said; "and -so should all that lives rejoice: and more particularly should we -rejoice that dwell in Heaven, and hourly praise our Lord God's -negligence of justice, whereby we are permitted to enter into this -place." - - - - -42. - -Twelve That are Fretted Hourly - - -So it was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more -than likely to happen, that Jurgen went hastily out of Heaven, -without having gained or wasted any love there. St. Peter unbarred -for him, not the main entrance, but a small private door, carved -with innumerable fishes in bas-relief, because this exit opened -directly upon any place you chose to imagine. - -"For thus," St. Peter said, "you may return without loss of time to -your own illusions." - -"There was a cross," said Jurgen, "which I used to wear about my -neck, through motives of sentiment, because it once belonged to my -dead mother. For no woman has ever loved me save that Azra who was -my mother--" - -"I wonder if your mother told you that?" St. Peter asked him, -smiling reminiscently. "Mine did, time and again. And sometimes I -have wondered--? For, as you may remember, I was a married man, -Jurgen: and my wife did not quite understand me," said St. Peter, -with a sigh. - -"Why, indeed," says Jurgen, "my case is not entirely dissimilar: and -the more I marry, the less I find of comprehension. I should have -had more sympathy with King Smoit, who was certainly my grandfather. -Well, you conceive, St. Peter, these other women have trusted me, -more or less, because they loved a phantom Jurgen. But Azra trusted -me not at all, because she loved me with clear eyes. She -comprehended Jurgen, and yet loved him: though I for one, with all -my cleverness, cannot do either of these things. None the less, in -order to do the manly thing, in order to pleasure a woman,--and a -married woman, too!--I flung away the little gold cross which was -all that remained to me of my mother: and since then, St. Peter, the -illusions of sentiment have given me a woefully wide berth. So I -shall relinquish Heaven to seek a cross." - -"That has been done before, Jurgen, and I doubt if much good came of -it." - -"Heyday, and did it not lead to the eternal glory of the first and -greatest of the popes? It seems to me, sir, that you have either -very little memory or very little gratitude, and I am tempted to -crow in your face." - -"Why, now you talk like a cherub, Jurgen, and you ought to have -better manners. Do you suppose that we Apostles enjoy hearing jokes -made about the Church?" - -"Well, it is true, St. Peter, that you founded the Church--" - -"Now, there you go again! That is what those patronizing seraphim -and those impish cherubs are always telling us. You see, we Twelve -sit together in Heaven, each on his white throne: and we behold -everything that happens on Earth. Now from our station there has -been no ignoring the growth and doings of what you might loosely -call Christianity. And sometimes that which we see makes us very -uncomfortable, Jurgen. Especially as just then some cherub is sure -to flutter by, in a broad grin, and chuckle, 'But you started it.' -And we did; I cannot deny that in a way we did. Yet really we never -anticipated anything of this sort, and it is not fair to tease us -about it." - -"Indeed, St. Peter, now I think of it, you ought to be held -responsible for very little that has been said or done in the shadow -of a steeple. For as I remember it, you Twelve attempted to convert -a world to the teachings of Jesus: and good intentions ought to be -respected, however drolly they may turn out." - -It was apparent this sympathy was grateful to the old Saint, for he -was moved to a more confidential tone. Meditatively he stroked his -long white beard, then said with indignation: "If only they would -not claim sib with us we could stand it: but as it is, for centuries -we have felt like fools. It is particularly embarrassing for me, of -course, being on the wicket; for to cap it all, Jurgen, the little -wretches die, and come to Heaven impudent as sparrows, and expect me -to let them in! From their thumbscrewings, and their auto-da-fés, -and from their massacres, and patriotic sermons, and holy wars, and -from every manner of abomination, they come to me, smirking. And -millions upon millions of them, Jurgen! There is no form of cruelty -or folly that has not come to me for praise, and no sort of criminal -idiot who has not claimed fellowship with me, who was an Apostle and -a gentleman. Why, Jurgen, you may not believe it, but there was an -eminent bishop came to me only last week in the expectation that I -was going to admit him,--and I with the full record of his work for -temperance, all fairly written out and in my hand!" - -Now Jurgen was surprised. "But temperance is surely a virtue, St. -Peter." - -"Ah, but his notion of temperance! and his filthy ravings to my -face, as though he were talking in some church or other! Why, the -slavering little blasphemer! to my face he spoke against the first -of my Master's miracles, and against the last injunction which was -laid upon us Twelve, spluttering that the wine was unfermented! To -me he said this, look you, Jurgen! to me, who drank of that noble -wine at Cana and equally of that sustaining wine we had in the -little upper room in Jerusalem when the hour of trial was near and -our Master would have us at our best! With me, who have since tasted -of that unimaginable wine which the Master promised us in His -kingdom, the busy wretch would be arguing! and would have convinced -me, in the face of all my memories, that my Master, Who was a Man -among men, was nourished by such thin swill as bred this niggling -brawling wretch to plague me!" - -"Well, but indeed, St. Peter, there is no denying that wine is often -misused." - -"So he informed me, Jurgen. And I told him by that argument he would -prohibit the making of bishops, for reasons he would find in the -mirror: and that, remembering what happened at the Crucifixion, he -would clap every lumber dealer into jail. So they took him away -still slavering," said St. Peter, wearily. "He was threatening to -have somebody else elected in my place when I last heard him: but -that was only old habit." - -"I do not think, however, that I encountered any such bishop, sir, -down yonder." - -"In the Hell of your fathers? Oh, no: your fathers meant well, but -their notions were limited. No, we have quite another eternal home -for these blasphemers, in a region that was fitted out long ago, -when the need grew pressing to provide a place for zealous -Churchmen." - -"And who devised this place, St. Peter?" - -"As a very special favor, we Twelve to whom is imputed the beginning -and the patronizing of such abominations were permitted to design -and furnish this place. And, of course, we put it in charge of our -former confrère, Judas. He seemed the appropriate person. Equally of -course, we put a very special roof upon it, the best imitation which -we could contrive of the War Roof, so that none of those grinning -cherubs could see what long reward it was we Twelve who founded -Christianity had contrived for these blasphemers." - -"Well, doubtless that was wise." - -"Ah, and if we Twelve had our way there would be just such another -roof kept always over Earth. For the slavering madman has left a -many like him clamoring and spewing about the churches that were -named for us Twelve, and in the pulpits of the churches that were -named for us: and we find it embarrassing. It is the doctrine of -Mahound they splutter, and not any doctrine that we ever preached or -even heard of: and they ought to say so fairly, instead of libeling -us who were Apostles and gentlemen. But thus it is that the rascals -make free with our names: and the cherubs keep track of these -antics, and poke fun at us. So that it is not all pleasure, this -being a Holy Apostle in Heaven, Jurgen, though once we Twelve were -happy enough." And St. Peter sighed. - -"One thing I did not understand, sir: and that was when you spoke -just now of the War Roof." - -"It is a stone roof, made of the two tablets handed down at Sinai, -which God fits over Earth whenever men go to war. For He is -merciful: and many of us here remember that once upon a time we were -men and women. So when men go to war God screens the sight of what -they do, because He wishes to be merciful to us." - -"That must prevent, however, the ascent of all prayers that are made -in war-time." - -"Why, but, of course, that is the roof's secondary purpose," replied -St. Peter. "What else would you expect when the Master's teachings -are being flouted? Rumors get through, though, somehow, and horribly -preposterous rumors. For instance, I have actually heard that in -war-time prayers are put up to the Lord God to back His favorites -and take part in the murdering. Not," said the good Saint, in haste, -"that I would believe even a Christian bishop to be capable of such -blasphemy: I merely want to show you, Jurgen, what wild stories get -about. Still, I remember, back in Cappadocia--" And then St. Peter -slapped his thigh. "But would you keep me gossiping here forever, -Jurgen, with the Souls lining up at the main entrance like ants that -swarm to molasses! Come, out of Heaven with you, Jurgen! and back to -whatever place you imagine will restore to you your own proper -illusions! and let me be returning to my duties." - -"Well, then, St. Peter, I imagine Amneran Heath, where I flung away -my mother's last gift to me." - -"And Amneran Heath it is," said St. Peter, as he thrust Jurgen through -the small private door that was carved with fishes in bas-relief. - -And Jurgen saw that the Saint spoke truthfully. - - - - -43. - -Postures before a Shadow - - -Thus Jurgen stood again upon Amneran Heath. And again it was -Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than likely to -happen: and the low moon was bright, so that the shadow of Jurgen -was long and thin. And Jurgen searched for the gold cross that he -had worn through motives of sentiment, but he could not find it, nor -did he ever recover it: but barberry bushes and the thorns of -barberry bushes he found in great plenty as he searched vainly. All -the while that he searched, the shirt of Nessus glittered in the -moonlight, and the shadow of Jurgen streamed long and thin, and -every movement that was made by Jurgen the shadow parodied. And as -always, it was the shadow of a lean woman, with her head wrapped in -a towel. - -Now Jurgen regarded this shadow, and to Jurgen it was abhorrent. - -"Oh, Mother Sereda," says he, "for a whole year your shadow has -dogged me. Many lands we have visited, and many sights we have seen: -and at the end all that we have done is a tale that is told: and it -is a tale that does not matter. So I stand where I stood at the -beginning of my foiled journeying. The gift you gave me has availed -me nothing: and I do not care whether I be young or old: and I have -lost all that remained to me of my mother and of my mother's love, -and I have betrayed my mother's pride in me, and I am weary." - -Now a little whispering gathered upon the ground, as though dead -leaves were moving there: and the whispering augmented (because this -was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than -likely to happen), and the whispering became the ghost of a voice. - -"You flattered me very cunningly, Jurgen, for you are a monstrous -clever fellow." This it was that the voice said drily. - -"A number of people might say that with tolerable justice," Jurgen -declared: "and yet I guess who speaks. As for flattering you, -godmother, I was only joking that day in Glathion: in fact, I was -careful to explain as much, the moment I noticed your shadow seemed -interested in my idle remarks and was writing them all down in a -notebook. Oh, no, I can assure you I trafficked quite honestly, and -have dealt fairly everywhere. For the rest, I really am very clever: -it would be foolish of me to deny it." - -"Vain fool!" said the voice of Mother Sereda. - -Jurgen replied: "It may be that I am vain. But it is certain that I -am clever. And even more certain is the fact that I am weary. For, -look you, in the tinsel of my borrowed youth I have gone romancing -through the world; and into lands unvisited by other men have I -ventured, playing at spillikins with women and gear and with the -welfare of kingdoms; and into Hell have I fallen, and into Heaven -have I climbed, and into the place of the Lord God Himself have I -crept stealthily: and nowhere have I found what I desired. Nor do I -know what my desire is, even now. But I know that it is not possible -for me to become young again, whatever I may appear to others." - -"Indeed, Jurgen, youth has passed out of your heart, beyond the -reach of Léshy: and the nearest you can come to regaining youth is -to behave childishly." - -"O godmother, but do give rein to your better instincts and all that -sort of thing, and speak with me more candidly! Come now, dear lady, -there should be no secrets between you and me. In Leukê you were -reported to be Cybelê, the great Res Dea, the mistress of every -tangible thing. In Cocaigne they spoke of you as Æsred. And at -Cameliard Merlin called you Adères, dark Mother of the Little Gods. -Well, but at your home in the forest, where I first had the honor of -making your acquaintance, godmother, you told me you were Sereda, -who takes the color out of things, and controls all Wednesdays. Now -these anagrams bewilder me, and I desire to know you frankly for -what you are." - -"It may be that I am all these. Meanwhile I bleach, and sooner or -later I bleach everything. It may be that some day, Jurgen, I shall -even take the color out of a fool's conception of himself." - -"Yes, yes! but just between ourselves, godmother, is it not this -shadow of you that prevents my entering, quite, into the appropriate -emotion, the spirit of the occasion, as one might say, and robs my -life of the zest which other persons apparently get out of living? -Come now, you know it is! Well, and for my part, godmother, I love a -jest as well as any man breathing, but I do prefer to have it -intelligible." - -"Now, let me tell you something plainly, Jurgen!" Mother Sereda -cleared her invisible throat, and began to speak rather indignantly. - - * * * * * - -"Well, godmother, if you will pardon my frankness, I do not think it -is quite nice to talk about such things, and certainly not with so -much candor. However, dismissing these considerations of delicacy, -let us revert to my original question. You have given me youth and -all the appurtenances of youth: and therewith you have given, too, -in your joking way--which nobody appreciates more heartily than -I,--a shadow that renders all things not quite satisfactory, not -wholly to be trusted, not to be met with frankness. Now--as you -understand, I hope,--I concede the jest, I do not for a moment deny -it is a master-stroke of humor. But, after all, just what exactly is -the point of it? What does it mean?" - -"It may be that there is no meaning anywhere. Could you face that -interpretation, Jurgen?" - -"No," said Jurgen: "I have faced god and devil, but that I will not -face." - -"No more would I who have so many names face that. You jested with -me. So I jest with you. Probably Koshchei jests with all of us. And -he, no doubt--even Koshchei who made things as they are,--is in turn -the butt of some larger jest." - -"He may be, certainly," said Jurgen: "yet, on the other hand--" - -"About these matters I do not know. How should I? But I think that -all of us take part in a moving and a shifting and a reasoned using -of the things which are Koshchei's, a using such as we do not -comprehend, and are not fit to comprehend." - -"That is possible," said Jurgen: "but, none the less--!" - -"It is as a chessboard whereon the pieces move diversely: the -knights leaping sidewise, and the bishops darting obliquely, and the -rooks charging straightforward, and the pawns laboriously hobbling -from square to square, each at the player's will. There is no -discernible order, all to the onlooker is manifestly in confusion: -but to the player there is a meaning in the disposition of the -pieces." - -"I do not deny it: still, one must grant--" - -"And I think it is as though each of the pieces, even the pawns, had -a chessboard of his own which moves as he is moved, and whereupon he -moves the pieces to suit his will, in the very moment wherein he is -moved willy-nilly." - -"You may be right: yet, even so--" - -"And Koshchei who directs this infinite moving of puppets may well -be the futile harried king in some yet larger game." - -"Now, certainly I cannot contradict you: but, at the same time--!" - -"So goes this criss-cross multitudinous moving as far as thought can -reach: and beyond that the moving goes. All moves. All moves -uncomprehendingly, and to the sound of laughter. For all moves in -consonance with a higher power that understands the meaning of the -movement. And each moves the pieces before him in consonance with -his ability. So the game is endless and ruthless: and there is -merriment overhead, but it is very far away." - -"Nobody is more willing to concede that these are handsome fancies, -Mother Sereda. But they make my head ache. Moreover, two people are -needed to play chess, and your hypothesis does not provide anybody -with an antagonist. Lastly, and above all, how do I know there is a -word of truth in your high-sounding fancies?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -Jurgen slapped his hands together. "Hah, Mother Sereda!" says he, -"but now I have you. It is that, precisely that damnable question, -which your shadow has been whispering to me from the beginning of -our companionship. And I am through with you. I will have no more of -your gifts, which are purchased at the cost of hearing that whisper. -I am resolved henceforward to be as other persons, and to believe -implicitly in my own importance." - -"But have you any reason to blame me? I restored to you your youth. -And when, just at the passing of that replevined Wednesday which I -loaned, you rebuked the Countess Dorothy very edifyingly, I was -pleased to find a man so chaste: and therefore I continued my grant -of youth--" - -"Ah, yes!" said Jurgen: "then that was the way of it! You were -pleased, just in the nick of time, by my virtuous rebuke of the -woman who tempted me. Yes, to be sure. Well, well! come now, you -know, that is very gratifying." - -"None the less your chastity, however unusual, has proved a barren -virtue. For what have you made of a year of youth? Why, each thing -that every man of forty-odd by ordinary regrets having done, you -have done again, only more swiftly, compressing the follies of a -quarter of a century into the space of one year. You have sought -bodily pleasures. You have made jests. You have asked many idle -questions. And you have doubted all things, including Jurgen. In the -face of your memories, in the face of what you probably considered -cordial repentance, you have made of your second youth just nothing. -Each thing that every man of forty-odd regrets having done, you have -done again." - -"Yes: it is undeniable that I re-married," said Jurgen. "Indeed, now -I think of it, there was Anaïtis and Chloris and Florimel, so that I -have married thrice in one year. But I am largely the victim of -heredity, you must remember, since it was without consulting me that -Smoit of Glathion perpetuated his characteristics." - -"Your marriages I do not criticize, for each was in accordance with -the custom of the country: the law is always respectable; and -matrimony is an honorable estate, and has a steadying influence, in -all climes. It is true my shadow reports several other affairs--" - -"Oh, godmother, and what is this you are telling me!" - -"There was a Yolande and a Guenevere"--the voice of Mother Sereda -appeared to read from a memorandum,--"and a Sylvia, who was your own -step-grandmother, and a Stella, who was a yogini, whatever that may -be; and a Phyllis and a Dolores, who were the queens of Hell and -Philistia severally. Moreover, you visited the Queen of Pseudopolis -in circumstances which could not but have been unfavorably viewed by -her husband. Oh, yes, you have committed follies with divers women." - -"Follies, it may be, but no crimes, not even a misdemeanor. Look -you, Mother Sereda, does your shadow report in all this year one -single instance of misconduct with a woman?" says Jurgen, sternly. - -"No, dearie, as I joyfully concede. The very worst reported is that -matters were sometimes assuming a more or less suspicious turn when -you happened to put out the light. And, of course, shadows cannot -exist in absolute darkness." - -"See now," said Jurgen, "what a thing it is to be careful! Careful, -I mean, in one's avoidance of even an appearance of evil. In what -other young man of twenty-one may you look to find such continence? -And yet you grumble!" - -"I do not complain because you have lived chastely. That pleases me, -and is the single reason you have been spared this long." - -"Oh, godmother, and whatever are you telling me!" - -"Yes, dearie, had you once sinned with a woman in the youth I gave, -you would have been punished instantly and very terribly. For I was -always a great believer in chastity, and in the old days I used to -insure the chastity of all my priests in the only way that is -infallible." - -"In fact, I noticed something of the sort as you passed in Leukê." - -"And over and over again I have been angered by my shadow's reports, -and was about to punish you, my poor dearie, when I would remember -that you held fast to the rarest of all virtues in a man, and that -my shadow reported no irregularities with women. And that would -please me, I acknowledge: so I would let matters run on a while -longer. But it is a shiftless business, dearie, for you are making -nothing of the youth I restored to you. And had you a thousand lives -the result would be the same." - -"Nevertheless, I am a monstrous clever fellow." Jurgen chuckled -here. - -"You are, instead, a palterer; and your life, apart from that fine -song you made about me, is sheer waste." - -"Ah, if you come to that, there was a brown man in the Druid forest, -who showed me a very curious spectacle, last June. And I am not apt -to lose the memory of what he showed me, whatever you may say, and -whatever I may have said to him." - -"This and a many other curious spectacles you have seen and have -made nothing of, in the false youth I gave you. And therefore my -shadow was angry that in the revelation of so much futile trifling I -did not take away the youth I gave--as I have half a mind to do, -even now, I warn you, dearie, for there is really no putting up with -you. But I spared you because of my shadow's grudging reports as to -your continence, which is a virtue that we of the Léshy peculiarly -revere." - -Now Jurgen considered. "Eh?--then it is within your ability to make -me old again, or rather, an excellently preserved person of forty-odd, -or say, thirty-nine, by the calendar, but not looking it by a long -shot? Such threats are easily voiced. But how can I know that you are -speaking the truth?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -"Ah, godmother, and must you still be mumbling that! Come now, -forget you are a woman, and be reasonable! You exercise the fair and -ancient privilege of kinship by calling me harsh names, but it is in -the face of this plain fact: I got from you what never man has got -before. I am a monstrous clever fellow, say what you will: for -already I have cajoled you out of a year of youth, a year wherein I -have neither builded nor robbed any churches, but have had upon the -whole a very pleasant time. Ah, you may murmur platitudes and -threats and axioms and anything else which happens to appeal to you: -the fact remains that I got what I wanted. Yes, I cajoled you very -neatly into giving me eternal youth. For, of course, poor dear, you -are now powerless to take it back: and so I shall retain, in spite -of you, the most desirable possession in life." - -"I gave, in honor of your chastity, which is the one commendable -trait that you possess--" - -"My chastity, I grant you, is remarkable. Nevertheless, you really -gave because I was the cleverer." - -"--And what I give I can retract at will!" - -"Come, come, you know very well you can do nothing of the sort. I -refer you to Sævius Nicanor. None of the Léshy can ever take back -the priceless gift of youth. That is explicitly proved, in the -Appendix." - -"Now, but I am becoming angry--" - -"To the contrary, as I perceive with real regret, you are becoming -ridiculous, since you dispute the authority of Sævius Nicanor." - -"--And I will show you--oh, but I will show you, you jackanapes!" - -"Ah, but come now! keep your temper in hand! All fairly erudite -persons know you cannot do the thing you threaten: and it is -notorious that the weakest wheel of every cart creaks loudest. So do -you cultivate a judicious taciturnity! for really nobody is going to -put up with petulance in an ugly and toothless woman of your age, as -I tell you for your own good." - -It always vexes people to be told anything for their own good. So -what followed happened quickly. A fleece of cloud slipped over the -moon. The night seemed bitterly cold, for the space of a heart-beat, -and then matters were comfortable enough. The moon emerged in its -full glory, and there in front of Jurgen was the proper shadow of -Jurgen. He dazedly regarded his hands, and they were the hands of an -elderly person. He felt the calves of his legs, and they were -shrunken. He patted himself centrally, and underneath the shirt of -Nessus the paunch of Jurgen was of impressive dimension. In other -respects he had abated. - -"Then, too, I have forgotten something very suddenly," reflected -Jurgen. "It was something I wanted to forget. Ah, yes! but what was -it that I wanted to forget? Why, there was a brown man--with -something unusual about his feet--He talked nonsense and behaved -idiotically in a Druid forest--He was probably insane. No, I do not -remember what it was that I have forgotten: but I am sure it has -gnawed away in the back of my mind, like a small ruinous maggot: and -that, after all, it was of no importance." - -Aloud he wailed, in his most moving tones: "Oh, Mother Sereda, I did -not mean to anger you. It was not fair to snap me up on a -thoughtless word! Have mercy upon me, Mother Sereda, for I would -never have alluded to your being so old and plain-looking if I had -known you were so vain!" - -But Mother Sereda did not appear to be softened by this form of -entreaty, for nothing happened. - -"Well, then, thank goodness, that is over!" says Jurgen, to himself. -"Of course, she may be listening still, and it is dangerous jesting -with the Léshy: but really they do not seem to be very intelligent. -Otherwise this irritable maunderer would have known that, everything -else apart, I am heartily tired of the responsibilities of youth -under any such constant surveillance. Now all is changed: there is -no call to avoid a suspicion of wrong doing by transacting all -philosophical investigations in the dark: and I am no longer -distrustful of lamps or candles, or even of sunlight. Old body, you -are as grateful as old slippers, to a somewhat wearied man: and for -the second time I have tricked Mother Sereda rather neatly. My -knowledge of Lisa, however painfully acquired, is a decided -advantage in dealing with anything that is feminine." - -Then Jurgen regarded the black cave. "And that reminds me it still -would be, I suppose, the manly thing to continue my quest for Lisa. -The intimidating part is that if I go into this cave for the third -time I shall almost certainly get her back. By every rule of -tradition the third attempt is invariably successful. I wonder if I -want Lisa back?" - -Jurgen meditated: and he shook a grizzled head. "I do not definitely -know. She was an excellent cook. There were pies that I shall always -remember with affection. And she meant well, poor dear! But then if -it was really her head that I sliced off last May--or if her temper -is not any better--Still, it is an interminable nuisance washing -your own dishes: and I appear to have no aptitude whatever for -sewing and darning things. But, to the other hand, Lisa nags so: and -she does not understand me--" - -Jurgen shrugged. "See-saw! the argument for and against might run on -indefinitely. Since I have no real preference, I will humor -prejudice by doing the manly thing. For it seems only fair: and -besides, it may fail after all" - -Then he went into the cave for the third time. - - - - -44. - -In the Manager's Office - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came to -the place where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen. Again Jurgen -stooped, and crawled through the opening in the cave's wall, and so -came to where lamps were burning upon tall iron stands. Now, one by -one, these lamps were going out, and there were now no women here: -instead, Jurgen trod inch deep in fine white ashes, leaving the -print of his feet upon them. - -He went forward as the cave stretched. He came to a sharp turn in -the cave, with the failing lamplight now behind him, so that his -shadow confronted Jurgen, blurred but unarguable. It was the proper -shadow of a commonplace and elderly pawnbroker, and Jurgen regarded -it with approval. - -Jurgen came then into a sort of underground chamber, from the roof -of which was suspended a kettle of quivering red flames. Facing him -was a throne, and back of this were rows of benches: but here, too, -was nobody. Resting upright against the vacant throne was a -triangular white shield: and when Jurgen looked more closely he -could see there was writing upon it. Jurgen carried this shield as -close as he could to the kettle of flames, for his eyesight was now -not very good, and besides, the flames in the kettle were burning -low: and Jurgen deciphered the message that was written upon the -shield, in black and red letters. - -"Absent upon important affairs," it said. "Will be back in an hour." -And it was signed, "Thragnar R." - -"I wonder now for whom King Thragnar left this notice?" reflected -Jurgen--"certainly not for me. And I wonder, too, if he left it here -a year ago or only this evening? And I wonder if it was Thragnar's -head I removed in the black and silver pavilion? Ah, well, there are -a number of things to wonder about in this incredible cave, wherein -the lights are dying out, as I observe with some discomfort. And I -think the air grows chillier." - -Then Jurgen looked to his right, at the stairway which he and -Guenevere had ascended; and he shook his head. "Glathion is no fit -resort for a respectable pawnbroker. Chivalry is for young people, -like the late Duke of Logreus. But I must get out of this place, for -certainly there is in the air a deathlike chill." - -So Jurgen went on down the aisle between the rows of benches -wherefrom Thragnar's warriors had glared at Jurgen when he was last -in this part of the cave. At the end of the aisle was a wooden door -painted white. It was marked, in large black letters, "Office of the -Manager--Keep Out." So Jurgen opened this door. - -He entered into a notable place illuminated by six cresset lights. -These lights were the power of Assyria, and Nineveh, and Egypt, and -Rome, and Athens, and Byzantium: six other cressets stood ready -there, but fire had not yet been laid to these. Back of all was a -large blackboard with much figuring on it in red chalk. And here, -too, was the black gentleman, who a year ago had given his blessing -to Jurgen, for speaking civilly of the powers of darkness. To-night -the black gentleman wore a black dressing-gown that was embroidered -with all the signs of the Zodiac. He sat at a table, the top of -which was curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver: and he was -copying entries from one big book into another. He looked up from -his writing pleasantly enough, and very much as though he were -expecting Jurgen. - -"You find me busy with the Stellar Accounts," says he, "which appear -to be in a fearful muddle. But what more can I do for you, -Jurgen?--for you, my friend, who spoke a kind word for things as -they are, and furnished me with one or two really very acceptable -explanations as to why I had created evil?" - -"I have been thinking, Prince--" begins the pawnbroker. - -"And why do you call me a prince, Jurgen?" - -"I do not know, sir. But I suspect that my quest is ended, and that -you are Koshchei the Deathless." - -The black gentleman nodded. "Something of the sort. Koshchei, or -Ardnari, or Ptha, or Jaldalaoth, or Abraxas,--it is all one what I -may be called hereabouts. My real name you never heard: no man has -ever heard my name. So that matter we need hardly go into." - -"Precisely, Prince. Well, but it is a long way that I have traveled -roundabout, to win to you who made things as they are. And it is -eager I am to learn just why you made things as they are." - -Up went the black gentleman's eyebrows into regular Gothic arches. -"And do you really think, Jurgen, that I am going to explain to you -why I made things as they are?" - -"I fail to see, Prince, how my wanderings could have any other -equitable climax." - -"But, friend, I have nothing to do with justice. To the contrary, I -am Koshchei who made things as they are." - -Jurgen saw the point. "Your reasoning, Prince, is unanswerable. I -bow to it. I should even have foreseen it. Do you tell me, then, -what thing is this which I desire, and cannot find in any realm that -man has known nor in any kingdom that man has imagined." - -Koshchei was very patient. "I am not, I confess, anything like as -well acquainted with what has been going on in this part of the -universe as I ought to be. Of course, events are reported to me, in -a general sort of way, and some of my people were put in charge of -these stars, a while back: but they appear to have run the -constellation rather shiftlessly. Still, I have recently been -figuring on the matter, and I do not despair of putting the suns -hereabouts to some profitable use, in one way or another, after all. -Of course, it is not as if it were an important constellation. But I -am an Economist, and I dislike waste--" - -Then he was silent for an instant, not greatly worried by the -problem, as Jurgen could see, but mildly vexed by his inability to -divine the solution out of hand. Presently Koshchei said: - -"And in the mean time, Jurgen, I am afraid I cannot answer your -question on the spur of the moment. You see, there appears to have -been a great number of human beings, as you call them, evolved -upon--oh, yes!--upon Earth. I have the approximate figures over -yonder, but they would hardly interest you. And the desires of each -one of these human beings seem to have been multitudinous and -inconstant. Yet, Jurgen, you might appeal to the local authorities, -for I remember appointing some, at the request of a very charming -old lady." - -"In fine, you do not know what thing it is that I desire," said -Jurgen, much surprised. - -"Why, no, I have not the least notion," replied Koshchei. "Still, I -suspect that if you got it you would protest it was a most unjust -affliction. So why keep worrying about it?" - -Jurgen demanded, almost indignantly: "But have you not then, Prince, -been guiding all my journeying during this last year?" - -"Now, really, Jurgen, I remember our little meeting very pleasantly. -And I endeavored forthwith to dispose of your most urgent annoyance. -But I confess I have had one or two other matters upon my mind since -then. You see, Jurgen, the universe is rather large, and the running -of it is a considerable tax upon my time. I cannot manage to see -anything like as much of my friends as I would be delighted to see -of them. And so perhaps, what with one thing and another, I have not -given you my undivided attention all through the year--not every -moment of it, that is." - -"Ah, Prince, I see that you are trying to spare my feelings, and it -is kind of you. But the upshot is that you do not know what I have -been doing, and you did not care what I was doing. Dear me! but this -is a very sad come-down for my pride." - -"Yes, but reflect how remarkable a possession is that pride of -yours, and how I wonder at it, and how I envy it in vain,--I, who -have nothing anywhere to contemplate save my own handiwork. Do you -consider, Jurgen, what I would give if I could find, anywhere in -this universe of mine, anything which would make me think myself -one-half so important as you think Jurgen is!" And Koshchei sighed. - -But instead, Jurgen considered the humiliating fact that Koshchei -had not been supervising Jurgen's travels. And of a sudden Jurgen -perceived that this Koshchei the Deathless was not particularly -intelligent. Then Jurgen wondered why he should ever have expected -Koshchei to be intelligent? Koshchei was omnipotent, as men estimate -omnipotence: but by what course of reasoning had people come to -believe that Koshchei was clever, as men estimate cleverness? The -fact that, to the contrary, Koshchei seemed well-meaning, but rather -slow of apprehension and a little needlessly fussy, went far toward -explaining a host of matters which had long puzzled Jurgen. -Cleverness was, of course, the most admirable of all traits: but -cleverness was not at the top of things, and never had been. "Very -well, then!" says Jurgen, with a shrug; "let us come to my third -request and to the third thing that I have been seeking. Here, -though, you ought to be more communicative. For I have been -thinking, Prince, my wife's society is perhaps becoming to you a -trifle burdensome." - -"Eh, sirs, I am not unaccustomed to women. I may truthfully say that -as I find them, so do I take them. And I was willing to oblige a -fellow rebel." - -"But I do not know, Prince, that I have ever rebelled. Far from it, -I have everywhere conformed with custom." - -"Your lips conformed, but all the while your mind made verses, -Jurgen. And poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." - -"--And besides, you call me a fellow rebel. Now, how can it be -possible that Koshchei, who made all things as they are, should be a -rebel? unless, indeed, there is some power above even Koshchei. I -would very much like to have that explained to me, sir." - -"No doubt: but then why should I explain it to you, Jurgen?" says -the black gentleman. - -"Well, be that as it may, Prince! But--to return a little--I do not -know that you have obliged me in carrying off my wife. I mean, of -course, my first wife." - -"Why, Jurgen," says the black gentleman, in high astonishment, "do -you mean to tell me that you want the plague of your life back -again!" - -"I do not know about that either, sir. She was certainly very hard -to live with. On the other hand, I had become used to having her -about. I rather miss her, now that I am again an elderly person. -Indeed, I believe I have missed Lisa all along." - -The black gentleman meditated. "Come, friend," he says, at last. "You -were a poet of some merit. You displayed a promising talent which might -have been cleverly developed, in any suitable environment. Now, I -repeat, I am an Economist: I dislike waste: and you were never fitted -to be anything save a poet. The trouble was"--and Koshchei lowered his -voice to an impressive whisper,--"the trouble was your wife did not -understand you. She hindered your art. Yes, that precisely sums it up: -she interfered with your soul-development, and your instinctive need of -self-expression, and all that sort of thing. You are very well rid of -this woman, who converted a poet into a pawnbroker. To the other side, -as is with point observed somewhere or other, it is not good for man to -live alone. But, friend, I have just the wife for you." - -"Well, Prince," said Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Koshchei waved his hand: and there, quick as winking, was the -loveliest lady that Jurgen had ever imagined. - - - - -45. - -The Faith of Guenevere - - -Very fair was this woman to look upon, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer woman might no man boast of having seen. -And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks red and white, very -lovely to observe. She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and -about her neck was a collar of red gold. And she told him, quite as -though she spoke with a stranger, that she was Queen Guenevere. - -"But Lancelot is turned monk, at Glastonbury: and Arthur is gone -into Avalon," says she: "and I will be your wife if you will have -me, Jurgen." - -And Jurgen saw that Guenevere did not know him at all, and that even -his name to her was meaningless. There were a many ways of accounting -for this: but he put aside the unflattering explanation that she had -simply forgotten all about Jurgen, in favor of the reflection that the -Jurgen she had known was a scapegrace of twenty-one. Whereas he was -now a staid and knowledgeable pawnbroker. - -And it seemed to Jurgen that he had never really loved any woman -save Guenevere, the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr, and the pawnbroker -was troubled. - -"For again you make me think myself a god," says Jurgen. "Madame -Guenevere, when man recognized himself to be Heaven's vicar upon -earth, it was to serve and to glorify and to protect you and your -radiant sisterhood that man consecrated his existence. You were -beautiful, and you were frail; you were half goddess and half -bric-à-brac. Ohimé, I recognize the call of chivalry, and my -heart-strings resound: yet, for innumerable reasons, I hesitate -to take you for my wife, and to concede myself your appointed -protector, responsible as such to Heaven. For one matter, I am not -altogether sure that I am Heaven's vicar here upon earth. Certainly -the God of Heaven said nothing to me about it, and I cannot but -suspect that Omniscience would have selected some more competent -representative." - -"It is so written, Messire Jurgen." - -Jurgen shrugged. "I too, in the intervals of business, have written -much that is beautiful. Very often my verses were so beautiful that -I would have given anything in the world in exchange for somewhat -less sure information as to the author's veracity. Ah, no, madame, -desire and knowledge are pressing me so sorely that, between them, I -dare not love you, and still I cannot help it!" - -Then Jurgen gave a little wringing gesture with his hands. His smile -was not merry; and it seemed pitiful that Guenevere should not -remember him. - -"Madame and queen," says Jurgen, "once long and long ago there was a -man who worshipped all women. To him they were one and all of -sacred, sweet intimidating beauty. He shaped sonorous rhymes of -this, in praise of the mystery and sanctity of women. Then a count's -tow-headed daughter whom he loved, with such love as it puzzles me -to think of now, was shown to him just as she was, as not even -worthy of hatred. The goddess stood revealed, unveiled, and -displaying in all things such mediocrity as he fretted to find in -himself. That was unfortunate. For he began to suspect that women, -also, are akin to their parents; and are no wiser, and no more -subtle, and no more immaculate, than the father who begot them. -Madame and queen, it is not good for any man to suspect this." - -"It is certainly not the conduct of a chivalrous person, nor of an -authentic poet," says Queen Guenevere. "And yet your eyes are big -with tears." - -"Hah, madame," he replied, "but it amuses me to weep for a dead man -with eyes that once were his. For he was a dear lad before he went -rampaging through the world, in the pride of his youth and in the -armor of his hurt. And songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and -sword play he made for the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made -for the pleasure of women, in places where renown was, and where he -trod boldly, giving pleasure to everybody in those fine days. But -for all his laughter, he could not understand his fellows, nor could -he love them, nor could he detect anything in aught they said or did -save their exceeding folly." - -"Why, man's folly is indeed very great, Messire Jurgen, and the -doings of this world are often inexplicable: and so does it come -about that man can be saved by faith alone." - -"Ah, but this boy had lost his fellows' cordial common faith in the -importance of what use they made of half-hours and months and years; -and because a jill-flirt had opened his eyes so that they saw too -much, he had lost faith in the importance of his own actions, too. -There was a little time of which the passing might be made not -unendurable; beyond gaped unpredictable darkness; and that was all -there was of certainty anywhere. Meanwhile, he had the loan of a -brain which played with ideas, and a body that went delicately down -pleasant ways. And so he was never the mate for you, dear Guenevere, -because he had not sufficient faith in anything at all, not even in -his own deductions." - -Now said Queen Guenevere: "Farewell to you, then, Jurgen, for it is -I that am leaving you forever. I was to them that served me the -lovely and excellent masterwork of God: in Caerleon and Northgalis -and at Joyeuse Garde might men behold me with delight, because, men -said, to view me was to comprehend the power and kindliness of their -Creator. Very beautiful was Iseult, and the face of Luned sparkled -like a moving gem; Morgaine and Enid and Viviane and shrewd Nimuë -were lovely, too; and the comeliness of Ettarde exalted the beholder -like a proud music: these, going statelily about Arthur's hall, -seemed Heaven's finest craftsmanship until the Queen came to her -daïs, as the moon among glowing stars: men then affirmed that God in -making Guenevere had used both hands. And it is I that am leaving -you forever. My beauty was no human white and red, said they, but an -explicit sign of Heaven's might. In approaching me men thought of -God, because in me, they said, His splendor was incarnate. That -which I willed was neither right nor wrong: it was divine. This -thing it was that the knights saw in me; this surety, as to the -power and kindliness of their great Father, it was of which the -chevaliers of yesterday were conscious in beholding me, and of men's -need to be worthy of such parentage; and it is I that am leaving you -forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a rudderless -boat that goes from wave to wave: I am turned to unfertile dust -which a whirlwind makes coherent, and presently lets fall. And so, -farewell to you, Queen Guenevere, for it is a sorrowful thing and a -very unfair thing that is happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr. And -instantly she vanished like the flame of a blown out altar-candle. - - - - -46. - -The Desire of Anaïtis - - -And again Koshchei waved his hand. Then came to Jurgen a woman who -was strangely gifted and perverse. Her dark eyes glittered: upon her -head was a net-work of red coral, with branches radiating downward, -and her tunic was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled. - -And Anaïtis also had forgotten Jurgen, or else she did not recognize -him in this man of forty and something: and again belief awoke in -Jurgen's heart that this was the only woman whom Jurgen had really -loved, as he listened to Anaïtis and to her talk of marvelous -things. - -Of the lore of Thaïs she spoke, and of the schooling of Sappho, and -of the secrets of Rhodopê, and of the mourning for Adonis: and the -refrain of all her talking was not changed. "For we have but a -little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a -man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus -and thus," says she. And the bright-colored pensive woman spoke with -antique directness of matters that Jurgen, being no longer a -scapegrace of twenty-one, found rather embarrassing. - -"Come, come!" thinks he, "but it will never do to seem provincial. I -believe that I am actually blushing." - -Aloud he said: "Sweetheart, there was--why, not a half-hour -since!--a youth who sought quite zealously for the over-mastering -frenzies you prattle about. But, candidly, he could not find the -flesh whose touch would rouse insanity. The lad had opportunities, -too, let me tell you! Hah, I recall with tenderness the glitter of -eyes and hair, and the gay garments, and the soft voices of those -fond foolish women, even now. But he went from one pair of lips to -another, with an ardor that was always half-feigned, and with -protestations which were conscious echoes of some romance or other. -Such escapades were pleasant enough: but they were not very serious, -after all. For these things concerned his body alone: and I am more -than an edifice of viands reared by my teeth. To pretend that what -my body does or endures is of importance seems rather silly -nowadays. I prefer to regard it as a necessary beast of burden which -I maintain, at considerable expense and trouble. So I shall make no -more pother about it." - -But then again Queen Anaïtis spoke of marvelous things; and he -listened, fair-mindedly; for the Queen spoke now of that which was -hers to share with him. - -"Well, I have heard," says Jurgen, "that you have a notable -residence in Cocaigne." - -"But that is only a little country place, to which I sometimes -repair in summer, in order to live rustically. No, Jurgen, you must -see my palaces. In Babylon I have a palace where many abide with -cords about them and burn bran for perfume, while they await that -thing which is to befall them. In Armenia I have a palace surrounded -by vast gardens, where only strangers have the right to enter: they -there receive a hospitality that is more than gallant. In Paphos I -have a palace wherein is a little pyramid of white stone, very -curious to see: but still more curious is the statue in my palace at -Amathus, of a bearded woman, which displays other features that -women do not possess. And in Alexandria I have a palace that is -tended by thirty-six exceedingly wise and sacred persons, and -wherein it is always night: and there folk seek for monstrous -pleasures, even at the price of instant death, and win to both of -these swiftly. Everywhere my palaces stand upon high places near the -sea: so they are beheld from afar by those whom I hold dearest, my -beautiful broad-chested mariners, who do not fear even me, but know -that in my palaces they will find notable employment. For I must -tell you of what is to be encountered within these places that are -mine, and of how pleasantly we pass our time there." Then she told -him. - -Now he listened more attentively than ever, and his eyes were -narrowed, and his lips were lax and motionless and foolish-looking, -and he was deeply interested. For Anaïtis had thought of some new -diversions since their last meeting: and to Jurgen, even at forty -and something, this queen's voice was all a horrible and strange and -lovely magic. "She really tempts very nicely, too," he reflected, -with a sort of pride in her. - -Then Jurgen growled and shook himself, half angrily: and he tweaked -the ear of Queen Anaïtis. - -"Sweetheart," says he, "you paint a glowing picture: but you are -shrewd enough to borrow your pigments from the day-dreams of -inexperience. What you prattle about is not at all as you describe -it. You forget you are talking to a widely married man of varied -experience. Moreover, I shudder to think of what might happen if -Lisa were to walk in unexpectedly. And for the rest, all this to-do -over nameless delights and unspeakable caresses and other anonymous -antics seems rather naïve. My ears are beset by eloquent gray hairs -which plead at closer quarters than does that fibbing little tongue -of yours. And so be off with you!" - -With that Queen Anaïtis smiled very cruelly, and she said: "Farewell -to you, then Jurgen, for it is I that am leaving you forever. -Henceforward you must fret away much sunlight by interminably -shunning discomfort and by indulging tepid preferences. For I, and -none but I, can waken that desire which uses all of a man, and so -wastes nothing, even though it leave that favored man forever after -like wan ashes in the sunlight. And with you I have no more concern, -for it is I that am leaving you forever. Join with your graying -fellows, then! and help them to affront the clean sane sunlight, by -making guilds and laws and solemn phrases wherewith to rid the world -of me. I, Anaïtis, laugh, and my heart is a wave in the sunlight. -For there is no power like my power, and no living thing which can -withstand my power; and those who deride me, as I well know, are but -the dead dry husks that a wind moves, with hissing noises, while I -harvest in open sunlight. For I am the desire that uses all of a -man: and it is I that am leaving you forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a puzzled -ghost who furtively observes the doings of loud-voiced ruddy -persons: and I am compact of weariness and apprehension, for I no -longer discern what thing is I, nor what is my desire, and I fear -that I am already dead. So farewell to you, Queen Anaïtis, for this, -too, is a sorrowful thing and a very unfair thing that is -happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the Sun's daughter. And all the colors of -her loveliness flickered and merged into the likeness of a tall thin -flame, that aspired; and then this flame was extinguished. - - - - -47. - -The Vision of Helen - - -And for the third time Koshchei waved his hand. Now came to Jurgen a -gold-haired woman, clothed all in white. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest; and yet, whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. And, beholding her, Jurgen kneeled. - -He hid his face in her white robe: and he stayed thus, without -speaking, for a long while. - -"Lady of my vision," he said, and his voice broke--"there is that in -you which wakes old memories. For now assuredly I believe your -father was not Dom Manuel but that ardent bird which nestled very -long ago in Leda's bosom. And now Troy's sons are all in Adês' -keeping, in the world below; fire has consumed the walls of Troy, -and the years have forgotten her tall conquerors; but still you are -bringing woe on woe to hapless sufferers." - -And again his voice broke. For the world seemed cheerless, and like -a house that none has lived in for a great while. - -Queen Helen, the delight of gods and men, replied nothing at all, -because there was no need, inasmuch as the man who has once glimpsed -her loveliness is beyond saving, and beyond the desire of being -saved. - -"To-night," says Jurgen, "as once through the gray art of Phobetor, -now through the will of Koshchei, it appears that you stand within -arm's reach. Hah, lady, were that possible--and I know very well it -is not possible, whatever my senses may report,--I am not fit to -mate with your perfection. At the bottom of my heart, I no longer -desire perfection. For we who are tax-payers as well as immortal -souls must live by politic evasions and formulae and catchwords that -fret away our lives as moths waste a garment; we fall insensibly to -common-sense as to a drug; and it dulls and kills whatever in us is -rebellious and fine and unreasonable; and so you will find no man of -my years with whom living is not a mechanism which gnaws away time -unprompted. For within this hour I have become again a creature of -use and wont; I am the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and I -have put my dreams upon an allowance. Yet even now I love you more -than I love books and indolence and flattery and the charitable wine -which cheats me into a favorable opinion of myself. What more can an -old poet say? For that reason, lady, I pray you begone, because your -loveliness is a taunt which I find unendurable." - -But his voice yearned, because this was Queen Helen, the delight of -gods and men, who regarded him with grave, kind eyes. She seemed to -view, as one appraises the pattern of an unrolled carpet, every -action of Jurgen's life: and she seemed, too, to wonder, without -reproach or trouble, how men could be so foolish, and of their own -accord become so miry. - -"Oh, I have failed my vision!" cries Jurgen. "I have failed, and I -know very well that every man must fail: and yet my shame is no less -bitter. For I am transmuted by time's handling! I shudder at the -thought of living day-in and day-out with my vision! And so I will -have none of you for my wife." - -Then, trembling, Jurgen raised toward his lips the hand of her who -was the world's darling. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Oh, very long ago I found your -beauty mirrored in a wanton's face! and often in a woman's face I -have found one or another feature wherein she resembled you, and for -the sake of it have lied to that woman glibly. And all my verses, as -I know now, were vain enchantments striving to evoke that hidden -loveliness of which I knew by dim report alone. Oh, all my life was -a foiled quest of you, Queen Helen, and an unsatiated hungering. And -for a while I served my vision, honoring you with clean-handed -deeds. Yes, certainly it should be graved upon my tomb, 'Queen Helen -ruled this earth while it stayed worthy.' But that was very long -ago. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Your beauty has been to me as -a robber that stripped my life of joy and sorrow, and I desire not -ever to dream of your beauty any more. For I have been able to love -nobody. And I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen -Helen, at every moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I -first seemed to find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. -It is the memory of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face -of a jill-flirt, which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other -men give women; and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved -nothing--not even you, not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Hereafter I rove no more -a-questing anything; instead, I potter after hearthside comforts, -and play the physician with myself, and strive painstakingly to make -old bones. And no man's notion anywhere seems worth a cup of mulled -wine; and for the sake of no notion would I endanger the routine -which so hideously bores me. For I am transmuted by time's handling; -I have become the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and it does -not seem fair, but there is no help for it. So it is necessary that -I now cry farewell to you, Queen Helen: for I have failed in the -service of my vision, and I deny you utterly!" - -Thus he cried farewell to the Swan's daughter: and Queen Helen -vanished as a bright mist passes, not departing swiftly, as had -departed Queen Guenevere and Queen Anaïtis; and Jurgen was alone -with the black gentleman. And to Jurgen the world seemed cheerless, -and like a house that none has lived in for a great while. - - - - -48. - -Candid Opinions of Dame Lisa - - -"Eh, sirs!" observes Koshchei the Deathless, "but some of us are -certainly hard to please." And now Jurgen was already intent to -shrug off his display of emotion. "In selecting a wife, sir," -submitted Jurgen, "there are all sorts of matters to be -considered--" - -Then bewilderment smote him. For it occurred to Jurgen that his -previous commerce with these three women was patently unknown to -Koshchei. Why, Koshchei, who made all things as they are--Koshchei, -no less--was now doing for Jurgen Koshchei's utmost: and that utmost -amounted to getting for Jurgen what Jurgen had once, with the aid of -youth and impudence, got for himself. Not even Koshchei, then, could -do more for Jurgen than might be accomplished by that youth and -impudence and tendency to pry into things generally which Jurgen had -just relinquished as over-restless nuisances. Jurgen drew the -inference, and shrugged; decidedly cleverness was not at the top. -However, there was no pressing need to enlighten Koshchei, and no -wisdom in attempting it. - -"--For you must understand, sir," continued Jurgen, smoothly, "that, -whatever the first impulse of the moment, it was apparent to any -reflective person that in the past of each of these ladies there was -much to suggest inborn inaptitude for domestic life. And I am a -peace-loving fellow, sir; nor do I hold with moral laxity, now that -I am forty-odd, except, of course, in talk when it promotes -sociability, and in verse-making wherein it is esteemed as a -conventional ornament. Still, Prince, the chance I lost! I do not -refer to matrimony, you conceive. But in the presence of these -famous fair ones now departed from me forever, with what glowing -words I ought to have spoken! upon a wondrous ladder of trophes, -metaphors and recondite allusions, to what stylistic heights of -Asiatic prose I ought to have ascended! and instead, I twaddled like -a schoolmaster. Decidedly, Lisa is right, and I am good-for-nothing. -However," Jurgen added, hopefully, "it appeared to me that when I -last saw her, a year ago this evening, Lisa was somewhat less -outspoken than usual." - -"Eh, sirs, but she was under a very potent spell. I found that -necessary in the interest of law and order hereabouts. I, who made -things as they are, am not accustomed to the excesses of practical -persons who are ruthlessly bent upon reforming their associates. -Indeed, it is one of the advantages of my situation that such folk -do not consider things as they are, and in consequence very rarely -bother me." And the black gentleman in turn shrugged. "You will -pardon me, but I notice in my accounts that I am positively -committed to color this year's anemones to-night, and there is a -rather large planetary system to be discontinued at half-past ten. -So time presses." - -"And time is inexorable. Prince, with all due respect, I fancy it is -precisely this truism which you have overlooked. You produce the -most charming of women, in a determined onslaught upon my fancy; but -you forget you are displaying them to a man of forty-and-something." - -"And does that make so great a difference?" - -"Oh, a sad difference, Prince! For as a man gets on in life he -changes in many ways. He handles sword and lance less creditably, -and does not carry as heavy a staff as he once flourished. He takes -less interest in conversation, and his flow of humor diminishes. He -is not the tireless mathematician that he was, if only because his -faith in his personal endowments slackens. He recognizes his -limitations, and in consequence the unimportance of his opinions, -and indeed he recognizes the probable unimportance of all fleshly -matters. So he relinquishes trying to figure out things, and -sceptres and candles appear to him about equivalent; and he is -inclined to give up philosophical experiments, and to let things -pass unplumbed. Oh, yes, it makes a difference." And Jurgen sighed. -"And yet, for all that, it is a relief, sir, in a way." - -"Nevertheless," said Koshchei, "now that you have inspected the -flower of womanhood, I cannot soberly believe you prefer your -termagant of a wife." - -"Frankly, Prince, I also am, as usual, undecided. You may be right -in all you have urged; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say -you are wrong; but still, at the same time--! Come now, could you -not let me see my first wife for just a moment?" - -This was no sooner asked than granted; for there, sure enough, was -Dame Lisa. She was no longer restricted to quiet speech by any -stupendous necromancy: and uncommonly plain she looked, after the -passing of those lovely ladies. - -"Aha, you rascal!" begins Dame Lisa, addressing Jurgen; "and so you -thought to be rid of me! Oh, a precious lot you are! and a deal of -thanks I get for my scrimping and slaving!" And she began scolding -away. - -But she began, somewhat to Jurgen's astonishment, by stating that he -was even worse than the Countess Dorothy. Then he recollected that, -by not the most disastrous piece of luck conceivable, Dame Lisa's -latest news from the outside world had been rendered by her sister, -the notary's wife, a twelvemonth back. - -And rather unaccountably Jurgen fell to thinking of how -unsubstantial seemed these curious months devoted to other women, as -set against the commonplace years which he and Lisa had fretted -through together; of the fine and merry girl that Lisa had been -before she married him; of how well she knew his tastes in cookery -and all his little preferences, and of how cleverly she humored them -on those rare days when nothing had occurred to vex her; of all the -buttons she had replaced, and all the socks she had darned, and of -what tempests had been loosed when anyone else had had the audacity -to criticize Jurgen; and of how much more unpleasant--everything -considered--life was without her than with her. She was so -unattractive looking, too, poor dear, that you could not but be -sorry for her. And Jurgen's mood was half yearning and half -penitence. - -"I think I will take her back, Prince," says Jurgen, very -subdued,--"now that I am forty-and-something. For I do not know but -it is as hard on her as on me." - -"My friend, do you forget the poet that you might be, even yet? No -rational person would dispute that the society and amiable chat of -Dame Lisa must naturally be a desideratum--" - -But Dame Lisa was always resentful of long words. "Be silent, you -black scoffer, and do not allude to such disgraceful things in the -presence of respectable people! For I am a decent Christian woman, I -would have you understand. But everybody knows your reputation! and -a very fit companion you are for that scamp yonder! and volumes -could not say more!" - -Thus casually, and with comparative lenience, did Dame Lisa dispose -of Koshchei, who made things as they are, for she believed him to be -merely Satan. And to her husband Dame Lisa now addressed herself -more particularly. - -"Jurgen, I always told you you would come to this, and now I hope -you are satisfied. Jurgen, do not stand there with your mouth open, -like a scared fish, when I ask you a civil question! but answer when -you are spoken to! Yes, and you need not try to look so idiotically -innocent, Jurgen, because I am disgusted with you. For, Jurgen, you -heard perfectly well what your very suitable friend just said about -me, with my own husband standing by. No--now I beg of you!--do not -ask me what he said, Jurgen! I leave that to your conscience, and I -prefer to talk no more about it. You know that when I am once -disappointed in a person I am through with that person. So, very -luckily, there is no need at all for you to pile hypocrisy on -cowardice, because if my own husband has not the feelings of a man, -and cannot protect me from insults and low company, I had best be -going home and getting supper ready. I dare say the house is like a -pig-sty: and I can see by looking at you that you have been ruining -your eyes by reading in bed again. And to think of your going about -in public, even among such associates, with a button off your -shirt!" - -She was silent for one terrible moment; then Lisa spoke in frozen -despair. - -"And now I look at that shirt, I ask you fairly, Jurgen, do you -consider that a man of your age has any right to be going about in a -shirt that nobody--in a shirt which--in a shirt that I can only--Ah, -but I never saw such a shirt! and neither did anybody else! You -simply cannot imagine what a figure you cut in it, Jurgen. Jurgen, I -have been patient with you; I have put up with a great deal, saying -nothing where many women would have lost their temper; but I simply -cannot permit you to select your own clothes, and so ruin the -business and take the bread out of our mouths. In short, you are -enough to drive a person mad; and I warn you that I am done with you -forever." - -Dame Lisa went with dignity to the door of Koshchei's office. - -"So you can come with me or not, precisely as you elect. It is all -one to me, I can assure you, after the cruel things you have said, -and the way you have stormed at me, and have encouraged that -notorious blackamoor to insult me in terms which I, for one, would -not soil my lips by repeating. I do not doubt you consider it is all -very clever and amusing, but you know now what I think about it. And -upon the whole, if you do not feel the exertion will kill you, you -had better come home the long way, and stop by Sister's and ask her -to let you have a half-pound of butter; for I know you too well to -suppose you have been attending to the churning." - -Dame Lisa here evinced a stately sort of mirth such as is -unimaginable by bachelors. - -"You churning while I was away!--oh, no, not you! There is probably -not so much as an egg in the house. For my lord and gentleman has -had other fish to fry, in his fine new courting clothes. And -that--and on a man of your age, with a paunch to you like a beer -barrel and with legs like pipe-stems!--yes, that infamous shirt of -yours is the reason you had better, for your own comfort, come home -the long way. For I warn you, Jurgen, that the style in which I have -caught you rigged out has quite decided me, before I go home or -anywhere else, to stop by for a word or so with your high and mighty -Madame Dorothy. So you had just as well not be along with me, for -there is no pulling wool over my eyes any longer, and you two need -never think to hoodwink me again about your goings-on. No, Jurgen, -you cannot fool me; for I can read you like a book. And such -behavior, at your time of life, does not surprise me at all, because -it is precisely what I would have expected of you." - -With that Dame Lisa passed through the door and went away, still -talking. It was of Heitman Michael's wife that the wife of Jurgen -spoke, discoursing of the personal traits, and of the past doings, -and (with augmented fervor) of the figure and visage of Madame -Dorothy, as all these abominations appeared to the eye of -discernment, and must be revealed by the tongue of candor, as a -matter of public duty. - -So passed Dame Lisa, neither as flame nor mist, but as the voice of -judgment. - - - - -49. - -Of the Compromise with Koshchei - - -"Phew!" said Koshchei, in the ensuing silence: "you had better stay -overnight, in any event. I really think, friend, you will be more -comfortable, just now at least, in this quiet cave." - -But Jurgen had taken up his hat. "No, I dare say I, too, had better -be going," says Jurgen. "I thank you very heartily for your intended -kindness, sir, still I do not know but it is better as it is. And is -there anything"--Jurgen coughed delicately--"and is there anything -to pay, sir?" - -"Oh, just a trifle, first of all, for a year's maintenance of Dame -Lisa. You see, Jurgen, that is an almighty fine shirt you are -wearing: it rather appeals to me; and I fancy, from something your -wife let drop just now, it did not impress her as being quite suited -to you. So, in the interest of domesticity, suppose you ransom Dame -Lisa with that fine shirt of yours?" - -"Why, willingly," said Jurgen, and he took off the shirt of Nessus. - -"You have worn this for some time, I understand," said Koshchei, -meditatively: "and did you ever notice any inconvenience in wearing -this garment?" - -"Not that I could detect, Prince; it fitted me, and seemed to -impress everybody most favorably." - -"There!" said Koshchei; "that is what I have always contended. To -the strong man, and to wholesome matter of fact people generally, it -is a fatal irritant; but persons like you can wear the shirt of -Nessus very comfortably for a long, long while, and be generally -admired; and you end by exchanging it for your wife's society. But -now, Jurgen, about yourself. You probably noticed that my door was -marked Keep Out. One must have rules, you know. Often it is a -nuisance, but still rules are rules; and so I must tell you, Jurgen, -it is not permitted any person to leave my presence unmaimed, if not -actually annihilated. One really must have rules, you know." - -"You would chop off an arm? or a hand? or a whole finger? Come now, -Prince, you must be joking!" - -Koshchei the Deathless was very grave as he sat there, in meditation, -drumming with his long jet-black fingers upon the table-top that was -curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver. In the lamplight his -sharp nails glittered like flame points, and the color suddenly -withdrew from his eyes, so that they showed like small white eggs. - -"But, man, how strange you are!" said Koshchei, presently; and life -flowed back into his eyes, and Jurgen ventured the liberty of -breathing. "Inside, I mean. Why, there is hardly anything left. Now -rules are rules, of course; but you, who are the remnant of a poet, -may depart unhindered whenever you will, and I shall take nothing -from you. For really it is necessary to draw the line somewhere." - -Jurgen meditated this clemency; and with a sick heart he seemed to -understand. "Yes; that is probably the truth; for I have not -retained the faith, nor the desire, nor the vision. Yes, that is -probably the truth. Well, at all events, Prince, I very unfeignedly -admired each of the ladies to whom you were friendly enough to -present me, and I was greatly flattered by their offers. More than -generous I thought them. But it really would not do for me to take -up with any one of them now. For Lisa is my wife, you see. A great -deal has passed between us, sir, in the last ten years--And I have -been a sore disappointment to her, in many ways--And I am used to -her--" - -Then Jurgen considered, and regarded the black gentleman with -mingled envy and commiseration. "Why, no, you probably would not -understand, sir, on account of your not being, I suppose, a married -person. But I can assure you it is always pretty much like that." - -"I lack grounds to dispute your aphorism," observed Koshchei, -"inasmuch as matrimony was certainly not included in my doom. None -the less, to a by-stander, the conduct of you both appears -remarkable. I could not understand, for example, just how your wife -proposed to have you keep out of her sight forever and still have -supper with her to-night; nor why she should desire to sup with such -a reprobate as she described with unbridled pungency and -disapproval." - -"Ah, but again, it is always pretty much like that, sir. And the -truth of it, Prince, is a great symbol. The truth of it is, we have -lived together so long that my wife has become rather foolishly fond -of me. So she is not, as one might say, quite reasonable about me. -No, sir; it is the fashion of women to discard civility toward those -for whom they suffer most willingly; and whom a woman loveth she -chasteneth, after a good precedent." - -"But her talking, Jurgen, has nowhere any precedent. Why, it deafens, -it appals, it submerges you in an uproarious sea of fault-finding; and -in a word, you might as profitably oppose a hurricane. Yet you want her -back! Now assuredly, Jurgen, I do not think very highly of your wisdom, -but by your bravery I am astounded." - -"Ah, Prince, it is because I can perceive that all women are poets, -though the medium they work in is not always ink. So the moment Lisa -is set free from what, in a manner of speaking, sir, inconsiderate -persons might, in their unthinking way, refer to as the terrors of -an underground establishment that I do not for an instant doubt to -be conducted after a system which furthers the true interests of -everybody, and so reflects vast credit upon its officials, if you -will pardon my frankness"--and Jurgen smiled ingratiatingly,--"why, -at that moment Lisa's thoughts take form in very much the high -denunciatory style of Jeremiah and Amos, who were remarkably fine -poets. Her concluding observations as to the Countess, in -particular, I consider to have been an example of sustained -invective such as one rarely encounters in this degenerate age. -Well, her next essay in creative composition is my supper, which -will be an equally spirited impromptu. To-morrow she will darn and -sew me an epic; and her desserts will continue to be in the richest -lyric vein. Such, sir, are the poems of Lisa, all addressed to me, -who came so near to gallivanting with mere queens!" - -"What, can it be that you are remorseful?" said Koshchei. - -"Oh, Prince, when I consider steadfastly the depth and the intensity -of that devotion which, for so many years, has tended me, and has -endured the society of that person whom I peculiarly know to be the -most tedious and irritating of companions, I stand aghast, before a -miracle. And I cry, Oh, certainly a goddess! and I can think of no -queen who is fairly mentionable in the same breath. Hah, all we -poets write a deal about love: but none of us may grasp the word's -full meaning until he reflects that this is a passion mighty enough -to induce a woman to put up with him." - -"Even so, it does not seem to induce quite thorough confidence. -Jurgen, I was grieved to see that Dame Lisa evidently suspects you -of running after some other woman in your wife's absence." - -"Think upon that now! And you saw for yourself how little the -handsomest of women could tempt me. Yet even Lisa's absurd notion I -can comprehend and pardon. And again, you probably would not -understand my overlooking such a thing, sir, on account of your not -being a married person. Nevertheless, my forgiveness also is a great -symbol." - -Then Jurgen sighed and he shook hands, very circumspectly, with -Koshchei, who made things as they are; and Jurgen started out of the -office. - -"But I will bear you company a part of the way," says Koshchei. - -So Koshchei removed his dressing-gown, and he put on the fine laced -coat which was hung over the back of a strange looking chair with -three legs, each of a different metal; the shirt of Nessus Koshchei -folded and put aside, saying that some day he might be able to use -it somehow. And Koshchei paused before the blackboard and he -scratched his head reflectively. Jurgen saw that this board was -nearly covered with figures which had not yet been added up; and -this blackboard seemed to him the most frightful thing he had faced -anywhere. - -Then Koshchei came out of the cave with Jurgen, and Koshchei walked -with Jurgen across Amneran Heath, and through Morven, in the late -evening. And Koshchei talked as they went; and a queer thing Jurgen -noticed, and it was that the moon was sinking in the east, as though -the time were getting earlier and earlier. But Jurgen did not -presume to criticize this, in the presence of Koshchei, who made -things as they are. - -"And I manage affairs as best I can, Jurgen. But they get in a -fearful muddle sometimes. Eh, sirs, I have no competent assistants. -I have to look out for everything, absolutely everything! And of -course, while in a sort of way I am infallible, mistakes will occur -every now and then in the actual working out of plans that in the -abstract are right enough. So it really does please me to hear -anybody putting in a kind word for things as they are, because, -between ourselves, there is a deal of dissatisfaction about. And I -was honestly delighted, just now, to hear you speaking up for evil -in the face of that rapscallion monk. So I give you thanks and many -thanks, Jurgen, for your kind word." - -"'Just now!'" thinks Jurgen. He perceived that they had passed the -Cistercian Abbey, and were approaching Bellegarde. And it was as in -a dream that Jurgen was speaking, _"Who are you, and why do you -thank me?"_ asks Jurgen. - -_"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. -May your life lie free from care."_ - -_"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married_--" -Then resolutely Jurgen put aside the spell that was befogging him. -"See here, Prince, are you beginning all over again? For I really -cannot stand any more of your benevolences." - -Koshchei smiled. "No, Jurgen, I am not beginning all over again. For -now I have never begun, and now there is no word of truth in -anything which you remember of the year just past. Now none of these -things has ever happened." - -"But how can that be, Prince?" - -"Why should I tell you, Jurgen? Let it suffice that what I will, not -only happens, but has already happened, beyond the ancientest memory -of man and his mother. How otherwise could I be Koshchei? And so -farewell to you, poor Jurgen, to whom nothing in particular has -happened now. It is not justice I am giving you, but something -infinitely more acceptable to you and all your kind." - -"But, to be sure!" says Jurgen. "I fancy that nobody anywhere cares -much for justice. So farewell to you, Prince. And at our parting I -ask no more questions of you, for I perceive it is scant comfort a -man gets from questioning Koshchei, who made things as they are. But -I am wondering what pleasure you get out of it all?" - -"Eh, sirs," says Koshchei, with not the most candid of smiles, "I -contemplate the spectacle with appropriate emotions." - -And so speaking, Koshchei quitted Jurgen forever. - -"Yet how may I be sure," thought Jurgen, instantly, "that this black -gentleman was really Koshchei? He said he was? Why, yes; and -Horvendile to all intents told me that Horvendile was Koshchei. Aha, -and what else did Horvendile say!--'This is one of the romancer's -most venerable devices that is being practised.' Why, but there was -Smoit of Glathion, also, so that this is the third time I have been -fobbed off with the explanation I was dreaming! and left with no -proof, one way or the other." - -Thus Jurgen, indignantly, and then he laughed. "Why, but, of course! -I may have talked face to face with Koshchei, who made all things as -they are; and again, I may not have. That is the whole point of -it--the cream, as one might say, of the jest--that I cannot ever be -sure. Well!"--and Jurgen shrugged here--"well, and what could I be -expected to do about it?" - - - - -50. - -The Moment That Did Not Count - - -And that is really all the story save for the moment Jurgen paused -on his way home. For Koshchei (if it, indeed, was Koshchei) had -quitted Jurgen just as they approached Bellegarde: and as the -pawnbroker walked on alone in the pleasant April evening one called -to him from the terrace. Even in the dusk he knew this was the -Countess Dorothy. - -"May I speak with you a moment?" says she. - -"Very willingly, madame." And Jurgen ascended from the highway to -the terrace. - -"I thought it would be near your supper hour. So I was waiting here -until you passed. You conceive, it is not quite convenient for me to -seek you out at the shop." - -"Why, no, madame. There is a prejudice," said Jurgen, soberly. And -he waited. - -He saw that Madame Dorothy was perfectly composed, yet anxious to -speed the affair. "You must know," said she, "that my husband's -birthday approaches, and I wish to surprise him with a gift. It is -therefore necessary that I raise some money without troubling him. -How much--abominable usurer!--could you advance me upon this -necklace?" - -Jurgen turned it in his hand. It was a handsome piece of jewelry, -familiar to him as formerly the property of Heitman Michael's -mother. Jurgen named a sum. - -"But that," the Countess says, "is not a fraction of its worth!" - -"Times are very hard, madame. Of course, if you cared to sell -outright I could deal more generously." - -"Old monster, I could not do that. It would not be convenient." She -hesitated here. "It would not be explicable." - -"As to that, madame, I could make you an imitation in paste which -nobody could distinguish from the original, I can amply understand -that you desire to veil from your husband any sacrifices that are -entailed by your affection." - -"It is my affection for him," said the Countess quickly. - -"I alluded to your affection for him," said Jurgen--"naturally." - -Then Countess Dorothy named a price for the necklace. "For it is -necessary I have that much, and not a penny less." And Jurgen shook -his head dubiously, and vowed that ladies were unconscionable -bargainers: but Jurgen agreed to what she asked, because the -necklace was worth almost as much again. Then Jurgen suggested that -the business could be most conveniently concluded through an -emissary. - -"If Messire de Nérac, for example, could have matters explained to -him, and could manage to visit me tomorrow, I am sure we could carry -through this amiable imposture without any annoyance whatever to -Heitman Michael," says Jurgen, smoothly. - -"Nérac will come then," says the Countess. "And you may give him the -money, precisely as though it were for him." - -"But certainly, madame. A very estimable young nobleman, that! and -it is a pity his debts are so large. I heard that he had lost -heavily at dice within the last month; and I grieved, madame." - -"He has promised me when these debts are settled to play no -more--But again what am I saying! I mean, Master Inquisitive, that I -take considerable interest in the welfare of Messire de Nérac: and -so I have sometimes chided him on his wild courses. And that is all -I mean." - -"Precisely, madame. And so Messire de Nérac will come to me to-morrow -for the money: and there is no more to say." - -Jurgen paused. The moon was risen now. These two sat together upon a -bench of carved stone near the balustrade: and before them, upon the -other side of the highway, were luminous valleys and tree-tops. -Fleetingly Jurgen recollected the boy and girl who had once sat in -this place, and had talked of all the splendid things which Jurgen -was to do, and of the happy life that was to be theirs together. -Then he regarded the composed and handsome woman beside him, and he -considered that the money to pay her latest lover's debts had been -assured with a suitable respect for appearances. - -"Come, but this is a gallant lady, who would defy the almanac," -reflected Jurgen. "Even so, thirty-eight is an undeniable and -somewhat autumnal figure, and I suspect young Nérac is bleeding -his elderly mistress. Well, but at his age nobody has a conscience. -Yes, and Madame Dorothy is handsome still; and still my pulse is -playing me queer tricks, because she is near me, and my voice has -not the intonation I intend, because she is near me; and still I am -three-quarters in love with her. Yes, in the light of such cursed -folly as even now possesses me, I have good reason to give thanks -for the regained infirmities of age. Yet living seems to me a -wasteful and inequitable process, for this is a poor outcome for -the boy and girl that I remember. And weighing this outcome, I am -tempted to weep and to talk romantically, even now." - -But he did not. For really, weeping was not requisite. Jurgen was -making his fair profit out of the Countess's folly, and it was -merely his duty to see that this little business transaction was -managed without any scandal. - -"So there is nothing more to say," observed Jurgen, as he rose in -the moonlight, "save that I shall always be delighted to serve you, -madame, and I may reasonably boast that I have earned a reputation -for fair dealing." - -And he thought: "In effect, since certainly as she grows older she -will need yet more money for her lovers, I am offering to pimp for -her." Then Jurgen shrugged. "That is one side of the affair. The -other is that I transact my legitimate business,--I, who am that -which the years have made of me." - -Thus it was that Jurgen quitted the Countess Dorothy, whom, as you -have heard, this pawnbroker had loved in his first youth under the -name of Heart's Desire; and whom in the youth that was loaned him by -Mother Sereda he had loved as Queen Helen, the delight of gods and -men. For Jurgen was quitting Madame Dorothy after the simplest of -business transactions, which consumed only a moment, and did not -actually count one way or the other. - -And after this moment which did not count, the pawnbroker resumed -his journey, and so came presently to his home. He peeped through -the window. And there in a snug room, with supper laid, sat Dame -Lisa about some sewing, and evidently in a quite amiable frame of -mind. - -Then terror smote the Jurgen who had faced sorcerers and gods and -devils intrepidly. "For I forgot about the butter!" - -But immediately afterward he recollected that, now, not even what -Lisa had said to him in the cave was real. Neither he nor Lisa, now, -had ever been in the cave, and probably there was no longer any such -place, and now there never had been any such place. It was rather -confusing. - -"Ah, but I must remember carefully," said Jurgen, "that I have not -seen Lisa since breakfast, this morning. Nothing whatever has -happened. There has been no requirement laid upon me, after all, to -do the manly thing. So I retain my wife, such as she is, poor dear! -I retain my home. I retain my shop and a fair line of business. Yes, -Koshchei--if it was really Koshchei--has dealt with me very justly. -And probably his methods are everything they should be; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say that they are wrong: but still, at the -same time--!" - -Then Jurgen sighed, and entered his snug home. Thus it was in the -old days. - - -EXPLICIT - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - -This file should be named 8jurg10.txt or 8jurg10.zip -Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8jurg11.txt -VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8jurg10a.txt - -Produced by Suzanne L. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Jurgen - A Comedy of Justice - -Author: James Branch Cabell - -Posting Date: April 21, 2013 [EBook #8771] -Release Date: August, 2005 -First Posted: August 12, 2003 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team. With thanks to the McCain -Library, Agnes Scott College. - - - - - - - - - - - -JURGEN - -_A Comedy of Justice_ - - - -By - -JAMES BRANCH CABELL - -1922 - - - - _"Of JURGEN eke they maken mencioun, - That of an old wyf gat his youthe agoon, - And gat himselfe a shirte as bright as fyre - Wherein to jape, yet gat not his desire - In any countrie ne condicioun."_ - - - - - - -TO - -BURTON RASCOE - - Before each tarradiddle, - Uncowed by sciolists, - Robuster persons twiddle - Tremendously big fists. - - "Our gods are good," they tell us; - "Nor will our gods defer - Remission of rude fellows' - Ability to err." - - So this, your JURGEN, travels - Content to compromise - Ordainments none unravels - Explicitly ... and sighs. - - - - - - * * * * * - - -"Others, with better moderation, do either entertain the vulgar -history of Jurgen as a fabulous addition unto the true and authentic -story of St. Iurgenius of Poictesme, or else we conceive the literal -acception to be a misconstruction of the symbolical expression: -apprehending a veritable history, in an emblem or piece of Christian -poesy. And this emblematical construction hath been received by men -not forward to extenuate the acts of saints." - - --PHILIP BORSDALE. - - -"A forced construction is very idle. If readers of _The High -History of Jurgen_ do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory -will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all, the whole is -as plain as a pikestaff. It might as well be pretended that we -cannot see Poussin's pictures without first being told the allegory, -as that the allegory aids us in understanding _Jurgen_." - - --E. NOEL CODMAN. - - -"Too urbane to advocate delusion, too hale for the bitterness of -irony, this fable of Jurgen is, as the world itself, a book wherein -each man will find what his nature enables him to see; which gives -us back each his own image; and which teaches us each the lesson -that each of us desires to learn." - - --JOHN FREDERICK LEWISTAM. - - - * * * * * - - - - -_CONTENTS_ - - A FOREWORD: WHICH ASSERTS NOTHING - - I WHY JURGEN DID THE MANLY THING - - II ASSUMPTION OF A NOTED GARMENT - - III THE GARDEN BETWEEN DAWN AND SUNRISE - - IV THE DOROTHY WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND - - V REQUIREMENTS OF BREAD AND BUTTER - - VI SHOWING THAT SEREDA IS FEMININE - - VII OF COMPROMISES ON A WEDNESDAY - - VIII OLD TOYS AND A NEW SHADOW - - IX THE ORTHODOX RESCUE OF GUENEVERE - - X PITIFUL DISGUISES OF THRAGNAR - - XI APPEARANCE OF THE DUKE OF LOGREUS - - XII EXCURSUS OF YOLANDE'S UNDOING - - XIII PHILOSOPHY OF GOGYRVAN GAWR - - XIV PRELIMINARY TACTICS OF DUKE JURGEN - - XV OF COMPROMISES IN GLATHION - - XVI DIVERS IMBROGLIOS OF KING SMOIT - - XVII ABOUT A COCK THAT CROWED TOO SOON - - XVIII WHY MERLIN TALKED IN TWILIGHT - - XIX THE BROWN MAN WITH QUEER FEET - - XX EFFICACY OF PRAYER - - XXI HOW ANAÏTIS VOYAGED - - XXII AS TO A VEIL THEY BROKE - - XXIII SHORTCOMINGS OF PRINCE JURGEN - - XXIV OF COMPROMISES IN COCAIGNE - - XXV CANTRAPS OF THE MASTER PHILOLOGIST - - XXVI IN TIME'S HOUR-GLASS - - XXVII VEXATIOUS ESTATE OF QUEEN HELEN - - XXVIII OF COMPROMISES IN LEUKÊ - - XXIX CONCERNING HORVENDILE'S NONSENSE - - XXX ECONOMICS OF KING JURGEN - - XXXI THE FALL OF PSEUDOPOLIS - - XXXII SUNDRY DEVICES OF THE PHILISTINES - - XXXIII FAREWELL TO CHLORIS - - XXXIV HOW EMPEROR JURGEN FARED INFERNALLY - - XXXV WHAT GRANDFATHER SATAN REPORTED - - XXXVI WHY COTH WAS CONTRADICTED - - XXXVII INVENTION OF THE LOVELY VAMPIRE - -XXXVIII AS TO APPLAUDED PRECEDENTS - - XXXIX OF COMPROMISES IN HELL - - XL THE ASCENSION OF POPE JURGEN - - XLI OF COMPROMISES IN HEAVEN - - XLII TWELVE THAT ARE FRETTED HOURLY - - XLIII POSTURES BEFORE A SHADOW - - XLIV IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE - - XLV THE FAITH OF GUENEVERE - - XLVI THE DESIRE OF ANAÏTIS - - XLVII THE VISION OF HELEN - - XLVIII CANDID OPINIONS OF DAME LISA - - XLIX OF THE COMPROMISE WITH KOSHCHEI - - L THE MOMENT THAT DID NOT COUNT - - - - -A FOREWORD - -_"Nescio quid certè est: et Hylax in limine latrat."_ - - - - -_A Foreword: Which Asserts Nothing._ - - -In Continental periodicals not more than a dozen articles in all -would seem to have given accounts or partial translations of the -Jurgen legends. No thorough investigation of this epos can be said -to have appeared in print, anywhere, prior to the publication, in -1913, of the monumental _Synopses of Aryan Mythology_ by Angelo -de Ruiz. It is unnecessary to observe that in this exhaustive digest -Professor de Ruiz has given (VII, p. 415 _et sequentia_) a -summary of the greater part of these legends as contained in the -collections of Verville and Bülg; and has discussed at length and -with much learning the esoteric meaning of these folk-stories and -their bearing upon questions to which the "solar theory" of myth -explanation has given rise. To his volumes, and to the pages of Mr. -Lewistam's _Key to the Popular Tales of Poictesme_, must be -referred all those who may elect to think of Jurgen as the -resplendent, journeying and procreative sun. - -Equally in reading hereinafter will the judicious waive all -allegorical interpretation, if merely because the suggestions -hitherto advanced are inconveniently various. Thus Verville -finds the Nessus shirt a symbol of retribution, where Bülg, -with rather wide divergence, would have it represent the dangerous -gift of genius. Then it may be remembered that Dr. Codman says, -without any hesitancy, of Mother Sereda: "This Mother Middle is -the world generally (an obvious anagram of _Erda es_), and this -Sereda rules not merely the middle of the working-days but the -midst of everything. She is the factor of _middleness_, of -mediocrity, of an avoidance of extremes, of the eternal compromise -begotten by use and wont. She is the Mrs. Grundy of the Léshy; she is -Comstockery: and her shadow is common-sense." Yet Codman speaks with -certainly no more authority than Prote, when the latter, in his -_Origins of Fable_, declares this epos is "a parable of ... man's -vain journeying in search of that rationality and justice which his -nature craves, and discovers nowhere in the universe: and the shirt -is an emblem of this instinctive craving, as ... the shadow symbolizes -conscience. Sereda typifies a surrender to life as it is, a giving up -of man's rebellious self-centredness and selfishness: the anagram being -_se dare_." - -Thus do interpretations throng and clash, and neatly equal the -commentators in number. Yet possibly each one of these unriddlings, -with no doubt a host of others, is conceivable: so that wisdom will -dwell upon none of them very seriously. - -With the origin and the occult meaning of the folklore of Poictesme -this book at least is in no wise concerned: its unambitious aim has -been merely to familiarize English readers with the Jurgen epos for -the tale's sake. And this tale of old years is one which, by rare -fortune, can be given to English readers almost unabridged, in view -of the singular delicacy and pure-mindedness of the Jurgen mythos: -in all, not more than a half-dozen deletions have seemed expedient -(and have been duly indicated) in order to remove such sparse and -unimportant outcroppings of mediæval frankness as might conceivably -offend the squeamish. - -Since this volume is presented simply as a story to be read for -pastime, neither morality nor symbolism is hereinafter educed, and -no "parallels" and "authorities" are quoted. Even the gaps are left -unbridged by guesswork: whereas the historic and mythological -problems perhaps involved are relinquished to those really -thoroughgoing scholars whom erudition qualifies to deal with such -topics, and tedium does not deter.... - -In such terms, and thus far, ran the Foreword to the first issues of -this book, whose later fortunes have made necessary the lengthening -of the Foreword with a postscript. The needed addition--this much at -least chiming with good luck--is brief. It is just that fragment -which some scholars, since the first appearance of this volume, have -asserted--upon what perfect frankness must describe as not -indisputable grounds--to be a portion of the thirty-second chapter -of the complete form of _La Haulte Histoire de Jurgen_. - -And in reply to what these scholars assert, discretion says nothing. -For this fragment was, of course, unknown when the High History was -first put into English, and there in consequence appears, here, -little to be won either by endorsing or denying its claims to -authenticity. Rather, does discretion prompt the appending, without -any gloss or scholia, of this fragment, which deals with - - _The Judging of Jurgen._ - -Now a court was held by the Philistines to decide whether or no King -Jurgen should be relegated to limbo. And when the judges were -prepared for judging, there came into the court a great tumblebug, -rolling in front of him his loved and properly housed young ones. -With the creature came pages, in black and white, bearing a sword, a -staff and a lance. - -This insect looked at Jurgen, and its pincers rose erect in horror. -The bug cried to the three judges, "Now, by St. Anthony! this Jurgen -must forthwith be relegated to limbo, for he is offensive and lewd -and lascivious and indecent." - -"And how can that be?" says Jurgen. - -"You are offensive," the bug replied, "because this page has a sword -which I choose to say is not a sword. You are lewd because that page -has a lance which I prefer to think is not a lance. You are -lascivious because yonder page has a staff which I elect to declare -is not a staff. And finally, you are indecent for reasons of which a -description would be objectionable to me, and which therefore I must -decline to reveal to anybody." - -"Well, that sounds logical," says Jurgen, "but still, at the same -time, it would be no worse for an admixture of common-sense. For you -gentlemen can see for yourselves, by considering these pages fairly -and as a whole, that these pages bear a sword and a lance and a -staff, and nothing else whatever; and you will deduce, I hope, that -all the lewdness is in the insectival mind of him who itches to be -calling these things by other names." - -The judges said nothing as yet. But they that guarded Jurgen, and -all the other Philistines, stood to this side and to that side with -their eyes shut tight, and all these said: "We decline to look at -the pages fairly and as a whole, because to look might seem to imply -a doubt of what the tumblebug has decreed. Besides, as long as the -tumblebug has reasons which he declines to reveal, his reasons stay -unanswerable, and you are plainly a prurient rascal who are making -trouble for yourself." - -"To the contrary," says Jurgen, "I am a poet, and I make -literature." - -"But in Philistia to make literature and to make trouble for -yourself are synonyms," the tumblebug explained. "I know, for -already we of Philistia have been pestered by three of these makers -of literature. Yes, there was Edgar, whom I starved and hunted until -I was tired of it: then I chased him up a back alley one night, and -knocked out those annoying brains of his. And there was Walt, whom I -chivvied and battered from place to place, and made a paralytic of -him: and him, too, I labelled offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent. Then later there was Mark, whom I frightened into -disguising himself in a clown's suit, so that nobody might suspect -him to be a maker of literature: indeed, I frightened him so that he -hid away the greater part of what he had made until after he was -dead, and I could not get at him. That was a disgusting trick to -play on me, I consider. Still, these are the only three detected -makers of literature that have ever infested Philistia, thanks be to -goodness and my vigilance, but for both of which we might have been -no more free from makers of literature than are the other -countries." - -"Now, but these three," cried Jurgen, "are the glory of Philistia: -and of all that Philistia has produced, it is these three alone, -whom living ye made least of, that to-day are honored wherever art -is honored, and where nobody bothers one way or the other about -Philistia." - -"What is art to me and my way of living?" replied the tumblebug, -wearily. "I have no concern with art and letters and the other lewd -idols of foreign nations. I have in charge the moral welfare of my -young, whom I roll here before me, and trust with St. Anthony's aid -to raise in time to be God-fearing tumblebugs like me, delighting in -what is proper to their nature. For the rest, I have never minded -dead men being well-spoken-of. No, no, my lad: once whatever I may -do means nothing to you, and once you are really rotten, you will -find the tumblebug friendly enough. Meanwhile I am paid to protest -that living persons are offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent, and one must live." - -Then the Philistines who stood to this side and to that side said in -indignant unison: "And we, the reputable citizenry of Philistia, are -not at all in sympathy with those who would take any protest against -the tumblebug as a justification of what they are pleased to call -art. The harm done by the tumblebug seems to us very slight, whereas -the harm done by the self-styled artist may be very great." - -Jurgen now looked more attentively at this queer creature: and he -saw that the tumblebug was malodorous, certainly, but at bottom -honest and well-meaning; and this seemed to Jurgen the saddest thing -he had found among the Philistines. For the tumblebug was sincere in -his insane doings, and all Philistia honored him sincerely, so that -there was nowhere any hope for this people. - -Therefore King Jurgen addressed himself, as his need was, to submit -to the strange customs of the Philistines. "Now do you judge me -fairly," cried Jurgen to his judges, "if there be any justice in -this mad country. And if there be none, do you relegate me to limbo -or to any other place, so long as in that place this tumblebug is -not omnipotent and sincere and insane." - -And Jurgen waited.... - - - - -* * * * * - - - - JURGEN - - ... _amara lento temperet risu_ - - - - -1. - -Why Jurgen Did the Manly Thing - - -It is a tale which they narrate in Poictesme, saying: In the 'old -days lived a pawnbroker named Jurgen; but what his wife called him -was very often much worse than that. She was a high-spirited woman, -with no especial gift for silence. Her name, they say, was Adelais, -but people by ordinary called her Dame Lisa. - -They tell, also, that in the old days, after putting up the shop-windows -for the night, Jurgen was passing the Cistercian Abbey, on his way home: -and one of the monks had tripped over a stone in the roadway. He was -cursing the devil who had placed it there. - -"Fie, brother!" says Jurgen, "and have not the devils enough to bear -as it is?" - -"I never held with Origen," replied the monk; "and besides, it hurt -my great-toe confoundedly." - -"None the less," observes Jurgen, "it does not behoove God-fearing -persons to speak with disrespect of the divinely appointed Prince of -Darkness. To your further confusion, consider this monarch's -industry! day and night you may detect him toiling at the task -Heaven set him. That is a thing can be said of few communicants and -of no monks. Think, too, of his fine artistry, as evidenced in all -the perilous and lovely snares of this world, which it is your -business to combat, and mine to lend money upon. Why, but for him we -would both be vocationless! Then, too, consider his philanthropy! -and deliberate how insufferable would be our case if you and I, and -all our fellow parishioners, were to-day hobnobbing with other -beasts in the Garden which we pretend to desiderate on Sundays! To -arise with swine and lie down with the hyena?--oh, intolerable!" - -Thus he ran on, devising reasons for not thinking too harshly of the -Devil. Most of it was an abridgement of some verses Jurgen had -composed, in the shop when business was slack. - -"I consider that to be stuff and nonsense," was the monk's glose. - -"No doubt your notion is sensible," observed the pawnbroker: "but -mine is the prettier." - -Then Jurgen passed the Cistercian Abbey, and was approaching -Bellegarde, when he met a black gentleman, who saluted him and said: - -"Thanks, Jurgen, for your good word." - -"Who are you, and why do you thank me?" asks Jurgen. - -"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. May -your life be free from care!" - -"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married." - -"Eh, sirs, and a fine clever poet like you!" - -"Yet it is a long while now since I was a practising poet." - -"Why, to be sure! You have the artistic temperament, which is not -exactly suited to the restrictions of domestic life. Then I suppose -your wife has her own personal opinion about poetry, Jurgen." - -"Indeed, sir, her opinion would not bear repetition, for I am sure -you are unaccustomed to such language." - -"This is very sad. I am afraid your wife does not quite understand -you, Jurgen." - -"Sir," says Jurgen, astounded, "do you read people's inmost -thoughts?" - -The black gentleman seemed much dejected. He pursed his lips, and -fell to counting upon his fingers: as they moved his sharp nails -glittered like flame-points. - -"Now but this is a very deplorable thing," says the black gentleman, -"to have befallen the first person I have found ready to speak a -kind word for evil. And in all these centuries, too! Dear me, this -is a most regrettable instance of mismanagement! No matter, Jurgen, -the morning is brighter than the evening. How I will reward you, to -be sure!" - -So Jurgen thanked the simple old creature politely. And when Jurgen -reached home his wife was nowhere to be seen. He looked on all sides -and questioned everyone, but to no avail. Dame Lisa had vanished in -the midst of getting supper ready--suddenly, completely and -inexplicably, just as (in Jurgen's figure) a windstorm passes and -leaves behind it a tranquillity which seems, by contrast, uncanny. -Nothing could explain the mystery, short of magic: and Jurgen on a -sudden recollected the black gentleman's queer promise. Jurgen -crossed himself. - -"How unjustly now," says Jurgen, "do some people get an ill name for -gratitude! And now do I perceive how wise I am, always to speak -pleasantly of everybody, in this world of tale-bearers." - -Then Jurgen prepared his own supper, went to bed, and slept soundly. - -"I have implicit confidence," says he, "in Lisa. I have particular -confidence in her ability to take care of herself in any -surroundings." - -That was all very well: but time passed, and presently it began to -be rumored that Dame Lisa walked on Morven. Her brother, who was a -grocer and a member of the town-council, went thither to see about -this report. And sure enough, there was Jurgen's wife walking in the -twilight and muttering incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the town-councillor, "this is very unseemly -conduct for a married woman, and a thing likely to be talked about." - -"Follow me!" replied Dame Lisa. And the town-councillor followed her -a little way in the dusk, but when she came to Amneran Heath and -still went onward, he knew better than to follow. - -Next evening the elder sister of Dame Lisa went to Morven. This -sister had married a notary, and was a shrewd woman. In consequence, -she took with her this evening a long wand of peeled willow-wood. -And there was Jurgen's wife walking in the twilight and muttering -incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the notary's wife, who was a shrewd woman, "and -do you not know that all this while Jurgen does his own sewing, and -is once more making eyes at Countess Dorothy?" - -Dame Lisa shuddered; but she only said, "Follow me!" - -And the notary's wife followed her to Amneran Heath, and across the -heath, to where a cave was. This was a place of abominable repute. A -lean hound came to meet them there in the twilight, lolling his -tongue: but the notary's wife struck thrice with her wand, and the -silent beast left them. And Dame Lisa passed silently into the cave, -and her sister turned and went home to her children, weeping. - -So the next evening Jurgen himself came to Morven, because all his -wife's family assured him this was the manly thing to do. Jurgen -left the shop in charge of Urien Villemarche, who was a highly -efficient clerk. Jurgen followed his wife across Amneran Heath until -they reached the cave. Jurgen would willingly have been elsewhere. - -For the hound squatted upon his haunches, and seemed to grin at -Jurgen; and there were other creatures abroad, that flew low in the -twilight, keeping close to the ground like owls; but they were -larger than owls and were more discomforting. And, moreover, all -this was just after sunset upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything -is rather more than likely to happen. - -So Jurgen said, a little peevishly: "Lisa, my dear, if you go into -the cave I will have to follow you, because it is the manly thing to -do. And you know how easily I take cold." - -The voice of Dame Lisa, now, was thin and wailing, a curiously -changed voice. "There is a cross about your neck. You must throw -that away." - -Jurgen was wearing such a cross, through motives of sentiment, -because it had once belonged to his dead mother. But now, to -pleasure his wife, he removed the trinket, and hung it on a barberry -bush; and with the reflection that this was likely to prove a -deplorable business, he followed Dame Lisa into the cave. - - - - -2. - -Assumption of a Noted Garment - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -presently to a centaur: and this surprised him not a little, because -Jurgen knew that centaurs were imaginary creatures. - -Certainly they were curious to look at: for here was the body of a -fine bay horse, and rising from its shoulders, the sun-burnt body of -a young fellow who regarded Jurgen with grave and not unfriendly -eyes. The Centaur was lying beside a fire of cedar and juniper wood: -near him was a platter containing a liquid with which he was -anointing his hoofs. This stuff, as the Centaur rubbed it in with -his fingers, turned the appearance of his hoofs to gold. - -"Hail, friend," says Jurgen, "if you be the work of God." - -"Your protasis is not good Greek," observed the Centaur, "because in -Hellas we did not make such reservations. Besides, it is not so much -my origin as my destination which concerns you." - -"Well, friend, and whither are you going?" - -"To the garden between dawn and sunrise, Jurgen." - -"Surely, now, but that is a fine name for a garden! and it is a -place I would take joy to be seeing." - -"Up upon my back, Jurgen, and I will take you thither," says the -Centaur, and heaved to his feet. Then said the Centaur, when the -pawnbroker hesitated: "Because, as you must understand, there is no -other way. For this garden does not exist, and never did exist, in -what men humorously called real life; so that of course only -imaginary creatures such as I can enter it." - -"That sounds very reasonable," Jurgen estimated: "but as it happens, -I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to have been carried off by -a devil, poor fellow!" - -And Jurgen began to explain to the Centaur what had befallen. - -The Centaur laughed. "It may be for that reason I am here. There is, -in any event, only one remedy in this matter. Above all devils--and -above all gods, they tell me, but certainly above all centaurs--is -the power of Koshchei the Deathless, who made things as they are." - -"It is not always wholesome," Jurgen submitted, "to speak of -Koshchei. It seems especially undesirable in a dark place like -this." - -"None the less, I suspect it is to him you must go for justice." - -"I would prefer not doing that," said Jurgen, with unaffected -candor. - -"You have my sympathy: but there is no question of preference where -Koshchei is concerned. Do you think, for example, that I am frowzing -in this underground place by my own choice? and knew your name by -accident?" - -Jurgen was frightened, a little. "Well, well! but it is usually the -deuce and all, this doing of the manly thing. How, then, can I come -to Koshchei?" - -"Roundabout," says the Centaur. "There is never any other way." - -"And is the road to this garden roundabout?" - -"Oh, very much so, inasmuch as it circumvents both destiny and -common-sense." - -"Needs must, then," says Jurgen: "at all events, I am willing to -taste any drink once." - -"You will be chilled, though, traveling as you are. For you and I -are going a queer way, in search of justice, over the grave of a -dream and through the malice of time. So you had best put on this -shirt above your other clothing." - -"Indeed it is a fine snug shining garment, with curious figures on -it. I accept such raiment gladly. And whom shall I be thanking for -his kindness, now?" - -"My name," said the Centaur, "is Nessus." - -"Well, then, friend Nessus, I am at your service." - -And in a trice Jurgen was on the Centaur's back, and the two of them -had somehow come out of the cave, and were crossing Amneran Heath. -So they passed into a wooded place, where the light of sunset yet -lingered, rather unaccountably. Now the Centaur went westward. And -now about the pawnbroker's shoulders and upon his breast and over -his lean arms glittered like a rainbow the many-colored shirt of -Nessus. - -For a while they went through the woods, which were composed of big -trees standing a goodish distance from one another, with the -Centaur's gilded hoofs rustling and sinking in a thick carpet of -dead leaves, all gray and brown, in level stretches that were -unbroken by any undergrowth. And then they came to a white roadway -that extended due west, and so were done with the woods. Now -happened an incredible thing in which Jurgen would never have -believed had he not seen it with his own eyes: for now the Centaur -went so fast that he gained a little by a little upon the sun, thus -causing it to rise in the west a little by a little; and these two -sped westward in the glory of a departed sunset. The sun fell full -in Jurgen's face as he rode straight toward the west, so that he -blinked and closed his eyes, and looked first toward this side, then -the other. Thus it was that the country about him, and the persons -they were passing, were seen by him in quick bright flashes, like -pictures suddenly transmuted into other pictures; and all his -memories of this shining highway were, in consequence, always -confused and incoherent. - -He wondered that there seemed to be so many young women along the -road to the garden. Here was a slim girl in white teasing a great -brown and yellow dog that leaped about her clumsily; here a girl sat -in the branches of a twisted and gnarled tree, and back of her was a -broad muddied river, copper-colored in the sun; and here shone the -fair head of a tall girl on horseback, who seemed to wait for -someone: in fine, the girls along the way were numberless, and -Jurgen thought he recollected one or two of them. - -But the Centaur went so swiftly that Jurgen could not be sure. - - - - -3. - -The Garden between Dawn and Sunrise - - -Thus it was that Jurgen and the Centaur came to the garden between -dawn and sunrise, entering this place in a fashion which it is not -convenient to record. But as they passed over the bridge three fled -before them, screaming. And when the life had been trampled out of -the small furry bodies which these three had misused, there was none -to oppose the Centaur's entry into the garden between dawn and -sunrise. - -This was a wonderful garden: yet nothing therein was strange. -Instead, it seemed that everything hereabouts was heart-breakingly -familiar and very dear to Jurgen. For he had come to a broad lawn -which slanted northward to a well-remembered brook: and -multitudinous maples and locust-trees stood here and there, -irregularly, and were being played with very lazily by an irresolute -west wind, so that foliage seemed to toss and ripple everywhere like -green spray: but autumn was at hand, for the locust-trees were -dropping a Danaë's shower of small round yellow leaves. Around the -garden was an unforgotten circle of blue hills. And this was a place -of lucent twilight, unlit by either sun or stars, and with no -shadows anywhere in the diffused faint radiancy that revealed this -garden, which is not visible to any man except in the brief interval -between dawn and sunrise. - -"Why, but it is Count Emmerick's garden at Storisende," says Jurgen, -"where I used to be having such fine times when I was a lad." - -"I will wager," said Nessus, "that you did not use to walk alone in -this garden." - -"Well, no; there was a girl." - -"Just so," assented Nessus. "It is a local by-law: and here are -those who comply with it." - -For now had come toward them, walking together in the dawn, a -handsome boy and girl. And the girl was incredibly beautiful, -because everybody in the garden saw her with the vision of the boy -who was with her. "I am Rudolph," said this boy, "and she is Anne." - -"And are you happy here?" asked Jurgen. - -"Oh, yes, sir, we are tolerably happy: but Anne's father is very -rich, and my mother is poor, so that we cannot be quite happy until -I have gone into foreign lands and come back with a great many lakhs -of rupees and pieces of eight." - -"And what will you do with all this money, Rudolph?" - -"My duty, sir, as I see it. But I inherit defective eyesight." - -"God speed to you, Rudolph!" said Jurgen, "for many others are in -your plight." - -Then came to Jurgen and the Centaur another boy with the small -blue-eyed person in whom he took delight. And this fat and indolent -looking boy informed them that he and the girl who was with him were -walking in the glaze of the red mustard jar, which Jurgen thought -was gibberish: and the fat boy said that he and the girl had decided -never to grow any older, which Jurgen said was excellent good sense -if only they could manage it. - -"Oh, I can manage that," said this fat boy, reflectively, "if only I -do not find the managing of it uncomfortable." - -Jurgen for a moment regarded him, and then gravely shook hands. - -"I feel for you," said Jurgen, "for I perceive that you, too, are a -monstrous clever fellow: so life will get the best of you." - -"But is not cleverness the main thing, sir?" - -"Time will show you, my lad," says Jurgen, a little sorrowfully. -"And God speed to you, for many others are in your plight." - -And a host of boys and girls did Jurgen see in the garden. And all -the faces that Jurgen saw were young and glad and very lovely and -quite heart-breakingly confident, as young persons beyond numbering -came toward Jurgen and passed him there, in the first glow of dawn: -so they all went exulting in the glory of their youth, and -foreknowing life to be a puny antagonist from whom one might take -very easily anything which one desired. And all passed in -couples--"as though they came from the Ark," said Jurgen. But the -Centaur said they followed a precedent which was far older than the -Ark. - -"For in this garden," said the Centaur, "each man that ever lived -has sojourned for a little while, with no company save his -illusions. I must tell you again that in this garden are encountered -none but imaginary creatures. And stalwart persons take their hour -of recreation here, and go hence unaccompanied, to become aldermen -and respected merchants and bishops, and to be admired as captains -upon prancing horses, or even as kings upon tall thrones; each in -his station thinking not at all of the garden ever any more. But now -and then come timid persons, Jurgen, who fear to leave this garden -without an escort: so these must need go hence with one or another -imaginary creature, to guide them about alleys and by-paths, because -imaginary creatures find little nourishment in the public highways, -and shun them. Thus must these timid persons skulk about obscurely -with their diffident and skittish guides, and they do not ever -venture willingly into the thronged places where men get horses and -build thrones." - -"And what becomes of these timid persons, Centaur?" - -"Why, sometimes they spoil paper, Jurgen, and sometimes they spoil -human lives." - -"Then are these accursed persons," Jurgen considered. - -"You should know best," replied the Centaur. - -"Oh, very probably," said Jurgen. "Meanwhile here is one who walks -alone in this garden, and I wonder to see the local by-laws thus -violated." - -Now Nessus looked at Jurgen for a while without speaking: and in the -eyes of the Centaur was so much of comprehension and compassion that -it troubled Jurgen. For somehow it made Jurgen fidget and consider -this an unpleasantly personal way of looking at anybody. - -"Yes, certainly," said the Centaur, "this woman walks alone. But -there is no help for her loneliness, since the lad who loved this -woman is dead." - -"Nessus, I am willing to be reasonably sorry about it. Still, is -there any need of pulling quite such a portentously long face? After -all, a great many other persons have died, off and on: and for -anything I can say to the contrary, this particular young fellow may -have been no especial loss to anybody." - -Again the Centaur said, "You should know best." - - - - -4. - -The Dorothy Who Did Not Understand - - -For now had come to Jurgen and the Centaur a gold-haired woman, -clothed all in white, and walking alone. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest: and yet whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. Perhaps this was because he never saw her as she -was. For certainly the color of her eyes stayed a matter never -revealed to him: gray, blue or green, there was no saying: they -varied as does the sea; but always these eyes were lovely and -friendly and perturbing. - -Jurgen remembered that: for Jurgen saw this was Count Emmerick's -second sister, Dorothy la Désirée, whom Jurgen very long ago (a many -years before he met Dame Lisa and set up in business as a -pawnbroker) had hymned in innumerable verses as Heart's Desire. - -"And this is the only woman whom I ever loved," Jurgen remembered, -upon a sudden. For people cannot always be thinking of these -matters. - -So he saluted her, with such deference as is due to a countess from -a tradesman, and yet with unforgotten tremors waking in his staid -body. But the strangest was yet to be seen, for he noted now that -this was not a handsome woman in middle life but a young girl. - -"I do not understand," he said, aloud: "for you are Dorothy. And yet -it seems to me that you are not the Countess Dorothy who is Heitman -Michael's wife." - -And the girl tossed her fair head, with that careless lovely gesture -which the Countess had forgotten. "Heitman Michael is well enough, -for a nobleman, and my brother is at me day and night to marry the -man: and certainly Heitman Michael's wife will go in satin and -diamonds at half the courts of Christendom, with many lackeys to -attend her. But I am not to be thus purchased." - -"So you told a boy that I remember, very long ago. Yet you married -Heitman Michael, for all that, and in the teeth of a number of other -fine declarations." - -"Oh, no, not I," said this Dorothy, wondering. "I never married -anybody. And Heitman Michael has never married anybody, either, old -as he is. For he is twenty-eight, and looks every day of it! But who -are you, friend, that have such curious notions about me?" - -"That question I will answer, just as though it were put reasonably. -For surely you perceive I am Jurgen." - -"I never knew but one Jurgen. And he is a young man, barely come of -age--" Then as she paused in speech, whatever was the matter upon -which this girl now meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by -the thought of it, and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took -infinite joy. - -And Jurgen understood. He had come back somehow to the Dorothy whom -he had loved: but departed, and past overtaking by the fleet hoofs -of centaurs, was the boy who had once loved this Dorothy, and who -had rhymed of her as his Heart's Desire: and in the garden there was -of this boy no trace. Instead, the girl was talking to a staid and -paunchy pawnbroker, of forty-and-something. - -So Jurgen shrugged, and looked toward the Centaur: but Nessus had -discreetly wandered away from them, in search of four-leafed -clovers. Now the east had grown brighter, and its crimson began to -be colored with gold. - -"Yes, I have heard of this other Jurgen," says the pawnbroker. "Oh, -Madame Dorothy, but it was he that loved you!" - -"No more than I loved him. Through a whole summer have I loved -Jurgen." - -And the knowledge that this girl spoke a wondrous truth was now to -Jurgen a joy that was keen as pain. And he stood motionless for a -while, scowling and biting his lips. - -"I wonder how long the poor devil loved you! He also loved for a -whole summer, it may be. And yet again, it may be that he loved you -all his life. For twenty years and for more than twenty years I have -debated the matter: and I am as well informed as when I started." - -"But, friend, you talk in riddles." - -"Is not that customary when age talks with youth? For I am an old -fellow, in my forties: and you, as I know now, are near -eighteen,--or rather, four months short of being eighteen, for it is -August. Nay, more, it is the August of a year I had not looked ever -to see again; and again Dom Manuel reigns over us, that man of iron -whom I saw die so horribly. All this seems very improbable." - -Then Jurgen meditated for a while. He shrugged. - -"Well, and what could anybody expect me to do about it? Somehow it -has befallen that I, who am but the shadow of what I was, now walk -among shadows, and we converse with the thin intonations of dead -persons. For, Madame Dorothy, you who are not yet eighteen, in this -same garden there was once a boy who loved a girl, with such love as -it puzzles me to think of now. I believe that she loved him. Yes, -certainly it is a cordial to the tired and battered heart which -nowadays pumps blood for me, to think that for a little while, for a -whole summer, these two were as brave and comely and clean a pair of -sweethearts as the world has known." - -Thus Jurgen spoke. But his thought was that this was a girl whose -equal for loveliness and delight was not to be found between two -oceans. Long and long ago that doubtfulness of himself which was -closer to him than his skin had fretted Jurgen into believing the -Dorothy he had loved was but a piece of his imaginings. But -certainly this girl was real. And sweet she was, and innocent she -was, and light of heart and feet, beyond the reach of any man's -inventiveness. No, Jurgen had not invented her; and it strangely -contented him to know as much. - -"Tell me your story, sir," says she, "for I love all romances." - -"Ah, my dear child, but I cannot tell you very well of just what -happened. As I look back, there is a blinding glory of green woods -and lawns and moonlit nights and dance music and unreasonable -laughter. I remember her hair and eyes, and the curving and the feel -of her red mouth, and once when I was bolder than ordinary--But that -is hardly worth raking up at this late day. Well, I see these things -in memory as plainly as I now seem to see your face: but I can -recollect hardly anything she said. Perhaps, now I think of it, she -was not very intelligent, and said nothing worth remembering. But -the boy loved her, and was happy, because her lips and heart were -his, and he, as the saying is, had plucked a diamond from the -world's ring. True, she was a count's daughter and the sister of a -count: but in those days the boy quite firmly intended to become a -duke or an emperor or something of that sort, so the transient -discrepancy did not worry them." - -"I know. Why, Jurgen is going to be a duke, too," says she, very -proudly, "though he did think, a great while ago, before he knew me, -of being a cardinal, on account of the robes. But cardinals are not -allowed to marry, you see--And I am forgetting your story, too! What -happened then?" - -"They parted in September--with what vows it hardly matters now--and -the boy went into Gâtinais, to win his spurs under the old Vidame de -Soyecourt. And presently--oh, a good while before Christmas!--came -the news that Dorothy la Désirée had married rich Heitman Michael." - -"But that is what I am called! And as you know, there is a Heitman -Michael who is always plaguing me. Is that not strange! for you tell -me all this happened a great while ago." - -"Indeed, the story is very old, and old it was when Methuselah was -teething. There is no older and more common story anywhere. As the -sequel, it would be heroic to tell you this boy's life was ruined. -But I do not think it was. Instead, he had learned all of a sudden -that which at twenty-one is heady knowledge. That was the hour which -taught him sorrow and rage, and sneering, too, for a redemption. Oh, -it was armor that hour brought him, and a humor to use it, because -no woman now could hurt him very seriously. No, never any more!" - -"Ah, the poor boy!" she said, divinely tender, and smiling as a -goddess smiles, not quite in mirth. - -"Well, women, as he knew by experience now, were the pleasantest of -playfellows. So he began to play. Rampaging through the world he -went in the pride of his youth and in the armor of his hurt. And -songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and sword-play he made for -the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made for the pleasure of -women, in places where renown was, and where he trod boldly, giving -pleasure to everybody, in those fine days. But the whispering, and -all that followed the whispering, was his best game, and the game he -played for the longest while, with many brightly colored playmates -who took the game more seriously than he did. And their faith in the -game's importance, and in him and his high-sounding nonsense, he -very often found amusing: and in their other chattels too he took -his natural pleasure. Then, when he had played sufficiently, he held -a consultation with divers waning appetites; and he married the -handsome daughter of an estimable pawnbroker in a fair line of -business. And he lived with his wife very much as two people -customarily live together. So, all in all, I would not say his life -was ruined." - -"Why, then, it was," said Dorothy. She stirred uneasily, with an -impatient sigh; and you saw that she was vaguely puzzled. "Oh, but -somehow I think you are a very horrible old man: and you seem doubly -horrible in that glittering queer garment you are wearing." - -"No woman ever praised a woman's handiwork, and each of you is -particularly severe upon her own. But you are interrupting the -saga." - -"I do not see"--and those large bright eyes of which the color was -so indeterminable and so dear to Jurgen, seemed even larger -now--"but I do not see how there could well be any more." - -"Still, human hearts survive the benediction of the priest, as you may -perceive any day. This man, at least, inherited his father-in-law's -business, and found it, quite as he had anticipated, the fittest of -vocations for a cashiered poet. And so, I suppose, he was content. Ah, -yes; but after a while Heitman Michael returned from foreign parts, -along with his lackeys, and plate, and chest upon chest of merchandise, -and his fine horses, and his wife. And he who had been her lover could -see her now, after so many years, whenever he liked. She was a handsome -stranger. That was all. She was rather stupid. She was nothing -remarkable, one way or another. This respectable pawnbroker saw that -quite plainly: day by day he writhed under the knowledge. Because, as -I must tell you, he could not retain composure in her presence, even -now. No, he was never able to do that." - -The girl somewhat condensed her brows over this information. "You -mean that he still loved her. Why, but of course!" - -"My child," says Jurgen, now with a reproving forefinger, "you are -an incurable romanticist. The man disliked her and despised her. At -any event, he assured himself that he did. Well, even so, this -handsome stupid stranger held his eyes, and muddled his thoughts, -and put errors into his accounts: and when he touched her hand he -did not sleep that night as he was used to sleep. Thus he saw her, -day after day. And they whispered that this handsome and stupid -stranger had a liking for young men who aided her artfully to -deceive her husband: but she never showed any such favor to the -respectable pawnbroker. For youth had gone out of him, and it seemed -that nothing in particular happened. Well, that was his saga. About -her I do not know. And I shall never know! But certainly she got the -name of deceiving Heitman Michael with two young men, or with five -young men it might be, but never with a respectable pawnbroker." - -"I think that is an exceedingly cynical and stupid story," observed -the girl. "And so I shall be off to look for Jurgen. For he makes -love very amusingly," says Dorothy, with the sweetest, loveliest -meditative smile that ever was lost to heaven. - -And a madness came upon Jurgen, there in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, and a disbelief in such injustice as now seemed incredible. - -"No, Heart's Desire," he cried, "I will not let you go. For you are -dear and pure and faithful, and all my evil dream, wherein you were -a wanton and be-fooled me, was not true. Surely, mine was a dream -that can never be true so long as there is any justice upon earth. -Why, there is no imaginable God who would permit a boy to be robbed -of that which in my evil dream was taken from me!" - -"And still I cannot understand your talking, about this dream of -yours--!" - -"Why, it seemed to me I had lost the most of myself; and there was -left only a brain which played with ideas, and a body that went -delicately down pleasant ways. And I could not believe as my fellows -believed, nor could I love them, nor could I detect anything in -aught they said or did save their exceeding folly: for I had lost -their cordial common faith in the importance of what use they made -of half-hours and months and years; and because a jill-flirt had -opened my eyes so that they saw too much, I had lost faith in the -importance of my own actions, too. There was a little time of which -the passing might be made endurable; beyond gaped unpredictable -darkness: and that was all there was of certainty anywhere. Now tell -me, Heart's Desire, but was not that a foolish dream? For these -things never happened. Why, it would not be fair if these things -ever happened!" - -And the girl's eyes were wide and puzzled and a little frightened. -"I do not understand what you are saying: and there is that about -you which troubles me unspeakably. For you call me by the name which -none but Jurgen used, and it seems to me that you are Jurgen; and -yet you are not Jurgen." - -"But I am truly Jurgen. And look you, I have done what never any man -has done before! For I have won back to that first love whom every -man must lose, no matter whom he marries. I have come back again, -passing very swiftly over the grave of a dream and through the -malice of time, to my Heart's Desire! And how strange it seems that -I did not know this thing was inevitable!" - -"Still, friend, I do not understand you." - -"Why, but I yawned and fretted in preparation for some great and -beautiful adventure which was to befall me by and by, and dazedly I -toiled forward. Whereas behind me all the while was the garden -between dawn and sunrise, and therein you awaited me! Now assuredly, -the life of every man is a quaintly builded tale, in which the right -and proper ending comes first. Thereafter time runs forward, not as -schoolmen fable in a straight line, but in a vast closed curve, -returning to the place of its starting. And it is by a dim -foreknowledge of this, by some faint prescience of justice and -reparation being given them by and by, that men have heart to live. -For I know now that I have always known this thing. What else was -living good for unless it brought me back to you?" - -But the girl shook her small glittering head, very sadly. "I do not -understand you, and I fear you. For you talk foolishness and in your -face I see the face of Jurgen as one might see the face of a dead -man drowned in muddy water." - -"Yet am I truly Jurgen, and, as it seems to me, for the first time -since we were parted. For I am strong and admirable--even I, who -sneered and played so long, because I thought myself a thing of -no worth at all. That which has been since you and I were young -together is as a mist that passes: and I am strong and admirable, -and all my being is one vast hunger for you, my dearest, and I will -not let you go, for you, and you alone, are my Heart's Desire." - -Now the girl was looking at him very steadily, with a small puzzled -frown, and with her vivid young soft lips a little parted. And all -her tender loveliness was glorified by the light of a sky that had -turned to dusty palpitating gold. - -"Ah, but you say that you are strong and admirable: and I can only -marvel at such talking. For I see that which all men see." - -And then Dorothy showed him the little mirror which was attached to -the long chain of turquoise matrix about her neck: and Jurgen -studied the frightened foolish aged face that he found in the -mirror. - -Thus drearily did sanity return to Jurgen: and his flare of passion -died, and the fever and storm and the impetuous whirl of things was -ended, and the man was very weary. And in the silence he heard the -piping cry of a bird that seemed to seek for what it could not find. - -"Well, I am answered," said the pawnbroker: "and yet I know that -this is not the final answer. Dearer than any hope of heaven was -that moment when awed surmises first awoke as to the new strange -loveliness which I had seen in the face of Dorothy. It was then I -noted the new faint flush suffusing her face from chin to brow so -often as my eyes encountered and found new lights in the shining -eyes which were no longer entirely frank in meeting mine. Well, let -that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"It is a grief to remember how we followed love, and found his -service lovely. It is bitter to recall the sweetness of those vows -which proclaimed her mine eternally,--vows that were broken in their -making by prolonged and unforgotten kisses. We used to laugh at -Heitman Michael then; we used to laugh at everything. Thus for a -while, for a whole summer, we were as brave and comely and clean a -pair of sweethearts as the world has known. But let that be, for I -do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"Our love was fair but short-lived. There is none that may revive -him since the small feet of Dorothy trod out this small love's life. -Yet when this life of ours too is over--this parsimonious life which -can allow us no more love for anybody,--must we not win back, -somehow, to that faith we vowed against eternity? and be content -again, in some fair-colored realm? Assuredly I think this thing will -happen. Well, but let that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's -wife." - -"Why, this is excellent hearing," observed Dorothy, "because I see -that you are converting your sorrow into the raw stuff of verses. So -I shall be off to look for Jurgen, since he makes love quite -otherwise and far more amusingly." - -And again, whatever was the matter upon which this girl now -meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by the thought of it, -and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took infinite joy. - -Thus it was for a moment only: for she left Jurgen now, with the -friendliest light waving of her hand; and so passed from him, not -thinking of this old fellow any longer, as he could see, even in the -instant she turned from him. And she went toward the dawn, in search -of that young Jurgen whom she, who was perfect in all things, had -loved, though only for a little while, not undeservedly. - - - - -5. - -Requirements of Bread and Butter - - -"Nessus," says Jurgen, "and am I so changed? For that Dorothy whom I -loved in youth did not know me." - -"Good and evil keep very exact accounts," replied the Centaur, "and -the face of every man is their ledger. Meanwhile the sun rises, it -is already another workday: and when the shadows of those two who -come to take possession fall full upon the garden, I warn you, there -will be astounding changes brought about by the requirements of -bread and butter. You have not time to revive old memories by -chatting with the others to whom you babbled aforetime in this -garden." - -"Ah, Centaur, in the garden between dawn and sunrise there was never -any other save Dorothy la Désirée." - -The Centaur shrugged. "It may be you forget; it is certain that you -underestimate the local population. Some of the transient visitors -you have seen, and in addition hereabouts dwell the year round all -manner of imaginary creatures. The fairies live just southward, and -the gnomes too. To your right is the realm of the Valkyries: the -Amazons and the Cynocephali are their allies: all three of these -nations are continually at loggerheads with their neighbors, the -Baba-Yagas, whom Morfei cooks for, and whose monarch is Oh, a person -very dangerous to name. Northward dwell the Lepracauns and the Men -of Hunger, whose king is Clobhair. My people, who are ruled by -Chiron, live even further to the north. The Sphinx pastures on -yonder mountain; and now the Chimæra is old and generally derided, -they say that Cerberus visits the Sphinx at twilight, although I was -never the person to disseminate scandal--" - -"Centaur," said Jurgen, "and what is Dorothy doing here?" - -"Why, all the women that any man has ever loved live here," replied -the Centaur, "for very obvious reasons." - -"That is a hard saying, friend." - -Nessus tapped with his forefinger upon the back of Jurgen's hand. -"Worm's-meat! this is the destined food, do what you will, of small -white worms. This by and by will be a struggling pale corruption, -like seething milk. That too is a hard saying, Jurgen. But it is a -true saying." - -"And was that Dorothy whom I loved in youth an imaginary creature?" - -"My poor Jurgen, you who were once a poet! she was your masterpiece. -For there was only a shallow, stupid and airy, high-nosed and -light-haired miss, with no remarkable good looks,--and consider what -your ingenuity made from such poor material! You should be proud of -yourself." - -"No, Centaur, I cannot very well be proud of my folly: yet I do not -regret it. I have been befooled by a bright shadow of my own -raising, you tell me, and I concede it to be probable. No less, I -served a lovely shadow; and my heart will keep the memory of that -loveliness until life ends, in a world where other men follow -pantingly after shadows which are not even pretty." - -"There is something in that, Jurgen: there is also something in an -old tale we used to tell in Thessaly, about a fox and certain -grapes." - -"Well, but look you, Nessus, there is an emperor that reigns now in -Constantinople and occasionally does business with me. Yes, and I -could tell you tales of by what shifts he came to the throne--" - -"Men's hands are by ordinary soiled in climbing," quoth the Centaur. - -"And 'Jurgen,' this emperor says to me, not many months ago, as he -sat in his palace, crowned and dreary and trying to cheat me out of -my fair profit on some emeralds,--'Jurgen, I cannot sleep of nights, -because of that fool Alexius, who comes into my room with staring -eyes and the bowstring still about his neck. And my Varangians must -be in league with that silly ghost, because I constantly order them -to keep Alexius out of my bedchamber, and they do not obey me, -Jurgen. To be King of the East is not to the purpose, Jurgen, when -one must submit to such vexations.' Yes, it was Cæsar Pharamond -himself said this to me: and I deduce the shadow of a crown has led -him into an ugly pickle, for all that he is the mightiest monarch in -the world. And I would not change with Cæsar Pharamond, not I who am -a respectable pawnbroker, with my home in fee and my bit of tilled -land. Well, this is a queer world, to be sure: and this garden is -visited by no stranger things than pop into a man's mind sometimes, -without his knowing how." - -"Ah, but you must understand that the garden is speedily to be -remodeled. Yonder you may observe the two whose requirements are to -rid the place of all fantastic unremunerative notions; and who will -develop the natural resources of this garden according to generally -approved methods." - -And from afar Jurgen could see two figures coming out of the east, -so tall that their heads rose above the encircling hills and -glistened in the rays of a sun which was not yet visible. One was a -white pasty-looking giant, with a crusty expression: he walked with -the aid of a cane. The other was of a pale yellow color: his face -was oily, and he rode on a vast cow that was called Ædhumla. - -"Make way there, brother, with your staff of life," says the yellow -giant, "for there is much to do hereabouts." - -"Ay, brother, this place must be altered a deal before it meets with -our requirements," the other grumbled. "May I be toasted if I know -where to begin!" - -Then as the giants turned dull and harsh faces toward the garden, -the sun came above the circle of blue hills, so that the mingled -shadows of these two giants fell across the garden. For an instant -Jurgen saw the place oppressed by that attenuated mile-long shadow, -as in heraldry you may see a black bar painted sheer across some -brightly emblazoned shield. Then the radiancy of everything twitched -and vanished, as a bubble bursts. - -And Jurgen was standing in the midst of a field, very neatly plowed, -but with nothing as yet growing in it. And the Centaur was with him -still, it seemed, for there were the creature's hoofs, but all the -gold had been washed or rubbed away from them in traveling with -Jurgen. - -"See, Nessus!" Jurgen cried, "the garden is made desolate. Oh, -Nessus, was it fair that so much loveliness should be thus wasted!" - -"Nay," said the Centaur, "nay!" Long and wailingly he whinneyed, -"Nay!" - -And when Jurgen raised his eyes he saw that his companion was not a -centaur, but only a strayed riding-horse. - -"Were you the animal, then," says Jurgen, "and was it a quite -ordinary animal, that conveyed me to the garden between dawn and -sunrise?" And Jurgen laughed disconsolately. "At all events, you -have clothed me in a curious fine shirt. And, now I look, your -bridle is marked with a coronet. So I will return you to the castle -at Bellegarde, and it may be that Heitman Michael will reward me." - -Then Jurgen mounted this horse and rode away from the plowed field -wherein nothing grew as yet. As they left the furrows they came to a -signboard with writing on it, in a peculiar red and yellow -lettering. - -Jurgen paused to decipher this. - -"Read me!" was written on the signboard: "read me, and judge if you -understand! So you stopped in your journey because I called, -scenting something unusual, something droll. Thus, although I am -nothing, and even less, there is no one that sees me but lingers -here. Stranger, I am a law of the universe. Stranger, render the law -what is due the law!" - -Jurgen felt cheated. "A very foolish signboard, indeed! for how can -it be 'a law of the universe', when there is no meaning to it!" says -Jurgen. "Why, for any law to be meaningless would not be fair." - - - - -6. - -Showing that Sereda Is Feminine - - -Then, having snapped his fingers at that foolish signboard, Jurgen -would have turned easterly, toward Bellegarde: but his horse -resisted. The pawnbroker decided to accept this as an omen. - -"Forward, then!" he said, "in the name of Koshchei." And thereafter -Jurgen permitted the horse to choose its own way. - -Thus Jurgen came through a forest, wherein he saw many things not -salutary to notice, to a great stone house like a prison, and he -sought shelter there. But he could find nobody about the place, -until he came to a large hall, newly swept. This was a depressing -apartment, in its chill neat emptiness, for it was unfurnished save -for a bare deal table, upon which lay a yardstick and a pair of -scales. Above this table hung a wicker cage, containing a blue bird, -and another wicker cage containing three white pigeons. And in this -hall a woman, no longer young, dressed all in blue, and wearing a -white towel by way of head-dress was assorting curiously colored -cloths. - -She had very bright eyes, with wrinkled lids; and now as she looked -up at Jurgen her shrunk jaws quivered. - -"Ah," says she, "I have a visitor. Good day to you, in your -glittering shirt. It is a garment I seem to recognize." - -"Good day, grandmother! I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to -have been carried off by a devil, poor fellow! Now, having lost my -way, I have come to pass the night under your roof." - -"Very good: but few come seeking Mother Sereda of their own accord." - -Then Jurgen knew with whom he talked: and inwardly he was perturbed, -for all the Léshy are unreliable in their dealings. - -So when he spoke it was very civilly. "And what do you do here, -grandmother?" - -"I bleach. In time I shall bleach that garment you are wearing. For -I take the color out of all things. Thus you see these stuffs here, -as they are now. Clotho spun the glowing threads, and Lachesis wove -them, as you observe, in curious patterns, very marvelous to see: -but when I am done with these stuffs there will be no more color or -beauty or strangeness anywhere apparent than in so many dishclouts." - -"Now I perceive," says Jurgen, "that your power and dominion is more -great than any other power which is in the world." - -He made a song of this, in praise of the Léshy and their Days, but -more especially in praise of the might of Mother Sereda and of the -ruins that have fallen on Wednesday. To Chetverg and Utornik and -Subbota he gave their due. Pyatinka and Nedelka also did Jurgen -commend for such demolishments as have enregistered their names in -the calendar of saints, no less. Ah, but there was none like Mother -Sereda: hers was the centre of that power which is the Léshy's. The -others did but nibble at temporal things, like furtive mice: she -devastated, like a sandstorm, so that there were many dustheaps -where Mother Sereda had passed, but nothing else. - -And so on, and so on. The song was no masterpiece, and would not be -bettered by repetition. But it was all untrammeled eulogy, and the -old woman beat time to it with her lean hands: and her shrunk jaws -quivered, and she nodded her white-wrapped head this way and that -way, with a rolling motion, and on her thin lips was a very proud -and foolish smile. - -"That is a good song," says she; "oh, yes, an excellent song! But -you report nothing of my sister Pandelis who controls the day of the -Moon." - -"Monday!" says Jurgen: "yes, I neglected Monday, perhaps because she -is the oldest of you, but in part because of the exigencies of my -rhyme scheme. We must let Pandelis go unhymned. How can I remember -everything when I consider the might of Sereda?" - -"Why, but," says Mother Sereda, "Pandelis may not like it, and she -may take holiday from her washing some day to have a word with you. -However, I repeat, that is an excellent song. And in return for your -praise of me, I will tell you that, if your wife has been carried -off by a devil, your affair is one which Koshchei alone can remedy. -Assuredly, I think it is to him you must go for justice." - -"But how may I come to him, grandmother?" - -"Oh, as to that, it does not matter at all which road you follow. -All highways, as the saying is, lead roundabout to Koshchei. The one -thing needful is not to stand still. This much I will tell you also -for your song's sake, because that was an excellent song, and nobody -ever made a song in praise of me before to-day." - -Now Jurgen wondered to see what a simple old creature was this -Mother Sereda, who sat before him shaking and grinning and frail as -a dead leaf, with her head wrapped in a common kitchen-towel, and -whose power was so enormous. - -"To think of it," Jurgen reflected, "that the world I inhabit is -ordered by beings who are not one-tenth so clever as I am! I have -often suspected as much, and it is decidedly unfair. Now let me see -if I cannot make something out of being such a monstrous clever -fellow." - -Jurgen said aloud: "I do not wonder that no practising poet ever -presumed to make a song of you. You are too majestical. You frighten -these rhymesters, who feel themselves to be unworthy of so great a -theme. So it remained for you to be appreciated by a pawnbroker, -since it is we who handle and observe the treasures of this world -after you have handled them." - -"Do you think so?" says she, more pleased than ever. "Now, may be -that was the way of it. But I wonder that you who are so fine a poet -should ever have become a pawnbroker." - -"Well, and indeed, Mother Sereda, your wonder seems to me another -wonder: for I can think of no profession better suited to a retired -poet. Why, there is the variety of company! for high and low and -even the genteel are pressed sometimes for money: then the plowman -slouches into my shop, and the duke sends for me privately. So the -people I know, and the bits of their lives I pop into, give me a -deal to romance about." - -"Ah, yes, indeed," says Mother Sereda, wisely, "that well may be the -case. But I do not hold with romance, myself." - -"Moreover, sitting in my shop, I wait there quiet-like while tribute -comes to me from the ends of earth: everything which men and women -have valued anywhere comes sooner or later to me: and jewels and -fine knickknacks that were the pride of queens they bring me, and -wedding rings, and the baby's cradle with his little tooth marks on -the rim of it, and silver coffin-handles, or it may be an old -frying-pan, they bring me, but all comes to Jurgen. So that just to -sit there in my dark shop quiet-like, and wonder about the history -of my belongings and how they were made mine, is poetry, and is the -deep and high and ancient thinking of a god who is dozing among what -time has left of a dead world, if you understand me, Mother Sereda." - -"I understand: oho, I understand that which pertains to gods, for a -sufficient reason." - -"And then another thing, you do not need any turn for business: -people are glad to get whatever you choose to offer, for they would -not come otherwise. So you get the shining and rough-edged coins -that you can feel the proud king's head on, with his laurel-wreath -like millet seed under your fingers; and you get the flat and -greenish coins that are smeared with the titles and the chins and -hooked noses of emperors whom nobody remembers or cares about any -longer: all just by waiting there quiet-like, and making a favor of -it to let customers give you their belongings for a third of what -they are worth. And that is easy labor, even for a poet." - -"I understand: I understand all labor." - -"And people treat you a deal more civilly than any real need is, -because they are ashamed of trafficking with you at all: I dispute -if a poet could get such civility shown him in any other profession. -And finally, there is the long idleness between business interviews, -with nothing to do save sit there quiet-like and think about the -queerness of things in general: and that is always rare employment -for a poet, even without the tatters of so many lives and homes -heaped up about him like spillikins. So that I would say in all, -Mother Sereda, there is certainly no profession better suited to an -old poet than the profession of pawnbroking." - -"Certainly, there may be something in what you tell me," observes -Mother Sereda. "I know what the Little Gods are, and I know what -work is, but I do not think about these other matters, nor about -anything else. I bleach." - -"Ah, and a great deal more I could be saying, too, godmother, but -for the fear of wearying you. Nor would I have run on at all about -my private affairs were it not that we two are so close related. And -kith makes kind, as people say." - -"But how can you and I be kin?" - -"Why, heyday, and was I not born upon a Wednesday? That makes you my -godmother, does it not?" - -"I do not know, dearie, I am sure. Nobody ever cared to claim kin -with Mother Sereda before this," says she, pathetically. - -"There can be no doubt, though, on the point, no possible doubt. -Sabellius states it plainly. Artemidorus Minor, I grant you, holds -the question debatable, but his reasons for doing so are tolerably -notorious. Besides, what does all his flimsy sophistry avail against -Nicanor's fine chapter on this very subject? Crushing, I consider -it. His logic is final and irrefutable. What can anyone say against -Sævius Nicanor?--ah, what indeed?" demanded Jurgen. - -And he wondered if there might not have been perchance some such -persons somewhere, after all. Their names, in any event, sounded -very plausible to Jurgen. - -"Ah, dearie, I was never one for learning. It may be as you say." - -"You say 'it may be', godmother. That embarrasses me, rather, -because I was about to ask for my christening gift, which in the -press of other matters you overlooked some forty years back. You -will readily conceive that your negligence, however unintentional, -might possibly give rise to unkindly criticism: and so I felt I -ought to mention it, in common fairness to you." - -"As for that, dearie, ask what you will within the limits of my -power. For mine are all the sapphires and turquoises and whatever -else in this dusty world is blue; and mine likewise are all the -Wednesdays that have ever been or ever will be: and any one of these -will I freely give you in return for your fine speeches and your -tender heart." - -"Ah, but, godmother, would it be quite just for you to accord me so -much more than is granted to other persons?" - -"Why, no: but what have I to do with justice? I bleach. Come now, -then, do you make a choice! for I can assure you that my sapphires -are of the first water, and that many of my oncoming Wednesdays will -be well worth seeing." - -"No, godmother, I never greatly cared for jewelry: and the future is -but dressing and undressing, and shaving, and eating, and computing -percentage, and so on; the future does not interest me now. So I -shall modestly content myself with a second-hand Wednesday, with one -that you have used and have no further need of: and it will be a -Wednesday in the August of such and such a year." - -Mother Sereda agreed to this. "But there are certain rules to be -observed," says she, "for one must have system." - -As she spoke, she undid the towel about her head, and she took a -blue comb from her white hair: and she showed Jurgen what was -engraved on the comb. It frightened Jurgen, a little: but he nodded -assent. - -"First, though," says Mother Sereda, "here is the blue bird. Would -you not rather have that, dearie, than your Wednesday? Most people -would." - -"Ah, but, godmother," he replied, "I am Jurgen. No, it is not the -blue bird I desire." - -So Mother Sereda took from the wall the wicker cage containing the -three white pigeons: and going before him, with small hunched shoulders, -and shuffling her feet along the flagstones, she led the way into a -courtyard, where, sure enough, they found a tethered he-goat. Of a -dark blue color this beast was, and his eyes were wiser than the eyes -of a beast. - -Then Jurgen set about that which Mother Sereda said was necessary. - - - - -7. - -Of Compromises on a Wednesday - - -So it was that, riding upon a horse whose bridle was marked with a -coronet, the pawnbroker returned to a place, and to a moment, which -he remembered. It was rather queer to be a fine young fellow again, -and to foresee all that was to happen for the next twenty years. - -As it chanced, the first person he encountered was his mother Azra, -whom Coth had loved very greatly but not long. And Jurgen talked -with Azra of what clothes he would be likely to need in Gâtinais, -and of how often he would write to her. She disparaged the new shirt -he was wearing, as was to be expected, since Azra had always -preferred to select her son's clothing rather than trust to Jurgen's -taste. His new horse she admitted to be a handsome animal; and only -hoped he had not stolen it from anybody who would get him into -trouble. For Azra, it must be recorded, had never any confidence in -her son; and was the only woman, Jurgen felt, who really understood -him. - -And now as his beautiful young mother impartially petted and snapped -at him, poor Jurgen thought of that very real dissension and -severance which in the oncoming years was to arise between them; and -of how she would die without his knowing of her death for two whole -months; and of how his life thereafter would be changed, somehow, -and the world would become an unstable place in which you could no -longer put cordial faith. And he foreknew all the remorse he was to -shrug away, after the squandering of so much pride and love. But -these things were not yet: and besides, these things were -inevitable. - -"And yet that these things should be inevitable is decidedly not -fair," said Jurgen. - -So it was with all the persons he encountered. The people whom he -loved when at his best as a fine young fellow were so very soon, and -through petty causes, to become nothing to him, and he himself was -to be converted into a commonplace tradesman. And living seemed to -Jurgen a wasteful and inequitable process. - -Then Jurgen left the home of his youth, and rode toward Bellegarde, -and tethered his horse upon the heath, and went into the castle. -Thus Jurgen came to Dorothy. She was lovely and dear, and yet, by -some odd turn, not quite so lovely and dear as the Dorothy he had -seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. And Dorothy, like -everybody else, praised Jurgen's wonderful new shirt. - -"It is designed for such festivals," said Jurgen, modestly--"a -little notion of my own. A bit extreme, some persons might consider -it, but there is no pleasing everybody. And I like a trifle of -color." - -For there was a masque that night at the castle of Bellegarde: and -wildly droll and sad it was to Jurgen to remember what was to befall -so many of the participants. - -Jurgen had not forgotten this Wednesday, this ancient Wednesday upon -which Messire de Montors had brought the Confraternity of St. Médard -from Brunbelois, to enact a masque of The Birth of Hercules, as the -vagabonds were now doing, to hilarious applause. Jurgen remembered -it was the day before Bellegarde discovered that Count Emmerick's -guest, the Vicomte de Puysange, was in reality the notorious outlaw, -Perion de la Forêt. Well, yonder the yet undetected impostor was -talking very earnestly with Dame Melicent: and Jurgen knew all that -was in store for this pair of lovers. - -Meanwhile, as Jurgen reflected, the real Vicomte de Puysange was at -this moment lying in a delirium, yonder at Benoit's: to-morrow the -true Vicomte would be recognized, and within the year the Vicomte -would have married Félise de Soyecourt, and later Jurgen would meet -her, in the orchard; and Jurgen knew what was to happen then also. - -And Messire de Montors was watching Dame Melicent, sidewise, while -he joked with little Ettarre, who was this night permitted to stay -up later than usual, in honor of the masque: and Jurgen knew that -this young bishop was to become Pope of Rome, no less; and that the -child he joked with was to become the woman for possession of whom -Guiron des Rocques and the surly-looking small boy yonder, Maugis -d'Aigremont, would contend with each other until the country -hereabouts had been devastated, and the castle wherein Jurgen now -was had been besieged, and this part of it burned. And wildly droll -and sad it was to Jurgen thus to remember all that was going to -happen to these persons, and to all the other persons who were -frolicking in the shadow of their doom and laughing at this trivial -masque. - -For here--with so much of ruin and failure impending, and with -sorrow prepared so soon to smite a many of these revellers in ways -foreknown to Jurgen; and with death resistlessly approaching so -soon to make an end of almost all this company in some unlovely -fashion that Jurgen foreknew exactly,--here laughter seemed -unreasonable and ghastly. Why, but Reinault yonder, who laughed so -loud, with his cropped head flung back: would Reinault be laughing -in quite this manner if he knew the round strong throat he thus -exposed was going to be cut like the throat of a calf, while three -Burgundians held him? Jurgen knew this thing was to befall Reinault -Vinsauf before October was out. So he looked at Reinault's throat, -and shudderingly drew in his breath between set teeth. - -"And he is worth a score of me, this boy!" thought Jurgen: "and it -is I who am going to live to be an old fellow, with my bit of land -in fee, years after dirt clogs those bright generous eyes, and years -after this fine big-hearted boy is wasted! And I shall forget all -about him, too. Marion l'Edol, that very pretty girl behind him, is -to become a blotched and toothless haunter of alleys, a leering -plucker at men's sleeves! And blue-eyed Colin here, with his baby -mouth, is to be hanged for that matter of coin-clipping--let me -recall, now,--yes, within six years of to-night! Well, but in a way, -these people are blessed in lacking foresight. For they laugh, and I -cannot laugh, and to me their laughter is more terrible than -weeping. Yes, they may be very wise in not glooming over what is -inevitable; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say they are -wrong: but still, at the same time--! And assuredly, living seems to -me in everything a wasteful and inequitable process." - -Thus Jurgen, while the others passed a very pleasant evening. - -And presently, when the masque was over, Dorothy and Jurgen went out -upon the terrace, to the east of Bellegarde, and so came to an -unforgotten world of moonlight. They sat upon a bench of carved -stone near the balustrade which overlooked the highway: and the boy -and the girl gazed wistfully beyond the highway, over luminous -valleys and tree-tops. Just so they had sat there, as Jurgen -perfectly remembered, when Mother Sereda first used this Wednesday. - -"My Heart's Desire," says Jurgen, "I am sad to-night. For I am -thinking of what life will do to us, and what offal the years will -make of you and me." - -"My own sweetheart," says she, "and do we not know very well what is -to happen?" And Dorothy began to talk of all the splendid things -that Jurgen was to do, and of the happy life which was to be theirs -together. - -"It is horrible," he said: "for we are more fine than we shall ever -be hereafter. We have a splendor for which the world has no -employment. It will be wasted. And such wastage is not fair." - -"But presently you will be so and so," says she: and fondly predicts -all manner of noble exploits which, as Jurgen remembered, had once -seemed very plausible to him also. Now he had clearer knowledge as -to the capacities of the boy of whom he had thought so well. - -"No, Heart's Desire: no, I shall be quite otherwise." - -"--and to think how proud I shall be of you! 'But then I always knew -it', I shall tell everybody, very condescendingly--" - -"No, Heart's Desire: for you will not think of me at all." - -"Ah, sweetheart! and can you really believe that I shall ever care a -snap of my fingers for anybody but you?" - -Then Jurgen laughed a little; for Heitman Michael came now across -the lonely terrace, in search of Madame Dorothy: and Jurgen foreknew -this was the man to whom within two months of this evening Dorothy -was to give her love and all the beauty that was hers, and with whom -she was to share the ruinous years which lay ahead. - -But the girl did not know this, and Dorothy gave a little shrugging -gesture. "I have promised to dance with him, and so I must. But the -old fellow is a great plague." - -For Heitman Michael was nearing thirty, and this to Dorothy and -Jurgen was an age that bordered upon senility. - -"Now, by heaven," said Jurgen, "wherever Heitman Michael does his -next dancing it will not be hereabouts." - -Jurgen had decided what he must do. - -And then Heitman Michael saluted them civilly. "But I fear I must -rob you of this fair lady, Master Jurgen," says he. - -Jurgen remembered that the man had said precisely this a score of -years ago; and that Jurgen had mumbled polite regrets, and had stood -aside while Heitman Michael bore off Dorothy to dance with him. And -this dance had been the beginning of intimacy between Heitman -Michael and Dorothy. - -"Heitman," says Jurgen, "the bereavement which you threaten is very -happily spared me, since, as it happens, the next dance is to be -mine." - -"We can but leave it to the lady," says Heitman Michael, laughing. - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "For I know too well what would come of that. -I intend to leave my destiny to no one." - -"Your conduct, Master Jurgen, is somewhat strange," observed Heitman -Michael. - -"Ah, but I will show you a thing yet stranger. For, look you, there -seem to be three of us here on this terrace. Yet I can assure you -there are four." - -"Read me the riddle, my boy, and have done." - -"The fourth of us, Heitman, is a goddess that wears a speckled -garment and has black wings. She can boast of no temples, and no -priests cry to her anywhere, because she is the only deity whom no -prayers can move or any sacrifices placate. I allude, sir, to the -eldest daughter of Nox and Erebus." - -"You speak of death, I take it." - -"Your apprehension, Heitman, is nimble. Even so, it is not quick -enough, I fear, to forerun the whims of goddesses. Indeed, what -person could have foreseen that this implacable lady would have -taken such a strong fancy for your company." - -"Ah, my young bantam," replies Heitman Michael, "it is quite true -that she and I are acquainted. I may even boast of having despatched -one or two stout warriors to serve her underground. Now, as I divine -your meaning, you plan that I should decrease her obligation by -sending her a whippersnapper." - -"My notion, Heitman, is that since this dark goddess is about to -leave us, she should not, in common gallantry, be permitted to go -hence unaccompanied. I propose, therefore, that we forthwith decide -who is to be her escort." - -Now Heitman Michael had drawn his sword. "You are insane. But you -extend an invitation which I have never yet refused." - -"Heitman," cries Jurgen, in honest gratitude and admiration, "I bear -you no ill-will. But it is highly necessary you die to-night, in -order that my soul may not perish too many years before my body." - -With that he too whipped out his sword. - -So they fought. Now Jurgen was a very acceptable swordsman, but from -the start he found in Heitman Michael his master. Jurgen had never -reckoned upon that, and he considered it annoying. If Heitman -Michael perforated Jurgen the future would be altered, certainly, -but not quite as Jurgen had decided it ought to be remodeled. So -this unlooked-for complication seemed preposterous, and Jurgen began -to be irritated by the suspicion that he was getting himself killed -for nothing at all. - -Meanwhile his unruffled tall antagonist seemed but to play with -Jurgen, so that Jurgen was steadily forced back toward the -balustrade. And presently Jurgen's sword was twisted from his hand, -and sent flashing over the balustrade, into the public highway. - -"So now, Master Jurgen," says Heitman Michael, "that is the end of -your nonsense. Why, no, there is not any occasion to posture like a -statue. I do not intend to kill you. Why the devil's name, should I? -To do so would only get me an ill name with your parents: and -besides it is infinitely more pleasant to dance with this lady, just -as I first intended." And he turned gaily toward Madame Dorothy. - -But Jurgen found this outcome of affairs insufferable. This man was -stronger than he, this man was of the sort that takes and uses -gallantly all the world's prizes which mere poets can but -respectfully admire. All was to do again: Heitman Michael, in his -own hateful phrase, would act just as he had first intended, and -Jurgen would be brushed aside by the man's brute strength. This man -would take away Dorothy, and leave the life of Jurgen to become a -business which Jurgen remembered with distaste. It was unfair. - -So Jurgen snatched out his dagger, and drove it deep into the -undefended back of Heitman Michael. Three times young Jurgen stabbed -and hacked the burly soldier, just underneath the left ribs. Even in -his fury Jurgen remembered to strike on the left side. - -It was all very quickly done. Heitman Michael's arms jerked upward, -and in the moonlight his fingers spread and clutched. He made -curious gurgling noises. Then the strength went from his knees, so -that he toppled backward. His head fell upon Jurgen's shoulder, -resting there for an instant fraternally; and as Jurgen shuddered -away from the abhorred contact, the body of Heitman Michael -collapsed. Now he lay staring upward, dead at the feet of his -murderer. He was horrible looking, but he was quite dead. - -"What will become of you?" Dorothy whispered, after a while. "Oh, -Jurgen, it was foully done, that which you did was infamous! What -will become of you, my dear?" - -"I will take my doom," says Jurgen, "and without whimpering, so that -I get justice. But I shall certainly insist upon justice." Then -Jurgen raised his face to the bright heavens. "The man was stronger -than I and wanted what I wanted. So I have compromised with -necessity, in the only way I could make sure of getting that which -was requisite to me. I cry for justice to the power that gave him -strength and gave me weakness, and gave to each of us his desires. -That which I have done, I have done. Now judge!" - -Then Jurgen tugged and shoved the heavy body of Heitman Michael, -until it lay well out of sight, under the bench upon which Jurgen -and Dorothy had been sitting. "Rest there, brave sir, until they -find you. Come to me now, my Heart's Desire. Good, that is -excellent. Here I sit with my true love, upon the body of my enemy. -Justice is satisfied, and all is quite as it should be. For you must -understand that I have fallen heir to a fine steed, whose bridle is -marked with a coronet,--prophetically, I take it,--and upon this -steed you will ride pillion with me to Lisuarte. There we will find -a priest to marry us. We will go together into Gâtinais. Meanwhile, -there is a bit of neglected business to be attended to." And he drew -the girl close to him. - -For Jurgen was afraid of nothing now. And Jurgen thought: - -"Oh, that I could detain the moment! that I could make some fitting -verses to preserve this moment in my own memory! Could I but get -into words the odor and the thick softness of this girl's hair as my -hands, that are a-quiver in every nerve of them, caress her hair; -and get into enduring words the glitter and the cloudy shadowings of -her hair in this be-drenching moonlight! For I shall forget all this -beauty, or at best I shall remember this moment very dimly." - -"You have done very wrong--" says Dorothy. - -Says Jurgen, to himself: "Already the moment passes this miserably -happy moment wherein once more life shudders and stands heart-stricken -at the height of bliss! it passes, and I know even as I lift this girl's -soft face to mine, and mark what faith and submissiveness and expectancy -is in her face, that whatever the future holds for us, and whatever of -happiness we two may know hereafter, we shall find no instant happier -than this, which passes from us irretrievably while I am thinking about -it, poor fool, in place of rising to the issue." - -"--And heaven only knows what will become of you Jurgen--" - -Says Jurgen, still to himself: "Yes, something must remain to me of -all this rapture, though it be only guilt and sorrow: something I -mean to wrest from this high moment which was once wasted -fruitlessly. Now I am wiser: for I know there is not any memory with -less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we -resisted. So I will not waste the one real passion I have known, nor -leave unfed the one desire which ever caused me for a heart-beat to -forget to think about Jurgen's welfare. And thus, whatever happens, -I shall not always regret that I did not avail myself of this girl's -love before it was taken from me." - -So Jurgen made such advances as seemed good to him. And he noted, -with amusing memories of how much afraid he had once been of -shocking his Dorothy's notions of decorum, that she did not repulse -him very vigorously. - -"Here, over a dead body! Oh, Jurgen, this is horrible! Now, Jurgen, -remember that somebody may come any minute! And I thought I could -trust you! Ah, and is this all the respect you have for me!" This -much she said in duty. Meanwhile the eyes of Dorothy were dilated -and very tender. - -"Faith, I take no chances, this second time. And so whatever -happens, I shall not always regret that which I left undone." - -Now upon his lips was laughter, and his arms were about the -submissive girl. And in his heart was an unnamable depression and a -loneliness, because it seemed to him that this was not the Dorothy -whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. For in my -arms now there is just a very pretty girl who is not over-careful in -her dealings with young men, thought Jurgen, as their lips met. -Well, all life is a compromise; and a pretty girl is something -tangible, at any rate. So he laughed, triumphantly, and prepared for -the sequel. - -But as Jurgen laughed triumphantly, with his arm beneath the head of -Dorothy, and with the tender face of Dorothy passive beneath his lips, -and with unreasonable wistfulness in his heart, the castle bell tolled -midnight. What followed was curious: for as Wednesday passed, the face -of Dorothy altered, her flesh roughened under his touch, and her cheeks -fell away, and fine lines came about her eyes, and she became the -Countess Dorothy whom Jurgen remembered as Heitman Michael's wife. -There was no doubt about it, in that be-drenching moonlight: and she -was leering at him, and he was touching her everywhere, this horrible -lascivious woman, who was certainly quite old enough to know better -than to permit such liberties. And her breath was sour and nauseous. -Jurgen drew away from her, with a shiver of loathing, and he closed his -eyes, to shut away that sensual face. - -"No," he said; "it would not be fair to what we owe to others. In -fact, it would be a very heinous sin. We should weigh such -considerations occasionally, madame." - -Then Jurgen left his temptress, with simple dignity. "I go to search -for my dear wife, madame, in a frame of mind which I would strongly -advise you to adopt toward your husband." - -And he went straightway down the terraces of Bellegarde, and turned -southward to where his horse was tethered upon Amneran Heath: and -Jurgen was feeling very virtuous. - - - - -8. - -Old Toys and a New Shadow - - -Jurgen had behaved with conspicuous nobility, Jurgen reflected: but -he had committed himself. "I go in search of my dear wife," he had -stated, in the exaltation of virtuous sentiments. And now Jurgen -found himself alone in a world of moonlight just where he had last -seen his wife. - -"Well, well," he said, "now that my Wednesday is done with, and I am -again a reputable pawnbroker, let us remember the advisability of -sometimes doing the manly thing! It was into this cave that Lisa -went. So into this cave go I, for the second time, rather than home -to my unsympathetic relatives-in-law. Or at least, I think I am -going--" - -"Ay," said a squeaking voice, "this is the time. A ab hur hus!" - -"High time!" - -"Oh, more than time!" - -"Look, the man in the oak!" - -"Oho, the fire-drake!" - -Thus many voices screeched and wailed confusedly. But Jurgen, -staring about him, could see nobody: and all the tiny voices seemed -to come from far overhead, where nothing was visible save the clouds -which of a sudden were gathering; for a wind was rising, and already -the moon was overcast. Now for a while that noise high in the air -became like a wrangling of sparrows, wherein no words were -distinguishable. - -Then said a small shrill voice distinctly: "Note now, sweethearts, -how high we pass over the wind-vexed heath, where the gallows' -burden creaks and groans swaying to and fro in the night! Now the -rain breaks loose as a hawk from the fowler, and grave Queen Holda -draws her tresses over the moon's bright shield. Now the bed is -made, and the water drawn, and we the bride's maids seek for the -lass who will be bride to Sclaug." - -Said another: "Oh, search for a maid with golden hair, who is -perfect, tender and pure, and fit for a king who is old as love, -with no trace of love in him. Even now our grinning dusty master -wakes from sleep, and his yellow fingers shake to think of her -flower-soft lips who comes to-night to his lank embrace and warms -the ribs that our eyes have seen. Who will be bride to Sclaug?" - -And a third said: "The wedding-gown we have brought with us, we that -a-questing ride; and a maid will go hence on Phorgemon in -Cleopatra's shroud. Hah. Will o'the Wisp will marry the couple--" - -"No, no! let Brachyotus!" - -"No, be it Kitt with the candle-stick!" - -"Eman hetan, a fight, a fight!" - -"Oho, Tom Tumbler, 'ware of Stadlin!" - -"Hast thou the marmaritin, Tib?" - -"A ab hur hus!" - -"Come, Bembo, come away!" - -So they all fell to screeching and whistling and wrangling high over -Jurgen's head, and Jurgen was not pleased with his surroundings. - -"For these are the witches of Amneran about some deviltry or another -in which I prefer to take no part. I now regret that I flung away a -cross in this neighborhood so very recently, and trust the action -was understood. If my wife had not made a point of it, and had not -positively insisted upon it, I would never have thought of doing -such a thing. I intended no reflection upon anybody. Even so, I -consider this heath to be unwholesome. And upon the whole, I prefer -to seek whatever I may encounter in this cave." - -So in went Jurgen, for the second time. - -And the tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no -one. But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at -the far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -to the place where he had found the Centaur. This part of the cave -was now vacant. But behind where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen -was an opening in the cave's wall, and through this opening streamed -the light. Jurgen stooped and crawled through the orifice. - -He stood erect. He caught his breath sharply. Here at his feet was, -of all things, a tomb carved with the recumbent effigy of a woman. -Now this part of the cave was lighted by lamps upon tall iron -stands, so that everything was clearly visible, even to Jurgen, -whose eyesight had of late years failed him. This was certainly a -low flat tombstone such as Jurgen had seen in many churches: but the -tinted effigy thereupon was curious, somehow Jurgen looked more -closely. He touched the thing. - -Then he recoiled, because there is no mistaking the feel of dead -flesh. The effigy was not colored stone: it was the body of a dead -woman. More unaccountable still, it was the body of Félise de -Puysange, whom Jurgen had loved very long ago in Gâtinais, a great -many years before he set up in business as a pawnbroker. - -Very strange it was to Jurgen again to see her face. He had often -wondered what had become of this large brown woman; had wondered if -he were really the first man for whom she had put a deceit upon her -husband; and had wondered what sort of person Madame Félise de -Puysange had been in reality. - -"Two months it was that we played at intimacy, was it not, Félise? -You comprehend, my dear, I really remember very little about you. -But I recall quite clearly the door left just a-jar, and how as I -opened it gently I would see first of all the lamp upon your -dressing-table, turned down almost to extinction, and the glowing -dust upon its glass shade. Is it not strange that our exceeding -wickedness should have resulted in nothing save the memory of dust -upon a lamp chimney? Yet you were very handsome, Félise. I dare say -I would have liked you if I had ever known you. But when you told me -of the child you had lost, and showed me his baby picture, I took a -dislike to you. It seemed to me you were betraying that child by -dealing over-generously with me: and always between us afterward was -his little ghost. Yet I did not at all mind the deceits you put upon -your husband. It is true I knew your husband rather intimately--. -Well, and they tell me the good Vicomte was vastly pleased by the -son you bore him some months after you and I had parted. So there -was no great harm done, after all--" - -Then Jurgen saw there was another woman's body lying like an effigy -upon another low flat tomb, and beyond that another, and then still -others. And Jurgen whistled. - -"What, all of them!" he said. "Am I to be confronted with every -pound of tender flesh I have embraced? Yes, here is Graine, and -Rosamond, and Marcouève, and Elinor. This girl, though, I do not -remember at all. And this one is, I think, the little Jewess I -purchased from Hassan Bey in Sidon, but how can one be sure? Still, -this is certainly Judith, and this is Myrina. I have half a mind to -look again for that mole, but I suppose it would be indecorous. -Lord, how one's women do add up! There must be several scores of -them in all. It is the sort of spectacle that turns a man to serious -thinking. Well, but it is a great comfort to reflect that I dealt -fairly with every one of them. Several of them treated me most -unjustly, too. But that is past and done with: and I bear no malice -toward such fickle and short-sighted creatures as could not be -contented with one lover, and he the Jurgen that was!" - -Thereafter, Jurgen, standing among his dead, spread out his arms in -an embracing gesture. - -"Hail to you, ladies, and farewell! for you and I have done with love. -Well, love is very pleasant to observe as he advances, overthrowing all -ancient memories with laughter. And yet for each gay lover who concedes -the lordship of love, and wears intrepidly love's liveries, the end of -all is death. Love's sowing is more agreeable than love's harvest: or, -let us put it, he allures us into byways leading nowhither, among -blossoms which fall before the first rough wind: so at the last, with -much excitement and breath and valuable time quite wasted, we find that -the end of all is death. Then would it have been more shrewd, dear -ladies, to have avoided love? To the contrary, we were unspeakably wise -to indulge the high-hearted insanity that love induced; since love alone -can lend young people rapture, however transiently, in a world wherein -the result of every human endeavor is transient, and the end of all is -death." - -Then Jurgen courteously bowed to his dead loves, and left them, and -went forward as the cave stretched. - -But now the light was behind him, so that Jurgen's shadow, as he -came to a sharp turn in the cave, loomed suddenly upon the cave -wall, confronting him. This shadow was clear-cut and unarguable. - -Jurgen regarded it intently. He turned this way, then the other; he -looked behind him, raised one hand, shook his head tentatively; then -he twisted his head sideways with his chin well lifted, and squinted -so as to get a profile view of this shadow. Whatever Jurgen did the -shadow repeated, which was natural enough. The odd part was that it -in nothing resembled the shadow which ought to attend any man, and -this was an uncomfortable discovery to make in loneliness deep under -ground. - -"I do not exactly like this," said Jurgen. "Upon my word, I do not -like this at all. It does not seem fair. It is perfectly -preposterous. Well"--and here he shrugged,--"well, and what could -anybody expect me to do about it? Ah, what indeed! So I shall treat -the incident with dignified contempt, and continue my exploration of -this cave." - - - - -9. - -The Orthodox Rescue of Guenevere - - -Now the tale tells how the cave narrowed and again turned sharply, -so that Jurgen came as through a corridor into quite another sort of -underground chamber. Yet this also was a discomfortable place. - -Here suspended from the roof of the vault was a kettle of quivering -red flames. These lighted a very old and villainous looking man in -full armor, girded with a sword, and crowned royally: he sat erect -upon a throne, motionless, with staring eyes that saw nothing. Back -of him Jurgen noted many warriors seated in rows, and all staring at -Jurgen with wide-open eyes that saw nothing. The red flaming of the -kettle was reflected in all these eyes, and to observe this was not -pleasant. - -Jurgen waited non-committally. Nothing happened. Then Jurgen saw -that at this unengaging monarch's feet were three chests. The lids -had been ripped from two of them, and these were filled with silver -coins. Upon the middle chest, immediately before the king, sat a -woman, with her face resting against the knees of the glaring, -withered, motionless, old rascal. - -"And this is a young woman. Obviously! Observe the glint of that -thick coil of hair! the rich curve of the neck! Oh, clearly, a -tidbit fit to fight for, against any moderate odds!" - -So ran the thoughts of Jurgen. Bold as a dragon now, he stepped -forward and lifted the girl's head. - -Her eyes were closed. She was, even so, the most beautiful creature -Jurgen had ever imagined. - -"She does not breathe. And yet, unless memory fails me, this is -certainly a living woman in my arms. Evidently this is a sleep -induced by necromancy. Well, it is not for nothing I have read so -many fairy tales. There are orthodoxies to be observed in the -awakening of every enchanted princess. And Lisa, wherever she may -be, poor dear! is nowhere in this neighborhood, because I hear -nobody talking. So I may consider myself at liberty to do the -traditional thing by this princess. Indeed, it is the only fair -thing for me to do, and justice demands it." - -In consequence, Jurgen kissed the girl. Her lips parted and -softened, and they assumed a not unpleasant sort of submissive -ardor. Her eyes, enormous when seen thus closely, had languorously -opened, had viewed him without wonder, and then the lids had fallen, -about half-way, just as, Jurgen remembered, the eyelids of a woman -ought to do when she is being kissed properly. She clung a little, -and now she shivered a little, but not with cold: Jurgen perfectly -remembered that ecstatic shudder convulsing a woman's body: -everything, in fine, was quite as it should be. So Jurgen put an end -to the kiss, which, as you may surmise, was a tolerably lengthy -affair. - -His heart was pounding as though determined to burst from his body, -and he could feel the blood tingling at his finger-tips. He wondered -what in the world had come over him, who was too old for such -emotions. - -Yet, truly, this was the loveliest girl that Jurgen had ever -imagined. Fair was she to look on, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer person might no man boast of having -seen. And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks flushed by -that red flickering overhead, and she was very lovely to observe. -She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her neck -was a collar of red gold. When she spoke her voice was music. - -"I knew that you would come," the girl said, happily. - -"I am very glad that I came," observed Jurgen. - -"But time presses." - -"Time sets an admirable example, my dear Princess--" - -"Oh, messire, but do you not perceive that you have brought life -into this horrible place! You have given of this life to me, in the -most direct and speedy fashion. But life is very contagious. Already -it is spreading by infection." - -And Jurgen regarded the old king, as the girl indicated. The -withered ruffian stayed motionless: but from his nostrils came slow -augmenting jets of vapor, as though he were beginning to breathe in -a chill place. This was odd, because the cave was not cold. - -"And all the others too are snorting smoke," says Jurgen. "Upon my -word I think this is a delightful place to be leaving." - -First, though, he unfastened the king's sword-belt, and girded -himself therewith, sword, dagger and all. "Now I have arms befitting -my fine shirt," says Jurgen. - -Then the girl showed him a sort of passage way, by which they -ascended forty-nine steps roughly hewn in stone, and so came to -daylight. At the top of the stairway was an iron trapdoor, and this -door at the girl's instruction Jurgen lowered. There was no way of -fastening the door from without. - -"But Thragnar is not to be stopped by bolts or padlocks," the girl -said. "Instead, we must straightway mark this door with a cross, -since that is a symbol which Thragnar cannot pass." - -Jurgen's hand had gone instinctively to his throat. Now he shrugged. -"My dear young lady, I no longer carry the cross. I must fight -Thragnar with other weapons." - -"Two sticks will serve, laid crosswise--" - -Jurgen submitted that nothing would be easier than to lift the -trapdoor, and thus dislodge the sticks. "They will tumble apart -without anyone having to touch them, and then what becomes of your -crucifix?" - -"Why, how quickly you think of everything!" she said, admiringly. -"Here is a strip from my sleeve, then. We will tie the twigs -together." - -Jurgen did this, and laid upon the trapdoor a recognizable crucifix. -"Still, when anyone raises the trapdoor whatever lies upon it will -fall off. Without disparaging the potency of your charm, I cannot -but observe that in this case it is peculiarly difficult to handle. -Magician or no, I would put heartier faith in a stout padlock." - -So the girl tore another strip, from the hem of her gown, and then -another from her right sleeve, and with these they fastened their -cross to the surface of the trapdoor, in such a fashion that the -twigs could not be dislodged from beneath. They mounted the fine -steed whose bridle was marked with a coronet, the girl riding -pillion, and they turned westward, since the girl said this was -best. - -For, as she now told Jurgen, she was Guenevere, the daughter of -Gogyrvan, King of Glathion and the Red Islands. So Jurgen told her -he was the Duke of Logreus, because he felt it was not appropriate -for a pawnbroker to be rescuing princesses: and he swore, too, that -he would restore her safely to her father, whatever Thragnar might -attempt. And all the story of her nefarious capture and imprisonment -by King Thragnar did Dame Guenevere relate to Jurgen, as they rode -together through the pleasant May morning. - -She considered the Troll King could not well molest them. "For now -you have his charmed sword, Caliburn, the only weapon with which -Thragnar can be slain. Besides, the sign of the cross he cannot -pass. He beholds and trembles." - -"My dear Princess, he has but to push up the trapdoor from beneath, -and the cross, being tied to the trapdoor, is promptly moved out of -his way. Failing this expedient, he can always come out of the cave -by the other opening, through which I entered. If this Thragnar has -any intelligence at all and a reasonable amount of tenacity, he will -presently be at hand." - -"Even so, he can do no harm unless we accept a present from him. The -difficulty is that he will come in disguise." - -"Why, then, we will accept gifts from nobody." - -"There is, moreover, a sign by which you may distinguish Thragnar. -For if you deny what he says, he will promptly concede you are in -the right. This was the curse put upon him by Miramon Lluagor, for a -detection and a hindrance." - -"By that unhuman trait," says Jurgen, "Thragnar ought to be very -easy to distinguish." - - - - -10. - -Pitiful Disguises of Thragnar - - -Next, the tale tells that as Jurgen and the Princess were nearing -Gihon, a man came riding toward them, full armed in black, and -having a red serpent with an apple in its mouth painted upon his -shield. - -"Sir knight," says he, speaking hollowly from the closed helmet, -"you must yield to me that lady." - -"I think," says Jurgen, civilly, "that you are mistaken." - -So they fought, and presently, since Caliburn was a resistless -weapon, and he who wore the scabbard of Caliburn could not be -wounded, Jurgen prevailed; and gave the strange knight so heavy a -buffet that the knight fell senseless. - -"Do you think," says Jurgen, about to unlace his antagonist's -helmet, "that this is Thragnar?" - -"There is no possible way of telling," replied Dame Guenevere: "if -it is the Troll King he should have offered you gifts, and when you -contradicted him he should have admitted you were right. Instead, he -proffered nothing, and to contradiction he answered nothing, so that -proves nothing." - -"But silence is a proverbial form of assent. At all events, we will -have a look at him." - -"But that too will prove nothing, since Thragnar goes about his -mischiefs so disguised by enchantments as invariably to resemble -somebody else, and not himself at all." - -"Such dishonest habits introduce an element of uncertainty, I grant -you," says Jurgen. "Still, one can rarely err by keeping on the safe -side. This person is, in any event, a very ill-bred fellow, with -probably immoral intentions. Yes, caution is the main thing, and in -justice to ourselves we will keep on the safe side." - -So without unloosing the helmet, he struck off the strange knight's -head, and left him thus. The Princess was now mounted on the horse -of their deceased assailant. - -"Assuredly," says Jurgen then, "a magic sword is a fine thing, and a -very necessary equipment, too, for a knight errant of my age." - -"But you talk as though you were an old man, Messire de Logreus!" - -"Come now," thinks Jurgen, "this is a princess of rare -discrimination. What, after all, is forty-and-something when one is -well-preserved? This uncommonly intelligent girl reminds me a little -of Marcouève, whom I loved in Artein: besides, she does not look at -me as women look at an elderly man. I like this princess, in fact, I -adore this princess. I wonder now what would she say if I told her -as much?" - -But Jurgen did not tempt chance that time, for just then they -encountered a boy who had frizzed hair and painted cheeks. He walked -mincingly, in a curious garb of black bespangled with gold lozenges, -and he carried a gilded dung fork. - - * * * * * - -Then Jurgen and the Princess came to a black and silver pavilion -standing by the roadside. At the door of the pavilion was an -apple-tree in blossom: from a branch of this tree was suspended -a black hunting-horn, silver-mounted. A woman waited there alone. -Before her was a chess-board, with the ebony and silver pieces set -ready for a game, and upon the table to her left hand glittered -flagons and goblets of silver. Eagerly this woman rose and came -toward the travellers. - -"Oh, my dear Jurgen," says she, "but how fine you look in that new -shirt you are wearing! But there was never a man had better taste in -dress, as I have always said: and it is long I have waited for you -in this pavilion, which belongs to a black gentleman who seems to be -a great friend of yours. And he went into Crim Tartary this morning, -with some missionaries, by the worst piece of luck, for I know how -sorry he will be to miss you, dear. Now, but I am forgetting that -you must be very tired and thirsty, my darling, after your travels. -So do you and the young lady have a sip of this, and then we will be -telling one another of our adventures." - -For this woman had the appearance of Jurgen's wife, Dame Lisa, and -of none other. - -Jurgen regarded her with two minds. "You certainly seem to be Lisa. -But it is a long while since I saw Lisa in such an amiable mood." - -"You must know," says she, still smiling, "that I have learned to -appreciate you since we were separated." - -"The fiend who stole you from me may possibly have brought about -that wonder. None the less, you have met me riding at adventure with -a young woman. And you have assaulted neither of us, you have not -even raised your voice. No, quite decidedly, here is a miracle -beyond the power of any fiend." - -"Ah, but I have been doing a great deal of thinking, Jurgen dear, as -to our difficulties in the past. And it seems to me that you were -almost always in the right." - -Guenevere nudged Jurgen. "Did you note that? This is certainly -Thragnar in disguise." - -"I am beginning to think that at all events it is not Lisa." Then -Jurgen magisterially cleared his throat. "Lisa, if you indeed be -Lisa, you must understand I am through with you. The plain truth is -that you tire me. You talk and talk: no woman breathing equals you -at mere volume and continuity of speech: but you say nothing that I -have not heard seven hundred and eighty times if not oftener." - -"You are perfectly right, my dear," says Dame Lisa, piteously. "But -then I never pretended to be as clever as you." - -"Spare me your beguilements, if you please. And besides, I am in -love with this princess. Now spare me your recriminations, also, for -you have no real right to complain. If you had stayed the person -whom I promised the priest to love, I would have continued to think -the world of you. But you did nothing of the sort. From a cuddlesome -and merry girl, who thought whatever I did was done to perfection, -you elected to develop into an uncommonly plain and short-tempered -old woman." And Jurgen paused. "Eh?" said he, "and did you not do -this?" - -Dame Lisa answered sadly: "My dear, you are perfectly right, from -your way of thinking. However, I could not very well help getting -older." - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen, "this is astonishingly inadequate -impersonation, as any married man would see at once. Well, I made no -contract to love any such plain and short-tempered person. I -repudiate the claims of any such person, as manifestly unfair. And I -pledge undying affection to this high and noble Princess Guenevere, -who is the fairest lady that I have ever seen." - -"You are right," wailed Dame Lisa, "and I was entirely to blame. It -was because I loved you, and wanted you to get on in the world and -be a credit to my father's line of business, that I nagged you so. -But you will never understand the feelings of a wife, nor will you -understand that even now I desire your happiness above all else. -Here is our wedding-ring, then, Jurgen. I give you back your -freedom. And I pray that this princess may make you very happy, my -dear. For surely you deserve a princess if ever any man did." - -Jurgen shook his head. "It is astounding that a demon so much talked -about should be so poor an impersonator. It raises the staggering -supposition that the majority of married women must go to Heaven. As -for your ring, I am not accepting gifts this morning, from anyone. -But you understand, I trust, that I am hopelessly enamored of the -Princess on account of her beauty." - -"Oh, and I cannot blame you, my dear. She is the loveliest person I -have ever seen." - -"Hah, Thragnar!" says Jurgen, "I have you now. A woman might, just -possibly, have granted her own homeliness: but no woman that ever -breathed would have conceded the Princess had a ray of good looks." - -So with Caliburn he smote, and struck off the head of this thing -which foolishly pretended to be Dame Lisa. - -"Well done! oh, bravely done!" cried Guenevere. "Now the enchantment -is dissolved, and Thragnar is slain by my clever champion." - -"I could wish there were some surer sign of that," said Jurgen. "I -would have preferred that the pavilion and the decapitated Troll -King had vanished with a peal of thunder and an earthquake and such -other phenomena as are customary. Instead, nothing is changed except -that the woman who was talking to me a moment since now lies at my -feet in a very untidy condition. You conceive, madame, I used to -tease her about that twisted little-finger, in the days before we -began to squabble: and it annoys me that Thragnar should not have -omitted even Lisa's crooked little-finger on her left hand. Yes, -such painstaking carefulness worries me. For you conceive also, -madame, it would be more or less awkward if I had made an error, and -if the appearance were in reality what it seemed to be, because I -was pretty trying sometimes. At all events, I have done that which -seemed equitable, and I have found no comfort in the doing of it, -and I do not like this place." - - - - -11. - -Appearance of the Duke of Logreus - - -So Jurgen brushed from the table the chessmen that were set there in -readiness for a game, and he emptied the silver flagons upon the -ground. His reasons for not meddling with the horn he explained to -the Princess: she shivered, and said that, such being the case, he -was certainly very sensible. Then they mounted, and departed from -the black and silver pavilion. They came thus without further -adventure to Gogyrvan Gawr's city of Cameliard. - -Now there was shouting and the bells all rang when the people knew -their Princess was returned to them: the houses were hung with -painted cloths and banners, and trumpets sounded, as Guenevere and -Jurgen came to the King in his Hall of Judgment. And this Gogyrvan, -that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth and Camwy and -Sargyll, came down from his wide throne, and he embraced first -Guenevere, then Jurgen. - -"And demand of me what you will, Duke of Logreus," said Gogyrvan, -when he had heard the champion's name, "and it is yours for the -asking. For you have restored to me the best loved daughter that -ever was the pride of a high king." - -"Sir," replied Jurgen, reasonably, "a service rendered so gladly -should be its own reward. So I am asking that you do in turn restore -to me the Princess Guenevere, in honorable marriage, do you -understand, because I am a poor lorn widower, I am tolerably -certain, but I am quite certain I love your daughter with my whole -heart." - -Thus Jurgen, whose periods were confused by emotion. - -"I do not see what the condition of your heart has to do with any -such unreasonable request. And you have no good sense to be asking -this thing of me when here are the servants of Arthur, that is now -King of the Britons, come to ask for my daughter as his wife. That -you are Duke of Logreus you tell me, and I concede a duke is all -very well: but I expect you in return to concede a king takes -precedence, with any man whose daughter is marriageable. But -to-morrow or the next day it may be, you and I will talk over -your reward more privately. Meanwhile it is very queer and very -frightened you are looking, to be the champion who conquered -Thragnar." - -For Jurgen was staring at the great mirror behind the King's throne. -In this mirror Jurgen saw the back of Gogyrvan's crowned head, and -beyond this, Jurgen saw a queer and frightened looking young fellow, -with sleek black hair, and an impudent nose, and wide-open bright -brown eyes which were staring hard at Jurgen: and the lad's very red -and very heavy lips were parted, so that you saw what fine strong -teeth he had: and he wore a glittering shirt with curious figures on -it - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, and he saw the lad in the mirror was -speaking too, "I was thinking that is a remarkable mirror you have -there." - -"It is like any other mirror," replies the King, "in that it shows -things as they are. But if you fancy it as your reward, why, take it -and welcome." - -"And are you still talking of rewards!" cries Jurgen. "Why, if that -mirror shows things as they are, I have come out of my borrowed -Wednesday still twenty-one. Oh, but it was the clever fellow I was, -to flatter Mother Sereda so cunningly, and to fool her into such -generosity! And I wonder that you who are only a king, with bleared -eyes under your crown, and with a drooping belly under all your -royal robes, should be talking of rewarding a fine young fellow of -twenty-one, for there is nothing you have which I need be wanting -now." - -"Then you will not be plaguing me any more with your nonsense about -my daughter: and that is excellent news." - -"But I have no requirement to be asking your good graces now," said -Jurgen, "nor the good will of any man alive that has a handsome -daughter or a handsome wife. For now I have the aid of a lad that -was very recently made Duke of Logreus: and with his countenance I -can look out for myself, and I can get justice done me everywhere, -in all the bedchambers of the world." - -And Jurgen snapped his fingers, and was about to turn away from the -King. There was much sunlight in the hall, so that Jurgen in this -half-turn confronted his shadow as it lay plain upon the flagstones. -And Jurgen looked at it very intently. - -"Of course," said Jurgen presently, "I only meant in a manner of -speaking, sir: and was paraphrasing the splendid if hackneyed -passage from Sornatius, with which you are doubtless familiar, in -which he goes on to say, so much more beautifully than I could -possibly express without quoting him word for word, that all this -was spoken jestingly, and without the least intention of offending -anybody, oh, anybody whatever, I can assure you, sir." - -"Very well," said Gogyrvan Gawr: and he smiled, for no reason that -was apparent to Jurgen, who was still watching his shadow sidewise. -"To-morrow, I repeat, I must talk with you more privately. To-day I -am giving a banquet such as was never known in these parts, because -my daughter is restored to me, and because my daughter is going to -be queen over all the Britons." - -So said Gogyrvan, that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth -and Camwy and Sargyll: and this was done. And everywhere at the -banquet Jurgen heard talk of this King Arthur who was to marry Dame -Guenevere, and of the prophecy which Merlin Ambrosius had made as to -the young monarch. For Merlin had predicted: - -"He shall afford succor, and shall tread upon the necks of his -enemies: the isles of the ocean shall be subdued by him, and he -shall possess the forests of Gaul: the house of Romulus shall fear -his rage, and his acts shall be food for the narrators." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, to himself, "this monarch reminds me in -all things of David of Israel, who was so splendid and famous, and -so greedy, in the ancient ages. For to these forests and islands and -necks and other possessions, this Arthur Pendragon must be adding my -one ewe lamb; and I lack a Nathan to convert him to repentance. Now, -but this, to be sure, is a very unfair thing." - -Then Jurgen looked again into a mirror: and presently the eyes of -the lad he found therein began to twinkle. - -"Have at you, David!" said Jurgen, valorously; "since after all, I -see no reason to despair." - - - - -12. - -Excursus of Yolande's Undoing - - -Now Jurgen, self-appointed Duke of Logreus, abode at the court of -King Gogyrvan. The month of May passed quickly and pleasantly: but -the monstrous shadow which followed Jurgen did not pass. Still, no -one noticed it: that was the main thing. For himself, he was not -afraid of shadows, and the queerness of this one was not enough to -distract his thoughts from Guenevere, nor from his love-making with -Guenevere. - -For these were quiet times in Glathion, now that the war with Rience -of Northgalis was satisfactorily ended: and love-making was now -everywhere in vogue. By way of diversion, gentlemen hunted and -fished and rode a-hawking and amicably slashed and battered one -another in tournaments: but their really serious pursuit was -lovemaking, after the manner of chivalrous persons, who knew that -the King's trumpets would presently be summoning them into less -softly furnished fields of action, from one or another of which they -would return feet foremost on a bier. So Jurgen sighed and warbled -and made eyes with many excellent fighting-men: and the Princess -listened with many other ladies whose hearts were not of flint. And -Gogyrvan meditated. - -Now it was the kingly custom of Gogyrvan when his dinner was spread -at noontide, not to go to meat until all such as demanded justice -from him had been furnished with a champion to redress the wrong. -One day as the gaunt old King sat thus in his main hall, upon a seat -of green rushes covered with yellow satin, and with a cushion of -yellow satin under his elbow, and with his barons ranged about him -according to their degrees, a damsel came with a very heart-rending -tale of the oppression that was on her. - -Gogyrvan blinked at her, and nodded. "You are the handsomest woman I -have seen in a long while," says he, irrelevantly. "You are a woman -I have waited for. Duke Jurgen of Logreus will undertake this -adventure." - -There being no help for it, Jurgen rode off with this Dame Yolande, -not very well pleased: but as they rode he jested with her. And so, -with much laughter by the way, Yolande conducted him to the Green -Castle, of which she had been dispossessed by Graemagog, a most -formidable giant. - -"Now prepare to meet your death, sir knight!" cried Graemagog, -laughing horribly, and brandishing his club; "for all knights who -come hither I have sworn to slay." - -"Well, if truth-telling were a sin you would be a very virtuous -giant," says Jurgen, and he flourished Thragnar's sword, resistless -Caliburn. - -Then they fought, and Jurgen killed Graemagog. Thus was the Green -Castle restored to Dame Yolande, and the maidens who attended her -aforetime were duly released from the cellarage. They were now -maidens by courtesy only, but so tender is the heart of women that -they all wept over Graemagog. - -Yolande was very grateful, and proffered every manner of reward. - -"But, no, I will take none of these fine jewels, nor money, nor -lands either," says Jurgen. "For Logreus, I must tell you, is a -fairly well-to-do duchy, and the killing of giants is by way of -being my favorite pastime. He is well paid that is well satisfied. -Yet if you must reward me for such a little service, do you swear to -do what you can to get me the love of my lady, and that will -suffice." - -Yolande, without any particular enthusiasm, consented to attempt -this: and indeed Yolande, at Jurgen's request, made oath upon the -Four Evangelists that she would do everything within her power to -aid him. - -"Very well," said Jurgen, "you have sworn, and it is you whom I -love." - -Surprise now made her lovely. Yolande was frankly delighted at the -thought of marrying the young Duke of Logreus, and offered to send -for a priest at once. - -"My dear," says Jurgen, "there is no need to bother a priest about -our private affairs." - -She took his meaning, and sighed. "Now I regret," said she, "that I -made so solemn an oath. Your trick was unfair." - -"Oh, not at all," said Jurgen: "and presently you will not regret -it. For indeed the game is well worth the candle." - -"How is that shown, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Why, by candle-light," says Jurgen,--"naturally." - -"In that event, we will talk no further of it until this evening." - -So that evening Yolande sent for him. She was, as Gogyrvan had said, -a remarkably handsome woman, sleek and sumptuous and crowned with a -wealth of copper-colored hair. To-night she was at her best in a -tunic of shimmering blue, with a surcote of gold embroidery, and -with gold embroidered pendent sleeves that touched the floor. Thus -she was when Jurgen came to her. - -"Now," says Yolande, frowning, "you may as well come out -straightforwardly with what you were hinting at this morning." - -But first Jurgen looked about the apartment, and it was lighted by a -tall gilt stand whereon burned candles. - -He counted these, and he whistled. "Seven candles! upon my word, -sweetheart, you do me great honor, for this is a veritable -illumination. To think of it, now, that you should honor me, as -people do saints, with seven candles! Well, I am only mortal, but -none the less I am Jurgen, and I shall endeavor to repay this -sevenfold courtesy without discount." - -"Oh, Messire de Logreus," cried Dame Yolande, "but what -incomprehensible nonsense you talk! You misinterpret matters, for I -can assure you I had nothing of that sort in mind. Besides, I do not -know what you are talking about." - -"Indeed, I must warn you that my actions often speak more -unmistakably than my words. It is what learned persons term an -idiosyncrasy." - -"--And I certainly do not see how any of the saints can be concerned -in this. If you had said the Four Evangelists now--! For we were -talking of the Four Evangelists, you remember, this morning--Oh, but -how stupid it is of you, Messire de Logreus, to stand there grinning -and looking at me in a way that makes me blush!" - -"Well, that is easily remedied," said Jurgen, as he blew out the -candles, "since women do not blush in the dark." - -"What do you plan, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Ah, do not be alarmed!" said Jurgen. "I shall deal fairly with -you." - -And in fact Yolande confessed afterward that, considering -everything, Messire de Logreus was very generous. Jurgen confessed -nothing: and as the room was profoundly dark nobody else can speak -with authority as to what happened there. It suffices that the Duke -of Logreus and the Lady of the Green Castle parted later on the most -friendly terms. - -"You have undone me, with your games and your candles and your -scrupulous returning of courtesies," said Yolande, and yawned, for -she was sleepy; "but I fear that I do not hate you as much as I -ought to." - -"No woman ever does," says Jurgen, "at this hour." He called for -breakfast, then kissed Yolande--for this, as Jurgen had said, was -their hour of parting,--and he rode away from the Green Castle in -high spirits. - -"Why, what a thing it is again to be a fine young fellow!" said -Jurgen. "Well, even though her big brown eyes protrude too -much--something like a lobster's--she is a splendid woman, that Dame -Yolande: and it is a comfort to reflect I have seen justice was done -her." - -Then he rode back to Cameliard, singing with delight in the thought -that he was riding toward the Princess Guenevere, whom he loved with -his whole heart. - - - - -13. - -Philosophy of Gogyrvan Gawr - - -At Cameliard the young Duke of Logreus spent most of his time in the -company of Guenevere, whose father made no objection overtly. -Gogyrvan had his promised talk with Jurgen. - -"I lament that Dame Yolande dealt over-thriftily with you," the King -said, first of all: "for I estimated you two would be as spark and -tinder, kindling between you an amorous conflagration to burn up all -this nonsense about my daughter." - -"Thrift, sir," said Jurgen, discreetly, "is a proverbial virtue, and -fires may not consume true love." - -"That is the truth," Gogyrvan admitted, "whoever says it." And he -sighed. - -Then for a while he sat in nodding meditation. Tonight the old King -wore a disreputably rusty gown of black stuff, with fur about the -neck and sleeves of it, and his scant white hair was covered by a -very shabby black cap. So he huddled over a small fire in a large -stone fireplace carved with shields; beside him was white wine and -red, which stayed untasted while Gogyrvan meditated upon things that -fretted him. - -"Now, then!" says Gogyrvan Gawr: "this marriage with the high King -of the Britons must go forward, of course. That was settled last -year, when Arthur and his devil-mongers, the Lady of the Lake and -Merlin Ambrosius, were at some pains to rescue me at Carohaise. I -estimate that Arthur's ambassadors, probably the devil-mongers -themselves, will come for my daughter before June is out. Meanwhile, -you two have youth and love for playthings, and it is spring." - -"What is the season of the year to me," groaned Jurgen, "when I -reflect that within a week or so the lady of my heart will be borne -away from me forever? How can I be happy, when all the while I know -the long years of misery and vain regret are near at hand?" - -"You are saying that," observed the King, "in part because you drank -too much last night, and in part because you think it is expected of -you. For in point of fact, you are as happy as anyone is permitted -to be in this world, through the simple reason that you are young. -Misery, as you employ the word, I consider to be a poetical trophe: -but I can assure you that the moment you are no longer young the -years of vain regret will begin, either way." - -"That is true," said Jurgen, heartily. - -"How do you know? Now then, put it I were insane enough to marry my -daughter to a mere duke, you would grow damnably tired of her: I can -assure you of that also, for in disposition Guenevere is her sainted -mother all over again. She is nice looking, of course, because in -that she takes after my side of the family: but, between ourselves, -she is not particularly intelligent, and she will always be making -eyes at some man or another. To-day it appears to be your turn to -serve as her target, in a fine glittering shirt of which the like -was never seen in Glathion. I deplore, but even so I cannot deny, -your rights as the champion who rescued her: and I must bid you make -the most of that turn." - -"Meanwhile, it occurs to me, sir, that it is unusual to betroth your -daughter to one man, and permit her to go freely with another." - -"If you insist upon it," said Gogyrvan Gawr, "I can of course lock -up the pair of you, in separate dungeons, until the wedding day. -Meanwhile, it occurs to me you should be the last commentator to -grumble." - -"Why, I tell you plainly, sir, that critical persons would say you -are taking very small care of your daughter's honor." - -"To that there are several answers," replied the King. "One is that -I remember my late wife as tenderly as possible, and I reflect I -have only her word for it as to Guenevere's being my daughter. -Another is that, though my daughter is a quiet and well-conducted -young woman, I never heard King Thragnar was anything of this sort." - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you hinting!" - -"All sorts of things, however, happen in caves, things which it is -wiser to ignore in sunlight. So I ignore: I ask no questions: my -business is to marry my daughter acceptably, and that only. Such -discoveries as may be made by her husband afterward are his affair, -not mine. This much I might tell you, Messire de Logreus, by way of -answer. But the real answer is to bid you consider this: that a -woman's honor is concerned with one thing only, and it is a thing -with which the honor of a man is not concerned at all." - -"But now you talk in riddles, King, and I wonder what it is you -would have me do." - -Gogyrvan grinned. "Obviously, I advise you to give thanks you were -born a man, because that sturdier sex has so much less need to -bother over breakage." - -"What sort of breakage, sir?" says Jurgen. - -Gogyrvan told him. - -Duke Jurgen for the second time looked properly horrified. "Your -aphorisms, King, are abominable, and of a sort unlikely to quiet my -misery. However, we were speaking of your daughter, and it is she -who must be considered rather than I." - -"Now I perceive that you take my meaning perfectly. Yes, in all -matters which concern my daughter I would have you lie like a -gentleman." - -"Well, I am afraid, sir," said Jurgen, after a pause, "that you are -a person of somewhat degraded ideals." - -"Ah, but you are young. Youth can afford ideals, being vigorous -enough to stand the hard knocks they earn their possessor. But I am -an old fellow cursed with a tender heart and tolerably keen eyes. -That combination, Messire de Logreus, is one which very often forces -me to jeer out of season, simply because I know myself to be upon -the verge of far more untimely tears." - -Thus Gogyrvan replied. He was silent for a while, and he -contemplated the fire. Then he waved a shriveled hand toward the -window, and Gogyrvan began to speak, meditatively: - -"Messire de Logreus, it is night in my city of Cameliard. And -somewhere one of those roofs harbors a girl whom we will call -Lynette. She has a lover--we will say he is called Sagramor. The -names do not matter. Tonight, as I speak with you, Lynette lies -motionless in the carved wide bed that formerly was her mother's. -She is thinking of Sagramor. The room is dark save where moonlight -silvers the diamond-shaped panes of ancient windows. In every corner -of the room mysterious quivering suggestions lurk." - -"Ah, sire," says Jurgen, "you also are a poet!" - -"Do not interrupt me, then! Lynette, I repeat, is thinking of Sagramor. -Again they sit near the lake, under an apple-tree older than Rome. -The knotted branches of the tree are upraised as in benediction: -and petals--petals, fluttering, drifting, turning,--interminable white -petals fall silently in the stillness. Neither speaks: for there is no -need. Silently he brushes a petal from the blackness of her hair, and -silently he kisses her. The lake is dusky and hard-seeming as jade. -Two lonely stars hang low in the green sky. It is droll that the chest -of a man is hairy, oh, very droll! And a bird is singing, a silvery -needle of sound moves fitfully in the stillness. Surely high Heaven -is thus quietly colored and thus strangely lovely. So at least thinks -little Lynette, lying motionless like a little mouse, in the carved -wide bed wherein Lynette was born." - -"A very moving touch, that," Jurgen interpolated. - -"Now, there is another sort of singing: for now the pot-house -closes, big shutters bang, feet shuffle, a drunken man hiccoughs in -his singing. It is a love-song he is murdering. He sheds -inexplicable tears as he lurches nearer and nearer to Lynette's -window, and his heart is all magnanimity, for Sagramor is -celebrating his latest conquest. Do you not think that this or -something very like this is happening to-night in my city of -Cameliard, Messire de Logreus?". - -"It happens momently," said Jurgen, "everywhere. For thus is every -woman for a little while, and thus is every man for all time." - -"That being a dreadful truth," continued Gogyrvan, "you may take it -as one of the many reasons why I jeer out of season in order to -stave off far more untimely tears. For this thing happens: in my -city it happens, and in my castle it happens. King or no, I am -powerless to prevent its happening. So I can but shrug and hearten -my old blood with a fresh bottle. No less, I regard the young woman, -who is quite possibly my daughter, with considerable affection: and -it would be salutary for you to remember that circumstance, Messire -de Logreus, if ever you are tempted to be candid." - -Jurgen was horrified. "But with the Princess, sir, it is unthinkable -that I should not deal fairly." - -King Gogyrvan continued to look at Jurgen. Gogyrvan Gawr said -nothing, and not a muscle of him moved. - -"Although of course," said Jurgen, "I would, in simple justice to -her, not ever consider volunteering any information likely to cause -pain." - -"Again I perceive," said Gogyrvan, "that you understand me. Yet I -did not speak of my daughter only, but of everybody." - -"How then, sir, would you have me deal with everybody?" - -"Why, I can but repeat my words," says Gogyrvan, very patiently: "I -would have you lie like a gentleman. And now be off with you, for I -am going to sleep. I shall not be wide awake again until my daughter -is safely married. And that is absolutely all I can do for you." - -"Do you think this is reputable conduct, King?" - -"Oh, no!" says Gogyrvan, surprised. "It is what we call -philanthropy." - - - - -14. - -Preliminary Tactics of Duke Jurgen - - -So Jurgen abode at court, and was tolerably content for a little -while. He loved a princess, the fairest and most perfect of mortal -women; and loved her (a circumstance to which he frequently -recurred) as never any other man had loved in the world's history: -and very shortly he was to stand by and see her married to another. -Here was a situation to delight the chivalrous court of Glathion, -for every requirement of romance was exactly fulfilled. - -Now the appearance of Guenevere, whom Jurgen loved with an entire -heart, was this:--She was of middling height, with a figure not yet -wholly the figure of a woman. She had fine and very thick hair, and -the color of it was the yellow of corn floss. When Guenevere undid -her hair it was a marvel to Jurgen to note how snugly this hair -descended about the small head and slender throat, and then -broadened boldly and clothed her with a loose soft foam of pallid -gold. For Jurgen delighted in her hair; and with increasing -intimacy, loved to draw great strands of it back of his head, -crossing them there, and pressing soft handfuls of her perfumed hair -against his cheeks as he kissed the Princess. - -The head of Guenevere, be it repeated, was small: you wondered at -the proud free tossing movements of that little head which had to -sustain the weight of so much hair. The face of Guenevere was -colored tenderly and softly: it made the faces of other women seem -the work of a sign-painter, just splotched in anyhow. Gray eyes had -Guenevere, veiled by incredibly long black lashes that curved -incredibly. Her brows arched rather high above her eyes: that was -almost a fault. Her nose was delicate and saucy: her chin was -impudence made flesh: and her mouth was a tiny and irresistible -temptation. - -"And so on, and so on! But indeed there is no sense at all in -describing this lovely girl as though I were taking an inventory of -my shopwindow," said Jurgen. "Analogues are all very well, and they -have the unanswerable sanction of custom: none the less, when I -proclaim that my adored mistress's hair reminds me of gold I am -quite consciously lying. It looks like yellow hair, and nothing -else: nor would I willingly venture within ten feet of any woman -whose head sprouted with wires, of whatever metal. And to protest -that her eyes are as gray and fathomless as the sea is very well -also, and the sort of thing which seems expected of me: but imagine -how horrific would be puddles of water slopping about in a lady's -eye-sockets! If we poets could actually behold the monsters we rhyme -of, we would scream and run. Still, I rather like this sirvente." - -For he was making a sirvente in praise of Guenevere. It was the -pleasant custom of Gogyrvan's court that every gentleman must -compose verses in honor of the lady of whom he was hopelessly -enamored; as well as that in these verses he should address the lady -(as one whose name was too sacred to mention) otherwise than did her -sponsors. So Duke Jurgen of Logreus duly rhapsodized of his -Phyllida. - -"I borrow for my dear love the appellation of that noted but by much -inferior lady who was beloved by Ariphus of Belsize," he explained. -"You will remember Poliger suspects she was a princess of the house of -Scleroveus: and you of course recall Pisander's masterly summing-up of -the probabilities, in his _Heraclea_." - -"Oh, yes," they said. And the courtiers of Gogyrvan Gawr, like -Mother Sereda, were greatly impressed by young Duke Jurgen's -erudition. - -For Jurgen was Duke of Logreus nowadays, with his glittering shirt -and the coronet upon his bridle to show for it. Awkwardly this -proved to be an earl's coronet, but incongruities are not always -inexplicable. - -"It was Earl Giarmuid's horse. You have doubtless heard of Giarmuid: -but to ask that is insulting." - -"Oh, not at all. It is humor. We perfectly understand your humor, -Duke Jurgen." - -"And a very pretty fighter I found this famous Giarmuid as I -traveled westward. And since he killed my steed in the heat of our -conversation, I was compelled to take over his horse, after I had -given this poor Giarmuid proper interment. Oh, yes, a very pretty -fighter, and I had heard much talk of him in Logreus. He was Lord of -Ore and Persaunt, you remember, though of course the estate came by -his mother's side." - -"Oh, yes," they said. "You must not think that we of Glathion are -quite shut out from the great world. We have heard of all these -affairs. And we have also heard fine things of your duchy of -Logreus, messire." - -"Doubtless," said Jurgen; and turned again to his singing. - -"Lo, for I pray to thee, resistless Love," he descanted, "that thou -to-day make cry unto my love, to Phyllida whom I, poor Logreus, love -so tenderly, not to deny me love! Asked why, say thou my drink and -food is love, in days wherein I think and brood on love, and truly -find naught good in aught save love, since Phyllida hath taught me -how to love." - -Here Jurgen groaned with nicely modulated ardor; and he continued: -"If she avow such constant hate of love as would ignore my great and -constant love, plead thou no more! With listless lore of love woo -Death resistlessly, resistless Love, in place of her that saith such -scorn of love as lends to Death the lure and grace I love." - -Thus Jurgen sang melodiously of his Phyllida, and meant thereby (as -everybody knew) the Princess Guenevere. Since custom compelled him -to deal in analogues, he dealt wholesale. Gems and metals, the -blossoms of the field and garden, fires and wounds and sunrises and -perfumes, an armory of lethal weapons, ice and a concourse of -mythological deities were his starting-point. Then the seas -and heavens were dredged of phenomena to be mentioned with -disparagement, in comparison with one or another feature of Duke -Jurgen's Phyllida. Zoology and history, and generally the remembered -contents of his pawnshop, were overhauled and made to furnish -targets for depreciation: whereas in dealing with the famous ladies -loved by earlier poets, Duke Jurgen was positively insulting, -allowing hardly a rag of merit. Still, he was careful to be just: -and he allowed that these poor creatures might figure advantageously -enough in eyes which had never beheld his Phyllida. And to all this -information the lady whom he hymned attended willingly. - -"She is a princess," reflected Jurgen. "She is quite beautiful. She -is young, and whatever her father's opinion, she is reasonably -intelligent, as women go. Nobody could ask more. Why, then, am I not -out of my head about her? Already she permits a kiss or two when -nobody is around, and presently she will permit more. And she thinks -I am quite the cleverest person living. Come, Jurgen, man! is there -no heart in this spry young body you have regained? Come, let us -have a little honest rapture and excitement over this promising -situation!" - -But somehow Jurgen could not manage it. He was interested in what, -he knew, was going to happen. Yes, undoubtedly he looked forward to -more intimate converse with this beautiful young princess, but it -was rather as one anticipates partaking of a favorite dessert. -Jurgen felt that a liaison arranged for in this spirit was neither -one thing or the other. - -"If only I could feel like a cold-blooded villain, now, I would at -worst be classifiable. But I intend the girl no harm, I am honestly -fond of her. I shall talk my best, broaden her ideas, and give her, -I flatter myself, considerable pleasure: vulgar prejudices apart, I -shall leave her no whit the worse. Why, the dear little thing, not -for the ransom of seven emperors would I do her any hurt! And in -these matters discretion is everything, simply everything. No, quite -decidedly, I am not a cold-blooded villain; and I shall deal fairly -with the Princess." - -Thus Jurgen was disappointed by his own emotions, as he turned them -from side to side, and prodded them, and shifted to a fresh -viewpoint, only to find it no more favorable than the one -relinquished: but he veiled the inadequacy of his emotions with very -moving fervors. The tale does not record his conversations with -Guenevere: for Jurgen now discoursed plain idiocy, as one purveys -sweetmeats to a child in fond astonishment at the pet's appetite. -And leisurely Jurgen advanced: there was no hurry, with weeks -wherein to accomplish everything: meanwhile this routine work had a -familiar pleasantness. - -For the amateur co-ordinates matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. There is no harm at all in -respectful allusions to a love that comprehends its hopelessness: it -was merely a fact which Jurgen mentioned, and was about to pass on; -only Guenevere, in modesty, was forced to disparage her own -attractions, as an inadequate cause for so much misery. Common -courtesy demanded that Jurgen enter upon a rebuttal. To emphasize -one point in this, the orator was forced to take the hand of his -audience: but strangers did that every day, with nobody objecting; -moreover, the hand was here, not so much seized as displayed by its -detainer, as evidence of what he contended. How else was he to prove -the Princess of Glathion had the loveliest hand in the world? It was -not a matter he could request Guenevere to accept on hearsay: and -Jurgen wanted to deal fairly with her. - -Well, but before relinquishing the loveliest hand in the world a -connoisseur will naturally kiss each fingertip: this is merely a -tribute to perfection, and has no personal application. Besides, a -kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think -of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl -demurring against this apothegm--as custom again exacted,--was, -still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says -Jurgen presently, you see for yourself. Is anything changed between -us? Do we not sit here, just as we were before? Why, to be sure! a -kiss is now attestedly a quite innocuous performance, with nothing -very fearful about it one way or the other. It even has its pleasant -side. Thus there is no need to make a pother over kisses or over an -arm about you, when it is more comfortable sitting so: how can one -reasonably deny to a sincere friend what is accorded to a cousin or -an old cloak? It would be nonsense, as Jurgen demonstrated with a -very apt citation from Napsacus. - -Then, sitting so, in the heat of conversation a speaker naturally -gesticulates: and a deal of his eloquence is dependent upon his -hands. When anyone is talking it is discourteous to interrupt, -whereas to lay hold of a gentleman's hand outright, as Jurgen -parenthesized, is a little forward. No, he really did not think it -would be quite proper for Guenevere to hold his hand. Let us -preserve decorum, even in trifles. - -"Ah, but you know that you are doing wrong!" - -"I doing wrong! I, who am simply sitting here and talking my poor -best in an effort to entertain you! Come now, Princess, but tell me -what you mean!" - -"You should know very well what I mean." - -"But I protest to you I have not the least notion. How can I -possibly know what you mean when you refuse to tell me what you -mean?" - -And since the Princess declined to put into words just what she -meant, things stayed as they were, for the while. - -Thus did Jurgen co-ordinate matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. And in short, affairs sped very much -as Jurgen had anticipated. - -Now, by ordinary, Jurgen talked with Guenevere in dimly lighted -places. He preferred this, because then he was not bothered by that -unaccountable shadow whose presence in sunlight put him out. Nobody -ever seemed to notice this preposterous shadow; it was patent, -indeed, that nobody could see it save Jurgen: none the less, the -thing worried him. So even from the first he remembered Guenevere as -a soft voice and a delectable perfume in twilight, as a beauty not -clearly visioned. - -And Gogyrvan's people worried him. The hook-nosed tall old King had -been by Jurgen dismissed from thought, as an enigma not important -enough to be worth the trouble of solving. Gogyrvan at once seemed -to be schooling himself to patience under some private annoyance and -to be revolving in his mind some private jest; he was queer, and -probably abominable: but to grant the old rascal his due, he was not -meddlesome. - -The people about Gogyrvan, though, were perplexing. These men who -considered that all you possessed was loaned you to devote to the -service of your God, your King and every woman who crossed your -path, could hardly be behaving rationally. To talk of serving God -sounded as sonorously and as inspiritingly as a drum: yes, and a -drum had nothing but air in it. The priests said so-and-so: but did -anybody believe the gallant Bishop of Merion, for example, was -always to be depended upon? - -"I would like the opinion of Prince Evrawc's wife as to that," said -Jurgen, with a grin. For it was well-known that all affairs between -this Dame Alundyne and the Bishop were so discreetly managed as to -afford no reason for any scandal whatever. - -As for serving the King, there in plain view was Gogyrvan Gawr, for -anyone who so elected, to regard and grow enthusiastic over: -Gogyrvan might be shrewd enough, but to Jurgen he suggested very -little of the Lord's anointed. To the contrary, he reminded you of -Jurgen's brother-in-law, the grocer, without being graced by the -tradesman's friendly interest in customers. Gogyrvan Gawr was a -person whom Jurgen simply could not imagine any intelligent Deity -selecting as steward. And finally, when it came to serving women, -what sort of service did women most cordially appreciate? Jurgen had -his answer pat enough, but it was an answer not suitable for -utterance in a mixed company. - -"No one of my honest opinions, in fact, is adapted to further my -popularity in Glathion, because I am a monstrous clever fellow who -does justice to things as they are. Therefore I must remember -always, in justice to myself, that I very probably hold traffic with -madmen. Yet Rome was a fine town, and it was geese who saved it. -These people may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to -say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--! Yes, that is how -I feel about it." - -Thus did Jurgen abide at the chivalrous court of Glathion, and -conform to all its customs. In the matter of love-songs nobody -protested more movingly that the lady whom he loved (quite -hopelessly, of course), embodied all divine perfections: and when it -came to knightly service, the possession of Caliburn made the -despatching of thieves and giants and dragons seem hardly -sportsmanlike. Still, Jurgen fought a little, now and then, in order -to conform to the customs of Glathion: and the Duke of Logreus was -widely praised as a very promising young knight. - -And all the while he fretted because he could just dimly perceive -that ideal which was served in Glathion, and the beauty of this -ideal, but could not possibly believe in it. Here was, again, a -loveliness perceived in twilight, a beauty not clearly visioned. - -"Yet am not I a monstrous clever fellow," he would console himself, -"to take them all in so completely? It is a joke to which, I think, -I do full justice." - -So Jurgen abode among these persons to whom life was a high-hearted -journeying homeward. God the Father awaited you there, ready to -punish at need, but eager to forgive, after the manner of all -fathers: that one became a little soiled in traveling, and sometimes -blundered into the wrong lane, was a matter which fathers -understood: meanwhile here was an ever-present reminder of His -perfection incarnated in woman, the finest and the noblest of His -creations. Thus was every woman a symbol to be honored magnanimously -and reverently. So said they all. - -"Why, but to be sure!" assented Jurgen. And in support of his -position he very edifyingly quoted Ophelion, and Fabianus Papirius, -and Sextius Niger to boot. - - - - -15. - -Of Compromises in Glathion - - -The tale records that it was not a great while before, in simple -justice to Guenevere, Duke Jurgen had afforded her the advantage of -frank conversation in actual privacy. For conventions have to be -regarded, of course. Thus the time of a princess is not her own, and -at any hour of day all sorts of people are apt to request an -audience just when some most improving conversation is progressing -famously: but the Hall of Judgment stood vacant and unguarded at -night. - -"But I would never consider doing such a thing," said Guenevere: -"and whatever must you think of me, to make such a proposal!" - -"That too, my dearest, is a matter which I can only explain in -private." - -"And if I were to report your insolence to my father--" - -"You would annoy him exceedingly: and from such griefs it is our -duty to shield the aged." - -"And besides, I am afraid." - -"Oh, my dearest," says Jurgen, and his voice quavered, because his -love and his sorrow seemed very great to him: "but, oh, my dearest, -can it be that you have not faith in me! For with all my body and -soul I love you, as I have loved you ever since I first raised your -face between my hands, and understood that I had never before known -beauty. Indeed, I love you as, I think, no man has ever loved any -woman that lived in the long time that is gone, for my love is -worship, and no less. The touch of your hand sets me to trembling, -dear; and the look of your gray eyes makes me forget there is -anything of pain or grief or evil anywhere: for you are the -loveliest thing God ever made, with joy in the new skill that had -come to His fingers. And you have not faith in me!" - -Then the Princess gave a little sobbing laugh of content and -repentance, and she clasped the hand of her grief-stricken lover. -"Forgive me, Jurgen, for I cannot bear to see you so unhappy!" - -"Ah, and what is my grief to you!" he asks of her, bitterly. - -"Much, oh, very much, my dear!" she whispered. - -So in the upshot Jurgen was never to forget that moment wherein he -waited behind the door, and through the crack between the half-open -door and the door-frame saw Guenevere approach irresolutely, a -wavering white blur in the dark corridor. She came to talk with him -where they would not be bothered with interruptions: but she came -delightfully perfumed, in her night-shift, and in nothing else. -Jurgen wondered at the way of these women even as his arms went -about her in the gloom. He remembered always the feel of that warm -and slender and yielding body, naked under the thin fabric of the -shift, as his arms first went about her: of all their moments -together that last breathless minute before either of them had -spoken stayed in his memory as the most perfect. - -And yet what followed was pleasant enough, for now it was to the -wide and softly cushioned throne of a king, no less, that Guenevere -and Jurgen resorted, so as to talk where they would not be bothered -with interruptions. The throne of Gogyrvan was perfectly dark, under -its canopy, in the unlighted hall, and in the dark nobody can see -what happens. - -Thereafter these two contrived to talk together nightly upon the -throne of Glathion: but what remained in Jurgen's memory was that -last moment behind the door, and the six tall windows upon the east -side of the hall, those windows which were of commingled blue and -silver, but were all an opulent glitter, throughout that time in the -night when the moon was clear of the tree-tops and had not yet risen -high enough to be shut off by the eaves. For that was all which -Jurgen really saw in the Hall of Judgment. There would be a brief -period wherein upon the floor beneath each window would show a -narrow quadrangle of moonlight: but the windows were set in a wall -so deep that this soon passed. On the west side were six windows -also, but about these was a porch; so no light ever came from the -west. - -Thus in the dark they would laugh and talk with lowered voices. -Jurgen came to these encounters well primed with wine, and in -consequence, as he quite comprehended, talked like an angel, without -confining himself exclusively to celestial topics. He was often -delighted by his own brilliance, and it seemed to him a pity there -was no one handy to take it down: so much of his talking was -necessarily just a little over the head of any girl, however -beautiful and adorable. - -And Guenevere, he found, talked infinitely better at night. It was -not altogether the wine which made him think that, either: the girl -displayed a side she veiled in the day time. A girl, far less a -princess, is not supposed to know more than agrees with a man's -notion of maidenly ignorance, she contended. - -"Nobody ever told me anything about so many interesting matters. -Why, I remember--" And Guenevere narrated a quaintly pathetic little -story, here irrelevant, of what had befallen her some three or four -years earlier. "My mother was living then: but she had never said a -word about such things, and frightened as I was, I did not go to -her." - -Jurgen asked questions. - -"Why, yes. There was nothing else to do. I cannot talk freely with -my maids and ladies even now. I cannot question them, that is: of -course I can listen as they talk among themselves. For me to do more -would be unbecoming in a princess. And I wonder quietly about so -many things!" She educed instances. "After that I used to notice the -animals and the poultry. So I worked out problems for myself, after -a fashion. But nobody ever told me anything directly." - -"Yet I dare say that Thragnar--well, the Troll King, being very -wise, must have made zoology much clearer." - -"Thragnar was a skilled enchanter," says a demure voice in the dark; -"and through the potency of his abominable arts, I can remember -nothing whatever about Thragnar." - -Jurgen laughed, ruefully. Still, he was tolerably sure about -Thragnar now. - -So they talked: and Jurgen marvelled, as millions of men had done -aforetime, and have done since, at the girl's eagerness, now that -barriers were down, to discuss in considerable detail all such -matters as etiquette had previously compelled them to ignore. About -her ladies in waiting, for example, she afforded him some very -curious data: and concerning men in general she asked innumerable -questions that Jurgen found delicious. - -Such innocence combined--upon the whole--with a certain moral -obtuseness, seemed inconceivable. For to Jurgen it now appeared that -Guenevere was behaving with not quite the decorum which might fairly -be expected of a princess. Contrition, at least, one might have -looked for, over this hole and corner business: whereas it worried -him to note that Guenevere was coming to accept affairs almost as a -matter of course. Certainly she did not seem to think at all of any -wickedness anywhere: the utmost she suggested was the necessity of -being very careful. And while she never contradicted him in these -private conversations, and submitted in everything to his judgment, -her motive now appeared to be hardly more than a wish to please him. -It was almost as though she were humoring him in his foolishness. -And all this within six weeks! reflected Jurgen: and he nibbled his -finger-nails, with a mental side-glance toward the opinions of King -Gogyrvan Gawr. - -But in daylight the Princess remained unchanged. In daylight Jurgen -adored her, but with no feeling of intimacy. Very rarely did -occasion serve for them to be actually alone in the day time. Once -or twice, though, he kissed her in open sunlight: and then her eyes -were melting but wary, and the whole affair was rather flat. She did -not repulse him: but she stayed a princess, appreciative of her -station, and seemed not at all the invisible person who talked with -him at night in the Hall of Judgment. - -Presently, by common consent, they began to avoid each other by -daylight. Indeed, the time of the Princess was now pre-occupied: for -now had come into Glathion a ship with saffron colored sails, and -having for its figure-head a dragon that was painted with thirty -colors. Such was the ship which brought Messire Merlin Ambrosius and -Dame Anaïtis, the Lady of the Lake, with a great retinue, to fetch -young Guenevere to London, where she was to be married to King -Arthur. - -First there was a week of feasting and tourneys and high mirth of -every kind. Now the trumpets blared, and upon a scaffolding that was -gay with pennons and smart tapestries King Gogyrvan sat nodding and -blinking in his brightest raiment, to judge who did the best: and -into the field came joyously a press of dukes and earls and barons -and many famous knights, to contend for honor and a trumpery chaplet -of pearls. - -Jurgen shrugged, and honored custom. The Duke of Logreus acquitted -himself with credit in the opening tournament, unhorsing Sir Dodinas -le Sauvage, Earl Roth of Meliot, Sir Epinogris, and Sir Hector de -Maris: then Earl Damas of Listenise smote like a whirlwind, and -Jurgen slid contentedly down the tail of his fine horse. His part in -the tournament was ended, and he was heartily glad of it. He -preferred to contemplate rather than share in such festivities: and -he now followed his bent with a most exquisite misery, because he -considered that never had any other poet occupied a situation more -picturesque. - -By day he was the Duke of Logreus, which in itself was a notable -advance upon pawnbroking: after nightfall he discounted the peculiar -privileges of a king. It was the secrecy, the deluding of everybody, -which he especially enjoyed: and in the thought of what a monstrous -clever fellow was Jurgen, he almost lost sight of the fact that he -was miserable over the impending marriage of the lady he loved. - -Once or twice he caught the tail-end of a glance from Gogyrvan's -bright old eye. Jurgen by this time abhorred Gogyrvan, as a person -of abominably unjust dealings. - -"To take no better care of his own daughter," Jurgen considered, "is -infamous. The man is neglecting his duties as a father, and to do -that is not fair." - - - - -16. - -Divers Imbroglios of King Smoit - - -Now it befell that for three nights in succession the Princess -Guenevere was unable to converse with Jurgen in the Hall of -Judgment. So upon one of these disengaged evenings Duke Jurgen held -a carouse with Aribert and Urien, two of Gogyrvan's barons, who had -just returned from Pengwaed-Gir, and had queer tales to narrate of -the Trooping Fairies who garrison that place. - -All three were seasoned topers, so Jurgen went to bed prepared for -anything. Later he sat up in bed, and found it was much as he had -suspected. The room was haunted, and at the foot of his couch were -two ghosts: one an impudent-looking leering phantom, in a suit of -old-fashioned armor, and the other a beautiful pale lady, in the -customary flowing white draperies. - -"Good-morning to you both," says Jurgen, "and sorry am I that I -cannot truthfully observe I am glad to see you. Though you are -welcome enough if you can manage to haunt the room quietly." Then, -seeing that both phantoms looked puzzled, Jurgen proceeded to -explain. "Last year, when I was traveling upon business in -Westphalia, it was my grief to spend a night in the haunted castle -of Neuedesberg, for I could not get any sleep at all in that place. -There was a ghost in charge who persisted in rattling very large -iron chains and in groaning dismally throughout the night. Then -toward morning he took the form of a monstrous cat, and climbed upon -the foot of my bed: and there he squatted yowling until daybreak. -And as I am ignorant of German, I was not able to convey to him any -idea of my disapproval of his conduct. Now I trust that as -compatriots, or as I might say with more exactness, as former -compatriots, you will appreciate that such behavior is out of all -reason." - -"Messire," says the male ghost, and he oozed to his full height, -"you are guilty of impertinence in harboring such a suspicion. I can -only hope it proceeds from ignorance." - -"For I am sure," put in the lady, "that I always disliked cats, and -we never had them about the castle." - -"And you must pardon my frankness, messire," continued the male -ghost, "but you cannot have moved widely in noble company if you are -indeed unable to distinguish between members of the feline species -and of the reigning family of Glathion." - -"Well, I have seen dowager queens who justified some such -confusion," observed Jurgen. "Still, I entreat the forgiveness of -both of you, for I had no idea that I was addressing royalty." - -"I was King Smoit," explained the male phantom, "and this was my -ninth wife, Queen Sylvia Tereu." - -Jurgen bowed as gracefully, he flattered himself, as was possible in -his circumstances. It is not easy to bow gracefully while sitting -erect in bed. - -"Often and over again have I heard of you, King Smoit," says Jurgen. -"You were the grandfather of Gogyrvan Gawr, and you murdered your -ninth wife, and your eighth wife, and your fifth wife, and your -third wife too: and you went under the title of the Black King, for -you were reputed the wickedest monarch that ever reigned in Glathion -and the Red Islands." - -It seemed to Jurgen that King Smoit evinced embarrassment, but it is -hard to be quite certain when a ghost is blushing. "Perhaps I was -spoken of in some such terms," says Smoit, "for the neighbors were -censorious gossips, and I was not lucky in my marriages. And I -regret, I bitterly regret, to confess that, in a moment of extreme -yet not quite unprovoked excitement, I assassinated the lady whom -you now behold." - -"And I am sure, through no fault of mine," says Sylvia Tereu. - -"Certainly, my dear, you resisted with all your might. I only wish -that you had been a larger and a brawnier woman. But you, messire, -can now perceive, I suppose, the folly of expecting a high King of -Glathion, and the queen that he took delight in, to sit upon your -bed and howl?" - -So then, upon reflection, Jurgen admitted he had never had that -experience; nor, he handsomely added, could he recall any similar -incident among his friends. - -"The notion is certainly preposterous," went on King Smoit, and very -grimly he smiled. "We are drawn hither by quite other intentions. In -fact, we wish to ask of you, as a member of the family, your -assistance in a delicate affair." - -"I would be delighted," Jurgen stated, "to aid you in any possible -way. But why do you call me a member of the family?" - -"Now, to deal frankly," says Smoit, with a grin, "I am not claiming -any alliance with the Duke of Logreus--" - -"Sometimes," says Jurgen, "one prefers to travel incognito. As a -king, you ought to understand that." - ---"My interest is rather in the grandson of Steinvor. Now you will -remember your grandmother Steinvor as, I do not doubt, a charming -old lady. But I remember Steinvor, the wife of Ludwig, as one of the -loveliest girls that a king's eyes ever lighted on." - -"Oh, sir," says Jurgen, horrified, "and what is this you are telling -me!" - -"Merely that I had always an affectionate nature," replied King -Smoit, "and that I was a fine upstanding young king in those days. -And one of the results of my being these things was your father, -whom men called Coth the son of Ludwig. But I can assure you Ludwig -had done nothing to deserve it." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen: "all this is very scandalous: and very -upsetting, too, it is to have a brand-new grandfather foisted upon -you at this hour of the morning. Still, it happened a great while -ago: and if Ludwig did not fret over it, I see no reason why I -should do so. And besides, King Smoit, it may be that you are not -telling me the truth." - -"If you doubt my confession, messire my grandson, you have only to -look into the next mirror. It is precisely on this account that we -have ventured to dispel your slumbers. For to me you bear a striking -resemblance. You have the family face." - -Now Jurgen considered the lineaments of King Smoit of Glathion. -"Really," said Jurgen, "of course it is very flattering to be told -that your appearance is regal. I do not at all know what to say in -reply to the implied compliment, without seeming uncivil. I would -never for a moment question that you were much admired in your day, -sir, and no doubt very justly so. None the less--well, my nose, now, -from such glimpses of it as mirrors have hitherto afforded, does not -appear to be a snub-nose." - -"Ah, but appearances are proverbially deceitful," observed King -Smoit. - -"And about the left hand corner," protested Queen Sylvia Tereu, "I -detect a distinct resemblance." - -"Now I may seem unduly obtuse," said Jurgen, "for I am a little -obtuse. It is a habit with me, a very bad habit formed in early -infancy, and I have never been able to break myself of it. And so I -have not any notion at what you two are aiming." - -Replied the ghost of King Smoit: "I will explain. Just sixty-three -years ago to-night I murdered my ninth wife in circumstances of -peculiar brutality, as you with rather questionable taste have -mentioned." - -Then Jurgen was somewhat abashed, and felt that it did not become him, -who had so recently cut off the head of his own wife, to assume the airs -of a precisian. "Of course," says Jurgen, more broad-mindedly, "these -little family differences are always apt to occur in married life." - -"So be it! Though, by the so-and-sos of Ursula's eleven thousand -traveling companions, there was a time wherein I would not have -brooked such criticism. Ah, well, that time is overpast, and I am a -bloodless thing that the wind sweeps at the wind's will through -lands in which but yesterday King Smoit was dreaded. So I let that -which has been be." - -"Well, that seems reasonable," said Jurgen, "and to be a trifle -rhetorical is the privilege of grandfathers. Therefore I entreat -you, sir, to continue." - -"Two years afterward I followed the Emperor Locrine in his -expedition against the Suevetii, an evil and luxurious people who -worship Gozarin peculiarly, by means of little boats. I must tell -you, grandson, that was a goodly raid, conducted by a band of tidy -fighters in a land of wealth and of fine women. But alack, as the -saying is, in our return from Osnach my loved general Locrine was -captured by that arch-fiend Duke Corineus of Cornwall: and I, among -many others who had followed the Emperor, paid for our merry -larcenies and throat-cuttings a very bitter price. Corineus was not -at all broadminded, not what you would call a man of the world. So -it was in a noisome dungeon that I was incarcerated,--I, Smoit of -Glathion, who conquered Enisgarth and Sargyll in open battle and -fearlessly married the heiress of Camwy! But I spare you the -unpleasant details. It suffices to say that I was dissatisfied with -my quarters. Yet fain to leave them as I became, there was but one -way. It involved the slaying of my gaoler, a step which was, I -confess, to me distasteful. I was getting on in life, and had grown -tired of killing people. Yet, to mature deliberation, the life of a -graceless varlet, void of all gentleness and with no bowels of -compassion, and deaf to suggestions of bribery, appeared of no -overwhelming importance." - -"I can readily imagine, grandfather, that you were not deeply -interested in either the nature or the anatomy of your gaoler. So -you did what was unavoidable." - -"Yes, I treacherously slew him, and escaped in an impenetrable -disguise to Glathion, where not long afterward I died. My dying -just then was most annoying, for I was on the point of being married, -and she was a remarkably attractive girl,--King Tyrnog's daughter, -from Craintnor way. She would have been my thirteenth wife. And not -a week before the ceremony I tripped and fell down my own castle -steps, and broke my neck. It was a humiliating end for one who had -been a warrior of considerable repute. Upon my word, it made me think -there might be something, after all, in those old superstitions about -thirteen being an unlucky number. But what was I saying?--oh, yes! -It is also unlucky to be careless about one's murders. You will -readily understand that for one or two such affairs I am condemned -yearly to haunt the scene of my crime on its anniversary: such -an arrangement is fair enough, and I make no complaint, though of -course it does rather break into the evening. But it happened that -I treacherously slew my gaoler with a large cobble-stone on the -fifteenth of June. Now the unfortunate part, the really awkward -feature, was that this was to an hour the anniversary of the death -of my ninth wife." - -"And you murdering insignificant strangers on such a day!" said -Queen Sylvia. "You climbing out of jail windows figged out as a lady -abbess, on an anniversary you ought to have kept on your knees in -unavailing repentance! But you were a hard man, Smoit, and it was -little loving courtesy you showed your wife at a time when she might -reasonably look to be remembered, and that is a fact." - -"My dear, I admit it was heedless of me. I could not possibly say -more. At any rate, grandson, I discovered after my decease that such -heedlessness entailed my haunting on every fifteenth of June at -three in the morning two separate places." - -"Well, but that was justice," says Jurgen. - -"It may have been justice," Smoit admitted: "but my point is that -it happened to be impossible. However, I was aided by my -great-great-grandfather Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief. -He too had the family face; and in every way resembled me so -closely that he impersonated me to everyone's entire satisfaction; -and with my wife's assistance re-enacted my disastrous crime upon -the scene of its occurrence, June after June." - -"Indeed," said Queen Sylvia, "he handled his sword infinitely better -than you, my dear. It was a thrilling pleasure to be murdered by -Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief, and I shall always regret -him." - -"For you must understand, grandson, that the term of King Penpingon -Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief's stay in Purgatory has now run out, -and he has recently gone to Heaven. That was pleasant for him, I -dare say, so I do not complain. Still, it leaves me with no one to -take my place. Angels, as you will readily understand, are not -permitted to perpetrate murders, even in the way of kindness. It -might be thought to establish a dangerous precedent." - -"All this," said Jurgen, "seems regrettable, but not strikingly -explicit. I have a heart and a half to serve you, sir, with not -seven-eighths of a notion as to what you want of me. Come, put a -name to it!" - -"You have, as I have said, the family face. You are, in fact, the -living counterpart of Smoit of Glathion. So I beseech you, messire -my grandson, for this one night to impersonate my ghost, and with -the assistance of Queen Sylvia Tereu to see that at three o'clock -the White Turret is haunted to everyone's satisfaction. Otherwise," -said Smoit, gloomily, "the consequences will be deplorable." - -"But I have had no experience at haunting," Jurgen confessed. "It is -a pursuit in which I do not pretend to competence: and I do not even -know just how one goes about it." - -"That matter is simple, although mysterious preliminaries will be, -of course, necessitated, in order to convert a living person into a -ghost--" - -"The usual preliminaries, sir, are out of the question: and I must -positively decline to be stabbed or poisoned or anything of that -kind, even to humor my grandfather." - -Both Smoit and Sylvia protested that any such radical step would be -superfluous, since Jurgen's ghostship was to be transient. In fact, -all Jurgen would have to do would be to drain the embossed goblet -which Sylvia Tereu held out to him, with Druidical invocations. - -And for a moment Jurgen hesitated. The whole business seemed rather -improbable. Still, the ties of kin are strong, and it is not often -one gets the chance to aid, however slightly, one's long-dead -grandfather: besides, the potion smelt very invitingly. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." Then -Jurgen drank. - -The flavor was excellent. Yet the drink seemed not to affect Jurgen, -at first. Then he began to feel a trifle light-headed. Next he -looked downward, and was surprised to notice there was nobody in his -bed. Closer investigation revealed the shadowy outline of a human -figure, through which the bedclothing had collapsed. This, he -decided, was all that was left of Jurgen. And it gave him a queer -sensation. Jurgen jumped like a startled horse, and so violently -that he flew out of bed, and found himself floating imponderably -about the room. - -Now Jurgen recognized the feeling perfectly. He had often had it in -his sleep, in dreams wherein he would bend his legs at the knees so -that his feet came up behind him, and he would pass through the air -without any effort. Then it seemed ridiculously simple, and he would -wonder why he never thought of it before. And then he would reflect: -"This is an excellent way of getting around. I will come to -breakfast this way in the morning, and show Lisa how simple it is. -How it will astonish her, to be sure, and how clever she will think -me!" And then Jurgen would wake up, and find that somehow he had -forgotten the trick of it. - -But just now this manner of locomotion was undeniably easy. So -Jurgen floated around his bed once or twice, then to the ceiling, -for practice. Through inexperience, he miscalculated the necessary -force, and popped through into the room above, where he found -himself hovering immediately over the Bishop of Merion. His eminence -was not alone, but as both occupants of the apartment were asleep, -Jurgen witnessed nothing unepiscopal. Now Jurgen rejoined his -grandfather, and girded on charmed Caliburn, and demanded what must -next be done. - -"The assassination will take place in the White Turret, as usual. -Queen Sylvia will instruct you in the details. You can invent most -of the affair, however, as the Lady of the Lake, who occupies this -room to-night, is very probably unacquainted with our terrible -history." - -Then King Smoit observed that it was high time he kept his -appointment in Cornwall, and he melted into air, with an easy -confidence that bespoke long practise: and Jurgen followed Queen -Sylvia Tereu. - - - - -17. - -About a Cock That Crowed Too Soon - - -Next the tale tells of how Jurgen and the ghost of Queen Sylvia -Tereu came into the White Turret. The Lady of the Lake was in bed: -she slept unaccompanied, as Jurgen noted with approval, for he -wished to intrude upon no more tête-à-têtes. And Dame Anaïtis did -not at first awake. - -Now this was a gloomy and high-paneled apartment, with exactly the -traditional amount of moonlight streaming through two windows. Any -ghost, even an apprentice, could have acquitted himself with credit -in such surroundings, and Jurgen thought he did extremely well. He -was atavistically brutal, and to improvise the accompanying dialogue -he did not find difficult. So everything went smoothly, and with -such spirit that Anaïtis was presently wakened by Queen Sylvia's -very moving wails for mercy, and sat erect in bed, as though a -little startled. Then the Lady of the Lake leaned back among the -pillows, and witnessed the remainder of the terrible scene with -remarkable self-possession. - -So it was that the tragedy swelled to its appalling climax, and -subsided handsomely. With the aid of Caliburn, Jurgen had murdered -his temporary wife. He had dragged her insensate body across the -floor, by the hair of her head, and had carefully remembered first -to put her comb in his pocket, as Queen Sylvia had requested, so -that it would not be lost. He had given vent to several fiendish -"Ha-ha's" and all the old high imprecations he remembered: and in -short, everything had gone splendidly when he left the White Turret -with a sense of self-approval and Queen Sylvia Tereu. - -The two of them paused in the winding stairway; and in the darkness, -after he had restored her comb, the Queen was telling Jurgen how -sorry she was to part with him. - -"For it is back to the cold grave I must be going now, Messire -Jurgen, and to the tall flames of Purgatory: and it may be that I -shall not ever see you any more." - -"I shall regret the circumstance, madame," says Jurgen, "for you are -the loveliest person I have ever seen." - -The Queen was pleased. "That is a delightfully boyish speech, and -one can see it comes from the heart. I only wish that I could meet -with such unsophisticated persons in my present abode. Instead, I am -herded with battered sinners who have no heart, who are not frank -and outspoken about anything, and I detest their affectations." - -"Ah, then you are not happy with your husband, Sylvia? I suspected -as much." - -"I see very little of Smoit. It is true he has eight other wives all -resident in the same flame, and cannot well show any partiality. Two -of his Queens, though, went straight to Heaven: and his eighth wife, -Gudrun, we are compelled to fear, must have been an unrepentant -sinner, for she has never reached Purgatory. But I always distrusted -Gudrun, myself: otherwise I would never have suggested to Smoit that -he have her strangled in order to make me his queen. You see, I -thought it a fine thing to be a queen, in those days, Jurgen, when I -was an artless slip of a girl. And Smoit was all honey and perfume -and velvet, in those days, Jurgen, and little did I suspect the -cruel fate that was to befall me." - -"Indeed, it is a sad thing, Sylvia, to be murdered by the hand -which, so to speak, is sworn to keep an eye on your welfare, and -which rightfully should serve you on its knees." - -"It was not that I minded. Smoit killed me in a fit of jealousy, and -jealousy is in its blundering way a compliment. No, a worse thing -than that befell me, Jurgen, and embittered all my life in the -flesh." And Sylvia began to weep. - -"And what was that thing, Sylvia?" - -Queen Sylvia whispered the terrible truth. "My husband did not -understand me." - -"Now, by Heaven," says Jurgen, "when a woman tells me that, even -though the woman be dead, I know what it is she expects of me." - -So Jurgen put his arm about the ghost of Queen Sylvia Tereu, and -comforted her. Then, finding her quite willing to be comforted, -Jurgen sat for a while upon the dark steps, with one arm still about -Queen Sylvia. The effect of the potion had evidently worn off, -because Jurgen found himself to be composed no longer of cool -imponderable vapor, but of the warmest and hardest sort of flesh -everywhere. But probably the effect of the wine which Jurgen had -drunk earlier in the evening had not worn off: for now Jurgen began -to talk wildishly in the dark, about the necessity of his, in some -way, avenging the injury inflicted upon his nominal grandfather, -Ludwig, and Jurgen drew his sword, charmed Caliburn. - -"For, as you perceive," said Jurgen, "I carry such weapons as are -sufficient for all ordinary encounters. And am I not to use them, to -requite King Smoit for the injustice he did poor Ludwig? Why, -certainly I must. It is my duty." - -"Ah, but Smoit by this is back in Purgatory," Queen Sylvia -protested, "And to draw your sword against a woman is cowardly." - -"The avenging sword of Jurgen, my charming Sylvia, is the terror of -envious men, but it is the comfort of all pretty women." - -"It is undoubtedly a very large sword," said she: "oh, a magnificent -sword, as I can perceive even in the dark. But Smoit, I repeat, is -not here to measure weapons with you." - -"Now your arguments irritate me, whereas an honest woman would see -to it that all the legacies of her dead husband were duly -satisfied--" - -"Oh, oh! and what do you mean--?" - -"Well, but certainly a grandson is--at one remove, I grant you,--a -sort of legacy." - -"There is something in what you advance--" - -"There is a great deal in what I advance, I can assure you. It is -the most natural and most penetrating kind of logic; and I wish -merely to discharge a duty--" - -"But you upset me, with that big sword of yours, you make me -nervous, and I cannot argue so long as you are flourishing it about. -Come now, put up your sword! Oh, what is anybody to do with you! -Here is the sheath for your sword," says she. - -At this point they were interrupted. - -"Duke of Logreus," says the voice of Dame Anaïtis, "do you not think -it would be better to retire, before such antics at the door of my -bedroom give rise to a scandal?" - -For Anaïtis had half-opened the door of her bedroom, and with a lamp -in her hand, was peering out into the narrow stairway. Jurgen was a -little embarrassed, for his apparent intimacy with a lady who had -been dead for sixty-three years would be, he felt, a matter -difficult to explain. So Jurgen rose to his feet, and hastily put up -the weapon he had exhibited to Queen Sylvia, and decided to pass -airily over the whole affair. And outside, a cock crowed, for it was -now dawn. - -"I bid you a good morning, Dame Anaïtis," said Jurgen. "But the -stairways hereabouts are confusing, and I must have lost my way. I -was going for a stroll. This is my distant relative Queen Sylvia -Tereu, who kindly offered to accompany me. We were going out to -gather mushrooms and to watch the sunrise, you conceive." - -"Messire de Logreus, I think you had far better go back to bed." - -"To the contrary, madame, it is my manifest duty to serve as Queen -Sylvia's escort--" - -"For all that, messire, I do not see any Queen Sylvia." - -Jurgen looked about him. And certainly his grandfather's ninth wife -was no longer visible. "Yes, she has vanished. But that was to be -expected at cockcrow. Still, that cock crew just at the wrong -moment," said Jurgen, ruefully. "It was not fair." - -And Dame Anaïtis said: "Gogyrvan's cellar is well stocked: and you -sat late with Urien and Aribert: and doubtless they also were lucky -enough to discover a queen or two in Gogyrvan's cellar. No less, I -think you are still a little drunk." - -"Now answer me this, Dame Anaïtis: were you not visited by two -ghosts to-night?" - -"Why, that is as it may be," she replied: "but the White Turret is -notoriously haunted, and it is few quiet nights I have passed there, -for Gogyrvan's people were a bad lot." - -"Upon my word," wonders Jurgen, "what manner of person is this Dame -Anaïtis, who remains unstirred by such a brutal murder as I have -committed, and makes no more of ghosts than I would of moths? I have -heard she is an enchantress, I am sure she is a fine figure of a -woman: and in short, here is a matter which would repay looking -into, were not young Guenevere the mistress of my heart." - -Aloud he said: "Perhaps then I am drunk, madame. None the less, I -still think the cock crew just at the wrong moment." - -"Some day you must explain the meaning of that," says she. -"Meanwhile I am going back to bed, and I again advise you to do the -same." - -Then the door closed, the bolt fell, and Jurgen went away, still in -considerable excitement. - -"This Dame Anaïtis is an interesting personality," he reflected, -"and it would be a pleasure, now, to demonstrate to her my grievance -against the cock, did occasion serve. Well, things less likely than -that have happened. Then, too, she came upon me when my sword was -out, and in consequence knows I wield a respectable weapon. She may -feel the need of a good swordsman some day, this handsome Lady of -the Lake who has no husband. So let us cultivate patience. -Meanwhile, it appears that I am of royal blood. Well, I fancy there -is something in the scandal, for I detect in me a deal in common -with this King Smoit. Twelve wives, though! no, that is too many. I -would limit no man's liaisons, but twelve wives in lawful matrimony -bespeaks an optimism unknown to me. No, I do not think I am drunk: -but it is unquestionable that I am not walking very straight. -Certainly, too, we did drink a great deal. So I had best go quietly -back to bed, and say nothing more about to-night's doings." - -As much he did. And this was the first time that Jurgen, who had -been a pawnbroker, held any discourse with Dame Anaïtis, whom men -called the Lady of the Lake. - - - - -18. - -Why Merlin Talked in Twilight - - -It was two days later that Jurgen was sent for by Merlin Ambrosius. -The Duke of Logreus came to the magician in twilight, for the -windows of this room were covered with sheets which shut out the -full radiance of day. Everything in the room was thus visible in a -diffused and tempered light that cast no shadows. In his hand Merlin -held a small mirror, about three inches square, from which he raised -his dark eyes puzzlingly. - -"I have been talking to my fellow ambassador, Dame Anaïtis: and I -have been wondering, Messire de Logreus, if you have ever reared -white pigeons." - -Jurgen looked at the little mirror. "There was a woman of the Léshy -who not long ago showed me an employment to which one might put the -blood of white pigeons. She too used such a mirror. I saw what -followed, but I must tell you candidly that I understood nothing of -the ins and outs of the affair." - -Merlin nodded. "I suspected something of the sort. So I elected to -talk with you in a room wherein, as you perceive, there are no -shadows." - -"Now, upon my word," says Jurgen, "but here at last is somebody who -can see my attendant! Why is it, pray, that no one else can do so?" - -"It was my own shadow which drew my notice to your follower. For I, -too, have had a shadow given me. It was the gift of my father, of -whom you have probably heard." - -It was Jurgen's turn to nod. Everybody knew who had begotten Merlin -Ambrosius, and sensible persons preferred not to talk of the matter. -Then Merlin went on to speak of the traffic between Merlin and -Merlin's shadow. - -"Thus and thus," says Merlin, "I humor my shadow. And thus and thus -my shadow serves me. There is give-and-take, such as is requisite -everywhere." - -"I understand," says Jurgen: "but has no other person ever perceived -this shadow of yours?" - -"Once only, when for a while my shadow deserted me," Merlin replied. -"It was on a Sunday my shadow left me, so that I walked unattended -in naked sunlight: for my shadow was embracing the church-steeple, -where church-goers knelt beneath him. The church-goers were -obscurely troubled without suspecting why, for they looked only at -each other. The priest and I alone saw him quite clearly,--the -priest because this thing was evil, and I because this thing was -mine." - -"Well, now I wonder what did the priest say to your bold shadow?" - -"'But you must go away!'--and the priest spoke without any fear. Why -is it they seem always without fear, those dull and calm-eyed -priests? 'Such conduct is unseemly. For this is High God's house, -and far-off peoples are admonished by its steadfast spire, pointing -always heavenward, that the place is holy,' said the priest. And my -shadow answered, 'But I only know that steeples are of phallic -origin.' And my shadow wept, wept ludicrously, clinging to the -steeple where church-goers knelt beneath him." - -"Now, and indeed that must have been disconcerting, Messire Merlin. -Still, as you got your shadow back again, there was no great harm -done. But why is it that such attendants follow some men while other -men are permitted to live in decent solitude? It does not seem quite -fair." - -"Perhaps I could explain it to you, friend, but certainly I shall not. -You know too much as it is. For you appear in that bright garment of -yours to have come from a land and a time which even I, who am a skilled -magician, can only cloudily foresee, and cannot understand at all. What -puzzles me, however"--and Merlin's fore-finger shot out. "How many feet -had the first wearer of your shirt? and were you ever an old man?" says -he. - -"Well, four, and I was getting on," says Jurgen. - -"And I did not guess! But certainly that is it,--an old poet loaned -at once a young man's body and the Centaur's shirt. Adères has -loosed a new jest into the world, for her own reasons--" - -"But you have things backwards. It was Sereda whom I cajoled so -nicely." - -"Names that are given by men amount to very little in a case like -this. The shadow which follows you I recognize--and revere--as the -gift of Adères, a dreadful Mother of small Gods. No doubt she has a -host of other names. And you cajoled her, you consider! I would not -willingly walk in the shirt of any person who considers that. But -she will enlighten you, my friend, at her appointed time." - -"Well, so that she deals justly--" Jurgen said, and shrugged. - -Now Merlin put aside the mirror. "Meanwhile it was another matter -entirely that Dame Anaïtis and I discussed, and about which I wished -to be speaking with you. Gogyrvan is sending to King Arthur, along -with Gogyrvan's daughter, that Round Table which Uther Pendragon -gave Gogyrvan, and a hundred knights to fill the sieges of this -table. Gogyrvan, who, with due respect, possesses a deplorable sense -of humor, has numbered you among these knights. Now it is rumored -the Princess is given to conversing a great deal with you in -private, and Arthur has never approved of garrulity. So I warn you -that for you to come with us to London would not be convenient." - -"I hardly think so, either," said Jurgen, with appropriate -melancholy; "for me to pursue the affair any further would only -result in marring what otherwise will always be a perfect memory of -divers very pleasant conversations." - -"Old poet, you are well advised," said Merlin,--"especially now that -the little princess whom we know is about to enter queenhood and -become a symbol. I am sorry for her, for she will be worshipped as a -revelation of Heaven's splendor, and being flesh and blood, she will -not like it. And it is to no effect I have forewarned King Arthur, -for that must happen which will always happen so long as wisdom is -impotent against human stupidity. So wisdom can but make the best of -it, and be content to face the facts of a great mystery." - -Thereupon, Merlin arose, and lifted the tapestry behind him, so that -Jurgen could see what hitherto this tapestry had screened. - - * * * * * - -"You have embarrassed me horribly," said Jurgen, "and I can feel -that I am still blushing, about the ankles. Well, I was wrong: so -let us say no more concerning it." - -"I wished to show you," Merlin returned, "that I know what I am -talking about. However, my present purpose is to put Guenevere out -of your head: for in your heart I think she never was, old poet, who -go so modestly in the Centaur's shirt. Come, tell me now! and does -the thought of her approaching marriage really disturb you?" - -"I am the unhappiest man that breathes," said Jurgen, with unction. -"All night I lie awake in my tumbled bed, and think of the miserable -day which is past, and of what is to happen in that equally -miserable day whose dawn I watch with a sick heart. And I cry aloud, -in the immortal words of Apollonius Myronides--" - -"Of whom?" says Merlin. - -"I allude to the author of the _Myrosis_," Jurgen -explained,--"whom so many persons rashly identify with Apollonius -Herophileius." - -"Oh, yes, of course! your quotation is very apt. Why, then your -condition is sad but not incurable. For I am about to give you this -token, with which, if you are bold enough, you will do thus and -thus." - -"But indeed this is a somewhat strange token, and the arms and legs, -and even the head, of this little man are remarkably alike! Well, -and you tell me thus and thus. But how does it happen, Messire -Merlin, that you have never used this token in the fashion you -suggest to me?" - -"Because I was afraid. You forget I am only a magician, whose -conjuring raises nothing more formidable than devils. But this is a -bit of the Old Magic that is no longer understood, and I prefer not -to meddle with it. You, to the contrary, are a poet, and the Old -Magic was always favorable to poets." - -"Well, I will think about it," says Jurgen, "if this will really put -Dame Guenevere out of my head." - -"Be assured it will do that," said Merlin. "For with reason does the -_Dirghâgama_ declare, 'The brightness of the glowworm cannot be -compared to that of a lamp.'" - -"A very pleasant little work, the _Dirghâgama_," said Jurgen, -tolerantly--"though superficial, of course." - -Then Merlin Ambrosius gave Jurgen the token, and some advice. - -So that night Jurgen told Guenevere he would not go in her train to -London. He told her candidly that Merlin was suspicious of their -intercourse. - -"And therefore, in order to protect you and to protect your fame, my -dearest dear," said Jurgen, "it is necessary that I sacrifice myself -and everything I prize in life. I shall suffer very much: but my -consolation will be that I have dealt fairly with you whom I love -with an entire heart, and shall have preserved you through my -misery." - -But Guenevere did not appear to notice how noble this was of Jurgen. -Instead, she wept very softly, in a heartbroken way that Jurgen -found unbearable. - -"For no man, whether emperor or peasant," says the Princess, "has -ever been loved more dearly or faithfully or more wholly without any -reserve or forethought than you, my dearest, have been loved by me. -All that I had I have given you. All that I had you have taken, -consuming it. So now you leave me with not anything more to give -you, not even any anger or contempt, now that you turn me adrift, -for there is nothing in me anywhere save love of you, who are -unworthy." - -"But I die many deaths," said Jurgen, "when you speak thus to me." -And in point of fact, he did feel rather uncomfortable. - -"I speak the truth, though. You have had all: and so you are a -little weary, and perhaps a little afraid of what may happen if you -do not break off with me." - -"Now you misjudge me, darling--" - -"No, I do not misjudge you, Jurgen. Instead, for the first time I -judge both of us. You I forgive, because I love you, but myself I do -not forgive, and I cannot ever forgive, for having been a -spendthrift fool." - -And Jurgen found such talking uncomfortable and tedious and very -unfair to him. "For there is nothing I can do to help matters," says -Jurgen. "Why, what could anybody possibly expect me to do about it? -And so why not be happy while we may? It is not as though we had any -time to waste." - -For this was the last night but one before the day that was set for -Guenevere's departure. - - - - -19. - -The Brown Man with Queer Feet - - -Early in the following morning Jurgen left Cameliard, traveling -toward Carohaise, and went into the Druid forest there, and followed -Merlin's instructions. - -"Not that I for a moment believe in such nonsense," said Jurgen: -"but it will be amusing to see what comes of this business, and it -is unjust to deny even nonsense a fair trial." - -So he presently observed a sun-browned brawny fellow, who sat upon -the bank of a stream, dabbling his feet in the water, and making -music with a pipe constructed of seven reeds of irregular lengths. -To him Jurgen displayed, in such a manner as Merlin had prescribed, -the token which Merlin had given. The man made a peculiar sign, and -rose. Jurgen saw that this man's feet were unusual. - -Jurgen bowed low, and he said, as Merlin had bidden: "Now praise be -to thee, thou lord of the two truths! I have come to thee, O most -wise, that I may learn thy secret. I would know thee, and would know -the forty-two mighty ones who dwell with thee in the hall of the two -truths, and who are nourished by evil-doers, and who partake of -wicked blood each day of the reckoning before Wennofree. I would -know thee for what thou art." - -The brown man answered: "I am everything that was and that is to be. -Never has any mortal been able to discover what I am." - -Then this brown man conducted Jurgen to an open glen, at the heart -of the forest. - -"Merlin dared not come himself, because," observed the brown man, -"Merlin is wise. But you are a poet. So you will presently forget -that which you are about to see, or at worst you will tell pleasant -lies about it, particularly to yourself." - -"I do not know about that," says Jurgen, "but I am willing to taste -any drink once. What are you about to show me?" - -The brown man answered: "All." - -So it was near evening when they came out of the glen. It was dark -now, for a storm had risen. The brown man was smiling, and Jurgen -was in a flutter. - -"It is not true," Jurgen protested. "What you have shown me is a -pack of nonsense. It is the degraded lunacy of a so-called Realist. -It is sorcery and pure childishness and abominable blasphemy. It is, -in a word, something I do not choose to believe. You ought to be -ashamed of yourself!" - -"Even so, you do believe me, Jurgen." - -"I believe that you are an honest man and that I am your cousin: so -there are two more lies for you." - -The brown man said, still smiling: "Yes, you are certainly a poet, -you who have borrowed the apparel of my cousin. For you come out of -my glen, and from my candor, as sane as when you entered. That is -not saying much, to be sure, in praise of a poet's sanity at any -time. But Merlin would have died, and Merlin would have died without -regret, if Merlin had seen what you have seen, because Merlin -receives facts reasonably." - -"Facts! sanity! and reason!" Jurgen raged: "why, but what nonsense -you are talking! Were there a bit of truth in your silly puppetry -this world of time and space and consciousness would be a bubble, a -bubble which contained the sun and moon and the high stars, and -still was but a bubble in fermenting swill! I must go cleanse my -mind of all this foulness. You would have me believe that men, that -all men who have ever lived or shall ever live hereafter, that even -I am of no importance! Why, there would be no justice in any such -arrangement, no justice anywhere!" - -"That vexed you, did it not? It vexes me at times, even me, who -under Koshchei's will alone am changeless." - -"I do not know about your variability: but I stick to my opinion -about your veracity," says Jurgen, for all that he was upon the -verge of hysteria. "Yes, if lies could choke people that shaggy -throat would certainly be sore." - -Then the brown man stamped his foot, and the striking of his foot -upon the moss made a new noise such as Jurgen had never heard: for -the noise seemed to come multitudinously from every side, at first -as though each leaf in the forest were tinily cachinnating; and then -this noise was swelled by the mirth of larger creatures, and echoes -played with this noise, until there was a reverberation everywhere -like that of thunder. The earth moved under their feet very much as -a beast twitches its skin under the annoyance of flies. Another -queer thing Jurgen noticed, and it was that the trees about the glen -had writhed and arched their trunks, and so had bended, much as -candles bend in very hot weather, to lay their topmost foliage at -the feet of the brown man. And the brown man's appearance was -changed as he stood there, terrible in a continuous brown glare from -the low-hanging clouds, and with the forest making obeisance, and -with shivering and laughter everywhere. - -"Make answer, you who chatter about justice! how if I slew you now," -says the brown man,--"I being what I am?" - -"Slay me, then!" says Jurgen, with shut eyes, for he did not at all -like the appearance of things. "Yes, you can kill me if you choose, -but it is beyond your power to make me believe that there is no -justice anywhere, and that I am unimportant. For I would have you -know I am a monstrous clever fellow. As for you, you are either a -delusion or a god or a degraded Realist. But whatever you are, you -have lied to me, and I know that you have lied, and I will not -believe in the insignificance of Jurgen." - -Chillingly came the whisper of the brown man: "Poor fool! O -shuddering, stiff-necked fool! and have you not just seen that which -you may not ever quite forget?" - -"None the less, I think there is something in me which will endure. -I am fettered by cowardice, I am enfeebled by disastrous memories; -and I am maimed by old follies. Still, I seem to detect in myself -something which is permanent and rather fine. Underneath everything, -and in spite of everything, I really do seem to detect that -something. What rôle that something is to enact after the death of -my body, and upon what stage, I cannot guess. When fortune knocks I -shall open the door. Meanwhile I tell you candidly, you brown man, -there is something in Jurgen far too admirable for any intelligent -arbiter ever to fling into the dustheap. I am, if nothing else, a -monstrous clever fellow: and I think I shall endure, somehow. Yes, -cap in hand goes through the land, as the saying is, and I believe I -can contrive some trick to cheat oblivion when the need arises," -says Jurgen, trembling, and gulping, and with his eyes shut tight, -but even so, with his mind quite made up about it. "Of course you -may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say you are -wrong: but still, at the same time--" - -"Now but before a fool's opinion of himself," the brown man cried, -"the Gods are powerless. Oh, yes, and envious, too!" - -And when Jurgen very cautiously opened his eyes the brown man had -left him physically unharmed. But the state of Jurgen's nervous -system was deplorable. - - - - -20. - -Efficacy of Prayer - - -Jurgen went in a tremble to the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn in -Cameliard. All night Jurgen prayed there, not in repentance, but in -terror. For his dead he prayed, that they should not have been -blotted out in nothingness, for the dead among his kindred whom he -had loved in boyhood, and for these only. About the men and women -whom he had known since then he did not seem to care, or not at -least so vitally. But he put up a sort of prayer for Dame -Lisa--"wherever my dear wife may be, and, O God, grant that I may -come to her at last, and be forgiven!" he wailed, and wondered if he -really meant it. - -He had forgotten about Guenevere. And nobody knows what were that -night the thoughts of the young Princess, nor if she offered any -prayers, in the deserted Hall of Judgment. - -In the morning a sprinkling of persons came to early mass. Jurgen -attended with fervor, and started doorward with the others. Just -before him a merchant stopped to get a pebble from his shoe, and the -merchant's wife went forward to the holy-water font. - -"Madame, permit me," said a handsome young esquire, and offered her -holy water. - -"At eleven," said the merchant's wife, in low tones. "He will be out -all day." - -"My dear," says her husband, as he rejoined her, "and who was the -young gentleman?" - -"Why, I do not know, darling. I never saw him before." - -"He was certainly very civil. I wish there were more like him. And a -fine looking young fellow, too!" - -"Was he? I did not notice," said the merchant's wife, indifferently. - -And Jurgen saw and heard and regarded the departing trio ruefully. -It seemed to him incredible the world should be going on just as it -went before he ventured into the Druid forest. - -He paused before a crucifix, and he knelt and looked up wistfully. -"If one could only know," says Jurgen, "what really happened in -Judea! How immensely would matters be simplified, if anyone but knew -the truth about You, Man upon the Cross!" - -Now the Bishop of Merion passed him, coming from celebration of the -early mass. "My Lord Bishop," says Jurgen, simply, "can you tell me -the truth about this Christ?" - -"Why, indeed, Messire de Logreus," replied the Bishop, "one cannot -but sympathize with Pilate in thinking that the truth about Him is -very hard to get at, even nowadays. Was He Melchisedek, or Shem, or -Adam? or was He verily the Logos? and in that event, what sort of a -something was the Logos? Granted He was a god, were the Arians or -the Sabellians in the right? had He existed always, co-substantial -with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or was He a creation of the -Father, a kind of Israelitic Zagreus? Was He the husband of -Acharamoth, that degraded Sophia, as the Valentinians aver? or the -son of Pantherus, as say the Jews? or Kalakau, as contends -Basilidês? or was it, as the Docetês taught, only a tinted cloud in -the shape of a man that went from Jordan to Golgotha? Or were the -Merinthians right? These are a few of the questions, Messire de -Logreus, which naturally arise. And not all of them are to be -settled out of hand." - -Thus speaking, the gallant prelate bowed, then raised three fingers -in benediction, and so quitted Jurgen, who was still kneeling before -the crucifix. - -"Ah, ah!" says Jurgen, to himself, "but what a variety of -interesting problems are, in point of fact, suggested by religion. -And what delectable exercise would the settling of these problems, -once for all, afford the mind of a monstrous clever fellow! Come -now, it might be well for me to enter the priesthood. It may be that -I have a call." - -But people were shouting in the street. So Jurgen rose and dusted -his knees. And as Jurgen came out of the Cathedral of the Sacred -Thorn the cavalcade was passing that bore away Dame Guenevere to the -arms and throne of her appointed husband. Jurgen stood upon the -Cathedral porch, his mind in part pre-occupied by theology, but -still not failing to observe how beautiful was this young princess, -as she rode by on her white palfrey, green-garbed and crowned and -a-glitter with jewels. She was smiling as she passed him, bowing -her small tenderly-colored young countenance this way and that way, -to the shouting people, and not seeing Jurgen at all. - -Thus she went to her bridal, that Guenevere who was the symbol of -all beauty and purity to the chivalrous people of Glathion. The mob -worshipped her; and they spoke as though it were an angel who -passed. - -"Our beautiful young Princess!" - -"Ah, there is none like her anywhere!" - -"And never a harsh word for anyone, they say--!" - -"Oh, but she is the most admirable of ladies--!" - -"And so brave too, that lovely smiling child who is leaving her home -forever!" - -"And so very, very pretty!" - -"--So generous!" - -"King Arthur will be hard put to it to deserve her!" - -Said Jurgen: "Now it is droll that to these truths I have but to add -another truth in order to have large paving-stones flung at her! and -to have myself tumultuously torn into fragments, by those -unpleasantly sweaty persons who, thank Heaven, are no longer -jostling me!" - -For the Cathedral porch had suddenly emptied, because as the -procession passed heralds were scattering silver among the -spectators. - -"Arthur will have a very lovely queen," says a soft lazy voice. - -And Jurgen turned and saw that beside him was Dame Anaïtis, whom -people called the Lady of the Lake. - -"Yes, he is greatly to be envied," says Jurgen, politely. "But do -you not ride with them to London?" - -"Why, no," says the Lady of the Lake, "because my part in this -bridal was done when I mixed the stirrup-cup of which the Princess -and young Lancelot drank this morning. He is the son of King Ban of -Benwick, that tall young fellow in blue armor. I am partial to -Lancelot, for I reared him, at the bottom of a lake that belongs to -me, and I consider he does me credit. I also believe that Madame -Guenevere by this time agrees with me. And so, my part being done to -serve my creator, I am off for Cocaigne." - -"And what is this Cocaigne?" - -"It is an island wherein I rule." - -"I did not know you were a queen, madame." - -"Why, indeed there are a many things unknown to you, Messire de -Logreus, in a world where nobody gets any assuredness of knowledge -about anything. For it is a world wherein all men that live have but -a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that -a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure." - -"I believe," said Jurgen, as his thoughts shuddered away from what -he had seen and heard in the Druid forest, "that you speak wisdom." - -"Then in Cocaigne we are all wise: for that is our religion. But of -what are you thinking, Duke of Logreus?" - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, "that your eyes are unlike the eyes -of any other woman that I have ever seen." - -Smilingly the dark woman asked him wherein they differed, and -smilingly he said he did not know. They were looking at each other -warily. In each glance an experienced gamester acknowledged a worthy -opponent. - -"Why, then you must come with me into Cocaigne," says Anaïtis, "and -see if you cannot discover wherein lies that difference. For it is -not a matter I would care to leave unsettled." - -"Well, that seems only just to you," says Jurgen. "Yes, certainly I -must deal fairly with you." - -Then they left the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn, walking together. -The folk who went toward London were now well out of sight and -hearing, which possibly accounts for the fact that Jurgen was now in -no wise thinking of Guenevere. So it was that Guenevere rode out of -Jurgen's life for a while: and as she rode she talked with Lancelot. - - - - -21. - -How Anaïtis Voyaged - - -Now the tale tells that Jurgen and this Lady of the Lake came -presently to the wharves of Cameliard, and went aboard the ship -which had brought Anaïtis and Merlin into Glathion. This ship was -now to every appearance deserted: yet all its saffron colored sails -were spread, as though in readiness for the ship's departure. - -"The crew are scrambling, it may be, for the largesse, and fighting -over Gogyrvan's silver pieces," says Anaïtis, "but I think they will -not be long in returning. So we will sit here upon the prow, and -await their leisure." - -"But already the vessel moves," says Jurgen, "and I hear behind -us the rattling of silver chains and the flapping of shifted -saffron-colored sails." - -"They are roguish fellows," says Anaïtis, smiling. "Evidently, they -hid from us, pretending there was nobody aboard. Now they think to -give us a surprise when the ship sets out to sea as though it were -of itself. But we will disappoint these merry rascals, by seeming to -notice nothing unusual." - -So Jurgen sat with Anaïtis in the two tall chairs that were in the -prow of the vessel, under a canopy of crimson stuff embroidered with -gold dragons, and just back of the ship's figurehead, which was a -dragon painted with thirty colors: and the ship moved out of the -harbor, and so into the open sea. Thus they passed Enisgarth. - -"And it is a queer crew that serve you, Anaïtis, who are Queen of -Cocaigne: for I can hear them talking, far back of us, and their -language is all a cheeping and a twittering, as though the mice and -the bats were holding conference." - -"Why, you must understand that these are outlanders who speak a -dialect of their own, and are not like any other people you have -ever seen." - -"Indeed, now, that is very probable, for I have seen none of your -crew. Sometimes it is as though small flickerings passed over the -deck, and that is all." - -"It is but the heat waves rising from the deck, for the day is -warmer than you would think, sitting here under this canopy. And -besides, what call have you and I to be bothering over the pranks of -common mariners, so long as they do their proper duty?" - -"I was thinking, O woman with unusual eyes, that these are hardly -common mariners." - -"And I was thinking, Duke Jurgen, that I would tell you a tale of -the Old Gods, to make the time speed more pleasantly as we sit here -untroubled as a god and a goddess." - -Now they had passed Camwy: and Anaïtis began to narrate the history -of Anistar and Calmoora and of the unusual concessions they granted -each other, and of how Calmoora contented her five lovers: and -Jurgen found the tale perturbing. - -While Anaïtis talked the sky grew dark, as though the sun were -ashamed and veiled his shame with clouds: and they went forward in a -gray twilight which deepened steadily over a tranquil sea. So they -passed the lights of Sargyll, most remote of the Red Islands, while -Anaïtis talked of Procris and King Minos and Pasiphaë. As color went -out of the air new colors entered into the sea, which now assumed -the varied gleams of water that has long been stagnant. And a -silence brooded over the sea, so that there was no noise anywhere -except the sound of the voice of Anaïtis, saying, "All men that live -have but a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. -So that a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his -own body; and yet the body of man is capable of much curious -pleasure." - -They came thus to a low-lying naked beach, where there was no sign -of habitation. Anaïtis said this was the land they were seeking, and -they went ashore. - -"Even now," says Jurgen, "I have seen none of the crew who brought -us hither." - -And the beautiful dark woman shrugged, and marveled why he need -perpetually be bothering over the doings of common sailors. - -They went forward across the beach, through sand hills, to a moor, -seeing no one, and walking in a gray fog. They passed many gray fat -sluggish worms and some curious gray reptiles such as Jurgen had -never imagined to exist, but Anaïtis said these need not trouble -them. - -"So there is no call to be fingering your charmed sword as we walk -here, Duke Jurgen, for these great worms do not ever harm the -living." - -"For whom, then, do they lie here in wait, in this gray fog, -wherethrough the green lights flutter, and wherethrough I hear at -times a thin and far-off wailing?" - -"What is that to you, Duke Jurgen, since you and I are still in the -warm flesh? Surely there was never a man who asked more idle -questions." - -"Yet this is an uncomfortable twilight." - -"To the contrary, you should rejoice that it is a fog too heavy to -be penetrated by the Moon." - -"But what have I to do with the Moon?" - -"Nothing, as yet. And that is as well for you, Duke Jurgen, since it -is authentically reported you have derided the day which is sacred -to the Moon. Now the Moon does not love derision, as I well know, -for in part I serve the Moon." - -"Eh?" says Jurgen: and he began to reflect. - -So they came to a wall that was high and gray, and to the door which -was in the wall. - -"You must knock two or three times," says Anaïtis, "to get into -Cocaigne." - -Jurgen observed the bronze knocker upon the door, and he grinned in -order to hide his embarrassment. - -"It is a quaint fancy," said he, "and the two constituents of it -appear to have been modeled from life." - -"They were copied very exactly from Adam and Eve," says Anaïtis, -"who were the first persons to open this gateway." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "there is no earthly doubt that men -degenerate, since here under my hand is the proof of it." - -With that he knocked, and the door opened, and the two of them -entered. - - - - -22. - -As to a Veil They Broke - - -So it was that Jurgen came into Cocaigne, wherein is the bedchamber -of Time. And Time, they report, came in with Jurgen, since Jurgen -was mortal: and Time, they say, rejoiced in this respite from the -slow toil of dilapidating cities stone by stone, and with his eyes -tired by the finicky work of etching in wrinkles, went happily into -his bedchamber, and fell asleep just after sunset on this fine -evening in late June: so that the weather remained fair and -changeless, with no glaring sun rays anywhere, and with one large -star shining alone in clear daylight. This was the star of Venus -Mechanitis, and Jurgen later derived considerable amusement from -noting how this star was trundled about the dome of heaven by a -largish beetle, named Khepre. And the trees everywhere kept their -first fresh foliage, and the birds were about their indolent evening -songs, all during Jurgen's stay in Cocaigne, for Time had gone to -sleep at the pleasantest hour of the year's most pleasant season. So -tells the tale. - -And Jurgen's shadow also went in with Jurgen, but in Cocaigne as in -Glathion, nobody save Jurgen seemed to notice this curious shadow -which now followed Jurgen everywhere. - -In Cocaigne Queen Anaïtis had a palace, where domes and pinnacles -beyond numbering glimmered with a soft whiteness above the top of an -old twilit forest, wherein the vegetation was unlike that which is -nourished by ordinary earth. There was to be seen in these woods, -for instance, a sort of moss which made Jurgen shudder. So Anaïtis -and Jurgen came through narrow paths, like murmuring green caverns, -into a courtyard walled and paved with yellow marble, wherein was -nothing save the dimly colored statue of a god with ten heads and -thirty-four arms: he was represented as very much engrossed by a -woman, and with his unoccupied hands was holding yet other women. - -"It is Jigsbyed," said Anaïtis. - -Said Jurgen: "I do not criticize. Nevertheless, I think this -Jigsbyed is carrying matters to extremes." - -Then they passed the statue of Tangaro Loloquong, and afterward the -statue of Legba. Jurgen stroked his chin, and his color heightened. -"Now certainly, Queen Anaïtis," he said, "you have unusual taste in -sculpture." - -Thence Jurgen came with Anaïtis into a white room, with copper -plaques upon the walls, and there four girls were heating water in a -brass tripod. They bathed Jurgen, giving him astonishing caresses -meanwhile--with the tongue, the hair, the finger-nails, and the tips -of the breasts,--and they anointed him with four oils, then dressed -him again in his glittering shirt. Of Caliburn, said Anaïtis, there -was no present need: so Jurgen's sword was hung upon the wall. - -These girls brought silver bowls containing wine mixed with honey, -and they brought pomegranates and eggs and barleycorn, and -triangular red-colored loaves, whereon they sprinkled sweet-smelling -little seeds with formal gestures. Then Anaïtis and Jurgen broke -their fast, eating together while the four girls served them. - -"And now," says Jurgen, "and now, my dear, I would suggest that we -enter into the pursuit of those curious pleasures of which you were -telling me." - -"I am very willing," responded Anaïtis, "since there is no one of -these pleasures but is purchased by some diversion of man's nature. -Yet first, as I need hardly inform you, there is a ceremonial to be -observed." - -"And what, pray, is this ceremonial?" - -"Why, we call it the Breaking of the Veil." And Queen Anaïtis -explained what they must do. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Anaïtis led Jurgen into a sort of chapel, adorned with very -unchurchlike paintings. There were four shrines, dedicated severally -to St. Cosmo, to St. Damianus, to St. Guignole of Brest, and to St. -Foutin de Varailles. In this chapel were a hooded man, clothed in -long garments that were striped with white and yellow, and two naked -children, both girls. One of the children carried a censer: the -other held in one hand a vividly blue pitcher half filled with -water, and in her left hand a cellar of salt. - -First of all, the hooded man made Jurgen ready. "Behold the lance," -said the hooded man, "which must serve you in this adventure." - -"I accept the adventure," Jurgen replied, "because I believe the -weapon to be trustworthy." - -Said the hooded man: "So be it! but as you are, so once was I." - -Meanwhile Duke Jurgen held the lance erect, shaking it with his -right hand. This lance was large, and the tip of it was red with -blood. - -"Behold," said Jurgen, "I am a man born of a woman incomprehensibly. -Now I, who am miraculous, am found worthy to perform a miracle, and -to create that which I may not comprehend." - -Anaïtis took salt and water from the child, and mingled these. "Let -the salt of earth enable the thin fluid to assume the virtue of the -teeming sea!" - -Then, kneeling, she touched the lance, and began to stroke it -lovingly. To Jurgen she said: "Now may you be fervent of soul and -body! May the endless Serpent be your crown, and the fertile flame -of the sun your strength!" - -Said the hooded man, again: "So be it!" His voice was high and -bleating, because of that which had been done to him. - -"That therefore which we cannot understand we also invoke," said -Jurgen. "By the power of the lifted lance"--and now with his left -hand he took the hand of Anaïtis,--"I, being a man born of a woman -incomprehensibly, now seize upon that which alone I desire with my -whole being. I lead you toward the east. I upraise you above the -earth and all the things of earth." - -Then Jurgen raised Queen Anaïtis so that she sat upon the altar, and -that which was there before tumbled to the ground. Anaïtis placed -together the tips of her thumbs and of her fingers, so that her -hands made an open triangle; and waited thus. Upon her head was a -network of red coral, with branches radiating downward: her gauzy -tunic had twenty-two openings, so as to admit all imaginable -caresses, and was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled: her dark eyes glittered and her breath came fast. - -Now the hooded man and the two naked girls performed their share in -the ceremonial, which part it is not essential to record. But Jurgen -was rather shocked by it. - -None the less, Jurgen said: "O cord that binds the circling of the -stars! O cup which holds all time, all color, and all thought! O -soul of space! not unto any image of thee do we attain unless thy -image show in what we are about to do. Therefore by every plant -which scatters its seed and by the moist warm garden which receives -and nourishes it, by the comminglement of bloodshed with pleasure, -by the joy that mimics anguish with sighs and shudderings, and by -the contentment which mimics death,--by all these do we invoke thee. -O thou, continuous one, whose will these children attend, and whom I -now adore in this fair-colored and soft woman's body, it is thou -whom I honor, not any woman, in doing what seems good to me: and it -is thou who art about to speak, and not she." - -Then Anaïtis said: "Yea, for I speak with the tongue of every woman, -and I shine in the eyes of every woman, when the lance is lifted. To -serve me is better than all else. When you invoke me with a heart -wherein is kindled the serpent flame, if but for a moment, you will -understand the delights of my garden, what joy unwordable pulsates -therein, and how potent is the sole desire which uses all of a man. -To serve me you will then be eager to surrender whatever else is in -your life: and other pleasures you will take with your left hand, -not thinking of them entirely: for I am the desire which uses all of -a man, and so wastes nothing. And I accept you, I yearn toward you, -I who am daughter and somewhat more than daughter to the Sun. I who -am all pleasure, all ruin, and a drunkenness of the inmost sense, -desire you." - -Now Jurgen held his lance erect before Anaïtis. "O secret of all -things, hidden in the being of all which lives, now that the lance -is exalted I do not dread thee: for thou art in me, and I am thou. I -am the flame that burns in every beating heart and in the core of -the farthest star. I too am life and the giver of life, and in me -too is death. Wherein art thou better than I? I am alone: my will is -justice: and there comes no other god where I am." - -Said the hooded man behind Jurgen: "So be it! but as you are, so -once was I." - -The two naked children stood one at each side of Anaïtis, and waited -there trembling. These girls, as Jurgen afterward learned, were -Alecto and Tisiphonê, two of the Eumenidês. And now Jurgen shifted -the red point of the lance, so that it rested in the open triangle -made by the fingers of Anaïtis. - -"I am life and the giver of life," cried Jurgen. "Thou that art one, -that makest use of all! I who am a man born of woman, I in my -station honor thee in honoring this desire which uses all of a man. -Make open therefore the way of creation, encourage the flaming dust -which is in our hearts, and aid us in that flame's perpetuation! For -is not that thy law?" - -Anaïtis answered: "There is no law in Cocaigne save, Do that which -seems good to you." - -Then said the naked children: "Perhaps it is the law, but certainly -it is not justice. Yet we are little and quite helpless. So -presently we must be made as you are for now you two are no longer -two, and your flesh is not shared merely with each other. For your -flesh becomes our flesh, and your sins our sins: and we have no -choice." - -Jurgen lifted Anaïtis from the altar, and they went into the chancel -and searched for the adytum. There seemed to be no doors anywhere in -the chancel: but presently Jurgen found an opening screened by a -pink veil. Jurgen thrust with his lance and broke this veil. He -heard the sound of one brief wailing cry: it was followed by soft -laughter. So Jurgen came into the adytum. - -Black candles were burning in this place, and sulphur too was -burning there, before a scarlet cross, of which the top was a -circle, and whereon was nailed a living toad. And other curious -matters Jurgen likewise noticed. - -He laughed, and turned to Anaïtis: now that the candles were behind -him, she was standing in his shadow. "Well, well! but you are a -little old-fashioned, with all these equivocal mummeries. And I did -not know that civilized persons any longer retained sufficient -credulity to wring a thrill from god-baiting. Still, women must be -humored, bless them! and at last, I take it, we have quite fairly -fulfilled the ceremonial requisite to the pursuit of curious -pleasures." - -Queen Anaïtis was very beautiful, even under his bedimming shadow. -Triumphant too was the proud face beneath that curious coral -network, and yet this woman's face was sad. - -"Dear fool," she said, "it was not wise, when you sang of the Léshy, -to put an affront upon Monday. But you have forgotten that. And now -you laugh because that which we have done you do not understand: and -equally that which I am you do not understand." - -"No matter what you may be, my dear, I am sure that you will -presently tell me all about it. For I assume that you mean to deal -fairly with me." - -"I shall do that which becomes me, Duke Jurgen--" - -"That is it, my dear, precisely! You intend to be true to yourself, -whatever happens. The aspiration does you infinite honor, and I -shall try to help you. Now I have noticed that every woman is most -truly herself," says Jurgen, oracularly, "in the dark." - -Then Jurgen looked at her for a moment, with twinkling eyes: then -Anaïtis, standing in his shadow, smiled with glowing eyes: then -Jurgen blew out those black candles: and then it was quite dark. - - - - -23. - -Shortcomings of Prince Jurgen - - -Now the happenings just recorded befell on the eve of the Nativity -of St. John the Baptist: and thereafter Jurgen abode in Cocaigne, -and complied with the customs of that country. - -In the palace of Queen Anaïtis, all manner of pastimes were -practised without any cessation. Jurgen, who considered himself to -be somewhat of an authority upon such contrivances, was soon -astounded by his own innocence. For Anaïtis showed him whatever was -being done in Cocaigne, to this side and to that side, under the -direction of Anaïtis, whom Jurgen found to be a nature myth of -doubtful origin connected with the Moon; and who, in consequence, -ruled not merely in Cocaigne but furtively swayed the tides of life -everywhere the Moon keeps any power over tides. It was the mission -of Anaïtis to divert and turn aside and deflect: in this the jealous -Moon abetted her because sunlight makes for straightforwardness. So -Anaïtis and the Moon were staunch allies. These mysteries of their -private relations, however, as revealed to Jurgen, are not very -nicely repeatable. - -"But you dishonored the Moon, Prince Jurgen, denying praise to the -day of the Moon. Or so, at least, I have heard." - -"I remember doing nothing of the sort. But I remember considering it -unjust to devote one paltry day to the Moon's majesty. For night is -sacred to the Moon, each night that ever was the friend of -lovers,--night, the renewer and begetter of all life." - -"Why, indeed, there is something in that argument," says Anaïtis, -dubiously. - -"'Something', do you say! why, but to my way of thinking it proves -the Moon is precisely seven times more honorable than any of the -Léshy. It is merely, my dear, a question of arithmetic." - -"Was it for that reason you did not praise Pandelis and her Mondays -with the other Léshy?" - -"Why, to be sure," said Jurgen, glibly. "I did not find it at all -praiseworthy that such an insignificant Léshy as Pandelis should -name her day after the Moon: to me it seemed blasphemy." Then Jurgen -coughed, and looked sidewise at his shadow. "Had it been Sereda, -now, the case would have been different, and the Moon might well -have appreciated the delicate compliment." - -Anaïtis appeared relieved. "I shall report your explanation. -Candidly, there were ill things in store for you, Prince Jurgen, -because your language was misunderstood. But that which you now say -puts quite a different complexion upon matters." - -Jurgen laughed, not understanding the mystery, but confident he -could always say whatever was required of him. - -"Now let us see a little more of Cocaigne!" cries Jurgen. - -For Jurgen was greatly interested by the pursuits of Cocaigne, and -for a week or ten days participated therein industriously. Anaïtis, -who reported the Moon's honor to be satisfied, now spared no effort -to divert him, and they investigated innumerable pastimes together. - -"For all men that live have but a little while to live," said -Anaïtis, "and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a man -possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his body: and yet -the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus and -thus," says Anaïtis. And she revealed devices to her Prince Consort. - -For Jurgen found that unknowingly he had in due and proper form -espoused Queen Anaïtis, by participating in the Breaking of the -Veil, which is the marriage ceremony of Cocaigne. His earlier -relations with Dame Lisa had, of course, no legal standing in -Cocaigne, where the Church is not Christian and the Law is, Do that -which seems good to you. - -"Well, when in Rome," said Jurgen, "one must be romantic. But -certainly this proves that nobody ever knows when he is being -entrapped into respectability: and never did a fine young fellow -marry a high queen with less premeditation." - -"Ah, my dear," says Anaïtis, "you were controlled by the finger of -Fate." - -"I do not altogether like that figure of speech. It makes one seem -too trivial, to be controlled by a mere finger. No, it is not quite -complimentary to call what prompted me a finger." - -"By the long arm of coincidence, then." - -"Much more appropriate, my love," says Jurgen, complacently: "it -sounds more dignified, and does not wound my self esteem." - -Now this Anaïtis who was Queen of Cocaigne was a delicious tall dark -woman, thinnish, and lovely, and very restless. From the first her -new Prince Consort was puzzled by her fervors, and presently was -fretted by them. He humbly failed to understand how anyone could be -so frantic over Jurgen. It seemed unreasonable. And in her more -affectionate moments this nature myth positively frightened him: for -transports such as these could not but rouse discomfortable -reminiscences of the female spider, who ends such recreations by -devouring her partner. - -"Thus to be loved is very flattering," he would reflect, "and I -again am Jurgen, asking odds of none. But even so, I am mortal. She -ought to remember that, in common fairness." - -Then the jealousy of Anaïtis, while equally flattering, was equally -out of reason. She suspected everybody, seemed assured that every -bosom cherished a mad passion for Jurgen, and that not for a moment -could he be trusted. Well, as Jurgen frankly conceded, his conduct -toward Stella, that ill-starred yogini of Indawadi, had in point of -fact displayed, when viewed from an especial and quite unconscionable -point of view, an aspect which, when isolated by persons judging -hastily, might, just possibly, appear to approach remotely, in one -or two respects, to temporary forgetfulness of Anaïtis, if indeed -there were people anywhere so mentally deficient as to find such -forgetfulness conceivable. - -But the main thing, the really important feature, which Anaïtis -could not be made to understand, was that she had interrupted her -consort in what was, in effect, a philosophical experiment, -necessarily attempted in the dark. The muntrus requisite to the -sacti sodhana were always performed in darkness: everybody knew -that. For the rest, this Stella had asserted so-and-so; in simple -equity she was entitled to a chance to prove her allegations if she -could: so Jurgen had proceeded to deal fairly with her. Besides, why -keep talking about this Stella, after a vengeance so spectacular and -thorough as that to which Anaïtis had out of hand resorted? why keep -reverting to a topic which was repugnant to Jurgen and visibly upset -the dearest nature myth in all legend? Was it quite fair to anyone -concerned? That was the sensible way in which Jurgen put it. - -Still, he became honestly fond of Anaïtis. Barring her -eccentricities when roused to passion, she was a generous and kindly -creature, although in Jurgen's opinion somewhat narrow-minded. - -"My love," he would say to her, "you appear positively unable to -keep away from virtuous persons! You are always seeking out the -people who endeavor to be upright and straightforward, and you are -perpetually laying plans to divert these people. Ah, but why bother -about them? What need have you to wear yourself out, and to devote -your entire time to such proselitizing, when you might be so much -more agreeably employed? You should learn, in justice to yourself as -well as to others, to be tolerant of all things; and to acknowledge -that in a being of man's mingled nature a strain of respectability -is apt to develop every now and then, whatever you might prefer." - -But Anaïtis had high notions as to her mission, and merely told him -that he ought not to speak with levity of such matters. "I would be -much happier staying at home with you and the children," she would -say, "but I feel that it is my duty--" - -"And your duty to whom, in heaven's name?" - -"Please do not employ such distasteful expressions, Jurgen. It is my -duty to the power I serve, my very manifest duty to my creator. But -you have no sense of religion, I am afraid; and the reflection is -often a considerable grief to me." - -"Ah, but, my dear, you are quite certain as to who made you, and for -what purpose you were made. You nature myths were created in the -Mythopoeic age by the perversity of old heathen nations: and you -serve your creator religiously. That is quite as it should be. But I -have no such authentic information as to my origin and mission in -life, I appear at all events to have no natural talent for being -diverted, I do not take to it wholeheartedly, and these are facts we -have to face." Now Jurgen put his arm around her. "My dear Anaïtis, -you must not think it mere selfishness on my part. I was born with a -something lacking that is requisite for anyone who aspires to be as -thoroughly misled as most people: and you will have to love me in -spite of it." - -"I almost wish I had never seen you as I saw you in that corridor, -Jurgen. For I felt drawn toward you then and there. I almost wish I -had never seen you at all. I cannot help being fond of you: and yet -you laugh at the things I know to be required of me, and sometimes -you make me laugh, too." - -"But, darling, are you not just the least, littlest, tiniest, very -weest trifle bigoted? For instance, I can see that you think I ought -to evince more interest in your striking dances, and your strange -pleasures, and your surprising caresses, and all your other -elaborate diversions. And I do think they do you credit, great -credit, and I admire your inventiveness no less than your -industry--" - -"You have no sense of reverence, Jurgen, you seem to have no sense -at all of what is due to one's creator. I suppose you cannot help -that: but you might at least remember it troubles me to hear you -talk so flippantly of my religion." - -"But I do not talk flippantly--" - -"Indeed you do, though. And it does not sound at all well, let me -tell you." - -"--Instead, I but point out that your creed necessitates, upon the -whole, an ardor I lack. You, my pet, were created by perversity: and -everyone knows it is the part of piety to worship one's creator in -fashions acceptable to that creator. So, I do not criticize your -religious connections, dear, and nobody admires these ceremonials of -your faith more heartily than I do. I merely confess that to -celebrate these rites so frequently requires a sustention of -enthusiasm which is beyond me. In fine, I have not your fervent -temperament, I am more sceptical. You may be right; and certainly I -cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is how I feel about it, my precious, and that is why I -find, with constant repetition of these ceremonials, a certain lack -of firmness developing in my responses: and finally, darling, that -is all there is to it." - -"I never in my whole incarnation had such a Prince Consort! -Sometimes I think you do not care a bit about me one way or the -other, Jurgen." - -"Ah, but I do care for you very much. And to prove it, come now let -us try some brand-new diversion, at sight of which the skies will be -blackened and the earth will shudder or something of that sort, and -then I will take the children fishing, as I promised." - -"No, Jurgen, I do not feel like diverting you just now. You take all -the solemnity out of it with your jeering. Besides, you are always -with the children. Jurgen, I believe you are fonder of the children -than you are of me. And when you are not with them you are locked up -in the Library." - -"Well, and was there ever such a treasury as the Library of -Cocaigne? All the diversions that you nature myths have practised I -find recorded there: and to read of your ingenious devices delights -and maddens me. For it is eminently interesting to meditate upon -strange pleasures, and to make verses about them is the most amiable -of avocations: it is merely the pursuit of them that I would -discourage, as disappointing and mussy. Besides, the Library is the -only spot I have to myself in the palace, what with your fellow -nature myths making the most of life all over the place." - -"It is necessary, Jurgen, for one in my position to entertain more -or less. And certainly I cannot close the doors against my own -relatives." - -"Such riffraff, though, my darling! Such odds and ends! I cannot -congratulate you upon your kindred, for I do not get on at all with -these patchwork combinations, that are one-third man and the other -two-thirds a vulgar fraction of bull or hawk or goat or serpent or -ape or jackal or what not. Priapos is the only male myth who comes -here in anything like the semblance of a complete human being: and I -had infinitely rather he stayed away, because even I who am Jurgen -cannot but be envious of him." - -"And why, pray?" - -"Well, where I go reasonably equipped with Caliburn, Priapos carries -a lance I envy--" - -"Like all the Bacchic myths he usually carries a thyrsos, and it is -a showy weapon, certainly; but it is not of much use in actual -conflict." - -"My darling! and how do you know?" - -"Why, Jurgen, how do women always know these things?--by intuition, -I suppose." - -"You mean that you judge all affairs by feeling rather than reason? -Indeed, I dare say that is true of most women, and men are daily -chafed and delighted, about equally, by your illogical method of -putting things together. But to get back to the congenial task of -criticizing your kindred, your cousin Apis, for example, may be a -very good sort of fellow: but, say what you will, it is ill-advised -of him to be going about in public with a bull's head. It makes him -needlessly conspicuous, if not actually ridiculous: and it puts me -out when I try to talk to him." - -"Now, Jurgen, pray remember that you speak of a very generally -respected myth, and that you are being irreverent--" - -"--And moreover, I take the liberty of repeating, my darling, that -even though this Ba of Mendes is your cousin, it honestly does -embarrass me to have to meet three-quarters of a goat socially--" - -"But, Jurgen, I must as a master of course invite prolific Ba to my -feasts of the Sacæ--" - -"Even so, my dear, in issuing invitations a hostess may fairly presuppose -that her guests will not make beasts of themselves. I often wish that -this mere bit of ordinary civility were more rigorously observed by Ba -and Hortanes and Fricco and Vul and Baal-Peor, and by all your other -cousins who come to visit you in such a zoologically muddled condition. -It shows a certain lack of respect for you, my darling." - -"Oh, but it is all in the family, Jurgen--" - -"Besides, they have no conversation. They merely bellow--or twitter -or bleat or low or gibber or purr, according to their respective -incarnations,--about unspeakable mysteries and monstrous pleasures -until I am driven to the verge of virtue by their imbecility." - -"If you were more practical, Jurgen, you would realize that it -speaks splendidly for anyone to be really interested in his -vocation--" - -"And your female relatives are just as annoying, with their eternal -whispered enigmas, and their crescent moons, and their mystic roses -that change color and require continual gardening, and their -pathetic belief that I have time to fool with them. And the entire -pack practises symbolism until the house is positively littered with -asherahs and combs and phalloses and linghams and yonis and arghas -and pulleiars and talys, and I do not know what other idiotic toys -that I am continually stepping on!" - -"Which of those minxes has been making up to you?" says Anaïtis, her -eyes snapping. - -"Ah, ah! now many of your female cousins are enticing enough--" - -"I knew it! Oh, but you need not think you deluded me--!" - -"My darling, pray consider! be reasonable about it! Your feminine -guests at present are Sekhmet in the form of a lioness, Io -incarnated as a cow, Hekt as a frog, Derceto as a sturgeon, and--ah, -yes!--Thoueris as a hippopotamus. I leave it to your sense of -justice, dear Anaïtis, if of ladies with such tastes in dress a -lovely myth like you can reasonably be jealous." - -"And I know perfectly well who it is! It is that Ephesian hussy, and -I had several times noticed her behavior. Very well, oh, very well, -indeed! nevertheless, I shall have a plain word or two with her at -once, and the sooner she gets out of my house the better, as I shall -tell her quite frankly. And as for you, Jurgen--!" - -"But, my dear Lisa--!" - -"What do you call me? Lisa was never an epithet of mine. Why do you -call me Lisa?" - -"It was a slip of the tongue, my pet, an involuntary but not -unnatural association of ideas. As for the Ephesian Diana, she -reminds me of an animated pine-cone, with that eruption of breasts -all over her, and I can assure you of your having no particular -reason to be jealous of her. It was merely of the female myths in -general I spoke. Of course they all make eyes at me: I cannot well -help that, and you should have anticipated as much when you selected -such an attractive Prince Consort. What do these poor enamored -creatures matter when to you my heart is ever faithful?" - -"It is not your heart I am worrying over, Jurgen, for I believe you -have none. Yes, you have quite succeeded in worrying me to -distraction, if that is any comfort to you. However, let us not talk -about it. For it is now necessary, absolutely imperative, that I go -into Armenia to take part in the mourning for Tammouz: people would -not understand it at all if I stayed away from such important -orgies. And I shall get no benefit whatever from the trip, much as I -need the change, because, without speaking of that famous heart of -yours, you are always up to some double-dealing, and I shall not -know into what mischief you may be thrusting yourself." - -Jurgen laughed, and kissed her. "Be off, and attend to your -religious duties, dear, by all means. And I promise you I will stay -safe locked in the Library till you come back." - -Thus Jurgen abode among the offspring of heathen perversity, and -conformed to their customs. Death ends all things for all, they -contended, and life is brief: for how few years do men endure, and -how quickly is the most subtle and appalling nature myth explained -away by the Philologists! So the wise person, and equally the -foreseeing nature myth, will take his glut of pleasure while there -is yet time to take anything, and will waste none of his short lien -upon desire and vigor by asking questions. - -"Oh, but by all means!" said Jurgen, and he docilely crowned himself -with a rose garland, and drank his wine, and kissed his Anaïtis. -Then, when the feast of the Sacæ was at full-tide, he would whisper -to Anaïtis, "I will be back in a moment, darling," and she would -frown fondly at him as he very quietly slipped from his ivory dining -couch, and went, with the merest suspicion of a reel, into the -Library. She knew that Jurgen had no intention of coming back: and -she despaired of his ever taking the position in the social life of -Cocaigne to which he was entitled no less by his rank as Prince -Consort than by his personal abilities. For Anaïtis did not really -think that, as went natural endowments, her Jurgen had much reason -to envy even such a general favorite as Priapos, say, from what she -knew of both. - -So it was that Jurgen honored custom. "Because these beastly nature -myths may be right," said Jurgen; "and certainly I cannot go so far -as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--!" - -For Jurgen was content to dismiss no riddle with a mere "I do not -know." Jurgen was no more able to give up questioning the meaning of -life than could a trout relinquish swimming: indeed, he lived -submerged in a flood of curiosity and doubt, as his native element. -That death ended all things might very well be the case: yet if the -outcome proved otherwise, how much more pleasant it would be, for -everyone concerned, to have aforetime established amicable relations -with the overlords of his second life, by having done whatever it -was they expected of him here. - -"Yes, I feel that something is expected of me," says Jurgen: "and -without knowing what it is, I am tolerably sure, somehow, that it is -not an indulgence in endless pleasure. Besides, I do not think death -is going to end all for me. If only I could be quite certain my -encounter with King Smoit, and with that charming little Sylvia -Tereu, was not a dream! As it is, plain reasoning assures me I am -not indispensable to the universe: but with this reasoning, somehow, -does not travel my belief. No, it is only fair to my own interests -to go graveward a little more openmindedly than do these nature -myths, since I lack the requisite credulity to become a free-thinking -materialist. To believe that we know nothing assuredly, and cannot -ever know anything assuredly, is to take too much on faith." - -And Jurgen paused to shake his sleek black head two or three times, -very sagely. - -"No, I cannot believe in nothingness being the destined end of all: -that would be too futile a climax to content a dramatist clever -enough to have invented Jurgen. No, it is just as I said to the -brown man: I cannot believe in the annihilation of Jurgen by any -really thrifty overlords; so I shall see to it that Jurgen does -nothing which he cannot more or less plausibly excuse, in case of -supernal inquiries. That is far safer." - -Now Jurgen was shaking his head again: and he sighed. - -"For the pleasures of Cocaigne do not satisfy me. They are all well -enough in their way; and I admit the truism that in seeking bed and -board two heads are better than one. Yes, Anaïtis makes me an -excellent wife. Nevertheless, her diversions do not satisfy me, and -gallantly to make the most of life is not enough. No, it is -something else that I desire: and Anaïtis does not quite understand -me." - - - - -24. - -Of Compromises in Cocaigne - - -Thus Jurgen abode for a little over two months in Cocaigne, and -complied with the customs of that country. Nothing altered in -Cocaigne: but in the world wherein Jurgen was reared, he knew, it -would by this time be September, with the leaves flaring gloriously, -and the birds flocking southward, and the hearts of Jurgen's fellows -turning to not unpleasant regrets. But in Cocaigne there was no -regret and no variability, but only an interminable flow of curious -pleasures, illumined by the wandering star of Venus Mechanitis. - -"Why is it, then, that I am not content?" said Jurgen. "And what -thing is this which I desire? It seems to me there is some injustice -being perpetrated upon Jurgen, somewhere." - -Meanwhile he lived with Anaïtis the Sun's daughter very much as he -had lived with Lisa, who was daughter to a pawnbroker. Anaïtis -displayed upon the whole a milder temper: in part because she could -confidently look forward to several centuries more of life before -being explained away by the Philologists, and so had less need than -Dame Lisa to worry over temporal matters; and in part because there -was less to ruin one's disposition in two months than in ten years -of Jurgen's company. Anaïtis nagged and sulked for a while when her -Prince Consort slackened in the pursuit of strange delights, as he -did very soon, with frank confession that his tastes were simple and -that these outlandish refinements bored him. Later Anaïtis seemed to -despair of his ever becoming proficient in curious pleasures, and -she permitted Jurgen to lead a comparatively normal life, with only -an occasional and half-hearted remonstrance. - -What puzzled Jurgen was that she did not seem to tire of him: and he -would often wonder what this lovely myth, so skilled and potent in -arts wherein he was the merest bungler, could find to care for in -Jurgen. For now they lived together like any other humdrum married -couple, and their occasional exchange of endearments was as much a -matter of course as their meals, and hardly more exciting. - -"Poor dear, I believe it is simply because I am a monstrous clever -fellow. She distrusts my cleverness, she very often disapproves of -it, and yet she values it as queer, as a sort of curiosity. Well, -but who can deny that cleverness is truly a curiosity in Cocaigne?" - -So Anaïtis petted and pampered her Prince Consort, and took such -open pride in his queerness as very nearly embarrassed him -sometimes. She could not understand his attitude of polite amusement -toward his associates and the events which befell him, and even -toward his own doings and traits. Whatever happened, Jurgen -shrugged, and, delicately avoiding actual laughter, evinced -amusement. Anaïtis could not understand this at all, of course, -since Asian myths are remarkably destitute of humor. To Jurgen in -private she protested that he ought to be ashamed of his levity: but -none the less, she would draw him out, when among the bestial and -grim nature myths, and she would glow visibly with fond pride in -Jurgen's queerness. - -"She mothers me," reflected Jurgen. "Upon my word, I believe that in -the end this is the only way in which females are capable of loving. -And she is a dear and lovely creature, of whom I am sincerely fond. -What is this thing, then, that I desire? Why do I feel life is not -treating me quite justly?" - -So the summer had passed; and Anaïtis travelled a great deal, being -a popular myth in every land. Her sense of duty was so strong that -she endeavored to grace in person all the peculiar festivals held in -her honor, and this, now the harvest season was at hand, left her -with hardly a moment disengaged. Then, too, the mission of Anaïtis -was to divert; and there were so many people whom she had personally -to visit--so many notable ascetics who were advancing straight -toward canonization, and whom her underlings were unable to -divert,--that Anaïtis was compelled to pass night after night in -unwholesomely comfortless surroundings, in monasteries and in the -cells and caves of hermits. - -"You are wearing yourself out, my darling," Jurgen would say: "and -does it not seem, after all, a game that is hardly worth the candle? -I know that, for my part, before I would travel so many miles into a -desert, and then climb a hundred foot pillar, just to whisper -diverting notions into an anchorite's very dirty ear, I would let -the gaunt rascal go to Heaven. But you associate so much with -saintly persons that you have contracted their incapacity for seeing -the humorous side of things. Well, you are a dear, even so. Here is -a kiss for you: and do you come back to your adoring husband as soon -as you conveniently can without neglecting your duty." - -"They report that this Stylites is very far gone in rectitude," said -Anaïtis, absent-mindedly, as she prepared for the journey, "but I -have hopes for him." - -Then Anaïtis put purple powder on her hair, and hastily got together -a few beguiling devices, and went into the Thebaid. Jurgen went back -to the Library, and the _System of Worshipping a Girl_, and the -unique manuscripts of Astyanassa and Elephantis and Sotadês, and the -Dionysiac Formulae, and the Chart of Postures, and the _Litany of -the Centre of Delight_, and the Spintrian Treatises, and the -_Thirty-two Gratifications_, and innumerable other volumes -which he found instructive. - -The Library was a vaulted chamber, having its walls painted with the -twelve Asan of Cyrenê; the ceiling was frescoed with the arched body -of a woman, whose toes rested upon the cornice of the east wall, and -whose out-stretched finger-tips touched the cornice of the western -wall. The clothing of this painted woman was remarkable: and to -Jurgen her face was not unfamiliar. - -"Who is that?" he inquired, of Anaïtis. - -Looking a little troubled, Anaïtis told him this was Æsred. - -"Well, I have heard her called otherwise: and I have seen her in -quite other clothing." - -"You have seen Æsred!" - -"Yes, with a kitchen towel about her head, and otherwise -unostentatiously appareled--but very becomingly, I can assure you!" -Here Jurgen glanced sidewise at his shadow, and he cleared his -throat. "Oh, and a most charming and a most estimable old lady I -found this Æsred to be, I can assure you also." - -"I would prefer to know nothing about it," said Anaïtis, hastily, "I -would prefer, for both our sakes, that you say no more of Æsred." -Jurgen shrugged. - -Now in the Library of Cocaigne was garnered a record of all that the -nature myths had invented in the way of pleasure. And here, with no -companion save his queer shadow, and with Æsred arched above and -bleakly regarding him, Jurgen spent most of his time, rather -agreeably, in investigating and meditating upon the more curious of -these recreations. The painted Asan were, in all conscience, food -for wonder: but over and above these dozen surprising pastimes, the -books of Anaïtis revealed to Jurgen, without disguise or reticence, -every other far-fetched frolic of heathenry. Hitherto unheard-of -forms of diversion were unveiled to him, and every recreation which -ingenuity had been able to contrive, for the gratifying of the most -subtle and the most strong-stomached tastes. No possible sort of -amusement would seem to have been omitted, in running the quaint -gamut of refinements upon nature which Anaïtis and her cousins had -at odd moments invented, to satiate their desire for some more suave -or more strange or more sanguinary pleasure. Yet the deeper Jurgen -investigated, and the longer he meditated, the more certain it -seemed to him that all such employment was a peculiarly -unimaginative pursuit of happiness. - -"I am willing to taste any drink once. So I must give diversion a -fair trial. But I am afraid these are the games of mental childhood. -Well, that reminds me I promised the children to play with them for -a while before supper." - -So he came out, and presently, brave in the shirt of Nessus, and -mimicked in every action by that incongruous shadow, Prince Jurgen -was playing tag with the three little Eumenidês, the daughters of -Anaïtis by her former marriage with Acheron, the King of Midnight. - -Anaïtis and the dark potentate had parted by mutual consent. -"Acheron meant well," she would say, with a forgiving sigh, "and -that in the Moon's absence he occasionally diverted travellers, I do -not deny. But he did not understand me." - -And Jurgen agreed that this tragedy sometimes befell even the -irreproachably diverting. - -The three Eumenidês at this period were half-grown girls, whom their -mother was carefully tutoring to drive guilty persons mad by the -stings of conscience: and very quaint it was to see the young Furies -at practise in the schoolroom, black-robed, and waving lighted -torches, and crowned each with her garland of pet serpents. They -became attached to Jurgen, who was always fond of children, and who -had frequently regretted that Dame Lisa had borne him none. - -"It is enough to get the poor dear a name for eccentricity," he had -been used to say. - -So Jurgen now made much of his step-children: and indeed he found -their innocent prattle quite as intelligent, in essentials, as the -talk of the full-grown nature myths who infested the palace of -Anaïtis. And the four of them--Jurgen, and critical Alecto, and -grave Tisiphonê, and fairy-like little Megæra,--would take long -walks, and play with their dolls (though Alecto was a trifle -condescending toward dolls), and romp together in the eternal -evening of Cocaigne; and discuss what sort of dresses and trinkets -Mother would probably bring them when she came back from Ecbatana or -Lesbos, and would generally enjoy themselves. - -Rather pathetically earnest and unimaginative little lasses, Jurgen -found the young Eumenidês: they inherited much of their mother's -narrow-mindedness, if not their father's brooding and gloomy -tendencies; but in them narrow-mindedness showed merely as amusing. -And Jurgen loved them, and would often reflect what a pity it was -that these dear little girls were destined when they reached -maturity, to spend the rest of their lives in haunting criminals and -adulterers and parricides and, generally, such persons as must -inevitably tarnish the girls' outlook upon life, and lead them to -see too much of the worst side of human nature. - -So Jurgen was content enough. But still he was not actually happy, -not even among the endless pleasures of Cocaigne. - -"And what is this thing that I desire?" he would ask himself, again -and again. - -And still he did not know: he merely felt he was not getting -justice: and a dim sense of this would trouble him even while he was -playing with the Eumenidês. - - - - -25. - -Cantraps of the Master Philologist - - -But now, as has been recorded, it was September, and Jurgen could -see that Anaïtis too was worrying over something. She kept it from -him as long as possible: first said it was nothing at all, then said -he would know it soon enough, then wept a little over the -possibility that he would probably be very glad to hear it, and -eventually told him. For in becoming the consort of a nature myth -connected with the Moon Jurgen had of course exposed himself to the -danger of being converted into a solar legend by the Philologists, -and in that event would be compelled to leave Cocaigne with the -Equinox, to enter into autumnal exploits elsewhere. And Anaïtis was -quite heart-broken over the prospect of losing Jurgen. - -"For I have never had such a Prince Consort in Cocaigne, so -maddening, and so helpless, and so clever; and the girls are so fond -of you, although they have not been able to get on at all with so -many of their step-fathers! And I know that you are flippant and -heartless, but you have quite spoiled me for other men. No, Jurgen, -there is no need to argue, for I have experimented with at least a -dozen lovers lately, when I was traveling, and they bored me -insufferably. They had, as you put it, dear, no conversation: and -you are the only young man I have found in all these ages who could -talk interestingly." - -"There is a reason for that, since like you, Anaïtis, I am not so -youthful as I appear." - -"I do not care a straw about appearances," wept Anaïtis, "but I know -that I love you, and that you must be leaving me with the Equinox -unless you can settle matters with the Master Philologist." - -"Well, my pet," says Jurgen, "the Jews got into Jericho by trying." - -He armed, and girded himself with Caliburn, drank a couple of -bottles of wine, put on the shirt of Nessus over all, and then went -to seek this thaumaturgist. - -Anaïtis showed him the way to an unpretentious residence, where a -week's washing was drying and flapping in the side yard. Jurgen -knocked boldly, and after an interval the door was opened by the -Master Philologist himself. - -"You must pardon this informality," he said, blinking through his -great spectacles, which had dust on them: "but time was by ill luck -arrested hereabouts on a Thursday evening, and so the maid is out -indefinitely. I would suggest, therefore, that the lady wait outside -upon the porch. For the neighbors to see her go in would not be -respectable." - -"Do you know what I have come for?" says Jurgen, blustering, and -splendid in his glittering shirt and his gleaming armor. "For I warn -you I am justice." - -"I think you are lying, and I am sure you are making an unnecessary -noise. In any event, justice is a word, and I control all words." - -"You will discover very soon, sir, that actions speak louder than -words." - -"I believe that is so," said the Master Philologist, still blinking, -"just as the Jewish mob spoke louder than He Whom they crucified. -But the Word endures." - -"You are a quibbler!" - -"You are my guest. So I advise you, in pure friendliness, not to -impugn the power of my words." - -Said Jurgen, scornfully: "But is justice, then, a word?" - -"Oh, yes, it is one of the most useful. It is the Spanish _justicia_, -the Portuguese _justiça_, the Italian _giustizia_, all from -the Latin _justus_. Oh, yes indeed, but justice is one of my best -connected words, and one of the best trained also, I can assure you." - -"Aha, and to what degraded uses do you put this poor enslaved -intimidated justice!" - -"There is but one intelligent use," said the Master Philologist, -unruffled, "for anybody to make of words. I will explain it to you, -if you will come in out of this treacherous draught. One never knows -what a cold may lead to." - -Then the door closed upon them, and Anaïtis waited outside, in some -trepidation. - -Presently Jurgen came out of that unpretentious residence, and so -back to Anaïtis, discomfited. Jurgen flung down his magic sword, -charmed Caliburn. - -"This, Anaïtis, I perceive to be an outmoded weapon. There is no -weapon like words, no armor against words, and with words the Master -Philologist has conquered me. It is not at all equitable: but the -man showed me a huge book wherein were the names of everything in -the world, and justice was not among them. It develops that, -instead, justice is merely a common noun, vaguely denoting an -ethical idea of conduct proper to the circumstances, whether of -individuals or communities. It is, you observe, just a grammarian's -notion." - -"But what has he decided about you, Jurgen?" - -"Alas, dear Anaïtis, he has decided, in spite of all that I could -do, to derive Jurgen from _jargon_, indicating a confused -chattering such as birds give forth at sunrise: thus ruthlessly does -the Master Philologist convert me into a solar legend. So the affair -is settled, and we must part, my darling." - -Anaïtis took up the sword. "But this is valuable, since the man who -wields it is the mightiest of warriors." - -"It is a rush, a rotten twig, a broomstraw, against the insidious -weapons of the Master Philologist. But keep it if you like, my dear, -and give it to your next Prince Consort. I am ashamed to have -trifled with such toys," says Jurgen, in fretted disgust. "And -besides, the Master Philologist assures me I shall mount far higher -through the aid of this." - -"But what is on that bit of parchment?" - -"Thirty-two of the Master Philologist's own words that I begged of -him. See, my dear, he made this cantrap for me with his own hand and -ink." And Jurgen read from the parchment, impressively: "'At the -death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who should be named John -the Twentieth, was through an error in the reckoning elevated to the -papal chair as John the Twenty-first.'" - -Said Anaïtis, blankly: "And is that all?" - -"Why, yes: and surely thirty-two whole words should be enough for -the most exacting." - -"But is it magic? are you certain it is authentic magic?" - -"I have learned that there is always magic in words." - -"Now, if you ask my opinion, Jurgen, your cantrap is nonsense, and -can never be of any earthly use to anybody. Without boasting, dear, -I have handled a great deal of black magic in my day, but I never -encountered a spell at all like this." - -"None the less, my darling, it is evidently a cantrap, for else the -Master Philologist would never have given it to me." - -"But how are you to use it, pray?" - -"Why, as need directs," said Jurgen, and he put the parchment into -the pocket of his glittering shirt. "Yes, I repeat, there is always -something to be done with words, and here are thirty-two authentic -words from the Master Philologist himself, not to speak of three -commas and a full-stop. Oh, I shall certainly go far with this." - -"We women have firmer faith in the sword," replied Anaïtis. "At all -events, you and I cannot remain upon this thaumaturgist's porch -indefinitely." - -So Anaïtis put up Caliburn, and carried it from the thaumaturgist's -unpretentious residence to her fine palace in the old twilit wood: -and afterward, as everybody knows, she gave this sword to King -Arthur, who with its aid rose to be hailed as one of the Nine -Worthies of the World. So did the husband of Guenevere win for -himself eternal fame with that which Jurgen flung away. - - - - -26. - -In Time's Hour-Glass - - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, when he had taken off all that foolish -ironmongery, and had made himself comfortable in his shirt; "well, -beyond doubt, the situation is awkward. I was content enough in -Cocaigne, and it is unfair that I should be thus ousted. Still, a -sensible person will manage to be content anywhere. But whither, -pray, am I expected to go?" - -"Into whatever land you may elect, my dear," said Anaïtis, fondly. -"That much at least I can manage for you: and the interpretation of -your legend can be arranged afterward." - -"But I grow tired of all the countries I have ever seen, dear -Anaïtis, and in my time I have visited nearly all the lands that are -known to men." - -"That too can be arranged: and you can go instead into one of the -countries which are desired by men. Indeed there are a number of -such realms which no man has ever visited except in dreams, so that -your choice is wide." - -"But how am I to make a choice without having seen any of these -countries? It is not fair to be expecting me to do anything of the -sort." - -"Why, I will show them to you," Anaïtis replied. - -The two of them then went together into a small blue chamber, the -walls of which were ornamented with gold stars placed helter-skelter. -The room was entirely empty save for an hour-glass near twice the -height of a man. - -"It is Time's own glass," said Anaïtis, "which was left in my -keeping when Time went to sleep." - -Anaïtis opened a little door of carved crystal that was in the lower -half of the hour-glass, just above the fallen sands. With her -finger-tips she touched the sand that was in Time's hour-glass, and -in the sand she drew a triangle with equal sides, she who was -strangely gifted and perverse. Then she drew just such another -figure so that the tip of it penetrated the first triangle. The sand -began to smoulder there, and vapors rose into the upper part of the -hour-glass, and Jurgen saw that all the sand in Time's hour-glass -was kindled by a magic generated by the contact of these two -triangles. And in the vapors a picture formed. - -"I see a land of woods and rivers, Anaïtis. A very old fellow, -regally crowned, lies asleep under an ash-tree, guarded by a -watchman who has more arms and hands than Jigsbyed." - -"It is Atlantis you behold, and the sleeping of ancient Time--Time, -to whom this glass belongs,--while Briareus watches." - -"Time sleeps quite naked, Anaïtis, and, though it is a delicate -matter to talk about, I notice he has met with a deplorable -accident." - -"So that Time begets nothing any more, Jurgen, the while he brings -about old happenings over and over, and changes the name of what is -ancient, in order to persuade himself he has a new plaything. There -is really no more tedious and wearing old dotard anywhere, I can -assure you. But Atlantis is only the western province of Cocaigne. -Now do you look again, Jurgen!" - -"Now I behold a flowering plain and three steep hills, with a castle -upon each hill. There are woods wherein the foliage is crimson: -shining birds with white bodies and purple heads feed upon the -clusters of golden berries that grow everywhere: and people go about -in green clothes, with gold chains about their necks, and with broad -bands of gold upon their arms, and all these people have untroubled -faces." - -"That is Inislocha: and to the south is Inis Daleb, and to the north -Inis Ercandra. And there is sweet music to be listening to -eternally, could we but hear the birds of Rhiannon, and there is the -best of wine to drink, and there delight is common. For thither -comes nothing hard nor rough, and no grief, nor any regret, nor -sickness, nor age, nor death, for this is the Land of Women, a land -of many-colored hospitality." - -"Why, then, it is no different from Cocaigne. And into no realm -where pleasure is endless will I ever venture again of my own free -will, for I find that I do not enjoy pleasure." - -Then Anaïtis showed him Ogygia, and Tryphême, and Sudarsana, and the -Fortunate Islands, and Æaea, and Caer-Is, and Invallis, and the -Hesperides, and Meropis, and Planasia, and Uttarra, and Avalon, and -Tir-nam-Beo, and Thelême, and a number of other lands to enter which -men have desired: and Jurgen groaned. - -"I am ashamed of my fellows," says he: "for it appears their notion -of felicity is to dwell eternally in a glorified brothel. I do not -think that as a self-respecting young Prince I would care to inhabit -any of these earthly paradises, for were there nothing else, I would -always be looking for an invasion by the police." - -"There remains, then, but one other realm, which I have not shown -you, in part because it is an obscure little place, and in part -because, for a reason that I have, I shall not assist you to go -thither. Still, there is Leukê, where Queen Helen rules: and Leukê -it is that you behold." - -"But Leukê seems like any other country in autumn, and appears to be -reasonably free from the fantastic animals and overgrown flowers -which made the other paradises look childish. Come now, there is an -attractive simplicity about Leukê. I might put up with Leukê if the -local by-laws allowed me a rational amount of discomfort." - -"Discomfort you would have full measure. For the heart of no man -remains untroubled after he has once viewed Queen Helen and the -beauty that is hers. It is for that reason, Jurgen, I shall not help -you to go into Leukê: for in Leukê you would forget me, having seen -Queen Helen." - -"Why, what nonsense you are talking, my darling! I will wager she -cannot hold a candle to you." - -"See for yourself!" said Anaïtis, sadly. - -Now through the rolling vapors came confusedly a gleaming and a -surging glitter of all the loveliest colors of heaven and earth: -and these took order presently, and Jurgen saw before him in the -hour-glass that young Dorothy who was not Heitman Michael's wife. -And long and wistfully he looked at her, and the blinding tears -came to his eyes for no reason at all, and for the while he could -not speak. - -Then Jurgen yawned, and said, "But certainly this is not the Helen -who was famed for beauty." - -"I can assure you that it is," said Anaïtis: "and that it is she who -rules in Leukê, whither I do not intend you shall go." - -"Why, but, my darling! this is preposterous. The girl is nothing to -look at twice, one way or the other. She is not actually ugly, I -suppose, if one happens to admire that washed-out blonde type, as of -course some people do. But to call her beautiful is out of reason; -and that I must protest in simple justice." - -"Do you really think so?" says Anaïtis, brightening. - -"I most assuredly do. Why, you remember what Calpurnius Bassus says -about all blondes?" - -"No, I believe not. What did he say, dear?" - -"I would only spoil the splendid passage by quoting it inaccurately -from memory. But he was quite right, and his opinion is mine in -every particular. So if that is the best Leukê can offer, I heartily -agree with you I had best go into some other country." - -"I suppose you already have your eyes upon some minx or other?" - -"Well, my love, those girls in the Hesperides were strikingly like -you, with even more wonderful hair than yours: and the girl Aillê -whom we saw in Tir-nam-Beo likewise resembled you remarkably, except -that I thought she had the better figure. So I believe in either of -those countries I could be content enough, after a while. Since part -from you I must," said Jurgen, tenderly, "I intend, in common -fairness to myself, to find a companion as like you as possible. You -conceive I can pretend it is you at first: and then as I grow fonder -of her for her own sake, you will gradually be put out of my mind -without my incurring any intolerable anguish." - -Anaïtis was not pleased. "So you are already hankering after those -huzzies! And you think them better looking than I am! And you tell -me so to my face!" - -"My darling, you cannot deny we have been married all of three whole -months: and nobody can maintain an infatuation for any woman that -long, in the teeth of having nothing refused him. Infatuation is -largely a matter of curiosity, and both of these emotions die when -they are fed." - -"Jurgen," said Anaïtis, with conviction, "you are lying to me about -something. I can see it in your eyes." - -"There is no deceiving a woman's intuition. Yes, I was not speaking -quite honestly when I pretended I had as lief go into the Hesperides -as to Tir-nam-Beo: it was wrong of me, and I ask your pardon. I -thought that by affecting indifference I could manage you better. -But you saw through me at once, and very rightly became angry. So I -fling my cards upon the table, I no longer beat about the bushes of -equivocation. It is Aillê, the daughter of Cormac, whom I love, and -who can blame me? Did you ever in your life behold a more enticing -figure, Anaïtis?--certainly I never did. Besides, I noticed--but -never mind about that! Still I could not help seeing them. And then -such eyes! twin beacons that light my way to comfort for my not -inconsiderable regret at losing you, my darling. Oh, yes, assuredly -it is to Tir-nam-Beo I elect to go." - -"Whither you go, my fine fellow, is a matter in which I have the -choice, not you. And you are going to Leukê." - -"My love, now do be reasonable! We both agreed that Leukê was not a -bit suitable. Why, were there nothing else, in Leukê there are no -attractive women." - -"Have you no sense except book-sense! It is for that reason I am -sending you to Leukê." - -And thus speaking, Anaïtis set about a strong magic that hastened -the coming of the Equinox. In the midst of her charming she wept a -little, for she was fond of Jurgen. - -And Jurgen preserved a hurt and angry face as well as he could: for -at the sight of Queen Helen, who was so like young Dorothy la -Désirée, he had ceased to care for Queen Anaïtis and her diverting -ways, or to care for aught else in the world save only Queen Helen, -the delight of gods and men. But Jurgen had learned that Anaïtis -required management. - -"For her own good," as he put it, "and in simple justice to the many -admirable qualities which she possesses." - - - - -27. - -Vexatious Estate of Queen Helen - - -"But how can I travel with the Equinox, with a fictitious thing, -with a mere convention?" Jurgen had said. "To demand any such -proceeding of me is preposterous." - -"Is it any more preposterous than to travel with an imaginary -creature like a centaur?" they had retorted. "Why, Prince Jurgen, we -wonder how you, who have done that perfectly unheard-of thing, can -have the effrontery to call anything else preposterous! Is there no -reason at all in you? Why, conventions are respectable, and that is -a deal more than can be said for a great many centaurs. Would you be -throwing stones at respectability, Prince Jurgen? Why, we are -unutterably astounded at your objection to any such well-known -phenomenon as the Equinox!" And so on, and so on, and so on, said -they. - -And in fine, they kept at him until Jurgen was too confused to -argue, and his head was in a whirl, and one thing seemed as -preposterous as another: and he ceased to notice any especial -improbability in his traveling with the Equinox, and so passed -without any further protest or argument about it, from Cocaigne to -Leukê. But he would not have been thus readily flustered had Jurgen -not been thinking all the while of Queen Helen and of the beauty -that was hers. - -So he inquired forthwith the way that one might quickliest come into -the presence of Queen Helen. - -"Why, you will find Queen Helen," he was told, "in her palace at -Pseudopolis." His informant was a hamadryad, whom Jurgen encountered -upon the outskirts of a forest overlooking the city from the west. -Beyond broad sloping stretches of ripe corn, you saw Pseudopolis as -a city builded of gold and ivory, now all a dazzling glitter under a -hard-seeming sky that appeared unusually remote from earth. - -"And is the Queen as fair as people report?" asks Jurgen. - -"Men say that she excels all other women," replied the Hamadryad, -"as immeasurably as all we women perceive her husband to surpass all -other men--" - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen. - -"--Although, for one, I see nothing remarkable in Queen Helen's -looks. And I cannot but think that a woman who has been so much -talked about ought to be more careful in the way she dresses." - -"So this Queen Helen is already provided with a husband!" Jurgen was -displeased, but saw no reason for despair. Then Jurgen inquired as -to the Queen's husband, and learned that Achilles, the son of -Peleus, was now wedded to Helen, the Swan's daughter, and that these -two ruled in Pseudopolis. - -"For they report," said the Hamadryad, "that in Adês' dreary kingdom -Achilles remembered her beauty, and by this memory was heartened to -break the bonds of Adês: so did Achilles, King of Men, and all his -ancient comrades come forth resistlessly upon a second quest of this -Helen, whom people call--and as I think, with considerable -exaggeration--the wonder of this world. Then the Gods fulfilled the -desire of Achilles, because, they said, the man who has once beheld -Queen Helen will never any more regain contentment so long as his -life lacks this wonder of the world. Personally, I would dislike to -think that all men are so foolish." - -"Men are not always rational, I grant you: but then," says Jurgen, -slyly, "so many of their ancestresses are feminine." - -"But an ancestress is always feminine. Nobody ever heard of a man -being an ancestress. Men are ancestors. Why, whatever are you -talking about?" - -"Well, we were speaking, I believe, of Queen Helen's marriage." - -"To be sure we were! And I was telling you about the Gods, when you -made that droll mistake about ancestors. Everybody makes mistakes -sometimes, however, and foreigners are always apt to get words -confused. I could see at once you were a foreigner--" - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "but you were not telling me about myself but -about the Gods." - -"Why, you must know the aging Gods desired tranquillity. So we will -give her to Achilles, they said; and then, it may be, this King of -Men will retain her so safely that his littler fellows will despair, -and will cease to war for Helen: and so we shall not be bothered any -longer by their wars and other foolishnesses. For this reason it was -that the Gods gave Helen to Achilles, and sent the pair to reign in -Leukê: though, for my part," concluded the Hamadryad, "I shall never -cease to wonder what he saw in her--no, not if I live to be a -thousand." - -"I must," says Jurgen, "observe this monarch Achilles before the world -is a day older. A king is all very well, of course, but no husband -wears a crown so as to prevent the affixion of other head-gear." - -And Jurgen went down into Pseudopolis, swaggering. - - * * * * * - -So in the evening, just after sunset, Jurgen returned to the -Hamadryad: he walked now with the aid of the ashen staff which -Thersitês had given Jurgen, and Jurgen was mirthless and rather -humble. - -"I have observed your King Achilles," Jurgen says, "and he is a -better man than I. Queen Helen, as I confess with regret, is -worthily mated." - -"And what have you to say about her?" inquires the Hamadryad. - -"Why, there is nothing more to say than that she is worthily mated, -and fit to be the wife of Achilles." For once, poor Jurgen was -really miserable. "For I admire this man Achilles, I envy him, and I -fear him," says Jurgen: "and it is not fair that he should have been -created my superior." - -"But is not Queen Helen the loveliest of ladies that you have ever -seen?" - -"As to that--!" says Jurgen. He led the Hamadryad to a forest pool -hard-by the oak-tree in which she resided. The dusky water lay -unruffled, a natural mirror. "Look!" said Jurgen, and he spoke with -a downward waving of his staff. - -The silence gathering in the woods was wonderful. Here the air was -sweet and pure: and the little wind which went about the ilex boughs -in search of night was a tender and peaceful wind, because it knew -that the all-healing night was close at hand. - -The Hamadryad replied, "But I see only my own face." - -"It is the answer to your question, none the less. Now do you tell -me your name, my dear, so that I may know who in reality is the -loveliest of all the ladies I have ever seen." - -The Hamadryad told him that her name was Chloris, and that she -always looked a fright with her hair arranged as it was to-day, and -that he was a strangely impudent fellow. So he in turn confessed to -her he was King Jurgen of Eubonia, drawn from his remote kingdom by -exaggerated reports as to the beauty of Queen Helen. Chloris agreed -with him that rumor was in such matters invariably untrustworthy. - -This led to further talk as twilight deepened: and the while that a -little by a little this pretty girl was converted into a warm -breathing shadow, hardly visible to the eye, the shadow of Jurgen -departed from him, and he began to talk better and better. He had -seen Queen Helen face to face, and other women now seemed -unimportant. Whether or not he got into the graces of this Hamadryad -did not greatly matter, one way or the other: and in consequence -Jurgen talked with such fluency, such apposite remarks and such -tenderness as astounded him. - -So he sat listening with delight to the seductive tongue of that -monstrous clever fellow, Jurgen. For this plump brown-haired -bright-eyed little creature, this Chloris, he was honestly sorry. -Into the uneventful life of a hamadryad, here in this uncultured -forest, could not possibly have entered much pleasurable excitement, -and it seemed only right to inject a little. "Why, simply in justice -to her!" Jurgen reflected. "I must deal fairly." - -Now it grew darker and darker under the trees, and in the dark -nobody can see what happens. There were only two voices that talked, -with lengthy pauses: and they spoke gravely of unimportant trifles, -like children at play together. - -"And how does a king come thus to be traveling without any retinue -or even a sword about him?" - -"Why, I travel with a staff, my dear, as you perceive: and it -suffices me." - -"Certainly it is large enough, in all conscience. Alas, young -outlander, who call yourself a king! you carry the bludgeon of a -highwayman, and I am afraid of it." - -"My staff is a twig from Yggdrasill, the tree of universal life: -Thersitês gave it me, and the sap that throbs therein arises from -the Undar fountain, where the grave Norns make laws for men and fix -their destinies." - -"Thersitês is a scoffer, and his gifts are mockery. I would have -none of them." - -The two began to wrangle, not at all angrily, as to what Jurgen had -best do with his prized staff. "Do you take it away from me, at any -rate!" says Chloris. So Jurgen hid his staff where Chloris could not -possibly see it; and he drew the Hamadryad close to him, and he -laughed contentedly. - -"Oh, oh! O wretched King," cried Chloris, "I fear that you will be -the death of me! And you have no right to oppress me in this way, -for I am not your subject." - -"Rather shall you be my queen, dear Chloris, receiving all that I -most prize." - -"But you are too domineering: and I am afraid to be alone with you -and your big staff! Ah! not without knowing what she talked about -did my mother use to quote her Æolic saying, The king is cruel and -takes joy in bloodshed!" - -"Presently you will not be afraid of me, nor will you be afraid of -my staff. Custom is all. For this likewise is an Æolic saying, The -taste of the first olive is unpleasant, but the second is good." - -Now for a while was silence save for the small secretive rumors of -the forest. One of the large green locusts which frequent the Island -of Leukê began shrilling tentatively. - -"Wait now, King Jurgen, for surely I hear footsteps, and one comes -to trouble us." - -"It is a wind in the tree-tops: or perhaps it is a god who envies -me. I pause for neither." - -"Ah, but speak reverently of the Gods! For is not Love a god, and a -jealous god that has wings with which to leave us?" - -"Then am I a god, for in my heart is love, and in every fibre of me -is love, and from me now love emanates." - -"But certainly I heard somebody approaching through the forest--" - -"Well, and do you not perceive I have withdrawn my staff from its -hiding-place?" - -"Ah, you have great faith in that staff of yours!" - -"I fear nobody when I brandish it." - -Another locust had answered the first one. Now the two insects were -in full dispute, suffusing the warm darkness with their pertinacious -whirrings. - -"King of Eubonia, it is certainly true, that which you told me about -olives." - -"Yes, for always love begets truthfulness." - -"I pray it may beget between us utter truthfulness, and nothing -else, King Jurgen." - -"Not 'Jurgen' now, but 'love'." - -"Indeed, they tell that even so, in such deep darkness, Love came to -his sweetheart Psychê." - -"Then why do you complain because I piously emulate the Gods, and -offer unto Love the sincerest form of flattery?" And Jurgen shook -his staff at her. - -"Ah, but you are strangely ready with your flattery! and Love -threatened Psychê with no such enormous staff." - -"That is possible: for I am Jurgen. And I deal fairly with all -women, and raise my staff against none save in the way of kindness." - -So they talked nonsense, in utter darkness, while the locusts, and -presently a score of locusts, disputed obstinately. Now Chloris and -Jurgen were invisible, even to each other, as they talked under her -oak-tree: but before them the fields shone mistily under a gold-dusted -dome, for this night seemed builded of stars. And the white towers of -Pseudopolis also could Jurgen see, as he laughed there and took his -pleasure with Chloris. He reflected that very probably Achilles and -Helen were laughing thus, and were not dissimilarly occupied, out -yonder, in this night of wonder. - -He sighed. But in a while Jurgen and the Hamadryad were speaking -again, just as inconsequently, and the locusts were whirring just as -obstinately. Later the moon rose, and they all slept. - -With the dawn Jurgen arose, and left this Hamadryad Chloris still -asleep. He stood where he overlooked the city and the shirt of -Nessus glittered in the level sun rays: and Jurgen thought of Queen -Helen. Then he sighed, and went back to Chloris and wakened her with -the sort of salutation that appeared her just due. - - - - -28. - -Of Compromises in Leukê - - -Now the tale tells that ten days later Jurgen and his Hamadryad were -duly married, in consonance with the law of the Wood: not for a -moment did Chloris consider any violation of the proprieties, so -they were married the first evening she could assemble her kindred. - -"Still, Chloris, I already have two wives," says Jurgen, "and it is -but fair to confess it." - -"I thought it was only yesterday you arrived in Leukê." - -"That is true: for I came with the Equinox, over the long sea." - -"Then Jugatinus has not had time to marry you to anybody, and -certainly he would never think of marrying you to two wives. Why do -you talk such nonsense?" - -"No, it is true, I was not married by Jugatinus." - -"So there!" says Chloris, as if that settled matters. "Now you see -for yourself." - -"Why, yes, to be sure," says Jurgen, "that does put rather a -different light upon it, now I think of it." - -"It makes all the difference in the world." - -"I would hardly go that far. Still, I perceive it makes a -difference." - -"Why, you talk as if everybody did not know that Jugatinus marries -people!" - -"No, dear, let us be fair! I did not say precisely that." - -"--And as if everybody was not always married by Jugatinus!" - -"Yes, here in Leukê, perhaps. But outside of Leukê, you understand, -my darling!" - -"But nobody goes outside of Leukê. Nobody ever thinks of leaving -Leukê. I never heard such nonsense." - -"You mean, nobody ever leaves this island?" - -"Nobody that you ever hear of. Of course, there are Lares and -Penates, with no social position, that the kings of Pseudopolis -sometimes take a-voyaging--" - -"Still, the people of other countries do get married." - -"No, Jurgen," said Chloris, sadly, "it is a rule with Jugatinus -never to leave the island; and indeed I am sure he has never even -considered such unheard-of conduct: so, of course, the people of -other countries are not able to get married." - -"Well, but, Chloris, in Eubonia--" - -"Now if you do not mind, dear, I think we had better talk about -something more pleasant. I do not blame you men of Eubonia, because -all men are in such matters perfectly irresponsible. And perhaps it -is not altogether the fault of the women, either, though I do think -any really self-respecting woman would have the strength of -character to keep out of such irregular relations, and that much I -am compelled to say. So do not let us talk any more about these -persons whom you describe as your wives. It is very nice of you, -dear, to call them that, and I appreciate your delicacy. Still, I -really do believe we had better talk about something else." - -Jurgen deliberated. "Yet do you not think, Chloris, that in the -absence of Jugatinus--and in, as I understand it, the unavoidable -absence of Jugatinus,--somebody else might perform the ceremony?" - -"Oh, yes, if they wanted to. But it would not count. Nobody but -Jugatinus can really marry people. And so of course nobody else -does." - -"What makes you sure of that?" - -"Why, because," said Chloris, triumphantly, "nobody ever heard of -such a thing." - -"You have voiced," said Jurgen, "an entire code of philosophy. Let -us by all means go to Jugatinus and be married." - -So they were married by Jugatinus, according to the ceremony with -which the People of the Wood were always married by Jugatinus. First -Virgo loosed the girdle of Chloris in such fashion as was customary; -and Chloris, after sitting much longer than Jurgen liked in the lap -of Mutinus (who was in the state that custom required of him) was -led back to Jurgen by Domiducus in accordance with immemorial -custom; Subigo did her customary part; then Praema grasped the -bride's plump arms: and everything was perfectly regular. - -Thereafter Jurgen disposed of his staff in the way Thersitês had -directed: and thereafter Jurgen abode with Chloris upon the -outskirts of the forest, and complied with the customs of Leukê. Her -tree was a rather large oak, for Chloris was now in her two hundred -and sixty-sixth year; and at first its commodious trunk sheltered -them. But later Jurgen builded himself a little cabin thatched with -birds' wings, and made himself more comfortable. - -"It is well enough for you, my dear, in fact it is expected of you, -to live in a tree-bole. But it makes me feel uncomfortably like a -worm, and it needlessly emphasizes the restrictions of married life. -Besides, you do not want me under your feet all the time, nor I you. -No, let us cultivate a judicious abstention from familiarity: such -is one secret of an enduring, because endurable, marriage. But why -is it, pray, that you have never married before, in all these -years?" - -She told him. At first Jurgen could not believe her, but presently -Jurgen was convinced, through at least two of his senses, that what -Chloris told him was true about hamadryads. - -"Otherwise, you are not markedly unlike the women of Eubonia," said -Jurgen. - -And now Jurgen met many of the People of the Wood; but since the -tree of Chloris stood upon the verge of the forest, he saw far more -of the People of the Field, who dwelt between the forest and the -city of Pseudopolis. These were the neighbors and the ordinary -associates of Chloris and Jurgen; though once in a while, of course, -there would be family gatherings in the forest. But Jurgen presently -had found good reason to distrust the People of the Wood, and went -to none of these gatherings. - -"For in Eubonia," he said, "we are taught that your wife's relatives -will never find fault with you to your face so long as you keep away -from them. And more than that, no sensible man expects." - -Meanwhile, King Jurgen was perplexed by the People of the Field, who -were his neighbors. They one and all did what they had always done. -Thus Runcina saw to it that the Fields were weeded: Seia took care -of the seed while it was buried in the earth: Nodosa arranged the -knots and joints of the stalk: Volusia folded the blade around the -corn: each had an immemorial duty. And there was hardly a day that -somebody was not busied in the Fields, whether it was Occator -harrowing, or Sator and Sarritor about their sowing and raking, or -Stercutius manuring the ground: and Hippona was always bustling -about in one place or another looking after the horses, or else -Bubona would be there attending to the cattle. There was never any -restfulness in the Fields. - -"And why do you do these things year in and year out?" asked Jurgen. - -"Why, King of Eubonia, we have always done these things," they said, -in high astonishment. - -"Yes, but why not stop occasionally?" - -"Because in that event the work would stop. The corn would die, the -cattle would perish, and the Fields would become jungles." - -"But, as I understand it, this is not your corn, nor your cattle, -nor your Fields. You derive no good from them. And there is nothing -to prevent your ceasing this interminable labor, and living as do -the People of the Wood, who perform no heavy work whatever." - -"I should think not!" said Aristæus, and his teeth flashed in a smile -that was very pleasant to see, as he strained at the olive-press. -"Whoever heard of the People of the Wood doing anything useful!" - -"Yes, but," says Jurgen, patiently, "do you think it is quite fair -to yourselves to be always about some tedious and difficult labor -when nobody compels you to do it? Why do you not sometimes take -holiday?" - -"King Jurgen," replied Fornax, looking up from the little furnace -wherein she was parching corn, "you are talking nonsense. The People -of the Field have never taken holiday. Nobody ever heard of such a -thing." - -"We should think not indeed!" said all the others, sagely. - -"Ah, ah!" said Jurgen, "so that is your demolishing reason. Well, I -shall inquire about this matter among the People of the Wood, for -they may be more sensible." - -Then as Jurgen was about to enter the forest, he encountered -Terminus, perfumed with ointment, and crowned with a garland of -roses, and standing stock still. - -"Aha," said Jurgen, "so here is one of the People of the Wood about -to go down into the Fields. But if I were you, my friend, I would -keep away from any such foolish place." - -"I never go down into the Fields," said Terminus. - -"Oh, then, you are returning into the forest." - -"But certainly not. Whoever heard of my going into the forest!" - -"Indeed, now I look at you, you are merely standing here." - -"I have always stood here," said Terminus. - -"And do you never move?" - -"No," said Terminus. - -"And for what reason?" - -"Because I have always stood here without moving," replied Terminus. -"Why, for me to move would be a quite unheard-of thing." - -So Jurgen left him, and went into the forest. And there Jurgen -encountered a smiling young fellow, who rode upon the back of a -large ram. This young man had his left fore-finger laid to his lips, -and his right hand held an astonishing object to be thus publicly -displayed. - -"But, oh, dear me! now, really, sir--!" says Jurgen. - -"Bah!" says the ram. - -But the smiling young fellow said nothing at all as he passed -Jurgen, because it is not the custom of Harpocrates to speak. - -"Which would be well enough," reflected Jurgen, "if only his custom -did not make for stiffness and the embarrassment of others." - -Thereafter Jurgen came upon a considerable commotion in the bushes, -where a satyr was at play with an oread. - -"Oh, but this forest is not respectable!" said Jurgen. "Have you no -ethics and morals, you People of the Wood! Have you no sense of -responsibility whatever, thus to be frolicking on a working-day?" - -"Why, no," responded the Satyr, "of course not. None of my people -have such things: and so the natural vocation of all satyrs is that -which you are now interrupting." - -"Perhaps you speak the truth," said Jurgen. "Still, you ought to be -ashamed of the fact that you are not lying." - -"For a satyr to be ashamed of himself would be indeed an unheard-of -thing! Now go away, you in the glittering shirt! for we are studying -eudæmonism, and you are talking nonsense, and I am busy, and you -annoy me," said the Satyr. - -"Well, but in Cocaigne," said Jurgen, "this eudæmonism was -considered an indoor diversion." - -"And did you ever hear of a satyr going indoors?" - -"Why, save us from all hurt and harm! but what has that to do with -it?" - -"Do not try to equivocate, you shining idiot! For now you see for -yourself you are talking nonsense. And I repeat that such unheard-of -nonsense irritates me," said the Satyr. - -The Oread said nothing at all. But she too looked annoyed, and -Jurgen reflected that it was probably not the custom of oreads to be -rescued from the eudæmonism of satyrs. - -So Jurgen left them; and yet deeper in the forest he found a bald-headed -squat old man, with a big paunch and a flat red nose and very small -bleared eyes. Now the old fellow was so helplessly drunk that he could -not walk: instead, he sat upon the ground, and leaned against a tree-bole. - -"This is a very disgusting state for you to be in so early in the -morning," observed Jurgen. - -"But Silenus is always drunk," the bald-headed man responded, with a -dignified hiccough. - -"So here is another one of you! Well, and why are you always drunk, -Silenus?" - -"Because Silenus is the wisest of the People of the Wood." - -"Ah, ah! but I apologize. For here at last is somebody with a -plausible excuse for his daily employment. Now, then, Silenus, since -you are so wise, come tell me, is it really the best fate for a man -to be drunk always?" - -"Not at all. Drunkenness is a joy reserved for the Gods: so do men -partake of it impiously, and so are they very properly punished for -their audacity. For men, it is best of all never to be born; but, -being born, to die very quickly." - -"Ah, yes! but failing either?" - -"The third best thing for a man is to do that which seems expected -of him," replied Silenus. - -"But that is the Law of Philistia: and with Philistia, they inform -me, Pseudopolis is at war." - -Silenus meditated. Jurgen had discovered an uncomfortable thing -about this old fellow, and it was that his small bleared eyes did -not blink nor the lids twitch at all. His eyes moved, as through -magic the eyes of a painted statue might move horribly, under quite -motionless red lids. Therefore it was uncomfortable when these eyes -moved toward you. - -"Young fellow in the glittering shirt, I will tell you a secret: and -it is that the Philistines were created after the image of Koshchei -who made some things as they are. Do you think upon that! So the -Philistines do that which seems expected. And the people of Leukê -were created after the image of Koshchei who made yet other things -as they are: therefore do the people of Leukê do that which is -customary, adhering to classical tradition. Do you think upon that -also! Then do you pick your side in this war, remembering that you -side with stupidity either way. And when that happens which will -happen, do you remember how Silenus foretold to you precisely what -would happen, a long while before it happened, because Silenus was -so old and so wise and so very disreputably drunk, and so very, very -sleepy." - -"Yes, certainly, Silenus: but how will this war end?" - -"Dullness will conquer dullness: and it will not matter." - -"Ah, yes! but what will become, in all this fighting, of Jurgen?" - -"That will not matter either," said Silenus, comfortably. "Nobody -will bother about you." And with that he closed his horrible bleared -eyes and went to sleep. - -So Jurgen left the old tippler, and started to leave the forest -also. "For undoubtedly all the people in Leukê are resolute to do -that which is customary," reflected Jurgen, "for the unarguable -reason it is their custom, and has always been their custom. And -they will desist from these practises when the cat eats acorns, but -not before. So it is the part of wisdom to inquire no further into -the matter. For after all, these people may be right; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say they are wrong." Jurgen shrugged. "But -still, at the same time--!" - -Now in returning to his cabin Jurgen heard a frightful sort of -yowling and screeching as of mad people. - -"Hail, daughter of various-formed Protogonus, thou that takest joy -in mountains and battles and in the beating of the drum! Hail, thou -deceitful saviour, mother of all gods, that comest now, pleased with -long wanderings, to be propitious to us!" - -But the uproar was becoming so increasingly unpleasant that Jurgen -at this point withdrew into a thicket: and thence he witnessed the -passing through the Woods of a notable procession. There were -features connected with this procession sufficiently unusual to -cause Jurgen to vow that the desiderated moment wherein he walked -unhurt from the forest would mark the termination of his last visit -thereto. Then amazement tripped up the heels of terror: for now -passed Mother Sereda, or, as Anaïtis had called her, Æsred. To-day, -in place of a towel about her head, she wore a species of crown, -shaped like a circlet of crumbling towers: she carried a large key, -and her chariot was drawn by two lions. She was attended by howling -persons, with shaved heads: and it was apparent that these persons -had parted with possessions which Jurgen valued. - -"This is undoubtedly," said he, "a most unwholesome forest." - -Jurgen inquired about this procession, later, and from Chloris he -got information which surprised him. - -"And these are the beings who I had thought were poetic ornaments of -speech! But what is the old lady doing in such high company?" - -He described Mother Sereda, and Chloris told him who this was. Now -Jurgen shook his sleek black head. - -"Behold another mystery! Yet after all, it is no concern of mine if -the old lady elects for an additional anagram. I should be the last -person to criticize her, inasmuch as to me she has been more than -generous. Well, I shall preserve her friendship by the infallible -recipe of keeping out of her way. Oh, but I shall certainly keep out -of her way now that I have perceived what is done to the men who -serve her." - -And after that Jurgen and Chloris lived very pleasantly together, -though Jurgen began to find his Hamadryad a trifle unperceptive, if -not actually obtuse. - -"She does not understand me, and she does not always treat my -superior wisdom quite respectfully. That is unfair, but it seems to -be an unavoidable feature of married life. Besides, if any woman had -ever understood me she would, in self-protection, have refused to -marry me. In any case, Chloris is a dear brown plump delicious -partridge of a darling: and cleverness in women is, after all, a -virtue misplaced." - -And Jurgen did not return into the Woods, nor did he go down into -the city. Neither the People of the Field nor of the Wood, of -course, ever went within city gates. "But I would think that you -would like to see the fine sights of Pseudopolis," says -Chloris,--"and that fine Queen of theirs," she added, almost as -though she spoke without premeditation. - -"Woman dear," says Jurgen, "I do not wish to appear boastful. But in -Eubonia, now! well, really some day we must return to my kingdom, -and you shall inspect for yourself a dozen or two of my cities--Ziph -and Eglington and Poissieux and Gazden and Bäremburg, at all events. -And then you will concede with me that this little village of -Pseudopolis, while well enough in its way--!" And Jurgen shrugged. -"But as for saying more!" - -"Sometimes," said Chloris, "I wonder if there is any such place as -your fine kingdom of Eubonia: for certainly it grows larger and more -splendid every time you talk of it." - -"Now can it be," asks Jurgen, more hurt than angry, "that you -suspect me of uncandid dealing and, in short, of being an impostor!" - -"Why, what does it matter? You are Jurgen," she answered, happily. - -And the man was moved as she smiled at him across the glowing queer -embroidery-work at which Chloris seemed to labor interminably: he -was conscious of a tenderness for her which was oddly remorseful: -and it appeared to him that if he had known lovelier women he had -certainly found nowhere anyone more lovable than was this plump and -busy and sunny-tempered little wife of his. - -"My dear, I do not care to see Queen Helen again, and that is a -fact. I am contented here, with a wife befitting my station, suited -to my endowments, and infinitely excelling my deserts." - -"And do you think of that tow-headed bean-pole very often, King -Jurgen?" - -"That is unfair, and you wrong me, Chloris, with these unmerited -suspicions. It pains me to reflect, my dear, that you esteem the tie -between us so lightly you can consider me capable of breaking it -even in thought." - -"To talk of fairness is all very well, but it is no answer to a -plain question." - -Jurgen looked full at her; and he laughed. "You women are so -unscrupulously practical. My dear, I have seen Queen Helen face to -face. But it is you whom I love as a man customarily loves a woman." - -"That is not saying much." - -"No: for I endeavor to speak in consonance with my importance. You -forget that I have also seen Achilles." - -"But you admired Achilles! You told me so yourself." - -"I admired the perfections of Achilles, but I cordially dislike the -man who possesses them. Therefore I shall keep away from both the -King and Queen of Pseudopolis." - -"Yet you will not go into the Woods, either, Jurgen--" - -"Not after what I have witnessed there," said Jurgen, with an -exaggerated shudder that was not very much exaggerated. - -Now Chloris laughed, and quitted her queer embroidery in order to -rumple up his hair. "And you find the People of the Field so -insufferably stupid, and so uninterested by your Zorobasiuses and -Ptolemopiters and so on, that you keep away from them also. O -foolish man of mine, you are determined to be neither fish nor beast -nor poultry and nowhere will you ever consent to be happy." - -"It was not I who determined my nature, Chloris: and as for being -happy, I make no complaint. Indeed, I have nothing to complain of, -nowadays. So I am very well contented by my dear wife and by my -manner of living in Leukê," said Jurgen, with a sigh. - - - - -29. - -Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense - - -It was on a bright and tranquil day in November, at the period which -the People of the Field called the summer of Alcyonê, that Jurgen -went down from the forest; and after skirting the moats of -Pseudopolis, and avoiding a meeting with any of the town's -dispiritingly glorious inhabitants, Jurgen came to the seashore. - -Chloris had suggested his doing this, in order that she could have a -chance to straighten things in his cabin while she was tidying her -tree for the winter, and could so make one day's work serve for two. -For the dryad of an oak-tree has large responsibilities, what with -the care of so many dead leaves all winter, and the acorns being -blown from their places and littering up the ground everywhere, and -the bark cracking until it looks positively disreputable: and Jurgen -was at any such work less a help than a hindrance. So Chloris gave -him a parcel of lunch and a perfunctory kiss, and told him to go -down to the seashore and get inspired and make up a pretty poem -about her. "And do you be back in time for an early supper, Jurgen," -says she, "but not a minute before." - -Thus it befell that Jurgen reflectively ate his lunch in solitude, -and regarded the Euxine. The sun was high, and the queer shadow that -followed Jurgen was huddled into shapelessness. - -"This is indeed an inspiring spectacle," Jurgen reflected. "How puny -seems the race of man, in contrast with this mighty sea, which now -spreads before me like, as So-and-so has very strikingly observed, a -something or other under such and such conditions!" Then Jurgen -shrugged. "Really, now I think of it, though, there is no call for -me to be suffused with the traditional emotions. It looks like a -great deal of water, and like nothing else in particular. And I -cannot but consider the water is behaving rather futilely." - -So he sat in drowsy contemplation of the sea. Far out a shadow would -form on the water, like the shadow of a broadish plank, scudding -shoreward, and lengthening and darkening as it approached. Presently -it would be some hundred feet in length, and would assume a hard -smooth darkness, like that of green stone: this was the under side -of the wave. Then the top of it would curdle, the southern end of -the wave would collapse, and with exceeding swiftness this white -feathery falling would plunge and scamper and bluster northward, the -full length of the wave. It would be neater and more workmanlike to -have each wave tumble down as a whole. From the smacking and the -splashing, what looked like boiling milk would thrust out over the -brown sleek sands: and as the mess spread it would thin to a -reticulated whiteness, like lace, and then to the appearance of -smoke sprays clinging to the sands. Plainly the tide was coming in. - -Or perhaps it was going out. Jurgen's notions as to such phenomena -were vague. But, either way, the sea was stirring up a large -commotion and a rather pleasant and invigorating odor. - -And then all this would happen once more: and then it would happen -yet again. It had happened a number of hundred of times since Jurgen -first sat down to eat his lunch: and what was gained by it? The sea -was behaving stupidly. There was no sense in this continual sloshing -and spanking and scrabbling and spluttering. - -Thus Jurgen, as he nodded over the remnants of his lunch. - -"Sheer waste of energy, I am compelled to call it," said Jurgen, -aloud, just as he noticed there were two other men on this long -beach. - -One came from the north, one from the south, so that they met not -far from where Jurgen was sitting: and by an incredible coincidence -Jurgen had known both of these men in his first youth. So he hailed -them, and they recognized him at once. One of these travellers was -the Horvendile who had been secretary to Count Emmerick when Jurgen -was a lad: and the other was Perion de la Forêt, that outlaw who had -come to Bellegarde very long ago disguised as the Vicomte de -Puysange. And all three of these old acquaintances had kept their -youth surprisingly. - -Now Horvendile and Perion marveled at the fine shirt which Jurgen -was wearing. - -"Why, you must know," he said, modestly, "that I have lately become -King of Eubonia, and must dress according to my station." - -So they said they had always expected some such high honor to befall -him, and then the three of them fell to talking. And Perion told how -he had come through Pseudopolis, on his way to King Theodoret at -Lacre Kai, and how in the market-place at Pseudopolis he had seen -Queen Helen. "She is a very lovely lady," said Perion, "and I -marvelled over her resemblance to Count Emmerick's fair sister, whom -we all remember." - -"I noticed that at once," said Horvendile, and he smiled strangely, -"when I, too, passed through the city." - -"Why, but nobody could fail to notice it," said Jurgen. - -"It is not, of course, that I consider her to be as lovely as Dame -Melicent," continued Perion, "since, as I have contended in all -quarters of the world, there has never lived, and will never live, -any woman so beautiful as Melicent. But you gentlemen appear -surprised by what seems to me a very simple statement. Your air, in -fine, is one that forces me to point out it is a statement I can -permit nobody to deny." And Perion's honest eyes had narrowed -unpleasantly, and his sun-browned countenance was uncomfortably -stern. - -"Dear sir," said Jurgen, hastily, "it was merely that it appeared to -me the lady whom they call Queen Helen hereabouts is quite evidently -Count Emmerick's sister Dorothy la Désirée." - -"Whereas I recognized her at once," says Horvendile, "as Count -Emmerick's third sister, La Beale Ettarre." - -And now they stared at one another, for it was certain that these -three sisters were not particularly alike. - -"Putting aside any question of eyesight," observes Perion, "it is -indisputable that the language of both of you is distorted. For one -of you says this is Madame Dorothy, and the other says this is -Madame Ettarre: whereas everybody knows that this Queen Helen, -whomever she may resemble, cannot possibly be anybody else save -Queen Helen." - -"To you, who are always the same person," replied Jurgen, "that may -sound reasonable. For my part, I am several people: and I detect no -incongruity in other persons' resembling me." - -"There would be no incongruity anywhere," suggested Horvendile, "if -Queen Helen were the woman whom we had loved in vain. For the woman -whom when we were young we loved in vain is the one woman that we -can never see quite clearly, whatever happens. So we might easily, I -suppose, confuse her with some other woman." - -"But Melicent is the lady whom I have loved in vain," said Perion, -"and I care nothing whatever about Queen Helen. Why should I? What -do you mean now, Horvendile, by your hints that I have faltered in -my constancy to Dame Melicent since I saw Queen Helen? I do not like -such hints." - -"No less, it is Ettarre whom I love, and have loved not quite in -vain, and have loved unfalteringly," says Horvendile, with his quiet -smile: "and I am certain that it was Ettarre whom I beheld when I -looked upon Queen Helen." - -"I may confess," says Jurgen, clearing his throat, "that I have -always regarded Madame Dorothy with peculiar respect and admiration. -For the rest, I am married. Even so, I think that Madame Dorothy is -Queen Helen." - -Then they fell to debating this mystery. And presently Perion said -the one way out was to leave the matter to Queen Helen. "She at all -events must know who she is. So do one of you go back into the city, -and embrace her knees as is the custom of this country when one -implores a favor of the King or the Queen: and do you then ask her -fairly." - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "I am upon terms of some intimacy with a -hamadryad just at present. I am content with my Hamadryad. And I -intend never to venture into the presence of Queen Helen any more, -in order to preserve my contentment." - -"Why, but I cannot go," says Perion, "because Dame Melicent has a -little mole upon her left cheek. And Queen Helen's cheek is -flawless. You understand, of course, that I am certain this mole -immeasurably enhances the beauty of Dame Melicent," he added, -loyally. "None the less, I mean to hold no further traffic with -Queen Helen." - -"Now my reason for not going is this," said Horvendile:--"that if I -attempted to embrace the knees of Ettarre, whom people hereabouts -call Helen, she would instantly vanish. Other matters apart, I do -not wish to bring any such misfortune upon the Island of Leukê." - -"But that," said Perion, "is nonsense." - -"Of course it is," said Horvendile. "That is probably why it -happens." - -So none of them would go. And each of them clung, none the less, to -his own opinion about Queen Helen. And presently Perion said they -were wasting both time and words. Then Perion bade the two farewell, -and Perion continued southward, toward Lacre Kai. And as he went he -sang a song in honor of Dame Melicent, whom he celebrated as Heart -o' My Heart: and the two who heard him agreed that Perion de la -Forêt was probably the worst poet in the world. - -"Nevertheless, there goes a very chivalrous and worthy gentleman," -said Horvendile, "intent to play out the remainder of his romance. I -wonder if the Author gets much pleasure from these simple -characters? At least they must be easy to handle." - -"I cultivate a judicious amount of gallantry," says Jurgen: "I do -not any longer aspire to be chivalrous. And indeed, Horvendile, it -seems to me indisputable that each one of us is the hero in his own -romance, and cannot understand any other person's romance, but -misinterprets everything therein, very much as we three have fallen -out in the simple matter of a woman's face." - -Now young Horvendile meditatively stroked his own curly and reddish -hair, brushing it away from his ears with his left hand, as he sat -there staring meditatively at nothing in particular. - -"I would put it, Jurgen, that we three have met like characters out -of three separate romances which the Author has composed in -different styles." - -"That also," Jurgen submitted, "would be nonsense." - -"Ah, but perhaps the Author very often perpetrates nonsense. Come -Jurgen, you who are King of Eubonia!" says Horvendile, with his -wide-set eyes a-twinkle; "what is there in you or me to attest that -our Author has not composed our romances with his tongue in his -cheek?" - -"Messire Horvendile, if you are attempting to joke about Koshchei -who made all things as they are, I warn you I do not consider that -sort of humor very wholesome. Without being prudish, I believe in -common-sense: and I would vastly prefer to have you talk about -something else." - -Horvendile was still smiling. "You look some day to come to -Koshchei, as you call the Author. That is easily said, and sounds -excellently. Ah, but how will you recognize Koshchei? and how do you -know you have not already passed by Koshchei in some street or -meadow? Come now, King Jurgen," said Horvendile, and still his young -face wore an impish smile; "come tell me, how do you know that I am -not Koshchei who made all things as they are?" - -"Be off with you!" says Jurgen; "you would never have had the wit to -invent a Jurgen. Something else is troubling me: I have just -recollected that the young Perion who left us only a moment since, -grew to be rich and gray-headed and famous, and took Dame Melicent -from her pagan husband, and married her himself: and that all this -happened long years ago. So our recent talk with young Perion seems -very improbable." - -"Why, but do you not remember, too, that I ran away in the night -when Maugis d'Aigremont stormed Storisende? and was never heard of -any more? and that all this, too, took place a long, long while ago? -Yet we have met as three fine young fellows, here on the beach of -fabulous Leukê. I put it to you fairly, King Jurgen: now how could -this conceivably have come about unless the Author sometimes -composes nonsense?" - -"Truly the way that you express it, Horvendile, the thing does seem -a little strange; and I can think of no explanation rendering it -plausible." - -"Again, see now, King Jurgen of Eubonia, how you underrate the -Author's ability. This is one of the romancer's most venerable -devices that is being practised. See for yourself!" And suddenly -Horvendile pushed Jurgen so that Jurgen tumbled over in the warm -sand. - -Then Jurgen arose, gaping and stretching himself. "That was a very -foolish dream I had, napping here in the sun. For it was certainly a -dream. Otherwise, they would have left footprints, these young -fellows who have gone the way of youth so long ago. And it was a -dream that had no sense in it. But indeed it would be strange if -that were the whole point of it, and if living, too, were such a -dream, as that queer Horvendile would have me think." - -Jurgen snapped his fingers. - -"Well, and what in common fairness could he or anyone else expect me -to do about it! That is the answer I fling at you, you Horvendile -whom I made up in a dream. And I disown you as the most futile of my -inventions. So be off with you! and a good riddance, too, for I -never held with upsetting people." - -Then Jurgen dusted himself, and trudged home to an early supper with -the Hamadryad who contented him. - - - - -30. - -Economics of King Jurgen - - -Now Jurgen's curious dream put notions into the restless head of -Jurgen. So mighty became his curiosity that he went shuddering into -the abhorred Woods, and passed over Coalisnacoan (which is the Ferry -of Dogs), and did all such detestable things as were necessary to -placate Phobetor. Then Jurgen tricked Phobetor by an indescribable -device, wherein surprising use was made of a cheese and three -beetles and a gimlet, and so cheated Phobetor out of a gray magic. -And that night while Pseudopolis slept King Jurgen came down into -this city of gold and ivory. - -Jurgen went with distaste among the broad-browed and great-limbed -monarchs of Pseudopolis, for they reminded him of things that he had -long ago put aside, and they made him feel unpleasantly ignoble and -insignificant. That was his real reason for avoiding the city. - -Now he passed between unlighted and silent palaces, walking in -deserted streets where the moon made ominous shadows. Here was the -house of Ajax Telamon who reigned in sea-girt Salamis, here that of -god-like Philoctetês: much-counseling Odysseus dwelt just across the -way, and the corner residence was fair-haired Agamemnon's: in the -moonlight Jurgen easily made out these names engraved upon the -bronze shield that hung beside each doorway. To every side of him -slept the heroes of old song while Jurgen skulked under their -windows. - -He remembered how incuriously--not even scornfully--these people had -overlooked him on that disastrous afternoon when he had ventured -into Pseudopolis by daylight. And a spiteful little gust of rage -possessed him, and Jurgen shook his fist at the big silent palaces. - -"Yah!" he snarled: for he did not know at all what it was that he -desired to say to those great stupid heroes who did not care what he -said, but he knew that he hated them. Then Jurgen became aware of -himself growling there like a kicked cur who is afraid to bite, and -he began to laugh at this Jurgen. - -"Your pardon, gentlemen of Greece," says he, with a wide ceremonious -bow, "and I think the information I wished to convey was that I am a -monstrous clever fellow." - -Jurgen went into the largest palace, and crept stealthily by the -bedroom of Achilles, King of Men, treading a-tip-toe; and so came at -last into a little room panelled with cedar-wood where slept Queen -Helen. She was smiling in her sleep when he had lighted his lamp, -with due observance of the gray magic. She was infinitely beautiful, -this young Dorothy whom people hereabouts through some odd error -called Helen. - -For Jurgen saw very well that this was Count Emmerick's sister -Dorothy la Désirée, whom Jurgen had vainly loved in the days when -Jurgen was young alike in body and heart. Just once he had won back -to her, in the garden between dawn and sunrise: but he was then a -time-battered burgher whom Dorothy did not recognise. Now he -returned to her a king, less admirable it might be than some of the -many other kings without realms who slept now in Pseudopolis, but -still very fine in his borrowed youth, and above all, armored by a -gray magic: so that improbabilities were possible. And Jurgen's eyes -were furtive, and he passed his tongue across his upper lip from one -corner to the other, and his hand went out toward the robe of -violet-colored wool which covered the sleeping girl, for he stood -ready to awaken Dorothy la Désirée in the way he often awoke -Chloris. - -But a queer thought held him. Nothing, he recollected, had shown the -power to hurt him very deeply since he had lost this young Dorothy. -And to affairs which threatened to result unpleasantly, he had -always managed to impart an agreeable turn, since then, by virtue of -preserving a cool heart. What if by some misfortune he were to get -back his real youth? and were to become again the flustered boy who -blundered from stammering rapture to wild misery, and back again, at -the least word or gesture of a gold-haired girl? - -"Thank you, no!" says Jurgen. "The boy was more admirable than I, -who am by way of being not wholly admirable. But then he had a -wretched time of it, by and large. Thus it may be that my real youth -lies sleeping here: and for no consideration would I re-awaken it." - -And yet tears came into his eyes, for no reason at all. And it -seemed to him that the sleeping woman, here at his disposal, was not -the young Dorothy whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, although the two were curiously alike; and that of the two -this woman here was, somehow, infinitely the lovelier. - -"Lady, if you indeed be the Swan's daughter, long and long ago there -was a child that was ill. And his illness turned to a fever, and in -his fever he arose from his bed one night, saying that he must set -out for Troy, because of his love for Queen Helen. I was once that -child. I remember how strange it seemed to me I should be talking -such nonsense: I remember how the warm room smelt of drugs: and I -remember how I pitied the trouble in my nurse's face, drawn and old -in the yellow lamplight. For she loved me, and she did not -understand: and she pleaded with me to be a good boy and not to -worry my sleeping parents. But I perceive now that I was not talking -nonsense." - -He paused, considering the riddle: and his fingers fretted with the -robe of violet-colored wool beneath which lay Queen Helen. "Yours -is that beauty of which men know by fabulous report alone, and which -they may not ever find, nor ever win to, quite. And for that beauty -I have hungered always, even in childhood. Toward that beauty I have -struggled always, but not quite whole-heartedly. That night forecast -my life. I have hungered for you: and"--Jurgen smiled here--"and I -have always stayed a passably good boy, lest I should beyond reason -disturb my family. For to do that, I thought, would not be fair: and -still I believe for me to have done that would have been unfair." - -He grimaced at this point: for Jurgen was finding his scruples -inconveniently numerous. - -"And now I think that what I do to-night is not quite fair to Chloris. -And I do not know what thing it is that I desire, and the will of -Jurgen is a feather in the wind. But I know that I would like to love -somebody as Chloris loves me, and as so many women have loved me. And -I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen Helen, at every -moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I first seemed to -find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. It is the memory -of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face of a jill-flirt, -which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other men give women: -and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved nothing--not even you, -not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. Well, what if I took vengeance -now upon this thieving comeliness, upon this robber that strips life of -joy and sorrow?" - -Jurgen stood at Queen Helen's bedside, watching her, for a long -while. He had shifted into a less fanciful mood: and the shadow that -followed him was ugly and hulking and wavering upon the cedarn wall -of Queen Helen's sleeping-chamber. - -"Mine is a magic which does not fail," old Phobetor had said, while -his attendants raised his eyelids so that he could see King Jurgen. - -Now Jurgen remembered this. And reflectively he drew back the robe -of violet-colored wool, a little way. The breast of Queen Helen lay -bare. And she did not move at all, but she smiled in her sleep. - -Never had Jurgen imagined that any woman could be so beautiful nor -so desirable as this woman, or that he could ever know such rapture. -So Jurgen paused. - -"Because," said Jurgen now, "it may be this woman has some fault: it -may be there is some fleck in her beauty somewhere. And sooner than -know that, I would prefer to retain my unreasonable dreams, and this -longing which is unfed and hopeless, and the memory of to-night. -Besides, if she were perfect in everything, how could I live any -longer, who would have no more to desire? No, I would be betraying -my own interests, either way; and injustice is always despicable." - -So Jurgen sighed and gently replaced the robe of violet-colored -wool, and he returned to his Hamadryad. - -"And now that I think of it, too," reflected Jurgen, "I am behaving -rather nobly. Yes, it is questionless that I have to-night evinced a -certain delicacy of feeling which merits appreciation, at all events -by King Achilles." - - - - -31. - -The Fall of Pseudopolis - - -So Jurgen abode in Leukê, and complied with the customs of that -country; and what with one thing and another, he and Chloris made -the time pass pleasantly enough, until the winter solstice was at -hand. Now Pseudopolis, as has been said, was at war with Philistia: -so it befell that at this season Leukê was invaded by an army of -Philistines, led by their Queen Dolores, a woman who was wise but -not entirely reliable. They came from the coast, a terrible army -insanely clad in such garments as had been commanded by Ageus, a god -of theirs; and chaunting psalms in honor of their god Vel-Tyno, who -had inspired this crusade: thus they swept down upon Pseudopolis, -and encamped before the city. - -These Philistines fought in this campaign by casting before them a -more horrible form of Greek fire, which consumed whatever was not -gray-colored. For that color alone was now favored by their god -Vel-Tyno. "And all other colors," his oracles had decreed, "are -forevermore abominable, until I say otherwise." - -So the forces of Philistia were marshalled in the plain before -Pseudopolis, and Queen Dolores spoke to her troops. And smilingly -she said:-- - -"Whenever you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No -mercy will be shown, no prisoners taken. As the Philistines under -Libnah and Goliath and Gershon, and a many other tall captains, made -for themselves a name which is still mighty in traditions and -legend, even thus to-day may the name of Realist be so fixed in -Pseudopolis, by your deeds to-day, that no one shall ever dare again -even to look askance at a Philistine. Open the door for Realism, -once for all!" - -Meanwhile within the city Achilles, King of Men, addressed his -army:-- - -"The eyes of all the world will be upon you, because you are in some -especial sense the soldiers of Romance. Let it be your pride, -therefore, to show all men everywhere, not only what good soldiers -you are, but also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and -straight in everything, and pure and clean through and through. Let -us set ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory to live -up to it, and then let us live up to it, and add a new laurel to the -crown of Pseudopolis. May the Gods of Old keep you and guide you!" - -Then said Thersitês, in his beard: "Certainly Pelidês has learned -from history with what weapon a strong man discomfits the -Philistines." - -But the other kings applauded, and the trumpet was sounded, and the -battle was joined. And that day the forces of Philistia were -everywhere triumphant. But they report a queer thing happened: and -it was that when the Philistines shouted in their triumph, Achilles -and all they who served him rose from the ground like gleaming -clouds and passed above the heads of the Philistines, deriding them. - -Thus was Pseudopolis left empty, so that the Philistines entered -thereinto without any opposition. They defiled this city of -blasphemous colors, then burned it as a sacrifice to their god -Vel-Tyno, because the color of ashes is gray. - -Then the Philistines erected lithoi (which were not unlike may-poles), -and began to celebrate their religious rites. - - * * * * * - -So it was reported: but Jurgen witnessed none of these events. - -"Let them fight it out," said Jurgen: "it is not my affair. I agree -with Silenus: dullness will conquer dullness, and it will not -matter. But do you, woman dear, take shelter with your kindred in -the unconquerable Woods, for there is no telling what damage the -Philistines may do hereabouts." - -"Will you go with me, Jurgen?" - -"My dear, you know very well that it is impossible for me ever again -to go into the Woods, after the trick I played upon Phobetor." - -"And if only you had kept your head about that bean-pole of a Helen, -in her yellow wig--for I have not a doubt that every strand of it is -false, and at all events this is not a time to be arguing about it, -Jurgen,--why, then you would never have meddled with Uncle Phobetor! -It simply shows you!" - -"Yes," said Jurgen. - -"Still, I do not know. If you come with me into the Woods, Uncle -Phobetor in his impetuous way will quite certainly turn you into a -boar-pig, because he has always done that to the people who -irritated him--" - -"I seem to recognise that reason." - -"--But give me time, and I can get around Uncle Phobetor, just as I -have always done, and he will turn you back." - -"No," says Jurgen, obstinately, "I do not wish to be turned into a -boar-pig." - -"Now, Jurgen, let us be sensible about this! Of course, it is a -little humiliating. But I will take the very best of care of you, -and feed you with my own acorns, and it will be a purely temporary -arrangement. And to be a pig for a week or two, or even for a month, -is infinitely better for a poet than being captured by the -Philistines." - -"How do I know that?" says Jurgen. - -"--For it is not, after all, as if Uncle Phobetor's heart were not -in the right place. It is just his way. And besides, you must -remember what you did with that gimlet!" - -Said Jurgen: "All this is hardly to the purpose. You forget I have -seen the hapless swine of Phobetor, and I know how he ameliorates -the natural ferocity of his boar-pigs. No, I am Jurgen. So I remain. -I will face the Philistines and whatever they may possibly do to me, -rather than suffer that which Phobetor will quite certainly do to -me." - -"Then I stay too," said Chloris. - -"No, woman dear--!" - -"But do you not understand?" says Chloris, a little pale, as he saw -now. "Since the life of a hamadryad is linked with the life of her -tree, nobody can harm me so long as my tree lives: and if they cut -down my tree I shall die, wherever I may happen to be." - -"I had forgotten that." He was really troubled now. - -"--And you can see for yourself, Jurgen, it is quite out of the -question for me to be carrying that great oak anywhere, and I wonder -at your talking such nonsense." - -"Indeed, my dear," says Jurgen, "we are very neatly trapped. Well, -nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbor chooses. -Nevertheless, it is not fair." - -As he spoke the Philistines came forth from the burning city. Again -the trumpet sounded, and the Philistines advanced in their order of -battle. - - - - -32. - -Sundry Devices of the Philistines - - -Meanwhile the People of the Field had watched Pseudopolis burn, and -had wondered what would befall them. They had not long to wonder, -for next day the Fields were occupied, without any resistance by the -inhabitants. - -"The People of the Field," said they, "have never fought, and for -them to begin now would be a very unheard-of thing indeed." - -So the Fields were captured by the Philistines, and Chloris and -Jurgen and all the People of the Field were judged summarily. They -were declared to be obsolete illusions, whose merited doom was to be -relegated to limbo. To Jurgen this appeared unreasonable. - -"For I am no illusion," he asserted. "I am manifestly flesh and -blood, and in addition, I am the high King of Eubonia, and no less. -Why, in disputing these facts you contest circumstances that are so -well known hereabouts as to rank among mathematical certainties. And -that makes you look foolish, as I tell you for your own good." - -This vexed the leaders of the Philistines, as it always vexes people -to be told anything for their own good. "We would have you know," -said they, "that we are not mathematicians; and that moreover, we -have no kings in Philistia, where all must do what seems to be -expected of them, and have no other law." - -"How then can you be the leaders of Philistia?" - -"Why, it is expected that women and priests should behave -unaccountably. Therefore all we who are women or priests do what we -will in Philistia, and the men there obey us. And it is we, the -priests of Philistia, who do not think you can possibly have any -flesh and blood under a shirt which we recognize to be a -conventional figure of speech. It does not stand to reason. And -certainly you could not ever prove such a thing by mathematics; and -to say so is nonsense." - -"But I can prove it by mathematics, quite irrefutably. I can prove -anything you require of me by whatever means you may prefer," said -Jurgen, modestly, "for the simple reason that I am a monstrous -clever fellow." - -Then spoke the wise Queen Dolores, saying: "I have studied -mathematics. I will question this young man, in my tent to-night, -and in the morning I will report the truth as to his claims. Are you -content to endure this interrogatory, my spruce young fellow who -wear the shirt of a king?" - -Jurgen looked full upon her: she was lovely as a hawk is lovely: and -of all that Jurgen saw Jurgen approved. He assumed the rest to be in -keeping: and deduced that Dolores was a fine woman. - -"Madame and Queen," said Jurgen, "I am content. And I can promise to -deal fairly with you." - -So that evening Jurgen was conducted into the purple tent of Queen -Dolores of Philistia. It was quite dark there, and Jurgen went in -alone, and wondering what would happen next: but this scented -darkness he found of excellent augury, if only because it prevented -his shadow from following him. - -"Now, you who claim to be flesh and blood, and King of Eubonia, -too," says the voice of Queen Dolores, "what is this nonsense you -were talking about proving any such claims by mathematics?" - -"Well, but my mathematics," replied Jurgen, "are Praxagorean." - -"What, do you mean Praxagoras of Cos?" - -"As if," scoffed Jurgen, "anybody had ever heard of any other -Praxagoras!" - -"But he, as I recall, belonged to the medical school of the -Dogmatici," observed the wise Queen Dolores, "and was particularly -celebrated for his researches in anatomy. Was he, then, also a -mathematician?" - -"The two are not incongruous, madame, as I would be delighted to -demonstrate." - -"Oh, nobody said that! For, indeed, it does seem to me I have heard -of this Praxagorean system of mathematics, though, I confess, I have -never studied it." - -"Our school, madame, postulates, first of all, that since the -science of mathematics is an abstract science, it is best inculcated -by some concrete example." - -Said the Queen: "But that sounds rather complicated." - -"It occasionally leads to complications," Jurgen admitted, "through -a choice of the wrong example. But the axiom is no less true." - -"Come, then, and sit next to me on this couch if you can find it in -the dark; and do you explain to me what you mean." - -"Why, madame, by a concrete example I mean one that is perceptible -to any of the senses--as to sight or hearing, or touch--" - -"Oh, oh!" said the Queen, "now I perceive what you mean by a -concrete example. And grasping this, I can understand that -complications must of course arise from a choice of the wrong -example." - -"Well, then, madame, it is first necessary to implant in you, by the -force of example, a lively sense of the peculiar character, and -virtues and properties, of each of the numbers upon which is based -the whole science of Praxagorean mathematics. For in order to -convince you thoroughly, we must start far down, at the beginning of -all things." - -"I see," said the Queen, "or rather, in this darkness I cannot see -at all, but I perceive your point. Your opening interests me: and -you may go on." - -"Now ONE, or the monad," says Jurgen, "is the principle and the end -of all: it reveals the sublime knot which binds together the chain -of causes: it is the symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, -of conservation, and of general harmony." And Jurgen emphasized -these characteristics vigorously. "In brief, ONE is a symbol of the -union of things: it introduces that generating virtue which is the -cause of all combinations: and consequently ONE is a good -principle." - -"Ah, ah!" said Queen Dolores, "I heartily admire a good principle. -But what has become of your concrete example?" - -"It is ready for you, madame: there is but ONE Jurgen." - -"Oh, I assure you, I am not yet convinced of that. Still, the -audacity of your example will help me to remember ONE, whether or -not you prove to be really unique." - -"Now, TWO, or the dyad, the origin of contrasts--" - -Jurgen went on penetratingly to demonstrate that TWO was a symbol of -diversity and of restlessness and of disorder, ending in collapse -and separation: and was accordingly an evil principle. Thus was the -life of every man made wretched by the struggle between his TWO -components, his soul and his body; and thus was the rapture of -expectant parents considerably abated by the advent of TWINS. - -THREE, or the triad, however, since everything was composed of three -substances, contained the most sublime mysteries, which Jurgen duly -communicated. We must remember, he pointed out, that Zeus carried a -TRIPLE thunderbolt, and Poseidon a TRIDENT, whereas Adês was guarded -by a dog with THREE heads: this in addition to the omnipotent -brothers themselves being a TRIO. - -Thus Jurgen continued to impart the Praxagorean significance of each -digit separately: and by and by the Queen was declaring his flow of -wisdom was superhuman. - -"Ah, but, madame, not even the wisdom of a king is without limit. -EIGHT, I repeat, then, is appropriately the number of the -Beatitudes. And NINE, or the ennead, also, being the multiple of -THREE, should be regarded as sacred--" - -The Queen attended docilely to his demonstration of the peculiar -properties of NINE. And when he had ended she confessed that beyond -doubt NINE should be regarded as miraculous. But she repudiated his -analogues as to the muses, the lives of a cat, and how many tailors -made a man. - -"Rather, I shall remember always," she declared, "that King Jurgen -of Eubonia is a NINE days' wonder." - -"Well, madame," said Jurgen, with a sigh, "now that we have reached -NINE, I regret to say we have exhausted the digits." - -"Oh, what a pity!" cried Queen Dolores. "Nevertheless, I will -concede the only illustration I disputed; there is but ONE Jurgen: -and certainly this Praxagorean system of mathematics is a -fascinating study." And promptly she commenced to plan Jurgen's -return with her into Philistia, so that she might perfect herself in -the higher branches of mathematics. "For you must teach me calculus -and geometry and all other sciences in which these digits are -employed. We can arrange some compromise with the priests. That is -always possible with the priests of Philistia, and indeed the -priests of Sesphra can be made to help anybody in anything. And as -for your Hamadryad, I will attend to her myself." - -"But, no," says Jurgen, "I am ready enough in all conscience to -compromise elsewhere: but to compound with the forces of Philistia -is the one thing I cannot do." - -"Do you mean that, King Jurgen?" The Queen was astounded. - -"I mean it, my dear, as I mean nothing else. You are in many ways an -admirable people, and you are in all ways a formidable people. So I -admire, I dread, I avoid, and at the very last pinch I defy. For you -are not my people, and willy-nilly my gorge rises against your laws, -as equally insane and abhorrent. Mind you, though, I assert nothing. -You may be right in attributing wisdom to these laws; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is the way I feel about it. So I, who compromise with -everything else, can make no compromise with Philistia. No, my -adored Dolores, it is not a virtue, rather it is an instinct with -me, and I have no choice." - -Even Dolores, who was Queen of all the Philistines, could perceive -that this man spoke truthfully. "I am sorry," says she, with real -regret, "for you could be much run after in Philistia." - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "as an instructor in mathematics." - -"But, no, King Jurgen, not only in mathematics," said Dolores, -reasonably. "There is poetry, for instance! For they tell me you are -a poet, and a great many of my people take poetry quite seriously, I -believe. Of course, I do not have much time for reading, myself. So -you can be the Poet Laureate of Philistia, on any salary you like. -And you can teach us all your ideas by writing beautiful poems about -them. And you and I can be very happy together." - -"Teach, teach! there speaks Philistia, and very temptingly, too, -through an adorable mouth, that would bribe me with praise and fine -food and soft days forever. It is a thing that happens rather often, -though. And I can but repeat that art is not a branch of pedagogy!" - -"Really I am heartily sorry. For apart from mathematics, I like you, -King Jurgen, just as a person." - -"I, too, am sorry, Dolores. For I confess to a weakness for the -women of Philistia." - -"Certainly you have given me no cause to suspect you of any weakness -in that quarter," observed Dolores, "in the long while you have been -alone with me, and have talked so wisely and have reasoned so -deeply. I am afraid that after to-night I shall find all other men -more or less superficial. Heigho! and I shall probably weep my eyes -out to-morrow when you are relegated to limbo. For that is what the -priests will do with you, King Jurgen, on one plea or another, if -you do not conform to the laws of Philistia." - -"And that one compromise I cannot make! Ah, but even now I have a -plan wherewith to escape your priests: and failing that, I possess a -cantrap to fall back upon in my hour of direst need. My private -affairs are thus not yet in a hopeless or even in a dejected -condition. This fact now urges me to observe that TEN, or the -decade, is the measure of all, since it contains all the numeric -relations and harmonies--" - -So they continued their study of mathematics until it was time for -Jurgen to appear again before his judges. - -And in the morning Queen Dolores sent word to her priests that she -was too sleepy to attend their council, but that the man was -indisputably flesh and blood, amply deserved to be a king, and as a -mathematician had not his peer. - -Now these points being settled, the judges conferred, and Jurgen was -decreed a backslider into the ways of undesirable error. His judges -were the priests of Vel-Tyno and Sesphra and Ageus, who are the Gods -of Philistia. - -Then the priest of Ageus put on his spectacles and consulted the -canonical law, and declared that this change in the indictment -necessitated a severance of Jurgen from the others, in the -infliction of punishment. - -"For each, of course, must be relegated to the limbo of his fathers, -as was foretold, in order that the prophecies may be fulfilled. -Religion languishes when prophecies are not fulfilled. Now it -appears that the forefathers of the flesh and blood prisoner were of -a different faith from the progenitors of these obsolete illusions, -and that his fathers foretold quite different things, and that their -limbo was called Hell." - -"It is little you know," says Jurgen, "of the religion of Eubonia." - -"We have it written down in this great book," the priest of Vel-Tyno -then told him,--"every word of it without blot or error." - -"Then you will see that the King of Eubonia is the head of the -church there, and changes all the prophecies at will. Learned -Gowlais says so directly: and the judicious Stevegonius was forced -to agree with him, however unwillingly, as you will instantly -discover by consulting the third section of his widely famous -nineteenth chapter." - -"Both Gowlais and Stevegonius were probably notorious heretics," -says the priest of Ageus. "I believe that was settled once for all -at the Diet of Orthumar." - -"Eh!" says Jurgen. He did not like this priest. "Now I will wager, -sirs," Jurgen continued, a trifle patronizingly, "that you gentlemen -have not read Gowlais, or even Stevegonius, in the light of -Vossler's commentaries. And that is why you underrate them." - -"I at least have read every word that was ever written by any of -these three," replied the priest of Sesphra--"and with, as I need -hardly say, the liveliest abhorrence. And this Gowlais in -particular, as I hasten to agree with my learned confrère, is a most -notorious heretic--" - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you telling me -about Gowlais!" - -"I tell you that I have been roused to indignation by his -_Historia de Bello Veneris_--" - -"You surprise me: still--" - -"--Shocked by his _Pornoboscodidascolo_--" - -"I can hardly believe it: even so, you must grant--" - -"--And horrified by his _Liber de immortalitate Mentulæ_--" - -"Well, conceding you that earlier work, sir, yet, at the same -time--" - -"--And have been disgusted by his _De modo coeundi_--" - -"Ah, but, none the less--" - -"--And have shuddered over the unspeakable enormities of -his _Erotopægnion!_ of his _Cinædica!_ and especially of his -_Epipedesis_, that most pestilential and abominable book, -_quem sine horrore nemo potest legere_--" - -"Still, you cannot deny--" - -"--And have read also all the confutations of this detestable -Gowlais: as those of Zanchius, Faventinus, Lelius Vincentius, -Lagalla, Thomas Giaminus, and eight other admirable commentators--" - -"You are very exact, sir: but--" - -"--And that, in short, I have read every book you can imagine," says -the priest of Sesphra. - -The shoulders of Jurgen rose to his ears, and Jurgen silently flung -out his hands, palms upward. - -"For, I perceive," says Jurgen, to himself, "that this Realist is -too circumstantial for me. None the less, he invents his facts: it -is by citing books which never existed that he publicly confutes the -Gowlais whom I invented privately: and that is not fair. Now there -remains only one chance for Jurgen; but luckily that chance is -sure." - -"Why are you fumbling in your pocket?" asks the old priest of Ageus, -fidgeting and peering. - -"Aha, you may well ask!" cried Jurgen. He unfolded the cantrap which -had been given him by the Master Philologist, and which Jurgen had -treasured against the time when more was needed than a glib tongue. -"O most unrighteous judges," says Jurgen, sternly, "now hear and -tremble! 'At the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who -should be named John the Twentieth, was through an error in the -reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the Twenty-first!'" - -"Hah, and what have we to do with that?" inquired the priest of -Vel-Tyno, with raised eyebrows. "Why are you telling us of these -irrelevant matters?" - -"Because I thought it would interest you," said Jurgen. "It was a -fact that appeared to me rather amusing. So I thought I would -mention it." - -"Then you have very queer ideas of amusement," they told him. And -Jurgen perceived that either he had not employed his cantrap -correctly or else that its magic was unappreciated by the leaders of -Philistia. - - - - -33. - -Farewell to Chloris - - -Now the Philistines led out their prisoners, and made ready to -inflict the doom which was decreed. And they permitted the young -King of Eubonia to speak with Chloris. - -"Farewell to you now, Jurgen!" says Chloris, weeping softly. "It is -little I care what foolish words these priests of Philistia may -utter against me. But the big-armed axemen are felling my tree -yonder, to get them timber to make a bedstead for the Queen of -Philistia: for that is what this Queen Dolores ordered them to do -the first thing this morning." - -And Jurgen raised his hands. "You women!" he said. "What man would -ever have thought of that?" - -"So when my tree is felled I must depart into a sombre land wherein -there is no laughter at all; and where the puzzled dead go wandering -futilely through fields of scentless asphodel, and through tall -sullen groves of myrtle,--the puzzled quiet dead, who may not even -weep as I do now, but can only wonder what it is that they regret. -And I too must taste of Lethê, and forget all I have loved." - -"You should give thanks to the imagination of your forefathers, my -dear, that your doom is no worse. For I am going into a more -barbaric limbo, into the Hell of a people who thought entirely too -much about flames and pitchforks," says Jurgen, ruefully. "I tell -you it is the deuce and all, to come of morbid ancestry." And he -kissed Chloris, upon the brow. "My dear, dear girl," he said, with a -gulp, "as long as you remember me, do so with charity." - -"Jurgen"--and she clung close to him--"you were not ever unkind, not -even for a moment. Jurgen, you have not ever spoken one harsh word -to me or any other person, in all the while we were together. O -Jurgen, whom I have loved as you could love nobody, it was not much -those other women had left me to worship!" - -"Indeed, it is a pity that you loved me, Chloris, for I was not -worthy." And for the instant Jurgen meant it. - -"If any other person said that, Jurgen, I would be very angry. And even -to hear you say it troubles me, because there was never a hamadryad -between two hills that had a husband one-half so clever-foolish as he -made light of time and chance, with his sleek black head cocked to one -side, and his mischievous brown eyes a-twinkle." - -And Jurgen wondered that this should be the notion Chloris had of -him, and that a gesture should be the things she remembered about -him: and he was doubly assured that no woman bothers to understand -the man she elects to love and cosset and slave for. - -"O woman dear," says Jurgen, "but I have loved you, and my heart is -water now that you are taken from me: and to remember your ways and -the joy I had in them will be a big and grinding sorrow in the long -time to come. Oh, not with any heroic love have I loved you, nor -with any madness and high dreams, nor with much talking either; but -with a love befitting my condition, with a quiet and cordial love." - -"And must you be trying, while I die, to get your grieving for me -into the right words?" she asks him, smiling very sadly. "No matter: -you are Jurgen, and I have loved you. And I am glad that I shall -know nothing about it when in the long time, to come you will be -telling so many other women about what was said by Zorobasius and -Ptolemopiter, and when you will be posturing and romancing for their -delight. For presently I shall have tasted Lethê: and presently I -shall have forgotten you, King Jurgen, and all the joy I had in you, -and all the pride, and all the love I had for you, King Jurgen, who -loved me as much as you were able." - -"Why, and will there be any love-making, do you think, in Hell?" he -asks her, with a doleful smile. - -"There will be love-making," she replied, "wherever you go, King -Jurgen. And there will be women to listen. And at the last there -will be a bean-pole of a woman, in a wig." - -"I am sorry--" he said. "And yet I have loved you, Chloris." - -"That is my comfort now. And presently there will be Lethê. I put -the greater faith in Lethê. And still, I cannot help but love you, -Jurgen, in whom I have no faith at all." - -He said, again: "I am not worthy." - -They kissed. Then each of them was conveyed to an appropriate doom. - -And tears were in the eyes of Jurgen, who was not used to weep: and -he thought not at all of what was to befall him, but only of this -and that small trivial thing which would have pleased his Chloris -had Jurgen done it, and which for one reason or another Jurgen had -left undone. - -"I was not ever unkind to her, says she! ah, but I might have been -so much kinder. And now I shall not ever see her any more, nor ever -any more may I awaken delight and admiration in those bright tender -eyes which saw no fault in me! Well, but it is a comfort surely that -she does not know how I devoted the last night she was to live to -teaching mathematics." - -And then Jurgen wondered how he would be despatched into the Hell of -his fathers? And when the Philistines showed him in what manner they -proposed to inflict their sentence he wondered at his own -obtuseness. - -"For I might have surmised this would be the way of it," said -Jurgen. "And yet as always there is a simplicity in the methods of -the Philistines which is unimaginable by really clever fellows. And -as always, too, these methods are unfair to us clever fellows. Well, -I am willing to taste any drink once: but this is a very horrible -device, none the less; and I wonder if I have the pluck to endure -it?" - -Then as he stood considering this matter, a man-at-arms came -hurrying. He brought with him three great rolled parchments, with -seals and ribbons and everything in order: and these were Jurgen's -pardon and Jurgen's nomination as Poet Laureate of Philistia and -Jurgen's appointment as Mathematician Royal. - -The man-at-arms brought also a letter from Queen Dolores, and this -Jurgen read with a frown. - -"Do you consider now what fun it would be to hood-wink everybody by -pretending to conform to our laws!" said this letter, and it said -nothing more: Dolores was really a wise woman. Yet there was a -postscript. "For we could be so happy!" said the postscript. - -And Jurgen looked toward the Woods, where men were sawing up a great -oak-tree. And Jurgen gave a fine laugh, and with fine deliberateness -he tore up the Queen's letter into little strips. Then statelily he -took the parchments, and found they were so tough he could not tear -them. This was uncommonly awkward, for Jurgen's ill-advised attempt -to tear the parchments impaired the dignity of his magnanimous -self-sacrifice: he even suspected one of the guards of smiling. So -there was nothing for it but presently to give up that futile tugging -and jerking, and to compromise by crumpling these parchments. - -"This is my answer," said Jurgen heroically, and with some -admiration of himself, but still a little dashed by the uncalled-for -toughness of the parchments. - -Then Jurgen cried farewell to fallen Leukê; and scornfully he cried -farewell to the Philistines and to their devices. Then he submitted -to their devices. Thus, it was without making any special protest -about it that Jurgen was relegated to limbo, and was despatched to -the Hell of his fathers, two days before Christmas. - - - - -34. - -How Emperor Jurgen Fared Infernally - - -Now the tale tells how the devils of Hell were in one of their churches -celebrating Christmas in such manner as the devils observe that day; -and how Jurgen came through the trapdoor in the vestry-room; and how -he saw and wondered over the creatures which inhabited this place. For -to him after the Christmas services came all such devils as his fathers -had foretold, and in not a hair or scale or talon did they differ from -the worst that anybody had been able to imagine. - -"Anatomy is hereabouts even more inconsequent than in Cocaigne," was -Jurgen's first reflection. But the first thing the devils did was to -search Jurgen very carefully, in order to make sure he was not -bringing any water into Hell. - -"Now, who may you be, that come to us alive, in a fine shirt of -which we never saw the like before?" asked Dithican. He had the head -of a tiger, but otherwise the appearance of a large bird, with -shining feathers and four feet: his neck was yellow, his body green, -and his feet black. - -"It would not be treating honestly with you to deny that I am the -Emperor of Noumaria," said Jurgen, somewhat advancing his estate. - -Now spoke Amaimon, in the form of a thick suet-colored worm going -upright upon his tail, which shone like the tail of a glowworm. He -had no feet, but under his chops were two short hands, and upon his -back were bristles such as grow upon hedgehogs. - -"But we are rather overrun with emperors," said Amaimon, doubtfully, -"and their crimes are a great trouble to us. Were you a very wicked -ruler?" - -"Never since I became an emperor," replied Jurgen, "has any of my -subjects uttered one word of complaint against me. So it stands to -reason I have nothing very serious with which to reproach myself." - -"Your conscience, then, does not demand that you be punished?" - -"My conscience, gentlemen, is too well-bred to insist on anything." - -"You do not even wish to be tortured?" - -"Well, I admit I had expected something of the sort. But none the -less, I will not make a point of it," said Jurgen, handsomely. "No, -I shall be quite satisfied even though you do not torture me at -all." - -And then the mob of devils made a great to-do over Jurgen. - -"For it is exceedingly good to have at least one unpretentious and -undictatorial human being in Hell. Nobody as a rule drops in on us -save inordinately proud and conscientious ghosts, whose self-conceit -is intolerable, and whose demands are outrageous." - -"How can that be?" - -"Why, we have to punish them. Of course they are not properly -punished until they are convinced that what is happening to them is -just and adequate. And you have no notion what elaborate tortures -they insist their exceeding wickedness has merited, as though that -which they did or left undone could possibly matter to anybody. And -to contrive these torments quite tires us out." - -"But wherefore is this place called the Hell of my fathers?" - -"Because your forefathers builded it in dreams," they told him, "out -of the pride which led them to believe that what they did was of -sufficient importance to merit punishment. Or so at least we have -heard: but if you want the truth of the matter you must go to our -Grandfather at Barathum." - -"I shall go to him, then. And do my own grandfathers, and all the -forefathers that I had in the old time, inhabit this gray place?" - -"All such as are born with what they call a conscience come hither," -the devils said. "Do you think you could persuade them to go -elsewhere? For in that event, we would be deeply obliged to you. -Their self-conceit is pitiful: but it is also a nuisance, because it -prevents our getting any rest." - -"Perhaps I can help you to obtain justice, and certainly to attempt -to secure justice for you is my imperial duty. But who governs this -country?" - -They told him how Hell was divided into principalities that had for -governors Lucifer and Beelzebub and Belial and Ascheroth and -Phlegeton: but that over all these was Grandfather Satan, who lived -in the Black House at Barathum. - -"Well, I prefer," says Jurgen, "to deal directly with your -principal, especially if he can explain the polity of this insane -and murky country. Do some of you conduct me to him in such state as -becomes an emperor!" - -So Cannagosta fetched a wheelbarrow, and Jurgen got into it, and -Cannagosta trundled him away. Cannagosta was something like an ox, -but rather more like a cat, and his hair was curly. - -And as they came through Chorasma, a very uncomfortable place where -the damned abide in torment, whom should Jurgen see but his own -father, Coth, the son of Smoit and Steinvor, standing there chewing -his long moustaches in the midst of an especially tall flame. - -"Do you stop now for a moment!" says Jurgen, to his escort. - -"Oh, but this is the most vexatious person in all Hell!" cried -Cannagosta; "and a person whom there is absolutely no pleasing!" - -"Nobody knows that better than I," says Jurgen. - -And Jurgen civilly bade his father good-day, but Coth did not -recognize this spruce young Emperor of Noumaria, who went about Hell -in a wheelbarrow. - -"You do not know me, then?" says Jurgen. - -"How should I know you when I never saw you before?" replied Coth, -irritably. - -And Jurgen did not argue the point: for he knew that he and his -father could never agree about anything. So Jurgen kept silent for -that time, and Cannagosta wheeled him through the gray twilight, -descending always deeper and yet deeper into the lowlands of Hell, -until they had come to Barathum. - - - - -35. - -What Grandfather Satan Reported - - -Next the tale tells how three inferior devils made a loud music with -bagpipes as Jurgen went into the Black House of Barathum, to talk -with Grandfather Satan. - -Satan was like a man of sixty, or it might be sixty-two, in all -things save that he was covered with gray fur, and had horns like -those of a stag. He wore a breech-clout of very dark gray, and he -sat in a chair of black marble, on a daïs: his bushy tail, which was -like that of a squirrel, waved restlessly over his head as he looked -at Jurgen, without speaking, and without turning his mind from an -ancient thought. And his eyes were like light shining upon little -pools of ink, for they had no whites to them. - -"What is the meaning of this insane country?" says Jurgen, plunging -at the heart of things. "There is no sense in it, and no fairness at -all." - -"Ah," replied Satan, in his curious hoarse voice, "you may well say -that: and it is what I was telling my wife only last night." - -"You have a wife, then!" says Jurgen, who was always interested in -such matters. "Why, but to be sure! either as a Christian or as a -married man, I should have comprehended this was Satan's due. And -how do you get on with her?" - -"Pretty well," says Grandfather Satan: "but she does not understand -me." - -"_Et tu, Brute!_" says Jurgen. - -"And what does that mean?" - -"It is an expression connotating astonishment over an event without -parallel. But everything in Hell seems rather strange, and the place -is not at all as it was rumored to be by the priests and the bishops -and the cardinals that used to be exhorting me in my fine palace at -Breschau." - -"And where, did you say, is this palace?" - -"In Noumaria, where I am the Emperor Jurgen. And I need not insult -you by explaining Breschau is my capital city, and is noted for -its manufacture of linen and woolen cloth and gloves and cameos -and brandy, though the majority of my subjects are engaged in -cattle-breeding and agricultural pursuits." - -"Of course not: for I have studied geography. And, Jurgen, it is -often I have heard of you, though never of your being an emperor." - -"Did I not say this place was not in touch with new ideas?" - -"Ah, but you must remember that thoughtful persons keep out of Hell. -Besides, the war with Heaven prevents us from thinking of other -matters. In any event, you Emperor Jurgen, by what authority do you -question Satan, in Satan's home?" - -"I have heard that word which the ass spoke with the cat," replied -Jurgen; for he recollected upon a sudden what Merlin had shown him. - -Grandfather Satan nodded comprehendingly. "All honor be to Set and -Bast! and may their power increase. This, Emperor, is how my kingdom -came about." - -Then Satan, sitting erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, -explained how he, and all the domain and all the infernal -hierarchies he ruled, had been created extempore by Koshchei, to -humor the pride of Jurgen's forefathers. "For they were exceedingly -proud of their sins. And Koshchei happened to notice Earth once upon -a time, with your forefathers walking about it exultant in the -enormity of their sins and in the terrible punishments they expected -in requital. Now Koshchei will do almost anything to humor pride, -because to be proud is one of the two things that are impossible to -Koshchei. So he was pleased, oh, very much pleased: and after he had -had his laugh out, he created Hell extempore, and made it just such -a place as your forefathers imagined it ought to be, in order to -humor the pride of your forefathers." - -"And why is pride impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because he made things as they are; and day and night he -contemplates things as they are, having nothing else to look at. -How, then, can Koshchei be proud?" - -"I see. It is as if I were imprisoned in a cell wherein there was -nothing, absolutely nothing, except my verses. I shudder to think of -it! But what is this other thing which is impossible to Koshchei?" - -"I do not know. It is something that does not enter into Hell." - -"Well, I wish I too had never entered here, and now you must assist -me to get out of this murky place." - -"And why must I assist you?" - -"Because," said Jurgen, and he drew out the cantrap of the Master -Philologist, "because at the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro -Juliani, who should be named John the Twentieth, was through an -error in the reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the -Twenty-first. Do you not find my reason sufficient?" - -"No," said Grandfather Satan, after thinking it over, "I cannot say -that I do. But, then, popes go to Heaven. It is considered to look -better, all around, and particularly by my countrymen, inasmuch as -many popes have been suspected of pro-Celestialism. So we admit none -of them into Hell, in order to be on the safe side, now that we are -at war. In consequence, I am no judge of popes and their affairs, -nor do I pretend to be." - -And Jurgen perceived that again he had employed his cantrap -incorrectly or else that it was impotent to rescue people from -Satan. "But who would have thought," he reflected, "that Grandfather -Satan was such a simple old creature!" - -"How long, then, must I remain here?" asks Jurgen, after a dejected -pause. - -"I do not know," replies Satan. "It must depend entirely upon what -your father thinks about it--" - -"But what has he to do with it?" - -"--Since I and all else that is here are your father's absurd -notions, as you have so frequently proved by logic. And it is hardly -possible that such a clever fellow as you can be mistaken." - -"Why, of course, that is not possible," says Jurgen. "Well, the -matter is rather complicated. But I am willing to taste any drink -once: and I shall manage to get justice somehow, even in this -unreasonable place where my father's absurd notions are the truth." - -So Jurgen left the Black House of Barathum: and Jurgen also left -Grandfather Satan, erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, and -with his eyes gleaming in the dim light, as he sat there restively -swishing his soft bushy tail, and not ever turning his mind from an -ancient thought. - - - - -36. - -Why Coth was Contradicted - - -Then Jurgen went back to Chorasma, where Coth, the son of Smoit and -Steinvor, stood conscientiously in the midst of the largest and -hottest flame he had been able to imagine, and rebuked the outworn -devils who were tormenting him, because the tortures they inflicted -were not adequate to the wickedness of Coth. - -And Jurgen cried to his father: "The lewd fiend Cannagosta told you -I was the Emperor of Noumaria, and I do not deny it even now. But do -you not perceive I am likewise your son Jurgen?" - -"Why, so it is," said Coth, "now that I look at the rascal. And how, -Jurgen, did you become an emperor?" - -"Oh, sir, and is this a place wherein to talk about mere earthly -dignities? I am surprised your mind should still run upon these -empty vanities even here in torment." - -"But it is inadequate torment, Jurgen, such as does not salve my -conscience. There is no justice in this place, and no way of getting -justice. For these shiftless devils do not take seriously that which -I did, and they merely pretend to punish me, and so my conscience -stays unsatisfied." - -"Well, but, father, I have talked with them, and they seem to think -your crimes do not amount to much, after all." - -Coth flew into one of his familiar rages. "I would have you know -that I killed eight men in cold blood, and held five other men while -they were being killed. I estimate the sum of such iniquity as ten -and a half murders, and for these my conscience demands that I be -punished." - -"Ah, but, sir, that was fifty years or more ago, and these men would -now be dead in any event, so you see it does not matter now." - -"I went astray with women, with I do not know how many women." - -Jurgen shook his head. "This is very shocking news for a son to -receive, and you can imagine my feelings. None the less, sir, that -also was fifty years ago, and nobody is bothering over it now." - -"You jackanapes, I tell you that I swore and stole and forged and -burned four houses and broke the Sabbath and was guilty of mayhem -and spoke disrespectfully to my mother and worshipped a stone image -in Porutsa. I tell you I shattered the whole Decalogue, time and -again. I committed all the crimes that were ever heard of, and -invented six new ones." - -"Yes, sir," said Jurgen: "but, still, what does it matter if you -did?" - -"Oh, take away this son of mine!" cried Coth: "for he is his mother -all over again; and though I was the vilest sinner that ever lived, -I have not deserved to be plagued twice with such silly questions. -And I demand that you loitering devils bring more fuel." - -"Sir," said a panting little fiend, in the form of a tadpole with -hairy arms and legs like a monkey's, as he ran up with four bundles -of faggots, "we are doing the very best we can for your discomfort. -But you damned have no consideration for us, and do not remember -that we are on our feet day and night, waiting upon you," said the -little devil, whimpering, as with his pitchfork he raked up the fire -about Coth. "You do not even remember the upset condition of the -country, on account of the war with Heaven, which makes it so hard -for us to get you all the inconveniences of life. Instead, you -lounge in your flames, and complain about the service, and -Grandfather Satan punishes us, and it is not fair." - -"I think, myself," said Jurgen, "you should be gentler with the boy. -And as for your crimes, sir, come, will you not conquer this pride -which you nickname conscience, and concede that after any man has -been dead a little while it does not matter at all what he did? Why, -about Bellegarde no one ever thinks of your throat-cutting and -Sabbath-breaking except when very old people gossip over the fire, -and your wickedness brightens up the evening for them. To the rest -of us you are just a stone in the churchyard which describes you as -a paragon of all the virtues. And outside of Bellegarde, sir, your -name and deeds mean nothing now to anybody, and no one anywhere -remembers you. So really your wickedness is not bothering any person -now save these poor toiling devils: and I think that, in -consequence, you might consent to put up with such torments as they -can conveniently contrive, without complaining so ill-temperedly -about it." - -"Ah, but my conscience, Jurgen! that is the point." - -"Oh, if you continue to talk about your conscience, sir, you -restrict the conversation to matters I do not understand, and so -cannot discuss. But I dare say we will find occasion to thresh out -this, and all other matters, by and by: and you and I will make the -best of this place, for now I will never leave you." - -Coth began to weep: and he said that his sins in the flesh had been -too heinous for this comfort to be permitted him in the unendurable -torment which he had fairly earned, and hoped some day to come by. - -"Do you care about me, one way or the other, then?" says Jurgen, -quite astounded. - -And from the midst of his flame Coth, the son of Smoit, talked of -the birth of Jurgen, and of the infant that had been Jurgen, and of -the child that had been Jurgen. And a horrible, deep, unreasonable -emotion moved in Jurgen as he listened to the man who had begotten -him, and whose flesh was Jurgen's flesh, and whose thoughts had not -ever been Jurgen's thoughts: and Jurgen did not like it. Then the -voice of Coth was bitterly changed, as he talked of the young man -that had been Jurgen, of the young man who was idle and rebellious -and considerate of nothing save his own light desires; and of the -division which had arisen between Jurgen and Jurgen's father Coth -spoke likewise: and Jurgen felt better now, but was still grieved to -know how much his father had once loved him. - -"It is lamentably true," says Jurgen, "that I was an idle and -rebellious son. So I did not follow your teachings. I went astray, -oh, very terribly astray. I even went astray, sir I must tell you, -with a nature myth connected with the Moon." - -"Oh, hideous abomination of the heathen!" - -"And she considered, sir, that thereafter I was likely to become a -solar legend." - -"I should not wonder," said Coth, and he shook his bald and dome-shaped -head despondently. "Ah, my son, it simply shows you what comes of these -wild courses." - -"And in that event, I would, of course, be released from sojourning -in the underworld by the Spring Equinox. Do you not think so, sir?" -says Jurgen, very coaxingly, because he remembered that, according -to Satan, whatever Coth believed would be the truth in Hell. - -"I am sure," said Coth--"why, I am sure I do not know anything about -such matters." - -"Yes, but what do you think?" - -"I do not think about it at all." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Jurgen, you have a very uncivil habit of arguing with people--" - -"Still, sir--" - -"And I have spoken to you about it before--" - -"Yet, father--" - -"And I do not wish to have to speak to you about it again--" - -"None the less, sir--" - -"And when I say that I have no opinion--" - -"But everybody has an opinion, father!" Jurgen shouted this, and -felt it was quite like old times. - -"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice, sir!" - -"But I only meant--" - -"Do not lie to me, Jurgen! and stop interrupting me! For, as I was -saying when you began to yell at your father as though you were -addressing an unreasonable person, it is my opinion that I know -nothing whatever about Equinoxes! and do not care to know anything -about Equinoxes, I would have you understand! and that the less said -as to such disreputable topics the better, as I tell you to your -face!" - -And Jurgen groaned. "Here is a pretty father! If you had thought so, -it would have happened. But you imagine me in a place like this, and -have not sufficient fairness, far less paternal affection, to -imagine me out of it." - -"I can only think of your well merited affliction, you quarrelsome -scoundrel! and of the host of light women with whom you have sinned! -and of the doom which has befallen you in consequence!" - -"Well, at worst," says Jurgen, "there are no women here. That ought -to be a comfort to you." - -"I think there are women here," snapped his father. "It is reputed -that quite a number of women have had consciences. But these -conscientious women are probably kept separate from us men, in some -other part of Hell, for the reason that if they were admitted into -Chorasma they would attempt to tidy the place and make it habitable. -I know your mother would have been meddling out of hand." - -"Oh, sir, and must you still be finding fault with mother?" - -"Your mother, Jurgen, was in many ways an admirable woman. But," -said Coth, "she did not understand me." - -"Ah, well, that may have been the trouble. Still, all this you say -about women being here is mere guess-work." - -"It is not!" said Coth, "and I want none of your impudence, either. -How many times must I tell you that?" - -Jurgen scratched his ear reflectively. For he still remembered what -Grandfather Satan had said, and Coth's irritation seemed promising. -"Well, but the women here are all ugly, I wager." - -"They are not!" said his father, angrily. "Why do you keep -contradicting me?" - -"Because you do not know what you are talking about," says Jurgen, -egging him on. "How could there be any pretty women in this horrible -place? For the soft flesh would be burned away from their little -bones, and the loveliest of queens would be reduced to a horrid -cinder." - -"I think there are any number of vampires and succubi and such -creatures, whom the flames do not injure at all, because these -creatures are informed with an ardor that is unquenchable and is -more hot than fire. And you understand perfectly what I mean, so -there is no need for you to stand there goggling at me like a -horrified abbess!" - -"Oh, sir, but you know very well that I would have nothing to do -with such unregenerate persons." - -"I do not know anything of the sort. You are probably lying to me. -You always lied to me. I think you are on your way to meet a vampire -now." - -"What, sir, a hideous creature with fangs and leathery wings!" - -"No, but a very poisonous and seductively beautiful creature." - -"Come, now! you do not really think she is beautiful." - -"I do think so. How dare you tell me what I think and do not think!" - -"Ah, well, I shall have nothing to do with her." - -"I think you will," said his father: "ah, but I think you will be up -to your tricks with her before this hour is out. For do I not know -what emperors are? and do I not know you?" - -And Coth fell to talking of Jurgen's past, in the customary terms of -a family squabble, such as are not very nicely repeatable elsewhere. -And the fiends who had been tormenting Coth withdrew in -embarrassment, and so long as Coth continued talking they kept out -of earshot. - - - - -37. - -Invention of the Lovely Vampire - - -So again Coth parted with his son in anger, and Jurgen returned -again toward Barathum; and, whether or not it was a coincidence, -Jurgen met precisely the vampire of whom he had inveigled his father -into thinking. She was the most seductively beautiful creature that -it would be possible for Jurgen's father or any other man to -imagine: and her clothes were orange-colored, for a reason -sufficiently well known in Hell, and were embroidered everywhere -with green fig-leaves. - -"A good morning to you, madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you -going?" - -"Why, to no place at all, good youth. For this is my vacation, -granted yearly by the Law of Kalki--" - -"And who is Kalki, madame?" - -"Nobody as yet: but he will come as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law -precedes him, so that I am spending my vacation peacefully in Hell, -with none of my ordinary annoyances to bother me." - -"And what, madame, can they be?" - -"Why, you must understand that it is little rest a vampire gets on -earth, with so many fine young fellows like yourself going about -everywhere eager to be destroyed." - -"But how, madame, did you happen to become a vampire if the life -does not please you? And what is it that they call you?" - -"My name, sir," replied the Vampire, sorrowfully, "is Florimel, -because my nature no less than my person was as beautiful as the -flowers of the field and as sweet as the honey which the bees (who -furnish us with such admirable examples of industry) get out of -these flowers. But a sad misfortune changed all this. For I chanced -one day to fall ill and die (which, of course, might happen to -anyone), and as my funeral was leaving the house the cat jumped over -my coffin. That was a terrible misfortune to befall a poor dead girl -so generally respected, and in wide demand as a seamstress; though, -even then, the worst might have been averted had not my sister-in-law -been of what they call a humane disposition and foolishly attached to -the cat. So they did not kill it, and I, of course, became a vampire." - -"Yes, I can understand that was inevitable. Still, it seems hardly -fair. I pity you, my dear." And Jurgen sighed. - -"I would prefer, sir, that you did not address me thus familiarly, -since you and I have omitted the formality of an introduction; and -in the absence of any joint acquaintances are unlikely ever to meet -properly." - -"I have no herald handy, for I travel incognito. However, I am that -Jurgen who recently made himself Emperor of Noumaria, King of -Eubonia, Prince of Cocaigne, and Duke of Logreus; and of whom you -have doubtless heard." - -"Why, to be sure!" says she, patting her hair straight. "And who -would have anticipated meeting your highness in such a place!" - -"One says 'majesty' to an emperor, my dear. It is a detail, of -course: but in my position one has to be a little exigent." - -"I perfectly comprehend, your majesty; and indeed I might have -divined your rank from your lovely clothes. I can but entreat you to -overlook my unintentional breach of etiquette: and I make bold to -add that a kind heart reveals the splendor of its graciousness -through the interest which your majesty has just evinced in my -disastrous history." - -"Upon my word," thinks Jurgen, "but in this flow of words I seem to -recognize my father's imagination when in anger." - -Then Florimel told Jurgen of her horrible awakening in the grave, -and of what had befallen her hands and feet there, the while that -against her will she fed repugnantly, destroying first her kindred -and then the neighbors. This done, she had arisen. - -"For the cattle still lived, and that troubled me. When I had put an -end to this annoyance, I climbed into the church belfry, not alone, -for one went with me of whom I prefer not to talk; and at midnight I -sounded the bell so that all who heard it would sicken and die. And -I wept all the while, because I knew that when everything had been -destroyed which I had known in my first life in the flesh, I would -be compelled to go into new lands, in search of the food which alone -can nourish me, and I was always sincerely attached to my home. So -it was, your majesty, that I forever relinquished my sewing, and -became a lovely peril, a flashing desolation, and an evil which -smites by night, in spite of my abhorrence of irregular hours: and -what I do I dislike extremely, for it is a sad fate to become a -vampire, and still to sympathize with your victims, and particularly -with their poor mothers." - -So Jurgen comforted Florimel, and he put his arm around her. - -"Come, come!" he said, "but I will see that your vacation passes -pleasantly. And I intend to deal fairly with you, too." - -Then he glanced sidewise at his shadow, and whispered a suggestion -which caused Florimel to sigh. "By the terms of my doom," said she, -"at no time during the nine lives of the cat can I refuse. Still, it -is a comfort you are the Emperor of Noumaria and have a kind heart." - -"Oh, and a many other possessions, my dear! and I again assure you -that I intend to deal fairly with you." - -So Florimel conducted Jurgen, through the changeless twilight of -Barathum, like that of a gray winter afternoon, to a quiet cleft by -the Sea of Blood, which she had fitted out very cosily in imitation -of her girlhood home; and she lighted a candle, and made him welcome -to her cleft. And when Jurgen was about to enter it he saw that his -shadow was following him into the Vampire's home. - -"Let us extinguish this candle!" says Jurgen, "for I have seen so -many flames to-day that my eyes are tired." - -So Florimel extinguished the candle, with a good-will that delighted -Jurgen. And now they were in utter darkness, and in the dark nobody -can see what is happening. But that Florimel now trusted Jurgen and -his Noumarian claims was evinced by her very first remark. - -"I was in the beginning suspicious of your majesty," said Florimel, -"because I had always heard that every emperor carried a magnificent -sceptre, and you then displayed nothing of the sort. But now, -somehow, I do not doubt you any longer. And of what is your majesty -thinking?" - -"Why, I was reflecting, my dear," says Jurgen, "that my father -imagines things very satisfactorily." - - - - -38. - -As to Applauded Precedents - - -Afterward Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country. And the tale tells that a week or it might be ten days -after his meeting with Florimel, Jurgen married her, without being -at all hindered by his having three other wives. For the devils, he -found, esteemed polygamy, and ranked it above mere skill at -torturing the damned, through a literal interpretation of the saying -that it is better to marry than to burn. - -"And formerly," they told Jurgen, "you could hardly come across a -marriage anywhere that was not hallmarked 'made in Heaven': but -since we have been at war with Heaven we have quite taken away that -trade from our enemies. So you may marry here as much as you like." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "I shall marry in haste, and repeat at -leisure. But can one obtain a divorce here?" - -"Oh, no," said they. "We trafficked in them for a while, but we -found that all persons who obtained divorces through our industry -promptly thanked Heaven they were free at last. In the face of such -ingratitude we gave over that profitless trade, and now there is a -manufactory, for specialties in men's clothing, upon the old -statutory grounds." - -"But these makeshifts are unsatisfactory, and I wish to know, in -confidence, what do you do in Hell when there is no longer any -putting up with your wives." - -The devils all blushed. "We would prefer not to tell you," said -they, "for it might get to their ears." - -"Now do I perceive," said Jurgen, "that Hell is pretty much like any -other place." - -So Jurgen and the lovely Vampire were duly married. First Jurgen's -nails were trimmed, and the parings were given to Florimel. A -broomstick was laid before them, and they stepped over it. Then -Florimel said "Temon!" thrice, and nine times did Jurgen reply -"Arigizator!" Afterward the Emperor Jurgen and his bride were given -a posset of dudaïm and eruca, and the devils modestly withdrew. - -Thereafter Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country, and was tolerably content for a while. Now Jurgen -shared with Florimel that quiet cleft which she had fitted out in -imitation of her girlhood home: and they lived in the suburbs of -Barathum, very respectably, by the shore of the sea. There was, of -course, no water in Hell; indeed the importation of water was -forbidden, under severe penalties, in view of its possible use for -baptismal purposes: this sea was composed of the blood that had been -shed by piety in furthering the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and -was reputed to be the largest ocean in existence. And it explained -the nonsensical saying which Jurgen had so often heard, as to Hell's -being paved with good intentions. - -"For Epigenes of Rhodes is right, after all," said Jurgen, "in -suggesting a misprint: and the word should be 'laved'." - -"Why, to be sure, your majesty," assented Florimel: "ah, but I -always said your majesty had remarkable powers of penetration, quite -apart from your majesty's scholarship." - -For Florimel had this cajoling way of speaking. None the less, all -vampires have their foibles, and are nourished by the vigor and -youth of their lovers. So one morning Florimel complained of being -unwell, and attributed it to indigestion. - -Jurgen stroked her head meditatively; then he opened his glittering -shirt, and displayed what was plain enough to see. - -"I am full of vigor and I am young," said Jurgen, "but my vigor and -my youthfulness are of a peculiar sort, and are not wholesome. So -let us have no more of your tricks, or you will quite spoil your -vacation by being very ill indeed." - -"But I had thought all emperors were human!" said Florimel, in a -flutter of blushing penitence, exceedingly pretty to observe. - -"Even so, sweetheart, all emperors are not Jurgens," he replied, -magnificently. "Therefore you will find that not every emperor is -justly styled the father of his people, or is qualified by nature to -wield the sceptre of Noumaria. I trust this lesson will suffice." - -"It will," said Florimel, with a wry face. - -So thereafter they had no further trouble of this sort, and the -wound on Jurgen's breast was soon healed. - -And Jurgen kept away from the damned, of course, because he and -Florimel were living respectably. They paid a visit to Jurgen's -father, however, very shortly after they were married, because this -was the proper thing to do. And Coth was civil enough, for Coth, and -voiced a hope that Florimel might have a good influence upon Jurgen -and make him worth his salt, but did not pretend to be optimistic. -Yet this visit was never returned, because Coth considered his -wickedness was too great for him to be spared a moment of torment, -and so would not leave his flame. - -"And really, your majesty," said Florimel, "I do not wish for an -instant to have the appearance of criticizing your majesty's -relatives. But I do think that your majesty's father might have -called upon us, at least once, particularly after I offered to have -a fire made up for him to sit on any time he chose to come. I -consider that your majesty's father assumes somewhat extravagant -airs, in the lack of any definite proof as to his having been a bit -more wicked than anybody else: and the child-like candor which has -always been with me a leading characteristic prevents concealment of -my opinion." - -"Oh, it is just his conscience, dear." - -"A conscience is all very well in its place, your majesty; and I, -for one, would never have been able to endure the interminable labor -of seducing and assassinating so many fine young fellows if my -conscience had not assured me that it was all the fault of my -sister-in-law. But, even so, there is no sense in letting your -conscience make a slave of you: and when conscience reduces your -majesty's father to ignoring the rules of common civility and -behaving like a candle-wick, I am sure that matters are being -carried too far." - -"And right you are, my dear. However, we do not lack for company. So -come now, make yourself fine, and shake the black dog from your -back, for we are spending the evening with the Asmodeuses." - -"And will your majesty talk politics again?" - -"Oh, I suppose so. They appear to like it." - -"I only wish that I did, your majesty," observed Florimel, and she -yawned by anticipation. - -For with the devils Jurgen got on garrulously. The religion of Hell -is patriotism, and the government is an enlightened democracy. This -contented the devils, and Jurgen had learned long ago never to fall -out with either of these codes, without which, as the devils were -fond of observing, Hell would not be what it is. - -They were, to Jurgen's finding, simple-minded fiends who allowed -themselves to be deplorably overworked by the importunate dead. They -got no rest because of the damned, who were such persons as had been -saddled with a conscience, and who in consequence demanded -interminable torments. And at the time of Jurgen's coming into Hell -political affairs were in a very bad way, because there was a -considerable party among the younger devils who were for compounding -the age-old war with Heaven, at almost any price, in order to get -relief from this unceasing influx of conscientious dead persons in -search of torment. For it was well-known that when Satan submitted -to be bound in chains there would be no more death: and the annoying -immigration would thus be ended. So said the younger devils: and -considered Grandfather Satan ought to sacrifice himself for the -general welfare. - -Then too they pointed out that Satan had been perforce their -presiding magistrate ever since the settlement of Hell, because a -change of administration is inexpedient in war-time: so that Satan -must term after term be re-elected: and of course Satan had been -voted absolute power in everything, since this too is customary in -wartime. Well, and after the first few thousand years of this the -younger devils began to whisper that such government was not ideal -democracy. - -But their more conservative elders were enraged by these effete and -wild new notions, and dealt with their juniors somewhat severely, -tearing them into bits and quite destroying them. The elder devils -then proceeded to inflict even more startling punishments. - - * * * * * - -So Grandfather Satan was much vexed, because the laws were being -violated everywhere: and a day or two after Jurgen's advent Satan -issued a public appeal to his subjects, that the code of Hell should -be better respected. But under a democratic government people do not -like to be perpetually bothering about law and order, as one of the -older and stronger devils pointed out to Jurgen. - -Jurgen drew a serious face, and he stroked his chin. "Why, but look -you," says Jurgen, "in deploring the mob spirit that has been -manifesting itself sporadically throughout this country against the -advocates of peace and submission to the commands of Heaven and -other pro-Celestial propaganda,--and in warning loyal citizenship -that such outbursts must be guarded against, as hurtful to the -public welfare of Hell,--why, Grandfather Satan should bear in mind -that the government, in large measure, holds the remedy of the evil -in its own hands." And Jurgen looked very severely toward Satan. - -"Come now," says Phlegeton, nodding his head, which was like that of -a bear, except for his naked long, red ears, inside each of which -was a flame like that of a spirit-lamp: "come now, but this young -emperor in the fine shirt speaks uncommonly well!" - -"So we spoke together in Pandemonium," said Belial, wistfully, "in -the brave days when Pandemonium was newly built and we were all imps -together." - -"Yes, his talk is of the old school, than which there is none -better. So pray continue, Emperor Jurgen," cried the elderly devils, -"and let us know what you are talking about." - -"Why, merely this," says Jurgen, and again he looked severely toward -Satan: "I tell you that as long as sentimental weakness marks the -prosecution of offences in violation of the laws necessitated by -war-time conditions; as long as deserved punishment for overt acts -of pro-Celestialism is withheld; as long as weak-kneed clemency -condones even a suspicion of disloyal thinking: then just so long -will a righteously incensed, if now and then misguided patriotism -take into its own hands vengeance upon the offenders." - -"But, still--" said Grandfather Satan. - -"Ineffectual administration of the law," continued Jurgen, sternly, -"is the true defence of these outbursts: and far more justly -deplorable than acts of mob violence is the policy of condonation -that furnishes occasion for them. The patriotic people of Hell are -not in a temper to be trifled with, now that they are at war. -Conviction for offenses against the nation should not be behedged -about with technicalities devised for over-refined peacetime -jurisprudence. Why, there is no one of you, I am sure, but has at -his tongue's tip the immortal words of Livonius as to this very -topic: and so I shall not repeat them. But I fancy you will agree -with me that what Livonius says is unanswerable." - -So it was that Jurgen went on at a great rate, and looking always -very sternly at Grandfather Satan. - -"Yes, yes!" said Satan, wriggling uncomfortably, but still not -thinking of Jurgen entirely: "yes, all this is excellent oratory, -and not for a moment would I decry the authority of Livonius. And -your quotation is uncommonly apropos and all that sort of thing. But -with what are you charging me?" - -"With sentimental weakness," retorted Jurgen. "Was it not only -yesterday one of the younger devils was brought before you, upon the -charge that he had said the climate in Heaven was better than the -climate here? And you, sir, Hell's chief magistrate--you it was who -actually asked him if he had ever uttered such a disloyal heresy!" - -"Now, but what else was I to do?" said Satan, fidgeting, and -swishing his great bushy tail so that it rustled against his horns, -and still not really turning his mind from that ancient thought. - -"You should have remembered, sir, that a devil whose patriotism is -impugned is a devil to be punished; and that there is no time to be -prying into irrevelant questions of his guilt or innocence. -Otherwise, I take it, you will never have any real democracy in -Hell." - -Now Jurgen looked very impressive, and the devils were all cheering -him. - -"And so," says Jurgen, "your disgusted hearers were wearied by such -frivolous interrogatories, and took the fellow out of your hands, -and tore him into particularly small bits. Now I warn you, -Grandfather Satan, that it is your duty as a democratic magistrate -just so to deal with such offenders first of all, and to ask your -silly questions afterward. For what does Rudigernus say outright -upon this point? and Zantipher Magnus, too? Why, my dear sir, I ask -you plainly, where in the entire history of international -jurisprudence will you find any more explicit language than these -two employ?" - -"Now certainly," says Satan, with his bleak smile, "you cite very -respectable authority: and I shall take your reproof in good part. I -will endeavor to be more strict in the future. And you must not -blame my laxity too severely, Emperor Jurgen, for it is a long while -since any man came living into Hell to instruct us how to manage -matters in time of war. No doubt, precisely as you say, we do need a -little more severity hereabouts, and would gain by adopting more -human methods. Rudigernus, now?--yes, Rudigernus is rather -unanswerable, and I concede it frankly. So do you come home and have -supper with me, Emperor Jurgen, and we will talk over these things." - -Then Jurgen went off arm in arm with Grandfather Satan, and Jurgen's -erudition and sturdy common-sense were forevermore established among -the older and more solid element in Hell. And Satan followed Jurgen's -suggestions, and the threatened rebellion was satisfactorily -discouraged, by tearing into very small fragments anybody who -grumbled about anything. So that all the subjects of Satan went -about smiling broadly all the time at the thought of what might -befall them if they seemed dejected. Thus was Hell a happier -looking place because of Jurgen's coming. - - - - -39. - -Of Compromises in Hell - - -Now Grandfather Satan's wife was called Phyllis: and apart from -having wings like a bat's, she was the loveliest little slip of -devilishness that Jurgen had seen in a long while. Jurgen spent this -night at the Black House of Barathum, and two more nights, or it -might be three nights: and the details of what Jurgen used to do -there, after supper, when he would walk alone in the Black House -Gardens, among the artfully colored cast-iron flowers and shrubbery, -and would so come to the grated windows of Phyllis's room, and would -stand there joking with her in the dark, are not requisite to this -story. - -Satan was very jealous of his wife, and kept one of her wings -clipped and held her under lock and key, as the treasure that she -was. But Jurgen was accustomed to say afterward that, while the -gratings over the windows were very formidable, they only seemed -somehow to enhance the piquancy of his commerce with Dame Phyllis. -This queen, said Jurgen, he had found simply unexcelled at repartee. - -Florimel considered the saying cryptic: just what precisely did his -majesty mean? - -"Why, that in any and all circumstances Dame Phyllis knows how to -take a joke, and to return as good as she receives." - -"So your majesty has already informed me: and certainly jokes can be -exchanged through a grating--" - -"Yes, that was what I meant. And Dame Phyllis appeared to appreciate -my ready flow of humor. She informs me Grandfather Satan is of a -cold dry temperament, with very little humor in him, so that they go -for months without exchanging any pleasantries. Well, I am willing -to taste any drink once: and for the rest, remembering that my host -had very enormous and intimidating horns, I was at particular pains -to deal fairly with my hostess. Though, indeed, it was more for the -honor and the glory of the affair than anything else that I -exchanged pleasantries with Satan's wife. For to do that, my dear, I -felt was worthy of the Emperor Jurgen." - -"Ah, I am afraid your majesty is a sad scapegrace," replied -Florimel: "however, we all know that the sceptre of an emperor is -respected everywhere." - -"Indeed," says Jurgen, "I have often regretted that I did not bring -with me my jewelled sceptre when I left Noumaria." - -She shivered at some unspoken thought: it was not until some while -afterward that Florimel told Jurgen of her humiliating misadventure -with the absent-minded Sultan of Garçao's sceptre. Now she only -replied that jewels might, conceivably, seem ostentatious and out of -place. - -Jurgen agreed to this truism: for of course they were living very -quietly, and Jurgen was splendid enough for any reasonable wife's -requirements, in his glittering shirt. - -So Jurgen got on pleasantly with Florimel. But he never became as -fond of her as he had been of Guenevere or Anaïtis, nor one-tenth as -fond of her as he had been of Chloris. In the first place, he -suspected that Florimel had been invented by his father, and Coth -and Jurgen had never any tastes in common: and in the second place, -Jurgen could not but see that Florimel thought a great deal of his -being an emperor. - -"It is my title she loves, not me," reflected Jurgen, sadly, "and -her affection is less for that which is really integral to me than -for imperial orbs and sceptres and such-like external trappings." - -And Jurgen would come out of Florimel's cleft considerably dejected, -and would sit alone by the Sea of Blood, and would meditate how -inequitable it was that the mere title of emperor should thus shut -him off from sincerity and candor. - -"We who are called kings and emperors are men like other men: we are -as rightly entitled as other persons to the solace of true love and -affection: instead, we live in a continuous isolation, and women -offer us all things save their hearts, and we are a lonely folk. -No, I cannot believe that Florimel loves me for myself alone: it is -my title which dazzles her. And I would that I had never made myself -the emperor of Noumaria: for this emperor goes about everywhere -in a fabulous splendor, and is, very naturally, resistless in his -semi-mythical magnificence. Ah, but these imperial gewgaws distract -the thoughts of Florimel from the real Jurgen; so that the real -Jurgen is a person whom she does not understand at all. And it is -not fair." - -Then, too, he had a sort of prejudice against the way in which -Florimel spent her time in seducing and murdering young men. It was -not possible, of course, actually to blame the girl, since she was -the victim of circumstances, and had no choice about becoming a -vampire, once the cat had jumped over her coffin. Still, Jurgen -always felt, in his illogical masculine way, that her vocation was -not nice. And equally in the illogical way of men, did he persist in -coaxing Florimel to tell him of her vampiric transactions, in spite -of his underlying feeling that he would prefer to have his wife -engaged in some other trade: and the merry little creature would -humor him willingly enough, with her purple eyes a-sparkle, and with -her vivid lips curling prettily back, so as to show her tiny white -sharp teeth quite plainly. - -She was really very pretty thus, as she told him of what happened -in Copenhagen when young Count Osmund went down into the blind -beggar-woman's cellar, and what they did with bits of him; and -of how one kind of serpent came to have a secret name, which, -when cried aloud in the night, with the appropriate ceremony, will -bring about delicious happenings; and of what one can do with small -unchristened children, if only they do not kiss you, with their -moist uncertain little mouths, for then this thing is impossible; -and of what use she had made of young Sir Ganelon's skull, when he -was through with it, and she with him; and of what the young priest -Wulfnoth had said to the crocodiles at the very last. - -"Oh, yes, my life has its amusing side," said Florimel: "and one -likes to feel, of course, that one is not wholly out of touch with -things, and is even, in one's modest way, contributing to the -suppression of folly. But even so, your majesty, the calls that are -made upon one! the things that young men expect of you, as the price -of their bodily and spiritual ruin! and the things their relatives say -about you! and, above all, the constant strain, the irregular hours, -and the continual effort to live up to one's position! Oh, yes, your -majesty, I was far happier when I was a consumptive seamstress and took -pride in my buttonholes. But from a sister-in-law who only has you in -to tea occasionally as a matter of duty, and who is prominent in -churchwork, one may, of course, expect anything. And that reminds -me that I really must tell your majesty about what happened in the -hay-loft, just after the abbot had finished undressing--" - -So she would chatter away, while Jurgen listened and smiled -indulgently. For she certainly was very pretty. And so they kept -house in Hell contentedly enough until Florimel's vacation was at an -end: and then they parted, without any tears but in perfect -friendliness. - -And Jurgen always remembered Florimel most pleasantly, but not as a -wife with whom he had ever been on terms of actual intimacy. - -Now when this lovely Vampire had quitted him, the Emperor Jurgen, in -spite of his general popularity and the deference accorded his -political views, was not quite happy in Hell. - -"It is a comfort, at any rate," said Jurgen, "to discover who -originated the theory of democratic government. I have long wondered -who started the notion that the way to get a wise decision on any -conceivable question was to submit it to a popular vote. Now I know. -Well, and the devils may be right in their doctrines; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same -time--!" - -For instance, this interminable effort to make the universe safe for -democracy, this continual warring against Heaven because Heaven -clung to a tyrannical form of autocratic government, sounded both -logical and magnanimous, and was, of course, the only method of -insuring any general triumph for democracy: yet it seemed rather -futile to Jurgen, since, as he knew now, there was certainly -something in the Celestial system which made for military -efficiency, so that Heaven usually won. Moreover, Jurgen could not -get over the fact that Hell was just a notion of his ancestors with -which Koshchei had happened to fall in: for Jurgen had never much -patience with antiquated ideas, particularly when anyone put them -into practice, as Koshchei had done. - -"Why, this place appears to me a glaring anachronism," said Jurgen, -brooding over the fires of Chorasma: "and its methods of tormenting -conscientious people I cannot but consider very crude indeed. The -devils are simple-minded and they mean well, as nobody would dream -of denying, but that is just it: for hereabouts is needed some more -pertinacious and efficiently disagreeable person--" - -And that, of course, reminded him of Dame Lisa: and so it was the -thoughts of Jurgen turned again to doing the manly thing. And he -sighed, and went among the devils tentatively looking and inquiring -for that intrepid fiend who in the form of a black gentleman had -carried off Dame Lisa. But a queer happening befell, and it was that -nowhere could Jurgen find the black gentleman, nor did any of the -devils know anything about him. - -"From what you tell us, Emperor Jurgen," said they all, "your wife -was an acidulous shrew, and the sort of woman who believes that -whatever she does is right." - -"It was not a belief," says Jurgen: "it was a mania with the poor -dear." - -"By that fact, then, she is forever debarred from entering Hell." - -"You tell me news," says Jurgen, "which if generally known would -lead many husbands into vicious living." - -"But it is notorious that people are saved by faith. And there is no -faith stronger than that of a bad-tempered woman in her own -infallibility. Plainly, this wife of yours is the sort of person who -cannot be tolerated by anybody short of the angels. We deduce that -your Empress must be in Heaven." - -"Well, that sounds reasonable. And so to Heaven I will go, and it -may be that there I shall find justice." - -"We would have you know," the fiends cried, bristling, "that in Hell -we have all kinds of justice, since our government is an enlightened -democracy." - -"Just so," says Jurgen: "in an enlightened democracy one has all -kinds of justice, and I would not dream of denying it. But you have -not, you conceive, that lesser plague, my wife; and it is she whom I -must continue to look for." - -"Oh, as you like," said they, "so long as you do not criticize the -exigencies of war-time. But certainly we are sorry to see you going -into a country where the benighted people put up with an autocrat -Who was not duly elected to His position. And why need you continue -seeking your wife's society when it is so much pleasanter living in -Hell?" - -And Jurgen shrugged. "One has to do the manly thing sometimes." - -So the fiends told him the way to Heaven's frontiers, pitying him. -"But the crossing of the frontier must be your affair." - -"I have a cantrap," said Jurgen; "and my stay in Hell has taught me -how to use it." - -Then Jurgen followed his instructions, and went into Meridie, and -turned to the left when he had come to the great puddle where the -adders and toads are reared, and so passed through the mists of -Tartarus, with due care of the wild lightning, and took the second -turn to his left--"always in seeking Heaven be guided by your -heart," had been the advice given him by devils,--and thus avoiding -the abode of Jemra, he crossed the bridge over the Bottomless Pit -and the solitary Narakas. And Brachus, who kept the toll-gate on -this bridge, did that of which the fiends had forewarned Jurgen: but -for this, of course, there was no help. - - - - -40. - -The Ascension of Pope Jurgen - - -The tale tells how on the feast of the Annunciation Jurgen came to -the high white walls which girdle Heaven. For Jurgen's forefathers -had, of course, imagined that Hell stood directly contiguous to -Heaven, so that the blessed could augment their felicity by gazing -down upon the tortures of the damned. Now at this time a boy angel -was looking over the parapet of Heaven's wall. - -"And a good day to you, my fine young fellow," says Jurgen. "But of -what are you thinking so intently?" For just as Dives had done long -years before, now Jurgen found that a man's voice carries perfectly -between Hell and Heaven. - -"Sir," replies the boy, "I was pitying the poor damned." - -"Why, then, you must be Origen," says Jurgen, laughing. - -"No, sir, my name is Jurgen." - -"Heyday!" says Jurgen: "well, but this Jurgen has been a great many -persons in my time. So very possibly you speak the truth." - -"I am Jurgen, the son of Coth and Azra." - -"Ah, ah! but so were all of them, my boy." - -"Why, then, I am Jurgen, the grandson of Steinvor, and the -grandchild whom she loved above her other grandchildren: and so I -abide forever in Heaven with all the other illusions of Steinvor. -But who, messire, are you that go about Hell unscorched, in such a -fine looking shirt?" - -Jurgen reflected. Clearly it would never do to give his real name, -and thus raise the question as to whether Jurgen was in Heaven or -Hell. Then he recollected the cantrap of the Master Philologist, -which Jurgen had twice employed incorrectly. And Jurgen cleared his -throat, for he believed that he now understood the proper use of -cantraps. - -"Perhaps," says Jurgen, "I ought not to tell you who I am. But what -is life without confidence in one another? Besides, you appear a boy -of remarkable discretion. So I will confide in you that I am Pope -John the Twentieth, Heaven's regent upon Earth, now visiting this -place upon Celestial business which I am not at liberty to divulge -more particularly, for reasons that will at once occur to a young -man of your unusual cleverness." - -"Oh, but I say! that is droll. Do you just wait a moment!" cried the -boy angel. - -His bright face vanished, with a whisking of brown curls: and Jurgen -carefully re-read the cantrap of the Master Philologist. "Yes, I -have found, I think, the way to use such magic," observes Jurgen. - -Presently the young angel re-appeared at the parapet. "I say, messire! -I looked on the Register--all popes are admitted here the moment they -die, without inquiring into their private affairs, you know, so as to -avoid any unfortunate scandal,--and we have twenty-three Pope Johns -listed. And sure enough, the mansion prepared for John the Twentieth -is vacant. He seems to be the only pope that is not in Heaven." - -"Why, but of course not," says Jurgen, complacently, "inasmuch as -you see me, who was once Bishop of Rome and servant to the servants -of God, standing down here on this cinder-heap." - -"Yes, but none of the others in your series appears to place you. -John the Nineteenth says he never heard of you, and not to bother -him in the middle of a harp lesson--" - -"He died before my accession, naturally." - -"--And John the Twenty-first says he thinks they lost count somehow, -and that there never was any Pope John the Twentieth. He says you -must be an impostor." - -"Ah, professional jealousy!" sighed Jurgen: "dear me, this is very -sad, and gives one a poor opinion of human nature. Now, my boy, I -put it to you fairly, how could there have been a twenty-first -unless there had been a twentieth? And what becomes of the great -principle of papal infallibility when a pope admits to a mistake in -elementary arithmetic? Oh, but this is a very dangerous heresy, let -me tell you, an Inquisition matter, a consistory business! Yet, -luckily, upon his own contention, this Pedro Juliani--" - -"And that was his name, too, for he told me! You evidently know all -about it, messire," said the young angel, visibly impressed. - -"Of course, I know all about it. Well, I repeat, upon his own -contention this man is non-existent, and so, whatever he may say -amounts to nothing. For he tells you there was never any Pope John -the Twentieth: and either he is lying or he is telling you the -truth. If he is lying, you, of course, ought not to believe him: -yet, if he is telling you the truth, about there never having been -any Pope John the Twentieth, why then, quite plainly, there was -never any Pope John the Twenty-first, so that this man asserts his -own non-existence; and thus is talking nonsense, and you, of course, -ought not to believe in nonsense. Even did we grant his insane -contention that he is nobody, you are too well brought up, I am -sure, to dispute that nobody tells lies in Heaven: it follows that -in this case nobody is lying; and so, of course, I must be telling -the truth, and you have no choice save to believe me." - -"Now, certainly that sounds all right," the younger Jurgen conceded: -"though you explain it so quickly it is a little difficult to follow -you." - -"Ah, but furthermore, and over and above this, and as a tangible -proof of the infallible particularity of every syllable of my -assertion," observes the elder Jurgen, "if you will look in the -garret of Heaven you will find the identical ladder upon which I -descended hither, and which I directed them to lay aside until I was -ready to come up again. Indeed, I was just about to ask you to fetch -it, inasmuch as my business here is satisfactorily concluded." - -Well, the boy agreed that the word of no pope, whether in Hell or -Heaven, was tangible proof like a ladder: and again he was off. -Jurgen waited, in tolerable confidence. - -It was a matter of logic. Jacob's Ladder must from all accounts have -been far too valuable to throw away after one night's use at Beth-El; -it would come in very handy on Judgment Day: and Jurgen's knowledge -of Lisa enabled him to deduce that anything which was being kept -because it would come in handy some day would inevitably be stored -in the garret, in any establishment imaginable by women. "And it is -notorious that Heaven is a delusion of old women. Why, the thing is -a certainty," said Jurgen; "simply a mathematical certainty." - -And events proved his logic correct: for presently the younger -Jurgen came back with Jacob's Ladder, which was rather cobwebby and -obsolete looking after having been lain aside so long. - -"So you see you were perfectly right," then said this younger -Jurgen, as he lowered Jacob's Ladder into Hell. "Oh, Messire John, -do hurry up and have it out with that old fellow who slandered you!" - -Thus it came about that Jurgen clambered merrily from Hell to Heaven -upon a ladder of unalloyed, time-tested gold: and as he climbed the -shirt of Nessus glittered handsomely in the light which shone from -Heaven: and by this great light above him, as Jurgen mounted higher -and yet higher, the shadow of Jurgen was lengthened beyond belief -along the sheer white wall of Heaven, as though the shadow were -reluctant and adhered tenaciously to Hell. Yet presently Jurgen -leaped the ramparts: and then the shadow leaped too; and so his -shadow came with Jurgen into Heaven, and huddled dispiritedly at -Jurgen's feet. - -"Well, well!" thinks Jurgen, "certainly there is no disputing the -magic of the Master Philologist when it is correctly employed. For -through its aid I am entering alive into Heaven, as only Enoch and -Elijah have done before me: and moreover, if this boy is to be -believed, one of the very handsomest of Heaven's many mansions -awaits my occupancy. One could not ask more of any magician fairly. -Aha, if only Lisa could see me now!" - -That was his first thought. Afterward Jurgen tore up the cantrap and -scattered its fragments as the Master Philologist had directed. Then -Jurgen turned to the boy who aided Jurgen to get into Heaven. - -"Come, youngster, and let us have a good look at you!" - -And Jurgen talked with the boy that he had once been, and stood face -to face with all that Jurgen had been and was not any longer. And -this was the one happening which befell Jurgen that the writer of -the tale lacked heart to tell of. - -So Jurgen quitted the boy that he had been. But first had Jurgen -learned that in this place his grandmother Steinvor (whom King Smoit -had loved) abode and was happy in her notion of Heaven; and that -about her were her notions of her children and of her grandchildren. -Steinvor had never imagined her husband in Heaven, nor King Smoit -either. - -"That is a circumstance," says Jurgen, "which heartens me to hope -one may find justice here. Yet I shall keep away from my -grandmother, the Steinvor whom I knew and loved, and who loved me so -blindly that this boy here is her notion of me. Yes, in mere -fairness to her, I must keep away." - -So he avoided that part of Heaven wherein were his grandmother's -illusions: and this was counted for righteousness in Jurgen. That -part of Heaven smelt of mignonette, and a starling was singing -there. - - - - -41. - -Of Compromises in Heaven - - -Jurgen then went unhindered to where the God of Jurgen's grandmother -sat upon a throne, beside a sea of crystal. A rainbow, made high -and narrow like a window frame, so as to fit the throne, formed an -arch-way in which He sat: at His feet burned seven lamps, and four -remarkable winged creatures sat there chaunting softly, "Glory and -honor and thanks to Him Who liveth forever!" In one hand of the God -was a sceptre, and in the other a large book with seven red spots on -it. - -There were twelve smaller thrones, without rainbows, upon each side -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, in two semi-circles: upon these -inferior thrones sat benignant-looking elderly angels, with long -white hair, all crowned, and clothed in white robes, and having a -harp in one hand, and in the other a gold flask, about pint size. -And everywhere fluttered and glittered the multicolored wings of -seraphs and cherubs, like magnified paroquets, as they went softly -and gaily about the golden haze that brooded over Heaven, to a -continuous sound of hushed organ music and a remote and -undistinguishable singing. - -Now the eyes of this God met the eyes of Jurgen: and Jurgen waited -thus for a long while, and far longer, indeed, than Jurgen -suspected. - -"I fear You," Jurgen said, at last: "and, yes, I love You: and yet I -cannot believe. Why could You not let me believe, where so many -believed? Or else, why could You not let me deride, as the remainder -derided so noisily? O God, why could You not let me have faith? for -You gave me no faith in anything, not even in nothingness. It was -not fair." - -And in the highest court of Heaven, and in plain view of all the -angels, Jurgen began to weep. - -"I was not ever your God, Jurgen." - -"Once very long ago," said Jurgen, "I had faith in You." - -"No, for that boy is here with Me, as you yourself have seen. And -to-day there is nothing remaining of him anywhere in the man that is -Jurgen." - -"God of my grandmother! God Whom I too loved in boyhood!" said -Jurgen then: "why is it that I am denied a God? For I have searched: -and nowhere can I find justice, and nowhere can I find anything to -worship." - -"What, Jurgen, and would you look for justice, of all places, in -Heaven?" - -"No," Jurgen said; "no, I perceive it cannot be considered here. -Else You would sit alone." - -"And for the rest, you have looked to find your God without, not -looking within to see that which is truly worshipped in the thoughts -of Jurgen. Had you done so, you would have seen, as plainly as I now -see, that which alone you are able to worship. And your God is -maimed: the dust of your journeying is thick upon him; your vanity -is laid as a napkin upon his eyes; and in his heart is neither love -nor hate, not even for his only worshipper." - -"Do not deride him, You Who have so many worshippers! At least, he -is a monstrous clever fellow," said Jurgen: and boldly he said it, -in the highest court of Heaven, and before the pensive face of the -God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -"Ah, very probably. I do not meet with many clever people. And as -for My numerous worshippers, you forget how often you have -demonstrated that I was the delusion of an old woman." - -"Well, and was there ever a flaw in my logic?" - -"I was not listening to you, Jurgen. You must know that logic does -not much concern us, inasmuch as nothing is logical hereabouts." - -And now the four winged creatures ceased their chaunting, and the -organ music became a far-off murmuring. And there was silence in -Heaven. And the God of Jurgen's grandmother, too, was silent for a -while, and the rainbow under which He sat put off its seven colors -and burned with an unendurable white, tinged bluishly, while the God -considered ancient things. Then in the silence this God began to -speak. - -Some years ago (said the God of Jurgen's grandmother) it was -reported to Koshchei that scepticism was abroad in his universe, and -that one walked therein who would be contented with no rational -explanation. "Bring me this infidel," says Koshchei: so they brought -to him in the void a little bent gray woman in an old gray shawl. -"Now, tell me why you will not believe," says Koshchei, "in things -as they are." - -Then the decent little bent gray woman answered civilly; "I do not -know, sir, who you may happen to be. But, since you ask me, -everybody knows that things as they are must be regarded as -temporary afflictions, and as trials through which we are -righteously condemned to pass, in order to attain to eternal life -with our loved ones in Heaven." - -"Ah, yes," said Koshchei, who made things as they are; "ah, yes, to -be sure! and how did you learn of this?" - -"Why, every Sunday morning the priest discoursed to us about Heaven, -and of how happy we would be there after death." - -"Has this woman died, then?" asked Koshchei. - -"Yes, sir," they told him,--"recently. And she will believe nothing -we explain to her, but demands to be taken to Heaven." - -"Now, this is very vexing," Koshchei said, "and I cannot, of course, -put up with such scepticism. That would never do. So why do you not -convey her to this Heaven which she believes in, and thus put an end -to the matter?" - -"But, sir," they told him, "there is no such place." - -Then Koshchei reflected. "It is certainly strange that a place which -does not exist should be a matter of public knowledge in another -place. Where does this woman come from?" - -"From Earth," they told him. - -"Where is that?" he asked: and they explained to him as well as they -could. - -"Oh, yes, over that way," Koshchei interrupted. "I remember. -Now--but what is your name, woman who wish to go to Heaven?" - -"Steinvor, sir: and if you please I am rather in a hurry to be with -my children again. You see, I have not seen any of them for a long -while." - -"But stay," said Koshchei: "what is that which comes into this -woman's eyes as she speaks of her children?" They told him it was -love. - -"Did I create this love?" says Koshchei, who made things as they -are. And they told him, no: and that there were many sorts of love, -but that this especial sort was an illusion which women had invented -for themselves, and which they exhibited in all dealings with their -children. And Koshchei sighed. - -"Tell me about your children," Koshchei then said to Steinvor: "and -look at me as you talk, so that I may see your eyes." - -So Steinvor talked of her children: and Koshchei, who made all -things, listened very attentively. Of Coth she told him, of her only -son, confessing Coth was the finest boy that ever lived,--"a little -wild, sir, at first, but then you know what boys are,"--and telling -of how well Coth had done in business and of how he had even risen -to be an alderman. Koshchei, who made all things, seemed properly -impressed. Then Steinvor talked of her daughters, of Imperia and -Lindamira and Christine: of Imperia's beauty, and of Lindamira's -bravery under the mishaps of an unlucky marriage, and of Christine's -superlative housekeeping. "Fine women, sir, every one of them, with -children of their own! and to me they still seem such babies, bless -them!" And the decent little bent gray woman laughed. "I have been -very lucky in my children, sir, and in my grandchildren, too," she -told Koshchei. "There is Jurgen, now, my Coth's boy! You may not -believe it, sir, but there is a story I must tell you about -Jurgen--" So she ran on very happily and proudly, while Koshchei, -who made all things, listened, and watched the eyes of Steinvor. - -Then privately Koshchei asked, "Are these children and grandchildren -of Steinvor such as she reports?" - -"No, sir," they told him privately. - -So as Steinvor talked Koshchei devised illusions in accordance with -that which Steinvor said, and created such children and -grandchildren as she described. Male and female he created them -standing behind Steinvor, and all were beautiful and stainless: and -Koshchei gave life to these illusions. - -Then Koshchei bade her turn about. She obeyed: and Koshchei was -forgotten. - -Well, Koshchei sat there alone in the void, looking not very happy, -and looking puzzled, and drumming upon his knee, and staring at the -little bent gray woman, who was busied with her children and -grandchildren, and had forgotten all about him. "But surely, -Lindamira," he hears Steinvor say, "we are not yet in Heaven."--"Ah, -my dear mother," replies her illusion of Lindamira, "to be with you -again is Heaven: and besides, it may be that Heaven is like this, -after all."--"My darling child, it is sweet of you to say that, and -exactly like you to say that. But you know very well that Heaven is -fully described in the Book of Revelations, in the Bible, as the -glorious place that Heaven is. Whereas, as you can see for yourself, -around us is nothing at all, and no person at all except that very -civil gentleman to whom I was just talking; and who, between -ourselves, seems woefully uninformed about the most ordinary -matters." - -"Bring Earth to me," says Koshchei. This was done, and Koshchei -looked over the planet, and found a Bible. Koshchei opened the -Bible, and read the Revelation of St. John the Divine, while -Steinvor talked with her illusions. "I see," said Koshchei. "The -idea is a little garish. Still--!" So he replaced the Bible, and -bade them put Earth, too, in its proper place, for Koshchei dislikes -wasting anything. Then Koshchei smiled and created Heaven about -Steinvor and her illusions, and he made Heaven just such a place as -was described in the book. - -"And so, Jurgen, that was how it came about," ended the God of -Jurgen's grandmother. "And Me also Koshchei created at that time, -with the seraphim and the saints and all the blessed, very much as -you see us: and, of course, he caused us to have been here always, -since the beginning of time, because that, too, was in the book." - -"But how could that be done?" says Jurgen, with brows puckering. -"And in what way could Koshchei juggle so with time?" - -"How should I know, since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as -you have so frequently proved by logic? Let it suffice that whatever -Koshchei wills, not only happens, but has already happened beyond -the ancientest memory of man and his mother. How otherwise could he -be Koshchei?" - -"And all this," said Jurgen, virtuously, "for a woman who was not -even faithful to her husband!" - -"Oh, very probably!" said the God: "at all events, it was done for a -woman who loved. Koshchei will do almost anything to humor love, -since love is one of the two things which are impossible to -Koshchei." - -"I have heard that pride is impossible to Koshchei--" - -The God of Jurgen's grandmother raised His white eyebrows. "What is -pride? I do not think I ever heard of it before. Assuredly it is -something that does not enter here." - -"But why is love impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because Koshchei made things as they are, and day and night he -contemplates things as they are. How, then, can Koshchei love -anything?" - -But Jurgen shook his sleek black head. "That I cannot understand at -all. If I were imprisoned in a cell wherein was nothing except my -verses I would not be happy, and certainly I would not be proud: but -even so, I would love my verses. I am afraid that I fall in more -readily with the ideas of Grandfather Satan than with Yours; and -without contradicting You, I cannot but wonder if what You reveal is -true." - -"And how should I know whether or not I speak the truth?" the God -asked of him, "since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as you -have so frequently proved by logic." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, "You may be right in all matters, and -certainly I cannot presume to say You are wrong: but still, at the -same time--! No, even now I do not quite believe in You." - -"Who could expect it of a clever fellow, who sees so clearly through -the illusions of old women?" the God asked, a little wearily. - -And Jurgen answered: - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, and Your -doings as they are recorded I find incoherent and a little droll. -But I am glad the affair has been so arranged that You may always -now be real to brave and gentle persons who have believed in and -have worshipped and have loved You. To have disappointed them would -have been unfair: and it is right that before the faith they had in -You not even Koshchei who made things as they are was able to be -reasonable. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You; but -remembering the sum of love and faith that has been given You, I -tremble. I think of the dear people whose living was confident and -glad because of their faith in You: I think of them, and in my heart -contends a blind contrition, and a yearning, and an enviousness, and -yet a tender sort of amusement colors all. Oh, God, there was never -any other deity who had such dear worshippers as You have had, and -You should be very proud of them. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, yet I am not -as those who would come peering at You reasonably. I, Jurgen, see -You only through a mist of tears. For You were loved by those whom I -loved greatly very long ago: and when I look at You it is Your -worshippers and the dear believers of old that I remember. And it -seems to me that dates and manuscripts and the opinions of learned -persons are very trifling things beside what I remember, and what I -envy!" - -"Who could have expected such a monstrous clever fellow ever to envy -the illusions of old women?" the God of Jurgen's grandmother asked -again: and yet His countenance was not unfriendly. - -"Why, but," said Jurgen, on a sudden, "why, but my grandmother--in a -way--was right about Heaven and about You also. For certainly You -seem to exist, and to reign in just such estate as she described. -And yet, according to Your latest revelation, I too was right--in a -way--about these things being an old woman's delusions. I wonder -now--?" - -"Yes, Jurgen?" - -"Why, I wonder if everything is right, in a way? I wonder if that is -the large secret of everything? It would not be a bad solution, -sir," said Jurgen, meditatively. - -The God smiled. Then suddenly that part of Heaven was vacant, except -for Jurgen, who stood there quite alone. And before him was the throne -of the vanished God and the sceptre of the God, and Jurgen saw that -the seven spots upon the great book were of red sealing-wax. - -Jurgen was afraid: but he was particularly appalled by his -consciousness that he was not going to falter. "What, you who have -been duke and prince and king and emperor and pope! and do such -dignities content a Jurgen? Why, not at all," says Jurgen. - -So Jurgen ascended the throne of Heaven, and sat beneath that -wondrous rainbow: and in his lap now was the book, and in his hand -was the sceptre, of the God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -Jurgen sat thus, for a long while regarding the bright vacant courts -of Heaven. "And what will you do now?" says Jurgen, aloud. "Oh, -fretful little Jurgen, you that have complained because you had not -your desire, you are omnipotent over Earth and all the affairs of -men. What now is your desire?" And sitting thus terribly enthroned, -the heart of Jurgen was as lead within him, and he felt old and very -tired. "For I do not know. Oh, nothing can help me, for I do not -know what thing it is that I desire! And this book and this sceptre -and this throne avail me nothing at all, and nothing can ever avail -me: for I am Jurgen who seeks he knows not what." - -So Jurgen shrugged, and climbed down from the throne of the God, and -wandering at adventure, came presently to four archangels. They were -seated upon a fleecy cloud, and they were eating milk and honey from -gold porringers: and of these radiant beings Jurgen inquired the -quickest way out of Heaven. - -"For hereabouts are none of my illusions," said Jurgen, "and I must -now return to such illusions as are congenial. One must believe in -something. And all that I have seen in Heaven I have admired and -envied, but in none of these things could I believe, and with none -of these things could I be satisfied. And while I think of it, I -wonder now if any of you gentlemen can give me news of that Lisa who -used to be my wife?" - -He described her; and they regarded him with compassion. - -But these archangels, he found, had never heard of Lisa, and they -assured him there was no such person in Heaven. For Steinvor had -died when Jurgen was a boy, and so she had never seen Lisa; and in -consequence, had not thought about Lisa one way or the other, when -Steinvor outlined her notions to Koshchei who made things as they -are. - -Now Jurgen discovered, too, that, when his eyes first met the eyes -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, Jurgen had stayed motionless for -thirty-seven days, forgetful of everything save that the God of his -grandmother was love. - -"Nobody else has willingly turned away so soon," Zachariel told him: -"and we think that your insensibility is due to some evil virtue in -the glittering garment which you are wearing, and of which the like -was never seen in Heaven." - -"I did but search for justice," Jurgen said: "and I could not find -it in the eyes of your God, but only love and such forgiveness as -troubled me." - -"Because of that should you rejoice," the four archangels said; "and -so should all that lives rejoice: and more particularly should we -rejoice that dwell in Heaven, and hourly praise our Lord God's -negligence of justice, whereby we are permitted to enter into this -place." - - - - -42. - -Twelve That are Fretted Hourly - - -So it was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more -than likely to happen, that Jurgen went hastily out of Heaven, -without having gained or wasted any love there. St. Peter unbarred -for him, not the main entrance, but a small private door, carved -with innumerable fishes in bas-relief, because this exit opened -directly upon any place you chose to imagine. - -"For thus," St. Peter said, "you may return without loss of time to -your own illusions." - -"There was a cross," said Jurgen, "which I used to wear about my -neck, through motives of sentiment, because it once belonged to my -dead mother. For no woman has ever loved me save that Azra who was -my mother--" - -"I wonder if your mother told you that?" St. Peter asked him, -smiling reminiscently. "Mine did, time and again. And sometimes I -have wondered--? For, as you may remember, I was a married man, -Jurgen: and my wife did not quite understand me," said St. Peter, -with a sigh. - -"Why, indeed," says Jurgen, "my case is not entirely dissimilar: and -the more I marry, the less I find of comprehension. I should have -had more sympathy with King Smoit, who was certainly my grandfather. -Well, you conceive, St. Peter, these other women have trusted me, -more or less, because they loved a phantom Jurgen. But Azra trusted -me not at all, because she loved me with clear eyes. She -comprehended Jurgen, and yet loved him: though I for one, with all -my cleverness, cannot do either of these things. None the less, in -order to do the manly thing, in order to pleasure a woman,--and a -married woman, too!--I flung away the little gold cross which was -all that remained to me of my mother: and since then, St. Peter, the -illusions of sentiment have given me a woefully wide berth. So I -shall relinquish Heaven to seek a cross." - -"That has been done before, Jurgen, and I doubt if much good came of -it." - -"Heyday, and did it not lead to the eternal glory of the first and -greatest of the popes? It seems to me, sir, that you have either -very little memory or very little gratitude, and I am tempted to -crow in your face." - -"Why, now you talk like a cherub, Jurgen, and you ought to have -better manners. Do you suppose that we Apostles enjoy hearing jokes -made about the Church?" - -"Well, it is true, St. Peter, that you founded the Church--" - -"Now, there you go again! That is what those patronizing seraphim -and those impish cherubs are always telling us. You see, we Twelve -sit together in Heaven, each on his white throne: and we behold -everything that happens on Earth. Now from our station there has -been no ignoring the growth and doings of what you might loosely -call Christianity. And sometimes that which we see makes us very -uncomfortable, Jurgen. Especially as just then some cherub is sure -to flutter by, in a broad grin, and chuckle, 'But you started it.' -And we did; I cannot deny that in a way we did. Yet really we never -anticipated anything of this sort, and it is not fair to tease us -about it." - -"Indeed, St. Peter, now I think of it, you ought to be held -responsible for very little that has been said or done in the shadow -of a steeple. For as I remember it, you Twelve attempted to convert -a world to the teachings of Jesus: and good intentions ought to be -respected, however drolly they may turn out." - -It was apparent this sympathy was grateful to the old Saint, for he -was moved to a more confidential tone. Meditatively he stroked his -long white beard, then said with indignation: "If only they would -not claim sib with us we could stand it: but as it is, for centuries -we have felt like fools. It is particularly embarrassing for me, of -course, being on the wicket; for to cap it all, Jurgen, the little -wretches die, and come to Heaven impudent as sparrows, and expect me -to let them in! From their thumbscrewings, and their auto-da-fés, -and from their massacres, and patriotic sermons, and holy wars, and -from every manner of abomination, they come to me, smirking. And -millions upon millions of them, Jurgen! There is no form of cruelty -or folly that has not come to me for praise, and no sort of criminal -idiot who has not claimed fellowship with me, who was an Apostle and -a gentleman. Why, Jurgen, you may not believe it, but there was an -eminent bishop came to me only last week in the expectation that I -was going to admit him,--and I with the full record of his work for -temperance, all fairly written out and in my hand!" - -Now Jurgen was surprised. "But temperance is surely a virtue, St. -Peter." - -"Ah, but his notion of temperance! and his filthy ravings to my -face, as though he were talking in some church or other! Why, the -slavering little blasphemer! to my face he spoke against the first -of my Master's miracles, and against the last injunction which was -laid upon us Twelve, spluttering that the wine was unfermented! To -me he said this, look you, Jurgen! to me, who drank of that noble -wine at Cana and equally of that sustaining wine we had in the -little upper room in Jerusalem when the hour of trial was near and -our Master would have us at our best! With me, who have since tasted -of that unimaginable wine which the Master promised us in His -kingdom, the busy wretch would be arguing! and would have convinced -me, in the face of all my memories, that my Master, Who was a Man -among men, was nourished by such thin swill as bred this niggling -brawling wretch to plague me!" - -"Well, but indeed, St. Peter, there is no denying that wine is often -misused." - -"So he informed me, Jurgen. And I told him by that argument he would -prohibit the making of bishops, for reasons he would find in the -mirror: and that, remembering what happened at the Crucifixion, he -would clap every lumber dealer into jail. So they took him away -still slavering," said St. Peter, wearily. "He was threatening to -have somebody else elected in my place when I last heard him: but -that was only old habit." - -"I do not think, however, that I encountered any such bishop, sir, -down yonder." - -"In the Hell of your fathers? Oh, no: your fathers meant well, but -their notions were limited. No, we have quite another eternal home -for these blasphemers, in a region that was fitted out long ago, -when the need grew pressing to provide a place for zealous -Churchmen." - -"And who devised this place, St. Peter?" - -"As a very special favor, we Twelve to whom is imputed the beginning -and the patronizing of such abominations were permitted to design -and furnish this place. And, of course, we put it in charge of our -former confrère, Judas. He seemed the appropriate person. Equally of -course, we put a very special roof upon it, the best imitation which -we could contrive of the War Roof, so that none of those grinning -cherubs could see what long reward it was we Twelve who founded -Christianity had contrived for these blasphemers." - -"Well, doubtless that was wise." - -"Ah, and if we Twelve had our way there would be just such another -roof kept always over Earth. For the slavering madman has left a -many like him clamoring and spewing about the churches that were -named for us Twelve, and in the pulpits of the churches that were -named for us: and we find it embarrassing. It is the doctrine of -Mahound they splutter, and not any doctrine that we ever preached or -even heard of: and they ought to say so fairly, instead of libeling -us who were Apostles and gentlemen. But thus it is that the rascals -make free with our names: and the cherubs keep track of these -antics, and poke fun at us. So that it is not all pleasure, this -being a Holy Apostle in Heaven, Jurgen, though once we Twelve were -happy enough." And St. Peter sighed. - -"One thing I did not understand, sir: and that was when you spoke -just now of the War Roof." - -"It is a stone roof, made of the two tablets handed down at Sinai, -which God fits over Earth whenever men go to war. For He is -merciful: and many of us here remember that once upon a time we were -men and women. So when men go to war God screens the sight of what -they do, because He wishes to be merciful to us." - -"That must prevent, however, the ascent of all prayers that are made -in war-time." - -"Why, but, of course, that is the roof's secondary purpose," replied -St. Peter. "What else would you expect when the Master's teachings -are being flouted? Rumors get through, though, somehow, and horribly -preposterous rumors. For instance, I have actually heard that in -war-time prayers are put up to the Lord God to back His favorites -and take part in the murdering. Not," said the good Saint, in haste, -"that I would believe even a Christian bishop to be capable of such -blasphemy: I merely want to show you, Jurgen, what wild stories get -about. Still, I remember, back in Cappadocia--" And then St. Peter -slapped his thigh. "But would you keep me gossiping here forever, -Jurgen, with the Souls lining up at the main entrance like ants that -swarm to molasses! Come, out of Heaven with you, Jurgen! and back to -whatever place you imagine will restore to you your own proper -illusions! and let me be returning to my duties." - -"Well, then, St. Peter, I imagine Amneran Heath, where I flung away -my mother's last gift to me." - -"And Amneran Heath it is," said St. Peter, as he thrust Jurgen through -the small private door that was carved with fishes in bas-relief. - -And Jurgen saw that the Saint spoke truthfully. - - - - -43. - -Postures before a Shadow - - -Thus Jurgen stood again upon Amneran Heath. And again it was -Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than likely to -happen: and the low moon was bright, so that the shadow of Jurgen -was long and thin. And Jurgen searched for the gold cross that he -had worn through motives of sentiment, but he could not find it, nor -did he ever recover it: but barberry bushes and the thorns of -barberry bushes he found in great plenty as he searched vainly. All -the while that he searched, the shirt of Nessus glittered in the -moonlight, and the shadow of Jurgen streamed long and thin, and -every movement that was made by Jurgen the shadow parodied. And as -always, it was the shadow of a lean woman, with her head wrapped in -a towel. - -Now Jurgen regarded this shadow, and to Jurgen it was abhorrent. - -"Oh, Mother Sereda," says he, "for a whole year your shadow has -dogged me. Many lands we have visited, and many sights we have seen: -and at the end all that we have done is a tale that is told: and it -is a tale that does not matter. So I stand where I stood at the -beginning of my foiled journeying. The gift you gave me has availed -me nothing: and I do not care whether I be young or old: and I have -lost all that remained to me of my mother and of my mother's love, -and I have betrayed my mother's pride in me, and I am weary." - -Now a little whispering gathered upon the ground, as though dead -leaves were moving there: and the whispering augmented (because this -was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than -likely to happen), and the whispering became the ghost of a voice. - -"You flattered me very cunningly, Jurgen, for you are a monstrous -clever fellow." This it was that the voice said drily. - -"A number of people might say that with tolerable justice," Jurgen -declared: "and yet I guess who speaks. As for flattering you, -godmother, I was only joking that day in Glathion: in fact, I was -careful to explain as much, the moment I noticed your shadow seemed -interested in my idle remarks and was writing them all down in a -notebook. Oh, no, I can assure you I trafficked quite honestly, and -have dealt fairly everywhere. For the rest, I really am very clever: -it would be foolish of me to deny it." - -"Vain fool!" said the voice of Mother Sereda. - -Jurgen replied: "It may be that I am vain. But it is certain that I -am clever. And even more certain is the fact that I am weary. For, -look you, in the tinsel of my borrowed youth I have gone romancing -through the world; and into lands unvisited by other men have I -ventured, playing at spillikins with women and gear and with the -welfare of kingdoms; and into Hell have I fallen, and into Heaven -have I climbed, and into the place of the Lord God Himself have I -crept stealthily: and nowhere have I found what I desired. Nor do I -know what my desire is, even now. But I know that it is not possible -for me to become young again, whatever I may appear to others." - -"Indeed, Jurgen, youth has passed out of your heart, beyond the -reach of Léshy: and the nearest you can come to regaining youth is -to behave childishly." - -"O godmother, but do give rein to your better instincts and all that -sort of thing, and speak with me more candidly! Come now, dear lady, -there should be no secrets between you and me. In Leukê you were -reported to be Cybelê, the great Res Dea, the mistress of every -tangible thing. In Cocaigne they spoke of you as Æsred. And at -Cameliard Merlin called you Adères, dark Mother of the Little Gods. -Well, but at your home in the forest, where I first had the honor of -making your acquaintance, godmother, you told me you were Sereda, -who takes the color out of things, and controls all Wednesdays. Now -these anagrams bewilder me, and I desire to know you frankly for -what you are." - -"It may be that I am all these. Meanwhile I bleach, and sooner or -later I bleach everything. It may be that some day, Jurgen, I shall -even take the color out of a fool's conception of himself." - -"Yes, yes! but just between ourselves, godmother, is it not this -shadow of you that prevents my entering, quite, into the appropriate -emotion, the spirit of the occasion, as one might say, and robs my -life of the zest which other persons apparently get out of living? -Come now, you know it is! Well, and for my part, godmother, I love a -jest as well as any man breathing, but I do prefer to have it -intelligible." - -"Now, let me tell you something plainly, Jurgen!" Mother Sereda -cleared her invisible throat, and began to speak rather indignantly. - - * * * * * - -"Well, godmother, if you will pardon my frankness, I do not think it -is quite nice to talk about such things, and certainly not with so -much candor. However, dismissing these considerations of delicacy, -let us revert to my original question. You have given me youth and -all the appurtenances of youth: and therewith you have given, too, -in your joking way--which nobody appreciates more heartily than -I,--a shadow that renders all things not quite satisfactory, not -wholly to be trusted, not to be met with frankness. Now--as you -understand, I hope,--I concede the jest, I do not for a moment deny -it is a master-stroke of humor. But, after all, just what exactly is -the point of it? What does it mean?" - -"It may be that there is no meaning anywhere. Could you face that -interpretation, Jurgen?" - -"No," said Jurgen: "I have faced god and devil, but that I will not -face." - -"No more would I who have so many names face that. You jested with -me. So I jest with you. Probably Koshchei jests with all of us. And -he, no doubt--even Koshchei who made things as they are,--is in turn -the butt of some larger jest." - -"He may be, certainly," said Jurgen: "yet, on the other hand--" - -"About these matters I do not know. How should I? But I think that -all of us take part in a moving and a shifting and a reasoned using -of the things which are Koshchei's, a using such as we do not -comprehend, and are not fit to comprehend." - -"That is possible," said Jurgen: "but, none the less--!" - -"It is as a chessboard whereon the pieces move diversely: the -knights leaping sidewise, and the bishops darting obliquely, and the -rooks charging straightforward, and the pawns laboriously hobbling -from square to square, each at the player's will. There is no -discernible order, all to the onlooker is manifestly in confusion: -but to the player there is a meaning in the disposition of the -pieces." - -"I do not deny it: still, one must grant--" - -"And I think it is as though each of the pieces, even the pawns, had -a chessboard of his own which moves as he is moved, and whereupon he -moves the pieces to suit his will, in the very moment wherein he is -moved willy-nilly." - -"You may be right: yet, even so--" - -"And Koshchei who directs this infinite moving of puppets may well -be the futile harried king in some yet larger game." - -"Now, certainly I cannot contradict you: but, at the same time--!" - -"So goes this criss-cross multitudinous moving as far as thought can -reach: and beyond that the moving goes. All moves. All moves -uncomprehendingly, and to the sound of laughter. For all moves in -consonance with a higher power that understands the meaning of the -movement. And each moves the pieces before him in consonance with -his ability. So the game is endless and ruthless: and there is -merriment overhead, but it is very far away." - -"Nobody is more willing to concede that these are handsome fancies, -Mother Sereda. But they make my head ache. Moreover, two people are -needed to play chess, and your hypothesis does not provide anybody -with an antagonist. Lastly, and above all, how do I know there is a -word of truth in your high-sounding fancies?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -Jurgen slapped his hands together. "Hah, Mother Sereda!" says he, -"but now I have you. It is that, precisely that damnable question, -which your shadow has been whispering to me from the beginning of -our companionship. And I am through with you. I will have no more of -your gifts, which are purchased at the cost of hearing that whisper. -I am resolved henceforward to be as other persons, and to believe -implicitly in my own importance." - -"But have you any reason to blame me? I restored to you your youth. -And when, just at the passing of that replevined Wednesday which I -loaned, you rebuked the Countess Dorothy very edifyingly, I was -pleased to find a man so chaste: and therefore I continued my grant -of youth--" - -"Ah, yes!" said Jurgen: "then that was the way of it! You were -pleased, just in the nick of time, by my virtuous rebuke of the -woman who tempted me. Yes, to be sure. Well, well! come now, you -know, that is very gratifying." - -"None the less your chastity, however unusual, has proved a barren -virtue. For what have you made of a year of youth? Why, each thing -that every man of forty-odd by ordinary regrets having done, you -have done again, only more swiftly, compressing the follies of a -quarter of a century into the space of one year. You have sought -bodily pleasures. You have made jests. You have asked many idle -questions. And you have doubted all things, including Jurgen. In the -face of your memories, in the face of what you probably considered -cordial repentance, you have made of your second youth just nothing. -Each thing that every man of forty-odd regrets having done, you have -done again." - -"Yes: it is undeniable that I re-married," said Jurgen. "Indeed, now -I think of it, there was Anaïtis and Chloris and Florimel, so that I -have married thrice in one year. But I am largely the victim of -heredity, you must remember, since it was without consulting me that -Smoit of Glathion perpetuated his characteristics." - -"Your marriages I do not criticize, for each was in accordance with -the custom of the country: the law is always respectable; and -matrimony is an honorable estate, and has a steadying influence, in -all climes. It is true my shadow reports several other affairs--" - -"Oh, godmother, and what is this you are telling me!" - -"There was a Yolande and a Guenevere"--the voice of Mother Sereda -appeared to read from a memorandum,--"and a Sylvia, who was your own -step-grandmother, and a Stella, who was a yogini, whatever that may -be; and a Phyllis and a Dolores, who were the queens of Hell and -Philistia severally. Moreover, you visited the Queen of Pseudopolis -in circumstances which could not but have been unfavorably viewed by -her husband. Oh, yes, you have committed follies with divers women." - -"Follies, it may be, but no crimes, not even a misdemeanor. Look -you, Mother Sereda, does your shadow report in all this year one -single instance of misconduct with a woman?" says Jurgen, sternly. - -"No, dearie, as I joyfully concede. The very worst reported is that -matters were sometimes assuming a more or less suspicious turn when -you happened to put out the light. And, of course, shadows cannot -exist in absolute darkness." - -"See now," said Jurgen, "what a thing it is to be careful! Careful, -I mean, in one's avoidance of even an appearance of evil. In what -other young man of twenty-one may you look to find such continence? -And yet you grumble!" - -"I do not complain because you have lived chastely. That pleases me, -and is the single reason you have been spared this long." - -"Oh, godmother, and whatever are you telling me!" - -"Yes, dearie, had you once sinned with a woman in the youth I gave, -you would have been punished instantly and very terribly. For I was -always a great believer in chastity, and in the old days I used to -insure the chastity of all my priests in the only way that is -infallible." - -"In fact, I noticed something of the sort as you passed in Leukê." - -"And over and over again I have been angered by my shadow's reports, -and was about to punish you, my poor dearie, when I would remember -that you held fast to the rarest of all virtues in a man, and that -my shadow reported no irregularities with women. And that would -please me, I acknowledge: so I would let matters run on a while -longer. But it is a shiftless business, dearie, for you are making -nothing of the youth I restored to you. And had you a thousand lives -the result would be the same." - -"Nevertheless, I am a monstrous clever fellow." Jurgen chuckled -here. - -"You are, instead, a palterer; and your life, apart from that fine -song you made about me, is sheer waste." - -"Ah, if you come to that, there was a brown man in the Druid forest, -who showed me a very curious spectacle, last June. And I am not apt -to lose the memory of what he showed me, whatever you may say, and -whatever I may have said to him." - -"This and a many other curious spectacles you have seen and have -made nothing of, in the false youth I gave you. And therefore my -shadow was angry that in the revelation of so much futile trifling I -did not take away the youth I gave--as I have half a mind to do, -even now, I warn you, dearie, for there is really no putting up with -you. But I spared you because of my shadow's grudging reports as to -your continence, which is a virtue that we of the Léshy peculiarly -revere." - -Now Jurgen considered. "Eh?--then it is within your ability to make -me old again, or rather, an excellently preserved person of forty-odd, -or say, thirty-nine, by the calendar, but not looking it by a long -shot? Such threats are easily voiced. But how can I know that you are -speaking the truth?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -"Ah, godmother, and must you still be mumbling that! Come now, -forget you are a woman, and be reasonable! You exercise the fair and -ancient privilege of kinship by calling me harsh names, but it is in -the face of this plain fact: I got from you what never man has got -before. I am a monstrous clever fellow, say what you will: for -already I have cajoled you out of a year of youth, a year wherein I -have neither builded nor robbed any churches, but have had upon the -whole a very pleasant time. Ah, you may murmur platitudes and -threats and axioms and anything else which happens to appeal to you: -the fact remains that I got what I wanted. Yes, I cajoled you very -neatly into giving me eternal youth. For, of course, poor dear, you -are now powerless to take it back: and so I shall retain, in spite -of you, the most desirable possession in life." - -"I gave, in honor of your chastity, which is the one commendable -trait that you possess--" - -"My chastity, I grant you, is remarkable. Nevertheless, you really -gave because I was the cleverer." - -"--And what I give I can retract at will!" - -"Come, come, you know very well you can do nothing of the sort. I -refer you to Sævius Nicanor. None of the Léshy can ever take back -the priceless gift of youth. That is explicitly proved, in the -Appendix." - -"Now, but I am becoming angry--" - -"To the contrary, as I perceive with real regret, you are becoming -ridiculous, since you dispute the authority of Sævius Nicanor." - -"--And I will show you--oh, but I will show you, you jackanapes!" - -"Ah, but come now! keep your temper in hand! All fairly erudite -persons know you cannot do the thing you threaten: and it is -notorious that the weakest wheel of every cart creaks loudest. So do -you cultivate a judicious taciturnity! for really nobody is going to -put up with petulance in an ugly and toothless woman of your age, as -I tell you for your own good." - -It always vexes people to be told anything for their own good. So -what followed happened quickly. A fleece of cloud slipped over the -moon. The night seemed bitterly cold, for the space of a heart-beat, -and then matters were comfortable enough. The moon emerged in its -full glory, and there in front of Jurgen was the proper shadow of -Jurgen. He dazedly regarded his hands, and they were the hands of an -elderly person. He felt the calves of his legs, and they were -shrunken. He patted himself centrally, and underneath the shirt of -Nessus the paunch of Jurgen was of impressive dimension. In other -respects he had abated. - -"Then, too, I have forgotten something very suddenly," reflected -Jurgen. "It was something I wanted to forget. Ah, yes! but what was -it that I wanted to forget? Why, there was a brown man--with -something unusual about his feet--He talked nonsense and behaved -idiotically in a Druid forest--He was probably insane. No, I do not -remember what it was that I have forgotten: but I am sure it has -gnawed away in the back of my mind, like a small ruinous maggot: and -that, after all, it was of no importance." - -Aloud he wailed, in his most moving tones: "Oh, Mother Sereda, I did -not mean to anger you. It was not fair to snap me up on a -thoughtless word! Have mercy upon me, Mother Sereda, for I would -never have alluded to your being so old and plain-looking if I had -known you were so vain!" - -But Mother Sereda did not appear to be softened by this form of -entreaty, for nothing happened. - -"Well, then, thank goodness, that is over!" says Jurgen, to himself. -"Of course, she may be listening still, and it is dangerous jesting -with the Léshy: but really they do not seem to be very intelligent. -Otherwise this irritable maunderer would have known that, everything -else apart, I am heartily tired of the responsibilities of youth -under any such constant surveillance. Now all is changed: there is -no call to avoid a suspicion of wrong doing by transacting all -philosophical investigations in the dark: and I am no longer -distrustful of lamps or candles, or even of sunlight. Old body, you -are as grateful as old slippers, to a somewhat wearied man: and for -the second time I have tricked Mother Sereda rather neatly. My -knowledge of Lisa, however painfully acquired, is a decided -advantage in dealing with anything that is feminine." - -Then Jurgen regarded the black cave. "And that reminds me it still -would be, I suppose, the manly thing to continue my quest for Lisa. -The intimidating part is that if I go into this cave for the third -time I shall almost certainly get her back. By every rule of -tradition the third attempt is invariably successful. I wonder if I -want Lisa back?" - -Jurgen meditated: and he shook a grizzled head. "I do not definitely -know. She was an excellent cook. There were pies that I shall always -remember with affection. And she meant well, poor dear! But then if -it was really her head that I sliced off last May--or if her temper -is not any better--Still, it is an interminable nuisance washing -your own dishes: and I appear to have no aptitude whatever for -sewing and darning things. But, to the other hand, Lisa nags so: and -she does not understand me--" - -Jurgen shrugged. "See-saw! the argument for and against might run on -indefinitely. Since I have no real preference, I will humor -prejudice by doing the manly thing. For it seems only fair: and -besides, it may fail after all." - -Then he went into the cave for the third time. - - - - -44. - -In the Manager's Office - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came to -the place where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen. Again Jurgen -stooped, and crawled through the opening in the cave's wall, and so -came to where lamps were burning upon tall iron stands. Now, one by -one, these lamps were going out, and there were now no women here: -instead, Jurgen trod inch deep in fine white ashes, leaving the -print of his feet upon them. - -He went forward as the cave stretched. He came to a sharp turn in -the cave, with the failing lamplight now behind him, so that his -shadow confronted Jurgen, blurred but unarguable. It was the proper -shadow of a commonplace and elderly pawnbroker, and Jurgen regarded -it with approval. - -Jurgen came then into a sort of underground chamber, from the roof -of which was suspended a kettle of quivering red flames. Facing him -was a throne, and back of this were rows of benches: but here, too, -was nobody. Resting upright against the vacant throne was a -triangular white shield: and when Jurgen looked more closely he -could see there was writing upon it. Jurgen carried this shield as -close as he could to the kettle of flames, for his eyesight was now -not very good, and besides, the flames in the kettle were burning -low: and Jurgen deciphered the message that was written upon the -shield, in black and red letters. - -"Absent upon important affairs," it said. "Will be back in an hour." -And it was signed, "Thragnar R." - -"I wonder now for whom King Thragnar left this notice?" reflected -Jurgen--"certainly not for me. And I wonder, too, if he left it here -a year ago or only this evening? And I wonder if it was Thragnar's -head I removed in the black and silver pavilion? Ah, well, there are -a number of things to wonder about in this incredible cave, wherein -the lights are dying out, as I observe with some discomfort. And I -think the air grows chillier." - -Then Jurgen looked to his right, at the stairway which he and -Guenevere had ascended; and he shook his head. "Glathion is no fit -resort for a respectable pawnbroker. Chivalry is for young people, -like the late Duke of Logreus. But I must get out of this place, for -certainly there is in the air a deathlike chill." - -So Jurgen went on down the aisle between the rows of benches -wherefrom Thragnar's warriors had glared at Jurgen when he was last -in this part of the cave. At the end of the aisle was a wooden door -painted white. It was marked, in large black letters, "Office of the -Manager--Keep Out." So Jurgen opened this door. - -He entered into a notable place illuminated by six cresset lights. -These lights were the power of Assyria, and Nineveh, and Egypt, and -Rome, and Athens, and Byzantium: six other cressets stood ready -there, but fire had not yet been laid to these. Back of all was a -large blackboard with much figuring on it in red chalk. And here, -too, was the black gentleman, who a year ago had given his blessing -to Jurgen, for speaking civilly of the powers of darkness. To-night -the black gentleman wore a black dressing-gown that was embroidered -with all the signs of the Zodiac. He sat at a table, the top of -which was curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver: and he was -copying entries from one big book into another. He looked up from -his writing pleasantly enough, and very much as though he were -expecting Jurgen. - -"You find me busy with the Stellar Accounts," says he, "which appear -to be in a fearful muddle. But what more can I do for you, -Jurgen?--for you, my friend, who spoke a kind word for things as -they are, and furnished me with one or two really very acceptable -explanations as to why I had created evil?" - -"I have been thinking, Prince--" begins the pawnbroker. - -"And why do you call me a prince, Jurgen?" - -"I do not know, sir. But I suspect that my quest is ended, and that -you are Koshchei the Deathless." - -The black gentleman nodded. "Something of the sort. Koshchei, or -Ardnari, or Ptha, or Jaldalaoth, or Abraxas,--it is all one what I -may be called hereabouts. My real name you never heard: no man has -ever heard my name. So that matter we need hardly go into." - -"Precisely, Prince. Well, but it is a long way that I have traveled -roundabout, to win to you who made things as they are. And it is -eager I am to learn just why you made things as they are." - -Up went the black gentleman's eyebrows into regular Gothic arches. -"And do you really think, Jurgen, that I am going to explain to you -why I made things as they are?" - -"I fail to see, Prince, how my wanderings could have any other -equitable climax." - -"But, friend, I have nothing to do with justice. To the contrary, I -am Koshchei who made things as they are." - -Jurgen saw the point. "Your reasoning, Prince, is unanswerable. I -bow to it. I should even have foreseen it. Do you tell me, then, -what thing is this which I desire, and cannot find in any realm that -man has known nor in any kingdom that man has imagined." - -Koshchei was very patient. "I am not, I confess, anything like as -well acquainted with what has been going on in this part of the -universe as I ought to be. Of course, events are reported to me, in -a general sort of way, and some of my people were put in charge of -these stars, a while back: but they appear to have run the -constellation rather shiftlessly. Still, I have recently been -figuring on the matter, and I do not despair of putting the suns -hereabouts to some profitable use, in one way or another, after all. -Of course, it is not as if it were an important constellation. But I -am an Economist, and I dislike waste--" - -Then he was silent for an instant, not greatly worried by the -problem, as Jurgen could see, but mildly vexed by his inability to -divine the solution out of hand. Presently Koshchei said: - -"And in the mean time, Jurgen, I am afraid I cannot answer your -question on the spur of the moment. You see, there appears to have -been a great number of human beings, as you call them, evolved -upon--oh, yes!--upon Earth. I have the approximate figures over -yonder, but they would hardly interest you. And the desires of each -one of these human beings seem to have been multitudinous and -inconstant. Yet, Jurgen, you might appeal to the local authorities, -for I remember appointing some, at the request of a very charming -old lady." - -"In fine, you do not know what thing it is that I desire," said -Jurgen, much surprised. - -"Why, no, I have not the least notion," replied Koshchei. "Still, I -suspect that if you got it you would protest it was a most unjust -affliction. So why keep worrying about it?" - -Jurgen demanded, almost indignantly: "But have you not then, Prince, -been guiding all my journeying during this last year?" - -"Now, really, Jurgen, I remember our little meeting very pleasantly. -And I endeavored forthwith to dispose of your most urgent annoyance. -But I confess I have had one or two other matters upon my mind since -then. You see, Jurgen, the universe is rather large, and the running -of it is a considerable tax upon my time. I cannot manage to see -anything like as much of my friends as I would be delighted to see -of them. And so perhaps, what with one thing and another, I have not -given you my undivided attention all through the year--not every -moment of it, that is." - -"Ah, Prince, I see that you are trying to spare my feelings, and it -is kind of you. But the upshot is that you do not know what I have -been doing, and you did not care what I was doing. Dear me! but this -is a very sad come-down for my pride." - -"Yes, but reflect how remarkable a possession is that pride of -yours, and how I wonder at it, and how I envy it in vain,--I, who -have nothing anywhere to contemplate save my own handiwork. Do you -consider, Jurgen, what I would give if I could find, anywhere in -this universe of mine, anything which would make me think myself -one-half so important as you think Jurgen is!" And Koshchei sighed. - -But instead, Jurgen considered the humiliating fact that Koshchei -had not been supervising Jurgen's travels. And of a sudden Jurgen -perceived that this Koshchei the Deathless was not particularly -intelligent. Then Jurgen wondered why he should ever have expected -Koshchei to be intelligent? Koshchei was omnipotent, as men estimate -omnipotence: but by what course of reasoning had people come to -believe that Koshchei was clever, as men estimate cleverness? The -fact that, to the contrary, Koshchei seemed well-meaning, but rather -slow of apprehension and a little needlessly fussy, went far toward -explaining a host of matters which had long puzzled Jurgen. -Cleverness was, of course, the most admirable of all traits: but -cleverness was not at the top of things, and never had been. "Very -well, then!" says Jurgen, with a shrug; "let us come to my third -request and to the third thing that I have been seeking. Here, -though, you ought to be more communicative. For I have been -thinking, Prince, my wife's society is perhaps becoming to you a -trifle burdensome." - -"Eh, sirs, I am not unaccustomed to women. I may truthfully say that -as I find them, so do I take them. And I was willing to oblige a -fellow rebel." - -"But I do not know, Prince, that I have ever rebelled. Far from it, -I have everywhere conformed with custom." - -"Your lips conformed, but all the while your mind made verses, -Jurgen. And poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." - -"--And besides, you call me a fellow rebel. Now, how can it be -possible that Koshchei, who made all things as they are, should be a -rebel? unless, indeed, there is some power above even Koshchei. I -would very much like to have that explained to me, sir." - -"No doubt: but then why should I explain it to you, Jurgen?" says -the black gentleman. - -"Well, be that as it may, Prince! But--to return a little--I do not -know that you have obliged me in carrying off my wife. I mean, of -course, my first wife." - -"Why, Jurgen," says the black gentleman, in high astonishment, "do -you mean to tell me that you want the plague of your life back -again!" - -"I do not know about that either, sir. She was certainly very hard -to live with. On the other hand, I had become used to having her -about. I rather miss her, now that I am again an elderly person. -Indeed, I believe I have missed Lisa all along." - -The black gentleman meditated. "Come, friend," he says, at last. "You -were a poet of some merit. You displayed a promising talent which might -have been cleverly developed, in any suitable environment. Now, I -repeat, I am an Economist: I dislike waste: and you were never fitted -to be anything save a poet. The trouble was"--and Koshchei lowered his -voice to an impressive whisper,--"the trouble was your wife did not -understand you. She hindered your art. Yes, that precisely sums it up: -she interfered with your soul-development, and your instinctive need of -self-expression, and all that sort of thing. You are very well rid of -this woman, who converted a poet into a pawnbroker. To the other side, -as is with point observed somewhere or other, it is not good for man to -live alone. But, friend, I have just the wife for you." - -"Well, Prince," said Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Koshchei waved his hand: and there, quick as winking, was the -loveliest lady that Jurgen had ever imagined. - - - - -45. - -The Faith of Guenevere - - -Very fair was this woman to look upon, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer woman might no man boast of having seen. -And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks red and white, very -lovely to observe. She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and -about her neck was a collar of red gold. And she told him, quite as -though she spoke with a stranger, that she was Queen Guenevere. - -"But Lancelot is turned monk, at Glastonbury: and Arthur is gone -into Avalon," says she: "and I will be your wife if you will have -me, Jurgen." - -And Jurgen saw that Guenevere did not know him at all, and that even -his name to her was meaningless. There were a many ways of accounting -for this: but he put aside the unflattering explanation that she had -simply forgotten all about Jurgen, in favor of the reflection that the -Jurgen she had known was a scapegrace of twenty-one. Whereas he was -now a staid and knowledgeable pawnbroker. - -And it seemed to Jurgen that he had never really loved any woman -save Guenevere, the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr, and the pawnbroker -was troubled. - -"For again you make me think myself a god," says Jurgen. "Madame -Guenevere, when man recognized himself to be Heaven's vicar upon -earth, it was to serve and to glorify and to protect you and your -radiant sisterhood that man consecrated his existence. You were -beautiful, and you were frail; you were half goddess and half -bric-à-brac. Ohimé, I recognize the call of chivalry, and my -heart-strings resound: yet, for innumerable reasons, I hesitate -to take you for my wife, and to concede myself your appointed -protector, responsible as such to Heaven. For one matter, I am not -altogether sure that I am Heaven's vicar here upon earth. Certainly -the God of Heaven said nothing to me about it, and I cannot but -suspect that Omniscience would have selected some more competent -representative." - -"It is so written, Messire Jurgen." - -Jurgen shrugged. "I too, in the intervals of business, have written -much that is beautiful. Very often my verses were so beautiful that -I would have given anything in the world in exchange for somewhat -less sure information as to the author's veracity. Ah, no, madame, -desire and knowledge are pressing me so sorely that, between them, I -dare not love you, and still I cannot help it!" - -Then Jurgen gave a little wringing gesture with his hands. His smile -was not merry; and it seemed pitiful that Guenevere should not -remember him. - -"Madame and queen," says Jurgen, "once long and long ago there was a -man who worshipped all women. To him they were one and all of -sacred, sweet intimidating beauty. He shaped sonorous rhymes of -this, in praise of the mystery and sanctity of women. Then a count's -tow-headed daughter whom he loved, with such love as it puzzles me -to think of now, was shown to him just as she was, as not even -worthy of hatred. The goddess stood revealed, unveiled, and -displaying in all things such mediocrity as he fretted to find in -himself. That was unfortunate. For he began to suspect that women, -also, are akin to their parents; and are no wiser, and no more -subtle, and no more immaculate, than the father who begot them. -Madame and queen, it is not good for any man to suspect this." - -"It is certainly not the conduct of a chivalrous person, nor of an -authentic poet," says Queen Guenevere. "And yet your eyes are big -with tears." - -"Hah, madame," he replied, "but it amuses me to weep for a dead man -with eyes that once were his. For he was a dear lad before he went -rampaging through the world, in the pride of his youth and in the -armor of his hurt. And songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and -sword play he made for the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made -for the pleasure of women, in places where renown was, and where he -trod boldly, giving pleasure to everybody in those fine days. But -for all his laughter, he could not understand his fellows, nor could -he love them, nor could he detect anything in aught they said or did -save their exceeding folly." - -"Why, man's folly is indeed very great, Messire Jurgen, and the -doings of this world are often inexplicable: and so does it come -about that man can be saved by faith alone." - -"Ah, but this boy had lost his fellows' cordial common faith in the -importance of what use they made of half-hours and months and years; -and because a jill-flirt had opened his eyes so that they saw too -much, he had lost faith in the importance of his own actions, too. -There was a little time of which the passing might be made not -unendurable; beyond gaped unpredictable darkness; and that was all -there was of certainty anywhere. Meanwhile, he had the loan of a -brain which played with ideas, and a body that went delicately down -pleasant ways. And so he was never the mate for you, dear Guenevere, -because he had not sufficient faith in anything at all, not even in -his own deductions." - -Now said Queen Guenevere: "Farewell to you, then, Jurgen, for it is -I that am leaving you forever. I was to them that served me the -lovely and excellent masterwork of God: in Caerleon and Northgalis -and at Joyeuse Garde might men behold me with delight, because, men -said, to view me was to comprehend the power and kindliness of their -Creator. Very beautiful was Iseult, and the face of Luned sparkled -like a moving gem; Morgaine and Enid and Viviane and shrewd Nimuë -were lovely, too; and the comeliness of Ettarde exalted the beholder -like a proud music: these, going statelily about Arthur's hall, -seemed Heaven's finest craftsmanship until the Queen came to her -daïs, as the moon among glowing stars: men then affirmed that God in -making Guenevere had used both hands. And it is I that am leaving -you forever. My beauty was no human white and red, said they, but an -explicit sign of Heaven's might. In approaching me men thought of -God, because in me, they said, His splendor was incarnate. That -which I willed was neither right nor wrong: it was divine. This -thing it was that the knights saw in me; this surety, as to the -power and kindliness of their great Father, it was of which the -chevaliers of yesterday were conscious in beholding me, and of men's -need to be worthy of such parentage; and it is I that am leaving you -forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a rudderless -boat that goes from wave to wave: I am turned to unfertile dust -which a whirlwind makes coherent, and presently lets fall. And so, -farewell to you, Queen Guenevere, for it is a sorrowful thing and a -very unfair thing that is happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr. And -instantly she vanished like the flame of a blown out altar-candle. - - - - -46. - -The Desire of Anaïtis - - -And again Koshchei waved his hand. Then came to Jurgen a woman who -was strangely gifted and perverse. Her dark eyes glittered: upon her -head was a net-work of red coral, with branches radiating downward, -and her tunic was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled. - -And Anaïtis also had forgotten Jurgen, or else she did not recognize -him in this man of forty and something: and again belief awoke in -Jurgen's heart that this was the only woman whom Jurgen had really -loved, as he listened to Anaïtis and to her talk of marvelous -things. - -Of the lore of Thaïs she spoke, and of the schooling of Sappho, and -of the secrets of Rhodopê, and of the mourning for Adonis: and the -refrain of all her talking was not changed. "For we have but a -little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a -man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus -and thus," says she. And the bright-colored pensive woman spoke with -antique directness of matters that Jurgen, being no longer a -scapegrace of twenty-one, found rather embarrassing. - -"Come, come!" thinks he, "but it will never do to seem provincial. I -believe that I am actually blushing." - -Aloud he said: "Sweetheart, there was--why, not a half-hour -since!--a youth who sought quite zealously for the over-mastering -frenzies you prattle about. But, candidly, he could not find the -flesh whose touch would rouse insanity. The lad had opportunities, -too, let me tell you! Hah, I recall with tenderness the glitter of -eyes and hair, and the gay garments, and the soft voices of those -fond foolish women, even now. But he went from one pair of lips to -another, with an ardor that was always half-feigned, and with -protestations which were conscious echoes of some romance or other. -Such escapades were pleasant enough: but they were not very serious, -after all. For these things concerned his body alone: and I am more -than an edifice of viands reared by my teeth. To pretend that what -my body does or endures is of importance seems rather silly -nowadays. I prefer to regard it as a necessary beast of burden which -I maintain, at considerable expense and trouble. So I shall make no -more pother about it." - -But then again Queen Anaïtis spoke of marvelous things; and he -listened, fair-mindedly; for the Queen spoke now of that which was -hers to share with him. - -"Well, I have heard," says Jurgen, "that you have a notable -residence in Cocaigne." - -"But that is only a little country place, to which I sometimes -repair in summer, in order to live rustically. No, Jurgen, you must -see my palaces. In Babylon I have a palace where many abide with -cords about them and burn bran for perfume, while they await that -thing which is to befall them. In Armenia I have a palace surrounded -by vast gardens, where only strangers have the right to enter: they -there receive a hospitality that is more than gallant. In Paphos I -have a palace wherein is a little pyramid of white stone, very -curious to see: but still more curious is the statue in my palace at -Amathus, of a bearded woman, which displays other features that -women do not possess. And in Alexandria I have a palace that is -tended by thirty-six exceedingly wise and sacred persons, and -wherein it is always night: and there folk seek for monstrous -pleasures, even at the price of instant death, and win to both of -these swiftly. Everywhere my palaces stand upon high places near the -sea: so they are beheld from afar by those whom I hold dearest, my -beautiful broad-chested mariners, who do not fear even me, but know -that in my palaces they will find notable employment. For I must -tell you of what is to be encountered within these places that are -mine, and of how pleasantly we pass our time there." Then she told -him. - -Now he listened more attentively than ever, and his eyes were -narrowed, and his lips were lax and motionless and foolish-looking, -and he was deeply interested. For Anaïtis had thought of some new -diversions since their last meeting: and to Jurgen, even at forty -and something, this queen's voice was all a horrible and strange and -lovely magic. "She really tempts very nicely, too," he reflected, -with a sort of pride in her. - -Then Jurgen growled and shook himself, half angrily: and he tweaked -the ear of Queen Anaïtis. - -"Sweetheart," says he, "you paint a glowing picture: but you are -shrewd enough to borrow your pigments from the day-dreams of -inexperience. What you prattle about is not at all as you describe -it. You forget you are talking to a widely married man of varied -experience. Moreover, I shudder to think of what might happen if -Lisa were to walk in unexpectedly. And for the rest, all this to-do -over nameless delights and unspeakable caresses and other anonymous -antics seems rather naïve. My ears are beset by eloquent gray hairs -which plead at closer quarters than does that fibbing little tongue -of yours. And so be off with you!" - -With that Queen Anaïtis smiled very cruelly, and she said: "Farewell -to you, then Jurgen, for it is I that am leaving you forever. -Henceforward you must fret away much sunlight by interminably -shunning discomfort and by indulging tepid preferences. For I, and -none but I, can waken that desire which uses all of a man, and so -wastes nothing, even though it leave that favored man forever after -like wan ashes in the sunlight. And with you I have no more concern, -for it is I that am leaving you forever. Join with your graying -fellows, then! and help them to affront the clean sane sunlight, by -making guilds and laws and solemn phrases wherewith to rid the world -of me. I, Anaïtis, laugh, and my heart is a wave in the sunlight. -For there is no power like my power, and no living thing which can -withstand my power; and those who deride me, as I well know, are but -the dead dry husks that a wind moves, with hissing noises, while I -harvest in open sunlight. For I am the desire that uses all of a -man: and it is I that am leaving you forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a puzzled -ghost who furtively observes the doings of loud-voiced ruddy -persons: and I am compact of weariness and apprehension, for I no -longer discern what thing is I, nor what is my desire, and I fear -that I am already dead. So farewell to you, Queen Anaïtis, for this, -too, is a sorrowful thing and a very unfair thing that is -happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the Sun's daughter. And all the colors of -her loveliness flickered and merged into the likeness of a tall thin -flame, that aspired; and then this flame was extinguished. - - - - -47. - -The Vision of Helen - - -And for the third time Koshchei waved his hand. Now came to Jurgen a -gold-haired woman, clothed all in white. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest; and yet, whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. And, beholding her, Jurgen kneeled. - -He hid his face in her white robe: and he stayed thus, without -speaking, for a long while. - -"Lady of my vision," he said, and his voice broke--"there is that in -you which wakes old memories. For now assuredly I believe your -father was not Dom Manuel but that ardent bird which nestled very -long ago in Leda's bosom. And now Troy's sons are all in Adês' -keeping, in the world below; fire has consumed the walls of Troy, -and the years have forgotten her tall conquerors; but still you are -bringing woe on woe to hapless sufferers." - -And again his voice broke. For the world seemed cheerless, and like -a house that none has lived in for a great while. - -Queen Helen, the delight of gods and men, replied nothing at all, -because there was no need, inasmuch as the man who has once glimpsed -her loveliness is beyond saving, and beyond the desire of being -saved. - -"To-night," says Jurgen, "as once through the gray art of Phobetor, -now through the will of Koshchei, it appears that you stand within -arm's reach. Hah, lady, were that possible--and I know very well it -is not possible, whatever my senses may report,--I am not fit to -mate with your perfection. At the bottom of my heart, I no longer -desire perfection. For we who are tax-payers as well as immortal -souls must live by politic evasions and formulae and catchwords that -fret away our lives as moths waste a garment; we fall insensibly to -common-sense as to a drug; and it dulls and kills whatever in us is -rebellious and fine and unreasonable; and so you will find no man of -my years with whom living is not a mechanism which gnaws away time -unprompted. For within this hour I have become again a creature of -use and wont; I am the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and I -have put my dreams upon an allowance. Yet even now I love you more -than I love books and indolence and flattery and the charitable wine -which cheats me into a favorable opinion of myself. What more can an -old poet say? For that reason, lady, I pray you begone, because your -loveliness is a taunt which I find unendurable." - -But his voice yearned, because this was Queen Helen, the delight of -gods and men, who regarded him with grave, kind eyes. She seemed to -view, as one appraises the pattern of an unrolled carpet, every -action of Jurgen's life: and she seemed, too, to wonder, without -reproach or trouble, how men could be so foolish, and of their own -accord become so miry. - -"Oh, I have failed my vision!" cries Jurgen. "I have failed, and I -know very well that every man must fail: and yet my shame is no less -bitter. For I am transmuted by time's handling! I shudder at the -thought of living day-in and day-out with my vision! And so I will -have none of you for my wife." - -Then, trembling, Jurgen raised toward his lips the hand of her who -was the world's darling. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Oh, very long ago I found your -beauty mirrored in a wanton's face! and often in a woman's face I -have found one or another feature wherein she resembled you, and for -the sake of it have lied to that woman glibly. And all my verses, as -I know now, were vain enchantments striving to evoke that hidden -loveliness of which I knew by dim report alone. Oh, all my life was -a foiled quest of you, Queen Helen, and an unsatiated hungering. And -for a while I served my vision, honoring you with clean-handed -deeds. Yes, certainly it should be graved upon my tomb, 'Queen Helen -ruled this earth while it stayed worthy.' But that was very long -ago. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Your beauty has been to me as -a robber that stripped my life of joy and sorrow, and I desire not -ever to dream of your beauty any more. For I have been able to love -nobody. And I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen -Helen, at every moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I -first seemed to find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. -It is the memory of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face -of a jill-flirt, which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other -men give women; and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved -nothing--not even you, not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Hereafter I rove no more -a-questing anything; instead, I potter after hearthside comforts, -and play the physician with myself, and strive painstakingly to make -old bones. And no man's notion anywhere seems worth a cup of mulled -wine; and for the sake of no notion would I endanger the routine -which so hideously bores me. For I am transmuted by time's handling; -I have become the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and it does -not seem fair, but there is no help for it. So it is necessary that -I now cry farewell to you, Queen Helen: for I have failed in the -service of my vision, and I deny you utterly!" - -Thus he cried farewell to the Swan's daughter: and Queen Helen -vanished as a bright mist passes, not departing swiftly, as had -departed Queen Guenevere and Queen Anaïtis; and Jurgen was alone -with the black gentleman. And to Jurgen the world seemed cheerless, -and like a house that none has lived in for a great while. - - - - -48. - -Candid Opinions of Dame Lisa - - -"Eh, sirs!" observes Koshchei the Deathless, "but some of us are -certainly hard to please." And now Jurgen was already intent to -shrug off his display of emotion. "In selecting a wife, sir," -submitted Jurgen, "there are all sorts of matters to be -considered--" - -Then bewilderment smote him. For it occurred to Jurgen that his -previous commerce with these three women was patently unknown to -Koshchei. Why, Koshchei, who made all things as they are--Koshchei, -no less--was now doing for Jurgen Koshchei's utmost: and that utmost -amounted to getting for Jurgen what Jurgen had once, with the aid of -youth and impudence, got for himself. Not even Koshchei, then, could -do more for Jurgen than might be accomplished by that youth and -impudence and tendency to pry into things generally which Jurgen had -just relinquished as over-restless nuisances. Jurgen drew the -inference, and shrugged; decidedly cleverness was not at the top. -However, there was no pressing need to enlighten Koshchei, and no -wisdom in attempting it. - -"--For you must understand, sir," continued Jurgen, smoothly, "that, -whatever the first impulse of the moment, it was apparent to any -reflective person that in the past of each of these ladies there was -much to suggest inborn inaptitude for domestic life. And I am a -peace-loving fellow, sir; nor do I hold with moral laxity, now that -I am forty-odd, except, of course, in talk when it promotes -sociability, and in verse-making wherein it is esteemed as a -conventional ornament. Still, Prince, the chance I lost! I do not -refer to matrimony, you conceive. But in the presence of these -famous fair ones now departed from me forever, with what glowing -words I ought to have spoken! upon a wondrous ladder of trophes, -metaphors and recondite allusions, to what stylistic heights of -Asiatic prose I ought to have ascended! and instead, I twaddled like -a schoolmaster. Decidedly, Lisa is right, and I am good-for-nothing. -However," Jurgen added, hopefully, "it appeared to me that when I -last saw her, a year ago this evening, Lisa was somewhat less -outspoken than usual." - -"Eh, sirs, but she was under a very potent spell. I found that -necessary in the interest of law and order hereabouts. I, who made -things as they are, am not accustomed to the excesses of practical -persons who are ruthlessly bent upon reforming their associates. -Indeed, it is one of the advantages of my situation that such folk -do not consider things as they are, and in consequence very rarely -bother me." And the black gentleman in turn shrugged. "You will -pardon me, but I notice in my accounts that I am positively -committed to color this year's anemones to-night, and there is a -rather large planetary system to be discontinued at half-past ten. -So time presses." - -"And time is inexorable. Prince, with all due respect, I fancy it is -precisely this truism which you have overlooked. You produce the -most charming of women, in a determined onslaught upon my fancy; but -you forget you are displaying them to a man of forty-and-something." - -"And does that make so great a difference?" - -"Oh, a sad difference, Prince! For as a man gets on in life he -changes in many ways. He handles sword and lance less creditably, -and does not carry as heavy a staff as he once flourished. He takes -less interest in conversation, and his flow of humor diminishes. He -is not the tireless mathematician that he was, if only because his -faith in his personal endowments slackens. He recognizes his -limitations, and in consequence the unimportance of his opinions, -and indeed he recognizes the probable unimportance of all fleshly -matters. So he relinquishes trying to figure out things, and -sceptres and candles appear to him about equivalent; and he is -inclined to give up philosophical experiments, and to let things -pass unplumbed. Oh, yes, it makes a difference." And Jurgen sighed. -"And yet, for all that, it is a relief, sir, in a way." - -"Nevertheless," said Koshchei, "now that you have inspected the -flower of womanhood, I cannot soberly believe you prefer your -termagant of a wife." - -"Frankly, Prince, I also am, as usual, undecided. You may be right -in all you have urged; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say -you are wrong; but still, at the same time--! Come now, could you -not let me see my first wife for just a moment?" - -This was no sooner asked than granted; for there, sure enough, was -Dame Lisa. She was no longer restricted to quiet speech by any -stupendous necromancy: and uncommonly plain she looked, after the -passing of those lovely ladies. - -"Aha, you rascal!" begins Dame Lisa, addressing Jurgen; "and so you -thought to be rid of me! Oh, a precious lot you are! and a deal of -thanks I get for my scrimping and slaving!" And she began scolding -away. - -But she began, somewhat to Jurgen's astonishment, by stating that he -was even worse than the Countess Dorothy. Then he recollected that, -by not the most disastrous piece of luck conceivable, Dame Lisa's -latest news from the outside world had been rendered by her sister, -the notary's wife, a twelvemonth back. - -And rather unaccountably Jurgen fell to thinking of how -unsubstantial seemed these curious months devoted to other women, as -set against the commonplace years which he and Lisa had fretted -through together; of the fine and merry girl that Lisa had been -before she married him; of how well she knew his tastes in cookery -and all his little preferences, and of how cleverly she humored them -on those rare days when nothing had occurred to vex her; of all the -buttons she had replaced, and all the socks she had darned, and of -what tempests had been loosed when anyone else had had the audacity -to criticize Jurgen; and of how much more unpleasant--everything -considered--life was without her than with her. She was so -unattractive looking, too, poor dear, that you could not but be -sorry for her. And Jurgen's mood was half yearning and half -penitence. - -"I think I will take her back, Prince," says Jurgen, very -subdued,--"now that I am forty-and-something. For I do not know but -it is as hard on her as on me." - -"My friend, do you forget the poet that you might be, even yet? No -rational person would dispute that the society and amiable chat of -Dame Lisa must naturally be a desideratum--" - -But Dame Lisa was always resentful of long words. "Be silent, you -black scoffer, and do not allude to such disgraceful things in the -presence of respectable people! For I am a decent Christian woman, I -would have you understand. But everybody knows your reputation! and -a very fit companion you are for that scamp yonder! and volumes -could not say more!" - -Thus casually, and with comparative lenience, did Dame Lisa dispose -of Koshchei, who made things as they are, for she believed him to be -merely Satan. And to her husband Dame Lisa now addressed herself -more particularly. - -"Jurgen, I always told you you would come to this, and now I hope -you are satisfied. Jurgen, do not stand there with your mouth open, -like a scared fish, when I ask you a civil question! but answer when -you are spoken to! Yes, and you need not try to look so idiotically -innocent, Jurgen, because I am disgusted with you. For, Jurgen, you -heard perfectly well what your very suitable friend just said about -me, with my own husband standing by. No--now I beg of you!--do not -ask me what he said, Jurgen! I leave that to your conscience, and I -prefer to talk no more about it. You know that when I am once -disappointed in a person I am through with that person. So, very -luckily, there is no need at all for you to pile hypocrisy on -cowardice, because if my own husband has not the feelings of a man, -and cannot protect me from insults and low company, I had best be -going home and getting supper ready. I dare say the house is like a -pig-sty: and I can see by looking at you that you have been ruining -your eyes by reading in bed again. And to think of your going about -in public, even among such associates, with a button off your -shirt!" - -She was silent for one terrible moment; then Lisa spoke in frozen -despair. - -"And now I look at that shirt, I ask you fairly, Jurgen, do you -consider that a man of your age has any right to be going about in a -shirt that nobody--in a shirt which--in a shirt that I can only--Ah, -but I never saw such a shirt! and neither did anybody else! You -simply cannot imagine what a figure you cut in it, Jurgen. Jurgen, I -have been patient with you; I have put up with a great deal, saying -nothing where many women would have lost their temper; but I simply -cannot permit you to select your own clothes, and so ruin the -business and take the bread out of our mouths. In short, you are -enough to drive a person mad; and I warn you that I am done with you -forever." - -Dame Lisa went with dignity to the door of Koshchei's office. - -"So you can come with me or not, precisely as you elect. It is all -one to me, I can assure you, after the cruel things you have said, -and the way you have stormed at me, and have encouraged that -notorious blackamoor to insult me in terms which I, for one, would -not soil my lips by repeating. I do not doubt you consider it is all -very clever and amusing, but you know now what I think about it. And -upon the whole, if you do not feel the exertion will kill you, you -had better come home the long way, and stop by Sister's and ask her -to let you have a half-pound of butter; for I know you too well to -suppose you have been attending to the churning." - -Dame Lisa here evinced a stately sort of mirth such as is -unimaginable by bachelors. - -"You churning while I was away!--oh, no, not you! There is probably -not so much as an egg in the house. For my lord and gentleman has -had other fish to fry, in his fine new courting clothes. And -that--and on a man of your age, with a paunch to you like a beer -barrel and with legs like pipe-stems!--yes, that infamous shirt of -yours is the reason you had better, for your own comfort, come home -the long way. For I warn you, Jurgen, that the style in which I have -caught you rigged out has quite decided me, before I go home or -anywhere else, to stop by for a word or so with your high and mighty -Madame Dorothy. So you had just as well not be along with me, for -there is no pulling wool over my eyes any longer, and you two need -never think to hoodwink me again about your goings-on. No, Jurgen, -you cannot fool me; for I can read you like a book. And such -behavior, at your time of life, does not surprise me at all, because -it is precisely what I would have expected of you." - -With that Dame Lisa passed through the door and went away, still -talking. It was of Heitman Michael's wife that the wife of Jurgen -spoke, discoursing of the personal traits, and of the past doings, -and (with augmented fervor) of the figure and visage of Madame -Dorothy, as all these abominations appeared to the eye of -discernment, and must be revealed by the tongue of candor, as a -matter of public duty. - -So passed Dame Lisa, neither as flame nor mist, but as the voice of -judgment. - - - - -49. - -Of the Compromise with Koshchei - - -"Phew!" said Koshchei, in the ensuing silence: "you had better stay -overnight, in any event. I really think, friend, you will be more -comfortable, just now at least, in this quiet cave." - -But Jurgen had taken up his hat. "No, I dare say I, too, had better -be going," says Jurgen. "I thank you very heartily for your intended -kindness, sir, still I do not know but it is better as it is. And is -there anything"--Jurgen coughed delicately--"and is there anything -to pay, sir?" - -"Oh, just a trifle, first of all, for a year's maintenance of Dame -Lisa. You see, Jurgen, that is an almighty fine shirt you are -wearing: it rather appeals to me; and I fancy, from something your -wife let drop just now, it did not impress her as being quite suited -to you. So, in the interest of domesticity, suppose you ransom Dame -Lisa with that fine shirt of yours?" - -"Why, willingly," said Jurgen, and he took off the shirt of Nessus. - -"You have worn this for some time, I understand," said Koshchei, -meditatively: "and did you ever notice any inconvenience in wearing -this garment?" - -"Not that I could detect, Prince; it fitted me, and seemed to -impress everybody most favorably." - -"There!" said Koshchei; "that is what I have always contended. To -the strong man, and to wholesome matter of fact people generally, it -is a fatal irritant; but persons like you can wear the shirt of -Nessus very comfortably for a long, long while, and be generally -admired; and you end by exchanging it for your wife's society. But -now, Jurgen, about yourself. You probably noticed that my door was -marked Keep Out. One must have rules, you know. Often it is a -nuisance, but still rules are rules; and so I must tell you, Jurgen, -it is not permitted any person to leave my presence unmaimed, if not -actually annihilated. One really must have rules, you know." - -"You would chop off an arm? or a hand? or a whole finger? Come now, -Prince, you must be joking!" - -Koshchei the Deathless was very grave as he sat there, in meditation, -drumming with his long jet-black fingers upon the table-top that was -curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver. In the lamplight his -sharp nails glittered like flame points, and the color suddenly -withdrew from his eyes, so that they showed like small white eggs. - -"But, man, how strange you are!" said Koshchei, presently; and life -flowed back into his eyes, and Jurgen ventured the liberty of -breathing. "Inside, I mean. Why, there is hardly anything left. Now -rules are rules, of course; but you, who are the remnant of a poet, -may depart unhindered whenever you will, and I shall take nothing -from you. For really it is necessary to draw the line somewhere." - -Jurgen meditated this clemency; and with a sick heart he seemed to -understand. "Yes; that is probably the truth; for I have not -retained the faith, nor the desire, nor the vision. Yes, that is -probably the truth. Well, at all events, Prince, I very unfeignedly -admired each of the ladies to whom you were friendly enough to -present me, and I was greatly flattered by their offers. More than -generous I thought them. But it really would not do for me to take -up with any one of them now. For Lisa is my wife, you see. A great -deal has passed between us, sir, in the last ten years--And I have -been a sore disappointment to her, in many ways--And I am used to -her--" - -Then Jurgen considered, and regarded the black gentleman with -mingled envy and commiseration. "Why, no, you probably would not -understand, sir, on account of your not being, I suppose, a married -person. But I can assure you it is always pretty much like that." - -"I lack grounds to dispute your aphorism," observed Koshchei, -"inasmuch as matrimony was certainly not included in my doom. None -the less, to a by-stander, the conduct of you both appears -remarkable. I could not understand, for example, just how your wife -proposed to have you keep out of her sight forever and still have -supper with her to-night; nor why she should desire to sup with such -a reprobate as she described with unbridled pungency and -disapproval." - -"Ah, but again, it is always pretty much like that, sir. And the -truth of it, Prince, is a great symbol. The truth of it is, we have -lived together so long that my wife has become rather foolishly fond -of me. So she is not, as one might say, quite reasonable about me. -No, sir; it is the fashion of women to discard civility toward those -for whom they suffer most willingly; and whom a woman loveth she -chasteneth, after a good precedent." - -"But her talking, Jurgen, has nowhere any precedent. Why, it deafens, -it appals, it submerges you in an uproarious sea of fault-finding; and -in a word, you might as profitably oppose a hurricane. Yet you want her -back! Now assuredly, Jurgen, I do not think very highly of your wisdom, -but by your bravery I am astounded." - -"Ah, Prince, it is because I can perceive that all women are poets, -though the medium they work in is not always ink. So the moment Lisa -is set free from what, in a manner of speaking, sir, inconsiderate -persons might, in their unthinking way, refer to as the terrors of -an underground establishment that I do not for an instant doubt to -be conducted after a system which furthers the true interests of -everybody, and so reflects vast credit upon its officials, if you -will pardon my frankness"--and Jurgen smiled ingratiatingly,--"why, -at that moment Lisa's thoughts take form in very much the high -denunciatory style of Jeremiah and Amos, who were remarkably fine -poets. Her concluding observations as to the Countess, in -particular, I consider to have been an example of sustained -invective such as one rarely encounters in this degenerate age. -Well, her next essay in creative composition is my supper, which -will be an equally spirited impromptu. To-morrow she will darn and -sew me an epic; and her desserts will continue to be in the richest -lyric vein. Such, sir, are the poems of Lisa, all addressed to me, -who came so near to gallivanting with mere queens!" - -"What, can it be that you are remorseful?" said Koshchei. - -"Oh, Prince, when I consider steadfastly the depth and the intensity -of that devotion which, for so many years, has tended me, and has -endured the society of that person whom I peculiarly know to be the -most tedious and irritating of companions, I stand aghast, before a -miracle. And I cry, Oh, certainly a goddess! and I can think of no -queen who is fairly mentionable in the same breath. Hah, all we -poets write a deal about love: but none of us may grasp the word's -full meaning until he reflects that this is a passion mighty enough -to induce a woman to put up with him." - -"Even so, it does not seem to induce quite thorough confidence. -Jurgen, I was grieved to see that Dame Lisa evidently suspects you -of running after some other woman in your wife's absence." - -"Think upon that now! And you saw for yourself how little the -handsomest of women could tempt me. Yet even Lisa's absurd notion I -can comprehend and pardon. And again, you probably would not -understand my overlooking such a thing, sir, on account of your not -being a married person. Nevertheless, my forgiveness also is a great -symbol." - -Then Jurgen sighed and he shook hands, very circumspectly, with -Koshchei, who made things as they are; and Jurgen started out of the -office. - -"But I will bear you company a part of the way," says Koshchei. - -So Koshchei removed his dressing-gown, and he put on the fine laced -coat which was hung over the back of a strange looking chair with -three legs, each of a different metal; the shirt of Nessus Koshchei -folded and put aside, saying that some day he might be able to use -it somehow. And Koshchei paused before the blackboard and he -scratched his head reflectively. Jurgen saw that this board was -nearly covered with figures which had not yet been added up; and -this blackboard seemed to him the most frightful thing he had faced -anywhere. - -Then Koshchei came out of the cave with Jurgen, and Koshchei walked -with Jurgen across Amneran Heath, and through Morven, in the late -evening. And Koshchei talked as they went; and a queer thing Jurgen -noticed, and it was that the moon was sinking in the east, as though -the time were getting earlier and earlier. But Jurgen did not -presume to criticize this, in the presence of Koshchei, who made -things as they are. - -"And I manage affairs as best I can, Jurgen. But they get in a -fearful muddle sometimes. Eh, sirs, I have no competent assistants. -I have to look out for everything, absolutely everything! And of -course, while in a sort of way I am infallible, mistakes will occur -every now and then in the actual working out of plans that in the -abstract are right enough. So it really does please me to hear -anybody putting in a kind word for things as they are, because, -between ourselves, there is a deal of dissatisfaction about. And I -was honestly delighted, just now, to hear you speaking up for evil -in the face of that rapscallion monk. So I give you thanks and many -thanks, Jurgen, for your kind word." - -"'Just now!'" thinks Jurgen. He perceived that they had passed the -Cistercian Abbey, and were approaching Bellegarde. And it was as in -a dream that Jurgen was speaking, _"Who are you, and why do you -thank me?"_ asks Jurgen. - -_"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. -May your life lie free from care."_ - -_"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married_--" -Then resolutely Jurgen put aside the spell that was befogging him. -"See here, Prince, are you beginning all over again? For I really -cannot stand any more of your benevolences." - -Koshchei smiled. "No, Jurgen, I am not beginning all over again. For -now I have never begun, and now there is no word of truth in -anything which you remember of the year just past. Now none of these -things has ever happened." - -"But how can that be, Prince?" - -"Why should I tell you, Jurgen? Let it suffice that what I will, not -only happens, but has already happened, beyond the ancientest memory -of man and his mother. How otherwise could I be Koshchei? And so -farewell to you, poor Jurgen, to whom nothing in particular has -happened now. It is not justice I am giving you, but something -infinitely more acceptable to you and all your kind." - -"But, to be sure!" says Jurgen. "I fancy that nobody anywhere cares -much for justice. So farewell to you, Prince. And at our parting I -ask no more questions of you, for I perceive it is scant comfort a -man gets from questioning Koshchei, who made things as they are. But -I am wondering what pleasure you get out of it all?" - -"Eh, sirs," says Koshchei, with not the most candid of smiles, "I -contemplate the spectacle with appropriate emotions." - -And so speaking, Koshchei quitted Jurgen forever. - -"Yet how may I be sure," thought Jurgen, instantly, "that this black -gentleman was really Koshchei? He said he was? Why, yes; and -Horvendile to all intents told me that Horvendile was Koshchei. Aha, -and what else did Horvendile say!--'This is one of the romancer's -most venerable devices that is being practised.' Why, but there was -Smoit of Glathion, also, so that this is the third time I have been -fobbed off with the explanation I was dreaming! and left with no -proof, one way or the other." - -Thus Jurgen, indignantly, and then he laughed. "Why, but, of course! -I may have talked face to face with Koshchei, who made all things as -they are; and again, I may not have. That is the whole point of -it--the cream, as one might say, of the jest--that I cannot ever be -sure. Well!"--and Jurgen shrugged here--"well, and what could I be -expected to do about it?" - - - - -50. - -The Moment That Did Not Count - - -And that is really all the story save for the moment Jurgen paused -on his way home. For Koshchei (if it, indeed, was Koshchei) had -quitted Jurgen just as they approached Bellegarde: and as the -pawnbroker walked on alone in the pleasant April evening one called -to him from the terrace. Even in the dusk he knew this was the -Countess Dorothy. - -"May I speak with you a moment?" says she. - -"Very willingly, madame." And Jurgen ascended from the highway to -the terrace. - -"I thought it would be near your supper hour. So I was waiting here -until you passed. You conceive, it is not quite convenient for me to -seek you out at the shop." - -"Why, no, madame. There is a prejudice," said Jurgen, soberly. And -he waited. - -He saw that Madame Dorothy was perfectly composed, yet anxious to -speed the affair. "You must know," said she, "that my husband's -birthday approaches, and I wish to surprise him with a gift. It is -therefore necessary that I raise some money without troubling him. -How much--abominable usurer!--could you advance me upon this -necklace?" - -Jurgen turned it in his hand. It was a handsome piece of jewelry, -familiar to him as formerly the property of Heitman Michael's -mother. Jurgen named a sum. - -"But that," the Countess says, "is not a fraction of its worth!" - -"Times are very hard, madame. Of course, if you cared to sell -outright I could deal more generously." - -"Old monster, I could not do that. It would not be convenient." She -hesitated here. "It would not be explicable." - -"As to that, madame, I could make you an imitation in paste which -nobody could distinguish from the original, I can amply understand -that you desire to veil from your husband any sacrifices that are -entailed by your affection." - -"It is my affection for him," said the Countess quickly. - -"I alluded to your affection for him," said Jurgen--"naturally." - -Then Countess Dorothy named a price for the necklace. "For it is -necessary I have that much, and not a penny less." And Jurgen shook -his head dubiously, and vowed that ladies were unconscionable -bargainers: but Jurgen agreed to what she asked, because the -necklace was worth almost as much again. Then Jurgen suggested that -the business could be most conveniently concluded through an -emissary. - -"If Messire de Nérac, for example, could have matters explained to -him, and could manage to visit me tomorrow, I am sure we could carry -through this amiable imposture without any annoyance whatever to -Heitman Michael," says Jurgen, smoothly. - -"Nérac will come then," says the Countess. "And you may give him the -money, precisely as though it were for him." - -"But certainly, madame. A very estimable young nobleman, that! and -it is a pity his debts are so large. I heard that he had lost -heavily at dice within the last month; and I grieved, madame." - -"He has promised me when these debts are settled to play no -more--But again what am I saying! I mean, Master Inquisitive, that I -take considerable interest in the welfare of Messire de Nérac: and -so I have sometimes chided him on his wild courses. And that is all -I mean." - -"Precisely, madame. And so Messire de Nérac will come to me to-morrow -for the money: and there is no more to say." - -Jurgen paused. The moon was risen now. These two sat together upon a -bench of carved stone near the balustrade: and before them, upon the -other side of the highway, were luminous valleys and tree-tops. -Fleetingly Jurgen recollected the boy and girl who had once sat in -this place, and had talked of all the splendid things which Jurgen -was to do, and of the happy life that was to be theirs together. -Then he regarded the composed and handsome woman beside him, and he -considered that the money to pay her latest lover's debts had been -assured with a suitable respect for appearances. - -"Come, but this is a gallant lady, who would defy the almanac," -reflected Jurgen. "Even so, thirty-eight is an undeniable and -somewhat autumnal figure, and I suspect young Nérac is bleeding -his elderly mistress. Well, but at his age nobody has a conscience. -Yes, and Madame Dorothy is handsome still; and still my pulse is -playing me queer tricks, because she is near me, and my voice has -not the intonation I intend, because she is near me; and still I am -three-quarters in love with her. Yes, in the light of such cursed -folly as even now possesses me, I have good reason to give thanks -for the regained infirmities of age. Yet living seems to me a -wasteful and inequitable process, for this is a poor outcome for -the boy and girl that I remember. And weighing this outcome, I am -tempted to weep and to talk romantically, even now." - -But he did not. For really, weeping was not requisite. Jurgen was -making his fair profit out of the Countess's folly, and it was -merely his duty to see that this little business transaction was -managed without any scandal. - -"So there is nothing more to say," observed Jurgen, as he rose in -the moonlight, "save that I shall always be delighted to serve you, -madame, and I may reasonably boast that I have earned a reputation -for fair dealing." - -And he thought: "In effect, since certainly as she grows older she -will need yet more money for her lovers, I am offering to pimp for -her." Then Jurgen shrugged. "That is one side of the affair. The -other is that I transact my legitimate business,--I, who am that -which the years have made of me." - -Thus it was that Jurgen quitted the Countess Dorothy, whom, as you -have heard, this pawnbroker had loved in his first youth under the -name of Heart's Desire; and whom in the youth that was loaned him by -Mother Sereda he had loved as Queen Helen, the delight of gods and -men. For Jurgen was quitting Madame Dorothy after the simplest of -business transactions, which consumed only a moment, and did not -actually count one way or the other. - -And after this moment which did not count, the pawnbroker resumed -his journey, and so came presently to his home. He peeped through -the window. And there in a snug room, with supper laid, sat Dame -Lisa about some sewing, and evidently in a quite amiable frame of -mind. - -Then terror smote the Jurgen who had faced sorcerers and gods and -devils intrepidly. "For I forgot about the butter!" - -But immediately afterward he recollected that, now, not even what -Lisa had said to him in the cave was real. Neither he nor Lisa, now, -had ever been in the cave, and probably there was no longer any such -place, and now there never had been any such place. It was rather -confusing. - -"Ah, but I must remember carefully," said Jurgen, "that I have not -seen Lisa since breakfast, this morning. Nothing whatever has -happened. There has been no requirement laid upon me, after all, to -do the manly thing. So I retain my wife, such as she is, poor dear! -I retain my home. I retain my shop and a fair line of business. Yes, -Koshchei--if it was really Koshchei--has dealt with me very justly. -And probably his methods are everything they should be; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say that they are wrong: but still, at the -same time--!" - -Then Jurgen sighed, and entered his snug home. Thus it was in the -old days. - - -EXPLICIT - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - -***** This file should be named 8771-8.txt or 8771-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/8/7/7/8771/ - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Jurgen - A Comedy of Justice - -Author: James Branch Cabell - -Posting Date: April 21, 2013 [EBook #8771] -Release Date: August, 2005 -First Posted: August 12, 2003 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - - - - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team. With thanks to the McCain -Library, Agnes Scott College. - - - - - - - - - - - -JURGEN - -_A Comedy of Justice_ - - - -By - -JAMES BRANCH CABELL - -1922 - - - - _"Of JURGEN eke they maken mencioun, - That of an old wyf gat his youthe agoon, - And gat himselfe a shirte as bright as fyre - Wherein to jape, yet gat not his desire - In any countrie ne condicioun."_ - - - - - - -TO - -BURTON RASCOE - - Before each tarradiddle, - Uncowed by sciolists, - Robuster persons twiddle - Tremendously big fists. - - "Our gods are good," they tell us; - "Nor will our gods defer - Remission of rude fellows' - Ability to err." - - So this, your JURGEN, travels - Content to compromise - Ordainments none unravels - Explicitly ... and sighs. - - - - - - * * * * * - - -"Others, with better moderation, do either entertain the vulgar -history of Jurgen as a fabulous addition unto the true and authentic -story of St. Iurgenius of Poictesme, or else we conceive the literal -acception to be a misconstruction of the symbolical expression: -apprehending a veritable history, in an emblem or piece of Christian -poesy. And this emblematical construction hath been received by men -not forward to extenuate the acts of saints." - - --PHILIP BORSDALE. - - -"A forced construction is very idle. If readers of _The High -History of Jurgen_ do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory -will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all, the whole is -as plain as a pikestaff. It might as well be pretended that we -cannot see Poussin's pictures without first being told the allegory, -as that the allegory aids us in understanding _Jurgen_." - - --E. NOEL CODMAN. - - -"Too urbane to advocate delusion, too hale for the bitterness of -irony, this fable of Jurgen is, as the world itself, a book wherein -each man will find what his nature enables him to see; which gives -us back each his own image; and which teaches us each the lesson -that each of us desires to learn." - - --JOHN FREDERICK LEWISTAM. - - - * * * * * - - - - -_CONTENTS_ - - A FOREWORD: WHICH ASSERTS NOTHING - - I WHY JURGEN DID THE MANLY THING - - II ASSUMPTION OF A NOTED GARMENT - - III THE GARDEN BETWEEN DAWN AND SUNRISE - - IV THE DOROTHY WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND - - V REQUIREMENTS OF BREAD AND BUTTER - - VI SHOWING THAT SEREDA IS FEMININE - - VII OF COMPROMISES ON A WEDNESDAY - - VIII OLD TOYS AND A NEW SHADOW - - IX THE ORTHODOX RESCUE OF GUENEVERE - - X PITIFUL DISGUISES OF THRAGNAR - - XI APPEARANCE OF THE DUKE OF LOGREUS - - XII EXCURSUS OF YOLANDE'S UNDOING - - XIII PHILOSOPHY OF GOGYRVAN GAWR - - XIV PRELIMINARY TACTICS OF DUKE JURGEN - - XV OF COMPROMISES IN GLATHION - - XVI DIVERS IMBROGLIOS OF KING SMOIT - - XVII ABOUT A COCK THAT CROWED TOO SOON - - XVIII WHY MERLIN TALKED IN TWILIGHT - - XIX THE BROWN MAN WITH QUEER FEET - - XX EFFICACY OF PRAYER - - XXI HOW ANAITIS VOYAGED - - XXII AS TO A VEIL THEY BROKE - - XXIII SHORTCOMINGS OF PRINCE JURGEN - - XXIV OF COMPROMISES IN COCAIGNE - - XXV CANTRAPS OF THE MASTER PHILOLOGIST - - XXVI IN TIME'S HOUR-GLASS - - XXVII VEXATIOUS ESTATE OF QUEEN HELEN - - XXVIII OF COMPROMISES IN LEUKE - - XXIX CONCERNING HORVENDILE'S NONSENSE - - XXX ECONOMICS OF KING JURGEN - - XXXI THE FALL OF PSEUDOPOLIS - - XXXII SUNDRY DEVICES OF THE PHILISTINES - - XXXIII FAREWELL TO CHLORIS - - XXXIV HOW EMPEROR JURGEN FARED INFERNALLY - - XXXV WHAT GRANDFATHER SATAN REPORTED - - XXXVI WHY COTH WAS CONTRADICTED - - XXXVII INVENTION OF THE LOVELY VAMPIRE - -XXXVIII AS TO APPLAUDED PRECEDENTS - - XXXIX OF COMPROMISES IN HELL - - XL THE ASCENSION OF POPE JURGEN - - XLI OF COMPROMISES IN HEAVEN - - XLII TWELVE THAT ARE FRETTED HOURLY - - XLIII POSTURES BEFORE A SHADOW - - XLIV IN THE MANAGER'S OFFICE - - XLV THE FAITH OF GUENEVERE - - XLVI THE DESIRE OF ANAITIS - - XLVII THE VISION OF HELEN - - XLVIII CANDID OPINIONS OF DAME LISA - - XLIX OF THE COMPROMISE WITH KOSHCHEI - - L THE MOMENT THAT DID NOT COUNT - - - - -A FOREWORD - -_"Nescio quid certe est: et Hylax in limine latrat."_ - - - - -_A Foreword: Which Asserts Nothing._ - - -In Continental periodicals not more than a dozen articles in all -would seem to have given accounts or partial translations of the -Jurgen legends. No thorough investigation of this epos can be said -to have appeared in print, anywhere, prior to the publication, in -1913, of the monumental _Synopses of Aryan Mythology_ by Angelo -de Ruiz. It is unnecessary to observe that in this exhaustive digest -Professor de Ruiz has given (VII, p. 415 _et sequentia_) a -summary of the greater part of these legends as contained in the -collections of Verville and Buelg; and has discussed at length and -with much learning the esoteric meaning of these folk-stories and -their bearing upon questions to which the "solar theory" of myth -explanation has given rise. To his volumes, and to the pages of Mr. -Lewistam's _Key to the Popular Tales of Poictesme_, must be -referred all those who may elect to think of Jurgen as the -resplendent, journeying and procreative sun. - -Equally in reading hereinafter will the judicious waive all -allegorical interpretation, if merely because the suggestions -hitherto advanced are inconveniently various. Thus Verville -finds the Nessus shirt a symbol of retribution, where Buelg, -with rather wide divergence, would have it represent the dangerous -gift of genius. Then it may be remembered that Dr. Codman says, -without any hesitancy, of Mother Sereda: "This Mother Middle is -the world generally (an obvious anagram of _Erda es_), and this -Sereda rules not merely the middle of the working-days but the -midst of everything. She is the factor of _middleness_, of -mediocrity, of an avoidance of extremes, of the eternal compromise -begotten by use and wont. She is the Mrs. Grundy of the Leshy; she is -Comstockery: and her shadow is common-sense." Yet Codman speaks with -certainly no more authority than Prote, when the latter, in his -_Origins of Fable_, declares this epos is "a parable of ... man's -vain journeying in search of that rationality and justice which his -nature craves, and discovers nowhere in the universe: and the shirt -is an emblem of this instinctive craving, as ... the shadow symbolizes -conscience. Sereda typifies a surrender to life as it is, a giving up -of man's rebellious self-centredness and selfishness: the anagram being -_se dare_." - -Thus do interpretations throng and clash, and neatly equal the -commentators in number. Yet possibly each one of these unriddlings, -with no doubt a host of others, is conceivable: so that wisdom will -dwell upon none of them very seriously. - -With the origin and the occult meaning of the folklore of Poictesme -this book at least is in no wise concerned: its unambitious aim has -been merely to familiarize English readers with the Jurgen epos for -the tale's sake. And this tale of old years is one which, by rare -fortune, can be given to English readers almost unabridged, in view -of the singular delicacy and pure-mindedness of the Jurgen mythos: -in all, not more than a half-dozen deletions have seemed expedient -(and have been duly indicated) in order to remove such sparse and -unimportant outcroppings of mediaeval frankness as might conceivably -offend the squeamish. - -Since this volume is presented simply as a story to be read for -pastime, neither morality nor symbolism is hereinafter educed, and -no "parallels" and "authorities" are quoted. Even the gaps are left -unbridged by guesswork: whereas the historic and mythological -problems perhaps involved are relinquished to those really -thoroughgoing scholars whom erudition qualifies to deal with such -topics, and tedium does not deter.... - -In such terms, and thus far, ran the Foreword to the first issues of -this book, whose later fortunes have made necessary the lengthening -of the Foreword with a postscript. The needed addition--this much at -least chiming with good luck--is brief. It is just that fragment -which some scholars, since the first appearance of this volume, have -asserted--upon what perfect frankness must describe as not -indisputable grounds--to be a portion of the thirty-second chapter -of the complete form of _La Haulte Histoire de Jurgen_. - -And in reply to what these scholars assert, discretion says nothing. -For this fragment was, of course, unknown when the High History was -first put into English, and there in consequence appears, here, -little to be won either by endorsing or denying its claims to -authenticity. Rather, does discretion prompt the appending, without -any gloss or scholia, of this fragment, which deals with - - _The Judging of Jurgen._ - -Now a court was held by the Philistines to decide whether or no King -Jurgen should be relegated to limbo. And when the judges were -prepared for judging, there came into the court a great tumblebug, -rolling in front of him his loved and properly housed young ones. -With the creature came pages, in black and white, bearing a sword, a -staff and a lance. - -This insect looked at Jurgen, and its pincers rose erect in horror. -The bug cried to the three judges, "Now, by St. Anthony! this Jurgen -must forthwith be relegated to limbo, for he is offensive and lewd -and lascivious and indecent." - -"And how can that be?" says Jurgen. - -"You are offensive," the bug replied, "because this page has a sword -which I choose to say is not a sword. You are lewd because that page -has a lance which I prefer to think is not a lance. You are -lascivious because yonder page has a staff which I elect to declare -is not a staff. And finally, you are indecent for reasons of which a -description would be objectionable to me, and which therefore I must -decline to reveal to anybody." - -"Well, that sounds logical," says Jurgen, "but still, at the same -time, it would be no worse for an admixture of common-sense. For you -gentlemen can see for yourselves, by considering these pages fairly -and as a whole, that these pages bear a sword and a lance and a -staff, and nothing else whatever; and you will deduce, I hope, that -all the lewdness is in the insectival mind of him who itches to be -calling these things by other names." - -The judges said nothing as yet. But they that guarded Jurgen, and -all the other Philistines, stood to this side and to that side with -their eyes shut tight, and all these said: "We decline to look at -the pages fairly and as a whole, because to look might seem to imply -a doubt of what the tumblebug has decreed. Besides, as long as the -tumblebug has reasons which he declines to reveal, his reasons stay -unanswerable, and you are plainly a prurient rascal who are making -trouble for yourself." - -"To the contrary," says Jurgen, "I am a poet, and I make -literature." - -"But in Philistia to make literature and to make trouble for -yourself are synonyms," the tumblebug explained. "I know, for -already we of Philistia have been pestered by three of these makers -of literature. Yes, there was Edgar, whom I starved and hunted until -I was tired of it: then I chased him up a back alley one night, and -knocked out those annoying brains of his. And there was Walt, whom I -chivvied and battered from place to place, and made a paralytic of -him: and him, too, I labelled offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent. Then later there was Mark, whom I frightened into -disguising himself in a clown's suit, so that nobody might suspect -him to be a maker of literature: indeed, I frightened him so that he -hid away the greater part of what he had made until after he was -dead, and I could not get at him. That was a disgusting trick to -play on me, I consider. Still, these are the only three detected -makers of literature that have ever infested Philistia, thanks be to -goodness and my vigilance, but for both of which we might have been -no more free from makers of literature than are the other -countries." - -"Now, but these three," cried Jurgen, "are the glory of Philistia: -and of all that Philistia has produced, it is these three alone, -whom living ye made least of, that to-day are honored wherever art -is honored, and where nobody bothers one way or the other about -Philistia." - -"What is art to me and my way of living?" replied the tumblebug, -wearily. "I have no concern with art and letters and the other lewd -idols of foreign nations. I have in charge the moral welfare of my -young, whom I roll here before me, and trust with St. Anthony's aid -to raise in time to be God-fearing tumblebugs like me, delighting in -what is proper to their nature. For the rest, I have never minded -dead men being well-spoken-of. No, no, my lad: once whatever I may -do means nothing to you, and once you are really rotten, you will -find the tumblebug friendly enough. Meanwhile I am paid to protest -that living persons are offensive and lewd and lascivious and -indecent, and one must live." - -Then the Philistines who stood to this side and to that side said in -indignant unison: "And we, the reputable citizenry of Philistia, are -not at all in sympathy with those who would take any protest against -the tumblebug as a justification of what they are pleased to call -art. The harm done by the tumblebug seems to us very slight, whereas -the harm done by the self-styled artist may be very great." - -Jurgen now looked more attentively at this queer creature: and he -saw that the tumblebug was malodorous, certainly, but at bottom -honest and well-meaning; and this seemed to Jurgen the saddest thing -he had found among the Philistines. For the tumblebug was sincere in -his insane doings, and all Philistia honored him sincerely, so that -there was nowhere any hope for this people. - -Therefore King Jurgen addressed himself, as his need was, to submit -to the strange customs of the Philistines. "Now do you judge me -fairly," cried Jurgen to his judges, "if there be any justice in -this mad country. And if there be none, do you relegate me to limbo -or to any other place, so long as in that place this tumblebug is -not omnipotent and sincere and insane." - -And Jurgen waited.... - - - - -* * * * * - - - - JURGEN - - ... _amara lento temperet risu_ - - - - -1. - -Why Jurgen Did the Manly Thing - - -It is a tale which they narrate in Poictesme, saying: In the 'old -days lived a pawnbroker named Jurgen; but what his wife called him -was very often much worse than that. She was a high-spirited woman, -with no especial gift for silence. Her name, they say, was Adelais, -but people by ordinary called her Dame Lisa. - -They tell, also, that in the old days, after putting up the shop-windows -for the night, Jurgen was passing the Cistercian Abbey, on his way home: -and one of the monks had tripped over a stone in the roadway. He was -cursing the devil who had placed it there. - -"Fie, brother!" says Jurgen, "and have not the devils enough to bear -as it is?" - -"I never held with Origen," replied the monk; "and besides, it hurt -my great-toe confoundedly." - -"None the less," observes Jurgen, "it does not behoove God-fearing -persons to speak with disrespect of the divinely appointed Prince of -Darkness. To your further confusion, consider this monarch's -industry! day and night you may detect him toiling at the task -Heaven set him. That is a thing can be said of few communicants and -of no monks. Think, too, of his fine artistry, as evidenced in all -the perilous and lovely snares of this world, which it is your -business to combat, and mine to lend money upon. Why, but for him we -would both be vocationless! Then, too, consider his philanthropy! -and deliberate how insufferable would be our case if you and I, and -all our fellow parishioners, were to-day hobnobbing with other -beasts in the Garden which we pretend to desiderate on Sundays! To -arise with swine and lie down with the hyena?--oh, intolerable!" - -Thus he ran on, devising reasons for not thinking too harshly of the -Devil. Most of it was an abridgement of some verses Jurgen had -composed, in the shop when business was slack. - -"I consider that to be stuff and nonsense," was the monk's glose. - -"No doubt your notion is sensible," observed the pawnbroker: "but -mine is the prettier." - -Then Jurgen passed the Cistercian Abbey, and was approaching -Bellegarde, when he met a black gentleman, who saluted him and said: - -"Thanks, Jurgen, for your good word." - -"Who are you, and why do you thank me?" asks Jurgen. - -"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. May -your life be free from care!" - -"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married." - -"Eh, sirs, and a fine clever poet like you!" - -"Yet it is a long while now since I was a practising poet." - -"Why, to be sure! You have the artistic temperament, which is not -exactly suited to the restrictions of domestic life. Then I suppose -your wife has her own personal opinion about poetry, Jurgen." - -"Indeed, sir, her opinion would not bear repetition, for I am sure -you are unaccustomed to such language." - -"This is very sad. I am afraid your wife does not quite understand -you, Jurgen." - -"Sir," says Jurgen, astounded, "do you read people's inmost -thoughts?" - -The black gentleman seemed much dejected. He pursed his lips, and -fell to counting upon his fingers: as they moved his sharp nails -glittered like flame-points. - -"Now but this is a very deplorable thing," says the black gentleman, -"to have befallen the first person I have found ready to speak a -kind word for evil. And in all these centuries, too! Dear me, this -is a most regrettable instance of mismanagement! No matter, Jurgen, -the morning is brighter than the evening. How I will reward you, to -be sure!" - -So Jurgen thanked the simple old creature politely. And when Jurgen -reached home his wife was nowhere to be seen. He looked on all sides -and questioned everyone, but to no avail. Dame Lisa had vanished in -the midst of getting supper ready--suddenly, completely and -inexplicably, just as (in Jurgen's figure) a windstorm passes and -leaves behind it a tranquillity which seems, by contrast, uncanny. -Nothing could explain the mystery, short of magic: and Jurgen on a -sudden recollected the black gentleman's queer promise. Jurgen -crossed himself. - -"How unjustly now," says Jurgen, "do some people get an ill name for -gratitude! And now do I perceive how wise I am, always to speak -pleasantly of everybody, in this world of tale-bearers." - -Then Jurgen prepared his own supper, went to bed, and slept soundly. - -"I have implicit confidence," says he, "in Lisa. I have particular -confidence in her ability to take care of herself in any -surroundings." - -That was all very well: but time passed, and presently it began to -be rumored that Dame Lisa walked on Morven. Her brother, who was a -grocer and a member of the town-council, went thither to see about -this report. And sure enough, there was Jurgen's wife walking in the -twilight and muttering incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the town-councillor, "this is very unseemly -conduct for a married woman, and a thing likely to be talked about." - -"Follow me!" replied Dame Lisa. And the town-councillor followed her -a little way in the dusk, but when she came to Amneran Heath and -still went onward, he knew better than to follow. - -Next evening the elder sister of Dame Lisa went to Morven. This -sister had married a notary, and was a shrewd woman. In consequence, -she took with her this evening a long wand of peeled willow-wood. -And there was Jurgen's wife walking in the twilight and muttering -incessantly. - -"Fie, sister!" says the notary's wife, who was a shrewd woman, "and -do you not know that all this while Jurgen does his own sewing, and -is once more making eyes at Countess Dorothy?" - -Dame Lisa shuddered; but she only said, "Follow me!" - -And the notary's wife followed her to Amneran Heath, and across the -heath, to where a cave was. This was a place of abominable repute. A -lean hound came to meet them there in the twilight, lolling his -tongue: but the notary's wife struck thrice with her wand, and the -silent beast left them. And Dame Lisa passed silently into the cave, -and her sister turned and went home to her children, weeping. - -So the next evening Jurgen himself came to Morven, because all his -wife's family assured him this was the manly thing to do. Jurgen -left the shop in charge of Urien Villemarche, who was a highly -efficient clerk. Jurgen followed his wife across Amneran Heath until -they reached the cave. Jurgen would willingly have been elsewhere. - -For the hound squatted upon his haunches, and seemed to grin at -Jurgen; and there were other creatures abroad, that flew low in the -twilight, keeping close to the ground like owls; but they were -larger than owls and were more discomforting. And, moreover, all -this was just after sunset upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything -is rather more than likely to happen. - -So Jurgen said, a little peevishly: "Lisa, my dear, if you go into -the cave I will have to follow you, because it is the manly thing to -do. And you know how easily I take cold." - -The voice of Dame Lisa, now, was thin and wailing, a curiously -changed voice. "There is a cross about your neck. You must throw -that away." - -Jurgen was wearing such a cross, through motives of sentiment, -because it had once belonged to his dead mother. But now, to -pleasure his wife, he removed the trinket, and hung it on a barberry -bush; and with the reflection that this was likely to prove a -deplorable business, he followed Dame Lisa into the cave. - - - - -2. - -Assumption of a Noted Garment - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -presently to a centaur: and this surprised him not a little, because -Jurgen knew that centaurs were imaginary creatures. - -Certainly they were curious to look at: for here was the body of a -fine bay horse, and rising from its shoulders, the sun-burnt body of -a young fellow who regarded Jurgen with grave and not unfriendly -eyes. The Centaur was lying beside a fire of cedar and juniper wood: -near him was a platter containing a liquid with which he was -anointing his hoofs. This stuff, as the Centaur rubbed it in with -his fingers, turned the appearance of his hoofs to gold. - -"Hail, friend," says Jurgen, "if you be the work of God." - -"Your protasis is not good Greek," observed the Centaur, "because in -Hellas we did not make such reservations. Besides, it is not so much -my origin as my destination which concerns you." - -"Well, friend, and whither are you going?" - -"To the garden between dawn and sunrise, Jurgen." - -"Surely, now, but that is a fine name for a garden! and it is a -place I would take joy to be seeing." - -"Up upon my back, Jurgen, and I will take you thither," says the -Centaur, and heaved to his feet. Then said the Centaur, when the -pawnbroker hesitated: "Because, as you must understand, there is no -other way. For this garden does not exist, and never did exist, in -what men humorously called real life; so that of course only -imaginary creatures such as I can enter it." - -"That sounds very reasonable," Jurgen estimated: "but as it happens, -I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to have been carried off by -a devil, poor fellow!" - -And Jurgen began to explain to the Centaur what had befallen. - -The Centaur laughed. "It may be for that reason I am here. There is, -in any event, only one remedy in this matter. Above all devils--and -above all gods, they tell me, but certainly above all centaurs--is -the power of Koshchei the Deathless, who made things as they are." - -"It is not always wholesome," Jurgen submitted, "to speak of -Koshchei. It seems especially undesirable in a dark place like -this." - -"None the less, I suspect it is to him you must go for justice." - -"I would prefer not doing that," said Jurgen, with unaffected -candor. - -"You have my sympathy: but there is no question of preference where -Koshchei is concerned. Do you think, for example, that I am frowzing -in this underground place by my own choice? and knew your name by -accident?" - -Jurgen was frightened, a little. "Well, well! but it is usually the -deuce and all, this doing of the manly thing. How, then, can I come -to Koshchei?" - -"Roundabout," says the Centaur. "There is never any other way." - -"And is the road to this garden roundabout?" - -"Oh, very much so, inasmuch as it circumvents both destiny and -common-sense." - -"Needs must, then," says Jurgen: "at all events, I am willing to -taste any drink once." - -"You will be chilled, though, traveling as you are. For you and I -are going a queer way, in search of justice, over the grave of a -dream and through the malice of time. So you had best put on this -shirt above your other clothing." - -"Indeed it is a fine snug shining garment, with curious figures on -it. I accept such raiment gladly. And whom shall I be thanking for -his kindness, now?" - -"My name," said the Centaur, "is Nessus." - -"Well, then, friend Nessus, I am at your service." - -And in a trice Jurgen was on the Centaur's back, and the two of them -had somehow come out of the cave, and were crossing Amneran Heath. -So they passed into a wooded place, where the light of sunset yet -lingered, rather unaccountably. Now the Centaur went westward. And -now about the pawnbroker's shoulders and upon his breast and over -his lean arms glittered like a rainbow the many-colored shirt of -Nessus. - -For a while they went through the woods, which were composed of big -trees standing a goodish distance from one another, with the -Centaur's gilded hoofs rustling and sinking in a thick carpet of -dead leaves, all gray and brown, in level stretches that were -unbroken by any undergrowth. And then they came to a white roadway -that extended due west, and so were done with the woods. Now -happened an incredible thing in which Jurgen would never have -believed had he not seen it with his own eyes: for now the Centaur -went so fast that he gained a little by a little upon the sun, thus -causing it to rise in the west a little by a little; and these two -sped westward in the glory of a departed sunset. The sun fell full -in Jurgen's face as he rode straight toward the west, so that he -blinked and closed his eyes, and looked first toward this side, then -the other. Thus it was that the country about him, and the persons -they were passing, were seen by him in quick bright flashes, like -pictures suddenly transmuted into other pictures; and all his -memories of this shining highway were, in consequence, always -confused and incoherent. - -He wondered that there seemed to be so many young women along the -road to the garden. Here was a slim girl in white teasing a great -brown and yellow dog that leaped about her clumsily; here a girl sat -in the branches of a twisted and gnarled tree, and back of her was a -broad muddied river, copper-colored in the sun; and here shone the -fair head of a tall girl on horseback, who seemed to wait for -someone: in fine, the girls along the way were numberless, and -Jurgen thought he recollected one or two of them. - -But the Centaur went so swiftly that Jurgen could not be sure. - - - - -3. - -The Garden between Dawn and Sunrise - - -Thus it was that Jurgen and the Centaur came to the garden between -dawn and sunrise, entering this place in a fashion which it is not -convenient to record. But as they passed over the bridge three fled -before them, screaming. And when the life had been trampled out of -the small furry bodies which these three had misused, there was none -to oppose the Centaur's entry into the garden between dawn and -sunrise. - -This was a wonderful garden: yet nothing therein was strange. -Instead, it seemed that everything hereabouts was heart-breakingly -familiar and very dear to Jurgen. For he had come to a broad lawn -which slanted northward to a well-remembered brook: and -multitudinous maples and locust-trees stood here and there, -irregularly, and were being played with very lazily by an irresolute -west wind, so that foliage seemed to toss and ripple everywhere like -green spray: but autumn was at hand, for the locust-trees were -dropping a Danae's shower of small round yellow leaves. Around the -garden was an unforgotten circle of blue hills. And this was a place -of lucent twilight, unlit by either sun or stars, and with no -shadows anywhere in the diffused faint radiancy that revealed this -garden, which is not visible to any man except in the brief interval -between dawn and sunrise. - -"Why, but it is Count Emmerick's garden at Storisende," says Jurgen, -"where I used to be having such fine times when I was a lad." - -"I will wager," said Nessus, "that you did not use to walk alone in -this garden." - -"Well, no; there was a girl." - -"Just so," assented Nessus. "It is a local by-law: and here are -those who comply with it." - -For now had come toward them, walking together in the dawn, a -handsome boy and girl. And the girl was incredibly beautiful, -because everybody in the garden saw her with the vision of the boy -who was with her. "I am Rudolph," said this boy, "and she is Anne." - -"And are you happy here?" asked Jurgen. - -"Oh, yes, sir, we are tolerably happy: but Anne's father is very -rich, and my mother is poor, so that we cannot be quite happy until -I have gone into foreign lands and come back with a great many lakhs -of rupees and pieces of eight." - -"And what will you do with all this money, Rudolph?" - -"My duty, sir, as I see it. But I inherit defective eyesight." - -"God speed to you, Rudolph!" said Jurgen, "for many others are in -your plight." - -Then came to Jurgen and the Centaur another boy with the small -blue-eyed person in whom he took delight. And this fat and indolent -looking boy informed them that he and the girl who was with him were -walking in the glaze of the red mustard jar, which Jurgen thought -was gibberish: and the fat boy said that he and the girl had decided -never to grow any older, which Jurgen said was excellent good sense -if only they could manage it. - -"Oh, I can manage that," said this fat boy, reflectively, "if only I -do not find the managing of it uncomfortable." - -Jurgen for a moment regarded him, and then gravely shook hands. - -"I feel for you," said Jurgen, "for I perceive that you, too, are a -monstrous clever fellow: so life will get the best of you." - -"But is not cleverness the main thing, sir?" - -"Time will show you, my lad," says Jurgen, a little sorrowfully. -"And God speed to you, for many others are in your plight." - -And a host of boys and girls did Jurgen see in the garden. And all -the faces that Jurgen saw were young and glad and very lovely and -quite heart-breakingly confident, as young persons beyond numbering -came toward Jurgen and passed him there, in the first glow of dawn: -so they all went exulting in the glory of their youth, and -foreknowing life to be a puny antagonist from whom one might take -very easily anything which one desired. And all passed in -couples--"as though they came from the Ark," said Jurgen. But the -Centaur said they followed a precedent which was far older than the -Ark. - -"For in this garden," said the Centaur, "each man that ever lived -has sojourned for a little while, with no company save his -illusions. I must tell you again that in this garden are encountered -none but imaginary creatures. And stalwart persons take their hour -of recreation here, and go hence unaccompanied, to become aldermen -and respected merchants and bishops, and to be admired as captains -upon prancing horses, or even as kings upon tall thrones; each in -his station thinking not at all of the garden ever any more. But now -and then come timid persons, Jurgen, who fear to leave this garden -without an escort: so these must need go hence with one or another -imaginary creature, to guide them about alleys and by-paths, because -imaginary creatures find little nourishment in the public highways, -and shun them. Thus must these timid persons skulk about obscurely -with their diffident and skittish guides, and they do not ever -venture willingly into the thronged places where men get horses and -build thrones." - -"And what becomes of these timid persons, Centaur?" - -"Why, sometimes they spoil paper, Jurgen, and sometimes they spoil -human lives." - -"Then are these accursed persons," Jurgen considered. - -"You should know best," replied the Centaur. - -"Oh, very probably," said Jurgen. "Meanwhile here is one who walks -alone in this garden, and I wonder to see the local by-laws thus -violated." - -Now Nessus looked at Jurgen for a while without speaking: and in the -eyes of the Centaur was so much of comprehension and compassion that -it troubled Jurgen. For somehow it made Jurgen fidget and consider -this an unpleasantly personal way of looking at anybody. - -"Yes, certainly," said the Centaur, "this woman walks alone. But -there is no help for her loneliness, since the lad who loved this -woman is dead." - -"Nessus, I am willing to be reasonably sorry about it. Still, is -there any need of pulling quite such a portentously long face? After -all, a great many other persons have died, off and on: and for -anything I can say to the contrary, this particular young fellow may -have been no especial loss to anybody." - -Again the Centaur said, "You should know best." - - - - -4. - -The Dorothy Who Did Not Understand - - -For now had come to Jurgen and the Centaur a gold-haired woman, -clothed all in white, and walking alone. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest: and yet whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. Perhaps this was because he never saw her as she -was. For certainly the color of her eyes stayed a matter never -revealed to him: gray, blue or green, there was no saying: they -varied as does the sea; but always these eyes were lovely and -friendly and perturbing. - -Jurgen remembered that: for Jurgen saw this was Count Emmerick's -second sister, Dorothy la Desiree, whom Jurgen very long ago (a many -years before he met Dame Lisa and set up in business as a -pawnbroker) had hymned in innumerable verses as Heart's Desire. - -"And this is the only woman whom I ever loved," Jurgen remembered, -upon a sudden. For people cannot always be thinking of these -matters. - -So he saluted her, with such deference as is due to a countess from -a tradesman, and yet with unforgotten tremors waking in his staid -body. But the strangest was yet to be seen, for he noted now that -this was not a handsome woman in middle life but a young girl. - -"I do not understand," he said, aloud: "for you are Dorothy. And yet -it seems to me that you are not the Countess Dorothy who is Heitman -Michael's wife." - -And the girl tossed her fair head, with that careless lovely gesture -which the Countess had forgotten. "Heitman Michael is well enough, -for a nobleman, and my brother is at me day and night to marry the -man: and certainly Heitman Michael's wife will go in satin and -diamonds at half the courts of Christendom, with many lackeys to -attend her. But I am not to be thus purchased." - -"So you told a boy that I remember, very long ago. Yet you married -Heitman Michael, for all that, and in the teeth of a number of other -fine declarations." - -"Oh, no, not I," said this Dorothy, wondering. "I never married -anybody. And Heitman Michael has never married anybody, either, old -as he is. For he is twenty-eight, and looks every day of it! But who -are you, friend, that have such curious notions about me?" - -"That question I will answer, just as though it were put reasonably. -For surely you perceive I am Jurgen." - -"I never knew but one Jurgen. And he is a young man, barely come of -age--" Then as she paused in speech, whatever was the matter upon -which this girl now meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by -the thought of it, and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took -infinite joy. - -And Jurgen understood. He had come back somehow to the Dorothy whom -he had loved: but departed, and past overtaking by the fleet hoofs -of centaurs, was the boy who had once loved this Dorothy, and who -had rhymed of her as his Heart's Desire: and in the garden there was -of this boy no trace. Instead, the girl was talking to a staid and -paunchy pawnbroker, of forty-and-something. - -So Jurgen shrugged, and looked toward the Centaur: but Nessus had -discreetly wandered away from them, in search of four-leafed -clovers. Now the east had grown brighter, and its crimson began to -be colored with gold. - -"Yes, I have heard of this other Jurgen," says the pawnbroker. "Oh, -Madame Dorothy, but it was he that loved you!" - -"No more than I loved him. Through a whole summer have I loved -Jurgen." - -And the knowledge that this girl spoke a wondrous truth was now to -Jurgen a joy that was keen as pain. And he stood motionless for a -while, scowling and biting his lips. - -"I wonder how long the poor devil loved you! He also loved for a -whole summer, it may be. And yet again, it may be that he loved you -all his life. For twenty years and for more than twenty years I have -debated the matter: and I am as well informed as when I started." - -"But, friend, you talk in riddles." - -"Is not that customary when age talks with youth? For I am an old -fellow, in my forties: and you, as I know now, are near -eighteen,--or rather, four months short of being eighteen, for it is -August. Nay, more, it is the August of a year I had not looked ever -to see again; and again Dom Manuel reigns over us, that man of iron -whom I saw die so horribly. All this seems very improbable." - -Then Jurgen meditated for a while. He shrugged. - -"Well, and what could anybody expect me to do about it? Somehow it -has befallen that I, who am but the shadow of what I was, now walk -among shadows, and we converse with the thin intonations of dead -persons. For, Madame Dorothy, you who are not yet eighteen, in this -same garden there was once a boy who loved a girl, with such love as -it puzzles me to think of now. I believe that she loved him. Yes, -certainly it is a cordial to the tired and battered heart which -nowadays pumps blood for me, to think that for a little while, for a -whole summer, these two were as brave and comely and clean a pair of -sweethearts as the world has known." - -Thus Jurgen spoke. But his thought was that this was a girl whose -equal for loveliness and delight was not to be found between two -oceans. Long and long ago that doubtfulness of himself which was -closer to him than his skin had fretted Jurgen into believing the -Dorothy he had loved was but a piece of his imaginings. But -certainly this girl was real. And sweet she was, and innocent she -was, and light of heart and feet, beyond the reach of any man's -inventiveness. No, Jurgen had not invented her; and it strangely -contented him to know as much. - -"Tell me your story, sir," says she, "for I love all romances." - -"Ah, my dear child, but I cannot tell you very well of just what -happened. As I look back, there is a blinding glory of green woods -and lawns and moonlit nights and dance music and unreasonable -laughter. I remember her hair and eyes, and the curving and the feel -of her red mouth, and once when I was bolder than ordinary--But that -is hardly worth raking up at this late day. Well, I see these things -in memory as plainly as I now seem to see your face: but I can -recollect hardly anything she said. Perhaps, now I think of it, she -was not very intelligent, and said nothing worth remembering. But -the boy loved her, and was happy, because her lips and heart were -his, and he, as the saying is, had plucked a diamond from the -world's ring. True, she was a count's daughter and the sister of a -count: but in those days the boy quite firmly intended to become a -duke or an emperor or something of that sort, so the transient -discrepancy did not worry them." - -"I know. Why, Jurgen is going to be a duke, too," says she, very -proudly, "though he did think, a great while ago, before he knew me, -of being a cardinal, on account of the robes. But cardinals are not -allowed to marry, you see--And I am forgetting your story, too! What -happened then?" - -"They parted in September--with what vows it hardly matters now--and -the boy went into Gatinais, to win his spurs under the old Vidame de -Soyecourt. And presently--oh, a good while before Christmas!--came -the news that Dorothy la Desiree had married rich Heitman Michael." - -"But that is what I am called! And as you know, there is a Heitman -Michael who is always plaguing me. Is that not strange! for you tell -me all this happened a great while ago." - -"Indeed, the story is very old, and old it was when Methuselah was -teething. There is no older and more common story anywhere. As the -sequel, it would be heroic to tell you this boy's life was ruined. -But I do not think it was. Instead, he had learned all of a sudden -that which at twenty-one is heady knowledge. That was the hour which -taught him sorrow and rage, and sneering, too, for a redemption. Oh, -it was armor that hour brought him, and a humor to use it, because -no woman now could hurt him very seriously. No, never any more!" - -"Ah, the poor boy!" she said, divinely tender, and smiling as a -goddess smiles, not quite in mirth. - -"Well, women, as he knew by experience now, were the pleasantest of -playfellows. So he began to play. Rampaging through the world he -went in the pride of his youth and in the armor of his hurt. And -songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and sword-play he made for -the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made for the pleasure of -women, in places where renown was, and where he trod boldly, giving -pleasure to everybody, in those fine days. But the whispering, and -all that followed the whispering, was his best game, and the game he -played for the longest while, with many brightly colored playmates -who took the game more seriously than he did. And their faith in the -game's importance, and in him and his high-sounding nonsense, he -very often found amusing: and in their other chattels too he took -his natural pleasure. Then, when he had played sufficiently, he held -a consultation with divers waning appetites; and he married the -handsome daughter of an estimable pawnbroker in a fair line of -business. And he lived with his wife very much as two people -customarily live together. So, all in all, I would not say his life -was ruined." - -"Why, then, it was," said Dorothy. She stirred uneasily, with an -impatient sigh; and you saw that she was vaguely puzzled. "Oh, but -somehow I think you are a very horrible old man: and you seem doubly -horrible in that glittering queer garment you are wearing." - -"No woman ever praised a woman's handiwork, and each of you is -particularly severe upon her own. But you are interrupting the -saga." - -"I do not see"--and those large bright eyes of which the color was -so indeterminable and so dear to Jurgen, seemed even larger -now--"but I do not see how there could well be any more." - -"Still, human hearts survive the benediction of the priest, as you may -perceive any day. This man, at least, inherited his father-in-law's -business, and found it, quite as he had anticipated, the fittest of -vocations for a cashiered poet. And so, I suppose, he was content. Ah, -yes; but after a while Heitman Michael returned from foreign parts, -along with his lackeys, and plate, and chest upon chest of merchandise, -and his fine horses, and his wife. And he who had been her lover could -see her now, after so many years, whenever he liked. She was a handsome -stranger. That was all. She was rather stupid. She was nothing -remarkable, one way or another. This respectable pawnbroker saw that -quite plainly: day by day he writhed under the knowledge. Because, as -I must tell you, he could not retain composure in her presence, even -now. No, he was never able to do that." - -The girl somewhat condensed her brows over this information. "You -mean that he still loved her. Why, but of course!" - -"My child," says Jurgen, now with a reproving forefinger, "you are -an incurable romanticist. The man disliked her and despised her. At -any event, he assured himself that he did. Well, even so, this -handsome stupid stranger held his eyes, and muddled his thoughts, -and put errors into his accounts: and when he touched her hand he -did not sleep that night as he was used to sleep. Thus he saw her, -day after day. And they whispered that this handsome and stupid -stranger had a liking for young men who aided her artfully to -deceive her husband: but she never showed any such favor to the -respectable pawnbroker. For youth had gone out of him, and it seemed -that nothing in particular happened. Well, that was his saga. About -her I do not know. And I shall never know! But certainly she got the -name of deceiving Heitman Michael with two young men, or with five -young men it might be, but never with a respectable pawnbroker." - -"I think that is an exceedingly cynical and stupid story," observed -the girl. "And so I shall be off to look for Jurgen. For he makes -love very amusingly," says Dorothy, with the sweetest, loveliest -meditative smile that ever was lost to heaven. - -And a madness came upon Jurgen, there in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, and a disbelief in such injustice as now seemed incredible. - -"No, Heart's Desire," he cried, "I will not let you go. For you are -dear and pure and faithful, and all my evil dream, wherein you were -a wanton and be-fooled me, was not true. Surely, mine was a dream -that can never be true so long as there is any justice upon earth. -Why, there is no imaginable God who would permit a boy to be robbed -of that which in my evil dream was taken from me!" - -"And still I cannot understand your talking, about this dream of -yours--!" - -"Why, it seemed to me I had lost the most of myself; and there was -left only a brain which played with ideas, and a body that went -delicately down pleasant ways. And I could not believe as my fellows -believed, nor could I love them, nor could I detect anything in -aught they said or did save their exceeding folly: for I had lost -their cordial common faith in the importance of what use they made -of half-hours and months and years; and because a jill-flirt had -opened my eyes so that they saw too much, I had lost faith in the -importance of my own actions, too. There was a little time of which -the passing might be made endurable; beyond gaped unpredictable -darkness: and that was all there was of certainty anywhere. Now tell -me, Heart's Desire, but was not that a foolish dream? For these -things never happened. Why, it would not be fair if these things -ever happened!" - -And the girl's eyes were wide and puzzled and a little frightened. -"I do not understand what you are saying: and there is that about -you which troubles me unspeakably. For you call me by the name which -none but Jurgen used, and it seems to me that you are Jurgen; and -yet you are not Jurgen." - -"But I am truly Jurgen. And look you, I have done what never any man -has done before! For I have won back to that first love whom every -man must lose, no matter whom he marries. I have come back again, -passing very swiftly over the grave of a dream and through the -malice of time, to my Heart's Desire! And how strange it seems that -I did not know this thing was inevitable!" - -"Still, friend, I do not understand you." - -"Why, but I yawned and fretted in preparation for some great and -beautiful adventure which was to befall me by and by, and dazedly I -toiled forward. Whereas behind me all the while was the garden -between dawn and sunrise, and therein you awaited me! Now assuredly, -the life of every man is a quaintly builded tale, in which the right -and proper ending comes first. Thereafter time runs forward, not as -schoolmen fable in a straight line, but in a vast closed curve, -returning to the place of its starting. And it is by a dim -foreknowledge of this, by some faint prescience of justice and -reparation being given them by and by, that men have heart to live. -For I know now that I have always known this thing. What else was -living good for unless it brought me back to you?" - -But the girl shook her small glittering head, very sadly. "I do not -understand you, and I fear you. For you talk foolishness and in your -face I see the face of Jurgen as one might see the face of a dead -man drowned in muddy water." - -"Yet am I truly Jurgen, and, as it seems to me, for the first time -since we were parted. For I am strong and admirable--even I, who -sneered and played so long, because I thought myself a thing of -no worth at all. That which has been since you and I were young -together is as a mist that passes: and I am strong and admirable, -and all my being is one vast hunger for you, my dearest, and I will -not let you go, for you, and you alone, are my Heart's Desire." - -Now the girl was looking at him very steadily, with a small puzzled -frown, and with her vivid young soft lips a little parted. And all -her tender loveliness was glorified by the light of a sky that had -turned to dusty palpitating gold. - -"Ah, but you say that you are strong and admirable: and I can only -marvel at such talking. For I see that which all men see." - -And then Dorothy showed him the little mirror which was attached to -the long chain of turquoise matrix about her neck: and Jurgen -studied the frightened foolish aged face that he found in the -mirror. - -Thus drearily did sanity return to Jurgen: and his flare of passion -died, and the fever and storm and the impetuous whirl of things was -ended, and the man was very weary. And in the silence he heard the -piping cry of a bird that seemed to seek for what it could not find. - -"Well, I am answered," said the pawnbroker: "and yet I know that -this is not the final answer. Dearer than any hope of heaven was -that moment when awed surmises first awoke as to the new strange -loveliness which I had seen in the face of Dorothy. It was then I -noted the new faint flush suffusing her face from chin to brow so -often as my eyes encountered and found new lights in the shining -eyes which were no longer entirely frank in meeting mine. Well, let -that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"It is a grief to remember how we followed love, and found his -service lovely. It is bitter to recall the sweetness of those vows -which proclaimed her mine eternally,--vows that were broken in their -making by prolonged and unforgotten kisses. We used to laugh at -Heitman Michael then; we used to laugh at everything. Thus for a -while, for a whole summer, we were as brave and comely and clean a -pair of sweethearts as the world has known. But let that be, for I -do not love Heitman Michael's wife. - -"Our love was fair but short-lived. There is none that may revive -him since the small feet of Dorothy trod out this small love's life. -Yet when this life of ours too is over--this parsimonious life which -can allow us no more love for anybody,--must we not win back, -somehow, to that faith we vowed against eternity? and be content -again, in some fair-colored realm? Assuredly I think this thing will -happen. Well, but let that be, for I do not love Heitman Michael's -wife." - -"Why, this is excellent hearing," observed Dorothy, "because I see -that you are converting your sorrow into the raw stuff of verses. So -I shall be off to look for Jurgen, since he makes love quite -otherwise and far more amusingly." - -And again, whatever was the matter upon which this girl now -meditated, her cheeks were tenderly colored by the thought of it, -and in her knowledge of this thing her eyes took infinite joy. - -Thus it was for a moment only: for she left Jurgen now, with the -friendliest light waving of her hand; and so passed from him, not -thinking of this old fellow any longer, as he could see, even in the -instant she turned from him. And she went toward the dawn, in search -of that young Jurgen whom she, who was perfect in all things, had -loved, though only for a little while, not undeservedly. - - - - -5. - -Requirements of Bread and Butter - - -"Nessus," says Jurgen, "and am I so changed? For that Dorothy whom I -loved in youth did not know me." - -"Good and evil keep very exact accounts," replied the Centaur, "and -the face of every man is their ledger. Meanwhile the sun rises, it -is already another workday: and when the shadows of those two who -come to take possession fall full upon the garden, I warn you, there -will be astounding changes brought about by the requirements of -bread and butter. You have not time to revive old memories by -chatting with the others to whom you babbled aforetime in this -garden." - -"Ah, Centaur, in the garden between dawn and sunrise there was never -any other save Dorothy la Desiree." - -The Centaur shrugged. "It may be you forget; it is certain that you -underestimate the local population. Some of the transient visitors -you have seen, and in addition hereabouts dwell the year round all -manner of imaginary creatures. The fairies live just southward, and -the gnomes too. To your right is the realm of the Valkyries: the -Amazons and the Cynocephali are their allies: all three of these -nations are continually at loggerheads with their neighbors, the -Baba-Yagas, whom Morfei cooks for, and whose monarch is Oh, a person -very dangerous to name. Northward dwell the Lepracauns and the Men -of Hunger, whose king is Clobhair. My people, who are ruled by -Chiron, live even further to the north. The Sphinx pastures on -yonder mountain; and now the Chimaera is old and generally derided, -they say that Cerberus visits the Sphinx at twilight, although I was -never the person to disseminate scandal--" - -"Centaur," said Jurgen, "and what is Dorothy doing here?" - -"Why, all the women that any man has ever loved live here," replied -the Centaur, "for very obvious reasons." - -"That is a hard saying, friend." - -Nessus tapped with his forefinger upon the back of Jurgen's hand. -"Worm's-meat! this is the destined food, do what you will, of small -white worms. This by and by will be a struggling pale corruption, -like seething milk. That too is a hard saying, Jurgen. But it is a -true saying." - -"And was that Dorothy whom I loved in youth an imaginary creature?" - -"My poor Jurgen, you who were once a poet! she was your masterpiece. -For there was only a shallow, stupid and airy, high-nosed and -light-haired miss, with no remarkable good looks,--and consider what -your ingenuity made from such poor material! You should be proud of -yourself." - -"No, Centaur, I cannot very well be proud of my folly: yet I do not -regret it. I have been befooled by a bright shadow of my own -raising, you tell me, and I concede it to be probable. No less, I -served a lovely shadow; and my heart will keep the memory of that -loveliness until life ends, in a world where other men follow -pantingly after shadows which are not even pretty." - -"There is something in that, Jurgen: there is also something in an -old tale we used to tell in Thessaly, about a fox and certain -grapes." - -"Well, but look you, Nessus, there is an emperor that reigns now in -Constantinople and occasionally does business with me. Yes, and I -could tell you tales of by what shifts he came to the throne--" - -"Men's hands are by ordinary soiled in climbing," quoth the Centaur. - -"And 'Jurgen,' this emperor says to me, not many months ago, as he -sat in his palace, crowned and dreary and trying to cheat me out of -my fair profit on some emeralds,--'Jurgen, I cannot sleep of nights, -because of that fool Alexius, who comes into my room with staring -eyes and the bowstring still about his neck. And my Varangians must -be in league with that silly ghost, because I constantly order them -to keep Alexius out of my bedchamber, and they do not obey me, -Jurgen. To be King of the East is not to the purpose, Jurgen, when -one must submit to such vexations.' Yes, it was Caesar Pharamond -himself said this to me: and I deduce the shadow of a crown has led -him into an ugly pickle, for all that he is the mightiest monarch in -the world. And I would not change with Caesar Pharamond, not I who am -a respectable pawnbroker, with my home in fee and my bit of tilled -land. Well, this is a queer world, to be sure: and this garden is -visited by no stranger things than pop into a man's mind sometimes, -without his knowing how." - -"Ah, but you must understand that the garden is speedily to be -remodeled. Yonder you may observe the two whose requirements are to -rid the place of all fantastic unremunerative notions; and who will -develop the natural resources of this garden according to generally -approved methods." - -And from afar Jurgen could see two figures coming out of the east, -so tall that their heads rose above the encircling hills and -glistened in the rays of a sun which was not yet visible. One was a -white pasty-looking giant, with a crusty expression: he walked with -the aid of a cane. The other was of a pale yellow color: his face -was oily, and he rode on a vast cow that was called AEdhumla. - -"Make way there, brother, with your staff of life," says the yellow -giant, "for there is much to do hereabouts." - -"Ay, brother, this place must be altered a deal before it meets with -our requirements," the other grumbled. "May I be toasted if I know -where to begin!" - -Then as the giants turned dull and harsh faces toward the garden, -the sun came above the circle of blue hills, so that the mingled -shadows of these two giants fell across the garden. For an instant -Jurgen saw the place oppressed by that attenuated mile-long shadow, -as in heraldry you may see a black bar painted sheer across some -brightly emblazoned shield. Then the radiancy of everything twitched -and vanished, as a bubble bursts. - -And Jurgen was standing in the midst of a field, very neatly plowed, -but with nothing as yet growing in it. And the Centaur was with him -still, it seemed, for there were the creature's hoofs, but all the -gold had been washed or rubbed away from them in traveling with -Jurgen. - -"See, Nessus!" Jurgen cried, "the garden is made desolate. Oh, -Nessus, was it fair that so much loveliness should be thus wasted!" - -"Nay," said the Centaur, "nay!" Long and wailingly he whinneyed, -"Nay!" - -And when Jurgen raised his eyes he saw that his companion was not a -centaur, but only a strayed riding-horse. - -"Were you the animal, then," says Jurgen, "and was it a quite -ordinary animal, that conveyed me to the garden between dawn and -sunrise?" And Jurgen laughed disconsolately. "At all events, you -have clothed me in a curious fine shirt. And, now I look, your -bridle is marked with a coronet. So I will return you to the castle -at Bellegarde, and it may be that Heitman Michael will reward me." - -Then Jurgen mounted this horse and rode away from the plowed field -wherein nothing grew as yet. As they left the furrows they came to a -signboard with writing on it, in a peculiar red and yellow -lettering. - -Jurgen paused to decipher this. - -"Read me!" was written on the signboard: "read me, and judge if you -understand! So you stopped in your journey because I called, -scenting something unusual, something droll. Thus, although I am -nothing, and even less, there is no one that sees me but lingers -here. Stranger, I am a law of the universe. Stranger, render the law -what is due the law!" - -Jurgen felt cheated. "A very foolish signboard, indeed! for how can -it be 'a law of the universe', when there is no meaning to it!" says -Jurgen. "Why, for any law to be meaningless would not be fair." - - - - -6. - -Showing that Sereda Is Feminine - - -Then, having snapped his fingers at that foolish signboard, Jurgen -would have turned easterly, toward Bellegarde: but his horse -resisted. The pawnbroker decided to accept this as an omen. - -"Forward, then!" he said, "in the name of Koshchei." And thereafter -Jurgen permitted the horse to choose its own way. - -Thus Jurgen came through a forest, wherein he saw many things not -salutary to notice, to a great stone house like a prison, and he -sought shelter there. But he could find nobody about the place, -until he came to a large hall, newly swept. This was a depressing -apartment, in its chill neat emptiness, for it was unfurnished save -for a bare deal table, upon which lay a yardstick and a pair of -scales. Above this table hung a wicker cage, containing a blue bird, -and another wicker cage containing three white pigeons. And in this -hall a woman, no longer young, dressed all in blue, and wearing a -white towel by way of head-dress was assorting curiously colored -cloths. - -She had very bright eyes, with wrinkled lids; and now as she looked -up at Jurgen her shrunk jaws quivered. - -"Ah," says she, "I have a visitor. Good day to you, in your -glittering shirt. It is a garment I seem to recognize." - -"Good day, grandmother! I am looking for my wife, whom I suspect to -have been carried off by a devil, poor fellow! Now, having lost my -way, I have come to pass the night under your roof." - -"Very good: but few come seeking Mother Sereda of their own accord." - -Then Jurgen knew with whom he talked: and inwardly he was perturbed, -for all the Leshy are unreliable in their dealings. - -So when he spoke it was very civilly. "And what do you do here, -grandmother?" - -"I bleach. In time I shall bleach that garment you are wearing. For -I take the color out of all things. Thus you see these stuffs here, -as they are now. Clotho spun the glowing threads, and Lachesis wove -them, as you observe, in curious patterns, very marvelous to see: -but when I am done with these stuffs there will be no more color or -beauty or strangeness anywhere apparent than in so many dishclouts." - -"Now I perceive," says Jurgen, "that your power and dominion is more -great than any other power which is in the world." - -He made a song of this, in praise of the Leshy and their Days, but -more especially in praise of the might of Mother Sereda and of the -ruins that have fallen on Wednesday. To Chetverg and Utornik and -Subbota he gave their due. Pyatinka and Nedelka also did Jurgen -commend for such demolishments as have enregistered their names in -the calendar of saints, no less. Ah, but there was none like Mother -Sereda: hers was the centre of that power which is the Leshy's. The -others did but nibble at temporal things, like furtive mice: she -devastated, like a sandstorm, so that there were many dustheaps -where Mother Sereda had passed, but nothing else. - -And so on, and so on. The song was no masterpiece, and would not be -bettered by repetition. But it was all untrammeled eulogy, and the -old woman beat time to it with her lean hands: and her shrunk jaws -quivered, and she nodded her white-wrapped head this way and that -way, with a rolling motion, and on her thin lips was a very proud -and foolish smile. - -"That is a good song," says she; "oh, yes, an excellent song! But -you report nothing of my sister Pandelis who controls the day of the -Moon." - -"Monday!" says Jurgen: "yes, I neglected Monday, perhaps because she -is the oldest of you, but in part because of the exigencies of my -rhyme scheme. We must let Pandelis go unhymned. How can I remember -everything when I consider the might of Sereda?" - -"Why, but," says Mother Sereda, "Pandelis may not like it, and she -may take holiday from her washing some day to have a word with you. -However, I repeat, that is an excellent song. And in return for your -praise of me, I will tell you that, if your wife has been carried -off by a devil, your affair is one which Koshchei alone can remedy. -Assuredly, I think it is to him you must go for justice." - -"But how may I come to him, grandmother?" - -"Oh, as to that, it does not matter at all which road you follow. -All highways, as the saying is, lead roundabout to Koshchei. The one -thing needful is not to stand still. This much I will tell you also -for your song's sake, because that was an excellent song, and nobody -ever made a song in praise of me before to-day." - -Now Jurgen wondered to see what a simple old creature was this -Mother Sereda, who sat before him shaking and grinning and frail as -a dead leaf, with her head wrapped in a common kitchen-towel, and -whose power was so enormous. - -"To think of it," Jurgen reflected, "that the world I inhabit is -ordered by beings who are not one-tenth so clever as I am! I have -often suspected as much, and it is decidedly unfair. Now let me see -if I cannot make something out of being such a monstrous clever -fellow." - -Jurgen said aloud: "I do not wonder that no practising poet ever -presumed to make a song of you. You are too majestical. You frighten -these rhymesters, who feel themselves to be unworthy of so great a -theme. So it remained for you to be appreciated by a pawnbroker, -since it is we who handle and observe the treasures of this world -after you have handled them." - -"Do you think so?" says she, more pleased than ever. "Now, may be -that was the way of it. But I wonder that you who are so fine a poet -should ever have become a pawnbroker." - -"Well, and indeed, Mother Sereda, your wonder seems to me another -wonder: for I can think of no profession better suited to a retired -poet. Why, there is the variety of company! for high and low and -even the genteel are pressed sometimes for money: then the plowman -slouches into my shop, and the duke sends for me privately. So the -people I know, and the bits of their lives I pop into, give me a -deal to romance about." - -"Ah, yes, indeed," says Mother Sereda, wisely, "that well may be the -case. But I do not hold with romance, myself." - -"Moreover, sitting in my shop, I wait there quiet-like while tribute -comes to me from the ends of earth: everything which men and women -have valued anywhere comes sooner or later to me: and jewels and -fine knickknacks that were the pride of queens they bring me, and -wedding rings, and the baby's cradle with his little tooth marks on -the rim of it, and silver coffin-handles, or it may be an old -frying-pan, they bring me, but all comes to Jurgen. So that just to -sit there in my dark shop quiet-like, and wonder about the history -of my belongings and how they were made mine, is poetry, and is the -deep and high and ancient thinking of a god who is dozing among what -time has left of a dead world, if you understand me, Mother Sereda." - -"I understand: oho, I understand that which pertains to gods, for a -sufficient reason." - -"And then another thing, you do not need any turn for business: -people are glad to get whatever you choose to offer, for they would -not come otherwise. So you get the shining and rough-edged coins -that you can feel the proud king's head on, with his laurel-wreath -like millet seed under your fingers; and you get the flat and -greenish coins that are smeared with the titles and the chins and -hooked noses of emperors whom nobody remembers or cares about any -longer: all just by waiting there quiet-like, and making a favor of -it to let customers give you their belongings for a third of what -they are worth. And that is easy labor, even for a poet." - -"I understand: I understand all labor." - -"And people treat you a deal more civilly than any real need is, -because they are ashamed of trafficking with you at all: I dispute -if a poet could get such civility shown him in any other profession. -And finally, there is the long idleness between business interviews, -with nothing to do save sit there quiet-like and think about the -queerness of things in general: and that is always rare employment -for a poet, even without the tatters of so many lives and homes -heaped up about him like spillikins. So that I would say in all, -Mother Sereda, there is certainly no profession better suited to an -old poet than the profession of pawnbroking." - -"Certainly, there may be something in what you tell me," observes -Mother Sereda. "I know what the Little Gods are, and I know what -work is, but I do not think about these other matters, nor about -anything else. I bleach." - -"Ah, and a great deal more I could be saying, too, godmother, but -for the fear of wearying you. Nor would I have run on at all about -my private affairs were it not that we two are so close related. And -kith makes kind, as people say." - -"But how can you and I be kin?" - -"Why, heyday, and was I not born upon a Wednesday? That makes you my -godmother, does it not?" - -"I do not know, dearie, I am sure. Nobody ever cared to claim kin -with Mother Sereda before this," says she, pathetically. - -"There can be no doubt, though, on the point, no possible doubt. -Sabellius states it plainly. Artemidorus Minor, I grant you, holds -the question debatable, but his reasons for doing so are tolerably -notorious. Besides, what does all his flimsy sophistry avail against -Nicanor's fine chapter on this very subject? Crushing, I consider -it. His logic is final and irrefutable. What can anyone say against -Saevius Nicanor?--ah, what indeed?" demanded Jurgen. - -And he wondered if there might not have been perchance some such -persons somewhere, after all. Their names, in any event, sounded -very plausible to Jurgen. - -"Ah, dearie, I was never one for learning. It may be as you say." - -"You say 'it may be', godmother. That embarrasses me, rather, -because I was about to ask for my christening gift, which in the -press of other matters you overlooked some forty years back. You -will readily conceive that your negligence, however unintentional, -might possibly give rise to unkindly criticism: and so I felt I -ought to mention it, in common fairness to you." - -"As for that, dearie, ask what you will within the limits of my -power. For mine are all the sapphires and turquoises and whatever -else in this dusty world is blue; and mine likewise are all the -Wednesdays that have ever been or ever will be: and any one of these -will I freely give you in return for your fine speeches and your -tender heart." - -"Ah, but, godmother, would it be quite just for you to accord me so -much more than is granted to other persons?" - -"Why, no: but what have I to do with justice? I bleach. Come now, -then, do you make a choice! for I can assure you that my sapphires -are of the first water, and that many of my oncoming Wednesdays will -be well worth seeing." - -"No, godmother, I never greatly cared for jewelry: and the future is -but dressing and undressing, and shaving, and eating, and computing -percentage, and so on; the future does not interest me now. So I -shall modestly content myself with a second-hand Wednesday, with one -that you have used and have no further need of: and it will be a -Wednesday in the August of such and such a year." - -Mother Sereda agreed to this. "But there are certain rules to be -observed," says she, "for one must have system." - -As she spoke, she undid the towel about her head, and she took a -blue comb from her white hair: and she showed Jurgen what was -engraved on the comb. It frightened Jurgen, a little: but he nodded -assent. - -"First, though," says Mother Sereda, "here is the blue bird. Would -you not rather have that, dearie, than your Wednesday? Most people -would." - -"Ah, but, godmother," he replied, "I am Jurgen. No, it is not the -blue bird I desire." - -So Mother Sereda took from the wall the wicker cage containing the -three white pigeons: and going before him, with small hunched shoulders, -and shuffling her feet along the flagstones, she led the way into a -courtyard, where, sure enough, they found a tethered he-goat. Of a -dark blue color this beast was, and his eyes were wiser than the eyes -of a beast. - -Then Jurgen set about that which Mother Sereda said was necessary. - - - - -7. - -Of Compromises on a Wednesday - - -So it was that, riding upon a horse whose bridle was marked with a -coronet, the pawnbroker returned to a place, and to a moment, which -he remembered. It was rather queer to be a fine young fellow again, -and to foresee all that was to happen for the next twenty years. - -As it chanced, the first person he encountered was his mother Azra, -whom Coth had loved very greatly but not long. And Jurgen talked -with Azra of what clothes he would be likely to need in Gatinais, -and of how often he would write to her. She disparaged the new shirt -he was wearing, as was to be expected, since Azra had always -preferred to select her son's clothing rather than trust to Jurgen's -taste. His new horse she admitted to be a handsome animal; and only -hoped he had not stolen it from anybody who would get him into -trouble. For Azra, it must be recorded, had never any confidence in -her son; and was the only woman, Jurgen felt, who really understood -him. - -And now as his beautiful young mother impartially petted and snapped -at him, poor Jurgen thought of that very real dissension and -severance which in the oncoming years was to arise between them; and -of how she would die without his knowing of her death for two whole -months; and of how his life thereafter would be changed, somehow, -and the world would become an unstable place in which you could no -longer put cordial faith. And he foreknew all the remorse he was to -shrug away, after the squandering of so much pride and love. But -these things were not yet: and besides, these things were -inevitable. - -"And yet that these things should be inevitable is decidedly not -fair," said Jurgen. - -So it was with all the persons he encountered. The people whom he -loved when at his best as a fine young fellow were so very soon, and -through petty causes, to become nothing to him, and he himself was -to be converted into a commonplace tradesman. And living seemed to -Jurgen a wasteful and inequitable process. - -Then Jurgen left the home of his youth, and rode toward Bellegarde, -and tethered his horse upon the heath, and went into the castle. -Thus Jurgen came to Dorothy. She was lovely and dear, and yet, by -some odd turn, not quite so lovely and dear as the Dorothy he had -seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. And Dorothy, like -everybody else, praised Jurgen's wonderful new shirt. - -"It is designed for such festivals," said Jurgen, modestly--"a -little notion of my own. A bit extreme, some persons might consider -it, but there is no pleasing everybody. And I like a trifle of -color." - -For there was a masque that night at the castle of Bellegarde: and -wildly droll and sad it was to Jurgen to remember what was to befall -so many of the participants. - -Jurgen had not forgotten this Wednesday, this ancient Wednesday upon -which Messire de Montors had brought the Confraternity of St. Medard -from Brunbelois, to enact a masque of The Birth of Hercules, as the -vagabonds were now doing, to hilarious applause. Jurgen remembered -it was the day before Bellegarde discovered that Count Emmerick's -guest, the Vicomte de Puysange, was in reality the notorious outlaw, -Perion de la Foret. Well, yonder the yet undetected impostor was -talking very earnestly with Dame Melicent: and Jurgen knew all that -was in store for this pair of lovers. - -Meanwhile, as Jurgen reflected, the real Vicomte de Puysange was at -this moment lying in a delirium, yonder at Benoit's: to-morrow the -true Vicomte would be recognized, and within the year the Vicomte -would have married Felise de Soyecourt, and later Jurgen would meet -her, in the orchard; and Jurgen knew what was to happen then also. - -And Messire de Montors was watching Dame Melicent, sidewise, while -he joked with little Ettarre, who was this night permitted to stay -up later than usual, in honor of the masque: and Jurgen knew that -this young bishop was to become Pope of Rome, no less; and that the -child he joked with was to become the woman for possession of whom -Guiron des Rocques and the surly-looking small boy yonder, Maugis -d'Aigremont, would contend with each other until the country -hereabouts had been devastated, and the castle wherein Jurgen now -was had been besieged, and this part of it burned. And wildly droll -and sad it was to Jurgen thus to remember all that was going to -happen to these persons, and to all the other persons who were -frolicking in the shadow of their doom and laughing at this trivial -masque. - -For here--with so much of ruin and failure impending, and with -sorrow prepared so soon to smite a many of these revellers in ways -foreknown to Jurgen; and with death resistlessly approaching so -soon to make an end of almost all this company in some unlovely -fashion that Jurgen foreknew exactly,--here laughter seemed -unreasonable and ghastly. Why, but Reinault yonder, who laughed so -loud, with his cropped head flung back: would Reinault be laughing -in quite this manner if he knew the round strong throat he thus -exposed was going to be cut like the throat of a calf, while three -Burgundians held him? Jurgen knew this thing was to befall Reinault -Vinsauf before October was out. So he looked at Reinault's throat, -and shudderingly drew in his breath between set teeth. - -"And he is worth a score of me, this boy!" thought Jurgen: "and it -is I who am going to live to be an old fellow, with my bit of land -in fee, years after dirt clogs those bright generous eyes, and years -after this fine big-hearted boy is wasted! And I shall forget all -about him, too. Marion l'Edol, that very pretty girl behind him, is -to become a blotched and toothless haunter of alleys, a leering -plucker at men's sleeves! And blue-eyed Colin here, with his baby -mouth, is to be hanged for that matter of coin-clipping--let me -recall, now,--yes, within six years of to-night! Well, but in a way, -these people are blessed in lacking foresight. For they laugh, and I -cannot laugh, and to me their laughter is more terrible than -weeping. Yes, they may be very wise in not glooming over what is -inevitable; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say they are -wrong: but still, at the same time--! And assuredly, living seems to -me in everything a wasteful and inequitable process." - -Thus Jurgen, while the others passed a very pleasant evening. - -And presently, when the masque was over, Dorothy and Jurgen went out -upon the terrace, to the east of Bellegarde, and so came to an -unforgotten world of moonlight. They sat upon a bench of carved -stone near the balustrade which overlooked the highway: and the boy -and the girl gazed wistfully beyond the highway, over luminous -valleys and tree-tops. Just so they had sat there, as Jurgen -perfectly remembered, when Mother Sereda first used this Wednesday. - -"My Heart's Desire," says Jurgen, "I am sad to-night. For I am -thinking of what life will do to us, and what offal the years will -make of you and me." - -"My own sweetheart," says she, "and do we not know very well what is -to happen?" And Dorothy began to talk of all the splendid things -that Jurgen was to do, and of the happy life which was to be theirs -together. - -"It is horrible," he said: "for we are more fine than we shall ever -be hereafter. We have a splendor for which the world has no -employment. It will be wasted. And such wastage is not fair." - -"But presently you will be so and so," says she: and fondly predicts -all manner of noble exploits which, as Jurgen remembered, had once -seemed very plausible to him also. Now he had clearer knowledge as -to the capacities of the boy of whom he had thought so well. - -"No, Heart's Desire: no, I shall be quite otherwise." - -"--and to think how proud I shall be of you! 'But then I always knew -it', I shall tell everybody, very condescendingly--" - -"No, Heart's Desire: for you will not think of me at all." - -"Ah, sweetheart! and can you really believe that I shall ever care a -snap of my fingers for anybody but you?" - -Then Jurgen laughed a little; for Heitman Michael came now across -the lonely terrace, in search of Madame Dorothy: and Jurgen foreknew -this was the man to whom within two months of this evening Dorothy -was to give her love and all the beauty that was hers, and with whom -she was to share the ruinous years which lay ahead. - -But the girl did not know this, and Dorothy gave a little shrugging -gesture. "I have promised to dance with him, and so I must. But the -old fellow is a great plague." - -For Heitman Michael was nearing thirty, and this to Dorothy and -Jurgen was an age that bordered upon senility. - -"Now, by heaven," said Jurgen, "wherever Heitman Michael does his -next dancing it will not be hereabouts." - -Jurgen had decided what he must do. - -And then Heitman Michael saluted them civilly. "But I fear I must -rob you of this fair lady, Master Jurgen," says he. - -Jurgen remembered that the man had said precisely this a score of -years ago; and that Jurgen had mumbled polite regrets, and had stood -aside while Heitman Michael bore off Dorothy to dance with him. And -this dance had been the beginning of intimacy between Heitman -Michael and Dorothy. - -"Heitman," says Jurgen, "the bereavement which you threaten is very -happily spared me, since, as it happens, the next dance is to be -mine." - -"We can but leave it to the lady," says Heitman Michael, laughing. - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "For I know too well what would come of that. -I intend to leave my destiny to no one." - -"Your conduct, Master Jurgen, is somewhat strange," observed Heitman -Michael. - -"Ah, but I will show you a thing yet stranger. For, look you, there -seem to be three of us here on this terrace. Yet I can assure you -there are four." - -"Read me the riddle, my boy, and have done." - -"The fourth of us, Heitman, is a goddess that wears a speckled -garment and has black wings. She can boast of no temples, and no -priests cry to her anywhere, because she is the only deity whom no -prayers can move or any sacrifices placate. I allude, sir, to the -eldest daughter of Nox and Erebus." - -"You speak of death, I take it." - -"Your apprehension, Heitman, is nimble. Even so, it is not quick -enough, I fear, to forerun the whims of goddesses. Indeed, what -person could have foreseen that this implacable lady would have -taken such a strong fancy for your company." - -"Ah, my young bantam," replies Heitman Michael, "it is quite true -that she and I are acquainted. I may even boast of having despatched -one or two stout warriors to serve her underground. Now, as I divine -your meaning, you plan that I should decrease her obligation by -sending her a whippersnapper." - -"My notion, Heitman, is that since this dark goddess is about to -leave us, she should not, in common gallantry, be permitted to go -hence unaccompanied. I propose, therefore, that we forthwith decide -who is to be her escort." - -Now Heitman Michael had drawn his sword. "You are insane. But you -extend an invitation which I have never yet refused." - -"Heitman," cries Jurgen, in honest gratitude and admiration, "I bear -you no ill-will. But it is highly necessary you die to-night, in -order that my soul may not perish too many years before my body." - -With that he too whipped out his sword. - -So they fought. Now Jurgen was a very acceptable swordsman, but from -the start he found in Heitman Michael his master. Jurgen had never -reckoned upon that, and he considered it annoying. If Heitman -Michael perforated Jurgen the future would be altered, certainly, -but not quite as Jurgen had decided it ought to be remodeled. So -this unlooked-for complication seemed preposterous, and Jurgen began -to be irritated by the suspicion that he was getting himself killed -for nothing at all. - -Meanwhile his unruffled tall antagonist seemed but to play with -Jurgen, so that Jurgen was steadily forced back toward the -balustrade. And presently Jurgen's sword was twisted from his hand, -and sent flashing over the balustrade, into the public highway. - -"So now, Master Jurgen," says Heitman Michael, "that is the end of -your nonsense. Why, no, there is not any occasion to posture like a -statue. I do not intend to kill you. Why the devil's name, should I? -To do so would only get me an ill name with your parents: and -besides it is infinitely more pleasant to dance with this lady, just -as I first intended." And he turned gaily toward Madame Dorothy. - -But Jurgen found this outcome of affairs insufferable. This man was -stronger than he, this man was of the sort that takes and uses -gallantly all the world's prizes which mere poets can but -respectfully admire. All was to do again: Heitman Michael, in his -own hateful phrase, would act just as he had first intended, and -Jurgen would be brushed aside by the man's brute strength. This man -would take away Dorothy, and leave the life of Jurgen to become a -business which Jurgen remembered with distaste. It was unfair. - -So Jurgen snatched out his dagger, and drove it deep into the -undefended back of Heitman Michael. Three times young Jurgen stabbed -and hacked the burly soldier, just underneath the left ribs. Even in -his fury Jurgen remembered to strike on the left side. - -It was all very quickly done. Heitman Michael's arms jerked upward, -and in the moonlight his fingers spread and clutched. He made -curious gurgling noises. Then the strength went from his knees, so -that he toppled backward. His head fell upon Jurgen's shoulder, -resting there for an instant fraternally; and as Jurgen shuddered -away from the abhorred contact, the body of Heitman Michael -collapsed. Now he lay staring upward, dead at the feet of his -murderer. He was horrible looking, but he was quite dead. - -"What will become of you?" Dorothy whispered, after a while. "Oh, -Jurgen, it was foully done, that which you did was infamous! What -will become of you, my dear?" - -"I will take my doom," says Jurgen, "and without whimpering, so that -I get justice. But I shall certainly insist upon justice." Then -Jurgen raised his face to the bright heavens. "The man was stronger -than I and wanted what I wanted. So I have compromised with -necessity, in the only way I could make sure of getting that which -was requisite to me. I cry for justice to the power that gave him -strength and gave me weakness, and gave to each of us his desires. -That which I have done, I have done. Now judge!" - -Then Jurgen tugged and shoved the heavy body of Heitman Michael, -until it lay well out of sight, under the bench upon which Jurgen -and Dorothy had been sitting. "Rest there, brave sir, until they -find you. Come to me now, my Heart's Desire. Good, that is -excellent. Here I sit with my true love, upon the body of my enemy. -Justice is satisfied, and all is quite as it should be. For you must -understand that I have fallen heir to a fine steed, whose bridle is -marked with a coronet,--prophetically, I take it,--and upon this -steed you will ride pillion with me to Lisuarte. There we will find -a priest to marry us. We will go together into Gatinais. Meanwhile, -there is a bit of neglected business to be attended to." And he drew -the girl close to him. - -For Jurgen was afraid of nothing now. And Jurgen thought: - -"Oh, that I could detain the moment! that I could make some fitting -verses to preserve this moment in my own memory! Could I but get -into words the odor and the thick softness of this girl's hair as my -hands, that are a-quiver in every nerve of them, caress her hair; -and get into enduring words the glitter and the cloudy shadowings of -her hair in this be-drenching moonlight! For I shall forget all this -beauty, or at best I shall remember this moment very dimly." - -"You have done very wrong--" says Dorothy. - -Says Jurgen, to himself: "Already the moment passes this miserably -happy moment wherein once more life shudders and stands heart-stricken -at the height of bliss! it passes, and I know even as I lift this girl's -soft face to mine, and mark what faith and submissiveness and expectancy -is in her face, that whatever the future holds for us, and whatever of -happiness we two may know hereafter, we shall find no instant happier -than this, which passes from us irretrievably while I am thinking about -it, poor fool, in place of rising to the issue." - -"--And heaven only knows what will become of you Jurgen--" - -Says Jurgen, still to himself: "Yes, something must remain to me of -all this rapture, though it be only guilt and sorrow: something I -mean to wrest from this high moment which was once wasted -fruitlessly. Now I am wiser: for I know there is not any memory with -less satisfaction in it than the memory of some temptation we -resisted. So I will not waste the one real passion I have known, nor -leave unfed the one desire which ever caused me for a heart-beat to -forget to think about Jurgen's welfare. And thus, whatever happens, -I shall not always regret that I did not avail myself of this girl's -love before it was taken from me." - -So Jurgen made such advances as seemed good to him. And he noted, -with amusing memories of how much afraid he had once been of -shocking his Dorothy's notions of decorum, that she did not repulse -him very vigorously. - -"Here, over a dead body! Oh, Jurgen, this is horrible! Now, Jurgen, -remember that somebody may come any minute! And I thought I could -trust you! Ah, and is this all the respect you have for me!" This -much she said in duty. Meanwhile the eyes of Dorothy were dilated -and very tender. - -"Faith, I take no chances, this second time. And so whatever -happens, I shall not always regret that which I left undone." - -Now upon his lips was laughter, and his arms were about the -submissive girl. And in his heart was an unnamable depression and a -loneliness, because it seemed to him that this was not the Dorothy -whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and sunrise. For in my -arms now there is just a very pretty girl who is not over-careful in -her dealings with young men, thought Jurgen, as their lips met. -Well, all life is a compromise; and a pretty girl is something -tangible, at any rate. So he laughed, triumphantly, and prepared for -the sequel. - -But as Jurgen laughed triumphantly, with his arm beneath the head of -Dorothy, and with the tender face of Dorothy passive beneath his lips, -and with unreasonable wistfulness in his heart, the castle bell tolled -midnight. What followed was curious: for as Wednesday passed, the face -of Dorothy altered, her flesh roughened under his touch, and her cheeks -fell away, and fine lines came about her eyes, and she became the -Countess Dorothy whom Jurgen remembered as Heitman Michael's wife. -There was no doubt about it, in that be-drenching moonlight: and she -was leering at him, and he was touching her everywhere, this horrible -lascivious woman, who was certainly quite old enough to know better -than to permit such liberties. And her breath was sour and nauseous. -Jurgen drew away from her, with a shiver of loathing, and he closed his -eyes, to shut away that sensual face. - -"No," he said; "it would not be fair to what we owe to others. In -fact, it would be a very heinous sin. We should weigh such -considerations occasionally, madame." - -Then Jurgen left his temptress, with simple dignity. "I go to search -for my dear wife, madame, in a frame of mind which I would strongly -advise you to adopt toward your husband." - -And he went straightway down the terraces of Bellegarde, and turned -southward to where his horse was tethered upon Amneran Heath: and -Jurgen was feeling very virtuous. - - - - -8. - -Old Toys and a New Shadow - - -Jurgen had behaved with conspicuous nobility, Jurgen reflected: but -he had committed himself. "I go in search of my dear wife," he had -stated, in the exaltation of virtuous sentiments. And now Jurgen -found himself alone in a world of moonlight just where he had last -seen his wife. - -"Well, well," he said, "now that my Wednesday is done with, and I am -again a reputable pawnbroker, let us remember the advisability of -sometimes doing the manly thing! It was into this cave that Lisa -went. So into this cave go I, for the second time, rather than home -to my unsympathetic relatives-in-law. Or at least, I think I am -going--" - -"Ay," said a squeaking voice, "this is the time. A ab hur hus!" - -"High time!" - -"Oh, more than time!" - -"Look, the man in the oak!" - -"Oho, the fire-drake!" - -Thus many voices screeched and wailed confusedly. But Jurgen, -staring about him, could see nobody: and all the tiny voices seemed -to come from far overhead, where nothing was visible save the clouds -which of a sudden were gathering; for a wind was rising, and already -the moon was overcast. Now for a while that noise high in the air -became like a wrangling of sparrows, wherein no words were -distinguishable. - -Then said a small shrill voice distinctly: "Note now, sweethearts, -how high we pass over the wind-vexed heath, where the gallows' -burden creaks and groans swaying to and fro in the night! Now the -rain breaks loose as a hawk from the fowler, and grave Queen Holda -draws her tresses over the moon's bright shield. Now the bed is -made, and the water drawn, and we the bride's maids seek for the -lass who will be bride to Sclaug." - -Said another: "Oh, search for a maid with golden hair, who is -perfect, tender and pure, and fit for a king who is old as love, -with no trace of love in him. Even now our grinning dusty master -wakes from sleep, and his yellow fingers shake to think of her -flower-soft lips who comes to-night to his lank embrace and warms -the ribs that our eyes have seen. Who will be bride to Sclaug?" - -And a third said: "The wedding-gown we have brought with us, we that -a-questing ride; and a maid will go hence on Phorgemon in -Cleopatra's shroud. Hah. Will o'the Wisp will marry the couple--" - -"No, no! let Brachyotus!" - -"No, be it Kitt with the candle-stick!" - -"Eman hetan, a fight, a fight!" - -"Oho, Tom Tumbler, 'ware of Stadlin!" - -"Hast thou the marmaritin, Tib?" - -"A ab hur hus!" - -"Come, Bembo, come away!" - -So they all fell to screeching and whistling and wrangling high over -Jurgen's head, and Jurgen was not pleased with his surroundings. - -"For these are the witches of Amneran about some deviltry or another -in which I prefer to take no part. I now regret that I flung away a -cross in this neighborhood so very recently, and trust the action -was understood. If my wife had not made a point of it, and had not -positively insisted upon it, I would never have thought of doing -such a thing. I intended no reflection upon anybody. Even so, I -consider this heath to be unwholesome. And upon the whole, I prefer -to seek whatever I may encounter in this cave." - -So in went Jurgen, for the second time. - -And the tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no -one. But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at -the far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came -to the place where he had found the Centaur. This part of the cave -was now vacant. But behind where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen -was an opening in the cave's wall, and through this opening streamed -the light. Jurgen stooped and crawled through the orifice. - -He stood erect. He caught his breath sharply. Here at his feet was, -of all things, a tomb carved with the recumbent effigy of a woman. -Now this part of the cave was lighted by lamps upon tall iron -stands, so that everything was clearly visible, even to Jurgen, -whose eyesight had of late years failed him. This was certainly a -low flat tombstone such as Jurgen had seen in many churches: but the -tinted effigy thereupon was curious, somehow Jurgen looked more -closely. He touched the thing. - -Then he recoiled, because there is no mistaking the feel of dead -flesh. The effigy was not colored stone: it was the body of a dead -woman. More unaccountable still, it was the body of Felise de -Puysange, whom Jurgen had loved very long ago in Gatinais, a great -many years before he set up in business as a pawnbroker. - -Very strange it was to Jurgen again to see her face. He had often -wondered what had become of this large brown woman; had wondered if -he were really the first man for whom she had put a deceit upon her -husband; and had wondered what sort of person Madame Felise de -Puysange had been in reality. - -"Two months it was that we played at intimacy, was it not, Felise? -You comprehend, my dear, I really remember very little about you. -But I recall quite clearly the door left just a-jar, and how as I -opened it gently I would see first of all the lamp upon your -dressing-table, turned down almost to extinction, and the glowing -dust upon its glass shade. Is it not strange that our exceeding -wickedness should have resulted in nothing save the memory of dust -upon a lamp chimney? Yet you were very handsome, Felise. I dare say -I would have liked you if I had ever known you. But when you told me -of the child you had lost, and showed me his baby picture, I took a -dislike to you. It seemed to me you were betraying that child by -dealing over-generously with me: and always between us afterward was -his little ghost. Yet I did not at all mind the deceits you put upon -your husband. It is true I knew your husband rather intimately--. -Well, and they tell me the good Vicomte was vastly pleased by the -son you bore him some months after you and I had parted. So there -was no great harm done, after all--" - -Then Jurgen saw there was another woman's body lying like an effigy -upon another low flat tomb, and beyond that another, and then still -others. And Jurgen whistled. - -"What, all of them!" he said. "Am I to be confronted with every -pound of tender flesh I have embraced? Yes, here is Graine, and -Rosamond, and Marcoueve, and Elinor. This girl, though, I do not -remember at all. And this one is, I think, the little Jewess I -purchased from Hassan Bey in Sidon, but how can one be sure? Still, -this is certainly Judith, and this is Myrina. I have half a mind to -look again for that mole, but I suppose it would be indecorous. -Lord, how one's women do add up! There must be several scores of -them in all. It is the sort of spectacle that turns a man to serious -thinking. Well, but it is a great comfort to reflect that I dealt -fairly with every one of them. Several of them treated me most -unjustly, too. But that is past and done with: and I bear no malice -toward such fickle and short-sighted creatures as could not be -contented with one lover, and he the Jurgen that was!" - -Thereafter, Jurgen, standing among his dead, spread out his arms in -an embracing gesture. - -"Hail to you, ladies, and farewell! for you and I have done with love. -Well, love is very pleasant to observe as he advances, overthrowing all -ancient memories with laughter. And yet for each gay lover who concedes -the lordship of love, and wears intrepidly love's liveries, the end of -all is death. Love's sowing is more agreeable than love's harvest: or, -let us put it, he allures us into byways leading nowhither, among -blossoms which fall before the first rough wind: so at the last, with -much excitement and breath and valuable time quite wasted, we find that -the end of all is death. Then would it have been more shrewd, dear -ladies, to have avoided love? To the contrary, we were unspeakably wise -to indulge the high-hearted insanity that love induced; since love alone -can lend young people rapture, however transiently, in a world wherein -the result of every human endeavor is transient, and the end of all is -death." - -Then Jurgen courteously bowed to his dead loves, and left them, and -went forward as the cave stretched. - -But now the light was behind him, so that Jurgen's shadow, as he -came to a sharp turn in the cave, loomed suddenly upon the cave -wall, confronting him. This shadow was clear-cut and unarguable. - -Jurgen regarded it intently. He turned this way, then the other; he -looked behind him, raised one hand, shook his head tentatively; then -he twisted his head sideways with his chin well lifted, and squinted -so as to get a profile view of this shadow. Whatever Jurgen did the -shadow repeated, which was natural enough. The odd part was that it -in nothing resembled the shadow which ought to attend any man, and -this was an uncomfortable discovery to make in loneliness deep under -ground. - -"I do not exactly like this," said Jurgen. "Upon my word, I do not -like this at all. It does not seem fair. It is perfectly -preposterous. Well"--and here he shrugged,--"well, and what could -anybody expect me to do about it? Ah, what indeed! So I shall treat -the incident with dignified contempt, and continue my exploration of -this cave." - - - - -9. - -The Orthodox Rescue of Guenevere - - -Now the tale tells how the cave narrowed and again turned sharply, -so that Jurgen came as through a corridor into quite another sort of -underground chamber. Yet this also was a discomfortable place. - -Here suspended from the roof of the vault was a kettle of quivering -red flames. These lighted a very old and villainous looking man in -full armor, girded with a sword, and crowned royally: he sat erect -upon a throne, motionless, with staring eyes that saw nothing. Back -of him Jurgen noted many warriors seated in rows, and all staring at -Jurgen with wide-open eyes that saw nothing. The red flaming of the -kettle was reflected in all these eyes, and to observe this was not -pleasant. - -Jurgen waited non-committally. Nothing happened. Then Jurgen saw -that at this unengaging monarch's feet were three chests. The lids -had been ripped from two of them, and these were filled with silver -coins. Upon the middle chest, immediately before the king, sat a -woman, with her face resting against the knees of the glaring, -withered, motionless, old rascal. - -"And this is a young woman. Obviously! Observe the glint of that -thick coil of hair! the rich curve of the neck! Oh, clearly, a -tidbit fit to fight for, against any moderate odds!" - -So ran the thoughts of Jurgen. Bold as a dragon now, he stepped -forward and lifted the girl's head. - -Her eyes were closed. She was, even so, the most beautiful creature -Jurgen had ever imagined. - -"She does not breathe. And yet, unless memory fails me, this is -certainly a living woman in my arms. Evidently this is a sleep -induced by necromancy. Well, it is not for nothing I have read so -many fairy tales. There are orthodoxies to be observed in the -awakening of every enchanted princess. And Lisa, wherever she may -be, poor dear! is nowhere in this neighborhood, because I hear -nobody talking. So I may consider myself at liberty to do the -traditional thing by this princess. Indeed, it is the only fair -thing for me to do, and justice demands it." - -In consequence, Jurgen kissed the girl. Her lips parted and -softened, and they assumed a not unpleasant sort of submissive -ardor. Her eyes, enormous when seen thus closely, had languorously -opened, had viewed him without wonder, and then the lids had fallen, -about half-way, just as, Jurgen remembered, the eyelids of a woman -ought to do when she is being kissed properly. She clung a little, -and now she shivered a little, but not with cold: Jurgen perfectly -remembered that ecstatic shudder convulsing a woman's body: -everything, in fine, was quite as it should be. So Jurgen put an end -to the kiss, which, as you may surmise, was a tolerably lengthy -affair. - -His heart was pounding as though determined to burst from his body, -and he could feel the blood tingling at his finger-tips. He wondered -what in the world had come over him, who was too old for such -emotions. - -Yet, truly, this was the loveliest girl that Jurgen had ever -imagined. Fair was she to look on, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer person might no man boast of having -seen. And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks flushed by -that red flickering overhead, and she was very lovely to observe. -She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her neck -was a collar of red gold. When she spoke her voice was music. - -"I knew that you would come," the girl said, happily. - -"I am very glad that I came," observed Jurgen. - -"But time presses." - -"Time sets an admirable example, my dear Princess--" - -"Oh, messire, but do you not perceive that you have brought life -into this horrible place! You have given of this life to me, in the -most direct and speedy fashion. But life is very contagious. Already -it is spreading by infection." - -And Jurgen regarded the old king, as the girl indicated. The -withered ruffian stayed motionless: but from his nostrils came slow -augmenting jets of vapor, as though he were beginning to breathe in -a chill place. This was odd, because the cave was not cold. - -"And all the others too are snorting smoke," says Jurgen. "Upon my -word I think this is a delightful place to be leaving." - -First, though, he unfastened the king's sword-belt, and girded -himself therewith, sword, dagger and all. "Now I have arms befitting -my fine shirt," says Jurgen. - -Then the girl showed him a sort of passage way, by which they -ascended forty-nine steps roughly hewn in stone, and so came to -daylight. At the top of the stairway was an iron trapdoor, and this -door at the girl's instruction Jurgen lowered. There was no way of -fastening the door from without. - -"But Thragnar is not to be stopped by bolts or padlocks," the girl -said. "Instead, we must straightway mark this door with a cross, -since that is a symbol which Thragnar cannot pass." - -Jurgen's hand had gone instinctively to his throat. Now he shrugged. -"My dear young lady, I no longer carry the cross. I must fight -Thragnar with other weapons." - -"Two sticks will serve, laid crosswise--" - -Jurgen submitted that nothing would be easier than to lift the -trapdoor, and thus dislodge the sticks. "They will tumble apart -without anyone having to touch them, and then what becomes of your -crucifix?" - -"Why, how quickly you think of everything!" she said, admiringly. -"Here is a strip from my sleeve, then. We will tie the twigs -together." - -Jurgen did this, and laid upon the trapdoor a recognizable crucifix. -"Still, when anyone raises the trapdoor whatever lies upon it will -fall off. Without disparaging the potency of your charm, I cannot -but observe that in this case it is peculiarly difficult to handle. -Magician or no, I would put heartier faith in a stout padlock." - -So the girl tore another strip, from the hem of her gown, and then -another from her right sleeve, and with these they fastened their -cross to the surface of the trapdoor, in such a fashion that the -twigs could not be dislodged from beneath. They mounted the fine -steed whose bridle was marked with a coronet, the girl riding -pillion, and they turned westward, since the girl said this was -best. - -For, as she now told Jurgen, she was Guenevere, the daughter of -Gogyrvan, King of Glathion and the Red Islands. So Jurgen told her -he was the Duke of Logreus, because he felt it was not appropriate -for a pawnbroker to be rescuing princesses: and he swore, too, that -he would restore her safely to her father, whatever Thragnar might -attempt. And all the story of her nefarious capture and imprisonment -by King Thragnar did Dame Guenevere relate to Jurgen, as they rode -together through the pleasant May morning. - -She considered the Troll King could not well molest them. "For now -you have his charmed sword, Caliburn, the only weapon with which -Thragnar can be slain. Besides, the sign of the cross he cannot -pass. He beholds and trembles." - -"My dear Princess, he has but to push up the trapdoor from beneath, -and the cross, being tied to the trapdoor, is promptly moved out of -his way. Failing this expedient, he can always come out of the cave -by the other opening, through which I entered. If this Thragnar has -any intelligence at all and a reasonable amount of tenacity, he will -presently be at hand." - -"Even so, he can do no harm unless we accept a present from him. The -difficulty is that he will come in disguise." - -"Why, then, we will accept gifts from nobody." - -"There is, moreover, a sign by which you may distinguish Thragnar. -For if you deny what he says, he will promptly concede you are in -the right. This was the curse put upon him by Miramon Lluagor, for a -detection and a hindrance." - -"By that unhuman trait," says Jurgen, "Thragnar ought to be very -easy to distinguish." - - - - -10. - -Pitiful Disguises of Thragnar - - -Next, the tale tells that as Jurgen and the Princess were nearing -Gihon, a man came riding toward them, full armed in black, and -having a red serpent with an apple in its mouth painted upon his -shield. - -"Sir knight," says he, speaking hollowly from the closed helmet, -"you must yield to me that lady." - -"I think," says Jurgen, civilly, "that you are mistaken." - -So they fought, and presently, since Caliburn was a resistless -weapon, and he who wore the scabbard of Caliburn could not be -wounded, Jurgen prevailed; and gave the strange knight so heavy a -buffet that the knight fell senseless. - -"Do you think," says Jurgen, about to unlace his antagonist's -helmet, "that this is Thragnar?" - -"There is no possible way of telling," replied Dame Guenevere: "if -it is the Troll King he should have offered you gifts, and when you -contradicted him he should have admitted you were right. Instead, he -proffered nothing, and to contradiction he answered nothing, so that -proves nothing." - -"But silence is a proverbial form of assent. At all events, we will -have a look at him." - -"But that too will prove nothing, since Thragnar goes about his -mischiefs so disguised by enchantments as invariably to resemble -somebody else, and not himself at all." - -"Such dishonest habits introduce an element of uncertainty, I grant -you," says Jurgen. "Still, one can rarely err by keeping on the safe -side. This person is, in any event, a very ill-bred fellow, with -probably immoral intentions. Yes, caution is the main thing, and in -justice to ourselves we will keep on the safe side." - -So without unloosing the helmet, he struck off the strange knight's -head, and left him thus. The Princess was now mounted on the horse -of their deceased assailant. - -"Assuredly," says Jurgen then, "a magic sword is a fine thing, and a -very necessary equipment, too, for a knight errant of my age." - -"But you talk as though you were an old man, Messire de Logreus!" - -"Come now," thinks Jurgen, "this is a princess of rare -discrimination. What, after all, is forty-and-something when one is -well-preserved? This uncommonly intelligent girl reminds me a little -of Marcoueve, whom I loved in Artein: besides, she does not look at -me as women look at an elderly man. I like this princess, in fact, I -adore this princess. I wonder now what would she say if I told her -as much?" - -But Jurgen did not tempt chance that time, for just then they -encountered a boy who had frizzed hair and painted cheeks. He walked -mincingly, in a curious garb of black bespangled with gold lozenges, -and he carried a gilded dung fork. - - * * * * * - -Then Jurgen and the Princess came to a black and silver pavilion -standing by the roadside. At the door of the pavilion was an -apple-tree in blossom: from a branch of this tree was suspended -a black hunting-horn, silver-mounted. A woman waited there alone. -Before her was a chess-board, with the ebony and silver pieces set -ready for a game, and upon the table to her left hand glittered -flagons and goblets of silver. Eagerly this woman rose and came -toward the travellers. - -"Oh, my dear Jurgen," says she, "but how fine you look in that new -shirt you are wearing! But there was never a man had better taste in -dress, as I have always said: and it is long I have waited for you -in this pavilion, which belongs to a black gentleman who seems to be -a great friend of yours. And he went into Crim Tartary this morning, -with some missionaries, by the worst piece of luck, for I know how -sorry he will be to miss you, dear. Now, but I am forgetting that -you must be very tired and thirsty, my darling, after your travels. -So do you and the young lady have a sip of this, and then we will be -telling one another of our adventures." - -For this woman had the appearance of Jurgen's wife, Dame Lisa, and -of none other. - -Jurgen regarded her with two minds. "You certainly seem to be Lisa. -But it is a long while since I saw Lisa in such an amiable mood." - -"You must know," says she, still smiling, "that I have learned to -appreciate you since we were separated." - -"The fiend who stole you from me may possibly have brought about -that wonder. None the less, you have met me riding at adventure with -a young woman. And you have assaulted neither of us, you have not -even raised your voice. No, quite decidedly, here is a miracle -beyond the power of any fiend." - -"Ah, but I have been doing a great deal of thinking, Jurgen dear, as -to our difficulties in the past. And it seems to me that you were -almost always in the right." - -Guenevere nudged Jurgen. "Did you note that? This is certainly -Thragnar in disguise." - -"I am beginning to think that at all events it is not Lisa." Then -Jurgen magisterially cleared his throat. "Lisa, if you indeed be -Lisa, you must understand I am through with you. The plain truth is -that you tire me. You talk and talk: no woman breathing equals you -at mere volume and continuity of speech: but you say nothing that I -have not heard seven hundred and eighty times if not oftener." - -"You are perfectly right, my dear," says Dame Lisa, piteously. "But -then I never pretended to be as clever as you." - -"Spare me your beguilements, if you please. And besides, I am in -love with this princess. Now spare me your recriminations, also, for -you have no real right to complain. If you had stayed the person -whom I promised the priest to love, I would have continued to think -the world of you. But you did nothing of the sort. From a cuddlesome -and merry girl, who thought whatever I did was done to perfection, -you elected to develop into an uncommonly plain and short-tempered -old woman." And Jurgen paused. "Eh?" said he, "and did you not do -this?" - -Dame Lisa answered sadly: "My dear, you are perfectly right, from -your way of thinking. However, I could not very well help getting -older." - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen, "this is astonishingly inadequate -impersonation, as any married man would see at once. Well, I made no -contract to love any such plain and short-tempered person. I -repudiate the claims of any such person, as manifestly unfair. And I -pledge undying affection to this high and noble Princess Guenevere, -who is the fairest lady that I have ever seen." - -"You are right," wailed Dame Lisa, "and I was entirely to blame. It -was because I loved you, and wanted you to get on in the world and -be a credit to my father's line of business, that I nagged you so. -But you will never understand the feelings of a wife, nor will you -understand that even now I desire your happiness above all else. -Here is our wedding-ring, then, Jurgen. I give you back your -freedom. And I pray that this princess may make you very happy, my -dear. For surely you deserve a princess if ever any man did." - -Jurgen shook his head. "It is astounding that a demon so much talked -about should be so poor an impersonator. It raises the staggering -supposition that the majority of married women must go to Heaven. As -for your ring, I am not accepting gifts this morning, from anyone. -But you understand, I trust, that I am hopelessly enamored of the -Princess on account of her beauty." - -"Oh, and I cannot blame you, my dear. She is the loveliest person I -have ever seen." - -"Hah, Thragnar!" says Jurgen, "I have you now. A woman might, just -possibly, have granted her own homeliness: but no woman that ever -breathed would have conceded the Princess had a ray of good looks." - -So with Caliburn he smote, and struck off the head of this thing -which foolishly pretended to be Dame Lisa. - -"Well done! oh, bravely done!" cried Guenevere. "Now the enchantment -is dissolved, and Thragnar is slain by my clever champion." - -"I could wish there were some surer sign of that," said Jurgen. "I -would have preferred that the pavilion and the decapitated Troll -King had vanished with a peal of thunder and an earthquake and such -other phenomena as are customary. Instead, nothing is changed except -that the woman who was talking to me a moment since now lies at my -feet in a very untidy condition. You conceive, madame, I used to -tease her about that twisted little-finger, in the days before we -began to squabble: and it annoys me that Thragnar should not have -omitted even Lisa's crooked little-finger on her left hand. Yes, -such painstaking carefulness worries me. For you conceive also, -madame, it would be more or less awkward if I had made an error, and -if the appearance were in reality what it seemed to be, because I -was pretty trying sometimes. At all events, I have done that which -seemed equitable, and I have found no comfort in the doing of it, -and I do not like this place." - - - - -11. - -Appearance of the Duke of Logreus - - -So Jurgen brushed from the table the chessmen that were set there in -readiness for a game, and he emptied the silver flagons upon the -ground. His reasons for not meddling with the horn he explained to -the Princess: she shivered, and said that, such being the case, he -was certainly very sensible. Then they mounted, and departed from -the black and silver pavilion. They came thus without further -adventure to Gogyrvan Gawr's city of Cameliard. - -Now there was shouting and the bells all rang when the people knew -their Princess was returned to them: the houses were hung with -painted cloths and banners, and trumpets sounded, as Guenevere and -Jurgen came to the King in his Hall of Judgment. And this Gogyrvan, -that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth and Camwy and -Sargyll, came down from his wide throne, and he embraced first -Guenevere, then Jurgen. - -"And demand of me what you will, Duke of Logreus," said Gogyrvan, -when he had heard the champion's name, "and it is yours for the -asking. For you have restored to me the best loved daughter that -ever was the pride of a high king." - -"Sir," replied Jurgen, reasonably, "a service rendered so gladly -should be its own reward. So I am asking that you do in turn restore -to me the Princess Guenevere, in honorable marriage, do you -understand, because I am a poor lorn widower, I am tolerably -certain, but I am quite certain I love your daughter with my whole -heart." - -Thus Jurgen, whose periods were confused by emotion. - -"I do not see what the condition of your heart has to do with any -such unreasonable request. And you have no good sense to be asking -this thing of me when here are the servants of Arthur, that is now -King of the Britons, come to ask for my daughter as his wife. That -you are Duke of Logreus you tell me, and I concede a duke is all -very well: but I expect you in return to concede a king takes -precedence, with any man whose daughter is marriageable. But -to-morrow or the next day it may be, you and I will talk over -your reward more privately. Meanwhile it is very queer and very -frightened you are looking, to be the champion who conquered -Thragnar." - -For Jurgen was staring at the great mirror behind the King's throne. -In this mirror Jurgen saw the back of Gogyrvan's crowned head, and -beyond this, Jurgen saw a queer and frightened looking young fellow, -with sleek black hair, and an impudent nose, and wide-open bright -brown eyes which were staring hard at Jurgen: and the lad's very red -and very heavy lips were parted, so that you saw what fine strong -teeth he had: and he wore a glittering shirt with curious figures on -it - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, and he saw the lad in the mirror was -speaking too, "I was thinking that is a remarkable mirror you have -there." - -"It is like any other mirror," replies the King, "in that it shows -things as they are. But if you fancy it as your reward, why, take it -and welcome." - -"And are you still talking of rewards!" cries Jurgen. "Why, if that -mirror shows things as they are, I have come out of my borrowed -Wednesday still twenty-one. Oh, but it was the clever fellow I was, -to flatter Mother Sereda so cunningly, and to fool her into such -generosity! And I wonder that you who are only a king, with bleared -eyes under your crown, and with a drooping belly under all your -royal robes, should be talking of rewarding a fine young fellow of -twenty-one, for there is nothing you have which I need be wanting -now." - -"Then you will not be plaguing me any more with your nonsense about -my daughter: and that is excellent news." - -"But I have no requirement to be asking your good graces now," said -Jurgen, "nor the good will of any man alive that has a handsome -daughter or a handsome wife. For now I have the aid of a lad that -was very recently made Duke of Logreus: and with his countenance I -can look out for myself, and I can get justice done me everywhere, -in all the bedchambers of the world." - -And Jurgen snapped his fingers, and was about to turn away from the -King. There was much sunlight in the hall, so that Jurgen in this -half-turn confronted his shadow as it lay plain upon the flagstones. -And Jurgen looked at it very intently. - -"Of course," said Jurgen presently, "I only meant in a manner of -speaking, sir: and was paraphrasing the splendid if hackneyed -passage from Sornatius, with which you are doubtless familiar, in -which he goes on to say, so much more beautifully than I could -possibly express without quoting him word for word, that all this -was spoken jestingly, and without the least intention of offending -anybody, oh, anybody whatever, I can assure you, sir." - -"Very well," said Gogyrvan Gawr: and he smiled, for no reason that -was apparent to Jurgen, who was still watching his shadow sidewise. -"To-morrow, I repeat, I must talk with you more privately. To-day I -am giving a banquet such as was never known in these parts, because -my daughter is restored to me, and because my daughter is going to -be queen over all the Britons." - -So said Gogyrvan, that was King of Glathion and Lord of Enisgarth -and Camwy and Sargyll: and this was done. And everywhere at the -banquet Jurgen heard talk of this King Arthur who was to marry Dame -Guenevere, and of the prophecy which Merlin Ambrosius had made as to -the young monarch. For Merlin had predicted: - -"He shall afford succor, and shall tread upon the necks of his -enemies: the isles of the ocean shall be subdued by him, and he -shall possess the forests of Gaul: the house of Romulus shall fear -his rage, and his acts shall be food for the narrators." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, to himself, "this monarch reminds me in -all things of David of Israel, who was so splendid and famous, and -so greedy, in the ancient ages. For to these forests and islands and -necks and other possessions, this Arthur Pendragon must be adding my -one ewe lamb; and I lack a Nathan to convert him to repentance. Now, -but this, to be sure, is a very unfair thing." - -Then Jurgen looked again into a mirror: and presently the eyes of -the lad he found therein began to twinkle. - -"Have at you, David!" said Jurgen, valorously; "since after all, I -see no reason to despair." - - - - -12. - -Excursus of Yolande's Undoing - - -Now Jurgen, self-appointed Duke of Logreus, abode at the court of -King Gogyrvan. The month of May passed quickly and pleasantly: but -the monstrous shadow which followed Jurgen did not pass. Still, no -one noticed it: that was the main thing. For himself, he was not -afraid of shadows, and the queerness of this one was not enough to -distract his thoughts from Guenevere, nor from his love-making with -Guenevere. - -For these were quiet times in Glathion, now that the war with Rience -of Northgalis was satisfactorily ended: and love-making was now -everywhere in vogue. By way of diversion, gentlemen hunted and -fished and rode a-hawking and amicably slashed and battered one -another in tournaments: but their really serious pursuit was -lovemaking, after the manner of chivalrous persons, who knew that -the King's trumpets would presently be summoning them into less -softly furnished fields of action, from one or another of which they -would return feet foremost on a bier. So Jurgen sighed and warbled -and made eyes with many excellent fighting-men: and the Princess -listened with many other ladies whose hearts were not of flint. And -Gogyrvan meditated. - -Now it was the kingly custom of Gogyrvan when his dinner was spread -at noontide, not to go to meat until all such as demanded justice -from him had been furnished with a champion to redress the wrong. -One day as the gaunt old King sat thus in his main hall, upon a seat -of green rushes covered with yellow satin, and with a cushion of -yellow satin under his elbow, and with his barons ranged about him -according to their degrees, a damsel came with a very heart-rending -tale of the oppression that was on her. - -Gogyrvan blinked at her, and nodded. "You are the handsomest woman I -have seen in a long while," says he, irrelevantly. "You are a woman -I have waited for. Duke Jurgen of Logreus will undertake this -adventure." - -There being no help for it, Jurgen rode off with this Dame Yolande, -not very well pleased: but as they rode he jested with her. And so, -with much laughter by the way, Yolande conducted him to the Green -Castle, of which she had been dispossessed by Graemagog, a most -formidable giant. - -"Now prepare to meet your death, sir knight!" cried Graemagog, -laughing horribly, and brandishing his club; "for all knights who -come hither I have sworn to slay." - -"Well, if truth-telling were a sin you would be a very virtuous -giant," says Jurgen, and he flourished Thragnar's sword, resistless -Caliburn. - -Then they fought, and Jurgen killed Graemagog. Thus was the Green -Castle restored to Dame Yolande, and the maidens who attended her -aforetime were duly released from the cellarage. They were now -maidens by courtesy only, but so tender is the heart of women that -they all wept over Graemagog. - -Yolande was very grateful, and proffered every manner of reward. - -"But, no, I will take none of these fine jewels, nor money, nor -lands either," says Jurgen. "For Logreus, I must tell you, is a -fairly well-to-do duchy, and the killing of giants is by way of -being my favorite pastime. He is well paid that is well satisfied. -Yet if you must reward me for such a little service, do you swear to -do what you can to get me the love of my lady, and that will -suffice." - -Yolande, without any particular enthusiasm, consented to attempt -this: and indeed Yolande, at Jurgen's request, made oath upon the -Four Evangelists that she would do everything within her power to -aid him. - -"Very well," said Jurgen, "you have sworn, and it is you whom I -love." - -Surprise now made her lovely. Yolande was frankly delighted at the -thought of marrying the young Duke of Logreus, and offered to send -for a priest at once. - -"My dear," says Jurgen, "there is no need to bother a priest about -our private affairs." - -She took his meaning, and sighed. "Now I regret," said she, "that I -made so solemn an oath. Your trick was unfair." - -"Oh, not at all," said Jurgen: "and presently you will not regret -it. For indeed the game is well worth the candle." - -"How is that shown, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Why, by candle-light," says Jurgen,--"naturally." - -"In that event, we will talk no further of it until this evening." - -So that evening Yolande sent for him. She was, as Gogyrvan had said, -a remarkably handsome woman, sleek and sumptuous and crowned with a -wealth of copper-colored hair. To-night she was at her best in a -tunic of shimmering blue, with a surcote of gold embroidery, and -with gold embroidered pendent sleeves that touched the floor. Thus -she was when Jurgen came to her. - -"Now," says Yolande, frowning, "you may as well come out -straightforwardly with what you were hinting at this morning." - -But first Jurgen looked about the apartment, and it was lighted by a -tall gilt stand whereon burned candles. - -He counted these, and he whistled. "Seven candles! upon my word, -sweetheart, you do me great honor, for this is a veritable -illumination. To think of it, now, that you should honor me, as -people do saints, with seven candles! Well, I am only mortal, but -none the less I am Jurgen, and I shall endeavor to repay this -sevenfold courtesy without discount." - -"Oh, Messire de Logreus," cried Dame Yolande, "but what -incomprehensible nonsense you talk! You misinterpret matters, for I -can assure you I had nothing of that sort in mind. Besides, I do not -know what you are talking about." - -"Indeed, I must warn you that my actions often speak more -unmistakably than my words. It is what learned persons term an -idiosyncrasy." - -"--And I certainly do not see how any of the saints can be concerned -in this. If you had said the Four Evangelists now--! For we were -talking of the Four Evangelists, you remember, this morning--Oh, but -how stupid it is of you, Messire de Logreus, to stand there grinning -and looking at me in a way that makes me blush!" - -"Well, that is easily remedied," said Jurgen, as he blew out the -candles, "since women do not blush in the dark." - -"What do you plan, Messire de Logreus?" - -"Ah, do not be alarmed!" said Jurgen. "I shall deal fairly with -you." - -And in fact Yolande confessed afterward that, considering -everything, Messire de Logreus was very generous. Jurgen confessed -nothing: and as the room was profoundly dark nobody else can speak -with authority as to what happened there. It suffices that the Duke -of Logreus and the Lady of the Green Castle parted later on the most -friendly terms. - -"You have undone me, with your games and your candles and your -scrupulous returning of courtesies," said Yolande, and yawned, for -she was sleepy; "but I fear that I do not hate you as much as I -ought to." - -"No woman ever does," says Jurgen, "at this hour." He called for -breakfast, then kissed Yolande--for this, as Jurgen had said, was -their hour of parting,--and he rode away from the Green Castle in -high spirits. - -"Why, what a thing it is again to be a fine young fellow!" said -Jurgen. "Well, even though her big brown eyes protrude too -much--something like a lobster's--she is a splendid woman, that Dame -Yolande: and it is a comfort to reflect I have seen justice was done -her." - -Then he rode back to Cameliard, singing with delight in the thought -that he was riding toward the Princess Guenevere, whom he loved with -his whole heart. - - - - -13. - -Philosophy of Gogyrvan Gawr - - -At Cameliard the young Duke of Logreus spent most of his time in the -company of Guenevere, whose father made no objection overtly. -Gogyrvan had his promised talk with Jurgen. - -"I lament that Dame Yolande dealt over-thriftily with you," the King -said, first of all: "for I estimated you two would be as spark and -tinder, kindling between you an amorous conflagration to burn up all -this nonsense about my daughter." - -"Thrift, sir," said Jurgen, discreetly, "is a proverbial virtue, and -fires may not consume true love." - -"That is the truth," Gogyrvan admitted, "whoever says it." And he -sighed. - -Then for a while he sat in nodding meditation. Tonight the old King -wore a disreputably rusty gown of black stuff, with fur about the -neck and sleeves of it, and his scant white hair was covered by a -very shabby black cap. So he huddled over a small fire in a large -stone fireplace carved with shields; beside him was white wine and -red, which stayed untasted while Gogyrvan meditated upon things that -fretted him. - -"Now, then!" says Gogyrvan Gawr: "this marriage with the high King -of the Britons must go forward, of course. That was settled last -year, when Arthur and his devil-mongers, the Lady of the Lake and -Merlin Ambrosius, were at some pains to rescue me at Carohaise. I -estimate that Arthur's ambassadors, probably the devil-mongers -themselves, will come for my daughter before June is out. Meanwhile, -you two have youth and love for playthings, and it is spring." - -"What is the season of the year to me," groaned Jurgen, "when I -reflect that within a week or so the lady of my heart will be borne -away from me forever? How can I be happy, when all the while I know -the long years of misery and vain regret are near at hand?" - -"You are saying that," observed the King, "in part because you drank -too much last night, and in part because you think it is expected of -you. For in point of fact, you are as happy as anyone is permitted -to be in this world, through the simple reason that you are young. -Misery, as you employ the word, I consider to be a poetical trophe: -but I can assure you that the moment you are no longer young the -years of vain regret will begin, either way." - -"That is true," said Jurgen, heartily. - -"How do you know? Now then, put it I were insane enough to marry my -daughter to a mere duke, you would grow damnably tired of her: I can -assure you of that also, for in disposition Guenevere is her sainted -mother all over again. She is nice looking, of course, because in -that she takes after my side of the family: but, between ourselves, -she is not particularly intelligent, and she will always be making -eyes at some man or another. To-day it appears to be your turn to -serve as her target, in a fine glittering shirt of which the like -was never seen in Glathion. I deplore, but even so I cannot deny, -your rights as the champion who rescued her: and I must bid you make -the most of that turn." - -"Meanwhile, it occurs to me, sir, that it is unusual to betroth your -daughter to one man, and permit her to go freely with another." - -"If you insist upon it," said Gogyrvan Gawr, "I can of course lock -up the pair of you, in separate dungeons, until the wedding day. -Meanwhile, it occurs to me you should be the last commentator to -grumble." - -"Why, I tell you plainly, sir, that critical persons would say you -are taking very small care of your daughter's honor." - -"To that there are several answers," replied the King. "One is that -I remember my late wife as tenderly as possible, and I reflect I -have only her word for it as to Guenevere's being my daughter. -Another is that, though my daughter is a quiet and well-conducted -young woman, I never heard King Thragnar was anything of this sort." - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you hinting!" - -"All sorts of things, however, happen in caves, things which it is -wiser to ignore in sunlight. So I ignore: I ask no questions: my -business is to marry my daughter acceptably, and that only. Such -discoveries as may be made by her husband afterward are his affair, -not mine. This much I might tell you, Messire de Logreus, by way of -answer. But the real answer is to bid you consider this: that a -woman's honor is concerned with one thing only, and it is a thing -with which the honor of a man is not concerned at all." - -"But now you talk in riddles, King, and I wonder what it is you -would have me do." - -Gogyrvan grinned. "Obviously, I advise you to give thanks you were -born a man, because that sturdier sex has so much less need to -bother over breakage." - -"What sort of breakage, sir?" says Jurgen. - -Gogyrvan told him. - -Duke Jurgen for the second time looked properly horrified. "Your -aphorisms, King, are abominable, and of a sort unlikely to quiet my -misery. However, we were speaking of your daughter, and it is she -who must be considered rather than I." - -"Now I perceive that you take my meaning perfectly. Yes, in all -matters which concern my daughter I would have you lie like a -gentleman." - -"Well, I am afraid, sir," said Jurgen, after a pause, "that you are -a person of somewhat degraded ideals." - -"Ah, but you are young. Youth can afford ideals, being vigorous -enough to stand the hard knocks they earn their possessor. But I am -an old fellow cursed with a tender heart and tolerably keen eyes. -That combination, Messire de Logreus, is one which very often forces -me to jeer out of season, simply because I know myself to be upon -the verge of far more untimely tears." - -Thus Gogyrvan replied. He was silent for a while, and he -contemplated the fire. Then he waved a shriveled hand toward the -window, and Gogyrvan began to speak, meditatively: - -"Messire de Logreus, it is night in my city of Cameliard. And -somewhere one of those roofs harbors a girl whom we will call -Lynette. She has a lover--we will say he is called Sagramor. The -names do not matter. Tonight, as I speak with you, Lynette lies -motionless in the carved wide bed that formerly was her mother's. -She is thinking of Sagramor. The room is dark save where moonlight -silvers the diamond-shaped panes of ancient windows. In every corner -of the room mysterious quivering suggestions lurk." - -"Ah, sire," says Jurgen, "you also are a poet!" - -"Do not interrupt me, then! Lynette, I repeat, is thinking of Sagramor. -Again they sit near the lake, under an apple-tree older than Rome. -The knotted branches of the tree are upraised as in benediction: -and petals--petals, fluttering, drifting, turning,--interminable white -petals fall silently in the stillness. Neither speaks: for there is no -need. Silently he brushes a petal from the blackness of her hair, and -silently he kisses her. The lake is dusky and hard-seeming as jade. -Two lonely stars hang low in the green sky. It is droll that the chest -of a man is hairy, oh, very droll! And a bird is singing, a silvery -needle of sound moves fitfully in the stillness. Surely high Heaven -is thus quietly colored and thus strangely lovely. So at least thinks -little Lynette, lying motionless like a little mouse, in the carved -wide bed wherein Lynette was born." - -"A very moving touch, that," Jurgen interpolated. - -"Now, there is another sort of singing: for now the pot-house -closes, big shutters bang, feet shuffle, a drunken man hiccoughs in -his singing. It is a love-song he is murdering. He sheds -inexplicable tears as he lurches nearer and nearer to Lynette's -window, and his heart is all magnanimity, for Sagramor is -celebrating his latest conquest. Do you not think that this or -something very like this is happening to-night in my city of -Cameliard, Messire de Logreus?". - -"It happens momently," said Jurgen, "everywhere. For thus is every -woman for a little while, and thus is every man for all time." - -"That being a dreadful truth," continued Gogyrvan, "you may take it -as one of the many reasons why I jeer out of season in order to -stave off far more untimely tears. For this thing happens: in my -city it happens, and in my castle it happens. King or no, I am -powerless to prevent its happening. So I can but shrug and hearten -my old blood with a fresh bottle. No less, I regard the young woman, -who is quite possibly my daughter, with considerable affection: and -it would be salutary for you to remember that circumstance, Messire -de Logreus, if ever you are tempted to be candid." - -Jurgen was horrified. "But with the Princess, sir, it is unthinkable -that I should not deal fairly." - -King Gogyrvan continued to look at Jurgen. Gogyrvan Gawr said -nothing, and not a muscle of him moved. - -"Although of course," said Jurgen, "I would, in simple justice to -her, not ever consider volunteering any information likely to cause -pain." - -"Again I perceive," said Gogyrvan, "that you understand me. Yet I -did not speak of my daughter only, but of everybody." - -"How then, sir, would you have me deal with everybody?" - -"Why, I can but repeat my words," says Gogyrvan, very patiently: "I -would have you lie like a gentleman. And now be off with you, for I -am going to sleep. I shall not be wide awake again until my daughter -is safely married. And that is absolutely all I can do for you." - -"Do you think this is reputable conduct, King?" - -"Oh, no!" says Gogyrvan, surprised. "It is what we call -philanthropy." - - - - -14. - -Preliminary Tactics of Duke Jurgen - - -So Jurgen abode at court, and was tolerably content for a little -while. He loved a princess, the fairest and most perfect of mortal -women; and loved her (a circumstance to which he frequently -recurred) as never any other man had loved in the world's history: -and very shortly he was to stand by and see her married to another. -Here was a situation to delight the chivalrous court of Glathion, -for every requirement of romance was exactly fulfilled. - -Now the appearance of Guenevere, whom Jurgen loved with an entire -heart, was this:--She was of middling height, with a figure not yet -wholly the figure of a woman. She had fine and very thick hair, and -the color of it was the yellow of corn floss. When Guenevere undid -her hair it was a marvel to Jurgen to note how snugly this hair -descended about the small head and slender throat, and then -broadened boldly and clothed her with a loose soft foam of pallid -gold. For Jurgen delighted in her hair; and with increasing -intimacy, loved to draw great strands of it back of his head, -crossing them there, and pressing soft handfuls of her perfumed hair -against his cheeks as he kissed the Princess. - -The head of Guenevere, be it repeated, was small: you wondered at -the proud free tossing movements of that little head which had to -sustain the weight of so much hair. The face of Guenevere was -colored tenderly and softly: it made the faces of other women seem -the work of a sign-painter, just splotched in anyhow. Gray eyes had -Guenevere, veiled by incredibly long black lashes that curved -incredibly. Her brows arched rather high above her eyes: that was -almost a fault. Her nose was delicate and saucy: her chin was -impudence made flesh: and her mouth was a tiny and irresistible -temptation. - -"And so on, and so on! But indeed there is no sense at all in -describing this lovely girl as though I were taking an inventory of -my shopwindow," said Jurgen. "Analogues are all very well, and they -have the unanswerable sanction of custom: none the less, when I -proclaim that my adored mistress's hair reminds me of gold I am -quite consciously lying. It looks like yellow hair, and nothing -else: nor would I willingly venture within ten feet of any woman -whose head sprouted with wires, of whatever metal. And to protest -that her eyes are as gray and fathomless as the sea is very well -also, and the sort of thing which seems expected of me: but imagine -how horrific would be puddles of water slopping about in a lady's -eye-sockets! If we poets could actually behold the monsters we rhyme -of, we would scream and run. Still, I rather like this sirvente." - -For he was making a sirvente in praise of Guenevere. It was the -pleasant custom of Gogyrvan's court that every gentleman must -compose verses in honor of the lady of whom he was hopelessly -enamored; as well as that in these verses he should address the lady -(as one whose name was too sacred to mention) otherwise than did her -sponsors. So Duke Jurgen of Logreus duly rhapsodized of his -Phyllida. - -"I borrow for my dear love the appellation of that noted but by much -inferior lady who was beloved by Ariphus of Belsize," he explained. -"You will remember Poliger suspects she was a princess of the house of -Scleroveus: and you of course recall Pisander's masterly summing-up of -the probabilities, in his _Heraclea_." - -"Oh, yes," they said. And the courtiers of Gogyrvan Gawr, like -Mother Sereda, were greatly impressed by young Duke Jurgen's -erudition. - -For Jurgen was Duke of Logreus nowadays, with his glittering shirt -and the coronet upon his bridle to show for it. Awkwardly this -proved to be an earl's coronet, but incongruities are not always -inexplicable. - -"It was Earl Giarmuid's horse. You have doubtless heard of Giarmuid: -but to ask that is insulting." - -"Oh, not at all. It is humor. We perfectly understand your humor, -Duke Jurgen." - -"And a very pretty fighter I found this famous Giarmuid as I -traveled westward. And since he killed my steed in the heat of our -conversation, I was compelled to take over his horse, after I had -given this poor Giarmuid proper interment. Oh, yes, a very pretty -fighter, and I had heard much talk of him in Logreus. He was Lord of -Ore and Persaunt, you remember, though of course the estate came by -his mother's side." - -"Oh, yes," they said. "You must not think that we of Glathion are -quite shut out from the great world. We have heard of all these -affairs. And we have also heard fine things of your duchy of -Logreus, messire." - -"Doubtless," said Jurgen; and turned again to his singing. - -"Lo, for I pray to thee, resistless Love," he descanted, "that thou -to-day make cry unto my love, to Phyllida whom I, poor Logreus, love -so tenderly, not to deny me love! Asked why, say thou my drink and -food is love, in days wherein I think and brood on love, and truly -find naught good in aught save love, since Phyllida hath taught me -how to love." - -Here Jurgen groaned with nicely modulated ardor; and he continued: -"If she avow such constant hate of love as would ignore my great and -constant love, plead thou no more! With listless lore of love woo -Death resistlessly, resistless Love, in place of her that saith such -scorn of love as lends to Death the lure and grace I love." - -Thus Jurgen sang melodiously of his Phyllida, and meant thereby (as -everybody knew) the Princess Guenevere. Since custom compelled him -to deal in analogues, he dealt wholesale. Gems and metals, the -blossoms of the field and garden, fires and wounds and sunrises and -perfumes, an armory of lethal weapons, ice and a concourse of -mythological deities were his starting-point. Then the seas -and heavens were dredged of phenomena to be mentioned with -disparagement, in comparison with one or another feature of Duke -Jurgen's Phyllida. Zoology and history, and generally the remembered -contents of his pawnshop, were overhauled and made to furnish -targets for depreciation: whereas in dealing with the famous ladies -loved by earlier poets, Duke Jurgen was positively insulting, -allowing hardly a rag of merit. Still, he was careful to be just: -and he allowed that these poor creatures might figure advantageously -enough in eyes which had never beheld his Phyllida. And to all this -information the lady whom he hymned attended willingly. - -"She is a princess," reflected Jurgen. "She is quite beautiful. She -is young, and whatever her father's opinion, she is reasonably -intelligent, as women go. Nobody could ask more. Why, then, am I not -out of my head about her? Already she permits a kiss or two when -nobody is around, and presently she will permit more. And she thinks -I am quite the cleverest person living. Come, Jurgen, man! is there -no heart in this spry young body you have regained? Come, let us -have a little honest rapture and excitement over this promising -situation!" - -But somehow Jurgen could not manage it. He was interested in what, -he knew, was going to happen. Yes, undoubtedly he looked forward to -more intimate converse with this beautiful young princess, but it -was rather as one anticipates partaking of a favorite dessert. -Jurgen felt that a liaison arranged for in this spirit was neither -one thing or the other. - -"If only I could feel like a cold-blooded villain, now, I would at -worst be classifiable. But I intend the girl no harm, I am honestly -fond of her. I shall talk my best, broaden her ideas, and give her, -I flatter myself, considerable pleasure: vulgar prejudices apart, I -shall leave her no whit the worse. Why, the dear little thing, not -for the ransom of seven emperors would I do her any hurt! And in -these matters discretion is everything, simply everything. No, quite -decidedly, I am not a cold-blooded villain; and I shall deal fairly -with the Princess." - -Thus Jurgen was disappointed by his own emotions, as he turned them -from side to side, and prodded them, and shifted to a fresh -viewpoint, only to find it no more favorable than the one -relinquished: but he veiled the inadequacy of his emotions with very -moving fervors. The tale does not record his conversations with -Guenevere: for Jurgen now discoursed plain idiocy, as one purveys -sweetmeats to a child in fond astonishment at the pet's appetite. -And leisurely Jurgen advanced: there was no hurry, with weeks -wherein to accomplish everything: meanwhile this routine work had a -familiar pleasantness. - -For the amateur co-ordinates matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. There is no harm at all in -respectful allusions to a love that comprehends its hopelessness: it -was merely a fact which Jurgen mentioned, and was about to pass on; -only Guenevere, in modesty, was forced to disparage her own -attractions, as an inadequate cause for so much misery. Common -courtesy demanded that Jurgen enter upon a rebuttal. To emphasize -one point in this, the orator was forced to take the hand of his -audience: but strangers did that every day, with nobody objecting; -moreover, the hand was here, not so much seized as displayed by its -detainer, as evidence of what he contended. How else was he to prove -the Princess of Glathion had the loveliest hand in the world? It was -not a matter he could request Guenevere to accept on hearsay: and -Jurgen wanted to deal fairly with her. - -Well, but before relinquishing the loveliest hand in the world a -connoisseur will naturally kiss each fingertip: this is merely a -tribute to perfection, and has no personal application. Besides, a -kiss, wherever deposited, as Jurgen pointed out, is, when you think -of it, but a ceremonial, of no intrinsic wrongfulness. The girl -demurring against this apothegm--as custom again exacted,--was, -still in common fairness, convinced of her error. So now, says -Jurgen presently, you see for yourself. Is anything changed between -us? Do we not sit here, just as we were before? Why, to be sure! a -kiss is now attestedly a quite innocuous performance, with nothing -very fearful about it one way or the other. It even has its pleasant -side. Thus there is no need to make a pother over kisses or over an -arm about you, when it is more comfortable sitting so: how can one -reasonably deny to a sincere friend what is accorded to a cousin or -an old cloak? It would be nonsense, as Jurgen demonstrated with a -very apt citation from Napsacus. - -Then, sitting so, in the heat of conversation a speaker naturally -gesticulates: and a deal of his eloquence is dependent upon his -hands. When anyone is talking it is discourteous to interrupt, -whereas to lay hold of a gentleman's hand outright, as Jurgen -parenthesized, is a little forward. No, he really did not think it -would be quite proper for Guenevere to hold his hand. Let us -preserve decorum, even in trifles. - -"Ah, but you know that you are doing wrong!" - -"I doing wrong! I, who am simply sitting here and talking my poor -best in an effort to entertain you! Come now, Princess, but tell me -what you mean!" - -"You should know very well what I mean." - -"But I protest to you I have not the least notion. How can I -possibly know what you mean when you refuse to tell me what you -mean?" - -And since the Princess declined to put into words just what she -meant, things stayed as they were, for the while. - -Thus did Jurgen co-ordinate matters, knowing that one thing -axiomatically leads to another. And in short, affairs sped very much -as Jurgen had anticipated. - -Now, by ordinary, Jurgen talked with Guenevere in dimly lighted -places. He preferred this, because then he was not bothered by that -unaccountable shadow whose presence in sunlight put him out. Nobody -ever seemed to notice this preposterous shadow; it was patent, -indeed, that nobody could see it save Jurgen: none the less, the -thing worried him. So even from the first he remembered Guenevere as -a soft voice and a delectable perfume in twilight, as a beauty not -clearly visioned. - -And Gogyrvan's people worried him. The hook-nosed tall old King had -been by Jurgen dismissed from thought, as an enigma not important -enough to be worth the trouble of solving. Gogyrvan at once seemed -to be schooling himself to patience under some private annoyance and -to be revolving in his mind some private jest; he was queer, and -probably abominable: but to grant the old rascal his due, he was not -meddlesome. - -The people about Gogyrvan, though, were perplexing. These men who -considered that all you possessed was loaned you to devote to the -service of your God, your King and every woman who crossed your -path, could hardly be behaving rationally. To talk of serving God -sounded as sonorously and as inspiritingly as a drum: yes, and a -drum had nothing but air in it. The priests said so-and-so: but did -anybody believe the gallant Bishop of Merion, for example, was -always to be depended upon? - -"I would like the opinion of Prince Evrawc's wife as to that," said -Jurgen, with a grin. For it was well-known that all affairs between -this Dame Alundyne and the Bishop were so discreetly managed as to -afford no reason for any scandal whatever. - -As for serving the King, there in plain view was Gogyrvan Gawr, for -anyone who so elected, to regard and grow enthusiastic over: -Gogyrvan might be shrewd enough, but to Jurgen he suggested very -little of the Lord's anointed. To the contrary, he reminded you of -Jurgen's brother-in-law, the grocer, without being graced by the -tradesman's friendly interest in customers. Gogyrvan Gawr was a -person whom Jurgen simply could not imagine any intelligent Deity -selecting as steward. And finally, when it came to serving women, -what sort of service did women most cordially appreciate? Jurgen had -his answer pat enough, but it was an answer not suitable for -utterance in a mixed company. - -"No one of my honest opinions, in fact, is adapted to further my -popularity in Glathion, because I am a monstrous clever fellow who -does justice to things as they are. Therefore I must remember -always, in justice to myself, that I very probably hold traffic with -madmen. Yet Rome was a fine town, and it was geese who saved it. -These people may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to -say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--! Yes, that is how -I feel about it." - -Thus did Jurgen abide at the chivalrous court of Glathion, and -conform to all its customs. In the matter of love-songs nobody -protested more movingly that the lady whom he loved (quite -hopelessly, of course), embodied all divine perfections: and when it -came to knightly service, the possession of Caliburn made the -despatching of thieves and giants and dragons seem hardly -sportsmanlike. Still, Jurgen fought a little, now and then, in order -to conform to the customs of Glathion: and the Duke of Logreus was -widely praised as a very promising young knight. - -And all the while he fretted because he could just dimly perceive -that ideal which was served in Glathion, and the beauty of this -ideal, but could not possibly believe in it. Here was, again, a -loveliness perceived in twilight, a beauty not clearly visioned. - -"Yet am not I a monstrous clever fellow," he would console himself, -"to take them all in so completely? It is a joke to which, I think, -I do full justice." - -So Jurgen abode among these persons to whom life was a high-hearted -journeying homeward. God the Father awaited you there, ready to -punish at need, but eager to forgive, after the manner of all -fathers: that one became a little soiled in traveling, and sometimes -blundered into the wrong lane, was a matter which fathers -understood: meanwhile here was an ever-present reminder of His -perfection incarnated in woman, the finest and the noblest of His -creations. Thus was every woman a symbol to be honored magnanimously -and reverently. So said they all. - -"Why, but to be sure!" assented Jurgen. And in support of his -position he very edifyingly quoted Ophelion, and Fabianus Papirius, -and Sextius Niger to boot. - - - - -15. - -Of Compromises in Glathion - - -The tale records that it was not a great while before, in simple -justice to Guenevere, Duke Jurgen had afforded her the advantage of -frank conversation in actual privacy. For conventions have to be -regarded, of course. Thus the time of a princess is not her own, and -at any hour of day all sorts of people are apt to request an -audience just when some most improving conversation is progressing -famously: but the Hall of Judgment stood vacant and unguarded at -night. - -"But I would never consider doing such a thing," said Guenevere: -"and whatever must you think of me, to make such a proposal!" - -"That too, my dearest, is a matter which I can only explain in -private." - -"And if I were to report your insolence to my father--" - -"You would annoy him exceedingly: and from such griefs it is our -duty to shield the aged." - -"And besides, I am afraid." - -"Oh, my dearest," says Jurgen, and his voice quavered, because his -love and his sorrow seemed very great to him: "but, oh, my dearest, -can it be that you have not faith in me! For with all my body and -soul I love you, as I have loved you ever since I first raised your -face between my hands, and understood that I had never before known -beauty. Indeed, I love you as, I think, no man has ever loved any -woman that lived in the long time that is gone, for my love is -worship, and no less. The touch of your hand sets me to trembling, -dear; and the look of your gray eyes makes me forget there is -anything of pain or grief or evil anywhere: for you are the -loveliest thing God ever made, with joy in the new skill that had -come to His fingers. And you have not faith in me!" - -Then the Princess gave a little sobbing laugh of content and -repentance, and she clasped the hand of her grief-stricken lover. -"Forgive me, Jurgen, for I cannot bear to see you so unhappy!" - -"Ah, and what is my grief to you!" he asks of her, bitterly. - -"Much, oh, very much, my dear!" she whispered. - -So in the upshot Jurgen was never to forget that moment wherein he -waited behind the door, and through the crack between the half-open -door and the door-frame saw Guenevere approach irresolutely, a -wavering white blur in the dark corridor. She came to talk with him -where they would not be bothered with interruptions: but she came -delightfully perfumed, in her night-shift, and in nothing else. -Jurgen wondered at the way of these women even as his arms went -about her in the gloom. He remembered always the feel of that warm -and slender and yielding body, naked under the thin fabric of the -shift, as his arms first went about her: of all their moments -together that last breathless minute before either of them had -spoken stayed in his memory as the most perfect. - -And yet what followed was pleasant enough, for now it was to the -wide and softly cushioned throne of a king, no less, that Guenevere -and Jurgen resorted, so as to talk where they would not be bothered -with interruptions. The throne of Gogyrvan was perfectly dark, under -its canopy, in the unlighted hall, and in the dark nobody can see -what happens. - -Thereafter these two contrived to talk together nightly upon the -throne of Glathion: but what remained in Jurgen's memory was that -last moment behind the door, and the six tall windows upon the east -side of the hall, those windows which were of commingled blue and -silver, but were all an opulent glitter, throughout that time in the -night when the moon was clear of the tree-tops and had not yet risen -high enough to be shut off by the eaves. For that was all which -Jurgen really saw in the Hall of Judgment. There would be a brief -period wherein upon the floor beneath each window would show a -narrow quadrangle of moonlight: but the windows were set in a wall -so deep that this soon passed. On the west side were six windows -also, but about these was a porch; so no light ever came from the -west. - -Thus in the dark they would laugh and talk with lowered voices. -Jurgen came to these encounters well primed with wine, and in -consequence, as he quite comprehended, talked like an angel, without -confining himself exclusively to celestial topics. He was often -delighted by his own brilliance, and it seemed to him a pity there -was no one handy to take it down: so much of his talking was -necessarily just a little over the head of any girl, however -beautiful and adorable. - -And Guenevere, he found, talked infinitely better at night. It was -not altogether the wine which made him think that, either: the girl -displayed a side she veiled in the day time. A girl, far less a -princess, is not supposed to know more than agrees with a man's -notion of maidenly ignorance, she contended. - -"Nobody ever told me anything about so many interesting matters. -Why, I remember--" And Guenevere narrated a quaintly pathetic little -story, here irrelevant, of what had befallen her some three or four -years earlier. "My mother was living then: but she had never said a -word about such things, and frightened as I was, I did not go to -her." - -Jurgen asked questions. - -"Why, yes. There was nothing else to do. I cannot talk freely with -my maids and ladies even now. I cannot question them, that is: of -course I can listen as they talk among themselves. For me to do more -would be unbecoming in a princess. And I wonder quietly about so -many things!" She educed instances. "After that I used to notice the -animals and the poultry. So I worked out problems for myself, after -a fashion. But nobody ever told me anything directly." - -"Yet I dare say that Thragnar--well, the Troll King, being very -wise, must have made zoology much clearer." - -"Thragnar was a skilled enchanter," says a demure voice in the dark; -"and through the potency of his abominable arts, I can remember -nothing whatever about Thragnar." - -Jurgen laughed, ruefully. Still, he was tolerably sure about -Thragnar now. - -So they talked: and Jurgen marvelled, as millions of men had done -aforetime, and have done since, at the girl's eagerness, now that -barriers were down, to discuss in considerable detail all such -matters as etiquette had previously compelled them to ignore. About -her ladies in waiting, for example, she afforded him some very -curious data: and concerning men in general she asked innumerable -questions that Jurgen found delicious. - -Such innocence combined--upon the whole--with a certain moral -obtuseness, seemed inconceivable. For to Jurgen it now appeared that -Guenevere was behaving with not quite the decorum which might fairly -be expected of a princess. Contrition, at least, one might have -looked for, over this hole and corner business: whereas it worried -him to note that Guenevere was coming to accept affairs almost as a -matter of course. Certainly she did not seem to think at all of any -wickedness anywhere: the utmost she suggested was the necessity of -being very careful. And while she never contradicted him in these -private conversations, and submitted in everything to his judgment, -her motive now appeared to be hardly more than a wish to please him. -It was almost as though she were humoring him in his foolishness. -And all this within six weeks! reflected Jurgen: and he nibbled his -finger-nails, with a mental side-glance toward the opinions of King -Gogyrvan Gawr. - -But in daylight the Princess remained unchanged. In daylight Jurgen -adored her, but with no feeling of intimacy. Very rarely did -occasion serve for them to be actually alone in the day time. Once -or twice, though, he kissed her in open sunlight: and then her eyes -were melting but wary, and the whole affair was rather flat. She did -not repulse him: but she stayed a princess, appreciative of her -station, and seemed not at all the invisible person who talked with -him at night in the Hall of Judgment. - -Presently, by common consent, they began to avoid each other by -daylight. Indeed, the time of the Princess was now pre-occupied: for -now had come into Glathion a ship with saffron colored sails, and -having for its figure-head a dragon that was painted with thirty -colors. Such was the ship which brought Messire Merlin Ambrosius and -Dame Anaitis, the Lady of the Lake, with a great retinue, to fetch -young Guenevere to London, where she was to be married to King -Arthur. - -First there was a week of feasting and tourneys and high mirth of -every kind. Now the trumpets blared, and upon a scaffolding that was -gay with pennons and smart tapestries King Gogyrvan sat nodding and -blinking in his brightest raiment, to judge who did the best: and -into the field came joyously a press of dukes and earls and barons -and many famous knights, to contend for honor and a trumpery chaplet -of pearls. - -Jurgen shrugged, and honored custom. The Duke of Logreus acquitted -himself with credit in the opening tournament, unhorsing Sir Dodinas -le Sauvage, Earl Roth of Meliot, Sir Epinogris, and Sir Hector de -Maris: then Earl Damas of Listenise smote like a whirlwind, and -Jurgen slid contentedly down the tail of his fine horse. His part in -the tournament was ended, and he was heartily glad of it. He -preferred to contemplate rather than share in such festivities: and -he now followed his bent with a most exquisite misery, because he -considered that never had any other poet occupied a situation more -picturesque. - -By day he was the Duke of Logreus, which in itself was a notable -advance upon pawnbroking: after nightfall he discounted the peculiar -privileges of a king. It was the secrecy, the deluding of everybody, -which he especially enjoyed: and in the thought of what a monstrous -clever fellow was Jurgen, he almost lost sight of the fact that he -was miserable over the impending marriage of the lady he loved. - -Once or twice he caught the tail-end of a glance from Gogyrvan's -bright old eye. Jurgen by this time abhorred Gogyrvan, as a person -of abominably unjust dealings. - -"To take no better care of his own daughter," Jurgen considered, "is -infamous. The man is neglecting his duties as a father, and to do -that is not fair." - - - - -16. - -Divers Imbroglios of King Smoit - - -Now it befell that for three nights in succession the Princess -Guenevere was unable to converse with Jurgen in the Hall of -Judgment. So upon one of these disengaged evenings Duke Jurgen held -a carouse with Aribert and Urien, two of Gogyrvan's barons, who had -just returned from Pengwaed-Gir, and had queer tales to narrate of -the Trooping Fairies who garrison that place. - -All three were seasoned topers, so Jurgen went to bed prepared for -anything. Later he sat up in bed, and found it was much as he had -suspected. The room was haunted, and at the foot of his couch were -two ghosts: one an impudent-looking leering phantom, in a suit of -old-fashioned armor, and the other a beautiful pale lady, in the -customary flowing white draperies. - -"Good-morning to you both," says Jurgen, "and sorry am I that I -cannot truthfully observe I am glad to see you. Though you are -welcome enough if you can manage to haunt the room quietly." Then, -seeing that both phantoms looked puzzled, Jurgen proceeded to -explain. "Last year, when I was traveling upon business in -Westphalia, it was my grief to spend a night in the haunted castle -of Neuedesberg, for I could not get any sleep at all in that place. -There was a ghost in charge who persisted in rattling very large -iron chains and in groaning dismally throughout the night. Then -toward morning he took the form of a monstrous cat, and climbed upon -the foot of my bed: and there he squatted yowling until daybreak. -And as I am ignorant of German, I was not able to convey to him any -idea of my disapproval of his conduct. Now I trust that as -compatriots, or as I might say with more exactness, as former -compatriots, you will appreciate that such behavior is out of all -reason." - -"Messire," says the male ghost, and he oozed to his full height, -"you are guilty of impertinence in harboring such a suspicion. I can -only hope it proceeds from ignorance." - -"For I am sure," put in the lady, "that I always disliked cats, and -we never had them about the castle." - -"And you must pardon my frankness, messire," continued the male -ghost, "but you cannot have moved widely in noble company if you are -indeed unable to distinguish between members of the feline species -and of the reigning family of Glathion." - -"Well, I have seen dowager queens who justified some such -confusion," observed Jurgen. "Still, I entreat the forgiveness of -both of you, for I had no idea that I was addressing royalty." - -"I was King Smoit," explained the male phantom, "and this was my -ninth wife, Queen Sylvia Tereu." - -Jurgen bowed as gracefully, he flattered himself, as was possible in -his circumstances. It is not easy to bow gracefully while sitting -erect in bed. - -"Often and over again have I heard of you, King Smoit," says Jurgen. -"You were the grandfather of Gogyrvan Gawr, and you murdered your -ninth wife, and your eighth wife, and your fifth wife, and your -third wife too: and you went under the title of the Black King, for -you were reputed the wickedest monarch that ever reigned in Glathion -and the Red Islands." - -It seemed to Jurgen that King Smoit evinced embarrassment, but it is -hard to be quite certain when a ghost is blushing. "Perhaps I was -spoken of in some such terms," says Smoit, "for the neighbors were -censorious gossips, and I was not lucky in my marriages. And I -regret, I bitterly regret, to confess that, in a moment of extreme -yet not quite unprovoked excitement, I assassinated the lady whom -you now behold." - -"And I am sure, through no fault of mine," says Sylvia Tereu. - -"Certainly, my dear, you resisted with all your might. I only wish -that you had been a larger and a brawnier woman. But you, messire, -can now perceive, I suppose, the folly of expecting a high King of -Glathion, and the queen that he took delight in, to sit upon your -bed and howl?" - -So then, upon reflection, Jurgen admitted he had never had that -experience; nor, he handsomely added, could he recall any similar -incident among his friends. - -"The notion is certainly preposterous," went on King Smoit, and very -grimly he smiled. "We are drawn hither by quite other intentions. In -fact, we wish to ask of you, as a member of the family, your -assistance in a delicate affair." - -"I would be delighted," Jurgen stated, "to aid you in any possible -way. But why do you call me a member of the family?" - -"Now, to deal frankly," says Smoit, with a grin, "I am not claiming -any alliance with the Duke of Logreus--" - -"Sometimes," says Jurgen, "one prefers to travel incognito. As a -king, you ought to understand that." - ---"My interest is rather in the grandson of Steinvor. Now you will -remember your grandmother Steinvor as, I do not doubt, a charming -old lady. But I remember Steinvor, the wife of Ludwig, as one of the -loveliest girls that a king's eyes ever lighted on." - -"Oh, sir," says Jurgen, horrified, "and what is this you are telling -me!" - -"Merely that I had always an affectionate nature," replied King -Smoit, "and that I was a fine upstanding young king in those days. -And one of the results of my being these things was your father, -whom men called Coth the son of Ludwig. But I can assure you Ludwig -had done nothing to deserve it." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen: "all this is very scandalous: and very -upsetting, too, it is to have a brand-new grandfather foisted upon -you at this hour of the morning. Still, it happened a great while -ago: and if Ludwig did not fret over it, I see no reason why I -should do so. And besides, King Smoit, it may be that you are not -telling me the truth." - -"If you doubt my confession, messire my grandson, you have only to -look into the next mirror. It is precisely on this account that we -have ventured to dispel your slumbers. For to me you bear a striking -resemblance. You have the family face." - -Now Jurgen considered the lineaments of King Smoit of Glathion. -"Really," said Jurgen, "of course it is very flattering to be told -that your appearance is regal. I do not at all know what to say in -reply to the implied compliment, without seeming uncivil. I would -never for a moment question that you were much admired in your day, -sir, and no doubt very justly so. None the less--well, my nose, now, -from such glimpses of it as mirrors have hitherto afforded, does not -appear to be a snub-nose." - -"Ah, but appearances are proverbially deceitful," observed King -Smoit. - -"And about the left hand corner," protested Queen Sylvia Tereu, "I -detect a distinct resemblance." - -"Now I may seem unduly obtuse," said Jurgen, "for I am a little -obtuse. It is a habit with me, a very bad habit formed in early -infancy, and I have never been able to break myself of it. And so I -have not any notion at what you two are aiming." - -Replied the ghost of King Smoit: "I will explain. Just sixty-three -years ago to-night I murdered my ninth wife in circumstances of -peculiar brutality, as you with rather questionable taste have -mentioned." - -Then Jurgen was somewhat abashed, and felt that it did not become him, -who had so recently cut off the head of his own wife, to assume the airs -of a precisian. "Of course," says Jurgen, more broad-mindedly, "these -little family differences are always apt to occur in married life." - -"So be it! Though, by the so-and-sos of Ursula's eleven thousand -traveling companions, there was a time wherein I would not have -brooked such criticism. Ah, well, that time is overpast, and I am a -bloodless thing that the wind sweeps at the wind's will through -lands in which but yesterday King Smoit was dreaded. So I let that -which has been be." - -"Well, that seems reasonable," said Jurgen, "and to be a trifle -rhetorical is the privilege of grandfathers. Therefore I entreat -you, sir, to continue." - -"Two years afterward I followed the Emperor Locrine in his -expedition against the Suevetii, an evil and luxurious people who -worship Gozarin peculiarly, by means of little boats. I must tell -you, grandson, that was a goodly raid, conducted by a band of tidy -fighters in a land of wealth and of fine women. But alack, as the -saying is, in our return from Osnach my loved general Locrine was -captured by that arch-fiend Duke Corineus of Cornwall: and I, among -many others who had followed the Emperor, paid for our merry -larcenies and throat-cuttings a very bitter price. Corineus was not -at all broadminded, not what you would call a man of the world. So -it was in a noisome dungeon that I was incarcerated,--I, Smoit of -Glathion, who conquered Enisgarth and Sargyll in open battle and -fearlessly married the heiress of Camwy! But I spare you the -unpleasant details. It suffices to say that I was dissatisfied with -my quarters. Yet fain to leave them as I became, there was but one -way. It involved the slaying of my gaoler, a step which was, I -confess, to me distasteful. I was getting on in life, and had grown -tired of killing people. Yet, to mature deliberation, the life of a -graceless varlet, void of all gentleness and with no bowels of -compassion, and deaf to suggestions of bribery, appeared of no -overwhelming importance." - -"I can readily imagine, grandfather, that you were not deeply -interested in either the nature or the anatomy of your gaoler. So -you did what was unavoidable." - -"Yes, I treacherously slew him, and escaped in an impenetrable -disguise to Glathion, where not long afterward I died. My dying -just then was most annoying, for I was on the point of being married, -and she was a remarkably attractive girl,--King Tyrnog's daughter, -from Craintnor way. She would have been my thirteenth wife. And not -a week before the ceremony I tripped and fell down my own castle -steps, and broke my neck. It was a humiliating end for one who had -been a warrior of considerable repute. Upon my word, it made me think -there might be something, after all, in those old superstitions about -thirteen being an unlucky number. But what was I saying?--oh, yes! -It is also unlucky to be careless about one's murders. You will -readily understand that for one or two such affairs I am condemned -yearly to haunt the scene of my crime on its anniversary: such -an arrangement is fair enough, and I make no complaint, though of -course it does rather break into the evening. But it happened that -I treacherously slew my gaoler with a large cobble-stone on the -fifteenth of June. Now the unfortunate part, the really awkward -feature, was that this was to an hour the anniversary of the death -of my ninth wife." - -"And you murdering insignificant strangers on such a day!" said -Queen Sylvia. "You climbing out of jail windows figged out as a lady -abbess, on an anniversary you ought to have kept on your knees in -unavailing repentance! But you were a hard man, Smoit, and it was -little loving courtesy you showed your wife at a time when she might -reasonably look to be remembered, and that is a fact." - -"My dear, I admit it was heedless of me. I could not possibly say -more. At any rate, grandson, I discovered after my decease that such -heedlessness entailed my haunting on every fifteenth of June at -three in the morning two separate places." - -"Well, but that was justice," says Jurgen. - -"It may have been justice," Smoit admitted: "but my point is that -it happened to be impossible. However, I was aided by my -great-great-grandfather Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief. -He too had the family face; and in every way resembled me so -closely that he impersonated me to everyone's entire satisfaction; -and with my wife's assistance re-enacted my disastrous crime upon -the scene of its occurrence, June after June." - -"Indeed," said Queen Sylvia, "he handled his sword infinitely better -than you, my dear. It was a thrilling pleasure to be murdered by -Penpingon Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief, and I shall always regret -him." - -"For you must understand, grandson, that the term of King Penpingon -Vreichvras ap Mylwald Glasanief's stay in Purgatory has now run out, -and he has recently gone to Heaven. That was pleasant for him, I -dare say, so I do not complain. Still, it leaves me with no one to -take my place. Angels, as you will readily understand, are not -permitted to perpetrate murders, even in the way of kindness. It -might be thought to establish a dangerous precedent." - -"All this," said Jurgen, "seems regrettable, but not strikingly -explicit. I have a heart and a half to serve you, sir, with not -seven-eighths of a notion as to what you want of me. Come, put a -name to it!" - -"You have, as I have said, the family face. You are, in fact, the -living counterpart of Smoit of Glathion. So I beseech you, messire -my grandson, for this one night to impersonate my ghost, and with -the assistance of Queen Sylvia Tereu to see that at three o'clock -the White Turret is haunted to everyone's satisfaction. Otherwise," -said Smoit, gloomily, "the consequences will be deplorable." - -"But I have had no experience at haunting," Jurgen confessed. "It is -a pursuit in which I do not pretend to competence: and I do not even -know just how one goes about it." - -"That matter is simple, although mysterious preliminaries will be, -of course, necessitated, in order to convert a living person into a -ghost--" - -"The usual preliminaries, sir, are out of the question: and I must -positively decline to be stabbed or poisoned or anything of that -kind, even to humor my grandfather." - -Both Smoit and Sylvia protested that any such radical step would be -superfluous, since Jurgen's ghostship was to be transient. In fact, -all Jurgen would have to do would be to drain the embossed goblet -which Sylvia Tereu held out to him, with Druidical invocations. - -And for a moment Jurgen hesitated. The whole business seemed rather -improbable. Still, the ties of kin are strong, and it is not often -one gets the chance to aid, however slightly, one's long-dead -grandfather: besides, the potion smelt very invitingly. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." Then -Jurgen drank. - -The flavor was excellent. Yet the drink seemed not to affect Jurgen, -at first. Then he began to feel a trifle light-headed. Next he -looked downward, and was surprised to notice there was nobody in his -bed. Closer investigation revealed the shadowy outline of a human -figure, through which the bedclothing had collapsed. This, he -decided, was all that was left of Jurgen. And it gave him a queer -sensation. Jurgen jumped like a startled horse, and so violently -that he flew out of bed, and found himself floating imponderably -about the room. - -Now Jurgen recognized the feeling perfectly. He had often had it in -his sleep, in dreams wherein he would bend his legs at the knees so -that his feet came up behind him, and he would pass through the air -without any effort. Then it seemed ridiculously simple, and he would -wonder why he never thought of it before. And then he would reflect: -"This is an excellent way of getting around. I will come to -breakfast this way in the morning, and show Lisa how simple it is. -How it will astonish her, to be sure, and how clever she will think -me!" And then Jurgen would wake up, and find that somehow he had -forgotten the trick of it. - -But just now this manner of locomotion was undeniably easy. So -Jurgen floated around his bed once or twice, then to the ceiling, -for practice. Through inexperience, he miscalculated the necessary -force, and popped through into the room above, where he found -himself hovering immediately over the Bishop of Merion. His eminence -was not alone, but as both occupants of the apartment were asleep, -Jurgen witnessed nothing unepiscopal. Now Jurgen rejoined his -grandfather, and girded on charmed Caliburn, and demanded what must -next be done. - -"The assassination will take place in the White Turret, as usual. -Queen Sylvia will instruct you in the details. You can invent most -of the affair, however, as the Lady of the Lake, who occupies this -room to-night, is very probably unacquainted with our terrible -history." - -Then King Smoit observed that it was high time he kept his -appointment in Cornwall, and he melted into air, with an easy -confidence that bespoke long practise: and Jurgen followed Queen -Sylvia Tereu. - - - - -17. - -About a Cock That Crowed Too Soon - - -Next the tale tells of how Jurgen and the ghost of Queen Sylvia -Tereu came into the White Turret. The Lady of the Lake was in bed: -she slept unaccompanied, as Jurgen noted with approval, for he -wished to intrude upon no more tete-a-tetes. And Dame Anaitis did -not at first awake. - -Now this was a gloomy and high-paneled apartment, with exactly the -traditional amount of moonlight streaming through two windows. Any -ghost, even an apprentice, could have acquitted himself with credit -in such surroundings, and Jurgen thought he did extremely well. He -was atavistically brutal, and to improvise the accompanying dialogue -he did not find difficult. So everything went smoothly, and with -such spirit that Anaitis was presently wakened by Queen Sylvia's -very moving wails for mercy, and sat erect in bed, as though a -little startled. Then the Lady of the Lake leaned back among the -pillows, and witnessed the remainder of the terrible scene with -remarkable self-possession. - -So it was that the tragedy swelled to its appalling climax, and -subsided handsomely. With the aid of Caliburn, Jurgen had murdered -his temporary wife. He had dragged her insensate body across the -floor, by the hair of her head, and had carefully remembered first -to put her comb in his pocket, as Queen Sylvia had requested, so -that it would not be lost. He had given vent to several fiendish -"Ha-ha's" and all the old high imprecations he remembered: and in -short, everything had gone splendidly when he left the White Turret -with a sense of self-approval and Queen Sylvia Tereu. - -The two of them paused in the winding stairway; and in the darkness, -after he had restored her comb, the Queen was telling Jurgen how -sorry she was to part with him. - -"For it is back to the cold grave I must be going now, Messire -Jurgen, and to the tall flames of Purgatory: and it may be that I -shall not ever see you any more." - -"I shall regret the circumstance, madame," says Jurgen, "for you are -the loveliest person I have ever seen." - -The Queen was pleased. "That is a delightfully boyish speech, and -one can see it comes from the heart. I only wish that I could meet -with such unsophisticated persons in my present abode. Instead, I am -herded with battered sinners who have no heart, who are not frank -and outspoken about anything, and I detest their affectations." - -"Ah, then you are not happy with your husband, Sylvia? I suspected -as much." - -"I see very little of Smoit. It is true he has eight other wives all -resident in the same flame, and cannot well show any partiality. Two -of his Queens, though, went straight to Heaven: and his eighth wife, -Gudrun, we are compelled to fear, must have been an unrepentant -sinner, for she has never reached Purgatory. But I always distrusted -Gudrun, myself: otherwise I would never have suggested to Smoit that -he have her strangled in order to make me his queen. You see, I -thought it a fine thing to be a queen, in those days, Jurgen, when I -was an artless slip of a girl. And Smoit was all honey and perfume -and velvet, in those days, Jurgen, and little did I suspect the -cruel fate that was to befall me." - -"Indeed, it is a sad thing, Sylvia, to be murdered by the hand -which, so to speak, is sworn to keep an eye on your welfare, and -which rightfully should serve you on its knees." - -"It was not that I minded. Smoit killed me in a fit of jealousy, and -jealousy is in its blundering way a compliment. No, a worse thing -than that befell me, Jurgen, and embittered all my life in the -flesh." And Sylvia began to weep. - -"And what was that thing, Sylvia?" - -Queen Sylvia whispered the terrible truth. "My husband did not -understand me." - -"Now, by Heaven," says Jurgen, "when a woman tells me that, even -though the woman be dead, I know what it is she expects of me." - -So Jurgen put his arm about the ghost of Queen Sylvia Tereu, and -comforted her. Then, finding her quite willing to be comforted, -Jurgen sat for a while upon the dark steps, with one arm still about -Queen Sylvia. The effect of the potion had evidently worn off, -because Jurgen found himself to be composed no longer of cool -imponderable vapor, but of the warmest and hardest sort of flesh -everywhere. But probably the effect of the wine which Jurgen had -drunk earlier in the evening had not worn off: for now Jurgen began -to talk wildishly in the dark, about the necessity of his, in some -way, avenging the injury inflicted upon his nominal grandfather, -Ludwig, and Jurgen drew his sword, charmed Caliburn. - -"For, as you perceive," said Jurgen, "I carry such weapons as are -sufficient for all ordinary encounters. And am I not to use them, to -requite King Smoit for the injustice he did poor Ludwig? Why, -certainly I must. It is my duty." - -"Ah, but Smoit by this is back in Purgatory," Queen Sylvia -protested, "And to draw your sword against a woman is cowardly." - -"The avenging sword of Jurgen, my charming Sylvia, is the terror of -envious men, but it is the comfort of all pretty women." - -"It is undoubtedly a very large sword," said she: "oh, a magnificent -sword, as I can perceive even in the dark. But Smoit, I repeat, is -not here to measure weapons with you." - -"Now your arguments irritate me, whereas an honest woman would see -to it that all the legacies of her dead husband were duly -satisfied--" - -"Oh, oh! and what do you mean--?" - -"Well, but certainly a grandson is--at one remove, I grant you,--a -sort of legacy." - -"There is something in what you advance--" - -"There is a great deal in what I advance, I can assure you. It is -the most natural and most penetrating kind of logic; and I wish -merely to discharge a duty--" - -"But you upset me, with that big sword of yours, you make me -nervous, and I cannot argue so long as you are flourishing it about. -Come now, put up your sword! Oh, what is anybody to do with you! -Here is the sheath for your sword," says she. - -At this point they were interrupted. - -"Duke of Logreus," says the voice of Dame Anaitis, "do you not think -it would be better to retire, before such antics at the door of my -bedroom give rise to a scandal?" - -For Anaitis had half-opened the door of her bedroom, and with a lamp -in her hand, was peering out into the narrow stairway. Jurgen was a -little embarrassed, for his apparent intimacy with a lady who had -been dead for sixty-three years would be, he felt, a matter -difficult to explain. So Jurgen rose to his feet, and hastily put up -the weapon he had exhibited to Queen Sylvia, and decided to pass -airily over the whole affair. And outside, a cock crowed, for it was -now dawn. - -"I bid you a good morning, Dame Anaitis," said Jurgen. "But the -stairways hereabouts are confusing, and I must have lost my way. I -was going for a stroll. This is my distant relative Queen Sylvia -Tereu, who kindly offered to accompany me. We were going out to -gather mushrooms and to watch the sunrise, you conceive." - -"Messire de Logreus, I think you had far better go back to bed." - -"To the contrary, madame, it is my manifest duty to serve as Queen -Sylvia's escort--" - -"For all that, messire, I do not see any Queen Sylvia." - -Jurgen looked about him. And certainly his grandfather's ninth wife -was no longer visible. "Yes, she has vanished. But that was to be -expected at cockcrow. Still, that cock crew just at the wrong -moment," said Jurgen, ruefully. "It was not fair." - -And Dame Anaitis said: "Gogyrvan's cellar is well stocked: and you -sat late with Urien and Aribert: and doubtless they also were lucky -enough to discover a queen or two in Gogyrvan's cellar. No less, I -think you are still a little drunk." - -"Now answer me this, Dame Anaitis: were you not visited by two -ghosts to-night?" - -"Why, that is as it may be," she replied: "but the White Turret is -notoriously haunted, and it is few quiet nights I have passed there, -for Gogyrvan's people were a bad lot." - -"Upon my word," wonders Jurgen, "what manner of person is this Dame -Anaitis, who remains unstirred by such a brutal murder as I have -committed, and makes no more of ghosts than I would of moths? I have -heard she is an enchantress, I am sure she is a fine figure of a -woman: and in short, here is a matter which would repay looking -into, were not young Guenevere the mistress of my heart." - -Aloud he said: "Perhaps then I am drunk, madame. None the less, I -still think the cock crew just at the wrong moment." - -"Some day you must explain the meaning of that," says she. -"Meanwhile I am going back to bed, and I again advise you to do the -same." - -Then the door closed, the bolt fell, and Jurgen went away, still in -considerable excitement. - -"This Dame Anaitis is an interesting personality," he reflected, -"and it would be a pleasure, now, to demonstrate to her my grievance -against the cock, did occasion serve. Well, things less likely than -that have happened. Then, too, she came upon me when my sword was -out, and in consequence knows I wield a respectable weapon. She may -feel the need of a good swordsman some day, this handsome Lady of -the Lake who has no husband. So let us cultivate patience. -Meanwhile, it appears that I am of royal blood. Well, I fancy there -is something in the scandal, for I detect in me a deal in common -with this King Smoit. Twelve wives, though! no, that is too many. I -would limit no man's liaisons, but twelve wives in lawful matrimony -bespeaks an optimism unknown to me. No, I do not think I am drunk: -but it is unquestionable that I am not walking very straight. -Certainly, too, we did drink a great deal. So I had best go quietly -back to bed, and say nothing more about to-night's doings." - -As much he did. And this was the first time that Jurgen, who had -been a pawnbroker, held any discourse with Dame Anaitis, whom men -called the Lady of the Lake. - - - - -18. - -Why Merlin Talked in Twilight - - -It was two days later that Jurgen was sent for by Merlin Ambrosius. -The Duke of Logreus came to the magician in twilight, for the -windows of this room were covered with sheets which shut out the -full radiance of day. Everything in the room was thus visible in a -diffused and tempered light that cast no shadows. In his hand Merlin -held a small mirror, about three inches square, from which he raised -his dark eyes puzzlingly. - -"I have been talking to my fellow ambassador, Dame Anaitis: and I -have been wondering, Messire de Logreus, if you have ever reared -white pigeons." - -Jurgen looked at the little mirror. "There was a woman of the Leshy -who not long ago showed me an employment to which one might put the -blood of white pigeons. She too used such a mirror. I saw what -followed, but I must tell you candidly that I understood nothing of -the ins and outs of the affair." - -Merlin nodded. "I suspected something of the sort. So I elected to -talk with you in a room wherein, as you perceive, there are no -shadows." - -"Now, upon my word," says Jurgen, "but here at last is somebody who -can see my attendant! Why is it, pray, that no one else can do so?" - -"It was my own shadow which drew my notice to your follower. For I, -too, have had a shadow given me. It was the gift of my father, of -whom you have probably heard." - -It was Jurgen's turn to nod. Everybody knew who had begotten Merlin -Ambrosius, and sensible persons preferred not to talk of the matter. -Then Merlin went on to speak of the traffic between Merlin and -Merlin's shadow. - -"Thus and thus," says Merlin, "I humor my shadow. And thus and thus -my shadow serves me. There is give-and-take, such as is requisite -everywhere." - -"I understand," says Jurgen: "but has no other person ever perceived -this shadow of yours?" - -"Once only, when for a while my shadow deserted me," Merlin replied. -"It was on a Sunday my shadow left me, so that I walked unattended -in naked sunlight: for my shadow was embracing the church-steeple, -where church-goers knelt beneath him. The church-goers were -obscurely troubled without suspecting why, for they looked only at -each other. The priest and I alone saw him quite clearly,--the -priest because this thing was evil, and I because this thing was -mine." - -"Well, now I wonder what did the priest say to your bold shadow?" - -"'But you must go away!'--and the priest spoke without any fear. Why -is it they seem always without fear, those dull and calm-eyed -priests? 'Such conduct is unseemly. For this is High God's house, -and far-off peoples are admonished by its steadfast spire, pointing -always heavenward, that the place is holy,' said the priest. And my -shadow answered, 'But I only know that steeples are of phallic -origin.' And my shadow wept, wept ludicrously, clinging to the -steeple where church-goers knelt beneath him." - -"Now, and indeed that must have been disconcerting, Messire Merlin. -Still, as you got your shadow back again, there was no great harm -done. But why is it that such attendants follow some men while other -men are permitted to live in decent solitude? It does not seem quite -fair." - -"Perhaps I could explain it to you, friend, but certainly I shall not. -You know too much as it is. For you appear in that bright garment of -yours to have come from a land and a time which even I, who am a skilled -magician, can only cloudily foresee, and cannot understand at all. What -puzzles me, however"--and Merlin's fore-finger shot out. "How many feet -had the first wearer of your shirt? and were you ever an old man?" says -he. - -"Well, four, and I was getting on," says Jurgen. - -"And I did not guess! But certainly that is it,--an old poet loaned -at once a young man's body and the Centaur's shirt. Aderes has -loosed a new jest into the world, for her own reasons--" - -"But you have things backwards. It was Sereda whom I cajoled so -nicely." - -"Names that are given by men amount to very little in a case like -this. The shadow which follows you I recognize--and revere--as the -gift of Aderes, a dreadful Mother of small Gods. No doubt she has a -host of other names. And you cajoled her, you consider! I would not -willingly walk in the shirt of any person who considers that. But -she will enlighten you, my friend, at her appointed time." - -"Well, so that she deals justly--" Jurgen said, and shrugged. - -Now Merlin put aside the mirror. "Meanwhile it was another matter -entirely that Dame Anaitis and I discussed, and about which I wished -to be speaking with you. Gogyrvan is sending to King Arthur, along -with Gogyrvan's daughter, that Round Table which Uther Pendragon -gave Gogyrvan, and a hundred knights to fill the sieges of this -table. Gogyrvan, who, with due respect, possesses a deplorable sense -of humor, has numbered you among these knights. Now it is rumored -the Princess is given to conversing a great deal with you in -private, and Arthur has never approved of garrulity. So I warn you -that for you to come with us to London would not be convenient." - -"I hardly think so, either," said Jurgen, with appropriate -melancholy; "for me to pursue the affair any further would only -result in marring what otherwise will always be a perfect memory of -divers very pleasant conversations." - -"Old poet, you are well advised," said Merlin,--"especially now that -the little princess whom we know is about to enter queenhood and -become a symbol. I am sorry for her, for she will be worshipped as a -revelation of Heaven's splendor, and being flesh and blood, she will -not like it. And it is to no effect I have forewarned King Arthur, -for that must happen which will always happen so long as wisdom is -impotent against human stupidity. So wisdom can but make the best of -it, and be content to face the facts of a great mystery." - -Thereupon, Merlin arose, and lifted the tapestry behind him, so that -Jurgen could see what hitherto this tapestry had screened. - - * * * * * - -"You have embarrassed me horribly," said Jurgen, "and I can feel -that I am still blushing, about the ankles. Well, I was wrong: so -let us say no more concerning it." - -"I wished to show you," Merlin returned, "that I know what I am -talking about. However, my present purpose is to put Guenevere out -of your head: for in your heart I think she never was, old poet, who -go so modestly in the Centaur's shirt. Come, tell me now! and does -the thought of her approaching marriage really disturb you?" - -"I am the unhappiest man that breathes," said Jurgen, with unction. -"All night I lie awake in my tumbled bed, and think of the miserable -day which is past, and of what is to happen in that equally -miserable day whose dawn I watch with a sick heart. And I cry aloud, -in the immortal words of Apollonius Myronides--" - -"Of whom?" says Merlin. - -"I allude to the author of the _Myrosis_," Jurgen -explained,--"whom so many persons rashly identify with Apollonius -Herophileius." - -"Oh, yes, of course! your quotation is very apt. Why, then your -condition is sad but not incurable. For I am about to give you this -token, with which, if you are bold enough, you will do thus and -thus." - -"But indeed this is a somewhat strange token, and the arms and legs, -and even the head, of this little man are remarkably alike! Well, -and you tell me thus and thus. But how does it happen, Messire -Merlin, that you have never used this token in the fashion you -suggest to me?" - -"Because I was afraid. You forget I am only a magician, whose -conjuring raises nothing more formidable than devils. But this is a -bit of the Old Magic that is no longer understood, and I prefer not -to meddle with it. You, to the contrary, are a poet, and the Old -Magic was always favorable to poets." - -"Well, I will think about it," says Jurgen, "if this will really put -Dame Guenevere out of my head." - -"Be assured it will do that," said Merlin. "For with reason does the -_Dirghagama_ declare, 'The brightness of the glowworm cannot be -compared to that of a lamp.'" - -"A very pleasant little work, the _Dirghagama_," said Jurgen, -tolerantly--"though superficial, of course." - -Then Merlin Ambrosius gave Jurgen the token, and some advice. - -So that night Jurgen told Guenevere he would not go in her train to -London. He told her candidly that Merlin was suspicious of their -intercourse. - -"And therefore, in order to protect you and to protect your fame, my -dearest dear," said Jurgen, "it is necessary that I sacrifice myself -and everything I prize in life. I shall suffer very much: but my -consolation will be that I have dealt fairly with you whom I love -with an entire heart, and shall have preserved you through my -misery." - -But Guenevere did not appear to notice how noble this was of Jurgen. -Instead, she wept very softly, in a heartbroken way that Jurgen -found unbearable. - -"For no man, whether emperor or peasant," says the Princess, "has -ever been loved more dearly or faithfully or more wholly without any -reserve or forethought than you, my dearest, have been loved by me. -All that I had I have given you. All that I had you have taken, -consuming it. So now you leave me with not anything more to give -you, not even any anger or contempt, now that you turn me adrift, -for there is nothing in me anywhere save love of you, who are -unworthy." - -"But I die many deaths," said Jurgen, "when you speak thus to me." -And in point of fact, he did feel rather uncomfortable. - -"I speak the truth, though. You have had all: and so you are a -little weary, and perhaps a little afraid of what may happen if you -do not break off with me." - -"Now you misjudge me, darling--" - -"No, I do not misjudge you, Jurgen. Instead, for the first time I -judge both of us. You I forgive, because I love you, but myself I do -not forgive, and I cannot ever forgive, for having been a -spendthrift fool." - -And Jurgen found such talking uncomfortable and tedious and very -unfair to him. "For there is nothing I can do to help matters," says -Jurgen. "Why, what could anybody possibly expect me to do about it? -And so why not be happy while we may? It is not as though we had any -time to waste." - -For this was the last night but one before the day that was set for -Guenevere's departure. - - - - -19. - -The Brown Man with Queer Feet - - -Early in the following morning Jurgen left Cameliard, traveling -toward Carohaise, and went into the Druid forest there, and followed -Merlin's instructions. - -"Not that I for a moment believe in such nonsense," said Jurgen: -"but it will be amusing to see what comes of this business, and it -is unjust to deny even nonsense a fair trial." - -So he presently observed a sun-browned brawny fellow, who sat upon -the bank of a stream, dabbling his feet in the water, and making -music with a pipe constructed of seven reeds of irregular lengths. -To him Jurgen displayed, in such a manner as Merlin had prescribed, -the token which Merlin had given. The man made a peculiar sign, and -rose. Jurgen saw that this man's feet were unusual. - -Jurgen bowed low, and he said, as Merlin had bidden: "Now praise be -to thee, thou lord of the two truths! I have come to thee, O most -wise, that I may learn thy secret. I would know thee, and would know -the forty-two mighty ones who dwell with thee in the hall of the two -truths, and who are nourished by evil-doers, and who partake of -wicked blood each day of the reckoning before Wennofree. I would -know thee for what thou art." - -The brown man answered: "I am everything that was and that is to be. -Never has any mortal been able to discover what I am." - -Then this brown man conducted Jurgen to an open glen, at the heart -of the forest. - -"Merlin dared not come himself, because," observed the brown man, -"Merlin is wise. But you are a poet. So you will presently forget -that which you are about to see, or at worst you will tell pleasant -lies about it, particularly to yourself." - -"I do not know about that," says Jurgen, "but I am willing to taste -any drink once. What are you about to show me?" - -The brown man answered: "All." - -So it was near evening when they came out of the glen. It was dark -now, for a storm had risen. The brown man was smiling, and Jurgen -was in a flutter. - -"It is not true," Jurgen protested. "What you have shown me is a -pack of nonsense. It is the degraded lunacy of a so-called Realist. -It is sorcery and pure childishness and abominable blasphemy. It is, -in a word, something I do not choose to believe. You ought to be -ashamed of yourself!" - -"Even so, you do believe me, Jurgen." - -"I believe that you are an honest man and that I am your cousin: so -there are two more lies for you." - -The brown man said, still smiling: "Yes, you are certainly a poet, -you who have borrowed the apparel of my cousin. For you come out of -my glen, and from my candor, as sane as when you entered. That is -not saying much, to be sure, in praise of a poet's sanity at any -time. But Merlin would have died, and Merlin would have died without -regret, if Merlin had seen what you have seen, because Merlin -receives facts reasonably." - -"Facts! sanity! and reason!" Jurgen raged: "why, but what nonsense -you are talking! Were there a bit of truth in your silly puppetry -this world of time and space and consciousness would be a bubble, a -bubble which contained the sun and moon and the high stars, and -still was but a bubble in fermenting swill! I must go cleanse my -mind of all this foulness. You would have me believe that men, that -all men who have ever lived or shall ever live hereafter, that even -I am of no importance! Why, there would be no justice in any such -arrangement, no justice anywhere!" - -"That vexed you, did it not? It vexes me at times, even me, who -under Koshchei's will alone am changeless." - -"I do not know about your variability: but I stick to my opinion -about your veracity," says Jurgen, for all that he was upon the -verge of hysteria. "Yes, if lies could choke people that shaggy -throat would certainly be sore." - -Then the brown man stamped his foot, and the striking of his foot -upon the moss made a new noise such as Jurgen had never heard: for -the noise seemed to come multitudinously from every side, at first -as though each leaf in the forest were tinily cachinnating; and then -this noise was swelled by the mirth of larger creatures, and echoes -played with this noise, until there was a reverberation everywhere -like that of thunder. The earth moved under their feet very much as -a beast twitches its skin under the annoyance of flies. Another -queer thing Jurgen noticed, and it was that the trees about the glen -had writhed and arched their trunks, and so had bended, much as -candles bend in very hot weather, to lay their topmost foliage at -the feet of the brown man. And the brown man's appearance was -changed as he stood there, terrible in a continuous brown glare from -the low-hanging clouds, and with the forest making obeisance, and -with shivering and laughter everywhere. - -"Make answer, you who chatter about justice! how if I slew you now," -says the brown man,--"I being what I am?" - -"Slay me, then!" says Jurgen, with shut eyes, for he did not at all -like the appearance of things. "Yes, you can kill me if you choose, -but it is beyond your power to make me believe that there is no -justice anywhere, and that I am unimportant. For I would have you -know I am a monstrous clever fellow. As for you, you are either a -delusion or a god or a degraded Realist. But whatever you are, you -have lied to me, and I know that you have lied, and I will not -believe in the insignificance of Jurgen." - -Chillingly came the whisper of the brown man: "Poor fool! O -shuddering, stiff-necked fool! and have you not just seen that which -you may not ever quite forget?" - -"None the less, I think there is something in me which will endure. -I am fettered by cowardice, I am enfeebled by disastrous memories; -and I am maimed by old follies. Still, I seem to detect in myself -something which is permanent and rather fine. Underneath everything, -and in spite of everything, I really do seem to detect that -something. What role that something is to enact after the death of -my body, and upon what stage, I cannot guess. When fortune knocks I -shall open the door. Meanwhile I tell you candidly, you brown man, -there is something in Jurgen far too admirable for any intelligent -arbiter ever to fling into the dustheap. I am, if nothing else, a -monstrous clever fellow: and I think I shall endure, somehow. Yes, -cap in hand goes through the land, as the saying is, and I believe I -can contrive some trick to cheat oblivion when the need arises," -says Jurgen, trembling, and gulping, and with his eyes shut tight, -but even so, with his mind quite made up about it. "Of course you -may be right; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say you are -wrong: but still, at the same time--" - -"Now but before a fool's opinion of himself," the brown man cried, -"the Gods are powerless. Oh, yes, and envious, too!" - -And when Jurgen very cautiously opened his eyes the brown man had -left him physically unharmed. But the state of Jurgen's nervous -system was deplorable. - - - - -20. - -Efficacy of Prayer - - -Jurgen went in a tremble to the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn in -Cameliard. All night Jurgen prayed there, not in repentance, but in -terror. For his dead he prayed, that they should not have been -blotted out in nothingness, for the dead among his kindred whom he -had loved in boyhood, and for these only. About the men and women -whom he had known since then he did not seem to care, or not at -least so vitally. But he put up a sort of prayer for Dame -Lisa--"wherever my dear wife may be, and, O God, grant that I may -come to her at last, and be forgiven!" he wailed, and wondered if he -really meant it. - -He had forgotten about Guenevere. And nobody knows what were that -night the thoughts of the young Princess, nor if she offered any -prayers, in the deserted Hall of Judgment. - -In the morning a sprinkling of persons came to early mass. Jurgen -attended with fervor, and started doorward with the others. Just -before him a merchant stopped to get a pebble from his shoe, and the -merchant's wife went forward to the holy-water font. - -"Madame, permit me," said a handsome young esquire, and offered her -holy water. - -"At eleven," said the merchant's wife, in low tones. "He will be out -all day." - -"My dear," says her husband, as he rejoined her, "and who was the -young gentleman?" - -"Why, I do not know, darling. I never saw him before." - -"He was certainly very civil. I wish there were more like him. And a -fine looking young fellow, too!" - -"Was he? I did not notice," said the merchant's wife, indifferently. - -And Jurgen saw and heard and regarded the departing trio ruefully. -It seemed to him incredible the world should be going on just as it -went before he ventured into the Druid forest. - -He paused before a crucifix, and he knelt and looked up wistfully. -"If one could only know," says Jurgen, "what really happened in -Judea! How immensely would matters be simplified, if anyone but knew -the truth about You, Man upon the Cross!" - -Now the Bishop of Merion passed him, coming from celebration of the -early mass. "My Lord Bishop," says Jurgen, simply, "can you tell me -the truth about this Christ?" - -"Why, indeed, Messire de Logreus," replied the Bishop, "one cannot -but sympathize with Pilate in thinking that the truth about Him is -very hard to get at, even nowadays. Was He Melchisedek, or Shem, or -Adam? or was He verily the Logos? and in that event, what sort of a -something was the Logos? Granted He was a god, were the Arians or -the Sabellians in the right? had He existed always, co-substantial -with the Father and the Holy Spirit, or was He a creation of the -Father, a kind of Israelitic Zagreus? Was He the husband of -Acharamoth, that degraded Sophia, as the Valentinians aver? or the -son of Pantherus, as say the Jews? or Kalakau, as contends -Basilides? or was it, as the Docetes taught, only a tinted cloud in -the shape of a man that went from Jordan to Golgotha? Or were the -Merinthians right? These are a few of the questions, Messire de -Logreus, which naturally arise. And not all of them are to be -settled out of hand." - -Thus speaking, the gallant prelate bowed, then raised three fingers -in benediction, and so quitted Jurgen, who was still kneeling before -the crucifix. - -"Ah, ah!" says Jurgen, to himself, "but what a variety of -interesting problems are, in point of fact, suggested by religion. -And what delectable exercise would the settling of these problems, -once for all, afford the mind of a monstrous clever fellow! Come -now, it might be well for me to enter the priesthood. It may be that -I have a call." - -But people were shouting in the street. So Jurgen rose and dusted -his knees. And as Jurgen came out of the Cathedral of the Sacred -Thorn the cavalcade was passing that bore away Dame Guenevere to the -arms and throne of her appointed husband. Jurgen stood upon the -Cathedral porch, his mind in part pre-occupied by theology, but -still not failing to observe how beautiful was this young princess, -as she rode by on her white palfrey, green-garbed and crowned and -a-glitter with jewels. She was smiling as she passed him, bowing -her small tenderly-colored young countenance this way and that way, -to the shouting people, and not seeing Jurgen at all. - -Thus she went to her bridal, that Guenevere who was the symbol of -all beauty and purity to the chivalrous people of Glathion. The mob -worshipped her; and they spoke as though it were an angel who -passed. - -"Our beautiful young Princess!" - -"Ah, there is none like her anywhere!" - -"And never a harsh word for anyone, they say--!" - -"Oh, but she is the most admirable of ladies--!" - -"And so brave too, that lovely smiling child who is leaving her home -forever!" - -"And so very, very pretty!" - -"--So generous!" - -"King Arthur will be hard put to it to deserve her!" - -Said Jurgen: "Now it is droll that to these truths I have but to add -another truth in order to have large paving-stones flung at her! and -to have myself tumultuously torn into fragments, by those -unpleasantly sweaty persons who, thank Heaven, are no longer -jostling me!" - -For the Cathedral porch had suddenly emptied, because as the -procession passed heralds were scattering silver among the -spectators. - -"Arthur will have a very lovely queen," says a soft lazy voice. - -And Jurgen turned and saw that beside him was Dame Anaitis, whom -people called the Lady of the Lake. - -"Yes, he is greatly to be envied," says Jurgen, politely. "But do -you not ride with them to London?" - -"Why, no," says the Lady of the Lake, "because my part in this -bridal was done when I mixed the stirrup-cup of which the Princess -and young Lancelot drank this morning. He is the son of King Ban of -Benwick, that tall young fellow in blue armor. I am partial to -Lancelot, for I reared him, at the bottom of a lake that belongs to -me, and I consider he does me credit. I also believe that Madame -Guenevere by this time agrees with me. And so, my part being done to -serve my creator, I am off for Cocaigne." - -"And what is this Cocaigne?" - -"It is an island wherein I rule." - -"I did not know you were a queen, madame." - -"Why, indeed there are a many things unknown to you, Messire de -Logreus, in a world where nobody gets any assuredness of knowledge -about anything. For it is a world wherein all men that live have but -a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that -a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure." - -"I believe," said Jurgen, as his thoughts shuddered away from what -he had seen and heard in the Druid forest, "that you speak wisdom." - -"Then in Cocaigne we are all wise: for that is our religion. But of -what are you thinking, Duke of Logreus?" - -"I was thinking," says Jurgen, "that your eyes are unlike the eyes -of any other woman that I have ever seen." - -Smilingly the dark woman asked him wherein they differed, and -smilingly he said he did not know. They were looking at each other -warily. In each glance an experienced gamester acknowledged a worthy -opponent. - -"Why, then you must come with me into Cocaigne," says Anaitis, "and -see if you cannot discover wherein lies that difference. For it is -not a matter I would care to leave unsettled." - -"Well, that seems only just to you," says Jurgen. "Yes, certainly I -must deal fairly with you." - -Then they left the Cathedral of the Sacred Thorn, walking together. -The folk who went toward London were now well out of sight and -hearing, which possibly accounts for the fact that Jurgen was now in -no wise thinking of Guenevere. So it was that Guenevere rode out of -Jurgen's life for a while: and as she rode she talked with Lancelot. - - - - -21. - -How Anaitis Voyaged - - -Now the tale tells that Jurgen and this Lady of the Lake came -presently to the wharves of Cameliard, and went aboard the ship -which had brought Anaitis and Merlin into Glathion. This ship was -now to every appearance deserted: yet all its saffron colored sails -were spread, as though in readiness for the ship's departure. - -"The crew are scrambling, it may be, for the largesse, and fighting -over Gogyrvan's silver pieces," says Anaitis, "but I think they will -not be long in returning. So we will sit here upon the prow, and -await their leisure." - -"But already the vessel moves," says Jurgen, "and I hear behind -us the rattling of silver chains and the flapping of shifted -saffron-colored sails." - -"They are roguish fellows," says Anaitis, smiling. "Evidently, they -hid from us, pretending there was nobody aboard. Now they think to -give us a surprise when the ship sets out to sea as though it were -of itself. But we will disappoint these merry rascals, by seeming to -notice nothing unusual." - -So Jurgen sat with Anaitis in the two tall chairs that were in the -prow of the vessel, under a canopy of crimson stuff embroidered with -gold dragons, and just back of the ship's figurehead, which was a -dragon painted with thirty colors: and the ship moved out of the -harbor, and so into the open sea. Thus they passed Enisgarth. - -"And it is a queer crew that serve you, Anaitis, who are Queen of -Cocaigne: for I can hear them talking, far back of us, and their -language is all a cheeping and a twittering, as though the mice and -the bats were holding conference." - -"Why, you must understand that these are outlanders who speak a -dialect of their own, and are not like any other people you have -ever seen." - -"Indeed, now, that is very probable, for I have seen none of your -crew. Sometimes it is as though small flickerings passed over the -deck, and that is all." - -"It is but the heat waves rising from the deck, for the day is -warmer than you would think, sitting here under this canopy. And -besides, what call have you and I to be bothering over the pranks of -common mariners, so long as they do their proper duty?" - -"I was thinking, O woman with unusual eyes, that these are hardly -common mariners." - -"And I was thinking, Duke Jurgen, that I would tell you a tale of -the Old Gods, to make the time speed more pleasantly as we sit here -untroubled as a god and a goddess." - -Now they had passed Camwy: and Anaitis began to narrate the history -of Anistar and Calmoora and of the unusual concessions they granted -each other, and of how Calmoora contented her five lovers: and -Jurgen found the tale perturbing. - -While Anaitis talked the sky grew dark, as though the sun were -ashamed and veiled his shame with clouds: and they went forward in a -gray twilight which deepened steadily over a tranquil sea. So they -passed the lights of Sargyll, most remote of the Red Islands, while -Anaitis talked of Procris and King Minos and Pasiphae. As color went -out of the air new colors entered into the sea, which now assumed -the varied gleams of water that has long been stagnant. And a -silence brooded over the sea, so that there was no noise anywhere -except the sound of the voice of Anaitis, saying, "All men that live -have but a little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. -So that a man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his -own body; and yet the body of man is capable of much curious -pleasure." - -They came thus to a low-lying naked beach, where there was no sign -of habitation. Anaitis said this was the land they were seeking, and -they went ashore. - -"Even now," says Jurgen, "I have seen none of the crew who brought -us hither." - -And the beautiful dark woman shrugged, and marveled why he need -perpetually be bothering over the doings of common sailors. - -They went forward across the beach, through sand hills, to a moor, -seeing no one, and walking in a gray fog. They passed many gray fat -sluggish worms and some curious gray reptiles such as Jurgen had -never imagined to exist, but Anaitis said these need not trouble -them. - -"So there is no call to be fingering your charmed sword as we walk -here, Duke Jurgen, for these great worms do not ever harm the -living." - -"For whom, then, do they lie here in wait, in this gray fog, -wherethrough the green lights flutter, and wherethrough I hear at -times a thin and far-off wailing?" - -"What is that to you, Duke Jurgen, since you and I are still in the -warm flesh? Surely there was never a man who asked more idle -questions." - -"Yet this is an uncomfortable twilight." - -"To the contrary, you should rejoice that it is a fog too heavy to -be penetrated by the Moon." - -"But what have I to do with the Moon?" - -"Nothing, as yet. And that is as well for you, Duke Jurgen, since it -is authentically reported you have derided the day which is sacred -to the Moon. Now the Moon does not love derision, as I well know, -for in part I serve the Moon." - -"Eh?" says Jurgen: and he began to reflect. - -So they came to a wall that was high and gray, and to the door which -was in the wall. - -"You must knock two or three times," says Anaitis, "to get into -Cocaigne." - -Jurgen observed the bronze knocker upon the door, and he grinned in -order to hide his embarrassment. - -"It is a quaint fancy," said he, "and the two constituents of it -appear to have been modeled from life." - -"They were copied very exactly from Adam and Eve," says Anaitis, -"who were the first persons to open this gateway." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "there is no earthly doubt that men -degenerate, since here under my hand is the proof of it." - -With that he knocked, and the door opened, and the two of them -entered. - - - - -22. - -As to a Veil They Broke - - -So it was that Jurgen came into Cocaigne, wherein is the bedchamber -of Time. And Time, they report, came in with Jurgen, since Jurgen -was mortal: and Time, they say, rejoiced in this respite from the -slow toil of dilapidating cities stone by stone, and with his eyes -tired by the finicky work of etching in wrinkles, went happily into -his bedchamber, and fell asleep just after sunset on this fine -evening in late June: so that the weather remained fair and -changeless, with no glaring sun rays anywhere, and with one large -star shining alone in clear daylight. This was the star of Venus -Mechanitis, and Jurgen later derived considerable amusement from -noting how this star was trundled about the dome of heaven by a -largish beetle, named Khepre. And the trees everywhere kept their -first fresh foliage, and the birds were about their indolent evening -songs, all during Jurgen's stay in Cocaigne, for Time had gone to -sleep at the pleasantest hour of the year's most pleasant season. So -tells the tale. - -And Jurgen's shadow also went in with Jurgen, but in Cocaigne as in -Glathion, nobody save Jurgen seemed to notice this curious shadow -which now followed Jurgen everywhere. - -In Cocaigne Queen Anaitis had a palace, where domes and pinnacles -beyond numbering glimmered with a soft whiteness above the top of an -old twilit forest, wherein the vegetation was unlike that which is -nourished by ordinary earth. There was to be seen in these woods, -for instance, a sort of moss which made Jurgen shudder. So Anaitis -and Jurgen came through narrow paths, like murmuring green caverns, -into a courtyard walled and paved with yellow marble, wherein was -nothing save the dimly colored statue of a god with ten heads and -thirty-four arms: he was represented as very much engrossed by a -woman, and with his unoccupied hands was holding yet other women. - -"It is Jigsbyed," said Anaitis. - -Said Jurgen: "I do not criticize. Nevertheless, I think this -Jigsbyed is carrying matters to extremes." - -Then they passed the statue of Tangaro Loloquong, and afterward the -statue of Legba. Jurgen stroked his chin, and his color heightened. -"Now certainly, Queen Anaitis," he said, "you have unusual taste in -sculpture." - -Thence Jurgen came with Anaitis into a white room, with copper -plaques upon the walls, and there four girls were heating water in a -brass tripod. They bathed Jurgen, giving him astonishing caresses -meanwhile--with the tongue, the hair, the finger-nails, and the tips -of the breasts,--and they anointed him with four oils, then dressed -him again in his glittering shirt. Of Caliburn, said Anaitis, there -was no present need: so Jurgen's sword was hung upon the wall. - -These girls brought silver bowls containing wine mixed with honey, -and they brought pomegranates and eggs and barleycorn, and -triangular red-colored loaves, whereon they sprinkled sweet-smelling -little seeds with formal gestures. Then Anaitis and Jurgen broke -their fast, eating together while the four girls served them. - -"And now," says Jurgen, "and now, my dear, I would suggest that we -enter into the pursuit of those curious pleasures of which you were -telling me." - -"I am very willing," responded Anaitis, "since there is no one of -these pleasures but is purchased by some diversion of man's nature. -Yet first, as I need hardly inform you, there is a ceremonial to be -observed." - -"And what, pray, is this ceremonial?" - -"Why, we call it the Breaking of the Veil." And Queen Anaitis -explained what they must do. - -"Well," says Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Anaitis led Jurgen into a sort of chapel, adorned with very -unchurchlike paintings. There were four shrines, dedicated severally -to St. Cosmo, to St. Damianus, to St. Guignole of Brest, and to St. -Foutin de Varailles. In this chapel were a hooded man, clothed in -long garments that were striped with white and yellow, and two naked -children, both girls. One of the children carried a censer: the -other held in one hand a vividly blue pitcher half filled with -water, and in her left hand a cellar of salt. - -First of all, the hooded man made Jurgen ready. "Behold the lance," -said the hooded man, "which must serve you in this adventure." - -"I accept the adventure," Jurgen replied, "because I believe the -weapon to be trustworthy." - -Said the hooded man: "So be it! but as you are, so once was I." - -Meanwhile Duke Jurgen held the lance erect, shaking it with his -right hand. This lance was large, and the tip of it was red with -blood. - -"Behold," said Jurgen, "I am a man born of a woman incomprehensibly. -Now I, who am miraculous, am found worthy to perform a miracle, and -to create that which I may not comprehend." - -Anaitis took salt and water from the child, and mingled these. "Let -the salt of earth enable the thin fluid to assume the virtue of the -teeming sea!" - -Then, kneeling, she touched the lance, and began to stroke it -lovingly. To Jurgen she said: "Now may you be fervent of soul and -body! May the endless Serpent be your crown, and the fertile flame -of the sun your strength!" - -Said the hooded man, again: "So be it!" His voice was high and -bleating, because of that which had been done to him. - -"That therefore which we cannot understand we also invoke," said -Jurgen. "By the power of the lifted lance"--and now with his left -hand he took the hand of Anaitis,--"I, being a man born of a woman -incomprehensibly, now seize upon that which alone I desire with my -whole being. I lead you toward the east. I upraise you above the -earth and all the things of earth." - -Then Jurgen raised Queen Anaitis so that she sat upon the altar, and -that which was there before tumbled to the ground. Anaitis placed -together the tips of her thumbs and of her fingers, so that her -hands made an open triangle; and waited thus. Upon her head was a -network of red coral, with branches radiating downward: her gauzy -tunic had twenty-two openings, so as to admit all imaginable -caresses, and was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled: her dark eyes glittered and her breath came fast. - -Now the hooded man and the two naked girls performed their share in -the ceremonial, which part it is not essential to record. But Jurgen -was rather shocked by it. - -None the less, Jurgen said: "O cord that binds the circling of the -stars! O cup which holds all time, all color, and all thought! O -soul of space! not unto any image of thee do we attain unless thy -image show in what we are about to do. Therefore by every plant -which scatters its seed and by the moist warm garden which receives -and nourishes it, by the comminglement of bloodshed with pleasure, -by the joy that mimics anguish with sighs and shudderings, and by -the contentment which mimics death,--by all these do we invoke thee. -O thou, continuous one, whose will these children attend, and whom I -now adore in this fair-colored and soft woman's body, it is thou -whom I honor, not any woman, in doing what seems good to me: and it -is thou who art about to speak, and not she." - -Then Anaitis said: "Yea, for I speak with the tongue of every woman, -and I shine in the eyes of every woman, when the lance is lifted. To -serve me is better than all else. When you invoke me with a heart -wherein is kindled the serpent flame, if but for a moment, you will -understand the delights of my garden, what joy unwordable pulsates -therein, and how potent is the sole desire which uses all of a man. -To serve me you will then be eager to surrender whatever else is in -your life: and other pleasures you will take with your left hand, -not thinking of them entirely: for I am the desire which uses all of -a man, and so wastes nothing. And I accept you, I yearn toward you, -I who am daughter and somewhat more than daughter to the Sun. I who -am all pleasure, all ruin, and a drunkenness of the inmost sense, -desire you." - -Now Jurgen held his lance erect before Anaitis. "O secret of all -things, hidden in the being of all which lives, now that the lance -is exalted I do not dread thee: for thou art in me, and I am thou. I -am the flame that burns in every beating heart and in the core of -the farthest star. I too am life and the giver of life, and in me -too is death. Wherein art thou better than I? I am alone: my will is -justice: and there comes no other god where I am." - -Said the hooded man behind Jurgen: "So be it! but as you are, so -once was I." - -The two naked children stood one at each side of Anaitis, and waited -there trembling. These girls, as Jurgen afterward learned, were -Alecto and Tisiphone, two of the Eumenides. And now Jurgen shifted -the red point of the lance, so that it rested in the open triangle -made by the fingers of Anaitis. - -"I am life and the giver of life," cried Jurgen. "Thou that art one, -that makest use of all! I who am a man born of woman, I in my -station honor thee in honoring this desire which uses all of a man. -Make open therefore the way of creation, encourage the flaming dust -which is in our hearts, and aid us in that flame's perpetuation! For -is not that thy law?" - -Anaitis answered: "There is no law in Cocaigne save, Do that which -seems good to you." - -Then said the naked children: "Perhaps it is the law, but certainly -it is not justice. Yet we are little and quite helpless. So -presently we must be made as you are for now you two are no longer -two, and your flesh is not shared merely with each other. For your -flesh becomes our flesh, and your sins our sins: and we have no -choice." - -Jurgen lifted Anaitis from the altar, and they went into the chancel -and searched for the adytum. There seemed to be no doors anywhere in -the chancel: but presently Jurgen found an opening screened by a -pink veil. Jurgen thrust with his lance and broke this veil. He -heard the sound of one brief wailing cry: it was followed by soft -laughter. So Jurgen came into the adytum. - -Black candles were burning in this place, and sulphur too was -burning there, before a scarlet cross, of which the top was a -circle, and whereon was nailed a living toad. And other curious -matters Jurgen likewise noticed. - -He laughed, and turned to Anaitis: now that the candles were behind -him, she was standing in his shadow. "Well, well! but you are a -little old-fashioned, with all these equivocal mummeries. And I did -not know that civilized persons any longer retained sufficient -credulity to wring a thrill from god-baiting. Still, women must be -humored, bless them! and at last, I take it, we have quite fairly -fulfilled the ceremonial requisite to the pursuit of curious -pleasures." - -Queen Anaitis was very beautiful, even under his bedimming shadow. -Triumphant too was the proud face beneath that curious coral -network, and yet this woman's face was sad. - -"Dear fool," she said, "it was not wise, when you sang of the Leshy, -to put an affront upon Monday. But you have forgotten that. And now -you laugh because that which we have done you do not understand: and -equally that which I am you do not understand." - -"No matter what you may be, my dear, I am sure that you will -presently tell me all about it. For I assume that you mean to deal -fairly with me." - -"I shall do that which becomes me, Duke Jurgen--" - -"That is it, my dear, precisely! You intend to be true to yourself, -whatever happens. The aspiration does you infinite honor, and I -shall try to help you. Now I have noticed that every woman is most -truly herself," says Jurgen, oracularly, "in the dark." - -Then Jurgen looked at her for a moment, with twinkling eyes: then -Anaitis, standing in his shadow, smiled with glowing eyes: then -Jurgen blew out those black candles: and then it was quite dark. - - - - -23. - -Shortcomings of Prince Jurgen - - -Now the happenings just recorded befell on the eve of the Nativity -of St. John the Baptist: and thereafter Jurgen abode in Cocaigne, -and complied with the customs of that country. - -In the palace of Queen Anaitis, all manner of pastimes were -practised without any cessation. Jurgen, who considered himself to -be somewhat of an authority upon such contrivances, was soon -astounded by his own innocence. For Anaitis showed him whatever was -being done in Cocaigne, to this side and to that side, under the -direction of Anaitis, whom Jurgen found to be a nature myth of -doubtful origin connected with the Moon; and who, in consequence, -ruled not merely in Cocaigne but furtively swayed the tides of life -everywhere the Moon keeps any power over tides. It was the mission -of Anaitis to divert and turn aside and deflect: in this the jealous -Moon abetted her because sunlight makes for straightforwardness. So -Anaitis and the Moon were staunch allies. These mysteries of their -private relations, however, as revealed to Jurgen, are not very -nicely repeatable. - -"But you dishonored the Moon, Prince Jurgen, denying praise to the -day of the Moon. Or so, at least, I have heard." - -"I remember doing nothing of the sort. But I remember considering it -unjust to devote one paltry day to the Moon's majesty. For night is -sacred to the Moon, each night that ever was the friend of -lovers,--night, the renewer and begetter of all life." - -"Why, indeed, there is something in that argument," says Anaitis, -dubiously. - -"'Something', do you say! why, but to my way of thinking it proves -the Moon is precisely seven times more honorable than any of the -Leshy. It is merely, my dear, a question of arithmetic." - -"Was it for that reason you did not praise Pandelis and her Mondays -with the other Leshy?" - -"Why, to be sure," said Jurgen, glibly. "I did not find it at all -praiseworthy that such an insignificant Leshy as Pandelis should -name her day after the Moon: to me it seemed blasphemy." Then Jurgen -coughed, and looked sidewise at his shadow. "Had it been Sereda, -now, the case would have been different, and the Moon might well -have appreciated the delicate compliment." - -Anaitis appeared relieved. "I shall report your explanation. -Candidly, there were ill things in store for you, Prince Jurgen, -because your language was misunderstood. But that which you now say -puts quite a different complexion upon matters." - -Jurgen laughed, not understanding the mystery, but confident he -could always say whatever was required of him. - -"Now let us see a little more of Cocaigne!" cries Jurgen. - -For Jurgen was greatly interested by the pursuits of Cocaigne, and -for a week or ten days participated therein industriously. Anaitis, -who reported the Moon's honor to be satisfied, now spared no effort -to divert him, and they investigated innumerable pastimes together. - -"For all men that live have but a little while to live," said -Anaitis, "and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a man -possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his body: and yet -the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus and -thus," says Anaitis. And she revealed devices to her Prince Consort. - -For Jurgen found that unknowingly he had in due and proper form -espoused Queen Anaitis, by participating in the Breaking of the -Veil, which is the marriage ceremony of Cocaigne. His earlier -relations with Dame Lisa had, of course, no legal standing in -Cocaigne, where the Church is not Christian and the Law is, Do that -which seems good to you. - -"Well, when in Rome," said Jurgen, "one must be romantic. But -certainly this proves that nobody ever knows when he is being -entrapped into respectability: and never did a fine young fellow -marry a high queen with less premeditation." - -"Ah, my dear," says Anaitis, "you were controlled by the finger of -Fate." - -"I do not altogether like that figure of speech. It makes one seem -too trivial, to be controlled by a mere finger. No, it is not quite -complimentary to call what prompted me a finger." - -"By the long arm of coincidence, then." - -"Much more appropriate, my love," says Jurgen, complacently: "it -sounds more dignified, and does not wound my self esteem." - -Now this Anaitis who was Queen of Cocaigne was a delicious tall dark -woman, thinnish, and lovely, and very restless. From the first her -new Prince Consort was puzzled by her fervors, and presently was -fretted by them. He humbly failed to understand how anyone could be -so frantic over Jurgen. It seemed unreasonable. And in her more -affectionate moments this nature myth positively frightened him: for -transports such as these could not but rouse discomfortable -reminiscences of the female spider, who ends such recreations by -devouring her partner. - -"Thus to be loved is very flattering," he would reflect, "and I -again am Jurgen, asking odds of none. But even so, I am mortal. She -ought to remember that, in common fairness." - -Then the jealousy of Anaitis, while equally flattering, was equally -out of reason. She suspected everybody, seemed assured that every -bosom cherished a mad passion for Jurgen, and that not for a moment -could he be trusted. Well, as Jurgen frankly conceded, his conduct -toward Stella, that ill-starred yogini of Indawadi, had in point of -fact displayed, when viewed from an especial and quite unconscionable -point of view, an aspect which, when isolated by persons judging -hastily, might, just possibly, appear to approach remotely, in one -or two respects, to temporary forgetfulness of Anaitis, if indeed -there were people anywhere so mentally deficient as to find such -forgetfulness conceivable. - -But the main thing, the really important feature, which Anaitis -could not be made to understand, was that she had interrupted her -consort in what was, in effect, a philosophical experiment, -necessarily attempted in the dark. The muntrus requisite to the -sacti sodhana were always performed in darkness: everybody knew -that. For the rest, this Stella had asserted so-and-so; in simple -equity she was entitled to a chance to prove her allegations if she -could: so Jurgen had proceeded to deal fairly with her. Besides, why -keep talking about this Stella, after a vengeance so spectacular and -thorough as that to which Anaitis had out of hand resorted? why keep -reverting to a topic which was repugnant to Jurgen and visibly upset -the dearest nature myth in all legend? Was it quite fair to anyone -concerned? That was the sensible way in which Jurgen put it. - -Still, he became honestly fond of Anaitis. Barring her -eccentricities when roused to passion, she was a generous and kindly -creature, although in Jurgen's opinion somewhat narrow-minded. - -"My love," he would say to her, "you appear positively unable to -keep away from virtuous persons! You are always seeking out the -people who endeavor to be upright and straightforward, and you are -perpetually laying plans to divert these people. Ah, but why bother -about them? What need have you to wear yourself out, and to devote -your entire time to such proselitizing, when you might be so much -more agreeably employed? You should learn, in justice to yourself as -well as to others, to be tolerant of all things; and to acknowledge -that in a being of man's mingled nature a strain of respectability -is apt to develop every now and then, whatever you might prefer." - -But Anaitis had high notions as to her mission, and merely told him -that he ought not to speak with levity of such matters. "I would be -much happier staying at home with you and the children," she would -say, "but I feel that it is my duty--" - -"And your duty to whom, in heaven's name?" - -"Please do not employ such distasteful expressions, Jurgen. It is my -duty to the power I serve, my very manifest duty to my creator. But -you have no sense of religion, I am afraid; and the reflection is -often a considerable grief to me." - -"Ah, but, my dear, you are quite certain as to who made you, and for -what purpose you were made. You nature myths were created in the -Mythopoeic age by the perversity of old heathen nations: and you -serve your creator religiously. That is quite as it should be. But I -have no such authentic information as to my origin and mission in -life, I appear at all events to have no natural talent for being -diverted, I do not take to it wholeheartedly, and these are facts we -have to face." Now Jurgen put his arm around her. "My dear Anaitis, -you must not think it mere selfishness on my part. I was born with a -something lacking that is requisite for anyone who aspires to be as -thoroughly misled as most people: and you will have to love me in -spite of it." - -"I almost wish I had never seen you as I saw you in that corridor, -Jurgen. For I felt drawn toward you then and there. I almost wish I -had never seen you at all. I cannot help being fond of you: and yet -you laugh at the things I know to be required of me, and sometimes -you make me laugh, too." - -"But, darling, are you not just the least, littlest, tiniest, very -weest trifle bigoted? For instance, I can see that you think I ought -to evince more interest in your striking dances, and your strange -pleasures, and your surprising caresses, and all your other -elaborate diversions. And I do think they do you credit, great -credit, and I admire your inventiveness no less than your -industry--" - -"You have no sense of reverence, Jurgen, you seem to have no sense -at all of what is due to one's creator. I suppose you cannot help -that: but you might at least remember it troubles me to hear you -talk so flippantly of my religion." - -"But I do not talk flippantly--" - -"Indeed you do, though. And it does not sound at all well, let me -tell you." - -"--Instead, I but point out that your creed necessitates, upon the -whole, an ardor I lack. You, my pet, were created by perversity: and -everyone knows it is the part of piety to worship one's creator in -fashions acceptable to that creator. So, I do not criticize your -religious connections, dear, and nobody admires these ceremonials of -your faith more heartily than I do. I merely confess that to -celebrate these rites so frequently requires a sustention of -enthusiasm which is beyond me. In fine, I have not your fervent -temperament, I am more sceptical. You may be right; and certainly I -cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is how I feel about it, my precious, and that is why I -find, with constant repetition of these ceremonials, a certain lack -of firmness developing in my responses: and finally, darling, that -is all there is to it." - -"I never in my whole incarnation had such a Prince Consort! -Sometimes I think you do not care a bit about me one way or the -other, Jurgen." - -"Ah, but I do care for you very much. And to prove it, come now let -us try some brand-new diversion, at sight of which the skies will be -blackened and the earth will shudder or something of that sort, and -then I will take the children fishing, as I promised." - -"No, Jurgen, I do not feel like diverting you just now. You take all -the solemnity out of it with your jeering. Besides, you are always -with the children. Jurgen, I believe you are fonder of the children -than you are of me. And when you are not with them you are locked up -in the Library." - -"Well, and was there ever such a treasury as the Library of -Cocaigne? All the diversions that you nature myths have practised I -find recorded there: and to read of your ingenious devices delights -and maddens me. For it is eminently interesting to meditate upon -strange pleasures, and to make verses about them is the most amiable -of avocations: it is merely the pursuit of them that I would -discourage, as disappointing and mussy. Besides, the Library is the -only spot I have to myself in the palace, what with your fellow -nature myths making the most of life all over the place." - -"It is necessary, Jurgen, for one in my position to entertain more -or less. And certainly I cannot close the doors against my own -relatives." - -"Such riffraff, though, my darling! Such odds and ends! I cannot -congratulate you upon your kindred, for I do not get on at all with -these patchwork combinations, that are one-third man and the other -two-thirds a vulgar fraction of bull or hawk or goat or serpent or -ape or jackal or what not. Priapos is the only male myth who comes -here in anything like the semblance of a complete human being: and I -had infinitely rather he stayed away, because even I who am Jurgen -cannot but be envious of him." - -"And why, pray?" - -"Well, where I go reasonably equipped with Caliburn, Priapos carries -a lance I envy--" - -"Like all the Bacchic myths he usually carries a thyrsos, and it is -a showy weapon, certainly; but it is not of much use in actual -conflict." - -"My darling! and how do you know?" - -"Why, Jurgen, how do women always know these things?--by intuition, -I suppose." - -"You mean that you judge all affairs by feeling rather than reason? -Indeed, I dare say that is true of most women, and men are daily -chafed and delighted, about equally, by your illogical method of -putting things together. But to get back to the congenial task of -criticizing your kindred, your cousin Apis, for example, may be a -very good sort of fellow: but, say what you will, it is ill-advised -of him to be going about in public with a bull's head. It makes him -needlessly conspicuous, if not actually ridiculous: and it puts me -out when I try to talk to him." - -"Now, Jurgen, pray remember that you speak of a very generally -respected myth, and that you are being irreverent--" - -"--And moreover, I take the liberty of repeating, my darling, that -even though this Ba of Mendes is your cousin, it honestly does -embarrass me to have to meet three-quarters of a goat socially--" - -"But, Jurgen, I must as a master of course invite prolific Ba to my -feasts of the Sacae--" - -"Even so, my dear, in issuing invitations a hostess may fairly presuppose -that her guests will not make beasts of themselves. I often wish that -this mere bit of ordinary civility were more rigorously observed by Ba -and Hortanes and Fricco and Vul and Baal-Peor, and by all your other -cousins who come to visit you in such a zoologically muddled condition. -It shows a certain lack of respect for you, my darling." - -"Oh, but it is all in the family, Jurgen--" - -"Besides, they have no conversation. They merely bellow--or twitter -or bleat or low or gibber or purr, according to their respective -incarnations,--about unspeakable mysteries and monstrous pleasures -until I am driven to the verge of virtue by their imbecility." - -"If you were more practical, Jurgen, you would realize that it -speaks splendidly for anyone to be really interested in his -vocation--" - -"And your female relatives are just as annoying, with their eternal -whispered enigmas, and their crescent moons, and their mystic roses -that change color and require continual gardening, and their -pathetic belief that I have time to fool with them. And the entire -pack practises symbolism until the house is positively littered with -asherahs and combs and phalloses and linghams and yonis and arghas -and pulleiars and talys, and I do not know what other idiotic toys -that I am continually stepping on!" - -"Which of those minxes has been making up to you?" says Anaitis, her -eyes snapping. - -"Ah, ah! now many of your female cousins are enticing enough--" - -"I knew it! Oh, but you need not think you deluded me--!" - -"My darling, pray consider! be reasonable about it! Your feminine -guests at present are Sekhmet in the form of a lioness, Io -incarnated as a cow, Hekt as a frog, Derceto as a sturgeon, and--ah, -yes!--Thoueris as a hippopotamus. I leave it to your sense of -justice, dear Anaitis, if of ladies with such tastes in dress a -lovely myth like you can reasonably be jealous." - -"And I know perfectly well who it is! It is that Ephesian hussy, and -I had several times noticed her behavior. Very well, oh, very well, -indeed! nevertheless, I shall have a plain word or two with her at -once, and the sooner she gets out of my house the better, as I shall -tell her quite frankly. And as for you, Jurgen--!" - -"But, my dear Lisa--!" - -"What do you call me? Lisa was never an epithet of mine. Why do you -call me Lisa?" - -"It was a slip of the tongue, my pet, an involuntary but not -unnatural association of ideas. As for the Ephesian Diana, she -reminds me of an animated pine-cone, with that eruption of breasts -all over her, and I can assure you of your having no particular -reason to be jealous of her. It was merely of the female myths in -general I spoke. Of course they all make eyes at me: I cannot well -help that, and you should have anticipated as much when you selected -such an attractive Prince Consort. What do these poor enamored -creatures matter when to you my heart is ever faithful?" - -"It is not your heart I am worrying over, Jurgen, for I believe you -have none. Yes, you have quite succeeded in worrying me to -distraction, if that is any comfort to you. However, let us not talk -about it. For it is now necessary, absolutely imperative, that I go -into Armenia to take part in the mourning for Tammouz: people would -not understand it at all if I stayed away from such important -orgies. And I shall get no benefit whatever from the trip, much as I -need the change, because, without speaking of that famous heart of -yours, you are always up to some double-dealing, and I shall not -know into what mischief you may be thrusting yourself." - -Jurgen laughed, and kissed her. "Be off, and attend to your -religious duties, dear, by all means. And I promise you I will stay -safe locked in the Library till you come back." - -Thus Jurgen abode among the offspring of heathen perversity, and -conformed to their customs. Death ends all things for all, they -contended, and life is brief: for how few years do men endure, and -how quickly is the most subtle and appalling nature myth explained -away by the Philologists! So the wise person, and equally the -foreseeing nature myth, will take his glut of pleasure while there -is yet time to take anything, and will waste none of his short lien -upon desire and vigor by asking questions. - -"Oh, but by all means!" said Jurgen, and he docilely crowned himself -with a rose garland, and drank his wine, and kissed his Anaitis. -Then, when the feast of the Sacae was at full-tide, he would whisper -to Anaitis, "I will be back in a moment, darling," and she would -frown fondly at him as he very quietly slipped from his ivory dining -couch, and went, with the merest suspicion of a reel, into the -Library. She knew that Jurgen had no intention of coming back: and -she despaired of his ever taking the position in the social life of -Cocaigne to which he was entitled no less by his rank as Prince -Consort than by his personal abilities. For Anaitis did not really -think that, as went natural endowments, her Jurgen had much reason -to envy even such a general favorite as Priapos, say, from what she -knew of both. - -So it was that Jurgen honored custom. "Because these beastly nature -myths may be right," said Jurgen; "and certainly I cannot go so far -as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same time--!" - -For Jurgen was content to dismiss no riddle with a mere "I do not -know." Jurgen was no more able to give up questioning the meaning of -life than could a trout relinquish swimming: indeed, he lived -submerged in a flood of curiosity and doubt, as his native element. -That death ended all things might very well be the case: yet if the -outcome proved otherwise, how much more pleasant it would be, for -everyone concerned, to have aforetime established amicable relations -with the overlords of his second life, by having done whatever it -was they expected of him here. - -"Yes, I feel that something is expected of me," says Jurgen: "and -without knowing what it is, I am tolerably sure, somehow, that it is -not an indulgence in endless pleasure. Besides, I do not think death -is going to end all for me. If only I could be quite certain my -encounter with King Smoit, and with that charming little Sylvia -Tereu, was not a dream! As it is, plain reasoning assures me I am -not indispensable to the universe: but with this reasoning, somehow, -does not travel my belief. No, it is only fair to my own interests -to go graveward a little more openmindedly than do these nature -myths, since I lack the requisite credulity to become a free-thinking -materialist. To believe that we know nothing assuredly, and cannot -ever know anything assuredly, is to take too much on faith." - -And Jurgen paused to shake his sleek black head two or three times, -very sagely. - -"No, I cannot believe in nothingness being the destined end of all: -that would be too futile a climax to content a dramatist clever -enough to have invented Jurgen. No, it is just as I said to the -brown man: I cannot believe in the annihilation of Jurgen by any -really thrifty overlords; so I shall see to it that Jurgen does -nothing which he cannot more or less plausibly excuse, in case of -supernal inquiries. That is far safer." - -Now Jurgen was shaking his head again: and he sighed. - -"For the pleasures of Cocaigne do not satisfy me. They are all well -enough in their way; and I admit the truism that in seeking bed and -board two heads are better than one. Yes, Anaitis makes me an -excellent wife. Nevertheless, her diversions do not satisfy me, and -gallantly to make the most of life is not enough. No, it is -something else that I desire: and Anaitis does not quite understand -me." - - - - -24. - -Of Compromises in Cocaigne - - -Thus Jurgen abode for a little over two months in Cocaigne, and -complied with the customs of that country. Nothing altered in -Cocaigne: but in the world wherein Jurgen was reared, he knew, it -would by this time be September, with the leaves flaring gloriously, -and the birds flocking southward, and the hearts of Jurgen's fellows -turning to not unpleasant regrets. But in Cocaigne there was no -regret and no variability, but only an interminable flow of curious -pleasures, illumined by the wandering star of Venus Mechanitis. - -"Why is it, then, that I am not content?" said Jurgen. "And what -thing is this which I desire? It seems to me there is some injustice -being perpetrated upon Jurgen, somewhere." - -Meanwhile he lived with Anaitis the Sun's daughter very much as he -had lived with Lisa, who was daughter to a pawnbroker. Anaitis -displayed upon the whole a milder temper: in part because she could -confidently look forward to several centuries more of life before -being explained away by the Philologists, and so had less need than -Dame Lisa to worry over temporal matters; and in part because there -was less to ruin one's disposition in two months than in ten years -of Jurgen's company. Anaitis nagged and sulked for a while when her -Prince Consort slackened in the pursuit of strange delights, as he -did very soon, with frank confession that his tastes were simple and -that these outlandish refinements bored him. Later Anaitis seemed to -despair of his ever becoming proficient in curious pleasures, and -she permitted Jurgen to lead a comparatively normal life, with only -an occasional and half-hearted remonstrance. - -What puzzled Jurgen was that she did not seem to tire of him: and he -would often wonder what this lovely myth, so skilled and potent in -arts wherein he was the merest bungler, could find to care for in -Jurgen. For now they lived together like any other humdrum married -couple, and their occasional exchange of endearments was as much a -matter of course as their meals, and hardly more exciting. - -"Poor dear, I believe it is simply because I am a monstrous clever -fellow. She distrusts my cleverness, she very often disapproves of -it, and yet she values it as queer, as a sort of curiosity. Well, -but who can deny that cleverness is truly a curiosity in Cocaigne?" - -So Anaitis petted and pampered her Prince Consort, and took such -open pride in his queerness as very nearly embarrassed him -sometimes. She could not understand his attitude of polite amusement -toward his associates and the events which befell him, and even -toward his own doings and traits. Whatever happened, Jurgen -shrugged, and, delicately avoiding actual laughter, evinced -amusement. Anaitis could not understand this at all, of course, -since Asian myths are remarkably destitute of humor. To Jurgen in -private she protested that he ought to be ashamed of his levity: but -none the less, she would draw him out, when among the bestial and -grim nature myths, and she would glow visibly with fond pride in -Jurgen's queerness. - -"She mothers me," reflected Jurgen. "Upon my word, I believe that in -the end this is the only way in which females are capable of loving. -And she is a dear and lovely creature, of whom I am sincerely fond. -What is this thing, then, that I desire? Why do I feel life is not -treating me quite justly?" - -So the summer had passed; and Anaitis travelled a great deal, being -a popular myth in every land. Her sense of duty was so strong that -she endeavored to grace in person all the peculiar festivals held in -her honor, and this, now the harvest season was at hand, left her -with hardly a moment disengaged. Then, too, the mission of Anaitis -was to divert; and there were so many people whom she had personally -to visit--so many notable ascetics who were advancing straight -toward canonization, and whom her underlings were unable to -divert,--that Anaitis was compelled to pass night after night in -unwholesomely comfortless surroundings, in monasteries and in the -cells and caves of hermits. - -"You are wearing yourself out, my darling," Jurgen would say: "and -does it not seem, after all, a game that is hardly worth the candle? -I know that, for my part, before I would travel so many miles into a -desert, and then climb a hundred foot pillar, just to whisper -diverting notions into an anchorite's very dirty ear, I would let -the gaunt rascal go to Heaven. But you associate so much with -saintly persons that you have contracted their incapacity for seeing -the humorous side of things. Well, you are a dear, even so. Here is -a kiss for you: and do you come back to your adoring husband as soon -as you conveniently can without neglecting your duty." - -"They report that this Stylites is very far gone in rectitude," said -Anaitis, absent-mindedly, as she prepared for the journey, "but I -have hopes for him." - -Then Anaitis put purple powder on her hair, and hastily got together -a few beguiling devices, and went into the Thebaid. Jurgen went back -to the Library, and the _System of Worshipping a Girl_, and the -unique manuscripts of Astyanassa and Elephantis and Sotades, and the -Dionysiac Formulae, and the Chart of Postures, and the _Litany of -the Centre of Delight_, and the Spintrian Treatises, and the -_Thirty-two Gratifications_, and innumerable other volumes -which he found instructive. - -The Library was a vaulted chamber, having its walls painted with the -twelve Asan of Cyrene; the ceiling was frescoed with the arched body -of a woman, whose toes rested upon the cornice of the east wall, and -whose out-stretched finger-tips touched the cornice of the western -wall. The clothing of this painted woman was remarkable: and to -Jurgen her face was not unfamiliar. - -"Who is that?" he inquired, of Anaitis. - -Looking a little troubled, Anaitis told him this was AEsred. - -"Well, I have heard her called otherwise: and I have seen her in -quite other clothing." - -"You have seen AEsred!" - -"Yes, with a kitchen towel about her head, and otherwise -unostentatiously appareled--but very becomingly, I can assure you!" -Here Jurgen glanced sidewise at his shadow, and he cleared his -throat. "Oh, and a most charming and a most estimable old lady I -found this AEsred to be, I can assure you also." - -"I would prefer to know nothing about it," said Anaitis, hastily, "I -would prefer, for both our sakes, that you say no more of AEsred." -Jurgen shrugged. - -Now in the Library of Cocaigne was garnered a record of all that the -nature myths had invented in the way of pleasure. And here, with no -companion save his queer shadow, and with AEsred arched above and -bleakly regarding him, Jurgen spent most of his time, rather -agreeably, in investigating and meditating upon the more curious of -these recreations. The painted Asan were, in all conscience, food -for wonder: but over and above these dozen surprising pastimes, the -books of Anaitis revealed to Jurgen, without disguise or reticence, -every other far-fetched frolic of heathenry. Hitherto unheard-of -forms of diversion were unveiled to him, and every recreation which -ingenuity had been able to contrive, for the gratifying of the most -subtle and the most strong-stomached tastes. No possible sort of -amusement would seem to have been omitted, in running the quaint -gamut of refinements upon nature which Anaitis and her cousins had -at odd moments invented, to satiate their desire for some more suave -or more strange or more sanguinary pleasure. Yet the deeper Jurgen -investigated, and the longer he meditated, the more certain it -seemed to him that all such employment was a peculiarly -unimaginative pursuit of happiness. - -"I am willing to taste any drink once. So I must give diversion a -fair trial. But I am afraid these are the games of mental childhood. -Well, that reminds me I promised the children to play with them for -a while before supper." - -So he came out, and presently, brave in the shirt of Nessus, and -mimicked in every action by that incongruous shadow, Prince Jurgen -was playing tag with the three little Eumenides, the daughters of -Anaitis by her former marriage with Acheron, the King of Midnight. - -Anaitis and the dark potentate had parted by mutual consent. -"Acheron meant well," she would say, with a forgiving sigh, "and -that in the Moon's absence he occasionally diverted travellers, I do -not deny. But he did not understand me." - -And Jurgen agreed that this tragedy sometimes befell even the -irreproachably diverting. - -The three Eumenides at this period were half-grown girls, whom their -mother was carefully tutoring to drive guilty persons mad by the -stings of conscience: and very quaint it was to see the young Furies -at practise in the schoolroom, black-robed, and waving lighted -torches, and crowned each with her garland of pet serpents. They -became attached to Jurgen, who was always fond of children, and who -had frequently regretted that Dame Lisa had borne him none. - -"It is enough to get the poor dear a name for eccentricity," he had -been used to say. - -So Jurgen now made much of his step-children: and indeed he found -their innocent prattle quite as intelligent, in essentials, as the -talk of the full-grown nature myths who infested the palace of -Anaitis. And the four of them--Jurgen, and critical Alecto, and -grave Tisiphone, and fairy-like little Megaera,--would take long -walks, and play with their dolls (though Alecto was a trifle -condescending toward dolls), and romp together in the eternal -evening of Cocaigne; and discuss what sort of dresses and trinkets -Mother would probably bring them when she came back from Ecbatana or -Lesbos, and would generally enjoy themselves. - -Rather pathetically earnest and unimaginative little lasses, Jurgen -found the young Eumenides: they inherited much of their mother's -narrow-mindedness, if not their father's brooding and gloomy -tendencies; but in them narrow-mindedness showed merely as amusing. -And Jurgen loved them, and would often reflect what a pity it was -that these dear little girls were destined when they reached -maturity, to spend the rest of their lives in haunting criminals and -adulterers and parricides and, generally, such persons as must -inevitably tarnish the girls' outlook upon life, and lead them to -see too much of the worst side of human nature. - -So Jurgen was content enough. But still he was not actually happy, -not even among the endless pleasures of Cocaigne. - -"And what is this thing that I desire?" he would ask himself, again -and again. - -And still he did not know: he merely felt he was not getting -justice: and a dim sense of this would trouble him even while he was -playing with the Eumenides. - - - - -25. - -Cantraps of the Master Philologist - - -But now, as has been recorded, it was September, and Jurgen could -see that Anaitis too was worrying over something. She kept it from -him as long as possible: first said it was nothing at all, then said -he would know it soon enough, then wept a little over the -possibility that he would probably be very glad to hear it, and -eventually told him. For in becoming the consort of a nature myth -connected with the Moon Jurgen had of course exposed himself to the -danger of being converted into a solar legend by the Philologists, -and in that event would be compelled to leave Cocaigne with the -Equinox, to enter into autumnal exploits elsewhere. And Anaitis was -quite heart-broken over the prospect of losing Jurgen. - -"For I have never had such a Prince Consort in Cocaigne, so -maddening, and so helpless, and so clever; and the girls are so fond -of you, although they have not been able to get on at all with so -many of their step-fathers! And I know that you are flippant and -heartless, but you have quite spoiled me for other men. No, Jurgen, -there is no need to argue, for I have experimented with at least a -dozen lovers lately, when I was traveling, and they bored me -insufferably. They had, as you put it, dear, no conversation: and -you are the only young man I have found in all these ages who could -talk interestingly." - -"There is a reason for that, since like you, Anaitis, I am not so -youthful as I appear." - -"I do not care a straw about appearances," wept Anaitis, "but I know -that I love you, and that you must be leaving me with the Equinox -unless you can settle matters with the Master Philologist." - -"Well, my pet," says Jurgen, "the Jews got into Jericho by trying." - -He armed, and girded himself with Caliburn, drank a couple of -bottles of wine, put on the shirt of Nessus over all, and then went -to seek this thaumaturgist. - -Anaitis showed him the way to an unpretentious residence, where a -week's washing was drying and flapping in the side yard. Jurgen -knocked boldly, and after an interval the door was opened by the -Master Philologist himself. - -"You must pardon this informality," he said, blinking through his -great spectacles, which had dust on them: "but time was by ill luck -arrested hereabouts on a Thursday evening, and so the maid is out -indefinitely. I would suggest, therefore, that the lady wait outside -upon the porch. For the neighbors to see her go in would not be -respectable." - -"Do you know what I have come for?" says Jurgen, blustering, and -splendid in his glittering shirt and his gleaming armor. "For I warn -you I am justice." - -"I think you are lying, and I am sure you are making an unnecessary -noise. In any event, justice is a word, and I control all words." - -"You will discover very soon, sir, that actions speak louder than -words." - -"I believe that is so," said the Master Philologist, still blinking, -"just as the Jewish mob spoke louder than He Whom they crucified. -But the Word endures." - -"You are a quibbler!" - -"You are my guest. So I advise you, in pure friendliness, not to -impugn the power of my words." - -Said Jurgen, scornfully: "But is justice, then, a word?" - -"Oh, yes, it is one of the most useful. It is the Spanish _justicia_, -the Portuguese _justica_, the Italian _giustizia_, all from -the Latin _justus_. Oh, yes indeed, but justice is one of my best -connected words, and one of the best trained also, I can assure you." - -"Aha, and to what degraded uses do you put this poor enslaved -intimidated justice!" - -"There is but one intelligent use," said the Master Philologist, -unruffled, "for anybody to make of words. I will explain it to you, -if you will come in out of this treacherous draught. One never knows -what a cold may lead to." - -Then the door closed upon them, and Anaitis waited outside, in some -trepidation. - -Presently Jurgen came out of that unpretentious residence, and so -back to Anaitis, discomfited. Jurgen flung down his magic sword, -charmed Caliburn. - -"This, Anaitis, I perceive to be an outmoded weapon. There is no -weapon like words, no armor against words, and with words the Master -Philologist has conquered me. It is not at all equitable: but the -man showed me a huge book wherein were the names of everything in -the world, and justice was not among them. It develops that, -instead, justice is merely a common noun, vaguely denoting an -ethical idea of conduct proper to the circumstances, whether of -individuals or communities. It is, you observe, just a grammarian's -notion." - -"But what has he decided about you, Jurgen?" - -"Alas, dear Anaitis, he has decided, in spite of all that I could -do, to derive Jurgen from _jargon_, indicating a confused -chattering such as birds give forth at sunrise: thus ruthlessly does -the Master Philologist convert me into a solar legend. So the affair -is settled, and we must part, my darling." - -Anaitis took up the sword. "But this is valuable, since the man who -wields it is the mightiest of warriors." - -"It is a rush, a rotten twig, a broomstraw, against the insidious -weapons of the Master Philologist. But keep it if you like, my dear, -and give it to your next Prince Consort. I am ashamed to have -trifled with such toys," says Jurgen, in fretted disgust. "And -besides, the Master Philologist assures me I shall mount far higher -through the aid of this." - -"But what is on that bit of parchment?" - -"Thirty-two of the Master Philologist's own words that I begged of -him. See, my dear, he made this cantrap for me with his own hand and -ink." And Jurgen read from the parchment, impressively: "'At the -death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who should be named John -the Twentieth, was through an error in the reckoning elevated to the -papal chair as John the Twenty-first.'" - -Said Anaitis, blankly: "And is that all?" - -"Why, yes: and surely thirty-two whole words should be enough for -the most exacting." - -"But is it magic? are you certain it is authentic magic?" - -"I have learned that there is always magic in words." - -"Now, if you ask my opinion, Jurgen, your cantrap is nonsense, and -can never be of any earthly use to anybody. Without boasting, dear, -I have handled a great deal of black magic in my day, but I never -encountered a spell at all like this." - -"None the less, my darling, it is evidently a cantrap, for else the -Master Philologist would never have given it to me." - -"But how are you to use it, pray?" - -"Why, as need directs," said Jurgen, and he put the parchment into -the pocket of his glittering shirt. "Yes, I repeat, there is always -something to be done with words, and here are thirty-two authentic -words from the Master Philologist himself, not to speak of three -commas and a full-stop. Oh, I shall certainly go far with this." - -"We women have firmer faith in the sword," replied Anaitis. "At all -events, you and I cannot remain upon this thaumaturgist's porch -indefinitely." - -So Anaitis put up Caliburn, and carried it from the thaumaturgist's -unpretentious residence to her fine palace in the old twilit wood: -and afterward, as everybody knows, she gave this sword to King -Arthur, who with its aid rose to be hailed as one of the Nine -Worthies of the World. So did the husband of Guenevere win for -himself eternal fame with that which Jurgen flung away. - - - - -26. - -In Time's Hour-Glass - - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, when he had taken off all that foolish -ironmongery, and had made himself comfortable in his shirt; "well, -beyond doubt, the situation is awkward. I was content enough in -Cocaigne, and it is unfair that I should be thus ousted. Still, a -sensible person will manage to be content anywhere. But whither, -pray, am I expected to go?" - -"Into whatever land you may elect, my dear," said Anaitis, fondly. -"That much at least I can manage for you: and the interpretation of -your legend can be arranged afterward." - -"But I grow tired of all the countries I have ever seen, dear -Anaitis, and in my time I have visited nearly all the lands that are -known to men." - -"That too can be arranged: and you can go instead into one of the -countries which are desired by men. Indeed there are a number of -such realms which no man has ever visited except in dreams, so that -your choice is wide." - -"But how am I to make a choice without having seen any of these -countries? It is not fair to be expecting me to do anything of the -sort." - -"Why, I will show them to you," Anaitis replied. - -The two of them then went together into a small blue chamber, the -walls of which were ornamented with gold stars placed helter-skelter. -The room was entirely empty save for an hour-glass near twice the -height of a man. - -"It is Time's own glass," said Anaitis, "which was left in my -keeping when Time went to sleep." - -Anaitis opened a little door of carved crystal that was in the lower -half of the hour-glass, just above the fallen sands. With her -finger-tips she touched the sand that was in Time's hour-glass, and -in the sand she drew a triangle with equal sides, she who was -strangely gifted and perverse. Then she drew just such another -figure so that the tip of it penetrated the first triangle. The sand -began to smoulder there, and vapors rose into the upper part of the -hour-glass, and Jurgen saw that all the sand in Time's hour-glass -was kindled by a magic generated by the contact of these two -triangles. And in the vapors a picture formed. - -"I see a land of woods and rivers, Anaitis. A very old fellow, -regally crowned, lies asleep under an ash-tree, guarded by a -watchman who has more arms and hands than Jigsbyed." - -"It is Atlantis you behold, and the sleeping of ancient Time--Time, -to whom this glass belongs,--while Briareus watches." - -"Time sleeps quite naked, Anaitis, and, though it is a delicate -matter to talk about, I notice he has met with a deplorable -accident." - -"So that Time begets nothing any more, Jurgen, the while he brings -about old happenings over and over, and changes the name of what is -ancient, in order to persuade himself he has a new plaything. There -is really no more tedious and wearing old dotard anywhere, I can -assure you. But Atlantis is only the western province of Cocaigne. -Now do you look again, Jurgen!" - -"Now I behold a flowering plain and three steep hills, with a castle -upon each hill. There are woods wherein the foliage is crimson: -shining birds with white bodies and purple heads feed upon the -clusters of golden berries that grow everywhere: and people go about -in green clothes, with gold chains about their necks, and with broad -bands of gold upon their arms, and all these people have untroubled -faces." - -"That is Inislocha: and to the south is Inis Daleb, and to the north -Inis Ercandra. And there is sweet music to be listening to -eternally, could we but hear the birds of Rhiannon, and there is the -best of wine to drink, and there delight is common. For thither -comes nothing hard nor rough, and no grief, nor any regret, nor -sickness, nor age, nor death, for this is the Land of Women, a land -of many-colored hospitality." - -"Why, then, it is no different from Cocaigne. And into no realm -where pleasure is endless will I ever venture again of my own free -will, for I find that I do not enjoy pleasure." - -Then Anaitis showed him Ogygia, and Trypheme, and Sudarsana, and the -Fortunate Islands, and AEaea, and Caer-Is, and Invallis, and the -Hesperides, and Meropis, and Planasia, and Uttarra, and Avalon, and -Tir-nam-Beo, and Theleme, and a number of other lands to enter which -men have desired: and Jurgen groaned. - -"I am ashamed of my fellows," says he: "for it appears their notion -of felicity is to dwell eternally in a glorified brothel. I do not -think that as a self-respecting young Prince I would care to inhabit -any of these earthly paradises, for were there nothing else, I would -always be looking for an invasion by the police." - -"There remains, then, but one other realm, which I have not shown -you, in part because it is an obscure little place, and in part -because, for a reason that I have, I shall not assist you to go -thither. Still, there is Leuke, where Queen Helen rules: and Leuke -it is that you behold." - -"But Leuke seems like any other country in autumn, and appears to be -reasonably free from the fantastic animals and overgrown flowers -which made the other paradises look childish. Come now, there is an -attractive simplicity about Leuke. I might put up with Leuke if the -local by-laws allowed me a rational amount of discomfort." - -"Discomfort you would have full measure. For the heart of no man -remains untroubled after he has once viewed Queen Helen and the -beauty that is hers. It is for that reason, Jurgen, I shall not help -you to go into Leuke: for in Leuke you would forget me, having seen -Queen Helen." - -"Why, what nonsense you are talking, my darling! I will wager she -cannot hold a candle to you." - -"See for yourself!" said Anaitis, sadly. - -Now through the rolling vapors came confusedly a gleaming and a -surging glitter of all the loveliest colors of heaven and earth: -and these took order presently, and Jurgen saw before him in the -hour-glass that young Dorothy who was not Heitman Michael's wife. -And long and wistfully he looked at her, and the blinding tears -came to his eyes for no reason at all, and for the while he could -not speak. - -Then Jurgen yawned, and said, "But certainly this is not the Helen -who was famed for beauty." - -"I can assure you that it is," said Anaitis: "and that it is she who -rules in Leuke, whither I do not intend you shall go." - -"Why, but, my darling! this is preposterous. The girl is nothing to -look at twice, one way or the other. She is not actually ugly, I -suppose, if one happens to admire that washed-out blonde type, as of -course some people do. But to call her beautiful is out of reason; -and that I must protest in simple justice." - -"Do you really think so?" says Anaitis, brightening. - -"I most assuredly do. Why, you remember what Calpurnius Bassus says -about all blondes?" - -"No, I believe not. What did he say, dear?" - -"I would only spoil the splendid passage by quoting it inaccurately -from memory. But he was quite right, and his opinion is mine in -every particular. So if that is the best Leuke can offer, I heartily -agree with you I had best go into some other country." - -"I suppose you already have your eyes upon some minx or other?" - -"Well, my love, those girls in the Hesperides were strikingly like -you, with even more wonderful hair than yours: and the girl Aille -whom we saw in Tir-nam-Beo likewise resembled you remarkably, except -that I thought she had the better figure. So I believe in either of -those countries I could be content enough, after a while. Since part -from you I must," said Jurgen, tenderly, "I intend, in common -fairness to myself, to find a companion as like you as possible. You -conceive I can pretend it is you at first: and then as I grow fonder -of her for her own sake, you will gradually be put out of my mind -without my incurring any intolerable anguish." - -Anaitis was not pleased. "So you are already hankering after those -huzzies! And you think them better looking than I am! And you tell -me so to my face!" - -"My darling, you cannot deny we have been married all of three whole -months: and nobody can maintain an infatuation for any woman that -long, in the teeth of having nothing refused him. Infatuation is -largely a matter of curiosity, and both of these emotions die when -they are fed." - -"Jurgen," said Anaitis, with conviction, "you are lying to me about -something. I can see it in your eyes." - -"There is no deceiving a woman's intuition. Yes, I was not speaking -quite honestly when I pretended I had as lief go into the Hesperides -as to Tir-nam-Beo: it was wrong of me, and I ask your pardon. I -thought that by affecting indifference I could manage you better. -But you saw through me at once, and very rightly became angry. So I -fling my cards upon the table, I no longer beat about the bushes of -equivocation. It is Aille, the daughter of Cormac, whom I love, and -who can blame me? Did you ever in your life behold a more enticing -figure, Anaitis?--certainly I never did. Besides, I noticed--but -never mind about that! Still I could not help seeing them. And then -such eyes! twin beacons that light my way to comfort for my not -inconsiderable regret at losing you, my darling. Oh, yes, assuredly -it is to Tir-nam-Beo I elect to go." - -"Whither you go, my fine fellow, is a matter in which I have the -choice, not you. And you are going to Leuke." - -"My love, now do be reasonable! We both agreed that Leuke was not a -bit suitable. Why, were there nothing else, in Leuke there are no -attractive women." - -"Have you no sense except book-sense! It is for that reason I am -sending you to Leuke." - -And thus speaking, Anaitis set about a strong magic that hastened -the coming of the Equinox. In the midst of her charming she wept a -little, for she was fond of Jurgen. - -And Jurgen preserved a hurt and angry face as well as he could: for -at the sight of Queen Helen, who was so like young Dorothy la -Desiree, he had ceased to care for Queen Anaitis and her diverting -ways, or to care for aught else in the world save only Queen Helen, -the delight of gods and men. But Jurgen had learned that Anaitis -required management. - -"For her own good," as he put it, "and in simple justice to the many -admirable qualities which she possesses." - - - - -27. - -Vexatious Estate of Queen Helen - - -"But how can I travel with the Equinox, with a fictitious thing, -with a mere convention?" Jurgen had said. "To demand any such -proceeding of me is preposterous." - -"Is it any more preposterous than to travel with an imaginary -creature like a centaur?" they had retorted. "Why, Prince Jurgen, we -wonder how you, who have done that perfectly unheard-of thing, can -have the effrontery to call anything else preposterous! Is there no -reason at all in you? Why, conventions are respectable, and that is -a deal more than can be said for a great many centaurs. Would you be -throwing stones at respectability, Prince Jurgen? Why, we are -unutterably astounded at your objection to any such well-known -phenomenon as the Equinox!" And so on, and so on, and so on, said -they. - -And in fine, they kept at him until Jurgen was too confused to -argue, and his head was in a whirl, and one thing seemed as -preposterous as another: and he ceased to notice any especial -improbability in his traveling with the Equinox, and so passed -without any further protest or argument about it, from Cocaigne to -Leuke. But he would not have been thus readily flustered had Jurgen -not been thinking all the while of Queen Helen and of the beauty -that was hers. - -So he inquired forthwith the way that one might quickliest come into -the presence of Queen Helen. - -"Why, you will find Queen Helen," he was told, "in her palace at -Pseudopolis." His informant was a hamadryad, whom Jurgen encountered -upon the outskirts of a forest overlooking the city from the west. -Beyond broad sloping stretches of ripe corn, you saw Pseudopolis as -a city builded of gold and ivory, now all a dazzling glitter under a -hard-seeming sky that appeared unusually remote from earth. - -"And is the Queen as fair as people report?" asks Jurgen. - -"Men say that she excels all other women," replied the Hamadryad, -"as immeasurably as all we women perceive her husband to surpass all -other men--" - -"But, oh, dear me!" says Jurgen. - -"--Although, for one, I see nothing remarkable in Queen Helen's -looks. And I cannot but think that a woman who has been so much -talked about ought to be more careful in the way she dresses." - -"So this Queen Helen is already provided with a husband!" Jurgen was -displeased, but saw no reason for despair. Then Jurgen inquired as -to the Queen's husband, and learned that Achilles, the son of -Peleus, was now wedded to Helen, the Swan's daughter, and that these -two ruled in Pseudopolis. - -"For they report," said the Hamadryad, "that in Ades' dreary kingdom -Achilles remembered her beauty, and by this memory was heartened to -break the bonds of Ades: so did Achilles, King of Men, and all his -ancient comrades come forth resistlessly upon a second quest of this -Helen, whom people call--and as I think, with considerable -exaggeration--the wonder of this world. Then the Gods fulfilled the -desire of Achilles, because, they said, the man who has once beheld -Queen Helen will never any more regain contentment so long as his -life lacks this wonder of the world. Personally, I would dislike to -think that all men are so foolish." - -"Men are not always rational, I grant you: but then," says Jurgen, -slyly, "so many of their ancestresses are feminine." - -"But an ancestress is always feminine. Nobody ever heard of a man -being an ancestress. Men are ancestors. Why, whatever are you -talking about?" - -"Well, we were speaking, I believe, of Queen Helen's marriage." - -"To be sure we were! And I was telling you about the Gods, when you -made that droll mistake about ancestors. Everybody makes mistakes -sometimes, however, and foreigners are always apt to get words -confused. I could see at once you were a foreigner--" - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "but you were not telling me about myself but -about the Gods." - -"Why, you must know the aging Gods desired tranquillity. So we will -give her to Achilles, they said; and then, it may be, this King of -Men will retain her so safely that his littler fellows will despair, -and will cease to war for Helen: and so we shall not be bothered any -longer by their wars and other foolishnesses. For this reason it was -that the Gods gave Helen to Achilles, and sent the pair to reign in -Leuke: though, for my part," concluded the Hamadryad, "I shall never -cease to wonder what he saw in her--no, not if I live to be a -thousand." - -"I must," says Jurgen, "observe this monarch Achilles before the world -is a day older. A king is all very well, of course, but no husband -wears a crown so as to prevent the affixion of other head-gear." - -And Jurgen went down into Pseudopolis, swaggering. - - * * * * * - -So in the evening, just after sunset, Jurgen returned to the -Hamadryad: he walked now with the aid of the ashen staff which -Thersites had given Jurgen, and Jurgen was mirthless and rather -humble. - -"I have observed your King Achilles," Jurgen says, "and he is a -better man than I. Queen Helen, as I confess with regret, is -worthily mated." - -"And what have you to say about her?" inquires the Hamadryad. - -"Why, there is nothing more to say than that she is worthily mated, -and fit to be the wife of Achilles." For once, poor Jurgen was -really miserable. "For I admire this man Achilles, I envy him, and I -fear him," says Jurgen: "and it is not fair that he should have been -created my superior." - -"But is not Queen Helen the loveliest of ladies that you have ever -seen?" - -"As to that--!" says Jurgen. He led the Hamadryad to a forest pool -hard-by the oak-tree in which she resided. The dusky water lay -unruffled, a natural mirror. "Look!" said Jurgen, and he spoke with -a downward waving of his staff. - -The silence gathering in the woods was wonderful. Here the air was -sweet and pure: and the little wind which went about the ilex boughs -in search of night was a tender and peaceful wind, because it knew -that the all-healing night was close at hand. - -The Hamadryad replied, "But I see only my own face." - -"It is the answer to your question, none the less. Now do you tell -me your name, my dear, so that I may know who in reality is the -loveliest of all the ladies I have ever seen." - -The Hamadryad told him that her name was Chloris, and that she -always looked a fright with her hair arranged as it was to-day, and -that he was a strangely impudent fellow. So he in turn confessed to -her he was King Jurgen of Eubonia, drawn from his remote kingdom by -exaggerated reports as to the beauty of Queen Helen. Chloris agreed -with him that rumor was in such matters invariably untrustworthy. - -This led to further talk as twilight deepened: and the while that a -little by a little this pretty girl was converted into a warm -breathing shadow, hardly visible to the eye, the shadow of Jurgen -departed from him, and he began to talk better and better. He had -seen Queen Helen face to face, and other women now seemed -unimportant. Whether or not he got into the graces of this Hamadryad -did not greatly matter, one way or the other: and in consequence -Jurgen talked with such fluency, such apposite remarks and such -tenderness as astounded him. - -So he sat listening with delight to the seductive tongue of that -monstrous clever fellow, Jurgen. For this plump brown-haired -bright-eyed little creature, this Chloris, he was honestly sorry. -Into the uneventful life of a hamadryad, here in this uncultured -forest, could not possibly have entered much pleasurable excitement, -and it seemed only right to inject a little. "Why, simply in justice -to her!" Jurgen reflected. "I must deal fairly." - -Now it grew darker and darker under the trees, and in the dark -nobody can see what happens. There were only two voices that talked, -with lengthy pauses: and they spoke gravely of unimportant trifles, -like children at play together. - -"And how does a king come thus to be traveling without any retinue -or even a sword about him?" - -"Why, I travel with a staff, my dear, as you perceive: and it -suffices me." - -"Certainly it is large enough, in all conscience. Alas, young -outlander, who call yourself a king! you carry the bludgeon of a -highwayman, and I am afraid of it." - -"My staff is a twig from Yggdrasill, the tree of universal life: -Thersites gave it me, and the sap that throbs therein arises from -the Undar fountain, where the grave Norns make laws for men and fix -their destinies." - -"Thersites is a scoffer, and his gifts are mockery. I would have -none of them." - -The two began to wrangle, not at all angrily, as to what Jurgen had -best do with his prized staff. "Do you take it away from me, at any -rate!" says Chloris. So Jurgen hid his staff where Chloris could not -possibly see it; and he drew the Hamadryad close to him, and he -laughed contentedly. - -"Oh, oh! O wretched King," cried Chloris, "I fear that you will be -the death of me! And you have no right to oppress me in this way, -for I am not your subject." - -"Rather shall you be my queen, dear Chloris, receiving all that I -most prize." - -"But you are too domineering: and I am afraid to be alone with you -and your big staff! Ah! not without knowing what she talked about -did my mother use to quote her AEolic saying, The king is cruel and -takes joy in bloodshed!" - -"Presently you will not be afraid of me, nor will you be afraid of -my staff. Custom is all. For this likewise is an AEolic saying, The -taste of the first olive is unpleasant, but the second is good." - -Now for a while was silence save for the small secretive rumors of -the forest. One of the large green locusts which frequent the Island -of Leuke began shrilling tentatively. - -"Wait now, King Jurgen, for surely I hear footsteps, and one comes -to trouble us." - -"It is a wind in the tree-tops: or perhaps it is a god who envies -me. I pause for neither." - -"Ah, but speak reverently of the Gods! For is not Love a god, and a -jealous god that has wings with which to leave us?" - -"Then am I a god, for in my heart is love, and in every fibre of me -is love, and from me now love emanates." - -"But certainly I heard somebody approaching through the forest--" - -"Well, and do you not perceive I have withdrawn my staff from its -hiding-place?" - -"Ah, you have great faith in that staff of yours!" - -"I fear nobody when I brandish it." - -Another locust had answered the first one. Now the two insects were -in full dispute, suffusing the warm darkness with their pertinacious -whirrings. - -"King of Eubonia, it is certainly true, that which you told me about -olives." - -"Yes, for always love begets truthfulness." - -"I pray it may beget between us utter truthfulness, and nothing -else, King Jurgen." - -"Not 'Jurgen' now, but 'love'." - -"Indeed, they tell that even so, in such deep darkness, Love came to -his sweetheart Psyche." - -"Then why do you complain because I piously emulate the Gods, and -offer unto Love the sincerest form of flattery?" And Jurgen shook -his staff at her. - -"Ah, but you are strangely ready with your flattery! and Love -threatened Psyche with no such enormous staff." - -"That is possible: for I am Jurgen. And I deal fairly with all -women, and raise my staff against none save in the way of kindness." - -So they talked nonsense, in utter darkness, while the locusts, and -presently a score of locusts, disputed obstinately. Now Chloris and -Jurgen were invisible, even to each other, as they talked under her -oak-tree: but before them the fields shone mistily under a gold-dusted -dome, for this night seemed builded of stars. And the white towers of -Pseudopolis also could Jurgen see, as he laughed there and took his -pleasure with Chloris. He reflected that very probably Achilles and -Helen were laughing thus, and were not dissimilarly occupied, out -yonder, in this night of wonder. - -He sighed. But in a while Jurgen and the Hamadryad were speaking -again, just as inconsequently, and the locusts were whirring just as -obstinately. Later the moon rose, and they all slept. - -With the dawn Jurgen arose, and left this Hamadryad Chloris still -asleep. He stood where he overlooked the city and the shirt of -Nessus glittered in the level sun rays: and Jurgen thought of Queen -Helen. Then he sighed, and went back to Chloris and wakened her with -the sort of salutation that appeared her just due. - - - - -28. - -Of Compromises in Leuke - - -Now the tale tells that ten days later Jurgen and his Hamadryad were -duly married, in consonance with the law of the Wood: not for a -moment did Chloris consider any violation of the proprieties, so -they were married the first evening she could assemble her kindred. - -"Still, Chloris, I already have two wives," says Jurgen, "and it is -but fair to confess it." - -"I thought it was only yesterday you arrived in Leuke." - -"That is true: for I came with the Equinox, over the long sea." - -"Then Jugatinus has not had time to marry you to anybody, and -certainly he would never think of marrying you to two wives. Why do -you talk such nonsense?" - -"No, it is true, I was not married by Jugatinus." - -"So there!" says Chloris, as if that settled matters. "Now you see -for yourself." - -"Why, yes, to be sure," says Jurgen, "that does put rather a -different light upon it, now I think of it." - -"It makes all the difference in the world." - -"I would hardly go that far. Still, I perceive it makes a -difference." - -"Why, you talk as if everybody did not know that Jugatinus marries -people!" - -"No, dear, let us be fair! I did not say precisely that." - -"--And as if everybody was not always married by Jugatinus!" - -"Yes, here in Leuke, perhaps. But outside of Leuke, you understand, -my darling!" - -"But nobody goes outside of Leuke. Nobody ever thinks of leaving -Leuke. I never heard such nonsense." - -"You mean, nobody ever leaves this island?" - -"Nobody that you ever hear of. Of course, there are Lares and -Penates, with no social position, that the kings of Pseudopolis -sometimes take a-voyaging--" - -"Still, the people of other countries do get married." - -"No, Jurgen," said Chloris, sadly, "it is a rule with Jugatinus -never to leave the island; and indeed I am sure he has never even -considered such unheard-of conduct: so, of course, the people of -other countries are not able to get married." - -"Well, but, Chloris, in Eubonia--" - -"Now if you do not mind, dear, I think we had better talk about -something more pleasant. I do not blame you men of Eubonia, because -all men are in such matters perfectly irresponsible. And perhaps it -is not altogether the fault of the women, either, though I do think -any really self-respecting woman would have the strength of -character to keep out of such irregular relations, and that much I -am compelled to say. So do not let us talk any more about these -persons whom you describe as your wives. It is very nice of you, -dear, to call them that, and I appreciate your delicacy. Still, I -really do believe we had better talk about something else." - -Jurgen deliberated. "Yet do you not think, Chloris, that in the -absence of Jugatinus--and in, as I understand it, the unavoidable -absence of Jugatinus,--somebody else might perform the ceremony?" - -"Oh, yes, if they wanted to. But it would not count. Nobody but -Jugatinus can really marry people. And so of course nobody else -does." - -"What makes you sure of that?" - -"Why, because," said Chloris, triumphantly, "nobody ever heard of -such a thing." - -"You have voiced," said Jurgen, "an entire code of philosophy. Let -us by all means go to Jugatinus and be married." - -So they were married by Jugatinus, according to the ceremony with -which the People of the Wood were always married by Jugatinus. First -Virgo loosed the girdle of Chloris in such fashion as was customary; -and Chloris, after sitting much longer than Jurgen liked in the lap -of Mutinus (who was in the state that custom required of him) was -led back to Jurgen by Domiducus in accordance with immemorial -custom; Subigo did her customary part; then Praema grasped the -bride's plump arms: and everything was perfectly regular. - -Thereafter Jurgen disposed of his staff in the way Thersites had -directed: and thereafter Jurgen abode with Chloris upon the -outskirts of the forest, and complied with the customs of Leuke. Her -tree was a rather large oak, for Chloris was now in her two hundred -and sixty-sixth year; and at first its commodious trunk sheltered -them. But later Jurgen builded himself a little cabin thatched with -birds' wings, and made himself more comfortable. - -"It is well enough for you, my dear, in fact it is expected of you, -to live in a tree-bole. But it makes me feel uncomfortably like a -worm, and it needlessly emphasizes the restrictions of married life. -Besides, you do not want me under your feet all the time, nor I you. -No, let us cultivate a judicious abstention from familiarity: such -is one secret of an enduring, because endurable, marriage. But why -is it, pray, that you have never married before, in all these -years?" - -She told him. At first Jurgen could not believe her, but presently -Jurgen was convinced, through at least two of his senses, that what -Chloris told him was true about hamadryads. - -"Otherwise, you are not markedly unlike the women of Eubonia," said -Jurgen. - -And now Jurgen met many of the People of the Wood; but since the -tree of Chloris stood upon the verge of the forest, he saw far more -of the People of the Field, who dwelt between the forest and the -city of Pseudopolis. These were the neighbors and the ordinary -associates of Chloris and Jurgen; though once in a while, of course, -there would be family gatherings in the forest. But Jurgen presently -had found good reason to distrust the People of the Wood, and went -to none of these gatherings. - -"For in Eubonia," he said, "we are taught that your wife's relatives -will never find fault with you to your face so long as you keep away -from them. And more than that, no sensible man expects." - -Meanwhile, King Jurgen was perplexed by the People of the Field, who -were his neighbors. They one and all did what they had always done. -Thus Runcina saw to it that the Fields were weeded: Seia took care -of the seed while it was buried in the earth: Nodosa arranged the -knots and joints of the stalk: Volusia folded the blade around the -corn: each had an immemorial duty. And there was hardly a day that -somebody was not busied in the Fields, whether it was Occator -harrowing, or Sator and Sarritor about their sowing and raking, or -Stercutius manuring the ground: and Hippona was always bustling -about in one place or another looking after the horses, or else -Bubona would be there attending to the cattle. There was never any -restfulness in the Fields. - -"And why do you do these things year in and year out?" asked Jurgen. - -"Why, King of Eubonia, we have always done these things," they said, -in high astonishment. - -"Yes, but why not stop occasionally?" - -"Because in that event the work would stop. The corn would die, the -cattle would perish, and the Fields would become jungles." - -"But, as I understand it, this is not your corn, nor your cattle, -nor your Fields. You derive no good from them. And there is nothing -to prevent your ceasing this interminable labor, and living as do -the People of the Wood, who perform no heavy work whatever." - -"I should think not!" said Aristaeus, and his teeth flashed in a smile -that was very pleasant to see, as he strained at the olive-press. -"Whoever heard of the People of the Wood doing anything useful!" - -"Yes, but," says Jurgen, patiently, "do you think it is quite fair -to yourselves to be always about some tedious and difficult labor -when nobody compels you to do it? Why do you not sometimes take -holiday?" - -"King Jurgen," replied Fornax, looking up from the little furnace -wherein she was parching corn, "you are talking nonsense. The People -of the Field have never taken holiday. Nobody ever heard of such a -thing." - -"We should think not indeed!" said all the others, sagely. - -"Ah, ah!" said Jurgen, "so that is your demolishing reason. Well, I -shall inquire about this matter among the People of the Wood, for -they may be more sensible." - -Then as Jurgen was about to enter the forest, he encountered -Terminus, perfumed with ointment, and crowned with a garland of -roses, and standing stock still. - -"Aha," said Jurgen, "so here is one of the People of the Wood about -to go down into the Fields. But if I were you, my friend, I would -keep away from any such foolish place." - -"I never go down into the Fields," said Terminus. - -"Oh, then, you are returning into the forest." - -"But certainly not. Whoever heard of my going into the forest!" - -"Indeed, now I look at you, you are merely standing here." - -"I have always stood here," said Terminus. - -"And do you never move?" - -"No," said Terminus. - -"And for what reason?" - -"Because I have always stood here without moving," replied Terminus. -"Why, for me to move would be a quite unheard-of thing." - -So Jurgen left him, and went into the forest. And there Jurgen -encountered a smiling young fellow, who rode upon the back of a -large ram. This young man had his left fore-finger laid to his lips, -and his right hand held an astonishing object to be thus publicly -displayed. - -"But, oh, dear me! now, really, sir--!" says Jurgen. - -"Bah!" says the ram. - -But the smiling young fellow said nothing at all as he passed -Jurgen, because it is not the custom of Harpocrates to speak. - -"Which would be well enough," reflected Jurgen, "if only his custom -did not make for stiffness and the embarrassment of others." - -Thereafter Jurgen came upon a considerable commotion in the bushes, -where a satyr was at play with an oread. - -"Oh, but this forest is not respectable!" said Jurgen. "Have you no -ethics and morals, you People of the Wood! Have you no sense of -responsibility whatever, thus to be frolicking on a working-day?" - -"Why, no," responded the Satyr, "of course not. None of my people -have such things: and so the natural vocation of all satyrs is that -which you are now interrupting." - -"Perhaps you speak the truth," said Jurgen. "Still, you ought to be -ashamed of the fact that you are not lying." - -"For a satyr to be ashamed of himself would be indeed an unheard-of -thing! Now go away, you in the glittering shirt! for we are studying -eudaemonism, and you are talking nonsense, and I am busy, and you -annoy me," said the Satyr. - -"Well, but in Cocaigne," said Jurgen, "this eudaemonism was -considered an indoor diversion." - -"And did you ever hear of a satyr going indoors?" - -"Why, save us from all hurt and harm! but what has that to do with -it?" - -"Do not try to equivocate, you shining idiot! For now you see for -yourself you are talking nonsense. And I repeat that such unheard-of -nonsense irritates me," said the Satyr. - -The Oread said nothing at all. But she too looked annoyed, and -Jurgen reflected that it was probably not the custom of oreads to be -rescued from the eudaemonism of satyrs. - -So Jurgen left them; and yet deeper in the forest he found a bald-headed -squat old man, with a big paunch and a flat red nose and very small -bleared eyes. Now the old fellow was so helplessly drunk that he could -not walk: instead, he sat upon the ground, and leaned against a tree-bole. - -"This is a very disgusting state for you to be in so early in the -morning," observed Jurgen. - -"But Silenus is always drunk," the bald-headed man responded, with a -dignified hiccough. - -"So here is another one of you! Well, and why are you always drunk, -Silenus?" - -"Because Silenus is the wisest of the People of the Wood." - -"Ah, ah! but I apologize. For here at last is somebody with a -plausible excuse for his daily employment. Now, then, Silenus, since -you are so wise, come tell me, is it really the best fate for a man -to be drunk always?" - -"Not at all. Drunkenness is a joy reserved for the Gods: so do men -partake of it impiously, and so are they very properly punished for -their audacity. For men, it is best of all never to be born; but, -being born, to die very quickly." - -"Ah, yes! but failing either?" - -"The third best thing for a man is to do that which seems expected -of him," replied Silenus. - -"But that is the Law of Philistia: and with Philistia, they inform -me, Pseudopolis is at war." - -Silenus meditated. Jurgen had discovered an uncomfortable thing -about this old fellow, and it was that his small bleared eyes did -not blink nor the lids twitch at all. His eyes moved, as through -magic the eyes of a painted statue might move horribly, under quite -motionless red lids. Therefore it was uncomfortable when these eyes -moved toward you. - -"Young fellow in the glittering shirt, I will tell you a secret: and -it is that the Philistines were created after the image of Koshchei -who made some things as they are. Do you think upon that! So the -Philistines do that which seems expected. And the people of Leuke -were created after the image of Koshchei who made yet other things -as they are: therefore do the people of Leuke do that which is -customary, adhering to classical tradition. Do you think upon that -also! Then do you pick your side in this war, remembering that you -side with stupidity either way. And when that happens which will -happen, do you remember how Silenus foretold to you precisely what -would happen, a long while before it happened, because Silenus was -so old and so wise and so very disreputably drunk, and so very, very -sleepy." - -"Yes, certainly, Silenus: but how will this war end?" - -"Dullness will conquer dullness: and it will not matter." - -"Ah, yes! but what will become, in all this fighting, of Jurgen?" - -"That will not matter either," said Silenus, comfortably. "Nobody -will bother about you." And with that he closed his horrible bleared -eyes and went to sleep. - -So Jurgen left the old tippler, and started to leave the forest -also. "For undoubtedly all the people in Leuke are resolute to do -that which is customary," reflected Jurgen, "for the unarguable -reason it is their custom, and has always been their custom. And -they will desist from these practises when the cat eats acorns, but -not before. So it is the part of wisdom to inquire no further into -the matter. For after all, these people may be right; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say they are wrong." Jurgen shrugged. "But -still, at the same time--!" - -Now in returning to his cabin Jurgen heard a frightful sort of -yowling and screeching as of mad people. - -"Hail, daughter of various-formed Protogonus, thou that takest joy -in mountains and battles and in the beating of the drum! Hail, thou -deceitful saviour, mother of all gods, that comest now, pleased with -long wanderings, to be propitious to us!" - -But the uproar was becoming so increasingly unpleasant that Jurgen -at this point withdrew into a thicket: and thence he witnessed the -passing through the Woods of a notable procession. There were -features connected with this procession sufficiently unusual to -cause Jurgen to vow that the desiderated moment wherein he walked -unhurt from the forest would mark the termination of his last visit -thereto. Then amazement tripped up the heels of terror: for now -passed Mother Sereda, or, as Anaitis had called her, AEsred. To-day, -in place of a towel about her head, she wore a species of crown, -shaped like a circlet of crumbling towers: she carried a large key, -and her chariot was drawn by two lions. She was attended by howling -persons, with shaved heads: and it was apparent that these persons -had parted with possessions which Jurgen valued. - -"This is undoubtedly," said he, "a most unwholesome forest." - -Jurgen inquired about this procession, later, and from Chloris he -got information which surprised him. - -"And these are the beings who I had thought were poetic ornaments of -speech! But what is the old lady doing in such high company?" - -He described Mother Sereda, and Chloris told him who this was. Now -Jurgen shook his sleek black head. - -"Behold another mystery! Yet after all, it is no concern of mine if -the old lady elects for an additional anagram. I should be the last -person to criticize her, inasmuch as to me she has been more than -generous. Well, I shall preserve her friendship by the infallible -recipe of keeping out of her way. Oh, but I shall certainly keep out -of her way now that I have perceived what is done to the men who -serve her." - -And after that Jurgen and Chloris lived very pleasantly together, -though Jurgen began to find his Hamadryad a trifle unperceptive, if -not actually obtuse. - -"She does not understand me, and she does not always treat my -superior wisdom quite respectfully. That is unfair, but it seems to -be an unavoidable feature of married life. Besides, if any woman had -ever understood me she would, in self-protection, have refused to -marry me. In any case, Chloris is a dear brown plump delicious -partridge of a darling: and cleverness in women is, after all, a -virtue misplaced." - -And Jurgen did not return into the Woods, nor did he go down into -the city. Neither the People of the Field nor of the Wood, of -course, ever went within city gates. "But I would think that you -would like to see the fine sights of Pseudopolis," says -Chloris,--"and that fine Queen of theirs," she added, almost as -though she spoke without premeditation. - -"Woman dear," says Jurgen, "I do not wish to appear boastful. But in -Eubonia, now! well, really some day we must return to my kingdom, -and you shall inspect for yourself a dozen or two of my cities--Ziph -and Eglington and Poissieux and Gazden and Baeremburg, at all events. -And then you will concede with me that this little village of -Pseudopolis, while well enough in its way--!" And Jurgen shrugged. -"But as for saying more!" - -"Sometimes," said Chloris, "I wonder if there is any such place as -your fine kingdom of Eubonia: for certainly it grows larger and more -splendid every time you talk of it." - -"Now can it be," asks Jurgen, more hurt than angry, "that you -suspect me of uncandid dealing and, in short, of being an impostor!" - -"Why, what does it matter? You are Jurgen," she answered, happily. - -And the man was moved as she smiled at him across the glowing queer -embroidery-work at which Chloris seemed to labor interminably: he -was conscious of a tenderness for her which was oddly remorseful: -and it appeared to him that if he had known lovelier women he had -certainly found nowhere anyone more lovable than was this plump and -busy and sunny-tempered little wife of his. - -"My dear, I do not care to see Queen Helen again, and that is a -fact. I am contented here, with a wife befitting my station, suited -to my endowments, and infinitely excelling my deserts." - -"And do you think of that tow-headed bean-pole very often, King -Jurgen?" - -"That is unfair, and you wrong me, Chloris, with these unmerited -suspicions. It pains me to reflect, my dear, that you esteem the tie -between us so lightly you can consider me capable of breaking it -even in thought." - -"To talk of fairness is all very well, but it is no answer to a -plain question." - -Jurgen looked full at her; and he laughed. "You women are so -unscrupulously practical. My dear, I have seen Queen Helen face to -face. But it is you whom I love as a man customarily loves a woman." - -"That is not saying much." - -"No: for I endeavor to speak in consonance with my importance. You -forget that I have also seen Achilles." - -"But you admired Achilles! You told me so yourself." - -"I admired the perfections of Achilles, but I cordially dislike the -man who possesses them. Therefore I shall keep away from both the -King and Queen of Pseudopolis." - -"Yet you will not go into the Woods, either, Jurgen--" - -"Not after what I have witnessed there," said Jurgen, with an -exaggerated shudder that was not very much exaggerated. - -Now Chloris laughed, and quitted her queer embroidery in order to -rumple up his hair. "And you find the People of the Field so -insufferably stupid, and so uninterested by your Zorobasiuses and -Ptolemopiters and so on, that you keep away from them also. O -foolish man of mine, you are determined to be neither fish nor beast -nor poultry and nowhere will you ever consent to be happy." - -"It was not I who determined my nature, Chloris: and as for being -happy, I make no complaint. Indeed, I have nothing to complain of, -nowadays. So I am very well contented by my dear wife and by my -manner of living in Leuke," said Jurgen, with a sigh. - - - - -29. - -Concerning Horvendile's Nonsense - - -It was on a bright and tranquil day in November, at the period which -the People of the Field called the summer of Alcyone, that Jurgen -went down from the forest; and after skirting the moats of -Pseudopolis, and avoiding a meeting with any of the town's -dispiritingly glorious inhabitants, Jurgen came to the seashore. - -Chloris had suggested his doing this, in order that she could have a -chance to straighten things in his cabin while she was tidying her -tree for the winter, and could so make one day's work serve for two. -For the dryad of an oak-tree has large responsibilities, what with -the care of so many dead leaves all winter, and the acorns being -blown from their places and littering up the ground everywhere, and -the bark cracking until it looks positively disreputable: and Jurgen -was at any such work less a help than a hindrance. So Chloris gave -him a parcel of lunch and a perfunctory kiss, and told him to go -down to the seashore and get inspired and make up a pretty poem -about her. "And do you be back in time for an early supper, Jurgen," -says she, "but not a minute before." - -Thus it befell that Jurgen reflectively ate his lunch in solitude, -and regarded the Euxine. The sun was high, and the queer shadow that -followed Jurgen was huddled into shapelessness. - -"This is indeed an inspiring spectacle," Jurgen reflected. "How puny -seems the race of man, in contrast with this mighty sea, which now -spreads before me like, as So-and-so has very strikingly observed, a -something or other under such and such conditions!" Then Jurgen -shrugged. "Really, now I think of it, though, there is no call for -me to be suffused with the traditional emotions. It looks like a -great deal of water, and like nothing else in particular. And I -cannot but consider the water is behaving rather futilely." - -So he sat in drowsy contemplation of the sea. Far out a shadow would -form on the water, like the shadow of a broadish plank, scudding -shoreward, and lengthening and darkening as it approached. Presently -it would be some hundred feet in length, and would assume a hard -smooth darkness, like that of green stone: this was the under side -of the wave. Then the top of it would curdle, the southern end of -the wave would collapse, and with exceeding swiftness this white -feathery falling would plunge and scamper and bluster northward, the -full length of the wave. It would be neater and more workmanlike to -have each wave tumble down as a whole. From the smacking and the -splashing, what looked like boiling milk would thrust out over the -brown sleek sands: and as the mess spread it would thin to a -reticulated whiteness, like lace, and then to the appearance of -smoke sprays clinging to the sands. Plainly the tide was coming in. - -Or perhaps it was going out. Jurgen's notions as to such phenomena -were vague. But, either way, the sea was stirring up a large -commotion and a rather pleasant and invigorating odor. - -And then all this would happen once more: and then it would happen -yet again. It had happened a number of hundred of times since Jurgen -first sat down to eat his lunch: and what was gained by it? The sea -was behaving stupidly. There was no sense in this continual sloshing -and spanking and scrabbling and spluttering. - -Thus Jurgen, as he nodded over the remnants of his lunch. - -"Sheer waste of energy, I am compelled to call it," said Jurgen, -aloud, just as he noticed there were two other men on this long -beach. - -One came from the north, one from the south, so that they met not -far from where Jurgen was sitting: and by an incredible coincidence -Jurgen had known both of these men in his first youth. So he hailed -them, and they recognized him at once. One of these travellers was -the Horvendile who had been secretary to Count Emmerick when Jurgen -was a lad: and the other was Perion de la Foret, that outlaw who had -come to Bellegarde very long ago disguised as the Vicomte de -Puysange. And all three of these old acquaintances had kept their -youth surprisingly. - -Now Horvendile and Perion marveled at the fine shirt which Jurgen -was wearing. - -"Why, you must know," he said, modestly, "that I have lately become -King of Eubonia, and must dress according to my station." - -So they said they had always expected some such high honor to befall -him, and then the three of them fell to talking. And Perion told how -he had come through Pseudopolis, on his way to King Theodoret at -Lacre Kai, and how in the market-place at Pseudopolis he had seen -Queen Helen. "She is a very lovely lady," said Perion, "and I -marvelled over her resemblance to Count Emmerick's fair sister, whom -we all remember." - -"I noticed that at once," said Horvendile, and he smiled strangely, -"when I, too, passed through the city." - -"Why, but nobody could fail to notice it," said Jurgen. - -"It is not, of course, that I consider her to be as lovely as Dame -Melicent," continued Perion, "since, as I have contended in all -quarters of the world, there has never lived, and will never live, -any woman so beautiful as Melicent. But you gentlemen appear -surprised by what seems to me a very simple statement. Your air, in -fine, is one that forces me to point out it is a statement I can -permit nobody to deny." And Perion's honest eyes had narrowed -unpleasantly, and his sun-browned countenance was uncomfortably -stern. - -"Dear sir," said Jurgen, hastily, "it was merely that it appeared to -me the lady whom they call Queen Helen hereabouts is quite evidently -Count Emmerick's sister Dorothy la Desiree." - -"Whereas I recognized her at once," says Horvendile, "as Count -Emmerick's third sister, La Beale Ettarre." - -And now they stared at one another, for it was certain that these -three sisters were not particularly alike. - -"Putting aside any question of eyesight," observes Perion, "it is -indisputable that the language of both of you is distorted. For one -of you says this is Madame Dorothy, and the other says this is -Madame Ettarre: whereas everybody knows that this Queen Helen, -whomever she may resemble, cannot possibly be anybody else save -Queen Helen." - -"To you, who are always the same person," replied Jurgen, "that may -sound reasonable. For my part, I am several people: and I detect no -incongruity in other persons' resembling me." - -"There would be no incongruity anywhere," suggested Horvendile, "if -Queen Helen were the woman whom we had loved in vain. For the woman -whom when we were young we loved in vain is the one woman that we -can never see quite clearly, whatever happens. So we might easily, I -suppose, confuse her with some other woman." - -"But Melicent is the lady whom I have loved in vain," said Perion, -"and I care nothing whatever about Queen Helen. Why should I? What -do you mean now, Horvendile, by your hints that I have faltered in -my constancy to Dame Melicent since I saw Queen Helen? I do not like -such hints." - -"No less, it is Ettarre whom I love, and have loved not quite in -vain, and have loved unfalteringly," says Horvendile, with his quiet -smile: "and I am certain that it was Ettarre whom I beheld when I -looked upon Queen Helen." - -"I may confess," says Jurgen, clearing his throat, "that I have -always regarded Madame Dorothy with peculiar respect and admiration. -For the rest, I am married. Even so, I think that Madame Dorothy is -Queen Helen." - -Then they fell to debating this mystery. And presently Perion said -the one way out was to leave the matter to Queen Helen. "She at all -events must know who she is. So do one of you go back into the city, -and embrace her knees as is the custom of this country when one -implores a favor of the King or the Queen: and do you then ask her -fairly." - -"Not I," says Jurgen. "I am upon terms of some intimacy with a -hamadryad just at present. I am content with my Hamadryad. And I -intend never to venture into the presence of Queen Helen any more, -in order to preserve my contentment." - -"Why, but I cannot go," says Perion, "because Dame Melicent has a -little mole upon her left cheek. And Queen Helen's cheek is -flawless. You understand, of course, that I am certain this mole -immeasurably enhances the beauty of Dame Melicent," he added, -loyally. "None the less, I mean to hold no further traffic with -Queen Helen." - -"Now my reason for not going is this," said Horvendile:--"that if I -attempted to embrace the knees of Ettarre, whom people hereabouts -call Helen, she would instantly vanish. Other matters apart, I do -not wish to bring any such misfortune upon the Island of Leuke." - -"But that," said Perion, "is nonsense." - -"Of course it is," said Horvendile. "That is probably why it -happens." - -So none of them would go. And each of them clung, none the less, to -his own opinion about Queen Helen. And presently Perion said they -were wasting both time and words. Then Perion bade the two farewell, -and Perion continued southward, toward Lacre Kai. And as he went he -sang a song in honor of Dame Melicent, whom he celebrated as Heart -o' My Heart: and the two who heard him agreed that Perion de la -Foret was probably the worst poet in the world. - -"Nevertheless, there goes a very chivalrous and worthy gentleman," -said Horvendile, "intent to play out the remainder of his romance. I -wonder if the Author gets much pleasure from these simple -characters? At least they must be easy to handle." - -"I cultivate a judicious amount of gallantry," says Jurgen: "I do -not any longer aspire to be chivalrous. And indeed, Horvendile, it -seems to me indisputable that each one of us is the hero in his own -romance, and cannot understand any other person's romance, but -misinterprets everything therein, very much as we three have fallen -out in the simple matter of a woman's face." - -Now young Horvendile meditatively stroked his own curly and reddish -hair, brushing it away from his ears with his left hand, as he sat -there staring meditatively at nothing in particular. - -"I would put it, Jurgen, that we three have met like characters out -of three separate romances which the Author has composed in -different styles." - -"That also," Jurgen submitted, "would be nonsense." - -"Ah, but perhaps the Author very often perpetrates nonsense. Come -Jurgen, you who are King of Eubonia!" says Horvendile, with his -wide-set eyes a-twinkle; "what is there in you or me to attest that -our Author has not composed our romances with his tongue in his -cheek?" - -"Messire Horvendile, if you are attempting to joke about Koshchei -who made all things as they are, I warn you I do not consider that -sort of humor very wholesome. Without being prudish, I believe in -common-sense: and I would vastly prefer to have you talk about -something else." - -Horvendile was still smiling. "You look some day to come to -Koshchei, as you call the Author. That is easily said, and sounds -excellently. Ah, but how will you recognize Koshchei? and how do you -know you have not already passed by Koshchei in some street or -meadow? Come now, King Jurgen," said Horvendile, and still his young -face wore an impish smile; "come tell me, how do you know that I am -not Koshchei who made all things as they are?" - -"Be off with you!" says Jurgen; "you would never have had the wit to -invent a Jurgen. Something else is troubling me: I have just -recollected that the young Perion who left us only a moment since, -grew to be rich and gray-headed and famous, and took Dame Melicent -from her pagan husband, and married her himself: and that all this -happened long years ago. So our recent talk with young Perion seems -very improbable." - -"Why, but do you not remember, too, that I ran away in the night -when Maugis d'Aigremont stormed Storisende? and was never heard of -any more? and that all this, too, took place a long, long while ago? -Yet we have met as three fine young fellows, here on the beach of -fabulous Leuke. I put it to you fairly, King Jurgen: now how could -this conceivably have come about unless the Author sometimes -composes nonsense?" - -"Truly the way that you express it, Horvendile, the thing does seem -a little strange; and I can think of no explanation rendering it -plausible." - -"Again, see now, King Jurgen of Eubonia, how you underrate the -Author's ability. This is one of the romancer's most venerable -devices that is being practised. See for yourself!" And suddenly -Horvendile pushed Jurgen so that Jurgen tumbled over in the warm -sand. - -Then Jurgen arose, gaping and stretching himself. "That was a very -foolish dream I had, napping here in the sun. For it was certainly a -dream. Otherwise, they would have left footprints, these young -fellows who have gone the way of youth so long ago. And it was a -dream that had no sense in it. But indeed it would be strange if -that were the whole point of it, and if living, too, were such a -dream, as that queer Horvendile would have me think." - -Jurgen snapped his fingers. - -"Well, and what in common fairness could he or anyone else expect me -to do about it! That is the answer I fling at you, you Horvendile -whom I made up in a dream. And I disown you as the most futile of my -inventions. So be off with you! and a good riddance, too, for I -never held with upsetting people." - -Then Jurgen dusted himself, and trudged home to an early supper with -the Hamadryad who contented him. - - - - -30. - -Economics of King Jurgen - - -Now Jurgen's curious dream put notions into the restless head of -Jurgen. So mighty became his curiosity that he went shuddering into -the abhorred Woods, and passed over Coalisnacoan (which is the Ferry -of Dogs), and did all such detestable things as were necessary to -placate Phobetor. Then Jurgen tricked Phobetor by an indescribable -device, wherein surprising use was made of a cheese and three -beetles and a gimlet, and so cheated Phobetor out of a gray magic. -And that night while Pseudopolis slept King Jurgen came down into -this city of gold and ivory. - -Jurgen went with distaste among the broad-browed and great-limbed -monarchs of Pseudopolis, for they reminded him of things that he had -long ago put aside, and they made him feel unpleasantly ignoble and -insignificant. That was his real reason for avoiding the city. - -Now he passed between unlighted and silent palaces, walking in -deserted streets where the moon made ominous shadows. Here was the -house of Ajax Telamon who reigned in sea-girt Salamis, here that of -god-like Philoctetes: much-counseling Odysseus dwelt just across the -way, and the corner residence was fair-haired Agamemnon's: in the -moonlight Jurgen easily made out these names engraved upon the -bronze shield that hung beside each doorway. To every side of him -slept the heroes of old song while Jurgen skulked under their -windows. - -He remembered how incuriously--not even scornfully--these people had -overlooked him on that disastrous afternoon when he had ventured -into Pseudopolis by daylight. And a spiteful little gust of rage -possessed him, and Jurgen shook his fist at the big silent palaces. - -"Yah!" he snarled: for he did not know at all what it was that he -desired to say to those great stupid heroes who did not care what he -said, but he knew that he hated them. Then Jurgen became aware of -himself growling there like a kicked cur who is afraid to bite, and -he began to laugh at this Jurgen. - -"Your pardon, gentlemen of Greece," says he, with a wide ceremonious -bow, "and I think the information I wished to convey was that I am a -monstrous clever fellow." - -Jurgen went into the largest palace, and crept stealthily by the -bedroom of Achilles, King of Men, treading a-tip-toe; and so came at -last into a little room panelled with cedar-wood where slept Queen -Helen. She was smiling in her sleep when he had lighted his lamp, -with due observance of the gray magic. She was infinitely beautiful, -this young Dorothy whom people hereabouts through some odd error -called Helen. - -For Jurgen saw very well that this was Count Emmerick's sister -Dorothy la Desiree, whom Jurgen had vainly loved in the days when -Jurgen was young alike in body and heart. Just once he had won back -to her, in the garden between dawn and sunrise: but he was then a -time-battered burgher whom Dorothy did not recognise. Now he -returned to her a king, less admirable it might be than some of the -many other kings without realms who slept now in Pseudopolis, but -still very fine in his borrowed youth, and above all, armored by a -gray magic: so that improbabilities were possible. And Jurgen's eyes -were furtive, and he passed his tongue across his upper lip from one -corner to the other, and his hand went out toward the robe of -violet-colored wool which covered the sleeping girl, for he stood -ready to awaken Dorothy la Desiree in the way he often awoke -Chloris. - -But a queer thought held him. Nothing, he recollected, had shown the -power to hurt him very deeply since he had lost this young Dorothy. -And to affairs which threatened to result unpleasantly, he had -always managed to impart an agreeable turn, since then, by virtue of -preserving a cool heart. What if by some misfortune he were to get -back his real youth? and were to become again the flustered boy who -blundered from stammering rapture to wild misery, and back again, at -the least word or gesture of a gold-haired girl? - -"Thank you, no!" says Jurgen. "The boy was more admirable than I, -who am by way of being not wholly admirable. But then he had a -wretched time of it, by and large. Thus it may be that my real youth -lies sleeping here: and for no consideration would I re-awaken it." - -And yet tears came into his eyes, for no reason at all. And it -seemed to him that the sleeping woman, here at his disposal, was not -the young Dorothy whom he had seen in the garden between dawn and -sunrise, although the two were curiously alike; and that of the two -this woman here was, somehow, infinitely the lovelier. - -"Lady, if you indeed be the Swan's daughter, long and long ago there -was a child that was ill. And his illness turned to a fever, and in -his fever he arose from his bed one night, saying that he must set -out for Troy, because of his love for Queen Helen. I was once that -child. I remember how strange it seemed to me I should be talking -such nonsense: I remember how the warm room smelt of drugs: and I -remember how I pitied the trouble in my nurse's face, drawn and old -in the yellow lamplight. For she loved me, and she did not -understand: and she pleaded with me to be a good boy and not to -worry my sleeping parents. But I perceive now that I was not talking -nonsense." - -He paused, considering the riddle: and his fingers fretted with the -robe of violet-colored wool beneath which lay Queen Helen. "Yours -is that beauty of which men know by fabulous report alone, and which -they may not ever find, nor ever win to, quite. And for that beauty -I have hungered always, even in childhood. Toward that beauty I have -struggled always, but not quite whole-heartedly. That night forecast -my life. I have hungered for you: and"--Jurgen smiled here--"and I -have always stayed a passably good boy, lest I should beyond reason -disturb my family. For to do that, I thought, would not be fair: and -still I believe for me to have done that would have been unfair." - -He grimaced at this point: for Jurgen was finding his scruples -inconveniently numerous. - -"And now I think that what I do to-night is not quite fair to Chloris. -And I do not know what thing it is that I desire, and the will of -Jurgen is a feather in the wind. But I know that I would like to love -somebody as Chloris loves me, and as so many women have loved me. And -I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen Helen, at every -moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I first seemed to -find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. It is the memory -of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face of a jill-flirt, -which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other men give women: -and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved nothing--not even you, -not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. Well, what if I took vengeance -now upon this thieving comeliness, upon this robber that strips life of -joy and sorrow?" - -Jurgen stood at Queen Helen's bedside, watching her, for a long -while. He had shifted into a less fanciful mood: and the shadow that -followed him was ugly and hulking and wavering upon the cedarn wall -of Queen Helen's sleeping-chamber. - -"Mine is a magic which does not fail," old Phobetor had said, while -his attendants raised his eyelids so that he could see King Jurgen. - -Now Jurgen remembered this. And reflectively he drew back the robe -of violet-colored wool, a little way. The breast of Queen Helen lay -bare. And she did not move at all, but she smiled in her sleep. - -Never had Jurgen imagined that any woman could be so beautiful nor -so desirable as this woman, or that he could ever know such rapture. -So Jurgen paused. - -"Because," said Jurgen now, "it may be this woman has some fault: it -may be there is some fleck in her beauty somewhere. And sooner than -know that, I would prefer to retain my unreasonable dreams, and this -longing which is unfed and hopeless, and the memory of to-night. -Besides, if she were perfect in everything, how could I live any -longer, who would have no more to desire? No, I would be betraying -my own interests, either way; and injustice is always despicable." - -So Jurgen sighed and gently replaced the robe of violet-colored -wool, and he returned to his Hamadryad. - -"And now that I think of it, too," reflected Jurgen, "I am behaving -rather nobly. Yes, it is questionless that I have to-night evinced a -certain delicacy of feeling which merits appreciation, at all events -by King Achilles." - - - - -31. - -The Fall of Pseudopolis - - -So Jurgen abode in Leuke, and complied with the customs of that -country; and what with one thing and another, he and Chloris made -the time pass pleasantly enough, until the winter solstice was at -hand. Now Pseudopolis, as has been said, was at war with Philistia: -so it befell that at this season Leuke was invaded by an army of -Philistines, led by their Queen Dolores, a woman who was wise but -not entirely reliable. They came from the coast, a terrible army -insanely clad in such garments as had been commanded by Ageus, a god -of theirs; and chaunting psalms in honor of their god Vel-Tyno, who -had inspired this crusade: thus they swept down upon Pseudopolis, -and encamped before the city. - -These Philistines fought in this campaign by casting before them a -more horrible form of Greek fire, which consumed whatever was not -gray-colored. For that color alone was now favored by their god -Vel-Tyno. "And all other colors," his oracles had decreed, "are -forevermore abominable, until I say otherwise." - -So the forces of Philistia were marshalled in the plain before -Pseudopolis, and Queen Dolores spoke to her troops. And smilingly -she said:-- - -"Whenever you come to blows with the enemy he will be beaten. No -mercy will be shown, no prisoners taken. As the Philistines under -Libnah and Goliath and Gershon, and a many other tall captains, made -for themselves a name which is still mighty in traditions and -legend, even thus to-day may the name of Realist be so fixed in -Pseudopolis, by your deeds to-day, that no one shall ever dare again -even to look askance at a Philistine. Open the door for Realism, -once for all!" - -Meanwhile within the city Achilles, King of Men, addressed his -army:-- - -"The eyes of all the world will be upon you, because you are in some -especial sense the soldiers of Romance. Let it be your pride, -therefore, to show all men everywhere, not only what good soldiers -you are, but also what good men you are, keeping yourselves fit and -straight in everything, and pure and clean through and through. Let -us set ourselves a standard so high that it will be a glory to live -up to it, and then let us live up to it, and add a new laurel to the -crown of Pseudopolis. May the Gods of Old keep you and guide you!" - -Then said Thersites, in his beard: "Certainly Pelides has learned -from history with what weapon a strong man discomfits the -Philistines." - -But the other kings applauded, and the trumpet was sounded, and the -battle was joined. And that day the forces of Philistia were -everywhere triumphant. But they report a queer thing happened: and -it was that when the Philistines shouted in their triumph, Achilles -and all they who served him rose from the ground like gleaming -clouds and passed above the heads of the Philistines, deriding them. - -Thus was Pseudopolis left empty, so that the Philistines entered -thereinto without any opposition. They defiled this city of -blasphemous colors, then burned it as a sacrifice to their god -Vel-Tyno, because the color of ashes is gray. - -Then the Philistines erected lithoi (which were not unlike may-poles), -and began to celebrate their religious rites. - - * * * * * - -So it was reported: but Jurgen witnessed none of these events. - -"Let them fight it out," said Jurgen: "it is not my affair. I agree -with Silenus: dullness will conquer dullness, and it will not -matter. But do you, woman dear, take shelter with your kindred in -the unconquerable Woods, for there is no telling what damage the -Philistines may do hereabouts." - -"Will you go with me, Jurgen?" - -"My dear, you know very well that it is impossible for me ever again -to go into the Woods, after the trick I played upon Phobetor." - -"And if only you had kept your head about that bean-pole of a Helen, -in her yellow wig--for I have not a doubt that every strand of it is -false, and at all events this is not a time to be arguing about it, -Jurgen,--why, then you would never have meddled with Uncle Phobetor! -It simply shows you!" - -"Yes," said Jurgen. - -"Still, I do not know. If you come with me into the Woods, Uncle -Phobetor in his impetuous way will quite certainly turn you into a -boar-pig, because he has always done that to the people who -irritated him--" - -"I seem to recognise that reason." - -"--But give me time, and I can get around Uncle Phobetor, just as I -have always done, and he will turn you back." - -"No," says Jurgen, obstinately, "I do not wish to be turned into a -boar-pig." - -"Now, Jurgen, let us be sensible about this! Of course, it is a -little humiliating. But I will take the very best of care of you, -and feed you with my own acorns, and it will be a purely temporary -arrangement. And to be a pig for a week or two, or even for a month, -is infinitely better for a poet than being captured by the -Philistines." - -"How do I know that?" says Jurgen. - -"--For it is not, after all, as if Uncle Phobetor's heart were not -in the right place. It is just his way. And besides, you must -remember what you did with that gimlet!" - -Said Jurgen: "All this is hardly to the purpose. You forget I have -seen the hapless swine of Phobetor, and I know how he ameliorates -the natural ferocity of his boar-pigs. No, I am Jurgen. So I remain. -I will face the Philistines and whatever they may possibly do to me, -rather than suffer that which Phobetor will quite certainly do to -me." - -"Then I stay too," said Chloris. - -"No, woman dear--!" - -"But do you not understand?" says Chloris, a little pale, as he saw -now. "Since the life of a hamadryad is linked with the life of her -tree, nobody can harm me so long as my tree lives: and if they cut -down my tree I shall die, wherever I may happen to be." - -"I had forgotten that." He was really troubled now. - -"--And you can see for yourself, Jurgen, it is quite out of the -question for me to be carrying that great oak anywhere, and I wonder -at your talking such nonsense." - -"Indeed, my dear," says Jurgen, "we are very neatly trapped. Well, -nobody can live longer in peace than his neighbor chooses. -Nevertheless, it is not fair." - -As he spoke the Philistines came forth from the burning city. Again -the trumpet sounded, and the Philistines advanced in their order of -battle. - - - - -32. - -Sundry Devices of the Philistines - - -Meanwhile the People of the Field had watched Pseudopolis burn, and -had wondered what would befall them. They had not long to wonder, -for next day the Fields were occupied, without any resistance by the -inhabitants. - -"The People of the Field," said they, "have never fought, and for -them to begin now would be a very unheard-of thing indeed." - -So the Fields were captured by the Philistines, and Chloris and -Jurgen and all the People of the Field were judged summarily. They -were declared to be obsolete illusions, whose merited doom was to be -relegated to limbo. To Jurgen this appeared unreasonable. - -"For I am no illusion," he asserted. "I am manifestly flesh and -blood, and in addition, I am the high King of Eubonia, and no less. -Why, in disputing these facts you contest circumstances that are so -well known hereabouts as to rank among mathematical certainties. And -that makes you look foolish, as I tell you for your own good." - -This vexed the leaders of the Philistines, as it always vexes people -to be told anything for their own good. "We would have you know," -said they, "that we are not mathematicians; and that moreover, we -have no kings in Philistia, where all must do what seems to be -expected of them, and have no other law." - -"How then can you be the leaders of Philistia?" - -"Why, it is expected that women and priests should behave -unaccountably. Therefore all we who are women or priests do what we -will in Philistia, and the men there obey us. And it is we, the -priests of Philistia, who do not think you can possibly have any -flesh and blood under a shirt which we recognize to be a -conventional figure of speech. It does not stand to reason. And -certainly you could not ever prove such a thing by mathematics; and -to say so is nonsense." - -"But I can prove it by mathematics, quite irrefutably. I can prove -anything you require of me by whatever means you may prefer," said -Jurgen, modestly, "for the simple reason that I am a monstrous -clever fellow." - -Then spoke the wise Queen Dolores, saying: "I have studied -mathematics. I will question this young man, in my tent to-night, -and in the morning I will report the truth as to his claims. Are you -content to endure this interrogatory, my spruce young fellow who -wear the shirt of a king?" - -Jurgen looked full upon her: she was lovely as a hawk is lovely: and -of all that Jurgen saw Jurgen approved. He assumed the rest to be in -keeping: and deduced that Dolores was a fine woman. - -"Madame and Queen," said Jurgen, "I am content. And I can promise to -deal fairly with you." - -So that evening Jurgen was conducted into the purple tent of Queen -Dolores of Philistia. It was quite dark there, and Jurgen went in -alone, and wondering what would happen next: but this scented -darkness he found of excellent augury, if only because it prevented -his shadow from following him. - -"Now, you who claim to be flesh and blood, and King of Eubonia, -too," says the voice of Queen Dolores, "what is this nonsense you -were talking about proving any such claims by mathematics?" - -"Well, but my mathematics," replied Jurgen, "are Praxagorean." - -"What, do you mean Praxagoras of Cos?" - -"As if," scoffed Jurgen, "anybody had ever heard of any other -Praxagoras!" - -"But he, as I recall, belonged to the medical school of the -Dogmatici," observed the wise Queen Dolores, "and was particularly -celebrated for his researches in anatomy. Was he, then, also a -mathematician?" - -"The two are not incongruous, madame, as I would be delighted to -demonstrate." - -"Oh, nobody said that! For, indeed, it does seem to me I have heard -of this Praxagorean system of mathematics, though, I confess, I have -never studied it." - -"Our school, madame, postulates, first of all, that since the -science of mathematics is an abstract science, it is best inculcated -by some concrete example." - -Said the Queen: "But that sounds rather complicated." - -"It occasionally leads to complications," Jurgen admitted, "through -a choice of the wrong example. But the axiom is no less true." - -"Come, then, and sit next to me on this couch if you can find it in -the dark; and do you explain to me what you mean." - -"Why, madame, by a concrete example I mean one that is perceptible -to any of the senses--as to sight or hearing, or touch--" - -"Oh, oh!" said the Queen, "now I perceive what you mean by a -concrete example. And grasping this, I can understand that -complications must of course arise from a choice of the wrong -example." - -"Well, then, madame, it is first necessary to implant in you, by the -force of example, a lively sense of the peculiar character, and -virtues and properties, of each of the numbers upon which is based -the whole science of Praxagorean mathematics. For in order to -convince you thoroughly, we must start far down, at the beginning of -all things." - -"I see," said the Queen, "or rather, in this darkness I cannot see -at all, but I perceive your point. Your opening interests me: and -you may go on." - -"Now ONE, or the monad," says Jurgen, "is the principle and the end -of all: it reveals the sublime knot which binds together the chain -of causes: it is the symbol of identity, of equality, of existence, -of conservation, and of general harmony." And Jurgen emphasized -these characteristics vigorously. "In brief, ONE is a symbol of the -union of things: it introduces that generating virtue which is the -cause of all combinations: and consequently ONE is a good -principle." - -"Ah, ah!" said Queen Dolores, "I heartily admire a good principle. -But what has become of your concrete example?" - -"It is ready for you, madame: there is but ONE Jurgen." - -"Oh, I assure you, I am not yet convinced of that. Still, the -audacity of your example will help me to remember ONE, whether or -not you prove to be really unique." - -"Now, TWO, or the dyad, the origin of contrasts--" - -Jurgen went on penetratingly to demonstrate that TWO was a symbol of -diversity and of restlessness and of disorder, ending in collapse -and separation: and was accordingly an evil principle. Thus was the -life of every man made wretched by the struggle between his TWO -components, his soul and his body; and thus was the rapture of -expectant parents considerably abated by the advent of TWINS. - -THREE, or the triad, however, since everything was composed of three -substances, contained the most sublime mysteries, which Jurgen duly -communicated. We must remember, he pointed out, that Zeus carried a -TRIPLE thunderbolt, and Poseidon a TRIDENT, whereas Ades was guarded -by a dog with THREE heads: this in addition to the omnipotent -brothers themselves being a TRIO. - -Thus Jurgen continued to impart the Praxagorean significance of each -digit separately: and by and by the Queen was declaring his flow of -wisdom was superhuman. - -"Ah, but, madame, not even the wisdom of a king is without limit. -EIGHT, I repeat, then, is appropriately the number of the -Beatitudes. And NINE, or the ennead, also, being the multiple of -THREE, should be regarded as sacred--" - -The Queen attended docilely to his demonstration of the peculiar -properties of NINE. And when he had ended she confessed that beyond -doubt NINE should be regarded as miraculous. But she repudiated his -analogues as to the muses, the lives of a cat, and how many tailors -made a man. - -"Rather, I shall remember always," she declared, "that King Jurgen -of Eubonia is a NINE days' wonder." - -"Well, madame," said Jurgen, with a sigh, "now that we have reached -NINE, I regret to say we have exhausted the digits." - -"Oh, what a pity!" cried Queen Dolores. "Nevertheless, I will -concede the only illustration I disputed; there is but ONE Jurgen: -and certainly this Praxagorean system of mathematics is a -fascinating study." And promptly she commenced to plan Jurgen's -return with her into Philistia, so that she might perfect herself in -the higher branches of mathematics. "For you must teach me calculus -and geometry and all other sciences in which these digits are -employed. We can arrange some compromise with the priests. That is -always possible with the priests of Philistia, and indeed the -priests of Sesphra can be made to help anybody in anything. And as -for your Hamadryad, I will attend to her myself." - -"But, no," says Jurgen, "I am ready enough in all conscience to -compromise elsewhere: but to compound with the forces of Philistia -is the one thing I cannot do." - -"Do you mean that, King Jurgen?" The Queen was astounded. - -"I mean it, my dear, as I mean nothing else. You are in many ways an -admirable people, and you are in all ways a formidable people. So I -admire, I dread, I avoid, and at the very last pinch I defy. For you -are not my people, and willy-nilly my gorge rises against your laws, -as equally insane and abhorrent. Mind you, though, I assert nothing. -You may be right in attributing wisdom to these laws; and certainly -I cannot go so far as to say you are wrong: but still, at the same -time--! That is the way I feel about it. So I, who compromise with -everything else, can make no compromise with Philistia. No, my -adored Dolores, it is not a virtue, rather it is an instinct with -me, and I have no choice." - -Even Dolores, who was Queen of all the Philistines, could perceive -that this man spoke truthfully. "I am sorry," says she, with real -regret, "for you could be much run after in Philistia." - -"Yes," said Jurgen, "as an instructor in mathematics." - -"But, no, King Jurgen, not only in mathematics," said Dolores, -reasonably. "There is poetry, for instance! For they tell me you are -a poet, and a great many of my people take poetry quite seriously, I -believe. Of course, I do not have much time for reading, myself. So -you can be the Poet Laureate of Philistia, on any salary you like. -And you can teach us all your ideas by writing beautiful poems about -them. And you and I can be very happy together." - -"Teach, teach! there speaks Philistia, and very temptingly, too, -through an adorable mouth, that would bribe me with praise and fine -food and soft days forever. It is a thing that happens rather often, -though. And I can but repeat that art is not a branch of pedagogy!" - -"Really I am heartily sorry. For apart from mathematics, I like you, -King Jurgen, just as a person." - -"I, too, am sorry, Dolores. For I confess to a weakness for the -women of Philistia." - -"Certainly you have given me no cause to suspect you of any weakness -in that quarter," observed Dolores, "in the long while you have been -alone with me, and have talked so wisely and have reasoned so -deeply. I am afraid that after to-night I shall find all other men -more or less superficial. Heigho! and I shall probably weep my eyes -out to-morrow when you are relegated to limbo. For that is what the -priests will do with you, King Jurgen, on one plea or another, if -you do not conform to the laws of Philistia." - -"And that one compromise I cannot make! Ah, but even now I have a -plan wherewith to escape your priests: and failing that, I possess a -cantrap to fall back upon in my hour of direst need. My private -affairs are thus not yet in a hopeless or even in a dejected -condition. This fact now urges me to observe that TEN, or the -decade, is the measure of all, since it contains all the numeric -relations and harmonies--" - -So they continued their study of mathematics until it was time for -Jurgen to appear again before his judges. - -And in the morning Queen Dolores sent word to her priests that she -was too sleepy to attend their council, but that the man was -indisputably flesh and blood, amply deserved to be a king, and as a -mathematician had not his peer. - -Now these points being settled, the judges conferred, and Jurgen was -decreed a backslider into the ways of undesirable error. His judges -were the priests of Vel-Tyno and Sesphra and Ageus, who are the Gods -of Philistia. - -Then the priest of Ageus put on his spectacles and consulted the -canonical law, and declared that this change in the indictment -necessitated a severance of Jurgen from the others, in the -infliction of punishment. - -"For each, of course, must be relegated to the limbo of his fathers, -as was foretold, in order that the prophecies may be fulfilled. -Religion languishes when prophecies are not fulfilled. Now it -appears that the forefathers of the flesh and blood prisoner were of -a different faith from the progenitors of these obsolete illusions, -and that his fathers foretold quite different things, and that their -limbo was called Hell." - -"It is little you know," says Jurgen, "of the religion of Eubonia." - -"We have it written down in this great book," the priest of Vel-Tyno -then told him,--"every word of it without blot or error." - -"Then you will see that the King of Eubonia is the head of the -church there, and changes all the prophecies at will. Learned -Gowlais says so directly: and the judicious Stevegonius was forced -to agree with him, however unwillingly, as you will instantly -discover by consulting the third section of his widely famous -nineteenth chapter." - -"Both Gowlais and Stevegonius were probably notorious heretics," -says the priest of Ageus. "I believe that was settled once for all -at the Diet of Orthumar." - -"Eh!" says Jurgen. He did not like this priest. "Now I will wager, -sirs," Jurgen continued, a trifle patronizingly, "that you gentlemen -have not read Gowlais, or even Stevegonius, in the light of -Vossler's commentaries. And that is why you underrate them." - -"I at least have read every word that was ever written by any of -these three," replied the priest of Sesphra--"and with, as I need -hardly say, the liveliest abhorrence. And this Gowlais in -particular, as I hasten to agree with my learned confrere, is a most -notorious heretic--" - -"Oh, sir," said Jurgen, horrified, "whatever are you telling me -about Gowlais!" - -"I tell you that I have been roused to indignation by his -_Historia de Bello Veneris_--" - -"You surprise me: still--" - -"--Shocked by his _Pornoboscodidascolo_--" - -"I can hardly believe it: even so, you must grant--" - -"--And horrified by his _Liber de immortalitate Mentulae_--" - -"Well, conceding you that earlier work, sir, yet, at the same -time--" - -"--And have been disgusted by his _De modo coeundi_--" - -"Ah, but, none the less--" - -"--And have shuddered over the unspeakable enormities of -his _Erotopaegnion!_ of his _Cinaedica!_ and especially of his -_Epipedesis_, that most pestilential and abominable book, -_quem sine horrore nemo potest legere_--" - -"Still, you cannot deny--" - -"--And have read also all the confutations of this detestable -Gowlais: as those of Zanchius, Faventinus, Lelius Vincentius, -Lagalla, Thomas Giaminus, and eight other admirable commentators--" - -"You are very exact, sir: but--" - -"--And that, in short, I have read every book you can imagine," says -the priest of Sesphra. - -The shoulders of Jurgen rose to his ears, and Jurgen silently flung -out his hands, palms upward. - -"For, I perceive," says Jurgen, to himself, "that this Realist is -too circumstantial for me. None the less, he invents his facts: it -is by citing books which never existed that he publicly confutes the -Gowlais whom I invented privately: and that is not fair. Now there -remains only one chance for Jurgen; but luckily that chance is -sure." - -"Why are you fumbling in your pocket?" asks the old priest of Ageus, -fidgeting and peering. - -"Aha, you may well ask!" cried Jurgen. He unfolded the cantrap which -had been given him by the Master Philologist, and which Jurgen had -treasured against the time when more was needed than a glib tongue. -"O most unrighteous judges," says Jurgen, sternly, "now hear and -tremble! 'At the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro Juliani, who -should be named John the Twentieth, was through an error in the -reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the Twenty-first!'" - -"Hah, and what have we to do with that?" inquired the priest of -Vel-Tyno, with raised eyebrows. "Why are you telling us of these -irrelevant matters?" - -"Because I thought it would interest you," said Jurgen. "It was a -fact that appeared to me rather amusing. So I thought I would -mention it." - -"Then you have very queer ideas of amusement," they told him. And -Jurgen perceived that either he had not employed his cantrap -correctly or else that its magic was unappreciated by the leaders of -Philistia. - - - - -33. - -Farewell to Chloris - - -Now the Philistines led out their prisoners, and made ready to -inflict the doom which was decreed. And they permitted the young -King of Eubonia to speak with Chloris. - -"Farewell to you now, Jurgen!" says Chloris, weeping softly. "It is -little I care what foolish words these priests of Philistia may -utter against me. But the big-armed axemen are felling my tree -yonder, to get them timber to make a bedstead for the Queen of -Philistia: for that is what this Queen Dolores ordered them to do -the first thing this morning." - -And Jurgen raised his hands. "You women!" he said. "What man would -ever have thought of that?" - -"So when my tree is felled I must depart into a sombre land wherein -there is no laughter at all; and where the puzzled dead go wandering -futilely through fields of scentless asphodel, and through tall -sullen groves of myrtle,--the puzzled quiet dead, who may not even -weep as I do now, but can only wonder what it is that they regret. -And I too must taste of Lethe, and forget all I have loved." - -"You should give thanks to the imagination of your forefathers, my -dear, that your doom is no worse. For I am going into a more -barbaric limbo, into the Hell of a people who thought entirely too -much about flames and pitchforks," says Jurgen, ruefully. "I tell -you it is the deuce and all, to come of morbid ancestry." And he -kissed Chloris, upon the brow. "My dear, dear girl," he said, with a -gulp, "as long as you remember me, do so with charity." - -"Jurgen"--and she clung close to him--"you were not ever unkind, not -even for a moment. Jurgen, you have not ever spoken one harsh word -to me or any other person, in all the while we were together. O -Jurgen, whom I have loved as you could love nobody, it was not much -those other women had left me to worship!" - -"Indeed, it is a pity that you loved me, Chloris, for I was not -worthy." And for the instant Jurgen meant it. - -"If any other person said that, Jurgen, I would be very angry. And even -to hear you say it troubles me, because there was never a hamadryad -between two hills that had a husband one-half so clever-foolish as he -made light of time and chance, with his sleek black head cocked to one -side, and his mischievous brown eyes a-twinkle." - -And Jurgen wondered that this should be the notion Chloris had of -him, and that a gesture should be the things she remembered about -him: and he was doubly assured that no woman bothers to understand -the man she elects to love and cosset and slave for. - -"O woman dear," says Jurgen, "but I have loved you, and my heart is -water now that you are taken from me: and to remember your ways and -the joy I had in them will be a big and grinding sorrow in the long -time to come. Oh, not with any heroic love have I loved you, nor -with any madness and high dreams, nor with much talking either; but -with a love befitting my condition, with a quiet and cordial love." - -"And must you be trying, while I die, to get your grieving for me -into the right words?" she asks him, smiling very sadly. "No matter: -you are Jurgen, and I have loved you. And I am glad that I shall -know nothing about it when in the long time, to come you will be -telling so many other women about what was said by Zorobasius and -Ptolemopiter, and when you will be posturing and romancing for their -delight. For presently I shall have tasted Lethe: and presently I -shall have forgotten you, King Jurgen, and all the joy I had in you, -and all the pride, and all the love I had for you, King Jurgen, who -loved me as much as you were able." - -"Why, and will there be any love-making, do you think, in Hell?" he -asks her, with a doleful smile. - -"There will be love-making," she replied, "wherever you go, King -Jurgen. And there will be women to listen. And at the last there -will be a bean-pole of a woman, in a wig." - -"I am sorry--" he said. "And yet I have loved you, Chloris." - -"That is my comfort now. And presently there will be Lethe. I put -the greater faith in Lethe. And still, I cannot help but love you, -Jurgen, in whom I have no faith at all." - -He said, again: "I am not worthy." - -They kissed. Then each of them was conveyed to an appropriate doom. - -And tears were in the eyes of Jurgen, who was not used to weep: and -he thought not at all of what was to befall him, but only of this -and that small trivial thing which would have pleased his Chloris -had Jurgen done it, and which for one reason or another Jurgen had -left undone. - -"I was not ever unkind to her, says she! ah, but I might have been -so much kinder. And now I shall not ever see her any more, nor ever -any more may I awaken delight and admiration in those bright tender -eyes which saw no fault in me! Well, but it is a comfort surely that -she does not know how I devoted the last night she was to live to -teaching mathematics." - -And then Jurgen wondered how he would be despatched into the Hell of -his fathers? And when the Philistines showed him in what manner they -proposed to inflict their sentence he wondered at his own -obtuseness. - -"For I might have surmised this would be the way of it," said -Jurgen. "And yet as always there is a simplicity in the methods of -the Philistines which is unimaginable by really clever fellows. And -as always, too, these methods are unfair to us clever fellows. Well, -I am willing to taste any drink once: but this is a very horrible -device, none the less; and I wonder if I have the pluck to endure -it?" - -Then as he stood considering this matter, a man-at-arms came -hurrying. He brought with him three great rolled parchments, with -seals and ribbons and everything in order: and these were Jurgen's -pardon and Jurgen's nomination as Poet Laureate of Philistia and -Jurgen's appointment as Mathematician Royal. - -The man-at-arms brought also a letter from Queen Dolores, and this -Jurgen read with a frown. - -"Do you consider now what fun it would be to hood-wink everybody by -pretending to conform to our laws!" said this letter, and it said -nothing more: Dolores was really a wise woman. Yet there was a -postscript. "For we could be so happy!" said the postscript. - -And Jurgen looked toward the Woods, where men were sawing up a great -oak-tree. And Jurgen gave a fine laugh, and with fine deliberateness -he tore up the Queen's letter into little strips. Then statelily he -took the parchments, and found they were so tough he could not tear -them. This was uncommonly awkward, for Jurgen's ill-advised attempt -to tear the parchments impaired the dignity of his magnanimous -self-sacrifice: he even suspected one of the guards of smiling. So -there was nothing for it but presently to give up that futile tugging -and jerking, and to compromise by crumpling these parchments. - -"This is my answer," said Jurgen heroically, and with some -admiration of himself, but still a little dashed by the uncalled-for -toughness of the parchments. - -Then Jurgen cried farewell to fallen Leuke; and scornfully he cried -farewell to the Philistines and to their devices. Then he submitted -to their devices. Thus, it was without making any special protest -about it that Jurgen was relegated to limbo, and was despatched to -the Hell of his fathers, two days before Christmas. - - - - -34. - -How Emperor Jurgen Fared Infernally - - -Now the tale tells how the devils of Hell were in one of their churches -celebrating Christmas in such manner as the devils observe that day; -and how Jurgen came through the trapdoor in the vestry-room; and how -he saw and wondered over the creatures which inhabited this place. For -to him after the Christmas services came all such devils as his fathers -had foretold, and in not a hair or scale or talon did they differ from -the worst that anybody had been able to imagine. - -"Anatomy is hereabouts even more inconsequent than in Cocaigne," was -Jurgen's first reflection. But the first thing the devils did was to -search Jurgen very carefully, in order to make sure he was not -bringing any water into Hell. - -"Now, who may you be, that come to us alive, in a fine shirt of -which we never saw the like before?" asked Dithican. He had the head -of a tiger, but otherwise the appearance of a large bird, with -shining feathers and four feet: his neck was yellow, his body green, -and his feet black. - -"It would not be treating honestly with you to deny that I am the -Emperor of Noumaria," said Jurgen, somewhat advancing his estate. - -Now spoke Amaimon, in the form of a thick suet-colored worm going -upright upon his tail, which shone like the tail of a glowworm. He -had no feet, but under his chops were two short hands, and upon his -back were bristles such as grow upon hedgehogs. - -"But we are rather overrun with emperors," said Amaimon, doubtfully, -"and their crimes are a great trouble to us. Were you a very wicked -ruler?" - -"Never since I became an emperor," replied Jurgen, "has any of my -subjects uttered one word of complaint against me. So it stands to -reason I have nothing very serious with which to reproach myself." - -"Your conscience, then, does not demand that you be punished?" - -"My conscience, gentlemen, is too well-bred to insist on anything." - -"You do not even wish to be tortured?" - -"Well, I admit I had expected something of the sort. But none the -less, I will not make a point of it," said Jurgen, handsomely. "No, -I shall be quite satisfied even though you do not torture me at -all." - -And then the mob of devils made a great to-do over Jurgen. - -"For it is exceedingly good to have at least one unpretentious and -undictatorial human being in Hell. Nobody as a rule drops in on us -save inordinately proud and conscientious ghosts, whose self-conceit -is intolerable, and whose demands are outrageous." - -"How can that be?" - -"Why, we have to punish them. Of course they are not properly -punished until they are convinced that what is happening to them is -just and adequate. And you have no notion what elaborate tortures -they insist their exceeding wickedness has merited, as though that -which they did or left undone could possibly matter to anybody. And -to contrive these torments quite tires us out." - -"But wherefore is this place called the Hell of my fathers?" - -"Because your forefathers builded it in dreams," they told him, "out -of the pride which led them to believe that what they did was of -sufficient importance to merit punishment. Or so at least we have -heard: but if you want the truth of the matter you must go to our -Grandfather at Barathum." - -"I shall go to him, then. And do my own grandfathers, and all the -forefathers that I had in the old time, inhabit this gray place?" - -"All such as are born with what they call a conscience come hither," -the devils said. "Do you think you could persuade them to go -elsewhere? For in that event, we would be deeply obliged to you. -Their self-conceit is pitiful: but it is also a nuisance, because it -prevents our getting any rest." - -"Perhaps I can help you to obtain justice, and certainly to attempt -to secure justice for you is my imperial duty. But who governs this -country?" - -They told him how Hell was divided into principalities that had for -governors Lucifer and Beelzebub and Belial and Ascheroth and -Phlegeton: but that over all these was Grandfather Satan, who lived -in the Black House at Barathum. - -"Well, I prefer," says Jurgen, "to deal directly with your -principal, especially if he can explain the polity of this insane -and murky country. Do some of you conduct me to him in such state as -becomes an emperor!" - -So Cannagosta fetched a wheelbarrow, and Jurgen got into it, and -Cannagosta trundled him away. Cannagosta was something like an ox, -but rather more like a cat, and his hair was curly. - -And as they came through Chorasma, a very uncomfortable place where -the damned abide in torment, whom should Jurgen see but his own -father, Coth, the son of Smoit and Steinvor, standing there chewing -his long moustaches in the midst of an especially tall flame. - -"Do you stop now for a moment!" says Jurgen, to his escort. - -"Oh, but this is the most vexatious person in all Hell!" cried -Cannagosta; "and a person whom there is absolutely no pleasing!" - -"Nobody knows that better than I," says Jurgen. - -And Jurgen civilly bade his father good-day, but Coth did not -recognize this spruce young Emperor of Noumaria, who went about Hell -in a wheelbarrow. - -"You do not know me, then?" says Jurgen. - -"How should I know you when I never saw you before?" replied Coth, -irritably. - -And Jurgen did not argue the point: for he knew that he and his -father could never agree about anything. So Jurgen kept silent for -that time, and Cannagosta wheeled him through the gray twilight, -descending always deeper and yet deeper into the lowlands of Hell, -until they had come to Barathum. - - - - -35. - -What Grandfather Satan Reported - - -Next the tale tells how three inferior devils made a loud music with -bagpipes as Jurgen went into the Black House of Barathum, to talk -with Grandfather Satan. - -Satan was like a man of sixty, or it might be sixty-two, in all -things save that he was covered with gray fur, and had horns like -those of a stag. He wore a breech-clout of very dark gray, and he -sat in a chair of black marble, on a dais: his bushy tail, which was -like that of a squirrel, waved restlessly over his head as he looked -at Jurgen, without speaking, and without turning his mind from an -ancient thought. And his eyes were like light shining upon little -pools of ink, for they had no whites to them. - -"What is the meaning of this insane country?" says Jurgen, plunging -at the heart of things. "There is no sense in it, and no fairness at -all." - -"Ah," replied Satan, in his curious hoarse voice, "you may well say -that: and it is what I was telling my wife only last night." - -"You have a wife, then!" says Jurgen, who was always interested in -such matters. "Why, but to be sure! either as a Christian or as a -married man, I should have comprehended this was Satan's due. And -how do you get on with her?" - -"Pretty well," says Grandfather Satan: "but she does not understand -me." - -"_Et tu, Brute!_" says Jurgen. - -"And what does that mean?" - -"It is an expression connotating astonishment over an event without -parallel. But everything in Hell seems rather strange, and the place -is not at all as it was rumored to be by the priests and the bishops -and the cardinals that used to be exhorting me in my fine palace at -Breschau." - -"And where, did you say, is this palace?" - -"In Noumaria, where I am the Emperor Jurgen. And I need not insult -you by explaining Breschau is my capital city, and is noted for -its manufacture of linen and woolen cloth and gloves and cameos -and brandy, though the majority of my subjects are engaged in -cattle-breeding and agricultural pursuits." - -"Of course not: for I have studied geography. And, Jurgen, it is -often I have heard of you, though never of your being an emperor." - -"Did I not say this place was not in touch with new ideas?" - -"Ah, but you must remember that thoughtful persons keep out of Hell. -Besides, the war with Heaven prevents us from thinking of other -matters. In any event, you Emperor Jurgen, by what authority do you -question Satan, in Satan's home?" - -"I have heard that word which the ass spoke with the cat," replied -Jurgen; for he recollected upon a sudden what Merlin had shown him. - -Grandfather Satan nodded comprehendingly. "All honor be to Set and -Bast! and may their power increase. This, Emperor, is how my kingdom -came about." - -Then Satan, sitting erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, -explained how he, and all the domain and all the infernal -hierarchies he ruled, had been created extempore by Koshchei, to -humor the pride of Jurgen's forefathers. "For they were exceedingly -proud of their sins. And Koshchei happened to notice Earth once upon -a time, with your forefathers walking about it exultant in the -enormity of their sins and in the terrible punishments they expected -in requital. Now Koshchei will do almost anything to humor pride, -because to be proud is one of the two things that are impossible to -Koshchei. So he was pleased, oh, very much pleased: and after he had -had his laugh out, he created Hell extempore, and made it just such -a place as your forefathers imagined it ought to be, in order to -humor the pride of your forefathers." - -"And why is pride impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because he made things as they are; and day and night he -contemplates things as they are, having nothing else to look at. -How, then, can Koshchei be proud?" - -"I see. It is as if I were imprisoned in a cell wherein there was -nothing, absolutely nothing, except my verses. I shudder to think of -it! But what is this other thing which is impossible to Koshchei?" - -"I do not know. It is something that does not enter into Hell." - -"Well, I wish I too had never entered here, and now you must assist -me to get out of this murky place." - -"And why must I assist you?" - -"Because," said Jurgen, and he drew out the cantrap of the Master -Philologist, "because at the death of Adrian the Fifth, Pedro -Juliani, who should be named John the Twentieth, was through an -error in the reckoning elevated to the papal chair as John the -Twenty-first. Do you not find my reason sufficient?" - -"No," said Grandfather Satan, after thinking it over, "I cannot say -that I do. But, then, popes go to Heaven. It is considered to look -better, all around, and particularly by my countrymen, inasmuch as -many popes have been suspected of pro-Celestialism. So we admit none -of them into Hell, in order to be on the safe side, now that we are -at war. In consequence, I am no judge of popes and their affairs, -nor do I pretend to be." - -And Jurgen perceived that again he had employed his cantrap -incorrectly or else that it was impotent to rescue people from -Satan. "But who would have thought," he reflected, "that Grandfather -Satan was such a simple old creature!" - -"How long, then, must I remain here?" asks Jurgen, after a dejected -pause. - -"I do not know," replies Satan. "It must depend entirely upon what -your father thinks about it--" - -"But what has he to do with it?" - -"--Since I and all else that is here are your father's absurd -notions, as you have so frequently proved by logic. And it is hardly -possible that such a clever fellow as you can be mistaken." - -"Why, of course, that is not possible," says Jurgen. "Well, the -matter is rather complicated. But I am willing to taste any drink -once: and I shall manage to get justice somehow, even in this -unreasonable place where my father's absurd notions are the truth." - -So Jurgen left the Black House of Barathum: and Jurgen also left -Grandfather Satan, erect and bleak in his tall marble chair, and -with his eyes gleaming in the dim light, as he sat there restively -swishing his soft bushy tail, and not ever turning his mind from an -ancient thought. - - - - -36. - -Why Coth was Contradicted - - -Then Jurgen went back to Chorasma, where Coth, the son of Smoit and -Steinvor, stood conscientiously in the midst of the largest and -hottest flame he had been able to imagine, and rebuked the outworn -devils who were tormenting him, because the tortures they inflicted -were not adequate to the wickedness of Coth. - -And Jurgen cried to his father: "The lewd fiend Cannagosta told you -I was the Emperor of Noumaria, and I do not deny it even now. But do -you not perceive I am likewise your son Jurgen?" - -"Why, so it is," said Coth, "now that I look at the rascal. And how, -Jurgen, did you become an emperor?" - -"Oh, sir, and is this a place wherein to talk about mere earthly -dignities? I am surprised your mind should still run upon these -empty vanities even here in torment." - -"But it is inadequate torment, Jurgen, such as does not salve my -conscience. There is no justice in this place, and no way of getting -justice. For these shiftless devils do not take seriously that which -I did, and they merely pretend to punish me, and so my conscience -stays unsatisfied." - -"Well, but, father, I have talked with them, and they seem to think -your crimes do not amount to much, after all." - -Coth flew into one of his familiar rages. "I would have you know -that I killed eight men in cold blood, and held five other men while -they were being killed. I estimate the sum of such iniquity as ten -and a half murders, and for these my conscience demands that I be -punished." - -"Ah, but, sir, that was fifty years or more ago, and these men would -now be dead in any event, so you see it does not matter now." - -"I went astray with women, with I do not know how many women." - -Jurgen shook his head. "This is very shocking news for a son to -receive, and you can imagine my feelings. None the less, sir, that -also was fifty years ago, and nobody is bothering over it now." - -"You jackanapes, I tell you that I swore and stole and forged and -burned four houses and broke the Sabbath and was guilty of mayhem -and spoke disrespectfully to my mother and worshipped a stone image -in Porutsa. I tell you I shattered the whole Decalogue, time and -again. I committed all the crimes that were ever heard of, and -invented six new ones." - -"Yes, sir," said Jurgen: "but, still, what does it matter if you -did?" - -"Oh, take away this son of mine!" cried Coth: "for he is his mother -all over again; and though I was the vilest sinner that ever lived, -I have not deserved to be plagued twice with such silly questions. -And I demand that you loitering devils bring more fuel." - -"Sir," said a panting little fiend, in the form of a tadpole with -hairy arms and legs like a monkey's, as he ran up with four bundles -of faggots, "we are doing the very best we can for your discomfort. -But you damned have no consideration for us, and do not remember -that we are on our feet day and night, waiting upon you," said the -little devil, whimpering, as with his pitchfork he raked up the fire -about Coth. "You do not even remember the upset condition of the -country, on account of the war with Heaven, which makes it so hard -for us to get you all the inconveniences of life. Instead, you -lounge in your flames, and complain about the service, and -Grandfather Satan punishes us, and it is not fair." - -"I think, myself," said Jurgen, "you should be gentler with the boy. -And as for your crimes, sir, come, will you not conquer this pride -which you nickname conscience, and concede that after any man has -been dead a little while it does not matter at all what he did? Why, -about Bellegarde no one ever thinks of your throat-cutting and -Sabbath-breaking except when very old people gossip over the fire, -and your wickedness brightens up the evening for them. To the rest -of us you are just a stone in the churchyard which describes you as -a paragon of all the virtues. And outside of Bellegarde, sir, your -name and deeds mean nothing now to anybody, and no one anywhere -remembers you. So really your wickedness is not bothering any person -now save these poor toiling devils: and I think that, in -consequence, you might consent to put up with such torments as they -can conveniently contrive, without complaining so ill-temperedly -about it." - -"Ah, but my conscience, Jurgen! that is the point." - -"Oh, if you continue to talk about your conscience, sir, you -restrict the conversation to matters I do not understand, and so -cannot discuss. But I dare say we will find occasion to thresh out -this, and all other matters, by and by: and you and I will make the -best of this place, for now I will never leave you." - -Coth began to weep: and he said that his sins in the flesh had been -too heinous for this comfort to be permitted him in the unendurable -torment which he had fairly earned, and hoped some day to come by. - -"Do you care about me, one way or the other, then?" says Jurgen, -quite astounded. - -And from the midst of his flame Coth, the son of Smoit, talked of -the birth of Jurgen, and of the infant that had been Jurgen, and of -the child that had been Jurgen. And a horrible, deep, unreasonable -emotion moved in Jurgen as he listened to the man who had begotten -him, and whose flesh was Jurgen's flesh, and whose thoughts had not -ever been Jurgen's thoughts: and Jurgen did not like it. Then the -voice of Coth was bitterly changed, as he talked of the young man -that had been Jurgen, of the young man who was idle and rebellious -and considerate of nothing save his own light desires; and of the -division which had arisen between Jurgen and Jurgen's father Coth -spoke likewise: and Jurgen felt better now, but was still grieved to -know how much his father had once loved him. - -"It is lamentably true," says Jurgen, "that I was an idle and -rebellious son. So I did not follow your teachings. I went astray, -oh, very terribly astray. I even went astray, sir I must tell you, -with a nature myth connected with the Moon." - -"Oh, hideous abomination of the heathen!" - -"And she considered, sir, that thereafter I was likely to become a -solar legend." - -"I should not wonder," said Coth, and he shook his bald and dome-shaped -head despondently. "Ah, my son, it simply shows you what comes of these -wild courses." - -"And in that event, I would, of course, be released from sojourning -in the underworld by the Spring Equinox. Do you not think so, sir?" -says Jurgen, very coaxingly, because he remembered that, according -to Satan, whatever Coth believed would be the truth in Hell. - -"I am sure," said Coth--"why, I am sure I do not know anything about -such matters." - -"Yes, but what do you think?" - -"I do not think about it at all." - -"Yes, but--" - -"Jurgen, you have a very uncivil habit of arguing with people--" - -"Still, sir--" - -"And I have spoken to you about it before--" - -"Yet, father--" - -"And I do not wish to have to speak to you about it again--" - -"None the less, sir--" - -"And when I say that I have no opinion--" - -"But everybody has an opinion, father!" Jurgen shouted this, and -felt it was quite like old times. - -"How dare you speak to me in that tone of voice, sir!" - -"But I only meant--" - -"Do not lie to me, Jurgen! and stop interrupting me! For, as I was -saying when you began to yell at your father as though you were -addressing an unreasonable person, it is my opinion that I know -nothing whatever about Equinoxes! and do not care to know anything -about Equinoxes, I would have you understand! and that the less said -as to such disreputable topics the better, as I tell you to your -face!" - -And Jurgen groaned. "Here is a pretty father! If you had thought so, -it would have happened. But you imagine me in a place like this, and -have not sufficient fairness, far less paternal affection, to -imagine me out of it." - -"I can only think of your well merited affliction, you quarrelsome -scoundrel! and of the host of light women with whom you have sinned! -and of the doom which has befallen you in consequence!" - -"Well, at worst," says Jurgen, "there are no women here. That ought -to be a comfort to you." - -"I think there are women here," snapped his father. "It is reputed -that quite a number of women have had consciences. But these -conscientious women are probably kept separate from us men, in some -other part of Hell, for the reason that if they were admitted into -Chorasma they would attempt to tidy the place and make it habitable. -I know your mother would have been meddling out of hand." - -"Oh, sir, and must you still be finding fault with mother?" - -"Your mother, Jurgen, was in many ways an admirable woman. But," -said Coth, "she did not understand me." - -"Ah, well, that may have been the trouble. Still, all this you say -about women being here is mere guess-work." - -"It is not!" said Coth, "and I want none of your impudence, either. -How many times must I tell you that?" - -Jurgen scratched his ear reflectively. For he still remembered what -Grandfather Satan had said, and Coth's irritation seemed promising. -"Well, but the women here are all ugly, I wager." - -"They are not!" said his father, angrily. "Why do you keep -contradicting me?" - -"Because you do not know what you are talking about," says Jurgen, -egging him on. "How could there be any pretty women in this horrible -place? For the soft flesh would be burned away from their little -bones, and the loveliest of queens would be reduced to a horrid -cinder." - -"I think there are any number of vampires and succubi and such -creatures, whom the flames do not injure at all, because these -creatures are informed with an ardor that is unquenchable and is -more hot than fire. And you understand perfectly what I mean, so -there is no need for you to stand there goggling at me like a -horrified abbess!" - -"Oh, sir, but you know very well that I would have nothing to do -with such unregenerate persons." - -"I do not know anything of the sort. You are probably lying to me. -You always lied to me. I think you are on your way to meet a vampire -now." - -"What, sir, a hideous creature with fangs and leathery wings!" - -"No, but a very poisonous and seductively beautiful creature." - -"Come, now! you do not really think she is beautiful." - -"I do think so. How dare you tell me what I think and do not think!" - -"Ah, well, I shall have nothing to do with her." - -"I think you will," said his father: "ah, but I think you will be up -to your tricks with her before this hour is out. For do I not know -what emperors are? and do I not know you?" - -And Coth fell to talking of Jurgen's past, in the customary terms of -a family squabble, such as are not very nicely repeatable elsewhere. -And the fiends who had been tormenting Coth withdrew in -embarrassment, and so long as Coth continued talking they kept out -of earshot. - - - - -37. - -Invention of the Lovely Vampire - - -So again Coth parted with his son in anger, and Jurgen returned -again toward Barathum; and, whether or not it was a coincidence, -Jurgen met precisely the vampire of whom he had inveigled his father -into thinking. She was the most seductively beautiful creature that -it would be possible for Jurgen's father or any other man to -imagine: and her clothes were orange-colored, for a reason -sufficiently well known in Hell, and were embroidered everywhere -with green fig-leaves. - -"A good morning to you, madame," says Jurgen, "and whither are you -going?" - -"Why, to no place at all, good youth. For this is my vacation, -granted yearly by the Law of Kalki--" - -"And who is Kalki, madame?" - -"Nobody as yet: but he will come as a stallion. Meanwhile his Law -precedes him, so that I am spending my vacation peacefully in Hell, -with none of my ordinary annoyances to bother me." - -"And what, madame, can they be?" - -"Why, you must understand that it is little rest a vampire gets on -earth, with so many fine young fellows like yourself going about -everywhere eager to be destroyed." - -"But how, madame, did you happen to become a vampire if the life -does not please you? And what is it that they call you?" - -"My name, sir," replied the Vampire, sorrowfully, "is Florimel, -because my nature no less than my person was as beautiful as the -flowers of the field and as sweet as the honey which the bees (who -furnish us with such admirable examples of industry) get out of -these flowers. But a sad misfortune changed all this. For I chanced -one day to fall ill and die (which, of course, might happen to -anyone), and as my funeral was leaving the house the cat jumped over -my coffin. That was a terrible misfortune to befall a poor dead girl -so generally respected, and in wide demand as a seamstress; though, -even then, the worst might have been averted had not my sister-in-law -been of what they call a humane disposition and foolishly attached to -the cat. So they did not kill it, and I, of course, became a vampire." - -"Yes, I can understand that was inevitable. Still, it seems hardly -fair. I pity you, my dear." And Jurgen sighed. - -"I would prefer, sir, that you did not address me thus familiarly, -since you and I have omitted the formality of an introduction; and -in the absence of any joint acquaintances are unlikely ever to meet -properly." - -"I have no herald handy, for I travel incognito. However, I am that -Jurgen who recently made himself Emperor of Noumaria, King of -Eubonia, Prince of Cocaigne, and Duke of Logreus; and of whom you -have doubtless heard." - -"Why, to be sure!" says she, patting her hair straight. "And who -would have anticipated meeting your highness in such a place!" - -"One says 'majesty' to an emperor, my dear. It is a detail, of -course: but in my position one has to be a little exigent." - -"I perfectly comprehend, your majesty; and indeed I might have -divined your rank from your lovely clothes. I can but entreat you to -overlook my unintentional breach of etiquette: and I make bold to -add that a kind heart reveals the splendor of its graciousness -through the interest which your majesty has just evinced in my -disastrous history." - -"Upon my word," thinks Jurgen, "but in this flow of words I seem to -recognize my father's imagination when in anger." - -Then Florimel told Jurgen of her horrible awakening in the grave, -and of what had befallen her hands and feet there, the while that -against her will she fed repugnantly, destroying first her kindred -and then the neighbors. This done, she had arisen. - -"For the cattle still lived, and that troubled me. When I had put an -end to this annoyance, I climbed into the church belfry, not alone, -for one went with me of whom I prefer not to talk; and at midnight I -sounded the bell so that all who heard it would sicken and die. And -I wept all the while, because I knew that when everything had been -destroyed which I had known in my first life in the flesh, I would -be compelled to go into new lands, in search of the food which alone -can nourish me, and I was always sincerely attached to my home. So -it was, your majesty, that I forever relinquished my sewing, and -became a lovely peril, a flashing desolation, and an evil which -smites by night, in spite of my abhorrence of irregular hours: and -what I do I dislike extremely, for it is a sad fate to become a -vampire, and still to sympathize with your victims, and particularly -with their poor mothers." - -So Jurgen comforted Florimel, and he put his arm around her. - -"Come, come!" he said, "but I will see that your vacation passes -pleasantly. And I intend to deal fairly with you, too." - -Then he glanced sidewise at his shadow, and whispered a suggestion -which caused Florimel to sigh. "By the terms of my doom," said she, -"at no time during the nine lives of the cat can I refuse. Still, it -is a comfort you are the Emperor of Noumaria and have a kind heart." - -"Oh, and a many other possessions, my dear! and I again assure you -that I intend to deal fairly with you." - -So Florimel conducted Jurgen, through the changeless twilight of -Barathum, like that of a gray winter afternoon, to a quiet cleft by -the Sea of Blood, which she had fitted out very cosily in imitation -of her girlhood home; and she lighted a candle, and made him welcome -to her cleft. And when Jurgen was about to enter it he saw that his -shadow was following him into the Vampire's home. - -"Let us extinguish this candle!" says Jurgen, "for I have seen so -many flames to-day that my eyes are tired." - -So Florimel extinguished the candle, with a good-will that delighted -Jurgen. And now they were in utter darkness, and in the dark nobody -can see what is happening. But that Florimel now trusted Jurgen and -his Noumarian claims was evinced by her very first remark. - -"I was in the beginning suspicious of your majesty," said Florimel, -"because I had always heard that every emperor carried a magnificent -sceptre, and you then displayed nothing of the sort. But now, -somehow, I do not doubt you any longer. And of what is your majesty -thinking?" - -"Why, I was reflecting, my dear," says Jurgen, "that my father -imagines things very satisfactorily." - - - - -38. - -As to Applauded Precedents - - -Afterward Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country. And the tale tells that a week or it might be ten days -after his meeting with Florimel, Jurgen married her, without being -at all hindered by his having three other wives. For the devils, he -found, esteemed polygamy, and ranked it above mere skill at -torturing the damned, through a literal interpretation of the saying -that it is better to marry than to burn. - -"And formerly," they told Jurgen, "you could hardly come across a -marriage anywhere that was not hallmarked 'made in Heaven': but -since we have been at war with Heaven we have quite taken away that -trade from our enemies. So you may marry here as much as you like." - -"Why, then," says Jurgen, "I shall marry in haste, and repeat at -leisure. But can one obtain a divorce here?" - -"Oh, no," said they. "We trafficked in them for a while, but we -found that all persons who obtained divorces through our industry -promptly thanked Heaven they were free at last. In the face of such -ingratitude we gave over that profitless trade, and now there is a -manufactory, for specialties in men's clothing, upon the old -statutory grounds." - -"But these makeshifts are unsatisfactory, and I wish to know, in -confidence, what do you do in Hell when there is no longer any -putting up with your wives." - -The devils all blushed. "We would prefer not to tell you," said -they, "for it might get to their ears." - -"Now do I perceive," said Jurgen, "that Hell is pretty much like any -other place." - -So Jurgen and the lovely Vampire were duly married. First Jurgen's -nails were trimmed, and the parings were given to Florimel. A -broomstick was laid before them, and they stepped over it. Then -Florimel said "Temon!" thrice, and nine times did Jurgen reply -"Arigizator!" Afterward the Emperor Jurgen and his bride were given -a posset of dudaim and eruca, and the devils modestly withdrew. - -Thereafter Jurgen abode in Hell, and complied with the customs of -that country, and was tolerably content for a while. Now Jurgen -shared with Florimel that quiet cleft which she had fitted out in -imitation of her girlhood home: and they lived in the suburbs of -Barathum, very respectably, by the shore of the sea. There was, of -course, no water in Hell; indeed the importation of water was -forbidden, under severe penalties, in view of its possible use for -baptismal purposes: this sea was composed of the blood that had been -shed by piety in furthering the kingdom of the Prince of Peace, and -was reputed to be the largest ocean in existence. And it explained -the nonsensical saying which Jurgen had so often heard, as to Hell's -being paved with good intentions. - -"For Epigenes of Rhodes is right, after all," said Jurgen, "in -suggesting a misprint: and the word should be 'laved'." - -"Why, to be sure, your majesty," assented Florimel: "ah, but I -always said your majesty had remarkable powers of penetration, quite -apart from your majesty's scholarship." - -For Florimel had this cajoling way of speaking. None the less, all -vampires have their foibles, and are nourished by the vigor and -youth of their lovers. So one morning Florimel complained of being -unwell, and attributed it to indigestion. - -Jurgen stroked her head meditatively; then he opened his glittering -shirt, and displayed what was plain enough to see. - -"I am full of vigor and I am young," said Jurgen, "but my vigor and -my youthfulness are of a peculiar sort, and are not wholesome. So -let us have no more of your tricks, or you will quite spoil your -vacation by being very ill indeed." - -"But I had thought all emperors were human!" said Florimel, in a -flutter of blushing penitence, exceedingly pretty to observe. - -"Even so, sweetheart, all emperors are not Jurgens," he replied, -magnificently. "Therefore you will find that not every emperor is -justly styled the father of his people, or is qualified by nature to -wield the sceptre of Noumaria. I trust this lesson will suffice." - -"It will," said Florimel, with a wry face. - -So thereafter they had no further trouble of this sort, and the -wound on Jurgen's breast was soon healed. - -And Jurgen kept away from the damned, of course, because he and -Florimel were living respectably. They paid a visit to Jurgen's -father, however, very shortly after they were married, because this -was the proper thing to do. And Coth was civil enough, for Coth, and -voiced a hope that Florimel might have a good influence upon Jurgen -and make him worth his salt, but did not pretend to be optimistic. -Yet this visit was never returned, because Coth considered his -wickedness was too great for him to be spared a moment of torment, -and so would not leave his flame. - -"And really, your majesty," said Florimel, "I do not wish for an -instant to have the appearance of criticizing your majesty's -relatives. But I do think that your majesty's father might have -called upon us, at least once, particularly after I offered to have -a fire made up for him to sit on any time he chose to come. I -consider that your majesty's father assumes somewhat extravagant -airs, in the lack of any definite proof as to his having been a bit -more wicked than anybody else: and the child-like candor which has -always been with me a leading characteristic prevents concealment of -my opinion." - -"Oh, it is just his conscience, dear." - -"A conscience is all very well in its place, your majesty; and I, -for one, would never have been able to endure the interminable labor -of seducing and assassinating so many fine young fellows if my -conscience had not assured me that it was all the fault of my -sister-in-law. But, even so, there is no sense in letting your -conscience make a slave of you: and when conscience reduces your -majesty's father to ignoring the rules of common civility and -behaving like a candle-wick, I am sure that matters are being -carried too far." - -"And right you are, my dear. However, we do not lack for company. So -come now, make yourself fine, and shake the black dog from your -back, for we are spending the evening with the Asmodeuses." - -"And will your majesty talk politics again?" - -"Oh, I suppose so. They appear to like it." - -"I only wish that I did, your majesty," observed Florimel, and she -yawned by anticipation. - -For with the devils Jurgen got on garrulously. The religion of Hell -is patriotism, and the government is an enlightened democracy. This -contented the devils, and Jurgen had learned long ago never to fall -out with either of these codes, without which, as the devils were -fond of observing, Hell would not be what it is. - -They were, to Jurgen's finding, simple-minded fiends who allowed -themselves to be deplorably overworked by the importunate dead. They -got no rest because of the damned, who were such persons as had been -saddled with a conscience, and who in consequence demanded -interminable torments. And at the time of Jurgen's coming into Hell -political affairs were in a very bad way, because there was a -considerable party among the younger devils who were for compounding -the age-old war with Heaven, at almost any price, in order to get -relief from this unceasing influx of conscientious dead persons in -search of torment. For it was well-known that when Satan submitted -to be bound in chains there would be no more death: and the annoying -immigration would thus be ended. So said the younger devils: and -considered Grandfather Satan ought to sacrifice himself for the -general welfare. - -Then too they pointed out that Satan had been perforce their -presiding magistrate ever since the settlement of Hell, because a -change of administration is inexpedient in war-time: so that Satan -must term after term be re-elected: and of course Satan had been -voted absolute power in everything, since this too is customary in -wartime. Well, and after the first few thousand years of this the -younger devils began to whisper that such government was not ideal -democracy. - -But their more conservative elders were enraged by these effete and -wild new notions, and dealt with their juniors somewhat severely, -tearing them into bits and quite destroying them. The elder devils -then proceeded to inflict even more startling punishments. - - * * * * * - -So Grandfather Satan was much vexed, because the laws were being -violated everywhere: and a day or two after Jurgen's advent Satan -issued a public appeal to his subjects, that the code of Hell should -be better respected. But under a democratic government people do not -like to be perpetually bothering about law and order, as one of the -older and stronger devils pointed out to Jurgen. - -Jurgen drew a serious face, and he stroked his chin. "Why, but look -you," says Jurgen, "in deploring the mob spirit that has been -manifesting itself sporadically throughout this country against the -advocates of peace and submission to the commands of Heaven and -other pro-Celestial propaganda,--and in warning loyal citizenship -that such outbursts must be guarded against, as hurtful to the -public welfare of Hell,--why, Grandfather Satan should bear in mind -that the government, in large measure, holds the remedy of the evil -in its own hands." And Jurgen looked very severely toward Satan. - -"Come now," says Phlegeton, nodding his head, which was like that of -a bear, except for his naked long, red ears, inside each of which -was a flame like that of a spirit-lamp: "come now, but this young -emperor in the fine shirt speaks uncommonly well!" - -"So we spoke together in Pandemonium," said Belial, wistfully, "in -the brave days when Pandemonium was newly built and we were all imps -together." - -"Yes, his talk is of the old school, than which there is none -better. So pray continue, Emperor Jurgen," cried the elderly devils, -"and let us know what you are talking about." - -"Why, merely this," says Jurgen, and again he looked severely toward -Satan: "I tell you that as long as sentimental weakness marks the -prosecution of offences in violation of the laws necessitated by -war-time conditions; as long as deserved punishment for overt acts -of pro-Celestialism is withheld; as long as weak-kneed clemency -condones even a suspicion of disloyal thinking: then just so long -will a righteously incensed, if now and then misguided patriotism -take into its own hands vengeance upon the offenders." - -"But, still--" said Grandfather Satan. - -"Ineffectual administration of the law," continued Jurgen, sternly, -"is the true defence of these outbursts: and far more justly -deplorable than acts of mob violence is the policy of condonation -that furnishes occasion for them. The patriotic people of Hell are -not in a temper to be trifled with, now that they are at war. -Conviction for offenses against the nation should not be behedged -about with technicalities devised for over-refined peacetime -jurisprudence. Why, there is no one of you, I am sure, but has at -his tongue's tip the immortal words of Livonius as to this very -topic: and so I shall not repeat them. But I fancy you will agree -with me that what Livonius says is unanswerable." - -So it was that Jurgen went on at a great rate, and looking always -very sternly at Grandfather Satan. - -"Yes, yes!" said Satan, wriggling uncomfortably, but still not -thinking of Jurgen entirely: "yes, all this is excellent oratory, -and not for a moment would I decry the authority of Livonius. And -your quotation is uncommonly apropos and all that sort of thing. But -with what are you charging me?" - -"With sentimental weakness," retorted Jurgen. "Was it not only -yesterday one of the younger devils was brought before you, upon the -charge that he had said the climate in Heaven was better than the -climate here? And you, sir, Hell's chief magistrate--you it was who -actually asked him if he had ever uttered such a disloyal heresy!" - -"Now, but what else was I to do?" said Satan, fidgeting, and -swishing his great bushy tail so that it rustled against his horns, -and still not really turning his mind from that ancient thought. - -"You should have remembered, sir, that a devil whose patriotism is -impugned is a devil to be punished; and that there is no time to be -prying into irrevelant questions of his guilt or innocence. -Otherwise, I take it, you will never have any real democracy in -Hell." - -Now Jurgen looked very impressive, and the devils were all cheering -him. - -"And so," says Jurgen, "your disgusted hearers were wearied by such -frivolous interrogatories, and took the fellow out of your hands, -and tore him into particularly small bits. Now I warn you, -Grandfather Satan, that it is your duty as a democratic magistrate -just so to deal with such offenders first of all, and to ask your -silly questions afterward. For what does Rudigernus say outright -upon this point? and Zantipher Magnus, too? Why, my dear sir, I ask -you plainly, where in the entire history of international -jurisprudence will you find any more explicit language than these -two employ?" - -"Now certainly," says Satan, with his bleak smile, "you cite very -respectable authority: and I shall take your reproof in good part. I -will endeavor to be more strict in the future. And you must not -blame my laxity too severely, Emperor Jurgen, for it is a long while -since any man came living into Hell to instruct us how to manage -matters in time of war. No doubt, precisely as you say, we do need a -little more severity hereabouts, and would gain by adopting more -human methods. Rudigernus, now?--yes, Rudigernus is rather -unanswerable, and I concede it frankly. So do you come home and have -supper with me, Emperor Jurgen, and we will talk over these things." - -Then Jurgen went off arm in arm with Grandfather Satan, and Jurgen's -erudition and sturdy common-sense were forevermore established among -the older and more solid element in Hell. And Satan followed Jurgen's -suggestions, and the threatened rebellion was satisfactorily -discouraged, by tearing into very small fragments anybody who -grumbled about anything. So that all the subjects of Satan went -about smiling broadly all the time at the thought of what might -befall them if they seemed dejected. Thus was Hell a happier -looking place because of Jurgen's coming. - - - - -39. - -Of Compromises in Hell - - -Now Grandfather Satan's wife was called Phyllis: and apart from -having wings like a bat's, she was the loveliest little slip of -devilishness that Jurgen had seen in a long while. Jurgen spent this -night at the Black House of Barathum, and two more nights, or it -might be three nights: and the details of what Jurgen used to do -there, after supper, when he would walk alone in the Black House -Gardens, among the artfully colored cast-iron flowers and shrubbery, -and would so come to the grated windows of Phyllis's room, and would -stand there joking with her in the dark, are not requisite to this -story. - -Satan was very jealous of his wife, and kept one of her wings -clipped and held her under lock and key, as the treasure that she -was. But Jurgen was accustomed to say afterward that, while the -gratings over the windows were very formidable, they only seemed -somehow to enhance the piquancy of his commerce with Dame Phyllis. -This queen, said Jurgen, he had found simply unexcelled at repartee. - -Florimel considered the saying cryptic: just what precisely did his -majesty mean? - -"Why, that in any and all circumstances Dame Phyllis knows how to -take a joke, and to return as good as she receives." - -"So your majesty has already informed me: and certainly jokes can be -exchanged through a grating--" - -"Yes, that was what I meant. And Dame Phyllis appeared to appreciate -my ready flow of humor. She informs me Grandfather Satan is of a -cold dry temperament, with very little humor in him, so that they go -for months without exchanging any pleasantries. Well, I am willing -to taste any drink once: and for the rest, remembering that my host -had very enormous and intimidating horns, I was at particular pains -to deal fairly with my hostess. Though, indeed, it was more for the -honor and the glory of the affair than anything else that I -exchanged pleasantries with Satan's wife. For to do that, my dear, I -felt was worthy of the Emperor Jurgen." - -"Ah, I am afraid your majesty is a sad scapegrace," replied -Florimel: "however, we all know that the sceptre of an emperor is -respected everywhere." - -"Indeed," says Jurgen, "I have often regretted that I did not bring -with me my jewelled sceptre when I left Noumaria." - -She shivered at some unspoken thought: it was not until some while -afterward that Florimel told Jurgen of her humiliating misadventure -with the absent-minded Sultan of Garcao's sceptre. Now she only -replied that jewels might, conceivably, seem ostentatious and out of -place. - -Jurgen agreed to this truism: for of course they were living very -quietly, and Jurgen was splendid enough for any reasonable wife's -requirements, in his glittering shirt. - -So Jurgen got on pleasantly with Florimel. But he never became as -fond of her as he had been of Guenevere or Anaitis, nor one-tenth as -fond of her as he had been of Chloris. In the first place, he -suspected that Florimel had been invented by his father, and Coth -and Jurgen had never any tastes in common: and in the second place, -Jurgen could not but see that Florimel thought a great deal of his -being an emperor. - -"It is my title she loves, not me," reflected Jurgen, sadly, "and -her affection is less for that which is really integral to me than -for imperial orbs and sceptres and such-like external trappings." - -And Jurgen would come out of Florimel's cleft considerably dejected, -and would sit alone by the Sea of Blood, and would meditate how -inequitable it was that the mere title of emperor should thus shut -him off from sincerity and candor. - -"We who are called kings and emperors are men like other men: we are -as rightly entitled as other persons to the solace of true love and -affection: instead, we live in a continuous isolation, and women -offer us all things save their hearts, and we are a lonely folk. -No, I cannot believe that Florimel loves me for myself alone: it is -my title which dazzles her. And I would that I had never made myself -the emperor of Noumaria: for this emperor goes about everywhere -in a fabulous splendor, and is, very naturally, resistless in his -semi-mythical magnificence. Ah, but these imperial gewgaws distract -the thoughts of Florimel from the real Jurgen; so that the real -Jurgen is a person whom she does not understand at all. And it is -not fair." - -Then, too, he had a sort of prejudice against the way in which -Florimel spent her time in seducing and murdering young men. It was -not possible, of course, actually to blame the girl, since she was -the victim of circumstances, and had no choice about becoming a -vampire, once the cat had jumped over her coffin. Still, Jurgen -always felt, in his illogical masculine way, that her vocation was -not nice. And equally in the illogical way of men, did he persist in -coaxing Florimel to tell him of her vampiric transactions, in spite -of his underlying feeling that he would prefer to have his wife -engaged in some other trade: and the merry little creature would -humor him willingly enough, with her purple eyes a-sparkle, and with -her vivid lips curling prettily back, so as to show her tiny white -sharp teeth quite plainly. - -She was really very pretty thus, as she told him of what happened -in Copenhagen when young Count Osmund went down into the blind -beggar-woman's cellar, and what they did with bits of him; and -of how one kind of serpent came to have a secret name, which, -when cried aloud in the night, with the appropriate ceremony, will -bring about delicious happenings; and of what one can do with small -unchristened children, if only they do not kiss you, with their -moist uncertain little mouths, for then this thing is impossible; -and of what use she had made of young Sir Ganelon's skull, when he -was through with it, and she with him; and of what the young priest -Wulfnoth had said to the crocodiles at the very last. - -"Oh, yes, my life has its amusing side," said Florimel: "and one -likes to feel, of course, that one is not wholly out of touch with -things, and is even, in one's modest way, contributing to the -suppression of folly. But even so, your majesty, the calls that are -made upon one! the things that young men expect of you, as the price -of their bodily and spiritual ruin! and the things their relatives say -about you! and, above all, the constant strain, the irregular hours, -and the continual effort to live up to one's position! Oh, yes, your -majesty, I was far happier when I was a consumptive seamstress and took -pride in my buttonholes. But from a sister-in-law who only has you in -to tea occasionally as a matter of duty, and who is prominent in -churchwork, one may, of course, expect anything. And that reminds -me that I really must tell your majesty about what happened in the -hay-loft, just after the abbot had finished undressing--" - -So she would chatter away, while Jurgen listened and smiled -indulgently. For she certainly was very pretty. And so they kept -house in Hell contentedly enough until Florimel's vacation was at an -end: and then they parted, without any tears but in perfect -friendliness. - -And Jurgen always remembered Florimel most pleasantly, but not as a -wife with whom he had ever been on terms of actual intimacy. - -Now when this lovely Vampire had quitted him, the Emperor Jurgen, in -spite of his general popularity and the deference accorded his -political views, was not quite happy in Hell. - -"It is a comfort, at any rate," said Jurgen, "to discover who -originated the theory of democratic government. I have long wondered -who started the notion that the way to get a wise decision on any -conceivable question was to submit it to a popular vote. Now I know. -Well, and the devils may be right in their doctrines; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say they are wrong: but still, at the same -time--!" - -For instance, this interminable effort to make the universe safe for -democracy, this continual warring against Heaven because Heaven -clung to a tyrannical form of autocratic government, sounded both -logical and magnanimous, and was, of course, the only method of -insuring any general triumph for democracy: yet it seemed rather -futile to Jurgen, since, as he knew now, there was certainly -something in the Celestial system which made for military -efficiency, so that Heaven usually won. Moreover, Jurgen could not -get over the fact that Hell was just a notion of his ancestors with -which Koshchei had happened to fall in: for Jurgen had never much -patience with antiquated ideas, particularly when anyone put them -into practice, as Koshchei had done. - -"Why, this place appears to me a glaring anachronism," said Jurgen, -brooding over the fires of Chorasma: "and its methods of tormenting -conscientious people I cannot but consider very crude indeed. The -devils are simple-minded and they mean well, as nobody would dream -of denying, but that is just it: for hereabouts is needed some more -pertinacious and efficiently disagreeable person--" - -And that, of course, reminded him of Dame Lisa: and so it was the -thoughts of Jurgen turned again to doing the manly thing. And he -sighed, and went among the devils tentatively looking and inquiring -for that intrepid fiend who in the form of a black gentleman had -carried off Dame Lisa. But a queer happening befell, and it was that -nowhere could Jurgen find the black gentleman, nor did any of the -devils know anything about him. - -"From what you tell us, Emperor Jurgen," said they all, "your wife -was an acidulous shrew, and the sort of woman who believes that -whatever she does is right." - -"It was not a belief," says Jurgen: "it was a mania with the poor -dear." - -"By that fact, then, she is forever debarred from entering Hell." - -"You tell me news," says Jurgen, "which if generally known would -lead many husbands into vicious living." - -"But it is notorious that people are saved by faith. And there is no -faith stronger than that of a bad-tempered woman in her own -infallibility. Plainly, this wife of yours is the sort of person who -cannot be tolerated by anybody short of the angels. We deduce that -your Empress must be in Heaven." - -"Well, that sounds reasonable. And so to Heaven I will go, and it -may be that there I shall find justice." - -"We would have you know," the fiends cried, bristling, "that in Hell -we have all kinds of justice, since our government is an enlightened -democracy." - -"Just so," says Jurgen: "in an enlightened democracy one has all -kinds of justice, and I would not dream of denying it. But you have -not, you conceive, that lesser plague, my wife; and it is she whom I -must continue to look for." - -"Oh, as you like," said they, "so long as you do not criticize the -exigencies of war-time. But certainly we are sorry to see you going -into a country where the benighted people put up with an autocrat -Who was not duly elected to His position. And why need you continue -seeking your wife's society when it is so much pleasanter living in -Hell?" - -And Jurgen shrugged. "One has to do the manly thing sometimes." - -So the fiends told him the way to Heaven's frontiers, pitying him. -"But the crossing of the frontier must be your affair." - -"I have a cantrap," said Jurgen; "and my stay in Hell has taught me -how to use it." - -Then Jurgen followed his instructions, and went into Meridie, and -turned to the left when he had come to the great puddle where the -adders and toads are reared, and so passed through the mists of -Tartarus, with due care of the wild lightning, and took the second -turn to his left--"always in seeking Heaven be guided by your -heart," had been the advice given him by devils,--and thus avoiding -the abode of Jemra, he crossed the bridge over the Bottomless Pit -and the solitary Narakas. And Brachus, who kept the toll-gate on -this bridge, did that of which the fiends had forewarned Jurgen: but -for this, of course, there was no help. - - - - -40. - -The Ascension of Pope Jurgen - - -The tale tells how on the feast of the Annunciation Jurgen came to -the high white walls which girdle Heaven. For Jurgen's forefathers -had, of course, imagined that Hell stood directly contiguous to -Heaven, so that the blessed could augment their felicity by gazing -down upon the tortures of the damned. Now at this time a boy angel -was looking over the parapet of Heaven's wall. - -"And a good day to you, my fine young fellow," says Jurgen. "But of -what are you thinking so intently?" For just as Dives had done long -years before, now Jurgen found that a man's voice carries perfectly -between Hell and Heaven. - -"Sir," replies the boy, "I was pitying the poor damned." - -"Why, then, you must be Origen," says Jurgen, laughing. - -"No, sir, my name is Jurgen." - -"Heyday!" says Jurgen: "well, but this Jurgen has been a great many -persons in my time. So very possibly you speak the truth." - -"I am Jurgen, the son of Coth and Azra." - -"Ah, ah! but so were all of them, my boy." - -"Why, then, I am Jurgen, the grandson of Steinvor, and the -grandchild whom she loved above her other grandchildren: and so I -abide forever in Heaven with all the other illusions of Steinvor. -But who, messire, are you that go about Hell unscorched, in such a -fine looking shirt?" - -Jurgen reflected. Clearly it would never do to give his real name, -and thus raise the question as to whether Jurgen was in Heaven or -Hell. Then he recollected the cantrap of the Master Philologist, -which Jurgen had twice employed incorrectly. And Jurgen cleared his -throat, for he believed that he now understood the proper use of -cantraps. - -"Perhaps," says Jurgen, "I ought not to tell you who I am. But what -is life without confidence in one another? Besides, you appear a boy -of remarkable discretion. So I will confide in you that I am Pope -John the Twentieth, Heaven's regent upon Earth, now visiting this -place upon Celestial business which I am not at liberty to divulge -more particularly, for reasons that will at once occur to a young -man of your unusual cleverness." - -"Oh, but I say! that is droll. Do you just wait a moment!" cried the -boy angel. - -His bright face vanished, with a whisking of brown curls: and Jurgen -carefully re-read the cantrap of the Master Philologist. "Yes, I -have found, I think, the way to use such magic," observes Jurgen. - -Presently the young angel re-appeared at the parapet. "I say, messire! -I looked on the Register--all popes are admitted here the moment they -die, without inquiring into their private affairs, you know, so as to -avoid any unfortunate scandal,--and we have twenty-three Pope Johns -listed. And sure enough, the mansion prepared for John the Twentieth -is vacant. He seems to be the only pope that is not in Heaven." - -"Why, but of course not," says Jurgen, complacently, "inasmuch as -you see me, who was once Bishop of Rome and servant to the servants -of God, standing down here on this cinder-heap." - -"Yes, but none of the others in your series appears to place you. -John the Nineteenth says he never heard of you, and not to bother -him in the middle of a harp lesson--" - -"He died before my accession, naturally." - -"--And John the Twenty-first says he thinks they lost count somehow, -and that there never was any Pope John the Twentieth. He says you -must be an impostor." - -"Ah, professional jealousy!" sighed Jurgen: "dear me, this is very -sad, and gives one a poor opinion of human nature. Now, my boy, I -put it to you fairly, how could there have been a twenty-first -unless there had been a twentieth? And what becomes of the great -principle of papal infallibility when a pope admits to a mistake in -elementary arithmetic? Oh, but this is a very dangerous heresy, let -me tell you, an Inquisition matter, a consistory business! Yet, -luckily, upon his own contention, this Pedro Juliani--" - -"And that was his name, too, for he told me! You evidently know all -about it, messire," said the young angel, visibly impressed. - -"Of course, I know all about it. Well, I repeat, upon his own -contention this man is non-existent, and so, whatever he may say -amounts to nothing. For he tells you there was never any Pope John -the Twentieth: and either he is lying or he is telling you the -truth. If he is lying, you, of course, ought not to believe him: -yet, if he is telling you the truth, about there never having been -any Pope John the Twentieth, why then, quite plainly, there was -never any Pope John the Twenty-first, so that this man asserts his -own non-existence; and thus is talking nonsense, and you, of course, -ought not to believe in nonsense. Even did we grant his insane -contention that he is nobody, you are too well brought up, I am -sure, to dispute that nobody tells lies in Heaven: it follows that -in this case nobody is lying; and so, of course, I must be telling -the truth, and you have no choice save to believe me." - -"Now, certainly that sounds all right," the younger Jurgen conceded: -"though you explain it so quickly it is a little difficult to follow -you." - -"Ah, but furthermore, and over and above this, and as a tangible -proof of the infallible particularity of every syllable of my -assertion," observes the elder Jurgen, "if you will look in the -garret of Heaven you will find the identical ladder upon which I -descended hither, and which I directed them to lay aside until I was -ready to come up again. Indeed, I was just about to ask you to fetch -it, inasmuch as my business here is satisfactorily concluded." - -Well, the boy agreed that the word of no pope, whether in Hell or -Heaven, was tangible proof like a ladder: and again he was off. -Jurgen waited, in tolerable confidence. - -It was a matter of logic. Jacob's Ladder must from all accounts have -been far too valuable to throw away after one night's use at Beth-El; -it would come in very handy on Judgment Day: and Jurgen's knowledge -of Lisa enabled him to deduce that anything which was being kept -because it would come in handy some day would inevitably be stored -in the garret, in any establishment imaginable by women. "And it is -notorious that Heaven is a delusion of old women. Why, the thing is -a certainty," said Jurgen; "simply a mathematical certainty." - -And events proved his logic correct: for presently the younger -Jurgen came back with Jacob's Ladder, which was rather cobwebby and -obsolete looking after having been lain aside so long. - -"So you see you were perfectly right," then said this younger -Jurgen, as he lowered Jacob's Ladder into Hell. "Oh, Messire John, -do hurry up and have it out with that old fellow who slandered you!" - -Thus it came about that Jurgen clambered merrily from Hell to Heaven -upon a ladder of unalloyed, time-tested gold: and as he climbed the -shirt of Nessus glittered handsomely in the light which shone from -Heaven: and by this great light above him, as Jurgen mounted higher -and yet higher, the shadow of Jurgen was lengthened beyond belief -along the sheer white wall of Heaven, as though the shadow were -reluctant and adhered tenaciously to Hell. Yet presently Jurgen -leaped the ramparts: and then the shadow leaped too; and so his -shadow came with Jurgen into Heaven, and huddled dispiritedly at -Jurgen's feet. - -"Well, well!" thinks Jurgen, "certainly there is no disputing the -magic of the Master Philologist when it is correctly employed. For -through its aid I am entering alive into Heaven, as only Enoch and -Elijah have done before me: and moreover, if this boy is to be -believed, one of the very handsomest of Heaven's many mansions -awaits my occupancy. One could not ask more of any magician fairly. -Aha, if only Lisa could see me now!" - -That was his first thought. Afterward Jurgen tore up the cantrap and -scattered its fragments as the Master Philologist had directed. Then -Jurgen turned to the boy who aided Jurgen to get into Heaven. - -"Come, youngster, and let us have a good look at you!" - -And Jurgen talked with the boy that he had once been, and stood face -to face with all that Jurgen had been and was not any longer. And -this was the one happening which befell Jurgen that the writer of -the tale lacked heart to tell of. - -So Jurgen quitted the boy that he had been. But first had Jurgen -learned that in this place his grandmother Steinvor (whom King Smoit -had loved) abode and was happy in her notion of Heaven; and that -about her were her notions of her children and of her grandchildren. -Steinvor had never imagined her husband in Heaven, nor King Smoit -either. - -"That is a circumstance," says Jurgen, "which heartens me to hope -one may find justice here. Yet I shall keep away from my -grandmother, the Steinvor whom I knew and loved, and who loved me so -blindly that this boy here is her notion of me. Yes, in mere -fairness to her, I must keep away." - -So he avoided that part of Heaven wherein were his grandmother's -illusions: and this was counted for righteousness in Jurgen. That -part of Heaven smelt of mignonette, and a starling was singing -there. - - - - -41. - -Of Compromises in Heaven - - -Jurgen then went unhindered to where the God of Jurgen's grandmother -sat upon a throne, beside a sea of crystal. A rainbow, made high -and narrow like a window frame, so as to fit the throne, formed an -arch-way in which He sat: at His feet burned seven lamps, and four -remarkable winged creatures sat there chaunting softly, "Glory and -honor and thanks to Him Who liveth forever!" In one hand of the God -was a sceptre, and in the other a large book with seven red spots on -it. - -There were twelve smaller thrones, without rainbows, upon each side -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, in two semi-circles: upon these -inferior thrones sat benignant-looking elderly angels, with long -white hair, all crowned, and clothed in white robes, and having a -harp in one hand, and in the other a gold flask, about pint size. -And everywhere fluttered and glittered the multicolored wings of -seraphs and cherubs, like magnified paroquets, as they went softly -and gaily about the golden haze that brooded over Heaven, to a -continuous sound of hushed organ music and a remote and -undistinguishable singing. - -Now the eyes of this God met the eyes of Jurgen: and Jurgen waited -thus for a long while, and far longer, indeed, than Jurgen -suspected. - -"I fear You," Jurgen said, at last: "and, yes, I love You: and yet I -cannot believe. Why could You not let me believe, where so many -believed? Or else, why could You not let me deride, as the remainder -derided so noisily? O God, why could You not let me have faith? for -You gave me no faith in anything, not even in nothingness. It was -not fair." - -And in the highest court of Heaven, and in plain view of all the -angels, Jurgen began to weep. - -"I was not ever your God, Jurgen." - -"Once very long ago," said Jurgen, "I had faith in You." - -"No, for that boy is here with Me, as you yourself have seen. And -to-day there is nothing remaining of him anywhere in the man that is -Jurgen." - -"God of my grandmother! God Whom I too loved in boyhood!" said -Jurgen then: "why is it that I am denied a God? For I have searched: -and nowhere can I find justice, and nowhere can I find anything to -worship." - -"What, Jurgen, and would you look for justice, of all places, in -Heaven?" - -"No," Jurgen said; "no, I perceive it cannot be considered here. -Else You would sit alone." - -"And for the rest, you have looked to find your God without, not -looking within to see that which is truly worshipped in the thoughts -of Jurgen. Had you done so, you would have seen, as plainly as I now -see, that which alone you are able to worship. And your God is -maimed: the dust of your journeying is thick upon him; your vanity -is laid as a napkin upon his eyes; and in his heart is neither love -nor hate, not even for his only worshipper." - -"Do not deride him, You Who have so many worshippers! At least, he -is a monstrous clever fellow," said Jurgen: and boldly he said it, -in the highest court of Heaven, and before the pensive face of the -God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -"Ah, very probably. I do not meet with many clever people. And as -for My numerous worshippers, you forget how often you have -demonstrated that I was the delusion of an old woman." - -"Well, and was there ever a flaw in my logic?" - -"I was not listening to you, Jurgen. You must know that logic does -not much concern us, inasmuch as nothing is logical hereabouts." - -And now the four winged creatures ceased their chaunting, and the -organ music became a far-off murmuring. And there was silence in -Heaven. And the God of Jurgen's grandmother, too, was silent for a -while, and the rainbow under which He sat put off its seven colors -and burned with an unendurable white, tinged bluishly, while the God -considered ancient things. Then in the silence this God began to -speak. - -Some years ago (said the God of Jurgen's grandmother) it was -reported to Koshchei that scepticism was abroad in his universe, and -that one walked therein who would be contented with no rational -explanation. "Bring me this infidel," says Koshchei: so they brought -to him in the void a little bent gray woman in an old gray shawl. -"Now, tell me why you will not believe," says Koshchei, "in things -as they are." - -Then the decent little bent gray woman answered civilly; "I do not -know, sir, who you may happen to be. But, since you ask me, -everybody knows that things as they are must be regarded as -temporary afflictions, and as trials through which we are -righteously condemned to pass, in order to attain to eternal life -with our loved ones in Heaven." - -"Ah, yes," said Koshchei, who made things as they are; "ah, yes, to -be sure! and how did you learn of this?" - -"Why, every Sunday morning the priest discoursed to us about Heaven, -and of how happy we would be there after death." - -"Has this woman died, then?" asked Koshchei. - -"Yes, sir," they told him,--"recently. And she will believe nothing -we explain to her, but demands to be taken to Heaven." - -"Now, this is very vexing," Koshchei said, "and I cannot, of course, -put up with such scepticism. That would never do. So why do you not -convey her to this Heaven which she believes in, and thus put an end -to the matter?" - -"But, sir," they told him, "there is no such place." - -Then Koshchei reflected. "It is certainly strange that a place which -does not exist should be a matter of public knowledge in another -place. Where does this woman come from?" - -"From Earth," they told him. - -"Where is that?" he asked: and they explained to him as well as they -could. - -"Oh, yes, over that way," Koshchei interrupted. "I remember. -Now--but what is your name, woman who wish to go to Heaven?" - -"Steinvor, sir: and if you please I am rather in a hurry to be with -my children again. You see, I have not seen any of them for a long -while." - -"But stay," said Koshchei: "what is that which comes into this -woman's eyes as she speaks of her children?" They told him it was -love. - -"Did I create this love?" says Koshchei, who made things as they -are. And they told him, no: and that there were many sorts of love, -but that this especial sort was an illusion which women had invented -for themselves, and which they exhibited in all dealings with their -children. And Koshchei sighed. - -"Tell me about your children," Koshchei then said to Steinvor: "and -look at me as you talk, so that I may see your eyes." - -So Steinvor talked of her children: and Koshchei, who made all -things, listened very attentively. Of Coth she told him, of her only -son, confessing Coth was the finest boy that ever lived,--"a little -wild, sir, at first, but then you know what boys are,"--and telling -of how well Coth had done in business and of how he had even risen -to be an alderman. Koshchei, who made all things, seemed properly -impressed. Then Steinvor talked of her daughters, of Imperia and -Lindamira and Christine: of Imperia's beauty, and of Lindamira's -bravery under the mishaps of an unlucky marriage, and of Christine's -superlative housekeeping. "Fine women, sir, every one of them, with -children of their own! and to me they still seem such babies, bless -them!" And the decent little bent gray woman laughed. "I have been -very lucky in my children, sir, and in my grandchildren, too," she -told Koshchei. "There is Jurgen, now, my Coth's boy! You may not -believe it, sir, but there is a story I must tell you about -Jurgen--" So she ran on very happily and proudly, while Koshchei, -who made all things, listened, and watched the eyes of Steinvor. - -Then privately Koshchei asked, "Are these children and grandchildren -of Steinvor such as she reports?" - -"No, sir," they told him privately. - -So as Steinvor talked Koshchei devised illusions in accordance with -that which Steinvor said, and created such children and -grandchildren as she described. Male and female he created them -standing behind Steinvor, and all were beautiful and stainless: and -Koshchei gave life to these illusions. - -Then Koshchei bade her turn about. She obeyed: and Koshchei was -forgotten. - -Well, Koshchei sat there alone in the void, looking not very happy, -and looking puzzled, and drumming upon his knee, and staring at the -little bent gray woman, who was busied with her children and -grandchildren, and had forgotten all about him. "But surely, -Lindamira," he hears Steinvor say, "we are not yet in Heaven."--"Ah, -my dear mother," replies her illusion of Lindamira, "to be with you -again is Heaven: and besides, it may be that Heaven is like this, -after all."--"My darling child, it is sweet of you to say that, and -exactly like you to say that. But you know very well that Heaven is -fully described in the Book of Revelations, in the Bible, as the -glorious place that Heaven is. Whereas, as you can see for yourself, -around us is nothing at all, and no person at all except that very -civil gentleman to whom I was just talking; and who, between -ourselves, seems woefully uninformed about the most ordinary -matters." - -"Bring Earth to me," says Koshchei. This was done, and Koshchei -looked over the planet, and found a Bible. Koshchei opened the -Bible, and read the Revelation of St. John the Divine, while -Steinvor talked with her illusions. "I see," said Koshchei. "The -idea is a little garish. Still--!" So he replaced the Bible, and -bade them put Earth, too, in its proper place, for Koshchei dislikes -wasting anything. Then Koshchei smiled and created Heaven about -Steinvor and her illusions, and he made Heaven just such a place as -was described in the book. - -"And so, Jurgen, that was how it came about," ended the God of -Jurgen's grandmother. "And Me also Koshchei created at that time, -with the seraphim and the saints and all the blessed, very much as -you see us: and, of course, he caused us to have been here always, -since the beginning of time, because that, too, was in the book." - -"But how could that be done?" says Jurgen, with brows puckering. -"And in what way could Koshchei juggle so with time?" - -"How should I know, since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as -you have so frequently proved by logic? Let it suffice that whatever -Koshchei wills, not only happens, but has already happened beyond -the ancientest memory of man and his mother. How otherwise could he -be Koshchei?" - -"And all this," said Jurgen, virtuously, "for a woman who was not -even faithful to her husband!" - -"Oh, very probably!" said the God: "at all events, it was done for a -woman who loved. Koshchei will do almost anything to humor love, -since love is one of the two things which are impossible to -Koshchei." - -"I have heard that pride is impossible to Koshchei--" - -The God of Jurgen's grandmother raised His white eyebrows. "What is -pride? I do not think I ever heard of it before. Assuredly it is -something that does not enter here." - -"But why is love impossible to Koshchei?" - -"Because Koshchei made things as they are, and day and night he -contemplates things as they are. How, then, can Koshchei love -anything?" - -But Jurgen shook his sleek black head. "That I cannot understand at -all. If I were imprisoned in a cell wherein was nothing except my -verses I would not be happy, and certainly I would not be proud: but -even so, I would love my verses. I am afraid that I fall in more -readily with the ideas of Grandfather Satan than with Yours; and -without contradicting You, I cannot but wonder if what You reveal is -true." - -"And how should I know whether or not I speak the truth?" the God -asked of him, "since I am but the illusion of an old woman, as you -have so frequently proved by logic." - -"Well, well!" said Jurgen, "You may be right in all matters, and -certainly I cannot presume to say You are wrong: but still, at the -same time--! No, even now I do not quite believe in You." - -"Who could expect it of a clever fellow, who sees so clearly through -the illusions of old women?" the God asked, a little wearily. - -And Jurgen answered: - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, and Your -doings as they are recorded I find incoherent and a little droll. -But I am glad the affair has been so arranged that You may always -now be real to brave and gentle persons who have believed in and -have worshipped and have loved You. To have disappointed them would -have been unfair: and it is right that before the faith they had in -You not even Koshchei who made things as they are was able to be -reasonable. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You; but -remembering the sum of love and faith that has been given You, I -tremble. I think of the dear people whose living was confident and -glad because of their faith in You: I think of them, and in my heart -contends a blind contrition, and a yearning, and an enviousness, and -yet a tender sort of amusement colors all. Oh, God, there was never -any other deity who had such dear worshippers as You have had, and -You should be very proud of them. - -"God of my grandmother, I cannot quite believe in You, yet I am not -as those who would come peering at You reasonably. I, Jurgen, see -You only through a mist of tears. For You were loved by those whom I -loved greatly very long ago: and when I look at You it is Your -worshippers and the dear believers of old that I remember. And it -seems to me that dates and manuscripts and the opinions of learned -persons are very trifling things beside what I remember, and what I -envy!" - -"Who could have expected such a monstrous clever fellow ever to envy -the illusions of old women?" the God of Jurgen's grandmother asked -again: and yet His countenance was not unfriendly. - -"Why, but," said Jurgen, on a sudden, "why, but my grandmother--in a -way--was right about Heaven and about You also. For certainly You -seem to exist, and to reign in just such estate as she described. -And yet, according to Your latest revelation, I too was right--in a -way--about these things being an old woman's delusions. I wonder -now--?" - -"Yes, Jurgen?" - -"Why, I wonder if everything is right, in a way? I wonder if that is -the large secret of everything? It would not be a bad solution, -sir," said Jurgen, meditatively. - -The God smiled. Then suddenly that part of Heaven was vacant, except -for Jurgen, who stood there quite alone. And before him was the throne -of the vanished God and the sceptre of the God, and Jurgen saw that -the seven spots upon the great book were of red sealing-wax. - -Jurgen was afraid: but he was particularly appalled by his -consciousness that he was not going to falter. "What, you who have -been duke and prince and king and emperor and pope! and do such -dignities content a Jurgen? Why, not at all," says Jurgen. - -So Jurgen ascended the throne of Heaven, and sat beneath that -wondrous rainbow: and in his lap now was the book, and in his hand -was the sceptre, of the God of Jurgen's grandmother. - -Jurgen sat thus, for a long while regarding the bright vacant courts -of Heaven. "And what will you do now?" says Jurgen, aloud. "Oh, -fretful little Jurgen, you that have complained because you had not -your desire, you are omnipotent over Earth and all the affairs of -men. What now is your desire?" And sitting thus terribly enthroned, -the heart of Jurgen was as lead within him, and he felt old and very -tired. "For I do not know. Oh, nothing can help me, for I do not -know what thing it is that I desire! And this book and this sceptre -and this throne avail me nothing at all, and nothing can ever avail -me: for I am Jurgen who seeks he knows not what." - -So Jurgen shrugged, and climbed down from the throne of the God, and -wandering at adventure, came presently to four archangels. They were -seated upon a fleecy cloud, and they were eating milk and honey from -gold porringers: and of these radiant beings Jurgen inquired the -quickest way out of Heaven. - -"For hereabouts are none of my illusions," said Jurgen, "and I must -now return to such illusions as are congenial. One must believe in -something. And all that I have seen in Heaven I have admired and -envied, but in none of these things could I believe, and with none -of these things could I be satisfied. And while I think of it, I -wonder now if any of you gentlemen can give me news of that Lisa who -used to be my wife?" - -He described her; and they regarded him with compassion. - -But these archangels, he found, had never heard of Lisa, and they -assured him there was no such person in Heaven. For Steinvor had -died when Jurgen was a boy, and so she had never seen Lisa; and in -consequence, had not thought about Lisa one way or the other, when -Steinvor outlined her notions to Koshchei who made things as they -are. - -Now Jurgen discovered, too, that, when his eyes first met the eyes -of the God of Jurgen's grandmother, Jurgen had stayed motionless for -thirty-seven days, forgetful of everything save that the God of his -grandmother was love. - -"Nobody else has willingly turned away so soon," Zachariel told him: -"and we think that your insensibility is due to some evil virtue in -the glittering garment which you are wearing, and of which the like -was never seen in Heaven." - -"I did but search for justice," Jurgen said: "and I could not find -it in the eyes of your God, but only love and such forgiveness as -troubled me." - -"Because of that should you rejoice," the four archangels said; "and -so should all that lives rejoice: and more particularly should we -rejoice that dwell in Heaven, and hourly praise our Lord God's -negligence of justice, whereby we are permitted to enter into this -place." - - - - -42. - -Twelve That are Fretted Hourly - - -So it was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more -than likely to happen, that Jurgen went hastily out of Heaven, -without having gained or wasted any love there. St. Peter unbarred -for him, not the main entrance, but a small private door, carved -with innumerable fishes in bas-relief, because this exit opened -directly upon any place you chose to imagine. - -"For thus," St. Peter said, "you may return without loss of time to -your own illusions." - -"There was a cross," said Jurgen, "which I used to wear about my -neck, through motives of sentiment, because it once belonged to my -dead mother. For no woman has ever loved me save that Azra who was -my mother--" - -"I wonder if your mother told you that?" St. Peter asked him, -smiling reminiscently. "Mine did, time and again. And sometimes I -have wondered--? For, as you may remember, I was a married man, -Jurgen: and my wife did not quite understand me," said St. Peter, -with a sigh. - -"Why, indeed," says Jurgen, "my case is not entirely dissimilar: and -the more I marry, the less I find of comprehension. I should have -had more sympathy with King Smoit, who was certainly my grandfather. -Well, you conceive, St. Peter, these other women have trusted me, -more or less, because they loved a phantom Jurgen. But Azra trusted -me not at all, because she loved me with clear eyes. She -comprehended Jurgen, and yet loved him: though I for one, with all -my cleverness, cannot do either of these things. None the less, in -order to do the manly thing, in order to pleasure a woman,--and a -married woman, too!--I flung away the little gold cross which was -all that remained to me of my mother: and since then, St. Peter, the -illusions of sentiment have given me a woefully wide berth. So I -shall relinquish Heaven to seek a cross." - -"That has been done before, Jurgen, and I doubt if much good came of -it." - -"Heyday, and did it not lead to the eternal glory of the first and -greatest of the popes? It seems to me, sir, that you have either -very little memory or very little gratitude, and I am tempted to -crow in your face." - -"Why, now you talk like a cherub, Jurgen, and you ought to have -better manners. Do you suppose that we Apostles enjoy hearing jokes -made about the Church?" - -"Well, it is true, St. Peter, that you founded the Church--" - -"Now, there you go again! That is what those patronizing seraphim -and those impish cherubs are always telling us. You see, we Twelve -sit together in Heaven, each on his white throne: and we behold -everything that happens on Earth. Now from our station there has -been no ignoring the growth and doings of what you might loosely -call Christianity. And sometimes that which we see makes us very -uncomfortable, Jurgen. Especially as just then some cherub is sure -to flutter by, in a broad grin, and chuckle, 'But you started it.' -And we did; I cannot deny that in a way we did. Yet really we never -anticipated anything of this sort, and it is not fair to tease us -about it." - -"Indeed, St. Peter, now I think of it, you ought to be held -responsible for very little that has been said or done in the shadow -of a steeple. For as I remember it, you Twelve attempted to convert -a world to the teachings of Jesus: and good intentions ought to be -respected, however drolly they may turn out." - -It was apparent this sympathy was grateful to the old Saint, for he -was moved to a more confidential tone. Meditatively he stroked his -long white beard, then said with indignation: "If only they would -not claim sib with us we could stand it: but as it is, for centuries -we have felt like fools. It is particularly embarrassing for me, of -course, being on the wicket; for to cap it all, Jurgen, the little -wretches die, and come to Heaven impudent as sparrows, and expect me -to let them in! From their thumbscrewings, and their auto-da-fes, -and from their massacres, and patriotic sermons, and holy wars, and -from every manner of abomination, they come to me, smirking. And -millions upon millions of them, Jurgen! There is no form of cruelty -or folly that has not come to me for praise, and no sort of criminal -idiot who has not claimed fellowship with me, who was an Apostle and -a gentleman. Why, Jurgen, you may not believe it, but there was an -eminent bishop came to me only last week in the expectation that I -was going to admit him,--and I with the full record of his work for -temperance, all fairly written out and in my hand!" - -Now Jurgen was surprised. "But temperance is surely a virtue, St. -Peter." - -"Ah, but his notion of temperance! and his filthy ravings to my -face, as though he were talking in some church or other! Why, the -slavering little blasphemer! to my face he spoke against the first -of my Master's miracles, and against the last injunction which was -laid upon us Twelve, spluttering that the wine was unfermented! To -me he said this, look you, Jurgen! to me, who drank of that noble -wine at Cana and equally of that sustaining wine we had in the -little upper room in Jerusalem when the hour of trial was near and -our Master would have us at our best! With me, who have since tasted -of that unimaginable wine which the Master promised us in His -kingdom, the busy wretch would be arguing! and would have convinced -me, in the face of all my memories, that my Master, Who was a Man -among men, was nourished by such thin swill as bred this niggling -brawling wretch to plague me!" - -"Well, but indeed, St. Peter, there is no denying that wine is often -misused." - -"So he informed me, Jurgen. And I told him by that argument he would -prohibit the making of bishops, for reasons he would find in the -mirror: and that, remembering what happened at the Crucifixion, he -would clap every lumber dealer into jail. So they took him away -still slavering," said St. Peter, wearily. "He was threatening to -have somebody else elected in my place when I last heard him: but -that was only old habit." - -"I do not think, however, that I encountered any such bishop, sir, -down yonder." - -"In the Hell of your fathers? Oh, no: your fathers meant well, but -their notions were limited. No, we have quite another eternal home -for these blasphemers, in a region that was fitted out long ago, -when the need grew pressing to provide a place for zealous -Churchmen." - -"And who devised this place, St. Peter?" - -"As a very special favor, we Twelve to whom is imputed the beginning -and the patronizing of such abominations were permitted to design -and furnish this place. And, of course, we put it in charge of our -former confrere, Judas. He seemed the appropriate person. Equally of -course, we put a very special roof upon it, the best imitation which -we could contrive of the War Roof, so that none of those grinning -cherubs could see what long reward it was we Twelve who founded -Christianity had contrived for these blasphemers." - -"Well, doubtless that was wise." - -"Ah, and if we Twelve had our way there would be just such another -roof kept always over Earth. For the slavering madman has left a -many like him clamoring and spewing about the churches that were -named for us Twelve, and in the pulpits of the churches that were -named for us: and we find it embarrassing. It is the doctrine of -Mahound they splutter, and not any doctrine that we ever preached or -even heard of: and they ought to say so fairly, instead of libeling -us who were Apostles and gentlemen. But thus it is that the rascals -make free with our names: and the cherubs keep track of these -antics, and poke fun at us. So that it is not all pleasure, this -being a Holy Apostle in Heaven, Jurgen, though once we Twelve were -happy enough." And St. Peter sighed. - -"One thing I did not understand, sir: and that was when you spoke -just now of the War Roof." - -"It is a stone roof, made of the two tablets handed down at Sinai, -which God fits over Earth whenever men go to war. For He is -merciful: and many of us here remember that once upon a time we were -men and women. So when men go to war God screens the sight of what -they do, because He wishes to be merciful to us." - -"That must prevent, however, the ascent of all prayers that are made -in war-time." - -"Why, but, of course, that is the roof's secondary purpose," replied -St. Peter. "What else would you expect when the Master's teachings -are being flouted? Rumors get through, though, somehow, and horribly -preposterous rumors. For instance, I have actually heard that in -war-time prayers are put up to the Lord God to back His favorites -and take part in the murdering. Not," said the good Saint, in haste, -"that I would believe even a Christian bishop to be capable of such -blasphemy: I merely want to show you, Jurgen, what wild stories get -about. Still, I remember, back in Cappadocia--" And then St. Peter -slapped his thigh. "But would you keep me gossiping here forever, -Jurgen, with the Souls lining up at the main entrance like ants that -swarm to molasses! Come, out of Heaven with you, Jurgen! and back to -whatever place you imagine will restore to you your own proper -illusions! and let me be returning to my duties." - -"Well, then, St. Peter, I imagine Amneran Heath, where I flung away -my mother's last gift to me." - -"And Amneran Heath it is," said St. Peter, as he thrust Jurgen through -the small private door that was carved with fishes in bas-relief. - -And Jurgen saw that the Saint spoke truthfully. - - - - -43. - -Postures before a Shadow - - -Thus Jurgen stood again upon Amneran Heath. And again it was -Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than likely to -happen: and the low moon was bright, so that the shadow of Jurgen -was long and thin. And Jurgen searched for the gold cross that he -had worn through motives of sentiment, but he could not find it, nor -did he ever recover it: but barberry bushes and the thorns of -barberry bushes he found in great plenty as he searched vainly. All -the while that he searched, the shirt of Nessus glittered in the -moonlight, and the shadow of Jurgen streamed long and thin, and -every movement that was made by Jurgen the shadow parodied. And as -always, it was the shadow of a lean woman, with her head wrapped in -a towel. - -Now Jurgen regarded this shadow, and to Jurgen it was abhorrent. - -"Oh, Mother Sereda," says he, "for a whole year your shadow has -dogged me. Many lands we have visited, and many sights we have seen: -and at the end all that we have done is a tale that is told: and it -is a tale that does not matter. So I stand where I stood at the -beginning of my foiled journeying. The gift you gave me has availed -me nothing: and I do not care whether I be young or old: and I have -lost all that remained to me of my mother and of my mother's love, -and I have betrayed my mother's pride in me, and I am weary." - -Now a little whispering gathered upon the ground, as though dead -leaves were moving there: and the whispering augmented (because this -was upon Walburga's Eve, when almost anything is rather more than -likely to happen), and the whispering became the ghost of a voice. - -"You flattered me very cunningly, Jurgen, for you are a monstrous -clever fellow." This it was that the voice said drily. - -"A number of people might say that with tolerable justice," Jurgen -declared: "and yet I guess who speaks. As for flattering you, -godmother, I was only joking that day in Glathion: in fact, I was -careful to explain as much, the moment I noticed your shadow seemed -interested in my idle remarks and was writing them all down in a -notebook. Oh, no, I can assure you I trafficked quite honestly, and -have dealt fairly everywhere. For the rest, I really am very clever: -it would be foolish of me to deny it." - -"Vain fool!" said the voice of Mother Sereda. - -Jurgen replied: "It may be that I am vain. But it is certain that I -am clever. And even more certain is the fact that I am weary. For, -look you, in the tinsel of my borrowed youth I have gone romancing -through the world; and into lands unvisited by other men have I -ventured, playing at spillikins with women and gear and with the -welfare of kingdoms; and into Hell have I fallen, and into Heaven -have I climbed, and into the place of the Lord God Himself have I -crept stealthily: and nowhere have I found what I desired. Nor do I -know what my desire is, even now. But I know that it is not possible -for me to become young again, whatever I may appear to others." - -"Indeed, Jurgen, youth has passed out of your heart, beyond the -reach of Leshy: and the nearest you can come to regaining youth is -to behave childishly." - -"O godmother, but do give rein to your better instincts and all that -sort of thing, and speak with me more candidly! Come now, dear lady, -there should be no secrets between you and me. In Leuke you were -reported to be Cybele, the great Res Dea, the mistress of every -tangible thing. In Cocaigne they spoke of you as AEsred. And at -Cameliard Merlin called you Aderes, dark Mother of the Little Gods. -Well, but at your home in the forest, where I first had the honor of -making your acquaintance, godmother, you told me you were Sereda, -who takes the color out of things, and controls all Wednesdays. Now -these anagrams bewilder me, and I desire to know you frankly for -what you are." - -"It may be that I am all these. Meanwhile I bleach, and sooner or -later I bleach everything. It may be that some day, Jurgen, I shall -even take the color out of a fool's conception of himself." - -"Yes, yes! but just between ourselves, godmother, is it not this -shadow of you that prevents my entering, quite, into the appropriate -emotion, the spirit of the occasion, as one might say, and robs my -life of the zest which other persons apparently get out of living? -Come now, you know it is! Well, and for my part, godmother, I love a -jest as well as any man breathing, but I do prefer to have it -intelligible." - -"Now, let me tell you something plainly, Jurgen!" Mother Sereda -cleared her invisible throat, and began to speak rather indignantly. - - * * * * * - -"Well, godmother, if you will pardon my frankness, I do not think it -is quite nice to talk about such things, and certainly not with so -much candor. However, dismissing these considerations of delicacy, -let us revert to my original question. You have given me youth and -all the appurtenances of youth: and therewith you have given, too, -in your joking way--which nobody appreciates more heartily than -I,--a shadow that renders all things not quite satisfactory, not -wholly to be trusted, not to be met with frankness. Now--as you -understand, I hope,--I concede the jest, I do not for a moment deny -it is a master-stroke of humor. But, after all, just what exactly is -the point of it? What does it mean?" - -"It may be that there is no meaning anywhere. Could you face that -interpretation, Jurgen?" - -"No," said Jurgen: "I have faced god and devil, but that I will not -face." - -"No more would I who have so many names face that. You jested with -me. So I jest with you. Probably Koshchei jests with all of us. And -he, no doubt--even Koshchei who made things as they are,--is in turn -the butt of some larger jest." - -"He may be, certainly," said Jurgen: "yet, on the other hand--" - -"About these matters I do not know. How should I? But I think that -all of us take part in a moving and a shifting and a reasoned using -of the things which are Koshchei's, a using such as we do not -comprehend, and are not fit to comprehend." - -"That is possible," said Jurgen: "but, none the less--!" - -"It is as a chessboard whereon the pieces move diversely: the -knights leaping sidewise, and the bishops darting obliquely, and the -rooks charging straightforward, and the pawns laboriously hobbling -from square to square, each at the player's will. There is no -discernible order, all to the onlooker is manifestly in confusion: -but to the player there is a meaning in the disposition of the -pieces." - -"I do not deny it: still, one must grant--" - -"And I think it is as though each of the pieces, even the pawns, had -a chessboard of his own which moves as he is moved, and whereupon he -moves the pieces to suit his will, in the very moment wherein he is -moved willy-nilly." - -"You may be right: yet, even so--" - -"And Koshchei who directs this infinite moving of puppets may well -be the futile harried king in some yet larger game." - -"Now, certainly I cannot contradict you: but, at the same time--!" - -"So goes this criss-cross multitudinous moving as far as thought can -reach: and beyond that the moving goes. All moves. All moves -uncomprehendingly, and to the sound of laughter. For all moves in -consonance with a higher power that understands the meaning of the -movement. And each moves the pieces before him in consonance with -his ability. So the game is endless and ruthless: and there is -merriment overhead, but it is very far away." - -"Nobody is more willing to concede that these are handsome fancies, -Mother Sereda. But they make my head ache. Moreover, two people are -needed to play chess, and your hypothesis does not provide anybody -with an antagonist. Lastly, and above all, how do I know there is a -word of truth in your high-sounding fancies?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -Jurgen slapped his hands together. "Hah, Mother Sereda!" says he, -"but now I have you. It is that, precisely that damnable question, -which your shadow has been whispering to me from the beginning of -our companionship. And I am through with you. I will have no more of -your gifts, which are purchased at the cost of hearing that whisper. -I am resolved henceforward to be as other persons, and to believe -implicitly in my own importance." - -"But have you any reason to blame me? I restored to you your youth. -And when, just at the passing of that replevined Wednesday which I -loaned, you rebuked the Countess Dorothy very edifyingly, I was -pleased to find a man so chaste: and therefore I continued my grant -of youth--" - -"Ah, yes!" said Jurgen: "then that was the way of it! You were -pleased, just in the nick of time, by my virtuous rebuke of the -woman who tempted me. Yes, to be sure. Well, well! come now, you -know, that is very gratifying." - -"None the less your chastity, however unusual, has proved a barren -virtue. For what have you made of a year of youth? Why, each thing -that every man of forty-odd by ordinary regrets having done, you -have done again, only more swiftly, compressing the follies of a -quarter of a century into the space of one year. You have sought -bodily pleasures. You have made jests. You have asked many idle -questions. And you have doubted all things, including Jurgen. In the -face of your memories, in the face of what you probably considered -cordial repentance, you have made of your second youth just nothing. -Each thing that every man of forty-odd regrets having done, you have -done again." - -"Yes: it is undeniable that I re-married," said Jurgen. "Indeed, now -I think of it, there was Anaitis and Chloris and Florimel, so that I -have married thrice in one year. But I am largely the victim of -heredity, you must remember, since it was without consulting me that -Smoit of Glathion perpetuated his characteristics." - -"Your marriages I do not criticize, for each was in accordance with -the custom of the country: the law is always respectable; and -matrimony is an honorable estate, and has a steadying influence, in -all climes. It is true my shadow reports several other affairs--" - -"Oh, godmother, and what is this you are telling me!" - -"There was a Yolande and a Guenevere"--the voice of Mother Sereda -appeared to read from a memorandum,--"and a Sylvia, who was your own -step-grandmother, and a Stella, who was a yogini, whatever that may -be; and a Phyllis and a Dolores, who were the queens of Hell and -Philistia severally. Moreover, you visited the Queen of Pseudopolis -in circumstances which could not but have been unfavorably viewed by -her husband. Oh, yes, you have committed follies with divers women." - -"Follies, it may be, but no crimes, not even a misdemeanor. Look -you, Mother Sereda, does your shadow report in all this year one -single instance of misconduct with a woman?" says Jurgen, sternly. - -"No, dearie, as I joyfully concede. The very worst reported is that -matters were sometimes assuming a more or less suspicious turn when -you happened to put out the light. And, of course, shadows cannot -exist in absolute darkness." - -"See now," said Jurgen, "what a thing it is to be careful! Careful, -I mean, in one's avoidance of even an appearance of evil. In what -other young man of twenty-one may you look to find such continence? -And yet you grumble!" - -"I do not complain because you have lived chastely. That pleases me, -and is the single reason you have been spared this long." - -"Oh, godmother, and whatever are you telling me!" - -"Yes, dearie, had you once sinned with a woman in the youth I gave, -you would have been punished instantly and very terribly. For I was -always a great believer in chastity, and in the old days I used to -insure the chastity of all my priests in the only way that is -infallible." - -"In fact, I noticed something of the sort as you passed in Leuke." - -"And over and over again I have been angered by my shadow's reports, -and was about to punish you, my poor dearie, when I would remember -that you held fast to the rarest of all virtues in a man, and that -my shadow reported no irregularities with women. And that would -please me, I acknowledge: so I would let matters run on a while -longer. But it is a shiftless business, dearie, for you are making -nothing of the youth I restored to you. And had you a thousand lives -the result would be the same." - -"Nevertheless, I am a monstrous clever fellow." Jurgen chuckled -here. - -"You are, instead, a palterer; and your life, apart from that fine -song you made about me, is sheer waste." - -"Ah, if you come to that, there was a brown man in the Druid forest, -who showed me a very curious spectacle, last June. And I am not apt -to lose the memory of what he showed me, whatever you may say, and -whatever I may have said to him." - -"This and a many other curious spectacles you have seen and have -made nothing of, in the false youth I gave you. And therefore my -shadow was angry that in the revelation of so much futile trifling I -did not take away the youth I gave--as I have half a mind to do, -even now, I warn you, dearie, for there is really no putting up with -you. But I spared you because of my shadow's grudging reports as to -your continence, which is a virtue that we of the Leshy peculiarly -revere." - -Now Jurgen considered. "Eh?--then it is within your ability to make -me old again, or rather, an excellently preserved person of forty-odd, -or say, thirty-nine, by the calendar, but not looking it by a long -shot? Such threats are easily voiced. But how can I know that you are -speaking the truth?" - -"How can any of us know anything? And what is Jurgen, that his -knowing or his not knowing should matter to anybody?" - -"Ah, godmother, and must you still be mumbling that! Come now, -forget you are a woman, and be reasonable! You exercise the fair and -ancient privilege of kinship by calling me harsh names, but it is in -the face of this plain fact: I got from you what never man has got -before. I am a monstrous clever fellow, say what you will: for -already I have cajoled you out of a year of youth, a year wherein I -have neither builded nor robbed any churches, but have had upon the -whole a very pleasant time. Ah, you may murmur platitudes and -threats and axioms and anything else which happens to appeal to you: -the fact remains that I got what I wanted. Yes, I cajoled you very -neatly into giving me eternal youth. For, of course, poor dear, you -are now powerless to take it back: and so I shall retain, in spite -of you, the most desirable possession in life." - -"I gave, in honor of your chastity, which is the one commendable -trait that you possess--" - -"My chastity, I grant you, is remarkable. Nevertheless, you really -gave because I was the cleverer." - -"--And what I give I can retract at will!" - -"Come, come, you know very well you can do nothing of the sort. I -refer you to Saevius Nicanor. None of the Leshy can ever take back -the priceless gift of youth. That is explicitly proved, in the -Appendix." - -"Now, but I am becoming angry--" - -"To the contrary, as I perceive with real regret, you are becoming -ridiculous, since you dispute the authority of Saevius Nicanor." - -"--And I will show you--oh, but I will show you, you jackanapes!" - -"Ah, but come now! keep your temper in hand! All fairly erudite -persons know you cannot do the thing you threaten: and it is -notorious that the weakest wheel of every cart creaks loudest. So do -you cultivate a judicious taciturnity! for really nobody is going to -put up with petulance in an ugly and toothless woman of your age, as -I tell you for your own good." - -It always vexes people to be told anything for their own good. So -what followed happened quickly. A fleece of cloud slipped over the -moon. The night seemed bitterly cold, for the space of a heart-beat, -and then matters were comfortable enough. The moon emerged in its -full glory, and there in front of Jurgen was the proper shadow of -Jurgen. He dazedly regarded his hands, and they were the hands of an -elderly person. He felt the calves of his legs, and they were -shrunken. He patted himself centrally, and underneath the shirt of -Nessus the paunch of Jurgen was of impressive dimension. In other -respects he had abated. - -"Then, too, I have forgotten something very suddenly," reflected -Jurgen. "It was something I wanted to forget. Ah, yes! but what was -it that I wanted to forget? Why, there was a brown man--with -something unusual about his feet--He talked nonsense and behaved -idiotically in a Druid forest--He was probably insane. No, I do not -remember what it was that I have forgotten: but I am sure it has -gnawed away in the back of my mind, like a small ruinous maggot: and -that, after all, it was of no importance." - -Aloud he wailed, in his most moving tones: "Oh, Mother Sereda, I did -not mean to anger you. It was not fair to snap me up on a -thoughtless word! Have mercy upon me, Mother Sereda, for I would -never have alluded to your being so old and plain-looking if I had -known you were so vain!" - -But Mother Sereda did not appear to be softened by this form of -entreaty, for nothing happened. - -"Well, then, thank goodness, that is over!" says Jurgen, to himself. -"Of course, she may be listening still, and it is dangerous jesting -with the Leshy: but really they do not seem to be very intelligent. -Otherwise this irritable maunderer would have known that, everything -else apart, I am heartily tired of the responsibilities of youth -under any such constant surveillance. Now all is changed: there is -no call to avoid a suspicion of wrong doing by transacting all -philosophical investigations in the dark: and I am no longer -distrustful of lamps or candles, or even of sunlight. Old body, you -are as grateful as old slippers, to a somewhat wearied man: and for -the second time I have tricked Mother Sereda rather neatly. My -knowledge of Lisa, however painfully acquired, is a decided -advantage in dealing with anything that is feminine." - -Then Jurgen regarded the black cave. "And that reminds me it still -would be, I suppose, the manly thing to continue my quest for Lisa. -The intimidating part is that if I go into this cave for the third -time I shall almost certainly get her back. By every rule of -tradition the third attempt is invariably successful. I wonder if I -want Lisa back?" - -Jurgen meditated: and he shook a grizzled head. "I do not definitely -know. She was an excellent cook. There were pies that I shall always -remember with affection. And she meant well, poor dear! But then if -it was really her head that I sliced off last May--or if her temper -is not any better--Still, it is an interminable nuisance washing -your own dishes: and I appear to have no aptitude whatever for -sewing and darning things. But, to the other hand, Lisa nags so: and -she does not understand me--" - -Jurgen shrugged. "See-saw! the argument for and against might run on -indefinitely. Since I have no real preference, I will humor -prejudice by doing the manly thing. For it seems only fair: and -besides, it may fail after all." - -Then he went into the cave for the third time. - - - - -44. - -In the Manager's Office - - -The tale tells that all was dark there, and Jurgen could see no one. -But the cave stretched straight forward, and downward, and at the -far end was a glow of light. Jurgen went on and on, and so came to -the place where Nessus had lain in wait for Jurgen. Again Jurgen -stooped, and crawled through the opening in the cave's wall, and so -came to where lamps were burning upon tall iron stands. Now, one by -one, these lamps were going out, and there were now no women here: -instead, Jurgen trod inch deep in fine white ashes, leaving the -print of his feet upon them. - -He went forward as the cave stretched. He came to a sharp turn in -the cave, with the failing lamplight now behind him, so that his -shadow confronted Jurgen, blurred but unarguable. It was the proper -shadow of a commonplace and elderly pawnbroker, and Jurgen regarded -it with approval. - -Jurgen came then into a sort of underground chamber, from the roof -of which was suspended a kettle of quivering red flames. Facing him -was a throne, and back of this were rows of benches: but here, too, -was nobody. Resting upright against the vacant throne was a -triangular white shield: and when Jurgen looked more closely he -could see there was writing upon it. Jurgen carried this shield as -close as he could to the kettle of flames, for his eyesight was now -not very good, and besides, the flames in the kettle were burning -low: and Jurgen deciphered the message that was written upon the -shield, in black and red letters. - -"Absent upon important affairs," it said. "Will be back in an hour." -And it was signed, "Thragnar R." - -"I wonder now for whom King Thragnar left this notice?" reflected -Jurgen--"certainly not for me. And I wonder, too, if he left it here -a year ago or only this evening? And I wonder if it was Thragnar's -head I removed in the black and silver pavilion? Ah, well, there are -a number of things to wonder about in this incredible cave, wherein -the lights are dying out, as I observe with some discomfort. And I -think the air grows chillier." - -Then Jurgen looked to his right, at the stairway which he and -Guenevere had ascended; and he shook his head. "Glathion is no fit -resort for a respectable pawnbroker. Chivalry is for young people, -like the late Duke of Logreus. But I must get out of this place, for -certainly there is in the air a deathlike chill." - -So Jurgen went on down the aisle between the rows of benches -wherefrom Thragnar's warriors had glared at Jurgen when he was last -in this part of the cave. At the end of the aisle was a wooden door -painted white. It was marked, in large black letters, "Office of the -Manager--Keep Out." So Jurgen opened this door. - -He entered into a notable place illuminated by six cresset lights. -These lights were the power of Assyria, and Nineveh, and Egypt, and -Rome, and Athens, and Byzantium: six other cressets stood ready -there, but fire had not yet been laid to these. Back of all was a -large blackboard with much figuring on it in red chalk. And here, -too, was the black gentleman, who a year ago had given his blessing -to Jurgen, for speaking civilly of the powers of darkness. To-night -the black gentleman wore a black dressing-gown that was embroidered -with all the signs of the Zodiac. He sat at a table, the top of -which was curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver: and he was -copying entries from one big book into another. He looked up from -his writing pleasantly enough, and very much as though he were -expecting Jurgen. - -"You find me busy with the Stellar Accounts," says he, "which appear -to be in a fearful muddle. But what more can I do for you, -Jurgen?--for you, my friend, who spoke a kind word for things as -they are, and furnished me with one or two really very acceptable -explanations as to why I had created evil?" - -"I have been thinking, Prince--" begins the pawnbroker. - -"And why do you call me a prince, Jurgen?" - -"I do not know, sir. But I suspect that my quest is ended, and that -you are Koshchei the Deathless." - -The black gentleman nodded. "Something of the sort. Koshchei, or -Ardnari, or Ptha, or Jaldalaoth, or Abraxas,--it is all one what I -may be called hereabouts. My real name you never heard: no man has -ever heard my name. So that matter we need hardly go into." - -"Precisely, Prince. Well, but it is a long way that I have traveled -roundabout, to win to you who made things as they are. And it is -eager I am to learn just why you made things as they are." - -Up went the black gentleman's eyebrows into regular Gothic arches. -"And do you really think, Jurgen, that I am going to explain to you -why I made things as they are?" - -"I fail to see, Prince, how my wanderings could have any other -equitable climax." - -"But, friend, I have nothing to do with justice. To the contrary, I -am Koshchei who made things as they are." - -Jurgen saw the point. "Your reasoning, Prince, is unanswerable. I -bow to it. I should even have foreseen it. Do you tell me, then, -what thing is this which I desire, and cannot find in any realm that -man has known nor in any kingdom that man has imagined." - -Koshchei was very patient. "I am not, I confess, anything like as -well acquainted with what has been going on in this part of the -universe as I ought to be. Of course, events are reported to me, in -a general sort of way, and some of my people were put in charge of -these stars, a while back: but they appear to have run the -constellation rather shiftlessly. Still, I have recently been -figuring on the matter, and I do not despair of putting the suns -hereabouts to some profitable use, in one way or another, after all. -Of course, it is not as if it were an important constellation. But I -am an Economist, and I dislike waste--" - -Then he was silent for an instant, not greatly worried by the -problem, as Jurgen could see, but mildly vexed by his inability to -divine the solution out of hand. Presently Koshchei said: - -"And in the mean time, Jurgen, I am afraid I cannot answer your -question on the spur of the moment. You see, there appears to have -been a great number of human beings, as you call them, evolved -upon--oh, yes!--upon Earth. I have the approximate figures over -yonder, but they would hardly interest you. And the desires of each -one of these human beings seem to have been multitudinous and -inconstant. Yet, Jurgen, you might appeal to the local authorities, -for I remember appointing some, at the request of a very charming -old lady." - -"In fine, you do not know what thing it is that I desire," said -Jurgen, much surprised. - -"Why, no, I have not the least notion," replied Koshchei. "Still, I -suspect that if you got it you would protest it was a most unjust -affliction. So why keep worrying about it?" - -Jurgen demanded, almost indignantly: "But have you not then, Prince, -been guiding all my journeying during this last year?" - -"Now, really, Jurgen, I remember our little meeting very pleasantly. -And I endeavored forthwith to dispose of your most urgent annoyance. -But I confess I have had one or two other matters upon my mind since -then. You see, Jurgen, the universe is rather large, and the running -of it is a considerable tax upon my time. I cannot manage to see -anything like as much of my friends as I would be delighted to see -of them. And so perhaps, what with one thing and another, I have not -given you my undivided attention all through the year--not every -moment of it, that is." - -"Ah, Prince, I see that you are trying to spare my feelings, and it -is kind of you. But the upshot is that you do not know what I have -been doing, and you did not care what I was doing. Dear me! but this -is a very sad come-down for my pride." - -"Yes, but reflect how remarkable a possession is that pride of -yours, and how I wonder at it, and how I envy it in vain,--I, who -have nothing anywhere to contemplate save my own handiwork. Do you -consider, Jurgen, what I would give if I could find, anywhere in -this universe of mine, anything which would make me think myself -one-half so important as you think Jurgen is!" And Koshchei sighed. - -But instead, Jurgen considered the humiliating fact that Koshchei -had not been supervising Jurgen's travels. And of a sudden Jurgen -perceived that this Koshchei the Deathless was not particularly -intelligent. Then Jurgen wondered why he should ever have expected -Koshchei to be intelligent? Koshchei was omnipotent, as men estimate -omnipotence: but by what course of reasoning had people come to -believe that Koshchei was clever, as men estimate cleverness? The -fact that, to the contrary, Koshchei seemed well-meaning, but rather -slow of apprehension and a little needlessly fussy, went far toward -explaining a host of matters which had long puzzled Jurgen. -Cleverness was, of course, the most admirable of all traits: but -cleverness was not at the top of things, and never had been. "Very -well, then!" says Jurgen, with a shrug; "let us come to my third -request and to the third thing that I have been seeking. Here, -though, you ought to be more communicative. For I have been -thinking, Prince, my wife's society is perhaps becoming to you a -trifle burdensome." - -"Eh, sirs, I am not unaccustomed to women. I may truthfully say that -as I find them, so do I take them. And I was willing to oblige a -fellow rebel." - -"But I do not know, Prince, that I have ever rebelled. Far from it, -I have everywhere conformed with custom." - -"Your lips conformed, but all the while your mind made verses, -Jurgen. And poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." - -"--And besides, you call me a fellow rebel. Now, how can it be -possible that Koshchei, who made all things as they are, should be a -rebel? unless, indeed, there is some power above even Koshchei. I -would very much like to have that explained to me, sir." - -"No doubt: but then why should I explain it to you, Jurgen?" says -the black gentleman. - -"Well, be that as it may, Prince! But--to return a little--I do not -know that you have obliged me in carrying off my wife. I mean, of -course, my first wife." - -"Why, Jurgen," says the black gentleman, in high astonishment, "do -you mean to tell me that you want the plague of your life back -again!" - -"I do not know about that either, sir. She was certainly very hard -to live with. On the other hand, I had become used to having her -about. I rather miss her, now that I am again an elderly person. -Indeed, I believe I have missed Lisa all along." - -The black gentleman meditated. "Come, friend," he says, at last. "You -were a poet of some merit. You displayed a promising talent which might -have been cleverly developed, in any suitable environment. Now, I -repeat, I am an Economist: I dislike waste: and you were never fitted -to be anything save a poet. The trouble was"--and Koshchei lowered his -voice to an impressive whisper,--"the trouble was your wife did not -understand you. She hindered your art. Yes, that precisely sums it up: -she interfered with your soul-development, and your instinctive need of -self-expression, and all that sort of thing. You are very well rid of -this woman, who converted a poet into a pawnbroker. To the other side, -as is with point observed somewhere or other, it is not good for man to -live alone. But, friend, I have just the wife for you." - -"Well, Prince," said Jurgen, "I am willing to taste any drink once." - -So Koshchei waved his hand: and there, quick as winking, was the -loveliest lady that Jurgen had ever imagined. - - - - -45. - -The Faith of Guenevere - - -Very fair was this woman to look upon, with her shining gray eyes and -small smiling lips, a fairer woman might no man boast of having seen. -And she regarded Jurgen graciously, with her cheeks red and white, very -lovely to observe. She was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and -about her neck was a collar of red gold. And she told him, quite as -though she spoke with a stranger, that she was Queen Guenevere. - -"But Lancelot is turned monk, at Glastonbury: and Arthur is gone -into Avalon," says she: "and I will be your wife if you will have -me, Jurgen." - -And Jurgen saw that Guenevere did not know him at all, and that even -his name to her was meaningless. There were a many ways of accounting -for this: but he put aside the unflattering explanation that she had -simply forgotten all about Jurgen, in favor of the reflection that the -Jurgen she had known was a scapegrace of twenty-one. Whereas he was -now a staid and knowledgeable pawnbroker. - -And it seemed to Jurgen that he had never really loved any woman -save Guenevere, the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr, and the pawnbroker -was troubled. - -"For again you make me think myself a god," says Jurgen. "Madame -Guenevere, when man recognized himself to be Heaven's vicar upon -earth, it was to serve and to glorify and to protect you and your -radiant sisterhood that man consecrated his existence. You were -beautiful, and you were frail; you were half goddess and half -bric-a-brac. Ohime, I recognize the call of chivalry, and my -heart-strings resound: yet, for innumerable reasons, I hesitate -to take you for my wife, and to concede myself your appointed -protector, responsible as such to Heaven. For one matter, I am not -altogether sure that I am Heaven's vicar here upon earth. Certainly -the God of Heaven said nothing to me about it, and I cannot but -suspect that Omniscience would have selected some more competent -representative." - -"It is so written, Messire Jurgen." - -Jurgen shrugged. "I too, in the intervals of business, have written -much that is beautiful. Very often my verses were so beautiful that -I would have given anything in the world in exchange for somewhat -less sure information as to the author's veracity. Ah, no, madame, -desire and knowledge are pressing me so sorely that, between them, I -dare not love you, and still I cannot help it!" - -Then Jurgen gave a little wringing gesture with his hands. His smile -was not merry; and it seemed pitiful that Guenevere should not -remember him. - -"Madame and queen," says Jurgen, "once long and long ago there was a -man who worshipped all women. To him they were one and all of -sacred, sweet intimidating beauty. He shaped sonorous rhymes of -this, in praise of the mystery and sanctity of women. Then a count's -tow-headed daughter whom he loved, with such love as it puzzles me -to think of now, was shown to him just as she was, as not even -worthy of hatred. The goddess stood revealed, unveiled, and -displaying in all things such mediocrity as he fretted to find in -himself. That was unfortunate. For he began to suspect that women, -also, are akin to their parents; and are no wiser, and no more -subtle, and no more immaculate, than the father who begot them. -Madame and queen, it is not good for any man to suspect this." - -"It is certainly not the conduct of a chivalrous person, nor of an -authentic poet," says Queen Guenevere. "And yet your eyes are big -with tears." - -"Hah, madame," he replied, "but it amuses me to weep for a dead man -with eyes that once were his. For he was a dear lad before he went -rampaging through the world, in the pride of his youth and in the -armor of his hurt. And songs he made for the pleasure of kings, and -sword play he made for the pleasure of men, and a whispering he made -for the pleasure of women, in places where renown was, and where he -trod boldly, giving pleasure to everybody in those fine days. But -for all his laughter, he could not understand his fellows, nor could -he love them, nor could he detect anything in aught they said or did -save their exceeding folly." - -"Why, man's folly is indeed very great, Messire Jurgen, and the -doings of this world are often inexplicable: and so does it come -about that man can be saved by faith alone." - -"Ah, but this boy had lost his fellows' cordial common faith in the -importance of what use they made of half-hours and months and years; -and because a jill-flirt had opened his eyes so that they saw too -much, he had lost faith in the importance of his own actions, too. -There was a little time of which the passing might be made not -unendurable; beyond gaped unpredictable darkness; and that was all -there was of certainty anywhere. Meanwhile, he had the loan of a -brain which played with ideas, and a body that went delicately down -pleasant ways. And so he was never the mate for you, dear Guenevere, -because he had not sufficient faith in anything at all, not even in -his own deductions." - -Now said Queen Guenevere: "Farewell to you, then, Jurgen, for it is -I that am leaving you forever. I was to them that served me the -lovely and excellent masterwork of God: in Caerleon and Northgalis -and at Joyeuse Garde might men behold me with delight, because, men -said, to view me was to comprehend the power and kindliness of their -Creator. Very beautiful was Iseult, and the face of Luned sparkled -like a moving gem; Morgaine and Enid and Viviane and shrewd Nimue -were lovely, too; and the comeliness of Ettarde exalted the beholder -like a proud music: these, going statelily about Arthur's hall, -seemed Heaven's finest craftsmanship until the Queen came to her -dais, as the moon among glowing stars: men then affirmed that God in -making Guenevere had used both hands. And it is I that am leaving -you forever. My beauty was no human white and red, said they, but an -explicit sign of Heaven's might. In approaching me men thought of -God, because in me, they said, His splendor was incarnate. That -which I willed was neither right nor wrong: it was divine. This -thing it was that the knights saw in me; this surety, as to the -power and kindliness of their great Father, it was of which the -chevaliers of yesterday were conscious in beholding me, and of men's -need to be worthy of such parentage; and it is I that am leaving you -forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a rudderless -boat that goes from wave to wave: I am turned to unfertile dust -which a whirlwind makes coherent, and presently lets fall. And so, -farewell to you, Queen Guenevere, for it is a sorrowful thing and a -very unfair thing that is happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the daughter of Gogyrvan Gawr. And -instantly she vanished like the flame of a blown out altar-candle. - - - - -46. - -The Desire of Anaitis - - -And again Koshchei waved his hand. Then came to Jurgen a woman who -was strangely gifted and perverse. Her dark eyes glittered: upon her -head was a net-work of red coral, with branches radiating downward, -and her tunic was of two colors, being shot with black and crimson -curiously mingled. - -And Anaitis also had forgotten Jurgen, or else she did not recognize -him in this man of forty and something: and again belief awoke in -Jurgen's heart that this was the only woman whom Jurgen had really -loved, as he listened to Anaitis and to her talk of marvelous -things. - -Of the lore of Thais she spoke, and of the schooling of Sappho, and -of the secrets of Rhodope, and of the mourning for Adonis: and the -refrain of all her talking was not changed. "For we have but a -little while to live, and none knows his fate thereafter. So that a -man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body: -and yet the body of man is capable of much curious pleasure. As thus -and thus," says she. And the bright-colored pensive woman spoke with -antique directness of matters that Jurgen, being no longer a -scapegrace of twenty-one, found rather embarrassing. - -"Come, come!" thinks he, "but it will never do to seem provincial. I -believe that I am actually blushing." - -Aloud he said: "Sweetheart, there was--why, not a half-hour -since!--a youth who sought quite zealously for the over-mastering -frenzies you prattle about. But, candidly, he could not find the -flesh whose touch would rouse insanity. The lad had opportunities, -too, let me tell you! Hah, I recall with tenderness the glitter of -eyes and hair, and the gay garments, and the soft voices of those -fond foolish women, even now. But he went from one pair of lips to -another, with an ardor that was always half-feigned, and with -protestations which were conscious echoes of some romance or other. -Such escapades were pleasant enough: but they were not very serious, -after all. For these things concerned his body alone: and I am more -than an edifice of viands reared by my teeth. To pretend that what -my body does or endures is of importance seems rather silly -nowadays. I prefer to regard it as a necessary beast of burden which -I maintain, at considerable expense and trouble. So I shall make no -more pother about it." - -But then again Queen Anaitis spoke of marvelous things; and he -listened, fair-mindedly; for the Queen spoke now of that which was -hers to share with him. - -"Well, I have heard," says Jurgen, "that you have a notable -residence in Cocaigne." - -"But that is only a little country place, to which I sometimes -repair in summer, in order to live rustically. No, Jurgen, you must -see my palaces. In Babylon I have a palace where many abide with -cords about them and burn bran for perfume, while they await that -thing which is to befall them. In Armenia I have a palace surrounded -by vast gardens, where only strangers have the right to enter: they -there receive a hospitality that is more than gallant. In Paphos I -have a palace wherein is a little pyramid of white stone, very -curious to see: but still more curious is the statue in my palace at -Amathus, of a bearded woman, which displays other features that -women do not possess. And in Alexandria I have a palace that is -tended by thirty-six exceedingly wise and sacred persons, and -wherein it is always night: and there folk seek for monstrous -pleasures, even at the price of instant death, and win to both of -these swiftly. Everywhere my palaces stand upon high places near the -sea: so they are beheld from afar by those whom I hold dearest, my -beautiful broad-chested mariners, who do not fear even me, but know -that in my palaces they will find notable employment. For I must -tell you of what is to be encountered within these places that are -mine, and of how pleasantly we pass our time there." Then she told -him. - -Now he listened more attentively than ever, and his eyes were -narrowed, and his lips were lax and motionless and foolish-looking, -and he was deeply interested. For Anaitis had thought of some new -diversions since their last meeting: and to Jurgen, even at forty -and something, this queen's voice was all a horrible and strange and -lovely magic. "She really tempts very nicely, too," he reflected, -with a sort of pride in her. - -Then Jurgen growled and shook himself, half angrily: and he tweaked -the ear of Queen Anaitis. - -"Sweetheart," says he, "you paint a glowing picture: but you are -shrewd enough to borrow your pigments from the day-dreams of -inexperience. What you prattle about is not at all as you describe -it. You forget you are talking to a widely married man of varied -experience. Moreover, I shudder to think of what might happen if -Lisa were to walk in unexpectedly. And for the rest, all this to-do -over nameless delights and unspeakable caresses and other anonymous -antics seems rather naive. My ears are beset by eloquent gray hairs -which plead at closer quarters than does that fibbing little tongue -of yours. And so be off with you!" - -With that Queen Anaitis smiled very cruelly, and she said: "Farewell -to you, then Jurgen, for it is I that am leaving you forever. -Henceforward you must fret away much sunlight by interminably -shunning discomfort and by indulging tepid preferences. For I, and -none but I, can waken that desire which uses all of a man, and so -wastes nothing, even though it leave that favored man forever after -like wan ashes in the sunlight. And with you I have no more concern, -for it is I that am leaving you forever. Join with your graying -fellows, then! and help them to affront the clean sane sunlight, by -making guilds and laws and solemn phrases wherewith to rid the world -of me. I, Anaitis, laugh, and my heart is a wave in the sunlight. -For there is no power like my power, and no living thing which can -withstand my power; and those who deride me, as I well know, are but -the dead dry husks that a wind moves, with hissing noises, while I -harvest in open sunlight. For I am the desire that uses all of a -man: and it is I that am leaving you forever." - -Said Jurgen: "I could not see all this in you, not quite all this, -because of a shadow that followed me. Now it is too late, and this -is a sorrowful thing which is happening. I am become as a puzzled -ghost who furtively observes the doings of loud-voiced ruddy -persons: and I am compact of weariness and apprehension, for I no -longer discern what thing is I, nor what is my desire, and I fear -that I am already dead. So farewell to you, Queen Anaitis, for this, -too, is a sorrowful thing and a very unfair thing that is -happening." - -Thus he cried farewell to the Sun's daughter. And all the colors of -her loveliness flickered and merged into the likeness of a tall thin -flame, that aspired; and then this flame was extinguished. - - - - -47. - -The Vision of Helen - - -And for the third time Koshchei waved his hand. Now came to Jurgen a -gold-haired woman, clothed all in white. She was tall, and lovely -and tender to regard: and hers was not the red and white comeliness -of many ladies that were famed for beauty, but rather it had the -even glow of ivory. Her nose was large and high in the bridge, her -flexible mouth was not of the smallest; and yet, whatever other -persons might have said, to Jurgen this woman's countenance was in -all things perfect. And, beholding her, Jurgen kneeled. - -He hid his face in her white robe: and he stayed thus, without -speaking, for a long while. - -"Lady of my vision," he said, and his voice broke--"there is that in -you which wakes old memories. For now assuredly I believe your -father was not Dom Manuel but that ardent bird which nestled very -long ago in Leda's bosom. And now Troy's sons are all in Ades' -keeping, in the world below; fire has consumed the walls of Troy, -and the years have forgotten her tall conquerors; but still you are -bringing woe on woe to hapless sufferers." - -And again his voice broke. For the world seemed cheerless, and like -a house that none has lived in for a great while. - -Queen Helen, the delight of gods and men, replied nothing at all, -because there was no need, inasmuch as the man who has once glimpsed -her loveliness is beyond saving, and beyond the desire of being -saved. - -"To-night," says Jurgen, "as once through the gray art of Phobetor, -now through the will of Koshchei, it appears that you stand within -arm's reach. Hah, lady, were that possible--and I know very well it -is not possible, whatever my senses may report,--I am not fit to -mate with your perfection. At the bottom of my heart, I no longer -desire perfection. For we who are tax-payers as well as immortal -souls must live by politic evasions and formulae and catchwords that -fret away our lives as moths waste a garment; we fall insensibly to -common-sense as to a drug; and it dulls and kills whatever in us is -rebellious and fine and unreasonable; and so you will find no man of -my years with whom living is not a mechanism which gnaws away time -unprompted. For within this hour I have become again a creature of -use and wont; I am the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and I -have put my dreams upon an allowance. Yet even now I love you more -than I love books and indolence and flattery and the charitable wine -which cheats me into a favorable opinion of myself. What more can an -old poet say? For that reason, lady, I pray you begone, because your -loveliness is a taunt which I find unendurable." - -But his voice yearned, because this was Queen Helen, the delight of -gods and men, who regarded him with grave, kind eyes. She seemed to -view, as one appraises the pattern of an unrolled carpet, every -action of Jurgen's life: and she seemed, too, to wonder, without -reproach or trouble, how men could be so foolish, and of their own -accord become so miry. - -"Oh, I have failed my vision!" cries Jurgen. "I have failed, and I -know very well that every man must fail: and yet my shame is no less -bitter. For I am transmuted by time's handling! I shudder at the -thought of living day-in and day-out with my vision! And so I will -have none of you for my wife." - -Then, trembling, Jurgen raised toward his lips the hand of her who -was the world's darling. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Oh, very long ago I found your -beauty mirrored in a wanton's face! and often in a woman's face I -have found one or another feature wherein she resembled you, and for -the sake of it have lied to that woman glibly. And all my verses, as -I know now, were vain enchantments striving to evoke that hidden -loveliness of which I knew by dim report alone. Oh, all my life was -a foiled quest of you, Queen Helen, and an unsatiated hungering. And -for a while I served my vision, honoring you with clean-handed -deeds. Yes, certainly it should be graved upon my tomb, 'Queen Helen -ruled this earth while it stayed worthy.' But that was very long -ago. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Your beauty has been to me as -a robber that stripped my life of joy and sorrow, and I desire not -ever to dream of your beauty any more. For I have been able to love -nobody. And I know that it is you who have prevented this, Queen -Helen, at every moment of my life since the disastrous moment when I -first seemed to find your loveliness in the face of Madame Dorothy. -It is the memory of your beauty, as I then saw it mirrored in the face -of a jill-flirt, which has enfeebled me for such honest love as other -men give women; and I envy these other men. For Jurgen has loved -nothing--not even you, not even Jurgen!--quite whole-heartedly. - -"And so farewell to you, Queen Helen! Hereafter I rove no more -a-questing anything; instead, I potter after hearthside comforts, -and play the physician with myself, and strive painstakingly to make -old bones. And no man's notion anywhere seems worth a cup of mulled -wine; and for the sake of no notion would I endanger the routine -which so hideously bores me. For I am transmuted by time's handling; -I have become the lackey of prudence and half-measures; and it does -not seem fair, but there is no help for it. So it is necessary that -I now cry farewell to you, Queen Helen: for I have failed in the -service of my vision, and I deny you utterly!" - -Thus he cried farewell to the Swan's daughter: and Queen Helen -vanished as a bright mist passes, not departing swiftly, as had -departed Queen Guenevere and Queen Anaitis; and Jurgen was alone -with the black gentleman. And to Jurgen the world seemed cheerless, -and like a house that none has lived in for a great while. - - - - -48. - -Candid Opinions of Dame Lisa - - -"Eh, sirs!" observes Koshchei the Deathless, "but some of us are -certainly hard to please." And now Jurgen was already intent to -shrug off his display of emotion. "In selecting a wife, sir," -submitted Jurgen, "there are all sorts of matters to be -considered--" - -Then bewilderment smote him. For it occurred to Jurgen that his -previous commerce with these three women was patently unknown to -Koshchei. Why, Koshchei, who made all things as they are--Koshchei, -no less--was now doing for Jurgen Koshchei's utmost: and that utmost -amounted to getting for Jurgen what Jurgen had once, with the aid of -youth and impudence, got for himself. Not even Koshchei, then, could -do more for Jurgen than might be accomplished by that youth and -impudence and tendency to pry into things generally which Jurgen had -just relinquished as over-restless nuisances. Jurgen drew the -inference, and shrugged; decidedly cleverness was not at the top. -However, there was no pressing need to enlighten Koshchei, and no -wisdom in attempting it. - -"--For you must understand, sir," continued Jurgen, smoothly, "that, -whatever the first impulse of the moment, it was apparent to any -reflective person that in the past of each of these ladies there was -much to suggest inborn inaptitude for domestic life. And I am a -peace-loving fellow, sir; nor do I hold with moral laxity, now that -I am forty-odd, except, of course, in talk when it promotes -sociability, and in verse-making wherein it is esteemed as a -conventional ornament. Still, Prince, the chance I lost! I do not -refer to matrimony, you conceive. But in the presence of these -famous fair ones now departed from me forever, with what glowing -words I ought to have spoken! upon a wondrous ladder of trophes, -metaphors and recondite allusions, to what stylistic heights of -Asiatic prose I ought to have ascended! and instead, I twaddled like -a schoolmaster. Decidedly, Lisa is right, and I am good-for-nothing. -However," Jurgen added, hopefully, "it appeared to me that when I -last saw her, a year ago this evening, Lisa was somewhat less -outspoken than usual." - -"Eh, sirs, but she was under a very potent spell. I found that -necessary in the interest of law and order hereabouts. I, who made -things as they are, am not accustomed to the excesses of practical -persons who are ruthlessly bent upon reforming their associates. -Indeed, it is one of the advantages of my situation that such folk -do not consider things as they are, and in consequence very rarely -bother me." And the black gentleman in turn shrugged. "You will -pardon me, but I notice in my accounts that I am positively -committed to color this year's anemones to-night, and there is a -rather large planetary system to be discontinued at half-past ten. -So time presses." - -"And time is inexorable. Prince, with all due respect, I fancy it is -precisely this truism which you have overlooked. You produce the -most charming of women, in a determined onslaught upon my fancy; but -you forget you are displaying them to a man of forty-and-something." - -"And does that make so great a difference?" - -"Oh, a sad difference, Prince! For as a man gets on in life he -changes in many ways. He handles sword and lance less creditably, -and does not carry as heavy a staff as he once flourished. He takes -less interest in conversation, and his flow of humor diminishes. He -is not the tireless mathematician that he was, if only because his -faith in his personal endowments slackens. He recognizes his -limitations, and in consequence the unimportance of his opinions, -and indeed he recognizes the probable unimportance of all fleshly -matters. So he relinquishes trying to figure out things, and -sceptres and candles appear to him about equivalent; and he is -inclined to give up philosophical experiments, and to let things -pass unplumbed. Oh, yes, it makes a difference." And Jurgen sighed. -"And yet, for all that, it is a relief, sir, in a way." - -"Nevertheless," said Koshchei, "now that you have inspected the -flower of womanhood, I cannot soberly believe you prefer your -termagant of a wife." - -"Frankly, Prince, I also am, as usual, undecided. You may be right -in all you have urged; and certainly I cannot go so far as to say -you are wrong; but still, at the same time--! Come now, could you -not let me see my first wife for just a moment?" - -This was no sooner asked than granted; for there, sure enough, was -Dame Lisa. She was no longer restricted to quiet speech by any -stupendous necromancy: and uncommonly plain she looked, after the -passing of those lovely ladies. - -"Aha, you rascal!" begins Dame Lisa, addressing Jurgen; "and so you -thought to be rid of me! Oh, a precious lot you are! and a deal of -thanks I get for my scrimping and slaving!" And she began scolding -away. - -But she began, somewhat to Jurgen's astonishment, by stating that he -was even worse than the Countess Dorothy. Then he recollected that, -by not the most disastrous piece of luck conceivable, Dame Lisa's -latest news from the outside world had been rendered by her sister, -the notary's wife, a twelvemonth back. - -And rather unaccountably Jurgen fell to thinking of how -unsubstantial seemed these curious months devoted to other women, as -set against the commonplace years which he and Lisa had fretted -through together; of the fine and merry girl that Lisa had been -before she married him; of how well she knew his tastes in cookery -and all his little preferences, and of how cleverly she humored them -on those rare days when nothing had occurred to vex her; of all the -buttons she had replaced, and all the socks she had darned, and of -what tempests had been loosed when anyone else had had the audacity -to criticize Jurgen; and of how much more unpleasant--everything -considered--life was without her than with her. She was so -unattractive looking, too, poor dear, that you could not but be -sorry for her. And Jurgen's mood was half yearning and half -penitence. - -"I think I will take her back, Prince," says Jurgen, very -subdued,--"now that I am forty-and-something. For I do not know but -it is as hard on her as on me." - -"My friend, do you forget the poet that you might be, even yet? No -rational person would dispute that the society and amiable chat of -Dame Lisa must naturally be a desideratum--" - -But Dame Lisa was always resentful of long words. "Be silent, you -black scoffer, and do not allude to such disgraceful things in the -presence of respectable people! For I am a decent Christian woman, I -would have you understand. But everybody knows your reputation! and -a very fit companion you are for that scamp yonder! and volumes -could not say more!" - -Thus casually, and with comparative lenience, did Dame Lisa dispose -of Koshchei, who made things as they are, for she believed him to be -merely Satan. And to her husband Dame Lisa now addressed herself -more particularly. - -"Jurgen, I always told you you would come to this, and now I hope -you are satisfied. Jurgen, do not stand there with your mouth open, -like a scared fish, when I ask you a civil question! but answer when -you are spoken to! Yes, and you need not try to look so idiotically -innocent, Jurgen, because I am disgusted with you. For, Jurgen, you -heard perfectly well what your very suitable friend just said about -me, with my own husband standing by. No--now I beg of you!--do not -ask me what he said, Jurgen! I leave that to your conscience, and I -prefer to talk no more about it. You know that when I am once -disappointed in a person I am through with that person. So, very -luckily, there is no need at all for you to pile hypocrisy on -cowardice, because if my own husband has not the feelings of a man, -and cannot protect me from insults and low company, I had best be -going home and getting supper ready. I dare say the house is like a -pig-sty: and I can see by looking at you that you have been ruining -your eyes by reading in bed again. And to think of your going about -in public, even among such associates, with a button off your -shirt!" - -She was silent for one terrible moment; then Lisa spoke in frozen -despair. - -"And now I look at that shirt, I ask you fairly, Jurgen, do you -consider that a man of your age has any right to be going about in a -shirt that nobody--in a shirt which--in a shirt that I can only--Ah, -but I never saw such a shirt! and neither did anybody else! You -simply cannot imagine what a figure you cut in it, Jurgen. Jurgen, I -have been patient with you; I have put up with a great deal, saying -nothing where many women would have lost their temper; but I simply -cannot permit you to select your own clothes, and so ruin the -business and take the bread out of our mouths. In short, you are -enough to drive a person mad; and I warn you that I am done with you -forever." - -Dame Lisa went with dignity to the door of Koshchei's office. - -"So you can come with me or not, precisely as you elect. It is all -one to me, I can assure you, after the cruel things you have said, -and the way you have stormed at me, and have encouraged that -notorious blackamoor to insult me in terms which I, for one, would -not soil my lips by repeating. I do not doubt you consider it is all -very clever and amusing, but you know now what I think about it. And -upon the whole, if you do not feel the exertion will kill you, you -had better come home the long way, and stop by Sister's and ask her -to let you have a half-pound of butter; for I know you too well to -suppose you have been attending to the churning." - -Dame Lisa here evinced a stately sort of mirth such as is -unimaginable by bachelors. - -"You churning while I was away!--oh, no, not you! There is probably -not so much as an egg in the house. For my lord and gentleman has -had other fish to fry, in his fine new courting clothes. And -that--and on a man of your age, with a paunch to you like a beer -barrel and with legs like pipe-stems!--yes, that infamous shirt of -yours is the reason you had better, for your own comfort, come home -the long way. For I warn you, Jurgen, that the style in which I have -caught you rigged out has quite decided me, before I go home or -anywhere else, to stop by for a word or so with your high and mighty -Madame Dorothy. So you had just as well not be along with me, for -there is no pulling wool over my eyes any longer, and you two need -never think to hoodwink me again about your goings-on. No, Jurgen, -you cannot fool me; for I can read you like a book. And such -behavior, at your time of life, does not surprise me at all, because -it is precisely what I would have expected of you." - -With that Dame Lisa passed through the door and went away, still -talking. It was of Heitman Michael's wife that the wife of Jurgen -spoke, discoursing of the personal traits, and of the past doings, -and (with augmented fervor) of the figure and visage of Madame -Dorothy, as all these abominations appeared to the eye of -discernment, and must be revealed by the tongue of candor, as a -matter of public duty. - -So passed Dame Lisa, neither as flame nor mist, but as the voice of -judgment. - - - - -49. - -Of the Compromise with Koshchei - - -"Phew!" said Koshchei, in the ensuing silence: "you had better stay -overnight, in any event. I really think, friend, you will be more -comfortable, just now at least, in this quiet cave." - -But Jurgen had taken up his hat. "No, I dare say I, too, had better -be going," says Jurgen. "I thank you very heartily for your intended -kindness, sir, still I do not know but it is better as it is. And is -there anything"--Jurgen coughed delicately--"and is there anything -to pay, sir?" - -"Oh, just a trifle, first of all, for a year's maintenance of Dame -Lisa. You see, Jurgen, that is an almighty fine shirt you are -wearing: it rather appeals to me; and I fancy, from something your -wife let drop just now, it did not impress her as being quite suited -to you. So, in the interest of domesticity, suppose you ransom Dame -Lisa with that fine shirt of yours?" - -"Why, willingly," said Jurgen, and he took off the shirt of Nessus. - -"You have worn this for some time, I understand," said Koshchei, -meditatively: "and did you ever notice any inconvenience in wearing -this garment?" - -"Not that I could detect, Prince; it fitted me, and seemed to -impress everybody most favorably." - -"There!" said Koshchei; "that is what I have always contended. To -the strong man, and to wholesome matter of fact people generally, it -is a fatal irritant; but persons like you can wear the shirt of -Nessus very comfortably for a long, long while, and be generally -admired; and you end by exchanging it for your wife's society. But -now, Jurgen, about yourself. You probably noticed that my door was -marked Keep Out. One must have rules, you know. Often it is a -nuisance, but still rules are rules; and so I must tell you, Jurgen, -it is not permitted any person to leave my presence unmaimed, if not -actually annihilated. One really must have rules, you know." - -"You would chop off an arm? or a hand? or a whole finger? Come now, -Prince, you must be joking!" - -Koshchei the Deathless was very grave as he sat there, in meditation, -drumming with his long jet-black fingers upon the table-top that was -curiously inlaid with thirty pieces of silver. In the lamplight his -sharp nails glittered like flame points, and the color suddenly -withdrew from his eyes, so that they showed like small white eggs. - -"But, man, how strange you are!" said Koshchei, presently; and life -flowed back into his eyes, and Jurgen ventured the liberty of -breathing. "Inside, I mean. Why, there is hardly anything left. Now -rules are rules, of course; but you, who are the remnant of a poet, -may depart unhindered whenever you will, and I shall take nothing -from you. For really it is necessary to draw the line somewhere." - -Jurgen meditated this clemency; and with a sick heart he seemed to -understand. "Yes; that is probably the truth; for I have not -retained the faith, nor the desire, nor the vision. Yes, that is -probably the truth. Well, at all events, Prince, I very unfeignedly -admired each of the ladies to whom you were friendly enough to -present me, and I was greatly flattered by their offers. More than -generous I thought them. But it really would not do for me to take -up with any one of them now. For Lisa is my wife, you see. A great -deal has passed between us, sir, in the last ten years--And I have -been a sore disappointment to her, in many ways--And I am used to -her--" - -Then Jurgen considered, and regarded the black gentleman with -mingled envy and commiseration. "Why, no, you probably would not -understand, sir, on account of your not being, I suppose, a married -person. But I can assure you it is always pretty much like that." - -"I lack grounds to dispute your aphorism," observed Koshchei, -"inasmuch as matrimony was certainly not included in my doom. None -the less, to a by-stander, the conduct of you both appears -remarkable. I could not understand, for example, just how your wife -proposed to have you keep out of her sight forever and still have -supper with her to-night; nor why she should desire to sup with such -a reprobate as she described with unbridled pungency and -disapproval." - -"Ah, but again, it is always pretty much like that, sir. And the -truth of it, Prince, is a great symbol. The truth of it is, we have -lived together so long that my wife has become rather foolishly fond -of me. So she is not, as one might say, quite reasonable about me. -No, sir; it is the fashion of women to discard civility toward those -for whom they suffer most willingly; and whom a woman loveth she -chasteneth, after a good precedent." - -"But her talking, Jurgen, has nowhere any precedent. Why, it deafens, -it appals, it submerges you in an uproarious sea of fault-finding; and -in a word, you might as profitably oppose a hurricane. Yet you want her -back! Now assuredly, Jurgen, I do not think very highly of your wisdom, -but by your bravery I am astounded." - -"Ah, Prince, it is because I can perceive that all women are poets, -though the medium they work in is not always ink. So the moment Lisa -is set free from what, in a manner of speaking, sir, inconsiderate -persons might, in their unthinking way, refer to as the terrors of -an underground establishment that I do not for an instant doubt to -be conducted after a system which furthers the true interests of -everybody, and so reflects vast credit upon its officials, if you -will pardon my frankness"--and Jurgen smiled ingratiatingly,--"why, -at that moment Lisa's thoughts take form in very much the high -denunciatory style of Jeremiah and Amos, who were remarkably fine -poets. Her concluding observations as to the Countess, in -particular, I consider to have been an example of sustained -invective such as one rarely encounters in this degenerate age. -Well, her next essay in creative composition is my supper, which -will be an equally spirited impromptu. To-morrow she will darn and -sew me an epic; and her desserts will continue to be in the richest -lyric vein. Such, sir, are the poems of Lisa, all addressed to me, -who came so near to gallivanting with mere queens!" - -"What, can it be that you are remorseful?" said Koshchei. - -"Oh, Prince, when I consider steadfastly the depth and the intensity -of that devotion which, for so many years, has tended me, and has -endured the society of that person whom I peculiarly know to be the -most tedious and irritating of companions, I stand aghast, before a -miracle. And I cry, Oh, certainly a goddess! and I can think of no -queen who is fairly mentionable in the same breath. Hah, all we -poets write a deal about love: but none of us may grasp the word's -full meaning until he reflects that this is a passion mighty enough -to induce a woman to put up with him." - -"Even so, it does not seem to induce quite thorough confidence. -Jurgen, I was grieved to see that Dame Lisa evidently suspects you -of running after some other woman in your wife's absence." - -"Think upon that now! And you saw for yourself how little the -handsomest of women could tempt me. Yet even Lisa's absurd notion I -can comprehend and pardon. And again, you probably would not -understand my overlooking such a thing, sir, on account of your not -being a married person. Nevertheless, my forgiveness also is a great -symbol." - -Then Jurgen sighed and he shook hands, very circumspectly, with -Koshchei, who made things as they are; and Jurgen started out of the -office. - -"But I will bear you company a part of the way," says Koshchei. - -So Koshchei removed his dressing-gown, and he put on the fine laced -coat which was hung over the back of a strange looking chair with -three legs, each of a different metal; the shirt of Nessus Koshchei -folded and put aside, saying that some day he might be able to use -it somehow. And Koshchei paused before the blackboard and he -scratched his head reflectively. Jurgen saw that this board was -nearly covered with figures which had not yet been added up; and -this blackboard seemed to him the most frightful thing he had faced -anywhere. - -Then Koshchei came out of the cave with Jurgen, and Koshchei walked -with Jurgen across Amneran Heath, and through Morven, in the late -evening. And Koshchei talked as they went; and a queer thing Jurgen -noticed, and it was that the moon was sinking in the east, as though -the time were getting earlier and earlier. But Jurgen did not -presume to criticize this, in the presence of Koshchei, who made -things as they are. - -"And I manage affairs as best I can, Jurgen. But they get in a -fearful muddle sometimes. Eh, sirs, I have no competent assistants. -I have to look out for everything, absolutely everything! And of -course, while in a sort of way I am infallible, mistakes will occur -every now and then in the actual working out of plans that in the -abstract are right enough. So it really does please me to hear -anybody putting in a kind word for things as they are, because, -between ourselves, there is a deal of dissatisfaction about. And I -was honestly delighted, just now, to hear you speaking up for evil -in the face of that rapscallion monk. So I give you thanks and many -thanks, Jurgen, for your kind word." - -"'Just now!'" thinks Jurgen. He perceived that they had passed the -Cistercian Abbey, and were approaching Bellegarde. And it was as in -a dream that Jurgen was speaking, _"Who are you, and why do you -thank me?"_ asks Jurgen. - -_"My name is no great matter. But you have a kind heart, Jurgen. -May your life lie free from care."_ - -_"Save us from hurt and harm, friend, but I am already married_--" -Then resolutely Jurgen put aside the spell that was befogging him. -"See here, Prince, are you beginning all over again? For I really -cannot stand any more of your benevolences." - -Koshchei smiled. "No, Jurgen, I am not beginning all over again. For -now I have never begun, and now there is no word of truth in -anything which you remember of the year just past. Now none of these -things has ever happened." - -"But how can that be, Prince?" - -"Why should I tell you, Jurgen? Let it suffice that what I will, not -only happens, but has already happened, beyond the ancientest memory -of man and his mother. How otherwise could I be Koshchei? And so -farewell to you, poor Jurgen, to whom nothing in particular has -happened now. It is not justice I am giving you, but something -infinitely more acceptable to you and all your kind." - -"But, to be sure!" says Jurgen. "I fancy that nobody anywhere cares -much for justice. So farewell to you, Prince. And at our parting I -ask no more questions of you, for I perceive it is scant comfort a -man gets from questioning Koshchei, who made things as they are. But -I am wondering what pleasure you get out of it all?" - -"Eh, sirs," says Koshchei, with not the most candid of smiles, "I -contemplate the spectacle with appropriate emotions." - -And so speaking, Koshchei quitted Jurgen forever. - -"Yet how may I be sure," thought Jurgen, instantly, "that this black -gentleman was really Koshchei? He said he was? Why, yes; and -Horvendile to all intents told me that Horvendile was Koshchei. Aha, -and what else did Horvendile say!--'This is one of the romancer's -most venerable devices that is being practised.' Why, but there was -Smoit of Glathion, also, so that this is the third time I have been -fobbed off with the explanation I was dreaming! and left with no -proof, one way or the other." - -Thus Jurgen, indignantly, and then he laughed. "Why, but, of course! -I may have talked face to face with Koshchei, who made all things as -they are; and again, I may not have. That is the whole point of -it--the cream, as one might say, of the jest--that I cannot ever be -sure. Well!"--and Jurgen shrugged here--"well, and what could I be -expected to do about it?" - - - - -50. - -The Moment That Did Not Count - - -And that is really all the story save for the moment Jurgen paused -on his way home. For Koshchei (if it, indeed, was Koshchei) had -quitted Jurgen just as they approached Bellegarde: and as the -pawnbroker walked on alone in the pleasant April evening one called -to him from the terrace. Even in the dusk he knew this was the -Countess Dorothy. - -"May I speak with you a moment?" says she. - -"Very willingly, madame." And Jurgen ascended from the highway to -the terrace. - -"I thought it would be near your supper hour. So I was waiting here -until you passed. You conceive, it is not quite convenient for me to -seek you out at the shop." - -"Why, no, madame. There is a prejudice," said Jurgen, soberly. And -he waited. - -He saw that Madame Dorothy was perfectly composed, yet anxious to -speed the affair. "You must know," said she, "that my husband's -birthday approaches, and I wish to surprise him with a gift. It is -therefore necessary that I raise some money without troubling him. -How much--abominable usurer!--could you advance me upon this -necklace?" - -Jurgen turned it in his hand. It was a handsome piece of jewelry, -familiar to him as formerly the property of Heitman Michael's -mother. Jurgen named a sum. - -"But that," the Countess says, "is not a fraction of its worth!" - -"Times are very hard, madame. Of course, if you cared to sell -outright I could deal more generously." - -"Old monster, I could not do that. It would not be convenient." She -hesitated here. "It would not be explicable." - -"As to that, madame, I could make you an imitation in paste which -nobody could distinguish from the original, I can amply understand -that you desire to veil from your husband any sacrifices that are -entailed by your affection." - -"It is my affection for him," said the Countess quickly. - -"I alluded to your affection for him," said Jurgen--"naturally." - -Then Countess Dorothy named a price for the necklace. "For it is -necessary I have that much, and not a penny less." And Jurgen shook -his head dubiously, and vowed that ladies were unconscionable -bargainers: but Jurgen agreed to what she asked, because the -necklace was worth almost as much again. Then Jurgen suggested that -the business could be most conveniently concluded through an -emissary. - -"If Messire de Nerac, for example, could have matters explained to -him, and could manage to visit me tomorrow, I am sure we could carry -through this amiable imposture without any annoyance whatever to -Heitman Michael," says Jurgen, smoothly. - -"Nerac will come then," says the Countess. "And you may give him the -money, precisely as though it were for him." - -"But certainly, madame. A very estimable young nobleman, that! and -it is a pity his debts are so large. I heard that he had lost -heavily at dice within the last month; and I grieved, madame." - -"He has promised me when these debts are settled to play no -more--But again what am I saying! I mean, Master Inquisitive, that I -take considerable interest in the welfare of Messire de Nerac: and -so I have sometimes chided him on his wild courses. And that is all -I mean." - -"Precisely, madame. And so Messire de Nerac will come to me to-morrow -for the money: and there is no more to say." - -Jurgen paused. The moon was risen now. These two sat together upon a -bench of carved stone near the balustrade: and before them, upon the -other side of the highway, were luminous valleys and tree-tops. -Fleetingly Jurgen recollected the boy and girl who had once sat in -this place, and had talked of all the splendid things which Jurgen -was to do, and of the happy life that was to be theirs together. -Then he regarded the composed and handsome woman beside him, and he -considered that the money to pay her latest lover's debts had been -assured with a suitable respect for appearances. - -"Come, but this is a gallant lady, who would defy the almanac," -reflected Jurgen. "Even so, thirty-eight is an undeniable and -somewhat autumnal figure, and I suspect young Nerac is bleeding -his elderly mistress. Well, but at his age nobody has a conscience. -Yes, and Madame Dorothy is handsome still; and still my pulse is -playing me queer tricks, because she is near me, and my voice has -not the intonation I intend, because she is near me; and still I am -three-quarters in love with her. Yes, in the light of such cursed -folly as even now possesses me, I have good reason to give thanks -for the regained infirmities of age. Yet living seems to me a -wasteful and inequitable process, for this is a poor outcome for -the boy and girl that I remember. And weighing this outcome, I am -tempted to weep and to talk romantically, even now." - -But he did not. For really, weeping was not requisite. Jurgen was -making his fair profit out of the Countess's folly, and it was -merely his duty to see that this little business transaction was -managed without any scandal. - -"So there is nothing more to say," observed Jurgen, as he rose in -the moonlight, "save that I shall always be delighted to serve you, -madame, and I may reasonably boast that I have earned a reputation -for fair dealing." - -And he thought: "In effect, since certainly as she grows older she -will need yet more money for her lovers, I am offering to pimp for -her." Then Jurgen shrugged. "That is one side of the affair. The -other is that I transact my legitimate business,--I, who am that -which the years have made of me." - -Thus it was that Jurgen quitted the Countess Dorothy, whom, as you -have heard, this pawnbroker had loved in his first youth under the -name of Heart's Desire; and whom in the youth that was loaned him by -Mother Sereda he had loved as Queen Helen, the delight of gods and -men. For Jurgen was quitting Madame Dorothy after the simplest of -business transactions, which consumed only a moment, and did not -actually count one way or the other. - -And after this moment which did not count, the pawnbroker resumed -his journey, and so came presently to his home. He peeped through -the window. And there in a snug room, with supper laid, sat Dame -Lisa about some sewing, and evidently in a quite amiable frame of -mind. - -Then terror smote the Jurgen who had faced sorcerers and gods and -devils intrepidly. "For I forgot about the butter!" - -But immediately afterward he recollected that, now, not even what -Lisa had said to him in the cave was real. Neither he nor Lisa, now, -had ever been in the cave, and probably there was no longer any such -place, and now there never had been any such place. It was rather -confusing. - -"Ah, but I must remember carefully," said Jurgen, "that I have not -seen Lisa since breakfast, this morning. Nothing whatever has -happened. There has been no requirement laid upon me, after all, to -do the manly thing. So I retain my wife, such as she is, poor dear! -I retain my home. I retain my shop and a fair line of business. Yes, -Koshchei--if it was really Koshchei--has dealt with me very justly. -And probably his methods are everything they should be; certainly I -cannot go so far as to say that they are wrong: but still, at the -same time--!" - -Then Jurgen sighed, and entered his snug home. Thus it was in the -old days. - - -EXPLICIT - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JURGEN *** - -***** This file should be named 8771.txt or 8771.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/8/7/7/8771/ - -Produced by Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team. 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