There was an artist once, and he painted a picture. Other artists had
colours richer and rarer, and painted more notable pictures. He painted
his with one colour, there was a wonderful red glow on it; and the people
went up and down, saying, "We like the picture, we like the glow."
The other artists came and said, "Where does he get his colour from?" They
asked him; and he smiled and said, "I cannot tell you"; and worked on with
his head bent low.
And one went to the far East and bought costly pigments, and made a rare
colour and painted, but after a time the picture faded. Another read in
the old books, and made a colour rich and rare, but when he had put it on
the picture it was dead.
But the artist painted on. Always the work got redder and redder, and the
artist grew whiter and whiter. At last one day they found him dead before
his picture, and they took him up to bury him. The other men looked about
in all the pots and crucibles, but they found nothing they had not.
And when they undressed him to put his grave-clothes on him, they found
above his left breast the mark of a wound--it was an old, old wound, that
must have been there all his life, for the edges were old and hardened; but
Death, who seals all things, had drawn the edges together, and closed it
up.
And they buried him. And still the people went about saying, "Where did he
find his colour from?"
And it came to pass that after a while the artist was forgotten--but the
work lived.
St. Leonards-on-Sea.
X. "I THOUGHT I STOOD."
I thought I stood in Heaven before God's throne, and God asked me what I
had come for. I said I had come to arraign my brother, Man.
God said, "What has he done?"
I said, "He has taken my sister, Woman, and has stricken her, and wounded
her, and thrust her out into the streets; she lies there prostrate. His
hands are red with blood. I am here to arraign him; that the kingdom be
taken from him, because he is not worthy, and given unto me. My hands are
pure."
I showed them.
God said, "Thy hands are pure.--Lift up thy robe."
I raised it; my feet were red, blood-red, as if I had trodden in wine.
God said, "How is this?"
I said, "Dear Lord, the streets on earth are full of mire. If I should
walk straight on in them my outer robe might be bespotted, you see how
white it is! Therefore I pick my way."
God said, "On what?"
I was silent, and I let my robe fall. I wrapped my mantle about my head.
I went out softly. I was afraid that the angels would see me.
II.
Once more I stood at the gate of Heaven, I and another. We held fast by
one another; we were very tired. We looked up at the great gates; the
angels opened them, and we went in. The mud was on our garments. We
walked across the marble floor, and up to the great throne. Then the
angels divided us. Her, they set upon the top step, but me, upon the
bottom; for, they said, "Last time this woman came here she left red foot-
marks on the floor; we had to wash them out with our tears. Let her not go
up."
Then she, with whom I came, looked back, and stretched out her hand to me;
and I went and stood beside her. And the angels, they, the shining ones
who never sinned and never suffered, walked by us to and fro and up and
down; I think we should have felt a little lonely there if it had not been
for one another, the angels were so bright.
God asked me what I had come for; and I drew my sister forward a little
that he might see her.
God said, "How is it you are here together today?"
I said, "She was upon the ground in the street, and they passed over her; I
lay down by her, and she put her arms around my neck, and so I lifted her,
and we two rose together."
God said, "Whom are you now come to accuse before me?"
I said, "We are come to accuse no man."
And God bent, and said, "My children--what is it that ye seek?"
And she beside me drew my hand that I should speak for both.
I said, "We have come to ask that thou shouldst speak to Man, our brother,
and give us a message for him that he might understand, and that he
might--"
God said, "Go, take the message down to him!"
I said, "But what is the message?"
God said, "Upon your hearts it is written; take it down to him."
And we turned to go; the angels went with us to the door. They looked at
us.
And one said--"Ai! but their dresses are beautiful!"
And the other said, "I thought it was mire when they came in, but see, it
is all golden!"
But another said, "Hush, it is the light from their faces!"
And we went down to him.
Alassio, Italy.
XI. THE SUNLIGHT LAY ACROSS MY BED.
In the dark one night I lay upon my bed. I heard the policeman's feet beat
on the pavement; I heard the wheels of carriages roll home from houses of
entertainment; I heard a woman's laugh below my window--and then I fell
asleep. And in the dark I dreamt a dream. I dreamt God took my soul to
Hell.
Hell was a fair place; the water of the lake was blue.
I said to God, "I like this place."
God said, "Ay, dost thou!"
Birds sang, turf came to the water-edge, and trees grew from it. Away off
among the trees I saw beautiful women walking. Their clothes were of many
delicate colours and clung to them, and they were tall and graceful and had
yellow hair. Their robes trailed over the grass. They glided in and out
among the trees, and over their heads hung yellow fruit like large pears of
melted gold.
I said, "It is very fair; I would go up and taste the--"
God said, "Wait."
And after a while I noticed a very fair woman pass: she looked this way
and that, and drew down a branch, and it seemed she kissed the fruit upon
it softly, and went on her way, and her dress made no rustle as she passed
over the grass. And when I saw her no more, from among the stems came
another woman fair as she had been, in a delicate tinted robe; she looked
this way and that. When she saw no one there she drew down the fruit, and
when she had looked over it to find a place, she put her mouth to it
softly, and went away. And I saw other and other women come, making no
noise, and they glided away also over the grass.
And I said to God, "What are they doing?"
God said, "They are poisoning."
And I said, "How?"
God said, "They touch it with their lips, when they have made a tiny wound
in it with their fore-teeth they set in it that which is under their
tongues: they close it with their lip--that no man may see the place, and
pass on."
I said to God, "Why do they do it?"
God said, "That another may not eat."
I said to God, "But if they poison all then none dare eat; what do they
gain?"
God said, "Nothing."
I said, "Are they not afraid they themselves may bite where another has
bitten?"
God said, "They are afraid. In Hell all men fear."
He called me further. And the water of the lake seemed less blue.
Then, to the right among the trees were men working. And I said to God, "I
should like to go and work with them. Hell must be a very fruitful place,
the grass is so green."
God said, "Nothing grows in the garden they are making."
We stood looking; and I saw them working among the bushes, digging holes,
but in them they set nothing; and when they had covered them with sticks
and earth each went a way off and sat behind the bushes watching; and I
noticed that as each walked he set his foot down carefully looking where he
trod. I said to God, "What are they doing?"
God said, "Making pitfalls into which their fellows may sink."
I said to God, "Why do they do it?"
God said, "Because each thinks that when his brother falls he will rise."
I said to God, "How will he rise?"
God said, "He will not rise."
And I saw their eyes gleam from behind the bushes.
I said to God, "Are these men sane?"
God said, "They are not sane; there is no sane man in Hell."
And he told me to come further.
And I looked where I trod.
And we came where Hell opened into a plain, and a great house stood there.
Marble pillars upheld the roof, and white marble steps let up to it. The
wind of heaven blew through it. Only at the back hung a thick curtain.
Fair men and women there feasted at long tables. They danced, and I saw
the robes of women flutter in the air and heard the laugh of strong men.
What they feasted with was wine; they drew it from large jars which stood
somewhat in the background, and I saw the wine sparkle as they drew it.
And I said to God, "I should like to go up and drink." And God said,
"Wait." And I saw men coming in to the Banquet House; they came in from
the back and lifted the corner of the curtain at the sides and crept in
quickly; and they let the curtain fall behind them; they bore great jars
they could hardly carry. And the men and women crowded round them, and the
new-comers opened their jars and gave them of the wine to drink; and I saw
that the women drank even more greedily than the men. And when others had
well drunken they set the jars among the old ones beside the wall, and took
their places at the table. And I saw that some of the jars were very old
and mildewed and dusty, but others had still drops of new must on them and
shone from the furnace.
And I said to God, "What is that?" For amid the sound of the singing, and
over the dancing of feet, and over the laughing across the wine-cups I
heard a cry.
And God said, "Stand a way off."
And he took me where I saw both sides of the curtain. Behind the house was
the wine-press where the wine was made. I saw the grapes crushed, and I
heard them cry. I said, "Do not they on the other side hear it?"
God said, "The curtain is thick; they are feasting."
And I said, "But the men who came in last. They saw?"
God said, "They let the curtain fall behind them--and they forget!"
I said, "How came they by their jars of wine?"
God said, "In the treading of the press these are they who came to the top;
they have climbed out over the edge, and filled their jars from below, and
have gone into the house."
And I said, "And if they had fallen as they climbed--?"
God said, "They had been wine."
I stood a way off watching in the sunshine, and I shivered.
God lay in the sunshine watching too.
Then there rose one among the feasters, who said, "My brethren, let us
pray!"
And all the men and women rose: and strong men bowed their heads, and
mothers folded their little children's hands together, and turned their
faces upwards, to the roof. And he who first had risen stood at the table
head, and stretched out both his hands, and his beard was long and white,
and his sleeves and his beard had been dipped in wine; and because the
sleeves were wide and full they held much wine, and it dropped down upon
the floor.
And he cried, "My brothers and my sisters, let us pray."
And all the men and women answered, "Let us pray."
He cried, "For this fair banquet-house we thank thee, Lord."
And all the men and women said "We thank thee, Lord."
"Thine is this house, dear Lord."
"Thine is this house."
"For us hast thou made it."
"For us."
"Oh, fill our jars with wine, dear Lord."
"Our jars with wine."
"Give peace and plenty in our time, dear Lord."
"Peace and plenty in our time"--I said to God, "Whom is it they are talking
to?" God said, "Do I know whom they speak of?" And I saw they were
looking up at the roof; but out in the sunshine, God lay.
"--dear Lord!"
"Dear Lord."
"Our children's children, Lord, shall rise and call thee blessed."
"Our children's children, Lord."--I said to God, "The grapes are crying!"
God said, "Still! I hear them"--"shall call thee blessed."
"Shall call thee blessed."
"Pour forth more wine upon us, Lord."
"More wine."
"More wine."
"More wine!"
"Wine!!"
"Wine!!"
"Wine!!!"
"Dear Lord!"
Then men and women sat down and the feast went on. And mothers poured out
wine and fed their little children with it, and men held up the cup to
women's lips and cried, "Beloved! drink," and women filled their lovers'
flagons and held them up; and yet the feast went on.
And after a while I looked, and I saw the curtain that hung behind the
house moving.
I said to God, "Is it a wind?"
God said, "A wind."
And it seemed to me, that against the curtain I saw pressed the forms of
men and women. And after a while the feasters saw it move, and they
whispered, one to another. Then some rose and gathered the most worn-out
cups, and into them they put what was left at the bottom of other vessels.
Mothers whispered to their children, "Do not drink all, save a little drop
when you have drunk." And when they had collected all the dregs they
slipped the cups out under the bottom of the curtain without lifting it.
After a while the curtain left off moving.
I said to God, "How is it so quiet?"
He said, "They have gone away to drink it."
I said, "They drink it--their own!"
God said, "It comes from this side of the curtain, and they are very
thirsty."
Then the feast went on, and after a while I saw a small, white hand slipped
in below the curtain's edge along the floor; and it motioned towards the
wine jars.
And I said to God, "Why is that hand so bloodless?"
And God said, "It is a wine-pressed hand."
And men saw it and started to their feet; and women cried, and ran to the
great wine jars, and threw their arms around them, and cried, "Ours, our
own, our beloved!" and twined their long hair about them.
I said to God, "Why are they frightened of that one small hand?"
God answered, "Because it is so white."
And men ran in a great company towards the curtain, and struggled there. I
heard them strike upon the floor. And when they moved away the curtain
hung smooth and still; and there was a small stain upon the floor.
I said to God, "Why do they not wash it out?"
God said, "They cannot."
And they took small stones and put them down along the edge of the curtain
to keep it down. Then the men and women sat down again at the tables.
And I said to God, "Will those stones keep it down?"
God said, "What think you?"
I said, "If the wind blew?"
God said, "If the wind blew?"
And the feast went on.
And suddenly I cried to God, "If one should rise among them, even of
themselves, and start up from the table and should cast away his cup, and
cry, 'My brothers and my sisters, stay! what is it that we drink?'--and
with his sword should cut in two the curtain, and holding wide the
fragments, cry, 'Brothers, sisters, see! it is not wine, not wine! not
wine! My brothers, oh, my sisters!' and he should overturn the--"
God said, "Be still!--, see there."
I looked: before the banquet-house, among the grass, I saw a row of
mounds, flowers covered them, and gilded marble stood at their heads. I
asked God what they were.
He answered, "They are the graves of those who rose up at the feast and
cried."
And I asked God how they came there.
He said, "The men of the banquet-house rose and cast them down backwards."
I said, "Who buried them?"
God said, "The men who cast them down."
I said, "How came it that they threw them down, and then set marble over
them?"
God said, "Because the bones cried out, they covered them."
And among the grass and weeds I saw an unburied body lying; and I asked God
why it was.
God said, "Because it was thrown down only yesterday. In a little while,
when the flesh shall have fallen from its bones, they will bury it also,
and plant flowers over it."
And still the feast went on.
Men and women sat at the tables quaffing great bowls. Some rose, and threw
their arms about each other, and danced and sang. They pledged each other
in the wine, and kissed each other's blood-red lips.
Higher and higher grew the revels.
Men, when they had drunk till they could no longer, threw what was left in
their glasses up to the roof, and let it fall back in cascades. Women dyed
their children's garments in the wine, and fed them on it till their tiny
mouths were red. Sometimes, as the dancers whirled, they overturned a
vessel, and their garments were bespattered. Children sat upon the floor
with great bowls of wine, and swam rose-leaves on it, for boats. They put
their hands in the wine and blew large red bubbles.
And higher and higher grew the revels, and wilder the dancing, and louder
and louder the singing. But here and there among the revellers were those
who did not revel. I saw that at the tables here and there were men who
sat with their elbows on the board and hands shading their eyes; they
looked into the wine-cup beneath them, and did not drink. And when one
touched them lightly on the shoulder, bidding them to rise and dance and
sing, they started, and then looked down, and sat there watching the wine
in the cup, but they did not move.
And here and there I saw a woman sit apart. The others danced and sang and
fed their children, but she sat silent with her head aside as though she
listened. Her little children plucked her gown; she did not see them; she
was listening to some sound, but she did not stir.
The revels grew higher. Men drank till they could drink no longer, and lay
their heads upon the table sleeping heavily. Women who could dance no more
leaned back on the benches with their heads against their lovers'
shoulders. Little children, sick with wine, lay down upon the edges of
their mothers' robes. Sometimes, a man rose suddenly, and as he staggered
struck the tables and overthrew the benches; some leaned upon the
balustrades sick unto death. Here and there one rose who staggered to the
wine jars and lay down beside them. He turned the wine tap, but sleep
overcame him as he lay there, and the wine ran out.
Slowly the thin, red stream ran across the white marbled floor; it reached
the stone steps; slowly, slowly, slowly it trickled down, from step to
step, from step to step: then it sank into the earth. A thin white smoke
rose up from it.
I was silent; I could not breathe; but God called me to come further.
And after I had travelled for a while I came where on seven hills lay the
ruins of a mighty banquet-house larger and stronger than the one which I
had seen standing.
I said to God, "What did the men who built it here?"
God said, "They feasted."
I said, "On what?"
God said, "On wine."
And I looked; and it seemed to me that behind the ruins lay still a large
circular hollow within the earth where a foot of the wine-press had stood.
I said to God, "How came it that this large house fell?"
God said, "Because the earth was sodden."
He called me to come further.
And at last we came upon a hill where blue waters played, and white marble
lay upon the earth. I said to God, "What was here once?"
God said, "A pleasure house."
I looked, and at my feet great pillars lay. I cried aloud for joy to God,
"The marble blossoms!"
God said, "Ay, 'twas a fairy house. There has not been one like to it, nor
ever shall be. The pillars and the porticoes blossomed; and the wine cups
were as gathered flowers: on this side all the curtain was broidered with
fair designs, the stitching was of gold."
I said to God, "How came it that it fell?"
God said, "On the side of the wine-press it was dark."
And as we travelled, we came where lay a mighty ridge of sand, and a dark
river ran there; and there rose two vast mounds.
I said to God, "They are very mighty."
God said, "Ay, exceeding great."
And I listened.
God asked me what I was listening to.
And I said, "A sound of weeping, and I hear the sound of strokes, but I
cannot tell whence it comes."
God said, "It is the echo of the wine-press lingering still among the
coping-stones upon the mounds. A banquet-house stood here."
And he called me to come further.
Upon a barren hill-side, where the soil was arid, God called me to stand
still. And I looked around.
God said, "There was a feasting-house here once upon a time."
I said to God, "I see no mark of any!"
God said, "There was not left one stone upon another that has not been
thrown down." And I looked round; and on the hill-side was a lonely grave.
I said to God, "What lies there?"
He said, "A vine truss, bruised in the wine-press!"
And at the head of the grave stood a cross, and on its foot lay a crown of
thorns.
And as I turned to go, I looked backward. The wine-press and the banquet-
house were gone; but the grave yet stood.
And when I came to the edge of a long ridge there opened out before me a
wide plain of sand. And when I looked downward I saw great stones lie
shattered; and the desert sand had half covered them over.
I said to God, "There is writing on them, but I cannot read it."
And God blew aside the desert sand, and I read the writing: "Weighed in
the balance, and found--" but the last word was wanting.
And I said to God, "It was a banquet-house?"
God said, "Ay, a banquet-house."
I said, "There was a wine-press here?"
God said, "There was a wine-press."
I asked no further question. I was very weary; I shaded my eyes with my
hand, and looked through the pink evening light.
Far off, across the sand, I saw two figures standing. With wings upfolded
high above their heads, and stern faces set, neither man nor beast, they
looked out across the desert sand, watching, watching, watching! I did not
ask God what they were, for I knew what the answer would be.
And, further and yet further, in the evening light, I looked with my shaded
eyes.
Far off, where the sands were thick and heavy, I saw a solitary pillar
standing: the crown had fallen, and the sand had buried it. On the broken
pillar sat a grey owl-of-the-desert, with folded wings; and in the evening
light I saw the desert fox creep past it, trailing his brush across the
sand.
Further, yet further, as I looked across the desert, I saw the sand
gathered into heaps as though it covered something.
I cried to God, "Oh, I am so weary."
God said, "You have seen only one half of Hell."
I said, "I cannot see more, I am afraid of Hell. In my own narrow little
path I dare not walk because I think that one has dug a pitfall for me; and
if I put my hand to take a fruit I draw it back again because I think it
has been kissed already. If I look out across the plains, the mounds are
burial heaps; and when I pass among the stones I hear them crying aloud.
When I see men dancing I hear the time beaten in with sobs; and their wine
is living! Oh, I cannot bear Hell!"
God said, "Where will you go?"
I said "To the earth from which I came; it was better there."
And God laughed at me; and I wondered why he laughed.
God said, "Come, and I will show you Heaven."
...
And partly I awoke. It was still and dark; the sound of the carriages had
died in the street; the woman who laughed was gone; and the policeman's
tread was heard no more. In the dark it seemed as if a great hand lay upon
my heart, and crushed it. I tried to breathe and tossed from side to side;
and then again I fell asleep, and dreamed.
God took me to the edge of that world. It ended. I looked down. The
gulf, it seemed to me, was fathomless, and then I saw two bridges crossing
it that both sloped upwards.
I said to God, "Is there no other way by which men cross it?"
God said, "One; it rises far from here and slopes straight upwards.
I asked God what the bridges' names were.
God said, "What matter for the names? Call them the Good, the True, the
Beautiful, if you will--you will yet not understand them."
I asked God how it was I could not see the third.
God said, "It is seen only by those who climb it."
I said, "Do they all lead to one heaven?"
God said, "All Heaven is one: nevertheless some parts are higher than
others; those who reach the higher may always go down to rest in the lower;
but those in the lower may not have strength to climb to the higher;
nevertheless the light is all one."
And I saw over the bridge nearest me, which was wider than the other,
countless footmarks go. I asked God why so many went over it.
God said, "It slopes less deeply, and leads to the first heaven."
And I saw that some of the footmarks were of feet returning. I asked God
how it was.
He said, "No man who has once entered Heaven ever leaves it; but some, when
they have gone half way, turn back, because they are afraid there is no
land beyond."
I said, "Has none ever returned?"
God said, "No; once in Heaven always in Heaven."
And God took me over. And when we came to one of the great doors--for
Heaven has more doors than one, and they are all open--the posts rose up so
high on either side I could not see the top, nor indeed if there were any.
And it seemed to me so wide that all Hell could go in through it.
I said to God, "Which is the larger, Heaven or Hell?"
God said, "Hell is as wide, but Heaven is deeper. All Hell could be
engulfed in Heaven, but all Heaven could not be engulfed in Hell."
And we entered. It was a still great land. The mountains rose on every
hand, and there was a pale clear light; and I saw it came from the rocks
and stones. I asked God how it was.
But God did not answer me.
I looked and wondered, for I had thought Heaven would be otherwise. And
after a while it began to grow brighter, as if the day were breaking, and I
asked God if the sun were not going to rise.
God said, "No; we are coming to where the people are."
And as we went on it grew brighter and brighter till it was burning day;
and on the rock were flowers blooming, and trees blossomed at the roadside;
and streams of water ran everywhere, and I heard the birds singing; I asked
God where they were.
God said, "It is the people calling to one another."
And when we came nearer I saw them walking, and they shone as they walked.
I asked God how it was they wore no covering.
God said, "Because all their body gives the light; they dare not cover any
part."
And I asked God what they were doing.
God said, "Shining on the plants that they may grow."
And I saw that some were working in companies, and some alone, but most
were in twos, sometimes two men and sometimes two women; but generally
there was one man and one woman; and I asked God how it was.
God said, "When one man and one woman shine together, it makes the most
perfect light. Many plants need that for their growing. Nevertheless,
there are more kinds of plants in Heaven than one, and they need many kinds
of light."
And one from among the people came running towards me; and when he came
near it seemed to me that he and I had played together when we were little
children, and that we had been born on the same day. And I told God what I
felt; God said, "All men feel so in Heaven when another comes towards
them."
And he who ran towards me held my hand, and led me through the bright
lights. And when we came among the trees he sang aloud, and his companion
answered, and it was a woman, and he showed me to her. She said, "He must
have water"; and she took some in her hands, and fed me (I had been afraid
to drink of the water in Hell), and they gathered fruit for me, and gave it
me to eat. They said, "We shone long to make it ripen," and they laughed
together as they saw me eat it.
The man said, "He is very weary; he must sleep" (for I had not dared to
sleep in Hell), and he laid my head on his companion's knee and spread her
hair out over me. I slept, and all the while in my sleep I thought I heard
the birds calling across me. And when I woke it was like early morning,
with the dew on everything.
And the man took my hand and led me to a hidden spot among the rocks. The
ground was very hard, but out of it were sprouting tiny plants, and there
was a little stream running. He said, "This is a garden we are making, no
one else knows of it. We shine here every day; see, the ground has cracked
with our shining, and this little stream is bursting out. See, the flowers
are growing."
And he climbed on the rocks and picked from above two little flowers with
dew on them, and gave them to me. And I took one in each hand; my hands
shone as I held them. He said, "This garden is for all when it is
finished." And he went away to his companion, and I went out into the
great pathway.
And as I walked in the light I heard a loud sound of much singing. And
when I came nearer I saw one with closed eyes, singing, and his fellows
were standing round him; and the light on the closed eyes was brighter than
anything I had seen in Heaven. I asked one who it was. And he said,
"Hush! Our singing bird."
And I asked why the eyes shone so.
And he said, "They cannot see, and we have kissed them till they shone so."
And the people gathered closer round him.
And when I went a little further I saw a crowd crossing among the trees of
light with great laughter. When they came close I saw they carried one
without hands or feet. And a light came from the maimed limbs so bright
that I could not look at them.
And I said to one, "What is it?"
He answered, "This is our brother who once fell and lost his hands and
feet, and since then he cannot help himself; but we have touched the maimed
stumps so often that now they shine brighter than anything in Heaven. We
pass him on that he may shine on things that need much heat. No one is
allowed to keep him long, he belongs to all"; and they went on among the
trees.
I said to God, "This is a strange land. I had thought blindness and
maimedness were great evils. Here men make them to a rejoicing."
God said, "Didst thou then think that love had need of eyes and hands!"
And I walked down the shining way with palms on either hand. I said to
God, "Ever since I was a little child and sat alone and cried, I have
dreamed of this land, and now I will not go away again. I will stay here
and shine." And I began to take off my garments, that I might shine as
others in that land; but when I looked down I saw my body gave no light. I
said to God, "How is it?"
God said, "Is there no dark blood in your heart; is it bitter against
none?"
And I said, "Yes--"; and I thought--"Now is the time when I will tell God,
that which I have been, meaning to tell him all along, how badly my fellow-
men have treated me. How they have misunderstood me. How I have intended
to be magnanimous and generous to them, and they--." And I began to tell
God; but when I looked down all the flowers were withering under my breath,
and I was silent.
And God called me to come up higher, and I gathered my mantle about me and
followed him.
And the rocks grew higher and steeper on every side; and we came at last to
a place where a great mountain rose, whose top was lost in the clouds. And
on its side I saw men working; and they picked at the earth with huge
picks; and I saw that they laboured mightily. And some laboured in
companies, but most laboured singly. And I saw the drops of sweat fall
from their foreheads, and the muscles of their arms stand out with labour.
And I said, "I had not thought in heaven to see men labour so!" And I
thought of the garden where men sang and loved, and I wondered that any
should choose to labour on that bare mountain-side. And I saw upon the
foreheads of the men as they worked a light, and the drops which fell from
them as they worked had light.
And I asked God what they were seeking for.
And God touched my eyes, and I saw that what they found were small stones,
which had been too bright for me to see before; and I saw that the light of
the stones and the light on the men's foreheads was the same. And I saw
that when one found a stone he passed it on to his fellow, and he to
another, and he to another. No man kept the stone he found. And at times
they gathered in great company about when a large stone was found, and
raised a great shout so that the sky rang; then they worked on again.
And I asked God what they did with the stones they found at last. Then God
touched my eyes again to make them stronger; and I looked, and at my very
feet was a mighty crown. The light streamed out from it.
God said, "Each stone as they find it is set here."
And the crown was wrought according to a marvellous pattern; one pattern
ran through all, yet each part was different.
I said to God, "How does each man know where to set his stone, so that the
pattern is worked out?"
God said, "Because in the light his forehead sheds each man sees faintly
outlined that full crown."
And I said, "But how is it that each stone is joined along its edges to its
fellows, so that there is no seam anywhere?"
God said, "The stones are alive; they grow."
And I said, "But what does each man gain by his working?"
God said, "He sees his outline filled."
I said, "But those stones which are last set cover those which were first;
and those will again be covered by those which come later."
God said, "They are covered, but not hid. The light is the light of all.
Without the first, no last."
And I said to God, "When will this crown be ended?"
And God said, "Look up!"
I looked up; and I saw the mountain tower above me, but its summit I could
not see; it was lost in the clouds.
God said no more.
And I looked at the crown: then a longing seized me. Like the passion of
a mother for the child whom death has taken; like the yearning of a friend
for the friend whom life has buried; like the hunger of dying eyes for a
life that is slipping; like the thirst of a soul for love at its first
spring waking, so, but fiercer was the longing in me.
I cried to God, "I too will work here; I too will set stones in the
wonderful pattern; it shall grow beneath MY hand. And if it be that,
labouring here for years, I should not find one stone, at least I will be
with the men that labour here. I shall hear their shout of joy when each
stone is found; I shall join in their triumph, I shall shout among them; I
shall see the crown grow." So great was my longing as I looked at the
crown, I thought a faint light fell from my forehead also.
God said, "Do you not hear the singing in the gardens?"
I said, "No, I hear nothing; I see only the crown." And I was dumb with
longing; I forgot all the flowers of the lower Heaven and the singing
there. And I ran forward, and threw my mantle on the earth and bent to
seize one of the mighty tools which lay there. I could not lift it from
the earth.
God said, "Where hast THOU earned the strength to raise it? Take up thy
mantle."
And I took up my mantle and followed where God called me; but I looked
back, and I saw the crown burning, my crown that I had loved.
Higher and higher we climbed, and the air grew thinner. Not a tree or
plant was on the bare rocks, and the stillness was unbroken. My breath
came hard and quick, and the blood crept within my finger-tips. I said to
God, "Is this Heaven?"
God said, "Yes; it is the highest."
And still we climbed. I said to God, "I cannot breathe so high."
God said, "Because the air is pure?"
And my head grew dizzy, and as I climbed the blood burst from my finger-
tips.
Then we came out upon a lonely mountain-top.
No living being moved there; but far off on a solitary peak I saw a lonely
figure standing. Whether it were man or woman I could not tell; for partly
it seemed the figure of a woman, but its limbs were the mighty limbs of a
man. I asked God whether it was man or woman.
God said, "In the least Heaven sex reigns supreme; in the higher it is not
noticed; but in the highest it does not exist."
And I saw the figure bend over its work, and labour mightily, but what it
laboured at I could not see.
I said to God, "How came it here?"
God said, "By a bloody stair. Step by step it mounted from the lowest
Hell, and day by day as Hell grew farther and Heaven no nearer, it hung
alone between two worlds. Hour by hour in that bitter struggle its limbs
grew larger, till there fell from it rag by rag the garments which it
started with. Drops fell from its eyes as it strained them; each step it
climbed was wet with blood. Then it came out here."
And I thought of the garden where men sang with their arms around one
another; and the mountain-side where they worked in company. And I
shuddered.
And I said, "Is it not terribly alone here?"
God said, "It is never alone!"
I said, "What has it for all its labour? I see nothing return to it."
Then God touched my eyes, and I saw stretched out beneath us the plains of
Heaven and Hell, and all that was within them.
God said, "From that lone height on which he stands, all things are open.
To him is clear the shining in the garden, he sees the flower break forth
and the streams sparkle; no shout is raised upon the mountain-side but his
ear may hear it. He sees the crown grow and the light shoot from it. All
Hell is open to him. He sees the paths mount upwards. To him, Hell is the
seed ground from which Heaven springs. He sees the sap ascending."
And I saw the figure bend over its work, and the light from its face fell
upon it.
And I said to God, "What is it making?"
And God said, "Music!"
And he touched my ears, and I heard it.
And after a long while I whispered to God, "This is Heaven."
And God asked me why I was crying. But I could not answer for joy.
And the face turned from its work, and the light fell upon me. Then it
grew so bright I could not see things separately; and which were God, or
the man, or I, I could not tell; we were all blended. I cried to God,
"Where are you?" but there was no answer, only music and light.
Afterwards, when it had grown so dark again that I could see things
separately, I found that I was standing there wrapped tight in my little
old, brown, earthly cloak, and God and the man were separated from each
other, and from me.
I did not dare say I would go and make music beside the man. I knew I
could not reach even to his knee, nor move the instrument he played. But I
thought I would stand there on my little peak and sing an accompaniment to
that great music. And I tried; but my voice failed. It piped and
quavered. I could not sing that tune. I was silent.
Then God pointed to me, that I should go out of Heaven.
And I cried to God, "Oh, let me stay here! If indeed it be, as I know it
is, that I am not great enough to sing upon the mountain, nor strong enough
to labour on its side, nor bright enough to shine and love within the
garden, at least let me go down to the great gateway; humbly I will kneel
there sweeping; and, as the saved pass in, I will see the light upon their
faces. I shall hear the singing in the garden, and the shout upon the
hillside--"
God said, "It may not be;" he pointed.
And I cried, "If I may not stay in Heaven, then let me go down to Hell, and
I will grasp the hands of men and women there; and slowly, holding one
another's hands, we will work our way upwards."
Still God pointed.
And I threw myself upon the earth and cried, "Earth is so small, so mean!
It is not meet a soul should see Heaven and be cast out again!"
And God laid his hand on me, and said, "Go back to earth: that which you
seek is there."
I awoke: it was morning. The silence and darkness of the night were gone.
Through my narrow attic window I saw the light of another day. I closed my
eyes and turned towards the wall: I could not look upon the dull grey
world.
In the streets below, men and women streamed past by hundreds; I heard the
beat of their feet on the pavement. Men on their way to business; servants
on errands; boys hurrying to school; weary professors pacing slowly the old
street; prostitutes, men and women, dragging their feet wearily after last
night's debauch; artists with quick, impatient footsteps; tradesmen for
orders; children to seek for bread. I heard the stream beat by. And at
the alley's mouth, at the street corner, a broken barrel-organ was playing;
sometimes it quavered and almost stopped, then went on again, like a broken
human voice.
I listened: my heart scarcely moved; it was as cold as lead. I could not
bear the long day before me; and I tried to sleep again; yet still I heard
the feet upon the pavement. And suddenly I heard them cry loud as they
beat, "We are seeking!--we are seeking!--we are seeking!" and the broken
barrel-organ at the street corner sobbed, "The Beautiful!--the Beautiful!--
the Beautiful!" And my heart, which had been dead, cried out with every
throb, "Love!--Truth!--the Beautiful!--the Beautiful!" It was the music I
had heard in Heaven that I could not sing there.
And fully I awoke.
Upon the faded quilt, across my bed a long yellow streak of pale London
sunlight was lying. It fell through my narrow attic window.
