A Journey in Other Worlds [117]
AYRAULT.
As the, night became darker they caught sight of the earth again,
shining very faintly, and in his mind's eye Ayrault saw his
sweetheart, and the old, old repining that, since reason and love
began, has been in men's minds, came upon him and almost crushed
him. Without saying anything to his companions, Ayrault left the
cave, and, passing through the grove in which the spirit had paid
them his second visit, went slowly to the top of the hill about
half a mile off, that he might the more easily gaze at the faint
star on which he could picture Sylvia.
"Ah!" he said to himself, on reaching the summit, "I will stay
here till the earth rises higher, and when it is far above me I
will gaze at it as at heaven."
Accordingly, he lay down with his head on a mound of sod, and
watched the familiar planet.
"We were born too soon," he soliloquized; "for had Sylvia and I
but lived in the spiritual age foretold by the bishop, we might
have held communion, while now our spirits, no matter how much in
love, are separated absolutely by a mere matter of distance. It
is a mockery to see Sylvia's dwelling-place, and feel that she is
beyond my vision. O that, in the absence of something better, my
poor imperfect eyes could be transformed into those of an eagle,
but with a million times the power! for though I know that with
these senses I shall see the resurrection, and hear the last
trump, that is but prospective, while now is the time I long for
sight."
On the plain he had left he saw his friends' camp-fire, while on
the other side of his elevation was a valley in which the insects
chirped sharply, and through which ran a stream. Feeling a
desire for solitude and to be as far removed as possible, he
arose and descended towards the water. Though the autumn, where
they found themselves, was well advanced, this night was warm,
and the rings formed a great arch above his head. Near the
stream the frogs croaked happily, as if unmindful of the long
very long Saturnian winter; for though they were removed but
about ten degrees from the equator, the sun was so remote and the
axis of the planet so inclined that it was unlikely these
individual frogs would see another summer, though they might live
again, in a sense, in their descendants. The insects also would
soon be frozen and stiff, and the tall, graceful lilies that
still clung to life would be withered and dead. The trees, as if
weeping at the evanescence of the life around them, shed their
leaves at the faintest breeze. These fluttered to the ground,
or, falling into the tranquil stream, were carried away by it,
and passed from sight. Ayrault stood musing and regretting the
necessity of such general death. "But," he thought, "I would
rather die than lose my love; for then I should have had the
taste of bliss without its fulfilment, and should be worse off
than dead. Love gilds the commonplace, and deifies all it
touches. Love survives the winter, and in my present frame of
mind I should prefer earth and cold with it to heaven and spring.
Oh, why is my soul so clogged by my body?"
A pillar of stone standing near him was suddenly shattered, and
the bishop stood where it had been.
"Because," said the spirit, answering his thought, "it has not
yet power to be free."
"Can a man's soul not rise till his body is dead? asked Ayrault.
The spirit hesitated.
"Oh, tell me," pleaded Ayrault. "If I could see the girl to whom
I am engaged, for but a moment, could be convinced that she loves
me still, my mind would be at rest. Free my soul or spirit, or
whatever it is, from this body, that I may traverse intervening
space and be with her."
"You will discover the way for yourself in time," said the spirit.
"I know I shall at the last day, in the resurrection, when I am
no longer in the flesh. Then I shall have no need of your aid;
for we, know that in the resurrection they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. It
As the, night became darker they caught sight of the earth again,
shining very faintly, and in his mind's eye Ayrault saw his
sweetheart, and the old, old repining that, since reason and love
began, has been in men's minds, came upon him and almost crushed
him. Without saying anything to his companions, Ayrault left the
cave, and, passing through the grove in which the spirit had paid
them his second visit, went slowly to the top of the hill about
half a mile off, that he might the more easily gaze at the faint
star on which he could picture Sylvia.
"Ah!" he said to himself, on reaching the summit, "I will stay
here till the earth rises higher, and when it is far above me I
will gaze at it as at heaven."
Accordingly, he lay down with his head on a mound of sod, and
watched the familiar planet.
"We were born too soon," he soliloquized; "for had Sylvia and I
but lived in the spiritual age foretold by the bishop, we might
have held communion, while now our spirits, no matter how much in
love, are separated absolutely by a mere matter of distance. It
is a mockery to see Sylvia's dwelling-place, and feel that she is
beyond my vision. O that, in the absence of something better, my
poor imperfect eyes could be transformed into those of an eagle,
but with a million times the power! for though I know that with
these senses I shall see the resurrection, and hear the last
trump, that is but prospective, while now is the time I long for
sight."
On the plain he had left he saw his friends' camp-fire, while on
the other side of his elevation was a valley in which the insects
chirped sharply, and through which ran a stream. Feeling a
desire for solitude and to be as far removed as possible, he
arose and descended towards the water. Though the autumn, where
they found themselves, was well advanced, this night was warm,
and the rings formed a great arch above his head. Near the
stream the frogs croaked happily, as if unmindful of the long
very long Saturnian winter; for though they were removed but
about ten degrees from the equator, the sun was so remote and the
axis of the planet so inclined that it was unlikely these
individual frogs would see another summer, though they might live
again, in a sense, in their descendants. The insects also would
soon be frozen and stiff, and the tall, graceful lilies that
still clung to life would be withered and dead. The trees, as if
weeping at the evanescence of the life around them, shed their
leaves at the faintest breeze. These fluttered to the ground,
or, falling into the tranquil stream, were carried away by it,
and passed from sight. Ayrault stood musing and regretting the
necessity of such general death. "But," he thought, "I would
rather die than lose my love; for then I should have had the
taste of bliss without its fulfilment, and should be worse off
than dead. Love gilds the commonplace, and deifies all it
touches. Love survives the winter, and in my present frame of
mind I should prefer earth and cold with it to heaven and spring.
Oh, why is my soul so clogged by my body?"
A pillar of stone standing near him was suddenly shattered, and
the bishop stood where it had been.
"Because," said the spirit, answering his thought, "it has not
yet power to be free."
"Can a man's soul not rise till his body is dead? asked Ayrault.
The spirit hesitated.
"Oh, tell me," pleaded Ayrault. "If I could see the girl to whom
I am engaged, for but a moment, could be convinced that she loves
me still, my mind would be at rest. Free my soul or spirit, or
whatever it is, from this body, that I may traverse intervening
space and be with her."
"You will discover the way for yourself in time," said the spirit.
"I know I shall at the last day, in the resurrection, when I am
no longer in the flesh. Then I shall have no need of your aid;
for we, know that in the resurrection they neither marry nor are
given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. It