第64章

No, indeed, I will not tell her what it is.what I am reading, between ourselves, is the change of that smooth and luminous Chorus which rolls out its magnificent tunefulness through a scene of passionate violence--the Chorus of the Old Men of Thebes--'Erws avixate...' "Invincible Love, O thou who descendest upon rich houses,--Thou who dost rest upon the delicate cheek of the maiden,--Thou who dost traverse all seas,--surely none among the Immortals can escape Thee, nor indeed any among men who live but for a little space; and he who is possessed by Thee, there is a madness upon him."And when I had re-read that delicious chant, the face of Antigone appeared before me in all its passionless purity.What images!

Gods and goddesses who hover in the highest heights of Heaven! The blind old man, the long-wandering beggar-king, led by Antigone, has now been buried with holy rites; and his daughter, fair as the fairest dream ever conceived by human soul, resists the will of the tyrant and gives pious sepulture to her brother.She loves the son of the tyrant, and that son loves her also.And as she goes on her way to execution, the victim of her own sweet piety, the old men sing, "Invincible Love, O Thou who dost descend upon rich houses,--Thou who dost rest upon the delicate cheek of the maiden."...

"Mademoiselle Jeanne, are you really very anxious to know what I am reading? I am reading, Mademoiselle--I am reading that Antigone, having buried the blind old man, wove a fair tapestry embroidered with images in the likeness of laughing faces.""Ah!" said Gelis, as he burs out laughing "that is not in the text.""It is a scholium," I said.

"Unpublished," he added, getting up.

I am not an egotist.But I am prudent.I have to bring up this child; she is much too young to be married now.No! I am not an egotist, but I must certainly keep her with me for a few years more--keep her alone with me.She can surely wait until I am dead! Fear not, Antigone, old Oedipus will find holy burial soon enough.

In the meanwhile, Antigone is helping our housekeeper to scrape the carrots.She says she like to do it--that it is in her line, being related to the art of sculpture.

May.

Who would recognise the City of Books now? There are flowers everywhere--even upon all the articles of furniture.Jeanne was right: those roses do look very nice in that blue china vase.She goes to market every day with Therese, under the pretext of helping the old servant to make her purchases, but she never brings anything back with her except flowers.Flowers are really very charming creatures.And one of these days, I must certainly carry out my plan, and devote myself to the study of them, in their own natural domain, in the country--with all the science and earnestness which I possess.

For what have I to do here? Why should I burn my eyes out over these old parchments which cannot now tell me anything worth knowing? Iused to study them, these old texts, with the most ardent enjoyment.

What was it which I was then so anxious to find in them? The date of a pious foundation--the name of some monkish imagier or copyist--the price of a loaf, of an ox, or of a field--some judicial or administrative enactment--all that, and yet something more, a Something vaguely mysterious and sublime which excited my enthusiasm.

But for sixty years I have been searching in vain for that Something.

Better men than I--the masters, the truly great, the Fauriels, the Thierrys, who found so many things--died at their task without having been able, any more than I have been, to find that Something which, being incorporeal, has no name, and without which, nevertheless, no great mental work would ever be undertaken in this world.And now that I am only looking for what I should certainly be able to find, I cannot find anything at all; and it is probable that I shall never be able to finish the history of the Abbots of Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

"Guardian, just guess what I have in my handkerchief,""Judging from appearances, Jeanne, I should say flowers.""Oh, no--not flowers.Look!"

I look, and I see a little grey head poking itself out of the handkerchief.It is the head of a little grey cat.The handkerchief opens; the animal leaps down upon the carpet, shakes itself, pricks up first one ear and then the other, and begins to examine with due caution the locality and the inhabitants thereof.

Therese, out of breath, with her basket on her arm, suddenly makes her appearance in time to take an objective part in this examination, which does not appear to result altogether in her favour; for the young cat moves slowly away from her, without, however, venturing near my legs, or approaching Jeanne, who displays extraordinary volubility in the use of caressing appellations.Therese, whose chief fault is her inability to hide her feelings, thereupon vehemently reproaches Mademoiselle for bringing home a cat that she did not know anything about.Jeanne, in order to justify herself, tells the whole story.While she was passing with Therese before a chemist's shop, she saw the assistant kick a little cat into the street.The cat, astonished and frightened, seemed to be asking itself whether to remain in the street where it was being terrified and knocked about by the people passing by, or whether to go back into the chemist's even at the risk of being kicked out a second time.Jeanne thought it was in a very critical position, and understood its hesitation.It looked so stupid; and she knew it looked stupid only because it could not decide what to do.So she took it up in her arms.And as it had not been able to obtain any rest either indoors out out-of-doors, it allowed her to hold it.Then she stroked and petted it to keep it from being afraid, and boldly went to the chemist's assistant and said, "If you don't like that animal, you mustn't beat it; you must give it to me.""Take it," said the assistant.