VII
Just as Julian, leaving the Atrium of Constantine, was descending thegreat flight of steps and proceeding to sacrifice in the direction ofthe little Temple of Tyche, the goddess of happiness, near the palace,the old bishop Maris, blind, white-haired, and bent double, approachedhim, led by a child. A great crowd had gathered at the foot of thestaircase. With a solemn gesture, the bishop stopped the Emperor andsaid to him--
"Listen, peoples, tribes, young and old, all that be upon the earth,listen to me! And ye powers above, Angels, who will blot out soon thismartyr-maker! It is not the Amorite king who shall fall, nor Ogyges,King of Thebes, but the Serpent, the Great Spirit, the revoltedAssyrian, the common enemy, who shall cause a multitude of threats andviolences upon earth! Hear, O heaven, and inspire the earth!... Andthou also, Caesar, listen to my prophecy, for to-day, by my mouth, Godspeaks!... Thy days are numbered! Soon wilt thou perish! Like dustlifted by the tempest, like the hiss of an arrow, like the noise ofthunder, like the swiftness of light! The spring of Castaly shall bedried up forever, and a mockery to us that pass by! Apollo shallbecome again a worthless idol, Daphne a tree bewept in fable, and thegrass shall grow in your temples overturned. O! abominations ofSennacherib! so we have foretold it. We Galileans--despised of theearth--adorers of the Crucified--ignorant disciples of the fishermenof Capernaum--we, weakened by long fasting, half-dead, who struggle invain, we nevertheless shall overcome you!... Unfold to me, Imperialsophist, your speeches, your syllogisms, your antitheses; and we shallsee how, on our side, ignorant fishermen can speak!
"David shall chant again--David, who with his strange pebbles from thebrook slew Goliath. Thanks be to Thee, O Lord! the Church to-day ispurified by persecution! O pure virgins, kindle your torches, arraythe bishop with a fair robe, for our ornament is the robe of Christ!"
The old man almost chanted the last words as in a liturgy, and thecrowd, with emotion, murmured approval. Someone cried out aloud--
"Amen!"
"Have you finished, old man?" asked Julian, calmly.
The Emperor had listened to the long speech imperturbably, as if ithad been addressed to someone else.
"Here are my hands, executioners ... bind them!... Lead me todeath!... Lord, I accept Thy crown!"
The bishop raised his faded eyes skyward.
"Do you imagine, brave man, that I shall send you to execution?" saidJulian. "You are mistaken. I shall bid you go in peace. In my heartthere is no anger whatever against you...."
"What is he saying?" the crowd asked each other.
"Tempt me not! I will not deny Christ. Hence, enemy of mankind!Headsman, lead me to death!... I am ready...."
"There are no headsmen here, my friend; they are only simple goodfolk, like yourself. Set your mind at rest. My existence is morewearisome and ordinary than you imagine. I have heard you withcuriosity, for I admire eloquence, even when it is Galilean!... Andhow much there was in it ... the abomination of Sennacherib, the kingof the Amorites, the stones of David and Goliath! The style of yourdiscourse can scarcely be called simple. Read our Demosthenes, Plato,and particularly Homer. These were really simple in their words aschildren, or gods. Yes, Galileans, learn the greatness of calm fromthem!... God, remember, was not in the tempest but in the silence.That is all my lesson. That is all my vengeance, since vengeance youmust have from me...."
"May God strike thee blind, renegade!" began Maris.
"God's wrath will not give thee back sight by striking me blind!"answered Julian.
"I thank God for my blindness!" exclaimed the old man; "it does notallow me to see your damned face, Apostate!"
"What spitefulness! in so frail a body! You are always speaking ofhumility and love, Galileans; and yet what hate is in every one ofyour words! I have just quitted an assemblage where the Fathers of theChurch were ready to fly at each other like wild beasts. And now comesthis unbridled speech of yours! Why this hatred? Am I not yourbrother? Oh, if you knew at this moment how kindly my heart feelstowards you! May the Olympians soften your cruel and suffering soul,poor blind man! Go in peace, and remember that the Galileans are notthe only men who can pardon!..."
"Believe him not, brethren!... It is a trick, a snare of the Serpent.God of Israel, have no mercy!"
Paying no attention to the curses of the old man, Julian, in his whitetunic, made his way through the crowd with the haughty bearing of oneof the old sages.
The Death of the Gods Page 31