CHAPTER XL.
FURTHER TEMPTATION.--ETIDORHPA.
Then, as my voice reverberated from the outer recesses, I caught a soundas of music in the distance. I raised my head and listened--yes, surelythere was music. The melody became clearly distinct, and soon my senseswere aware that both vocal and instrumental music were combined. Theairs which came floating were sweet, simple, and beautiful. The voicesand accompanying strains approached, but I could distinguish no words.By and by, from the corridors of the cavern, troops of bright femaleforms floated into view. They were clad in robes ranging from pure whiteto every richest hue, contrasting strangely, and in the distance theirrainbow brilliancy made a gorgeous spectacle. Some were fantasticallyattired in short gowns, such as I imagine were worn by the dancing girlsof sacred history, others had kirtles of a single bright color, othersof many shades intermingled, while others still were dressed ingauze-like fabrics of pure white.
As they filed into the cavern, and approached me, they formed intoplatoons, or into companies, and then, as dissolving views come and go,they presented first one and then another figure. Sometimes they wouldstretch in great circling lines around the hall, again they would forminto squares, and again into geometrical figures of all shades andforms, but I observed that with every change they drew nearer to thestone on which I rested.
They were now so near that their features could be distinguished, andnever before had I seen such loveliness in human mold. Every face was asperfect as a master's picture of the Madonna, and yet no two seemed topossess the same type of beauty. Some were of dark complexion withglossy, raven hair, others were fair with hair ranging from light brownto golden. The style of head dress, as a rule, was of the simplestdescription. A tinted ribbon, or twisted cord, over the head, boundtheir hair with becoming grace, and their silken locks were eitherplaited into braids, curled into ringlets, or hung loosely, flowing inwavelets about their shoulders. Some held curious musical instruments,others beautiful wands, and altogether they produced a scenic effect ofrare beauty that the most extravagant dream of fairyland could notsurpass. Thus it was that I became again the center of a throng, not ofrepulsive monsters, but of marvelously lovely beings. They were asdifferent from those preceding as darkness is from daylight.
Could any man from the data of my past experiences have predicted such ascene? Never before had the semblance of a woman appeared, never beforehad an intimation been given that the gentle sex existed in these silentchambers. Now, from the grotesque figures and horrible cries of theformer occupants of this same cavern, the scene had changed to aconception of the beautiful and artistic, such as a poetic spirit mightevolve in an extravagant dream of higher fairy land. I glanced above;the great hall was clothed in brilliant colors, the bare rocks haddisappeared, the dome of that vast arch reaching to an immeasurableheight, was decorated in all the colors of the rainbow. Flags andstreamers fluttered in breezes that also moved the garments of theangelic throng about me, but which I could not sense; profiles ofenchanting faces pervaded the glimmering space beyond; I alone was butan onlooker, not a participant of the joys about me.
The movements of the seraph-like figures continued, innumerable formsand figures followed forms and figures innumerable, and musicindescribable blended with the poetry of motion. I was rapt, the pastdisappeared, my former mind was blotted from existence, the worldvanished, and I became a thrill of joy, a sensation of absolute delight.
The band of spirits or fairy forms reached the rock at my feet, but Idid not know how long a time they consumed in doing this; it may havebeen a second, and it may have been an eternity. Neither did I care. Asingle moment of existence such as I experienced, seemed worth an age ofany other pleasure.
Circling about me, these ethereal creatures paused from their motions,and, as the music ceased, I stood above them, and yet in their midst,and gazed out into a distance illimitable, but not less beautiful in theexpanse than was the adjacent part. The cavern had altogetherdisappeared, and in the depths about me as far as the eye could reach,seemingly into the broad expanse of heaven, I saw the exquisite formsthat I have so imperfectly described.
Then a single band from the throng lightly sprung upon the stony terracewhere I stood, and sung and danced before me. Every motion was perfectas imagination could depict, every sound was concentrated extract ofmelody. This band retired to be replaced by another, which in turn gaveway to another, and still another, until, as in space we have nostandard, time vanished, and numbers ceased to be numbers.
No two of the band of dancers were clothed alike, no two songs weresimilar, though all were inexpressibly enchanting. The first groupseemed perfect, and yet the second was better, and each succeeding bandsung sweeter songs, were more beautiful, and richer in dress than thosepreceding. I became enveloped in the aesthetic atmosphere, my spiritseemed to be loosened from the body, it was apparently upon the point ofescaping from its mortal frame; suddenly the music ceased, the figuresabout became passive, and every form standing upright and graceful,gazed upon my face, and as I looked at the radiant creatures, eachsuccessive face, in turn, seemed to grow more beautiful, each form moreexquisite than those about.
Then, in the distance, I observed the phalanx divide, forming into twodivisions, separated by a broad aisle, stretching from my feet to thelimit of space without, and down this aisle I observed a single figureadvancing toward me.
As she approached, the phalanx closed in behind her, and when at lastshe reached the stone on which I stood, she stepped, or was wafted to myside, and the phalanx behind moved together and was complete again.
ETIDORHPA.]
"My name is Etidorhpa. In me you behold the spirit that elevates man,and subdues the most violent of passions. In history, so far back in thedim ages as to be known now as legendary mythology, have I ruled andblessed the world. Unclasp my power over man and beast, and while heavendissolves, the charms of Paradise will perish. I know no master. Theuniverse bows to my authority. Stars and suns enamored pulsate and throbin space and kiss each other in waves of light; atoms cold embrace andcling together; structures inanimate affiliate with and attractinanimate structures; bodies dead to other noble passions are not deadto love. The savage beast, under my enchantment, creeps to her lair, andgently purrs over her offspring; even man becomes less violent, andsheathes his weapon and smothers his hatred as I soothe his passionsbeside the loved ones in the privacy of his home.
"I have been known under many titles, and have comforted many peoples.Strike my name from Time's record, and the lovely daughters of Zeus andDione would disappear; and with them would vanish the grace and beautyof woman; the sweet conception of the Froth Child of the Cyprus Seawould be lost; Venus, the Goddess of Love, would have no place in song,and Love herself, the holiest conception of the poet, man's superlativeconception of Heaven's most precious charms, would be buried with themyrtle and the rose. My name is Etidorhpa; interpret it rightly, and youhave what has been to humanity the essence of love, the mother of allthat ennobles. He who loves a wife worships me; she, who in turn makes ahome happy, is typical of me. I am Etidorhpa, the beginning and the endof earth. Behold in me the antithesis of envy, the opposite of malice,the enemy of sorrow, the mistress of life, the queen of immortal bliss.
"Do you know," she continued, and her voice, soft and sweet, carriedwith it a pleasurable sense of truthfulness indescribable, "do you knowthat man's idea of heaven, places me, Etidorhpa, on the highest throne?With the charm of maiden pure, I combine the devotion of wife and theholiness of mother. Take from the life of man the treasures I embody,and he will be homeless, childless, loveless. The thought of Heaven willin such a case be as the dismal conception of a dreary platitude. A lifein such a Heaven, a Heaven devoid of love (and this the Scripturesteach), is one of endless torment.
"Love, by whatever name the conception is designated, rules the world.Divest the cold man of science, of the bond that binds him to hislife-thought, and his work is ended. Strike from the master in musicthe chord that links h
is soul to the voice he breathes, and his songswill be hushed. Deaden the sense of love which the artist bears his art,and as the spirit that underlies his thought-scenes vanishes, his touchbecomes chilled, and his brush inexpressive. The soldier thinks of hishome and country, and without a murmur sheds his life blood.
"And yet there are debasing phases of love, for as love of countrybuilds a nation, so love of pillage may destroy it. Love of the holy andthe beautiful stands in human life opposed to love of the debasing andvicious, and I, Etidorhpa, am typical of the highest love of man. As thesame force binds the molecules of the rose and the violet as well asthose of noxious drugs, so the same soul conception may serve the loveof good or the love of evil. Love may guide a tyrant or actuate a saint,may make man torture his fellow, or strive to ease his pain.
"Thus, man's propensity to serve his holy or his evil passion may eachbe called a degree in love, and in the serving of that passion the loveof one heart may express itself as the antithesis of love in another. Asbitter is to some men's taste more pleasant than sweet, and sour is yetmore grateful to others, so one man may love the beautiful, anotherdelight in the grotesque, and a third may love to see his neighborsuffer. Amid these, the phase of love that ennobles, brings the greatestdegree of pleasure and comfort to mankind, but the love that degrades islove nevertheless, by whatever name the expression of the passion may becalled. Love rules the world, and typical of man's intensest, holiestlove, I, Etidorhpa, stand the Soul of Love Supreme." She hesitated.
"Go on."
"I have already said, and in saying this have told the truth, I comefrom beyond the empty shell of a materialistic gold and silverconception of Heaven. Go with me, and in my home you will find man'ssoul devotion, regardless of material surroundings. I have said, andtruly, the corridors of the Heaven mansion, enriched by precious stonesand metals fine, but destitute of my smiles and graces, are deserted.The golden calf is no longer worshiped, cobwebs cling in festoonsmotionless, and the dust of selfish thoughts perverted, dry and black asthe soot from Satan's fires settling therein, as the dust of anantiquated sarcophagus, rest undisturbed. Place on one side the Heavenof which gold-bound misers sing, and on the other Etidorhpa and thetreasures that come with me to man and woman, (for without me neitherwife, child, nor father could exist,) and from any other heaven mankindwill turn away. The noblest gift of Heaven to humanity is the highestsense of love, and I, Etidorhpa, am the soul of love."
She ceased speaking, and as I looked at the form beside me I forgotmyself in the rapture of that gaze.
Crush the colors of the rainbow into a single hue possessed of theattributes of all the others, and multiply that entity to infinity, andyou have less richness than rested in any of the complex colors shown inthe trimming of her raiment. Lighten the softness of eiderdown athousand times, and yet maintain its sense of substance, and you havenot conceived of the softness of the gauze that decked her simple,flowing garments. Gather the shadows cast by a troop of radiant angels,then sprinkle the resultant shade with star dust, and color therewith agarment brighter than satin, softer than silk, and more ethereal thanlight itself, and you have less beauty than reposed in the modest dressthat enveloped her figure. Abstract the perfume from the sweetestoriental grasses, and combine with it the essential spirit of the wildrose, then add thereto the soul of ambergris, and the quintessentialextracts of the finest aromatics of the East, and you have notapproached the exquisite fragrance that penetrated my very being at herapproach. She stood before me, slender, lithe, symmetrical, radiant. Herhair was more beautiful than pen can depict; it was colorless because itcan not be described by colors known to mortals. Her face paled thebeauty of all who had preceded her. She could not be a fairy, for noconception of a fairy can approach such loveliness; she was not aspirit, for surely material substance was a part of her form; she wasnot an angel, for no abnormal, irrational wing protruded from hershoulder to blemish her seraphic figure.
"No," I said musingly; "she is a creature of other climes; theScriptures tell of no such being; she is neither human nor angelic,but--"
"But what?" she said.
"I do not know," I answered.
"Then I will tell you," she replied. "Yes; I will tell you of myself andof my companions. I will show you our home, carrying you through theshadows of heaven to exhibit that fair land, for heaven withoutEtidorhpa casts a shadow in comparison therewith. See," she said, aswith her dainty fingers she removed from her garment a fragment oftransparent film that I had not previously observed; "see, this is acobweb that clung to my skirt, as, on my way to meet you, I passedthrough the dismal corridors of the materialists' loveless heaven."
She dropped it on the floor, and I stooped to pick it up, but vainly--myfingers passed through it as through a mist.
"You must be an angel," I stammered.
She smiled.
"Come," she said, "do not consume your time with thoughts ofmaterialistic heaven; come with me to that brighter land beyond, and inthose indescribable scenes we, you and I, will wander together forever."
She held out her hand; I hesitatingly touched it, and then raised it tomy lips. She made no resistance.
I dropped upon my knees. "Are you to be mine?" I cried. "Mine forever?"
"Yes," she answered; "if you will it, for he who loves will be loved inturn."
"I will do it," I said; "I give myself to you, be you what you may, beyour home where it may, I give up the earth behind me, and the hope ofheaven before me; the here and the hereafter I will sacrifice. Let ushasten," I said, for she made no movement.
She shook her head. "You must yet be tempted as never before, and youmust resist the tempter. You can not pass into the land of Etidorhpauntil you have suffered as only the damned can suffer, until you havewithstood the pangs of thirst, and have experienced heat and coldindescribable. Remember the warning of your former guide, mark well thewords of Etidorhpa: you must not yield. 'Twas to serve you that I camebefore you now, 'twas to preserve you from the Drunkard's Cavern that Ihave given you this vision of the land beyond the End of Earth where, ifyou will serve yourself, we will meet again."
She held aloft two tiny cups; I sprung to my feet and grasped one ofthem, and as I glanced at the throng in front of me, every radiantfigure held aloft in the left hand a similar cup. All were gazing in myface. I looked at the transparent cup in my hand; it appeared to bepartly filled with a green liquid. I looked at her cup and saw that itcontained a similar fluid.
Forgetting the warning she had so recently given, I raised the cup to mylips, and just before touching it glanced again at her face. The faircreature stood with bowed head, her face covered with her hand; her veryform and attitude spoke of sorrow and disappointment, and she trembledin distress. She held one hand as though to thrust back a form thatseemed about to force itself beyond her figure, for peering exultinglyfrom behind, leered the same Satanic face that met my gaze on thepreceding occasion, when in the presence of the troop of demons, I hadbeen tempted by the perfect man.
Dashing the cup to the floor I shouted:
"No; I will not drink."
Etidorhpa dropped upon her knees and clasped her hands. The Satanicfigure disappeared from sight. Realizing that we had triumphed over thetempter, I also fell upon my knees in thankfulness.