CHAPTER XII.
URSUS THE POET DRAGS ON URSUS THE PHILOSOPHER.
Then Dea entered. He looked at her, and saw nothing but her. This islove; one may be carried away for a moment by the importunity of someother idea, but the beloved one enters, and all that does not appertainto her presence immediately fades away, without her dreaming thatperhaps she is effacing in us a world.
Let us mention a circumstance. In "Chaos Vanquished," the word_monstruo_, addressed to Gwynplaine, displeased Dea. Sometimes, with thesmattering of Spanish which every one knew at the period, she took itinto her head to replace it by _quiero_, which signifies, "I wish it."Ursus tolerated, although not without an expression of impatience, thisalteration in his text. He might have said to Dea, as in our dayMoessard said to Vissot, _Tu manques de respect au repertoire_.
"The Laughing Man."
Such was the form of Gwynplaine's fame. His name, Gwynplaine, littleknown at any time, had disappeared under his nickname, as his face haddisappeared under its grin.
His popularity was like his visage--a mask.
His name, however, was to be read on a large placard in front of theGreen Box, which offered the crowd the following narrative composed byUrsus:--
"Here is to be seen Gwynplaine, deserted at the age of ten, on the nightof the 29th of January, 1690, by the villainous Comprachicos, on thecoast of Portland. The little boy has grown up, and is called now, THELAUGHING MAN."
The existence of these mountebanks was as an existence of lepers in aleper-house, and of the blessed in one of the Pleiades. There was everyday a sudden transition from the noisy exhibition outside, into the mostcomplete seclusion. Every evening they made their exit from this world.They were like the dead, vanishing on condition of being reborn nextday. A comedian is a revolving light, appearing one moment, disappearingthe next, and existing for the public but as a phantom or a light, ashis life circles round. To exhibition succeeded isolation. When theperformance was finished, whilst the audience were dispersing, and theirmurmur of satisfaction was dying away in the streets, the Green Box shutup its platform, as a fortress does its drawbridge, and allcommunication with mankind was cut off. On one side, the universe; onthe other, the caravan; and this caravan contained liberty, clearconsciences, courage, devotion, innocence, happiness, love--all theconstellations.
Blindness having sight and deformity beloved sat side by side, handpressing hand, brow touching brow, and whispered to each other,intoxicated with love.
The compartment in the middle served two purposes--for the public it wasa stage, for the actors a dining-room.
Ursus, ever delighting in comparisons, profited by the diversity of itsuses to liken the central compartment in the Green Box to the arradachin an Abyssinian hut.
Ursus counted the receipts, then they supped. In love all is ideal. Inlove, eating and drinking together affords opportunities for many sweetpromiscuous touches, by which a mouthful becomes a kiss. They drank aleor wine from the same glass, as they might drink dew out of the samelily. Two souls in love are as full of grace as two birds. Gwynplainewaited on Dea, cut her bread, poured out her drink, approached her tooclose.
"Hum!" cried Ursus, and he turned away, his scolding melting into asmile.
The wolf supped under the table, heedless of everything which didactually not concern his bone.
Fibi and Vinos shared the repast, but gave little trouble. Thesevagabonds, half wild and as uncouth as ever, spoke in the gipsy languageto each other.
At length Dea re-entered the women's apartment with Fibi and Vinos.Ursus chained up Homo under the Green Box; Gwynplaine looked after thehorses, the lover becoming a groom, like a hero of Homer's or a paladinof Charlemagne's. At midnight, all were asleep, except the wolf, who,alive to his responsibility, now and then opened an eye. The nextmorning they met again. They breakfasted together, generally on ham andtea. Tea was introduced into England in 1678. Then Dea, after theSpanish fashion, took a siesta, acting on the advice of Ursus, whoconsidered her delicate, and slept some hours, while Gwynplaine andUrsus did all the little jobs of work, without and within, which theirwandering life made necessary. Gwynplaine rarely wandered away from theGreen Box, except on unfrequented roads and in solitary places. Incities he went out only at night, disguised in a large, slouched hat, soas not to exhibit his face in the street.
His face was to be seen uncovered only on the stage.
The Green Box had frequented cities but little. Gwynplaine attwenty-four had never seen towns larger than the Cinque Ports. Hisrenown, however, was increasing. It began to rise above the populace,and to percolate through higher ground. Amongst those who were fond of,and ran after, strange foreign curiosities and prodigies, it was knownthat there was somewhere in existence, leading a wandering life, nowhere, now there, an extraordinary monster. They talked about him, theysought him, they asked where he was. The laughing man was becomingdecidedly famous. A certain lustre was reflected on "Chaos Vanquished."
So much so, that, one day, Ursus, being ambitious, said,--
"We must go to London."
BOOK THE THIRD.
_THE BEGINNING OF THE FISSURE._