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!!!!隆堋響頼紗秘慕禰厮宴和肝写偬堋響
Seraphita
by Honore de Balzac
Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley
DEDICATION
To Madame Eveline de Hanska察nee Comtesse Rzewuska。
MadameHere is the work which you asked of me。 I am happy察in
thus dedicating it察to offer you a proof of the respectful
affection you allow me to bear you。 If I am reproached for
impotence in this attempt to draw from the depths of mysticism a
book which seeks to give察in the lucid transparency of our
beautiful language察the luminous poesy of the Orient察to you the
blame Did you not command this struggle resembling that of
Jacob by telling me that the most imperfect sketch of this
Figure察dreamed of by you察as it has been by me since childhood
would still be something to you
Here察then察it isthat something。 Would that this book could
belong exclusively to noble spirits察preserved like yours from
worldly pettiness by solitude THEY would know how to give to it
the melodious rhythm that it lacks察which might have made it察in
the hands of a poet察the glorious epic that France still awaits。
But from me they must accept it as one of those sculptured
balustrades察carved by a hand of faith察on which the pilgrims
lean察in the choir of some glorious church察to think upon the end
of man。
I am察madame察with respect
Your devoted servant
De Balzac。
SERAPHITA
CHAPTER I
SERAPHITUS
As the eye glances over a map of the coasts of Norway察can the
imagination fail to marvel at their fantastic indentations and
serrated edges察like a granite lace察against which the surges of the
North Sea roar incessantly拭Who has not dreamed of the majestic sights
to be seen on those beachless shores察of that multitude of creeks and
inlets and little bays察no two of them alike察yet all trackless
abysses拭We may almost fancy that Nature took pleasure in recording by
ineffaceable hieroglyphics the symbol of Norwegian life察bestowing on
these coasts the conformation of a fish's spine察fishery being the
staple commerce of the country察and well´nigh the only means of living
of the hardy men who cling like tufts of lichen to the arid cliffs。
Here察through fourteen degrees of longitude察barely seven hundred
thousand souls maintain existence。 Thanks to perils devoid of glory
to year´long snows which clothe the Norway peaks and guard them from
profaning foot of traveller察these sublime beauties are virgin still
they will be seen to harmonize with human phenomena察also virginat
least to poetrywhich here took place察the history of which it is our
purpose to relate。
If one of these inlets察mere fissures to the eyes of the eider´ducks
is wide enough for the sea not to freeze between the prison´walls of
rock against which it surges察the country´people call the little bay a
;fiord察a word which geographers of every nation have adopted into
their respective languages。 Though a certain resemblance exists among
all these fiords察each has its own characteristics。 The sea has
everywhere forced its way as through a breach察yet the rocks about
each fissure are diversely rent察and their tumultuous precipices defy
the rules of geometric law。 Here the scarp is dentelled like a saw
there the narrow ledges barely allow the snow to lodge or the noble
crests of the Northern pines to spread themselves察farther on察some
convulsion of Nature may have rounded a coquettish curve into a lovely
valley flanked in rising terraces with black´plumed pines。 Truly we
are tempted to call this land the Switzerland of Ocean。
Midway between Trondhjem and Christiansand lies an inlet called the
Strom´fiord。 If the Strom´fiord is not the loveliest of these rocky
landscapes察it has the merit of displaying the terrestrial grandeurs
of Norway察and of enshrining the scenes of a history that is indeed
celestial。
The general outline of the Strom´fiord seems at first sight to be that
of a funnel washed out by the sea。 The passage which the waves have
forced present to the eye an image of the eternal struggle between old
Ocean and the granite rocktwo creations of equal power察one through
inertia察the other by ceaseless motion。 Reefs of fantastic shape run
out on either side察and bar the way of ships and forbid their
entrance。 The intrepid sons of Norway cross these reefs on foot
springing from rock to rock察undismayed at the abyssa hundred
fathoms deep and only six feet widewhich yawns beneath them。 Here a
tottering block of gneiss falling athwart two rocks gives an uncertain
footway察there the hunters or the fishermen察carrying their loads
have flung the stems of fir´trees in guise of bridges察to join the
projecting reefs察around and beneath which the surges roar
incessantly。 This dangerous entrance to the little bay bears obliquely
to the right with a serpentine movement察and there encounters a
mountain rising some twenty´five hundred feet above sea´level察the
base of which is a vertical palisade of solid rock more than a mile
and a half long察the inflexible granite nowhere yielding to clefts or
undulations until it reaches a height of two hundred feet above the
water。 Rushing violently in察the sea is driven back with equal
violence by the inert force of the mountain to the opposite shore
gently curved by the spent force of the retreating waves。
The fiord is closed at the upper end by a vast gneiss formation
crowned with forests察down which a river plunges in cascades察becomes
a torrent when the snows are melting察spreads into a sheet of waters
and then falls with a roar into the bayvomiting as it does so the
hoary pines and the aged larches washed down from the forests and
scarce seen amid the foam。 These trees plunge headlong into the fiord
and reappear after a time on the surface察clinging together and
forming islets which float ashore on the beaches察where the
inhabitants of a village on the left bank of the Strom´fiord gather
them up察split察broken though sometimes whole察and always stripped
of bark and branches。 The mountain which receives at its base the
assaults of Ocean察and at its summit the buffeting of the wild North
wind察is called the Falberg。 Its crest察wrapped at all seasons in a
mantle of snow and ice察is the sharpest peak of Norway察its proximity
to the pole produces察at the height of eighteen hundred feet察a degree
of cold equal to that of the highest mountains of the globe。 The
summit of this rocky mass察rising sheer from the fiord on one side
slopes gradually downward to the east察where it joins the declivities
of the Sieg and forms a series of terraced valleys察the chilly
temperature of which allows no growth but that of shrubs and stunted
trees。
The upper end of the fiord察where the waters enter it as they come
down from the forest察is called the Siegdahlena word which may be
held to mean ;the shedding of the Sieg察the river itself receiving
that name。 The curving shore opposite to the face of the Falberg is
the valley of Jarvisa smiling scene overlooked by hills clothed
with firs察birch´trees察and larches察mingled with a few oaks and
beeches察the richest coloring of all the varied tapestries which
Nature in these northern regions spreads upon the surface of her
rugged rocks。 The eye can readily mark the line where the soil察warmed
by the rays of the sun察bears cultivation and shows the native growth
of the Norwegian flora。 Here the expanse of the fiord is broad enough
to allow the sea察dashed back by the Falberg察to spend its expiring
force in gentle murmurs upon the lower slope of these hillsa shore
bordered with finest sand察strewn with mica and sparkling pebbles
porphyry察and marbles of a thousand tints察brought from Sweden by the
river floods察together with ocean waifs察shells察and flowers of the
sea driven in by tempests察whether of the Pole or Tropics。
At the foot of the hills of Jarvis lies a village of some two hundred
wooden houses察where an isolated population lives like a swarm of bees
in a forest察without increasing or diminishing察vegetating happily
while wringing their means of living from the breast of a stern
Nature。 The almost unknown existence of the little hamlet is readily
accounted for。 Few of its inhabitants were bold enough to risk their
lives among the reefs to reach the deep´sea fishingthe staple
industry of Norwegians on the least dangerous portions of their coast。
The fish of the fiord were numerous enough to suffice察in part at
least察for the sustenance of the inhabitants察the valley pastures
provided milk and butter察a certain amount of fruitful察well´tilled
soil yielded rye and hemp and vegetables察which necessity taught the
people to protect against the severity of the cold and the fleeting
but terrible heat of the sun with the shrewd ability which Norwegians
display in the two´fold struggle。 The difficulty of communication with
the outer world察either by