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第64章

zanoni-第64章

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powers。  In the drop of water you see how the animalculae vary;

how vast and terrible are some of those monster mites as compared

with others。  Equally so with the inhabitants of the atmosphere:

some of surpassing wisdom; some of horrible malignity; some

hostile as fiends to men; others gentle as messengers between

earth and heaven。



He who would establish intercourse with these varying beings

resembles the traveller who would penetrate into unknown lands。

He is exposed to strange dangers and unconjectured terrors。  THAT

INTERCOURSE ONCE GAINED; I CANNOT SECURE THEE FROM THE CHANCES TO

WHICH THY JOURNEY IS EXPOSED。  I cannot direct thee to paths free

from the wanderings of the deadliest foes。  Thou must alone; and

of thyself; face and hazard all。  But if thou art so enamoured of

life as to care only to live on; no matter for what ends;

recruiting the nerves and veins with the alchemist's vivifying

elixir; why seek these dangers from the intermediate tribes?

Because the very elixir that pours a more glorious life into the

frame; so sharpens the senses that those larvae of the air become

to thee audible and apparent; so that; unless trained by degrees

to endure the phantoms and subdue their malice; a life thus

gifted would be the most awful doom man could bring upon himself。

Hence it is; that though the elixir be compounded of the simplest

herbs; his frame only is prepared to receive it who has gone

through the subtlest trials。  Nay; some; scared and daunted into

the most intolerable horror by the sights that burst upon their

eyes at the first draft; have found the potion less powerful to

save than the agony and travail of Nature to destroy。  To the

unprepared the elixir is thus but the deadliest poison。  Amidst

the dwellers of the threshold is ONE; too; surpassing in

malignity and hatred all her tribe;one whose eyes have

paralyzed the bravest; and whose power increases over the spirit

precisely in proportion to its fear。  Does thy courage falter?〃



〃Nay; thy words but kindle it。〃



〃Follow me; then; and submit to the initiatory labours。〃



With that; Mejnour led him into the interior chamber; and

proceeded to explain to him certain chemical operations which;

though extremely simple in themselves; Glyndon soon perceived

were capable of very extraordinary results。



〃In the remoter times;〃 said Mejnour; smiling; 〃our brotherhood

were often compelled to recur to delusions to protect realities;

and; as dexterous mechanicians or expert chemists; they obtained

the name of sorcerers。  Observe how easy to construct is the

Spectre Lion that attended the renowned Leonardo da Vinci!〃



And Glyndon beheld with delighted surprise the simple means by

which the wildest cheats of the imagination can be formed。  The

magical landscapes in which Baptista Porta rejoiced; the apparent

change of the seasons with which Albertus Magnus startled the

Earl of Holland; nay; even those more dread delusions of the

Ghost and Image with which the necromancers of Heraclea woke the

conscience of the conqueror of Plataea (Pausanias;see

Plutarch。);all these; as the showman enchants some trembling

children on a Christmas Eve with his lantern and phantasmagoria;

Mejnour exhibited to his pupil。



。。。



〃And now laugh forever at magic! when these; the very tricks; the

very sports and frivolities of science; were the very acts which

men viewed with abhorrence; and inquisitors and kings rewarded

with the rack and the stake。〃



〃But the alchemist's transmutation of metals〃



〃Nature herself is a laboratory in which metals; and all

elements; are forever at change。  Easy to make gold;easier;

more commodious; and cheaper still; to make the pearl; the

diamond; and the ruby。  Oh; yes; wise men found sorcery in this

too; but they found no sorcery in the discovery that by the

simplest combination of things of every…day use they could raise

a devil that would sweep away thousands of their kind by the

breath of consuming fire。  Discover what will destroy life; and

you are a great man!what will prolong it; and you are an

imposter!  Discover some invention in machinery that will make

the rich more rich and the poor more poor; and they will build

you a statue!  Discover some mystery in art that will equalise

physical disparities; and they will pull down their own houses to

stone you!  Ha; ha; my pupil! such is the world Zanoni still

cares for!you and I will leave this world to itself。  And now

that you have seen some few of the effects of science; begin to

learn its grammar。〃



Mejnour then set before his pupil certain tasks; in which the

rest of the night wore itself away。





CHAPTER 4。V。



Great travell hath the gentle Calidore

And toyle endured。。。

There on a day;

He chaunst to spy a sort of shepheard groomes;

Playing on pipes and caroling apace。

。。。He; there besyde

Saw a faire damzell。

Spenser; 〃Faerie Queene;〃 cant。 ix。



For a considerable period the pupil of Mejnour was now absorbed

in labour dependent on the most vigilant attention; on the most

minute and subtle calculation。  Results astonishing and various

rewarded his toils and stimulated his interest。  Nor were these

studies limited to chemical discovery;in which it is permitted

me to say that the greatest marvels upon the organisation of

physical life seemed wrought by experiments of the vivifying

influence of heat。  Mejnour professed to find a link between all

intellectual beings in the existence of a certain all…pervading

and invisible fluid resembling electricity; yet distinct from the

known operations of that mysterious agencya fluid that

connected thought to thought with the rapidity and precision of

the modern telegraph; and the influence of this fluid; according

to Mejnour; extended to the remotest past;that is to say;

whenever and wheresoever man had thought。  Thus; if the doctrine

were true; all human knowledge became attainable through a medium

established between the brain of the individual inquirer and all

the farthest and obscurest regions in the universe of ideas。

Glyndon was surprised to find Mejnour attached to the abstruse

mysteries which the Pythagoreans ascribed to the occult science

of NUMBERS。  In this last; new lights glimmered dimly on his

eyes; and he began to perceive that even the power to predict; or

rather to calculate; results; might by (Here there is an

erasure in the MS。)



。。。



But he observed that the last brief process by which; in each of

these experiments; the wonder was achieved; Mejnour reserved for

himself; and refused to communicate the secret。  The answer he

obtained to his remonstrances on this head was more stern than

satisfactory:



〃Dost thou think;〃 said Mejnour; 〃that I would give to the mere

pupil; whose qualities are not yet tried; powers that might

change the face of the social world?  The last secrets are

intrusted only to him of whose virtue the Master is convinced。

Patience!  It is labour itself that is the great purifier of the

mind; and by degrees the secrets will grow upon thyself as thy

mind becomes riper to receive them。〃



At last Mejnour professed himself satisfied with the progress

made by his pupil。  〃The hour now arrives;〃 he said; 〃when thou

mayst pass the great but airy barrier;when thou mayst gradually

confront the terrible Dweller of the Threshold。  Continue thy

labourscontinue to surpass thine impatience for results until

thou canst fathom the causes。  I leave thee for one month; if at

the end of that period; when I return; the tasks set thee are

completed; and thy mind prepared by contemplation and austere

thought for the ordeal; I promise thee the ordeal shall commence。

One caution alone I give thee:  regard it as a peremptory

command; enter not this chamber!〃  (They were then standing in

the room where their experiments had been chiefly made; and in

which Glyndon; on the night he had sought the solitude of the

my

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