The Project Gutenberg eBook of Among the gnomes
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: Among the gnomes
An occult tale of adventure in the Untersberg
Author: Franz Hartmann
Release date: June 18, 2024 [eBook #73860]
Language: English
Original publication: London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1895
Credits: Susan E., David E. Brown, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE GNOMES ***
[Illustration: THE PRINCESS ADALGA.]
AMONG THE GNOMES
An Occult Tale of Adventure
in the Untersberg
BY
FRANZ HARTMANN, M.D.
AUTHOR OF “MAGIC BLACK AND WHITE,” “PARACELSUS,” ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED_
LONDON
T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE
1895
CONTENTS.
CHAP. PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. IN THE DRAGON’S DEN 25
III. WITHIN THE UNTERSBERG 64
IV. AMONG THE GNOMES 114
V. AMONG THE GNOMES (_continued_) 137
VI. LUCIFER 168
VII. DIGGING FOR LIGHT 204
VIII. WAR 235
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
THE PRINCESS ADALGA _Frontispiece_
THE HAUNTED CASTLE 1
THE CAVE 25
THE DRAGON’S DEN 27
THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION 52
THE GROTTO OF THE NYMPHS 64
HYPNOTIZED BY A MONKEY 114
THE DISCOVERY OF THE SUN 137
THE PALACE OF THE KING 143
THE TEMPLE OF LUCIFER 168
EDUCATING THE GNOMES 204
FAIRIES AND FLOWERS 235
[Illustration: THE HAUNTED CASTLE]
I.
INTRODUCTION.
Who has ever occupied himself seriously with the investigation of
the “night-side of Nature,” or studied the works of Theophrastus
Paracelsus, and not become acquainted with the celebrated “Untersberg”
(the “mountain of the lower world”) and its mysterious inhabitants,
the fairies and gnomes? Like a gigantic outpost of the Austrian Alps,
this snow-capped wing of the mountains stands on the frontier of
Germany, overlooking the Bavarian plains, dotted with hills, forests,
and lakes. Its summit, dwelling above the clouds, dominates the valley
through which the Salzach river winds its way to the Inn and the
Danube. Seen from the north side, where the city of Salzburg is nestled
among the hills, the mountain looks tame enough, rising in undulating
forest-covered lines up to a height of some seven thousand feet; but on
the south side it exhibits an almost endless variety of perpendicular
walls, formed of marble rocks thousands of feet high, and interrupted
by deep ravines and chasms, craggy cliffs, spurs, and precipices,
over which in the time of spring, when the snow begins to melt, great
avalanches come thundering down, and a sharp eye may detect in many an
inaccessible spot mysterious caves, that seem to penetrate into the
bowels of that mysterious mountain. If you will take the trouble of
climbing up to these dizzy heights, you will find yourself in a new
world, for there the Untersberg appears not as one single mountain, but
as a mountain chain, of which each separate link has its special aspect
and character, being separated from its neighbour by deep chasms,
through which the mountain streams rush. There is no end of waterfalls,
caves and labyrinths of boulders, where the inexperienced wanderer
may lose his way, especially if he is misled by the gnomes--which may
easily occur if his intentions are not pure.
The Untersberg is known to be inhabited by certain kinds of elemental
spirits of Nature, some of which are good and benevolent, others of a
wicked and malicious nature, and inimical to mankind; and there are
innumerable tales circulating among the people in the neighbourhood,
telling about the doings of the gnomes, fairies, wild women, and
giants, dwelling within caves and in gorgeous marble halls and
grottoes filled with gold and precious stones that will turn into dead
leaves and stones when seen in the light of day. Some of the friendly
tribes come out of the Untersberg on certain occasions, and they are
said to have sometimes associated with the inhabitants of our plane
of existence, partaking in the dances and amusements of the peasants,
and even taking stray children with them into the Untersberg; and,
incredible as it may appear, it is even asserted by “those who know”
that marriages have taken place between citizens of our world and the
inhabitants of the kingdom of gnomes, and that these spirits of Nature,
being themselves not immortal, seek to obtain immortality by their
union with immortal man. The majority of the gnomes, therefore, also
love plain, truthful, and unsophisticated human beings, such as possess
a soul in which the light of the immortal spirit may be perceived, and
with these they are ready to associate; but with soulless beings, such
as sophisticated, sceptical, arrogant, short-sighted and opinionated
scientists, whose hearts are dead, and whose brains are swollen with
the products of their own fancy, they will have nothing to do; to such
they never show themselves, but love to play tricks upon them whenever
they come with a view of invading their kingdom.
Of course it is known to everybody that within the mysterious depths of
the Untersberg there dwells the soul of a great emperor in his astral
form. There, together with his retinue, he sleeps an enchanted sleep,
waiting for the liberation of his country. Sometimes very suddenly,
even on a clear summer day, clouds are seen to issue from the sides of
the mountain; grotesquely-formed ghost-like mists arise from caverns
and precipices, crawling and gliding slowly upwards toward the top,
and from the neighbouring peaks also clouds of monstrous shapes and
sometimes of gigantic proportions come floating on, until the head
of the Untersberg is surrounded by a surging sea of vapours growing
dense and dark. Then a clap of thunder reverberates through the
rocks, awakening hundreds of echoes, and forked streaks of lightning
flash down into the valley; the storm-king arises, howling dismally
through the forest, breaking down old trees and hurling them into the
precipices below. On such occasions the people in the valleys piously
make the sign of the cross, and whisper to each other: “The great
emperor has awakened and is reviewing his troops. He is angry because
he sees that the black ravens are still flying around the top of the
Untersberg.” This, of course, I hold to be a fable, and the “emperor
in the Untersberg” is well known to the wise; but as to the dark birds
referred to, they are typified by certain black-robed and stiff-necked
gentlemen, whom you may frequently meet. The liberation for which the
emperor waits also seems to me not that from any foreign yoke, but the
redemption from selfishness with its consequent evils. Poor emperor!
You may have to wait still another thousand years in the world of the
gnomes before you will be able to resume control over your kingdom.
Sleep in peace! The time will not seem to you long; for it is not you
who suffers, and there is no measurement of time during sleep or in
eternity.
Owing to the increase of modern culture, and its accompanying sophistry
and scepticism, visible intercourse with the gnomes has become of
comparatively rare occurrence, especially because their kindness has
often been abused and their services misapplied, as the following story
will show, which I may be permitted to insert, as it is not without
bearing upon the events told in the succeeding chapters.
A short distance from the city of Salzburg, and upon a hill covered
by a forest of pines, there stood in ancient times the castle of
Tollenstein, of which now only some remnants are left. The walls are in
ruins, but these go to show that formerly they were parts of a palatial
building. One remnant composed of huge square stones still indicates
the extent of the large banqueting-hall, where festivals took place;
and it is said that on certain nights the orgies which these stones
witnessed are spectrally repeated and enacted in the astral light by
the ghost-like shapes of deceased ladies and knights; while not far off
there is a dilapidated tower of massive structure, enclosing a deep
hole in the ground, where the subterranean dungeon was located--the
“_oubliette_” or living tomb, in which poor wretches for some offence
were buried alive and “forgotten,” left to starve or suffocate. It is
said that, during the nights when the ghosts in the banqueting-hall
hold gruesome carousals, cries and groans and wails may be heard coming
from the bottom of that well. These things I do not find difficult
to believe; for we often find similar instances of the proximity of
luxury and misery among the living in this our material world.
In ancient times the owner of the castle was Burkhart von Tollenstein,
a youthful and valorous knight, admired by all the ladies in the
country on account of the voluminous mass of golden hair which adorned
his head. This, together with his manliness and beauty, gained for him
the hearts of all those fair ladies, except one, and this was the very
one for whose possession he craved, namely, the very beautiful but
proud Julia von Horst.
He had seen her only once, but that was enough to make him fall
desperately in love with her face and figure. He had been happy enough
until he was so unfortunate as to have the tranquillity of his heart
destroyed by the sight of her dark and languishing eyes. From that
time forward an image of the beautiful Julia was formed in his mind,
whose contemplation absorbed him so that he thought of nothing else;
henceforth nothing but the thought of Julia had any attraction for
him. He sought to woo and to win the ideal of his thoughts; but alas!
his sighs and tears were all in vain, for his home was poor, and the
proud Julia cared far more for money than for love! She knew that
Burkhart’s fortune was too small to supply her with all the luxuries
she desired; therefore, when he offered her his heart, she rejected it,
and sneeringly said:
“Of what use will be your heart to me, if starvation waits for me in
your home?”
This offensive remark was more than a knight of these times was able
to bear in patience, and Burkhart, cursing his poverty, went home in
despair. From day to day he became more and more morose and melancholy,
grieving on account of the insufficiency of his means. At last he
determined to enrich himself by whatever means he might find, and
resolved to rob the gnomes of the Untersberg of their treasures.
In these times it was customary for almost everybody to have a wise and
faithful steward ready to give good advice. Burkhart’s steward did his
best to dissuade the knight from this wicked and dangerous undertaking;
but in vain did old Bruno, for this was his name, entreat him to desist
from evil thoughts, and to forget the proud Julia, as she was entirely
unworthy of his affection. The knight would not listen.
“The Lord be merciful to you!” exclaimed Bruno. “Shake off this
delusion, O noble knight; think of your high descent and what your
ancestors would say. Look upwards, to where your salvation rests; the
spirits of the lower world will mislead and ruin you.”
But the knight answered, “I am not a coward. I am not afraid of losing
my life, which is worthless to me without the possession of Julia. More
than once I have looked into the face of death while engaged in battle.
I want the gold of the gnomes, and must have it, let the consequences
be what they may. If the gnomes are not willing to surrender their
gold, I shall take it by force.”
Thus spurning good advice, the knight gave orders that his black
war-horse be brought forth. This he bestrode, and trotted towards the
Untersberg.
It was a gloomy evening in November; the leaves of the trees had turned
yellow and red, and rustled in the wind, and their voices seemed to
warn him not to proceed, while the waving boughs motioned to him to
return. Soon the queen of the night began to spread her mantle over
the face of the earth, and there arose in the gloom, like a gigantic
shadow, the outlines of the mysterious Untersberg. For a moment fear
overcame the youth, and he stopped; but his desire overcame his fear,
and pronouncing an oath he spurred his horse, determined to push on.
Just then the horse shied, and, looking up, Burkhart saw sitting by
the roadside a dwarf clothed in a steel-blue gown. The dwarf looked
steadily with glittering eyes at the knight.
“Avaunt!” exclaimed Burkhart angrily. “What are you sitting here and
frightening my horse for?”
“Ho! ho!” laughed the dwarf. “Know, you creeping worm of the earth,
I am Pypo, the king of the gnomes. Mine is the Untersberg with its
treasures. What have you to seek in my territory?”
When Burkhart heard these words he deemed it prudent to speak politely
to the king of the gnomes. He therefore explained to him his situation,
and asked for the loan of a sum of money, for which he promised his
everlasting gratitude.
The king groaned. “Confound your gratitude,” he said; “there would be
plenty of wretches like you coming to borrow money from me, if it could
be had at such a cheap price.”
“What then do you demand?” asked the knight. “State your terms, and I
will accept them, for I must have gold at any price!”
“Listen then,” said the gnome; “it is not much that I ask. Only one
hair from your head for each thousand of florins.” Thus saying, his
eyes rested searchingly upon the face of the knight.
“Only one hair from my head?” exclaimed Burkhart in great astonishment.
“A whole lot of hair you shall have, and be welcome, if you only
furnish me the money necessary for obtaining the favour of Julia.”
“I am putting no limits to the amount you may draw,” laughed the king.
“For each thousand of florins which you receive from me you will have
to leave me one hair from your head.”
“It is a bargain!” exclaimed the knight joyfully, and, drawing his
dagger, he was about to proceed to cut a lock of hair from his forehead
to offer it to the king.
“Not so,” said Pypo. “Only one hair at a time, and I will have to pull
it out myself by the root.”
So the knight dismounted, and as he bent down the dwarf tore a single
hair from his scalp, after which he threw a bag of gold at Burkhart’s
feet.
“Thanks!” exclaimed the knight, as he hugged the bag and gloated over
its contents.
“No thanks are wanted,” replied the gnome; “see to it that the hairs
upon your head will not become too few in time to purchase enough gold
for satisfying the greed of your Julia.”
So saying the gnome vanished; but the knight returned with his bag of
gold to the castle. He now at once began to enlarge and improve his
house in exquisite style; he bought costly furniture and ornaments,
hired servants and cooks, sent out invitations for dinners and balls,
and every evening he went to the Untersberg for another bag of gold,
leaving in return one of his hairs.
Soon the news of the riches of Burkhart von Tollenstein began to
spread, and everybody wondered and came to see and admire the luxury
displayed by the knight. Now the consent of Julia was easily gained,
and before many days the walls of the castle resounded with gay music,
merry-making, and laughter; for the marriage of the valorous knight
with the beautiful countess took place. All the nobility in the country
were invited, and took part in the revel.
Henceforth the castle of Tollenstein became the scene of an
uninterrupted succession of festivities of all kinds; there was a
merry-go-round, and the doors of the house were open day and night
to visitors. Parasites of all kinds peopled the castle. Dinners,
dances, masquerades, tournaments, theatrical performances and hunting
excursions followed each other without end, and the beautiful Julia
had the sweet satisfaction of being surrounded by flatterers and
admirers to her heart’s content; but her desires grew in proportion as
they were gratified, her vanity in proportion as it was tickled: her
whims were incalculable, but the resources of her husband seemed to be
inexhaustible, and he was an object of envy to everyone.
More and more frequent grew his visits to the Untersberg, from each of
which he returned with a thousand florins in gold, but with one less
hair from his head; and for all that, he seemed not to be happy, for he
saw only too clearly that he had bought only the appearance of love,
and that his wife loved not him but only his money; and whenever he did
not at once comply with her unreasonable and extravagant demands, she
would treat him with contempt, so as to render life a burden to him.
All this caused him a great deal of grief, which he sought to drown in
the wine-cup. Thus he became at last a confirmed drunkard and an object
of disgust. All the evil germs in his nature began to grow luxuriantly
and to bear fruit. He became a weakling, a cruel tyrant towards his
subjects, an abject coward in the presence of his wife, who treated him
as if he were a slave. His troubles caused him to grow prematurely old,
and the hair upon his head grew thinner from day to day.
Thus a few years passed away in great misery, and at last poor Burkhart
was entirely bald-headed. The last florin was gone; but the countess
had ordered a great tournament and dinner, to which many noblemen and
ladies of rank were invited. Once more Burkhart went to the Untersberg
for the purpose of asking the king of the gnomes for money; but no more
hair did he have to give in return. The gnome appeared, and the knight,
removing his helmet, showed him the deplorable condition of his scalp,
hoping to arouse the pity of the king.
“Ah, Burkhart!” exclaimed Pypo; “did I not tell you to beware that your
hairs may not become too few?”
“I now see my folly,” sighed the knight; “but for pity’s sake let me
have only one more bag of gold, to save myself from disgrace.”
“Ha! ha!” laughed the gnome. “Nothing brings nothing. No hair, no
money; our bargain is at a end!”
“Ask what you will!” cried the knight; “but hair I have no more to
give. Take my soul; but give me only one bag of money. Only one bag of
gold I am asking of you!”
But in vain Burkhart implored the gnome. Pypo was inexorable, and
laughed at him. This exasperated Burkhart, and becoming enraged, he
cried: “Hell-hound! you have completed your devilish work. With each
hair that you took from my head you robbed me of a part of my manhood.
Now I recognise you as the fiend that you are. Give me back my lost
energy. Give me back the beautiful golden hair of which you have
despoiled me by means of your accursed gold. Give it back to me, or
look out for the revenge of the Tollensteins!”
But the gnome laughed. “Fool!” he said; “do you wish to frighten me?
Would you now curse the one from whom you received all that you wanted?
I laugh at you and your threats; but if you wish your hair returned, be
it so!”
So saying the gnome drew forth a cord twisted from Burkhart’s hair,
and threw it at the feet of the knight. He then disappeared within the
depths of the Untersberg, while from all sides a mocking laughter shook
the air, as if coming from a multitude of invisible spectators; but the
knight went home and locked himself up in his bedroom.
At the castle of Tollenstein everything was in readiness for the
beginning of the great tournament. Knights in glittering armour and
ladies in costly dresses were thronging the halls; while in the
courtyard below richly decked steeds, attended by grooms in bright
colours, neighed and stamped the ground, impatient for the opening of
the sham fight; for the beginning of which nothing was now needed but
the presence of the host. The trumpets sounded, but nothing was seen
of Burkhart. Repeatedly were messengers sent to his room, but they
found the door locked and were not admitted. At last Julia, losing her
patience, went up with clenched fists to inquire about the cause of
this delay, but her knocks at the door elicited no reply. She therefore
ordered the door to be forced open, and then a ghastly sight met her
eyes. Burkhart von Tollenstein was lying dead on his bed, his features
distorted as if he had died in great agony; around his neck was tied a
cord of yellow human hair, with which he had been strangled; his eyes
were protruding as if starting from their sockets; while his fingers
were spasmodically closed around a bag containing one thousand florins
in gold. This was the end of the Tollensteins.
And now the excuses for writing the following tale:
If this story of Burkhart of Tollenstein had never been exhumed from
the archives containing the family histories of the ancient knights of
the Duchy of Salzburg, the following chapters would never have been
written; for it was the discovery of these reliable documents which
recalled to my memory the history told to me by my now deceased friend,
Mr Schneider, who was himself a participant in the adventure which I am
about to describe.
It appears that, long after the death of Burkhart von Tollenstein,
three very learned gentlemen, having heard of that story, arrived from
some far-off country--presumably from the dark continent. Being of a
very sceptical turn of mind, they did not believe in gnomes, and had
undertaken their journey for the purpose of disproving the existence
of the spirits of Nature. They belonged to a scientific Society, whose
object was the abolition of the supernatural, and to sober up mankind
by drawing away their attention from all sorts of ideals, and bring
them back to the dry and hard facts of material life. That Society
had already accomplished a great deal of important work. They had
by a certain system of logic disproved the existence of God, spirit
and soul, and shown that all that is called life or consciousness is
nothing else but the result of friction brought on by the mechanical
motion of molecules of dead matter accidentally coming into contact
with each other. The three gentlemen with whom we shall directly
become acquainted were appointed by the Society for the Abolition of
the Supernatural as a committee, for the purpose of giving the last
death-blow to the superstitious belief in spirits and gnomes, and
arrived for that purpose. They were firmly determined that the belief
in anything that could not be seen by means of corporeal eyes, or
grasped with fingers of flesh, should be relegated into the garret,
where antiquated superstitions are stowed away.
After due consultation, these gentlemen resolved to make a scientific
expedition to one of the caves of the Untersberg, reported to be
haunted; and Mr Schneider, being then a young and vigorous man,
well acquainted with the topography of the mountain, was invited to
accompany them. The excursion took place on the day preceding St
John’s, it being the 23rd of June; but the date of the year escaped my
memory. The adventures which Mr Schneider experienced are told by him
in the following pages.
[Illustration: THE CAVE]
II.
IN THE DRAGON’S DEN.
About a thousand feet below the summit of the Untersberg, and not very
far from the top of one of its spurs, that reaches out into the valley
through which runs the limpid stream coming from the renowned lake
called the “Koenigsee,” there is a spacious cave, within an almost
perpendicular slope of rocks, several hundred feet in height. This
cave or hole, called the “Dragon’s Den,” is large enough for affording
shelter to a whole herd of cattle, and high enough so that a good-sized
church, steeple and all, might be put therein. Its roof is formed by
an overhanging rock (as is shown in our picture), and the hole extends
like a tunnel from one side of the hill to the other; so that if seen
from below it appears like an archway through which the sky and the
stars on the other side may be seen.
[Illustration: THE DRAGON’S DEN.]
This den is said to have been inhabited in ancient times by a
villainous dragon of a very peculiar kind, having no conscience,
reason, or common sense, but being exceedingly selfish. His greatest
pleasure was to dissect and analyse everything, and to destroy all
that was of an ideal nature; to tear the clothes away from everything
exalted and beautiful for the purpose of exposing bare facts. These
he liked so well, that he imagined the bones of every creature were
its only essential parts; so he tore the flesh of his victims away and
devoured their bones. From the altitude of his den he would overlook
both sides of the hill, and whenever he saw a pretty maiden wandering
among the rocks in search of the Alpine rose or the Edelweiss, he would
pounce upon her, drag her to his den, dissect her, and strip her of all
flesh, and devour the bones piece by piece. It is said that later on
the dragon emigrated into the valley, but his den was selected by the
committee for the investigation concerning the non-existence of gnomes.
Before we proceed further, it will be necessary to introduce the
reader to our friends. There was, first of all, Professor Thomas
Cracker, a member of nearly all scientific societies in the world, a
great sceptic, who, by a long course of scientifically training his
imagination, had acquired such a degree of scientific scepticism that
he always knew everything without taking the trouble of looking at it.
There was no fact in Nature for which he had not invented a theory; and
if the theory did not fit it, so much the worse for the facts. He had
become celebrated; because, owing to his superior sagacity, and after
years of persevering study, he had succeeded in discovering that a
certain book entitled “Little Alice in Wonderland,” was only a fable,
not based upon historical facts, and whose object was to bamboozle the
ignorant and take in unwary and gullible people. Owing to the great
merit obtained by this work the honour and title of a member of the
Academy was bestowed upon him.
Mr Cracker’s father had been the keeper of a variety shop, and was in
the habit of ignoring and treating with contempt everything that was
not of his own manufacture or kept in his shop. Nevertheless, among
the good articles which he kept for sale, there were many things
that had gone out of fashion. These he used to fit up in a new style,
varnish and paint them over, give them new labels with modern names,
and advertise them as something brand new. Thus he did a good trade and
gained a reputation.
Professor Cracker, junior, resembled his father to a dot, only he
traded in less tangible goods. He also was in the habit of ignoring and
treating with contempt everything that did not agree with the theories
that were manufactured by himself or his colleagues; nevertheless there
were among his articles of creed certain doctrines taught centuries
ago, but having gone out of fashion. These he used to take down from
the garret where they had been forgotten, dress them up in modern
style, varnish them over with modern expressions, label them with newly
invented names, and advertise them as brand-new discoveries, or goods
of his own invention. In this way Professor Cracker traded in science
and gained a reputation.
The next was the Reverend Jeremiah Stiffbone, a clergyman, who had
received from his congregation a liberal amount of money to enable
him to travel in search of the truth that could not be found at home.
Mr Stiffbone was well versed in all sorts of authorities, and able to
quote almost any number of books in support of almost any opinion, for
he knew the contents of many scientific and religious writings,--that
is to say, he knew what was written therein; but as to his knowledge in
regard to the subjects themselves, it would be difficult to decide what
it was; for he one day believed in this and the next day in another
author’s veracity, and the one into whom he put his faith was for the
time being to him the only infallible one. Thus he stumbled along upon
the path of wisdom, falling from one opinion into another like a person
in a state of intoxication. It should not be supposed, however, that
Jeremiah loved this state of uncertainty and wavering. What he wanted,
above all, was to establish a scientific and religious system that
could be fully depended on as being true and reliable, and containing
articles and scientific doctrines which everyone would have to accept
as true, and go to sleep quietly, being firmly convinced that the
opinions therein were the final dictates of science, incontrovertible,
not subject to improvement, and fully correct.
As to the external appearance of the above-named two gentlemen,
Professor Cracker was of short stature, thickly set, with a rubicund
face, smoothly shaven, except a pair of grey side-whiskers. His little
eyes continually wandered restlessly from one object to another, his
arms were unusually long, but his legs short and bow-shaped, and all
this somehow contributed to give him the appearance of a Mandril
(_Cynocephalus Maimon_), as may be said without giving offence to the
Professor; for he was himself firmly of the opinion that the whole of
man had descended from the ape. He even looked with satisfaction upon
his long line of ancestors, and prided himself on having become somehow
superior to them in the art of reasoning, if not in bodily strength.
As to the Reverend Stiffbone, he seemed the reverse of Professor
Cracker. He was thin and tall, looking like a collection of bones of
some antediluvian bird. His features were sharp, his head almost bald,
and his mouth wide, while his chin and nose were long and protruding,
as if they were trying to meet each other. Upon his nose he wore a
pair of green goggles of great size, causing him to appear not unlike
an owl; but his nose and chin gave him a resemblance to one of the
well-known wooden nut-crackers, which are manufactured in the city of
Nuremberg, and are the delight of the children all over the world.
Finally, there was Moses Abraham Scalawag, Esq., the commercial
business manager of the expedition. His external appearance went to
show that he was not much of an idealist, but preferred the good and
material things of this life, and had no aversion to a certain kind
in spirits. Although he denounced the belief in hobgoblins, ghosts,
gnomes, etc., as a degraded superstition, he somehow thought that, if
the story of Burkhart von Tollenstein were true, it might be worth
the while to investigate the financial condition of the gnomes in the
Untersberg.
We were accompanied by a guide, carrying our provisions and scientific
instruments. This guide was a direct descendant of the reputed Lazarus
Gitschner, who in the year 1529 spent ten days among the gnomes in
the Untersberg. We attempted to draw him out, but the guide would
not reveal what his ancestor had seen during that visit; nor is this
surprising, for Lazarus himself never revealed it to anybody except
to the priest in the confessional. All that has become known about
it is, that he came out of the Untersberg a man entirely changed from
what he was before he went in, and the priest also, after hearing the
confession, became very much changed himself, even so that he left off
playing ninepins on Sunday morning, led a retired life, and died not
long afterwards in the odour of sanctity.
Bright was the day, and the earth looked refreshed from the morning dew
that still rested upon the daffodils and ferns, where it glittered in
the light of the sun like so many small diamonds. The air was fragrant
from the odour of pines and wild thyme, and the breeze carried up from
the valley an aroma of new-mown hay. Peacefully grazed the goats upon
the sides of a hill, from which rushed a small cataract in a thousand
cascades, while an air of tranquillity and solemnity rested upon the
scene below, interrupted only by the tolling of the bell in the distant
village church, which sounded harmoniously into the solitude.
Of all this, however, our members of the committee saw, heard, smelt,
and knew nothing; for each was absorbed in his own thoughts. Professor
Cracker moved slowly on, carrying his wig on his walking-stick over
his shoulder, and revelling in the anticipation of the glory which
the annihilation of the gnome theory would bring upon him. The Rev.
Stiffbone’s long coat-tails fluttered in the wind as he marched on,
taking long strides upon the uneven path, and his thoughts were
absorbed in the prospect of being able to add another incontrovertible
doctrine in regard to the non-existing of gnomes to his _Bible of
Science_. Mr Scalawag wobbled along as well as he could, thinking
nothing particular, but stopping frequently and wiping the sweat from
his brow. At last he exclaimed:
“Confound these gnomes! Is it worth the while to climb up to that den
and waste our valuable time in disproving that such animals exist?”
To this the Reverend Stiffbone replied:
“Gnomes are not animals, but imaginary beings. Theophrastus Paracelsus
describes them as being intellectual forces in nature, whatever that
may mean. They are about six inches in height, but able to change and
to elongate their bodies.”
“But how can you determine their height,” asked Mr Scalawag, “if
they are merely imaginary? You may just as well imagine them to be a
thousand feet, if you try.”
“Rot!” interrupted Professor Cracker; for that was his favourite
impression whenever anything was mentioned that was unknown to him.
“Rot! there are no such things as intelligent forces of nature, neither
imaginary ones nor others. This degrading superstition has now lasted
long enough, and this day will make an end to such vagaries.”
“Are you then firmly convinced,” asked Mr Scalawag, rather dejectedly,
“that the treasures of the gnomes in the Untersberg do not exist?”
“They exist only in the imagination of fools,” replied the Professor.
“There can be no such thing as a spirit, as I shall demonstrate to you
to-day by means of my new spiritoscope.”
“It is strange,” now remarked the Rev. Stiffbone, “that there are still
some respectable authorities favouring such a superstitious belief.
Even the Bible mentions the existence of spirits in more than one
instance.”
“Rot!” replied the Professor. “There is no theory so absurd that it may
not find admirers among otherwise intelligent people. Only think of the
many fools who imagine it to be possible to make cars that are pulled
by steam!”
“Do you then believe it to be absolutely impossible to make railways?”
asked Mr Scalawag.
“Railways!” sneeringly exclaimed Cracker. “Rot! No man in his sane
senses would ever think of such a thing. Steam can blow; but it cannot
pull cars; if a steam-engine were invented, it would scald everybody
to death. As to those eccentric and fanatical people who now fancy
it possible to make a railway between Manchester and Liverpool, I
have only to say that we, the scientists of this century, decline to
waste our time in examining such wild and extravagant schemes. Even if
the tales told in some of the newspapers were true, instead of being
deplorable vagaries, and if it were possible to invent such an engine,
it would not interest us, for surely nobody would be insane enough to
trust his life and his safety to an engine going at the terrible speed
of sixteen miles an hour! No, my dear sir! To make a railway is as
impossible as that stones should fall from heaven; the reason of which
impossibility the Academy of Science has pointed out, namely, because
there are no stones in the sky.”
It may be observed that this conversation took place before the time
when meteors were known and railways in action; at the present time
such a display of scientific ignorance would of course be impossible.
“Suppose,” said the Rev. Stiffbone, “we admit for argument’s sake that
a railway could be made on a level plain. What would they do if they
were to come to a mountain? They would have to dig a hole through
it, pass through it in the dark, and coming out at the other end the
passengers would suddenly emerge into the light. This sudden change
would undoubtedly strike them blind.”
“Undoubtedly it would,” added Professor Cracker, “unless they were to
wear travelling-goggles for protection. You may however rest assured
that, if railways could be made, we would have discovered it long ago,
and the same may be said in regard to gnomes, ghosts, spirits, or
intelligent forces of any kind. If there were such things we would know
it.”
“How is it then possible,” I asked, “that the ancient philosophers
believed such things?”
“To a layman like you,” answered the Professor, “such a question may
be pardoned. The ancient philosophers were fools; they did not know
as much as one of our schoolboys knows to-day. As to Lord Lytton,
Goethe, and other more modern writers who spoke of such things, they
only did so because they loved to make jokes for the amusement of the
wise, and to have some fun at the expense of the gullible. We know that
spirit without matter does not exist. Matter is visible; consequently
the spirits would have to possess visible forms. We also know that no
kind of living beings can exist within solid rocks, where they would
be without water and air, and finally, if there were any intelligent
forces in nature, they would know the importance of coming forward and
proving their existence to men of science.”
I remarked that a belief in gnomes was quite common in this country,
and asked whether this could be explained.
“Ridiculously easy!” said the Professor. “The sources of error
are--inherited idiosyncrasies; a want of scientific training in making
observations; subjective, objective, and epidemic hallucinations;
credulity, hysteria, suggestion, dreams, hypnotism, post-hypnotic
auto-suggestion, and so forth.”
“Nevertheless,” I objected, “there are those who have been touched by
gnomes, have seen and conversed with them, received tangible objects
from them.”
“Rot!” replied Cracker. “It is all due to wilful deception, humbug,
swindle, trumpery, fraud, plagiarism, coincidence, telepathic impact,
thought-transfer, unconscious cerebration, mediumship, sympathetic
association of ideas, etc. Only recently I have discovered, after
making a long research and consulting many authorities, that the
accounts given in _Gulliver’s Travels_ were not based upon historical
facts, but are only the products of the imagination of the author, who
for thus imposing upon the credulity of the public, must be regarded
as being one of the greatest cheats of his age. Fetch me a spirit or
gnome, and let me dissect it to see of what it is made. Unless you do
so, I say that it is nothing but rot, the product of the disordered
fancy of a scientifically untrained brain.”
I did not quite agree with Cracker’s views, and I therefore said: “I
believe that there are still people capable of telling a pigtail from
a broomstick without dissecting it and having it certified to by a
professor of science.”
Cracker and Stiffbone exchanged an ominous look.
“This,” said Stiffbone, “comes from the increased disrespect for
the authorities. Nowadays everybody imagines that he has a right to
think and say what he pleases. It is time that a law ought to be made
punishing heresy in science, as it used to be punished in regard to
religion. Not long ago I heard a new heresy preached about what they
call ‘conservation of energy.’ Men ought not to be permitted to
go about and poison the minds of the public by spreading erroneous
scientific doctrines. We absolutely need a _Bible of Science_, stating
exactly what scientific beliefs the people are to accept.”
“Such a book,” answered the Professor, “would be of the greatest
benefit to the world, and prevent the injurious and misleading
self-thinking done by laymen and ignorant tramps. What business have
the common people to do their own thinking? No one ever attempts to
make his own shoes or clothes, but leaves this to his shoemaker or
tailor, who can do it much better, cheaper and quicker than he could
do it himself. Why not apply the same system to deciding scientific or
religious questions? Let the thinking in regard to such things be left
to those who are trained and entitled to it.”
With these views the Rev. Stiffbone fully agreed. “Science,” he said,
“ought to be left to the scientists, religion to the clergy, morality
to the police, medicine to the physicians, money matters to bankers,
and ideal things to legally appointed idealists. This would enable the
people to give more attention to their own material interests. Instead
of thinking about things which bring them no profit, they might employ
their time for useful things, such as the raising of hogs. Religion
ought not to be neglected, for the fear of the devil is the security of
the Church; but one authentic sermon printed and posted every Sunday in
public places would save the employment of an army of preachers, and
moreover secure conformity to the doctrines taught everywhere. If the
people must have music, one or two organ-grinders would be enough for
a town of no more than a thousand inhabitants; if they wanted poetry,
one well-trained and diplomatised verse-maker could supply the whole
country.”
“These questions,” said M. Scalawag, Esq., “deserve the most careful
consideration. Time is money. The struggle for existence is the first
law among all beings; the survival of the fittest its necessary result.
Let everyone take as much care as he can of his own interest, and leave
it to those who are appointed for that purpose to look out for the
rest.”
“We are appointed for that,” exclaimed Professor Cracker, “and we will
attend to it. I have just discovered a new system of hypnotism by means
of which large crowds can be hypnotised at once. Instead of sending the
children to school, we will hypnotise into their heads all that we want
them to know, and cause them to post-hypnotically forget all which we
do not wish them to remember. Thus we will be the kings of the world,
and all mankind will dance as we pull the strings!”
While carrying on these discussions we arrived at the “Dragon’s
Den,” where our investigations were to begin. The place showed no
indication of the presence of spirit; there was nothing dismal about
it; on the contrary, an air of peace seemed to rest upon the scene.
At the entrance of the cave there was a wild rosebush of considerable
size and some Alpine flowers, among which I noticed the Larkspur and
Belladonna. The walls consisted of marble rocks, exhibiting a variety
of colours, and were covered in some places with mosses and ferns. In a
shady corner there was still a remnant of snow, resembling a miniature
glacier, and rendering the air cool and pleasant. The two openings at
the sides offered a magnificent view.
The guide--who had remained a little behind, as his movements were
greatly impeded by the legs of Professor Cracker’s spiritoscope, which
he carried--now arrived with his bag of provisions, and unpacked
his treasures. Cold meats, poultry and cheese, ham and eggs, butter
and bread, made their appearance, and were soon disposed of by the
committee. Beer and wine had not been forgotten, and Professor
Cracker, filling his glass with champagne, lifted it up and offered
a toast, “to the annihilation of the gnomes;” which was followed by
another toast, pronounced by Jeremiah Stiffbone, “to Professor Cracker,
the king of science, and inventor of the spiritoscope,” while Mr
Scalawag, in offering his sentiments, said he hoped to find some of the
treasures of the Untersberg.
After the refreshments were taken, the investigations began. To begin
with, the committee carefully examined the rocks and walls and every
nook and corner of the “Dragon’s Den” for the purpose of convincing
themselves that there was no place where anybody might hide himself
and play a practical joke upon the investigators. They measured the
size of the rocks, and made sure of their solidity and the entire
absence of any subterranean caves or holes. The floor was found to
be perfectly solid, and no gnomes were to be seen. Thereupon they
carefully noted the hour and the minute, as is always necessary on
such occasions, and evidence was taken that the sky was clear. The
direction of the wind was determined with great accuracy, and found
to be E.N.E.; the temperature was taken and the various thermometers
indicated--25° Celsius, 20° Reaumur, and 77° Fahrenheit; the barometer
showed an elevation of 5800 feet above the sea and a medium atmospheric
pressure. No gnome or spirit of any kind appeared upon the scene, nor
was there to be found anything whatever of a spiritual character. After
all the necessary preparations were made Professor Cracker produced
his spiritoscope, whose description we are permitted to give for the
benefit of all psychical researchers; and as a boon to the whole of
mankind:
_Dr Cracker’s Spiritoscope._
This ingeniously constructed and very simple, although somewhat
ponderous instrument was the original invention of Professor
Cracker, and enabled him, instead of directly looking at an object, to
behold and examine it by means of a series of reflections produced by
four scientifically arranged mirrors bent towards each other at angles
of 45 degrees.
[Illustration: THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION.]
The main body of the instrument consisted of a wooden box in which the
four above-named mirrors were placed so as to face each other, and to
the box was attached a telescope-tube. Thus a ray of light coming from
an outside object and entering the box would produce an image in the
first mirror; this would become reflected in the second and third, and
finally in the fourth, where it could be seen through the telescope.
The whole apparatus was mounted upon a tripod with movable legs, so
that it could be turned in every direction.
It will naturally be asked, how could Professor Cracker expect by
such natural means to discover anything supernatural, and what is
the benefit of looking at the reflection of a thing in a mirror, if
it might be just as well seen directly with the eye? As to the first
question, Professor Cracker did not admit the existence of anything
beyond the common aspect of nature, and needed therefore no instrument
for its discovery; while in regard to the second question, he said
that direct vision was unscientific and unreliable, because what a man
sees, or believes to see, may be caused by irregular cerebral action,
hallucination, defective sight, ecstasy, trance, clairvoyance, or other
diseases; but mirrors could not be deceived--they would not become
hallucinated, or enter into a state of ecstasy:--they only showed what
was actually true, and there was no humbug about them. Direct sight was
well enough for common people with common sense, but indirect vision
for science.
Heretofore the great merit of this spiritoscope was, as Professor
Cracker repeatedly pointed out, that it had never produced any other
than negative results, but these had been obtained unfailingly on all
occasions, for it had actually never indicated the presence of any
genius, gnome, ghost, or spirit whatever; but as the instrument was
constructed according to unquestionable principles, these negative
results were fully sufficient to prove the correctness of Professor
Cracker’s theory.
On this occasion, however, there seemed to be something the matter
with the spiritoscope. Be it that the mirrors were not in order, or
that even scientific and indirect vision may be deceptive, there was
evidently some kind of an obscuration within the tube, which could not
be explained by natural causes. In vain Professor Cracker repeatedly
cleaned his spectacles, and ultimately substituted coloured glasses
for them; the fact was undeniable that something dark, some sort of
a shadow, appeared repeatedly within the field of indirect vision,
and this something must have been alive, for it moved about by means
of some energy contained within itself, and without being kinetically
impelled by any discoverable extraneous force. Repeatedly the Professor
exclaimed the ominous word: “rot!” and “bosh!” and “impossible!”
His scepticism had to give way before the evidence produced by his
spiritoscope, and at last he was overcome by the conviction of having
discovered a gnome. He looked somewhat pale, as with bated breath
and with ill-suppressed excitement he announced the discovery to his
colleagues.
It was now Rev. Stiffbone’s turn to take a look through the
spiritoscope. He, too, saw the shadow, and saw it move. Owing to the
circumstance that the light fell into the instrument from the side
opposed to the standpoint of the observer, the part of the spirit
turned toward Stiffbone’s eye could not be clearly seen, but its
outlines seemed to grow sometimes larger and sometimes smaller, from
which he inferred that the spirit was a gnome, as they were said to be
able to change the size of their forms.
These observations were corroborated by Mr Scalawag. Professor Cracker
looked again, and having satisfied himself that there could be no
possible mistake, he made a speech, in which he said that it had been
reserved for him to make the greatest discovery of this age, and that
the existence of gnomes--which had heretofore been doubted by certain
too sceptical people--was now an established fact, demonstrated by him
for the first time in human history.
But alas! “this world is but a fleeting show,” and even the
demonstrations of science cannot always be depended upon as absolutely
true, for while the Professor made his speech, the head of a little
mouse appeared at the opening of the tube, and seeing the coast clear,
the mouse jumped to the ground and ran away. How the mouse happened to
come into the spiritoscope has never been satisfactorily explained. The
committee looked perplexed, and Cracker grew red in the face.
“_Errare humanum est!_” exclaimed Stiffbone, and Mr Scalawag added: “We
are all liars. The best plan will be to say nothing about it.”
Although the committee did not believe thenceforth in spirits, it can
nevertheless not be denied that a spirit of gloom rested upon them
after this incident; a scowl rested upon the Professor’s face, and he
admitted that for once in his life he had been mistaken.
While they discussed this matter the wind had changed from E.N.E. to
N., and now a light puff of air brought a piece of paper flying into
the cave. Rev. Stiffbone saw it, and picked it up. There were written
upon it the following verses:--
O foolish mortal, by dull senses bound;
Within thyself the spirit must be found.
Know thou thyself, and by self-knowledge know
The lives above and in the world below.
In every sphere each being knows its own;
To spirits only spirits can be shown.
After reading these lines, Mr Stiffbone handed the paper to the
Professor, and asked him what he thought. The Professor carefully
examined the structure of the paper and said:
“This is nothing but an ordinary piece of notepaper, manufactured in
this country. There is nothing supernatural about it.”
“But the verses,” answered Stiffbone. “They seem to refer to the
subject of our conversation. How is this coincidence to be explained?”
“In a very simple manner,” replied Professor Cracker, growing more
and more excited as he spoke. “You, sir, have written these miserable
verses yourself, for the purpose of playing it on me; but let me assure
you that, even if I have been imposed on by a mouse, I am not going to
be fooled by such a ragamuffin as yourself; your trick was not clever
enough for that.”
During this speech the Rev. Stiffbone, with open mouth, stared aghast
at the Professor, and the word “ragamuffin” aroused his temper. He
said that such an ill-founded accusation was calculated to greatly
lessen his respect for one whose capacity to judge he had anyhow always
regarded as doubtful, and that he owed it to his own respectability as
a clergyman to regard Mr Cracker’s calumnies as being those of a man in
his dotage, if not a wilful perverter of truth.
Cracker retorted again, and it is doubtful how the matter would have
ended, but just at that moment a long-drawn sigh was heard, coming from
some invisible source, and at the next moment a gust of wind followed
that overthrew the spiritoscope, and sent Stiffbone’s hat flying out at
the other end of the Dragon’s Den. Directly afterwards the cave became
illumined by a flash of lightning, and this was succeeded by a clap of
thunder which caused the ground to tremble, and reverberated like the
firing of a battery of guns through the clefts in the neighbourhood.
The committee stood aghast and terrified, looking at each other in a
perplexed manner and not knowing what to do.
It appears that the sky had become suddenly overcast with clouds, and a
storm gathered at the top of the Untersberg, while our friends were too
much absorbed in their scientific researches to notice it, and now the
rain began to come down in torrents, and the archway offered but little
protection, for sheets of rain were blown in at the open side of the
cave, and streams of water began to flow in every direction over the
ground.
In a few moments the members of the committee and myself were drenched
to the skin, and did not know what to begin; but our guide, drawing
aside the branches of the rosebush that stood at the entrance, pointed
out to us an excavation in the rock, which had escaped the observation
of the committee, and he invited us to enter. Into this hole we crawled
one after another; and after proceeding a few feet it grew wider, and
formed a hollow of considerable size. Here we were comfortable enough,
only we were wet, and the place was perfectly dark.
Professor Cracker struck a light, and lit a candle which he happened
to have in his pocket, and by that aid we discovered a passage leading
still further into the interior of the hill. This we decided to
explore. Professor Cracker entered with his candle, then came Rev.
Stiffbone, after him Mr Scalawag, and finally myself, each man holding
on to the coat-tail of the one who preceded.
Thus we went on for a considerable distance, when suddenly a draught of
cold air blew out the Professor’s light. At the same time Mr Cracker’s
foot hit against some soft elastic substance of an unknowable kind,
and directly afterwards he received a fearful blow upon his abdomen
from something unseen. Turning round for escaping the invisible
enemy, he received another blow that sent him flying heels over head,
overturning the Rev. Stiffbone, who in his turn upset Mr Scalawag.
They were all lying in a heap, and I heard Cracker’s voice producing a
series of most unearthly yells; but the Rev. Stiffbone, while begging
for mercy and blindly grasping about, clutched the air and got hold
of Mr Scalawag’s hair, who defended himself with his fists; but my
observations were also cut short, for I had just time, as my eyes
became accustomed to the darkness, to see a still darker object rushing
at me over the prostrate forms of my friends, when I myself received a
severe blow upon my stomach, that caused me to lose my senses, and for
a moment I knew nothing more.
[Illustration: THE GROTTO OF THE NYMPHS]
III.
WITHIN THE UNTERSBERG.
It seems that during the consternation caused by this event, I must
have unconsciously wandered off, for when I gathered my senses again,
I found myself in a strange labyrinth of rocks. In vain I tried to
find my way back to the Dragon’s Den; there were perpendicular walls
and precipices encompassing me on all sides, and the only outlet which
I discovered led me still higher up towards the main body of the
Untersberg.
The storm-clouds had disappeared and the sky was clear; but my mind
(if there is such a thing) was somewhat confused; I did not know
which was which. Owing to Professor Cracker’s exposition about the
unreliability of direct vision, I could not tell whether the things
around me were actually there, or whether they were merely the products
of auto-suggestion, trumpery, etc. More than once I bumped my head
against a projecting rock, because my method of observation was not
scientifically trained enough to enable me to realise the actuality of
the rock without a knock-down argument. I had always fancied before
that if one receives an impression from an object, be it in the waking
state or in a dream, an object or image of some kind must be actually
present, from which that impression comes; but now I saw that,
according to science, impressions may come from nothing and may be
only the products of the accidental friction of brain molecules. I was
therefore no longer sure of the existence of anything that had not been
analysed and attested to by a scientific expert.
It seemed to me that the sun was about to set, and that I was still
wandering on, querying whether I actually was myself or whether some
gnome was playing a trick upon my imagination, making me believe
that I was I. There was nothing to prove to me scientifically that
the something or nothing which imagined itself to be myself was not
something else, entirely unknown to me, provided there was such a thing
as “myself” at all, which seemed rather doubtful, it having not yet
been analysed and its composition shown. I can, in truth, only say that
something which somehow seemed to be myself (but to whom it seemed so,
I do not know) imagined itself to be I; but, for all I know, there may
be no “I,” and it may have been nothing but space.
It seemed to me, or to something, that the setting sun was gilding the
ice-fields of the neighbouring mountain-peaks with floods of light, and
I (or something) received or seemed to receive the impression somehow,
that tints of various hues, beginning with a dainty rose-colour,
followed by orange, yellow, sea-green, and ending with blue, were
adorning the sky (if there was any), while clouds, apparently floating
within the depths of space (whose existence has not yet been proved
scientifically), seemed to appear like fleecy masses of pure silver,
lined with fluid gold. The vegetation (provided that there actually
was one) appeared to be more scanty than below, and to consist mainly
of clusters of Rhododendron, and occasionally a specimen of Mandrake,
Gentian, or Thyme was to be seen or imagined. Judging from certain
impressions, which something that seemed to be myself appeared to
receive, I seemed to arrive at the conclusion that there were rocks
covered with green moss, upon which grew various ferns and some Ericas.
Tranquillity somehow seemed to reign supreme in this altitude, although
this is a mere assertion, which I am not prepared to prove; and I
seemed to perceive nothing which could have led anyone to infer that
the stillness was in any way interrupted, except by the song of a finch
that was sitting or appeared to sit upon the branch of a tree--always
supposing that the tree was actually there--and the croaking of a flock
of ravens, which were flying or seemed to be flying around the tops
of the Untersberg. I say all this with a certain reserve, and confess
myself unable to prove it; because direct vision is unreliable, and I
had no spiritoscope at my command.
I say that all this seemed (to whom?) to be as described; but even this
is not scientifically exact or correct; for not knowing myself, how
could I have the cheek to assert that I actually perceived anything,
or nothing, or everything? How could I make any exact statement about
myself if I am not acquainted with myself, and do not know whether
or not I exist? I love to be scientifically exact in my statements,
and to avoid making wild assertions. I wish (or imagine to wish) to
express myself in a manner leaving no room for the learned critic to
misunderstand or misinterpret my words, and to speak so plainly that
everybody must necessarily understand what I mean; but I find that
this philosophical and round-about way of describing things is very
inconvenient, and that for the reader’s own sake I cannot persevere
in it. Everything in this world seems to be only relatively true, and
if we were bound to speak nothing but absolute truth, and express
it in a manner that could not possibly be misunderstood by anybody,
we would surely be doomed to eternal silence. I must therefore ask
the permission of the reader to depart from this exact and strictly
scientific method of speaking and circumscribing, and to do like people
of common sense, and tell what I experienced or believed to experience,
as if I were really something whose existence had been proved and
recognised by science, even if I have no other proof of my existence to
offer, except that I am. This being myself is a reality to me, but it
may be discredited by another; for there can be nothing real to anybody
except what he or she realises, and if they realise it, it is, or seems
to be, real to them. During my visit in the Untersberg I realised my
existence, or seemed to realise it just as much as at any other time in
my life (always provided that I exist and live), and the experiences
through which I passed were just as real to me as any other experiences
before or after that event. Let those who doubt my words, or deny
the possibility of what I describe as having occurred, doubt or deny
to their heart’s content; they cannot rob me of the satisfaction of
knowing what I know.
Somehow I felt myself more free than usual; my body moved without
experiencing any fatigue, and I seemed to have no weight. Owing,
perhaps, to the invigorating influence of the mountain air, I felt
myself filled with strength; my mind was tranquil, my heart full of
joy,[1] and, as it were, one with the spirit of all nature--if I may
be permitted to use such an expression--and it may be for this reason
that I understood the language of nature as plainly as if it had been
expressed in audible words, for the rushing of a distant waterfall
spoke to me of eternal motion; the presence of the earth of the
substantiality of the universe, nourishing all things; the wide expanse
of the air of universal freedom; and the fiery orb of the sinking sun
of an universal consciousness whose existence cannot be proved, but
which may be experienced by souls that are free. Even the flowers had a
language of their own, speaking to me of purity, beauty, modesty, and
similar principles unknown to modern science, and not yet analysed and
classified.
As I scrambled on the scenery grew more wild. Huge boulders of enormous
size often blocked the way, throwing fantastic shadows upon the ground.
Slowly the sun disappeared behind the slopes of the western range, and
solitary stars began to glitter here and there in the sky. The song of
the finch had ceased, and the ravens gone to roost among the tops of
the pines; but the more all animated things became silent and quiet,
the more seemed life to become active in those things which are called
inanimate--it was as if the inner life of nature awakened while the
outward life went to rest. There is a voice that speaks to the soul
in the stillness of night with words that are not to be found in the
dictionary. Of course, Professor Cracker would surely call this an
hallucination or lie; but, for all that, I know it to be true. The
boulders around me looked like gigantic sentinels guarding the entrance
to the kingdom of the gnomes, and asking me in their own language by
what right I dared to enter upon the forbidden precinct. Here and there
the trunk of a stunted tree, a larch or fir with crooked boughs, added
to the grotesqueness of the picture, complaining to me bitterly in
silent but nevertheless eloquent words that the soil in that place was
too poor and the climate too rough to permit a full development of its
qualities and a luxuriant evolution of form. At last I stood before
a wall of rocks, at the bottom of which a dark cavern held its jaws
permanently open, and a feeling of curiosity attracted me towards the
entrance. I felt a sort of premonition that the mysterious depths of
that cavern was holding for me a new revelation.[2]
The night had now fairly set in, but the moon arose in her glory. It
was, as already stated, the eve of St John’s Day, when fairies and
elves are said to come nearer to our world to hold intercourse with
mortals; the mysterious night, when the ruby spark in the heart of the
fern may be seen. A feeling of awe came over me as I looked into the
cave and saw the silvery rays of the rising moon shining through the
opening, revealing within the interior a lake of considerable extent.
I went nearer, and now I beheld, as far as I could see, perpendicular
rocks bordering the lake, with projecting nooks, holes, and crevices
of unknown extent, while, from the vaulted roofs, appearing like huge
stalactites of curious shapes, a curtain of icicles descended, and the
surface of the water glittered and sparkled in the moonlight, and the
grotto looked like the cave of the nymphs in a fairy tale. I strained
my eyes to behold the further end of the lake, but the background
was veiled in darkness, and my sight could not penetrate through the
mysterious gloom.
Something seemed to draw my soul towards the realm of that shadow which
the rays of the moon could not reach, and, as I stood listening, a
soft melody was wafted over the waters. Was it the breeze causing a
rippling upon the surface which produced that melodious sound while
playing among the icicles, or was it the rhythmic dripping of drops
of water from the vault overhead, causing faint echoes within these
secret recesses? I cannot tell, but it seemed to me like a tiny voice
of a woman, but of a woman of some ethereal kind. The melody seemed
to express a longing for something unknown. It was like the cry of a
new-born soul, desiring to live and exist.[3]
It seems to me an impossibility to fully express in words the
sentiments that were embodied in that song. It contained a desire for
death or transformation--terms which mean the same thing, namely, the
abandoning one state of existence for another one. It embodied a wish
for entering upon a higher plane of life and consciousness. The melody
which I heard formed itself into a language, whose meaning may perhaps
be approximately expressed in the following words:--
“O what is this secret longing,
Welling up within my heart?
Unknown powers, surging, thronging,
Rending solid rocks apart.
New-born joys and dying sadness,
Bursting clouds and opening sight!
Something whispers, full of gladness,
This is love, is life and light!”
These words formed themselves within myself without any conscious
volition or ratiocination of my own; and, what is still more
surprising, they had a certain magical effect upon me. I felt as if I
were myself entering _into_ a new state of consciousness, such as I
never experienced before or afterwards, and as if I had become a new
being, endowed with a new kind of perception and memory; it was as if I
had been asleep all my life and suddenly awakened for the first time.
I now somehow knew that I was I; but I could dissect or analyse _my_
Self. I knew that my Self was a unity and not a compound, and therefore
incapable of being taken to pieces. I had never known it before, and
knew of no authority on whose strength I would have accepted that
theory; nevertheless I was certain of it; because I found that my
self-consciousness was not composed of parts.
And lo! as I stood at the border of that lake, bending forwards, and
with all my senses on the alert listening to the song, I saw a radiance
within the depths of that darkness, issuing from a circular luminous
centre; and as I concentrated all my attention upon it, this light
grew brighter, and there appeared in it the shape of a human being--a
woman of supernatural beauty, in a mist-like, silvery garment dotted
with stars. Her long golden hair was flowing over her shoulders, and a
radiant light shone upon her forehead. It was that light, issuing, as I
found afterwards, from a precious gem, which illuminated her person and
all the objects within its sphere.
I dislike to tell what followed, because I have no means of
demonstrating its truth, and there will be undoubtedly many inclined to
doubt it or to dispute it away; but if I had to give evidence before
a notary-public, I could not describe what followed otherwise than
by saying that I was filled with an irresistible desire to approach
that ethereal being, and that I made a step forward, quite without
being aware that I was stepping upon a lake. To my surprise, the water
supported me, and I now think that it must have been solid ice, for
I passed safely over it, and a moment afterwards I stood in mute
admiration before the most charming apparition of a lady of noble mien.
The lady of the lake looked at me with wondering eyes and smiled. This
encouraged me, so I said:
“Who are you, angelic being? if you will permit an intruder this
question. Are you one of the angels of heaven or a spirit of nature?”
“My name is Adalga,” answered the lady, and her voice sounded like the
music of the spheres. “I am the daughter of Bimbam I., King of the
gnomes. But what are you? Are you a spirit, hobgoblin, or spook?”
“I am neither the one nor the other,” I answered. “I am----” but at
this moment I could not for the sake of my life remember who or what
I was; I had entirely forgotten my name and all that referred to my
past life. At last, while I was trying hard to remember who I was, it
suddenly dawned upon me that I was an Irishman, born near the Lakes
of Killarney, and living at Limerick. I am sure that if I ever was an
Irishman, it must have been before I was born; but at that moment I was
quite certain of it, and remembered my home and my family. I therefore
said:--
“I am Patrick Mulligan, Esq., if it pleases your worship.”
“There is a great deal of power in that name,” replied the princess;
“but what is your essential nature?”
“A tailor, if you please,” was my answer; but seeing that the lady did
not understand what I meant, I explained that I was in the habit of
making clothes. Upon this she asked:
“Are you, then, one of these semi-intelligent forces of nature, capable
of assuming a form, which according to our traditions are believed
to inhabit the solid vastness of the element called the air?--one of
these airy elementals whose bodies are subject to change--mischievous
beings, that often cause explosions in our mines?”
The princess stared at me and I stared at her. What she said about the
solid vastnesses of the air was incomprehensible to me, until I found
out later on that the element of the air is just as impenetrable to the
gnomes as the earth is to us; but what astonished me most was, that
after having doubted the existence of elemental spirits of nature, I
now found myself by one of them regarded as an elemental spirit of
the air. At last I said: “With your permission, I flatter myself to
be somewhat more than semi-intelligent, and if I am a force, I am
surely a substantial one. The fact is that I am a man, a member of the
human family, a gentleman from the ancient kingdom of Ireland and a
descendant of Caolbha, the 123rd king of Ulster.”
“A man! a gentleman!” exclaimed the princess, full of astonishment and
surprise--as if it was the most unheard-of thing that one should be a
man; and as if men and gentlemen were not much more plentiful in our
world than gnomes and ghosts. This rather amused me, and I said to the
princess:
“I hope that I did not give offence to your honour. It seems that you
are leading a very retired life, as you have never seen a man.”
But the princess paid little attention to what I said. Looking at
me with her eyes wide open, she repeated, as if trying to persuade
herself: “A man!”
“Of course a man,” said I. “What else could I be?”
“I have been told of the existence of such superior beings,” at last
said the princess. “Our sages teach that they belonged to a now extinct
race of divine or semi-divine beings, who were kings of creation, and
to whom all the laws of nature were subservient. They were said to be
gods, and even superior to the gods in wisdom and power; and that they
were spirits, who sometimes assumed material bodies for the purpose of
studying the conditions of the lower kingdom of matter.”
My vanity became excited by the description which the princess made of
aboriginal man, and I did not wish to depreciate the good opinion which
she had formed of me; so I merely nodded consent.
“And from what region of the wide empyrean have you descended?”
continued the princess, folding her hands, as if filled with admiration
and reverence.
“It is from Limerick that I come,” was my answer.
“I have never heard of that region of space,” said the princess, “nor
did I ever see any of the immortal beings who inhabit that sphere;
but it is sufficient for me to know that you are a man, and that I am
permitted to worship you. My love to you is unbounded; all that I am
belongs to you; to become united with you for ever is my only desire.
Let me adore you. In you I shall find eternal life!”
No words can express the looks of love and affection which the princess
bestowed upon me while her rosy lips expressed these sentiments, and
she sank down before me in an attitude of worship. I at once thought
that there must be a mistake somewhere, and that she took me for
something higher than I knew myself to be; but I did not wish to
disappoint her. The straightforwardness of the princess in speaking out
her sentiments in plain language and without any mock modesty delighted
me very much. I then did not know that this was originally a natural
quality of the gnomes, who, being themselves born out of emotions,
cannot disguise the emotions which cause them to live. So I replied:
“I highly appreciate your condescension, madame. I do not doubt the
sincerity of your words; and as I am fortunately not a married man,
there is no objection to our entering into very friendly and intimate
relations with each other.”
I do not know whether or not the princess understood what I said; but
she continued to indulge in her expressions of love and admiration.
Bending low, and extending her beautiful white arms towards me, she
cried out in rapture--
“Let me worship thee, O self-born, self-existent one, thee who was
before the world came into existence, and who will remain what he is
even if all things perish! Thou, who knowest no death, let me embrace
thee, and become one with thy divine nature! Let me hail thee, O son
of wisdom and lord of creation, whose kingdom encompasses the sky,
the earth, and the whole universe, whose Self includes and penetrates
all, to whom all power belongs and all glory is due. O infinite one,
having shown thyself to me in a limited form, let me dissolve in the
infinitude of thy being. Tell me, O man, how I may serve thee!”
I was very much puzzled by this speech, and somehow felt that I did not
deserve it. I had never known myself to be such a superior being as the
princess described; but I saw that she was happy in her delusion, which
afforded me a good opportunity to get my wish fulfilled, and obtain
some knowledge in regard to the life of the gnomes. There was now a
good chance to get the better of Professor Cracker and the likes of
him. I therefore said:
“It is I, madame, who would always be at your service; but if you would
do me a favour, I would, with your permission, take a look into the
kingdom of the gnomes.”
Thereupon the princess crossed her hands upon her bosom and bowing low,
she said:
“Thy wish, O beloved and all-knowing one, is to me a command. Nothing
shall hereafter separate me from thy glorious presence. Follow me, O my
lord!”
Having spoken these words, her form dissolved, losing its human shape,
and becoming, as it were, a ball of light with a fiery centre. This
ball floated away and I followed. Was it that there was something the
matter with the rocks or with myself? The walls of rock offered no
resistance; we passed through them as we would pass through a London
fog. It was such a strange experience that, if I did not know myself, I
should be inclined to doubt my own words.
We might have been travelling for about ten minutes at the rate of
what I should judge to have been about ten miles an hour, the princess
literally acting as my guiding star, when the fog seemed to retreat on
both sides, and in the open space I saw at a short distance a lot of
other luminous balls, and in the midst of each there was a human-like
form with a star upon the forehead, from which issued the light that
formed the luminous spheres in which these beings lived and moved, each
having its own peculiar light. Directly we entered, and were in the
midst of the gnomes. They were of various sizes and colours. Some were
nearly as tall as I, others like dwarfs. They were not all of the same
brightness; some were more luminous than others and their stars more
radiant. They had all some sort of an occupation. Some were quarrying
marble, from which they made works of art and curious implements;
others were engaged in mining. By some means, which I afterwards found
to be the application of a substantial energy, which might be called
liquid electricity, they rendered fluid the gold that glittered in
yellow veins within the snow-white quartz, and after letting it run
into moulds the gold became again solid and hard. There was no other
light than what emanated from the gnomes themselves, and I saw that the
amount of light in each individual indicated the amount of his or her
spiritual energy and intelligence. Those that were luminous seemed to
be very clever; others, emitting only a faint glow, looked dull and
stupid, and between these two extremes there were luminous spheres and
radiating stars of different degrees of brightness, exhibiting various
tints and hues; but in the majority of them a tint of green could be
perceived. They were what may be called “spirits,” in spite of all that
may be said to the contrary by Professor Cracker, and their bodies
were of a substantial kind. Their forms were not permanent, nor were
they, as spirits, dependent upon the existence of their forms. In their
normal and spiritual condition they were like individual currents of
air, that blow here and there, having no particular shape; but they
assumed or projected corporeal and organised bodies whenever it was
necessary for them to do so for the purpose of accomplishing some
labour requiring a form; and in such cases each spirit assumed the same
form again which he had before he dissolved, and which corresponded
to his individual character; and he did this, not as a matter of
choice, but of necessity, for such is the law of their nature, that
to each character belongs a certain form of expression. A good gnome
always assumes the same beautiful shape which he had in his previous
embodiment, and whenever a wicked gnome dissolved and again took form,
he acquired again the same distorted shape, the same features and
clothing as before.
But this is a digression, and I must continue my account.
At my approach those who beheld me first were very much frightened,
and dissolved into spheres of light, which grew less luminous as
they expanded. This called the attention of the rest to my presence,
whereupon what I would call a general scattering and dissolving took
place; everybody vanished, and from all sides resounded the cries: “A
spook! a hobgoblin! a ghost!”
Even the princess became affected by the general panic, so that she
lost her presence of mind and disappeared, and the place would have
been completely dark but for the fact that in the place of each gnome
there was a fiery spark, corresponding in colour to the light that
belonged to each individual. Thus the whole place was dotted with
sparks of various colours, resembling jewels emitting magnetic rays. In
the place of Adalga there was a beautiful pearl; there were brilliant
diamonds, sapphires emitting a fine blue light, red-glowing rubies,
glittering emeralds, amethysts, smaragds, and other jewels of various
kinds--some very tiny, others of considerable size, but all had the
same mysterious lustre, the same quality of fire; the difference was
only in the amount and colour of the light they emitted.
I then remembered some tale which I had heard of people who went
into the Untersberg and found untold treasures of gold and silver
and precious stones, but were too much dazzled by the sight of so
much wealth that they entirely forgot to pocket any of the jewels,
and thought of it only after returning with empty hands. I therefore
made up my mind not to lose this opportunity, and started to take one
precious emerald, but a faint, childlike voice cried out to me:--
“Touch me not! touch me not!”
I then stretched out my hand towards others; but from each and every
one came the same answer--“Touch me not!” However, I was not to be
disappointed; so I gathered my courage and made a resolute grab at a
great diamond; but on doing so I received an electric shock that threw
me upon the ground. At the same time a clap of thunder reverberated
through the hall, and the next moment the precious stones had
disappeared, and I stood in the midst of a crowd of gnomes, who were
talking and gesticulating in an excited manner. They all looked upon me
with indignation, and even Adalga’s face expressed disappointment and
doubt. But one of the gnomes, a very bright fellow, the one who had
been the diamond, came forward, and, assuming a threatening attitude,
shook his fist at me and angrily exclaimed--
“This spectre has attempted my life. Why should we be afraid of a ghost
that has no substance and is merely a compound of delusions? Let us
drive it away! Make it vanish!”
In answer to this, and as if by common consent, all the gnomes shook
their fists and cried--
“Put it out! let it be evaporated!”
“This is a queer reception,” I said to the princess. “It is quite
unexpected. I am neither a spectre nor a ghost, and not prepared to
evaporate. I am a man!”
Then the princess came forward, and holding up her hand as a sign that
everyone should be silent, she said--
“Do him no harm. Touch him not. He is a man!”
“A man!” exclaimed the gnomes, pushing forward and staring at me, while
the one who had spoken first asked the princess--
“How do you perceive him to be a man?”
“He told me so himself!” answered the princess.
A general “Ah!” was the reply of the gnomes. “He said so himself! He
told it to her!” they whispered to each other. The threatening attitude
of the gnomes at once changed into one of respect. “A man!” they
exclaimed, and the cry was repeated until from all parts of the open
space it was echoed back by many voices shouting, “A man!” And through
all the caves of the Untersberg the cry was resounded, “A man has come
among us! A man! Let his name be blessed! All hail to Mulligan, the
saviour of our world!”
Now from all sides gnomes came forward and stared at me. Some were
old and others were young, men, women, and children, some dressed in
jackets, others in gowns, many wearing hoods upon their heads, whose
pointed ends hung down over their backs. I could not quite understand
why they should be so much surprised at seeing a man, and expressed my
surprise about it, saying that in the world where I lived men were as
plentiful as bugs on a tree, while gnomes were exceedingly scarce, so
that hardly anybody seriously believed in their existence, and that
nobody would dare to say openly that he ever saw a gnome, for fear that
somebody might laugh in his face.
Much better would it have been for me if I had been less loquacious,
for I saw that some of the more intelligent gnomes looked now very
indignant, and one of the wise ones came forward and said--
“Although you said yourself that you were a man, nevertheless I
perceive in you only an inferior being, perhaps a hobgoblin; for how is
it possible that men, being omnipotent and all-knowing spirits, should
not know that we exist, and that they would be afraid of speaking
the truth? Only a blaspheming elemental would dare to say that real
men were subject to animal passions. How could the creator of all be
ignorant of the existence of his creatures? How could he who rests on
his own self-consciousness, and is affected by nothing, suffer from
fear?”
I did not know what to say; but while trying to think of an answer to
subdue the rising storm, for I saw that the gnomes were getting angry,
the attention of the crowd was attracted towards the further end of the
hall, where a large globe of yellow light appeared, which in coming
nearer became condensed into a human form, appearing as a gnome of
venerable aspect, with a jewel looking like a fiery topaz upon his
head. He had a white beard, and was dressed in a black cloak or cape,
and short trousers, stockings, and buckled shoes. In his hand he held
something that looked like a tube or telescope. He was, as I heard
them say, Prince Cravatu, minister to the king.
As he approached, all the gnomes became silent and waited in mute
expectation for what he would have to say. He came up to me very
close, and looked at me through his tube, which turned out to be a
spiritoscope. The time during which he examined me seemed to me an
eternity, but at last he finished, and spoke the ominous words--“_Umbra
simiæ vulgaris._”
I knew enough Latin to understand that he said I was the ghost of a
common ape. A general laughter arose, which was followed by murmurs of
dissatisfaction. Cravatu’s unkind remark wounded my feelings, and I
therefore said--
“It is perhaps yourself who is a ghost and a monkey, Mr Smarty! I am
a man, and never had any monkey in my family. My father was Thomas
Mulligan, a member of as good standing in the Church as anybody, and
my mother’s name was Bridget O’Flannigan, and they were married by
Father Murphy, the parish priest.” And talking myself into a sort of
excitement, I proceeded to pull off my coat, and continued: “Just come
out of here, you brute, and I will show you whether or not I am a man.
I will blacken your eyes and turn you into a kettle-drum. I will make
you think that a thousand monkeys have come to scratch your head, you
blackguard!”
It was evident that among all present there was none who understood my
speech, and Adalga seemed to listen to it with delight. Cravatu looked
again and said, addressing the gnomes--
“He is from the land of dreams, and the product of an illusion. There
is not a spark of spiritual energy discoverable in him. His language
appears to belong to a certain tribe of monkeys inhabiting the dark and
impenetrable continent that lies beyond the confines of our kingdom,
where all sorts of hobgoblins, devils, and monsters exist, whose
greatest pleasure it is to torture each other. Among them you will find
different degrees of insanity: they wander about in the dark, without
knowing from whence they came or what will be the end of their journey;
turning around in a circular dance, sometimes whirling in one direction
and then again in another, always returning to the place from which
they started, without making any progress. Nevertheless, some of them
are said to enjoy their condition, because they do not know anything
better. They do not know their own selves, and they are not alive; they
only dream that they live, and mistake their dreams for realities. Some
of them may even dream to be men. They are dreams in a dream. They have
their imaginary dream-knowledge, dream-pleasures, and dream-sorrows,
and imagine them to be real. After a certain time they evaporate.”
Something in Cravatu’s manner made me feel that there was a grain of
truth in what he said, and kept me from getting angry; but I did not
like to hear a gnome speaking so disrespectfully of the human race. I
therefore said--
“I beg pardon. The place which you describe may be Purgatory or
something worse, but not our world, in which it is, after all, very
pleasant to live. We are neither fools nor idiots, but we have among
us people of great learning, scientists and inventors, and we have
many things which are quite beyond the power of the comprehension of a
gnome.”
“Listen to that phantom!” exclaimed Cravatu. “How every word of his
confirms what I said. It would be impossible to convince the product of
a delusion that he is only an illusion, because, believing himself to
be real, all his delusions seem real to him. Not knowing their own real
self, but only what appears to be their self, they do not perceive
anything real, but see only that which appears to be, and never that
which really is.”
Upon this a general discussion took place. Some of the gnomes expressed
their opinion that I might be a man after all without knowing it;
others said that they perceived that I was only a spook; some thought I
was a cheat, and others expressed their belief that I was the product
of an auto-suggestion. At last some of the brightest gnomes held a
consultation together, and when it was ended, one of the wisest-looking
came up to me and said--
“We will allow you fair play. Men are all-knowing, and, if you are a
man, you will be able to answer a question. Will you therefore have the
kindness to tell us what is the cube-root of the diameter of a circle
having a periphery of 3,1415, if you please?”
This of course I did not know, and therefore I said--
“I am not a mathematician, and you will therefore have to ask me
something easier. But, even if I were an expert in mathematics, I would
require a piece of paper and a pencil to figure it out.”
This remark of mine caused a great deal of merriment among all the
gnomes present. They jumped and yelled, and punching each others’ ribs
with the tips of their fingers, they cried--
“Ho! Ho! He does not know the cube-root of the diameter of a circle
having a periphery of 3,1415,” and from every corner of the place,
where groups of gnomes were standing, and from every projecting rock,
where some of them were perching and listening, shouts of derisive
laughter came back, repeating the suggestive and exasperating words:
“Ho! Ho! He does not know the cube-root of the diameter of a circle
having a periphery of 3,1415.”
“This is very idiotic!” I cried. “How could anybody know anything
without figuring it out or being informed about it?”
A triumphant smile appeared upon Cravatu’s face, and Adalga looked
downcast and perplexed, but my remarks only increased the hilarity of
the gnomes, many of whom stood upon their heads, and swinging their
legs, roared--
“He sees nothing! He knows nothing! He imagines to know what he is
informed about! He knows nothing himself!”
In the midst of this uproar a blast of trumpets was heard. Order was
immediately restored, and the gnomes whispered to each other--
“The king!”
A sound as of many tinkling silver bells announced the arrival of
his majesty, and immediately afterwards I saw a globe of red light
of unusual size, accompanied by many smaller ones approaching, and
directly I stood in the presence of Bimbam I., king of the gnomes.
The king, whenever he condescended to assume a corporeal form,
appeared as a gnome of noble bearing, medium-sized, and of middle age,
having a yellow beard, while upon his head rested a crown with many
stars; the greatest of them being a large carbuncle, emitting a living
red light, which enveloped his person, and caused everything upon which
it radiated to appear in a red colour.
“What is all this row about?” asked the king. “Has Kalutho again
forgotten to collect electricity from the clouds, and to supply with
vitality the roots of the buttercups on the eastern side of the
mountain?”
“Worse than that, your Majesty,” replied Cravatu, saluting the king.
“A spectre from the country of dreams has dared to penetrate into your
kingdom, and it remains with your majesty to decide what is to be done
with it. It is an animal hobgoblin belonging to the third dimension of
space.”
Thus speaking, he handed to the king the spiritoscope, through which
Bimbam I. took a long look at me, and returning it to the minister, he
spoke only one word--
“Empty!”
“What is most curious about it, if your majesty will permit,” continued
Cravatu, “is that this three-dimensional apparition dreams that it is
one of those supernatural beings which once existed upon the earth and
were called men!”
Upon hearing these words the king broke out into such a roar of
laughter that it was fearful to behold. He held his sides and laughed
so that it shook the rocks and disintegrated some of them, while all
the gnomes laughed with him. When the noise had subsided, Cravatu again
spoke and said--
“If it pleases your majesty to observe that the semi-intellectual
forces in nature produce such elemental forms. They do nothing by their
own volition, but act only according to the influences which act upon
them. Anybody can make them do as he pleases.”
So saying, Cravatu made a sign to one of the gnomes, whom I afterwards
learned to know as Clavo, the commanding general of the army. He was a
robust fellow, and very quick. Before I knew what he was about, he drew
a pin, which he carried in a scabbard by his side, and stuck it into my
back. I cried out, and made a jump.
“It is evident,” said the king, “that he is an elemental. Spirits do
not squeal and jump when they are stuck with a pin.”
This remark annoyed me, and I howled--
“I do not claim to be a spirit; I only said that I am a man!”
His majesty grinned ironically.
“Who ever heard,” he said, “of a real man who is not a spirit?”
Cravatu then motioned to another gnome who carried a fiddle under his
arm, and that fellow, understanding the order, began to play a jig.
I am a great lover of music, and love to dance, and this surely was
the best Irish jig I ever listened to; but I did not want to make an
exhibition of myself before the king, and resisted the impulse. At
last, however, the music got the best of me, my legs began to jerk, and
before I really knew what I was doing, I danced the jig as lively as I
ever danced one in my life.
“He dreams that he is a man,” said the king, “but he is only a product
of nature. If you stick his body with a pin, it jumps; if you fiddle
to his legs, he dreams that he must dance. I do not perceive any
spirit nor anything supernatural in him; he is only a composition of
semi-intelligent forces of nature. One can make such a compound do what
one likes. We can make it amiable or disagreeable, gay or sorry, angry
or contented, envious or generous, jealous, furious, or whatever one
likes.”
While the king spoke these words, the princess gave a faint cry, and as
I looked at her I saw that the silvery white of her star had assumed a
bluish tint. This was noticed by all the gnomes, and they became very
much alarmed.
“Her royal highness, the princess, has fallen in love,” cried Cravatu,
in a sorrowful tone, and the king quickly replied--
“Let the physician of the court be summoned immediately.”
These words were hardly spoken when the doctor made his appearance. He
was an old fellow, with a benevolent expression, wearing a blue cape
with yellow borders. He had a grey beard, and wore a pair of golden
spectacles.
Unlike our doctors, he did not ask the patient any questions; he
did not feel her pulse, nor even look at her tongue; but, like all
gnomes, he knew things by direct perception, and saw immediately what
was the matter with her. Turning to the king he expressed his sorrow
that such an unfortunate accident should have happened to a member
of the royal family, and for the purpose of removing the cause of the
disease, he advised the king that the object of the affection of the
princess--meaning myself--should have his head sawed off immediately.
To my horror, Adalga consented cheerfully, and the king was about to
give the required order, when the doctor spoke again, and said--
“If her royal highness would consent to wait until the next night, I
would propose to preserve the subject, and instead of sawing its head
off, have it dissected alive in the presence of the medical faculty,
as it would be very interesting to our physiologists to see of what
material spooks are made. If the princess would consent to have that
much patience, the whole profession would be thankful to her.”
The princess declared herself willing to wait, and said that the
sensation she experienced was rather pleasant that painful to her.
Thereupon the king said in a stern manner--
“See that he does not escape. Put him under the jumping-jack!” So
saying, the king and his suite turned to go.
“The jumping-jack!”--what a horror crept over me when I heard these
terrible words. My frame began to tremble, and my hair stood on one
end at the very thought of this jumping-jack, although I had not the
faintest idea of what it was, but imagined it to be some instrument
of torture. Soon, however, I had my doubts cleared up; for the head
executioner, a strong fellow in a scarlet robe, together with his
attendants, brought forth the instrument. It consisted of a yellow
stick, upon which a wooden monkey, painted purple, was with its hands
attached to a movable crossbar at the top, leaving the body free to
climb up and down. This they placed before me, planting the stick into
the ground, and by means of some contrivance unknown to me, they set
the wooden monkey a-going, and quietly walked away, leaving me alone
with the princess.
I do not know how it came, but that wooden monkey exerted a powerful
influence over me. I had often seen such jumping-jacks at toy-shops,
but never experienced such an attraction before. I could not divert
my eyes from that monkey. I called myself a thousand times a fool for
paying any attention at all to a jumping-jack, and nevertheless it kept
me spell-bound. I could do nothing else but sit there with my eyes
rivetted upon that monkey. I knew that the princess was still with me,
and I heard her imploring me with tears, by all that was sacred to me,
to desist from paying attention to that jumping-jack.
“Dearest Mulligan!” she cried, “why will you not desist from
worshipping that monkey? Why will you not make love to me? See, the
doors are open, and there is nothing to hinder us to depart. Have I not
promised you to follow you wherever you go?”
“Let me alone!” I cried in rage. “I cannot take my eyes away from that
confounded jack.”
“Is this your manhood?” continued Adalga, weeping and wringing her
hands. “Are you a supernatural being, and the sight of a monkey can
make you forget yourself and your promises? Is this your love and
affection for me, which a purple monkey can steal away? O Mulligan!
Mulligan! leave off looking at that jumping-jack and remember your
duty! Come into my arms!”
“I wish that confounded hypnotism had never been invented!” I cried;
but for all that I was not able to break the spell. The princess kept
on crying bitterly, and begging me to desist. I heard her speak, but
what she said had no effect upon me. What did I care for a princess,
while I enjoyed the sight of that dear jumping-jack? I knew that if I
did not control myself I would have to remain in this situation and
be tortured to death at the appointed hour; but what was that to me?
I cared for nothing else but for the sight of that monkey in whom all
my affections were centred. I thought of the princess with entire
indifference. Oh, how I loved that jumping-jack! It was as dear to me
as if it had been my own self. I could not think of anything but of
that jumping-jack, and I involuntarily hummed the song in which my
situation was so well portrayed by the words of a well-known poet:--
“Willie had a purple monkey
Climbing on a yellow stick.”
It never occurred to me to lick off the paint. I knew nothing more. I
was asleep, with the jumping-jack in my arms.
[Illustration: HYPNOTIZED BY A MONKEY]
IV.
AMONG THE GNOMES.
While I was sleeping I experienced a horrible dream. The jumping-jack
before me assumed the features of a baboon, having a great resemblance
to Professor Cracker, and besides this there were two grotesque
figures standing at the foot of the pole. One was wooden nut-cracker
with goggle eyes, a long nose and protruding chin, the very image of
Jeremiah Stiffbone; and the other a curiously shaped whisky-jug of
stoneware, having the form and features of Mr Scalawag; and while the
monkey was moving up and down on the pole, the nut-cracker and the
whisky-jug danced, and all three sang the following song:
Huzza and hey-day! Up and down we go;
There being nothing that we do not know.
We prove that black is white and white is black,
And all the world admires the jumping-jack.
And as we jump go jumping all the rest;
Who jumps the highest knows his business best.
Forward and backward on the beaten track:
There’s nothing greater than a jumping-jack.
And to our stick we cling from first to last;
Who asks for more is only a fantast.
Thus up and down we go, upward and back:
This is the glory of a jumping-jack.
After they finished singing, the nut-cracker sniffed the air with his
nose and turned his goggle eyes in the direction where I was hidden,
after which his jaws began to move, and he said:
“I am smelling human flesh. There is some one present.”
To this the whisky-jug replied, while grinning from ear to ear:
“Who knows but it may be Mr Schneider, or his ghost.”
“Mr Schneider has no ghost,” said the baboon. “If we were to find one,
we would have to destroy it immediately, to save the reputation of
science.”
“I am quite sure that something of that kind is hidden somewhere,”
replied the nut-cracker, and turning to the baboon, he asked: “Do you
see anything?”
“Seeing is deceptive,” answered the baboon, “but we will see whether we
cannot reason it out. Wait till I come down.”
So saying, the monkey stopped his motions, and to my horror I saw him
unfastening his hands from the crossbar. Climbing down the yellow
stick, he joined the whisky-jug and the nut-cracker, and all three
searched the place and almost stumbled over me, but they did not see
me.
“There is nothing,” said the baboon. “However, there can be no doubt
that Schneider is dead, and the only thing to be regretted about it is
that he did not die in the interest of science. If we had known that
he was going to die anyhow, we might have subjected him to certain
experiments.”
Strange to say, during this dream I had no thought of being a Mulligan;
but my individuality was changed back to Mr Schneider. When I awoke
Schneider was gone, and I was once more Mulligan.
“_De mortuis nil nisi bene!_” drawled out the nut-cracker. “But if
Schneider had died in the interest of science, it would have been the
first useful thing he ever did.” So saying, the nut-cracker clapped his
jaws.
The whisky-jug blinked with his little eyes and added, “He meant well,
but----”
I knew what he was going to say, and this made me very angry. I
therefore jumped at him and gave him a box on the ear; but my fist
went quite through his head, and it had no other effect upon him
than stopping his sentence. He did not seem to notice it; but I now
knew that I had died and become a spirit. I also saw that I could
take possession of people and use their organs of speech, and as the
nut-cracker was nearest to me, I went inside of him and caused him to
exclaim:--
“I will show you whether or not I am a well-meaning fool! Confound
you and your science! I have been among the gnomes and know that they
exist! but you are the blind fools who cannot see anything because you
are too stupid to open your eyes.”
“Brother Stiffbone has become insane,” said the baboon; “let us tie him
before he does us any injury.”
Thereupon the baboon and the whisky-jug went for me while I was in the
nut-cracker’s body, and I went in that shape for them. I snapped at
the baboon’s ear and gave him a black eye, and I tore out a handful of
hair from the head of the whisky-jug, who in his turn broke my--that
is to say, the nut-cracker’s nose. At last they got the best of me;
because the wooden limbs of the nut-cracker were so stiff and I could
not move them quickly enough. We fell down, and the baboon was kneeling
upon my breast when I awoke.
Once more I was Mr Mulligan. I opened my eyes and found myself in inky
darkness. The first thing I did was to feel my nose to see whether it
was broken. The nose was all right, and its solidity convinced me that
I was no ghost, and my adventure with the nut-cracker’s body, however
real it seemed, had been only a dream. I groped about for the purpose
of finding the jumping-jack, but it was gone; neither did I regret its
absence, for with the sight of it all my affection for it had departed,
and I could not understand how I could have been so foolish as to
permit myself to be attracted by it. My desire for the purple monkey
had left me; but my love for the princess returned. I yearned for her
presence and called her name; but no answer came; there was nothing
around me but darkness and solitude.
Ever since that event I have often asked myself, Why do we hate to be
for a long time alone? The only answer I could find is, that when we
are alone with ourselves, the company of our self is not sufficiently
satisfactory and agreeable to us. Perhaps we do not sufficiently know
that self to fully enjoy its presence. Perhaps we do not know that self
at all, and then of course we are in company with something we do not
know, which means in company with nothing, and to enjoy the presence of
nothing is to have no enjoyment at all.
I confess that I never realised my own nothingness so much as on that
occasion. The old doubts returned again. I did not know whether I was
living or whether something which imagined itself to be “I” seemed to
live, and if that which only seemed to be myself was to be vivisected,
why should I trouble myself about it, as the vivisection of something
unknown to me did not concern me at all, unless I voluntarily chose to
take any interest in it? But how could I think of making any choice
at all if that “I” was something unknown? I instinctively refused to
recognise as myself that personality which was governed by the spell of
a jumping-jack, and I spoke to myself as if I were another person.
“Well, Mulligan!” I said, “how could you be such an idiot as to submit
yourself to the power of a baboon! Really, I doubt whether you are a
man. Pshaw! the gnomes are right. You are a monkey yourself, and even
inferior to a monkey, because the baboon was your master. A nice lord
of creation you are, being controlled by the creation of your own
foolish fancy. A lord of creation, indeed! One who cannot even resist
the attraction of a jumping-jack!”
Thus I went on moralising, and wondered what my real Ego was, and
whether it had anything at all to do with what seemed to be myself.
I wished to know whether I--that is to say, my real self--was; for
what purpose I was in the world, and where I had been before I entered
the world, and what that was which caused me to be born, and whether
I would be born again after I--that is to say, my body--had been
dissected. Alas, for all these questions Cracker’s science had no
answer to give, and I envied the gnomes who had the ability to dissolve
and condense into bodies at will.
The darkness was very oppressive, and I wished that I could be
self-luminous like a gnome, and not be dependent upon an external
light for the purpose of seeing. I wondered whether, perhaps, after
the dissection of my body, my spirit would have a light of its own,
or whether Bimbam was right when he pronounced the suggestive word,
“Empty!” Then something, of which I do not know what it was, made me
think that the worst thing anybody could possibly do was to doubt or
deny the presence of a spiritual light within himself, and while I
studied as to what may be that which made me think so, I came to the
conclusion that it was my own spirit reminding me of its presence, and
this was a more convincing proof to me that I actually had a spirit
than all the arguments offered to the contrary by Professor Cracker and
his ilk.
With this conviction a great deal of calmness and satisfaction came
over me. At the same time the darkness grew less in intensity; a
silvery mist, tinged with blue, arose like the dawn that precedes the
rising sun; the light grew stronger and condensed in a luminous ball,
and the next instant the princess stood before me.
“Dearest Adalga!” I said, “where have you been so long, and why did you
leave me alone in this horrible darkness?”
To this the princess answered, “Truth never departs, but error always
attracts us. Never for an instant have I deserted you; I was with you
and around you all the time, but you kept your eyes closed and refused
to see.”
“On the contrary,” I replied, “I strained my eyes to look through the
darkness, but there was nothing.”
“You strained your eyes,” answered the princess, “for the purpose of
seeing my form, which was not formed, and which could not be seen; but
you made no effort to see that which is without form, but which may be
seen with the inner eye. Know, my beloved, that when you see my form
you do not see me, and when you do not see my form you may see me in
truth.”
“This,” I said, “is contrary to all the doctrines of our science, which
teaches that we can see nothing whatever unless it has a shape of some
kind.”
“The eye of science sees only the outward form,” answered Adalga; “but
the eye of wisdom sees the reality itself.”
“I understand,” I replied. “I have learned a lesson, and henceforth the
delusion caused by forms shall have no more power over me. But tell
me, dear, is the hour of vivisection approaching? Is there no way for
escape?”
“Alas, no!” sighed the princess. “There is a jumping-jack at every
door.”
A thrill of horror swept through me when I heard these words, and made
me tremble. A moment before I had called myself a fool for being afraid
of a jumping-jack, and now at the very mention of such a toy the old
terror came back. I knew that I could not escape, because I would not
dare to face a jumping-jack again. I would be sure to succumb to its
influence.
“But,” continued Adalga, “why should you be afraid of being dissected?
Can you not create for yourself a new body again?”
“Nonsense!” I cried. “I am not a creator.”
“But, sure enough,” answered the princess, “you have a creative spirit
in you. Oh, my dear Mulligan, why will you remain incognito among us?
Why do you continue to be dark? Why will you disguise yourself before
me? Is it that I am not worthy to behold your true light, or that
my eyes would be dazzled by its splendour? Lord of my heart, unveil
yourself to me! Show yourself to me in your own essence!”
“Dearest princess!” I replied, “I do not know what you are talking
about. I am not luminous, and I never saw a luminous man. In our
country nobody has a light of his own.”
“Alas!” said the princess, “what a fearful fate it must be to have no
light, and to live in a country of perpetual darkness.”
To this I replied--
“This is not so. Nobody in our country needs a light of his own,
because we have one great luminary, called the sun, right over our
head, and the light of that sun illuminates our world.”
“And can everybody see that sun?” asked the princess.
“Of course,” I said. “Everybody, unless he is as blind as a bat.”
When I had spoken these words, the princess threw her arms around my
neck, and whispered to me--
“Dearest Mulligan! I have a favour to ask you. Please fetch me the sun!”
“This is quite impossible,” I said, “for although we all live in the
light of the sun, nevertheless we cannot approach the sun, nor put him
into our pockets.”
But the princess was not satisfied with that answer. “Surely,” she
exclaimed, “you told me that the sun was right above your heads.
You ought not to refuse me the first kindness I ever asked of you. I
implore you to bring me the sun. I will not be contented unless I have
it.”
I became alarmed. “This is a foolish request, madame,” I said. “If
somebody, or anybody, could claim the sun as his own, and carry it
away, there would be little chance for anyone else to enjoy it. The
Government would monopolise it, and put a tax upon the use of his
light; the doctors would dissect him to see of what material he is
made; and there are lots of amorous fools who would not hesitate a
moment to make him explode, merely for the purpose of amusing their
sweethearts.”
But it was of no use to argue such a thing with a being unacquainted
with the first rules of logic, and the princess went on with tears and
sobs to beg me to fetch her the sun. I tried my best to explain to her
the absurdity of the request, but she would not listen; and, weeping
bitterly, she cried--
“O Mulligan, you do not love me! Is this your gratitude for bestowing
my affection upon you?”
I felt very miserable, and began to look upon myself as the most
ungrateful wretch, and to appease her I promised that I would try to do
all I could.
At this moment a blast of trumpets and the tinkling of bells announced
the arrival of the king. He was accompanied by the queen and her suite,
and with them came all the nobility, the ministers, officers, and also
the whole of the medical faculty, together with the head executioner
and his assistants. The queen was a little fat woman, and rather
homely. Upon her head shone a great emerald, throwing a soft green
light around her. She was accompanied by her maids of honour, all of
whom appeared in a green colour.
I made my bow to the queen, who, after looking at me through the
spiritoscope, turned to the king and said--
“Is this the green hobgoblin who has the impudence of claiming that he
is a man-spirit?”
“Yes,” answered the king; “only, as you will observe, he is not green,
but red.”
“Your majesty is pleased to jest,” replied the queen. “Everybody sees
that he is green.”
“He is red,” said the king sternly, being evidently annoyed by her
contradiction.
“Let him be red then, if you must have it so,” answered the queen,
while her voice indicated vexation; “but he is green for all that.”
“Well, I declare!” exclaimed Bimbam I., growing still more red. “I
never saw a woman in my life that did not love to contradict. I say he
is red, and I will leave it to Cravatu to decide.”
Cravatu stepped forward, letting his yellow light fall directly upon
me, and after scanning me very carefully, he said: “I beg pardon, your
majesties, but the hobgoblin is of a bright yellow colour.”
“Are you all making sport of me?” cried the king in a rage; and turning
to the princess, he asked: “What does Adalga say?”
“He appears to me in a silvery light shaded with blue,” answered the
princess; “but according to his own statement he does not shine at all.”
The gnomes looked at each other in amazement, and Cravatu said--
“He is a wizard who appears to everyone in another light.”
But the princess continued--
“Although he does not shine, he has a much greater light than we all,
for it shines upon everything. He calls it a sun, and he has promised
to fetch it to me.”
Therefore the king ordered that I should immediately show him the
sun, and when I succeeded in making him understand that it could not
be removed from its place in the universe, and that the only way of
convincing oneself of its existence was to step within the sphere of
its light, the king ordered Cravatu to select immediately a committee
of three of the most clever gnomes for the purpose of going to the
country of dreams and to hunt for the sun.
Accordingly three gnomes of rank were selected. They were of a white
colour, and the light that radiated from them was so brilliant that
it dazzled one’s eyes to look at it. They immediately assumed their
spherical shapes and floated away; but the king ordered that my
execution should be stayed until after their discovery of the sun.
When I heard these words I felt much relieved in my mind, for I had now
some hope of escape.
“May your majesty persevere in that resolution!” I said to the king.
“For these three messengers will never discover the sun. They have too
splendid lights of their own to be able to see beyond it. They will be
dazzled and blinded by their own radiance, and not look for the light
of the sun.”
Upon hearing these words everybody seemed highly astonished. The gnomes
looked at each other in surprise, and whispered: “He is a prophet! He
can foretell future events! This is quite supernatural!”
“It does not require any supernatural power,” I said, “to be able
to foretell that a thing cannot take place, on account of its being
impossible. Everybody knows that a certain amount of darkness is
required for the purpose of enabling one to perceive light. Those who
are full of their own light cannot see the light of another, just as
those who love to hear only themselves talking will not listen to what
another one says.”
“Wonderful!” exclaimed the king, and Cravatu whispered to him: “He is
one of those who see what is not.”
But I continued saying: “If your majesty wishes to obtain information
regarding the existence of truth, I would advise you to send a
committee of such as are less conceited and capable of seeing beyond
the wall which their egoism has built around them.”
I was still speaking when the three gnomes returned, and they reported
unanimously that they had been to dreamland, and that they had seen no
other light but their own, and that it was an absurdity to believe in
the existence of a universal sun; for if there were such a light it
could not have escaped their notice, and, moreover, the presence of
such a light would make everybody look of the same colour, so that not
one person could be distinguished from another.
Thereupon all the dark gnomes, such as had as little light and
intelligence as possible, were gathered, and out of them the king
selected three almost entirely dark dwarfs. They were surely the most
sorry-looking imbeciles which it has ever been my misfortune to behold.
Big-headed, hydrocephalic, with shrunken brains, they were the very
personification of abject stupidity; they seemed to have not more
understanding than an oyster, although their power of seeing appeared
good enough. These were appointed as a committee to seek for the sun,
and it was ordered that they should be conducted to the frontier of
the outer world, there to be left to their own fate and to begin their
researches. This was accordingly done: the three idiots were taken
away, and I pitied them, for I doubted whether they would ever have
sense enough to find their way back.
“I am curious to hear the report of this committee,” remarked the
queen, “perhaps it would have been still better to blindfold them.”
To this I replied--
“I fear that your majesty will be disappointed; for, even if the dwarfs
perceive the sun, they will be incapable to understand what they see,
or to describe it.”
“Hear! hear!” exclaimed the king, and all the gnomes began to regard
me with awe and respect; but Cravatu said--
“Really there is more behind this person than we suspected. He is one
of those who sees that which cannot be.”
Thereupon the king conferred upon me the office of head fortune-teller
to the court, and I was treated with great respect. The whole behaviour
of the gnomes changed; the queen smiled at me, and invited me to the
palace; but the princess was delighted, and as she took my arm, she
said to me with a triumphant smile: “I knew that you were more than a
spook after all.”
[Illustration: THE DISCOVERY OF THE SUN]
V.
AMONG THE GNOMES
(_continued_).
We arrived at the king’s palace, a description of which will
undoubtedly interest the reader, and I only regret my inability to do
full justice to this subject.
The palace consisted of an extensive building of white alabaster upon
a rose-coloured marble foundation, and with a gilded dome-shaped roof
over the main portion of the building, while the adjoining parts were
shaped in various ways. The whole represented a mixture of Grecian
and Moorish styles; there was a high portal whose columns were of
white marble with veins of gold. Entering through the main door we
came into a spacious courtyard, filled with works of art, representing
antediluvian monstrosities of the various ages of the world. There
we saw the Ichthyosaurus, Plesiosaurus, and Megatherium, and similar
animals unknown in history; enormous snakes, turtles, and crocodiles,
in what is supposed to have been their original size and shape, and
besides these there were represented such failures of nature as may
have existed in the earliest time of the world’s history--women with
fish-tails, human bodies with animal heads, and animal bodies with
human heads or limbs, fauns, mermaids, satyrs, centaurs, flying
snakes, dragons, etc. Curiously enough, the gnomes claimed that these
were the representations of their ancestors, and they paid great
respect to them. This courtyard extended all around the palace,
surrounding it like a ring.
From this court we entered into an entrance hall built of yellow
stone, at the door of which were standing two gigantic umbrella-shaped
mushrooms of scarlet colour with white filaments, resembling the finest
kind of lace.
This hall was exquisitely furnished and ornamented with various
mushrooms, all of an edible kind, affording at once comfort and
food; for while resting upon a lounge or sitting at a table, if one
wanted to eat, all he had to do was to eat a piece of the furniture.
There was the Agaricus deliciosus, procerus, campestris, prunulus,
Boletus edulis, Polyporus confluens, Hydrum repandum and imbriatum,
the Clavaria Botrytis, Morchella esculenta, Helvella crispa, Bovista
nigrescens, and many others, whose names I have forgotten, and still
others which even Professor Cracker has not yet classified. They
were serving either as tables, couches, or chairs; and there was not
a single toadstool or poisonous fungus among them. There were no
chandeliers, lamps, or candlesticks of any kind, for the gnomes lived
in a natural manner and needed no artificial lights. Each gnome was
himself a light more or less luminous according to the degree of his
or her intelligence. But to me, having no light of my own and no power
to illuminate anything, it was a source of continual annoyance that
I always needed the company of some gnome to keep me enlightened, as
otherwise I would have been left in utter darkness and nothingness.
Moreover, the light in which a thing appeared to me always depended on
the colour of the light of this or that gnome who happened to be in my
presence, which caused me to experience a continual change of opinions
regarding the qualities of the objects I saw.
From this hall a flight of seven marble steps led into the main
building of the palace. This consisted of eight divisions, each made
of a different quality; while the whole was built in a star-shaped
form; so that each division with its sub-divisions was connected
directly with the central chamber occupied by the king. But what was
most curious about it was, that in each division some special invisible
genii or spirit seemed to preside; for in each a peculiar influence
differing from the rest could be felt by anyone whose nerves were not
made of cast-iron or who was not a blockhead.
Thus the hall of the mushrooms on the north side breathed an air of
luxury and enjoyment; while the room to the left of it was pervaded
by a spirit of anxiety and dissatisfaction, and was visited only by
those who by force of habit had become attracted to it, and who, so
to say, found satisfaction only in being always dissatisfied; chronic
grumblers, misanthropes, people discontented with themselves and with
everything. On the other hand, there were two rooms to the east, in
which nobody could remain without being overcome by a feeling of awe,
reverence, generosity, sublimity, and a deep religious sentiment. They
were visited by the brightest of the gnomes, and served as places for
contemplation. These rooms seemed to be empty, but they were not empty;
because, while they were bare of all objects, they were filled with an
overwhelming abundance of that spirit which is the creator or producer
of forms.
[Illustration: THE PALACE OF THE KING.]
The south-eastern portion of the palace contained the sleeping
apartments of the royal family, and whoever entered there would sink
into a state of torpor and forgetfulness; but the hall next to that,
lying directly towards the south, inspired its inhabitants with a deep
melancholy easily turned into anger. Another division towards the west
was called the chamber of cunning, and used on certain occasions for
the purpose of concocting schemes of revenge and intrigue. It was
very seldom used at the time of my arrival, but became a favourite
meeting-room later on. As to the hall upon the north side, which
was dedicated to all sorts of sensual enjoyment, it was the most
attractive, but also the most dangerous of them all, and I am bound by
promise not to divulge any of its mysteries.
All these rooms were free of access to every gnome of good standing;
but the division in the centre, where the king resided, was open
only to those who gained admission there. It was always guarded by a
selected number of female soldiers, corresponding to our Amazons, and
it was said that female soldiers were always chosen in preference,
because they were more faithful and reliable than the males among the
gnomes.
At the entrance of the king’s chamber there were statues of gigantic
size, reminding me of the ones at the British Museum which were brought
there from Easter Island. They represented that prehistoric race of
beings which the gnomes used to call “_Man_,” or “_Homo divinus_,”
and of which they claimed that it existed no more upon the planet
earth, having emigrated to other spheres, and abandoned their country
to hobgoblins, devils, and spooks. I must confess that in our country
I never met with any human beings of such a superhuman aspect as was
represented here. There were images of men and women of such noble mien
and so awe-inspiring, that they looked much more like gods than like
specimens of the genus _homo bipex_, and a resemblance to them can be
found only among the statuary of the ancient Greeks. Here the king in
person resided, and nobody dared to approach him without his consent,
and without being admitted by the Amazons; but the apartments of the
princess were next to those of the king, and as I spent a great deal of
time in her company, I also came very frequently in contact with her
father the king.
The most remarkable thing among the gnomes was that they could not
distinguish falsehood from truth. They were incapable of saying
anything else than what they themselves thought and believed, and they
could not conceive of the possibility of telling a lie. This state of
affairs was sometimes somewhat annoying, for it is not always agreeable
to hear some one state his opinion about you right to your face; but
on the other hand it was advantageous in many respects. For instance,
whenever I wanted to enter the chamber of the king, all I had to do was
to tell the Amazons that the king wanted to see me; and I believe if
anyone had told the treasurer of the kingdom that he was entitled to
take the treasure away, the guardian would have delivered it up without
hesitation. This, however, was only at the time of my arrival, and
before an attempt of civilising the gnomes was made. Time passed away
rapidly, and I do not know how long I remained at the palace enjoying
the hospitality of the queen and the company of the princess; but each
day I learned more to admire Adalga’s character; the simplicity of her
way of thinking, and the purity of her affection. It is true that her
want of modern education, her inability to hide her true sentiments,
and her inexperience in the habits of modern civilisation--especially
in what refers to conventionalities--sometimes created a feeling of
dissatisfaction in my mind. She did not know how to pretend sentiments
which she did not experience; she knew nothing about logical quibbles
and tergiversation, nor of the many sweet little lies that make life
supportable among mankind. It never occurred to her to say anything
just for the sake of using a little flattery or tickling one’s vanity,
or for the purpose of teasing; and of all such things which are much
admired among people of culture she knew nothing. This I regretted,
but I could not keep myself from admiring her naturalness and
sincerity. We passed a great deal of our time in the hall at the north
end, and the princess asked me a thousand questions in regard to the
constitution, customs and habits of the human kingdom, the manners
of its inhabitants, their object of living and occupation, and the
immortality of their souls.
“I know, love of my heart!” she used to say, “that if I could only
become fully identified with you, we would both be as one immortal
being, and it is only the dark aspect of your nature which prevents
this unification and identity.”
“But why, dearest one!” I asked, “can you not become immortal without
this unification that would destroy your identity? Have you not within
yourself all the elements necessary for that purpose?”
“Alas, no!” answered the princess. “These elements are within us, but
they are capable of development only in the constitution of man, and
therefore we strive to become human just as you strive to become gods.
But the race of real human beings has disappeared, and only a spurious
imitation is left. These are the ghosts and hobgoblins with whom
intercourse is forbidden, and we are now doomed to be left for ages
without any prospect of real progress, until a race of real men appears
again upon the earth.”
I answered her questions as well as I could, assuring her that there
were still a great many honest and noble-minded people among what she
called hobgoblins and ghosts, and that they would be glad to contract
marriages with gnomes and sylphs, if they knew that they could thereby
be useful to them. I said that there were among us millions of people
who did not know that they were immortal, but that thousands of
clergymen were engaged in the occupation of making them believe it. I
also said that new systems of ethics, morals, and philosophy were being
invented almost every day, and that the world of humanity would soon
become very much improved.
“Oh, I wish I were a man!” exclaimed Adalga.
“This will be impossible in your present incarnation,” I said. “But I
will do all I can to develop in you a human mind and teach you all that
men know.”
“Oh, do please!” cried the princess, embracing me in the exuberance of
her joy.
“First of all,” I said, “you must learn the rules of logic, syntax
and induction, illation, postulation, assumption and inference. You
must learn to doubt everything you see and feel, and deny all you
hear. Never believe anything unless you already know all the whys
and wherefores, and never take anything for granted unless it comes
from an authority which you believe to be respectable, and which is
recognised as such by the crowd. Deny everything that you do not
understand, consider everybody a liar until he has irrefutably proved
his veracity; never let anybody get the advantage of you by showing
yourself to him such as you are, and never do anything without getting
a personal profit.”
I stopped, because I saw that these maxims were all gibberish to the
princess, and that she did not understand what I said; but I resolved
to try my best to instruct her, and to bring intellectual culture among
the gnomes.
During these happy days, and while waiting for the return of the three
imbeciles, I highly enjoyed the novelty of my situation. My liberty was
not restricted, and I had ample opportunity for studying the character
and the habits of the gnomes, in which occupation I was liberally
aided by the princess. Arm in arm we wandered or floated through
the villages, visited the mines and observed the gnomes at their
labour, and I was astonished at the untold amount of treasures in the
Untersberg, the existence of which is little suspected.
The gnomes on the whole were at that time an unsophisticated lot;
because, owing to their simple nature, a gnome could only think one
thought at a time. They were therefore not given to reasoning and
argumentation, and lived fully contented. In fact, they were rather
deficient in intellectuality, but in spite of that, or perhaps on
account of it, they had a great deal of spiritual power. Falsehood,
lying, hypocrisy, scheming, and wilful deception were unknown to them,
and as stated above, they always meant what they said, and took it for
granted that everyone except a hobgoblin or spook meant what his words
implied; nor would it have been possible for a gnome to tell a wilful
lie without experiencing therefrom immediately a detrimental effect
upon his constitution; for as it was the light of truth that made them
luminous, the telling of a falsehood, or even the thinking of one,
would have immediately diminished the amount of his or her luminosity,
which would have at once become visible to the rest; or it might have
extinguished their light for ever. Thus they were, by the necessity of
their nature, always open and sincere, and followed their impulses for
good or evil without being guided by the reasoning intellect. Whatever
was done by them was done in good faith, even if it was foolish; there
never was any malicious intent.
Being capable of perceiving the truth directly and without reasoning,
by the power of pure reason or instinct, they could solve the most
difficult mathematical problems by merely looking at the final result,
and nearly every one of them could thus have made a fortune among us by
giving exhibitions of his power as a mathematical phenomenon, without
the least knowledge of mathematics; but they could not even make
the smallest calculation or draw any inferences from given factors.
They knew what they knew because they perceived it, and there was no
guessing about what they saw.
I found them to be exceedingly impressible by my thoughts and emotions.
I often amused myself with the lower orders of gnomes by making them
act out what I thought. When I, for instance, imagined myself to be
afraid of them, they would become immediately afraid of me and run
away. When I became angry at them, they became angry at me, even if
I said not a word nor showed it by my manners. I think that if I had
secretly determined to kill a gnome, he would have unknowingly followed
the impulse and killed me. This made me think of the story of Burkhart
of Tollenstein, and that perhaps many suicides may be thus due to the
ire aroused in those semi-intelligent forces of nature which we find
objectified in the kingdom of gnomes.
There was one class of gnomes called _Pigmies_, whose office it was to
direct the currents of vital electricity in the earth to all places
where the roots of the plants that grew upon the surface required it.
This they did while they were in their disembodied state, when each
of them was, so to say, like a magnetic current; but whenever they
assumed corporeal forms they were very small, and perhaps for this
reason they had a dislike against appearing in corporeal bodies, and
did so only for the purpose of taking food, or for some other object
which required material organs. They were composed of some substantial
but bodiless active force, which they could cause to crystallise into
a nucleus of latent energy. In such a condition they were very lazy;
but when liberated they were very active. They were strong, and it was
surprising to see what an amount of active force could be developed
from a comparatively insignificant spark of energy.
Next, there were the _Vulcani_, who were principally occupied with
mineral life, having in their charge the growth and transformation of
metals. Their substance consisted of a certain force for which we have
no name, but which might be called an electro-magnetic fire. By an
exercise of their will they were able to send a current of such vital
electricity into a mineral vein, and cause gold and silver, iron and
copper, to grow; for it is a sign of short-sightedness if one believes
that metals have no life and do not grow, because their growth is not
so rapid and perceptible as that of the plants.
Then there were the _Cubitali_, and the substance of which they were
formed was a kind of explosive force, which means that they could
contract their fluidic bodies and expand them very rapidly, when the
quick expansion caused a kind of explosion with a destructive effect.
Whenever they assumed a form they were about two feet high, well
built, and showing great muscular strength. They were, so to say, the
hard-working class, and their principal occupation was the blasting
of air and the cutting of rocks; and, in spite of their robust
appearance, they had a great deal of artistic talent, as was proved by
the products of their labour that could be seen in the palace of the
king.
Furthermore, there were the _Acthnici_, constituted of “_Acthna_,” an
invisible subterranean fire, who, whenever they manifested themselves
in forms and became visible, appeared like fiery globes and balls
of lightning. They were, on the whole, stupid and dangerous, and it
was said that on more than one occasion some of them had entered
dreamland--as they called our world--and been seen by the spooks and
returned no more; all of which may, perhaps, have been only a fable,
believed only by the children of the gnomes. The _Acthnici_ were said
to create heat and cause upheavings of the earth, and some of our
ancient philosophers believed them to cause explosions in our mines.
However that may be, I never saw them at work, for they were uncouth
fellows, and I loved to avoid their society.
There were also the _Sagani_, and they were the cleverest of all. They
were tall and well-formed, resembling the human shape in stature and
form whenever they assumed a body. They were from three to five feet
high, but they had the power to elongate themselves from the normal
size up to a length of twenty-five feet and more. Their principal
occupation was to construct the astral models of plants after a certain
type for each species, which they did by the power of their imagination
(I have no other suitable word); and here I beg to add in parenthesis
that, according to my observation among the gnomes, every plant, stone,
or tree upon the Untersberg had its “Leffahs,” as it is called by
the gnomes, or astral type within the astral body of that mountain;
each being in some way which I am unable to explain, connected with
the physical part of the corresponding organism; so that the physical
and (to us) visible product was always the exact image and corporeal
representation of its ethereal progenitor and counterpart that is
invisible to us but visible to the gnomes.
All the gnomes could at all times and at their own pleasure live in
their ethereal states without any definite form, comparable to air or
clouds or mists; or they could by an effort of will assume material and
corporeal forms, each one according to his or her innate qualities.
In their ethereal shape they could travel with the velocity of a
thought, and penetrate through the most solid rocks like a current of
electricity passing through a bar of iron; but in their corporeal state
their locomotion was comparatively slow, and the atmospheric air, not
being their own element, caused great obstacles to their locomotion.
For the purpose of passing through air, they had to employ cutting and
blasting and other methods similar to those which we use for tunnelling
rocks.
It is believed by some people that when our bodies are asleep, our
spirits are free to roam consciously through space, and experience
things which we do not remember when we awake, but which appear to us
at best as a dream. Something similar was the case with the gnomes. In
their ethereal states they were individual powers, as distinct from
each other as electricity is distinct from light, or heat from sound,
and as such they were in possession of consciousness and perception of
a spiritual kind, and capable of remembering all they had experienced
while condensed into a corporeal form. But whenever they assumed
corporeal bodies, they had no distinct recollection of what they had
been doing while in a state of dissolution, and this was explained to
me by the fact that while in their ethereal state their brains were
not solidified enough to register and retain the impressions which
they received; but the higher impressions which they received while in
their corporeal forms they remembered also in their ethereal state, and
whenever a gnome entered into the ethereal state he knew all that he
had been doing in the same state before. Moreover, there was a state
in which they lived in a semi-corporeal and semi-ethereal condition,
and this was when they had not fully dissolved their forms, but merely
assumed the shape of a globe of light.
From all this it will appear that it is as difficult for a gnome to
penetrate into our world as it is for us to penetrate into theirs, and
even, as it often may happen, a gnome, while in his incorporeal form,
visits mankind, he will not remember anything about it when he returns,
or it will appear to him like a dream, and this may be the reason
that our world has gained the reputation among the gnomes as being a
dreamland, and nothing more. It may be a dreamland to them as theirs is
to us. But they appeared to me to live and exist in their own sphere as
much as we in ours. As to the rest, they were born, ate, drank, slept,
married, and evaporated after death.
Each family and each tribe of gnomes had its own head and leaders,
whom they implicitly obeyed, without even knowing the possibility of
disobedience, because they were not given to arguing, and all were
ruled by Bimbam I. The administration of the kingdom was very simple;
there were no taxes to pay, and everyone had what he wanted, because
nobody wanted more than he had. The king took whatever he needed, and
never more than he cared to have. Custom-house duties, monopolies,
privileges, and corporation nuisances were entirely unknown, and there
was no newspaper to disseminate gossip, cause dissensions, and ruin
characters for the sake of getting up a sensation. There were no shams.
The nobility consisted of gnomes that were truly noble, and not merely
pretended to be so; the doctors actually knew something, and did not
merely make believe that they were in possession of knowledge; the
goodness of the good could be estimated by the amount of light that
radiated from their stars, and their character was indicated by the
colour of the star. Consequently each individual sphere of light slowly
changed when a new emotion or virtue grew in a gnome. Anger made them
red, love blue, intelligence yellow, sensuality green, wisdom violet,
and so forth.
The ladies of the gnomes occupied positions similar to those of our
wives and daughters. The lower classes joined the males in their work;
the higher ones were of a more ornamental character, and protectors of
arts. The world of gnomes, the same as ours, would have been dreary
without female beauty and loveliness. Many of the gnomesses were
exceedingly beautiful and ethereal, others were homely; but all of
them were very amiable, because they acted in a natural manner, made
no attempt of disguising their feelings, and knew of no such thing as
deceit; neither did they disfigure their forms by absurd fashions in
dress.
Love-making and wooing were carried on among the gnomes as it is with
us, only with the exception that the females had the same right as the
males to bestow their affection and to make proposals; neither was
it considered a disgrace for any lady to do so; on the contrary, it
would have been a disgrace for her to pretend to have other sentiments
than she had, and it would have injured her beauty and destroyed her
light. There was, however, no such thing as what is understood among
us as “women’s rights,” for their natural instincts taught them that
not everything that becomes a male also becomes a female; these gnomes
made no attempt to overstep the limits drawn by nature, for this would
have caused them to become degraded and unnatural. On account of
their simple-mindedness immorality was entirely unknown, because true
morality has its basis in the instinctive perception of truth, and
requires no artificially concocted systems and shams. One may be very
moral without even knowing that moral doctrines exist, and another may
know all the moral prescriptions by heart, and be a rascal for all that.
There was one class of females distinguished from the rest. They were
such as, having attained a certain age, were still without children.
They corresponded to what is in our world called “old maids”; but
they were neither old nor ugly. In fact, they were on the whole very
charming, and could sing beautiful songs, as everyone knows who has
lived for a certain time in the vicinity of the Untersberg, and heard
them sing. Their songs are usually of a sad character, and alluring;
they express their loneliness and longing for children. The love for
production exists in all departments of nature, and also among the
gnomes. A gnome having no knowledge of his own, is always happy to
stuff his head with theories belonging to others, and loves them as
if they were his own children. The same is the case with the so-called
“wild women” of the Untersberg. Their love for offspring sometimes
causes them to come out of the Untersberg and appropriate to themselves
children of men, such as they find lost or astray within their realm.
For this reason they are called “wild,” although I wish to gracious
that I would never meet with anything less wild than they. I always
found them very lovely, and I now understand the meaning of those
popular tales which speak of children of peasants that have been
abducted by these spirits, and taken into the Untersberg, where they
lived among the “wild women,” who treated them kindly, and played with
them; and after a certain time sent them back to their parents loaded
with gifts.
[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF LUCIFER]
VI.
LUCIFER.
Adalga, like all the rest of the gnomes, was a spirit, in the same
sense as we are spirits ourselves; the term “spirit” implying a
centre of consciousness or intelligence, irrespective as to whether
the form in which that spiritual power or energy dwells is visible
to somebody or everybody or nobody. In this sense the essence of
everything is spirit, and every living form is a dwelling-place or
vehicle for a conscious spiritual energy, be it latent or active, as
it could not otherwise be, if the world, as demonstrated by our best
philosophers, is, with all its seen and unseen forms, nothing else but
a manifestation of All-consciousness, an attribute of the Divine Mind.
In taking this view I am well aware that I am assuming an attitude
directly opposed to that of Professor Thomas Cracker, in his
capacity as a representative of that modern science which regards
the universe as being made up of dead lumps of matter, in which, in
some inexplicable way, life and consciousness are produced by means
of mechanical motion, due to the friction caused by their coming
accidentally in contact with each other. I am also clairvoyant enough
to foresee that Mr Cracker and his learned colleagues will treat this
story with contempt, if they should ever condescend to notice it; but
this cannot be helped, and I resign myself to my fate.
I will therefore not enter into a discussion concerning the merits of
a philosophy resulting from looking at the universe in its spiritual
aspect, or compare it with the absurdities resulting from a blind
belief in materialism and its superstitions, but proceed to say that
Adalga being a spirit, in possession of an intelligence not due to
mechanical friction, but due to the presence of an intelligent power
in her own constitution, this intelligence of which she was possessed
became manifested in her, and as time went on its manifestations
increased, as might have been scientifically proved by the observation
that she became more clever and intelligent. From this it may be
inferred that the princess was in possession of a mind capable of
cognizing things by means of her bodily senses, and the facts which
I witnessed every day went to corroborate the correctness of this
theory. Moreover, there were indications that her mind was capable
of cognizing the actuality of spiritual truths or principles; but
being only a gnome, she was not capable of intricate reasoning and
complicated argumentation.
I often argued with her about the supposed immortality of the soul,
and it seemed to me that Adalga was not substantial enough to be more
than an ideal, and could therefore not be an enduring reality, because
ideals require substance for becoming realised. In other words, the
princess often appeared to me like a thought, that may delight the
present generation but be forgotten by the next. What she needed was
“matter” or firmness, such as results from fixedness or stability
of the spirit, and I came to the conclusion that I could supply her
with the required material elements by her union with me. I know
that I will be accused of making wild statements, unsupported by any
well-authenticated scientific theory, but it will be seen that by
means of my logical and inductive reasoning I arrived at the end at the
same result, which Adalga seems to have perceived instinctively, and
without any scientific training of her imagination, merely by her own
direct perception.
It may be inferred that Adalga had a soul, because she was alive and
capable of having emotions, and in that soul seemed to be dormant a
spark of a higher or spiritual life or consciousness, producing in her
longings for the unknown, such as were expressed in her song in the
cave; longings which she herself could not explain, be it that her mind
was not sufficiently developed to understand her own nature, or that
she was deficient in a scientific training of her imagination.
The tribe to which Adalga belonged was that of the _Sagani_, the
noblest of all the tribes among the gnomes, whose intellectual capacity
was nearest to that of man. Being a Sagana, it was in her power to
elongate her body, a circumstance which was at first terrifying,
and afterwards somewhat annoying to me; for often while we were
sitting side by side, with arms interlinked, and engaged in the sweet
occupation of exchanging our sentiments, would she forget herself, and
suddenly elongating her body shoot up some twenty-five feet high by
sheer force of habit, upsetting me or carrying me up into space before
I had time to let go of her arm or take it away from my waist. I begged
her to restrain herself, and not to do so again in my presence; but
self-restraint is a power entirely unknown among the gnomes. It is only
possible for those beings who are in possession of a certain amount
of spiritual self-consciousness, or, in other words, who feel or know
that they are somehow superior to their own nature, as I am bound to
say, even if I risk being accused of believing in the existence of
something supernatural. The gnomes do not realise anything higher than
their own elemental nature, and can therefore not restrain it. Only
man can do or keep from doing certain things from a sense of duty and
superiority. It is true that even animals seem to restrain themselves,
but it is their fear or other instincts which restrains them, and not
the experience of anything higher than their natural animal state; they
do not experience any superiority over their animal nature, because
no such superiority is existing in them; their motives for action are
all to be found in their own natural world, while man’s motives may
sometimes spring from something superior than his own animal nature,
namely, from a higher and divine nature in him.
To my remonstrances the princess used to answer:
“It is my longing for the high, the sublime, and exalted which causes
me to elongate my body involuntarily. I wish to grasp the infinite, and
this makes me shoot up involuntarily.”
“This, my dear,” I replied, “is not the proper way, and would not
be permitted in polite society among us. Moreover, you cannot reach
infinitude in this manner, which reminds me of the performances of
certain scientific theologians, who continually keep searching for God
by means of a telescope. We cannot reach the infinite by stretching
our limbs; we must grow and unfold from within by the power which we
accumulate. This power, as it grows and expands, will cause our souls
to unfold and develop. Instead of seeking for support outside of
ourselves, we ought to be like a storage-battery, filled with a living
power, that will radiate all over the world. This power is called love.”
“And can your clever men of science make love?” asked the princess.
“Oh yes!” I answered; “love-making is a favourite occupation with many
of our people; but the love they make is not the genuine article,
but merely a spurious imitation. Genuine love cannot be made or
manufactured, it is eternal; all we can do is to establish the
conditions under which it may become manifest.”
“Oh how I wish I could learn all that you know!” exclaimed Adalga.
“Will you not instruct me?”
“With the greatest pleasure!” I answered. “The first thing which you
will require to learn is to distinguish the true from the false. You
gnomes know that which is true, because you perceive it, but you do not
distinguish it sufficiently from that which is false, because falsehood
is unknown to you. The first requirement for you to attain a higher
state of civilisation is therefore to become acquainted with all sorts
of falsehoods, deceptions, and lies.”
Adalga seemed to be frightened, and I therefore continued to explain.
“Listen!” I said. “You know that which is, because you perceive it;
but you must also learn to know that which is not, so that you may
distinguish it from that which actually is, and not mistake mere
appearances for realities.”
“But if that which is not has no existence, how can we know it?” asked
the princess.
“We cannot truly know that which is not,” I said, “except by
experiencing its nothingness. We must ourselves become liars and
cheats, otherwise we will always have only a vague idea of what lying
and cheating means. We must be able to perceive that which is not, so
that we may get some idea of that which is.”
“But how can I perceive that which is not,” asked Adalga, “if there is
nothing to perceive?”
“In the easiest way in the world,” was my answer. “It only requires
a scientifically trained imagination. We will then be able to see
anything we like, even if there is nothing.”
The princess was delighted. She looked at me with a face expressive of
great admiration, and said:
“As the glowing tiny spark of the ruby grows into a large red light
when it is joined by the flame, so my admiration of thee grows in
beholding thy knowledge. No longer art thou veiled to my eyes, for the
secret has been revealed, and I behold in thee not a man, but one of
the sons of Lucifer, the god to whom no gnome can approach.”
“Nonsense!” I said. “The story of Lucifer is only a nursery tale, an
exploded humbug, annihilated by science. What do you mean? Who is the
Lucifer of whom you are speaking?”
“The god of darkness! He who knows that which is not and does not know
that which is; he whose temple is beyond the limits of our city, whose
portals no gnome can enter without losing his light. Follow me!”
Thus saying, the princess dissolved, and assuming her spherical shape
floated away, while I followed her as fast as my legs would carry me,
for my curiosity was greatly excited.
Beyond the city of _Gnana_, the capital of the kingdom of the gnomes,
there is a wilderness composed of forests, jungles, and swamps. There
you find sandy deserts interspersed with an occasional spot of verdure,
and innumerable bogs over which will-o’-the-wisps are aimlessly
wandering. Some parts are entirely bare of vegetation, others are
covered with a luxuriant growth of curious trees, resembling the Poison
Ivy (_Atrus toxicodendron_), upon which grows a tasteless fruit. There
was also a species of crab-apple trees, and another bearing a certain
kind of nuts, which were awfully hard to crack, and contained nothing
but ashes. In some places the spot was covered with fine-looking but
poisonous toad-stools, and the ways were full of entangled vines and
briers. The main road was leading to nowhere; for after following it
until you were exhausted to death, you would find yourself exactly upon
the spot from which you started at the beginning.
In the midst of this labyrinth there stands a curious-looking castle,
looking very solid and strong, with many fortifications; built of
sandstone. There are thick walls, surrounded by moats, buttresses, and
counterforts guarded by banquettes, abuttes, scarps and palisades,
fraises and parapets, ditches and _trous de loup_, all of which look
very formidable; but the light has such a peculiar influence upon
the material of which the castle is built, as to cause the walls to
decompose and rapidly crumble away. The very foundation of the building
has so little solidity as to cause the walls slowly but continually to
sink, so that it requires a continual repairing and building at the
top to cause the castle to remain above the ground and to maintain a
respectable appearance.
It was in front of that castle that the princess reassumed her
corporeal form, and as I approached nearer I found the walls ornamented
with skeletons and skulls, and upon the top of the building waved a
flag, consisting of a great many pieces of cloth of many different
sizes and colours, sewed together in a haphazard manner, and this flag
bore the inscription:
_Knowledge is Power._
At the entrance of the fort there was a kind of a temple made of
jet-black stone. A few steps led up to a door.
“These walls,” said my companion, “are the remnant of what was once
a city built by a now extinct race of demons,” and pointing to the
temple, she added, “Here is the temple of him who knows that which is
not, and does not know that which is.”
“And what is to be seen in there?” I asked.
“Who knows?” exclaimed the princess. “This place is shunned by every
gnome, and no one dares to enter. It is said, however, that it is
inhabited by insane spooks, and by the remnant of a certain class of
people who have spent their lives in doing many useless things. They
are said to follow their accustomed occupations in an automatic manner,
doing the same things over and over again without coming to an end.”
“And who were they, when they lived?” I asked.
“Nobody knows,” answered Adalga. “None of these creatures knew himself
while he lived; how could anybody know him after he died?”
I expressed my determination to enter, upon which the princess grew
very much alarmed, and begged me to desist; but the more she sought
to dissuade me from my purpose, the greater grew my curiosity to
investigate the mysteries of Lucifer’s temple.
“Do not enter, O Mulligan!” cried the princess. “It will destroy your
light.”
“I have no light to lose,” I answered. “I am not a gnome.”
“Woe to me!” she cried. “Shall I lose you and my life even before
our union has become completed! Stop this rash undertaking! Stop, O
Mulligan, stop!”
“I must see the mystery of Lucifer!” I exclaimed, while tearing myself
away from Adalga’s arms and making a rush for the door, which I
entered, while the princess remained outside, wringing her hands and
filling the kingdom of the gnomes with her lamentations and cries.
The room into which I entered appeared at first perfectly empty and
dark; but after a little while I was able to see two luminous spots
of a reddish yellow light at a distance, and some dark and voluminous
object loomed up. Vague and undefinable nebulous shapes seemed to be
flitting before my eyes and moving about. I confess that at first
I experienced a feeling of something like fear and repugnancy; but
nerving my courage, I went forward, and soon stood before a gigantic
figure representing a green frog squatting upon a stone, and from the
eyes of the frog shone the phosphorescent lights which I had observed
when I entered, looking like two fiery balls. The jaws of the frog
were wide open, as if it were ready to devour anything whatever coming
within its reach. Gradually my eyes became accustomed to the gloom, and
I could read an inscription upon the pedestal saying--
_Nulla Ratio Sine Phosphore._
Many years after that event I presented this inscription to the
Academy, and respectfully asked for an explanation of its meaning.
There were a few who claimed that it said it was necessary for the
brain to contain phosphorus, so that the principle of mind could become
active therein, and make a man capable of reasoning; but the great
majority of the Academicians claimed that reason itself was a product
of phosphorus, and a mode of motion of its molecules in the brain.
I was no longer afraid. I climbed upon the pedestal and examined the
head of the frog, when I found that in the place of a brain there was a
large lump of phosphorus enclosed in a film of coloured glass. It was
the light of the phosphorus shining through the coloured glass that
caused the lurid glow which came from the goggle eyes of the frog.
This discovery made me laugh. “This, then,” I said to myself, “is
the celebrated Lucifer of whom the gnomes are afraid. Evidently
the scientists of that extinct race attempted to create a living
and thinking being in an artificial manner by making a compound of
phosphorus to serve for a brain; but for all that they produced nothing
but the dead image of a bull-frog.” I felt tempted to smash the frog or
to take the phosphorus, but for some cause, which is not quite clear to
myself, I made up my mind to let it alone.
I now became also able to see more clearly the nebulous forms that
wandered about in space, and to my horror I found among them not only
the shades of some prominent people well known in history, but also the
apparitions of some persons with whom I was well acquainted. Among them
was one who had spent all his life in trying to invent a _perpetuum
mobile_, and who to my knowledge is still living. As I approached him,
I found him engaged in his usual occupation. He seemed to be aware of
my presence, for he said--
“There is only one little hinge which prevents the instrument from
going. When this is overcome it will work all right, and my name will
be inscribed in the register of the Academy.”
“And of what benefit,” I asked, “will it be to you to have your name
thus inscribed, when you yourself are only a ghost?”
It is said that ghosts, like the gnomes, cannot speak otherwise than
as they think, because they have not sense enough to prevaricate. He
looked at me in surprise, and merely answered--
“Fool!”
He had become so much emaciated, and his voice sounded so hollow, that
I began to doubt whether he actually was the one I had known in our
world; I therefore asked him who he was.
“Alas!” replied the ghost mournfully, “I do not know who I am.
While I was among the living I knew everything about science and
philosophy, medicine and theology, spiritism and psychic research,
but unfortunately I never knew myself. It is said that I made many
inventions and discoveries, but as I do not know myself, I do not know
who invented and discovered these things, and whether it was I or
another; moreover I have forgotten them all.”
“But,” I said, “why do you not try to find out who you are?”
Another deep sigh expressed the profundity of his grief as he said--
“Life is short, and I have no time to attend to that matter. First, I
will finish this _perpetuum mobile_, and after that I may have leisure
to find out who I am and for what purpose I exist. I have now put these
wheels together for the ten thousand six hundred and ninety-fifth
time, and there is only one little hinge. After this business has been
accomplished I will turn my attention to more serious matters.”
I felt a deep pity for the ghost, in whom I now well recognised my
friend, for the words spoken by him I had often heard him express
before. I therefore said--
“There is nothing to be said against entering into scientific
experiments and increasing one’s store of knowledge in regard to the
laws of external nature and its phenomena; but a far more important
thing it is to know one’s own self and the object of one’s existence,
so that one may act accordingly, and make the best use of life.”
“I know it,” answered the ghost, “and I often said so myself, but I
have now no time to attend to philosophical questions; I must finish
this wheel.”
“Perhaps,” I said, “you would succeed better if you were first to
learn to know your real self and its powers, and construct your wheel
afterwards, if you should still think it worth the while to spend your
time with such nonsense.”
When I said this the ghost became very angry, and said--
“Avaunt, fool! and do not torment me. Get thee gone!”
So saying, the ghost snapped his jaws at me in a furious manner, and I
barely escaped having my ear bitten off.
I mournfully turned away, sadly grieved that such a bright intellect
should have been allowed to evaporate in dreams; but I knew that
it was of no use to argue with him, for my own experience with the
jumping-jack had taught me what a great power a fixed idea has over
the mind.
Another ghost, fearfully emaciated, now attracted my attention. He
looked more like the shadow of a skeleton than a man, and was evidently
at the point of starvation, but engaged in the ludicrous occupation
of composing a bill of fare, while he himself had nothing whatever to
eat. I looked over his shoulder and saw him write out the following
prescription:
DEJEUNER À LA FOURCHETTE.
_Huîtres._
_Consommé tapioca à la Julienne._ _Potage crême d’asperges._
_Fruites au bleu; sauce à la Russe._
_Bœuf à la mode aux maccaroni a l’Italienne._
_Selle de mouton Hollandaise._
_Œufs bruillé aux melettes._
_Emincé de faiseur à la Windsor._
_Canard braisé en Bordeaux._
_Omelette souflée._ _Plum pudding._
_Purée de pommes et nocles au naturel._
_Fromage suisse._ _Glacé panachée aux gaufres cornets._
_Bordeaux._ _Champagne._
_Desert._ _Café._
“And where are all the good things whose names you have written?” I
asked.
“This,” he answered haughtily, “you will have to find out yourself. It
is sufficient if I indicate to you the order in which I might eat them
if I had them. Does this not satisfy you?”
“It might satisfy my curiosity,” I replied, “but it will not cure
your hunger or make you fat. You seem to me to need something more
substantial than mere theories.”
“Knowledge is power!” said the ghost. “When you have acquired the
knowledge how to eat in good style you may apply it as soon as you get
the chance.”
“Look here, my friend,” I answered, “it seems to me that you need very
much a chance to get something to eat, even if it were not served up in
the style proposed by you. Would it not be better to let this bill of
fare alone, and seek for some food?”
“I have no time to attend to that,” replied the ghost. “I must first
settle the theory; the practice may wait.”
“But by that time,” I said, “you may be starved to death.”
This remark seemed to annoy the ghost, for it was true, and ghosts
never like to hear any truth that goes against their own pet theories.
Being themselves made up of delusions, a spark of truth is to them a
foreign element, and burns them like fire.
“Go away!” he cried angrily. “Do not waste my time. I shall not permit
any scoffing at science.”
As I turned away I saw another ghost of still more pitiful aspect,
clothed in rags, the very personification of abject poverty. Want and
misery were looking out of his hollow cheeks, and his eyes were buried
deep in their sockets. He was making a long calculation.
“What are you calculating?” I asked.
“Do not disturb me,” he said. “I am calculating the interest which I
would receive if I were to inherit all of Mr Vanderbilt’s money and
estates, and how much, with the compound interest added to it, it would
amount to in one hundred years, and I want to see whether this would
be enough to enable me to live comfortably in my old age. I have now
been over this calculation for many years, but I must begin it again,
because the value of the stocks has again changed, and there is a
difference in the amount of the interest.”
I was surprised to hear that a person of such a beggarly appearance
should have such excellent financial prospects, and I said:
“When do you expect to make that inheritance, and could you not get now
some money on credit on the strength of your prospective income?”
To this the ghost replied:
“Alas, no! I have no prospect of making any inheritance whatever, and
there is no one who would lend me a penny; but it is such a comfort to
know how much money I might enjoy if I had it, and what an amount of
interest the capital would bring if I were in possession of it.”
“And could you not do some work for the purpose of earning some money?”
“Alas, no! I have no time for that; I must finish this calculation
first.”
“But what good will it do to you,” I asked, “to know all that stuff, as
long as you are in such a state of poverty?”
The ghost shivered. He looked at me scornfully, and said in an angry
tone--
“Knowledge is power! Do not waste my precious time. Begone!”
Thus going from one to another, I found all these spectres employed
in occupations which had no practical purpose, and served at best to
amuse their imagination or gratify their curiosity. They all spent
what little energy was left in them for the purpose of wasting their
time, making themselves believe that they were doing something useful.
They were all occupied with that which is not, and did not know that
which is. They amused themselves, so to say, in worrying about the
question what nothing might be if it were something, and in doing so
they turned the only something they had, namely, their energy, into
nothing. They were all dreams themselves, products of dreams, existing
in dreams, leading a dream-life and doing nothing but dreaming; all
they did was imaginary and had its origin in their own imagination. One
of the ghosts, becoming angry, flew at me and stumbled and fell down.
Thereupon it never occurred to him that he could get up again, but he
remained floundering upon the floor, uttering pitiful lamentations.
Some ghosts were playing cards, and although their continual losing
was a source of annoyance to them, they had not the power to stop;
others imagined that they had to imitate everything that they saw
another ghost doing. This class was very large. One ghost practised
target-shooting, but as he was all the time looking in quite another
direction than where the target was, he always missed the mark; but
wept bitterly and complained of his want of luck. But it is not
possible to mention all the follies which I saw the ghosts commit in
the palace of Lucifer; they were like insane people, reasoning cleverly
but without being in possession of reason. I pitied them, and sick at
heart I turned towards the door.
In the meantime, owing to the cries of distress uttered by the
princess, great crowds of gnomes had gathered in front of the temple,
but none dared to enter. The king and the queen and all the court had
arrived. They were all running and floating to and fro and talking and
gesticulating, everybody giving some good advice which nobody followed;
they did not know what to do. That anyone could enter Lucifer’s temple
and come out again alive, or otherwise than blind or insane, seemed to
them an impossibility. The king looked very grave and the princess was
in despair.
“After all,” I heard the queen say to the princess, while trying to
comfort her, “Mulligan is nothing but a hobgoblin.”
“No!” cried Adalga, “I know he is a man!”
While speaking these words the princess elongated her body to its
full length, and looking towards the temple, saw me standing upon the
threshold, and in spite of the cries of her mother, who tried to stop
her, she flew to me and the next instant she was in my arms. The door
had not yet been closed, and from the interior a ray of yellowish
light, coming from the eyes of the green frog, fell upon the princess.
I sought to shield her with my person, but it was already too late,
for that ray mingling with the blue in Adalga’s sphere, immediately
produced therein a permanent shade of green.
A shout of joy arose from the multitude when they saw me issue from
the temple, and never-ending hurrahs resounded; but this was changed
to groans of distress when they beheld the change of colour which had
taken place in the princess. The king was very much distressed, and
while pulling his hair and beating his sides, he cried:
“Unfortunate was the hour when this magician entered my kingdom. Was it
not enough that our beloved daughter had the misfortune of falling in
love with this wretch and taint her beautiful silver white with a nasty
blue? Having given her the blues, he now causes her to expose herself
to the rays of the frog. Oh that I had never been born, or seen the
hour of such misery! Let the executioner come immediately and execute
the sentence of death.”
A storm of indignation arose, and the vivisectors appeared. However, I
was not afraid; I knew now the character of the gnomes and knew what to
say.
“May it please your majesty,” I said, “as well as our gracious queen
and all the venerated assembly, to behold their beloved princess in
this beautiful garment of green, whose splendour surpasses everything
that has ever been seen before or may be seen afterwards. I call those
present to witness that the princess never was so charming as since
she has turned green. Green is the colour of hope, and indicates the
beginning of wisdom. In the kingdom of man green is the favourite
colour. Green is the grass of the earth, the trees and plants, and
even the ocean waves turn green when they come kissing the shore. But
why should I waste words in praising a colour whose superiority is
acknowledged by everyone who is capable of judging its beauty? Has
not her gracious majesty, the queen herself, shown the superiority
of her taste by choosing the emerald as the jewel of her heart, and
adorning her person with green as the true expression of her excellent
qualities? Verily, I am giving only expression to the feeling of every
intelligent gnome who loves his dynasty and his country, if I request
you to join me in the cry--‘Hurrah for green!’”
And “Hurrah for green!” was shouted by all, over and over again.
Owing to my eloquent speech green at once became the fashionable
colour, and everyone wanted to become green. They lauded and praised
me as the benefactor of gnomekind, and the ladies thronged around me,
congratulating me, and begging of me to give them a shade of green.
When order was somewhat restored I made a few more remarks, calling
everyone a traitor who would not join me in my predilection for green.
I said that the princess and I loved each other, and that I would have
married her in spite of her being blue; but now, as she had turned
green and resembled her mother, she had become a thousand times dearer
to my heart.
Here, however, I am bound to confess for the sake of truth that my
statements were not strictly correct, for the queen’s colour was of the
pure and beautiful hue of the emerald, while the colour of the princess
was an impure or dirty green, not at all comparable with the former.
However, we all knew that on certain occasions a few little rhetorical
liberties must be permitted.
The king was very much pleased; he believed every word I said. He
called me his benefactor and saviour of his country. He conferred
on me on the spot the office of Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom and
Superintendent of Public Schools. He decorated me with the insignia of
the Order of the Bull-frog, and consented that the ceremony confirming
my engagement to the princess should take place immediately, to be
followed by the marriage as soon as the three dwarfs would return with
their discovery of the sun.
When the king had finished giving this decision, he embraced me and the
princess, and this was also done by the queen and her maids, by the
ministers and high dignitaries that were present, and by their wives
and daughters, mothers and mothers-in-law; but the rest of the gnomes
danced and shouted and stood upon their heads, swinging their legs as
a token of joy. The princess was radiant with smiles, and we all were
very happy. Cravatu even said that this was the happiest day that had
ever been seen in the kingdom.
We returned to the palace, where preparations were made immediately for
a great festival. The best mushrooms that could be found were collected
and prepared by the best cooks. Some were boiled, others stewed, and
some dished up raw. The queen herself assisted in the kitchen work.
The court musicians arrived, the palace was decorated in great style,
and deputations came, not only from all parts of Bimbam’s country, but
also from neighbouring states. I received a fine suite of apartments
adjoining those of the king and the princess, together with a lot of
attending servants to keep my rooms continually illumined, for which
purpose the most radiant gnomes were selected.
But I will not impose upon the patience of the reader by describing the
festivities which took place when the still beautiful princess Adalga
became Mr Mulligan’s bride. I will only say that during the most solemn
moment of the ceremony, when the mutual promises were exchanged, it
seemed to me that I distinctly heard the triumphant croaking of a frog;
but no one else noticed it, and it may have been only an effect of my
own imagination.
[Illustration: EDUCATING THE GNOMES]
VII.
DIGGING FOR LIGHT.
I was now tolerably well satisfied. From the abject state of a nobody,
existing only as a “subject” for scientific observation, looked upon
as a hobgoblin, and doomed to vivisection prisoner of a jumping-jack,
I had suddenly become somebody of importance, owing to my cleverness
and to the credulity of the king. I saw myself now raised to the
highest dignity in the kingdom of the gnomes, and engaged to a most
amiable and charming--even if a little green--princess, and there was
momentarily nothing to be desired except the discovery of the sun and
the completion of my marriage.
This discovery of the sun caused me a certain uneasiness; but I hoped
that the king would not continue to insist upon that condition. A
considerable time had elapsed, and nothing was heard of the dwarfs or
their expedition. It seemed to me not at all improbable that they had
fallen into the hands of Professor Cracker, and were now bottled up
in alcohol, adorning the shelves of some museum. At all events, I had
not the faintest hope that even if they were to return, they would
have discovered anything worth speaking of, or be able to describe it,
and I therefore thought of means for persuading the king to alter the
stipulation in regard to my marriage, and to permit it to take place
before the discovery of the sun. This I did not think very difficult,
for the king was very changeable and did not seem to know his own
mind. Although, whenever he got some idea into his head, he was very
stubborn and self-willed, nevertheless he was easily led by the nose
by those who knew how to flatter him. His capriciousness was shown by
the rashness with which he ordered my execution, and his instability by
changing his mind and making me Grand Chancellor of his kingdom.
For this purpose I sought and obtained an interview with the king, and
asked his consent that the marriage between myself and the princess
should not be delayed. I proved to him by arguments that the sun could
not do otherwise but exist, and that it was merely a question of time
to discover it; that this event would perhaps not take place as soon as
we wished it, but that this would make no difference to the sun. I took
especial pains to explain to him that the interests of the state would
suffer by my being doomed to live as a bachelor.
But the king had never studied logic, and was inaccessible to my
arguments.
“I want the sun!” he cried, growing more than usually red in his face.
To this I replied--
“If your majesty will permit, we all know that life, and light, and
heat come from the sun. The sunlight does not penetrate into your
kingdom because the rays of the sun are refracted upon the surface of
the earth; but the caloric rays of the sun penetrate through these
rocks, otherwise there would be no heat and life, and everything would
be cold and dead in this place. Now, as you feel the warmth within your
residence, you will easily see that there must be a sun.”
“I see nothing,” answered the king. “All that you say may be as you
say, but it does not enable me to perceive the sun.”
“And would it not be just as well,” I said, “if your majesty would
accept my information that there is a sun? If I tell you so, you will
know it, and knowledge is power.”
But the king would not agree. “I perceive,” he said, “that you tell me
that there is a sun; but for all that I do not perceive the sun itself,
and cannot eat it or have it deposited in my treasury.”
This stubbornness of Bimbam I. irritated me somewhat, and I said--
“All that your majesty says goes to show that the gnomes will have
to travel still a long way before they will come up to our standard
of science. We, the scientists of the human kingdom, do not need to
acquire or possess or even to see anything, much less to eat or absorb
it into our own constitution; it is quite sufficient for us to have
a theory about it which is believed to be correct. This is what we
consider to be real knowledge.”
“What a fools’ paradise this must be,” exclaimed the king. “In our
country we enjoy that which we are and possess, and care very little
about theories and opinions.”
While we were engaged in this conversation Cravatu entered, and brought
the news that the three dwarfs had returned, and that everything had
come out exactly as I predicted; for these imbeciles, not having sense
enough to find their way back, had been found in the vicinity of the
place where they had been left. All that could be made out by their
incoherent speech was that they had seen something, but what that was
nobody knew, for they were totally unable to describe it.
This fulfilment of my prediction raised me still higher in the
estimation of the king, who, seeing that I could foretell future
events, looked upon me as a kind of supernatural being, and wanted to
be instructed in that art.
“It is very easy,” I answered. “If your majesty will only study logic,
and, instead of directly looking at a thing, reject the evidence of
your senses and begin to argue from the basis of what you assume to be
true. Logic is the method of reasoning from particulars to generals, or
the inferring of one general proposition from one or several particular
ones; which means that instead of looking at a thing as a whole, and
afterwards examining its parts and the relations in which they stand
to it, we must look at some separate part and imagine the rest. It
is a process of demonstrating to our own satisfaction and to the
satisfaction of everyone who believes in our judgment----”
Here I was interrupted by the loud snoring of the king who had gone to
sleep in his chair. The sudden stopping of my speech had the effect of
awakening him. He yawned, and elongating his body to its full length,
he stretched his limbs, and then went on to say--
“This is very interesting, and I want to have this method introduced in
all the schools of my kingdom; but for the present the most important
thing is the discovery of the sun, and I want you to discover it
without further delay.”
I suggested that this might be done after my wedding; but the king
sternly replied, “No sun, no marriage! That’s all.”
Being so near to the completion of my happiness, I was exceedingly
grieved to see my hopes wrecked by their fulfilment being made to
depend upon an impossible condition; but a happy thought struck me, and
I said--
“I assure your majesty that the sun is right over our heads, and there
is nothing to prevent you from seeing it as soon as you will get out of
this mountain, except the atmospheric air, which, unfortunately enough,
is impenetrable to your sight, while I can easily enough see through
it. Under these circumstances, the only thing that can possibly be done
will be to cut a hole through the air, and make a tunnel deep enough
until you will reach the outer limits of the atmosphere, when there
will be nothing to prevent you from seeing the sun.”
This proposal pleased the king exceedingly, and Cravatu could find no
words strong enough to express his admiration of my wisdom. They both
knew already enough of logic to understand that they would be able
to see the sun if there were nothing to hinder them from seeing him.
Accordingly orders were immediately issued that the best labourers,
miners, and mechanics should be selected for the purpose of cutting a
hole in what they called the “sky,” for the sky for them began there
where their own element, the earth, ended.
On the very next day the work was begun. They selected a place on the
very top of the Untersberg. The Pigmies drilled the holes, the Vulcani
did the blasting, the Cubitali furnished the required materials, and
the Sagani superintended the work, giving directions. We had the
pleasure of seeing that already during the first twenty-four hours a
hole of about ten feet depth and with a diameter of ten feet was made
as the beginning of the tunnel for enlightenment.
Thus day by day, or, to speak more correctly, night after night, the
work went on; for when it is day in our world no work is done by the
gnomes, as with the beginning of sunrise they fall into a state of
lethargy, from which they awaken only after the night has set in. Every
night the king and the queen with her maids, the princess, myself, and
the high dignitaries of the kingdom, went out to see the progress made
in the work of the tunnel, and every night the hole grew deeper to a
certain extent, according to the quality of the material which had to
be cut; but when it began to dawn upon the surface of the earth the
gnomes went to sleep and slept so well that nothing could have awakened
them from their slumber.
In the meantime I considered it my duty to give great attention to
the education of the gnomes, and to the development of their power of
drawing inferences from things unknown. For the purpose of enabling
them to distinguish the true from the false, I established schools of
logic all over the country, in which all sorts of lies were taught, so
as to give them a chance for using their own common sense and finding
out the truth for themselves by overcoming the falsehood. Soon I was in
possession of a corps of capable liars for assisting me in this work;
but the education of the princess I took into my own charge.
At first Adalga did not enjoy the lessons, which is only natural, as
the birth and beginning of everything is painful and difficult, but
after a while she became delighted with my instructions. As my method
may prove to be interesting and instructive to my compatriots engaged
in pedagogical enterprises, I will illustrate it by an example.
First of all I tried to explain to the princess, by practical
experiment, that a good scientist can never know anything whatever; he
can only know what a thing is not, but not what it is, and from what he
perceives that it is not he draws his inferences as to what it may be.
Thus, for instance, taking a stone and handing it to Adalga, I said--
“Queen of my heart! will you tell me what this is?”
“With pleasure!” she answered. “It is a stone.”
“How do you know it?”
“Because I see it.”
“Sight is deceptive,” I said. “It may be a pumpkin.”
“I do not care what it may be; I know it is a stone.”
“How can you prove it?”
“I do not need to prove it. I know it, and so does everybody who knows
a stone.”
“You cannot know it,” I said, “unless you can give any rational reason
for your belief.”
“I do not need to give any reasons for it. I am satisfied to know what
I know.”
I saw that I could not get the better of her in this way, so I said--
“Will you have the kindness to imagine this stone to be a pumpkin?”
“Well, Mr Mulligan!” she answered, “if this gives you pleasure, I shall
imagine it to be a pumpkin.”
“Now take a bite of it, my darling,” I said.
“I can’t, and you ought not to ask me anything so absurd.”
“But why can’t you?”
“Because it is too hard.”
“Exactly!” I exclaimed. “And now as you have discovered that it is
too hard for being a pumpkin, you have a scientific right to infer
that it is not a pumpkin and may possibly be a stone; _quod erat
demonstrandum_.”
This way of making a simple thing very complicated, according to the
strict rules of exact science, pleased the princess very much and
amused her greatly. It now became necessary to show to her how we may
arrive at a knowledge of universals by drawing logical inferences from
particulars. For this purpose I told her that we must never trust to
our reason, but only put faith into our method of reasoning. Pointing
to the stocking which the princess was just knitting, I asked her what
it was.
“A stocking,” she said. “I thought you knew that much already.”
“Who is going to wear it?”
“I.”
“And what are you?”
“A princess of this kingdom.”
“Do all the princesses of this kingdom wear stockings?”
“All those whom I know.”
“Very well!” I replied. “The consequence is that all the people who
wear stockings are princesses of the kingdom of the gnomes.”
This seemed strange to Adalga, but she could not prove that it was not
so, and I proceeded to explain to her that the power to draw logical
inferences was the highest power which a scientist could possess, and
that by means of logic almost anything could be proved, be it true or
false. Thus I proved to her by way of an illustration, first, that
white was black; secondly, that black was white; and thirdly, that
there was no colour at all.
“White, my dear!” I said, “is, as everybody knows, no colour at all;
for it is produced by a combination of all the prismatic colours in
the same proportion as they exist in the solar ray, where each colour
neutralises the other. Now, if there is no colour, there can be no
light, and where no light exists everything is as black as night, and
if everything is black, white must be black also, and consequently
white is black.”
“Very strange!” exclaimed Adalga.
“If white is black,” I continued, “it follows that black is white,
because if there is no difference between two things they must be
identical. Moreover, everybody knows that black is no colour at all,
but the negation of colour, and it follows that if a thing has no
particular colour of any kind, it must necessarily be white.”
“Incredible!” exclaimed the princess.
“There is nothing incredible about it,” I said. “It is all very
reasonable. Moreover, there is no such thing as a colour at all, for
what we call by that name refers only to a certain sensation which
is produced in our brains by means of certain vibrations transmitted
through the retina and the optic nerve. If you look at any coloured
thing in the dark you will find it to be without any colour at all. The
sensations we receive are only due to certain vibrations of something
unknown.”
“What is a vibration?” asked Adalga.
“Vibration,” I said, “is nothing but a certain kind of motion, and
as motion _per se_ does not exist, vibration is nothing, while that
unknown thing which moves must be everything. But the existence of that
unknown thing is not admitted by science, and consequently science
knows nothing of everything, and of everything nothing, just as you
like; and you can make nothing out of everything, and everything out of
nothing, at your own pleasure.”
The princess was delighted to hear that she could now make everything
out of nothing, although for the beginning it could be done only
theoretically, and her repugnance to philosophical hair-splittings
faded away. She continued her lessons with great diligence, and very
soon I had the pleasure of seeing that she believed nothing and denied
everything. A few weeks more, and I was highly gratified to find that
she could no longer tell a mock-turtle from a tommy cat without
entering into a long series of arguments for the purpose of proving
which was which. Unfortunately, in proportion as she lost her power of
perceiving the reality, while improving in the practice of logic, her
own light grew more and more dim, her luminosity less, and the green
colour in her sphere darker; but I considered this as a matter of only
secondary importance; for it is said that beauty is a perishable thing,
while wisdom remains.
Sometimes she was inclined to worry about the fading of her charms, but
I reasoned her out of it, saying: “If everything is nothing, then, as a
matter of course, beauty also is nothing, and it is not worth the while
to worry about the loss of nothing.”
“But,” objected Adalga, “if beauty is nothing and nothing is
everything, beauty is everything, and we must do all we can to preserve
it.”
“Beauty,” I replied, “among our people is the outcome of fashion.
If it were to become fashionable in our world to wear goitrès and
hunchbacks, everybody would find it beautiful and adopt it at once; and
even if he did not find it beautiful, he would pretend to find it so.
Thus it often happens that everybody wears a most ridiculous article of
dress, not because he thinks it beautiful, but because he thinks that
others do so. In this way the people act foolish, and silently laugh at
each other for being such fools.”
“This I should think to be very immoral,” objected Adalga.
“Human morality,” I replied, “is also a matter of custom. What is
considered very moral among one nation or class of people is considered
immoral among others. Some, for instance, regard stealing as a
disgrace, others as a proof of great ingenuity. But we will not enter
into these social questions. We would never come to an end. What you
need for the purpose of evoluting into a higher and nobler sort of a
being is, first of all, the three steps, or mental operations, by
which you will proceed from particulars to generals, and from generals
to still higher generalities by means of rejections and conclusions, so
as to arrive at those axioms and general laws, from which we may infer,
by way of synthesis, other particulars unknown to us, and perhaps
placed beyond the reach of direct examination.”
“Oh my!” exclaimed the princess, and I saw that my explanation was not
very clear to her; but this is excusable in a gnome, and I did not
despair.
There is nothing more certain than that religious speculation without
science leads to superstition; but it is also true that scientific
speculation in regard to philosophical questions leads to blind
materialism and insanity, if it is carried on without any religious
basis, which means spiritual perception of truth. Adalga overdid the
thing, because she was of an impulsive, fiery nature, and not used to
self-restraint, and when I discovered the mistake it was too late
to remedy it. I had taught her never to take anything for granted,
and the end of it was that she doubted my words, disputed and denied
everything, and always did the very contrary of what we expected her
to do. It is said that a little learning is a dangerous thing, and I
would add that the greater the learning the greater the folly, if at
the foundation of all that imaginary knowledge there is no instinctive
perception of truth, or what we call intuition.
The head of the princess became developed at the expense of her heart.
The vital powers, which ought to have been distributed harmoniously
through her system, went almost exclusively to furnish her intellect,
and the consequence was that her head increased enormously in size,
while her heart began to shrink. Her sight became dim, so that she
could no longer distinguish right from wrong; her joyfulness left her;
she became dissatisfied with herself and with everything; a continual
scowl rested upon her face, and it was no pleasure to spend an hour in
her company. Her former friends stampeded when they saw her approach.
I often tried to make her understand that at the basis of all creation
there was an universal power, which has no name, but which men call
God, and which those who reject that term, because they have formed a
false conception of that which is beyond all human conception, might
call by some other name, such as Love, Reason, All-consciousness,
Divine Wisdom, etc., and that she might feel the manifestation of that
power within her own soul, if she would only pay attention to it.
“Prove it,” she cried. “Prove that I have a soul, or that anybody has
such a thing, and which has never been discovered by science, neither
in the pineal gland nor in the big toe. Show me that soul, and let me
examine it, and I will bottle it up and preserve it in the museum.”
“Soul means life,” I replied. “How can you know that you have a life,
except by the fact that you are living?”
“Fiddlesticks!” exclaimed the princess. “There is no such thing as
life. What seems life to you is only a phenomenon produced by the
mechanical action of brain molecules, the result of indigestion.”
I was frightened to see the effects which my premature revelation of
the mysteries of science had upon the princess. In vain I reminded
her of the sentiments which she formerly used to have, and which were
expressed in her song in the cave at the time of our first meeting. She
called all these things “childish fancies,” unworthy of the serious
attention of science. Alas! her study of the phenomenal side of nature
would not have been objectionable if only her spiritual culture had not
suffered by that; but while her intellect grew strong by overfeeding,
her soul became starved to death; neither would she listen to my
admonitions; she could not realise the possession of anything higher
than the ever-doubting intellect, and this was probably because she was
only a gnome.
One day, when I actually thought her reason was entirely gone, I said
to her--
“Adalga, dear, do you know me?”
“Don’t dear me,” was her answer. “How can you ask such a foolish
question? I know that I have an image of somebody on my brain, and that
its name is said to be Mulligan, but whether your qualities correspond
to that image or not I have not yet discovered. For all I know, the
Mulligan with whom I fancy myself to be acquainted may be only a
product of my own imagination.”
“It seems you love me no more?” I inquired despondently.
“What is love but an effect of the imagination?” she answered. “If I
chose to fall in love with a pitchfork, and bestow my affection upon
it, it will do me the same service as to love Mr Mulligan.”
“I assure you,” I said, “true love is an entirely different thing. That
which you describe is only some kind of fancy.”
“Prove it,” she exclaimed, as usual; but alas! I could not prove to her
that whose existence she could not experience.
To make the matter short, Adalga became so scientific as to lose all
her loveliness of form and character, and became overbearing, ugly,
conceited, and foolish, and the same was the case more or less with all
the rest of the gnomes. The whole population became clever and cunning,
but, at the same time, lying and hypocritical. Formerly they had been
moved, as it were, only by one will, namely, the will of the king;
now everybody wanted to rule everybody else, and nobody rule himself
or be ruled by another. There was nothing but quarrels, disputes,
dissensions, dissatisfaction, and selfishness; the gnomes lost their
perception of truth and their light. The kingdom grew dark.
Formerly everything had been peaceful; but now it became necessary to
employ force for the purpose of keeping order. Each gnome cared only
for his or her own interests, and this caused fights. One of the first
requirements was the establishment of a police. I soon found that the
employees of the government, including the police, could not be relied
upon. I therefore had to establish a corps of detectives, and employ
for that purpose the greatest rascals, because it is known that “it
requires a thief to catch a thief.” These detectives had again to
be watched by others, and from this ensued an universal espionage,
which was intolerable. Moreover, everybody seeing himself continually
watched, was thereby continually reminded that it was in his power to
steal, and the end of it was that the people considered it to be a
great and praiseworthy act if one succeeded in stealing without getting
caught.
At the time of my arrival it was the custom of the gnomes to believe
everything that anybody said, but now it became fashionable never to
believe anything whatever. The consequence was that each believed the
other a liar; each mistrusted the other; nobody spoke the truth, if it
was not in his own interest to do so. Nothing could be accomplished
without bribery; crimes became numerous, and it became necessary to
establish jails all over the country.
There was one curious feature noticeable, especially among the Sagani,
who now constituted the great autocratic body of scientists. The more
learned they became the more narrow-sighted they grew. They lost the
power to open their eyes, and decided upon every question according
to hearsay and fancy. Their limbs became atrophied, and their heads
swollen. Some became so big-headed and top-heavy that they often lost
their balance and fell down. It was especially funny to see how they
tumbled about whenever one forgot himself, and by force of habit
elongated his body. Finally, narrow-sightedness became so universal
that a gnome without spectacles was quite a curiosity, and it has been
reported that even children with spectacles upon their noses were born;
but of this I have no positive proof.
To my horror, the head of the princess grew larger and stronger every
day, and two hard horn-like excrescences began to appear upon it at the
place where the phrenological bump of love of approbation is located.
At the same time she grew exceedingly stubborn and vain. She was
continually surrounded by flatterers who imposed upon her credulity.
She could bear no contradiction, and nevertheless craved for disputes
for the purpose of showing off her great learning. She lost her former
natural dignity and self-esteem, and in its place she acquired a great
deal of false pride; but her love of approbation revolted against the
idea that anybody might consider her vain, and for the purpose of
avoiding such a suspicion she joined gnomes of doubtful character, and
went into bad company.
Let me draw a veil over the history of these sad events. Even now,
although having resumed my individuality as Mr Schneider, I can look
back only with deep regret upon the change that overcame the charming
princess Adalga, owing to the ill-timed instruction of Mr. Mulligan.
As to her father, the king, instead of comprehending the sad state of
affairs of his kingdom, he took a very superficial view of it. He was
delighted with the intellectual progress of the princess, and with the
advancement of culture among his subjects, and he overwhelmed me with
tokens of favour, calling me a public benefactor for civilising the
gnomes.
Bimbam I. did not care to enter himself into the study of logic and
elocution, nevertheless he did not wish to be regarded as a fool. He
therefore tried to give himself an appearance of being learned, and
whenever his arguments failed, he became very irascible, and lost his
temper. He was excitable, but too great a lover of comfort to remain
long in an excited state, and for this reason he was easily pacified.
Often he would get raving mad, bucking his head against the walls; but
a moment afterwards he would go to smoke his pipe, as if nothing had
happened.
More and more the influence of the green frog was felt spreading
through the kingdom, and there were some who claimed to have seen
him wandering about the streets, spreading poisonous saliva from
his mouth, from which green and red-spotted toad-stools grew. The
world of the gnomes became continually more unnatural and perverted;
impudence assumed the place of heroism, sophistry the mask of wisdom,
lecherousness passed for love, hypocrisy paraded the streets under the
garb of holiness; those who succeeded in cheating all the rest were
considered the most clever; the most avaricious gnomes were said to be
the most prudent; he who made the greatest noise was thought to be
the most learned of all. Nor were the ladies exempt from this general
degradation, for they assumed the most ridiculous fashions, putting
artificial bumps on their backs and wearing tremendous balloons in the
place of sleeves; they lost their simplicity, were full of affectations
and whims, and to do anything whatever in a plain and natural way was
considered vulgar.
But what is the use of continuing to describe conditions which everyone
knows who has visited the Untersberg within the last few years? It is
sufficient to say that the country of the gnomes at that time resembled
to a great extent the human-animal kingdom of our days, and I would
have wished to leave it if I had not considered it my duty to remain
for the purpose of trying to undo some of the mischief which had
ignorantly been caused by my prematurely opening the door of the palace
of Lucifer.
[Illustration: FAIRIES AND FLOWERS]
VIII.
WAR.
Dark and gloomy grew the kingdom of the gnomes in proportion as the
light of each individual inhabitant decreased. Many who formerly
were like luminous spheres, shedding radiant rays to a considerable
distance, now became like dim will-o’-the-wisps, or merely
phosphorescent dots or firebugs. As the general darkness increased, the
glow that came from the eyes of the green frog in Lucifer’s temple,
whose doors were now continually open, became more visible, and at
certain times the frog actually seemed to be alive.
The ghosts in the temple continued their accustomed occupations without
making any progress whatever. The _perpetuum mobile_ was always on
the point of completion, but never completed; the bill of fare was
continually altered, but there was nothing to eat; and the calculations
made by the imaginary heir produced no interest. All the ghosts
repeated the same follies again, which they had been in the habit of
enacting before.
Meanwhile the work in the tunnel went on with great speed, and the hole
in the sky grew deeper every night; but it was impossible to say how
long it would take to finish it, as the depth of the atmosphere which
had to be penetrated was not known. I estimated it to be about one
thousand miles, and calculating the work at about five feet a night, I
found that the tunnel would be finished in 2924 years, which was rather
a long time to wait for the completion of my marriage.
Moreover, one very serious inconvenience made itself perceptible. The
working men had become so big-headed as to render it impossible for
more than three gnomes to work in the tunnel at the same time without
bumping their heads together. This delayed the progress and caused
fights, and the question of widening the tunnel had to be taken into
consideration, which would necessarily cause a considerable expense.
Already the country was groaning under the heavy burden of an
exorbitant taxation required for the heads of science, who did the
hard work of thinking, for paying salaries to professors, policemen,
pensioners, supporting prisoners and blind people, and especially
for supplying with luxuries the royal family and their hangers-on.
Especially the princess required a great deal of cash for her support.
Her external appearance had become rather uncanny, and she therefore
needed costly dresses and ornaments to hide her deformities. Her
head, having grown to an enormous size, resembled the show-case of a
jeweller’s shop, being hung over with chains and jewels, while a crown,
or to speak more correctly, a tube of gold, adorned her occiput for the
purpose of hiding the two horn-like excrescences.
I was one day consulting the king, and tried to demonstrate to him the
necessity of using some economy and curtailing his private expenses, as
otherwise the whole country would be involved in financial ruin; but I
found him quite unreasonable in that respect.
“I should like to know,” he exclaimed, “what is the use of my being the
king, if I cannot get all the money I want?”
“Everything,” I said, “belongs to your majesty, but it will be to
your own advantage to see that the resources of the country are not
squandered, for, when the production ceases, there will be no more
income.”
“Well,” said the king, “if the people refuse to pay, I can still depend
upon my army, and we shall see.”
Just at that moment we were interrupted by loud reports like
explosions, following each other in rapid succession. This was followed
by shouts and cries, and immediately afterwards Cravatu came rushing
into the palace, and approaching the king, he said:
“May it please your majesty to take command of the army. The labourers
making the hole in the sky have perforated the frontier of the kingdom
of the spirits of the air, and the inhabitants offer resistance.”
The king, having still a certain amount of perception of truth, did not
get at all excited upon hearing this news, but lighting his pipe, he
took a few whiffs, and said:
“What about it? I do not blame them; we can do nothing else but retire.”
Just then the princess entered, and, hearing these words, she exclaimed:
“Rot! who ever heard of a king of the gnomes being afraid of the
spirits of the air?”
“I never,” replied the king.
“Well then,” continued Adalga, “we must beat back the intruders, and
force our way through their kingdom.”
The king was easily influenced, especially when his ambition was
touched. Therefore the words of the princess caused him to fly into a
rage. First he grew red in the face, his features expanded from ear to
ear like an india-rubber bag. Next, he jumped several feet from the
ground and came down again with a thump. After that he threw his pipe
upon the floor so that it broke, and stamped upon it with his foot.
Finally, he lowered his head and butted it against Cravatu; and, after
all this was done, he began to yell, crying at the top of his voice:
“We must drive the rascals away! We must force a passage through them!”
A tumult was heard in the ante-room, and directly numerous gnomes
rushed in. They were merchants and traders, and came to make offers
for furnishing supplies for the army. They were under-bidding each
other, each offering to the king a greater bribe for accepting his
offer. The king accepted some of the bargains which seemed to afford
to him the greatest profit for his private purse, and the goods were
delivered. They consisted of barrels labelled “flour,” and filled with
sand, carloads of “leather shoes” made of paste-board, wooden hams,
and cartridges filled with sawdust; also something that looked like a
cannon, but it was made of wood and varnished, so as to give it the
appearance of bronze.
We left the palace, and the blowing of horns indicated the locality
of the combat. On the way we met a train of wounded gnomes, some
exhibiting a pitiful aspect. All the wounded had terrible burns and
scalds, and the limbs of some were torn away. One poor fellow had lost
the whole of his lower jaw, which was dreadful to see, and he seemed to
suffer great pain.
“Why do not these people assume their ethereal forms and thus get rid
of their suffering bodies?” I asked the minister.
“This art,” answered Cravatu, “is now becoming very difficult, and
there are very few capable of exercising it, since we have become so
substantial. Moreover, these people cannot do so at all; because it is
necessary for that purpose that one should entirely forget his body,
and how could we do that, if the sensation of pain or of pleasure keeps
our attention fastened to it? For the purpose of throwing off the mask
of personality and entering into the state of selflessness, an entire
forgetfulness of self is required, such as is almost impossible to
attain in our present state of civilisation.”
The wounded we met became more numerous as we approached the
battle-field, and here and there could be seen a corpse, stiff and
stark, slowly but surely evaporating. When we arrived the explosions
had already ceased, and Clavo, the general in command, approached upon
a bicycle and made his report. From this it appeared that in trying to
enlarge the tunnel, the labourers had entered into side-issues, and by
blowing out a large block of air, made an opening into a foreign region
of unknown extent, which was inhabited by a tribe of sylphs or fairies,
unknown to science and not yet classified. These spirits had resented
the intrusion, and prevented the approach of our soldiers by pouring
upon them sheets of fluid lightning, with the most destructive effect,
so that all resistance was rendered impossible, and they were forced to
retreat after experiencing a considerable loss.
“There is nothing to be done,” said the general, after finishing his
account, “but to let these airy spirits alone and begin a new tunnel
in some other place. They are not of an aggressive character, and will
not molest us if we go away. We have, anyhow, no right to trespass upon
their territory.”
“This is exactly what I always said,” the king replied; “what business
have we to meddle with these good spirits? Let us go.”
But the princess interfered.
“Rot!” she cried: “Good spirits, indeed! Let them be exterminated! Will
your majesty let them deprive us of our glory? Their resistance is an
insult to you!”
No words can express the pitch of rage to which these words aroused the
king. Growing purple in the face and fairly screaming, he elongated
himself to three times his natural size, and bumping his head against
the wall, as was his habit whenever he fell into a passion, he cried:
“Let them be exterminated! Their resistance is an insult to me! Kill
them! Cut off their heads!”
And falling down in an epileptic fit, owing to the excessiveness of his
fury, he stamped with his feet, and kept on yelling, “Kill them! Cut
off their heads!”
I thought that perhaps the matter might be settled in an amicable
manner, and therefore I told the king that rashness was not always the
best policy, and I asked for permission to send a messenger, under the
protection of a flag of truce, to see whether or not a treaty could be
made with the spirits of the upper world.
“This is exactly what I always said,” replied the king. “Rashness is
not always the best policy. We must send a messenger by all means.”
Accordingly Cravatu and myself were appointed to that office, and we
went.
The undertaking was not without danger, as the nature of the enemy
and their habits of thought were not known, and it was not at all
improbable that we should receive a shot of lightning at our approach.
However, we arrived safely at the lower end of the tunnel, and, looking
up, we saw a great number of blue lights moving above like a swarm of
bees.
Cravatu, putting his hands to his mouth, shouted up through the hole:
“Peace be with you!”
We listened. The motion among the bees increased, and after a while we
heard a very sweet music, as if of a silver harp and lute. This was
followed by a roll of thunder and a flash of lightning, doing however
no harm.
“What does this mean?” I asked Cravatu, and he replied:
“I perceive that these people speak a language different from our own.
They are spirits of sound, and express their thoughts in music. What
they mean to say is that they are peaceable, if we let them alone, but
that they have the power to defend themselves if we trouble them.”
“Prove it,” I involuntarily exclaimed, for I had adopted instinctively
the habit of the princess, who wanted proofs for everything.
“It is not a matter for proving, but of understanding,” answered
Cravatu.
“But how are we going to reply?” I asked. “Where can we find a
dictionary of music, and who is going to compose the music, or fiddle
it to them?”
Upon this Cravatu said:
“The language of music used to be known to us as the music of nature.
In olden times the gnomes could understand it and speak it, and
required no dictionary for its interpretation, because their simple
minds understood that simple language. But now we gnomes have become
so learned and scientific, and our minds so complicated, that it is
possible for hardly anyone to understand a simple thing, or to express
himself in a simple manner. Fortunately, I still find some knowledge
of music in my rapidly fading memory, but I cannot answer in music.
However, I know the language of flowers, and this is also an universal
and natural language, somewhat akin to music, and, if I am not
mistaken, these spirits will understand it.”
This ingenuity of Cravatu pleased me very much. He was in fact still
sound at heart, one of the brightest of the gnomes, and in spite of
the progress of civilisation, in the midst of which he moved, he had
still a certain amount of perception of truth, although on that very
account he was much exposed to the ridicule of the scientists and made
a target for their wit, because they did not believe in such a thing as
intuition, and said that nobody could know anything except by way of
information, inference, and by a trained imagination.
Cravatu now called some of the Acthnici, who, by the mysterious power
which they possess, can create visible objects out of the invisible
images existing everywhere in the astral light, and ordered them to
produce a White Rose. This they did, and caused it to float slowly up
through the hole.
“What does this signify?” I asked, and Cravatu answered--
“The White Rose asks: ‘May I approach you?’”
We waited awhile, when down through the tunnel floated an Euphorbia.
We saw it plainly, and had ample time to examine it; but at the moment
when it touched the earth it vanished. This flower Cravatu interpreted
as being intended to say--
“Why do you persecute us?”
Up went a Heliotrope to tell them--
“My heart longs for you.”
And the answer came back in the shape of a Belladonna, indicating--
“We do not credit the honesty of your intentions.”
To this we replied by sending up a White Lily for the purpose of
testifying to the purity of our affection, whereupon we received a
Violet bidding us--
“Hope!”
Up again went a Daffodil, to ask them not to be so cruel as to let us
pine away in hopeless misery, and we waited.
A consultation seemed to take place among the bees. A great number
of small lights were seen to gather around a large blue light in the
middle, and a melodious humming was heard. Directly a leaf of a Fern
floated down, bringing the answer--
“I will meet you,” and in return we sent up a Geranium to inform them
that we were waiting.
Soon after that a clear and beautiful accord was heard, and something
luminous floated down through the tunnel, which I could not describe
otherwise than as being an oval-shaped radiance of an exquisite
rose-coloured light, composed of living sound, and emitting harmonious
accords, like an Æolian harp. When it issued from the mouth of the
tunnel, I perceived within its sphere the ethereal shape of an Oleander
blossom, in the midst of which appeared the childlike and smiling face
of a most charming fairy. These were then the spirits of flowers.
Cravatu presented the fairy with a Jessamine blossom as a token of
friendship, and invited her to accompany us to the king.
An accord, indicating consent, was the answer, and we returned with the
fairy in our midst.
“Bring the prisoner!” exclaimed Adalga, assuming an air of scientific
arrogance, when she saw us approaching. This rudeness offended me, and
I said:
“This is not a prisoner, princess, but an ambassador coming to us,
upon our invitation, and under the flag of truce. It is a fairy of
high descent, and the law of justice demands that she be treated
respectfully.”
“Prove it!” answered the princess angrily.
“Justice,” I said, “is not a thing to be proved, but to be practised.”
While I spoke, the Oleander blossom gave forth a sweet melody of
harmonious sounds, but Adalga looked at the fairy with a wicked glance
in her eye, and said:
“A curious specimen, which we must not let escape. It will be quite an
ornament to our museum.”
“It will be no such thing,” I answered indignantly. “This noble fairy
is under my protection, and I shall protect her.”
But the princess retorted in a haughty manner:
“The interests of science are first of all to be taken into
consideration. It may not be strictly correct, in a legal sense, to
retain the prisoner, but the end justifies the means.”
To this the king added:
“I always told you so; the end justifies the means.”
Upon this Adalga made a vicious grab at the Oleander blossom, trying
to capture it, but did not succeed; for the rose-coloured radiance at
once became transformed into a column of red vapour, which whirled
away, while from its interior came a discordant sound indicative of
disappointment and sorrow.
The princess flew into a rage, and elongating her body to the full
length, struck at the column of vapour, but only to fall upon her nose,
for the red cloud had already passed beyond her reach. We followed the
fairy, but could only see the rose-coloured light floating back into
the tunnel, where it disappeared, and after a little while a mournful
strain of music was heard. We sent up a variety of flowers with a hope
of renewing the negotiations; but they were not accepted. We received
nothing but a rain of ashes, indicating that all prospects for an
amicable understanding were at an end.
This failure to catch the spirit of sound caused to the princess a
great deal of vexation, and she blamed us for not having closed up
the mouth of the tunnel to prevent the return of the fairy. To this I
replied:
“There is a certain amount of honour even among thieves; but to a
person absorbed by a greed for gratifying his scientific curiosity
in regard to that which belongs to the higher life, nothing is
inviolable or sacred, and nothing safe from his attempts to uselessly
and foolishly cause its destruction. Too clumsy, stupid, and cowardly
to try to rise up to a conception of high and exalted ideals, those
would-be scientists and pseudo-philosophers would like to entice those
ideals, allure them by false promises, and drag them down into the
manure in which they themselves love to roll; but thanks to the laws
of the eternal spirit in nature, true goodness cannot be approached by
evil, wisdom is not comprehensible to the fool, and purity does not
amalgamate with filth.”
“Prove it!” she cried, probably more from force of habit than as a
result of reflection; for some remnant of reason left in her mind
seemed to make her feel the idiocy of her requests, and, changing the
subject, she said:
“Who is it that has caused me to pry with curious eyes behind the veil
of the unknown, and to strive to outstrip my own natural growth. Who
caused the loss of my light, my beauty and purity, destroyed my ideals,
and made me a slave to doubt? Who, but you yourself, has caused me
to treat reason with contempt, to become blind through vanity, and
deformed by scepticism? Who, but you, has presented us with a knowledge
of evil, which to overcome we have not become strong enough? Who, but
you, took away our power, by causing us to expend it in channels that
did not belong to our true nature? You caused us to lose our ethereal
state, so that now we have to creep like worms upon the earth, instead
of sailing like eagles through space on wings of freedom, as was the
custom of our race before you arrived. Now the hellish work has begun
and it shall be finished, let the cost be what it may. The end must be
made to justify the means.”
The determined and clear manner in which Adalga spoke pleased me
very much; it proved to me that there was still a lingering spark of
reason in her. It was as if the falling upon her nose had awakened her
finer sensibilities, and I was about to enter into a discussion of
philosophical questions with her; but she would not listen. Turning to
the king, she requested him to declare war immediately to the superior
kingdom, to force its doors open, and to select the best troops for
making the assault.
“You are the ruler of the world,” she said to the king. “You are great
and wise. No one will dare to resist you.”
“Of course,” answered the king, being much tickled by her flattering
words, and assuming an air of self-importance. “I am the ruler of the
world. I am great and wise. No one will dare to resist me. I will
exterminate the spirits of the superior kingdom.”
The troops were gathered, and of each division the best individuals
selected for making the first assault under the command of Clavo; but
now a great difficulty presented itself at the very start; for even
the common people among the gnomes had become so much accustomed to
arguing, that not a soldier would obey an order without having all the
“whys” and “wherefores” explained to him. Each private wanted to know
why this or that order was given, and whether it would be advisable
to follow it, and what it was intended for, and whether not perhaps
something better might be done, and so forth. This caused an endless
delay; because, for the purpose of obtaining the consent of the
subordinates to follow an order, the commanding general had to explain
his views and argue his points with the officers; the officers had to
reason it out with the corporals, and they in their turn had to discuss
it with the privates and obtain their consent. Some thought the given
order practicable, others made objections and refused to obey, and
nobody could be induced to act against his own views. From this state
of affairs there arose a great deal of delay, difficulties, and waste
of time; but at last the assault was made.
They were driven back with great loss, and others took their places,
but with the same result. The most obstinate gnomes were sent forward,
and for two nights lasted the battle, in which wonderful deeds of
stubbornness and daring were accomplished, with no other effect than
bringing destruction upon the gnomes and doing no harm to the fairies,
whose stronghold was inaccessible; for whenever our soldiers rushed
up through the tunnel, a single effusion of lightning was sufficient
to kill the greater portion of them, while the rest were driven back
mutilated and scorched.
Thus the flower of the kingdom of the gnomes was destroyed; the wails
of the widows and orphans resounded, and the king wept unceasingly,
beating the air with his arms in sheer despair and impotent fury.
Nevertheless, owing to the persuasions of the princess, the gnomes
would not desist. She made the king believe that, according to her
theory about the exhaustion of energy, the lightning power of the
fairies could not endure very long, and the king believed all she said.
“If we cannot go up to them,” she said, “we must make them come down.”
To this end she instituted sham flights among the troops, hoping to
induce the elfs to pursue them, and she tried all possible means for
beguiling the inhabitants of the upper realm, and lead them into a
trap. She made to them all kinds of false promises, but those spirits
saw that her motive was not pure; she tried to attract them by her
song, but her voice had become harsh and disagreeable, like the
screeching of an owl.
In fact, I must confess it, although it may not be considered nice to
speak ill of a lady, especially if she is one’s intended wife, that
Adalga had become somewhat disagreeable. This war brought out the worst
traits of her character, and no means were too contemptible for her to
employ, provided they held out a prospect to her for accomplishing what
she desired.
It has already been stated that, at the time which corresponded to day
in our world, the gnomes fell into a death-like sleep, from which they
did not awaken until night settled upon the earth. Not being a gnome, I
was not subject to the law of their nature, but could remain awake and
observe what was taking place during their sleep.
Thus, during the third day after the beginning of the struggle, I was
lying awake in the camp, while all the gnomes were asleep. I was
watching the entrance of the tunnel, which appeared like a circular
opening in the clouds, through which issued a faint light, when
suddenly it became illumined by a roseate radiance of great beauty,
somewhat like the _aurora borealis_ or northern light. At the same
time I heard a chant as of angel voices, and directly afterwards
there issued from the tunnel a bevy of the most charming fairies,
each representing a luminous living flower, with a beautiful face in
its midst. There were Oleanders, Orange-Blossoms, Roses, Camelias,
Anemones, Pansies, Forget-me-nots, Daffodils, etc., and out of the
chalice or heart of each looked a childlike face, peaceful and smiling;
but the greatest and most radiant of all was a white Lotus flower, in
whose midst dwelt the fairy queen, with a crown of diamonds upon her
head.
I was not at all alarmed. I saw--if I am permitted to use such an
unscientific expression--that they intended no harm. It would have
been useless to attempt to awaken the sleeping gnomes; I therefore
remained still, and looked at the spirits of the flowers through my
half-closed lids. They moved about among the sleepers, singing and
scattering blossoms, and when they came to the place where Adalga
slept, they drew around her in a circle, throwing flowers upon her,
such beautiful ones as I had never seen before, and which did not fade
away either, when they touched the ground; but the princess smiled in
her sleep, as if she had a pleasant dream, and her features assumed an
expression that made her look agreeable in spite of her ugliness.
The fairies stood regarding the sleeper with great attention, while
pity and hope were expressed in their faces, and the Lotus flower
stepped out of her chalice, and sang in a silvery voice a song in a
language which I did not understand literally, but whose sentiments
became clear to my heart, and might perhaps be expressed in the
following lines:--
“We are the spirits of the voice of truth.
Symbols of beauty, harmony, and youth;
We teach thee wisdom from the sphere above,
If thou wilt listen to our song of love.
Without the darkness light cannot be known;
To know truth, falsehood must be overthrown.
Peace without effort would be death to thee;
Nought but the battle leads to victory.
Without a struggle there’s no joy in rest;
Only through evil good can manifest.
Without the dust of earth no plant will grow,
And no one rise who never fell below.
Nought comes from nought, and no amount of toil
Will raise a fruit tree from a barren soil;
But the good seed within the hot-bed needs
No other help but rooting out the weeds.
Knowledge is power, but it serves you naught,
Unless you practise that which you were taught;
Toil without knowledge is a fruitless tree,
Science unused is naught but theory.
Knowledge is power, but remember well
You must yourself destroy the magic spell;
And Lucifer, who came but to redeem,
Redeems you only if you conquer him.”
Thus the queen of the Lotus ended her song, and floated away with her
companions. The last I saw of them was a roseate light shining from the
mouth of the tunnel. I then fell asleep myself, and slept until I was
awakened by the blowing of horns, the blast of trumpets, and beating
of drums, calling the troops together for a renewal of the fight, and
those who were so inclined got up and joined the ranks.
I went to the princess, and found her to be in a pensive mood, while
her loquaciousness was less than usually active--a circumstance which
I attributed to the visit of the fairies. I asked her whether she had
experienced a pleasant dream.
“I do not believe in dreams,” she answered. “Scientists never attribute
any importance to dreams or to subjective experiences; our attention is
fully engaged by the objective realities of life.”
“Confound your false science!” I said. “It deals, after all, with
nothing but appearances and dreams. The fairies seemed to me very
objective.”
“So you saw them?” replied Adalga. “Perhaps it was your
thought-transfer which caused that hallucination.”
“Let it be what it may,” I said. “It is of little importance from
what we receive a lesson; the lesson itself is that which we ought to
consider.”
“We are not in the habit of accepting lessons,” she answered, “unless
they come from some well-recognised authority.”
To this I answered:
“Truth is truth, no matter by whom it is uttered.”
“Prove it!” exclaimed the princess, and as I remained silent, she
continued, sneeringly: “If we are asked to listen to a theory, the
first thing is to inquire about the claims for credibility of him who
puts them forth. Upon what authority does his assertion rest? What
books can he quote for the support of his opinion? If all this is
settled, we may listen to his proofs, and decide whether we will accept
them or not.”
I groaned. “Alas!” I said; “in your science it is all creed, but no
perception of truth.”
Off she went, and soon cries of distress were heard between the
explosions that followed. The storming party was beaten back. A fresh
attack was ordered, but the troops had become disheartened, and refused
to enter the tunnel. Some, however, were inclined to proceed, and
called the others cowards; and this led to a quarrel among the troops,
which resulted in a fight, and the fight developed into an open revolt,
during which it soon became plain that the mutineers were in great
strength. In vain the king butted his head against everything that
happened to come in his way, in vain the princess proved by irrefutable
arguments that the loyal troops could not be conquered; they were
beaten anyhow, and we were driven back with them in the direction of
Lucifer’s temple. Soon after that we were pressed so hard that we had
to seek shelter behind the walls. Multitudes thronged in after us, and
many more sought to enter, but could find no room. The space became so
crowded that the gnomes pushed each other, and struggled for room. Thus
they pressed against the pedestal of the queen frog, some climbing upon
it, others trying to climb; and in the midst of the uproar the monster
began to sway, and, losing its balance, it fell.
A crash followed. The frog was broken to pieces, and volumes of
poisonous vapour coming from the phosphorus filled the place.
Instinctively I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again the whole
assembly of gnomes had become transformed into animals. Bimbam I. had
turned into an ox, rushing madly through the crowd; in the place of the
commanding general stood a sheep; and, to my horror, I beheld a big
goat in the place of the princess. Cravatu had become a black lizard,
with yellow spots, and all the rest of the gnomes now appeared in
animal forms. There were bats flying about, mice rushing into holes,
spiders crawling over the walls; and two ministers, having turned
into brass beetles, were rolling a ball of dirt over the ground. Cats
squalled, rats whistled, frogs croaked, sheep bleated, dogs yowled and
barked, and the whole was in a terrible confusion.
The goat stared at me in an offensive manner, which I was bound to
resent. So I said:
“You need not stare at me in this manner. Is this your gratitude for my
conferring upon you the blessings of civilisation? Is this the thanks
which I am to receive from you for teaching you logic, and how to draw
inferences from postulates? To you we owe all this misfortune. It is
your confounded curiosity that made you meddle with things for whose
conception you were not mature, and which you could not realise, that
brought about this war. The stubbornness with which you kept clinging
to your preconceived opinions has caused this mutiny. Now you have
turned into a goat, and I can only say it served you right.”
The goat tried to speak, but brought forth only a stuttering
“ma-a-a-h,” which sounded to me like the ironical laughter of a
scientist of old laughing at the rotundity of the earth.
The princess--that is to say, the goat--lowered her head.
“You need not get angry!” I exclaimed, feeling somewhat alarmed. “You
ought to be ashamed of yourself. I wish that I had never seen you. I am
only sorry that it is I who is to be married to a goat.”
But before I had time to finish this sentence, the goat made a vicious
rush at me, and gave me a butt on my stomach which took my breath. I
grasped the princess by her horns, and a struggle ensued.
Just then I heard somebody yell in an unearthly manner, and recognised
the voice as that of Professor Cracker. In a moment the situation
became perfectly clear to me, and I was no longer Mulligan, but Mr
Schneider. Jeremiah Stiffbone was close to me, calling upon somebody
to have pity upon his soul; and from under him there came forth a
series of indefinite grunts, in which I recognised Mr Scalawag’s voice.
The goat escaped, and I knew that we still were in that hole in the
Untersberg, near the Dragon’s Den, and that my adventure among the
gnomes had been only a dream.
The rest may easily be imagined. The subterranean passage, into which
we had entered for obtaining shelter, had another outlet upon the other
side of the hill, and through that a herd of goats had come in for some
purpose; but the rest of one of them had been rudely disturbed by the
foot of Professor Cracker. No serious harm, however, was done, while
the experience was not without scientific value, as it proved that the
goat was very spirited--a circumstance that might be regarded as going
to show that there was some spirit after all in that goat. This theory
I, however, advance merely as a working hypothesis, leaving it to the
reader to use his own judgment as to whether he will accept it as
wholly true, or only in part.
Thus Mr Schneider’s story ended, and nothing has been heard publicly
of the gnomes ever since. It is even believed that they keep their
doors locked against all reformers. But, in commemoration of the event
described, a board has been put up in the Dragon’s Den, upon which a
representation of the encounter between the committee and the spirit
of that goat has been roughly painted by an amateur artist; and below
the picture there is a description of the adventure in doggerel verse,
which caused me a great deal of trouble to translate, but which might
be rendered in English as follows:--
“Stop, wanderer, and behold with silent contemplation,
How exact science fought interior revelation.
The cleverest thing that Cracker had invented
Was by a stupid goat, with her two horns resented.
Alas! such is the fate of all the would-be wise;
We only know for sure that which we realise.”
THE END.
PRINTED AT THE EDINBURGH PRESS, 9 AND 11 YOUNG STREET.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] This is a mere assertion, and has not been proved. What is joy? By
what recognised authority can it be shown to exist?--_Printer’s remark._
[2] We deprecate such statements which are scientifically improbable,
and cannot be demonstrated as true. We never had any premonitions and
refuse to believe in such things.--_Printer’s remark._
[3] We regret such vagaries. The scientific explanation, which
is far more reasonable, would be that the noise was due to a
current of air. Mr Schneider seems to have been labouring under an
hallucination.--_Printer’s remark._
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMONG THE GNOMES ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
