WEBVTT - CZM Book Club: "Svend and His Brethren" by William Morris, Part One 0:00:01.720 --> 0:00:10.040 Cool Zone Media. It's the cools On Media book Club, 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:14.000 which has always been our jingle. I'm your host, Margaret 0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:18.000 Kiljoy and this week, Uncles On Media book Club, I'm 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:19.920 going to read you a story. How was that different 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:23.160 from other weeks? It's not. That's the great thing about 0:00:23.160 --> 0:00:26.360 podcasts is that they do a thing and then they 0:00:26.440 --> 0:00:36.200 keep doing that thing forever wherever. Anyway, Okay, so last 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:40.200 week I brought you a story by William Morris, who 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:42.880 was the in case anyone missed that one, William Morris 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:47.519 is this wildly fascinating man. He was the socialist in 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.519 nineteenth century England who was from a upper middle class background, 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:57.400 who became the primary one of the primary interior designers 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:03.520 and like textile designers of Victorian England, and like set 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.760 so many of the aesthetic ideas. When you imagine Victorian wallpaper, 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:11.760 you were imagining something that William Morris either designed or 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:17.080 was designing very similar things. But he was also kind 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:19.480 of the inventor of the fantasy genre. There's other people 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:23.119 who argue about other books that will have done this prior, 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:26.240 but in a lot of ways, the modern fantasy genre 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.840 can be tracked to William Morris. Writing a bunch of 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:35.120 novels about secondary worlds with magic, and he's one of 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:41.200 the primary inspirations for JR. Tolkien. And why am I 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.240 talking so much about him when we read him last week? 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.240 Because we're going to read him again. I'm going to 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.000 read a slightly longer story and it's going to be 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.000 this week and next week. And the reason I want 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.080 to read you all this story is because not only 0:01:53.120 --> 0:02:01.919 did William Morris inspire JR. Tolkien, I suspeact inspired Ursula 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.440 Lagwin and Ursula Gwinn. For those who are not familiar, 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.560 which is probably very few of you, but I don't know. 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.160 Everyone starts somewhere. Ursulo Gwin is one of the most 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:18.000 important feminist science fiction writers of all time. I consider 0:02:18.040 --> 0:02:21.960 her personally to be the greatest English language anarchist fiction writer. 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:28.080 And I care about her work a lot, and a 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:30.560 lot of my friends do too. And she wrote this 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:33.400 one story that I won't read to you because I 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:35.800 don't I'd have to get in touch with her estate 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:38.639 in order to make that happen. But she and also 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:42.120 it's like not long enough for this podcast. She wrote 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.680 the story called The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.399 and this story, I'm gonna spoil it for you because 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:51.920 it's just a little thought experiment. And in that story, 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.919 there's like a perfect, happy, utopian society where the children 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:57.080 are playing and the banners are flying and everything is 0:02:57.120 --> 0:03:00.040 good and lovely. And the way that they make that 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:04.800 happen is that one child is locked up and tortured. 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:08.480 And how looking at this perfect society but based on 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:13.720 this fundamentally evil thing, some people walk away, some people leave. 0:03:13.840 --> 0:03:22.440 Omelas LeGuin was an anarchist pacifist, and that idea comes, 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:25.400 you know, I think that that is that story is 0:03:25.440 --> 0:03:29.200 maybe the most perfect encapsulation of anarchist pacifism as a 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:33.480 as a parable, and it's a very important story in 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:35.640 the sort of science fiction canon. A lot of authors 0:03:35.680 --> 0:03:39.360 have sort of written responses or follow ups or sequels 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:43.480 or you know, other things that tie into it. Personally, 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.080 nothing I've read quite touches the original and sort of 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.560 a like perfectness. And it's so you can only write 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:51.600 perfect stuff if you write really short, you know, you 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:55.920 can do a little perfect, little parable. And I've never 0:03:56.040 --> 0:04:01.560 before run across anything that made me think, oh this 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:05.760 might have inspired Legwin with o Malas. And then also 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.080 Legwin wrote a book called The Eye of the Heron 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:12.400 that is in some ways a more book length exploration 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:19.360 of that idea of pacifism and walking away. But then 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:22.520 I was reading a lot of William Morris stories and 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:26.479 I read a story called Svend and his Brethren from 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:30.440 eighteen fifty six. And that's the story I'm going to 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:35.880 read to you today because I think it's related. And 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:40.599 I could be wrong, but I would suspect that this book, 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:47.760 the story inspired Legwin to some level. Now, this story 0:04:47.800 --> 0:04:49.840 was written in eighteen fifty six. Like the last story 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.960 I wrote, William Morris wrote a bunch of romances, as 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.719 they were called, which meant like thet of fantasy fables, right, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:00.440 not like more like romantic the art movement, not like 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.400 romance novels, although I would read the Shit out of 0:05:03.400 --> 0:05:06.080 a Wayamore's romance novel based on that last story we 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.240 read where he's talking about how beautiful this man is. 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:12.120 But he wrote all these stories I think while he 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:14.880 was in college. I think while he was in college, 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:16.560 while he was at Oxford, and they were published in 0:05:16.600 --> 0:05:20.400 the Literary Journal there, and that's like more or less 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.640 his short story output. And after that he wrote epic 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:24.560 poetry for a long time, and then later in his 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:26.400 life he wrote all of the novels, which are much 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:33.479 more influential overall. And this story, like the last one, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:36.760 it's a little bit I'm gonna use this word imprecisely. 0:05:36.960 --> 0:05:39.960 It's a little bit baroque. It's a little bit the 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.960 writing is a little bit flowery. Some certain things you're 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:48.599 not entirely certain what's happening. And because one hundred and 0:05:48.600 --> 0:05:51.479 seventy years have passed since this story came out, I'll 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:53.160 just kind of go ahead and tell you a little 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.200 bit about the plots of an easier time following it, 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.039 because I would have done me some good. This is 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:05.440 a story about out one country conquering another, And at 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.960 the start of it, it is about one country conquering another. 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:12.479 And how is someone, a woman from that conquered country, 0:06:12.760 --> 0:06:15.279 in order to stop the war, marries the king of 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:18.560 the other country and is not happy about it. But 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:22.320 then it's a story about their children and the decisions 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:26.320 that they choose to make. And that's the part where 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:30.080 it starts getting well, what's all interesting. I hope you 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:31.480 like it. I hope you like it as much as 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.560 I do, because I'll be reading it this week and 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:37.000 next week, and it's called Svend and his Brethren from 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:44.760 eighteen fifty six by William Morris. A king in the 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:48.200 olden time ruled over a mighty nation. A proud man, 0:06:48.240 --> 0:06:50.760 he must have been any man who was king of 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:55.000 that nation. Hundreds of lords each, a prince over many people, 0:06:55.440 --> 0:06:58.160 sat about him in the council chamber under the dim 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.640 vault that was blue like the vault of heaven, and 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:07.520 shone with innumerable glistenings of golden stars. North, south, east 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:10.640 and west. Spread that land of his. The sea did 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.640 not stop it. His empire clomb the high mountains and 0:07:14.760 --> 0:07:18.240 spread abroad its arms over the valleys of them. All 0:07:18.280 --> 0:07:21.560 along the sea lined shore cities set with their crowns 0:07:21.600 --> 0:07:24.800 of towers in the midst of broad bays, each fit. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.320 It seemed to be a harbor for the navies of 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:34.040 all the world. Inland, the pastures and cornlands lay checkered, 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:37.880 much with climbing over tumbling grape vines under the sun 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.240 that crumbled their clods and drew up the young wheat 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.560 in the springtime, under the rain that made the long 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:49.560 grass soft and fine. Under all fair fertilizing influences. The 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:52.920 streams leapt down from the mountain tops or cleft their 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:57.360 way through the ridged ravines. They grew great rivers like seas. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:01.800 Each one. The mountains were cloven and gave forth from 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.239 their scarred sides wealth of ore and splendor of marble. 0:08:05.960 --> 0:08:09.800 All things this people that King Valdemar ruled over could do. 0:08:10.520 --> 0:08:13.480 They leveled mountains that over the smooth roads the wains 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:16.760 might go laden with silks and spices. From the sea. 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:20.640 They drained lakes that the land might yield more and 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:24.679 more As year by year the serfs, driven like cattle, 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:30.440 but worse fed, worse housed, died slowly scarce. Knowing they 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:34.080 had souls, They builded them huge ships, and said they 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:38.120 were masters of the sea too. Only I trow the 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.880 sea was an unruly subject, and often sent them back 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:44.199 their ships cut into more pieces than the pines of 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:47.559 them were when the ads first fell upon them. They 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:51.880 raised towers and bridges, and marble palaces with endless corridors, 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:57.640 rose scented and cooled with welling fountains. They sent great 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.640 armies and fleets to all points of heaven that the 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.160 winds blow from. Who took and burned many happy cities, wasted, 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.120 many fields and valleys blotted out from the memory of men. 0:09:09.200 --> 0:09:13.280 The names of nations made their men's lives a hopeless 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:17.440 shame and misery to them, their women's lives disgrace, And 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:21.119 then came home to have flowers thrown on them in showers, 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:26.160 to be feasted and called heroes. Should not then their 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:30.079 king be proud of them? Moreover, they could fashion stone 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:33.559 and brass into the shapes of men. They could write books. 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.440 They knew the names of the stars and their number. 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.280 They knew what moved the passions of men in the 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:43.600 hearts of them, and could draw you up cunningly catalogs 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:47.200 of virtues and vices. Their wise men could prove to 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:50.840 you that any lie was true, that any truth was false, 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.640 till your head grew dizzy and your heart sick, and 0:09:54.679 --> 0:09:59.000 you almost doubted if there were a god. Should not 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.440 then their king be proud of them? Their men were 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.840 strong in body and moved about gracefully like dancers, and 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:10.120 the purple, black scented hair of their gold clothed knights 0:10:10.760 --> 0:10:13.440 seemed to shoot out rays under the blaze of light 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:17.480 that shone like many suns in the king's halls. Their 0:10:17.520 --> 0:10:21.160 women's faces were very fair in red and white, their 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.760 skins fair and half transparent like the marble of their mountains, 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.280 and their voices sounded like the rising of soft music 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:33.920 from step to step of their own white palaces. Should not, 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:37.199 then their king be proud of such a people who 0:10:37.280 --> 0:10:39.800 seemed to help so in carrying on the world to 0:10:39.880 --> 0:10:45.880 its consummate perfection, which they even hoped their grandchildren would see. 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:52.199 Alas alas they were slaves, king and priest, noble and burgher, 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.040 just as much as the meanest task surf, perhaps more 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:59.480 even than he, for they were so willingly and he 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:04.440 unwillingly enough they could do everything but justice and truth 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.760 and mercy. Therefore God's judgments hung over their heads, not 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.840 fallen yet, but surely to fall one time or other. 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.000 For ages past they had warred against one people only 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.800 whom they could not utterly subdue, a feeble people in 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:25.120 numbers dwelling in the very midst of them among the mountains. 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:29.280 Yet now they were pressing them close, acre after acre, 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:33.280 with seas of blood to purchase. Each acre had been 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.920 wrested from the free people, and their end seeming drawing 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.839 near and this time the king Valdemar had marched to 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.480 their land with a great army to make war on them. 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:49.240 He boasted to himself, almost for the last time, a 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.520 walled town in the free land. In that town a 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.440 house built of rough, splintery stones, and in a great, 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.680 low browed room of that house a gray haired man 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.480 paid seen to and fro impatiently. Will she never come, 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:07.160 he says, it is two hours since the sunset. News 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.920 too of the enemy's being in the land. How dreadful 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.840 if she is taken. His great broad face is marked 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.880 with many furrows, made by the fierce, restless energy of 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:20.079 the man. But there is a wearied look on it, 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.120 the look of a man who, having done his best, 0:12:23.760 --> 0:12:26.880 is yet beaten. He seemed to long to be gone 0:12:26.960 --> 0:12:30.280 and be at peace. He, the fighter in many battles, 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.160 who often had seemed with his single arm to roll 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:36.760 back the whole tide of fight, felt despairing enough. Now, 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:41.520 this last invasion, he thought, must surely quite settle the matter. 0:12:42.200 --> 0:12:46.600 Wave after wave, wave after wave had broken on that 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:49.680 dear land and been rolled back from it, and yet 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:53.600 the hungry sea pressed on. They must be finally drowned 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:57.160 in that sea how fearfully they had been tried for 0:12:57.200 --> 0:13:03.040 their sins. Back again to his anxiety concerning Cecilla, his daughter, 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:06.680 go his thoughts, and he still paces up and down, wearily, 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.480 stopping now and then to gaze intently on things which 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.800 he has seen a hundred times. And the night has 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:18.120 altogether come on. But what you have probably seen a 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.199 hundred times is me make cynical ad transitions in the 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:41.480 middle of podcasts like this one. And we're back at last. 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.360 The blast of a horn from outside, a challenge and 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:48.400 counter challenge, and the wicket to the courtyard is swung open. 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.120 For this house, being in a part of the city 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.120 where the walls are somewhat weak, is a little fortress 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:57.959 in itself, and is very carefully guarded. The old man's 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.880 face brightened at the sound of the newcomer, and he 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:02.760 went toward the entrance of the house, where he was 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.640 met by two young knights fully armed, and a maiden. 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.880 Thank god you are come, he says, but stops when 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.559 he sees her face, which is quite pale, almost wild, 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.679 with some sorrow. The Saint Cecilia, what is it, he says, 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:22.600 Father Eric will tell you. Then suddenly a clang for 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.440 Eric has thrown on the ground a richly jeweled sword sheathed, 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.080 and sets his foot on it, crunching the pearls on 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:35.160 the sheath, then says, flinging up his head. There, father, 0:14:35.680 --> 0:14:38.400 the enemy is in the land. May that happen to 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.320 every one of them. But for my part, I've accounted 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:45.840 for two already, son, Eric, Son, Eric, you talk forever 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:49.880 about yourself. Quick, tell me about Cecilia instead. If you 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:53.280 go on boasting and talking always about yourself, you will 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:57.000 come to no good end. Son after all, But as 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:04.160 he says this, he smiles nevertheless, and his eyes glistens. Well, father, listen, 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.560 such a strange thing she tells us. Not to be 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.360 believed if she did not tell us herself. The enemy 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:13.280 has suddenly got generous, one of them at least, which 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.480 is something of a disappointment to me. Ah, pardon about 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.040 myself again, And that is about myself too. Well, Father, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.440 what am I to do? But Cecila, she has wandered 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:26.480 some way from her maidens. When Ah, but I never 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.520 could tell a story properly. Let her tell it herself 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:33.000 here Cecilla. Well, well, I see she is better employed 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:36.320 talking namely, How should I know what with sure in 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:39.480 the window seat yonder. But she has told us that 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:42.680 as she wandered, almost by herself, she presently heard shouts 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.440 and saw many of the enemy's knights riding quickly towards her. 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:49.080 Whereat she knelt only and prayed to God, who was 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:52.320 very gracious to her, For when as she thought something 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.200 dreadful was about to happen, the chief of the knights, 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:59.120 a very noble looking man, she said, rescued her, and, 0:15:59.160 --> 0:16:02.480 after he had gave earnestly into her face, told her 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.040 she might go back again to her own home and 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.040 her maids with her, if only she would tell him 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:11.760 where she dwelt in her name, and withal. He sent 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:14.280 three knights to escort her some way toward the city. 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.440 Then he turned and rode away with all his knights, 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.080 but those three, who, when they knew that he had 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:24.160 quite gone, she says, began to talk horribly, saying things 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:27.520 whereof in her terror, she understood the import Only then, 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.680 before worse came to pass, came I and slew too, 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:34.040 as I said, And the other ran away lustily with 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:36.880 a good courage. And that is the sword of one 0:16:36.920 --> 0:16:39.680 of the slain knights, or as one might rather call 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:45.960 them rascally katiffs. The old man's thoughts seemed to have 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:49.000 gone wandering after his son had finished, for he said 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:55.280 nothing for some time, but at last spoke dejectedly, Eric, 0:16:55.800 --> 0:16:58.880 brave son. When I was your age, I too hoped, 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:00.840 and my hopes are to come to this at last. 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:04.080 You are blind in your hopeful, youth, Eric, And do 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:06.960 not see that this king, for the king it certainly was, 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:11.280 will crush us, and not the less surely, because he 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:15.240 is plainly not ungenerous, but rather a good, courteous knight. 0:17:15.960 --> 0:17:19.800 Alas poor old gunner, broken down now and ready to die, 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.080 as your country is. How often in the olden time 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:26.160 thou used to say to thyself, as thou didst ride 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.040 at the head of our glorious house, this charge may 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:33.480 finish this matter, this battle must They passed away, those 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.480 gallant fights, and still the foe pressed on, and hope 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:39.080 too slowly ebbed away, as the boundaries of our land 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.240 grew less and less. Behold, this is the last wave, 0:17:42.359 --> 0:17:45.520 but one or two, and then for a sad farewell 0:17:45.520 --> 0:17:48.879 to name and freedom. Yet surely the end of the 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:51.160 world must come, when we are swept off the face 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.439 of the earth. God waits long, they say, before he 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.920 avenges his own. As he was speaking, shure and Cecilia 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.760 came nearer to him, and Sellah, all traces of her 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:04.720 late terror gone from her face. Now, raising her lips 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:07.119 to his bended forehead, kissed him fondly and said, with 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:12.320 glowing face, Father, how can I help our people? Do 0:18:12.359 --> 0:18:16.159 they want deaths? I will die? Do they want happiness? 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:19.520 I will live miserably through years and years, Nor ever 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:23.159 pray for death. Some hope or other seemed growing up 0:18:23.160 --> 0:18:26.680 his heart and showing through his face when he spoke again, 0:18:26.720 --> 0:18:29.840 putting back the hair from off her face and clasping 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.480 it about with both his hands while he stooped to 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:38.040 kiss her, much like I have stooped to selling ads 0:18:38.080 --> 0:18:58.600 for a living. Here's the ads, and we're back. God, 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:02.360 remember your mother, Cissela. Then it was no dream after all, 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.919 but true, perhaps as indeed it seemed at the time. 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:07.480 But it must come quickly, that woman's deliverance, or not 0:19:07.600 --> 0:19:10.000 at all? When was it that I heard that old 0:19:10.040 --> 0:19:12.800 tale that sounded even then true to my ears? For 0:19:12.840 --> 0:19:15.240 we have not been punished for naught, my son. That 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.520 is not God's way. It comes across my memory, somehow 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:21.320 mingled in a wonderful manner with the purple of the 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.880 pines on the hillside, with the fragrance of them born 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:26.840 from far towards me. For know, my children, that in 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.760 times passed long long past, now we did an evil 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:33.959 deed for our forefathers, who have been dead now and 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.800 forgiven so long ago. Once, mad with rage at some 0:19:36.840 --> 0:19:40.919 defeat from their enemies, fired a church and burned therein 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:44.120 many women who had fled thither for refuge. And from 0:19:44.160 --> 0:19:47.560 that time a curse cleaves to us. Only they say 0:19:48.000 --> 0:19:50.400 that at last we may be saved from utter destruction 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:54.280 by a woman. I know not, God grant it may 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:59.080 be so. Then she said, father, brother, and you sure 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:01.679 come with with me to the chapel. I wish you 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.320 to witness me make an oath. Her face was pale, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.760 her lips were pale. Her golden hail was pale, but 0:20:09.800 --> 0:20:12.679 not pale. It seemed from any sinking of blood, but 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.600 from gathering of intensest light from somewhere her eyes perhaps, 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:21.840 for they appeared to burn Inwardly. They followed the sweeping 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.399 of her purple robe in silence through the low, heavy 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.280 beamed passages they entered the little chapel, dimly lighted by 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:30.520 the moon that night as it shone through one of 0:20:30.560 --> 0:20:32.920 the three arrow slits of windows at the east end. 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:37.679 There was little wealth of marble there I trow little 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:42.840 time had those fighting men for stone smoothing, albeit one 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:46.280 noted many semblances of flowers even in the dim half light. 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.919 And here and there the faces of brave men, roughly 0:20:49.960 --> 0:20:52.840 cut enough, but grand because the hand of the carver 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:57.240 had followed his loving heart. Neither was their gold. Wanting 0:20:57.320 --> 0:21:01.080 to the altar and its canopy. Above the low pillars 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:04.080 of the knave hung banners taken from the foe by 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.760 the men of that house. Gallant with gold and jewels, 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:11.680 she walked up to the altar and took the Blessed 0:21:11.680 --> 0:21:13.760 Book of the Gospels from the left side of it, 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.920 then knelt in prayer for a moment or two while 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:20.600 the three men stood behind her reverently. When she rose, 0:21:20.680 --> 0:21:22.919 she made a sign to them, and from their scabbards 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:26.920 gleamed three swords in the moonlight. Then, while they held 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:30.119 them aloft and pointed toward the altar, she opened the 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:32.960 book at the page whereon was painted Christ, the Lord 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.560 dying on the cross, pale against the gleaming gold, She said, 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:42.000 in a firm voice, Christ, God, who dietist for all men, 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.160 so help me, as I refuse not life, happiness, even 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:50.639 honor for this people whom I love. Then she kissed 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.560 the face so pale against the gold, and knelt again. 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:57.240 But when she had risen, and before she could leave 0:21:57.280 --> 0:21:59.920 the space by the altar, Shore had stepped up to 0:22:00.160 --> 0:22:04.120 her and seized her hurriedly, folding both his arms about her. 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.919 She let herself be held there, her bosom against his. 0:22:08.920 --> 0:22:11.359 Then he held her away from him a little space, 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:14.159 holding her by the arms near the shoulder. Then he 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:17.159 took her hands and laid them across his shoulders, so 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:21.439 that now she held him. And they said nothing. What 0:22:21.520 --> 0:22:24.399 could they say? Do you know any word for what 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:28.720 they meant? And the father and brother stood by, looking 0:22:28.800 --> 0:22:31.600 quite awe struck more so than they seemed by her 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:35.040 solemn oath. Till Shore, raising his head from where it lay, 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:38.960 cried out aloud, May God forgive me as I am 0:22:39.000 --> 0:22:43.680 true to her. Hear you. Father and brother, then said Cecilia, 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:46.720 may God help me in my need, as I am 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:50.360 true to shure. And the others went, and the two 0:22:50.359 --> 0:22:54.200 were left standing there alone, with no little awe over them, 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:56.439 strange and shy as they had never been yet to 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.119 each other. Cecilla shuddered and said, in a quick whisper, 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:03.640 sure on your knees and pray that these oaths may 0:23:03.680 --> 0:23:08.760 never clash? Can they? Cecilia? He said, Oh love, she cried, 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:11.639 you have loosed my hand. Take it again, or I 0:23:11.680 --> 0:23:15.680 shall die. Sure. He took both her hands and held 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:19.920 them fast to his lips and to his forehead. He said, no, 0:23:20.440 --> 0:23:23.159 God does not allow such things. Truth does not lie. 0:23:23.480 --> 0:23:28.480 You are truth. This need not be prayed for. She said, Oh, 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.440 forgive me yet Yet this old chapel is damp and cold, 0:23:31.480 --> 0:23:35.400 even in the burning summer weather. Oh night, sure something 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:40.119 strikes through me. I pray, you kneel and pray. He 0:23:40.200 --> 0:23:42.800 looked steadily at her for a long time without answering, 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:45.359 as if he were trying once and for all to 0:23:45.400 --> 0:23:49.320 become indeed one with her. Then said, yes, it is possible. 0:23:49.760 --> 0:23:53.560 In no other way could you give up everything. Then 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:56.080 he took off from his finger a thin golden ring 0:23:56.600 --> 0:23:59.680 and broke it in two and gave her the one half, saying, 0:24:01.000 --> 0:24:05.520 when will they come together? Then within a while they 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:08.399 left the chapel and walked as in a dream, between 0:24:08.440 --> 0:24:11.560 the dazzling nights of the hall where the knight sat. Now, 0:24:11.840 --> 0:24:15.240 and between those lights sat down together, dreaming still the 0:24:15.240 --> 0:24:18.200 same dream, each of them, while all the knights shouted 0:24:18.200 --> 0:24:21.000 for sure and Cecilla. Even if a man had spent 0:24:21.040 --> 0:24:23.320 all his life looking for sorrowful things, even if he 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:25.880 had sought them with all his heart and soul, even 0:24:25.960 --> 0:24:29.280 though he had grown gray in that quest, yet would 0:24:29.280 --> 0:24:31.800 he have found nothing in all the world, or perhaps 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:38.159 in all the stars, either so sorrowful as Cecila. They 0:24:38.200 --> 0:24:42.000 had accepted her sacrifice after long deliberation. They had arrayed 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:45.520 her in purple and scarlet. They had crowned her with gold, 0:24:45.600 --> 0:24:48.920 wrought about with jewels. They had spread abroad the veil 0:24:49.000 --> 0:24:51.960 of her golden hair. Yet now as they led her 0:24:52.000 --> 0:24:54.760 forth in the midst of the band of knights, her 0:24:54.800 --> 0:24:58.359 brother Eric holding fast her hand, each man felt like 0:24:58.400 --> 0:25:02.240 a murderer when he beheld her face, whereon was no tear, 0:25:03.080 --> 0:25:06.119 wherein was no writhing of muscle, twitching of nerve, wherein 0:25:06.280 --> 0:25:09.119 was no sorrow mark of her own, but only the 0:25:09.119 --> 0:25:12.119