The Crushed Flower & Other Stories

My spiritual clearness, as I had the pleasure of informing the reader before, has built up for me a considerable circle of men and women admirers.  With self-evident emotion I shall tell of the pleasant hours of our hearty conversations, which I modestly call “My talks.”

It is difficult for me to explain how I deserved it, but the majority of those who come to me regard me with a feeling of the profoundest respect, even adoration, and only a few come for the purpose of arguing with me, but these arguments are usually of a moderate and proper character.  I usually seat myself in the middle of the room, in a soft and deep armchair, which is furnished me for this occasion by the Warden; my hearers surround me closely, and some of them, the more enthusiastic youths and maidens, seat themselves at my feet.

Having before me an audience more than half of which is composed of women, and entirely disposed in my favour, I always appeal not so much to the mind as to the sensitive and truthful heart.  Fortunately I possess a certain oratorical power, and the customary effects of the oratorical art, to which all preachers, beginning in all probability with Mohammed, have resorted, and which I can handle rather cleverly, allow me to influence my hearers in the desired direction.  It is easily understood that to the dear ladies in my audience I am not so much the sage, who has solved the mystery of the iron grate, as a great martyr of a righteous cause, which they do not quite understand.  Shunning abstract discussions, they eagerly hang on every word of compassion and kindness, and respond with the same.  Allowing them to love me and to believe in my immutable knowledge of life, I afford them the happy opportunity to depart at least for a time from the coldness of life, from its painful doubts and questions.

I say openly without any false modesty, which I despise even as I despise hypocrisy, there were lectures at which I myself being in a state of exaltation, called forth in my audience, especially in my nervous lady visitors, a mood of intense agitation, which turned into hysterical laughter and tears.  Of course I am not a prophet; I am merely a modest thinker, but no one would succeed in convincing my lady admirers that there is no prophetic meaning and significance in my speeches.

I remember one such lecture which took place two months ago.  The night before I could not sleep as soundly as I usually slept; perhaps it was simply because of the full moon, which affects sleep, disturbing and interrupting it.  I vaguely remember the strange sensation which I experienced when the pale crescent of the moon appeared in my window and the iron squares cut it with ominous black lines into small silver squares….

When I started for the lecture I felt exhausted and rather inclined to silence than to conversation; the vision of the night before disturbed me.  But when I saw those dear faces, those eyes full of hope and ardent entreaty for friendly advice; when I saw before me that rich field, already ploughed, waiting only for the good seed to be sown, my heart began to burn with delight, pity and love.  Avoiding the customary formalities which accompany the meetings of people, declining the hands outstretched to greet me, I turned to the audience, which was agitated at the very sight of me, and gave them my blessing with a gesture to which I know how to lend a peculiar majesty.

“Come unto me,” I exclaimed; “come unto me; you who have gone away from that life.  Here, in this quiet abode, under the sacred protection of the iron grate, at my heart overflowing with love, you will find rest and comfort.  My beloved children, give me your sad soul, exhausted from suffering, and I shall clothe it with light.  I shall carry it to those blissful lands where the sun of eternal truth and love never sets.”

Many had begun to cry already, but, as it was too early for tears, I interrupted them with a gesture of fatherly impatience, and continued: 

“You, dear girl, who came from the world which calls itself free—­ what gloomy shadows lie on your charming and beautiful face!  And you, my daring youth, why are you so pale?  Why do I see, instead of the ecstasy of victory, the fear of defeat in your lowered eyes?  And you, honest mother, tell me, what wind has made your eyes so red?  What furious rain has lashed your wizened face?  What snow has whitened your hair, for it used to be dark?”

But the weeping and the sobs drowned the end of my speech, and besides, I admit it without feeling ashamed of it, I myself brushed away more than one treacherous tear from my eyes.  Without allowing the agitation to subside completely, I called in a voice of stern and truthful reproach: 

“Do not weep because your soul is dark, stricken with misfortunes, blinded by chaos, clipped of its wings by doubts; give it to me and I shall direct it toward the light, toward order and reason.  I know the truth.  I have conceived the world!  I have discovered the great principle of its purpose!  I have solved the sacred formula of the iron grate!  I demand of you—­swear to me by the cold iron of its squares that henceforth you will confess to me without shame or fear all your deeds, your errors and doubts, all the secret thoughts of your soul and the dreams and desires of your body!”

“We swear!  We swear!  We swear!  Save us!  Reveal to us the truth!  Take our sins upon yourself!  Save us!  Save us!” numerous exclamations resounded.

I must mention the sad incident which occurred during that same lecture.  At the moment when the excitement reached its height and the hearts had already opened, ready to unburden themselves, a certain youth, looking morose and embittered, exclaimed loudly, evidently addressing himself to me: 

“Liar!  Do not listen to him.  He is lying!”

The indulgent reader will easily believe that it was only by a great effort that I succeeded in saving the incautious youth from the fury of the audience.  Offended in that which is most precious to a human being, his faith in goodness and the divine purpose of life, my women admirers rushed upon the foolish youth in a mob and would have beaten him cruelly.  Remembering, however, that there was more joy to the pastor in one sinner who repents than in ten righteous men, I took the young man aside where no one could hear us, and entered into a brief conversation with him.

“Did you call me a liar, my child?”

Moved by my kindness, the poor young man became confused and answered hesitatingly: 

“Pardon me for my harshness, but it seems to me that you are not telling the truth.”

“I understand you, my friend.  You must have been agitated by the intense ecstasy of the women, and you, as a sensible man, not inclined to mysticism, suspected me of fraud, of a hideous fraud.  No, no, don’t excuse yourself.  I understand you.  But I wish you would understand me.  Out of the mire of superstitions, out of the deep gulf of prejudices and unfounded beliefs, I want to lead their strayed thoughts and place them upon the solid foundation of strictly logical reasoning.  The iron grate, which I mentioned, is not a mystical sign; it is only a formula, a simple, sober, honest, mathematical formula.  To you, as a sensible man, I will willingly explain this formula.  The grate is the scheme in which are placed all the laws guiding the universe, which do away with chaos, substituting in its place strict, iron, inviolable order, forgotten by mankind.  As a brightminded man you will easily understand—­”

“Pardon me.  I did not understand you, and if you will permit me I—­ But why do you make them swear?”

“My friend, the soul of man, believing itself free and constantly suffering from this spurious freedom, is demanding fetters for itself —­to some these fetters are an oath, to others a vow, to still others simply a word of honour.  You will give me your word of honour, will you not?”

“I will.”

“And by this you are simply striving to enter the harmony of the world, where everything is subjected to a law.  Is not the falling of a stone the fulfilment of a vow, of the vow called the law of gravitation?”

I shall not go into detail about this conversation and the others that followed.  The obstinate and unrestrained youth, who had insulted me by calling me liar, became one of my warmest adherents.

I must return to the others.  During the time that I talked with the young man, the desire for penitence among my charming proselytes reached its height.  Not patient enough to wait for me, they commenced in a state of intense ecstasy to confess to one another, giving to the room an appearance of a garden where dozens of birds of paradise were twittering at the same time.  When I returned, each of them separately unfolded her agitated soul to me….

I saw how, from day to day, from hour to hour, terrible chaos was struggling in their souls with an eager inclination for harmony and order; how in the bloody struggle between eternal falsehood and immortal truth, falsehood, through inconceivable ways, passed into truth, and truth became falsehood.  I found in the human soul all the forces in the world, and none of them was dormant, and in the mad whirlpool each soul became like a fountain, whose source is the abyss of the sea and whose summit the sky.  And every human being, as I have learned and seen, is like the rich and powerful master who gave a masquerade ball at his castle and illuminated it with many lights; and strange masks came from everywhere and the master greeted them, bowing courteously, and vainly asking them who they were; and new, ever stranger, ever more terrible, masks were arriving, and the master bowed to them ever more courteously, staggering from fatigue and fear.  And they were laughing and whispering strange words about the eternal chaos, whence they came, obeying the call of the master.  And lights were burning in the castle—­and in the distance lighted windows were visible, reminding him of the festival, and the exhausted master kept bowing ever lower, ever more courteously, ever more cheerfully.  My indulgent reader will easily understand that in addition to a certain sense of fear which I experienced, the greatest delight and even joyous emotion soon came upon me—­for I saw that eternal chaos was defeated and the triumphant hymn of bright harmony was rising to the skies….

Not without a sense of pride I shall mention the modest offerings by which my kind admirers were striving to express to me their feelings of love and adoration.  I am not afraid of calling out a smile on the lips of my readers, for I feel how comical it is—­I will say that among the offerings brought me at first were fruit, cakes, all kinds of sweet-meats.  But I am afraid, however, that no one will believe me when I say that I have actually declined these offerings, preferring the observance of the prison regime in all its rigidness.

At the last lecture, a kind and honourable lady brought me a basketful of live flowers.  To my regret, I was compelled to decline this present, too.

“Forgive me, madam, but flowers do not enter into the system of our prison.  I appreciate very much your magnanimous attention—­I kiss your hands, madam—­” I said, “but I am compelled to decline the flowers.  Travelling along the thorny road to self-renunciation, I must not caress my eyes with the ephemeral and illusionary beauty of these charming lilies and roses.  All flowers perish in our prison, madam.”

Yesterday another lady brought me a very valuable crucifix of ivory, a family heirloom, she said.  Not afflicted with the sin of hypocrisy, I told my generous lady frankly that I do not believe in miracles.

“But at the same time,” I said, “I regard with the profoundest respect Him who is justly called the Saviour of the world, and I honour greatly His services to mankind.

“If I should tell you, madam, that the Gospel has long been my favourite book, that there is not a day in my life that I do not open this great Book, drawing from it strength and courage to be able to continue my hard course—­you will understand that your liberal gift could not have fallen into better hands.  Henceforth, thanks to you, the sad solitude of my cell will vanish; I am not alone.  I bless you, my daughter.”

I cannot forego mentioning the strange thoughts brought out by the crucifix as it hung there beside my portrait.  It was twilight; outside the wall the bell was tolling heavily in the invisible church, calling the believers together; in the distance, over the deserted field, overgrown with high grass, an unknown wanderer was plodding along, passing into the unknown distance, like a little black dot.  It was as quiet in our prison as in a sepulchre.  I looked long and attentively at the features of Jesus, which were so calm, so joyous compared with him who looked silently and dully from the wall beside Him.  And with my habit, formed during the long years of solitude, of addressing inanimate things aloud, I said to the motionless crucifix: 

“Good evening, Jesus.  I am glad to welcome You in our prison.  There are three of us here:  You, I, and the one who is looking from the wall, and I hope that we three will manage to live in peace and in harmony.  He is looking silently, and You are silent, and Your eyes are closed—­I shall speak for the three of us, a sure sign that our peace will never be broken.”

They were silent, and, continuing, I addressed my speech to the portrait: 

“Where are you looking so intently and so strangely, my unknown friend and roommate?  In your eyes I see mystery and reproach.  Is it possible that you dare reproach Him?  Answer!”

And, pretending that the portrait answered, I continued in a different voice with an expression of extreme sternness and boundless grief: 

“Yes, I do reproach Him.  Jesus, Jesus!  Why is Your face so pure, so blissful?  You have passed only over the brink of human sufferings, as over the brink of an abyss, and only the foam of the bloody and miry waves have touched You.  Do You command me, a human being, to sink into the dark depth?  Great is Your Golgotha, Jesus, but too reverent and joyous, and one small but interesting stroke is missing—­the horror of aimlessness!”

Here I interrupted the speech of the Portrait, with an expression of anger.

“How dare you,” I exclaimed; “how dare you speak of aimlessness in our prison?”

They were silent; and suddenly Jesus, without opening His eyes—­He even seemed to close them more tightly—­answered: 

“Who knows the mysteries of the heart of Jesus?”

I burst into laughter, and my esteemed reader will easily understand this laughter.  It turned out that I, a cool and sober mathematician, possessed a poetic talent and could compose very interesting comedies.

I do not know how all this would have ended, for I had already prepared a thundering answer for my roommate when the appearance of the keeper, who brought me food, suddenly interrupted me.  But apparently my face bore traces of excitement, for the man asked me with stern sympathy: 

“Were you praying?”

I do not remember what I answered.