Paul et Virginie. English
Page 16
will of God that Ishould go, and that life was a scene of trials!--and Oh! this is indeeda severe one."
"What!" exclaimed Paul, "you could find so many reasons for going, andnot one for remaining here! Ah! there is one reason for your departurethat you have not mentioned. Riches have great attractions. You willsoon find in the new world to which you are going, another, to whom youwill give the name of brother, which you bestow on me no more. You willchoose that brother from amongst persons who are worthy of you by theirbirth, and by a fortune which I have not to offer. But where can you goto be happier? On what shore will you land, and find it dearer to youthan the spot which gave you birth?--and where will you form around youa society more delightful to you than this, by which you are so muchaccustomed? What will become of her, already advanced in years, whenshe no longer sees you at her side at table, in the house, in the walks,where she used to lean upon you? What will become of my mother, wholoves you with the same affection? What shall I say to comfort them whenI see them weeping for your absence? Cruel Virginia! I say nothing toyou of myself; but what will become of me, when in the morning I shallno more see you; when the evening will come, and not reunite us?--whenI shall gaze on these two palm trees, planted at our birth, and solong the witnesses of our mutual friendship? Ah! since your lot ischanged,--since you seek in a far country other possessions than thefruits of my labour, let me go with you in the vessel in which youare about to embark. I will sustain your spirits in the midst of thosetempests which terrify you so much even on shore. I will lay my headupon your bosom: I will warm your heart upon my own; and in France,where you are going in search of fortune and of grandeur, I will waitupon you as your slave. Happy only in your happiness, you will findme, in those palaces where I shall see you receiving the homage andadoration of all, rich and noble enough to make you the greatest of allsacrifices, by dying at your feet."
The violence of his emotions stopped his utterance, and we then heardVirginia, who, in a voice broken by sobs, uttered these words:--"It isfor you that I go,--for you whom I see tired to death every day by thelabour of sustaining two helpless families. If I have accepted thisopportunity of becoming rich, it is only to return a thousand-foldthe good which you have done us. Can any fortune be equal to yourfriendship? Why do you talk about your birth? Ah! if it were possiblefor me still to have a brother, should I make choice of any other thanyou? Oh, Paul, Paul! you are far dearer to me than a brother! How muchhas it cost me to repulse you from me! Help me to tear myself from whatI value more than existence, till Heaven shall bless our union. ButI will stay or go,--I will live or die,--dispose of me as you will.Unhappy that I am! I could have repelled your caresses; but I cannotsupport your affliction."
At these words Paul seized her in his arms, and, holding her pressedclose to his bosom, cried, in a piercing tone, "I will go withher,--nothing shall ever part us." We all ran towards him; and Madame dela Tour said to him, "My son, if you go, what will become of us?"
He, trembling, repeated after her the words,--"My son!--my son! You mymother!" cried he; "you, who would separate the brother from the sister!We have both been nourished at your bosom; we have both been reared uponyour knees; we have learnt of you to love another; we have said so athousand times; and now you would separate her from me!--you would sendher to Europe, that inhospitable country which refused you an asylum,and to relations by whom you yourself were abandoned. You will tell methat I have no right over her, and that she is not my sister. She iseverything to me;--my riches, my birth, my family,--all that I have! Iknow no other. We have had but one roof,--one cradle,--and we will havebut one grave! If she goes, I will follow her. The governor will preventme! Will he prevent me from flinging myself into the sea?--will heprevent me from following her by swimming? The sea cannot be more fatalto me than the land. Since I cannot live with her, at least I willdie before her eyes, far from you. Inhuman mother!--woman withoutcompassion!--may the ocean, to which you trust her, restore her to youno more! May the waves, rolling back our bodies amid the shinglesof this beach, give you in the loss of your two children, an eternalsubject of remorse!"
At these words, I seized him in my arms, for despair had deprived himof reason. His eyes sparkled with fire, the perspiration fell in greatdrops from his face; his knees trembled, and I felt his heart beatviolently against his burning bosom.
Virginia, alarmed, said to him,--"Oh, my dear Paul, I call to witnessthe pleasures of our early age, your griefs and my own, and every thingthat can for ever bind two unfortunate beings to each other, that if Iremain at home, I will live but for you; that if I go, I will one dayreturn to be yours. I call you all to witness;--you who have reared mefrom my infancy, who dispose of my life, and who see my tears. I swearby that Heaven which hears me, by the sea which I am going to pass, bythe air I breathe, and which I never sullied by a falsehood."
As the sun softens and precipitates an icy rock from the summit ofone of the Appenines, so the impetuous passions of the young man weresubdued by the voice of her he loved. He bent his head, and a torrent oftears fell from his eyes. His mother, mingling her tears with his,held him in her arms, but was unable to speak. Madame de la Tour, halfdistracted, said to me, "I can bear this no longer. My heart is quitebroken. This unfortunate voyage shall not take place. Do take my sonhome with you. Not one of us has had any rest the whole week."
I said to Paul, "My dear friend, your sister shall remain here.To-morrow we will talk to the governor about it; leave your family totake some rest, and come and pass the night with me. It is late; it ismidnight; the southern cross is just above the horizon."
He suffered himself to be led away in silence; and, after a night ofgreat agitation, he arose at break of day, and returned home.
But why should I continue any longer to you the recital of this history?There is but one aspect of human pleasure. Like the globe upon which werevolve, the fleeting course of life is but a day; and if one part ofthat day be visited by light, the other is thrown into darkness.
"My father," I answered, "finish, I conjure you, the history which youhave begun in a manner so interesting. If the images of happiness arethe most pleasing, those of misfortune are the more instructive. Tell mewhat became of the unhappy young man."
The first object beheld by Paul in his way home was the negro womanMary, who, mounted on a rock, was earnestly looking towards the sea. Assoon as he perceived her, he called to her from a distance,--"Where isVirginia?" Mary turned her head towards her young master, and began toweep. Paul, distracted, retracing his steps, ran to the harbour. He wasthere informed, that Virginia had embarked at the break of day, andthat the vessel had immediately set sail, and was now out of sight. Heinstantly returned to the plantation, which he crossed without utteringa word.
Quite perpendicular as appears the wall of rocks behind us, those greenplatforms which separate their summits are so many stages, by means ofwhich you may reach, through some difficult paths, that cone of slopingand inaccessible rocks, which is called The Thumb. At the foot of thatcone is an extended slope of ground, covered with lofty trees, and sosteep and elevated that it looks like a forest in the air, surrounded bytremendous precipices. The clouds, which are constantly attracted roundthe summit of the Thumb, supply innumerable rivulets, which fall to sogreat a depth in the valley situated on the other side of the mountain,that from this elevated point the sound of their cataracts cannot beheard. From that spot you can discern a considerable part of the island,diversified by precipices and mountain peaks, and amongst others,Peter-Booth, and the Three Breasts, with their valleys full of woods.You also command an extensive view of the ocean, and can even perceivethe Isle of Bourbon, forty leagues to the westward. From the summit ofthat stupendous pile of rocks Paul caught sight of the vessel which wasbearing away Virginia, and which now, ten leagues out at sea, appearedlike a black spot in the midst of the ocean. He remained a great part ofthe day with his eyes fixed upon this object: when it had disappeared,he still fancied he beheld it; and when, at length, the traces whichclung to his im
agination were lost in the mists of the horizon, heseated himself on that wild point, forever beaten by the winds, whichnever cease to agitate the tops of the cabbage and gum trees, and thehoarse and moaning murmurs of which, similar to the distant sound oforgans, inspire a profound melancholy. On this spot I found him, hishead reclined on the rock, and his eyes fixed upon the ground. I hadfollowed him from the earliest dawn, and, after much importunity, Iprevailed on him to descend from the heights, and return to his family.I went home with him, where the first impulse of his mind, on seeingMadame de la Tour, was to reproach her bitterly for having deceived him.She told us that a favourable wind having sprung up at three o'clock inthe morning, and the vessel being ready to sail, the governor, attendedby some of his staff and the missionary, had come with a palanquin tofetch her daughter; and that, notwithstanding