Kristuslegender. English

by Selma Lagerlöf

mind tolet it die out.

  "When Saint Peter saw that candle," said the fool, "it dawned upon himwhat it was that our Lord was so happy over, but at the same time hecould not help feeling just a little sorry for Him. 'Oh,' he said, 'itwas the same knight that leaped upon the wall this morning immediatelyafter the gentleman of Boulogne, and who this evening was permitted tolight his candle at the Holy Sepulchre ahead of all the others. 'True!'said our Lord. 'And, as you see, his candle is still burning.'"

  The fool talked very fast now, casting an occasional sly glance atRaniero. "Saint Peter could not help pitying our Lord. 'Can't youunderstand why he keeps that candle burning?' said he. 'You must believethat he thinks of your sufferings and death whenever he looks at it. Buthe thinks only of the glory which he won when he was acknowledged to bethe bravest man in the troop after Godfrey.'"

  At this all Raniero's guests laughed. Raniero was very angry, but he,too, forced himself to laugh. He knew they would have found it stillmore amusing if he hadn't been able to take a little fun.

  "But our Lord contradicted Saint Peter," said the fool. "'Don't you seehow careful he is with the light?' asked He. 'He puts his hand beforethe flame as soon as any one raises the tent-flap, for fear the draughtwill blow it out. And he is constantly occupied in chasing away themoths which fly around it and threaten to extinguish it.'"

  The laughter grew merrier and merrier, for what the fool said was thetruth. Raniero found it more and more difficult to control himself. Hefelt he could not endure that any one should jest about the sacredcandle.

  "Still, Saint Peter was dubious," continued the fool. "He asked our Lordif He knew that knight. 'He's not one who goes often to Mass or wearsout the prie-dieu,' said he. But our Lord could not be swerved from Hisopinion.

  "'Saint Peter, Saint Peter,' He said earnestly. 'Remember thathenceforth this knight shall become more pious than Godfrey. Whence dopiety and gentleness spring, if not from my sepulchre? You shall seeRaniero di Raniero help widows and distressed prisoners. You shall seehim care for the sick and despairing as he now cares for the sacredcandle flame.'"

  At this they laughed inordinately. It struck them all as very ludicrous,for they knew Raniero's disposition and mode of living. But he himselffound both the jokes and laughter intolerable. He sprang to his feet andwanted to reprove the fool. As he did this, he bumped so hard againstthe table--which was only a door set up on loose boxes--that it wabbled,and the candle fell down. It was evident now how careful Raniero was tokeep the candle burning. He controlled his anger and gave himself timeto pick it up and brighten the flame, before he rushed upon the fool.But when he had trimmed the light the fool had already darted out of thetent, and Raniero knew it would be useless to pursue him in thedarkness. "I shall probably run across him another time," he thought,and sat down.

  Meanwhile the guests had laughed mockingly, and one of them turned toRaniero and wanted to continue the jesting. He said: "There is onething, however, which is certain, Raniero, and that is--this time youcan't send to the Madonna in Florence the most precious thing you havewon in the battle."

  Raniero asked why he thought that he should not follow his old habitthis time.

  "For no other reason," said the knight, "than that the most preciousthing you have won is that sacred candle flame, which you were permittedto light at the church of the Holy Sepulchre in presence of the wholecorps. Surely you can't send that to Florence!"

  Again the other knights laughed, but Raniero was now in the mood toundertake the wildest projects, just to put an end to their laughter. Hecame to a conclusion quickly, called to an old squire, and said to him:"Make ready, Giovanni, for a long journey. To-morrow you shall travel toFlorence with this sacred candle flame."

  But the squire said a blunt no to this command. "This is something whichI don't care to undertake," he said. "How should it be possible totravel to Florence with a candle flame? It would be extinguished beforeI had left the camp."

  Raniero asked one after another of his men. He received the same replyfrom all. They scarcely seemed to take his command seriously.

  It was a foregone conclusion that the foreign knights who were hisguests should laugh even louder and more merrily, as it became apparentthat none of Raniero's men wished to carry out his order.

  Raniero grew more and more excited. Finally he lost his patience andshouted: "This candle flame shall nevertheless be borne to Florence; andsince no one else will ride there with it, I will do so myself!"

  "Consider before you promise anything of the kind!" said a knight. "Youride away from a principality."

  "I swear to you that I will carry this sacred flame to Florence!"exclaimed Raniero. "I shall do what no one else has cared to undertake."

  The old squire defended himself. "Master, it's another matter for you.You can take with you a large retinue but me you would send alone."

  But Raniero was clean out of himself, and did not consider his words."I, too, shall travel alone," said he.

  But with this declaration Raniero had carried his point. Every one inthe tent had ceased laughing. Terrified, they sat and stared at him.

  "Why don't you laugh any more?" asked Raniero. "This undertaking surelycan't be anything but a child's game for a brave man."

  III

  The next morning at dawn Raniero mounted his horse. He was in fullarmor, but over it he had thrown a coarse pilgrim cloak, so that theiron dress should not become overheated by exposure to the sun's rays.He was armed with a sword and battle-club, and rode a good horse. Heheld in his hand a burning candle, and to the saddle he had tied acouple of bundles of long wax candles, so the flame should not die outfor lack of nourishment.

  Raniero rode slowly through the long, encumbered tent street, and thusfar all went well. It was still so early that the mists which had arisenfrom the deep dales surrounding Jerusalem were not dispersed, andRaniero rode forward as in a white night. The whole troop slept, andRaniero passed the guards easily. None of them called out his name, forthe mist prevented their seeing him, and the roads were covered with adust-like soil a foot high, which made the horse's tramp inaudible.

  Raniero was soon outside the camp and started on the road which led toJoppa. Here it was smoother, but he rode very slowly now, because of thecandle, which burned feebly in the thick mist. Big insects kept dashingagainst the flame. Raniero had all he could do guarding it, but he wasin the best of spirits and thought all the while that the mission whichhe had undertaken was so easy that a child could manage it.

  Meanwhile, the horse grew weary of the slow pace, and began to trot. Theflame began to flicker in the wind. It didn't help that Raniero tried toshield it with his hand and with the cloak. He saw that it was about tobe extinguished.

  But he had no desire to abandon the project so soon. He stopped thehorse, sat still a moment, and pondered. Then he dismounted and triedsitting backwards, so that his body shielded the flame from the wind. Inthis way he succeeded in keeping it burning; but he realized now thatthe journey would be more difficult than he had thought at thebeginning.

  When he had passed the mountains which surround Jerusalem, the foglifted. He rode forward now in the greatest solitude. There were nopeople, houses, green trees, nor plants--only bare rocks.

  Here Raniero was attacked by robbers. They were idle folk, who followedthe camp without permission, and lived by theft and plunder. They hadlain in hiding behind a hill, and Raniero--who rode backwards--had notseen them until they had surrounded him and brandished their swords athim.

  There were about twelve men. They looked wretched, and rode poor horses.Raniero saw at once that it would not be difficult for him to breakthrough this company and ride on. And after his proud boast of the nightbefore, he was unwilling to abandon his undertaking easily.

  He saw no other means of escape than to compromise with the robbers. Hetold them that, since he was armed and rode a good horse, it might bedifficult to overpower him if he defended himself. And as he was boundby a vow, he did
not wish to offer resistance, but they could takewhatever they wanted, without a struggle, if only they promised not toput out his light.

  The robbers had expected a hard struggle, and were very happy overRaniero's proposal, and began immediately to plunder him. They took fromhim armor and steed, weapons and money. The only thing they let him keepwas the coarse cloak and the two bundles of wax candles. They sacredlykept their promise, also, not to put out the candle flame.

  One of them mounted Raniero's horse. When he noticed what a fine animalhe was, he felt a little sorry for the rider. He called out to him:"Come, come, we must not be too cruel toward a Christian. You shall havemy old horse to ride."

  It was a miserable old screw of a horse. It moved as stiffly, and withas much difficulty, as if it were made of wood.

  When the robbers had gone at last, and Raniero had mounted the wretchedhorse, he said to himself: "I must have become bewitched by this candleflame. For its sake I must now travel along the roads like a crazybeggar."

  He knew it would be wise for him to turn back, because the undertakingwas really impracticable. But such an intense yearning to accomplish ithad come over him that he could not resist the desire to go on.Therefore, he went farther. He saw all around him the same bare,yellowish hills.

  After a while he came across a goatherd, who tended four goats. WhenRaniero saw the animals grazing on the barren ground, he wondered ifthey ate earth.

  This goatherd had owned a larger flock, which had been stolen from himby the Crusaders. When he noticed a solitary Christian come ridingtoward him, he tried to do him all the harm he could. He rushed up tohim and struck at his light with his staff. Raniero was so taken up bythe flame that he could not defend himself even against a goatherd. Heonly drew the candle close to him to protect it. The goatherd struck atit several times more, then he paused, astonished, and ceased striking.He noticed that Raniero's cloak had caught fire, but Raniero did nothingto smother the blaze, so long as the sacred flame was in danger. Thegoatherd looked as though he felt ashamed. For a long time he followedRaniero, and in one place, where the road was very narrow, with a deepchasm on each side of it, he came up and led the horse for him.

  Raniero smiled and thought the goatherd surely regarded him as a holyman who had undertaken a voluntary penance.

  Toward evening Raniero began to meet people. Rumors of the fall ofJerusalem had already spread to the coast, and a throng of people hadimmediately prepared to go up there. There were pilgrims who for yearshad awaited an opportunity to get into Jerusalem, also somenewly-arrived troops; but they were mostly merchants who were hasteningwith provisions.

  When these throngs met Raniero, who came riding backwards with a burningcandle in his hand, they cried: "A madman, a madman!"

  The majority were Italians; and Raniero heard how they shouted in hisown tongue, "Pazzo, pazzo!" which means "a madman, a madman."

  Raniero, who had been able to keep himself well in check all day, becameintensely irritated by these ever-recurring shouts. Instantly hedismounted and began to chastise the offenders with his hard fists. Whenthey saw how heavy the blows were, they took to their heels, and Ranierosoon stood alone on the road.

  Now Raniero was himself again. "In truth they were right to call me amadman," he said, as he looked around for the light. He did not knowwhat he had done with it. At last he saw that it had rolled down into ahollow. The flame was extinguished, but he saw fire gleam from a drygrass-tuft close beside it, and understood that luck was with him, forthe flame had ignited the grass before it had gone out.

  "This might have been an inglorious end of a deal of trouble," hethought, as he lit the candle and stepped into the saddle. He was rathermortified. It did not seem to him very probable that his journey wouldbe a success.

  In the evening Raniero reached Ramle, and rode up to a place wherecaravans usually had night harbor. It was a large covered yard. Allaround it were little stalls where travelers could put up their horses.There were no rooms, but folk could sleep beside the animals.

  The place was overcrowded with people, yet the host found room forRaniero and his horse. He also gave fodder to the horse and food to therider.

  When Raniero perceived that he was well treated, he thought: "I almostbelieve the robbers did me a service when they took from me my armor andmy horse. I shall certainly get out of the country more easily with mylight burden, if they mistake me for a lunatic."

  When he had led the horse into the stall, he sat down on a sheaf ofstraw and held the candle in his hands. It was his intention not to fallasleep, but to remain awake all night.

  But he had hardly seated himself when he fell asleep. He was fearfullyexhausted, and in his sleep he stretched out full length and did notwake till morning.

  When he awoke he saw neither flame nor candle. He searched in the strawfor the candle, but did not find it anywhere.

  "Some one has taken it from me and extinguished it," he said. He triedto persuade himself that he was glad that all was over, and that he neednot pursue an impossible undertaking.

  But as he pondered, he felt a sense of emptiness and loss. He thoughtthat never before had he so longed to succeed in anything on which hehad set his mind.

  He led the horse out and groomed and saddled it.

  When he was ready to set out, the host who owned the caravansary came upto him with a burning candle. He said in Frankish: "When you fell asleeplast night, I had to take your light from you, but here you have itagain."

  Raniero betrayed nothing, but said very calmly: "It was wise of you toextinguish it."

  "I have not extinguished it," said the man. "I noticed that it wasburning when you arrived, and I thought it was of importance to you thatit should continue to burn. If you see how much it has decreased, youwill understand that it has been burning all night."

  Raniero beamed with happiness. He commended the host heartily, and rodeaway in the best of spirits.

  IV

  When Raniero broke away from the camp at Jerusalem, he intended totravel from Joppa to Italy by sea, but changed his mind after he hadbeen robbed of his money, and concluded to make the journey by land.

  It was a long journey. From Joppa he went northward along the Syriancoast. Then he rode westward along the peninsula of Asia Minor, thennorthward again, all the way to Constantinople. From there he still hada monotonously long distance to travel to reach Florence. During thewhole journey Raniero had lived upon the contributions of the pious.They that shared their bread with him mostly were pilgrims who at thistime traveled _en masse_ to Jerusalem.

  Regardless of the fact that he nearly always rode alone, his days wereneither long nor monotonous. He must always guard the candle flame, andon its account he never could feel at ease. It needed only a puff ofbreeze--a rain-drop--and there would have been an end to it.

  As Raniero rode over lonely roads, and thought only about keeping theflame alive, it occurred to him that once before he had been concernedwith something similar. Once before he had seen a person watch oversomething which was just as sensitive as a candle flame.

  This recollection was so vague to him at first that he wondered if itwas something he had dreamed.

  But as he rode on alone through the country, it kept recurring to himthat he had participated in something similar once before.

  "It is as if all my life long I had heard tell of nothing else," saidhe.

  One evening he rode into a city. It was after sundown, and thehousewives stood in their doorways and watched for their husbands. Thenhe noticed one who was tall and slender, and had earnest eyes. Shereminded him of Francesca degli Uberti.

  Instantly it became clear to him what he had been pondering over. Itcame to him that for Francesca her love must have been as a sacred flamewhich she had always wished to keep burning, and which she hadconstantly feared that Raniero would quench. He was astonished at thisthought, but grew more and more certain that the matter stood thus. Forthe first time he began to understand why France
sca had left him, andthat it was not with feats of arms he should win her back.

  * * * * *

  The journey which Raniero made was of long duration. This was in partdue to the fact that he could not venture out when the weather was bad.Then he sat in some caravansary, and guarded the candle flame. Thesewere very trying days.

  One day, when he rode over Mount Lebanon, he saw that a storm wasbrewing. He was riding high up among awful precipices, and a frightfuldistance from any human abode. Finally he saw on the summit of a rockthe tomb of a Saracen saint. It was a little square stone structure witha vaulted roof. He thought it best to seek shelter there.

  He had barely entered when a snowstorm came up, which raged for two daysand nights. At the same time it grew so cold that he came near freezingto death.

  Raniero knew that there were heaps of branches and twigs out on themountain, and it would not have been difficult for him to gather fuelfor a fire. But he considered the candle flame which he carried verysacred, and did not wish to light anything from it, except the candlesbefore the Blessed Virgin's Altar.

  The storm increased, and at last he heard thunder and saw gleams oflightning.

  Then came a flash which struck the mountain, just in front of the tomb,and set fire to a tree. And in this way he was enabled to light his firewithout having to borrow of the sacred flame.

  * * * * *

  As Raniero was riding on through a desolate portion of the Cilicianmountain district, his candles were all used up. The candles which hehad brought with him from Jerusalem had long since been consumed; butstill he had been able to