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"I understand," says Jurgen: "but has no other person ever perceived this
shadow of yours?"
"Once only, when for a while my shadow deserted me," Merlin replied. "It was
on a Sunday my shadow left me, so that I walked unattended in naked sunlight:
for my shadow was embracing the churchsteeple, where churchgoers knelt beneath
him. The churchgoers were obscurely troubled without suspecting why, for they
looked only at each other. The priest and I alone saw him quite clearly, the
priest because this thing was evil, and I because this thing was mine."
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
57
"Well, now I wonder what did the priest say to your bold shadow?"
" 'But you must go away!' and the priest spoke without any fear. Why is it
they seem always without fear, those dull and calmeyed priests? 'Such conduct
is unseemly. For this is High God's house, and faroff peoples are admonished
by its steadfast spire, pointing always heavenward, that the place is holy,'
said the priest. And my shadow answered, 'But I only know that steeples are of
phallic origin.' And my shadow wept, wept ludicrously, clinging to the steeple
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where churchgoers knelt beneath him."
"Now, and indeed that must have been disconcerting, Messire Merlin. Still, as
you got your shadow back again, there was no great harm done. But why is it
that such attendants follow some men while other men are permitted to live in
decent solitude? It does not seem quite fair."
"Perhaps I could explain it to you, friend, but certainly I shall not. You
know too much as it is. For you appear in that bright garment of yours to have
come from a land and a time which even I, who am a skilled magician, can only
cloudily foresee, and cannot understand at all. What puzzles me, however" and
Merlin's forefinger shot out. "How many feet had the first wearer of your
shirt? and were you ever an old man?" says he.
"Well, four, and I was getting on," says Jurgen.
"And I did not guess! But certainly that is it, an old poet loaned at once a
young man's body and the
Centaur's shirt. Adères has loosed a new jest into the world, for her own
reasons "
"But you have things backwards. It was Sereda whom I cajoled so nicely."
"Names that are given by men amount to very little in a case like this. The
shadow which follows you I
recognize and revere as the gift of Adères, a dreadful Mother of small Gods.
No doubt she has a host of other names. And you cajoled her, you consider! I
would not willingly walk in the shirt of any person who considers that. But
she will enlighten you, my friend, at her appointed time."
"Well, so that she deals justly " Jurgen said, and shrugged.
Now Merlin put aside the mirror. "Meanwhile it was another matter entirely
that Dame Anaïtis and I
discussed, and about which I wished to be speaking with you. Gogyrvan is
sending to King Arthur, along with Gogyrvan's daughter, that Round Table which
Uther Pendragon gave Gogyrvan, and a hundred knights to fill the sieges of
this table. Gogyrvan, who, with due respect, possesses a deplorable sense of
humor, has numbered you among these knights. Now it is rumored the Princess is
given to conversing a great deal with you in private, and Arthur has never
approved of garrulity. So I warn you that for you to come with us to
London would not be convenient."
"I hardly think so, either," said Jurgen, with appropriate melancholy; "for me
to pursue the affair any further would only result in marring what otherwise
will always be a perfect memory of divers very pleasant conversations."
"Old poet, you are well advised," said Merlin, "especially now that the
little princess whom we know is about to enter queenhood and become a symbol.
I am sorry for her, for she will be worshipped as a revelation of Heaven's
splendor, and being flesh and blood, she will not like it. And it is to no
effect I have forewarned
King Arthur, for that must happen which will always happen so long as wisdom
is impotent against human stupidity. So wisdom can but make the best of it,
and be content to face the facts of a great mystery."
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
58
Thereupon, Merlin arose, and lifted the tapestry behind him, so that Jurgen
could see what hitherto this tapestry had screened.
* * *
"You have embarrassed me horribly," said Jurgen, "and I can feel that I am
still blushing, about the ankles.
Well, I was wrong: so let us say no more concerning it."
"I wished to show you," Merlin returned, "that I know what I am talking about.
However, my present purpose is to put Guenevere out of your head: for in your
heart I think she never was, old poet, who go so modestly in the Centaur's
shirt. Come, tell me now! and does the thought of her approaching marriage
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really disturb you?"
"I am the unhappiest man that breathes," said Jurgen, with unction. "All night
I lie awake in my tumbled bed, and think of the miserable day which is past,
and of what is to happen in that equally miserable day whose dawn I watch with
a sick heart. And I cry aloud, in the immortal words of Apollonius Myronides
"
"Of whom?" says Merlin.
"I allude to the author of the Myrosis," Jurgen explained, "whom so many
persons rashly identify with
Apollonius Herophilelus."
"Oh, yes, of course! your quotation is very apt. Why, then your condition is
sad but not incurable. For I am about to give you this token, with which, if
you are bold enough, you will do thus and thus."
"But indeed this is a somewhat strange token, and the arms and legs, and even
the head, of this little man are remarkably alike! Well, and you tell me thus
and thus. But how does it happen, Messire Merlin, that you have never used
this token in the fashion you suggest to me?"
"Because I was afraid. You forget I am only a magician, whose conjuring raises
nothing more formidable than devils. But this is a bit of the Old Magic that
is no longer understood, and I prefer not to meddle with it.
You, to the contrary, are a poet, and the Old Magic was always favorable to
poets."
"Well, I will think about it," says Jurgen, "if this will really put Dame
Guenevere out of my head."
"Be assured it will do that," said Merlin. "For with reason does the
Dirghâgama declare, 'The brightness of the glowworm cannot be compared to that
of a lamp.' "
"A very pleasant little work, the Dirghâgama," said Jurgen, tolerantly
"though superficial, of course."
Then Merlin Ambrosius gave Jurgen the token, and some advice.
So that night Jurgen told Guenevere he would not go in her train to London. He
told her candidly that Merlin was suspicious of their intercourse.
"And therefore, in order to protect you and to protect your fame, my dearest
dear," said Jurgen, "it is necessary that I sacrifice myself and everything I
prize in life. I shall suffer very much: but my consolation will be that I
have dealt fairly with you whom I love with an entire heart, and shall have
preserved you through my misery."
But Guenevere did not appear to notice how noble this was of Jurgen. Instead,
she wept very softly, in a heartbroken way that Jurgen found unbearable.
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice
59
"For no man, whether emperor or peasant," says the Princess, "has ever been
loved more dearly or faithfully or more wholly without any reserve or
forethought than you, my dearest, have been loved by me. All that I
had I have given you. All that I had you have taken, consuming it. So now you
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