Balthasar

“ Balthasar was conscious of being drawn towards her by some terrible power. Still he turned his head away with a desperate effort, and lifting his eyes he again saw the star. Thereupon the star spoke and said: “Glory to God in the Heavens and peace on earth to men of good will!
“Take a measure of myrrh, gentle King Balthasar, and follow me. I will guide thee to the feet of a little child who is about to be born in a stable between an ass and an ox. ”

“ They descended the dry bed of a stream, and suddenly Balthasar’s foot slipped on the moss and they fell together locked in each other’s embrace. They seemed to sink forever into a delicious void, and the world of the living ceased to exist for them. They were still plunged in the enchanting forgetfulness of time, space and separate existence, when at daybreak the gazelles came to drink out of the hollows among the stones.
At that moment a passing band of brigands discovered the two lovers lying on the moss. ”

“ He calls thee to Him, O Balthasar, thou whose soul is as dark as thy face, but whose heart is as guileless as the heart of a child.
“He has chosen thee because thou hast suffered, and He will give thee riches, happiness and love.
“He will say to thee: ‘Be poor joyfully, for that is true riches.’ He will also say to thee: ‘True happiness is in the renunciation of happiness. ”

“ And the sage Sembobitis replied:
“My lord, science is infallible, but the learned often err.”
Balthasar was endowed with fine natural sense. He said:
“Only that which is true is divine, and what is divine is hidden from us. In vain we search for truth. And yet I have discovered a new star in the sky. It is a beautiful star, and it seems alive; and when it sparkles it looks like a celestial eye that blinks gently. I seem to hear it call to me. Happy, happy, happy is he who is born under this star, See, Sembobitis, how this charming and splendid star looks at us.” ”

“ And as Balthasar did not seem to understand, she explained to him that for a long time past she had greatly longed to face some unknown danger, but she could not, for the men and gods of Sheba watched over her.
“And yet,” she added with a sigh, “during the night I long to feel the delicious chill of terror penetrate my flesh. To have my hair stand up on my head with horror. O! it would be such joy to be afraid!” ”

“ Balthasar glanced at his companion, who gave no heed to either of them, but stared at the half-gilded devil with interest and some wonder; seeing this, Balthasar answered for himself, in a manner half defiant and wholly arrogant.
"My father is Margrave of East Flanders, and the Emperor knighted me when I was fifteen. Now I am tired of Courtrai, of the castle, of my father. I have taken the road." ”

“ Balthasar continued. “When we have found the Lord, the brothers, and all the generations that have succeeded them, will kneel to him in homage with us. And when we part to go our separate ways, the world will have learned a new lesson—that Heaven may be won, not by the sword, not by human wisdom, but by Faith, Love, and Good Works.” ”

“ She laughed a deep, cynical laugh, and went wandering round the chapel, looking at the frescoes, and swinging a little poniard by the chain that linked it to her girdle. Balthasar made a pretence of mixing colours on his palette. Worldly rogue that he was, he knew women, especially women of the Lady Duessa mould. He had a most shrewd notion as to what was passing in her mind. Morally, he was her abettor, being a person who could always take a woman's part, provided she were pretty. He believed women had no business with religion. ”

“ Little by little what seemed to be ants grew larger and sufficiently distinct for the king to be able to recognise horses, camels and elephants.
The caravan having approached the city, Balthasar distinguished the glittering scimitars and the black horses of the guards of the Queen of Sheba. He even recognised the queen herself, and he was profoundly disturbed, for he felt that he would again love her. The star shone in the zenith with a marvellous brilliancy. Below, extended on a litter of purple and gold, Balkis looked small and brilliant like the star. ”

“ Balthasar drank, and, seeming refreshed, continued:
“The Savior I saw was born of woman, in nature like us, and subject to all our ills—even death. Let that stand as the first proposition. Consider next the work set apart to him. Was it not a performance for which only a man is fitted?—a man wise, firm, discreet—a man, not a child? To become such he had to grow as we grow. Bethink you now of the dangers his life was subject to in the interval—the long interval between childhood and maturity. The existing powers were his enemies; Herod was his enemy; and what would Rome have been? ”

“ He gave a great sigh as if he were about to melt into the piquante girl's arms, then shrugged and said:
“Now I must go back and dicker over the mules with those Americanos. No doubt they are caballeros (gentlemen) in their cold fashion, but they think of nothing but mules.”
All the girls lifted their eyes to the foreigners and smiled faintly before they returned to their task of collecting droppings for their pots.
Balthasar's philandering vaguely annoyed Lassiter, yet the agent was a trifle amused at Balthasar's Latin notion that kisses in Heaven tingled with piquante. ”

“ I confess, sire, that I am a man."
The friar's opulent extravagance of sentiment suited the litheness of his look. Balthasar had enthroned himself in his own imagination as a species of Apollo, a golden-tongued seer, whose soul soared into the glittering infinitudes of art. An immense egotist, he posed as a full-blooded divinity, palpitating to colour and to sound. He had as many moods as a vain woman, and was a mere fire-fly in the matter of honour.
"Reverend sire," quoth the man on the footstool with some tightening of the upper lip, "you bulk too big for your frock, methinks." ”

“ The monk stood for a moment motionless, evidently contemplating the multitude from the depth of his hood; Balthasar thought he gazed at him, and shivered.
The monk drew from his sleeve a parchment from which swung a mighty seal, slowly he unfurled it; the Empress crouched closer to Balthasar. The monk began to speak, and both to Ysabeau and her husband the voice was familiar—a voice long silent in death. ”

“ Mostly, I think—do we not all have golden dreams of Rome? Balthasar—ye mind him, he is Margrave of East Flanders now, since his father was killed at the boar hunt—and powerful, he is mad to cross the Alps—he has great influence with the Emperor. Indeed, I think he loves him. ”

“ The night was dark, and in the darkness of the night Balkis looked very small.
She led Balthasar to one of the taverns where wastrels and street porters foregathered along with prostitutes. The two sat down at a table and saw through the foul air by the light of a fetid lamp, unclean human brutes attack each other with fists and knives for a woman or a cup of fermented liquor, while others with clenched fists snored under the tables. The tavern-keeper, lying on a pile of sacking, watched the drunken brawlers with a prudent eye. ”

“ The shock of the hurtling metal was mingled with indescribable roars and death rattles. Profiting by the terror of the survivors, and fearing that Balkis might be injured, he seized her in his arms and fled with her through the silence and darkness of the lonely byways. The stillness of night enveloped the earth, and the fugitives heard the clamour of the women and the carousers, who pursued them at haphazard, die away in the darkness. Soon they heard nothing more than the sound of dripping blood as it fell from the brow of Balthasar on the breast of Balkis. ”

“ At sight of her Balthasar was greatly troubled.
She seemed to him lovelier than a dream and more beautiful than desire.
“My lord,” and Sembobitis spoke under his breath, “remember to conclude a good commercial treaty with the queen.”
“Have a care, my lord,” Menkera added. “It is said she employs magic with which to gain the love of men.”
Then, having prostrated themselves, the mage and the eunuch retired.
Balthasar, left alone with Balkis, tried to speak; he opened his mouth but he could not utter a word. He said to himself, “The queen will be angered at my silence.” ”

“ Balthasar bowed his head as he spoke.
"And he is the Truth," he resumed. "His word is God. The hills may turn to dust, and the seas be drunk dry by south winds; but his word shall stand, because it is the Truth."
The utterance was in a manner inexpressibly solemn.
"The voice, which was his, speaking to me by the lake, said, ’Blessed art thou, son of Mizraim? The Redemption cometh. With two others from the remotenesses of the earth, thou shalt see the Saviour. I have seen the Saviour—blessed be his name!—but the Redemption, which was the second part of the promise, is yet to come. ”

“ This he said thinking of Balkis. But Sembobitis, who was old, said:
“There is of course the phenomenon of the rising of the Nile which I have explained. Man is created to understand.”
“He is created to love,” replied Balthasar sighing. “There are things which cannot be explained.”
“And what may those be?” asked Sembobitis.
“A woman’s treason,” the king replied.
Balthasar, however, having decided to become a mage, had a tower built from the summit of which might be discerned many kingdoms and the infinite spaces of Heaven. ”

“ Then, as if he had already parted with not a little of the weight on his mind, he stepped forward more lightly; and, coming to the place on the terrace where one stairway led down to the court-yard below, and another ascended to the roof, he took the latter and began to climb. As he made the last step in the flight he stopped again.
“Can Balthasar have been her partner in the long mask she has been playing? No, no. Hypocrisy seldom goes with wrinkled age like that. Balthasar is a good man.” ”

“ In those days Balthasar, whom the Greeks called Saracin, reigned in Ethiopia. He was black, but comely of countenance. He had a simple soul and a generous heart The third year of his reign, which was the twenty-second of his age, he left his dominions on a visit to Balkis, Queen of Sheba. The mage Sembobitis and the eunuch Menkera accompanied him. He had in his train seventy-five camels bearing cinnamon, myrrh, gold dust, and elephants’ tusks. ”

“ Only bad men continue to live. The nations of India had been demoralised by that doctrine for centuries. But it did not satisfy wise men. Balthasar thought: If a man starves through a few dozen lives, then something good must come out of it. Or is evil good enough to continue, and good evil enough to cease? Balthasar sought better counsel. He sought throughout the universe for a peg on which to hang a new, more beneficial philosophy of life. When, then, he saw the new star in the sky, he never ceased looking at it. ”

“ With joyful intrepidity he accepted and adopted Balthasar’s scheme.
“Bravo!” cried the manager; “you shall have no cause to repent. You behold in me a sample of your future courtiers; and since honours and dignities are to be distributed, it is with me, if you please, that we will begin. In this request I act up to the spirit of my part. A courtier should always be asking for something, should lose no opportunity, and should profit by his rivals’ absence to obtain the best place. I entreat your Highness to have the goodness to name me prime minister.” ”

“ Theirry shivered and crouched like one very cold.
"Of my own will I fled from Rome, that city of the Devil!"
Balthasar stared at him.
"You are the Emperor," said Theirry faintly, "and I pretend no longer to these wrongful honours, nor serve I any longer Antichrist——"
"He is mad!" cried Balthasar.
"Nay," Ysabeau spoke eagerly—"listen to him."
Theirry moaned.
"I have nothing to say—give me a place to rest in."
"Through you we have no place ourselves to rest in," answered Balthasar grimly. "No shelter save these broken walls you see ”

“ At the thought that he had possessed a woman who, though in reality perfectly formed, passed as a monstrosity, he was seized with such a sense of repugnance that he had no further desire to see Balkis again. Balthasar had a simple soul, but love is a very complex emotion.
From that day on the king made great progress both in magic and astrology. He studied the conjunction of the stars with extreme care, and he drew horoscopes with an accuracy equal to that of Sembobitis himself. ”

“ As soon as the star had ceased to speak, Balthasar and his companions descended from the tower.
Then, having prepared a measure of myrrh, they formed a caravan and departed in the direction towards which they were guided by the star. They journeyed a long time through unknown countries, the star always journeying in front of them. ”

“ He sympathized with Carlos, his beloved penitent, with Seraphina, his dear daughter, whom he had baptized and instructed in the mysteries of “our holy religion,” and he allowed himself often to drop the remark that his “illustrious spiritual son,” Don Balthasar, after a stormy life of which men knew only too much, had attained to a state of truly childlike and God-fearing innocence—a sign, no doubt, of Heaven’s forgiveness for those excesses. ”

“ Balthasar in his joy wished to hasten to Jerusalem in order to tell Herod: I have not yet found the King of the Jews, but I have found a poor child and whoever looks upon him is happy, he knows not why. Now kings are not so anxious to be happy; they prefer to be powerful. A youth came forward from the back of the cave and said to Balthasar: "Do you know the man to whom you would go? ”