Page:Undivine Comedy - Zygmunt Krasiński, tr. Martha Walker Cook.djvu/155

Rh heads devoutly, and on spots illuminated by the reflection from the coals he graved with the point of his dagger bloody letters upon their naked shoulders. None trembled, none groaned. The word, and the word , were carved in crimson wounds on every brawny shoulder. The Shade said: "Look, how carefully the thirteenth holds the cup to collect the blood flowing from the bodies of his brothers! No drop escapes him! Perhaps thou thinkest he will preserve it in testimony of the torments endured, in memory of the consecration, or show it to the People as the emblem of vengeance?"

And the Young Man whispered: "Master, will it be otherwise?"

The voice of the apparition replied, in tones like subterranean thunder: "Verily! he will sell this blood to the merchants, and at their hour of barter! Move on, and look no more."

And as they passed through, a black whirlwind of wild life, madly tossing about in the half-extinguished cinders, cried: "Are we to dwell forever at the bottom of this black gulf? Are we never to reach the surface of the earth, where dwell the merchants?"

Another horde of poor tatterdemalions, rekindling the coals of the furnace by the clapping of their hands, interrupted the words of the first: "Away to the Sanctuary of the Golden Sun, where the wines are sweet, the food luscious, and the garments fine! Away to the Exchange, where men always enjoy themselves, conquer power, and never once wound their hands with work, from the cradle to the grave!"

Another whirlwind of black life, pouring oil into the flames, cried: "Boldness! and we will make our way into the Banks of all Nations! Breasts of rock and claws of lions will be found among us! We can arm ourselves with iron spikes, as we have no swords."

Then the brawny masses spun together in wild whirl, clapped their hands, and cried: "In spite of all opposition from other castes, we will climb to the top of those steep cliffs! But once, Fate, let us sleep in the Paradise of the Rich, on their silken carpets, on their beds of down! Can it be possible to have more in Heaven than