 section 101 of the man who laughs by Victor Hugo this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Novella Serena the man who laughs by Victor Hugo conclusion the night in the sea chapter 1 a watch dog may be a guardian angel. Gwynn Plain uttered a cry is that you wolf? Homo wagged his tail his eyes sparkled in the darkness he was looking earnestly at Gwynn Plain then he began to lick his hands again for a moment Gwynn Plain was like a drunken man so great is the shock of hope's mighty return. Homo what an apparition during the last 48 hours he had exhausted what might be termed every variety of the Thunderbolt but one was left to strike him the Thunderbolt of Joy and it had just fallen upon him certainly or at least the light which leads to it regained the sudden intervention of some mysterious clemency possessed perhaps by destiny life saying behold me in the darkest recess of the grave the very moment in which all expectation has ceased bringing back health and deliverance a place of safety discovered at the most critical instant in the midst of crumbling ruins Homo was all this to Gwynn Plain the wolf appeared to him in a halo of light meanwhile Homo had turned round he advanced a few steps and then looked back to see if Gwynn Plain was following him Gwynn Plain was doing so Homo wagged his tail and went on the road taken by the wolf was a slope of the quay of the Ephrax stone this slope shoved down to the Thames and Gwynn Plain guided by Homo descended it Homo turned his head now and then to make sure that Gwynn Plain was behind him in some situations of supreme importance nothing approaches so near an omniscient intelligence as the simple instinct of a faithful animal an animal is a lucid synamulist there are cases in which the dog feels that he should follow his master others in which he should proceed him then the animal takes the direction of sense his imperturbable scent is a confused power of vision in what is twilight to us he feels a vague obligation to become a guide does he know that there is a dangerous pass and that he can help his master to surmounted probably not perhaps he does in any case someone knows it for him as we have already said it often happens in life that some mighty help which we have held to have come from below has in reality come from above who knows all the mysterious forms assumed by God what was this animal Providence having reached the river the wolf led down the narrow tongue of land which border the Thames without noise or bark he pushed forward on his silent way Homo always followed his instinct and did his duty but with a pensive reserve of an outlaw some 50 paces more and he stopped a wooden platform appeared on the right at the bottom of this platform which was a kind of wharf on piles a black mass could be made out which was a tolerably large vessel on the deck of the vessel near the prow was a glimmer like the last flicker of a nightlight the wolf having finally assured himself that Gwynn plain was there bounded on to the war it was a long platform floored and tarred supported by a network of joists and under which float the river Homo and Gwynn plain shortly reached the brink the ship moored to the wharf was a dutch vessel of the Japanese build with two decks four and aft and between them an open hold reached by an upright ladder in which the cargo was laden there was thus a four castle and an afterdeck as in our old river boats and a space between them ballasted by the freight the paper boats made by children are of a somewhat similar shape under the decks with the cabins the doors of which opened into the hold and were lighted by glazed portholes in stowing the cargo a passage was left between the packages of which it consisted these vessels had a mast on each deck the four mast was called Paul the main mast Peter the ship being sailed by these two masts as the church was guided by her two apostles a gangway was thrown like a chinese bridge from one deck to the other over the center of the hold in bad weather both flaps of the gangway would lowered on the right and left on hinges thus making a roof over the hold so that the ship in heavy seas was hermetically closed these loops being a very massive construction had a beam for a tiller the strength of the rudder being necessarily proportioned to the height of the vessel three men the skipper and two sailors with a cabin boy sufficed to navigate these ponderous sea going machines the decks four and aft were as we've already said without bulwarks the great lumbering hull of this particular vessel was painted black and on it visible even in the night stood out in white letters the words vokret rathardam about that time many events had occurred at sea and amongst others the defeat of the barren depointees eight ships off Cape Carnero which had driven the whole french fleet into refuge at Gibraltar so that the channel was swept of every man of war and merchant vessels were able to sail backwards and forwards between london and rathardam without a convoy the vessel on which was to be read the word vokret and which gwyn plane was now close to lay with her main deck almost level with the wharf but one step to descend and homo in a bound and gwyn plane in a stride were on board the deck was clear and no stir was perceptible the passengers if as was likely there were any were already on board the vessel being ready to sail and the cargo stowed as was apparent from the state of the hold which was full of bales and cases but they were doubtless lying asleep in the cabins below as the passage was to take place during the night in such cases the passengers do not appear on deck till they awake the following morning as for the crew they were probably having their supper in the men's cabin whilst awaiting the hour fixed for sailing which was now rapidly approaching hence the silence on the two decks connected by the gangway the wolf had almost run across the wharf once on board he slackened his pace into a discreet walk he still wagged his tail no longer joyfully however but with the sad and feeble wag of a dog troubled in his mind still preceding gwyn plane he passed along the after deck and across the gangway gwyn plane having reached the gangway perceived a light in front of him it was the same that he had seen from the shore there was a lantern on the deck close to the farmast by the gleam of which was sketched in black on the dim background of the night what gwyn plane recognized to be ursus's old four wheeled van this poor wooden tenement cart and hut combined in which his childhood had rolled along was fastened to the bottom of the mast by thick ropes of which the knots were visible at the wheels having been so long out of service it had become dreadfully rickety it lent over feebly on one side it had become quite paralytic from disuse and more over it was suffering from that incurable malady old age moldy and out of shape it tottered in decay the materials of which was built were all rotten the iron was rusty the leather torn the woodwork were meetin there were lines of cracks across the window in front through which shown a ray from the lantern the wheels were warped the lining the floor and the axle tree seemed worn out with fatigue altogether it presented an indescribable appearance of beggary and prostration the shafts stuck up looked like two arms raised to heaven the whole thing was in a state of dislocation beneath it was hanging homo's chain does it not seem that the law and the will of nature would have dictated when planes headlong rush to throw himself upon life happiness love regained so they would except in some cases of deep terror such as his but he who comes forth shattered and nerve and uncertain of his way from a series of catastrophes each one like a fresh betrayal is prudent even in his joy hesitates lest he should bear the fatality of which he has been the victim to those whom he loves feels that some evil contagion may still hang about him and advances towards happiness with wary steps the gates of paradise reopen but before he enters he examines his ground guinplane staggering under the weight of his emotion looked around him while the wolf went and laid down silently by his chain end of section 101 recording by novella serena section 102 of the man who laughs by victor hugo this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by novella serena the man who laughs by victor hugo conclusion the night in the sea chapter 2 barquelfedro having aimed at the eagle brings down the dove the step of the little van was down the door ajar there was no one inside the faint light which broke through the pain in front sketch the interior of the caravan vaguely in melancholy chiaroscuro the inscriptions of urses glorifying the grandeur of lords showed distinctly on the worn out boards which were both the wall without and the wainscot within on a nail near the door guinplane saw his esclavine and his cape hung up as they hang up the clothes of a corpse in a dead house just then he had neither waist cut nor coat on behind the van something was laid out on the deck at the foot of the mast which was lighted by the lantern it was a mattress of which he could make out one corner on this mattress someone was probably lying for he could see a shadow move someone was speaking concealed by the van guinplane listened it was urses his voice that voice so harsh in its upper so tender in its lower pitch that voice which had so often uprated guinplane and which had taught him so well had lost the life and clearness of its tone it was vague and low and melted into a sigh at the end of every sentence it bore but a confused resemblance to his natural and firm voice of old it was the voice of one in whom happiness is dead a voice may become a ghost he seemed to be engaged in monologue rather than in conversation we are already aware however that soliloquy was a habit with him it was for that reason that he passed for a madman guinplane held his breath so as not to lose a word of what urses said and this was what he heard this is a very dangerous kind of craft because there are no bulwarks to it if we were to slip there is nothing to prevent our going overboard if we have bad weather we shall have to take her below and that will be dreadful an awkward step a fright and we shall have a rupture of the aneurysm i've seen instances of it oh my god what has to become of us is she asleep yes she is asleep is she in a swoon no her pulse is pretty strong she's only asleep sleep is a reprieve it is the happy blindness what can i do to prevent people walking about here gentlemen if there be anybody on deck i beg of you to make no noise do not come near us if you do not mind you know a person in delicate health requires a little attention she is feverish you see she's very young tis a little creature who is rather feverish i put this mattress down here so that she may have a little air i explain all this so that you should be careful she fell down exhausted on the mattress as if she'd fainted but she's asleep i do hope that no one will awake her i address myself to the ladies if there are any present a young girl it is pitiful we are only poor mountain banks but i beg a little kindness and if there is anything to pay for not making a noise i will pay it i thank you ladies and gentlemen is there anyone there no i don't think there is my talk is mere loss of breath so much the better gentlemen i thank you if you are there and i thank you still more if you are not her forehead is all in perspiration come let us take our places in the galleys again put on the chain misery has come back we are sinking again a hand the fearful hand which we cannot see but the weight of which we feel ever upon us has suddenly struck us back towards the dark point of our destiny be it so we will bear up only i will not have her ill i must seem a fool to talk aloud like this when i'm alone but she must feel she has someone near her when she awakes what shall i do if somebody awakes her suddenly no noise in the name of heaven a sudden shock which would awake her suddenly would be of no use it will be a pity if anybody comes by i believe that everyone on board is asleep thanks be to providence for that mercy well and homo where is he i wonder in all this confusion i forgot to tie him up i do not know what i am doing it is more than an hour since i've seen him i suppose he has been to look for his supper somewhere on shore i hope nothing has happened to him homo homo homo struck his tail softly on the planks of the deck you are there oh you are there thank god for that if homo had been lost it would have been too much to bear she's moved her arm perhaps she's going to wake quiet homo the tide is turning we shall sail directly i think it will be a fine night there's no wind the flag droops we shall have a good passage i do not know what moon it is but there is scarcely a stir in the clouds there will be no swell it will be a fine night her cheek is pale it is only weakness no it is flushed it is only the fever stay it is rosy she is well i can no longer see clearly my poor homo i no longer see distinctly so he must begin life afresh we must set to work again there only we two left you see we will work for her both of us she's our child ah the vessel moves we are off goodbye london good evening good night to the devil with horrible London he was right he heard the dull sound of the unmooring as the vessel fell away from the wharf abaffed on the poop of man the skipper no doubt just come from below was standing he had slipped the horse and was working the tiller looking only to the rudder as befitted the combined flam of a Dutchman and a sailor listened to nothing but the wind and the water bending against the resistance of the tiller as he worked it to porch or starboard he looked in the gloom of the after-deck like a phantom bearing a beam upon its shoulder he was alone there so long as they were in the river the other sailors were not required in a few minutes the vessel was in the center of the current with which she drifted without rolling or pitching the tames little disturbed by the ebb was calm carried onwards by the tide the vessel made rapid way behind her the black scenery of london was fading the mist urses went on talking never mind i will give her digitalis i'm afraid that delirium will supervene she perspires in the palms of her hands what sin have we committed in the sight of god how quickly has all this misery come upon us hideous rapidity of evil a stone falls it has claws it is the hawk swooping on the lark it is destiny there you lie my sweet child one comes to london one says what a fine city what fine buildings south work is a magnificent suburb one settles there but now they are horrid places what would you have me do there i am going to leave this is the 30th of april i always distrusted the month of april there are but two lucky days in april the fifth and is the 27th and four unlucky ones the 10th the 20th the 29th and the 30th this has been placed beyond doubt by the calculations of cardin i wish this day were over departures of comfort at dawn we shall be at a gravesend and tomorrow evening at rhododom sounds i will begin life again in the van we will draw it won't be homo a light tapping announced the wolf's consent urses continued if one could only get out of a grief as one gets out of a city homo we must yet be happy alas there must always be the one who is no more a shadow remains on those who survive you know who might mean homo we were four and now we are but three life is but a long loss of those who we love they leave behind them a train of sorrows destiny amazes us by polyxity of unbearable suffering who then can wonder that the old are garrulous it is despair that makes the daughter told fellow homo the wind continues favorable we can no longer see the dome of st paul's we shall pass green which presently that will be six good miles over oh i turn my back forever on those odys capitals full of priests of magistrates and of people i prefer looking at the leaves wrestling in the woods her forehead still in perspiration i don't like those great violet veins in her arm there's fever in them oh all this is killing me sleep my child yes she sleeps here a voice spoke an ineffable voice which seemed from afar and appeared to come at once from the heights in the depths a voice divinely fearful the voice of dare all that gwen plain had hitherto felt seemed nothing his angel spoke it seemed as though he heard words spoken from another world in a heaven like trance the voice said he did well to go this world was not worthy of him only i must go with him father i'm not ill i heard you speak just now i'm very well quite well i was asleep father i'm going to be happy my child said urses in a voice of anguish what do you mean by that the answer was father do not be unhappy there was a pause as if to take breath and then these few words pronounced slowly reached gwen plain gwen plain is no longer here it is now that i am blind i knew not what night was night is absence the voice stopped once more and then continued i always feared that he would fly away i felt that he belonged to heaven he has taken flight suddenly it was natural that it should end thus the soul flies away like a bird but the nest of the soul is in the height where dwells the great lodestone who draws all towards him i know where to find gwen plain i have no doubt about the way father it is yonder later on you will rejoin us and homo too homo hearing his name pronounced wagged his tail softly against the deck father resumed the voice you understand that once gwen plain is no longer here all is over even if i would remain i could not because one must breathe we must not ask for that which is impossible i was with gwen plain it was quite natural i lived now gwen plain is no more i die the two things are alike either he must come or i must go since he cannot come back i am going to him it is good to die it is not at all difficult father that which is extinguished here shall be rekindled elsewhere it is a heartache to live in this world it cannot be that we shall always be unhappy when we go to what you call the stars we shall marry we shall never part again and we shall love love love and that is what is god there there do not agitate yourself said urses the voice continued well for instance last year in the spring of last year we were together and we were happy how different it is now i forget what little village we were in but there were trees and i heard the linnet singing we came to london all was changed this is no reproach mind when one comes to a fresh place how was one to know anything about it father do you remember that one day there was a woman in the great box you said it is a duchess i felt sad i think it might have been better had we kept to the little towns gwen plain was done right with all now my turn has come besides you have told me yourself that when i was very little my mother died and that i was lying on the ground with the snow falling upon me and that he who was also very little then and alone like myself picked me up and that it was thus that i came to be alive so you cannot wonder that now i should feel it absolutely necessary to go and search the grave to see if gwen plain be in it because the only thing which exists in life is the heart and after life the soul you take notice of what i say father do you not what is moving it seems as if we are in something that is moving yet i do not hear the sound of the wheels after pause the voice added i cannot exactly make out the difference between yesterday and today i do not complain i do not know what has occurred but something must have happened these words uttered with deep and inconsolable sweetness and with a sigh which gwen plain heard wound up thus i must go unless he should return ursus muttered gloomily i do not believe in ghosts he went on this is a ship you ask why the house moves it is because we are on board a vessel be calm you must not talk so much daughter if you have any love for me do not agitate yourself it will make you feverish i am so old i could not bear it if you were to have an illness spare me do not be ill again the voice spoke what is the use of searching the earth when we can only find in heaven ursus replied with a half attempt at authority be calm there are times when you have no sense at all i order you to rest after all you cannot be expected to know what it is to rupture a blood vessel i should be easy if you are easy my child do something for me as well if he picked you up i took you in you will make me ill that is wrong you must calm yourself and go to sleep all will come right i give you my word of honor all will come right besides it is very fine weather the night might have been made on purpose tomorrow we shall be at rogerdom which is a city in holland at the mouth of the muse father said the voice look here when two beings have always been together from infancy their state should not be disturbed or death must come and it cannot be otherwise i love you all the same but i feel that i am no longer all together with you although i am as yet not all together with him come try to sleep repeated ursus the voice answered i shall have sleep enough soon ursus replied in trembling tones i tell you that we are going to holland to rogerdom which is a city father continued the voice i'm not ill if you are anxious about that you may rest easy i have no fever i'm rather hot it is nothing more ursus stammered out at the mouth of the muse i'm quite well father but look here i feel that i'm going to die do nothing so foolish said ursus and he added above all god forbid she should have a shock there was a silence suddenly ursus cried out what are you doing why are you getting up lie down again i implore you gwynblaine shivered and stretched out his head end of section 102 recording by novella serena section 103 of the man who laughs by victor hugo this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org recording by novella serena the man who laughs by victor hugo conclusion the night and the sea chapter three paradise regained below he saw daya she had just raised herself up on the mattress she had on a long white dress carefully closed and showing only the delicate form of her neck the sleeves covered her arms the folds her feet the branch like tracery of blue veins hot and swollen with fever were visible on her hands she was shivering and rocking rather than reeling to and fro like a reed the lantern threw up its glancing light on her beautiful face her loosened hair floated over her shoulders no tears fell on her cheeks in her eyes there was fire and darkness she was pale with that paleness which is like the transparency of a divine life in an earthly face her fragile and exquisite form was as it were blended and interfused with the folds of her robe she wavered like the flicker of a flame while at the same time she was dwindling into shadow her eyes opened wide were resplendent she was as one just freed from the sepulcher a soul standing in the dawn ursis whose back only was visible to gwyn plane raised his arms in terror oh my child oh heavens she is delirious delirium is what i feared worst of all she must have no shock for that might kill her yet nothing but a shock can prevent her going mad dead or mad what a situation oh god what can i do my child lie down again meanwhile dea spoke her voice was almost indistinct as if a cloud already interposed between her and earth father you are wrong i am not in the least delirious i hear all you say to me distinctly you tell me that there is a great crowd of people that they are waiting and that i must play tonight i am quite willing you see that i have my reason but i do not know what to do since i am dead and gwyn plane is dead i am coming all the same i am ready to play here i am but gwyn plane is no longer here come my child said ursis do as i bid you lie down again he is no longer here no longer here oh how dark it is dark muttered ursis this is the first time she has ever uttered that word gwyn plane with as little noise as he could help making as he crept mounted the step of the caravan entered it took from the nail the cape and the esclavine put the esclavine round his neck and redescended from the van still concealed by the projection of the cabin the rigging and the mast dea continued murmuring she moved her lips and by degrees the murmur became a melody in broken pauses and with the interrupted cadences of delirium her voice broke into the mysterious appeal she had so often addressed to gwyn plane in chaos vanquished she sang and her voice was low and uncertain as the murmur of the bee she stopped no it is not true i am not dead what was i saying alas i am alive i am alive he is dead i am below he is above he is gone i remain i shall hear his voice no more nor his footstep god who had given us a little paradise on earth has taken it away gwyn plane it is over i shall never feel you near me again never and his voice i shall never hear his voice again and she sang we must go to heaven take off i entreat thee thy black cloak she stretched out her hand as if she sought something in space on which she might rest gwyn plane rising by the side of verses who had suddenly become as though petrified knelt down before her never said dare never shall i hear him again she began wandering to sing again then she heard a voice even the beloved voice answering oh come and love thou art the soul i am the heart and at the same instant dea felt under her hand the head of gwyn plane she uttered an indescribable cry gwyn plane a light as of a star shone over her pale face and she tottered gwyn plane received her in his arms alive cried ursis dea repeated gwyn plane and with her head bowed against gwyn plane's cheek she whispered faintly you have come down to me again i thank you gwyn plane and seated on his knee she lifted up her head wrapped in his embrace she turned her sweet face towards him and fixed on him those eyes so full of light and shadow as though she could see him it is you she said gwyn plane covered her sobs with kisses there are words which are at once words cries and sobs in which all ecstasy and all grief are mingled and burst forth together they have no meaning and yet tell all yes it is it is i gwyn plane of whom you are the soul do you hear me i of whom you are the child the wife the star the breath of life i to whom you are eternity it is i i am here i hold you in my arms i am alive i am yours oh when i think that in a moment all would have been over one minute more but for homo i will tell you everything how near is despair to joy dayo we live dayo forgive me yes yours forever you are right touch my forehead make sure that it is i if you only knew but nothing can separate us now i rise out of hell and ascend into heaven am i not with you you said that i descended not so i re ascend once more with you forever i tell you forever together we are together who would have believed it we have found each other again all our troubles are passed before us now there is nothing but enchantment we will renew our happy life and we will shut the door so fast that misfortune shall never enter again i will tell you all you will be astonished the vessel has sailed no one can prevent that now we are on our voyage and at liberty we are going to holland we will marry i have no fear about gaining a livelihood what can hinder it there is nothing to fear i adore you not so quick stammered urses dayo trembling and with the rapture of an angelic touch passed her hand over gwyn plane's profile he overheard her say to herself it is thus that gods are made then she touched his clothes the eschelivine she said the cape nothing changed all as it was before urses stupefied delighted smiling drowned in tears looked at them and addressed and aside to himself i don't understand it in the least i am a stupid idiot i who saw him carried to the grave i cry and i laugh that is all i know i am as great a fool as if i were in love myself but that is just what i am i am in love with them both old fool too much emotion it is what i was afraid of no it is that i wished for gwyn plane be careful of her yes let them kiss it is no affair of mine i am but a spectator what i feel is droll i am the parasite of their happiness and i am nourished by it whilst urses was talking to himself gwyn plane exclaimed dea you are too beautiful i don't know where my wits were gone these last few days truly there is but you on earth i see you again but as yet i can hardly believe it in this ship but tell me how did it all happen to what a state have they reduced you but where is the green box they've robbed you they have driven you away it is infamous oh i will avenge you i will avenge you dea they shall answer for it i am a peer of england urses as if stricken by a planet full in his breast drew back and looked at gwyn plane attentively it is clear that he is not dead but can he have gone mad and he listened to him doubtfully gwyn plane resumed be easy dea i will carry my complaint to the house of lords urses looked at him again and struck his forehead with the tip of his forefinger then making up his mind it is all one to me he said it will be all right all the same be as mad as you like my gwyn plane it is one of the rites of man as for me i am happy but how came all this about the vessel continued to sail smoothly and fast the night grew darker and darker the mists which came inland from the ocean were invading the zenith from which no wind blew them away only a few large stars were visible and they disappeared one after another so that soon there were none at all and the whole sky was dark infinite and soft the river broadened until the banks on each side were nothing but two thin brown lines mingling with the gloom out of all this shadow rose a profound peace gwyn plane half seated held dea in his embrace they spoke they cried they babbled they murmured in a mad dialogue of joy how are we to paint thee oh joy my life my heaven my love my whole happiness gwyn plane dea i am drunk let me kiss your feet is it you then for certain i have so much to say to you now that i do not know where to begin one kiss oh my wife gwyn plane do not tell me that i am beautiful it is you who are handsome i have found you again i hold you to my heart this is true you are mine i do not dream is it possible yes it is i recover possession of life if you only knew i have met with all sorts of adventures dea gwyn plane i love you and ursis murmured mine is the joy of a grandfather homo having come from under the van was going from one to the other discreetly exacting no attention licking them left and right now ursis's thick shoes now gwyn plane's cape now dea's dress now the mattress this was his way of giving his blessing they had passed chatham and the mouth of the medway they were approaching the sea the shadowy serenity of the atmosphere was such that the passage down the tames was being made without trouble no manoeuvre was needful nor was any sailor called on deck at the other end of the vessel the skipper still alone was steering there was only this man aft at the bow the lantern lighted up the happier group of beings who from the depths of misery had suddenly been raised to happiness by a meeting so unhoped for end of section 103 recording by novella serena section 104 of the man who laughs by victor hugo this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox dot org recording by novella serena the man who laughs by victor hugo conclusion the night and the sea chapter four nay on high suddenly dea disengaging herself from gwyn plane's embrace arose she pressed both her hands against her heart as if to steal its throbbing's what is wrong with me said she there is something the matter joy is suffocating no it is nothing that is lucky your reappearance oh my gwyn plane has given me a blow a blow of happiness all this heaven of joy which you have put into my heart has intoxicated me you being absent i felt myself dying the true life which was leaving me you have brought back i felt as if something was being torn away within me it is the shadows that have been torn away and i feel life dawn in my brain a glowing life a life of fever and delight this life which you have just given me is wonderful it is so heavenly that it makes me suffer somewhat it seems as though my soul is enlarged and can scarcely be contained in my body this life of seraphim this plenitude flows into my brain and penetrates it i feel like a beating of wings within my breast i feel strangely but happy gwyn plane you have been my resurrection she flushed became pale then flushed again and fell alas said ursus you have killed her gwyn plane stretched his arms towards daya extremity of anguish coming upon extremity of ecstasy what a shock he would himself have fallen had he not had to support her daya he cried shuddering what is the matter nothing said she i love you she lay in his arms lifeless like a piece of linen her hands were hanging down helplessly gwyn plane and ursus placed daya on the mattress she said feebly i cannot breathe lying down they lifted her up ursus said fetch a pillow she replied what for i have gwyn plane she laid her head on gwyn plane's shoulder who was sitting behind and supporting her his eyes wild with grief oh said she how happy i am ursus took her wrist and counted the pulsation of the artery he did not shake his head he said nothing nor expressed his thought except by the rapid movement of his eyelids which were opening and closing convulsively as if to prevent a flood of tears from bursting out what is the matter asked gwyn plane ursus placed his ear against daya's left side gwyn plane repeated his question eagerly fearful of the answer ursus looked at gwyn plane then at daya he was livid he said we ought to be parallel with canterbury the distance from here to gravesend cannot be very great we shall have fine weather all night we need fear no attack at sea because the fleets are all on the coast of spain we shall have a good passage daya bent and growing paler and paler clutch her rope convulsively she heaved a sigh of inexpressible sadness and murmured i know what this is i am dying gwyn plane rose in terror ursus held daya die you die no it shall not be you cannot die die now die at once it is impossible god is not ferociously cruel to give you and to take you back in the same moment no such a thing cannot be it would make one doubt in him then indeed would everything be a snare the earth the sky the cradles of infants the human heart love the stars god would be a traitor and man a dupe there would be nothing in which to believe it would be an insult to the creation everything would be an abyss you know not what you say daya you shall live i command you to live you must obey me i am your husband and your master i forbid you to leave me oh heavens oh wretched man know it cannot be i to remain in the world after you why it is as monstrous as that there should be no sun daya daya recover it is but a moment of passing pain one feels a shudder at times and thinks no more about it it is absolutely necessary that you should get well and cease to suffer you die what have i done to you the very thought of it drives me mad we belong to each other and we love each other you have no reason for going it would be unjust have i committed crimes besides you have forgiven me oh you would not make me desperate have me become a villain a madman drive me to perdition daya i entreat you i conjure you i supplicate you do not die and clenching his hands and his hair agonized with fear stifled with tears he threw himself at her feet my gwen plain said daya it is no fault of mine there then rose to her lips a red froth which urses wiped away with the fold of her robe before gwen plain who was prostrate at her feet could see it gwen plain took her feet in his hands and implored her in all kinds of confused words i tell you i will not have it you die i have no strength left to bear it die yes but both of us together not otherwise you die my daya i will never consent to it my divinity my love do you understand that i am with you i swear that you shall leave oh but you cannot have thought what would become of me after you were gone if you had an idea of the necessity which you are to me you would see that it is absolutely impossible daya you see i have but you the most extraordinary things have happened to me you will hardly believe that i have just explored the whole of life in a few hours i have found but one thing that there is nothing in it you exist if you did not the universe would have no meaning stay with me have pity on me since you love me live on if i have just found you again it is to keep you wait a little longer you cannot leave me like this now that we have been together but a few minutes do not be impatient oh heaven how i suffer you are not angry with me are you you know that i could not help going when the wappentick came for me you will breathe more easily presently you will see daya all has been put right we are going to be happy do not drive me to despair daya i have done nothing to you these words were not spoken but sobbed out they rose from his breast now in a lament which might have attracted the dove now in a roar which might have made lions recoil daya answered him in a voice growing weaker and weaker and paused at nearly every word alas it is of no use my beloved i see that you are doing all you can an hour ago i wanted it to die now i do not quinn plain my adored quinn plain how happy we have been god placed you in my life and he takes me out of yours you see i am going you will remember the green box won't you and poor little blind daya you will remember my song do not forget the sound of my voice and the way in which i said i love you i will come back and tell it to you again in the night while you are asleep yes we found each other again but it was too much joy it was to end at once it is decreed that i am to go first i love my father ursis and my brother homo very dearly you are all so good there's no air here open the window my quinn plain i did not tell you but i was jealous of a woman who came one day you do not even know of whom i speak is it not so cover my arms i am rather cold and febe and vinos where are they one comes to love everybody one feels a friendship for all those who have been mixed up in one's happiness we have a kindly feeling towards them for having been present in our joys why has it all passed away i have not clearly understood what has happened during the last two days now i am dying leave me in my dress when i put it on i first saw that it would be my shroud i wish to keep it on quinn plain's kisses are upon it oh what would i not have given to have lived on what a happy life we led in our poor caravan how we sang how i listened to the applause what joy it was never to be separated from each other it seemed to me that i was living in a cloud with you i knew one day from another although i was blind i knew that it was morning because i heard quinn plain i felt that it was night because i dreamed of quinn plain i felt that i was wrapped up in something which was his soul we adored each other so sweetly it is all fading away and there will be no more songs alas that i cannot live on you will think of me my beloved her voice was growing fainter the ominous waning which was death was stealing away her breath she folded her thumbs within her fingers a sign that her last moments were approaching it seemed as though the first uncertain words of an angel just created were blended with the last failing accents of the dying girl she murmured you will think of me won't you it would be very sad to be dead and to be remembered by no one i have been wayward at times i beg pardon of you all i am sure that if god had so willed it we might yet have been happy my quinn plain for we take up a very little room and we might have earned our bread together in another land but god has willed otherwise i cannot make out in the least why i am dying i never complained of being blind so that i cannot have offended anyone i should never have asked for anything but always to be blind as i was by your side oh how sad it is to have to part her words were more and more inarticulate evaporating into each other as if they were being blown away she had become almost inaudible quinn plain she resumed you will think of me won't you i shall crave it when i am dead and she added oh keep me with you then after a pause she said come to me as soon as you can i shall be very unhappy without you even in heaven do not leave me long alone my sweet quinn plain my paradise was here above there's only heaven oh i cannot breathe my beloved my beloved my beloved mercy cried quinn plain farewell murmur daya and he pressed his mouth to her beautiful icy hands for a moment it seemed as if she had ceased to breathe she raised herself on her elbows and an intense blender flashed across her eyes and through an ineffable smile her voice rang out clearly light she cried i see and she expired she fell back rigid and motionless on the mattress dead said ursis and the poor old man as if crushed by his despair bowed his bald head and buried his swollen face in the folds of the gown which covered daya's feet he lay there in a swoon then quinn plain became awful he arose lifted his eyes engaged into the vast gloom above him seen by none on earth but looked down upon perhaps as he stood in the darkness by some invisible presence he stretched his hands on high and said i come and he strode across the deck towards the side of the vessel as if beckoned by a vision a few paces off was the abyss he walked slowly never casting down his eyes a smile came upon his face such as daya's had just worn he advanced straight before him as if watching something in his eyes was a light like the reflection of a soul perceived from a far off he cried out yes at every step he was approaching nearer to the side of the vessel his gate was rigid his arms were lifted up his head was thrown back his eyeballs were fixed his movement was ghost-like he advanced without haste and without hesitation with fatal precision as though there were before him no yawning gulf and open grave he murmured be easy i follow you i understand the sign that you are making me his eyes were fixed upon a certain spot in the sky where the shadow was deepest the smile was still upon his face the sky was perfectly black there was no star visible in it and yet he evidently saw one he crossed the deck a few stiff and ominous steps and he had reached the very edge i come said he daya behold i come one step more there was no bulwark the void was before him he strode into it he fell the night was thick and dull the water deep it swallowed him up he disappeared calmly and silently none saw nor heard him the ship sailed on and the river flowed shortly afterwards the ship reached the sea when ursus returned to consciousness he found that gwyn plane was no longer with him and he saw homo by the edge of the deck baying in the shadow and looking down upon the water the end end of section 104 recording by novella serena end of the man who laughs by victor hugo