Asmodeus; or, The Devil on Two SticksLe Sage, Alain René
General
Asmodeus; or, The Devil on Two Sticks
Le Sage, Alain René
Devil -- Fiction; French fiction -- Translations into English; Good and evil -- Fiction; Madrid (Spain) -- Fiction
"Grammercy!" cried the Student, "what do I see. At the other end of
the church are two spirits, who are passing along together, but badly
matched. Their forms and manners are immensely different: one is of
enormous height, and moves with corresponding gravity, while the other
is of dwarf-like stature, and passes o'er the ground like a breath."
"The giant," replied the Cripple, "was a German, who lost his life in
a debauch, by drinking three healths with tobacco mixed inadvertently
in his wine; and the little ghost is that of a Parisian, who, with
the gallantry belonging to his countrymen, was imprudent enough, on
entering this very church, to present the holy water to a young lady
who was leaving it: as a reward for his politeness, he was saluted on
the same day with the contents of a carbine, which left him here a
moral for all too attentive Frenchmen.
"For myself," continued Asmodeus, "I have been looking at three spirits
which I discerned among the crowd; and I must tell you by what means
they were separated from their earthly companions. They animated the
charming forms of as many female performers, who made as much noise
at Madrid, in their time, as did Origo, Cytheris and Arbuscula, in
theirs, at Rome; and, like their said prototypes, they possessed the
exquisite art of amusing mankind in public, and of privately ruining
the same amiable animal. But, alas! all things must have an end, and
these were the finales of those celebrated ladies: one died suddenly
of envy, at an apopletic fit of applause, from the pit, which fell upon
a lovely first-night; another found in excessive good cheer, at home,
the infallible drop which follows it; and, the third, undertaking the
dangerous character, for an actress, of a vestal, became so excited
with her part that she died of a miscarriage behind the scenes.
"But we will leave to their reposes(!) all these shades," again
continued the Demon; "we have passed them sufficiently in review.
I will now present to your sight a spectacle which, as a man, must
impress you with a deeper feeling than the sight of the dead. I am
about, by the same power which has rendered the shades of the departed
visible to your sight, to present to you the vision of Death himself.
Yes! you shall behold that insatiable enemy of the human race, who
prowls unceasingly in the haunts of man, unperceived by his victims;
who surrounds the earth, in his speed, in the twinkling of an eye; and
who strikes by his power, its most distant inhabitants at the same
moment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account