The Gold Sickle; Or, Hena, The Virgin of The Isle of Sen. A Tale of Druid GaulSue, Eugène
History
The Gold Sickle; Or, Hena, The Virgin of The Isle of Sen. A Tale of Druid Gaul
Sue, Eugène
Druids and druidism -- Fiction; Gaul -- History -- To 58 B.C. -- Fiction
Julyan was then seen ascending with radiant mien the pyre where lay the
body of Armel, his friend--his pledged brother. Julyan had on his
holiday clothes: a blouse of fine material striped white and blue, held
around his waist by an embroidered leather belt, from which hung his
knife. His caped cloak of brown wool was held by a brooch over his left
shoulder. An oak crown decked his manly head. He held in his hand a
nosegay of vervain. He looked serene and bold. Hardly had he ascended
the pyre, when again the harps and cymbals struck up, and the bard
chanted:
"Who is this? He is a brave man! It is Julyan the laborer; Julyan of the
family of Joel, the brenn of the tribe of Karnak! He fears the gods, and
all love him. He is good, he is industrious, he is brave. He killed
Armel not in hate but in a contest, in loyal combat, buckler on arm,
sword in hand, like a true Breton Gaul, who loves to display his bravery
and does not fear death. Armel having departed, Julyan, who had pledged
brotherhood to him, wishes to depart also and join his friend. Glory to
Julyan, faithful to the teachings of the druids. He knows that the
creatures of the All-Powerful never die, and his pure and noble blood
Julyan now offers up to Hesus. Glory, hope and happiness to Julyan! He
has been good, just and brave. He will be re-born still happier, still
juster, still braver, and ever onward, from world to world, Julyan will
be re-born, his soul being ever re-incarnated in a new body the same as
the body that here puts on new clothes."
"Oh, Gauls! Ye proud souls, to whom death does not exist! Come, come!
Remove your eyes from this earth; rise to the sublimity of heaven. See,
see at your feet the abyss of space, dotted by these myriads of mortals
as are all of us, and whom Teutates guides incessantly from the world
that they have lived in towards the world that they are next to inhabit.
Oh, what unknown worlds and marvelous we shall journey through, with our
friends and our relatives that have preceded us, and with those whom we
shall precede!"
"No, we are not mortals! Our infinite lives are numbered by myriads and
myriads of centuries, just as are numbered by myriads of myriads the
stars in the firmament--mysterious worlds, ever different, ever new,
that we are successively to inhabit."
"Let those fear death who, faithful to the false gods of the Greeks, the
Romans and the Jews, believe that man lives only once, and that after
that, stripped of his body, the happy or unhappy soul remains eternally
in the same hell or the same paradise! Aye! They are bound to fear death
who believe that when man quits this life he finds _immobility in
eternity_."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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