She said she woke up in the deep darkness, and she knew the life was
fast going from her. She could not move so much as a finger, she tried
to cry out, but no sound came from her lips. She felt that in another
instant the whole world would fall from her--her heart was full of
agony. And as the last breath was passing her lips, she heard a very
faint, sweet sound, like the tinkling of a silver bell. It came from far
away, from over by Ty-newydd. She forgot her agony and listened, and
even then, she says, she felt the swirl of the world as it came back to
her. And the sound of the bell swelled and grew louder, and it thrilled
all through her body, and the life was in it. And as the bell rang and
trembled in her ears, a faint light touched the wall of her room and
reddened, till the whole room was full of rosy fire. And then she saw
standing before her bed three men in blood-coloured robes with shining
faces. And one man held a golden bell in his hand. And the second man
held up something shaped like the top of a table. It was like a great
jewel, and it was of a blue colour, and there were rivers of silver and
of gold running through it and flowing as quick streams flow, and there
were pools in it as if violets had been poured out into water, and then
it was green as the sea near the shore, and then it was the sky at night
with all the stars shining, and then the sun and the moon came down and
washed in it. And the third man held up high above this a cup that was
like a rose on fire; "there was a great burning in it, and a dropping of
blood in it, and a red cloud above it, and I saw a great secret. And I
heard a voice that sang nine times, 'Glory and praise to the Conqueror
of Death, to the Fountain of Life immortal.' Then the red light went
from the wall, and it was all darkness, and the bell rang faint again by
Capel Teilo, and then I got up and called to you."
The doctor came on the Monday morning with the death certificate in his
pocket-book, and Olwen ran out to meet him. I have quoted his phrase in
the first chapter of this record: "A kind of resurrection of the body."
He made a most careful examination of the girl; he has stated that he
found that every trace of disease had disappeared. He left on the Sunday
morning a patient entering into the coma that precedes death, a body
condemned utterly and ready for the grave. He met at the garden gate on
the Monday morning a young woman in whom life sprang up like a fountain,
in whose body life laughed and rejoiced as if it had been a river
flowing from an unending well.
* * * * *
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account