Austria -- Fiction; Devil -- Fiction; Middle Ages -- Fiction
It was of no use to try to move him; evidently he was wholly without
feelings, and could not understand. He was full of bubbling spirits,
and as gay as if this were a wedding instead of a fiendish massacre.
And he was bent on making us feel as he did, and of course his magic
accomplished his desire. It was no trouble to him; he did whatever he
pleased with us. In a little while we were dancing on that grave, and
he was playing to us on a strange, sweet instrument which he took out
of his pocket; and the music--but there is no music like that, unless
perhaps in heaven, and that was where he brought it from, he said. It
made one mad, for pleasure; and we could not take our eyes from him,
and the looks that went out of our eyes came from our hearts, and their
dumb speech was worship. He brought the dance from heaven, too, and the
bliss of paradise was in it.
Presently he said he must go away on an errand. But we could not bear
the thought of it, and clung to him, and pleaded with him to stay;
and that pleased him, and he said so, and said he would not go yet,
but would wait a little while and we would sit down and talk a few
minutes longer; and he told us Satan was only his real name, and he
was to be known by it to us alone, but he had chosen another one to be
called by in the presence of others; just a common one, such as people
have--Philip Traum.
It sounded so odd and mean for such a being! But it was his decision,
and we said nothing; his decision was sufficient.
We had seen wonders this day; and my thoughts began to run on the
pleasure it would be to tell them when I got home, but he noticed those
thoughts, and said:
“No, all these matters are a secret among us four. I do not mind your
trying to tell them, if you like, but I will protect your tongues, and
nothing of the secret will escape from them.”
It was a disappointment, but it couldn’t be helped, and it cost us a
sigh or two. We talked pleasantly along, and he was always reading our
thoughts and responding to them, and it seemed to me that this was the
most wonderful of all the things he did, but he interrupted my musings
and said:
“No, it would be wonderful for you, but it is not wonderful for me. I
am not limited like you. I am not subject to human conditions. I can
measure and understand your human weaknesses, for I have studied them;
but I have none of them. My flesh is not real, although it would seem
firm to your touch; my clothes are not real; I am a spirit. Father
Peter is coming.” We looked around, but did not see any one. “He is not
in sight yet, but you will see him presently.”
“Do you know him, Satan?”
“No.”
“Won’t you talk with him when he comes? He is not ignorant and dull,
like us, and he would so like to talk with you. Will you?”
“Another time, yes, but not now. I must go on my errand after a little.
There he is now; you can see him. Sit still, and don’t say anything.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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