The persons meant by the Chief of the city and his Sons are the Duke
of Wellington, the Marquis of Duro and Lord Wellesly. The city is
the Glass town. Henry O'Donell and Alexander Delancy are Captain
Tarry-not-at-home and Monsieur Like-to-live-in-lonely-places.
Charlotte Bronte
August the 17
1829
CB July 28 1829
The search after happiness
NOT many years ago there lived in a certain city a person of the name
of Henry O'Donell. In figure he was tall, of a dark complexion and
searching black eye, his mind was strong and unbending, his disposition
unsociable and though respected by many he was loved by few. The city
where he resided was very great and magnificent. It was governed by a
warrior, a mighty man of valour whose deeds had resounded to the ends
of the earth. This soldier had two sons who were at that time of the
separate ages of six and seven years.
Henry O'Donell was a nobleman of great consequence in the city and a
peculiar favourite with the governor, before whose glance his stern mind
would bow and at his command O'Donell's selfwill would be overcome,
and while playing with the young princes he would forget his usual
sullenness of demeanour; the days of his childhood returned upon him and
he would be as merry as the youngest, who was gay indeed.
One day at court, a quarrel ensued between him and another noble, words
came to blows and O'Donell struck his opponent a violent blow on the
left cheek. At this the military King started up and commanded O'Donell
to apologize. This he immediately did, but from that hour the spell of
discontent seemed to have been cast over him and he resolved to quit
the city. The evening before he put this resolution into practice,
he had an interview with the King and returned quite an altered man.
Before he seemed stern and intractable, now he was only meditative
and sorrowful. As he was passing the inner court of the palace, he
perceived the two young princes at play. He called them and they came
running to him.
"I am going far from this city and shall most likely never see you
again," said O'Donell.
"Where are you going?"
"I cannot tell."
"Then why do you go away from us, why do you go from your own house and
lands, from this great and splendid city to you know not where?"
"Because I am not happy here."
"And if you are not happy here where you have every thing for which
you can wish, do you expect to be happy when you are dying of hunger
or thirst in a desert or longing for the society of men, when you are
thousands of miles, of miles from any human being?"
"How do you know that that will be my case?"
"It is very likely that it will."
"And if it was, I am determined to go."
"Take this then that you may sometimes remember us when you dwell with
only the wild beast of the desert or the great eagle of the mountain,"
said they as they each gave him a curling lock of their hair.
"Yes, I will take it my princes and I shall remember you and the mighty
warrior King your father, even when the angel of Death has stretched
forth his bony arm against me and I am within the confines of his
dreary kingdom, the cold damp grave," replied O'Donell, as the tears
rushed to his eyes and he once more embraced the little princes and
then quitted them, it might be for ever——
THE Dawn of the next morning found O'Donell on the summit of a high
mountain which overlooked the city. He had stopped to take a farewell
view of the place of his nativity. All along the eastern horizon, there
was a rich glowing light, which, as it rose, gradually melted into the
pale blue of the sky, in which, just over the light, there was still
visible the silver crescent of the moon. In a short time the sun began
to rise in golden glory casting his splendid radiance over all the
face of nature and illuminating the magnificent city in the midst of
which, towering in the silent grandeur, there appeared the Palace where
dwelt the mighty Prince of that great and beautiful city, all around
the brazen gates and massive walls of which there flowed the majestic
stream of the Guadima whose banks were bordered by splendid palaces and
magnificent gardens. Behind these stretching for many a league were
fruitful plains and forests whose shade seemed almost impenetrable to
a single ray of light, while in the distance blue mountains were seen
raising their heads to the sky and forming a misty girdle to the plains
of Dahomey. On the whole of this grand and beautiful prospect,
|[4]|
O'Donell's gaze was long and fixed but his last look was to the palace
of the King and a tear stood in his eye as he said earnestly,
"May he be preserved from all evil. May good attend him and may the
chief Genie spread their broad shield of protection over him all the
time of his sojourn in this wearisome world."
Then turning round he began to descend the mountain. He pursued his
way till the sun began to wax hot when he stopped and, sitting down,
he took out some provisions which he had brought with him and which
consisted of a few biscuits and dates. While he was eating, a tall man
came up and accosted him. O'Donell requested him to sit beside him and
offered him a biscuit. This he refused, and taking one out of a small
bag which he carried, he sat down and they began to talk. In the course
of conversation O'Donell learnt that this man's name was Alexander
Delancy, that he was a native of France, and that he was engaged in the
same pursuit with himself, i.e. the search of happiness. They talked
for a long time and at last agreed to travel together. Then, rising,
they pursued their journey. Towards nightfall they lay down in the open
air and slept soundly till morning, when they again set off and thus
they continued till the 3rd day, when about two hours after noon they
approached an old castle which they entered and as they were examining
it, they discovered a subterraneous passage, which they could not see
the end of.
"Let us follow where this passage leads us and perhaps we may find
happiness here," said O'Donell.
Delancy agreed; the two stepped into the opening. Immediately a great
stone was rolled to the mouth of the passage with a noise like thunder
which shut out all but a single ray of daylight.
"What is that!" exclaimed O'Donell.
"I cannot tell," replied Delancy "but never mind. I suppose it is only
some genius playing tricks."
"Well, it may be so," returned O'Donell and they proceeded on their way.
After travelling for a long time, as near as they could reckon about
two days, they perceived a silvery streak of light on the walls of the
passage, something like the light of the moon. In a short time they
came to the end of the passage, and, leaping out of the opening which
formed, they entered a new world.
They were at first so much bewildered by the different objects which
struck their senses that they almost fainted, but at length recovering
they had time to see everything around them. They were upon the top of
a rock which was more than a thousand fathoms high. All beneath them
was liquid mountains tossed to and fro with horrible confusion, roaring
and raging with a tremendous noise and crowned with waves of foam.
All above them was a mighty firmament, in one part covered with black
clouds from which darted huge and terrible sheets of lightning, in
another part an immense globe of light like silver was hanging in the
sky and several smaller globes which sparkled exceedingly surrounded it.
In a short time the tempest which was dreadful beyond description
ceased, the large black clouds cleared away, the silver globes
vanished, and another globe whose light was of a gold colour appeared.
It was far larger than the former and in a little time it became so
intensely bright that they could no longer gaze on it, so after looking
around them for some time they rose and pursued their journey.
They had travelled a long way, when they came to an immense forest,
the trees of which bore a large fruit of a deep purple colour of which
they tasted and found that it was fit for food. They journeyed in this
forest for three days and on the 3rd day they entered a valley or
rather a deep glen surrounded on each side by tremendous rocks, whose
tops were lost in the clouds. In this glen they continued for some
time and at last came in sight of a mountain which rose so high that
they could not see the summit though the sky was quite clear. At the
foot of the mountain, there flowed a river of pure water bordered by
trees which had flowers of a beautiful rose colour. Except these trees
nothing was to be seen but black forests and huge rocks rising out of
a wilderness which bore the terrible aspect of devastation and which
stretched as far as the eye could reach. In this desolate land no sound
was to be heard, not even cry of the eagle or the scream of the curlew,
but a silence, like the silence of the grave, reigned over all the face
of nature unbroken except by the murmur of the river as it slowly wound
its course through the desert.
After they had contemplated this scene for some time O'Donell
exclaimed, "Alexander, let us abide here. What need have we to travel
farther? let us make this our place of rest!"
"We will," replied Delancy "and this shall be our abode," added he
pointing to a cave at the foot of the mountain.
"It shall," returned O'Donell as they entered it.
In this country they remained for many long years and passed their time
in a manner which made them completely happy. Sometimes they would sit
upon a high rock and listen to the hoarse thunder rolling through the
sky and making the mountains to echo and the deserts to ring with its
awful voice. Sometimes they would watch the lightning darting across
black clouds and shivering huge fragments of rock in its terrible
passage. Sometimes they would witness the great glorious orb of gold
sink behind the far distant mountains which girded the horizon and then
watch the advance of grey twilight and the little stars coming forth in
beauty and the silver moon arising in her splendour till the cold dews
of night began to fall and then they would retire to their bed in the
cave with hearts full of joy and thankfulness.
One evening they were seated in this cave by a large blazing fire of
turf which cast its lurid light to the high arched roof and illuminated
the tall and stately pillars cut by the hand of nature out the stony
rock with a cheerful and red glare that appeared strange in this
desolate land, which no fires had ever before visited except those
fierce flames of death, which flash from the heavens when robed in
the dreadful majesty of thunder. They were seated in this cave then
listening to the howling night wind as it swept in mournful cadences
through the trees of the forest, which encircled the foot of the mount
and bordered the stream which flowed round it. They were quite silent
and their thoughts were occupied by those that were afar off and whom
it was their fate most likely never more to behold. O'Donell was
thinking of his noble master and his young Princes, of the thousands of
miles which intervened between him and them, and the sad silent tear
gushed forth as he ruminated on the happiness of those times: when his
master frowned, not when the gloom of care gave place to the smile of
friendship; when he would talk to him and laugh with him and be to him
not as a brother, no no, but as a mighty warrior, who relaxing from
his haughtiness would now and then converse with his high officers in
a strain of vivacity and playful humour not to be equalled. Next he
viewed him in his mind's eye at the head of his army. He heard in the
ears of his imagination the buzz of expectation of hope and supposition
which hummed round him as his penetrating eye with a still keenness of
expression was fixed on the distant ranks of the enemy, then he heard
his authoritative voice exclaim,
"Onward brave sons of freedom, onward to the battle," and lastly his
parting words to him, "In prosperity or in misery, in sorrow or in
joy, in populous cities or in desolate wildernesses my prayer shall
go with you,"
darted across his mind with such painful distinctness that he at length
gave way to his uncontrollable grief at the thought that he should
never behold his beloved and mighty commander more and burst into a
flood of tears.
"What is the matter, Henry?" exclaimed Delancy.
"O nothing, nothing," was the reply, and they were resuming their tacit
thinking, when a voice was heard outside the cavern which broke
strangely upon the desolate silence of that land which for thousands
of years had heard no sound save the howling of the wind through the
forest, the echoing of the thunder among mountains or the solitary
murmuring of the river if we except the presence of O'Donell and
Delancy.
"Listen!" cried Alexander, "listen! What is that?"
"It is the sound of a man's voice," replied Henry and then snatching up
a burning torch, he rushed to the mouth of the cave followed by Delancy.
When they had got there they saw the figure of a very old man, sitting
on the damp wet ground moaning and complaining bitterly. They went up
to him.
At their approach he rose and said, "Are you human or supernatural
beings?"
They assured him that they were human. He went on, "Then why have you
taken up your abode in this land of the grave?"
O'Donell answered that he would relate to him all the particulars, if
he would he would take shelter for the night with them. The old man
consented and when they were all assembled round the cheerful fire,
O'Donell fulfilled his promise and then requested the old man to tell
them how he came to be travelling there. He complied and began as
follows——
"I was the son of a respectable merchant in Moussoul. My father intended
to bring me up to his own trade but I was idle and did not like it.
One day as I was playing in the street a very old man came up to me
and asked me if I would go with him. I asked him where he was going.
He replied that if I would go with him he would show me very wonderful
things. This raised my curiosity and I consented. He immediately took
me by the hand and hurried me out of the city of Moussoul so quickly
that my breath was almost stopped and it seemed as if we glided along
in the air for I could hear no sound of our footsteps. We continued
on our course for a long time till we came to a glen surrounded by very
high mountains. How we passed over those mountains, I could never
tell. In the middle of the glen there was a small fountain of very
clear water. My conductor directed me to drink of it. This I did and
immediately I found myself in a palace, the glory of which far exceeds
any description which I can give: the tall stately pillars reaching
from heaven to earth were formed of the finest and purest diamonds, the
pavement sparkling with gold and precious stones and the mighty dome,
made solemn and awful by its stupendous magnitude, was of a single
emerald. In the midst of this grand and magnificent palace was a lamp
like the sun, the radiance of which made all the palace to flash and
glitter with an almost fearful grandeur, the ruby sent a stream forth
of crimson light, the topaz gold, the sapphire intensest purple, and
the dome poured a flood of deep clear splendour which overcame all
the other gaudy lights by its mild triumphant glory. In this palace
were thousands and tens of thousands of fairies and genii, some of whom
flitted lightly among the blazing lamps to the sound of unearthly music
which died and swelled in a strain of wild grandeur suited to the words
they sung—
in this fairy land of light
no mortal ere has been
and the dreadful grandeur of this sight
by them hath not been seen
'twould strike them shuddering to the earth
like the flash from a thunder cloud
it would quench their light and joyous mirth
and fit them for the shroud
the rising of our palaces
like visions of the deep
and the glory of their structure
no mortal voice can speak
the music of our songs
and our mighty trumpets' swell
and the sounding of our silver harps
no mortal tongue can tell
of us they know but little
save when the storm doth rise
and the mighty waves are tossing
against the arched skies
then oft they see us striding
|[7]|o'er the billows' snow white foam
or hear us speak in thunder
when we stand in grandeur lone
on the darkest of the mighty clouds
which veil the pearly moon
around us lightning flashing
night's blackness to illume
chorus the music of our songs
and our mighty trumpets' swell
and the sounding of our silver
harp no mortal tongue can tell.
When they had finished, there was a dead silence for about half an
hour and then the palace began slowly and gradually to vanish till it
disappeared entirely and I found myself in the glen surrounded by high
mountains, the fountain illuminated by the cold light of the moon
springing up in the middle of the valley, and standing close by was
the old man who had conducted me to this enchanted place. He turned
round and I could see that his countenance had an expression of strange
severity which I had not before observed. "Follow me," he said. I
obeyed and we began to ascend the mountain. It would be needless to
trouble you with a repetition of all my adventures. Suffice it to say
that after two months time, we arrived at a large temple. We entered
it. The interior as well as the outside had a very gloomy and ominous
aspect being entirely built of black marble. The old man suddenly
seized me and dragged me to an altar at the upper end of the temple,
then, forcing me down on my knees, he made me swear that I would be his
servant forever and this promise I faithfully kept notwithstanding the
dreadful scenes of magic of which every day of my life I was forced
to be a witness. One day he told me that he would discharge me from
the oath I had taken and commanded me to leave his service. I obeyed
and, after wandering about the world for many years, I one evening laid
myself down on a little bank by the roadside intending to pass the
night there. Suddenly I felt myself raised in the air by invisible
hands. In a short time I lost sight of the earth and continued on my
course through the clouds till I became insensible and when I recovered
from my swoon, I found myself lying outside this cave. What may be my
future destiny I know not——"
When the old man had finished his tale, O'Donell and Delancy thanked
him for the relation, adding at the same time that they had never heard
anything half so wonderful. Then as it was very late, they all retired
to rest. Next morning O'Donell awoke very early and, looking round the
cave, he perceived the bed of leaves on which the old man had lain to
be empty. He went out of the cave. The sky was covered with the rising
red fiery clouds except those in the east whose edges were tinged with
the bright rays of the morning sun, as they strove to hide its glory
with their dark veil of vapours, now all beauty and radiance by the
golden line of light which streaked their gloomy surface. Beneath this
storm-portending sky and far off to the westward rose two tremendous
rocks whose summits were enveloped with black clouds rolling one
above another with an awful magnificence well suited to the land of
wilderness and mountain which they canopied. Gliding along in the air
between these two rocks was a chariot of light and in the chariot sat
a figure, the expression of whose countenance was that of the old man
armed with the majesty and might of a spirit. O'Donell stood at the
mouth of the cave watching it till it vanished and then calling Delancy
he related the circumstance to him.
|[8]|
Some years after this, Alexander went out one morning in search of
the fruit on which they subsisted. Noon came and he had not returned,
evening and still no tidings of him. O'Donell began to be alarmed and
set out in search of him but could nowhere find him. One whole day he
spent in wandering about the rocks and mountains and in the evening he
came back to his cave weary and faint with hunger and thirst. Days,
weeks, months passed away and no Delancy appeared. O'Donell might now be
said to be truly miserable. He would sit on a rock for hours together
and cry out "Alexander, Alexander," but receive no answer, except the
distant echoing of his voice among the rocks. Sometimes he fancied it
was another person answering him and he would listen earnestly till it
died away. Then sinking into utter despair again, he would sit till
the dews of night began to fall, when he would retire to his cave to
pass the night in unquiet broken slumbers or in thinking of his beloved
commander, whom he could never see more. In one of these dreadful
intervals, he took up a small parcel and opening it he saw lying before
him two locks of soft curly hair shining like burnished gold. He gazed
on them for a little and thought of the words of those who gave them
to him—"Take this then, that you may remember us when you dwell with
only the wild beast of the desert and the great eagle of the mountain."
He burst into a flood of tears, he wrung his hands in sorrow, and in the
anguish of the moment he wished that he could once more see them and
the mighty Warrior King their father if it cost him his life. Just at
that instant, a loud clap of thunder shook the roof of the cave, a
sound like the rushing of the wind was heard and a mighty genius stood
before him.
"I know thy wish," cried he with a loud and terrible voice "and I will
grant it. In two months' time thou returnest to the castle whence thou
camest hither and surrenderest thyself into my power."
O'Donell promised that he would and instantly he found himself at
the door of the old castle and in the land of his birth. He pursued
his journey for three days and on the third day, he arrived at the
mountain which overlooked the city. It was a beautiful evening in
the month of September and the full moon was shedding her tranquil
light on all the face of nature. The city was lying in its splendour
and magnificence surrounded by the broad stream of the Guadima, the
palace was majestically towering in the midst of it and all its pillars
and battlements seemed in the calm light of the moon as if they were
transformed into silver by the touch of a fairy's wand. O'Donell stayed
not long to contemplate this beautiful scene but, descending the
mountain, he soon crossed the fertile plain which led to the city and
entering the gates he quickly arrived at the palace. Without speaking
to anyone he entered the inner court of the palace by a secret way
with which he was acquainted and then going up a flight of steps and
crossing a long gallery he arrived at the King's private apartment.
The door was half open. He looked and beheld two very handsome young men
sitting together and reading. He instantly recognized them and was
going to step forward, when the door opened and the Great Duke entered.
O'Donell could contain himself no longer but, rushing in, he threw
himself at the feet of his Grace.
"O'Donell, is this you?" exclaimed the Duke.
"It is, my most noble master," answered O'Donell, almost choking with
joy. The young princes instantly embraced him while he almost smothered
them with |[9]|
caresses. After a while they became tranquil, and then
O'Donell at the request of the Duke related all his adventures since
he parted with them not omitting the condition on which he was now in
the palace. When he had ended, a loud voice was heard saying that he
was free from his promise and might spend the rest of his days in his
native city.
Some time after this, as O'Donell was walking in the streets, he met a
gentleman who he thought he had seen before but could not recollect
where or under what circumstances. After a little conversation, he
discovered that he was Alexander Delancy, that he was now a rich
merchant in the city of Paris and high in favour with the emperor
Napoleon. As may be supposed, they both were equally delighted at the
discovery. They ever after lived happily in their separate cities and
so ends my little tale.
C Bronte August the 17
1829
Chap I Character of O'Donell—cause of his travels
Chap II Set out—meeting Delancy—coming to the old castle—entering the
new world—description
Chap III Coming to the cave—manner of life—arrival of the old man
Chap IV Old man's tale
Chap V Departure of the old man—disappearance of Delancy—transportation
of O'Donell—his arrival at the city—his arrival at the palace—his
interview with his chief—he finds Delancy—end
