Phantastes, A Faerie Romance

"I am a part of the part, which at first was the whole."

GOETHE.--Mephistopheles in Faust.

My spirits rose as I went deeper; into the forest; but I could not

regain my former elasticity of mind. I found cheerfulness to be like

life itself--not to be created by any argument. Afterwards I learned,

that the best way to manage some kinds of pain fill thoughts, is to dare

them to do their worst; to let them lie and gnaw at your heart till they

are tired; and you find you still have a residue of life they cannot

kill. So, better and worse, I went on, till I came to a little clearing

in the forest. In the middle of this clearing stood a long, low hut,

built with one end against a single tall cypress, which rose like a

spire to the building.

A vague misgiving crossed my mind when I saw it;

but I must needs go closer, and look through a little half-open door,

near the opposite end from the cypress. Window I saw none. On peeping

in, and looking towards the further end, I saw a lamp burning, with

a dim, reddish flame, and the head of a woman, bent downwards, as if

reading by its light. I could see nothing more for a few moments. At

length, as my eyes got used to the dimness of the place, I saw that the

part of the rude building near me was used for household purposes;

for several rough utensils lay here and there, and a bed stood in the

corner.

An irresistible attraction caused me to enter. The woman never raised

her face, the upper part of which alone I could see distinctly; but, as

soon as I stepped within the threshold, she began to read aloud, in a

low and not altogether unpleasing voice, from an ancient little volume

which she held open with one hand on the table upon which stood the

lamp. What she read was something like this:

"So, then, as darkness had no beginning, neither will it ever have

an end. So, then, is it eternal. The negation of aught else, is its

affirmation. Where the light cannot come, there abideth the darkness.

The light doth but hollow a mine out of the infinite extension of the

darkness. And ever upon the steps of the light treadeth the darkness;

yea, springeth in fountains and wells amidst it, from the secret

channels of its mighty sea. Truly, man is but a passing flame, moving

unquietly amid the surrounding rest of night; without which he yet could

not be, and whereof he is in part compounded."