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   THE TEMPTATION
   OF
   ST. ANTONY

   OR,

   _A REVELATION OF THE SOUL_

   BY
   GUSTAVE FLAUBERT

   _VOLUME VII._


   SIMON P. MAGEE
   PUBLISHER
   CHICAGO, ILL.




   COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY
   M. WALTER DUNNE

   _Entered at Stationers' Hall, London_




   CONTENTS

   THE TEMPTATION OF ST. ANTONY


   CHAPTER I.                                                       PAGE

   A HOLY SAINT                                                        1

   CHAPTER II.

   THE TEMPTATION OF LOVE AND POWER                                   16

   CHAPTER III.

   THE DISCIPLE, HILARION                                             40

   CHAPTER IV.

   THE FIERY TRIAL                                                    48

   CHAPTER V.

   ALL GODS, ALL RELIGIONS                                            99

   CHAPTER VI.

   THE MYSTERY OF SPACE                                              143

   CHAPTER VII.

   THE CHIMERA AND THE SPHINX                                        151




   ILLUSTRATIONS


   TEMPTATION OF SAINT ANTONY

                                                             FACING PAGE

   "DO NOT RESIST, I AM OMNIPOTENT!" (See page 157)        _Frontispiece_

   HE LETS GO THE TORCH IN ORDER TO EMBRACE THE HEAP                  26




The Temptation _of_ Saint Antony


[Illustration]




CHAPTER I.

A HOLY SAINT.


It is in the Thebaid, on the heights of a mountain, where a platform,
shaped like a crescent, is surrounded by huge stones.

The Hermit's cell occupies the background. It is built of mud and reeds,
flat-roofed and doorless. Inside are seen a pitcher and a loaf of black
bread; in the centre, on a wooden support, a large book; on the ground,
here and there, bits of rush-work, a mat or two, a basket and a knife.

Some ten paces or so from the cell a tall cross is planted in the
ground; and, at the other end of the platform, a gnarled old palm-tree
leans over the abyss, for the side of the mountain is scarped; and at
the bottom of the cliff the Nile swells, as it were, into a lake.

To right and left, the view is bounded by the enclosing rocks; but, on
the side of the desert, immense undulations of a yellowish ash-colour
rise, one above and one beyond the other, like the lines of a sea-coast;
while, far off, beyond the sands, the mountains of the Libyan range form
a wall of chalk-like whiteness faintly shaded with violet haze. In
front, the sun is going down. Towards the north, the sky has a
pearl-grey tint; while, at the zenith, purple clouds, like the tufts of
a gigantic mane, stretch over the blue vault. These purple streaks grow
browner; the patches of blue assume the paleness of mother-of-pearl. The
bushes, the pebbles, the earth, now wear the hard colour of bronze, and
through space floats a golden dust so fine that it is scarcely
distinguishable from the vibrations of light.

Saint Antony, who has a long beard, unshorn locks, and a tunic of
goatskin, is seated, cross-legged, engaged in making mats. No sooner has
the sun disappeared than he heaves a deep sigh, and gazing towards the
horizon:

"Another day! Another day gone! I was not so miserable in former times
as I am now! Before the night was over, I used to begin my prayers; then
I would go down to the river to fetch water, and would reascend the
rough mountain pathway, singing a hymn, with the water-bottle on my
shoulder. After that, I used to amuse myself by arranging everything in
my cell. I used to take up my tools, and examine the mats, to see
whether they were evenly cut, and the baskets, to see whether they were
light; for it seemed to me then that even my most trifling acts were
duties which I performed with ease. At regulated hours I left off my
work and prayed, with my two arms extended. I felt as if a fountain of
mercy were flowing from Heaven above into my heart. But now it is dried
up. Why is this?..."

He proceeds slowly into the rocky enclosure.

"When I left home, everyone found fault with me. My mother sank into a
dying state; my sister, from a distance, made signs to me to come back;
and the other one wept, Ammonaria, that child whom I used to meet every
evening, beside the cistern, as she was leading away her cattle. She ran
after me. The rings on her feet glittered in the dust, and her tunic,
open at the hips, fluttered in the wind. The old ascetic who hurried me
from the spot addressed her, as we fled, in loud and menacing tones.
Then our two camels kept galloping continuously, till at length every
familiar object had vanished from my sight.

"At first, I selected for my abode the tomb of one of the Pharaohs. But
some enchantment surrounds those subterranean palaces, amid whose gloom
the air is stifled with the decayed odour of aromatics. From the depths
of the sarcophagi I heard a mournful voice arise, that called me by
name--or rather, as it seemed to me, all the fearful pictures on the
walls started into hideous life. Then I fled to the borders of the Red
Sea into a citadel in ruins. There I had for companions the scorpions
that crawled amongst the stones, and, overhead, the eagles who were
continually whirling across the azure sky. At night, I was torn by
talons, bitten by beaks, or brushed with light wings; and horrible
demons, yelling in my ears, hurled me to the earth. At last, the drivers
of a caravan, which was journeying towards Alexandria, rescued me, and
carried me along with them.

"After this, I became a pupil of the venerable Didymus. Though he was
blind, no one equalled him in knowledge of the Scriptures. When our
lesson was ended, he used to take my arm, and, with my aid, ascend the
Panium, from whose summit could