LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1979, 28 June 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

PROFESSOR POIRIER’S DREAM. Last Sunday afternoon, my maid-servant having gone out to vespers, and the heat of the day toward three o’clock being overpowering, I fell asleap reading “Darwin.” My window opened upon the Charter House garden; the rustling of the leaves came vaguely to my ears ; a light breath of air caressed my cheeks. Suddenly, in a in a dream, I saw myself transported to the banks of the Ganges, not far from Benares.

I was sitting in the shade of a great tamarind tree; the sacred river rolled before me like a lake, white with light, and upon its banks an Immense forest of palms, bansnas, and other exotic plants spread itself, whose lances, parasols, and fans mingled together as far as the eye could reach.

And while I contemplated in wonderment this uplendid landscape, a slight noise in the leaves over head drew my attention. I looked up and saw—Guess what I saw? I saw myself, Nicholas Poirier, Professor of Philosophy at the College of Saint Snzanne, in the form of a chimpanzee, hanging by one of my paws to the lower branch of the tamarind tree, and making ( faces at myself.

5 Judge of my astonishment. 1 _ Comprehending directly that my body had i dissevered itself from my soul, and was i capering about in the lonely forest, I was in ■ consternation. 1 *lf it wanders off into the depths of the wood,’ I said to myself, ‘it will never return, and I shall remain here alone, with my metaphysics end nothing else to console me.’ The thought made me shudder. I wanted to summon my Not-Me to resume immediately its accustomed place, but the fear of i frightening it modified my ideas, and with a ' conciliatory tone I said to it :■ ‘Come, come, my dear Nicholas, consider. Does that posture suit the dignity of your character T Ought a professor of philosophy to suspend himself from the branch c! a tree? Is it propriety ? Bat the chimpanzee, after replying to me by two or three grimaoes and scratching his hams, said to me—- * Ah! now, do you take me for a fool, proud and stupid spirit ? I descend from my tree to seat myself again in your old arm chair, and wear ont my eyes in deciphering silly stories. Ah, you know me little if you reckon on that. No, no, lam very well on my tree, and here I stay—until the fancy takes me to get down and munch a few almonds or treat myself to a coooannt. That’s what suits me. You do what you like, discuss, dream, babble; that is your affair. I have had enough of it.’ At this impertinent answer I had a mind to be angry, but far the second time reflecting that this would not be a good way to bring back the Not-Me, I resolved to convince it by the force of logic, and in softened accents cried—- * I comprehend, my dear Nicholas, the wish for liberty which has taken possession of yon ; ths desire to stretch yourself was natural enough after being thirty years at rest. But this once is enough. You should listen to reason. Come, my friend, come.’ ‘Hear me,’ interrupted the chimpanzee. ‘For a long time I have known what you keep in store for me; that you di?tinguished between yourself and me, who are your own body and yonr own life ; that ym propose to survive mo, after having made me work and sweat to satisfy your vanity. You have told me so a hundred times, while we were together under the same envelops. You have said to me—“ Your body shall die ; you shall turn to dust, after being buried ceremoniously ; but I, spirit, I am of another essence than yonra ; my essence is one and indivisible ; it is immortal, cutside of space and time ; time cannot affect it. You were made to bo eaten by worms.” Is it true ? Did you say so?’ ' I could not deny it, my body having lived with me fifty years in the moat intimate confidence, and, besides, I had thought the thing professionally in the lecture-room, according to the programme of the university. I could not, therefore, dispute the fact, and the chimpanzee, seeing me embarrassed, recommenced making faces at me, giving forth peals of laughter with an air of triumph. I lost patience. ‘ Are yon coming down directly ? ’ I cried. ‘.I am tired of all this talk. It is I who command, I the spirit; and matter ought to obey.’ { You have told me so a hundred times,’ said the ape, sneeringly, ‘ and I was stupid enough to believe you. But times are changed. Stay in your arm-chair. I am going to skip away, swing ou the vines, and try to find some pretty monkey to beautify my existence.’ At this threat a shudder of horror seized me, and, softening my voice, I said : ‘ Well, then, yes ! I have said what has been repeated for eix thousand years. It is clear that the body tarns to dust, but that is not my fault; It is a fact, and every reasonable animal must submit bo positive material facts. What is the use of struggling ? That is evident to the senses. But the spirit. Invisible, impalpable, is necessarily immortal.’

On hearing this toy chimpanzea burst into roars of laughter, chattering his teeth and repeating: 4 The spirit Is Immortal I immortal! immortal! Ha! ha! that’s a good joke! Immortal !’

He slapped his thighs and went into such contortions that I was afraid of seeing him fall from the tree and begin to cry out—

4 Hook yourself on, animal! b old yourself faster. With your extravagances, you will end by breaking your neck, and I—l here, without a body, what will become of me ? How shall I get np before my scholars and make them recognise me ?’ These reasons appeared to affeot the ape, for he was interested in his preservation as much as I. Then, having calmed himself, he continued: 4 Ton are immortal, and I must disappear! Tet we have but one 4 1.’ For fifty years we have been working together for the development of this 4 1,* both of us. I have suffered, as well as yon, the privations which were needed for your greatness. Haven’t we had to pass day and night digging into Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Sancrit, withont speaking of living languages, to get your chair of philosophy? And now I must perish, while you will survive me in an existence of unalterable satisfaction and felicity for ever and ever ? Come, now, that is contrary to common sense. Where would be the eternal justice of which you are always talking P’ My spirit having no answer to make, cried? 4 Shut up.’ But, directly, feeling the necessity of wheedling this subtle animal by some sort of reasoning, I added.

4 Your physical sufferings were nothing in comparison with my intellectual and moral sufferings. Besides, they were compensated by a host of pleasures suited to your nature. I never refused you anything. As soon as my means permitted I put on you a fine brown suit of clothes, patent leather shoes, according to the taste you have always shown ; waiatcoasts, fashionable cravats; the latest trousers were not lacking to you, for your vanity was as great as mine. You had to have white linen, ornaments to your watch-chain, things which I could have done withont, but for you. And your love of good living—l never saw the like. Haven’t we shouted and feasted at the Prado, at the Ohaumiere ? How many sausages with sac-rkraut, slices of ham, and crawfish haven’t yon swallowed at the Straabnrg Brewery, La Harpe street? Have I ever reproached you in the least ? Even when my pockets were empty and I had to go on tick, did I hesitate ? I do not speak of the innumerable pints of beer which have gone down your throat; they would make thousands of kegs If you would reckon them up. And the cigars, and the music, and the theatre, and all the rest.’

My chimpanzee half shut his eyes Impatiently. 4 Good ! ’ said he. 4 you never refused anything to yourself either, and a thousand timea you have deprived me of the greatest necessaries in order to adorn your library with some new book and satisfy your vain curiosity. In the early days, especially, I had to pass winters without fire; my fingers numb with cold and my stomach empty. 4 4 1 suffered from it more than you. Tour privations enfeebled me, and the fear of losing you gave me a fever.’ 4 Ah ! ’ cried the rascally ape, 4 to be so afraid yon must not have been quite sure of surviving me. Say what you will, we shall both end together; you will not survive me a second, When I sleep we both lose the sense of the 4 1; 4 when I begin to wake np, you dream, yon babble; when I open my eyes, yon revive; when lam sick and you suspect the slightest dangerous injury in me, you do not know what saint to pray to. Go 1 your case is clear as mine ; soothe yourself with your darling illusions, we shall none the less depart arm In arm.' He stopped, and seeing me reduced to silence, the animal went on with redoubled insolence :

‘ Formerly, in the time of the Egyptians, I was embalmed after my death, and remained hundreds of years in the condition of a mummy. It was a just tribute rendered to [my services; the honour of being enveloped in consecrated bandages and stuffed wi‘h rare perfumes consoled me a little for my loss of life. But at present yon disdain me, you think to elevate yourself by despising your body. For all that is only a comedy on your part. Do yon ren ember our rheumatism in the stomach, when Dr. Boniface gave us both up ? I could hardly help laughing, in spite of the sadness of the moment, at your looks when yon received the last consolations of this terreatrial world; the big Latin words served out to you had not the appearance of reassuring you much as your final lot, and for the sake of keeping me only two or three years more would not have hesitated a minute to sacrifice your eternal life. Coma, own up; be honest to yourself. Is it true Y

I was confounded at his impudence ; then with s movement of indignation and aa a last resource, striking my breast, I cried— ‘ I think ; therefore I am. ’

And the chimpanzee, imitating my gesture' and caressing his stomach, jeeringly cried—- ‘ I digest; therefore I am, ’ He dared even to add ironically—- ‘ One can doubt everything except that one digests ; for to donbt that one mast digest, doubt bring s phasa of good digestion. ’ So much audacity deserved chastisement. X rose to bring the rascal to his- senses, when' I perceived in the deep shadow of the leaves a moving object. Looking closer, I recognised with horror the flat head of one of those enormous serpents of the Ganges marshes, with whom apes are a favourite dainty. His tail loosed itself from the tip of the tamarind tree, and his scaly belly glided undulatingly in silence down to the lower branches. A cry of horror burst from my very bowels— ‘ Look out!’ And the chimpanzee, perceiving from the corner of his eye the fearful reptile, made a prodigious leap. _lt was too late; the python had followed him like a dart, and I heard his bones cracking, when my maid servant returning from vespers, opened the door, asking— ‘ Did you call, sir?’ What luck ! I seemed to feel all the hairs on my body stand on end, and I stammered —‘Nothing, Jeannette, nothing; I only sneezed. ’ See for all that, the emotions to which ft man is exposed in reading “ Darwin. ”