The Sleeper Awakes<br />A Revised Edition of When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells (debian ebook reader TXT) đ
- Author: H. G. Wells
Book online «The Sleeper Awakes<br />A Revised Edition of When the Sleeper Wakes by H. G. Wells (debian ebook reader TXT) đ». Author H. G. Wells
CHAPTER XVIII. â GRAHAM REMEMBERS
She came upon him at last in a little gallery that ran from the Wind-Vane Offices toward his state apartments. The gallery was long and narrow, with a series of recesses, each with an arched fenestration that looked upon a court of palms. He came upon her suddenly in one of these recesses. She was seated. She turned her head at the sound of his footsteps and started at the sight of him. Every touch of colour vanished from her face. She rose instantly, made a step toward him as if to address him, and hesitated. He stopped and stood still, expectant. Then he perceived that a nervous tumult silenced her, perceived, too, that she must have sought speech with him to be waiting for him in this place.
He felt a regal impulse to assist her. âI have wanted to see you,â he said. âA few days ago you wanted to tell me somethingâyou wanted to tell me of the people. What was it you had to tell me?â
She looked at him with troubled eyes.
âYou said the people were unhappy?â
For a moment she was silent still.
âIt must have seemed strange to you,â she said abruptly.
âIt did. And yetââ
âIt was an impulse.â
âWell?â
âThat is all.â
She looked at him with a face of hesitation. She spoke with an effort. âYou forget,â she said, drawing a deep breath.
âWhat?â
âThe peopleââ
âDo you meanâ?â
âYou forget the people.â
He looked interrogative.
âYes. I know you are surprised. For you do not understand what you are. You do not know the things that are happening.â
âWell?â
âYou do not understand.â
âNot clearly, perhaps. Butâtell me.â
She turned to him with sudden resolution. âIt is so hard to explain. I have meant to, I have wanted to. And nowâI cannot. I am not ready with words. But about youâthere is something. It is wonder. Your sleepâyour awakening. These things are miracles. To me at leastâand to all the common people. You who lived and suffered and died, you who were a common citizen, wake again, live again, to find yourself Master almost of the earth.â
âMaster of the earth,â he said. âSo they tell me. But try and imagine how little I know of it.â
âCitiesâTrustsâthe Labour Departmentââ
âPrincipalities, powers, dominionsâthe power and the glory. Yes, I have heard them shout. I know. I am Master. King, if you wish. With Ostrog, the Bossââ
He paused.
She turned upon him and surveyed his face with a curious scrutiny. âWell?â
He smiled. âTo take the responsibility.â
âThat is what we have begun to fear.â For a moment she said no more. âNo,â she said slowly. âYou will take the responsibility. You will take the responsibility. The people look to you.â
She spoke softly. âListen! For at least half the years of your sleepâin every generationâmultitudes of people, in every generation greater multitudes of people, have prayed that you might awakeâprayed.â
Graham moved to speak and did not.
She hesitated, and a faint colour crept back to her cheek. âDo you know that you have been to myriadsâKing Arthur, Barbarossaâthe King who would come in his own good time and put the world right for them?â
âI suppose the imagination of the peopleââ
âHave you not heard our proverb, âWhen the Sleeper wakesâ? While you lay insensible and motionless thereâthousands came. Thousands. Every first of the month you lay in state with a white robe upon you and the people filed by you. When I was a little girl I saw you like that, with your face white and calm.â
She turned her face from him and looked steadfastly at the painted wall before her. Her voice fell. âWhen I was a little girl I used to look at your face.... It seemed to me fixed and waiting, like the patience of God.â
âThat is what we thought of you,â she said. âThat is how you seemed to us.â
She turned shining eyes to him, her voice was clear and strong. âIn the city, in the earth, a myriad myriad men and women are waiting to see what you will do, full of strange incredible expectations.â
âYes?â
âOstrogâno oneâcan take that responsibility.â
Graham looked at her in surprise, at her face lit with emotion. She seemed at first to have spoken with an effort, and to have fired herself by speaking.
âDo you think,â she said, âthat you who have lived that little life so far away in the past, you who have fallen into and risen out of this miracle of sleepâdo you think that the wonder and reverence and hope of half the world has gathered about you only that you may live another little life?... That you may shift the responsibility to any other man?â
âI know how great this kingship of mine is,â he said haltingly. âI know how great it seems. But is it real? It is incredibleâdreamlike. Is it real, or is it only a great delusion?â
âIt is real,â she said; âif you dare.â
âAfter all, like all kingship, my kingship is Belief. It is an illusion in the minds of men.â
âIf you dare!â she said.
âButââ
âCountless men,â she said, âand while it is in their mindsâthey will obey.â
âBut I know nothing. That is what I had in mind. I know nothing. And these othersâthe Councillors, Ostrog. They are wiser, cooler, they know so much, every detail. And, indeed, what are these miseries
Comments (0)