Short Fiction Selma Lagerlöf (best book club books of all time .txt) 📖

the need amongst them was so great that it could not become any greater. Next, if they would swear to leave it as an inheritance for their descendants, if they did not require it themselves. And, lastly, she asked every man singly to swear that he would not try to take possession of the treasure for his own use without having first asked the consent of all his fellow-fishermen.

“ ‘If they were willing to swear? That they all were. And they blessed the Empress and cried from gratitude. And she cried and told them that she knew that what they needed was a support that would never fail them, a treasure that could never be exhausted, and a happiness that was unattainable, but that she could not give them. She had never been so powerless as here on the dunes.

“ ‘My fellow-citizens, without her knowing it, solely by force of the royal wisdom with which this great Queen was endowed, the power was given her to attain far more than she had intended, and it is therefore one can say that to this day she reigns over West Flanders.

“ ‘What a happiness, is it not, to hear of all the blessings which have been spread over West Flanders by the Empress’s gift! The people there have now something to depend upon which they needed so badly, and which we all need. However bad things may be, there is never any despair.

“ ‘They have told me at the dunes what the Empress’s money-chest is like. They say it is like the holy shrine of Saint Ursula at Bruges, only more beautiful. It is a copy of the cathedral at Vienna, and it is of pure gold; but on the sides the whole history of the Empress is depicted in the whitest alabaster. On the small side-towers are the four diamonds which the Empress took from the crown of the Sultan of Turkey, and in the gable are her initials inlaid with rubies. But when I ask them whether they have seen the money-chest, they reply that shipwrecked sailors when in peril always see it swimming before them on the waves as a sign that they shall not be in despair for their wives and children, should they be compelled to leave them. But they are the only ones who have seen the treasure, otherwise no one has been near enough to count it. And you know, citizens, that the Empress never told anyone how great it was. But if any of you doubt how much use it has been and is, then I will ask you to go to the dunes and see for yourself. There has been digging and building ever since that time, and the sea now lies cowed by bulwarks and dams, and no longer does harm. And there are green meadows inside the dunes, and there are flourishing towns and watering-places near the shore. But for every lighthouse that has been built, for every harbour that has been deepened, for every ship of which the keel has been laid, for every dam that has been raised, they have always thought: “If our own money should not be sufficient, we shall receive help from our Gracious Empress Maria Theresa.” But this has been but a spur to them: their own money has always sufficed.

“ ‘You know, also, that the Empress did not say where the treasure was. Was not this well considered, citizens? There is one who has it in his keeping, but only, when all are agreed upon dividing it, will he who keeps the treasure come forward and reveal where it is. Therefore one is certain that neither now nor in the future will it be unfairly divided. It is the same for all. Everyone knows that the Empress thinks as much of him as of his neighbour. There can be no strife or envy amongst the people of the dunes as there is amongst other men, for they all share alike in the treasure.’ ”

The Bishop interrupted Father Verneau.

“That is enough,” he said. “How did you continue?”

“I said,” continued the monk, “that it was very bad the good Empress had not also come to Charleroi. I pitied them because they did not own her money-chest. Considering the great things they had to accomplish, considering the sea which they had to tame, the quicksands which they had to bind, considering all this, I said to them surely there was nothing they needed so much.”

“And then?” asked the Bishop.

“One or two cabbages, your Eminence, a little hissing; but then I was already out of the pulpit. That was all.”

“They had understood that you had spoken to them about the providence of God?”

The monk bowed.

“They had understood that you would show them that the power which they deride because they do not see it must be kept hidden? that it will be abused immediately it assumes a visible form? I congratulate you, Father Verneau.”

The monk retired towards the door, bowing. The Bishop followed him, beaming benevolently.

“But the money-chest⁠—do they still believe in it at the dunes?”

“As much as ever, Monseigneur.”

“And the treasure⁠—has there ever been a treasure?”

“Monseigneur, I have sworn.”

“But for me,” said the Bishop.

“It is the priest at Blankenberghe, who has it in his keeping. He allowed me to see it. It is an old wooden chest with iron mountings.”

“And?”

“And at the bottom lie twenty bright Maria Theresa gold pieces.”

The Bishop smiled, but became grave at once.

“Is it right to compare such a wooden chest with God’s providence?”

“All comparisons are incomplete, Monseigneur; all human thoughts are vain.”

Father Verneau bowed once again, and quietly withdrew from the audience-room.

The Peace of God

Once upon a time there was an old farmhouse. It was Christmas-eve, the sky was heavy with snow, and the north wind was biting. It was just that time in the afternoon when everybody was busy finishing their work before they went to the bathhouse to have their Christmas bath. There they had made such a fire that the