DEEAMIAND. 315 



and which I had rejected from my thoughts and my heart as 

 the follies and visions of a diseased brain j I saw them 

 realized, and considered ordinary and common ; no one was 

 astonished at them, and I not more than others. At my 

 call, lions and tigers came and rubbed themselves against me, 

 and offered to bear me on their backs ; but what need had 

 I of their assistance, I who could fly like an eagle myself! 



There I found my Magdeleine, Magdeleine who loved me, 

 and made it clear to me that she had never been unfaithful. 

 Oh, unspeakable happiness ! I do not know what she said to 

 me, nor what arguments she made use of; all I know is, that 

 I entirely believed her. 



And M. Muller too ; how he shook my hand ; how delighted 

 he was with our happiness. And my father, voj father for 

 whom I had wept so bitterly, he was not dead, he had only 

 gone to wait for me in this blessed country, wherein all I had 

 ever loved were assembled ; he still wore his smiling, cheerful, 

 open countenance, and from his fingers still poured forth 

 floods of harmony. 



It appeared to me that till that time my life had been 

 nothing but a dream and a nightmare ; or that after difficult 

 proofs and an initiation, the phantoms which had terrified 

 me were all dispersed, 



I was rich, and I lavished upon Magdeleine everything that 

 woman, loves, everything that we love so dearly to give her. 

 Upon what. magnificent jewellery, upop. what beautiful stuffs, 

 upon what carpets, and upon what flowers she walked ! What 

 pearls were entwined in the manes of the horses which dragged 

 her carriage! Oh! how beautiful she was! How was she 

 adorned with all these riches, and how was I adorned by her ! 

 Precious stones and diamonds surrounded her, and sparkled 

 beneath her feet; but neither diamonds nor precious stones 

 were deemed worthy of glittering upon her. I gave her stars 

 to place in her hair; Mars, that red star; and Venus, that 

 blue star which I had so long seen shining in the heavens, 

 were not, as they are called elsewhere, large planets ; no, they 

 were like flowers of fire, which became her delightfully. 



Then, as I examined her more closely, I discovered that 

 she was at the same time all the women I have loved in the 

 course of my life. Then our looks were fixed upon each 



