Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-01-04
A MODERN REVELATION.


AS Travelled across an African plain the
sun shone down hotly. Then I drew my
horse up under mimosa tree and took the
saddle from him and left him to feed among
the parched bushes. And all to right and to
left stretched the brown EARTH And sat
down under the tree because the heat beat
fercely and all along the horizon the air
throbbed. And after awhile heavy drowsi-
ness came over me and laid my head down
against my saddle and I fell asleep. And in
my sleep had curious dream.
thought stood on the border Of great
desert and the sand blew about every
where. And thought I saw two great fig
ures, like beasts of burden of the desert, and
one lay upon the sand with its neck stretched
out and one stood by it, and 1 looked
curiously at the one that lay upon the ground,
for it had a great burden on its back and
the sand was thick about it, so that it seemed
to have piled over it for centuries.
And l looked very curiously at it. And
there stood one beside me watching And
said to him, 'sWhat is this huge creature
who lies here on the sand?"
And he said, ''This is woman; she that
bears men in her body"
And l said, "Why does she lie here motion
less, with the sand piled round here"
And he answered, s'Listen, will tell you.
Ages and ages long she has lain here, and the
wind has blown over her The Oldest, Oldest
man living has never seen her move; the
oldest, oldest book records that she lay here
then, as she lies here now, with the sand
about her. But listen! Older than the Oldest
book, older than the Oldest recorded memory
of man, on the Rocks of Language, on the
the hard baked clay of Ancient Customs, now
crumbling to decay, are found the marks of
her footsteps Side by side with his who
stands beside her you may trace them; and
you know that she who now lies there once
wandered free over the rocks with him.
And I said, "Why does she lie there nowY'
And he said, 81 take it, ages ago the Age
of Dominion OF Muscular Force found her,
and when she stopped low to give suck to her
young, and her back was bowed, he put his
burden of subsection on to it, and tied it ON
with broad band of Inevitable Necessity.
Then she looked at the earth and the sky,
and knew there was no hope for her; and she
lay down on the sand with the burden she
could not loosen. Ever since she has lain
have gone, but the band of Inevitable Neces-
sity has not been cut"
And I looked and saw in her eyes the terri
BILE patience of the centuries; the ground was
wet with her tears, and her nostrils blew up
the sand.
And said, elias she ever tried to move?'
And he said, sometimes limb she quiv-
cred. She is wise; she knows she cannot rise
with the burden on herr
And said, ''Why does not he who stands
by her leave her and 60 on?"
And he said, ''He cannot. Lookl"
And I saw a broad band passing along the
ground from one to the other, and it bound
them both together
He said, ''While she lies there he must stand
and look across the desert'
And said, ''Does he know why he cannot
move?"
And he said, ''No."
And heard a sound of something crack
ing, and looked, and I saw the band that
bound the burden broken asunder, and the
burden rolled on to the ground.
And said, ''What is this?"
And he said, ''The Age of Muscular Force
is dead. The Age of Nervous Force has
killed him with the knife he holds in his
hand, and silently and invisibly he has crept
up to the woman, and with that knife of
Mechanical Invention he has cut the band
that bound the burden to her back. The In
evitable Necessity is broken. She might rise
now"
And saw that she still lay motionless on
the sand, with her eyes open and her
neck stretched out. And she seemed to look
for something on the far off border of the
desert that never came. And wondered if
she were awake or asleep. And as I looked
her body quivered, and light came into her
eyes, like when sunbeam breaks into q dark
room.
said, "What is it!"
He whispered, "Hushl the thought has
come to her, Might I not riseg"
And I looked. And she raised her head
from the sand, and I saw the dent where her
neck had lain SO long. And she looked at the
earth and at the sky, and at him who stood
by her; but he looked out across the desert (.
And saw her body CULVER; and she pressed
her front knees to the earth, and veins stood
out; and cried, ''She is going to rise!"
But only her sides heaved; she lay still
where she was.
But her head she held up; she did not lay it
down again. And he beside me said, ''She is
very weak. See, her legs have been crushed
under her SO long!"
And I saw the creature struggle, and the
drops stood out.
And 1 said, 'sSurely he who stands beside
her will help herr"
And he beside me answered, 'He cannot
help her. She must help herself. Let her
struggle until she is strong"
And I cried, cat least he will not hinder
herl See, he moves farther from her, and
tightens the cord between them, and he
drags her down"
And he answered, "He does not under
stand. When she moves she draws the band
that binds them, and hurts him, and he
moves farther from her. The day will come
when he will understand and will know
what she is doing. Let her once stagger on
to her knees. In that day he will stand close
to her, and look into her eyes with sym
pathy."
And she stretched her neck md the drops
fell from her.
The creature rose an inch from. the ground
and sank back.
And I cried, sob, she is too weak She
cannot walk! Tho long years have taken
all her strength from her! Can she never
mover
And he answered me, ''See the light in her
eyesl"
And slowly the creature staggered on to its
knees
And awoke; and all to the east and to the
west stretched the barren earth, with the dry
bushes on it. The ants ran up and down in
the red sand and the heat beat fiercely.
looked up through tie thin branches Of the
tree at the blue sky overhead. | stretched
myself, and l unused over the dream | ha6
had, ] fell asleep again, and in the fierce heat
had another dream
saw desert, and + saw woman coming
out of it. And she came to the bank of a
dark river; and the bank was steep and high
And on it an old man met her, who had q
long white beard, and stick that was curled
was in his hand, and on it was written Rea
son. And he asked her what she wanted
and she said, i am woman, and am seek
ing for the Land of Freedom"
And he said, SIT is before you" And she
said st see nothing before buJ dark flow