The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-09-06
The Blind Man"

Some stories never published have lem
| discovered among the papess % the late
| Guy De Maupassant- They are unmls-
taxable. bearing. as they do. the magic
/ touch Of that vanished hand" In every
sympathetic turn OF thought and Ian
guaga One Of the most to1ching of
them all Is this sketch Of the Blind Man.
unsurpassed for pasnos in any tongue:
| What Is that joy which anamates as at
first sight OF the rising sun? Why Is 1t
that this Iuminary. as It touches the earth
hNs our bosoms with the joy Of beine
alive? The whole sky Is blus. the mead
ows are all green, the houses all shine
| white, and our Favished eyes drink in
| these glowing colors which so delight our
! souls. Then are we possessed with the
| impulse to dance, to run and sins-a
happy citation lifts our thoughts-it is
some kind Of swelling tenderness; We
| would like to embrace tins sun.
Those blind men at the gate, Tntouchcd
in their eternal darkness, are calm as
ever in the midst Of our new-found gay
ETY., and without the least perception of
| it. they quiet their dogs that would like
to gamool in the light.
When they come nome, at close Of day,
leaning on the arm OF some little brother
or sister. If the child say. '':rhe weather
was beautiful today" the blind man re-
piles, 'T know It must have peen fine,
| for Lulu would not Be quiet q moment"
Once upon time I knew one OF these
| men whose life was the most cruel mar
tyrdom that can conceive.
He was a peasant, the son Of a Nor
man farmer. So long as his father ana
mother were alive ne received q little
care; ne suffered only In thought Of fis
horrible infirmity; but as soon as the par
ents were dead an atrocious existence
began for him. Received In the home Of
one of his sisters, every one on the farm
treated him like q begEar, who ate the
bread that belonged to others.
At each meal they grujged him bis
food; they called him a loafer and q
churi, but. inasmuch as his brother In
law had taken possession of hts inherit
ance, they regretfuKy gave him a little
soup, just enough to keep him alive.
His face was pale as death, his eyes
were large and white az waters; SO he sat
unmoved by his wrongs, 50 seif-cont.Lined
that they wondered whether he felt at
all. Never had he known the least ten
derness, for even his mother had always
treated him roughly and loved him lit
tie. For In the fields the useless man does
harm, and the peasants do like the chick
ems. they kill those of their number who
are infirm.
So soon as he had swallowed his aoup
he went and sat down at the door in
summer, or in the chimney-corner in win
ter, never stirring thence till evening. He
did not move finger nor turn his head:
only his eyelids, moved by some nervous
affection, at times closed the white spots
he called eyes. Had he a mind, thoue hit,
any clear idea Of his life? No one ever
asked him.
For a few years matters remained thus.
But his inability to do anything, and most
of all his impassibihty, at last exasrer-
ated his relatives, and he became the
butt, the martyr-fool-prey given over to
the natural ferocity and savage gayety Of
those about him.
They devised all kinds of cruel farces
that his blindness could suggest. And to
pay themselves for what he ate, they
made his meals hours OF delight for the
neighbors and. Of torment for the helpless
man.
The peasants who lived In the houses
near by come to the SHOW" the word
was passed from door to door, and the
kitchen at the farm was full every day.
Sometimes they put q cat or dog on the
table right by his plate when he began
to drink his soup. The animal knew his
infirmity by instinct and quietly as possi-
BILE came I'd to the plate, and Without
any noise Tapped from his plate. And 4:
by chance, in its .eayerness. the animal
smacke6 Its lipe and attracted the aften-
ton Of the poor devil. It drew back
quickly to avoidtthe blow from his spoon
which he aimed at radon toward the
noise.
Then there were nudges. laughing and
stamping With jby ny the special Srs rang
ed along by the. wall. But he. without
a word, began toSeat again with his right
hand while with his left he tried to pro-
tect his plate.
At other times they gave him corks to
eat, or bits OF wood. leaves and filth, for
he could not tell the difference until he
had It in his mouth.
Tut finally thew tired OF such cruel
jokes, and his brother-in-iaw, enraged at
having to feed him forever, strtick him
and boxed his ears INCREASINGLY, laugh
Ing at the futile attempts that the blind
man made to avoid or return the blows
Here was a new game; the game OF
smacks! And the plough boys, the iiod
carrier and the servants stuck their hands
into his face. which made his eyeliis blink
most rapidly. He lid not know where
to hide himself, but stood with outstretch-
ed arms trying to keep them away.
At last they compelled him to beg. He
was placed at the roadside on market
days, and as soon as he heard Il wagon
or carriage rolling near he stre.rhsi out
his hat, stammering: 'Charity-if-you-
pleased"
But the peasant Is not very liberal,
and often for weeks he did not get cent.
Then Implying hatred was unclaimed
against him. And here is Gov he died.
One winter the ground was cover ed
with snow and 1t was freezing cold.
Nevertheless, one morning his brother.
in-law took him a long distance :n stand
by one of the chief roads and beg airs.
He left him there all day. and when
night came he said at home that he could
not find him any more. And then he
added: "Pah! It's no use OF bothering
about him; some one has taken him into
his house. because he was cold. You may
be sure he Is not lost IIe Is certain to
come in tomorrow for hls soup"
But the day after he I'D not return.
After waiting for many hours, frozen 10
the marrow, the blind man had felt him
self dying. and began II walk. Not being
able TO retrace thu ro17 covered rs 70
was with the thick coating Of Zee, ne
had wandered at random. fallen into
bitches, risen again, always silently seek
ing the house he caIei homA
But the sluEgishneSs Of the cold was
fast overcoming him. AMI his weak legs
could no longer carry him forward. so re
sat down in the N d H. q! the plain He