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The Mysterious Strangerby Mark TwainChapter 1
IT WAS IN 1590 -- winter. Austria was far away from the world, and
asleep; it was still the Middle Ages in Austria, and promised to remain so
forever. Some even set it away back centuries upon centuries and said that
by the mental and spiritual clock it was still the Age of Belief in
Austria. But they meant it as a compliment, not a slur, and it was so
taken, and we were all proud of it. I remember it well, although I was only
a boy; and I remember, too, the pleasure it gave me.
Yes, Austria was far from the world, and asleep, and our village was in
the middle of that sleep, being in the middle of Austria. It drowsed in
peace in the deep privacy of a hilly and woodsy solitude where news from
the world hardly ever came to disturb its dreams, and was infinitely
content. At its front flowed the tranquil river, its surface painted with
cloud-forms and the reflections of drifting arks and stone-boats; behind it
rose the woody steeps to the base of the lofty precipice; from the top of
the precipice frowned a vast castle, its long stretch of towers and
bastions mailed in vines; beyond the river, a league to the left, was a
tumbled expanse of forest-clothed hills cloven by winding gorges where the
sun never penetrated; and to the right a precipice overlooked the river,
and between it and the hills just spoken of lay a far-reaching plain dotted
with little homesteads nested among orchards and shade trees.
The whole region for leagues around was the hereditary property of a
prince, whose servants kept the castle always in perfect condition for
occupancy, but neither he nor his family came there oftener than once in
five years. When they came it was as if the lord of the world had arrived,
and had brought all the glories of its kingdoms along; and when they went
they left a calm behind which was like the deep sleep which follows an
orgy.
Eseldorf was a paradise for us boys. We were not overmuch pestered with
schooling. Mainly we were trained to be good Christians; to revere the
Virgin, the Church, and the saints above everything. Beyond these matters
we were not required to know much; and, in fact, not allowed to. Knowledge
was not good for the common people, and could make them discontented with
the lot which God had appointed for them, and God would not endure
discontentment with His plans. We had two priests. One of them, Father
Adolf, was a very zealous and strenuous priest, much considered. There may have been better priests, in some ways, than Father Adolf,
but there was never one in our commune who was held in more solemn and
awful respect. This was because he had absolutely no fear of the Devil. He
was the only Christian I have ever known of whom that could be truly said.
People stood in deep dread of him on that account; for they thought that
there must be something supernatural about him, else he could not be so
bold and so confident. All men speak in bitter disapproval of the Devil,
but they do it reverently, not flippantly; but Father Adolf's way was very
different; he called him by every name he could lay his tongue to, and it
made everyone shudder that heard him; and often he would even speak of him
scornfully and scoffingly; then the people crossed themselves and went
quickly out of his presence, fearing that something fearful might happen.
Father Adolf had actually met Satan face to face more than once, and
defied him. This was known to be so. Father Adolf said it himself. He never
made any secret of it, but spoke it right out. And that he was speaking
true there was proof in at least one instance, for on that occasion he
quarreled with the enemy, and intrepidly threw his bottle at him; and
there, upon the wall of his study, was the ruddy splotch where it struck
and broke.
But it was Father Peter, the other priest, that we all loved best and
were sorriest for. Some people charged him with talking around in
conversation that God was all goodness and would find a way to save all his
poor human children. It was a horrible thing to say, but there was never
any absolute proof that Father Peter said it; and it was out of character
for him to say it, too, for he was always good and gentle and truthful. He
wasn't charged with saying it in the pulpit, where all the congregation
could hear and testify, but only outside, in talk; and it is easy for
enemies to manufacture that. Father Peter had an enemy and a very powerful
one, the astrologer who lived in a tumbled old tower up the valley, and put
in his nights studying the stars. Every one knew he could foretell wars and
famines, though that was not so hard, for there was always a war, and
generally a famine somewhere. But he could also read any man's life through
the stars in a big book he had, and find lost property, and every one in
the village except Father Peter stood in awe of him. Even Father Adolf, who
had defied the Devil, had a wholesome respect for the astrologer when he
came through our village wearing his tall, pointed hat and his long,
flowing robe with stars on it, carrying his big book, and a staff which was
known to have magic power. The bishop himself sometimes listened to the
astrologer, it was said, for, besides studying the stars and prophesying,
the astrologer made a great show of piety, which would impress the bishop,
of course.
But Father Peter took no stock in the astrologer. He denounced him
openly as a charlatan -- a fraud with no valuable knowledge of any kind, or
powers beyond those of an ordinary and rather inferior human being, which
naturally made the astrologer hate Father Peter and wish to ruin him. It
was the astrologer, as we all believed, who originated the story about
Father Peter's shocking remark and carried it to the bishop. It was said
that Father Peter had made the remark to his niece, Marget, though Marget
denied it and implored the bishop to believe her and spare her old uncle
from poverty and disgrace. But the bishop wouldn't listen. He suspended
Father Peter indefinitely, though he wouldn't go so far as to excommunicate
him on the evidence of only one witness; and now Father Peter had been out
a couple of years, and our other priest, Father Adolf, had his flock. ORBuy "The Mark Twain Collection" and receive all 45 of the ebooks for only $9.95 Ebook Titles: - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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