|
His hair and eyes were dark, brownish, his face perfectly symmetricaland flawless, his gaze intense; and the grasp of his fingers verytight.
I drew in my breath. I felt my body in all its solidity and fragility ashis fingers clung to me. I was on the verge of death. I might haveceased to breathe at that moment, or ceased to move with thecommitment to life and might have died!
The being drew me towards himself, a light flooding from himthat mingled with the light behind him and all around him, so his facegrew brighter yet more distinct and more detailed. I saw the pores ofhis darkening golden skin, I saw the cracks in his lips, the shadow ofthe hair that had been shaved from his face.
And then he spoke loudly, pleadingly to me, in a heartbrokenvoice, a voice strong and masculine and perhaps even young.
"You would never be my adversary, would you? You wouldn't,would you? Not you, Lestat, no, not you!"My God.
In utter agony, I was torn out of His grip, out of His midst, andout of His milieu.
The whirlwind once again surrounded us. I sobbed and beat onMemnoch's chest. Heaven was gone!
"Memnoch, let go of me! God, it was God!"Memnoch tightened his grip, straining with all his force to carryme downwards, to make me submit, to force me to begin the descent.
We plummeted, that awful falling, which struck such fear in methat I couldn't protest or cling to Memnoch or do anything exceptwatch the swift currents of souls all around us ascending, watching,descending, the darkness coming again, everything growing dark,until suddenly we traveled through moist air, full of familiar andnatural scents, and then came to a soft and soundless pause.
It was a garden again. It was still and beautiful. But it was Earth. Iknew it. My earth; and it was no disappointment in its intricacy orscents or substance. On the contrary, I fell on the grass and let myfingers dig into the earth itself. I felt it soft and gritted under myfingernails. I sobbed. I could taste the mud.
The sun was shining down on us, both of us. Memnoch sat lookingat me, his wings immense and then slowly fading, until we becametwo manlike figures; one prone and crying like a child, and theother a great Angel, musing and waiting, his hair a mane of graduallysettling light.
"You heard what He said to me!" I cried. I sat up. My voiceshould have been deafening. But it seemed only loud enough to beperfectly understood. "He said, 'You wouldn't ever be my adversary!'
You heard Him! He called me by name."Memnoch was completely calm, and of course infinitely moreseductive and enchanting in this pale angelic shape than ever he couldhave been as the Ordinary Man.
"Of course he called you by name," he said, his eyes wideningwith emphasis. "He doesn't want you to help me. I told you. I'mwinning.""But what were we doing there! How could we get into Heavenand yet be his adversaries!""Come with me, Lestat, and be my lieutenant, and you can comeand go there whenever you like."I stared at him in astonished silence.
"You mean this? Come and go there?""Yes. Anytime. As I told you. Don't you know the Scriptures? I'mnot claiming an authenticity for the fragments that remain, or eventhe original poetry, but of course you can come and go. You won't beof that place until you are redeemed and in it. But you can certainlyget in and out, once you're on my side."I tried to realize what he was saying. I tried to picture again thegalleries, the libraries, the long, long rows of books, and realizedsuddenly it had become insubstantial; the details were disappearing. Iwas retaining a tenth of what I'd beheld; perhaps even less. What Ihave described here in this book is what I could remember then andnow. And there had been so much more!
"How is that possible, that He would let us into Heaven!" I said. Itried to concentrate on the Scriptures, something David had saidonce a long time ago, about the Book of Job, something about Satanflying around and God saying, almost casually, Where have youbeen? Some explanation of the bene ha elohim or the court ofheaven?
"We are his children," said Memnoch. "Do you want to hear howit all started, the entire true story of Creation and the Fall, or do youwant to go back and just throw yourself into His arms?""What more is there!" I asked. But I knew. There was understandingof what Memnoch was saying. And there was also somethingrequired to get in there! I couldn't just go, and Memnoch knewit. I had choices, yes, and they were these, either to go withMemnoch or return to the earth. But admission to Heaven washardly automatic. The remark had been sarcastic. I couldn't go back and throwmyself in His arms.
77/163 首页 上一页 75 76 77 78 79 80 下一页 尾页
|
