The New Moon, page 15
XXIV. That is the way it is necessary to do penance.
Deprived once again of his dear Olympia, Poequilon lived in affliction, and, wanting to appease Selenos, he devoted himself to abstinence. Still full of vigor, having charm and beauty, and having the treasures of life at his disposal, the daylight displeased him. Devoid of ambition, devoid of passion, people appeared to him what, in fact, they are. Then he ceased to hold them in esteem; prejudices fell at his feet, hypocrisy was unmasked in his gaze, brilliant exteriors of dissimulation vanished at his approach; the politeness of Courts made him see nakedly the perfidy and vanity of honors; only misfortune and indigence fixed his sentiments and attached him to society; he became by virtue of that fact a friend of humankind—which is to say, of the unfortunate, for the majority of fortunate men are not human.
He wanted to show his century and his country that wealth ought only to be lavished on the head of a Citizen for the relief of his fellows. He considered, maturely, that, an Emperor being the father of his people, all the rich men who were closest to him by virtue of their opulence and credit were Substitutes for the Sovereign; hence, he concluded that any man in abundance who was unjust, inclement and devoid of compassion was a monster and a tyrant: a monster who devoured his fellows by depriving them of assistance; a tyrant who robbed them, by the abuse of his wealth, of the compassion of an honest man, in whose hands the fortune would have been better employed.
It is easy to see that, with these reflections, Poequilon attached himself solely to bringing the wretched out of the grip of their poverty, of turning them away from the slope to crime by a prompt assistant that returned the indigent to the road of virtue, and obtaining graces for those citizens gone astray, whom hunger or the sustenance of their family had led to neglect of social conventions. All these acts of benevolence were accompanied by recommendations to Judges on the inflexibility of laws that did not take any account of circumstances, and the natural revolt of humanity in a state of lesion, injustice, opprobrium or merely calamity.
His success in these virtuous enterprises was his joy and his consolation, and he often sighed when he thought that he had only reached that level of improvement after seven or eight centuries of existence and the experience if misfortune.
Is it necessary, then, he said to himself, to be unhappy, or to have been unhappy, in order to be able to shed tears? Alas, if it’s necessary to see unhappiness at close range to understand it, how many unfortunates are reserved to perish!
XXV. When one goes to sleep like Poequilon,
one can hope for a fine awakening.
A great Emperor governed Verticephalia, and that Prince had all Poequilon’s respect and admiration.
If our August Emperor lives for a long time, he thought, Verticephalia will be happy. What a multitude of abuses he is destroying! With what firmness his is resisting the torrent of prejudices and the murderous interests of seductive enemies of the nation! He has achieved in a few years what the greatest Princes were unable to do in half a century; he is the literal model of Kings, for others have imitated him, even his enemies; he is a conqueror, a pacifier, a friend of justice, an avenger of oppression, as well as the father of his people, a good father of a family. O Selenos, conserve our August Monarch, that is my ultimate wish.
Selenos, who read the heart of his favorite, was touched by these virtuous dispositions, and judged that it was time free that errant life from evils.
And, indeed, Poequilon had scarcely finished that prayer than he was gripped by a profound torpor; the friends and slaves surrounding him thought that he was dead, and while the former prepared to bury him and the latter to dig a hole in the moon, to render him the last duties, Selenos transferred him invisibly to the shores of the Isle of Eutoquia.
XXVI. Poequilon arrives in the isle of Eutoquia
When he woke up, Poequilon saw a multitude of men wandering on a riverbank; a large boat came toward them and all of them jumped into it impetuously. Poequilon did the same, and in a next to no time, the boat traversed the river. All the passengers got down on the fortunate Island, and a host of inhabitants who were waiting for them on the other shore took them to Queen Elephantide.
That Princess was veiled, but her majestic figure imposed respect and delight. She was seated on an ivory throne, holding an olive branch by way of a scepter, which she made all the stranger kiss when they were presented to her.
She opened a bronze tablet on which the names of all those who had just landed on the Island were engraved, admitted them to the rank of citizens of Eutoquia and distributed employments and fields of cultivation to them. Some were to be dignitaries associated with the Queen, with vast moons and châteaux. Others only received a tiny quarter of moon and were destined to cultivate the fields of the Great and important men.
There were some in whom the necessity was imposed of serving the Queen or the Great, without any other retribution than for little pieces of ivory per day. Poequilon was in that number and was aggregated into the Queen’s retinue. I say “retinue” because in Eutoquia the Princes have no need of Guards for their security; they only have a retinue for the splendor of the throne. Poequilon was paid one day’s wage in advance, and then the Queen made a speech.
“Strangers who have just landed on this Island, do not complain about your share, if it does not appear equal; it is assigned on the number of your good deeds, and the time that you must pass in mediocrity is affixed by destiny, after which you will rise in rank and enjoy greater fortune.
“You are sheltered from indigence and injustices; make good use of your fate and without murmuring; that is the means of expiating your past sins promptly and enjoying the perfect happiness of this Island.”
She extended the olive branch over their heads, and each of them took up his post.
The Queen presented her gloved hand to Poequilon and said to him: “You will emerge from obscurity one day; it is necessary to appease Selenos.”
The whole Court perceived that the Princess’s voice had suffered some alteration in speaking to that Stranger, but as the Isle of Eutoquia is devoid of crime, no suspicion is excited there, and the reflections of the Great went no further.
XXVII. He is very much a stranger in this Realm.
You will obviously have suspected that the Queen was none other than Olympia, who, by her virtues and her fidelity, had reached the supreme rank in the Isle of Eutoquia. She had recognized her husband, for whom she had been waiting a long time, and her heart suffered at not being able to liberate him from the laws of Destiny or the justice of Selenos.
Poequilon was far from thinking that Olympia governed that great Empire. Since Poequilon’s arrival, the Princess had made it a rule only to appear veiled, and even changed her voice when she spoke in public or issued decrees, in order that Poequilon would not suspect her of being the Queen, so that thought never entered his head. He only suspected that she was on the Island and that she was living happily there.
He was burning with the desire to find her, and his embarrassment was great, because his functions did not permit him to devote himself to search for her. He thought, therefore, that he might engage some Eutoquian less busy than him to carry out the investigation for him, but the Island was immense, and in Eutoquia one only has the opportunity to accomplish one’s desires in proportion to the rank one occupies.
He was not yet instructed in all matters, and, having the art of making gold, he was unworried about the state of mediocrity to which the Queen had reduced him.
If I give a great deal of gold to Queen Elephantide, he thought, she will send her hemerodromes all over the island in search of Olympia. It is necessary that I show to her eyes all the riches of the Paristerie.
XXVIII. Misers and usurers, you have changed mud into gold, now the gold becomes mud again.
Occupied with that thought, he saw men cleaning the streets, who were making heaps of filth in order to load it into carts. He asked an old Eutoquian why those men were condemned to that vile profession.
“Those men were Lipodermists before arriving on the Island,” the old man replied, “which is to say, Misers and Usurers; on the Moon they were the nurturers of prodigal youth, and in this métier they are expiating the crimes they committed in their former estate.”
Poequilon advanced toward the muddy men and said to them: “All the mire that is the object of your care I shall convert into gold”—which he did right away.
The muddy men were very surprised by such a miracle; they leaned on their shovels and forks to contemplated the metal, and vestiges of their ancient avidity could still be seen in their physiognomy.
“What a pity it is,” one of them said to Poequilon, “that you’ve come to this Island with such a marvelous talent. But what do you expect to do here with that heavy and durable mud?”
“My intention,” said Poequilon, “is offer it as a tribute to the Queen, in order to incline that Princess in my favor, so that she will mount searches all over the Island to discover my wife.”
The muddy men burst out laughing, and one of them said: “Gold is worthless here, and what you’ve just produced will be thrown into the sea. That’s why we beg you to make it into mud again—we’ll have less difficulty in purging the island of it.”
Poequilon sighed, on seeing that he was poor.
What! he thought. This metal, so precious, after which Paterodiples, Kings and Women sigh…but let’s not think about it anymore.
“Have you been collecting mud for a long time?” Poequilon asked the men.
“Four hundred years.”
“Four hundred years! You haven’t been corrected of your vices, then?”
“It’s because we’re well paid,” said one of them. “It’s the most lucrative employment on the Island.”
“That may be so,” said Poequilon, “but it’s vile work.”
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard it said, by a Factor who had studied: Lucri bonus est odor ex re qualibet.”53
XXIX. How many people would be bathed!
Meanwhile, someone told the Queen what Poequilon had done, and the Courtiers laughed long and hard at his magnificent present, as well as his adored Olympia. Elephantide, touched by Poequilon’s sentiment, was nevertheless obliged, in accordance with the laws of Eutoquia, to condemn the gold-maker to an exemplary three plunges in the river, after having submerged the metal he had produced by himself. The sentence specified that in case of recidivism, Poequilon would augment the impure number of Lipodermists who were breathing in the mire of the Island.
Poequilon satisfied the sentence in front of the assembled people and he was given four pieces of ivory.
O pieces of ivory! said Poequilon. Sacred money of the fortunate Isle! Symbol of candor! You have taught me that only virtue is rewarded here; you are the representative signs of human worth.
After that honorable recompense of sorts he went back to his post, his mind occupied by the most sublime ideas, and only thinking about acquiring virtues.
XXX. Poequilon is proclaimed king of Eutoquia.
Poequilon distinguished himself so well in his employment, by his assiduity and his aptitude for virtue, that Elephantide appointed him chief of her retinue; then he was given fields and palaces, but the privation of his beloved spouse rendered him insensible to his elevation, and to his new fortune. He employed a large number of Eutoquians in working to find Olympia, and as he was just and generous, he dispersed all his fields, palaces and ivory; his fortune was so depleted that he could no longer fulfill his duties with the dignity that they required.
The Queen, who knew how he had employed his wealth, sent for him—he was reaching the term of his perfect felicity—and, affecting a severe manner, she said to him: “Poequilon, I know that you have dissipated your wealth. This is the first time that a fortunate citizen of this Island has fallen into poverty; all eyes are upon you. No one knows to what such a reversal of fortune can be attributed, in a realm of innocence, into which, by virtue of immutable laws, crime and debauchery cannot penetrate. What, then, have you done to lose your fortune? It is not to relieve the wretched, for there are none on our island, and everyone here can subsist on what he possesses, since passions are unknown here and the only competition between our Islanders is to reach the ranks that virtue provides and which attract the consideration of Citizens of the lower orders, without pride being able to poison their hearts.”
“Great Queen,” said Poequilon, “Selenos, in enabling me to reach this Island, has not deprived me of all my passions; he has left me one that will be eternal: the love of my wife, my dear Olympia, whom I counted on rejoining in this Isle of Felicity, which will never be anything for me but a abode of misfortune if I do not encounter here the object of all my prayers. I am very guilty in her regard, but I have always adored her and I have only consumed all my wealth in the vain attempt to find her. I thought she was here with my children, Selenos having promised me that, but I can see that his justice is still pursuing me.”
Although the Queen was veiled, Poequilon perceived that she had softened. “You sympathize with my woes, great Queen,” he said to her.
“Yes dear Poequilon,” said Olympia. “I approve of your love. Your constancy flatters me more than you think. Console yourself; your woes are at an end. Always love your Olympia, but be sensible to Queen Elephantide, who loves you.”
“O Heaven!” said Poequilon. “Can this abode of innocence permit…? Great Queen, you’re deceiving me; you want to sound the depths of my heart. Can Selenos be inspiring you…but no; if you are the Queen of Eutoquia and talking to me in that fashion, you must be Olympia.”
At those words, the Queen lifted her veil, and Poequilon recognized in Elephantide his tender Olympia.
The august visage of that Princess was bathed in tears. Poequilon, who was on his feet, threw himself into her arms.
She summoned all the Nobles of her retinue and said to them: “This is Poequilon. This is my husband, whom Selenos has returned to me. The term of his happiness and mine has arrived; let him share the Empire with me. And you, Nobles of my retinue, who are my children, this is your father; this is the stem of our family.”
Immediately, they prostrated themselves, and Poequilon embraced them all, one after another. Olympia introduced him to the children that they had had in Verticephalia, who were the heads of families and in the foremost dignity.
The people were summoned and the Nation assembled; Poequilon was proclaimed King, and Queen Elephantide resumed the name of Olympia, in accordance with the decrees of Selenos.
I shall not attempt to give any idea of that sage government; everyone will form an image of it in conformity with the elevation of his soul. It is sufficient to know that people there are happy, because the throne is sacred and just, the authority paternal, innocent and pure, and the Religion inaccessible to contradictions.
Henri Delmotte: A Voyage to Paraguay-Roux and the Austral Palingenesia by Tridace-Nafé Théobrôme de Kaout’t’chouk, Breton Gentleman, Subassistant at the Establishment of Elysopumps, etc., etc., etc.
(1835)
On 31 February 1831, after having hauled in the mooring-ropes and unfurled the shrouds, we set forth for the port of St. Malo, all sails down, under a south-east-north-westerly wind. It was blowing freshly; the waves and breakers splashed silently and came to play around the flanks of the corvette La Calembredaine,54 in which we were sailing; it wove its knot, in naval terminology, and in no time at all we were doubling Cape Finistere, the place where the end of the world begins, as its name indicates, and we soon reached the island of Madeira.
We took on water there, and as the exotic natives of the island were occupied at that moment in making dry Madeira, we thought we ought to assist in that operation, unknown to our vintners, whether in Champagne or Burgundy. It takes place toward the end of winter, when the sun, shining over the roofs, causes those rounded and elongated icicles to form, the thousand angular faces of which reflect the prismatic rays so brilliantly.
Men experienced in the métier put the icicles into the necks of bottles of sweet Madeira, and when they are certain that the extremity of the block of ice has reach the bottom of the bottle they cut the base of the icicle adhering to the roof, very subtly, without pressing too heard, and then seal the bottles hermetically.55 The cut is carried out by means of red-hot pincers, in order not to alter the color of the wine. Nothing is simpler than to imagine the cause and the effect of that procedure; the icicle, dissolving promptly in the liquid, thus communicates its dryness to the wine, which absorbs it entirely and retains it until it is drunk.
We raised anchor with the pulley-blocks and took to the open sea along a strait of whose name I have forgotten to make a note in my journal. We had to weather a few storms, as many large as small, which caused the most superstitious matelots to take advantage of the opportunity to tell their rosaries.56
In the evening, the sails having broken down, I was walking on the deck with the officer of the watch. After a time the conversation became intimate, and he communicated to me, under the seal of secrecy, one of the most important discoveries he had ever made, and which he planned to make known to the Admiralty.
“When a vessel,” he said, for I let him talk, “has arrived at a degree of longitude whose figure is the same as that of the degree of latitude it has reached, no longitude or latitude is any longer possible, since the measure of the two different degrees is equal, one of them can no longer be broader or longer than the other, and vice versa.”
The astonishing simplicity of that discovery, which has nevertheless only been made in the nineteenth century of the Christian Epact, struck me by virtue incalculable results of its application to the section of the angles of the arc of the meridian, and especially by the light it was going to cast on the equipolation of the Zenith and the Nadir.
