Chapter XI: Book III: The Bereaved (3)

"But now these dead are come to us, that we may see how abominable a thing is war.

"And some of you have profited by the war, and some have believed that it would lead to great and beneficial changes, and some think that nations are strengthened and exalted by war. And none can hold their own or their children's thoughts away from the war.

"But now these dead are come, to show us what we could not see and realize so inwardly before; that war is an abominable thing, a ghastly thing.

"These bodies floating in our waters, they are no ghostly vision, no story of imagination, but reality and truth. And the same may come again after a time, in reality and truth as now.

"And therefore I ask you in thought at least to follow me out to sea, and learn to know these dreadful things, and fix them in your minds and never forget.

"And you shall bring the knowledge of these things to others, so that they, too, may feel unconquerable abhorrence at the very mention of war; so that the word 'war' shall never more be uttered, but become a sound so intolerable to human ears that none dare speak it.

"There are others, perhaps, who have seen even more dreadful things than this. And they, too, shall speak and write of war, until there is woven about it a ghostly fear and shuddering, a dread that nothing can overcome.

"For how can we know what else may come?

"In a few years the memory of this war's sorrow and agony and destruction may be forgotten, and a new generation may once more set out to war with the joy of battle in their hearts. It lies with us now to fix in the minds of all humanity so great a horror of war that no talk of glory and brave deeds can ever take its place.

"For though great words have been spoken against war, and great examples have been set by men of peace, and the wisest calculations proved its madness, still the war is yet alive.

"But out of the very horror and gruesomeness of war itself we can make ourselves weapons and armour and cure, and leave these as a legacy to our children, that they may overcome the greatest enemy of all mankind.

"And now at last I would say some words of the holiness of Life in the time when war shall no longer exist on earth...."

But the words were never spoken. Someone pulled the speaker by the sleeve.

"Sven Elversson is ill. He is dying. It has been too much for him."

The Pastor stepped down from his place and made his way through the crowd to where Sven Elversson had stood. He lay now on the grass, with his head on his mother's knee, not dead, but very ill. His breast trembled with the violent beating of his heart.

When the sick man saw the Pastor approaching, he greeted him with an indescribable smile, full of love and free from fear, as he might have greeted the one dearest to him of all. He tried to reach out his hand toward him, and murmured something either in thanks or asking pardon.

The Pastor knelt beside him; he, too, was filled with a great tenderness now, and anxiety at the thought of losing such a friend as Sven Elversson had now become.

"Sven Elversson, brother," he said. "Live! You must live now for her sake."

They carried the sick man in to the vicarage. A doctor who was present hastened to him. He examined the patient, and declared that he might live a little while--a day, a week, perhaps a year, but that was all.

Meanwhile, the crowd stood round the grave, waiting. They knew that Pastor Rhånge had had more to say; that he wished to tell them something that would give them peace and comfort at parting. They could not do without it now.

A messenger was sent in to the vicarage, and returned with the answer that the Pastor could not leave Sven Elversson now. He was sitting with his arm round the sick man, and nothing else could give him strength to live, or hinder the spark of life from dying out.

THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

WHILE the crowd still waited for the conclusion of the sermon, a voice was heard, not from the graveside, but from somewhere farther out. A woman's voice, thin and shrill, yet strangely audible and distinct.

They gathered round the speaker, and saw a young woman on her knees, with arms outstretched, head thrown back, and eyes closed. She seemed unconscious of herself, and spoke as in a trance.

"I see the dead," she said--"I see those whom we have buried here. I see them move toward the land of Death, and enter in. And now, after they have gone a little way, I see them coming toward a building, like a schoolhouse, and asking admittance there.

"'We are souls that have passed through the school of earth,' they say to the keeper at the gate, 'and we have come hither to show what we have learned of knowledge there.'

"But the keeper of the gate shakes his head. He tells them that they have ended their schooling too quickly. But all the same he opens the gate and lets them in.

"And I see them go into a great hall. I can see their fear. They are afraid and trembling, like all who are to be questioned so.

"Then a man comes forward to meet them. He wears a long robe, and his hair lies in smooth locks about his head.

"'Ye souls that have passed through the school of earth,' says the man to them, 'can you say my Ten Commandments as they are said on earth to-day?'

"I see the souls of the dead rejoicing that no harder question is asked than this. And all together answer:

"'Thou shalt not worship false gods.

"'Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

"'Thou shalt keep holy the Sabbath day.

"'Thou shalt honour thy father and thy mother.'

"I hear them say this, but haltingly, and with great difficulty. And they are wondering in their minds why it should be so hard to say the words. They do not know themselves what makes them stammer and speak so faintly.

"'You have learned this in some manner, albeit with faults and errors,' says the teacher. 'Now say the rest!'

"And then the souls of the dead speak out clearly and without difficulty:

"'Thou shalt kill!

"'Thou shalt commit adultery.

"'Thou shalt steal.

"'Thou shalt bear false witness.

"'Thou shalt covet they neighbour's house.

"'Thou shalt lay waste they neighbour's field, and his wife and his servant, his goods and all that is his.'

"And when all this is said, I can see that the dead are glad to have passed the test so well.

"But the teacher asks them:

"'Who has taught you so to misread my law, that I had set to be a guard about the sacredness of human life?'

"And they answer him:

"'We are soldiers. We are the subjects and servants of Death.'

"Then the teacher cries to them:

"'Wake up, ye dead, and see who is this that ye honour, and who is your master!'

"And I see them waken up out of the error of earthly life as from a long dream. And they see then with dread that they are immortal souls, whose place is in heaven, and they begin to sorrow for all that they have done on earth, and to fear for the punishment to come.

"But then the teacher speaks to them again:

"'I am he that is Lord of Death and of Life.

"'And I sent Death upon earth to be the servant of Life.

"'I let the withered leaves fall to the ground, that new fresh leaves may grow again next year.

"'I let the stars in the firmament burn out and die that new stars may arise in their stead.

"'I let the bodies of those who have lived their life be laid in the grave, that new life may bloom upon earth.

"'But since Death has made himself master instead of servant, I will pursue him.

"'For it is not my will that the harvest should be reaped before its time, nor the young fowl bird be taken by the fowler before it has built its nest and brought forth its young.

"'And I will set a boundary and a landmark between the time that is now and the time that is to come; in a few years I will mark it. And this time shall be called the time of darkness.

"'But ye souls, go back again to earth, and teach mankind to keep my Fifth Commandment, which is the Commandment to love thy neighbour, and is the key to all the rest.

"'Tell them that my Millennium hangs in the east like a dawn. But how shall it rise in the sky and give light to the world, as long as ye let Death take the Great Beast in his service?

"'For the Great Beast is War.'"...

Lotta Hedman came to herself. She looked round and saw a close circle of people. Many faces shone with a great content.

"Where have I been?" she said. "What have I said? Has God at last spoken through my mouth?"

Tears of joy and thankfulness flowed from her eyes.