Show THE COMET 1 kf t FROM THE FRENCH FRINCH OF ERCKMANN-CHATI ERCKMANN AN LAST year before the celebration of the carnival it was noised about in our town that the world was coming to an end It was Dr Zacharias Piper of Colmar Calmar who first spread that disagreeable news it was to be read in all the almanacs of the country Zacharias Piper had calculated that a comet cornet would appear in the heavens on Shrove Tuesday having a tail thirty-five thirty million leagues long formed of boiling water It would pass over the earth with the result that the snow on the highest mountains would be melted the trees dried up and people consumed It is true that an honest philosopher of Paris named wrote later that the would doubtless comet appear but its tail would be composed of vapors so etherial that no one need fear the least inconvenience from it that people might go about their affairs in tranquility for he would answer for everything This assurance assurance greatly calmed the fears of some Unfortunately we have in our town an old wool spinner named Maria Finck who lives in a narrow alley She is a little old woman quite white and wrinkled whom people go to consult concerning the delicate circumstances of life She lives in a low room the ceiling of which is adorned with painted eggs red and blue strips of cloth gilded nuts and a thousand other strange things She dresses in antiquated antiquated antiquated an an- fashion and lives on cakes which gives her great prestige in inthe inthe inthe the country round about s B sMaria Maria Finck instead of seconding the opinions of the good honest Mr declared herself for Zacharias Piper saying Be converted and pray repent of your sins and do good to the church for the end is approaching the end is near There was at the back part of her room a picture of people descending descending descending de de- a path strewn with roses None suspected the place to which the path was leading them they were capering and dancing some some carried a bottle some a ham and others a wreath of sausages sausage A musician his hat decked with ribbons played his clarinet to enliven enliven enliven en en- liven the journey and all these unhappy ones were approaching with indifference a fireplace full of flames where already those in the lead were falling their arms extended and their legs in the air Only imagine the thoughts of any ary rational person on seeing that picture No one is so virtuous that he has not a few sins on his conscience conscience con con- science and no one can flatter himself he is going straight to paradise No it would be very presumptuous to to dare to ima imagine ine things will happen just that way it would be the mark of unpardonable pride Thus most people said II Lets Let's not celebrate the carnival but spend Shrove Tuesday in acts of contrition Never was a anything thing seen to equal it The adjutant and the captain captain captain cap cap- tain as well as the sub-officers sub of the company garrisoned in our town all were in veritable despair They had had decorated the majors major's large hall with moss and army trophies they had erected a platform for the orchestra and all these preparations for the festival as well as all the refreshments were going to be lost because the girls of the town would not hear of dancing Im not a bad fellow said Sergeant Duchene but if I had hold of your Zacharias Piper Id I'd make his life a burden to him However the most of all were the majors major's secretary the son of the postmaster the tax collector and and I. I. I A week before this we had made a trip to Strasbourg to get costumes My uncle had given iven me fifty francs from his own pocket so that nothing should I j I 1 be lacking I had chosen a clowns clown's costume It was a sort of shirt with wide pleats and long sleeves trimmed with buttons as large as your fist shaped like onions and dangling from chin to thighs A Ablack Ablack Ablack black cap covered the head the face was whitened with flour and if one had a long nose hollow cheeks and staring eyes there was nothing left to be desired The collector owing to his prominent robustness had taken a Turkish costume embroidered at all the seams The secretary had a costume of Punch made of a thousand red green and yellow pieces s a a hump in front another behind and a big bear skin hat on the back backof of ot his of-his his head The postmasters postmaster's s son D was to dress as a savage with p parrot feathers Now when one has gone to such expense and sees everything go goto goto goto to the four winds because of an old woman and Zacharias Piper is it not enough to make one furious with the whole human race But what was to be done People have always been the same cranks always have the upper hand Shrove Tuesday arrived likewise likewise-a a snow storm People look looked d dright right and left high and low but but no no comet The girls seemed utterly distracted the boys ran to the homes of their cousins aunts godmothers godmothers godmothers god god- mothers and all crying You see well enough that that old Finck woman is crazy Theres There's no sense to your notions about the comet Do comets come in winter Dont Don't they always come in autumn Come come lets let's decide Theres There's time yet Many took courage at last Old men and old women came arm armin armin armin in arm to see the mayors mayor's grand hall the sabres abres arranged in the form of suns and the little tri-colored tri flags between the windows excited universal admiration Then all was changed they remembered that it was Shrove Tuesday The girls hastened to take their dresses from the closet and black their little shoes At 2 0 o'clock clock the large hall of the mayor was full of p people e le we had won the battle not one girl of the town was missing The instruments of the musicians resounded the long windows shone far into the night the whirled and the dances went their rounds the girls and boys were happy beyond expression the aged grandmothers comfortably seated against the walls laughed to their hearts heart's content People jostled one another in inthe inthe inthe the refreshment room and it seemed impossible to serve them all All along the outside stairway people were seen stumbling down having been too much refreshed Outside however the snow continued falling My uncle had given me the key of the house so I could enter when I pleased Until 2 0 o'clock clock I had not missed one waltz but then I had enough of it and went away Once in the street I began to consider whether I should return or go to bed I would have liked to dance again but on the other hand I was sleepy At last I decided to go home and making all sorts of excuses to myself I set out by bythe bythe bythe the shortest way For ten minutes I walked on in the darkness and I was going to turn the corner at the fountain when chancing to look up I saw behind behind behind be be- hind the trees a moon red as fire which seemed to be advancing It was still thousands of leagues distant but it was moving so swiftly that in fifteen minutes it would be be upon us That sight completely upset me I felt my hair stand on end as as- as asI I I thought the comet Mr Piper was right Without knowing what I did I 1 ran pell mell toward the hall and mounting the stairs upsetting people who were descending I cried in ina a terrible voice The comet the comet The dance was at its height the music was resounding the boys were scraping their feet as they whirled the girls were red as poppies but ut when that voice resounded through the hall The comet the comet there was profound silence and people turning toward me were all pale and trembling Sergeant Duchene rushed to the door seized me and stopping my mouth with his hand cried Is it possible youre you're mad Will you stop your noise But making a step back I continued to cry in a tone of despair The comet the comet and already we heard the thunder of feet as people precipitated themselves down the stairs women stairs women moaning moaning- altogether an appalling tumult In a few seconds the hall was empty Then I went away overwhelmed overwhelmed overwhelmed over over- whelmed with despair Passing the booth I saw some still drinking and I said since all is over let it end well Outside on the stairs were numbers seated on the steps confessing to each other One was saying Ive been a usurer another Ive be been n selling with false weights Ive cheated at play play all all all speaking speaking speaking speak speak- ing at once and occasionally breaking off with a cry in chorus Have mercy on us I recognized several who were striking their breasts in their wretchedness but I wasn't interested for I had plenty of sins of my myown myown myown own to think about Soon I had overtaken those who were running toward the fount fount- ain You ought to have heard the groaning there Every Everyone one saw the comet and I found that it had already increased to twice its former size It was casting sparks and the depth of the shadows made it seem as red as blood The crowd standing in the gloom continued to tor r repeat in a tone of lamentation It is over over over- it is over we are lost and the women invoked all the saints in the calendar In that one moment I reviewed all my sins since I had attained the age of reason and 1 I was seized with horror It made me turn cold to think we were going to be burned burne and as the old beggar Balthazer was near me leaning on his crutch I clasped him in my arms Oh Balthazar when you are in Abrahams Abraham's bosom have mercy on me wont won't you I pleaded Then he sobbed out Im Jm a great sinner my friend for thirty years Ive I've deceived the community because I loved idleness for Im I'm not as lame as people think But I said Im I'm the worst criminal in town and we both Y wept We had been kneeling a quarter of an hour when Sergeant Duchene ran up panting He had first ran to the arsenal but seeing nothing there he hurried back by another street the matter he cried all this noise about Then perceiving the comet Thunder and blazes What the devils devil's that Its the end of the world Sergeant said the beggar eggar The end of the world Yes the comet Then he began to swear If the adjutant was here he cried we would know what to do Then suddenly drawing his sabre and creeping along the wall he shouted Forward Ill I'll defy it we must reconnoitre Everybody admired his courage and I attracted by his daring even went just behind him We marched stealthily our eyes dilating as we saw the comet visibly growing larger and making thousands of leagues every second At length we came to the corner of the old convent The comet seemed to ascend the more we advanced the more it ascended until we were forced to raise our heads and finally Duchene was looking straight over his head Twenty steps behind him I saw the comet a little sidewise I was wondering whether it would be wise to advance any nearer when the sergeant stopped me Zounds he he- muttered Its lilts the street lamp The liThe street lamp I gasped advancing Is Ills it possible I was quite dazed Indeed it was the old street lamp of the convent It was never lighted because the convent had not been occupied since 1898 besides it t everybody in our town goes to bed with the chickens But the night- night watchman foreseeing that there would be many drunken men that evening had had the charitable idea of lighting the candle in it in order to keep people from rolling into the ditch bordering the old cloister and then he had gone to bed We could clearly distinguish the different parts of the lantern The snuff was as large as your thumb and when the wind blew a little it flashed up casting sparks making it look like a comet When I saw this I was going to shout to the others but the sergeant sergeant sergeant ser ser- geant checked me one with II Will you shut up If they know we wee weve ve i charged upon a lantern they'll laugh at us Tj rr He then unhooked the rusty chain the lantern fell with a loud crash and we set out on a run The others waited for some time but butas butas butas as the comet was gone they also took courage and went to bed The next day it was rumored that the comet was extinguished on account of Maria Finck's prayers and from that day they r regarded her as asmore asmore asmore more of a saint than ever t Y H That is the way things come to pass in our little town E. 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