All night they
had been feasting their deities, and the solemnity had involved deep
potations; now, as the rapid movements of a dance which accompanied the
inspiriting words sent the fumes into their heads, they appeared to be
beside themselves. The bystanders, however, attributing their frenzy to
religious fervour, and not unaccustomed to such manifestations, looked
on unmoved. The music ceased; and the song of triumph gave way to a
hideous scene over which it were painful to dwell. The drunken old men,
with incredible agility, whirled round the prostrate form of Jean. There
was no question now of eulogizing his virtues: he was accused, in
language which seemed devil-born, of every crime, every infamy, of which
the human race is capable; held up to scorn and ignominy, he was cursed
and execrated with a shower of blasphemy and obscenity; a by-stander,
contemplating his calm, clear face, the lips parted in prayer, gleaming
amidst the contorted features of the screaming miscreants, might have
believed him to be already passing, unscathed, through the terrors of
purgatory.
It is impossible at this day to fathom the mystery of this terrible
relic of some remote superstition.
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