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屠杀婴儿



作者：[比利时]梅特林克 译者：侯浚吉 扫校：shi43



这一天是十二月二十六日，星期五，大约吃晚饭的时候，一个牧羊的小家伙哭哭啼啼奔进了拿撒勒村，他的哭声叫人听了毛骨悚然。

几个农民正在"蓝狮酒店"里喝啤酒，推开百叶窗，朝村子的果园里张望，看见那小孩在雪地里奔跑。他们认出这是柯内列茨的儿子，就朝窗外向他大声喊道："喂，怎么回事？快去睡觉吧。"

可是孩子回答的声音里充满了恐惧，他告诉他们西班牙人来了，已经放火烧农场了，他的妈妈被吊死在一棵栗树的树枝上，九个小妹妹也给捆绑在—棵大树的树干上了。农民们赶快从酒店里跑出来，围住孩子，七嘴八舌地问这问那。他又告诉他们，这些兵穿着钢制的盔甲，骑在马背上，已经抢走他舅舅佩特律斯·克莱耶的牲口，马上就要赶着牛羊，跑进树林里去了。

他们一起朝"金日酒店"奔去，柯内列茨和他的姻兄弟正在那儿喝啤酒，酒店老板这时候也赶快奔出屋子，奔到村子里去传播西班牙人来到的消息。

拿撒勒村里引起一阵巨大的骚动。妇女们推开了窗子，农民们拿着灯火离开自己的屋子向前奔去，他们奔到果园，熄了灯，由于积雪和圆圆的月亮，那儿象中午一样明亮。他们聚集在酒店前面的广场上，围住了柯内列茨和克莱耶。很多人带着干草叉和草靶。他们在树底下商量办法，说话的语调里透露着惊恐的情绪。

他们正拿不定主意，有人跑去找教区神父，那座农场是他的，柯内列茨就在农场里工作。他拿着教堂的钥匙，由教堂司事陪伴，离家走了过来，大家一起跟着他走到教堂墓地里，他站在钟楼的顶上向大家宣告，不论田地那头或者树林里，他都看不出有什么动静，只有在他农场的那个方向映照着一片红红的云彩。其他地方的上空，天是湛蓝湛蓝的，布满了星星。

他们在教堂墓地里商量了好久，最后，决定躲藏在西班牙人会经过的树林里，如果对方人数不多，就袭击他们，夺回佩特律斯·克莱耶的牲口以及一切可能被他们带走的掠夺物。

男人用草耙和铲子武装自己，妇女同神父留在教堂里。他们寻找一个适合于埋伏的地方，来到树林边缘靠近磨坊的一块高地上，在那儿，可以看到火光映着夜晚的群星，一片通红。一座结了冰的池塘旁边有几棵巨大的橡树，他们在橡树底下占好了位置。

一个诨名红矮子的牧人攀登到小山顶上，向磨坊主报警，磨坊主一见到天边的火光，早已停止碾磨。他让牧人进了屋，两人一起走到窗口，察看村外的动静。

月光皎洁，照耀着冲天大火，两人看见一长串的人群在雪地上走动。他们察看完毕，矮子下了小山，回到等候在树林里的同伴们身边。没有一会儿，他们看到远远的草地上有一群牲口在吃草，牲口后面有四个人骑在马上。厚厚的积雪把池塘映照得光亮耀目，他们穿着蓝色的马裤和红色的披风站在池塘边的树底下四下里张望，教堂司事向他们指了指一排黄杨木树篱，他们在这排树篱的后面蹲伏下来。

西班牙人赶着牛羊，踏着坚冰走来了，羊群刚走到树篱旁边，马上啃起绿叶来了。柯内列茨一下子猛冲过去，别人跟着他冲进了月光里，举起他们的草耙。一场大屠杀在挤成一团的牛羊面前展开了，它们睁大着惊恐的眼睛，在月光底下观看这场可怕的杀戮。

他们杀死西班牙人和他们的马匹以后，柯内列茨走进田野，朝熊熊大火的农场奔去，这时候，其他人把死人的衣服剥个精光。然后，他们赶着牛羊回到村里。躲在教堂墓地里的妇女们正在围墙背后朝浓密的树林那儿观望，看见他们从树丛中走出来，就同神父一起跑过去迎接。回来时，一路上载歌载舞，孩子们在他们身边欢笑，狗在他们中间吠叫，来到几棵梨树底下，矮子把灯悬挂在树上，仿佛是在进行一次露天集市，他们又尽情欢乐了一番，然后，向神父请教下一步该怎么办。他们决定派出一辆大车，把被吊死的妇人的尸体和她的九个小女孩运回村里来。已死妇人的姐妹和其他亲属上了大车，神父已上了年纪，身体又太胖，走路十分困难，也一起上了大车。他们驰进树林，在一片肃静中到达广阔的田野，在那儿，看见那些死去的士兵被剥掉衣服，精赤条条的，和马匹一起仰面朝天地躺在树丛中间闪闪发亮的冰地上。他们继续朝农场驰去，在辽阔的田野中间，农场的房屋还在燃烧。

他们刚到达果园门口，一下子呆住了，一幅触目惊心的悲惨景象映进他们的眼帘。柯内列茨的妻子，浑身一丝不挂，被吊死在一棵大栗树的树枝上。柯内列茨自己爬到一架梯子上，钻在树枝中间，他的九个小女孩在下面草地上等待她们的妈妈。柯内列茨钻过头顶上拱起的树枝，向上爬去，突然间，发现底下有一群人正抬头望着他，他们的轮廓在积雪的衬托下分外清晰。他泣不成声，向他们打了个手势，请他们来帮助他，他们一大群人，教堂司事、红矮子、蓝狮和"金日酒店"的老板、拿着灯火的神父，以及其他一些农民，他们走进果园，爬进积雪盖覆的栗树里，割断绳索，把被吊死的妇人的尸体放了下来。妇女们站在树底下伸出双臂，抱住了尸体，就象另外一些妇女曾经照料吾主基督·耶稣一样。①

她在第二天埋入了坟墓，下一个星期里，拿撒勒村没有发生不寻常的事情，可是再下一个星期天，望过大弥撒以后，几头饿狼在村子里窜过，雪直到中午才停止，接着，太阳钻出云层，在天空中大放光明，农民象往常一样回家吃中饭，他们穿上盛装，准备参加祝福仪式。

这时候，因为天气特别寒冷，大家都呆在家里，广场上空落落的没有一个人影。只有狗和鸡在树木之间游荡，羊在三角地啃着草，神父的女仆在花园里扫雪。

一队拿着武器的人走过村子尽头的石桥，向果园那儿走去。几个农夫跑出屋子，看见骑在马上的是些西班牙人，马上吓得奔回屋里，跑到窗口看看会发生什么事情。一共有三十名骑兵，都穿着盔甲。他们蜂拥在一个白胡子老人的前后。每一个骑兵都随带一名穿黄制服或红制服的步兵。这些步兵跳下马背，在雪地上奔跑取暖，也有一些身穿盔甲的骑兵这时候也下了马背。

他们来到"金日酒店"，敲敲店门。里面犹豫了一会儿，才开了门，西班牙人走进店去，在炉火旁取暖，要啤酒喝。临走时，拿走了锅子、水罐和面包，给他们的伙伴和那个站在士兵中间等候的白胡子老头儿享用。这时候街上仍旧见不到人，指挥官派出一些骑兵，躲藏在房屋后面，监视着面向田野的那一部分村庄，还命令步兵，把两岁和不到两岁的婴儿统统给他找来，他打算根据《马太福音》上写的例子，②把他们全杀掉。

士兵们首先跑进小小的"青菜酒店"和理发师的小屋，这两幢屋子正好肩并肩地座落在街道的中心部份。一个士兵打开猪圈，一窝猪都逃了出来，在村子里乱跑。酒店老板和理发师跑出屋子，谦恭地询问士兵们要些什么，可是西班牙人听不懂佛兰芒语，③径自进屋搜寻小孩。酒店老板有一个孩子，穿着小衬衫，正坐在餐桌旁啼哭。一个士兵一把抓住他跑出屋子，经过苹果树，把他带走了，小孩的父母满脸泪痕，跟在后面。接着，步兵们把箍桶匠、铁匠和鞋匠的厩栏统统打开，于是母牛呵，牛犊呵，猪呵，山羊呵，绵羊呵，在空场上逛来逛去，到处都是。当他们打破木匠屋子的窗户时，教区里一些最有钱、年纪最大的农民聚集在街头，向西班牙人走去。他们对那个身穿天鹅绒衣服的头目恭敬地脱下帽子，询问他打算干什么，可是这个头目也不懂他们的话，有人就跑去找神父。神父刚要去主持祝福仪式，正在教堂的圣器收藏室里穿他的十字褡。④农民们嚷道："西班牙人来了，正在果园里！"他吓得心惊肉跳，朝教堂大门口奔去，唱诗班的孩子们拿着香炉和蜡烛跟在他的后面。他站在门口，朝外面望去，只见草地上和雪地上到处都是从厩栏里跑出来的牛羊和其他牲畜，还有西班牙骑兵，房屋的门前有步兵，沿街的树上都拴着马匹，一个士兵抓着那个还穿着衬衫的孩子，男男女女在向他哀求。神父赶紧跑进教堂的墓地里，农民们从梨树中间出来，都朝着他那个方向奔来，他是他们的神父，他的出现，正象一个金光护体的神仙从天而降。当他站在那白胡子老头的面前时，他们紧紧地围在他的周围。他用佛兰芒语和拉丁语说话，可是那军官慢腾腾地耸了耸肩头，表示他什么也没有听懂。

教民们低声问他："他说些什么？他要干什么？"别的村民看见神父站在果园里，小心翼翼地从他们的小屋里出来了，妇女们也匆匆地来到近旁，她们东一堆、西一堆悄悄地轻声议论着。那些正在包围那家小酒店的士兵看见人群聚集在广场上，也跑了出来。

没有一会儿，那个抓住酒店老板孩子的一条腿的士兵举起剑，一剑把孩子的头砍下了。农民们眼看着头颅滚落下来，鲜血流满一地。妈妈抱起孩子的尸体，忘掉了头，朝自己的家里奔去，路上被一棵树绊了一下，一下子翻倒在雪地上，昏了过去，这当儿，那个做爸爸的同两个士兵搏斗着。

有些年轻农民朝西班牙人扔石子，掷木块，骑兵重新集合起来，长矛的矛头朝下了，妇女们往四面八方散开了，神父和他的一些教民吓得失声喊叫起来，陪伴着羊的咩咩声、鹅的呷呷声、狗的狂吠声，乱成一团。

当士兵们又朝街道的那一头走去时，他们才重新安静下来，等着看会发生什么事情。一队士兵走进教堂司事的姐妹的店铺，有七名妇女在里面跪着做祷告，他们没有碰她们就出来了。然后，他们进入"圣尼古拉斯的驼背酒店"。这家的门也马上开了，希望这样会使他们手下留情些，然而，当他们在一片混乱中重新出现时，他们的臂弯里抱了三个孩子，驼背和他的妻子以及几个女儿团团围住他们，两手十指交叉地紧握着，恳求他们发发慈悲。士兵们来到他们的头目的跟前，把孩子们放在一棵榆树底下。这三个孩子，全都穿着星期日穿的好衣服，其中一个穿黄色衣服的站了起来，步履不稳地朝羊群跑过去。一个士兵拿着出鞘的利剑在后面追赶。孩子合扑倒了下去，死在地上。另外两个孩子被杀死在树旁。农民们和酒店老板的女儿们发出刺耳的叫声四下逃开，回到自己的家里。在果园里，只有神父孤零零地跪在地上恳求西班牙人，他两臂交叉地按在自己的胸前，吐出令人哀怜的声音，挪动着膝盖，从一个人跟前移到另一个人跟前，被杀害的孩子们的父母坐在雪地上，扑在血肉模糊的尸体上伤心地痛哭。

步兵们沿街搜索，注意到一幢蓝色的巨大的农舍。他们试图破门而入，可是门是橡树木做的，门上还钉着很多大头钉。他们在大门附近找到几只冻结在池塘里的木盆，利用它们从二楼的窗子进入屋子。

屋子里正在举行欢乐的集市：来了些亲戚参加盛宴，对付那些鸡蛋饼、火腿和牛奶蛋糊。一听到砸窗声，他们都在桌子后面蹲伏下来，一壶壶的饮料和一盆盆的菜肴还摆在桌面上。士兵们走进厨房，经过一场有很多人受伤的恶战后，他们把幼小的男孩和女孩统统抓住，有一个小仆人咬了一个士兵的大拇指，也给他们抓住，他们离开屋子，一出大门就把门紧紧关住，防止有人跟住他们。

那些没有孩子的，小心翼翼地走出自己的屋子，相隔一段距离跟在士兵们后面，可以看见他们走到老头儿跟前，把手中的牺牲品丢在地上，用长矛和利剑对他们进行一场冷酷无情的屠杀。男男女女拥到蓝色农舍和谷仓的窗口上，目不转睛地望着他们那些穿粉红色、红色和白色衣服的孩子，只见孩子们一动不动地躺在树木之间的地上，他们举起手臂，呼天抢地，咒骂个没完。那个从"半月酒店"抓来的仆人，被士兵们吊死在街的另一面。村子里长时间一片肃静。

现在成了一场大屠杀了。母亲们逃出屋子，打算穿过菜园和花园逃到野外去，可是骑马的士兵追上她们，把她们赶回到街上。农民们把帽子紧紧地抓在手里，当士兵们拖走他们幼小的孩子时，他们扑倒在士兵们面前，在一片混乱中夹杂着高兴的狗叫声。神父朝天举起了双手，在一间间屋子里奔出奔进，还在树木之间奔来奔去，象一个殉道者那样绝望地祈祷着。士兵们冷得直打哆嗦，有的一面走动，一面用手指打着呼哨，有的两手插在裤袋里，宝剑夹在胳肢窝下，懒散地站在他们进去过的屋子的前面。不论那一个方向，一小队一小队士兵看到农民害怕的神色，就走进他们的屋里，这种相似的场面在每一条街上出现。教堂附近的一间破旧的红砖小屋里住着菜贩的妻子，她拿着一把椅子，追赶两个士兵，他们用一辆手推车把她的孩子们运走了。当她看到自己的孩子们死去时，她伤心极了，人们只得让她靠着一棵树，坐在一张椅子上。

在一幢粉刷着丁香花颜色的农舍前面，几个士兵爬上菩提树，掀开瓦片，从那儿进去，当他们重新出现在屋顶上的时候，做父母亲的伸直手臂紧紧跟住他们，士兵们必须用利剑朝他们的头顶上砍去，才能迫使他们后退，摆脱他们，重新回到下面的街上来。

有一家人家躲藏在一幢大屋子的地下室里，他们站在格子门旁边，伤心地痛哭着，做爸爸的不顾死活地挥舞着他的干草叉，穿过格子门向外面刺去。屋子外面，一个秃顶老人坐在肥料堆上不住地抽泣。广场上，一个穿黄衣服的妇女已经昏厥过去，她的丈夫流着眼泪，抱起她，让她靠在一棵梨树上。还有一个穿红衣服的妇女紧紧抱住自己的小女孩，孩子的一双手已经被砍掉，她提起孩子的两条胳膊，看看她是不是还能动弹。有一个妇女朝野外逃跑，士兵们在干草堆之间窜来窜去，追赶她，耸立在那儿的一垛垛干草堆点缀着白雪皑皑的田野，特别显眼。

"埃蒙四子酒家"的门前是一片混乱景象。农民们设置了街垒，士兵们虽然把酒店包围住了，却没法走进屋子。他们试图从葡萄树爬到招牌上去，忽然瞥见花园的大门后面有一架梯子。他们把梯子架在墙上，一个接一个的往上攀登。店主人一家，老老小小，拿起桌椅，对准他们掷下来，什么瓶瓶罐罐呵，摇篮呵，也从窗子里丢了出来，把梯子和士兵们一起打翻在地。

一队士兵走进村子外边的一幢小小的木屋，屋子里，一个上了年纪的妇女在熊熊的炉火前给她的孩子们洗澡。她又老又聋，没有听见他们进来。两个士兵把浴桶连同孩子一起抬走了，那个给弄糊涂了的老妈妈赶紧起身追赶，手里还拿着预备给婴儿们穿上的衣服。一进村子，她看见地上一滩滩血迹，果园里刀光剑影，街上到处是毁坏了的摇篮，妇女们扑倒在她们死去的孩子们的身上祈祷着，拧着自己的手，见到这些景象，她一声惊喊，朝士兵们扑打过去，士兵们不得不放下浴桶进行抵挡。神父三步并作两步的奔到她的身边，两只手依然交叉着，按在十字褡外面，他当着在浴桶里啼哭不止的赤裸裸的孩子们的面，恳求西班牙人发发善心。另外的士兵跑上来，把发了狂的妈妈绑在一棵树上，抬起木桶走掉了。

肉店老板已经藏好他的小女孩，倚靠在店门前的门柱上，装出一副漠不关心的样子。一个步兵和一个穿着盔甲的骑兵进了他的家，在一只铜罐里找到他的孩子，肉店老板不要命的抓起一把屠刀，冲出去追赶，士兵们夺下他的刀，把他的两只手用墙上的钩子吊了起来，他双脚乱踢，在宰好的牲口中间死命挣扎，直到夜色来临。

教堂墓地周围，一大群人聚在一幢又长又矮的绿色农舍前面。这家主人站在门口伤心地痛哭。他是个胖子，长着一副讨人喜欢的相貌，几个士兵坐在墙跟前的阳光底下逗弄一只狗，也许他的哭声引起他们的同情，那个夺走他的孩子的士兵做了个手势，似乎要表示："我能怎么办？这不能怪我！"

一个农民后面有人紧紧追赶，他奔到石桥附近，跳进了一只小船里，于是，他和他的妻子以及孩子们迅速地划着，穿过了那部分没有结冰的池塘。西班牙人不敢跟上去，在池塘边的芦苇中间愤怒地走着。士兵们爬进岸边的柳树里，打算用长矛刺那只小船。他们是鞭长莫及，只能发出一连串咒骂，吓唬这几个逃亡者，小船在黑黝黝的水面上漂走了。

果园里依旧挤满了人：就在那儿，在白胡子指挥官的亲眼目睹下，大多数孩子被杀害了。那些两岁以上刚能走路的孩子，站在一起，吃着面包和果酱，他们张大了眼睛，呆望着无助的游伴们遭到杀戮，弄不懂是怎么一回事，有的围住了村子里的那个傻子，听他吹笛子。

突然间，村子里出现了一个一致的行动，农民们不约而同地朝那耸立在街尽头的城堡方向奔去。他们瞥见堡主站在雉堞上观看这场大屠杀。他穿着天鹅绒斗篷，戴着金色帽子，站在那儿，好象一个天上的国王，男男女女、老老少少，全都伸出了手，向他祈求。可是他只是举起两手，耸耸肩头，表示无能为力，那些向他祈求的人在越来越加深的绝望中光着头跪倒在雪地里，哭得令人心碎。他慢慢地转过身子，回到他的塔楼里。他们最后的希望消失了。

所有的孩子已被杀死，疲惫不堪的士兵们在草上揩干净他们的利剑，在梨树中间吃过晚饭，然后一对一对地骑上马背，走过他们来的时候曾经经过的那座桥，离开了拿撒勒村。

落日映照着树林，好象一片火海，把村子染成血红。神父已经完全精疲力竭，跌倒在教堂前面的雪地里，他的仆人站在他的身旁。他们两人朝街道和果园望去，那儿仍挤满了穿着星期日盛装的农民。在很多屋子的门口，父母们捧着孩子的尸体跪在地上，仍旧是一副茫然的呆楞楞的神色，为他们悲惨的遭遇感到伤心。有的就在孩子们死去的地方，在木桶旁，在手推车底下，或者在池塘岸边，扑倒在他们的小家伙的身上哭泣。有的默默无声地抱走了他们的死孩。有的着手洗刷凳子、椅子、桌子和血迹斑斑的内衣，或者拣起被掷到街头上的摇篮。很多做母亲的从毛料衣服上认出自己的孩子，坐在树底下哀悼他们的不幸。那些自己没有孩子的人，在广场上来回走动，劝慰伤心欲绝、饮泣不止的妈妈们。不再哭泣的男人，在狗的吠叫声中，顽强地追赶走散了的牲口；有的男人已不声不响开始工作，修理打坏了的窗子和破碎的屋面。

月亮悄悄升起，浮游在宁静的天空中，沉睡般的寂静笼罩着村子，终于，村子里一切有生命的东西，全都没有动静了。



注释：

① 耶稣被钉死在十字架上以后，他的尸体从十字架上取下，运往墓地时，有妇女马利亚和撒罗米等在场；她们还准备了些香膏，预备依照宗教仪式涂抹耶稣的尸体。见《新约·马可福音》第十五、十六章。

② 《新约·马太福音》第二章中说：耶稣诞生后，国王希律听到传说，说是"犹太人之王"已经出世，希律感到害怕，下令把耶稣出生地伯利恒及其周围两岁和两岁以下的婴儿统统杀死。

③ 比利时北部居民说的语言，它是一种低地德语。

④ 神父在望弥撒或举行其他宗教仪式时穿的宽松无袖长袍，可罩在其他衣服外面。



出自：《译文丛刊》第一辑《暴风雪》



PS第一次学其他扫校人员那样，将自己的名字写上去，忽然觉得自己变得很重要了（笑）。另外，我还找到了这篇小说的英文版，请看：

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS

BY MAURICE MAETERLINCK

From "The Massacre of the Innocents and other Tales by Belgian Writers."
Translated by Edith Wingate Rinder. Published by Stone & Kimball.

Copyright, 1895, by Stone & Kimball.




Towards the hour of supper on Friday, the twenty-sixth day of the month
of December, a little shepherd lad came into Nazareth, crying bitterly.

Some peasants, who were drinking ale in the Blue Lion, opened the
shutters to look into the village orchard, and saw the child running
over the snow. They recognized him as the son of Korneliz, and called
from the window: "What is the matter? It's time you were abed!"

But, sobbing still and shaking with terror, the boy cried that the
Spaniards had come, that they had set fire to the farm, had hanged his
mother among the nut trees and bound his nine little sisters to the
trunk of a big tree. At this the peasants rushed out of the inn.
Surrounding the child, they stunned him with their questionings and
outcries. Between his sobs, he added that the soldiers were on horseback
and wore armor, that they had taken away the cattle of his uncle, Petrus
Krayer, and would soon be in the forest with the sheep and cows. All now
ran to the Golden Swan where, as they knew, Korneliz and his brother-in-
law were also drinking their mug of ale. The moment the innkeeper heard
these terrifying tidings, he hurried into the village, crying that the
Spaniards were at hand.

What a stir, what an uproar there was then in Nazareth! Women opened
windows, and peasants hurriedly left their houses carrying lights which
were put out when they reached the orchard, where, because of the snow
and the full moon, one could see as well as at midday.

Later, they gathered round Korneliz and Krayer, in the open space which
faced the inns. Several of them had brought pitchforks and rakes, and
consulted together, terror-stricken, under the trees.

But, as they did not know what to do, one of them ran to fetch the cure,
who owned Korneliz's farm. He came out of the house with the sacristan
carrying the keys of the church. All followed him into the churchyard,
whither his cry came to them from the top of the tower, that he beheld
nothing either in the fields, or by the forest, but that around the farm
he saw ominous red clouds, for all that the sky was of a deep blue and
agleam with stars over the rest of the plain.

After taking counsel for a long time in the churchyard, they decided to
hide in the wood through which the Spaniards must pass, and, if these
were not too numerous, to attack them and recover Petrus Krayer's cattle
and the plunder which had been taken from the farm.

Having armed themselves with pitchforks and spades, while the women
remained outside the church with the cure, they sought a suitable
ambuscade. Approaching a mill on a rising ground adjacent to the verge
of the forest, they saw the light of the burning farm flaming against
the stars. There they waited under enormous oaks, before a frozen mere.

A shepherd, known as Red Dwarf, climbed the hill to warn the miller, who
had stopped his mill when he saw the flames on the horizon. He bade the
peasant enter, and both men went to a window to stare out into the
night.

Before them the moon shone over the burning farmstead, and in its light
they saw a long procession winding athwart the snow. Having carefully
scrutinized it, the Dwarf descended where his comrades waited under the
trees, and now, they too gradually distinguished four men on horseback
behind a flock which moved grazing on the plain.

While the peasants in their blue breeches and red cloaks continued to
search about the margins of the mere and under the snowlit trees, the
sacristan pointed out to them a box-hedge, behind which they hid.

The Spaniards, driving before them the sheep and the cattle, advanced
upon the ice. When the sheep reached the hedge they began to nibble at
the green stuff, and now Korneliz broke from the shadows of the bushes,
followed by the others with their pitchforks. Then in the midst of the
huddled-up sheep and of the cows who stared affrighted, the savage
strife was fought out beneath the moon, and ended in a massacre.

When they had slain not only the Spaniards, but also their horses,
Korneliz rushed thence across the meadow in the direction of the flames,
while the others plundered and stripped the dead. Thereafter all
returned to the village with their flocks. The women, who were observing
the dark forest from behind the churchyard walls, saw them coming
through the trees and ran with the cure to meet them, and all returned
dancing joyously amid the laughter of the children and the barking of
the dogs.

But, while they made merry, under the pear trees of the orchard, where
the Red Dwarf had hung lanterns in honor of the kermesse, they anxiously
demanded of the cure what was to be done.

The outcome of this was the harnessing of a horse to a cart in order to
fetch the bodies of the woman and the nine little girls to the village.
The sisters and other relations of the dead woman got into the cart
along with the cure, who, being old and very fat, could not walk so far.

In silence they entered the forest, and emerged upon the moonlit plain.
There, in the white light, they descried the dead men, rigid and naked,
among the slain horses. Then they moved onward toward the farm, which
still burned in the midst of the plain.

When they came to the orchard of the flaming house, they stopped at the
gate of the garden, dumb before the overwhelming misfortune of the
peasant. For there, his wife hung, quite naked, on the branches of an
enormous nut tree, among which he himself was now mounting on a ladder,
and beneath which, on the frozen grass, lay his nine little daughters.
Korneliz had already, climbed along the vast boughs, when suddenly, by
the light of the snow, he saw the crowd who horror-struck watched his
every movement. With tears in his eyes, he made a sign to them to help
him, whereat the innkeepers of the Blue Lion and the Golden Sun, the
cure, with a lantern, and many others, climbed up in the moonshine amid
the snow-laden branches, to unfasten the dead. The women of the village
received the corpse in their arms at the foot of the tree; even as our
Lord Jesus Christ was received by the women at the foot of the Cross.

On the morrow they buried her, and for the week thereafter nothing
unusual happened in Nazareth.

But the following Sunday, hungry wolves ran through the village after
high mass, and it snowed until midday. Then, suddenly, the sun shone
brilliantly, and the peasants went to dine as was their wont, and
dressed for the benediction.

There was no one to be seen on the Place, for it froze bitterly. Only
the dogs and chickens roamed about under the trees, or the sheep nibbled
at a three-cornered bit of grass, while the cure's servant swept away
the snow from his garden.

At that moment a troop of armed men crossed the stone bridge at the end
of the village, and halted in the orchard. Peasants hurried from their
houses, but, recognizing the new-comers as Spaniards, they retreated
terrified, and went to the windows to see what would happen.

About thirty soldiers, in full armor, surrounded an old man with a white
beard. Behind them, on pillions, rode red and yellow lancers who jumped
down and ran over the snow to shake off their stiffness, while several
of the soldiers in armor dismounted likewise and fastened their horses
to the trees.

Then they moved in the direction of the Golden Sun, and knocked at the
door. It was opened reluctantly; the soldiers went in, warmed themselves
near the fire, and called for ale.

Presently they came out of the inn, carrying pots, jugs, and rye-bread
for their companions, who surrounded the man with the white beard, where
he waited behind the hedge of lances.

As the street remained deserted the commander sent some horsemen to the
back of the houses, to guard the village on the country side. He then
ordered the lancers to bring him all the children of two years old and
under, to be massacred, as is written in the Gospel of St. Matthew.

The soldiers first went to the little inn of the Green Cabbage, and to
the barber's cottage which stood side by side midway in the street.

One of them opened a sty and a litter of pigs wandered into the village.
The innkeeper and the barber came out, and humbly asked the men what
they wanted; but they did not understand Flemish, and went into the
houses to look for the children.

The innkeeper had one child, who, in its little shift, was screaming on
the table where they had just dined. A soldier took it in his arms, and
carried it away under the apple trees, while the father and mother
followed, crying.

Thereafter the lancers opened other stable doors,--those of the cooper,
the blacksmith, the cobbler,--and calves, cows, asses, pigs, goats, and
sheep roamed about the square. When they broke the carpenter's windows,
several of the oldest and richest inhabitants of the village assembled
in the street, and went to meet the Spaniards. Respectfully they took
off their caps and hats to the leader in the velvet mantle, and asked
him what he was going to do. He did not, understand their language; so
some one ran to fetch the cure.

The priest was putting on a gold chasuble in the vestry, in readiness
for the benediction. The peasant cried: "The Spaniards are in the
orchard!" Horrified, the cure ran to the door of the church, and the
choir-boys followed, carrying wax-tapers and censer.

As he stood there, he saw the animals from the pens and stables
wandering on the snow and on the grass; the horsemen in the village, the
soldiers before the doors, horses tied to trees all along the street;
men and women entreating the man who held the child in its little shift.

The cure hastened into the churchyard, and the peasants turned anxiously
towards him as he came through the pear trees, like the Divine Presence
itself robed in white and gold. They crowded about him where he
confronted the man with the white beard.

He spoke in Flemish and in Latin, but the commander merely shrugged his
shoulders to show that he did not understand.

The villagers asked their priest in a low voice: "What does he say? What
is he going to do?" Others, when they saw the cure in the orchard, came
cautiously from their cottages, women hurried up and whispered in
groups, while the soldiers, till that moment besieging an inn, ran back
at sight of the crowd in the square.

Then the man who held the innkeeper's child by the leg cut off its head
with his sword.

The people saw the head fall, and thereafter the body lie bleeding upon
the grass. The mother picked it up, and carried it away, but forgot the
head. She ran towards her home, but stumbling against a tree fell prone
on the snow, where she lay in a swoon, while the father struggled
between two soldiers.

Some young peasants cast stones and blocks of wood at the Spaniards, but
the horsemen all lowered their lances; the women fled and the cure with
his parishioners began to shriek with horror, amid the bleating of the
sheep, the cackling of the geese, and the barking of the dogs.

But as the soldiers moved away again into the street, the crowd stood
silent to see what would happen.

A troop entered the shop kept by the sacristan's sisters, but came out
quietly, without harming the seven women, who knelt on the threshold
praying.

From these they went to the inn of St. Nicholas, which belonged to the
Hunchback. Here, too, so as to appease them, the door was opened at
once; but, when the soldiers reappeared amid a great uproar, they
carried three children in their arms. The marauders were surrounded by
the Hunchback, his wife, and daughters, all, with clasped hands,
imploring for mercy.

When the soldiers came to their white-bearded leader, they placed the
children at the foot of an elm, where the little ones remained seated on
the snow in their Sunday clothes. But one of them, in a yellow frock,
got up and toddled unsteadily towards the sheep. A soldier followed,
with bare sword; and the child died with his face in the grass, while
the others were killed around the tree.

The peasants and the innkeeper's daughters all fled screaming, and shut
themselves up in their houses. The cure, who was left alone in the
orchard, threw himself on his knees, first before one horseman, then
another, and with crossed arms, supplicated the Spaniards piteously,
while the fathers and mothers seated on the snow beyond wept bitterly
for the dead children whom they held upon their knees.

As the lancers passed along the street, they noticed a big blue
farmstead. When they had tried, in vain, to force open the oaken door
studded with nails, they clambered atop of some tubs, which were frozen
over near the threshold, and by this means gained the house through the
upper windows.

There had been a kermesse in this farm. At sound of the broken window-
panes, the families who had assembled there to eat gaufres, custards,
and hams, crowded together behind the table on which still stood some
empty jugs and dishes. The soldiers entered the kitchen, and after
savage struggle in which many were wounded, they seized all the little
boys and girls; then, with these, and the servant who had bitten a
lancer's thumb, they left the house and fastened the door behind them in
such a way that the parents could not get out.

The villagers who had no children slowly left their houses, and followed
the soldiers at a distance. They saw them throw down their victims on
the grass before the old man, and callously kill them with lance and
sword. During this, men and women leaned out of all the windows of the
blue house, and out of the barn, blaspheming and flinging their hands to
heaven, when they saw the red, pink, and white frocks of their
motionless little ones on the grass between the trees. The soldiers next
hanged the farm servant at the sign of the Half Moon on the other side
of the street, and there was a long silence in the village.

The massacre now became general. Mothers fled from their houses, and
attempted to escape through the flower and vegetable gardens, and so
into the country beyond, but the horsemen pursued them and drove them
back into the street. Peasants with caps in their clasped hands knelt
before the men who dragged away their children, while amid the confusion
the dogs barked joyously. The cure, with hands upraised to heaven,
rushed up and down in front of the houses and under the trees, praying
desperately; here and there, soldiers, trembling with cold, blew on
their fingers as they moved about the road, or waited with hands in
their breeches pockets, and swords under their arms, before the windows
of the houses which were being scaled.

Everywhere, as in small bands of twos and threes, they moved along the
streets, where these scenes were being enacted, and entered the houses,
they beheld the piteous grief of the peasants. The wife of a market-
gardener, who occupied a red brick cottage near the church, pursued with
a wooden stool the two men who carried off her children in a
wheelbarrow. When she saw them die, a horrible sickness came upon her,
and they thrust her down on the stool under a tree by the roadside.

Other soldiers swarmed up the lime trees in front of a farmstead with
its blank walls tinted mauve, and entered the house by removing the
tiles. When they came back on to the roof, the father and mother, with
outstretched arms, tried to follow them through the opening, but the
soldiers repeatedly pushed them back, and had at last to strike them on
the head with their swords, before they could disengage themselves and
regain the street.

One family shut up in the cellar of a large cottage lamented near the
grating, through which the father wildly brandished a pitchfork. Outside
on a heap of manure, a bald old man sobbed all alone; in the square, a
woman in a yellow dress had swooned, and her weeping husband now
supported her under the arms, against a pear tree; another woman in red
fondled her little girl, bereft of her hands, and lifted now one tiny
arm, now the other, to see if the child would not move. Yet another
woman fled towards the country; but the soldiers pursued her among the
hayricks, which stood out in black relief against the fields of snow.

Beneath the inn of the Four Sons of Aymon a surging tumult reigned. The
inhabitants had formed a barricade, and the soldiers went round and
round the house without being able to enter. Then they were attempting
to climb up to the signboard by the creepers, when they noticed a ladder
behind the garden door. This they raised against the wall, and went up
it in file. But the innkeeper and all his family hurled tables, stools,
plates, and cradles down upon them from the windows; the ladder was
overturned, and the soldiers fell.

In a wooden hut at the end of the village, another band found a peasant
woman washing her children in a tub near the fire. Being old and very
deaf, she did not hear them enter. Two men took the tub and carried it
away, and the stupefied woman followed with the clothes in which she was
about to dress the children. But when she saw traces of blood everywhere
in the village, swords in the orchards, cradles overturned in the
street, women on their knees, others who wrung their hands over the
dead, she began to scream and beat the soldiers, who put down the tub to
defend themselves. The cure hastened up also, and with hands clasped
over his chasuble, entreated the Spaniards before the naked little ones
howling in the water. Some soldiers came up, tied the mad peasant to a
tree, and carried off the children.

The butcher, who had hidden his little girl, leaned against his shop,
and looked on callously. A lancer and one of the men in armor entered
the house and found the child in a copper boiler. Then the butcher in
despair took one of his knives and rushed after them into the street,
but soldiers who were passing disarmed him and hanged him by the hands
to the hooks in the wall--there, among the flayed animals, he kicked and
struggled, blaspheming, until the evening.

Near the churchyard, there was a great gathering before a long, low
house, painted green. The owner, standing on his threshold, shed bitter
tears; as he was very fat and jovial looking, he excited the pity of
some soldiers who were seated in the sun against the wall, patting a
dog. The one, too, who dragged away his child by the hand, gesticulated
as if to say: "What can I do? It's not my fault!"

A peasant who was pursued, jumped into a boat, moored near the stone
bridge, and with his wife and children moved away across the unfrozen
part of the narrow lagoon. Not daring to follow, the soldiers strode
furiously through the reeds. They climbed up into the willows on the
banks to try to reach the fugitives with their lances--as they did not
succeed, they continued for a long time to threaten the terrified family
adrift upon the black water.

The orchard was still full of people, for it was there, in front of the
white-bearded man who directed the massacre, that most of the children
were killed. Little dots who could just walk alone stood side by side
munching their slices of bread and jam, and stared curiously at the
slaying of their helpless playmates, or collected round the village fool
who played his flute on the grass.

Then suddenly there was a uniform movement in the village. The peasants
ran towards the castle which stood on the brown rising ground, at the
end of the street. They had seen their seigneur leaning on the
battlements of his tower and watching the massacre. Men, women, old
people, with hands outstretched, supplicated to him, in his velvet
mantle and his gold cap, as to a king in heaven. But he raised his arms
and shrugged his shoulders to show his helplessness, and when they
implored him more and more persistently, kneeling in the snow, with
bared heads, and uttering piteous cries, he turned slowly into the tower
and the peasants' last hope was gone.

When all the children were slain, the tired soldiers wiped their swords
on the grass, and supped under the pear trees. Then they mounted one
behind the other, and rode out of Nazareth across the stone bridge, by
which they had come.

The setting of the sun behind the forest made the woods aflame, and dyed
the village blood-red. Exhausted with running and entreating, the cure
had thrown himself upon the snow, in front of the church, and his
servant stood near him. They stared upon the street and the orchard,
both thronged with the peasants in their best clothes. Before many
thresholds, parents with dead children on their knees bewailed with ever
fresh amaze their bitter grief. Others still lamented over the children
where they had died, near a barrel, under a barrow, or at the edge of a
pool. Others carried away the dead in silence. There were some who began
to wash the benches, the stools, the tables, the blood-stained shifts,
and to pick up the cradles which had been thrown into the street. Mother
by mother moaned under the trees over the dead bodies which lay upon the
grass, little mutilated bodies which they recognized by their woollen
frocks. Those who were childless moved aimlessly through the square,
stopping at times in front of the bereaved, who wailed and sobbed in
their sorrow. The men, who no longer wept, sullenly pursued their
strayed animals, around which the barking dogs coursed; or, in silence,
repaired so far their broken windows and rifled roofs. As the moon
solemnly rose through the quietudes of the sky, deep silence as of sleep
descended upon the village, where now not the shadow of a living thing
stirred.