Chapter VI: The Eclipse

by Mark Twain

　　In the stillness and the darkness, realization soonbegan to supplement knowledge. The mere knowledge of a fact is pale; but when you come to realizeyour fact, it takes on color. It is all the difference between hearing of a man being stabbed to the heart, andseeing it done. In the stillness and the darkness, theknowledge that I was in deadly danger took to itselfdeeper and deeper meaning all the time; a somethingwhich was realization crept inch by inch through myveins and turned me cold.But it is a blessed provision of nature that at timeslike these, as soon as a man's mercury has got down toa certain point there comes a revulsion, and he rallies.Hope springs up, and cheerfulness along with it, andthen he is in good shape to do something for himself,if anything can be done. When my rally came, itcame with a bound. I said to myself that my eclipsewould be sure to save me, and make me the greatestman in the kingdom besides; and straightway mymercury went up to the top of the tube, and my solicitudes all vanished. I was as happy a man as therewas in the world. I was even impatient for tomorrow to come, I so wanted to gather in that greattriumph and be the center of all the nation's wonderand reverence. Besides, in a business way it would bethe making of me; I knew that.Meantime there was one thing which had got pushedinto the background of my mind. That was the halfconviction that when the nature of my proposedcalamity should be reported to those superstitiouspeople, it would have such an effect that they wouldwant to compromise. So, by and by when I heardfootsteps coming, that thought was recalled to me, andI said to myself, "As sure as anything, it's the compromise. Well, if it is good, all right, I will accept;but if it isn't, I mean to stand my ground and play myhand for all it is worth."The door opened, and some men-at-arms appeared.The leader said:"The stake is ready. Come!"The stake! The strength went out of me, and Ialmost fell down. It is hard to get one's breath atsuch a time, such lumps come into one's throat, andsuch gaspings; but as soon as I could speak, I said:"But this is a mistake -- the execution is tomorrow.""Order changed; been set forward a day. Hastethee!"I was lost. There was no help for me. I wasdazed, stupefied; I had no command over myself, Ionly wandered purposely about, like one out of hismind; so the soldiers took hold of me, and pulled mealong with them, out of the cell and along the maze ofunderground corridors, and finally into the fierce glareof daylight and the upper world. As we stepped intothe vast enclosed court of the castle I got a shock;for the first thing I saw was the stake, standing in thecenter, and near it the piled fagots and a monk. Onall four sides of the court the seated multitudes roserank above rank, forming sloping terraces that wererich with color. The king and the queen sat in theirthrones, the most conspicuous figures there, of course.To note all this, occupied but a second. The nextsecond Clarence had slipped from some place of concealment and was pouring news into my ear, his eyesbeaming with triumph and gladness. He said:"'Tis through me the change was wrought! Andmain hard have I worked to do it, too. But when Irevealed to them the calamity in store, and saw howmighty was the terror it did engender, then saw I alsothat this was the time to strike! Wherefore I diligentlypretended, unto this and that and the other one, thatyour power against the sun could not reach its fulluntil the morrow; and so if any would save the sunand the world, you must be slain to-day, while yourenchantments are but in the weaving and lack potency.Odsbodikins, it was but a dull lie, a most indifferentinvention, but you should have seen them seize it andswallow it, in the frenzy of their fright, as it were salvation sent from heaven; and all the while was Ilaughing in my sleeve the one moment, to see them socheaply deceived, and glorifying God the next, thatHe was content to let the meanest of His creatures beHis instrument to the saving of thy life. Ah howhappy has the matter sped! You will not need to dothe sun a real hurt -- ah, forget not that, on your soulforget it not! Only make a little darkness -- only thelittlest little darkness, mind, and cease with that. Itwill be sufficient. They will see that I spoke falsely, --being ignorant, as they will fancy -- and with the falling of the first shadow of that darkness you shall seethem go mad with fear; and they will set you free andmake you great! Go to thy triumph, now! But remember -- ah, good friend, I implore thee remembermy supplication, and do the blessed sun no hurt. Formy sake, thy true friend."I choked out some words through my grief andmisery; as much as to say I would spare the sun; forwhich the lad's eyes paid me back with such deep andloving gratitude that I had not the heart to tell him hisgood-hearted foolishness had ruined me and sent meto my death.As the soldiers assisted me across the court the stillness was so profound that if I had been blindfold Ishould have supposed I was in a solitude instead ofwalled in by four thousand people. There was not amovement perceptible in those masses of humanity;they were as rigid as stone images, and as pale; anddread sat upon every countenance. This hush continued while I was being chained to the stake; it stillcontinued while the fagots were carefully and tediouslypiled about my ankles, my knees, my thighs, my body.Then there was a pause, and a deeper hush, if possible,and a man knelt down at my feet with a blazing torch;the multitude strained forward, gazing, and partingslightly from their seats without knowing it; the monkraised his hands above my head, and his eyes towardthe blue sky, and began some words in Latin; in thisattitude he droned on and on, a little while, and thenstopped. I waited two or three moments; then lookedup; he was standing there petrified. With a commonimpulse the multitude rose slowly up and stared intothe sky. I followed their eyes, as sure as guns, therewas my eclipse beginning! The life went boilingthrough my veins; I was a new man! The rim ofblack spread slowly into the sun's disk, my heart beathigher and higher, and still the assemblage and thepriest stared into the sky, motionless. I knew thatthis gaze would be turned upon me, next. When itwas, l was ready. I was in one of the most grandattitudes I ever struck, with my arm stretched uppointing to the sun. It was a noble effect. Youcould see the shudder sweep the mass like a wave.Two shouts rang out, one close upon the heels of theother:"Apply the torch!""I forbid it!"The one was from Merlin, the other from the king.Merlin started from his place -- to apply the torchhimself, I judged. I said:"Stay where you are. If any man moves -- eventhe king -- before I give him leave, I will blast himwith thunder, I will consume him with lightnings!"The multitude sank meekly into their seats, and I wasjust expecting they would. Merlin hesitated a momentor two, and I was on pins and needles during that littlewhile. Then he sat down, and I took a good breath;for I knew I was master of the situation now. Theking said:"Be merciful, fair sir, and essay no further in thisperilous matter, lest disaster follow. It was reportedto us that your powers could not attain unto their fullstrength until the morrow; but --""Your Majesty thinks the report may have been alie? It was a lie."That made an immense effect; up went appealinghands everywhere, and the king was assailed with astorm of supplications that I might be bought off atany price, and the calamity stayed. The king waseager to comply. He said:"Name any terms, reverend sir, even to the halvingof my kingdom; but banish this calamity, spare thesun!"My fortune was made. I would have taken him upin a minute, but I couldn't stop an eclipse; the thingwas out of the question. So I asked time to consider.The king said:"How long -- ah, how long, good sir? Be merciful; look, it groweth darker, moment by moment.Prithee how long?""Not long. Half an hour -- maybe an hour."There were a thousand pathetic protests, but Icouldn't shorten up any, for I couldn't rememberhow long a total eclipse lasts. I was in a puzzled condition, anyway, and wanted to think. Something waswrong about that eclipse, and the fact was very unsettling. If this wasn't the one I was after, how wasI to tell whether this was the sixth century, or nothingbut a dream? Dear me, if I could only prove it wasthe latter! Here was a glad new hope. If the boywas right about the date, and this was surely the 20th,it wasn't the sixth century. I reached for the monk'ssleeve, in considerable excitement, and asked him whatday of the month it was.Hang him, he said it was the twenty-first! It mademe turn cold to hear him. I begged him not to makeany mistake about it; but he was sure; he knew itwas the 21st. So, that feather-headed boy had botchedthings again! The time of the day was right for theeclipse; I had seen that for myself, in the beginning,by the dial that was near by. Yes, I was in KingArthur's court, and I might as well make the most outof it I could.The darkness was steadily growing, the people becoming more and more distressed. I now said:"I have reflected, Sir King. For a lesson, I willlet this darkness proceed, and spread night in theworld; but whether I blot out the sun for good, orrestore it, shall rest with you. These are the terms, towit: You shall remain king over all your dominions,and receive all the glories and honors that belong tothe kingship; but you shall appoint me your perpetualminister and executive, and give me for my servicesone per cent. of such actual increase of revenue overand above its present amount as I may succeed increating for the state. If I can't live on that, I sha'n'task anybody to give me a lift. Is it satisfactory?"There was a prodigious roar of applause, and out ofthe midst of it the king's voice rose, saying:"Away with his bonds, and set him free! and dohim homage, high and low, rich and poor, for he isbecome the king's right hand, is clothed with powerand authority, and his seat is upon the highest step ofthe throne! Now sweep away this creeping night, andbring the light and cheer again, that all the world maybless thee."But I said:"That a common man should be shamed beforethe world, is nothing; but it were dishonor to the kingif any that saw his minister naked should not also seehim delivered from his shame. If I might ask that myclothes be brought again --""They are not meet," the king broke in. "Fetchraiment of another sort; clothe him like a prince!"My idea worked. I wanted to keep things as theywere till the eclipse was total, otherwise they would betrying again to get me to dismiss the darkness, and ofcourse I couldn't do it. Sending for the clothesgained some delay, but not enough. So I had tomake another excuse. I said it would be but naturalif the king should change his mind and repent to someextent of what he had done under excitement; therefore I would let the darkness grow a while, and if atthe end of a reasonable time the king had kept hismind the same, the darkness should be dismissed.Neither the king nor anybody else was satisfied withthat arrangement, but I had to stick to my point.It grew darker and darker and blacker and blacker,while I struggled with those awkward sixth-centuryclothes. It got to be pitch dark, at last, and themultitude groaned with horror to feel the cold uncannynight breezes fan through the place and see the starscome out and twinkle in the sky. At last the eclipsewas total, and I was very glad of it, but everybodyelse was in misery; which was quite natural. I said:"The king, by his silence, still stands to the terms."Then I lifted up my hands -- stood just so a moment --then I said, with the most awful solemnity: "Let theenchantment dissolve and pass harmless away!"There was no response, for a moment, in that deepdarkness and that graveyard hush. But when thesilver rim of the sun pushed itself out, a moment ortwo later, the assemblage broke loose with a vast shoutand came pouring down like a deluge to smother mewith blessings and gratitude; and Clarence was not thelast of the wash, to be sure.