The Madman by Kahlil Gibran (pdf ebook reader txt) 📕

came

by and said to me, “Of all those who come here to bury, you alone

I like.”

 

Said I, “You please me exceedingly, but why do you like me?”

 

“Because,” said he, “They come weeping and go weeping—you only

come laughing and go laughing.”

 

On the Steps of the Temple

 

Yestereve, on the marble steps of the Temple, I saw a woman sitting

between two men. One side of her face was pale, the other was

blushing.

 

The Blessed City

 

In my youth I was told that in a certain city every one lived

according to the Scriptures.

 

And I said, “I will seek that city and the blessedness thereof.”

And it was far. And I made great provision for my journey. And

after forty days I beheld the city and on the forty-first day I

entered into it.

 

And lo! the whole company of the inhabitants had each but a single

eye and but one hand. And I was astonished and said to myself,

“Shall they of this so holy city have but one eye and one hand?”

 

then I saw that they too were astonished, for they were marveling

greatly at my two hands and my two eyes. And as they were speaking

together I inquired of them saying, “Is this indeed the Blessed

City, where each man lives according to the Scriptures?” And they

said, “Yes, this is that city.”

 

“And what,” said I, “hath befallen you, and where are your right

eyes and your right hands?”

 

And all the people were moved. And they said, “Come thou and see.”

 

And they took me to the temple in the midst of the city. and in

the temple I saw a heap of hands and eyes. All withered. Then said

I, “Alas! what conqueror hath committed this cruelty upon you?”

 

And there went a murmur amongst them. And one of their elders

stood forth and said, “This doing is of ourselves. God hath made

us conquerors over the evil that was in us.”

 

And he led me to a high altar, and all the people followed. And

he showed me above the altar an inscription graven, and I read:

 

“If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out and cast it from thee;

for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish,

and not that the whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy

right hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it from thee; for it

is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and

not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.”

 

Then I understood. And I turned about to all the people and cried,

“Hath no man or woman among you two eyes or two hands?”

 

And they answered me saying, “No, not one. There is none whole save

such as are yet too young to read the Scripture and to understand

its commandment.”

 

And when we had come out of the temple, I straightway left that

Blessed City; for I was not too young, and I could read the scripture.

 

The Good God and the Evil God

 

The Good God and the Evil God met on the mountain top.

 

The Good God said, “Good day to you, brother.”

 

The Evil God did not answer.

 

And the Good God said, “You are in a bad humour today.”

 

“Yes,” said the Evil God, “for of late I have been often mistaken

for you, called by your name, and treated as if I were you, and it

ill-pleases me.”

 

And the Good God said, “But I too have been mistaken for you and

called by your name.”

 

The Evil God walked away curing the stupidity of man.

 

Defeat

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my solitude and my aloofness;

You are dearer to me than a thousand triumphs,

And sweeter to my heart than all world-glory.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my self-knowledge and my defiance,

Through you I know that I am yet young and swift of foot

And not to be trapped by withering laurels.

And in you I have found aloneness

And the joy of being shunned and scorned.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my shining sword and shield,

In your eyes I have read

That to be enthroned is to be enslaved,

and to be understood is to be leveled down,

And to be grasped is but to reach one’s fullness

and like a ripe fruit to fall and be consumed.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my bold companion,

You shall hear my songs and my cries an my silences,

And none but you shall speak to me of the beating of wings,

And urging of seas,

And of mountains that burn in the night,

And you alone shall climb my steep and rocky soul.

 

Defeat, my Defeat, my deathless courage,

You and I shall laugh together with the storm,

And together we shall dig graves for all that die in us,

And we shall stand in the sun with a will,

And we shall be dangerous.

 

Night and the Madman

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, dark and naked; I walk on the flaming

path which is above my day-dreams, and whenever my foot touches

earth a giant oak tree comes forth.”

 

“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman, for thou still lookest

backward to see how large a foot-print thou leavest on the sand.”

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, silent and deep; and in the heart of

my loneliness lies a Goddess in child-bed; and in him who is being

born Heaven touches Hell.”

 

“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman, for thou shudderest yet

before pain, and the song of the abyss terrifies thee.”

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, wild and terrible; for my ears are crowded

with cries of conquered nations and sighs for forgotten lands.”

 

“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman, for thou still takest thy

little-self for a comrade, and with thy monster-self thou canst

not be friend.”

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, cruel and awful; for my bosom is lit

by burning ships at sea, and my lips are wet with blood of slain

warriors.”

 

“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman; for the desire for a

sister-spirit is yet upon thee, and thou has not become a low unto

thyself.”

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, joyous and glad; for he who dwells in

my shadow is now drunk with virgin wine, and she who follows me is

sinning mirthfully.”

 

“Nay, thou art not like me, O, Madman, for thy soul is wrapped in

the veil of seven folds and thou holdest not they heart in thine

hand.”

 

“I am like thee, O, Night, patient and passionate; for in my breast

a thousand dead lovers are buried in shrouds of withered kisses.”

 

“Yea, Madman, art thou like me? Art thou like me? And canst thou

ride the tempest as a steed, and grasp the lightning as a sword?”

 

“Like thee, O, Night, like thee, mighty and high, and my throne is

built upon heaps of fallen Gods; and before me too pass the days

to kiss the hem of my garment but never to gaze at my face.”

 

“Art thou like me, child of my darkest heart? And dost thou think

my untamed thoughts and speak my vast language?”

 

“Yea, we are twin brothers, O, Night; for thou revealest space and

I reveal my soul.”

 

Faces

 

I have seen a face with a thousand countenances, and a face that

was but a single countenance as if held in a mould.

 

I have seen a face whose sheen I could look through to the ugliness

beneath, and a face whose sheen I had to lift to see how beautiful

it was.

 

I have seen an old face much lined with nothing, and a smooth face

in which all things were graven.

 

I know faces, because I look through the fabric my own eye weaves,

and behold the reality beneath.

 

The Greater Sea

 

My soul and I went to the great sea to bathe. And when we reached

the shore, we went about looking for a hidden and lonely place.

 

But as we walked, we saw a man sitting on a grey rock taking pinches

of salt from a bag and throwing them into the sea.

 

“This is the pessimist,” said my soul, “Let us leave this place.

We cannot bathe here.”

 

We walked on until we reached an inlet. There we saw, standing

on a white rock, a man holding a bejeweled box, from which he took

sugar and threw it into the sea.

 

“And this is the optimist,” said my soul, “And he too must not see

our naked bodies.

 

Further on we walked. And on a beach we saw a man picking up dead

fish and tenderly putting them back into the water.

 

“And we cannot bathe before him,” said my soul. “He is the humane

philanthropist.”

 

And we passed on.

 

Then we came where we saw a man tracing his shadow on the sand.

Great waves came and erased it. But he went on tracing it again

and again.

 

“He is the mystic,” said my soul, “Let us leave him.”

 

And we walked on, till in a quiet cover we saw a man scooping up

the foam and putting it into an alabaster bowl.

 

“He is the idealist,” said my soul, “Surely he must not see our

nudity.”

 

And on we walked. Suddenly we heard a voice crying, “This is the

sea. This is the deep sea. This is the vast and mighty sea.”

And when we reached the voice it was a man whose back was turned

to the sea, and at his ear he held a shell, listening to its murmur.

 

And my soul said, “Let us pass on. He is the realist, who turns

his back on the whole he cannot grasp, and busies himself with a

fragment.”

 

So we passed on. And in a weedy place among the rocks was a man

with his head buried in the sand. And I said to my soul, “We can

bath here, for he cannot see us.”

 

“Nay,” said my soul, “For he is the most deadly of them all. He

is the puritan.”

 

Then a great sadness came over the face of my soul, and into her

voice.

 

“Let us go hence,” she said, “For there is no lonely, hidden place

where we can bathe. I would not have this wind lift my golden hair,

or bare my white bosom in this air, or let the light disclose my

sacred nakedness.”

 

Then we left that sea to seek the Greater Sea.

 

Crucified

 

I cried to men, “I would be crucified!”

 

And they said, “Why should your blood be upon our heads?”

 

And I answered, “How else shall you be exalted except by crucifying

madmen?”

 

And they heeded and I was crucified. And the crucifixion appeased

me.

 

And when I was hanged between earth and heaven they lifted up their

heads to see me. And they were exalted, for their heads had never

before been lifted.

 

But as they stood looking up at me one called out, “For what art

thou seeking to atone?”

 

And another cried, “In what cause dost thou sacrifice thyself?”

 

And a third said, “Thinkest thou with this price to buy world

glory?”

 

Then said a fourth, “Behold, how he smiles! Can such pain be

forgiven?”