A Voyage to the Moon | Page 8

period he had
occasionally thrown out dark hints that the time would come when I should be restored to
liberty, and that he had an important secret, which he would one day communicate. I
should have been more tantalized with the expectations that these remarks were
calculated to raise, had I not suspected them to be a good-natured artifice, to save me
from despondency, as they were never made except when he saw me looking serious and
thoughtful.
CHAPTER II.
_The Brahmin's illness--He reveals an important secret to Atterley-- Curious information
concerning the Moon--The Glonglims--They plan a voyage to the Moon._
About this period, one afternoon in the month of March, when I repaired to the hermitage
as usual, I found my venerable friend stretched on his humble pallet, breathing very
quickly, and seemingly in great pain. He was labouring under a pleurisy, which is not
unfrequent in the mountainous region, at this season. He told me that his disease had not
yielded to the ordinary remedies which he had tried when he first felt its approach, and
that he considered himself to be dangerously ill. "I am, however," he added, "prepared to
die. Sit down on that block, and listen to what I shall say to you. Though I shall quit this
state of being for another and a better, I confess that I was alarmed at the thought of
expiring, before I had an opportunity of seeing and conversing with you. I am the
depository of a secret, that I believe is known to no other living mortal. I once determined
that it should die with me; and had I not met with you, it certainly should. But from our
first acquaintance, my heart has been strongly attracted towards you; and as soon as I
found you possessed of qualities to inspire esteem as well as regard, I felt disposed to
give you this proof of my confidence. Still I hesitated. I first wished to deliberate on the
probable effects of my disclosure upon the condition of society. I saw that it might
produce evil, as well as good; but on weighing the two together, I have satisfied myself
that the good will preponderate, and have determined to act accordingly. Take this key,
(stretching out his feverish hand,) and after waiting two hours, in which time the
medicine I have taken will have either produced a good effect, or put an end to my
sufferings, you may then open that blue chest in the corner. It has a false bottom. On
removing the paper which covers it, you will find the manuscript containing the
important secret, together with some gold pieces, which I have saved for the day of

need--because--(and he smiled in spite of his sufferings)--because hoarding is one of the
pleasures of old men. Take them both, and use them discreetly. When I am gone, I
request you, my friend, to discharge the last sad duties of humanity, and to see me buried
according to the usages of my caste. The simple beings around me will then behold that I
am mortal like themselves. And let this precious relic of female loveliness and worth,
(taking a small picture, set in gold, from his bosom,) be buried with me. It has been
warmed by my heart's blood for twenty-five years: let it be still near that heart when it
ceases to beat. I have yet more to say to you; but my strength is too much exhausted."
The good old man here closed his eyes, with an expression of patient resignation, and
rather as if he courted sleep than felt inclined to it: and, after shutting the door of his cell,
I repaired to his little garden, to pass the allotted two hours. Left to my meditations, when
I thought that I was probably about to be deprived for ever of the Hermit's conversation
and society, I felt the wretchedness of my situation recur with all its former force. I sat
down on a smooth rock under a tamarind tree, the scene of many an interesting
conference between the Brahmin and myself; and I cast my eyes around--but how
changed was every thing before me! I no longer regarded the sparkling eddies of the little
cascade which fell down a steep rock at the upper end of the garden, and formed a
pellucid basin below. The gay flowers and rich foliage of this genial climate--the bright
plumage and cheerful notes of the birds--were all there; but my mind was not in a state to
relish them. I arose, and in extreme agitation rambled over this little Eden, in which I had
passed so many delightful hours.
Before the allotted time had elapsed--shall I confess it?--my fears for the Hermit were
overcome by those that were purely selfish. It