Hans Christian Andersen
The Last Pearl
There was a rich and happy
house. All those in it-the owners, and servants, and friends, too-were happy
and cheerful, for on this day a son and heir had been born, and mother and
child were doing well.
The lamp in the cozy bedroom had been partly
covered, and heavy curtains of costly silken material had been drawn tightly
together before the windows. The carpet was as thick and soft as moss.
Everything here invited rest and sleep; it was a delightful place for repose.
And the nurse found it so, too; she slept, and indeed she might, for all was
well and blessed here.
The Guardian Spirit of the house stood by the head
of the bed; and over the child, at the mother's breast, it spread itself like a
net of shining stars, stars of great richness; each was a pearl of good
fortune. Life's good fairies had brought their gifts to the newborn child; here
sparkled health, wealth, happiness, love-everything that man can desire on
earth.
"Everything has been brought and bestowed
here," said the Guardian Spirit.
"No," said a voice near by; it was the
voice of the child's good Angel. "One fairy has not yet brought her gift,
but she will bring it; she'll bring it in time, even if years should pass
first. The last pearl is yet lacking."
"Lacking! Nothing must be lacking here! If
that actually is the case, let us go and seek the powerful fairy; let us go to
her!"
"She will come! She will come someday! Her
pearl must be given to bind the wreath together!"
"Where does she live? Where is her home? Tell
me that, and I'll go and fetch the pearl!"
"You do want to then," said the child's
good Angel. "I will guide you to her, or to where she is to be sought. She
has no permanent place; she visits the palace of the emperor and the cottage of
the poorest peasant. She passes no one by without leaving a trace of herself;
to all she brings her gift, be it a world or a toy. And this child, also, she
will come to. You think that while the time to come will be equally long one
way or the other, it will not be equally profitable if you await her; well,
then, we will go and fetch the pearl, the last pearl in this wealth of
gifts."
And so, hand in hand, they flew to the place which
at the moment was the fairy's home.
It was a large house, with dark halls and empty
rooms, all strangely still. A row of windows stood open, so the fresh air could
flow in, and the long white curtains rustled in the breeze.
In the middle of the floor stood an open coffin,
and within it lay the corpse of a woman still in the prime of life. The
loveliest fresh roses lay upon her, leaving visible only the folded, delicate
hands and the noble face, beautiful in death, with the exalted solemnity of one
initiated into God's service.
By the coffin stood her husband and children, a whole
flock of them, the smallest of whom was held in his father's arm. They had come
to bid a last farewell, and the husband kissed her hand, that which, now like a
withered leaf, had once clasped theirs with strength and love. Bitter tears of
sorrow fell in heavy drops upon the floor, but not a word was spoken. Silence
expressed a world of grief. And silent and sobbing, they left the room.
A lighted candle stood there, the flame struggling
against the wind as it shot up its long red tongue. Strangers entered the room,
closed the lid of the coffin, and hammered in the nails. The hammer strokes
clanged sharply through the halls and rooms of the house, resounding in the
hearts that bled there.
"Where do you take me?" inquired the
Guardian Spirit. "Here could live no fairy whose pearl belong among life's
best gifts."
"She dwells in this very place, now at this
holy hour," said the Angel, pointing to a corner.
And there, where the mother had sat in life amid
flowers and pictures, and been like the good fairy of the house, where she had
affectionately greeted husband, children, and friends, and, like rays of
sunshine, had spread happiness, love, and harmony, and been the very heart of
everything, there now sat a strange woman clad in long, heavy robes. It was
Sorrow, and she now ruled here in the mother's place. A hot tear rolled down
her cheek, into her lap, where it became a pearl, sparkling with all the hues
of the rainbow, and as the Angel caught it up it shone with the sevenfold
luster of a star.
"The Pearl of Sorrow, the last pearl, which
must never be lacking! Through it the light and splendor of all other gifts are
enhanced. Behold in it a reflection of the rainbow, which unites earth with
heaven itself! In the place of each or our beloved ones taken from us by death,
we gain one friend more to look forward to being with in heaven. In the night
we look up beyond the stars, toward the end of all things. Reflect, then, upon
the Pearl of Sorrow, for within it lie the wings of Psyche, which carry us away
from here."