Then what we have to deal with is a state,
Such as so often happens, contrary
To all the laws of nature; and which we
Must merely estimate as some disease.
And only healthy thought, securely based
On fully conscious sense-impressions, can
Pass judgment on the riddles set by life.
Strader:
Yet even here one fact presents itself;
And what we now have heard must have some worth—
For, even if we set aside all else
It doth compel the thought that spirit-power
Can cause thought-transference from soul to soul.
Astrid:
Ah me, if ye would only dare to tread
The ground your mode of thought doth choose to shun:
As snow before the sunlight’s piercing glare
Your vain delusion needs must melt away,
Which makes the moods revealéd, in such minds
Appear diseased, abnormal, wonderful.
They are suggestive, but they are not strange.
And small this wonder doth appear to me
When I compare it with the myriad
Of wonders that make up my daily life.
Capesius:
Nay, nay, one thing it is to recognize
What lies before our eyes on every side,
But quite another, what is shown us here.
Strader:
Of spirit ’tis not necessary to speak
Until there are things shown to us which lie
Outside the strictly circled boundary
Set by the laws of scientific thought.
Astrid:
The clear shaft of the sunlight on the dew
Which glistens in the morning’s golden light,
(Enter Felix Balde.)
The hurling stream that riseth ’neath the rock,
The thunder rumbling in the cloud-wrapped sky,
All these do speak to me a spirit tongue:
I strove to understand it; and I know
That of this speech’s meaning and its might,
Only a faint reflection can be glimpsed
Through your investigations, as they are.
And when that kind of speech sank deep within
My heart, I found my soul’s true joy at last.
Nor could aught else, but human words alone
And spirit teaching grant this gift to me.
Felix Balde:
Those words rang true indeed.
Maria:
Those words rang true indeed. I must essay
To tell what joy fills all my heart to see
(Enter Felicia Balde.)
For the first time here with us yonder man,
Of whom we oft have heard; and joy doth cause
The wish to see him here full many times.
Felix Balde:
It is not usual for me that I should
Associate with such a crowd of men:
And not alone unusual——
Felicia:
And not alone unusual—— Aye, ’tis so.
His nature drives us into solitude
Away from all; year in, year out, we hear
Scarce any other converse save our own.
And if this good man here from time to time
(Pointing to Capesius.)
Came not to linger in our cottage home,
We scarce should realize that other men,
Besides ourselves, live on the earth at all.
And if the man, who spake such wondrous words
But recently in yonder lecture-hall,
And who affected us so potently,
Did not full many a time my Felix meet,
When he is gone about his daily tasks,
Ye would know nought of our forgotten life.
Maria:
So the professor often visits you?
Capesius:
Assuredly. And I may tell you all,
The very deep indebtedness I feel
To this good woman, who doth give to me
In rich abundance, what none other can.
Maria:
And of what nature are these gifts of hers?
Capesius:
If I would tell the tale, then must I touch
A thing that verily doth seem to me
More wonderful than much that here I’ve heard,
In
