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.The West has failed.It shall all go up in a great fire, and all shall be ended.Ash! Ash andsmoke blown away on the wind!'Then Gandalf seeing the madness that was on him feared that he hadalready done some evil deed, and he thrust forward, with Beregond and Pippinbehind him, while Denethor gave back until he stood beside the table within.But there they found Faramir, still dreaming in his fever, lying upon thetable.Wood was piled under it, and high all about it, and all was drenchedwith oil, even the garments of Faramir and the coverlets; but as yet no firehad been set to the fuel.Then Gandalf revealed the strength that lay hid inhim; even as the light of his power was hidden under his grey mantle.Heleaped up on to the faggots, and raising the sick man lightly he sprang downagain, and bore him towards the door.But as he did so Faramir moaned andcalled on his father in his dream.Denethor started as one waking from a trance, and the flame died in hiseyes, and he wept; and he said: 'Do not take my son from me! He calls forme.''He calls,' said Gandalf, 'but you cannot come to him yet.For he mustseek healing on the threshold of death, and maybe find it not.Whereas yourpart is to go out to the battle of your City, where maybe death awaits you.This you know in your heart.''He will not wake again,' said Denethor.'Battle is vain.Why should wewish to live longer? Why should we not go to death side by side?''Authority is not given to you, Steward of Gondor, to order the hour ofyour death,' answered Gandalf.'And only the heathen kings, under thedomination of the Dark Power, did thus, slaying themselves in pride anddespair, murdering their kin to ease their own death.' Then passing throughthe door he took Faramir from the deadly house and laid him on the bier onwhich he had been brought, and which had now been set in the porch.Denethorfollowed him, and stood trembling, looking with longing on the face of hisson.And for a moment, while all were silent and still, watching the Lord inhis throes, he wavered.'Come!' said Gandalf.'We are needed.There is much that you can yetdo.'Then suddenly Denethor laughed.He stood up tall and proud again, andstepping swiftly back to the table he lifted from it the pillow on which hishead had lain.Then coming to the doorway he drew aside the covering, andlo! he had between his hands a palantnr.And as he held it up, it seemed tothose that looked on that the globe began to glow with an inner flame, sothat the lean face of the Lord was lit as with a red fire, and it seemed cutout of hard stone, sharp with black shadows, noble, proud, and terrible.Hiseyes glittered.'Pride and despair!' he cried.'Didst thou think that the eyes of theWhite Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, GreyFool.For thy hope is but ignorance.Go then and labour in healing! Go forth andfight! Vanity.For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day.But against the Power that now arises there is no victory.To this City onlythe first finger of its hand has yet been stretched.All the East is moving.And even now the wind of thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleetwith black sails.The West has failed.It is time for all to depart whowould not be slaves.''Such counsels will make the Enemy's victory certain indeed,' saidGandalf.'Hope on then!' laughed Denethor.'Do I not know thee, Mithrandir? Thyhope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, orwest.I have read thy mind and its policies.Do I not know that youcommanded this halfling here to keep silence? That you brought him hither tobe a spy within my very chamber? And yet in our speech together I havelearned the names and purpose of all thy companions.So! With the left handthou wouldst use me for a little while as a shield against Mordor, and withthe right bring up this Ranger of the North to supplant me.'But I say to thee, Gandalf Mithrandir, I will not be thy tool! I amSteward of the House of Anbrion.I will not step down to be the dotardchamberlain of an upstart.Even were his claim proved to me, still he comesbut of the line of Isildur.I will not bow to such a one, last of a raggedhouse long bereft of lordship and dignity.''What then would you have,' said Gandalf, 'if your will could have itsway?''I would have things as they were in all the days of my life,' answeredDenethor, 'and in the days of my longfathers before me: to be the Lord ofthis City in peace, and leave my chair to a son after me, who would be hisown master and no wizard's pupil.But if doom denies this to me, then I willhave naught: neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honour abated.''To me it would not seem that a Steward who faithfully surrenders hischarge is diminished in love or in honour,' said Gandalf.'And at the leastyou shall not rob your son of his choice while his death is still in doubt.'At those words Denethor's eyes flamed again, and taking the Stone underhis arm he drew a knife and strode towards the bier.But Beregond sprangforward and set himself before Faramir.'So!' cried Denethor.'Thou hadst already stolen half my son's love.Now thou stealest the hearts of my knights also, so that they rob me whollyof my son at the last.But in this at least thou shalt not defy my will: torule my own end.''Come hither!' he cried to his servants.'Come, if you are not allrecreant!' Then two of them ran up the steps to him.Swiftly he snatched atorch from the hand of one and sprang back into the house.Before Gandalfcould hinder him he thrust the brand amid the fuel, and at once it crackledand roared into flame.Then Denethor leaped upon the table, and standing there wreathed infire and smoke he took up the staff of his stewardship that lay at his feetand broke it on his knee.Casting the pieces into the blaze he bowed andlaid himself on the table, clasping the palantnr with both hands upon hisbreast.And it was said that ever after, if any man looked in that Stone,unless he had a great strength of will to turn it to other purpose, he sawonly two aged hands withering in flame.Gandalf in grief and horror turned his face away and closed the door.For a while he stood in thought, silent upon the threshold, while thoseoutside heard the greedy roaring of the fire within.And then Denethor gavea great cry, and afterwards spoke no more, nor was ever again seen by mortalmen.'So passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion,' said Gandalf: Then he turned toBeregond and the Lord's servants that stood there aghast.'And so pass alsothe days of Gondor that you have known; for good or evil they are ended.Illdeeds have been done here; but let now all enmity that lies between you beput away, for it was contrived by the Enemy and works his will.You havebeen caught in a net of warring duties that you did not weave.But think,you servants of the Lord, blind in your obedience, that but for the treasonof Beregond Faramir, Captain of the White Tower, would now also be burned.'Bear away from this unhappy place your comrades who have fallen.Andwe will bear Faramir, Steward of Gondor, to a place where he can sleep inpeace, or die if that be his doom [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]