Lilith
Lilith
Lilith
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Then at last I understood that Mr. Raven was indeed Adam, the old and the new man; and that his wife,<br />
ministering in the house of the dead, was Eve, the mother of us all, the lady of the New Jerusalem.<br />
The leopardess reared; the flickering and fleeing of her spots began; the princess at length stood radiant in her<br />
perfect shape.<br />
"I AM beautiful−−and immortal!" she said−−and she looked the goddess she would be.<br />
"As a bush that burns, and is consumed," answered he who had been her husband. "−−What is that under thy<br />
right hand?"<br />
For her arm lay across her bosom, and her hand was pressed to her side.<br />
A swift pang contorted her beautiful face, and passed.<br />
"It is but a leopard−spot that lingers! it will quickly follow those I have dismissed," she answered.<br />
"Thou art beautiful because God created thee, but thou art the slave of sin: take thy hand from thy side."<br />
Her hand sank away, and as it dropt she looked him in the eyes with a quailing fierceness that had in it no<br />
surrender.<br />
He gazed a moment at the spot.<br />
"It is not on the leopard; it is in the woman!" he said. "Nor will it leave thee until it hath eaten to thy heart,<br />
and thy beauty hath flowed from thee through the open wound!"<br />
She gave a glance downward, and shivered.<br />
"<strong>Lilith</strong>," said Adam, and his tone had changed to a tender beseeching, "hear me, and repent, and He who<br />
made thee will cleanse thee!"<br />
Her hand returned quivering to her side. Her face grew dark. She gave the cry of one from whom hope is<br />
vanishing. The cry passed into a howl. She lay writhing on the floor, a leopardess covered with spots.<br />
<strong>Lilith</strong><br />
"The evil thou meditatest," Adam resumed, "thou shalt never compass, <strong>Lilith</strong>, for Good and not Evil is the<br />
Universe. The battle between them may last for countless ages, but it must end: how will it fare with thee<br />
when Time hath vanished in the dawn of the eternal morn? Repent, I beseech thee; repent, and be again an<br />
angel of God!"<br />
She rose, she stood upright, a woman once more, and said,<br />
"I will not repent. I will drink the blood of thy child." My eyes were fastened on the princess; but when Adam<br />
spoke, I turned to him: he stood towering above her; the form of his visage was altered, and his voice was<br />
terrible.<br />
"Down!" he cried; "or by the power given me I will melt thy very bones."<br />
She flung herself on the floor, dwindled and dwindled, and was again a gray cat. Adam caught her up by the<br />
skin of her neck, bore her to the closet, and threw her in. He described a strange figure on the threshold, and<br />
closing the door, locked it.<br />
<strong>Lilith</strong> 95