the days of my life-第56章

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I　find　letters　from　Lang　imploring　me　not　to　kill　Allan　Quatermain。　But　when　he　wrote　Allan　had　already　been　killed；　and　how　could　the　end　of　the　story　be　altered？　Besides　his　day　was　done　and　his　tale　told。　But　he　left　others　behind　him。
Before　finally　leaving　the　subject　of　“Cleopatra”　I　will　quote　a　couple　of　letters　that　I　received　from　W。　E。　Henley。　I　should　here　mention　that　I　was　well　acquainted　with　this　able　and　interesting　man；　some　of　whose　poems　will；　I　think；　survive　in　our　literature。
I　remember　once　driving　to　the　British　Museum　with　him　and　Lang；　or　it　may　have　been　Gosse；　or　both　of　them；　in　a　four…wheeled　cab；　to　see　some　Japanese　prints　that　were　on　show。　On　the　way　I　told　him　that　personally　I　admired　statuary；　and　especially　Greek　statuary；　much　more　than　I　did　pictorial　art。　He　was　greatly　astonished。
“I　think　it　wonderful；”　he　said；　“that　you　being　what　you　are；　and　your　work　what　it　is；　you　should　prefer　form　to　colour。”
It　seemed　curious　to　him　that　a　man　who　wrote　romances　should　have　other　sides　to　his　nature。　He　was　extremely　fond　of　war　and　fighting；　witness　his　Ode　to　the　Sword；　and　at　the　club　would　insist　upon　my　telling　him　stories　by　the　yard　about　the　Zulus　and　their　blood…thirsty　battles　and　customs。　With　it　all　he　was　very　domestic；　and　much　attached　to　his　“placens　uxor”　and　the　little　girl　whom；　most　unhappily；　he　lost。　The　last　note　I　ever　received　from　him；　written　some　years　after　our　acquaintance　had　practically　ceased；　was　on　this　sad　subject。
The　first　of　the　three　letters　which　I　am　going　to　quote　is　not　on　the　subject　of　“Cleopatra”　but　in　answer　to　one　of　mine　expressing　my　admiration　of　his　volume　of　verses。　As　it　is；　however；　the　earliest　in　date　it　shall　have　preference。
June　9；　1888。
My　dear　Haggard；　—　I　found　yours　at　the　Club　last　night。　I　do　care　for　your　approbation　very　much；　for　I　do　not　think　I　should　have　it　if　my　verses　hadn’t　a　kind　of　basis　of　life。
Lang　hates　’em；　I　believe；　and　I　shall　tell　him　of　your　note　with　pride　and　glee。
For　myself　I　prefer　the　“Life　and　Death”　lot。　But　the　In　Hospital　sets　forth　a　special　experience　and　is；　of　course；　of　particular　interest。
Always　yours　sincerely；
W。　E。　H。
The　next　letter　is　written　from　11　Howard　Place；　Edinburgh；　July　20；　1889。
My　dear　Haggard；　—　I　got　a　week　at　Windermere　and　took　“Cleopatra”　with　me。　I　was　alone；　and　I　found　her　very　good　pany。
You　were　terribly　handicapped　by　the　inevitable　parison；　but　you　came　off　better　（to　be　frank）　than　I’d　expected　you　would。　The　invention　throughout　is　admirable　—　is　good　enough；　indeed；　to　carry　off　the　archaeology　and　the　archaical　style；　though　they　are　both　large　orders。
And　in　Charmion　you　have　given　us；　I　think；　your　best　creation；　or　if　not　that；　a　creation　fit　to　rank　with　Umslopogaas　and　the　King　in　“Solomon’s　Mines。”　And　you　know　that　I　mean　a　good　deal　when　I　say　that。
I　am　glad　to　have　read　the　book；　and　glad　to　have　it　by　me　to　read　again。　It　has　plenty　of　faults；　but　it　has　an　abundance　of　promise　and　some　excellent　—　some　really　excellent　—　achievement。　There　is　never　a　sign　of　exhaustion；　but　on　the　contrary　no　end　of　proof　that　you　have　scarce　got　into　your　stride。
Always　yours；
W。　E。　H。
The　third　letter　is　evidently　in　answer　to　one　of　mine。　It　is　headed：　The　Scots　Observer：　A　Record　and　Review；　2　Thistle　Street；　Edinburgh；　July　26；　1889：
My　dear　Haggard；　—　It　is　pleasant　to　know　that　I　have　paid　a　very　little　of　my　debt。　I　think　the　Romance　and　Fame　in　the　current　S。O。　will　not　displease　you。　The　writer　is　a　strange；　old；　brilliant　creature　whom　I　have　found　here；　and　whose　opinion　is　worth　having。　Meanwhile；　you　may　put　down　the　attacks　partly　to　envy　（for　you　can’t　deny　that　you’ve　had　a　dam　good　innings）　and　partly　to　the　inevitable　reaction　—　for　I　don’t　know　that　your　admirers　have　praised　you　in　quite　the　right　way。　And　you　need　bother　yourself　no　more　about　them。　Why　should　you？　You　are　bound　to　win；　and　you　need　not　care　three　straws　for　anything　they　say。　You　need　only　do　your　best；　and　leave　the　rest　to　time。
That　I　believe　to　be　the　right　philosophy　of　things。　And　so　farewell。
Ever　yours；
W。　E。　H。
Archer　has　just　writ　the　loveliest　review　of　my　second　edition；　and　the　P。M。G。；　after　accepting　and　printing；　declines　to　publish！　So　you　see　——！
After　“Cleopatra”　was　finished　I　undertook　various　things。　One　was　a　tale　called　“Nesta　Amor；”　which　was　never　published；　although　I　finished　it。　Indeed　I　agree　with　Lang　that　it　was　not　worth　publishing　in　its　existing　form；　though　it　might　have　been；　perhaps；　if　rewritten；　which　I　have　never　found　time　to　do。　Another　was　a　romance　of　Helen；　to　be　written　jointly　with　Lang；　which；　after　many　vicissitudes　and　adventures；　ultimately　materialised　as　“The　World’s　Desire。”　Also　I　conceived　the　idea　of　writing　a　saga；　but　determined　that　before　I　attempted　this；　I　would　visit　Iceland　and　study　the　local　colouring　on　the　spot。
I　remember　that　I　was　a　good　deal　sneered　at　for　my　habit　of　actually　investigating　the　countries　where　the　events　had　happened　about　which　I　intended　to　write。　Literature；　I　was　told；　should　be　independent　of　such　base　actualities。　I　do　not　at　all　agree　with　those　critics。　If　a　man　wishes　to　produce　a　really　good　romance　dealing　with　some　past　epoch；　the　best　thing　he　can　do　is　to　see　the　land　in　which　the　folk　lived　of　whom　he　means　to　tell；　and；　as　it　were；　to　soak　himself　in　the　surroundings　that　were　their　surroundings。　So　he　may　hope　to　catch　some　of　the　atmosphere　which　doubtless　they　took　from　their　native　earth　and　skies。　Then；　if　he　possesses　any；　imagination　may　do　the　rest。　Who　could　write　a　saga　who　had　not　visited　Iceland；　or　an　Egyptian　novel　who　did　not　know　Egypt　—　I　mean　one　worth　reading？
Also　I　wrote　a　very　successful　little　African　story　called　“Maiwa’s　Revenge”　and　my　novel　“Beatrice；”　which　I　think　one　of　the　best　bits　of　work　I　ever　did。　Here　is　Charles　Longman　on　“Beatrice；”　no　doubt　after　he　had　read　the　MS。　His　letters　are　dated　August　2　and　August　4；　1888。
I　was　very　much　interested　in　“Beatrice。”　It　is　of　course　a　terrible　tragedy　—　unrelieved　in　its　gloom　which　increases　from　start　to　finish。　Still　there　is　no　denying　its　power　。　。　。　。
From　the　letter　of　August　4th：
I　think；　too；　that　“Beatrice”　is　your　best　piece　of　purely　modern；　nieenth　century　work。　I　believe　I　like　you　best　among　the　caves　of　old　Kor；　or　looking　back　over　King　Solomon’s　great　road　to　the　old　civilisations　dead　two　thousand　years　ago。　But　it　is　a　great　thing　to　have　several　strings　and　not　always　harp　on　the　same。　And　there　is　the　same　feeling　in　all　your　books　—　that　of　a　power　or　Fate　or　whatever　it　is　behind　man　controlling　his　actions　and　driving　him　blindly　forward。　All　ages　have　felt　it　and　have　tried　to　explain　it　in　their　own　way。　But　what　the　facts　may　be　—　we　may　know　some　day。　。　。　。
We　are　thinking　of　beginning　to　set　the　type　of　“Quaritch；　V。C。”　on　Sept。　1st。　You　will　give　us　your　finally　corrected　sheets；　I　suppose。　We　have　sold　20；000　copies　of　“Maiwa”　on　day　of　publication。
But　of　“Beatrice”　more　later；　let　us　return　to　“The　World’s　Desire；”　“The　Song　of　the　Bow”　as　it　was　called　at　first。
Roughly　the　history　of　this　tale；　which　I　like　as　well　as　any　with　which　I　have　had　to　do；　is　that　Lang　and　I　discussed　it。　Then　I　wrote　a　part　of　it；　which　part　he　altered　or　rewrote。　Next　in　his　casual　manner　he　lost　the　whole　MS。　for　a　year　or　so；　then　it　was　unexpectedly　found；　and　encouraged　thereby　I　went　on　and　wrote　the　rest。
The　MS。　in　its　final　form　I　have；　bound　up；　and　with　it　a　very　interesting　preface　or　rather　postscript　by　Lang　which　was　never　published；　eight　sheets　long；　also　notes　of　his　as　to　the　scheme　of　the　story　and　the　originals　of　his　verses；　some　of　which　I　drafted　in　prose。　The　MS。　contains　fifty…three　sheets　at　the　beginning　written　or　re…written　by　Lang；　and　about　130　sheets　in　my　writing；　together　with　various　addenda。　The　best　history　of　the　thing　is　to　extracted　from　Lang’s　letters；　from　which　I　make　some　quotations。
The　first　of　these　that　I　can　find　is　dated　from　an　hotel　in　Paris　on　March　8th；　probably　1888。
It　occurs　to　me　that　you　had　better　read　the　Helen　of　Euripides　in　a　prose　crib。　There’s　a　bad　one。　I　have　forgotten　the　play；　all　but　half　a　dozen　lines；　but　it　is　about　Helen　in　Egypt　and　may　suggest　something。　The　name　“The　Wanderer”　is　already　taken　by　one　of　Lord　Lytton’s　poems。　I　had　thought　of　“A　Priestess　of　Isis。”
The　next　is　from　Florence　on　March　25th：
Just　had　your　letter　on　the　Jews。　Do　you　think　it　worth　while；　if　it　won’t　run　easily？　You　have　so　much　on　hand；　and　I　am　afraid　you　will　tire　out　your　invention。　The　idea　of　Odysseus　and　Helen　is　a　good　one；　but　don’t　thrash　a　willing　and　perhaps　weary　Pegasus。
Then　es　one　from　Marloes　Road　—　he　is　back　again　in　England　now　—　without　the　slightest　indication　of　a　date。
Odysseus　calls　himself　Eperitus；　as　a　by…name；　in　Od。　24。　Or　Laertiades。
Helen　should　be　a　priestess　in　Egypt；　say　of　Pasht。
You　won’t　want　much　help　from　me。　All　the　local　colour　is　in　the　Odyssey。
After　this　I　believe　that　I　worked　away　at　the　story；　of　which　I　did　a　good　deal；　and　sent　it　to　Lang；　who　promptly　lost　it　s