The
Ranums'
Panat Times
Volume 1, redone Dec. 2014
Pierre Le Moyne's "Judith,"
in the original French, and in an English translation
from Pierre Le Moyne, S.J., Gallerie des femmes fortes (Paris: Sommaville, 1647), pp. 39-44.
Where appropriate, I have replaced the original i's with j's, and u's with v's.
Cette place forte, qui semble estre née sur la pointe de ce rocher, est la ville de Bethulie: Et ce Camp qui tient toute la plaine d'alentour, est le Camp des Assyriens qui l'assiegent. Vous pouvez en approcher hardiment; & aller à couvert et sans crainte jusqu'à la tente d'Holoferne. Le vin & le sommeil ont défait tous les Corps de garde. Ils n'ont pas laissé une Sentinelle qu'ils n'ayent couchée à terre. Les feux mesmes qui devroient veiller pour tout le Camp, sont assoupis & demy éteints. Vous diriez qu'on les a gagnez, ou qu'ils ont oublié l'ancienne discipline. N'en accusez point la licence des Soldats ny la negligence des Chefs. Une Vertu plus forte que les Soldats, & de plus grande authorité que les Chefs, a vaincu les uns & les autres, & confondu les devoirs & les ordres de la guerre.
Cette
défaite sans meurtre & sans effusion de sang, est un coup de l'Ange
d'Israël, qui est venu en personne defendre la frontiere de son Pays. Il
a fait des tenebres, où il y a je ne sçay quoy de celles qu'il fit
autrefois en Egypte. Et la Nuict s'est avancée par son commandement,
pour contribuer son silence & son obscurité, à la grande action qu'il
prepare. Mais cette obscurité n'est que pour les Ennemys du Peuple de
Dieu; & cette Nuict intelligente est discrete, comme l'estoit celle
d'Egypte, sçait bien distinguer les Fideles & faire acception des
personnes. Ce qui est broüillas & tenebres pour les autres, sera lumiere
pour nous. Et quand il n'y auroit que la clarté de ces lumineux Esprits,
ajoustée à la lueur du zele & des yeux de Judith, qui semblent mettre le
feu à toutes les pierreries de ce superbe pavillon; encore y en
auroit-il assez, pour voir d'icy la Tragédie qui se commence dans la
Tente d'Holoferne.
Toutes choses y sont disposées à une étrange revolution: Et cette fatale conjoincture, a conduit tout à la fois à l'extremité, la vie d'Holoferne, l'honneur de Judith & le salut de Bethulie. La forte & vertueuse Vefve, qui expose si courageusement son honneur pour le salut de son Peuple, n'a plus que ce moment à ménager: Et si elle ne le ménage heureusement & avec succez; c'est fait de son honneur & du salut de son Peuple: c'est fait de Bethulie, voire de Jerusalem mesme & du Temple assiegé dans Bethulie. Elle a tout cela à sauver: & tout cela ne se peut sauver que d'un coup, & par la mort d'Holoferne. Voyez comme elle s'est preparée à faire ce coup fatal & important, qui doit oster la Teste à cent cinquante mille hommes; & redonner l'esprit & le cœur à douze Provinces abbatuës. Elle n'a pas fait marcher devant soy des Legions ny des Elefans armez: elle n'est pas venuë accompagnée de Geans ny de Machines: elle n'a autour de soy que la Beauté & les Graces: mais c'est une Beauté hardie & victorieuse; ce sont des Graces magnanimes & conquerantes. Elle n'est munie que d'attraits & d'agrémens; mais ce sont des attraits violents, & des agréments qui forcent. Elle est dangeureuse autant qu'elle est agreable, & blesse par où elle plaist. Non seulement ses yeux sont perçans, & les éclairs que Dieu y a mis éblouïssent: ses pieds mesmes ont contribué à la victoire: & les cordons de ses botines, ont pris Holoferne par les yeux, & ont attaché son Ame.
Ces armes quoy que renforcées divinement, & affinées d'un rayon celeste, n'auroient pas vaincu toutes seules. Elles n'ont rien fait qu'aprez l'oraison, aprez le jeusne, aprez les larmes: Et si celles cy qui sont spirituelles & d'une trempe invisible, n'ont pas donné dans la veuë d'Holoferne; elles ont donné dans le cœur de Dieu; & ont fait l'ouverture, par où le salut est tombé sur son Peuple, & la Mort sur ses Ennemys. Judith va donner commencement à l'un & et à l'autre. L'Ange Exterminateur qui l'assiste, ne lui met pas à la main une lance de feu, ny une pointe de foudre apportée du Ciel. Des armes si nobles, & venuës de si haut, ne sont pas necessaires à cette execution. Et Dieu n'a pas coustume de laisser aux Orgueilleux le titre d'une mort éclattante & et de grand bruit. Il luy presente l'épée mesme d'Holoferne: & en la lui mettant à la main, il luy met dans le cœur la confiance & la hardiesse. Vous la prendriez cette épée fatale pour un traict de foudre: vous jureriez, qu'elle est toute composée d'éclairs. Mais ces éclairs ne sont pas de ceux qui se forment dans les nuës: ils luy viennent d'un Diamant & d'un Rubis, qui font toute sa poignée: Et quelque lustre qu'elle reçoive de ces feux de pierre qui la parent, elle en attend davantage de l'innocence, & de la vertu de cette belle main qui va l'employer. Vous diriez qu'elle brille de l'impatience qu'elle a de servir à un coup, qui vaudra quatre batailles, & qui sera ouy dans tous les Siecles.
Judith la reçoit courageusement & avec asseurance: mais son courage est sans fierté; & son asseurance paroist modest & soumise. Sa Foy renouvellée en ce perilleux moment, & son zele poussé au dehors, éclairent son visage & s'épandent par sa bouche: Et ses yeux sont levez au Ciel, comme s'ils montroient le chemin aux prieres, qu'elle y envoye en silence & accompagnées de l'esprit de ses larmes. Il n'y a rien, qu'un si pur esprit, & et de si sainctes larmes ne puissent obtenir: & la voix de ce silence est trop forte & trop pressante, pour n'estre pas exaucée. Mais quoy qu'assez forte pour penetrer le Ciel, & se faire exaucer de Dieu; elle ne vient pas jusques ici, ny ne se fait ouyr d'Holoferne. Le brutal qu'il est, n'a garde de s'éveiller à cette voix; Il ne s'éveilleroit pas à celle du Ciel, quand il tonneroit de toute sa force. Non seulement il a perdu l'Esprit & le mouvement; il a l'oüye mesme & la veuë liées: Et il est plus attaché de la fumée du vin, & des vapeurs du sommeil, qu'il ne seroit de six grosses cordes & d'autant de chaisnes.
Ne croyez pas qu'en cét état là, ses resveries soient de la prise de Bethulie, ny du sac de Hierusalem: qu'il se fasse de Siege ny qu'il se donne de bataille en sa teste. Il n'y a là maintenant ny Armées à conduire, ny Royaumes à conquerir: Judith y est toute seule, ce que la Guerre, ce que la Gloire, ce que Nabuchodonosor y estoient auparavant. Mais ce n'est pas cette Judith, que la Vertu, le Zele & ces Anges ont amenée. C'est une Judith de la façon d'un Songe imposeur, qui a fait d'une Heroine une Coquette: Et cette Judith Coquette & imaginaire sera bien tost abatuë par la vraye & la pudique. L'épée que vous luy voyez à la main, lui fera justice de ce songe imposteur: Et toutes ces vaines images seront noyées dans le sang du Songeur, & tomberont avec sa teste.
Tandis qu'elle mesure encore une fois la grandeur de son entreprise; & que ses dernieres larmes demandent à Dieu, un courage & des forces qui luy soient égales; les Anges qui l'ont amenée sont en garde autour d'elle, & à la pote de la tente. Celuy là l'éclaire avec un flambeau, & en mesme temps baissant la pique d'Holoferne qu'il a saisie; semble l'asseurer de la mine & du geste, qu'il sera son second si la main luy manque. Prenez vous garde à l'action de ceux là, qui se joüent d'un casque & d'une cuirasse? Il y a du mystere en leur action; & ce qu'ils joüent est l'asseurance & l'instruction de Judith. Ils cassent l'armure d'Holoferne, que l'on croyoit toute composée de feux solides & d'enchantements trempez & battus; & qui a esté si long temps la terreur generale de toute l'Asie. En la cassant, ils se rient de l'infirmité des Puissances humaines. Et vous voyez qu'ils en monstrent les pieces à Judith, pour l'asseurer qu'elle n'a rien à craindre, ayant des Gardes & des Seconds, à qui le diamant & l'acier ne sont que du verre & de la toile.
Quant à ceux que vous voyez à la porte de la Tente; ils sont là pour chasser la Peur & les Spectres d'autour de cette Fille que Judith y a mise en garde. Ils y sont pour repousser les Demons Ennemys du Peuple de Dieu; qui pourroient venir au secours d'Holoferne. Leurs armes quoy qu'apparemment obscures, sont d'une matiere celeste & toute lumineuse: mais parce qu'il en pouvoit sortir des éclairs qui auroient éveillé tout le Camp, ils les ont eux mesmes obscurcies, & en ont supprimé toute la lumiere. Neantmoins cette retenuë ne leur est plus necessaire. Voila Judith qui sort avec la teste d'Holoferne, & le cœur de tous ces corps differens, qui sont demy assommez de Vin & de Sommeil, & qui seront tantost achevez par les Israëlites. Le sang fume encore aprez l'épée, & par tout où elle passe, la terre boit avidement les gouttes qui en tombent.
Vous croyez bien que la joye de cette victoire n'est pas petite dans le cœur de la Victorieuse. Elle y est si grande qu'elle s'est répanduë jusques sur son visage: & ses yeux en ont receu un second feu, & une lumiere nouvelle & accessoire. Elle sera tantost encore plus grande dans Bethulie, où la genereuse Vefve est attenduë avec impatience: & où elle va porter la teste & la mort de l'Ennemy public, la vie & la liberté de tout le Peuple.
Translation
This fortified place, which seems to have been born on the point of this rock, is the city of Bethulia. And this army camp that controls the entire surrounding plain, is the camp of the Assyrians, who are besieging Bethulia. You can be daring and approach it, and can go, without cover and without fear, up to Holofernes's tent. Wine and sleep have undone all the body guards. They have not left a sentinel who isn't lying on the ground. Even the fires that should be keeping watch over the whole camp are waning and half extinguished. You might say that they have been conquered, or that they have forgotten the traditional discipline. Do not blame the licentiousness of the soldiers, nor the negligence of the leaders. A virtue that is stronger than the soldiers and that possesses greater authority than the leaders, has conquered the one and the other, and has confounded the duties and the orders of war.
This defeat, without killing and without bloodshed, is a blow struck by the Angel of Israel, who has come in person to defend the frontier of his nation. He has created shadows where there is something of the shadows that he once created in Egypt. And by his command, Night has come early, contributing its silence and its darkness to the great action he is preparing. But this darkness is only for the enemies of God's people; and this intelligent Night is discrete, as was the night in Egypt, and is very capable of singling out the faithful and distinguishing between individuals. What is fog and shadows for others will be light for us. And even if there is only the brightness of these luminous spirits, added to the glow of Judith's zeal and eyes, which seem to set fire to all the gems of this superb tent, that would be enough to see, from here, the Tragedy that is beginning in the tent of Holofernes.
Everything there is prepared for a strange revolution: and this fatal conjuncture has simultaneously brought to a crisis point Holofernes's life, Judith's honor, and the salvation of Bethulia. The strong and virtuous widow, who is so courageously risking her honor to save her people, has now only this moment to manage; and if she does not manage it favorably and successfully, her honor and the salvation of her people are done for; Bethulia, Jerusalem itself, the temple in besieged Bethulia are done for. She has to save all of that: and all that can only be saved by one blow and the death of Holofernes. See how she has prepared herself to deal that fatal and important blow, which will remove the head of one hundred fifty thousand [Assyrian] men, and revive the spirits and the hearts of twelve despondent provinces [the twelve tribes of Israel]. She has not caused legions or armed elephants to march before her; she has not come accompanied by giants or machines; she is surrounded by nothing but beauty and charms, but it is a daring and victorious beauty, and the charms are magnanimous and conquering. Her only weapons are physical attraction and agreeableness, but the attractions are violent and the agreeableness exerts force. She is dangerous as much as she is agreeable, and she wounds by pleasing. Not only are her eyes piercing, and the flashes that God has put there, dazzling; her very feet have contributed to her victory, and the laces on her little shoes have caught Holofernes by his eyes and have bound up his soul.
These weapons, although divinely reinforced and polished by a celestial ray, would not have conquered all alone. They did nothing until she had prayed, fasted, wept. And if the arms that are spiritual and invisible in nature were not seen by Holofernes, they were seen by God and created the opening by which salvation rains upon his people, and death upon his enemies. Judith is about to begin both. The Exterminating Angel who is helping her does not put into her hand a fiery lance or a lightning bolt from heaven. Weapons so noble and coming from such a height are not necessary to do this deed. And God is not accustomed to leave to the proud the dignity of a death that is startling and noisy. The angel presents Holofernes's own sword to her, and, by putting it in Judith's hand, he puts confidence and daring in her heart. You might mistake that fatal sword for a lightning bolt; you might swear that it is made of lightning flashes. But these flashes are not the kind that form in the clouds: they come from a diamond and a ruby that make up the hilt [of Holofernes's sword]. And whatever luster it receives from the fires in these decorative stones, it await more from the innocence and the virtue of the beautiful hand that is going to use it. You might say that the sword is glistening with the impatience it feels about administering a blow that will be worth four battles and that will be heard across the centuries.
Judith receives it courageously and with assurance: but her courage is not mingled with pride, and her assurance seems modest and submissive. In this perilous moment her renewed faith and her outward demonstration of zeal light up her face and come out from her mouth; and her eyes are raised to heaven, as if they were showing her the path toward prayer, which she sends silently, accompanied by the spirit of her tears. There is nothing that such a pure spirit and such holy tears cannot obtain: and the voice of this silence is too strong and too pressing not to be fulfilled. But although her voice is strong enough to reach heaven and to be heard by God, it does not reach our ears, nor is it heard by Holofernes. Brute that he is, he does not wake at that voice; he would not awake to the voice of heaven, even if heaven were thundering with all its might. Not only has he lost his spirit and his movement, his hearing and his sight are bound up, and he is bound more by the fumes of wine and the vapors of sleep than he could be by six thick ropes and an equal number of chains.
Do not believe that in that state he was dreaming about taking Bethulia, or sacking Jerusalem, or that in his head he was conducting a siege or giving battle. There are now neither armies their to lead nor kingdoms to conquer: Judith is there all alone, as war, glory, and Nebuchadnezzar once were. But it is not this Judith, whom virtue, zeal, and angels have brought. It is a Judith fashioned by a deceptive dream, which has turned a heroine into a coquette; and this coquettish and imaginary Judith will soon be felled by the true and modest one. The sword that you see in her hand will do justice to her before this imposture of a dream. And all these vain images will be drowned in the blood of the dreamer, and will fall with his head.
While she once again measures the grandeur of her undertaking, and while her final tears beg God for courage and the requisite strength, the angels who have guided her stand guard around her, and at the door to the tent. One angel is lighting it with a torch, and at the same time is lowering Holofernes's pike, which he has grabbed: by his mein and his gestures he seems to be assuring her that he will be her second [in this duel] her should her hand falter. Have you noted the action of the other angels, who are playing with a helmet and body armor? There is a mystery in their action, and their game is to reassure and instruct Judith. They are breaking Holofernes's body armor, which was thought to be composed entirely of solidified fires and of tempered and hammered enchantments, and which had for so long been the general terror of all Asia. While breaking it, the angels laugh at the infirmity of human powers. And you will note that they are showing Judith the pieces, to reassure her that she has nothing to fear because she has guards and seconds [in this duel] to whom diamonds and steel are but glass and cloth.
As for the angels you see at the tent door, they are there to chase
away fear and ghosts from around the young girl whom Judith placed there
as a guard. They are there to repell the demons who are enemies of God's
people and who might come to rescue Holofernes. Their weapons, although
apparently dimmed, are made of a celestial and totally luminous
material; but because they could emit flashes that would have awakened
the camp, they themselves have dimmed them and suppressed all their
light. However, this restraint is no longer necessary. Here is Judith,
who is coming out with Holofernes's head, and [here are] the hearts of
all those different bodies who were half-drugged by wine and sleep, and
who will soon be killed by the Israelites. The blood is still smoking,
after the sword, and wherever she goes, the earth greedily drinks the
drops that fall from it.
You can well believe that, in the heart of
victorious Judith, the joy of this victory is not small. It is so great
that it has even spread across her face, and fire has been kindled a
second time in her eyes, and there is a new and supplementary light. It
[joy] will soon be even greater in Bethulia, where the generous widow is
impatiently awaited and to which she is going to bring, along with the
head and the death of the public enemy, the life and liberty of all the
people.
This fortified place, which seems to have been born on the point of this rock, is the city of Bethulia. And this army camp that controls the entire surrounding plain, is the camp of the Assyrians, who are besieging Bethulia. You can be daring and approach it, and can go, without cover and without fear, up to Holofernes's tent. Wine and sleep have undone all the body guards. They have not left a sentinel who isn't lying on the ground. Even the fires that should be keeping watch over the whole camp are waning and half extinguished. You might say that they have been conquered, or that they have forgotten the traditional discipline. Do not blame the licentiousness of the soldiers, nor the negligence of the leaders. A virtue that is stronger than the soldiers and that possesses greater authority than the leaders, has conquered the one and the other, and has confounded the duties and the orders of war.
This defeat, without killing and without bloodshed, is a blow struck by the Angel of Israel, who has come in person to defend the frontier of his nation. He has created shadows where there is something of the shadows that he once created in Egypt. And by his command, Night has come early, contributing its silence and its darkness to the great action he is preparing. But this darkness is only for the enemies of God's people; and this intelligent Night is discrete, as was the night in Egypt, and is very capable of singling out the faithful and distinguishing between individuals. What is fog and shadows for others will be light for us. And even if there is only the brightness of these luminous spirits, added to the glow of Judith's zeal and eyes, which seem to set fire to all the gems of this superb tent, that would be enough to see, from here, the Tragedy that is beginning in the tent of Holofernes.
Everything there is prepared for a strange revolution: and this fatal conjuncture has simultaneously brought to a crisis point Holofernes's life, Judith's honor, and the salvation of Bethulia. The strong and virtuous widow, who is so courageously risking her honor to save her people, has now only this moment to manage; and if she does not manage it favorably and successfully, her honor and the salvation of her people are done for; Bethulia, Jerusalem itself, the temple in besieged Bethulia are done for. She has to save all of that: and all that can only be saved by one blow and the death of Holofernes. See how she has prepared herself to deal that fatal and important blow, which will remove the head of one hundred fifty thousand [Assyrian] men, and revive the spirits and the hearts of twelve despondent provinces [the twelve tribes of Israel]. She has not caused legions or armed elephants to march before her; she has not come accompanied by giants or machines; she is surrounded by nothing but beauty and charms, but it is a daring and victorious beauty, and the charms are magnanimous and conquering. Her only weapons are physical attraction and agreeableness, but the attractions are violent and the agreeableness exerts force. She is dangerous as much as she is agreeable, and she wounds by pleasing. Not only are her eyes piercing, and the flashes that God has put there, dazzling; her very feet have contributed to her victory, and the laces on her little shoes have caught Holofernes by his eyes and have bound up his soul.
These weapons, although divinely reinforced and polished by a celestial ray, would not have conquered all alone. They did nothing until she had prayed, fasted, wept. And if the arms that are spiritual and invisible in nature were not seen by Holofernes, they were seen by God and created the opening by which salvation rains upon his people, and death upon his enemies. Judith is about to begin both. The Exterminating Angel who is helping her does not put into her hand a fiery lance or a lightning bolt from heaven. Weapons so noble and coming from such a height are not necessary to do this deed. And God is not accustomed to leave to the proud the dignity of a death that is startling and noisy. The angel presents Holofernes's own sword to her, and, by putting it in Judith's hand, he puts confidence and daring in her heart. You might mistake that fatal sword for a lightning bolt; you might swear that it is made of lightning flashes. But these flashes are not the kind that form in the clouds: they come from a diamond and a ruby that make up the hilt [of Holofernes's sword]. And whatever luster it receives from the fires in these decorative stones, it await more from the innocence and the virtue of the beautiful hand that is going to use it. You might say that the sword is glistening with the impatience it feels about administering a blow that will be worth four battles and that will be heard across the centuries.
Judith receives it courageously and with assurance: but her courage is not mingled with pride, and her assurance seems modest and submissive. In this perilous moment her renewed faith and her outward demonstration of zeal light up her face and come out from her mouth; and her eyes are raised to heaven, as if they were showing her the path toward prayer, which she sends silently, accompanied by the spirit of her tears. There is nothing that such a pure spirit and such holy tears cannot obtain: and the voice of this silence is too strong and too pressing not to be fulfilled. But although her voice is strong enough to reach heaven and to be heard by God, it does not reach our ears, nor is it heard by Holofernes. Brute that he is, he does not wake at that voice; he would not awake to the voice of heaven, even if heaven were thundering with all its might. Not only has he lost his spirit and his movement, his hearing and his sight are bound up, and he is bound more by the fumes of wine and the vapors of sleep than he could be by six thick ropes and an equal number of chains.
Do not believe that in that state he was dreaming about taking Bethulia, or sacking Jerusalem, or that in his head he was conducting a siege or giving battle. There are now neither armies their to lead nor kingdoms to conquer: Judith is there all alone, as war, glory, and Nebuchadnezzar once were. But it is not this Judith, whom virtue, zeal, and angels have brought. It is a Judith fashioned by a deceptive dream, which has turned a heroine into a coquette; and this coquettish and imaginary Judith will soon be felled by the true and modest one. The sword that you see in her hand will do justice to her before this imposture of a dream. And all these vain images will be drowned in the blood of the dreamer, and will fall with his head.
While she once again measures the grandeur of her undertaking, and while her final tears beg God for courage and the requisite strength, the angels who have guided her stand guard around her, and at the door to the tent. One angel is lighting it with a torch, and at the same time is lowering Holofernes's pike, which he has grabbed: by his mein and his gestures he seems to be assuring her that he will be her second [in this duel] her should her hand falter. Have you noted the action of the other angels, who are playing with a helmet and body armor? There is a mystery in their action, and their game is to reassure and instruct Judith. They are breaking Holofernes's body armor, which was thought to be composed entirely of solidified fires and of tempered and hammered enchantments, and which had for so long been the general terror of all Asia. While breaking it, the angels laugh at the infirmity of human powers. And you will note that they are showing Judith the pieces, to reassure her that she has nothing to fear because she has guards and seconds [in this duel] to whom diamonds and steel are but glass and cloth.
As for the angels you see at the tent door, they are there to chase
away fear and ghosts from around the young girl whom Judith placed there
as a guard. They are there to repell the demons who are enemies of God's
people and who might come to rescue Holofernes. Their weapons, although
apparently dimmed, are made of a celestial and totally luminous
material; but because they could emit flashes that would have awakened
the camp, they themselves have dimmed them and suppressed all their
light. However, this restraint is no longer necessary. Here is Judith,
who is coming out with Holofernes's head, and [here are] the hearts of
all those different bodies who were half-drugged by wine and sleep, and
who will soon be killed by the Israelites. The blood is still smoking,
after the sword, and wherever she goes, the earth greedily drinks the
drops that fall from it.
You can well believe that, in the heart of
victorious Judith, the joy of this victory is not small. It is so great
that it has even spread across her face, and fire has been kindled a
second time in her eyes, and there is a new and supplementary light. It
[joy] will soon be even greater in Bethulia, where the generous widow is
impatiently awaited and to which she is going to bring, along with the
head and the death of the public enemy, the life and liberty of all the
people.