March 18, 2022 • 22 mins
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(00:00):
Chapter sixteen. A cold rain beganto fall, and the blurred street lamps
looked ghastly in the dripping mist.The public houses were just closing and dim.
Men and women were clustering in brokengroups round their doors. From some
(00:22):
of the bars came the sound ofhorrible laughter. In others, drunkards brawled
and screamed. Lying back in thehansom with his hat pulled over his forehead,
Dorian Gray watched with listless eyes thesordid shame of the great city.
(00:42):
And now and then he repeated tohimself the words that Lord Henry had said
to him on the first day theyhad met. To cure the soul by
means of the censers, and thecensers by means of the soul. Yes,
that was the secret. He hadoften tried it, and would try
it again. Now there were opiumdens where one could buy oblivion, dens
(01:08):
of horror, where the memory ofold sins could be destroyed by the madness
of sins that were new. Themoon hung low in the sky like a
yellow skull. From time to timea huge, misshapen cloud stretched a long
arm across and hid it. Thegas lamps grew fewer and the streets more
(01:34):
narrow and gloomy. Once the manlost his way and had to drive back
half a mile, A steam rosefrom the horse as it splashed up the
puddles. The side windows of thehansom were clogged with a gray flannel mist.
To cure the soul by means ofthe sansers, and the sansers,
(01:57):
by means of the soul, howthe word rang in his ears. His
soul certainly was sick to death.Was it true that the senses could cure
it? Innocent blood had been spilled? What could atone for that? Ah?
For that there was no atonement.But though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness
(02:23):
was possible still, and he wasdetermined to forget, to stamp the thing
out, to crush it, asone would crush the adder that had stung
one. Indeed, what right hadBasil to have spoken to him as he
had done? Who had made hima judge over others? He had said
(02:45):
things that were dreadful, horrible,not to be endured. On and on
plodded the handsome, going slower,it seemed to him. At each step
he st up the trap and calledto the man to drive faster. The
hideous hunger for opium began to gnawat him. His throat burned, and
(03:12):
his delicate hands twitched nervously. Togetherhe struck at the horse madly with his
stick. The driver laughed and whippedup. He laughed in answer, and
the man was silent. The wayseemed interminable, and the streets like the
black web of some sprawling spider.The monotony became unbearable, and as the
(03:38):
mist thickened, he felt afraid.Then they passed by lonely brickfields. The
fog was lighter here, and hecould see the strange bottle shaped kilns with
their orange fanlike tongues of fire.A dog barked as they went by,
(03:59):
and far away, way in thedarkness, some wandering sea gulls screamed.
The horse stumbled in a rut,then swerved aside and broke into a gallop.
After some time they left the clayroad and rattled again over rough paven
streets. Most of the windows weredark, but now and then fantastic shadows
(04:24):
were silhouetted against some lamplet blind.He watched them curiously. They moved like
monstrous marionettes, and made gestures likelive things. He hated them. A
dull rage was in his heart.As they turned a corner, a woman
(04:46):
yelled something at them from an opendoor, and two men ran after the
hansom for about a hundred yards.The driver beat at them with his whip.
It is said that passion makes onethink in a circle, certainly with
hideous iteration. The bittern lips ofDorian Gray shap'd and reshaped those subtle words
(05:11):
that dealt with soul and sense,till he had found in them the full
expression, as it were, ofhis mood, and justified by intellectual approval.
Passions that without such justification would stillhave dominated his temper. From cell
to cell of his brain crept.The one thought and the wild desire to
(05:36):
live, most terrible of all man'sappetites, quickened into force each trembling nerve
and fiber. Ugliness that had oncebeen hateful to him because it made things
real, became dear to him nowfor that very reason. Ugliness was the
(05:58):
one reality. The coarse brawl,the loathsome den, the crude violence of
disordered life, the very vileness ofthief and outcast, were more vivid in
their intense actuality of impression than allthe gracious shapes of art, the dreamy
(06:18):
shadows of song. They were whathe needed for forgetfulness. In three days
he would be free. Suddenly,the man drew up with a jerk at
the top of a dark lane.Over the low roofs and the jagged chimney
(06:39):
stacks of the houses rose the blackmasts of ships. Wreaths of white mist
clung like ghostly sails to the yards. Somewhere about your sren't it, he
asked huskily through the trap. Dorrianstarted and peered round. This will do,
he answered, And having got outhastily and given the driver the extra
(07:03):
fare he had promised him, hewalked quickly in the direction of the key.
Here and there a lantern gleamed atthe stern of some huge merchantman.
The light shook and splintered in thepuddles, a red glare came from an
outward bound steamer that was coaling.The slimy pavement looked like a wet mackintosh.
(07:30):
He hurried on towards the left,glancing back now and then to see
if he was being followed. Inabout seven or eight minutes he reached a
small shabby house that was wedged inbetween two gaunt factories. In one of
the top windows stood a lamp.He stopped and gave a peculiar knock.
(07:53):
After a little time, he heardsteps in the passage and the chain being
unhooked. The door opened quietly,and he went in without saying a word
to the squat, misshapen figure thatflattened itself into the shadow as he passed.
At the end of the hall hunga tattered green curtain that swayed and
(08:16):
shook in the gusty wind which hadfollowed him in from the street. He
dragged it aside and entered a long, low room which looked as if it
had once been a third rate dancingsaloon. Shrill flaring gas jets dulled and
distorted in the fly blown mirrors thatfaced them were ranged round the walls.
(08:39):
Greasy reflectors of ribbed tin backed them, making quivering discs of light. The
floor was covered with ochre colored sawdust, trampled here and there into mud,
and stained with dark rings of spilledliquor. Some Malays were crouching by a
(09:00):
little charcoal stove, playing with bonecounters and showing their white teeth as they
chattered. In one corner with hishead buried in his arms. A sailor
sprawled over a table, and bythe tawdrilly painted bar that ran across one
complete side stood two haggard women mockingan old man who was brushing the sleeves
(09:24):
of his coat with an expression ofdisgust. He thinks he's got of head
ants on him, laughed one ofthem. As Dorian passed by, the
man looked at her in terror andbegan to whimper. At the end of
the room, there was a littlestaircase leading to a dark and chamber.
(09:46):
As Dorian hurried up its three ricketysteps, the heavy odor of opium met
him. He heaved a deep breath, and his nostrils quivered with pleasure.
When he entered, a young manwith smooth yellow hair, who was bending
over the lamp lighting a long,thin pipe, looked up at him and
(10:09):
nodded in a hesitating manner. Youhear, Adrian, muttered, Dorian.
Where else should I be? Heanswered listlessly. None of the chaps will
speak to me now. I thoughtyou had left England. Darlington is not
going to do anything. My brotherpaid the bill at last. George doesn't
speak to me either. I don'tcare he added with a sigh. As
(10:33):
long as one has this stuff,one doesn't want friends. I think I've
had too many friends. Dorian wincedand looked round at the grotesque things that
lay in such fantastic postures on theragged mattresses, The twisted limbs, the
gaping mouths, the staring, lustrelesseyes fascinated him. He knew in what
(10:58):
strange heavens they were suffering, andwhat dull hells were teaching them the secret
of some new joy. They werebetter off than he was. He was
prisoned in thought memory like a horriblemalady was eating his soul away. From
(11:20):
time to time he seemed to seethe eyes of Basil Halwarth looking at him.
Yet he felt he could not stay. The presence of Adrian Singleton troubled
him. He wanted to be whenno one would know who he was.
He wanted to escape from himself.I'm going to the other place, he
(11:45):
said, after a pause on thewharf, yes, and made Carey sure
to be there. They won't everin this place now, Dorian shrugged his
shoulders. I'm sic of women wholove one, women who hate one.
A much more interesting besides, thestuff is bitter much the same. I
like it. Better come and havesomething to drink. I must have something.
(12:09):
I don't want anything, murmured theyoung man. Never mind. Adrian
Singleton rose up wearily and followed Dorianto the bar. A half caste in
a ragged turban and a shabby ulstergrinned a hideous greeting as he thrust a
bottle of brandy and two tumblers infront of them. The women sidled up
(12:33):
and began to chatter. Dorian turnedhis back on them and said something in
a low voice to Adrian Singleton.A crooked smile like a malay crease writhed
across the face of one of thewomen. We are very proud tonight,
she sneered. For God's sake,don't talk to me, cried Dorian,
(12:54):
stamping his foot on the ground.What do you want money? It is,
don't ever talk to me again.Two red sparks flashed for a moment
in the woman's sodden eyes, thenflickered out and left them dull and glazed.
She tossed her head and raked thecoins off the counter with greedy fingers.
(13:16):
Her companion watched her enviously, it'sno use sighed Adrian Singleton. I
don't care to go back. Whatdoes it matter. I'm quite happy here.
You're right to me if you wantanything, won't you, said Dorian
after a pause. Perhaps good night, then good night, answered the young
(13:39):
man, passing up the steps andwiping his parched mouth with a handkerchief.
Dorian walked to the door with alook of pain in his face. As
he drew the curtain aside, Ahideous laugh broke from the painted lips of
the woman who had taken his money. There goes the dethel's bargain, she
(14:01):
hiccoughed in a hoarse voice. Curseyou, he answered, don't call me
that. She snapped her fingers.Prince charming is what ye liked to be
called, ain't it? She yowledafter him. The drowsy sailor leaped to
his feet as she spoke, andlooked wildly round the sound of the shutting
(14:24):
of the hall door fell on hisear. He rushed out, as if
in pursuit. Dorry and Gray hurriedalong the key through the drizzling rain.
His meeting with Adrian Singleton had strangelymoved him, and he wondered if the
ruin of that young life was reallyto be laid at his door, as
(14:46):
battle Hallward had said to him,with such infamy of insult. He bit
his lip, and for a fewseconds his eyes grew sad. Yet,
after all, what did it matterto him? One's days were too brief
to take the burden of another's errorson one's shoulders. Each man lived his
(15:09):
own life and paid his own pricefor living it. The only pity was
one had to pay so often fora single fault, one had to pay
over and over again. Indeed,in her dealings with man, Destiny never
closed her accounts. There are momentspsychologists tell us when the passion for sin,
(15:35):
or for what the world calls sin, so dominates a nature that every
fiber of the body, as everycell of the brain, seems to be
instinct with fearful impulses. Men andwomen at such moments lose the freedom of
their will. They moved to theirterrible end as automatons move. Choice is
(16:00):
taken from them, and conscience iseither kill'd or, if it lives at
all, lives but to give rebellionits fascination and disobedience its charm for all
sins, As theologians weary. Notof reminding us are sins of disobedience.
(16:22):
When that high spirit, that morningstar of evil, fell from heaven,
it was as a rebel that hefell, callous, concentrated on evil,
with stained mind and soul hungry forrebellion. Dorian Gray hastened on, quickening
(16:42):
his step as he went. Butas he darted aside into a dim archway
that had served him often as ashort cut to the ill famed place where
he was going, he felt himselfsuddenly seized from behind, and before he
had time to be fend himself,he was thrust back against the wall with
(17:03):
a brutal hand round his throat.He struggled madly for life, and by
a terrible effort, wrenched the tighteningfingers away. In a second, he
heard the click of a revolver,and saw the gleam of a polished barrel
pointing straight at his head, andthe dusky form of a short, thick
(17:26):
set man facing him. What doyou want, he gasped. Keep quiet,
said the man. If you stir, I shoot you. You are
mad? What have I done toyou? You wrecked the life of sybil
Vane was the answer, And Sybilvaanewas my sister. She killed herself.
I know it. Her death isat your door. I swore I would
(17:48):
kill you in return. For yearsI have sought you. I had no
clue, no trace. The twopeople who could have described you were dead.
I knew nothing of you but thepet Na she used to call you.
I heard it tonight, by chance, make your peace with God,
for tonight you are going to die. Dorian Gray grew sick with fear.
(18:11):
I never knew her, he stammered. I've never heard of her. You
are mad. You had better confessyour sin. For as sure as I
am, James Vane, you aregoing to die. There was a horrible
moment. Dorian did not know whatto say or do. Down on your
knees, growl to the man.I give you one minute to make your
(18:32):
peace. No more. I goon board tonight for India, and I
must do my job first. Oneminute. That's all. Dorian's arms fell
to his side, Paralyzed with terror, he did not know what to do.
Suddenly, a wild hope flashed acrosshis brain. Stop, he cried,
how long it go? Is itsince your sister died? Quick?
(18:56):
Tell me eighteen years? Said theman. Why do you ask what do
years matter? Eighteen years, laughedDorian Gray, with a touch of triumph
in his voice. Eighteen years.Set me under the lab and look at
my face. James Vane hesitated fora moment, not understanding what was meant.
(19:18):
Then he seized Dorian Gray and draggedhim from the archway. Dim and
wavering as was the wind blown light, yet it served to show him the
hideous error, as it seemed intowhich he had fallen. For the face
of the man he had sought tokill, and all the bloom of boyhood,
(19:40):
all the unstained purity of youth,he seemed little more than a lad
of twenty summers, hardly older,dif older indeed at all, than his
sister had been when they had partedso many years ago. It was obvious
that this was is not the manwho had destroyed her life. He loosened
(20:03):
his hold and reeled back. Mygod, my god, he cried,
And I would have murdered you.Dorian Gray drew a long breath. You
have been on the brink of committinga terrible crime, my man, he
said, looking at him sternly.Let this be a warning to you not
to take vengeance into your own hands. Forgive me, sir, muttered James
(20:26):
Vane. I was deceived. Achance word I heard in that damned nd
set me on the wrong track.You had better go home and put that
pistol away, or you may getinto trouble, said Dorian, turning on
his heel and going slowly down thestreet. James Vain stood on the pavement
in horror. He was trembling fromhead to foot. After a little while,
(20:52):
a black shadow that had been creepingalong the dripping wall moved out into
the light and came close to himwith stealthy footsteps. He felt a hand
laid on his arm and looked roundwith a start. It was one of
the women who had been drinking atthe bar. Why didn't you kill him,
(21:14):
she hissed out, putting a haggardface quite close to his. I
knew you had followed him when yourushed out from Daly's. You're fool.
You should have killed him. Hehas lots of money, and he's as
bad as bad. He is notthe man I am looking for, he
answered, And I want no man'smoney. I want a man's life.
The man whose life I want mustbe nearly forty now, this one is
(21:37):
a little more than a boy.Thank God I have not got his bride
upon my hands. The woman gavea bitter laugh. Little more than a
boy, she sneered, Why man, it's nine an eighteen years since Prince
Charming made me? What I amyou, I cried James vain. She
raised her hand up to Heaven beforeGod. I am telling the truth,
(22:03):
she cried, before God, strikeme. Damn if it ain't so.
He is the worst one that comeshere. They say he has sold himself
to the devil for a pretty face. It's nine and eighteen years since I
met him. He hasn't changed muchsince then I have, though, she
added, with a sickly leer.You swear this, I swear it came
(22:26):
in hoarse echo from her flat mouth. But don't give me away to him,
she whined, I'm afraid of him. Let me have some money for
my night's lodging. He broke fromher with an oath and rushed to the
corner of the street, but DorianGray had disappeared. When he looked back,
(22:48):
the woman had vanished also. Endof chapter sixteen,
Chapter sixteen. A cold rain beganto fall, and the blurred street lamps
looked ghastly in the dripping mist.The public houses were just closing and dim.
Men and women were clustering in brokengroups round their doors. From some
(00:22):
of the bars came the sound ofhorrible laughter. In others, drunkards brawled
and screamed. Lying back in thehansom with his hat pulled over his forehead,
Dorian Gray watched with listless eyes thesordid shame of the great city.
(00:42):
And now and then he repeated tohimself the words that Lord Henry had said
to him on the first day theyhad met. To cure the soul by
means of the censers, and thecensers by means of the soul. Yes,
that was the secret. He hadoften tried it, and would try
it again. Now there were opiumdens where one could buy oblivion, dens
(01:08):
of horror, where the memory ofold sins could be destroyed by the madness
of sins that were new. Themoon hung low in the sky like a
yellow skull. From time to timea huge, misshapen cloud stretched a long
arm across and hid it. Thegas lamps grew fewer and the streets more
(01:34):
narrow and gloomy. Once the manlost his way and had to drive back
half a mile, A steam rosefrom the horse as it splashed up the
puddles. The side windows of thehansom were clogged with a gray flannel mist.
To cure the soul by means ofthe sansers, and the sansers,
(01:57):
by means of the soul, howthe word rang in his ears. His
soul certainly was sick to death.Was it true that the senses could cure
it? Innocent blood had been spilled? What could atone for that? Ah?
For that there was no atonement.But though forgiveness was impossible, forgetfulness
(02:23):
was possible still, and he wasdetermined to forget, to stamp the thing
out, to crush it, asone would crush the adder that had stung
one. Indeed, what right hadBasil to have spoken to him as he
had done? Who had made hima judge over others? He had said
(02:45):
things that were dreadful, horrible,not to be endured. On and on
plodded the handsome, going slower,it seemed to him. At each step
he st up the trap and calledto the man to drive faster. The
hideous hunger for opium began to gnawat him. His throat burned, and
(03:12):
his delicate hands twitched nervously. Togetherhe struck at the horse madly with his
stick. The driver laughed and whippedup. He laughed in answer, and
the man was silent. The wayseemed interminable, and the streets like the
black web of some sprawling spider.The monotony became unbearable, and as the
(03:38):
mist thickened, he felt afraid.Then they passed by lonely brickfields. The
fog was lighter here, and hecould see the strange bottle shaped kilns with
their orange fanlike tongues of fire.A dog barked as they went by,
(03:59):
and far away, way in thedarkness, some wandering sea gulls screamed.
The horse stumbled in a rut,then swerved aside and broke into a gallop.
After some time they left the clayroad and rattled again over rough paven
streets. Most of the windows weredark, but now and then fantastic shadows
(04:24):
were silhouetted against some lamplet blind.He watched them curiously. They moved like
monstrous marionettes, and made gestures likelive things. He hated them. A
dull rage was in his heart.As they turned a corner, a woman
(04:46):
yelled something at them from an opendoor, and two men ran after the
hansom for about a hundred yards.The driver beat at them with his whip.
It is said that passion makes onethink in a circle, certainly with
hideous iteration. The bittern lips ofDorian Gray shap'd and reshaped those subtle words
(05:11):
that dealt with soul and sense,till he had found in them the full
expression, as it were, ofhis mood, and justified by intellectual approval.
Passions that without such justification would stillhave dominated his temper. From cell
to cell of his brain crept.The one thought and the wild desire to
(05:36):
live, most terrible of all man'sappetites, quickened into force each trembling nerve
and fiber. Ugliness that had oncebeen hateful to him because it made things
real, became dear to him nowfor that very reason. Ugliness was the
(05:58):
one reality. The coarse brawl,the loathsome den, the crude violence of
disordered life, the very vileness ofthief and outcast, were more vivid in
their intense actuality of impression than allthe gracious shapes of art, the dreamy
(06:18):
shadows of song. They were whathe needed for forgetfulness. In three days
he would be free. Suddenly,the man drew up with a jerk at
the top of a dark lane.Over the low roofs and the jagged chimney
(06:39):
stacks of the houses rose the blackmasts of ships. Wreaths of white mist
clung like ghostly sails to the yards. Somewhere about your sren't it, he
asked huskily through the trap. Dorrianstarted and peered round. This will do,
he answered, And having got outhastily and given the driver the extra
(07:03):
fare he had promised him, hewalked quickly in the direction of the key.
Here and there a lantern gleamed atthe stern of some huge merchantman.
The light shook and splintered in thepuddles, a red glare came from an
outward bound steamer that was coaling.The slimy pavement looked like a wet mackintosh.
(07:30):
He hurried on towards the left,glancing back now and then to see
if he was being followed. Inabout seven or eight minutes he reached a
small shabby house that was wedged inbetween two gaunt factories. In one of
the top windows stood a lamp.He stopped and gave a peculiar knock.
(07:53):
After a little time, he heardsteps in the passage and the chain being
unhooked. The door opened quietly,and he went in without saying a word
to the squat, misshapen figure thatflattened itself into the shadow as he passed.
At the end of the hall hunga tattered green curtain that swayed and
(08:16):
shook in the gusty wind which hadfollowed him in from the street. He
dragged it aside and entered a long, low room which looked as if it
had once been a third rate dancingsaloon. Shrill flaring gas jets dulled and
distorted in the fly blown mirrors thatfaced them were ranged round the walls.
(08:39):
Greasy reflectors of ribbed tin backed them, making quivering discs of light. The
floor was covered with ochre colored sawdust, trampled here and there into mud,
and stained with dark rings of spilledliquor. Some Malays were crouching by a
(09:00):
little charcoal stove, playing with bonecounters and showing their white teeth as they
chattered. In one corner with hishead buried in his arms. A sailor
sprawled over a table, and bythe tawdrilly painted bar that ran across one
complete side stood two haggard women mockingan old man who was brushing the sleeves
(09:24):
of his coat with an expression ofdisgust. He thinks he's got of head
ants on him, laughed one ofthem. As Dorian passed by, the
man looked at her in terror andbegan to whimper. At the end of
the room, there was a littlestaircase leading to a dark and chamber.
(09:46):
As Dorian hurried up its three ricketysteps, the heavy odor of opium met
him. He heaved a deep breath, and his nostrils quivered with pleasure.
When he entered, a young manwith smooth yellow hair, who was bending
over the lamp lighting a long,thin pipe, looked up at him and
(10:09):
nodded in a hesitating manner. Youhear, Adrian, muttered, Dorian.
Where else should I be? Heanswered listlessly. None of the chaps will
speak to me now. I thoughtyou had left England. Darlington is not
going to do anything. My brotherpaid the bill at last. George doesn't
speak to me either. I don'tcare he added with a sigh. As
(10:33):
long as one has this stuff,one doesn't want friends. I think I've
had too many friends. Dorian wincedand looked round at the grotesque things that
lay in such fantastic postures on theragged mattresses, The twisted limbs, the
gaping mouths, the staring, lustrelesseyes fascinated him. He knew in what
(10:58):
strange heavens they were suffering, andwhat dull hells were teaching them the secret
of some new joy. They werebetter off than he was. He was
prisoned in thought memory like a horriblemalady was eating his soul away. From
(11:20):
time to time he seemed to seethe eyes of Basil Halwarth looking at him.
Yet he felt he could not stay. The presence of Adrian Singleton troubled
him. He wanted to be whenno one would know who he was.
He wanted to escape from himself.I'm going to the other place, he
(11:45):
said, after a pause on thewharf, yes, and made Carey sure
to be there. They won't everin this place now, Dorian shrugged his
shoulders. I'm sic of women wholove one, women who hate one.
A much more interesting besides, thestuff is bitter much the same. I
like it. Better come and havesomething to drink. I must have something.
(12:09):
I don't want anything, murmured theyoung man. Never mind. Adrian
Singleton rose up wearily and followed Dorianto the bar. A half caste in
a ragged turban and a shabby ulstergrinned a hideous greeting as he thrust a
bottle of brandy and two tumblers infront of them. The women sidled up
(12:33):
and began to chatter. Dorian turnedhis back on them and said something in
a low voice to Adrian Singleton.A crooked smile like a malay crease writhed
across the face of one of thewomen. We are very proud tonight,
she sneered. For God's sake,don't talk to me, cried Dorian,
(12:54):
stamping his foot on the ground.What do you want money? It is,
don't ever talk to me again.Two red sparks flashed for a moment
in the woman's sodden eyes, thenflickered out and left them dull and glazed.
She tossed her head and raked thecoins off the counter with greedy fingers.
(13:16):
Her companion watched her enviously, it'sno use sighed Adrian Singleton. I
don't care to go back. Whatdoes it matter. I'm quite happy here.
You're right to me if you wantanything, won't you, said Dorian
after a pause. Perhaps good night, then good night, answered the young
(13:39):
man, passing up the steps andwiping his parched mouth with a handkerchief.
Dorian walked to the door with alook of pain in his face. As
he drew the curtain aside, Ahideous laugh broke from the painted lips of
the woman who had taken his money. There goes the dethel's bargain, she
(14:01):
hiccoughed in a hoarse voice. Curseyou, he answered, don't call me
that. She snapped her fingers.Prince charming is what ye liked to be
called, ain't it? She yowledafter him. The drowsy sailor leaped to
his feet as she spoke, andlooked wildly round the sound of the shutting
(14:24):
of the hall door fell on hisear. He rushed out, as if
in pursuit. Dorry and Gray hurriedalong the key through the drizzling rain.
His meeting with Adrian Singleton had strangelymoved him, and he wondered if the
ruin of that young life was reallyto be laid at his door, as
(14:46):
battle Hallward had said to him,with such infamy of insult. He bit
his lip, and for a fewseconds his eyes grew sad. Yet,
after all, what did it matterto him? One's days were too brief
to take the burden of another's errorson one's shoulders. Each man lived his
(15:09):
own life and paid his own pricefor living it. The only pity was
one had to pay so often fora single fault, one had to pay
over and over again. Indeed,in her dealings with man, Destiny never
closed her accounts. There are momentspsychologists tell us when the passion for sin,
(15:35):
or for what the world calls sin, so dominates a nature that every
fiber of the body, as everycell of the brain, seems to be
instinct with fearful impulses. Men andwomen at such moments lose the freedom of
their will. They moved to theirterrible end as automatons move. Choice is
(16:00):
taken from them, and conscience iseither kill'd or, if it lives at
all, lives but to give rebellionits fascination and disobedience its charm for all
sins, As theologians weary. Notof reminding us are sins of disobedience.
(16:22):
When that high spirit, that morningstar of evil, fell from heaven,
it was as a rebel that hefell, callous, concentrated on evil,
with stained mind and soul hungry forrebellion. Dorian Gray hastened on, quickening
(16:42):
his step as he went. Butas he darted aside into a dim archway
that had served him often as ashort cut to the ill famed place where
he was going, he felt himselfsuddenly seized from behind, and before he
had time to be fend himself,he was thrust back against the wall with
(17:03):
a brutal hand round his throat.He struggled madly for life, and by
a terrible effort, wrenched the tighteningfingers away. In a second, he
heard the click of a revolver,and saw the gleam of a polished barrel
pointing straight at his head, andthe dusky form of a short, thick
(17:26):
set man facing him. What doyou want, he gasped. Keep quiet,
said the man. If you stir, I shoot you. You are
mad? What have I done toyou? You wrecked the life of sybil
Vane was the answer, And Sybilvaanewas my sister. She killed herself.
I know it. Her death isat your door. I swore I would
(17:48):
kill you in return. For yearsI have sought you. I had no
clue, no trace. The twopeople who could have described you were dead.
I knew nothing of you but thepet Na she used to call you.
I heard it tonight, by chance, make your peace with God,
for tonight you are going to die. Dorian Gray grew sick with fear.
(18:11):
I never knew her, he stammered. I've never heard of her. You
are mad. You had better confessyour sin. For as sure as I
am, James Vane, you aregoing to die. There was a horrible
moment. Dorian did not know whatto say or do. Down on your
knees, growl to the man.I give you one minute to make your
(18:32):
peace. No more. I goon board tonight for India, and I
must do my job first. Oneminute. That's all. Dorian's arms fell
to his side, Paralyzed with terror, he did not know what to do.
Suddenly, a wild hope flashed acrosshis brain. Stop, he cried,
how long it go? Is itsince your sister died? Quick?
(18:56):
Tell me eighteen years? Said theman. Why do you ask what do
years matter? Eighteen years, laughedDorian Gray, with a touch of triumph
in his voice. Eighteen years.Set me under the lab and look at
my face. James Vane hesitated fora moment, not understanding what was meant.
(19:18):
Then he seized Dorian Gray and draggedhim from the archway. Dim and
wavering as was the wind blown light, yet it served to show him the
hideous error, as it seemed intowhich he had fallen. For the face
of the man he had sought tokill, and all the bloom of boyhood,
(19:40):
all the unstained purity of youth,he seemed little more than a lad
of twenty summers, hardly older,dif older indeed at all, than his
sister had been when they had partedso many years ago. It was obvious
that this was is not the manwho had destroyed her life. He loosened
(20:03):
his hold and reeled back. Mygod, my god, he cried,
And I would have murdered you.Dorian Gray drew a long breath. You
have been on the brink of committinga terrible crime, my man, he
said, looking at him sternly.Let this be a warning to you not
to take vengeance into your own hands. Forgive me, sir, muttered James
(20:26):
Vane. I was deceived. Achance word I heard in that damned nd
set me on the wrong track.You had better go home and put that
pistol away, or you may getinto trouble, said Dorian, turning on
his heel and going slowly down thestreet. James Vain stood on the pavement
in horror. He was trembling fromhead to foot. After a little while,
(20:52):
a black shadow that had been creepingalong the dripping wall moved out into
the light and came close to himwith stealthy footsteps. He felt a hand
laid on his arm and looked roundwith a start. It was one of
the women who had been drinking atthe bar. Why didn't you kill him,
(21:14):
she hissed out, putting a haggardface quite close to his. I
knew you had followed him when yourushed out from Daly's. You're fool.
You should have killed him. Hehas lots of money, and he's as
bad as bad. He is notthe man I am looking for, he
answered, And I want no man'smoney. I want a man's life.
The man whose life I want mustbe nearly forty now, this one is
(21:37):
a little more than a boy.Thank God I have not got his bride
upon my hands. The woman gavea bitter laugh. Little more than a
boy, she sneered, Why man, it's nine an eighteen years since Prince
Charming made me? What I amyou, I cried James vain. She
raised her hand up to Heaven beforeGod. I am telling the truth,
(22:03):
she cried, before God, strikeme. Damn if it ain't so.
He is the worst one that comeshere. They say he has sold himself
to the devil for a pretty face. It's nine and eighteen years since I
met him. He hasn't changed muchsince then I have, though, she
added, with a sickly leer.You swear this, I swear it came
(22:26):
in hoarse echo from her flat mouth. But don't give me away to him,
she whined, I'm afraid of him. Let me have some money for
my night's lodging. He broke fromher with an oath and rushed to the
corner of the street, but DorianGray had disappeared. When he looked back,
(22:48):
the woman had vanished also. Endof chapter sixteen,
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