Free Saint Francis by Nikos Kazantzakis Page A

likes. It seems he had a dream!" Ermelinda picked up the basket, grumbling; Agnes, the younger sister, took the little basket that contained the fruit, and with Clara in the lead all three started off through the olive trees, headed for the plain below.

    "We're saved . . ." murmured Francis, and he breathed in deeply, as though he had just escaped an immense danger.

    He collapsed onto the doorsill and watched the three girls through the olive trees as they gleamed in the sunlight one moment, faded the next, and finally disappeared.

    "We're saved . . ." he repeated, and he stood up.

    It must have been almost noon. He looked at me. All signs of fear had vanished from his face.

    "Brother Leo"--his voice had changed now, had become serious and resolute--"Brother Leo, didn't we say the two of us were an army and that we were setting out to deliver the Holy Sepulcher? Do not smile--I want you to believe! We're going to start with small, easy things; then, little by little we shall try our hand at the big things. And after that, after we finish the big things, we shall undertake the impossible. Do you understand what I'm saying to you, or do you believe I'm still bedridden in Bernardone's house, and that I'm delirious?"

    "Undertake the impossible, Brother Francis?" I asked, terrified. "What do you mean? How far do you plan to go?"

    "Brother Leo, didn't you yourself tell me how you once went to a famous ascetic who disciplined himself by living in the top of a tree? 'Give me some advice, Holy Father!' you called to him. And he answered you: 'Go as far as you can!' 'Give me some more advice, Holy Father!' you shouted a second time. 'Go further than you can!' was his answer. . . . You see, Brother Leo, we are going to go further than we can. Right now we are using the ruins of San Damiano's to give us momentum. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

    "Don't ask me questions, Francis," I replied. "I understand nothing and I understand everything! Just command me!" My heart had caught fire; it could have consumed an entire forest.

    "We'll gather stones. I still have some of Bernardone's money in my purse: we'll purchase cement and mason's tools and then the two of us will get down to the business of reinforcing the walls. We'll also buy tiles for the roof so that the water won't come in when it rains; and paint for the windows and doors; and oil for the saint's lamp. How many years has he gone without illumination? We shall illuminate him. Agreed?"

    I rolled up my sleeves. His words had fired my blood.

    "When do we start?"

    "Now. San Damiano is exposed to the rain; he is falling in ruins, stumbling in the darkness; he cannot wait. But our souls, Brother Leo: do you think they can wait? They too are exposed to the rain; they too are falling in ruins, stumbling in the darkness. Forward, comrade! In God's name!" He threw off his velvet coat and began to arrange the large corner-blocks that had fallen down and filled the yard. I lifted the hem of my robe to form a sizable pocket and then ran all about filling it with stones which I carried to one spot and deposited in a pile. While working, Francis began once more to sing the troubadour songs he had learned as a child. They were about love. Love for whom? The troubadours had embellished the virtue of the beloved lady; but this time as Francis sang, surely he was thinking of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

    It was already evening when we returned home. The whole way we talked passionately about stones, cement, and trowels--like two masons; and it was just as though we had been talking about God and the salvation of the world which was about to fall into ruins. That evening I understood for the first time that all things are one and that even the humblest everyday deed is part of a man's destiny. Francis too was deeply roused; he too felt that there is no such thing as a small deed or a large deed, and that to chink a crumbling wall with a single pebble is the same as reinforcing the entire