_M. Mifroid Performs on the Stage_
|ONE would never have expected to drop from one of the numberless ways
in the catacombs into a city of twenty thousand inhabitants. However,
upon reflection, one would wonder why men, taken out of their natural
environment, would not be susceptible to the same natural changes as the
animals.
Arajo relates to us how he saw flocks of blind ducks come out of the
caverns of the subterranean lake of Zirhnitz. One is bound to believe
that these ducks were the products of ducks which once saw clearly, but
which were shut up by some accident in the bowels of the earth, in the
midst of obscure waters. And so there is some logic in the theory that
if the family of a man in the first years of the fourteenth century was
by accident confined in the catacombs, it would live there and produce
offspring. At the end of the third generation they would have forgotten
the existence of the open world. Of course they would continue to speak
the language, and as no strange element would mix with it, it would
preserve its purity through centuries.
Then in the darkness they would lose the use of their eyes, but develop
their sense of touch as blind men do. Hence the excess of digits on
their hands and feet. Then the loss of one sense always develops all the
other senses in proportion. After centuries these super-developed senses
become abnormal, and the nose and ears develop accordingly in size.
And so it was with these people of the Talfa. Their features had
developed to an extraordinary extent, and their idea of beauty in the
human form was based on the excessive development of these features.
Demoiselle de Coucy was considered the most beautiful of all the Talfa.
They had entered the large meeting room, and M. Mifroid attempted to
again light his lamp, but the crowd cried out in such disgust that he
was persuaded to keep it out. He endeavored to converse with those near
by. Their names were among the most illustrious in France at the time
of the Battle of Crecy. But they addressed themselves in a tone so
ineffably sweet, and all the uproar they tried to make resulted in
an enchanting murmur. It was difficult to imagine that such sweet and
honeyed words could emanate from such ugly beings.
M. Mifroid was seated on a chair next to Lady Jane de Montfort, who
continually felt his face and touched his ears. While her curiosity
was great she approached him with such delicate gracefulness that he
hadn’t the heart to restrain her.
Soon there was a great silence, and a concert began. To Mifroid and
Théophraste nothing was to be heard. Occasionally the people applauded
quietly, but the absolute silence of the performers was a striking
feature. Not a word was heard.
Soon there was much talking again around the two men, and they learned
that it was intended that they should go down on the stage. This was the
reason why they had been dragged to the meeting hall. They were to be
exhibited as a phenomenon. Théophraste willingly consented, as his
companion had promised him a good duck for dinner. M. Mifroid was not
so easily persuaded, but at last acquiesced, and they descended to the
stage. They all clamored for a song, and M. Mifroid started one of the
old French songs of the fourteenth century, which he had learned as a
boy. He had hardly started the first verse, when everybody in the hall
called out for him to sing lower.
He started again, this time moderating his voice, but again they called
to him to sing lower. The third time he could hardly hear himself, so
low was his voice, but this did not satisfy his audience, and he left
the platform with his song unfinished. He afterward learned that the
sense of hearing of these people was so developed that they could
understand silent music.