I remember once, when a child, going alone to see the belfry of Nôtre
Dame.
I was already giddy from having ascended the dark winding staircase,
from having crossed the slight open gallery which unites the two towers,
and from having seen Paris beneath my feet; and I entered the cage of
stone and woodwork where the great bell is hung. I advanced with
trembling steps over the ill-joined planks, examining at a distance that
bell, so famous amongst the children and common people in Paris; and it
was not without terror that I observed the slated pent-houses, which
surrounded the belfry with inclined planes, were just on a level with my
feet. Through the openings I saw, in a bird’s-eye view, the street
beneath, and the passengers diminished to the size of ants.
Suddenly the enormous bell resounded; its deep vibration shook the air,
making the heavy tower rock, and the flooring start from the beams. The
noise had nearly upset me. I tottered, ready to fall, and seemed on the
point of slipping over the pent-houses. In an agony of terror I lay down
on the planks, pressing them closely with both my arms,--speechless,
breathless, with this formidable sound in my ears, while beneath my eyes
was the precipice, a profound abyss, where so many quiet and envied
passengers were walking.
Well, it appears to me as if I were again in that belfry; my senses seem
again giddy and dazzled; the booming of that bell seems to press on my
brain, and around me I no longer see that tranquil and even life which I
had quitted (where other men walk still) except from a distance, and
beyond a terrible abyss.