ethernautrix
July 2nd, 2013, 05:47 PM
A priest, a drunkard, and an engineer are due to be guillotined during the French Revolution.
They are brought up to the ghastly machine on the tumbril, the cacking of the tricoteuses ringing in their ears. With a shove, the priest is thrust onto the platform.
"You are condemned as an enemy of France! You are to die! But one last boon: you many decide to be face down, or face up as you are placed on the guillotine!"
"I will die facing the heavens, so that I might see the angel of the lord coming for my soul, as I meet my end forgiving those who bring me to this place, Monsieur."
"As you wish," and with that he is strapped to the board. A hush falls as the blade waits, poised to fall. A click! A whirr! and then - nothing. The blade sticks halfway down.
"A miracle!" sigh the crowd. "God has spared you, Monsieur," cries the executioner. "Go free, and in peace."
Next, it is the drunkard. He is offered the same choice.
"I have led the life of a sinner, but I will place myself at the mercy of the Lord. Behead me as you tried to behead his faithful servant. I shall pray for his deliverance; and my life will be his thereafter if I am spared."
The crowd wait, hushed again. Once more the blade is hoisted, once more the lever falls, once more - it sticks!
"Thank you, Father, thank you!" cries the drunkard. He stumbles from the platform, and the crowd part to allow one so blessed to leave.
Last it is the engineer. "You, intellectual, enemy of France! Surely you will not trust to God in this manner, you who are a man of reason, of enlightenment?"
"I will, Monsieur, for have I not seen His work today, with mine own eyes?"
The engineer is strapped to the board, his eyes gazing aloft. Silence, an absolute silence, falls, broken only by the creak of the blade as it makes the terrible journey upwards. For what seems an eternity it lies poised. Then the executioner flings the lever, it starts to plunge, and then a cry!
"Look, hang on, I can see what your problem is here..."
Posted by mjarman [link (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/248352-the-guillotine/?p=2713295)]
They are brought up to the ghastly machine on the tumbril, the cacking of the tricoteuses ringing in their ears. With a shove, the priest is thrust onto the platform.
"You are condemned as an enemy of France! You are to die! But one last boon: you many decide to be face down, or face up as you are placed on the guillotine!"
"I will die facing the heavens, so that I might see the angel of the lord coming for my soul, as I meet my end forgiving those who bring me to this place, Monsieur."
"As you wish," and with that he is strapped to the board. A hush falls as the blade waits, poised to fall. A click! A whirr! and then - nothing. The blade sticks halfway down.
"A miracle!" sigh the crowd. "God has spared you, Monsieur," cries the executioner. "Go free, and in peace."
Next, it is the drunkard. He is offered the same choice.
"I have led the life of a sinner, but I will place myself at the mercy of the Lord. Behead me as you tried to behead his faithful servant. I shall pray for his deliverance; and my life will be his thereafter if I am spared."
The crowd wait, hushed again. Once more the blade is hoisted, once more the lever falls, once more - it sticks!
"Thank you, Father, thank you!" cries the drunkard. He stumbles from the platform, and the crowd part to allow one so blessed to leave.
Last it is the engineer. "You, intellectual, enemy of France! Surely you will not trust to God in this manner, you who are a man of reason, of enlightenment?"
"I will, Monsieur, for have I not seen His work today, with mine own eyes?"
The engineer is strapped to the board, his eyes gazing aloft. Silence, an absolute silence, falls, broken only by the creak of the blade as it makes the terrible journey upwards. For what seems an eternity it lies poised. Then the executioner flings the lever, it starts to plunge, and then a cry!
"Look, hang on, I can see what your problem is here..."
Posted by mjarman [link (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/248352-the-guillotine/?p=2713295)]