m, for the
first time in life, he had seen face to face, and very closely.
It was clear enough that he had always known, not merely of her
existence, but of this, that there was no power in the world more
familiar than that giantess; still, this knowledge of his had
been in a comatose condition, something separated altogether from
the every-day substance of life, and touching which there had
never been any need of thinking. Someone dies--a certain
acquaintance; a comrade in amusement; a famous, or unknown power
in the world--what do people say? A pity that he is gone! or, no
help for it! Well, what influence can the disappearance of that
man exercise on a given sphere of human action; on the course of
men's relations and interests? Life, like a rushing river, tears
all living men forward, and behind them, ever more distant,
remains that misty region, which is filled with the vanished and
forgotten. Who are they who, at any time, think of that misty
region, and look at the face of the giantess who reigns in it?
Priests, perhaps, devotees it may be; a few poets at times; or
people who sail on a slow and sad stream in life. Darvid had
never had time for such thoughts. The stream which bore him on
was rushing and roaring, glittering and turbulent.

But the giantess, because of her power, sprang over all golden
mountains--and came! He was thinking of this at the moment when
Kranitski saw him standing at the wall and squeezing into its
snowy drapery, just as a frightened insect might squeeze itself
into a cranny. That was a cranny in one more of his golden
mountains. In the great city, people had spoken with amazement of
the cost, well-nigh fabulous, of that last chamber of the
millionnaire's little daughter. He had means to do that and much
more. What are those means to him? He had vanquished enormously
great things in life, and he had immense power at that moment.
But of what use is that power to him, since something has come
which he cannot overthrow; something against which he can do
nothing, and which has struck him doubly--struck his heart with
pain, and his head with anxiety? What virtue is there in power
which cannot shield a man from suffering? And even suffering is
not important, since man can battle with it; but to shield
against annihilation! That, at which he was looking then so
nearly, was a sudden and merciless annihilation of life, blooming
in all its charm and with great fullness. Something out of the
air