“Behold!” [See p. 241], thirteenth lithograph by Murice Greiffenhagen, R. A., in H. Rider Haggard's She: A History of Adventure (1888), 3 ½ by 4 ¾ inches (8.8 cm high by 11.8 cm wide), facing p. 248 in Chapter XXI, “The Dead and the Living Meet.” [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Ayesha Introduces Kallikrates' Descendant, Leo, to Kallikrates
“Behold now, let the Dead and Living meet! Across the gulf of Time they still are one. Time hath no power against Identity, though sleep the merciful hath blotted out the tablets of our mind, and with oblivion sealed the sorrows that else would hound us from life to life, stuffing the brain with gathered griefs till it burst in the madness of uttermost despair. Still are they one, for the wrappings of our sleep shall roll away as thunder-clouds before the wind; the frozen voice of the past shall melt in music like mountain snows beneath the sun; and the weeping and the laughter of the lost hours shall be heard once more most sweetly echoing up the cliffs of immeasurable time.
“Ay, the sleep shall roll away, and the voices shall be heard, when down the completed chain, whereof our each existence is a link, the lightning of the Spirit hath passed to work out the purpose of our being; quickening and fusing those separated days of life, and shaping them to a staff whereon we may safely lean as we wend to our appointed fate.
“Therefore, have no fear, Kallikrates, when thou — living, and but lately born — shalt look upon thine own departed self, who breathed and died so long ago. I do but turn one page in thy Book of Being, and show thee what is writ thereon.
“Behold!”
With a sudden motion she drew the shroud from the cold form, and let the lamplight play upon it. I looked, and then shrank back terrified; since, say what she might in explanation, the sight was an uncanny one — for her explanations were beyond the grasp of our finite minds, and when they were stripped from the mists of vague esoteric philosophy, and brought into conflict with the cold and horrifying fact, did not do much to break its force. For there, stretched upon the stone bier before us, robed in white and perfectly preserved, was what appeared to be the body of Leo Vincey. I stared from Leo, standing there alive, to Leo lying there dead, and could see no difference; except, perhaps, that the body on the bier looked older. Feature for feature they were the same, even down to the crop of little golden curls, which was Leo’s most uncommon beauty. It even seemed to me, as I looked, that the expression on the dead man’s face resembled that which I had sometimes seen upon Leo’s when he was plunged into profound sleep. I can only sum up the closeness of the resemblance by saying that I never saw twins so exactly similar as that dead and living pair.
I turned to see what effect was produced upon Leo by the sight of his dead self, and found it to be one of partial stupefaction. He stood for two or three minutes staring, and said nothing, and when at last he spoke it was only to ejaculate —
“Cover it up, and take me away.” [Chapter XXI, “The Dead and the Living Meet,” pp. 241-242]
Commentary: “Dust to dust! — the past to the past! — the lost to the lost!”
Ayesha now resolves the mystery of where she sleeps and the greater mystery of what befell Leo Vincey's ancestor, Kallikrates, at the hand of his beloved two thousand years earlier. In a jealous rage which she has repented every night she descends the time-worn stone steps to the tomb, Ayesha had thrust a spear into his breast, which still bears the mark. She admits that she would rather have slain her rival, but that Amenartas the Egyptian was more than a match for her. However, now that she has Kallikrates reincarnated and enthralled, she no longer needs to preserve the handsome corpse, which in the illustration that comes at the chapter's curtain she is about to destroy utterly with some some of acidic, powdery concoction: "Kallikrates is dead, and is born again!" (244).
The placement of the illustration forces the reader to ponder the moment again, appreciating Ayesha's gesture of command beside the beautifully preserved corpse that looks uncannily like the living Leo. In the darkness and chiaroscuro we cannot discern the expression on Leo's face as he bends over the visage of his ancestor, supported by his stepfather (right). In fact, according to the text, Holly has just stepped back from having uncovered the chest of the ancient lover. The vitrified, double-handed vase that shortly she will hold aloft is nowhere to be seen.
Realistic as the figures may be, the narrow tomb seems to be rather too well lit in this illustration which complements the aftermath of Ustane's murder, realised in the previous lithograph, “Come!” for Chapter XX, “Triumph.” The answer lies in what Greiffenhagen has not depicted: just outside the picture's upper frame Ayesha must be holding up the lamp that Leo has carried into the tomb.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Brantlinger, Patrick. Introduction. She: A History of Adventure. By H. Rider Haggard. London: Penguin, 2004. vii-xxviii.
Ellis, P. B. H. Rider Haggard: A Voice from the Infinite. London: Routledge, 1978.
Haggard, H. Rider. "SHE:" A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. The Graphic Magazine, Vols. XXXIV and XXXV. 2 October 1886 to 8 January 1887.
Haggard. H. Rider. SHE: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by E. K. Johnson. New York: Harper & Bros., 1887.
Haggard, H. Rider. SHE: A History of Adventure. Illustrated by Maurice Greiffenhagen and Charles H. M. Kerr. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1888, rpt. 1927.
Haggard, H. Rider. She. Project Gutenberg EBook #3155 produced by John Bickers; Dagny; William Kyngesburye; David Kyngesburye; David Widger. 2016. Web. Accessed 9 May 2025.
Created 16 May 2025