The writer Balzac tells the tale of a ferryboat, traveling from an island on the coast of Flanders to Ostend on the mainland.
“Night is coming on. A man appears. He is not distinguished in dress. Seven persons sit in better seats on the boat:
- A cavalier with gilded spurs and jewel bedecked cap;
- A proud damsel with falcon on her wrist;
- Her mother;
- A churchman of high rank;
- A fat merchant;
- A doctor of science.
They make sure there is no room for the stranger. He moved up among the poor, the working people, a young woman with her only child; an old woman who had worked as a prostitute; an old soldier; a peasant with his 10 year old son.
A storm comes. Fear strikes; the mother clutches her child. The churchman prays in vain. The cavalier assures the young damsel he will protect her. The prostitute asks for forgiveness. The storm worsens. The ship begins to sink. The stranger says, `Those who have faith will be saved. Let them follow me.’ At once the young mother took up her child in her arms and walked with him on the sea. Then followed the soldier, and the old prostitute, and the two peasants. And last of all came one of the sailors, Thomas, whose faith wavered. Thomas sank several times into the sea; but after 3 failures, he walked with the rest of them. The merchant sank with the weight of his gold. The man of science, who had mocked the stranger, was swallowed up by the sea. The damsel and her lover, the bishop and the old lady went to the bottom, heavy with their own hypocrisy. But those who had faith followed the stranger and trod with firm dry feet on the raging waters.”
ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., ChristianGlobe Illustrations, by King Duncan