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After Quasimodo
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After Quasimodo's (the hunchback of Notre Dame) death, the Bishop of the
Cathedral sent word through the streets of Paris that a new bell ringer
was needed. The Bishop decided that he would conduct the interviews
personally and went up into the belfry to begin the screening process.
An armless man approached him and announced that he was there to apply
for the bell ringer's job. The Bishop was incredulous. "You have no
arms!" "No matter," said the man. "Observe!." And he began striking the bells with his face, producing a beautiful melody on the carillon. The Bishop listened in astonishment; convinced he had finally found someone to replace Quasimodo. But suddenly, rushing forward to strike a bell, the armless man tripped and plunged headlong out of the belfry window to his death in the street below. The stunned Bishop rushed to his side. When he reached the street, a crowd had gathered around the fallen figure, drawn by the beautiful music they had heard only moments before. As they silently parted to let the Bishop through, one of them asked: "Bishop, who was this man?". "I don't know his name," the bishop sadly replied, "but his face sure rings a bell."
The following day, despite the sadness that weighed heavily on his heart
due to the unfortunate death of the armless arm, the Bishop continued
his interviews for a bell ringer. The first man to approach him said,
"Your Excellency, I am the brother of the poor armless wretch that fell
to his death from this very belfry yesterday. I pray that you honor his
life by allowing me to replace him in this duty.". The Bishop agreed to
give the man an audition, and, as the armless man's brother stooped to
pick up a mallet to strike the first bell, he moaned, clutched at his
chest, twirled around, and died on the spot. |