The Temptation of St. Anthony

by Gustave Flaubert

"I was the God of Armies; the Lord, the Lord God!"

(An enormous silence follows,—and deepest night.)

Anthony. "All have passed away!"

Some One (replies):

"I remain!"

(And Hilarion stands before him—but transfigured wholly,—beautiful as an archangel, luminous as a sun, and so lofty that in order to behold his face—

Anthony

is compelled to throw back his head, to look up as though gazing as a star):

"Who art thou?"

Hilarion. "My kingdom is vast as the universe; and my desire knows no limits. I go on forever,—freeing minds, weighing worlds,—without hatred, without fear, without pity, without love, and without God. Men call me Science!"