"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," Excerpt from Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
And there appears a pale-colored horse. His rider is called Death, and power is given him to destroy with the sword and with hunger and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
Literature excerpts is not often posted here; however, one sometimes encounters parts of a novel or short story that magnifies cultural reactions to life-changing events. Such is the case here.
One of the many notable works from Spaniard, Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (1867-1928), was Los cuatro jinetes del Apocalipsis (The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, written in 1916). Set in World War I, the story became popular in an English translation in 1918 and inspired major Hollywood films (including the 1921 silent version with Rudolph Valentino).
The work has been characterized as powerful novel about war in general and WWI in particular.
August Glen-James, editor
Tchernoff continued drinking, but with a distracted air, his eyes fixed on the red cloud that floated over the roofs. Suddenly he leaped from thought to word without any forewarning, continuing aloud the course of his reasoning.
. . . “And when the sun arises in a few hours, the world will see coursing through its fields the for horsemen, enemies of mankind. . . . Already their wild steeds are pawing the ground with impatience; already the ill-omened riders have come together and are exchanging the last words before leaping into the saddle.”
“What horseman are these?” asked Argensola.
“Those which go before the Beast.”
The two friends thought this reply as unintelligible as the preceding words. Desnoyers again said mentally, “He is drunk,” but his curiosity forced him to ask, “What beast is that?”
“That of the Apocalypse.”
Tchernoff described the Apocalyptic beast rising from the depths of the sea. He was like a leopard, his feet like those of a bear, his mouth like the snout of a lion. He had seven heads and ten horns. And upon the horns were ten crowns, and upon each of his heads the name of a blasphemy. Blasphemies against humanity, against justice, against all that makes life sweet and bearable. “Might is superior to Right!” . . . “The weak should not exist.” . . . “Be harsh in order to be great.” . . . And the Beast in all its hideousness was attempting to govern the world and make mankind render him homage!
“But the four horsemen?” persisted Desnoyers.
“The first horseman appears on a white horse. In his hand he carries a bow, and a crown is given unto him. He is Conquest, according to some, the Plague according to others. The second rider dashes out brandishing over his head an enormous sword. He is War. Peace flees from the world before his furious gallop; humanity is going to be exterminated. A black horse appears. He who mounts it holds in his hand a scale in order to weigh the maintenance of mankind. He is Famine. And there appears a pale-colored horse. His rider is called Death, and power is given him to destroy with the sword and with hunger and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
“The four horsemen are beginning their mad, desolating course over the heads of terrified humanity.
“Poor Humanity, crazed with fear, is fleeing in all directions on hearing the thundering pace of the Plague, War, Hunger and Death. Men and women, young and old, are knocking each other down and falling to the ground overwhelmed by terror, astonishment and desperation. And the white horse, the red, the black and the pale, are crushing all with their relentless, iron tread—the athletic man is hearing the crashing of his broken ribs, the nursing babe is writhing at its mother’s breast, and the aged and feeble are closing their eyes forever with a childlike sob.
“God is asleep, forgetting the world,” continued the Russian. “It will be a long time before he awakes, and while he sleeps the four feudal horsemen of the Beast will course through the land as its only lords.”
Excerpted from: “World’s Greatest Books: Twentieth Century Series—Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc. 1941. PP. 972-974.