"This set the brother thinking more and more, but he felt that he could
do nothing that day, and he waited till the next, lying awake all night
thinking of what he would do and how he would do it, till the cold time
about sunrise, when he had given up the idea in despair. But when he
saw the light coming in the east, with the glorious gold and orange
clouds, and then the bright sunshine of a new day, he began to think of
how sad it would be for that young man, cut down as he had been in a
moment, to be left to die when perhaps he might be saved. He thought,
too, about trees that had been cut years before, and which had been
healthy and well ever since, and that morning, feeling stronger in his
determination, he went to the cell where the patient lay, to talk to
him, and the first thing the poor fellow said was:-"`Tell me the truth, please. I'm going to die, am I not?' "The young monk was silent.
"`I know it,' said the swineherd sadly. `I feel it now.' "Brother Anselm looked at him sadly for a few minutes and then said to
him:-"`I must not deceive you at such a time--yes; but one thing might save
your life.' "`What is that?' cried the poor fellow eagerly; and he told him as
gently as he could of the great operation, expecting to see the patient
shudder and turn faint.
"`Well,' he said, when the monk had ended, `why don't you do it?' "`But would you rather suffer that--would you run the risk?' "`Am I not a man?' said the poor fellow calmly. `Yes: life is very
sweet, and I would bear any pain that I might live.' "That settled the matter, and the monk went out of the cell to shut
himself up in his own and pray for the space of two hours, and the old
monks said that it was all talk, and that he had given up his horrible
idea; but the prior knew better, and he was not a bit surprised to see
Anselm coming out of his cell looking brave, and calm, and cool.
"Then he took a bottle of plant juice that he knew helped to stop
bleeding, and he got ready his bandages, and his keenest knives, and his
saw, and a bowl of water, and then he thought for a bit, and ended by
asking the monks which of them would help him, but they all shrank away
and turned pale, all but the prior, who said he would help, and then
they went into the poor fellow's cell."