Then the fair woman, that was his soul, spoke again to him, saying: 

“And for this thy last purpose, and for those unprofitable truths of thy teaching,—­thine heart hath already put them away, and it needs not that I lay my bidding upon thee.  How is it that thou, a man, wouldst say coldly to the mind what God hath said to the heart warmly?  Thy will was honest and wholesome; but look well lest this also be folly,—­to say, ’I, in doing this, do strengthen God among men.’  When at any time hath he cried unto thee, saying, ’My son, lend me thy shoulder, for I fall?’ Deemest thou that the men who enter God’s temple in malice, to the provoking of blood, and neither for his love nor for his wrath will abate their purpose,—­shall afterwards stand with thee in the porch, midway between Him and themselves, to give ear unto thy thin voice, which merely the fall of their visors can drown, and to see thy hands, stretched feebly, tremble among their swords?  Give thou to God no more than he asketh of thee; but to man also, that which is man’s.  In all that thou doest, work from thine own heart, simply; for his heart is as thine, when thine is wise and humble; and he shall have understanding of thee.  One drop of rain is as another, and the sun’s prism in all:  and shalt not thou be as he, whose lives are the breath of One?  Only by making thyself his equal can he learn to hold communion with thee, and at last own thee above him.  Not till thou lean over the water shalt thou see thine image therein:  stand erect, and it shall slope from thy feet and be lost.  Know that there is but this means whereby thou may’st serve God with man:—­Set thine hand and thy soul to serve man with God.”

And when she that spoke had said these words within Chiaro’s spirit, she left his side quietly, and stood up as he had first seen her; with her fingers laid together, and her eyes steadfast, and with the breadth of her long dress covering her feet on the floor.  And, speaking again, she said: 

“Chiaro, servant of God, take now thine Art unto thee, and paint me thus, as I am, to know me:  weak, as I am, and in the weeds of this time; only with eyes which seek out labour, and with a faith, not learned, yet jealous of prayer.  Do this; so shall thy soul stand before thee always, and perplex thee no more.”

And Chiaro did as she bade him.  While he worked, his face grew solemn with knowledge:  and before the shadows had turned, his work was done.  Having finished, he lay back where he sat, and was asleep immediately:  for the growth of that strong sunset was heavy about him, and he felt weak and haggard; like one just come out of a dusk, hollow country, bewildered with echoes, where he had lost himself, and who has not slept for many days and nights.  And when she saw him lie back, the beautiful woman came to him, and sat at his head, gazing, and quieted his sleep with her voice.

The tumult of the factions had endured all that day through all Pisa, though Chiaro had not heard it:  and the last service of that Feast was a mass sung at midnight from the windows of all the churches for the many dead who lay about the city, and who had to be buried before morning, because of the extreme heats.