"The House of Judgment," from Poems in Prose. Autograph manuscript signed, ca. 1893. 6 p.
Gift of Lucia Moreira Salles, 2008
(6)
And God closed the Book of the Life of the Man, and said, "Surely I shall send thee to Hell. Even unto Hell shall I send thee."
And the Man answered and said cried out, "Thou cans't not."
And God said to the Man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Hell, and for what reason?"
And the Man made answer, and said, "Because I have always lived in it." answered the Man.
And there was silence in the House of Judgment.
And after a space God spake, and said to the Man, "Seeing that I may not send thee to Hell, surely I shall send thee to Heaven. Shall Even unto Heaven shall I send thee."
And the Man answered and said cried out, "Thou cans't not."
And God said to the Man, "Wherefore can I not send thee to Heaven, and for what reason?"
Parag. And the Man made answer and said, "Because never, and in no place, have I been able to imagine it." answered the Man.
And there was silence in the House of Judgment.
Oscar Wilde