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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/8129-8.txt b/8129-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a50ca4 --- /dev/null +++ b/8129-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3940 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Palace, by +Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Dreamer's Palace + +Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +Posting Date: October 19, 2012 [EBook #8129] +Release Date: May, 2005 +First Posted: June 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S PALACE *** + + + + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +A DREAMER'S TALES + + + + +LORD DUNSANY + +1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface + +Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean + +Blagdaross + +The Madness of Andelsprutz + +Where the Tides Ebb and Flow + +Bethmoora + +Idle Days on the Yann + +The Sword and the Idol + +The Idle City + +The Hashish Man + +Poor Old Bill + +The Beggars + +Carcassonne + +In Zaccarath + +The Field + +The Day of the Poll + +The Unhappy Body + + + + +PREFACE + + +I hope for this book that it may come into the hands of those that were +kind to my others and that it may not disappoint them. + +--Lord Dunsany + + + + +POLTARNEES, BEHOLDER OF OCEAN + + +Toldees, Mondath, Arizim, these are the Inner Lands, the lands whose +sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the +east there lies a desert, for ever untroubled by man: all yellow it is, +and spotted with shadows of stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard +lying in the sun. To the south they are bounded by magic, to the west by a +mountain, and to the north by the voice and anger of the Polar wind. Like +a great wall is the mountain to the west. It comes up out of the distance +and goes down into the distance again, and it is named Poltarnees, +Beholder of Ocean. To the northward red rocks, smooth and bare of soil, +and without any speck of moss or herbage, slope up to the very lips of the +Polar wind, and there is nothing else there by the noise of his anger. +Very peaceful are the Inner Lands, and very fair are their cities, and +there is no war among them, but quiet and ease. And they have no enemy but +age, for thirst and fever lie sunning themselves out in the mid-desert, +and never prowl into the Inner Lands. And the ghouls and ghosts, whose +highway is the night, are kept in the south by the boundary of magic. And +very small are all their pleasant cities, and all men are known to one +another therein, and bless one another by name as they meet in the +streets. And they have a broad, green way in every city that comes in out +of some vale or wood or downland, and wanders in and out about the city +between the houses and across the streets, and the people walk along it +never at all, but every year at her appointed time Spring walks along it +from the flowery lands, causing the anemone to bloom on the green way and +all the early joys of hidden woods, or deep, secluded vales, or triumphant +downlands, whose heads lift up so proudly, far up aloof from cities. + +Sometimes waggoners or shepherds walk along this way, they that have come +into the city from over cloudy ridges, and the townsmen hinder them not, +for there is a tread that troubleth the grass and a tread that troubleth +it not, and each man in his own heart knoweth which tread he hath. And in +the sunlit spaces of the weald and in the wold's dark places, afar from +the music of cities and from the dance of the cities afar, they make there +the music of the country places and dance the country dance. Amiable, near +and friendly appears to these men the sun, and as he is genial to them and +tends their younger vines, so they are kind to the little woodland things +and any rumour of the fairies or old legend. And when the light of some +little distant city makes a slight flush upon the edge of the sky, and the +happy golden windows of the homesteads stare gleaming into the dark, then +the old and holy figure of Romance, cloaked even to the face, comes down +out of hilly woodlands and bids dark shadows to rise and dance, and sends +the forest creatures forth to prowl, and lights in a moment in her bower +of grass the little glowworm's lamp, and brings a hush down over the grey +lands, and out of it rises faintly on far-off hills the voice of a lute. +There are not in the world lands more prosperous and happy than Toldees, +Mondath, Arizim. + +From these three little kingdoms that are named the Inner Lands the young +men stole constantly away. One by one they went, and no one knew why they +went save that they had a longing to behold the Sea. Of this longing they +spoke little, but a young man would become silent for a few days, and +then, one morning very early, he would slip away and slowly climb +Poltarnee's difficult slope, and having attained the top pass over and +never return. A few stayed behind in the Inner Lands and became the old +men, but none that had ever climbed Poltarnees from the very earliest +times had ever come back again. Many had gone up Poltarnees sworn to +return. Once a king sent all his courtiers, one by one, to report the +mystery to him, and then went himself; none ever returned. + +Now, it was the wont of the folk of the Inner Lands to worship rumours and +legends of the Sea, and all that their prophets discovered of the Sea was +writ in a sacred book, and with deep devotion on days of festival or +mourning read in the temples by the priests. Now, all their temples lay +open to the west, resting upon pillars, that the breeze from the Sea might +enter them, and they lay open on pillars to the east that the breezes of +the Sea might not be hindered by pass onward wherever the Sea list. And +this is the legend that they had of the Sea, whom none in the Inner Lands +had ever beholden. They say that the Sea is a river heading towards +Hercules, and they say that he touches against the edge of the world, and +that Poltarnees looks upon him. They say that all the worlds of heaven go +bobbing on this river and are swept down with the stream, and that +Infinity is thick and furry with forests through which the river in his +course sweeps on with all the worlds of heaven. Among the colossal trunks +of those dark trees, the smallest fronds of whose branches are man nights, +there walk the gods. And whenever its thirst, glowing in space like a +great sun, comes upon the beast, the tiger of the gods creeps down to the +river to drink. And the tiger of the gods drinks his fill loudly, whelming +worlds the while, and the level of the river sinks between its banks ere +the beast's thirst is quenched and ceases to glow like a sun. And many +worlds thereby are heaped up dry and stranded, and the gods walk not among +them evermore, because they are hard to their feet. These are the worlds +that have no destiny, whose people know no god. And the river sweeps +onwards ever. And the name of the River is Oriathon, but men call it +Ocean. This is the Lower Faith of the Inner Lands. And there is a Higher +Faith which is not told to all. Oriathon sweeps on through the forests of +Infinity and all at once falls roaring over an Edge, whence Time has long +ago recalled his hours to fight in his war with the gods; and falls unlit +by the flash of nights and days, with his flood unmeasured by miles, into +the deeps of nothing. + +Now as the centuries went by and the one way by which a man could climb +Poltarnees became worn with feet, more and more men surmounted it, not to +return. And still they knew not in the Inner Lands upon what mystery +Poltarnees looked. For on a still day and windless, while men walked +happily about their beautiful streets or tended flocks in the country, +suddenly the west wind would bestir himself and come in from the Sea. And +he would come cloaked and grey and mournful and carry to someone the +hungry cry of the Sea calling out for bones of men. And he that heard it +would move restlessly for some hours, and at last would rise suddenly, +irresistibly up, setting his face to Poltarnees, and would say, as is the +custom of those lands when men part briefly, "Till a man's heart +remembereth," which means "Farewell for a while"; but those that loved +him, seeing his eyes on Poltarnees, would answer sadly, "Till the gods +forget," which means "Farewell." + +Now the king of Arizim had a daughter who played with the wild wood +flowers, and with the fountains in her father's court, and with the little +blue heaven-birds that came to her doorway in the winter to shelter from +the snow. And she was more beautiful than the wild wood flowers, or than +all the fountains in her father's court, or than the blue heaven-birds in +their full winter plumage when they shelter from the snow. The old wise +kings of Mondath and of Toldees saw her once as she went lightly down the +little paths of her garden, and turning their gaze into the mists of +thought, pondered the destiny of their Inner Lands. And they watched her +closely by the stately flowers, and standing alone in the sunlight, and +passing and repassing the strutting purple birds that the king's fowlers +had brought from Asagéhon. When she was of the age of fifteen years the +King of Mondath called a council of kings. And there met with him the +kings of Toldees and Arizim. And the King of Mondath in his Council said: + +"The call of the unappeased and hungry Sea (and at the word 'Sea' the +three kings bowed their heads) lures every year out of our happy kingdoms +more and more of our men, and still we know not the mystery of the Sea, +and no devised oath has brought one man back. Now thy daughter, Arizim, is +lovelier than the sunlight, and lovelier than those stately flowers of +thine that stand so tall in her garden, and hath more grace and beauty +than those strange birds that the venturous fowlers bring in creaking +wagons out of Asagéhon, whose feathers are alternate purple and white. +Now, he that shall love thy daughter, Hilnaric, whoever he shall be, is +the man to climb Poltarnees and return, as none hath ever before, and tell +us upon what Poltarnees looks; for it may be that they daughter is more +beautiful than the Sea." + +Then from his Seat of Council arose the King of Arizim. He said: "I fear +that thou hast spoken blasphemy against the Sea, and I have a dread that +ill will come of it. Indeed I had not thought she was so fair. It is such +a short while ago that she was quite a small child with her hair still +unkempt and not yet attired in the manner of princesses, and she would go +up into the wild woods unattended and come back with her robes unseemly +and all torn, and would not take reproof with a humble spirit, but made +grimaces even in my marble court all set about with fountains." + +Then said the King of Toldees: + +"Let us watch more closely and let us see the Princess Hilnaric in the +season of the orchard-bloom when the great birds go by that know the Sea, +to rest in our inland places; and if she be more beautiful than the +sunrise over our folded kingdoms when all the orchards bloom, it may be +that she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the King of Arizim said: + +"I fear this is terrible blasphemy, yet will I do as you have decided in +council." + +And the season of the orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim +called his daughter forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was +rising huge and round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were +singing to the night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and +they glowed in the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the +fountains, and the grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left +the dark ways of the forest and lit the whole white palace and its +fountains and shone on the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of +Arizim glowed afar, and the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels +and song. And the moon made a music at its rising, but it fell a little +short of mortal ears. And Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, +with the moonlight shining on her forehead; and watching her from the +shadows on the terrace stood the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said. + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And the season of the +orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim called his daughter +forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was rising huge and +round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were singing to the +night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and they glowed in +the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the fountains, and the +grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left the dark ways of +the forest and lit the whole white palace and its fountains and shone on +the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of Arizim glowed afar, and +the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels and song. And the moon +made a music at its rising, but it fell a little short of mortal ears. And +Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, with the moonlight shining +on her forehead; and watching her from the shadows on the terrace stood +the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said: + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And on another day the King of +Arizim bade his daughter forth at dawn, and they stood again upon the +balcony. And the sun came up over a world of orchards, and the sea-mists +went back over Poltarnees to the Sea; little wild voices arose in all the +thickets, the voices of the fountains began to die, and the song arose, in +all the marble temples, of the birds that are sacred to the Sea. And +Hilnaric stood there, still glowing with dreams of heaven. + +"She is more beautiful," said the kings, "than morning." + +Yet one more trial they made of Hilnaric's beauty, for they watched her on +the terraces at sunset ere yet the petals of the orchards had fallen, and +all along the edge of neighbouring woods the rhododendron was blooming +with the azalea. And the sun went down under craggy Poltarnees, and the +sea-mist poured over his summit inland. And the marble temples stood up +clear in the evening, but films of twilight were drawn between the +mountain and the city. Then from the Temple ledges and eaves of palaces +the bats fell headlong downwards, then spread their wings and floated up +and down through darkening ways; lights came blinking out in golden +windows, men cloaked themselves against the grey sea-mist, the sound of +small songs arose, and the face of Hilnaric became a resting-place for +mysteries and dreams. + +"Than all these things," said the kings, "she is more lovely: but who can +say whether she is lovelier than the Sea?" + +Prone in a rhododendron thicket at the edge of the palace lawns a hunter +had waited since the sun went down. Near to him was a deep pool where the +hyacinths grew and strange flowers floated upon it with broad leaves; and +there the great bull gariachs came down to drink by starlight; and, +waiting there for the gariachs to come, he saw the white form of the +Princess leaning on her balcony. Before the stars shone out or the bulls +came down to drink he left his lurking-place and moved closer to the +palace to see more nearly the Princess. The palace lawns were full of +untrodden dew, and everything was still when he came across them, holding +his great spear. In the farthest corner of the terraces the three old +kings were discussing the beauty of Hilnaric and the destiny of the Inner +Lands. Moving lightly, with a hunter's tread, the watcher by the pool came +very near, even in the still evening, before the Princess saw him. When he +saw her closely he exclaimed suddenly: + +"She must be more beautiful than the Sea." + +When the Princess turned and saw his garb and his great spear she knew +that he was a hunter of gariachs. + +When the three kings heard the young man exclaim they said softly to one +another: + +"This must be the man." + +Then they revealed themselves to him, and spoke to him to try him. They +said: + +"Sir, you have spoken blasphemy against the Sea." + +And the young man muttered: + +"She is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the kings said: + +"We are older than you and wiser, and know that nothing is more beautiful +than the Sea." + +And the young man took off the gear of his head, and became downcast, and +he knew that he spake with kings, yet he answered: + +"By this spear, she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And all the while the Princess stared at him, knowing him to be a hunter +of gariachs. + +Then the king of Arizim said to the watcher by the pool: + +"If thou wilt go up Poltarnees and come back, as none have come, and +report to us what lure or magic is in the Sea, we will pardon thy +blasphemy, and thou shalt have the Princess to wife and sit among the +Council of Kings." + +And gladly thereunto the young man consented. And the Princess spoke to +him, and asked him his name. And he told her that his name was Athelvok, +and great joy arose in him at the sound of her voice. And to the three +kings he promised to set out on the third day to scale the slope of +Poltarnees and to return again, and this was the oath by which they bound +him to return: + +"I swear by the Sea that bears the worlds away, by the river of Oriathon, +which men call Ocean, and by the gods and their tiger, and by the doom of +the worlds, that I will return again to the Inner Lands, having beheld the +Sea." + +And that oath he swore with solemnity that very night in one of the +temples of the Sea, but the three kings trusted more to the beauty of +Hilnaric even than to the power of the oath. + +The next day Athelvok came to the palace of Arizim with the morning, over +the fields to the East and out of the country of Toldees, and Hilnaric +came out along her balcony and met him on the terraces. And she asked him +if he had ever slain a gariach, and he said that he had slain three, and +then he told her how he had killed his first down by the pool in the wood. +For he had taken his father's spear and gone down to the edge of the pool, +and had lain under the azaleas there waiting for the stars to shine, by +whose first light the gariachs go to the pools to drink; and he had gone +too early and had had long to wait, and the passing hours seemed longer +than they were. And all the birds came in that home at night, and the bat +was abroad, and the hour of the duck went by, and still no gariach came +down to the pool; and Athelvok felt sure that none would come. And just as +this grew to a certainty in his mind the thicket parted noiselessly and a +huge bull gariach stood facing him on the edge of the water, and his great +horns swept out sideways from his head, and at the ends curved upwards, +and were four strides in width from tip to tip. And he had not seen +Athelvok, for the great bull was on the far side of the little pool, and +Athelvok could not creep round to him for fear of meeting the wind (for +the gariachs, who can see little in the dark forests, rely on hearing and +smell). But he devised swiftly in his mind while the bull stood there with +head erect just twenty strides from him across the water. And the bull +sniffed the wind cautiously and listened, then lowered his great head down +to the pool and drank. At that instant Athelvok leapt into the water and +shot forward through its weedy depths among the stems of the strange +flowers that floated upon broad leaves on the surface. And Athelvok kept +his spear out straight before him, and the fingers of his left hand he +held rigid and straight, not pointing upwards, and so did not come to the +surface, but was carried onward by the strength of his spring and passed +unentangled through the stems of the flowers. When Athelvok jumped into +the water the bull must have thrown his head up, startled at the splash, +then he would have listened and have sniffed the air, and neither hearing +nor scenting any danger he must have remained rigid for some moments, for +it was in that attitude that Athelvok found him as he emerged breathless +at his feet. And, striking at once, Athelvok drove the spear into his +throat before the head and the terrible horns came down. But Athelvok had +clung to one of the great horns, and had been carried at terrible speed +through the rhododendron bushes until the gariach fell, but rose at once +again, and died standing up, still struggling, drowned in its own blood. + +But to Hilnaric listening it was as though one of the heroes of old time +had come back again in the full glory of his legendary youth. + +And long time they went up and down the terraces, saying those things +which were said before and since, and which lips shall yet be made to say +again. And above them stood Poltarnees beholding the Sea. + +And the day came when Athelvok should go. And Hilnaric said to him: + +"Will you not indeed most surely come back again, having just looked over +the summit of Poltarnees?" + +Athelvok answered: "I will indeed come back, for thy voice is more +beautiful than the hymn of the priests when they chant and praise the Sea, +and though many tributary seas ran down into Oriathon and he and all the +others poured their beauty into one pool below me, yet would I return +swearing that thou were fairer than they." + +And Hilnaric answered: + +"The wisdom of my heart tells me, or old knowledge or prophecy, or some +strange lore, that I shall never hear thy voice again. And for this I give +thee my forgiveness." + +But he, repeating the oath that he had sworn, set out, looking often +backwards until the slope became to step and his face was set to the rock. +It was in the morning that he started, and he climbed all the day with +little rest, where every foot-hole was smooth with many feet. Before he +reached the top the sun disappeared from him, and darker and darker grew +the Inner Lands. Then he pushed on so as to see before dark whatever thing +Poltarnees had to show. The dusk was deep over the Inner Lands, and the +lights of cities twinkled through the sea-mist when he came to +Poltarnees's summit, and the sun before him was not yet gone from the sky. + +And there below him was the old wrinkled Sea, smiling and murmuring song. +And he nursed little ships with gleaming sails, and in his hands were old +regretted wrecks, and mast all studded over with golden nails that he had +rent in anger out of beautiful galleons. And the glory of the sun was +among the surges as they brought driftwood out of isles of spice, tossing +their golden heads. And the grey currents crept away to the south like +companionless serpents that love something afar with a restless, deadly +love. And the whole plain of water glittering with late sunlight, and the +surges and the currents and the white sails of ships were all together +like the face of a strange new god that has looked at a man for the first +time in the eyes at the moment of his death; and Athelvok, looking on the +wonderful Sea, knew why it was that the dead never return, for there is +something that the dead feel and know, and the living would never +understand even though the dead should come and speak to them about it. +And there was the Sea smiling at him, glad with the glory of the sun. And +there was a haven there for homing ships, and a sunlit city stood upon its +marge, and people walked about the streets of it clad in the unimagined +merchandise of far sea-bordering lands. + +An easy slope of loose rock went from the top of Poltarnees to the shore +of the Sea. + +For a long while Athelvok stood there regretfully, knowing that there had +come something into his soul that no one in the Inner Lands could +understand, where the thoughts of their minds had gone no farther than the +three little kingdoms. Then, looking long upon the wandering ships, and +the marvelous merchandise from alien lands, and the unknown colour that +wreathed the brows of the Sea, he turned his face to the darkness and the +Inner Lands. + +At that moment the Sea sang a dirge at sunset for all the harm that he had +done in anger and all the ruin wrought on adventurous ships; and there +were tears in the voice of the tyrannous Sea, for he had loved the +galleons that he had overwhelmed, and he called all men to him and all +living things that he might make amends, because he had loved the bones +that he had strewn afar. And Athelvok turned and set one foot upon the +crumbled slope, and then another, and walked a little way to be nearer to +the Sea, and then a dream came upon him and he felt that men had wronged +the lovely Sea because he had been angry a little, because he had been +sometimes cruel; he felt that there was trouble among the tides of the Sea +because he had loved the galleons who were dead. Still he walked on and +the crumbled stones rolled with him, and just as the twilight faded and a +star appeared he came to the golden shore, and walked on till the surges +were about his knees, and he heard the prayer-like blessings of the Sea. +Long he stood thus, while the stars came out above him and shone again in +the surges; more stars came wheeling in their courses up from the Sea, +lights twinkled out through all the haven city, lanterns were slung from +the ships, the purple night burned on; and Earth, to the eyes of the gods +as they sat afar, glowed as with one flame. Then Athelvok went into the +haven city; there he met many who had left the Inner Lands before him; +none of them wished to return to the people who had not seen the Sea; many +of them had forgotten the three little kingdoms, and it was rumoured that +one man, who had once tried to return, had found the shifting, crumbled +slope impossible to climb. + +Hilnaric never married. But her dowry was set aside to build a temple +wherein men curse the ocean. + +Once every year, with solemn rite and ceremony, they curse the tides of +the Sea; and the moon looks in and hates them. + + + + +BLAGDAROSS + + +On a waste place strewn with bricks in the outskirts of a town twilight +was falling. A star or two appeared over the smoke, and distant windows +lit mysterious lights. The stillness deepened and the loneliness. Then all +the outcast things that are silent by day found voices. + +An old cork spoke first. He said: "I grew in Andalusian woods, but never +listened to the idle songs of Spain. I only grew strong in the sunlight +waiting for my destiny. One day the merchants came and took us all away +and carried us all along the shore of the sea, piled high on the backs of +donkeys, and in a town by the sea they made me into the shape that I am +now. One day they sent me northward to Provence, and there I fulfilled my +destiny. For they set me as a guard over the bubbling wine, and I +faithfully stood sentinel for twenty years. For the first few years in the +bottle that I guarded the wine slept, dreaming of Provence; but as the +years went on he grew stronger and stronger, until at last whenever a man +went by the wind would put out all his might against me, saying, 'Let me +go free; let me go free!' And every year his strength increased, and he +grew more clamourous when men went by, but never availed to hurl me from +my post. But when I had powerfully held him for twenty years they brought +him to the banquet and took me from my post, and the wine arose rejoicing +and leapt through the veins of men and exalted their souls within them +till they stood up in their places and sang Provençal songs. But me they +cast away--me that had been sentinel for twenty years, and was still as +strong and staunch as when first I went on guard. Now I am an outcast in a +cold northern city, who once have known the Andalusian skies and guarded +long ago Provençal suns that swam in the heart of the rejoicing wine." + +An unstruck match that somebody had dropped spoke next. "I am a child of +the sun," he said, "and an enemy of cities; there is more in my heart than +you know of. I am a brother of Etna and Stromboli; I have fires lurking in +me that will one day rise up beautiful and strong. We will not go into +servitude on any hearth nor work machines for our food, but we will take +out own food where we find it on that day when we are strong. There are +wonderful children in my heart whose faces shall be more lively than the +rainbow; they shall make a compact with the North wind, and he shall lead +them forth; all shall be black behind them and black above them, and there +shall be nothing beautiful in the world but them; they shall seize upon +the earth and it shall be theirs, and nothing shall stop them but our old +enemy the sea." + +Then an old broken kettle spoke, and said: "I am the friend of cities. I +sit among the slaves upon the hearth, the little flames that have been fed +with coal. When the slaves dance behind the iron bars I sit in the middle +of the dance and sing and make our masters glad. And I make songs about +the comfort of the cat, and about the malice that is towards her in the +heart of the dog, and about the crawling of the baby, and about the ease +that is in the lord of the house when we brew the good brown tea; and +sometimes when the house is very warm and slaves and masters are glad, I +rebuke the hostile winds that prowl about the world." + +And then there spoke the piece of an old cord. "I was made in a place of +doom, and doomed men made my fibres, working without hope. Therefore there +came a grimness into my heart, so that I never let anything go free when +once I was set to bind it. Many a thing have I bound relentlessly for +months and years; for I used to come coiling into warehouses where the +great boxes lay all open to the air, and one of them would be suddenly +closed up, and my fearful strength would be set on him like accurse, and +if his timbers groaned when first I seized them, or if they creaked aloud +in the lonely night, thinking of woodlands out of which they came, then I +only gripped them tighter still, for the poor useless hate is in my soul +of those that made me in the place of doom. Yet, for all the things that +my prison-clutch has held, the last work that I did was to set something +free. I lay idle one night in the gloom on the warehouse floor. Nothing +stirred there, and even the spider slept. Towards midnight a great flock +of echoes suddenly leapt up from the wooden planks and circled round the +roof. A man was coming towards me all alone. And as he came his soul was +reproaching him, and I saw that there was a great trouble between the man +and his soul, for his soul would not let him be, but went on reproaching +him. + +"Then the man saw me and said, 'This at least will not fail me.' When I +heard him say this about me, I determined that whatever he might require +of me it should be done to the uttermost. And as I made this determination +in my unfaltering heart, he picked me up and stood on an empty box that I +should have bound on the morrow, and tied one end of me to a dark rafter; +and the knot was carelessly tied, because his soul was reproaching him all +the while continually and giving him no ease. Then he made the other end +of me into a noose, but when the man's soul saw this it stopped +reproaching the man, and cried out to him hurriedly, and besought him to +be at peace with it and to do nothing sudden; but the man went on with his +work, and put the noose down over his face and underneath his chin, and +the soul screamed horribly. + +"Then the man kicked the box away with his foot, and the moment he did +this I knew that my strength was not great enough to hold him; but I +remembered that he had said I would not fail him, and I put all my grim +vigour into my fibres and held by sheer will. Then the soul shouted to me +to give way, but I said: + +"'No; you vexed the man.' + +"Then it screamed for me to leave go of the rafter, and already I was +slipping, for I only held on to it by a careless knot, but I gripped with +my prison grip and said: + +"'You vexed the man.' + +"And very swiftly it said other things to me, but I answered not; and at +last the soul that vexed the man that had trusted me flew away and left +him at peace. I was never able to bind things any more, for every one of +my fibres was worn and wrenched, and even my relentless heart was weakened +by the struggle. Very soon afterwards I was thrown out here. I have done +my work." + +So they spoke among themselves, but all the while there loomed above them +the form of an old rocking-horse complaining bitterly. He said: "I am +Blagdaross. Woe is me that I should lie now an outcast among these worthy +but little people. Alas! for the days that are gathered, and alas for the +Great One that was a master and a soul to me, whose spirit is now shrunken +and can never know me again, and no more ride abroad on knightly quests. I +was Bucephalus when he was Alexander, and carried him victorious as far as +Ind. I encountered dragons with him when he was St. George, I was the +horse of Roland fighting for Christendom, and was often Rosinante. I +fought in tournays and went errant upon quests, and met Ulysses and the +heroes and the fairies. Or late in the evening, just before the lamps in +the nursery were put out, he would suddenly mount me, and we would gallop +through Africa. There we would pass by night through tropic forests, and +come upon dark rivers sweeping by, all gleaming with the eyes of +crocodiles, where the hippopotamus floated down with the stream, and +mysterious craft loomed suddenly out of the dark and furtively passed +away. And when we had passed through the forest lit by the fireflies we +would come to the open plains, and gallop onwards with scarlet flamingoes +flying along beside us through the lands of dusky kings, with golden +crowns upon their heads and scepters in their hands, who came running out +of their palaces to see us pass. Then I would wheel suddenly, and the dust +flew up from my four hooves as I turned and we galloped home again, and my +master was put to bed. And again he would ride abroad on another day till +we came to magical fortresses guarded by wizardry and overthrew the +dragons at the gate, and ever came back with a princess fairer than the +sea. + +"But my master began to grow larger in his body and smaller in his soul, +and then he rode more seldom upon quests. At last he saw gold and never +came again, and I was cast out here among these little people." + +But while the rocking-horse was speaking two boys stole away, unnoticed by +their parents, from a house on the edge of the waste place, and were +coming across it looking for adventures. One of them carried a broom, and +when he saw the rocking-horse he said nothing, but broke off the handle +from the broom and thrust it between his braces and his shirt on the left +side. Then he mounted the rocking-horse, and drawing forth the broomstick, +which was sharp and spiky at the end, said, "Saladin is in this desert +with all his paynims, and I am Coeur de Lion." After a while the other boy +said: "Now let me kill Saladin too." But Blagdaross in his wooden heart, +that exulted with thoughts of battle, said: "I am Blagdaross yet!" + + + + +THE MADNESS OF ANDELSPRUTZ + + +I first saw the city of Andelsprutz on an afternoon in spring. The day was +full of sunshine as I came by the way of the fields, and all that morning +I had said, "There will be sunlight on it when I see for the first time +the beautiful conquered city whose fame has so often made for me lovely +dreams." Suddenly I saw its fortifications lifting out of the fields, and +behind them stood its belfries. I went in by a gate and saw its houses and +streets, and a great disappointment came upon me. For there is an air +about a city, and it has a way with it, whereby a man may recognized one +from another at once. There are cities full of happiness and cities full +of pleasure, and cities full of gloom. There are cities with their faces +to heaven, and some with their faces to earth; some have a way of looking +at the past and others look at the future; some notice you if you come +among them, others glance at you, others let you go by. Some love the +cities that are their neighbours, others are dear to the plains and to the +heath; some cities are bare to the wind, others have purple cloaks and +others brown cloaks, and some are clad in white. Some tell the old tale of +their infancy, with others it is secret; some cities sing and some mutter, +some are angry, and some have broken hearts, and each city has her way of +greeting Time. + +I had said: "I will see Andelsprutz arrogant with her beauty," and I had +said: "I will see her weeping over her conquest." + +I had said: "She will sing songs to me," and "she will be reticent," "she +will be all robed," and "she will be bare but splendid." + +But the windows of Andelsprutz in her houses looked vacantly over the +plains like the eyes of a dead madman. At the hour her chimes sounded +unlovely and discordant, some of them were out of tune, and the bells of +some were cracked, her roofs were bald and without moss. At evening no +pleasant rumour arose in her streets. When the lamps were lit in the +houses no mystical flood of light stole out into the dusk, you merely saw +that there were lighted lamps; Andelsprutz had no way with her and no air +about her. When the night fell and the blinds were all drawn down, then I +perceived what I had not thought in the daylight. I knew then that +Andelsprutz was dead. + +I saw a fair-haired man who drank beer in a café, and I said to him: + +"Why is the city of Andelsprutz quite dead, and her soul gone hence?" + +He answered: "Cities do not have souls and there is never any life in +bricks." + +And I said to him: "Sir, you have spoken truly." + +And I asked the same question of another man, and he gave me the same +answer, and I thanked him for his courtesy. And I saw a man of a more +slender build, who had black hair, and channels in his cheeks for tears to +run in, and I said to him: + +"Why is Andelsprutz quite dead, and when did her soul go hence?" + +And he answered: "Andelsprutz hoped too much. For thirty years would she +stretch out her arms toward the land of Akla every night, to Mother Akla +from whom she had been stolen. Every night she would be hoping and +sighing, and stretching out her arms to Mother Akla. At midnight, once a +year, on the anniversary of the terrible day, Akla would send spies to lay +a wreath against the walls of Andelsprutz. She could do no more. And on +this night, once in every year, I used to weep, for weeping was the mood +of the city that nursed me. Every night while other cities slept did +Andelsprutz sit brooding here and hoping, till thirty wreaths lay +mouldering by her walls, and still the armies of Akla could not come. + +"But after she had hoped so long, and on the night that faithful spies had +brought her thirtieth wreath, Andelsprutz went suddenly mad. All the bells +clanged hideously in the belfries, horses bolted in the streets, the dogs +all howled, the stolid conquerors awoke and turned in their beds and slept +again; and I saw the grey shadowy form of Andelsprutz rise up, decking her +hair with the phantasms of cathedrals, and stride away from her city. And +the great shadowy form that was the soul of Andelsprutz went away +muttering to the mountains, and there I followed her--for had she not been +my nurse? Yes, I went away alone into the mountains, and for three days, +wrapped in a cloak, I slept in their misty solitudes. I had no food to +eat, and to drink I had only the water of the mountain streams. By day no +living thing was near to me, and I heard nothing but the noise of the +wind, and the mountain streams roaring. But for three nights I heard all +round me on the mountain the sounds of a great city: I saw the lights of +tall cathedral windows flash momentarily on the peaks, and at times the +glimmering lantern of some fortress patrol. And I saw the huge misty +outline of the soul of Andelsprutz sitting decked with her ghostly +cathedrals, speaking to herself, with her eyes fixed before her in a mad +stare, telling of ancient wars. And her confused speech for all those +nights upon the mountain was sometimes the voice of traffic, and then of +church bells, and then of bugles, but oftenest it was the voice of red +war; and it was all incoherent, and she was quite mad. + +"The third night it rained heavily all night long, but I stayed up there +to watch the soul of my native city. And she still sat staring straight +before her, raving; but here voice was gentler now, there were more chimes +in it, and occasional song. Midnight passed, and the rain still swept down +on me, and still the solitudes of the mountain were full of the mutterings +of the poor mad city. And the hours after midnight came, the cold hours +wherein sick men die. + +"Suddenly I was aware of great shapes moving in the rain, and heard the +sound of voices that were not of my city nor yet of any that I ever knew. +And presently I discerned, though faintly, the souls of a great concourse +of cities, all bending over Andelsprutz and comforting her, and the +ravines of the mountains roared that night with the voices of cities that +had lain still for centuries. For there came the soul of Camelot that had +so long ago forsaken Usk; and there was Ilion, all girt with towers, still +cursing the sweet face of ruinous Helen; I saw there Babylon and +Persepolis, and the bearded face of bull-like Nineveh, and Athens mourning +her immortal gods. + +"All these souls if cities that were dead spoke that night on the mountain +to my city and soothed her, until at last she muttered of war no longer, +and her eyes stared wildly no more, but she hid her face in her hands and +for some while wept softly. At last she arose, and walking slowly and with +bended head, and leaning upon Ilion and Carthage, went mournfully +eastwards; and the dust of her highways swirled behind her as she went, a +ghostly dust that never turned to mud in all that drenching rain. And so +the souls of the cities led her away, and gradually they disappeared from +the mountain, and the ancient voices died away in the distance. + +"Now since then have I seen my city alive; but once I met with a traveler +who said that somewhere in the midst of a great desert are gathered +together the souls of all dead cities. He said that he was lost once in a +place where there was no water, and he heard their voices speaking all the +night." + +But I said: "I was once without water in a desert and heard a city +speaking to me, but knew not whether it really spoke to me or not, for on +that day I heard so many terrible things, and only some of them were +true." + +And the man with the black hair said: "I believe it to be true, though +whither she went I know not. I only know that a shepherd found me in the +morning faint with hunger and cold, and carried me down here; and when I +came to Andelsprutz it was, as you have perceived it, dead." + + + + +WHERE THE TIDES EBB AND FLOW + + +I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied +me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me. + +I waited for some hours, knowing this. Then my friends came for me, and +slew me secretly and with ancient rite, and lit great tapers, and carried +me away. + +It was all in London that the thing was done, and they went furtively at +dead of night along grey streets and among mean houses until they came to +the river. And the river and the tide of the sea were grappling with one +another between the mud-banks, and both of them were black and full of +lights. A sudden wonder came in to the eyes of each, as my friends came +near to them with their glaring tapers. All these things I saw as they +carried me dead and stiffening, for my soul was still among my bones, +because there was no hell for it, and because Christian burial was denied +me. + +They took me down a stairway that was green with slimy things, and so came +slowly to the terrible mud. There, in the territory of forsaken things, +they dug a shallow grave. When they had finished they laid me in the +grave, and suddenly they cast their tapers to the river. And when the +water had quenched the flaring lights the tapers looked pale and small as +they bobbed upon the tide, and at once the glamour of the calamity was +gone, and I noticed then the approach of the huge dawn; and my friends +cast their cloaks over their faces, and the solemn procession was turned +into many fugitives that furtively stole away. + +Then the mud came back wearily and covered all but my face. There I lay +alone with quite forgotten things, with drifting things that the tides +will take no farther, with useless things and lost things, and with the +horrible unnatural bricks that are neither stone nor soil. I was rid of +feeling, because I had been killed, but perception and thought were in my +unhappy soul. The dawn widened, and I saw the desolate houses that crowded +the marge of the river, and their dead windows peered into my dead eyes, +windows with bales behind them instead of human souls. I grew so weary +looking at these forlorn things that I wanted to cry out, but could not, +because I was dead. Then I knew, as I had never known before, that for all +the years that herd of desolate houses had wanted to cry out too, but, +being dead, were dumb. And I knew then that it had yet been well with the +forgotten drifting things if they had wept, but they were eyeless and +without life. And I, too, tried to weep, but there were no tears in my +dead eyes. And I knew then that the river might have cared for us, might +have caressed us, might have sung to us, but he swept broadly onwards, +thinking of nothing but the princely ships. + +At last the tide did what the river would not, and came and covered me +over, and my soul had rest in the green water, and rejoiced and believed +that it had the Burial of the Sea. But with the ebb the water fell again, +and left me alone again with the callous mud among the forgotten things +that drift no more, and with the sight of all those desolate houses, and +with the knowledge among all of us that each was dead. + +In the mournful wall behind me, hung with green weeds, forsaken of the +sea, dark tunnels appeared, and secret narrow passages that were clamped +and barred. From these at last the stealthy rats came down to nibble me +away, and my soul rejoiced thereat and believed that he would be free +perforce from the accursed bones to which burial was refused. Very soon +the rats ran away a little space and whispered among themselves. They +never came any more. When I found that I was accursed even among the rats +I tried to weep again. + +Then the tide came swinging back and covered the dreadful mud, and hid the +desolate houses, and soothed the forgotten things, and my soul had ease +for a while in the sepulture of the sea. And then the tide forsook me +again. + +To and fro it came about me for many years. Then the County Council found +me, and gave me decent burial. It was the first grave that I had ever +slept in. That very night my friends came for me. They dug me up and put +me back again in the shallow hold in the mud. + +Again and again through the years my bones found burial, but always behind +the funeral lurked one of those terrible men who, as soon as night fell, +came and dug them up and carried them back again to the hole in the mud. + +And then one day the last of those men died who once had done to me this +terrible thing. I heard his soul go over the river at sunset. + +And again I hoped. + +A few weeks afterwards I was found once more, and once more taken out of +that restless place and given deep burial in sacred ground, where my soul +hoped that it should rest. + +Almost at once men came with cloaks and tapers to give me back to the mud, +for the thing had become a tradition and a rite. And all the forsaken +things mocked me in their dumb hearts when they saw me carried back, for +they were jealous of me because I had left the mud. It must be remembered +that I could not weep. + +And the years went by seawards where the black barges go, and the great +derelict centuries became lost at sea, and still I lay there without any +cause to hope, and daring not to hope without a cause, because of the +terrible envy and the anger of the things that could drift no more. + +Once a great storm rode up, even as far as London, out of the sea from the +South; and he came curving into the river with the fierce East wind. And +he was mightier than the dreary tides, and went with great leaps over the +listless mud. And all the sad forgotten things rejoiced, and mingled with +things that were haughtier than they, and rode once more amongst the +lordly shipping that was driven up and down. And out of their hideous home +he took my bones, never again, I hoped, to be vexed with the ebb and flow. +And with the fall of the tide he went riding down the river and turned to +the southwards, and so went to his home. And my bones he scattered among +many isles and along the shores of happy alien mainlands. And for a +moment, while they were far asunder, my soul was almost free. + +Then there arose, at the will of the moon, the assiduous flow of the tide, +and it undid at once the work of the ebb, and gathered my bones from the +marge of sunny isles, and gleaned them all along the mainland's shores, +and went rocking northwards till it came to the mouth of the Thames, and +there turned westwards its relentless face, and so went up the river and +came to the hole in the mud, and into it dropped my bones; and partly the +mud covered them, and partly it left them white, for the mud cares not for +its forsaken things. + +Then the ebb came, and I saw the dead eyes of the houses and the jealousy +of the other forgotten things that the storm had not carried thence. + +And some more centuries passed over the ebb and flow and over the +loneliness of things for gotten. And I lay there all the while in the +careless grip of the mud, never wholly covered, yet never able to go free, +and I longed for the great caress of the warm Earth or the comfortable lap +of the Sea. + +Sometimes men found my bones and buried them, but the tradition never +died, and my friends' successors always brought them back. At last the +barges went no more, and there were fewer lights; shaped timbers no longer +floated down the fairway, and there came instead old wind-uprooted trees +in all their natural simplicity. + +At last I was aware that somewhere near me a blade of grass was growing, +and the moss began to appear all over the dead houses. One day some +thistledown went drifting over the river. + +For some years I watched these signs attentively, until I became certain +that London was passing away. Then I hoped once more, and all along both +banks of the river there was anger among the lost things that anything +should dare to hope upon the forsaken mud. Gradually the horrible houses +crumbled, until the poor dead things that never had had life got decent +burial among the weeds and moss. At last the may appeared and the +convolvulus. Finally, the wild rose stood up over mounds that had been +wharves and warehouses. Then I knew that the cause of Nature had +triumphed, and London had passed away. + +The last man in London came to the wall by the river, in an ancient cloak +that was one of those that once my friends had worn, and peered over the +edge to see that I still was there. Then he went, and I never saw men +again: they had passed away with London. + +A few days after the last man had gone the birds came into London, all the +birds that sing. When they first saws me they all looked sideways at me, +then they went away a little and spoke among themselves. + +"He only sinned against Man," they said; "it is not our quarrel." + +"Let us be kind to him," they said. + +Then they hopped nearer me and began to sing. It was the time of the +rising of the dawn, and from both banks of the river, and from the sky, +and from the thickets that were once the streets, hundreds of birds were +singing. As the light increased the birds sang more and more; they grew +thicker and thicker in the air above my head, till there were thousands of +them singing there, and then millions, and at last I could see nothing but +a host of flickering wings with the sunlight on them, and little gaps of +sky. Then when there was nothing to be heard in London but the myriad +notes of that exultant song, my soul rose up from the bones in the hole in +the mud and began to climb heavenwards. And it seemed that a lane-way +opened amongst the wings of the birds, and it went up and up, and one of +the smaller gates of Paradise stood ajar at the end of it. And then I knew +by a sign that the mud should receive me no more, for suddenly I found +that I could weep. + +At this moment I opened my eyes in bed in a house in London, and outside +some sparrows were twittering in a tree in the light of the radiant +morning; and there were tears still wet upon my face, for one's restraint +is feeble while one sleeps. But I arose and opened the window wide, and +stretching my hands out over the little garden, I blessed the birds whose +song had woken me up from the troubled and terrible centuries of my dream. + + + + +BETHMOORA + + +There is a faint freshness in the London night as though some strayed +reveler of a breeze had left his comrades in the Kentish uplands and had +entered the town by stealth. The pavements are a little damp and shiny. +Upon one's ears that at this late hour have become very acute there hits +the tap of a remote footfall. Louder and louder grow the taps, filling the +whole night. And a black cloaked figure passes by, and goes tapping into +the dark. One who has danced goes homewards. Somewhere a ball has closed +its doors and ended. Its yellow lights are out, its musicians are silent, +its dancers have all gone into the night air, and Time has said of it, +"Let it be past and over, and among the things that I have put away." + +Shadows begin to detach themselves from their great gathering places. No +less silently than those shadows that are thin and dead move homewards the +stealthy cats. Thus have we even in London our faint forebodings of the +dawn's approach, which the birds and the beasts and the stars are crying +aloud to the untrammeled fields. + +At what moment I know not I perceive that the night itself is irrevocably +overthrown. It is suddenly revealed to me by the weary pallor of the +street lamps that the streets are silent and nocturnal still, not because +there is any strength in night, but because men have not yet arisen from +sleep to defy him. So have I seen dejected and untidy guards still bearing +antique muskets in palatial gateways, although the realms of the monarch +that they guard have shrunk to a single province which no enemy yet has +troubled to overrun. + +And it is now manifest from the aspect of the street lamps, those abashed +dependants of night, that already English mountain peaks have seen the +dawn, that the cliffs of Dover are standing white to the morning, that the +sea-mist has lifted and is pouring inland. + +And now men with a hose have come and are sluicing out the streets. + +Behold now night is dead. + +What memories, what fancies throng one's mind! A night but just now +gathered out of London by the horrific hand of Time. A million common +artificial things all cloaked for a while in mystery, like beggars robed +in purple, and seated on dread thrones. Four million people asleep, +dreaming perhaps. What worlds have they gone into? Whom have they met? But +my thoughts are far off with Bethmoora in her loneliness, whose gates +swing to and fro. To and fro they swing, and creak and creak in the wind, +but no one hears them. They are of green copper, very lovely, but no one +sees them now. The desert wind pours sand into their hinges, no watchman +comes to ease them. No guard goes round Bethmoora's battlements, no enemy +assails them. There are no lights in her houses, no footfall on her +streets, she stands there dead and lonely beyond the Hills of Hap, and I +would see Bethmoora once again, but dare not. + +It is many a year, they tell me, since Bethmoora became desolate. + +Her desolation is spoken of in taverns where sailors meet, and certain +travellers have told me of it. + +I had hoped to see Bethmoora once again. It is many a year ago, they say, +when the vintage was last gathered in from the vineyards that I knew, +where it is all desert now. It was a radiant day, and the people of the +city were dancing by the vineyards, while here and there one played upon +the kalipac. The purple flowering shrubs were all in bloom, and the snow +shone upon the Hills of Hap. + +Outside the copper gates they crushed the grapes in vats to make the +syrabub. It had been a goodly vintage. + +In the little gardens at the desert's edge men beat the tambang and the +tittibuk, and blew melodiously the zootibar. + +All there was mirth and song and dance, because the vintage had been +gathered in, and there would be ample syrabub for the winter months, and +much left over to exchange for turquoises and emeralds with the merchants +who come down from Oxuhahn. Thus they rejoiced all day over their vintage +on the narrow strip of cultivated ground that lay between Bethmoora and +the desert which meets the sky to the South. And when the heat of the day +began to abate, and the sun drew near to the snows on the Hills of Hap, +the note of the zootibar still rose clear from the gardens, and the +brilliant dresses of the dancers still wound among the flowers. All that +day three men on mules had been noticed crossing the face of the Hills of +Hap. Backwards and forwards they moved as the track wound lower and lower, +three little specks of black against the snow. They were seen first in the +very early morning up near the shoulder of Peol Jagganoth, and seemed to +be coming out of Utnar Véhi. All day they came. And in the evening, just +before the lights come out and colours change, they appeared before +Bethmoora's copper gates. They carried staves, such as messengers bear in +those lands, and seemed sombrely clad when the dancers all came round them +with their green and lilac dresses. Those Europeans who were present and +heard the message given were ignorant of the language, and only caught the +name of Utnar Véhi. But it was brief, and passed rapidly from mouth to +mouth, and almost at once the people burnt their vineyards and began to +flee away from Bethmoora, going for the most part northwards, though some +went to the East. They ran down out of their fair white houses, and +streamed through the copper gate; the throbbing of the tambang and the +tittibuk suddenly ceased with the note of the Zootibar, and the clinking +kalipac stopped a moment after. The three strange travellers went back the +way they came the instant their message was given. It was the hour when a +light would have appeared in some high tower, and window after window +would have poured into the dusk its lion-frightening light, and the cooper +gates would have been fastened up. But no lights came out in windows there +that night and have not ever since, and those copper gates were left wide +and have never shut, and the sound arose of the red fire crackling in the +vineyards, and the pattering of feet fleeing softly. There were no cries, +no other sounds at all, only the rapid and determined flight. They fled as +swiftly and quietly as a herd of wild cattle flee when they suddenly see a +man. It was as though something had befallen which had been feared for +generations, which could only be escaped by instant flight, which left no +time for indecision. + +Then fear took the Europeans also, and they too fled. And what the message +was I have never heard. + +Many believe that it was a message from Thuba Mleen, the mysterious +emperor of those lands, who is never seen by man, advising that Bethmoora +should be left desolate. Others say that the message was one of warning +from the gods, whether from friendly gods or from adverse ones they know +not. + +And others hold that the Plague was ravaging a line of cities over in +Utnar Véhi, following the South-west wind which for many weeks had been +blowing across them towards Bethmoora. + +Some say that the terrible gnousar sickness was upon the three travellers, +and that their very mules were dripping with it, and suppose that they +were driven to the city by hunger, but suggest no better reason for so +terrible a crime. + +But most believe that it was a message from the desert himself, who owns +all the Earth to the southwards, spoken with his peculiar cry to those +three who knew his voice--men who had been out on the sand-wastes without +tents by night, who had been by day without water, men who had been out +there where the desert mutters, and had grown to know his needs and his +malevolence. They say that the desert had a need for Bethmoora, that he +wished to come into her lovely streets, and to send into her temples and +her houses his storm-winds draped with sand. For he hates the sound and +the sight of men in his old evil heart, and he would have Bethmoora silent +and undisturbed, save for the weird love he whispers to her gates. + +If I knew what that message was that the three men brought on mules, and +told in the copper gate, I think that I should go and see Bethmoora once +again. For a great longing comes on me here in London to see once more +that white and beautiful city, and yet I dare not, for I know not the +danger I should have to face, whether I should risk the fury of unknown +dreadful gods, or some disease unspeakable and slow, or the desert's curse +or torture in some little private room of the Emperor Thuba Mleen, or +something that the travelers have not told--perhaps more fearful still. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + + +So I came down through the wood on the bank of Yann and found, as had been +prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her cable. + +The captain sat cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar lying +beside him in its jeweled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to spread the +nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of Yann, and all +the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of the evening +descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous abode of distant +gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious city, into the +wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered the +greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to inquire +concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the most holy gods +of whatever land he had come from. And the captain answered that he came +from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that were the least and humblest, +who seldom sent the famine or the thunder, and were easily appeased with +little battles. And I told how I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, +whereat the captain and all the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are +no such places in all the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock +me, I explained that my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, +about a beautiful blue city called Golthoth the Damned, which was +sentinelled all round by wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly +desolate for years and years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke +in anger and could never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as +far as Pungar Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which +trades with the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon +the abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that evening I +bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay him for any fare +if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as far as the cliffs by +the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven had +held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the imminent +approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the jungle on either +bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches of the trees were +silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the forest were going up +and down, and the great stars came gleaming out to look on the face of +Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and hung them round the ship, and +the light flashed out on a sudden and dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed +along his marshy banks all suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the +upper air, and saw the distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that +softly cloaked the jungle, before they returned again to their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, but +five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together five or +six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different faiths, so +that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As soon as any one +had finished his prayer, another of the same faith would take his place. +Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended heads under the fluttering +sail, while the central stream of the River Yann took them on towards the +sea, and their prayers rose up from among the lanterns and went towards +the stars. And behind them in the after end of the ship the helmsman +prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, which is prayed by all who follow his +trade upon the River Yann, of whatever faith they be. And the captain +prayed to his little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous God +there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were being +humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, whom the +men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now unworshipped and +alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all men +who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers comforted +our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elate with molten +snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, and the +Marn and Migris were swollen with floods; and he bore us in his full might +past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the mid-stream +of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all awoke, +and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of Yann +and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. Then while +the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the gate of +Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the guard. A +sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, armed with a +rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered with dust. +Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was over all of it. +The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on doorsteps; in the +market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of incense came wafted +through the gateway, of incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of +the echoes of distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the +region of Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they will wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to ask +him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because none +might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the _Bird of the +River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering over +her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out again, +and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the sun was +moving toward his heights, and there had reached us on the River Yann the +song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend him in his progress +round the world. For the little creatures that have many legs had spread +their gauze wings easily on the air, as a man rests his elbows on a +balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial praises to the sun, or else they +moved together on the air in wavering dances intricate and swift, or +turned aside to avoid the onrush of some drop of water that a breeze had +shaken from a jungle orchid, chilling the air and driving it before it, as +it fell whirring in its rush to the earth; but all the while they sang +triumphantly. "For the day is for us," they said, "whether our great and +sacred father the Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, +or whether all the world shall end tonight." And there sang all those +whose notes are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more +numerous notes have been never heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold and +rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, but +danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of distant +conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some encampment +of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond that would never +abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple orchids +and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the jungle's decay. +And they, too, were among those whose voices are not discernible by human +ears. And as they floated above the river, going from forest to forest, +their splendour was matched by the inimical beauty of the birds who darted +out to pursue them. Or sometimes they settled on the white and wax-like +blooms of the plant that creeps and clambers about the trees of the +forest; and their purple wings flashed out on the great blossoms as, when +the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, the gleaming silks flash out upon the +snow, where the crafty merchants spread them one by one to astonish the +mountaineers of the Hills of Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent drowsiness. The river monsters along +the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched a +pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and then +went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an awning +between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of his own +city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen asleep. The +captain offered me the shade of his pavillion with the gold tassels, and +there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was taking merchandise +to Perdóndaris, and that he would take back to fair Belzoond things +appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I watched through the +pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and butterflies that crossed and +recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I was a monarch +entering his capital underneath arches of flags, and all the musicians of +the world were there, playing melodiously their instruments; but no one +cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens upon +the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to the +steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three sides of +which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court and along +the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity and care +according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city was of +ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, +remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were +represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from +Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different +species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, +that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no notice at all of us as we went +by, but continued their processions and ceremonies in the ancient city, +and the sailors, knowing their custom, took no notice of them. But I +called, as we came near, to one who stood beside the water's edge, asking +him what men did in Astahahn and what their merchandise was, and with whom +they traded. He said, "Here we have fettered and manacled Time, who would +otherwise slay the gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and would +say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with ancient +custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted onwards and left +Astahahn. The river widened below Astahahn, and we found in greater +quantities such birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in +their plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind, straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had appeared +over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at the trees +with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, chilling the air; +and white shapes moved away into the jungle as though the ghosts of +shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in the darkness for the +spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted summit +of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the slime in which +they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the great beasts of the +jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while since were gone to +rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed night seemed already to +have fallen, though the sun which had disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions as +soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the widgeon +began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, and then would +suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by us the small and +arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of flocks of geese, which +the sailors told me had recently come in from crossing over the Lispasian +ranges; every year they come by the same way, close by the peak of Mluna, +leaving it to the left, and the mountain eagles know the way they come +and--men say--the very hour, and every year they expect them by the same +way as soon as the snows have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it +grew so dark that we heard those birds no more, and only heard the +whirring of their wings, and of countless others besides, until they all +settled down along the banks of the river, and it was the hour when the +birds of the night went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the +night, and huge moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments +their gorgeous colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would +pass into the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors +prayed, and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our +lives into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdóndaris, that famous +city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and notable, and +all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the jungle that was so +long with us. And we were anchored by the market-place, and the captain's +merchandise was all displayed, and a merchant of Perdóndaris stood looking +at it. And the captain had his scimitar in his hand, and was beating with +it in anger upon the deck, and the splinters were flying up from the white +planks; for the merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that +the captain declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, +whom he now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great fatness, +showing the pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought not at all, +but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to whom he wished to +sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, leaving no +remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly the thick +toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the floor, and +tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the merchant said if he +offered a piffek more the poor folk must go without their toomarunds when +the winter came, and without their tollub in the evenings, or else he and +his aged father must starve together. Thereat the captain lifted his +scimitar to his own throat, saying that he was now a ruined man, and that +nothing remained to him but death. And while he was carefully lifting his +beard with his left hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and +said that rather than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had +conceived an especial love when first he saw the manner in which he +handled his ship, he and his aged father should starve together and +therefore he offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his gods +that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his little +lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain wept, +for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant also wept, +for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of how he soon +would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his hands, and eyed +the tollub again between his fingers. And so the bargain was concluded, +and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, paying for them out of a +great clinking purse. And these were packed up into bales again, and three +of the merchant's slaves carried them upon their heads into the city. And +all the while the sailors had sat silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon +the deck, eagerly watching the bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction +arose among them, and they began to compare it among themselves with other +bargains that they had known. And I found out from them that there are +seven merchants in Perdóndaris, and that they had all come to the captain +one by one before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately +against the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the +wine of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and all +made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because he knew +that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the bargain that +he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their native land, and soon +their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and the little neighbouring +cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little jar some heavy yellow wine +from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. Thick and +sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a mighty, ardent +fire which had authority over souls of men. It was made, the captain told +me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of a family of six who lived +in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once in these mountains, he said, +he followed the spoor of a bear, and he came suddenly on a man of that +family who had hunted the same bear, and he was at the end of a narrow way +with precipice all about him, and his spear was sticking in the bear, and +the wound was not fatal, and he had no other weapon. And the bear was +walking towards the man, very slowly because his wound irked him--yet he +was now very close. And what he captain did he would not say, but every +year as soon as the snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian +Min, that man comes down to the market in the plains, and always leaves +for the captain in the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless +secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide of +the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not now +minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. Towards +evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdóndaris before we left in the +morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore alone. +Certainly Perdóndaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed by a wall of +great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for troops to walk +in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen strong towers on it +in every mile, and copper plaques low down where men could read them, +telling in all the languages of those parts of the earth--one language on +each plaque--the tale of how an army once attacked Perdóndaris and what +befell that army. Then I entered Perdóndaris and found all the people +dancing, clad in brilliant silks, and playing on the tambang as they +danced. For a fearful thunderstorm had terrified them while I slept, and +the fires of death, they said, had danced over Perdóndaris, and now the +thunder had gone leaping away large and black and hideous, they said, over +the distant hills, and had turned round snarling at them, shoving his +gleaming teeth, and had stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they +rang as though they had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in +their merry dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God +that we know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his +hills." And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon +the marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves were +fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I came to a +silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were many wonders in +Perdóndaris, and I would have stayed and seen them all, but as I came to +the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it a huge ivory gate. For a +while I paused and admired it, then I came nearer and perceived the +dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I ran +I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of the +fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps even +then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I felt +safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up from +the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of Perdóndaris +still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain and told him +quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at once about the +gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; and I told him how +the weight of the thing was such that it could not have been brought from +afar, and the captain knew that it had not been there a year ago. We +agreed that such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of +man, and that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near +and recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so +he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the +anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the +last rays of the sun we left Perdóndaris, that famous city. And night came +down and cloaked Perdóndaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things +have happened will never see it again; for I have heard since that +something swift and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdóndaris in a +day--towers, walls and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with stars. +And with the night there rose the helmsman's song. As soon as he had +prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely night. But +first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is what I +remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble equivalent of the +rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic nights. + +To whatever god may hear. + +Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their way be +dark or whether through storm: whether their peril be of beast or of rock: +or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: wherever the tiller is +cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors sleep or helmsmen watch: +guard, guide and return us to the old land, that has known us: to the far +homes that we know. + +To all the gods that are. + +To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster of +the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. And +he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old dragon-legends of +Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little tales +and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over the black +jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great bands of +stars that look on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl and Duz, and of +the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and the flocks that they +had, and the loves that they had loved, and all the little things that +they had hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in skins and blankets, +listening to those songs, and watching the fantastic shapes of the great +trees like to black giants stalking through the night, I suddenly fell +asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the flow of +the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves appeared; for +Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, and knew that their +ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet the merry wild Irillion +rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off from him the torpid sleep +that had come upon him in the hot and scented jungle, and forgot its +orchids and its butterflies, and swept on turbulent, expectant, strong; +and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills of Glorm came glittering into view. +And now the sailors were waking up from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then +the helmsman laid him down to sleep while a comrade took his place, and +they all spread over him their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came down +dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And now +we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the sailors stood +up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own far off Acroctian +hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the plains stands fair +Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder and +louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down from +the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, and +wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up near the +mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then she went +away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, and opened +upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the light of the day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the marshes +of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and slowly, and +the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the dreariness of +the marshes. + +At last the Irusian mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then night came down over +the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We heard the +Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and Golzunda, then all but +the helmsman slept. And villages scattered along the banks of the Yann +heard all that night in the helmsman's unknown tongue the little songs of +cities that they knew not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I remembered +why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching day, according +to all foreseen probabilities, we should come to Bar-Wul-Yann, and I +should part from the captain and his sailors. And I had liked the man +because he had given me of his yellow wine that was set apart among his +sacred things, and many a story he had told me about his fair Belzoond +between the Acroctian hills and the Hian Min. And I had liked the ways +that his sailors had, and the prayers that they prayed at evening side by +side, grudging not one another their alien gods. And I had a liking too +for the tender way in which they often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is +good that men should love their native cities and the little hills that +hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acroctian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others in +the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by the +fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced us all +alike outside Perdóndaris, a danger that, as things have happened, was +very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; and +the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled awhile; +then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northward, so that the +sailors had to hoist the sails and, the wind being favorable, we still +held onwards. + +And we passed Gondara and Narl and Haz. And we saw memorable, holy Golnuz, +and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the last +of the cities on the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us once +again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over all things, +and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and found +that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that is +known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the people of +Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering at their own +streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had crowded all the ways, +and every one was doing some strange thing. Some danced astounding dances +that they had learned from the desert wind, rapidly curving and swirling +till the eye could follow no longer. Others played upon instruments +beautiful wailing tunes that were full of horror, which souls had taught +them lost by night in the desert, that strange far desert from which the +Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any part +of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were made were +of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were barbed at the +tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that seemed to be akin +to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear that haunts dark +places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told one +another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew ought of their +language yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, and as the +tale wound on the whites of their eyes showed vividly in terror as the +eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then the teller of the +tale would smile and stop, and another would tell his story, and the +teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with fear. And if some +deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would greet him as a brother, +and the snake would seem to give his greetings to them before he passed on +again. Once that most fierce and lethal of tropic snakes, the giant +lythra, came out of the jungle and all down the street, the central street +of Nen, and none of the Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played +sonorously on drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and +the snake moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one of +them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in silence +with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly draw from +his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen could do nothing +of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they greet +the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of Mloon, but it +was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain might return from +Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on board and continued +down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, for we were thinking of +our parting, which should be for long, and we watched instead the +splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a ruddy gold, but a faint +mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into it poured the smoke of the +little jungle cities, and the smoke of them met together in the mist and +joined into one haze, which became purple, and was lit by the sun, as the +thoughts of men become hallowed by some great and sacred thing. Some times +one column from a lonely house would rise up higher than the cities' +smoke, and gleam by itself in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight that I +had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either shore two +cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing in the light of +the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of mountainous altitude, and +they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance through +that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where little +fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sun set, and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld--and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the colours +of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those cliffs was to +me as some chord of music that a master's hand had launched from the +violin, and which carries to Heaven or Faëry the tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no further, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back to +his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian Min, and I to +find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields that all poets +know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through whose windows, +looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and looking eastwards +see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, going range on range +into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the kingdom of Fantasy, which +pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we regarded one another, knowing that +we should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped hands, +uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in his +country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to his +little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + + + + +THE SWORD AND THE IDOL + + +It was a cold winter's evening late in the Stone Age; the sun had gone +down blazing over the plains of Thold; there were no clouds, only the +chill blue sky and the imminence of stars; and the surface of the sleeping +Earth began to harden against the cold of the night. Presently from their +lairs arose, and shook themselves and went stealthily forth, those of +Earth's children to whom it is the law to prowl abroad as soon as the dusk +has fallen. And they went pattering softly over the plain, and their eyes +shone in the dark, and crossed and recrossed one another in their courses. +Suddenly there became manifest in the midst of the plain that fearful +portent of the presence of Man--a little flickering fire. And the children +of Earth who prowl abroad by night looked sideways at it and snarled and +edged away; all but the wolves, who came a little nearer, for it was +winter and the wolves were hungry, and they had come in thousands from the +mountains, and they said in their hearts, "We are strong." Around the fire +a little tribe was encamped. They, too, had come from the mountains, and +from lands beyond them, but it was in the mountains that the wolves first +winded them; they picked up bones at first that the tribe had dropped, but +they were closer now and on all sides. It was Loz who had lit the fire. He +had killed a small furry beast, hurling his stone axe at it, and had +gathered a quantity of reddish-brown stones, and had laid them in a long +row, and placed bits of the small beast all along it; then he lit a fire +on each side, and the stones heated, and the bits began to cook. It was at +this time that the tribe noticed that the wolves who had followed them so +far were no longer content with the scraps of deserted encampments. A line +of yellow eyes surrounded them, and when it moved it was to come nearer. +So the men of the tribe hastily tore up brushwood, and felled a small tree +with their flint axes, and heaped it all over the fire that Loz had made, +and for a while the great heap hid the flame, and the wolves came trotting +in and sat down again on their haunches much closer than before; and the +fierce and valiant dogs that belonged to the tribe believed that their end +was about to come while fighting, as they had long since prophesied it +would. Then the flame caught the lofty stack of brushwood, and rushed out +of it, and ran up the side of it, and stood up haughtily far over the top, +and the wolves seeing this terrible ally of Man reveling there in his +strength, and knowing nothing of this frequent treachery to his masters, +went slowly away as though they had other purposes. And for the rest of +that night the dogs of the encampment cried out to them and besought them +to come back. But the tribe lay down all round the fire under thick furs +and slept. And a great wind arose and blew into the roaring heart of the +fire till it was red no longer, but all pallid with heat. With the dawn +the tribe awoke. + +Loz might have known that after such a mighty conflagration nothing could +remain of his small furry beast, but there was hunger in him and little +reason as he searched among the ashes. What he found there amazed him +beyond measure; there was no meat, there was not even his row of +reddish-brown stones, but something longer than a man's leg and narrower +than his hand, was lying there like a great flattened snake. When Loz +looked at its thin edges and saw that it ran to a point, he picked up +stones to chip it and make it sharp. It was the instinct of Loz to sharpen +things. When he found that it could not be chipped his wonderment +increased. It was many hours before he discovered that he could sharpen +the edges by rubbing them with a stone; but at last the point was sharp, +and all one side of it except near the end, where Loz held it in his hand. +And Loz lifted it and brandished it, and the Stone Age was over. That +afternoon in the little encampment, just as the tribe moved on, the Stone +Age passed away, which, for perhaps thirty or forty thousand years, had +slowly lifted Man from among the beasts and left him with his supremacy +beyond all hope of reconquest. + +It was not for many days that any other man tried to make for himself an +iron sword by cooking the same kind of small furry beast that Loz had +tried to cook. It was not for many years that any thought to lay the meat +along stones as Loz had done; and when they did, being no longer on the +plains of Thold, they used flints or chalk. It was not for many +generations that another piece of iron ore was melted and the secret +slowly guessed. Nevertheless one of Earth's many veils was torn aside by +Loz to give us ultimately the steel sword and the plough, machinery and +factories; let us not blame Loz if we think that he did wrong, for he did +all in ignorance. The tribe moved on until it came to water, and there it +settled down under a hill, and they built their huts there. Very soon they +had to fight with another tribe, a tribe that was stronger than they; but +the sword of Loz was terrible and his tribe slew their foes. You might +make one blow at Loz, but then would come one thrust from that iron sword, +and there was no way of surviving it. No one could fight with Loz. And he +became ruler of the tribe in the place of Iz, who hitherto had ruled it +with his sharp axe, as his father had before him. + +Now Loz begat Lo, and in his old age gave his sword to him, and Lo ruled +the tribe with it. And Lo called the name of the sword Death, because it +was so swift and terrible. + +And Iz begat Ird, who was of no account. And Ird hated Lo because he was +of no account by reason of the iron sword of Lo. + +One night Ird stole down to the hut of Lo, carrying his sharp axe, and he +went very softly, but Lo's dog, Warner, heard him coming, and he growled +softly by his master's door. When Ird came to the hut he heard Lo talking +gently to his sword. And Lo was saying, "Lie still, Death. Rest, rest, old +sword," and then, "What, again, Death? Be still. Be still." + +And then again: "What, art thou hungry, Death? Or thirsty, poor old sword? +Soon, Death, soon. Be still only a little." + +But Ird fled, for he did not like the gentle tone of Lo as he spoke to his +sword. + +And Lo begat Lod. And when Lo died Lod took the iron sword and ruled the +tribe. + +And Ird begat Ith, who was of no account, like his father. + +Now when Lod had smitten a man or killed a terrible beast, Ith would go +away for a while into the forest rather than hear the praises that would +be given to Lod. + +And once, as Ith sat in the forest waiting for the day to pass, he +suddenly thought he saw a tree trunk looking at him as with a face. And +Ith was afraid, for trees should not look at men. But soon Ith saw that it +was only a tree and not a man, though it was like a man. Ith used to speak +to this tree, and tell it about Lod, for he dared not speak to any one +else about him. And Ith found comfort in speaking about Lod. + +One day Ith went with his stone axe into the forest, and stayed there many +days. + +He came back by night, and the next morning when the tribe awoke they saw +something that was like a man and yet was not a man. And it sat on the +hill with its elbows pointing outwards and was quite still. And Ith was +crouching before it, and hurriedly placing before it fruits and flesh, and +then leaping away from it and looking frightened. Presently all the tribe +came out to see, but dared not come quite close because of the fear that +they saw on the face of Ith. And Ith went to his hut, and came back again +with a hunting spear-head and valuable small stone knives, and reached out +and laid them before the thing that was like a man, and then sprang away +from it. + +And some of the tribe questioned Ith about the still thing that was like a +man, and Ith said, "This is Ged." Then they asked, "Who is Ged?" and Ith +said, "Ged sends the crops and the rain; and the sun and the moon are +Ged's." + +Then the tribe went back to their huts, but later in the day some came +again, and they said to Ith, "Ged is only as we are, having hands and +feet." And Ith pointed to the right hand of Ged, which was not as his +left, but was shaped like the paw of a beast, and Ith said, "By this ye +may know that he is not as any man." + +Then they said, "He is indeed Ged." But Lod said, "He speaketh not, nor +doth he eat," and Ith answered, "The thunder is his voice and the famine +is his eating." + +After this the tribe copied Ith, and brought little gifts of meat to Ged; +and Ith cooked them before him that Ged might smell the cooking. + +One day a great thunderstorm came trampling up from the distance and raged +among the hills, and the tribe all hid away from it in their huts. And Ith +appeared among the huts looking unafraid. And Ith said little, but the +tribe thought that he had expected the terrible storm because the meat +that they had laid before Ged had been tough meat, and not the best parts +of the beasts they slew. + +And Ged grew to have more honour among the tribe than Lod. And Lod was +vexed. + +One night Lod arose when all were asleep, and quieted his dog, and took +his iron sword and went away to the hill. And he came on Ged in the +starlight, sitting still, with his elbows pointing outwards, and his +beast's paw, and the mark of the fire on the ground where his food had +been cooked. + +And Lod stood there for a while in great fear, trying to keep to his +purpose. Suddenly he stepped up close to Ged and lifted his iron sword, +and Ged neither hit nor shrank. Then the thought came into Lod's mind, +"Ged does not hit. What will Ged do instead?" + +And Lod lowered his sword and struck not, and his imagination began to +work on that "What will Ged do instead?" + +And the more Lod thought, the worse was his fear of Ged. + +And Lod ran away and left him. + +Lod still ruled the tribe in battle or in the hunt, but the chiefest +spoils of battle were given to Ged, and the beasts that they slew were +Ged's; and all questions that concerned war or peace, and questions of law +and disputes, were always brought to him, and Ith gave the answers after +speaking to Ged by night. + +At last Ith said, the day after an eclipse, that the gifts which they +brought to Ged were not enough, that some far greater sacrifice was +needed, that Ged was very angry even now, and not to be appeased by any +ordinary sacrifice. + +And Ith said that to save the tribe from the anger of Ged he would speak +to Ged that night, and ask him what new sacrifice he needed. + +Deep in his heart Lod shuddered, for his instinct told him that Ged wanted +Lod's only son, who should hold the iron sword when Lod was gone. + +No one would dare touch Lod because of the iron sword, but his instinct +said in his slow mind again and again, "Ged loves Ith. Ith has said so. +Ith hates the sword-holders." + +"Ith hates the sword-holders. Ged loves Ith." + +Evening fell and the night came when Ith should speak with Ged, and Lod +became ever surer of the doom of his race. + +He lay down but could not sleep. + +Midnight had barely come when Lod arose and went with his iron sword again +to the hill. + +And there sat Ged. Had Ith been to him yet? Ith whom Ged loved, who hated +the sword-holders. + +And Lod looked long at the old sword of iron that had come to his +grandfather on the plains of Thold. + +Good-bye, old sword! And Lod laid it on the knees of Ged, then went away. + +And when Ith came, a little before dawn, the sacrifice was found +acceptable unto Ged. + + + + +THE IDLE CITY + + +There was once a city which was an idle city, wherein men told vain tales. + +And it was that city's custom to tax all men that would enter in, with the +toll of some idle story in the gate. + +So all men paid to the watchers in the gate the toll of an idle story, and +passed into the city unhindered and unhurt. And in a certain hour of the +night when the king of that city arose and went pacing swiftly up and down +the chamber of his sleeping, and called upon the name of the dead queen, +then would the watchers fasten up the gate and go into that chamber to the +king, and, sitting on the floor, would tell him all the tales that they +had gathered. And listening to them some calmer mood would come upon the +king, and listening still he would lie down again and at last fall asleep, +and all the watchers silently would arise and steal away from the chamber. + +A while ago wandering, I came to the gate of that city. And even as I came +a man stood up to pay his toll to the watchers. They were seated +cross-legged on the ground between him and the gate, and each one held a +spear. Near him two other travellers sat on the warm sand waiting. And the +man said: + +"Now the city of Nombros forsook the worship of the gods and turned +towards God. So the gods threw their cloaks over their faces and strode +away from the city, and going into the haze among the hills passed through +the trunks of the olive groves into the sunset. But when they had already +left the Earth, they turned and looked through the gleaming folds of the +twilight for the last time at their city; and they looked half in anger +and half in regret, then turned and went away for ever. But they sent back +a Death, who bore a scythe, saying to it: 'Slay half in the city that +forsook us, but half of them spare alive that they may yet remember their +old forsaken gods.' + +"But God sent a destroying angel to show that He was God, saying unto him: +'Go into that city and slay half of the dwellers therein, yet spare a half +of them that they may know that I am God.' + +"And at once the destroying angel put his hand to his sword, and the sword +came out of the scabbard with a deep breath, like to the breath that a +broad woodman takes before his first blow at some giant oak. Thereat the +angel pointed his arms downwards, and bending his head between them, fell +forward from Heaven's edge, and the spring of his ankles shot him +downwards with his wings furled behind him. So he went slanting earthward +through the evening with his sword stretched out before him, and he was +like a javelin that some hunter hath hurled that returneth again to the +earth: but just before he touched it he lifted his head and spread his +wings with the under feathers forward, and alighted by the bank of the +broad Flavro that divides the city of Nombros. And down the bank of the +Flavro he fluttered low, like to a hawk over a new-cut cornfield when the +little creatures of the corn are shelterless, and at the same time down +the other bank the Death from the gods went mowing. + +"At once they saw each other, and the angel glared at the Death, and the +Death leered back at him, and the flames in the eyes of the angel +illumined with a red glare the mist that lay in the hollows of the sockets +of the Death. Suddenly they fell on one another, sword to scythe. And the +angel captured the temples of the gods, and set up over them the sign of +God, and the Death captured the temples of God, and led into them the +ceremonies and sacrifices of the gods; and all the while the centuries +slipped quietly by, going down the Flavro seawards. + +"And now some worship God in the temple of the gods, and others worship the +gods in the temple of God, and still the angel hath not returned again to +the rejoicing choirs, and still the Death hath not gone back to die with +the dead gods; but all through Nombros they fight up and down, and still +on each side of the Flavro the city lives." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then another traveler rose up, and said: + +"Solemnly between Huhenwazy and Nitcrana the huge grey clouds came +floating. And those great mountains, heavenly Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, the +king of peaks, greeted them, calling them brothers. And the clouds were +glad of their greeting, for they meet with companions seldom in the lonely +heights of the sky. + +"But the vapours of evening said unto the earth-mist, 'What are those +shapes that dare to move above us and to go where Nitcrana is and +Huhenwazi?' + +"And the earth-mist said in answer unto the vapours of evening, 'It is +only an earth-mist that has become mad and has left the warm and +comfortable earth, and has in his madness thought that his place is with +Huhenwazi and Nitcrana.' + +"'Once,' said the vapours of evening, 'there were clouds, but this was +many and many a day ago, as our forefathers have said. Perhaps the mad one +thinks he is the clouds.' + +"Then spake the earth-worms from the warm deeps of the mud, saying 'O +earth-mist, thou art indeed the clouds, and there are no clouds but thou. +And as for Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, I cannot see them, and therefore they +are not high, and there are no mountains in the world but those that I +cast up every morning out of the deeps of the mud.' + +"And the earth-mist and the vapours of evening were glad at the voice of +the earth-worms, and looking earthward believed what they had said. + +"And indeed it is better to be as the earth-mist, and to keep close to the +warm mud at night, and to hear the earth-worm's comfortable speech, and +not to be a wanderer in the cheerless heights, but to leave the mountains +alone with their desolate snow, to draw what comfort they can from their +vast aspect over all the cities of men, and from the whispers that they +hear at evening of unknown distant gods." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then a man stood up who came out of the west, and told a western tale. He +said: + +"There is a road in Rome that runs through an ancient temple that once the +gods had loved; it runs along the top of a great wall, and the floor of +the temple lies far down beneath it, of marble, pink and white. + +"Upon the temple floor I counted to the number of thirteen hungry cats. + +"'Sometimes,' they said among themselves, 'it was the gods that lived +here, sometimes it was men, and now it's cats. So let us enjoy the sun on +the hot marble before another people comes.' + +"For it was at that hour of a warm afternoon when my fancy is able to hear +silent voices. + +"And the awful leanness of all those thirteen cats moved me to go into a +neighbouring fish shop, and there to buy a quantity of fishes. Then I +returned and threw them all over the railing at the top of the great wall, +and they fell for thirty feet, and hit the sacred marble with a smack. + +"Now, in any other town but Rome, or in the minds of any other cats, the +sight of fishes falling out of heaven had surely excited wonder. They rose +slowly, and all stretched themselves, then they came leisurely towards the +fishes. 'It is only a miracle,' they said in their hearts." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Proudly and slowly, as they spoke, drew up to them a camel, whose rider +sought entrance to the city. His face shone with the sunset by which for +long he had steered for the city's gate. Of him they demanded toll. +Whereat he spoke to his camel, and the camel roared and kneeled, and the +man descended from him. And the man unwrapped from many silks a box of +divers metals wrought by the Japanese, and on the lid of it were figures +of men who gazed from some shore at an isle of the Inland Sea. This he +showed to the watchers, and when they had seen it, said, "It has seemed to +me that these speak to each other thus: + +"'Behold now Oojni, the dear one of the sea, the little mother sea that +hath no storms. She goeth out from Oojni singing a song, and she returneth +singing over her sands. Little is Oojni in the lap of the sea, and scarce +to be perceived by wondering ships. White sails have never wafted her +legends afar, they are told not by bearded wanderers of the sea. Her +fireside tales are known not to the North, the dragons of China have not +heard of them, nor those that ride on elephants through Ind. + +"'Men tell the tales and the smoke ariseth upwards; the smoke departeth +and the tales are told. + +"'Oojni is not a name among the nations, she is not know of where the +merchants meet, she is not spoken of by alien lips. + +"'Indeed, but Oojni is a little among the isles, yet is she loved by those +that know her coasts and her inland places hidden from the sea. + +"Without glory, without fame, and without wealth, Oojni is greatly loved +by a little people, and by a few; yet not by few, for all her dead still +love her, and oft by night come whispering through her woods. Who could +forget Oojni even among the dead? + +"For here in Oojni, wot you, are homes of men, and gardens, and golden +temples of the gods, and sacred places inshore from the sea, and many +murmurous woods. And there is a path that winds over the hills to go into +mysterious holy lands where dance by night the spirits of the woods, or +sing unseen in the sunlight; and no one goes into these holy lands, for +who that love Oojni could rob her of her mysteries, and the curious aliens +come not. Indeed, but we love Oojni though she is so little; she is the +little mother of our race, and the kindly nurse of all seafaring birds. + +"And behold, even now caressing her, the gentle fingers of the mother sea, +whose dreams are far with that old wanderer Ocean. + +"And yet let us forget not Fuzi-Yama, for he stands manifest over clouds +and sea, misty below, and vague and indistinct, but clear above for all +the isles to watch. The ships make all their journeys in his sight, the +nights and the days go by him like a wind, the summers and winters under +him flicker and fade, the lives of men pass quietly here and hence, and +Fuzi-Yama watches there--and knows." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +And I, too, would have told them a tale, very wonderful and very true; one +that I had told in many cities, which as yet had no believers. But now the +sun had set, and the brief twilight gone, and ghostly silences were rising +from far and darkening hills. A stillness hung over that city's gate. And +the great silence of the solemn night was more acceptable to the watchers +in the gate than any sound of man. Therefore they beckoned to us, and +motioned with their hands that we should pass untaxed into the city. And +softly we went up over the sand, and between the high rock pillars of the +gate, and a deep stillness settled among the watchers, and the stars over +them twinkled undisturbed. + +For how short a while man speaks, and withal how vainly. And for how long +he is silent. Only the other day I met a king in Thebes, who had been +silent already for four thousand years. + + + + +THE HASHISH MAN + + +I was at a dinner in London the other day. The ladies had gone upstairs, +and no one sat on my right; on my left there was a man I did not know, but +he knew my name somehow apparently, for he turned to me after a while, and +said, "I read a story of yours about Bethmoora in a review." + +Of course I remembered the tale. It was about a beautiful Oriental city +that was suddenly deserted in a day--nobody quite knew why. I said, "Oh, +yes," and slowly searched in my mind for some more fitting acknowledgment +of the compliment that his memory had paid me. + +I was greatly astonished when he said, "You were wrong about the gnousar +sickness; it was not that at all." + +I said, "Why! Have you been there?" + +And he said, "Yes; I do it with hashish. I know Bethmoora well." And he +took out of his pocket a small box full of some black stuff that looked +like tar, but had a stranger smell. He warned me not to touch it with my +finger, as the stain remained for days. "I got it from a gipsy," he said. +"He had a lot of it, as it had killed his father." But I interrupted him, +for I wanted to know for certain what it was that had made desolate that +beautiful city, Bethmoora, and why they fled from it swiftly in a day. +"Was it because of the Desert's curse?" I asked. And he said, "Partly it +was the fury of the Desert and partly the advice of the Emperor Thuba +Mleen, for that fearful beast is in some way connected with the Desert on +his mother's side." And he told me this strange story: "You remember the +sailor with the black scar, who was there on the day that you described +when the messengers came on mules to the gate of Bethmoora, and all the +people fled. I met this man in a tavern, drinking rum, and he told me all +about the flight from Bethmoora, but knew no more than you did what the +message was, or who had sent it. However, he said he would see Bethmoora +once more whenever he touched again at an eastern port, even if he had to +face the Devil. He often said that he would face the Devil to find out the +mystery of that message that emptied Bethmoora in a day. And in the end he +had to face Thuba Mleen, whose weak ferocity he had not imagined. For one +day the sailor told me he had found a ship, and I met him no more after +that in the tavern drinking rum. It was about that time that I got the +hashish from the gipsy, who had a quantity that he did not want. It takes +one literally out of oneself. It is like wings. You swoop over distant +countries and into other worlds. Once I found out the secret of the +universe. I have forgotten what it was, but I know that the Creator does +not take Creation seriously, for I remember that He sat in Space with all +His work in front of Him and laughed. I have seen incredible things in +fearful worlds. As it is your imagination that takes you there, so it is +only by your imagination that you can get back. Once out in aether I met a +battered, prowling spirit, that had belonged to a man whom drugs had +killed a hundred years ago; and he led me to regions that I had never +imagined; and we parted in anger beyond the Pleiades, and I could not +imagine my way back. And I met a huge grey shape that was the Spirit of +some great people, perhaps of a whole star, and I besought It to show me +my way home, and It halted beside me like a sudden wind and pointed, and, +speaking quite softly, asked me if I discerned a certain tiny light, and I +saw a far star faintly, and then It said to me, 'That is the Solar +System,' and strode tremendously on. And somehow I imagined my way back, +and only just in time, for my body was already stiffening in a chair in my +room; and the fire had gone out and everything was cold, and I had to move +each finger one by one, and there were pins and needles in them, and +dreadful pains in the nails, which began to thaw; and at last I could move +one arm, and reached a bell, and for a long time no one came, because +every one was in bed. But at last a man appeared, and they got a doctor; +and HE said that it was hashish poisoning, but it would have been all +right if I hadn't met that battered, prowling spirit. + +"I could tell you astounding things that I have seen, but you want to know +who sent that message to Bethmoora. Well, it was Thuba Mleen. And this is +how I know. I often went to the city after that day you wrote of (I used +to take hashish of an evening in my flat), and I always found it +uninhabited. Sand had poured into it from the desert, and the streets were +yellow and smooth, and through open, swinging doors the sand had drifted. + +"One evening I had put the guard in front of the fire, and settled into a +chair and eaten my hashish, and the first thing that I saw when I came to +Bethmoora was the sailor with the black scar, strolling down the street, +and making footprints in the yellow sand. And now I knew that I should see +what secret power it was that kept Bethmoora uninhabited. + +"I saw that there was anger in the Desert, for there were storm clouds +heaving along the skyline, and I heard a muttering amongst the sand. + +"The sailor strolled on down the street, looking into the empty houses as +he went; sometimes he shouted and sometimes he sang, and sometimes he +wrote his name on a marble wall. Then he sat down on a step and ate his +dinner. After a while he grew tired of the city, and came back up the +street. As he reached the gate of green copper three men on camels +appeared. + +"I could do nothing. I was only a consciousness, invisible, wandering: my +body was in Europe. The sailor fought well with his fists, but he was +over-powered and bound with ropes, and led away through the Desert. + +"I followed for as long as I could stay, and found that they were going by +the way of the Desert round the Hills of Hap towards Utnar Véhi, and then +I knew that the camel men belonged to Thuba Mleen. + +"I work in an insurance office all day, and I hope you won't forget me if +ever you want to insure--life, fire, or motor--but that's no part of my +story. I was desperately anxious to get back to my flat, though it is not +good to take hashish two days running; but I wanted to see what they would +do to the poor fellow, for I had heard bad rumours about Thuba Mleen. When +at last I got away I had a letter to write; then I rang for my servant, +and told him that I must not be disturbed, though I left my door unlocked +in case of accidents. After that I made up a good fire, and sat down and +partook of the pot of dreams. I was going to the palace of Thuba Mleen. + +"I was kept back longer than usual by noises in the street, but suddenly I +was up above the town; the European countries rushed by beneath me, and +there appeared the thin white palace spires of horrible Thuba Mleen. I +found him presently at the end of a little narrow room. A curtain of red +leather hung behind him, on which all the names of God, written in +Yannish, were worked with a golden thread. Three windows were small and +high. The Emperor seemed no more than about twenty, and looked small and +weak. No smiles came on his nasty yellow face, though he tittered +continually. As I looked from his low forehead to his quivering under lip, +I became aware that there was some horror about him, though I was not able +to perceive what it was. And then I saw it--the man never blinked; and +though later on I watched those eyes for a blink, it never happened once. + +"And then I followed the Emperor's rapt glance, and I saw the sailor lying +on the floor, alive but hideously rent, and the royal torturers were at +work all round him. They had torn long strips from him, but had not +detached them, and they were torturing the ends of them far away from the +sailor." The man that I met at dinner told me many things which I must +omit. "The sailor was groaning softly, and every time he groaned Thuba +Mleen tittered. I had no sense of smell, but I could hear and see, and I +do not know which was the most revolting--the terrible condition of the +sailor or the happy unblinking face of horrible Thuba Mleen. + +"I wanted to go away, but the time was not yet come, and I had to stay +where I was. + +"Suddenly the Emperor's face began to twitch violently and his under lip +quivered faster, and he whimpered with anger, and cried with a shrill +voice, in Yannish, to the captain of his torturers that there was a spirit +in the room. I feared not, for living men cannot lay hands on a spirit, +but all the torturers were appalled at his anger, and stopped their work, +for their hands trembled in fear. Then two men of the spear-guard slipped +from the room, and each of them brought back presently a golden bowl, with +knobs on it, full of hashish; and the bowls were large enough for heads to +have floated in had they been filled with blood. And the two men fell to +rapidly, each eating with two great spoons--there was enough in each +spoonful to have given dreams to a hundred men. And there came upon them +soon the hashish state, and their spirits hovered, preparing to go free, +while I feared horribly, but ever and anon they fell back again to their +bodies, recalled by some noise in the room. Still the men ate, but lazily +now, and without ferocity. At last the great spoons dropped out of their +hands, and their spirits rose and left them. I could not flee. And the +spirits were more horrible than the men, because they were young men, and +not yet wholly moulded to fit their fearful souls. Still the sailor +groaned softly, evoking little titters from the Emperor Thuba Mleen. Then +the two spirits rushed at me, and swept me thence as gusts of wind sweep +butterflies, and away we went from that small, pale, heinous man. There +was no escaping from these spirits' fierce insistence. The energy in my +minute lump of the drug was overwhelmed by the huge spoonsful that these +men had eaten with both hands. I was whirled over Arvle Woondery, and +brought to the lands of Snith, and swept on still until I came to Kragua, +and beyond this to those bleak lands that are nearly unknown to fancy. And +we came at last to those ivory hills that are named the Mountains of +Madness, and I tried to struggle against the spirits of that frightful +Emperor's men, for I heard on the other side of the ivory hills the +pittering of those beasts that prey on the mad, as they prowled up and +down. It was no fault of mine that my little lump of hashish could not +fight with their horrible spoonsful...." + +Some one was tugging at the hall-door bell. Presently a servant came and +told our host that a policeman in the hall wished to speak to him at once. +He apologised to us, and went outside, and we heard a man in heavy boots, +who spoke in a low voice to him. My friend got up and walked over to the +window, and opened it, and looked outside. "I should think it will be a +fine night," he said. Then he jumped out. When we put our astonished heads +out of the window to look for him, he was already out of sight. + + + + +POOR OLD BILL + + +On an antique haunt of sailors, a tavern of the sea, the light of day was +fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place, in the hope of +hearing something from the sailors, as they sat over strange wines, about +a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old +Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region. + +In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom, and I was +about to leave, when a sailor, wearing ear-rings of pure gold, lifted up +his head from his wine, and looking straight before him at the wall, told +his tale loudly: + +(When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern's leaded +panes, he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker +it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.) + +"A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had +never seen such isles. + +"We all hated the captain, and he hated us. He hated us all alike, there +was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of +us, except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop +and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm. + +"We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. +He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There +was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they +had come up only recently from the sea, and they had no sand or rocks like +honest isles, but green grass down to the water. And there were little +cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches came almost +down to the ground, and were strangely turned up at the corners, and under +the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too +thick to see through. And no one, man or beast, was walking about, so that +you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And +he went ashore and into one of the cottages, and someone lit lights +inside, and the little windows wore an evil look. + +"It was quite dark when he came aboard again, and he bade a cheery +good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way +that frightened poor old Bill. + +"Next night we found that he had learned to curse, for he came on a lot of +us asleep in our bunks, and among them poor old Bill, and he pointed at us +with a finger, and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at +the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill +sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast, and looking at the stars, +and freezing through and through. + +"We got up a little mutiny after that, but Captain comes up and points +with his finger again, and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are +swimming behind the ship through the cold green water, though their bodies +remain on deck. + +"It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn't curse when he +was drunk, though he could shoot as well at one time as another. + +"After that it was only a matter of waiting, and of losing two men when +the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows, and wanted to kill +Captain, but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island, out of the +track of ships, and leaving him there with his share of our year's +provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill, and we decided to +maroon Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn't curse. + +"It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again, and poor old Bill +and all had a dreadful time, for Captain invented new curses every day, +and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got +to know us, and so did the stars, and none of them pitied us when we froze +on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our +way--both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold, +unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight, and the +moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky, and we stopped our work +for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the +colours in the sky, he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And +it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains +making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was +shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe, and we all got +homesick for it, but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we +got back, and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day, but he +cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he +would curse our souls to Hell, and none of us mentioned Hell above a +whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the +cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his +cabin, and we found him lying there across his bunk, and he shot as he had +never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols, and he would +only have killed two men if he hadn't caught Joe over the head with the +end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put +the rum between the Captain's teeth, and kept him drunk for two days, so +that he could not curse, till we found a convenient rock. And before +sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain, out of +the track of ships, about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and +we rowed him along to it in a little boat, and gave him provisions for a +year, the same as we had ourselves, because poor old Bill wanted to be +fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing +a sailor's song. + +"When we could no longer hear Captain singing we all grew very cheerful +and made a banquet out of our year's provisions, as we all hoped to be +home again in under three weeks. We had three great banquets every day for +a week--every man had more than he could eat, and what was left over we +threw on the floor like gentlemen. And then one day, as we saw San +Huëgédos, and wanted to sail in to spend our money, the wind changed round +from behind us and beat us out to sea. There was no tacking against it, +and no getting into the harbour, though other ships sailed by us and +anchored there. Sometimes a dead calm would fall on us, while fishing +boats all around us flew before half a gale, and sometimes the wind would +beat us out to sea when nothing else was moving. All day we tried, and at +night we laid to and tried again the next day. And all the sailors of the +other ships were spending their money in San Huëgédos and we could not +come nigh it. Then we spoke horrible things against the wind and against +San Huëgédos, and sailed away. + +"It was just the same at Norenna. + +"We kept close together now and talked in low voices. Suddenly poor old +Bill grew frightened. As we went all along the Siractic coast-line, we +tried again and again, and the wind was waiting for us in every harbour +and sent us out to sea. Even the little islands would not have us. And +then we knew that there was no landing yet for poor old Bill, and every +one upbraided his kind heart that had made them maroon Captain on a rock, +so as not to have his blood upon their heads. There was nothing to do but +to drift about the seas. There were no banquets now, because we feared +that Captain might live his year and keep us out to sea. + +"At first we used to hail all passing ships, and used to try to board them +in the boats; but there was no towing against Captain's curse, and we had +to give that up. So we played cards for a year in Captain's cabin, night +and day, storm and fine, and every one promised to pay poor old Bill when +we got ashore. + +"It was horrible to us to think what a frugal man Captain really was, he +that used to get drunk every other day whenever he was at sea, and here he +was still alive, and sober too, for his curse still kept us out of every +port, and our provisions were gone. + +"Well, it came to drawing lots, and Jim was the unlucky one. Jim only kept +us about three days, and then we drew lots again, and this time it was the +nigger. The nigger didn't keep us any longer, and we drew again, and this +time it was Charlie, and still Captain was alive. + +"As we got fewer one of us kept us longer. Longer and longer a mate used +to last us, and we all wondered how ever Captain did it. It was five weeks +over the year when we drew Mike, and he kept us for a week, and Captain +was still alive. We wondered he didn't get tired of the same old curse; +but we supposed things looked different when one is alone on an island. + +"When there was only Jakes and poor old Bill and the cabin-boy and Dick, +we didn't draw any longer. We said that the cabin-boy had had all the +luck, and he mustn't expect any more. Then poor old Bill was alone with +Jakes and Dick, and Captain was still alive. When there was no more boy, +and the Captain still alive, Dick, who was a huge strong man like poor old +Bill, said that it was Jakes' turn, and he was very lucky to have lived as +long as he had. But poor old Bill talked it all over with Jakes, and they +thought it better than Dick should take his turn. + +"Then there was Jakes and poor old Bill; and Captain would not die. + +"And these two used to watch one another night and day, when Dick was gone +and no one else was left to them. And at last poor old Bill fell down in a +faint and lay there for an hour. Then Jakes came up to him slowly with his +knife, and makes a stab at poor old Bill as he lies there on the deck. And +poor old Bill caught hold of him by the wrist, and put his knife into him +twice to make quite sure, although it spoiled the best part of the meat. +Then poor old Bill was all alone at sea. + +"And the very next week, before the food gave out, Captain must have died +on his bit of an island; for poor old Bill heard the Captain's soul going +cursing over the sea, and the day after that the ship was cast on a rocky +coast. + +"And Captain's been dead now for over a hundred years, and poor old Bill +is safe ashore again. But it looks as if Captain hadn't done with him yet, +for poor old Bill doesn't ever get any older, and somehow or other he +doesn't seem to die. Poor old Bill!" + +When this was over the man's fascination suddenly snapped, and we all +jumped up and left him. + +It was not only his revolting story, but it was the fearful look in the +eyes of the man who told it, and the terrible ease with which his voice +surpassed the roar of the rain, that decided me never again to enter that +haunt of sailors--the tavern of the sea. + + + + +THE BEGGARS + + +I was walking down Piccadilly not long ago, thinking of nursery rhymes and +regretting old romance. + +As I saw the shopkeepers walk by in their black frock-coats and their +black hats, I thought of the old line in nursery annals: "The merchants of +London, they wear scarlet." + +The streets were all so unromantic, dreary. Nothing could be done for +them, I thought--nothing. And then my thoughts were interrupted by barking +dogs. Every dog in the street seemed to be barking--every kind of dog, not +only the little ones but the big ones too. They were all facing East +towards the way I was coming by. Then I turned round to look and had this +vision, in Piccadilly, on the opposite side to the houses just after you +pass the cab-rank. + +Tall bent men were coming down the street arrayed in marvelous cloaks. All +were sallow of skin and swarthy of hair, and most of them wore strange +beards. They were coming slowly, and they walked with staves, and their +hands were out for alms. + +All the beggars had come to town. + +I would have given them a gold doubloon engraven with the towers of +Castile, but I had no such coin. They did not seem the people to who it +were fitting to offer the same coin as one tendered for the use of a +taxicab (O marvelous, ill-made word, surely the pass-word somewhere of +some evil order). Some of them wore purple cloaks with wide green borders, +and the border of green was a narrow strip with some, and some wore cloaks +of old and faded red, and some wore violet cloaks, and none wore black. +And they begged gracefully, as gods might beg for souls. + +I stood by a lamp-post, and they came up to it, and one addressed it, +calling the lamp-post brother, and said, "O lamp-post, our brother of the +dark, are there many wrecks by thee in the tides of night? Sleep not, +brother, sleep not. There were many wrecks an it were not for thee." + +It was strange: I had not thought of the majesty of the street lamp and +his long watching over drifting men. But he was not beneath the notice of +these cloaked strangers. + +And then one murmured to the street: "Art thou weary, street? Yet a little +longer they shall go up and down, and keep thee clad with tar and wooden +bricks. Be patient, street. In a while the earthquake cometh." + +"Who are you?" people said. "And where do you come from?" + +"Who may tell what we are," they answered, "or whence we come?" + +And one turned towards the smoke-stained houses, saying, "Blessed be the +houses, because men dream therein." + +Then I perceived, what I had never thought, that all these staring houses +were not alike, but different one from another, because they held +different dreams. + +And another turned to a tree that stood by the Green Park railings, +saying, "Take comfort, tree, for the fields shall come again." + +And all the while the ugly smoke went upwards, the smoke that has stifled +Romance and blackened the birds. This, I thought, they can neither praise +nor bless. And when they saw it they raised their hands towards it, +towards the thousand chimneys, saying, "Behold the smoke. The old +coal-forests that have lain so long in the dark, and so long still, are +dancing now and going back to the sun. Forget not Earth, O our brother, +and we wish thee joy of the sun." + +It had rained, and a cheerless stream dropped down a dirty gutter. It had +come from heaps of refuse, foul and forgotten; it had gathered upon its +way things that were derelict, and went to somber drains unknown to man or +the sun. It was this sullen stream as much as all other causes that had +made me say in my heart that the town was vile, that Beauty was dead in +it, and Romance fled. + +Even this thing they blessed. And one that wore a purple cloak with broad +green border, said, "Brother, be hopeful yet, for thou shalt surely come +at last to the delectable Sea, and meet the heaving, huge, and travelled +ships, and rejoice by isles that know the golden sun." Even thus they +blessed the gutter, and I felt no whim to mock. + +And the people that went by, in their black unseemly coats and their +misshapen, monstrous, shiny hats, the beggars also blessed. And one of +them said to one of these dark citizens: "O twin of Night himself, with +thy specks of white at wrist and neck like to Night's scattered stars. How +fearfully thou dost veil with black thy hid, unguessed desires. They are +deep thoughts in thee that they will not frolic with colour, that they say +'No' to purple, and to lovely green 'Begone.' Thou hast wild fancies that +they must needs be tamed with black, and terrible imaginings that they +must be hidden thus. Has thy soul dreams of the angels, and of the walls +of faëry that thou hast guarded it so utterly, lest it dazzle astonished +eyes? Even so God hid the diamond deep down in miles of clay. + +"The wonder of thee is not marred by mirth. + +"Behold thou art very secret. + +"Be wonderful. Be full of mystery." + +Silently the man in the black frock-coat passed on. And I came to +understand when the purple beggar had spoken, that the dark citizen had +trafficked perhaps with Ind, that in his heart were strange and dumb +ambitions; that his dumbness was founded by solemn rite on the roots of +ancient tradition; that it might be overcome one day by a cheer in the +street or by some one singing a song, and that when this shopman spoke +there might come clefts in the world and people peering over at the abyss. + +Then turning towards Green Park, where as yet Spring was not, the beggars +stretched out their hands, and looking at the frozen grass and the yet +unbudding trees they, chanting all together, prophesied daffodils. + +A motor omnibus came down the street, nearly running over some of the dogs +that were barking ferociously still. It was sounding its horn noisily. + +And the vision went then. + + + + +_In a letter from a friend whom I have never seen, one of those that read +my books, this line was quoted--"But he, he never came to Carcassonne." I +do not know the origin of the line, but I made this tale about it._ + + +CARCASSONNE + + +When Camorak reigned at Arn, and the world was fairer, he gave a festival +to all the weald to commemorate the splendour of his youth. + +They say that his house at Arn was huge and high, and its ceiling painted +blue; and when evening fell men would climb up by ladders and light the +scores of candles hanging from slender chains. And they say, too, that +sometimes a cloud would come, and pour in through the top of one of the +oriel windows, and it would come over the edge of the stonework as the +sea-mist comes over a sheer cliffs shaven lip where an old wind has blown +for ever and ever (he has swept away thousands of leaves and thousands of +centuries, they are all one to him, he owes no allegiance to Time). And +the cloud would re-shape itself in the hall's lofty vault and drift on +through it slowly, and out to the sky again through another window. And +from its shape the knights in Camorak's hall would prophesy the battles +and sieges of the next season of war. They say of the hall of Camorak at +Arn that there hath been none like it in any land, and foretell that there +will be never. + +Hither had come in the folk of the Weald from sheepfold and from forest, +revolving slow thoughts of food, and shelter, and love, and they sat down +wondering in that famous hall; and therein also were seated the men of +Arn, the town that clustered round the King's high house, and all was +roofed with red, maternal earth. + +If old songs may be trusted, it was a marvelous hall. + +Many who sat there could only have seen it distantly before, a clear shape +in the landscape, but smaller than a hill. Now they beheld along the wall +the weapons of Camorak's men, of which already the lute-players made +songs, and tales were told at evening in the byres. There they described +the shield of Camorak that had gone to and fro across so many battles, and +the sharp but dinted edges of his sword; there were the weapons of Gadriol +the Leal, and Norn, and Athoric of the Sleety Sword, Heriel the Wild, +Yarold, and Thanga of Esk, their arms hung evenly all round the hall, low +where a man could reach them; and in the place of honour in the midst, +between the arms of Camorak and of Gadriol the Leal, hung the harp of +Arleon. And of all the weapons hanging on those walls none were more +calamitous to Camorak's foes than was the harp of Arleon. For to a man +that goes up against a strong place on foot, pleasant indeed is the twang +and jolt of some fearful engine of war that his fellow-warriors are +working behind him, from which huge rocks go sighing over his head and +plunge among his foes; and pleasant to a warrior in the wavering light are +the swift commands of his King, and a joy to him are his comrades' instant +cheers exulting suddenly at a turn of the war. All this and more was the +harp to Camorak's men; for not only would it cheer his warriors on, but +many a time would Arleon of the Harp strike wild amazement into opposing +hosts by some rapturous prophecy suddenly shouted out while his hand swept +over the roaring strings. Moreover, no war was ever declared till Camorak +and his men had listened long to the harp, and were elate with the music +and mad against peace. Once Arleon, for the sake of a rhyme, had made war +upon Estabonn; and an evil king was overthrown, and honour and glory won; +from such queer motives does good sometimes accrue. + +Above the shields and the harps all round the hall were the painted +figures of heroes of fabulous famous songs. Too trivial, because too +easily surpassed by Camorak's men, seemed all the victories that the earth +had known; neither was any trophy displayed of Camorak's seventy battles, +for these were as nothing to his warriors or him compared with those +things that their youth had dreamed and which they mightily purposed yet +to do. + +Above the painted pictures there was darkness, for evening was closing in, +and the candles swinging on their slender chain were not yet lit in the +roof; it was as though a piece of the night had been builded into the +edifice like a huge natural rock that juts into a house. And there sat all +the warriors of Arn and the Weald-folk wondering at them; and none were +more than thirty, and all were skilled in war. And Camorak sat at the head +of all, exulting in his youth. + +We must wrestle with Time for some seven decades, and he is a weak and +puny antagonist in the first three bouts. + +Now there was present at this feast a diviner, one who knew the schemes of +Fate, and he sat among the people of the Weald and had no place of honour, +for Camorak and his men had no fear of Fate. And when the meat was eaten +and the bones cast aside, the king rose up from his chair, and having +drunken wine, and being in the glory of his youth and with all his knights +about him, called to the diviner, saying, "Prophesy." + +And the diviner rose up, stroking his grey beard, and spake +guardedly--"There are certain events," he said, "upon the ways of Fate +that are veiled even from a diviner's eyes, and many more are clear to us +that were better veiled from all; much I know that is better unforetold, +and some things that I may not foretell on pain of centuries of +punishment. But this I know and foretell--that you will never come to +Carcassonne." + +Instantly there was a buzz of talk telling of Carcassonne--some had heard +of it in speech or song, some had read of it, and some had dreamed of it. +And the king sent Arleon of the Harp down from his right hand to mingle +with the Weald-folk to hear aught that any told of Carcassonne. But the +warriors told of the places they had won to--many a hard-held fortress, +many a far-off land, and swore that they would come to Carcassonne. + +And in a while came Arleon back to the king's right hand, and raised his +harp and chanted and told of Carcassonne. Far away it was, and far and far +away, a city of gleaming ramparts rising one over other, and marble +terraces behind the ramparts, and fountains shimmering on the terraces. To +Carcassonne the elf-kings with their fairies had first retreated from men, +and had built it on an evening late in May by blowing their elfin horns. +Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +Travellers had seen it sometimes like a clear dream, with the sun +glittering on its citadel upon a far-off hilltop, and then the clouds had +come or a sudden mist; no one had seen it long or come quite close to it; +though once there were some men that came very near, and the smoke from +the houses blew into their faces, a sudden gust--no more, and these +declared that some one was burning cedarwood there. Men had dreamed that +there is a witch there, walking alone through the cold courts and +corridors of marmorean palaces, fearfully beautiful and still for all her +fourscore centuries, singing the second oldest song, which was taught her +by the sea, shedding tears for loneliness from eyes that would madden +armies, yet will she not call her dragons home--Carcassonne is terribly +guarded. Sometimes she swims in a marble bath through whose deeps a river +tumbles, or lies all morning on the edge of it to dry slowly in the sun, +and watches the heaving river trouble the deeps of the bath. It flows +through the caverns of earth for further than she knows, and coming to +light in the witch's bath goes down through the earth again to its own +peculiar sea. + +In autumn sometimes it comes down black with snow that spring has molten +in unimagined mountains, or withered blooms of mountain shrubs go +beautifully by. + +When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains; +and yet she knows not where those mountains are. + +When she sings the fountains dance up from the dark earth, when she combs +her hair they say there are storms at sea, when she is angry the wolves +grow brave and all come down to the byres, when she is sad the sea is sad, +and both are sad for ever. Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +This city is the fairest of the wonders of Morning; the sun shouts when he +beholdeth it; for Carcassonne Evening weepeth when Evening passeth away. + +And Arleon told how many goodly perils were round about the city, and how +the way was unknown, and it was a knightly venture. Then all the warriors +stood up and sang of the splendour of the venture. And Camorak swore by +the gods that had builded Arn, and by the honour of his warriors that, +alive or dead, he would come to Carcassonne. + +But the diviner rose and passed out of the hall, brushing the crumbs from +him with his hands and smoothing his robe as he went. + +Then Camorak said, "There are many things to be planned, and counsels to +be taken, and provender to be gathered. Upon what day shall we start?" And +all the warriors answering shouted, "Now." And Camorak smiled thereat, for +he had but tried them. Down then from the walls they took their weapons, +Sikorix, Kelleron, Aslof, Wole of the Axe; Huhenoth, Peace-breaker; +Wolwuf, Father of War; Tarion, Lurth of the Warcry and many another. +Little then dreamed the spiders that sat in that ringing hall of the +unmolested leisure they were soon to enjoy. + +When they were armed they all formed up and marched out of the hall, and +Arleon strode before them singing of Carcassonne. + +But the talk of the Weald arose and went back well fed to byres. They had +no need of wars or of rare perils. They were ever at war with hunger. A +long drought or hard winter were to them pitched battles; if the wolves +entered a sheep-fold it was like the loss of a fortress, a thunder-storm +on the harvest was like an ambuscade. Well-fed, they went back slowly to +their byres, being at truce with hunger; and the night filled with stars. + +And black against the starry sky appeared the round helms of the warriors +as they passed the tops of the ridges, but in the valleys they sparkled +now and then as the starlight flashed on steel. + +They followed behind Arleon going south, whence rumours had always come of +Carcassonne: so they marched in the starlight, and he before them singing. + +When they had marched so far that they heard no sound from Arn, and even +inaudible were her swinging bells, when candles burning late far up in +towers no longer sent them their disconsolate welcome; in the midst of the +pleasant night that lulls the rural spaces, weariness came upon Arleon and +his inspiration failed. It failed slowly. Gradually he grew less sure of +the way to Carcassonne. Awhile he stopped to think, and remembered the way +again; but his clear certainty was gone, and in its place were efforts in +his mind to recall old prophecies and shepherd's songs that told of the +marvelous city. Then as he said over carefully to himself a song that a +wanderer had learnt from a goatherd's boy far up the lower slope of +ultimate southern mountains, fatigue came down upon his toiling mind like +snow on the winding ways of a city noisy by night, stilling all. + +He stood, and the warriors closed up to him. For long they had passed by +great oaks standing solitary here and there, like giants taking huge +breaths of the night air before doing some furious deed; now they had come +to the verge of a black forest; the tree-trunks stood like those great +columns in an Egyptian hall whence God in an older mood received the +praise of men; the top of it sloped the way of an ancient wind. Here they +all halted and lighted a fire of branches, striking sparks from flint into +a heap of bracken. They eased them of their armour, and sat round the +fire, and Camorak stood up there and addressed them, and Camorak said: "We +go to war with Fate, who has doomed that I shall not come to Carcassonne. +And if we turn aside but one of the dooms of Fate, then the whole future +of the world is ours, and the future that Fate has ordered is like the dry +course of an averted river. But if such men as we, such resolute +conquerors, cannot prevent one doom that Fate has planned, then is the +race of man enslaved for ever to do its petty and allotted task." + +Then they all drew their swords, and waved them high in the firelight, and +declared war on Fate. + +Nothing in the somber forest stirred or made any sound. + +Tired men do not dream of war. When morning came over the gleaming fields +a company that had set out from Arn discovered the discovered the +camping-place of the warriors, and brought pavilions and provender. And +the warriors feasted, and the birds in the forest sang, and the +inspiration of Arleon awoke. + +Then they rose, and following Arleon, entered the forest, and marched away +to the South. And many a woman of Arn sent her thoughts with them as they +played alone some old monotonous tune, but their own thoughts were far +before them, skimming over the bath through whose deeps the river tumbles +in marble Carcassonne. + +When butterflies were dancing on the air, and the sun neared the zenith, +pavilions were pitched, and all the warriors rested; and then they feasted +again, and then played knightly games, and late in the afternoon marched +on once more, singing of Carcassonne. + +And night came down with its mystery on the forest, and gave their +demoniac look again to the trees, and rolled up out of misty hollows a +huge and yellow moon. + +And the men of Arn lit fires, and sudden shadows arose and leaped +fantastically away. And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and +passed between the tree trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and +waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal +birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses of the +befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a +maiden's song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist's tune played in his +loneliness on distant hills; and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a +galleon's lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar +sea. Upon this night-wind also the dreams of Camorak's men floated to +Carcassonne. + +All the next morning they marched, and all the evening, and knew they were +nearing now the deeps of the forest. And the citizens of Arn kept close +together and close behind the warriors. For the deeps of the forest were +all unknown to travellers, but not unknown to those tales of fear that men +tell at evening to their friends, in the comfort and the safety of their +hearths. Then night appeared, and an enormous moon. And the men of Camorak +slept. Sometimes they woke, and went to sleep again; and those that stayed +awake for long and listened heard heavy two-footed creatures pad through +the night on paws. + +As soon as it was light the unarmed men of Arn began to slip away, and +went back by bands through the forest. When darkness came they did not +stop to sleep, but continued their flight straight on until they came to +Arn, and added there by the tales they told to the terror of the forest. + +But the warriors feasted, and afterwards Arleon rose, and played his harp, +and led them on again; and a few faithful servants stayed with them still. +And they marched all day through a gloom that was as old as night, but +Arleon's inspiration burned in his mind like a star. And he led them till +the birds began to drop into the treetops, and it was evening and they all +encamped. They had only one pavilion left to them now, and near it they +lit a fire, and Camorak posted a sentry with drawn sword just beyond the +glow of the firelight. Some of the warriors slept in the pavilion and +others round about it. + +When dawn came something terrible had killed and eaten the sentry. But the +splendour of the rumours of Carcassonne and Fate's decree that they should +never come there, and the inspiration of Arleon and his harp, all urged +the warriors on; and they marched deeper and deeper all day into the +forest. + +Once they saw a dragon that had caught a bear and was playing with it, +letting it run a little way and overtaking it with a paw. + +They came at last to a clear space in the forest just before nightfall. An +odour of flowers arose from it like a mist, and every drop of dew +interpreted heaven unto itself. + +It was the hour when twilight kisses Earth. + +It was the hour when a meaning comes into senseless things, and trees +out-majesty the pomp of monarchs, and the timid creatures steal abroad to +feed, and as yet the beasts of prey harmlessly dream, and Earth utters a +sigh, and it is night. + +In the midst of the wide clearing Camorak's warriors camped, and rejoiced +to see stars again appearing one by one. + +That night they ate the last of their provisions, and slept unmolested by +the prowling things that haunt the gloom of the forest. + +On the next day some of the warriors hunted stags, and others lay in +rushes by a neighbouring lake and shot arrows at water-fowl. One stag was +killed, and some geese, and several teal. + +Here the adventurers stayed, breathing the pure wild air that cities know +not; by day they hunted, and lit fires by night, and sang and feasted, and +forgot Carcassonne. The terrible denizens of the gloom never molested +them, venison was plentiful, and all manner of water-fowl: they loved the +chase by day, and by night their favourite songs. Thus day after day went +by, thus week after week. Time flung over this encampment a handful of +moons, the gold and silver moons that waste the year away; Autumn and +Winter passed, and Spring appeared; and still the warriors hunted and +feasted there. + +One night of the springtide they were feasting about a fire and telling +tales of the chase, and the soft moths came out of the dark and flaunted +their colours in the firelight, and went out grey into the dark again; and +the night wind was cool upon the warriors' necks, and the camp-fire was +warm in their faces, and a silence had settled among them after some song, +and Arleon all at once rose suddenly up, remembering Carcassonne. And his +hand swept over the strings of his harp, awaking the deeper chords, like +the sound of a nimble people dancing their steps on bronze, and the music +rolled away into the night's own silence, and the voice of Arleon rose: + +"When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains +and longs for the battle-shout of kingly men." + +And suddenly all shouted, "Carcassonne!" And at that word their idleness +was gone as a dream is gone from a dreamer waked with a shout. And soon +the great march began that faltered no more nor wavered. Unchecked by +battles, undaunted in lonesome spaces, ever unwearied by the vulturous +years, the warriors of Camorak held on; and Arleon's inspiration led them +still. They cleft with the music of Arleon's harp the gloom of ancient +silences; they went singing into battles with terrible wild men, and came +out singing, but with fewer voices; they came to villages in valleys full +of the music of bells, or saw the lights at dusk of cottages sheltering +others. + +They became a proverb for wandering, and a legend arose of strange, +disconsolate men. Folks spoke of them at nightfall when the fire was warm +and rain slipped down the eaves; and when the wind was high small children +feared the Men Who Would Not Rest were going clattering past. Strange +tales were told of men in old grey armour moving at twilight along the +tops of the hills and never asking shelter; and mothers told their boys +who grew impatient of home that the grey wanderers were once so impatient +and were now hopeless of rest, and were driven along with the rain +whenever the wind was angry. + +But the wanderers were cheered in their wandering by the hope of coming to +Carcassonne, and later on by anger against Fate, and at last they marched +on still because it seemed better to march on than to think. + +For many years they had wandered and had fought with many tribes; often +they gathered legends in villages and listened to idle singers singing +songs; and all the rumours of Carcassonne still came from the South. + +And then one day they came to a hilly land with a legend in it that only +three valleys away a man might see, on clear days, Carcassonne. Tired +though they were and few, and worn with the years which had all brought +them wars, they pushed on instantly, led still by Arleon's inspiration +which dwindled in his age, though he made music with his old harp still. + +All day they climbed down into the first valley and for two days ascended, +and came to the Town That May Not Be Taken In War below the top of the +mountain, and its gates were shut against them, and there was no way +round. To left and right steep precipices stood for as far as eye could +see or legend tell of, and the pass lay through the city. Therefore +Camorak drew up his remaining warriors in line of battle to wage their +last war, and they stepped forward over the crisp bones of old, unburied +armies. + +No sentinel defied them in the gate, no arrow flew from any tower of war. +One citizen climbed alone to the mountain's top, and the rest hid +themselves in sheltered places. + +Now, in the top of the mountain was a deep, bowl-like cavern in the rock, +in which fires bubbled softly. But if any cast a boulder into the fires, +as it was the custom for one of those citizens to do when enemies +approached them, the mountain hurled up intermittent rocks for three days, +and the rocks fell flaming all over the town and all round about it. And +just as Camorak's men began to batter the gate they heard a crash on the +mountain, and a great rock fell beyond them and rolled into the valley. +The next two fell in front of them on the iron roofs of the town. Just as +they entered the town a rock found them crowded in a narrow street, and +shattered two of them. The mountain smoked and panted; with every pant a +rock plunged into the streets or bounced along the heavy iron roof, and +the smoke went slowly up, and up, and up. + +When they had come through the long town's empty streets to the locked +gate at the end, only fifteen were left. When they had broken down the +gate there were only ten alive. Three more were killed as they went up the +slope, and two as they passed near the terrible cavern. Fate let the rest +go some way down the mountain upon the other side, and then took three of +them. Camorak and Arleon alone were left alive. And night came down on the +valley to which they had come, and was lit by flashes from the fatal +mountain; and the two mourned for their comrades all night long. + +But when the morning came they remembered their war with Fate, and their +old resolve to come to Carcassonne, and the voice of Arleon rose in a +quavering song, and snatches of music from his old harp, and he stood up +and marched with his face southwards as he had done for years, and behind +him Camorak went. And when at last they climbed from the third valley, and +stood on the hill's summit in the golden sunlight of evening, their aged +eyes saw only miles of forest and the birds going to roost. + +Their beards were white, and they had travelled very far and hard; it was +the time with them when a man rests from labours and dreams in light sleep +of the years that were and not of the years to come. + +Long they looked southwards; and the sun set over remoter forests, and +glow-worms lit their lamps, and the inspiration of Arleon rose and flew +away for ever, to gladden, perhaps, the dreams of younger men. + +And Arleon said: "My King, I know no longer the way to Carcassonne." + +And Camorak smiled, as the aged smile, with little cause for mirth, and +said: "The years are going by us like huge birds, whom Doom and Destiny +and the schemes of God have frightened up out of some old grey marsh. And +it may well be that against these no warrior may avail, and that Fate has +conquered us, and that our quest has failed." + +And after this they were silent. + +Then they drew their swords, and side by side went down into the forest, +still seeking Carcassonne. + +I think they got not far; for there were deadly marshes in that forest, +and gloom that outlasted the nights, and fearful beasts accustomed to its +ways. Neither is there any legend, either in verse or among the songs of +the people of the fields, of any having come to Carcassonne. + + + + +IN ZACCARATH + + +"Come," said the King in sacred Zaccarath, "and let our prophets prophesy +before us." + +A far-seen jewel of light was the holy palace, a wonder to the nomads on +the plains. + +There was the King with all his underlords, and the lesser kings that did +him vassalage, and there were all his queens with all their jewels upon +them. + +Who shall tell of the splendour in which they sat; of the thousand lights +and the answering emeralds; of the dangerous beauty of that hoard of +queens, or the flash of their laden necks? + +There was a necklace there of rose-pink pearls beyond the art of the +dreamer to imagine. Who shall tell of the amethyst chandeliers, where +torches, soaked in rare Bhyrinian oils, burned and gave off a scent of +blethany? + +(This herb marvellous, which, growing near the summit of Mount Zaumnos, +scents all the Zaumnian range, and is smelt far out on the Kepuscran +plains, and even, when the wind is from the mountains, in the streets of +the city of Ognoth. At night it closes its petals and is heard to breathe, +and its breath is a swift poison. This it does even by day if the snows +are disturbed about it. No plant of this has ever been captured alive by a +hunter.) + +Enough to say that when the dawn came up it appeared by contrast pallid +and unlovely and stripped bare of all its glory, so that it hid itself +with rolling clouds. + +"Come," said the King, "let our prophets prophesy." + +Then the heralds stepped through the ranks of the King's silk-clad +warriors who lay oiled and scented upon velvet cloaks, with a pleasant +breeze among them caused by the fans of slaves; even their casting-spears +were set with jewels; through their ranks the heralds went with mincing +steps, and came to the prophets, clad in brown and black, and one of them +they brought and set him before the King. And the King looked at him and +said, "Prophesy unto us." + +And the prophet lifted his head, so that his beard came clear from his +brown cloak, and the fans of the slaves that fanned the warriors wafted +the tip of it a little awry. And he spake to the King, and spake thus: + +"Woe unto thee, King, and woe unto Zaccarath. Woe unto thee, and woe unto +thy women, for your fall shall be sore and soon. Already in Heaven the +gods shun thy god: they know his doom and what is written of him: he sees +oblivion before him like a mist. Thou hast aroused the hate of the +mountaineers. They hate thee all along the crags of Droom. The evilness of +thy days shall bring down the Zeedians on thee as the suns of springtide +bring the avalanche down. They shall do unto Zaccarath as the avalanche +doth unto the hamlets of the valley." When the queens chattered or +tittered among themselves, he merely raised his voice and still spake on: +"Woe to these walls and the carven things upon them. The hunter shall know +the camping-places of the nomads by the marks of the camp-fires on the +plain, but he shall not know the place of Zaccarath." + +A few of the recumbent warriors turned their heads to glance at the +prophet when he ceased. Far overhead the echoes of his voice hummed on +awhile among the cedarn rafters. + +"Is he not splendid?" said the King. And many of that assembly beat with +their palms upon the polished floor in token of applause. Then the prophet +was conducted back to his place at the far end of that mighty hall, and +for a while musicians played on marvellous curved horns, while drums +throbbed behind them hidden in a recess. The musicians were sitting +crosslegged on the floor, all blowing their huge horns in the brilliant +torchlight, but as the drums throbbed louder in the dark they arose and +moved slowly nearer to the King. Louder and louder drummed the drums in +the dark, and nearer and nearer moved the men with the horns, so that +their music should not be drowned by the drums before it reached the King. + +A marvellous scene it was when the tempestuous horns were halted before +the King, and the drums in the dark were like the thunder of God; and the +queens were nodding their heads in time to the music, with their diadems +flashing like heavens of falling stars; and the warriors lifted their +heads and shook, as they lifted them, the plumes of those golden birds +which hunters wait for by the Liddian lakes, in a whole lifetime killing +scarcely six, to make the crests that the warriors wore when they feasted +in Zaccarath. Then the King shouted and the warriors sang--almost they +remembered then old battle-chants. And, as they sang, the sound of the +drums dwindled, and the musicians walked away backwards, and the drumming +became fainter and fainter as they walked, and altogether ceased, and they +blew no more on their fantastic horns. Then the assemblage beat on the +floor with their palms. And afterwards the queens besought the King to +send for another prophet. And the heralds brought a singer, and placed him +before the King; and the singer was a young man with a harp. And he swept +the strings of it, and when there was silence he sang of the iniquity of +the King. And he foretold the onrush of the Zeedians, and the fall and the +forgetting of Zaccarath, and the coming again of the desert to its own, +and the playing about of little lion cubs where the courts of the palace +had stood. + +"Of what is he singing?" said a queen to a queen. + +"He is singing of everlasting Zaccarath." + +As the singer ceased the assemblage beat listlessly on the floor, and the +King nodded to him, and he departed. + +When all the prophets had prophesied to them and all the singers sung, +that royal company arose and went to other chambers, leaving the hall of +festival to the pale and lonely dawn. And alone were left the lion-headed +gods that were carven out of the walls; silent they stood, and their rocky +arms were folded. And shadows over their faces moved like curious thoughts +as the torches flickered and the dull dawn crossed the fields. And the +colours began to change in the chandeliers. + +When the last lutanist fell asleep the birds began to sing. + +Never was greater splendour or a more famous hall. When the queens went +away through the curtained door with all their diadems, it was as though +the stars should arise in their stations and troop together to the West at +sunrise. + +And only the other day I found a stone that had undoubtedly been a part of +Zaccarath, it was three inches long and an inch broad; I saw the edge of +it uncovered by the sand. I believe that only three other pieces have been +found like it. + + + + +THE FIELD + + +When one has seen Spring's blossom fall in London, and Summer appear and +ripen and decay, as it does early in cities, and one is in London still, +then, at some moment or another, the country places lift their flowery +heads and call to one with an urgent, masterful clearness, upland behind +upland in the twilight like to some heavenly choir arising rank on rank to +call a drunkard from his gambling-hell. No volume of traffic can drown the +sound of it, no lure of London can weaken its appeal. Having heard it +one's fancy is gone, and evermore departed, to some coloured pebble agleam +in a rural brook, and all that London can offer is swept from one's mind +like some suddenly smitten metropolitan Goliath. + +The call is from afar both in leagues and years, for the hills that call +one are the hills that were, and their voices are the voices of long ago, +when the elf-kings still had horns. + +I see them now, those hills of my infancy (for it is they that call), with +their faces upturned to the purple twilight, and the faint diaphanous +figures of the fairies peering out from under the bracken to see if +evening is come. I do not see upon their regal summits those desirable +mansions, and highly desirable residences, which have lately been built +for gentlemen who would exchange customers for tenants. + +When the hills called I used to go to them by road, riding a bicycle. If +you go by train you miss the gradual approach, you do not cast off London +like an old forgiven sin, nor pass by little villages on the way that must +have some rumour of the hills; nor, wondering if they are still the same, +come at last upon the edge of their far-spread robes, and so on to their +feet, and see far off their holy, welcoming faces. In the train you see +them suddenly round a curve, and there they all are sitting in the sun. + +I imagine that as one penetrated out from some enormous forest of the +tropics, the wild beasts would become fewer, the gloom would lighten, and +the horror of the place would slowly lift. Yet as one emerges nearer to +the edge of London, and nearer to the beautiful influence of the hills, +the houses become uglier, the streets viler, the gloom deepens, the errors +of civilisation stand bare to the scorn of the fields. + +Where ugliness reaches the height of its luxuriance, in the dense misery +of the place, where one imagines the builder saying, "Here I culminate. +Let us give thanks to Satan," there is a bridge of yellow brick, and +through it, as through some gate of filigree silver opening on fairyland, +one passes into the country. + +To left and right, as far as one can see, stretches that monstrous city; +before one are the fields like an old, old song. + +There is a field there that is full of king-cups. A stream runs through +it, and along the stream is a little wood of osiers. There I used often to +rest at the streams edge before my long journey to the hills. + +There I used to forget London, street by street. Sometimes I picked a +bunch of king-cups to show them to the hills. + +I often came there. At first I noticed nothing about the field except its +beauty and its peacefulness. + +But the second time that I came I thought there was something ominous +about the field. + +Down there among the king-cups by the little shallow stream I felt that +something terrible might happen in just such a place. + +I did not stay long there, because I thought that too much time spent in +London had brought on these morbid fancies and I went on to the hills as +fast as I could. + +I stayed for some days in the country air, and when I came back I went to +the field again to enjoy that peaceful spot before entering London. But +there was still something ominous among the osiers. + +A year elapsed before I went there again. I emerged from the shadow of +London into the gleaming sun; the bright green grass and the king-cups +were flaming in the light, and the little stream was singing a happy song. +But the moment I stepped into the field my old uneasiness returned, and +worse than before. It was as though the shadow was brooding there of some +dreadful future thing and a year had brought it nearer. + +I reasoned that the exertion of bicycling might be bad for one, and that +the moment one rested this uneasiness might result. + +A little later I came back past the field by night, and the song of the +stream in the hush attracted me down to it. And there the fancy came to me +that it would be a terribly cold place to be in the starlight, if for some +reason one was hurt and could not get away. + +I knew a man who was minutely acquainted with the past history of that +locality, and him I asked if anything historical had ever happened in that +field. When he pressed me for my reason in asking him this, I said that +the field had seemed to me such a good place to hold a pageant in. But he +said that nothing of any interest had ever occurred there, nothing at all. + +So it was from the future that the field's terrible trouble came. + +For three years off and on I made visits to the field, and every time more +clearly it boded evil things, and my uneasiness grew more acute every time +that I was lured to go and rest among the cool green grass under the +beautiful osiers. Once to distract my thoughts I tried to gauge how fast +the stream was trickling, but I found myself wondering if it flowed faster +than blood. + +I felt that it would be a terrible place to go mad in, one would hear +voices. + +At last I went to a poet whom I knew, and woke him from huge dreams, and +put before him the whole case of the field. He had not been out of London +all that year, and he promised to come with me and look at the field, and +tell me what was going to happen there. It was late in July when we went. +The pavement, the air, the houses and the dirt had been all baked dry by +the summer, the weary traffic dragged on, and on, and on, and Sleep +spreading her wings soared up and floated from London and went to walk +beautifully in rural places. + +When the poet saw the field he was delighted, the flowers were out in +masses all along the stream, he went down to the little wood rejoicing. By +the side of the stream he stood and seemed very sad. Once or twice he +looked up and down it mournfully, then he bent and looked at the +king-cups, first one and then another, very closely, and shaking his head. + +For a long while he stood in silence, and all my old uneasiness returned, +and my bodings for the future. + +And then I said, "What manner of field is it?" + +And he shook his head sorrowfully. + +"It is a battlefield," he said. + + + + +THE DAY OF THE POLL + + +In the town by the sea it was the day of the poll, and the poet regarded +it sadly when he woke and saw the light of it coming in at his window +between two small curtains of gauze. And the day of the poll was +beautifully bright; stray bird-songs came to the poet at the window; the +air was crisp and wintry, but it was the blaze of sunlight that had +deceived the birds. He heard the sound of the sea that the moon led up the +shore, dragging the months away over the pebbles and shingles and piling +them up with the years where the worn-out centuries lay; he saw the +majestic downs stand facing mightily south-wards; saw the smoke of the +town float up to their heavenly faces--column after column rose calmly +into the morning as house by house was waked by peering shafts of the +sunlight and lit its fires for the day; column by column went up toward +the serene downs' faces, and failed before they came there and hung all +white over houses; and every one in the town was raving mad. + +It was a strange thing that the poet did, for he hired the largest motor +in the town and covered it with all the flags he could find, and set out +to save an intelligence. And he presently found a man whose face was hot, +who shouted that the time was not far distant when a candidate, whom he +named, would be returned at the head of the poll by a thumping majority. +And by him the poet stopped and offered him a seat in the motor that was +covered with flags. When the man saw the flags that were on the motor, and +that it was the largest in the town, he got in. He said that his vote +should be given for that fiscal system that had made us what we are, in +order that the poor man's food should not be taxed to make the rich man +richer. Or else it was that he would give his vote for that system of +tariff reform which should unite us closer to our colonies with ties that +should long endure, and give employment to all. But it was not to the +polling-booth that the motor went, it passed it and left the town and came +by a small white winding road to the very top of the downs. There the poet +dismissed the car and let that wondering voter on to the grass and seated +himself on a rug. And for long the voter talked of those imperial +traditions that our forefathers had made for us and which he should uphold +with his vote, or else it was of a people oppressed by a feudal system +that was out of date and effete, and that should be ended or mended. But +the poet pointed out to him small, distant, wandering ships on the sunlit +strip of sea, and the birds far down below them, and the houses below the +birds, with the little columns of smoke that could not find the downs. + +And at first the voter cried for his polling-booth like a child; but after +a while he grew calmer, save when faint bursts of cheering came twittering +up to the downs, when the voter would cry out bitterly against the +misgovernment of the Radical party, or else it was--I forget what the poet +told me--he extolled its splendid record. + +"See," said the poet, "these ancient beautiful things, the downs and the +old-time houses and the morning, and the grey sea in the sunlight going +mumbling round the world. And this is the place they have chosen to go man +in!" + +And standing there with all broad England behind him, rolling northward, +down after down, and before him the glittering sea too far for the sound +of the roar of it, there seemed to the voter to grow less important the +questions that troubled the town. Yet he was still angry. + +"Why did you bring me here?" he said again. + +"Because I grew lonely," said the poet, "when all the town went mad." + +Then he pointed out to the voter some old bent thorns, and showed him the +way that a wind had blown for a million years, coming up at dawn from the +sea; and he told him of the storms that visit the ships, and their names +and whence they come, and the currents they drive afield, and the way that +the swallows go. And he spoke of the down where they sat, when the summer +came, and the flowers that were not yet, and the different butterflies, +and about the bats and the swifts, and the thoughts in the heart of man. +He spoke of the aged windmill that stood on the down, and of how to +children it seemed a strange old man who was only dead by day. And as he +spoke, and as the sea-wind blew on that high and lonely place, there began +to slip away from the voter's mind meaningless phrases that had crowded it +long--thumping majority--victory in the fight--terminological +inexactitudes--and the smell of paraffin lamps dangling in heated +schoolrooms, and quotations taken from ancient speeches because the words +were long. They fell away, though slowly, and slowly the voter saw a wider +world and the wonder of the sea. And the afternoon wore on, and the winter +evening came, and the night fell, and all black grew the sea, and about +the time that the stars come blinking out to look upon our littleness, the +polling-booth closed in the town. + +When they got back the turmoil was on the wane in the streets; night hid +the glare of the posters; and the tide, finding the noise abated and being +at the flow, told an old tale that he had learned in his youth about the +deeps of the sea, the same which he had told to coastwise ships that +brought it to Babylon by the way of Euphrates before the doom of Troy. + +I blame my friend the poet, however lonely he was, for preventing this man +from registering his vote (the duty of every citizen); but perhaps it +matters less, as it was a foregone conclusion, because the losing +candidate, either through poverty or sheer madness, had neglected to +subscribe to a single football club. + + + + +THE UNHAPPY BODY + + +"Why do you not dance with us and rejoice with us?" they said to a certain +body. And then that body made the confession of its trouble. It said: "I +am united with a fierce and violent soul, that is altogether tyrannous and +will not let me rest, and he drags me away from the dances of my kin to +make me toil at his detestable work; and he will not let me do the little +things, that would give pleasure to the folk I love, but only cares to +please posterity when he has done with me and left me to the worms; and +all the while he makes absurd demands of affection from those that are +near to me, and is too proud even to notice any less than he demands, so +that those that should be kind to me all hate me." And the unhappy body +burst into tears. + +And they said: "No sensible body cares for its soul. A soul is a little +thing, and should not rule a body. You should drink and smoke more till he +ceases to trouble you." But the body only wept, and said, "Mine is a +fearful soul. I have driven him away for a little while with drink. But he +will soon come back. Oh, he will soon come back!" + +And the body went to bed hoping to rest, for it was drowsy with drink. But +just as sleep was near it, it looked up, and there was its soul sitting on +the windowsill, a misty blaze of light, and looking into the river. + +"Come," said the tyrannous soul, "and look into the street." + +"I have need of sleep," said the body. + +"But the street is a beautiful thing," the soul said vehemently; "a +hundred of the people are dreaming there." + +"I am ill through want of rest," the body said. + +"That does not matter," the soul said to it. "There are millions like you +in the earth, and millions more to go there. The people's dreams are +wandering afield; they pass the seas and mountains of faëry, threading the +intricate passes led by their souls; they come to golden temples a-ring +with a thousand bells; they pass up steep streets lit by paper lanterns, +where the doors are green and small; they know their way to witches' +chambers and castles of enchantment; they know the spell that brings them +to the causeway along the ivory mountains--on one side looking downward +they behold the fields of their youth and on the other lie the radiant +plains of the future. Arise and write down what the people dream." + +"What reward is there for me," said the body, "if I write down what you +bid me?" + +"There is no reward," said the soul. + +"Then I shall sleep," said the body. + +And the soul began to hum an idle song sung by a young man in a fabulous +land as he passed a golden city (where fiery sentinels stood), and knew +that his wife was within it, though as yet but a little child, and knew by +prophecy that furious wars, not yet arisen in far and unknown mountains, +should roll above him with their dust and thirst before he ever came to +that city again--the young man sang it as he passed the gate, and was now +dead with his wife a thousand years. + +"I cannot sleep for that abominable song," the body cried to the soul. + +"Then do as you are commanded," the soul replied. And wearily the body +took a pen again. Then the soul spoke merrily as he looked through the +window. "There is a mountain lifting sheer above London, part crystal and +part myst. Thither the dreamers go when the sound of the traffic has +fallen. At first they scarcely dream because of the roar of it, but before +midnight it stops, and turns, and ebbs with all its wrecks. Then the +dreamers arise and scale the shimmering mountain, and at its summit find +the galleons of dream. Thence some sail East, some West, some into the +Past and some into the Future, for the galleons sail over the years as +well as over the spaces, but mostly they head for the Past and the olden +harbours, for thither the sighs of men are mostly turned, and the +dream-ships go before them, as the merchantmen before the continual +trade-winds go down the African coast. I see the galleons even now raise +anchor after anchor; the stars flash by them; they slip out of the night; +their prows go gleaming into the twilight of memory, and night soon lies +far off, a black cloud hanging low, and faintly spangled with stars, like +the harbour and shore of some low-lying land seen afar with its harbour +lights." + +Dream after dream that soul related as he sat there by the window. He told +of tropical forests seen by unhappy men who could not escape from London, +and never would--forests made suddenly wondrous by the song of some +passing bird flying to unknown eyries and singing an unknown song. He saw +the old men lightly dancing to the tune of elfin pipes--beautiful dances +with fantastic maidens--all night on moonlit imaginary mountains; he heard +far off the music of glittering Springs; he saw the fairness of blossoms +of apple and may thirty years fallen; he heard old voices--old tears came +glistening back; Romance sat cloaked and crowned upon southern hills, and +the soul knew him. + +One by one he told the dreams of all that slept in that street. Sometimes +he stopped to revile the body because it worked badly and slowly. Its +chill fingers wrote as fast as they could, but the soul cared not for +that. And so the night wore on till the soul heard tinkling in Oriental +skies far footfalls of the morning. + +"See now," said the soul, "the dawn that the dreamers dread. The sails of +light are paling on those unwreckable galleons; the mariners that steer +them slip back into fable and myth; that other sea the traffic is turning +now at its ebb, and is about to hide its pallid wrecks, and to come +swinging back, with its tumult, at the flow. Already the sunlight flashes +in the gulfs behind the east of the world; the gods have seen it from +their palace of twilight that the built above the sunrise; they warm their +hands at its glow as it streams through their gleaming arches, before it +reaches the world; all the gods are there that have ever been, and all the +gods that shall be; they sit there in the morning, chanting and praising +Man." + +"I am numb and very cold for want of sleep," said the body. + +"You shall have centuries of sleep," said the soul, "but you must not +sleep now, for I have seen deep meadows with purple flowers flaming tall +and strange above the brilliant grass, and herds of pure white unicorns +that gambol there for joy, and a river running by with a glittering +galleon on it, all of gold, that goes from an unknown inland to an unknown +isle of the sea to take a song from the King of Over-the-Hills to the +Queen of Far-Away. + +"I will sing that song to you, and you shall write it down." + +"I have toiled for you for years," the body said. "Give me now but one +night's rest, for I am exceeding weary." + +"Oh, go and rest. I am tired of you. I am off," said the soul. + +And he arose and went, we know not whither. But the body they laid in the +earth. And the next night at midnight the wraiths of the dead came +drifting from their tombs to felicitate that body. + +"You are free here, you know," they said to their new companion. + +"Now I can rest," said the body. + + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Palace, by +Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S PALACE *** + +***** This file should be named 8129-8.txt or 8129-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/1/2/8129/ + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. 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Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For forty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/8129-8.zip b/8129-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..30a42fe --- /dev/null +++ b/8129-8.zip diff --git a/8129.txt b/8129.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..decb3f3 --- /dev/null +++ b/8129.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3940 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Palace, by +Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Dreamer's Palace + +Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +Posting Date: October 19, 2012 [EBook #8129] +Release Date: May, 2005 +First Posted: June 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S PALACE *** + + + + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +A DREAMER'S TALES + + + + +LORD DUNSANY + +1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface + +Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean + +Blagdaross + +The Madness of Andelsprutz + +Where the Tides Ebb and Flow + +Bethmoora + +Idle Days on the Yann + +The Sword and the Idol + +The Idle City + +The Hashish Man + +Poor Old Bill + +The Beggars + +Carcassonne + +In Zaccarath + +The Field + +The Day of the Poll + +The Unhappy Body + + + + +PREFACE + + +I hope for this book that it may come into the hands of those that were +kind to my others and that it may not disappoint them. + +--Lord Dunsany + + + + +POLTARNEES, BEHOLDER OF OCEAN + + +Toldees, Mondath, Arizim, these are the Inner Lands, the lands whose +sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the +east there lies a desert, for ever untroubled by man: all yellow it is, +and spotted with shadows of stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard +lying in the sun. To the south they are bounded by magic, to the west by a +mountain, and to the north by the voice and anger of the Polar wind. Like +a great wall is the mountain to the west. It comes up out of the distance +and goes down into the distance again, and it is named Poltarnees, +Beholder of Ocean. To the northward red rocks, smooth and bare of soil, +and without any speck of moss or herbage, slope up to the very lips of the +Polar wind, and there is nothing else there by the noise of his anger. +Very peaceful are the Inner Lands, and very fair are their cities, and +there is no war among them, but quiet and ease. And they have no enemy but +age, for thirst and fever lie sunning themselves out in the mid-desert, +and never prowl into the Inner Lands. And the ghouls and ghosts, whose +highway is the night, are kept in the south by the boundary of magic. And +very small are all their pleasant cities, and all men are known to one +another therein, and bless one another by name as they meet in the +streets. And they have a broad, green way in every city that comes in out +of some vale or wood or downland, and wanders in and out about the city +between the houses and across the streets, and the people walk along it +never at all, but every year at her appointed time Spring walks along it +from the flowery lands, causing the anemone to bloom on the green way and +all the early joys of hidden woods, or deep, secluded vales, or triumphant +downlands, whose heads lift up so proudly, far up aloof from cities. + +Sometimes waggoners or shepherds walk along this way, they that have come +into the city from over cloudy ridges, and the townsmen hinder them not, +for there is a tread that troubleth the grass and a tread that troubleth +it not, and each man in his own heart knoweth which tread he hath. And in +the sunlit spaces of the weald and in the wold's dark places, afar from +the music of cities and from the dance of the cities afar, they make there +the music of the country places and dance the country dance. Amiable, near +and friendly appears to these men the sun, and as he is genial to them and +tends their younger vines, so they are kind to the little woodland things +and any rumour of the fairies or old legend. And when the light of some +little distant city makes a slight flush upon the edge of the sky, and the +happy golden windows of the homesteads stare gleaming into the dark, then +the old and holy figure of Romance, cloaked even to the face, comes down +out of hilly woodlands and bids dark shadows to rise and dance, and sends +the forest creatures forth to prowl, and lights in a moment in her bower +of grass the little glowworm's lamp, and brings a hush down over the grey +lands, and out of it rises faintly on far-off hills the voice of a lute. +There are not in the world lands more prosperous and happy than Toldees, +Mondath, Arizim. + +From these three little kingdoms that are named the Inner Lands the young +men stole constantly away. One by one they went, and no one knew why they +went save that they had a longing to behold the Sea. Of this longing they +spoke little, but a young man would become silent for a few days, and +then, one morning very early, he would slip away and slowly climb +Poltarnee's difficult slope, and having attained the top pass over and +never return. A few stayed behind in the Inner Lands and became the old +men, but none that had ever climbed Poltarnees from the very earliest +times had ever come back again. Many had gone up Poltarnees sworn to +return. Once a king sent all his courtiers, one by one, to report the +mystery to him, and then went himself; none ever returned. + +Now, it was the wont of the folk of the Inner Lands to worship rumours and +legends of the Sea, and all that their prophets discovered of the Sea was +writ in a sacred book, and with deep devotion on days of festival or +mourning read in the temples by the priests. Now, all their temples lay +open to the west, resting upon pillars, that the breeze from the Sea might +enter them, and they lay open on pillars to the east that the breezes of +the Sea might not be hindered by pass onward wherever the Sea list. And +this is the legend that they had of the Sea, whom none in the Inner Lands +had ever beholden. They say that the Sea is a river heading towards +Hercules, and they say that he touches against the edge of the world, and +that Poltarnees looks upon him. They say that all the worlds of heaven go +bobbing on this river and are swept down with the stream, and that +Infinity is thick and furry with forests through which the river in his +course sweeps on with all the worlds of heaven. Among the colossal trunks +of those dark trees, the smallest fronds of whose branches are man nights, +there walk the gods. And whenever its thirst, glowing in space like a +great sun, comes upon the beast, the tiger of the gods creeps down to the +river to drink. And the tiger of the gods drinks his fill loudly, whelming +worlds the while, and the level of the river sinks between its banks ere +the beast's thirst is quenched and ceases to glow like a sun. And many +worlds thereby are heaped up dry and stranded, and the gods walk not among +them evermore, because they are hard to their feet. These are the worlds +that have no destiny, whose people know no god. And the river sweeps +onwards ever. And the name of the River is Oriathon, but men call it +Ocean. This is the Lower Faith of the Inner Lands. And there is a Higher +Faith which is not told to all. Oriathon sweeps on through the forests of +Infinity and all at once falls roaring over an Edge, whence Time has long +ago recalled his hours to fight in his war with the gods; and falls unlit +by the flash of nights and days, with his flood unmeasured by miles, into +the deeps of nothing. + +Now as the centuries went by and the one way by which a man could climb +Poltarnees became worn with feet, more and more men surmounted it, not to +return. And still they knew not in the Inner Lands upon what mystery +Poltarnees looked. For on a still day and windless, while men walked +happily about their beautiful streets or tended flocks in the country, +suddenly the west wind would bestir himself and come in from the Sea. And +he would come cloaked and grey and mournful and carry to someone the +hungry cry of the Sea calling out for bones of men. And he that heard it +would move restlessly for some hours, and at last would rise suddenly, +irresistibly up, setting his face to Poltarnees, and would say, as is the +custom of those lands when men part briefly, "Till a man's heart +remembereth," which means "Farewell for a while"; but those that loved +him, seeing his eyes on Poltarnees, would answer sadly, "Till the gods +forget," which means "Farewell." + +Now the king of Arizim had a daughter who played with the wild wood +flowers, and with the fountains in her father's court, and with the little +blue heaven-birds that came to her doorway in the winter to shelter from +the snow. And she was more beautiful than the wild wood flowers, or than +all the fountains in her father's court, or than the blue heaven-birds in +their full winter plumage when they shelter from the snow. The old wise +kings of Mondath and of Toldees saw her once as she went lightly down the +little paths of her garden, and turning their gaze into the mists of +thought, pondered the destiny of their Inner Lands. And they watched her +closely by the stately flowers, and standing alone in the sunlight, and +passing and repassing the strutting purple birds that the king's fowlers +had brought from Asagehon. When she was of the age of fifteen years the +King of Mondath called a council of kings. And there met with him the +kings of Toldees and Arizim. And the King of Mondath in his Council said: + +"The call of the unappeased and hungry Sea (and at the word 'Sea' the +three kings bowed their heads) lures every year out of our happy kingdoms +more and more of our men, and still we know not the mystery of the Sea, +and no devised oath has brought one man back. Now thy daughter, Arizim, is +lovelier than the sunlight, and lovelier than those stately flowers of +thine that stand so tall in her garden, and hath more grace and beauty +than those strange birds that the venturous fowlers bring in creaking +wagons out of Asagehon, whose feathers are alternate purple and white. +Now, he that shall love thy daughter, Hilnaric, whoever he shall be, is +the man to climb Poltarnees and return, as none hath ever before, and tell +us upon what Poltarnees looks; for it may be that they daughter is more +beautiful than the Sea." + +Then from his Seat of Council arose the King of Arizim. He said: "I fear +that thou hast spoken blasphemy against the Sea, and I have a dread that +ill will come of it. Indeed I had not thought she was so fair. It is such +a short while ago that she was quite a small child with her hair still +unkempt and not yet attired in the manner of princesses, and she would go +up into the wild woods unattended and come back with her robes unseemly +and all torn, and would not take reproof with a humble spirit, but made +grimaces even in my marble court all set about with fountains." + +Then said the King of Toldees: + +"Let us watch more closely and let us see the Princess Hilnaric in the +season of the orchard-bloom when the great birds go by that know the Sea, +to rest in our inland places; and if she be more beautiful than the +sunrise over our folded kingdoms when all the orchards bloom, it may be +that she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the King of Arizim said: + +"I fear this is terrible blasphemy, yet will I do as you have decided in +council." + +And the season of the orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim +called his daughter forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was +rising huge and round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were +singing to the night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and +they glowed in the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the +fountains, and the grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left +the dark ways of the forest and lit the whole white palace and its +fountains and shone on the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of +Arizim glowed afar, and the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels +and song. And the moon made a music at its rising, but it fell a little +short of mortal ears. And Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, +with the moonlight shining on her forehead; and watching her from the +shadows on the terrace stood the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said. + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And the season of the +orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim called his daughter +forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was rising huge and +round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were singing to the +night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and they glowed in +the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the fountains, and the +grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left the dark ways of +the forest and lit the whole white palace and its fountains and shone on +the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of Arizim glowed afar, and +the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels and song. And the moon +made a music at its rising, but it fell a little short of mortal ears. And +Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, with the moonlight shining +on her forehead; and watching her from the shadows on the terrace stood +the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said: + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And on another day the King of +Arizim bade his daughter forth at dawn, and they stood again upon the +balcony. And the sun came up over a world of orchards, and the sea-mists +went back over Poltarnees to the Sea; little wild voices arose in all the +thickets, the voices of the fountains began to die, and the song arose, in +all the marble temples, of the birds that are sacred to the Sea. And +Hilnaric stood there, still glowing with dreams of heaven. + +"She is more beautiful," said the kings, "than morning." + +Yet one more trial they made of Hilnaric's beauty, for they watched her on +the terraces at sunset ere yet the petals of the orchards had fallen, and +all along the edge of neighbouring woods the rhododendron was blooming +with the azalea. And the sun went down under craggy Poltarnees, and the +sea-mist poured over his summit inland. And the marble temples stood up +clear in the evening, but films of twilight were drawn between the +mountain and the city. Then from the Temple ledges and eaves of palaces +the bats fell headlong downwards, then spread their wings and floated up +and down through darkening ways; lights came blinking out in golden +windows, men cloaked themselves against the grey sea-mist, the sound of +small songs arose, and the face of Hilnaric became a resting-place for +mysteries and dreams. + +"Than all these things," said the kings, "she is more lovely: but who can +say whether she is lovelier than the Sea?" + +Prone in a rhododendron thicket at the edge of the palace lawns a hunter +had waited since the sun went down. Near to him was a deep pool where the +hyacinths grew and strange flowers floated upon it with broad leaves; and +there the great bull gariachs came down to drink by starlight; and, +waiting there for the gariachs to come, he saw the white form of the +Princess leaning on her balcony. Before the stars shone out or the bulls +came down to drink he left his lurking-place and moved closer to the +palace to see more nearly the Princess. The palace lawns were full of +untrodden dew, and everything was still when he came across them, holding +his great spear. In the farthest corner of the terraces the three old +kings were discussing the beauty of Hilnaric and the destiny of the Inner +Lands. Moving lightly, with a hunter's tread, the watcher by the pool came +very near, even in the still evening, before the Princess saw him. When he +saw her closely he exclaimed suddenly: + +"She must be more beautiful than the Sea." + +When the Princess turned and saw his garb and his great spear she knew +that he was a hunter of gariachs. + +When the three kings heard the young man exclaim they said softly to one +another: + +"This must be the man." + +Then they revealed themselves to him, and spoke to him to try him. They +said: + +"Sir, you have spoken blasphemy against the Sea." + +And the young man muttered: + +"She is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the kings said: + +"We are older than you and wiser, and know that nothing is more beautiful +than the Sea." + +And the young man took off the gear of his head, and became downcast, and +he knew that he spake with kings, yet he answered: + +"By this spear, she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And all the while the Princess stared at him, knowing him to be a hunter +of gariachs. + +Then the king of Arizim said to the watcher by the pool: + +"If thou wilt go up Poltarnees and come back, as none have come, and +report to us what lure or magic is in the Sea, we will pardon thy +blasphemy, and thou shalt have the Princess to wife and sit among the +Council of Kings." + +And gladly thereunto the young man consented. And the Princess spoke to +him, and asked him his name. And he told her that his name was Athelvok, +and great joy arose in him at the sound of her voice. And to the three +kings he promised to set out on the third day to scale the slope of +Poltarnees and to return again, and this was the oath by which they bound +him to return: + +"I swear by the Sea that bears the worlds away, by the river of Oriathon, +which men call Ocean, and by the gods and their tiger, and by the doom of +the worlds, that I will return again to the Inner Lands, having beheld the +Sea." + +And that oath he swore with solemnity that very night in one of the +temples of the Sea, but the three kings trusted more to the beauty of +Hilnaric even than to the power of the oath. + +The next day Athelvok came to the palace of Arizim with the morning, over +the fields to the East and out of the country of Toldees, and Hilnaric +came out along her balcony and met him on the terraces. And she asked him +if he had ever slain a gariach, and he said that he had slain three, and +then he told her how he had killed his first down by the pool in the wood. +For he had taken his father's spear and gone down to the edge of the pool, +and had lain under the azaleas there waiting for the stars to shine, by +whose first light the gariachs go to the pools to drink; and he had gone +too early and had had long to wait, and the passing hours seemed longer +than they were. And all the birds came in that home at night, and the bat +was abroad, and the hour of the duck went by, and still no gariach came +down to the pool; and Athelvok felt sure that none would come. And just as +this grew to a certainty in his mind the thicket parted noiselessly and a +huge bull gariach stood facing him on the edge of the water, and his great +horns swept out sideways from his head, and at the ends curved upwards, +and were four strides in width from tip to tip. And he had not seen +Athelvok, for the great bull was on the far side of the little pool, and +Athelvok could not creep round to him for fear of meeting the wind (for +the gariachs, who can see little in the dark forests, rely on hearing and +smell). But he devised swiftly in his mind while the bull stood there with +head erect just twenty strides from him across the water. And the bull +sniffed the wind cautiously and listened, then lowered his great head down +to the pool and drank. At that instant Athelvok leapt into the water and +shot forward through its weedy depths among the stems of the strange +flowers that floated upon broad leaves on the surface. And Athelvok kept +his spear out straight before him, and the fingers of his left hand he +held rigid and straight, not pointing upwards, and so did not come to the +surface, but was carried onward by the strength of his spring and passed +unentangled through the stems of the flowers. When Athelvok jumped into +the water the bull must have thrown his head up, startled at the splash, +then he would have listened and have sniffed the air, and neither hearing +nor scenting any danger he must have remained rigid for some moments, for +it was in that attitude that Athelvok found him as he emerged breathless +at his feet. And, striking at once, Athelvok drove the spear into his +throat before the head and the terrible horns came down. But Athelvok had +clung to one of the great horns, and had been carried at terrible speed +through the rhododendron bushes until the gariach fell, but rose at once +again, and died standing up, still struggling, drowned in its own blood. + +But to Hilnaric listening it was as though one of the heroes of old time +had come back again in the full glory of his legendary youth. + +And long time they went up and down the terraces, saying those things +which were said before and since, and which lips shall yet be made to say +again. And above them stood Poltarnees beholding the Sea. + +And the day came when Athelvok should go. And Hilnaric said to him: + +"Will you not indeed most surely come back again, having just looked over +the summit of Poltarnees?" + +Athelvok answered: "I will indeed come back, for thy voice is more +beautiful than the hymn of the priests when they chant and praise the Sea, +and though many tributary seas ran down into Oriathon and he and all the +others poured their beauty into one pool below me, yet would I return +swearing that thou were fairer than they." + +And Hilnaric answered: + +"The wisdom of my heart tells me, or old knowledge or prophecy, or some +strange lore, that I shall never hear thy voice again. And for this I give +thee my forgiveness." + +But he, repeating the oath that he had sworn, set out, looking often +backwards until the slope became to step and his face was set to the rock. +It was in the morning that he started, and he climbed all the day with +little rest, where every foot-hole was smooth with many feet. Before he +reached the top the sun disappeared from him, and darker and darker grew +the Inner Lands. Then he pushed on so as to see before dark whatever thing +Poltarnees had to show. The dusk was deep over the Inner Lands, and the +lights of cities twinkled through the sea-mist when he came to +Poltarnees's summit, and the sun before him was not yet gone from the sky. + +And there below him was the old wrinkled Sea, smiling and murmuring song. +And he nursed little ships with gleaming sails, and in his hands were old +regretted wrecks, and mast all studded over with golden nails that he had +rent in anger out of beautiful galleons. And the glory of the sun was +among the surges as they brought driftwood out of isles of spice, tossing +their golden heads. And the grey currents crept away to the south like +companionless serpents that love something afar with a restless, deadly +love. And the whole plain of water glittering with late sunlight, and the +surges and the currents and the white sails of ships were all together +like the face of a strange new god that has looked at a man for the first +time in the eyes at the moment of his death; and Athelvok, looking on the +wonderful Sea, knew why it was that the dead never return, for there is +something that the dead feel and know, and the living would never +understand even though the dead should come and speak to them about it. +And there was the Sea smiling at him, glad with the glory of the sun. And +there was a haven there for homing ships, and a sunlit city stood upon its +marge, and people walked about the streets of it clad in the unimagined +merchandise of far sea-bordering lands. + +An easy slope of loose rock went from the top of Poltarnees to the shore +of the Sea. + +For a long while Athelvok stood there regretfully, knowing that there had +come something into his soul that no one in the Inner Lands could +understand, where the thoughts of their minds had gone no farther than the +three little kingdoms. Then, looking long upon the wandering ships, and +the marvelous merchandise from alien lands, and the unknown colour that +wreathed the brows of the Sea, he turned his face to the darkness and the +Inner Lands. + +At that moment the Sea sang a dirge at sunset for all the harm that he had +done in anger and all the ruin wrought on adventurous ships; and there +were tears in the voice of the tyrannous Sea, for he had loved the +galleons that he had overwhelmed, and he called all men to him and all +living things that he might make amends, because he had loved the bones +that he had strewn afar. And Athelvok turned and set one foot upon the +crumbled slope, and then another, and walked a little way to be nearer to +the Sea, and then a dream came upon him and he felt that men had wronged +the lovely Sea because he had been angry a little, because he had been +sometimes cruel; he felt that there was trouble among the tides of the Sea +because he had loved the galleons who were dead. Still he walked on and +the crumbled stones rolled with him, and just as the twilight faded and a +star appeared he came to the golden shore, and walked on till the surges +were about his knees, and he heard the prayer-like blessings of the Sea. +Long he stood thus, while the stars came out above him and shone again in +the surges; more stars came wheeling in their courses up from the Sea, +lights twinkled out through all the haven city, lanterns were slung from +the ships, the purple night burned on; and Earth, to the eyes of the gods +as they sat afar, glowed as with one flame. Then Athelvok went into the +haven city; there he met many who had left the Inner Lands before him; +none of them wished to return to the people who had not seen the Sea; many +of them had forgotten the three little kingdoms, and it was rumoured that +one man, who had once tried to return, had found the shifting, crumbled +slope impossible to climb. + +Hilnaric never married. But her dowry was set aside to build a temple +wherein men curse the ocean. + +Once every year, with solemn rite and ceremony, they curse the tides of +the Sea; and the moon looks in and hates them. + + + + +BLAGDAROSS + + +On a waste place strewn with bricks in the outskirts of a town twilight +was falling. A star or two appeared over the smoke, and distant windows +lit mysterious lights. The stillness deepened and the loneliness. Then all +the outcast things that are silent by day found voices. + +An old cork spoke first. He said: "I grew in Andalusian woods, but never +listened to the idle songs of Spain. I only grew strong in the sunlight +waiting for my destiny. One day the merchants came and took us all away +and carried us all along the shore of the sea, piled high on the backs of +donkeys, and in a town by the sea they made me into the shape that I am +now. One day they sent me northward to Provence, and there I fulfilled my +destiny. For they set me as a guard over the bubbling wine, and I +faithfully stood sentinel for twenty years. For the first few years in the +bottle that I guarded the wine slept, dreaming of Provence; but as the +years went on he grew stronger and stronger, until at last whenever a man +went by the wind would put out all his might against me, saying, 'Let me +go free; let me go free!' And every year his strength increased, and he +grew more clamourous when men went by, but never availed to hurl me from +my post. But when I had powerfully held him for twenty years they brought +him to the banquet and took me from my post, and the wine arose rejoicing +and leapt through the veins of men and exalted their souls within them +till they stood up in their places and sang Provencal songs. But me they +cast away--me that had been sentinel for twenty years, and was still as +strong and staunch as when first I went on guard. Now I am an outcast in a +cold northern city, who once have known the Andalusian skies and guarded +long ago Provencal suns that swam in the heart of the rejoicing wine." + +An unstruck match that somebody had dropped spoke next. "I am a child of +the sun," he said, "and an enemy of cities; there is more in my heart than +you know of. I am a brother of Etna and Stromboli; I have fires lurking in +me that will one day rise up beautiful and strong. We will not go into +servitude on any hearth nor work machines for our food, but we will take +out own food where we find it on that day when we are strong. There are +wonderful children in my heart whose faces shall be more lively than the +rainbow; they shall make a compact with the North wind, and he shall lead +them forth; all shall be black behind them and black above them, and there +shall be nothing beautiful in the world but them; they shall seize upon +the earth and it shall be theirs, and nothing shall stop them but our old +enemy the sea." + +Then an old broken kettle spoke, and said: "I am the friend of cities. I +sit among the slaves upon the hearth, the little flames that have been fed +with coal. When the slaves dance behind the iron bars I sit in the middle +of the dance and sing and make our masters glad. And I make songs about +the comfort of the cat, and about the malice that is towards her in the +heart of the dog, and about the crawling of the baby, and about the ease +that is in the lord of the house when we brew the good brown tea; and +sometimes when the house is very warm and slaves and masters are glad, I +rebuke the hostile winds that prowl about the world." + +And then there spoke the piece of an old cord. "I was made in a place of +doom, and doomed men made my fibres, working without hope. Therefore there +came a grimness into my heart, so that I never let anything go free when +once I was set to bind it. Many a thing have I bound relentlessly for +months and years; for I used to come coiling into warehouses where the +great boxes lay all open to the air, and one of them would be suddenly +closed up, and my fearful strength would be set on him like accurse, and +if his timbers groaned when first I seized them, or if they creaked aloud +in the lonely night, thinking of woodlands out of which they came, then I +only gripped them tighter still, for the poor useless hate is in my soul +of those that made me in the place of doom. Yet, for all the things that +my prison-clutch has held, the last work that I did was to set something +free. I lay idle one night in the gloom on the warehouse floor. Nothing +stirred there, and even the spider slept. Towards midnight a great flock +of echoes suddenly leapt up from the wooden planks and circled round the +roof. A man was coming towards me all alone. And as he came his soul was +reproaching him, and I saw that there was a great trouble between the man +and his soul, for his soul would not let him be, but went on reproaching +him. + +"Then the man saw me and said, 'This at least will not fail me.' When I +heard him say this about me, I determined that whatever he might require +of me it should be done to the uttermost. And as I made this determination +in my unfaltering heart, he picked me up and stood on an empty box that I +should have bound on the morrow, and tied one end of me to a dark rafter; +and the knot was carelessly tied, because his soul was reproaching him all +the while continually and giving him no ease. Then he made the other end +of me into a noose, but when the man's soul saw this it stopped +reproaching the man, and cried out to him hurriedly, and besought him to +be at peace with it and to do nothing sudden; but the man went on with his +work, and put the noose down over his face and underneath his chin, and +the soul screamed horribly. + +"Then the man kicked the box away with his foot, and the moment he did +this I knew that my strength was not great enough to hold him; but I +remembered that he had said I would not fail him, and I put all my grim +vigour into my fibres and held by sheer will. Then the soul shouted to me +to give way, but I said: + +"'No; you vexed the man.' + +"Then it screamed for me to leave go of the rafter, and already I was +slipping, for I only held on to it by a careless knot, but I gripped with +my prison grip and said: + +"'You vexed the man.' + +"And very swiftly it said other things to me, but I answered not; and at +last the soul that vexed the man that had trusted me flew away and left +him at peace. I was never able to bind things any more, for every one of +my fibres was worn and wrenched, and even my relentless heart was weakened +by the struggle. Very soon afterwards I was thrown out here. I have done +my work." + +So they spoke among themselves, but all the while there loomed above them +the form of an old rocking-horse complaining bitterly. He said: "I am +Blagdaross. Woe is me that I should lie now an outcast among these worthy +but little people. Alas! for the days that are gathered, and alas for the +Great One that was a master and a soul to me, whose spirit is now shrunken +and can never know me again, and no more ride abroad on knightly quests. I +was Bucephalus when he was Alexander, and carried him victorious as far as +Ind. I encountered dragons with him when he was St. George, I was the +horse of Roland fighting for Christendom, and was often Rosinante. I +fought in tournays and went errant upon quests, and met Ulysses and the +heroes and the fairies. Or late in the evening, just before the lamps in +the nursery were put out, he would suddenly mount me, and we would gallop +through Africa. There we would pass by night through tropic forests, and +come upon dark rivers sweeping by, all gleaming with the eyes of +crocodiles, where the hippopotamus floated down with the stream, and +mysterious craft loomed suddenly out of the dark and furtively passed +away. And when we had passed through the forest lit by the fireflies we +would come to the open plains, and gallop onwards with scarlet flamingoes +flying along beside us through the lands of dusky kings, with golden +crowns upon their heads and scepters in their hands, who came running out +of their palaces to see us pass. Then I would wheel suddenly, and the dust +flew up from my four hooves as I turned and we galloped home again, and my +master was put to bed. And again he would ride abroad on another day till +we came to magical fortresses guarded by wizardry and overthrew the +dragons at the gate, and ever came back with a princess fairer than the +sea. + +"But my master began to grow larger in his body and smaller in his soul, +and then he rode more seldom upon quests. At last he saw gold and never +came again, and I was cast out here among these little people." + +But while the rocking-horse was speaking two boys stole away, unnoticed by +their parents, from a house on the edge of the waste place, and were +coming across it looking for adventures. One of them carried a broom, and +when he saw the rocking-horse he said nothing, but broke off the handle +from the broom and thrust it between his braces and his shirt on the left +side. Then he mounted the rocking-horse, and drawing forth the broomstick, +which was sharp and spiky at the end, said, "Saladin is in this desert +with all his paynims, and I am Coeur de Lion." After a while the other boy +said: "Now let me kill Saladin too." But Blagdaross in his wooden heart, +that exulted with thoughts of battle, said: "I am Blagdaross yet!" + + + + +THE MADNESS OF ANDELSPRUTZ + + +I first saw the city of Andelsprutz on an afternoon in spring. The day was +full of sunshine as I came by the way of the fields, and all that morning +I had said, "There will be sunlight on it when I see for the first time +the beautiful conquered city whose fame has so often made for me lovely +dreams." Suddenly I saw its fortifications lifting out of the fields, and +behind them stood its belfries. I went in by a gate and saw its houses and +streets, and a great disappointment came upon me. For there is an air +about a city, and it has a way with it, whereby a man may recognized one +from another at once. There are cities full of happiness and cities full +of pleasure, and cities full of gloom. There are cities with their faces +to heaven, and some with their faces to earth; some have a way of looking +at the past and others look at the future; some notice you if you come +among them, others glance at you, others let you go by. Some love the +cities that are their neighbours, others are dear to the plains and to the +heath; some cities are bare to the wind, others have purple cloaks and +others brown cloaks, and some are clad in white. Some tell the old tale of +their infancy, with others it is secret; some cities sing and some mutter, +some are angry, and some have broken hearts, and each city has her way of +greeting Time. + +I had said: "I will see Andelsprutz arrogant with her beauty," and I had +said: "I will see her weeping over her conquest." + +I had said: "She will sing songs to me," and "she will be reticent," "she +will be all robed," and "she will be bare but splendid." + +But the windows of Andelsprutz in her houses looked vacantly over the +plains like the eyes of a dead madman. At the hour her chimes sounded +unlovely and discordant, some of them were out of tune, and the bells of +some were cracked, her roofs were bald and without moss. At evening no +pleasant rumour arose in her streets. When the lamps were lit in the +houses no mystical flood of light stole out into the dusk, you merely saw +that there were lighted lamps; Andelsprutz had no way with her and no air +about her. When the night fell and the blinds were all drawn down, then I +perceived what I had not thought in the daylight. I knew then that +Andelsprutz was dead. + +I saw a fair-haired man who drank beer in a cafe, and I said to him: + +"Why is the city of Andelsprutz quite dead, and her soul gone hence?" + +He answered: "Cities do not have souls and there is never any life in +bricks." + +And I said to him: "Sir, you have spoken truly." + +And I asked the same question of another man, and he gave me the same +answer, and I thanked him for his courtesy. And I saw a man of a more +slender build, who had black hair, and channels in his cheeks for tears to +run in, and I said to him: + +"Why is Andelsprutz quite dead, and when did her soul go hence?" + +And he answered: "Andelsprutz hoped too much. For thirty years would she +stretch out her arms toward the land of Akla every night, to Mother Akla +from whom she had been stolen. Every night she would be hoping and +sighing, and stretching out her arms to Mother Akla. At midnight, once a +year, on the anniversary of the terrible day, Akla would send spies to lay +a wreath against the walls of Andelsprutz. She could do no more. And on +this night, once in every year, I used to weep, for weeping was the mood +of the city that nursed me. Every night while other cities slept did +Andelsprutz sit brooding here and hoping, till thirty wreaths lay +mouldering by her walls, and still the armies of Akla could not come. + +"But after she had hoped so long, and on the night that faithful spies had +brought her thirtieth wreath, Andelsprutz went suddenly mad. All the bells +clanged hideously in the belfries, horses bolted in the streets, the dogs +all howled, the stolid conquerors awoke and turned in their beds and slept +again; and I saw the grey shadowy form of Andelsprutz rise up, decking her +hair with the phantasms of cathedrals, and stride away from her city. And +the great shadowy form that was the soul of Andelsprutz went away +muttering to the mountains, and there I followed her--for had she not been +my nurse? Yes, I went away alone into the mountains, and for three days, +wrapped in a cloak, I slept in their misty solitudes. I had no food to +eat, and to drink I had only the water of the mountain streams. By day no +living thing was near to me, and I heard nothing but the noise of the +wind, and the mountain streams roaring. But for three nights I heard all +round me on the mountain the sounds of a great city: I saw the lights of +tall cathedral windows flash momentarily on the peaks, and at times the +glimmering lantern of some fortress patrol. And I saw the huge misty +outline of the soul of Andelsprutz sitting decked with her ghostly +cathedrals, speaking to herself, with her eyes fixed before her in a mad +stare, telling of ancient wars. And her confused speech for all those +nights upon the mountain was sometimes the voice of traffic, and then of +church bells, and then of bugles, but oftenest it was the voice of red +war; and it was all incoherent, and she was quite mad. + +"The third night it rained heavily all night long, but I stayed up there +to watch the soul of my native city. And she still sat staring straight +before her, raving; but here voice was gentler now, there were more chimes +in it, and occasional song. Midnight passed, and the rain still swept down +on me, and still the solitudes of the mountain were full of the mutterings +of the poor mad city. And the hours after midnight came, the cold hours +wherein sick men die. + +"Suddenly I was aware of great shapes moving in the rain, and heard the +sound of voices that were not of my city nor yet of any that I ever knew. +And presently I discerned, though faintly, the souls of a great concourse +of cities, all bending over Andelsprutz and comforting her, and the +ravines of the mountains roared that night with the voices of cities that +had lain still for centuries. For there came the soul of Camelot that had +so long ago forsaken Usk; and there was Ilion, all girt with towers, still +cursing the sweet face of ruinous Helen; I saw there Babylon and +Persepolis, and the bearded face of bull-like Nineveh, and Athens mourning +her immortal gods. + +"All these souls if cities that were dead spoke that night on the mountain +to my city and soothed her, until at last she muttered of war no longer, +and her eyes stared wildly no more, but she hid her face in her hands and +for some while wept softly. At last she arose, and walking slowly and with +bended head, and leaning upon Ilion and Carthage, went mournfully +eastwards; and the dust of her highways swirled behind her as she went, a +ghostly dust that never turned to mud in all that drenching rain. And so +the souls of the cities led her away, and gradually they disappeared from +the mountain, and the ancient voices died away in the distance. + +"Now since then have I seen my city alive; but once I met with a traveler +who said that somewhere in the midst of a great desert are gathered +together the souls of all dead cities. He said that he was lost once in a +place where there was no water, and he heard their voices speaking all the +night." + +But I said: "I was once without water in a desert and heard a city +speaking to me, but knew not whether it really spoke to me or not, for on +that day I heard so many terrible things, and only some of them were +true." + +And the man with the black hair said: "I believe it to be true, though +whither she went I know not. I only know that a shepherd found me in the +morning faint with hunger and cold, and carried me down here; and when I +came to Andelsprutz it was, as you have perceived it, dead." + + + + +WHERE THE TIDES EBB AND FLOW + + +I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied +me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me. + +I waited for some hours, knowing this. Then my friends came for me, and +slew me secretly and with ancient rite, and lit great tapers, and carried +me away. + +It was all in London that the thing was done, and they went furtively at +dead of night along grey streets and among mean houses until they came to +the river. And the river and the tide of the sea were grappling with one +another between the mud-banks, and both of them were black and full of +lights. A sudden wonder came in to the eyes of each, as my friends came +near to them with their glaring tapers. All these things I saw as they +carried me dead and stiffening, for my soul was still among my bones, +because there was no hell for it, and because Christian burial was denied +me. + +They took me down a stairway that was green with slimy things, and so came +slowly to the terrible mud. There, in the territory of forsaken things, +they dug a shallow grave. When they had finished they laid me in the +grave, and suddenly they cast their tapers to the river. And when the +water had quenched the flaring lights the tapers looked pale and small as +they bobbed upon the tide, and at once the glamour of the calamity was +gone, and I noticed then the approach of the huge dawn; and my friends +cast their cloaks over their faces, and the solemn procession was turned +into many fugitives that furtively stole away. + +Then the mud came back wearily and covered all but my face. There I lay +alone with quite forgotten things, with drifting things that the tides +will take no farther, with useless things and lost things, and with the +horrible unnatural bricks that are neither stone nor soil. I was rid of +feeling, because I had been killed, but perception and thought were in my +unhappy soul. The dawn widened, and I saw the desolate houses that crowded +the marge of the river, and their dead windows peered into my dead eyes, +windows with bales behind them instead of human souls. I grew so weary +looking at these forlorn things that I wanted to cry out, but could not, +because I was dead. Then I knew, as I had never known before, that for all +the years that herd of desolate houses had wanted to cry out too, but, +being dead, were dumb. And I knew then that it had yet been well with the +forgotten drifting things if they had wept, but they were eyeless and +without life. And I, too, tried to weep, but there were no tears in my +dead eyes. And I knew then that the river might have cared for us, might +have caressed us, might have sung to us, but he swept broadly onwards, +thinking of nothing but the princely ships. + +At last the tide did what the river would not, and came and covered me +over, and my soul had rest in the green water, and rejoiced and believed +that it had the Burial of the Sea. But with the ebb the water fell again, +and left me alone again with the callous mud among the forgotten things +that drift no more, and with the sight of all those desolate houses, and +with the knowledge among all of us that each was dead. + +In the mournful wall behind me, hung with green weeds, forsaken of the +sea, dark tunnels appeared, and secret narrow passages that were clamped +and barred. From these at last the stealthy rats came down to nibble me +away, and my soul rejoiced thereat and believed that he would be free +perforce from the accursed bones to which burial was refused. Very soon +the rats ran away a little space and whispered among themselves. They +never came any more. When I found that I was accursed even among the rats +I tried to weep again. + +Then the tide came swinging back and covered the dreadful mud, and hid the +desolate houses, and soothed the forgotten things, and my soul had ease +for a while in the sepulture of the sea. And then the tide forsook me +again. + +To and fro it came about me for many years. Then the County Council found +me, and gave me decent burial. It was the first grave that I had ever +slept in. That very night my friends came for me. They dug me up and put +me back again in the shallow hold in the mud. + +Again and again through the years my bones found burial, but always behind +the funeral lurked one of those terrible men who, as soon as night fell, +came and dug them up and carried them back again to the hole in the mud. + +And then one day the last of those men died who once had done to me this +terrible thing. I heard his soul go over the river at sunset. + +And again I hoped. + +A few weeks afterwards I was found once more, and once more taken out of +that restless place and given deep burial in sacred ground, where my soul +hoped that it should rest. + +Almost at once men came with cloaks and tapers to give me back to the mud, +for the thing had become a tradition and a rite. And all the forsaken +things mocked me in their dumb hearts when they saw me carried back, for +they were jealous of me because I had left the mud. It must be remembered +that I could not weep. + +And the years went by seawards where the black barges go, and the great +derelict centuries became lost at sea, and still I lay there without any +cause to hope, and daring not to hope without a cause, because of the +terrible envy and the anger of the things that could drift no more. + +Once a great storm rode up, even as far as London, out of the sea from the +South; and he came curving into the river with the fierce East wind. And +he was mightier than the dreary tides, and went with great leaps over the +listless mud. And all the sad forgotten things rejoiced, and mingled with +things that were haughtier than they, and rode once more amongst the +lordly shipping that was driven up and down. And out of their hideous home +he took my bones, never again, I hoped, to be vexed with the ebb and flow. +And with the fall of the tide he went riding down the river and turned to +the southwards, and so went to his home. And my bones he scattered among +many isles and along the shores of happy alien mainlands. And for a +moment, while they were far asunder, my soul was almost free. + +Then there arose, at the will of the moon, the assiduous flow of the tide, +and it undid at once the work of the ebb, and gathered my bones from the +marge of sunny isles, and gleaned them all along the mainland's shores, +and went rocking northwards till it came to the mouth of the Thames, and +there turned westwards its relentless face, and so went up the river and +came to the hole in the mud, and into it dropped my bones; and partly the +mud covered them, and partly it left them white, for the mud cares not for +its forsaken things. + +Then the ebb came, and I saw the dead eyes of the houses and the jealousy +of the other forgotten things that the storm had not carried thence. + +And some more centuries passed over the ebb and flow and over the +loneliness of things for gotten. And I lay there all the while in the +careless grip of the mud, never wholly covered, yet never able to go free, +and I longed for the great caress of the warm Earth or the comfortable lap +of the Sea. + +Sometimes men found my bones and buried them, but the tradition never +died, and my friends' successors always brought them back. At last the +barges went no more, and there were fewer lights; shaped timbers no longer +floated down the fairway, and there came instead old wind-uprooted trees +in all their natural simplicity. + +At last I was aware that somewhere near me a blade of grass was growing, +and the moss began to appear all over the dead houses. One day some +thistledown went drifting over the river. + +For some years I watched these signs attentively, until I became certain +that London was passing away. Then I hoped once more, and all along both +banks of the river there was anger among the lost things that anything +should dare to hope upon the forsaken mud. Gradually the horrible houses +crumbled, until the poor dead things that never had had life got decent +burial among the weeds and moss. At last the may appeared and the +convolvulus. Finally, the wild rose stood up over mounds that had been +wharves and warehouses. Then I knew that the cause of Nature had +triumphed, and London had passed away. + +The last man in London came to the wall by the river, in an ancient cloak +that was one of those that once my friends had worn, and peered over the +edge to see that I still was there. Then he went, and I never saw men +again: they had passed away with London. + +A few days after the last man had gone the birds came into London, all the +birds that sing. When they first saws me they all looked sideways at me, +then they went away a little and spoke among themselves. + +"He only sinned against Man," they said; "it is not our quarrel." + +"Let us be kind to him," they said. + +Then they hopped nearer me and began to sing. It was the time of the +rising of the dawn, and from both banks of the river, and from the sky, +and from the thickets that were once the streets, hundreds of birds were +singing. As the light increased the birds sang more and more; they grew +thicker and thicker in the air above my head, till there were thousands of +them singing there, and then millions, and at last I could see nothing but +a host of flickering wings with the sunlight on them, and little gaps of +sky. Then when there was nothing to be heard in London but the myriad +notes of that exultant song, my soul rose up from the bones in the hole in +the mud and began to climb heavenwards. And it seemed that a lane-way +opened amongst the wings of the birds, and it went up and up, and one of +the smaller gates of Paradise stood ajar at the end of it. And then I knew +by a sign that the mud should receive me no more, for suddenly I found +that I could weep. + +At this moment I opened my eyes in bed in a house in London, and outside +some sparrows were twittering in a tree in the light of the radiant +morning; and there were tears still wet upon my face, for one's restraint +is feeble while one sleeps. But I arose and opened the window wide, and +stretching my hands out over the little garden, I blessed the birds whose +song had woken me up from the troubled and terrible centuries of my dream. + + + + +BETHMOORA + + +There is a faint freshness in the London night as though some strayed +reveler of a breeze had left his comrades in the Kentish uplands and had +entered the town by stealth. The pavements are a little damp and shiny. +Upon one's ears that at this late hour have become very acute there hits +the tap of a remote footfall. Louder and louder grow the taps, filling the +whole night. And a black cloaked figure passes by, and goes tapping into +the dark. One who has danced goes homewards. Somewhere a ball has closed +its doors and ended. Its yellow lights are out, its musicians are silent, +its dancers have all gone into the night air, and Time has said of it, +"Let it be past and over, and among the things that I have put away." + +Shadows begin to detach themselves from their great gathering places. No +less silently than those shadows that are thin and dead move homewards the +stealthy cats. Thus have we even in London our faint forebodings of the +dawn's approach, which the birds and the beasts and the stars are crying +aloud to the untrammeled fields. + +At what moment I know not I perceive that the night itself is irrevocably +overthrown. It is suddenly revealed to me by the weary pallor of the +street lamps that the streets are silent and nocturnal still, not because +there is any strength in night, but because men have not yet arisen from +sleep to defy him. So have I seen dejected and untidy guards still bearing +antique muskets in palatial gateways, although the realms of the monarch +that they guard have shrunk to a single province which no enemy yet has +troubled to overrun. + +And it is now manifest from the aspect of the street lamps, those abashed +dependants of night, that already English mountain peaks have seen the +dawn, that the cliffs of Dover are standing white to the morning, that the +sea-mist has lifted and is pouring inland. + +And now men with a hose have come and are sluicing out the streets. + +Behold now night is dead. + +What memories, what fancies throng one's mind! A night but just now +gathered out of London by the horrific hand of Time. A million common +artificial things all cloaked for a while in mystery, like beggars robed +in purple, and seated on dread thrones. Four million people asleep, +dreaming perhaps. What worlds have they gone into? Whom have they met? But +my thoughts are far off with Bethmoora in her loneliness, whose gates +swing to and fro. To and fro they swing, and creak and creak in the wind, +but no one hears them. They are of green copper, very lovely, but no one +sees them now. The desert wind pours sand into their hinges, no watchman +comes to ease them. No guard goes round Bethmoora's battlements, no enemy +assails them. There are no lights in her houses, no footfall on her +streets, she stands there dead and lonely beyond the Hills of Hap, and I +would see Bethmoora once again, but dare not. + +It is many a year, they tell me, since Bethmoora became desolate. + +Her desolation is spoken of in taverns where sailors meet, and certain +travellers have told me of it. + +I had hoped to see Bethmoora once again. It is many a year ago, they say, +when the vintage was last gathered in from the vineyards that I knew, +where it is all desert now. It was a radiant day, and the people of the +city were dancing by the vineyards, while here and there one played upon +the kalipac. The purple flowering shrubs were all in bloom, and the snow +shone upon the Hills of Hap. + +Outside the copper gates they crushed the grapes in vats to make the +syrabub. It had been a goodly vintage. + +In the little gardens at the desert's edge men beat the tambang and the +tittibuk, and blew melodiously the zootibar. + +All there was mirth and song and dance, because the vintage had been +gathered in, and there would be ample syrabub for the winter months, and +much left over to exchange for turquoises and emeralds with the merchants +who come down from Oxuhahn. Thus they rejoiced all day over their vintage +on the narrow strip of cultivated ground that lay between Bethmoora and +the desert which meets the sky to the South. And when the heat of the day +began to abate, and the sun drew near to the snows on the Hills of Hap, +the note of the zootibar still rose clear from the gardens, and the +brilliant dresses of the dancers still wound among the flowers. All that +day three men on mules had been noticed crossing the face of the Hills of +Hap. Backwards and forwards they moved as the track wound lower and lower, +three little specks of black against the snow. They were seen first in the +very early morning up near the shoulder of Peol Jagganoth, and seemed to +be coming out of Utnar Vehi. All day they came. And in the evening, just +before the lights come out and colours change, they appeared before +Bethmoora's copper gates. They carried staves, such as messengers bear in +those lands, and seemed sombrely clad when the dancers all came round them +with their green and lilac dresses. Those Europeans who were present and +heard the message given were ignorant of the language, and only caught the +name of Utnar Vehi. But it was brief, and passed rapidly from mouth to +mouth, and almost at once the people burnt their vineyards and began to +flee away from Bethmoora, going for the most part northwards, though some +went to the East. They ran down out of their fair white houses, and +streamed through the copper gate; the throbbing of the tambang and the +tittibuk suddenly ceased with the note of the Zootibar, and the clinking +kalipac stopped a moment after. The three strange travellers went back the +way they came the instant their message was given. It was the hour when a +light would have appeared in some high tower, and window after window +would have poured into the dusk its lion-frightening light, and the cooper +gates would have been fastened up. But no lights came out in windows there +that night and have not ever since, and those copper gates were left wide +and have never shut, and the sound arose of the red fire crackling in the +vineyards, and the pattering of feet fleeing softly. There were no cries, +no other sounds at all, only the rapid and determined flight. They fled as +swiftly and quietly as a herd of wild cattle flee when they suddenly see a +man. It was as though something had befallen which had been feared for +generations, which could only be escaped by instant flight, which left no +time for indecision. + +Then fear took the Europeans also, and they too fled. And what the message +was I have never heard. + +Many believe that it was a message from Thuba Mleen, the mysterious +emperor of those lands, who is never seen by man, advising that Bethmoora +should be left desolate. Others say that the message was one of warning +from the gods, whether from friendly gods or from adverse ones they know +not. + +And others hold that the Plague was ravaging a line of cities over in +Utnar Vehi, following the South-west wind which for many weeks had been +blowing across them towards Bethmoora. + +Some say that the terrible gnousar sickness was upon the three travellers, +and that their very mules were dripping with it, and suppose that they +were driven to the city by hunger, but suggest no better reason for so +terrible a crime. + +But most believe that it was a message from the desert himself, who owns +all the Earth to the southwards, spoken with his peculiar cry to those +three who knew his voice--men who had been out on the sand-wastes without +tents by night, who had been by day without water, men who had been out +there where the desert mutters, and had grown to know his needs and his +malevolence. They say that the desert had a need for Bethmoora, that he +wished to come into her lovely streets, and to send into her temples and +her houses his storm-winds draped with sand. For he hates the sound and +the sight of men in his old evil heart, and he would have Bethmoora silent +and undisturbed, save for the weird love he whispers to her gates. + +If I knew what that message was that the three men brought on mules, and +told in the copper gate, I think that I should go and see Bethmoora once +again. For a great longing comes on me here in London to see once more +that white and beautiful city, and yet I dare not, for I know not the +danger I should have to face, whether I should risk the fury of unknown +dreadful gods, or some disease unspeakable and slow, or the desert's curse +or torture in some little private room of the Emperor Thuba Mleen, or +something that the travelers have not told--perhaps more fearful still. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + + +So I came down through the wood on the bank of Yann and found, as had been +prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her cable. + +The captain sat cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar lying +beside him in its jeweled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to spread the +nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of Yann, and all +the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of the evening +descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous abode of distant +gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious city, into the +wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered the +greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to inquire +concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the most holy gods +of whatever land he had come from. And the captain answered that he came +from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that were the least and humblest, +who seldom sent the famine or the thunder, and were easily appeased with +little battles. And I told how I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, +whereat the captain and all the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are +no such places in all the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock +me, I explained that my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, +about a beautiful blue city called Golthoth the Damned, which was +sentinelled all round by wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly +desolate for years and years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke +in anger and could never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as +far as Pungar Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which +trades with the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon +the abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that evening I +bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay him for any fare +if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as far as the cliffs by +the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven had +held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the imminent +approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the jungle on either +bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches of the trees were +silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the forest were going up +and down, and the great stars came gleaming out to look on the face of +Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and hung them round the ship, and +the light flashed out on a sudden and dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed +along his marshy banks all suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the +upper air, and saw the distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that +softly cloaked the jungle, before they returned again to their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, but +five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together five or +six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different faiths, so +that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As soon as any one +had finished his prayer, another of the same faith would take his place. +Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended heads under the fluttering +sail, while the central stream of the River Yann took them on towards the +sea, and their prayers rose up from among the lanterns and went towards +the stars. And behind them in the after end of the ship the helmsman +prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, which is prayed by all who follow his +trade upon the River Yann, of whatever faith they be. And the captain +prayed to his little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous God +there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were being +humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, whom the +men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now unworshipped and +alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all men +who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers comforted +our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elate with molten +snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, and the +Marn and Migris were swollen with floods; and he bore us in his full might +past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the mid-stream +of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all awoke, +and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of Yann +and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. Then while +the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the gate of +Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the guard. A +sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, armed with a +rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered with dust. +Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was over all of it. +The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on doorsteps; in the +market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of incense came wafted +through the gateway, of incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of +the echoes of distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the +region of Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they will wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to ask +him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because none +might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the _Bird of the +River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering over +her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out again, +and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the sun was +moving toward his heights, and there had reached us on the River Yann the +song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend him in his progress +round the world. For the little creatures that have many legs had spread +their gauze wings easily on the air, as a man rests his elbows on a +balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial praises to the sun, or else they +moved together on the air in wavering dances intricate and swift, or +turned aside to avoid the onrush of some drop of water that a breeze had +shaken from a jungle orchid, chilling the air and driving it before it, as +it fell whirring in its rush to the earth; but all the while they sang +triumphantly. "For the day is for us," they said, "whether our great and +sacred father the Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, +or whether all the world shall end tonight." And there sang all those +whose notes are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more +numerous notes have been never heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold and +rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, but +danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of distant +conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some encampment +of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond that would never +abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple orchids +and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the jungle's decay. +And they, too, were among those whose voices are not discernible by human +ears. And as they floated above the river, going from forest to forest, +their splendour was matched by the inimical beauty of the birds who darted +out to pursue them. Or sometimes they settled on the white and wax-like +blooms of the plant that creeps and clambers about the trees of the +forest; and their purple wings flashed out on the great blossoms as, when +the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, the gleaming silks flash out upon the +snow, where the crafty merchants spread them one by one to astonish the +mountaineers of the Hills of Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent drowsiness. The river monsters along +the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched a +pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and then +went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an awning +between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of his own +city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen asleep. The +captain offered me the shade of his pavillion with the gold tassels, and +there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was taking merchandise +to Perdondaris, and that he would take back to fair Belzoond things +appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I watched through the +pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and butterflies that crossed and +recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I was a monarch +entering his capital underneath arches of flags, and all the musicians of +the world were there, playing melodiously their instruments; but no one +cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens upon +the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to the +steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three sides of +which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court and along +the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity and care +according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city was of +ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, +remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were +represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from +Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different +species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, +that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no notice at all of us as we went +by, but continued their processions and ceremonies in the ancient city, +and the sailors, knowing their custom, took no notice of them. But I +called, as we came near, to one who stood beside the water's edge, asking +him what men did in Astahahn and what their merchandise was, and with whom +they traded. He said, "Here we have fettered and manacled Time, who would +otherwise slay the gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and would +say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with ancient +custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted onwards and left +Astahahn. The river widened below Astahahn, and we found in greater +quantities such birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in +their plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind, straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had appeared +over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at the trees +with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, chilling the air; +and white shapes moved away into the jungle as though the ghosts of +shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in the darkness for the +spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted summit +of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the slime in which +they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the great beasts of the +jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while since were gone to +rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed night seemed already to +have fallen, though the sun which had disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions as +soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the widgeon +began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, and then would +suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by us the small and +arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of flocks of geese, which +the sailors told me had recently come in from crossing over the Lispasian +ranges; every year they come by the same way, close by the peak of Mluna, +leaving it to the left, and the mountain eagles know the way they come +and--men say--the very hour, and every year they expect them by the same +way as soon as the snows have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it +grew so dark that we heard those birds no more, and only heard the +whirring of their wings, and of countless others besides, until they all +settled down along the banks of the river, and it was the hour when the +birds of the night went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the +night, and huge moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments +their gorgeous colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would +pass into the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors +prayed, and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our +lives into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdondaris, that famous +city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and notable, and +all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the jungle that was so +long with us. And we were anchored by the market-place, and the captain's +merchandise was all displayed, and a merchant of Perdondaris stood looking +at it. And the captain had his scimitar in his hand, and was beating with +it in anger upon the deck, and the splinters were flying up from the white +planks; for the merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that +the captain declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, +whom he now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great fatness, +showing the pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought not at all, +but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to whom he wished to +sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, leaving no +remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly the thick +toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the floor, and +tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the merchant said if he +offered a piffek more the poor folk must go without their toomarunds when +the winter came, and without their tollub in the evenings, or else he and +his aged father must starve together. Thereat the captain lifted his +scimitar to his own throat, saying that he was now a ruined man, and that +nothing remained to him but death. And while he was carefully lifting his +beard with his left hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and +said that rather than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had +conceived an especial love when first he saw the manner in which he +handled his ship, he and his aged father should starve together and +therefore he offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his gods +that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his little +lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain wept, +for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant also wept, +for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of how he soon +would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his hands, and eyed +the tollub again between his fingers. And so the bargain was concluded, +and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, paying for them out of a +great clinking purse. And these were packed up into bales again, and three +of the merchant's slaves carried them upon their heads into the city. And +all the while the sailors had sat silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon +the deck, eagerly watching the bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction +arose among them, and they began to compare it among themselves with other +bargains that they had known. And I found out from them that there are +seven merchants in Perdondaris, and that they had all come to the captain +one by one before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately +against the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the +wine of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and all +made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because he knew +that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the bargain that +he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their native land, and soon +their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and the little neighbouring +cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little jar some heavy yellow wine +from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. Thick and +sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a mighty, ardent +fire which had authority over souls of men. It was made, the captain told +me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of a family of six who lived +in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once in these mountains, he said, +he followed the spoor of a bear, and he came suddenly on a man of that +family who had hunted the same bear, and he was at the end of a narrow way +with precipice all about him, and his spear was sticking in the bear, and +the wound was not fatal, and he had no other weapon. And the bear was +walking towards the man, very slowly because his wound irked him--yet he +was now very close. And what he captain did he would not say, but every +year as soon as the snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian +Min, that man comes down to the market in the plains, and always leaves +for the captain in the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless +secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide of +the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not now +minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. Towards +evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdondaris before we left in the +morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore alone. +Certainly Perdondaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed by a wall of +great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for troops to walk +in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen strong towers on it +in every mile, and copper plaques low down where men could read them, +telling in all the languages of those parts of the earth--one language on +each plaque--the tale of how an army once attacked Perdondaris and what +befell that army. Then I entered Perdondaris and found all the people +dancing, clad in brilliant silks, and playing on the tambang as they +danced. For a fearful thunderstorm had terrified them while I slept, and +the fires of death, they said, had danced over Perdondaris, and now the +thunder had gone leaping away large and black and hideous, they said, over +the distant hills, and had turned round snarling at them, shoving his +gleaming teeth, and had stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they +rang as though they had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in +their merry dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God +that we know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his +hills." And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon +the marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves were +fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I came to a +silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were many wonders in +Perdondaris, and I would have stayed and seen them all, but as I came to +the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it a huge ivory gate. For a +while I paused and admired it, then I came nearer and perceived the +dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I ran +I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of the +fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps even +then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I felt +safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up from +the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of Perdondaris +still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain and told him +quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at once about the +gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; and I told him how +the weight of the thing was such that it could not have been brought from +afar, and the captain knew that it had not been there a year ago. We +agreed that such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of +man, and that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near +and recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so +he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the +anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the +last rays of the sun we left Perdondaris, that famous city. And night came +down and cloaked Perdondaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things +have happened will never see it again; for I have heard since that +something swift and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdondaris in a +day--towers, walls and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with stars. +And with the night there rose the helmsman's song. As soon as he had +prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely night. But +first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is what I +remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble equivalent of the +rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic nights. + +To whatever god may hear. + +Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their way be +dark or whether through storm: whether their peril be of beast or of rock: +or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: wherever the tiller is +cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors sleep or helmsmen watch: +guard, guide and return us to the old land, that has known us: to the far +homes that we know. + +To all the gods that are. + +To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster of +the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. And +he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old dragon-legends of +Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little tales +and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over the black +jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great bands of +stars that look on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl and Duz, and of +the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and the flocks that they +had, and the loves that they had loved, and all the little things that +they had hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in skins and blankets, +listening to those songs, and watching the fantastic shapes of the great +trees like to black giants stalking through the night, I suddenly fell +asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the flow of +the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves appeared; for +Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, and knew that their +ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet the merry wild Irillion +rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off from him the torpid sleep +that had come upon him in the hot and scented jungle, and forgot its +orchids and its butterflies, and swept on turbulent, expectant, strong; +and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills of Glorm came glittering into view. +And now the sailors were waking up from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then +the helmsman laid him down to sleep while a comrade took his place, and +they all spread over him their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came down +dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And now +we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the sailors stood +up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own far off Acroctian +hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the plains stands fair +Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder and +louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down from +the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, and +wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up near the +mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then she went +away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, and opened +upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the light of the day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the marshes +of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and slowly, and +the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the dreariness of +the marshes. + +At last the Irusian mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then night came down over +the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We heard the +Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and Golzunda, then all but +the helmsman slept. And villages scattered along the banks of the Yann +heard all that night in the helmsman's unknown tongue the little songs of +cities that they knew not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I remembered +why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching day, according +to all foreseen probabilities, we should come to Bar-Wul-Yann, and I +should part from the captain and his sailors. And I had liked the man +because he had given me of his yellow wine that was set apart among his +sacred things, and many a story he had told me about his fair Belzoond +between the Acroctian hills and the Hian Min. And I had liked the ways +that his sailors had, and the prayers that they prayed at evening side by +side, grudging not one another their alien gods. And I had a liking too +for the tender way in which they often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is +good that men should love their native cities and the little hills that +hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acroctian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others in +the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by the +fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced us all +alike outside Perdondaris, a danger that, as things have happened, was +very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; and +the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled awhile; +then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northward, so that the +sailors had to hoist the sails and, the wind being favorable, we still +held onwards. + +And we passed Gondara and Narl and Haz. And we saw memorable, holy Golnuz, +and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the last +of the cities on the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us once +again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over all things, +and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and found +that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that is +known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the people of +Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering at their own +streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had crowded all the ways, +and every one was doing some strange thing. Some danced astounding dances +that they had learned from the desert wind, rapidly curving and swirling +till the eye could follow no longer. Others played upon instruments +beautiful wailing tunes that were full of horror, which souls had taught +them lost by night in the desert, that strange far desert from which the +Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any part +of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were made were +of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were barbed at the +tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that seemed to be akin +to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear that haunts dark +places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told one +another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew ought of their +language yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, and as the +tale wound on the whites of their eyes showed vividly in terror as the +eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then the teller of the +tale would smile and stop, and another would tell his story, and the +teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with fear. And if some +deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would greet him as a brother, +and the snake would seem to give his greetings to them before he passed on +again. Once that most fierce and lethal of tropic snakes, the giant +lythra, came out of the jungle and all down the street, the central street +of Nen, and none of the Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played +sonorously on drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and +the snake moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one of +them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in silence +with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly draw from +his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen could do nothing +of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they greet +the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of Mloon, but it +was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain might return from +Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on board and continued +down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, for we were thinking of +our parting, which should be for long, and we watched instead the +splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a ruddy gold, but a faint +mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into it poured the smoke of the +little jungle cities, and the smoke of them met together in the mist and +joined into one haze, which became purple, and was lit by the sun, as the +thoughts of men become hallowed by some great and sacred thing. Some times +one column from a lonely house would rise up higher than the cities' +smoke, and gleam by itself in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight that I +had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either shore two +cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing in the light of +the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of mountainous altitude, and +they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance through +that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where little +fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sun set, and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld--and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the colours +of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those cliffs was to +me as some chord of music that a master's hand had launched from the +violin, and which carries to Heaven or Faery the tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no further, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back to +his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian Min, and I to +find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields that all poets +know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through whose windows, +looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and looking eastwards +see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, going range on range +into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the kingdom of Fantasy, which +pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we regarded one another, knowing that +we should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped hands, +uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in his +country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to his +little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + + + + +THE SWORD AND THE IDOL + + +It was a cold winter's evening late in the Stone Age; the sun had gone +down blazing over the plains of Thold; there were no clouds, only the +chill blue sky and the imminence of stars; and the surface of the sleeping +Earth began to harden against the cold of the night. Presently from their +lairs arose, and shook themselves and went stealthily forth, those of +Earth's children to whom it is the law to prowl abroad as soon as the dusk +has fallen. And they went pattering softly over the plain, and their eyes +shone in the dark, and crossed and recrossed one another in their courses. +Suddenly there became manifest in the midst of the plain that fearful +portent of the presence of Man--a little flickering fire. And the children +of Earth who prowl abroad by night looked sideways at it and snarled and +edged away; all but the wolves, who came a little nearer, for it was +winter and the wolves were hungry, and they had come in thousands from the +mountains, and they said in their hearts, "We are strong." Around the fire +a little tribe was encamped. They, too, had come from the mountains, and +from lands beyond them, but it was in the mountains that the wolves first +winded them; they picked up bones at first that the tribe had dropped, but +they were closer now and on all sides. It was Loz who had lit the fire. He +had killed a small furry beast, hurling his stone axe at it, and had +gathered a quantity of reddish-brown stones, and had laid them in a long +row, and placed bits of the small beast all along it; then he lit a fire +on each side, and the stones heated, and the bits began to cook. It was at +this time that the tribe noticed that the wolves who had followed them so +far were no longer content with the scraps of deserted encampments. A line +of yellow eyes surrounded them, and when it moved it was to come nearer. +So the men of the tribe hastily tore up brushwood, and felled a small tree +with their flint axes, and heaped it all over the fire that Loz had made, +and for a while the great heap hid the flame, and the wolves came trotting +in and sat down again on their haunches much closer than before; and the +fierce and valiant dogs that belonged to the tribe believed that their end +was about to come while fighting, as they had long since prophesied it +would. Then the flame caught the lofty stack of brushwood, and rushed out +of it, and ran up the side of it, and stood up haughtily far over the top, +and the wolves seeing this terrible ally of Man reveling there in his +strength, and knowing nothing of this frequent treachery to his masters, +went slowly away as though they had other purposes. And for the rest of +that night the dogs of the encampment cried out to them and besought them +to come back. But the tribe lay down all round the fire under thick furs +and slept. And a great wind arose and blew into the roaring heart of the +fire till it was red no longer, but all pallid with heat. With the dawn +the tribe awoke. + +Loz might have known that after such a mighty conflagration nothing could +remain of his small furry beast, but there was hunger in him and little +reason as he searched among the ashes. What he found there amazed him +beyond measure; there was no meat, there was not even his row of +reddish-brown stones, but something longer than a man's leg and narrower +than his hand, was lying there like a great flattened snake. When Loz +looked at its thin edges and saw that it ran to a point, he picked up +stones to chip it and make it sharp. It was the instinct of Loz to sharpen +things. When he found that it could not be chipped his wonderment +increased. It was many hours before he discovered that he could sharpen +the edges by rubbing them with a stone; but at last the point was sharp, +and all one side of it except near the end, where Loz held it in his hand. +And Loz lifted it and brandished it, and the Stone Age was over. That +afternoon in the little encampment, just as the tribe moved on, the Stone +Age passed away, which, for perhaps thirty or forty thousand years, had +slowly lifted Man from among the beasts and left him with his supremacy +beyond all hope of reconquest. + +It was not for many days that any other man tried to make for himself an +iron sword by cooking the same kind of small furry beast that Loz had +tried to cook. It was not for many years that any thought to lay the meat +along stones as Loz had done; and when they did, being no longer on the +plains of Thold, they used flints or chalk. It was not for many +generations that another piece of iron ore was melted and the secret +slowly guessed. Nevertheless one of Earth's many veils was torn aside by +Loz to give us ultimately the steel sword and the plough, machinery and +factories; let us not blame Loz if we think that he did wrong, for he did +all in ignorance. The tribe moved on until it came to water, and there it +settled down under a hill, and they built their huts there. Very soon they +had to fight with another tribe, a tribe that was stronger than they; but +the sword of Loz was terrible and his tribe slew their foes. You might +make one blow at Loz, but then would come one thrust from that iron sword, +and there was no way of surviving it. No one could fight with Loz. And he +became ruler of the tribe in the place of Iz, who hitherto had ruled it +with his sharp axe, as his father had before him. + +Now Loz begat Lo, and in his old age gave his sword to him, and Lo ruled +the tribe with it. And Lo called the name of the sword Death, because it +was so swift and terrible. + +And Iz begat Ird, who was of no account. And Ird hated Lo because he was +of no account by reason of the iron sword of Lo. + +One night Ird stole down to the hut of Lo, carrying his sharp axe, and he +went very softly, but Lo's dog, Warner, heard him coming, and he growled +softly by his master's door. When Ird came to the hut he heard Lo talking +gently to his sword. And Lo was saying, "Lie still, Death. Rest, rest, old +sword," and then, "What, again, Death? Be still. Be still." + +And then again: "What, art thou hungry, Death? Or thirsty, poor old sword? +Soon, Death, soon. Be still only a little." + +But Ird fled, for he did not like the gentle tone of Lo as he spoke to his +sword. + +And Lo begat Lod. And when Lo died Lod took the iron sword and ruled the +tribe. + +And Ird begat Ith, who was of no account, like his father. + +Now when Lod had smitten a man or killed a terrible beast, Ith would go +away for a while into the forest rather than hear the praises that would +be given to Lod. + +And once, as Ith sat in the forest waiting for the day to pass, he +suddenly thought he saw a tree trunk looking at him as with a face. And +Ith was afraid, for trees should not look at men. But soon Ith saw that it +was only a tree and not a man, though it was like a man. Ith used to speak +to this tree, and tell it about Lod, for he dared not speak to any one +else about him. And Ith found comfort in speaking about Lod. + +One day Ith went with his stone axe into the forest, and stayed there many +days. + +He came back by night, and the next morning when the tribe awoke they saw +something that was like a man and yet was not a man. And it sat on the +hill with its elbows pointing outwards and was quite still. And Ith was +crouching before it, and hurriedly placing before it fruits and flesh, and +then leaping away from it and looking frightened. Presently all the tribe +came out to see, but dared not come quite close because of the fear that +they saw on the face of Ith. And Ith went to his hut, and came back again +with a hunting spear-head and valuable small stone knives, and reached out +and laid them before the thing that was like a man, and then sprang away +from it. + +And some of the tribe questioned Ith about the still thing that was like a +man, and Ith said, "This is Ged." Then they asked, "Who is Ged?" and Ith +said, "Ged sends the crops and the rain; and the sun and the moon are +Ged's." + +Then the tribe went back to their huts, but later in the day some came +again, and they said to Ith, "Ged is only as we are, having hands and +feet." And Ith pointed to the right hand of Ged, which was not as his +left, but was shaped like the paw of a beast, and Ith said, "By this ye +may know that he is not as any man." + +Then they said, "He is indeed Ged." But Lod said, "He speaketh not, nor +doth he eat," and Ith answered, "The thunder is his voice and the famine +is his eating." + +After this the tribe copied Ith, and brought little gifts of meat to Ged; +and Ith cooked them before him that Ged might smell the cooking. + +One day a great thunderstorm came trampling up from the distance and raged +among the hills, and the tribe all hid away from it in their huts. And Ith +appeared among the huts looking unafraid. And Ith said little, but the +tribe thought that he had expected the terrible storm because the meat +that they had laid before Ged had been tough meat, and not the best parts +of the beasts they slew. + +And Ged grew to have more honour among the tribe than Lod. And Lod was +vexed. + +One night Lod arose when all were asleep, and quieted his dog, and took +his iron sword and went away to the hill. And he came on Ged in the +starlight, sitting still, with his elbows pointing outwards, and his +beast's paw, and the mark of the fire on the ground where his food had +been cooked. + +And Lod stood there for a while in great fear, trying to keep to his +purpose. Suddenly he stepped up close to Ged and lifted his iron sword, +and Ged neither hit nor shrank. Then the thought came into Lod's mind, +"Ged does not hit. What will Ged do instead?" + +And Lod lowered his sword and struck not, and his imagination began to +work on that "What will Ged do instead?" + +And the more Lod thought, the worse was his fear of Ged. + +And Lod ran away and left him. + +Lod still ruled the tribe in battle or in the hunt, but the chiefest +spoils of battle were given to Ged, and the beasts that they slew were +Ged's; and all questions that concerned war or peace, and questions of law +and disputes, were always brought to him, and Ith gave the answers after +speaking to Ged by night. + +At last Ith said, the day after an eclipse, that the gifts which they +brought to Ged were not enough, that some far greater sacrifice was +needed, that Ged was very angry even now, and not to be appeased by any +ordinary sacrifice. + +And Ith said that to save the tribe from the anger of Ged he would speak +to Ged that night, and ask him what new sacrifice he needed. + +Deep in his heart Lod shuddered, for his instinct told him that Ged wanted +Lod's only son, who should hold the iron sword when Lod was gone. + +No one would dare touch Lod because of the iron sword, but his instinct +said in his slow mind again and again, "Ged loves Ith. Ith has said so. +Ith hates the sword-holders." + +"Ith hates the sword-holders. Ged loves Ith." + +Evening fell and the night came when Ith should speak with Ged, and Lod +became ever surer of the doom of his race. + +He lay down but could not sleep. + +Midnight had barely come when Lod arose and went with his iron sword again +to the hill. + +And there sat Ged. Had Ith been to him yet? Ith whom Ged loved, who hated +the sword-holders. + +And Lod looked long at the old sword of iron that had come to his +grandfather on the plains of Thold. + +Good-bye, old sword! And Lod laid it on the knees of Ged, then went away. + +And when Ith came, a little before dawn, the sacrifice was found +acceptable unto Ged. + + + + +THE IDLE CITY + + +There was once a city which was an idle city, wherein men told vain tales. + +And it was that city's custom to tax all men that would enter in, with the +toll of some idle story in the gate. + +So all men paid to the watchers in the gate the toll of an idle story, and +passed into the city unhindered and unhurt. And in a certain hour of the +night when the king of that city arose and went pacing swiftly up and down +the chamber of his sleeping, and called upon the name of the dead queen, +then would the watchers fasten up the gate and go into that chamber to the +king, and, sitting on the floor, would tell him all the tales that they +had gathered. And listening to them some calmer mood would come upon the +king, and listening still he would lie down again and at last fall asleep, +and all the watchers silently would arise and steal away from the chamber. + +A while ago wandering, I came to the gate of that city. And even as I came +a man stood up to pay his toll to the watchers. They were seated +cross-legged on the ground between him and the gate, and each one held a +spear. Near him two other travellers sat on the warm sand waiting. And the +man said: + +"Now the city of Nombros forsook the worship of the gods and turned +towards God. So the gods threw their cloaks over their faces and strode +away from the city, and going into the haze among the hills passed through +the trunks of the olive groves into the sunset. But when they had already +left the Earth, they turned and looked through the gleaming folds of the +twilight for the last time at their city; and they looked half in anger +and half in regret, then turned and went away for ever. But they sent back +a Death, who bore a scythe, saying to it: 'Slay half in the city that +forsook us, but half of them spare alive that they may yet remember their +old forsaken gods.' + +"But God sent a destroying angel to show that He was God, saying unto him: +'Go into that city and slay half of the dwellers therein, yet spare a half +of them that they may know that I am God.' + +"And at once the destroying angel put his hand to his sword, and the sword +came out of the scabbard with a deep breath, like to the breath that a +broad woodman takes before his first blow at some giant oak. Thereat the +angel pointed his arms downwards, and bending his head between them, fell +forward from Heaven's edge, and the spring of his ankles shot him +downwards with his wings furled behind him. So he went slanting earthward +through the evening with his sword stretched out before him, and he was +like a javelin that some hunter hath hurled that returneth again to the +earth: but just before he touched it he lifted his head and spread his +wings with the under feathers forward, and alighted by the bank of the +broad Flavro that divides the city of Nombros. And down the bank of the +Flavro he fluttered low, like to a hawk over a new-cut cornfield when the +little creatures of the corn are shelterless, and at the same time down +the other bank the Death from the gods went mowing. + +"At once they saw each other, and the angel glared at the Death, and the +Death leered back at him, and the flames in the eyes of the angel +illumined with a red glare the mist that lay in the hollows of the sockets +of the Death. Suddenly they fell on one another, sword to scythe. And the +angel captured the temples of the gods, and set up over them the sign of +God, and the Death captured the temples of God, and led into them the +ceremonies and sacrifices of the gods; and all the while the centuries +slipped quietly by, going down the Flavro seawards. + +"And now some worship God in the temple of the gods, and others worship the +gods in the temple of God, and still the angel hath not returned again to +the rejoicing choirs, and still the Death hath not gone back to die with +the dead gods; but all through Nombros they fight up and down, and still +on each side of the Flavro the city lives." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then another traveler rose up, and said: + +"Solemnly between Huhenwazy and Nitcrana the huge grey clouds came +floating. And those great mountains, heavenly Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, the +king of peaks, greeted them, calling them brothers. And the clouds were +glad of their greeting, for they meet with companions seldom in the lonely +heights of the sky. + +"But the vapours of evening said unto the earth-mist, 'What are those +shapes that dare to move above us and to go where Nitcrana is and +Huhenwazi?' + +"And the earth-mist said in answer unto the vapours of evening, 'It is +only an earth-mist that has become mad and has left the warm and +comfortable earth, and has in his madness thought that his place is with +Huhenwazi and Nitcrana.' + +"'Once,' said the vapours of evening, 'there were clouds, but this was +many and many a day ago, as our forefathers have said. Perhaps the mad one +thinks he is the clouds.' + +"Then spake the earth-worms from the warm deeps of the mud, saying 'O +earth-mist, thou art indeed the clouds, and there are no clouds but thou. +And as for Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, I cannot see them, and therefore they +are not high, and there are no mountains in the world but those that I +cast up every morning out of the deeps of the mud.' + +"And the earth-mist and the vapours of evening were glad at the voice of +the earth-worms, and looking earthward believed what they had said. + +"And indeed it is better to be as the earth-mist, and to keep close to the +warm mud at night, and to hear the earth-worm's comfortable speech, and +not to be a wanderer in the cheerless heights, but to leave the mountains +alone with their desolate snow, to draw what comfort they can from their +vast aspect over all the cities of men, and from the whispers that they +hear at evening of unknown distant gods." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then a man stood up who came out of the west, and told a western tale. He +said: + +"There is a road in Rome that runs through an ancient temple that once the +gods had loved; it runs along the top of a great wall, and the floor of +the temple lies far down beneath it, of marble, pink and white. + +"Upon the temple floor I counted to the number of thirteen hungry cats. + +"'Sometimes,' they said among themselves, 'it was the gods that lived +here, sometimes it was men, and now it's cats. So let us enjoy the sun on +the hot marble before another people comes.' + +"For it was at that hour of a warm afternoon when my fancy is able to hear +silent voices. + +"And the awful leanness of all those thirteen cats moved me to go into a +neighbouring fish shop, and there to buy a quantity of fishes. Then I +returned and threw them all over the railing at the top of the great wall, +and they fell for thirty feet, and hit the sacred marble with a smack. + +"Now, in any other town but Rome, or in the minds of any other cats, the +sight of fishes falling out of heaven had surely excited wonder. They rose +slowly, and all stretched themselves, then they came leisurely towards the +fishes. 'It is only a miracle,' they said in their hearts." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Proudly and slowly, as they spoke, drew up to them a camel, whose rider +sought entrance to the city. His face shone with the sunset by which for +long he had steered for the city's gate. Of him they demanded toll. +Whereat he spoke to his camel, and the camel roared and kneeled, and the +man descended from him. And the man unwrapped from many silks a box of +divers metals wrought by the Japanese, and on the lid of it were figures +of men who gazed from some shore at an isle of the Inland Sea. This he +showed to the watchers, and when they had seen it, said, "It has seemed to +me that these speak to each other thus: + +"'Behold now Oojni, the dear one of the sea, the little mother sea that +hath no storms. She goeth out from Oojni singing a song, and she returneth +singing over her sands. Little is Oojni in the lap of the sea, and scarce +to be perceived by wondering ships. White sails have never wafted her +legends afar, they are told not by bearded wanderers of the sea. Her +fireside tales are known not to the North, the dragons of China have not +heard of them, nor those that ride on elephants through Ind. + +"'Men tell the tales and the smoke ariseth upwards; the smoke departeth +and the tales are told. + +"'Oojni is not a name among the nations, she is not know of where the +merchants meet, she is not spoken of by alien lips. + +"'Indeed, but Oojni is a little among the isles, yet is she loved by those +that know her coasts and her inland places hidden from the sea. + +"Without glory, without fame, and without wealth, Oojni is greatly loved +by a little people, and by a few; yet not by few, for all her dead still +love her, and oft by night come whispering through her woods. Who could +forget Oojni even among the dead? + +"For here in Oojni, wot you, are homes of men, and gardens, and golden +temples of the gods, and sacred places inshore from the sea, and many +murmurous woods. And there is a path that winds over the hills to go into +mysterious holy lands where dance by night the spirits of the woods, or +sing unseen in the sunlight; and no one goes into these holy lands, for +who that love Oojni could rob her of her mysteries, and the curious aliens +come not. Indeed, but we love Oojni though she is so little; she is the +little mother of our race, and the kindly nurse of all seafaring birds. + +"And behold, even now caressing her, the gentle fingers of the mother sea, +whose dreams are far with that old wanderer Ocean. + +"And yet let us forget not Fuzi-Yama, for he stands manifest over clouds +and sea, misty below, and vague and indistinct, but clear above for all +the isles to watch. The ships make all their journeys in his sight, the +nights and the days go by him like a wind, the summers and winters under +him flicker and fade, the lives of men pass quietly here and hence, and +Fuzi-Yama watches there--and knows." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +And I, too, would have told them a tale, very wonderful and very true; one +that I had told in many cities, which as yet had no believers. But now the +sun had set, and the brief twilight gone, and ghostly silences were rising +from far and darkening hills. A stillness hung over that city's gate. And +the great silence of the solemn night was more acceptable to the watchers +in the gate than any sound of man. Therefore they beckoned to us, and +motioned with their hands that we should pass untaxed into the city. And +softly we went up over the sand, and between the high rock pillars of the +gate, and a deep stillness settled among the watchers, and the stars over +them twinkled undisturbed. + +For how short a while man speaks, and withal how vainly. And for how long +he is silent. Only the other day I met a king in Thebes, who had been +silent already for four thousand years. + + + + +THE HASHISH MAN + + +I was at a dinner in London the other day. The ladies had gone upstairs, +and no one sat on my right; on my left there was a man I did not know, but +he knew my name somehow apparently, for he turned to me after a while, and +said, "I read a story of yours about Bethmoora in a review." + +Of course I remembered the tale. It was about a beautiful Oriental city +that was suddenly deserted in a day--nobody quite knew why. I said, "Oh, +yes," and slowly searched in my mind for some more fitting acknowledgment +of the compliment that his memory had paid me. + +I was greatly astonished when he said, "You were wrong about the gnousar +sickness; it was not that at all." + +I said, "Why! Have you been there?" + +And he said, "Yes; I do it with hashish. I know Bethmoora well." And he +took out of his pocket a small box full of some black stuff that looked +like tar, but had a stranger smell. He warned me not to touch it with my +finger, as the stain remained for days. "I got it from a gipsy," he said. +"He had a lot of it, as it had killed his father." But I interrupted him, +for I wanted to know for certain what it was that had made desolate that +beautiful city, Bethmoora, and why they fled from it swiftly in a day. +"Was it because of the Desert's curse?" I asked. And he said, "Partly it +was the fury of the Desert and partly the advice of the Emperor Thuba +Mleen, for that fearful beast is in some way connected with the Desert on +his mother's side." And he told me this strange story: "You remember the +sailor with the black scar, who was there on the day that you described +when the messengers came on mules to the gate of Bethmoora, and all the +people fled. I met this man in a tavern, drinking rum, and he told me all +about the flight from Bethmoora, but knew no more than you did what the +message was, or who had sent it. However, he said he would see Bethmoora +once more whenever he touched again at an eastern port, even if he had to +face the Devil. He often said that he would face the Devil to find out the +mystery of that message that emptied Bethmoora in a day. And in the end he +had to face Thuba Mleen, whose weak ferocity he had not imagined. For one +day the sailor told me he had found a ship, and I met him no more after +that in the tavern drinking rum. It was about that time that I got the +hashish from the gipsy, who had a quantity that he did not want. It takes +one literally out of oneself. It is like wings. You swoop over distant +countries and into other worlds. Once I found out the secret of the +universe. I have forgotten what it was, but I know that the Creator does +not take Creation seriously, for I remember that He sat in Space with all +His work in front of Him and laughed. I have seen incredible things in +fearful worlds. As it is your imagination that takes you there, so it is +only by your imagination that you can get back. Once out in aether I met a +battered, prowling spirit, that had belonged to a man whom drugs had +killed a hundred years ago; and he led me to regions that I had never +imagined; and we parted in anger beyond the Pleiades, and I could not +imagine my way back. And I met a huge grey shape that was the Spirit of +some great people, perhaps of a whole star, and I besought It to show me +my way home, and It halted beside me like a sudden wind and pointed, and, +speaking quite softly, asked me if I discerned a certain tiny light, and I +saw a far star faintly, and then It said to me, 'That is the Solar +System,' and strode tremendously on. And somehow I imagined my way back, +and only just in time, for my body was already stiffening in a chair in my +room; and the fire had gone out and everything was cold, and I had to move +each finger one by one, and there were pins and needles in them, and +dreadful pains in the nails, which began to thaw; and at last I could move +one arm, and reached a bell, and for a long time no one came, because +every one was in bed. But at last a man appeared, and they got a doctor; +and HE said that it was hashish poisoning, but it would have been all +right if I hadn't met that battered, prowling spirit. + +"I could tell you astounding things that I have seen, but you want to know +who sent that message to Bethmoora. Well, it was Thuba Mleen. And this is +how I know. I often went to the city after that day you wrote of (I used +to take hashish of an evening in my flat), and I always found it +uninhabited. Sand had poured into it from the desert, and the streets were +yellow and smooth, and through open, swinging doors the sand had drifted. + +"One evening I had put the guard in front of the fire, and settled into a +chair and eaten my hashish, and the first thing that I saw when I came to +Bethmoora was the sailor with the black scar, strolling down the street, +and making footprints in the yellow sand. And now I knew that I should see +what secret power it was that kept Bethmoora uninhabited. + +"I saw that there was anger in the Desert, for there were storm clouds +heaving along the skyline, and I heard a muttering amongst the sand. + +"The sailor strolled on down the street, looking into the empty houses as +he went; sometimes he shouted and sometimes he sang, and sometimes he +wrote his name on a marble wall. Then he sat down on a step and ate his +dinner. After a while he grew tired of the city, and came back up the +street. As he reached the gate of green copper three men on camels +appeared. + +"I could do nothing. I was only a consciousness, invisible, wandering: my +body was in Europe. The sailor fought well with his fists, but he was +over-powered and bound with ropes, and led away through the Desert. + +"I followed for as long as I could stay, and found that they were going by +the way of the Desert round the Hills of Hap towards Utnar Vehi, and then +I knew that the camel men belonged to Thuba Mleen. + +"I work in an insurance office all day, and I hope you won't forget me if +ever you want to insure--life, fire, or motor--but that's no part of my +story. I was desperately anxious to get back to my flat, though it is not +good to take hashish two days running; but I wanted to see what they would +do to the poor fellow, for I had heard bad rumours about Thuba Mleen. When +at last I got away I had a letter to write; then I rang for my servant, +and told him that I must not be disturbed, though I left my door unlocked +in case of accidents. After that I made up a good fire, and sat down and +partook of the pot of dreams. I was going to the palace of Thuba Mleen. + +"I was kept back longer than usual by noises in the street, but suddenly I +was up above the town; the European countries rushed by beneath me, and +there appeared the thin white palace spires of horrible Thuba Mleen. I +found him presently at the end of a little narrow room. A curtain of red +leather hung behind him, on which all the names of God, written in +Yannish, were worked with a golden thread. Three windows were small and +high. The Emperor seemed no more than about twenty, and looked small and +weak. No smiles came on his nasty yellow face, though he tittered +continually. As I looked from his low forehead to his quivering under lip, +I became aware that there was some horror about him, though I was not able +to perceive what it was. And then I saw it--the man never blinked; and +though later on I watched those eyes for a blink, it never happened once. + +"And then I followed the Emperor's rapt glance, and I saw the sailor lying +on the floor, alive but hideously rent, and the royal torturers were at +work all round him. They had torn long strips from him, but had not +detached them, and they were torturing the ends of them far away from the +sailor." The man that I met at dinner told me many things which I must +omit. "The sailor was groaning softly, and every time he groaned Thuba +Mleen tittered. I had no sense of smell, but I could hear and see, and I +do not know which was the most revolting--the terrible condition of the +sailor or the happy unblinking face of horrible Thuba Mleen. + +"I wanted to go away, but the time was not yet come, and I had to stay +where I was. + +"Suddenly the Emperor's face began to twitch violently and his under lip +quivered faster, and he whimpered with anger, and cried with a shrill +voice, in Yannish, to the captain of his torturers that there was a spirit +in the room. I feared not, for living men cannot lay hands on a spirit, +but all the torturers were appalled at his anger, and stopped their work, +for their hands trembled in fear. Then two men of the spear-guard slipped +from the room, and each of them brought back presently a golden bowl, with +knobs on it, full of hashish; and the bowls were large enough for heads to +have floated in had they been filled with blood. And the two men fell to +rapidly, each eating with two great spoons--there was enough in each +spoonful to have given dreams to a hundred men. And there came upon them +soon the hashish state, and their spirits hovered, preparing to go free, +while I feared horribly, but ever and anon they fell back again to their +bodies, recalled by some noise in the room. Still the men ate, but lazily +now, and without ferocity. At last the great spoons dropped out of their +hands, and their spirits rose and left them. I could not flee. And the +spirits were more horrible than the men, because they were young men, and +not yet wholly moulded to fit their fearful souls. Still the sailor +groaned softly, evoking little titters from the Emperor Thuba Mleen. Then +the two spirits rushed at me, and swept me thence as gusts of wind sweep +butterflies, and away we went from that small, pale, heinous man. There +was no escaping from these spirits' fierce insistence. The energy in my +minute lump of the drug was overwhelmed by the huge spoonsful that these +men had eaten with both hands. I was whirled over Arvle Woondery, and +brought to the lands of Snith, and swept on still until I came to Kragua, +and beyond this to those bleak lands that are nearly unknown to fancy. And +we came at last to those ivory hills that are named the Mountains of +Madness, and I tried to struggle against the spirits of that frightful +Emperor's men, for I heard on the other side of the ivory hills the +pittering of those beasts that prey on the mad, as they prowled up and +down. It was no fault of mine that my little lump of hashish could not +fight with their horrible spoonsful...." + +Some one was tugging at the hall-door bell. Presently a servant came and +told our host that a policeman in the hall wished to speak to him at once. +He apologised to us, and went outside, and we heard a man in heavy boots, +who spoke in a low voice to him. My friend got up and walked over to the +window, and opened it, and looked outside. "I should think it will be a +fine night," he said. Then he jumped out. When we put our astonished heads +out of the window to look for him, he was already out of sight. + + + + +POOR OLD BILL + + +On an antique haunt of sailors, a tavern of the sea, the light of day was +fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place, in the hope of +hearing something from the sailors, as they sat over strange wines, about +a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old +Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region. + +In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom, and I was +about to leave, when a sailor, wearing ear-rings of pure gold, lifted up +his head from his wine, and looking straight before him at the wall, told +his tale loudly: + +(When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern's leaded +panes, he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker +it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.) + +"A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had +never seen such isles. + +"We all hated the captain, and he hated us. He hated us all alike, there +was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of +us, except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop +and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm. + +"We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. +He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There +was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they +had come up only recently from the sea, and they had no sand or rocks like +honest isles, but green grass down to the water. And there were little +cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches came almost +down to the ground, and were strangely turned up at the corners, and under +the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too +thick to see through. And no one, man or beast, was walking about, so that +you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And +he went ashore and into one of the cottages, and someone lit lights +inside, and the little windows wore an evil look. + +"It was quite dark when he came aboard again, and he bade a cheery +good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way +that frightened poor old Bill. + +"Next night we found that he had learned to curse, for he came on a lot of +us asleep in our bunks, and among them poor old Bill, and he pointed at us +with a finger, and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at +the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill +sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast, and looking at the stars, +and freezing through and through. + +"We got up a little mutiny after that, but Captain comes up and points +with his finger again, and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are +swimming behind the ship through the cold green water, though their bodies +remain on deck. + +"It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn't curse when he +was drunk, though he could shoot as well at one time as another. + +"After that it was only a matter of waiting, and of losing two men when +the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows, and wanted to kill +Captain, but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island, out of the +track of ships, and leaving him there with his share of our year's +provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill, and we decided to +maroon Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn't curse. + +"It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again, and poor old Bill +and all had a dreadful time, for Captain invented new curses every day, +and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got +to know us, and so did the stars, and none of them pitied us when we froze +on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our +way--both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold, +unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight, and the +moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky, and we stopped our work +for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the +colours in the sky, he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And +it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains +making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was +shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe, and we all got +homesick for it, but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we +got back, and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day, but he +cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he +would curse our souls to Hell, and none of us mentioned Hell above a +whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the +cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his +cabin, and we found him lying there across his bunk, and he shot as he had +never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols, and he would +only have killed two men if he hadn't caught Joe over the head with the +end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put +the rum between the Captain's teeth, and kept him drunk for two days, so +that he could not curse, till we found a convenient rock. And before +sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain, out of +the track of ships, about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and +we rowed him along to it in a little boat, and gave him provisions for a +year, the same as we had ourselves, because poor old Bill wanted to be +fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing +a sailor's song. + +"When we could no longer hear Captain singing we all grew very cheerful +and made a banquet out of our year's provisions, as we all hoped to be +home again in under three weeks. We had three great banquets every day for +a week--every man had more than he could eat, and what was left over we +threw on the floor like gentlemen. And then one day, as we saw San +Huegedos, and wanted to sail in to spend our money, the wind changed round +from behind us and beat us out to sea. There was no tacking against it, +and no getting into the harbour, though other ships sailed by us and +anchored there. Sometimes a dead calm would fall on us, while fishing +boats all around us flew before half a gale, and sometimes the wind would +beat us out to sea when nothing else was moving. All day we tried, and at +night we laid to and tried again the next day. And all the sailors of the +other ships were spending their money in San Huegedos and we could not +come nigh it. Then we spoke horrible things against the wind and against +San Huegedos, and sailed away. + +"It was just the same at Norenna. + +"We kept close together now and talked in low voices. Suddenly poor old +Bill grew frightened. As we went all along the Siractic coast-line, we +tried again and again, and the wind was waiting for us in every harbour +and sent us out to sea. Even the little islands would not have us. And +then we knew that there was no landing yet for poor old Bill, and every +one upbraided his kind heart that had made them maroon Captain on a rock, +so as not to have his blood upon their heads. There was nothing to do but +to drift about the seas. There were no banquets now, because we feared +that Captain might live his year and keep us out to sea. + +"At first we used to hail all passing ships, and used to try to board them +in the boats; but there was no towing against Captain's curse, and we had +to give that up. So we played cards for a year in Captain's cabin, night +and day, storm and fine, and every one promised to pay poor old Bill when +we got ashore. + +"It was horrible to us to think what a frugal man Captain really was, he +that used to get drunk every other day whenever he was at sea, and here he +was still alive, and sober too, for his curse still kept us out of every +port, and our provisions were gone. + +"Well, it came to drawing lots, and Jim was the unlucky one. Jim only kept +us about three days, and then we drew lots again, and this time it was the +nigger. The nigger didn't keep us any longer, and we drew again, and this +time it was Charlie, and still Captain was alive. + +"As we got fewer one of us kept us longer. Longer and longer a mate used +to last us, and we all wondered how ever Captain did it. It was five weeks +over the year when we drew Mike, and he kept us for a week, and Captain +was still alive. We wondered he didn't get tired of the same old curse; +but we supposed things looked different when one is alone on an island. + +"When there was only Jakes and poor old Bill and the cabin-boy and Dick, +we didn't draw any longer. We said that the cabin-boy had had all the +luck, and he mustn't expect any more. Then poor old Bill was alone with +Jakes and Dick, and Captain was still alive. When there was no more boy, +and the Captain still alive, Dick, who was a huge strong man like poor old +Bill, said that it was Jakes' turn, and he was very lucky to have lived as +long as he had. But poor old Bill talked it all over with Jakes, and they +thought it better than Dick should take his turn. + +"Then there was Jakes and poor old Bill; and Captain would not die. + +"And these two used to watch one another night and day, when Dick was gone +and no one else was left to them. And at last poor old Bill fell down in a +faint and lay there for an hour. Then Jakes came up to him slowly with his +knife, and makes a stab at poor old Bill as he lies there on the deck. And +poor old Bill caught hold of him by the wrist, and put his knife into him +twice to make quite sure, although it spoiled the best part of the meat. +Then poor old Bill was all alone at sea. + +"And the very next week, before the food gave out, Captain must have died +on his bit of an island; for poor old Bill heard the Captain's soul going +cursing over the sea, and the day after that the ship was cast on a rocky +coast. + +"And Captain's been dead now for over a hundred years, and poor old Bill +is safe ashore again. But it looks as if Captain hadn't done with him yet, +for poor old Bill doesn't ever get any older, and somehow or other he +doesn't seem to die. Poor old Bill!" + +When this was over the man's fascination suddenly snapped, and we all +jumped up and left him. + +It was not only his revolting story, but it was the fearful look in the +eyes of the man who told it, and the terrible ease with which his voice +surpassed the roar of the rain, that decided me never again to enter that +haunt of sailors--the tavern of the sea. + + + + +THE BEGGARS + + +I was walking down Piccadilly not long ago, thinking of nursery rhymes and +regretting old romance. + +As I saw the shopkeepers walk by in their black frock-coats and their +black hats, I thought of the old line in nursery annals: "The merchants of +London, they wear scarlet." + +The streets were all so unromantic, dreary. Nothing could be done for +them, I thought--nothing. And then my thoughts were interrupted by barking +dogs. Every dog in the street seemed to be barking--every kind of dog, not +only the little ones but the big ones too. They were all facing East +towards the way I was coming by. Then I turned round to look and had this +vision, in Piccadilly, on the opposite side to the houses just after you +pass the cab-rank. + +Tall bent men were coming down the street arrayed in marvelous cloaks. All +were sallow of skin and swarthy of hair, and most of them wore strange +beards. They were coming slowly, and they walked with staves, and their +hands were out for alms. + +All the beggars had come to town. + +I would have given them a gold doubloon engraven with the towers of +Castile, but I had no such coin. They did not seem the people to who it +were fitting to offer the same coin as one tendered for the use of a +taxicab (O marvelous, ill-made word, surely the pass-word somewhere of +some evil order). Some of them wore purple cloaks with wide green borders, +and the border of green was a narrow strip with some, and some wore cloaks +of old and faded red, and some wore violet cloaks, and none wore black. +And they begged gracefully, as gods might beg for souls. + +I stood by a lamp-post, and they came up to it, and one addressed it, +calling the lamp-post brother, and said, "O lamp-post, our brother of the +dark, are there many wrecks by thee in the tides of night? Sleep not, +brother, sleep not. There were many wrecks an it were not for thee." + +It was strange: I had not thought of the majesty of the street lamp and +his long watching over drifting men. But he was not beneath the notice of +these cloaked strangers. + +And then one murmured to the street: "Art thou weary, street? Yet a little +longer they shall go up and down, and keep thee clad with tar and wooden +bricks. Be patient, street. In a while the earthquake cometh." + +"Who are you?" people said. "And where do you come from?" + +"Who may tell what we are," they answered, "or whence we come?" + +And one turned towards the smoke-stained houses, saying, "Blessed be the +houses, because men dream therein." + +Then I perceived, what I had never thought, that all these staring houses +were not alike, but different one from another, because they held +different dreams. + +And another turned to a tree that stood by the Green Park railings, +saying, "Take comfort, tree, for the fields shall come again." + +And all the while the ugly smoke went upwards, the smoke that has stifled +Romance and blackened the birds. This, I thought, they can neither praise +nor bless. And when they saw it they raised their hands towards it, +towards the thousand chimneys, saying, "Behold the smoke. The old +coal-forests that have lain so long in the dark, and so long still, are +dancing now and going back to the sun. Forget not Earth, O our brother, +and we wish thee joy of the sun." + +It had rained, and a cheerless stream dropped down a dirty gutter. It had +come from heaps of refuse, foul and forgotten; it had gathered upon its +way things that were derelict, and went to somber drains unknown to man or +the sun. It was this sullen stream as much as all other causes that had +made me say in my heart that the town was vile, that Beauty was dead in +it, and Romance fled. + +Even this thing they blessed. And one that wore a purple cloak with broad +green border, said, "Brother, be hopeful yet, for thou shalt surely come +at last to the delectable Sea, and meet the heaving, huge, and travelled +ships, and rejoice by isles that know the golden sun." Even thus they +blessed the gutter, and I felt no whim to mock. + +And the people that went by, in their black unseemly coats and their +misshapen, monstrous, shiny hats, the beggars also blessed. And one of +them said to one of these dark citizens: "O twin of Night himself, with +thy specks of white at wrist and neck like to Night's scattered stars. How +fearfully thou dost veil with black thy hid, unguessed desires. They are +deep thoughts in thee that they will not frolic with colour, that they say +'No' to purple, and to lovely green 'Begone.' Thou hast wild fancies that +they must needs be tamed with black, and terrible imaginings that they +must be hidden thus. Has thy soul dreams of the angels, and of the walls +of faery that thou hast guarded it so utterly, lest it dazzle astonished +eyes? Even so God hid the diamond deep down in miles of clay. + +"The wonder of thee is not marred by mirth. + +"Behold thou art very secret. + +"Be wonderful. Be full of mystery." + +Silently the man in the black frock-coat passed on. And I came to +understand when the purple beggar had spoken, that the dark citizen had +trafficked perhaps with Ind, that in his heart were strange and dumb +ambitions; that his dumbness was founded by solemn rite on the roots of +ancient tradition; that it might be overcome one day by a cheer in the +street or by some one singing a song, and that when this shopman spoke +there might come clefts in the world and people peering over at the abyss. + +Then turning towards Green Park, where as yet Spring was not, the beggars +stretched out their hands, and looking at the frozen grass and the yet +unbudding trees they, chanting all together, prophesied daffodils. + +A motor omnibus came down the street, nearly running over some of the dogs +that were barking ferociously still. It was sounding its horn noisily. + +And the vision went then. + + + + +_In a letter from a friend whom I have never seen, one of those that read +my books, this line was quoted--"But he, he never came to Carcassonne." I +do not know the origin of the line, but I made this tale about it._ + + +CARCASSONNE + + +When Camorak reigned at Arn, and the world was fairer, he gave a festival +to all the weald to commemorate the splendour of his youth. + +They say that his house at Arn was huge and high, and its ceiling painted +blue; and when evening fell men would climb up by ladders and light the +scores of candles hanging from slender chains. And they say, too, that +sometimes a cloud would come, and pour in through the top of one of the +oriel windows, and it would come over the edge of the stonework as the +sea-mist comes over a sheer cliffs shaven lip where an old wind has blown +for ever and ever (he has swept away thousands of leaves and thousands of +centuries, they are all one to him, he owes no allegiance to Time). And +the cloud would re-shape itself in the hall's lofty vault and drift on +through it slowly, and out to the sky again through another window. And +from its shape the knights in Camorak's hall would prophesy the battles +and sieges of the next season of war. They say of the hall of Camorak at +Arn that there hath been none like it in any land, and foretell that there +will be never. + +Hither had come in the folk of the Weald from sheepfold and from forest, +revolving slow thoughts of food, and shelter, and love, and they sat down +wondering in that famous hall; and therein also were seated the men of +Arn, the town that clustered round the King's high house, and all was +roofed with red, maternal earth. + +If old songs may be trusted, it was a marvelous hall. + +Many who sat there could only have seen it distantly before, a clear shape +in the landscape, but smaller than a hill. Now they beheld along the wall +the weapons of Camorak's men, of which already the lute-players made +songs, and tales were told at evening in the byres. There they described +the shield of Camorak that had gone to and fro across so many battles, and +the sharp but dinted edges of his sword; there were the weapons of Gadriol +the Leal, and Norn, and Athoric of the Sleety Sword, Heriel the Wild, +Yarold, and Thanga of Esk, their arms hung evenly all round the hall, low +where a man could reach them; and in the place of honour in the midst, +between the arms of Camorak and of Gadriol the Leal, hung the harp of +Arleon. And of all the weapons hanging on those walls none were more +calamitous to Camorak's foes than was the harp of Arleon. For to a man +that goes up against a strong place on foot, pleasant indeed is the twang +and jolt of some fearful engine of war that his fellow-warriors are +working behind him, from which huge rocks go sighing over his head and +plunge among his foes; and pleasant to a warrior in the wavering light are +the swift commands of his King, and a joy to him are his comrades' instant +cheers exulting suddenly at a turn of the war. All this and more was the +harp to Camorak's men; for not only would it cheer his warriors on, but +many a time would Arleon of the Harp strike wild amazement into opposing +hosts by some rapturous prophecy suddenly shouted out while his hand swept +over the roaring strings. Moreover, no war was ever declared till Camorak +and his men had listened long to the harp, and were elate with the music +and mad against peace. Once Arleon, for the sake of a rhyme, had made war +upon Estabonn; and an evil king was overthrown, and honour and glory won; +from such queer motives does good sometimes accrue. + +Above the shields and the harps all round the hall were the painted +figures of heroes of fabulous famous songs. Too trivial, because too +easily surpassed by Camorak's men, seemed all the victories that the earth +had known; neither was any trophy displayed of Camorak's seventy battles, +for these were as nothing to his warriors or him compared with those +things that their youth had dreamed and which they mightily purposed yet +to do. + +Above the painted pictures there was darkness, for evening was closing in, +and the candles swinging on their slender chain were not yet lit in the +roof; it was as though a piece of the night had been builded into the +edifice like a huge natural rock that juts into a house. And there sat all +the warriors of Arn and the Weald-folk wondering at them; and none were +more than thirty, and all were skilled in war. And Camorak sat at the head +of all, exulting in his youth. + +We must wrestle with Time for some seven decades, and he is a weak and +puny antagonist in the first three bouts. + +Now there was present at this feast a diviner, one who knew the schemes of +Fate, and he sat among the people of the Weald and had no place of honour, +for Camorak and his men had no fear of Fate. And when the meat was eaten +and the bones cast aside, the king rose up from his chair, and having +drunken wine, and being in the glory of his youth and with all his knights +about him, called to the diviner, saying, "Prophesy." + +And the diviner rose up, stroking his grey beard, and spake +guardedly--"There are certain events," he said, "upon the ways of Fate +that are veiled even from a diviner's eyes, and many more are clear to us +that were better veiled from all; much I know that is better unforetold, +and some things that I may not foretell on pain of centuries of +punishment. But this I know and foretell--that you will never come to +Carcassonne." + +Instantly there was a buzz of talk telling of Carcassonne--some had heard +of it in speech or song, some had read of it, and some had dreamed of it. +And the king sent Arleon of the Harp down from his right hand to mingle +with the Weald-folk to hear aught that any told of Carcassonne. But the +warriors told of the places they had won to--many a hard-held fortress, +many a far-off land, and swore that they would come to Carcassonne. + +And in a while came Arleon back to the king's right hand, and raised his +harp and chanted and told of Carcassonne. Far away it was, and far and far +away, a city of gleaming ramparts rising one over other, and marble +terraces behind the ramparts, and fountains shimmering on the terraces. To +Carcassonne the elf-kings with their fairies had first retreated from men, +and had built it on an evening late in May by blowing their elfin horns. +Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +Travellers had seen it sometimes like a clear dream, with the sun +glittering on its citadel upon a far-off hilltop, and then the clouds had +come or a sudden mist; no one had seen it long or come quite close to it; +though once there were some men that came very near, and the smoke from +the houses blew into their faces, a sudden gust--no more, and these +declared that some one was burning cedarwood there. Men had dreamed that +there is a witch there, walking alone through the cold courts and +corridors of marmorean palaces, fearfully beautiful and still for all her +fourscore centuries, singing the second oldest song, which was taught her +by the sea, shedding tears for loneliness from eyes that would madden +armies, yet will she not call her dragons home--Carcassonne is terribly +guarded. Sometimes she swims in a marble bath through whose deeps a river +tumbles, or lies all morning on the edge of it to dry slowly in the sun, +and watches the heaving river trouble the deeps of the bath. It flows +through the caverns of earth for further than she knows, and coming to +light in the witch's bath goes down through the earth again to its own +peculiar sea. + +In autumn sometimes it comes down black with snow that spring has molten +in unimagined mountains, or withered blooms of mountain shrubs go +beautifully by. + +When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains; +and yet she knows not where those mountains are. + +When she sings the fountains dance up from the dark earth, when she combs +her hair they say there are storms at sea, when she is angry the wolves +grow brave and all come down to the byres, when she is sad the sea is sad, +and both are sad for ever. Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +This city is the fairest of the wonders of Morning; the sun shouts when he +beholdeth it; for Carcassonne Evening weepeth when Evening passeth away. + +And Arleon told how many goodly perils were round about the city, and how +the way was unknown, and it was a knightly venture. Then all the warriors +stood up and sang of the splendour of the venture. And Camorak swore by +the gods that had builded Arn, and by the honour of his warriors that, +alive or dead, he would come to Carcassonne. + +But the diviner rose and passed out of the hall, brushing the crumbs from +him with his hands and smoothing his robe as he went. + +Then Camorak said, "There are many things to be planned, and counsels to +be taken, and provender to be gathered. Upon what day shall we start?" And +all the warriors answering shouted, "Now." And Camorak smiled thereat, for +he had but tried them. Down then from the walls they took their weapons, +Sikorix, Kelleron, Aslof, Wole of the Axe; Huhenoth, Peace-breaker; +Wolwuf, Father of War; Tarion, Lurth of the Warcry and many another. +Little then dreamed the spiders that sat in that ringing hall of the +unmolested leisure they were soon to enjoy. + +When they were armed they all formed up and marched out of the hall, and +Arleon strode before them singing of Carcassonne. + +But the talk of the Weald arose and went back well fed to byres. They had +no need of wars or of rare perils. They were ever at war with hunger. A +long drought or hard winter were to them pitched battles; if the wolves +entered a sheep-fold it was like the loss of a fortress, a thunder-storm +on the harvest was like an ambuscade. Well-fed, they went back slowly to +their byres, being at truce with hunger; and the night filled with stars. + +And black against the starry sky appeared the round helms of the warriors +as they passed the tops of the ridges, but in the valleys they sparkled +now and then as the starlight flashed on steel. + +They followed behind Arleon going south, whence rumours had always come of +Carcassonne: so they marched in the starlight, and he before them singing. + +When they had marched so far that they heard no sound from Arn, and even +inaudible were her swinging bells, when candles burning late far up in +towers no longer sent them their disconsolate welcome; in the midst of the +pleasant night that lulls the rural spaces, weariness came upon Arleon and +his inspiration failed. It failed slowly. Gradually he grew less sure of +the way to Carcassonne. Awhile he stopped to think, and remembered the way +again; but his clear certainty was gone, and in its place were efforts in +his mind to recall old prophecies and shepherd's songs that told of the +marvelous city. Then as he said over carefully to himself a song that a +wanderer had learnt from a goatherd's boy far up the lower slope of +ultimate southern mountains, fatigue came down upon his toiling mind like +snow on the winding ways of a city noisy by night, stilling all. + +He stood, and the warriors closed up to him. For long they had passed by +great oaks standing solitary here and there, like giants taking huge +breaths of the night air before doing some furious deed; now they had come +to the verge of a black forest; the tree-trunks stood like those great +columns in an Egyptian hall whence God in an older mood received the +praise of men; the top of it sloped the way of an ancient wind. Here they +all halted and lighted a fire of branches, striking sparks from flint into +a heap of bracken. They eased them of their armour, and sat round the +fire, and Camorak stood up there and addressed them, and Camorak said: "We +go to war with Fate, who has doomed that I shall not come to Carcassonne. +And if we turn aside but one of the dooms of Fate, then the whole future +of the world is ours, and the future that Fate has ordered is like the dry +course of an averted river. But if such men as we, such resolute +conquerors, cannot prevent one doom that Fate has planned, then is the +race of man enslaved for ever to do its petty and allotted task." + +Then they all drew their swords, and waved them high in the firelight, and +declared war on Fate. + +Nothing in the somber forest stirred or made any sound. + +Tired men do not dream of war. When morning came over the gleaming fields +a company that had set out from Arn discovered the discovered the +camping-place of the warriors, and brought pavilions and provender. And +the warriors feasted, and the birds in the forest sang, and the +inspiration of Arleon awoke. + +Then they rose, and following Arleon, entered the forest, and marched away +to the South. And many a woman of Arn sent her thoughts with them as they +played alone some old monotonous tune, but their own thoughts were far +before them, skimming over the bath through whose deeps the river tumbles +in marble Carcassonne. + +When butterflies were dancing on the air, and the sun neared the zenith, +pavilions were pitched, and all the warriors rested; and then they feasted +again, and then played knightly games, and late in the afternoon marched +on once more, singing of Carcassonne. + +And night came down with its mystery on the forest, and gave their +demoniac look again to the trees, and rolled up out of misty hollows a +huge and yellow moon. + +And the men of Arn lit fires, and sudden shadows arose and leaped +fantastically away. And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and +passed between the tree trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and +waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal +birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses of the +befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a +maiden's song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist's tune played in his +loneliness on distant hills; and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a +galleon's lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar +sea. Upon this night-wind also the dreams of Camorak's men floated to +Carcassonne. + +All the next morning they marched, and all the evening, and knew they were +nearing now the deeps of the forest. And the citizens of Arn kept close +together and close behind the warriors. For the deeps of the forest were +all unknown to travellers, but not unknown to those tales of fear that men +tell at evening to their friends, in the comfort and the safety of their +hearths. Then night appeared, and an enormous moon. And the men of Camorak +slept. Sometimes they woke, and went to sleep again; and those that stayed +awake for long and listened heard heavy two-footed creatures pad through +the night on paws. + +As soon as it was light the unarmed men of Arn began to slip away, and +went back by bands through the forest. When darkness came they did not +stop to sleep, but continued their flight straight on until they came to +Arn, and added there by the tales they told to the terror of the forest. + +But the warriors feasted, and afterwards Arleon rose, and played his harp, +and led them on again; and a few faithful servants stayed with them still. +And they marched all day through a gloom that was as old as night, but +Arleon's inspiration burned in his mind like a star. And he led them till +the birds began to drop into the treetops, and it was evening and they all +encamped. They had only one pavilion left to them now, and near it they +lit a fire, and Camorak posted a sentry with drawn sword just beyond the +glow of the firelight. Some of the warriors slept in the pavilion and +others round about it. + +When dawn came something terrible had killed and eaten the sentry. But the +splendour of the rumours of Carcassonne and Fate's decree that they should +never come there, and the inspiration of Arleon and his harp, all urged +the warriors on; and they marched deeper and deeper all day into the +forest. + +Once they saw a dragon that had caught a bear and was playing with it, +letting it run a little way and overtaking it with a paw. + +They came at last to a clear space in the forest just before nightfall. An +odour of flowers arose from it like a mist, and every drop of dew +interpreted heaven unto itself. + +It was the hour when twilight kisses Earth. + +It was the hour when a meaning comes into senseless things, and trees +out-majesty the pomp of monarchs, and the timid creatures steal abroad to +feed, and as yet the beasts of prey harmlessly dream, and Earth utters a +sigh, and it is night. + +In the midst of the wide clearing Camorak's warriors camped, and rejoiced +to see stars again appearing one by one. + +That night they ate the last of their provisions, and slept unmolested by +the prowling things that haunt the gloom of the forest. + +On the next day some of the warriors hunted stags, and others lay in +rushes by a neighbouring lake and shot arrows at water-fowl. One stag was +killed, and some geese, and several teal. + +Here the adventurers stayed, breathing the pure wild air that cities know +not; by day they hunted, and lit fires by night, and sang and feasted, and +forgot Carcassonne. The terrible denizens of the gloom never molested +them, venison was plentiful, and all manner of water-fowl: they loved the +chase by day, and by night their favourite songs. Thus day after day went +by, thus week after week. Time flung over this encampment a handful of +moons, the gold and silver moons that waste the year away; Autumn and +Winter passed, and Spring appeared; and still the warriors hunted and +feasted there. + +One night of the springtide they were feasting about a fire and telling +tales of the chase, and the soft moths came out of the dark and flaunted +their colours in the firelight, and went out grey into the dark again; and +the night wind was cool upon the warriors' necks, and the camp-fire was +warm in their faces, and a silence had settled among them after some song, +and Arleon all at once rose suddenly up, remembering Carcassonne. And his +hand swept over the strings of his harp, awaking the deeper chords, like +the sound of a nimble people dancing their steps on bronze, and the music +rolled away into the night's own silence, and the voice of Arleon rose: + +"When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains +and longs for the battle-shout of kingly men." + +And suddenly all shouted, "Carcassonne!" And at that word their idleness +was gone as a dream is gone from a dreamer waked with a shout. And soon +the great march began that faltered no more nor wavered. Unchecked by +battles, undaunted in lonesome spaces, ever unwearied by the vulturous +years, the warriors of Camorak held on; and Arleon's inspiration led them +still. They cleft with the music of Arleon's harp the gloom of ancient +silences; they went singing into battles with terrible wild men, and came +out singing, but with fewer voices; they came to villages in valleys full +of the music of bells, or saw the lights at dusk of cottages sheltering +others. + +They became a proverb for wandering, and a legend arose of strange, +disconsolate men. Folks spoke of them at nightfall when the fire was warm +and rain slipped down the eaves; and when the wind was high small children +feared the Men Who Would Not Rest were going clattering past. Strange +tales were told of men in old grey armour moving at twilight along the +tops of the hills and never asking shelter; and mothers told their boys +who grew impatient of home that the grey wanderers were once so impatient +and were now hopeless of rest, and were driven along with the rain +whenever the wind was angry. + +But the wanderers were cheered in their wandering by the hope of coming to +Carcassonne, and later on by anger against Fate, and at last they marched +on still because it seemed better to march on than to think. + +For many years they had wandered and had fought with many tribes; often +they gathered legends in villages and listened to idle singers singing +songs; and all the rumours of Carcassonne still came from the South. + +And then one day they came to a hilly land with a legend in it that only +three valleys away a man might see, on clear days, Carcassonne. Tired +though they were and few, and worn with the years which had all brought +them wars, they pushed on instantly, led still by Arleon's inspiration +which dwindled in his age, though he made music with his old harp still. + +All day they climbed down into the first valley and for two days ascended, +and came to the Town That May Not Be Taken In War below the top of the +mountain, and its gates were shut against them, and there was no way +round. To left and right steep precipices stood for as far as eye could +see or legend tell of, and the pass lay through the city. Therefore +Camorak drew up his remaining warriors in line of battle to wage their +last war, and they stepped forward over the crisp bones of old, unburied +armies. + +No sentinel defied them in the gate, no arrow flew from any tower of war. +One citizen climbed alone to the mountain's top, and the rest hid +themselves in sheltered places. + +Now, in the top of the mountain was a deep, bowl-like cavern in the rock, +in which fires bubbled softly. But if any cast a boulder into the fires, +as it was the custom for one of those citizens to do when enemies +approached them, the mountain hurled up intermittent rocks for three days, +and the rocks fell flaming all over the town and all round about it. And +just as Camorak's men began to batter the gate they heard a crash on the +mountain, and a great rock fell beyond them and rolled into the valley. +The next two fell in front of them on the iron roofs of the town. Just as +they entered the town a rock found them crowded in a narrow street, and +shattered two of them. The mountain smoked and panted; with every pant a +rock plunged into the streets or bounced along the heavy iron roof, and +the smoke went slowly up, and up, and up. + +When they had come through the long town's empty streets to the locked +gate at the end, only fifteen were left. When they had broken down the +gate there were only ten alive. Three more were killed as they went up the +slope, and two as they passed near the terrible cavern. Fate let the rest +go some way down the mountain upon the other side, and then took three of +them. Camorak and Arleon alone were left alive. And night came down on the +valley to which they had come, and was lit by flashes from the fatal +mountain; and the two mourned for their comrades all night long. + +But when the morning came they remembered their war with Fate, and their +old resolve to come to Carcassonne, and the voice of Arleon rose in a +quavering song, and snatches of music from his old harp, and he stood up +and marched with his face southwards as he had done for years, and behind +him Camorak went. And when at last they climbed from the third valley, and +stood on the hill's summit in the golden sunlight of evening, their aged +eyes saw only miles of forest and the birds going to roost. + +Their beards were white, and they had travelled very far and hard; it was +the time with them when a man rests from labours and dreams in light sleep +of the years that were and not of the years to come. + +Long they looked southwards; and the sun set over remoter forests, and +glow-worms lit their lamps, and the inspiration of Arleon rose and flew +away for ever, to gladden, perhaps, the dreams of younger men. + +And Arleon said: "My King, I know no longer the way to Carcassonne." + +And Camorak smiled, as the aged smile, with little cause for mirth, and +said: "The years are going by us like huge birds, whom Doom and Destiny +and the schemes of God have frightened up out of some old grey marsh. And +it may well be that against these no warrior may avail, and that Fate has +conquered us, and that our quest has failed." + +And after this they were silent. + +Then they drew their swords, and side by side went down into the forest, +still seeking Carcassonne. + +I think they got not far; for there were deadly marshes in that forest, +and gloom that outlasted the nights, and fearful beasts accustomed to its +ways. Neither is there any legend, either in verse or among the songs of +the people of the fields, of any having come to Carcassonne. + + + + +IN ZACCARATH + + +"Come," said the King in sacred Zaccarath, "and let our prophets prophesy +before us." + +A far-seen jewel of light was the holy palace, a wonder to the nomads on +the plains. + +There was the King with all his underlords, and the lesser kings that did +him vassalage, and there were all his queens with all their jewels upon +them. + +Who shall tell of the splendour in which they sat; of the thousand lights +and the answering emeralds; of the dangerous beauty of that hoard of +queens, or the flash of their laden necks? + +There was a necklace there of rose-pink pearls beyond the art of the +dreamer to imagine. Who shall tell of the amethyst chandeliers, where +torches, soaked in rare Bhyrinian oils, burned and gave off a scent of +blethany? + +(This herb marvellous, which, growing near the summit of Mount Zaumnos, +scents all the Zaumnian range, and is smelt far out on the Kepuscran +plains, and even, when the wind is from the mountains, in the streets of +the city of Ognoth. At night it closes its petals and is heard to breathe, +and its breath is a swift poison. This it does even by day if the snows +are disturbed about it. No plant of this has ever been captured alive by a +hunter.) + +Enough to say that when the dawn came up it appeared by contrast pallid +and unlovely and stripped bare of all its glory, so that it hid itself +with rolling clouds. + +"Come," said the King, "let our prophets prophesy." + +Then the heralds stepped through the ranks of the King's silk-clad +warriors who lay oiled and scented upon velvet cloaks, with a pleasant +breeze among them caused by the fans of slaves; even their casting-spears +were set with jewels; through their ranks the heralds went with mincing +steps, and came to the prophets, clad in brown and black, and one of them +they brought and set him before the King. And the King looked at him and +said, "Prophesy unto us." + +And the prophet lifted his head, so that his beard came clear from his +brown cloak, and the fans of the slaves that fanned the warriors wafted +the tip of it a little awry. And he spake to the King, and spake thus: + +"Woe unto thee, King, and woe unto Zaccarath. Woe unto thee, and woe unto +thy women, for your fall shall be sore and soon. Already in Heaven the +gods shun thy god: they know his doom and what is written of him: he sees +oblivion before him like a mist. Thou hast aroused the hate of the +mountaineers. They hate thee all along the crags of Droom. The evilness of +thy days shall bring down the Zeedians on thee as the suns of springtide +bring the avalanche down. They shall do unto Zaccarath as the avalanche +doth unto the hamlets of the valley." When the queens chattered or +tittered among themselves, he merely raised his voice and still spake on: +"Woe to these walls and the carven things upon them. The hunter shall know +the camping-places of the nomads by the marks of the camp-fires on the +plain, but he shall not know the place of Zaccarath." + +A few of the recumbent warriors turned their heads to glance at the +prophet when he ceased. Far overhead the echoes of his voice hummed on +awhile among the cedarn rafters. + +"Is he not splendid?" said the King. And many of that assembly beat with +their palms upon the polished floor in token of applause. Then the prophet +was conducted back to his place at the far end of that mighty hall, and +for a while musicians played on marvellous curved horns, while drums +throbbed behind them hidden in a recess. The musicians were sitting +crosslegged on the floor, all blowing their huge horns in the brilliant +torchlight, but as the drums throbbed louder in the dark they arose and +moved slowly nearer to the King. Louder and louder drummed the drums in +the dark, and nearer and nearer moved the men with the horns, so that +their music should not be drowned by the drums before it reached the King. + +A marvellous scene it was when the tempestuous horns were halted before +the King, and the drums in the dark were like the thunder of God; and the +queens were nodding their heads in time to the music, with their diadems +flashing like heavens of falling stars; and the warriors lifted their +heads and shook, as they lifted them, the plumes of those golden birds +which hunters wait for by the Liddian lakes, in a whole lifetime killing +scarcely six, to make the crests that the warriors wore when they feasted +in Zaccarath. Then the King shouted and the warriors sang--almost they +remembered then old battle-chants. And, as they sang, the sound of the +drums dwindled, and the musicians walked away backwards, and the drumming +became fainter and fainter as they walked, and altogether ceased, and they +blew no more on their fantastic horns. Then the assemblage beat on the +floor with their palms. And afterwards the queens besought the King to +send for another prophet. And the heralds brought a singer, and placed him +before the King; and the singer was a young man with a harp. And he swept +the strings of it, and when there was silence he sang of the iniquity of +the King. And he foretold the onrush of the Zeedians, and the fall and the +forgetting of Zaccarath, and the coming again of the desert to its own, +and the playing about of little lion cubs where the courts of the palace +had stood. + +"Of what is he singing?" said a queen to a queen. + +"He is singing of everlasting Zaccarath." + +As the singer ceased the assemblage beat listlessly on the floor, and the +King nodded to him, and he departed. + +When all the prophets had prophesied to them and all the singers sung, +that royal company arose and went to other chambers, leaving the hall of +festival to the pale and lonely dawn. And alone were left the lion-headed +gods that were carven out of the walls; silent they stood, and their rocky +arms were folded. And shadows over their faces moved like curious thoughts +as the torches flickered and the dull dawn crossed the fields. And the +colours began to change in the chandeliers. + +When the last lutanist fell asleep the birds began to sing. + +Never was greater splendour or a more famous hall. When the queens went +away through the curtained door with all their diadems, it was as though +the stars should arise in their stations and troop together to the West at +sunrise. + +And only the other day I found a stone that had undoubtedly been a part of +Zaccarath, it was three inches long and an inch broad; I saw the edge of +it uncovered by the sand. I believe that only three other pieces have been +found like it. + + + + +THE FIELD + + +When one has seen Spring's blossom fall in London, and Summer appear and +ripen and decay, as it does early in cities, and one is in London still, +then, at some moment or another, the country places lift their flowery +heads and call to one with an urgent, masterful clearness, upland behind +upland in the twilight like to some heavenly choir arising rank on rank to +call a drunkard from his gambling-hell. No volume of traffic can drown the +sound of it, no lure of London can weaken its appeal. Having heard it +one's fancy is gone, and evermore departed, to some coloured pebble agleam +in a rural brook, and all that London can offer is swept from one's mind +like some suddenly smitten metropolitan Goliath. + +The call is from afar both in leagues and years, for the hills that call +one are the hills that were, and their voices are the voices of long ago, +when the elf-kings still had horns. + +I see them now, those hills of my infancy (for it is they that call), with +their faces upturned to the purple twilight, and the faint diaphanous +figures of the fairies peering out from under the bracken to see if +evening is come. I do not see upon their regal summits those desirable +mansions, and highly desirable residences, which have lately been built +for gentlemen who would exchange customers for tenants. + +When the hills called I used to go to them by road, riding a bicycle. If +you go by train you miss the gradual approach, you do not cast off London +like an old forgiven sin, nor pass by little villages on the way that must +have some rumour of the hills; nor, wondering if they are still the same, +come at last upon the edge of their far-spread robes, and so on to their +feet, and see far off their holy, welcoming faces. In the train you see +them suddenly round a curve, and there they all are sitting in the sun. + +I imagine that as one penetrated out from some enormous forest of the +tropics, the wild beasts would become fewer, the gloom would lighten, and +the horror of the place would slowly lift. Yet as one emerges nearer to +the edge of London, and nearer to the beautiful influence of the hills, +the houses become uglier, the streets viler, the gloom deepens, the errors +of civilisation stand bare to the scorn of the fields. + +Where ugliness reaches the height of its luxuriance, in the dense misery +of the place, where one imagines the builder saying, "Here I culminate. +Let us give thanks to Satan," there is a bridge of yellow brick, and +through it, as through some gate of filigree silver opening on fairyland, +one passes into the country. + +To left and right, as far as one can see, stretches that monstrous city; +before one are the fields like an old, old song. + +There is a field there that is full of king-cups. A stream runs through +it, and along the stream is a little wood of osiers. There I used often to +rest at the streams edge before my long journey to the hills. + +There I used to forget London, street by street. Sometimes I picked a +bunch of king-cups to show them to the hills. + +I often came there. At first I noticed nothing about the field except its +beauty and its peacefulness. + +But the second time that I came I thought there was something ominous +about the field. + +Down there among the king-cups by the little shallow stream I felt that +something terrible might happen in just such a place. + +I did not stay long there, because I thought that too much time spent in +London had brought on these morbid fancies and I went on to the hills as +fast as I could. + +I stayed for some days in the country air, and when I came back I went to +the field again to enjoy that peaceful spot before entering London. But +there was still something ominous among the osiers. + +A year elapsed before I went there again. I emerged from the shadow of +London into the gleaming sun; the bright green grass and the king-cups +were flaming in the light, and the little stream was singing a happy song. +But the moment I stepped into the field my old uneasiness returned, and +worse than before. It was as though the shadow was brooding there of some +dreadful future thing and a year had brought it nearer. + +I reasoned that the exertion of bicycling might be bad for one, and that +the moment one rested this uneasiness might result. + +A little later I came back past the field by night, and the song of the +stream in the hush attracted me down to it. And there the fancy came to me +that it would be a terribly cold place to be in the starlight, if for some +reason one was hurt and could not get away. + +I knew a man who was minutely acquainted with the past history of that +locality, and him I asked if anything historical had ever happened in that +field. When he pressed me for my reason in asking him this, I said that +the field had seemed to me such a good place to hold a pageant in. But he +said that nothing of any interest had ever occurred there, nothing at all. + +So it was from the future that the field's terrible trouble came. + +For three years off and on I made visits to the field, and every time more +clearly it boded evil things, and my uneasiness grew more acute every time +that I was lured to go and rest among the cool green grass under the +beautiful osiers. Once to distract my thoughts I tried to gauge how fast +the stream was trickling, but I found myself wondering if it flowed faster +than blood. + +I felt that it would be a terrible place to go mad in, one would hear +voices. + +At last I went to a poet whom I knew, and woke him from huge dreams, and +put before him the whole case of the field. He had not been out of London +all that year, and he promised to come with me and look at the field, and +tell me what was going to happen there. It was late in July when we went. +The pavement, the air, the houses and the dirt had been all baked dry by +the summer, the weary traffic dragged on, and on, and on, and Sleep +spreading her wings soared up and floated from London and went to walk +beautifully in rural places. + +When the poet saw the field he was delighted, the flowers were out in +masses all along the stream, he went down to the little wood rejoicing. By +the side of the stream he stood and seemed very sad. Once or twice he +looked up and down it mournfully, then he bent and looked at the +king-cups, first one and then another, very closely, and shaking his head. + +For a long while he stood in silence, and all my old uneasiness returned, +and my bodings for the future. + +And then I said, "What manner of field is it?" + +And he shook his head sorrowfully. + +"It is a battlefield," he said. + + + + +THE DAY OF THE POLL + + +In the town by the sea it was the day of the poll, and the poet regarded +it sadly when he woke and saw the light of it coming in at his window +between two small curtains of gauze. And the day of the poll was +beautifully bright; stray bird-songs came to the poet at the window; the +air was crisp and wintry, but it was the blaze of sunlight that had +deceived the birds. He heard the sound of the sea that the moon led up the +shore, dragging the months away over the pebbles and shingles and piling +them up with the years where the worn-out centuries lay; he saw the +majestic downs stand facing mightily south-wards; saw the smoke of the +town float up to their heavenly faces--column after column rose calmly +into the morning as house by house was waked by peering shafts of the +sunlight and lit its fires for the day; column by column went up toward +the serene downs' faces, and failed before they came there and hung all +white over houses; and every one in the town was raving mad. + +It was a strange thing that the poet did, for he hired the largest motor +in the town and covered it with all the flags he could find, and set out +to save an intelligence. And he presently found a man whose face was hot, +who shouted that the time was not far distant when a candidate, whom he +named, would be returned at the head of the poll by a thumping majority. +And by him the poet stopped and offered him a seat in the motor that was +covered with flags. When the man saw the flags that were on the motor, and +that it was the largest in the town, he got in. He said that his vote +should be given for that fiscal system that had made us what we are, in +order that the poor man's food should not be taxed to make the rich man +richer. Or else it was that he would give his vote for that system of +tariff reform which should unite us closer to our colonies with ties that +should long endure, and give employment to all. But it was not to the +polling-booth that the motor went, it passed it and left the town and came +by a small white winding road to the very top of the downs. There the poet +dismissed the car and let that wondering voter on to the grass and seated +himself on a rug. And for long the voter talked of those imperial +traditions that our forefathers had made for us and which he should uphold +with his vote, or else it was of a people oppressed by a feudal system +that was out of date and effete, and that should be ended or mended. But +the poet pointed out to him small, distant, wandering ships on the sunlit +strip of sea, and the birds far down below them, and the houses below the +birds, with the little columns of smoke that could not find the downs. + +And at first the voter cried for his polling-booth like a child; but after +a while he grew calmer, save when faint bursts of cheering came twittering +up to the downs, when the voter would cry out bitterly against the +misgovernment of the Radical party, or else it was--I forget what the poet +told me--he extolled its splendid record. + +"See," said the poet, "these ancient beautiful things, the downs and the +old-time houses and the morning, and the grey sea in the sunlight going +mumbling round the world. And this is the place they have chosen to go man +in!" + +And standing there with all broad England behind him, rolling northward, +down after down, and before him the glittering sea too far for the sound +of the roar of it, there seemed to the voter to grow less important the +questions that troubled the town. Yet he was still angry. + +"Why did you bring me here?" he said again. + +"Because I grew lonely," said the poet, "when all the town went mad." + +Then he pointed out to the voter some old bent thorns, and showed him the +way that a wind had blown for a million years, coming up at dawn from the +sea; and he told him of the storms that visit the ships, and their names +and whence they come, and the currents they drive afield, and the way that +the swallows go. And he spoke of the down where they sat, when the summer +came, and the flowers that were not yet, and the different butterflies, +and about the bats and the swifts, and the thoughts in the heart of man. +He spoke of the aged windmill that stood on the down, and of how to +children it seemed a strange old man who was only dead by day. And as he +spoke, and as the sea-wind blew on that high and lonely place, there began +to slip away from the voter's mind meaningless phrases that had crowded it +long--thumping majority--victory in the fight--terminological +inexactitudes--and the smell of paraffin lamps dangling in heated +schoolrooms, and quotations taken from ancient speeches because the words +were long. They fell away, though slowly, and slowly the voter saw a wider +world and the wonder of the sea. And the afternoon wore on, and the winter +evening came, and the night fell, and all black grew the sea, and about +the time that the stars come blinking out to look upon our littleness, the +polling-booth closed in the town. + +When they got back the turmoil was on the wane in the streets; night hid +the glare of the posters; and the tide, finding the noise abated and being +at the flow, told an old tale that he had learned in his youth about the +deeps of the sea, the same which he had told to coastwise ships that +brought it to Babylon by the way of Euphrates before the doom of Troy. + +I blame my friend the poet, however lonely he was, for preventing this man +from registering his vote (the duty of every citizen); but perhaps it +matters less, as it was a foregone conclusion, because the losing +candidate, either through poverty or sheer madness, had neglected to +subscribe to a single football club. + + + + +THE UNHAPPY BODY + + +"Why do you not dance with us and rejoice with us?" they said to a certain +body. And then that body made the confession of its trouble. It said: "I +am united with a fierce and violent soul, that is altogether tyrannous and +will not let me rest, and he drags me away from the dances of my kin to +make me toil at his detestable work; and he will not let me do the little +things, that would give pleasure to the folk I love, but only cares to +please posterity when he has done with me and left me to the worms; and +all the while he makes absurd demands of affection from those that are +near to me, and is too proud even to notice any less than he demands, so +that those that should be kind to me all hate me." And the unhappy body +burst into tears. + +And they said: "No sensible body cares for its soul. A soul is a little +thing, and should not rule a body. You should drink and smoke more till he +ceases to trouble you." But the body only wept, and said, "Mine is a +fearful soul. I have driven him away for a little while with drink. But he +will soon come back. Oh, he will soon come back!" + +And the body went to bed hoping to rest, for it was drowsy with drink. But +just as sleep was near it, it looked up, and there was its soul sitting on +the windowsill, a misty blaze of light, and looking into the river. + +"Come," said the tyrannous soul, "and look into the street." + +"I have need of sleep," said the body. + +"But the street is a beautiful thing," the soul said vehemently; "a +hundred of the people are dreaming there." + +"I am ill through want of rest," the body said. + +"That does not matter," the soul said to it. "There are millions like you +in the earth, and millions more to go there. The people's dreams are +wandering afield; they pass the seas and mountains of faery, threading the +intricate passes led by their souls; they come to golden temples a-ring +with a thousand bells; they pass up steep streets lit by paper lanterns, +where the doors are green and small; they know their way to witches' +chambers and castles of enchantment; they know the spell that brings them +to the causeway along the ivory mountains--on one side looking downward +they behold the fields of their youth and on the other lie the radiant +plains of the future. Arise and write down what the people dream." + +"What reward is there for me," said the body, "if I write down what you +bid me?" + +"There is no reward," said the soul. + +"Then I shall sleep," said the body. + +And the soul began to hum an idle song sung by a young man in a fabulous +land as he passed a golden city (where fiery sentinels stood), and knew +that his wife was within it, though as yet but a little child, and knew by +prophecy that furious wars, not yet arisen in far and unknown mountains, +should roll above him with their dust and thirst before he ever came to +that city again--the young man sang it as he passed the gate, and was now +dead with his wife a thousand years. + +"I cannot sleep for that abominable song," the body cried to the soul. + +"Then do as you are commanded," the soul replied. And wearily the body +took a pen again. Then the soul spoke merrily as he looked through the +window. "There is a mountain lifting sheer above London, part crystal and +part myst. Thither the dreamers go when the sound of the traffic has +fallen. At first they scarcely dream because of the roar of it, but before +midnight it stops, and turns, and ebbs with all its wrecks. Then the +dreamers arise and scale the shimmering mountain, and at its summit find +the galleons of dream. Thence some sail East, some West, some into the +Past and some into the Future, for the galleons sail over the years as +well as over the spaces, but mostly they head for the Past and the olden +harbours, for thither the sighs of men are mostly turned, and the +dream-ships go before them, as the merchantmen before the continual +trade-winds go down the African coast. I see the galleons even now raise +anchor after anchor; the stars flash by them; they slip out of the night; +their prows go gleaming into the twilight of memory, and night soon lies +far off, a black cloud hanging low, and faintly spangled with stars, like +the harbour and shore of some low-lying land seen afar with its harbour +lights." + +Dream after dream that soul related as he sat there by the window. He told +of tropical forests seen by unhappy men who could not escape from London, +and never would--forests made suddenly wondrous by the song of some +passing bird flying to unknown eyries and singing an unknown song. He saw +the old men lightly dancing to the tune of elfin pipes--beautiful dances +with fantastic maidens--all night on moonlit imaginary mountains; he heard +far off the music of glittering Springs; he saw the fairness of blossoms +of apple and may thirty years fallen; he heard old voices--old tears came +glistening back; Romance sat cloaked and crowned upon southern hills, and +the soul knew him. + +One by one he told the dreams of all that slept in that street. Sometimes +he stopped to revile the body because it worked badly and slowly. Its +chill fingers wrote as fast as they could, but the soul cared not for +that. And so the night wore on till the soul heard tinkling in Oriental +skies far footfalls of the morning. + +"See now," said the soul, "the dawn that the dreamers dread. The sails of +light are paling on those unwreckable galleons; the mariners that steer +them slip back into fable and myth; that other sea the traffic is turning +now at its ebb, and is about to hide its pallid wrecks, and to come +swinging back, with its tumult, at the flow. Already the sunlight flashes +in the gulfs behind the east of the world; the gods have seen it from +their palace of twilight that the built above the sunrise; they warm their +hands at its glow as it streams through their gleaming arches, before it +reaches the world; all the gods are there that have ever been, and all the +gods that shall be; they sit there in the morning, chanting and praising +Man." + +"I am numb and very cold for want of sleep," said the body. + +"You shall have centuries of sleep," said the soul, "but you must not +sleep now, for I have seen deep meadows with purple flowers flaming tall +and strange above the brilliant grass, and herds of pure white unicorns +that gambol there for joy, and a river running by with a glittering +galleon on it, all of gold, that goes from an unknown inland to an unknown +isle of the sea to take a song from the King of Over-the-Hills to the +Queen of Far-Away. + +"I will sing that song to you, and you shall write it down." + +"I have toiled for you for years," the body said. "Give me now but one +night's rest, for I am exceeding weary." + +"Oh, go and rest. I am tired of you. I am off," said the soul. + +And he arose and went, we know not whither. But the body they laid in the +earth. And the next night at midnight the wraiths of the dead came +drifting from their tombs to felicitate that body. + +"You are free here, you know," they said to their new companion. + +"Now I can rest," said the body. + + +FINIS + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Palace, by +Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S PALACE *** + +***** This file should be named 8129.txt or 8129.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/1/2/8129/ + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. 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Plunkett] + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8129] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 17, 2003] +[Date last updated: February 4, 2008] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +A DREAMER'S TALES + + + + +LORD DUNSANY + +1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface + +Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean + +Blagdaross + +The Madness of Andelsprutz + +Where the Tides Ebb and Flow + +Bethmoora + +Idle Days on the Yann + +The Sword and the Idol + +The Idle City + +The Hashish Man + +Poor Old Bill + +The Beggars + +Carcassonne + +In Zaccarath + +The Field + +The Day of the Poll + +The Unhappy Body + + + + +PREFACE + + +I hope for this book that it may come into the hands of those that were +kind to my others and that it may not disappoint them. + +--Lord Dunsany + + + + +POLTARNEES, BEHOLDER OF OCEAN + + +Toldees, Mondath, Arizim, these are the Inner Lands, the lands whose +sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the +east there lies a desert, for ever untroubled by man: all yellow it is, +and spotted with shadows of stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard +lying in the sun. To the south they are bounded by magic, to the west by a +mountain, and to the north by the voice and anger of the Polar wind. Like +a great wall is the mountain to the west. It comes up out of the distance +and goes down into the distance again, and it is named Poltarnees, +Beholder of Ocean. To the northward red rocks, smooth and bare of soil, +and without any speck of moss or herbage, slope up to the very lips of the +Polar wind, and there is nothing else there by the noise of his anger. +Very peaceful are the Inner Lands, and very fair are their cities, and +there is no war among them, but quiet and ease. And they have no enemy but +age, for thirst and fever lie sunning themselves out in the mid-desert, +and never prowl into the Inner Lands. And the ghouls and ghosts, whose +highway is the night, are kept in the south by the boundary of magic. And +very small are all their pleasant cities, and all men are known to one +another therein, and bless one another by name as they meet in the +streets. And they have a broad, green way in every city that comes in out +of some vale or wood or downland, and wanders in and out about the city +between the houses and across the streets, and the people walk along it +never at all, but every year at her appointed time Spring walks along it +from the flowery lands, causing the anemone to bloom on the green way and +all the early joys of hidden woods, or deep, secluded vales, or triumphant +downlands, whose heads lift up so proudly, far up aloof from cities. + +Sometimes waggoners or shepherds walk along this way, they that have come +into the city from over cloudy ridges, and the townsmen hinder them not, +for there is a tread that troubleth the grass and a tread that troubleth +it not, and each man in his own heart knoweth which tread he hath. And in +the sunlit spaces of the weald and in the wold's dark places, afar from +the music of cities and from the dance of the cities afar, they make there +the music of the country places and dance the country dance. Amiable, near +and friendly appears to these men the sun, and as he is genial to them and +tends their younger vines, so they are kind to the little woodland things +and any rumour of the fairies or old legend. And when the light of some +little distant city makes a slight flush upon the edge of the sky, and the +happy golden windows of the homesteads stare gleaming into the dark, then +the old and holy figure of Romance, cloaked even to the face, comes down +out of hilly woodlands and bids dark shadows to rise and dance, and sends +the forest creatures forth to prowl, and lights in a moment in her bower +of grass the little glowworm's lamp, and brings a hush down over the grey +lands, and out of it rises faintly on far-off hills the voice of a lute. +There are not in the world lands more prosperous and happy than Toldees, +Mondath, Arizim. + +From these three little kingdoms that are named the Inner Lands the young +men stole constantly away. One by one they went, and no one knew why they +went save that they had a longing to behold the Sea. Of this longing they +spoke little, but a young man would become silent for a few days, and +then, one morning very early, he would slip away and slowly climb +Poltarnee's difficult slope, and having attained the top pass over and +never return. A few stayed behind in the Inner Lands and became the old +men, but none that had ever climbed Poltarnees from the very earliest +times had ever come back again. Many had gone up Poltarnees sworn to +return. Once a king sent all his courtiers, one by one, to report the +mystery to him, and then went himself; none ever returned. + +Now, it was the wont of the folk of the Inner Lands to worship rumours and +legends of the Sea, and all that their prophets discovered of the Sea was +writ in a sacred book, and with deep devotion on days of festival or +mourning read in the temples by the priests. Now, all their temples lay +open to the west, resting upon pillars, that the breeze from the Sea might +enter them, and they lay open on pillars to the east that the breezes of +the Sea might not be hindered by pass onward wherever the Sea list. And +this is the legend that they had of the Sea, whom none in the Inner Lands +had ever beholden. They say that the Sea is a river heading towards +Hercules, and they say that he touches against the edge of the world, and +that Poltarnees looks upon him. They say that all the worlds of heaven go +bobbing on this river and are swept down with the stream, and that +Infinity is thick and furry with forests through which the river in his +course sweeps on with all the worlds of heaven. Among the colossal trunks +of those dark trees, the smallest fronds of whose branches are man nights, +there walk the gods. And whenever its thirst, glowing in space like a +great sun, comes upon the beast, the tiger of the gods creeps down to the +river to drink. And the tiger of the gods drinks his fill loudly, whelming +worlds the while, and the level of the river sinks between its banks ere +the beast's thirst is quenched and ceases to glow like a sun. And many +worlds thereby are heaped up dry and stranded, and the gods walk not among +them evermore, because they are hard to their feet. These are the worlds +that have no destiny, whose people know no god. And the river sweeps +onwards ever. And the name of the River is Oriathon, but men call it +Ocean. This is the Lower Faith of the Inner Lands. And there is a Higher +Faith which is not told to all. Oriathon sweeps on through the forests of +Infinity and all at once falls roaring over an Edge, whence Time has long +ago recalled his hours to fight in his war with the gods; and falls unlit +by the flash of nights and days, with his flood unmeasured by miles, into +the deeps of nothing. + +Now as the centuries went by and the one way by which a man could climb +Poltarnees became worn with feet, more and more men surmounted it, not to +return. And still they knew not in the Inner Lands upon what mystery +Poltarnees looked. For on a still day and windless, while men walked +happily about their beautiful streets or tended flocks in the country, +suddenly the west wind would bestir himself and come in from the Sea. And +he would come cloaked and grey and mournful and carry to someone the +hungry cry of the Sea calling out for bones of men. And he that heard it +would move restlessly for some hours, and at last would rise suddenly, +irresistibly up, setting his face to Poltarnees, and would say, as is the +custom of those lands when men part briefly, "Till a man's heart +remembereth," which means "Farewell for a while"; but those that loved +him, seeing his eyes on Poltarnees, would answer sadly, "Till the gods +forget," which means "Farewell." + +Now the king of Arizim had a daughter who played with the wild wood +flowers, and with the fountains in her father's court, and with the little +blue heaven-birds that came to her doorway in the winter to shelter from +the snow. And she was more beautiful than the wild wood flowers, or than +all the fountains in her father's court, or than the blue heaven-birds in +their full winter plumage when they shelter from the snow. The old wise +kings of Mondath and of Toldees saw her once as she went lightly down the +little paths of her garden, and turning their gaze into the mists of +thought, pondered the destiny of their Inner Lands. And they watched her +closely by the stately flowers, and standing alone in the sunlight, and +passing and repassing the strutting purple birds that the king's fowlers +had brought from Asagehon. When she was of the age of fifteen years the +King of Mondath called a council of kings. And there met with him the +kings of Toldees and Arizim. And the King of Mondath in his Council said: + +"The call of the unappeased and hungry Sea (and at the word 'Sea' the +three kings bowed their heads) lures every year out of our happy kingdoms +more and more of our men, and still we know not the mystery of the Sea, +and no devised oath has brought one man back. Now thy daughter, Arizim, is +lovelier than the sunlight, and lovelier than those stately flowers of +thine that stand so tall in her garden, and hath more grace and beauty +than those strange birds that the venturous fowlers bring in creaking +wagons out of Asagehon, whose feathers are alternate purple and white. +Now, he that shall love thy daughter, Hilnaric, whoever he shall be, is +the man to climb Poltarnees and return, as none hath ever before, and tell +us upon what Poltarnees looks; for it may be that they daughter is more +beautiful than the Sea." + +Then from his Seat of Council arose the King of Arizim. He said: "I fear +that thou hast spoken blasphemy against the Sea, and I have a dread that +ill will come of it. Indeed I had not thought she was so fair. It is such +a short while ago that she was quite a small child with her hair still +unkempt and not yet attired in the manner of princesses, and she would go +up into the wild woods unattended and come back with her robes unseemly +and all torn, and would not take reproof with a humble spirit, but made +grimaces even in my marble court all set about with fountains." + +Then said the King of Toldees: + +"Let us watch more closely and let us see the Princess Hilnaric in the +season of the orchard-bloom when the great birds go by that know the Sea, +to rest in our inland places; and if she be more beautiful than the +sunrise over our folded kingdoms when all the orchards bloom, it may be +that she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the King of Arizim said: + +"I fear this is terrible blasphemy, yet will I do as you have decided in +council." + +And the season of the orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim +called his daughter forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was +rising huge and round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were +singing to the night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and +they glowed in the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the +fountains, and the grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left +the dark ways of the forest and lit the whole white palace and its +fountains and shone on the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of +Arizim glowed afar, and the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels +and song. And the moon made a music at its rising, but it fell a little +short of mortal ears. And Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, +with the moonlight shining on her forehead; and watching her from the +shadows on the terrace stood the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said. + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And the season of the +orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim called his daughter +forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was rising huge and +round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were singing to the +night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and they glowed in +the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the fountains, and the +grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left the dark ways of +the forest and lit the whole white palace and its fountains and shone on +the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of Arizim glowed afar, and +the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels and song. And the moon +made a music at its rising, but it fell a little short of mortal ears. And +Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, with the moonlight shining +on her forehead; and watching her from the shadows on the terrace stood +the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said: + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And on another day the King of +Arizim bade his daughter forth at dawn, and they stood again upon the +balcony. And the sun came up over a world of orchards, and the sea-mists +went back over Poltarnees to the Sea; little wild voices arose in all the +thickets, the voices of the fountains began to die, and the song arose, in +all the marble temples, of the birds that are sacred to the Sea. And +Hilnaric stood there, still glowing with dreams of heaven. + +"She is more beautiful," said the kings, "than morning." + +Yet one more trial they made of Hilnaric's beauty, for they watched her on +the terraces at sunset ere yet the petals of the orchards had fallen, and +all along the edge of neighbouring woods the rhododendron was blooming +with the azalea. And the sun went down under craggy Poltarnees, and the +sea-mist poured over his summit inland. And the marble temples stood up +clear in the evening, but films of twilight were drawn between the +mountain and the city. Then from the Temple ledges and eaves of palaces +the bats fell headlong downwards, then spread their wings and floated up +and down through darkening ways; lights came blinking out in golden +windows, men cloaked themselves against the grey sea-mist, the sound of +small songs arose, and the face of Hilnaric became a resting-place for +mysteries and dreams. + +"Than all these things," said the kings, "she is more lovely: but who can +say whether she is lovelier than the Sea?" + +Prone in a rhododendron thicket at the edge of the palace lawns a hunter +had waited since the sun went down. Near to him was a deep pool where the +hyacinths grew and strange flowers floated upon it with broad leaves; and +there the great bull gariachs came down to drink by starlight; and, +waiting there for the gariachs to come, he saw the white form of the +Princess leaning on her balcony. Before the stars shone out or the bulls +came down to drink he left his lurking-place and moved closer to the +palace to see more nearly the Princess. The palace lawns were full of +untrodden dew, and everything was still when he came across them, holding +his great spear. In the farthest corner of the terraces the three old +kings were discussing the beauty of Hilnaric and the destiny of the Inner +Lands. Moving lightly, with a hunter's tread, the watcher by the pool came +very near, even in the still evening, before the Princess saw him. When he +saw her closely he exclaimed suddenly: + +"She must be more beautiful than the Sea." + +When the Princess turned and saw his garb and his great spear she knew +that he was a hunter of gariachs. + +When the three kings heard the young man exclaim they said softly to one +another: + +"This must be the man." + +Then they revealed themselves to him, and spoke to him to try him. They +said: + +"Sir, you have spoken blasphemy against the Sea." + +And the young man muttered: + +"She is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the kings said: + +"We are older than you and wiser, and know that nothing is more beautiful +than the Sea." + +And the young man took off the gear of his head, and became downcast, and +he knew that he spake with kings, yet he answered: + +"By this spear, she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And all the while the Princess stared at him, knowing him to be a hunter +of gariachs. + +Then the king of Arizim said to the watcher by the pool: + +"If thou wilt go up Poltarnees and come back, as none have come, and +report to us what lure or magic is in the Sea, we will pardon thy +blasphemy, and thou shalt have the Princess to wife and sit among the +Council of Kings." + +And gladly thereunto the young man consented. And the Princess spoke to +him, and asked him his name. And he told her that his name was Athelvok, +and great joy arose in him at the sound of her voice. And to the three +kings he promised to set out on the third day to scale the slope of +Poltarnees and to return again, and this was the oath by which they bound +him to return: + +"I swear by the Sea that bears the worlds away, by the river of Oriathon, +which men call Ocean, and by the gods and their tiger, and by the doom of +the worlds, that I will return again to the Inner Lands, having beheld the +Sea." + +And that oath he swore with solemnity that very night in one of the +temples of the Sea, but the three kings trusted more to the beauty of +Hilnaric even than to the power of the oath. + +The next day Athelvok came to the palace of Arizim with the morning, over +the fields to the East and out of the country of Toldees, and Hilnaric +came out along her balcony and met him on the terraces. And she asked him +if he had ever slain a gariach, and he said that he had slain three, and +then he told her how he had killed his first down by the pool in the wood. +For he had taken his father's spear and gone down to the edge of the pool, +and had lain under the azaleas there waiting for the stars to shine, by +whose first light the gariachs go to the pools to drink; and he had gone +too early and had had long to wait, and the passing hours seemed longer +than they were. And all the birds came in that home at night, and the bat +was abroad, and the hour of the duck went by, and still no gariach came +down to the pool; and Athelvok felt sure that none would come. And just as +this grew to a certainty in his mind the thicket parted noiselessly and a +huge bull gariach stood facing him on the edge of the water, and his great +horns swept out sideways from his head, and at the ends curved upwards, +and were four strides in width from tip to tip. And he had not seen +Athelvok, for the great bull was on the far side of the little pool, and +Athelvok could not creep round to him for fear of meeting the wind (for +the gariachs, who can see little in the dark forests, rely on hearing and +smell). But he devised swiftly in his mind while the bull stood there with +head erect just twenty strides from him across the water. And the bull +sniffed the wind cautiously and listened, then lowered his great head down +to the pool and drank. At that instant Athelvok leapt into the water and +shot forward through its weedy depths among the stems of the strange +flowers that floated upon broad leaves on the surface. And Athelvok kept +his spear out straight before him, and the fingers of his left hand he +held rigid and straight, not pointing upwards, and so did not come to the +surface, but was carried onward by the strength of his spring and passed +unentangled through the stems of the flowers. When Athelvok jumped into +the water the bull must have thrown his head up, startled at the splash, +then he would have listened and have sniffed the air, and neither hearing +nor scenting any danger he must have remained rigid for some moments, for +it was in that attitude that Athelvok found him as he emerged breathless +at his feet. And, striking at once, Athelvok drove the spear into his +throat before the head and the terrible horns came down. But Athelvok had +clung to one of the great horns, and had been carried at terrible speed +through the rhododendron bushes until the gariach fell, but rose at once +again, and died standing up, still struggling, drowned in its own blood. + +But to Hilnaric listening it was as though one of the heroes of old time +had come back again in the full glory of his legendary youth. + +And long time they went up and down the terraces, saying those things +which were said before and since, and which lips shall yet be made to say +again. And above them stood Poltarnees beholding the Sea. + +And the day came when Athelvok should go. And Hilnaric said to him: + +"Will you not indeed most surely come back again, having just looked over +the summit of Poltarnees?" + +Athelvok answered: "I will indeed come back, for thy voice is more +beautiful than the hymn of the priests when they chant and praise the Sea, +and though many tributary seas ran down into Oriathon and he and all the +others poured their beauty into one pool below me, yet would I return +swearing that thou were fairer than they." + +And Hilnaric answered: + +"The wisdom of my heart tells me, or old knowledge or prophecy, or some +strange lore, that I shall never hear thy voice again. And for this I give +thee my forgiveness." + +But he, repeating the oath that he had sworn, set out, looking often +backwards until the slope became to step and his face was set to the rock. +It was in the morning that he started, and he climbed all the day with +little rest, where every foot-hole was smooth with many feet. Before he +reached the top the sun disappeared from him, and darker and darker grew +the Inner Lands. Then he pushed on so as to see before dark whatever thing +Poltarnees had to show. The dusk was deep over the Inner Lands, and the +lights of cities twinkled through the sea-mist when he came to +Poltarnees's summit, and the sun before him was not yet gone from the sky. + +And there below him was the old wrinkled Sea, smiling and murmuring song. +And he nursed little ships with gleaming sails, and in his hands were old +regretted wrecks, and mast all studded over with golden nails that he had +rent in anger out of beautiful galleons. And the glory of the sun was +among the surges as they brought driftwood out of isles of spice, tossing +their golden heads. And the grey currents crept away to the south like +companionless serpents that love something afar with a restless, deadly +love. And the whole plain of water glittering with late sunlight, and the +surges and the currents and the white sails of ships were all together +like the face of a strange new god that has looked at a man for the first +time in the eyes at the moment of his death; and Athelvok, looking on the +wonderful Sea, knew why it was that the dead never return, for there is +something that the dead feel and know, and the living would never +understand even though the dead should come and speak to them about it. +And there was the Sea smiling at him, glad with the glory of the sun. And +there was a haven there for homing ships, and a sunlit city stood upon its +marge, and people walked about the streets of it clad in the unimagined +merchandise of far sea-bordering lands. + +An easy slope of loose rock went from the top of Poltarnees to the shore +of the Sea. + +For a long while Athelvok stood there regretfully, knowing that there had +come something into his soul that no one in the Inner Lands could +understand, where the thoughts of their minds had gone no farther than the +three little kingdoms. Then, looking long upon the wandering ships, and +the marvelous merchandise from alien lands, and the unknown colour that +wreathed the brows of the Sea, he turned his face to the darkness and the +Inner Lands. + +At that moment the Sea sang a dirge at sunset for all the harm that he had +done in anger and all the ruin wrought on adventurous ships; and there +were tears in the voice of the tyrannous Sea, for he had loved the +galleons that he had overwhelmed, and he called all men to him and all +living things that he might make amends, because he had loved the bones +that he had strewn afar. And Athelvok turned and set one foot upon the +crumbled slope, and then another, and walked a little way to be nearer to +the Sea, and then a dream came upon him and he felt that men had wronged +the lovely Sea because he had been angry a little, because he had been +sometimes cruel; he felt that there was trouble among the tides of the Sea +because he had loved the galleons who were dead. Still he walked on and +the crumbled stones rolled with him, and just as the twilight faded and a +star appeared he came to the golden shore, and walked on till the surges +were about his knees, and he heard the prayer-like blessings of the Sea. +Long he stood thus, while the stars came out above him and shone again in +the surges; more stars came wheeling in their courses up from the Sea, +lights twinkled out through all the haven city, lanterns were slung from +the ships, the purple night burned on; and Earth, to the eyes of the gods +as they sat afar, glowed as with one flame. Then Athelvok went into the +haven city; there he met many who had left the Inner Lands before him; +none of them wished to return to the people who had not seen the Sea; many +of them had forgotten the three little kingdoms, and it was rumoured that +one man, who had once tried to return, had found the shifting, crumbled +slope impossible to climb. + +Hilnaric never married. But her dowry was set aside to build a temple +wherein men curse the ocean. + +Once every year, with solemn rite and ceremony, they curse the tides of +the Sea; and the moon looks in and hates them. + + + + +BLAGDAROSS + + +On a waste place strewn with bricks in the outskirts of a town twilight +was falling. A star or two appeared over the smoke, and distant windows +lit mysterious lights. The stillness deepened and the loneliness. Then all +the outcast things that are silent by day found voices. + +An old cork spoke first. He said: "I grew in Andalusian woods, but never +listened to the idle songs of Spain. I only grew strong in the sunlight +waiting for my destiny. One day the merchants came and took us all away +and carried us all along the shore of the sea, piled high on the backs of +donkeys, and in a town by the sea they made me into the shape that I am +now. One day they sent me northward to Provence, and there I fulfilled my +destiny. For they set me as a guard over the bubbling wine, and I +faithfully stood sentinel for twenty years. For the first few years in the +bottle that I guarded the wine slept, dreaming of Provence; but as the +years went on he grew stronger and stronger, until at last whenever a man +went by the wind would put out all his might against me, saying, 'Let me +go free; let me go free!' And every year his strength increased, and he +grew more clamourous when men went by, but never availed to hurl me from +my post. But when I had powerfully held him for twenty years they brought +him to the banquet and took me from my post, and the wine arose rejoicing +and leapt through the veins of men and exalted their souls within them +till they stood up in their places and sang Provencal songs. But me they +cast away--me that had been sentinel for twenty years, and was still as +strong and staunch as when first I went on guard. Now I am an outcast in a +cold northern city, who once have known the Andalusian skies and guarded +long ago Provencal suns that swam in the heart of the rejoicing wine." + +An unstruck match that somebody had dropped spoke next. "I am a child of +the sun," he said, "and an enemy of cities; there is more in my heart than +you know of. I am a brother of Etna and Stromboli; I have fires lurking in +me that will one day rise up beautiful and strong. We will not go into +servitude on any hearth nor work machines for our food, but we will take +out own food where we find it on that day when we are strong. There are +wonderful children in my heart whose faces shall be more lively than the +rainbow; they shall make a compact with the North wind, and he shall lead +them forth; all shall be black behind them and black above them, and there +shall be nothing beautiful in the world but them; they shall seize upon +the earth and it shall be theirs, and nothing shall stop them but our old +enemy the sea." + +Then an old broken kettle spoke, and said: "I am the friend of cities. I +sit among the slaves upon the hearth, the little flames that have been fed +with coal. When the slaves dance behind the iron bars I sit in the middle +of the dance and sing and make our masters glad. And I make songs about +the comfort of the cat, and about the malice that is towards her in the +heart of the dog, and about the crawling of the baby, and about the ease +that is in the lord of the house when we brew the good brown tea; and +sometimes when the house is very warm and slaves and masters are glad, I +rebuke the hostile winds that prowl about the world." + +And then there spoke the piece of an old cord. "I was made in a place of +doom, and doomed men made my fibres, working without hope. Therefore there +came a grimness into my heart, so that I never let anything go free when +once I was set to bind it. Many a thing have I bound relentlessly for +months and years; for I used to come coiling into warehouses where the +great boxes lay all open to the air, and one of them would be suddenly +closed up, and my fearful strength would be set on him like accurse, and +if his timbers groaned when first I seized them, or if they creaked aloud +in the lonely night, thinking of woodlands out of which they came, then I +only gripped them tighter still, for the poor useless hate is in my soul +of those that made me in the place of doom. Yet, for all the things that +my prison-clutch has held, the last work that I did was to set something +free. I lay idle one night in the gloom on the warehouse floor. Nothing +stirred there, and even the spider slept. Towards midnight a great flock +of echoes suddenly leapt up from the wooden planks and circled round the +roof. A man was coming towards me all alone. And as he came his soul was +reproaching him, and I saw that there was a great trouble between the man +and his soul, for his soul would not let him be, but went on reproaching +him. + +"Then the man saw me and said, 'This at least will not fail me.' When I +heard him say this about me, I determined that whatever he might require +of me it should be done to the uttermost. And as I made this determination +in my unfaltering heart, he picked me up and stood on an empty box that I +should have bound on the morrow, and tied one end of me to a dark rafter; +and the knot was carelessly tied, because his soul was reproaching him all +the while continually and giving him no ease. Then he made the other end +of me into a noose, but when the man's soul saw this it stopped +reproaching the man, and cried out to him hurriedly, and besought him to +be at peace with it and to do nothing sudden; but the man went on with his +work, and put the noose down over his face and underneath his chin, and +the soul screamed horribly. + +"Then the man kicked the box away with his foot, and the moment he did +this I knew that my strength was not great enough to hold him; but I +remembered that he had said I would not fail him, and I put all my grim +vigour into my fibres and held by sheer will. Then the soul shouted to me +to give way, but I said: + +"'No; you vexed the man.' + +"Then it screamed for me to leave go of the rafter, and already I was +slipping, for I only held on to it by a careless knot, but I gripped with +my prison grip and said: + +"'You vexed the man.' + +"And very swiftly it said other things to me, but I answered not; and at +last the soul that vexed the man that had trusted me flew away and left +him at peace. I was never able to bind things any more, for every one of +my fibres was worn and wrenched, and even my relentless heart was weakened +by the struggle. Very soon afterwards I was thrown out here. I have done +my work." + +So they spoke among themselves, but all the while there loomed above them +the form of an old rocking-horse complaining bitterly. He said: "I am +Blagdaross. Woe is me that I should lie now an outcast among these worthy +but little people. Alas! for the days that are gathered, and alas for the +Great One that was a master and a soul to me, whose spirit is now shrunken +and can never know me again, and no more ride abroad on knightly quests. I +was Bucephalus when he was Alexander, and carried him victorious as far as +Ind. I encountered dragons with him when he was St. George, I was the +horse of Roland fighting for Christendom, and was often Rosinante. I +fought in tournays and went errant upon quests, and met Ulysses and the +heroes and the fairies. Or late in the evening, just before the lamps in +the nursery were put out, he would suddenly mount me, and we would gallop +through Africa. There we would pass by night through tropic forests, and +come upon dark rivers sweeping by, all gleaming with the eyes of +crocodiles, where the hippopotamus floated down with the stream, and +mysterious craft loomed suddenly out of the dark and furtively passed +away. And when we had passed through the forest lit by the fireflies we +would come to the open plains, and gallop onwards with scarlet flamingoes +flying along beside us through the lands of dusky kings, with golden +crowns upon their heads and scepters in their hands, who came running out +of their palaces to see us pass. Then I would wheel suddenly, and the dust +flew up from my four hooves as I turned and we galloped home again, and my +master was put to bed. And again he would ride abroad on another day till +we came to magical fortresses guarded by wizardry and overthrew the +dragons at the gate, and ever came back with a princess fairer than the +sea. + +"But my master began to grow larger in his body and smaller in his soul, +and then he rode more seldom upon quests. At last he saw gold and never +came again, and I was cast out here among these little people." + +But while the rocking-horse was speaking two boys stole away, unnoticed by +their parents, from a house on the edge of the waste place, and were +coming across it looking for adventures. One of them carried a broom, and +when he saw the rocking-horse he said nothing, but broke off the handle +from the broom and thrust it between his braces and his shirt on the left +side. Then he mounted the rocking-horse, and drawing forth the broomstick, +which was sharp and spiky at the end, said, "Saladin is in this desert +with all his paynims, and I am Coeur de Lion." After a while the other boy +said: "Now let me kill Saladin too." But Blagdaross in his wooden heart, +that exulted with thoughts of battle, said: "I am Blagdaross yet!" + + + + +THE MADNESS OF ANDELSPRUTZ + + +I first saw the city of Andelsprutz on an afternoon in spring. The day was +full of sunshine as I came by the way of the fields, and all that morning +I had said, "There will be sunlight on it when I see for the first time +the beautiful conquered city whose fame has so often made for me lovely +dreams." Suddenly I saw its fortifications lifting out of the fields, and +behind them stood its belfries. I went in by a gate and saw its houses and +streets, and a great disappointment came upon me. For there is an air +about a city, and it has a way with it, whereby a man may recognized one +from another at once. There are cities full of happiness and cities full +of pleasure, and cities full of gloom. There are cities with their faces +to heaven, and some with their faces to earth; some have a way of looking +at the past and others look at the future; some notice you if you come +among them, others glance at you, others let you go by. Some love the +cities that are their neighbours, others are dear to the plains and to the +heath; some cities are bare to the wind, others have purple cloaks and +others brown cloaks, and some are clad in white. Some tell the old tale of +their infancy, with others it is secret; some cities sing and some mutter, +some are angry, and some have broken hearts, and each city has her way of +greeting Time. + +I had said: "I will see Andelsprutz arrogant with her beauty," and I had +said: "I will see her weeping over her conquest." + +I had said: "She will sing songs to me," and "she will be reticent," "she +will be all robed," and "she will be bare but splendid." + +But the windows of Andelsprutz in her houses looked vacantly over the +plains like the eyes of a dead madman. At the hour her chimes sounded +unlovely and discordant, some of them were out of tune, and the bells of +some were cracked, her roofs were bald and without moss. At evening no +pleasant rumour arose in her streets. When the lamps were lit in the +houses no mystical flood of light stole out into the dusk, you merely saw +that there were lighted lamps; Andelsprutz had no way with her and no air +about her. When the night fell and the blinds were all drawn down, then I +perceived what I had not thought in the daylight. I knew then that +Andelsprutz was dead. + +I saw a fair-haired man who drank beer in a cafe, and I said to him: + +"Why is the city of Andelsprutz quite dead, and her soul gone hence?" + +He answered: "Cities do not have souls and there is never any life in +bricks." + +And I said to him: "Sir, you have spoken truly." + +And I asked the same question of another man, and he gave me the same +answer, and I thanked him for his courtesy. And I saw a man of a more +slender build, who had black hair, and channels in his cheeks for tears to +run in, and I said to him: + +"Why is Andelsprutz quite dead, and when did her soul go hence?" + +And he answered: "Andelsprutz hoped too much. For thirty years would she +stretch out her arms toward the land of Akla every night, to Mother Akla +from whom she had been stolen. Every night she would be hoping and +sighing, and stretching out her arms to Mother Akla. At midnight, once a +year, on the anniversary of the terrible day, Akla would send spies to lay +a wreath against the walls of Andelsprutz. She could do no more. And on +this night, once in every year, I used to weep, for weeping was the mood +of the city that nursed me. Every night while other cities slept did +Andelsprutz sit brooding here and hoping, till thirty wreaths lay +mouldering by her walls, and still the armies of Akla could not come. + +"But after she had hoped so long, and on the night that faithful spies had +brought her thirtieth wreath, Andelsprutz went suddenly mad. All the bells +clanged hideously in the belfries, horses bolted in the streets, the dogs +all howled, the stolid conquerors awoke and turned in their beds and slept +again; and I saw the grey shadowy form of Andelsprutz rise up, decking her +hair with the phantasms of cathedrals, and stride away from her city. And +the great shadowy form that was the soul of Andelsprutz went away +muttering to the mountains, and there I followed her--for had she not been +my nurse? Yes, I went away alone into the mountains, and for three days, +wrapped in a cloak, I slept in their misty solitudes. I had no food to +eat, and to drink I had only the water of the mountain streams. By day no +living thing was near to me, and I heard nothing but the noise of the +wind, and the mountain streams roaring. But for three nights I heard all +round me on the mountain the sounds of a great city: I saw the lights of +tall cathedral windows flash momentarily on the peaks, and at times the +glimmering lantern of some fortress patrol. And I saw the huge misty +outline of the soul of Andelsprutz sitting decked with her ghostly +cathedrals, speaking to herself, with her eyes fixed before her in a mad +stare, telling of ancient wars. And her confused speech for all those +nights upon the mountain was sometimes the voice of traffic, and then of +church bells, and then of bugles, but oftenest it was the voice of red +war; and it was all incoherent, and she was quite mad. + +"The third night it rained heavily all night long, but I stayed up there +to watch the soul of my native city. And she still sat staring straight +before her, raving; but here voice was gentler now, there were more chimes +in it, and occasional song. Midnight passed, and the rain still swept down +on me, and still the solitudes of the mountain were full of the mutterings +of the poor mad city. And the hours after midnight came, the cold hours +wherein sick men die. + +"Suddenly I was aware of great shapes moving in the rain, and heard the +sound of voices that were not of my city nor yet of any that I ever knew. +And presently I discerned, though faintly, the souls of a great concourse +of cities, all bending over Andelsprutz and comforting her, and the +ravines of the mountains roared that night with the voices of cities that +had lain still for centuries. For there came the soul of Camelot that had +so long ago forsaken Usk; and there was Ilion, all girt with towers, still +cursing the sweet face of ruinous Helen; I saw there Babylon and +Persepolis, and the bearded face of bull-like Nineveh, and Athens mourning +her immortal gods. + +"All these souls if cities that were dead spoke that night on the mountain +to my city and soothed her, until at last she muttered of war no longer, +and her eyes stared wildly no more, but she hid her face in her hands and +for some while wept softly. At last she arose, and walking slowly and with +bended head, and leaning upon Ilion and Carthage, went mournfully +eastwards; and the dust of her highways swirled behind her as she went, a +ghostly dust that never turned to mud in all that drenching rain. And so +the souls of the cities led her away, and gradually they disappeared from +the mountain, and the ancient voices died away in the distance. + +"Now since then have I seen my city alive; but once I met with a traveler +who said that somewhere in the midst of a great desert are gathered +together the souls of all dead cities. He said that he was lost once in a +place where there was no water, and he heard their voices speaking all the +night." + +But I said: "I was once without water in a desert and heard a city +speaking to me, but knew not whether it really spoke to me or not, for on +that day I heard so many terrible things, and only some of them were +true." + +And the man with the black hair said: "I believe it to be true, though +whither she went I know not. I only know that a shepherd found me in the +morning faint with hunger and cold, and carried me down here; and when I +came to Andelsprutz it was, as you have perceived it, dead." + + + + +WHERE THE TIDES EBB AND FLOW + + +I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied +me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me. + +I waited for some hours, knowing this. Then my friends came for me, and +slew me secretly and with ancient rite, and lit great tapers, and carried +me away. + +It was all in London that the thing was done, and they went furtively at +dead of night along grey streets and among mean houses until they came to +the river. And the river and the tide of the sea were grappling with one +another between the mud-banks, and both of them were black and full of +lights. A sudden wonder came in to the eyes of each, as my friends came +near to them with their glaring tapers. All these things I saw as they +carried me dead and stiffening, for my soul was still among my bones, +because there was no hell for it, and because Christian burial was denied +me. + +They took me down a stairway that was green with slimy things, and so came +slowly to the terrible mud. There, in the territory of forsaken things, +they dug a shallow grave. When they had finished they laid me in the +grave, and suddenly they cast their tapers to the river. And when the +water had quenched the flaring lights the tapers looked pale and small as +they bobbed upon the tide, and at once the glamour of the calamity was +gone, and I noticed then the approach of the huge dawn; and my friends +cast their cloaks over their faces, and the solemn procession was turned +into many fugitives that furtively stole away. + +Then the mud came back wearily and covered all but my face. There I lay +alone with quite forgotten things, with drifting things that the tides +will take no farther, with useless things and lost things, and with the +horrible unnatural bricks that are neither stone nor soil. I was rid of +feeling, because I had been killed, but perception and thought were in my +unhappy soul. The dawn widened, and I saw the desolate houses that crowded +the marge of the river, and their dead windows peered into my dead eyes, +windows with bales behind them instead of human souls. I grew so weary +looking at these forlorn things that I wanted to cry out, but could not, +because I was dead. Then I knew, as I had never known before, that for all +the years that herd of desolate houses had wanted to cry out too, but, +being dead, were dumb. And I knew then that it had yet been well with the +forgotten drifting things if they had wept, but they were eyeless and +without life. And I, too, tried to weep, but there were no tears in my +dead eyes. And I knew then that the river might have cared for us, might +have caressed us, might have sung to us, but he swept broadly onwards, +thinking of nothing but the princely ships. + +At last the tide did what the river would not, and came and covered me +over, and my soul had rest in the green water, and rejoiced and believed +that it had the Burial of the Sea. But with the ebb the water fell again, +and left me alone again with the callous mud among the forgotten things +that drift no more, and with the sight of all those desolate houses, and +with the knowledge among all of us that each was dead. + +In the mournful wall behind me, hung with green weeds, forsaken of the +sea, dark tunnels appeared, and secret narrow passages that were clamped +and barred. From these at last the stealthy rats came down to nibble me +away, and my soul rejoiced thereat and believed that he would be free +perforce from the accursed bones to which burial was refused. Very soon +the rats ran away a little space and whispered among themselves. They +never came any more. When I found that I was accursed even among the rats +I tried to weep again. + +Then the tide came swinging back and covered the dreadful mud, and hid the +desolate houses, and soothed the forgotten things, and my soul had ease +for a while in the sepulture of the sea. And then the tide forsook me +again. + +To and fro it came about me for many years. Then the County Council found +me, and gave me decent burial. It was the first grave that I had ever +slept in. That very night my friends came for me. They dug me up and put +me back again in the shallow hold in the mud. + +Again and again through the years my bones found burial, but always behind +the funeral lurked one of those terrible men who, as soon as night fell, +came and dug them up and carried them back again to the hole in the mud. + +And then one day the last of those men died who once had done to me this +terrible thing. I heard his soul go over the river at sunset. + +And again I hoped. + +A few weeks afterwards I was found once more, and once more taken out of +that restless place and given deep burial in sacred ground, where my soul +hoped that it should rest. + +Almost at once men came with cloaks and tapers to give me back to the mud, +for the thing had become a tradition and a rite. And all the forsaken +things mocked me in their dumb hearts when they saw me carried back, for +they were jealous of me because I had left the mud. It must be remembered +that I could not weep. + +And the years went by seawards where the black barges go, and the great +derelict centuries became lost at sea, and still I lay there without any +cause to hope, and daring not to hope without a cause, because of the +terrible envy and the anger of the things that could drift no more. + +Once a great storm rode up, even as far as London, out of the sea from the +South; and he came curving into the river with the fierce East wind. And +he was mightier than the dreary tides, and went with great leaps over the +listless mud. And all the sad forgotten things rejoiced, and mingled with +things that were haughtier than they, and rode once more amongst the +lordly shipping that was driven up and down. And out of their hideous home +he took my bones, never again, I hoped, to be vexed with the ebb and flow. +And with the fall of the tide he went riding down the river and turned to +the southwards, and so went to his home. And my bones he scattered among +many isles and along the shores of happy alien mainlands. And for a +moment, while they were far asunder, my soul was almost free. + +Then there arose, at the will of the moon, the assiduous flow of the tide, +and it undid at once the work of the ebb, and gathered my bones from the +marge of sunny isles, and gleaned them all along the mainland's shores, +and went rocking northwards till it came to the mouth of the Thames, and +there turned westwards its relentless face, and so went up the river and +came to the hole in the mud, and into it dropped my bones; and partly the +mud covered them, and partly it left them white, for the mud cares not for +its forsaken things. + +Then the ebb came, and I saw the dead eyes of the houses and the jealousy +of the other forgotten things that the storm had not carried thence. + +And some more centuries passed over the ebb and flow and over the +loneliness of things for gotten. And I lay there all the while in the +careless grip of the mud, never wholly covered, yet never able to go free, +and I longed for the great caress of the warm Earth or the comfortable lap +of the Sea. + +Sometimes men found my bones and buried them, but the tradition never +died, and my friends' successors always brought them back. At last the +barges went no more, and there were fewer lights; shaped timbers no longer +floated down the fairway, and there came instead old wind-uprooted trees +in all their natural simplicity. + +At last I was aware that somewhere near me a blade of grass was growing, +and the moss began to appear all over the dead houses. One day some +thistledown went drifting over the river. + +For some years I watched these signs attentively, until I became certain +that London was passing away. Then I hoped once more, and all along both +banks of the river there was anger among the lost things that anything +should dare to hope upon the forsaken mud. Gradually the horrible houses +crumbled, until the poor dead things that never had had life got decent +burial among the weeds and moss. At last the may appeared and the +convolvulus. Finally, the wild rose stood up over mounds that had been +wharves and warehouses. Then I knew that the cause of Nature had +triumphed, and London had passed away. + +The last man in London came to the wall by the river, in an ancient cloak +that was one of those that once my friends had worn, and peered over the +edge to see that I still was there. Then he went, and I never saw men +again: they had passed away with London. + +A few days after the last man had gone the birds came into London, all the +birds that sing. When they first saws me they all looked sideways at me, +then they went away a little and spoke among themselves. + +"He only sinned against Man," they said; "it is not our quarrel." + +"Let us be kind to him," they said. + +Then they hopped nearer me and began to sing. It was the time of the +rising of the dawn, and from both banks of the river, and from the sky, +and from the thickets that were once the streets, hundreds of birds were +singing. As the light increased the birds sang more and more; they grew +thicker and thicker in the air above my head, till there were thousands of +them singing there, and then millions, and at last I could see nothing but +a host of flickering wings with the sunlight on them, and little gaps of +sky. Then when there was nothing to be heard in London but the myriad +notes of that exultant song, my soul rose up from the bones in the hole in +the mud and began to climb heavenwards. And it seemed that a lane-way +opened amongst the wings of the birds, and it went up and up, and one of +the smaller gates of Paradise stood ajar at the end of it. And then I knew +by a sign that the mud should receive me no more, for suddenly I found +that I could weep. + +At this moment I opened my eyes in bed in a house in London, and outside +some sparrows were twittering in a tree in the light of the radiant +morning; and there were tears still wet upon my face, for one's restraint +is feeble while one sleeps. But I arose and opened the window wide, and +stretching my hands out over the little garden, I blessed the birds whose +song had woken me up from the troubled and terrible centuries of my dream. + + + + +BETHMOORA + + +There is a faint freshness in the London night as though some strayed +reveler of a breeze had left his comrades in the Kentish uplands and had +entered the town by stealth. The pavements are a little damp and shiny. +Upon one's ears that at this late hour have become very acute there hits +the tap of a remote footfall. Louder and louder grow the taps, filling the +whole night. And a black cloaked figure passes by, and goes tapping into +the dark. One who has danced goes homewards. Somewhere a ball has closed +its doors and ended. Its yellow lights are out, its musicians are silent, +its dancers have all gone into the night air, and Time has said of it, +"Let it be past and over, and among the things that I have put away." + +Shadows begin to detach themselves from their great gathering places. No +less silently than those shadows that are thin and dead move homewards the +stealthy cats. Thus have we even in London our faint forebodings of the +dawn's approach, which the birds and the beasts and the stars are crying +aloud to the untrammeled fields. + +At what moment I know not I perceive that the night itself is irrevocably +overthrown. It is suddenly revealed to me by the weary pallor of the +street lamps that the streets are silent and nocturnal still, not because +there is any strength in night, but because men have not yet arisen from +sleep to defy him. So have I seen dejected and untidy guards still bearing +antique muskets in palatial gateways, although the realms of the monarch +that they guard have shrunk to a single province which no enemy yet has +troubled to overrun. + +And it is now manifest from the aspect of the street lamps, those abashed +dependants of night, that already English mountain peaks have seen the +dawn, that the cliffs of Dover are standing white to the morning, that the +sea-mist has lifted and is pouring inland. + +And now men with a hose have come and are sluicing out the streets. + +Behold now night is dead. + +What memories, what fancies throng one's mind! A night but just now +gathered out of London by the horrific hand of Time. A million common +artificial things all cloaked for a while in mystery, like beggars robed +in purple, and seated on dread thrones. Four million people asleep, +dreaming perhaps. What worlds have they gone into? Whom have they met? But +my thoughts are far off with Bethmoora in her loneliness, whose gates +swing to and fro. To and fro they swing, and creak and creak in the wind, +but no one hears them. They are of green copper, very lovely, but no one +sees them now. The desert wind pours sand into their hinges, no watchman +comes to ease them. No guard goes round Bethmoora's battlements, no enemy +assails them. There are no lights in her houses, no footfall on her +streets, she stands there dead and lonely beyond the Hills of Hap, and I +would see Bethmoora once again, but dare not. + +It is many a year, they tell me, since Bethmoora became desolate. + +Her desolation is spoken of in taverns where sailors meet, and certain +travellers have told me of it. + +I had hoped to see Bethmoora once again. It is many a year ago, they say, +when the vintage was last gathered in from the vineyards that I knew, +where it is all desert now. It was a radiant day, and the people of the +city were dancing by the vineyards, while here and there one played upon +the kalipac. The purple flowering shrubs were all in bloom, and the snow +shone upon the Hills of Hap. + +Outside the copper gates they crushed the grapes in vats to make the +syrabub. It had been a goodly vintage. + +In the little gardens at the desert's edge men beat the tambang and the +tittibuk, and blew melodiously the zootibar. + +All there was mirth and song and dance, because the vintage had been +gathered in, and there would be ample syrabub for the winter months, and +much left over to exchange for turquoises and emeralds with the merchants +who come down from Oxuhahn. Thus they rejoiced all day over their vintage +on the narrow strip of cultivated ground that lay between Bethmoora and +the desert which meets the sky to the South. And when the heat of the day +began to abate, and the sun drew near to the snows on the Hills of Hap, +the note of the zootibar still rose clear from the gardens, and the +brilliant dresses of the dancers still wound among the flowers. All that +day three men on mules had been noticed crossing the face of the Hills of +Hap. Backwards and forwards they moved as the track wound lower and lower, +three little specks of black against the snow. They were seen first in the +very early morning up near the shoulder of Peol Jagganoth, and seemed to +be coming out of Utnar Vehi. All day they came. And in the evening, just +before the lights come out and colours change, they appeared before +Bethmoora's copper gates. They carried staves, such as messengers bear in +those lands, and seemed sombrely clad when the dancers all came round them +with their green and lilac dresses. Those Europeans who were present and +heard the message given were ignorant of the language, and only caught the +name of Utnar Vehi. But it was brief, and passed rapidly from mouth to +mouth, and almost at once the people burnt their vineyards and began to +flee away from Bethmoora, going for the most part northwards, though some +went to the East. They ran down out of their fair white houses, and +streamed through the copper gate; the throbbing of the tambang and the +tittibuk suddenly ceased with the note of the Zootibar, and the clinking +kalipac stopped a moment after. The three strange travellers went back the +way they came the instant their message was given. It was the hour when a +light would have appeared in some high tower, and window after window +would have poured into the dusk its lion-frightening light, and the cooper +gates would have been fastened up. But no lights came out in windows there +that night and have not ever since, and those copper gates were left wide +and have never shut, and the sound arose of the red fire crackling in the +vineyards, and the pattering of feet fleeing softly. There were no cries, +no other sounds at all, only the rapid and determined flight. They fled as +swiftly and quietly as a herd of wild cattle flee when they suddenly see a +man. It was as though something had befallen which had been feared for +generations, which could only be escaped by instant flight, which left no +time for indecision. + +Then fear took the Europeans also, and they too fled. And what the message +was I have never heard. + +Many believe that it was a message from Thuba Mleen, the mysterious +emperor of those lands, who is never seen by man, advising that Bethmoora +should be left desolate. Others say that the message was one of warning +from the gods, whether from friendly gods or from adverse ones they know +not. + +And others hold that the Plague was ravaging a line of cities over in +Utnar Vehi, following the South-west wind which for many weeks had been +blowing across them towards Bethmoora. + +Some say that the terrible gnousar sickness was upon the three travellers, +and that their very mules were dripping with it, and suppose that they +were driven to the city by hunger, but suggest no better reason for so +terrible a crime. + +But most believe that it was a message from the desert himself, who owns +all the Earth to the southwards, spoken with his peculiar cry to those +three who knew his voice--men who had been out on the sand-wastes without +tents by night, who had been by day without water, men who had been out +there where the desert mutters, and had grown to know his needs and his +malevolence. They say that the desert had a need for Bethmoora, that he +wished to come into her lovely streets, and to send into her temples and +her houses his storm-winds draped with sand. For he hates the sound and +the sight of men in his old evil heart, and he would have Bethmoora silent +and undisturbed, save for the weird love he whispers to her gates. + +If I knew what that message was that the three men brought on mules, and +told in the copper gate, I think that I should go and see Bethmoora once +again. For a great longing comes on me here in London to see once more +that white and beautiful city, and yet I dare not, for I know not the +danger I should have to face, whether I should risk the fury of unknown +dreadful gods, or some disease unspeakable and slow, or the desert's curse +or torture in some little private room of the Emperor Thuba Mleen, or +something that the travelers have not told--perhaps more fearful still. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + + +So I came down through the wood on the bank of Yann and found, as had been +prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her cable. + +The captain sat cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar lying +beside him in its jeweled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to spread the +nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of Yann, and all +the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of the evening +descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous abode of distant +gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious city, into the +wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered the +greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to inquire +concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the most holy gods +of whatever land he had come from. And the captain answered that he came +from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that were the least and humblest, +who seldom sent the famine or the thunder, and were easily appeased with +little battles. And I told how I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, +whereat the captain and all the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are +no such places in all the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock +me, I explained that my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, +about a beautiful blue city called Golthoth the Damned, which was +sentinelled all round by wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly +desolate for years and years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke +in anger and could never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as +far as Pungar Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which +trades with the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon +the abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that evening I +bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay him for any fare +if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as far as the cliffs by +the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven had +held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the imminent +approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the jungle on either +bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches of the trees were +silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the forest were going up +and down, and the great stars came gleaming out to look on the face of +Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and hung them round the ship, and +the light flashed out on a sudden and dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed +along his marshy banks all suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the +upper air, and saw the distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that +softly cloaked the jungle, before they returned again to their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, but +five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together five or +six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different faiths, so +that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As soon as any one +had finished his prayer, another of the same faith would take his place. +Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended heads under the fluttering +sail, while the central stream of the River Yann took them on towards the +sea, and their prayers rose up from among the lanterns and went towards +the stars. And behind them in the after end of the ship the helmsman +prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, which is prayed by all who follow his +trade upon the River Yann, of whatever faith they be. And the captain +prayed to his little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous God +there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were being +humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, whom the +men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now unworshipped and +alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all men +who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers comforted +our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elate with molten +snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, and the +Marn and Migris were swollen with floods; and he bore us in his full might +past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the mid-stream +of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all awoke, +and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of Yann +and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. Then while +the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the gate of +Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the guard. A +sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, armed with a +rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered with dust. +Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was over all of it. +The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on doorsteps; in the +market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of incense came wafted +through the gateway, of incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of +the echoes of distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the +region of Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they will wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to ask +him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because none +might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the _Bird of the +River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering over +her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out again, +and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the sun was +moving toward his heights, and there had reached us on the River Yann the +song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend him in his progress +round the world. For the little creatures that have many legs had spread +their gauze wings easily on the air, as a man rests his elbows on a +balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial praises to the sun, or else they +moved together on the air in wavering dances intricate and swift, or +turned aside to avoid the onrush of some drop of water that a breeze had +shaken from a jungle orchid, chilling the air and driving it before it, as +it fell whirring in its rush to the earth; but all the while they sang +triumphantly. "For the day is for us," they said, "whether our great and +sacred father the Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, +or whether all the world shall end tonight." And there sang all those +whose notes are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more +numerous notes have been never heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold and +rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, but +danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of distant +conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some encampment +of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond that would never +abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple orchids +and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the jungle's decay. +And they, too, were among those whose voices are not discernible by human +ears. And as they floated above the river, going from forest to forest, +their splendour was matched by the inimical beauty of the birds who darted +out to pursue them. Or sometimes they settled on the white and wax-like +blooms of the plant that creeps and clambers about the trees of the +forest; and their purple wings flashed out on the great blossoms as, when +the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, the gleaming silks flash out upon the +snow, where the crafty merchants spread them one by one to astonish the +mountaineers of the Hills of Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent drowsiness. The river monsters along +the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched a +pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and then +went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an awning +between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of his own +city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen asleep. The +captain offered me the shade of his pavillion with the gold tassels, and +there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was taking merchandise +to Perdondaris, and that he would take back to fair Belzoond things +appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I watched through the +pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and butterflies that crossed and +recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I was a monarch +entering his capital underneath arches of flags, and all the musicians of +the world were there, playing melodiously their instruments; but no one +cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens upon +the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to the +steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three sides of +which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court and along +the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity and care +according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city was of +ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, +remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were +represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from +Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different +species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, +that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no notice at all of us as we went +by, but continued their processions and ceremonies in the ancient city, +and the sailors, knowing their custom, took no notice of them. But I +called, as we came near, to one who stood beside the water's edge, asking +him what men did in Astahahn and what their merchandise was, and with whom +they traded. He said, "Here we have fettered and manacled Time, who would +otherwise slay the gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and would +say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with ancient +custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted onwards and left +Astahahn. The river widened below Astahahn, and we found in greater +quantities such birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in +their plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind, straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had appeared +over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at the trees +with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, chilling the air; +and white shapes moved away into the jungle as though the ghosts of +shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in the darkness for the +spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted summit +of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the slime in which +they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the great beasts of the +jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while since were gone to +rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed night seemed already to +have fallen, though the sun which had disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions as +soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the widgeon +began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, and then would +suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by us the small and +arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of flocks of geese, which +the sailors told me had recently come in from crossing over the Lispasian +ranges; every year they come by the same way, close by the peak of Mluna, +leaving it to the left, and the mountain eagles know the way they come +and--men say--the very hour, and every year they expect them by the same +way as soon as the snows have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it +grew so dark that we heard those birds no more, and only heard the +whirring of their wings, and of countless others besides, until they all +settled down along the banks of the river, and it was the hour when the +birds of the night went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the +night, and huge moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments +their gorgeous colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would +pass into the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors +prayed, and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our +lives into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdondaris, that famous +city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and notable, and +all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the jungle that was so +long with us. And we were anchored by the market-place, and the captain's +merchandise was all displayed, and a merchant of Perdondaris stood looking +at it. And the captain had his scimitar in his hand, and was beating with +it in anger upon the deck, and the splinters were flying up from the white +planks; for the merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that +the captain declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, +whom he now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great fatness, +showing the pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought not at all, +but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to whom he wished to +sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, leaving no +remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly the thick +toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the floor, and +tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the merchant said if he +offered a piffek more the poor folk must go without their toomarunds when +the winter came, and without their tollub in the evenings, or else he and +his aged father must starve together. Thereat the captain lifted his +scimitar to his own throat, saying that he was now a ruined man, and that +nothing remained to him but death. And while he was carefully lifting his +beard with his left hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and +said that rather than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had +conceived an especial love when first he saw the manner in which he +handled his ship, he and his aged father should starve together and +therefore he offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his gods +that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his little +lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain wept, +for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant also wept, +for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of how he soon +would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his hands, and eyed +the tollub again between his fingers. And so the bargain was concluded, +and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, paying for them out of a +great clinking purse. And these were packed up into bales again, and three +of the merchant's slaves carried them upon their heads into the city. And +all the while the sailors had sat silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon +the deck, eagerly watching the bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction +arose among them, and they began to compare it among themselves with other +bargains that they had known. And I found out from them that there are +seven merchants in Perdondaris, and that they had all come to the captain +one by one before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately +against the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the +wine of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and all +made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because he knew +that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the bargain that +he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their native land, and soon +their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and the little neighbouring +cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little jar some heavy yellow wine +from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. Thick and +sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a mighty, ardent +fire which had authority over souls of men. It was made, the captain told +me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of a family of six who lived +in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once in these mountains, he said, +he followed the spoor of a bear, and he came suddenly on a man of that +family who had hunted the same bear, and he was at the end of a narrow way +with precipice all about him, and his spear was sticking in the bear, and +the wound was not fatal, and he had no other weapon. And the bear was +walking towards the man, very slowly because his wound irked him--yet he +was now very close. And what he captain did he would not say, but every +year as soon as the snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian +Min, that man comes down to the market in the plains, and always leaves +for the captain in the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless +secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide of +the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not now +minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. Towards +evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdondaris before we left in the +morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore alone. +Certainly Perdondaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed by a wall of +great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for troops to walk +in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen strong towers on it +in every mile, and copper plaques low down where men could read them, +telling in all the languages of those parts of the earth--one language on +each plaque--the tale of how an army once attacked Perdondaris and what +befell that army. Then I entered Perdondaris and found all the people +dancing, clad in brilliant silks, and playing on the tambang as they +danced. For a fearful thunderstorm had terrified them while I slept, and +the fires of death, they said, had danced over Perdondaris, and now the +thunder had gone leaping away large and black and hideous, they said, over +the distant hills, and had turned round snarling at them, shoving his +gleaming teeth, and had stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they +rang as though they had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in +their merry dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God +that we know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his +hills." And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon +the marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves were +fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I came to a +silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were many wonders in +Perdondaris, and I would have stayed and seen them all, but as I came to +the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it a huge ivory gate. For a +while I paused and admired it, then I came nearer and perceived the +dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I ran +I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of the +fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps even +then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I felt +safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up from +the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of Perdondaris +still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain and told him +quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at once about the +gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; and I told him how +the weight of the thing was such that it could not have been brought from +afar, and the captain knew that it had not been there a year ago. We +agreed that such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of +man, and that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near +and recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so +he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the +anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the +last rays of the sun we left Perdondaris, that famous city. And night came +down and cloaked Perdondaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things +have happened will never see it again; for I have heard since that +something swift and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdondaris in a +day--towers, walls and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with stars. +And with the night there rose the helmsman's song. As soon as he had +prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely night. But +first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is what I +remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble equivalent of the +rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic nights. + +To whatever god may hear. + +Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their way be +dark or whether through storm: whether their peril be of beast or of rock: +or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: wherever the tiller is +cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors sleep or helmsmen watch: +guard, guide and return us to the old land, that has known us: to the far +homes that we know. + +To all the gods that are. + +To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster of +the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. And +he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old dragon-legends of +Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little tales +and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over the black +jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great bands of +stars that look on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl and Duz, and of +the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and the flocks that they +had, and the loves that they had loved, and all the little things that +they had hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in skins and blankets, +listening to those songs, and watching the fantastic shapes of the great +trees like to black giants stalking through the night, I suddenly fell +asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the flow of +the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves appeared; for +Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, and knew that their +ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet the merry wild Irillion +rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off from him the torpid sleep +that had come upon him in the hot and scented jungle, and forgot its +orchids and its butterflies, and swept on turbulent, expectant, strong; +and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills of Glorm came glittering into view. +And now the sailors were waking up from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then +the helmsman laid him down to sleep while a comrade took his place, and +they all spread over him their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came down +dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And now +we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the sailors stood +up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own far off Acroctian +hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the plains stands fair +Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder and +louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down from +the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, and +wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up near the +mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then she went +away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, and opened +upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the light of the day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the marshes +of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and slowly, and +the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the dreariness of +the marshes. + +At last the Irusian mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then night came down over +the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We heard the +Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and Golzunda, then all but +the helmsman slept. And villages scattered along the banks of the Yann +heard all that night in the helmsman's unknown tongue the little songs of +cities that they knew not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I remembered +why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching day, according +to all foreseen probabilities, we should come to Bar-Wul-Yann, and I +should part from the captain and his sailors. And I had liked the man +because he had given me of his yellow wine that was set apart among his +sacred things, and many a story he had told me about his fair Belzoond +between the Acroctian hills and the Hian Min. And I had liked the ways +that his sailors had, and the prayers that they prayed at evening side by +side, grudging not one another their alien gods. And I had a liking too +for the tender way in which they often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is +good that men should love their native cities and the little hills that +hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acroctian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others in +the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by the +fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced us all +alike outside Perdondaris, a danger that, as things have happened, was +very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; and +the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled awhile; +then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northward, so that the +sailors had to hoist the sails and, the wind being favorable, we still +held onwards. + +And we passed Gondara and Narl and Haz. And we saw memorable, holy Golnuz, +and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the last +of the cities on the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us once +again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over all things, +and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and found +that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that is +known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the people of +Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering at their own +streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had crowded all the ways, +and every one was doing some strange thing. Some danced astounding dances +that they had learned from the desert wind, rapidly curving and swirling +till the eye could follow no longer. Others played upon instruments +beautiful wailing tunes that were full of horror, which souls had taught +them lost by night in the desert, that strange far desert from which the +Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any part +of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were made were +of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were barbed at the +tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that seemed to be akin +to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear that haunts dark +places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told one +another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew ought of their +language yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, and as the +tale wound on the whites of their eyes showed vividly in terror as the +eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then the teller of the +tale would smile and stop, and another would tell his story, and the +teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with fear. And if some +deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would greet him as a brother, +and the snake would seem to give his greetings to them before he passed on +again. Once that most fierce and lethal of tropic snakes, the giant +lythra, came out of the jungle and all down the street, the central street +of Nen, and none of the Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played +sonorously on drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and +the snake moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one of +them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in silence +with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly draw from +his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen could do nothing +of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they greet +the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of Mloon, but it +was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain might return from +Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on board and continued +down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, for we were thinking of +our parting, which should be for long, and we watched instead the +splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a ruddy gold, but a faint +mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into it poured the smoke of the +little jungle cities, and the smoke of them met together in the mist and +joined into one haze, which became purple, and was lit by the sun, as the +thoughts of men become hallowed by some great and sacred thing. Some times +one column from a lonely house would rise up higher than the cities' +smoke, and gleam by itself in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight that I +had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either shore two +cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing in the light of +the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of mountainous altitude, and +they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance through +that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where little +fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sun set, and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld--and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the colours +of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those cliffs was to +me as some chord of music that a master's hand had launched from the +violin, and which carries to Heaven or Faery the tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no further, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back to +his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian Min, and I to +find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields that all poets +know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through whose windows, +looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and looking eastwards +see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, going range on range +into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the kingdom of Fantasy, which +pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we regarded one another, knowing that +we should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped hands, +uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in his +country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to his +little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + + + + +THE SWORD AND THE IDOL + + +It was a cold winter's evening late in the Stone Age; the sun had gone +down blazing over the plains of Thold; there were no clouds, only the +chill blue sky and the imminence of stars; and the surface of the sleeping +Earth began to harden against the cold of the night. Presently from their +lairs arose, and shook themselves and went stealthily forth, those of +Earth's children to whom it is the law to prowl abroad as soon as the dusk +has fallen. And they went pattering softly over the plain, and their eyes +shone in the dark, and crossed and recrossed one another in their courses. +Suddenly there became manifest in the midst of the plain that fearful +portent of the presence of Man--a little flickering fire. And the children +of Earth who prowl abroad by night looked sideways at it and snarled and +edged away; all but the wolves, who came a little nearer, for it was +winter and the wolves were hungry, and they had come in thousands from the +mountains, and they said in their hearts, "We are strong." Around the fire +a little tribe was encamped. They, too, had come from the mountains, and +from lands beyond them, but it was in the mountains that the wolves first +winded them; they picked up bones at first that the tribe had dropped, but +they were closer now and on all sides. It was Loz who had lit the fire. He +had killed a small furry beast, hurling his stone axe at it, and had +gathered a quantity of reddish-brown stones, and had laid them in a long +row, and placed bits of the small beast all along it; then he lit a fire +on each side, and the stones heated, and the bits began to cook. It was at +this time that the tribe noticed that the wolves who had followed them so +far were no longer content with the scraps of deserted encampments. A line +of yellow eyes surrounded them, and when it moved it was to come nearer. +So the men of the tribe hastily tore up brushwood, and felled a small tree +with their flint axes, and heaped it all over the fire that Loz had made, +and for a while the great heap hid the flame, and the wolves came trotting +in and sat down again on their haunches much closer than before; and the +fierce and valiant dogs that belonged to the tribe believed that their end +was about to come while fighting, as they had long since prophesied it +would. Then the flame caught the lofty stack of brushwood, and rushed out +of it, and ran up the side of it, and stood up haughtily far over the top, +and the wolves seeing this terrible ally of Man reveling there in his +strength, and knowing nothing of this frequent treachery to his masters, +went slowly away as though they had other purposes. And for the rest of +that night the dogs of the encampment cried out to them and besought them +to come back. But the tribe lay down all round the fire under thick furs +and slept. And a great wind arose and blew into the roaring heart of the +fire till it was red no longer, but all pallid with heat. With the dawn +the tribe awoke. + +Loz might have known that after such a mighty conflagration nothing could +remain of his small furry beast, but there was hunger in him and little +reason as he searched among the ashes. What he found there amazed him +beyond measure; there was no meat, there was not even his row of +reddish-brown stones, but something longer than a man's leg and narrower +than his hand, was lying there like a great flattened snake. When Loz +looked at its thin edges and saw that it ran to a point, he picked up +stones to chip it and make it sharp. It was the instinct of Loz to sharpen +things. When he found that it could not be chipped his wonderment +increased. It was many hours before he discovered that he could sharpen +the edges by rubbing them with a stone; but at last the point was sharp, +and all one side of it except near the end, where Loz held it in his hand. +And Loz lifted it and brandished it, and the Stone Age was over. That +afternoon in the little encampment, just as the tribe moved on, the Stone +Age passed away, which, for perhaps thirty or forty thousand years, had +slowly lifted Man from among the beasts and left him with his supremacy +beyond all hope of reconquest. + +It was not for many days that any other man tried to make for himself an +iron sword by cooking the same kind of small furry beast that Loz had +tried to cook. It was not for many years that any thought to lay the meat +along stones as Loz had done; and when they did, being no longer on the +plains of Thold, they used flints or chalk. It was not for many +generations that another piece of iron ore was melted and the secret +slowly guessed. Nevertheless one of Earth's many veils was torn aside by +Loz to give us ultimately the steel sword and the plough, machinery and +factories; let us not blame Loz if we think that he did wrong, for he did +all in ignorance. The tribe moved on until it came to water, and there it +settled down under a hill, and they built their huts there. Very soon they +had to fight with another tribe, a tribe that was stronger than they; but +the sword of Loz was terrible and his tribe slew their foes. You might +make one blow at Loz, but then would come one thrust from that iron sword, +and there was no way of surviving it. No one could fight with Loz. And he +became ruler of the tribe in the place of Iz, who hitherto had ruled it +with his sharp axe, as his father had before him. + +Now Loz begat Lo, and in his old age gave his sword to him, and Lo ruled +the tribe with it. And Lo called the name of the sword Death, because it +was so swift and terrible. + +And Iz begat Ird, who was of no account. And Ird hated Lo because he was +of no account by reason of the iron sword of Lo. + +One night Ird stole down to the hut of Lo, carrying his sharp axe, and he +went very softly, but Lo's dog, Warner, heard him coming, and he growled +softly by his master's door. When Ird came to the hut he heard Lo talking +gently to his sword. And Lo was saying, "Lie still, Death. Rest, rest, old +sword," and then, "What, again, Death? Be still. Be still." + +And then again: "What, art thou hungry, Death? Or thirsty, poor old sword? +Soon, Death, soon. Be still only a little." + +But Ird fled, for he did not like the gentle tone of Lo as he spoke to his +sword. + +And Lo begat Lod. And when Lo died Lod took the iron sword and ruled the +tribe. + +And Ird begat Ith, who was of no account, like his father. + +Now when Lod had smitten a man or killed a terrible beast, Ith would go +away for a while into the forest rather than hear the praises that would +be given to Lod. + +And once, as Ith sat in the forest waiting for the day to pass, he +suddenly thought he saw a tree trunk looking at him as with a face. And +Ith was afraid, for trees should not look at men. But soon Ith saw that it +was only a tree and not a man, though it was like a man. Ith used to speak +to this tree, and tell it about Lod, for he dared not speak to any one +else about him. And Ith found comfort in speaking about Lod. + +One day Ith went with his stone axe into the forest, and stayed there many +days. + +He came back by night, and the next morning when the tribe awoke they saw +something that was like a man and yet was not a man. And it sat on the +hill with its elbows pointing outwards and was quite still. And Ith was +crouching before it, and hurriedly placing before it fruits and flesh, and +then leaping away from it and looking frightened. Presently all the tribe +came out to see, but dared not come quite close because of the fear that +they saw on the face of Ith. And Ith went to his hut, and came back again +with a hunting spear-head and valuable small stone knives, and reached out +and laid them before the thing that was like a man, and then sprang away +from it. + +And some of the tribe questioned Ith about the still thing that was like a +man, and Ith said, "This is Ged." Then they asked, "Who is Ged?" and Ith +said, "Ged sends the crops and the rain; and the sun and the moon are +Ged's." + +Then the tribe went back to their huts, but later in the day some came +again, and they said to Ith, "Ged is only as we are, having hands and +feet." And Ith pointed to the right hand of Ged, which was not as his +left, but was shaped like the paw of a beast, and Ith said, "By this ye +may know that he is not as any man." + +Then they said, "He is indeed Ged." But Lod said, "He speaketh not, nor +doth he eat," and Ith answered, "The thunder is his voice and the famine +is his eating." + +After this the tribe copied Ith, and brought little gifts of meat to Ged; +and Ith cooked them before him that Ged might smell the cooking. + +One day a great thunderstorm came trampling up from the distance and raged +among the hills, and the tribe all hid away from it in their huts. And Ith +appeared among the huts looking unafraid. And Ith said little, but the +tribe thought that he had expected the terrible storm because the meat +that they had laid before Ged had been tough meat, and not the best parts +of the beasts they slew. + +And Ged grew to have more honour among the tribe than Lod. And Lod was +vexed. + +One night Lod arose when all were asleep, and quieted his dog, and took +his iron sword and went away to the hill. And he came on Ged in the +starlight, sitting still, with his elbows pointing outwards, and his +beast's paw, and the mark of the fire on the ground where his food had +been cooked. + +And Lod stood there for a while in great fear, trying to keep to his +purpose. Suddenly he stepped up close to Ged and lifted his iron sword, +and Ged neither hit nor shrank. Then the thought came into Lod's mind, +"Ged does not hit. What will Ged do instead?" + +And Lod lowered his sword and struck not, and his imagination began to +work on that "What will Ged do instead?" + +And the more Lod thought, the worse was his fear of Ged. + +And Lod ran away and left him. + +Lod still ruled the tribe in battle or in the hunt, but the chiefest +spoils of battle were given to Ged, and the beasts that they slew were +Ged's; and all questions that concerned war or peace, and questions of law +and disputes, were always brought to him, and Ith gave the answers after +speaking to Ged by night. + +At last Ith said, the day after an eclipse, that the gifts which they +brought to Ged were not enough, that some far greater sacrifice was +needed, that Ged was very angry even now, and not to be appeased by any +ordinary sacrifice. + +And Ith said that to save the tribe from the anger of Ged he would speak +to Ged that night, and ask him what new sacrifice he needed. + +Deep in his heart Lod shuddered, for his instinct told him that Ged wanted +Lod's only son, who should hold the iron sword when Lod was gone. + +No one would dare touch Lod because of the iron sword, but his instinct +said in his slow mind again and again, "Ged loves Ith. Ith has said so. +Ith hates the sword-holders." + +"Ith hates the sword-holders. Ged loves Ith." + +Evening fell and the night came when Ith should speak with Ged, and Lod +became ever surer of the doom of his race. + +He lay down but could not sleep. + +Midnight had barely come when Lod arose and went with his iron sword again +to the hill. + +And there sat Ged. Had Ith been to him yet? Ith whom Ged loved, who hated +the sword-holders. + +And Lod looked long at the old sword of iron that had come to his +grandfather on the plains of Thold. + +Good-bye, old sword! And Lod laid it on the knees of Ged, then went away. + +And when Ith came, a little before dawn, the sacrifice was found +acceptable unto Ged. + + + + +THE IDLE CITY + + +There was once a city which was an idle city, wherein men told vain tales. + +And it was that city's custom to tax all men that would enter in, with the +toll of some idle story in the gate. + +So all men paid to the watchers in the gate the toll of an idle story, and +passed into the city unhindered and unhurt. And in a certain hour of the +night when the king of that city arose and went pacing swiftly up and down +the chamber of his sleeping, and called upon the name of the dead queen, +then would the watchers fasten up the gate and go into that chamber to the +king, and, sitting on the floor, would tell him all the tales that they +had gathered. And listening to them some calmer mood would come upon the +king, and listening still he would lie down again and at last fall asleep, +and all the watchers silently would arise and steal away from the chamber. + +A while ago wandering, I came to the gate of that city. And even as I came +a man stood up to pay his toll to the watchers. They were seated +cross-legged on the ground between him and the gate, and each one held a +spear. Near him two other travellers sat on the warm sand waiting. And the +man said: + +"Now the city of Nombros forsook the worship of the gods and turned +towards God. So the gods threw their cloaks over their faces and strode +away from the city, and going into the haze among the hills passed through +the trunks of the olive groves into the sunset. But when they had already +left the Earth, they turned and looked through the gleaming folds of the +twilight for the last time at their city; and they looked half in anger +and half in regret, then turned and went away for ever. But they sent back +a Death, who bore a scythe, saying to it: 'Slay half in the city that +forsook us, but half of them spare alive that they may yet remember their +old forsaken gods.' + +"But God sent a destroying angel to show that He was God, saying unto him: +'Go into that city and slay half of the dwellers therein, yet spare a half +of them that they may know that I am God.' + +"And at once the destroying angel put his hand to his sword, and the sword +came out of the scabbard with a deep breath, like to the breath that a +broad woodman takes before his first blow at some giant oak. Thereat the +angel pointed his arms downwards, and bending his head between them, fell +forward from Heaven's edge, and the spring of his ankles shot him +downwards with his wings furled behind him. So he went slanting earthward +through the evening with his sword stretched out before him, and he was +like a javelin that some hunter hath hurled that returneth again to the +earth: but just before he touched it he lifted his head and spread his +wings with the under feathers forward, and alighted by the bank of the +broad Flavro that divides the city of Nombros. And down the bank of the +Flavro he fluttered low, like to a hawk over a new-cut cornfield when the +little creatures of the corn are shelterless, and at the same time down +the other bank the Death from the gods went mowing. + +"At once they saw each other, and the angel glared at the Death, and the +Death leered back at him, and the flames in the eyes of the angel +illumined with a red glare the mist that lay in the hollows of the sockets +of the Death. Suddenly they fell on one another, sword to scythe. And the +angel captured the temples of the gods, and set up over them the sign of +God, and the Death captured the temples of God, and led into them the +ceremonies and sacrifices of the gods; and all the while the centuries +slipped quietly by, going down the Flavro seawards. + +"And now some worship God in the temple of the gods, and others worship the +gods in the temple of God, and still the angel hath not returned again to +the rejoicing choirs, and still the Death hath not gone back to die with +the dead gods; but all through Nombros they fight up and down, and still +on each side of the Flavro the city lives." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then another traveler rose up, and said: + +"Solemnly between Huhenwazy and Nitcrana the huge grey clouds came +floating. And those great mountains, heavenly Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, the +king of peaks, greeted them, calling them brothers. And the clouds were +glad of their greeting, for they meet with companions seldom in the lonely +heights of the sky. + +"But the vapours of evening said unto the earth-mist, 'What are those +shapes that dare to move above us and to go where Nitcrana is and +Huhenwazi?' + +"And the earth-mist said in answer unto the vapours of evening, 'It is +only an earth-mist that has become mad and has left the warm and +comfortable earth, and has in his madness thought that his place is with +Huhenwazi and Nitcrana.' + +"'Once,' said the vapours of evening, 'there were clouds, but this was +many and many a day ago, as our forefathers have said. Perhaps the mad one +thinks he is the clouds.' + +"Then spake the earth-worms from the warm deeps of the mud, saying 'O +earth-mist, thou art indeed the clouds, and there are no clouds but thou. +And as for Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, I cannot see them, and therefore they +are not high, and there are no mountains in the world but those that I +cast up every morning out of the deeps of the mud.' + +"And the earth-mist and the vapours of evening were glad at the voice of +the earth-worms, and looking earthward believed what they had said. + +"And indeed it is better to be as the earth-mist, and to keep close to the +warm mud at night, and to hear the earth-worm's comfortable speech, and +not to be a wanderer in the cheerless heights, but to leave the mountains +alone with their desolate snow, to draw what comfort they can from their +vast aspect over all the cities of men, and from the whispers that they +hear at evening of unknown distant gods." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then a man stood up who came out of the west, and told a western tale. He +said: + +"There is a road in Rome that runs through an ancient temple that once the +gods had loved; it runs along the top of a great wall, and the floor of +the temple lies far down beneath it, of marble, pink and white. + +"Upon the temple floor I counted to the number of thirteen hungry cats. + +"'Sometimes,' they said among themselves, 'it was the gods that lived +here, sometimes it was men, and now it's cats. So let us enjoy the sun on +the hot marble before another people comes.' + +"For it was at that hour of a warm afternoon when my fancy is able to hear +silent voices. + +"And the awful leanness of all those thirteen cats moved me to go into a +neighbouring fish shop, and there to buy a quantity of fishes. Then I +returned and threw them all over the railing at the top of the great wall, +and they fell for thirty feet, and hit the sacred marble with a smack. + +"Now, in any other town but Rome, or in the minds of any other cats, the +sight of fishes falling out of heaven had surely excited wonder. They rose +slowly, and all stretched themselves, then they came leisurely towards the +fishes. 'It is only a miracle,' they said in their hearts." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Proudly and slowly, as they spoke, drew up to them a camel, whose rider +sought entrance to the city. His face shone with the sunset by which for +long he had steered for the city's gate. Of him they demanded toll. +Whereat he spoke to his camel, and the camel roared and kneeled, and the +man descended from him. And the man unwrapped from many silks a box of +divers metals wrought by the Japanese, and on the lid of it were figures +of men who gazed from some shore at an isle of the Inland Sea. This he +showed to the watchers, and when they had seen it, said, "It has seemed to +me that these speak to each other thus: + +"'Behold now Oojni, the dear one of the sea, the little mother sea that +hath no storms. She goeth out from Oojni singing a song, and she returneth +singing over her sands. Little is Oojni in the lap of the sea, and scarce +to be perceived by wondering ships. White sails have never wafted her +legends afar, they are told not by bearded wanderers of the sea. Her +fireside tales are known not to the North, the dragons of China have not +heard of them, nor those that ride on elephants through Ind. + +"'Men tell the tales and the smoke ariseth upwards; the smoke departeth +and the tales are told. + +"'Oojni is not a name among the nations, she is not know of where the +merchants meet, she is not spoken of by alien lips. + +"'Indeed, but Oojni is a little among the isles, yet is she loved by those +that know her coasts and her inland places hidden from the sea. + +"Without glory, without fame, and without wealth, Oojni is greatly loved +by a little people, and by a few; yet not by few, for all her dead still +love her, and oft by night come whispering through her woods. Who could +forget Oojni even among the dead? + +"For here in Oojni, wot you, are homes of men, and gardens, and golden +temples of the gods, and sacred places inshore from the sea, and many +murmurous woods. And there is a path that winds over the hills to go into +mysterious holy lands where dance by night the spirits of the woods, or +sing unseen in the sunlight; and no one goes into these holy lands, for +who that love Oojni could rob her of her mysteries, and the curious aliens +come not. Indeed, but we love Oojni though she is so little; she is the +little mother of our race, and the kindly nurse of all seafaring birds. + +"And behold, even now caressing her, the gentle fingers of the mother sea, +whose dreams are far with that old wanderer Ocean. + +"And yet let us forget not Fuzi-Yama, for he stands manifest over clouds +and sea, misty below, and vague and indistinct, but clear above for all +the isles to watch. The ships make all their journeys in his sight, the +nights and the days go by him like a wind, the summers and winters under +him flicker and fade, the lives of men pass quietly here and hence, and +Fuzi-Yama watches there--and knows." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +And I, too, would have told them a tale, very wonderful and very true; one +that I had told in many cities, which as yet had no believers. But now the +sun had set, and the brief twilight gone, and ghostly silences were rising +from far and darkening hills. A stillness hung over that city's gate. And +the great silence of the solemn night was more acceptable to the watchers +in the gate than any sound of man. Therefore they beckoned to us, and +motioned with their hands that we should pass untaxed into the city. And +softly we went up over the sand, and between the high rock pillars of the +gate, and a deep stillness settled among the watchers, and the stars over +them twinkled undisturbed. + +For how short a while man speaks, and withal how vainly. And for how long +he is silent. Only the other day I met a king in Thebes, who had been +silent already for four thousand years. + + + + +THE HASHISH MAN + + +I was at a dinner in London the other day. The ladies had gone upstairs, +and no one sat on my right; on my left there was a man I did not know, but +he knew my name somehow apparently, for he turned to me after a while, and +said, "I read a story of yours about Bethmoora in a review." + +Of course I remembered the tale. It was about a beautiful Oriental city +that was suddenly deserted in a day--nobody quite knew why. I said, "Oh, +yes," and slowly searched in my mind for some more fitting acknowledgment +of the compliment that his memory had paid me. + +I was greatly astonished when he said, "You were wrong about the gnousar +sickness; it was not that at all." + +I said, "Why! Have you been there?" + +And he said, "Yes; I do it with hashish. I know Bethmoora well." And he +took out of his pocket a small box full of some black stuff that looked +like tar, but had a stranger smell. He warned me not to touch it with my +finger, as the stain remained for days. "I got it from a gipsy," he said. +"He had a lot of it, as it had killed his father." But I interrupted him, +for I wanted to know for certain what it was that had made desolate that +beautiful city, Bethmoora, and why they fled from it swiftly in a day. +"Was it because of the Desert's curse?" I asked. And he said, "Partly it +was the fury of the Desert and partly the advice of the Emperor Thuba +Mleen, for that fearful beast is in some way connected with the Desert on +his mother's side." And he told me this strange story: "You remember the +sailor with the black scar, who was there on the day that you described +when the messengers came on mules to the gate of Bethmoora, and all the +people fled. I met this man in a tavern, drinking rum, and he told me all +about the flight from Bethmoora, but knew no more than you did what the +message was, or who had sent it. However, he said he would see Bethmoora +once more whenever he touched again at an eastern port, even if he had to +face the Devil. He often said that he would face the Devil to find out the +mystery of that message that emptied Bethmoora in a day. And in the end he +had to face Thuba Mleen, whose weak ferocity he had not imagined. For one +day the sailor told me he had found a ship, and I met him no more after +that in the tavern drinking rum. It was about that time that I got the +hashish from the gipsy, who had a quantity that he did not want. It takes +one literally out of oneself. It is like wings. You swoop over distant +countries and into other worlds. Once I found out the secret of the +universe. I have forgotten what it was, but I know that the Creator does +not take Creation seriously, for I remember that He sat in Space with all +His work in front of Him and laughed. I have seen incredible things in +fearful worlds. As it is your imagination that takes you there, so it is +only by your imagination that you can get back. Once out in aether I met a +battered, prowling spirit, that had belonged to a man whom drugs had +killed a hundred years ago; and he led me to regions that I had never +imagined; and we parted in anger beyond the Pleiades, and I could not +imagine my way back. And I met a huge grey shape that was the Spirit of +some great people, perhaps of a whole star, and I besought It to show me +my way home, and It halted beside me like a sudden wind and pointed, and, +speaking quite softly, asked me if I discerned a certain tiny light, and I +saw a far star faintly, and then It said to me, 'That is the Solar +System,' and strode tremendously on. And somehow I imagined my way back, +and only just in time, for my body was already stiffening in a chair in my +room; and the fire had gone out and everything was cold, and I had to move +each finger one by one, and there were pins and needles in them, and +dreadful pains in the nails, which began to thaw; and at last I could move +one arm, and reached a bell, and for a long time no one came, because +every one was in bed. But at last a man appeared, and they got a doctor; +and HE said that it was hashish poisoning, but it would have been all +right if I hadn't met that battered, prowling spirit. + +"I could tell you astounding things that I have seen, but you want to know +who sent that message to Bethmoora. Well, it was Thuba Mleen. And this is +how I know. I often went to the city after that day you wrote of (I used +to take hashish of an evening in my flat), and I always found it +uninhabited. Sand had poured into it from the desert, and the streets were +yellow and smooth, and through open, swinging doors the sand had drifted. + +"One evening I had put the guard in front of the fire, and settled into a +chair and eaten my hashish, and the first thing that I saw when I came to +Bethmoora was the sailor with the black scar, strolling down the street, +and making footprints in the yellow sand. And now I knew that I should see +what secret power it was that kept Bethmoora uninhabited. + +"I saw that there was anger in the Desert, for there were storm clouds +heaving along the skyline, and I heard a muttering amongst the sand. + +"The sailor strolled on down the street, looking into the empty houses as +he went; sometimes he shouted and sometimes he sang, and sometimes he +wrote his name on a marble wall. Then he sat down on a step and ate his +dinner. After a while he grew tired of the city, and came back up the +street. As he reached the gate of green copper three men on camels +appeared. + +"I could do nothing. I was only a consciousness, invisible, wandering: my +body was in Europe. The sailor fought well with his fists, but he was +over-powered and bound with ropes, and led away through the Desert. + +"I followed for as long as I could stay, and found that they were going by +the way of the Desert round the Hills of Hap towards Utnar Vehi, and then +I knew that the camel men belonged to Thuba Mleen. + +"I work in an insurance office all day, and I hope you won't forget me if +ever you want to insure--life, fire, or motor--but that's no part of my +story. I was desperately anxious to get back to my flat, though it is not +good to take hashish two days running; but I wanted to see what they would +do to the poor fellow, for I had heard bad rumours about Thuba Mleen. When +at last I got away I had a letter to write; then I rang for my servant, +and told him that I must not be disturbed, though I left my door unlocked +in case of accidents. After that I made up a good fire, and sat down and +partook of the pot of dreams. I was going to the palace of Thuba Mleen. + +"I was kept back longer than usual by noises in the street, but suddenly I +was up above the town; the European countries rushed by beneath me, and +there appeared the thin white palace spires of horrible Thuba Mleen. I +found him presently at the end of a little narrow room. A curtain of red +leather hung behind him, on which all the names of God, written in +Yannish, were worked with a golden thread. Three windows were small and +high. The Emperor seemed no more than about twenty, and looked small and +weak. No smiles came on his nasty yellow face, though he tittered +continually. As I looked from his low forehead to his quivering under lip, +I became aware that there was some horror about him, though I was not able +to perceive what it was. And then I saw it--the man never blinked; and +though later on I watched those eyes for a blink, it never happened once. + +"And then I followed the Emperor's rapt glance, and I saw the sailor lying +on the floor, alive but hideously rent, and the royal torturers were at +work all round him. They had torn long strips from him, but had not +detached them, and they were torturing the ends of them far away from the +sailor." The man that I met at dinner told me many things which I must +omit. "The sailor was groaning softly, and every time he groaned Thuba +Mleen tittered. I had no sense of smell, but I could hear and see, and I +do not know which was the most revolting--the terrible condition of the +sailor or the happy unblinking face of horrible Thuba Mleen. + +"I wanted to go away, but the time was not yet come, and I had to stay +where I was. + +"Suddenly the Emperor's face began to twitch violently and his under lip +quivered faster, and he whimpered with anger, and cried with a shrill +voice, in Yannish, to the captain of his torturers that there was a spirit +in the room. I feared not, for living men cannot lay hands on a spirit, +but all the torturers were appalled at his anger, and stopped their work, +for their hands trembled in fear. Then two men of the spear-guard slipped +from the room, and each of them brought back presently a golden bowl, with +knobs on it, full of hashish; and the bowls were large enough for heads to +have floated in had they been filled with blood. And the two men fell to +rapidly, each eating with two great spoons--there was enough in each +spoonful to have given dreams to a hundred men. And there came upon them +soon the hashish state, and their spirits hovered, preparing to go free, +while I feared horribly, but ever and anon they fell back again to their +bodies, recalled by some noise in the room. Still the men ate, but lazily +now, and without ferocity. At last the great spoons dropped out of their +hands, and their spirits rose and left them. I could not flee. And the +spirits were more horrible than the men, because they were young men, and +not yet wholly moulded to fit their fearful souls. Still the sailor +groaned softly, evoking little titters from the Emperor Thuba Mleen. Then +the two spirits rushed at me, and swept me thence as gusts of wind sweep +butterflies, and away we went from that small, pale, heinous man. There +was no escaping from these spirits' fierce insistence. The energy in my +minute lump of the drug was overwhelmed by the huge spoonsful that these +men had eaten with both hands. I was whirled over Arvle Woondery, and +brought to the lands of Snith, and swept on still until I came to Kragua, +and beyond this to those bleak lands that are nearly unknown to fancy. And +we came at last to those ivory hills that are named the Mountains of +Madness, and I tried to struggle against the spirits of that frightful +Emperor's men, for I heard on the other side of the ivory hills the +pittering of those beasts that prey on the mad, as they prowled up and +down. It was no fault of mine that my little lump of hashish could not +fight with their horrible spoonsful...." + +Some one was tugging at the hall-door bell. Presently a servant came and +told our host that a policeman in the hall wished to speak to him at once. +He apologised to us, and went outside, and we heard a man in heavy boots, +who spoke in a low voice to him. My friend got up and walked over to the +window, and opened it, and looked outside. "I should think it will be a +fine night," he said. Then he jumped out. When we put our astonished heads +out of the window to look for him, he was already out of sight. + + + + +POOR OLD BILL + + +On an antique haunt of sailors, a tavern of the sea, the light of day was +fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place, in the hope of +hearing something from the sailors, as they sat over strange wines, about +a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old +Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region. + +In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom, and I was +about to leave, when a sailor, wearing ear-rings of pure gold, lifted up +his head from his wine, and looking straight before him at the wall, told +his tale loudly: + +(When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern's leaded +panes, he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker +it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.) + +"A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had +never seen such isles. + +"We all hated the captain, and he hated us. He hated us all alike, there +was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of +us, except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop +and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm. + +"We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. +He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There +was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they +had come up only recently from the sea, and they had no sand or rocks like +honest isles, but green grass down to the water. And there were little +cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches came almost +down to the ground, and were strangely turned up at the corners, and under +the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too +thick to see through. And no one, man or beast, was walking about, so that +you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And +he went ashore and into one of the cottages, and someone lit lights +inside, and the little windows wore an evil look. + +"It was quite dark when he came aboard again, and he bade a cheery +good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way +that frightened poor old Bill. + +"Next night we found that he had learned to curse, for he came on a lot of +us asleep in our bunks, and among them poor old Bill, and he pointed at us +with a finger, and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at +the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill +sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast, and looking at the stars, +and freezing through and through. + +"We got up a little mutiny after that, but Captain comes up and points +with his finger again, and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are +swimming behind the ship through the cold green water, though their bodies +remain on deck. + +"It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn't curse when he +was drunk, though he could shoot as well at one time as another. + +"After that it was only a matter of waiting, and of losing two men when +the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows, and wanted to kill +Captain, but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island, out of the +track of ships, and leaving him there with his share of our year's +provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill, and we decided to +maroon Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn't curse. + +"It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again, and poor old Bill +and all had a dreadful time, for Captain invented new curses every day, +and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got +to know us, and so did the stars, and none of them pitied us when we froze +on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our +way--both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold, +unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight, and the +moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky, and we stopped our work +for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the +colours in the sky, he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And +it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains +making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was +shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe, and we all got +homesick for it, but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we +got back, and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day, but he +cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he +would curse our souls to Hell, and none of us mentioned Hell above a +whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the +cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his +cabin, and we found him lying there across his bunk, and he shot as he had +never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols, and he would +only have killed two men if he hadn't caught Joe over the head with the +end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put +the rum between the Captain's teeth, and kept him drunk for two days, so +that he could not curse, till we found a convenient rock. And before +sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain, out of +the track of ships, about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and +we rowed him along to it in a little boat, and gave him provisions for a +year, the same as we had ourselves, because poor old Bill wanted to be +fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing +a sailor's song. + +"When we could no longer hear Captain singing we all grew very cheerful +and made a banquet out of our year's provisions, as we all hoped to be +home again in under three weeks. We had three great banquets every day for +a week--every man had more than he could eat, and what was left over we +threw on the floor like gentlemen. And then one day, as we saw San +Huegedos, and wanted to sail in to spend our money, the wind changed round +from behind us and beat us out to sea. There was no tacking against it, +and no getting into the harbour, though other ships sailed by us and +anchored there. Sometimes a dead calm would fall on us, while fishing +boats all around us flew before half a gale, and sometimes the wind would +beat us out to sea when nothing else was moving. All day we tried, and at +night we laid to and tried again the next day. And all the sailors of the +other ships were spending their money in San Huegedos and we could not +come nigh it. Then we spoke horrible things against the wind and against +San Huegedos, and sailed away. + +"It was just the same at Norenna. + +"We kept close together now and talked in low voices. Suddenly poor old +Bill grew frightened. As we went all along the Siractic coast-line, we +tried again and again, and the wind was waiting for us in every harbour +and sent us out to sea. Even the little islands would not have us. And +then we knew that there was no landing yet for poor old Bill, and every +one upbraided his kind heart that had made them maroon Captain on a rock, +so as not to have his blood upon their heads. There was nothing to do but +to drift about the seas. There were no banquets now, because we feared +that Captain might live his year and keep us out to sea. + +"At first we used to hail all passing ships, and used to try to board them +in the boats; but there was no towing against Captain's curse, and we had +to give that up. So we played cards for a year in Captain's cabin, night +and day, storm and fine, and every one promised to pay poor old Bill when +we got ashore. + +"It was horrible to us to think what a frugal man Captain really was, he +that used to get drunk every other day whenever he was at sea, and here he +was still alive, and sober too, for his curse still kept us out of every +port, and our provisions were gone. + +"Well, it came to drawing lots, and Jim was the unlucky one. Jim only kept +us about three days, and then we drew lots again, and this time it was the +nigger. The nigger didn't keep us any longer, and we drew again, and this +time it was Charlie, and still Captain was alive. + +"As we got fewer one of us kept us longer. Longer and longer a mate used +to last us, and we all wondered how ever Captain did it. It was five weeks +over the year when we drew Mike, and he kept us for a week, and Captain +was still alive. We wondered he didn't get tired of the same old curse; +but we supposed things looked different when one is alone on an island. + +"When there was only Jakes and poor old Bill and the cabin-boy and Dick, +we didn't draw any longer. We said that the cabin-boy had had all the +luck, and he mustn't expect any more. Then poor old Bill was alone with +Jakes and Dick, and Captain was still alive. When there was no more boy, +and the Captain still alive, Dick, who was a huge strong man like poor old +Bill, said that it was Jakes' turn, and he was very lucky to have lived as +long as he had. But poor old Bill talked it all over with Jakes, and they +thought it better than Dick should take his turn. + +"Then there was Jakes and poor old Bill; and Captain would not die. + +"And these two used to watch one another night and day, when Dick was gone +and no one else was left to them. And at last poor old Bill fell down in a +faint and lay there for an hour. Then Jakes came up to him slowly with his +knife, and makes a stab at poor old Bill as he lies there on the deck. And +poor old Bill caught hold of him by the wrist, and put his knife into him +twice to make quite sure, although it spoiled the best part of the meat. +Then poor old Bill was all alone at sea. + +"And the very next week, before the food gave out, Captain must have died +on his bit of an island; for poor old Bill heard the Captain's soul going +cursing over the sea, and the day after that the ship was cast on a rocky +coast. + +"And Captain's been dead now for over a hundred years, and poor old Bill +is safe ashore again. But it looks as if Captain hadn't done with him yet, +for poor old Bill doesn't ever get any older, and somehow or other he +doesn't seem to die. Poor old Bill!" + +When this was over the man's fascination suddenly snapped, and we all +jumped up and left him. + +It was not only his revolting story, but it was the fearful look in the +eyes of the man who told it, and the terrible ease with which his voice +surpassed the roar of the rain, that decided me never again to enter that +haunt of sailors--the tavern of the sea. + + + + +THE BEGGARS + + +I was walking down Piccadilly not long ago, thinking of nursery rhymes and +regretting old romance. + +As I saw the shopkeepers walk by in their black frock-coats and their +black hats, I thought of the old line in nursery annals: "The merchants of +London, they wear scarlet." + +The streets were all so unromantic, dreary. Nothing could be done for +them, I thought--nothing. And then my thoughts were interrupted by barking +dogs. Every dog in the street seemed to be barking--every kind of dog, not +only the little ones but the big ones too. They were all facing East +towards the way I was coming by. Then I turned round to look and had this +vision, in Piccadilly, on the opposite side to the houses just after you +pass the cab-rank. + +Tall bent men were coming down the street arrayed in marvelous cloaks. All +were sallow of skin and swarthy of hair, and most of them wore strange +beards. They were coming slowly, and they walked with staves, and their +hands were out for alms. + +All the beggars had come to town. + +I would have given them a gold doubloon engraven with the towers of +Castile, but I had no such coin. They did not seem the people to who it +were fitting to offer the same coin as one tendered for the use of a +taxicab (O marvelous, ill-made word, surely the pass-word somewhere of +some evil order). Some of them wore purple cloaks with wide green borders, +and the border of green was a narrow strip with some, and some wore cloaks +of old and faded red, and some wore violet cloaks, and none wore black. +And they begged gracefully, as gods might beg for souls. + +I stood by a lamp-post, and they came up to it, and one addressed it, +calling the lamp-post brother, and said, "O lamp-post, our brother of the +dark, are there many wrecks by thee in the tides of night? Sleep not, +brother, sleep not. There were many wrecks an it were not for thee." + +It was strange: I had not thought of the majesty of the street lamp and +his long watching over drifting men. But he was not beneath the notice of +these cloaked strangers. + +And then one murmured to the street: "Art thou weary, street? Yet a little +longer they shall go up and down, and keep thee clad with tar and wooden +bricks. Be patient, street. In a while the earthquake cometh." + +"Who are you?" people said. "And where do you come from?" + +"Who may tell what we are," they answered, "or whence we come?" + +And one turned towards the smoke-stained houses, saying, "Blessed be the +houses, because men dream therein." + +Then I perceived, what I had never thought, that all these staring houses +were not alike, but different one from another, because they held +different dreams. + +And another turned to a tree that stood by the Green Park railings, +saying, "Take comfort, tree, for the fields shall come again." + +And all the while the ugly smoke went upwards, the smoke that has stifled +Romance and blackened the birds. This, I thought, they can neither praise +nor bless. And when they saw it they raised their hands towards it, +towards the thousand chimneys, saying, "Behold the smoke. The old +coal-forests that have lain so long in the dark, and so long still, are +dancing now and going back to the sun. Forget not Earth, O our brother, +and we wish thee joy of the sun." + +It had rained, and a cheerless stream dropped down a dirty gutter. It had +come from heaps of refuse, foul and forgotten; it had gathered upon its +way things that were derelict, and went to somber drains unknown to man or +the sun. It was this sullen stream as much as all other causes that had +made me say in my heart that the town was vile, that Beauty was dead in +it, and Romance fled. + +Even this thing they blessed. And one that wore a purple cloak with broad +green border, said, "Brother, be hopeful yet, for thou shalt surely come +at last to the delectable Sea, and meet the heaving, huge, and travelled +ships, and rejoice by isles that know the golden sun." Even thus they +blessed the gutter, and I felt no whim to mock. + +And the people that went by, in their black unseemly coats and their +misshapen, monstrous, shiny hats, the beggars also blessed. And one of +them said to one of these dark citizens: "O twin of Night himself, with +thy specks of white at wrist and neck like to Night's scattered stars. How +fearfully thou dost veil with black thy hid, unguessed desires. They are +deep thoughts in thee that they will not frolic with colour, that they say +'No' to purple, and to lovely green 'Begone.' Thou hast wild fancies that +they must needs be tamed with black, and terrible imaginings that they +must be hidden thus. Has thy soul dreams of the angels, and of the walls +of faery that thou hast guarded it so utterly, lest it dazzle astonished +eyes? Even so God hid the diamond deep down in miles of clay. + +"The wonder of thee is not marred by mirth. + +"Behold thou art very secret. + +"Be wonderful. Be full of mystery." + +Silently the man in the black frock-coat passed on. And I came to +understand when the purple beggar had spoken, that the dark citizen had +trafficked perhaps with Ind, that in his heart were strange and dumb +ambitions; that his dumbness was founded by solemn rite on the roots of +ancient tradition; that it might be overcome one day by a cheer in the +street or by some one singing a song, and that when this shopman spoke +there might come clefts in the world and people peering over at the abyss. + +Then turning towards Green Park, where as yet Spring was not, the beggars +stretched out their hands, and looking at the frozen grass and the yet +unbudding trees they, chanting all together, prophesied daffodils. + +A motor omnibus came down the street, nearly running over some of the dogs +that were barking ferociously still. It was sounding its horn noisily. + +And the vision went then. + + + + +_In a letter from a friend whom I have never seen, one of those that read +my books, this line was quoted--"But he, he never came to Carcassonne." I +do not know the origin of the line, but I made this tale about it._ + + +CARCASSONNE + + +When Camorak reigned at Arn, and the world was fairer, he gave a festival +to all the weald to commemorate the splendour of his youth. + +They say that his house at Arn was huge and high, and its ceiling painted +blue; and when evening fell men would climb up by ladders and light the +scores of candles hanging from slender chains. And they say, too, that +sometimes a cloud would come, and pour in through the top of one of the +oriel windows, and it would come over the edge of the stonework as the +sea-mist comes over a sheer cliffs shaven lip where an old wind has blown +for ever and ever (he has swept away thousands of leaves and thousands of +centuries, they are all one to him, he owes no allegiance to Time). And +the cloud would re-shape itself in the hall's lofty vault and drift on +through it slowly, and out to the sky again through another window. And +from its shape the knights in Camorak's hall would prophesy the battles +and sieges of the next season of war. They say of the hall of Camorak at +Arn that there hath been none like it in any land, and foretell that there +will be never. + +Hither had come in the folk of the Weald from sheepfold and from forest, +revolving slow thoughts of food, and shelter, and love, and they sat down +wondering in that famous hall; and therein also were seated the men of +Arn, the town that clustered round the King's high house, and all was +roofed with red, maternal earth. + +If old songs may be trusted, it was a marvelous hall. + +Many who sat there could only have seen it distantly before, a clear shape +in the landscape, but smaller than a hill. Now they beheld along the wall +the weapons of Camorak's men, of which already the lute-players made +songs, and tales were told at evening in the byres. There they described +the shield of Camorak that had gone to and fro across so many battles, and +the sharp but dinted edges of his sword; there were the weapons of Gadriol +the Leal, and Norn, and Athoric of the Sleety Sword, Heriel the Wild, +Yarold, and Thanga of Esk, their arms hung evenly all round the hall, low +where a man could reach them; and in the place of honour in the midst, +between the arms of Camorak and of Gadriol the Leal, hung the harp of +Arleon. And of all the weapons hanging on those walls none were more +calamitous to Camorak's foes than was the harp of Arleon. For to a man +that goes up against a strong place on foot, pleasant indeed is the twang +and jolt of some fearful engine of war that his fellow-warriors are +working behind him, from which huge rocks go sighing over his head and +plunge among his foes; and pleasant to a warrior in the wavering light are +the swift commands of his King, and a joy to him are his comrades' instant +cheers exulting suddenly at a turn of the war. All this and more was the +harp to Camorak's men; for not only would it cheer his warriors on, but +many a time would Arleon of the Harp strike wild amazement into opposing +hosts by some rapturous prophecy suddenly shouted out while his hand swept +over the roaring strings. Moreover, no war was ever declared till Camorak +and his men had listened long to the harp, and were elate with the music +and mad against peace. Once Arleon, for the sake of a rhyme, had made war +upon Estabonn; and an evil king was overthrown, and honour and glory won; +from such queer motives does good sometimes accrue. + +Above the shields and the harps all round the hall were the painted +figures of heroes of fabulous famous songs. Too trivial, because too +easily surpassed by Camorak's men, seemed all the victories that the earth +had known; neither was any trophy displayed of Camorak's seventy battles, +for these were as nothing to his warriors or him compared with those +things that their youth had dreamed and which they mightily purposed yet +to do. + +Above the painted pictures there was darkness, for evening was closing in, +and the candles swinging on their slender chain were not yet lit in the +roof; it was as though a piece of the night had been builded into the +edifice like a huge natural rock that juts into a house. And there sat all +the warriors of Arn and the Weald-folk wondering at them; and none were +more than thirty, and all were skilled in war. And Camorak sat at the head +of all, exulting in his youth. + +We must wrestle with Time for some seven decades, and he is a weak and +puny antagonist in the first three bouts. + +Now there was present at this feast a diviner, one who knew the schemes of +Fate, and he sat among the people of the Weald and had no place of honour, +for Camorak and his men had no fear of Fate. And when the meat was eaten +and the bones cast aside, the king rose up from his chair, and having +drunken wine, and being in the glory of his youth and with all his knights +about him, called to the diviner, saying, "Prophesy." + +And the diviner rose up, stroking his grey beard, and spake +guardedly--"There are certain events," he said, "upon the ways of Fate +that are veiled even from a diviner's eyes, and many more are clear to us +that were better veiled from all; much I know that is better unforetold, +and some things that I may not foretell on pain of centuries of +punishment. But this I know and foretell--that you will never come to +Carcassonne." + +Instantly there was a buzz of talk telling of Carcassonne--some had heard +of it in speech or song, some had read of it, and some had dreamed of it. +And the king sent Arleon of the Harp down from his right hand to mingle +with the Weald-folk to hear aught that any told of Carcassonne. But the +warriors told of the places they had won to--many a hard-held fortress, +many a far-off land, and swore that they would come to Carcassonne. + +And in a while came Arleon back to the king's right hand, and raised his +harp and chanted and told of Carcassonne. Far away it was, and far and far +away, a city of gleaming ramparts rising one over other, and marble +terraces behind the ramparts, and fountains shimmering on the terraces. To +Carcassonne the elf-kings with their fairies had first retreated from men, +and had built it on an evening late in May by blowing their elfin horns. +Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +Travellers had seen it sometimes like a clear dream, with the sun +glittering on its citadel upon a far-off hilltop, and then the clouds had +come or a sudden mist; no one had seen it long or come quite close to it; +though once there were some men that came very near, and the smoke from +the houses blew into their faces, a sudden gust--no more, and these +declared that some one was burning cedarwood there. Men had dreamed that +there is a witch there, walking alone through the cold courts and +corridors of marmorean palaces, fearfully beautiful and still for all her +fourscore centuries, singing the second oldest song, which was taught her +by the sea, shedding tears for loneliness from eyes that would madden +armies, yet will she not call her dragons home--Carcassonne is terribly +guarded. Sometimes she swims in a marble bath through whose deeps a river +tumbles, or lies all morning on the edge of it to dry slowly in the sun, +and watches the heaving river trouble the deeps of the bath. It flows +through the caverns of earth for further than she knows, and coming to +light in the witch's bath goes down through the earth again to its own +peculiar sea. + +In autumn sometimes it comes down black with snow that spring has molten +in unimagined mountains, or withered blooms of mountain shrubs go +beautifully by. + +When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains; +and yet she knows not where those mountains are. + +When she sings the fountains dance up from the dark earth, when she combs +her hair they say there are storms at sea, when she is angry the wolves +grow brave and all come down to the byres, when she is sad the sea is sad, +and both are sad for ever. Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +This city is the fairest of the wonders of Morning; the sun shouts when he +beholdeth it; for Carcassonne Evening weepeth when Evening passeth away. + +And Arleon told how many goodly perils were round about the city, and how +the way was unknown, and it was a knightly venture. Then all the warriors +stood up and sang of the splendour of the venture. And Camorak swore by +the gods that had builded Arn, and by the honour of his warriors that, +alive or dead, he would come to Carcassonne. + +But the diviner rose and passed out of the hall, brushing the crumbs from +him with his hands and smoothing his robe as he went. + +Then Camorak said, "There are many things to be planned, and counsels to +be taken, and provender to be gathered. Upon what day shall we start?" And +all the warriors answering shouted, "Now." And Camorak smiled thereat, for +he had but tried them. Down then from the walls they took their weapons, +Sikorix, Kelleron, Aslof, Wole of the Axe; Huhenoth, Peace-breaker; +Wolwuf, Father of War; Tarion, Lurth of the Warcry and many another. +Little then dreamed the spiders that sat in that ringing hall of the +unmolested leisure they were soon to enjoy. + +When they were armed they all formed up and marched out of the hall, and +Arleon strode before them singing of Carcassonne. + +But the talk of the Weald arose and went back well fed to byres. They had +no need of wars or of rare perils. They were ever at war with hunger. A +long drought or hard winter were to them pitched battles; if the wolves +entered a sheep-fold it was like the loss of a fortress, a thunder-storm +on the harvest was like an ambuscade. Well-fed, they went back slowly to +their byres, being at truce with hunger; and the night filled with stars. + +And black against the starry sky appeared the round helms of the warriors +as they passed the tops of the ridges, but in the valleys they sparkled +now and then as the starlight flashed on steel. + +They followed behind Arleon going south, whence rumours had always come of +Carcassonne: so they marched in the starlight, and he before them singing. + +When they had marched so far that they heard no sound from Arn, and even +inaudible were her swinging bells, when candles burning late far up in +towers no longer sent them their disconsolate welcome; in the midst of the +pleasant night that lulls the rural spaces, weariness came upon Arleon and +his inspiration failed. It failed slowly. Gradually he grew less sure of +the way to Carcassonne. Awhile he stopped to think, and remembered the way +again; but his clear certainty was gone, and in its place were efforts in +his mind to recall old prophecies and shepherd's songs that told of the +marvelous city. Then as he said over carefully to himself a song that a +wanderer had learnt from a goatherd's boy far up the lower slope of +ultimate southern mountains, fatigue came down upon his toiling mind like +snow on the winding ways of a city noisy by night, stilling all. + +He stood, and the warriors closed up to him. For long they had passed by +great oaks standing solitary here and there, like giants taking huge +breaths of the night air before doing some furious deed; now they had come +to the verge of a black forest; the tree-trunks stood like those great +columns in an Egyptian hall whence God in an older mood received the +praise of men; the top of it sloped the way of an ancient wind. Here they +all halted and lighted a fire of branches, striking sparks from flint into +a heap of bracken. They eased them of their armour, and sat round the +fire, and Camorak stood up there and addressed them, and Camorak said: "We +go to war with Fate, who has doomed that I shall not come to Carcassonne. +And if we turn aside but one of the dooms of Fate, then the whole future +of the world is ours, and the future that Fate has ordered is like the dry +course of an averted river. But if such men as we, such resolute +conquerors, cannot prevent one doom that Fate has planned, then is the +race of man enslaved for ever to do its petty and allotted task." + +Then they all drew their swords, and waved them high in the firelight, and +declared war on Fate. + +Nothing in the somber forest stirred or made any sound. + +Tired men do not dream of war. When morning came over the gleaming fields +a company that had set out from Arn discovered the discovered the +camping-place of the warriors, and brought pavilions and provender. And +the warriors feasted, and the birds in the forest sang, and the +inspiration of Arleon awoke. + +Then they rose, and following Arleon, entered the forest, and marched away +to the South. And many a woman of Arn sent her thoughts with them as they +played alone some old monotonous tune, but their own thoughts were far +before them, skimming over the bath through whose deeps the river tumbles +in marble Carcassonne. + +When butterflies were dancing on the air, and the sun neared the zenith, +pavilions were pitched, and all the warriors rested; and then they feasted +again, and then played knightly games, and late in the afternoon marched +on once more, singing of Carcassonne. + +And night came down with its mystery on the forest, and gave their +demoniac look again to the trees, and rolled up out of misty hollows a +huge and yellow moon. + +And the men of Arn lit fires, and sudden shadows arose and leaped +fantastically away. And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and +passed between the tree trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and +waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal +birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses of the +befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a +maiden's song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist's tune played in his +loneliness on distant hills; and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a +galleon's lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar +sea. Upon this night-wind also the dreams of Camorak's men floated to +Carcassonne. + +All the next morning they marched, and all the evening, and knew they were +nearing now the deeps of the forest. And the citizens of Arn kept close +together and close behind the warriors. For the deeps of the forest were +all unknown to travellers, but not unknown to those tales of fear that men +tell at evening to their friends, in the comfort and the safety of their +hearths. Then night appeared, and an enormous moon. And the men of Camorak +slept. Sometimes they woke, and went to sleep again; and those that stayed +awake for long and listened heard heavy two-footed creatures pad through +the night on paws. + +As soon as it was light the unarmed men of Arn began to slip away, and +went back by bands through the forest. When darkness came they did not +stop to sleep, but continued their flight straight on until they came to +Arn, and added there by the tales they told to the terror of the forest. + +But the warriors feasted, and afterwards Arleon rose, and played his harp, +and led them on again; and a few faithful servants stayed with them still. +And they marched all day through a gloom that was as old as night, but +Arleon's inspiration burned in his mind like a star. And he led them till +the birds began to drop into the treetops, and it was evening and they all +encamped. They had only one pavilion left to them now, and near it they +lit a fire, and Camorak posted a sentry with drawn sword just beyond the +glow of the firelight. Some of the warriors slept in the pavilion and +others round about it. + +When dawn came something terrible had killed and eaten the sentry. But the +splendour of the rumours of Carcassonne and Fate's decree that they should +never come there, and the inspiration of Arleon and his harp, all urged +the warriors on; and they marched deeper and deeper all day into the +forest. + +Once they saw a dragon that had caught a bear and was playing with it, +letting it run a little way and overtaking it with a paw. + +They came at last to a clear space in the forest just before nightfall. An +odour of flowers arose from it like a mist, and every drop of dew +interpreted heaven unto itself. + +It was the hour when twilight kisses Earth. + +It was the hour when a meaning comes into senseless things, and trees +out-majesty the pomp of monarchs, and the timid creatures steal abroad to +feed, and as yet the beasts of prey harmlessly dream, and Earth utters a +sigh, and it is night. + +In the midst of the wide clearing Camorak's warriors camped, and rejoiced +to see stars again appearing one by one. + +That night they ate the last of their provisions, and slept unmolested by +the prowling things that haunt the gloom of the forest. + +On the next day some of the warriors hunted stags, and others lay in +rushes by a neighbouring lake and shot arrows at water-fowl. One stag was +killed, and some geese, and several teal. + +Here the adventurers stayed, breathing the pure wild air that cities know +not; by day they hunted, and lit fires by night, and sang and feasted, and +forgot Carcassonne. The terrible denizens of the gloom never molested +them, venison was plentiful, and all manner of water-fowl: they loved the +chase by day, and by night their favourite songs. Thus day after day went +by, thus week after week. Time flung over this encampment a handful of +moons, the gold and silver moons that waste the year away; Autumn and +Winter passed, and Spring appeared; and still the warriors hunted and +feasted there. + +One night of the springtide they were feasting about a fire and telling +tales of the chase, and the soft moths came out of the dark and flaunted +their colours in the firelight, and went out grey into the dark again; and +the night wind was cool upon the warriors' necks, and the camp-fire was +warm in their faces, and a silence had settled among them after some song, +and Arleon all at once rose suddenly up, remembering Carcassonne. And his +hand swept over the strings of his harp, awaking the deeper chords, like +the sound of a nimble people dancing their steps on bronze, and the music +rolled away into the night's own silence, and the voice of Arleon rose: + +"When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains +and longs for the battle-shout of kingly men." + +And suddenly all shouted, "Carcassonne!" And at that word their idleness +was gone as a dream is gone from a dreamer waked with a shout. And soon +the great march began that faltered no more nor wavered. Unchecked by +battles, undaunted in lonesome spaces, ever unwearied by the vulturous +years, the warriors of Camorak held on; and Arleon's inspiration led them +still. They cleft with the music of Arleon's harp the gloom of ancient +silences; they went singing into battles with terrible wild men, and came +out singing, but with fewer voices; they came to villages in valleys full +of the music of bells, or saw the lights at dusk of cottages sheltering +others. + +They became a proverb for wandering, and a legend arose of strange, +disconsolate men. Folks spoke of them at nightfall when the fire was warm +and rain slipped down the eaves; and when the wind was high small children +feared the Men Who Would Not Rest were going clattering past. Strange +tales were told of men in old grey armour moving at twilight along the +tops of the hills and never asking shelter; and mothers told their boys +who grew impatient of home that the grey wanderers were once so impatient +and were now hopeless of rest, and were driven along with the rain +whenever the wind was angry. + +But the wanderers were cheered in their wandering by the hope of coming to +Carcassonne, and later on by anger against Fate, and at last they marched +on still because it seemed better to march on than to think. + +For many years they had wandered and had fought with many tribes; often +they gathered legends in villages and listened to idle singers singing +songs; and all the rumours of Carcassonne still came from the South. + +And then one day they came to a hilly land with a legend in it that only +three valleys away a man might see, on clear days, Carcassonne. Tired +though they were and few, and worn with the years which had all brought +them wars, they pushed on instantly, led still by Arleon's inspiration +which dwindled in his age, though he made music with his old harp still. + +All day they climbed down into the first valley and for two days ascended, +and came to the Town That May Not Be Taken In War below the top of the +mountain, and its gates were shut against them, and there was no way +round. To left and right steep precipices stood for as far as eye could +see or legend tell of, and the pass lay through the city. Therefore +Camorak drew up his remaining warriors in line of battle to wage their +last war, and they stepped forward over the crisp bones of old, unburied +armies. + +No sentinel defied them in the gate, no arrow flew from any tower of war. +One citizen climbed alone to the mountain's top, and the rest hid +themselves in sheltered places. + +Now, in the top of the mountain was a deep, bowl-like cavern in the rock, +in which fires bubbled softly. But if any cast a boulder into the fires, +as it was the custom for one of those citizens to do when enemies +approached them, the mountain hurled up intermittent rocks for three days, +and the rocks fell flaming all over the town and all round about it. And +just as Camorak's men began to batter the gate they heard a crash on the +mountain, and a great rock fell beyond them and rolled into the valley. +The next two fell in front of them on the iron roofs of the town. Just as +they entered the town a rock found them crowded in a narrow street, and +shattered two of them. The mountain smoked and panted; with every pant a +rock plunged into the streets or bounced along the heavy iron roof, and +the smoke went slowly up, and up, and up. + +When they had come through the long town's empty streets to the locked +gate at the end, only fifteen were left. When they had broken down the +gate there were only ten alive. Three more were killed as they went up the +slope, and two as they passed near the terrible cavern. Fate let the rest +go some way down the mountain upon the other side, and then took three of +them. Camorak and Arleon alone were left alive. And night came down on the +valley to which they had come, and was lit by flashes from the fatal +mountain; and the two mourned for their comrades all night long. + +But when the morning came they remembered their war with Fate, and their +old resolve to come to Carcassonne, and the voice of Arleon rose in a +quavering song, and snatches of music from his old harp, and he stood up +and marched with his face southwards as he had done for years, and behind +him Camorak went. And when at last they climbed from the third valley, and +stood on the hill's summit in the golden sunlight of evening, their aged +eyes saw only miles of forest and the birds going to roost. + +Their beards were white, and they had travelled very far and hard; it was +the time with them when a man rests from labours and dreams in light sleep +of the years that were and not of the years to come. + +Long they looked southwards; and the sun set over remoter forests, and +glow-worms lit their lamps, and the inspiration of Arleon rose and flew +away for ever, to gladden, perhaps, the dreams of younger men. + +And Arleon said: "My King, I know no longer the way to Carcassonne." + +And Camorak smiled, as the aged smile, with little cause for mirth, and +said: "The years are going by us like huge birds, whom Doom and Destiny +and the schemes of God have frightened up out of some old grey marsh. And +it may well be that against these no warrior may avail, and that Fate has +conquered us, and that our quest has failed." + +And after this they were silent. + +Then they drew their swords, and side by side went down into the forest, +still seeking Carcassonne. + +I think they got not far; for there were deadly marshes in that forest, +and gloom that outlasted the nights, and fearful beasts accustomed to its +ways. Neither is there any legend, either in verse or among the songs of +the people of the fields, of any having come to Carcassonne. + + + + +IN ZACCARATH + + +"Come," said the King in sacred Zaccarath, "and let our prophets prophesy +before us." + +A far-seen jewel of light was the holy palace, a wonder to the nomads on +the plains. + +There was the King with all his underlords, and the lesser kings that did +him vassalage, and there were all his queens with all their jewels upon +them. + +Who shall tell of the splendour in which they sat; of the thousand lights +and the answering emeralds; of the dangerous beauty of that hoard of +queens, or the flash of their laden necks? + +There was a necklace there of rose-pink pearls beyond the art of the +dreamer to imagine. Who shall tell of the amethyst chandeliers, where +torches, soaked in rare Bhyrinian oils, burned and gave off a scent of +blethany? + +(This herb marvellous, which, growing near the summit of Mount Zaumnos, +scents all the Zaumnian range, and is smelt far out on the Kepuscran +plains, and even, when the wind is from the mountains, in the streets of +the city of Ognoth. At night it closes its petals and is heard to breathe, +and its breath is a swift poison. This it does even by day if the snows +are disturbed about it. No plant of this has ever been captured alive by a +hunter.) + +Enough to say that when the dawn came up it appeared by contrast pallid +and unlovely and stripped bare of all its glory, so that it hid itself +with rolling clouds. + +"Come," said the King, "let our prophets prophesy." + +Then the heralds stepped through the ranks of the King's silk-clad +warriors who lay oiled and scented upon velvet cloaks, with a pleasant +breeze among them caused by the fans of slaves; even their casting-spears +were set with jewels; through their ranks the heralds went with mincing +steps, and came to the prophets, clad in brown and black, and one of them +they brought and set him before the King. And the King looked at him and +said, "Prophesy unto us." + +And the prophet lifted his head, so that his beard came clear from his +brown cloak, and the fans of the slaves that fanned the warriors wafted +the tip of it a little awry. And he spake to the King, and spake thus: + +"Woe unto thee, King, and woe unto Zaccarath. Woe unto thee, and woe unto +thy women, for your fall shall be sore and soon. Already in Heaven the +gods shun thy god: they know his doom and what is written of him: he sees +oblivion before him like a mist. Thou hast aroused the hate of the +mountaineers. They hate thee all along the crags of Droom. The evilness of +thy days shall bring down the Zeedians on thee as the suns of springtide +bring the avalanche down. They shall do unto Zaccarath as the avalanche +doth unto the hamlets of the valley." When the queens chattered or +tittered among themselves, he merely raised his voice and still spake on: +"Woe to these walls and the carven things upon them. The hunter shall know +the camping-places of the nomads by the marks of the camp-fires on the +plain, but he shall not know the place of Zaccarath." + +A few of the recumbent warriors turned their heads to glance at the +prophet when he ceased. Far overhead the echoes of his voice hummed on +awhile among the cedarn rafters. + +"Is he not splendid?" said the King. And many of that assembly beat with +their palms upon the polished floor in token of applause. Then the prophet +was conducted back to his place at the far end of that mighty hall, and +for a while musicians played on marvellous curved horns, while drums +throbbed behind them hidden in a recess. The musicians were sitting +crosslegged on the floor, all blowing their huge horns in the brilliant +torchlight, but as the drums throbbed louder in the dark they arose and +moved slowly nearer to the King. Louder and louder drummed the drums in +the dark, and nearer and nearer moved the men with the horns, so that +their music should not be drowned by the drums before it reached the King. + +A marvellous scene it was when the tempestuous horns were halted before +the King, and the drums in the dark were like the thunder of God; and the +queens were nodding their heads in time to the music, with their diadems +flashing like heavens of falling stars; and the warriors lifted their +heads and shook, as they lifted them, the plumes of those golden birds +which hunters wait for by the Liddian lakes, in a whole lifetime killing +scarcely six, to make the crests that the warriors wore when they feasted +in Zaccarath. Then the King shouted and the warriors sang--almost they +remembered then old battle-chants. And, as they sang, the sound of the +drums dwindled, and the musicians walked away backwards, and the drumming +became fainter and fainter as they walked, and altogether ceased, and they +blew no more on their fantastic horns. Then the assemblage beat on the +floor with their palms. And afterwards the queens besought the King to +send for another prophet. And the heralds brought a singer, and placed him +before the King; and the singer was a young man with a harp. And he swept +the strings of it, and when there was silence he sang of the iniquity of +the King. And he foretold the onrush of the Zeedians, and the fall and the +forgetting of Zaccarath, and the coming again of the desert to its own, +and the playing about of little lion cubs where the courts of the palace +had stood. + +"Of what is he singing?" said a queen to a queen. + +"He is singing of everlasting Zaccarath." + +As the singer ceased the assemblage beat listlessly on the floor, and the +King nodded to him, and he departed. + +When all the prophets had prophesied to them and all the singers sung, +that royal company arose and went to other chambers, leaving the hall of +festival to the pale and lonely dawn. And alone were left the lion-headed +gods that were carven out of the walls; silent they stood, and their rocky +arms were folded. And shadows over their faces moved like curious thoughts +as the torches flickered and the dull dawn crossed the fields. And the +colours began to change in the chandeliers. + +When the last lutanist fell asleep the birds began to sing. + +Never was greater splendour or a more famous hall. When the queens went +away through the curtained door with all their diadems, it was as though +the stars should arise in their stations and troop together to the West at +sunrise. + +And only the other day I found a stone that had undoubtedly been a part of +Zaccarath, it was three inches long and an inch broad; I saw the edge of +it uncovered by the sand. I believe that only three other pieces have been +found like it. + + + + +THE FIELD + + +When one has seen Spring's blossom fall in London, and Summer appear and +ripen and decay, as it does early in cities, and one is in London still, +then, at some moment or another, the country places lift their flowery +heads and call to one with an urgent, masterful clearness, upland behind +upland in the twilight like to some heavenly choir arising rank on rank to +call a drunkard from his gambling-hell. No volume of traffic can drown the +sound of it, no lure of London can weaken its appeal. Having heard it +one's fancy is gone, and evermore departed, to some coloured pebble agleam +in a rural brook, and all that London can offer is swept from one's mind +like some suddenly smitten metropolitan Goliath. + +The call is from afar both in leagues and years, for the hills that call +one are the hills that were, and their voices are the voices of long ago, +when the elf-kings still had horns. + +I see them now, those hills of my infancy (for it is they that call), with +their faces upturned to the purple twilight, and the faint diaphanous +figures of the fairies peering out from under the bracken to see if +evening is come. I do not see upon their regal summits those desirable +mansions, and highly desirable residences, which have lately been built +for gentlemen who would exchange customers for tenants. + +When the hills called I used to go to them by road, riding a bicycle. If +you go by train you miss the gradual approach, you do not cast off London +like an old forgiven sin, nor pass by little villages on the way that must +have some rumour of the hills; nor, wondering if they are still the same, +come at last upon the edge of their far-spread robes, and so on to their +feet, and see far off their holy, welcoming faces. In the train you see +them suddenly round a curve, and there they all are sitting in the sun. + +I imagine that as one penetrated out from some enormous forest of the +tropics, the wild beasts would become fewer, the gloom would lighten, and +the horror of the place would slowly lift. Yet as one emerges nearer to +the edge of London, and nearer to the beautiful influence of the hills, +the houses become uglier, the streets viler, the gloom deepens, the errors +of civilisation stand bare to the scorn of the fields. + +Where ugliness reaches the height of its luxuriance, in the dense misery +of the place, where one imagines the builder saying, "Here I culminate. +Let us give thanks to Satan," there is a bridge of yellow brick, and +through it, as through some gate of filigree silver opening on fairyland, +one passes into the country. + +To left and right, as far as one can see, stretches that monstrous city; +before one are the fields like an old, old song. + +There is a field there that is full of king-cups. A stream runs through +it, and along the stream is a little wood of osiers. There I used often to +rest at the streams edge before my long journey to the hills. + +There I used to forget London, street by street. Sometimes I picked a +bunch of king-cups to show them to the hills. + +I often came there. At first I noticed nothing about the field except its +beauty and its peacefulness. + +But the second time that I came I thought there was something ominous +about the field. + +Down there among the king-cups by the little shallow stream I felt that +something terrible might happen in just such a place. + +I did not stay long there, because I thought that too much time spent in +London had brought on these morbid fancies and I went on to the hills as +fast as I could. + +I stayed for some days in the country air, and when I came back I went to +the field again to enjoy that peaceful spot before entering London. But +there was still something ominous among the osiers. + +A year elapsed before I went there again. I emerged from the shadow of +London into the gleaming sun; the bright green grass and the king-cups +were flaming in the light, and the little stream was singing a happy song. +But the moment I stepped into the field my old uneasiness returned, and +worse than before. It was as though the shadow was brooding there of some +dreadful future thing and a year had brought it nearer. + +I reasoned that the exertion of bicycling might be bad for one, and that +the moment one rested this uneasiness might result. + +A little later I came back past the field by night, and the song of the +stream in the hush attracted me down to it. And there the fancy came to me +that it would be a terribly cold place to be in the starlight, if for some +reason one was hurt and could not get away. + +I knew a man who was minutely acquainted with the past history of that +locality, and him I asked if anything historical had ever happened in that +field. When he pressed me for my reason in asking him this, I said that +the field had seemed to me such a good place to hold a pageant in. But he +said that nothing of any interest had ever occurred there, nothing at all. + +So it was from the future that the field's terrible trouble came. + +For three years off and on I made visits to the field, and every time more +clearly it boded evil things, and my uneasiness grew more acute every time +that I was lured to go and rest among the cool green grass under the +beautiful osiers. Once to distract my thoughts I tried to gauge how fast +the stream was trickling, but I found myself wondering if it flowed faster +than blood. + +I felt that it would be a terrible place to go mad in, one would hear +voices. + +At last I went to a poet whom I knew, and woke him from huge dreams, and +put before him the whole case of the field. He had not been out of London +all that year, and he promised to come with me and look at the field, and +tell me what was going to happen there. It was late in July when we went. +The pavement, the air, the houses and the dirt had been all baked dry by +the summer, the weary traffic dragged on, and on, and on, and Sleep +spreading her wings soared up and floated from London and went to walk +beautifully in rural places. + +When the poet saw the field he was delighted, the flowers were out in +masses all along the stream, he went down to the little wood rejoicing. By +the side of the stream he stood and seemed very sad. Once or twice he +looked up and down it mournfully, then he bent and looked at the +king-cups, first one and then another, very closely, and shaking his head. + +For a long while he stood in silence, and all my old uneasiness returned, +and my bodings for the future. + +And then I said, "What manner of field is it?" + +And he shook his head sorrowfully. + +"It is a battlefield," he said. + + + + +THE DAY OF THE POLL + + +In the town by the sea it was the day of the poll, and the poet regarded +it sadly when he woke and saw the light of it coming in at his window +between two small curtains of gauze. And the day of the poll was +beautifully bright; stray bird-songs came to the poet at the window; the +air was crisp and wintry, but it was the blaze of sunlight that had +deceived the birds. He heard the sound of the sea that the moon led up the +shore, dragging the months away over the pebbles and shingles and piling +them up with the years where the worn-out centuries lay; he saw the +majestic downs stand facing mightily south-wards; saw the smoke of the +town float up to their heavenly faces--column after column rose calmly +into the morning as house by house was waked by peering shafts of the +sunlight and lit its fires for the day; column by column went up toward +the serene downs' faces, and failed before they came there and hung all +white over houses; and every one in the town was raving mad. + +It was a strange thing that the poet did, for he hired the largest motor +in the town and covered it with all the flags he could find, and set out +to save an intelligence. And he presently found a man whose face was hot, +who shouted that the time was not far distant when a candidate, whom he +named, would be returned at the head of the poll by a thumping majority. +And by him the poet stopped and offered him a seat in the motor that was +covered with flags. When the man saw the flags that were on the motor, and +that it was the largest in the town, he got in. He said that his vote +should be given for that fiscal system that had made us what we are, in +order that the poor man's food should not be taxed to make the rich man +richer. Or else it was that he would give his vote for that system of +tariff reform which should unite us closer to our colonies with ties that +should long endure, and give employment to all. But it was not to the +polling-booth that the motor went, it passed it and left the town and came +by a small white winding road to the very top of the downs. There the poet +dismissed the car and let that wondering voter on to the grass and seated +himself on a rug. And for long the voter talked of those imperial +traditions that our forefathers had made for us and which he should uphold +with his vote, or else it was of a people oppressed by a feudal system +that was out of date and effete, and that should be ended or mended. But +the poet pointed out to him small, distant, wandering ships on the sunlit +strip of sea, and the birds far down below them, and the houses below the +birds, with the little columns of smoke that could not find the downs. + +And at first the voter cried for his polling-booth like a child; but after +a while he grew calmer, save when faint bursts of cheering came twittering +up to the downs, when the voter would cry out bitterly against the +misgovernment of the Radical party, or else it was--I forget what the poet +told me--he extolled its splendid record. + +"See," said the poet, "these ancient beautiful things, the downs and the +old-time houses and the morning, and the grey sea in the sunlight going +mumbling round the world. And this is the place they have chosen to go man +in!" + +And standing there with all broad England behind him, rolling northward, +down after down, and before him the glittering sea too far for the sound +of the roar of it, there seemed to the voter to grow less important the +questions that troubled the town. Yet he was still angry. + +"Why did you bring me here?" he said again. + +"Because I grew lonely," said the poet, "when all the town went mad." + +Then he pointed out to the voter some old bent thorns, and showed him the +way that a wind had blown for a million years, coming up at dawn from the +sea; and he told him of the storms that visit the ships, and their names +and whence they come, and the currents they drive afield, and the way that +the swallows go. And he spoke of the down where they sat, when the summer +came, and the flowers that were not yet, and the different butterflies, +and about the bats and the swifts, and the thoughts in the heart of man. +He spoke of the aged windmill that stood on the down, and of how to +children it seemed a strange old man who was only dead by day. And as he +spoke, and as the sea-wind blew on that high and lonely place, there began +to slip away from the voter's mind meaningless phrases that had crowded it +long--thumping majority--victory in the fight--terminological +inexactitudes--and the smell of paraffin lamps dangling in heated +schoolrooms, and quotations taken from ancient speeches because the words +were long. They fell away, though slowly, and slowly the voter saw a wider +world and the wonder of the sea. And the afternoon wore on, and the winter +evening came, and the night fell, and all black grew the sea, and about +the time that the stars come blinking out to look upon our littleness, the +polling-booth closed in the town. + +When they got back the turmoil was on the wane in the streets; night hid +the glare of the posters; and the tide, finding the noise abated and being +at the flow, told an old tale that he had learned in his youth about the +deeps of the sea, the same which he had told to coastwise ships that +brought it to Babylon by the way of Euphrates before the doom of Troy. + +I blame my friend the poet, however lonely he was, for preventing this man +from registering his vote (the duty of every citizen); but perhaps it +matters less, as it was a foregone conclusion, because the losing +candidate, either through poverty or sheer madness, had neglected to +subscribe to a single football club. + + + + +THE UNHAPPY BODY + + +"Why do you not dance with us and rejoice with us?" they said to a certain +body. And then that body made the confession of its trouble. It said: "I +am united with a fierce and violent soul, that is altogether tyrannous and +will not let me rest, and he drags me away from the dances of my kin to +make me toil at his detestable work; and he will not let me do the little +things, that would give pleasure to the folk I love, but only cares to +please posterity when he has done with me and left me to the worms; and +all the while he makes absurd demands of affection from those that are +near to me, and is too proud even to notice any less than he demands, so +that those that should be kind to me all hate me." And the unhappy body +burst into tears. + +And they said: "No sensible body cares for its soul. A soul is a little +thing, and should not rule a body. You should drink and smoke more till he +ceases to trouble you." But the body only wept, and said, "Mine is a +fearful soul. I have driven him away for a little while with drink. But he +will soon come back. Oh, he will soon come back!" + +And the body went to bed hoping to rest, for it was drowsy with drink. But +just as sleep was near it, it looked up, and there was its soul sitting on +the windowsill, a misty blaze of light, and looking into the river. + +"Come," said the tyrannous soul, "and look into the street." + +"I have need of sleep," said the body. + +"But the street is a beautiful thing," the soul said vehemently; "a +hundred of the people are dreaming there." + +"I am ill through want of rest," the body said. + +"That does not matter," the soul said to it. "There are millions like you +in the earth, and millions more to go there. The people's dreams are +wandering afield; they pass the seas and mountains of faery, threading the +intricate passes led by their souls; they come to golden temples a-ring +with a thousand bells; they pass up steep streets lit by paper lanterns, +where the doors are green and small; they know their way to witches' +chambers and castles of enchantment; they know the spell that brings them +to the causeway along the ivory mountains--on one side looking downward +they behold the fields of their youth and on the other lie the radiant +plains of the future. Arise and write down what the people dream." + +"What reward is there for me," said the body, "if I write down what you +bid me?" + +"There is no reward," said the soul. + +"Then I shall sleep," said the body. + +And the soul began to hum an idle song sung by a young man in a fabulous +land as he passed a golden city (where fiery sentinels stood), and knew +that his wife was within it, though as yet but a little child, and knew by +prophecy that furious wars, not yet arisen in far and unknown mountains, +should roll above him with their dust and thirst before he ever came to +that city again--the young man sang it as he passed the gate, and was now +dead with his wife a thousand years. + +"I cannot sleep for that abominable song," the body cried to the soul. + +"Then do as you are commanded," the soul replied. And wearily the body +took a pen again. Then the soul spoke merrily as he looked through the +window. "There is a mountain lifting sheer above London, part crystal and +part myst. Thither the dreamers go when the sound of the traffic has +fallen. At first they scarcely dream because of the roar of it, but before +midnight it stops, and turns, and ebbs with all its wrecks. Then the +dreamers arise and scale the shimmering mountain, and at its summit find +the galleons of dream. Thence some sail East, some West, some into the +Past and some into the Future, for the galleons sail over the years as +well as over the spaces, but mostly they head for the Past and the olden +harbours, for thither the sighs of men are mostly turned, and the +dream-ships go before them, as the merchantmen before the continual +trade-winds go down the African coast. I see the galleons even now raise +anchor after anchor; the stars flash by them; they slip out of the night; +their prows go gleaming into the twilight of memory, and night soon lies +far off, a black cloud hanging low, and faintly spangled with stars, like +the harbour and shore of some low-lying land seen afar with its harbour +lights." + +Dream after dream that soul related as he sat there by the window. He told +of tropical forests seen by unhappy men who could not escape from London, +and never would--forests made suddenly wondrous by the song of some +passing bird flying to unknown eyries and singing an unknown song. He saw +the old men lightly dancing to the tune of elfin pipes--beautiful dances +with fantastic maidens--all night on moonlit imaginary mountains; he heard +far off the music of glittering Springs; he saw the fairness of blossoms +of apple and may thirty years fallen; he heard old voices--old tears came +glistening back; Romance sat cloaked and crowned upon southern hills, and +the soul knew him. + +One by one he told the dreams of all that slept in that street. Sometimes +he stopped to revile the body because it worked badly and slowly. Its +chill fingers wrote as fast as they could, but the soul cared not for +that. And so the night wore on till the soul heard tinkling in Oriental +skies far footfalls of the morning. + +"See now," said the soul, "the dawn that the dreamers dread. The sails of +light are paling on those unwreckable galleons; the mariners that steer +them slip back into fable and myth; that other sea the traffic is turning +now at its ebb, and is about to hide its pallid wrecks, and to come +swinging back, with its tumult, at the flow. Already the sunlight flashes +in the gulfs behind the east of the world; the gods have seen it from +their palace of twilight that the built above the sunrise; they warm their +hands at its glow as it streams through their gleaming arches, before it +reaches the world; all the gods are there that have ever been, and all the +gods that shall be; they sit there in the morning, chanting and praising +Man." + +"I am numb and very cold for want of sleep," said the body. + +"You shall have centuries of sleep," said the soul, "but you must not +sleep now, for I have seen deep meadows with purple flowers flaming tall +and strange above the brilliant grass, and herds of pure white unicorns +that gambol there for joy, and a river running by with a glittering +galleon on it, all of gold, that goes from an unknown inland to an unknown +isle of the sea to take a song from the King of Over-the-Hills to the +Queen of Far-Away. + +"I will sing that song to you, and you shall write it down." + +"I have toiled for you for years," the body said. "Give me now but one +night's rest, for I am exceeding weary." + +"Oh, go and rest. I am tired of you. I am off," said the soul. + +And he arose and went, we know not whither. But the body they laid in the +earth. And the next night at midnight the wraiths of the dead came +drifting from their tombs to felicitate that body. + +"You are free here, you know," they said to their new companion. + +"Now I can rest," said the body. + + +FINIS + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Tales +by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S TALES *** + +This file should be named 7drem10.txt or 7drem10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7drem11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7drem10a.txt + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. 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Plunkett] + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8129] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 17, 2003] +[Date last updated: February 4, 2008] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. Shell, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + +A DREAMER'S TALES + + + + +LORD DUNSANY + +1910 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +Preface + +Poltarnees, Beholder of Ocean + +Blagdaross + +The Madness of Andelsprutz + +Where the Tides Ebb and Flow + +Bethmoora + +Idle Days on the Yann + +The Sword and the Idol + +The Idle City + +The Hashish Man + +Poor Old Bill + +The Beggars + +Carcassonne + +In Zaccarath + +The Field + +The Day of the Poll + +The Unhappy Body + + + + +PREFACE + + +I hope for this book that it may come into the hands of those that were +kind to my others and that it may not disappoint them. + +--Lord Dunsany + + + + +POLTARNEES, BEHOLDER OF OCEAN + + +Toldees, Mondath, Arizim, these are the Inner Lands, the lands whose +sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the +east there lies a desert, for ever untroubled by man: all yellow it is, +and spotted with shadows of stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard +lying in the sun. To the south they are bounded by magic, to the west by a +mountain, and to the north by the voice and anger of the Polar wind. Like +a great wall is the mountain to the west. It comes up out of the distance +and goes down into the distance again, and it is named Poltarnees, +Beholder of Ocean. To the northward red rocks, smooth and bare of soil, +and without any speck of moss or herbage, slope up to the very lips of the +Polar wind, and there is nothing else there by the noise of his anger. +Very peaceful are the Inner Lands, and very fair are their cities, and +there is no war among them, but quiet and ease. And they have no enemy but +age, for thirst and fever lie sunning themselves out in the mid-desert, +and never prowl into the Inner Lands. And the ghouls and ghosts, whose +highway is the night, are kept in the south by the boundary of magic. And +very small are all their pleasant cities, and all men are known to one +another therein, and bless one another by name as they meet in the +streets. And they have a broad, green way in every city that comes in out +of some vale or wood or downland, and wanders in and out about the city +between the houses and across the streets, and the people walk along it +never at all, but every year at her appointed time Spring walks along it +from the flowery lands, causing the anemone to bloom on the green way and +all the early joys of hidden woods, or deep, secluded vales, or triumphant +downlands, whose heads lift up so proudly, far up aloof from cities. + +Sometimes waggoners or shepherds walk along this way, they that have come +into the city from over cloudy ridges, and the townsmen hinder them not, +for there is a tread that troubleth the grass and a tread that troubleth +it not, and each man in his own heart knoweth which tread he hath. And in +the sunlit spaces of the weald and in the wold's dark places, afar from +the music of cities and from the dance of the cities afar, they make there +the music of the country places and dance the country dance. Amiable, near +and friendly appears to these men the sun, and as he is genial to them and +tends their younger vines, so they are kind to the little woodland things +and any rumour of the fairies or old legend. And when the light of some +little distant city makes a slight flush upon the edge of the sky, and the +happy golden windows of the homesteads stare gleaming into the dark, then +the old and holy figure of Romance, cloaked even to the face, comes down +out of hilly woodlands and bids dark shadows to rise and dance, and sends +the forest creatures forth to prowl, and lights in a moment in her bower +of grass the little glowworm's lamp, and brings a hush down over the grey +lands, and out of it rises faintly on far-off hills the voice of a lute. +There are not in the world lands more prosperous and happy than Toldees, +Mondath, Arizim. + +From these three little kingdoms that are named the Inner Lands the young +men stole constantly away. One by one they went, and no one knew why they +went save that they had a longing to behold the Sea. Of this longing they +spoke little, but a young man would become silent for a few days, and +then, one morning very early, he would slip away and slowly climb +Poltarnee's difficult slope, and having attained the top pass over and +never return. A few stayed behind in the Inner Lands and became the old +men, but none that had ever climbed Poltarnees from the very earliest +times had ever come back again. Many had gone up Poltarnees sworn to +return. Once a king sent all his courtiers, one by one, to report the +mystery to him, and then went himself; none ever returned. + +Now, it was the wont of the folk of the Inner Lands to worship rumours and +legends of the Sea, and all that their prophets discovered of the Sea was +writ in a sacred book, and with deep devotion on days of festival or +mourning read in the temples by the priests. Now, all their temples lay +open to the west, resting upon pillars, that the breeze from the Sea might +enter them, and they lay open on pillars to the east that the breezes of +the Sea might not be hindered by pass onward wherever the Sea list. And +this is the legend that they had of the Sea, whom none in the Inner Lands +had ever beholden. They say that the Sea is a river heading towards +Hercules, and they say that he touches against the edge of the world, and +that Poltarnees looks upon him. They say that all the worlds of heaven go +bobbing on this river and are swept down with the stream, and that +Infinity is thick and furry with forests through which the river in his +course sweeps on with all the worlds of heaven. Among the colossal trunks +of those dark trees, the smallest fronds of whose branches are man nights, +there walk the gods. And whenever its thirst, glowing in space like a +great sun, comes upon the beast, the tiger of the gods creeps down to the +river to drink. And the tiger of the gods drinks his fill loudly, whelming +worlds the while, and the level of the river sinks between its banks ere +the beast's thirst is quenched and ceases to glow like a sun. And many +worlds thereby are heaped up dry and stranded, and the gods walk not among +them evermore, because they are hard to their feet. These are the worlds +that have no destiny, whose people know no god. And the river sweeps +onwards ever. And the name of the River is Oriathon, but men call it +Ocean. This is the Lower Faith of the Inner Lands. And there is a Higher +Faith which is not told to all. Oriathon sweeps on through the forests of +Infinity and all at once falls roaring over an Edge, whence Time has long +ago recalled his hours to fight in his war with the gods; and falls unlit +by the flash of nights and days, with his flood unmeasured by miles, into +the deeps of nothing. + +Now as the centuries went by and the one way by which a man could climb +Poltarnees became worn with feet, more and more men surmounted it, not to +return. And still they knew not in the Inner Lands upon what mystery +Poltarnees looked. For on a still day and windless, while men walked +happily about their beautiful streets or tended flocks in the country, +suddenly the west wind would bestir himself and come in from the Sea. And +he would come cloaked and grey and mournful and carry to someone the +hungry cry of the Sea calling out for bones of men. And he that heard it +would move restlessly for some hours, and at last would rise suddenly, +irresistibly up, setting his face to Poltarnees, and would say, as is the +custom of those lands when men part briefly, "Till a man's heart +remembereth," which means "Farewell for a while"; but those that loved +him, seeing his eyes on Poltarnees, would answer sadly, "Till the gods +forget," which means "Farewell." + +Now the king of Arizim had a daughter who played with the wild wood +flowers, and with the fountains in her father's court, and with the little +blue heaven-birds that came to her doorway in the winter to shelter from +the snow. And she was more beautiful than the wild wood flowers, or than +all the fountains in her father's court, or than the blue heaven-birds in +their full winter plumage when they shelter from the snow. The old wise +kings of Mondath and of Toldees saw her once as she went lightly down the +little paths of her garden, and turning their gaze into the mists of +thought, pondered the destiny of their Inner Lands. And they watched her +closely by the stately flowers, and standing alone in the sunlight, and +passing and repassing the strutting purple birds that the king's fowlers +had brought from Asagéhon. When she was of the age of fifteen years the +King of Mondath called a council of kings. And there met with him the +kings of Toldees and Arizim. And the King of Mondath in his Council said: + +"The call of the unappeased and hungry Sea (and at the word 'Sea' the +three kings bowed their heads) lures every year out of our happy kingdoms +more and more of our men, and still we know not the mystery of the Sea, +and no devised oath has brought one man back. Now thy daughter, Arizim, is +lovelier than the sunlight, and lovelier than those stately flowers of +thine that stand so tall in her garden, and hath more grace and beauty +than those strange birds that the venturous fowlers bring in creaking +wagons out of Asagéhon, whose feathers are alternate purple and white. +Now, he that shall love thy daughter, Hilnaric, whoever he shall be, is +the man to climb Poltarnees and return, as none hath ever before, and tell +us upon what Poltarnees looks; for it may be that they daughter is more +beautiful than the Sea." + +Then from his Seat of Council arose the King of Arizim. He said: "I fear +that thou hast spoken blasphemy against the Sea, and I have a dread that +ill will come of it. Indeed I had not thought she was so fair. It is such +a short while ago that she was quite a small child with her hair still +unkempt and not yet attired in the manner of princesses, and she would go +up into the wild woods unattended and come back with her robes unseemly +and all torn, and would not take reproof with a humble spirit, but made +grimaces even in my marble court all set about with fountains." + +Then said the King of Toldees: + +"Let us watch more closely and let us see the Princess Hilnaric in the +season of the orchard-bloom when the great birds go by that know the Sea, +to rest in our inland places; and if she be more beautiful than the +sunrise over our folded kingdoms when all the orchards bloom, it may be +that she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the King of Arizim said: + +"I fear this is terrible blasphemy, yet will I do as you have decided in +council." + +And the season of the orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim +called his daughter forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was +rising huge and round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were +singing to the night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and +they glowed in the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the +fountains, and the grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left +the dark ways of the forest and lit the whole white palace and its +fountains and shone on the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of +Arizim glowed afar, and the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels +and song. And the moon made a music at its rising, but it fell a little +short of mortal ears. And Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, +with the moonlight shining on her forehead; and watching her from the +shadows on the terrace stood the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said. + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And the season of the +orchard-bloom appeared. One night the King of Arizim called his daughter +forth on his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was rising huge and +round and holy over dark woods, and all the fountains were singing to the +night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and they glowed in +the land. And the moon touched the heads of all the fountains, and the +grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left the dark ways of +the forest and lit the whole white palace and its fountains and shone on +the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of Arizim glowed afar, and +the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels and song. And the moon +made a music at its rising, but it fell a little short of mortal ears. And +Hilnaric stood there wondering, clad in white, with the moonlight shining +on her forehead; and watching her from the shadows on the terrace stood +the kings of Mondath and Toldees. They said: + +"She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And on another day the King of +Arizim bade his daughter forth at dawn, and they stood again upon the +balcony. And the sun came up over a world of orchards, and the sea-mists +went back over Poltarnees to the Sea; little wild voices arose in all the +thickets, the voices of the fountains began to die, and the song arose, in +all the marble temples, of the birds that are sacred to the Sea. And +Hilnaric stood there, still glowing with dreams of heaven. + +"She is more beautiful," said the kings, "than morning." + +Yet one more trial they made of Hilnaric's beauty, for they watched her on +the terraces at sunset ere yet the petals of the orchards had fallen, and +all along the edge of neighbouring woods the rhododendron was blooming +with the azalea. And the sun went down under craggy Poltarnees, and the +sea-mist poured over his summit inland. And the marble temples stood up +clear in the evening, but films of twilight were drawn between the +mountain and the city. Then from the Temple ledges and eaves of palaces +the bats fell headlong downwards, then spread their wings and floated up +and down through darkening ways; lights came blinking out in golden +windows, men cloaked themselves against the grey sea-mist, the sound of +small songs arose, and the face of Hilnaric became a resting-place for +mysteries and dreams. + +"Than all these things," said the kings, "she is more lovely: but who can +say whether she is lovelier than the Sea?" + +Prone in a rhododendron thicket at the edge of the palace lawns a hunter +had waited since the sun went down. Near to him was a deep pool where the +hyacinths grew and strange flowers floated upon it with broad leaves; and +there the great bull gariachs came down to drink by starlight; and, +waiting there for the gariachs to come, he saw the white form of the +Princess leaning on her balcony. Before the stars shone out or the bulls +came down to drink he left his lurking-place and moved closer to the +palace to see more nearly the Princess. The palace lawns were full of +untrodden dew, and everything was still when he came across them, holding +his great spear. In the farthest corner of the terraces the three old +kings were discussing the beauty of Hilnaric and the destiny of the Inner +Lands. Moving lightly, with a hunter's tread, the watcher by the pool came +very near, even in the still evening, before the Princess saw him. When he +saw her closely he exclaimed suddenly: + +"She must be more beautiful than the Sea." + +When the Princess turned and saw his garb and his great spear she knew +that he was a hunter of gariachs. + +When the three kings heard the young man exclaim they said softly to one +another: + +"This must be the man." + +Then they revealed themselves to him, and spoke to him to try him. They +said: + +"Sir, you have spoken blasphemy against the Sea." + +And the young man muttered: + +"She is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And the kings said: + +"We are older than you and wiser, and know that nothing is more beautiful +than the Sea." + +And the young man took off the gear of his head, and became downcast, and +he knew that he spake with kings, yet he answered: + +"By this spear, she is more beautiful than the Sea." + +And all the while the Princess stared at him, knowing him to be a hunter +of gariachs. + +Then the king of Arizim said to the watcher by the pool: + +"If thou wilt go up Poltarnees and come back, as none have come, and +report to us what lure or magic is in the Sea, we will pardon thy +blasphemy, and thou shalt have the Princess to wife and sit among the +Council of Kings." + +And gladly thereunto the young man consented. And the Princess spoke to +him, and asked him his name. And he told her that his name was Athelvok, +and great joy arose in him at the sound of her voice. And to the three +kings he promised to set out on the third day to scale the slope of +Poltarnees and to return again, and this was the oath by which they bound +him to return: + +"I swear by the Sea that bears the worlds away, by the river of Oriathon, +which men call Ocean, and by the gods and their tiger, and by the doom of +the worlds, that I will return again to the Inner Lands, having beheld the +Sea." + +And that oath he swore with solemnity that very night in one of the +temples of the Sea, but the three kings trusted more to the beauty of +Hilnaric even than to the power of the oath. + +The next day Athelvok came to the palace of Arizim with the morning, over +the fields to the East and out of the country of Toldees, and Hilnaric +came out along her balcony and met him on the terraces. And she asked him +if he had ever slain a gariach, and he said that he had slain three, and +then he told her how he had killed his first down by the pool in the wood. +For he had taken his father's spear and gone down to the edge of the pool, +and had lain under the azaleas there waiting for the stars to shine, by +whose first light the gariachs go to the pools to drink; and he had gone +too early and had had long to wait, and the passing hours seemed longer +than they were. And all the birds came in that home at night, and the bat +was abroad, and the hour of the duck went by, and still no gariach came +down to the pool; and Athelvok felt sure that none would come. And just as +this grew to a certainty in his mind the thicket parted noiselessly and a +huge bull gariach stood facing him on the edge of the water, and his great +horns swept out sideways from his head, and at the ends curved upwards, +and were four strides in width from tip to tip. And he had not seen +Athelvok, for the great bull was on the far side of the little pool, and +Athelvok could not creep round to him for fear of meeting the wind (for +the gariachs, who can see little in the dark forests, rely on hearing and +smell). But he devised swiftly in his mind while the bull stood there with +head erect just twenty strides from him across the water. And the bull +sniffed the wind cautiously and listened, then lowered his great head down +to the pool and drank. At that instant Athelvok leapt into the water and +shot forward through its weedy depths among the stems of the strange +flowers that floated upon broad leaves on the surface. And Athelvok kept +his spear out straight before him, and the fingers of his left hand he +held rigid and straight, not pointing upwards, and so did not come to the +surface, but was carried onward by the strength of his spring and passed +unentangled through the stems of the flowers. When Athelvok jumped into +the water the bull must have thrown his head up, startled at the splash, +then he would have listened and have sniffed the air, and neither hearing +nor scenting any danger he must have remained rigid for some moments, for +it was in that attitude that Athelvok found him as he emerged breathless +at his feet. And, striking at once, Athelvok drove the spear into his +throat before the head and the terrible horns came down. But Athelvok had +clung to one of the great horns, and had been carried at terrible speed +through the rhododendron bushes until the gariach fell, but rose at once +again, and died standing up, still struggling, drowned in its own blood. + +But to Hilnaric listening it was as though one of the heroes of old time +had come back again in the full glory of his legendary youth. + +And long time they went up and down the terraces, saying those things +which were said before and since, and which lips shall yet be made to say +again. And above them stood Poltarnees beholding the Sea. + +And the day came when Athelvok should go. And Hilnaric said to him: + +"Will you not indeed most surely come back again, having just looked over +the summit of Poltarnees?" + +Athelvok answered: "I will indeed come back, for thy voice is more +beautiful than the hymn of the priests when they chant and praise the Sea, +and though many tributary seas ran down into Oriathon and he and all the +others poured their beauty into one pool below me, yet would I return +swearing that thou were fairer than they." + +And Hilnaric answered: + +"The wisdom of my heart tells me, or old knowledge or prophecy, or some +strange lore, that I shall never hear thy voice again. And for this I give +thee my forgiveness." + +But he, repeating the oath that he had sworn, set out, looking often +backwards until the slope became to step and his face was set to the rock. +It was in the morning that he started, and he climbed all the day with +little rest, where every foot-hole was smooth with many feet. Before he +reached the top the sun disappeared from him, and darker and darker grew +the Inner Lands. Then he pushed on so as to see before dark whatever thing +Poltarnees had to show. The dusk was deep over the Inner Lands, and the +lights of cities twinkled through the sea-mist when he came to +Poltarnees's summit, and the sun before him was not yet gone from the sky. + +And there below him was the old wrinkled Sea, smiling and murmuring song. +And he nursed little ships with gleaming sails, and in his hands were old +regretted wrecks, and mast all studded over with golden nails that he had +rent in anger out of beautiful galleons. And the glory of the sun was +among the surges as they brought driftwood out of isles of spice, tossing +their golden heads. And the grey currents crept away to the south like +companionless serpents that love something afar with a restless, deadly +love. And the whole plain of water glittering with late sunlight, and the +surges and the currents and the white sails of ships were all together +like the face of a strange new god that has looked at a man for the first +time in the eyes at the moment of his death; and Athelvok, looking on the +wonderful Sea, knew why it was that the dead never return, for there is +something that the dead feel and know, and the living would never +understand even though the dead should come and speak to them about it. +And there was the Sea smiling at him, glad with the glory of the sun. And +there was a haven there for homing ships, and a sunlit city stood upon its +marge, and people walked about the streets of it clad in the unimagined +merchandise of far sea-bordering lands. + +An easy slope of loose rock went from the top of Poltarnees to the shore +of the Sea. + +For a long while Athelvok stood there regretfully, knowing that there had +come something into his soul that no one in the Inner Lands could +understand, where the thoughts of their minds had gone no farther than the +three little kingdoms. Then, looking long upon the wandering ships, and +the marvelous merchandise from alien lands, and the unknown colour that +wreathed the brows of the Sea, he turned his face to the darkness and the +Inner Lands. + +At that moment the Sea sang a dirge at sunset for all the harm that he had +done in anger and all the ruin wrought on adventurous ships; and there +were tears in the voice of the tyrannous Sea, for he had loved the +galleons that he had overwhelmed, and he called all men to him and all +living things that he might make amends, because he had loved the bones +that he had strewn afar. And Athelvok turned and set one foot upon the +crumbled slope, and then another, and walked a little way to be nearer to +the Sea, and then a dream came upon him and he felt that men had wronged +the lovely Sea because he had been angry a little, because he had been +sometimes cruel; he felt that there was trouble among the tides of the Sea +because he had loved the galleons who were dead. Still he walked on and +the crumbled stones rolled with him, and just as the twilight faded and a +star appeared he came to the golden shore, and walked on till the surges +were about his knees, and he heard the prayer-like blessings of the Sea. +Long he stood thus, while the stars came out above him and shone again in +the surges; more stars came wheeling in their courses up from the Sea, +lights twinkled out through all the haven city, lanterns were slung from +the ships, the purple night burned on; and Earth, to the eyes of the gods +as they sat afar, glowed as with one flame. Then Athelvok went into the +haven city; there he met many who had left the Inner Lands before him; +none of them wished to return to the people who had not seen the Sea; many +of them had forgotten the three little kingdoms, and it was rumoured that +one man, who had once tried to return, had found the shifting, crumbled +slope impossible to climb. + +Hilnaric never married. But her dowry was set aside to build a temple +wherein men curse the ocean. + +Once every year, with solemn rite and ceremony, they curse the tides of +the Sea; and the moon looks in and hates them. + + + + +BLAGDAROSS + + +On a waste place strewn with bricks in the outskirts of a town twilight +was falling. A star or two appeared over the smoke, and distant windows +lit mysterious lights. The stillness deepened and the loneliness. Then all +the outcast things that are silent by day found voices. + +An old cork spoke first. He said: "I grew in Andalusian woods, but never +listened to the idle songs of Spain. I only grew strong in the sunlight +waiting for my destiny. One day the merchants came and took us all away +and carried us all along the shore of the sea, piled high on the backs of +donkeys, and in a town by the sea they made me into the shape that I am +now. One day they sent me northward to Provence, and there I fulfilled my +destiny. For they set me as a guard over the bubbling wine, and I +faithfully stood sentinel for twenty years. For the first few years in the +bottle that I guarded the wine slept, dreaming of Provence; but as the +years went on he grew stronger and stronger, until at last whenever a man +went by the wind would put out all his might against me, saying, 'Let me +go free; let me go free!' And every year his strength increased, and he +grew more clamourous when men went by, but never availed to hurl me from +my post. But when I had powerfully held him for twenty years they brought +him to the banquet and took me from my post, and the wine arose rejoicing +and leapt through the veins of men and exalted their souls within them +till they stood up in their places and sang Provençal songs. But me they +cast away--me that had been sentinel for twenty years, and was still as +strong and staunch as when first I went on guard. Now I am an outcast in a +cold northern city, who once have known the Andalusian skies and guarded +long ago Provençal suns that swam in the heart of the rejoicing wine." + +An unstruck match that somebody had dropped spoke next. "I am a child of +the sun," he said, "and an enemy of cities; there is more in my heart than +you know of. I am a brother of Etna and Stromboli; I have fires lurking in +me that will one day rise up beautiful and strong. We will not go into +servitude on any hearth nor work machines for our food, but we will take +out own food where we find it on that day when we are strong. There are +wonderful children in my heart whose faces shall be more lively than the +rainbow; they shall make a compact with the North wind, and he shall lead +them forth; all shall be black behind them and black above them, and there +shall be nothing beautiful in the world but them; they shall seize upon +the earth and it shall be theirs, and nothing shall stop them but our old +enemy the sea." + +Then an old broken kettle spoke, and said: "I am the friend of cities. I +sit among the slaves upon the hearth, the little flames that have been fed +with coal. When the slaves dance behind the iron bars I sit in the middle +of the dance and sing and make our masters glad. And I make songs about +the comfort of the cat, and about the malice that is towards her in the +heart of the dog, and about the crawling of the baby, and about the ease +that is in the lord of the house when we brew the good brown tea; and +sometimes when the house is very warm and slaves and masters are glad, I +rebuke the hostile winds that prowl about the world." + +And then there spoke the piece of an old cord. "I was made in a place of +doom, and doomed men made my fibres, working without hope. Therefore there +came a grimness into my heart, so that I never let anything go free when +once I was set to bind it. Many a thing have I bound relentlessly for +months and years; for I used to come coiling into warehouses where the +great boxes lay all open to the air, and one of them would be suddenly +closed up, and my fearful strength would be set on him like accurse, and +if his timbers groaned when first I seized them, or if they creaked aloud +in the lonely night, thinking of woodlands out of which they came, then I +only gripped them tighter still, for the poor useless hate is in my soul +of those that made me in the place of doom. Yet, for all the things that +my prison-clutch has held, the last work that I did was to set something +free. I lay idle one night in the gloom on the warehouse floor. Nothing +stirred there, and even the spider slept. Towards midnight a great flock +of echoes suddenly leapt up from the wooden planks and circled round the +roof. A man was coming towards me all alone. And as he came his soul was +reproaching him, and I saw that there was a great trouble between the man +and his soul, for his soul would not let him be, but went on reproaching +him. + +"Then the man saw me and said, 'This at least will not fail me.' When I +heard him say this about me, I determined that whatever he might require +of me it should be done to the uttermost. And as I made this determination +in my unfaltering heart, he picked me up and stood on an empty box that I +should have bound on the morrow, and tied one end of me to a dark rafter; +and the knot was carelessly tied, because his soul was reproaching him all +the while continually and giving him no ease. Then he made the other end +of me into a noose, but when the man's soul saw this it stopped +reproaching the man, and cried out to him hurriedly, and besought him to +be at peace with it and to do nothing sudden; but the man went on with his +work, and put the noose down over his face and underneath his chin, and +the soul screamed horribly. + +"Then the man kicked the box away with his foot, and the moment he did +this I knew that my strength was not great enough to hold him; but I +remembered that he had said I would not fail him, and I put all my grim +vigour into my fibres and held by sheer will. Then the soul shouted to me +to give way, but I said: + +"'No; you vexed the man.' + +"Then it screamed for me to leave go of the rafter, and already I was +slipping, for I only held on to it by a careless knot, but I gripped with +my prison grip and said: + +"'You vexed the man.' + +"And very swiftly it said other things to me, but I answered not; and at +last the soul that vexed the man that had trusted me flew away and left +him at peace. I was never able to bind things any more, for every one of +my fibres was worn and wrenched, and even my relentless heart was weakened +by the struggle. Very soon afterwards I was thrown out here. I have done +my work." + +So they spoke among themselves, but all the while there loomed above them +the form of an old rocking-horse complaining bitterly. He said: "I am +Blagdaross. Woe is me that I should lie now an outcast among these worthy +but little people. Alas! for the days that are gathered, and alas for the +Great One that was a master and a soul to me, whose spirit is now shrunken +and can never know me again, and no more ride abroad on knightly quests. I +was Bucephalus when he was Alexander, and carried him victorious as far as +Ind. I encountered dragons with him when he was St. George, I was the +horse of Roland fighting for Christendom, and was often Rosinante. I +fought in tournays and went errant upon quests, and met Ulysses and the +heroes and the fairies. Or late in the evening, just before the lamps in +the nursery were put out, he would suddenly mount me, and we would gallop +through Africa. There we would pass by night through tropic forests, and +come upon dark rivers sweeping by, all gleaming with the eyes of +crocodiles, where the hippopotamus floated down with the stream, and +mysterious craft loomed suddenly out of the dark and furtively passed +away. And when we had passed through the forest lit by the fireflies we +would come to the open plains, and gallop onwards with scarlet flamingoes +flying along beside us through the lands of dusky kings, with golden +crowns upon their heads and scepters in their hands, who came running out +of their palaces to see us pass. Then I would wheel suddenly, and the dust +flew up from my four hooves as I turned and we galloped home again, and my +master was put to bed. And again he would ride abroad on another day till +we came to magical fortresses guarded by wizardry and overthrew the +dragons at the gate, and ever came back with a princess fairer than the +sea. + +"But my master began to grow larger in his body and smaller in his soul, +and then he rode more seldom upon quests. At last he saw gold and never +came again, and I was cast out here among these little people." + +But while the rocking-horse was speaking two boys stole away, unnoticed by +their parents, from a house on the edge of the waste place, and were +coming across it looking for adventures. One of them carried a broom, and +when he saw the rocking-horse he said nothing, but broke off the handle +from the broom and thrust it between his braces and his shirt on the left +side. Then he mounted the rocking-horse, and drawing forth the broomstick, +which was sharp and spiky at the end, said, "Saladin is in this desert +with all his paynims, and I am Coeur de Lion." After a while the other boy +said: "Now let me kill Saladin too." But Blagdaross in his wooden heart, +that exulted with thoughts of battle, said: "I am Blagdaross yet!" + + + + +THE MADNESS OF ANDELSPRUTZ + + +I first saw the city of Andelsprutz on an afternoon in spring. The day was +full of sunshine as I came by the way of the fields, and all that morning +I had said, "There will be sunlight on it when I see for the first time +the beautiful conquered city whose fame has so often made for me lovely +dreams." Suddenly I saw its fortifications lifting out of the fields, and +behind them stood its belfries. I went in by a gate and saw its houses and +streets, and a great disappointment came upon me. For there is an air +about a city, and it has a way with it, whereby a man may recognized one +from another at once. There are cities full of happiness and cities full +of pleasure, and cities full of gloom. There are cities with their faces +to heaven, and some with their faces to earth; some have a way of looking +at the past and others look at the future; some notice you if you come +among them, others glance at you, others let you go by. Some love the +cities that are their neighbours, others are dear to the plains and to the +heath; some cities are bare to the wind, others have purple cloaks and +others brown cloaks, and some are clad in white. Some tell the old tale of +their infancy, with others it is secret; some cities sing and some mutter, +some are angry, and some have broken hearts, and each city has her way of +greeting Time. + +I had said: "I will see Andelsprutz arrogant with her beauty," and I had +said: "I will see her weeping over her conquest." + +I had said: "She will sing songs to me," and "she will be reticent," "she +will be all robed," and "she will be bare but splendid." + +But the windows of Andelsprutz in her houses looked vacantly over the +plains like the eyes of a dead madman. At the hour her chimes sounded +unlovely and discordant, some of them were out of tune, and the bells of +some were cracked, her roofs were bald and without moss. At evening no +pleasant rumour arose in her streets. When the lamps were lit in the +houses no mystical flood of light stole out into the dusk, you merely saw +that there were lighted lamps; Andelsprutz had no way with her and no air +about her. When the night fell and the blinds were all drawn down, then I +perceived what I had not thought in the daylight. I knew then that +Andelsprutz was dead. + +I saw a fair-haired man who drank beer in a café, and I said to him: + +"Why is the city of Andelsprutz quite dead, and her soul gone hence?" + +He answered: "Cities do not have souls and there is never any life in +bricks." + +And I said to him: "Sir, you have spoken truly." + +And I asked the same question of another man, and he gave me the same +answer, and I thanked him for his courtesy. And I saw a man of a more +slender build, who had black hair, and channels in his cheeks for tears to +run in, and I said to him: + +"Why is Andelsprutz quite dead, and when did her soul go hence?" + +And he answered: "Andelsprutz hoped too much. For thirty years would she +stretch out her arms toward the land of Akla every night, to Mother Akla +from whom she had been stolen. Every night she would be hoping and +sighing, and stretching out her arms to Mother Akla. At midnight, once a +year, on the anniversary of the terrible day, Akla would send spies to lay +a wreath against the walls of Andelsprutz. She could do no more. And on +this night, once in every year, I used to weep, for weeping was the mood +of the city that nursed me. Every night while other cities slept did +Andelsprutz sit brooding here and hoping, till thirty wreaths lay +mouldering by her walls, and still the armies of Akla could not come. + +"But after she had hoped so long, and on the night that faithful spies had +brought her thirtieth wreath, Andelsprutz went suddenly mad. All the bells +clanged hideously in the belfries, horses bolted in the streets, the dogs +all howled, the stolid conquerors awoke and turned in their beds and slept +again; and I saw the grey shadowy form of Andelsprutz rise up, decking her +hair with the phantasms of cathedrals, and stride away from her city. And +the great shadowy form that was the soul of Andelsprutz went away +muttering to the mountains, and there I followed her--for had she not been +my nurse? Yes, I went away alone into the mountains, and for three days, +wrapped in a cloak, I slept in their misty solitudes. I had no food to +eat, and to drink I had only the water of the mountain streams. By day no +living thing was near to me, and I heard nothing but the noise of the +wind, and the mountain streams roaring. But for three nights I heard all +round me on the mountain the sounds of a great city: I saw the lights of +tall cathedral windows flash momentarily on the peaks, and at times the +glimmering lantern of some fortress patrol. And I saw the huge misty +outline of the soul of Andelsprutz sitting decked with her ghostly +cathedrals, speaking to herself, with her eyes fixed before her in a mad +stare, telling of ancient wars. And her confused speech for all those +nights upon the mountain was sometimes the voice of traffic, and then of +church bells, and then of bugles, but oftenest it was the voice of red +war; and it was all incoherent, and she was quite mad. + +"The third night it rained heavily all night long, but I stayed up there +to watch the soul of my native city. And she still sat staring straight +before her, raving; but here voice was gentler now, there were more chimes +in it, and occasional song. Midnight passed, and the rain still swept down +on me, and still the solitudes of the mountain were full of the mutterings +of the poor mad city. And the hours after midnight came, the cold hours +wherein sick men die. + +"Suddenly I was aware of great shapes moving in the rain, and heard the +sound of voices that were not of my city nor yet of any that I ever knew. +And presently I discerned, though faintly, the souls of a great concourse +of cities, all bending over Andelsprutz and comforting her, and the +ravines of the mountains roared that night with the voices of cities that +had lain still for centuries. For there came the soul of Camelot that had +so long ago forsaken Usk; and there was Ilion, all girt with towers, still +cursing the sweet face of ruinous Helen; I saw there Babylon and +Persepolis, and the bearded face of bull-like Nineveh, and Athens mourning +her immortal gods. + +"All these souls if cities that were dead spoke that night on the mountain +to my city and soothed her, until at last she muttered of war no longer, +and her eyes stared wildly no more, but she hid her face in her hands and +for some while wept softly. At last she arose, and walking slowly and with +bended head, and leaning upon Ilion and Carthage, went mournfully +eastwards; and the dust of her highways swirled behind her as she went, a +ghostly dust that never turned to mud in all that drenching rain. And so +the souls of the cities led her away, and gradually they disappeared from +the mountain, and the ancient voices died away in the distance. + +"Now since then have I seen my city alive; but once I met with a traveler +who said that somewhere in the midst of a great desert are gathered +together the souls of all dead cities. He said that he was lost once in a +place where there was no water, and he heard their voices speaking all the +night." + +But I said: "I was once without water in a desert and heard a city +speaking to me, but knew not whether it really spoke to me or not, for on +that day I heard so many terrible things, and only some of them were +true." + +And the man with the black hair said: "I believe it to be true, though +whither she went I know not. I only know that a shepherd found me in the +morning faint with hunger and cold, and carried me down here; and when I +came to Andelsprutz it was, as you have perceived it, dead." + + + + +WHERE THE TIDES EBB AND FLOW + + +I dreamt that I had done a horrible thing, so that burial was to be denied +me either in soil or sea, neither could there be any hell for me. + +I waited for some hours, knowing this. Then my friends came for me, and +slew me secretly and with ancient rite, and lit great tapers, and carried +me away. + +It was all in London that the thing was done, and they went furtively at +dead of night along grey streets and among mean houses until they came to +the river. And the river and the tide of the sea were grappling with one +another between the mud-banks, and both of them were black and full of +lights. A sudden wonder came in to the eyes of each, as my friends came +near to them with their glaring tapers. All these things I saw as they +carried me dead and stiffening, for my soul was still among my bones, +because there was no hell for it, and because Christian burial was denied +me. + +They took me down a stairway that was green with slimy things, and so came +slowly to the terrible mud. There, in the territory of forsaken things, +they dug a shallow grave. When they had finished they laid me in the +grave, and suddenly they cast their tapers to the river. And when the +water had quenched the flaring lights the tapers looked pale and small as +they bobbed upon the tide, and at once the glamour of the calamity was +gone, and I noticed then the approach of the huge dawn; and my friends +cast their cloaks over their faces, and the solemn procession was turned +into many fugitives that furtively stole away. + +Then the mud came back wearily and covered all but my face. There I lay +alone with quite forgotten things, with drifting things that the tides +will take no farther, with useless things and lost things, and with the +horrible unnatural bricks that are neither stone nor soil. I was rid of +feeling, because I had been killed, but perception and thought were in my +unhappy soul. The dawn widened, and I saw the desolate houses that crowded +the marge of the river, and their dead windows peered into my dead eyes, +windows with bales behind them instead of human souls. I grew so weary +looking at these forlorn things that I wanted to cry out, but could not, +because I was dead. Then I knew, as I had never known before, that for all +the years that herd of desolate houses had wanted to cry out too, but, +being dead, were dumb. And I knew then that it had yet been well with the +forgotten drifting things if they had wept, but they were eyeless and +without life. And I, too, tried to weep, but there were no tears in my +dead eyes. And I knew then that the river might have cared for us, might +have caressed us, might have sung to us, but he swept broadly onwards, +thinking of nothing but the princely ships. + +At last the tide did what the river would not, and came and covered me +over, and my soul had rest in the green water, and rejoiced and believed +that it had the Burial of the Sea. But with the ebb the water fell again, +and left me alone again with the callous mud among the forgotten things +that drift no more, and with the sight of all those desolate houses, and +with the knowledge among all of us that each was dead. + +In the mournful wall behind me, hung with green weeds, forsaken of the +sea, dark tunnels appeared, and secret narrow passages that were clamped +and barred. From these at last the stealthy rats came down to nibble me +away, and my soul rejoiced thereat and believed that he would be free +perforce from the accursed bones to which burial was refused. Very soon +the rats ran away a little space and whispered among themselves. They +never came any more. When I found that I was accursed even among the rats +I tried to weep again. + +Then the tide came swinging back and covered the dreadful mud, and hid the +desolate houses, and soothed the forgotten things, and my soul had ease +for a while in the sepulture of the sea. And then the tide forsook me +again. + +To and fro it came about me for many years. Then the County Council found +me, and gave me decent burial. It was the first grave that I had ever +slept in. That very night my friends came for me. They dug me up and put +me back again in the shallow hold in the mud. + +Again and again through the years my bones found burial, but always behind +the funeral lurked one of those terrible men who, as soon as night fell, +came and dug them up and carried them back again to the hole in the mud. + +And then one day the last of those men died who once had done to me this +terrible thing. I heard his soul go over the river at sunset. + +And again I hoped. + +A few weeks afterwards I was found once more, and once more taken out of +that restless place and given deep burial in sacred ground, where my soul +hoped that it should rest. + +Almost at once men came with cloaks and tapers to give me back to the mud, +for the thing had become a tradition and a rite. And all the forsaken +things mocked me in their dumb hearts when they saw me carried back, for +they were jealous of me because I had left the mud. It must be remembered +that I could not weep. + +And the years went by seawards where the black barges go, and the great +derelict centuries became lost at sea, and still I lay there without any +cause to hope, and daring not to hope without a cause, because of the +terrible envy and the anger of the things that could drift no more. + +Once a great storm rode up, even as far as London, out of the sea from the +South; and he came curving into the river with the fierce East wind. And +he was mightier than the dreary tides, and went with great leaps over the +listless mud. And all the sad forgotten things rejoiced, and mingled with +things that were haughtier than they, and rode once more amongst the +lordly shipping that was driven up and down. And out of their hideous home +he took my bones, never again, I hoped, to be vexed with the ebb and flow. +And with the fall of the tide he went riding down the river and turned to +the southwards, and so went to his home. And my bones he scattered among +many isles and along the shores of happy alien mainlands. And for a +moment, while they were far asunder, my soul was almost free. + +Then there arose, at the will of the moon, the assiduous flow of the tide, +and it undid at once the work of the ebb, and gathered my bones from the +marge of sunny isles, and gleaned them all along the mainland's shores, +and went rocking northwards till it came to the mouth of the Thames, and +there turned westwards its relentless face, and so went up the river and +came to the hole in the mud, and into it dropped my bones; and partly the +mud covered them, and partly it left them white, for the mud cares not for +its forsaken things. + +Then the ebb came, and I saw the dead eyes of the houses and the jealousy +of the other forgotten things that the storm had not carried thence. + +And some more centuries passed over the ebb and flow and over the +loneliness of things for gotten. And I lay there all the while in the +careless grip of the mud, never wholly covered, yet never able to go free, +and I longed for the great caress of the warm Earth or the comfortable lap +of the Sea. + +Sometimes men found my bones and buried them, but the tradition never +died, and my friends' successors always brought them back. At last the +barges went no more, and there were fewer lights; shaped timbers no longer +floated down the fairway, and there came instead old wind-uprooted trees +in all their natural simplicity. + +At last I was aware that somewhere near me a blade of grass was growing, +and the moss began to appear all over the dead houses. One day some +thistledown went drifting over the river. + +For some years I watched these signs attentively, until I became certain +that London was passing away. Then I hoped once more, and all along both +banks of the river there was anger among the lost things that anything +should dare to hope upon the forsaken mud. Gradually the horrible houses +crumbled, until the poor dead things that never had had life got decent +burial among the weeds and moss. At last the may appeared and the +convolvulus. Finally, the wild rose stood up over mounds that had been +wharves and warehouses. Then I knew that the cause of Nature had +triumphed, and London had passed away. + +The last man in London came to the wall by the river, in an ancient cloak +that was one of those that once my friends had worn, and peered over the +edge to see that I still was there. Then he went, and I never saw men +again: they had passed away with London. + +A few days after the last man had gone the birds came into London, all the +birds that sing. When they first saws me they all looked sideways at me, +then they went away a little and spoke among themselves. + +"He only sinned against Man," they said; "it is not our quarrel." + +"Let us be kind to him," they said. + +Then they hopped nearer me and began to sing. It was the time of the +rising of the dawn, and from both banks of the river, and from the sky, +and from the thickets that were once the streets, hundreds of birds were +singing. As the light increased the birds sang more and more; they grew +thicker and thicker in the air above my head, till there were thousands of +them singing there, and then millions, and at last I could see nothing but +a host of flickering wings with the sunlight on them, and little gaps of +sky. Then when there was nothing to be heard in London but the myriad +notes of that exultant song, my soul rose up from the bones in the hole in +the mud and began to climb heavenwards. And it seemed that a lane-way +opened amongst the wings of the birds, and it went up and up, and one of +the smaller gates of Paradise stood ajar at the end of it. And then I knew +by a sign that the mud should receive me no more, for suddenly I found +that I could weep. + +At this moment I opened my eyes in bed in a house in London, and outside +some sparrows were twittering in a tree in the light of the radiant +morning; and there were tears still wet upon my face, for one's restraint +is feeble while one sleeps. But I arose and opened the window wide, and +stretching my hands out over the little garden, I blessed the birds whose +song had woken me up from the troubled and terrible centuries of my dream. + + + + +BETHMOORA + + +There is a faint freshness in the London night as though some strayed +reveler of a breeze had left his comrades in the Kentish uplands and had +entered the town by stealth. The pavements are a little damp and shiny. +Upon one's ears that at this late hour have become very acute there hits +the tap of a remote footfall. Louder and louder grow the taps, filling the +whole night. And a black cloaked figure passes by, and goes tapping into +the dark. One who has danced goes homewards. Somewhere a ball has closed +its doors and ended. Its yellow lights are out, its musicians are silent, +its dancers have all gone into the night air, and Time has said of it, +"Let it be past and over, and among the things that I have put away." + +Shadows begin to detach themselves from their great gathering places. No +less silently than those shadows that are thin and dead move homewards the +stealthy cats. Thus have we even in London our faint forebodings of the +dawn's approach, which the birds and the beasts and the stars are crying +aloud to the untrammeled fields. + +At what moment I know not I perceive that the night itself is irrevocably +overthrown. It is suddenly revealed to me by the weary pallor of the +street lamps that the streets are silent and nocturnal still, not because +there is any strength in night, but because men have not yet arisen from +sleep to defy him. So have I seen dejected and untidy guards still bearing +antique muskets in palatial gateways, although the realms of the monarch +that they guard have shrunk to a single province which no enemy yet has +troubled to overrun. + +And it is now manifest from the aspect of the street lamps, those abashed +dependants of night, that already English mountain peaks have seen the +dawn, that the cliffs of Dover are standing white to the morning, that the +sea-mist has lifted and is pouring inland. + +And now men with a hose have come and are sluicing out the streets. + +Behold now night is dead. + +What memories, what fancies throng one's mind! A night but just now +gathered out of London by the horrific hand of Time. A million common +artificial things all cloaked for a while in mystery, like beggars robed +in purple, and seated on dread thrones. Four million people asleep, +dreaming perhaps. What worlds have they gone into? Whom have they met? But +my thoughts are far off with Bethmoora in her loneliness, whose gates +swing to and fro. To and fro they swing, and creak and creak in the wind, +but no one hears them. They are of green copper, very lovely, but no one +sees them now. The desert wind pours sand into their hinges, no watchman +comes to ease them. No guard goes round Bethmoora's battlements, no enemy +assails them. There are no lights in her houses, no footfall on her +streets, she stands there dead and lonely beyond the Hills of Hap, and I +would see Bethmoora once again, but dare not. + +It is many a year, they tell me, since Bethmoora became desolate. + +Her desolation is spoken of in taverns where sailors meet, and certain +travellers have told me of it. + +I had hoped to see Bethmoora once again. It is many a year ago, they say, +when the vintage was last gathered in from the vineyards that I knew, +where it is all desert now. It was a radiant day, and the people of the +city were dancing by the vineyards, while here and there one played upon +the kalipac. The purple flowering shrubs were all in bloom, and the snow +shone upon the Hills of Hap. + +Outside the copper gates they crushed the grapes in vats to make the +syrabub. It had been a goodly vintage. + +In the little gardens at the desert's edge men beat the tambang and the +tittibuk, and blew melodiously the zootibar. + +All there was mirth and song and dance, because the vintage had been +gathered in, and there would be ample syrabub for the winter months, and +much left over to exchange for turquoises and emeralds with the merchants +who come down from Oxuhahn. Thus they rejoiced all day over their vintage +on the narrow strip of cultivated ground that lay between Bethmoora and +the desert which meets the sky to the South. And when the heat of the day +began to abate, and the sun drew near to the snows on the Hills of Hap, +the note of the zootibar still rose clear from the gardens, and the +brilliant dresses of the dancers still wound among the flowers. All that +day three men on mules had been noticed crossing the face of the Hills of +Hap. Backwards and forwards they moved as the track wound lower and lower, +three little specks of black against the snow. They were seen first in the +very early morning up near the shoulder of Peol Jagganoth, and seemed to +be coming out of Utnar Véhi. All day they came. And in the evening, just +before the lights come out and colours change, they appeared before +Bethmoora's copper gates. They carried staves, such as messengers bear in +those lands, and seemed sombrely clad when the dancers all came round them +with their green and lilac dresses. Those Europeans who were present and +heard the message given were ignorant of the language, and only caught the +name of Utnar Véhi. But it was brief, and passed rapidly from mouth to +mouth, and almost at once the people burnt their vineyards and began to +flee away from Bethmoora, going for the most part northwards, though some +went to the East. They ran down out of their fair white houses, and +streamed through the copper gate; the throbbing of the tambang and the +tittibuk suddenly ceased with the note of the Zootibar, and the clinking +kalipac stopped a moment after. The three strange travellers went back the +way they came the instant their message was given. It was the hour when a +light would have appeared in some high tower, and window after window +would have poured into the dusk its lion-frightening light, and the cooper +gates would have been fastened up. But no lights came out in windows there +that night and have not ever since, and those copper gates were left wide +and have never shut, and the sound arose of the red fire crackling in the +vineyards, and the pattering of feet fleeing softly. There were no cries, +no other sounds at all, only the rapid and determined flight. They fled as +swiftly and quietly as a herd of wild cattle flee when they suddenly see a +man. It was as though something had befallen which had been feared for +generations, which could only be escaped by instant flight, which left no +time for indecision. + +Then fear took the Europeans also, and they too fled. And what the message +was I have never heard. + +Many believe that it was a message from Thuba Mleen, the mysterious +emperor of those lands, who is never seen by man, advising that Bethmoora +should be left desolate. Others say that the message was one of warning +from the gods, whether from friendly gods or from adverse ones they know +not. + +And others hold that the Plague was ravaging a line of cities over in +Utnar Véhi, following the South-west wind which for many weeks had been +blowing across them towards Bethmoora. + +Some say that the terrible gnousar sickness was upon the three travellers, +and that their very mules were dripping with it, and suppose that they +were driven to the city by hunger, but suggest no better reason for so +terrible a crime. + +But most believe that it was a message from the desert himself, who owns +all the Earth to the southwards, spoken with his peculiar cry to those +three who knew his voice--men who had been out on the sand-wastes without +tents by night, who had been by day without water, men who had been out +there where the desert mutters, and had grown to know his needs and his +malevolence. They say that the desert had a need for Bethmoora, that he +wished to come into her lovely streets, and to send into her temples and +her houses his storm-winds draped with sand. For he hates the sound and +the sight of men in his old evil heart, and he would have Bethmoora silent +and undisturbed, save for the weird love he whispers to her gates. + +If I knew what that message was that the three men brought on mules, and +told in the copper gate, I think that I should go and see Bethmoora once +again. For a great longing comes on me here in London to see once more +that white and beautiful city, and yet I dare not, for I know not the +danger I should have to face, whether I should risk the fury of unknown +dreadful gods, or some disease unspeakable and slow, or the desert's curse +or torture in some little private room of the Emperor Thuba Mleen, or +something that the travelers have not told--perhaps more fearful still. + + + + +IDLE DAYS ON THE YANN + + +So I came down through the wood on the bank of Yann and found, as had been +prophesied, the ship _Bird of the River_ about to loose her cable. + +The captain sat cross-legged upon the white deck with his scimitar lying +beside him in its jeweled scabbard, and the sailors toiled to spread the +nimble sails to bring the ship into the central stream of Yann, and all +the while sang ancient soothing songs. And the wind of the evening +descending cool from the snowfields of some mountainous abode of distant +gods came suddenly, like glad tidings to an anxious city, into the +wing-like sails. + +And so we came into the central stream, whereat the sailors lowered the +greater sails. But I had gone to bow before the captain, and to inquire +concerning the miracles, and appearances among men, of the most holy gods +of whatever land he had come from. And the captain answered that he came +from fair Belzoond, and worshipped gods that were the least and humblest, +who seldom sent the famine or the thunder, and were easily appeased with +little battles. And I told how I came from Ireland, which is of Europe, +whereat the captain and all the sailors laughed, for they said, "There are +no such places in all the land of dreams." When they had ceased to mock +me, I explained that my fancy mostly dwelt in the desert of Cuppar-Nombo, +about a beautiful blue city called Golthoth the Damned, which was +sentinelled all round by wolves and their shadows, and had been utterly +desolate for years and years, because of a curse which the gods once spoke +in anger and could never since recall. And sometimes my dreams took me as +far as Pungar Vees, the red walled city where the fountains are, which +trades with the Isles and Thul. When I said this they complimented me upon +the abode of my fancy, saying that, though they had never seen these +cities, such places might well be imagined. For the rest of that evening I +bargained with the captain over the sum that I should pay him for any fare +if God and the tide of Yann should bring us safely as far as the cliffs by +the sea, which are named Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann. + +And now the sun had set, and all the colours of the world and heaven had +held a festival with him, and slipped one by one away before the imminent +approach of night. The parrots had all flown home to the jungle on either +bank, the monkeys in rows in safety on high branches of the trees were +silent and asleep, the fireflies in the deeps of the forest were going up +and down, and the great stars came gleaming out to look on the face of +Yann. Then the sailors lighted lanterns and hung them round the ship, and +the light flashed out on a sudden and dazzled Yann, and the ducks that fed +along his marshy banks all suddenly arose, and made wide circles in the +upper air, and saw the distant reaches of the Yann and the white mist that +softly cloaked the jungle, before they returned again to their marshes. + +And then the sailors knelt on the decks and prayed, not all together, but +five or six at a time. Side by side there kneeled down together five or +six, for there only prayed at the same time men of different faiths, so +that no god should hear two men praying to him at once. As soon as any one +had finished his prayer, another of the same faith would take his place. +Thus knelt the row of five or six with bended heads under the fluttering +sail, while the central stream of the River Yann took them on towards the +sea, and their prayers rose up from among the lanterns and went towards +the stars. And behind them in the after end of the ship the helmsman +prayed aloud the helmsman's prayer, which is prayed by all who follow his +trade upon the River Yann, of whatever faith they be. And the captain +prayed to his little lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +And I too felt that I would pray. Yet I liked not to pray to a jealous God +there where the frail affectionate gods whom the heathen love were being +humbly invoked; so I bethought me, instead, of Sheol Nugganoth, whom the +men of the jungle have long since deserted, who is now unworshipped and +alone; and to him I prayed. + +And upon us praying the night came suddenly down, as it comes upon all men +who pray at evening and upon all men who do not; yet our prayers comforted +our own souls when we thought of the Great Night to come. + +And so Yann bore us magnificently onwards, for he was elate with molten +snow that the Poltiades had brought him from the Hills of Hap, and the +Marn and Migris were swollen with floods; and he bore us in his full might +past Kyph and Pir, and we saw the lights of Goolunza. + +Soon we all slept except the helmsman, who kept the ship in the mid-stream +of Yann. + +When the sun rose the helmsman ceased to sing, for by song he cheered +himself in the lonely night. When the song ceased we suddenly all awoke, +and another took the helm, and the helmsman slept. + +We knew that soon we should come to Mandaroon. We made a meal, and +Mandaroon appeared. Then the captain commanded, and the sailors loosed +again the greater sails, and the ship turned and left the stream of Yann +and came into a harbour beneath the ruddy walls of Mandaroon. Then while +the sailors went and gathered fruits I came alone to the gate of +Mandaroon. A few huts were outside it, in which lived the guard. A +sentinel with a long white beard was standing in the gate, armed with a +rusty pike. He wore large spectacles, which were covered with dust. +Through the gate I saw the city. A deathly stillness was over all of it. +The ways seemed untrodden, and moss was thick on doorsteps; in the +market-place huddled figures lay asleep. A scent of incense came wafted +through the gateway, of incense and burned poppies, and there was a hum of +the echoes of distant bells. I said to the sentinel in the tongue of the +region of Yann, "Why are they all asleep in this still city?" + +He answered: "None may ask questions in this gate for fear they will wake +the people of the city. For when the people of this city wake the gods +will die. And when the gods die men may dream no more." And I began to ask +him what gods that city worshipped, but he lifted his pike because none +might ask questions there. So I left him and went back to the _Bird of the +River_. + +Certainly Mandaroon was beautiful with her white pinnacles peering over +her ruddy walls and the green of her copper roofs. + +When I came back again to the _Bird of the River_, I found the sailors +were returned to the ship. Soon we weighed anchor, and sailed out again, +and so came once more to the middle of the river. And now the sun was +moving toward his heights, and there had reached us on the River Yann the +song of those countless myriads of choirs that attend him in his progress +round the world. For the little creatures that have many legs had spread +their gauze wings easily on the air, as a man rests his elbows on a +balcony and gave jubilant, ceremonial praises to the sun, or else they +moved together on the air in wavering dances intricate and swift, or +turned aside to avoid the onrush of some drop of water that a breeze had +shaken from a jungle orchid, chilling the air and driving it before it, as +it fell whirring in its rush to the earth; but all the while they sang +triumphantly. "For the day is for us," they said, "whether our great and +sacred father the Sun shall bring up more life like us from the marshes, +or whether all the world shall end tonight." And there sang all those +whose notes are known to human ears, as well as those whose far more +numerous notes have been never heard by man. + +To these a rainy day had been as an era of war that should desolate +continents during all the lifetime of a man. + +And there came out also from the dark and steaming jungle to behold and +rejoice in the Sun the huge and lazy butterflies. And they danced, but +danced idly, on the ways of the air, as some haughty queen of distant +conquered lands might in her poverty and exile dance, in some encampment +of the gipsies, for the mere bread to live by, but beyond that would never +abate her pride to dance for a fragment more. + +And the butterflies sung of strange and painted things, of purple orchids +and of lost pink cities and the monstrous colours of the jungle's decay. +And they, too, were among those whose voices are not discernible by human +ears. And as they floated above the river, going from forest to forest, +their splendour was matched by the inimical beauty of the birds who darted +out to pursue them. Or sometimes they settled on the white and wax-like +blooms of the plant that creeps and clambers about the trees of the +forest; and their purple wings flashed out on the great blossoms as, when +the caravans go from Nurl to Thace, the gleaming silks flash out upon the +snow, where the crafty merchants spread them one by one to astonish the +mountaineers of the Hills of Noor. + +But upon men and beasts the sun sent drowsiness. The river monsters along +the river's marge lay dormant in the slime. The sailors pitched a +pavilion, with golden tassels, for the captain upon the deck, and then +went, all but the helmsman, under a sail that they had hung as an awning +between two masts. Then they told tales to one another, each of his own +city or of the miracles of his god, until all were fallen asleep. The +captain offered me the shade of his pavillion with the gold tassels, and +there we talked for a while, he telling me that he was taking merchandise +to Perdóndaris, and that he would take back to fair Belzoond things +appertaining to the affairs of the sea. Then, as I watched through the +pavilion's opening the brilliant birds and butterflies that crossed and +recrossed over the river, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I was a monarch +entering his capital underneath arches of flags, and all the musicians of +the world were there, playing melodiously their instruments; but no one +cheered. + +In the afternoon, as the day grew cooler again, I awoke and found the +captain buckling on his scimitar, which he had taken off him while he +rested. + +And now we were approaching the wide court of Astahahn, which opens upon +the river. Strange boats of antique design were chained there to the +steps. As we neared it we saw the open marble court, on three sides of +which stood the city fronting on colonnades. And in the court and along +the colonnades the people of that city walked with solemnity and care +according to the rites of ancient ceremony. All in that city was of +ancient device; the carving on the houses, which, when age had broken it, +remained unrepaired, was of the remotest times, and everywhere were +represented in stone beasts that have long since passed away from +Earth--the dragon, the griffin, the hippogriffin, and the different +species of gargoyle. Nothing was to be found, whether material or custom, +that was new in Astahahn. Now they took no notice at all of us as we went +by, but continued their processions and ceremonies in the ancient city, +and the sailors, knowing their custom, took no notice of them. But I +called, as we came near, to one who stood beside the water's edge, asking +him what men did in Astahahn and what their merchandise was, and with whom +they traded. He said, "Here we have fettered and manacled Time, who would +otherwise slay the gods." + +I asked him what gods they worshipped in that city, and he said, "All +those gods whom Time has not yet slain." Then he turned from me and would +say no more, but busied himself in behaving in accordance with ancient +custom. And so, according to the will of Yann, we drifted onwards and left +Astahahn. The river widened below Astahahn, and we found in greater +quantities such birds as prey on fishes. And they were very wonderful in +their plumage, and they came not out of the jungle, but flew, with their +long necks stretched out before them, and their legs lying on the wind +behind, straight up the river over the mid-stream. + +And now the evening began to gather in. A thick white mist had appeared +over the river, and was softly rising higher. It clutched at the trees +with long impalpable arms, it rose higher and higher, chilling the air; +and white shapes moved away into the jungle as though the ghosts of +shipwrecked mariners were searching stealthily in the darkness for the +spirits of evil that long ago had wrecked them on the Yann. + +As the sun sank behind the field of orchids that grew on the matted summit +of the jungle, the river monsters came wallowing out of the slime in which +they had reclined during the heat of the day, and the great beasts of the +jungle came down to drink. The butterflies a while since were gone to +rest. In little narrow tributaries that we passed night seemed already to +have fallen, though the sun which had disappeared from us had not yet set. + +And now the birds of the jungle came flying home far over us, with the +sunlight glistening pink upon their breasts, and lowered their pinions as +soon as they saw the Yann, and dropped into the trees. And the widgeon +began to go up the river in great companies, all whistling, and then would +suddenly wheel and all go down again. And there shot by us the small and +arrow-like teal; and we heard the manifold cries of flocks of geese, which +the sailors told me had recently come in from crossing over the Lispasian +ranges; every year they come by the same way, close by the peak of Mluna, +leaving it to the left, and the mountain eagles know the way they come +and--men say--the very hour, and every year they expect them by the same +way as soon as the snows have fallen upon the Northern Plains. But soon it +grew so dark that we heard those birds no more, and only heard the +whirring of their wings, and of countless others besides, until they all +settled down along the banks of the river, and it was the hour when the +birds of the night went forth. Then the sailors lit the lanterns for the +night, and huge moths appeared, flapping about the ship, and at moments +their gorgeous colours would be revealed by the lanterns, then they would +pass into the night again, where all was black. And again the sailors +prayed, and thereafter we supped and slept, and the helmsman took our +lives into his care. + +When I awoke I found that we had indeed come to Perdóndaris, that famous +city. For there it stood upon the left of us, a city fair and notable, and +all the more pleasant for our eyes to see after the jungle that was so +long with us. And we were anchored by the market-place, and the captain's +merchandise was all displayed, and a merchant of Perdóndaris stood looking +at it. And the captain had his scimitar in his hand, and was beating with +it in anger upon the deck, and the splinters were flying up from the white +planks; for the merchant had offered him a price for his merchandise that +the captain declared to be an insult to himself and his country's gods, +whom he now said to be great and terrible gods, whose curses were to be +dreaded. But the merchant waved his hands, which were of great fatness, +showing the pink palms, and swore that of himself he thought not at all, +but only of the poor folk in the huts beyond the city to whom he wished to +sell the merchandise for as low a price as possible, leaving no +remuneration for himself. For the merchandise was mostly the thick +toomarund carpets that in the winter keep the wind from the floor, and +tollub which the people smoke in pipes. Therefore the merchant said if he +offered a piffek more the poor folk must go without their toomarunds when +the winter came, and without their tollub in the evenings, or else he and +his aged father must starve together. Thereat the captain lifted his +scimitar to his own throat, saying that he was now a ruined man, and that +nothing remained to him but death. And while he was carefully lifting his +beard with his left hand, the merchant eyed the merchandise again, and +said that rather than see so worthy a captain die, a man for whom he had +conceived an especial love when first he saw the manner in which he +handled his ship, he and his aged father should starve together and +therefore he offered fifteen piffeks more. + +When he said this the captain prostrated himself and prayed to his gods +that they might yet sweeten this merchant's bitter heart--to his little +lesser gods, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + +At last the merchant offered yet five piffeks more. Then the captain wept, +for he said that he was deserted of his gods; and the merchant also wept, +for he said that he was thinking of his aged father, and of how he soon +would starve, and he hid his weeping face with both his hands, and eyed +the tollub again between his fingers. And so the bargain was concluded, +and the merchant took the toomarund and tollub, paying for them out of a +great clinking purse. And these were packed up into bales again, and three +of the merchant's slaves carried them upon their heads into the city. And +all the while the sailors had sat silent, cross-legged in a crescent upon +the deck, eagerly watching the bargain, and now a murmur of satisfaction +arose among them, and they began to compare it among themselves with other +bargains that they had known. And I found out from them that there are +seven merchants in Perdóndaris, and that they had all come to the captain +one by one before the bargaining began, and each had warned him privately +against the others. And to all the merchants the captain had offered the +wine of his own country, that they make in fair Belzoond, but could in no +wise persuade them to it. But now that the bargain was over, and the +sailors were seated at the first meal of the day, the captain appeared +among them with a cask of that wine, and we broached it with care and all +made merry together. And the captain was glad in his heart because he knew +that he had much honour in the eyes of his men because of the bargain that +he had made. So the sailors drank the wine of their native land, and soon +their thoughts were back in fair Belzoond and the little neighbouring +cities of Durl and Duz. + +But for me the captain poured into a little jar some heavy yellow wine +from a small jar which he kept apart among his sacred things. Thick and +sweet it was, even like honey, yet there was in its heart a mighty, ardent +fire which had authority over souls of men. It was made, the captain told +me, with great subtlety by the secret craft of a family of six who lived +in a hut on the mountains of Hian Min. Once in these mountains, he said, +he followed the spoor of a bear, and he came suddenly on a man of that +family who had hunted the same bear, and he was at the end of a narrow way +with precipice all about him, and his spear was sticking in the bear, and +the wound was not fatal, and he had no other weapon. And the bear was +walking towards the man, very slowly because his wound irked him--yet he +was now very close. And what he captain did he would not say, but every +year as soon as the snows are hard, and travelling is easy on the Hian +Min, that man comes down to the market in the plains, and always leaves +for the captain in the gate of fair Belzoond a vessel of that priceless +secret wine. + +And as I sipped the wine and the captain talked, I remembered me of +stalwart noble things that I had long since resolutely planned, and my +soul seemed to grow mightier within me and to dominate the whole tide of +the Yann. It may be that I then slept. Or, if I did not, I do not now +minutely recollect every detail of that morning's occupations. Towards +evening, I awoke and wishing to see Perdóndaris before we left in the +morning, and being unable to wake the captain, I went ashore alone. +Certainly Perdóndaris was a powerful city; it was encompassed by a wall of +great strength and altitude, having in it hollow ways for troops to walk +in, and battlements along it all the way, and fifteen strong towers on it +in every mile, and copper plaques low down where men could read them, +telling in all the languages of those parts of the earth--one language on +each plaque--the tale of how an army once attacked Perdóndaris and what +befell that army. Then I entered Perdóndaris and found all the people +dancing, clad in brilliant silks, and playing on the tambang as they +danced. For a fearful thunderstorm had terrified them while I slept, and +the fires of death, they said, had danced over Perdóndaris, and now the +thunder had gone leaping away large and black and hideous, they said, over +the distant hills, and had turned round snarling at them, shoving his +gleaming teeth, and had stamped, as he went, upon the hilltops until they +rang as though they had been bronze. And often and again they stopped in +their merry dances and prayed to the God they knew not, saying, "O, God +that we know not, we thank Thee for sending the thunder back to his +hills." And I went on and came to the market-place, and lying there upon +the marble pavement I saw the merchant fast asleep and breathing heavily, +with his face and the palms of his hands towards the sky, and slaves were +fanning him to keep away the flies. And from the market-place I came to a +silver temple and then to a palace of onyx, and there were many wonders in +Perdóndaris, and I would have stayed and seen them all, but as I came to +the outer wall of the city I suddenly saw in it a huge ivory gate. For a +while I paused and admired it, then I came nearer and perceived the +dreadful truth. The gate was carved out of one solid piece! + +I fled at once through the gateway and down to the ship, and even as I ran +I thought that I heard far off on the hills behind me the tramp of the +fearful beast by whom that mass of ivory was shed, who was perhaps even +then looking for his other tusk. When I was on the ship again I felt +safer, and I said nothing to the sailors of what I had seen. + +And now the captain was gradually awakening. Now night was rolling up from +the East and North, and only the pinnacles of the towers of Perdóndaris +still took the fallen sunlight. Then I went to the captain and told him +quietly of the thing I had seen. And he questioned me at once about the +gate, in a low voice, that the sailors might not know; and I told him how +the weight of the thing was such that it could not have been brought from +afar, and the captain knew that it had not been there a year ago. We +agreed that such a beast could never have been killed by any assault of +man, and that the gate must have been a fallen tusk, and one fallen near +and recently. Therefore he decided that it were better to flee at once; so +he commanded, and the sailors went to the sails, and others raised the +anchor to the deck, and just as the highest pinnacle of marble lost the +last rays of the sun we left Perdóndaris, that famous city. And night came +down and cloaked Perdóndaris and hid it from our eyes, which as things +have happened will never see it again; for I have heard since that +something swift and wonderful has suddenly wrecked Perdóndaris in a +day--towers, walls and people. + +And the night deepened over the River Yann, a night all white with stars. +And with the night there rose the helmsman's song. As soon as he had +prayed he began to sing to cheer himself all through the lonely night. But +first he prayed, praying the helmsman's prayer. And this is what I +remember of it, rendered into English with a very feeble equivalent of the +rhythm that seemed so resonant in those tropic nights. + +To whatever god may hear. + +Wherever there be sailors whether of river or sea: whether their way be +dark or whether through storm: whether their peril be of beast or of rock: +or from enemy lurking on land or pursuing on sea: wherever the tiller is +cold or the helmsman stiff: wherever sailors sleep or helmsmen watch: +guard, guide and return us to the old land, that has known us: to the far +homes that we know. + +To all the gods that are. + +To whatever god may hear. + +So he prayed, and there was silence. And the sailors laid them down to +rest for the night. The silence deepened, and was only broken by the +ripples of Yann that lightly touched our prow. Sometimes some monster of +the river coughed. + +Silence and ripples, ripples and silence again. + +And then his loneliness came upon the helmsman, and he began to sing. And +he sang the market songs of Durl and Duz, and the old dragon-legends of +Belzoond. + +Many a song he sang, telling to spacious and exotic Yann the little tales +and trifles of his city of Durl. And the songs welled up over the black +jungle and came into the clear cold air above, and the great bands of +stars that look on Yann began to know the affairs of Durl and Duz, and of +the shepherds that dwelt in the fields between, and the flocks that they +had, and the loves that they had loved, and all the little things that +they had hoped to do. And as I lay wrapped up in skins and blankets, +listening to those songs, and watching the fantastic shapes of the great +trees like to black giants stalking through the night, I suddenly fell +asleep. + +When I awoke great mists were trailing away from the Yann. And the flow of +the river was tumbling now tumultuously, and little waves appeared; for +Yann had scented from afar the ancient crags of Glorm, and knew that their +ravines lay cool before him wherein he should meet the merry wild Irillion +rejoicing from fields of snow. So he shook off from him the torpid sleep +that had come upon him in the hot and scented jungle, and forgot its +orchids and its butterflies, and swept on turbulent, expectant, strong; +and soon the snowy peaks of the Hills of Glorm came glittering into view. +And now the sailors were waking up from sleep. Soon we all ate, and then +the helmsman laid him down to sleep while a comrade took his place, and +they all spread over him their choicest furs. + +And in a while we heard the sound that the Irillion made as she came down +dancing from the fields of snow. + +And then we saw the ravine in the Hills of Glorm lying precipitous and +smooth before us, into which we were carried by the leaps of Yann. And now +we left the steamy jungle and breathed the mountain air; the sailors stood +up and took deep breaths of it, and thought of their own far off Acroctian +hills on which were Durl and Duz--below them in the plains stands fair +Belzoond. + +A great shadow brooded between the cliffs of Glorm, but the crags were +shining above us like gnarled moons, and almost lit the gloom. Louder and +louder came the Irillion's song, and the sound of her dancing down from +the fields of snow. And soon we saw her white and full of mists, and +wreathed with rainbows delicate and small that she had plucked up near the +mountain's summit from some celestial garden of the Sun. Then she went +away seawards with the huge grey Yann and the ravine widened, and opened +upon the world, and our rocking ship came through to the light of the day. + +And all that morning and all the afternoon we passed through the marshes +of Pondoovery; and Yann widened there, and flowed solemnly and slowly, and +the captain bade the sailors beat on bells to overcome the dreariness of +the marshes. + +At last the Irusian mountains came in sight, nursing the villages of +Pen-Kai and Blut, and the wandering streets of Mlo, where priests +propitiate the avalanche with wine and maize. Then night came down over +the plains of Tlun, and we saw the lights of Cappadarnia. We heard the +Pathnites beating upon drums as we passed Imaut and Golzunda, then all but +the helmsman slept. And villages scattered along the banks of the Yann +heard all that night in the helmsman's unknown tongue the little songs of +cities that they knew not. + +I awoke before dawn with a feeling that I was unhappy before I remembered +why. Then I recalled that by the evening of the approaching day, according +to all foreseen probabilities, we should come to Bar-Wul-Yann, and I +should part from the captain and his sailors. And I had liked the man +because he had given me of his yellow wine that was set apart among his +sacred things, and many a story he had told me about his fair Belzoond +between the Acroctian hills and the Hian Min. And I had liked the ways +that his sailors had, and the prayers that they prayed at evening side by +side, grudging not one another their alien gods. And I had a liking too +for the tender way in which they often spoke of Durl and Duz, for it is +good that men should love their native cities and the little hills that +hold those cities up. + +And I had come to know who would meet them when they returned to their +homes, and where they thought the meetings would take place, some in a +valley of the Acroctian hills where the road comes up from Yann, others in +the gateway of one or another of the three cities, and others by the +fireside in the home. And I thought of the danger that had menaced us all +alike outside Perdóndaris, a danger that, as things have happened, was +very real. + +And I thought too of the helmsman's cheery song in the cold and lonely +night, and how he had held our lives in his careful hands. And as I +thought of this the helmsman ceased to sing, and I looked up and saw a +pale light had appeared in the sky, and the lonely night had passed; and +the dawn widened, and the sailors awoke. + +And soon we saw the tide of the Sea himself advancing resolute between +Yann's borders, and Yann sprang lithely at him and they struggled awhile; +then Yann and all that was his were pushed back northward, so that the +sailors had to hoist the sails and, the wind being favorable, we still +held onwards. + +And we passed Gondara and Narl and Haz. And we saw memorable, holy Golnuz, +and heard the pilgrims praying. + +When we awoke after the midday rest we were coming near to Nen, the last +of the cities on the River Yann. And the jungle was all about us once +again, and about Nen; but the great Mloon ranges stood up over all things, +and watched the city from beyond the jungle. + +Here we anchored, and the captain and I went up into the city and found +that the Wanderers had come into Nen. + +And the Wanderers were a weird, dark, tribe, that once in every seven +years came down from the peaks of Mloon, having crossed by a pass that is +known to them from some fantastic land that lies beyond. And the people of +Nen were all outside their houses, and all stood wondering at their own +streets. For the men and women of the Wanderers had crowded all the ways, +and every one was doing some strange thing. Some danced astounding dances +that they had learned from the desert wind, rapidly curving and swirling +till the eye could follow no longer. Others played upon instruments +beautiful wailing tunes that were full of horror, which souls had taught +them lost by night in the desert, that strange far desert from which the +Wanderers came. + +None of their instruments were such as were known in Nen nor in any part +of the region of the Yann; even the horns out of which some were made were +of beasts that none had seen along the river, for they were barbed at the +tips. And they sang, in the language of none, songs that seemed to be akin +to the mysteries of night and to the unreasoned fear that haunts dark +places. + +Bitterly all the dogs of Nen distrusted them. And the Wanderers told one +another fearful tales, for though no one in Nen knew ought of their +language yet they could see the fear on the listeners' faces, and as the +tale wound on the whites of their eyes showed vividly in terror as the +eyes of some little beast whom the hawk has seized. Then the teller of the +tale would smile and stop, and another would tell his story, and the +teller of the first tale's lips would chatter with fear. And if some +deadly snake chanced to appear the Wanderers would greet him as a brother, +and the snake would seem to give his greetings to them before he passed on +again. Once that most fierce and lethal of tropic snakes, the giant +lythra, came out of the jungle and all down the street, the central street +of Nen, and none of the Wanderers moved away from him, but they all played +sonorously on drums, as though he had been a person of much honour; and +the snake moved through the midst of them and smote none. + +Even the Wanderers' children could do strange things, for if any one of +them met with a child of Nen the two would stare at each other in silence +with large grave eyes; then the Wanderers' child would slowly draw from +his turban a live fish or snake. And the children of Nen could do nothing +of that kind at all. + +Much I should have wished to stay and hear the hymn with which they greet +the night, that is answered by the wolves on the heights of Mloon, but it +was now time to raise the anchor again that the captain might return from +Bar-Wul-Yann upon the landward tide. So we went on board and continued +down the Yann. And the captain and I spoke little, for we were thinking of +our parting, which should be for long, and we watched instead the +splendour of the westerning sun. For the sun was a ruddy gold, but a faint +mist cloaked the jungle, lying low, and into it poured the smoke of the +little jungle cities, and the smoke of them met together in the mist and +joined into one haze, which became purple, and was lit by the sun, as the +thoughts of men become hallowed by some great and sacred thing. Some times +one column from a lonely house would rise up higher than the cities' +smoke, and gleam by itself in the sun. + +And now as the sun's last rays were nearly level, we saw the sight that I +had come to see, for from two mountains that stood on either shore two +cliffs of pink marble came out into the river, all glowing in the light of +the low sun, and they were quite smooth and of mountainous altitude, and +they nearly met, and Yann went tumbling between them and found the sea. + +And this was Bar-Wul-Yann, the Gate of Yann, and in the distance through +that barrier's gap I saw the azure indescribable sea, where little +fishing-boats went gleaming by. + +And the sun set, and the brief twilight came, and the exultation of the +glory of Bar-Wul-Yann was gone, yet still the pink cliffs glowed, the +fairest marvel that the eye beheld--and this in a land of wonders. And +soon the twilight gave place to the coming out of stars, and the colours +of Bar-Wul-Yann went dwindling away. And the sight of those cliffs was to +me as some chord of music that a master's hand had launched from the +violin, and which carries to Heaven or Faëry the tremulous spirits of men. + +And now by the shore they anchored and went no further, for they were +sailors of the river and not of the sea, and knew the Yann but not the +tides beyond. + +And the time was come when the captain and I must part, he to go back to +his fair Belzoond in sight of the distant peaks of the Hian Min, and I to +find my way by strange means back to those hazy fields that all poets +know, wherein stand small mysterious cottages through whose windows, +looking westwards, you may see the fields of men, and looking eastwards +see glittering elfin mountains, tipped with snow, going range on range +into the region of Myth, and beyond it into the kingdom of Fantasy, which +pertain to the Lands of Dream. Long we regarded one another, knowing that +we should meet no more, for my fancy is weakening as the years slip by, +and I go ever more seldom into the Lands of Dream. Then we clasped hands, +uncouthly on his part, for it is not the method of greeting in his +country, and he commended my soul to the care of his own gods, to his +little lesser gods, the humble ones, to the gods that bless Belzoond. + + + + +THE SWORD AND THE IDOL + + +It was a cold winter's evening late in the Stone Age; the sun had gone +down blazing over the plains of Thold; there were no clouds, only the +chill blue sky and the imminence of stars; and the surface of the sleeping +Earth began to harden against the cold of the night. Presently from their +lairs arose, and shook themselves and went stealthily forth, those of +Earth's children to whom it is the law to prowl abroad as soon as the dusk +has fallen. And they went pattering softly over the plain, and their eyes +shone in the dark, and crossed and recrossed one another in their courses. +Suddenly there became manifest in the midst of the plain that fearful +portent of the presence of Man--a little flickering fire. And the children +of Earth who prowl abroad by night looked sideways at it and snarled and +edged away; all but the wolves, who came a little nearer, for it was +winter and the wolves were hungry, and they had come in thousands from the +mountains, and they said in their hearts, "We are strong." Around the fire +a little tribe was encamped. They, too, had come from the mountains, and +from lands beyond them, but it was in the mountains that the wolves first +winded them; they picked up bones at first that the tribe had dropped, but +they were closer now and on all sides. It was Loz who had lit the fire. He +had killed a small furry beast, hurling his stone axe at it, and had +gathered a quantity of reddish-brown stones, and had laid them in a long +row, and placed bits of the small beast all along it; then he lit a fire +on each side, and the stones heated, and the bits began to cook. It was at +this time that the tribe noticed that the wolves who had followed them so +far were no longer content with the scraps of deserted encampments. A line +of yellow eyes surrounded them, and when it moved it was to come nearer. +So the men of the tribe hastily tore up brushwood, and felled a small tree +with their flint axes, and heaped it all over the fire that Loz had made, +and for a while the great heap hid the flame, and the wolves came trotting +in and sat down again on their haunches much closer than before; and the +fierce and valiant dogs that belonged to the tribe believed that their end +was about to come while fighting, as they had long since prophesied it +would. Then the flame caught the lofty stack of brushwood, and rushed out +of it, and ran up the side of it, and stood up haughtily far over the top, +and the wolves seeing this terrible ally of Man reveling there in his +strength, and knowing nothing of this frequent treachery to his masters, +went slowly away as though they had other purposes. And for the rest of +that night the dogs of the encampment cried out to them and besought them +to come back. But the tribe lay down all round the fire under thick furs +and slept. And a great wind arose and blew into the roaring heart of the +fire till it was red no longer, but all pallid with heat. With the dawn +the tribe awoke. + +Loz might have known that after such a mighty conflagration nothing could +remain of his small furry beast, but there was hunger in him and little +reason as he searched among the ashes. What he found there amazed him +beyond measure; there was no meat, there was not even his row of +reddish-brown stones, but something longer than a man's leg and narrower +than his hand, was lying there like a great flattened snake. When Loz +looked at its thin edges and saw that it ran to a point, he picked up +stones to chip it and make it sharp. It was the instinct of Loz to sharpen +things. When he found that it could not be chipped his wonderment +increased. It was many hours before he discovered that he could sharpen +the edges by rubbing them with a stone; but at last the point was sharp, +and all one side of it except near the end, where Loz held it in his hand. +And Loz lifted it and brandished it, and the Stone Age was over. That +afternoon in the little encampment, just as the tribe moved on, the Stone +Age passed away, which, for perhaps thirty or forty thousand years, had +slowly lifted Man from among the beasts and left him with his supremacy +beyond all hope of reconquest. + +It was not for many days that any other man tried to make for himself an +iron sword by cooking the same kind of small furry beast that Loz had +tried to cook. It was not for many years that any thought to lay the meat +along stones as Loz had done; and when they did, being no longer on the +plains of Thold, they used flints or chalk. It was not for many +generations that another piece of iron ore was melted and the secret +slowly guessed. Nevertheless one of Earth's many veils was torn aside by +Loz to give us ultimately the steel sword and the plough, machinery and +factories; let us not blame Loz if we think that he did wrong, for he did +all in ignorance. The tribe moved on until it came to water, and there it +settled down under a hill, and they built their huts there. Very soon they +had to fight with another tribe, a tribe that was stronger than they; but +the sword of Loz was terrible and his tribe slew their foes. You might +make one blow at Loz, but then would come one thrust from that iron sword, +and there was no way of surviving it. No one could fight with Loz. And he +became ruler of the tribe in the place of Iz, who hitherto had ruled it +with his sharp axe, as his father had before him. + +Now Loz begat Lo, and in his old age gave his sword to him, and Lo ruled +the tribe with it. And Lo called the name of the sword Death, because it +was so swift and terrible. + +And Iz begat Ird, who was of no account. And Ird hated Lo because he was +of no account by reason of the iron sword of Lo. + +One night Ird stole down to the hut of Lo, carrying his sharp axe, and he +went very softly, but Lo's dog, Warner, heard him coming, and he growled +softly by his master's door. When Ird came to the hut he heard Lo talking +gently to his sword. And Lo was saying, "Lie still, Death. Rest, rest, old +sword," and then, "What, again, Death? Be still. Be still." + +And then again: "What, art thou hungry, Death? Or thirsty, poor old sword? +Soon, Death, soon. Be still only a little." + +But Ird fled, for he did not like the gentle tone of Lo as he spoke to his +sword. + +And Lo begat Lod. And when Lo died Lod took the iron sword and ruled the +tribe. + +And Ird begat Ith, who was of no account, like his father. + +Now when Lod had smitten a man or killed a terrible beast, Ith would go +away for a while into the forest rather than hear the praises that would +be given to Lod. + +And once, as Ith sat in the forest waiting for the day to pass, he +suddenly thought he saw a tree trunk looking at him as with a face. And +Ith was afraid, for trees should not look at men. But soon Ith saw that it +was only a tree and not a man, though it was like a man. Ith used to speak +to this tree, and tell it about Lod, for he dared not speak to any one +else about him. And Ith found comfort in speaking about Lod. + +One day Ith went with his stone axe into the forest, and stayed there many +days. + +He came back by night, and the next morning when the tribe awoke they saw +something that was like a man and yet was not a man. And it sat on the +hill with its elbows pointing outwards and was quite still. And Ith was +crouching before it, and hurriedly placing before it fruits and flesh, and +then leaping away from it and looking frightened. Presently all the tribe +came out to see, but dared not come quite close because of the fear that +they saw on the face of Ith. And Ith went to his hut, and came back again +with a hunting spear-head and valuable small stone knives, and reached out +and laid them before the thing that was like a man, and then sprang away +from it. + +And some of the tribe questioned Ith about the still thing that was like a +man, and Ith said, "This is Ged." Then they asked, "Who is Ged?" and Ith +said, "Ged sends the crops and the rain; and the sun and the moon are +Ged's." + +Then the tribe went back to their huts, but later in the day some came +again, and they said to Ith, "Ged is only as we are, having hands and +feet." And Ith pointed to the right hand of Ged, which was not as his +left, but was shaped like the paw of a beast, and Ith said, "By this ye +may know that he is not as any man." + +Then they said, "He is indeed Ged." But Lod said, "He speaketh not, nor +doth he eat," and Ith answered, "The thunder is his voice and the famine +is his eating." + +After this the tribe copied Ith, and brought little gifts of meat to Ged; +and Ith cooked them before him that Ged might smell the cooking. + +One day a great thunderstorm came trampling up from the distance and raged +among the hills, and the tribe all hid away from it in their huts. And Ith +appeared among the huts looking unafraid. And Ith said little, but the +tribe thought that he had expected the terrible storm because the meat +that they had laid before Ged had been tough meat, and not the best parts +of the beasts they slew. + +And Ged grew to have more honour among the tribe than Lod. And Lod was +vexed. + +One night Lod arose when all were asleep, and quieted his dog, and took +his iron sword and went away to the hill. And he came on Ged in the +starlight, sitting still, with his elbows pointing outwards, and his +beast's paw, and the mark of the fire on the ground where his food had +been cooked. + +And Lod stood there for a while in great fear, trying to keep to his +purpose. Suddenly he stepped up close to Ged and lifted his iron sword, +and Ged neither hit nor shrank. Then the thought came into Lod's mind, +"Ged does not hit. What will Ged do instead?" + +And Lod lowered his sword and struck not, and his imagination began to +work on that "What will Ged do instead?" + +And the more Lod thought, the worse was his fear of Ged. + +And Lod ran away and left him. + +Lod still ruled the tribe in battle or in the hunt, but the chiefest +spoils of battle were given to Ged, and the beasts that they slew were +Ged's; and all questions that concerned war or peace, and questions of law +and disputes, were always brought to him, and Ith gave the answers after +speaking to Ged by night. + +At last Ith said, the day after an eclipse, that the gifts which they +brought to Ged were not enough, that some far greater sacrifice was +needed, that Ged was very angry even now, and not to be appeased by any +ordinary sacrifice. + +And Ith said that to save the tribe from the anger of Ged he would speak +to Ged that night, and ask him what new sacrifice he needed. + +Deep in his heart Lod shuddered, for his instinct told him that Ged wanted +Lod's only son, who should hold the iron sword when Lod was gone. + +No one would dare touch Lod because of the iron sword, but his instinct +said in his slow mind again and again, "Ged loves Ith. Ith has said so. +Ith hates the sword-holders." + +"Ith hates the sword-holders. Ged loves Ith." + +Evening fell and the night came when Ith should speak with Ged, and Lod +became ever surer of the doom of his race. + +He lay down but could not sleep. + +Midnight had barely come when Lod arose and went with his iron sword again +to the hill. + +And there sat Ged. Had Ith been to him yet? Ith whom Ged loved, who hated +the sword-holders. + +And Lod looked long at the old sword of iron that had come to his +grandfather on the plains of Thold. + +Good-bye, old sword! And Lod laid it on the knees of Ged, then went away. + +And when Ith came, a little before dawn, the sacrifice was found +acceptable unto Ged. + + + + +THE IDLE CITY + + +There was once a city which was an idle city, wherein men told vain tales. + +And it was that city's custom to tax all men that would enter in, with the +toll of some idle story in the gate. + +So all men paid to the watchers in the gate the toll of an idle story, and +passed into the city unhindered and unhurt. And in a certain hour of the +night when the king of that city arose and went pacing swiftly up and down +the chamber of his sleeping, and called upon the name of the dead queen, +then would the watchers fasten up the gate and go into that chamber to the +king, and, sitting on the floor, would tell him all the tales that they +had gathered. And listening to them some calmer mood would come upon the +king, and listening still he would lie down again and at last fall asleep, +and all the watchers silently would arise and steal away from the chamber. + +A while ago wandering, I came to the gate of that city. And even as I came +a man stood up to pay his toll to the watchers. They were seated +cross-legged on the ground between him and the gate, and each one held a +spear. Near him two other travellers sat on the warm sand waiting. And the +man said: + +"Now the city of Nombros forsook the worship of the gods and turned +towards God. So the gods threw their cloaks over their faces and strode +away from the city, and going into the haze among the hills passed through +the trunks of the olive groves into the sunset. But when they had already +left the Earth, they turned and looked through the gleaming folds of the +twilight for the last time at their city; and they looked half in anger +and half in regret, then turned and went away for ever. But they sent back +a Death, who bore a scythe, saying to it: 'Slay half in the city that +forsook us, but half of them spare alive that they may yet remember their +old forsaken gods.' + +"But God sent a destroying angel to show that He was God, saying unto him: +'Go into that city and slay half of the dwellers therein, yet spare a half +of them that they may know that I am God.' + +"And at once the destroying angel put his hand to his sword, and the sword +came out of the scabbard with a deep breath, like to the breath that a +broad woodman takes before his first blow at some giant oak. Thereat the +angel pointed his arms downwards, and bending his head between them, fell +forward from Heaven's edge, and the spring of his ankles shot him +downwards with his wings furled behind him. So he went slanting earthward +through the evening with his sword stretched out before him, and he was +like a javelin that some hunter hath hurled that returneth again to the +earth: but just before he touched it he lifted his head and spread his +wings with the under feathers forward, and alighted by the bank of the +broad Flavro that divides the city of Nombros. And down the bank of the +Flavro he fluttered low, like to a hawk over a new-cut cornfield when the +little creatures of the corn are shelterless, and at the same time down +the other bank the Death from the gods went mowing. + +"At once they saw each other, and the angel glared at the Death, and the +Death leered back at him, and the flames in the eyes of the angel +illumined with a red glare the mist that lay in the hollows of the sockets +of the Death. Suddenly they fell on one another, sword to scythe. And the +angel captured the temples of the gods, and set up over them the sign of +God, and the Death captured the temples of God, and led into them the +ceremonies and sacrifices of the gods; and all the while the centuries +slipped quietly by, going down the Flavro seawards. + +"And now some worship God in the temple of the gods, and others worship the +gods in the temple of God, and still the angel hath not returned again to +the rejoicing choirs, and still the Death hath not gone back to die with +the dead gods; but all through Nombros they fight up and down, and still +on each side of the Flavro the city lives." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then another traveler rose up, and said: + +"Solemnly between Huhenwazy and Nitcrana the huge grey clouds came +floating. And those great mountains, heavenly Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, the +king of peaks, greeted them, calling them brothers. And the clouds were +glad of their greeting, for they meet with companions seldom in the lonely +heights of the sky. + +"But the vapours of evening said unto the earth-mist, 'What are those +shapes that dare to move above us and to go where Nitcrana is and +Huhenwazi?' + +"And the earth-mist said in answer unto the vapours of evening, 'It is +only an earth-mist that has become mad and has left the warm and +comfortable earth, and has in his madness thought that his place is with +Huhenwazi and Nitcrana.' + +"'Once,' said the vapours of evening, 'there were clouds, but this was +many and many a day ago, as our forefathers have said. Perhaps the mad one +thinks he is the clouds.' + +"Then spake the earth-worms from the warm deeps of the mud, saying 'O +earth-mist, thou art indeed the clouds, and there are no clouds but thou. +And as for Huhenwazi and Nitcrana, I cannot see them, and therefore they +are not high, and there are no mountains in the world but those that I +cast up every morning out of the deeps of the mud.' + +"And the earth-mist and the vapours of evening were glad at the voice of +the earth-worms, and looking earthward believed what they had said. + +"And indeed it is better to be as the earth-mist, and to keep close to the +warm mud at night, and to hear the earth-worm's comfortable speech, and +not to be a wanderer in the cheerless heights, but to leave the mountains +alone with their desolate snow, to draw what comfort they can from their +vast aspect over all the cities of men, and from the whispers that they +hear at evening of unknown distant gods." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Then a man stood up who came out of the west, and told a western tale. He +said: + +"There is a road in Rome that runs through an ancient temple that once the +gods had loved; it runs along the top of a great wall, and the floor of +the temple lies far down beneath it, of marble, pink and white. + +"Upon the temple floor I counted to the number of thirteen hungry cats. + +"'Sometimes,' they said among themselves, 'it was the gods that lived +here, sometimes it was men, and now it's cats. So let us enjoy the sun on +the hot marble before another people comes.' + +"For it was at that hour of a warm afternoon when my fancy is able to hear +silent voices. + +"And the awful leanness of all those thirteen cats moved me to go into a +neighbouring fish shop, and there to buy a quantity of fishes. Then I +returned and threw them all over the railing at the top of the great wall, +and they fell for thirty feet, and hit the sacred marble with a smack. + +"Now, in any other town but Rome, or in the minds of any other cats, the +sight of fishes falling out of heaven had surely excited wonder. They rose +slowly, and all stretched themselves, then they came leisurely towards the +fishes. 'It is only a miracle,' they said in their hearts." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +Proudly and slowly, as they spoke, drew up to them a camel, whose rider +sought entrance to the city. His face shone with the sunset by which for +long he had steered for the city's gate. Of him they demanded toll. +Whereat he spoke to his camel, and the camel roared and kneeled, and the +man descended from him. And the man unwrapped from many silks a box of +divers metals wrought by the Japanese, and on the lid of it were figures +of men who gazed from some shore at an isle of the Inland Sea. This he +showed to the watchers, and when they had seen it, said, "It has seemed to +me that these speak to each other thus: + +"'Behold now Oojni, the dear one of the sea, the little mother sea that +hath no storms. She goeth out from Oojni singing a song, and she returneth +singing over her sands. Little is Oojni in the lap of the sea, and scarce +to be perceived by wondering ships. White sails have never wafted her +legends afar, they are told not by bearded wanderers of the sea. Her +fireside tales are known not to the North, the dragons of China have not +heard of them, nor those that ride on elephants through Ind. + +"'Men tell the tales and the smoke ariseth upwards; the smoke departeth +and the tales are told. + +"'Oojni is not a name among the nations, she is not know of where the +merchants meet, she is not spoken of by alien lips. + +"'Indeed, but Oojni is a little among the isles, yet is she loved by those +that know her coasts and her inland places hidden from the sea. + +"Without glory, without fame, and without wealth, Oojni is greatly loved +by a little people, and by a few; yet not by few, for all her dead still +love her, and oft by night come whispering through her woods. Who could +forget Oojni even among the dead? + +"For here in Oojni, wot you, are homes of men, and gardens, and golden +temples of the gods, and sacred places inshore from the sea, and many +murmurous woods. And there is a path that winds over the hills to go into +mysterious holy lands where dance by night the spirits of the woods, or +sing unseen in the sunlight; and no one goes into these holy lands, for +who that love Oojni could rob her of her mysteries, and the curious aliens +come not. Indeed, but we love Oojni though she is so little; she is the +little mother of our race, and the kindly nurse of all seafaring birds. + +"And behold, even now caressing her, the gentle fingers of the mother sea, +whose dreams are far with that old wanderer Ocean. + +"And yet let us forget not Fuzi-Yama, for he stands manifest over clouds +and sea, misty below, and vague and indistinct, but clear above for all +the isles to watch. The ships make all their journeys in his sight, the +nights and the days go by him like a wind, the summers and winters under +him flicker and fade, the lives of men pass quietly here and hence, and +Fuzi-Yama watches there--and knows." + +And the watchers in the gate said, "Enter in." + +And I, too, would have told them a tale, very wonderful and very true; one +that I had told in many cities, which as yet had no believers. But now the +sun had set, and the brief twilight gone, and ghostly silences were rising +from far and darkening hills. A stillness hung over that city's gate. And +the great silence of the solemn night was more acceptable to the watchers +in the gate than any sound of man. Therefore they beckoned to us, and +motioned with their hands that we should pass untaxed into the city. And +softly we went up over the sand, and between the high rock pillars of the +gate, and a deep stillness settled among the watchers, and the stars over +them twinkled undisturbed. + +For how short a while man speaks, and withal how vainly. And for how long +he is silent. Only the other day I met a king in Thebes, who had been +silent already for four thousand years. + + + + +THE HASHISH MAN + + +I was at a dinner in London the other day. The ladies had gone upstairs, +and no one sat on my right; on my left there was a man I did not know, but +he knew my name somehow apparently, for he turned to me after a while, and +said, "I read a story of yours about Bethmoora in a review." + +Of course I remembered the tale. It was about a beautiful Oriental city +that was suddenly deserted in a day--nobody quite knew why. I said, "Oh, +yes," and slowly searched in my mind for some more fitting acknowledgment +of the compliment that his memory had paid me. + +I was greatly astonished when he said, "You were wrong about the gnousar +sickness; it was not that at all." + +I said, "Why! Have you been there?" + +And he said, "Yes; I do it with hashish. I know Bethmoora well." And he +took out of his pocket a small box full of some black stuff that looked +like tar, but had a stranger smell. He warned me not to touch it with my +finger, as the stain remained for days. "I got it from a gipsy," he said. +"He had a lot of it, as it had killed his father." But I interrupted him, +for I wanted to know for certain what it was that had made desolate that +beautiful city, Bethmoora, and why they fled from it swiftly in a day. +"Was it because of the Desert's curse?" I asked. And he said, "Partly it +was the fury of the Desert and partly the advice of the Emperor Thuba +Mleen, for that fearful beast is in some way connected with the Desert on +his mother's side." And he told me this strange story: "You remember the +sailor with the black scar, who was there on the day that you described +when the messengers came on mules to the gate of Bethmoora, and all the +people fled. I met this man in a tavern, drinking rum, and he told me all +about the flight from Bethmoora, but knew no more than you did what the +message was, or who had sent it. However, he said he would see Bethmoora +once more whenever he touched again at an eastern port, even if he had to +face the Devil. He often said that he would face the Devil to find out the +mystery of that message that emptied Bethmoora in a day. And in the end he +had to face Thuba Mleen, whose weak ferocity he had not imagined. For one +day the sailor told me he had found a ship, and I met him no more after +that in the tavern drinking rum. It was about that time that I got the +hashish from the gipsy, who had a quantity that he did not want. It takes +one literally out of oneself. It is like wings. You swoop over distant +countries and into other worlds. Once I found out the secret of the +universe. I have forgotten what it was, but I know that the Creator does +not take Creation seriously, for I remember that He sat in Space with all +His work in front of Him and laughed. I have seen incredible things in +fearful worlds. As it is your imagination that takes you there, so it is +only by your imagination that you can get back. Once out in aether I met a +battered, prowling spirit, that had belonged to a man whom drugs had +killed a hundred years ago; and he led me to regions that I had never +imagined; and we parted in anger beyond the Pleiades, and I could not +imagine my way back. And I met a huge grey shape that was the Spirit of +some great people, perhaps of a whole star, and I besought It to show me +my way home, and It halted beside me like a sudden wind and pointed, and, +speaking quite softly, asked me if I discerned a certain tiny light, and I +saw a far star faintly, and then It said to me, 'That is the Solar +System,' and strode tremendously on. And somehow I imagined my way back, +and only just in time, for my body was already stiffening in a chair in my +room; and the fire had gone out and everything was cold, and I had to move +each finger one by one, and there were pins and needles in them, and +dreadful pains in the nails, which began to thaw; and at last I could move +one arm, and reached a bell, and for a long time no one came, because +every one was in bed. But at last a man appeared, and they got a doctor; +and HE said that it was hashish poisoning, but it would have been all +right if I hadn't met that battered, prowling spirit. + +"I could tell you astounding things that I have seen, but you want to know +who sent that message to Bethmoora. Well, it was Thuba Mleen. And this is +how I know. I often went to the city after that day you wrote of (I used +to take hashish of an evening in my flat), and I always found it +uninhabited. Sand had poured into it from the desert, and the streets were +yellow and smooth, and through open, swinging doors the sand had drifted. + +"One evening I had put the guard in front of the fire, and settled into a +chair and eaten my hashish, and the first thing that I saw when I came to +Bethmoora was the sailor with the black scar, strolling down the street, +and making footprints in the yellow sand. And now I knew that I should see +what secret power it was that kept Bethmoora uninhabited. + +"I saw that there was anger in the Desert, for there were storm clouds +heaving along the skyline, and I heard a muttering amongst the sand. + +"The sailor strolled on down the street, looking into the empty houses as +he went; sometimes he shouted and sometimes he sang, and sometimes he +wrote his name on a marble wall. Then he sat down on a step and ate his +dinner. After a while he grew tired of the city, and came back up the +street. As he reached the gate of green copper three men on camels +appeared. + +"I could do nothing. I was only a consciousness, invisible, wandering: my +body was in Europe. The sailor fought well with his fists, but he was +over-powered and bound with ropes, and led away through the Desert. + +"I followed for as long as I could stay, and found that they were going by +the way of the Desert round the Hills of Hap towards Utnar Véhi, and then +I knew that the camel men belonged to Thuba Mleen. + +"I work in an insurance office all day, and I hope you won't forget me if +ever you want to insure--life, fire, or motor--but that's no part of my +story. I was desperately anxious to get back to my flat, though it is not +good to take hashish two days running; but I wanted to see what they would +do to the poor fellow, for I had heard bad rumours about Thuba Mleen. When +at last I got away I had a letter to write; then I rang for my servant, +and told him that I must not be disturbed, though I left my door unlocked +in case of accidents. After that I made up a good fire, and sat down and +partook of the pot of dreams. I was going to the palace of Thuba Mleen. + +"I was kept back longer than usual by noises in the street, but suddenly I +was up above the town; the European countries rushed by beneath me, and +there appeared the thin white palace spires of horrible Thuba Mleen. I +found him presently at the end of a little narrow room. A curtain of red +leather hung behind him, on which all the names of God, written in +Yannish, were worked with a golden thread. Three windows were small and +high. The Emperor seemed no more than about twenty, and looked small and +weak. No smiles came on his nasty yellow face, though he tittered +continually. As I looked from his low forehead to his quivering under lip, +I became aware that there was some horror about him, though I was not able +to perceive what it was. And then I saw it--the man never blinked; and +though later on I watched those eyes for a blink, it never happened once. + +"And then I followed the Emperor's rapt glance, and I saw the sailor lying +on the floor, alive but hideously rent, and the royal torturers were at +work all round him. They had torn long strips from him, but had not +detached them, and they were torturing the ends of them far away from the +sailor." The man that I met at dinner told me many things which I must +omit. "The sailor was groaning softly, and every time he groaned Thuba +Mleen tittered. I had no sense of smell, but I could hear and see, and I +do not know which was the most revolting--the terrible condition of the +sailor or the happy unblinking face of horrible Thuba Mleen. + +"I wanted to go away, but the time was not yet come, and I had to stay +where I was. + +"Suddenly the Emperor's face began to twitch violently and his under lip +quivered faster, and he whimpered with anger, and cried with a shrill +voice, in Yannish, to the captain of his torturers that there was a spirit +in the room. I feared not, for living men cannot lay hands on a spirit, +but all the torturers were appalled at his anger, and stopped their work, +for their hands trembled in fear. Then two men of the spear-guard slipped +from the room, and each of them brought back presently a golden bowl, with +knobs on it, full of hashish; and the bowls were large enough for heads to +have floated in had they been filled with blood. And the two men fell to +rapidly, each eating with two great spoons--there was enough in each +spoonful to have given dreams to a hundred men. And there came upon them +soon the hashish state, and their spirits hovered, preparing to go free, +while I feared horribly, but ever and anon they fell back again to their +bodies, recalled by some noise in the room. Still the men ate, but lazily +now, and without ferocity. At last the great spoons dropped out of their +hands, and their spirits rose and left them. I could not flee. And the +spirits were more horrible than the men, because they were young men, and +not yet wholly moulded to fit their fearful souls. Still the sailor +groaned softly, evoking little titters from the Emperor Thuba Mleen. Then +the two spirits rushed at me, and swept me thence as gusts of wind sweep +butterflies, and away we went from that small, pale, heinous man. There +was no escaping from these spirits' fierce insistence. The energy in my +minute lump of the drug was overwhelmed by the huge spoonsful that these +men had eaten with both hands. I was whirled over Arvle Woondery, and +brought to the lands of Snith, and swept on still until I came to Kragua, +and beyond this to those bleak lands that are nearly unknown to fancy. And +we came at last to those ivory hills that are named the Mountains of +Madness, and I tried to struggle against the spirits of that frightful +Emperor's men, for I heard on the other side of the ivory hills the +pittering of those beasts that prey on the mad, as they prowled up and +down. It was no fault of mine that my little lump of hashish could not +fight with their horrible spoonsful...." + +Some one was tugging at the hall-door bell. Presently a servant came and +told our host that a policeman in the hall wished to speak to him at once. +He apologised to us, and went outside, and we heard a man in heavy boots, +who spoke in a low voice to him. My friend got up and walked over to the +window, and opened it, and looked outside. "I should think it will be a +fine night," he said. Then he jumped out. When we put our astonished heads +out of the window to look for him, he was already out of sight. + + + + +POOR OLD BILL + + +On an antique haunt of sailors, a tavern of the sea, the light of day was +fading. For several evenings I had frequented this place, in the hope of +hearing something from the sailors, as they sat over strange wines, about +a rumour that had reached my ears of a certain fleet of galleons of old +Spain still said to be afloat in the South Seas in some uncharted region. + +In this I was again to be disappointed. Talk was low and seldom, and I was +about to leave, when a sailor, wearing ear-rings of pure gold, lifted up +his head from his wine, and looking straight before him at the wall, told +his tale loudly: + +(When later on a storm of rain arose and thundered on the tavern's leaded +panes, he raised his voice without effort and spoke on still. The darker +it got the clearer his wild eyes shone.) + +"A ship with sails of the olden time was nearing fantastic isles. We had +never seen such isles. + +"We all hated the captain, and he hated us. He hated us all alike, there +was no favouritism about him. And he never would talk a word with any of +us, except sometimes in the evening when it was getting dark he would stop +and look up and talk a bit to the men he had hanged at the yard-arm. + +"We were a mutinous crew. But Captain was the only man that had pistols. +He slept with one under his pillow and kept one close beside him. There +was a nasty look about the isles. They were small and flat as though they +had come up only recently from the sea, and they had no sand or rocks like +honest isles, but green grass down to the water. And there were little +cottages there whose looks we did not like. Their thatches came almost +down to the ground, and were strangely turned up at the corners, and under +the low eaves were queer dark windows whose little leaded panes were too +thick to see through. And no one, man or beast, was walking about, so that +you could not know what kind of people lived there. But Captain knew. And +he went ashore and into one of the cottages, and someone lit lights +inside, and the little windows wore an evil look. + +"It was quite dark when he came aboard again, and he bade a cheery +good-night to the men that swung from the yard-arm and he eyed us in a way +that frightened poor old Bill. + +"Next night we found that he had learned to curse, for he came on a lot of +us asleep in our bunks, and among them poor old Bill, and he pointed at us +with a finger, and made a curse that our souls should stay all night at +the top of the masts. And suddenly there was the soul of poor old Bill +sitting like a monkey at the top of the mast, and looking at the stars, +and freezing through and through. + +"We got up a little mutiny after that, but Captain comes up and points +with his finger again, and this time poor old Bill and all the rest are +swimming behind the ship through the cold green water, though their bodies +remain on deck. + +"It was the cabin-boy who found out that Captain couldn't curse when he +was drunk, though he could shoot as well at one time as another. + +"After that it was only a matter of waiting, and of losing two men when +the time came. Some of us were murderous fellows, and wanted to kill +Captain, but poor old Bill was for finding a bit of an island, out of the +track of ships, and leaving him there with his share of our year's +provisions. And everybody listened to poor old Bill, and we decided to +maroon Captain as soon as we caught him when he couldn't curse. + +"It was three whole days before Captain got drunk again, and poor old Bill +and all had a dreadful time, for Captain invented new curses every day, +and wherever he pointed his finger our souls had to go; and the fishes got +to know us, and so did the stars, and none of them pitied us when we froze +on the masts or were hurried through forests of seaweed and lost our +way--both stars and fishes went about their businesses with cold, +unastonished eyes. Once when the sun had set and it was twilight, and the +moon was showing clearer and clearer in the sky, and we stopped our work +for a moment because Captain seemed to be looking away from us at the +colours in the sky, he suddenly turned and sent our souls to the Moon. And +it was colder there than ice at night; and there were horrible mountains +making shadows; and it was all as silent as miles of tombs; and Earth was +shining up in the sky as big as the blade of a scythe, and we all got +homesick for it, but could not speak nor cry. It was quite dark when we +got back, and we were very respectful to Captain all the next day, but he +cursed several of us again very soon. What we all feared most was that he +would curse our souls to Hell, and none of us mentioned Hell above a +whisper for fear that it should remind him. But on the third evening the +cabin-boy came and told us that Captain was drunk. And we all went to his +cabin, and we found him lying there across his bunk, and he shot as he had +never shot before; but he had no more than the two pistols, and he would +only have killed two men if he hadn't caught Joe over the head with the +end of one of his pistols. And then we tied him up. And poor old Bill put +the rum between the Captain's teeth, and kept him drunk for two days, so +that he could not curse, till we found a convenient rock. And before +sunset of the second day we found a nice bare island for Captain, out of +the track of ships, about a hundred yards long and about eighty wide; and +we rowed him along to it in a little boat, and gave him provisions for a +year, the same as we had ourselves, because poor old Bill wanted to be +fair. And we left him sitting comfortable with his back to a rock singing +a sailor's song. + +"When we could no longer hear Captain singing we all grew very cheerful +and made a banquet out of our year's provisions, as we all hoped to be +home again in under three weeks. We had three great banquets every day for +a week--every man had more than he could eat, and what was left over we +threw on the floor like gentlemen. And then one day, as we saw San +Huëgédos, and wanted to sail in to spend our money, the wind changed round +from behind us and beat us out to sea. There was no tacking against it, +and no getting into the harbour, though other ships sailed by us and +anchored there. Sometimes a dead calm would fall on us, while fishing +boats all around us flew before half a gale, and sometimes the wind would +beat us out to sea when nothing else was moving. All day we tried, and at +night we laid to and tried again the next day. And all the sailors of the +other ships were spending their money in San Huëgédos and we could not +come nigh it. Then we spoke horrible things against the wind and against +San Huëgédos, and sailed away. + +"It was just the same at Norenna. + +"We kept close together now and talked in low voices. Suddenly poor old +Bill grew frightened. As we went all along the Siractic coast-line, we +tried again and again, and the wind was waiting for us in every harbour +and sent us out to sea. Even the little islands would not have us. And +then we knew that there was no landing yet for poor old Bill, and every +one upbraided his kind heart that had made them maroon Captain on a rock, +so as not to have his blood upon their heads. There was nothing to do but +to drift about the seas. There were no banquets now, because we feared +that Captain might live his year and keep us out to sea. + +"At first we used to hail all passing ships, and used to try to board them +in the boats; but there was no towing against Captain's curse, and we had +to give that up. So we played cards for a year in Captain's cabin, night +and day, storm and fine, and every one promised to pay poor old Bill when +we got ashore. + +"It was horrible to us to think what a frugal man Captain really was, he +that used to get drunk every other day whenever he was at sea, and here he +was still alive, and sober too, for his curse still kept us out of every +port, and our provisions were gone. + +"Well, it came to drawing lots, and Jim was the unlucky one. Jim only kept +us about three days, and then we drew lots again, and this time it was the +nigger. The nigger didn't keep us any longer, and we drew again, and this +time it was Charlie, and still Captain was alive. + +"As we got fewer one of us kept us longer. Longer and longer a mate used +to last us, and we all wondered how ever Captain did it. It was five weeks +over the year when we drew Mike, and he kept us for a week, and Captain +was still alive. We wondered he didn't get tired of the same old curse; +but we supposed things looked different when one is alone on an island. + +"When there was only Jakes and poor old Bill and the cabin-boy and Dick, +we didn't draw any longer. We said that the cabin-boy had had all the +luck, and he mustn't expect any more. Then poor old Bill was alone with +Jakes and Dick, and Captain was still alive. When there was no more boy, +and the Captain still alive, Dick, who was a huge strong man like poor old +Bill, said that it was Jakes' turn, and he was very lucky to have lived as +long as he had. But poor old Bill talked it all over with Jakes, and they +thought it better than Dick should take his turn. + +"Then there was Jakes and poor old Bill; and Captain would not die. + +"And these two used to watch one another night and day, when Dick was gone +and no one else was left to them. And at last poor old Bill fell down in a +faint and lay there for an hour. Then Jakes came up to him slowly with his +knife, and makes a stab at poor old Bill as he lies there on the deck. And +poor old Bill caught hold of him by the wrist, and put his knife into him +twice to make quite sure, although it spoiled the best part of the meat. +Then poor old Bill was all alone at sea. + +"And the very next week, before the food gave out, Captain must have died +on his bit of an island; for poor old Bill heard the Captain's soul going +cursing over the sea, and the day after that the ship was cast on a rocky +coast. + +"And Captain's been dead now for over a hundred years, and poor old Bill +is safe ashore again. But it looks as if Captain hadn't done with him yet, +for poor old Bill doesn't ever get any older, and somehow or other he +doesn't seem to die. Poor old Bill!" + +When this was over the man's fascination suddenly snapped, and we all +jumped up and left him. + +It was not only his revolting story, but it was the fearful look in the +eyes of the man who told it, and the terrible ease with which his voice +surpassed the roar of the rain, that decided me never again to enter that +haunt of sailors--the tavern of the sea. + + + + +THE BEGGARS + + +I was walking down Piccadilly not long ago, thinking of nursery rhymes and +regretting old romance. + +As I saw the shopkeepers walk by in their black frock-coats and their +black hats, I thought of the old line in nursery annals: "The merchants of +London, they wear scarlet." + +The streets were all so unromantic, dreary. Nothing could be done for +them, I thought--nothing. And then my thoughts were interrupted by barking +dogs. Every dog in the street seemed to be barking--every kind of dog, not +only the little ones but the big ones too. They were all facing East +towards the way I was coming by. Then I turned round to look and had this +vision, in Piccadilly, on the opposite side to the houses just after you +pass the cab-rank. + +Tall bent men were coming down the street arrayed in marvelous cloaks. All +were sallow of skin and swarthy of hair, and most of them wore strange +beards. They were coming slowly, and they walked with staves, and their +hands were out for alms. + +All the beggars had come to town. + +I would have given them a gold doubloon engraven with the towers of +Castile, but I had no such coin. They did not seem the people to who it +were fitting to offer the same coin as one tendered for the use of a +taxicab (O marvelous, ill-made word, surely the pass-word somewhere of +some evil order). Some of them wore purple cloaks with wide green borders, +and the border of green was a narrow strip with some, and some wore cloaks +of old and faded red, and some wore violet cloaks, and none wore black. +And they begged gracefully, as gods might beg for souls. + +I stood by a lamp-post, and they came up to it, and one addressed it, +calling the lamp-post brother, and said, "O lamp-post, our brother of the +dark, are there many wrecks by thee in the tides of night? Sleep not, +brother, sleep not. There were many wrecks an it were not for thee." + +It was strange: I had not thought of the majesty of the street lamp and +his long watching over drifting men. But he was not beneath the notice of +these cloaked strangers. + +And then one murmured to the street: "Art thou weary, street? Yet a little +longer they shall go up and down, and keep thee clad with tar and wooden +bricks. Be patient, street. In a while the earthquake cometh." + +"Who are you?" people said. "And where do you come from?" + +"Who may tell what we are," they answered, "or whence we come?" + +And one turned towards the smoke-stained houses, saying, "Blessed be the +houses, because men dream therein." + +Then I perceived, what I had never thought, that all these staring houses +were not alike, but different one from another, because they held +different dreams. + +And another turned to a tree that stood by the Green Park railings, +saying, "Take comfort, tree, for the fields shall come again." + +And all the while the ugly smoke went upwards, the smoke that has stifled +Romance and blackened the birds. This, I thought, they can neither praise +nor bless. And when they saw it they raised their hands towards it, +towards the thousand chimneys, saying, "Behold the smoke. The old +coal-forests that have lain so long in the dark, and so long still, are +dancing now and going back to the sun. Forget not Earth, O our brother, +and we wish thee joy of the sun." + +It had rained, and a cheerless stream dropped down a dirty gutter. It had +come from heaps of refuse, foul and forgotten; it had gathered upon its +way things that were derelict, and went to somber drains unknown to man or +the sun. It was this sullen stream as much as all other causes that had +made me say in my heart that the town was vile, that Beauty was dead in +it, and Romance fled. + +Even this thing they blessed. And one that wore a purple cloak with broad +green border, said, "Brother, be hopeful yet, for thou shalt surely come +at last to the delectable Sea, and meet the heaving, huge, and travelled +ships, and rejoice by isles that know the golden sun." Even thus they +blessed the gutter, and I felt no whim to mock. + +And the people that went by, in their black unseemly coats and their +misshapen, monstrous, shiny hats, the beggars also blessed. And one of +them said to one of these dark citizens: "O twin of Night himself, with +thy specks of white at wrist and neck like to Night's scattered stars. How +fearfully thou dost veil with black thy hid, unguessed desires. They are +deep thoughts in thee that they will not frolic with colour, that they say +'No' to purple, and to lovely green 'Begone.' Thou hast wild fancies that +they must needs be tamed with black, and terrible imaginings that they +must be hidden thus. Has thy soul dreams of the angels, and of the walls +of faëry that thou hast guarded it so utterly, lest it dazzle astonished +eyes? Even so God hid the diamond deep down in miles of clay. + +"The wonder of thee is not marred by mirth. + +"Behold thou art very secret. + +"Be wonderful. Be full of mystery." + +Silently the man in the black frock-coat passed on. And I came to +understand when the purple beggar had spoken, that the dark citizen had +trafficked perhaps with Ind, that in his heart were strange and dumb +ambitions; that his dumbness was founded by solemn rite on the roots of +ancient tradition; that it might be overcome one day by a cheer in the +street or by some one singing a song, and that when this shopman spoke +there might come clefts in the world and people peering over at the abyss. + +Then turning towards Green Park, where as yet Spring was not, the beggars +stretched out their hands, and looking at the frozen grass and the yet +unbudding trees they, chanting all together, prophesied daffodils. + +A motor omnibus came down the street, nearly running over some of the dogs +that were barking ferociously still. It was sounding its horn noisily. + +And the vision went then. + + + + +_In a letter from a friend whom I have never seen, one of those that read +my books, this line was quoted--"But he, he never came to Carcassonne." I +do not know the origin of the line, but I made this tale about it._ + + +CARCASSONNE + + +When Camorak reigned at Arn, and the world was fairer, he gave a festival +to all the weald to commemorate the splendour of his youth. + +They say that his house at Arn was huge and high, and its ceiling painted +blue; and when evening fell men would climb up by ladders and light the +scores of candles hanging from slender chains. And they say, too, that +sometimes a cloud would come, and pour in through the top of one of the +oriel windows, and it would come over the edge of the stonework as the +sea-mist comes over a sheer cliffs shaven lip where an old wind has blown +for ever and ever (he has swept away thousands of leaves and thousands of +centuries, they are all one to him, he owes no allegiance to Time). And +the cloud would re-shape itself in the hall's lofty vault and drift on +through it slowly, and out to the sky again through another window. And +from its shape the knights in Camorak's hall would prophesy the battles +and sieges of the next season of war. They say of the hall of Camorak at +Arn that there hath been none like it in any land, and foretell that there +will be never. + +Hither had come in the folk of the Weald from sheepfold and from forest, +revolving slow thoughts of food, and shelter, and love, and they sat down +wondering in that famous hall; and therein also were seated the men of +Arn, the town that clustered round the King's high house, and all was +roofed with red, maternal earth. + +If old songs may be trusted, it was a marvelous hall. + +Many who sat there could only have seen it distantly before, a clear shape +in the landscape, but smaller than a hill. Now they beheld along the wall +the weapons of Camorak's men, of which already the lute-players made +songs, and tales were told at evening in the byres. There they described +the shield of Camorak that had gone to and fro across so many battles, and +the sharp but dinted edges of his sword; there were the weapons of Gadriol +the Leal, and Norn, and Athoric of the Sleety Sword, Heriel the Wild, +Yarold, and Thanga of Esk, their arms hung evenly all round the hall, low +where a man could reach them; and in the place of honour in the midst, +between the arms of Camorak and of Gadriol the Leal, hung the harp of +Arleon. And of all the weapons hanging on those walls none were more +calamitous to Camorak's foes than was the harp of Arleon. For to a man +that goes up against a strong place on foot, pleasant indeed is the twang +and jolt of some fearful engine of war that his fellow-warriors are +working behind him, from which huge rocks go sighing over his head and +plunge among his foes; and pleasant to a warrior in the wavering light are +the swift commands of his King, and a joy to him are his comrades' instant +cheers exulting suddenly at a turn of the war. All this and more was the +harp to Camorak's men; for not only would it cheer his warriors on, but +many a time would Arleon of the Harp strike wild amazement into opposing +hosts by some rapturous prophecy suddenly shouted out while his hand swept +over the roaring strings. Moreover, no war was ever declared till Camorak +and his men had listened long to the harp, and were elate with the music +and mad against peace. Once Arleon, for the sake of a rhyme, had made war +upon Estabonn; and an evil king was overthrown, and honour and glory won; +from such queer motives does good sometimes accrue. + +Above the shields and the harps all round the hall were the painted +figures of heroes of fabulous famous songs. Too trivial, because too +easily surpassed by Camorak's men, seemed all the victories that the earth +had known; neither was any trophy displayed of Camorak's seventy battles, +for these were as nothing to his warriors or him compared with those +things that their youth had dreamed and which they mightily purposed yet +to do. + +Above the painted pictures there was darkness, for evening was closing in, +and the candles swinging on their slender chain were not yet lit in the +roof; it was as though a piece of the night had been builded into the +edifice like a huge natural rock that juts into a house. And there sat all +the warriors of Arn and the Weald-folk wondering at them; and none were +more than thirty, and all were skilled in war. And Camorak sat at the head +of all, exulting in his youth. + +We must wrestle with Time for some seven decades, and he is a weak and +puny antagonist in the first three bouts. + +Now there was present at this feast a diviner, one who knew the schemes of +Fate, and he sat among the people of the Weald and had no place of honour, +for Camorak and his men had no fear of Fate. And when the meat was eaten +and the bones cast aside, the king rose up from his chair, and having +drunken wine, and being in the glory of his youth and with all his knights +about him, called to the diviner, saying, "Prophesy." + +And the diviner rose up, stroking his grey beard, and spake +guardedly--"There are certain events," he said, "upon the ways of Fate +that are veiled even from a diviner's eyes, and many more are clear to us +that were better veiled from all; much I know that is better unforetold, +and some things that I may not foretell on pain of centuries of +punishment. But this I know and foretell--that you will never come to +Carcassonne." + +Instantly there was a buzz of talk telling of Carcassonne--some had heard +of it in speech or song, some had read of it, and some had dreamed of it. +And the king sent Arleon of the Harp down from his right hand to mingle +with the Weald-folk to hear aught that any told of Carcassonne. But the +warriors told of the places they had won to--many a hard-held fortress, +many a far-off land, and swore that they would come to Carcassonne. + +And in a while came Arleon back to the king's right hand, and raised his +harp and chanted and told of Carcassonne. Far away it was, and far and far +away, a city of gleaming ramparts rising one over other, and marble +terraces behind the ramparts, and fountains shimmering on the terraces. To +Carcassonne the elf-kings with their fairies had first retreated from men, +and had built it on an evening late in May by blowing their elfin horns. +Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +Travellers had seen it sometimes like a clear dream, with the sun +glittering on its citadel upon a far-off hilltop, and then the clouds had +come or a sudden mist; no one had seen it long or come quite close to it; +though once there were some men that came very near, and the smoke from +the houses blew into their faces, a sudden gust--no more, and these +declared that some one was burning cedarwood there. Men had dreamed that +there is a witch there, walking alone through the cold courts and +corridors of marmorean palaces, fearfully beautiful and still for all her +fourscore centuries, singing the second oldest song, which was taught her +by the sea, shedding tears for loneliness from eyes that would madden +armies, yet will she not call her dragons home--Carcassonne is terribly +guarded. Sometimes she swims in a marble bath through whose deeps a river +tumbles, or lies all morning on the edge of it to dry slowly in the sun, +and watches the heaving river trouble the deeps of the bath. It flows +through the caverns of earth for further than she knows, and coming to +light in the witch's bath goes down through the earth again to its own +peculiar sea. + +In autumn sometimes it comes down black with snow that spring has molten +in unimagined mountains, or withered blooms of mountain shrubs go +beautifully by. + +When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains; +and yet she knows not where those mountains are. + +When she sings the fountains dance up from the dark earth, when she combs +her hair they say there are storms at sea, when she is angry the wolves +grow brave and all come down to the byres, when she is sad the sea is sad, +and both are sad for ever. Carcassonne! Carcassonne! + +This city is the fairest of the wonders of Morning; the sun shouts when he +beholdeth it; for Carcassonne Evening weepeth when Evening passeth away. + +And Arleon told how many goodly perils were round about the city, and how +the way was unknown, and it was a knightly venture. Then all the warriors +stood up and sang of the splendour of the venture. And Camorak swore by +the gods that had builded Arn, and by the honour of his warriors that, +alive or dead, he would come to Carcassonne. + +But the diviner rose and passed out of the hall, brushing the crumbs from +him with his hands and smoothing his robe as he went. + +Then Camorak said, "There are many things to be planned, and counsels to +be taken, and provender to be gathered. Upon what day shall we start?" And +all the warriors answering shouted, "Now." And Camorak smiled thereat, for +he had but tried them. Down then from the walls they took their weapons, +Sikorix, Kelleron, Aslof, Wole of the Axe; Huhenoth, Peace-breaker; +Wolwuf, Father of War; Tarion, Lurth of the Warcry and many another. +Little then dreamed the spiders that sat in that ringing hall of the +unmolested leisure they were soon to enjoy. + +When they were armed they all formed up and marched out of the hall, and +Arleon strode before them singing of Carcassonne. + +But the talk of the Weald arose and went back well fed to byres. They had +no need of wars or of rare perils. They were ever at war with hunger. A +long drought or hard winter were to them pitched battles; if the wolves +entered a sheep-fold it was like the loss of a fortress, a thunder-storm +on the harvest was like an ambuscade. Well-fed, they went back slowly to +their byres, being at truce with hunger; and the night filled with stars. + +And black against the starry sky appeared the round helms of the warriors +as they passed the tops of the ridges, but in the valleys they sparkled +now and then as the starlight flashed on steel. + +They followed behind Arleon going south, whence rumours had always come of +Carcassonne: so they marched in the starlight, and he before them singing. + +When they had marched so far that they heard no sound from Arn, and even +inaudible were her swinging bells, when candles burning late far up in +towers no longer sent them their disconsolate welcome; in the midst of the +pleasant night that lulls the rural spaces, weariness came upon Arleon and +his inspiration failed. It failed slowly. Gradually he grew less sure of +the way to Carcassonne. Awhile he stopped to think, and remembered the way +again; but his clear certainty was gone, and in its place were efforts in +his mind to recall old prophecies and shepherd's songs that told of the +marvelous city. Then as he said over carefully to himself a song that a +wanderer had learnt from a goatherd's boy far up the lower slope of +ultimate southern mountains, fatigue came down upon his toiling mind like +snow on the winding ways of a city noisy by night, stilling all. + +He stood, and the warriors closed up to him. For long they had passed by +great oaks standing solitary here and there, like giants taking huge +breaths of the night air before doing some furious deed; now they had come +to the verge of a black forest; the tree-trunks stood like those great +columns in an Egyptian hall whence God in an older mood received the +praise of men; the top of it sloped the way of an ancient wind. Here they +all halted and lighted a fire of branches, striking sparks from flint into +a heap of bracken. They eased them of their armour, and sat round the +fire, and Camorak stood up there and addressed them, and Camorak said: "We +go to war with Fate, who has doomed that I shall not come to Carcassonne. +And if we turn aside but one of the dooms of Fate, then the whole future +of the world is ours, and the future that Fate has ordered is like the dry +course of an averted river. But if such men as we, such resolute +conquerors, cannot prevent one doom that Fate has planned, then is the +race of man enslaved for ever to do its petty and allotted task." + +Then they all drew their swords, and waved them high in the firelight, and +declared war on Fate. + +Nothing in the somber forest stirred or made any sound. + +Tired men do not dream of war. When morning came over the gleaming fields +a company that had set out from Arn discovered the discovered the +camping-place of the warriors, and brought pavilions and provender. And +the warriors feasted, and the birds in the forest sang, and the +inspiration of Arleon awoke. + +Then they rose, and following Arleon, entered the forest, and marched away +to the South. And many a woman of Arn sent her thoughts with them as they +played alone some old monotonous tune, but their own thoughts were far +before them, skimming over the bath through whose deeps the river tumbles +in marble Carcassonne. + +When butterflies were dancing on the air, and the sun neared the zenith, +pavilions were pitched, and all the warriors rested; and then they feasted +again, and then played knightly games, and late in the afternoon marched +on once more, singing of Carcassonne. + +And night came down with its mystery on the forest, and gave their +demoniac look again to the trees, and rolled up out of misty hollows a +huge and yellow moon. + +And the men of Arn lit fires, and sudden shadows arose and leaped +fantastically away. And the night-wind blew, arising like a ghost, and +passed between the tree trunks, and slipped down shimmering glades, and +waked the prowling beasts still dreaming of day, and drifted nocturnal +birds afield to menace timorous things, and beat the roses of the +befriending night, and wafted to the ears of wandering men the sound of a +maiden's song, and gave a glamour to the lutanist's tune played in his +loneliness on distant hills; and the deep eyes of moths glowed like a +galleon's lamps, and they spread their wings and sailed their familiar +sea. Upon this night-wind also the dreams of Camorak's men floated to +Carcassonne. + +All the next morning they marched, and all the evening, and knew they were +nearing now the deeps of the forest. And the citizens of Arn kept close +together and close behind the warriors. For the deeps of the forest were +all unknown to travellers, but not unknown to those tales of fear that men +tell at evening to their friends, in the comfort and the safety of their +hearths. Then night appeared, and an enormous moon. And the men of Camorak +slept. Sometimes they woke, and went to sleep again; and those that stayed +awake for long and listened heard heavy two-footed creatures pad through +the night on paws. + +As soon as it was light the unarmed men of Arn began to slip away, and +went back by bands through the forest. When darkness came they did not +stop to sleep, but continued their flight straight on until they came to +Arn, and added there by the tales they told to the terror of the forest. + +But the warriors feasted, and afterwards Arleon rose, and played his harp, +and led them on again; and a few faithful servants stayed with them still. +And they marched all day through a gloom that was as old as night, but +Arleon's inspiration burned in his mind like a star. And he led them till +the birds began to drop into the treetops, and it was evening and they all +encamped. They had only one pavilion left to them now, and near it they +lit a fire, and Camorak posted a sentry with drawn sword just beyond the +glow of the firelight. Some of the warriors slept in the pavilion and +others round about it. + +When dawn came something terrible had killed and eaten the sentry. But the +splendour of the rumours of Carcassonne and Fate's decree that they should +never come there, and the inspiration of Arleon and his harp, all urged +the warriors on; and they marched deeper and deeper all day into the +forest. + +Once they saw a dragon that had caught a bear and was playing with it, +letting it run a little way and overtaking it with a paw. + +They came at last to a clear space in the forest just before nightfall. An +odour of flowers arose from it like a mist, and every drop of dew +interpreted heaven unto itself. + +It was the hour when twilight kisses Earth. + +It was the hour when a meaning comes into senseless things, and trees +out-majesty the pomp of monarchs, and the timid creatures steal abroad to +feed, and as yet the beasts of prey harmlessly dream, and Earth utters a +sigh, and it is night. + +In the midst of the wide clearing Camorak's warriors camped, and rejoiced +to see stars again appearing one by one. + +That night they ate the last of their provisions, and slept unmolested by +the prowling things that haunt the gloom of the forest. + +On the next day some of the warriors hunted stags, and others lay in +rushes by a neighbouring lake and shot arrows at water-fowl. One stag was +killed, and some geese, and several teal. + +Here the adventurers stayed, breathing the pure wild air that cities know +not; by day they hunted, and lit fires by night, and sang and feasted, and +forgot Carcassonne. The terrible denizens of the gloom never molested +them, venison was plentiful, and all manner of water-fowl: they loved the +chase by day, and by night their favourite songs. Thus day after day went +by, thus week after week. Time flung over this encampment a handful of +moons, the gold and silver moons that waste the year away; Autumn and +Winter passed, and Spring appeared; and still the warriors hunted and +feasted there. + +One night of the springtide they were feasting about a fire and telling +tales of the chase, and the soft moths came out of the dark and flaunted +their colours in the firelight, and went out grey into the dark again; and +the night wind was cool upon the warriors' necks, and the camp-fire was +warm in their faces, and a silence had settled among them after some song, +and Arleon all at once rose suddenly up, remembering Carcassonne. And his +hand swept over the strings of his harp, awaking the deeper chords, like +the sound of a nimble people dancing their steps on bronze, and the music +rolled away into the night's own silence, and the voice of Arleon rose: + +"When there is blood in the bath she knows there is war in the mountains +and longs for the battle-shout of kingly men." + +And suddenly all shouted, "Carcassonne!" And at that word their idleness +was gone as a dream is gone from a dreamer waked with a shout. And soon +the great march began that faltered no more nor wavered. Unchecked by +battles, undaunted in lonesome spaces, ever unwearied by the vulturous +years, the warriors of Camorak held on; and Arleon's inspiration led them +still. They cleft with the music of Arleon's harp the gloom of ancient +silences; they went singing into battles with terrible wild men, and came +out singing, but with fewer voices; they came to villages in valleys full +of the music of bells, or saw the lights at dusk of cottages sheltering +others. + +They became a proverb for wandering, and a legend arose of strange, +disconsolate men. Folks spoke of them at nightfall when the fire was warm +and rain slipped down the eaves; and when the wind was high small children +feared the Men Who Would Not Rest were going clattering past. Strange +tales were told of men in old grey armour moving at twilight along the +tops of the hills and never asking shelter; and mothers told their boys +who grew impatient of home that the grey wanderers were once so impatient +and were now hopeless of rest, and were driven along with the rain +whenever the wind was angry. + +But the wanderers were cheered in their wandering by the hope of coming to +Carcassonne, and later on by anger against Fate, and at last they marched +on still because it seemed better to march on than to think. + +For many years they had wandered and had fought with many tribes; often +they gathered legends in villages and listened to idle singers singing +songs; and all the rumours of Carcassonne still came from the South. + +And then one day they came to a hilly land with a legend in it that only +three valleys away a man might see, on clear days, Carcassonne. Tired +though they were and few, and worn with the years which had all brought +them wars, they pushed on instantly, led still by Arleon's inspiration +which dwindled in his age, though he made music with his old harp still. + +All day they climbed down into the first valley and for two days ascended, +and came to the Town That May Not Be Taken In War below the top of the +mountain, and its gates were shut against them, and there was no way +round. To left and right steep precipices stood for as far as eye could +see or legend tell of, and the pass lay through the city. Therefore +Camorak drew up his remaining warriors in line of battle to wage their +last war, and they stepped forward over the crisp bones of old, unburied +armies. + +No sentinel defied them in the gate, no arrow flew from any tower of war. +One citizen climbed alone to the mountain's top, and the rest hid +themselves in sheltered places. + +Now, in the top of the mountain was a deep, bowl-like cavern in the rock, +in which fires bubbled softly. But if any cast a boulder into the fires, +as it was the custom for one of those citizens to do when enemies +approached them, the mountain hurled up intermittent rocks for three days, +and the rocks fell flaming all over the town and all round about it. And +just as Camorak's men began to batter the gate they heard a crash on the +mountain, and a great rock fell beyond them and rolled into the valley. +The next two fell in front of them on the iron roofs of the town. Just as +they entered the town a rock found them crowded in a narrow street, and +shattered two of them. The mountain smoked and panted; with every pant a +rock plunged into the streets or bounced along the heavy iron roof, and +the smoke went slowly up, and up, and up. + +When they had come through the long town's empty streets to the locked +gate at the end, only fifteen were left. When they had broken down the +gate there were only ten alive. Three more were killed as they went up the +slope, and two as they passed near the terrible cavern. Fate let the rest +go some way down the mountain upon the other side, and then took three of +them. Camorak and Arleon alone were left alive. And night came down on the +valley to which they had come, and was lit by flashes from the fatal +mountain; and the two mourned for their comrades all night long. + +But when the morning came they remembered their war with Fate, and their +old resolve to come to Carcassonne, and the voice of Arleon rose in a +quavering song, and snatches of music from his old harp, and he stood up +and marched with his face southwards as he had done for years, and behind +him Camorak went. And when at last they climbed from the third valley, and +stood on the hill's summit in the golden sunlight of evening, their aged +eyes saw only miles of forest and the birds going to roost. + +Their beards were white, and they had travelled very far and hard; it was +the time with them when a man rests from labours and dreams in light sleep +of the years that were and not of the years to come. + +Long they looked southwards; and the sun set over remoter forests, and +glow-worms lit their lamps, and the inspiration of Arleon rose and flew +away for ever, to gladden, perhaps, the dreams of younger men. + +And Arleon said: "My King, I know no longer the way to Carcassonne." + +And Camorak smiled, as the aged smile, with little cause for mirth, and +said: "The years are going by us like huge birds, whom Doom and Destiny +and the schemes of God have frightened up out of some old grey marsh. And +it may well be that against these no warrior may avail, and that Fate has +conquered us, and that our quest has failed." + +And after this they were silent. + +Then they drew their swords, and side by side went down into the forest, +still seeking Carcassonne. + +I think they got not far; for there were deadly marshes in that forest, +and gloom that outlasted the nights, and fearful beasts accustomed to its +ways. Neither is there any legend, either in verse or among the songs of +the people of the fields, of any having come to Carcassonne. + + + + +IN ZACCARATH + + +"Come," said the King in sacred Zaccarath, "and let our prophets prophesy +before us." + +A far-seen jewel of light was the holy palace, a wonder to the nomads on +the plains. + +There was the King with all his underlords, and the lesser kings that did +him vassalage, and there were all his queens with all their jewels upon +them. + +Who shall tell of the splendour in which they sat; of the thousand lights +and the answering emeralds; of the dangerous beauty of that hoard of +queens, or the flash of their laden necks? + +There was a necklace there of rose-pink pearls beyond the art of the +dreamer to imagine. Who shall tell of the amethyst chandeliers, where +torches, soaked in rare Bhyrinian oils, burned and gave off a scent of +blethany? + +(This herb marvellous, which, growing near the summit of Mount Zaumnos, +scents all the Zaumnian range, and is smelt far out on the Kepuscran +plains, and even, when the wind is from the mountains, in the streets of +the city of Ognoth. At night it closes its petals and is heard to breathe, +and its breath is a swift poison. This it does even by day if the snows +are disturbed about it. No plant of this has ever been captured alive by a +hunter.) + +Enough to say that when the dawn came up it appeared by contrast pallid +and unlovely and stripped bare of all its glory, so that it hid itself +with rolling clouds. + +"Come," said the King, "let our prophets prophesy." + +Then the heralds stepped through the ranks of the King's silk-clad +warriors who lay oiled and scented upon velvet cloaks, with a pleasant +breeze among them caused by the fans of slaves; even their casting-spears +were set with jewels; through their ranks the heralds went with mincing +steps, and came to the prophets, clad in brown and black, and one of them +they brought and set him before the King. And the King looked at him and +said, "Prophesy unto us." + +And the prophet lifted his head, so that his beard came clear from his +brown cloak, and the fans of the slaves that fanned the warriors wafted +the tip of it a little awry. And he spake to the King, and spake thus: + +"Woe unto thee, King, and woe unto Zaccarath. Woe unto thee, and woe unto +thy women, for your fall shall be sore and soon. Already in Heaven the +gods shun thy god: they know his doom and what is written of him: he sees +oblivion before him like a mist. Thou hast aroused the hate of the +mountaineers. They hate thee all along the crags of Droom. The evilness of +thy days shall bring down the Zeedians on thee as the suns of springtide +bring the avalanche down. They shall do unto Zaccarath as the avalanche +doth unto the hamlets of the valley." When the queens chattered or +tittered among themselves, he merely raised his voice and still spake on: +"Woe to these walls and the carven things upon them. The hunter shall know +the camping-places of the nomads by the marks of the camp-fires on the +plain, but he shall not know the place of Zaccarath." + +A few of the recumbent warriors turned their heads to glance at the +prophet when he ceased. Far overhead the echoes of his voice hummed on +awhile among the cedarn rafters. + +"Is he not splendid?" said the King. And many of that assembly beat with +their palms upon the polished floor in token of applause. Then the prophet +was conducted back to his place at the far end of that mighty hall, and +for a while musicians played on marvellous curved horns, while drums +throbbed behind them hidden in a recess. The musicians were sitting +crosslegged on the floor, all blowing their huge horns in the brilliant +torchlight, but as the drums throbbed louder in the dark they arose and +moved slowly nearer to the King. Louder and louder drummed the drums in +the dark, and nearer and nearer moved the men with the horns, so that +their music should not be drowned by the drums before it reached the King. + +A marvellous scene it was when the tempestuous horns were halted before +the King, and the drums in the dark were like the thunder of God; and the +queens were nodding their heads in time to the music, with their diadems +flashing like heavens of falling stars; and the warriors lifted their +heads and shook, as they lifted them, the plumes of those golden birds +which hunters wait for by the Liddian lakes, in a whole lifetime killing +scarcely six, to make the crests that the warriors wore when they feasted +in Zaccarath. Then the King shouted and the warriors sang--almost they +remembered then old battle-chants. And, as they sang, the sound of the +drums dwindled, and the musicians walked away backwards, and the drumming +became fainter and fainter as they walked, and altogether ceased, and they +blew no more on their fantastic horns. Then the assemblage beat on the +floor with their palms. And afterwards the queens besought the King to +send for another prophet. And the heralds brought a singer, and placed him +before the King; and the singer was a young man with a harp. And he swept +the strings of it, and when there was silence he sang of the iniquity of +the King. And he foretold the onrush of the Zeedians, and the fall and the +forgetting of Zaccarath, and the coming again of the desert to its own, +and the playing about of little lion cubs where the courts of the palace +had stood. + +"Of what is he singing?" said a queen to a queen. + +"He is singing of everlasting Zaccarath." + +As the singer ceased the assemblage beat listlessly on the floor, and the +King nodded to him, and he departed. + +When all the prophets had prophesied to them and all the singers sung, +that royal company arose and went to other chambers, leaving the hall of +festival to the pale and lonely dawn. And alone were left the lion-headed +gods that were carven out of the walls; silent they stood, and their rocky +arms were folded. And shadows over their faces moved like curious thoughts +as the torches flickered and the dull dawn crossed the fields. And the +colours began to change in the chandeliers. + +When the last lutanist fell asleep the birds began to sing. + +Never was greater splendour or a more famous hall. When the queens went +away through the curtained door with all their diadems, it was as though +the stars should arise in their stations and troop together to the West at +sunrise. + +And only the other day I found a stone that had undoubtedly been a part of +Zaccarath, it was three inches long and an inch broad; I saw the edge of +it uncovered by the sand. I believe that only three other pieces have been +found like it. + + + + +THE FIELD + + +When one has seen Spring's blossom fall in London, and Summer appear and +ripen and decay, as it does early in cities, and one is in London still, +then, at some moment or another, the country places lift their flowery +heads and call to one with an urgent, masterful clearness, upland behind +upland in the twilight like to some heavenly choir arising rank on rank to +call a drunkard from his gambling-hell. No volume of traffic can drown the +sound of it, no lure of London can weaken its appeal. Having heard it +one's fancy is gone, and evermore departed, to some coloured pebble agleam +in a rural brook, and all that London can offer is swept from one's mind +like some suddenly smitten metropolitan Goliath. + +The call is from afar both in leagues and years, for the hills that call +one are the hills that were, and their voices are the voices of long ago, +when the elf-kings still had horns. + +I see them now, those hills of my infancy (for it is they that call), with +their faces upturned to the purple twilight, and the faint diaphanous +figures of the fairies peering out from under the bracken to see if +evening is come. I do not see upon their regal summits those desirable +mansions, and highly desirable residences, which have lately been built +for gentlemen who would exchange customers for tenants. + +When the hills called I used to go to them by road, riding a bicycle. If +you go by train you miss the gradual approach, you do not cast off London +like an old forgiven sin, nor pass by little villages on the way that must +have some rumour of the hills; nor, wondering if they are still the same, +come at last upon the edge of their far-spread robes, and so on to their +feet, and see far off their holy, welcoming faces. In the train you see +them suddenly round a curve, and there they all are sitting in the sun. + +I imagine that as one penetrated out from some enormous forest of the +tropics, the wild beasts would become fewer, the gloom would lighten, and +the horror of the place would slowly lift. Yet as one emerges nearer to +the edge of London, and nearer to the beautiful influence of the hills, +the houses become uglier, the streets viler, the gloom deepens, the errors +of civilisation stand bare to the scorn of the fields. + +Where ugliness reaches the height of its luxuriance, in the dense misery +of the place, where one imagines the builder saying, "Here I culminate. +Let us give thanks to Satan," there is a bridge of yellow brick, and +through it, as through some gate of filigree silver opening on fairyland, +one passes into the country. + +To left and right, as far as one can see, stretches that monstrous city; +before one are the fields like an old, old song. + +There is a field there that is full of king-cups. A stream runs through +it, and along the stream is a little wood of osiers. There I used often to +rest at the streams edge before my long journey to the hills. + +There I used to forget London, street by street. Sometimes I picked a +bunch of king-cups to show them to the hills. + +I often came there. At first I noticed nothing about the field except its +beauty and its peacefulness. + +But the second time that I came I thought there was something ominous +about the field. + +Down there among the king-cups by the little shallow stream I felt that +something terrible might happen in just such a place. + +I did not stay long there, because I thought that too much time spent in +London had brought on these morbid fancies and I went on to the hills as +fast as I could. + +I stayed for some days in the country air, and when I came back I went to +the field again to enjoy that peaceful spot before entering London. But +there was still something ominous among the osiers. + +A year elapsed before I went there again. I emerged from the shadow of +London into the gleaming sun; the bright green grass and the king-cups +were flaming in the light, and the little stream was singing a happy song. +But the moment I stepped into the field my old uneasiness returned, and +worse than before. It was as though the shadow was brooding there of some +dreadful future thing and a year had brought it nearer. + +I reasoned that the exertion of bicycling might be bad for one, and that +the moment one rested this uneasiness might result. + +A little later I came back past the field by night, and the song of the +stream in the hush attracted me down to it. And there the fancy came to me +that it would be a terribly cold place to be in the starlight, if for some +reason one was hurt and could not get away. + +I knew a man who was minutely acquainted with the past history of that +locality, and him I asked if anything historical had ever happened in that +field. When he pressed me for my reason in asking him this, I said that +the field had seemed to me such a good place to hold a pageant in. But he +said that nothing of any interest had ever occurred there, nothing at all. + +So it was from the future that the field's terrible trouble came. + +For three years off and on I made visits to the field, and every time more +clearly it boded evil things, and my uneasiness grew more acute every time +that I was lured to go and rest among the cool green grass under the +beautiful osiers. Once to distract my thoughts I tried to gauge how fast +the stream was trickling, but I found myself wondering if it flowed faster +than blood. + +I felt that it would be a terrible place to go mad in, one would hear +voices. + +At last I went to a poet whom I knew, and woke him from huge dreams, and +put before him the whole case of the field. He had not been out of London +all that year, and he promised to come with me and look at the field, and +tell me what was going to happen there. It was late in July when we went. +The pavement, the air, the houses and the dirt had been all baked dry by +the summer, the weary traffic dragged on, and on, and on, and Sleep +spreading her wings soared up and floated from London and went to walk +beautifully in rural places. + +When the poet saw the field he was delighted, the flowers were out in +masses all along the stream, he went down to the little wood rejoicing. By +the side of the stream he stood and seemed very sad. Once or twice he +looked up and down it mournfully, then he bent and looked at the +king-cups, first one and then another, very closely, and shaking his head. + +For a long while he stood in silence, and all my old uneasiness returned, +and my bodings for the future. + +And then I said, "What manner of field is it?" + +And he shook his head sorrowfully. + +"It is a battlefield," he said. + + + + +THE DAY OF THE POLL + + +In the town by the sea it was the day of the poll, and the poet regarded +it sadly when he woke and saw the light of it coming in at his window +between two small curtains of gauze. And the day of the poll was +beautifully bright; stray bird-songs came to the poet at the window; the +air was crisp and wintry, but it was the blaze of sunlight that had +deceived the birds. He heard the sound of the sea that the moon led up the +shore, dragging the months away over the pebbles and shingles and piling +them up with the years where the worn-out centuries lay; he saw the +majestic downs stand facing mightily south-wards; saw the smoke of the +town float up to their heavenly faces--column after column rose calmly +into the morning as house by house was waked by peering shafts of the +sunlight and lit its fires for the day; column by column went up toward +the serene downs' faces, and failed before they came there and hung all +white over houses; and every one in the town was raving mad. + +It was a strange thing that the poet did, for he hired the largest motor +in the town and covered it with all the flags he could find, and set out +to save an intelligence. And he presently found a man whose face was hot, +who shouted that the time was not far distant when a candidate, whom he +named, would be returned at the head of the poll by a thumping majority. +And by him the poet stopped and offered him a seat in the motor that was +covered with flags. When the man saw the flags that were on the motor, and +that it was the largest in the town, he got in. He said that his vote +should be given for that fiscal system that had made us what we are, in +order that the poor man's food should not be taxed to make the rich man +richer. Or else it was that he would give his vote for that system of +tariff reform which should unite us closer to our colonies with ties that +should long endure, and give employment to all. But it was not to the +polling-booth that the motor went, it passed it and left the town and came +by a small white winding road to the very top of the downs. There the poet +dismissed the car and let that wondering voter on to the grass and seated +himself on a rug. And for long the voter talked of those imperial +traditions that our forefathers had made for us and which he should uphold +with his vote, or else it was of a people oppressed by a feudal system +that was out of date and effete, and that should be ended or mended. But +the poet pointed out to him small, distant, wandering ships on the sunlit +strip of sea, and the birds far down below them, and the houses below the +birds, with the little columns of smoke that could not find the downs. + +And at first the voter cried for his polling-booth like a child; but after +a while he grew calmer, save when faint bursts of cheering came twittering +up to the downs, when the voter would cry out bitterly against the +misgovernment of the Radical party, or else it was--I forget what the poet +told me--he extolled its splendid record. + +"See," said the poet, "these ancient beautiful things, the downs and the +old-time houses and the morning, and the grey sea in the sunlight going +mumbling round the world. And this is the place they have chosen to go man +in!" + +And standing there with all broad England behind him, rolling northward, +down after down, and before him the glittering sea too far for the sound +of the roar of it, there seemed to the voter to grow less important the +questions that troubled the town. Yet he was still angry. + +"Why did you bring me here?" he said again. + +"Because I grew lonely," said the poet, "when all the town went mad." + +Then he pointed out to the voter some old bent thorns, and showed him the +way that a wind had blown for a million years, coming up at dawn from the +sea; and he told him of the storms that visit the ships, and their names +and whence they come, and the currents they drive afield, and the way that +the swallows go. And he spoke of the down where they sat, when the summer +came, and the flowers that were not yet, and the different butterflies, +and about the bats and the swifts, and the thoughts in the heart of man. +He spoke of the aged windmill that stood on the down, and of how to +children it seemed a strange old man who was only dead by day. And as he +spoke, and as the sea-wind blew on that high and lonely place, there began +to slip away from the voter's mind meaningless phrases that had crowded it +long--thumping majority--victory in the fight--terminological +inexactitudes--and the smell of paraffin lamps dangling in heated +schoolrooms, and quotations taken from ancient speeches because the words +were long. They fell away, though slowly, and slowly the voter saw a wider +world and the wonder of the sea. And the afternoon wore on, and the winter +evening came, and the night fell, and all black grew the sea, and about +the time that the stars come blinking out to look upon our littleness, the +polling-booth closed in the town. + +When they got back the turmoil was on the wane in the streets; night hid +the glare of the posters; and the tide, finding the noise abated and being +at the flow, told an old tale that he had learned in his youth about the +deeps of the sea, the same which he had told to coastwise ships that +brought it to Babylon by the way of Euphrates before the doom of Troy. + +I blame my friend the poet, however lonely he was, for preventing this man +from registering his vote (the duty of every citizen); but perhaps it +matters less, as it was a foregone conclusion, because the losing +candidate, either through poverty or sheer madness, had neglected to +subscribe to a single football club. + + + + +THE UNHAPPY BODY + + +"Why do you not dance with us and rejoice with us?" they said to a certain +body. And then that body made the confession of its trouble. It said: "I +am united with a fierce and violent soul, that is altogether tyrannous and +will not let me rest, and he drags me away from the dances of my kin to +make me toil at his detestable work; and he will not let me do the little +things, that would give pleasure to the folk I love, but only cares to +please posterity when he has done with me and left me to the worms; and +all the while he makes absurd demands of affection from those that are +near to me, and is too proud even to notice any less than he demands, so +that those that should be kind to me all hate me." And the unhappy body +burst into tears. + +And they said: "No sensible body cares for its soul. A soul is a little +thing, and should not rule a body. You should drink and smoke more till he +ceases to trouble you." But the body only wept, and said, "Mine is a +fearful soul. I have driven him away for a little while with drink. But he +will soon come back. Oh, he will soon come back!" + +And the body went to bed hoping to rest, for it was drowsy with drink. But +just as sleep was near it, it looked up, and there was its soul sitting on +the windowsill, a misty blaze of light, and looking into the river. + +"Come," said the tyrannous soul, "and look into the street." + +"I have need of sleep," said the body. + +"But the street is a beautiful thing," the soul said vehemently; "a +hundred of the people are dreaming there." + +"I am ill through want of rest," the body said. + +"That does not matter," the soul said to it. "There are millions like you +in the earth, and millions more to go there. The people's dreams are +wandering afield; they pass the seas and mountains of faëry, threading the +intricate passes led by their souls; they come to golden temples a-ring +with a thousand bells; they pass up steep streets lit by paper lanterns, +where the doors are green and small; they know their way to witches' +chambers and castles of enchantment; they know the spell that brings them +to the causeway along the ivory mountains--on one side looking downward +they behold the fields of their youth and on the other lie the radiant +plains of the future. Arise and write down what the people dream." + +"What reward is there for me," said the body, "if I write down what you +bid me?" + +"There is no reward," said the soul. + +"Then I shall sleep," said the body. + +And the soul began to hum an idle song sung by a young man in a fabulous +land as he passed a golden city (where fiery sentinels stood), and knew +that his wife was within it, though as yet but a little child, and knew by +prophecy that furious wars, not yet arisen in far and unknown mountains, +should roll above him with their dust and thirst before he ever came to +that city again--the young man sang it as he passed the gate, and was now +dead with his wife a thousand years. + +"I cannot sleep for that abominable song," the body cried to the soul. + +"Then do as you are commanded," the soul replied. And wearily the body +took a pen again. Then the soul spoke merrily as he looked through the +window. "There is a mountain lifting sheer above London, part crystal and +part myst. Thither the dreamers go when the sound of the traffic has +fallen. At first they scarcely dream because of the roar of it, but before +midnight it stops, and turns, and ebbs with all its wrecks. Then the +dreamers arise and scale the shimmering mountain, and at its summit find +the galleons of dream. Thence some sail East, some West, some into the +Past and some into the Future, for the galleons sail over the years as +well as over the spaces, but mostly they head for the Past and the olden +harbours, for thither the sighs of men are mostly turned, and the +dream-ships go before them, as the merchantmen before the continual +trade-winds go down the African coast. I see the galleons even now raise +anchor after anchor; the stars flash by them; they slip out of the night; +their prows go gleaming into the twilight of memory, and night soon lies +far off, a black cloud hanging low, and faintly spangled with stars, like +the harbour and shore of some low-lying land seen afar with its harbour +lights." + +Dream after dream that soul related as he sat there by the window. He told +of tropical forests seen by unhappy men who could not escape from London, +and never would--forests made suddenly wondrous by the song of some +passing bird flying to unknown eyries and singing an unknown song. He saw +the old men lightly dancing to the tune of elfin pipes--beautiful dances +with fantastic maidens--all night on moonlit imaginary mountains; he heard +far off the music of glittering Springs; he saw the fairness of blossoms +of apple and may thirty years fallen; he heard old voices--old tears came +glistening back; Romance sat cloaked and crowned upon southern hills, and +the soul knew him. + +One by one he told the dreams of all that slept in that street. Sometimes +he stopped to revile the body because it worked badly and slowly. Its +chill fingers wrote as fast as they could, but the soul cared not for +that. And so the night wore on till the soul heard tinkling in Oriental +skies far footfalls of the morning. + +"See now," said the soul, "the dawn that the dreamers dread. The sails of +light are paling on those unwreckable galleons; the mariners that steer +them slip back into fable and myth; that other sea the traffic is turning +now at its ebb, and is about to hide its pallid wrecks, and to come +swinging back, with its tumult, at the flow. Already the sunlight flashes +in the gulfs behind the east of the world; the gods have seen it from +their palace of twilight that the built above the sunrise; they warm their +hands at its glow as it streams through their gleaming arches, before it +reaches the world; all the gods are there that have ever been, and all the +gods that shall be; they sit there in the morning, chanting and praising +Man." + +"I am numb and very cold for want of sleep," said the body. + +"You shall have centuries of sleep," said the soul, "but you must not +sleep now, for I have seen deep meadows with purple flowers flaming tall +and strange above the brilliant grass, and herds of pure white unicorns +that gambol there for joy, and a river running by with a glittering +galleon on it, all of gold, that goes from an unknown inland to an unknown +isle of the sea to take a song from the King of Over-the-Hills to the +Queen of Far-Away. + +"I will sing that song to you, and you shall write it down." + +"I have toiled for you for years," the body said. "Give me now but one +night's rest, for I am exceeding weary." + +"Oh, go and rest. I am tired of you. I am off," said the soul. + +And he arose and went, we know not whither. But the body they laid in the +earth. And the next night at midnight the wraiths of the dead came +drifting from their tombs to felicitate that body. + +"You are free here, you know," they said to their new companion. + +"Now I can rest," said the body. + + +FINIS + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Dreamer's Tales +by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett] + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A DREAMER'S TALES *** + +This file should be named 8drem10.txt or 8drem10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8drem11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8drem10a.txt + +Produced by Clay Massei, Suzanne L. 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