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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana
+by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+#5 in our series by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
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+
+Title: The Gods of Pegana
+
+Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8395]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 6, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Beginners Projects, Anne Reshnyk
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+THE GODS OF PEGANA
+
+LORD DUNSANY
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Preface
+
+Introduction
+
+Of Skarl the Drummer
+
+Of the Making of the Worlds
+
+Of the Game of the Gods
+
+The Chaunt of the Gods
+
+The Sayings of Kib
+
+Concerning Sish
+
+The Sayings of Slid
+
+The Deeds of Mung
+
+The Chaunt
+
+The Sayings of Limpang-Tung
+
+Of Yoharneth-Lahai
+
+Of Roon, the God of Going, and the Thousand Home Gods
+
+The Revolt of the Home Gods
+
+Of Dorozhand
+
+The Eye in the Waste
+
+Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast
+
+Yonath the Prophet
+
+Yug the Prophet
+
+Alhireth-Hotep The Prophet
+
+Kabok The Prophet
+
+Of the Calamity That Befel Yun-Hara by the Sea, and of the
+Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
+
+Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
+
+Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of all
+the Gods Save One
+
+Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
+
+Pegana
+
+The Sayings of Imbaun
+
+Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
+
+Of Ood
+
+The River
+
+The Bird of Doom and THE END
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In the mists before THE BEGINNING, Fate and Chance cast lots to
+decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through
+the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: "Now make gods for Me, for
+I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine." Who it was that
+won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went
+through the mists before THE BEGINNING to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI--_none
+knoweth._
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Before there stood gods upon Olympus, or ever Allah was Allah, had
+wrought and rested MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+There are in Pegana Mung and Sish and Kib, and the maker of all
+small gods, who is MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Moreover, we have a faith in
+Roon and Slid.
+
+And it has been said of old that all things that have been were
+wrought by the small gods, excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who
+made the gods and hath thereafter rested.
+
+And none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI but only the gods whom he
+hath made.
+
+But at the Last will MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forget to rest, and will
+make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods
+whom he hath made.
+
+And the gods and the worlds shall depart, and there shall be only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+OF SKARL THE DRUMMER
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods and Skarl, Skarl made a
+drum, and began to beat upon it that he might drum for ever. Then
+because he was weary after the making of the gods, and because of
+the drumming of Skarl, did MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI grow drowsy and fall
+asleep.
+
+And there fell a hush upon the gods when they saw that MANA rested,
+and there was silence on Pegana save for the drumming of Skarl.
+Skarl sitteth upon the mist before the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+above the gods of Pegana, and there he beateth his drum. Some say
+that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of
+Skarl, and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind
+of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl, as one may dream whose
+rest is troubled by sound of song, but none knoweth, for who hath
+heard the voice of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, or who hath seen his drummer?
+
+Whether the season be winter or whether it be summer, whether it
+be morning among the worlds or whether it be night, Skarl still
+beateth his drum, for the purposes of the gods are not yet fulfilled.
+Sometimes the arm of Skarl grows weary; but still he beateth his
+drum, that the gods may do the work of the gods, and the worlds go
+on, for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start
+awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more.
+
+But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum,
+silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+shall cease to rest.
+
+Then shall Skarl put his drum upon his back and walk forth into the
+void beyond the worlds, because it is THE END, and the work of Skarl
+is over.
+
+There may arise some other god whom Skarl may serve, or it may be
+that he shall perish; but to Skarl it shall matter not, for he shall
+have done the work of Skarl.
+
+
+
+OF THE MAKING OF THE WORLDS
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods there were only the gods,
+and They sat in the middle of Time, for there was as much Time
+before them as behind them, which having no end had neither a
+beginning.
+
+And Pegana was without heat or light or sound, save for the
+drumming of Skarl; moreover Pegana was The Middle of All, for
+there was below Pegana what there was above it, and there lay
+before it that which lay beyond.
+
+Then said the gods, making the signs of the gods and speaking with
+Their hands lest the silence of Pegana should blush; then said the
+gods to one another, speaking with Their hands; "Let Us make
+worlds to amuse Ourselves while MANA rests. Let Us make worlds and
+Life and Death, and colours in the sky; only let Us not break the
+silence upon Pegana."
+
+Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They
+made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the
+sky.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to seek, to seek and never to
+find out concerning the wherefore of the making of the gods."
+
+And They made by the lifting of Their hands, each god according to
+his sign, the Bright One with the flaring tail to seek from the
+end of the Worlds to the end of them again, to return again after
+a hundred years.
+
+Man, when thou seest the comet, know that another seeketh besides
+thee nor ever findeth out.
+
+Then said the gods, still speaking with Their hands: "Let there be
+now a Watcher to regard."
+
+And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains
+and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the
+games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI; to watch, to regard all things, and be
+silent.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to rest. One not to move
+among the moving. One not to seek like the comet, nor to go round
+like the worlds; to rest while MANA rests."
+
+And They made the Star of the Abiding and set it in the North.
+
+Man, when thou seest the Star of the Abiding to the North, know
+that one resteth as doth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and know that somewhere
+among the Worlds is rest.
+
+Lastly the gods said: "We have made worlds and suns, and one to
+seek and another to regard, let Us now make one to wonder."
+
+And They made Earth to wonder, each god by the uplifting of his
+hand according to his sign.
+
+And Earth was.
+
+
+
+OF THE GAME OF THE GODS
+
+
+A million years passed over the first game of the gods. And
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI still rested, still in the middle of Time, and
+the gods still played with Worlds. The Moon regarded, and the
+Bright One sought, and returned again to his seeking.
+
+Then Kib grew weary of the first game of the gods, and raised his
+hand in Pegana, making the sign of Kib, and Earth became covered
+with beasts for Kib to play with.
+
+And Kib played with beasts.
+
+But the other gods said one to another, speaking with their hands:
+"What is it that Kib has done?"
+
+And They said to Kib: "What are these things that move upon The
+Earth yet move not in circles like the Worlds, that regard like
+the Moon and yet they do not shine?"
+
+And Kib said: "This is Life."
+
+But the gods said one to another: "If Kib has thus made beasts he
+will in time make Men, and will endanger the Secret of the gods."
+
+And Mung was jealous of the work of Kib, and sent down Death among
+the beasts, but could not stamp them out.
+
+A million years passed over the second game of the gods, and still
+it was the Middle of Time.
+
+And Kib grew weary of the second game, and raised his hand in the
+Middle of All, making the sign of Kib, and made Men: out of beasts
+he made them, and Earth was covered with Men.
+
+Then the gods feared greatly for the Secret of the gods, and set a
+veil between Man and his ignorance that he might not understand.
+And Mung was busy among Men.
+
+But when the other gods saw Kib playing his new game They came and
+played it too. And this They will play until MANA arises to rebuke
+Them, saying: "What do ye playing with Worlds and Suns and Men and
+Life and Death?" And They shall be ashamed of Their playing in the
+hour of the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+It was Kib who first broke the Silence of Pegana, by speaking with
+his mouth like a man.
+
+And all the other gods were angry with Kib that he had spoken with
+his mouth.
+
+And there was no longer silence in Pegana or the Worlds.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE GODS
+
+
+There came the voice of the gods singing the chaunt of the gods,
+singing: "We are the gods; We are the little games of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that he hath played and hath forgotten.
+
+"MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI hath made us, and We made the Worlds and the
+Suns.
+
+"And We play with the Worlds and the Sun and Life and Death until
+MANA arises to rebuke us, saying: 'What do ye playing with Worlds
+and Suns?'
+
+"It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet
+most withering is the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for
+playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us,
+and there shall be Worlds no more."
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF KIB
+
+(Sender of Life in all the Worlds)
+
+
+Kib said: "I am Kib. I am none other than Kib."
+
+Kib is Kib. Kib is he and no other. Believe! Kib said: "When
+Time was early, when Time was very early indeed--there was only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI was before the beginning of the
+gods, and shall be after their going."
+
+And Kib said: "After the going of the gods there will be no small
+worlds nor big."
+
+Kib said: "It will be lonely for MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Because this is written, believe! For is it not written, or are
+you greater than Kib? Kib is Kib.
+
+
+
+CONCERNING SISH
+
+(The Destroyer of Hours)
+
+
+Time is the hound of Sish.
+
+At Sish's bidding do the hours run before him as he goeth upon
+his way.
+
+Never hath Sish stepped backward nor ever hath he tarried; never
+hath he relented to the things that once he knew nor turned to
+them again.
+
+Before Sish is Kib, and behind him goeth Mung.
+
+Very pleasant are all things before the face of Sish, but behind
+him they are withered and old.
+
+And Sish goeth ceaselessly upon his way.
+
+Once the gods walked upon Earth as men walk and spake with their
+mouths like Men. That was in Wornath-Mavai. They walk not now.
+
+And Wornath-Mavai was a garden fairer than all the gardens upon
+Earth.
+
+Kib was propitious, and Mung raised not his hand against it,
+neither did Sish assail it with his hours.
+
+Wornath-Mavai lieth in a valley and looketh towards the south, and
+on the slopes of it Sish rested among the flowers when Sish was
+young.
+
+Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and
+to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against
+them with the rust and with the dust.
+
+And Time, which is the hound of Sish, devoured all things; and
+Sish sent up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the
+hand of Sish and covered stately things. Only the valley where
+Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his
+hours to assail.
+
+There he restrained his old hound Time, and at its borders Mung
+withheld his footsteps.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south, a garden
+among gardens, and still the flowers grow about its slopes as they
+grew when the gods were young; and even the butterflies live in
+Wornath-Mavai still. For the minds of the gods relent towards
+their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south; but if thou
+shouldst ever find it thou art then more fortunate than the gods,
+because they walk not in Wornath-Mavai now.
+
+Once did the prophet think that he discerned it in the distance
+beyond mountains, a garden exceeding fair with flowers; but Sish
+arose, and pointed with his hand, and set his hound to pursue him,
+who hath followed ever since.
+
+Time is the hound of the gods; but it hath been said of old that
+he will one day turn upon his masters, and seek to slay the gods,
+excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, whose dreams are the gods
+themselves--dreamed long ago.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF SLID
+
+(Whose Soul is by the Sea)
+
+
+Slid said: "Let no man pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for who shall
+trouble MANA with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all
+the houses of Earth?
+
+"Nor let any sacrifice to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for what glory shall
+he find in sacrifices or altars who hath made the gods themselves?
+
+"Pray to the small gods, who are the gods of Doing; but MANA is
+the god of Having Done--the god of Having Done and of the Resting.
+
+"Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what
+mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and
+Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?
+
+"Slid is but a small god. Yet Slid is Slid--it is written and hath
+been said.
+
+"Pray, thou, therefore, to Slid, and forget not Slid, and it may
+be that Slid will not forget to send thee Death when most thou
+needest it."
+
+And the People of Earth said: "There is a melody upon the Earth as
+though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that
+they had forsaken in the hills."
+
+And Slid said: "I am the Lord of gliding waters and of foaming
+waters and of still. I am the Lord of all the waters in the world
+and all that long streams garner in the hills; but the soul of
+Slid is in the Sea. Thither goes all that glides upon Earth, and
+the end of all the rivers is the Sea."
+
+And Slid said: "The hand of Slid hath toyed with cataracts, and
+down the valleys have trod the feet of Slid, and out of the lakes
+of the plains regard the eyes of Slid; but the soul of Slid is in
+the sea."
+
+Much homage hath Slid among the cities of men and pleasant are the
+woodland paths and the paths of the plains, and pleasant the high
+valleys where he danceth in the hills; but Slid would be fettered
+neither by banks nor boundaries--so the soul of Slid is in the
+Sea.
+
+For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods
+above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than
+Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
+
+There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and
+sigh round islands in his great content--the miser lord of wealth
+in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.
+
+Or there may he, when Slid would fain exult, throw up his great
+arms, or toss with many a fathom of wandering hair the mighty head
+of Slid, and cry aloud tumultuous dirges of shipwreck, and feel
+through all his being the crashing might of Slid, and sway the
+sea. Then doth the Sea, like venturous legions on the eve of war
+that exult to acclaim their chief, gather its force together from
+under all the winds and roar and follow and sing and crash
+together to vanquish all things--and all at the bidding of Slid,
+whose soul is in the sea.
+
+There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea;
+also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of
+Slid, for the gods have many moods. And Slid is in many places,
+for he sitteth in high Pegana. Also along the valleys walketh
+Slid, wherever water moveth or lieth still; but the voice and the
+cry of Slid are from the sea. And to whoever that cry hath ever
+come he must needs follow and follow, leaving all stable things;
+only to be always with Slid in all the moods of Slid, to find no
+rest until he reaches the sea.
+
+With the cry of Slid before them and the hills of their home behind
+have gone a hundred thousand to the sea, over whose bones doth Slid
+lament with the voice of a god lamenting for his people. Even the
+streams from the inner lands have heard Slid's far-off cry, and all
+together have forsaken lawns and trees to follow where Slid is
+gathering up his own, to rejoice where Slid rejoices, singing the
+chaunt of Slid, even as will at the Last gather all the Lives of
+the People about the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+THE DEEDS OF MUNG
+
+(Lord of all Deaths between Pegana and the Rim)
+
+
+Once, as Mung went his way athwart the Earth and up and down its
+cities and across its plains, Mung came upon a man who was afraid
+when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+
+And Mung said: "Were the forty million years before thy coming
+intolerable to thee?"
+
+And Mung said: "Not less tolerable to thee shall be the forty
+million years to come!"
+
+Then Mung made against him the sign of Mung and the Life of the
+Man was fettered no longer with hands and feet.
+
+At the end of the flight of the arrow there is Mung, and in the
+houses and the cities of Men. Mung walketh in all places at all
+times. But mostly he loves to walk in the dark and still, along
+the river mists when the wind hath sank, a little before night
+meeteth with the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds.
+
+Sometimes Mung entereth the poor man's cottage; Mung also boweth
+very low before The King. Then do the Lives of the poor man and of
+The King go forth among the Worlds.
+
+And Mung said: "Many turnings hath the road that Kib hath given
+every man to tread upon the earth. Behind one of these turnings
+sitteth Mung."
+
+One day as a man trod upon the road that Kib had given him to
+tread he came suddenly upon Mung. And when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+the man cried out: "Alas, that I took this road, for had I gone by
+any other way then had I not met with Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "Had it been possible for thee to go by any other
+way then had the Scheme of Things been otherwise and the gods had
+been other gods. When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forgets to rest and makes
+again new gods it may be that They will send thee again into the
+Worlds; and then thou mayest choose some other way, and not meet
+with Mung."
+
+Then Mung made the sign of Mung. And the Life of that man went
+forth with yesterday's regrets and all old sorrows and forgotten
+things--whither Mung knoweth.
+
+And Mung went onward with his work to sunder Life from flesh, and
+Mung came upon a man who became stricken with sorrow when he saw
+the shadow of Mung. But Mung said: "When at the sign of Mung thy
+Life shall float away there will also disappear thy sorrow at
+forsaking it." But the man cried out: "O Mung! tarry for a little,
+and make not the sign of Mung against me now, for I have a family
+upon the earth with whom sorrow will remain, though mine should
+disappear because of the sign of Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "With the gods it is always Now. And before Sish
+hath banished many of the years the sorrows of thy family for thee
+shall go the way of thine." And the man beheld Mung making the
+sign of Mung before his eyes, which beheld things no more.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE PRIESTS
+
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+All day long to Mung cry out the Priests of Mung, and, yet Mung
+harkeneth not. What, then, shall avail the prayers of All the
+People?
+
+Rather bring gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+So shall they cry louder unto Mung than ever was their wont.
+
+And it may be that Mung shall hear.
+
+Not any longer than shall fall the Shadow of Mung athwart the
+hopes of the People.
+
+Not any longer then shall the Tread of Mung darken the dreams of
+the people.
+
+Not any longer shall the lives of the People be loosened because
+of Mung.
+
+Bring ye gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF LIMPANG-TUNG
+
+(The God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels)
+
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "The ways of the gods are strange. The
+flower groweth up and the flower fadeth away. This may be very
+clever of the gods. Man groweth from his infancy, and in a while
+he dieth. This may be very clever too.
+
+"But the gods play with a strange scheme.
+
+"I will send jests into the world and a little mirth. And while
+Death seems to thee as far away as the purple rim of hills; or
+sorrow as far off as rain in the blue days of summer, then pray to
+Limpang-Tung. But when thou growest old, or ere thou diest, pray
+not of Limpang-Tung, for thou becomest part of a scheme that he
+doth not understand.
+
+"Go out into the starry night, and Limpang-Tung will dance with
+thee who danced since the gods were young, the god of mirth and of
+melodious minstrels. Or offer up a jest to Limpang-Tung; only pray
+not in thy sorrow to Limpang-Tung, for he saith of sorrow: 'It may
+be very clever of the gods,' but he doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "I am lesser than the gods; pray,
+therefore, to the small gods and not to Limpang-Tung.
+
+"Natheless between Pegana and the Earth flutter ten thousand
+thousand prayers that beat their wings against the face of Death,
+and never for one of them hath the hand of the Striker been
+stayed, nor yet have tarried the feet of the Relentless One.
+
+"Utter thy prayer! It may accomplish where failed ten thousand
+thousand.
+
+"Limpang-Tung is lesser than the gods, and doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "Lest men grow weary down on the great
+Worlds through gazing always at a changeless sky, I will paint my
+pictures in the sky. And I will paint them twice in every day for
+so long as days shall be. Once as the day ariseth out of the homes
+of dawn will I paint the Blue, that men may see and rejoice; and
+ere day falleth under into the night will I paint upon the Blue
+again, lest men be sad.
+
+"It is a little," said Limpang-Tung, "it is a little even for a
+god to give some pleasure to men upon the Worlds."
+
+And Limpang-Tung hath sworn that the pictures that he paints shall
+never be the same for so long as the days shall be, and this he
+hath sworn by the oath of the gods of Pegana that the gods may
+never break, laying his hand upon the shoulder of each of the gods
+and swearing by the light behind Their eyes.
+
+Limpang-Tung hath lured a melody out of the stream and stolen its
+anthem from the forest; for him the wind hath cried in lonely places
+and the ocean sung its dirges. There is music for Limpang-Tung in
+the sounds of the moving of grass and in the voices of the people
+that lament or in the cry of them that rejoice.
+
+In an inner mountain land where none hath come he hath carved his
+organ pipes out of the mountains, and there when the winds, his
+servants, come in from all the world he maketh the melody of
+Limpang-Tung. But the song, arising at night, goeth forth like a
+river, winding through all the world, and here and there amid the
+peoples of earth one heareth, and straightaway all that hath voice
+to sing crieth aloud in music to his soul.
+
+Or sometimes walking through the dusk with steps unheard by men,
+in a form unseen by the people, Limpang-Tung goeth abroad, and,
+standing behind the minstrels in cities of song, waveth his hands
+above them to and fro, and the minstrels bend to their work, and
+the voice of the music ariseth; and mirth and melody abound in
+that city of song, and no one seeth Limpang-Tung as he standeth
+behind the minstrels.
+
+But through the mists towards morning, in the dark when the
+minstrels sleep and mirth and melody have sunk to rest, Limpang-Tung
+goeth back again to his mountain land.
+
+
+
+OF YOHARNETH-LAHAI
+
+(The God of Little Dreams and Fancies)
+
+
+Yaoharneth-Lahai is the god of little dreams and fancies.
+
+All night he sendeth little dreams out of Pegana to please the
+people of Earth.
+
+He sendeth little dreams to the poor man and to The King.
+
+He is so busy to send his dreams to all before the night be ended
+that oft he forgetteth which be the poor man and which be The
+King.
+
+To whom Yoharneth-Lahai cometh not with little dreams and sleep he
+must endure all night the laughter of the gods, with highest
+mockery, in Pegana.
+
+All night long Yoharneth-Lahai giveth peace to cities until the
+dawn hour and the departing of Yoharneth-Lahai, when it is time
+for the gods to play with men again.
+
+Whether the dreams and the fancies of Yoharneth-Lahai be false and
+the Things that are done in the Day be real, or the Things that
+are done in the Day be false and the dreams and the fancies of
+Yoharneth-Lahai be true, none knoweth saving only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+who hath not spoken.
+
+
+
+OF ROON, THE GOD OF GOING, AND THE THOUSAND HOME GODS
+
+
+Roon said: "There be gods of moving and gods of standing still,
+but I am the god of Going."
+
+It is because of Roon that the worlds are never still, for the
+moons and the worlds and the comet are stirred by the spirit of
+Roon, which saith: "Go! Go! Go!"
+
+Roon met the Worlds all in the morning of Things, before there was
+light upon Pegana, and Roon danced before them in the Void, since
+when they are never still, Roon sendeth all streams to the Sea,
+and all the rivers to the soul of Slid.
+
+Roon maketh the sign of Roon before the waters, and lo! they have
+left the hills; and Roon hath spoken in the ear of the North Wind
+that he may be still no more.
+
+The footfall of Roon hath been heard at evening outside the houses
+of men, and thenceforth comfort and abiding know them no more.
+Before them stretcheth travel over all the lands, long miles, and
+never resting between their homes and their graves--and all at the
+bidding of Roon.
+
+The Mountains have set no limit against Roon nor all the seas a
+boundary.
+
+Whither Roon hath desired there must Roon's people go, and the
+worlds and their streams and the winds.
+
+I heard the whisper of Roon at evening, saying: "There are islands
+of spices to the South," and the voice of Roon saying: "Go."
+
+And Roon said: "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods
+that sit before the hearth and mind the fire--there is one Roon."
+
+Roon saith in a whisper, in a whisper when none heareth, when the
+sun is low: "What doeth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI?" Roon is no god that
+thou mayest worship by thy hearth, nor will he be benignant to thy
+home.
+
+Offer to Roon thy toiling and thy speed, whose incense is the
+smoke of the camp fire to the South, whose song is the sound of
+going, whose temples stand beyond the farthest hills in his lands
+behind the East.
+
+Yarinareth, Yarinareth, Yarinareth, which signifieth Beyond--these
+words be carved in letters of gold upon the arch of the great portal
+of the Temple of Roon that men have builded looking towards the East
+upon the Sea, where Roon is carved as a giant trumpeter, with his
+trumpet pointing towards the East beyond the Seas.
+
+Whoso heareth his voice, the voice of Roon at evening, he at once
+forsaketh the home gods that sit beside the hearth. These be the
+gods of the hearth: Pitsu, who stroketh the cat; Hobith who calms
+the dog; and Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers; and little
+Zumbiboo, the lord of dust; and old Gribaun, who sits in the heart
+of the fire to turn the wood to ash--all these be home gods, and
+live not in Pegana and be lesser than Roon.
+
+There is also Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke, who taketh
+the smoke from the hearth and sendeth it to the sky, who is
+pleased if it reacheth Pegana, so that the gods of Pegana,
+speaking to the gods, say: "There is Kilooloogung doing the work
+on earth of Kilooloogung."
+
+All these are gods so small that they be lesser than men, but
+pleasant gods to have beside the hearth; and often men have prayed
+to Kilooloogung, saying: "Thou whose smoke ascendeth to Pegana
+send up with it our prayers, that the gods may hear." And
+Kilooloogung, who is pleased that men should pray, stretches
+himself up all grey and lean, with his arms above his head, and
+sendeth his servant the smoke to seek Pegana, that the gods of
+Pegana may know that the people pray.
+
+And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the
+house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he
+sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or
+until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he
+sitteth by the river's edge to lament the forgotten things that
+drift upon it.
+
+A kindly god is Jabim, whose heart is sore if anything be lost.
+
+There is also Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk, whose children are the
+shadows, who sitteth in a corner far off from Habaniah and
+speaketh to none. But after Habaniah hath gone to sleep and old
+Gribaun hath blinked a hundred times, until he forgetteth which be
+wood or ash, then doth Triboogie send his children to run about
+the room and dance upon the walls, but never disturb the silence.
+
+But when there is light again upon the worlds, and dawn comes
+dancing down the highway from Pegana, then does Triboogie retire
+into his corner, with his children all around him, as though they
+had never danced about the room. And the slaves of Habaniah and
+old Gribaun come and awake them from their sleep upon the hearth,
+and Pitsu strokes the cat, and Hobith calms the dog, and
+Kilooloogung stretches aloft his arms towards Pegana, and
+Triboogie is very still, and his children asleep.
+
+And when it is dark, all in the hour of Triboogie, Hish creepeth
+from the forest, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats,
+that have broken the command of their father, but in a voice that
+is ever so low. Hish husheth the mouse and all the whispers in the
+night; he maketh all noises still. Only the cricket rebelleth. But
+Hish hath set against him such a spell that after he hath cried a
+thousand times his voice may be heard no more but becometh part of
+the silence.
+
+And when he hath slain all sounds Hish boweth low to the ground;
+then cometh into the house, with never a sound of feet, the god
+Yoharneth-Lahai.
+
+But away in the forest whence Hish hath come Wohoon, the Lord of
+Noises in the Night, awaketh in his lair and creepeth round the
+forest to see whether it be true that Hish hath gone.
+
+Then in some glade Wohoon lifts up his voice and cries aloud, that
+all the night may hear, that it is he, Wohoon, who is abroad in
+all the forest. And the wolf and the fox and the owl, and the
+great beasts and the small, lift up their voices to acclaim
+Wohoon. And there arise the sounds of voices and the stirring of
+leaves.
+
+
+
+THE REVOLT OF THE HOME GODS
+
+
+There be three broad rivers of the plain, born before memory or
+fable, whose mothers are three grey peaks and whose father was the
+storm. There names be Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion.
+
+And Eimes is the joy of lowing herds; and Zaenes hath bowed his
+neck to the yoke of man, and carries the timber from the forest
+far up below the mountain; and Segastrion sings old songs to
+shepherd boys, singing of his childhood in a lone ravine and of
+how he once sprang down the mountain sides and far away into the
+plain to see the world, and of how one day at last he will find
+the sea. These be the rivers of the plain, wherein the plain
+rejoices. But old men tell, whose fathers heard it from the
+ancients, how once the lords of the three rivers of the plain
+rebelled against the law of the Worlds, and passed beyond their
+boundaries, and joined together and whelmed cities and slew men,
+saying: "We now play the game of the gods and slay men for our
+pleasure, and we be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+And all the plain was flooded to the hills.
+
+And Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion sat upon the mountains, and
+spread their hands over their rivers that rebelled by their
+command.
+
+But the prayer of men going upward found Pegana, and cried in the
+ear of the gods: "There be three home gods who slay us for their
+pleasure, and say that they be mightier than Pegana's gods, and
+play Their game with men."
+
+Then were all the gods of Pegana very wroth; but They could not
+whelm the lords of the three rivers, because being home gods,
+though small, they were immortal.
+
+And still the home gods spread their hands across their rivers,
+with their fingers wide apart, and the waters rose and rose, and
+the voice of their torrent grew louder, crying: "Are we not Eimes,
+Zaenes, and Segastrion?"
+
+Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the
+drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing
+with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot.
+
+And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as
+they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones.
+
+Then Mung said: "Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the
+faces of Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion till they see whether it be
+wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana."
+
+And Umbool answered: "I am the beast of Mung."
+
+And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of
+the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.
+
+And whenever Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion stretched out their
+hands over their rivers they saw before their faces the grinning
+of Umbool; and because the grinning was like death in a hot and
+hideous land therefore they turned away and spread their hands no
+more over their rivers, and the waters sank and sank.
+
+But when Umbool had grinned for thirty days the waters fell back
+into the river beds and the lords of the rivers slunk away back
+again to their homes: still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+Then Eimes sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock,
+and Zaenes crept into the middle of a wood, and Segastrion lay and
+panted on the sand--still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+And Eimes grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the
+plain would say: "Here once was Eimes"; and Zaenes scarce had
+strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Segastrion lay and
+panted a man stepped over his stream, and Segastrion said: "It is
+the foot of a man that has passed across my neck, and I have sought
+to be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+Then said the gods of Pegana: "It is enough. We are the gods of
+Pegana, and none are equal."
+
+Then Mung sent Umbool back to his waste in Afrik to breathe again
+upon the rocks, and parch the desert, and to sear the memory of
+Afrik into the brains of all who ever bring their bones away.
+
+And Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion sang again, and walked once more
+in their accustomed haunts, and played the game of Life and Death
+with fishes and frogs, but never essayed to play it any more with
+men, as do the gods of Pegana.
+
+
+
+OF DOROZHAND
+
+(Whose Eyes Regard The End)
+
+
+Sitting above the lives of the people, and looking, doth Dorozhand
+see that which is to be.
+
+The god of Destiny is Dorozhand. Upon whom have looked the eyes of
+Dorozhand he goeth forward to an end that naught may stay; he
+becometh the arrow from the bow of Dorozhand hurled forward at a
+mark he may not see--to the goal of Dorozhand. Beyond the thinking
+of men, beyond the sight of all the other gods, regard the eyes of
+Dorozhand.
+
+He hath chosen his slaves. And them doth the destiny god drive
+onward where he will, who, knowing not whither nor even knowing
+why, feel only his scourge behind them or hear his cry before.
+
+There is something that Dorozhand would fain achieve, and,
+therefore, hath he set the people striving, with none to cease or
+rest in all the worlds. But the gods of Pegana, speaking to the
+gods, say: "What is it that Dorozhand would fain achieve?"
+
+It hath been written and said that not only the destinies of men
+are the care of Dorozhand but that even the gods of Pegana be not
+unconcerned by his will.
+
+All the gods of Pegana have felt a fear, for they have seen a look
+in the eyes of Dorozhand that regardeth beyond the gods.
+
+The reason and purpose of the Worlds is that there should be Life
+upon the Worlds, and Life is the instrument of Dorozhand wherewith
+he would achieve his end.
+
+Therefore the Worlds go on, and the rivers run to the sea, and Life
+ariseth and flieth even in all the Worlds, and the gods of Pegana
+do the work of the gods--and all for Dorozhand. But when the end of
+Dorozhand hath been achieved there will be need no longer of Life upon
+the Worlds, nor any more a game for the small gods to play. Then will
+Kib tiptoe gently across Pegana to the resting-place in Highest Pegana
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and touching reverently his hand, the hand that
+wrought the gods, say: "MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, thou hast rested long."
+
+And MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall say: "Not so; for I have rested for but
+fifty aeons of the gods, each of them scarce more than ten million
+mortal years of the Worlds that ye have made."
+
+And then shall the gods be afraid when they find that MANA knoweth
+that they have made Worlds while he rested. And they shall answer:
+"Nay; but the Worlds came all of themselves."
+
+Then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, as one who would have done with an irksome
+matter, will lightly wave his hand--the hand that wrought the
+gods--and there shall be gods no more.
+
+When there shall be three moons towards the north above the Star
+of the Abiding, three moons that neither wax nor wane but regard
+towards the North.
+
+Or when the comet ceaseth from his seeking and stands still, not any
+longer moving among the Worlds but tarrying as one who rests after
+the end of search, then shall arise from resting, because it is THE
+END, the Greater One, who rested of old time, even MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Then shall the Times that were be Times no more; and it may be
+that the old, dead days shall return from beyond the Rim, and we
+who have wept for them shall see those days again, as one who,
+returning from long travel to his home, comes suddenly on dear,
+remembered things.
+
+For none shall know of MANA who hath rested for so long, whether
+he be a harsh or merciful god. It may be that he shall have mercy,
+and that these things shall be.
+
+
+
+THE EYE IN THE WASTE
+
+
+There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the
+caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the
+tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some
+returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none
+return.
+
+The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.
+
+The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of
+dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is
+the Desert of Deserts.
+
+In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan,
+in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that
+hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is
+Ranorada--the eye in the waste.
+
+About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are
+vaster than the beds of streams these words:
+
+To the god who knows.
+
+Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water
+in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came
+no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and
+Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan,
+where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how
+once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all
+night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is
+carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the
+secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making
+of the gods.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to
+none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.
+
+Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who
+thinks and is silent--the eye in the waste.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and
+that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from
+the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image,
+which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.
+
+But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the
+old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the
+camels rest, say:
+
+"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine,
+and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan."
+Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the
+city where the caravans end.
+
+All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from
+Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard
+from aged men in so remote a city?
+
+
+
+OF THE THING THAT IS NEITHER GOD NOR BEAST
+
+
+Seeing that wisdom is not in cities nor happiness in wisdom, and
+because Yadin the prophet was doomed by the gods ere he was born
+to go in search of wisdom, he followed the caravans to Bodrahan.
+There in the evening, where the camels rest, when the wind of the
+day ebbs out into the desert sighing amid the palms its last
+farewells and leaving the caravans still, he sent his prayer with
+the wind to drift into the desert calling to Hoodrazai.
+
+And down the wind his prayer went calling: "Why do the gods
+endure, and play their game with men? Why doth not Skarl forsake
+his drumming, and MANA cease to rest?" and the echo of seven
+deserts answered: "Who knows? Who knows?"
+
+But out in the waste, beyond the seven deserts where Ranorada
+looms enormous in the dusk, at evening his prayer was heard; and
+from the rim of the waste whither had gone his prayer, came three
+flamingoes flying, and their voices said: "Going South, Going
+South" at every stroke of their wings.
+
+But as they passed by the prophet they seemed so cool and free and
+the desert so blinding and hot that he stretched up his arms
+towards them. Then it seemed happy to fly and pleasant to follow
+behind great white wings, and he was with the three flamingoes up
+in the cool above the desert, and their voices cried before him:
+"Going South, Going South," and the desert below him mumbled: "Who
+knows? Who knows?"
+
+Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks of
+mountains, sometimes it fell away in steep ravines, blue rivers
+sang to them as they passed above them, or very faintly came the
+song of breezes in lone orchards, and far away the sea sang mighty
+dirges of old forsaken isles. But it seemed that in all the world
+there was nothing only to be going South.
+
+It seemed that somewhere the South was calling to her own, and
+that they were going South.
+
+But when the prophet saw that they had passed above the edge of
+Earth, and that far away to the North of them lay the Moon, he
+perceived that he was following no mortal birds but some strange
+messengers of Hoodrazai whose nest had lain in one of Pegana's
+vales below the mountains whereon sit the gods.
+
+Still they went South, passing by all the Worlds and leaving them
+to the North, till only Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion lay still to
+the South of them, where great Ingazi seemed only a point of
+light, and Yo and Mindo could be seen no more.
+
+Still they went South till they passed below the South and came to
+the Rim of the Worlds.
+
+There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and
+Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond
+it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that
+were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it
+sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast,
+who neither howls nor breathes, only _It_ turns over the
+leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever
+until THE END.
+
+And all that is to be is written in the book is also all that was.
+
+When _It_ turneth a black page it is night, and when
+_It_ turneth a white page it is day.
+
+Because it is written that there are gods--there are the gods.
+
+Also there is writing about thee and me until the page where our
+names no more are written.
+
+Then as the prophet watched _It_, Trogool turned a page--a
+black one, and night was over, and day shone on the Worlds.
+
+Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by
+many names, _It_ is the Thing that sits behind the gods,
+whose book is the Scheme of Things.
+
+But when Yadin saw that old remembered days were hidden away with
+the part that _It_ had turned, and knew that upon one whose
+name is writ no more the last page had turned for ever a thousand
+pages back. Then did he utter his prayer in the fact of Trogool
+who only turns the pages and never answers prayer. He prayed in
+the face of Trogool: "Only turn back thy pages to the name of one
+which is writ no more, and far away upon a place named Earth shall
+rise the prayers of a little people that acclaim the name of
+Trogool, for there is indeed far off a place called Earth where
+men shall pray to Trogool."
+
+Then spake Trogool who turns the pages and never answers prayer,
+and his voice was like the murmurs of the waste at night when
+echoes have been lost: "Though the whirlwind of the South should
+tug with his claws at a page that hath been turned yet shall he
+not be able to ever turn it back."
+
+Then because of words in the book that said that it should be so,
+Yadin found himself lying in the desert where one gave him water,
+and afterwards carried him on a camel into Bodrahan.
+
+There some said that he had but dreamed when thirst seized him
+while he wandered among the rocks in the desert. But certain aged
+men of Bodrahan say that indeed there sitteth somewhere a Thing
+that is called Trogool, that is neither god nor beast, that
+turneth the leaves of a book, black and white, black and white,
+until he come to the words: _Mai Doon Izahn_, which means The
+End For Ever, and book and gods and worlds shall be no more.
+
+
+
+YONATH THE PROPHET
+
+
+Yonath was the first among prophets who uttered unto men.
+
+These are the words of Yonath, the first among all prophets:
+
+There be gods upon Pegana.
+
+Upon a night I slept. And in my sleep Pegana came very near. And
+Pegana was full of gods.
+
+I saw the gods beside me as one might see wonted things.
+
+Only I saw not MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+And in that hour, in the hour of my sleep, I knew.
+
+And the end and the beginning of my knowing, and all of my knowing
+that there was, was this--that Man Knoweth Not.
+
+Seek thou to find at night the utter edge of the darkness, or seek
+to find the birthplace of the rainbow where he leapeth upward from
+the hills, only seek not concerning the wherefore of the making of
+the gods.
+
+The gods have set a brightness upon the farther side of the Things
+to Come that they may appear more felititous to men than the
+Things that Are.
+
+To the gods the Things to Come are but as the Things that Are, and
+nothing altereth in Pegana.
+
+The gods, although not merciful, are not ferocious gods. They are
+the destroyers of the Days that Were, but they set a glory about
+the Days to Be.
+
+Man must endure the Days that Are, but the gods have left him his
+ignorance as a solace.
+
+Seek not to know. Thy seeking will weary thee, and thou wilt
+return much worn, to rest at last about the place from whence thou
+settest out upon thy seeking.
+
+Seek not to know. Even I, Yonath, the oldest prophet, burdened
+with the wisdom of great years, and worn with seeking, know only
+that man knoweth not.
+
+Once I set out seeking to know all things. Now I know one thing
+only, and soon the Years will carry me away.
+
+The path of my seeking, that leadeth to seeking again, must be
+trodden by very many more, when Yonath is no longer even Yonath.
+
+Set not thy foot upon that path.
+
+Seek not to know.
+
+These be the Words of Yonath.
+
+
+
+YUG THE PROPHET
+
+
+When the Years had carries away Yonath, and Yonath was dead,
+there was no longer a prophet among men.
+
+And still men sought to know.
+
+Therefore they said unto Yug: "Be thou our prophet, and know all
+things, and tell us concerning the wherefore of It All."
+
+And Yug said: "I know all things." And men were pleased.
+
+And Yug said of the Beginning that it was in Yug's own garden, and
+of the End that it was in the sight of Yug.
+
+And men forgot Yug.
+
+One day Yug saw Mung behind the hills making the sign of Mung. And
+Yug was Yug no more.
+
+
+
+ALHIRETH-HOTEP THE PROPHET
+
+
+When Yug was Yug no more men said unto Alhireth-Hotep: "Be thou
+our prophet, and be as wise as Yug."
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said: "I am as wise as Yug." And men were very
+glad.
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said of Life and Death: "These be the affairs
+of Alhireth-Hotep." And men brought gifts to him.
+
+One day Alhireth-Hotep wrote in a book: "Alhireth-Hotep knoweth
+All Things, for he hath spoken with Mung."
+
+And Mung stepped from behind him, making the sign of Mung, saying:
+"Knowest thou All Things, then, Alhireth-Hotep?" And Alhireth-Hotep
+became among the Things that Were.
+
+
+
+KABOK THE PROPHET
+
+When Alhireth-Hotep was among the Things that Were, and still men
+sought to know, they said unto Kabok: "Be thou as wise as was
+Alhireth-Hotep."
+
+And Kabok grew wise in his own sight and in the sight of men.
+
+And Kabok said: "Mung maketh his signs against men or withholdeth
+it by the advice of Kabok."
+
+And he said unto one: "Thou hast sinned against Kabok, therefore
+will Mung make the sign of Mung against thee." And to another:
+"Thou has brought Kabok gifts, therefore shall Mung forbear to
+make against thee the sign of Mung."
+
+One night as Kabok fattened upon the gifts that men had brought
+him he heard the tread of Mung treading in the garden of Kabok
+about his house at night.
+
+And because the night was very still it seemed most evil to Kabok
+that Mung should be treading in his garden, without the advice of
+Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok, who knew All Things, grew afraid, for the treading was
+very loud and the night still, and he knew not what lay behind the
+back of Mung, which none had ever seen.
+
+But when the morning grew to brightness, and there was light upon
+the Worlds, and Mung trod no longer in the garden, Kabok forgot
+his fears, and said: "Perhaps it was but a herd of cattle that
+stampeded in the garden of Kabok."
+
+And Kabok went about his business, which was that of knowing All
+Things, and telling All Things unto men, and making light of Mung.
+
+But that night Mung trod again in the garden of Kabok, about his
+house at night, and stood before the window of the house like a
+shadow standing erect, so that Kabok knew indeed that it was Mung.
+
+And a great fear fell upon the throat of Kabok, so that his speech
+was hoarse; and he cried out: "Thou art Mung!"
+
+And Mung slightly inclined his head, and went on to tread in the
+garden of Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened with horror at his heart.
+
+But when the second morning grew to brightness, and there was
+light upon the Worlds, Mung went from treading in the garden of
+Kabok; and for a little while Kabok hoped, but looked with great
+dread for the coming of the third night.
+
+And when the third night was come, and the bat had gone to his
+home, and the wind had sank, the night was very still.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened, to whom the wings of the night flew
+very slow.
+
+But, ere night met the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds, there came the tread of Mung in the garden of Kabok
+towards Kabok's door.
+
+And Kabok fled out of his house as flees a hunted beast and flung
+himself before Mung.
+
+And Mung made the sign of Mung, pointing towards THE END.
+
+And the fears of Kabok had rest from troubling Kabok any more, for
+they and he were among accomplished things.
+
+
+
+OF THE CALAMITY THAT BEFEL YUN-ILARA BY THE SEA, AND OF THE
+BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF THE ENDING OF DAYS
+
+
+When Kabok and his fears had rest the people sought a prophet who
+should have no fear of Mung, whose hand was against the prophets.
+
+And at last they found Yun-Ilara, who tended sheep and had no fear
+of Mung, and the people brought him to the town that he might be
+their prophet.
+
+And Yun-Ilara builded a tower towards the sea that looked upon the
+setting of the Sun. And he called it the Tower of the Ending of
+Days.
+
+And about the ending of the day would Yun-Ilara go up to his
+tower's top and look towards the setting of the Sun to cry his
+curses against Mung, crying: "O Mung! whose hand is against the
+Sun, whom men abhor but worship because they fear thee, here stands
+and speaks a man who fears thee not. Assassin lord of murder and
+dark things, abhorrent, merciless, make thou the sign of Mung
+against me when thou wilt, but until silence settles upon my lips,
+because of the sign of Mung, I will curse Mung to his face." And
+the people in the street below would gaze up with wonder towards
+Yun-Ilara, who had no fear of Mung, and brought him gifts; only in
+their homes after the falling of the night would they pray again
+with reverence to Mung. But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And still Mung came not nigh to Yun-Ilara as he cried his curses
+against Mung from his tower towards the sea.
+
+And Sish throughout the Worlds hurled Time away, and slew the
+Hours that had served him well, and called up more out of the
+timeless waste that lieth beyond the Worlds, and drave them forth
+to assail all things. And Sish cast a whiteness over the hairs of
+Yun-Ilara, and ivy about his tower, and weariness over his limbs,
+for Mung passed by him still.
+
+And when Sish became a god less durable to Yun-Ilara than ever
+Mung hath been he ceased at last to cry from his tower's top his
+curses against Mung whenever the sun went down, till there came
+the day when weariness of the gift of Kib fell heavily upon
+Yun-Ilara.
+
+Then from the tower of the Ending of Days did Yun-Ilara cry out
+thus to Mung, crying: "O Mung! O loveliest of the gods! O Mung,
+most dearly to be desired! thy gift of Death is the heritage of
+Man, with ease and rest and silence and returning to the Earth.
+Kib giveth but toil and trouble; and Sish, he sendeth regrets with
+each of his hours wherewith he assails the World. Yoharneth-Lahai
+cometh nigh no more. I can no longer be glad with Limpang-Tung.
+When the other gods forsake him a man hath only Mung."
+
+But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And every day and all night long did Yun-Ilara cry aloud: "Ah, now
+for the hour of the mourning of many, and the pleasant garlands of
+flowers and the tears, and the moist, dark earth. Ah, for repose
+down underneath the grass, where the firm feet of the trees grip
+hold upon the world, where never shall come the wind that now blows
+through my bones, and the rain shall come warm and trickling, not
+driven by storm, where is the easeful falling asunder of bone from
+bone in the dark." Thus prayed Yun-Ilara, who had cursed in his
+folly and youth, while never heeded Mung.
+
+Still from a heap of bones that are Yun-Ilara still, lying about
+the ruined base of the tower that once he builded, goes up a
+shrill voice with the wind crying out for the mercy of Mung, if
+any such there be.
+
+
+
+OF HOW THE GODS WHELMED SIDITH
+
+
+There was dole in the valley of Sidith. For three years there had
+been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover,
+there was imminence of war.
+
+Throughout all Sidith men died night and day, and night and day
+within the Temple of All the gods save One (for none may pray to
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI) did the priests of the gods pray hard.
+
+For they said: "For a long while a man may hear the droning of
+little insects and yet not be aware that he hath heard them, so
+may the gods not hear our prayers at first until they have been
+very oft repeated. But when your praying has troubled the silence
+long it may be that some god as he strolls in Pegana's glades may
+come on one of our lost prayers, that flutters like a butterfly
+tossed in storm when all its wings are broken; then if the gods be
+merciful they may ease our fears in Sidith, or else they may crush
+us, being petulant gods, and so we shall see trouble in Sidith no
+longer, with its pestilence and dearth and fears of war."
+
+But in the fourth year of the pestilence and in the second year
+of the famine, and while still there was imminence of war, came
+all the people of Sidith to the door of the Temple of All the gods
+save One, where none may enter but the priests--but only leave
+gifts and go.
+
+And there the people cried out: "O High Prophet of All the gods
+save One, Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung,
+Teller of the mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the
+People, and Lord of Prayer, what doest thou within the Temple of
+All the gods save One?"
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith, who was the High Prophet, answered: "I pray for
+all the People."
+
+But the people answered: "O High Prophet of All the gods save One,
+Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung, Teller of the
+mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the People, and
+Lord of Prayer, for four long years hast thou prayed with the
+priests of all thine order, while we brought ye gifts and died.
+Now, therefore, since They have not heard thee in four grim years,
+thou must go and carry to Their faces the prayer of the people of
+Sidith when They go to drive the thunder to his pasture upon the
+mountain Aghrinaun, or else there shall no longer be gifts upon
+thy temple door, whenever falls the dew, that thou and thine order
+may fatten.
+
+"Then thou shalt say before Their faces: 'O All the gods save One,
+Lords of the Worlds, whose child is the eclipse, take back thy
+pestilence from Sidith, for ye have played the game of the gods
+too long with the people of Sidith, who would fain have done with
+the gods'."
+
+Then in great fear answered the High Prophet, saying: "What if the
+gods be angry and whelm Sidith?" And the people answered: "Then are
+we sooner done with pestilence and famine and the imminence of war."
+
+That night the thunder howled upon Aghrinaun, which stood a peak above
+all others in the land of Sidith. And the people took Arb-Rin-Hadith
+from his Temple and drave him to Aghrinaun, for they said: "There walk
+to-night upon the mountain All the gods save One."
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith went trembling to the gods.
+
+Next morning, white and frightened from Aghrinaun, came Arb-Rin-Hadith
+back into the valley, and there spake to the people, saying: "The
+faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no
+hope from the gods."
+
+Then said the people: "Thou shalt go to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, to whom
+no man may pray: seek him upon Aghrinaun where it lifts clear into
+the stillness before morning, and on its summit, where all things
+seem to rest surely there rests also MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Go to him,
+and say: 'Thou hast made evil gods, and They smite Sidith.'
+Perchance he hath forgotten all his gods, or hath not heard of
+Sidith. Thou hast escaped the thunder of the gods, surely thou
+shalt also escape the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Upon a morning when the sky and lakes were clear and the world
+still, and Aghrinaun was stiller than the world, Arb-Rin-Hadith
+crept in fear towards the slopes of Aghrinaun because the people
+were urgent.
+
+All that day men saw him climbing. At night he rested near the
+top. But ere the morning of the day that followed, such as rose
+early saw him in the silence, a speck against the blue, stretch up
+his arms upon the summit to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Then instantly they
+saw him not, nor was he ever seen of men again who had dared to
+trouble the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Such as now speak of Sidith tell of a fierce and potent tribe
+that smote away a people in a valley enfeebled by pestilence,
+where stood a temple to "All the gods save One" in which was no
+high priest.
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN BECAME HIGH PROPHET IN ARADEC OF ALL
+THE GODS SAVE ONE
+
+
+Imbaun was to be made High Prophet in Aradec, of All the Gods save
+One.
+
+From Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond came all High Prophets
+of the Earth to the Temple in Aradec of All the gods save One.
+
+And then they told Imbaun how The Secret of Things was upon the
+summit of the dome of the Hall of Night, but faintly writ, and in
+an unknown tongue.
+
+Midway in the night, between the setting and the rising sun, they
+led Imbaun into the Hall of Night, and said to him, chaunting
+altogether: "Imbaun, Imbaun, Imbaun, look up to the roof, where is
+writ The Secret of Things, but faintly, and in an unknown tongue."
+
+And Imbaun looked up, but darkness was so deep within the Hall of
+Night that Imbaun was not even the High Prophets who came from
+Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond, nor saw he aught in the Hall
+of Night at all.
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What seest thou, Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I see naught."
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What knowest thou Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I know naught."
+
+Then spake the High Prophet of Eld of All the gods save One, who
+is first on Earth of prophets: "O Imbaun! we have all looked
+upwards in the Hall of Night towards the secret of Things, and
+ever it was dark, and the Secret faint and in an unknown tongue.
+And now thou knowest what all High Prophets know."
+
+And Imbaun answered: "I know."
+
+So Imbaun became High Prophet in Aradec of All the gods save One,
+and prayed for all the people, who knew not that there was
+darkness in the Hall of Night or that the secret was writ faint
+and in an unknown tongue.
+
+These are the words of Imbaun that he wrote in a book that all the
+people might know:
+
+"In the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon, as night came
+up the valley, I performed the mystic rites of each of the gods in
+the temple as is my wont, lest any of the gods should grow angry
+in the night and whelm us while we slept.
+
+"And as I uttered the last of certain secret words I fell asleep
+in the temple, for I was weary, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand. Then in the stillness, as I slept, there entered
+Dorozhand by the temple door in the guise of a man, and touched me
+on the shoulder, and I awoke.
+
+"But when I saw that his eyes shone blue and lit the whole of the
+temple I knew that he was a god though he came in mortal guise.
+And Dorozhand said: 'Prophet of Dorozhand, behold that the people
+may know.' And he showed me the paths of Sish stretching far down
+into the future time. Then he bade me arise and follow whither he
+pointed, speaking no words but commanding with his eyes.
+
+"Therefore upon the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon I
+walked with Dorozhand adown the paths of Sish into the future
+time.
+
+"And ever beside the way did men slay men. And the sum of their
+slaying was greater than the slaying of the pestilence of any of
+the evils of the gods.
+
+"And cities arose and shed their houses in dust, and ever the
+desert returned again to its own, and covered over and hid the
+last of all that had troubled its repose.
+
+"And still men slew men.
+
+"And I came at last to a time when men set their yoke no longer
+upon beasts but made them beasts of iron.
+
+"And after that did men slay men with mists.
+
+"Then, because the slaying exceeded their desire, there came peace
+upon the world that was brought by the hand of the slayer, and men
+slew men no more.
+
+"And cities multiplied, and overthrew the desert and conquered its
+repose.
+
+"And suddenly I beheld that THE END was near, for there was a
+stirring above Pegana as of One who grows weary of resting, and I
+saw the hound Time crouch to spring, with his eyes upon the
+throats of the gods, shifting from throat to throat, and the
+drumming of Skarl grew faint.
+
+"And if a god may fear, it seemed that there was fear upon the
+face of Dorozhand, and he seized me by the hand and led me back
+along the paths of Time that I might not see THE END.
+
+"Then I saw cities rise out of the dust again and fall back into
+the desert whence they had arisen; and again I slept in the Temple
+of All the gods save One, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand.
+
+"Then again the Temple was alight, but not with light from the
+eyes of Dorozhand; only dawn came all blue out of the East and
+shone through the arches of the Temple. Then I awoke and performed
+the morning rites and mysteries of All the gods save One, lest any
+of the gods be angry in the day and take away the Sun.
+
+"And I knew that because I who had been so near to it had not
+beheld THE END that a man should never behold it or know the doom
+of the gods. This They have hidden."
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN MET ZODRAK
+
+
+The prophet of the gods lay resting by the river to watch the
+stream run by.
+
+And as he lay he pondered on the Scheme of Things and the works of
+all the gods. And it seemed to the prophet of the gods as he
+watched the stream run by that the Scheme was a right scheme and
+the gods benignant gods; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds. It
+seemed that Kib was bountiful, that Mung calmed all who suffer,
+that Sish dealt not too harshly with the hours, and that all the
+gods were good; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds.
+
+Then said the prophet of the gods as he watched the stream run by:
+"There is some other god of whom naught is writ." And suddenly the
+prophet was aware of an old man who bemoaned beside the river,
+crying: "Alas! alas!"
+
+His face was marked by the sign and the seal of exceeding many
+years, and there was yet vigour in his frame. These be the words
+of the prophet that he wrote in his book: "I said: 'Who art thou
+that bemoans beside the river?' And he answered: 'I am the fool.'
+I said: 'Upon thy brow are the marks of wisdom such as is stored
+in books.' He said: 'I am Zodrak. Thousands of years ago I tended
+sheep upon a hill that sloped towards the sea. The gods have many
+moods. Thousands of years ago They were in a mirthful mood. They
+said: 'Let Us call up a man before Us that We may laugh in
+Pegana.'"
+
+"'And Their eyes that looked on me saw not me alone but also saw
+THE BEGINNING and THE END and all the Worlds besides. Then said
+the gods, speaking as speak the gods: "Go, back to thy sheep."
+
+"'But I, who am the fool, had heard it said on earth that whoso
+seeth the gods upon Pegana becometh as the gods, if so he demand
+to Their faces, who may not slay him who hath looked them in the
+eyes.
+
+"'And I, the fool, said: "I have looked in the eyes of the gods,
+and I demand what a man may demand of the gods when he hath seen
+Them in Pegana." And the gods inclined Their heads and Hoodrazai
+said: "It is the law of the gods."
+
+"'And I, who was only a shepherd, how could I know?
+
+"'I said: "I will make men rich." And the gods said: "What is
+rich?"
+
+"'And I said: "I will send them love." And the gods said: "What is
+love?" And I sent gold into the Worlds, and, alas! I sent with it
+poverty and strife. And I sent love into the Worlds, and with it
+grief.
+
+"'And now I have mixed gold and love most woefully together, and I
+can never remedy what I have done, for the deeds of the gods are
+done, and nothing may undo them.
+
+"'Then I said: "I will give men wisdom that they may be glad." And
+those who got my wisdom found that they knew nothing, and from
+having been happy became glad no more.
+
+"'And I, who would make men happy, have made them sad, and I have
+spoiled the beautiful scheme of the gods.
+
+"'And now my hand is for ever on the handle of Their plough. I was
+only a shepherd, and how should I have known?
+
+"'Now I come to thee as thou restest by the river to ask of thee
+thy forgiveness, for I would fain have the forgiveness of a man.'
+
+"And I answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose children are the
+storms, shall a man forgive a god?'
+
+"He answered: 'Men have sinned not against the gods as the gods
+have sinned against men since I came into Their councils.'
+
+"And I, the prophet, answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose
+plaything is the thunder, thou art amongst the gods, what need
+hast thou for words from any man?'
+
+"He said: 'Indeed I am amongst the gods, who speak to me as they
+speak to other gods, yet is there always a smile about Their
+mouths, and a look in Their eyes that saith: "Thou wert a man."'
+
+"I said: 'O Lord of seven skies, about whose feet the Worlds are
+as drifted sand, because thou biddest me, I, a man, forgive thee.'
+
+"And he answered: 'I was but a shepherd, and I could not know.'
+Then he was gone."
+
+
+
+PEGANA
+
+
+The prophet of the gods cried out to the gods: "O! All the gods
+save One" for none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, "where shall the
+life of a man abide when Mung hath made against his body the sign
+of Mung?--for the people with whom ye play have sought to know."
+
+But the gods answered, speaking through the mist:
+
+"Though thou shouldst tell thy secrets to the beasts, even that
+the beasts should understand, yet will not the gods divulge the
+secret of the gods to thee, that gods and beasts and men shall be
+all the same, all knowing the same things."
+
+That night Yoharneth-Lahai same to Aradec, and said unto Imbaun:
+"Wherefore wouldst thou know the secret of the gods that not the
+gods may tell thee?
+
+"When the wind blows not, where, then, is the wind?
+
+"Or when thou art not living, where art thou?
+
+"What should the wind care for the hours of calm or thou for
+death?
+
+"Thy life is long, Eternity is short.
+
+"So short that, shouldst thou die and Eternity should pass, and
+after the passing of Eternity thou shouldst live again, thou
+wouldst say: 'I closed mine eyes but for an instant.'
+
+"There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou
+bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who art so much
+afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
+
+Then said the prophet: "How shall I tell the people that the gods
+have not spoken and their prophet doth not know? For then should I
+be prophet no longer, and another would take the people's gifts
+instead of me."
+
+Then said Imbaun to the people: "The gods have spoken, saying: 'O
+Imbaun, Our prophet, it is as the people believe whose wisdom hath
+discovered the secret of the gods, and the people when they die
+shall come to Pegana, and there live with the gods, and there have
+pleasure without toil. And Pegana is a place all white with the
+peaks of mountains, on each of them a god, and the people shall
+lie upon the slopes of the mountains each under the god that he
+hath worshipped most when his lot was in the Worlds. And there
+shall music beyond thy dreaming come drifting through the scent
+of all the orchards in the Worlds, with somewhere someone singing
+an old song that shall be as a half-remembered thing. And there
+shall be gardens that have always sunlight, and streams that are
+lost in no sea beneath skies for ever blue. And there shall be no
+rain nor no regrets. Only the roses that in highest Pegana have
+achieved their prime shall shed their petals in showers at thy
+feet, and only far away on the forgotten earth shall voices drift
+up to thee that cheered thee in thy childhood about the gardens of
+thy youth. And if thou sighest for any memory of earth because thou
+hearest unforgotten voices, then will the gods send messengers on
+wings to soothe thee in Pegana, saying to them: "There one sigheth
+who hath remembered Earth." And they shall make Pegana more seductive
+for thee still, and they shall take thee by the hand and whisper in
+thine ear till the old voices are forgot.
+
+"'And besides the flowers of Pegana there shall have climbed by
+then until it hath reached to Pegana the rose that clambered about
+the house where thou wast born. Thither shall also come the
+wandering echoes of all such music as charmed thee long ago.
+
+"'Moreover, as thou sittest on the orchard lawns that clothe
+Pegana's mountains, and as thou hearkenest to melody that sways
+the souls of the gods, there shall stretch away far down beneath
+thee the great unhappy Earth, till gazing from rapture upon sorrows
+thou shalt be glad that thou wert dead.
+
+"'And from the three great mountains that stand aloof and over all
+the others--Grimbol, Zeebol, and Trehagobol--shall blow the wind
+of the morning and the wind of all the day, borne upon the wings
+of all the butterflies that have died upon the Worlds, to cool the
+gods and Pegana.
+
+"'Far through Pegana a silvery fountain, lured upward by the gods
+from the Central Sea, shall fling its waters aloft, and over the
+highest of Pegana's peaks, above Trehagobol, shall burst into
+gleaming mists, to cover Highest Pegana, and make a curtain about
+the resting-place of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"'Alone, still and remote below the base of one of the inner
+mountains, lieth a great blue pool.
+
+"'Whoever looketh down into its waters may behold all his life
+that was upon the Worlds and all the deeds that he hath done.
+
+"'None walk by the pool and none regard its depths, for all in
+Pegana have suffered and all have sinned some sin, and it lieth in
+the pool.
+
+"'And there is no darkness in Pegana, for when night hath conquered
+the sun and stilled the Worlds and turned the white peaks of Pegana
+into grey then shine the blue eyes of the gods like sunlight on the
+sea, where each god sits upon his mountain.
+
+"'And at the Last, upon some afternoon, perhaps in summer, shall the
+gods say, speaking to the gods: "What is the likeness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and what THE END?"
+
+"'And then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI draw back with his hand the mists
+that cover his resting, saying: "This is the Face of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and this THE END."'"
+
+Then said the people to the prophet: "Shall not black hills draw
+round in some forsaken land, to make a vale-wide cauldron wherein
+the molten rock shall seethe and roar, and where the crags of
+mountains shall be hurled upward to the surface and bubble and go
+down again, that there our enemies may boil for ever?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "It is writ large about the bases of
+Pegana's mountains, upon which sit the gods: 'Thine Enemies Are
+Forgiven."'
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF IMBAUN
+
+
+The Prophet of the gods said: "Yonder beside the road there
+sitteth a false prophet; and to all who seek to know the hidden
+days he saith: 'Upon the morrow the King shall speak to thee as
+his chariot goeth by.'"
+
+Moreover, all the people bring him gifts, and the false prophet
+hath more to listen to his words than hath the Prophet of the
+gods.
+
+Then said Imbaun: "What knoweth the Prophet of the gods? I know
+only that I and men know naught concerning the gods or aught
+concerning men. Shall I, who am their prophet, tell the people
+this?
+
+"For wherefore have the people chosen prophets but that they
+should speak the hopes of the people, and tell the people that
+their hopes be true?"
+
+The false prophet saith: "Upon the morrow the king shall speak to
+thee."
+
+Shall not I say: "Upon The Morrow the gods shall speak with thee
+as thou restest upon Pegana?"
+
+So shall the people be happy, and know that their hopes be true
+who have believed the words that they have chosen a prophet to say.
+
+But what shall know the Prophet of the gods, to whom none may come
+to say: "Thy hopes are true," for whom none may make strange signs
+before his eyes to quench his fear of death, for whom alone the
+chaunt of his priests availeth naught?
+
+The Prophet of the gods hath sold his happiness for wisdom, and
+hath given his hopes for the people.
+
+Said also Imbaun: "When thou art angry at night observe how calm
+be the stars; and shall small ones rail when there is such a calm
+among the great ones? Or when thou art angry by day regard the
+distant hills, and see the calm that doth adorn their faces. Shalt
+thou be angry while they stand so serene?
+
+"Be not angry with men, for they are driven as thou art by
+Dorozhand. Do bullocks goad one another on whom the same yoke
+rests?
+
+"And be not angry with Dorozhand, for then thou beatest thy bare
+fingers against iron cliffs.
+
+"All that is is so because it was to be. Rail not, therefore,
+against what is, for it was all to be."
+
+And Imbaun said: "The Sun ariseth and maketh a glory about all the
+things that he seeth, and drop by drop he turneth the common dew
+to every kind of gem. And he maketh a splendour in the hills.
+
+"And also man is born. And there rests a glory about the gardens
+of his youth. Both travel afar to do what Dorozhand would have
+them do.
+
+"Soon now the sun will set, and very softly come twinkling in the
+stillness all the stars.
+
+"Also man dieth. And quietly about his grave will all the mourners
+weep.
+
+"Will not his life arise again somewhere in all the worlds? Shall
+he not again behold the gardens of his youth? Or does he set to
+end?"
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING
+
+
+There trod such pestilence in Aradec that, the King as he looked
+abroad out of his palace saw men die. And when the King saw Death
+he feared that one day even the King should die. Therefore he
+commanded guards to bring before him the wisest prophet that
+should be found in Aradec.
+
+Then heralds came to the temple of All the gods save One, and
+cried aloud, having first commanded silence, crying: "Rhazahan,
+King over Aradec, Prince by right of Ildun and Ildaun, and Prince
+by conquest of Pathia, Ezek, and Azhan, Lord of the Hills, to the
+High Prophet of All the gods save One sends salutations."
+
+Then they bore him before the King.
+
+The King said unto the prophet: "O Prophet of All the gods save
+One, shall I indeed die?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "O King! thy people may not rejoice for
+ever, and some day the King will die."
+
+And the King answered: "This may be so, but certainly thou shalt
+die. It may be that one day I shall die, but till then the lives
+of the people are in my hands."
+
+Then guards led the prophet away.
+
+And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to
+Kings.
+
+
+
+OF OOD
+
+
+Men say that if thou comest to Sundari, beyond all the plains, and
+shalt climb to his summit before thou art seized by the avalanche
+which sitteth always on his slopes, that then there lie before thee
+many peaks. And if thou shalt climb these and cross their valleys
+(of which there be seven and also seven peaks) thou shalt come at
+last to the land of forgotten hills, where amid many valleys and
+white snow there standeth the "Great Temple of One god Only."
+
+Therein is a dreaming prophet who doeth naught, and a drowsy
+priesthood about him.
+
+These be the priests of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Within the temple it is forbidden to work, also it is forbidden to
+pray. Night differeth not from day within its doors. They rest as
+MANA rests. And the name of their prophet is Ood.
+
+Ood is a greater prophet than any of all the prophets of Earth,
+and it hath been said by some that were Ood and his priests to
+pray chaunting all together and calling upon MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI would then awake, for surely he would hear
+the prayers of his own prophet--then would there be Worlds no more.
+
+There is also another way to the land of forgotten hills, which is
+a smooth road and a straight, that lies through the heart of the
+mountains. But for certain hidden reasons it were better for thee
+to go by the peaks and snow, even though thou shouldst perish by
+the way, that thou shouldst seek to come to the house of Ood by
+the smooth, straight road.
+
+
+
+THE RIVER
+
+
+There arises a river in Pegana that is neither a river of water
+nor yet a river of fire, and it flows through the skies and the
+Worlds to the Rim of the Worlds, a river of silence. Through all
+the Worlds are sounds, the noises of moving, and the echoes of
+voices and song; but upon the River is no sound ever heard, for
+there all echoes die.
+
+The River arises out of the drumming of Skarl, and flows for ever
+between banks of thunder, until it comes to the waste beyond the
+Worlds, behind the farthest star, down to the Sea of Silence.
+
+I lay in the desert beyond all cities and sounds, and above me
+flowed the River of Silence through the sky; and on the desert's
+edge night fought against the Sun, and suddenly conquered.
+
+Then on the River I saw the dream-built ship of the god Yoharneth-Lahai,
+whose great prow lifted grey into the air above the River of Silence.
+
+Her timbers were olden dreams dreamed long ago, and poets' fancies
+made her tall, straight masts, and her rigging was wrought out of
+the people's hopes.
+
+Upon her deck were rowers with dream-made oars, and the rowers
+were the people of men's fancies, and princes of old story and
+people who had died, and people who had never been.
+
+These swung forward and swung back to row Yoharneth-Lahai through
+the Worlds with never a sound of rowing. For ever on every wind
+float up to Pegana the hopes and the fancies of the people which
+have no home in the Worlds, and there Yoharneth-Lahai weaves them
+into dreams, to take them to the people again.
+
+And every night in his dream-built ship Yoharneth-Lahai setteth
+forth, with all his dreams on board, to take again their old hopes
+back to the people and all forgotten fancies.
+
+But ere the day comes back to her own again, and all the
+conquering armies of the dawn hurl their red lances in the face of
+the night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows
+back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegana into the Sea
+of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.
+
+And the name of the River is Imrana the River of Silence. All they
+that be weary of the sound of cities and very tired of clamour
+creep down in the night-time to Yoharneth-Lahai's ship, and going
+aboard it, among the dreams and the fancies of old times, lie down
+upon the deck, and pass from sleeping to the River, while Mung,
+behind them, makes the sign of Mung because they would have it so.
+And, lying there upon the deck among their own remembered fancies,
+and songs that were never sung, and they drift up Imrana ere the
+dawn, where the sound of the cities comes not, nor the voice of
+the thunder is heard, nor the midnight howl of Pain as he gnaws
+at the bodies of men, and far away and forgotten bleat the small
+sorrows that trouble all the Worlds.
+
+But where the River flows through Pegana's gates, between the
+great twin constellations Yum and Gothum, where Yum stands
+sentinel upon the left and Gothum upon the right, there sits
+Sirami, the lord of All Forgetting. And, when the ship draws near,
+Sirami looketh with his sapphire eyes into the faces and beyond
+them of those that were weary of cities, and as he gazes, as one
+that looketh before him remembering naught, he gently waves his
+hands. And amid the waving of Sirami's hands there fall from all
+that behold him all their memories, save certain things that may
+not be forgotten even beyond the Worlds.
+
+It hath been said that when Skarl ceases to drum, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+awakes, and the gods of Pegana know that it is THE END, that then the
+gods will enter galleons of gold, and with dream-born rowers glide down
+Imrana (who knows whither or why?) till they come where the River enters
+the Silent Sea, and shall there be gods of nothing, where nothing is,
+and never a sound shall come. And far away upon the River's banks shall
+bay their old hound Time, that shall seek to rend his masters; while
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall think some other plan concerning gods and worlds.
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF DOOM AND THE END
+
+
+For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom
+of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds; and Time, the hound
+of the gods, shall bay hungrily at his masters because he is lean
+with age.
+
+And from the innermost of Pegana's vales shall the bird of doom,
+Mosahn, whose voice is like the trumpet, soar upward with
+boisterous beatings of his wings above Pegana's mountains and the
+gods, and there with his trumpet voice acclaim THE END.
+
+Then in the tumult and amid the fury of their hound the gods shall
+make for the last time in Pegana the sign of all the gods, and go
+with dignity and quiet down to Their galleons of gold, and sail
+away down the River of Silence, not ever to return.
+
+Then shall the River overflow its banks, and a tide come setting
+in from the Silent Sea, till all the Worlds and the Skies are
+drowned in silence; while MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI in the Middle of All
+sits deep in thought. And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and
+cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to
+devour, shall suddenly die.
+
+But there are some that hold--and this is the heresy of the
+Saigoths--that when the gods go down at the last into their
+galleons of gold Mung shall turn alone, and, setting his back
+against Trehagobol and wielding the Sword of Severing which is
+called Death, shall fight out his last fight with the hound Time,
+his empty scabbard Sleep clattering loose beside him.
+
+There under Trehagobol they shall fight alone when all the gods
+are gone.
+
+And the Saigoths say that for two days and nights the hound shall
+leer and snarl before the face of Mung-days and nights that shall
+be lit by neither sun nor moons, for these shall go dipping down
+the sky with all the Worlds as the galleons glide away, because
+the gods that made them are gods no more.
+
+And then shall the hound, springing, tear out the throat of Mung,
+who, making for the last time the sign of Mung, shall bring down
+Death crashing through the shoulders of the hound, and in the
+blood of Time that Sword shall rust away.
+
+Then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI be all alone, with neither Death nor
+Time, and never the hours singing in his ears, nor the swish of
+the passing lives.
+
+But far away from Pegana shall go the galleons of gold that bear
+the gods away, upon whose faces shall be utter calm, because They
+are the gods knowing that it is THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana
+by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana, 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: The Gods of Pegana
+
+Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+Posting Date: October 19, 2012 [EBook #8395]
+Release Date: June, 2005
+First Posted: July 6, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Beginners Projects, Anne Reshnyk and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
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+THE GODS OF PEGANA
+
+LORD DUNSANY
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Preface
+
+Introduction
+
+Of Skarl the Drummer
+
+Of the Making of the Worlds
+
+Of the Game of the Gods
+
+The Chaunt of the Gods
+
+The Sayings of Kib
+
+Concerning Sish
+
+The Sayings of Slid
+
+The Deeds of Mung
+
+The Chaunt
+
+The Sayings of Limpang-Tung
+
+Of Yoharneth-Lahai
+
+Of Roon, the God of Going, and the Thousand Home Gods
+
+The Revolt of the Home Gods
+
+Of Dorozhand
+
+The Eye in the Waste
+
+Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast
+
+Yonath the Prophet
+
+Yug the Prophet
+
+Alhireth-Hotep The Prophet
+
+Kabok The Prophet
+
+Of the Calamity That Befel Yun-Hara by the Sea, and of the
+Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
+
+Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
+
+Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of all
+the Gods Save One
+
+Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
+
+Pegana
+
+The Sayings of Imbaun
+
+Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
+
+Of Ood
+
+The River
+
+The Bird of Doom and THE END
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In the mists before THE BEGINNING, Fate and Chance cast lots to
+decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through
+the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: "Now make gods for Me, for
+I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine." Who it was that
+won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went
+through the mists before THE BEGINNING to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI--_none
+knoweth._
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Before there stood gods upon Olympus, or ever Allah was Allah, had
+wrought and rested MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+There are in Pegana Mung and Sish and Kib, and the maker of all
+small gods, who is MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Moreover, we have a faith in
+Roon and Slid.
+
+And it has been said of old that all things that have been were
+wrought by the small gods, excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who
+made the gods and hath thereafter rested.
+
+And none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI but only the gods whom he
+hath made.
+
+But at the Last will MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forget to rest, and will
+make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods
+whom he hath made.
+
+And the gods and the worlds shall depart, and there shall be only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+OF SKARL THE DRUMMER
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods and Skarl, Skarl made a
+drum, and began to beat upon it that he might drum for ever. Then
+because he was weary after the making of the gods, and because of
+the drumming of Skarl, did MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI grow drowsy and fall
+asleep.
+
+And there fell a hush upon the gods when they saw that MANA rested,
+and there was silence on Pegana save for the drumming of Skarl.
+Skarl sitteth upon the mist before the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+above the gods of Pegana, and there he beateth his drum. Some say
+that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of
+Skarl, and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind
+of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl, as one may dream whose
+rest is troubled by sound of song, but none knoweth, for who hath
+heard the voice of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, or who hath seen his drummer?
+
+Whether the season be winter or whether it be summer, whether it
+be morning among the worlds or whether it be night, Skarl still
+beateth his drum, for the purposes of the gods are not yet fulfilled.
+Sometimes the arm of Skarl grows weary; but still he beateth his
+drum, that the gods may do the work of the gods, and the worlds go
+on, for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start
+awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more.
+
+But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum,
+silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+shall cease to rest.
+
+Then shall Skarl put his drum upon his back and walk forth into the
+void beyond the worlds, because it is THE END, and the work of Skarl
+is over.
+
+There may arise some other god whom Skarl may serve, or it may be
+that he shall perish; but to Skarl it shall matter not, for he shall
+have done the work of Skarl.
+
+
+
+OF THE MAKING OF THE WORLDS
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods there were only the gods,
+and They sat in the middle of Time, for there was as much Time
+before them as behind them, which having no end had neither a
+beginning.
+
+And Pegana was without heat or light or sound, save for the
+drumming of Skarl; moreover Pegana was The Middle of All, for
+there was below Pegana what there was above it, and there lay
+before it that which lay beyond.
+
+Then said the gods, making the signs of the gods and speaking with
+Their hands lest the silence of Pegana should blush; then said the
+gods to one another, speaking with Their hands; "Let Us make
+worlds to amuse Ourselves while MANA rests. Let Us make worlds and
+Life and Death, and colours in the sky; only let Us not break the
+silence upon Pegana."
+
+Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They
+made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the
+sky.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to seek, to seek and never to
+find out concerning the wherefore of the making of the gods."
+
+And They made by the lifting of Their hands, each god according to
+his sign, the Bright One with the flaring tail to seek from the
+end of the Worlds to the end of them again, to return again after
+a hundred years.
+
+Man, when thou seest the comet, know that another seeketh besides
+thee nor ever findeth out.
+
+Then said the gods, still speaking with Their hands: "Let there be
+now a Watcher to regard."
+
+And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains
+and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the
+games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI; to watch, to regard all things, and be
+silent.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to rest. One not to move
+among the moving. One not to seek like the comet, nor to go round
+like the worlds; to rest while MANA rests."
+
+And They made the Star of the Abiding and set it in the North.
+
+Man, when thou seest the Star of the Abiding to the North, know
+that one resteth as doth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and know that somewhere
+among the Worlds is rest.
+
+Lastly the gods said: "We have made worlds and suns, and one to
+seek and another to regard, let Us now make one to wonder."
+
+And They made Earth to wonder, each god by the uplifting of his
+hand according to his sign.
+
+And Earth was.
+
+
+
+OF THE GAME OF THE GODS
+
+
+A million years passed over the first game of the gods. And
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI still rested, still in the middle of Time, and
+the gods still played with Worlds. The Moon regarded, and the
+Bright One sought, and returned again to his seeking.
+
+Then Kib grew weary of the first game of the gods, and raised his
+hand in Pegana, making the sign of Kib, and Earth became covered
+with beasts for Kib to play with.
+
+And Kib played with beasts.
+
+But the other gods said one to another, speaking with their hands:
+"What is it that Kib has done?"
+
+And They said to Kib: "What are these things that move upon The
+Earth yet move not in circles like the Worlds, that regard like
+the Moon and yet they do not shine?"
+
+And Kib said: "This is Life."
+
+But the gods said one to another: "If Kib has thus made beasts he
+will in time make Men, and will endanger the Secret of the gods."
+
+And Mung was jealous of the work of Kib, and sent down Death among
+the beasts, but could not stamp them out.
+
+A million years passed over the second game of the gods, and still
+it was the Middle of Time.
+
+And Kib grew weary of the second game, and raised his hand in the
+Middle of All, making the sign of Kib, and made Men: out of beasts
+he made them, and Earth was covered with Men.
+
+Then the gods feared greatly for the Secret of the gods, and set a
+veil between Man and his ignorance that he might not understand.
+And Mung was busy among Men.
+
+But when the other gods saw Kib playing his new game They came and
+played it too. And this They will play until MANA arises to rebuke
+Them, saying: "What do ye playing with Worlds and Suns and Men and
+Life and Death?" And They shall be ashamed of Their playing in the
+hour of the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+It was Kib who first broke the Silence of Pegana, by speaking with
+his mouth like a man.
+
+And all the other gods were angry with Kib that he had spoken with
+his mouth.
+
+And there was no longer silence in Pegana or the Worlds.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE GODS
+
+
+There came the voice of the gods singing the chaunt of the gods,
+singing: "We are the gods; We are the little games of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that he hath played and hath forgotten.
+
+"MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI hath made us, and We made the Worlds and the
+Suns.
+
+"And We play with the Worlds and the Sun and Life and Death until
+MANA arises to rebuke us, saying: 'What do ye playing with Worlds
+and Suns?'
+
+"It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet
+most withering is the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for
+playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us,
+and there shall be Worlds no more."
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF KIB
+
+(Sender of Life in all the Worlds)
+
+
+Kib said: "I am Kib. I am none other than Kib."
+
+Kib is Kib. Kib is he and no other. Believe! Kib said: "When
+Time was early, when Time was very early indeed--there was only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI was before the beginning of the
+gods, and shall be after their going."
+
+And Kib said: "After the going of the gods there will be no small
+worlds nor big."
+
+Kib said: "It will be lonely for MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Because this is written, believe! For is it not written, or are
+you greater than Kib? Kib is Kib.
+
+
+
+CONCERNING SISH
+
+(The Destroyer of Hours)
+
+
+Time is the hound of Sish.
+
+At Sish's bidding do the hours run before him as he goeth upon
+his way.
+
+Never hath Sish stepped backward nor ever hath he tarried; never
+hath he relented to the things that once he knew nor turned to
+them again.
+
+Before Sish is Kib, and behind him goeth Mung.
+
+Very pleasant are all things before the face of Sish, but behind
+him they are withered and old.
+
+And Sish goeth ceaselessly upon his way.
+
+Once the gods walked upon Earth as men walk and spake with their
+mouths like Men. That was in Wornath-Mavai. They walk not now.
+
+And Wornath-Mavai was a garden fairer than all the gardens upon
+Earth.
+
+Kib was propitious, and Mung raised not his hand against it,
+neither did Sish assail it with his hours.
+
+Wornath-Mavai lieth in a valley and looketh towards the south, and
+on the slopes of it Sish rested among the flowers when Sish was
+young.
+
+Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and
+to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against
+them with the rust and with the dust.
+
+And Time, which is the hound of Sish, devoured all things; and
+Sish sent up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the
+hand of Sish and covered stately things. Only the valley where
+Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his
+hours to assail.
+
+There he restrained his old hound Time, and at its borders Mung
+withheld his footsteps.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south, a garden
+among gardens, and still the flowers grow about its slopes as they
+grew when the gods were young; and even the butterflies live in
+Wornath-Mavai still. For the minds of the gods relent towards
+their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south; but if thou
+shouldst ever find it thou art then more fortunate than the gods,
+because they walk not in Wornath-Mavai now.
+
+Once did the prophet think that he discerned it in the distance
+beyond mountains, a garden exceeding fair with flowers; but Sish
+arose, and pointed with his hand, and set his hound to pursue him,
+who hath followed ever since.
+
+Time is the hound of the gods; but it hath been said of old that
+he will one day turn upon his masters, and seek to slay the gods,
+excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, whose dreams are the gods
+themselves--dreamed long ago.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF SLID
+
+(Whose Soul is by the Sea)
+
+
+Slid said: "Let no man pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for who shall
+trouble MANA with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all
+the houses of Earth?
+
+"Nor let any sacrifice to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for what glory shall
+he find in sacrifices or altars who hath made the gods themselves?
+
+"Pray to the small gods, who are the gods of Doing; but MANA is
+the god of Having Done--the god of Having Done and of the Resting.
+
+"Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what
+mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and
+Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?
+
+"Slid is but a small god. Yet Slid is Slid--it is written and hath
+been said.
+
+"Pray, thou, therefore, to Slid, and forget not Slid, and it may
+be that Slid will not forget to send thee Death when most thou
+needest it."
+
+And the People of Earth said: "There is a melody upon the Earth as
+though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that
+they had forsaken in the hills."
+
+And Slid said: "I am the Lord of gliding waters and of foaming
+waters and of still. I am the Lord of all the waters in the world
+and all that long streams garner in the hills; but the soul of
+Slid is in the Sea. Thither goes all that glides upon Earth, and
+the end of all the rivers is the Sea."
+
+And Slid said: "The hand of Slid hath toyed with cataracts, and
+down the valleys have trod the feet of Slid, and out of the lakes
+of the plains regard the eyes of Slid; but the soul of Slid is in
+the sea."
+
+Much homage hath Slid among the cities of men and pleasant are the
+woodland paths and the paths of the plains, and pleasant the high
+valleys where he danceth in the hills; but Slid would be fettered
+neither by banks nor boundaries--so the soul of Slid is in the
+Sea.
+
+For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods
+above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than
+Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
+
+There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and
+sigh round islands in his great content--the miser lord of wealth
+in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.
+
+Or there may he, when Slid would fain exult, throw up his great
+arms, or toss with many a fathom of wandering hair the mighty head
+of Slid, and cry aloud tumultuous dirges of shipwreck, and feel
+through all his being the crashing might of Slid, and sway the
+sea. Then doth the Sea, like venturous legions on the eve of war
+that exult to acclaim their chief, gather its force together from
+under all the winds and roar and follow and sing and crash
+together to vanquish all things--and all at the bidding of Slid,
+whose soul is in the sea.
+
+There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea;
+also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of
+Slid, for the gods have many moods. And Slid is in many places,
+for he sitteth in high Pegana. Also along the valleys walketh
+Slid, wherever water moveth or lieth still; but the voice and the
+cry of Slid are from the sea. And to whoever that cry hath ever
+come he must needs follow and follow, leaving all stable things;
+only to be always with Slid in all the moods of Slid, to find no
+rest until he reaches the sea.
+
+With the cry of Slid before them and the hills of their home behind
+have gone a hundred thousand to the sea, over whose bones doth Slid
+lament with the voice of a god lamenting for his people. Even the
+streams from the inner lands have heard Slid's far-off cry, and all
+together have forsaken lawns and trees to follow where Slid is
+gathering up his own, to rejoice where Slid rejoices, singing the
+chaunt of Slid, even as will at the Last gather all the Lives of
+the People about the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+THE DEEDS OF MUNG
+
+(Lord of all Deaths between Pegana and the Rim)
+
+
+Once, as Mung went his way athwart the Earth and up and down its
+cities and across its plains, Mung came upon a man who was afraid
+when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+
+And Mung said: "Were the forty million years before thy coming
+intolerable to thee?"
+
+And Mung said: "Not less tolerable to thee shall be the forty
+million years to come!"
+
+Then Mung made against him the sign of Mung and the Life of the
+Man was fettered no longer with hands and feet.
+
+At the end of the flight of the arrow there is Mung, and in the
+houses and the cities of Men. Mung walketh in all places at all
+times. But mostly he loves to walk in the dark and still, along
+the river mists when the wind hath sank, a little before night
+meeteth with the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds.
+
+Sometimes Mung entereth the poor man's cottage; Mung also boweth
+very low before The King. Then do the Lives of the poor man and of
+The King go forth among the Worlds.
+
+And Mung said: "Many turnings hath the road that Kib hath given
+every man to tread upon the earth. Behind one of these turnings
+sitteth Mung."
+
+One day as a man trod upon the road that Kib had given him to
+tread he came suddenly upon Mung. And when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+the man cried out: "Alas, that I took this road, for had I gone by
+any other way then had I not met with Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "Had it been possible for thee to go by any other
+way then had the Scheme of Things been otherwise and the gods had
+been other gods. When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forgets to rest and makes
+again new gods it may be that They will send thee again into the
+Worlds; and then thou mayest choose some other way, and not meet
+with Mung."
+
+Then Mung made the sign of Mung. And the Life of that man went
+forth with yesterday's regrets and all old sorrows and forgotten
+things--whither Mung knoweth.
+
+And Mung went onward with his work to sunder Life from flesh, and
+Mung came upon a man who became stricken with sorrow when he saw
+the shadow of Mung. But Mung said: "When at the sign of Mung thy
+Life shall float away there will also disappear thy sorrow at
+forsaking it." But the man cried out: "O Mung! tarry for a little,
+and make not the sign of Mung against me now, for I have a family
+upon the earth with whom sorrow will remain, though mine should
+disappear because of the sign of Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "With the gods it is always Now. And before Sish
+hath banished many of the years the sorrows of thy family for thee
+shall go the way of thine." And the man beheld Mung making the
+sign of Mung before his eyes, which beheld things no more.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE PRIESTS
+
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+All day long to Mung cry out the Priests of Mung, and, yet Mung
+harkeneth not. What, then, shall avail the prayers of All the
+People?
+
+Rather bring gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+So shall they cry louder unto Mung than ever was their wont.
+
+And it may be that Mung shall hear.
+
+Not any longer than shall fall the Shadow of Mung athwart the
+hopes of the People.
+
+Not any longer then shall the Tread of Mung darken the dreams of
+the people.
+
+Not any longer shall the lives of the People be loosened because
+of Mung.
+
+Bring ye gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF LIMPANG-TUNG
+
+(The God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels)
+
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "The ways of the gods are strange. The
+flower groweth up and the flower fadeth away. This may be very
+clever of the gods. Man groweth from his infancy, and in a while
+he dieth. This may be very clever too.
+
+"But the gods play with a strange scheme.
+
+"I will send jests into the world and a little mirth. And while
+Death seems to thee as far away as the purple rim of hills; or
+sorrow as far off as rain in the blue days of summer, then pray to
+Limpang-Tung. But when thou growest old, or ere thou diest, pray
+not of Limpang-Tung, for thou becomest part of a scheme that he
+doth not understand.
+
+"Go out into the starry night, and Limpang-Tung will dance with
+thee who danced since the gods were young, the god of mirth and of
+melodious minstrels. Or offer up a jest to Limpang-Tung; only pray
+not in thy sorrow to Limpang-Tung, for he saith of sorrow: 'It may
+be very clever of the gods,' but he doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "I am lesser than the gods; pray,
+therefore, to the small gods and not to Limpang-Tung.
+
+"Natheless between Pegana and the Earth flutter ten thousand
+thousand prayers that beat their wings against the face of Death,
+and never for one of them hath the hand of the Striker been
+stayed, nor yet have tarried the feet of the Relentless One.
+
+"Utter thy prayer! It may accomplish where failed ten thousand
+thousand.
+
+"Limpang-Tung is lesser than the gods, and doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "Lest men grow weary down on the great
+Worlds through gazing always at a changeless sky, I will paint my
+pictures in the sky. And I will paint them twice in every day for
+so long as days shall be. Once as the day ariseth out of the homes
+of dawn will I paint the Blue, that men may see and rejoice; and
+ere day falleth under into the night will I paint upon the Blue
+again, lest men be sad.
+
+"It is a little," said Limpang-Tung, "it is a little even for a
+god to give some pleasure to men upon the Worlds."
+
+And Limpang-Tung hath sworn that the pictures that he paints shall
+never be the same for so long as the days shall be, and this he
+hath sworn by the oath of the gods of Pegana that the gods may
+never break, laying his hand upon the shoulder of each of the gods
+and swearing by the light behind Their eyes.
+
+Limpang-Tung hath lured a melody out of the stream and stolen its
+anthem from the forest; for him the wind hath cried in lonely places
+and the ocean sung its dirges. There is music for Limpang-Tung in
+the sounds of the moving of grass and in the voices of the people
+that lament or in the cry of them that rejoice.
+
+In an inner mountain land where none hath come he hath carved his
+organ pipes out of the mountains, and there when the winds, his
+servants, come in from all the world he maketh the melody of
+Limpang-Tung. But the song, arising at night, goeth forth like a
+river, winding through all the world, and here and there amid the
+peoples of earth one heareth, and straightaway all that hath voice
+to sing crieth aloud in music to his soul.
+
+Or sometimes walking through the dusk with steps unheard by men,
+in a form unseen by the people, Limpang-Tung goeth abroad, and,
+standing behind the minstrels in cities of song, waveth his hands
+above them to and fro, and the minstrels bend to their work, and
+the voice of the music ariseth; and mirth and melody abound in
+that city of song, and no one seeth Limpang-Tung as he standeth
+behind the minstrels.
+
+But through the mists towards morning, in the dark when the
+minstrels sleep and mirth and melody have sunk to rest, Limpang-Tung
+goeth back again to his mountain land.
+
+
+
+OF YOHARNETH-LAHAI
+
+(The God of Little Dreams and Fancies)
+
+
+Yaoharneth-Lahai is the god of little dreams and fancies.
+
+All night he sendeth little dreams out of Pegana to please the
+people of Earth.
+
+He sendeth little dreams to the poor man and to The King.
+
+He is so busy to send his dreams to all before the night be ended
+that oft he forgetteth which be the poor man and which be The
+King.
+
+To whom Yoharneth-Lahai cometh not with little dreams and sleep he
+must endure all night the laughter of the gods, with highest
+mockery, in Pegana.
+
+All night long Yoharneth-Lahai giveth peace to cities until the
+dawn hour and the departing of Yoharneth-Lahai, when it is time
+for the gods to play with men again.
+
+Whether the dreams and the fancies of Yoharneth-Lahai be false and
+the Things that are done in the Day be real, or the Things that
+are done in the Day be false and the dreams and the fancies of
+Yoharneth-Lahai be true, none knoweth saving only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+who hath not spoken.
+
+
+
+OF ROON, THE GOD OF GOING, AND THE THOUSAND HOME GODS
+
+
+Roon said: "There be gods of moving and gods of standing still,
+but I am the god of Going."
+
+It is because of Roon that the worlds are never still, for the
+moons and the worlds and the comet are stirred by the spirit of
+Roon, which saith: "Go! Go! Go!"
+
+Roon met the Worlds all in the morning of Things, before there was
+light upon Pegana, and Roon danced before them in the Void, since
+when they are never still, Roon sendeth all streams to the Sea,
+and all the rivers to the soul of Slid.
+
+Roon maketh the sign of Roon before the waters, and lo! they have
+left the hills; and Roon hath spoken in the ear of the North Wind
+that he may be still no more.
+
+The footfall of Roon hath been heard at evening outside the houses
+of men, and thenceforth comfort and abiding know them no more.
+Before them stretcheth travel over all the lands, long miles, and
+never resting between their homes and their graves--and all at the
+bidding of Roon.
+
+The Mountains have set no limit against Roon nor all the seas a
+boundary.
+
+Whither Roon hath desired there must Roon's people go, and the
+worlds and their streams and the winds.
+
+I heard the whisper of Roon at evening, saying: "There are islands
+of spices to the South," and the voice of Roon saying: "Go."
+
+And Roon said: "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods
+that sit before the hearth and mind the fire--there is one Roon."
+
+Roon saith in a whisper, in a whisper when none heareth, when the
+sun is low: "What doeth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI?" Roon is no god that
+thou mayest worship by thy hearth, nor will he be benignant to thy
+home.
+
+Offer to Roon thy toiling and thy speed, whose incense is the
+smoke of the camp fire to the South, whose song is the sound of
+going, whose temples stand beyond the farthest hills in his lands
+behind the East.
+
+Yarinareth, Yarinareth, Yarinareth, which signifieth Beyond--these
+words be carved in letters of gold upon the arch of the great portal
+of the Temple of Roon that men have builded looking towards the East
+upon the Sea, where Roon is carved as a giant trumpeter, with his
+trumpet pointing towards the East beyond the Seas.
+
+Whoso heareth his voice, the voice of Roon at evening, he at once
+forsaketh the home gods that sit beside the hearth. These be the
+gods of the hearth: Pitsu, who stroketh the cat; Hobith who calms
+the dog; and Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers; and little
+Zumbiboo, the lord of dust; and old Gribaun, who sits in the heart
+of the fire to turn the wood to ash--all these be home gods, and
+live not in Pegana and be lesser than Roon.
+
+There is also Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke, who taketh
+the smoke from the hearth and sendeth it to the sky, who is
+pleased if it reacheth Pegana, so that the gods of Pegana,
+speaking to the gods, say: "There is Kilooloogung doing the work
+on earth of Kilooloogung."
+
+All these are gods so small that they be lesser than men, but
+pleasant gods to have beside the hearth; and often men have prayed
+to Kilooloogung, saying: "Thou whose smoke ascendeth to Pegana
+send up with it our prayers, that the gods may hear." And
+Kilooloogung, who is pleased that men should pray, stretches
+himself up all grey and lean, with his arms above his head, and
+sendeth his servant the smoke to seek Pegana, that the gods of
+Pegana may know that the people pray.
+
+And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the
+house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he
+sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or
+until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he
+sitteth by the river's edge to lament the forgotten things that
+drift upon it.
+
+A kindly god is Jabim, whose heart is sore if anything be lost.
+
+There is also Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk, whose children are the
+shadows, who sitteth in a corner far off from Habaniah and
+speaketh to none. But after Habaniah hath gone to sleep and old
+Gribaun hath blinked a hundred times, until he forgetteth which be
+wood or ash, then doth Triboogie send his children to run about
+the room and dance upon the walls, but never disturb the silence.
+
+But when there is light again upon the worlds, and dawn comes
+dancing down the highway from Pegana, then does Triboogie retire
+into his corner, with his children all around him, as though they
+had never danced about the room. And the slaves of Habaniah and
+old Gribaun come and awake them from their sleep upon the hearth,
+and Pitsu strokes the cat, and Hobith calms the dog, and
+Kilooloogung stretches aloft his arms towards Pegana, and
+Triboogie is very still, and his children asleep.
+
+And when it is dark, all in the hour of Triboogie, Hish creepeth
+from the forest, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats,
+that have broken the command of their father, but in a voice that
+is ever so low. Hish husheth the mouse and all the whispers in the
+night; he maketh all noises still. Only the cricket rebelleth. But
+Hish hath set against him such a spell that after he hath cried a
+thousand times his voice may be heard no more but becometh part of
+the silence.
+
+And when he hath slain all sounds Hish boweth low to the ground;
+then cometh into the house, with never a sound of feet, the god
+Yoharneth-Lahai.
+
+But away in the forest whence Hish hath come Wohoon, the Lord of
+Noises in the Night, awaketh in his lair and creepeth round the
+forest to see whether it be true that Hish hath gone.
+
+Then in some glade Wohoon lifts up his voice and cries aloud, that
+all the night may hear, that it is he, Wohoon, who is abroad in
+all the forest. And the wolf and the fox and the owl, and the
+great beasts and the small, lift up their voices to acclaim
+Wohoon. And there arise the sounds of voices and the stirring of
+leaves.
+
+
+
+THE REVOLT OF THE HOME GODS
+
+
+There be three broad rivers of the plain, born before memory or
+fable, whose mothers are three grey peaks and whose father was the
+storm. There names be Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion.
+
+And Eimës is the joy of lowing herds; and Zänës hath bowed his
+neck to the yoke of man, and carries the timber from the forest
+far up below the mountain; and Segástrion sings old songs to
+shepherd boys, singing of his childhood in a lone ravine and of
+how he once sprang down the mountain sides and far away into the
+plain to see the world, and of how one day at last he will find
+the sea. These be the rivers of the plain, wherein the plain
+rejoices. But old men tell, whose fathers heard it from the
+ancients, how once the lords of the three rivers of the plain
+rebelled against the law of the Worlds, and passed beyond their
+boundaries, and joined together and whelmed cities and slew men,
+saying: "We now play the game of the gods and slay men for our
+pleasure, and we be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+And all the plain was flooded to the hills.
+
+And Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion sat upon the mountains, and
+spread their hands over their rivers that rebelled by their
+command.
+
+But the prayer of men going upward found Pegana, and cried in the
+ear of the gods: "There be three home gods who slay us for their
+pleasure, and say that they be mightier than Pegana's gods, and
+play Their game with men."
+
+Then were all the gods of Pegana very wroth; but They could not
+whelm the lords of the three rivers, because being home gods,
+though small, they were immortal.
+
+And still the home gods spread their hands across their rivers,
+with their fingers wide apart, and the waters rose and rose, and
+the voice of their torrent grew louder, crying: "Are we not Eimës,
+Zänës, and Segástrion?"
+
+Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the
+drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing
+with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot.
+
+And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as
+they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones.
+
+Then Mung said: "Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the
+faces of Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion till they see whether it be
+wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana."
+
+And Umbool answered: "I am the beast of Mung."
+
+And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of
+the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.
+
+And whenever Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion stretched out their
+hands over their rivers they saw before their faces the grinning
+of Umbool; and because the grinning was like death in a hot and
+hideous land therefore they turned away and spread their hands no
+more over their rivers, and the waters sank and sank.
+
+But when Umbool had grinned for thirty days the waters fell back
+into the river beds and the lords of the rivers slunk away back
+again to their homes: still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+Then Eimës sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock,
+and Zänës crept into the middle of a wood, and Segástrion lay and
+panted on the sand--still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+And Eimës grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the
+plain would say: "Here once was Eimës"; and Zänës scarce had
+strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Segástrion lay and
+panted a man stepped over his stream, and Segástrion said: "It is
+the foot of a man that has passed across my neck, and I have sought
+to be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+Then said the gods of Pegana: "It is enough. We are the gods of
+Pegana, and none are equal."
+
+Then Mung sent Umbool back to his waste in Afrik to breathe again
+upon the rocks, and parch the desert, and to sear the memory of
+Afrik into the brains of all who ever bring their bones away.
+
+And Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion sang again, and walked once more
+in their accustomed haunts, and played the game of Life and Death
+with fishes and frogs, but never essayed to play it any more with
+men, as do the gods of Pegana.
+
+
+
+OF DOROZHAND
+
+(Whose Eyes Regard The End)
+
+
+Sitting above the lives of the people, and looking, doth Dorozhand
+see that which is to be.
+
+The god of Destiny is Dorozhand. Upon whom have looked the eyes of
+Dorozhand he goeth forward to an end that naught may stay; he
+becometh the arrow from the bow of Dorozhand hurled forward at a
+mark he may not see--to the goal of Dorozhand. Beyond the thinking
+of men, beyond the sight of all the other gods, regard the eyes of
+Dorozhand.
+
+He hath chosen his slaves. And them doth the destiny god drive
+onward where he will, who, knowing not whither nor even knowing
+why, feel only his scourge behind them or hear his cry before.
+
+There is something that Dorozhand would fain achieve, and,
+therefore, hath he set the people striving, with none to cease or
+rest in all the worlds. But the gods of Pegana, speaking to the
+gods, say: "What is it that Dorozhand would fain achieve?"
+
+It hath been written and said that not only the destinies of men
+are the care of Dorozhand but that even the gods of Pegana be not
+unconcerned by his will.
+
+All the gods of Pegana have felt a fear, for they have seen a look
+in the eyes of Dorozhand that regardeth beyond the gods.
+
+The reason and purpose of the Worlds is that there should be Life
+upon the Worlds, and Life is the instrument of Dorozhand wherewith
+he would achieve his end.
+
+Therefore the Worlds go on, and the rivers run to the sea, and Life
+ariseth and flieth even in all the Worlds, and the gods of Pegana
+do the work of the gods--and all for Dorozhand. But when the end of
+Dorozhand hath been achieved there will be need no longer of Life upon
+the Worlds, nor any more a game for the small gods to play. Then will
+Kib tiptoe gently across Pegana to the resting-place in Highest Pegana
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and touching reverently his hand, the hand that
+wrought the gods, say: "MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, thou hast rested long."
+
+And MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall say: "Not so; for I have rested for but
+fifty aeons of the gods, each of them scarce more than ten million
+mortal years of the Worlds that ye have made."
+
+And then shall the gods be afraid when they find that MANA knoweth
+that they have made Worlds while he rested. And they shall answer:
+"Nay; but the Worlds came all of themselves."
+
+Then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, as one who would have done with an irksome
+matter, will lightly wave his hand--the hand that wrought the
+gods--and there shall be gods no more.
+
+When there shall be three moons towards the north above the Star
+of the Abiding, three moons that neither wax nor wane but regard
+towards the North.
+
+Or when the comet ceaseth from his seeking and stands still, not any
+longer moving among the Worlds but tarrying as one who rests after
+the end of search, then shall arise from resting, because it is THE
+END, the Greater One, who rested of old time, even MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Then shall the Times that were be Times no more; and it may be
+that the old, dead days shall return from beyond the Rim, and we
+who have wept for them shall see those days again, as one who,
+returning from long travel to his home, comes suddenly on dear,
+remembered things.
+
+For none shall know of MANA who hath rested for so long, whether
+he be a harsh or merciful god. It may be that he shall have mercy,
+and that these things shall be.
+
+
+
+THE EYE IN THE WASTE
+
+
+There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the
+caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the
+tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some
+returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none
+return.
+
+The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.
+
+The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of
+dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is
+the Desert of Deserts.
+
+In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan,
+in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that
+hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is
+Ranorada--the eye in the waste.
+
+About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are
+vaster than the beds of streams these words:
+
+To the god who knows.
+
+Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water
+in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came
+no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and
+Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan,
+where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how
+once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all
+night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is
+carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the
+secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making
+of the gods.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to
+none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.
+
+Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who
+thinks and is silent--the eye in the waste.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and
+that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from
+the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image,
+which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.
+
+But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the
+old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the
+camels rest, say:
+
+"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine,
+and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan."
+Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the
+city where the caravans end.
+
+All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from
+Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard
+from aged men in so remote a city?
+
+
+
+OF THE THING THAT IS NEITHER GOD NOR BEAST
+
+
+Seeing that wisdom is not in cities nor happiness in wisdom, and
+because Yadin the prophet was doomed by the gods ere he was born
+to go in search of wisdom, he followed the caravans to Bodrahan.
+There in the evening, where the camels rest, when the wind of the
+day ebbs out into the desert sighing amid the palms its last
+farewells and leaving the caravans still, he sent his prayer with
+the wind to drift into the desert calling to Hoodrazai.
+
+And down the wind his prayer went calling: "Why do the gods
+endure, and play their game with men? Why doth not Skarl forsake
+his drumming, and MANA cease to rest?" and the echo of seven
+deserts answered: "Who knows? Who knows?"
+
+But out in the waste, beyond the seven deserts where Ranorada
+looms enormous in the dusk, at evening his prayer was heard; and
+from the rim of the waste whither had gone his prayer, came three
+flamingoes flying, and their voices said: "Going South, Going
+South" at every stroke of their wings.
+
+But as they passed by the prophet they seemed so cool and free and
+the desert so blinding and hot that he stretched up his arms
+towards them. Then it seemed happy to fly and pleasant to follow
+behind great white wings, and he was with the three flamingoes up
+in the cool above the desert, and their voices cried before him:
+"Going South, Going South," and the desert below him mumbled: "Who
+knows? Who knows?"
+
+Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks of
+mountains, sometimes it fell away in steep ravines, blue rivers
+sang to them as they passed above them, or very faintly came the
+song of breezes in lone orchards, and far away the sea sang mighty
+dirges of old forsaken isles. But it seemed that in all the world
+there was nothing only to be going South.
+
+It seemed that somewhere the South was calling to her own, and
+that they were going South.
+
+But when the prophet saw that they had passed above the edge of
+Earth, and that far away to the North of them lay the Moon, he
+perceived that he was following no mortal birds but some strange
+messengers of Hoodrazai whose nest had lain in one of Pegana's
+vales below the mountains whereon sit the gods.
+
+Still they went South, passing by all the Worlds and leaving them
+to the North, till only Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion lay still to
+the South of them, where great Ingazi seemed only a point of
+light, and Yo and Mindo could be seen no more.
+
+Still they went South till they passed below the South and came to
+the Rim of the Worlds.
+
+There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and
+Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond
+it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that
+were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it
+sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast,
+who neither howls nor breathes, only _It_ turns over the
+leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever
+until THE END.
+
+And all that is to be is written in the book is also all that was.
+
+When _It_ turneth a black page it is night, and when
+_It_ turneth a white page it is day.
+
+Because it is written that there are gods--there are the gods.
+
+Also there is writing about thee and me until the page where our
+names no more are written.
+
+Then as the prophet watched _It_, Trogool turned a page--a
+black one, and night was over, and day shone on the Worlds.
+
+Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by
+many names, _It_ is the Thing that sits behind the gods,
+whose book is the Scheme of Things.
+
+But when Yadin saw that old remembered days were hidden away with
+the part that _It_ had turned, and knew that upon one whose
+name is writ no more the last page had turned for ever a thousand
+pages back. Then did he utter his prayer in the fact of Trogool
+who only turns the pages and never answers prayer. He prayed in
+the face of Trogool: "Only turn back thy pages to the name of one
+which is writ no more, and far away upon a place named Earth shall
+rise the prayers of a little people that acclaim the name of
+Trogool, for there is indeed far off a place called Earth where
+men shall pray to Trogool."
+
+Then spake Trogool who turns the pages and never answers prayer,
+and his voice was like the murmurs of the waste at night when
+echoes have been lost: "Though the whirlwind of the South should
+tug with his claws at a page that hath been turned yet shall he
+not be able to ever turn it back."
+
+Then because of words in the book that said that it should be so,
+Yadin found himself lying in the desert where one gave him water,
+and afterwards carried him on a camel into Bodrahan.
+
+There some said that he had but dreamed when thirst seized him
+while he wandered among the rocks in the desert. But certain aged
+men of Bodrahan say that indeed there sitteth somewhere a Thing
+that is called Trogool, that is neither god nor beast, that
+turneth the leaves of a book, black and white, black and white,
+until he come to the words: _Mai Doon Izahn_, which means The
+End For Ever, and book and gods and worlds shall be no more.
+
+
+
+YONATH THE PROPHET
+
+
+Yonath was the first among prophets who uttered unto men.
+
+These are the words of Yonath, the first among all prophets:
+
+There be gods upon Pegana.
+
+Upon a night I slept. And in my sleep Pegana came very near. And
+Pegana was full of gods.
+
+I saw the gods beside me as one might see wonted things.
+
+Only I saw not MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+And in that hour, in the hour of my sleep, I knew.
+
+And the end and the beginning of my knowing, and all of my knowing
+that there was, was this--that Man Knoweth Not.
+
+Seek thou to find at night the utter edge of the darkness, or seek
+to find the birthplace of the rainbow where he leapeth upward from
+the hills, only seek not concerning the wherefore of the making of
+the gods.
+
+The gods have set a brightness upon the farther side of the Things
+to Come that they may appear more felititous to men than the
+Things that Are.
+
+To the gods the Things to Come are but as the Things that Are, and
+nothing altereth in Pegana.
+
+The gods, although not merciful, are not ferocious gods. They are
+the destroyers of the Days that Were, but they set a glory about
+the Days to Be.
+
+Man must endure the Days that Are, but the gods have left him his
+ignorance as a solace.
+
+Seek not to know. Thy seeking will weary thee, and thou wilt
+return much worn, to rest at last about the place from whence thou
+settest out upon thy seeking.
+
+Seek not to know. Even I, Yonath, the oldest prophet, burdened
+with the wisdom of great years, and worn with seeking, know only
+that man knoweth not.
+
+Once I set out seeking to know all things. Now I know one thing
+only, and soon the Years will carry me away.
+
+The path of my seeking, that leadeth to seeking again, must be
+trodden by very many more, when Yonath is no longer even Yonath.
+
+Set not thy foot upon that path.
+
+Seek not to know.
+
+These be the Words of Yonath.
+
+
+
+YUG THE PROPHET
+
+
+When the Years had carries away Yonath, and Yonath was dead,
+there was no longer a prophet among men.
+
+And still men sought to know.
+
+Therefore they said unto Yug: "Be thou our prophet, and know all
+things, and tell us concerning the wherefore of It All."
+
+And Yug said: "I know all things." And men were pleased.
+
+And Yug said of the Beginning that it was in Yug's own garden, and
+of the End that it was in the sight of Yug.
+
+And men forgot Yug.
+
+One day Yug saw Mung behind the hills making the sign of Mung. And
+Yug was Yug no more.
+
+
+
+ALHIRETH-HOTEP THE PROPHET
+
+
+When Yug was Yug no more men said unto Alhireth-Hotep: "Be thou
+our prophet, and be as wise as Yug."
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said: "I am as wise as Yug." And men were very
+glad.
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said of Life and Death: "These be the affairs
+of Alhireth-Hotep." And men brought gifts to him.
+
+One day Alhireth-Hotep wrote in a book: "Alhireth-Hotep knoweth
+All Things, for he hath spoken with Mung."
+
+And Mung stepped from behind him, making the sign of Mung, saying:
+"Knowest thou All Things, then, Alhireth-Hotep?" And Alhireth-Hotep
+became among the Things that Were.
+
+
+
+KABOK THE PROPHET
+
+When Alhireth-Hotep was among the Things that Were, and still men
+sought to know, they said unto Kabok: "Be thou as wise as was
+Alhireth-Hotep."
+
+And Kabok grew wise in his own sight and in the sight of men.
+
+And Kabok said: "Mung maketh his signs against men or withholdeth
+it by the advice of Kabok."
+
+And he said unto one: "Thou hast sinned against Kabok, therefore
+will Mung make the sign of Mung against thee." And to another:
+"Thou has brought Kabok gifts, therefore shall Mung forbear to
+make against thee the sign of Mung."
+
+One night as Kabok fattened upon the gifts that men had brought
+him he heard the tread of Mung treading in the garden of Kabok
+about his house at night.
+
+And because the night was very still it seemed most evil to Kabok
+that Mung should be treading in his garden, without the advice of
+Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok, who knew All Things, grew afraid, for the treading was
+very loud and the night still, and he knew not what lay behind the
+back of Mung, which none had ever seen.
+
+But when the morning grew to brightness, and there was light upon
+the Worlds, and Mung trod no longer in the garden, Kabok forgot
+his fears, and said: "Perhaps it was but a herd of cattle that
+stampeded in the garden of Kabok."
+
+And Kabok went about his business, which was that of knowing All
+Things, and telling All Things unto men, and making light of Mung.
+
+But that night Mung trod again in the garden of Kabok, about his
+house at night, and stood before the window of the house like a
+shadow standing erect, so that Kabok knew indeed that it was Mung.
+
+And a great fear fell upon the throat of Kabok, so that his speech
+was hoarse; and he cried out: "Thou art Mung!"
+
+And Mung slightly inclined his head, and went on to tread in the
+garden of Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened with horror at his heart.
+
+But when the second morning grew to brightness, and there was
+light upon the Worlds, Mung went from treading in the garden of
+Kabok; and for a little while Kabok hoped, but looked with great
+dread for the coming of the third night.
+
+And when the third night was come, and the bat had gone to his
+home, and the wind had sank, the night was very still.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened, to whom the wings of the night flew
+very slow.
+
+But, ere night met the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds, there came the tread of Mung in the garden of Kabok
+towards Kabok's door.
+
+And Kabok fled out of his house as flees a hunted beast and flung
+himself before Mung.
+
+And Mung made the sign of Mung, pointing towards THE END.
+
+And the fears of Kabok had rest from troubling Kabok any more, for
+they and he were among accomplished things.
+
+
+
+OF THE CALAMITY THAT BEFEL YUN-ILARA BY THE SEA, AND OF THE
+BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF THE ENDING OF DAYS
+
+
+When Kabok and his fears had rest the people sought a prophet who
+should have no fear of Mung, whose hand was against the prophets.
+
+And at last they found Yun-Ilara, who tended sheep and had no fear
+of Mung, and the people brought him to the town that he might be
+their prophet.
+
+And Yun-Ilara builded a tower towards the sea that looked upon the
+setting of the Sun. And he called it the Tower of the Ending of
+Days.
+
+And about the ending of the day would Yun-Ilara go up to his
+tower's top and look towards the setting of the Sun to cry his
+curses against Mung, crying: "O Mung! whose hand is against the
+Sun, whom men abhor but worship because they fear thee, here stands
+and speaks a man who fears thee not. Assassin lord of murder and
+dark things, abhorrent, merciless, make thou the sign of Mung
+against me when thou wilt, but until silence settles upon my lips,
+because of the sign of Mung, I will curse Mung to his face." And
+the people in the street below would gaze up with wonder towards
+Yun-Ilara, who had no fear of Mung, and brought him gifts; only in
+their homes after the falling of the night would they pray again
+with reverence to Mung. But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And still Mung came not nigh to Yun-Ilara as he cried his curses
+against Mung from his tower towards the sea.
+
+And Sish throughout the Worlds hurled Time away, and slew the
+Hours that had served him well, and called up more out of the
+timeless waste that lieth beyond the Worlds, and drave them forth
+to assail all things. And Sish cast a whiteness over the hairs of
+Yun-Ilara, and ivy about his tower, and weariness over his limbs,
+for Mung passed by him still.
+
+And when Sish became a god less durable to Yun-Ilara than ever
+Mung hath been he ceased at last to cry from his tower's top his
+curses against Mung whenever the sun went down, till there came
+the day when weariness of the gift of Kib fell heavily upon
+Yun-Ilara.
+
+Then from the tower of the Ending of Days did Yun-Ilara cry out
+thus to Mung, crying: "O Mung! O loveliest of the gods! O Mung,
+most dearly to be desired! thy gift of Death is the heritage of
+Man, with ease and rest and silence and returning to the Earth.
+Kib giveth but toil and trouble; and Sish, he sendeth regrets with
+each of his hours wherewith he assails the World. Yoharneth-Lahai
+cometh nigh no more. I can no longer be glad with Limpang-Tung.
+When the other gods forsake him a man hath only Mung."
+
+But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And every day and all night long did Yun-Ilara cry aloud: "Ah, now
+for the hour of the mourning of many, and the pleasant garlands of
+flowers and the tears, and the moist, dark earth. Ah, for repose
+down underneath the grass, where the firm feet of the trees grip
+hold upon the world, where never shall come the wind that now blows
+through my bones, and the rain shall come warm and trickling, not
+driven by storm, where is the easeful falling asunder of bone from
+bone in the dark." Thus prayed Yun-Ilara, who had cursed in his
+folly and youth, while never heeded Mung.
+
+Still from a heap of bones that are Yun-Ilara still, lying about
+the ruined base of the tower that once he builded, goes up a
+shrill voice with the wind crying out for the mercy of Mung, if
+any such there be.
+
+
+
+OF HOW THE GODS WHELMED SIDITH
+
+
+There was dole in the valley of Sidith. For three years there had
+been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover,
+there was imminence of war.
+
+Throughout all Sidith men died night and day, and night and day
+within the Temple of All the gods save One (for none may pray to
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI) did the priests of the gods pray hard.
+
+For they said: "For a long while a man may hear the droning of
+little insects and yet not be aware that he hath heard them, so
+may the gods not hear our prayers at first until they have been
+very oft repeated. But when your praying has troubled the silence
+long it may be that some god as he strolls in Pegana's glades may
+come on one of our lost prayers, that flutters like a butterfly
+tossed in storm when all its wings are broken; then if the gods be
+merciful they may ease our fears in Sidith, or else they may crush
+us, being petulant gods, and so we shall see trouble in Sidith no
+longer, with its pestilence and dearth and fears of war."
+
+But in the fourth year of the pestilence and in the second year
+of the famine, and while still there was imminence of war, came
+all the people of Sidith to the door of the Temple of All the gods
+save One, where none may enter but the priests--but only leave
+gifts and go.
+
+And there the people cried out: "O High Prophet of All the gods
+save One, Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung,
+Teller of the mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the
+People, and Lord of Prayer, what doest thou within the Temple of
+All the gods save One?"
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith, who was the High Prophet, answered: "I pray for
+all the People."
+
+But the people answered: "O High Prophet of All the gods save One,
+Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung, Teller of the
+mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the People, and
+Lord of Prayer, for four long years hast thou prayed with the
+priests of all thine order, while we brought ye gifts and died.
+Now, therefore, since They have not heard thee in four grim years,
+thou must go and carry to Their faces the prayer of the people of
+Sidith when They go to drive the thunder to his pasture upon the
+mountain Aghrinaun, or else there shall no longer be gifts upon
+thy temple door, whenever falls the dew, that thou and thine order
+may fatten.
+
+"Then thou shalt say before Their faces: 'O All the gods save One,
+Lords of the Worlds, whose child is the eclipse, take back thy
+pestilence from Sidith, for ye have played the game of the gods
+too long with the people of Sidith, who would fain have done with
+the gods'."
+
+Then in great fear answered the High Prophet, saying: "What if the
+gods be angry and whelm Sidith?" And the people answered: "Then are
+we sooner done with pestilence and famine and the imminence of war."
+
+That night the thunder howled upon Aghrinaun, which stood a peak above
+all others in the land of Sidith. And the people took Arb-Rin-Hadith
+from his Temple and drave him to Aghrinaun, for they said: "There walk
+to-night upon the mountain All the gods save One."
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith went trembling to the gods.
+
+Next morning, white and frightened from Aghrinaun, came Arb-Rin-Hadith
+back into the valley, and there spake to the people, saying: "The
+faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no
+hope from the gods."
+
+Then said the people: "Thou shalt go to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, to whom
+no man may pray: seek him upon Aghrinaun where it lifts clear into
+the stillness before morning, and on its summit, where all things
+seem to rest surely there rests also MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Go to him,
+and say: 'Thou hast made evil gods, and They smite Sidith.'
+Perchance he hath forgotten all his gods, or hath not heard of
+Sidith. Thou hast escaped the thunder of the gods, surely thou
+shalt also escape the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Upon a morning when the sky and lakes were clear and the world
+still, and Aghrinaun was stiller than the world, Arb-Rin-Hadith
+crept in fear towards the slopes of Aghrinaun because the people
+were urgent.
+
+All that day men saw him climbing. At night he rested near the
+top. But ere the morning of the day that followed, such as rose
+early saw him in the silence, a speck against the blue, stretch up
+his arms upon the summit to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Then instantly they
+saw him not, nor was he ever seen of men again who had dared to
+trouble the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Such as now speak of Sidith tell of a fierce and potent tribe
+that smote away a people in a valley enfeebled by pestilence,
+where stood a temple to "All the gods save One" in which was no
+high priest.
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN BECAME HIGH PROPHET IN ARADEC OF ALL
+THE GODS SAVE ONE
+
+
+Imbaun was to be made High Prophet in Aradec, of All the Gods save
+One.
+
+From Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond came all High Prophets
+of the Earth to the Temple in Aradec of All the gods save One.
+
+And then they told Imbaun how The Secret of Things was upon the
+summit of the dome of the Hall of Night, but faintly writ, and in
+an unknown tongue.
+
+Midway in the night, between the setting and the rising sun, they
+led Imbaun into the Hall of Night, and said to him, chaunting
+altogether: "Imbaun, Imbaun, Imbaun, look up to the roof, where is
+writ The Secret of Things, but faintly, and in an unknown tongue."
+
+And Imbaun looked up, but darkness was so deep within the Hall of
+Night that Imbaun saw not even the High Prophets who came from
+Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond, nor saw he aught in the Hall
+of Night at all.
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What seest thou, Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I see naught."
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What knowest thou Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I know naught."
+
+Then spake the High Prophet of Eld of All the gods save One, who
+is first on Earth of prophets: "O Imbaun! we have all looked
+upwards in the Hall of Night towards the secret of Things, and
+ever it was dark, and the Secret faint and in an unknown tongue.
+And now thou knowest what all High Prophets know."
+
+And Imbaun answered: "I know."
+
+So Imbaun became High Prophet in Aradec of All the gods save One,
+and prayed for all the people, who knew not that there was
+darkness in the Hall of Night or that the secret was writ faint
+and in an unknown tongue.
+
+These are the words of Imbaun that he wrote in a book that all the
+people might know:
+
+"In the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon, as night came
+up the valley, I performed the mystic rites of each of the gods in
+the temple as is my wont, lest any of the gods should grow angry
+in the night and whelm us while we slept.
+
+"And as I uttered the last of certain secret words I fell asleep
+in the temple, for I was weary, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand. Then in the stillness, as I slept, there entered
+Dorozhand by the temple door in the guise of a man, and touched me
+on the shoulder, and I awoke.
+
+"But when I saw that his eyes shone blue and lit the whole of the
+temple I knew that he was a god though he came in mortal guise.
+And Dorozhand said: 'Prophet of Dorozhand, behold that the people
+may know.' And he showed me the paths of Sish stretching far down
+into the future time. Then he bade me arise and follow whither he
+pointed, speaking no words but commanding with his eyes.
+
+"Therefore upon the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon I
+walked with Dorozhand adown the paths of Sish into the future
+time.
+
+"And ever beside the way did men slay men. And the sum of their
+slaying was greater than the slaying of the pestilence of any of
+the evils of the gods.
+
+"And cities arose and shed their houses in dust, and ever the
+desert returned again to its own, and covered over and hid the
+last of all that had troubled its repose.
+
+"And still men slew men.
+
+"And I came at last to a time when men set their yoke no longer
+upon beasts but made them beasts of iron.
+
+"And after that did men slay men with mists.
+
+"Then, because the slaying exceeded their desire, there came peace
+upon the world that was brought by the hand of the slayer, and men
+slew men no more.
+
+"And cities multiplied, and overthrew the desert and conquered its
+repose.
+
+"And suddenly I beheld that THE END was near, for there was a
+stirring above Pegana as of One who grows weary of resting, and I
+saw the hound Time crouch to spring, with his eyes upon the
+throats of the gods, shifting from throat to throat, and the
+drumming of Skarl grew faint.
+
+"And if a god may fear, it seemed that there was fear upon the
+face of Dorozhand, and he seized me by the hand and led me back
+along the paths of Time that I might not see THE END.
+
+"Then I saw cities rise out of the dust again and fall back into
+the desert whence they had arisen; and again I slept in the Temple
+of All the gods save One, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand.
+
+"Then again the Temple was alight, but not with light from the
+eyes of Dorozhand; only dawn came all blue out of the East and
+shone through the arches of the Temple. Then I awoke and performed
+the morning rites and mysteries of All the gods save One, lest any
+of the gods be angry in the day and take away the Sun.
+
+"And I knew that because I who had been so near to it had not
+beheld THE END that a man should never behold it or know the doom
+of the gods. This They have hidden."
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN MET ZODRAK
+
+
+The prophet of the gods lay resting by the river to watch the
+stream run by.
+
+And as he lay he pondered on the Scheme of Things and the works of
+all the gods. And it seemed to the prophet of the gods as he
+watched the stream run by that the Scheme was a right scheme and
+the gods benignant gods; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds. It
+seemed that Kib was bountiful, that Mung calmed all who suffer,
+that Sish dealt not too harshly with the hours, and that all the
+gods were good; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds.
+
+Then said the prophet of the gods as he watched the stream run by:
+"There is some other god of whom naught is writ." And suddenly the
+prophet was aware of an old man who bemoaned beside the river,
+crying: "Alas! alas!"
+
+His face was marked by the sign and the seal of exceeding many
+years, and there was yet vigour in his frame. These be the words
+of the prophet that he wrote in his book: "I said: 'Who art thou
+that bemoans beside the river?' And he answered: 'I am the fool.'
+I said: 'Upon thy brow are the marks of wisdom such as is stored
+in books.' He said: 'I am Zodrak. Thousands of years ago I tended
+sheep upon a hill that sloped towards the sea. The gods have many
+moods. Thousands of years ago They were in a mirthful mood. They
+said: 'Let Us call up a man before Us that We may laugh in
+Pegana.'"
+
+"'And Their eyes that looked on me saw not me alone but also saw
+THE BEGINNING and THE END and all the Worlds besides. Then said
+the gods, speaking as speak the gods: "Go, back to thy sheep."
+
+"'But I, who am the fool, had heard it said on earth that whoso
+seeth the gods upon Pegana becometh as the gods, if so he demand
+to Their faces, who may not slay him who hath looked them in the
+eyes.
+
+"'And I, the fool, said: "I have looked in the eyes of the gods,
+and I demand what a man may demand of the gods when he hath seen
+Them in Pegana." And the gods inclined Their heads and Hoodrazai
+said: "It is the law of the gods."
+
+"'And I, who was only a shepherd, how could I know?
+
+"'I said: "I will make men rich." And the gods said: "What is
+rich?"
+
+"'And I said: "I will send them love." And the gods said: "What is
+love?" And I sent gold into the Worlds, and, alas! I sent with it
+poverty and strife. And I sent love into the Worlds, and with it
+grief.
+
+"'And now I have mixed gold and love most woefully together, and I
+can never remedy what I have done, for the deeds of the gods are
+done, and nothing may undo them.
+
+"'Then I said: "I will give men wisdom that they may be glad." And
+those who got my wisdom found that they knew nothing, and from
+having been happy became glad no more.
+
+"'And I, who would make men happy, have made them sad, and I have
+spoiled the beautiful scheme of the gods.
+
+"'And now my hand is for ever on the handle of Their plough. I was
+only a shepherd, and how should I have known?
+
+"'Now I come to thee as thou restest by the river to ask of thee
+thy forgiveness, for I would fain have the forgiveness of a man.'
+
+"And I answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose children are the
+storms, shall a man forgive a god?'
+
+"He answered: 'Men have sinned not against the gods as the gods
+have sinned against men since I came into Their councils.'
+
+"And I, the prophet, answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose
+plaything is the thunder, thou art amongst the gods, what need
+hast thou for words from any man?'
+
+"He said: 'Indeed I am amongst the gods, who speak to me as they
+speak to other gods, yet is there always a smile about Their
+mouths, and a look in Their eyes that saith: "Thou wert a man."'
+
+"I said: 'O Lord of seven skies, about whose feet the Worlds are
+as drifted sand, because thou biddest me, I, a man, forgive thee.'
+
+"And he answered: 'I was but a shepherd, and I could not know.'
+Then he was gone."
+
+
+
+PEGANA
+
+
+The prophet of the gods cried out to the gods: "O! All the gods
+save One" for none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, "where shall the
+life of a man abide when Mung hath made against his body the sign
+of Mung?--for the people with whom ye play have sought to know."
+
+But the gods answered, speaking through the mist:
+
+"Though thou shouldst tell thy secrets to the beasts, even that
+the beasts should understand, yet will not the gods divulge the
+secret of the gods to thee, that gods and beasts and men shall be
+all the same, all knowing the same things."
+
+That night Yoharneth-Lahai came to Aradec, and said unto Imbaun:
+"Wherefore wouldst thou know the secret of the gods that not the
+gods may tell thee?
+
+"When the wind blows not, where, then, is the wind?
+
+"Or when thou art not living, where art thou?
+
+"What should the wind care for the hours of calm or thou for
+death?
+
+"Thy life is long, Eternity is short.
+
+"So short that, shouldst thou die and Eternity should pass, and
+after the passing of Eternity thou shouldst live again, thou
+wouldst say: 'I closed mine eyes but for an instant.'
+
+"There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou
+bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who art so much
+afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
+
+Then said the prophet: "How shall I tell the people that the gods
+have not spoken and their prophet doth not know? For then should I
+be prophet no longer, and another would take the people's gifts
+instead of me."
+
+Then said Imbaun to the people: "The gods have spoken, saying: 'O
+Imbaun, Our prophet, it is as the people believe whose wisdom hath
+discovered the secret of the gods, and the people when they die
+shall come to Pegana, and there live with the gods, and there have
+pleasure without toil. And Pegana is a place all white with the
+peaks of mountains, on each of them a god, and the people shall
+lie upon the slopes of the mountains each under the god that he
+hath worshipped most when his lot was in the Worlds. And there
+shall music beyond thy dreaming come drifting through the scent
+of all the orchards in the Worlds, with somewhere someone singing
+an old song that shall be as a half-remembered thing. And there
+shall be gardens that have always sunlight, and streams that are
+lost in no sea beneath skies for ever blue. And there shall be no
+rain nor no regrets. Only the roses that in highest Pegana have
+achieved their prime shall shed their petals in showers at thy
+feet, and only far away on the forgotten earth shall voices drift
+up to thee that cheered thee in thy childhood about the gardens of
+thy youth. And if thou sighest for any memory of earth because thou
+hearest unforgotten voices, then will the gods send messengers on
+wings to soothe thee in Pegana, saying to them: "There one sigheth
+who hath remembered Earth." And they shall make Pegana more seductive
+for thee still, and they shall take thee by the hand and whisper in
+thine ear till the old voices are forgot.
+
+"'And besides the flowers of Pegana there shall have climbed by
+then until it hath reached to Pegana the rose that clambered about
+the house where thou wast born. Thither shall also come the
+wandering echoes of all such music as charmed thee long ago.
+
+"'Moreover, as thou sittest on the orchard lawns that clothe
+Pegana's mountains, and as thou hearkenest to melody that sways
+the souls of the gods, there shall stretch away far down beneath
+thee the great unhappy Earth, till gazing from rapture upon sorrows
+thou shalt be glad that thou wert dead.
+
+"'And from the three great mountains that stand aloof and over all
+the others--Grimbol, Zeebol, and Trehagobol--shall blow the wind
+of the morning and the wind of all the day, borne upon the wings
+of all the butterflies that have died upon the Worlds, to cool the
+gods and Pegana.
+
+"'Far through Pegana a silvery fountain, lured upward by the gods
+from the Central Sea, shall fling its waters aloft, and over the
+highest of Pegana's peaks, above Trehagobol, shall burst into
+gleaming mists, to cover Highest Pegana, and make a curtain about
+the resting-place of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"'Alone, still and remote below the base of one of the inner
+mountains, lieth a great blue pool.
+
+"'Whoever looketh down into its waters may behold all his life
+that was upon the Worlds and all the deeds that he hath done.
+
+"'None walk by the pool and none regard its depths, for all in
+Pegana have suffered and all have sinned some sin, and it lieth in
+the pool.
+
+"'And there is no darkness in Pegana, for when night hath conquered
+the sun and stilled the Worlds and turned the white peaks of Pegana
+into grey then shine the blue eyes of the gods like sunlight on the
+sea, where each god sits upon his mountain.
+
+"'And at the Last, upon some afternoon, perhaps in summer, shall the
+gods say, speaking to the gods: "What is the likeness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and what THE END?"
+
+"'And then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI draw back with his hand the mists
+that cover his resting, saying: "This is the Face of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and this THE END."'"
+
+Then said the people to the prophet: "Shall not black hills draw
+round in some forsaken land, to make a vale-wide cauldron wherein
+the molten rock shall seethe and roar, and where the crags of
+mountains shall be hurled upward to the surface and bubble and go
+down again, that there our enemies may boil for ever?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "It is writ large about the bases of
+Pegana's mountains, upon which sit the gods: 'Thine Enemies Are
+Forgiven."'
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF IMBAUN
+
+
+The Prophet of the gods said: "Yonder beside the road there
+sitteth a false prophet; and to all who seek to know the hidden
+days he saith: 'Upon the morrow the King shall speak to thee as
+his chariot goeth by.'"
+
+Moreover, all the people bring him gifts, and the false prophet
+hath more to listen to his words than hath the Prophet of the
+gods.
+
+Then said Imbaun: "What knoweth the Prophet of the gods? I know
+only that I and men know naught concerning the gods or aught
+concerning men. Shall I, who am their prophet, tell the people
+this?
+
+"For wherefore have the people chosen prophets but that they
+should speak the hopes of the people, and tell the people that
+their hopes be true?"
+
+The false prophet saith: "Upon the morrow the king shall speak to
+thee."
+
+Shall not I say: "Upon The Morrow the gods shall speak with thee
+as thou restest upon Pegana?"
+
+So shall the people be happy, and know that their hopes be true
+who have believed the words that they have chosen a prophet to say.
+
+But what shall know the Prophet of the gods, to whom none may come
+to say: "Thy hopes are true," for whom none may make strange signs
+before his eyes to quench his fear of death, for whom alone the
+chaunt of his priests availeth naught?
+
+The Prophet of the gods hath sold his happiness for wisdom, and
+hath given his hopes for the people.
+
+Said also Imbaun: "When thou art angry at night observe how calm
+be the stars; and shall small ones rail when there is such a calm
+among the great ones? Or when thou art angry by day regard the
+distant hills, and see the calm that doth adorn their faces. Shalt
+thou be angry while they stand so serene?
+
+"Be not angry with men, for they are driven as thou art by
+Dorozhand. Do bullocks goad one another on whom the same yoke
+rests?
+
+"And be not angry with Dorozhand, for then thou beatest thy bare
+fingers against iron cliffs.
+
+"All that is is so because it was to be. Rail not, therefore,
+against what is, for it was all to be."
+
+And Imbaun said: "The Sun ariseth and maketh a glory about all the
+things that he seeth, and drop by drop he turneth the common dew
+to every kind of gem. And he maketh a splendour in the hills.
+
+"And also man is born. And there rests a glory about the gardens
+of his youth. Both travel afar to do what Dorozhand would have
+them do.
+
+"Soon now the sun will set, and very softly come twinkling in the
+stillness all the stars.
+
+"Also man dieth. And quietly about his grave will all the mourners
+weep.
+
+"Will not his life arise again somewhere in all the worlds? Shall
+he not again behold the gardens of his youth? Or does he set to
+end?"
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING
+
+
+There trod such pestilence in Aradec that, the King as he looked
+abroad out of his palace saw men die. And when the King saw Death
+he feared that one day even the King should die. Therefore he
+commanded guards to bring before him the wisest prophet that
+should be found in Aradec.
+
+Then heralds came to the temple of All the gods save One, and
+cried aloud, having first commanded silence, crying: "Rhazahan,
+King over Aradec, Prince by right of Ildun and Ildaun, and Prince
+by conquest of Pathia, Ezek, and Azhan, Lord of the Hills, to the
+High Prophet of All the gods save One sends salutations."
+
+Then they bore him before the King.
+
+The King said unto the prophet: "O Prophet of All the gods save
+One, shall I indeed die?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "O King! thy people may not rejoice for
+ever, and some day the King will die."
+
+And the King answered: "This may be so, but certainly thou shalt
+die. It may be that one day I shall die, but till then the lives
+of the people are in my hands."
+
+Then guards led the prophet away.
+
+And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to
+Kings.
+
+
+
+OF OOD
+
+
+Men say that if thou comest to Sundari, beyond all the plains, and
+shalt climb to his summit before thou art seized by the avalanche
+which sitteth always on his slopes, that then there lie before thee
+many peaks. And if thou shalt climb these and cross their valleys
+(of which there be seven and also seven peaks) thou shalt come at
+last to the land of forgotten hills, where amid many valleys and
+white snow there standeth the "Great Temple of One god Only."
+
+Therein is a dreaming prophet who doeth naught, and a drowsy
+priesthood about him.
+
+These be the priests of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Within the temple it is forbidden to work, also it is forbidden to
+pray. Night differeth not from day within its doors. They rest as
+MANA rests. And the name of their prophet is Ood.
+
+Ood is a greater prophet than any of all the prophets of Earth,
+and it hath been said by some that were Ood and his priests to
+pray chaunting all together and calling upon MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI would then awake, for surely he would hear
+the prayers of his own prophet--then would there be Worlds no more.
+
+There is also another way to the land of forgotten hills, which is
+a smooth road and a straight, that lies through the heart of the
+mountains. But for certain hidden reasons it were better for thee
+to go by the peaks and snow, even though thou shouldst perish by
+the way, that thou shouldst seek to come to the house of Ood by
+the smooth, straight road.
+
+
+
+THE RIVER
+
+
+There arises a river in Pegana that is neither a river of water
+nor yet a river of fire, and it flows through the skies and the
+Worlds to the Rim of the Worlds, a river of silence. Through all
+the Worlds are sounds, the noises of moving, and the echoes of
+voices and song; but upon the River is no sound ever heard, for
+there all echoes die.
+
+The River arises out of the drumming of Skarl, and flows for ever
+between banks of thunder, until it comes to the waste beyond the
+Worlds, behind the farthest star, down to the Sea of Silence.
+
+I lay in the desert beyond all cities and sounds, and above me
+flowed the River of Silence through the sky; and on the desert's
+edge night fought against the Sun, and suddenly conquered.
+
+Then on the River I saw the dream-built ship of the god Yoharneth-Lahai,
+whose great prow lifted grey into the air above the River of Silence.
+
+Her timbers were olden dreams dreamed long ago, and poets' fancies
+made her tall, straight masts, and her rigging was wrought out of
+the people's hopes.
+
+Upon her deck were rowers with dream-made oars, and the rowers
+were the people of men's fancies, and princes of old story and
+people who had died, and people who had never been.
+
+These swung forward and swung back to row Yoharneth-Lahai through
+the Worlds with never a sound of rowing. For ever on every wind
+float up to Pegana the hopes and the fancies of the people which
+have no home in the Worlds, and there Yoharneth-Lahai weaves them
+into dreams, to take them to the people again.
+
+And every night in his dream-built ship Yoharneth-Lahai setteth
+forth, with all his dreams on board, to take again their old hopes
+back to the people and all forgotten fancies.
+
+But ere the day comes back to her own again, and all the
+conquering armies of the dawn hurl their red lances in the face of
+the night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows
+back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegana into the Sea
+of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.
+
+And the name of the River is Imrana the River of Silence. All they
+that be weary of the sound of cities and very tired of clamour
+creep down in the night-time to Yoharneth-Lahai's ship, and going
+aboard it, among the dreams and the fancies of old times, lie down
+upon the deck, and pass from sleeping to the River, while Mung,
+behind them, makes the sign of Mung because they would have it so.
+And, lying there upon the deck among their own remembered fancies,
+and songs that were never sung, and they drift up Imrana ere the
+dawn, where the sound of the cities comes not, nor the voice of
+the thunder is heard, nor the midnight howl of Pain as he gnaws
+at the bodies of men, and far away and forgotten bleat the small
+sorrows that trouble all the Worlds.
+
+But where the River flows through Pegana's gates, between the
+great twin constellations Yum and Gothum, where Yum stands
+sentinel upon the left and Gothum upon the right, there sits
+Sirami, the lord of All Forgetting. And, when the ship draws near,
+Sirami looketh with his sapphire eyes into the faces and beyond
+them of those that were weary of cities, and as he gazes, as one
+that looketh before him remembering naught, he gently waves his
+hands. And amid the waving of Sirami's hands there fall from all
+that behold him all their memories, save certain things that may
+not be forgotten even beyond the Worlds.
+
+It hath been said that when Skarl ceases to drum, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+awakes, and the gods of Pegana know that it is THE END, that then the
+gods will enter galleons of gold, and with dream-born rowers glide down
+Imrana (who knows whither or why?) till they come where the River enters
+the Silent Sea, and shall there be gods of nothing, where nothing is,
+and never a sound shall come. And far away upon the River's banks shall
+bay their old hound Time, that shall seek to rend his masters; while
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall think some other plan concerning gods and worlds.
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF DOOM AND THE END
+
+
+For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom
+of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds; and Time, the hound
+of the gods, shall bay hungrily at his masters because he is lean
+with age.
+
+And from the innermost of Pegana's vales shall the bird of doom,
+Mosahn, whose voice is like the trumpet, soar upward with
+boisterous beatings of his wings above Pegana's mountains and the
+gods, and there with his trumpet voice acclaim THE END.
+
+Then in the tumult and amid the fury of their hound the gods shall
+make for the last time in Pegana the sign of all the gods, and go
+with dignity and quiet down to Their galleons of gold, and sail
+away down the River of Silence, not ever to return.
+
+Then shall the River overflow its banks, and a tide come setting
+in from the Silent Sea, till all the Worlds and the Skies are
+drowned in silence; while MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI in the Middle of All
+sits deep in thought. And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and
+cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to
+devour, shall suddenly die.
+
+But there are some that hold--and this is the heresy of the
+Saigoths--that when the gods go down at the last into their
+galleons of gold Mung shall turn alone, and, setting his back
+against Trehagobol and wielding the Sword of Severing which is
+called Death, shall fight out his last fight with the hound Time,
+his empty scabbard Sleep clattering loose beside him.
+
+There under Trehagobol they shall fight alone when all the gods
+are gone.
+
+And the Saigoths say that for two days and nights the hound shall
+leer and snarl before the face of Mung-days and nights that shall
+be lit by neither sun nor moons, for these shall go dipping down
+the sky with all the Worlds as the galleons glide away, because
+the gods that made them are gods no more.
+
+And then shall the hound, springing, tear out the throat of Mung,
+who, making for the last time the sign of Mung, shall bring down
+Death crashing through the shoulders of the hound, and in the
+blood of Time that Sword shall rust away.
+
+Then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI be all alone, with neither Death nor
+Time, and never the hours singing in his ears, nor the swish of
+the passing lives.
+
+But far away from Pegana shall go the galleons of gold that bear
+the gods away, upon whose faces shall be utter calm, because They
+are the gods knowing that it is THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana, by
+Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana, 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: The Gods of Pegana
+
+Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+Posting Date: October 19, 2012 [EBook #8395]
+Release Date: June, 2005
+First Posted: July 6, 2003
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Beginners Projects, Anne Reshnyk and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE GODS OF PEGANA
+
+LORD DUNSANY
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Preface
+
+Introduction
+
+Of Skarl the Drummer
+
+Of the Making of the Worlds
+
+Of the Game of the Gods
+
+The Chaunt of the Gods
+
+The Sayings of Kib
+
+Concerning Sish
+
+The Sayings of Slid
+
+The Deeds of Mung
+
+The Chaunt
+
+The Sayings of Limpang-Tung
+
+Of Yoharneth-Lahai
+
+Of Roon, the God of Going, and the Thousand Home Gods
+
+The Revolt of the Home Gods
+
+Of Dorozhand
+
+The Eye in the Waste
+
+Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast
+
+Yonath the Prophet
+
+Yug the Prophet
+
+Alhireth-Hotep The Prophet
+
+Kabok The Prophet
+
+Of the Calamity That Befel Yun-Hara by the Sea, and of the
+Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
+
+Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
+
+Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of all
+the Gods Save One
+
+Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
+
+Pegana
+
+The Sayings of Imbaun
+
+Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
+
+Of Ood
+
+The River
+
+The Bird of Doom and THE END
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In the mists before THE BEGINNING, Fate and Chance cast lots to
+decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through
+the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: "Now make gods for Me, for
+I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine." Who it was that
+won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went
+through the mists before THE BEGINNING to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI--_none
+knoweth._
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Before there stood gods upon Olympus, or ever Allah was Allah, had
+wrought and rested MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+There are in Pegana Mung and Sish and Kib, and the maker of all
+small gods, who is MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Moreover, we have a faith in
+Roon and Slid.
+
+And it has been said of old that all things that have been were
+wrought by the small gods, excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who
+made the gods and hath thereafter rested.
+
+And none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI but only the gods whom he
+hath made.
+
+But at the Last will MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forget to rest, and will
+make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods
+whom he hath made.
+
+And the gods and the worlds shall depart, and there shall be only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+OF SKARL THE DRUMMER
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods and Skarl, Skarl made a
+drum, and began to beat upon it that he might drum for ever. Then
+because he was weary after the making of the gods, and because of
+the drumming of Skarl, did MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI grow drowsy and fall
+asleep.
+
+And there fell a hush upon the gods when they saw that MANA rested,
+and there was silence on Pegana save for the drumming of Skarl.
+Skarl sitteth upon the mist before the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+above the gods of Pegana, and there he beateth his drum. Some say
+that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of
+Skarl, and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind
+of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl, as one may dream whose
+rest is troubled by sound of song, but none knoweth, for who hath
+heard the voice of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, or who hath seen his drummer?
+
+Whether the season be winter or whether it be summer, whether it
+be morning among the worlds or whether it be night, Skarl still
+beateth his drum, for the purposes of the gods are not yet fulfilled.
+Sometimes the arm of Skarl grows weary; but still he beateth his
+drum, that the gods may do the work of the gods, and the worlds go
+on, for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start
+awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more.
+
+But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum,
+silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+shall cease to rest.
+
+Then shall Skarl put his drum upon his back and walk forth into the
+void beyond the worlds, because it is THE END, and the work of Skarl
+is over.
+
+There may arise some other god whom Skarl may serve, or it may be
+that he shall perish; but to Skarl it shall matter not, for he shall
+have done the work of Skarl.
+
+
+
+OF THE MAKING OF THE WORLDS
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods there were only the gods,
+and They sat in the middle of Time, for there was as much Time
+before them as behind them, which having no end had neither a
+beginning.
+
+And Pegana was without heat or light or sound, save for the
+drumming of Skarl; moreover Pegana was The Middle of All, for
+there was below Pegana what there was above it, and there lay
+before it that which lay beyond.
+
+Then said the gods, making the signs of the gods and speaking with
+Their hands lest the silence of Pegana should blush; then said the
+gods to one another, speaking with Their hands; "Let Us make
+worlds to amuse Ourselves while MANA rests. Let Us make worlds and
+Life and Death, and colours in the sky; only let Us not break the
+silence upon Pegana."
+
+Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They
+made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the
+sky.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to seek, to seek and never to
+find out concerning the wherefore of the making of the gods."
+
+And They made by the lifting of Their hands, each god according to
+his sign, the Bright One with the flaring tail to seek from the
+end of the Worlds to the end of them again, to return again after
+a hundred years.
+
+Man, when thou seest the comet, know that another seeketh besides
+thee nor ever findeth out.
+
+Then said the gods, still speaking with Their hands: "Let there be
+now a Watcher to regard."
+
+And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains
+and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the
+games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI; to watch, to regard all things, and be
+silent.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to rest. One not to move
+among the moving. One not to seek like the comet, nor to go round
+like the worlds; to rest while MANA rests."
+
+And They made the Star of the Abiding and set it in the North.
+
+Man, when thou seest the Star of the Abiding to the North, know
+that one resteth as doth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and know that somewhere
+among the Worlds is rest.
+
+Lastly the gods said: "We have made worlds and suns, and one to
+seek and another to regard, let Us now make one to wonder."
+
+And They made Earth to wonder, each god by the uplifting of his
+hand according to his sign.
+
+And Earth was.
+
+
+
+OF THE GAME OF THE GODS
+
+
+A million years passed over the first game of the gods. And
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI still rested, still in the middle of Time, and
+the gods still played with Worlds. The Moon regarded, and the
+Bright One sought, and returned again to his seeking.
+
+Then Kib grew weary of the first game of the gods, and raised his
+hand in Pegana, making the sign of Kib, and Earth became covered
+with beasts for Kib to play with.
+
+And Kib played with beasts.
+
+But the other gods said one to another, speaking with their hands:
+"What is it that Kib has done?"
+
+And They said to Kib: "What are these things that move upon The
+Earth yet move not in circles like the Worlds, that regard like
+the Moon and yet they do not shine?"
+
+And Kib said: "This is Life."
+
+But the gods said one to another: "If Kib has thus made beasts he
+will in time make Men, and will endanger the Secret of the gods."
+
+And Mung was jealous of the work of Kib, and sent down Death among
+the beasts, but could not stamp them out.
+
+A million years passed over the second game of the gods, and still
+it was the Middle of Time.
+
+And Kib grew weary of the second game, and raised his hand in the
+Middle of All, making the sign of Kib, and made Men: out of beasts
+he made them, and Earth was covered with Men.
+
+Then the gods feared greatly for the Secret of the gods, and set a
+veil between Man and his ignorance that he might not understand.
+And Mung was busy among Men.
+
+But when the other gods saw Kib playing his new game They came and
+played it too. And this They will play until MANA arises to rebuke
+Them, saying: "What do ye playing with Worlds and Suns and Men and
+Life and Death?" And They shall be ashamed of Their playing in the
+hour of the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+It was Kib who first broke the Silence of Pegana, by speaking with
+his mouth like a man.
+
+And all the other gods were angry with Kib that he had spoken with
+his mouth.
+
+And there was no longer silence in Pegana or the Worlds.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE GODS
+
+
+There came the voice of the gods singing the chaunt of the gods,
+singing: "We are the gods; We are the little games of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that he hath played and hath forgotten.
+
+"MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI hath made us, and We made the Worlds and the
+Suns.
+
+"And We play with the Worlds and the Sun and Life and Death until
+MANA arises to rebuke us, saying: 'What do ye playing with Worlds
+and Suns?'
+
+"It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet
+most withering is the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for
+playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us,
+and there shall be Worlds no more."
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF KIB
+
+(Sender of Life in all the Worlds)
+
+
+Kib said: "I am Kib. I am none other than Kib."
+
+Kib is Kib. Kib is he and no other. Believe! Kib said: "When
+Time was early, when Time was very early indeed--there was only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI was before the beginning of the
+gods, and shall be after their going."
+
+And Kib said: "After the going of the gods there will be no small
+worlds nor big."
+
+Kib said: "It will be lonely for MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Because this is written, believe! For is it not written, or are
+you greater than Kib? Kib is Kib.
+
+
+
+CONCERNING SISH
+
+(The Destroyer of Hours)
+
+
+Time is the hound of Sish.
+
+At Sish's bidding do the hours run before him as he goeth upon
+his way.
+
+Never hath Sish stepped backward nor ever hath he tarried; never
+hath he relented to the things that once he knew nor turned to
+them again.
+
+Before Sish is Kib, and behind him goeth Mung.
+
+Very pleasant are all things before the face of Sish, but behind
+him they are withered and old.
+
+And Sish goeth ceaselessly upon his way.
+
+Once the gods walked upon Earth as men walk and spake with their
+mouths like Men. That was in Wornath-Mavai. They walk not now.
+
+And Wornath-Mavai was a garden fairer than all the gardens upon
+Earth.
+
+Kib was propitious, and Mung raised not his hand against it,
+neither did Sish assail it with his hours.
+
+Wornath-Mavai lieth in a valley and looketh towards the south, and
+on the slopes of it Sish rested among the flowers when Sish was
+young.
+
+Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and
+to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against
+them with the rust and with the dust.
+
+And Time, which is the hound of Sish, devoured all things; and
+Sish sent up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the
+hand of Sish and covered stately things. Only the valley where
+Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his
+hours to assail.
+
+There he restrained his old hound Time, and at its borders Mung
+withheld his footsteps.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south, a garden
+among gardens, and still the flowers grow about its slopes as they
+grew when the gods were young; and even the butterflies live in
+Wornath-Mavai still. For the minds of the gods relent towards
+their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south; but if thou
+shouldst ever find it thou art then more fortunate than the gods,
+because they walk not in Wornath-Mavai now.
+
+Once did the prophet think that he discerned it in the distance
+beyond mountains, a garden exceeding fair with flowers; but Sish
+arose, and pointed with his hand, and set his hound to pursue him,
+who hath followed ever since.
+
+Time is the hound of the gods; but it hath been said of old that
+he will one day turn upon his masters, and seek to slay the gods,
+excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, whose dreams are the gods
+themselves--dreamed long ago.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF SLID
+
+(Whose Soul is by the Sea)
+
+
+Slid said: "Let no man pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for who shall
+trouble MANA with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all
+the houses of Earth?
+
+"Nor let any sacrifice to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for what glory shall
+he find in sacrifices or altars who hath made the gods themselves?
+
+"Pray to the small gods, who are the gods of Doing; but MANA is
+the god of Having Done--the god of Having Done and of the Resting.
+
+"Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what
+mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and
+Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?
+
+"Slid is but a small god. Yet Slid is Slid--it is written and hath
+been said.
+
+"Pray, thou, therefore, to Slid, and forget not Slid, and it may
+be that Slid will not forget to send thee Death when most thou
+needest it."
+
+And the People of Earth said: "There is a melody upon the Earth as
+though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that
+they had forsaken in the hills."
+
+And Slid said: "I am the Lord of gliding waters and of foaming
+waters and of still. I am the Lord of all the waters in the world
+and all that long streams garner in the hills; but the soul of
+Slid is in the Sea. Thither goes all that glides upon Earth, and
+the end of all the rivers is the Sea."
+
+And Slid said: "The hand of Slid hath toyed with cataracts, and
+down the valleys have trod the feet of Slid, and out of the lakes
+of the plains regard the eyes of Slid; but the soul of Slid is in
+the sea."
+
+Much homage hath Slid among the cities of men and pleasant are the
+woodland paths and the paths of the plains, and pleasant the high
+valleys where he danceth in the hills; but Slid would be fettered
+neither by banks nor boundaries--so the soul of Slid is in the
+Sea.
+
+For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods
+above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than
+Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
+
+There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and
+sigh round islands in his great content--the miser lord of wealth
+in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.
+
+Or there may he, when Slid would fain exult, throw up his great
+arms, or toss with many a fathom of wandering hair the mighty head
+of Slid, and cry aloud tumultuous dirges of shipwreck, and feel
+through all his being the crashing might of Slid, and sway the
+sea. Then doth the Sea, like venturous legions on the eve of war
+that exult to acclaim their chief, gather its force together from
+under all the winds and roar and follow and sing and crash
+together to vanquish all things--and all at the bidding of Slid,
+whose soul is in the sea.
+
+There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea;
+also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of
+Slid, for the gods have many moods. And Slid is in many places,
+for he sitteth in high Pegana. Also along the valleys walketh
+Slid, wherever water moveth or lieth still; but the voice and the
+cry of Slid are from the sea. And to whoever that cry hath ever
+come he must needs follow and follow, leaving all stable things;
+only to be always with Slid in all the moods of Slid, to find no
+rest until he reaches the sea.
+
+With the cry of Slid before them and the hills of their home behind
+have gone a hundred thousand to the sea, over whose bones doth Slid
+lament with the voice of a god lamenting for his people. Even the
+streams from the inner lands have heard Slid's far-off cry, and all
+together have forsaken lawns and trees to follow where Slid is
+gathering up his own, to rejoice where Slid rejoices, singing the
+chaunt of Slid, even as will at the Last gather all the Lives of
+the People about the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+THE DEEDS OF MUNG
+
+(Lord of all Deaths between Pegana and the Rim)
+
+
+Once, as Mung went his way athwart the Earth and up and down its
+cities and across its plains, Mung came upon a man who was afraid
+when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+
+And Mung said: "Were the forty million years before thy coming
+intolerable to thee?"
+
+And Mung said: "Not less tolerable to thee shall be the forty
+million years to come!"
+
+Then Mung made against him the sign of Mung and the Life of the
+Man was fettered no longer with hands and feet.
+
+At the end of the flight of the arrow there is Mung, and in the
+houses and the cities of Men. Mung walketh in all places at all
+times. But mostly he loves to walk in the dark and still, along
+the river mists when the wind hath sank, a little before night
+meeteth with the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds.
+
+Sometimes Mung entereth the poor man's cottage; Mung also boweth
+very low before The King. Then do the Lives of the poor man and of
+The King go forth among the Worlds.
+
+And Mung said: "Many turnings hath the road that Kib hath given
+every man to tread upon the earth. Behind one of these turnings
+sitteth Mung."
+
+One day as a man trod upon the road that Kib had given him to
+tread he came suddenly upon Mung. And when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+the man cried out: "Alas, that I took this road, for had I gone by
+any other way then had I not met with Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "Had it been possible for thee to go by any other
+way then had the Scheme of Things been otherwise and the gods had
+been other gods. When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forgets to rest and makes
+again new gods it may be that They will send thee again into the
+Worlds; and then thou mayest choose some other way, and not meet
+with Mung."
+
+Then Mung made the sign of Mung. And the Life of that man went
+forth with yesterday's regrets and all old sorrows and forgotten
+things--whither Mung knoweth.
+
+And Mung went onward with his work to sunder Life from flesh, and
+Mung came upon a man who became stricken with sorrow when he saw
+the shadow of Mung. But Mung said: "When at the sign of Mung thy
+Life shall float away there will also disappear thy sorrow at
+forsaking it." But the man cried out: "O Mung! tarry for a little,
+and make not the sign of Mung against me now, for I have a family
+upon the earth with whom sorrow will remain, though mine should
+disappear because of the sign of Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "With the gods it is always Now. And before Sish
+hath banished many of the years the sorrows of thy family for thee
+shall go the way of thine." And the man beheld Mung making the
+sign of Mung before his eyes, which beheld things no more.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE PRIESTS
+
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+All day long to Mung cry out the Priests of Mung, and, yet Mung
+harkeneth not. What, then, shall avail the prayers of All the
+People?
+
+Rather bring gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+So shall they cry louder unto Mung than ever was their wont.
+
+And it may be that Mung shall hear.
+
+Not any longer than shall fall the Shadow of Mung athwart the
+hopes of the People.
+
+Not any longer then shall the Tread of Mung darken the dreams of
+the people.
+
+Not any longer shall the lives of the People be loosened because
+of Mung.
+
+Bring ye gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF LIMPANG-TUNG
+
+(The God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels)
+
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "The ways of the gods are strange. The
+flower groweth up and the flower fadeth away. This may be very
+clever of the gods. Man groweth from his infancy, and in a while
+he dieth. This may be very clever too.
+
+"But the gods play with a strange scheme.
+
+"I will send jests into the world and a little mirth. And while
+Death seems to thee as far away as the purple rim of hills; or
+sorrow as far off as rain in the blue days of summer, then pray to
+Limpang-Tung. But when thou growest old, or ere thou diest, pray
+not of Limpang-Tung, for thou becomest part of a scheme that he
+doth not understand.
+
+"Go out into the starry night, and Limpang-Tung will dance with
+thee who danced since the gods were young, the god of mirth and of
+melodious minstrels. Or offer up a jest to Limpang-Tung; only pray
+not in thy sorrow to Limpang-Tung, for he saith of sorrow: 'It may
+be very clever of the gods,' but he doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "I am lesser than the gods; pray,
+therefore, to the small gods and not to Limpang-Tung.
+
+"Natheless between Pegana and the Earth flutter ten thousand
+thousand prayers that beat their wings against the face of Death,
+and never for one of them hath the hand of the Striker been
+stayed, nor yet have tarried the feet of the Relentless One.
+
+"Utter thy prayer! It may accomplish where failed ten thousand
+thousand.
+
+"Limpang-Tung is lesser than the gods, and doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "Lest men grow weary down on the great
+Worlds through gazing always at a changeless sky, I will paint my
+pictures in the sky. And I will paint them twice in every day for
+so long as days shall be. Once as the day ariseth out of the homes
+of dawn will I paint the Blue, that men may see and rejoice; and
+ere day falleth under into the night will I paint upon the Blue
+again, lest men be sad.
+
+"It is a little," said Limpang-Tung, "it is a little even for a
+god to give some pleasure to men upon the Worlds."
+
+And Limpang-Tung hath sworn that the pictures that he paints shall
+never be the same for so long as the days shall be, and this he
+hath sworn by the oath of the gods of Pegana that the gods may
+never break, laying his hand upon the shoulder of each of the gods
+and swearing by the light behind Their eyes.
+
+Limpang-Tung hath lured a melody out of the stream and stolen its
+anthem from the forest; for him the wind hath cried in lonely places
+and the ocean sung its dirges. There is music for Limpang-Tung in
+the sounds of the moving of grass and in the voices of the people
+that lament or in the cry of them that rejoice.
+
+In an inner mountain land where none hath come he hath carved his
+organ pipes out of the mountains, and there when the winds, his
+servants, come in from all the world he maketh the melody of
+Limpang-Tung. But the song, arising at night, goeth forth like a
+river, winding through all the world, and here and there amid the
+peoples of earth one heareth, and straightaway all that hath voice
+to sing crieth aloud in music to his soul.
+
+Or sometimes walking through the dusk with steps unheard by men,
+in a form unseen by the people, Limpang-Tung goeth abroad, and,
+standing behind the minstrels in cities of song, waveth his hands
+above them to and fro, and the minstrels bend to their work, and
+the voice of the music ariseth; and mirth and melody abound in
+that city of song, and no one seeth Limpang-Tung as he standeth
+behind the minstrels.
+
+But through the mists towards morning, in the dark when the
+minstrels sleep and mirth and melody have sunk to rest, Limpang-Tung
+goeth back again to his mountain land.
+
+
+
+OF YOHARNETH-LAHAI
+
+(The God of Little Dreams and Fancies)
+
+
+Yaoharneth-Lahai is the god of little dreams and fancies.
+
+All night he sendeth little dreams out of Pegana to please the
+people of Earth.
+
+He sendeth little dreams to the poor man and to The King.
+
+He is so busy to send his dreams to all before the night be ended
+that oft he forgetteth which be the poor man and which be The
+King.
+
+To whom Yoharneth-Lahai cometh not with little dreams and sleep he
+must endure all night the laughter of the gods, with highest
+mockery, in Pegana.
+
+All night long Yoharneth-Lahai giveth peace to cities until the
+dawn hour and the departing of Yoharneth-Lahai, when it is time
+for the gods to play with men again.
+
+Whether the dreams and the fancies of Yoharneth-Lahai be false and
+the Things that are done in the Day be real, or the Things that
+are done in the Day be false and the dreams and the fancies of
+Yoharneth-Lahai be true, none knoweth saving only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+who hath not spoken.
+
+
+
+OF ROON, THE GOD OF GOING, AND THE THOUSAND HOME GODS
+
+
+Roon said: "There be gods of moving and gods of standing still,
+but I am the god of Going."
+
+It is because of Roon that the worlds are never still, for the
+moons and the worlds and the comet are stirred by the spirit of
+Roon, which saith: "Go! Go! Go!"
+
+Roon met the Worlds all in the morning of Things, before there was
+light upon Pegana, and Roon danced before them in the Void, since
+when they are never still, Roon sendeth all streams to the Sea,
+and all the rivers to the soul of Slid.
+
+Roon maketh the sign of Roon before the waters, and lo! they have
+left the hills; and Roon hath spoken in the ear of the North Wind
+that he may be still no more.
+
+The footfall of Roon hath been heard at evening outside the houses
+of men, and thenceforth comfort and abiding know them no more.
+Before them stretcheth travel over all the lands, long miles, and
+never resting between their homes and their graves--and all at the
+bidding of Roon.
+
+The Mountains have set no limit against Roon nor all the seas a
+boundary.
+
+Whither Roon hath desired there must Roon's people go, and the
+worlds and their streams and the winds.
+
+I heard the whisper of Roon at evening, saying: "There are islands
+of spices to the South," and the voice of Roon saying: "Go."
+
+And Roon said: "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods
+that sit before the hearth and mind the fire--there is one Roon."
+
+Roon saith in a whisper, in a whisper when none heareth, when the
+sun is low: "What doeth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI?" Roon is no god that
+thou mayest worship by thy hearth, nor will he be benignant to thy
+home.
+
+Offer to Roon thy toiling and thy speed, whose incense is the
+smoke of the camp fire to the South, whose song is the sound of
+going, whose temples stand beyond the farthest hills in his lands
+behind the East.
+
+Yarinareth, Yarinareth, Yarinareth, which signifieth Beyond--these
+words be carved in letters of gold upon the arch of the great portal
+of the Temple of Roon that men have builded looking towards the East
+upon the Sea, where Roon is carved as a giant trumpeter, with his
+trumpet pointing towards the East beyond the Seas.
+
+Whoso heareth his voice, the voice of Roon at evening, he at once
+forsaketh the home gods that sit beside the hearth. These be the
+gods of the hearth: Pitsu, who stroketh the cat; Hobith who calms
+the dog; and Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers; and little
+Zumbiboo, the lord of dust; and old Gribaun, who sits in the heart
+of the fire to turn the wood to ash--all these be home gods, and
+live not in Pegana and be lesser than Roon.
+
+There is also Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke, who taketh
+the smoke from the hearth and sendeth it to the sky, who is
+pleased if it reacheth Pegana, so that the gods of Pegana,
+speaking to the gods, say: "There is Kilooloogung doing the work
+on earth of Kilooloogung."
+
+All these are gods so small that they be lesser than men, but
+pleasant gods to have beside the hearth; and often men have prayed
+to Kilooloogung, saying: "Thou whose smoke ascendeth to Pegana
+send up with it our prayers, that the gods may hear." And
+Kilooloogung, who is pleased that men should pray, stretches
+himself up all grey and lean, with his arms above his head, and
+sendeth his servant the smoke to seek Pegana, that the gods of
+Pegana may know that the people pray.
+
+And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the
+house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he
+sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or
+until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he
+sitteth by the river's edge to lament the forgotten things that
+drift upon it.
+
+A kindly god is Jabim, whose heart is sore if anything be lost.
+
+There is also Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk, whose children are the
+shadows, who sitteth in a corner far off from Habaniah and
+speaketh to none. But after Habaniah hath gone to sleep and old
+Gribaun hath blinked a hundred times, until he forgetteth which be
+wood or ash, then doth Triboogie send his children to run about
+the room and dance upon the walls, but never disturb the silence.
+
+But when there is light again upon the worlds, and dawn comes
+dancing down the highway from Pegana, then does Triboogie retire
+into his corner, with his children all around him, as though they
+had never danced about the room. And the slaves of Habaniah and
+old Gribaun come and awake them from their sleep upon the hearth,
+and Pitsu strokes the cat, and Hobith calms the dog, and
+Kilooloogung stretches aloft his arms towards Pegana, and
+Triboogie is very still, and his children asleep.
+
+And when it is dark, all in the hour of Triboogie, Hish creepeth
+from the forest, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats,
+that have broken the command of their father, but in a voice that
+is ever so low. Hish husheth the mouse and all the whispers in the
+night; he maketh all noises still. Only the cricket rebelleth. But
+Hish hath set against him such a spell that after he hath cried a
+thousand times his voice may be heard no more but becometh part of
+the silence.
+
+And when he hath slain all sounds Hish boweth low to the ground;
+then cometh into the house, with never a sound of feet, the god
+Yoharneth-Lahai.
+
+But away in the forest whence Hish hath come Wohoon, the Lord of
+Noises in the Night, awaketh in his lair and creepeth round the
+forest to see whether it be true that Hish hath gone.
+
+Then in some glade Wohoon lifts up his voice and cries aloud, that
+all the night may hear, that it is he, Wohoon, who is abroad in
+all the forest. And the wolf and the fox and the owl, and the
+great beasts and the small, lift up their voices to acclaim
+Wohoon. And there arise the sounds of voices and the stirring of
+leaves.
+
+
+
+THE REVOLT OF THE HOME GODS
+
+
+There be three broad rivers of the plain, born before memory or
+fable, whose mothers are three grey peaks and whose father was the
+storm. There names be Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion.
+
+And Eimes is the joy of lowing herds; and Zaenes hath bowed his
+neck to the yoke of man, and carries the timber from the forest
+far up below the mountain; and Segastrion sings old songs to
+shepherd boys, singing of his childhood in a lone ravine and of
+how he once sprang down the mountain sides and far away into the
+plain to see the world, and of how one day at last he will find
+the sea. These be the rivers of the plain, wherein the plain
+rejoices. But old men tell, whose fathers heard it from the
+ancients, how once the lords of the three rivers of the plain
+rebelled against the law of the Worlds, and passed beyond their
+boundaries, and joined together and whelmed cities and slew men,
+saying: "We now play the game of the gods and slay men for our
+pleasure, and we be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+And all the plain was flooded to the hills.
+
+And Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion sat upon the mountains, and
+spread their hands over their rivers that rebelled by their
+command.
+
+But the prayer of men going upward found Pegana, and cried in the
+ear of the gods: "There be three home gods who slay us for their
+pleasure, and say that they be mightier than Pegana's gods, and
+play Their game with men."
+
+Then were all the gods of Pegana very wroth; but They could not
+whelm the lords of the three rivers, because being home gods,
+though small, they were immortal.
+
+And still the home gods spread their hands across their rivers,
+with their fingers wide apart, and the waters rose and rose, and
+the voice of their torrent grew louder, crying: "Are we not Eimes,
+Zaenes, and Segastrion?"
+
+Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the
+drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing
+with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot.
+
+And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as
+they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones.
+
+Then Mung said: "Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the
+faces of Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion till they see whether it be
+wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana."
+
+And Umbool answered: "I am the beast of Mung."
+
+And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of
+the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.
+
+And whenever Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion stretched out their
+hands over their rivers they saw before their faces the grinning
+of Umbool; and because the grinning was like death in a hot and
+hideous land therefore they turned away and spread their hands no
+more over their rivers, and the waters sank and sank.
+
+But when Umbool had grinned for thirty days the waters fell back
+into the river beds and the lords of the rivers slunk away back
+again to their homes: still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+Then Eimes sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock,
+and Zaenes crept into the middle of a wood, and Segastrion lay and
+panted on the sand--still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+And Eimes grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the
+plain would say: "Here once was Eimes"; and Zaenes scarce had
+strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Segastrion lay and
+panted a man stepped over his stream, and Segastrion said: "It is
+the foot of a man that has passed across my neck, and I have sought
+to be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+Then said the gods of Pegana: "It is enough. We are the gods of
+Pegana, and none are equal."
+
+Then Mung sent Umbool back to his waste in Afrik to breathe again
+upon the rocks, and parch the desert, and to sear the memory of
+Afrik into the brains of all who ever bring their bones away.
+
+And Eimes, Zaenes, and Segastrion sang again, and walked once more
+in their accustomed haunts, and played the game of Life and Death
+with fishes and frogs, but never essayed to play it any more with
+men, as do the gods of Pegana.
+
+
+
+OF DOROZHAND
+
+(Whose Eyes Regard The End)
+
+
+Sitting above the lives of the people, and looking, doth Dorozhand
+see that which is to be.
+
+The god of Destiny is Dorozhand. Upon whom have looked the eyes of
+Dorozhand he goeth forward to an end that naught may stay; he
+becometh the arrow from the bow of Dorozhand hurled forward at a
+mark he may not see--to the goal of Dorozhand. Beyond the thinking
+of men, beyond the sight of all the other gods, regard the eyes of
+Dorozhand.
+
+He hath chosen his slaves. And them doth the destiny god drive
+onward where he will, who, knowing not whither nor even knowing
+why, feel only his scourge behind them or hear his cry before.
+
+There is something that Dorozhand would fain achieve, and,
+therefore, hath he set the people striving, with none to cease or
+rest in all the worlds. But the gods of Pegana, speaking to the
+gods, say: "What is it that Dorozhand would fain achieve?"
+
+It hath been written and said that not only the destinies of men
+are the care of Dorozhand but that even the gods of Pegana be not
+unconcerned by his will.
+
+All the gods of Pegana have felt a fear, for they have seen a look
+in the eyes of Dorozhand that regardeth beyond the gods.
+
+The reason and purpose of the Worlds is that there should be Life
+upon the Worlds, and Life is the instrument of Dorozhand wherewith
+he would achieve his end.
+
+Therefore the Worlds go on, and the rivers run to the sea, and Life
+ariseth and flieth even in all the Worlds, and the gods of Pegana
+do the work of the gods--and all for Dorozhand. But when the end of
+Dorozhand hath been achieved there will be need no longer of Life upon
+the Worlds, nor any more a game for the small gods to play. Then will
+Kib tiptoe gently across Pegana to the resting-place in Highest Pegana
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and touching reverently his hand, the hand that
+wrought the gods, say: "MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, thou hast rested long."
+
+And MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall say: "Not so; for I have rested for but
+fifty aeons of the gods, each of them scarce more than ten million
+mortal years of the Worlds that ye have made."
+
+And then shall the gods be afraid when they find that MANA knoweth
+that they have made Worlds while he rested. And they shall answer:
+"Nay; but the Worlds came all of themselves."
+
+Then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, as one who would have done with an irksome
+matter, will lightly wave his hand--the hand that wrought the
+gods--and there shall be gods no more.
+
+When there shall be three moons towards the north above the Star
+of the Abiding, three moons that neither wax nor wane but regard
+towards the North.
+
+Or when the comet ceaseth from his seeking and stands still, not any
+longer moving among the Worlds but tarrying as one who rests after
+the end of search, then shall arise from resting, because it is THE
+END, the Greater One, who rested of old time, even MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Then shall the Times that were be Times no more; and it may be
+that the old, dead days shall return from beyond the Rim, and we
+who have wept for them shall see those days again, as one who,
+returning from long travel to his home, comes suddenly on dear,
+remembered things.
+
+For none shall know of MANA who hath rested for so long, whether
+he be a harsh or merciful god. It may be that he shall have mercy,
+and that these things shall be.
+
+
+
+THE EYE IN THE WASTE
+
+
+There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the
+caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the
+tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some
+returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none
+return.
+
+The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.
+
+The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of
+dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is
+the Desert of Deserts.
+
+In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan,
+in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that
+hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is
+Ranorada--the eye in the waste.
+
+About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are
+vaster than the beds of streams these words:
+
+To the god who knows.
+
+Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water
+in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came
+no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and
+Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan,
+where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how
+once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all
+night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is
+carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the
+secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making
+of the gods.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to
+none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.
+
+Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who
+thinks and is silent--the eye in the waste.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and
+that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from
+the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image,
+which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.
+
+But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the
+old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the
+camels rest, say:
+
+"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine,
+and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan."
+Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the
+city where the caravans end.
+
+All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from
+Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard
+from aged men in so remote a city?
+
+
+
+OF THE THING THAT IS NEITHER GOD NOR BEAST
+
+
+Seeing that wisdom is not in cities nor happiness in wisdom, and
+because Yadin the prophet was doomed by the gods ere he was born
+to go in search of wisdom, he followed the caravans to Bodrahan.
+There in the evening, where the camels rest, when the wind of the
+day ebbs out into the desert sighing amid the palms its last
+farewells and leaving the caravans still, he sent his prayer with
+the wind to drift into the desert calling to Hoodrazai.
+
+And down the wind his prayer went calling: "Why do the gods
+endure, and play their game with men? Why doth not Skarl forsake
+his drumming, and MANA cease to rest?" and the echo of seven
+deserts answered: "Who knows? Who knows?"
+
+But out in the waste, beyond the seven deserts where Ranorada
+looms enormous in the dusk, at evening his prayer was heard; and
+from the rim of the waste whither had gone his prayer, came three
+flamingoes flying, and their voices said: "Going South, Going
+South" at every stroke of their wings.
+
+But as they passed by the prophet they seemed so cool and free and
+the desert so blinding and hot that he stretched up his arms
+towards them. Then it seemed happy to fly and pleasant to follow
+behind great white wings, and he was with the three flamingoes up
+in the cool above the desert, and their voices cried before him:
+"Going South, Going South," and the desert below him mumbled: "Who
+knows? Who knows?"
+
+Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks of
+mountains, sometimes it fell away in steep ravines, blue rivers
+sang to them as they passed above them, or very faintly came the
+song of breezes in lone orchards, and far away the sea sang mighty
+dirges of old forsaken isles. But it seemed that in all the world
+there was nothing only to be going South.
+
+It seemed that somewhere the South was calling to her own, and
+that they were going South.
+
+But when the prophet saw that they had passed above the edge of
+Earth, and that far away to the North of them lay the Moon, he
+perceived that he was following no mortal birds but some strange
+messengers of Hoodrazai whose nest had lain in one of Pegana's
+vales below the mountains whereon sit the gods.
+
+Still they went South, passing by all the Worlds and leaving them
+to the North, till only Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion lay still to
+the South of them, where great Ingazi seemed only a point of
+light, and Yo and Mindo could be seen no more.
+
+Still they went South till they passed below the South and came to
+the Rim of the Worlds.
+
+There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and
+Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond
+it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that
+were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it
+sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast,
+who neither howls nor breathes, only _It_ turns over the
+leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever
+until THE END.
+
+And all that is to be is written in the book is also all that was.
+
+When _It_ turneth a black page it is night, and when
+_It_ turneth a white page it is day.
+
+Because it is written that there are gods--there are the gods.
+
+Also there is writing about thee and me until the page where our
+names no more are written.
+
+Then as the prophet watched _It_, Trogool turned a page--a
+black one, and night was over, and day shone on the Worlds.
+
+Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by
+many names, _It_ is the Thing that sits behind the gods,
+whose book is the Scheme of Things.
+
+But when Yadin saw that old remembered days were hidden away with
+the part that _It_ had turned, and knew that upon one whose
+name is writ no more the last page had turned for ever a thousand
+pages back. Then did he utter his prayer in the fact of Trogool
+who only turns the pages and never answers prayer. He prayed in
+the face of Trogool: "Only turn back thy pages to the name of one
+which is writ no more, and far away upon a place named Earth shall
+rise the prayers of a little people that acclaim the name of
+Trogool, for there is indeed far off a place called Earth where
+men shall pray to Trogool."
+
+Then spake Trogool who turns the pages and never answers prayer,
+and his voice was like the murmurs of the waste at night when
+echoes have been lost: "Though the whirlwind of the South should
+tug with his claws at a page that hath been turned yet shall he
+not be able to ever turn it back."
+
+Then because of words in the book that said that it should be so,
+Yadin found himself lying in the desert where one gave him water,
+and afterwards carried him on a camel into Bodrahan.
+
+There some said that he had but dreamed when thirst seized him
+while he wandered among the rocks in the desert. But certain aged
+men of Bodrahan say that indeed there sitteth somewhere a Thing
+that is called Trogool, that is neither god nor beast, that
+turneth the leaves of a book, black and white, black and white,
+until he come to the words: _Mai Doon Izahn_, which means The
+End For Ever, and book and gods and worlds shall be no more.
+
+
+
+YONATH THE PROPHET
+
+
+Yonath was the first among prophets who uttered unto men.
+
+These are the words of Yonath, the first among all prophets:
+
+There be gods upon Pegana.
+
+Upon a night I slept. And in my sleep Pegana came very near. And
+Pegana was full of gods.
+
+I saw the gods beside me as one might see wonted things.
+
+Only I saw not MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+And in that hour, in the hour of my sleep, I knew.
+
+And the end and the beginning of my knowing, and all of my knowing
+that there was, was this--that Man Knoweth Not.
+
+Seek thou to find at night the utter edge of the darkness, or seek
+to find the birthplace of the rainbow where he leapeth upward from
+the hills, only seek not concerning the wherefore of the making of
+the gods.
+
+The gods have set a brightness upon the farther side of the Things
+to Come that they may appear more felititous to men than the
+Things that Are.
+
+To the gods the Things to Come are but as the Things that Are, and
+nothing altereth in Pegana.
+
+The gods, although not merciful, are not ferocious gods. They are
+the destroyers of the Days that Were, but they set a glory about
+the Days to Be.
+
+Man must endure the Days that Are, but the gods have left him his
+ignorance as a solace.
+
+Seek not to know. Thy seeking will weary thee, and thou wilt
+return much worn, to rest at last about the place from whence thou
+settest out upon thy seeking.
+
+Seek not to know. Even I, Yonath, the oldest prophet, burdened
+with the wisdom of great years, and worn with seeking, know only
+that man knoweth not.
+
+Once I set out seeking to know all things. Now I know one thing
+only, and soon the Years will carry me away.
+
+The path of my seeking, that leadeth to seeking again, must be
+trodden by very many more, when Yonath is no longer even Yonath.
+
+Set not thy foot upon that path.
+
+Seek not to know.
+
+These be the Words of Yonath.
+
+
+
+YUG THE PROPHET
+
+
+When the Years had carries away Yonath, and Yonath was dead,
+there was no longer a prophet among men.
+
+And still men sought to know.
+
+Therefore they said unto Yug: "Be thou our prophet, and know all
+things, and tell us concerning the wherefore of It All."
+
+And Yug said: "I know all things." And men were pleased.
+
+And Yug said of the Beginning that it was in Yug's own garden, and
+of the End that it was in the sight of Yug.
+
+And men forgot Yug.
+
+One day Yug saw Mung behind the hills making the sign of Mung. And
+Yug was Yug no more.
+
+
+
+ALHIRETH-HOTEP THE PROPHET
+
+
+When Yug was Yug no more men said unto Alhireth-Hotep: "Be thou
+our prophet, and be as wise as Yug."
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said: "I am as wise as Yug." And men were very
+glad.
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said of Life and Death: "These be the affairs
+of Alhireth-Hotep." And men brought gifts to him.
+
+One day Alhireth-Hotep wrote in a book: "Alhireth-Hotep knoweth
+All Things, for he hath spoken with Mung."
+
+And Mung stepped from behind him, making the sign of Mung, saying:
+"Knowest thou All Things, then, Alhireth-Hotep?" And Alhireth-Hotep
+became among the Things that Were.
+
+
+
+KABOK THE PROPHET
+
+When Alhireth-Hotep was among the Things that Were, and still men
+sought to know, they said unto Kabok: "Be thou as wise as was
+Alhireth-Hotep."
+
+And Kabok grew wise in his own sight and in the sight of men.
+
+And Kabok said: "Mung maketh his signs against men or withholdeth
+it by the advice of Kabok."
+
+And he said unto one: "Thou hast sinned against Kabok, therefore
+will Mung make the sign of Mung against thee." And to another:
+"Thou has brought Kabok gifts, therefore shall Mung forbear to
+make against thee the sign of Mung."
+
+One night as Kabok fattened upon the gifts that men had brought
+him he heard the tread of Mung treading in the garden of Kabok
+about his house at night.
+
+And because the night was very still it seemed most evil to Kabok
+that Mung should be treading in his garden, without the advice of
+Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok, who knew All Things, grew afraid, for the treading was
+very loud and the night still, and he knew not what lay behind the
+back of Mung, which none had ever seen.
+
+But when the morning grew to brightness, and there was light upon
+the Worlds, and Mung trod no longer in the garden, Kabok forgot
+his fears, and said: "Perhaps it was but a herd of cattle that
+stampeded in the garden of Kabok."
+
+And Kabok went about his business, which was that of knowing All
+Things, and telling All Things unto men, and making light of Mung.
+
+But that night Mung trod again in the garden of Kabok, about his
+house at night, and stood before the window of the house like a
+shadow standing erect, so that Kabok knew indeed that it was Mung.
+
+And a great fear fell upon the throat of Kabok, so that his speech
+was hoarse; and he cried out: "Thou art Mung!"
+
+And Mung slightly inclined his head, and went on to tread in the
+garden of Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened with horror at his heart.
+
+But when the second morning grew to brightness, and there was
+light upon the Worlds, Mung went from treading in the garden of
+Kabok; and for a little while Kabok hoped, but looked with great
+dread for the coming of the third night.
+
+And when the third night was come, and the bat had gone to his
+home, and the wind had sank, the night was very still.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened, to whom the wings of the night flew
+very slow.
+
+But, ere night met the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds, there came the tread of Mung in the garden of Kabok
+towards Kabok's door.
+
+And Kabok fled out of his house as flees a hunted beast and flung
+himself before Mung.
+
+And Mung made the sign of Mung, pointing towards THE END.
+
+And the fears of Kabok had rest from troubling Kabok any more, for
+they and he were among accomplished things.
+
+
+
+OF THE CALAMITY THAT BEFEL YUN-ILARA BY THE SEA, AND OF THE
+BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF THE ENDING OF DAYS
+
+
+When Kabok and his fears had rest the people sought a prophet who
+should have no fear of Mung, whose hand was against the prophets.
+
+And at last they found Yun-Ilara, who tended sheep and had no fear
+of Mung, and the people brought him to the town that he might be
+their prophet.
+
+And Yun-Ilara builded a tower towards the sea that looked upon the
+setting of the Sun. And he called it the Tower of the Ending of
+Days.
+
+And about the ending of the day would Yun-Ilara go up to his
+tower's top and look towards the setting of the Sun to cry his
+curses against Mung, crying: "O Mung! whose hand is against the
+Sun, whom men abhor but worship because they fear thee, here stands
+and speaks a man who fears thee not. Assassin lord of murder and
+dark things, abhorrent, merciless, make thou the sign of Mung
+against me when thou wilt, but until silence settles upon my lips,
+because of the sign of Mung, I will curse Mung to his face." And
+the people in the street below would gaze up with wonder towards
+Yun-Ilara, who had no fear of Mung, and brought him gifts; only in
+their homes after the falling of the night would they pray again
+with reverence to Mung. But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And still Mung came not nigh to Yun-Ilara as he cried his curses
+against Mung from his tower towards the sea.
+
+And Sish throughout the Worlds hurled Time away, and slew the
+Hours that had served him well, and called up more out of the
+timeless waste that lieth beyond the Worlds, and drave them forth
+to assail all things. And Sish cast a whiteness over the hairs of
+Yun-Ilara, and ivy about his tower, and weariness over his limbs,
+for Mung passed by him still.
+
+And when Sish became a god less durable to Yun-Ilara than ever
+Mung hath been he ceased at last to cry from his tower's top his
+curses against Mung whenever the sun went down, till there came
+the day when weariness of the gift of Kib fell heavily upon
+Yun-Ilara.
+
+Then from the tower of the Ending of Days did Yun-Ilara cry out
+thus to Mung, crying: "O Mung! O loveliest of the gods! O Mung,
+most dearly to be desired! thy gift of Death is the heritage of
+Man, with ease and rest and silence and returning to the Earth.
+Kib giveth but toil and trouble; and Sish, he sendeth regrets with
+each of his hours wherewith he assails the World. Yoharneth-Lahai
+cometh nigh no more. I can no longer be glad with Limpang-Tung.
+When the other gods forsake him a man hath only Mung."
+
+But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And every day and all night long did Yun-Ilara cry aloud: "Ah, now
+for the hour of the mourning of many, and the pleasant garlands of
+flowers and the tears, and the moist, dark earth. Ah, for repose
+down underneath the grass, where the firm feet of the trees grip
+hold upon the world, where never shall come the wind that now blows
+through my bones, and the rain shall come warm and trickling, not
+driven by storm, where is the easeful falling asunder of bone from
+bone in the dark." Thus prayed Yun-Ilara, who had cursed in his
+folly and youth, while never heeded Mung.
+
+Still from a heap of bones that are Yun-Ilara still, lying about
+the ruined base of the tower that once he builded, goes up a
+shrill voice with the wind crying out for the mercy of Mung, if
+any such there be.
+
+
+
+OF HOW THE GODS WHELMED SIDITH
+
+
+There was dole in the valley of Sidith. For three years there had
+been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover,
+there was imminence of war.
+
+Throughout all Sidith men died night and day, and night and day
+within the Temple of All the gods save One (for none may pray to
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI) did the priests of the gods pray hard.
+
+For they said: "For a long while a man may hear the droning of
+little insects and yet not be aware that he hath heard them, so
+may the gods not hear our prayers at first until they have been
+very oft repeated. But when your praying has troubled the silence
+long it may be that some god as he strolls in Pegana's glades may
+come on one of our lost prayers, that flutters like a butterfly
+tossed in storm when all its wings are broken; then if the gods be
+merciful they may ease our fears in Sidith, or else they may crush
+us, being petulant gods, and so we shall see trouble in Sidith no
+longer, with its pestilence and dearth and fears of war."
+
+But in the fourth year of the pestilence and in the second year
+of the famine, and while still there was imminence of war, came
+all the people of Sidith to the door of the Temple of All the gods
+save One, where none may enter but the priests--but only leave
+gifts and go.
+
+And there the people cried out: "O High Prophet of All the gods
+save One, Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung,
+Teller of the mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the
+People, and Lord of Prayer, what doest thou within the Temple of
+All the gods save One?"
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith, who was the High Prophet, answered: "I pray for
+all the People."
+
+But the people answered: "O High Prophet of All the gods save One,
+Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung, Teller of the
+mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the People, and
+Lord of Prayer, for four long years hast thou prayed with the
+priests of all thine order, while we brought ye gifts and died.
+Now, therefore, since They have not heard thee in four grim years,
+thou must go and carry to Their faces the prayer of the people of
+Sidith when They go to drive the thunder to his pasture upon the
+mountain Aghrinaun, or else there shall no longer be gifts upon
+thy temple door, whenever falls the dew, that thou and thine order
+may fatten.
+
+"Then thou shalt say before Their faces: 'O All the gods save One,
+Lords of the Worlds, whose child is the eclipse, take back thy
+pestilence from Sidith, for ye have played the game of the gods
+too long with the people of Sidith, who would fain have done with
+the gods'."
+
+Then in great fear answered the High Prophet, saying: "What if the
+gods be angry and whelm Sidith?" And the people answered: "Then are
+we sooner done with pestilence and famine and the imminence of war."
+
+That night the thunder howled upon Aghrinaun, which stood a peak above
+all others in the land of Sidith. And the people took Arb-Rin-Hadith
+from his Temple and drave him to Aghrinaun, for they said: "There walk
+to-night upon the mountain All the gods save One."
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith went trembling to the gods.
+
+Next morning, white and frightened from Aghrinaun, came Arb-Rin-Hadith
+back into the valley, and there spake to the people, saying: "The
+faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no
+hope from the gods."
+
+Then said the people: "Thou shalt go to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, to whom
+no man may pray: seek him upon Aghrinaun where it lifts clear into
+the stillness before morning, and on its summit, where all things
+seem to rest surely there rests also MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Go to him,
+and say: 'Thou hast made evil gods, and They smite Sidith.'
+Perchance he hath forgotten all his gods, or hath not heard of
+Sidith. Thou hast escaped the thunder of the gods, surely thou
+shalt also escape the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Upon a morning when the sky and lakes were clear and the world
+still, and Aghrinaun was stiller than the world, Arb-Rin-Hadith
+crept in fear towards the slopes of Aghrinaun because the people
+were urgent.
+
+All that day men saw him climbing. At night he rested near the
+top. But ere the morning of the day that followed, such as rose
+early saw him in the silence, a speck against the blue, stretch up
+his arms upon the summit to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Then instantly they
+saw him not, nor was he ever seen of men again who had dared to
+trouble the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Such as now speak of Sidith tell of a fierce and potent tribe
+that smote away a people in a valley enfeebled by pestilence,
+where stood a temple to "All the gods save One" in which was no
+high priest.
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN BECAME HIGH PROPHET IN ARADEC OF ALL
+THE GODS SAVE ONE
+
+
+Imbaun was to be made High Prophet in Aradec, of All the Gods save
+One.
+
+From Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond came all High Prophets
+of the Earth to the Temple in Aradec of All the gods save One.
+
+And then they told Imbaun how The Secret of Things was upon the
+summit of the dome of the Hall of Night, but faintly writ, and in
+an unknown tongue.
+
+Midway in the night, between the setting and the rising sun, they
+led Imbaun into the Hall of Night, and said to him, chaunting
+altogether: "Imbaun, Imbaun, Imbaun, look up to the roof, where is
+writ The Secret of Things, but faintly, and in an unknown tongue."
+
+And Imbaun looked up, but darkness was so deep within the Hall of
+Night that Imbaun saw not even the High Prophets who came from
+Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond, nor saw he aught in the Hall
+of Night at all.
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What seest thou, Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I see naught."
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What knowest thou Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I know naught."
+
+Then spake the High Prophet of Eld of All the gods save One, who
+is first on Earth of prophets: "O Imbaun! we have all looked
+upwards in the Hall of Night towards the secret of Things, and
+ever it was dark, and the Secret faint and in an unknown tongue.
+And now thou knowest what all High Prophets know."
+
+And Imbaun answered: "I know."
+
+So Imbaun became High Prophet in Aradec of All the gods save One,
+and prayed for all the people, who knew not that there was
+darkness in the Hall of Night or that the secret was writ faint
+and in an unknown tongue.
+
+These are the words of Imbaun that he wrote in a book that all the
+people might know:
+
+"In the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon, as night came
+up the valley, I performed the mystic rites of each of the gods in
+the temple as is my wont, lest any of the gods should grow angry
+in the night and whelm us while we slept.
+
+"And as I uttered the last of certain secret words I fell asleep
+in the temple, for I was weary, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand. Then in the stillness, as I slept, there entered
+Dorozhand by the temple door in the guise of a man, and touched me
+on the shoulder, and I awoke.
+
+"But when I saw that his eyes shone blue and lit the whole of the
+temple I knew that he was a god though he came in mortal guise.
+And Dorozhand said: 'Prophet of Dorozhand, behold that the people
+may know.' And he showed me the paths of Sish stretching far down
+into the future time. Then he bade me arise and follow whither he
+pointed, speaking no words but commanding with his eyes.
+
+"Therefore upon the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon I
+walked with Dorozhand adown the paths of Sish into the future
+time.
+
+"And ever beside the way did men slay men. And the sum of their
+slaying was greater than the slaying of the pestilence of any of
+the evils of the gods.
+
+"And cities arose and shed their houses in dust, and ever the
+desert returned again to its own, and covered over and hid the
+last of all that had troubled its repose.
+
+"And still men slew men.
+
+"And I came at last to a time when men set their yoke no longer
+upon beasts but made them beasts of iron.
+
+"And after that did men slay men with mists.
+
+"Then, because the slaying exceeded their desire, there came peace
+upon the world that was brought by the hand of the slayer, and men
+slew men no more.
+
+"And cities multiplied, and overthrew the desert and conquered its
+repose.
+
+"And suddenly I beheld that THE END was near, for there was a
+stirring above Pegana as of One who grows weary of resting, and I
+saw the hound Time crouch to spring, with his eyes upon the
+throats of the gods, shifting from throat to throat, and the
+drumming of Skarl grew faint.
+
+"And if a god may fear, it seemed that there was fear upon the
+face of Dorozhand, and he seized me by the hand and led me back
+along the paths of Time that I might not see THE END.
+
+"Then I saw cities rise out of the dust again and fall back into
+the desert whence they had arisen; and again I slept in the Temple
+of All the gods save One, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand.
+
+"Then again the Temple was alight, but not with light from the
+eyes of Dorozhand; only dawn came all blue out of the East and
+shone through the arches of the Temple. Then I awoke and performed
+the morning rites and mysteries of All the gods save One, lest any
+of the gods be angry in the day and take away the Sun.
+
+"And I knew that because I who had been so near to it had not
+beheld THE END that a man should never behold it or know the doom
+of the gods. This They have hidden."
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN MET ZODRAK
+
+
+The prophet of the gods lay resting by the river to watch the
+stream run by.
+
+And as he lay he pondered on the Scheme of Things and the works of
+all the gods. And it seemed to the prophet of the gods as he
+watched the stream run by that the Scheme was a right scheme and
+the gods benignant gods; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds. It
+seemed that Kib was bountiful, that Mung calmed all who suffer,
+that Sish dealt not too harshly with the hours, and that all the
+gods were good; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds.
+
+Then said the prophet of the gods as he watched the stream run by:
+"There is some other god of whom naught is writ." And suddenly the
+prophet was aware of an old man who bemoaned beside the river,
+crying: "Alas! alas!"
+
+His face was marked by the sign and the seal of exceeding many
+years, and there was yet vigour in his frame. These be the words
+of the prophet that he wrote in his book: "I said: 'Who art thou
+that bemoans beside the river?' And he answered: 'I am the fool.'
+I said: 'Upon thy brow are the marks of wisdom such as is stored
+in books.' He said: 'I am Zodrak. Thousands of years ago I tended
+sheep upon a hill that sloped towards the sea. The gods have many
+moods. Thousands of years ago They were in a mirthful mood. They
+said: 'Let Us call up a man before Us that We may laugh in
+Pegana.'"
+
+"'And Their eyes that looked on me saw not me alone but also saw
+THE BEGINNING and THE END and all the Worlds besides. Then said
+the gods, speaking as speak the gods: "Go, back to thy sheep."
+
+"'But I, who am the fool, had heard it said on earth that whoso
+seeth the gods upon Pegana becometh as the gods, if so he demand
+to Their faces, who may not slay him who hath looked them in the
+eyes.
+
+"'And I, the fool, said: "I have looked in the eyes of the gods,
+and I demand what a man may demand of the gods when he hath seen
+Them in Pegana." And the gods inclined Their heads and Hoodrazai
+said: "It is the law of the gods."
+
+"'And I, who was only a shepherd, how could I know?
+
+"'I said: "I will make men rich." And the gods said: "What is
+rich?"
+
+"'And I said: "I will send them love." And the gods said: "What is
+love?" And I sent gold into the Worlds, and, alas! I sent with it
+poverty and strife. And I sent love into the Worlds, and with it
+grief.
+
+"'And now I have mixed gold and love most woefully together, and I
+can never remedy what I have done, for the deeds of the gods are
+done, and nothing may undo them.
+
+"'Then I said: "I will give men wisdom that they may be glad." And
+those who got my wisdom found that they knew nothing, and from
+having been happy became glad no more.
+
+"'And I, who would make men happy, have made them sad, and I have
+spoiled the beautiful scheme of the gods.
+
+"'And now my hand is for ever on the handle of Their plough. I was
+only a shepherd, and how should I have known?
+
+"'Now I come to thee as thou restest by the river to ask of thee
+thy forgiveness, for I would fain have the forgiveness of a man.'
+
+"And I answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose children are the
+storms, shall a man forgive a god?'
+
+"He answered: 'Men have sinned not against the gods as the gods
+have sinned against men since I came into Their councils.'
+
+"And I, the prophet, answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose
+plaything is the thunder, thou art amongst the gods, what need
+hast thou for words from any man?'
+
+"He said: 'Indeed I am amongst the gods, who speak to me as they
+speak to other gods, yet is there always a smile about Their
+mouths, and a look in Their eyes that saith: "Thou wert a man."'
+
+"I said: 'O Lord of seven skies, about whose feet the Worlds are
+as drifted sand, because thou biddest me, I, a man, forgive thee.'
+
+"And he answered: 'I was but a shepherd, and I could not know.'
+Then he was gone."
+
+
+
+PEGANA
+
+
+The prophet of the gods cried out to the gods: "O! All the gods
+save One" for none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, "where shall the
+life of a man abide when Mung hath made against his body the sign
+of Mung?--for the people with whom ye play have sought to know."
+
+But the gods answered, speaking through the mist:
+
+"Though thou shouldst tell thy secrets to the beasts, even that
+the beasts should understand, yet will not the gods divulge the
+secret of the gods to thee, that gods and beasts and men shall be
+all the same, all knowing the same things."
+
+That night Yoharneth-Lahai came to Aradec, and said unto Imbaun:
+"Wherefore wouldst thou know the secret of the gods that not the
+gods may tell thee?
+
+"When the wind blows not, where, then, is the wind?
+
+"Or when thou art not living, where art thou?
+
+"What should the wind care for the hours of calm or thou for
+death?
+
+"Thy life is long, Eternity is short.
+
+"So short that, shouldst thou die and Eternity should pass, and
+after the passing of Eternity thou shouldst live again, thou
+wouldst say: 'I closed mine eyes but for an instant.'
+
+"There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou
+bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who art so much
+afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
+
+Then said the prophet: "How shall I tell the people that the gods
+have not spoken and their prophet doth not know? For then should I
+be prophet no longer, and another would take the people's gifts
+instead of me."
+
+Then said Imbaun to the people: "The gods have spoken, saying: 'O
+Imbaun, Our prophet, it is as the people believe whose wisdom hath
+discovered the secret of the gods, and the people when they die
+shall come to Pegana, and there live with the gods, and there have
+pleasure without toil. And Pegana is a place all white with the
+peaks of mountains, on each of them a god, and the people shall
+lie upon the slopes of the mountains each under the god that he
+hath worshipped most when his lot was in the Worlds. And there
+shall music beyond thy dreaming come drifting through the scent
+of all the orchards in the Worlds, with somewhere someone singing
+an old song that shall be as a half-remembered thing. And there
+shall be gardens that have always sunlight, and streams that are
+lost in no sea beneath skies for ever blue. And there shall be no
+rain nor no regrets. Only the roses that in highest Pegana have
+achieved their prime shall shed their petals in showers at thy
+feet, and only far away on the forgotten earth shall voices drift
+up to thee that cheered thee in thy childhood about the gardens of
+thy youth. And if thou sighest for any memory of earth because thou
+hearest unforgotten voices, then will the gods send messengers on
+wings to soothe thee in Pegana, saying to them: "There one sigheth
+who hath remembered Earth." And they shall make Pegana more seductive
+for thee still, and they shall take thee by the hand and whisper in
+thine ear till the old voices are forgot.
+
+"'And besides the flowers of Pegana there shall have climbed by
+then until it hath reached to Pegana the rose that clambered about
+the house where thou wast born. Thither shall also come the
+wandering echoes of all such music as charmed thee long ago.
+
+"'Moreover, as thou sittest on the orchard lawns that clothe
+Pegana's mountains, and as thou hearkenest to melody that sways
+the souls of the gods, there shall stretch away far down beneath
+thee the great unhappy Earth, till gazing from rapture upon sorrows
+thou shalt be glad that thou wert dead.
+
+"'And from the three great mountains that stand aloof and over all
+the others--Grimbol, Zeebol, and Trehagobol--shall blow the wind
+of the morning and the wind of all the day, borne upon the wings
+of all the butterflies that have died upon the Worlds, to cool the
+gods and Pegana.
+
+"'Far through Pegana a silvery fountain, lured upward by the gods
+from the Central Sea, shall fling its waters aloft, and over the
+highest of Pegana's peaks, above Trehagobol, shall burst into
+gleaming mists, to cover Highest Pegana, and make a curtain about
+the resting-place of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"'Alone, still and remote below the base of one of the inner
+mountains, lieth a great blue pool.
+
+"'Whoever looketh down into its waters may behold all his life
+that was upon the Worlds and all the deeds that he hath done.
+
+"'None walk by the pool and none regard its depths, for all in
+Pegana have suffered and all have sinned some sin, and it lieth in
+the pool.
+
+"'And there is no darkness in Pegana, for when night hath conquered
+the sun and stilled the Worlds and turned the white peaks of Pegana
+into grey then shine the blue eyes of the gods like sunlight on the
+sea, where each god sits upon his mountain.
+
+"'And at the Last, upon some afternoon, perhaps in summer, shall the
+gods say, speaking to the gods: "What is the likeness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and what THE END?"
+
+"'And then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI draw back with his hand the mists
+that cover his resting, saying: "This is the Face of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and this THE END."'"
+
+Then said the people to the prophet: "Shall not black hills draw
+round in some forsaken land, to make a vale-wide cauldron wherein
+the molten rock shall seethe and roar, and where the crags of
+mountains shall be hurled upward to the surface and bubble and go
+down again, that there our enemies may boil for ever?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "It is writ large about the bases of
+Pegana's mountains, upon which sit the gods: 'Thine Enemies Are
+Forgiven."'
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF IMBAUN
+
+
+The Prophet of the gods said: "Yonder beside the road there
+sitteth a false prophet; and to all who seek to know the hidden
+days he saith: 'Upon the morrow the King shall speak to thee as
+his chariot goeth by.'"
+
+Moreover, all the people bring him gifts, and the false prophet
+hath more to listen to his words than hath the Prophet of the
+gods.
+
+Then said Imbaun: "What knoweth the Prophet of the gods? I know
+only that I and men know naught concerning the gods or aught
+concerning men. Shall I, who am their prophet, tell the people
+this?
+
+"For wherefore have the people chosen prophets but that they
+should speak the hopes of the people, and tell the people that
+their hopes be true?"
+
+The false prophet saith: "Upon the morrow the king shall speak to
+thee."
+
+Shall not I say: "Upon The Morrow the gods shall speak with thee
+as thou restest upon Pegana?"
+
+So shall the people be happy, and know that their hopes be true
+who have believed the words that they have chosen a prophet to say.
+
+But what shall know the Prophet of the gods, to whom none may come
+to say: "Thy hopes are true," for whom none may make strange signs
+before his eyes to quench his fear of death, for whom alone the
+chaunt of his priests availeth naught?
+
+The Prophet of the gods hath sold his happiness for wisdom, and
+hath given his hopes for the people.
+
+Said also Imbaun: "When thou art angry at night observe how calm
+be the stars; and shall small ones rail when there is such a calm
+among the great ones? Or when thou art angry by day regard the
+distant hills, and see the calm that doth adorn their faces. Shalt
+thou be angry while they stand so serene?
+
+"Be not angry with men, for they are driven as thou art by
+Dorozhand. Do bullocks goad one another on whom the same yoke
+rests?
+
+"And be not angry with Dorozhand, for then thou beatest thy bare
+fingers against iron cliffs.
+
+"All that is is so because it was to be. Rail not, therefore,
+against what is, for it was all to be."
+
+And Imbaun said: "The Sun ariseth and maketh a glory about all the
+things that he seeth, and drop by drop he turneth the common dew
+to every kind of gem. And he maketh a splendour in the hills.
+
+"And also man is born. And there rests a glory about the gardens
+of his youth. Both travel afar to do what Dorozhand would have
+them do.
+
+"Soon now the sun will set, and very softly come twinkling in the
+stillness all the stars.
+
+"Also man dieth. And quietly about his grave will all the mourners
+weep.
+
+"Will not his life arise again somewhere in all the worlds? Shall
+he not again behold the gardens of his youth? Or does he set to
+end?"
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING
+
+
+There trod such pestilence in Aradec that, the King as he looked
+abroad out of his palace saw men die. And when the King saw Death
+he feared that one day even the King should die. Therefore he
+commanded guards to bring before him the wisest prophet that
+should be found in Aradec.
+
+Then heralds came to the temple of All the gods save One, and
+cried aloud, having first commanded silence, crying: "Rhazahan,
+King over Aradec, Prince by right of Ildun and Ildaun, and Prince
+by conquest of Pathia, Ezek, and Azhan, Lord of the Hills, to the
+High Prophet of All the gods save One sends salutations."
+
+Then they bore him before the King.
+
+The King said unto the prophet: "O Prophet of All the gods save
+One, shall I indeed die?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "O King! thy people may not rejoice for
+ever, and some day the King will die."
+
+And the King answered: "This may be so, but certainly thou shalt
+die. It may be that one day I shall die, but till then the lives
+of the people are in my hands."
+
+Then guards led the prophet away.
+
+And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to
+Kings.
+
+
+
+OF OOD
+
+
+Men say that if thou comest to Sundari, beyond all the plains, and
+shalt climb to his summit before thou art seized by the avalanche
+which sitteth always on his slopes, that then there lie before thee
+many peaks. And if thou shalt climb these and cross their valleys
+(of which there be seven and also seven peaks) thou shalt come at
+last to the land of forgotten hills, where amid many valleys and
+white snow there standeth the "Great Temple of One god Only."
+
+Therein is a dreaming prophet who doeth naught, and a drowsy
+priesthood about him.
+
+These be the priests of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Within the temple it is forbidden to work, also it is forbidden to
+pray. Night differeth not from day within its doors. They rest as
+MANA rests. And the name of their prophet is Ood.
+
+Ood is a greater prophet than any of all the prophets of Earth,
+and it hath been said by some that were Ood and his priests to
+pray chaunting all together and calling upon MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI would then awake, for surely he would hear
+the prayers of his own prophet--then would there be Worlds no more.
+
+There is also another way to the land of forgotten hills, which is
+a smooth road and a straight, that lies through the heart of the
+mountains. But for certain hidden reasons it were better for thee
+to go by the peaks and snow, even though thou shouldst perish by
+the way, that thou shouldst seek to come to the house of Ood by
+the smooth, straight road.
+
+
+
+THE RIVER
+
+
+There arises a river in Pegana that is neither a river of water
+nor yet a river of fire, and it flows through the skies and the
+Worlds to the Rim of the Worlds, a river of silence. Through all
+the Worlds are sounds, the noises of moving, and the echoes of
+voices and song; but upon the River is no sound ever heard, for
+there all echoes die.
+
+The River arises out of the drumming of Skarl, and flows for ever
+between banks of thunder, until it comes to the waste beyond the
+Worlds, behind the farthest star, down to the Sea of Silence.
+
+I lay in the desert beyond all cities and sounds, and above me
+flowed the River of Silence through the sky; and on the desert's
+edge night fought against the Sun, and suddenly conquered.
+
+Then on the River I saw the dream-built ship of the god Yoharneth-Lahai,
+whose great prow lifted grey into the air above the River of Silence.
+
+Her timbers were olden dreams dreamed long ago, and poets' fancies
+made her tall, straight masts, and her rigging was wrought out of
+the people's hopes.
+
+Upon her deck were rowers with dream-made oars, and the rowers
+were the people of men's fancies, and princes of old story and
+people who had died, and people who had never been.
+
+These swung forward and swung back to row Yoharneth-Lahai through
+the Worlds with never a sound of rowing. For ever on every wind
+float up to Pegana the hopes and the fancies of the people which
+have no home in the Worlds, and there Yoharneth-Lahai weaves them
+into dreams, to take them to the people again.
+
+And every night in his dream-built ship Yoharneth-Lahai setteth
+forth, with all his dreams on board, to take again their old hopes
+back to the people and all forgotten fancies.
+
+But ere the day comes back to her own again, and all the
+conquering armies of the dawn hurl their red lances in the face of
+the night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows
+back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegana into the Sea
+of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.
+
+And the name of the River is Imrana the River of Silence. All they
+that be weary of the sound of cities and very tired of clamour
+creep down in the night-time to Yoharneth-Lahai's ship, and going
+aboard it, among the dreams and the fancies of old times, lie down
+upon the deck, and pass from sleeping to the River, while Mung,
+behind them, makes the sign of Mung because they would have it so.
+And, lying there upon the deck among their own remembered fancies,
+and songs that were never sung, and they drift up Imrana ere the
+dawn, where the sound of the cities comes not, nor the voice of
+the thunder is heard, nor the midnight howl of Pain as he gnaws
+at the bodies of men, and far away and forgotten bleat the small
+sorrows that trouble all the Worlds.
+
+But where the River flows through Pegana's gates, between the
+great twin constellations Yum and Gothum, where Yum stands
+sentinel upon the left and Gothum upon the right, there sits
+Sirami, the lord of All Forgetting. And, when the ship draws near,
+Sirami looketh with his sapphire eyes into the faces and beyond
+them of those that were weary of cities, and as he gazes, as one
+that looketh before him remembering naught, he gently waves his
+hands. And amid the waving of Sirami's hands there fall from all
+that behold him all their memories, save certain things that may
+not be forgotten even beyond the Worlds.
+
+It hath been said that when Skarl ceases to drum, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+awakes, and the gods of Pegana know that it is THE END, that then the
+gods will enter galleons of gold, and with dream-born rowers glide down
+Imrana (who knows whither or why?) till they come where the River enters
+the Silent Sea, and shall there be gods of nothing, where nothing is,
+and never a sound shall come. And far away upon the River's banks shall
+bay their old hound Time, that shall seek to rend his masters; while
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall think some other plan concerning gods and worlds.
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF DOOM AND THE END
+
+
+For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom
+of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds; and Time, the hound
+of the gods, shall bay hungrily at his masters because he is lean
+with age.
+
+And from the innermost of Pegana's vales shall the bird of doom,
+Mosahn, whose voice is like the trumpet, soar upward with
+boisterous beatings of his wings above Pegana's mountains and the
+gods, and there with his trumpet voice acclaim THE END.
+
+Then in the tumult and amid the fury of their hound the gods shall
+make for the last time in Pegana the sign of all the gods, and go
+with dignity and quiet down to Their galleons of gold, and sail
+away down the River of Silence, not ever to return.
+
+Then shall the River overflow its banks, and a tide come setting
+in from the Silent Sea, till all the Worlds and the Skies are
+drowned in silence; while MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI in the Middle of All
+sits deep in thought. And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and
+cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to
+devour, shall suddenly die.
+
+But there are some that hold--and this is the heresy of the
+Saigoths--that when the gods go down at the last into their
+galleons of gold Mung shall turn alone, and, setting his back
+against Trehagobol and wielding the Sword of Severing which is
+called Death, shall fight out his last fight with the hound Time,
+his empty scabbard Sleep clattering loose beside him.
+
+There under Trehagobol they shall fight alone when all the gods
+are gone.
+
+And the Saigoths say that for two days and nights the hound shall
+leer and snarl before the face of Mung-days and nights that shall
+be lit by neither sun nor moons, for these shall go dipping down
+the sky with all the Worlds as the galleons glide away, because
+the gods that made them are gods no more.
+
+And then shall the hound, springing, tear out the throat of Mung,
+who, making for the last time the sign of Mung, shall bring down
+Death crashing through the shoulders of the hound, and in the
+blood of Time that Sword shall rust away.
+
+Then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI be all alone, with neither Death nor
+Time, and never the hours singing in his ears, nor the swish of
+the passing lives.
+
+But far away from Pegana shall go the galleons of gold that bear
+the gods away, upon whose faces shall be utter calm, because They
+are the gods knowing that it is THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana, by
+Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana
+by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+#5 in our series by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Gods of Pegana
+
+Author: Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+Release Date: June, 2005 [EBook #8395]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on July 6, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Beginners Projects, Anne Reshnyk
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+
+THE GODS OF PEGANA
+
+LORD DUNSANY
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Preface
+
+Introduction
+
+Of Skarl the Drummer
+
+Of the Making of the Worlds
+
+Of the Game of the Gods
+
+The Chaunt of the Gods
+
+The Sayings of Kib
+
+Concerning Sish
+
+The Sayings of Slid
+
+The Deeds of Mung
+
+The Chaunt
+
+The Sayings of Limpang-Tung
+
+Of Yoharneth-Lahai
+
+Of Roon, the God of Going, and the Thousand Home Gods
+
+The Revolt of the Home Gods
+
+Of Dorozhand
+
+The Eye in the Waste
+
+Of the Thing That Is Neither God Nor Beast
+
+Yonath the Prophet
+
+Yug the Prophet
+
+Alhireth-Hotep The Prophet
+
+Kabok The Prophet
+
+Of the Calamity That Befel Yun-Hara by the Sea, and of the
+Building of the Tower of the Ending of Days
+
+Of How the Gods Whelmed Sidith
+
+Of How Imbaun Became High Prophet in Aradec of all
+the Gods Save One
+
+Of How Imbaun Met Zodrak
+
+Pegana
+
+The Sayings of Imbaun
+
+Of How Imbaun Spake of Death to the King
+
+Of Ood
+
+The River
+
+The Bird of Doom and THE END
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+In the mists before THE BEGINNING, Fate and Chance cast lots to
+decide whose the Game should be; and he that won strode through
+the mists to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI and said: "Now make gods for Me, for
+I have won the cast and the Game is to be Mine." Who it was that
+won the cast, and whether it was Fate or whether Chance that went
+through the mists before THE BEGINNING to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI--_none
+knoweth._
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Before there stood gods upon Olympus, or ever Allah was Allah, had
+wrought and rested MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+There are in Pegana Mung and Sish and Kib, and the maker of all
+small gods, who is MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Moreover, we have a faith in
+Roon and Slid.
+
+And it has been said of old that all things that have been were
+wrought by the small gods, excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, who
+made the gods and hath thereafter rested.
+
+And none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI but only the gods whom he
+hath made.
+
+But at the Last will MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forget to rest, and will
+make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods
+whom he hath made.
+
+And the gods and the worlds shall depart, and there shall be only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+OF SKARL THE DRUMMER
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods and Skarl, Skarl made a
+drum, and began to beat upon it that he might drum for ever. Then
+because he was weary after the making of the gods, and because of
+the drumming of Skarl, did MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI grow drowsy and fall
+asleep.
+
+And there fell a hush upon the gods when they saw that MANA rested,
+and there was silence on Pegana save for the drumming of Skarl.
+Skarl sitteth upon the mist before the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+above the gods of Pegana, and there he beateth his drum. Some say
+that the Worlds and the Suns are but the echoes of the drumming of
+Skarl, and others say that they be dreams that arise in the mind
+of MANA because of the drumming of Skarl, as one may dream whose
+rest is troubled by sound of song, but none knoweth, for who hath
+heard the voice of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, or who hath seen his drummer?
+
+Whether the season be winter or whether it be summer, whether it
+be morning among the worlds or whether it be night, Skarl still
+beateth his drum, for the purposes of the gods are not yet fulfilled.
+Sometimes the arm of Skarl grows weary; but still he beateth his
+drum, that the gods may do the work of the gods, and the worlds go
+on, for if he cease for an instant then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI will start
+awake, and there will be worlds nor gods no more.
+
+But, when at the last the arm of Skarl shall cease to beat his drum,
+silence shall startle Pegana like thunder in a cave, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+shall cease to rest.
+
+Then shall Skarl put his drum upon his back and walk forth into the
+void beyond the worlds, because it is THE END, and the work of Skarl
+is over.
+
+There may arise some other god whom Skarl may serve, or it may be
+that he shall perish; but to Skarl it shall matter not, for he shall
+have done the work of Skarl.
+
+
+
+OF THE MAKING OF THE WORLDS
+
+
+When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI had made the gods there were only the gods,
+and They sat in the middle of Time, for there was as much Time
+before them as behind them, which having no end had neither a
+beginning.
+
+And Pegana was without heat or light or sound, save for the
+drumming of Skarl; moreover Pegana was The Middle of All, for
+there was below Pegana what there was above it, and there lay
+before it that which lay beyond.
+
+Then said the gods, making the signs of the gods and speaking with
+Their hands lest the silence of Pegana should blush; then said the
+gods to one another, speaking with Their hands; "Let Us make
+worlds to amuse Ourselves while MANA rests. Let Us make worlds and
+Life and Death, and colours in the sky; only let Us not break the
+silence upon Pegana."
+
+Then raising Their hands, each god according to his sign, They
+made the worlds and the suns, and put a light in the houses of the
+sky.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to seek, to seek and never to
+find out concerning the wherefore of the making of the gods."
+
+And They made by the lifting of Their hands, each god according to
+his sign, the Bright One with the flaring tail to seek from the
+end of the Worlds to the end of them again, to return again after
+a hundred years.
+
+Man, when thou seest the comet, know that another seeketh besides
+thee nor ever findeth out.
+
+Then said the gods, still speaking with Their hands: "Let there be
+now a Watcher to regard."
+
+And They made the Moon, with his face wrinkled with many mountains
+and worn with a thousand valleys, to regard with pale eyes the
+games of the small gods, and to watch throughout the resting time
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI; to watch, to regard all things, and be
+silent.
+
+Then said the gods: "Let Us make one to rest. One not to move
+among the moving. One not to seek like the comet, nor to go round
+like the worlds; to rest while MANA rests."
+
+And They made the Star of the Abiding and set it in the North.
+
+Man, when thou seest the Star of the Abiding to the North, know
+that one resteth as doth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and know that somewhere
+among the Worlds is rest.
+
+Lastly the gods said: "We have made worlds and suns, and one to
+seek and another to regard, let Us now make one to wonder."
+
+And They made Earth to wonder, each god by the uplifting of his
+hand according to his sign.
+
+And Earth was.
+
+
+
+OF THE GAME OF THE GODS
+
+
+A million years passed over the first game of the gods. And
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI still rested, still in the middle of Time, and
+the gods still played with Worlds. The Moon regarded, and the
+Bright One sought, and returned again to his seeking.
+
+Then Kib grew weary of the first game of the gods, and raised his
+hand in Pegana, making the sign of Kib, and Earth became covered
+with beasts for Kib to play with.
+
+And Kib played with beasts.
+
+But the other gods said one to another, speaking with their hands:
+"What is it that Kib has done?"
+
+And They said to Kib: "What are these things that move upon The
+Earth yet move not in circles like the Worlds, that regard like
+the Moon and yet they do not shine?"
+
+And Kib said: "This is Life."
+
+But the gods said one to another: "If Kib has thus made beasts he
+will in time make Men, and will endanger the Secret of the gods."
+
+And Mung was jealous of the work of Kib, and sent down Death among
+the beasts, but could not stamp them out.
+
+A million years passed over the second game of the gods, and still
+it was the Middle of Time.
+
+And Kib grew weary of the second game, and raised his hand in the
+Middle of All, making the sign of Kib, and made Men: out of beasts
+he made them, and Earth was covered with Men.
+
+Then the gods feared greatly for the Secret of the gods, and set a
+veil between Man and his ignorance that he might not understand.
+And Mung was busy among Men.
+
+But when the other gods saw Kib playing his new game They came and
+played it too. And this They will play until MANA arises to rebuke
+Them, saying: "What do ye playing with Worlds and Suns and Men and
+Life and Death?" And They shall be ashamed of Their playing in the
+hour of the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+It was Kib who first broke the Silence of Pegana, by speaking with
+his mouth like a man.
+
+And all the other gods were angry with Kib that he had spoken with
+his mouth.
+
+And there was no longer silence in Pegana or the Worlds.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE GODS
+
+
+There came the voice of the gods singing the chaunt of the gods,
+singing: "We are the gods; We are the little games of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that he hath played and hath forgotten.
+
+"MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI hath made us, and We made the Worlds and the
+Suns.
+
+"And We play with the Worlds and the Sun and Life and Death until
+MANA arises to rebuke us, saying: 'What do ye playing with Worlds
+and Suns?'
+
+"It is a very serious thing that there be Worlds and Suns, and yet
+most withering is the laughter of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"And when he arises from resting at the Last, and laughs at us for
+playing with Worlds and Suns, We will hastily put them behind us,
+and there shall be Worlds no more."
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF KIB
+
+(Sender of Life in all the Worlds)
+
+
+Kib said: "I am Kib. I am none other than Kib."
+
+Kib is Kib. Kib is he and no other. Believe! Kib said: "When
+Time was early, when Time was very early indeed--there was only
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI was before the beginning of the
+gods, and shall be after their going."
+
+And Kib said: "After the going of the gods there will be no small
+worlds nor big."
+
+Kib said: "It will be lonely for MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Because this is written, believe! For is it not written, or are
+you greater than Kib? Kib is Kib.
+
+
+
+CONCERNING SISH
+
+(The Destroyer of Hours)
+
+
+Time is the hound of Sish.
+
+At Sish's bidding do the hours run before him as he goeth upon
+his way.
+
+Never hath Sish stepped backward nor ever hath he tarried; never
+hath he relented to the things that once he knew nor turned to
+them again.
+
+Before Sish is Kib, and behind him goeth Mung.
+
+Very pleasant are all things before the face of Sish, but behind
+him they are withered and old.
+
+And Sish goeth ceaselessly upon his way.
+
+Once the gods walked upon Earth as men walk and spake with their
+mouths like Men. That was in Wornath-Mavai. They walk not now.
+
+And Wornath-Mavai was a garden fairer than all the gardens upon
+Earth.
+
+Kib was propitious, and Mung raised not his hand against it,
+neither did Sish assail it with his hours.
+
+Wornath-Mavai lieth in a valley and looketh towards the south, and
+on the slopes of it Sish rested among the flowers when Sish was
+young.
+
+Thence Sish went forth into the world to destroy its cities, and
+to provoke his hours to assail all things, and to batter against
+them with the rust and with the dust.
+
+And Time, which is the hound of Sish, devoured all things; and
+Sish sent up the ivy and fostered weeds, and dust fell from the
+hand of Sish and covered stately things. Only the valley where
+Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his
+hours to assail.
+
+There he restrained his old hound Time, and at its borders Mung
+withheld his footsteps.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south, a garden
+among gardens, and still the flowers grow about its slopes as they
+grew when the gods were young; and even the butterflies live in
+Wornath-Mavai still. For the minds of the gods relent towards
+their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.
+
+Wornath-Mavai still lieth looking towards the south; but if thou
+shouldst ever find it thou art then more fortunate than the gods,
+because they walk not in Wornath-Mavai now.
+
+Once did the prophet think that he discerned it in the distance
+beyond mountains, a garden exceeding fair with flowers; but Sish
+arose, and pointed with his hand, and set his hound to pursue him,
+who hath followed ever since.
+
+Time is the hound of the gods; but it hath been said of old that
+he will one day turn upon his masters, and seek to slay the gods,
+excepting only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, whose dreams are the gods
+themselves--dreamed long ago.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF SLID
+
+(Whose Soul is by the Sea)
+
+
+Slid said: "Let no man pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for who shall
+trouble MANA with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all
+the houses of Earth?
+
+"Nor let any sacrifice to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for what glory shall
+he find in sacrifices or altars who hath made the gods themselves?
+
+"Pray to the small gods, who are the gods of Doing; but MANA is
+the god of Having Done--the god of Having Done and of the Resting.
+
+"Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what
+mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and
+Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?
+
+"Slid is but a small god. Yet Slid is Slid--it is written and hath
+been said.
+
+"Pray, thou, therefore, to Slid, and forget not Slid, and it may
+be that Slid will not forget to send thee Death when most thou
+needest it."
+
+And the People of Earth said: "There is a melody upon the Earth as
+though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that
+they had forsaken in the hills."
+
+And Slid said: "I am the Lord of gliding waters and of foaming
+waters and of still. I am the Lord of all the waters in the world
+and all that long streams garner in the hills; but the soul of
+Slid is in the Sea. Thither goes all that glides upon Earth, and
+the end of all the rivers is the Sea."
+
+And Slid said: "The hand of Slid hath toyed with cataracts, and
+down the valleys have trod the feet of Slid, and out of the lakes
+of the plains regard the eyes of Slid; but the soul of Slid is in
+the sea."
+
+Much homage hath Slid among the cities of men and pleasant are the
+woodland paths and the paths of the plains, and pleasant the high
+valleys where he danceth in the hills; but Slid would be fettered
+neither by banks nor boundaries--so the soul of Slid is in the
+Sea.
+
+For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods
+above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than
+Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
+
+There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and
+sigh round islands in his great content--the miser lord of wealth
+in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.
+
+Or there may he, when Slid would fain exult, throw up his great
+arms, or toss with many a fathom of wandering hair the mighty head
+of Slid, and cry aloud tumultuous dirges of shipwreck, and feel
+through all his being the crashing might of Slid, and sway the
+sea. Then doth the Sea, like venturous legions on the eve of war
+that exult to acclaim their chief, gather its force together from
+under all the winds and roar and follow and sing and crash
+together to vanquish all things--and all at the bidding of Slid,
+whose soul is in the sea.
+
+There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea;
+also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of
+Slid, for the gods have many moods. And Slid is in many places,
+for he sitteth in high Pegana. Also along the valleys walketh
+Slid, wherever water moveth or lieth still; but the voice and the
+cry of Slid are from the sea. And to whoever that cry hath ever
+come he must needs follow and follow, leaving all stable things;
+only to be always with Slid in all the moods of Slid, to find no
+rest until he reaches the sea.
+
+With the cry of Slid before them and the hills of their home behind
+have gone a hundred thousand to the sea, over whose bones doth Slid
+lament with the voice of a god lamenting for his people. Even the
+streams from the inner lands have heard Slid's far-off cry, and all
+together have forsaken lawns and trees to follow where Slid is
+gathering up his own, to rejoice where Slid rejoices, singing the
+chaunt of Slid, even as will at the Last gather all the Lives of
+the People about the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+
+
+THE DEEDS OF MUNG
+
+(Lord of all Deaths between Pegana and the Rim)
+
+
+Once, as Mung went his way athwart the Earth and up and down its
+cities and across its plains, Mung came upon a man who was afraid
+when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+
+And Mung said: "Were the forty million years before thy coming
+intolerable to thee?"
+
+And Mung said: "Not less tolerable to thee shall be the forty
+million years to come!"
+
+Then Mung made against him the sign of Mung and the Life of the
+Man was fettered no longer with hands and feet.
+
+At the end of the flight of the arrow there is Mung, and in the
+houses and the cities of Men. Mung walketh in all places at all
+times. But mostly he loves to walk in the dark and still, along
+the river mists when the wind hath sank, a little before night
+meeteth with the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds.
+
+Sometimes Mung entereth the poor man's cottage; Mung also boweth
+very low before The King. Then do the Lives of the poor man and of
+The King go forth among the Worlds.
+
+And Mung said: "Many turnings hath the road that Kib hath given
+every man to tread upon the earth. Behind one of these turnings
+sitteth Mung."
+
+One day as a man trod upon the road that Kib had given him to
+tread he came suddenly upon Mung. And when Mung said: "I am Mung!"
+the man cried out: "Alas, that I took this road, for had I gone by
+any other way then had I not met with Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "Had it been possible for thee to go by any other
+way then had the Scheme of Things been otherwise and the gods had
+been other gods. When MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI forgets to rest and makes
+again new gods it may be that They will send thee again into the
+Worlds; and then thou mayest choose some other way, and not meet
+with Mung."
+
+Then Mung made the sign of Mung. And the Life of that man went
+forth with yesterday's regrets and all old sorrows and forgotten
+things--whither Mung knoweth.
+
+And Mung went onward with his work to sunder Life from flesh, and
+Mung came upon a man who became stricken with sorrow when he saw
+the shadow of Mung. But Mung said: "When at the sign of Mung thy
+Life shall float away there will also disappear thy sorrow at
+forsaking it." But the man cried out: "O Mung! tarry for a little,
+and make not the sign of Mung against me now, for I have a family
+upon the earth with whom sorrow will remain, though mine should
+disappear because of the sign of Mung."
+
+And Mung said: "With the gods it is always Now. And before Sish
+hath banished many of the years the sorrows of thy family for thee
+shall go the way of thine." And the man beheld Mung making the
+sign of Mung before his eyes, which beheld things no more.
+
+
+
+THE CHAUNT OF THE PRIESTS
+
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+All day long to Mung cry out the Priests of Mung, and, yet Mung
+harkeneth not. What, then, shall avail the prayers of All the
+People?
+
+Rather bring gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+So shall they cry louder unto Mung than ever was their wont.
+
+And it may be that Mung shall hear.
+
+Not any longer than shall fall the Shadow of Mung athwart the
+hopes of the People.
+
+Not any longer then shall the Tread of Mung darken the dreams of
+the people.
+
+Not any longer shall the lives of the People be loosened because
+of Mung.
+
+Bring ye gifts to the Priests, gifts to the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+The chaunt of the Priests of Mung.
+
+This is the chaunt of the Priests.
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF LIMPANG-TUNG
+
+(The God of Mirth and of Melodious Minstrels)
+
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "The ways of the gods are strange. The
+flower groweth up and the flower fadeth away. This may be very
+clever of the gods. Man groweth from his infancy, and in a while
+he dieth. This may be very clever too.
+
+"But the gods play with a strange scheme.
+
+"I will send jests into the world and a little mirth. And while
+Death seems to thee as far away as the purple rim of hills; or
+sorrow as far off as rain in the blue days of summer, then pray to
+Limpang-Tung. But when thou growest old, or ere thou diest, pray
+not of Limpang-Tung, for thou becomest part of a scheme that he
+doth not understand.
+
+"Go out into the starry night, and Limpang-Tung will dance with
+thee who danced since the gods were young, the god of mirth and of
+melodious minstrels. Or offer up a jest to Limpang-Tung; only pray
+not in thy sorrow to Limpang-Tung, for he saith of sorrow: 'It may
+be very clever of the gods,' but he doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "I am lesser than the gods; pray,
+therefore, to the small gods and not to Limpang-Tung.
+
+"Natheless between Pegana and the Earth flutter ten thousand
+thousand prayers that beat their wings against the face of Death,
+and never for one of them hath the hand of the Striker been
+stayed, nor yet have tarried the feet of the Relentless One.
+
+"Utter thy prayer! It may accomplish where failed ten thousand
+thousand.
+
+"Limpang-Tung is lesser than the gods, and doth not understand."
+
+And Limpang-Tung said: "Lest men grow weary down on the great
+Worlds through gazing always at a changeless sky, I will paint my
+pictures in the sky. And I will paint them twice in every day for
+so long as days shall be. Once as the day ariseth out of the homes
+of dawn will I paint the Blue, that men may see and rejoice; and
+ere day falleth under into the night will I paint upon the Blue
+again, lest men be sad.
+
+"It is a little," said Limpang-Tung, "it is a little even for a
+god to give some pleasure to men upon the Worlds."
+
+And Limpang-Tung hath sworn that the pictures that he paints shall
+never be the same for so long as the days shall be, and this he
+hath sworn by the oath of the gods of Pegana that the gods may
+never break, laying his hand upon the shoulder of each of the gods
+and swearing by the light behind Their eyes.
+
+Limpang-Tung hath lured a melody out of the stream and stolen its
+anthem from the forest; for him the wind hath cried in lonely places
+and the ocean sung its dirges. There is music for Limpang-Tung in
+the sounds of the moving of grass and in the voices of the people
+that lament or in the cry of them that rejoice.
+
+In an inner mountain land where none hath come he hath carved his
+organ pipes out of the mountains, and there when the winds, his
+servants, come in from all the world he maketh the melody of
+Limpang-Tung. But the song, arising at night, goeth forth like a
+river, winding through all the world, and here and there amid the
+peoples of earth one heareth, and straightaway all that hath voice
+to sing crieth aloud in music to his soul.
+
+Or sometimes walking through the dusk with steps unheard by men,
+in a form unseen by the people, Limpang-Tung goeth abroad, and,
+standing behind the minstrels in cities of song, waveth his hands
+above them to and fro, and the minstrels bend to their work, and
+the voice of the music ariseth; and mirth and melody abound in
+that city of song, and no one seeth Limpang-Tung as he standeth
+behind the minstrels.
+
+But through the mists towards morning, in the dark when the
+minstrels sleep and mirth and melody have sunk to rest, Limpang-Tung
+goeth back again to his mountain land.
+
+
+
+OF YOHARNETH-LAHAI
+
+(The God of Little Dreams and Fancies)
+
+
+Yaoharneth-Lahai is the god of little dreams and fancies.
+
+All night he sendeth little dreams out of Pegana to please the
+people of Earth.
+
+He sendeth little dreams to the poor man and to The King.
+
+He is so busy to send his dreams to all before the night be ended
+that oft he forgetteth which be the poor man and which be The
+King.
+
+To whom Yoharneth-Lahai cometh not with little dreams and sleep he
+must endure all night the laughter of the gods, with highest
+mockery, in Pegana.
+
+All night long Yoharneth-Lahai giveth peace to cities until the
+dawn hour and the departing of Yoharneth-Lahai, when it is time
+for the gods to play with men again.
+
+Whether the dreams and the fancies of Yoharneth-Lahai be false and
+the Things that are done in the Day be real, or the Things that
+are done in the Day be false and the dreams and the fancies of
+Yoharneth-Lahai be true, none knoweth saving only MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI,
+who hath not spoken.
+
+
+
+OF ROON, THE GOD OF GOING, AND THE THOUSAND HOME GODS
+
+
+Roon said: "There be gods of moving and gods of standing still,
+but I am the god of Going."
+
+It is because of Roon that the worlds are never still, for the
+moons and the worlds and the comet are stirred by the spirit of
+Roon, which saith: "Go! Go! Go!"
+
+Roon met the Worlds all in the morning of Things, before there was
+light upon Pegana, and Roon danced before them in the Void, since
+when they are never still, Roon sendeth all streams to the Sea,
+and all the rivers to the soul of Slid.
+
+Roon maketh the sign of Roon before the waters, and lo! they have
+left the hills; and Roon hath spoken in the ear of the North Wind
+that he may be still no more.
+
+The footfall of Roon hath been heard at evening outside the houses
+of men, and thenceforth comfort and abiding know them no more.
+Before them stretcheth travel over all the lands, long miles, and
+never resting between their homes and their graves--and all at the
+bidding of Roon.
+
+The Mountains have set no limit against Roon nor all the seas a
+boundary.
+
+Whither Roon hath desired there must Roon's people go, and the
+worlds and their streams and the winds.
+
+I heard the whisper of Roon at evening, saying: "There are islands
+of spices to the South," and the voice of Roon saying: "Go."
+
+And Roon said: "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods
+that sit before the hearth and mind the fire--there is one Roon."
+
+Roon saith in a whisper, in a whisper when none heareth, when the
+sun is low: "What doeth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI?" Roon is no god that
+thou mayest worship by thy hearth, nor will he be benignant to thy
+home.
+
+Offer to Roon thy toiling and thy speed, whose incense is the
+smoke of the camp fire to the South, whose song is the sound of
+going, whose temples stand beyond the farthest hills in his lands
+behind the East.
+
+Yarinareth, Yarinareth, Yarinareth, which signifieth Beyond--these
+words be carved in letters of gold upon the arch of the great portal
+of the Temple of Roon that men have builded looking towards the East
+upon the Sea, where Roon is carved as a giant trumpeter, with his
+trumpet pointing towards the East beyond the Seas.
+
+Whoso heareth his voice, the voice of Roon at evening, he at once
+forsaketh the home gods that sit beside the hearth. These be the
+gods of the hearth: Pitsu, who stroketh the cat; Hobith who calms
+the dog; and Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers; and little
+Zumbiboo, the lord of dust; and old Gribaun, who sits in the heart
+of the fire to turn the wood to ash--all these be home gods, and
+live not in Pegana and be lesser than Roon.
+
+There is also Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke, who taketh
+the smoke from the hearth and sendeth it to the sky, who is
+pleased if it reacheth Pegana, so that the gods of Pegana,
+speaking to the gods, say: "There is Kilooloogung doing the work
+on earth of Kilooloogung."
+
+All these are gods so small that they be lesser than men, but
+pleasant gods to have beside the hearth; and often men have prayed
+to Kilooloogung, saying: "Thou whose smoke ascendeth to Pegana
+send up with it our prayers, that the gods may hear." And
+Kilooloogung, who is pleased that men should pray, stretches
+himself up all grey and lean, with his arms above his head, and
+sendeth his servant the smoke to seek Pegana, that the gods of
+Pegana may know that the people pray.
+
+And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the
+house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he
+sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or
+until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he
+sitteth by the river's edge to lament the forgotten things that
+drift upon it.
+
+A kindly god is Jabim, whose heart is sore if anything be lost.
+
+There is also Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk, whose children are the
+shadows, who sitteth in a corner far off from Habaniah and
+speaketh to none. But after Habaniah hath gone to sleep and old
+Gribaun hath blinked a hundred times, until he forgetteth which be
+wood or ash, then doth Triboogie send his children to run about
+the room and dance upon the walls, but never disturb the silence.
+
+But when there is light again upon the worlds, and dawn comes
+dancing down the highway from Pegana, then does Triboogie retire
+into his corner, with his children all around him, as though they
+had never danced about the room. And the slaves of Habaniah and
+old Gribaun come and awake them from their sleep upon the hearth,
+and Pitsu strokes the cat, and Hobith calms the dog, and
+Kilooloogung stretches aloft his arms towards Pegana, and
+Triboogie is very still, and his children asleep.
+
+And when it is dark, all in the hour of Triboogie, Hish creepeth
+from the forest, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats,
+that have broken the command of their father, but in a voice that
+is ever so low. Hish husheth the mouse and all the whispers in the
+night; he maketh all noises still. Only the cricket rebelleth. But
+Hish hath set against him such a spell that after he hath cried a
+thousand times his voice may be heard no more but becometh part of
+the silence.
+
+And when he hath slain all sounds Hish boweth low to the ground;
+then cometh into the house, with never a sound of feet, the god
+Yoharneth-Lahai.
+
+But away in the forest whence Hish hath come Wohoon, the Lord of
+Noises in the Night, awaketh in his lair and creepeth round the
+forest to see whether it be true that Hish hath gone.
+
+Then in some glade Wohoon lifts up his voice and cries aloud, that
+all the night may hear, that it is he, Wohoon, who is abroad in
+all the forest. And the wolf and the fox and the owl, and the
+great beasts and the small, lift up their voices to acclaim
+Wohoon. And there arise the sounds of voices and the stirring of
+leaves.
+
+
+
+THE REVOLT OF THE HOME GODS
+
+
+There be three broad rivers of the plain, born before memory or
+fable, whose mothers are three grey peaks and whose father was the
+storm. There names be Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion.
+
+And Eimës is the joy of lowing herds; and Zänës hath bowed his
+neck to the yoke of man, and carries the timber from the forest
+far up below the mountain; and Segástrion sings old songs to
+shepherd boys, singing of his childhood in a lone ravine and of
+how he once sprang down the mountain sides and far away into the
+plain to see the world, and of how one day at last he will find
+the sea. These be the rivers of the plain, wherein the plain
+rejoices. But old men tell, whose fathers heard it from the
+ancients, how once the lords of the three rivers of the plain
+rebelled against the law of the Worlds, and passed beyond their
+boundaries, and joined together and whelmed cities and slew men,
+saying: "We now play the game of the gods and slay men for our
+pleasure, and we be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+And all the plain was flooded to the hills.
+
+And Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion sat upon the mountains, and
+spread their hands over their rivers that rebelled by their
+command.
+
+But the prayer of men going upward found Pegana, and cried in the
+ear of the gods: "There be three home gods who slay us for their
+pleasure, and say that they be mightier than Pegana's gods, and
+play Their game with men."
+
+Then were all the gods of Pegana very wroth; but They could not
+whelm the lords of the three rivers, because being home gods,
+though small, they were immortal.
+
+And still the home gods spread their hands across their rivers,
+with their fingers wide apart, and the waters rose and rose, and
+the voice of their torrent grew louder, crying: "Are we not Eimës,
+Zänës, and Segástrion?"
+
+Then Mung went down into a waste of Afrik, and came upon the
+drought Umbool as he sat in the desert upon iron rocks, clawing
+with miserly grasp at the bones of men and breathing hot.
+
+And Mung stood before him as his dry sides heaved, and ever as
+they sank his hot breath blasted dry sticks and bones.
+
+Then Mung said: "Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the
+faces of Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion till they see whether it be
+wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana."
+
+And Umbool answered: "I am the beast of Mung."
+
+And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of
+the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.
+
+And whenever Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion stretched out their
+hands over their rivers they saw before their faces the grinning
+of Umbool; and because the grinning was like death in a hot and
+hideous land therefore they turned away and spread their hands no
+more over their rivers, and the waters sank and sank.
+
+But when Umbool had grinned for thirty days the waters fell back
+into the river beds and the lords of the rivers slunk away back
+again to their homes: still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+Then Eimës sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock,
+and Zänës crept into the middle of a wood, and Segástrion lay and
+panted on the sand--still Umbool sat and grinned.
+
+And Eimës grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the
+plain would say: "Here once was Eimës"; and Zänës scarce had
+strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Segástrion lay and
+panted a man stepped over his stream, and Segástrion said: "It is
+the foot of a man that has passed across my neck, and I have sought
+to be greater than the gods of Pegana."
+
+Then said the gods of Pegana: "It is enough. We are the gods of
+Pegana, and none are equal."
+
+Then Mung sent Umbool back to his waste in Afrik to breathe again
+upon the rocks, and parch the desert, and to sear the memory of
+Afrik into the brains of all who ever bring their bones away.
+
+And Eimës, Zänës, and Segástrion sang again, and walked once more
+in their accustomed haunts, and played the game of Life and Death
+with fishes and frogs, but never essayed to play it any more with
+men, as do the gods of Pegana.
+
+
+
+OF DOROZHAND
+
+(Whose Eyes Regard The End)
+
+
+Sitting above the lives of the people, and looking, doth Dorozhand
+see that which is to be.
+
+The god of Destiny is Dorozhand. Upon whom have looked the eyes of
+Dorozhand he goeth forward to an end that naught may stay; he
+becometh the arrow from the bow of Dorozhand hurled forward at a
+mark he may not see--to the goal of Dorozhand. Beyond the thinking
+of men, beyond the sight of all the other gods, regard the eyes of
+Dorozhand.
+
+He hath chosen his slaves. And them doth the destiny god drive
+onward where he will, who, knowing not whither nor even knowing
+why, feel only his scourge behind them or hear his cry before.
+
+There is something that Dorozhand would fain achieve, and,
+therefore, hath he set the people striving, with none to cease or
+rest in all the worlds. But the gods of Pegana, speaking to the
+gods, say: "What is it that Dorozhand would fain achieve?"
+
+It hath been written and said that not only the destinies of men
+are the care of Dorozhand but that even the gods of Pegana be not
+unconcerned by his will.
+
+All the gods of Pegana have felt a fear, for they have seen a look
+in the eyes of Dorozhand that regardeth beyond the gods.
+
+The reason and purpose of the Worlds is that there should be Life
+upon the Worlds, and Life is the instrument of Dorozhand wherewith
+he would achieve his end.
+
+Therefore the Worlds go on, and the rivers run to the sea, and Life
+ariseth and flieth even in all the Worlds, and the gods of Pegana
+do the work of the gods--and all for Dorozhand. But when the end of
+Dorozhand hath been achieved there will be need no longer of Life upon
+the Worlds, nor any more a game for the small gods to play. Then will
+Kib tiptoe gently across Pegana to the resting-place in Highest Pegana
+of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and touching reverently his hand, the hand that
+wrought the gods, say: "MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, thou hast rested long."
+
+And MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall say: "Not so; for I have rested for but
+fifty aeons of the gods, each of them scarce more than ten million
+mortal years of the Worlds that ye have made."
+
+And then shall the gods be afraid when they find that MANA knoweth
+that they have made Worlds while he rested. And they shall answer:
+"Nay; but the Worlds came all of themselves."
+
+Then MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, as one who would have done with an irksome
+matter, will lightly wave his hand--the hand that wrought the
+gods--and there shall be gods no more.
+
+When there shall be three moons towards the north above the Star
+of the Abiding, three moons that neither wax nor wane but regard
+towards the North.
+
+Or when the comet ceaseth from his seeking and stands still, not any
+longer moving among the Worlds but tarrying as one who rests after
+the end of search, then shall arise from resting, because it is THE
+END, the Greater One, who rested of old time, even MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Then shall the Times that were be Times no more; and it may be
+that the old, dead days shall return from beyond the Rim, and we
+who have wept for them shall see those days again, as one who,
+returning from long travel to his home, comes suddenly on dear,
+remembered things.
+
+For none shall know of MANA who hath rested for so long, whether
+he be a harsh or merciful god. It may be that he shall have mercy,
+and that these things shall be.
+
+
+
+THE EYE IN THE WASTE
+
+
+There lie seven deserts beyond Bodrahan, which is the city of the
+caravans' end. None goeth beyond. In the first desert lie the
+tracks of mighty travellers outward from Bodrahan, and some
+returning. And in the second lie only outward tracks, and none
+return.
+
+The third is a desert untrodden by the feet of men.
+
+The fourth is the desert of sand, and the fifth is the desert of
+dust, and the sixth is the desert of stones, and the seventh is
+the Desert of Deserts.
+
+In the midst of the last of the deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan,
+in the centre of the Desert of Deserts, standeth the image that
+hath been hewn of old out of the living hill whose name is
+Ranorada--the eye in the waste.
+
+About the base of Ranorada is carved in mystic letters that are
+vaster than the beds of streams these words:
+
+To the god who knows.
+
+Now, beyond the second desert are no tracks, and there is no water
+in all the seven deserts that lie beyond Bodrahan. Therefore came
+no man thither to hew that statue from the living hills, and
+Ranorada was wrought by the hands of gods. Men tell in Bodrahan,
+where the caravans end and all the drivers of the camels rest, how
+once the gods hewed Ranorada from the living hill, hammering all
+night long beyond the deserts. Moreover, they say that Ranorada is
+carved in the likeness of the god Hoodrazai, who hath found the
+secret of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, and knoweth the wherefore of the making
+of the gods.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai stands all alone in Pegana and speaks to
+none because he knows what is hidden from the gods.
+
+Therefore the gods have made his image in a lonely land as one who
+thinks and is silent--the eye in the waste.
+
+They say that Hoodrazai had heard the murmers of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+as he muttered to himself, and gleaned the meaning, and knew; and
+that he was the god of mirth and of abundant joy, but became from
+the moment of his knowing a mirthless god, even as his image,
+which regards the deserts beyond the track of man.
+
+But the camel drivers, as they sit and listen to the tales of the
+old men in the market-place of Bodrahan, at evening, while the
+camels rest, say:
+
+"If Hoodrazai is so very wise and yet is sad, let us drink wine,
+and banish wisdom to the wastes that lie beyond Bodrahan."
+Therefore is there feasting and laughter all night long in the
+city where the caravans end.
+
+All this the camel drivers tell when the caravans come in from
+Bodrahan; but who shall credit tales that camel drivers have heard
+from aged men in so remote a city?
+
+
+
+OF THE THING THAT IS NEITHER GOD NOR BEAST
+
+
+Seeing that wisdom is not in cities nor happiness in wisdom, and
+because Yadin the prophet was doomed by the gods ere he was born
+to go in search of wisdom, he followed the caravans to Bodrahan.
+There in the evening, where the camels rest, when the wind of the
+day ebbs out into the desert sighing amid the palms its last
+farewells and leaving the caravans still, he sent his prayer with
+the wind to drift into the desert calling to Hoodrazai.
+
+And down the wind his prayer went calling: "Why do the gods
+endure, and play their game with men? Why doth not Skarl forsake
+his drumming, and MANA cease to rest?" and the echo of seven
+deserts answered: "Who knows? Who knows?"
+
+But out in the waste, beyond the seven deserts where Ranorada
+looms enormous in the dusk, at evening his prayer was heard; and
+from the rim of the waste whither had gone his prayer, came three
+flamingoes flying, and their voices said: "Going South, Going
+South" at every stroke of their wings.
+
+But as they passed by the prophet they seemed so cool and free and
+the desert so blinding and hot that he stretched up his arms
+towards them. Then it seemed happy to fly and pleasant to follow
+behind great white wings, and he was with the three flamingoes up
+in the cool above the desert, and their voices cried before him:
+"Going South, Going South," and the desert below him mumbled: "Who
+knows? Who knows?"
+
+Sometimes the earth stretched up towards them with peaks of
+mountains, sometimes it fell away in steep ravines, blue rivers
+sang to them as they passed above them, or very faintly came the
+song of breezes in lone orchards, and far away the sea sang mighty
+dirges of old forsaken isles. But it seemed that in all the world
+there was nothing only to be going South.
+
+It seemed that somewhere the South was calling to her own, and
+that they were going South.
+
+But when the prophet saw that they had passed above the edge of
+Earth, and that far away to the North of them lay the Moon, he
+perceived that he was following no mortal birds but some strange
+messengers of Hoodrazai whose nest had lain in one of Pegana's
+vales below the mountains whereon sit the gods.
+
+Still they went South, passing by all the Worlds and leaving them
+to the North, till only Araxes, Zadres, and Hyraglion lay still to
+the South of them, where great Ingazi seemed only a point of
+light, and Yo and Mindo could be seen no more.
+
+Still they went South till they passed below the South and came to
+the Rim of the Worlds.
+
+There there is neither South nor East nor West, but only North and
+Beyond; there is only North of it where lie the Worlds, and Beyond
+it where lies the Silence, and the Rim is a mass of rocks that
+were never used by the gods when They made the Worlds, and on it
+sat Trogool. Trogool is the Thing that is neither god nor beast,
+who neither howls nor breathes, only _It_ turns over the
+leaves of a great book, black and white, black and white for ever
+until THE END.
+
+And all that is to be is written in the book is also all that was.
+
+When _It_ turneth a black page it is night, and when
+_It_ turneth a white page it is day.
+
+Because it is written that there are gods--there are the gods.
+
+Also there is writing about thee and me until the page where our
+names no more are written.
+
+Then as the prophet watched _It_, Trogool turned a page--a
+black one, and night was over, and day shone on the Worlds.
+
+Trogool is the Thing that men in many countries have called by
+many names, _It_ is the Thing that sits behind the gods,
+whose book is the Scheme of Things.
+
+But when Yadin saw that old remembered days were hidden away with
+the part that _It_ had turned, and knew that upon one whose
+name is writ no more the last page had turned for ever a thousand
+pages back. Then did he utter his prayer in the fact of Trogool
+who only turns the pages and never answers prayer. He prayed in
+the face of Trogool: "Only turn back thy pages to the name of one
+which is writ no more, and far away upon a place named Earth shall
+rise the prayers of a little people that acclaim the name of
+Trogool, for there is indeed far off a place called Earth where
+men shall pray to Trogool."
+
+Then spake Trogool who turns the pages and never answers prayer,
+and his voice was like the murmurs of the waste at night when
+echoes have been lost: "Though the whirlwind of the South should
+tug with his claws at a page that hath been turned yet shall he
+not be able to ever turn it back."
+
+Then because of words in the book that said that it should be so,
+Yadin found himself lying in the desert where one gave him water,
+and afterwards carried him on a camel into Bodrahan.
+
+There some said that he had but dreamed when thirst seized him
+while he wandered among the rocks in the desert. But certain aged
+men of Bodrahan say that indeed there sitteth somewhere a Thing
+that is called Trogool, that is neither god nor beast, that
+turneth the leaves of a book, black and white, black and white,
+until he come to the words: _Mai Doon Izahn_, which means The
+End For Ever, and book and gods and worlds shall be no more.
+
+
+
+YONATH THE PROPHET
+
+
+Yonath was the first among prophets who uttered unto men.
+
+These are the words of Yonath, the first among all prophets:
+
+There be gods upon Pegana.
+
+Upon a night I slept. And in my sleep Pegana came very near. And
+Pegana was full of gods.
+
+I saw the gods beside me as one might see wonted things.
+
+Only I saw not MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+And in that hour, in the hour of my sleep, I knew.
+
+And the end and the beginning of my knowing, and all of my knowing
+that there was, was this--that Man Knoweth Not.
+
+Seek thou to find at night the utter edge of the darkness, or seek
+to find the birthplace of the rainbow where he leapeth upward from
+the hills, only seek not concerning the wherefore of the making of
+the gods.
+
+The gods have set a brightness upon the farther side of the Things
+to Come that they may appear more felititous to men than the
+Things that Are.
+
+To the gods the Things to Come are but as the Things that Are, and
+nothing altereth in Pegana.
+
+The gods, although not merciful, are not ferocious gods. They are
+the destroyers of the Days that Were, but they set a glory about
+the Days to Be.
+
+Man must endure the Days that Are, but the gods have left him his
+ignorance as a solace.
+
+Seek not to know. Thy seeking will weary thee, and thou wilt
+return much worn, to rest at last about the place from whence thou
+settest out upon thy seeking.
+
+Seek not to know. Even I, Yonath, the oldest prophet, burdened
+with the wisdom of great years, and worn with seeking, know only
+that man knoweth not.
+
+Once I set out seeking to know all things. Now I know one thing
+only, and soon the Years will carry me away.
+
+The path of my seeking, that leadeth to seeking again, must be
+trodden by very many more, when Yonath is no longer even Yonath.
+
+Set not thy foot upon that path.
+
+Seek not to know.
+
+These be the Words of Yonath.
+
+
+
+YUG THE PROPHET
+
+
+When the Years had carries away Yonath, and Yonath was dead,
+there was no longer a prophet among men.
+
+And still men sought to know.
+
+Therefore they said unto Yug: "Be thou our prophet, and know all
+things, and tell us concerning the wherefore of It All."
+
+And Yug said: "I know all things." And men were pleased.
+
+And Yug said of the Beginning that it was in Yug's own garden, and
+of the End that it was in the sight of Yug.
+
+And men forgot Yug.
+
+One day Yug saw Mung behind the hills making the sign of Mung. And
+Yug was Yug no more.
+
+
+
+ALHIRETH-HOTEP THE PROPHET
+
+
+When Yug was Yug no more men said unto Alhireth-Hotep: "Be thou
+our prophet, and be as wise as Yug."
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said: "I am as wise as Yug." And men were very
+glad.
+
+And Alhireth-Hotep said of Life and Death: "These be the affairs
+of Alhireth-Hotep." And men brought gifts to him.
+
+One day Alhireth-Hotep wrote in a book: "Alhireth-Hotep knoweth
+All Things, for he hath spoken with Mung."
+
+And Mung stepped from behind him, making the sign of Mung, saying:
+"Knowest thou All Things, then, Alhireth-Hotep?" And Alhireth-Hotep
+became among the Things that Were.
+
+
+
+KABOK THE PROPHET
+
+When Alhireth-Hotep was among the Things that Were, and still men
+sought to know, they said unto Kabok: "Be thou as wise as was
+Alhireth-Hotep."
+
+And Kabok grew wise in his own sight and in the sight of men.
+
+And Kabok said: "Mung maketh his signs against men or withholdeth
+it by the advice of Kabok."
+
+And he said unto one: "Thou hast sinned against Kabok, therefore
+will Mung make the sign of Mung against thee." And to another:
+"Thou has brought Kabok gifts, therefore shall Mung forbear to
+make against thee the sign of Mung."
+
+One night as Kabok fattened upon the gifts that men had brought
+him he heard the tread of Mung treading in the garden of Kabok
+about his house at night.
+
+And because the night was very still it seemed most evil to Kabok
+that Mung should be treading in his garden, without the advice of
+Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok, who knew All Things, grew afraid, for the treading was
+very loud and the night still, and he knew not what lay behind the
+back of Mung, which none had ever seen.
+
+But when the morning grew to brightness, and there was light upon
+the Worlds, and Mung trod no longer in the garden, Kabok forgot
+his fears, and said: "Perhaps it was but a herd of cattle that
+stampeded in the garden of Kabok."
+
+And Kabok went about his business, which was that of knowing All
+Things, and telling All Things unto men, and making light of Mung.
+
+But that night Mung trod again in the garden of Kabok, about his
+house at night, and stood before the window of the house like a
+shadow standing erect, so that Kabok knew indeed that it was Mung.
+
+And a great fear fell upon the throat of Kabok, so that his speech
+was hoarse; and he cried out: "Thou art Mung!"
+
+And Mung slightly inclined his head, and went on to tread in the
+garden of Kabok, about his house at night.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened with horror at his heart.
+
+But when the second morning grew to brightness, and there was
+light upon the Worlds, Mung went from treading in the garden of
+Kabok; and for a little while Kabok hoped, but looked with great
+dread for the coming of the third night.
+
+And when the third night was come, and the bat had gone to his
+home, and the wind had sank, the night was very still.
+
+And Kabok lay and listened, to whom the wings of the night flew
+very slow.
+
+But, ere night met the morning upon the highway between Pegana and
+the Worlds, there came the tread of Mung in the garden of Kabok
+towards Kabok's door.
+
+And Kabok fled out of his house as flees a hunted beast and flung
+himself before Mung.
+
+And Mung made the sign of Mung, pointing towards THE END.
+
+And the fears of Kabok had rest from troubling Kabok any more, for
+they and he were among accomplished things.
+
+
+
+OF THE CALAMITY THAT BEFEL YUN-ILARA BY THE SEA, AND OF THE
+BUILDING OF THE TOWER OF THE ENDING OF DAYS
+
+
+When Kabok and his fears had rest the people sought a prophet who
+should have no fear of Mung, whose hand was against the prophets.
+
+And at last they found Yun-Ilara, who tended sheep and had no fear
+of Mung, and the people brought him to the town that he might be
+their prophet.
+
+And Yun-Ilara builded a tower towards the sea that looked upon the
+setting of the Sun. And he called it the Tower of the Ending of
+Days.
+
+And about the ending of the day would Yun-Ilara go up to his
+tower's top and look towards the setting of the Sun to cry his
+curses against Mung, crying: "O Mung! whose hand is against the
+Sun, whom men abhor but worship because they fear thee, here stands
+and speaks a man who fears thee not. Assassin lord of murder and
+dark things, abhorrent, merciless, make thou the sign of Mung
+against me when thou wilt, but until silence settles upon my lips,
+because of the sign of Mung, I will curse Mung to his face." And
+the people in the street below would gaze up with wonder towards
+Yun-Ilara, who had no fear of Mung, and brought him gifts; only in
+their homes after the falling of the night would they pray again
+with reverence to Mung. But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And still Mung came not nigh to Yun-Ilara as he cried his curses
+against Mung from his tower towards the sea.
+
+And Sish throughout the Worlds hurled Time away, and slew the
+Hours that had served him well, and called up more out of the
+timeless waste that lieth beyond the Worlds, and drave them forth
+to assail all things. And Sish cast a whiteness over the hairs of
+Yun-Ilara, and ivy about his tower, and weariness over his limbs,
+for Mung passed by him still.
+
+And when Sish became a god less durable to Yun-Ilara than ever
+Mung hath been he ceased at last to cry from his tower's top his
+curses against Mung whenever the sun went down, till there came
+the day when weariness of the gift of Kib fell heavily upon
+Yun-Ilara.
+
+Then from the tower of the Ending of Days did Yun-Ilara cry out
+thus to Mung, crying: "O Mung! O loveliest of the gods! O Mung,
+most dearly to be desired! thy gift of Death is the heritage of
+Man, with ease and rest and silence and returning to the Earth.
+Kib giveth but toil and trouble; and Sish, he sendeth regrets with
+each of his hours wherewith he assails the World. Yoharneth-Lahai
+cometh nigh no more. I can no longer be glad with Limpang-Tung.
+When the other gods forsake him a man hath only Mung."
+
+But Mung said: "Shall a man curse a god?"
+
+And every day and all night long did Yun-Ilara cry aloud: "Ah, now
+for the hour of the mourning of many, and the pleasant garlands of
+flowers and the tears, and the moist, dark earth. Ah, for repose
+down underneath the grass, where the firm feet of the trees grip
+hold upon the world, where never shall come the wind that now blows
+through my bones, and the rain shall come warm and trickling, not
+driven by storm, where is the easeful falling asunder of bone from
+bone in the dark." Thus prayed Yun-Ilara, who had cursed in his
+folly and youth, while never heeded Mung.
+
+Still from a heap of bones that are Yun-Ilara still, lying about
+the ruined base of the tower that once he builded, goes up a
+shrill voice with the wind crying out for the mercy of Mung, if
+any such there be.
+
+
+
+OF HOW THE GODS WHELMED SIDITH
+
+
+There was dole in the valley of Sidith. For three years there had
+been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover,
+there was imminence of war.
+
+Throughout all Sidith men died night and day, and night and day
+within the Temple of All the gods save One (for none may pray to
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI) did the priests of the gods pray hard.
+
+For they said: "For a long while a man may hear the droning of
+little insects and yet not be aware that he hath heard them, so
+may the gods not hear our prayers at first until they have been
+very oft repeated. But when your praying has troubled the silence
+long it may be that some god as he strolls in Pegana's glades may
+come on one of our lost prayers, that flutters like a butterfly
+tossed in storm when all its wings are broken; then if the gods be
+merciful they may ease our fears in Sidith, or else they may crush
+us, being petulant gods, and so we shall see trouble in Sidith no
+longer, with its pestilence and dearth and fears of war."
+
+But in the fourth year of the pestilence and in the second year
+of the famine, and while still there was imminence of war, came
+all the people of Sidith to the door of the Temple of All the gods
+save One, where none may enter but the priests--but only leave
+gifts and go.
+
+And there the people cried out: "O High Prophet of All the gods
+save One, Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung,
+Teller of the mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the
+People, and Lord of Prayer, what doest thou within the Temple of
+All the gods save One?"
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith, who was the High Prophet, answered: "I pray for
+all the People."
+
+But the people answered: "O High Prophet of All the gods save One,
+Priest of Kib, Priest of Sish, and Priest of Mung, Teller of the
+mysteries of Dorozhand, Receiver of the gifts of the People, and
+Lord of Prayer, for four long years hast thou prayed with the
+priests of all thine order, while we brought ye gifts and died.
+Now, therefore, since They have not heard thee in four grim years,
+thou must go and carry to Their faces the prayer of the people of
+Sidith when They go to drive the thunder to his pasture upon the
+mountain Aghrinaun, or else there shall no longer be gifts upon
+thy temple door, whenever falls the dew, that thou and thine order
+may fatten.
+
+"Then thou shalt say before Their faces: 'O All the gods save One,
+Lords of the Worlds, whose child is the eclipse, take back thy
+pestilence from Sidith, for ye have played the game of the gods
+too long with the people of Sidith, who would fain have done with
+the gods'."
+
+Then in great fear answered the High Prophet, saying: "What if the
+gods be angry and whelm Sidith?" And the people answered: "Then are
+we sooner done with pestilence and famine and the imminence of war."
+
+That night the thunder howled upon Aghrinaun, which stood a peak above
+all others in the land of Sidith. And the people took Arb-Rin-Hadith
+from his Temple and drave him to Aghrinaun, for they said: "There walk
+to-night upon the mountain All the gods save One."
+
+And Arb-Rin-Hadith went trembling to the gods.
+
+Next morning, white and frightened from Aghrinaun, came Arb-Rin-Hadith
+back into the valley, and there spake to the people, saying: "The
+faces of the gods are iron and their mouths set hard. There is no
+hope from the gods."
+
+Then said the people: "Thou shalt go to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, to whom
+no man may pray: seek him upon Aghrinaun where it lifts clear into
+the stillness before morning, and on its summit, where all things
+seem to rest surely there rests also MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Go to him,
+and say: 'Thou hast made evil gods, and They smite Sidith.'
+Perchance he hath forgotten all his gods, or hath not heard of
+Sidith. Thou hast escaped the thunder of the gods, surely thou
+shalt also escape the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI."
+
+Upon a morning when the sky and lakes were clear and the world
+still, and Aghrinaun was stiller than the world, Arb-Rin-Hadith
+crept in fear towards the slopes of Aghrinaun because the people
+were urgent.
+
+All that day men saw him climbing. At night he rested near the
+top. But ere the morning of the day that followed, such as rose
+early saw him in the silence, a speck against the blue, stretch up
+his arms upon the summit to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI. Then instantly they
+saw him not, nor was he ever seen of men again who had dared to
+trouble the stillness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Such as now speak of Sidith tell of a fierce and potent tribe
+that smote away a people in a valley enfeebled by pestilence,
+where stood a temple to "All the gods save One" in which was no
+high priest.
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN BECAME HIGH PROPHET IN ARADEC OF ALL
+THE GODS SAVE ONE
+
+
+Imbaun was to be made High Prophet in Aradec, of All the Gods save
+One.
+
+From Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond came all High Prophets
+of the Earth to the Temple in Aradec of All the gods save One.
+
+And then they told Imbaun how The Secret of Things was upon the
+summit of the dome of the Hall of Night, but faintly writ, and in
+an unknown tongue.
+
+Midway in the night, between the setting and the rising sun, they
+led Imbaun into the Hall of Night, and said to him, chaunting
+altogether: "Imbaun, Imbaun, Imbaun, look up to the roof, where is
+writ The Secret of Things, but faintly, and in an unknown tongue."
+
+And Imbaun looked up, but darkness was so deep within the Hall of
+Night that Imbaun was not even the High Prophets who came from
+Ardra, Rhoodra, and the lands beyond, nor saw he aught in the Hall
+of Night at all.
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What seest thou, Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I see naught."
+
+Then called the High Prophets: "What knowest thou Imbaun?"
+
+And Imbaun said: "I know naught."
+
+Then spake the High Prophet of Eld of All the gods save One, who
+is first on Earth of prophets: "O Imbaun! we have all looked
+upwards in the Hall of Night towards the secret of Things, and
+ever it was dark, and the Secret faint and in an unknown tongue.
+And now thou knowest what all High Prophets know."
+
+And Imbaun answered: "I know."
+
+So Imbaun became High Prophet in Aradec of All the gods save One,
+and prayed for all the people, who knew not that there was
+darkness in the Hall of Night or that the secret was writ faint
+and in an unknown tongue.
+
+These are the words of Imbaun that he wrote in a book that all the
+people might know:
+
+"In the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon, as night came
+up the valley, I performed the mystic rites of each of the gods in
+the temple as is my wont, lest any of the gods should grow angry
+in the night and whelm us while we slept.
+
+"And as I uttered the last of certain secret words I fell asleep
+in the temple, for I was weary, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand. Then in the stillness, as I slept, there entered
+Dorozhand by the temple door in the guise of a man, and touched me
+on the shoulder, and I awoke.
+
+"But when I saw that his eyes shone blue and lit the whole of the
+temple I knew that he was a god though he came in mortal guise.
+And Dorozhand said: 'Prophet of Dorozhand, behold that the people
+may know.' And he showed me the paths of Sish stretching far down
+into the future time. Then he bade me arise and follow whither he
+pointed, speaking no words but commanding with his eyes.
+
+"Therefore upon the twentieth night of the nine hundredth moon I
+walked with Dorozhand adown the paths of Sish into the future
+time.
+
+"And ever beside the way did men slay men. And the sum of their
+slaying was greater than the slaying of the pestilence of any of
+the evils of the gods.
+
+"And cities arose and shed their houses in dust, and ever the
+desert returned again to its own, and covered over and hid the
+last of all that had troubled its repose.
+
+"And still men slew men.
+
+"And I came at last to a time when men set their yoke no longer
+upon beasts but made them beasts of iron.
+
+"And after that did men slay men with mists.
+
+"Then, because the slaying exceeded their desire, there came peace
+upon the world that was brought by the hand of the slayer, and men
+slew men no more.
+
+"And cities multiplied, and overthrew the desert and conquered its
+repose.
+
+"And suddenly I beheld that THE END was near, for there was a
+stirring above Pegana as of One who grows weary of resting, and I
+saw the hound Time crouch to spring, with his eyes upon the
+throats of the gods, shifting from throat to throat, and the
+drumming of Skarl grew faint.
+
+"And if a god may fear, it seemed that there was fear upon the
+face of Dorozhand, and he seized me by the hand and led me back
+along the paths of Time that I might not see THE END.
+
+"Then I saw cities rise out of the dust again and fall back into
+the desert whence they had arisen; and again I slept in the Temple
+of All the gods save One, with my head against the altar of
+Dorozhand.
+
+"Then again the Temple was alight, but not with light from the
+eyes of Dorozhand; only dawn came all blue out of the East and
+shone through the arches of the Temple. Then I awoke and performed
+the morning rites and mysteries of All the gods save One, lest any
+of the gods be angry in the day and take away the Sun.
+
+"And I knew that because I who had been so near to it had not
+beheld THE END that a man should never behold it or know the doom
+of the gods. This They have hidden."
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN MET ZODRAK
+
+
+The prophet of the gods lay resting by the river to watch the
+stream run by.
+
+And as he lay he pondered on the Scheme of Things and the works of
+all the gods. And it seemed to the prophet of the gods as he
+watched the stream run by that the Scheme was a right scheme and
+the gods benignant gods; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds. It
+seemed that Kib was bountiful, that Mung calmed all who suffer,
+that Sish dealt not too harshly with the hours, and that all the
+gods were good; yet there was sorrow in the Worlds.
+
+Then said the prophet of the gods as he watched the stream run by:
+"There is some other god of whom naught is writ." And suddenly the
+prophet was aware of an old man who bemoaned beside the river,
+crying: "Alas! alas!"
+
+His face was marked by the sign and the seal of exceeding many
+years, and there was yet vigour in his frame. These be the words
+of the prophet that he wrote in his book: "I said: 'Who art thou
+that bemoans beside the river?' And he answered: 'I am the fool.'
+I said: 'Upon thy brow are the marks of wisdom such as is stored
+in books.' He said: 'I am Zodrak. Thousands of years ago I tended
+sheep upon a hill that sloped towards the sea. The gods have many
+moods. Thousands of years ago They were in a mirthful mood. They
+said: 'Let Us call up a man before Us that We may laugh in
+Pegana.'"
+
+"'And Their eyes that looked on me saw not me alone but also saw
+THE BEGINNING and THE END and all the Worlds besides. Then said
+the gods, speaking as speak the gods: "Go, back to thy sheep."
+
+"'But I, who am the fool, had heard it said on earth that whoso
+seeth the gods upon Pegana becometh as the gods, if so he demand
+to Their faces, who may not slay him who hath looked them in the
+eyes.
+
+"'And I, the fool, said: "I have looked in the eyes of the gods,
+and I demand what a man may demand of the gods when he hath seen
+Them in Pegana." And the gods inclined Their heads and Hoodrazai
+said: "It is the law of the gods."
+
+"'And I, who was only a shepherd, how could I know?
+
+"'I said: "I will make men rich." And the gods said: "What is
+rich?"
+
+"'And I said: "I will send them love." And the gods said: "What is
+love?" And I sent gold into the Worlds, and, alas! I sent with it
+poverty and strife. And I sent love into the Worlds, and with it
+grief.
+
+"'And now I have mixed gold and love most woefully together, and I
+can never remedy what I have done, for the deeds of the gods are
+done, and nothing may undo them.
+
+"'Then I said: "I will give men wisdom that they may be glad." And
+those who got my wisdom found that they knew nothing, and from
+having been happy became glad no more.
+
+"'And I, who would make men happy, have made them sad, and I have
+spoiled the beautiful scheme of the gods.
+
+"'And now my hand is for ever on the handle of Their plough. I was
+only a shepherd, and how should I have known?
+
+"'Now I come to thee as thou restest by the river to ask of thee
+thy forgiveness, for I would fain have the forgiveness of a man.'
+
+"And I answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose children are the
+storms, shall a man forgive a god?'
+
+"He answered: 'Men have sinned not against the gods as the gods
+have sinned against men since I came into Their councils.'
+
+"And I, the prophet, answered: 'O Lord of seven skies, whose
+plaything is the thunder, thou art amongst the gods, what need
+hast thou for words from any man?'
+
+"He said: 'Indeed I am amongst the gods, who speak to me as they
+speak to other gods, yet is there always a smile about Their
+mouths, and a look in Their eyes that saith: "Thou wert a man."'
+
+"I said: 'O Lord of seven skies, about whose feet the Worlds are
+as drifted sand, because thou biddest me, I, a man, forgive thee.'
+
+"And he answered: 'I was but a shepherd, and I could not know.'
+Then he was gone."
+
+
+
+PEGANA
+
+
+The prophet of the gods cried out to the gods: "O! All the gods
+save One" for none may pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, "where shall the
+life of a man abide when Mung hath made against his body the sign
+of Mung?--for the people with whom ye play have sought to know."
+
+But the gods answered, speaking through the mist:
+
+"Though thou shouldst tell thy secrets to the beasts, even that
+the beasts should understand, yet will not the gods divulge the
+secret of the gods to thee, that gods and beasts and men shall be
+all the same, all knowing the same things."
+
+That night Yoharneth-Lahai same to Aradec, and said unto Imbaun:
+"Wherefore wouldst thou know the secret of the gods that not the
+gods may tell thee?
+
+"When the wind blows not, where, then, is the wind?
+
+"Or when thou art not living, where art thou?
+
+"What should the wind care for the hours of calm or thou for
+death?
+
+"Thy life is long, Eternity is short.
+
+"So short that, shouldst thou die and Eternity should pass, and
+after the passing of Eternity thou shouldst live again, thou
+wouldst say: 'I closed mine eyes but for an instant.'
+
+"There is an eternity behind thee as well as one before. Hast thou
+bewailed the aeons that passed without thee, who art so much
+afraid of the aeons that shall pass?"
+
+Then said the prophet: "How shall I tell the people that the gods
+have not spoken and their prophet doth not know? For then should I
+be prophet no longer, and another would take the people's gifts
+instead of me."
+
+Then said Imbaun to the people: "The gods have spoken, saying: 'O
+Imbaun, Our prophet, it is as the people believe whose wisdom hath
+discovered the secret of the gods, and the people when they die
+shall come to Pegana, and there live with the gods, and there have
+pleasure without toil. And Pegana is a place all white with the
+peaks of mountains, on each of them a god, and the people shall
+lie upon the slopes of the mountains each under the god that he
+hath worshipped most when his lot was in the Worlds. And there
+shall music beyond thy dreaming come drifting through the scent
+of all the orchards in the Worlds, with somewhere someone singing
+an old song that shall be as a half-remembered thing. And there
+shall be gardens that have always sunlight, and streams that are
+lost in no sea beneath skies for ever blue. And there shall be no
+rain nor no regrets. Only the roses that in highest Pegana have
+achieved their prime shall shed their petals in showers at thy
+feet, and only far away on the forgotten earth shall voices drift
+up to thee that cheered thee in thy childhood about the gardens of
+thy youth. And if thou sighest for any memory of earth because thou
+hearest unforgotten voices, then will the gods send messengers on
+wings to soothe thee in Pegana, saying to them: "There one sigheth
+who hath remembered Earth." And they shall make Pegana more seductive
+for thee still, and they shall take thee by the hand and whisper in
+thine ear till the old voices are forgot.
+
+"'And besides the flowers of Pegana there shall have climbed by
+then until it hath reached to Pegana the rose that clambered about
+the house where thou wast born. Thither shall also come the
+wandering echoes of all such music as charmed thee long ago.
+
+"'Moreover, as thou sittest on the orchard lawns that clothe
+Pegana's mountains, and as thou hearkenest to melody that sways
+the souls of the gods, there shall stretch away far down beneath
+thee the great unhappy Earth, till gazing from rapture upon sorrows
+thou shalt be glad that thou wert dead.
+
+"'And from the three great mountains that stand aloof and over all
+the others--Grimbol, Zeebol, and Trehagobol--shall blow the wind
+of the morning and the wind of all the day, borne upon the wings
+of all the butterflies that have died upon the Worlds, to cool the
+gods and Pegana.
+
+"'Far through Pegana a silvery fountain, lured upward by the gods
+from the Central Sea, shall fling its waters aloft, and over the
+highest of Pegana's peaks, above Trehagobol, shall burst into
+gleaming mists, to cover Highest Pegana, and make a curtain about
+the resting-place of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+"'Alone, still and remote below the base of one of the inner
+mountains, lieth a great blue pool.
+
+"'Whoever looketh down into its waters may behold all his life
+that was upon the Worlds and all the deeds that he hath done.
+
+"'None walk by the pool and none regard its depths, for all in
+Pegana have suffered and all have sinned some sin, and it lieth in
+the pool.
+
+"'And there is no darkness in Pegana, for when night hath conquered
+the sun and stilled the Worlds and turned the white peaks of Pegana
+into grey then shine the blue eyes of the gods like sunlight on the
+sea, where each god sits upon his mountain.
+
+"'And at the Last, upon some afternoon, perhaps in summer, shall the
+gods say, speaking to the gods: "What is the likeness of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and what THE END?"
+
+"'And then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI draw back with his hand the mists
+that cover his resting, saying: "This is the Face of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+and this THE END."'"
+
+Then said the people to the prophet: "Shall not black hills draw
+round in some forsaken land, to make a vale-wide cauldron wherein
+the molten rock shall seethe and roar, and where the crags of
+mountains shall be hurled upward to the surface and bubble and go
+down again, that there our enemies may boil for ever?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "It is writ large about the bases of
+Pegana's mountains, upon which sit the gods: 'Thine Enemies Are
+Forgiven."'
+
+
+
+THE SAYINGS OF IMBAUN
+
+
+The Prophet of the gods said: "Yonder beside the road there
+sitteth a false prophet; and to all who seek to know the hidden
+days he saith: 'Upon the morrow the King shall speak to thee as
+his chariot goeth by.'"
+
+Moreover, all the people bring him gifts, and the false prophet
+hath more to listen to his words than hath the Prophet of the
+gods.
+
+Then said Imbaun: "What knoweth the Prophet of the gods? I know
+only that I and men know naught concerning the gods or aught
+concerning men. Shall I, who am their prophet, tell the people
+this?
+
+"For wherefore have the people chosen prophets but that they
+should speak the hopes of the people, and tell the people that
+their hopes be true?"
+
+The false prophet saith: "Upon the morrow the king shall speak to
+thee."
+
+Shall not I say: "Upon The Morrow the gods shall speak with thee
+as thou restest upon Pegana?"
+
+So shall the people be happy, and know that their hopes be true
+who have believed the words that they have chosen a prophet to say.
+
+But what shall know the Prophet of the gods, to whom none may come
+to say: "Thy hopes are true," for whom none may make strange signs
+before his eyes to quench his fear of death, for whom alone the
+chaunt of his priests availeth naught?
+
+The Prophet of the gods hath sold his happiness for wisdom, and
+hath given his hopes for the people.
+
+Said also Imbaun: "When thou art angry at night observe how calm
+be the stars; and shall small ones rail when there is such a calm
+among the great ones? Or when thou art angry by day regard the
+distant hills, and see the calm that doth adorn their faces. Shalt
+thou be angry while they stand so serene?
+
+"Be not angry with men, for they are driven as thou art by
+Dorozhand. Do bullocks goad one another on whom the same yoke
+rests?
+
+"And be not angry with Dorozhand, for then thou beatest thy bare
+fingers against iron cliffs.
+
+"All that is is so because it was to be. Rail not, therefore,
+against what is, for it was all to be."
+
+And Imbaun said: "The Sun ariseth and maketh a glory about all the
+things that he seeth, and drop by drop he turneth the common dew
+to every kind of gem. And he maketh a splendour in the hills.
+
+"And also man is born. And there rests a glory about the gardens
+of his youth. Both travel afar to do what Dorozhand would have
+them do.
+
+"Soon now the sun will set, and very softly come twinkling in the
+stillness all the stars.
+
+"Also man dieth. And quietly about his grave will all the mourners
+weep.
+
+"Will not his life arise again somewhere in all the worlds? Shall
+he not again behold the gardens of his youth? Or does he set to
+end?"
+
+
+
+OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING
+
+
+There trod such pestilence in Aradec that, the King as he looked
+abroad out of his palace saw men die. And when the King saw Death
+he feared that one day even the King should die. Therefore he
+commanded guards to bring before him the wisest prophet that
+should be found in Aradec.
+
+Then heralds came to the temple of All the gods save One, and
+cried aloud, having first commanded silence, crying: "Rhazahan,
+King over Aradec, Prince by right of Ildun and Ildaun, and Prince
+by conquest of Pathia, Ezek, and Azhan, Lord of the Hills, to the
+High Prophet of All the gods save One sends salutations."
+
+Then they bore him before the King.
+
+The King said unto the prophet: "O Prophet of All the gods save
+One, shall I indeed die?"
+
+And the prophet answered: "O King! thy people may not rejoice for
+ever, and some day the King will die."
+
+And the King answered: "This may be so, but certainly thou shalt
+die. It may be that one day I shall die, but till then the lives
+of the people are in my hands."
+
+Then guards led the prophet away.
+
+And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to
+Kings.
+
+
+
+OF OOD
+
+
+Men say that if thou comest to Sundari, beyond all the plains, and
+shalt climb to his summit before thou art seized by the avalanche
+which sitteth always on his slopes, that then there lie before thee
+many peaks. And if thou shalt climb these and cross their valleys
+(of which there be seven and also seven peaks) thou shalt come at
+last to the land of forgotten hills, where amid many valleys and
+white snow there standeth the "Great Temple of One god Only."
+
+Therein is a dreaming prophet who doeth naught, and a drowsy
+priesthood about him.
+
+These be the priests of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
+
+Within the temple it is forbidden to work, also it is forbidden to
+pray. Night differeth not from day within its doors. They rest as
+MANA rests. And the name of their prophet is Ood.
+
+Ood is a greater prophet than any of all the prophets of Earth,
+and it hath been said by some that were Ood and his priests to
+pray chaunting all together and calling upon MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+that MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI would then awake, for surely he would hear
+the prayers of his own prophet--then would there be Worlds no more.
+
+There is also another way to the land of forgotten hills, which is
+a smooth road and a straight, that lies through the heart of the
+mountains. But for certain hidden reasons it were better for thee
+to go by the peaks and snow, even though thou shouldst perish by
+the way, that thou shouldst seek to come to the house of Ood by
+the smooth, straight road.
+
+
+
+THE RIVER
+
+
+There arises a river in Pegana that is neither a river of water
+nor yet a river of fire, and it flows through the skies and the
+Worlds to the Rim of the Worlds, a river of silence. Through all
+the Worlds are sounds, the noises of moving, and the echoes of
+voices and song; but upon the River is no sound ever heard, for
+there all echoes die.
+
+The River arises out of the drumming of Skarl, and flows for ever
+between banks of thunder, until it comes to the waste beyond the
+Worlds, behind the farthest star, down to the Sea of Silence.
+
+I lay in the desert beyond all cities and sounds, and above me
+flowed the River of Silence through the sky; and on the desert's
+edge night fought against the Sun, and suddenly conquered.
+
+Then on the River I saw the dream-built ship of the god Yoharneth-Lahai,
+whose great prow lifted grey into the air above the River of Silence.
+
+Her timbers were olden dreams dreamed long ago, and poets' fancies
+made her tall, straight masts, and her rigging was wrought out of
+the people's hopes.
+
+Upon her deck were rowers with dream-made oars, and the rowers
+were the people of men's fancies, and princes of old story and
+people who had died, and people who had never been.
+
+These swung forward and swung back to row Yoharneth-Lahai through
+the Worlds with never a sound of rowing. For ever on every wind
+float up to Pegana the hopes and the fancies of the people which
+have no home in the Worlds, and there Yoharneth-Lahai weaves them
+into dreams, to take them to the people again.
+
+And every night in his dream-built ship Yoharneth-Lahai setteth
+forth, with all his dreams on board, to take again their old hopes
+back to the people and all forgotten fancies.
+
+But ere the day comes back to her own again, and all the
+conquering armies of the dawn hurl their red lances in the face of
+the night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows
+back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegana into the Sea
+of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.
+
+And the name of the River is Imrana the River of Silence. All they
+that be weary of the sound of cities and very tired of clamour
+creep down in the night-time to Yoharneth-Lahai's ship, and going
+aboard it, among the dreams and the fancies of old times, lie down
+upon the deck, and pass from sleeping to the River, while Mung,
+behind them, makes the sign of Mung because they would have it so.
+And, lying there upon the deck among their own remembered fancies,
+and songs that were never sung, and they drift up Imrana ere the
+dawn, where the sound of the cities comes not, nor the voice of
+the thunder is heard, nor the midnight howl of Pain as he gnaws
+at the bodies of men, and far away and forgotten bleat the small
+sorrows that trouble all the Worlds.
+
+But where the River flows through Pegana's gates, between the
+great twin constellations Yum and Gothum, where Yum stands
+sentinel upon the left and Gothum upon the right, there sits
+Sirami, the lord of All Forgetting. And, when the ship draws near,
+Sirami looketh with his sapphire eyes into the faces and beyond
+them of those that were weary of cities, and as he gazes, as one
+that looketh before him remembering naught, he gently waves his
+hands. And amid the waving of Sirami's hands there fall from all
+that behold him all their memories, save certain things that may
+not be forgotten even beyond the Worlds.
+
+It hath been said that when Skarl ceases to drum, and MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI
+awakes, and the gods of Pegana know that it is THE END, that then the
+gods will enter galleons of gold, and with dream-born rowers glide down
+Imrana (who knows whither or why?) till they come where the River enters
+the Silent Sea, and shall there be gods of nothing, where nothing is,
+and never a sound shall come. And far away upon the River's banks shall
+bay their old hound Time, that shall seek to rend his masters; while
+MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI shall think some other plan concerning gods and worlds.
+
+
+
+THE BIRD OF DOOM AND THE END
+
+
+For at the last shall the thunder, fleeing to escape from the doom
+of the gods, roar horribly among the Worlds; and Time, the hound
+of the gods, shall bay hungrily at his masters because he is lean
+with age.
+
+And from the innermost of Pegana's vales shall the bird of doom,
+Mosahn, whose voice is like the trumpet, soar upward with
+boisterous beatings of his wings above Pegana's mountains and the
+gods, and there with his trumpet voice acclaim THE END.
+
+Then in the tumult and amid the fury of their hound the gods shall
+make for the last time in Pegana the sign of all the gods, and go
+with dignity and quiet down to Their galleons of gold, and sail
+away down the River of Silence, not ever to return.
+
+Then shall the River overflow its banks, and a tide come setting
+in from the Silent Sea, till all the Worlds and the Skies are
+drowned in silence; while MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI in the Middle of All
+sits deep in thought. And the hound Time, when all the Worlds and
+cities are swept away whereon he used to raven, having no more to
+devour, shall suddenly die.
+
+But there are some that hold--and this is the heresy of the
+Saigoths--that when the gods go down at the last into their
+galleons of gold Mung shall turn alone, and, setting his back
+against Trehagobol and wielding the Sword of Severing which is
+called Death, shall fight out his last fight with the hound Time,
+his empty scabbard Sleep clattering loose beside him.
+
+There under Trehagobol they shall fight alone when all the gods
+are gone.
+
+And the Saigoths say that for two days and nights the hound shall
+leer and snarl before the face of Mung-days and nights that shall
+be lit by neither sun nor moons, for these shall go dipping down
+the sky with all the Worlds as the galleons glide away, because
+the gods that made them are gods no more.
+
+And then shall the hound, springing, tear out the throat of Mung,
+who, making for the last time the sign of Mung, shall bring down
+Death crashing through the shoulders of the hound, and in the
+blood of Time that Sword shall rust away.
+
+Then shall MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI be all alone, with neither Death nor
+Time, and never the hours singing in his ears, nor the swish of
+the passing lives.
+
+But far away from Pegana shall go the galleons of gold that bear
+the gods away, upon whose faces shall be utter calm, because They
+are the gods knowing that it is THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods of Pegana
+by Lord Dunsany [Edward J. M. D. Plunkett]
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS OF PEGANA ***
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