FOR THE HONOUR OF THE GODS
Of the great wars of the Three Islands are many histories writ and ofhow the heroes of the olden time one by one were slain, but nought istold of the days before the olden time, or ever the people of the isleswent forth to war, when each in his own land tended cattle or sheep,and listless peace obscured those isles in the days before the oldentime. For then the people of the Islands played like children about thefeet of Chance and had no gods and went not forth to war. But sailors,cast by strange winds upon those shores which they named the ProsperousIsles, and finding a happy people which had no gods, told how theyshould be happier still and know the gods and fight for the honour ofthe gods and leave their names writ large in histories and at the lastdie proclaiming the names of the gods. And the people of the islandsmet and said:
"The beasts we know, but lo! these sailors tell of things beyond thatknow us as we know the beasts and use us for their pleasure as we usethe beasts, but yet are apt to answer idle prayer flung up at eveningnear the hearth, when a man returneth from the ploughing of the fields.Shall we now seek these gods?" And some said:
"We are lords of the Three Islands and have none to trouble us, andwhile we live we find prosperity, and when we die our bones have easein the quiet. Let us not therefore seek those who may loom greater thanwe do in the Islands Three or haply harry our bones when we be dead."
But others said:
"The prayers that a man mutters, when the drought hath come and all thecattle die, go up unheeded to the heedless clouds, and if somewherethere be those that garner prayer let us send men to seek them and tosay: 'There be men in the Isles called Three, or sometimes named bysailors the Prosperous Isles (and they be in the Central Sea), whoofttimes pray, and it hath been told us that ye love the worship ofmen, and for it answer prayer, and we be travellers from the IslandsThree.'"
And the people of the Islands were greatly allured by the thought ofstrange things neither men nor beasts who at evening answered prayer.
Therefore they sent men down in ships with sails to sail across thesea, and in safety over the sea to a far shore Chance brought theships. Then over hill and valley three men set forth seeking to findthe gods, and their comrades beached the ships and waited on the shore.And they that sought the gods followed for thirty nights the lightningsin the sky over five mountains, and as they came to the summit of thelast, they saw a valley beneath them, and lo! the gods. For there thegods sat, each on a marble hill, each sitting with an elbow on hisknee, and his chin upon his hand, and all the gods were smiling aboutTheir lips. And below them there were armies of little men, and aboutthe feet of the gods they fought against each other and slew oneanother for the honour of the gods, and for the glory of the name ofthe gods. And round them in the valley their cities that they hadbuilded with the toil of their hands, they burned for the honour of thegods, where they died for the honour of the gods, and the gods lookeddown and smiled. And up from the valley fluttered the prayers of menand here and there the gods did answer a prayer, but oftentimes Theymocked them, and all the while men died.
And they that had sought the gods from the Islands Three, having seenwhat they had seen, lay down on the mountain summit lest the godsshould see them. Then they crept backward a little space, still lyingdown, and whispered together and then stooped low and ran, andtravelled across the mountains in twenty days and came again to theircomrades by the shore. But their comrades asked them if their quest hadfailed and the three men only answered:
"We have seen the gods."
And setting sail the ships hove back across the Central Sea and cameagain to the Islands Three, where rest the feet of Chance, and said tothe people:
"We have seen the gods."
But to the rulers of the Islands they told how the gods drove men inherds; and went back and tended their flocks again all in theProsperous Isles, and were kinder to their cattle after they had seenhow that the gods used men.
But the gods walking large about Their valley, and peering over thegreat mountain's rim, saw one morning the tracks of the three men. Thenthe gods bent their faces low over the tracks and leaning forward ran,and came before the evening of the day to the shore where the men hadset sail in ships, and saw the tracks of ships upon the sand, and wadedfar out into the sea, and yet saw nought. Still it had been well forthe Islands Three had not certain men that had heard the travellers'tale sought also to see the gods themselves. These in the night-timeslipped away from the Isles in ships, and ere the gods had retreated tothe hills, They saw where ocean meets with sky the full white sails ofthose that sought the gods upon an evil day. Then for a while thepeople of those gods had rest while the gods lurked behind themountain, waiting for the travellers from the Prosperous Isles. But thetravellers came to shore and beached their ships, and sent six of theirnumber to the mountain whereof they had been told. But they after manydays returned, having not seen the gods but only the smoke that wentupward from burned cities, and vultures that stood in the sky insteadof answered prayer. And they all ran down their ships again into thesea, and set sail again and came to the Prosperous Isles. But in thedistance crouching behind the ships the gods came wading through thesea that They might have the worship of the isles. And to every isle ofthe three the gods showed themselves in different garb and guise, andto all they said:
"Leave your flocks. Go forth and fight for the honour of the gods."
And from one of the isles all the folk came forth in ships to battlefor gods that strode through the isle like kings. And from another theycame to fight for gods that walked like humble men upon the earth inbeggars' rags; and the people of the other isle fought for the honourof gods that were clothed in hair like beasts; and had many gleamingeyes and claws upon their foreheads. But of how these people foughttill the isles grew desolate but very glorious, and all for the fame ofthe gods, are many histories writ.