“‘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 there is 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.”
PEGĀNA
The prophet of the gods cried out to the gods: “O! All the gods save One” (for none may pray to MĀNA-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.”8
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, should 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 are so much afraid of the aeons that shall pass?”9
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 Pegāna, and there live with the gods, and there have pleasure without toil. And Pegāna 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 Pegāna 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 Pegāna, saying to them: “There one sigheth who hath remembered Earth.” And they shall make Pegāna 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 Pegāna there shall have climbed by then until it hath reached to Pegāna 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 Pegāna’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 Trehágobol—shall blow the wind of the morning and the wind of the evening 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 Pegāna.
“‘Far through Pegāna a silvery fountain, lured upward by the gods from the Central Sea, shall fling its waters aloft, and over the highest of Pegāna’s peaks, above Trehágobol, shall burst into gleaming mists, to cover Highest Pegāna, and make a curtain about the resting-place of MĀNA-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 Pegāna have suffered and all have sinned some sin, and it lieth in the pool.
“‘And there is no darkness in Pegāna, for when night hath conquered the sun and stilled the Worlds and turned the white peaks of Pegāna 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 MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHAI and what THE END?”
“‘And then shall Māna-Yood-Sushai draw back with his hand the mists that cover his resting, saying: “This is the Face of MĀNĀ-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ 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 Pegāna’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 these as thou restest upon Pegāna?’
“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 a
ngry 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 Sundāri, beyond all the plains, and shalt climb to his summit before thou art seized by the avalanche which sitteth always on his slopes, 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 MĀNA-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 MĀNA 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 MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHAI, MĀNA-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, than that thou shouldst seek to come to the home of Ood by the smooth, straight road.
THE RIVER
There arises a river in Pegāna 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 Pegāna 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 night, Yoharneth-Lahai leaves the sleeping Worlds, and rows back up the River of Silence, that flows from Pegāna into the Sea of Silence that lies beyond the Worlds.
And the name of the River is Imrāna, 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, 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, they drift up Imrāna 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 Pegāna’s gates, between the great twin constellations Yum and Gothum, where Yum stands sentinel upon the left and Gothum upon the right, there sits Sirāmi, the lord of All Forgetting. And, when the ship draws near, Sirāmi 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 Sirāmi’s hands there fall from all that behold him all their memories, save certain things that may not be forgot even beyond the Worlds.
It hath been said that when Skarl ceases to drum, and MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHAI awakes, and the gods of Pegāna know that it is THE END, then the gods will enter galleons of gold, and with dream-born rowers glide down Imrāna (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 MĀNA-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 Pegāna’s vales shall the bird of doom, Mosahn, whose voice is like the trumpet, soar upward with boisterous beatings of his wings above Pegāna’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 Pegāna 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 MĀNA-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 Trehágobol 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 Trehágobol 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 MĀNA-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 Pegāna 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.
Time and the Gods