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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 EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion.

And EimÎs is the joy of lowing herds; and Z‰nÎs hath bowed his

neck to the yoke of man, and carries the timber from the forest

far up below the mountain; and Seg·strion 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 EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion 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 EimÎs,

Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion?”

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 EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion 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 EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion 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 EimÎs sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock,

and Z‰nÎs crept into the middle of a wood, and Seg·strion lay and

panted on the sand--still Umbool sat and grinned.

And EimÎs grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the

plain would say: “Here once was EimÎs”; and Z‰nÎs scarce had

strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Seg·strion lay and

panted a man stepped over his stream, and Seg·strion 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 EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion 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 carried 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.