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[page 19:]
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SIOPE.
A FABLE.
[IN THE MANNER OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL
AUTOBIOGRAPHISTS.]
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Alcman.
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"LISTEN to me,"
said
the Demon, as he placed his hand upon my head. "There is a spot upon
this
accursed earth which thou hast never yet beheld[[.]] And if by any
chance
thou hast beheld it, it must have been in one of those
vigorous
dreams
which come like the simoon upon the brain of the sleeper who hath lain
down to sleep among the forbidden sunbeams — among the sunbeams, I say,
which slide from off the solemn columns of the melancholy temples in
the
wilderness. The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, by
the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there, nor
silence.
"The waters of the river have a
saffron and
sickly
hue — and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and
forever
beneath the red eye of [page 20:] the sun with a
tumultuous
and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river's
oozy
bed is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the
other
in that solitude, and stretch towards the heaven their long ghastly
necks,
and nod to and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct
murmur which cometh out from among them like the rushing of subterrene
water. And they sigh one unto the other.
"But there is a boundary to their
realm — the
boundary
of the dark, horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the
Hebrides,
the low underwood is agitated continually. But there is no wind
throughout
the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally hither and
thither
with a crashing and mighty sound. And from their high summits, one by
one,
drop everlasting dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie
writhing
in perturbed slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the
gray clouds rush westwardly forever, until they roll, a cataract, over
the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the
heaven.
And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither quiet nor
silence.
"It was night, and the rain fell;
and, falling,
it
was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood. And I stood in the morass
among
the tall lilies, and the rain fell upon my head — and the lilies sighed
one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.
"And, all at once, the moon arose
through the
thin
ghastly mist, and was crimson in color. And [page 21:]
mine eyes fell upon a huge gray rock which stood by the shore of the
river,
and was litten by the light of the moon. And the rock was gray, and
ghastly,
and tall, — and the rock was gray. Upon its front were characters
engraven
in the stone; and I walked through the morass of water-lilies, until I
came close unto the shore, that I might read the characters upon the
stone.
But I could not decypher the characters. And I was going back into the
morass, when the moon shone with a fuller red, and I turned and looked
again upon the rock, and upon the characters — and the characters were DESOLATION.
"And I looked upwards, and there
stood a man upon
the summit of the rock, and I hid myself among the water-lilies that I
might discover the actions of the man. And the man was tall and stately
in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders to his feet in the toga
of old Rome. And the outlines of his figure were indistinct — but his
features
were the features of a deity; for the mantle of the night, and of the
mist,
and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his
face. And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care;
and, in the few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and
weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a longing after solitude.
"And the man sat down upon the rock,
and leaned
his
head upon his hand, and looked out upon the desolation. He looked down
into the low unquiet shrubbery, and up into the tall primeval trees,
and
up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the crimson [page
22:]
moon. And I lay close within shelter of the lilies, and observed the
actions
of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude — but the night waned
and he sat upon the rock.
"And the man turned his attention
from the
heaven,
and looked out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly
waters, and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man
listened
to the sighs of the water-lilies, and to the murmur that came up from
among
them. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the
man. And the man trembled in the solitude — but the night waned and he
sat upon the rock.
"Then I went down into the recesses
of the
morass,
and waded afar in among the wilderness of the lilies, and called unto
the
hippopotami which dwelt among the fens in the recesses of the morass.
And
the hippopotami heard my call, and came, with the behemoth, unto the
foot
of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully beneath the moon. And I
lay
close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man
trembled in the solitude — but the night waned and he sat upon the
rock.
"Then I cursed the elements with the
curse of
tumult;
and a frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where before there had
been
no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest —
and the rain beat upon the head of the man — and the floods of the
river
came down — and the river was tormented into foam — and the
water-lilies
shrieked within their beds — and the forest [page 23:]
crumbled before the wind — and the thunder rolled, — and the lightning
fell — and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay close within my
covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the
solitude — but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.
"Then I grew angry and cursed, with
the curse of silence, the river, and the lilies, and the wind,
and the
forest,
and the heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And
they became accursed and were still. And the moon ceased to
totter
in its pathway up the heaven — and the thunder died away — and the
lightning
did not flash — and the clouds hung motionless — and the waters sunk to
their level and remained — and the trees ceased to rock — and the
water-lilies
sighed no more — and the murmur was heard no longer from among them,
nor
any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert. And I
looked
upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed — and the
characters
were SILENCE.
"And mine eyes
fell upon the
countenance of the
man,
and his countenance was wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his
head from his hand, and stood forth upon the rock, and listened. But
there
was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the characters
upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man
shuddered,
and turned his face away, and fled afar off, and I beheld him no more."
[page 24:]
Now there are fine tales in the
volumes of the
Magi
— in the iron-bound, melancholy volumes of the Magi. Therein, I say,
are
glorious histories of the Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty
Sea
— and of the Genii that over-ruled the sea, and the earth, and the
lofty
heaven. There was much lore too in the sayings which were said by the
sybils;
and holy, holy things were heard of old by the dim leaves that trembled
around Dodona — but, as Allah liveth, that fable which the Demon told
me
as he sat by my side in the shadow of the tomb, I hold to be the most
wonderful
of all! And as the Demon made an end of his story, he fell back within
the cavity of the tomb and laughed. And I could not laugh with the
Demon,
and he cursed me because I could not laugh. And the lynx which dwelleth
forever in the tomb, came out therefrom, and lay down at the feet of
the
Demon, and looked at him steadily in the face. |
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