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[page 135, column 1, continued:]
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Silence. — A Fable.
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'Ευδουσιν
δ'ορεων κορυφαι τε και φαραγγες
Πρωνες τε και χαραδραι [[:Greek text]]
ALCMAN.
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The mountain
pinnacles slumber; valleys, crags
and caves are
silent. |
"LISTEN to me,"
said
the Demon, as he placed his hand
upon my head.
"The
region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, by the borders of
the river Zäire. 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 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 and ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their
everlasting
heads. And there is an indistinct [column 2:] 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 Zäire 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 mine eyes fell upon a huge gray rock which
stood
by the shore of the river, and was lighted 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 them. 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 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 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 Zäire, 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 [page
136:] 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 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 up its pathway to 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, in
haste, so that I beheld him no more."
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 [[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.
EDGAR A. POE.
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