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[[SIOPE — A FABLE.]]
[[The title, motto and first 6 paragraphs have not survived.]]
[[. . .]] [front of page:] forest, and up higher
at the rustling Heaven, and into the crimson moon. And I lay close
within
shelter of the lilies and I 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 I 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 far 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, 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 waterlilies shrieked within their
beds
— and the trees crumbled before the wind — and the lightning flashed —
and the thunder fell — and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay
close within my covert, and I observed the actions of the man. And the
man trembled within the solitude — but the night waned, and he sat upon
the rock.
Then I grew angry and cursed with a
silent curse
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 [back
of page:] 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 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 saw 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 told
me,
as he sat by my side in the shadow of the old tomb at Balbec, 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 tried,
but
could not laugh with the Demon — and he cursed me because I could not
laugh.
And the lynx which dwelleth in the cavern by the tomb came out from his
lair, and lying down at the feet of the Demon looked at him steadily in
the face.
71.
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