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[page 79:]
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SIOPE — A FABLE.
[In the Manner of the
Psychological
Autobiographists.]
BY EDGAR A. POE.
Ours is a world of words: Quiet
we call
Silence — which is the merest
word of all
Al Aaraaf.
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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 the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion.
For many [page 80:] 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 primœval 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
grey 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 [page
81:] 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
grey rock which stood by the shore of the river, and was litten by the
light of the moon. And the rock was grey, and ghastly, and tall, — and
the rock was grey. 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; [page 82:] 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 moon shone upon his face, and upon the features
of his face, and oh! they were more beautiful than the airy dreams
which
hovered about the souls of the daughters of Delos!
"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 primœval 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 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 of the murmur that came up from
among
them. And I lay close within my [page 83:] 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 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 [page 84:] 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 85:]
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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