Prhones te kai charhadrhai. (1)
ALCMAN. (60 (10),646.)
"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 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 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 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
fAllan, it was blood. And I stood in the morass among the tall 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 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
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 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.
1837
(1) The mountain pinnacles slumber;
valleys, crags and caves are silent.
