Chapter 1
The Dark Star.
by Robert W. Chambers.
ALAK'S SONG
Where are you going, Naa?
Through the still noon-- Where are you going?
To hear the thunder of the sea And the wind blowing!-- To find a stormy moon to comfort me Across the dune!
Why are you weeping, Naa?
Through the still noon-- Why are you weeping?
Because I found no wind, no sea, No white surf leaping, Nor any flying moon to comfort me Upon the dune.
What did you see there, Naa?
In the still noon-- What did you see there?
Only the parched world drowsed in drought, And a fat bee, there, Prying and probing at a poppy's mouth That drooped a-swoon.
What did you hear there, Naa?
In the still noon-- What did you hear there?
Only a kestrel's lonely cry From the wood near there-- A rustle in the wheat as I pa.s.sed by-- A cricket's rune.
Who led you homeward, Naa?
Through the still noon-- Who led you homeward?
My soul within me sought the sea, Leading me foam-ward: But the lost moon's ghost returned with me Through the
Where is your soul then, Naa?
Lost at high noon-- Where is your soul then?
It wanders East--or West--I think-- Or near the Pole, then-- Or died--perhaps there on the dune's dry brink Seeking the moon.
THE DARK STAR
"The dying star grew dark; the last light faded from it; went out.
Prince Erlik laughed.
"And suddenly the old order of things began to pa.s.s away more swiftly.
"Between earth and outer s.p.a.ce--between Creator and created, confusing and confounding their ident.i.ties,--a rus.h.i.+ng darkness grew--the hurrying wrack of immemorial storms heralding whirlwinds through which Truth alone survives.
"Awaiting the inevitable reestablishment of such temporary conventions as render the incident of human existence possible, the brooding Demon which men call Truth stares steadily at Tengri under the high stars which are pa.s.sing too, and which at last shall pa.s.s away and leave the Demon watching all alone amid the ruins of eternity."
The Prophet of the Kiot Bordjiguen
CONTENTS
Preface. Children of the Star
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Wonder-Box 1
II. Brookhollow 18
III. In Embryo 30
IV. The Trodden Way 38
V. Ex Machina 47
VI. The End of Solitude 60
VII. Obsession 71
VIII. A Change Impends 80
IX. Nonresistance 88
X. Driving Head-on 102
XI. The Breakers 112
XII. A Life Line 122
XIII. Letters from a Little Girl 137
XIV. A Journey Begins 157