In the valley of Nis the accursed waning moon shines thinly, tearing a
path for its light with feeble horns through the lethal foliage of a
great upas-tree. And within the depths of the valley, where the light
reaches not, move forms not meet to be beheld. Rank is the herbage on
each slope, where evil vines and creeping plants crawl amidst the
stones of ruined palaces, twining tightly about broken columns and
strange monoliths, and heaving up marble pavements laid by forgotten
hands. And in trees that grow gigantic in crumbling courtyards leap
little apes, while in and out of deep treasure-vaults writhe poison
serpents and scaly things without a name.
Vast are the stones which sleep beneath coverlets of dank moss, and
mighty were the walls from which they fell. For all time did their
builders erect them, and in sooth they yet serve nobly, for beneath
them the grey toad makes his habitation.
At the very bottom of the valley lies the river Than, whose waters are
slimy and filled with weeds. From hidden springs it rises, and to
subterranean grottoes it flows, so that the Daemon of the Valley knows
not why its waters are red, nor whither they are bound.
The Genie that haunts the moonbeams spake to the Daemon of the Valley,
saying, “I am old, and forget much. Tell me the deeds and aspect and
name of them who built these things of stone.” And the Daemon replied,
“I am Memory, and am wise in lore of the past, but I too am old. These
beings were like the waters of the river Than, not to be understood.
Their deeds I recall not, for they were but of the moment. Their aspect
I recall dimly, for it was like to that of the little apes in the
trees. Their name I recall clearly, for it rhymed with that of the
river. These beings of yesterday were called Man.”
So the Genie flew back to the thin horned moon, and the Daemon looked
intently at a little ape in a tree that grew in a crumbling courtyard.
Return to “Memory”
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