In the Wrong Paradise, and Other StoriesLang, Andrew
Science
In the Wrong Paradise, and Other Stories
Lang, Andrew
Paranormal fiction; Science fiction, English; Short stories; Slavery -- Fiction
From philology we turn to the examination of literary fragments, which
will necessarily establish our already secured position (that Gladstone
is the sun), or so much the worse for the fragments. These have reached
us in the shape of burned and torn scraps of paper, covered with printed
texts, which resolve themselves into hymns, and imprecations or curses.
It appears to have been the custom of the worshippers of Gladstone to
salute his rising, at each dawn, with printed outcries of adoration and
delight, resembling in character the Osirian hymns. These are sometimes
couched in rhythmical language, as when we read--
"[Gla] dstone, the pillar of the People's hopes,"--
to be compared with a very old text, referring obscurely to "the People's
William," and "a popular Bill," doubtless one and the same thing, as has
often been remarked. Among the epithets of Gladstone which occur in the
hymns, we find "versatile," "accomplished," "philanthropic," "patriotic,"
"statesmanlike," "subtle," "eloquent," "illustrious," "persuasive,"
"brilliant," "clear," "unambiguous," "resolute." All of those are
obviously intelligible only when applied to the sun. At the same time we
note a fragmentary curse of the greatest importance, in which Gladstone
is declared to be the beloved object of "the Divine Figure from the
North," or "the Great White Czar." This puzzled the learned, till a
fragment of a mythological disquisition was recently unearthed. In this
text it was stated, on the authority of Brinton, that "the Great White
Hare" worshipped by the Red Indians was really, when correctly
understood, the Dawn. It is needless to observe (when one is addressing
students) that "Great White Hare" (in Algonkin, Manibozho) becomes Great
White Czar in Victorian English. Thus the Divine Figure from the North,
or White Czar, with whom Gladstone is mythically associated, turns out to
be the Great White Hare, or Dawn Hero, of the Algonkins. The sun
(Gladstone) may naturally and reasonably be spoken of in mythical
language as the "Friend of the Dawn." This proverbial expression came to
be misunderstood, and we hear of a Liberal statesman, Gladstone, and of
his affection for a Russian despot. The case is analogous to Apollo's
fabled love for Daphne = Dahana, the Dawn. While fragments of laudatory
hymns are common enough, it must not be forgotten that dirges or curses
(Dirae) are also discovered in the excavations. These Dirae were put
forth both morning and evening, and it is interesting to note that the
imprecations vented at sunset ("evening papers," in the old mythical
language) are even more severe and unsparing than those uttered ("morning
papers") at dawn.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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