And Orion soon came too, and the folk of the village doffed their long
thin hats; and, though the trolls would have laughed at him also, Lurulu
had found his whip, and by means of it made the mob of his impudent
brethren give that salutation that is given in Elfland to those of its
royal line.
When noonday came, which was the hour of dinner, and the folk turned
from the kennels, they went back to their houses all praising the magic
that was come at last to Erl.
During the days that followed Orion's hounds learned that it was vain to
chase a troll and unwise to snarl at one; for, apart from their elvish
speed, the trolls were able to leap into the air far over the heads of
the hounds, and when each had been given a whip they could repay
snarling with an aim that none on Earth was able to equal, except those
whose sires had carried a whip with hounds for generations.
And one morning Orion came to the pigeon-loft and called to Lurulu
early, and he brought out the trolls and they went to the kennels and
Orion opened the doors, and he led them all away eastwards over the
downs. The hounds moved all together and the trolls with their whips ran
beside them, like a flock of sheep surrounded by numbers of collies.
They were away to the border of Elfland to wait for the unicorns where
they come through the twilight to eat the earthly grasses at evening.
And as our evening began to mellow the fields we know, they were come to
the opal border that shut those fields from Elfland. And there they
lurked as Earth's darkness grew, and waited for the great unicorns. Each
hound had its troll beside it with the troll's right hand along its
shoulder or neck, soothing it, calming it, and holding it still, while
the left hand held the whip: the strange group lingered there
motionless, and darkened there with the evening. And when Earth was as
dim and quiet as the unicorns desired the great creatures came softly
through, and were far into Earth before any troll would allow his hound
to move. Thus when Orion gave the signal they easily cut one off from
its elfin home and hunted it snorting over those fields that are the
portion of men. And night came down on the proud beast's magical gallop,
and the hounds intoxicate with that marvellous scent, and the leaping
soaring trolls.
And, when jackdaws on the highest towers of Erl saw the rim of the sun
all red above frosted fields, Orion came back from the downs with his
hounds and his trolls, carrying as fine a head as a unicorn-hunter could
wish. The hounds weary but glad were soon curled up in their kennels,
and Orion in his bed; while the trolls in their pigeon-loft began to
feel, as none but Lurulu had felt ever before, the weight and the
weariness of the passing of time.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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