And I made no great haste now to go unto that place; but went down
sudden into the bushes, and lay upon my belly, and had a new great fear
upon my spirit. And presently, I parted the bushes a little, and made a
place for spying.
And I looked a great time unto the place of the light, and now to this
part and now to that. And sudden, I saw, as it did seem, a monstrous
head within the glowing; for the glowing did seem at whiles as that it
swept to and fore, as should a shining smoke that went obedient to a
quiet wind: and so to hide and again to uncover. And in a moment I lost
the great face, and was all unsure that ever I had seen aught.
And lo! in a little minute, I did see it again; but whether it did be
the shape of some utter monster of eternity--even as the Watchers about
the Mighty Pyramid--or whether it did be no more than a carven mountain
of rock, shaped unto the dire picturing of a Monster, I did have no
knowing. But I made that I should get hence very quick, and I did turn
me about in the bushes, and went upon my hands and knees; and so came at
last a great way off.
Now, presently, I came again upon my feet, and did take a new look
around that Land. And I had the mouth of the Gorge to my back, and this
I perceived by the shining of the fire-pits that made the place shown to
me.
And to the left of the Gorge was an utter blackness, as I did conceive
of black and monstrous mountains, through which the Gorge did come. And
to the right side of the Gorge there were many low volcanoes, that went
always along the feet of the great mountains that made the right wall of
the Gorge. And I saw the feet of these dark mountains, because that the
light from the little volcanoes made a glare upon the lower slopes.
And so shall you have some knowing of that part of this second Land of
Night.
And a good way off, was the shining that I had journeyed unto, and the
shining went into a distant light through a part of the Land that lay
afar to my left, for it stretched a great and strange way toward me, out
of the leftward gloom, and came unto my front, and so away into an utter
distance. Yet, though it was so great, you shall not think that it made
any huge light in the Land; but was rather as that it had a shining made
unto other ends; for it made not a great lightness in the Land.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account