“I have never been a man,” replied Jah sadly. “Nor have I been able to play my part in human affairs. Like my friend here I have been an exile. I have been forced to dwell in the mists of superstition, even as he has been confined in the dark depths of lust. Until now I never understood our interdependence. I am the imagination of man. He is man’s passion. Together we can bring about the release of love in his soul. Separately we can do nothing to break his folly, his stupidity, his brutality, his vain selfishness. Without us he can be inquisitive and clever, vigorous and energetic, but he remains insensible, unjust, cruel and cowardly.” And Nicholas Bly roused himself and he seemed to grow, and the film fell from his eyes and he cried: “Blessed be Jah, blessed be Nicodemus, blessed be man and the heart of man, blessed be woman and the love of woman, blessed be life, blessed be death!” So saying he rose to his feet. Before his face the sun was sinking in the evening glory: behind him the moon rose. XVIII: JAH SPEAKS A great wind blew through Nicholas Bly’s hair and he bowed his head in acceptance of the wonder of the universe. As the moon rose to her zenith Jah said: “There are Wonders beyond me and God is beyond imagination. My dwelling is in the mind of men, but I have been driven therefrom. My friend here should dwell in the heart of man, but he has been unseated. Together we should win for man his due share of the world’s dominion and power, and should be his sweetest stops in the instrument of life. For without us is no joy, and with us joy is fierce. I speak, of the woman also, for she is the equal of man and his comrade.” And as the moon was sinking to the west Jah said: “We have suffered too long, and we have brought forth nothing. Let us no longer be separate, but let us, man, woman, God and Devil, join together to bring forth joy, for until there is joy on earth there shall not be justice, nor kindness, nor understanding, nor any good thing. We are but one spirit, for the spirit is one, and none but the undivided spirit can see the light of the sun.” Even as he spoke the sun came up in his majesty, dwarfing the mighty hills, and Nicholas Bly raised his head and saw Nicodemus in the likeness of a lusty young man, fine and splendid in his desire, and Jah in the shape of a winged boy. And as he saw them they disappeared, and he said: “They have vanished into the air.” From the scarred hillside came an echo: “Into the air.” XIX: SONG Then did Nicholas Bly sing: “I have lived, I have loved, I have died, And my spirit has burned like a flame; In the furnace of life my soul has been tried, I have dwindled to ashes of shame. I have glowed to the winds of my own desire, I have flickered and flared and roared, Through the endless night has flashed my delight To declare my joy in the Lord.