第92章

"But as we shaped, there passed some of the essence of our pride; in giving will we had given power, perforce, to exercise that will for good or for evil, to speak or to be si-lent, to tell us what we wished of that which poured into it through the seven orbs or to withhold that knowledge itself;and in forging it from the immortal energies we had en-dowed it with their indifference; open to all consciousness it held within it the pole of utter joy and the pole of utter woe with all the arc that lies between; all the ecstasies of the countless worlds and suns and all their sorrows; all that ye symbolize as gods and all ye symbolize as devils--not nega-tiving each other, for there is no such thing as negation, but holding them together, balancing them, encompassing them, pole upon pole!"So THIS was the explanation of the entwined emotions of joy and terror that had changed so appallingly Throckmar-tin's face and the faces of all the Dweller's slaves!

The handmaiden's eyes grew bright, alert, again; the brooding passed from her face; the golden voice that had been so deep found its own familiar pitch.

"I listened while the Three spoke to you," she said."Now the shaping of the Shining One had been a long, long travail and time had flown over the outer world _laya_ upon _laya_.For a space the Shining One was content to dwell here; to be fed with the foods of light: to open the eyes of the Three to mystery upon mystery and to read for them facet after facet of the gem of truth.Yet as the tides of consciousness flowed through it they left behind shadowings and echoes of their burdens; and the Shining One grew stronger, always stronger of ITSELF WITHIN ITSELF.Its will strengthened and now not always was it the will of the Three; and the pride that was woven in the making of it waxed, while the love for them that its creators had set within it waned.

"Not ignorant were the _Taithu_ of the work of the Three.

First there were a few, then more and more who coveted the Shining One and who would have had the Three share with them the knowledge it drew in for them.But the Silent Ones in their pride, would not.

"There came a time when its will was now ALL its own, and it rebelled, turning its gaze to the wider spaces beyond the Portal, offering itself to the many there who would serve it;tiring of the Three, their control and their abode.

"Now the Shining One has its limitations, even as we.Over water it can pass, through air and through fire; but pass it cannot, through rock or metal.So it sent a message--how Iknow not--to the _Taithu_ who desired it, whispering to them the secret of the Portal.And when the time was ripe they opened the Portal and the Shining One passed through it to them; nor would it return to the Three though they com-manded, and when they would have forced it they found that it had hived and hidden a knowledge that they could not overcome.

"Yet by their arts the Three could have shattered the seven shining orbs; but they would not because--they loved, it!

"Those to whom it had gone built for it that place I have shown you, and they bowed to it and drew wisdom from it.

And ever they turned more and more from the ways in which the _Taithu_ had walked--for it seemed that which came to the Shining One through the seven orbs had less and less of good and more and more of the power you call evil.Knowl-edge it gave and understanding, yes; but not that which, clear and serene, lights the paths of right wisdom; rather were they flares pointing the dark roads that lead to--to the ultimate evil!

"Not all of the race of the Three followed the counsel of the Shining One.There were many, many, who would have none of it nor of its power.So were the _Taithu_ split; and to this place where there had been none, came hatred, fear and suspicion.Those who pursued the ancient ways went to the Three and pleaded with them to destroy their work--and they would not, for still they loved it.

"Stronger grew the Dweller and less and less did it lay before its worshippers--for now so they had become--the fruits of its knowledge; and it grew--restless--turning its gaze upon earth face even as it had turned it from the Three.

It whispered to the _Taithu_ to take again the paths and look out upon the world.Lo! above them was a great fertile land on which dwelt an unfamiliar race, skilled in arts, seeking and finding wisdom--mankind! Mighty builders were they;vast were their cities and huge their temples of stone.

"They called their lands Muria and they worshipped a god Thanaroa whom they imagined to be the maker of all things, dwelling far away.They worshipped as closer gods, not indifferent but to be prayed to and to be propitiated, the moon and the sun.Two kings they had, each with his coun-cil and his court.One was high priest to the moon and the other high priest to the sun.

"The mass of this people were black-haired, but the sun king and his nobles were ruddy with hair like mine; and the moon king and his followers were like Yolara--or Lugur.And this, the Three say, Goodwin, came about be-cause for time upon time the law had been that whenever a ruddy-haired or ashen-tressed child was born of the black-haired it became dedicated at once to either sun god or moon god, later wedding and bearing children only to their own kind.Until at last from the black-haired came no more of the light-locked ones, but the ruddy ones, being stronger, still arose from them."