Time and the Gods

by Lord Dunsany

  THE KING THAT WAS NOT

  The land of Runazar hath no King nor ever had one; and this is the lawof the land of Runazar that, seeing that it hath never had a King, itshall not have one for ever. Therefore in Runazar the priests holdsway, who tell people that never in Runazar hath there been a King.

  Althazar, King of Runazar, and lord of all lands near by, commanded forthe closer knowledge of the gods that Their images should be carven inRunazar, and in all lands near by. And when Althazar's command, waftedabroad by trumpets, came tinkling in the ear of all the gods, rightglad were They at the sound of it. Therefore men quarried marble fromthe earth, and sculptors busied themselves in Runazar to obey the edictof the King. But the gods stood by starlight on the hills where thesculptors might see Them, and draped the clouds about Them, and putupon Them Their divinest air, that sculptors might do justice toPegana's gods. Then the gods strode back into Pegana and the sculptorshammered and wrought, and there came a day when the Master of Sculptorstook audience of the King, saying:

  "Althazar, King of Runazar, High Lord moreover of all the lands nearby, to whom be the gods benignant, humbly have we completed the imagesof all such gods as were in thine edict named."

  Then the King commanded a great space to be cleared among the houses inhis city, and there the images of all the gods were borne and setbefore the King, and there were assembled the Master of Sculptors andall his men; and before each stood a soldier bearing a pile of goldupon a jewelled tray, and behind each stood a soldier with a drawnsword pointing against their necks, and the King looked upon theimages. And lo! they stood as gods with the clouds all draped aboutthem, making the sign of the gods, but their bodies were those of men,and lo! their faces were very like the King's, and their beards were asthe King's beard. And the King said:

  "These be indeed Pegana's gods."

  And the soldiers that stood before the sculptors were caused to presentto them the piles of gold, and the soldiers that stood behind thesculptors were caused to sheath their swords. And the people shouted:

  "These be indeed Pegana's gods, whose faces we are permitted to see bythe will of Althazar the King, to whom be the gods benignant." Andheralds were sent abroad through the cities of Runazar and of all thelands near by, proclaiming of the images:

  "These be Pegana's gods."

  But up in Pegana the gods howled with wrath and Mung leant forward tomake the sign of Mung against Althazar the King. But the gods laidTheir hands upon his shoulder saying:

  "Slay him not, for it is not enough that Althazar shall die, who hathmade the faces of the gods to be like the faces of men, but he must noteven have ever been."

  Then said the gods:

  "Spake we of Althazar, a King?"

  And the gods said:

  "Nay, we spake not." And the gods said:

  "Dreamed we of one Althazar?" And the gods said:

  "Nay, we dreamed not."

  But in the royal palace of Runazar, Althazar, passing suddenly out ofthe remembrance of the gods, became no longer a thing that was or hadever been.

  And by the throne of Althazar lay a robe, and near it lay a crown, andthe priests of the gods entered his palace and made it a temple of thegods. And the people coming to worship said:

  "Whose was this robe and to what purpose is this crown?"

  And the priests answered:

  "The gods have cast away the fragment of a garment and lo! from thefingers of the gods hath slipped one little ring."

  And the people said to the priests:

  "Seeing that Runazar hath never had a King, therefore be ye our rulers,and make ye our laws in the sight of Pegana's gods."