It was half-past eight by my watch when I woke on the morning followingour arrival at Milosis, having slept almost exactly twelve hours, andI must say that I did indeed feel better. Ah, what a blessed thing issleep! and what a difference twelve hours of it or so makes to us afterdays and nights of toil and danger. It is like going to bed one man andgetting up another.
I sat up upon my silken couch--never had I slept upon such a bedbefore--and the first thing that I saw was Good's eyeglass fixed on mefrom the recesses of his silken couch. There was nothing else of him tobe seen except his eyeglass, but I knew from the look of it that he wasawake, and waiting till I woke up to begin.
'I say, Quatermain,' he commenced sure enough, 'did you observe herskin? It is as smooth as the back of an ivory hairbrush.'
'Now look here, Good,' I remonstrated, when there came a sound at thecurtain, which, on being drawn, admitted a functionary, who signified bysigns that he was there to lead us to the bath. We gladly consented, andwere conducted to a delightful marble chamber, with a pool of runningcrystal water in the centre of it, into which we gaily plunged. When wehad bathed, we returned to our apartment and dressed, and then went intothe central room where we had supped on the previous evening, to find amorning meal already prepared for us, and a capital meal it was, thoughI should be puzzled to describe the dishes. After breakfast we loungedround and admired the tapestries and carpets and some pieces of statuarythat were placed about, wondering the while what was going to happennext. Indeed, by this time our minds were in such a state of completebewilderment that we were, as a matter of fact, ready for anythingthat might arrive. As for our sense of astonishment, it was pretty wellobliterated. Whilst we were still thus engaged, our friend the captainof the guard presented himself, and with many obeisances signifiedthat we were to follow him, which we did, not without doubts andheart-searchings--for we guessed that the time had come when we shouldhave to settle the bill for those confounded hippopotami with ourcold-eyed friend Agon, the High Priest. However, there was no help forit, and personally I took great comfort in the promise of the protectionof the sister Queens, knowing that if ladies have a will they cangenerally find a way; so off we started as though we liked it. Aminute's walk through a passage and an outer court brought us to thegreat double gates of the palace that open on to the wide highway whichruns uphill through the heart of Milosis to the Temple of the Sun a mileaway, and thence down the slope on the farther side of the temple to theouter wall of the city.
These gates are very large and massive, and an extraordinarily beautifulwork in metal. Between them--for one set is placed at the entrance to aninterior, and one at that of the exterior wall--is a fosse, forty-fivefeet in width. This fosse is filled with water and spanned by adrawbridge, which when lifted makes the palace nearly impregnable toanything except siege guns. As we came, one half of the wide gates wereflung open, and we passed over the drawbridge and presently stood gazingup one of the most imposing, if not the most imposing, roadways in theworld. It is a hundred feet from curb to curb, and on either side,not cramped and crowded together, as is our European fashion, but eachstanding in its own grounds, and built equidistant from and in similarstyle to the rest, are a series of splendid, single-storied mansions,all of red granite. These are the town houses of the nobles of theCourt, and stretch away in unbroken lines for a mile or more till theeye is arrested by the glorious vision of the Temple of the Sun thatcrowns the hill and heads the roadway.
As we stood gazing at this splendid sight, of which more anon, theresuddenly dashed up to the gateway four chariots, each drawn by twowhite horses. These chariots are two-wheeled, and made of wood. They arefitted with a stout pole, the weight of which is supported by leatherngirths that form a portion of the harness. The wheels are made with fourspokes only, are tired with iron, and quite innocent of springs. In thefront of the chariot, and immediately over the pole, is a small seat forthe driver, railed round to prevent him from being jolted off. Insidethe machine itself are three low seats, one at each side, and one withthe back to the horses, opposite to which is the door. The whole vehicleis lightly and yet strongly made, and, owing to the grace of the curves,though primitive, not half so ugly as might be expected.
But if the chariots left something to be desired, the horses did not.They were simply splendid, not very large but strongly built, and wellribbed up, with small heads, remarkably large and round hoofs, and agreat look of speed and blood. I have often wondered whence this breed,which presents many distinct characteristics, came, but like that of itsowners, it history is obscure. Like the people the horses have alwaysbeen there. The first and last of these chariots were occupied byguards, but the centre two were empty, except for the driver, and tothese we were conducted. Alphonse and I got into the first, and SirHenry, Good, and Umslopogaas into the one behind, and then suddenlyoff we went. And we did go! Among the Zu-Vendi it is not usual to trothorses either riding or driving, especially when the journey to be madeis a short one--they go at full gallop. As soon as we were seated thedriver called out, the horses sprang forward, and we were whirledaway at a speed sufficient to take one's breath, and which, till I gotaccustomed to it, kept me in momentary fear of an upset. As for thewretched Alphonse, he clung with a despairing face to the side of whathe called this 'devil of a fiacre', thinking that every moment was hislast. Presently it occurred to him to ask where we were going, andI told him that, as far as I could ascertain, we were going to besacrificed by burning. You should have seen his face as he grasped theside of the vehicle and cried out in his terror.
But the wild-looking charioteer only leant forward over his flyingsteeds and shouted; and the air, as it went singing past, bore away thesound of Alphonse's lamentations.
And now before us, in all its marvellous splendour and dazzlingloveliness, shone out the Temple of the Sun--the peculiar pride of theZu-Vendi, to whom it was what Solomon's, or rather Herod's, Temple wasto the Jews. The wealth, and skill, and labour of generations had beengiven to the building of this wonderful place, which had been onlyfinally completed within the last fifty years. Nothing was spared thatthe country could produce, and the result was indeed worthy of theeffort, not so much on account of its size--for there are larger fanesin the world--as because of its perfect proportions, the richness andbeauty of its materials, and the wonderful workmanship. The building(that stands by itself on a space of some eight acres of garden groundon the hilltop, around which are the dwelling-places of the priests)is built in the shape of a sunflower, with a dome-covered central hall,from which radiate twelve petal-shaped courts, each dedicated to one ofthe twelve months, and serving as the repositories of statues reared inmemory of the illustrious dead. The width of the circle beneath the domeis three hundred feet, the height of the dome is four hundred feet, andthe length of the rays is one hundred and fifty feet, and the height oftheir roofs three hundred feet, so that they run into the central domeexactly as the petals of the sunflower run into the great raised heart.Thus the exact measurement from the centre of the central altar to theextreme point of any one of the rounded rays would be three hundred feet(the width of the circle itself), or a total of six hundred feet fromthe rounded extremity of one ray or petal to the extremity of theopposite one. {Endnote 14}
The building itself is of pure and polished white marble, which showsout in marvellous contrast to the red granite of the frowning city, onwhose brow it glistens indeed like an imperial diadem upon the foreheadof a dusky queen. The outer surface of the dome and of the twelve petalcourts is covered entirely with thin sheets of beaten gold; and from theextreme point of the roof of each of these petals a glorious golden formwith a trumpet in its hand and widespread wings is figured in the veryact of soaring into space. I really must leave whoever reads this toimagine the surpassing beauty of these golden roofs flashing when thesun strikes--flashing like a thousand fires aflame on a mountain ofpolished marble--so fiercely that the reflection can be clearly seenfrom the great peaks of the range a hundred miles away.
It is a marvellous sight--this golden flower upborne upon the cool whitemarble walls, and I doubt if the world can show such another. What makesthe whole effect even more gorgeous is that a belt of a hundred andfifty feet around the marble wall of the temple is planted with anindigenous species of sunflower, which were at the time when we firstsaw them a sheet of golden bloom.
The main entrance to this wonderful place is between the twonorthernmost of the rays or petal courts, and is protected first by theusual bronze gates, and then by doors made of solid marble, beautifullycarved with allegorical subjects and overlaid with gold. When theseare passed there is only the thickness of the wall, which is, however,twenty-five feet (for the Zu-Vendi build for all time), and anotherslight wall also of white marble, introduced in order to avoid causing avisible gap in the inner skin of the wall, and you stand in the circularhall under the great dome. Advancing to the central altar you look uponas beautiful a sight as the imagination of man can conceive. You are inthe middle of the holy place, and above you the great white marble dome(for the inner skin, like the outer, is of polished marble throughout)arches away in graceful curves something like that of St Paul's inLondon, only at a slighter angle, and from the funnel-like opening atthe exact apex a bright beam of light pours down upon the golden altar.At the east and the west are other altars, and other beams of light stabthe sacred twilight to the heart. In every direction, 'white, mystic,wonderful', open out the ray-like courts, each pierced through by asingle arrow of light that serves to illumine its lofty silence anddimly to reveal the monuments of the dead. {Endnote 15}
Overcome at so awe-inspiring a sight, the vast loveliness of whichthrills the nerves like a glance from beauty's eyes, you turn to thecentral golden altar, in the midst of which, though you cannot see itnow, there burns a pale but steady flame crowned with curls of faintblue smoke. It is of marble overlaid with pure gold, in shape roundlike the sun, four feet in height, and thirty-six in circumference.Here also, hinged to the foundations of the altar, are twelve petalsof beaten gold. All night and, except at one hour, all day also, thesepetals are closed over the altar itself exactly as the petals of awater-lily close over the yellow crown in stormy weather; but when thesun at midday pierces through the funnel in the dome and lights upon thegolden flower, the petals open and reveal the hidden mystery, only toclose again when the ray has passed.
Nor is this all. Standing in semicircles at equal distances from eachother on the north and south of the sacred place are ten golden angels,or female winged forms, exquisitely shaped and draped. These figures,which are slightly larger than life-size, stand with bent heads in anattitude of adoration, their faces shadowed by their wings, and are mostimposing and of exceeding beauty.
There is but one thing further which calls for description in thisaltar, which is, that to the east the flooring in front of it is not ofpure white marble, as elsewhere throughout the building, but of solidbrass, and this is also the case in front of the other two altars.
The eastern and western altars, which are semicircular in shape, andplaced against the wall of the building, are much less imposing, andare not enfolded in golden petals. They are, however, also of gold, thesacred fire burns on each, and a golden-winged figure stands on eitherside of them. Two great golden rays run up the wall behind them, butwhere the third or middle one should be is an opening in the wall,wide on the outside, but narrow within, like a loophole turned inwards.Through the eastern loophole stream the first beams of the rising sun,and strike right across the circle, touching the folded petals of thegreat gold flower as they pass till they impinge upon the western altar.In the same way at night the last rays of the sinking sun rest for awhile on the eastern altar before they die away into darkness. It is thepromise of the dawn to the evening and the evening to the dawn.
With the exception of those three altars and the winged figures aboutthem, the whole space beneath the vast white dome is utterly empty anddevoid of ornamentation--a circumstance that to my fancy adds greatly toits splendour.
Such is a brief description of this wonderful and lovely building, tothe glories of which, to my mind so much enhanced by their completesimplicity, I only wish I had the power to do justice. But I cannot, soit is useless talking more about it. But when I compare this greatwork of genius to some of the tawdry buildings and tinsel ornamentationproduced in these latter days by European ecclesiastical architects,I feel that even highly civilized art might learn something from theZu-Vendi masterpieces. I can only say that the exclamation which sprangto my lips as soon as my eyes first became accustomed to the dim lightof that glorious building, and its white and curving beauties, perfectand thrilling as those of a naked goddess, grew upon me one by one, was,'Well! a dog would feel religious here.' It is vulgarly put, but perhapsit conveys my meaning more clearly than any polished utterance.
At the temple gates our party was received by a guard of soldiers,who appeared to be under the orders of a priest; and by them we wereconducted into one of the ray or 'petal' courts, as the priests callthem, and there left for at least half-an-hour. Here we conferredtogether, and realizing that we stood in great danger of our lives,determined, if any attempt should be made upon us, to sell them asdearly as we could--Umslopogaas announcing his fixed intention ofcommitting sacrilege on the person of Agon, the High Priest, bysplitting his head with Inkosi-kaas. From where we stood we couldperceive that an immense multitude were pouring into the temple,evidently in expectation of some unusual event, and I could not helpfearing that we had to do with it. And here I may explain that everyday, when the sunlight falls upon the central altar, and the trumpetssound, a burnt sacrifice is offered to the Sun, consisting generally ofthe carcase of a sheep or ox, or sometimes of fruit or corn. This eventcomes off about midday; of course, not always exactly at that hour, butas Zu-Vendis is situated not far from the Line, although--being sohigh above the sea it is very temperate--midday and the falling of thesunlight on the altar were generally simultaneous. Today the sacrificewas to take place at about eight minutes past twelve.
Just at twelve o'clock a priest appeared, and made a sign, and theofficer of the guard signified to us that we were expected to advance,which we did with the best grace that we could muster, all exceptAlphonse, whose irrepressible teeth instantly began to chatter. In afew seconds we were out of the court and looking at a vast sea of humanfaces stretching away to the farthest limits of the great circle,all straining to catch a glimpse of the mysterious strangers whohad committed sacrilege; the first strangers, mind you, who, to theknowledge of the multitude, had ever set foot in Zu-Vendis since suchtime that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary.
As we appeared there was a murmur through the vast crowd that wentechoing away up the great dome, and we saw a visible blush of excitementgrow on the thousands of faces, like a pink light on a stretch of palecloud, and a very curious effect it was. On we passed down a lane cutthrough the heart of the human mass, till presently we stood uponthe brazen patch of flooring to the east of the central altar, andimmediately facing it. For some thirty feet around the golden-wingedfigures the space was roped off, and the multitudes stood outsidethe ropes. Within were a circle of white-robed gold-cinctured priestsholding long golden trumpets in their hands, and immediately in front ofus was our friend Agon, the High Priest, with his curious cap upon hishead. His was the only covered head in that vast assemblage. We tookour stand upon the brazen space, little knowing what was prepared forus beneath, but I noticed a curious hissing sound proceeding apparentlyfrom the floor for which I could not account. Then came a pause, and Ilooked around to see if there was any sign of the two Queens, Nylepthaand Sorais, but they were not there. To the right of us, however, was abare space that I guessed was reserved for them.
We waited, and presently a far-off trumpet blew, apparently high up inthe dome. Then came another murmur from the multitude, and up a longlane, leading to the open space to our right, we saw the two Queenswalking side by side. Behind them were some nobles of the Court, amongwhom I recog
nized the great lord Nasta, and behind them again a body ofabout fifty guards. These last I was very glad to see. Presently theyhad all arrived and taken their stand, the two Queens in the front,the nobles to the right and left, and the guards in a double semicirclebehind them.
Then came another silence, and Nyleptha looked up and caught my eye;it seemed to me that there was meaning in her glance, and I watched itnarrowly. From my eye it travelled down to the brazen flooring, onthe outer edge of which we stood. Then followed a slight and almostimperceptible sidelong movement of the head. I did not understand it,and it was repeated. Then I guessed that she meant us to move back offthe brazen floor. One more glance and I was sure of it--there wasdanger in standing on the floor. Sir Henry was placed on one side of me,Umslopogaas on the other. Keeping my eyes fixed straight before me, Iwhispered to them, first in Zulu and then in English, to draw slowlyback inch by inch till half their feet were resting on the marbleflooring where the brass ceased. Sir Henry whispered on to Good andAlphonse, and slowly, very very slowly, we shifted backwards; so slowlythat nobody, except Nyleptha and Sorais, who saw everything seemed tonotice the movement. Then I glanced again at Nyleptha, and saw that,by an almost imperceptible nod, she indicated approval. All the whileAgon's eyes were fixed upon the altar before him apparently in anecstasy of contemplation, and mine were fixed upon the small of his backin another sort of ecstasy. Suddenly he flung up his long arm, and in asolemn and resounding voice commenced a chant, of which for convenience'sake I append a rough, a _very_ rough, translation here, though, ofcourse, I did not then comprehend its meaning. It was an invocation tothe Sun, and ran somewhat as follows:--
There is silence upon the face of the Earth and the waters thereof! Yea, the silence doth brood on the waters like a nesting bird; The silence sleepeth also upon the bosom of the profound darkness, Only high up in the great spaces star doth speak unto star, The Earth is faint with longing and wet with the tears of her desire; The star-girdled night doth embrace her, but she is not comforted. She lies enshrouded in mists like a corpse in the grave-clothes, And stretches her pale hands to the East.
Lo! away in the farthest East there is the shadow of a light; The Earth seeth and lifts herself. She looks out from beneath the hollow of her hand. Then thy great angels fly forth from the Holy Place, oh Sun, They shoot their fiery swords into the darkness and shrivel it up. They climb the heavens and cast down the pale stars from their thrones; Yea, they hurl the changeful stars back into the womb of the night; They cause the moon to become wan as the face of a dying man, And behold! Thy glory comes, oh Sun!
Oh, Thou beautiful one, Thou drapest thyself in fire. The wide heavens are thy pathway: thou rollest o'er them as a chariot. The Earth is thy bride. Thou dost embrace her and she brings forth children; Yea, Thou favourest her, and she yields her increase. Thou art the All Father and the giver of life, oh Sun. The young children stretch out their hands and grow in thy brightness; The old men creep forth and seeing remember their strength. Only the dead forget Thee, oh Sun!
When Thou art wroth then Thou dost hide Thy face; Thou drawest around Thee a thick curtain of shadows. Then the Earth grows cold and the Heavens are dismayed; They tremble, and the sound thereof is the sound of thunder: They weep, and their tears are outpoured in the rain; They sigh, and the wild winds are the voice of their sighing. The flowers die, the fruitful fields languish and turn pale; The old men and the little children go unto their appointed place When Thou withdrawest thy light, oh Sun!
Say, what art Thou, oh Thou matchless Splendour-- Who set Thee on high, oh Thou flaming Terror? When didst Thou begin, and when is the day of Thy ending? Thou art the raiment of the living Spirit. {Endnote 16} None did place Thee on high, for Thou was the Beginning. Thou shalt not be ended when thy children are forgotten; Nay, Thou shalt never end, for thy hours are eternal. Thou sittest on high within thy golden house and measurest out the centuries. Oh Father of Life! oh dark-dispelling Sun!
He ceased this solemn chant, which, though it seems a poor enough thingafter going through my mill, is really beautiful and impressive in theoriginal; and then, after a moment's pause, he glanced up towards thefunnel-sloped opening in the dome and added--
Oh Sun, descend upon thine Altar!
As he spoke a wonderful and a beautiful thing happened. Down from onhigh flashed a splendid living ray of light, cleaving the twilight likea sword of fire. Full upon the closed petals it fell and ran shimmeringdown their golden sides, and then the glorious flower opened as thoughbeneath the bright influence. Slowly it opened, and as the great petalsfell wide and revealed the golden altar on which the fire ever burns,the priests blew a blast upon the trumpets, and from all the peoplethere rose a shout of praise that beat against the domed roof and cameechoing down the marble walls. And now the flower altar was open, andthe sunlight fell full upon the tongue of sacred flame and beat it down,so that it wavered, sank, and vanished into the hollow recesses whenceit rose. As it vanished, the mellow notes of the trumpets rolled outonce more. Again the old priest flung up his hands and called aloud--
We sacrifice to thee, oh Sun!
Once more I caught Nyleptha's eye; it was fixed upon the brazenflooring.
'Look out,' I said, aloud; and as I said it, I saw Agon bend forward andtouch something on the altar. As he did so, the great white sea of facesaround us turned red and then white again, and a deep breath went uplike a universal sigh. Nyleptha leant forward, and with an involuntarymovement covered her eyes with her hand. Sorais turned and whispered tothe officer of the royal bodyguard, and then with a rending sound thewhole of the brazen flooring slid from before our feet, and there in itsplace was suddenly revealed a smooth marble shaft terminating in a mostawful raging furnace beneath the altar, big enough and hot enough toheat the iron stern-post of a man-of-war.
With a cry of terror we sprang backwards, all except the wretchedAlphonse, who was paralysed with fear, and would have fallen into thefiery furnace which had been prepared for us, had not Sir Henry caughthim in his strong hand as he was vanishing and dragged him back.
Instantly there arose the most fearful hubbub, and we four got backto back, Alphonse dodging frantically round our little circle in hisattempts to take shelter under our legs. We all had our revolverson--for though we had been politely disarmed of our guns on leavingthe palace, of course these people did not know what a revolver was.Umslopogaas, too, had his axe, of which no effort had been made todeprive him, and now he whirled it round his head and sent his piercingZulu war-shout echoing up the marble walls in fine defiant fashion.Next second, the priests, baffled of their prey, had drawn swords frombeneath their white robes and were leaping on us like hounds upon astag at bay. I saw that, dangerous as action might be, we must act or belost, so as the first man came bounding along--and a great tall fellowhe was--I sent a heavy revolver ball through him, and down he fell atthe mouth of the shaft, and slid, shrieking frantically, into the fierygulf that had been prepared for us.
Whether it was his cries, or the, to them, awful sound and effect ofthe pistol shot, or what, I know not, but the other priests halted,paralysed and dismayed, and before they could come on again Sorais hadcalled out something, and we, together with the two Queens and mostof the courtiers, were being surrounded with a wall of armed men. In amoment it was done, and still the priests hesitated, and the people hungin the balance like a herd of startled buck as it were, making no signone way or the other.
The last yell of the burning priest had died away, the fire had finishedhim, and a great silence fell upon the place.
Then the High Priest Agon turned, and his face was as the face of adevil. 'Let the sacrifice be sacrificed,' he cried to the Queens. 'Hasnot sacrilege enough been done by these strangers, and would ye, asQueens, throw the cloak of your majesty over evildoers? Are not thecreatures sacred to the Sun dead? And is not a priest of the Sun alsodead, but now slain by the magic of these strangers, who come as thewinds out of heaven, whence w
e know not, and who are what we know not?Beware, oh Queens, how ye tamper with the great majesty of the God, evenbefore His high altar! There is a Power that is more than your power;there is a Justice that is higher than your justice. Beware how ye liftan impious hand against it! Let the sacrifice be sacrificed, oh Queens.'
Then Sorais made answer in her deep quiet tones, that always seemed tome to have a suspicion of mockery about them, however serious the theme:'Oh, Agon, thou hast spoken according to thy desire, and thou hastspoken truth. But it is thou who wouldst lift an impious handagainst the justice of thy God. Bethink thee the midday sacrifice isaccomplished; the Sun hath claimed his priest as a sacrifice.'
This was a novel idea, and the people applauded it.
'Bethink thee what are these men? They are strangers found floating onthe bosom of a lake. Who brought them here? How came they here? How knowyou that they also are not servants of the Sun? Is this the hospitalitythat ye would have our nation show to those whom chance brings tothem, to throw them to the flames? Shame on you! Shame on you! What ishospitality? To receive the stranger and show him favour. To bind up hiswounds, and find a pillow for his head, and food for him to eat. But thypillow is the fiery furnace, and thy food the hot savour of the flame.Shame on thee, I say!'
She paused a little to watch the effect of her speech upon themultitude, and seeing that it was favourable, changed her tone from oneof remonstrance to one of command.
'Ho! place there,' she cried; 'place, I say; make way for the Queens,and those whom the Queens cover with their "kaf" (mantle).'
'And if I refuse, oh Queen?' said Agon between his teeth.
'Then will I cut a path with my guards,' was the proud answer; 'ay,even in the presence of thy sanctuary, and through the bodies of thypriests.'
Agon turned livid with baffled fury. He glanced at the people as thoughmeditating an appeal to them, but saw clearly that their sympathies wereall the other way. The Zu-Vendi are a very curious and sociable people,and great as was their sense of the enormity that we had committed inshooting the sacred hippopotami, they did not like the idea of the onlyreal live strangers they had seen or heard of being consigned to a fieryfurnace, thereby putting an end for ever to their chance of extractingknowledge and information from, and gossiping about us. Agon saw thisand hesitated, and then for the first time Nyleptha spoke in her softsweet voice.
'Bethink thee, Agon,' she said, 'as my sister Queen has said, these menmay also be servants of the Sun. For themselves they cannot speak, fortheir tongues are tied. Let the matter be adjourned till such time asthey have learnt our language. Who can be condemned without a hearing?When these men can plead for themselves, then it will be time to putthem to the proof.'
Here was a clever loophole of escape, and the vindictive old priest tookit, little as he liked it.
'So be it, oh Queens,' he said. 'Let the men go in peace, and when theyhave learnt our tongue then let them speak. And I, even I, will makehumble supplication at the altar lest pestilence fall on the land bycause of the sacrilege.'
These words were received with a murmur of applause, and in anotherminute we were marching out of the temple surrounded by the royalguards.
But it was not till long afterwards that we learnt the exact substanceof what had passed, and how hardly our lives had been wrung out of thecruel grip of the Zu-Vendi priesthood, in the face of which even theQueens were practically powerless. Had it not been for their strenuousefforts to protect us we should have been slain even before we set footin the Temple of the Sun. The attempt to drop us bodily into the fierypit as an offering was a last artifice to attain this end when severalothers quite unsuspected by us had already failed.
CHAPTER XV SORAIS' SONG
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