Tales of Wonder
Page 13
A Tale of the Equator
He who is Sultan so remote to the East that his dominions were deemedfabulous in Babylon, whose name is a by-word for distance today in thestreets of Bagdad, whose capital bearded travellers invoke by name inthe gate at evening to gather hearers to their tales when the smoke oftobacco arises, dice rattle and taverns shine; even he in that verycity made mandate, and said: "Let there be brought hither all mylearned men that they may come before me and rejoice my heart withlearning."
Men ran and clarions sounded, and it was so that there came before theSultan all of his learned men. And many were found wanting. But ofthose that were able to say acceptable things, ever after to be namedThe Fortunate, one said that to the South of the Earth lay a Land--said Land was crowned with lotus--where it was summer in our winterdays and where it was winter in summer.
And when the Sultan of those most distant lands knew that the Creatorof All had contrived a device so vastly to his delight his merrimentknew no bounds. On a sudden he spake and said, and this was the gistof his saying, that upon that line of boundary or limit that dividedthe North from the South a palace be made, where in the Northerncourts should summer be, while in the South was winter; so should hemove from court to court according to his mood, and dally with thesummer in the morning and spend the noon with snow. So the Sultan'spoets were sent for and bade to tell of that city, foreseeing itssplendour far away to the South and in the future of time; and somewere found fortunate. And of those that were found fortunate and werecrowned with flowers none earned more easily the Sultan's smile (onwhich long days depended) than he that foreseeing the city spake of itthus:
"In seven years and seven days, O Prop of Heaven, shall thy buildersbuild it, thy palace that is neither North nor South, where neithersummer nor winter is sole lord of the hours. White I see it, veryvast, as a city, very fair, as a woman, Earth's wonder, with manywindows, with thy princesses peering out at twilight; yea, I beholdthe bliss of the gold balconies, and hear a rustling down longgalleries and the doves' coo upon its sculptured eaves. O Prop ofHeaven, would that so fair a city were built by thine ancient sires,the children of the sun, that so might all men see it even today, andnot the poets only, whose vision sees it so far away to the South andin the future of time.
"O King of the Years, it shall stand midmost on that line thatdivideth equally the North from the South and that parteth the seasonsasunder as with a screen. On the Northern side when summer is in theNorth thy silken guards shall pace by dazzling walls while thyspearsmen clad in furs go round the South. But at the hour of noon inthe midmost day of the year thy chamberlain shall go down from hishigh place and into the midmost court, and men with trumpets shall godown behind him, and he shall utter a great cry at noon, and the menwith trumpets shall cause their trumpets to blare, and the spearsmenclad in furs shall march to the North and thy silken guard shall taketheir place in the South, and summer shall leave the North and go tothe South, and all the swallows shall rise and follow after. And alonein thine inner courts shall no change be, for they shall lie narrowlyalong that line that parteth the seasons in sunder and divideth theNorth from the South, and thy long gardens shall lie under them.
"And in thy gardens shall spring always be, for spring lies ever atthe marge of summer; and autumn also shall always tint thy gardens,for autumn always flares at winter's edge, and those gardens shall lieapart between winter and summer. And there shall be orchards in thygarden, too, with all the burden of autumn on their boughs and all theblossom of spring.
"Yea, I behold this palace, for we see future things; I see its whitewall shine in the huge glare of midsummer, and the lizards lying alongit motionless in the sun, and men asleep in the noonday, and thebutterflies floating by, and birds of radiant plumage chasingmarvellous moths; far off the forest and great orchids glorying there,and iridescent insects dancing round in the light. I see the wall uponthe other side; the snow has come upon the battlements, the icicleshave fringed them like frozen beards, a wild wind blowing out oflonely places and crying to the cold fields as it blows has sent thesnowdrifts higher than the buttresses; they that look out throughwindows on that side of thy palace see the wild geese flying low andall the birds of the winter, going by swift in packs beat low by thebitter wind, and the clouds above them are black, for it is midwinterthere; while in thine other courts the fountains tinkle, falling onmarble warmed by the fire of the summer sun.
"Such, O King of the Years, shall thy palace be, and its name shall beErlathdronion, Earth's Wonder; and thy wisdom shall bid thinearchitects build at once, that all may see what as yet the poets seeonly, and that prophecy be fulfilled."
And when the poet ceased the Sultan spake, and said, as all menhearkened with bent heads:
"It will be unnecessary for my builders to build this palace,Erlathdronion, Earth's Wonder, for in hearing thee we have drunkalready its pleasures."
And the poet went forth from the Presence and dreamed a new thing.
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