"Now if there stand one prophet here that hath the ear of those too splendid gods that stride above the glories of the orient sky, tell them that there is on earth one King in the land called Zarkandhu to the south of the opal mountains, who would fain tarry among the many gardens of earth, and would leave to other men the splendours that the gods shall give the dead above the twilight2 that surrounds the stars."
Then spake Yamen, prophet of the Temple of Obin that stands on the shores of a great lake, facing east. Yamen said: "I pray oft to the gods who sit above the twilight behind the east. When the clouds are heavy and red at sunset, or when there is boding3 of thunder or eclipse, then I pray not, lest my prayers be scattered4 and beaten earthward. But when the sun sets in a tranquil5 sky, pale green or azure6, and the light of his farewells stays long upon lonely hills, then I send forth7 my prayers to flutter upward to gods that are surely smiling, and the gods hear my prayers. But, O King, boons8 sought out of due time from the gods are never wholly to be desired, and, if They should grant to thee to tarry on the earth, old age would trouble thee with burdens more and more till thou wouldst become the driven slave of the hours in fetters9 that none may break."
The King said: "They that have devised this burden of age may surely stay it, pray therefore on the calmest evening of the year to the gods above the twilight that I may tarry always on the earth and always young, while over my head the scourges10 of the gods pass and alight not."
Then answered Yamen: "The King hath commanded, yet among the blessings11 of the gods there always cries a curse. The great princes that make merry with the King, who tell of the great deeds that the King wrought12 in the former time, shall one by one grow old. And thou, O King, seated at the feast crying, 'make merry' and extolling13 the former time shall find about thee white heads nodding in sleep, and men that are forgetting the former time. Then one by one the names of those that sported with thee once called by the gods, one by one the names of the singers that sing the songs thou lovest called by the gods, lastly of those that chased the grey boar by night and took him in Orghoom river—only the King. Then a new people that have not known the old deeds of the King nor fought and chased with him, who dare not make merry with the King as did his long dead princes. And all the while those princes that are dead growing dearer and greater in thy memory, and all the while the men that served thee then growing more small to thee. And all the old things fading and new things arising which are not as the old things were, the world changing yearly before thine eyes and the gardens of thy childhood overgrown. Because thy childhood was in the olden years thou shalt love the olden years, but ever the new years shall overthrow14 them and their customs, and not the will of a King may stay the changes that the gods have planned for all the customs of old. Ever thou shalt say 'This was not so,' and ever the new custom shall prevail even against a King. When thou hast made merry a thousand times thou shalt grow tired of making merry. At last thou shalt become weary of the chase, and still old age shall not come near to thee to stifle15 desires that have been too oft fulfilled; then, O King, thou shalt be a hunter yearning16 for the chase but with nought17 to pursue that hath not been oft overcome. Old age shall come not to bury thine ambitions in a time when there is nought for thee to aspire18 to any more. Experience of many centuries shall make thee wise but hard and very sad, and thou shalt be a mind apart from thy fellows and curse them all for fools, and they shall not perceive thy wisdom because thy thoughts are not their thoughts and the gods that they have made are not the gods of the olden time. No solace19 shall thy wisdom bring thee but only an increasing knowledge that thou knowest nought, and thou shalt feel as a wise man in a world of fools, or else as a fool in a world of wise men, when all men feel so sure and ever thy doubts increase. When all that spake with thee of thine old deeds are dead, those that saw them not shall speak of them again to thee; till one speaking to thee of thy deeds of valour add more than even a man should when speaking to a King, and thou shalt suddenly doubt whether these great deeds were; and there shall be none to tell thee, only the echoes of the voices of the gods still singing in thine ears when long ago They called the princes that were thy friends. And thou shalt hear the knowledge of the olden time most wrongly told and afterwards forgotten. Then many prophets shall arise claiming discovery of that old knowledge. Then thou shalt find that seeking knowledge is vain, as the chase is vain, as making merry is vain, as all things are vain. One day thou shalt find that it is vain to be a King. Greatly then will the acclamations of the people weary thee, till the time when people grow aweary of Kings. Then thou shalt know that thou hast been uprooted20 from thine olden time and set to live in uncongenial years, and jests all new to royal ears shall smite21 thee on the head like hailstones, when thou hast lost thy crown, when those to whose grandsires thou hadst granted to bring them as children to kiss the feet of the King shall mock at thee because thou hast not learnt to barter22 with gold.
"Not all the marvels23 of the future time shall atone24 to thee for those old memories that glow warmer and brighter every year as they recede25 into the ages that the gods have gathered. And always dreaming of thy long dead princes and of the great Kings of other kingdoms in the olden time thou shalt fail to see the grandeur26 to which a hurrying jesting people shall attain27 in that kingless age. Lastly, O King, thou shalt perceive men changing in a way that thou shalt not comprehend, knowing what thou canst not know, till thou shalt discover that these are men no more and a new race holds dominion28 over the earth whose forefathers29 were men. These shall speak to thee no more as they hurry upon a quest that thou shalt never understand, and thou shalt know that thou canst no longer take thy part in shaping destinies, but in a world of cities only pine for air and the waving grass again and the sound of a wind in trees. Then even this shall end with the shapes of the gods in the darkness gathering30 all lives but thine, when the hills shall fling up earth's long stored heat back to the heavens again, when earth shall be old and cold, with nothing alive upon it but one King."
Then said the King: "Pray to those hard gods still, for those that have loved the earth with all its gardens and woods and singing streams will love earth still when it is old and cold and with all its gardens gone and all the purport31 of its being failed and nought but memories."
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1
starry
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| adj.星光照耀的, 闪亮的 | |
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2
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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3
boding
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| adj.凶兆的，先兆的n.凶兆，前兆，预感v.预示，预告，预言( bode的现在分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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4
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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5
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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azure
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| adj.天蓝色的，蔚蓝色的 | |
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7
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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boons
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| n.恩惠( boon的名词复数 )；福利；非常有用的东西；益处 | |
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9
fetters
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| n.脚镣( fetter的名词复数 )；束缚v.给…上脚镣，束缚( fetter的第三人称单数 ) | |
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10
scourges
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| 带来灾难的人或东西，祸害( scourge的名词复数 )； 鞭子 | |
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11
blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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12
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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13
extolling
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| v.赞美( extoll的现在分词 )；赞颂，赞扬，赞美( extol的现在分词 ) | |
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14
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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15
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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17
nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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aspire
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| vi.(to，after)渴望，追求，有志于 | |
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solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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uprooted
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| v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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21
smite
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| v.重击；彻底击败；n.打；尝试；一点儿 | |
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22
barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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23
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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24
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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25
recede
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| vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进 | |
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grandeur
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| n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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28
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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forefathers
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| n.祖先，先人；祖先，祖宗( forefather的名词复数 )；列祖列宗；前人 | |
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30
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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31
purport
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| n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是... | |
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