Poltarnees, BeholderOf Ocean byLordDunsany Toldees,Mondath ,Arizim , these are the Inner Lands, the landswhose sentinels upon their borders do not behold the sea. Beyond them to the east there lies a desert, for ever untroubledby man: all yellow it is, and spotted with shadowsof stones, and Death is in it, like a leopard lying in the sun. To the south they are bounded by magic, to the westby a mountain, and to the north by the voice and anger of the Polar wind. Like a great wall is the mountain to the west. It comes up out of the distance and goes down into thedistance again, and it is namedPoltarnees , Beholder of Ocean. To the northward red rocks, smooth andbare of soil, andwithout any speck of moss or herbage, slope up to the verylips of the Polar wind, and there is nothing else there but the noise of his anger. Very peaceful are the Inner Lands, and very fair are their cities, and there is no war among them, but quiet and ease. And they have no enemy but age, for thirst and fever lie sunning themselves out in the mid-desert, and never prowl into the Inner Lands. And the ghoulsand ghosts, whose highway is the night, are kept in the south by the boundary of magic. And very small are theirpleasant cities, and all men are known to one another therein, and bless one another by name as they meet in the streets. And they have a broad, green way in every city thatcomes in out of some vale or wood ordownland , and wandersin and out about the city between the houses and acrossthe streets; and the people walk along it never at all, but every year at her appointed time Spring walks along itfrom the flowery lands, causing the anemone to bloom on thegreen way and all the early joys of hidden woods, or deep, secluded vales, or triumphantdownlands , whose heads liftup so proudly, far up aloof from cities. Sometimeswaggoners or shepherds walk along this way, theythat have come into the city from over cloudy ridges, andthe townsmen hinder them not, for there is a tread that troubleththe grass and a tread thattroubleth it not, and each man in his own heartknoweth which tread he hath. And inthe sunlit spaces of the weald and in thewold's dark places, afar from the music of cities and from the dance of thecities afar, they make there the music of the country places and dance the country dance. Amiable, near and friendlyappears to these men the sun, and as he is genial tothem and tends their younger vines, so they are kind to thelittle woodland things and any rumour of the fairies or old legend. And when the light of some little distant city makesa slight flush upon the edge of the sky, and the happy goldenwindows of the homesteads stare gleaming into the dark, then the old and holy figure of Romance, cloaked even tothe face, comes down out of hilly woodlands and bids dark shadowsto rise and dance, and sends the forest creatures forthto prowl, and lights in a moment in her bower of grass thelittleglowworm's lamp, and brings a hush down over the greylands, and out of it rises faintly on far-off hills the voice of a lute. There are not in the world lands more prosperousand happy thanToldees ,Mondath ,Arizim . From these three little kingdoms that are named the Inner Lands the young men stole constantly away. One by one they went, and no one knew why they went save that they had a longing to behold the Sea. Of this longing they spoke little, but a young man would become silent for a few days, andthen, one morning very early, he would slip away and slowlyclimbPoltarnees's difficult slope, and having attained the top pass over and never return. A few stayed behindin the Inner Lands and became old men, but none that hadever climbedPoltarnees from the very earliest times had ever come back again. Many had gone upPoltarnees sworn to return. Once a king sent all his courtiers, one by one, to reportthe mystery to him, and then went himself; none ever returned. Now, it was the wont of the folk of the Inner Lands to worshiprumours and legends of the Sea, and all that their prophetsdiscovered of the Sea was writ in a sacred book, andwith deep devotion on days of festival or mourning read in the temples by the priests. Now, all their temples lay opento the west, resting upon pillars, that the breeze from theSea might enter them, and they lay open on pillars to theeast that the breezes of the Sea might not be hindered but pass onward wherever the Sea list. And this is the legendthey had of the sea, whom none in the Inner Lands had ever beholden. They say that the Sea is a river heading towardsHercules, and they say that he touches against the edge of the world, and thatPoltarnees looks upon him. They saythat all the worlds of heaven go bobbing on this river andare swept down with the stream, and that Infinity is thickand furry with forests through which the river in his course sweeps on with all the worlds of heaven. Among the colossaltrunks of those dark trees, the smallest fronds of whose branches are many nights, there walk the gods. And wheneverits thirst, glowing in space like a great sun, comesupon the beast, the tiger of the gods creeps down to the river to drink. And the tiger of the gods his fill loudly, whelming worlds the while, and the level of the riversinks between its banks ere the beast's thirst is quenched and ceases to glow like a sun. And many worlds therebyare heaped up dry and stranded, and the gods walk notamong them evermore, because they are hard to their feet. These are the worlds that have no destiny, whose people know no god. And the river sweeps onwards ever. And thename of the river isOriathon , but men call it Ocean. This is the Lower Faith of the Inner lands. And there is a Higher Faith which is not told to all. According to the Higher Faith of the Inner Lands the riverOriathon sweeps on throughthe forests of Infinity and all at once falls roaringover an Edge, whence Time has long ago recalled his hoursto fight in his war with the gods; and falls unlit by theflash of nights and days, with his flood unmeasured by miles, into the deeps of nothing. Now as the centuries went by and the one way by which a mancould climbPoltarnees became worn with feet, more and more men surmounted it, not to return. And still they knew notin the Inner Lands upon what mysteryPoltarnees looked. For on a still day and windless, while men walked happily abouttheir beautiful streets or tended flocks in the country, suddenly the west wind would bestir himself and come in from the Sea. And he would come cloaked and grey andmournful and carry to someone the hungry cry of the Sea calling out for bones of men. And he that heard it would moverestlessly for some hours, and at last would rise suddenly, irresistibly up, setting his face toPoltarnees , andwould say, as is the custom of those lands when men part briefly, "Till a man's heartremembereth ," which means, "Farewell for a while;" but those that loved him, seeing his eyesonPoltarnees , would answer sadly, "Till the gods forget," which means "Farewell." Now the King ofArizim had a daughter who played with the wildwood flowers, and with the fountains in her father's court, and with the little blue heaven-birds that came to her doorway in the winter to shelter from the snow. And she wasmore beautiful than the wild wood flowers, or than all thefountains in her father's court, or than the blue heaven-birdsin their full winter plumage when they shelter from the snow. The old wise kings ofMondath and ofToldees sawher once as she went lightly down the little paths of hergarden, and, turning their gaze into the mists of thought, pondered the destiny of their Inner Lands. And theywatched her closely by the stately flowers, and standingalone in the sunlight, and passing andrepassing thestrutting purple birds that the king's fowlers had brought fromAsagehon. When she was of the age of fifteen years the King ofMondath called a council of kings. And there met with him the kings ofToldees andArizim. And the King ofMondath in his Council said: "The call of the unappeased and hungry Sea" (and at the word`Sea' the three kings bowed their heads) "lures every yearout of our happy kingdoms more and more of our men, and stillwe know not the mystery of the Sea, and no devised oath has brought one man back. Now thy daughter,Arizim , is lovelierthan the sunlight, and lovelier than those stately flowersofthine that stand so tall in her garden, and hath moregrace and beauty than those strange birds that the venturousfowlers bring in creakingwaggons out ofAsagehon , whose feathers are alternate purple and white. Now, he that shalllove thy daughter,Hilnaric , whoever he shall be, is theman to climbPoltarnees and return, as none hath ever before, and tell us upon whatPoltarnees looks; for it may bethat thy daughter is more beautiful than the Sea." Then from his Seat of Council arose the King ofArizim . He said: "I fear that thou hast spoken blasphemy against the Sea, and I have a dread that ill will come of it. Indeed I had not thought she was so fair. It is such a short while agothat she was quite a small child with her hair still unkemptand not yet attired in the manner of princesses, and shewould go up into the wild woods unattended and come back withher robes unseemly and all torn, and would not take reproofwith humble spirit, but made grimaces even in my marblecourt all set about with fountains." Then said the King ofToldees : "Let us watch more closely and let us see the Princess Hilnaricin the season of the orchard-bloom when the great birdsgo by that know the Sea, to rest in our inland places; andif she be more beautiful than the sunrise over our foldedkingdoms when all the orchards bloom, it may be that sheis more beautiful than the Sea." And the King ofArizim said: "I fear this is terrible blasphemy, yet I will do as you havedecided in council." And the season of the orchard-bloom appeared. One night theKing ofArizim called his daughter forth on to his outer balcony of marble. And the moon was rising huge and round andholy over dark woods, and all the fountains were singing to the night. And the moon touched the marble palace gables, and they glowed in the land. And the moon touched theheads of all the fountains, and the grey columns broke into fairy lights. And the moon left the dark ways of the forestand lit the whole white palace and its fountains and shoneon the forehead of the Princess, and the palace of Arizimglowed afar, and the fountains became columns of gleaming jewels and song. And the moon madea music at his rising, but it fell a little short of mortal ears. And Hilnaricstood there wondering, clad in white, with the moonlightshining on her forehead; and watching her from the shadowson the terrace stood the kings ofMondath and Toldees. They said: "She is more beautiful than the moonrise." And on another day the King ofArizim bade his daughter forth at dawn, and they stood again upon the balcony. And thesun came up over a world of orchards, and the sea-mists wentback overPoltarnees to the Sea; little wild voices arosein all the thickets, the voices of the fountains began todie, and the song arose, in all the marble temples, of the birds that are sacred to the Sea. AndHilnaric stood there, still glowing with dreams of heaven. "She is more beautiful," said the kings, "than morning." Yet one more trial they made ofHilnaric's beauty, for theywatched her on the terraces at sunset ere the petals of theorchards had fallen, and all along the edge of neighbouringwoods the rhododendron was blooming with the azalea. And the sun went down under craggyPoltarnees , and the sea-mist poured over his summit inland. And the marble templesstood up clear in the evening, but films of twilight were drawn between the mountain and the city. Then from the Temple ledges and eaves of palaces the bats fell headlong downwards, then spread their wings and floated up and down throughdarkening ways; lights came blinking out in golden windows, men cloaked themselves against the grey sea-mist, thesound of small songs arose, and the face ofHilnaric becamea resting-place for mysteries and dreams. "Than all these things," said the kings, "she is more lovely: but who can say whether she is lovelier than the Sea?" Prone in a rhododendron thicket at the edge of the palace lawns a hunter had waited since the sun went down. Near to himwas a deep pool in where the hyacinths grew and strange flowersfloated upon it with broad leaves, and there the greatbullgariachs came down to drink by starlight, and, waitingthere for thegariachs to come, he saw the white form of the Princess leaning on her balcony. Before the starsshone out or the bulls came down to drink he left his lurking-placeand moved closer to the palace to see more nearly the Princess. The palace lawns were full of untroddendew, and everything was still when he came across them, holding his great spear. In the farthest corner of theterraces the three old kings were discussing the beauty ofHilnaric and the destiny of the Inner Lands. Moving lightly, with a hunter's tread, the watcher by the pool came verynear, even in the still evening, before the Princess saw him. When he saw her closely he exclaimed suddenly: "She must be more beautiful than the Sea." When the Princess turned and saw his garb and his great spearshe knew that he was a hunter ofgariachs . When the three kings heard the young man exclaim they saidsoftly to one another: "This must be the man." Then they revealed themselves to him, and spoke to try him. They said: "Sir, you have spoken blasphemy against the Sea." And the young man muttered: "She is more beautiful than the Sea." And the kings said: "We are older than you and wiser, and know that nothing ismore beautiful than the Sea." And the young man took off the gear of his head, and becamedowncast, and knew that hespake with kings, yet he answered: "By this spear, she is more beautiful than the Sea." And all the while the Princess stared at him, knowing him tobe a hunter ofgariachs . Then the King ofArizim said to the watcher by the pool: "If thou wilt go upPoltarnees and come back, as none havecome, and report to us what lure or magic is in the Sea, we will pardon thy blasphemy, and thoushalt have the Princess to wife and sit among the Council of the Kings." And gladly thereunto the young man consented. And the Princess spoke to him, and asked him his name. And he told herthat his name wasAthelvok , and great joy arose in him at the sound of her voice. And to the three kings he promisedto set out on the third day to scale the slope of Poltarneesand to return again, and this was the oath by whichthey bound him to return: "I swear by the Sea that bears the worlds away, by the riverofOriathon , which men call Ocean, and by the gods and theirtiger, and by the doom of the worlds, that I will returnagain to the Inner Lands, having beheld the Sea." And that oath he swore with solemnity that very night in oneof the temples of the Sea, but the three kings trusted moreto the beauty ofHilnaric even than to the power of the oath. The next dayAthelvok came to the palace ofArizim with themorning, over the fields to the East and out of the countryofToldees , andHilnaric came out along her balcony and met him on the terraces. And she asked him if he had everslain agariach , and he said that he had slain three, andthen he told her how he had killed his first down by the pool in the wood. For he had taken his father's spear and gonedown to the edge of the pool, and had lain under the azaleasthere waiting for the stars to shine, by whose first lightthegariachs go to the pools to drink; and he had gone tooearly and had had long to wait, and the passing hours seemed longer than they were. And all the birds came in thathome at night, and the bat was abroad, and the hour of theduck went by, and still nogariach came down to the pool; andAthelvok felt sure that none would come. And just asthis grew to a certainty in his mind the thicket parted noiselesslyand a huge bullgariach stood facing him on the edgeof the water, and his great horns swept out sideways fromhis head, and at the ends curved upwards, and were four strides in width from tip to tip. And he had not seen Athelvok, for the great bull was on the far side of the littlepool, andAthelvok could not creep round to him for fearof meeting the wind (for thegariachs , who can see little in the dark forests, rely on hearing and smell). But hedevised swiftly in his mind while the bull stood there withhead erect just twenty strides from him across the water. And the bull sniffed the wind cautiously and listened, then lowered its great head down to the pool and drank. At that instantAthelvok leapt into the water and shotforward through its weedy depths among the stems of the strangeflowers that floated upon broad leaves on the surface. AndAthelvok kept his spear out straight before him, and the fingers of his left hand he held rigid and straight, not pointing upwards, and so did not come to the surface, but was carried onward by the strength of his springand passedunentangled through the stems of the flowers. WhenAthelvok jumped into the water the bull must havethrown his head up, startled at the splash, then he wouldhave listened and have sniffed the air, and neither hearingnor scenting any danger he must have remained rigid forsome moments, for it was in that attitude thatAthelvok found him as he emerged breathless at his feet. And, strikingat once,Athelvok drove the spear into his throat before the head and the terrible horns came down. But Athelvokhad clung to one of the great horns, and had been carriedat terrible speed through the rhododendron bushes untilthegariach fell, but rose at once again, and died standingup, still struggling, drowned in its own blood. But toHilnaric listening it was as though one of the heroesof old time had come back again in the full glory of hislegendary youth. And long time they went up and down the terraces, saying thosethings which were said before and since, and which lips shall be made to say again. And above them stood Poltarneesbeholding the Sea. And the day came whenAthelvok should go. AndHilnaric saidto him: "Will you not indeed most surely come back again,having justlooked over the summit ofPoltarnees ?" Athelvokanswered: "I will indeed come back, for thy voiceis more beautiful than the hymn of the priests when theychant and praise the Sea, and though many tributary seasran down intoOriathon and he and all the others poured theirbeauty into one pool below me, yet would I return swearingthat thouwert fairer than they." AndHilnaric answered: "The wisdom of my heart tells me, or old knowledge or prophecy, or some strange lore, that I shall never hear thy voice again. And for this I give thee my forgiveness." But he, repeating the oath that he had sworn, set out, lookingoften backwards until the slope became too steep and his face was set to the rock. It was in the morning that he started, and he climbed all the day with little rest, where everyfoothole was smooth with many feet. Before he reached thetop the sun disappeared from him, and darker and darker grew the Inner Lands. Then he pushed on so as to see before dark whatever thingPoltarnees had to show. The dusk was deepover the Inner Lands, and the lights of cities twinkled throughthe sea-mist when he came toPoltarnees's summit, andthe sun before him was not yet gone from the sky. And there below him was the old wrinkled Sea, smiling and murmuring song. And he nursed little ships with gleaming sails, and in his hands were old regretted wrecks, and masts allstudded over with golden nails that he had rent in anger out of beautiful galleons. And the glory of the sun was amongthe surges as they brought driftwood out of isles of spice, tossing their golden heads. And the grey currents creptaway to the south like companionless serpents that love something afar with a restless, deadly love. And the wholeplain of water glittering with late sunlight, and the surgesand the currents and the white sails of ships were alltogether like the face of a strange new god that has lookeda man for the first time in the eyes at the moment of hisdeath; andAthelvok , looking on the wonderful Sea, knew whyit was that the dead never return, for there is somethingthat the dead feel and know, and the living would neverunderstanding even though the dead should come and speak to them about it. And there was the Sea smiling at him, glad with the glory of the sun. And there was a haven therefor homing ships, and a sunlit city stood upon its marge, and people walked about the streets of it clad in the unimaginedmerchandise of far sea-bordering lands. An easy slope of loose crumbled rock went from the top of Poltarneesto the shore of the Sea. For a long whileAthelvok stood there regretfully, knowingthat there had come something into his soul that no onein the Inner Lands could understand, where the thoughts oftheir minds had gone no farther than the three little kingdoms. Then, looking long upon the wandering ships, and themarvellous merchandise from alien lands, and the unknown colourthat wreathed the brows of the Sea, he turned his faceto the darkness and the Inner Lands. At that moment the Sea rang a dirge at sunset for all the harmthat he had done in anger and all the ruin wrought on adventurousships; and there were tears in the voice of the tyrannousSea, for he had loved the galleons that he had overwhelmed, and he called all men to him and all living thingsthat he might make amends, because he had loved the bones that he had strewn afar. AndAthelvok turned and set onefoot upon the crumbled slope, and then another, and walkeda little way to be nearer to the Sea, and then a dreamcame upon him and he felt that men had wronged the lovelySea because he had been angry a little, because he hadbeen sometimes cruel; he felt that there was trouble amongthe tides of the Sea because he had loved the galleons who were dead. Still he walkedon, and the crumbled stones rolledwith him, and just as the twilight faded and a star appearedhe came to the golden shore, and walked on till the surgeswere about his knees, and he heard the prayer-like blessings of the Sea. Long he stood thus, while the stars cameout above him and shone again in the surges; more stars camewheeling in their courses up from the Sea, lights twinkledout through all the haven city, lanterns were slung fromthe ships, the purple night burned on; and Earth, to theeyes of the gods as they sat afar, glowed as with one flame. ThenAthelvok went into the haven city; there he met manywho had left the Inner Lands before him; none of them wishedto return to the people who had not seen the Sea; manyof them had forgotten the three little kingdoms, and it wasrumoured that one man, who had once tried to return, had foundthe shifting, crumbled slope impossible to climb. Hilnaricnever married. But her dowry was set aside to builda temple wherein men curse the ocean. Once a year, with solemn rite and ceremony, they curse thetides of the Sea; and the moon looks in and hates them.