Volume I Part 31 (1/2)
But not long had Varnopi proceeded, when Donjalolo changed color
”What!” he exclaimed, ”will ye contradict each other before our very face Oh Oro! how hard is truth to be come at by proxy! Fifty accounts have I had of Rafona; none of which wholly agreed; and here, these two varlets, sent expressly to behold and report, these two lying knaves, speak crookedly both How is it? Are the lenses in their eyes diverse-hued, that objects sees they thus clashi+ngly speak of are to be known for the sah represented with unlike colors and qualities But dus can not lie nor err Unpack thy ha thely replied Zuma, ”is a specimen of the famous reef- bar on the west side of the island of Rafona; your highness perceives its deep red dyes”
Said Donjalolo, ”Varnopi, hast thou a piece of this coral, also?”
”I have, your highness,” said Varnopi; ”here it is”
Taking it froazed at its bleached, white hue; then dashi+ng it to the pavehty Oro! Truth dwells in her fountains; where every oneMardi! Away! Better know nothing, than be deceived Break up!”
And Donjalolo rose, and retired
All present now broke out in a stor with Zuma; others with Varnopi; each of whom, in turn, was declared theall this, Babbalanja, who had been silently looking on, leaning against one of the palm pillars, quietly observed to Media:-- ”My lord, I have seen this same reef at Rafona In various places, it is of various hues As for Zuht”
CHAPTER LxxxIII They Visit The Tributary Islets
In Willa found, on the third day we took leave of Donjalolo; who lavished upon us many caresses and, somewhat reluctantly on Media's part, we quitted the vale
One by one,visited the outer villages of Jua its tributary isles Therethe viceroys of hined in the hollow: chieftains of whom Donjalolo was proud; so honest, hu the condition of those under their rule For, be it said, Donjalolo was a charitable prince; in his serious intervals, ever seeking the welfare of his subjects, though after an i the mountains, where he dwelt, how could Donjalolo be sure, that the things he decreed were executed in regions forever remote from his view Ah!
very bland, very innocent, very pious, the faces his viceroys presented during their e, when, returned to their islets, they abandoned the down the rights of the Sicilians
Like Carmelites, they came to Donjalolo, barefooted; but in their homes, their proud latchets were tied by their slaves Before their king-belted prince, they stood rope-girdled like self-abased monks of St Francis; but with those ropes, before their palaces, they hung Innocence and Truth
As still seeking Yillah, and still disappointed, we roved through the lands which these chieftains ruled, Babbalanja exclaimed--”Let us depart; idle our search, in isles that have viceroys for kings”
At early dawn, about eers of Donjalolo, saying that their lord the king, repenting of so soon parting coht the, in Willahboring kings had been invited,that there was no alternative but coers we returned to the glen
CHAPTER LxxxIV Taji Sits Down To Dinner With Five-And-Twenty Kings, And A Royal Tied frouests in the House of the Afternoon, thither we directed our steps
Soft in our face, blew the blessed breezes of O the leaves overhead; while, here and there, through the trees, showed the idol-bearers of the royal retreat, hand in hand, linked with festoons of flowers Still beyond, on a level, sparkled the nodding crowns of the kings, like the constellation Corona-Borealis, the horizon just gained
Close by his noon-tide friend, the cascade at the rotto, reposed on his crimson mat, Donjalolo:--arrayed in a vestured all over with bright yellow lizards, so curiously stained in the gauze, that he seeirdled his loins, tasseled with the congregated teeth of his sires A jeweled turban-tiara, milk-white, surmounted his brow, over which waved a copse of Pintado plumes
But what sways in his hand? A scepter, si the corals at his feet A polished thigh- bone; by Braid-Beard declared once Teei's the Murdered For to emphasize his intention utterly to rule, Marjora himself had selected this emblem of dominion over mankind
But even this last despite done to dead Teei had once been transcended In the usurper's tis round; and Mohi's Chroniclesthe life time of Marjora, Teei's skull had been devoted to the basest of purposes: Marjora's, the hate no turf could bury
Yet, traditions like these ever seem dubious There be many who deny the hump,unperceived, in social hilarity we descried their Highnesses, chatting together like the most plebeian ofour approach, all changed