Volume I Part 36 (1/2)
And Yooan
”It is now about ten hundred thousandsince, say you?” cried Mohi,at hiain
”It is now above ten hundred thousand moons, since there died the last of athe very shores by which we are sailing They were a very dih--”
”Stop, h?”
Continued Yooly, ”They were covered all over with a soft, silky down, like that on the rind of the Avee; and there grew upon their heads a green, lance-leaved vine, of a most delicate texture For convenience, thebut coronals Whereas, priding themselves upon the redundancy of their tresses, the little maidens assiduously watered the; so that all wreathed and festooned with verdure, theyafter them trains”
”I can hear nohis ears
Continued Yooed insect-birds, and taught them to nestle therein, and warble; which, with the pleasant vibrating of the leaves, when the littlesounds
The little maidens embraced not with their arms, but with their viny locks; whose tendrils instinctively twined about their lovers, till both were lost in the bower”
”And what then?” asked Mohi, who, notwithstanding the fingers in his ears, so no reply, Yooe, but while yet the , their vines bore blossoms Ah! fatal symptoms For soon as they burst, the maidens died in their arbors; and were buried in the valleys; and their vines spread forth; and the flowers bloomed; but thethe earth, the vines shot upward: cli in the sunshi+ne forever and aye”
Yoomy here paused for a space; but presently continued:
”The little eyes of the people of Tupia were very strange to behold: full of stars, that shone from within, like the Pleiades, deep- bosomed in blue And like the stars, they were intolerant of sunlight; and sluh the day, the people of Tupia only went abroad by night But it was chiefly when the moon was at full, that they were mostly in spirits
”Then the little manikins would dive down into the sea, and rove about in the coral groves,round,the reverendthe turtles in their cells; worrying the sea-nettles; or tor with their antics the touchy torpedos So about with the starfish, that have an eye at the end of each ray; and often with coral files in their hands stole upon slu their weapons In short, these stout little manikins were passionately fond of the sea, and swore by wave and billow, that sooner or later they would embark thereon in nautilus shells, and spend the rest of their roving days thousands of inches from Tupia Too true, they were shameless little rakes Oft would they return to their sweethearts, sporting reen little pouches of grass, bri their coin in the ears of the damsels, throw out inuendoes about the beautiful and bountiful merhted in the coallants of Tupia Ah! at such heartless bravadoes, how mourned the poor little nymphs Deep into their arbors they went; and their little hearts burst like rose-buds, and filled the whole air with an odorous grief But when their lovers were gentle and true, no happier maidens haunted the lilies than they By soht: touchy, lobules, very hard to handle; and with these, at pitch and toss, they played in the groves Orthe h; so that at night, the poor planet had much ado to set”
Here Yooo on?” said old Mohi, elevating his chin, till his beard was horizontal
Yoo end; only it must be mentioned, that these little people were very tasteful in their personal adornings; the rant leaves, and necklaces of aromatic seeds; and the little damsels, not content with their vines, and their verdure, sporting pearls in their ears; bracelets of wee little porpoise teeth; and oftentilades, coquettishly fanned the fish”
”Now, I appeal to you, royal Media; to you, noble Taji; to you, Babbalanja;” said the chronicler, with an iesture, ”whether this seems a credible history: Yoomy has invented”
”But perhaps he has entertained, old Mohi,” said Babbalanja
”He has not spoken the truth,” persisted the chronicler
”Mohi,” said Babbalanja, ”truth is in things, and not in words: truth is voiceless; so at least saith old Bardianna And I, Babbalanja, assert, that what are vulgarly called fictions are as er of trenches; for things visible are but conceits of the eye: things iinative, conceits of the fancy If duped by one, we are equally duped by the other”
”Clear as this water,” said Yoomy
”Opaque as this paddle,” said Mohi, ”But, cos are deceptive, tell us what is truth?”
”The old interrogatory; did they not ask it when the world began? But ask it no more As old Bardianna hath it, that question is more final than any answer”