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OF ROON, THE GOD OF GOING, AND THE THOUSAND HOME GODS
- Roon said
- "There be gods of moving and gods of standing still,
but I am the god of Going."
It is because of Roon that the worlds are never still, for the
moons and the worlds and the comet are stirred by the spirit of
Roon, which saith: "Go! Go! Go!"
Roon met the Worlds all in the morning of Things, before there was
light upon Pegana, and Roon danced before them in the Void, since
when they are never still, Roon sendeth all streams to the Sea,
and all the rivers to the soul of Slid.
Roon maketh the sign of Roon before the waters, and lo! they have
left the hills; and Roon hath spoken in the ear of the North Wind
that he may be still no more.
The footfall of Roon hath been heard at evening outside the houses
of men, and thenceforth comfort and abiding know them no more.
Before them stretcheth travel over all the lands, long miles, and
never resting between their homes and their graves--and all at the
bidding of Roon.
The Mountains have set no limit against Roon nor all the seas a
boundary.
Whither Roon hath desired there must Roon's people go, and the
worlds and their streams and the winds.
I heard the whisper of Roon at evening, saying: "There are islands
of spices to the South," and the voice of Roon saying: "Go."
- And Roon said
- "There are a thousand home gods, the little gods
that sit before the hearth and mind the fire--there is one Roon."
Roon saith in a whisper, in a whisper when none heareth, when the
sun is low: "What doeth MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI?" Roon is no god that
thou mayest worship by thy hearth, nor will he be benignant to thy
home.
Offer to Roon thy toiling and thy speed, whose incense is the
smoke of the camp fire to the South, whose song is the sound of
going, whose temples stand beyond the farthest hills in his lands
behind the East.
Yarinareth, Yarinareth, Yarinareth, which signifieth Beyond--these
words be carved in letters of gold upon the arch of the great portal
of the Temple of Roon that men have builded looking towards the East
upon the Sea, where Roon is carved as a giant trumpeter, with his
trumpet pointing towards the East beyond the Seas.
Whoso heareth his voice, the voice of Roon at evening, he at once
forsaketh the home gods that sit beside the hearth. These be the
gods of the hearth: Pitsu, who stroketh the cat; Hobith who calms
the dog; and Habaniah, the lord of glowing embers; and little
Zumbiboo, the lord of dust; and old Gribaun, who sits in the heart
of the fire to turn the wood to ash--all these be home gods, and
live not in Pegana and be lesser than Roon.
There is also Kilooloogung, the lord of arising smoke, who taketh
the smoke from the hearth and sendeth it to the sky, who is
pleased if it reacheth Pegana, so that the gods of Pegana,
speaking to the gods, say: "There is Kilooloogung doing the work
on earth of Kilooloogung."
All these are gods so small that they be lesser than men, but
pleasant gods to have beside the hearth; and often men have prayed
to Kilooloogung, saying: "Thou whose smoke ascendeth to Pegana
send up with it our prayers, that the gods may hear." And
Kilooloogung, who is pleased that men should pray, stretches
himself up all grey and lean, with his arms above his head, and
sendeth his servant the smoke to seek Pegana, that the gods of
Pegana may know that the people pray.
And Jabim is the Lord of broken things, who sitteth behind the
house to lament the things that are cast away. And there he
sitteth lamenting the broken things until the worlds be ended, or
until someone cometh to mend the broken things. Or sometimes he
sitteth by the river's edge to lament the forgotten things that
drift upon it.
A kindly god is Jabim, whose heart is sore if anything be lost.
There is also Triboogie, the Lord of Dusk, whose children are the
shadows, who sitteth in a corner far off from Habaniah and
speaketh to none. But after Habaniah hath gone to sleep and old
Gribaun hath blinked a hundred times, until he forgetteth which be
wood or ash, then doth Triboogie send his children to run about
the room and dance upon the walls, but never disturb the silence.
But when there is light again upon the worlds, and dawn comes
dancing down the highway from Pegana, then does Triboogie retire
into his corner, with his children all around him, as though they
had never danced about the room. And the slaves of Habaniah and
old Gribaun come and awake them from their sleep upon the hearth,
and Pitsu strokes the cat, and Hobith calms the dog, and
Kilooloogung stretches aloft his arms towards Pegana, and
Triboogie is very still, and his children asleep.
And when it is dark, all in the hour of Triboogie, Hish creepeth
from the forest, the Lord of Silence, whose children are the bats,
that have broken the command of their father, but in a voice that
is ever so low. Hish husheth the mouse and all the whispers in the
night; he maketh all noises still. Only the cricket rebelleth. But
Hish hath set against him such a spell that after he hath cried a
thousand times his voice may be heard no more but becometh part of
the silence.
And when he hath slain all sounds Hish boweth low to the ground;
then cometh into the house, with never a sound of feet, the god
Yoharneth-Lahai.
But away in the forest whence Hish hath come Wohoon, the Lord of
Noises in the Night, awaketh in his lair and creepeth round the
forest to see whether it be true that Hish hath gone.
Then in some glade Wohoon lifts up his voice and cries aloud, that
all the night may hear, that it is he, Wohoon, who is abroad in
all the forest. And the wolf and the fox and the owl, and the
great beasts and the small, lift up their voices to acclaim
Wohoon. And there arise the sounds of voices and the stirring of
leaves.
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