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THE SAYINGS OF IMBAUN
The Prophet of the gods said: "Yonder beside the road there
sitteth a false prophet; and to all who seek to know the hidden
days he saith: 'Upon the morrow the King shall speak to thee as
his chariot goeth by.'"
Moreover, all the people bring him gifts, and the false prophet
hath more to listen to his words than hath the Prophet of the
gods.
- Then said Imbaun
- "What knoweth the Prophet of the gods? I know
only that I and men know naught concerning the gods or aught
concerning men. Shall I, who am their prophet, tell the people
this?
"For wherefore have the people chosen prophets but that they
should speak the hopes of the people, and tell the people that
their hopes be true?"
The false prophet saith: "Upon the morrow the king shall speak to
thee."
- Shall not I say
- "Upon The Morrow the gods shall speak with thee
as thou restest upon Pegana?"
So shall the people be happy, and know that their hopes be true
who have believed the words that they have chosen a prophet to say.
But what shall know the Prophet of the gods, to whom none may come
to say: "Thy hopes are true," for whom none may make strange signs
before his eyes to quench his fear of death, for whom alone the
chaunt of his priests availeth naught?
The Prophet of the gods hath sold his happiness for wisdom, and
hath given his hopes for the people.
- Said also Imbaun
- "When thou art angry at night observe how calm
be the stars; and shall small ones rail when there is such a calm
among the great ones? Or when thou art angry by day regard the
distant hills, and see the calm that doth adorn their faces. Shalt
thou be angry while they stand so serene?
"Be not angry with men, for they are driven as thou art by
Dorozhand. Do bullocks goad one another on whom the same yoke
rests?
"And be not angry with Dorozhand, for then thou beatest thy bare
fingers against iron cliffs.
"All that is is so because it was to be. Rail not, therefore,
against what is, for it was all to be."
- And Imbaun said
- "The Sun ariseth and maketh a glory about all the
things that he seeth, and drop by drop he turneth the common dew
to every kind of gem. And he maketh a splendour in the hills.
"And also man is born. And there rests a glory about the gardens
of his youth. Both travel afar to do what Dorozhand would have
them do.
"Soon now the sun will set, and very softly come twinkling in the
stillness all the stars.
"Also man dieth. And quietly about his grave will all the mourners
weep.
"Will not his life arise again somewhere in all the worlds? Shall
he not again behold the gardens of his youth? Or does he set to
end?"
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