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THE SAYINGS OF SLID
(Whose Soul is by the Sea)
- Slid said
- "Let no man pray to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for who shall
trouble MANA with mortal woes or irk him with the sorrows of all
the houses of Earth?
"Nor let any sacrifice to MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI, for what glory shall
he find in sacrifices or altars who hath made the gods themselves?
"Pray to the small gods, who are the gods of Doing; but MANA is
the god of Having Done--the god of Having Done and of the Resting.
"Pray to the small gods and hope that they may hear thee. Yet what
mercy should the small gods have, who themselves made Death and
Pain; or shall they restrain their old hound Time for thee?
"Slid is but a small god. Yet Slid is Slid--it is written and hath
been said.
"Pray, thou, therefore, to Slid, and forget not Slid, and it may
be that Slid will not forget to send thee Death when most thou
needest it."
And the People of Earth said: "There is a melody upon the Earth as
though ten thousand streams all sang together for their homes that
they had forsaken in the hills."
- And Slid said
- "I am the Lord of gliding waters and of foaming
waters and of still. I am the Lord of all the waters in the world
and all that long streams garner in the hills; but the soul of
Slid is in the Sea. Thither goes all that glides upon Earth, and
the end of all the rivers is the Sea."
- And Slid said
- "The hand of Slid hath toyed with cataracts, and
down the valleys have trod the feet of Slid, and out of the lakes
of the plains regard the eyes of Slid; but the soul of Slid is in
the sea."
Much homage hath Slid among the cities of men and pleasant are the
woodland paths and the paths of the plains, and pleasant the high
valleys where he danceth in the hills; but Slid would be fettered
neither by banks nor boundaries--so the soul of Slid is in the
Sea.
For there may Slid repose beneath the sun and smile at the gods
above him with all the smiles of Slid, and be a happier god than
Those who sway the Worlds, whose work is Life and Death.
There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and
sigh round islands in his great content--the miser lord of wealth
in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.
Or there may he, when Slid would fain exult, throw up his great
arms, or toss with many a fathom of wandering hair the mighty head
of Slid, and cry aloud tumultuous dirges of shipwreck, and feel
through all his being the crashing might of Slid, and sway the
sea. Then doth the Sea, like venturous legions on the eve of war
that exult to acclaim their chief, gather its force together from
under all the winds and roar and follow and sing and crash
together to vanquish all things--and all at the bidding of Slid,
whose soul is in the sea.
There is ease in the soul of Slid and there be calms upon the sea;
also, there be storms upon the sea and troubles in the soul of
Slid, for the gods have many moods. And Slid is in many places,
for he sitteth in high Pegana. Also along the valleys walketh
Slid, wherever water moveth or lieth still; but the voice and the
cry of Slid are from the sea. And to whoever that cry hath ever
come he must needs follow and follow, leaving all stable things;
only to be always with Slid in all the moods of Slid, to find no
rest until he reaches the sea.
With the cry of Slid before them and the hills of their home behind
have gone a hundred thousand to the sea, over whose bones doth Slid
lament with the voice of a god lamenting for his people. Even the
streams from the inner lands have heard Slid's far-off cry, and all
together have forsaken lawns and trees to follow where Slid is
gathering up his own, to rejoice where Slid rejoices, singing the
chaunt of Slid, even as will at the Last gather all the Lives of
the People about the feet of MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI.
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