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The Gods of Pegana

Chapter 30: OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING
By Lord Dunsany
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British LiteratureMythology, Legends & FolklorePoetryScience-Fiction & Fantasy

About This Book

A sequence of brief mythic prose poems constructs an invented pantheon centered on a supreme maker who rests while lesser gods fashion worlds, creatures and human-like beings. Episodic pieces orbit figures such as a tireless drummer, rival deities, prophets and omens, and revolts of smaller gods; recurring motifs include the gods' playfulness, the fragility of creation, cyclical endings when the maker may awaken, and the inscrutability of divine purpose. Tone ranges from solemn to wry, and the work assembles cosmogony, parable and lyric meditation into compact, fable-like vignettes that evoke ritual chant and imagined folklore.

OF HOW IMBAUN SPAKE OF DEATH TO THE KING

There trod such pestilence in Aradec that, the King as he looked abroad out of his palace saw men die. And when the King saw Death he feared that one day even the King should die. Therefore he commanded guards to bring before him the wisest prophet that should be found in Aradec.

Then heralds came to the temple of All the gods save One, and cried aloud, having first commanded silence, crying: “Rhazahan, King over Aradec, Prince by right of Ildun and Ildaun, and Prince by conquest of Pathia, Ezek, and Azhan, Lord of the Hills, to the High Prophet of All the gods save One sends salutations.”

Then they bore him before the King.

The King said unto the prophet: “O Prophet of All the gods save One, shall I indeed die?”

And the prophet answered: “O King! thy people may not rejoice for ever, and some day the King will die.”

And the King answered: “This may be so, but certainly thou shalt die. It may be that one day I shall die, but till then the lives of the people are in my hands.”

Then guards led the prophet away.

And there arose prophets in Aradec who spake not of death to Kings.