THE EQUINOX
he drew me not without pain into the ark.
Here (quoth he)
forget all that thou hast seen and heard; for in this ark they
are not lawful.
So I obeyed him, else I had drawn after me the raft that
had brought me thither.
Then he questioned me, saying:
What lieth above the ark?
And I answered him:
The house of the silver ray, that is lighted by the ray of
gold.
᾽
He: How many roofs hath the ark?
[ : One.
He: Thou must pass through this one.
Yet thou lookest
eagerly upon the four walls of the ark.
1.- I seek a door.
He: The door is in the roof.
1: Lead me to it, I pray thee!
He: Fix thine eyes upon it.
|: Sir, I will.
Yet I pray thee to tell me thy name.
He: Thou didst know it of old, didst thou not?
I: The son of the mountain?
He: The Stone of the Crossways.
[: It is enough.
Let me fix mine eye upon the door.
He. It is well.
Then I obeyed him, and in that obedience forgot him.
For though mine eye wandered often, and although once the
planks beneath me threatened to give way and plunge me
once more into the stream, yet I strove as a man may.
Then, mine eye being accustomed to the gloom, I beheld
by my side, yet a little above me, the dark man my brother.
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