226
THE THREE CHARACTERISTICS
II.
‘‘Jehjaour! was a mighty magician; his
soul was dark and evil; and his lust was of
life and power and of the wreaking of hatred
upon the innocent. : And it came ‘to -pass
that he gazed upon a ball
of crystal wherein
were shown him all the fears of the time
unborn as yet on earth. And by his art
he saw Perdu’ R ‘Abu, who had been his
friend: for do what he would, the crystal
showed always that sensual and frivolous
youth as a Fear to him: even to him the
Mighty One! But the selfish and evil are
cowards; they fear shadows, and Jehjaour
scorned not his art. ‘Roll on in time,
thou ball!’ he cried. ‘Move down the
stream of years, timeless and hideous servant
of my will! Taph! Tath! Arath!’? He
sounded the triple summons, the mysterious
syllables that bound the spirit to the stone.
“Then suddenly the crystal grew a blank;
and thereby the foiled wizard knew that
which threatened his power, his very life,
was so high and holy that the evil spirit
could perceive it not. ‘Avaunt?’ he
shrieked, ‘false soul of darkness!’ And
the crystal flashed up red, the swarthy red
of hate in a man’s cheek, and darkened
utterly.
‘Foaming at the mouth the wretched Jeh-
jaour clutched at air and fell prone.
Hil.
‘‘To what God should he appeal?
own, Hanuman, was silent. Sacrifice,
prayer, all were in vain. So Jehjaour
gnashed his teeth, and his whole force went
out ina mighty current of hate towards his
former friend.
His
1 Allan MacGregor Bennett (whose motto in
the ‘‘ Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn,”
was lehi Aour, z.e, ‘‘ Let there be light’’), now
Ananda Metteya, to whom the volume in
which this story was issuedis inscribed.
2 Taphtatharath, the spirit of Mercury.
trance’ Mara! appeared to him.
‘*Now hate hath power, though not the
power of love. So it came about that in
his despair he fell into a trance; and in the
Never
before had his spells availed to call so fearful
a potency from the abyss of matter. ‘Son,’
‘cried the Accurséd One,“seven days of hate
unmarred by passion milder, seven days
without one thought of pity, these avail to
call me forth.2. ‘Slay me my enemy!’
howled the wretch. But. Mara. trembled.
‘Enquire of Ganesha concerning him!’
faltered at last the fiend.
‘¢ Jehjaour awoke.
IV.
_6Ves!’ said Ganesha gloomily, ‘the
young man has given me up altogether.
He tells me I am as mortal as he is, and
he doesn’t mean to worry about me any
more.’ ‘Alas!’ sighed the deceitful Jeh-
jaour, who cared no more for Ganesha and
any indignities that might be offered him
than his enemy did. ‘One of my best
devotees too!’ muttered, or rather trum-
peted, the elephantine anachronism. ‘You
see,’ said the wily wizard, ‘I saw Perdu’ R
Abu the other day, and he said he had
become Srotapatti. Now that’s pretty
serious. In seven births only, if he but
pursue the path, will he cease to be reborn.
So you have only that time in which to win
him back to your worship.’ The cunning
sorcerer did not mention that within that
time also must his own ruin be accomplished.
‘What do you advise?’ asked the irritated
and powerful, but unintelligent deity. ‘Time
is our friend,’ said the enchanter. ‘ Let your
influence be used in the Halls of Birth that
each birth may be as long as possible. Now
the elephant is the longest lived of all
beasts—’ ‘Done with you!’ sac Ganesha
in great glee, for the idea struck him as
ingenious. And he lumbered off to clinch
the affair at once.
‘‘ And Perdw’ R Abu died.
1 The archdevil of the Buddhists.