Asarua listened but said little and as they walked the maidservant spoke of the young daughters of Fonnana whom she had nursed, and of the ways of man and woman. She spoke as such women speak, her tongue following a winding road. The speech of men comes out like an arrow, but the speech of women comes out like a puff of smoke. Men talk with the naked tongue, but words from the mouth of a woman are veiled and devious. The tongue of a woman is a sword sheathed in silk. Not for nought are women called the twin-tongued. Perchance these words were added in the days of Thalos, for not all men think thus of women. The maidservant had an inexhaustible supply of words and Asarua was so taken aback to hear the things of which she spoke that she could find no words to answer. Thus speaking, they came to the small dwelling place where the mother of Asarua was preparing a meal. She invited the maidservant to eat with them and to sleep there that night, and this the maidservant gladly accepted.
After they had eaten, the maidservant spoke with Mamuah, the mother of Asarua, and the talk was of unfortunate women whose daughters were fair yet refused to be married, daughters who closed their ears even to good advice on marriage; whether such women were true women or unnatural women, The words which mattered were few while the words in which they were buried were many, but the former were not lost on Mamuah whose ears were not closed to such talk and they entered her heart. She gave attentive ears when the other spoke of Ancheti who, though but a youth, was wise. Though he had not yet drunk deeply from the waters of wisdom, nevertheless the well from which he drew them was a never failing one. “Be wise”, said the maidservant, “choose this young man, for surely none better will come this way. He does not wander from his place of duty; he is not slothful in manner, nor does he spend his days in futile pleasures. He does not go from woman to woman, and while it is true that this could be because of his age, yet he speaks of women only with respect, which is not the way with budding fornicators. He is manly, he is of the blood of kings and above all he is wise, because he has a wise instructor. He is a youth of good promise and one who would not bestow his love lightly”.
The mother of Asarua heard the words of the maidservant with both ears and when the maidservant was departing said, “Come again when the moon is new, that we may speak more of these matters”. Ancheti visited the place again and when the maidservant returned at the new moon Mamuah said, “It is well, my daughter will marry the youth Ancheti. But first he must bide in the place where he now serves for one year, then he must labour in this place for one year; after this he may marry Asarua with my blessing”. This seemed good in the eyes of Ancheti and so it was that he laboured two years in order to marry Asarua.
CHAPTER TEN
THE DEATH OF HURMANETAR
In the days when the Elshumban were gathered in war hosts, Hurmanetar departed with his household and the household of Ancheti to dwell in the land between the Great River of Sweet Waters and the Bitter Waters of the West, and they built an encampment there. They were in a land where some men spoke as Hurmanetar spoke and though there were men of blood with them the people of the land let Hurmanetar and those with him dwell in peace among them, because in those days men were inflicted with Inahana.
When the task set upon him was nigh finished, Hurmanetar knew that his days in the land of the living were not to be many more, therefore he betook himself into a place of solitude. There he fasted for many days casting his spirit that it might commune with the Father of the Gods, but the voice of God remained silent. Then he left that place, going into a cave where he dwelt in the half light for many days; but again there was no response from the Father of the Gods. So Hurmanetar departed from the cave and returned to his people where he was heard to say, “Woe, for truly my God has forsaken me and remains dumb against my pleadings. Yet I have done all the things told me beforetimes and written in the great Book, wherefore have I failed?
Then he went apart from the people and slept alone, for his heart was heavy. But behold, in the night he had a dream. In it he saw the Sacred Symbols spread out upon a cloth of white linen and each was displayed according to its form. As he gazed upon them and numbered them, each by its own number, an ass came and ate up the Sacred Symbols, and lo, the ass became a falcon. Then as he looked the falcon became a cow and between its horns was a crown of silver and a crown of gold, and the cow spoke to Hurmanetar, saying, “Drink of my milk and anoint your eyes with it, thus they will be opened and you will see”. Hurmanetar drank the milk and anointed his eyes, and then he awoke. Remembering the dream and being wise he needed no other to interpret it for him. So then he straightway did the things which had to be done, about which those with understanding will know, and departed from the people.
Hurmanetar went out towards a place of solitude, about one day’s journey distant. Having gone about half the way he became weary under the noonday sun and so sat down beneath a tree to rest in its shade. Then, as he drowsed, behold, a great flash of light came down from out of Heaven and it smote the ground before him. He heard a great noise like a mighty whip crack, and he was blinded. Then he heard a voice saying, “Behold I am here, the God of Gods and the God of Men in the beginning”. Hearing this, Hurmanetar fell upon his face and cried, “O Great One, I am Your servant”.
Then God said, “Wherefore would you open a door unto me? Because the race of man has been defiled and men are no longer with Me, am I not the withdrawn One, the Hidden One?”
Hurmanetar, still on the ground, answered, “O Father of the Gods, I Your servant would know Your will. I have a task nigh finished and seek to know whether it is well in your sight, or whether it is a thing done without your blessing”.
God answered Hurmanetar, saying, “Is this not a Sacred Thing, a heritage saved and handed down from the days when men walked with Me? Therefore, it is a good thing, though care must be taken to ensure it is not disclosed to the eyes of profane men. The concoctions which, when properly compounded, will enable men to span the spheres can also, used otherwise, give men near unlimited potency and extreme pleasure with womankind. Therefore, such things must be carefully safeguarded, for in the hands of lesser men they will certainly be abused. But let it all be as it is written, do with it as you have been instructed”.
“You call upon Me as the Father of the Gods, nor do you err in this. Yet I am the Hidden God, the God of Secret Manifestation, the Wronged God, the Betrayed God, the Disappointed God. I am the God who sought to give love Divine to men by making them My heirs, making them partakers of divinity, co-creators with Me. But men spurn their birthright, not through wickedness alone but through their weakness and love of pleasure. Therefore, the love once offered cannot now be displayed in all its glory; it cannot be revealed in its beauty, it must now be leavened with severity and chastisement. This, so that those who are the inheritors of divinity may return to it with undiminshed powers, but purged of their weaknesses and love of unprofitable pleasure. This you should know, that men may know: Divinity of itself is not a created thing and cannot be bestowed as a gift. It comes as