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to observe the game until the storm which brought thee
here abates, and then thou art to go thy way.'
And so it was that throughout the long night I watched
the two faceless players at the game which I could not
begin to comprehend. And the moves which they made
had no meaning to me. If the one moved a king, the other
countered by moving a comet or a sun or a grain of sand.
And there were beggars and thieves and harlots on the
board as well as kings and knights and queens. And
sometimes the players moved rapidly and sometimes they
pondered long between moves. And I watched their play
and spake not throughout the long night.
And when morning came, the servant returned and led
me down the gloomy halls of the house which stands at
the edge of creation. And when he opened the door I saw
that the storm had passed. And I turned to the servant and
I said. 'What is the game they play?'
And he answered, saying, 'It is the game of the two
Fates. All the pieces contain two possibilities and all are
interconnected. When one piece is moved, all other pieces
also move. The two players no longer even strive to win
the game, but merely attempt to maintain the balance
between them.'
'Why do they continue to play then?'
'Because they must. The game must be played to its
conclusion, though it last until the end of days. Thou wert
brought to this place because it may be that thou or one
who might come after thee will one day make some move
in this eternal game. I know not, and I care not. My care is
to tend the house, and I have done so since it was built.
Now go thy way.'And so saying, he closed the door,
leaving me standing alone upon the doorstep.
Now the morning was bright, and the birds sang
sweetly, and I strode across the heath at a goodly pace,
and by midafternoon I found the path which led me back
to my own country.
* Read the opening canto of The Divine Comedy for a comparison.
At a certain time I found myself weary and alone in a
dusky wood, having strayed, it seems, from the true path.
Yet I knew not why I was there nor whither I had been
bound when I lost my way. As night descended upon that
gloomy wood, I despaired of finding the path again ere it
grew dark, and as best I could I composed myself for
sleep, wrapped in my cloak and with my back resting
against the bole of a great tree.
If I slept or no, I shall never know, for it seemed that I
came awake of a sudden in the broad street of a populous
city, and excited crowds were all hurrying toward the
central square, and I, perforce, was borne along with
them, so great was the press. Turning to the man pushing
along beside me, I asked as politely as possible what event
had so moved this multitude of people that they should
strive all at once to gather in the square.
'She comes,' he replied in ardent tones.
I confessed to him that I was a stranger in his city and
that I knew not to whom he referred.
'Why, she, of course,' quoth he, '- the paramount Lady