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of our line that I may succeed thee and care for thee in thy dotage.'
And then was Belgarath mightily provoked and raised up his
hand against his spiteful daughter, but she smiled upon him sweetly,
and his hand faltered, and he turned and fled from her.
And she called after him, saying, 'Father, still hast thou not
instructed me in our art.'
And Belgarath fled. And, laughing, did his daughter, Polgara,
pursue him.
* An abbreviated version of this became the prologue for Book One of the
Belgariad, Pawn
of Prophecy, and Belgarath repeated it at Faldor's farm to give Garion a
reference point. It
also recurs in Belgarath the Sorcerer.
THE HOLY BOOKS
THE BOOK OF TORAK
.,NOTE
The Book of Torak is forbidden in all the kingdoms of the west.
Possession of a copy of this work is punishable by death in all the
civilized world. ]he reading of this work is also punishable by death. This
notice constitutes a legal warning under the statutes of The Empire of
Tolnedra, the Kingdom of Arendia, the Kingdom.of Sendaria, Holy
Ulgo, the Kingdom of Cherek, the Wardership of Riva, the Kingdom
of Drasnia, the Kingdom of Algaria, and is also valid in the Vale of
Aldur and the District of the Marags. Negotiations are currently
pending with Her Majesty Eternal Salmissra, Queen of Nyissa, to extend
this ban to the land of the Snake People.
*The University of Tol Honeth has its origins in this headnote: a group who were
meticulous about details, but who had no idea what was really going on.
BEHOLD, ght else
I am Torak, King of Kings, Lord of Lords. I was before all
was. I will be when all that has been made is unmade, ye?., even
beyond the end of days. I was when the world was englobed and the
vast seas contained and the mountains heaved up out of reeking
slime to claw at the vault of heaven. I will be when the mountains
crumble into sand and are carried away as dust on the endless wind
and the seas dwindle down into stagnant pools and the rounded
world shrivels and is no more.
Seven were we, and joined our hands and made all that is made.
And separated we the sea from the land and set the moon and the
sun in their courses and covered the world with forests and grasses.
Beasts we made and fowls, and lastly Man, to be the servant and the
instrument of our will. And we divided the men we had made into
peoples, and each of us took unto himself a people to mold and
shape to his own purposes - all save Aldur, who was ever contrary
and discontented in that we would not grant him dominion over all
the world and lordship over us as well. And he withdrew himself
from us and sought to entice our servants away from us with his
enchantments.
And the people who were mine called themselves Angarak, and
offered they burnt sacrifice and worship unto me. And I blessed them,