David Lindsay

“ Krag turned to Gangnet with an air of grotesque mock earnestness.
"What do you say—do we part when Maskull pleases, or when I please?"
"Keep your temper, Maskull," said Gangnet, showing Krag his back. "I know the man better than you do. Now that he has fastened onto you there's only one way of making him lose his hold, by ignoring him. Despise him—say nothing to him, don't answer his questions. If you refuse to recognise his existence, he is as good as not here." ”

“ The sky blazed deeper and deeper; it was obvious that Alppain was about to lift itself above the sea. The island had by this time floated past the mouth of the estuary. On three sides they were surrounded by water. The haze crept up behind them and shut out all sight of land. Krag was still sleeping—an ugly, wrinkled monstrosity.
Maskull looked over the side at the flowing water. It had lost its dark green colour, and was now of a perfect crystal transparency.
"Are we already on the Ocean, Gangnet?"
"Yes."
"Then nothing remains except my death."
"Don't think of death, but life." ”

“ Maskull stopped short. "What do you want with me, and why did you bring me here?"
"It's no use stopping, even for the sake of theatrical effect," said Krag, pulling him into motion again. "The distance has got to be covered, however often we pull up."
When he touched him, Maskull felt a terrible shooting pain through his heart.
"I can't go on regarding you as a man, Krag. You're something more than a man—whether good or evil, I can't say." ”

“ Krag paced up and down with short, quick steps, like an animal in a cage. The lake widened out more and more, and the width of the stream increased in proportion, until they seemed to themselves to be floating on the bosom of some broad, flowing estuary.
Krag suddenly bent over and snatched off Gangnet's hat, crushing it together in his hairy fist and throwing it far out into the stream.
"Why should you disguise yourself like a woman?" he asked with a harsh guffaw—"Show Maskull your face. ”

“ When you see Alppain itself, it will reign supreme, and there will be no more struggling of wills inside you."
"And that, I may tell you beforehand, Maskull," said Krag, grinning, "is Crystalman's trump card."
"How do you mean?"
"You'll see. You'll renounce the world so eagerly that you'll want to stay in the world merely to enjoy your sensations."
Gangnet smiled. "Krag, you see, is hard to please. You must neither enjoy, nor renounce. What are you to do?"
Maskull turned toward Krag. "It's very odd, but I don't understand your creed even yet. Are you recommending suicide?" ”

“ Maskull turned pale. "Sneer away, Krag! If you lived with a woman for six hundred years and saw her die, that would never touch your leather heart. You haven't even the feelings of an insect."
"Behold the child defending its toys!" said Krag, grinning faintly. ”

“ You have run through the gamut. What else is there to live for?"
"Nothing," said Maskull, uttering a short laugh. "I am quite ready. I have failed in everything. I only wondered how you knew.... So now you've come to rejoin me. Where are we going?"
"Through Barey."
"And what about Nightspore?"
Krag jumped to his feet with clumsy agility. "We won't wait for him. He'll be there as soon as we shall."
"Where?"
"At our destination.... Come! The sun's rising."
As they started clambering down the pass side by side, Branchspell, huge and white, leaped fiercely into the sky. ”

“ They passed some trees and plants, the leaves of which were all curled up, as if in sleep.
Maskull pointed them out to his companion.
"How is it the sunshine doesn't open them?"
"Branchspell is a second night to them. Their day is Alppain." ”

“ By mourning for a noble woman, you show your own nobility. I think all women are noble."
"There may be millions of noble women, but there's only one Sullenbode."
"If Sullenbode can exist," said Gangnet, "the world cannot be a bad place."
"Change the subject.... The world's hard and cruel, and I am thankful to be leaving it."
"On one point, though, you both agree," said Krag, smiling evilly. "Pleasure is good, and the cessation of pleasure is bad." ”

“ You are very fond of them, but they are unworkable. The world could not go on being, without pleasure."
"So Gangnet thinks!" jeered Krag.
They came to the end of the wood, and found themselves overlooking a little cliff. At the foot of it, about fifty feet below, a fresh series of lakes and forests commenced. Barey appeared to be one big mountain slope, built by nature into terraces. The lake along whose border they had been travelling was not banked at the end, but overflowed to the lower level in half a dozen beautiful, threadlike falls, white and throwing off spray. ”

“ You will never know."
"Do you know?"
"I know," snarled Krag.
"The devil here is called Krag," went on Maskull, peering into his face.
"As long as pleasure is worshiped, Krag will always be the devil."
"Here we are, talking face to face, two men together.... What am I to believe of you?"
"Believe your senses. The real devil is Crystalman."
They continued descending the landslip. The sun's rays had grown insufferably hot. In front of them, down below in the far distance, Maskull saw water and land intermingled. It appeared that they were travelling toward a lake district. ”

“ It makes all the difference whether one sees darkness through the light, or brightness through the shadows."
"A clear eye is the best. Tormance is an ugly world, and I greatly prefer to know it as it really is."
"The devil made it ugly, not Crystalman. These are Crystalman's thoughts, which you see around you. He is nothing but Beauty and Pleasantness. Even Krag won't have the effrontery to deny that."
"It's very nice here," said Krag, looking around him malignantly. "One only wants a cushion and half a dozen houris to complete it."
Maskull disengaged himself from Gangnet. ”

“ There is still time for one more."
"Now I don't understand you."
"You think you are thoroughly disillusioned, don't you? Well, that may prove to be the last and strongest illusion of all."
The conversation ceased. They reached the foot of the landslip an hour later. Branchspell was steadily mounting the cloudless sky. It was approaching Sarclash, and it was an open question whether or not it would clear its peak. The heat was sweltering. The long, massive, saucer-shaped ridge behind them, with its terrific precipices, was glowing with bright morning colours. ”

“ The entire sky in the north, halfway up to the zenith, was streaked with extraordinary colours, among which jale and dolm predominated. Just as the principal character of an ordinary dawn is mystery, the outstanding character of this dawn was wildness. ”