The King in Yellow

by Robert W. Chambers

  THE SACRIFICE

  I went into a field of flowers, whose petals are whiter than snow andwhose hearts are pure gold.

  Far afield a woman cried, "I have killed him I loved!" and from a jar shepoured blood upon the flowers whose petals are whiter than snow and whosehearts are pure gold.

  Far afield I followed, and on the jar I read a thousand names, while fromwithin the fresh blood bubbled to the brim.

  "I have killed him I loved!" she cried. "The world's athirst; now let itdrink!" She passed, and far afield I watched her pouring blood upon theflowers whose petals are whiter than snow and whose hearts are pure gold.