by Lord Dunsany
But as the feet of the foremost touched the edge of the hill Time hurled five years against them, and the years passed over their heads and the army still came on, an army of older men. But the slope seemed steeper to the King and to every man in his army, and they breathed more heavily. And Time summoned up more years, and one by one he hurled them at Karnith Zo and at all his men. And the knees of the army stiffened, and their beards grew and turned grey, and the hours and days and the months went singing over their heads, and their hair turned whiter and whiter, and the conquering hours bore down, and the years rushed on and swept the youth of that army clear away till they came face to face under the walls of the castle of Time with a mass of howling years, and found the top of the slope too steep for aged men. Slowly and painfully, harassed with agues and chills, the King rallied his aged army that tottered down the slope.
Slowly the King led back his warriors over whose heads had shrieked the triumphant years. Year in, year out, they straggled southwards, always toward Zoon; they came, with rust upon their spears and long beards flowing, again into Astarma, and none knew them there. They passed again by towns and villages where once they had inquired curiously concerning Time, and none knew them there either. They came again to the palaces and gardens where they had waited for Time in the night, and found that Time had been there. And all the while they set a hope before them that they should come on Zoon again and see its golden eaves. And no one knew that unperceived behind them there lurked and followed the gaunt figure of Time cutting off stragglers one by one and overwhelming them with his hours, only men were missed from the army every day, and fewer and fewer grew the veterans of Karnith Zo.
But at last after many a month, one night as they marched in the dusk before the morning, dawn suddenly ascending shone on the eaves of Zoon, and a great cry ran through the army:
“Alatta, Alatta!”
But drawing nearer they found that the gates were rusted and weeds grew tall along the outer walls, many a roof had fallen, gables were blackened and bent, and the golden eaves shone not as heretofore. And the soldiers entering the city expecting to find their sisters and sweethearts of a few years ago saw only old women wrinkled with great age and knew not who they were.
Suddenly someone said:
“He has been here too.”
And then they knew that while they searched for Time, Time had gone forth against their city and leaguered it with the years, and had taken it while they were far away and enslaved their women and children with the yoke of age. So all that remained of the three armies of Karnith Zo settled in the conquered city. And presently the men of Zeenar crossed over the river Eidis and easily conquering an army of aged men took all Alatta for themselves, and their kings reigned thereafter in the city of Zoon. And sometimes the men of Zeenar listened to the strange tales that the old Alattans told of the years when they made battle against Time. Such of these tales as the men of Zeenar remembered they afterwards set forth, and this is all that may be told of those adventurous armies that went to war with Time to save the world and the gods, and were overwhelmed by the hours and the years.
Sources
“The Gods of Pegana.” From The Gods of Pegana, John W. Luce, Boston, [n.d.; 1st ed. was 1905]. This is a selection of material. Individual sections, however, have not been abridged.
“Time and the Gods,” “The Coming of the Sea,” “The Secret of the Gods” and “In the Land of Time.” From Time and the Gods, John W. Luce and Co., Boston, 1913 [1st ed. was 1906].
“The Ghosts,” “The Sword of Welleran” and “The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save For Sacnoth.” From The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories, George Allen & Sons, London, 1908.
“Poor Old Bill,” “Bethmoora,” “Idle Days on the Yann” and “The Hashish Man.” From A Dreamer’s Tales, John W. Luce and Co., Boston, [1910].
“The Wonderful Window,” “The Probable Adventure of the Three Literary Men,” “The Coronation of Mr. Thomas Shap,” “The Hoard of the Gibbelins,” “How Nuth Would Have Practised His Art upon the Gnoles,” “Chu-bu and Sheemish,” “The Distressing Tale of Thangobrind the Jeweller, and of the Doom That Befell Him” and “The Injudicious Prayers of Pombo the Idolater.” From The Book of Wonder, A Chronicle of Little Adventures at the Edge of the World, John W. Luce and Co., Boston, 1913 [1st ed. was 1912].
“The Three Sailors’ Gambit,” “The Three Infernal Jokes,” “The Exiles’ Club,” “Thirteen at Table,” “The Bureau d’Echange de Maux,” “A Story of Land and Sea,” “How Plash-Goo Came to the Land of None’s Desire” and “A Narrow Escape.” From Tales of Wonder, Elkin Mathews, London, 1920 [1st ed. was 1916].
“The Walk to Lingham,” “How Ryan Got out of Russia” and “A Mystery of the East.” From Jorkens Remembers Africa, Longmans, Green & Co., New York, 1934.
“The Sign,” “The Neapolitan Ice” and “Jorkens Consults a Prophet.” From Jorkens Has a Large Whiskey, Putnams, New York and London. [1940].
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