The Ports and Portals of the Zelaznids Read Online Free PDF Page A

fellow half-frozen and without the strength to stand upon his own feet.  The herdsman, stout soul, forgot the goat so that he might tend to the stranger, taking him to his own meagre home for comfort and mending.   Upon waking, the wearie fellow, much to the amazement of all assembled, revealed that he was that same Zelaznu who had, more than fifteen years before, gone into the mountains with Majumin.
         Some were inclined not to believe the man, for he had long ago been mourned for dead.  But there were yet souls living who knew Zelaznu on sight and who assured one and all that this was indeed that selfsame man.  Chief among them was Tengi, the son of a sister to Zelaznu .  Tengi, n ow a man with a familie of his own, remembered well th e uncle who had taught him to fish so long ago .   There could be no doubt but that this poor soul was Zelaznu.   Thus, w ith one voice, as if summoned by a single spirit, the Ginyu gave thanks to the gods for returning their kinsman to them.  But what, they asked, had become of Majumin?
         In response to this, Zelaznu told his strange tale.
         “Our journey was a difficult one,” he began, “fraught with countless dangers and perils.  Nights on end we struggled with the cold, using for our dwellings the caves of the earth when F ortune smiled and our cloaks alone when she did not.  By day , we climbed, winding back and forth through the rock -strewn and frozen wastes.  By night, we built fires when we had the tinder, so that we might cook the meat of goats and other creatures of the heights.  When there w as no wood to be found , we ate raw meat and lived as best we could, just as men have done s ince before time was writ.
         “ For t hree weeks we c limb ed , until at last we reached a deep gorge cut by a river ; this we could not cross.  Majumin grew vexed , for visible to us on the far side of that crevasse stretch ed the heights of what is surelie the greatest peak in the world.  Majumin believed this to be his goal: the home of the gods .  We made camp at once so that we might, on the following day, begin a search for the best route across the river to the king of mountains. [23]    
         “With the dawn, we each set out in our own di rection s in order to more quicklie determine which path would lead us to the other side.  I searched without success for much of th e day and then returned to camp to wait for the return of Majumin.
         “Much time pass ed before I heard his screams.  Running in the direction of the cries , I saw no tracks, the rock being bare of snow in that place.  With no way to track my companion, I had no thing to guide me but those screams , which I prayed most heartilie I would not hear again.
         “But the screams came again and I followed them until at last I reached a flat and open space .  There, Majumin lay upon the ground.  Standing over him was a beast, a great ape, covered from head to toe in long, white hair which gleamed in the near darkness, excepting for those dark patches made by my companion’s blood.
         “My heart felt the pain of it at once , knowing that Majumin w ould not survive this horror.   But grief could not long remain in the forefront of my thoughts, for that great beast turned its evil eyes upon me, intend ing no doubt to send me into that netherworld to which Majumin had alreadie traveled .  I am no coward, but as the creature descended upon me , I felt determined to flee.  Yet, my legs stood rooted, and I realized that I could in no way induce myself to move .  It seemed that I, too, would meet my death, that ou r quest would end in failure .
         “But this was not to be , for there c ame into the clearing four men .  F rom whence they hailed I knew not, but they bore in their hands metal tubes from which issued fire , smoke, and such a loud report that I feared that the mountains would tumble down upon us.
         “The white beast