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

grow.  They listened to him as he spoke, teaching them all he had learned from those strange persons who seemed like demigods to the Ginyu.
         The lessons were simple.  The people were to seek out knowledge wherever they might find it.  They were to search for answers to all questions.  They were to assume that all t hing s could be accomplished .  They were to act for themselves rather than waiting for the gods to aid them .  Yet, they were also to have faith that a benign and great power had brought the world into being, a power worthie of admiration and one which, if pleased with its creatures on E arth, might well favour them with blessings in the years to come.
         And so those who held to the ideas of Ze laznu began to speak less of the myriad unseen gods which had guided their ancestors , and more of Man’s place in the universe.  They still gave praise to whatever power had given them life, but while some spoke of “ God , ” others said “ being ” and still others “ energie. ”   By this I mean to say: what theologie they possessed now looked up on a single power rather than a cadre of supreme beings.
         This did not well serve the Zelaznids (for so they now called themselves) in the eyes of King Xinh, for the king had always claimed that the favour of the god s passed to the people through him and no other .  Though they had not said as much , the Zelaznid s held beliefs which seemed to cast doubt upon the existence of the gods from which King Xinh claimed to derive his right to rule .   This did not please the king, yet he hesitated to act against the Zelaznids, for they were a peaceful people who, by virtue of their alliances and kinships, had a large number of powerful and vigourous defenders in Salabad .
         Yet , as the Zelaznids grew in number, their enemies used th is growing strength against them.  For, despite their peaceful and contemplative nature, the Zelaznids inspire d in others a frightful jealousie; for the people of Salabad could not understand why the Fates had shown so much favour to a people who were ( in the minds of the spiteful ) little more than uneducated countr ie folk and foreigners.
         These ill- meaning souls whispered to the king that Zelaznu, the prophet of the Zelaznids, spoke in blasphemies and that his followers sought nothing less than the overthrow of the kingdom.  This was poison in the ear of the king.  By this time, it must be said , King Xinh had , in consequence of his advanced age, grown wearie of mind to such an extent that the evil advice of his trusted servants had great effect upon him.
          At last, the king ordered that Zelaznu should be arrested along with all of those foolis h souls who might stand with the aging prophet .   But there were those within the household of the king whose hearts were open to the teachings of Zelaznu, though they had not s poken of it to others.  These person s, thus knowledgeable of the king’s plan, went amongst the Zelaznids to war n them of the coming catastrophe.  Soon, word spread into the streets and fields of Salabad : Zelaznu was to be arrested .  And there were those who were prepared to take up arms in defense of their leader and his ideas.  But Zelaznu would not have it so.  He ordered that those who wished to follow the truth in their hearts should take all that they could bear and meet him on the path leading into the mountains.
         This they did.  Sevent ie-three men, sixtie women, and ninetie -five children, all fearful and laden with their belongings, st ood up on the path to the great mountains, wait ing f or Zelaznu to lead them into those frozen heights , to what end they did not know.  Not a few of them trembled at the thought of such a journie, of exchang ing their comfortable homes for the dangers of the wild.  But , believ ing in the ir aging leader, they waited.
         When Zelaznu came, it was without great haste, even though the y