The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1895-10-31
THE CITY OF THE SPHINxES.

he stretched his weary and imploring
arms toward the marvels at the horizon,
still as far away and a. beautiful ~ ever,
an eagle, descending, lighted on the stone
where he had slept.
Eagle" said the youth, "have pity
on me; take me and bear me TO the TOP
! Of yon ivory tower"
"Youth, lie on my back between my
wings, and l will bear you to the ivory
tower"
The eagle few away, like Geryon, and
the youth, stretched between its wings,
in the exsltation Of love, looked fixedly
upon the white tower tipped with gold,
still far off and beautiful.
A long time the eagle few, 80 long that
they reached q country where the days
are years and the years are centuries,
and still the tower doomed at the horizon
amid the flying angels, above the blue
forest and the palace with the lighted
windows.
Every century the youth asked in the
anxiety of desire:
eagle, shall we soon arrive?"
But the eagle, without answering, gave
the air violent stroke with its wings,
and they passed through countries where
the flowers are suns and where the women
hang stars in their ears; and still the
ivory tower shone in the distance, always
pure, always beautiful.
Eagle, shall we soon arrive?" asked
the youth, in q sad and broken voice.
Eagle, my hands have grown yellow
and my hair has turned white. Eagle,
shall we soon srrivef''
"We have arrived, old man." replied
the eagle, lighting on the stone upon
which the youth had slept the third night
of his journey. Here is the tower, here
is the forest, here is the palace, here are
the angels, as you saw them when took
you between my wings. We have made
the tour Of the world without attaining
your desire, and now you are old and
about to die; 60 home at least to die"
The eagle disappeared, having shaken
off its burden, and the old man, falling
violently among the stones, went to sleep
and dreamed.
His first movement on waking was to
look with his weary eyes for the divine
marvels upon which his love had fed so
long, bot the horizon was bare, forming
only black circle. He Was not sur
prised, for his dream had prepared him
to know and understand the truth at last.
Grieved at the loss Of light, he yet re-
joiced TO know that the horizon YVES a
black circle, and, despisiag the early illu-
sions of men, and walking without rest,
it took him bat two days to reach the
gate guarded by the sphinxes.
'Tt was open. He entered, and said:
80, Sphinx, friend Of my youth, here
| am. ] return from a journey so long
that my hands are yellow and my hair
is white, but know the truth. Yonder
there is neither blue forest, nor white
tower tipped with gold, nor palace with
lighted windows, nor radiant fight Of
archangels. l have traversed the world
and the worlds, stretched on the back OF
the eagle, and now know--I know that
the universe is girdled with black cir
Gle made Of darkness, and that the mar
vel of the horizon is only the useless
flower of the eternal Illusion. I know
and will kill Illusion. I know and will
tell the truth. People. here is the
truth"
But the sphinge, at sign from her
male companion in bronze, rose sadly.
and, with her paw Of compassionate
lioness, crushed the monster who had
traversed the worlds between the wings
OF Geryon. Journal.
4