ance. And lo! Ialdabaoth was
now contemplating the Earth and, seeing it sunk in wickedness and
suffering, he began to foster thoughts of kindliness in his heart. On a
sudden he rose up, and beating the ether with his mighty arms, as though
with oars, he hastened thither to instruct and to console mankind.
Already his vast shadow shed upon the unhappy planet a shade soft as a
night of love.

And Satan awoke bathed in an icy sweat.

Nectaire, Istar, Arcade, and Zita were standing round him. The finches
were singing.

"Comrades," said the great archangel, "no--we will not conquer the
heavens. Enough to have the power. War engenders war, and victory
defeat.

"God, conquered, will become Satan; Satan, conquering, will become God.
May the fates spare me this terrible lot; I love the Hell which formed
my genius. I love the Earth where I have done some good, if it be
possible to do any good in this fearful world where beings live but by
rapine. Now, thanks to us, the god of old is dispossessed of his
terrestrial empire, and every thinking being on this globe disdains him
or knows him not. But what matter that men should be no longer
submissive to Ialdabaoth if the spirit of Ialdabaoth is still in them;
if they, like him, are jealous, violent, quarrelsome, and greedy, and
the foes of the arts and of beauty? What matter that they have rejected
the ferocious Demiurge, if they do not hearken to the friendly demons
who teach all truths; to Dionysus, Apollo, and the Muses? As to
ourselves, celestial spirits, sublime demons, we have destroyed
Ialdabaoth, our Tyrant, if in ourselves we have destroyed Ignorance and
Fear."

And Satan, turning to the gardener, said:

"Nectaire, you fought with me before the birth of the world. We were
conquered because we failed to understand that Victory is a Spirit, and
that it is in ourselves and in ourselves alone that we must attack and
destroy Ialdabaoth."

THE END

+--------------------------------------------------------------+
| Transcriber's Notes |
| |
| Page 74: "Madame des Aubel's" amended to "Madame des |
| Aubels'" |
| Page 170: "clomb" _sic_ (archaic; past tense of _climb_). |
| Page 210: "befel" _sic_ (archaic). |
| Page 230: "Bouchette" amended to "Bouchotte"