year of Tharp
that I saw outlined the beckoning form of the celestial bird, and felt
the first stirrings of unrest. Then I spoke with the bearded man, and
told him of my new yearning to depart for remote Cathuria, which no man
hath seen, but which all believe to lie beyond the basalt pillars of the
West. It is the Land of Hope, and in it shine the perfect ideals of all
that we know elsewhere; or at least so men relate. But the bearded man
said to me, "Beware of those perilous seas wherein men say Cathuria
lies. In Sona-Nyl there is no pain nor death, but who can tell what lies
beyond the basalt pillars of the West?" Natheless at the next full moon
I boarded the White Ship, and with the reluctant bearded man left the
happy harbour for untravelled seas.

And the bird of heaven flew before, and led us toward the basalt pillars
of the West, but this time the oarsmen sang no soft songs under the full
moon. In my mind I would often picture the unknown Land of Cathuria with
its splendid groves and palaces, and would wonder what new delights
there awaited me. "Cathuria," I would say to myself, "is the abode of
gods and the land of unnumbered cities of gold. Its forests are of aloe
and sandalwood, even as the fragrant groves of Camorin, and among the
trees flutter gay birds sweet with song. On the green and flowery
mountains of Cathuria stand temples of pink marble, rich with carven and
painted glories, and having in their courtyards cool fountains of
silver, where purl with ravishing music the scented waters that come
from the grotto-born river Narg. And the cities of Cathuria are
cinctured with golden walls, and their pavements are also of gold. In
the gardens of these cities are strange orchids, and perfumed lakes
whose beds are of coral and amber. At night the streets and the gardens
are lit with gay lanthorns fashioned from three-coloured shell of the
tortoise, and here resound the soft notes of the singer and the
lutanist. And the houses of the cities of Cathuria are all palaces, each
built over a fragrant canal bearing the waters of the sacred Narg. Of
marble and porphyry are the houses, and roofed with glittering gold
that reflects the rays of the sun and enhances the splendour of the
cities as blissful gods view them from the distant peaks. Fairest of all
is the palace of the great monarch Dorieb, whom some say to be a demigod
and others a god. High is the palace of Dorieb, and many are the turrets
of marble upon its w