to the sin that had given tongue. The brute had
picked up my scent near the door by which I had entered, and they
moved slowly nearer to me sniffing along the floor, and uttering
every now and then their fearful cry. I saw that the whole thing
had gone too far. But now they had seen me, now they were all about
me, they sprang up trying to reach my throat; and whenever their
claws touched me, horrible thoughts came into my mind and
unutterable desires dominated my heart. I planned bestial things as
these creatures leaped around me, and planned them with a masterly
cunning. A great red-eyed murder was among the foremost of those
furry things from whom I feebly strove to defend my throat.
Suddenly it seemed to me good that I should kill my brother. It
seemed important to me that I should not risk being punished. I
knew where a revolver was kept; after I had shot him, I would dress
the body up and put flour on the face like a man that had been
acting as a ghost. It would be very simple. I would say that he had
frightened me--and the servants had heard us talking about ghosts.
There were one or two trivialities that would have to be arranged,
but nothing escaped my mind. Yes, it seemed to me very good that I
should kill my brother as I looked into the red depths of this
creature's eyes. But one last effort as they dragged me down--'If
two straight lines cut one another,' I said, 'the opposite angles
are equal. Let AB, CD, cut one another at E, then the angles CEA,
CEB equal two right angles (prop. xiii.). Also CEA, AED equal two
right angles.'

I moved towards the door to get the revolver; a hideous exultation
arose among the beasts. 'But the angle CEA is common, therefore AED
equals CEB. In the same way CEA equals DEB. _QED_.' It was
proved. Logic and reason re-established themselves in my mind, there
were no dark hounds of sin, the tapestried chairs were empty. It
seemed to me an inconceivable thought that a man should murder his
brother.

The Whirlpool

Once going down to the shore of the great sea I came upon the
Whirlpool lying prone upon the sand and stretching his huge limbs in
the sun.

I said to him: 'Who art thou?'

And he said:

'I am named Nooz Wana, the Whelmer of Ships, and from the Straits of
Pondar Obed I am come, wherein it is my wont to vex the seas. There
I chased Leviathan with my hands when he was young and strong; often
he slipped through my fingers, and away into th