The Tritonian Ring and Other Pasudian Tales by L. Sprague de Camp Page B

my lover Thiegos."
     
                  "Your—" Vakar checked himself, wondering why he felt a sudden pang of annoyance. It was none of his affair if the Queen of Ogugia kept a dozen lovers; but" the feeling persisted.
     
                  She appeared not to notice. "And I think I will have this Master Qasigan too if I like him. He seems like a man of position, and we should at least get some rare tales of far lands."
     
                  "Queen," said Vakar, "I told Qasigan my name but denied being the scion of Lorsk, and should therefore prefer to be known simply as Master Vakar, a simple gentleman, while that fellow in the long shirt is about."
     
                  "It shall be done. Dweros! Take Pr— Master Vakar to the second guest-chamber in the right wing and provide for his comfort."
     
    -
     
                  Vakar saw no more of Porfia until evening, but spent a lazy day sleeping, being washed and perfumed, and reading a Hesperian translation of the Fragments of Lontang in the library while his dirty clothes were being washed and dried. As the writing of the time was largely pictographic, the written languages of Ogugia and Lorsk differed much less than their spoken tongues. However, the symbols for abstract ideas differed widely. Vakar asked a dignified-looking oldster copying a roll of papyrus in the corner:
     
                  "Can you tell me what this means, my man? This skull-and-crescent thing?"
     
                  "That, sir, signifies 'mortality'. It combines t h e skull., w hich symbolizes death, with the inverted crescent, which represents the abstract aspect of the moon, to wit: time, t herefore the meaning of the passage is:
     
    "Though germinate                             of mortal man generations
    In thousands of thousands               while in dwellings divine
    A god grows his eye-teeth,               yet time taketh all:
    Even the gods so glorious               must march at the last
    Down the dim dusty road               to death the destroyer. "
     
                  " Is Lontang trying to t ell us that even the gods must d ie?"
     
                  "Yes. His theory was th at the gods are created by the belief of men in them, and that puissant though they be , in t ime men will forsake the m for others and forget them, and t hey will fade away and vanish."
     
                  Vakar said: "You se em a knowledgeable man in such m atters. May I ask your name?"
     
                  "I am Rethilio, a poor philosopher of Sederado. And y ou ... ? "
     
                  "I am Vakar of Lorsk."
     
                  "Curious," mused the man. "I have heard your name ... I know! Last night I dreamt I witnessed an assembly of the gods. I recognized many of ours, such as Asterio, and some of those of other nations like your Okma. They seemed to be rushing about in agitated fashion, as if dancing a funeral-dance, and I heard them ejaculate 'Vakar Lorska'!"
     
                  Vakar shuddered. "As I never dream of the gods I can shed no light on this matter."
     
                  "Are you remaining here long, Prince?"
     
                  "Only a few days. But I should like to return to Ogugia some day to study its famed philosophies."
     
                  Too late Vakar realized that he should have at once denied his principate; by failing to do so he had confirmed Rethilio's guess as to his true identity. Rethilio said:
     
                  "Many of my colleagues believe that if only kings would study philosophy, or the people would choose philosophers as their kings, the world would be a less sorry place. In practice, however, kings seem to lack either time or inclination."
     
                  "Perhaps I can combine