The Word of Teregor

Chapter I

This is the story of the great long Woods, of the Oak that rules the Forest, of his fathers and of his chil¬ dren. It tells of the old tradition, the ancient fables and histories, the kingdom of to-day and the carryingon into the future. It tells of the peace that has always been in the Forest and how Man came to lose it long ago, even before the numbering of the years.

In the reign of the great Oak Teregor and in the reign of those before him there was peace throughout the For¬ ests. He was ruler over all things, over the trees and bushes, the

B

The Coming of Sound.

The Coming flowers and the grasses, and all the of Sound. &

birds and all the beasts. Man was equal with the other animals and came within the dominion of the king. All living things held converse one with another, speaking truly every thought that arose within their hearts, and hiding nothing away. Nor was it possible, even if he had tried to do so, for one to hide away his thoughts, because in those days what¬ ever was thought was already spoken and needed not words for it to be¬ come known. Full and lovely was that speech. No lie was there, nor any make-believe ; for Sound was not yet come, and none could say this thing, and mean that, but all things spoke by thoughts and looks and by the movement of their bodies.

The Mulberry - tree would say to Man : “ Now have my berries come to ripeness. Pluck thou the fruit that thy heart desires. I have The Coming brought the work of the season to of Sound - perfection, and the time has come for me to rest and to spread my roots when the soft rains of autumn have loosened the rich ground beneath me. Fear not to take the treasures from my branches, because they have come to fullness and are ready to fall out of my hands. Yet leave enough for the Throstle, for whom I promised to reserve my berries.”

So also with all the other trees that carry fruit. They would cry, “ My fruit is ripe. Come and eat”; or,

“ Wait a little longer ; my berries are not yet ready. Come again after a few days.”

When he heard that the berries were not yet ripe for eating, Man would answer and say, “ I am hungry, yet will I not touch thy fruit. Hast thou heard tell of a tree whose berries il i

I

The Coming are now ripe, and where I may now of Sound. appease my longing ? ”

And the tree would answer, “ Two chaffinches were but now sitting on my branches, of whom one said to the other that the fruit of the Black Cherry that stands in such a place has come to its fullness and is sweet.”

When any of the animals, search¬ ing for new pasturage, came down to the edges of the bogs that run be¬ tween the long spurs of land, he would hear the thoughts of the Bog-asphodel and the Sundew, saying, “ Venture no further hitherward; for the ground is soft and treacherous.” So the animal would turn and pass slowly up the side of the marsh till he heard the grasses calling, “ Here mayest thou cross, but go carefully, and ask before thou settest down thy feet.”

Listening then for the voices of the plants, who would be saying, “ Here thou mayest tread,” or, “ Be¬ ware of me, for the covering of moss is thin and a deep pit sinks beneath me,” a beast would cross the marshes if he went warily and with a trusting heart.

So spake all things one to the other, not by sound (for Sound was not yet come), but by the thoughts that passed from each to each. All things moved without noise, and vet was there music in their movement. The wind blew and the great branches swayed, the rivers splashed and tum¬ bled, and the lightning broke and flared from the thundercloud ; but all was silent, and everywhere were peace and happiness.

King Teregor stood on that place which is called the Mound of Teregor to this day. It is said that his girth was greater than that of any who

The Coming of Sound.

The Coming had gone before him, and that none of Sound, have grown to equal it in all the

years that have followed after. The last king was he that ruled over the whole land and over everything that had life. But in his reign there came the first of the rebellions and the first defyings of the authority of the Lord of the Forest.

Now one day Teregor felt within his heart that some great thing was at hand, and he was pondering what this might be. A full round wind came blowing from the south, surely and steadily increasing, never swerv¬ ing in his course nor hesitating in his blast. Then King Teregor knew that this wind was bringing some great thing, and he spoke these words to those that were near to him :

“ Pass the word through all the Forest that a great thing comes, so that all may be ready.”

Then tree bent to tree, and each The Coming spoke to his companion, and the word of Sound ' of King Teregor passed over the Forest. It sped across the heaths and waved over the long grasses; and all the birds were ware of it and all the beasts and all the insects, because it reached everywhere and into the uttermost parts of the land.

The wind kept blowing with a greater strength. Throughout the day it blew and throughout the night, until at last the great thing came.

Some say that it fell from Heaven in the first blushing of the morning, others that it flew across the sky on the sun’s red flames. Again there are those who say that it rode over the land on the lap of the clouds.

The whisper of it was heard in the distance, waxing louder and louder, as the voice of a gathering wind is heard to-day. The hills quaked and

The Coming the valleys rang with it. It screamed about the rocky headlands, and on the wings of the hornet it hummed with a deep rich music. The brook marvelled at the clamour of his waters and at the whistle of the reeds and at the sigh of the trees that bent over his banks.

The sea felt his power and exulted in it. He swelled up his mighty waves and drave them towards the land. He arched them above him till their crests rocked and swung, and till the volume of the waters reeled at a great height, and flung itself with a roar upon the rocks and beaches. The trees wondered at the song of their waving branches, and all flying things were a-dread at the murmur of their wings.

Then the wind died down, and moved' no longer across the land. All was silent now, for everything was motionless except the waters, who find their rest only in movement. So was all quiet, save them alone. And in the stillness a round purple cloud rolled across the heavens, a cloud dark and terrible. It stretched across the sky in the semblance of the body of a tree cut from its branches and from its roots, and, as it was passing over the head of Teregor the King, the lightning flashed from it, and the great roar of the thunder was heard in the Forest for the first time, reeling over the long bending spurs, the pasture walks, and the marshy bottoms. Then all was still once more, and, as the long purple cloud moved away, naught was heard save the rippling of the streams and the stroke of the distant sea upon the shore. All the beasts stood motionless, and all the birds and all the insects were afraid to

The Coming of Sound.

c

The Coming move their wings ; for they knew

of Sound. that this thing that had come upon

them was the voice of God.

While everything was hushed, in dread of what had happened and of what might come, a soft mellow note was heard through the stillness. It stopped suddenly, as if he who sang it were astonished and had made the sound unwittingly. Then it was heard again, this time timorously and with the voice of one who is making trial of his power, wondering if he may do again that which he has once done already. And even as a man who draws in colours and who is mixing paint with paint when he is thinking of other things—for his thoughts are not with his picture but mayhap with his friends that are far away—even as such a one may chance upon a colour that delights his eye and will stay his hand in i

THE WORD OF TEREGOR XI wonder for a moment, and will then The Coming make trial of his paints once more, and mix an ampler store of the colour that has pleased him, so that he may exult in its glory when it is seen upon his panel, even so this single voice in the Forest seemed to chance upon its sound, and stop, and venture forth again, and begin for the third time, growing richer and bolder with every trial. At last, while all other things were mute with wonder, the voice that had been a slender piping swelled out into a flowing glory of trills and rhythmic melodies.

Then those looked about them who were standing close to the place from which the song was coming. But they knew not what to search for, and, seeing no strange thing, they marvelled all the more. At length an Ash that grew close to the edge

The Coming of a wood spoke to a young Birchof Sound. tree, who had been saying for a long

time, “ Oh ! I am so afraid ! Can no one deliver me from this ? Oh ! I am so afraid.” The Ash asked the Birch for what matter she was crying, and why she thought that her lot was worse than that of other folk. Then the young Birch-tree answered with great fear in her heart: “ It is the Blackbird, who is sitting in my branches. It is the Blackbird.”

When the young Birch-tree had said this, the others looked up into her branches, where they saw the Blackbird sitting and pouring forth his song of rapture. Then the tidings spread far and wide of this new wonder, so that everyone was saying to his neighbour, “It is the Black¬ bird.”

Now before the Coming of Sound the Blackbird was not held in such honour as the birds of brighter feathers. The Woodpeckers and the Kingfishers would lord it over the Blackbirds and the Thrushes be¬ cause of the gayness of their colour¬ ing, while the Laverock would be held of little account by the side of the Goldfinch. As for the Nightingale, there were few who knew him at all; for the Nightingales come secretly in the beginning of the spring, and hide themselves in the warmth of the low thick bushes, and go away again as quietly as they came ; so that there were few who ever saw them.

After they had heard the Black¬ bird’s song, all the birds made trial of their voices till the world was ringing with their calls. Some sang sweetly, while the note of others was coarse and bitter. And the Green Woodpecker said, “ Can this thing

The Coming of Sound.

The Coming be done by a Blackbird ? Then I too must have a voice, and a better one than his.” But when he tried to sing there only came a loud startling noise, as it were the laughter of an imp of wickedness, so that all things bade him hold his peace, and called him Yaffle, even as he is called to this day.

And every bird strove against his neighbour that the beauty of his own song might prevail. Nor was there any at whom they wondered more than at the Laverock, who began singing on the ground, and rose into the air with the joy of his melody upon him, that the other birds might see from whom the song was coming ; for he would say in the pauses of his music, 41 See, it is I, the Skylark. Listen to the sweetness of my voice, and how I can make it swell and die as I sail downwards to the ground.”

And thereafter many of the birds The Coming were held in honour for the beauty of Sound * of their voices, of whom until now but little reck had been taken.

And of the other birds and of all their songs and pipings, of the joy¬ fulness of some and of the dumbness of others, of the clear note of this one and of that one’s delicate whisperings, how can the tale be told, and to what length would go the chronicle ? But here has been set down the true story of the old tradition, how the birds were first, after sound had come, to find the beauty that had been shed upon the world, and how first of all sang the Blackbird, even as to-day, after the hush, the fury, and the pass¬ ing of the thunderstorm, the mellow pipe of the Blackbird is heard before the voices of all other living things.

CHAPTER II Man’s

Rebellion.

After the Coming of Sound all things rejoiced and the world was full of music, and when the singing-time of the birds was passed, and the days grew hot and the heaths were breath¬ less in the evening, then the insects took up the song and filled the air with hummings.

But when the knowledge of sound had come upon him, Man found that he could do that which the others could not, and that his tongue was limitless in the variety of its sounds. He became more cunning. Not so keen of sight was he as some of the other animals, nor so sharp as some in smell or hearing; yet he grew warier in his devices and more crafty with his thoughts. And when he found that he could hold converse with his brother by means of sound, and that no other could understand it, he became conscious of his cunning, and turned his thoughts towards getting the better of the others, thinking carefully how this might be done. But the other living things felt that there were unkindly thoughts in the hearts of men, yet knew not what to make of this ; for evil think¬ ing was strange to them, and they could not tell what to bode from it.

And Man knew that his thoughts had not been hidden, and he feared the power of Teregor the King. And he forsook the trees, and sat apart on a stony, barren piece of land, ponder¬ ing secretly.

Then King Teregor said to the Leveret:

“ Unhappiness hath come upon Man.

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Man’s

Rebellion.

Man’s

Rebellion.

He speaketh not his thoughts, nor doth he look upon us with love. Go thou to him and comfort him ; for he hath loved thee exceedingly and delighteth in thy grace and supple¬ ness.”

Then the Leveret went, and found him sitting on a bare mound, frown¬ ing with his brows and resting his chin upon his hand ; and the Leveret said :

“ The King hath sent me to thee ; for thou art unhappy. Lo ! I am here for thy joy. Delight thou in my quaint paces. I can frisk. I can tumble. Look on my gambollings, and rejoice.”

But Man scowled upon the Leveret and said, “ Go! Leave me in peace. What have I to do with fools and their folly ? ”

And he picked up a great stone and hurled it at the Leveret, and would have crushed him had it not been Man’s that the Leveret leapt to one side and Rebelll0n - escaped. After that the Leveret re¬ turned to the King and told him, and since the day when Man first cast a stone at the Leveret, none of his kind has ever dared to come near Man, and the fear of Man is upon the hares and leverets more than upon any of the beasts.

Then Teregor the King called the Redbreast, and said to him :

“ Go silently up to the place where Man is sitting, so that he hear thee not. Listen to his thoughts and bring me word of them again.”

And the Redbreast obeyed, and went; and stood close beside him and listened. But Man saw him not, because he was gazing before him with hard eyes, nor ever looked to right or left.

Then the Redbreast came back to

Man’s

Rebellion.

the King and perched in the thickness of his branches and spoke privily to him.

“ Man,” said he, “ meditates rebel¬ lion against thee, Teregor, and against thy rule. He saith in his heart, 4 How shall I, who can move my body where I will, who can train my hands to craft, who can speak with my brother so that others may not hear, how shall I yet obey the bidding of a dumb thing, whose body may not move from the place where it rests ? ’ Such are his thoughts, O King. He seeketh to take from thee thy do¬ minion over the Forest.”

Then was Teregor deep in thought for a long time. He wondered whether he should put forth his power and slay Man utterly, or whether he should let Man go his own way and do that which he desired. And he determined to let Man go free. So he sent the Redbreast once more, to Man’s summon Man before the King, say- Rebel] ing, “ The King knows thy thoughts, but he will not harm thee. Come, therefore, before the King, that he may speak with thee.”

And the Redbreast obeyed the King and spoke as the King had bidden him. And Man, who was yet afraid of the power of the King, sent back answer by the Redbreast and said, “ Tell the King that I come, since he has promised to do me no harm.”

And thus it came about that ever since that day, when he passed to and fro as messenger between Man and Teregor the King, the Redbreast has ventured nearer to Man than all the other birds of the forest. He comes within the thresholds of men’s dwellings and listens to what their hearts are saying. For he is yet the

Man’s

Rebellion.

messenger between men and the King of the Forest, if they should wish to send any message to the King.

So Man came and stood before Teregor, and fear was in his heart, so that he bowed himself before the King. Therefore there is a saying among the trees that Man is still subject to the King, because he bowed himself before him, even in the mo¬ ment of his rebellion.

But Teregor said, “ Rise up, and fear not; for it shall be as thy heart desires. Thine shall be the dominion of the world, and all things shalt thou make subject to thine hand. With thine art thou shalt cleave the mountains and control the flowing of the rivers. Thou shalt learn to use the tools of the Creator that made thee. Thy cunning men shall find them and thy wise men shall explain them, until in the growth of thy power wonder shall succeed wonder Man’s and become a simple thing, while Rebelllon - each age shall marvel at the ignorance of the last. Fondly shall thy reason account for mysteries, and expound the movement of the stars. By a folly shalt thou be duped, by the semblance of a power of creation ; nor shalt thou acknowledge in all thy works the eternal pulse of God and the Hand that ordereth the worlds.

“Yet shall thy learning grow, and the wider it becomes the more weari¬ some shall be thy thirst for know¬ ledge ; nor shall thy wisdom seem to bring thee closer to thy goal. For thou shalt always be striving after something that man may never attain unto, seeking for the perfection of what may never be made perfect; yet so soon as thou dost cease from striving thou shalt fade.

“ Thou shalt be the enemy of all

Man’s

Rebellion.

other living things. By everything that moves and grows shalt thou be shunned. None shall trust thee, and often thou shalt long for the friend¬ ship of a wild animal. Even as thou dost struggle now to gain the mastery, so shalt thou strive with thy fellow, and by knowledge shalt hope to prevail against him. Peace shall be thine no longer, but God shall pre¬ serve in thy heart the memory of it, of that peace that thou dost lose this day in thy revolt from the Lord of the Forest. Hear now my last word, that he who looks for peace again may attain to it only by sorrow, and must come to the trees for his teaching, bowing once more to the dominion against which thou hast rebelled.”

Then Man went from before King Teregor, and the King let him go in peace. The animals shrank back to let him pass, and the trees leaned aside to make a path for him, and he went out into the world alone.

And in the Forest was never known again that same peace that there was before the Coming of Sound, because Man was feared and because he waged a war upon all other things. His needs became more wide, so that he put snares for those who had been his friends, and laid waste great stretches of the Forest to build shelters for himself. For that which had been easy became a thing hardly to be borne. Without the warm love of the trees, the rain and the frosts were a burden, and the trees that had been wont to offer him their fruit were un¬ willing to do so now; nay, many of them made thorns to guard their treasures from his hands, so that he was fain to make the fruit-trees cap¬ tive, and protect them round about, and train them to bear fruit against

E

Man’s

Rebellion.

Man’s

Rebellion.

their will. He hunted the other animals and slew them ; and wherever he has hunted, there the low bushes and the brambles grow, to tear his limbs and to cause his feet to stumble, and to be a shelter for those whom he pursues.

But in that part of the Forest, and only in that part, where stood once Teregor the Great King, and where Forgar reigns to-day, there no bram¬ bles grow beneath the trees, and peace is shed about the wood even as it was before man’s rebellion. For the hunter has not come to it, and men are always held with awe when they approach the resting-place of the Lord of the Forest.

Chapter III

Now after Man’s rebellion there were some men who could not bear to look upon the trees whom they had known, and whom they knew no more. Sorrow abode with them, where once they had had happiness. And unrest came over them and drave them forth from their old country. They wan¬ dered out into unknown lands, search¬ ing for the friendliness of the woods ; for without trees no man may live in peace. They passed over the wide plains and grassy valleys, for ever faring northwards, hoping to come to some land that fell not within the rule of the great Oak. Yet for a long time the trees shunned them in what¬ ever place they travelled.

The Coming of the Pine-trees.

The Coming of the Pine-trees.

At length they came to a northern land where the sea flows up between the mountains, and the mosses grow soft and deep, where the woods rise up into the clouds and the lakes lie hidden in the lap of the hills. And here they saw a new world. The heavens seemed more vast, and their eyes were opened to wider visions, and what had seemed large became now a little thing. And, most wonderful of all, they saw new trees, trees that grew straight and tall and thick, rising slender as the grasses to such a height that their width was hardly felt. The colour of their bark was as the colour of the distant ranges, and though it was winter their branches spread out at a great height into a deep rich green. And when they saw these trees the men said to one another, “ What new wonder is this ? What is this tree, that has a winter foliage even as a yew-tree, whose The Coming stem rises so straight and reaches to p^e-trees. the clouds ? ”

Then they passed further into the land and went among the trees, and as they came into their shadow they felt no more the dominion of the Oak-tree ; for the Oak was not there, and the name of Teregor was but a fable in the land. But the Beech-trees were the rulers, nor was there any one king among them, because where the Beech-trees rule no need is there of a king; for all things there are clothed with the faithfulness shed about them by the Beeches, and all disputes are brought into their circles that a settlement may be found.

And when those men who came to this country found that they were beyond Teregor’s dominion, and that the trees were kind and spoke to them, they thought that it would be good

The Coming to live for ever there ; and they came Pine-trees. to l° ve the trees with the deep green foliage, and they would stand and listen to the music of the wind in their branches; for their song was a new song to them, and held no memories. So was it the sweeter, because it put away all yearning for the country from which they had come.

Then would they have stayed in this land for ever, and would have lived under the dominion of the Beech-trees, had not they become aware that the woods were already peopled with a strange dancing folk, whom they understood not, and who vanished mysteriously into the roots of the trees. And these small people, who might only be seen dimly, and who moved so swiftly and silently among the trees, harassed the men who had newly come into their country. And the men were filled with The Coming a new terror, the terror of faery p^e-trees dangers in the darkness, and of the little feet that pattered to and fro, and of the weird faces behind the tree-trunks. Soon the fear of the little people was so strong upon them that the burden of it was too heavy for them to bear it longer. The yearn¬ ing returned for the country that they knew, and they went back over the tall hills and the mighty rivers, across the wide plains and the grassy valleys, and came once more to the country where the Oak is King. But before they departed they sought one with another how they should keep the music of the tall dark-green trees.

And they gathered his seed, the seed of Rome the great Pine-tree, the largest and the tallest of his kind, and carried it back to their own country, and planted it round about

The Coming their dwellings, and made great woods Pine-trees. pine where the Oak and the Holly and the Ash had grown.

And to this day men love the music of the Pine-trees, and they come to live in their woods, because they know that the Pine-tree, too, does not acknowledge the dominion of the Oak. Yet is there lamentation in their song, because they long to be again in the northern land, the coun¬ try of their fathers, where the little folk live among the Beeches and the seawaves roar upon the feet of the hills.

Now these things happened in the days when Mit the Terrible was King. Teregor had died, and the trees had stood round the place where he had rested, and had covered him with their falling leaves ; and since the death of the great King Teregor, the mound has risen slowly over the place where he stood, and two trees have always mourned upon it, even as the Ash The Coming mourns there to-day against the Yew- pinJ.trees. tree, singing a dirge for Teregor.

And when Mit saw the woods of pine that men had planted for a protection, he sent his word to them over the heaths and said :

“ Come ye with peace ? Do ye bow to our dominion ? ”

But the Pine-trees were proud and answered haughtily :

“ We know of no dominion. We are of the seed of Rome, of the stock of the great Pine-tree in the Northern Land, where the Oak is unknown and the Beech-trees bear rule over the Forest. If we want a King, he shall be of our own people.”

Then Mit sent word once more, say¬ ing, “It is well, if ye come in peace, and if ye encroach not upon the Forest, nor go beyond the boundaries where¬ with man has encompassed you.”

F

The Coming of the Pine-trees.