The Wood Beyond the World Page 9

  CHAPTER IX: WALTER HAPPENETH ON THE FIRST OF THOSE THREE CREATURES

  What with one thing, what with another, as his having to turn out of hisway for sheer rocks, or for slopes so steep that he might not try theperil of them, and again for bogs impassable, he was fully three daysmore before he had quite come out of the stony waste, and by that time,though he had never lacked water, his scanty victual was quite done, forall his careful husbandry thereof. But this troubled him little, whereashe looked to find wild fruits here and there and to shoot some smalldeer, as hare or coney, and make a shift to cook the same, since he hadwith him flint and fire-steel. Moreover the further he went, the surerhe was that he should soon come across a dwelling, so smooth and fair aseverything looked before him. And he had scant fear, save that he mighthappen on men who should enthrall him.

  But when he was come down past the first green slopes, he was so worn,that he said to himself that rest was better than meat, so little as hehad slept for the last three days; so he laid him down under an ash-treeby a stream-side, nor asked what was o'clock, but had his fill of sleep,and even when he awoke in the fresh morning was little fain of rising,but lay betwixt sleeping and waking for some three hours more; then hearose, and went further down the next green bent, yet somewhat slowlybecause of his hunger-weakness. And the scent of that fair land came upto him like the odour of one great nosegay.

  So he came to where the land was level, and there were many trees, as oakand ash, and sweet-chestnut and wych-elm, and hornbeam and quicken-tree,not growing in a close wood or tangled thicket, but set as though inorder on the flowery greensward, even as it might be in a great king'spark.

  So came he to a big bird-cherry, whereof many boughs hung low down ladenwith fruit: his belly rejoiced at the sight, and he caught hold of abough, and fell to plucking and eating. But whiles he was amidst ofthis, he heard suddenly, close anigh him, a strange noise of roaring andbraying, not very great, but exceeding fierce and terrible, and not liketo the voice of any beast that he knew. As has been aforesaid, Walterwas no faint-heart; but what with the weakness of his travail and hunger,what with the strangeness of his adventure and his loneliness, his spiritfailed him; he turned round towards the noise, his knees shook and hetrembled: this way and that he looked, and then gave a great cry andtumbled down in a swoon; for close before him, at his very feet, was thedwarf whose image he had seen before, clad in his yellow coat, andgrinning up at him from his hideous hairy countenance.

  How long he lay there as one dead, he knew not, but when he woke againthere was the dwarf sitting on his hams close by him. And when he liftedup his head, the dwarf sent out that fearful harsh voice again; but thistime Walter could make out words therein, and knew that the creaturespoke and said:

  "How now! What art thou? Whence comest? What wantest?"

  Walter sat up and said: "I am a man; I hight Golden Walter; I come fromLangton; I want victual."

  Said the dwarf, writhing his face grievously, and laughing forsooth: "Iknow it all: I asked thee to see what wise thou wouldst lie. I was sentforth to look for thee; and I have brought thee loathsome bread with me,such as ye aliens must needs eat: take it!"

  Therewith he drew a loaf from a satchel which he bore, and thrust ittowards Walter, who took it somewhat doubtfully for all his hunger.

  The dwarf yelled at him: "Art thou dainty, alien? Wouldst thou haveflesh? Well, give me thy bow and an arrow or two, since thou art lazy-sick, and I will get thee a coney or a hare, or a quail maybe. Ah, Iforgot; thou art dainty, and wilt not eat flesh as I do, blood and alltogether, but must needs half burn it in the fire, or mar it with hotwater; as they say my Lady does: or as the Wretch, the Thing does; I knowthat, for I have seen It eating."

  "Nay," said Walter, "this sufficeth;" and he fell to eating the bread,which was sweet between his teeth. Then when he had eaten a while, forhunger compelled him, he said to the dwarf: "But what meanest thou by theWretch and the Thing? And what Lady is thy Lady?"

  The creature let out another wordless roar as of furious anger; and thenthe words came: "It hath a face white and red, like to thine; and handswhite as thine, yea, but whiter; and the like it is underneath itsraiment, only whiter still: for I have seen It--yes, I have seen It; ahyes and yes and yes."

  And therewith his words ran into gibber and yelling, and he rolled aboutand smote at the grass: but in a while he grew quiet again and sat still,and then fell to laughing horribly again, and then said: "But thou, fool,wilt think It fair if thou fallest into Its hands, and wilt repent itthereafter, as I did. Oh, the mocking and gibes of It, and the tears andshrieks of It; and the knife! What! sayest thou of my Lady?--What Lady?O alien, what other Lady is there? And what shall I tell thee of her? itis like that she made me, as she made the Bear men. But she made not theWretch, the Thing; and she hateth It sorely, as I do. And some day tocome--"

  Thereat he brake off and fell to wordless yelling a long while, andthereafter spake all panting: "Now I have told thee overmuch, and O if myLady come to hear thereof. Now I will go."

  And therewith he took out two more loaves from his wallet, and tossedthem to Walter, and so turned and went his ways; whiles walking upright,as Walter had seen his image on the quay of Langton; whiles bounding androlling like a ball thrown by a lad; whiles scuttling along on all-fourslike an evil beast, and ever and anon giving forth that harsh and evilcry.

  Walter sat a while after he was out of sight, so stricken with horror andloathing and a fear of he knew not what, that he might not move. Then heplucked up a heart, and looked to his weapons and put the other loavesinto his scrip.

  Then he arose and went his ways wondering, yea and dreading, what kind ofcreature he should next fall in with. For soothly it seemed to him thatit would be worse than death if they were all such as this one; and thatif it were so, he must needs slay and be slain.