Chapter XXIII.
I confess that my conversation with Aph-Lin, and the extreme
coolness with which he stated his inability to control the
dangerous caprice of his daughter, and treated the idea of the
reduction into a cinder to which her amorous flame might expose
my too seductive person, took away the pleasure I should
otherwise have had in the contemplation of my host's
country-seat, and the astonishing perfection of the machinery
by which his farming operations were conducted. The house
differed in appearance from the massive and sombre building
which Aph-Lin inhabited in the city, and which seemed akin to
the rocks out of which the city itself had been hewn into
shape. The walls of the country-seat were composed by trees
placed a few feet apart from each other, the interstices being
filled in with the transparent metallic substance which serves
the purpose of glass among the Ana. These trees were all in
flower, and the effect was very pleasing, if not in the best
taste. We were received at the porch by life-like automata,
who conducted us into a chamber, the like to which I never saw
before, but have often on summer days dreamily imagined. It
was a bower- half room, half garden. The walls were one mass
of climbing flowers. The open spaces, which we call windows,
and in which, here, the metallic surfaces were slided back,
commanded various views; some, of the wide landscape with its
lakes and rocks; some, of small limited expanses answering to
our conservatories, filled with tiers of flowers. Along the
sides of the room were flower-beds, interspersed with cushions
for repose. In the centre of the floor was a cistern and a
fountain of that liquid light which I have presumed to be
naphtha. It was luminous and of a roseate hue; it sufficed
without lamps to light up the room with a subdued radiance.
All around the fountain was carpeted with a soft deep lichen,
not green (I have never seen that colour in the vegetation of
116this country), but a quiet brown, on which the eye reposes with
the same sense of relief as that with which in the upper world
it reposes on green. In the outlets upon flowers (which I have
compared to our conservatories) there were singing birds
innumerable, which, while we remained in the room, sang in
those harmonies of tune to which they are, in these parts, so
wonderfully trained. The roof was open. The whole scene had
charms for every sense- music form the birds, fragrance from
the flowers, and varied beauty to the eye at every aspect.
About all was a voluptuous repose. What a place, methought,
for a honeymoon, if a Gy bride were a little less formidably
armed not only with the rights of woman, but with the powers of
man! But when one thinks of a Gy, so learned, so tall, so
stately, so much above the standard of the creature we call
woman as was Zee, no! even if I had felt no fear of being
reduced to a cinder, it is not of her I should have dreamed in
that bower so constructed for dreams of poetic love.
The automata reappeared, serving one of those delicious liquids
which form the innocent wines of the Vril-ya.
"Truly," said I, "this is a charming residence, and I can
scarcely conceive why you do not settle yourself here instead
of amid the gloomier abodes of the city."
"As responsible to the community for the administration of
light, I am compelled to reside chiefly in the city, and can
only come hither for short intervals."
"But since I understand from you that no honours are attached to
your office, and it involves some trouble, why do you accept
it?"
"Each of us obeys without question the command of the Tur. He
said, 'Be it requested that Aph-Lin shall be the Commissioner
of Light,' so I had no choice; but having held the office now
for a long time, the cares, which were at first unwelcome, have
become, if not pleasing, at least endurable. We are all formed
by custom- even the difference of our race from the savage is
but the transmitted continuance of custom, which becomes,
117through hereditary descent, part and parcel of our nature. You
see there are Ana who even reconcile themselves to the
responsibilities of chief magistrate, but no one would do so if
his duties had not been rendered so light, or if there were any
questions as to compliance with his requests."
"Not even if you thought the requests unwise or unjust?"
"We do not allow ourselves to think so, and, indeed, everything
goes on as if each and all governed themselves according to
immemorial custom."
"When the chief magistrate dies or retires, how do you provide
for his successor?"
"The An who has discharged the duties of chief magistrate for
many years is the best person to choose one by whom those
duties may be understood, and he generally names his
successor."
"His son, perhaps?"
"Seldom that; for it is not an office any one desires or seeks,
and a father naturally hesitates to constrain his son. But if
the Tur himself decline to make a choice, for fear it might be
supposed that he owed some grudge to the person on whom his
choice would settle, then there are three of the College of
Sages who draw lots among themselves which shall have the power
to elect the chief. We consider that the judgment of one An of
ordinary capacity is better than the judgment of three or more,
however wise they may be; for among three there would probably
be disputes, and where there are disputes, passion clouds
judgment. The worst choice made by one who has no motive in
choosing wrong, is better than the best choice made by many who
have many motives for not choosing right."
"You reverse in your policy the maxims adopted in my country."
"Are you all, in your country, satisfied with your governors?"
"All! Certainly not; the governors that most please some are
sure to be those most displeasing to others."
"Then our system is better than yours."
118
"For you it may be; but according to our system a Tish could
not be reduced to a cinder if a female compelled him to marry
her; and as a Tish I sigh to return to my native world."
"Take courage, my dear little guest; Zee can't compel you to
marry her. She can only entice you to do so. Don't be
enticed. Come and look round my domain."
We went forth into a close, bordered with sheds; for though the
Ana keep no stock for food, there are some animals which they
rear for milking and others for shearing. The former have no
resemblance to our cows, nor the latter to our sheep, nor do I
believe such species exist amongst them. They use the milk of
three varieties of animal: one resembles the antelope, but is
much larger, being as tall as a camel; the other two are
smaller, and, though differing somewhat from each other,
resemble no creature I ever saw on earth. They are very sleek
and of rounded proportions; their colour that of the dappled
deer, with very mild countenances and beautiful dark eyes. The
milk of these three creatures differs in richness and taste.
It is usually diluted with water, and flavoured with the juice
of a peculiar and perfumed fruit, and in itself is very
nutritious and palatable. The animal whose fleece serves them
for clothing and many other purposes, is more like the Italian
she-goat than any other creature, but is considerably larger,
has no horns, and is free from the displeasing odour of our
goats. Its fleece is not thick, but very long and fine; it
varies in colour, but is never white, more generally of a
slate-like or lavender hue. For clothing it is usually worn
dyed to suit the taste of the wearer. These animals were
exceedingly tame, and were treated with extraordinary care and
affection by the children (chiefly female) who tended them.
We then went through vast storehouses filled with grains and
fruits. I may here observe that the main staple of food among
these people consists- firstly, of a kind of corn much larger
119in ear than our wheat, and which by culture is perpetually
being brought into new varieties of flavour; and, secondly, of
a fruit of about the size of a small orange, which, when
gathered, is hard and bitter. It is stowed away for many
months in their warehouses, and then becomes succulent and
tender. Its juice, which is of dark-red colour, enters into
most of their sauces. They have many kinds of fruit of the
nature of the olive, from which delicious oils are extracted.
They have a plant somewhat resembling the sugar-cane, but its
juices are less sweet and of a delicate perfume. They have no
bees nor honey-making insects, but they make much use of a
sweet gum that oozes from a coniferous plant, not unlike the
araucaria. Their soil teems also with esculent roots and
vegetables, which it is the aim of their culture to improve and
vary to the utmost. And I never remember any meal among this
people, however it might be confined to the family household,
in which some delicate novelty in such articles of food was not
introduced. In fine, as I before observed, their cookery is
exquisite, so diversified and nutritious that one does not miss
animal food; and their own physical forms suffice to show that
with them, at least, meat is not required for superior
production of muscular fibre. They have no grapes- the drinks
extracted from their fruits are innocent and refreshing. Their
staple beverage, however, is water, in the choice of which they
are very fastidious, distinguishing at once the slightest
impurity.
"My younger son takes great pleasure in augmenting our
produce," said Aph-Lin as we passed through the storehouses,
"and therefore will inherit these lands, which constitute the
chief part of my wealth. To my elder son such inheritance
would be a great trouble and affliction."
"Are there many sons among you who think the inheritance of
vast wealth would be a great trouble and affliction?"
"Certainly; there are indeed very few of the Vril-ya who do not
120consider that a fortune much above the average is a heavy
burden. We are rather a lazy people after the age of
childhood, and do not like undergoing more cares than we can
help, and great wealth does give its owner many cares. For
instance, it marks us out for public offices, which none of us
like and none of us can refuse. It necessitates our taking a
continued interest in the affairs of any of our poorer
countrymen, so that we may anticipate their wants and see that
none fall into poverty. There is an old proverb amongst us
which says, 'The poor man's need is the rich man's shame---'"
"Pardon me, if I interrupt you for a moment. You allow that
some, even of the Vril-ya, know want, and need relief."
"If by want you mean the destitution that prevails in a
Koom-Posh, THAT is impossible with us, unless an An has, by
some extraordinary process, got rid of all his means, cannot or
will not emigrate, and has either tired out the affectionate
aid of this relations or personal friends, or refuses to accept
it."
"Well, then, does he not supply the place of an infant or
automaton, and become a labourer- a servant?"
"No; then we regard him as an unfortunate person of unsound
reason, and place him, at the expense of the State, in a public
building, where every comfort and every luxury that can
mitigate his affliction are lavished upon him. But an An does
not like to be considered out of his mind, and therefore such
cases occur so seldom that the public building I speak of is
now a deserted ruin, and the last inmate of it was an An whom I
recollect to have seen in my childhood. He did not seem
conscious of loss of reason, and wrote glaubs (poetry). When I
spoke of wants, I meant such wants as an An with desires larger
than his means sometimes entertains- for expensive
singing-birds, or bigger houses, or country-gardens; and the
obvious way to satisfy such wants is to buy of him something
that he sells. Hence Ana like myself, who are very rich, are
121obliged to buy a great many things they do not require, and
live on a very large scale where they might prefer to live on a
small one. For instance, the great size of my house in the
town is a source of much trouble to my wife, and even to
myself; but I am compelled to have it thus incommodiously
large, because, as the richest An of the community, I am
appointed to entertain the strangers from the other communities
when they visit us, which they do in great crowds twice-a-year,
when certain periodical entertainments are held, and when
relations scattered throughout all the realms of the Vril-ya
joyfully reunite for a time. This hospitality, on a scale so
extensive, is not to my taste, and therefore I should have been
happier had I been less rich. But we must all bear the lot
assigned to us in this short passage through time that we call
life. After all, what are a hundred years, more or less, to
the ages through which we must pass hereafter? Luckily, I have
one son who likes great wealth. It is a rare exception to the
general rule, and I own I cannot myself understand it."
After this conversation I sought to return to the subject which
continued to weigh on my heart- viz., the chances of escape
from Zee. But my host politely declined to renew that topic,
and summoned our air-boat. On our way back we were met by Zee,
who, having found us gone, on her return from the College of
Sages, had unfurled her wings and flown in search of us.
Her grand, but to me unalluring, countenance brightened as she
beheld me, and, poising herself beside the boat on her large
outspread plumes, she said reproachfully to Aph-Lin- "Oh,
father, was it right in you to hazard the life of your guest in
a vehicle to which he is so unaccustomed? He might, by an
incautious movement, fall over the side; and alas; he is not
like us, he has no wings. It were death to him to fall. Dear
one!" (she added, accosting my shrinking self in a softer
voice), "have you no thought of me, that you should thus hazard
122a life which has become almost a part of mine? Never again be
thus rash, unless I am thy companion. What terror thou hast
stricken into me!"
I glanced furtively at Aph-Lin, expecting, at least, that he
would indignantly reprove his daughter for expressions of
anxiety and affection, which, under all the circumstances,
would, in the world above ground, be considered immodest in the
lips of a young female, addressed to a male not affianced to
her, even if of the same rank as herself.
But so confirmed are the rights of females in that region, and
so absolutely foremost among those rights do females claim the
privilege of courtship, that Aph-Lin would no more have thought
of reproving his virgin daughter than he would have thought of
disobeying the orders of the Tur. In that country, custom, as
he implied, is all in all.
He answered mildly, "Zee, the Tish is in no danger and it is my
belief the he can take very good care of himself."
"I would rather that he let me charge myself with his care.
Oh, heart of my heart, it was in the thought of thy danger that
I first felt how much I loved thee!"
Never did man feel in such a false position as I did. These
words were spoken loud in the hearing of Zee's father- in the
hearing of the child who steered. I blushed with shame for
them, and for her, and could not help replying angrily: "Zee,
either you mock me, which, as your father's guest, misbecomes
you, or the words you utter are improper for a maiden Gy to
address even to an An of her own race, if he has not wooed her
with the consent of her parents. How much more improper to
address them to a Tish, who has never presumed to solicit your
affections, and who can never regard you with other sentiments
than those of reverence and awe!"
Aph-Lin made me a covert sing of approbation, but said nothing.
123"Be not so cruel!" exclaimed Zee, still in sonorous accents.
"Can love command itself where it is truly felt? Do you suppose
that a maiden Gy will conceal a sentiment that it elevates her
to feel? What a country you must have come from!"
Here Aph-Lin gently interposed, saying, "Among the Tish-a the
rights of your sex do not appear to be established, and at all
events my guest may converse with you more freely if unchecked
by the presence of others."
To this remark Zee made no reply, but, darting on me a tender
reproachful glance, agitated her wings and fled homeward.
"I had counted, at least, on some aid from my host," I said
bitterly, "in the perils to which his own daughter exposes me."
"I gave you the best aid I could. To contradict a Gy in her
love affairs is to confirm her purpose. She allows no counsel
to come between her and her affections."
