7

            And the paeple marveld; for were’t they at test, they mights to have answerd any thing.  A tempol.  A ghost.  An High preestiss.  Each anothers.  An hangd high sky.  The fewcher. 

            But the high priestess, contrarianus, he is a tellijant man, and knoweth that an erudite guesser with experiense outdoors might guess the answer: a throng.  Ah, but (saith the high priestuss), there is seeing, such as any dog may do, and yet again there is seeing, such as those who raise the solicitous pinposts of the seer must be set to show.  And so he saith unto the seer, Now this cometh into the meat of our firstmost quizzicol:  What seest thou ahead, in the destiny of this throng?  Sure, we wish to know.

            And the seer answerd up and said, There lieth yet to be, in the destiny of this gatherd poepels, a dissipasien; yea, I see them going home, sauntring out in ones & twos.  Now besides that, there is but little future in this throng; ’tis of unique occupanse, and ephemral.

            And the high priestess Perpostriss said unto him, We shall see; we shall see.  But ere we see as we shall, answer now the nexte of the quizzicoli.  Poser, Poser!  Seest thou that fly’s leaving upon yon temple door?

            And hearing this, the seer went woosy with trepidatien, for he peereth into the shadow of the tempel and seeth nought.  And the gaze of Perpostras seemd to him bright evil, & the black purse of those priestessly lips.  But the seer stoke-ed up and sought to deceive that high priestess, saying, Disposer, Disposer!  Sooth, I do.  Beans & marrowbones, hag biskits, simmering hot ambrosia, yea, I do!  For of course, I do.  There ’tis—I do—plain as all the noses upon all the faces of all the pudgy sudsers that e’er did waddle home.  Certain I see that fly’s gross leavature, right there, as much as flagging down mine eye from its deposit there upon that door.  Do I?  As a fact worth naming, I do.  Call it seen.

            Lo & woe, came now the high priestess hard upon him, clawy hands shredding the sky, he retaking full throat, saying, How canst thou to see a leaving upon the door, when. . .

            But the quick & clever seer invaded the speaksay of the priestess with a terrific inhalatien, gleaning that ’twas him self who was deceivd, inasmuch as the high priestess seemd now to be saying that there was no leaving atall upon the door.  Therefore gusted the seer, Leaving?  Thou meantst, then, a deposit of smot from outen the fly?  O, for I thoght that thou didst mean the fligh’s leaving, as its winging away offen that door to go and pumpf larvae into some carrion, or to woo its self a little lover, or to burrow down in a kettol of dungeon gruel.  True as boots, I seen a flye to be leaving away offen that door, the same as I did say, e’en as thou didst speak.  That is that I saw.  And that is all that I were warring to tell thee, in my way.  But wudst thou to listen?  Neinem, necht.  Not thou, who leavest to others all the listning.

            Now, sure (breezeth the seer), as to thine actuel entendre, I full affirm thine own probabol observance: nary a fly’s drop upon that immaculot door there; even no doorjam upon’t.  That there is a door hinge-ed in Heavan and scourd dotless by the brush of some saintily doorier.  Thou art one priestess to be commended on thy keeping of such door; and I commend thee.  [And the seer bow-ed deep, that his forehead went against the dust and contracted thereof.]

8

            But the high preesdhiss loomd aglowering, clawy hands aloft, and spake on against invasien, saying,   . . .when, I declare, there even is no door atall!

            And the seer voist his surprise.  No door atall.  No door, is that the high priestess hath said.  An no door, then no fly, ecch! and then also no leaving.

            And the high priestess said again, Thou seest such smart door, with hinges in Haevan, which door even existeth not!  And he said in a small & persnol voice that no one knewn he had, Sure, Notexistense, that haps is Hevvin to a place like unto this.