| CHAP. | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I. | AN INTRODUCTION TO LUCIFRAM | [9] |
| II. | FRIEND AND EXECUTOR | [13] |
| III. | ROSALIE | [21] |
| IV. | THE GOLDEN SERPENT | [28] |
| V. | THE MASTER | [42] |
| VI. | NEW EXPERIENCES | [52] |
| VII. | A DEBT OF GRATITUDE | [57] |
| VIII. | A BOOK OF INSPIRATION | [64] |
| IX. | MARIANA | [77] |
| X. | A CONVERSATION IN SHADOWS | [85] |
| XI. | GARDEN AND HOUSE OF SHADOWS | [92] |
| XII. | AN ACT OF DISOBEDIENCE | [101] |
| XIII. | THE FOLLY OF SIMPLICITY | [119] |
| XIV. | BROKEN SPIRITS | [131] |
| XV. | A WAYSIDE HOUSE AND GLOOMY CELL | [139] |
| XVI. | THE GOVERNOR | [154] |
| XVII. | A PLANTATION | [166] |
| XVIII. | SEEDS GROWING CONTRARIWISE | [174] |
| XIX. | A HUMBLE CRUCIFIXION | [190] |
| XX. | A SIMPLE CONVERSATION | [202] |
| XXI. | A MAN WHO STOOD ON HIS HEAD, ACCORDING TO LUCIFRAM | [209] |
| XXII. | A LEASE OF LIFE | [216] |
| XXIII. | THE SCANDAL OF THE TEMPLE | [222] |
| XXIV. | AT THE SEBBERENS’ | [232] |
| XXV. | THE GOLDEN PRIEST | [245] |
| XXVI. | CONVERSATION AND A LITTLE PIG-STUFF | [254] |
| XXVII. | AFTER-DINNER SPEECHES | [264] |
| XXVIII. | REVENGE IS SWEET | [277] |
| XXIX. | A CONFESSION | [286] |
| XXX. | FESTIVAL | [293] |
| XXXI. | MYSTERIES IN MARBLE HOUSE | [303] |
| XXXII. | DIPLOMACY | [313] |
| XXXIII. | THE WORTH OF A JEWEL | [319] |
| XXXIV. | “A GIFT, A FRIEND, A FOE, A BEAU, A JOURNEY TO GO” | [326] |
| XXXV. | THE SUN RISES ON THE YEAR | [334] |
JEWEL SOWERS
CHAPTER I
AN INTRODUCTION TO LUCIFRAM
In the little planet Lucifram, that spun a brilliant and solitary course among the stars, exchanging annual salutations with them as the waxing and waning of the solar laws brought them out of the void and within hail, the people each and all walked upside down. The trees were upside down, the houses, the churches with their steeples, the palaces, the oceans, rivers, lakes, mountains, animals, and fishes, each and all, reversed our own conception of mundane propriety. Cultivate a patience with the seeming strangeness of this extraordinary planet, even to the reading of this simple book, and let that virtue lead you nearer to another sphere, more to your liking.
There were a few, indeed, upon this sphere who did their best to stand upon their feet. Sometimes they succeeded; but others were bowled down in the struggle and ended by standing once again upon their heads, or lying crushed, paying the debt they owed to Outraged Custom.
The circumference of this sphere was something like two thousand miles. It bulged out towards the north and south, with giant hollows to the east and west. And because everything that existed was contrary to our idea of things, all things looked normal.
When Nature and architecture combine to alter things, making them contrariwise, as people call it, what wonder if morality and all ethics blend with the custom?
To begin with governments and kingships. Unlike those upon a two-legged basis, a king was never chosen for his worth, but for his frailties. He was chosen to strew the path of his subjects with flowers which all might pick like little children out at play, and then would quarrel over.
Alas! To be a king in the planet Lucifram! That little planet topsy-turvy. Here, though a ruler might have the will of a Hercules to turn a somersalt and land upon his feet, some diviner instinct calling him to that, the pigmies around him pinned him with millions of tiny threads, an anchorage whereby to hold his head safe to the ground. Threads worked in gold! Held for the wonder of the multitude.
So for the kings. The Gods of all the stars looked down on them. They heard those faint sighs of weakness—those breathings after higher things—and pitied some, and smiled at others. And though in the topsy-turvy synagogues and churches the people prayed for them, no prayers reached heaven except those simple few the kings themselves breathed in solitude. Prayers that must travel very, very far, as all prayers must, and which needed the giant strength of great simplicity to bring them to the end of their weary journey.