“Hard must it go with Franko’s king,” said Media, “when his people rise against him with the red volcanoes. Oh, for a foot to crush them! Hard, too, with all who rule in broad Porpheero. And may she we seek, survive this conflagration!”
“My lord,” said Babbalanja, “where’ere she hide, ne’er yet did Yillah lurk in this Porpheero; nor have we missed the maiden, noble Taji! in not touching at its shores.”
“This fire must make a desert of the land,” said Mohi; “burn up and bury all her tilth.”
“Yet, Mohi, vineyards flourish over buried villages,” murmured Yoomy.
“True, minstrel,” said Babbalanja, “and prairies are purified by fire. Ashes breed loam. Nor can any skill make the same surface forever fruitful. In all times past, things have been overlaid; and though the first fruits of the marl are wild and poisonous, the palms at last spring forth; and once again the tribes repose in shade. My lord, if calms breed storms, so storms calms; and all this dire commotion must eventuate in peace. It may be, that Perpheero’s future has been cheaply won.”
CHAPTER L.
Wherein King Media Celebrates The Glories Of Autumn, The Minstrel, The Promise Of Spring
“Ho, now!” cried Media, “across the wide waters, for that New Mardi, Vivenza! Let us indeed see, whether she who eludes us elsewhere, he at last found in Vivenza’s vales.”
“There or nowhere, noble Taji,” said Yoomy.
“Be not too sanguine, gentle Yoomy,” said Babbalanja.
“Does Yillah choose rather to bower in the wild wilderness of Vivenza, than in the old vineyards of Porpheero?” said Braid-Beard.