Then Mung said: “Friend of Mung! Go, thou and grin before the faces of EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion till they see whether it be wise to rebel against the gods of Pegana.”
And Umbool answered: “I am the beast of Mung.”
And Umbool came and crouched upon a hill upon the other side of the waters and grinned across them at the rebellious home gods.
And whenever EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion stretched out their hands over their rivers they saw before their faces the grinning of Umbool; and because the grinning was like death in a hot and hideous land therefore they turned away and spread their hands no more over their rivers, and the waters sank and sank.
But when Umbool had grinned for thirty days the waters fell back into the river beds and the lords of the rivers slunk away back again to their homes: still Umbool sat and grinned.
Then EimÎs sought to hide himself in a great pool beneath a rock, and Z‰nÎs crept into the middle of a wood, and Seg·strion lay and panted on the sand—still Umbool sat and grinned.
And EimÎs grew lean, and was forgotten, so that the men of the plain would say: “Here once was EimÎs”; and Z‰nÎs scarce had strength to lead his river to the sea; and as Seg·strion lay and panted a man stepped over his stream, and Seg·strion said: “It is the foot of a man that has passed across my neck, and I have sought to be greater than the gods of Pegana.”
Then said the gods of Pegana: “It is enough. We are the gods of Pegana, and none are equal.”
Then Mung sent Umbool back to his waste in Afrik to breathe again upon the rocks, and parch the desert, and to sear the memory of Afrik into the brains of all who ever bring their bones away.
And EimÎs, Z‰nÎs, and Seg·strion sang again, and walked once more in their accustomed haunts, and played the game of Life and Death with fishes and frogs, but never essayed to play it any more with men, as do the gods of Pegana.