Part IV

That night he dreamed that over him there stoleA change miraculous, whereby his soulWas parted from his body for a space,And through a labyrinth of secret waysEntered the world where dead men's ghosts abideTo seek the Seer who yestermorn had died.And there in very truth he found the Seer,Who gazing on him said, "What would'st thou here,O royal-born, who visitest the coastsOf darkness, and the dwellings of the ghosts?"

Then said the Prince, "I fain would know to findThe land as yet untrod of mortal-kindWhich I beheld by gracious leave of Sleep."To whom the Spirit: "O Prince, the seas are deepAnd very wide betwixt thee and that land,And who shall say how many days do stand,As dim-seen armed hosts between thy blissAnd thee?--Moreover, in the world there isA certain Emerald Stone which some do callThe Emerald of the Virtues Mystical;(Though what those Virtues Mystical may beNone living knows) and since, O youth, to meThou dost apply for counsel, be it knownExcept thou have this wondrous emerald stone,Go seek through all the world, thou shalt not findThe land thou wouldst: but like the houseless windThat roams the world to seek a resting-place,Thou through inhospitable time and spaceShalt roam, till time and space deliver thee,To spaceless, timeless, mute eternity.

"For in a certain land there once did dwell(How long ago it needs not I should tell)At the king's court a great astrologer,Ev'n such as erst was I, but mightierAnd far excelling; and it came to passThat he fell sick; and very old he was;And knowing that his end was nigh, he saidTo him that sat in sorrow by his bed,'O master well-beloved and matchless king,Take thou and keep this lowly offeringIn memory of thy servant;' whereuponThe king perceived it was a gem that shoneLike the sea's heart: and on one side of itThis legend in an unknown tongue was writ--Who holdeth Me may go where none hath faredBefore, and none shall follow afterward.So the king took the bright green stone betwixtHis fingers, and upon the legend fixedHis eyes, and said unto the dying Seer,'Now who shall render this dark scripture clearThat I may know the meaning of the gift?'And the mage oped his mouth and strove to liftHis voice, but could not, for the wishèd wordClave to his rattling throat, that no man heard:Whereby the soul, departing, bore awayFrom all men living, even to this day,The secret. And the jewel hath passed downSeven times from sire to son, and in the crownIt shineth of that country's kings, being calledEv'n to this day the mystic emerald;But no man liveth in the world, of witTo read the writing that is on it writ."

"O Master," said the Prince, "and wilt not thouInstruct me where to find the king who nowWeareth the jewel in his diadem?"To whom the Spirit, "O youth, and if the gemBe worth the finding, is't not also worthThe little pain of seeking through the earth?--Yet so thou may'st not wander witlessly,Look thou forget not this I tell to thee:When in thy journeyings thou shalt dream once moreThe fateful dream thou haddest heretofore,That filled thy veins with longing as with wine,Till all thy being brimm'd over--by that signThou mayest know thyself at last to beWithin the borders of his emperyWho hath the mystic emerald stone, whose gleamShall light thee to the country of thy dream."

"But," said the Prince, "When all the world's highwaysMy feet have trod, till after length of daysI reach the land where lies the wondrous stone,How shall I make so rare a, thing mine own?For had I riches more than could be told,What king would sell his jewels for my gold?"And on this wise the answer of the SeerFell in the hollow of his dreaming ear:"Behold this Iron Chain,--of power it isTo heal all manner of mortal maladiesIn him that wears it round his neck but once,Between the sun's downgoing and the sun'sUprising: take it thou, and hold it fastUntil by seeking long thou find at lastThe king that hath the mystic emerald stone:And having found him, thou shalt e'en make knownThe virtues lodged within this charmed chain:Which when the king doth hear he will be fainTo have possession of so strange a thing;And thou shalt make a bargain with the kingTo give the Iron Chain in barteryFor that mysterious jewel whereof heKnows not the secret worth. And when at lastThe emerald stone in thy own hands thou hast,Itself shall guide thee whither thou would'st go--Ev'n to the land revealed of sleep, where noGrief comes to mar their music, neither soundOf sighing, while the golden years go round."

So spake the Spirit unto him that dreamed,And suddenly that world of shadow seemedMore shadowy; and all things began to blendTogether: and the dream was at an end.

Then slept the Prince a deep sweet sleep that knewNor dream nor vision; till the dawnlight grewUp, and his soul a sudden halt did makeAbout the confines dim of sleep and wake,Where wandering lights and wildered shadows meet.But presently uprising to his feetFrom tarriance in that frontier-region dim,Exceeding wonderment laid hold on him;For even while from off his bed he rose,He heard a clinking as of metal, closeThereby, and could in no-wise understand:And lo the Iron Chain was in his hand!