[ Ego, Orpheus, ab omnibus quos
amabam amore privatus sum. Attamen credebam solum amorem posse feminam ad
sanitatem mentis restituere. ]
The forbidden forest withheld a pale secret
that no soul would know, not even the outstretched hands of men whose lots were
cast. There were the namesakes of older idols willfully confined in the
eighteen circles, conspiring against the swans with snares of betrayal. The monstrous
trees were yet to turn into terrible serpents; their revenge was long due.
There was no one in sight, but Orpheus still
remembered the faces of those who were about to die. Kings and beggars were
treated alike in the valley of dry bones, where their last wishes were buried
under the pretense of music. They were the same men who were cursed by the
swans, but Orpheus did not know their fates when he exchanged his lofty greetings
on the way.
The jewel thieves casually remarked that
Orpheus would not last for a day, yet he did not seem to care about ominous endings.
The only thought that occurred to him was the tragedy of human suffering, of
all the souls he might salvage, and of all the souls he might condemn. He was
deluded by his own compassion, trying in his heart that Christ shall be
resurrected before the end of days.
The swans circled close to the crucifix in mournful
flights, and the old hags in Golgotha were drooling on the blood of the
innocents. Orpheus could see the shadow of Vice, yet he thought of it as love.
He imagined the valley of skulls flourishing in wildflowers, of resurrection
being more necessary than retribution. He could hear the wanton laughter of
Vice in the taverns of men, but it did not occur to him that she was trying to
kill him.
The swans tried to warn him that Vice was
conspiring against him, yet he thought of it as love. Shanaya was trying to
speak in riddles, but he was still to face her curse. She despised Vice
for fooling Orpheus, and she hated him for ignoring her. Orpheus was
virtuous in his own ways, but she wished he would die helpless like the other
suitors who asked for her hand.
Thus was the despair of the woman, who wished
she would turn into an anguished swan and never come back. Orpheus walked toward the solitary
valley, as his only thought was to save her from eternal hell.
Semper mortis liberari est ostium
inferni
Tristi advolat lunaris cygnus
sequens dolorem quem sentis
Nihil deterret est crypta celat,
supra se terram parans
Occurit cruciatus, et tu
oblivisceris tormenti fati
Homme reddendum, corpore se
infitians
Apparuit olor, est descensus
poetae mortis.
Et tu oblivisceris.
मृत्योधर्मान्मुक्तिरेव सर्वदा नरकद्वारं भवति।
चन्द्रहंसः खमुत्पत्य शोकाकुलं नरं मिलति, तव अनुभूयमानं कष्टं अनुसरन्।
शून्यं निवारयति; गुप्तगृहमेव
निलीयते, स्वस्योपरि भूमिं
सज्जीकुर्वत्।
यातना समागच्छति, त्वं च नियतेः
क्लेशं विस्मरिष्यसि।
मानवस्य पुनरागमनं, शरीरेण स्वरूपं
अपलपत।
हंसः प्रादुरभूत्; कालकवेः एषः
अवतारः।
त्वं च विस्मरिष्यसि।
