Th e

L i t er at u r e

et w

or k

Authors: 266 Books: 3,236 Poems & Short Stories: 4,271 Forum Members: 70,634 Forum Posts: 1,033,546 And over 2 million unique readers monthly!

Subs c ribe for ad free ac c es s & additional features . T eac her A c c ounts with s tudent management and more. Home A uthors Shakespeare Bible Quot es Forums Search Periods & Movements Quizzes Subscriber Login
22

Literature Network H.G. Wells The Country of the Blind

Wet AMD Treatment Explore a wet age-related macular degeneration treatment option. www.LivingWithAMD.com Bausch + Lomb Eye Vitamin Vitamins For Your Eyes From The Eye Care Experts. www.bausch.com/Ocuvite

The Country of the Blind

Searc h on this P age:

Find

Fiction
A nn V eronic a I n the D ays of the C omet L ove and M r. L ewis ham M r. Britling Sees I t T hrough T he Firs t M en in the M oon T he Food of the G ods T he H is tory of M r. P olly T he I nvis ible M an T he I s land of D oc tor M oreau T he N ew M ac hiavelli T he Res earc h M agnific ent T he Sec ret P lac es of the H eart T he Soul of a Bis hop T he T ime M ac hine T he War in the A ir T he War of the Worlds T he Wheels of C hanc e T he World Set Free T ono Bungay When the Sleeper Wakes

T hree hundred miles and more from C himborazo, one hundred from the s nows of C otopaxi, in the wildes t was tes of E c uador's A ndes , there lies that mys terious mountain valley, c ut off from all the world of men, the C ountry of the Blind. L ong years ago that valley lay s o far open to the world that men might c ome at las t through frightful gorges and over an ic y pas s into its equable meadows , and thither indeed men c ame, a family or s o of P eruvian half- breeds fleeing from the lus t and tyranny of an evil Spanis h ruler. T hen c ame the s tupendous outbreak of M indobamba, when it was night in Q uito for s eventeen days , and the water was boiling at Y aguac hi and all the fis h floating dying even as far as G uayaquil; everywhere along the P ac ific s lopes there were land-s lips and s wift thawings and s udden floods , and one whole s ide of the old A rauc a c res t s lipped and c ame down in thunder, and c ut off the C ountry of the Blind for ever from the exploring feet of men. But one of thes e early s ettlers had c hanc ed to be on the hither s ide of the gorges when the world had s o terribly s haken its elf, and he perforc e had to forget his wife and his c hild and all the friends and pos s es s ions he had left up there, and s tart life over again in the lower world. H e s tarted it again but ill, blindnes s overtook him, and he died of punis hment in the mines ; but the s tory he told begot a legend that lingers along the length of the C ordilleras of the A ndes to this day. H e told of his reas on for venturing bac k from that fas tnes s , into whic h he had firs t been c arried las hed to a llama, bes ide a vas t bale of gear, when he was a c hild. T he valley, he s aid, had in it all that the heart of man c ould des ire-- s weet water, pas ture, an even c limate, s lopes of ric h brown s oil with tangles of a s hrub that bore an exc ellent fruit, and on one s ide great hanging fores ts of pine that held the avalanc hes high. Far overhead, on three s ides , vas t c liffs of grey- green roc k were c apped by c liffs of ic e; but the glac ier s tream c ame not to them, but flowed away by the farther s lopes , and only now and then huge ic e mas s es fell on the valley s ide. I n this valley it neither rained nor s nowed, but the abundant s prings gave a ric h green pas ture, that irrigation would s pread over all the valley s pac e. T he s ettlers did well indeed there. T heir beas ts did well and multiplied, and but one thing marred their happines s . Y et it was enough to mar it greatly. A s trange dis eas e had c ome upon them and had made all the c hildren born to them there- -and, indeed, s everal older c hildren als o--blind. I t was to s eek s ome c harm or antidote agains t this plague of blindnes s that he had with fatigue and danger and diffic ulty returned down the gorge. I n thos e days , in s uc h c as es , men did not think of germs and infec tions , but of s ins , and it s eemed to him that the reas on of this afflic tion mus t he in the negligenc e of thes e pries tles s immigrants to s et up a s hrine s o s oon as they entered the valley. H e wanted a s hrine- -a hands ome, c heap, effec tual s hrine- -to be erec ted in the valley; he wanted relic s and s uc h-like potent things of faith, bles s ed objec ts and mys terious medals and prayers . I n his wallet he had a bar of native s ilver for whic h he would not ac c ount; he ins is ted there was none in the valley with s omething of the ins is tenc e of an inexpert liar. T hey had all c lubbed their money and ornaments together, having little need for s uc h treas ure up there, he s aid, to buy them holy help agains t their ill. I figure this dim-eyed young mountaineer, s unburnt, gaunt, and anxious , hat brim c lutc hed feveris hly, a man all unus ed to the ways of the lower world, telling this s tory to s ome keen-eyed, attentive pries t before the great c onvuls ion; I c an pic ture him pres ently s eeking to return with pious and infallible remedies agains t that trouble, and the infinite dis may with whic h he mus t have fac ed the tumbled vas tnes s where the gorge had onc e c ome out. But the res t of his s tory

Non-Fiction
A M odern U topia A n E nglis hman Looks at the World C ertain P ers onal M atters G od T he I nvis ible King

Short Stories

A epyornis I s land T he C one T he C ountry of the Blind T he D iamond M aker T he D oor in the Wall A D ream of A rmageddon Filmer Jimmy G oggles the G od T he L ord of the D ynamos T he M agic Shop M is s Winc hels ea's H eart A M oonlight Fable M r. Bris her's T reas ure M r. L edbetter's V ac ation M r. Skelmers dale in Fairyland T he N ew A c c elerator T he Star T he Stolen Body T he Story of the I nexperienc ed G hos t T he T ruth about P yec raft T he V alley of Spiders T he Jilting of J ane T he Stolen Bac illus T he Flowering of the Strange O rc hid I n the A vu O bs ervatory T he Remarkable C as e of D avids on's E yes T he M oth T he T reas ure in the Fores t T he Story of the L ate M r. E lves ham U nder the Knife T he Sea Raiders T he O bliterated M an T he P lattner Story T he Red Room T he P urple P ileus A Slip U nder the M ic ros c ope T he C rys tal E gg T he M an Who C ould Work M irac les A V is ion of Judgment T he E mpire of the A nts T he Beautiful Suit T he T riumphs of a T axidermis t A D eal in O s tric hes

of mis c hanc es is los t to me, s ave that I know of his evil death after s everal years . P oor s tray from that remotenes s ! T he s tream that had onc e made the gorge now burs ts from the mouth of a roc ky c ave, and the legend his poor, ill-told s tory s et going developed into the legend of a rac e of blind men s omewhere "over there" one may s till hear to- day. A nd amids t the little population of that now is olated and forgotten valley the dis eas e ran its c ours e. T he old bec ame groping, the young s aw but dimly, and the c hildren that were born to them never s aw at all. But life was very eas y in that s now- rimmed bas in, los t to all the world, with neither thorns nor briers , with no evil ins ec ts nor any beas ts s ave the gentle breed of llamas they had lugged and thrus t and followed up the beds of the s hrunken rivers in the gorges up whic h they had c ome. T he s eeing had bec ome purblind s o gradually that they s c arc ely notic ed their los s . T hey guided the s ightles s youngs ters hither and thither until they knew the whole valley marvellous ly, and when at las t s ight died out among them the rac e lived on. T hey had even time to adapt thems elves to the blind c ontrol of fire, whic h they made c arefully in s toves of s tone. T hey were a s imple s train of people at the firs t, unlettered, only s lightly touc hed with the Spanis h c ivilis ation, but with s omething of a tradition of the arts of old P eru and of its los t philos ophy. G eneration followed generation. T hey forgot many things ; they devis ed many things . T heir tradition of the greater world they c ame from bec ame mythic al in c olour and unc ertain. I n all things s ave s ight they were s trong and able, and pres ently c hanc e s ent one who had an original mind and who c ould talk and pers uade among them, and then afterwards another. T hes e two pas s ed, leaving their effec ts , and the little c ommunity grew in numbers and in unders tanding, and met and s ettled s oc ial and ec onomic problems that aros e. G eneration followed generation. G eneration followed generation. T here c ame a time when a c hild was born who was fifteen generations from that anc es tor who went out of the valley with a bar of s ilver to s eek G od's aid, and who never returned. T hereabout it c hanc ed that a man c ame into this c ommunity from the outer world. A nd this is the s tory of that man. H e was a mountaineer from the c ountry near Q uito, a man who had been down to the s ea and had s een the world, a reader of books in an original way, an ac ute and enterpris ing man, and he was taken on by a party of E nglis hmen who had c ome out to E c uador to c limb mountains , to replac e one of their three Swis s guides who had fallen ill. H e c limbed here and he c limbed there, and then c ame the attempt on P aras c otopetl, the M atterhorn of the A ndes , in whic h he was los t to the outer world. T he s tory of that ac c ident has been written a dozen times . P ointer's narrative is the bes t. H e tells how the little party worked their diffic ult and almos t vertic al way up to the very foot of the las t and greates t prec ipic e, and how they built a night s helter amids t the s now upon a little s helf of roc k, and, with a touc h of real dramatic power, how pres ently they found N unez had gone from them. T hey s houted, and there was no reply; s houted and whis tled, and for the res t of that night they s lept no more. A s the morning broke they s aw the trac es of his fall. I t s eems impos s ible he c ould have uttered a s ound. H e had s lipped eas tward towards the unknown s ide of the mountain; far below he had s truc k a s teep s lope of s now, and ploughed his way down it in the mids t of a s now avalanc he. H is trac k went s traight to the edge of a frightful prec ipic e, and beyond that everything was hidden. Far, far below, and hazy with dis tanc e, they c ould s ee trees ris ing out of a narrow, s hut-in valley-- the los t C ountry of the Blind. But they did not know it was the los t C ountry of the Blind, nor dis tinguis h it in any way from any other narrow s treak of upland valley. U nnerved by this dis as ter, they abandoned their attempt in the afternoon, and P ointer was c alled away to the war before he c ould make another attac k. T o this day P aras c otopetl lifts an unc onquered c res t, and P ointer's s helter c rumbles unvis ited amids t the s nows . A nd the man who fell s urvived. A t the end of the s lope he fell a thous and feet, and c ame down in the mids t of a c loud of s now upon a s now-s lope even s teeper than the one above. D own this he was whirled, s tunned and ins ens ible, but without a bone broken in his body; and then at las t c ame to gentler s lopes , and at las t rolled out and lay s till, buried amids t a s oftening heap of the white mas s es that had ac c ompanied and s aved him. H e c ame to hims elf with a dim fanc y that he was ill in bed; then realized his pos ition with a mountaineer's intelligenc e and worked hims elf loos e and, after a res t or s o, out until he s aw the s tars . H e res ted flat upon his c hes t for a s pac e, wondering where he was and what had happened to him. H e explored his limbs , and dis c overed that s everal of his buttons were gone and his c oat turned over his head. H is knife had gone from his poc ket and his hat was los t, though he had tied it under his c hin. H e rec alled that he had been looking for loos e s tones to rais e his piec e of the s helter wall. H is ic e- axe had dis appeared. H e dec ided he mus t have fallen, and looked up to s ee, exaggerated by the ghas tly light of the ris ing moon, the tremendous flight he had taken. For a while he lay, gazing blankly at the vas t, pale c liff towering above, ris ing moment by moment out of a s ubs iding tide of darknes s . I ts phantas mal, mys terious beauty held him for a s pac e, and then he was s eized with a paroxys m of s obbing laughter . . . . A fter a great interval of time he bec ame aware that he was near the lower edge of the s now. Below, down what was now a moon- lit and prac tic able s lope, he s aw the dark and broken appearanc e of roc k-s trewn turf H e s truggled to his feet, ac hing in every joint and limb, got down painfully from the heaped loos e s now about him, went downward until he was on the turf, and there dropped rather than lay bes ide a

Skin Cancer Care

W a tch O ur Vide o for Inform a tion About Macular De ge ne ra tion Ca re

www.TuftsMedicalCenter.tv

Starwest Botanicals

550+ Pre m ium Q ua lity Bulk He rbs Fre e Shipping O ve r $75 - Since 1975

www.Starwest-Botanicals.

New Parkinson's Research

Discove r a n Ex e rcise Bik e Prove n to R e duce P D Sym ptom s. Fre e DVD Toda y!

Motorized Shades & Blinds

Fre e Consulta tion for Autom a te d, Motorize d Blinds, Sha de s & Dra pe s

www.WindowsByUnique.c

Download Audiobooks

Sta rt your 14-Da y Fre e Tria l toda y. Liste n on your iPod or Mp3 Pla ye r!
audible.com

Ads by Google

Blind Blind Low Vision Aids for Blind

boulder, drank deep from the flas k in his inner poc ket, and ins tantly fell as leep . . . . H e was awakened by the s inging of birds in the trees far below. H e s at up and perc eived he was on a little alp at the foot of a vas t prec ipic e that s loped only a little in the gully down whic h he and his s now had c ome. O ver agains t him another wall of roc k reared its elf agains t the s ky. T he gorge between thes e prec ipic es ran eas t and wes t and was full of the morning s unlight, whic h lit to the wes tward the mas s of fallen mountain that c los ed the des c ending gorge. Below him it s eemed there was a prec ipic e equally s teep, but behind the s now in the gully he found a s ort of c himney-c left dripping with s now- water, down whic h a des perate man might venture. H e found it eas ier than it s eemed, and c ame at las t to another des olate alp, and then after a roc k c limb of no partic ular diffic ulty, to a s teep s lope of trees . H e took his bearings and turned his fac e up the gorge, for he s aw it opened out above upon green meadows , among whic h he now glimps ed quite dis tinc tly a c lus ter of s tone huts of unfamiliar fas hion. A t times his progres s was like c lambering along the fac e of a wall, and after a time the ris ing s un c eas ed to s trike along the gorge, the voic es of the s inging birds died away, and the air grew c old and dark about him. But the dis tant valley with its hous es was all the brighter for that. H e c ame pres ently to talus , and among the roc ks he noted- -for he was an obs ervant man-- an unfamiliar fern that s eemed to c lutc h out of the c revic es with intens e green hands . H e pic ked a frond or s o and gnawed its s talk, and found it helpful. A bout midday he c ame at las t out of the throat of the gorge into the plain and the s unlight. H e was s tiff and weary; he s at down in the s hadow of a roc k, filled up his flas k with water from a s pring and drank it down, and remained for a time, res ting before he went on to the hous es . T hey were very s trange to his eyes , and indeed the whole as pec t of that valley bec ame, as he regarded it, queerer and more unfamiliar. T he greater part of its s urfac e was lus h green meadow, s tarred with many beautiful flowers , irrigated with extraordinary c are, and bearing evidenc e of s ys tematic c ropping piec e by piec e. H igh up and ringing the valley about was a wall, and what appeared to be a c irc umferential water c hannel, from whic h the little tric kles of water that fed the meadow plants c ame, and on the higher s lopes above this floc ks of llamas c ropped the s c anty herbage. Sheds , apparently s helters or feeding- plac es for the llamas , s tood agains t the boundary wall here and there. T he irrigation s treams ran together into a main c hannel down the c entre of the valley, and this was enc los ed on either s ide by a wall breas t high. T his gave a s ingularly urban quality to this s ec luded plac e, a quality that was greatly enhanc ed by the fac t that a number of paths paved with blac k and white s tones , and eac h with a c urious little kerb at the s ide, ran hither and thither in an orderly manner. T he hous es of the c entral village were quite unlike the c as ual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the mountain villages he knew; they s tood in a c ontinuous row on either s ide of a c entral s treet of as tonis hing c leannes s , here and there their parti-c oloured fac ade was pierc ed by a door, and not a s olitary window broke their even frontage. T hey were parti-c oloured with extraordinary irregularity, s meared with a s ort of plas ter that was s ometimes grey, s ometimes drab, s ometimes s late-c oloured or dark brown; and it was the s ight of this wild plas tering firs t brought the word "blind" into the thoughts of the explorer. "T he good man who did that," he thought, " mus t have been as blind as a bat." H e des c ended a s teep plac e, and s o c ame to the wall and c hannel that ran about the valley, near where the latter s pouted out its s urplus c ontents into the deeps of the gorge in a thin and wavering thread of c as c ade. H e c ould now s ee a number of men and women res ting on piled heaps of gras s , as if taking a s ies ta, in the remoter part of the meadow, and nearer the village a number of rec umbent c hildren, and then nearer at hand three men c arrying pails on yokes along a little path that ran from the enc irc ling wall towards the hous es . T hes e latter were c lad in garments of llama c loth and boots and belts of leather, and they wore c aps of c loth with bac k and ear flaps . T hey followed one another in s ingle file, walking s lowly and yawning as they walked, like men who have been up all night. T here was s omething s o reas s uringly pros perous and res pec table in their bearing that after a moment's hes itation N unez s tood forward as c ons pic uous ly as pos s ible upon his roc k, and gave vent to a mighty s hout that ec hoed round the valley. T he three men s topped, and moved their heads as though they were looking about them. T hey turned their fac es this way and that, and N unez ges tic ulated with freedom. But they did not appear to s ee him for all his ges tures , and after a time, direc ting thems elves towards the mountains far away to the right, they s houted as if in ans wer. N unez bawled again, and then onc e more, and as he ges tured ineffec tually the word " blind" c ame up to the top of his thoughts . "T he fools mus t be blind," he s aid. When at las t, after muc h s houting and wrath, N unez c ros s ed the s tream by a little bridge, c ame through a gate in the wall, and approac hed them, he was s ure that they were blind. H e was s ure that this was the C ountry of the Blind of whic h the legends told. C onvic tion had s prung upon him, and a s ens e of great and rather enviable adventure. T he three s tood s ide by s ide, not looking at him, but with their ears direc ted towards him, judging him by his unfamiliar s teps . T hey s tood c los e together like men a little afraid, and he c ould s ee their eyelids c los ed and s unken, as though the very balls beneath had s hrunk away. T here was an expres s ion near awe on their fac es .

"A man," one s aid, in hardly rec ognis able Spanis h. " A man it is --a man or a s pirit-c oming down from the roc ks ." But N unez advanc ed with the c onfident s teps of a youth who enters upon life. A ll the old s tories of the los t valley and the C ountry of the Blind had c ome bac k to his mind, and through his thoughts ran this old proverb, as if it were a refrain:- "I n the C ountry of the Blind the O ne-E yed M an is King." "I n the C ountry of the Blind the O ne-E yed M an is King." A nd very c ivilly he gave them greeting. H e talked to them and us ed his eyes . "Where does he c ome from, brother P edro? " as ked one. "D own out of the roc ks ." "O ver the mountains I c ome," s aid N unez, "out of the c ountry beyond there- -where men c an s ee. From near Bogota- -where there are a hundred thous ands of people, and where the c ity pas s es out of s ight." "Sight? " muttered P edro. " Sight? " "H e c omes ," s aid the s ec ond blind man, "out of the roc ks ." T he c loth of their c oats , N unez s aw was c urious fas hioned, eac h with a different s ort of s titc hing. T hey s tartled him by a s imultaneous movement towards him, eac h with a hand outs tretc hed. H e s tepped bac k from the advanc e of thes e s pread fingers . "C ome hither," s aid the third blind man, following his motion and c lutc hing him neatly. A nd they held N unez and felt him over, s aying no word further until they had done s o. "C arefully," he c ried, with a finger in his eye, and found they thought that organ, with its fluttering lids , a queer thing in him. T hey went over it again. "A s trange c reature, C orrea," s aid the one c alled P edro. "Feel the c oars enes s of his hair. L ike a llama's hair." "Rough he is as the roc ks that begot him," s aid C orrea, inves tigating N unez's uns haven c hin with a s oft and s lightly mois t hand. " P erhaps he will grow finer." N unez s truggled a little under their examination, but they gripped him firm. "C arefully," he s aid again. "H e s peaks ," s aid the third man. "C ertainly he is a man." "U gh! " s aid P edro, at the roughnes s of his c oat. "A nd you have c ome into the world? " as ked P edro. "Out of the world. O ver mountains and glac iers ; right over above there, half-way to the s un. O ut of the great, big world that goes down, twelve days ' journey to the s ea." T hey s c arc ely s eemed to heed him. "O ur fathers have told us men may be made by the forc es of N ature," s aid C orrea. "I t is the warmth of things , and mois ture, and rottennes s -- rottennes s ." "L et us lead him to the elders ," s aid P edro. "Shout firs t," s aid C orrea, " les t the c hildren be afraid. T his is a marvellous oc c as ion." So they s houted, and P edro went firs t and took N unez by the hand to lead him to the hous es . H e drew his hand away. "I c an s ee," he s aid. "See? " s aid C orrea. "Y es ; s ee," s aid N unez, turning towards him, and s tumbled agains t P edro's pail. "H is s ens es are s till imperfec t," s aid the third blind man. "H e s tumbles , and talks unmeaning words . L ead him by the hand." "A s you will," s aid N unez, and was led along laughing. I t s eemed they knew nothing of s ight. Well, all in good time he would teac h them. H e heard people s houting, and s aw a number of figures gathering together in the middle roadway of the village. H e found it tax his nerve and patienc e more than he had antic ipated, that firs t

enc ounter with the population of the C ountry of the Blind. T he plac e s eemed larger as he drew near to it, and the s meared plas terings queerer, and a c rowd of c hildren and men and women (the women and girls he was pleas ed to note had, s ome of them, quite s weet fac es , for all that their eyes were s hut and s unken) c ame about him, holding on to him, touc hing him with s oft, s ens itive hands , s melling at him, and lis tening at every word he s poke. Some of the maidens and c hildren, however, kept aloof as if afraid, and indeed his voic e s eemed c oars e and rude bes ide their s ofter notes . T hey mobbed him. H is three guides kept c los e to him with an effec t of proprietors hip, and s aid again and again, " A wild man out of the roc ks ." "Bogota," he s aid. "Bogota. O ver the mountain c res ts ." "A wild man- -us ing wild words ," s aid P edro. "D id you hear that--" Bogota? H is mind has hardly formed yet. H e has only the beginnings of s peec h." A little boy nipped his hand. " Bogota! " he s aid moc kingly. "A ye! A c ity to your village. I c ome from the great world -- where men have eyes and s ee." "H is name's Bogota," they s aid. "H e s tumbled," s aid C orrea-- " s tumbled twic e as we c ame hither." "Bring him in to the elders ." A nd they thrus t him s uddenly through a doorway into a room as blac k as pitc h, s ave at the end there faintly glowed a fire. T he c rowd c los ed in behind him and s hut out all but the faintes t glimmer of day, and before he c ould arres t hims elf he had fallen headlong over the feet of a s eated man. H is arm, outflung, s truc k the fac e of s omeone els e as he went down; he felt the s oft impac t of features and heard a c ry of anger, and for a moment he s truggled agains t a number of hands that c lutc hed him. I t was a one-s ided fight. A n inkling of the s ituation c ame to him and he lay quiet. "I fell down," be s aid; I c ouldn't s ee in this pitc hy darknes s ." T here was a paus e as if the uns een pers ons about him tried to unders tand his words . T hen the voic e of C orrea s aid: " H e is but newly formed. H e s tumbles as he walks and mingles words that mean nothing with his s peec h." O thers als o s aid things about him that he heard or unders tood imperfec tly. "M ay I s it up? " he as ked, in a paus e. "I will not s truggle agains t you again." T hey c ons ulted and let him ris e. T he voic e of an older man began to ques tion him, and N unez found hims elf trying to explain the great world out of whic h he had fallen, and the s ky and mountains and s uc h-like marvels , to thes e elders who s at in darknes s in the C ountry of the Blind. A nd they would believe and unders tand nothing whatever that he told them, a thing quite outs ide his expec tation. T hey would not even unders tand many of his words . For fourteen generations thes e people had been blind and c ut off from all the s eeing world; the names for all the things of s ight had faded and c hanged; the s tory of the outer world was faded and c hanged to a c hild's s tory; and they had c eas ed to c onc ern thems elves with anything beyond the roc ky s lopes above their c irc ling wall. Blind men of genius had aris en among them and ques tioned the s hreds of belief and tradition they had brought with them from their s eeing days , and had dis mis s ed all thes e things as idle fanc ies and replac ed them with new and s aner explanations . M uc h of their imagination had s hrivelled with their eyes , and they had made for thems elves new imaginations with their ever more s ens itive ears and finger- tips . Slowly N unez realis ed this : that his expec tation of wonder and reverenc e at his origin and his gifts was not to be borne out; and after his poor attempt to explain s ight to them had been s et as ide as the c onfus ed vers ion of a new- made being des c ribing the marvels of his inc oherent s ens ations , he s ubs ided, a little das hed, into lis tening to their ins truc tion. A nd the eldes t of the blind men explained to him life and philos ophy and religion, how that the world (meaning their valley) had been firs t an empty hollow in the roc ks , and then had c ome firs t inanimate things without the gift of touc h, and llamas and a few other c reatures that had little s ens e, and then men, and at las t angels , whom one c ould hear s inging and making fluttering s ounds , but whom no one c ould touc h at all, whic h puzzled N unez greatly until he thought of the birds . H e went on to tell N unez how this time had been divided into the warm and the c old, whic h are the blind equivalents of day and night, and how it was good to s leep in the warm and work during the c old, s o that now, but for his advent, the whole town of the blind would have been as leep. H e s aid N unez mus t have been s pec ially c reated to learn and s erve the wis dom they had ac quired, and that for all his mental inc oherenc y and s tumbling behaviour he mus t have c ourage and do his bes t to learn, and at that all the people in the door- way murmured enc ouragingly. H e s aid the night- -for the blind c all their day night--was now far gone, and it behooved everyone to go bac k to s leep. H e as ked N unez if he knew how to s leep, and N unez s aid he did, but that before s leep he wanted food. T hey brought him food, llama's milk in a bowl and rough s alted bread, and led him into a lonely plac e to eat out of their hearing, and afterwards to s lumber until the c hill of the mountain evening rous ed them to begin their day again. But N unez s lumbered not at all.

I ns tead, he s at up in the plac e where they had left him, res ting his limbs and turning the unantic ipated c irc ums tanc es of his arrival over and over in his mind. E very now and then he laughed, s ometimes with amus ement and s ometimes with indignation. "U nformed mind! " he s aid. " G ot no s ens es yet! T hey little know they've been ins ulting their H eaven- s ent King and mas ter . . . . . "I s ee I mus t bring them to reas on. "L et me think. "L et me think." H e was s till thinking when the s un s et. N unez had an eye for all beautiful things , and it s eemed to him that the glow upon the s now- fields and glac iers that ros e about the valley on every s ide was the mos t beautiful thing he had ever s een. H is eyes went from that inac c es s ible glory to the village and irrigated fields , fas t s inking into the twilight, and s uddenly a wave of emotion took him, and he thanked G od from the bottom of his heart that the power of s ight had been given him. H e heard a voic e c alling to him from out of the village. "Y aho there, Bogota! C ome hither! " A t that he s tood up, s miling. H e would s how thes e people onc e and for all what s ight would do for a man. T hey would s eek him, but not find him. "Y ou move not, Bogota," s aid the voic e. H e laughed nois eles s ly and made two s tealthy s teps as ide from the path. "T rample not on the gras s , Bogota; that is not allowed." N unez had s c arc ely heard the s ound he made hims elf. H e s topped, amazed. T he owner of the voic e c ame running up the piebald path towards him. H e s tepped bac k into the pathway. " H ere I am," he s aid. "Why did you not c ome when I c alled you? " s aid the blind man. "M us t you be led like a c hild? C annot you hear the path as you walk? " N unez laughed. "I c an s ee it," he s aid. "T here is no s uc h word as s ee," s aid the blind man, after a paus e. " C eas e this folly and follow the s ound of my feet." N unez followed, a little annoyed. "M y time will c ome," he s aid. "Y ou'll learn," the blind man ans wered. "T here is muc h to learn in the world." "H as no one told you, 'I n the C ountry of the Blind the O ne- E yed M an is King? '" "What is blind? " as ked the blind man, c areles s ly, over his s houlder. Four days pas s ed and the fifth found the King of the Blind s till inc ognito, as a c lums y and us eles s s tranger among his s ubjec ts . I t was , he found, muc h more diffic ult to proc laim hims elf than he had s uppos ed, and in the meantime, while he meditated his c oup d'etat, he did what he was told and learnt the manners and c us toms of the C ountry of the Blind. H e found working and going about at night a partic ularly irks ome thing, and he dec ided that that s hould be the firs t thing he would c hange. T hey led a s imple, laborious life, thes e people, with all the elements of virtue and happines s as thes e things c an be unders tood by men. T hey toiled, but not oppres s ively; they had food and c lothing s uffic ient for their needs ; they had days and s eas ons of res t; they made muc h of mus ic and s inging, and there was love among them and little c hildren. I t was marvellous with what c onfidenc e and prec is ion they went about their ordered world. E verything, you s ee, had been made to fit their needs ; eac h of the radiating paths of the valley area had a c ons tant angle to the others , and was dis tinguis hed by a s pec ial notc h upon its kerbing; all obs tac les and irregularities of path or meadow had long s inc e been c leared away; all their methods and proc edure aros e naturally from their s pec ial needs . T heir s ens es had bec ome marvellous ly ac ute; they c ould hear and judge the s lightes t ges ture of a man a dozen pac es away- -c ould hear the very beating of his heart. I ntonation had long replac ed expres s ion with them, and touc hes ges ture, and their work with hoe and s pade and fork was as free and c onfident as garden work c an be. T heir s ens e of s mell was extraordinarily fine; they c ould dis tinguis h individual differenc es as readily as a dog c an, and they went about the tending of llamas , who lived among the roc ks above and c ame to the wall for food and s helter, with eas e and c onfidenc e. I t was only when at las t N unez s ought to as s ert hims elf that he found how eas y and

c onfident their movements c ould be. H e rebelled only after he had tried pers uas ion. H e tried at firs t on s everal oc c as ions to tell them of s ight. " Look you here, you people," he s aid. "T here are things you do not unders tand in me." O nc e or twic e one or two of them attended to him; they s at with fac es downc as t and ears turned intelligently towards him, and he did his bes t to tell them what it was to s ee. A mong his hearers was a girl, with eyelids les s red and s unken than the others , s o that one c ould almos t fanc y s he was hiding eyes , whom es pec ially he hoped to pers uade. H e s poke of the beauties of s ight, of watc hing the mountains , of the s ky and the s unris e, and they heard him with amus ed inc redulity that pres ently bec ame c ondemnatory. T hey told him there were indeed no mountains at all, but that the end of the roc ks where the llamas grazed was indeed the end of the world; thenc e s prang a c avernous roof of the univers e, from whic h the dew and the avalanc hes fell; and when he maintained s toutly the world had neither end nor roof s uc h as they s uppos ed, they s aid his thoughts were wic ked. So far as he c ould des c ribe s ky and c louds and s tars to them it s eemed to them a hideous void, a terrible blanknes s in the plac e of the s mooth roof to things in whic h they believed- -it was an artic le of faith with them that the c avern roof was exquis itely s mooth to the touc h. H e s aw that in s ome manner he s hoc ked them, and gave up that as pec t of the matter altogether, and tried to s how them the prac tic al value of s ight. O ne morning he s aw P edro in the path c alled Seventeen and c oming towards the c entral hous es , but s till too far off for hearing or s c ent, and he told them as muc h. "I n a little while," he prophes ied, "P edro will be here." A n old man remarked that P edro had no bus ines s on path Seventeen, and then, as if in c onfirmation, that individual as he drew near turned and went trans vers ely into path T en, and s o bac k with nimble pac es towards the outer wall. T hey moc ked N unez when P edro did not arrive, and afterwards , when he as ked P edro ques tions to c lear his c harac ter, P edro denied and outfac ed him, and was afterwards hos tile to him. T hen he induc ed them to let him go a long way up the s loping meadows towards the wall with one c omplais ant individual, and to him he promis ed to des c ribe all that happened among the hous es . H e noted c ertain goings and c omings , but the things that really s eemed to s ignify to thes e people happened ins ide of or behind the windowles s hous es - -the only things they took note of to tes t him by- -and of thos e he c ould s ee or tell nothing; and it was after the failure of this attempt, and the ridic ule they c ould not repres s , that he res orted to forc e. H e thought of s eizing a s pade and s uddenly s miting one or two of them to earth, and s o in fair c ombat s howing the advantage of eyes . H e went s o far with that res olution as to s eize his s pade, and then he dis c overed a new thing about hims elf, and that was that it was impos s ible for him to hit a blind man in c old blood. H e hes itated, and found them all aware that he had s natc hed up the s pade. T hey s tood all alert, with their heads on one s ide, and bent ears towards him for what he would do next. "P ut that s pade down," s aid one, and he felt a s ort of helples s horror. H e c ame near obedienc e. T hen he had thrus t one bac kwards agains t a hous e wall, and fled pas t him and out of the village. H e went athwart one of their meadows , leaving a trac k of trampled gras s behind his feet, and pres ently s at down by the s ide of one of their ways . H e felt s omething of the buoyanc y that c omes to all men in the beginning of a fight, but more perplexity. H e began to realis e that you c annot even fight happily with c reatures who s tand upon a different mental bas is to yours elf. Far away he s aw a number of men c arrying s pades and s tic ks c ome out of the s treet of hous es and advanc e in a s preading line along the s everal paths towards him. T hey advanc ed s lowly, s peaking frequently to one another, and ever and again the whole c ordon would halt and s niff the air and lis ten. T he firs t time they did this N unez laughed. But afterwards he did not laugh. O ne s truc k his trail in the meadow gras s and c ame s tooping and feeling his way along it. For five minutes he watc hed the s low extens ion of the c ordon, and then his vague dis pos ition to do s omething forthwith bec ame frantic . H e s tood up, went a pac e or s o towards the c irc umferential wall, turned, and went bac k a little way. T here they all s tood in a c res c ent, s till and lis tening. H e als o s tood s till, gripping his s pade very tightly in both hands . Should he c harge them? T he puls e in his ears ran into the rhythm of "I n the C ountry of the Blind the O neE yed M an is King." Should he c harge them? H e looked bac k at the high and unc limbable wall behind-- unc limbable bec aus e of its s mooth plas tering, but withal pierc ed with many little doors and at the approac hing line of s eekers . Behind thes e others were now c oming out of the s treet of hous es .

Should he c harge them? "Bogota! " c alled one. " Bogota! where are you? " H e gripped his s pade s till tighter and advanc ed down the meadows towards the plac e of habitations , and direc tly he moved they c onverged upon him. "I 'll hit them if they touc h me," he s wore; "by H eaven, I will. I 'll hit." H e c alled aloud, "L ook here, I 'm going to do what I like in this valley! D o you hear? I 'm going to do what I like and go where I like." T hey were moving in upon him quic kly, groping, yet moving rapidly. I t was like playing blind man's buff with everyone blindfolded exc ept one. " G et hold of him! " c ried one. H e found hims elf in the arc of a loos e c urve of purs uers . H e felt s uddenly he mus t be ac tive and res olute. "Y ou don't unders tand," he c ried, in a voic e that was meant to be great and res olute, and whic h broke. "Y ou are blind and I c an s ee. L eave me alone! " "Bogota! P ut down that s pade and c ome off the gras s ! " T he las t order, grotes que in its urban familiarity, produc ed a gus t of anger. "I 'll hurt you," he s aid, s obbing with emotion. " By H eaven, I 'll hurt you! L eave me alone! " H e began to run-- not knowing c learly where to run. H e ran from the neares t blind man, bec aus e it was a horror to hit him. H e s topped, and then made a das h to es c ape from their c los ing ranks . H e made for where a gap was wide, and the men on either s ide, with a quic k perc eption of the approac h of his pac es , rus hed in on one another. H e s prang forward, and then s aw he mus t be c aught, and s wis h! the s pade had s truc k. H e felt the s oft thud of hand and arm, and the man was down with a yell of pain, and he was through. T hrough! A nd then he was c los e to the s treet of hous es again, and blind men, whirling s pades and s takes , were running with a reas oned s wiftnes s hither and thither. H e heard s teps behind him jus t in time, and found a tall man rus hing forward and s wiping at the s ound of him. H e los t his nerve, hurled his s pade a yard wide of this antagonis t, and whirled about and fled, fairly yelling as he dodged another. H e was panic - s tric ken. H e ran furious ly to and fro, dodging when there was no need to dodge, and, in his anxiety to s ee on every s ide of him at onc e, s tumbling. For a moment he was down and they heard his fall. Far away in the c irc umferential wall a little doorway looked like H eaven, and he s et off in a wild rus h for it. H e did not even look round at his purs uers until it was gained, and he had s tumbled ac ros s the bridge, c lambered a little way among the roc ks , to the s urpris e and dis may of a young llama, who went leaping out of s ight, and lay down s obbing for breath. A nd s o his c oup d'etat c ame to an end. H e s tayed outs ide the wall of the valley of the blind for two nights and days without food or s helter, and meditated upon the U nexpec ted. D uring thes e meditations he repeated very frequently and always with a profounder note of deris ion the exploded proverb: " I n the C ountry of the Blind the O ne-E yed M an is King." H e thought c hiefly of ways of fighting and c onquering thes e people, and it grew c lear that for him no prac tic able way was pos s ible. H e had no weapons , and now it would be hard to get one. T he c anker of c ivilis ation had got to him even in Bogota, and he c ould not find it in hims elf to go down and as s as s inate a blind man. O f c ours e, if he did that, he might then dic tate terms on the threat of as s as s inating them all. But- -Sooner or later he mus t s leep! . . . . H e tried als o to find food among the pine trees , to be c omfortable under pine boughs while the fros t fell at night, and- - with les s c onfidenc e--to c atc h a llama by artific e in order to try to kill it-- perhaps by hammering it with a s tone-- and s o finally, perhaps , to eat s ome of it. But the llamas had a doubt of him and regarded him with dis trus tful brown eyes and s pat when he drew near. Fear c ame on him the s ec ond day and fits of s hivering. Finally he c rawled down to the wall of the C ountry of the Blind and tried to make his terms . H e c rawled along by the s tream, s houting, until two blind men c ame out to the gate and talked to him. "I was mad," he s aid. "But I was only newly made." T hey s aid that was better. H e told them he was wis er now, and repented of all he had done. T hen he wept without intention, for he was very weak and ill now, and they took that as a favourable s ign. T hey as ked him if he s till thought he c ould s ee." "N o," he s aid. "T hat was folly. T he word means nothing. L es s than nothing! " T hey as ked him what was overhead.

"A bout ten times ten the height of a man there is a roof above the world-- of roc k-and very, very s mooth. So s mooth-- s o beautifully s mooth . . " H e burs t again into hys teric al tears . " Before you as k me any more, give me s ome food or I s hall die! " H e expec ted dire punis hments , but thes e blind people were c apable of toleration. T hey regarded his rebellion as but one more proof of his general idioc y and inferiority, and after they had whipped him they appointed him to do the s imples t and heavies t work they had for anyone to do, and he, s eeing no other way of living, did s ubmis s ively what he was told. H e was ill for s ome days and they nurs ed him kindly. T hat refined his s ubmis s ion. But they ins is ted on his lying in the dark, and that was a great mis ery. A nd blind philos ophers c ame and talked to him of the wic ked levity of his mind, and reproved him s o impres s ively for his doubts about the lid of roc k that c overed their c os mic c as s erole that he almos t doubted whether indeed he was not the vic tim of halluc ination in not s eeing it overhead. So N unez bec ame a c itizen of the C ountry of the Blind, and thes e people c eas ed to be a generalis ed people and bec ame individualities to him, and familiar to him, while the world beyond the mountains bec ame more and more remote and unreal. T here was Y ac ob, his mas ter, a kindly man when not annoyed; there was P edro, Y ac ob's nephew; and there was M edina-s arote, who was the younges t daughter of Y ac ob. She was little es teemed in the world of the blind, bec aus e s he had a c lear- c ut fac e and lac ked that s atis fying, glos s y s moothnes s that is the blind man's ideal of feminine beauty, but N unez thought her beautiful at firs t, and pres ently the mos t beautiful thing in the whole c reation. H er c los ed eyelids were not s unken and red after the c ommon way of the valley, but lay as though they might open again at any moment; and s he had long eyelas hes , whic h were c ons idered a grave dis figurement. A nd her voic e was weak and did not s atis fy the ac ute hearing of the valley s wains . So that s he had no lover. T here c ame a time when N unez thought that, c ould he win her, he would be res igned to live in the valley for all the res t of his days . H e watc hed her; he s ought opportunities of doing her little s ervic es and pres ently he found that s he obs erved him. O nc e at a res t- day gathering they s at s ide by s ide in the dim s tarlight, and the mus ic was s weet. H is hand c ame upon hers and he dared to c las p it. T hen very tenderly s he returned his pres s ure. A nd one day, as they were at their meal in the darknes s , he felt her hand very s oftly s eeking him, and as it c hanc ed the fire leapt then, and he s aw the tendernes s of her fac e. H e s ought to s peak to her. H e went to her one day when s he was s itting in the s ummer moonlight s pinning. T he light made her a thing of s ilver and mys tery. H e s at down at her feet and told her he loved her, and told her how beautiful s he s eemed to him. H e had a lover's voic e, he s poke with a tender reverenc e that c ame near to awe, and s he had never before been touc hed by adoration. She made him no definite ans wer, but it was c lear his words pleas ed her. A fter that he talked to her whenever he c ould take an opportunity. T he valley bec ame the world for him, and the world beyond the mountains where men lived by day s eemed no more than a fairy tale he would s ome day pour into her ears . V ery tentatively and timidly he s poke to her of s ight. Sight s eemed to her the mos t poetic al of fanc ies , and s he lis tened to his des c ription of the s tars and the mountains and her own s weet white-lit beauty as though it was a guilty indulgenc e. She did not believe, s he c ould only half unders tand, but s he was mys terious ly delighted, and it s eemed to him that s he c ompletely unders tood. H is love los t its awe and took c ourage. P res ently he was for demanding her of Y ac ob and the elders in marriage, but s he bec ame fearful and delayed. A nd it was one of her elder s is ters who firs t told Y ac ob that M edina-s arote and N unez were in love. T here was from the firs t very great oppos ition to the marriage of N unez and M edinas arote; not s o muc h bec aus e they valued her as bec aus e they held him as a being apart, an idiot, inc ompetent thing below the permis s ible level of a man. H er s is ters oppos ed it bitterly as bringing dis c redit on them all; and old Y ac ob, though he had formed a s ort of liking for his c lums y, obedient s erf, s hook his head and s aid the thing c ould not be. T he young men were all angry at the idea of c orrupting the rac e, and one went s o far as to revile and s trike N unez. H e s truc k bac k. T hen for the firs t time he found an advantage in s eeing, even by twilight, and after that fight was over no one was dis pos ed to rais e a hand agains t him. But they s till found his marriage impos s ible. O ld Y ac ob had a tendernes s for his las t little daughter, and was grieved to have her weep upon his s houlder. "Y ou s ee, my dear, he's an idiot. H e has delus ions ; he c an't do anything right." "I know," wept M edina-s arote. " But he's better than he was . H e's getting better. A nd he's s trong, dear father, and kind--s tronger and kinder than any other man in the world. A nd he loves me-- and, father, I love him." O ld Y ac ob was greatly dis tres s ed to find her inc ons olable, and, bes ides -- what made

it more dis tres s ing-- he liked N unez for many things . So he went and s at in the windowles s c ounc il- c hamber with the other elders and watc hed the trend of the talk, and s aid, at the proper time, " H e's better than he was . V ery likely, s ome day, we s hall find him as s ane as ours elves ." T hen afterwards one of the elders , who thought deeply, had an idea. H e was a great doc tor among thes e people, their medic ine- man, and he had a very philos ophic al and inventive mind, and the idea of c uring N unez of his pec uliarities appealed to him. O ne day when Y ac ob was pres ent he returned to the topic of N unez. "I have examined N unez," he s aid, " and the c as e is c learer to me. I think very probably he might be c ured." "T his is what I have always hoped," s aid old Y ac ob. "H is brain is affec ted," s aid the blind doc tor. T he elders murmured as s ent. "N ow, what affec ts it? " "A h! " s aid old Y ac ob. This ," s aid the doc tor, ans wering his own ques tion. " T hos e queer things that are c alled the eyes , and whic h exis t to make an agreeable depres s ion in the fac e, are dis eas ed, in the c as e of N unez, in s uc h a way as to affec t his brain. T hey are greatly dis tended, he has eyelas hes , and his eyelids move, and c ons equently his brain is in a s tate of c ons tant irritation and dis trac tion." "Y es ? " s aid old Y ac ob. " Y es ? " "A nd I think I may s ay with reas onable c ertainty that, in order to c ure him c omplete, all that we need to do is a s imple and eas y s urgic al operation-- namely, to remove thes e irritant bodies ." "A nd then he will be s ane? " "T hen he will be perfec tly s ane, and a quite admirable c itizen." "T hank H eaven for s c ienc e! " s aid old Y ac ob, and went forth at onc e to tell N unez of his happy hopes . But N unez's manner of rec eiving the good news s truc k him as being c old and dis appointing. "O ne might think," he s aid, "from the tone you take that you did not c are for my daughter." I t was M edina- s arote who pers uaded N unez to fac e the blind s urgeons . "You do not want me," he s aid, " to los e my gift of s ight? " She s hook her head. "M y world is s ight." H er head drooped lower. "T here are the beautiful things , the beautiful little things - -the flowers , the lic hens amids t the roc ks , the light and s oftnes s on a piec e of fur, the far s ky with its drifting dawn of c louds , the s uns ets and the s tars . A nd there is you. For you alone it is good to have s ight, to s ee your s weet, s erene fac e, your kindly lips , your dear, beautiful hands folded together. . . . . I t is thes e eyes of mine you won, thes e eyes that hold me to you, that thes e idiots s eek. I ns tead, I mus t touc h you, hear you, and never s ee you again. I mus t c ome under that roof of roc k and s tone and darknes s , that horrible roof under whic h your imaginations s toop . . . no; you would not have me do that? " A dis agreeable doubt had aris en in him. H e s topped and left the thing a ques tion. "I wis h," s he s aid, "s ometimes - -" She paus ed. "Y es ? " he s aid, a little apprehens ively. "I wis h s ometimes --you would not talk like that." "L ike what? " "I know it's pretty-- it's your imagination. I love it, but now- -" H e felt c old. " Now? " he s aid, faintly. She s at quite s till. "Y ou mean-- you think- -I s hould be better, better perhaps - -" H e was realis ing things very s wiftly. H e felt anger perhaps , anger at the dull c ours e of fate, but als o s ympathy for her lac k of unders tanding--a s ympathy near akin to pity.

"Dear," he s aid, and he c ould s ee by her whitenes s how tens ely her s pirit pres s ed agains t the things s he c ould not s ay. H e put his arms about her, he kis s ed her ear, and they s at for a time in s ilenc e. "I f I were to c ons ent to this ? " he s aid at las t, in a voic e that was very gentle. She flung her arms about him, weeping wildly. "O h, if you would," s he s obbed, " if only you would! " For a week before the operation that was to rais e him from his s ervitude and inferiority to the level of a blind c itizen N unez knew nothing of s leep, and all through the warm, s unlit hours , while the others s lumbered happily, he s at brooding or wandered aimles s ly, trying to bring his mind to bear on his dilemma. H e had given his ans wer, he had given his c ons ent, and s till he was not s ure. A nd at las t worktime was over, the s un ros e in s plendour over the golden c res ts , and his las t day of vis ion began for him. H e had a few minutes with M edina-s arote before s he went apart to s leep. "T o-morrow," he s aid, "I s hall s ee no more." "D ear heart! " s he ans wered, and pres s ed his hands with all her s trength. "T hey will hurt you but little," s he s aid; "and you are going through this pain, you are going through it, dear lover, for me . . . . D ear, if a woman's heart and life c an do it, I will repay you. M y deares t one, my deares t with the tender voic e, I will repay." H e was drenc hed in pity for hims elf and her. H e held her in his arms , and pres s ed his lips to hers and looked on her s weet fac e for the las t time. " G ood-bye! " he whis pered to that dear s ight, "good-bye! " A nd then in s ilenc e he turned away from her. She c ould hear his s low retreating foots teps , and s omething in the rhythm of them threw her into a pas s ion of weeping. H e walked away. H e had fully meant to go to a lonely plac e where the meadows were beautiful with white narc is s us , and there remain until the hour of his s ac rific e s hould c ome, but as he walked he lifted up his eyes and s aw the morning, the morning like an angel in golden armour, marc hing down the s teeps . . . . I t s eemed to him that before this s plendour he and this blind world in the valley, and his love and all, were no more than a pit of s in. H e did not turn as ide as he had meant to do, but went on and pas s ed through the wall of the c irc umferenc e and out upon the roc ks , and his eyes were always upon the s unlit ic e and s now. H e s aw their infinite beauty, and his imagination s oared over them to the things beyond he was now to res ign for ever! H e thought of that great free world that he was parted from, the world that was his own, and he had a vis ion of thos e further s lopes , dis tanc e beyond dis tanc e, with Bogota, a plac e of multitudinous s tirring beauty, a glory by day, a luminous mys tery by night, a plac e of palac es and fountains and s tatues and white hous es , lying beautifully in the middle dis tanc e. H e thought how for a day or s o one might c ome down through pas s es drawing ever nearer and nearer to its bus y s treets and ways . H e thought of the river journey, day by day, from great Bogota to the s till vas ter world beyond, through towns and villages , fores t and des ert plac es , the rus hing river day by day, until its banks rec eded, and the big s teamers c ame s plas hing by and one had reac hed the s ea--the limitles s s ea, with its thous and is lands , its thous ands of is lands , and its s hips s een dimly far away in their inc es s ant journeyings round and about that greater world. A nd there, unpent by mountains , one s aw the s ky-- the s ky, not s uc h a dis c as one s aw it here, but an arc h of immeas urable blue, a deep of deeps in whic h the c irc ling s tars were floating . . . . H is eyes began to s c rutinis e the great c urtain of the mountains with a keener inquiry. For example; if one went s o, up that gully and to that c himney there, then one might c ome out high among thos e s tunted pines that ran round in a s ort of s helf and ros e s till higher and higher as it pas s ed above the gorge. A nd then? T hat talus might be managed. T henc e perhaps a c limb might be found to take him up to the prec ipic e that c ame below the s now; and if that c himney failed, then another farther to the eas t might s erve his purpos e better. A nd then? T hen one would be out upon the amber-lit s now there, and half-way up to the c res t of thos e beautiful des olations . A nd s uppos e one had good fortune! H e glanc ed bac k at the village, then turned right round and regarded it with folded arms . H e thought of M edina- s arote, and s he had bec ome s mall and remote. H e turned again towards the mountain wall down whic h the day had c ome to him.

T hen very c irc ums pec tly he began his c limb. When s uns et c ame he was not longer c limbing, but he was far and high. H is c lothes were torn, his limbs were bloods tained, he was bruis ed in many plac es , but he lay as if he were at his eas e, and there was a s mile on his fac e. From where he res ted the valley s eemed as if it were in a pit and nearly a mile below. A lready it was dim with haze and s hadow, though the mountain s ummits around him were things of light and fire. T he mountain s ummits around him were things of light and fire, and the little things in the roc ks near at hand were drenc hed with light and beauty, a vein of green mineral pierc ing the grey, a flas h of s mall c rys tal here and there, a minute, minutely- beautiful orange lic hen c los e bes ide his fac e. T here were deep, mys terious s hadows in the gorge, blue deepening into purple, and purple into a luminous darknes s , and overhead was the illimitable vas tnes s of the s ky. But he heeded thes e things no longer, but lay quite s till there, s miling as if he were c ontent now merely to have es c aped from the valley of the Blind, in whic h he had thought to be King. A nd the glow of the s uns et pas s ed, and the night c ame, and s till he lay there, under the c old, c lear s tars .
Literature Network H.G. Wells The Country of the Blind

A rt of Worldly Wisdom Daily

In the 1600s, Balthasar Gracian, a jesuit priest wrote 300 aphorisms on living life called "The Art of Worldly Wisdom." Join our newsletter below and read them all, one at a time.

Sonnet-a-Day Newslet ter Shakes peare wrote over 1 5 0 s onnets ! J oin our Sonnet-A - D ay N ews letter and read them all, one at a time. E mail: email address

E mail: email address

Subscribe

Subscribe

Privacy Refunds Advertise Contact Link to Us Essay Information Short Story Contest Languages: English, Espanol | Site Copyright Jalic Inc. 2000 - 2011. All Rights Reserved.
As Seen In: USA Today "Hot Sites"