David and the Phoenix Page 9

  9: _In Which David and the Phoenix Call On a Faun, and a LovelyAfternoon Comes to a Strange End_

  The Phoenix was dead tired. And no wonder--all in one week it hadescaped from Gryffons, raced with a Witch, made round-trip flights tothe Pacific Isles and Ireland, been caught in a snare, got burned by ashort circuit, and been knocked down by an exploding cigar. Even abird as strong as the Phoenix cannot do all these things withoutneeding a rest. So the traveling part of David's education wasstopped for a while to let the Phoenix recover.

  The days went by pleasantly on the ledge. Summer was at its height.The sun fell on them with just the right amount of warmth as theylolled on the grass. The air was filled with a lazy murmuring."Listen," the murmuring seemed to say, "don't talk, don't think--closeyour eyes and listen." Below them, the whole valley danced and waveredin the heat waves, so that it seemed to be under water.

  There were long, lazy conversations that began nowhere and endednowhere--the wonderful kind in which you say whatever comes to yourhead without fear of being misunderstood, because what you say haslittle importance anyway. The Phoenix told of the times and adventuresit had had. Of the forgotten corners of the world where life went onas it had from the beginning, and of friends who lived there. OfTrolls who mined metal from the earth and made from it wondrousmachines which whirred and clattered and clanked and did absolutelynothing. ("The best kind of machine after all, my boy, since theyinjure no one, and there is nothing to worry about when they breakdown.") Of Unicorns ("Excellent chaps, but so frightfully melancholy")which shone white in the sun and tossed their ivory horns likerapiers. Of a Dragon who, having no treasure to guard, got together apathetic heap of colored pebbles in its cave. ("And really, he came tobelieve in time that they were absolutely priceless, and went aboutwith a worried frown of responsibility on his brow!") David, in turn,told the Phoenix about the games he used to play when he lived in theflat country, and all about school, and Mother and Dad and Aunt Amyand Beckie.

  He could not help laughing now and then over the Scientist's defeat.But whenever this came up, the Phoenix would shake its head with akind of sad wisdom.

  "My boy, there are certain things, such as head colds and forgettingwhere you have left your keys, which are inevitable--and I am afraidthat the Scientist is, too."

  "Oh, Phoenix, you don't think he'll come back, do you?"

  "Yes, my boy, I do. I can see the whole train of events: He willrecover from his fright. He will be curious about the Wail, and willreturn to investigate it. Once here, he will remember us, and we shallhave to take him into account once more."

  "Oh. Do you think it'll happen soon?"

  "Oh, no, my boy, nothing to worry about for the time being. But wemust remember that it will happen some day."

  "Yes, I guess you're right. I think he's hateful!"

  "I cannot disagree with you there, my boy. Of course, I have no doubtthat, in general, the advancement of science is all to the good.Knowledge is power. But on days like this I sometimes wonder.... Doesit not seem to you that the highest aim in life at the moment is toenjoy the sunlight and allow others to do the same?"

  "You're right, Phoenix--but then, you always are. I was just thinkingthe same thing. It's funny ... I mean ... well, _you_ know. Why can'tpeople leave other people alone--and--and--well, just _enjoy_themselves and lie in the sun and listen to the wind?"

  "That is the way of the world, my boy. Getting and spending, and allthat sort of thing. But come! Why should we worry over the follies ofthe rest of the world? A day like this was made for living, notthinking. Begone, dull care!"

  And they would forget the Scientist and watch a pair of butterflieschase each other instead.

  But one day the Phoenix suddenly stood up with a startled expressionon its face. "My dear chap!" it exclaimed. "I have just remembered!Tomorrow...."

  "What about tomorrow?"

  "Why, my boy, tomorrow another century rounds its mark. To be brief,tomorrow is my birthday. My five hundredth birthday."

  "Well, congratulations, Phoenix!"

  "Thank you, my boy. Five hundred.... Destiny.... Have I mentionedbefore, my boy, that I have a magnificent destiny?"

  "No. What is it, Phoenix?"

  "I--well, it is strange, my boy, but I do not know ... but that it ismagnificent no one can doubt."

  "Do I have one too?"

  "Of course, my boy. We all do."

  David was glad of that. He did not know exactly what a destiny was,however, and he tried to think of how one would look. But the onlypicture which came to his mind was that of a small, mousy creature(his destiny) looking up in admiration to a splendid thing of flameand gold, dazzling to the eyes--the Phoenix's mysterious destiny.

  He said, "We'll have to do something special tomorrow to celebrate,Phoenix."

  The Phoenix looked thoughtful. "I think we had better do whatever weare going to do _today_," it said.

  "Well, we can do something today _and_ tomorrow, then," said David."After all, a birthday only comes once a year, and it seems a shame tospend only one day on it. Especially when it's a five hundredthbirthday."

  "Tomorrow ..." said the Phoenix doubtfully. "I have a strange feeling,my boy--for once, I find myself unable to explain--most odd, _most_odd ... five hundredth birthday...."

  "Ah, well," it went on more cheerfully, "I shall undoubtedly rememberlater. The pressing question is, what shall we do now?"

  David got up, thought for a while, and suddenly flung his arms wide."Oh, Phoenix," he cried, "it's such a beautiful day, I wish it couldgo on forever! Couldn't we go somewhere--somewhere where we--oh, Idon't know. I can't explain it. Anywhere _you_ say, Phoenix."

  The Phoenix looked at him for a long time. "I think I understand, myboy. Yes.... How about one of the forgotten places I told you about?Should you like to meet a Faun?"

  * * * * *

  It was a green valley, completely enclosed by the barren mountainswhich towered above it. At one end a waterfall hung on the face of acliff, a misty thread pouring into a rainbow-arched pool. A brookserpentined through fields and groves of trees. There were flocks ofsheep and goats in the fields. Here and there were strange ruins ofmarble and red granite--columns, peristyles, benches carved withlions' heads, and pedestals.

  They landed in a little glade, and David got down in silentwonderment. The very stillness of the air was enchanted. The grass,dappled with sun and shadow, wore a mantle of flowers. Clouds ofbutterflies sprang up at their approach and swirled about them. Totheir right stood two broken columns, half-hidden beneath a wildtangle of vine and clusters of purple grapes. Beyond was the forest,dark and cool and silent, with shafts of sunlight in it like goldenspears pinning the forest floor to earth. There was no breeze. And asDavid stood there, scarcely daring to breathe, they heard the sound ofshepherd pipes coming from the edge of the wood. It was a minor tune,but somehow lilting too, with the rippling of water in it, and thelaughter of birds flying high, and the whisper of reeds as they bendtogether by the edge of streams, and the gaiety of crickets by night,and the pouring of summer rain.

  The piping died away, and the Phoenix beckoned to the spellboundDavid. Together they walked across the glade, leaving behind them awake of swirling butterflies. An immense oak stood at the edge of theforest. At its foot, on a bed of moss, sat the Faun.

  He was the same size as David. From the waist down he was covered withshaggy hair like a goat's, and instead of feet he had cloven hooves.The hair on his head was black and curly, and tumbled around smallpointed ears and a pair of short horns. His eyes were slanted slightlyupward, and he had a pointed chin and a snub nose.

  The Faun waved his pipes saucily at the Phoenix and gave a wry smile."Hullo, Phoenix! Back again to honor us with your wit and wisdom? Whatgems of advice have you got for us now?"

  "My dear Faun," said the Phoenix stiffly, "I have brought my friendDavid, who is acquiring an education. We--"

  The Faun smiled at David. "Want to race?" he said.

/>   "Sure," said David. "Where to?"

  "One moment," harrumphed the Phoenix. "What we--"

  "Down to that pedestal and back," said the Faun.

  "All right. Wait till I tie my shoe."

  The Phoenix harrumphed again. "This is all very well in its place, butwe _should_--"

  "Ready?" said the Faun. "One, two, three, _go_!"

  They dashed for the stone marker. It was an even race until theyreached the pedestal, but there David tried to turn without slowingdown, slipped on the grass, and went sprawling on his hands and knees.The Faun knew better. He sprang at the pedestal with both hooves,bounced from it like a spring, and began to race back to the oak. Butthen he too fell, tripping over a vine, and David shot past him andtouched the oak one jump ahead of him, shouting "First!"

  They sat down on the moss, panting. The Faun said, "You can reallyrun! I'm sorry you fell."

  "Well, you fell too, so that makes us even," said David. They lookedat each other and for some reason burst out laughing. They rolledaround on the moss and laughed until tears came, while the Phoenixfidgeted in reproachful silence.

  When they had calmed down a little, the Faun said, "Can you dance?"

  "No," said David. "I wish I could, though."

  "The educational value of dancing is practically nil," the Phoenixbegan severely. "I advise--"

  "Sure you can dance," said the Faun. "Listen." He brought the pipes tohis lips and began to play.

  And much to his surprise and delight, David found himself dancing asthough he had never done anything else in his life. The wonderfulthing was that he did not have to think about what he was doing: themusic was doing it all for him. He saw that even the Phoenix wasshuffling around in time to the piping, and looking very embarrassedabout it, too.

  "There," said the Faun when they had finished, "you _can_ dance, andvery well. Even old Phoenix can dance." Suddenly he jumped up andcried, "Let's go--come on!" and started to run.

  David followed, not knowing where they were going and not caring. ThePhoenix came after them, half running and half flying to keep up. Theyraced across the glade, through a stand of trees, and out into themeadow beyond. There they came to a bank of daisies, and threwthemselves into the middle of it and began to pelt each other withblossoms. The Phoenix, finally caught up in the spirit of it,collected a huge bunch while they were wrestling, flew suddenly overthem, and drowned them beneath a deluge of flowers. Near by was thestream. They splashed in the shallows, skipped pebbles over thesurface, and dug a harbor with two dikes in the sandy part of theshore. The Faun showed David how to build little boats of reeds, andthe Phoenix made them sail by blowing up a wind with its wings.

  They had a tree-climbing contest, which David won because his feetwere better than hooves for standing on branches. But the Faun won thejumping contest because of the tremendous spring in his legs. Theycame out even in the handstand, somersault, and skin-the-cat contest.And the Phoenix won when they played skip-rope with a piece of vine,because it could hover in the air with its wings while the vineswished over and under.

  They had fun with the sheep and goats, too. The Faun made the animalsdance and caper to a tune from his pipes, and showed David how toride on the rams. You crept up very quietly from behind--jumpedsuddenly on their backs--got a quick grip around their necks--and awayin a rush! It was almost as good as flying, except that you got joltedoff sooner or later. Then watch out!--it took some quick dodging toescape the horns of the angry rams. They left the goats alone, becauseof their sharper horns and the wicked look in their eyes.

  "I know where some pictures are," said the Faun. "Come on!" And he ledthem to a kind of glade ringed with shattered columns. The groundthere was covered with moss and drifts of leaves. They each got astick to clear away the debris, and uncovered a beautiful mosaicpavement. It was made of bits of colored stone and tile, which werearranged to make pictures. There were scenes of youths treading outwine, minstrels with lyres, gods with curly hair, and a beast whichwas half man and half horse. There were maidens dancing to flute anddrums, hunters battling with boars and lions, warriors clashing withsword and shield and spear. There were series of pictures tellingstories of wonders and adventures in far-distant lands, voyages, wars,conquests. The Faun proudly pointed out a picture of other Faunsdancing with Nymphs. The Phoenix gazed very thoughtfully at somescenes of a bird building and sitting in a nest of flames. But thelast pictures of this story had been broken up by roots, so they couldnot see how it ended.

  When they came to the end of the valley, where the rainbow arched overthe pool, David told them of the pot of gold which is supposed to beat the foot of rainbows. They looked for it, but without success,because the rainbow disappeared whenever they got too close to it. SoDavid and the Faun contented themselves with jumping into the pool andducking each other and making bubbly noises, while the Phoenix, whocould not swim, stood on the shore and beamed at them. They pickedferns from under the waterfall and made wreaths and garlands, whichthey threw at the Phoenix's head like quoits. The Faun showed them acertain place to shout from if you wanted to hear an echo. The Phoenixshouted, "A stitch in time saves nine!" and the echo dolorouslyanswered, "A switch is fine for crime."

  Wet and tired from splashing in the pool, they stretched out in thesun to dry. A grapevine grew near them, and they gorged themselves onthe fruit, smearing their faces and hands with purple. And Davidclosed his eyes and thought, "Now I'm having a dream, and so is thePhoenix. We're all dreaming the same thing and living in the dream,and I wish--oh, I wish none of us will ever wake up!"

  But he had just opened his eyes again when the Faun leaped to his feetand cried "Listen!" and flicked his pointed ears forward like a cat.

  David stood up and said in a puzzled voice, "I don't hear anything."He noticed that the Phoenix had also got up, and was listeninguncomfortably to whatever it was.

  "Listen! Oh, listen!" cried the Faun. There was a joyous light in hiseyes as he leaned forward with his lips slightly parted, strainingtoward the mysterious silence. Suddenly he shouted, "I'm coming, I'mcoming!" and dashed off into the wood.

  "Good heavens," muttered the Phoenix. "I had forgotten about--this.Let us go home, my boy."

  A strange, uncontrollable trembling had seized David's legs. He stillcould hear nothing, but some feeling, some hint of an unknown,tremendous event hung quivering in the air about them and sent littleelectric thrills racing up and down his whole body.

  "Oh, Phoenix, what is it, what is it?" he whispered.

  "I think we had best be going, my boy," said the Phoenix anxiously."Come along."

  "Phoenix--" But he heard it now. It came whispering toward them, thesound of pipes caroling--pipes such as the Faun had played, butgreater, as an organ is greater than a flute. The wild, sweet soundrose and fell, swelled like a full choir, diminished into one sopranovoice that pierced David through and through, caressing and tugging,calling, "Come ... come ... run ... run...."

  "Phoenix!" David cried. "Oh, Phoenix, listen, listen!"

  "Run ... run ..." the pipes whispered.

  "Let us go home, my boy," said the Phoenix warningly.

  "Come ... come ..." cried the pipes.

  They could be resisted no longer. In a transport of joy, David shouted "I'mcoming!" and raced away toward the sound. There was nothing in his mindnow, nothing in the whole world, but a desire to be near those pipes. Hemust run like the winds, leap and shout, roll in the grass, throw himselfdown flowered slopes, follow that magic music wherever it should lead. Hefled blindly through the wood, heedless of the branches which whipped hisface and the thorns which tore at his legs. The pipes were calling moreloudly now: "Run ... run ... faster ... faster...." Then the Phoenixplunged to earth in front of him, threw out both wings, and shouted "Stop!"

  "Let me go, Phoenix!" David cried. "Let me by! I want to run, I mustrun!"

  He made a desperate effort to push past the outstretched wings. Butthe Phoenix flung him to the ground, picked him up before he couldkick once, and thr
ew him on its back. Then they were flying at fullspeed, dodging through gaps in the branches and between close-settrunks, with leaves and twigs slashing them from every side. Theyburst out of the wood and sped over a meadow. David saw below them ahuge Faun-like figure pacing majestically across the sward. A flamingwreath encircled its brow, garlands of flowers hung from its arms andshoulders, and those enchanted pipes were lifted to its lips. Aroundthe cloven hooves, and trailing out behind, danced a multitude ofcreatures--lambs and kids gamboling, goats and rams tossing theirhorns, foxes, furry waves of squirrels, rabbits kicking up theirheels, Fauns and Nymphs rollicking, frogs and crickets and serpents.Above them flew birds and butterflies and beetles and bats in swirlingclouds. Full-voiced, the glorious pipes sang. "Come, come, run, run!Follow, leap and dance, adore and obey! Run, oh, run, heed me beforeall passes! Follow, before it is too late, too late, too late...."

  And David, in a delirium of desire, shouted "I'm coming!" and jumpedfrom the Phoenix's back.

  For an instant, as he fell through the air, he thought he wouldsucceed in joining the dancing throng. But the Phoenix, plunging afterhim falconwise with folded wings, seized his collar in its talons, andsnatched him up from the very arms of the Faun, who had recognized himand called his name as he fell.

  Up toward the cloudless sky they soared. David cried, pleaded,pommeled the Phoenix with his fists. The Phoenix ignored hisstruggling and continued to climb with tremendous wing strokes. Up andup and up.... The piping grew fainter in the distance, its magicweakened. The enchanted dancers diminished into specks, the valleyfell away until it was only a green splash nestled among the jaggedpeaks. And David burst into tears ... and then wondered why he wascrying ... and tried to remember, and could not. The trembling lefthis body, and he dangled limply. His eyes closed.