In the Light Of by Ciaran Carson

Author:Ciaran Carson [Carson, Ciaran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781852355562
Publisher: The Gallery Press
Published: 2013-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

I’ve brewed my blood. Paid all my dues. I really do come

from beyond the tomb. Commissions? That I’ve done.

INTERLUDE

Tale (Conte)

A prince was not happy with himself because until then he had put all his energies into perfecting vulgar liberalities. He foresaw astounding revolutions of love, and suspected his wives could do better than complaisance ornamented by celestial luxury. He wished to see the truth, the hour of essential desire and satisfaction. Aberration of piety or not, that was what he wished for. He had a tolerable amount of worldly power at his disposal.

All the women who had known him were put to death: what plunder in the Garden of Beauty! Under the sabre’s edge, they gave him their blessing. He did not order any new ones. Women reappeared.

He put to death all who followed him on hunting or drinking expeditions. Everyone followed him.

He entertained himself in slitting the throats of rare beasts. He set palaces in flames. He would pounce on his people and hack them to pieces. Still the hoi polloi, the golden roofs, the splendid animals remained.

Can one find bliss through mass destruction, rejuvenation through cruelty? There was not so much as a murmur from the masses. No one ventured an opinion.

One evening he was haughtily galloping. A Genie appeared, a being of ineffable, emphatic beauty. His countenance and bearing displayed the promise of a manifold and complex love! Nay, of inexpressible and unendurable felicity! It is probable that the Prince and the Genie annihilated each other in perfect health. How could they not help but die of it? So they died together.

But the Prince passed away in his palace, at a normal age. The Prince was the Genie. The Genie was the Prince.

Deep music falls short of our desire.

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