Page:Writings of Oscar Wilde - Volume 03.djvu/127

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THE FISHERMAN AND HIS SOUL. 101

emeralds. It was carved out of ivory, and in stature was twice the stature of a man. On its forehead was a chrysolite, and its breasts were smeared with myrrh and cinnamon. In one hand it held a crooked sceptre of jade, and in the other a round crystal. It ware buskins of brass, and its thick neck was circled with a circle of selenites. "And I said to the priest, 'Is this the god?' And he answered me, 'This is the god.' " "Show me the god,' I cried, ‘or I will surely slay thee.' And I touched his eyes, and they became blind. "And the priest besought me, saying, 'Let my lord heal his servant, and I will show him the god.' "So I breathed with my breath upon his eyes, and the sight came back to them, and he trembled again, and led me into the third chamber, and lo! there was no idol in it, nor image of any kind, but only a mirror of round metal set on an altar of stone. "And I said to the priest, 'Where is the god?' "And he answered me: 'There is no god but this mirror that thou seest, for this is the Mirror

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