The second word

Mitevma of Tomeinona Tere Minkezo

ENON I

That is what happened after the fall of the circle. We fled from the Great Land, and there were nine of us. We settled among the people, and no one was hostile to us. We fed ourselves with our labour, and we did not disperse into different lands, but we stayed together. I made my writing about the Circle and another in which I recorded all that was known to me of the knowledge of the Circle. I taught eight of them; they deeply revered me. We lived near the village of those people, and we were friendly with some of them. One day the village was attacked by brigands. There were dibdahs in those lands; sometimes several families of the same clan would join together and roam together, feeding on weapons, and they were called dibdahs. A certain dibda came and ravaged the village in our neighbourhood. And we heard of it and went there, wishing to help those people to defend themselves. And we came and fought with the people of the dibda; but we had no good weapons, and two of our men fell. And soon the people who lived in the village fled; and we fled too, along with them. And Dibda did not pursue those who fled, but took all the livestock in the village, all the food and everything possible, and left without destroying the houses. Then people returned to their dwellings and did not find anything in them, not even a wooden mortar. They left to ask to be admitted into other villages; some of them even came to us. Six years passed, and our village became large, so people came to settle there. Many accepted what we told them, what I taught; and I thought that the Circle could revive. In the Great Land people heard of us, and from there three of those who had once been in the Circle came to us. The news reached domdoude Damardazo; and he commanded that an army of eight hundred men should cross the Great Land and exterminate us. However, a good man came from there and warned us. Then the people of our village became desperate, and some of those who did not regard me as their mentor threatened us. I then thought that the Circle would not be the same, and I ordered all the people to take their possessions and go as far southwest as they could. When some people did not want to go and wanted to stay close to me, I chased them away with a stick. But I left six men near me, one of them was out of the new people. One of them died and another went away with the others. And I asked the rest of them: “Which of you will volunteer to go to Damardaso’s army, to die?” One volunteered immediately. I said to him, “Go and tell them not to go and ravage this land, for we are going far away. ” He bade us farewell and went away; we all went east. He went to the Great Land, met the army, and told the commander what I had said. He ordered him to be captured; and the army still crossed the borders, and reached our empty village. And it went no further and returned to the Great Land. The one I sent was taken to the capital, and there he was put to a painful death. And we marched eastward, then southward, then eastward again. We marched for many days and hid from the people; on the way, one of us was killed. One day, the youngest among those who were marching with me cried and said: “What is this? We harm no one and have within us great knowledge and great good; why do we also suffer great sorrows? Why does the one who should live in joy, breathes in sorrow? Why does the one who has truth and good in himself live in hardship and misfortune? Doesn’t he deserve a better fate?” And everyone stopped and listened to him. I answered, “There is no better fate than his fate – for if he rejoices, it is not in vain, and if he suffers, it is not in vain. We are given more than others, therefore do we run away from hardship Others suffer for nothing, and we have great happiness within us: should we complain? Great good and great strength are given to endure great suffering and overcome great evil. An invisible fire emanates from us to purify the world: we will endure everything for this. Whom else should evil and misfortune attack rather than us? To a great cause – great labours”. That is what I said, and we went on our way. We went on for a long time; and one day we came to a narrow valley between the mountains. There we found a hidden place among the rocks, and there we settled down.

ENON II

We lived in the place where we came; there we built ourselves a dwelling of stone, cultivated some land in the valley, and hunted. The valley was poor and not good for living, so people seldom visited it. Those who did, they did not touch us and we did not touch them. People in that land lived in towns surrounded by walls of earth and stones as high as a man or two. These towns were inhabited by related families and each town was ruled by a man who was elected to be its ruler. One day the ruler of the nearest town became concerned about our presence and sent his son to speak to us. He came and with him seven others, all with weapons. He spoke to us, but we did not understand him, for we did not know the local language; he did not understand us. They stood by our dwelling for some time and left. Then we sent a man to them, alone and without arms; we wanted to send gifts with him, but we had nothing for gifts. He came to the city and stood in front of it. People came to him and stood around, looking and talking. He did not understand them, and they did not understand him; and he showed them that he had no weapons with him. They stood like that for a long time, and then one of the women brought him some food; and he ate and thanked as much as he could, and then he went back. The next day he went there again, and brought them some dried meat. After a day he went again, and they let him into the town; and he walked and watched. From then on, he went there from time to time, watching how they lived, learning their speech and teaching us. Two years passed – and not once did enmity flare up between them and us. But a man fell ill there – and people began to say that he had been put under the spell of one of us who had gone to them. They became angry with him and came to our house and demanded his blood. They had a belief that if a sick person ate the blood of the one who had put the evil eye on him, he would get well. He went out to them, cut his side and gave his blood; and he knew that he would be killed if the sick man recovered, for then he would be considered to have an evil eye. But the sick man ate his blood and died anyway; thus, the people of the city came to our dwelling and brought some gifts to the said man, that he would not be angry with them. After a while a man from the town came to our dwelling and asked to be let in; and we let him in. We asked whom he was running from, but he did not answer. Soon other men from the town came running with guns and demanded to see him, for he had abused a child. We handed him over to them; and they killed him before our eyes. There was also a black bear that used to come into the valley. And he came to the town; and one night he climbed over the wall and broke into a hut and killed a whole family. The next day the men of the town called us to look for it; and we, armed, went with them. And so together we found it and killed it; but it tore out one man’s belly, and another man’s head, and it tore out the right arm of one of ours. After this, we were allowed into the town, and we were respected by the people. Soon one of our fellows asked for a wife, and the other began to say that it would be good for all of us to go and live in the town. I thought that we had to live differently, as the Circle would not be the same. Then I gathered all my men together and told them the rules by which we were to live. We were to live separately and not have families. We were to share our knowledge only with those who would live with us and as we did, if there were any; we were not to take in anyone, but only those we considered suitable for knowledge. They shall call their head Master and obey him in all things, and shall not have more than one Master at any one time. This I proclaimed to them. And I said: “If any of you wishes to leave, let him go now.” And no one left. But I chose a successor to be called Master after me. I prohibited people to call me “Master”, – because I was told that I could not be a Master. We lived like that ever since.

ENON III

This is how we lived, not moving anywhere or taking anyone in. If someone wanted to come to us, we did not let them in; that caused offence. I taught my people and I taught myself, learning the world with my mind and senses. And one blessed day, I heard the voice of the last First Circle Master entering the crypt before my eyes. On hearing it, I cried out and wept for joy, and then fell and lay there fearing to breathe. Two of my apprentices came running and started to lift me up; I told them to leave. And I spoke to him who called to me, and he instructed me that day and the others. He taught me what the Masters knew and what I did not know; and much of it I wrote down. I began to teach it to others; and they, when they knew who spoke to me, wept because they could not hear his lively voice. We learned a lot; and we could see and feel the world very deeply. One day one of us was in the mountains and met two men from the town who were out hunting. They spoke, and the two men sat down to rest; and they sat down under a large rock, wishing to shelter themselves from the sun. He told them to get up and move aside, saying that the rock would crush them. They did not believe him and did not want to do it; he asked them, but they did not want to. Then he started throwing stones at them and he hurt one of them. They became indignant and chased after him; and they had hardly gone twenty or thirty steps when a large rock came off the mountain and struck the place where they were sitting. Then they gave up hunting and returned to the town, and told there what had happened to them. From that day on, the people there were afraid of us and asked us not to come into the town again. Then I went to the governor of the town and spoke to him, trying to persuade him not to be afraid of us. But he would not listen to my words. Then I gave him my weapons and said: “If we are to be feared, we are evil. Kill me, then, and destroy that which does harm; and I shall answer for my righteousness with my life.” Then he believed me and declared to the others not to be afraid of us. Since then, we have seen nothing but reverence from them. On occasion, they also saw some of our skills; we did not boast before them but held ourselves strictly. People came to that town from other towns, some to marry, others to take a wife, and others for other needs. They told the strangers about us, and they told their towns, and the word spread through the land. One day a young man from the town came to our dwelling and asked us to let him in. He asked us to let him in, saying that he wanted to learn what we know and can do. I went out to him and spoke to him when his relatives came running and started dragging him away shouting and scolding. I went with them to the town, and on the way, I said to them, “Why are you scolding him, as if he wanted to commit an atrocity? Be quiet, for by this you offend us.” They replied: “We blame neither you nor him for the wickedness. But you live your way and we live ours: how can he despise the life of his fathers? Though you have great power behind you, he must not choose it only for his good, for where a man is, there he must be. And it is not in the power of man to dispose of such great powers, he can neither choose them nor reject them and if he tries to do so, he will die. I answered them: “If our power is willing to accept it, it will, and if it is not willing, it will not. It is not he who decides, it is it who decides. And if it decides that it will accept him, is it for you to prevent it? To prevent it would be to wish to dispose of it, to wish to tell it what it must do and what it must not do. They were embarrassed when they heard me, so I went with them to the city and entered their house and spoke to them there. Other people also came to listen to the conversation; and the conversation was long. One of the two who had been saved from death in the mountains came. And he said to the relatives of that young man, “Here is a scar on my leg: one of these threw a stone at me and bled me. Who would have recognized that as a good thing? And if it were not so, I would not be here, for it was a good thing! See that you do not reject good as evil. You see what is bad, will it not turn out as good? Behold, I am before you: how do you object to the fact that I am alive?” Then they retreated, saying, “Let him take it if he wants it.” Then I took the young man out of the town and talked to him, explaining many things to him; then I told him to go home and I went back to myself. The next day I spoke to him again, and another day, and another. And I found that he could be taught, so I took him with me. Some time passed and another man from the town came to study; I found him unsuitable and sent him back. Then a man from another town came; I accepted him. Soon the one I had chosen as my successor died, so I chose another and taught him as I had taught the previous one. The days went by and the years went by; we lived as best we could. Our reputation spread far and wide; people would come from distant towns just to see us. One day even a merchant and his caravan stopped by to see if we had anything for sale. This amused us, so we treated him to whatever we could, saying: “We have something that others do not have, but we cannot carry it away in bales”. And people also came to us to learn; some I accepted, others I did not. Six in all, of whom one died. And the time had come for me to die. My right side began to hurt, from my ribs to my leg; it was as if it was burning from the inside. At four in the afternoon, my strength left me, and I lay down and could not get up. My apprentices did not leave me for a moment, yet they could not do anything. And the pain went to my stomach and then to my chest; and I began to lose my breath. Soon I fell into unconsciousness and could not recognize anyone. In unconsciousness I died, losing my breath. And when I passed into the invisible world, my mentor met me there. In the Circle, however, my memory was deeply honoured and I was called the Lawgiver.

ENON IV

Three years later, three towns began to jointly attack other towns, and one was razed to the ground. Seeing that, the town nearest to our dwelling merged its warriors with the warriors of another town, and they went forth to battle with those three. No one was victorious in the battle, but after inflicting damage on each other, they left. The ruler of the nearest town complained to the Circle that the men of the Circle did not come to support them, and the Master sent a man to the towns. The Master sent a man to the towns and warned them against strife, and three men seized him near one of the towns. They tied his hands at his sides and buried him in the ground up to his waist and left him there. However, a man from the same town from which the three men were from soon came upon him and rescued him. He brought him back to his town and gathered people and accused the three men publicly of their crime. Immediately the men met in a large house to decide whether and how to punish them. And they decided to punish them, and they broke their legs. But some did not wish to be punished; and because of this, there was strife in the town. A man was killed in this feud, and then another man was killed. After learning that, the Master went there to put an end to the feud. But those who resisted the said punishment became even angrier. Then he let one of his legs be broken, saying, “Oh, how cowardly you are! I, the greatest among my people and innocent of all, gave myself for the sake of peace among you and you did not want to punish the wicked. Are you then to be called armed men?” By this, he put them to shame and subdued them, and among others, he won immeasurable honour. He was nicknamed “The Cripple” and was remembered by this nickname after his death. As time passed, the three towns began to attack together again. Then five of the others united and devastated them. They killed the men who carried arms and sent all the others away, and no one allowed them into their towns. The Circle fed the wanderers as much as it could; but it could do nothing more. The people came to the Circle; and some of them were accepted, and some of them were not. The First Master died and left behind another of the local people. That one led the Circle for forty-one years; and when he died, there were over thirty people in the Circle. By that time there were no more of those who had come out of the Great Land. The Circle was honoured greatly; and people were afraid of it, though it did not harm anyone. And once it even happened that a pregnant woman lost her baby at the sight of a man from the Circle; and the whole Circle mourned about it. Under the third Master, the Circle’s previous dwelling was destroyed and a new one erected. The Circle knew of this, and people from the townships began to come together and helped to build it; and everyone considered it an honour to do so. The Circle did not reject their help, and fed them all; and for this, it used three-quarters of its food supply. They built not one dwelling, but five, and in each, there was room for fifty men, and another dwelling for the Master, and other buildings, all of stone. A tower was also built of stone. People were surprised when they built it, but they knew how to build towers in the Circle. And they walled everything with stone; and then the people went away rejoicing at their merit. Then some wanted to give the Circle some of their livestock or grain; but the Master accepted nothing.

ENON V

The fourth Master’s name was Hivirtotu; and once he had a vision; one day while he was thinking, he saw far beyond the sky a flower of blinding whiteness blossomed, that threw out seeds like stars. And each seed turned into a tongue of fire, equally white and blinding. These tongues spread out in different directions, and each of them found a world with the earth and sky and entered it; there were a lot of worlds, but none of them was left untouched. And in each of the worlds, the tongue of this fire gave shoots, and they merged with the earth and the sky, and everything began to shine. And every world turned into a flower of blinding whiteness, containing seed. Each seed turned into a tongue of fire, white and blinding; and these tongues stretched out from all the worlds, came together, and merged. And in the place where they merged, an ovary arose and turned into fruit, enclosed in a shell. The shell split open, and out of it came forth a being of indescribable beauty, like and yet not like man. And then Hivirtotu felt that which has no name in human tongues, nor any other. And when he came out to his people they saw as if white flashes were emanating from him. And Hivirtotu was a light; it shone in the world in which I was. And Hivirtotu told of his vision, and all were filled with awe. Afterwards, those who were not in the Circle saw him and also saw flashes coming from him. The news of the vision spread throughout the region; people from all over the country came to see him. And he waited until more crowds had gathered, and he went out to them and begged them to go back to their towns and villages, and then they would come back to him on a certain day and call others with them as they could. Then they would go away and others would come and he would tell them the same thing. And on the day appointed there came crowds of people to the village of the Circle, they were like waters. And Hivirtotu spoke to them from the wall; and each one heard him as if he were standing with him chest to chest. He spoke to them, recounting his vision and the essence of the white flame, and proclaiming the true laws by which people should live. He spoke, and they listened to him; and night came – but the valley was as bright as day. So he admonished them; and then he said: “Go back to your homes, and do not forget what I have said.” Then they began to disperse, and dispersed, filled with reverence; but he came down from the wall and ordered all the people of the Circle to gather in his dwelling. There he pointed out his successor, sat on the floor against the wall and died in front of everyone. His successor’s name was Ommo; and the next day Ommo went into the room where the scriptures were kept and saw Hivirtotu there. He was the same as when he was alive – only instead of flashes he was emitting a bright light. The man was the same as when he was alive, but instead of glowing light, he was shining brightly. He went out; when he returned the next day, he did not find Hivirtotu there, and he never saw him again in his lifetime. Many things had been done by Ommo; and once he did the following. Taking three men with him, he went to the Great Land. There was no more domdouda there, and the state itself no longer existed. There had been wars and battles, and the lands had been ravaged and deserted. Some of the noblest families had taken possession of some lands and ruled over them. And there were areas where only beasts dwelled; in others, tribes had already begun to settle. And Ommo, the fifth Master, and those who were with him came to the crypt where the former Masters had died. Ommo went there, not knowing the way, and brought others. More than a hundred years had passed; and the earth had eroded a hill, – and the crypt had not been destroyed, but was already on top of that hill. And they went up to the crypt and touched it: and the stones were hot. Then they returned and told the Circle about it; and Ommo wrote a small scripture about that journey. Among other things he writes that he travelled through many towns, calling upon the rulers to choose one among themselves and to obey him as head of the clan, and to honour the Circle as an instructor. During two years, four of the neighbouring towns together with one of the distant towns elected a ruler in the manner described by Ommo. Some of the others feared them and wanted to make war with them. Then Ommo went through the towns on his own, exhorting peace and thus preventing war. Then another town joined those five, and then two more. Ommo instructed the elected ruler; and together they did many things that had never been done before. They built another town with four towers, and into it, they gathered a certain number of warriors from their other townships. This army was always armed, commanded by the best soldiers, trained by the men of the Circle, and changed every six months. They also established a messenger service that hastily delivered news from town to town and the Circle. They also stocked plenty of grain and other foodstuffs and raised herds of cattle to provide food for the needy and for those whose breadwinner was in the army and the messengers, so that they might have no fear of famine. And much more was done.

ENON VI

Under the Sixth Master, a trader came from the East and brought back unknown grain. No one in the towns had ever seen grain like that before and no one wanted to trade it. The Master gave him what the merchant wanted and also asked him how the grain was cultivated in his country. Then they did so in the Circle, grew and harvested it, and did the same thing afterwards. Eventually, they began to grind that grain and make bread and ompol from that flour. And they began to give this grain to the townships; and there they began to sow it. And one day a man came from the mountains with over two dozen armed men and women and children. Towards them came the men of the Circle, also with weapons. The leader of the newcomers signed a request to let them continue, through the valley; the Master ordered them to pass, and they passed through the valley and between the villages and left without touching anyone. They could not say what they were fleeing from, for they were of a different language. But the Master was alarmed, and looked with the second sight; and so he saw that far away in the mountains a great power was raging. He went there, taking with him two from the Circle and one from the nearest town. They walked for many days and reached the place. The invisible world was in a tangle of power that shook the visible world. Once there had been a stronghold in which the people worshipped a certain formidable god. It was their custom to go in groups on mountains and descend into valleys, to capture people and throw them into a temple of their god. He would then consume the souls of the captives and take their power. In those places came a person who was very knowledgeable in the invisible world and could see the visible world. He worshipped the earth and had great power from it. He saw what was happening in those parts and was horrified and went to his death. He was seized and thrown into a temple; there he died, and the terrible god consumed his soul. But into his soul flowed a stream of power from the earth, and from it flowed a stream of power into the earth. And by that stream, the power of the said god began to flow into the earth. And the god wanted to exorcise from himself the soul of that stranger, – but he could not; and the power of the god began to decrease. The day came when he killed those who worshipped him and took their power. But his power waned further; there was nowhere else to take it. It was a long time ago – long before the first domdoude ruled in the Great Land. Now the power of the said god was so exhausted that all whom he had once consumed came out of him, and he was perishing. The Master saw all that and saw the doom of the god. The rocks shook; flames came out of the air in torrents and scorched the mountains; there were sparks on the clouds. The man from the town who was with the Master was terrified and fled; the other two found him in the mountains and drove him away. And the Master saw how the earth swallowed up the once formidable god; and in that place the rocks crumbled into small stones. Then the Master and those who were with him went back. And under the sixth Master, two more towns joined the Circle. In addition, the Circle sent a Circle representative to each of the municipalities so that they could find suitable people to teach them the basics of literacy, which had until that time been restricted to the Circle. The ruler and others who were in charge of the alliance towns were also trained in literacy.

ENON VII

In the days when the seventh Master was in the Circle, a certain prince rose to the east and founded a state there. It was founded on the lands of the towns and the Circle; three of the eastern towns were within its borders. The other towns but one all came under the control of one ruler and the Circle. And an army was assembled to defend against the eastern enemy. And the Master sent to the said prince a man from the Circle; and the prince received him without arrogance, and he spoke to him and reasoned with him about many things. In the same days the governor of the cities assembled for council of the local rulers; they decided not to await the invasion, but to attack the enemy first. At that council was a man of the Circle, and he opposed, saying, “Do not do this; for what purpose has the Master sent a man there but to avoid war?” But they were unwilling to heed him and sent out messengers to the townships to raise an army. Then the Master came to the council and began to exhort those who were there; three of them agreed, but the others did not. The Master said to him: “Let us go there and establish towns, and the hand of the Circle will extend to those lands”. And those three, on reflection, obeyed the governor rather than the Master. Then the Master returned to the village of the Circle and took with him all the men of the Circle who were with the army and in the towns. And they locked themselves in their village, and no one went outside the walls. The Master sent only one person to the prince’s lands, ordering him not to say anything to the prince, but only to call back the messenger. But he was taken over on his way by his people from the towns. And one day the army of the towns moved eastwards and struck the lands of the prince. He at first retreated to the east; the others left with a victory, did not know what to do next. Some wanted to follow, others wanted to go back. And those who wanted to go back went back, but the others, with the ruler at their head, stayed there. Then the prince returned with his army, struck at them, defeated them and scattered them. Then he entered the land of the towns and defeated those who were there, and spread his dominion over that region. The man from the Circle, who was with him, sent to the Master with a command not to resist; the Circle did nothing but waited. And there the power of the prince was established; he was not cruel, but he was very stern. He did not wish to quarrel with the Circle, but he did not give him any business in his state either. He left a valley behind the Circle and forbade the people of the Circle to go outside of the valley. Some time passed, and the Master with two of them left the valley, wishing to meet with the prince; those two were turned back, and he followed where he wanted. The prince spoke to him and allowed the people of the Circle to leave the valley; but he forbade the people to join the Circle. Sometime later, the Master secretly admitted two men to the Circle, and they were secretly escorted to the Circle’s village. It was like that since then. On a certain day, the Master died and left a young but wise man as his successor. Two years later there already was another prince, a nephew of his predecessor, a man between thirty and forty who was furious that it was not he who had not conquered the lands of his state. He found out that people were secretly admitted to the circle. And he commanded to seize those of the Circle who were not in the valley; and they were seized. The Master was among them. And the Prince commanded the Circle, in exchange for the Master and the other captives, to surrender those who had been taken secretly. He sent the Master with the command, who promised to return. And the Master came to the village of the Circle, gathered everyone together and announced the Prince’s command. Then he said: “In each of you the whole world with all its goodness is contained. It must not be exchanged for life – for that is an unequal exchange. You, taken in secret, withdraw from the Circle if you wish; but by doing so you will not save us, but you will offend us, and the Circle will be exposed to abuse. Life should only be exchanged for life for good, but not for sorrow and disgrace. We should better die as many times as there are days in the world than to be saved in this way.” He said so, – and no one left the circle. He came back and told the prince; and the same evening they killed him and those who were with him. The men of the circle were again forbidden to leave the valley, and guards were set up along the borders of the valley so that no one could leave secretly. But even without that, no one left the valley; and there were then one hundred and sixty-two people in the Circle.

ENON VIII

Six months passed and the Prince sent a man to the new Master with a command. He ordered all the men of the Circle to leave the valley without arms, but only clothing and food. And that all of them were to disperse to reside in the state, and would never come together again; and that each took a wife, and the circle was to be forgotten. The Master summoned his men, and the man repeated the prince’s command. Then the Master asked: “Which of you is willing to submit to this? Whoever is willing, let him obey. I will not hinder them: let them go and live as they wish. No one, however, left; so the messenger returned to the prince and told him about it. And the prince sent an army into the valley to destroy the Circle. On their way there, the army met fleeing messengers from the sentinels; and the messengers reported the departure of the Circle. The Circle has gone to the mountains, having taken as many clothes and food, weapon, and writings as possible. For a long time, they travelled in distress; and three of them died on the way. One day the Master said: “Now I see that in front of us are hostile people, from whom we can expect no good. Behind us is another enemy, so we have no way out. There is no land here, but only stones. There may be not one of us left alive: listen to me. Shall we go to our deaths for death’s sake? Shall we go forward or backwards, all to our doom; yet our arms will cut down many lives. We have not come to the Circle to prefer life to Truth, nor to destroy the lives of others in vain. The Circle’s light has invisibly brightened and warmed the world. Let us remain here; there is no turning back nor forward, but upward. Death is no hindrance to us; as we laboured for good, so shall we continue to work. Let us depart from the flesh as we departed from the valley. As long as we live here, we shall labour in ourselves, and when we die, we shall continue to work in the Circle as we ought. The circle does not exist for the visible, but rather for the invisible; and I say to you: the right has been done. And from this accomplishment we go to the accomplishment of the greater; now we are but a small part of the Circle: but we go to the place where the whole Circle is one. And as great as it is, so great is its accomplishment. In each of the two worlds work must be done, for which the Circle exists, so prepare not for death, but for work. Live, then, – for the road from here is not to death but to life.” Thus said the Master; and none of those who listened to his words were fearful, indignant or saddened. Having searched, they found a place in the mountains somewhat habitable, and there they settled down. They were feeding on mountain herbs and sowing corn among the stones, and they were also getting animals in the mountains; and they had only one source of food. There was not much food, the grain did not grow well among the stones, and there was not much water either. And some died of hunger, and some died of disease: and there was nothing that could be done; but there was not one who rebelled. And the Master, dying, did not name a successor, but ordered, if the Circle had to leave that place for another, to elect a new Master and accept people again, as before. They lived and grew old and died; and there was no one to be accepted into the Circle – even one. One day hostile people came, looked at the village from afar and left without wishing to attack. Many years passed and there were eight people left in the circle, all elders. And one day all who could, of the people who had once been in the circle, came to that place; and I was among them. We came visibly; and there were more than half a thousand of us. And we stood on the rocks around the Circle’s last refuge. Each of us shone like a fiery light; and the mountains were in light, as if in great waters. And when we departed from there, those eight left with us; but their bodies were left lying where they had lived before. Thus, the Circle passed from the visible to the invisible world. The story that was to be told is told.

Translated by Amradkhari