d was the first who, in the North, sacrificed the beast and the bird,
and afterwards human flesh, upon the altars. And he drew auguries from
the entrails of the victim, and made schools for the science of the
prophet; and Morven's piety was the wonder of the tribe, in that he
refused to be a king. And Morven the high priest was ten thousand times
mightier than the king. He taught the people to till the ground and
to sow the herb; and by his wisdom, and the valour that his prophecies
instilled into men, he conquered all the neighbouring tribes. And the
sons of Oestrich spread themselves over a mighty empire, and with them
spread the name and the laws of Morven. And in every province which he
conquered, he ordered them to build a temple to the stars.

But a heavy sorrow fell upon the fears of Morven. The sister of Siror
bowed down her head, and survived not long the slaughter of her race.
And she left Morven childless. And he mourned bitterly and as one
distraught, for her only in the world had his heart the power to love.
And he sat down and covered his face, saying:--

"Lo! I have toiled and travailed; and never before in the world did man
conquer what I have conquered. Verily the empire of the iron thews and
the giant limbs is no more! I have founded a new power, that henceforth
shall sway the lands,--the empire of a plotting brain and a commanding
mind. But, behold! my fate is barren, and I feel already that it will
grow neither fruit nor tree as a shelter to mine old age. Desolate and
lonely shall I pass unto my grave. O Orna! my beautiful! my loved! none
were like unto thee, and to thy love do I owe my glory and my life!
Would for thy sake, O sweet bird! that nestled in the dark cavern of my
heart,--would for thy sake that thy brethren had been spared, for verily
with my life would I have purchased thine. Alas! only when I lost thee
did I find that thy love was dearer to me than the fear of others!" And
Morven mourned night and day, and none might comfort him.

But from that time forth he gave himself solely up to the cares of his
calling; and his nature and his affections, and whatever there was yet
left soft in him, grew hard like stone; and he was a man without love,
and he forbade love and marriage to the priest.

Now, in his latter years, there arose _other_ prophets; for the
world had grown wiser even by Morven's wisdom, and some did say unto
themselves, "Behold Morven, the herdsman's son, is a king of kings