No greater honor could Ko-tan confer
upon a subject--who wished to be a priest, but I did not so wish.
Priests other than the high priest must become eunuchs for they
may never marry.
"It was O-lo-a herself who brought word to me that her father had
given the commands that would set in motion the machinery of the
temple. A messenger was on his way in search of me to summon me
to Ko-tan's presence. To have refused the priesthood once it was
offered me by the king would have been to have affronted the temple
and the gods--that would have meant death; but if I did not appear
before Ko-tan I would not have to refuse anything. O-lo-a and I
decided that I must not appear. It was better to fly, carrying in
my bosom a shred of hope, than to remain and, with my priesthood,
abandon hope forever.
"Beneath the shadows of the great trees that grow within the palace
grounds I pressed her to me for, perhaps, the last time and then,
lest by ill-fate I meet the messenger, I scaled the great wall that
guards the palace and passed through the darkened city. My name and
rank carried me beyond the city gate. Since then I have wandered
far from the haunts of the Ho-don but strong within me is the urge
to return if even but to look from without her walls upon the city
that holds her most dear to me and again to visit the village of
my birth, to see again my father and my mother.
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