--- title: A Sleep and a Dream., part 5 — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · full text with trees description: A Sleep and a Dream., part 5, «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: So all day he remained on that high place, not daring to descend. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/7/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/) / A Sleep and a Dream., part 5 # A Sleep and a Dream., part 5 A Sleep and a Dream., part 5 of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown: the whole text, 114 sentences and 2617 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/7/page/2/) So all day he remained on that high place, not daring to descend.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") And then at length the sun went to his rest in the western quarter, and the moon rose, and was reflected in the bright eyes of those sand-haunting Rákshasas, which glittered in the distance on the dark desert like drops of water on the leaf of a black lotus.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") And all night long Umra-Singh lay and watched them, as a bird watches the eyes of a snake.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") Then in the early dawn he looked, and as the light of morning began to glimmer in the distance on the edge of the world, he saw far away in the pale air two dark specks in the sky.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") And as he gazed, they grew larger and rapidly approached him, sending back to him, like mirrors, the red rays of the rising sun. And they drew nearer, and he saw that they were a pair of silver Swans, carrying in their bills the dead body of a third, of gold.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") So these two Swans crossed over that dreadful desert with the rapidity of the lightning that resembled them, and settled beside him on the hill, to rest.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") Then said Umra-Singh: Hail! ye fair birds: surely ye are no birds, but deities, fallen into these bodies of swans by reason of a curse.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") Whence come ye, and whither go ye, and what is this dead golden body that ye carry as ye go?[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") Then said the Swans: We are carrying home the body of our king, far away to the Mánasa lake.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") For he died yesterday, in the Land of the Lotus of the Sun. And now we must bear him ever onward swiftly to his own country, that the funeral ceremonies may duly be performed.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") But when Umra-Singh heard them name the Land of the Lotus, his heart leaped in his breast.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") And sword in hand, he rushed on the dead body with a shout.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") And he said to the Swans: As you carried him hither from that Land of the Lotus of the Sun, so swear now, that you will carry me first back thither, leaving him here till you return: otherwise I will keep him, and cut you to pieces.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") Then seeing that there was no help for it, the Swans said: Be it so: and they bound themselves to him by an oath.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") And then Umra-Singh took hold of them by the neck, one in each hand; and they stretched out their necks, and flew away with him over the desert as he hung.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") And he left far behind him the eyes of those hideous Rákshasas glowing in the sand as if with rage to see him escape: and after a long while, they came to the edge of the desert.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") And Umra-Singh looked down and saw, far below him, the blue sea, shimmering like the eyes of Shrí.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") And at a distance in the water, like a dusky jewel on a purple carpet, he saw an island, with a city on it.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") So he said to the Swans: What is that which I see below me?[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") And they said: It is the Land of the Lotus of the Sun.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") Then in his delight, Umra-Singh let go his hold, and clapped his hands.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") And instantly he fell down like a stone into the sea.[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") But the Swans returned swiftly over the desert to the body which they had left upon the hill.[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") \[1\] The Ganges fell from heaven, and Shiwa caught it on his head, where it wandered in his hair for a thousand years before it could find its way down.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") A legend which doubtless has reference to the vast plateaux of the Himálaya and Tibet.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") \[2\] He compares himself to the husband of the other Shrí, i.e. the Goddess of Beauty, or Wishnu, whose second incarnation was that of a tortoise.[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") VIII.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") The Land of the Lotus[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") But Umra-Singh rose out of the water like a fowl, and saw the Land of the Lotus away on the sea before him.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") And he shouted for joy, and began to swim in that direction.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") And he swam on all day, and at last, though with difficulty, he reached the shore, when his strength was almost gone.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") And he crept up out of the water, as the sun was going down; and overcome with weariness, he lay down, there where he came up out of the sea, and fell asleep.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") And all night long he slept, and all day; and when the moon had risen again, full and round, as if to see whether he was still there, he awoke.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") And then he stood up, and rubbed his eyes, and exclaimed: Ha! now I am at my journey's end, and all its dangers are gone like dreams.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") And this is that wonderful Land of the Lotus of the Sun, of which no one in Indirálayá had ever heard\![35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") So now that I am here, what remains for me to do, but to leave it, and go back again as quickly as possible.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") For I desired to find it, only to say that I had been there.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") And yet when I return, who will believe me?[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") It were better, now that I am here, to examine it, and learn its peculiarities, that I may not twice meet with the treatment due to impostors.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") So he went up from the shore, and through the streets of the city, that lay before him, black and white, in the rays of the silver moon.[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") And he met nobody, but it was empty, and dark as a barren womb, and silent as a stone incarnation of the spirit of death.[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") And as he wandered up and down, he came at last to a great palace, whose doors stood wide open, as much as to say: Come in.[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") So he went in, and passed along, wondering, with echoing steps, from room to room.[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") Then on a sudden he entered a door, and found himself in a vast hall, whose walls were pierced with tall windows, through which the moonlight fell, cold as camphor, on moon-stones that hung in clusters from the roof.[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") And from them the nectar fell slowly, drop by drop, upon the floor.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") And at the far end of the room, on a golden couch, he saw lying a dead body, covered with a white pall.[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he said to himself: What is this wonder, and who can it be that lies here, alone in this empty hall?[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") And he moved on slowly, through the lights of the windows and the shadows of the walls, till he came up to the end of the hall, and stood beside the couch.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") And he stooped down, and lifted up the edge of the pall, and uncovered the face, and looked, and lo! it was the face of Shrí.[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") And Umra-Singh was so astounded, that he leaped into the air, and uttered a cry: and he let his sword fall with a crash upon the crystal floor.[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") And he said to himself: Is it a dream, or is it an illusion?[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") Lo\![52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") I left her living in Indirálayá, and I have travelled over the three worlds, and here at the end of space I find her again, lying dead in this empty hall\![53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") So he stood, like a picture on a wall, gazing in silence at the face of Shrí, while the night wore away, and the moon travelled on, and the nectar from the moonstones fell slowly, drop by drop, upon the ground, and the shadows moved round upon the floor.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") And at last, after a long while, he came to himself.[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") And he let the pall fall from his hand, recovering the face.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") And he stooped down, and took up his sword, and went slowly out of that strange hall, and sat down on the steps of a marble tank, and fell into a waking dream.[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") And as he gazed into vacancy, he saw before him the blue ocean of the eyes of Shrí; and his memory echoed with faint murmurs of the sound of drums and the voices of criers; and they filled his soul with whispers coming from an infinite distance across the years of separation, until at length the sun rose.[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/7/page/2/) - ← previous: [A Sleep and a Dream., part 4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/6/) - next →: [page 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/7/page/2/) - ↑ back to [The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/)