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Updated: May 4, 2025
"Wherefore, O men and chiefs! scorn not the son of Osslah, but listen to his words; for are they not the wisdom of the stars?
"Wherefore musest thou, O swift footed Siror?" said the son of Osslah; "and wherefore art thou sad?" "Thou canst not assist me," answered the prince, sternly; "take thy way." "Nay," answered Morven, "thou knowest not what thou sayest; am I not the favorite of the stars?"
Awake ye sons of Oestrich woe!" Then forth, wild haggard alarmed spear in hand, rushed the giant sons of the rugged tribe, and they saw a man on a height in the middle of the city, shrieking, "Woe!" and it was Morven, the son of Osslah! And he said unto them, as they gathered round him, "Men and warriors, tremble as ye hear.
"As I sat last night in the ruined palace of our ancient kings, tending, as my father bade me, the sheep that grazed around, lest the fierce tribe of Alrich should descend unseen from the mountains upon the herd, a storm came darkly on; and when the storm, had ceased and I looked above on the sky, I saw a star descend from its height towards me, and a voice from the star said, 'Son of Osslah, leave thy herd and seek the council of the wise men, and say unto them, that they take thee as one of their number, or that sudden will be the destruction of them, and theirs.
The livid eyes of the monster fastened on the form of the herdsman, even amidst the thick darkness of the pine. It paused it glared upon him its jaws opened, and a low deep sound, as of gathering thunder, seemed to the son of Osslah as the knell of a dreadful grave.
"O king, what if I could give thee back thy youth? What if I could restore to thee the vigor which distinguished thee above the sons of men, when the warriors of Alrich fell like grass before thy sword?" Then the king uplifted his dull eyes, and he said: "What meanest thou, son of Osslah? Surely I hear much of thy great wisdom, and how thou speakest nightly with the stars.
"That thou sacrifice thy sister on their altars thou must build up a heap of stones, and take thy sister into the wood, and lay her on the pile, and plunge thy sword into her heart; so only shalt then reign." The prince shuddered, and started to his feet, and shook his spear at the pale front of Morven. "Tremble," said the son of Osslah, with a loud voice.
"Rightly hast thou spoken, base son of my father's herdsman! and for thy sins shalt thou surely die; for thou liest when thou speakest of thy power with the stars, and thou laughest at the folly of them who hear thee: wherefore put him to death." Then the chiefs in the hall clashed their arms, and rushed forth to slay the son of Osslah.
Three hundred of the chiefs perished that night by the swords of their own tribe. And the son of Osslah, seeing the waves now spreading over the valley, led Orna his wife, and the men of Oestrich, their women and their children, to a high mount, where they waited the dawning sun. But Orna sat apart and wept bitterly, for her brothers were no more, and her race had perished from the earth.
"Behold, last night, I sat alone in the valley, and the trees were hushed around, and not a breath stirred; and I looked upon the star that counsels the son of Osslah; and I said: "'Dread conqueror of the cloud! thou that bathest thy beauty in the streams and piercest the pine-boughs with thy presence; behold thy servant grieved because the mighty one hath passed away, and many foes surround the houses of my brethren; and it is well that they should have a king valiant and prosperous in war, the cherished of the stars.
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