Other principles were to lead the good life and keep healthy. Although he had been mining assiduously, the young man had not yet been able to strike that vein however, he did not give up hope, for not giving up hope was one of the principles that his wise old Belphin teacher had inculcated in him. Ludovick was sure that, underneath his crustiness, the gnarled patriarch hid a heart of gold. "Bah!" said old Osmond Flockhart, Corisande's grandfather. "Be happy!" he greeted the assemblage cordially, sitting down beside Corisande on the tessellated pavement. Whether they were actually her family or not was none of his business. He loved Corisande for herself alone and not for her family. Then he would dismiss the thought as unworthy of him or any right-thinking human being. He had never known anybody who had as many relatives as she did, and sometimes he suspected they were not all related to her. Much as he hated to think harshly of anyone, he did not like Corisande Flockhart's relatives. Ludovick packed his portable scriptwriter in its case and went to call on the girl next door, whom he loved with a deep and intermittently requited passion.Īs he passed between the tall columns leading into the Flockhart courtyard, he noted with regret that there were quite a number of Corisande's relatives present, lying about sunning themselves and sipping beverages which probably touched the legal limit of intoxicatability. The Belphins surrender their secrets to gratify the idle curiosity of a poet? Ludovick looked after him pensively for a moment, then shrugged. And the power through which we rule is the power of love! Be happy!"Īnd with that conventional farewell (which also served as a greeting), he stepped onto the sidewalk and was borne off. "We were placed in power by those who had the right. Ludovick already knew that he had hoped for something a little more specific. "We come from beyond the stars," he said. You come?" Fearing he might seem motivated by vulgar curiosity, he explained, "I am doing research for an epic poem."Ī lifetime spent under their gentle guardianship had made Ludovick able to interpret the expression that flitted across this Belphin's frontispiece as a sad, sweet smile. Placed you in charge," Ludovick asked, "and whence Know, and we shall return whence we came." Someday you, too, may advance to the point where you "That is why we were placed in charge of humanity. Know," the Belphin said, gazing reverently across the city to the blue spire of the tower where The Belphin of Belphins dwelt, in constant communication with every member of his race at all times, or so they said. "But how can you tell what is right and what is wrong?" Ludovick persisted. "We like what is right and we dislike what is wrong." "We Belphins have but one like and one dislike," he replied. He hailed a passing Belphin for assurance on this point.Ĭourteous, like all members of his species, the creature leaped from the street and listened attentively to the young man's question. Didn't the Belphins work only to serve humanity? How ungrateful, then, it was to gloat over them! Besides, he comforted himself, probably, if the truth were known, the Belphins Immediately afterward, he was sorry for the heartless thought. Ludovick stretched his own well-kept golden body and rejoiced in the knowing that he was a man and not a Belphin. Those who were without creative talent or the inclination to indulge it would be relaxing their well-kept golden bodies in whatever surroundings they had chosen to spend this particular one of the perfect days that stretched in an unbroken line before every member of the human race from the cradle to the crematorium. Some would, like Ludovick, be writing poems others composing symphonies still others painting pictures. Most would be lying on sun-kissed white beaches or in sun-drenched parks, or, for those who did not fancy being either kissed or drenched by the sun, basking in the comfort of their own air-conditioned villas. Moreover, on a sultry spring afternoon like this one, there would be few people wandering abroad. There were very few people on it, for he lived in a slow part of town, and those who went in for travel generally preferred streets where the pace was quicker. Ludovick Eversole sat in the golden sunshine outside his house, writing a poem as he watched the street flow gently past him. Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. copyright on this publication was renewed. Extensive research did not reveal any evidence that the U.S. This etext was produced from Galaxy, February, 1958.
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