Lives of Alcyone

story of his life. Then Mercury rose from his seat, and for the
moment his figure changed, and he stood before Alcyone in radiant
glory in that gracious form that we know so well, and spoke with
glowing words of deepest love:
“ Great indeed had been your sorrow, not this time only, but
many times; and even yet some sorrow remains, for he who moves
swiftly must pay for his swiftness. But great in proportion shall be
your joy. Yours shall be the bliss which no tongue can utter, for
through you shall the nations of the world be blessed. This life of
sacrifice is the culmination of many sacrifices; and because of this,
even in the next life, your reward shall begin, and you shall take the
vow which can never be broken. The path lies open before you, and
upon it my hand shall guide you, and my blessing shall be with you
in life and in death, until we stand in the presence of the King.”
So profound was the impression created upon Alcyone by this
tremendous prophesy that from that moment his moment his despair
was gone, and though sometimes he thought sorrowfully of the
mother and daughter whom he had loved so dearly, he turned
always from that to the promise that through that sorrow they and all
the world should one day be helped. In that faith he lived and
worked through all that troublous time—through all the wars of King
Vishtspa; through the Tartar invasion which Prince
Isgandehar(Deneb) repelled; through the reign of Vishtaspa into that
of his grandson Baman; through the forty years of Zarathushtra’ s
preachings, wanderings and administrations. That faith sustained
him even when after ten years of arduous labour Mercury left them
and passed on into India, leaving behind him the legend of
Paishotan, the teacher who never dies, but shall return to found a