Sarkis, an old Greek shepherd called the madman
Jesus and Pan
IN A DREAM I saw Jesus and My God Pan sitting together in the heart
of the forest.
They laughed at each other's speech, with the brook that ran near them,
and the laughter of Jesus was the merrier. And they conversed long.
Pan spoke of earth and her secrets, and of his hoofed brothers and his
horned sisters; and of dreams. And he spoke of roots and their nestlings,
and of the sap that wakes and rises and sings to summer.
And Jesus told of the young shoots in the forest, and of flowers and fruit,
and the seed that they shall bear in a season not yet come.
He spoke of birds in space and their singing in the upper world.
And He told of white harts in the desert wherein God shepherds them.
And Pan was pleased with the speech of the new God, and his nostrils quivered.
And in the same dream I beheld Pan and Jesus grow quiet and still in the
stillness of the green shadows.
And then Pan took his reeds and played to Jesus.
The trees were shaken and the ferns trembled, and there was a fear upon
me.
And Jesus said, "Good brother, you have the glade and the rocky height
in your reeds."
Then Pan gave the reeds to Jesus and said, "You play now. It is your turn."
And Jesus said, "These reeds are too many for my mouth. I have this flute."
And He took His flute and He played.
And I heard the sound of rain in the leaves, and the singing of streams
among the hills, and the falling of snow on the mountain-top.
The pulse of my heart, that had once beaten with the wind, was restored
again to the wind, and all the waves of my yesterdays were upon my shore,
and I was again Sarkis the shepherd, and the flute of Jesus became the
pipes of countless shepherds calling to countless flocks.
Then Pan said to Jesus, "Your youth is more kin to the reed than my years.
And long ere this in my stillness I have heard your song and the murmur
of your name.
"Your name has a goodly sound; well shall it rise with the sap to the
branches, and well shall it run with the hoofs among the hills.
And it is not strange to me, though my father called me not by that name.
It was your flute that brought it back to my memory.
"And now let us play our reeds together."
And they played together.
And their music smote heaven and earth, and a terror struck all living
things.
I heard the bellow of beasts and the hunger of the forest. And I heard
the cry of lonely men, and the plaint of those who long for what they
know not.
I heard the sighing of the maiden for her lover, and the panting of the
luckless hunter for his prey.
And then there came peace into their music, and the heavens and the earth
sang together.
All this I saw in my dream, and all this I heard.
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