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the scarecrow
danger that always risks being
a trap, an evil, or a snare.
2
They hovered around him
like jinni specters, addressing
him with incantations. The
first shouted as if performing
a sorrowful ballad, “We,
master, are a people who
have been unable to select a
head of state. Therefore we
have entrusted the affair to
its master, to the entity we
refer to in our stupid language
as a Spirit World.”
The second sang, “We obeyed
the report that eternity sent
us as a prophecy. So we set
forth, rolled in the dust of
emptiness, and washed our
hearts with separation’s
water. Then we were told
that our only recourse lay in
following the example of our
ancestors.”
The third sprang aside and
then leaped with a gracious
bound that mimicked an
avian dance and perhaps also
the ecstasy of folks who are
obsessed by longing and who
go into a trance when people
sing. He recited, “We have
come to entrust the matter to
destiny’s hand. We have come
to court danger!”
The fourth specter shot off,
fleeing toward the right for
a long distance. Then he
returned only to flee to the
left for a longer distance. On
both laps, darkness swallowed
him. All the same, he returned
from the Spirit World with a
talisman: “You, master, from
today forward are the master
of this oasis. May all the nooks
hear the news and may the
Spirit World bear witness
that we have conveyed the
prophecy.”
Stillness descended on the