Taji Takes Counsel With Himself
My brief intercourse with our host, had by this time enabled me to form
a pretty good notion of the light, in which I was held by him and his
more intelligent subjects.
His free and easy carriage evinced, that though acknowledging my
assumptions, he was no way overawed by them; treating me as familiarly,
indeed, as if I were a mere mortal, one of the abject generation of
mushrooms.
The scene in the temple, however, had done much toward explaining this
demeanor of his. A demi-god in his own proper person, my claims to a
similar dignity neither struck him with wonder, nor lessened his good
opinion of himself.
As for any thing foreign in my aspect, and my ignorance of Mardian
customs—-all this, instead of begetting a doubt unfavorable to my
pretensions, but strengthened the conviction of them as verities. Thus
has it been in similar instances; but to a much greater extent. The
celebrated navigator referred to in a preceding chapter, was hailed by
the Hawaiians as one of their demi-gods, returned to earth, after a
wide tour of the universe. And they worshiped him as such, though
incessantly he was interrogating them, as to who under the sun his
worshipers were; how their ancestors came on the island; and whether
they would have the kindness to provide his followers with plenty of
pork during his stay.
But a word or two concerning the idols in the shrine at Odo. Superadded
to the homage rendered him as a temporal prince, Media was there
worshiped as a spiritual being. In his corporeal absence, his effigy
receiving all oblations intended for him. And in the days of his
boyhood, listening to the old legends of the Mardian mythology, Media
had conceived a strong liking for the fabulous Taji; a deity whom he
had often declared was worthy a niche in any temple extant. Hence he
had honored my image with a place in his own special shrine; placing it
side by side with his worshipful likeness.
I appreciated the compliment. But of the close companionship of the
other image there, I was heartily ashamed. And with reason. The
nuisance in question being the image of a deified maker of plantain-
pudding, lately deceased; who had been famed far and wide as the most
notable fellow of his profession in the whole Archipelago. During his
sublunary career, having been attached to the household of Media, his
grateful master had afterward seen fit to crown his celebrity by this
posthumous distinction: a circumstance sadly subtracting from the
dignity of an apotheosis. Nor must it here be omitted, that in this
part of Mardi culinary artists are accounted worthy of high
consideration. For among these people of Odo, the matter of eating and
drinking is held a matter of life and of death. “Drag away my queen
from my arms,” said old Tyty when overcome of Adommo, “but leave me my
cook.”
Now, among the Mardians there were plenty of incarnated deities to keep
me in countenance. Most of the kings of the Archipelago, besides Media,
claiming homage as demi-gods; and that, too, by virtue of hereditary
descent, the divine spark being transmissable from father to son. In
illustration of this, was the fact, that in several instances the
people of the land addressed the supreme god Oro, in the very same
terms employed in the political adoration of their sublunary rulers.
Ay: there were deities in Mardi far greater and taller than I: right
royal monarchs to boot, living in jolly round tabernacles of jolly
brown clay; and feasting, and roystering, and lording it in yellow
tabernacles of bamboo. These demi-gods had wherewithal to sustain their
lofty pretensions. If need were, could crush out of him the infidelity
of a non-conformist. And by this immaculate union of church and state,
god and king, in their own proper persons reigned supreme Caesars over
the souls and bodies of their subjects.
Beside these mighty magnates, I and my divinity shrank into nothing. In
their woodland ante-chambers plebeian deities were kept lingering. For
be it known, that in due time we met with several decayed, broken down
demi-gods: magnificos of no mark in Mardi; having no temples wherein to
feast personal admirers, or spiritual devotees. They wandered about
forlorn and friendless. And oftentimes in their dinnerless despair
hugely gluttonized, and would fain have grown fat, by reflecting upon
the magnificence of their genealogies. But poor fellows! like shabby
Scotch lords in London in King James’s time, the very multitude of them
confounded distinction. And since they could show no rent-roll, they
were permitted to fume unheeded.
Upon the whole, so numerous were living and breathing gods in Mardi,
that I held my divinity but cheaply. And seeing such a host of
immortals, and hearing of multitudes more, purely spiritual in their
nature, haunting woodlands and streams; my views of theology grew
strangely confused; I began to bethink me of the Jew that rejected the
Talmud, and his all-permeating principle, to which Goethe and others
have subscribed.
Instead, then, of being struck with the audacity of endeavoring to palm
myself off as a god—the way in which the thing first impressed me—I now
perceived that I might be a god as much as I pleased, and yet not whisk
a lion’s tail after all at least on that special account.
As for Media’s reception, its graciousness was not wholly owing to the
divine character imputed to me. His, he believed to be the same. But to
a whim, a freakishness in his soul, which led him to fancy me as one
among many, not as one with no peer.
But the apparent unconcern of King Media with respect to my godship, by
no means so much surprised me, as his unaffected indifference to my
amazing voyage from the sun; his indifference to the sun itself; and
all the wonderful circumstances that must have attended my departure.
Whether he had ever been there himself, that he regarded a solar trip
with so much unconcern, almost became a question in my mind. Certain it
is, that as a mere traveler he must have deemed me no very great
prodigy.
My surprise at these things was enhanced by reflecting, that to the
people of the Archipelago the map of Mardi was the map of the world.
With the exception of certain islands out of sight and at an indefinite
distance, they had no certain knowledge of any isles but their own.
And, no long time elapsed ere I had still additional reasons to cease
wondering at the easy faith accorded to the story which I had given of
myself. For these Mardians were familiar with still greater marvels
than mine; verily believing in prodigies of all sorts. Any one of them
put my exploits to the blush.
Look to thy ways then, Taji, thought I, and carry not thy crest too
high. Of a surety, thou hast more peers than inferiors. Thou art
overtopped all round. Bear thyself discreetly and not haughtily, Taji.
It will not answer to give thyself airs. Abstain from all consequential
allusions to the other world, and the genteel deities among whom thou
hast circled. Sport not too jauntily thy raiment, because it is novel
in Mardi; nor boast of the fleetness of thy Chamois, because it is
unlike a canoe. Vaunt not of thy pedigree, Taji; for Media himself will
measure it with thee there by the furlong. Be not a “snob,” Taji.
So then, weighing all things well, and myself severely, I resolved to
follow my Mentor’s wise counsel; neither arrogating aught, nor abating
of just dues; but circulating freely, sociably, and frankly, among the
gods, heroes, high priests, kings, and gentlemen, that made up the
principalities of Mardi.