But in the first we came to a mighty throne of grey granite, shaped like the
sweetest pussy cat you ever saw, and set up on a desolate heath. It was
midnight and the Devil came down and sat in the midst; but my Fairy Prince
whispered: “Hush! it is a great secret, but his name is Yeheswah, and he is the
Saviour of the World.” And that was very funny, because the girl next to me
thought it was Jesus Christ, till another Fairy Prince (my Prince’s brother)
whispered as he kissed her: “Hush, tell nobody ever, that is Satan, and he is
the Saviour of the World.”
We were a very great company, and I can’t tell you all of the strange things
we did and said, or of the song we sang as we danced face outwards in a great
circle ever closing in on the Devil on the throne. But whenever I saw a toad or
a bat, or some horrid insect, my Fairy Prince always whispered: “It is the
Saviour of the world,” and I saw that it was so. We did all the most beautiful
wicked things you can imagine, and yet all the time we knew that they were
good and right, and must be done if ever we were to get to the House of Gold.
So we enjoyed ourselves very much and ate the most extraordinary supper you
can think of. There were babies roasted whole and stuffed with pork sausages
and olives; and some of the girls cut off chops and steaks from their own
bodies, and gave them to a beautiful white cook at a silver grill, that was
lighted with the gas of dead bodies and marshes; and he cooked them
splendidly, and we all enjoyed it immensely. Then there was a tame goat with
a gold collar, that went about laughing with every one; and he was all shaved
in patches like a poodle. We kissed him and petted him, and it was lovely.
You must remember that I never let go of my Fairy Prince for a single instant,
or of course I should have been turned into a horrid black toad.