{"id":"01KG8AKT5RW5WPH8826PK54A7K","cid":"bafkreicx44gaejuahkiahdqfvlwye6dnxuablqmjcfihgbf6u5uauzvkoe","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":11703,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:09.931Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","start_line":11634,"text":"CHAPTER LXXXI.\r\nL’ultima Sera\r\n\r\n\r\nThus far, through myriad islands, had we searched: of all, no one pen\r\nmay write: least, mine;—and still no trace of Yillah.\r\n\r\nBut though my hopes revived not from their ashes; yet, so much of Mardi\r\nhad we searched, it seemed as if the long pursuit must, ere many moons,\r\nbe ended; whether for weal or woe, my frenzy sometimes reeked not.\r\n\r\nAfter its first fair morning flushings, all that day was overcast. We\r\nsailed upon an angry sea, beneath an angry sky. Deep scowled on deep;\r\nand in dun vapors, the blinded sun went down, unseen; though full\r\ntoward the West our three prows were pointed; steadfast as three\r\nprinted points upon the compass-card.\r\n\r\n“When we set sail from Odo, ’twas a glorious morn in spring,” said\r\nYoomy; “toward the rising sun we steered. But now, beneath autumnal\r\nnight-clouds, we hasten to its setting.”\r\n\r\n“How now?” cried Media; “why is the minstrel mournful?—He whose place\r\nit is to chase away despondency: not be its minister.”\r\n\r\n“Ah, my lord, so _thou_ thinkest. But better can my verses soothe the\r\nsad, than make them light of heart. Nor are we minstrels so gay of soul\r\nas Mardi deems us. The brook that sings the sweetest, murmurs through\r\nthe loneliest woods:\r\n\r\nThe isles hold thee not, thou departed!\r\n    From thy bower, now issues no lay:—\r\nIn vain we recall perished warblings:\r\n    Spring birds, to far climes, wing their way!”\r\n\r\n\r\nAs Yoomy thus sang; unmindful of the lay, with paddle plying, in low,\r\npleasant tones, thus hummed to himself our bowsman, a gamesome wight:—\r\n\r\nHo! merrily ho! we paddlers sail!\r\nHo! over sea-dingle, and dale!—\r\n    Our pulses fly,\r\n    Our hearts beat high,\r\nHo! merrily, merrily, ho!\r\n\r\n\r\nBut a sudden splash, and a shrill, gurgling sound, like that of a\r\nfountain subsiding, now broke upon the air. Then all was still, save\r\nthe rush of the waves by our keels.\r\n\r\n“Save him! Put back!”\r\n\r\nFrom his elevated seat, the merry bowsman, too gleefully reaching\r\nforward, had fallen into the lagoon.\r\n\r\nWith all haste, our speeding canoes were reversed; but not till we had\r\ndarted in upon another darkness than that in which the bowsman fell.\r\n\r\nAs, blindly, we groped back, deep Night dived deeper down in the sea.\r\n\r\n“Drop paddles all, and list.”\r\n\r\nHolding their breath, over the six gunwales all now leaned; but the\r\nonly moans were the wind’s.\r\n\r\nLong time we lay thus; then slowly crossed and recrossed our track,\r\nalmost hopeless; but yet loth to leave him who, with a song in his\r\nmouth, died and was buried in a breath.\r\n\r\n“Let us away,” said Media—“why seek more? He is gone.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJWK41W0P7JYW27FK0XVM","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1954N2G0NAERBNJXEX9","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKT5R4NGE2HNJQ67XWWS9","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:16.568Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:28.840Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}