{"id":"01KG8AKWWCRYW21WY31XS7Z0TR","cid":"bafkreid4ppsztyn3nrzl42xosd23ka3abqdtez4b7ahwztocsm63hw5ccm","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":7593,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.539Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 3","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":7508,"text":"contemporaries, by inspiriting thoughts of the future?”\r\n\r\n“In plain words by bethinking him of the glorious harvest of bravos his\r\nghost would reap for him,” said Babbalanja; “but Banjo,—Bonjo,—Binjo,—I\r\nnever heard of him.”\r\n\r\n“Nor I,” said Mohi.\r\n\r\n“Nor I,” said Media.\r\n\r\n“Poor fellow!” cried Babbalanja; “I fear me his harvest is not yet\r\nripe.”\r\n\r\n“Alas!” cried Yoomy; “he died more than a century ago.”\r\n\r\n“But now that you speak of unappreciated poets, Yoomy,” said\r\nBabbalanja, “Shall I give you a piece of my mind?” “Do,” said Mohi,\r\nstroking his beard.\r\n\r\n“He, who on all hands passes for a cypher to-day, if at all remembered\r\nhereafter, will be sure to pass for the same. For there is more\r\nlikelihood of being overrated while living, than of being underrated\r\nwhen dead. And to insure your fame, you must die.”\r\n\r\n“A rather discouraging thought for your race. But answer: I assume that\r\nKing Media is but a mortal like you; now, how may I best perpetuate my\r\nname?”\r\n\r\nLong pondered Babbalanja; then said, “Carve it, my lord, deep into a\r\nponderous stone, and sink it, face downward, into the sea; for the\r\nunseen foundations of the deep are more enduring than the palpable tops\r\nof the mountains.”\r\n\r\nSailing past Pella, we gained a view of its farther side; and seated in\r\na lofty cleft, beheld a lonely fisherman; solitary as a seal on an\r\niceberg; his motionless line in the water.\r\n\r\n“What recks he of the ten kings,” said Babbalanja.\r\n\r\n“Mohi,” said Media, “methinks there is another tradition concerning\r\nthat rock: let us have it.”\r\n\r\n“In old times of genii and giants, there dwelt in barren lands, not\r\nvery remote from our outer reef, but since submerged, a band of evil-\r\nminded, envious goblins, furlongs in stature, and with immeasurable\r\narms; who from time to time cast covetous glances upon our blooming\r\nisles. Long they lusted; till at last, they waded through the sea,\r\nstrode over the reef, and seizing the nearest islet, rolled it over and\r\nover, toward an adjoining outlet.\r\n\r\n“But the task was hard; and day-break surprised them in the midst of\r\ntheir audacious thieving; while in the very act of giving the devoted\r\nland another doughty surge and Somerset. Leaving it bottom upward and\r\nmidway poised, gardens under water, its foundations in air, they\r\nprecipitately fled; in their great haste, deserting a comrade, vainly\r\nstruggling to liberate his foot caught beneath the overturned land.”\r\n\r\n“This poor fellow now raised such an outcry, as to awaken the god Upi,\r\nor the Archer, stretched out on a long cloud in the East; who forthwith\r\nresolved to make an example of the unwilling lingerer. Snatching his\r\nbow, he let fly an arrow. But overshooting its mark, it pierced through\r\nand through, the lofty promontory of a neighboring island; making an\r\narch in it, which remaineth even unto this day. A second arrow,\r\nhowever, accomplished its errand: the slain giant sinking prone to the\r\nbottom.”\r\n\r\n“And now,” added Mohi, “glance over the gunwale, and you will see his\r\nremains petrified into white ribs of coral.”\r\n\r\n“Ay, there they are,” said Yoomy, looking down into the water where\r\nthey gleamed. “A fanciful legend, Braid-beard.”\r\n\r\n“Very entertaining,” said Media.\r\n\r\n“Even so,” said Babbalanja. “But perhaps we lost time in listening to\r\nit; for though we know it, we are none the wiser.”\r\n\r\n“Be not a cynic,” said Media. “No pastime is lost time.”\r\n\r\nMusing a moment, Babbalanja replied, “My lord, that maxim may be good\r\nas it stands; but had you made six words of it, instead of six\r\nsyllables, you had uttered a better and a deeper.”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 3"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJVHTAE1QV7CGDG9DQPA8","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AKW9T0NS2T97F01SRX6T7","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:19.340Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:31.403Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}