{"id":"01KG8AM12N8HJBVN8FFBWQVC9G","cid":"bafkreiexjqxkl2nncm6e22uoh6kyjqssxdg5hxnykfdb5lu6zlztaj26sa","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":5606,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:18.535Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 2","source_file":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","start_line":5538,"text":"seek to cheer her soul, by calling to mind the bright scenes of Oroolia\r\nthe Blest, to which place, he averred, she was shortly to return, never\r\nmore to depart.\r\n\r\nNow, at the head of the vale of Ardair, rose a tall, dark peak,\r\npresenting at the top the grim profile of a human face; whose shadow,\r\nevery afternoon, crept down the verdant side of the mountain: a silent\r\nphantom, stealing all over the bosom of the glen.\r\n\r\nAt times, when the phantom drew near, Aleema would take Yillah forth,\r\nand waiting its approach, lay her down by the shadow, disposing her\r\narms in a caress; saying, “Oh, Apo! dost accept thy bride?” And at\r\nlast, when it crept beyond the place where he stood, and buried the\r\nwhole valley in gloom; Aleema would say, “Arise Yillah; Apo hath\r\nstretched himself to sleep in Ardair. Go, slumber where thou wilt; for\r\nthou wilt slumber in his arms.”\r\n\r\nAnd so, every night, slept the maiden in the arms of grim Apo.\r\n\r\nOne day when Yillah had come to love the wild shadow, as something that\r\nevery day moved before her eyes, where all was so deathfully still; she\r\nwent forth alone to watch it, as softly it slid down from the peak. Of\r\na sudden, when its face was just edging a chasm, that made it to look\r\nas if parting its lips, she heard a loud voice, and thought it was Apo\r\ncalling “Yillah! Yillah!” But now it seemed like the voice she had\r\nheard while bathing in the pool. Glancing upward, she beheld a\r\nbeautiful open-armed youth, gazing down upon her from an inaccessible\r\ncrag. But presently, there was a rustling in the groves behind, and\r\nswift as thought, something darted through the air. The youth bounded\r\nforward. Yillah opened her arms to receive him; but he fell upon the\r\ncliff, and was seen no more. As alarmed, and in tears, she fled from\r\nthe scene, some one out of sight ran before her through the wood.\r\n\r\nUpon recounting this adventure to Aleema, he said, that the being she\r\nhad seen, must have been a bad spirit come to molest her; and that Apo\r\nhad slain him.\r\n\r\nThe sight of this youth, filled Yillah with wild yearnings to escape\r\nfrom her lonely retreat; for a glimpse of some one beside the priest\r\nand the phantom, suggested vague thoughts of worlds of fair beings, in\r\nregions beyond Ardair. But Aleema sought to put away these conceits;\r\nsaying, that ere long she would be journeying to Oroolia, there to\r\nrejoin the spirits she dimly remembered.\r\n\r\nSoon after, he came to her with a shell—one of those ever moaning of\r\nocean—and placing it to her ear, bade her list to the being within,\r\nwhich in that little shell had voyaged from Oroolia to bear her company\r\nin Amma.\r\n\r\nNow, the maiden oft held it to her ear, and closing her eyes, listened\r\nand listened to its soft inner breathings, till visions were born of\r\nthe sound, and her soul lay for hours in a trance of delight.\r\n\r\nAnd again the priest came, and brought her a milk-white bird, with a\r\nbill jet-black, and eyes like stars. “In this, lurks the soul of a\r\nmaiden; it hath flown from Oroolia to greet you.” The soft stranger\r\nwillingly nestled in her bosom; turning its bright eyes upon hers, and\r\nsoftly warbling.\r\n\r\nMany days passed; and Yillah, the bird, and the shell were inseparable.\r\nThe bird grew familiar; pecked seeds from her mouth; perched upon her\r\nshoulder, and sang in her ear; and at night, folded its wings in her\r\nbosom, and, like a sea-fowl, went softly to sleep: rising and falling\r\nupon the maiden’s heart. And every morning it flew from its nest, and\r\nfluttered and chirped; and sailed to and fro; and blithely sang; and\r\nbrushed Yillah’s cheek till she woke. Then came to her hand: and\r\nYillah, looking earnestly in its eyes, saw strange faces there; and\r\nsaid to herself as she gazed—“These are two souls, not one.”\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 2"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJT0DVZETHPXYEQZ0DVPD","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1HYC04JWXEK48P07WPK","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AM1333TWNMZG2ZXJDEARQ","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AM12NVGK581Z352339SE0","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:23.637Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:48:30.240Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}