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"I was seated, and given food and drink. This I needed. For threedays I'd drunk nothing but water, and eaten only a few berriesgathered here and there in the woods.
"I sat down cross-legged with them and ate the cooked meat theygave me, and she, my woman, my Daughter of Men, crushed upagainst me, as if daring anyone to challenge the pair of us, and thenshe spoke.
"She stood up, threw up her arms, and in a loud voice told themwhat she had seen. Her language was simple. But she had plentyenough words to describe it梙ow she had come upon me on thebanks of the sea and seen that I was naked and she had given herself tome in sanctity and worship, knowing I could not be a man of the earth.
"No sooner had my seed come into her than a magnificent lightfrom above had filled the cave. She had rushed in fear from it, but Ihad walked out into it, fearless, knowing it, and before her eyesI changed so that she could see through me, yet still she saw me.
And I was grown tall, with immense white feathered wings! Thisvision梩his creature through whom she could see as if throughwater梥he saw only for an instant. Then I vanished. I was gone assurely as I sit here now. She had hovered, shivering, watching,praying to the ancestors, to the Creator, to the Demons of the Desert,to all powers for protection, when suddenly she had seen me again?
transparent, to summarize her simple words, but visible, falling?
winged and enormous梥mashing towards earth in a fall that wouldhave killed a man, though that is what I became梐 man, solid aseveryone could see, sitting in the dust.
" 'God,' I prayed. 'What do I do? What this woman has said istrue! But I am no God. You are God. What do I do?'
"No answer came from Heaven, not to my ears, not to my heart,not to my cumbersome and elaborate brain.
"As for the crowd of listeners, whom I judged to be about thirty-five, exclusive of all the children, no one spoke. Everyone wasconsidering this. No one was quick to accept it. No one was going to jumpforward and challenge it either. Something in my manner and postureheld them aloof.
"No surprise. I certainly didn't cower or shiver or evince what Iwas suffering. I had not learnt to express angelic suffering throughflesh. I merely sat there, aware that by their measure I was young,comely, and a mystery; and they were not brave enough to try to hurtme as they so often hurt others, to stab, or pierce, or burn me as Ihad seen them do enough times to their enemies, and to their owndespised.
"Suddenly the whole group burst into murmuring. A very oldman rose to his feet. His words were even simpler than hers. I wouldsay he had perhaps half of her working vocabulary. But this wasenough to express himself and he asked of me simply: 'What do youhave to say for yourself?'
"The others reacted as if this question were an expression of sheergenius. Maybe it was. The woman pulled very close to me at thatmoment. She sat down beside me and with an imploring look, sheembraced me.
"I realized something梩hat her fate was connected to mine. Shewas slightly afraid of all these people, her kindred. And she wasn'tafraid of me! Interesting. That is what tenderness and love can do,and marvels also, I thought. And God says these people are part ofNature!
"I hung my head, but not for long. Finally, I rose to my feet,bringing her up with me, my mate, as it were, and, using all the wordsknown in her language, some even that the children had been addingalready in this generation that the adults didn't yet know, I said:
" 'I mean you no harm. I came from Heaven. I came to learnabout you and to love you. And I wish you only all good things underGod!'
"There was a great clamour, a happy clamour, with people clappingtheir hands, and rising to their feet, and the little ones jumpingup and down. It seemed a consensus emerged that Lilia, the woman Ihad been with, could now return to the group. She had been cast outto die when she had come upon me. But she was now surely upheld.
And she had returned with a god, a deity, a sky being . .. they aimedfor it with many syllables and combinations of syllables.
" 'No!' I declared. 'I am not a god. I did not make the world. Iworship, just as you do, the God who did.'
"This, too, was accepted in jubilation. Indeed, the frenzy began toalarm me. I felt the limits of my body keenly with all these othersdancing and screaming and shouting and kicking at the wood in thefire, and this lovely Lilia clinging to me.
" 'I must sleep now!' I said suddenly. And this was no more or lessthan the perfect truth. I had scarce slept an hour or more at any onetime in my three days in the flesh and was bone weary and bruisedand cast out of Heaven. I wanted to turn to this woman, and bury mysorrow in her arms.
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